Author: Zhen Shijun.
On August 4, 1937, Chiang Kai-shek wrote this paragraph in his diary:"Pingjin has fallen, the people have poisoned so much, although they want not to fight, they can't get it, otherwise the country will fall apart, and instead of the country falling apart, it is better to fight against the Japanese. ”
Two days later, in his capacity as chairman of the National Defense Council, he presided over a joint meeting of national defense in Nanjing, which was attended by members of the National Defense Council of the Kuomintang, important leaders of the Kuomintang, and leaders of important provinces, including those who were relatively distant from Chiang Kai-shek and even tense.
For example, Bai Chongxi in Guangxi, Liu Xiang in Sichuan, Yan Xishan in Shanxi, and even the *** of the Red Army at that time all received invitations, in other words, this was equivalent to a wave of people who could dominate China's destiny at that time to sit together for a meeting.
The theme of the conference is also very simple, just two words:"Unite against Japan!”
At the end of July 1937, just one month before this joint conference, Peiping and Tianjin fell, which was equivalent to half of North China in less than a month, in Chiang Kai-shek's own words"The current situation in China is the last moment of life and death. ”
He also gave a long speech at the conference, a short excerpt from which is excerpted here:"Now that the Sino-Japanese war is really a critical moment for the survival of our country, you should absolutely put aside everything you do personally and discuss and decide on a major plan from the standpoint of the country."
At that time, my first impression was that this was the old Chiang I saw in the history of middle school, and I had the impression that he should be a bald Jiang with a friendship with Japan and no resistance to the outside world, after all, the shame of 918 was still there, and several large-scale encirclements and suppressions of the Red Army only happened a year ago.
This undoubtedly brushes up on Chairman Chiang's new image, pay attention!I'm not trying to whitewash anyone, we're just going to get things done!
On July 7, 1937, the Japanese army asked to enter Wanping County to search in the name of missing a Japanese soldier, to put it bluntly, they wanted to stir up trouble, although the Japanese soldier returned after 20 minutes, the Japanese army still repeatedly asked to enter the city to search, and then the Japanese bombarded Wanping, the Lugou Bridge Incident began, and the Japanese army began to mobilize heavy troops to fully invade China.
Why from"Lugou Bridge Incident".Speaking of which?
Because this was an important point in time, before that, Chiang Kai-shek and the then National Defense Committee had an attitude towards the Japanese army"War".Yes"And".The choice between the two sides is"And".
Therefore, when the 918 Incident occurred six years ago, the Northeast Army did not let go of a single shot, and the Japanese army drove straight into the three northeastern provinces. He thinks that if you hit me, I won't fight back, look at what face you have to invade me, and I will be justified wherever you go!
Even if your Northeast Army retreats without firing a shot, let me occupy the three northeastern provinces, I will be thin-skinned for six years at most, and I will still invade if I should invade.
Zhang Xueliang targeted"918 Incident".In his later years, he said something like this:
This looks like what Zhang Xueliang said in his later years, but in fact, isn't it what Chiang Kai-shek thought in his heart back then, once a Han Qing was hotter than anyone else, and the retreat of the Northeast Army led to the fall of the country, such an order and such a responsibility, I don't think Comrade Han Qing dared to give it He can't afford it.
To understand Chiang Kai-shek's mentality in those days, he actually had illusions about the Japanese and the international community, and did not think that he dared to launch a war of aggression against the world's condemnation, even if he launched the international powers, he would not let it go.
So no matter how you provoke me, I'll hide a little bit, so that you can't grasp the handle, so what made Chiang Kai-shek determined to resist the war again?
After the Lugou Bridge Incident, the Nanjing Nationals once again fell into the dilemma of whether to be a peace or a war, and Chiang Kai-shek could not make up his mind whether this incident was an invasion or a local friction.
There are two reasons for thisFirst: Chiang Kai-shek still doesn't want to go to war?Second: The Japanese army released "smoke bombs" to confuse Chiang Kai-shek.
However, one thing is for sure, this time Chiang Kai-shek did not resist like 918, because he saw clearly the faces of the great powers last time, and it is unreliable to rely on others, so his policy is"If you don't challenge, you will fight".
Of course, there is a credit to Zhang Xueliang for the Xi'an Incident, after all, Jiang himself notified the All-China Communist Party to resist Japan for just half a year, if he regretted it, wouldn't he hit himself in the mouth, after the Japanese army left the customs, he said this to Song Zheyuan, the commander of the 29th Army stationed in North China at that time:
If Director Song believes that it is necessary to endure peacetime due to the circumstances, he can only negotiate with the other side to delay the army under the principle of not losing territorial sovereignty, but he must still make overall preparations. ”
Then, while stepping up preparations for war, I negotiated with Japan, hoping that through negotiations, the incident would not expand, but if you have to fight me, I will have to respond to the war.
But the devil is very bad, deliberately looking for trouble, he said that he only talked to Song Zheyuan, saying that because the conflict happened with him, he refused to talk to Nanjing, the meaning is obvious, I am still provoking you!He also openly warned Nanjing** not to interfere with the Jicha authorities.
Chiang Kai-shek was certainly not happy, and this was clearly a matter of engaging in the situation, so he submitted a "memorandum" to Japan on July 19, in which he reaffirmed China's principled stand of "not expanding the situation and resolving this incident peacefully", and proposed"At the same time, China and Japan will stop military movements, withdraw the armed teams they have already dispatched, and once again welcome the mediation and arbitration of the international side."
At the same time, it also said:"As long as there is a glimmer of hope for peace, China will never give up its efforts to engage in a peaceful settlement through diplomatic means. ”This weak attitude and illusion of the discovery of Japan's conscience lost the best fighter in the Sino-Japanese confrontation after the incident.
At that time, the troops deployed by the 29th Army near the Lugou Bridge occupied an excellent terrain, and the strength was two divisions, and the Japanese army only had two brigades, that is, if the Japanese army rashly attacked further, it would be easy to be surrounded, so the Japanese army implemented a delaying strategy through negotiations and urgently transferred troops to enter the pass.
On the ninth day after the incident, that is, on July 16, the Japanese army had already mobilized more than 100,000 people from five divisions to enter the pass, completing the strategic deployment for the encirclement of Beiping and Tianjin.
At this point, from Song Zheyuan of the 29th Army to Chiang Kai-shek, the Kuomintang ** Chiang Kai-shek, completely understood that Japan was not here to attack me, but to kill me, and in a month, Beiping fell and Tianjin fell, and North China was in danger.
When the news of the fall of Pingjin reached Nanjing, Nanjing** Chiang Kai-shek, who still had illusions about peace, was completely dead.
Chiang Kai-shek was also determined to fight to the death, so there was the beginning of the National Defense Joint Conference, and ten days after the meeting, he deployed to start one of the most united battles in China in nearly a hundred yearsBattle of Songhu
Why evaluate this battle in terms of unity?How determined is Lao Chiang to resist the war?
I am a true historian, and I only tell the real history.
We'll talk about it in the next issue!
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