Chapter 95: Allied Defeat in Burma and Northwestern Claims
After the Japanese army provoked the Pacific War, in order to demonstrate the justice of his side, Roosevelt planned to establish a new international organization in Washington to replace the discredited League of Nations.
The Guiyang National Government regarded this preparatory meeting for the "United Nations" as a major event to establish domestic orthodoxy and international status. Therefore, it sent a delegation to attend the meeting, including Foreign Minister Song Ziwen, who was in the United States discussing the acceptance of American aid, Ambassador to the United States Hu Shi, and Bank of China Corporation Director Chen Guangfu.
While Song Ziwen was in the United States, China, the United States and Britain held a military meeting in Guiyang on December 19 on the issue of China's military assistance in the defense of Burma.
The British representative attending the military meeting was the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, Field Marshal Archibald Wavell. Although he was badly beaten by Rommel in North Africa, Wavell was defiant in front of the Chinese.
He followed Churchill's will and was extremely wary of China.
Perhaps in the eyes of the British, after the Americans entered the war, Japan's defeat was already inevitable, and at this time it was more important to guard against the Chinese than the Japanese.
"Your Excellency, in fact, there are also disagreements within Guiyang on whether to send troops into Burma. Many people think that it is unwise to send troops into Burma under the threat of our Southern Army Group, but Chairman Jiang is stubborn." Dai Jiliang commented on this: "Chiang is not blinded by greed, but is good at calculation and has over-calculated."
Dai Jiliang judged that Chiang believed that the Northwest would not take this opportunity to oppress Guiyang due to its international influence. At the same time, Chiang could also obtain the 30 divisions of American equipment he had longed for by maintaining the Burmese channel.
"When dealing with the British, you have to be extremely careful. Expecting the British Empire to voluntarily give in is just courting disaster."
Dai Jiliang sneered.
"Since the Anti-Japanese War, we have encountered many setbacks in diplomacy. It is really sad that we have not learned these lessons and are still hoping for the best."
Dai Jiliang waved his hand, and the Director of the Public Relations Department, Major General Shen Ruimin, then retreated. Before the door was closed, Dai Jiliang was vaguely heard picking up the phone and giving orders.
"Please ask the Chief of Staff, Chairman E, to come over." Time passed normally. On December 24, in order to prevent the Chinese army from interfering with the Southern Army's attack on Hong Kong, the 11th Army of the Japanese Army launched the Third Battle of Changsha (the Japanese army called it the Second Battle of Changsha).
On December 25, the Japanese army occupied Hong Kong.
On December 26, the United States declared Manila an undefended city.
On January 1, 1942, the "Declaration of the United Nations" negotiated by representatives of 26 countries was formally signed. Politically, China became one of the four giants of the Allied Powers along with the United States, the Soviet Union and Britain. Chiang Kai-shek obtained the international status he had long dreamed of and was announced as the commander-in-chief of the China Theater on the same day.
On January 2, the Japanese army occupied Manila.
On the same day, the Northwest National Defense Military and Political Committee ordered the establishment of the Ninth Army under the Southern Army Group, appointing Lieutenant General Zhang Xuelian, former commander of the Shaanxi-Gansu River Defense Command, as the army commander and Lieutenant General Hu Jing as the army chief of staff. The army will be under the jurisdiction of six divisions, including the 203rd and 232nd divisions.
At this point, the Southern Army Group had 13 infantry divisions, 1 light division, 1 mountain cavalry corps, 7 combined artillery brigades and mountain artillery brigades, 4 heavy artillery regiments and 6 independent heavy artillery battalions, 7 air defense regiments and 29 independent air defense battalions, 5 motor transport regiments, 19 mule and horse transport regiments, 7 railway engineering regiments, 13 independent engineering regiments, 8 chemical battalions and 17 independent chemical companies and several rear hospitals.
On January 7, the Northwest National Defense Military and Political Committee announced the abolition of the headquarters of the deputy commander-in-chief of Luxi in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui War Zone, and the combat area was placed under the jurisdiction of the war zone.
The Seventh Army of the Northwest Army, which was originally carrying out combat missions in the area, was combined with the Second Army that was carrying out combat missions in the Hebei-Henan War Zone to form the Heluo Army Group.
Lieutenant General Chen Youliang, former deputy commander-in-chief of Luxi in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui War Zone, was transferred to become the commander-in-chief of the army group, and Lieutenant General Liu Zijun, former commander of the 251st Division who was a former subordinate of Yang Hucheng, was appointed chief of staff of the army group.
The army group has 15 infantry divisions (armies, brigades) including the Tongguan-Fenglingdu garrison area, 8 combined artillery brigades, 5 heavy artillery regiments and 3 independent heavy artillery battalions, 4 air defense regiments and 28 independent air defense battalions, 6 automobile transport regiments, 17 mule and horse transport regiments, 4 railway engineering regiments, 20 independent engineering regiments, 4 chemical battalions and 18 independent chemical companies, totaling about 550,000 officers and soldiers.
On January 18, the extension section of the Xi'an-Shangzhou Railway was built to Nanyang, and the supply bottleneck between the rear of Shaanxi and Gansu and the direction of Nanyang was opened.
On February 1, the extension section of the Hanzhong and Ankang railways, which also started construction in November 1937, was also extended to Xiangyang.
Immediately afterwards, the Northwest National Defense Government Transportation Committee and the National Defense Military and Political Committee jointly issued an order, deciding to build a railway between Luoyang and Xiangyang to connect the three key points of Luoyang, Nanyang and Xiangyang.
On February 2, the Northwest National Defense Military and Political Committee announced the abolition of the headquarters of the deputy commander of the Shanxi-Chahar War Zone, and merged the Suiyuan Sixth Army and the Northwest Shanxi Group and South Shanxi Group in Shanxi into the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army Group.
Lieutenant General Huang Sanxi, former deputy commander-in-chief of the Shanxi-Chahar War Zone, was appointed commander-in-chief of the army group, and Lieutenant General Zhang Daohong, a senior staff officer of the Northwest Army General Staff, was appointed chief of staff of the army group.
The army group has 2 cavalry armies, 10 infantry divisions, 5 combined and mountain artillery brigades, 3 heavy artillery regiments and 7 independent heavy artillery battalions, 4 air defense regiments and 12 independent air defense battalions, 4 motor transport regiments, 14 mule and horse transport regiments, 3 railway engineering regiments, 11 independent engineering regiments, 3 chemical battalions and 14 independent chemical companies, totaling 350,000 officers and soldiers.
Just as the Northwest Army was undergoing organizational adjustments, Xue Yue defeated the attack of the new 11th Army commander Anami Korechika in Changsha and won the third Changsha Battle.
This victory was so dazzling against the backdrop of the Allied defeats in the Far East that Britain and the United States gave it unrealistic and exaggerated praise.
In fact, at a press conference held after the war, Zhao Ziling, then chief of the General Staff of the Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the Fourth War Zone, implicitly admitted under questioning by foreign journalists that he had falsified the combat plan, covered up the failure, and did not capture a single Japanese soldier in the Third Battle of Changsha. However, this did not affect Britain and the United States from exaggerating the combat capability of the Kuomintang army and urging Chiang Kai-shek's army to immediately reinforce British Burma, which was invaded on January 19.
On January 20, the 49th Division and the 93rd Division of the Sixth Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force began to enter Burma.
However, the British were always suspicious of the presence of Chinese troops in Burma, and therefore delayed allowing the Chinese troops to move south to fight in places such as Rangoon. Under such circumstances, the Chinese Expeditionary Force was stuck in a difficult situation where it could not advance or retreat.
In mid-February, as the situation in Myanmar showed signs of a sharp deterioration, the British attitude had to soften.
On February 16, the Chinese Expeditionary Force was finally able to move south, and on March 7, the Fifth Army's vanguard 200th Division arrived at the small town of Tonggu.
But by this time, it was too late. On March 8, Yangon fell.
After the fall of Rangoon, Chiang lost most of his confidence in the defense of Burma. He told his chief of staff, American Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, "Rangoon has been lost, and the purpose of our army entering Burma no longer exists. The enemy may take advantage of our entry into Burma to attack Yunnan from Vietnam. If this move succeeds, Yunnan Province will be in danger, and the overall situation will be disastrous."
Therefore, it was considered to "return the troops that entered Burma to consolidate the defense of Yunnan Province and the Yangtze River Basin."
Chiang's words were confusing, and Stilwell, who was known as an expert on China, did not understand them.
Based on his own considerations, Stilwell believed that Burma was more important to China than to Britain. Therefore, every effort must be made to recapture the important coastal city of Rangoon. Even if the strength is insufficient, China should hold the high ground east of Mandalay, control northern Burma, and keep the enemy out of the country.
The conflict between the two people arose, which in turn triggered a series of events later. However, for the time being, since China and the United States had just publicly formed an alliance, the relationship between the two sides was still in the honeymoon period. Therefore, this did not affect the continued fighting of the Chinese army in Myanmar.
Unfortunately, Chiang's point of view on this matter was correct. As a result, the Chinese Expeditionary Force that entered Burma was almost wiped out, and most of Chiang's few elite troops were killed in this battle. The Japanese army not only occupied the entire Burma, but also extended its evil hand to Yunnan. Only relying on the natural barrier of Nujiang River was it able to barely keep the territory west of Baoshan.
The failure of the expeditionary force and the loss of the Yunnan border area intensified the conflict between Chiang and Stilwell .
In Chiang's view, his main force was defeated by Stilwell, while in Stilwell's view, the low combat effectiveness of Chiang's troops was the main reason for the failure of the Burma Campaign. Therefore, the two immediately began to compete for the dominance of the Kuomintang army.
Stilwell tried to use his power to distribute American aid to threaten Chiang. Indeed, Li Zongren, Feng Yuxiang and others were close to him, but Chiang relied on Whampoa students to control various departments, which made Stilwell run into obstacles everywhere in the process of winning over Chiang's army. The power of Li Zongren and others was not enough to shake Chiang's authority. In this situation, Stilwell had to try to win over the Northwest to force Chiang to abdicate.
In mid-May 1941, American Colonel Williams Landon came to Lanzhou on the pretext of discussing the acceptance of American aid to the Northwest.
Colonel Langton thought he would receive a grand welcome, but to his surprise, he only saw a colonel welcoming him at the airport.
Landon, who was usually surrounded by lieutenant generals, major generals and even admirals from Guiyang, was obviously unhappy. However, the explanation given by Northwest was diplomatic parity, which left Landon speechless and gave him an unusual respect for Northwest.
Subsequently, the two sides held secret talks.
Since Landon came to discuss the issue of American aid, the two sides first discussed the relevant topics.
However, what surprised him again was that the Northwest's requirements rarely asked for arms, but instead put military personnel training as the top priority.
"What, 22,000 naval officers and soldiers accepted and trained by the United States Navy?"
Stilwell was surprised by the report that Langton gave after returning to Guiyang.
"Do they have a navy?"
However, what was even more surprising was the "Suggestions on Establishing a Northwest Supply Channel" in the Northwest. "Transiting through the Soviet Union, taking the Arctic Ocean route and the Iranian channel, the warlord Dai's idea was indeed ingenious."
Stilwell pondered for a moment.
"Neither of these two things is something I can easily decide, so I have to let Washington decide."
"General, do you want Lanzhou to send someone to Washington?"
Landon blinked.
"Will this stimulate the Nationalist government?"
"Just to stimulate that peanut."
Stilwell used the nickname to refer to Chiang who was not present.
"This is the only way to force you to act according to our wishes."
After nodding slightly, Stilwell was unwilling to talk in depth and asked instead.
"Does the warlord have any other demands for weapons and military expenditures?"
"Yes, the warlord Dai asked Washington to provide a total of 1.5 billion US dollars in flat loans. As for the rest, they asked for 800 to 1,000 high-power aircraft engines, 2,500 military trucks, and 1,000 sets of advanced machine tools every month."
Stilwell grinned: "This..."
