In 1943, Wang Hu Zongnan, the Kuomintang "northwestern", suddenly received a secret telegram from Lao Jiang, the content of which was to take advantage of the fact that the main forces of the Eighth Route Army were scattered on various front lines to resist Japan and organize a large army to attack Yan'an, where the defense force was weak! However, later Zong Nan did not dare to act, and finally failed to do so, why is this? In fact, this is related to a letter from Mr. Zhu.
Chiang Kai-shek stills (from the Internet)
Old Jiang wanted to take the opportunity to blitz Yan'an, not on a whim, but for good reason. At that time, in order to get the support of the United States, Britain and other Western powers, the Soviet Union made a series of "goodwill moves", the most representative event was the dissolution of the "International" in 1943, claiming that this was to meet the needs of the anti-fascist war.
This change in the Soviet Union, chiang kai-shek felt that this was a good opportunity to eliminate the most troublesome enemy, because he believed that this would deprive the Eighth Route Army of strong support, and believed that the Eighth Route Army was in the midst of many "crises.", which was even more rare. In the secret telegram to Hu Zongnan, Lao Jiang analyzed it like this: It is confirmed that the traitorous party has been rectifying the situation for many years, the internal strife is fierce, and the international dissolution is a heavy blow to the traitorous party; he is ordered to take advantage of this good opportunity to blitz Yan'an and capture the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region in one fell swoop, and the deployment will be completed by the end of June, and the operation will be absolutely confidential.
Stills of Hu Zongnan (from the Internet)
After receiving the order, Hu Zongnan immediately took action. At the beginning of June, he inspected the troops in Sanyuan and Yaoxian Counties; on June 18, a military conference was held in Luochuan, and it was decided that after the Thirty-eighth Army would quickly capture the sac-shaped area, it would cooperate with the Thirty-seventh Group Army to capture northern Shaanxi... Hu Zongnan had to make all the preparations in a very short period of time!
However, just as Hu Zongnan was preparing to give the order, a major incident occurred that forced him to stop acting. Because at this time, a large-scale movement of the masses of all ethnic groups against the Kuomintang's conscription of troops and grain broke out in the southern part of Gansu, with an area of activity in more than 20 counties and an armed force of more than 50,000. This situation caused Hu Zongnan a headache, so he had to temporarily order the 38th Army to suppress it, and it was not until mid-July that it was barely calmed down.
During this time, the intelligence personnel of the Eighth Route Army received important information that Hu Zongnan would carry out a "blitzkrieg" on Yan'an, and soon this major information was placed at the table of Zhu Laozong! On July 4, Zhu De hit back at Hu Zongnan with a clear telegram:
Driving to Luochuan, the border suddenly showed a scene of war. The road is spread widely, and the central authorities will take the opportunity of the international dissolution to carry out the suppression of the Communists. My brother has mobilized the river defense army to the west, the transportation of ammunition and grain is on the way, and the crisis of civil war is on the verge of breaking out.
At a time when the War of Resistance is in danger, it is too late to seek unity, and if a civil war is launched, it will cause a series of disasters and sabotage the great cause of unity in the War of Resistance, so that the Japanese and the Kosovars will reap the benefits, trap the country and the nation in a dangerous situation, and greatly hinder the combat tasks of the Anglo-American and Soviet allies.
Moreover, Yan'an publicized Zhu Laozong's telegram widely through various channels, so that Hu Zongnan's attempt was known to the whole country and even the whole world in less than a day. Hu Zongnan, who was angry and demoralized, called a meeting of relevant personnel that night to discuss countermeasures.
At the meeting, many people in the southern part of Huzong advocated attacking Yan'an as planned, and these people believed that the veteran general's analysis of the situation in Yan'an was completely correct and should not miss a good opportunity; coupled with the emptiness of the troops in northern Shaanxi, the regular troops only had one brigade of the 359th Brigade, and the 359th Brigade had lost its combat strength after years of opening up the wilderness; they believed that the Kuomintang army could quickly defeat the Eighth Route Army by dispatching 5 armies.
However, more people advocated a suspension, and these people saw that when the Nationalist army quelled the "riots" in Longdong, the entire 38th Group Army failed to achieve a complete victory in nearly a month, and the elite Eighth Route Army in northern Shaanxi should not be taken lightly. That is to say, most of Hu Zongnan's subordinates were completely unsure of the victory over the Yan'an defenders.
Some more discerning people are even more opposed to the continued use of troops against Yan'an, believing that the telegram from Yan'an has completely exposed their attempts, and if the Japanese army hears the news and will take the opportunity to cross the Yellow River, then the war situation will be difficult to clean up, so they suggest that they should not move according to the troops and listen to the instructions of the "commission seats" as they are told.
Hu Zongnan had no choice but to disobey the order not to attack, but instead took the initiative to suggest to Old Chiang: The committee was originally scheduled to blitzkrieg and sneak attack, but the Communist Party took irregular measures and used Zhu Zhi's telegram to make a big fuss. If it continues as planned, not only may the Japanese army take advantage of the gap to cross the river, but it will certainly be rebuked by the allies.
At that time, the elder Chiang Kai-shek had already served as the supreme commander of the allied forces in the Chinese theater, and the Western powers had high expectations for the nationalist forces. Unfortunately, in the middle and late period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Nationalist army was unable to fight many decent victories for a long time, which not only made the old Chiang Kai-shek lose his face, but also endured tremendous pressure from all sides, and at this time, if it marched into northern Shaanxi, the United States and other major powers would be angry. After thinking about it, after beating a cup and scolding the mother, he had to order a return to the original situation on July 7.
Chiang Kai-shek and Hu Zongnan (from the Internet)
In the end, although Lao Jiang reluctantly agreed to the boycott, he was furious and asked Hu Zongnan to strictly investigate the leak. Hu Zongnan naturally did not dare to be sloppy, and in order to give old Chiang an explanation and to shirk his responsibility, after "serious investigation," he sent Zhang Difei, director of the Xi'an Labor Camp Training Department, and several other "bandit spies" to the Xi'an Labor Camp for detention.
Reference: Xiong Xianghui,"Twelve Years of Underground Work"