The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

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 invaded the Guangjiu area last summer, went directly to attack Vietnam in the fall, and are now preparing to attack the Leizhou Peninsula and Fuzhou - simply 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 186th Division of the National Army gathered more than 3,000 local armed forces and launched a siege against the guerrillas in the Dongjiang area. After the two guerrillas in Dongjiang broke through, only more than 100 people were left.

Although the Sino-Japanese War had long entered a stalemate stage, it became intense again in early 1941.

This was due to Germany's successive victories in the European battlefields, which 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 incident in China must be resolved quickly." It tried to end the war in China in the autumn of 1941 and turned all its energy to the Southeast Asian and Pacific battlefields.

After New Year's Day, the fifth war zone took the lead in breaking out the battle.

The Japanese North China Front, with the 11th Army as the main force, 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 War of Resistance, commanders with a little bit of brains had already adjusted their thinking. Li Zongren fought very well this time. He adopted a strategy of luring the enemy deep, combining frontal defense and flanking attacks, and successfully turned the Japanese attack into an armed parade.

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 "Oriental Maginot". He did not think it was unlucky. Not to mention these, when the two sides were about to fight, Chiang Kai-shek actually dispatched troops to suppress the Communists. Almost all the Fourth Army, known as the "Iron Pillar of Zhongtiao Mountain", was transferred from the battlefield.

Not to mention the many internal conflicts within the national army and the adoption of a passive defensive posture. The "Oriental Maginot Line of Defense" as Wei Lihuang called it did not even strengthen the ferry fortifications, allowing the Japanese army to cross the river easily. The funniest thing is that the Chinese troops on the defensive side actually ran out of food after being surrounded. The soldiers were so hungry that they couldn't lift their guns.

You don't even have enough food, yet you dare to call yourself "Oriental Maginot"?

After this battle, six Chinese generals were directly killed - 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 January 2, the Japanese Army Ministry’s communiqué declared: Since the beginning of the war between China and Japan, the Chinese army has suffered 3.5 million casualties and the Japanese army has suffered 100,000 casualties.

The Nationalist Government was not convinced by this and issued a communiqué on January 4 to counterattack: Since the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese aggressors have suffered nearly 1.8 million casualties.

These two sets of data are really...

When Zhou Hexuan and Ke Li flew to Chongqing, it was already February 6. Lao Jiang decided to meet with 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 affectionately and sat down.

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "It's a small contribution, but it's not worth mentioning."

The hardships Chang Kaishen mentioned were of course 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 told me how you went to England as ambassador. I didn't expect 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 unclear 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 for the time being."

"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, 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 1,000 fighter planes to China every year on credit, and will hand over 200 to 300 fighter planes to China before the end of 1940. 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 and resolved.

Third, Britain and the United States send military, economic and transportation missions to China to help China establish Far East cooperation institutions. The members of the missions 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 one of the most important documents in the history of our country's diplomacy."

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. Small-amount loans should be requested from Britain and the United States, and the United States should be asked to send financial experts to inspect the situation of my 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 1941. 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 we 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$150 million."

Chang Kaishen nodded and said: "I understand. This negotiation will focus on the Lend-Lease Act and borrowing money."