Short answers, pulled from the story.
Japanese troops began a massive transfer of forces to launch Operation Ichi-Go in May 1944. This campaign aimed to secure a continuous land and rail corridor stretching from occupied territories in Korea and northern China down to Southeast Asia.
Shunroku Hata issued a direct order for ground forces to seize control of the region while three two-star generals commanded the Japanese assault force supported by air power. The Third Division defended the northwest section where the 58th Division eventually broke through after losing morale following earlier setbacks.
Fang Xianjue surrendered control of Hengyang on the 8th of August 1944 after his unit had been reduced from seventeen thousand men to just three thousand including wounded personnel. Chiang Kai-shek personally received Fang at his Chongqing residence on the 14th of December 1944 following the rescue operation and awarded him the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun.
The loss of Hengyang contributed directly to the collapse of Hideki Tojo's cabinet during July 1944. On the 18th of July 1944, Tojo and his entire administration resigned shortly after news arrived that Saipan had fallen on the 9th of July.
Japanese forces occupied Lingling on the 4th of September 1944 and seized Guilin by the 10th of November 1944 completing their stated objectives. Heavy losses prevented actual control over vast territories they now claimed to own despite these territorial gains.