The Yangtze and the Sino-US cooperation in World War II, 1940–1945

ABSTRACT This article sheds new light on how the war on the Yangtze became integrated into the broader Allied war effort and contributed to the collapse of the Japanese wartime economy. From 1940 to 1945, the Sino-Japanese conflict on the Yangtze, while influenced by developments in other theatres, remained at the core of Kuomintang’s concerns and strategy. The fall of Yichang caused severe economic and strategic difficulties in Free China. Assisted by the US, the Chinese forces repelled the Japanese expansion in West Hubei. Moreover, the Sino-US aerial interdictions on the Yangtze halted iron ore shipment essential to the Japanese economy.