Chapter 876 875 [Back to Chongqing]

Entering 1939, the Japanese invasion of China slowed down significantly.

Last year, the Japanese invaders attacked too quickly and occupied too much territory. In addition, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party continued to engage in operations behind enemy lines. The Japanese army had to reorganize and digest the newly occupied areas.

On January 1, Wang Zhaoming was expelled from the party and revoked from all his positions.

On January 21, the Kuomintang held the Fifth Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Committee. The central topic was to determine the general policy of "fighting the war to the end" and "dissolving the Communist Party, preventing the Communist Party, limiting the Communist Party, and opposing the Communist Party."

On January 25, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a public statement: "Cooperate with the Kuomintang but not merge."

At the same time, Taizu's "On the New Stage" was published in Shanghai with 120,000 copies, pointing out that "the launch and persistence of the Anti-Japanese War are unimaginable without the Kuomintang" and praising the Kuomintang as "having both Mr. Sun Yat-sen and Mr. Chang Kaishen." "A great leader", he spoke highly of the fact that since the War of Resistance Against Japan, "under the unified leadership of Chairman Chiang, the national leader and supreme commander...China has formed an unprecedented anti-Japanese great unity", and solemnly called on the entire party to "unanimously and sincerely support Commissar Chiang" long".

Not only "On the New Stage" was widely circulated in Shanghai, but other underground publications of the Communist Party were also very popular. "On the Protracted War" was even translated into English and spread to Europe and the United States.

The Communist Party's Anti-Japanese War theory publications aroused huge repercussions among the people. Chang Kaishen finally couldn't sit still and established the "National Spiritual Mobilization Meeting" on March 11. He proposed to build "national salvation ethics" and "national founding beliefs", namely the Eight Virtues of Loyalty, Filial Piety, Love, Trustworthiness, Peace and the Three People's Principles, so that the Chinese nation could gain new life in the flames of war.

The general mobilization of the national spirit called by Chang Kaishen was, on the one hand, to suppress the voices of internal peace factions, on the other hand, to wage a theoretical propaganda war with the Communist Party, and on the other hand, to strengthen the Chinese people's determination to resist the war.

On March 27, Nanchang fell, but the Battle of Nanchang had just begun.

This was the first war in which the Anti-Japanese War entered a stalemate stage. According to Chinese data, the Chinese army suffered more than 50,000 casualties and the Japanese army suffered more than 20,000 casualties. Since then, the pace of Japanese aggression has become slower and slower, and it has gradually fallen into the quagmire of war.

It was already mid-May when Zhou Hexuan returned to China, which coincided with the beginning of the "Battle of Nomenkan".

At this time, the Japanese government had completely lost its mind and was controlled by a group of militant soldiers. The tradition of subjugation from below was completely carried forward. The military cabinet could not fully command the military, and the military had difficulty controlling the invading troops. The navy and the army were doing whatever they wanted to compete for interests.

No, the Kwantung Army has gone completely crazy and actually wants to swallow up the Far East of the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union was obviously not to be messed with. The Kwantung Army had not even invaded the Soviet Union's borders. They just marched into Outer Mongolia, and the Soviets rolled up their sleeves and started fighting. This battle lasted for more than three months, and both sides continued to increase their troops. From this, Zhukov embarked on his gorgeous military stage and wiped out more than 50,000 Kwantung Army troops. Well, the Japanese army only admitted 17,000 casualties.

In the eyes of many people, the Japanese army had already fallen into the quagmire of invading China. Its troops were already insufficient, but it actually took the initiative to fight against the Soviet Union. It was simply beyond the comprehension of normal people's thinking.

In fact, everything comes from "the lower overcomes the upper" and the "battle between the navy and the army".

The Kwantung Army benefited from the "Qianchazi Island Incident" and believed that the Soviet Union's compromise was weak and could be bullied, so it took the initiative to provoke the "Zhang Gufeng Incident" and began to prepare for war against the Soviet Union in February 1938.

Why did the Kwantung Army want to attack the Soviet Union?

For military expenses! In order to expand the strength of the Kwantung Army!

Therefore, the Kwantung Army deceived the North Korean army and the military headquarters in various ways, saying that the Soviet Union was a paper tiger after the Great Purge. At that time, the North Korean army was also stationed on the border. The commander of the North Korean army, Koiso Kuniaki, had a clear mind and believed that the war was at a critical juncture before attacking Hankou and that there must be no further conflict with the Soviet Union.

However, the Japanese military department did not know what kind of madness it was and initially decided to avoid conflict. However, it temporarily changed its policy to test the Soviet Union's attitude.

The Navy was firmly opposed to this, but the Army thought it could be fought - only one division would be mobilized and it would not enter the Soviet Union. Winning would be gratifying, but losing would not matter. The real purpose was to see how the Soviet Union would react.

As a result, the tradition of "lower overcoming superior" appeared again. This time the protagonist was not the Kwantung Army, but the Korean Army.

The commander of the North Korean army repeatedly emphasized the avoidance of conflict, but Odaka Kamezo, commander of the 19th Division of the North Korean Army, jumped out. This guy saw that the fighting was lively in the south, but he could only blow the cold wind on the Soviet border, so he was eager to achieve success and went out without authorization in violation of the emperor's order.

The Emperor of Japan was also speechless and could only say: "The matter has reached this point and there is nothing we can do. We hope that the soldiers on the front line will stick to the border and avoid any deviant actions."

This time, there was no need to fight. The Japanese and Soviet troops fought repeatedly. The Soviet Union finally won, but took the initiative to ask for reconciliation. Although the Japanese army failed, they were very happy and believed that the Soviet Union did not want to fight and was strong on the outside.

The Kwantung Army saw that the North Korean army fought very effectively in the "Zhang Gufeng Incident" and caused huge casualties to the Soviet army, so it took the initiative to provoke the "Nomenkan Incident". They believed that as long as they went to war with the Soviet Union, they would be able to obtain a large amount of military expenditures and military exploits, and take the opportunity to once again expand the strength of the Kwantung Army.

The military actually expressed support for this, because judging from the test results of previous incidents, the strength of the Soviet army was very bad. This is also true. The Great Purge greatly reduced the combat effectiveness of the Soviet army. Although Zhukov defeated the Japanese army in Nomenkan, the Soviet army also suffered heavy casualties.

The Yankees watched the excitement and did not take it too seriously. Seeing that both the Soviet and Japanese armies were harmed, they mocked and said, "(Japan and the Soviet Union) are venting their anger in their corner of the world." They did not expect that this battle would completely change Japan's strategic direction, and the next time they would see each other would be Pearl Harbor.

It's like two drunkards fighting, and the one watching is laughing happily, but one of the drunkards suddenly turns around and hits him.

…

Since Shanghai and Guangzhou were occupied, Zhou Hexuan, Feng Yong and a group of pilot students took a boat directly to Haishengwei and took the Siberian Railway to the northwest and south to Sichuan - they first went to the Soviet Union to inspect the goods.

The Soviets seemed very generous this time. Not only did they transport fighter jets without any hesitation, they also disposed of 10 bombers at a low price, half selling and half giving them away.

Unlike the U.S. government, the Soviet Union was not afraid of selling aircraft to China. It was just afraid that China would be too poor to afford them.

Nowadays, the situation in Europe is getting more and more tense. The Soviet Union does not have much energy to fight Japan, and it urgently hopes that China can hold back Japan's military strength.

China is short of money? Well, the Soviet Union is willing to borrow money.

China is short of equipment? Well, the Soviet Union is willing to sell equipment.

Are there not enough pilots in China? Well, the Soviet Union is willing to send volunteer troops.

Zhou Hexuan was moved by the enthusiasm of the Soviet people. He happily waved the US dollars and bought 10 fighter jets and 12 bombers in one go - Soviet aircraft were much cheaper than American aircraft.

After these planes were transported to Xi'an, Feng Yong led the pilots directly to Chongqing. Zhou Hexuan also took the risk of flying back to the capital.

When they arrived in the sky above Chongqing, the city frantically sounded the alarm. Because these planes did not have national army paint, the air defense personnel thought that another Japanese plane was coming to bomb.