In the propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party, Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang were always “passive anti-japanese”, while the Chinese Communist Party was “anti-japanese with all its strength”. This completely can not withstand scrutiny, at that time the Communist Party of China “millet plus rifle” poor equipment to want to fight with equipment, strength far beyond their own Japanese forces, is completely impossible. Even the Chinese army, which was better equipped than the Chinese army in all aspects, was quite distinct from the Japanese army.
Chiang Kai-shek secretly prepares for war
In fact, Chiang Kai-shek, long aware of the inevitability of a war with Japan, began secretly preparing for it after the Japanese invaded northeast China on September 18, 1931, in contrast to the high rhetoric of the Chinese Communist Party.
Chiang kai-shek’s adopted son, Jiang Weiguo, revealed in his memoirs that his father had personally told him how he had prepared for war in Taiwan. At that time, the Nationalist government secretly signed an agreement with Germany to exchange Chinese minerals and crops, including cotton, tung oil, tungsten, antimony and so on, for the latest weapons made by Germany.
Chiang’s vision was to complete the task of adapting 80 divisions with the latest German equipment and the help of German advisers by 1939. He first ordered General GUI Yongqing to form an instruction team under which two divisions would be formed. Then German military advisers were invited to train officers and train troops. On the basis of two divisions, gradually expanded to four divisions, and completed the establishment of various military science schools and service schools, up to the Army University. The four divisions gradually completed the adaptation of 40 divisions, and then expanded to 80 divisions, as well as the supporting naval, air and service support forces, etc. (Another source said: Chiang Kai – shek wants to build 60 divisions)
For this reason, Chiang kai-shek not only bought ten thousand gold marks of weapons and equipment from Germany, but also invited many German military advisers to help the Kuomintang set up various officers’ schools and army universities. As a result, German advisers were partly in the army and partly in schools. Among the more famous German military advisers to China were Sekhter and Fagenhausen. It is said that there were so many German advisers that there were even military music schools. The military music and parade music were taught by Germans.
According to Chiang kai-shek’s plan, after the formation of 80 divisions, he counterattacked northeast China in 1939, recovered the lost territory and demanded the return of Taiwan. And then recapture the northern frontiers. It was obvious that Chiang kai-shek had an early and comprehensive plan to recover his territory.
In addition to equiping and training his troops, Chiang kai-shek had divided the national battlefield into five areas until the full outbreak of the war of resistance. First, the front, including Shandong, Henan and Xuhai district. Second, the shansi-Suiyuan lateral position, including Shanxi area, Suiyuan area. The third is east facade, including Jiangsu area, Zhejiang area. Fourth, Nanhai District, including Fujian district, Guangdong district. Fifth, the garrison area, including Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan health districts. The military is also building a large number of fortifications and positions in these places.
In addition, in order to ensure a sustained war of resistance, Chiang also went to the southwest and established relations with the local warlords, who agreed to establish anti-japanese base areas in those areas.
The military mutiny in Xi ‘an disrupted the plan
However, the military rebellion at Xi ‘an by Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng disrupted Chiang’s plans. Zhang, while the party under the pressure of the Soviet union, prompting Yang Fang Chiang kai-shek, but it is not only make the government of the republic of China “eight years, however, is expected to be two weeks (up to a month,) all can succeed, almost destroyed”, and causes damage to the construction of the northwest, severe breathing space and make the communist party of China again, and through the cooperation with the KMT, the existence and expansion of the legal rights and opportunities.
More seriously, the atmosphere of national unity after the military mutinies in Xi ‘an, especially Chiang Kai-shek’s ability to consolidate the personality and prestige of the whole nation, led Japan to launch a full-scale war of aggression against China in advance only six months after its occurrence. At this time, the Kuomintang had just finished equipping 40 divisions of troops, and some of its fortifications had not yet been completed.
To crush the Japanese invading army’s plan to “destroy China in three months”
On July 7, 1937, the Japanese army attacked Peiping, marking the beginning of a full-scale invasion of China. At that time, the Japanese army, with its powerful military industry behind it and equipment far beyond the Chinese army, planned to “destroy China in three months”. In this regard, European and American countries also took a pessimistic attitude towards China’s war of resistance, believing that the Nationalist government could not resist the Japanese attack and the war of resistance would soon fail.
The Japanese invasion of China’s calculation and the attitude of European and American countries do not seem to make sense. Because whether from the national strength or military strength, Japan has an absolute advantage. At that time, Japan spent 7 billion yen on the development of its military industry, and the Japanese government took various measures to strengthen the control of the national economy and make it serve the war.
In addition, after the “September 18 incident” in 1931 occupied the whole northeast China, Japan plundered the rich resources in northeast China on a large scale, which also provided a stronger guarantee for Japan’s economic and military development and helped Japan quickly get out of the economic crisis. From 1931 to 1937, the average growth rate of Japanese industry reached 9.9%, which was the fastest among European and American countries. In 1937, Japan produced 5.8 million tons of steel, 2.39 million tons of pig iron, 1.69 million tons of oil and 6.11 million tons of cement, and generated 3.03 million kw of electricity. Its total industrial output value was close to 6 billion US dollars, accounting for 80% of the national economy, and it became an industrial power.
In the late 1930s, Japan’s annual production capacity of weapons and equipment reached 1,580 airplanes, 744 large-caliber guns, 330 tanks and 9,500 automobiles, with a shipbuilding capacity of more than 400,000 tons and a ship-building capacity of 50,000 tons. The annual production of light infantry weapons and small-calibre artillery is sufficient to meet the annual requirements of a large-scale war.
In Contrast, China’s nationalist government from 1927 to 1937 had just ended its warlordism, but it was faced with the armed rebellion of the Chinese Communist Party, the impending arrival of The Japanese, and the huge debts inherited from previous regimes from the late Qing Dynasty to the Beiyang Government. Therefore, although the economy has been developed in various ways, remarkable achievements have been made in the aspects of independent tariff, currency reform, foreign debt consolidation, financial reform, industrial and agricultural reform, transportation, etc. For example, in industry, the average annual growth rate of industry is 8.4%. The total output value of industrial products has increased from 6.701 billion yuan in 1927 to 12.274 billion yuan in 1936, with an increase of 83.2%. In terms of transportation, the length of highways open to traffic increased from more than 1,000 kilometers before the northern expedition to 96,000 kilometers by the end of 1935. The railway has grown from 8,000 km to 13,000 km; But because of its short life and weak industrial base, China lags far behind Japan in economic and military development.
In 1937, China’s military factories could only produce light infantry weapons and small-caliber artillery, but not large-caliber artillery, tanks, cars, etc. Aircraft and ships have produced a small number of products, but major components and raw materials must be imported. Chinese factories are not capable of mass production and, in terms of war needs, are virtually incapable of manufacturing.
The documentary “An Inch of Mountains and Rivers, an inch of Blood” has compared the military forces of China and Japan before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War. At that time, China’s army was 2.2 million and Japan’s 4.48 million; China’s navy ships have a tonnage of more than 60,000, and its best ships are also inferior to Japan’s heavy cruisers. Japan’s navy is 1.9 million tons, including four aircraft carriers, nine battleships and 12 heavy cruisers, second only to Britain and the Us in strength. The Chinese Air force has only 305 combat aircraft, but due to lack of spare parts and other reasons, only 223 are actually available, while the Japanese Air Force (divided into the army and navy) has 2,700.
In addition, the Japanese army is well organized, has a large number of special forces, is better equipped than the Chinese army, and its soldiers are well trained and imbued with the spirit of bushido. They are extremely tenacious. Except for 40 of the 70 divisions directly under the central government, which are equipped with imported new weapons and guided by German advisers, the Chinese army is poorly equipped and trained less rigorously.
The data also show that, compared with a Chinese adjustment division, the Japanese division has two times as many personnel, 1.5 times as many infantry lances, 1.1 times as many light and heavy machine guns, 3.1 times as many artillery vehicles, more than 1,000 transport vehicles and 24 tanks.
Obviously, the gap in military power between China and Japan at this time was far greater than that in the Sino-japanese War of 1895-1895. It is no wonder that the Japanese invaders promised to “destroy China in three months”, and no wonder that the European and American countries did not look favorably upon the Chinese government.
However, reality shattered the Japanese dream. On August 13, 1937, the Japanese army began to attack Shanghai with 300,000 troops, more than 300 planes and dozens of warships. The National government has deployed more than 700, 000 troops.
The kuomintang’s initial strategy was to “trade space for time” in order to achieve a lasting resistance, that is, the soldiers who would fight first should hold out as long as they could, one more day if they could, and one more hour if they could, so that those who could follow would have more time to prepare. As a result, the heroic Kuomintang soldiers fought against the Japanese army with their flesh and blood under the condition of poor equipment, leaving many touching stories.
In the battle known as “Shanghai War”, some Kuomintang divisions were almost completely wiped out, and the Japanese army was finally dragged in Shanghai for three months at the cost of 180,000 dead and 40,000 killed, which completely shattered the Japanese army’s arrogant plan of “three months to destroy China”. These precious three months gave time for factories and materials in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to move inward, laying a foundation for lasting resistance against Japanese aggression. At the same time, the battle has caused the international community to change its view.
What is it that makes the Chinese soldiers who are not as equipped and trained as the Japanese army let the Japanese army go wild? To impress the world? Participate in the battle of the Kuomintang Hu South part of the eighth division Taoshiyue said: “We must and the position together survival. No matter the officers and soldiers, only the thoughts of the nation, personal safety has been regardless of… Later someone asked me how I could have held out for 21 days and nights under such harsh conditions. I say, is two words’ defend to the death ‘.” How can such a spirit not let a person shed tears!
Later, under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, the nationalist government launched a protracted war of resistance against the Japanese until the final victory of the war. In the history of the Chinese Communist Party, have you ever seen the preparation plans, fortifications and positions for the Japanese invasion of China? !
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