Chapter 26 25. Chiang Kai-shek returned to Nanjing to preside over the overall situation

On the Yangtze River, the Yongsui ship went down the river. On board, Chiang Kai-shek was silent.Yesterday, he received a telegram from Nanjing calling him back to preside over everything.Incidents still happened.Although he maintained his composure, his worry still showed on his face. Originally, the country was too troubled to deal with it, but now it suddenly suffered a sudden change, and the future was unpredictable.As if he was in danger of the world, he was expected by the Nanjing side.How will I preside over everything? Since the training of soldiers in Huangpu, he has been in the turbulent vortex of this era of great change, and he has been more and more trapped in the vortex of power struggle.He has always admired Wang Yangming and Zeng Guofan, and he tried his best to imitate these two sages in his behavior. He cited "resilience and tranquility" and "oneness in the battle" as precepts, and practiced self-cultivation. Like Zeng Guofan, he also kept a diary diligently.Although he has done enough self-cultivation efforts of traditional Chinese scholar-bureaucrats, at this time, he still cannot avoid the anxiety and disappointment in his heart.

On September 19, he received news that the Japanese army had launched a war in the northeast.Although it happened suddenly and the situation is still in chaos, based on his experience in dealing with diplomatic relations with Japan in the past few years, he has a premonition that this time will be an extraordinary change.In an instant, he felt a sense of fear that the state affairs were in danger and he couldn't think about it. One day passed, and the Japanese army drove to various strategic locations in the northeast.The Japanese army's intentions became clearer and the situation became clearer, and his mood gradually settled down. In his diary on the 20th, he wrote:

I heard that after Shenyang, Changchun, and Yingkou were forcibly occupied by Japanese pirates, they were restless, as if they were mourning a concubine.If you are a descendant of my ancestor and my clan, you will never take back the Northeast, and you will never be humane!The kid encourages it! ... Only follow the example of Goujian, endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens, endure hardships and taste courage, gather together for ten years, learn lessons for ten years, and try to fight again in the future, to make up for the shame of the past. Facing the wind in the river and the unexpected future, Chiang Kai-shek on the Yongsui Ship gradually made up his mind.

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon that day, Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Nanjing.The military and government officials in Nanjing have long been waiting.As soon as Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Beijing, everyone immediately gathered in the official residence of Zhongshan Yuanling to discuss the current situation and countermeasures. At the meeting, Chiang Kai-shek advocated appealing to justice first, submitting the fact that Japan occupied the three eastern provinces to the League of Nations and the signatories of the Non-War Pact, hoping that international forces would intervene in Japan's aggression out of morality. At the same time, he called for unity In the country, we went to the national calamity together and endured to a certain extent, which was the last act of self-defense.The meeting decided:

(1) In terms of diplomacy, a special diplomatic committee will be added to serve as a decision-making and research institution for Japan; (2) In terms of military affairs, troops will be deployed to the north to help defend, and the discussion on Guangdong and the plan to suppress the Communist Party will be suspended; (3) In terms of politics, Cai Yuanpei, Zhang Ji, and Chen Mingshu were sent to Guangdong to call for unity and unity to resist foreign aggression; (4) On the public side, the national government and the central party department respectively issued a letter to the countrymen, asking the people of the country to be calm and patient, work hard to unite, prepare for self-defense, and trust the justice of the League of Nations.

At first glance, these four measures are very comprehensive and reasonable, and they cover almost everything that the national government can do in response to the incident.However, after careful analysis, these four measures are quite debatable. Some of these measures are real and must be done, such as the establishment of a special diplomatic committee on the diplomatic side, and sending people to Guangzhou to persuade those political opponents to put aside different opinions and re-establish the national cause. Back to the path of "one center".Some of the measures are false, and they are just talking but not doing anything, such as the military.After the September 18th Incident, although Chiang Kai-shek had to give up the third "encirclement and suppression" campaign against the Red Army, he did not move troops northward. "——Outside the former Northwest Army, they never saw Chiang Kai-shek Chen Bing North China in preparation for the eyeing Japanese army. In the spring of 1932, when the tense relationship with the Japanese eased slightly, Chiang Kai-shek launched the fourth "encirclement and suppression" campaign against the Red Army, followed by the fifth "encirclement and suppression" campaign, which finally forced the Red Army to go northward and began a major strategic shift .In short, it is the "fighting against the outside world" that stands still, and the "safety inside" has made great progress.

The "popular aspect" listed at the bottom of these four measures is really a bit of a mistake. It actually puts the requirement of "calmness and patience" on the people before "strive for unity" and "preparation for self-defense". From the very beginning, the national government itself was placed on the opposite side of the demands of the people.Just imagine, in the face of the brazen military aggression launched by Japan, which has been coveting China for a long time, the first reaction of the people is of course to ask the government to lead the people to resist. Yes, it actually asks the people to be patient!Of course, China was a weak country at that time, and the government's policy toward Japan had to be strategic, but if it told the people to be patient, the result would only be counterproductive.This was evidenced by the turn of popular sentiment just a few days later, which pointed the finger at the Nationalist government's policy of non-resistance.Chiang Kai-shek has a self-righteous elite consciousness. He always regards himself as a leader, looks down on the people, and is not good at mobilizing the people. This defect is an important reason why Chiang himself and the National Government he led eventually failed.

Among these four measures, the establishment of a special diplomatic committee and the conduct of policy-making research on Japan can be said to be the only measures that have been implemented and achieved certain results.Among them, there are not only powerful members of the national government such as He Yingqin, Song Ziwen, and Kong Xiangxi, but also important theorists in the Kuomintang such as Dai Jitao, Shao Lizi, and Chen Bulei, and famous diplomats such as Gu Weijun.After the September 18th Incident, a series of diplomatic activities of the national government were carried out under the specific decision-making and leadership of this committee.Relying on the League of Nations and adopting the policy of not directly negotiating with Japan, the Committee worked together and fought a diplomatic war with Japan in an international community where the situation was changing rapidly and the relationship was complicated.Through the invisible struggle of diplomacy, China has won international support and sympathy, and Japan has become increasingly isolated in the international community.However, they were unwilling to take effective measures to stop Japanese aggression, and the various diplomatic plans of the committee ultimately came to nothing.

The occurrence of the September 18th Incident introduced new resources for the anti-Chiang struggle of the Guangzhou Nationalist Government. They linked anti-Chiang with anti-Japanese, making the anti-Chiang voice louder and more powerful. At this time in Guangzhou, a telegram was being sent across the country: 1. Jiang electrified and automatically went to the field; 2. The power supply of Guangzhou State Government is cancelled; 3. To organize a unified government through peaceful unification conferences.The intention of the colleagues of Gai Guofu is to overthrow the dictatorship and realize the rule of the people. If this goal can be achieved, there is no other desire.