Chapter 72 This year's general trend

In 1944, the arduous war of resistance entered its seventh year.On New Year's Day of this year, Chiang Kai-shek, who had re-elected as the chairman of the National Government, delivered a speech to the army and civilians across the country in Chongqing: "China's victory is in sight, and I must undertake the main task of besieging the Japanese invaders." At that time, Chongqing had already lifted the blackout, and with the joint escort of the Fourteenth Air Force of the United States and the Chinese Air Force, residents no longer worried about air strikes by Japanese planes.It's just that they have encountered a new problem: they need to face rising prices every day.Working-class life has never been this hard.In the face of dissatisfaction from the public and criticism from opposition parties, Chiang Kai-shek had to admit in his speech: "We reflect on ourselves, we are not progressing enough, not only the military needs to be strengthened, but our politics and economy have not been able to match the wartime demands," he promised to "refresh politics."However, Chiang Kai-shek is sure that the most difficult days are over.

Since the Battle of Midway, Japan has turned from offense to defense.By 1944, the Japanese Empire was already sinking into the sunset.It is watching in horror as it loses air and sea superiority. At the imperial meeting on September 30, 1943, Japan determined the bottom line of defense.That is to say, in the Pacific Ocean, Japan must at least defend the Thousand Islands, the Mariana Islands, and the Indonesian Islands; on the Asian land, the Japanese army must control China's Ping-Han, Guangdong-Han Railway, and the Indochina Peninsula, and extend to Burma and India east.This huge defense line is called the "absolute defense circle".

But the so-called "absolute defense circle" has been easily broken through by powerful allied forces.The U.S. military cleverly adopted island-hopping tactics, divided its troops into two groups, and launched an offensive.One way started from the Southwest Pacific, with the army as the main force, led by Army Admiral MacArthur; the other attacked from the central Pacific Ocean, led by Admiral Nimitz. In early February 1944, the US and British forces captured the Marshall Islands. On February 26, US and British troops landed on the Admiralty Islands in the north of New Guinea. On March 5, the airborne regiment of Major General Wingate of the British Army landed on both sides of the Irrawaddy River in northern Myanmar. On the 15th, the British Fifteenth Army launched an offensive in Imphal, East India, and cut off the road between Kohima and Imphal on the 28th.

From March 30th to 31st, the US and British air forces bombed Hollandia (now Jayapura), and the Japanese Fourth Air Force suffered a devastating blow. On March 31, Admiral Koga, the commander of the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Southern Army, and his staff were killed in battle. The direct consequence of the malaise of the Japanese navy and air force is that the sea traffic between the more than 500,000 Japanese troops scattered in Southeast Asia and the Japanese mainland will be cut off by the U.S. Navy at any time, falling into the dilemma of supply interruption and isolation overseas.

This year, the Allied air superiority became more and more obvious.Hundreds of thousands of farmers in Sichuan were organized to engage in a huge construction project. More than 400,000 farmers, with their own tools and 90-day rations, walked to the construction site. The construction began in 1943. From January to February 1944, they were even more busy day and night.Using the most primitive labor methods, 6 airports were built within 90 days.In this regard, the US allies are full of praise.The St. Louis Post-Postal of the United States once announced excitedly: "We are grateful to China for providing us with an important stronghold for building an airport, as well as the labor of 430,000 Chinese people. Such a huge manpower recruitment by China is unprecedented since the Great Wall was built 2,000 years ago. .”

From November 1943, the Japanese army began to brew a plan to fundamentally solve China's air supremacy, in order to alleviate the transportation problem on which it depended. At the beginning of November, Sugiyama, Chief of the Japanese Army General Staff Headquarters, first proposed: "It seems difficult to suppress the U.S. Air Force in mainland China... Could it be possible to open up the Guangdong-Han Railway from central and southern China, so that the U.S. Air Force cannot use bases in southeastern China?" On January 13, 1944, the Japanese army base camp passed the imperial meeting and approved this action plan to try to save Japan's fate, which is the "Operation Plan No. 1".

A long land transportation line from Japan-Korea-North China-Central China-South China-Vietnam-Thailand-Singapore is considered to replace the sea transportation line, and it is also reserved in advance for a decisive battle with the Allied forces on the Asian continent when the Japanese mainland is in crisis last retreat.The transportation line outlined by the Japanese military, among which the southern section of Pinghan Road, the middle section of Yuehan Road and the Hunan-Guangxi Railway, are firmly in the hands of the Chinese army.Instead of sitting and waiting, it is better to give it a go.The Japanese base camp once again set its sights on the long silent Chinese battlefield. "Operation Plan No. 1" has two major focuses: one is to open up the railway line, and the other is to attack and destroy all air bases of the Chinese and American air forces in Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangxi.The desperate Asian maritime hegemon now regards land transportation as a life-saving straw in order to restore or alleviate the decline on the battlefield.

In April, the Japanese army entered Henan, and Operation No. 1 began.In this battle, the Japanese army encountered stubborn resistance from the Chinese army in Luoyang, Hengyang, and Guilin, especially the officers and soldiers of the Chinese Tenth Army guarding Hengyang made many exceptions.In the past, the Japanese army attacked the city with fewer enemies and more enemies, but the Japanese army besieged Hengyang with more enemies.In the Sino-Japanese War, the ratio of casualties between the two sides was generally more than five times that of the Chinese side than that of Japan, but the result of the Hengyang defense battle was reversed. The Tenth Army participated in the defense of the city with 17,000 officers and soldiers.According to the records of the Japanese army, a total of 13,306 officers and soldiers of the Tenth Army were disarmed, most of them were wounded and sick, about 4,000 were able to fight, and about 4,000 died.According to the figures released by the Japanese army, the number of casualties in the Japanese army was as high as 19,380, of which 390 were killed and 520 were injured for senior and middle-level officers alone.As for the length of time the lone army defended the city, it was unprecedented in the history of the War of Resistance.Originally, the task of the Tenth Army was to guard for 10 days to half a month, but they persisted alone for 47 days.Kodama Hideo, the captain of the 120th Regiment of the Japanese Army who participated in the siege, lamented that the Battle of Hengyang was "a rare and tragic duel in modern warfare".

But this war has exposed the weakness of Chongqing even more. While the anti-fascist battlefields are triumphant, the Chinese battlefields are retreating embarrassingly.By the summer and autumn of 1944, Changsha had fallen, Hengyang was in danger, and the influence of weak internal affairs on the military had been fully exposed. Chiang Kai-shek, who had suffered repeated setbacks on the battlefield, was losing his prestige day by day.People at home and abroad were generally concerned and severely criticized Chiang Kai-shek and his central government, who were charged with leading the war.The American "St. Louis" put forward bluntly: "First, we can use the air fortress at least once to assist China in defending the interior and deal a devastating blow to the enemy. Second, we must resolutely try to make the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party Third, we can persuade Generalissimo Chiang to make swift and overdue reforms to the efficiency of his government, and to his taxation laws."

Disappointed with Chiang Kai-shek's government, General Stilwell turned his attention to the Chinese Communist Party's army, and proposed that the Chinese Communist Party's army could also share the war supplies sent by the United States.But Chiang Kai-shek was very dissatisfied, and had the idea of ​​forcing US President Roosevelt to recall General Stilwell. But the strength of the Communist Party has become an indisputable fact.The only gratifying thing is that from May 1944, the long-suspended negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party resumed in Xi'an.The representatives of both sides, Lin Boqu, negotiated with Wang Shijie and Zhang Zhizhong five times, and at the last meeting, the results of the talks were compiled into records.Later, the negotiations moved to Chongqing, and there was still no result when it came to August.

In September, the People's Political Consultative Conference was held in Chongqing.The senators questioned the national government one after another, using harsh terms and involving a wide range of issues, unprecedented.It involves such things as the defeat of Henan and Hunan, inflation, corruption, control of public opinion, and party education.For the first time, the major issue of the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party was on the agenda of the National Political Council, a representative of the public opinion organ.The senators finally knew that the Communist Party's army had 477,500 troops and another 1.2 million militiamen during the seven-year war of resistance.Has established 15 base regimes behind enemy lines and elected its own government. September 15 was an unforgettable day. On this day, Lin Boqu formally proposed the establishment of a "coalition government" on behalf of the Communist Party, and the Communists showed their strength and confidence.Mao Zedong later explained: "The slogan 'coalition government' came from these three points because of the Kuomintang's military retreat, the establishment of a coalition government in some European countries, and the Kuomintang saying that our democracy is far-fetched." On September 19, the China Democratic Political Group League held a representative meeting in Chongqing and decided to change its name to the China Democratic League. On the 24th, more than 500 people from many parties and celebrities such as Feng Yuxiang and Shao Lizi gathered to demand the reorganization of the national government and the establishment of a coalition government. Chiang Kai-shek in September was very depressed, not only facing strong domestic pressure for constitutionalism, but also unprecedented pressure from allies. On September 18, President Roosevelt of the United States sent an extremely harsh telegram to Chiang Kai-shek. The telegram stated: "Due to your delay in appointing General Stilwell to command all Chinese troops, you have lost important land in eastern China." The leap forward in the Pacific is really fast, but unless you act immediately, the impact of the rapid leap in the Pacific on the Chinese battlefield will inevitably be lamented as 'too late'." The telegram strongly urged Chiang Kai-shek to hand over his command.Deeply stimulated, Chiang Kai-shek rejected the request of the President of the United States and made the decision to replace Stilwell.At this time, it was the eve of the voting in the US general election. Roosevelt quickly replaced Stilwell in order to avoid trouble for re-election. This incident ended with a complete victory for Chiang.But his weaknesses had been exposed, and his relationship with President Roosevelt had cracked. Hurley, the US President's special envoy, came to China. He visited Yan'an on November 7, and what he brought with him was the KMT's plan.But in meetings with Communist Party leaders such as Mao Zedong, Hurley offered to propose a coalition government. On November 10, Hurley and Zhou Enlai returned to Chongqing and brought back a five-point new agreement signed with the CCP. The core was to reorganize the current government into a coalition government and reorganize the military committee into a joint military committee.Within days, Hurley endorsed two diametrically opposed proposals.The shock caused by the new plan on the Kuomintang side can be imagined, but Wang Shijie still advised Chiang Kai-shek: "Don't make Hurley second to Stilwell." gone. The nightmare of the frontal battlefield continued, and there had been no Japanese troops in Guangxi for several years. In the autumn of 1944, the Guilin defenders suddenly found themselves under the enemy's back.There are Japanese troops from Vietnam in the south, and Japanese troops from Hunan in the north.Opening up the Hunan-Guangxi Railway connecting Hunan and Guangxi is the final goal of the Japanese army.Guilin and Liuzhou fell one after another, and the Japanese army fought all the way to Dushan in Guizhou. From mid-April to early December 1944, the war lasted for 8 months.The Japanese army got his wish and seized the three main railway lines of Ping-Han, Yue-Han, and Hunan-Guangxi, thus opening up the communication lines in mainland China.Occupied 3 provincial capitals including Luoyang, Changsha, and Guilin, as well as hundreds of large and small cities such as Zhengzhou and Xuchang, and occupied 7 air bases and 36 airports including Hengyang, Lingling, Liuzhou, Danzhu, and Nanning. China lost more than 500,000 troops, and the lost weapons and equipment could be used to equip 40 divisions.A large area of ​​land was lost, the source of soldiers and food was greatly reduced, and the lives of the people became worse. While the Japanese army was making a last-ditch effort to open up communication lines to the mainland, China was working hard to open up communication between China, Burma, and India.The amount of materials transported by air from Tuofeng cannot meet China's demand for materials at all. After retreating into India at the end of 1943, the expeditionary force began to launch a counterattack to northern Myanmar after being refurbished and equipped with American weapons and equipment. In May 1944, the expeditionary force in Yunnan launched a counterattack against the Japanese army in western Yunnan.Different from the first battle in Burma, the Chinese army counterattacked northern Myanmar and western Yunnan this time, enjoying the air supremacy guaranteed by the U.S. Air Force, as well as sufficient supplies and medical aid.After regaining western Yunnan and northern Myanmar, on January 27, 1945, the Chinese troops stationed in India and the expeditionary force joined forces at Mangyou on the China-Myanmar border. During the counter-offensive in western Yunnan and northern Burma, Chiang Kai-shek and US President Roosevelt exchanged many letters on the issue of Stilwell.They called Henan, Hunan, and Guangxi the Eastern Battlefield, while western Yunnan and northern Myanmar were called the Western Battlefield.China's best-equipped troops were used in the western battlefield, and the weapons and equipment shipped by the United States were mainly used for the US Air Force and Expeditionary Force in China.Although the western battlefield was victorious, the disastrous defeat in the eastern battlefield made Chiang Kai-shek's situation in the country very embarrassing.He vented his resentment on Stilwell. He told Roosevelt that the victory in northern Burma was not enough to offset the losses in the eastern battlefield of China.Eventually President Roosevelt recalled General Stilwell. Coincidentally, when the Japanese army opened up the mainland communication line, the Sino-Indian Highway was also opened. Later, Chiang Kai-shek named this road "Stilwell Highway".The mainland communication line opened up by Japan did not bring substantial effect to the Japanese army except for the final destruction to China, while the opening of the Sino-Indian Highway brought China a steady stream of American aid, which led to the later The disastrous defeat of the Japanese army in the last offensive operation on Xuefeng Mountain in western Hunan also led to a rapid change in the balance of power between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. In 1944, while the Eighth Route Army resumed its base areas and began partial counter-offensives, it also began the regularization of the army to meet the needs of a full-scale counter-offensive. From August to September, when the high-level cadre meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China proposed the transformation of the military strategy from guerrilla warfare to mobile warfare, it believed that in terms of organizational form, more regiments, divisions, and group armies should be formed, and artillery, engineering, and tank troops should be expanded. .It is completely different from the strategy of sticking to the countryside, consolidating the base areas, and preserving the strength of the War of Resistance in the middle of the War of Resistance, and the strategy of "stealing time" by the Japanese invaders.The new strategy can be summed up as: In addition to internal counterattacks, actively cooperate with the U.S. military, develop to the south, and march into cities. For many Chinese, 1944 was a year of sadness and resentment.At the most difficult time of the Anti-Japanese War, the bureaucracy exposed its incompetence.The horrors of war continue to be felt by an exhausted populace, and hyperinflation is horrific.Everyone knows that dawn is approaching, and the darkness before dawn is more and more unbearable.