The reason why there was no fighting in the northern Guangdong battlefield where Yu Hanmou was located for more than half a year was because the Japanese South China Front changed its attack target.
The Japanese invaders attacked the Guangjiu area last summer, then went directly to attack Vietnam in the autumn. Now they are preparing to attack Leizhou Peninsula and Fuzhou. They just want to open up the southern coastline, occupy Southeast Asia, and implement a complete naval blockade of China.
Because of this, the frontal battlefield in Guangdong became quiet, and the National Army even had the time to encircle and suppress the Communist guerrillas. Last year, the 8th Division of the National Army entangled more than 3,000 local armed forces to launch a siege against the guerrillas in the Dongjiang area.
After the guerrillas broke through, only about 300 people remained.
Although the Sino-Japanese war had already entered a stalemate stage, it became intense again in early 1994.
This is because Germany's successive victories in the European battlefields stimulated and inspired the Japanese government. At the end of 1940, the Japanese army began to adjust its war policy against China and made the decision that "the China incident must be resolved quickly" in an attempt to end the war in China in the autumn of 1994.
, and turned all its energy to Southeast Asia and the Pacific battlefield.
After New Year's Day, the fifth war zone took the lead in breaking out the battle.
Japan's North China Front, with the main force of the Central Military Commission, dispatched more than 50,000 troops to attack southern Henan. The Chinese side was commanded by Li Zongren to start the battle in southern Henan.
At this point in the Anti-Japanese War, the commanders with a little bit of brains had already adjusted their thinking. Li Zongren fought very well this time, using a strategy of luring the enemy deep, combining frontal defense and flanking attacks, and successfully turned the Japanese attack into a
An armed march.
But soon the Japanese army will attack Zhongtiao Mountain. Alas, the battle of Zhongtiao Mountain was so miserable that everyone from Chiang Kai-shek to the frontline generals lost their minds collectively.
Wei Lihuang was still playing the old-fashioned corps defense battle, and even called the Zhongtiao Mountain defense line the "Oriental Maginot". He was not unlucky. Not to mention these, when the two sides were about to fight, Chiang Kai-shek actually
Troops were mobilized to suppress the Communists, and almost all of the Fourth Army, known as the "Iron Pillar of Zhongtiao Mountain", was mobilized from the battlefield.
Not to mention the many internal conflicts of the national army and the adoption of a passive defensive posture, the "Oriental Maginot Line of Defense" in Wei Lihuang's mouth actually did not even strengthen the ferry fortifications, allowing the Japanese army to cross the river easily. The funniest thing is that as
The Chinese troops on the defensive side actually ran out of food after being surrounded. The soldiers were so hungry that they could not lift their guns.
You don't even have enough food, yet you still dare to call yourself "Oriental Maginot"?
After this battle, six generals were directly killed on the Chinese side, a total of one general, two lieutenant generals, and three major generals.
Alas, this is a terrible thing to mention, so let’s talk about something interesting.
On March 2, the Japanese Army Ministry announced in a communiqué that since the beginning of the war between China and Japan, the Chinese army had suffered 3.5 million casualties and the Japanese army had suffered 00,000 casualties.
The Nationalist Government was very unconvinced by this and issued a communiqué on September 4 to counterattack: Since the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese invaders had suffered nearly 800,000 casualties.
These two sets of data are really...
When Zhou Hexuan and Ke Li flew to Chongqing, it was already February. Chiang Kai-shek decided to meet Ke Li on February 8, and quietly called Zhou Hexuan to Yunxiu Tower on the 7th.
"Mingcheng, thank you for your hard work!" Chang Kaishen took Zhou Hexuan's hand and sat down affectionately.
Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "My contribution is not worth mentioning."
The hardship Chang Kaishen mentioned was naturally the reopening of the Burma Highway last year, and he therefore valued Zhou Hexuan more and more.
Chang Kaishen said with emotion: "(Ju) Yiqiao has already told me about your mission to England. I never expected that Mingcheng could also fly a plane. He is really a versatile man in both civil and military affairs."
"It's just a reluctant meeting," Zhou Hexuan asked, "I wonder why the president summoned him?"
Chang Kaishen said: "Mingcheng has just returned from the United States. What is Roosevelt's attitude? Hu Shi was vague in the telegram. I want to hear your opinion."
Zhou Hexuan said: "The United States is definitely willing to help China, but their eyes are first on Europe, and it is not possible to break up with Japan yet."
"Is it possible to get the US$300 million loan?" Chang Kaishen asked.
"I'm afraid not." Zhou Hexuan could only smile bitterly, and at the same time he was completely speechless at Chiang Kai-shek's lion mouth.
Chang Kaishen is really whimsical. He was discussing alliance matters with Britain last year. Britain has been doing Tai Chi, reasoning that as long as the United States is willing to form an alliance, then Britain is also willing to form an alliance with China.
So Chang Kaishen contacted the United States in various ways to discuss the alliance, and thought about the requirements after the alliance. Let's listen.
First, Britain and the United States provide loans to China to help China maintain foreign exchange and legal currency. The total amount of this loan is at least US$200 million to US$300 million.
Second, the United States will sell 500 to 300 fighter jets to China every year on credit, and will hand over 200 to 300 fighter jets to China before the end of 2019. In addition, Britain and the United States should provide China with other weapons and equipment, and the specifications and quantities of the equipment should be negotiated.
Third, Britain and the United States send military, economic and transportation missions to China to help China establish a Far East cooperation agency. The members of the mission should be hired by China as consultants.
This is simply living in a dream. Chiang Kai-shek was extremely optimistic about this and believed that Britain and the United States would provide large-scale assistance to China. He wrote in his diary that day: "This (China, Britain, and the United States Far East Cooperation Plan) is the basis for our country's diplomacy
One of the most important documents in history."
Chang Kaishen showed this plan to Song Ziwen with great interest. Song Ziwen poured cold water on it, thinking that a loan of US$200 million or US$300 million was too much and it might be difficult to achieve it in a short period of time. He should ask for a small loan from Britain and the United States, and at the same time ask the United States
Send financial experts to inspect the situation of our country's legal currency and discuss relief measures with domestic experts. The Far East cooperation strategy between China and Britain and the United States should be implemented step by step and not in a hurry.
This was the background of Currie's visit to China in 1994. Currie was not only Roosevelt's executive assistant, but also Roosevelt's senior economic adviser. His primary responsibility for this trip was to inspect the situation of China's legal currency.
Chang Kaishen asked: "Then how do you think you should negotiate with the United States now?"
Zhou Hexuan said: "The U.S. Congress is discussing the Lend-Lease Act. It will definitely be passed depending on the situation. We might as well find a way on this."
"What is the Lend-Lease Act?" Chang Kaishen obviously hasn't received the news yet.
Zhou Hexuan explained: "Britain has collapsed financially and has no money to buy American arms. So Roosevelt is promoting the Lend-Lease Act. The United States provides military supplies to other countries through leases, loans, exchanges, etc."
Chang Kaishen was immediately delighted: "This bill is good!"
Of course, China has no money and can only pay on credit. Anyway, we can wait until we get the arms.
Zhou Hexuan said: "In principle, the United States is not responsible for the transportation of military supplies provided by the Lend-Lease Act. This requires us to rent some ships in the United States."
"Those are all trivial matters." Chang Kaishen waved his hand and said.
Zhou Hexuan said: "As for borrowing, I think it is still feasible, but the amount cannot exceed US$500 million."
Chang Kaishen nodded and said: "I understand. This negotiation will focus on the Lend-Lease Act and borrowing money."