The Battle of China Reel 5 – Bombing of Chungking and Burma Road

Reel 5 of The Battle of China (1944) shifts focus to Chungking, the wartime capital of Free China after the fall of Nanking. Massive underground caves and shelters protect civilians while factories operate beneath the city. Japanese bombers launch relentless raids—takeoffs, bomb drops, raging fires, wailing sirens, and panicked evacuations dominate the visuals. Despite devastation, underground production of war materials continues uninterrupted. China mobilizes its people for defense, and General Claire Chennault’s Flying Tigers—shark-nosed P-40 Warhawks—engage Japanese aircraft in intense dogfights. Animated maps highlight Japan’s naval blockade cutting sea supply routes, leading to the epic construction of the Burma Road from Lashio, Burma, to Kunming, China, to sustain Free China against overwhelming odds.

• Chungking as wartime capital; underground shelters and relocated factories.
• Japanese bomber takeoffs, bomb releases, fires engulfing Chungking; air raid sirens and civilian flight to caves.
• Underground factories operating 24/7 producing munitions.
• Chinese mobilization and training of new soldiers.
• Introduction of General Claire Chennault and the Flying Tigers (1st American Volunteer Group).
• P-40 Warhawks with shark-mouth paint in aerial combat against Japanese planes.
• Animated maps showing Japanese naval blockade of Chinese ports.
• Construction of the Burma Road supply route from Lashio (Burma) to Kunming (China) with truck convoys.