Operation Ichi-Go: Japan’s Mostly Forgotten Last Big, Born-in-Taiwan War Offensive – S5-E24

This episode was released on August 15th, 2025, exactly 80
years after the Empire of Japan unconditionally surrendered
to the Allies following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. Today, we bring you a largely forgotten story.





In 1944, Japan launched its biggest land campaign of the war. It
was called “Operation Ichi-Go (Operation #1)” – a massive push
through China with half a million troops. It shattered Chiang
Kai-shek’s armies, changed Allied strategy, and helped set the
stage for the ROC’s retreat to Taiwan.





But the spark for this offensive began not on a battlefield in
China, but in what’s today Hsinchu, Taiwan. This “big picture”
episode has surprise U.S. bombing raids, brutal battles,
Roosevelt’s strategy meetings in Hawaii, the collapse of China’s
wartime economy, and lots more twists and turns
that would lead to Mao Zedong proclaiming the People’s Republic
of China in 1949 – and the Republic of China
retreating to Taiwan.