On July 7, 1937, the Japanese invaders launched a provocation near the Lugou Bridge, thereby starting a full-scale war against China, attempting to annex China in a short period of time in order to realize their ambitions of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
The Japanese militarists gave full play to their superiority in terms of equipment, training, discipline, command, coordination, etc., and adopted the tactics of blitzkrieg to carry out surprise attacks on China's major cities and communication routes, causing huge losses and chaos in China.
Immediately afterwards, the Japanese army successively occupied China's Shanghai, Nanjing, Tianjin, Beiping, Wuhan, Guangzhou and other political, economic, cultural, and military centers, triggering a large-scale **, and the Chinese people mourned all over the country.
In addition, the Japanese army also wantonly destroyed and plundered China's cultural monuments and historical heritage, causing serious harm to China's national dignity and cultural traditions.
As of May 21, 1938, in the Battle of Xuzhou, the Japanese army successfully defeated the main force of the squadron, thus realizing the occupation of most of China's northern, eastern, and central Chinese regions, and controlling the three railway lines of Pinghan, Jinpu, and Pingsui, as well as the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River Delta, completely cutting off China's north-south ties and international aid.
Subsequently, the Japanese army established a series of strong strongholds and defensive lines in these areas, consolidating the areas of occupation and effectively stopping the ** and assistance of the squadrons.
To sum up, the Japanese army quickly occupied most of China in just one year, causing great harm and hardship to China.
However, this did not mean that the Japanese army would be able to conquer China easily, as China still had other advantages and factors that allowed it to persist in the war for the next seven years, gradually turning the tide of the war and eventually succeeding in driving out the Japanese invaders.
1. Limitations within Japan.
There were arrogant remarks made by the Japanese that China would be destroyed within three months, but how could the huge Central Plains be easily annexed by a small country?
It's like a skinny camel bigger than a horse!
Japan has a misconception about China's lack of strength and determination to resist their aggression, imagining China as a decaying, backward, and fragmented country that lacks the necessary equipment, training, organization, and leadership.
In addition, the Japanese believe that the Chinese lack a strong sense of patriotism and national pride, and are vulnerable to threats and ** and relax their positions, even **.
As a result, they adopted a strategy of quick victory, hoping to destroy China's ability to resist in a short period of time, forcing China to seek reconciliation to reach a compromise.
However, the great national spirit and patriotic fervor that China displayed in this war exceeded the expectations of the Japanese.
Regardless of political beliefs, social classes, and regional ethnicities, people all over the country were closely united in a desperate struggle against the Japanese army.
They were undaunted in the face of sacrifice, unwavering in their unwavering faith, and built an invincible line of defense with their lives.
In the course of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, China not only demonstrated far-reaching strategic layout and geographical advantages, such as vast territory, diverse terrain and unique climatic characteristics, rich natural resources and a huge labor base;
At the same time, it also flexibly used various tactics and countermeasures, including frontal resistance, guerrilla warfare, rear resistance, movement warfare and other forms of confrontation, which caused huge losses to the Japanese army and disrupted the opponent's strategic deployment and operational plan.
Since the beginning of the last century, Japan has forcibly instilled militaristic ideas, so in the early days of the war, almost all Japanese showed their determination to annex China.
They adopted the strategy of "mass destruction", trying to completely crush China's anti-Japanese forces and determination to resist through brutal killing and frenzied plunder, in order to demonstrate its strong force and hegemony.
However, the Japanese military did not expect that their war power was not as strong and stable as they expected, but instead faced serious problems. In the early days, although the Japanese army had an advantage in equipment, as the war dragged on and resources were depleted, there was a serious imbalance between supply and demand in the energy required on the battlefield and domestic resources.
In addition, despite the strict discipline maintained within the Japanese army, in the face of the difficult reality of the war, by the end of the war, the soldiers began to develop a large number of war-weariness, the morale of the army gradually declined, and the inner anxiety deepened.
At the same time, Japan ignores China's position in terms of diplomacy and international support. They mistakenly believe that China is isolated, abandoned by the international community, and lacks strong ties of friendship to make it difficult to receive international assistance.
Moreover, they are overconfident in believing that they are popular, have outstanding influence, should be recognized and respected by the international community, and even have the ability to influence the international order, so they have adopted a diplomatic strategy called "exercising power alone".
However, Japan failed to foresee that China was not isolated in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, but enjoyed widespread sympathy and support from the domestic people and international friends. In the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, China became a member of the United Nations and was protected and respected by international law.
In the course of the struggle, China actively participated in the global movement against Nazism, established strong friendship and cooperative relations with Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the United States, and formed a strong alliance against Nazi aggression against Japan, Germany and Italy.
More importantly, China has also received various forms of material and moral assistance from the United States (e.g., the Lend-Lease Act, the Flying Tigers, the Expeditionary Force, etc.), the Soviet Union (aid, volunteers, diplomatic assistance, etc.), the United Kingdom, France, and other countries, which have injected new vitality and strengthened confidence in China's anti-Japanese struggle.
2. Some countries have expressed concern about Japan's rise. As Japanese troops frequently penetrated into the Chinese mainland, seized large amounts of land and resources, and tried to establish the so-called "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere", European and American countries began to feel alarmed.
The reason why these Western countries have become international powers is mainly through the plundering of global resources. Naturally, they don't want to see another country rise up and share the cake with them.
Therefore, the United States and other countries have adopted a variety of economic restrictive measures, including freezing funds, embargoing strategic goods, and severing diplomatic relations. These restrictions dealt a severe blow to Japan's economy and military, leaving it facing oil shortages and overburdens.
Japan was forced into a difficult situation. If we succumb to US pressure and give up aggression against China, we will lose the land and resources we have already occupied, and we may even lose our hegemony in Asia
But if Japan insists on attacking China, it will inevitably go to war with the United States, and it will be a war that will be difficult for Japan, which is relatively weak.
Weighing the pros and cons, Japan opted for a compromise strategy, gradually shifting from an offensive to a defensive posture against China. Their goal is to hold on to the territory of China that they have already occupied, while looking for new oil and gas resources to alleviate the economic crisis.
Therefore, they turned their goals to Southeast Asia and the Pacific, trying to break through the colonies of Britain, the Netherlands, France, and other countries, as well as the American defenses in the Philippines and Hawaii.
On December 7, 1941, Japan forcibly attacked the U.S. military base at Pearl Harbor, triggering the Pacific War and declaring war on Britain, the Netherlands, Australia and other countries, accelerating the dramatic changes in the war situation in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Four years later, in order to force Japan to surrender and end World War II as soon as possible, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing more than 200,000 people in Japan in an instant. In addition, there are huge human and material losses, as well as long-term effects of nuclear radiation.
The anti-Japanese armed forces led by China and the Communist Party took advantage of Japan's mobilization of the main forces and the lack of skills in the division of troops to strengthen guerrilla warfare, launch strategic counterattacks, gradually recover territory, capture the puppet regime, expand the anti-Japanese base areas, and boost the national morale.
The China Theater became a key link in the World Anti-Fascist War for the anti-fascist allies, and it was also one of the important reasons for Japan's defeat.
3. Outstanding LeadershipIn fact, there is another important reason why we were able to defeat the Japanese aggressors, and that is outstanding leadership.
Under the iron hooves of the Japanese invaders, the Chinese people did not give in. Under the leadership and encouragement of the Communist Party, they stepped forward and threw themselves into the fierce struggle against the Japanese invaders.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has adopted an extremely crucial strategy in promoting cooperation between the KMT and the CCP, and has successfully built a strong anti-Japanese national united front.
This broad and unique front not only integrates the military and organs of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, but also covers a wide range of anti-Japanese forces, including members of various democratic parties, people of different social strata, ethnic minorities, patriotic groups, as well as patriots in various fields and overseas Chinese.
This anti-Japanese national united front, which gathered the strength of all parties, became the cornerstone of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and demonstrated the Chinese nation's resolute courage and firm confidence in resisting foreign aggression.
The formation of the anti-Japanese national united front in China prompted the gathering of people's forces and the formation of many anti-Japanese fronts. Among them, the guerrillas led by the Communist Party and the anti-Japanese base areas behind enemy lines played a key role.
Taking advantage of the terrain and the strong support of the people, they adopted flexible guerrilla tactics and accumulated big victories through small-scale victories, successfully blocking and destroying the Japanese attack, seriously weakening their morale, shaking the foundation of their rule, expanding the positions of the War of Resistance, and at the same time effectively supporting military operations on the frontal battlefield.
Although there were some passive anti-Japanese war and complacency in the Anti-Japanese War, there were even some negative voices of the capitulation faction.
However, the people always adhered to the position of the frontal war of resistance, fought fiercely with the Japanese invaders, effectively suppressed the enemy's main force, made it pay a heavy price, and made outstanding contributions to the final victory of the war of resistance against Japan.