In China's modern history, Chiang Kai-shek is an important political figure that cannot be ignored, and his career is closely linked to politics. He rose to prominence because he was appreciated by Sun Yat-sen, who led the Chinese Kuomintang for half a century after his death.
During his life, he served as the president of the Whampoa Military Academy, the commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army, the chairman of the Kuomintang, the premier of the Executive Yuan, the chairman of the Military Commission, the president of the Kuomintang, and the president of the Chinese Army.
However, what Sun Yat-sen did not expect was that Chiang Kai-shek did not regard the rise and fall of the country as his own responsibility, but abused his power for personal gain.
Chiang Kai-shek's power-based, even at the expense of the people's interests, was doomed to failure. In the face of the Japanese invasion, the conscientious Chinese rose up to resist, and no one wanted to be slaves to the country.
However, Chiang Kai-shek stuck to the strategy of settling the outside world before securing the interior, blindly retreated to the Japanese invaders, and even suppressed the anti-Japanese forces, casting a shadow on the Chinese nation's war of resistance. In this passive anti-Japanese process, the four major families headed by Chiang Kai-shek took the opportunity to accumulate wealth, and Chen Boda pointed out in "The Four Great Families of China" that they plundered up to 20 billion US dollars of wealth in the name of the war of resistance against Japan.
While our fellow citizens are suffering, they are doing whatever they want, profligate, and even disregard for human life. Chiang Kai-shek's angry bombing of the Yellow River embankment is an illustration of this brutal fact.
This event, known in history as the Huayuankou Levee Burst, Chiang Kai-shek originally hoped to fight the Japanese army through the flood, but the result was a great disaster for our people.
So, how many Japanese troops were drowned in this incident, and how many Chinese suffered? It may be hard to believe to say, but the historical facts are there, and we can't deny it.
The cause can be traced back to the time when Japan invaded China in an all-out way, and Chiang Kai-shek's ** has been in a passive state, because the gap between the ** equipment of the two sides at that time was too large. In May 1938, the Japanese invaders launched an attack on Xuzhou, a military stronghold.
In the face of the Japanese invaders, Chiang Kai-shek saw that the Japanese army was increasing its troops in Xuzhou on the northern and southern fronts, and he first lost the determination to resist.
He was worried that if both sides tried their best, although it would deal a blow to the Japanese army, his more than 200,000 ** troops would face the threat of annihilation, and in this way, he would lose his political bargaining chips, and he would naturally not take this risk.
After careful consideration, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the ** army to evacuate Xuzhou, and on the way to evacuate, Chiang Kai-shek met Kenji Dohihara, who had only 20,000 troops, so he thought about finding some face in him and eliminating this small force of Japanese troops.
Although the Japanese army led by Kenji Dohihara was well-equipped, Chiang Kai-shek's forces were too large, so he had to change direction and rush to Lanfeng.
Chiang Kai-shek's elite army, the 27th Army, defended Lanfeng, but Gui Yongqing, the general of Lanfeng, fled directly when he saw the Japanese army, which made Chiang Kai-shek very angry. Even Gui Yongqing ran away, and Huang Jie, who was in charge of guarding Shangqiu, also slipped away, causing Kenji Dohihara to escape from the ** encirclement and go straight to Kaifeng.
What a great opportunity this is, if Kenji Dohihara can be eliminated, Chiang Kai-shek also has the capital to brag about. However, it turned out that hundreds of thousands of troops could not trap a small group of Japanese troops, which is really ironic.
The Japanese army was still coming, but Chiang Kai-shek was hesitant and did not have the determination to fight to the death. How can such a battle be fought?
Chiang Kai-shek realized that after the Japanese army occupied Xuzhou, it would inevitably invade Zhengzhou westward, and if Zhengzhou was lost, he would face a crisis of domination. In order to stop the advance of the Japanese invaders, Chiang Kai-shek came up with the idea of blowing up the embankment of the Yellow River.
The Yellow River is known as the mother river of the Chinese nation, but it can also be angry, and once it burns, it will cause great damage. Rulers throughout history understood the power of the Yellow River and would not easily anger her.
When the rainy season comes, they usually take measures to treat and dredge the floods.
The strength of the Yellow River's hydraulic power should not be underestimated. It can be both a source of life and a symbol of destruction. During the rainy season, the water of the Yellow River is like a ferocious beast that seems to devour everything.
Chiang Kai-shek hoped that with the help of this power, the Yellow River would attack the Japanese invaders. In June 1938, the upper reaches of the Yellow River experienced heavy rains for several days, and the water was abundant. As a result, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the blowing up of two Yellow River embankments near the entrance of the garden in Zhengzhou.
The project used up a lot of manpower and material resources, but it was incredibly easy to blast, and with enough explosives, the dam was wiped out and the barrier that bound the Yellow River was torn open.
The water of the Yellow River falls from the sky and rushes to the sea, irretrievably flowing. The raging waters of the Yellow River roared at the mouth of the embankment, roaring to drown everything. The Yellow River burst its banks, and Chiang Kai-shek was satisfied, but it turned out to be a resounding slap in the face.
To tell the truth, the water of the Yellow River that burst the embankment at Huayuankou did have a certain impact on the Japanese army, and to a certain extent delayed the pace of the Japanese invasion westward.
The death toll of the Japanese army in this incident was 7,452, in addition, more than 700 troops were annihilated in the Baisha area, and more than 2,000 Japanese troops near Weishi were eliminated, and the total Japanese losses were less than 10,000.
Some people may think that more than 10,000 Japanese are not a small number, after all, the number of Japanese is small, but if you understand the impact of this flood, you will not have this opinion.
Compared to the impact on the people downstream, these Japanese soldiers who lost their lives were insignificant.
The Yellow River surging water ruthlessly invaded more than 40 counties and cities in Henan, northern Anhui, and northern Jiangsu, bringing devastating disasters. 800,000 people lost their lives, countless houses collapsed, more than 12 million acres of arable land were destroyed, and nearly 10 million people were left and their homes were shattered.
In the years that followed, the lives of those who survived the disaster remained in turmoil, with years of famine leaving them in agony and millions more killed. However, after all these tragedies, Chiang Kai-shek did not reflect on it and completely ignored the lives of the people.
Since ancient times, only with the support of the people can the world be conquered, however, Chiang Kai-shek, for his own selfish interests, pushed countless people into the abyss, and naturally could not get the sincere support of the people.
The fundamental reason why the Chiang regime finally fled to Taiwan in an advantageous situation was that it ignored the fundamental interests of the masses of the people. The government is like a ship sailing in water, and the masses of the people are the water that moves the ship forward.
Only by putting the interests of the people first can the regime be consolidated. This view is supported by "The Biography of Chiang Kai-shek", "The Fate of China", "Chiang Kai-shek's Diary" and other materials.