THE STAND  June 18th, 1944 -

In June of 1944, the Japanese launched Operation Ichi-Go. The goal was to
knock China out of the war and to capture the airfields that B-29 bombers
were operating out of. The Chinese Army, which had been in static defense for 
nearly 4 years, began to crumble. The U.S. 14th Air Force was caught in 
the offensive, while evacuating air bases and trying to deliver air support 
to the Chinese Army. At one such airfield just south of the city of Changsha, 
the situation was so bad that everyone who could hold a rifle was thrown in 
to slow down the Japanese. Despite a valiant effort, the combination of 
Japanese tanks and infantry lead to the capture of the base.

