Three Field Archives - China's Mighty Third Field Army

Author: Zhang Bin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Japan's defeat and retreat to the East; Chiang Kai-shek fled from Mount Emei. Mao Zedong said, "To snatch the 'peach,' we must ask the people if they agree." Tang Enbo complained about not having a pre-arranged rehearsal when accepting Japan's surrender. Chiang Kai-shek fell for the trick of the Political and Military College, sending three "urgent" telegrams to Mao Zedong. Invited to Chongqing, Chiang had no choice but to put on an act. With Japan's victory in the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese bandits must leave China. As a result, the vast lands and immense wealth they had seized in China would be returned to the Chinese people. Although China was poor and backward, having been ruthlessly plundered and brutally trampled upon by countless imperialist powers, especially the Japanese fascists, the remaining wealth was still considerable. "As long as the Chinese have a government post, they can lick the buttocks of Americans or Britishers." Although this was an insulting and vile remark about the Chinese by a British man named Lytton in 1932, the words themselves truly reflected the mindset of China's rulers and corrupt officials since 1840. In the face of foreign bandits, they were dogs; before their "parents," they claimed superiority. "Playing the whip behind the door—being unruly in the nest"—was the true face of the reactionary officials in old China. Some people say that if Chiang Kai-shek had devoted one-third of the energy he used to fight the Communist Party and the people to fighting the Japanese, the "September 18th Incident" might have been averted, and the "July 7th Incident" would not have occurred. This is not without reason. During the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek, the Warlord Chief, always showed half-heartedness and helplessness in resisting Japan. As soon as the war ended—even before the Japanese army announced surrender—he suddenly became as energetic as an addict receiving a shot of morphine, transforming from a timid rabbit into a fierce lion, leading his lackeys with fierce determination down from Mount Emei. What was he going to do? To snatch the fruits of the Anti-Japanese War. Mao Zedong compared the fruits of the war victory to "peaches." On August 11, 1945, the third day after the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, and the same day the United States dropped the second atomic bomb on Japan, Japan was about to announce surrender. Chiang Kai-shek immediately ordered his troops: "Intensify operations, advance vigorously, and do not relax." To seize territory. Meanwhile, the Chongqing government decided to establish a Political and Military Reception Committee under the General Headquarters of the Army, with He Yingqin as the director, Gu Zhenggang and Xiao Yi as deputy directors. Corresponding committees were set up in each theater and province. Later, after being signed by the Minister of Executive Yuan Song Ziwen and approved by Chiang Kai-shek, the National Recovery Area Administrative Council was established under the Executive Yuan, chaired by the Vice Minister of Executive Yuan Weng Wenhao, with corresponding offices for enemy and puppet property disposal set up in each province and city. In addition to establishing various types of reception agencies, the country was divided into seven reception zones: Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui; Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi; Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian; Hebei, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia; Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi; Northeast, and Taiwan. Chiang Kai-shek, as the national hero of the "anti-Japanese achievement," considered his government the "legitimate" government of China. Believing that "all under heaven belongs to the king," he thought he could seize as much as he could and would stop at nothing.