Chiang Kai-shek flew to **, and the battle was defeatedWhy did Chiang Kai-shek's "micro-manipulation" always fail?
Chiang Kai-shek, as the "old enemy" of ***'s life, nominally unified the country in 1927. Chiang Kai-shek had more experience in the military field than ***, although *** never received training in a regular military academy.
As a young man, Chiang Kai-shek studied at the Baoding Army Crash Course and went to Japan to study at the Zhenwu School, becoming one of the most popular Chinese students in Japan at the time.
After returning to China, Chiang Kai-shek served in the army for a long time, serving as the commander of the Fifth Regiment of Chen Qimei's Shanghai Army, and was also appointed by Sun Yat-sen as the chief of staff of the Northeast Army of the Chinese Revolutionary Army.
In 1918, Chiang Kai-shek held various positions in the Cantonese Army, including Director of the Operations Section, Commander of the Second Detachment of the Cantonese Army, Chief of Staff of the Second Army of the East Road Thief Army, and Chief of Staff of the Generalissimo's Mansion Base Camp. He was an experienced officer with a systematic formal military education.
In 1924, Sun Yat-sen decided to establish the Army Military Academy, and Chiang Kai-shek was appointed chief of staff of the General Headquarters of the Cantonese Army, and at the same time became the principal of the Whampoa Military Academy.
As a result, Chiang Kai-shek's early years in his military career showed the trait of receiving a formal military education and having extensive military experience. These experiences were also key reasons for his continuous promotion in the army and his two victories in the Eastern Crusade. In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek led the Northern Expeditionary Army to drink the Yangtze River and became the supreme leader of the people in one fell swoop.
Although Chiang Kai-shek's academic qualifications and brilliant experience made him look like a qualified and excellent commander-in-chief, little recognition was given to his military prowess, either within the Kuomintang or in the Communist Party.
Chiang Kai-shek's military prowess has always been controversial. Even Bai Chongxi, a general of the Gui family, who was known as "Little Zhuge ", was ridiculed about his military level and evaluated him as "at most an infantry platoon commander". * jokingly referred to him as "the captain of the transport brigade".
So, what exactly is Chiang Kai-shek's military skills?There is no need to listen to the evaluation of the hostile PLA, and the results of the campaign under his command fully show everything. In short, Chiang Kai-shek seems to be "**with Chiang Kai-shek, **there will be defeat".
As a strongman who rose to prominence with the army, Chiang Kai-shek has always paid great attention to the control of the army, and the Whampoa Military Academy has become the pillar he relies on the most. The teachers and students of the Whampoa Military Academy formed the main force supporting Chiang Kai-shek's ** military system.
However, like the emperors of ancient times, Chiang Kai-shek could not fully trust the people around him, even if they were close associates. Chiang Kai-shek never fully trusted the teachers and students of the Whampoa Military Academy, who were essentially just from the Army's crash course.
Therefore, in the eyes of his loyal students, Chiang Kai-shek was always worried that they would not be able to fight and accomplish his own "great cause".
Whenever the war was urgent, Chiang Kai-shek was always at the front line and directly commanded the troops. He often overstepped the command and carried out so-called "micro-manipulation", which has become his daily routine.
Interestingly, however, despite Chiang Kai-shek's disbelief in the military prowess of his subordinates and repeatedly "had to" play in person, his presence in command was often more effective than that of his subordinates.
For example, after the outbreak of the Liaoshen Campaign, Chiang Kai-shek's more than 500,000 main forces faced the danger of being surrounded and annihilated by the People's Liberation Army. In such a critical situation, Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Shenyang by plane without surprise and began to personally direct the battle.
However, after Xibaipo heard that Chiang Kai-shek personally commanded, he did not feel nervous, but said with a smile: "Chiang Kai-shek flew to Shenyang, and now our victory is more certain." Although these words were a joke, they broke the embarrassing record of Chiang Kai-shek's personal command: no matter how far he flies, he is doomed to defeat.
In fact, the personal command and "micro-manipulation" of the Liaoshen campaign was not the first time for Chiang Kai-shek. As early as the agrarian revolution, Chiang Kai-shek had already developed such a habit.
In January 1935, the Red Army's Long March reached Zunyi in Guizhou. After breaking through the Kuomintang blockade and the fierce battle on the Xiangjiang River, the Red Army not only suffered heavy losses, but also had low morale. In this extremely critical situation, the Zunyi Conference was held and established the leading position.
* After the occupation of the city of Zunyi by the Red Army, Chiang Kai-shek was shocked when he heard the news. He once again mobilized the army and the forces of local warlords to completely encircle the Red Army.
After the Zunyi Conference, the morale of the Red Army under the leadership of the Red Army was improved, but after many tragic battles and long journeys, it was still exhausted.
In an extremely crisis situation, ** unfolded his masterpiece - four crossings of the red water. Under the command of ***, the march of more than 30,000 men of the **Red Army became extremely flexible and mobile, getting rid of the previous bloated and sluggish state.
In contrast, the Kuomintang's army of more than 400,000 was as clumsy as an elephant and could not even catch up with the ** Red Army. ** The Red Army could break free from the encirclement of the Kuomintang at any moment, making Chiang Kai-shek feel completely out of control.
After the Red Army crossed the Chishui River three times, Chiang Kai-shek flew from Hankou to Chongqing and personally commanded the encirclement and suppression of the ** Red Army. However, Chiang Kai-shek's repeated dispatch of troops and personal command had no effect, and the Kuomintang army could not even accurately grasp the position of the ** Red Army, and Chiang Kai-shek returned in vain.
Unwilling to be defeated, Chiang Kai-shek flew to Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou, again and personally commanded the encirclement and suppression of the army from all walks of life. In Guizhou, Chiang Kai-shek set aside the Guizhou Pacification Office and the former enemy's general headquarters, directly commanded the troops, and demoted the former commander Xue Yue to an ordinary staff officer.
However, Chiang Kai-shek's personal command without Xue Yue was not as effective as he thought, and the Red Army successfully escaped from the trap and even threatened Guizhou, which made Chiang Kai-shek feel extremely frightened.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, in the face of the arrogant three-month plan of the Japanese invaders to destroy China, Chiang Kai-shek led the people of the whole country to resist the Japanese invaders, in order to boost morale, but also for the sake of national righteousness, Chiang Kai-shek once again went to the front line to command large-scale battles, such as the Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Wuhan.
However, due to the obvious disadvantage of China as a whole, most of these battles ended in failure. Although Chiang Kai-shek was not entirely responsible for these failures, his overstepping of command and personal mobilization of troops undoubtedly caused great distress to the front.
During the War of Liberation, Chiang Kai-shek once again went to the front line to command even more frequently. Almost all cities with airports can see Chiang Kai-shek's overseer. However, these efforts did not seem to be able to turn the tide of the war, let alone save the fate of the Chiang dynasty.
In the end, in just three years, Chiang Kai-shek's army of 8 million was wiped out, and he could only retreat to the island to survive.
Why did Chiang Kai-shek like to fly to the front line in person, and even skip the level to command the battle?On the one hand, he lacked trust in the abilities of his officers, and even if he was a descendant of the Whampoa Military Academy, he had doubts about their military talents.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek complained to Stilwell:
Every night, I had to stay awake in bed, think about the stupid decisions my officers might make, and then record them and tell them not to do it. However, they are simply too stupid and will do many stupid actions if they do not think about them in advance.
This fear was not unfounded, because the Whampoa students, whom Chiang Kai-shek relied on the most, were in fact attending an accelerated training school for officers, although they were known as "protégés of the Son of Heaven." Most Whampoa students spend less than half a year in school, and most of the time they spend studying politics or participating in the Eastern Crusade, and have very little time to receive militarized education.
In addition, these people were promoted too quickly, and many of them lacked actual combat experience, and they had neither experience in leading troops at the grassroots level nor experience in fighting in large corps. As a result, these Whampoa students became high-ranking officers at the age of thirty or forty, and even commanded hundreds of thousands of people.
Chiang Kai-shek's apprehension to Stilwell was justified, and it prompted him to develop the habit of ruling the country by warrant, overstepping commands, and even flying to the front to direct operations himself.
However, it was always more difficult to look at one's own problems than at others, and Chiang Kai-shek was somewhat confused about his military talents. Despite the fact that he received a more complete and lasting military education, this does not mean that he was a military genius, much less that he was an all-round military expert.
The worst thing is that Chiang Kai-shek's opponents far surpass him in military talent, whether it is a self-taught strategist *** or a military genius like ** and Su Yu, they are far superior to Chiang Kai-shek.
In the face of such an opponent, and the fact that the Kuomintang army was far inferior to the Communist forces, Chiang Kai-shek was inevitably defeated after taking command.
In addition, Chiang Kai-shek's frequent interference with the military command system set by himself, and even personally commanded the front-line operations, not only greatly interfered with the normal command system, but also dealt a blow to the enthusiasm and confidence of the officers, and ultimately led to the defeat of the Kuomintang army.
For example, Chiang Kai-shek repeatedly intervened in his subordinates and even took over the campaign himself, making it difficult for the officers who had originally commanded the campaign to give full play to their military talents and command ability. Over time, these officers have even lost their ability to act autonomously because they have not had the opportunity to make their own decisions.
At the same time, although Chiang Kai-shek took over the campaign as the leader of the Nationals, he was unable to devote all his energy to directing the operation like a full-time military commander, which ultimately led to the missed aircraft and the defeat of the campaign.
Chiang Kai-shek's officers, after being overstepped by him many times, formed the habit of asking him for instructions, and did not dare or want to make their own decisions.
Because the failure to obey Chiang Kai-shek's remote command was only a matter of ability, and there was no wrong attitude. On the contrary, resolute obedience to Chiang Kai-shek's orders may improve their impression scores.
Since Chiang Kai-shek repeatedly flew to the front line to direct the battle, even if he failed, the blame could be shifted to Chiang Kai-shek, and no one within the Kuomintang seemed to dare to criticize Chiang Kai-shek. Therefore, the military commanders, on the contrary, do not have much risk.
On the contrary, if they insisted on their own views and did not obey Chiang Kai-shek's commands, not only could they incur Chiang Kai-shek's displeasure, but once something went wrong, they would inevitably bear the responsibility for the defeat. For the Kuomintang officers, this was clearly an unbearable price.
Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek's personal presence at the front line had most of the negative effects, in addition to motivating the army and increasing command flexibility. Especially considering that Chiang Kai-shek did not have outstanding military talents, it was difficult for him to familiarize himself with the situation at the front and understand the strengths and weaknesses of the various armies in a short period of time. In a hurry, he personally flew to the front line to command the battle, and it was not surprising that he would eventually be defeated in the face of well-trained opponents such as the Japanese or the People's Liberation Army.