Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Imperial Japanese forces aimed to neutralize the Chinese airfield at Zhijiang, secure control of the Hunan-Guangxi and Guangzhou-Hankou railways, and preemptively disrupt the planned Chinese offensive in the region.
He Yingqin served as Commander-in-Chief for the Chinese National Military Council during this campaign while Tang Enbo led the 3rd Front Army and Li Yutang commanded the 27th Army Group.
A Chinese-American staff conference decided to counterattack a Japanese detachment near Wu-yang on the 3rd of May 1945, leading to successful engagements by the 5th Division of the 94th Army on the 5th and the 6th of May.
The Chinese claimed to have inflicted 36,358 casualties on the Japanese including 12,651 killed in action while sustaining 21,040 casualties with 7,817 killed in action themselves.
Japanese troops faced severe fuel shortages that forced them to travel primarily on foot instead of using vehicles, and only one train ran from Guangzhou to Wuhan in April 1945 despite their control of railway corridors.