As we all know, the "918" incident turned 30 million people in Northeast China into slavery in the country. At the critical juncture of the destruction of the country and the extinction of the species, the Kuomintang ** pursued the "non-resistance doctrine", resulting in the defeat of the 300,000 Northeast Army without a fight, and the Japanese army easily annexed the three eastern provinces.
So, was it Zhang Xueliang or Chiang Kai-shek who issued the order of "non-resistance" and threw away the great rivers and mountains in the Northeast?
As early as 918, the Kuomintang authorities in Northeast China had anticipated that Japan would launch a large-scale war of aggression in Northeast China. With the tense situation, Zhang Xueliang repeatedly asked for instructions to report, and Nanjing, led by Chiang Kai-shek, said that he would forbear and retreat. Even at the height of the situation, Nanjing instructed the authorities in Northeast China: "No matter how the Japanese army provokes in the Northeast in the future, our side should not resist and try to avoid conflict." ”
On September 21, Chiang Kai-shek organized a decision-making conference on Japan in Nanjing, at which he proposed: "At this time, the only way to do this is to appeal to justice and submit the fact of Japan's occupation of the three eastern provinces to the League of Nations for legal arbitration and justice, and militarily tolerate Japan and not resist." ”On the basis of this fact, many people are basically completely inclined to believe that the order of "non-resistance" came from Chiang Kai-shek.
After the incident, the people only made a solemn statement diplomatically, but they still did not do anything militarily. In accordance with Chiang Kai-shek's instructions, Zhang Xueliang strictly ordered his subordinates not to resist, and demanded that the Northeast Army fully retreat and hand over everything to the first.
Indeed, the Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek has never had a firm determination to resist aggression, and the widespread fear of Japan has strengthened the implementation of the policy of non-resistance. Originally, the main force of the Northeast Army entered the customs to help Chiang Kai-shek "suppress the Communists", and the deployment of troops was very scattered, and not rashly fighting back happened to cater to the non-resistance policy of the people from another level.
But in all fairness, there is no doubt about the non-resistance attitude of the people, and who is it who clearly ordered the Northeast Army not to resist?
According to this logic, since the Nanjing Nationals pursued a policy of non-resistance, it was indeed logical for Chiang Kai-shek to put forward the order of non-resistance after the incident. Is that really the case?
Guo Weicheng, who was Zhang Xueliang's secretary, once made a speech in 1946 and said: "On the night of the incident, the young marshal sent more than ten telegrams asking for instructions overnight, and Chiang Kai-shek called back again and again not to resist, put away the gun, locked the warehouse, and handed it over to the Japanese army for disposal. ”
This passage is conclusive, and the meaning is very clear: Chiang Kai-shek was the initiator of the policy of non-resistance, and Zhang Xueliang only carried out Chiang's orders, which has almost become the unanimous view of the historical circles. However, it's not that simple.
In 2006, Stanford University in the United States published part of Chiang Kai-shek's diary about 918.
September 18: Wake up early to review documents... In the afternoon, I studied the map, read the complete works of Zhongshan, and planned a plan for Guangdong and the suppression of bandits. . .
September 19: Last night, the Japanese invaded our Shenyang Beidaying for no reason, and later received a report that both Shenyang and Changchun were occupied by the enemy, and their purpose was to invade the northeast by taking advantage of the gap between our suppression of bandits and internal chaos.
20 September: The occupation of Eastern Province by the Japanese is a fact, and there is no way to remedy it. But if the whole country is united from now on, it is not impossible for the time for the disaster to turn ... Since then, the shame has been important to me.
Analyzing the contents of Chiang's diary, we can clearly see that when the September 18 Incident occurred, it was impossible for Chiang Kai-shek to make more than a dozen "non-resistance" orders to Zhang Xueliang without stopping.
So, who exactly gave the order not to resist?
In 1990, when Japan** interviewed Zhang Xueliang, Zhang Xueliang officially admitted: "At the time of the 918 incident, I judged that Japan wanted to repeat the old trick, put pressure on us through military provocations and then put forward conditions, so I hoped that it could be resolved peacefully, so I ordered the Northeast Army not to resist, in order to temporarily avoid its edge, and then I was indeed wrong... **'s attitude of non-resistance is indeed irresponsible, but I clearly issued this order to the troops, and I can't put all the responsibility on ***'s head. ”
However, the interviewer believed that Zhang Xueliang tried his best to prove that it was not Chiang Kai-shek's responsibility, but that the situation forced him to say so. In fact, Zhang Xueliang has always been a personality of doing things alone, which can be seen from the fact that after the Xi'an Incident, he still escorted Chiang Kai-shek back to Nanjing, knowing that there was a lot of luck and little luck. What's more, in 1990, Jiang's father and son had passed away, he had been freed, and he no longer needed to care about it, and he wanted to state the real facts to future generations.
Between January and May 1990, the famous scholar Dr. Tang Degang interviewed Chang Xueliang in Taipei and recorded 12 rare tapes of oral history, which contained a large amount of content on the 918 non-resistance issue.
Zhang Xueliang said solemnly: "I hereby declare that many people think that the non-resistance order in the 918 Incident is an order to wash it away for me, which is not right. I gave the order, and it was said that I carried out the order of **, absolutely not! I can't entrust others, that's a fact, 918 is my biggest responsibility! ”
Zhang Xueliang clearly admitted that it was he who gave the order of non-resistance, not the people, which is the most powerful clarification of the responsibility for non-resistance!
On May 28, 1991, when Zhang Xueliang was interviewed by the New York Northeast Association in Manhattan, New York, someone asked him: In 1981, the mainland made a movie "Xi'an Incident", which clearly showed that it was Chiang Kai-shek's order of non-resistance, is this true?
Zhang Xueliang replied solemnly: "I chose not to resist myself, I did not recognize the aggressive intentions of the Japanese, and I wanted to avoid provoking the Japanese as much as possible and not giving them an excuse to expand the situation. I ask the troops not to fight back, to scold or not to fight back, it has nothing to do with Chiang Kai-shek! ”
After regaining his freedom in his later years, Zhang Xueliang never shied away from people's repeated questions about the order of non-resistance, and he always insisted on the truth. Not only did he make it clear in public, but he also said it privately to those he trusted.
For many years, people were emotionally inclined to that Chiang Kai-shek gave Zhang Xueliang an order not to resist, because after all, Chiang Kai-shek was the supreme commander, and the soldiers took obedience as their duty, and Zhang Xueliang could only obey the order.
But facts are facts, and no matter how cruel and unacceptable, they cannot be erased after all. After everything has been settled and there are no more waves, the upright and righteous Zhang Xueliang told the historical truth so sincerely as the first party, who can find a reason to refute it?