Anti-Japanese War archives cover Hundred Regiments Battle

China on Monday released archives of a large-scale, morale-boosting offensive by 105 Chinese regiments in 1940, as the country marks the 69th anniversary of the victory against Japan's aggression.

Starting on Aug 25, the archive series is being released on the website of China's State Archives Administration, one battle per day, in a drive to raise awareness of the war.

The battle broke out in north China in the summer of 1940 as the Communist Party of China mustered a force of more than 200,000 to attack enemy strongholds and destroy their supply lines.

On Aug 20, a nighttime surprise attack led to huge losses on the Japanese side. Two Japanese girls were rescued amid the gunfire and taken care of by Chinese soldiers before being sent back to the Japanese base.

Between Sept 20 and Oct. 5, Chinese troops launched further attacks and took a large number of weapons after Japanese soldiers gave up. Counterattacks were organized by Japanese troops but were mostly fended off.

Covering 1,824 attacks of varying intensities, the battle saw more than 25,000 casualties on the side of Japanese and its puppet troops as well as the capture of over 18,000 enemy forces.

About 17,000 casualties were reported on the Chinese side.

The offensive boosted Chinese army and civilians' morale in their resistance to the Japanese troops and disrupted Japanese army' invasion plans.

China has officially set Sept 3 as Victory Day to mark Japan's surrender on Sept 2, 1945.