Chapter 33 3. The Great Unification of the Anti-Japanese Nationalities

The establishment of the anti-Japanese national united front is the second effort made by the Chinese Communist Party for the anti-Japanese.The National United Front includes all classes in China.Song Qingling fought against Japan, Cai Yuanpei fought against Japan, Kuomintang general Feng Yuxiang and Communist Party member Ji Hongchang organized the Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Allied Army, and all walks of life in China spontaneously fought against Japan. General Ji Hongchang was originally a subordinate of Feng Yuxiang, the commander of the Northwest Army, and was ordered to suppress the Communists. He heard that the Red Army was the army of benevolence and righteousness, and the Soviet area was the day of Yao Tianshun.So he disguised himself as a businessman and entered the Soviet area. As a result, he was recognized as soon as he entered.The general is 1.96 meters tall, which is rare in the south, and his height speaks for itself. As soon as Ji Hongchang entered the territory of the Communist Party, he was recognized by others and fell into a trap.The Red Army was very open-minded and let him visit casually. Ji Hongchang applied to join the Chinese Communist Party after watching it, and the Chinese Communist Party readily accepted it.Ji Hongchang became a secret party member and took charge of the mutiny.When Chiang Kai-shek found out that Ji Hongchang had the intention of treason, he dismissed him from the military and forced him to go abroad for "investigation".

On September 21, 1931, General Ji Hongchang, who firmly resisted the Japanese, was forced to go to the field by Chiang Kai-shek and went abroad to investigate the industry.When the ship arrived in the United States, Ji Hongchang encountered unexpected stimuli one after another. For example, the first-class hotel there did not accept Chinese people, but treated the Japanese like gods.Once, when Ji Hongchang wanted to mail clothes to China, the staff of the post office said that China no longer existed in the world. Ji Hongchang was very angry, and just about to explode, the accompanying embassy counselor persuaded him: "Why don't you say that you are Japanese? What? As long as you say you are Japanese, you can be treated politely." Ji Hongchang immediately scolded: "Do you think it is ashamed to be a Chinese, but I think it is an honor to be a Chinese!" National dignity, he found a wooden sign and carefully wrote on it in English: I am Chinese!Also, are the three Japanese together as tall as a general?

After the failure of the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces of the Chahar People, Ji Hongchang was arrested by the Kuomintang. In court, Ji Hongchang was awe-inspiring and counted all kinds of crimes committed by Chiang Kai-shek in not resisting Japan. Finally, Ji Hongchang was secretly killed in Beiping Prison.The general left a deadly poem before his execution: "I hate to die against the Japanese, and I will be ashamed today. If the country is broken like this, why should I regret it?" .The general asked to sit in a chair and watch himself be shot.The secret agents did not dare to shoot, and shooting the prisoner was also a great test of psychological quality. The executioner trembled with the gun in his hand, and General Ji Hongchang chanted slogans and died heroically.

In 1933, the Kuomintang patriotic generals Cai Tingkai and Li Jishen established the People's Revolutionary Government of the Republic of China in Fujian.People from all walks of life began to resist the Japanese.With the intensification of ethnic conflicts between China and Japan, the CCP proposed the establishment of an anti-Japanese national united front. In 1935, Japanese imperialism created the North China Incident, threatening Pingjin.At that time, the border of the Puppet Manchukuo reached the Great Wall, which was very close to Peiping.Japan made an inch of progress, trying in vain to swallow North China and turn North China into a second puppet Manchukuo.The Nationalist Government reached the "Hemei Agreement" with Japan, the Central Army withdrew from Hebei, and all anti-Japanese activities were banned.At that time, the 29th Army of the Kuomintang stationed in Pingjin belonged to Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army system. Japan calculated that Feng Yuxiang might turn against him, so he allowed the 29th Army to stay.

The equipment of the 29th Army is backward, and the whole army has a total of about 22,000 people.1/3 of the army's firearms are the Hanyang-made and 38-type left over from the Northwest Army's defeat in the war against Chiang; and 1/3 are the old Mausers transferred from Gansu, which were issued to the local armed forces to defeat Chiang. .This kind of old rifle was very difficult to supply ammunition because the arsenal stopped making bullets at that time; the other 1/3 was made by the 29th Army Firearms Institute itself, plus some local guns bought from Sun Dianying's department.There are only 16 mountain guns and field guns in the whole army, and 97 heavy machine guns.Because the army lacked guns and ammunition, the soldiers were issued with broadswords.

The poor 29th Army's soldiers were similar to those of the Boxers, each with a big knife and two grenades, and they competed with the Japanese on the battlefield.In the Battle of Xifengkou on the Great Wall, the 29th Army soldiers attacked the enemy camp at night. 1,000 warriors set off and 26 soldiers returned. 974 warriors died on the battlefield, annihilating a heavy artillery regiment of the Japanese invaders. More than 800 Japanese devils were all hacked to death. Japanese newspapers exclaimed that since Emperor Meiji launched the army, the imperial army had never suffered such a disastrous defeat, and was defeated by cold weapons.A heavy artillery regiment was cut by a big blade.Before this battle in Little Japan, officers wore flashy Western-style command knives, and only after this battle did they restore Japanese ancient knives.

The Japanese are particularly interesting, brave enough to commit suicide, but ashamed to be killed.The Chinese consider suicide shameful, and being killed by the enemy on the battlefield is brave.Little Japan is exactly the opposite of our concept. They are ashamed to be killed by the enemy, and suicide is supreme honor.The pilot boarded the plane with a command knife. The knife was forged from iron. When he brought it on the plane, the compass failed and the plane flew randomly.Probably the level of the Japanese soldiers was about the same as that of the Boxers. They were very superstitious. If the enemy cut off their heads during the war, their souls would leave their bodies, and they would not be able to reincarnate in the next life. Therefore, our 29th Army cut off the devils' heads with big swords.But after all, the big knife is not an opponent of airplanes, cannons, and tanks. This is very dangerous.

The expansion of Japan's economic power in North China harmed the interests of Britain and the United States. They supported the pro-British and American faction of the Kuomintang to boycott Japan.The Northeast was originally Japan's sphere of influence, and Japan's establishment of the puppet Manchukuo did not do much harm to the British and American forces.North China is different. The same is true for Chiang Kai-shek.Northeast China used to be Zhang Xueliang's sphere of influence. Chiang Kai-shek couldn't collect taxes, and couldn't appoint or remove officials. North China was the old capital of 700 years. If it was occupied, there would be no way to explain it to the whole world.Chiang Kai-shek also saw that Japan was endless and could never be satisfied.If you want North China to give it, it wants Central China, East China, and South China, so it must resist.

In 1935, the CCP held a meeting in Wayaobao, northern Shaanxi, and established the policy of establishing an anti-Japanese national united front.Mao Zedong published the report "On the Strategy of Opposing Japanese Imperialism", which laid the theoretical foundation for the CCP to establish the anti-Japanese national united front.Inspired by the CCP's united front policy, all walks of life rose up to resist Japan. On December 9th, students marched in Peking, advocating the overthrow of Japanese imperialism, stopping the civil war, unanimously opposing the autonomy of North China.

The Pingjin students then organized a southward propaganda group to promote the anti-Japanese and national salvation movement, which set off a new upsurge. Inspired by the anti-Japanese national united front policy of the Communist Party of China, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng repeatedly advised Chiang Kai-shek to unite with the Communist Party to resist Japan, but they were all rejected.Before the Xi'an Incident, Zhang Xueliang was ordered to suppress the Communist Party. As soon as the battle broke out, the song "My Home Is On the Songhua River in the Northeast" wafted from the Red Army's positions.In the towns and cities occupied by the Northeast Army, three big characters were written on the gates and towers of the city: Shanhaiguan.The Kwantung Army went back and forth in Shanhaiguan all day long, and the morale of the army naturally collapsed.When Zhang Xueliang saw that there was no way to fight the battle, he shook hands with the Red Army and talked happily. In December 1936, Chiang Kai-shek went to Xi'an to coerce Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng to suppress the Communists. Zhang and Yang detained Chiang Kai-shek, carried out military remonstrance, and forced Chiang to resist Japan. This was the Xi'an Incident.

The commander-in-chief was detained, the pro-Japanese faction within the Kuomintang advocated bombing Xi'an, and then replaced Chiang Kai-shek, and the pro-British and American faction advocated a peaceful settlement.The CCP took a long-term view and advocated a peaceful solution to the problems caused by the Xi’an Incident, and opposed a new civil war. Taking this opportunity, it united with the leftists in Nanjing, won over the centrists, and opposed the pro-Japanese factions, so as to push the Nanjing government towards resistance against Japan.The CCP sent Zhou Enlai to Xi'an for negotiations. Chiang Kai-shek was forced to accept the idea of ​​stopping the civil war and uniting with the Communist Party to resist Japan, and the Xi'an Incident was resolved peacefully. The peaceful settlement of the Xi'an Incident opened the prelude to the transformation of the KMT and the Communist Party from civil war to peace, from split confrontation to cooperative resistance against Japan, and became the key to reversing the current situation.After the Xi'an Incident, Zhang Xueliang pleaded guilty and sent Chiang Kai-shek back to Nanjing. Once he arrived in Nanjing, the military court sentenced Zhang Xueliang to ten years in prison. In 1947, Zhang Xueliang made a calculation, and when it was time to be released from prison, he asked someone to give Chiang Kai-shek and Mrs. Chiang a pair of famous watches: "It's time, I should be released."Chiang Kai-shek was even more humorous. He gave Zhang Xueliang a 1936 calendar and Mrs. Zhang a pair of slippers, which meant that the events of 1936 would never be forgotten and would be dragged on forever.Not only did they not release him, but he was also detained in Taiwan, where he was detained until 1991. In 1991, Lee Teng-hui lifted Zhang Xueliang's control, and Zhang Xueliang flew to Hawaii, USA. After the peaceful settlement of the Xi'an Incident, the anti-Japanese national united front took shape initially, and Chiang Kai-shek stopped suppressing the Communist Party and united with the Communist Party to resist Japan.After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army and marched to the battlefields behind enemy lines in North China, Central China, and South China.As soon as the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War ended, the People's Liberation Army grew from 30,000 to 1.3 million, and one base area in northern Shaanxi expanded to 19 base areas, covering 1 million square kilometers and a population of 100 million. Three years later, the country changed hands and the world changed.Therefore, the Xi'an Incident became the key to reversing the current situation.