In mainland China, the Japanese 3rd, 6th, and 40th Divisions massed at Yueyang and advanced southward in three columns and crossed the Xinqiang River, and tried again to cross the Miluo River to reach Changsha. In January 1942, Chinese forces got a victory at Changsha which was the first Allied success against Japan.
After the Doolittle Raid, the Japanese army conducted a massive sweep through Zhejiang and Jiangxi of China, now known as the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign, with the goal of searching out the surviving American airmen, applying retribution on the Chinese who aided them and destroying air bases. This operation started on 15 May 1942 with 40 infantry battalions and 15–16 artillery battalions but was repelled by Chinese forces in September. During this campaign, The Imperial Japanese Army left behind a trail of devastation and had also spread cholera, typhoid, plague and dysentery pathogens. Chinese estimates put the death toll at 250,000 civilians. Around 1,700 Japanese troops died out of a total 10,000 Japanese soldiers who fell ill with disease when their own biological weapons attack rebounded on their own forces.
On 2 November 1943, Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the Imperial Japanese 11th Army, deployed the 39th, 58th, 13th, 3rd, 116th and 68th divisions, a grand total of around 100,000 troops, to attack Changde of China. During the seven-week Battle of Changde, the Chinese forced Japan to fight a costly war of attrition. Although the Japanese army initially successfully captured the city, the Chinese 57th division was able to pin them down long enough for reinforcements to arrive and encircle the Japanese. The Chinese army then cut off the Japanese supply lines, forcing them into retreat, whereupon the Chinese pursued their enemy. During the battle, in an act of desperation, Japan used chemical weapons.
In the aftermath of the Japanese conquest of Burma, there was widespread disorder in eastern India, and a disastrous famine in Bengal, which ultimately caused up to 3 million deaths. In spite of these, and inadequate lines of communication, British and Indian forces attempted limited counter-attacks in Burma in early 1943. An offensive in Arakan failed, while a long distance raid mounted by the Chindits under Brigadier Orde Wingate suffered heavy losses, but was publicized to bolster Allied morale. It also provoked the Japanese to mount major offensives themselves the following year.