1945 Old photos of Hengyang, Hunan City at the beginning of the victory of the Anti Japanese War

In 1945, a group of old photos of Hengyang, Hunan Province, let’s take a look at the appearance of Hengyang at the beginning of the victory of the Anti Japanese War

This group of photos was taken by a reporter of Life magazine from November 1945 to 1946. In 1944, Hengyang had just experienced the Battle of Hengyang. After the war, Hengyang was devastated and the whole city was destroyed by the flames of war. Hengyang is still in ruins as shown in the photo after the investigation

The Battle of Hengyang was a battle between the Kuomintang army and the Japanese army in Hengyang, Hunan Province, an important city in the south central part of China in 1944. It was known as the “urban offensive and defense war” with the most casualties on both sides of the enemy and our side and the longest frontal engagement of the Chinese army in the history of the Anti Japanese War; The defense of Moscow in the East;. The Japanese army won miserably, and the national army inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese army with fewer battles. Hengyang is therefore known as the Anti Japanese War Memorial City and the only Anti Japanese War Memorial City in China

The following is a photo preview:

1945年12月，湖南衡阳。这座城市的建筑物已经彻底摧毁，沦为一片废墟，在这里发生的中日双方拉锯战中泥土都被烧焦了。

1945年11月，湖南衡阳，一个14岁的战争孤儿，他只有一副碗筷和身上仅有的衣服，赤脚。

1945年12月，湖南衡阳。村民正穿过原来市区的主街道，照片上显示只有几处残垣断壁，这是在抗战中被日军完全毁灭的城市之一，它必须完全重建。

1945年12月，湖南衡阳。空中俯瞰这座因战争已经荒废的城市。

1945年12月，湖南衡阳。乡村一处干枯的水稻田，这座城市在被彻底摧毁后又遭遇大旱。

这次大旱造成严重的灾难。到1945年时，因无力耕种而荒废的土地达1450万亩。1946年湖南西部、南部各县又遭大旱，田土龟裂，颗粒无收；而滨湖一带则遭大水，淹没稻田数百万亩。因此，1945年湖南全省粮食产量锐减，仅收稻谷6730万石（1石约等于目前120市斤），较战前1936年18600万石减产64%。到1946年4-7月，饥荒遍及全省，截至8月，湖南饥荒祸及400万人，仅衡阳地区就饿死9万余人，饿殍满地惨不忍睹！

当时的衡阳悲惨场景请查看：1946年的湖南大饥荒时期的老照片