Battle of Mount Song
|Battle of Mount Song/ Battle of Ramou|
|Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War|
Chinese Nationalist soldiers fighting near Salween River
| National Revolutionary Army
United States Air Force
|, Imperial Japanese Army|
|Commanders and leaders|
|Li Mi||Hisaichi Terauchi Keijiro Kanemitsu, Major|
|40,000 +||3,000 later 1400|
|Casualties and losses|
The Battle of Mount Song or Battle of Ramou (Chinese 松山战役, Japanese 拉孟の戦い）in 1944 was part of the largest campaign in southwestern China during the Second World War. Chinese Nationalist forces aimed to retake control over the Burma Road. The Japanese were losing the war in Burma and aimed to block off the highway connecting China with Burma for as long as they could. Using slave labour from Thailand and Burma they constructed a series of tunnels and bunkers in order to turn the mountain（松山）into a fortress.
The Chinese forces were unaware of the depth of the Japanese defenses, and their underestimation led to heavy casualties. Chinese artillery strikes and US bombing runs had little effect against Japanese forces underground. After initial defence the Japanese command in Northern Burma ordered the majority of the garrison out and left 1400 men (including 300 wounded) to defend the mountain top. This encircled group under the command of Major Kanemitsu Keijirou held out and denied the use to the American-Chinese Armies for a further three months. Chinese forces finally retook Mount Song through the use of continual bombardment, American airpower and overwhelming numbers of Chinese infantry.
After its capture the Burma Road could be used once again.
Although a Chinese victory the small Japanese force unsupplied and lacking air power or heavy artillery held up the entire Chinese Expeditionary Army for over three months considerably lengthening the war in Burma.
- Article about War of Resistance http://www.china1931.cn/China/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=7648
- Reflections on War in Burma, Noguchi Seiki, Kojinsha Press, Tokyo 2000, 回想ビルマ作戦，野口省己、光人社、東京、２００２