On this day, 85 years ago, on June 18, 1940 (May 13, 1940, the Lunar Calendar), the Battle of Zaoyi ended. The Japanese army at the Battle of Zaoyi held the urn of the dead dead. At dawn on June 18, 1940, the Japanese army, under the cover of aircraft and heavy artillery, once again conquered Yichang, the gateway of Sichuan. The Chongqing National Government was greatly shocked and urgently ordered Chen Cheng to command his troops to organize a counterattack in an effort to recover Yichang. The Japanese army retaliated with intensive manpower, and the assault troops fell to death under the hail of bullets. Yichang was never captured. At this point, the Chinese and Japanese armies formed a confrontation, and the Battle of Zaoyi came to an end temporarily. The battle began on May 1. In order to consolidate the periphery of Wuhan, eliminate the main force of China troops in northwest Hubei, advance Sichuan, force the National Government to surrender, and use 4 divisions to invade Tongbai Mountain, Xiangyang, and Zaoyang in 6 routes. The fifth theater troops resisted. After the defeat, the main force was transferred to the outside line. On the 8th, the Japanese army captured Zaoyang, surrounded it and was surrounded by China troops on the outside line. Suffering a heavy blow, he was forced to retreat southward on the 11th. On May 16, Zhang Zizhong, commander-in-chief of the 33rd Group Army, personally led his troops to intercept the Japanese army in order to expand the results and died heroically at the Pumpkin Shop on the east bank of the Xiang River. On the 17th, the Japanese army captured Zaoyang again. In late May, the Japanese army received reinforcements and launched a large-scale attack on the China army. Xiangyang was captured on June 1, Nanzhang and Yicheng were captured on the 3rd, and they joined forces with the Japanese troops crossing the river on the Baisha Ocean. They then successively captured Jiangling and Dangyang, and captured Yichang on the 11th. On the 16th, China troops fought back against Yichang and Dangyang. On the 18th, Yichang was captured and lost again. After that, the Japanese army gathered troops in Yichang, Jiangling, Sui County and other places to defend the city. On the one hand, China's army established the Sixth Theater Area west of Yichang to reinforce troops and relied on the fortification of the Three Gorges to ensure Sichuan's security. On the other hand, it relied on favorable terrain such as Jingshan to fight on outer lines and confronted Japan on the east and west of the Han River. The battle ended here. The Japanese army that was fighting our army burned houses everywhere