Chiang Kai-shek’s telegram to senior military officers in north China after the July 7 Incident of 1937, ordering deployment of troops to Shijiazhuang and Baoding.
China Offers Strategic Support
After the outbreak of the Second World War, the Allies and the Axis fought in Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, Asia and the Pacific. China was the major battlefield in Asia and one of the key factors that determined the progress of the war. The Chinese people and Allied troops cooperated strategically to defeat fascist aggression.
The Japanese operation to “advance northward” was an important strategy for Germany and Japan to defeat the Soviet Union. In July 1938, and from May to August 1939, Japanese troops launched probing attacks against the Soviet Union. In 1941, when war between Germany and the Soviet Union broke out, Germany insisted that Japanese troops advance northward to attack the Soviet Union. Some Japanese leaders also proposed war against the Soviet Union. However, 35 of the 51 Japanese infantry divisions were struggling in China. The Japanese leadership eventually decided to focus on suppressing China rather than entering the war against the Soviet Union. From the winter of 1941 to the autumn of 1944, the Soviet Union sent out more than 542,000 troops, 5,000 cannons and 3,300 tanks from its far east region to battle the German troops. The action profoundly affected the Soviet Union-Germany war. Marshal Vasily Chuikov said in his memoirs that Japanese troops did not attack the Soviet Union even in its worst time. Rather they struggled to occupy China. This is an undeniable fact.
“Advancing southward” was Japan’s fundamental policy and invading China was the foundation of the policy. Early in 1940, German troops occupied the European mainland, defeating France and threatening Britain. Germany wanted Japan to advance southward more quickly in order to cooperate with its strategy. However, Japanese troops were mired in Chinese battlefields. Its major forces could advance southwards no further. After the Pacific War broke out, U.S. and Japanese troops fought each other in Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands. In the meantime, Germany attacked the Caucasus and fought the British in North Africa. Germany insisted that Japanese troops move to the Indian Ocean so the two countries could converge in the Middle East. However, with the burden of the war against China, the mobility of the Japanese army was greatly limited. Some Japanese historians admit in their books that even after Japan began to fight Britain and the U.S., the country’s ground force was immobilized by Chinese troops. They could hardly move an inch.
The conquest of Burma (now Myanmar) and invasion of India was also an important strategic target for Japan. In 1942, China dispatched troops to support the British army in defending Burma. From October 1943 to March 1945, Chinese troops launched attacks in northern and western Myanmar. As of Spring 1945, China had dispatched a total of 300,000 troops and killed more than 60,000 Japanese. During this period, China was under great pressure, but its support relieved the pressure on the Allies in Burma and India. It represented Chinese people’s international spirit and self-sacrifice.
In the anti-fascist war, China fought back to back with the Allies and was an important base for the Allies to fight Japan. China established air force bases and protected military airfields at great cost. Allied troops could then carry out air strikes against the Japanese. China cooperated with the U.S. and the Soviet Union in intelligence collection. The U.S. built many meteorological stations, hydrological stations and radio networks in areas under CPC control. A Soviet intelligence team was based in Yan’an year round. China also offered supplies much needed by the Allies, such as tungsten, tin, tung oil, and fabric fibers.
