1944 was the seventh year that the Chinese people persisted in the all-people resistance war. In the words of the commander-in-chief of the Chinese theater Chiang Kai-shek, this year was "the year of the greatest danger and the deepest worry."Ordinarily, this should not have happened. Japan, a small island country, should have run out of strength after seven years of resistance and consumption by the Chinese people.Chiang Kai-shek saw the end of the road for the Japanese army, but he never thought that he would almost become their funeral objects.To be honest, no one in the Kuomintang this year thought that under the light of the dawn of victory, they would fall into such a big fall.

Before that, that is, at the end of 1943, the situation of the entire world war had undergone an earth-shaking reversal.The two major anti-fascist battlefields in Europe and the Pacific have almost simultaneously entered the stage of strategic counter-offensive.The Chinese battlefield, which has been carrying out the whole-nation war of resistance against Japan for more than six years, is also in the transitional stage from strategic defense to strategic counter-offensive.In order to welcome the arrival of the counter-offensive operation, Chiang Kai-shek has ordered the Supreme Command of the Chinese theater to start planning and formulating the strategic policy in the later stage.

In February 1944, Chiang Kai-shek held the fourth military conference in Nanyue to formulate a counter-offensive strategy.At the military conference, Chiang Kai-shek notified the participating generals of the excellent situation in the international war, clearly mentioned that the turning point of the Anti-Japanese War against Japan and the counter-offensive stage had arrived, and made corresponding military deployments.There is a key word in its strategic policy called cooperation, which is what Chiang Kai-shek said, "The general counterattack of the national army is beneficial to cooperate with the actions of the Allied forces."Chiang Kai-shek's idea of ​​cooperating with the Allied forces came into being on December 8, 1941.

December 8, 1941, was an ordinary day.And on this day, an unexpected thing happened, which changed the situation and balance of power in the entire Second World War, and the process of the world war changed from this day onwards.This is the famous Pearl Harbor incident in history. At 1:30 a.m. on the 8th, Tokyo time, 183 Japanese planes flew over the unsuspecting Pearl Harbor. With bombs and torpedoes roaring down, the largest U.S. military base in the Pacific immediately turned into a sea of ​​flames.The U.S. Pacific Fleet was almost completely annihilated under the bombing attacks by Japanese planes.

More than 40 ships were bombed and sunk, 188 aircraft exploded and caught fire, and 4,500 officers and soldiers were killed or injured.When the Americans heard the news, most of them were stunned and wept with grief. On the day before the incident, Washington was still negotiating with the United States and Japan. Japan's deceitful tricks and huge losses in the Pacific made President Roosevelt, who was sitting in a wheelchair, show rare anger and excitement. The Pearl Harbor incident just confirmed an old Chinese saying to describe a fool: lift a rock and drop it on your own foot.U.S. government officials are just such stupid people.At the beginning of the outbreak of the Second World War, the Americans thought they were smart, adopted a neutral attitude and position, and sent a large amount of arms to the warring parties.Gold and silver poured in, and made a lot of war fortune.The result is a bitter wine that you brew yourself, and you have to drink it yourself.

If President Roosevelt could stand up, he would be furious.However, a bout of polio many years ago permanently paralyzed the 59-year-old president.He could only sit in a wheelchair that day, addressing the American people through the radio, shaking his fist and vowing revenge.Roosevelt's radio speech received strong repercussions from all over the world. In addition to offering moral sympathy, the leaders of many countries could not hide their excitement and excitement.Churchill had a big Black Bear cigar in his mouth, and just after hearing a part of Roosevelt's speech, he clapped his hands excitedly and shouted, OK!We will never fight alone again.

In contrast to Churchill's behavior was Chiang Kai-shek.That day, Chiang Kai-shek was busy reviewing documents when the indoor phone rang.Commander-in-Chief Chiang picked up the phone absently. On the other end of the phone was Dong Xianguang of the Central Propaganda Department, who reported the startling news to Chiang Kai-shek.Chiang Kai-shek suddenly jumped up from his seat. Commander-in-Chief Chiang, who always had a serious expression, put down the phone and danced around the room several times. He knew that his fate would undergo a dramatic change starting from this day. Chiang Kai-shek, who was struggling, found a strong ally in the flames of Pearl Harbor.On the same battlefield, facing the same enemy, Chiang Kai-shek was no longer alone. He wrote in his diary that day: "The achievements of the Anti-Japanese War policy have reached their peak so far."

Since then, Chiang Kai-shek has firmly established the strategic thinking of "cooperating with the Allied Forces in action". After Chiang Kai-shek no longer worried about fighting alone and his future is bleak, it produced other negative effects, that is, sitting on the sidelines and waiting.He desperately hopes that the pattern of world wars will change, and it is best to turn him upside down and shock the world.Bai Chongxi, the deputy chief of staff of the supreme commander at the time, was well aware of Chiang Kai-shek's negative strategic policy of long-term consumption.He once called Chiang Kai-shek and had the following passage:

The highest strategy of our army is the war of attrition. Before the China-India-Myanmar Highway is opened, how to make good use of the existing forces to wait for the Allied forces to counterattack... To be able to support it for a long time is a clear lesson for everyone. Bai Chongxi here fully disclosed Chiang Kai-shek's guiding ideology of passive resistance.This guiding ideology directly affected the thinking and fighting spirit of the participating troops on the frontal battlefield of the Kuomintang.Everyone knows that Japan's final defeat is inevitable, so preserving its strength and waiting for victory is naturally the best strategy. Why bother to fight the Japanese army?The will to resist the war was decadent. From Chiang Kai-shek, the top decision-maker of the Military Commission, to the commanders of the theaters, the commanders of the group army, and even the commanders of the army and divisions, it was almost impossible to see the ambition to fight to the death since the early days of the War of Resistance.

The days of the Japanese invading army were completely opposite to those of the Chinese army.With the counter-offensive of the Anti-Fascist Allied Forces on various battlefields around the world, the war situation that Japan is facing in Asia is becoming increasingly severe.The U.S. military continued to expand its offensive in the Pacific Ocean, cutting off the sea line of communication from Southeast Asia to the Japanese mainland.In this way, the mainland line of communication from Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam via China to Busan, North Korea, will become the lifeline for the Japanese army to persist in fighting on the East Asian continent.However, such a line of communication to the mainland has not yet been completely penetrated, and places in China such as Henan, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangxi are still controlled by the Chinese army.Therefore, opening up the lines of communication on the mainland will be the key to guaranteeing operations on the East Asian continent.

Major General Joichiro Sanada, Chief of Operations of the Japanese Staff Department, and Colonel Takushiro Hattori, Chief of Operations Section, began to formulate a combat plan to open up the mainland communication line.During the time when the combat plan was being drawn up, the U.S. Air Force took off from the Chinese airport and carried out air strikes on important targets such as the Northeast, the Japanese mainland, and the sea line of communication in the East China Sea, which made the Japanese base camp feel a huge threat.For this reason, Sugiyama Moto, the Chief of Staff of the Japanese Army, specifically asked Sanada and Hattori whether it was possible to join the combat plan to suppress the activities of the air forces of the allies in China in the operation to open up the mainland communication line.They conducted specific research on this, and finally included in the campaign plan the plan to destroy the US bomber base in Southwest China. In his memorial to the Emperor of Japan, Gen. Sugiyama, Chief of Staff of the Japanese Army, clearly expressed the intention of this campaign: The primary purpose of destroying the enemy's airfields in the southwest of China is to protect the homeland and the East China Sea.Opening up the line of communication on the mainland, even if the communication with the south at sea is cut off, the materials from the south can be transported through the mainland to strengthen the combat effectiveness, which is the second purpose.At the same time, as a side effect, important resources such as tungsten ore in enemy-occupied areas can be obtained. Based on these considerations, the Japanese base camp decided to change its combat policy, try its best to block the offensive of the US military in the Pacific Ocean, and open up and ensure the line of communication in mainland China on the mainland.It is very important to maintain contact with the 500,000 troops in the south through this line of communication, so they decided to conduct a large-scale field campaign across mainland China.Of course, while opening up the line of communication, I hope to launch an active battle with the Chinese army. It is best to eliminate the main force of the Chinese army, so as to completely eliminate the possibility of the Chinese army cooperating with the US military to land in the East China Sea. If the campaign plan of the Japanese base camp had been placed seven or eight years ago, it could be said to be a very complete campaign design.However, this beautiful plan that seems to kill three birds with one stone, or even kill four birds with one stone, has been criticized even inside the Japanese base camp.The first person to object was Susumu Nishiura, director of the Military Section of the Army Ministry. His reason for objecting was simple. Such a large-scale combat situation would require a huge military force, which would have a very negative impact on the entire Pacific War.He strongly opposed and even blocked the approval of the plan.The current Japanese military machine can no longer afford it. Even if it succeeds, it will be impossible to maintain the normal operation of this line of communication.What's more, with such a long line of communication, the Japanese army will inevitably form a long snake formation in the shape of a line, posing a posture of being slaughtered.Therefore, this plan is the arrogance of a madman, and it is a fool's dream. Nishiura's objection was supported by many upper-level soldiers.Commander-in-Chief of the China Expeditionary Force Hata Shunroku said that this battle is not commensurate with the current situation of overall decline in military strength, resources, and especially the combat effectiveness of the army.Nor is he advocating the implementation of the plan.There are also Naozaburo Okabe of the Sixth Front Army and others, who all expressed different opinions and suggestions to the local base camp. Hideki Tojo, who was then Prime Minister of the Japanese Cabinet and Minister of the Army, combined the different opinions of the two sides and looked at the development of the entire war situation, especially based on the crisis of US long-range bombers using the airports in Southwest China to attack the Japanese mainland from time to time. Opportunity to destroy Southwest China Airport, he finally agreed to the plan.Hideki Tojo agreed to this plan also because of the conflict between the Japanese army and navy. Of course, this is an unspeakable reason.Since the day when Japanese militarism expanded outwards, the Japanese army and navy have been secretly competing against each other.The navy created a major event that shocked the world at Pearl Harbor, which made the whole world look at the Japanese navy with admiration.However, the good times didn't last long. Since the Battle of Midway, the Japanese navy has been retreating steadily in the Pacific Ocean. The army gloats over others' misfortune and constantly criticizes it. At the same time, it is also eager to overwhelm the navy with a huge victory. On January 24, 1944, the Emperor of Japan approved this large-scale campaign plan.The "Mainland Order No. 921" combat order was issued from the base camp of the Japanese army to the Chinese dispatched troops to open up the mainland communication line.According to this order, the Japanese Army Staff Department immediately issued a combat outline to the Chinese dispatched troops in the name of the chief of staff's instructions, and the campaign code was "Operation No. 1".Because this battle was mainly fought in Henan, Hunan and Guangxi, it was also called the "Battle of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi" in the history of China's Anti-Japanese War. The Japanese "Operation No. 1" was divided into three stages. The first stage began in April 1944. The North China Front Army invested 4 divisions to launch the Henan Operation. It is estimated that the Ping-Han line will be opened in one and a half months.The second stage was in June, with the 11th Army in Central China as the main force and the 23rd Army in Guangdong as the supplement. A total of 10 to 12 divisions were invested to launch the Hunan operation. It is expected to open up the middle section of the Guangdong-Han line in five months.The third step was in January 1945, with the 23rd Army as the main force, launching the Guangxi operation. It is expected to open the Hunan-Guangxi line and the southern section of the Guangdong-Han line in a month or two. In order to implement the "Operation No. 1", the Japanese emperor made the greatest determination to use the manpower, material and financial resources of the whole country to ensure the victory of such a large-scale battle.For example, the food and ammunition reserves of the troops participating in the war generally reached more than half a year's consumption.All local road and bridge engineering personnel and equipment were also used to repair the roads behind the front.Other materials needed for the battle, ranging from field medical equipment to military uniforms and leather shoes, are all available, which is unprecedented in the history of Japanese wars.It can be said that the craziest final blow of Japanese militarism is like a dog jumping over a wall in a hurry. Based on various sources of intelligence, Chiang Kai-shek judged that the Japanese invaders would carry out Operation No. 1 in mid-March. He believes that the purpose of Japan's No. 1 operation is to open up the two lines between Guangdong and Han and Hunan and Guangxi, and open up an escape route for their 500,000 troops in the south when they are defeated. Countless last-ditch comebacks. Chiang Kai-shek is very confident in his own judgment. He believes that Japan currently does not have this strength.Commander-in-Chief Jiang sat in Chongqing, waiting for Stilwell to counterattack Burma and open up the international communication line between Yunnan and Burma, so as to obtain more aid.One of the elite divisions of the Kuomintang army was transferred to the southwest to prepare for an expedition, and the rest were to monitor the Communist army in northern Shaanxi.All he thought about was how to deal with the Communist Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and some local anti-Japanese armed forces after the victory of the War of Resistance.In any case, he did not expect that the Japanese army would preemptively strike on the Eastern Front in China, and the offensive would be so violent. The Japanese army invested more than 500,000 troops.Hideki Tojo called the No. 1 operation "Jade Broken Operation".Taiwan's history books call it "battle with broken tanks", that is, all-or-nothing, success or failure depends on one action. The Battle of Xiangxi began on April 9, 1945 and ended on June 7. It was the last battle in the War of Resistance Against Japan. The two sides participated in the battle with a total of more than 280,000 troops and a battle line of more than 200 kilometers. If you want to fully understand and understand the Battle of Xiangxi, you must first understand and understand the No. 1 Operation in the Japanese base camp. The Xiangxi Battle is actually a secondary product of the No. 1 Operation, and it is the final outcome of the Battle of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi.This battle is called the "Zhijiang Raiders Battle" in Japanese war books and history books, because one of the purposes of the Japanese base camp No. 1 operation is to destroy the military airports in the southwest region, and Zhijiang, which is located at the throat of Qianchuan, is exactly China. The theater is where the Chinese, American and Soviet Air Forces exert great power. History played a small joke on Chiang Kai-shek.The Battle of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi put him in a dangerous situation of internal and external difficulties. Not only did he lose hundreds of thousands of troops and a large area of ​​land, but also the respect and confidence of the allies in China.For this reason, Chiang Kai-shek almost lost the throne of the commander-in-chief of the Chinese theater.In the blink of an eye, Chiang Kai-shek, in the Battle of Xiangxi, gave the Chinese people a new impression and restored the image of the world's four giants. History is like an old man juggling, often making Chiang Kai-shek at a loss.