1938年10月25日武漢撤守後，湖南長沙成為日軍下一個主攻目標。11月12日，湖南省主席張治中誤判日軍逼近長沙，情急之下，決定實施焦土政策，乃於當日深夜開始在城內外放火。結果長沙幾乎付之一炬，並造成民眾生命財產巨大損失，是為「長沙大火」事件。事件發生後，外界反應頗為激烈，湘人對此更為憤慨。軍事委員會委員長蔣中正親赴長沙處理善後，開始調查事件起因及責任歸屬問題。當時軍事委員會調查統計局副局長戴笠適在長沙，親自經歷此一事件，曾送電報告離開長沙時所目睹的動亂情形，以及湖南省保安處與長沙警備司令部12日晚在城廂內外放火之事實。戴笠對張治中在事件前後的作為多所質疑，認為其能力不足以應付危局，而人亦在長沙的第九戰區司令長官陳誠，也認為張治中必須為慘案負起最大責任。結果張治中被革職，長沙警備司令酆悌、警備第二團團長徐崑、湖南省會警察局長文重孚被判處死刑，為大火事件負起最重的責任。受此事件衝擊，各方開始檢討焦土政策，並建議縮小破壞範圍，僅限於軍事目標，這也算是此不幸事件對後世較正面的影響。

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Chang Chih-chung, the governor of Hunan Province, misunderstood the next target of victorious Japanese Army would be his capital Changsha when China's army retreated from Wuhan, the capital of Hupei. He made a fatal mistake to hurry to execute an unbelievable scorched earth policy, resulting in the city being almost burned down to the ground. This has become remembered as the so-called the Changsha Blaze Incident of 1938.Many people severely and strongly criticized the Nationalist Government's command for such an outrageous incident, so the Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek went to Changsha immediately, and asked to investigate into the causes of the Incident and the reasons for carrying out the decision in addition to the demand that the punishment of the culprits. The deputy chief of the Bureau Investigation Statistics (BIS) Dai Li gave an eyewitness account to the Generalissimo. He reported that the governor was the very person who executed the scorched earth policy without full considerations.The important leaders of the Changsha garrison headquarters were sentenced to death, while the governor Chang under the Generalissimo's protection was just having his official title removed. This means, the B1S was not responsible for the incident. Besides, the Nationalist Government made a correction about the scorched earth policy by limiting to destroy the military targets owing to the lesson of Changsha Blaze Incident.