Glorious Mission 1937

The victory of the Japanese army in Southeast Asia has stimulated all Japanese citizens. The capture of Manila and Singapore is crucial to the Japanese, because only after taking these two landmark cities can they disintegrate the American and British forces in the South Pacific. Military power has truly become the overlord of this sea area, and the remaining territories of the Dutch East Indies, Australia, and the Chen family are small shrimps for Japan and nothing to fear.

Therefore, the entire Japanese society was boiling for a while. Reports such as "The overall situation of the Pacific War has been decided", "US and British troops killed the South Pacific", "The imperial army once again created imperial history" were reported in major newspapers and magazines in Tokyo, and even Emperor Hirohito He also made an exception at the national celebration meeting and delivered the speech "Chrysanthemum and Samurai Sword".

In comparison, what the government has done is even more obvious. Governments at all levels in Japan ordered that each family be given two bottles of beer or rice wine, and children get a bag of sugar to celebrate the victory of the emperor's samurai.

Under the guidance of the government's publicity, Japanese citizens took to the streets to celebrate the greatest victory of the imperial army.The streets of Tokyo are packed with people who seem to be celebrating a favorite festival.

The flow of people flocked to the Meiji Shrine like a long, endless dragon. They wanted to throw coins into the alms box after midnight and bought a clay statue of Bodhidharma in a red cassock for good luck.The war did not damage the joy of the festival, but brought people a sense of expectation-the next big victory is coming soon?

Of course, not everyone is going for this victory, and a large number of people are going for the foreseeable peace.After several years of continuous wars, many Japanese citizens have a heartfelt fear of war.There was an inexplicable resistance.

This is human nature. No matter how much the Japanese government and the military use the so-called bushido spirit to confuse people, not many people can remain indifferent in the face of endless death.The Japanese are human beings, and they have flesh and blood and feelings, not made of iron.

Since 31, Japan has been engaged in a ten-year war. Although it was limited to a small piece of territory in Northeast China in the past few years, as the war continued to expand, the entire Japanese nation was involved.Now this war has evolved into a battle for the survival of the whole nation.All Japanese citizens were tied to chariots by the government and the military.

Of course, the countries that have been invaded by Japan in the past few years have suffered countless casualties, and Japan itself has also damaged millions of troops, especially on the Chinese battlefield, where Japan expects the war to end in three months.Hardly expected to play for 4 years.Still have not seen the dawn of victory.

However.Just when the Japanese people were about to become numb, the Pacific War broke out, in just over two months.Japanese forces achieved unprecedented victories in the South Pacific.Victory represents interests, and at the same time represents the progress of the war, so many Japanese seem to see hope for the end of the war.

It was a very painful week in the Second World War for Britain, where the Japanese rejoiced and the British mourned.A few days ago, the two German battlecruisers "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" broke through the encirclement of the British Royal Navy and escaped from the English Channel.Now, the British faced what Churchill called "the greatest disaster in British history and the danger of capitulation."

Churchill's position was in jeopardy due to the fall of Singapore and the breach of the English Channel by German naval warships. At this time, Roosevelt's a forgiving telegram eased the fierce criticism of him in the United Kingdom. In the telegram, Roosevelt reminded Churchill and all British people: "We must look forward and always watch the next step we have to take in order to fight the enemy."

At the same time, Roosevelt called Churchill, thinking that it was necessary to have a high-level meeting with the heads of other countries that were being invaded by fascist countries to discuss the next war!

Churchill agreed with Roosevelt's questions very much. He believed that it was imperative to establish a worldwide anti-fascist organization, and suggested that the venue of the meeting be in Washington.

Soon, under the joint planning of Roosevelt and Churchill, the leaders of countries in the world that were being invaded by fascist countries received invitation letters jointly signed by Washington and London, inviting them to hold a meeting in Washington to discuss anti-fascist issues.

Since the matter was of great importance and the Battle of Changsha had just ended, the old man decided to go to the United States himself.

On September 1941, 9, the governments of China, the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France held a meeting in Washington to urgently plan the overall situation of the war.The United States and Britain agreed that Germany is an important axis country, defeating Germany is the key to victory, and the Atlantic and European battlefields are decisive battlefields. Once Germany is defeated, the collapse of Italy and the defeat of Japan will inevitably follow.

But the Chinese government is opposed to this, because Lao Jiang is very clear that once such a guiding ideology is established at this meeting, then the strategic layout of "Europe first, Asia later" will become a foregone conclusion, and China will become the one that holds back the Japanese army. Weight, this is what any Chinese would not like to see.

However, Chiang's objections had no effect. Both Roosevelt and Churchill believed that the strategic layout of "Europe first and then Asia" was correct, so they asked Chiang to agree with them.

In fact, the idea of ​​the United States and Britain was as early as Lao Jiang's expectation. Roosevelt once said: "Without Asia, the white people will be sad because of it; without Europe, the United States will not be the United States. Europe first, this is the United States in the United States." An unwavering strategic approach at all times.”

From the perspective of the United States, China's abundant human resources and vast land, coupled with the steady flow of American aid, will effectively hold back and consume the Japanese army, thereby providing a guarantee for the United States and Britain to defeat the German and Italian fascists first. Moreover, China is the future of the United States. The best land bases for the air force to bomb the Japanese homeland and sea supply lines.

Therefore, the purpose of the US policy in this area is to keep China fighting. Although the US and Britain have to pay a certain price for this, they can force the Japanese aggressors to pay a huge price.The United States and Britain only focus on the strategic containment and potential political significance of the Far East battlefield, which is what they call "continuously providing the possibility of amazing military and political victories at extremely low prices". Powerless.

Starting from the strategic interests of the United States and Britain, providing aid to China is indeed an "extraordinarily low price", but for Chiang Kai-shek and China as a whole, the price is astonishing.The fall of a large piece of fertile land and the casualties of a large number of elite troops all made him heartbroken, not to mention that besides resisting the Japanese, he still had a knot in his heart - dealing with the Communist Party.

In addition, the meeting decided to establish the highest decision-making body of the Allied Forces - the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and also established the Military Supply Distribution Committee.But what made Lao Jiang angry was that although the United States and Britain positioned China as cannon fodder and made a large number of Chinese people a bargaining chip to help them resist the Japanese army, there were no seats for Chinese representatives in these two important institutions.This was undoubtedly a blow to Chiang Kai-shek who was full of confidence, and the excitement brought about by the war between the United States and Britain against Japan was wiped out.

Just when Lao Jiang was deeply disappointed, good news came from diplomatic channels. Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to set up a Chinese theater including Vietnam and Thailand, and set up the Supreme Command.As for the candidate for commander-in-chief, Roosevelt proposed that Chiang Kai-shek be appointed, and the news was soon confirmed by Roosevelt's telegram.

On the 21st, during the talks between Roosevelt and Chiang Kai-shek, he proposed to set up a Chinese theater to achieve contact and cooperation among the allies to jointly resist Japan, and suggested that Lao Jiang "command the current or future United States in China, Annan (Vietnam), and Thailand. Army", and under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, representatives of the Chinese, American and British governments organized a joint planning and combat staff.

Roosevelt seemed to have anticipated Chiang’s disappointment at the Washington Conference, and he also realized that it would be unfair to China, which had been fighting alone for more than four years, but to the United States, it would be unfair for China to bear huge sacrifices to contain the actions of the Japanese army. "As a last resort", in order to compensate China, or rather to encourage, he decided to push Chiang Kai-shek into the ranks of leaders of great powers.

In Roosevelt's view, apart from US aid, this is the only way he can pay tribute to the suffering China.Based on his understanding of the Chinese, this is what they are willing to accept, and he is sure that Lao Jiang will accept their opinions.

Lao Jiang was really moved. He was very aware of the current domestic situation in China. Although the situation had improved to a certain extent, the situation was still very dangerous for the Nationalist government. This was not only reflected in the pressure from the Japanese army, but also in the internal pressure. Aspects of politicization.

In China, apart from the ever-growing Eighth Route Army, Yan Xishan's Jinsui Army and Chen Feng's Saibei Army are developing rapidly. The Central Army is no longer the only one, and it seems that it is not as good as Chen Feng's troops if they fight alone. For Lao Jiang, it is absolutely intolerable.

Now seems to be an opportunity for him. Although the price to be paid will be high, and many people will even die, it is certain that the United States and Britain will definitely provide large-scale assistance to the Chinese government.Who is the Chinese government, and it is not Jiang, who may be able to use these American aid to form a powerful American army in a few years.

In addition, there is the issue of personal prestige. Apart from him, Jiang, in China, Chen Feng's personal prestige is not small at all, not inferior to him in the slightest. This makes Lao Jiang feel great pressure. The supreme commander of the Chinese war zone must be able to overwhelm Chen Feng in this respect. This is what he is most happy to see. Therefore, after careful consideration, Lao Jiang finally agreed to the arrangement of Roosevelt and others! (To be continued..)