First of all, the Northeast Army had obvious advantages in equipment and personnel, and could inflict a serious blow on the Japanese army.
However, given the historical background at the time, the Northeast Army's long-standing cooperative relationship with Japan, and the helpless unequal treaty constraints, it is likely that in the end they will not be able to resist Japan's nationwide military pressure and will fail.
Before this incident, the Northeast Army had always maintained cooperation with Japan, and it was equivalent to the period from the end of the Qing Dynasty to the beginning of the first century, when China was forced to sign a number of humiliating agreements that gave Japan the right to station troops in the Northeast, which is now widely known as the Japanese Kwantung Army. But even so, because Tohoku is China's inherent territory, Japan's military strength there is still a strict limit, and its total strength is about 50,000 troops.
It is mainly composed of the 2nd Division of the Japanese First Division, and cooperates with a small number of Japanese living in the Northeast, including the so-called soldiers in the countryside, the gendarmerie, the police, etc. This size of military strength is actually difficult to contend with the Northeast Army.
The Northeast Army ranks among the best in the country in terms of group influence and strength. Especially during the reign of Zhang Zuolin, he attached great importance to the development of industry and agriculture here, and established a complete industrial system in Northeast China, which made several arsenals in Shenyang have strong production capacity. In fact, the Shenyang Arsenal is capable of producing about 150 cannons, nearly 50,000 rifles and thousands of light and heavy machine guns every year, as well as hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition and at least 200,000 artillery shells.
With this self-hematopoietic function, the equipment level of the Northeast Army was the highest among all units in the country at that time. Among them, each maintenance squad was equipped with light and heavy machine guns, and the Northeast Army units at the brigade and regiment level were also equipped with artillery on a full scale, which was a rare phenomenon in Chiang Kai-shek's ** army.
In addition, although the Northeast Army has a total number of more than 300,000 troops and has 29 infantry brigades, 3 artillery brigades, 8 cavalry brigades and other diverse arms, the number of regular troops that they can immediately put into battle has exceeded 500,000. However, it is worth noting that during Yang Yuting's tenure as chief of staff of the Fengtian Supervisory Military Administration, he had systematically trained the Northeast Army in accordance with the standards of the Japanese army, which made the tactical level of ordinary soldiers at that time inferior to that of the Japanese army, but the gap was not significant.
Therefore, if Major Marshal Zhang led his troops to fight to the death against the Japanese invaders, it was feasible to defeat the Japanese army entrenched in the northeast. However, if the Japanese went all out against the Northeast Army under the command of Zhang Xueliang and did not have the strong support of the central power, they would still be difficult to win.
First of all, Japan's strength deserves to be recognized. Despite our resentment towards that country, there is no doubt that Japan was a force to be reckoned with before World War II. In 1937, Japan's population was nearly 70 million, making it on a par with the major European powers. Moreover, since the Meiji Restoration, Japan has always been committed to national education, so that many citizens have a high level of cultural quality.
With this advantage, Japan's industrial production capacity is very large. Because many of its citizens are familiar with modern industrial skills, Japan is able to produce a wide range of products efficiently. Before World War II, Japan was already one of the world's industrial powers. This is due to its complete industrial system, which can be independently developed and produced from aircraft to aircraft carriers. Under the conditions of abundant resources, Japan's military products are of excellent quality.
Of course, the only problem facing Japan is a shortage of resources. However, thanks to the continuous import of American materials, the Japanese army only needed to start the production machine, and even if the puppet Manchukuo had part of its military industry, it would be difficult to fight a protracted war with it. In addition, Japan has a strong military mobilization capability. As a country with a deep military background, Japan can quickly recruit more than 1 million troops. For example, before the outbreak of World War II, its total military strength was as high as 4.5 million.
As for whether the Northeast Army can resist the Japanese Kwantung Army, the answer is obviously optimistic. In addition to its strong military strength, Wei had the support of the whole country, and it was not empty talk for Chiang Kai-shek to abandon his prejudices, unite his comrades, and use the northeast as the support to drag down Japan with all his might.
Second, the intrinsic strength of China as a whole cannot be ignored. Although the Northeast alone cannot match the Japanese army, if the whole of China is considered, China and Japan still have a fight. Japan's maritime power is significantly stronger than China's, but at that time, Japan did not yet have a strong navy to pose a threat to this. Therefore, our army only had to deal with the Japanese army. However, the total number of Chinese far exceeds that of Japan, and the military mobilization capacity has increased.
What is particularly important is that the War of Resistance was undoubtedly highly justified at that time. As long as it is called the War of Resistance, it can get an enthusiastic response from the people in China. Then, for example, after the "September 18 Incident", the Northeast Army can immediately raise the flag against the Kwantung Army, and the Northeast Army can gather the strength of the whole of China behind it and continue to receive support from all sides of the country. Coupled with the original military industrial system in Northeast China, the reputation of the Northeast Army in Northeast China, and the influence of the Zhang family in Northeast China, it is a matter of course to bring down Japan.
Next, we only need to wait for the war to spread to a wider area, and when the United States, Britain, France, and other powers enter the war, Japan will definitely be defeated.