Chapter 24 23. The national government felt pressure from the anti-Japanese voice

On September 20, Chiang Kai-shek still had not returned to Nanjing.Although the head of the family is not there, the Nanjing government has to deal with some imminent matters. After reviewing the important documents published after the Nanjing incident, almost all of them were released after (including) the 21st—it was the 21st—on that day, Chiang Kai-shek finally returned to Nanjing.However, there is an important document that is an exception. It is the "Instructions of the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang to Party Headquarters at All Levels for the Japanese Invasion of China". This document was released on the 20th.This document first summarized the situation at that time, and then put forward three requirements for the Kuomintang party departments at all levels:

1. In addition to eradicating the red bandits that endanger the survival of the nation, we must consolidate the foundation of the country and strengthen the strength of the government with one heart and one mind.2. All people's organizations must be single-minded and dedicated to disaster relief and defense against insults.3. Comrades in this party must abandon all opinions and form a strong unity, which can be regarded as an example of national unity. The first point is to emphasize political stance, the second point is to emphasize key tasks, and the third point is to emphasize internal unity-in short, this is a document that aims to unify the thinking of the entire party in the Kuomintang Central Committee.The logic of political discourse is usually: the emphasis on unification of thought is precisely because of the fact that there is disunity of thought.Specifically, the Kuomintang Central Committee wanted to unify the ideology of the various party departments because the ideology of the grassroots party departments deviated from the central government to some extent.

The news of the September 18th Incident made the Chinese angry, and the masses generally demanded that the government actively resist Japanese aggression.In this anti-Japanese wave across the country, in addition to the Chinese Communist Party expressly condemning it, the party headquarters of the Kuomintang in various places took action earlier. On the 19th, when the people of the whole country were filled with righteous indignation at the Japanese army's aggression, and college students in Beijing organized anti-Japanese and national salvation, the KMT's Shanghai Party Headquarters sent a telegram calling for an end to the civil war and a united anti-Japanese national salvation.On the same day, the Peking Party Headquarters of the Kuomintang called Gu Yingfen and other important officials from the Central Party Headquarters and the Guangzhou Nationalist Government, as well as compatriots across the country, asking them to stop the internal strife and fight against Japan together to save the peril.People should not forget that Gu Yingfang was one of the first figures who attacked Hu Hanmin after Chiang Kai-shek imprisoned him.

The call for a tough stance against Japan obviously did not fit in with the KMT Central Committee's policy of non-resistance, avoiding conflict with Japan, and protecting China's expediency through League of Nations intervention.The anti-Japanese voices of the people put pressure on the government, but it was unexpected that this pressure came from within the Kuomintang in the first place. However, the effect of unifying thinking this time is not good.Since then, not only the Kuomintang headquarters in Hebei, Tianjin, Pingsui Road, Shanxi, Hankou, Rehe, Gansu and some overseas parties have also called the Central Party Office or Chiang Kai-shek himself, asking the government to take a tough attitude towards Japan and actively prepare for war. On the 24th, The Shanghai Municipal Party Headquarters further required all members of the Kuomintang to participate in military training, and organized the Shanghai Volunteer Army, and all Shanghai Party members participated in it.

The calls for the war of resistance from all walks of life across the country brought much more pressure to the Nationalist government than this. On the 20th, Song Zheyuan, Pang Bingxun, Lu Xiuwen, Liu Ruming, Zhang Zizhong, Feng Zhian, Shen Ke, Ma Fa and other generals and all officers and soldiers of their troops sent a telegram to the whole country, demanding that the will of the whole country be unified and the strength of the whole country be united to fight against Japan. , not to be a subjugated slave."This joint name list alone can easily cause uneasiness in Nanjing, because these generals are all Feng Yuxiang's old troops. After Feng Yuxiang's defeat in the Central Plains War, although they belonged to the same family, they have not appeared as a whole for a long time. , but now under the banner of the Anti-Japanese War, another joint telegram was issued.If they get back together, Nanjing will be worried.

It's not over yet. On the 21st, Chen Cheng led all the officers and soldiers to call Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Xueliang to invite Ying to fight against Japan, and said that he would "lead his troops to fight the Japanese pirates to the death" and "would rather die before the subjugation of the country than live on the day of subjugation".Chen Cheng was Chiang Kai-shek's favorite general, and it stands to reason that a power call to invite Ying Ying to fight against Japan should not cause Nanjing to worry. Chiang Kai-shek himself said that it is a good thing for soldiers to have patriotism.However, at this time, Chen Cheng, who was the commander of the 14th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, was on the front line of "communist suppression" in Jiangxi. What he should have considered was how to hit the main force of the Red Army and wipe it out in one battle.

According to incomplete statistics, the senior Kuomintang generals who received telegrams throughout the country during this period and expressed their willingness to go to the country include: Shang Zhen, Zhang Zuoxiang, Gao Guizi, Fu Zuoyi, Yang Hucheng, Yu Xuezhong, Chen Jitang, Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, Chen Mingshu, Liu Xiang, Han Fuju, Sun Dianying and others.Among them, although there are speculators like Han Fuju who use electricity to gain political capital for themselves, most of them have proved their determination to resist the war with their actions in the future. When Chiang Kai-shek saw that so many generals expressed their determination to resist the war, he felt the pressure and his mood was very complicated.At that time, the Nanjing Nationalist Government, ostensibly called the central government of China, actually directly controlled only a few provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Next, there are astronomical foreign debts and national debts; although China's military claims to have millions, it is the Central Army, Northeast Army, Northwest Army, Jin Army, Sichuan Army (also divided into three systems), Guangdong Army, Guangxi Army, The Hunan Army, the Yunnan Army, and the Guizhou Army...they are not under the jurisdiction of each other, have different orders, lack of training, and are generally poorly equipped...

If we say that the above-mentioned pressures were still implicit and indirect, then the statement of the Guangzhou Nationalist Government combining resistance to Japan and opposition to Chiang Kai-shek was even more unbearable for the Nanjing side. On the 24th, the Guangzhou Extraordinary Meeting issued a declaration, declaring that "overthrowing the aggression of Japanese imperialism and overthrowing Chiang Kai-shek's personal dictatorship is the goal of today's joint efforts." carry on, and the Japanese imperialists will continue to gain ground in China.” Facing Japanese aggression and domestic pressure, Chiang Kai-shek was extremely pessimistic, almost on the verge of collapse. He wrote in his diary:

It was the Japanese pirates who took advantage of the rebellion in Guangdong and the internal division, and came to invade our eastern province.Woohoo, it hurts!Husband and I are in constant civil strife, rebellious and have no intention of repentance,...Moreover, natural disasters are frequent, bandits are entangled, the vitality of the country is extremely weak, even if we want to strengthen it to resist insults, the manpower is not enough!Woohoo, it hurts!Although, what I rely on is only a patriotic loyalty. At this time, I know that the danger is imminent, and I can only do my best, and I will do my best to serve my prime minister and my nation.

Chiang Kai-shek always told the Chinese people that China still needs to prepare for the war of resistance, and it must be prepared under unified leadership, but how to prepare?How is it ready?He never wanted to make it clear.In this way, the national government headed by him could not guide and transform the voices of the people and all social strata for the war of resistance into beneficial and overall resources. Make accusations against the government for not resisting Japan.