The defeat in the War of Liberation was a wound that Chiang Kai-shek could not let go of throughout his life. After retreating to Taiwan, he repeatedly tried to counterattack, which also showed Chiang Kai-shek's strong unwillingness for this defeat. Although in his later years, Chiang Kai-shek also thought about reconciling with the Communists and returning to his hometown, he could not help but get excited when he mentioned the defeat of this war.
In the diary written by Chiang Kai-shek in his later years, he put all the responsibility on three people: "Without these three people, we will not be defeated and retreat to Taiwan." The three men were Marshall, Stalin and Li Zongren.
Marshall was the U.S. secretary of state and defense minister at the time, while Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union, and Li Zongren was the leader of the Gui clan in the Kuomintang at that time. These three men were all prominent figures in that era, and they also had different degrees of influence on Chiang Kai-shek's rule, but in fact, the reason for Chiang Kai-shek's military defeat could not be simply attributed to a few people.
Strong dissatisfaction with Marshall's "betrayal" of himself in an attempt to ease relations between the Kuomintang and the Communists
Since Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling got married, with Soong Mei-ling's connections in the United States, Chiang Kai-shek quickly hooked up with the United States. At that time, the United States wanted to cultivate a force of their own in China, and the Nationalist government behind Chiang Kai-shek was the best choice, after all, it was the legitimate government of China at that time.
In the period before and after the War of Resistance Against Japan, the United States vigorously supported Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Government and provided a lot of manpower and material resources, and most of the excellent equipment of the Nationalist Government in the early days was due to this. However, after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the attitude of the United States changed.
At that time, World War II was entering the final stages, and both the United States and other western countries hoped that most parts of the world would stop the war and recuperate. However, China, Asia's largest battlefield, has a faint smell of gunpowder because of the confrontation between the Kuomintang and the Communists.
If the Kuomintang and the Communists fight, then the interests of the United States in China will also be damaged, and the United States will continue to provide military support for Chiang Kai-shek, which makes the United States not want the Kuomintang and the Communists to continue to stalemate. In the eyes of the United States, the two sides shake hands and make peace is a thing that is beneficial to all three parties.
However, Chiang Kai-shek, who had fought with Mao Zedong for most of his life, was obviously not willing to stop there, and in order to mediate the contradictions between the Kuomintang and the Communists, the new US President, Trudeau, sent Marshall, chief of staff of the US Army, to China to ease relations between the two sides.
Marshall had proposed the Marshall Plan after the end of World War II, saving the European economy, and based on the results of this plan, the plan was also known as the post-war European economic recovery plan. In addition, Marshall was also distinguished in both World War I and World War II, and his proposed battle plan made a significant contribution to the victory of World War II.
The general, who was invincible on the battlefields of Europe, never imagined that he would suffer such a big setback in China.
At first, Chiang Kai-shek thought that Marshall had gone to China to discuss with him a way to completely eliminate the CCP, but after a brief conversation with Marshall, he suddenly felt that the matter did not seem simple. Marshall, who represented U.S. interests, insisted against Chiang Kai-shek's desire for civil war and gave a copy of the Organic Law of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China.
Regarding this document, Chiang Kai-shek commented in his diary: "Those who dare not mention this for the Communist Party must know that the estrangement of keqing from the politics of other countries, if it is not determined in itself, is not only a mistake, but also enough to summon the calamity of the country's destruction." ”
Since then, Marshall has repeatedly expressed his idea of not supporting Chiang Kai-shek's civil war on behalf of the United States, and even threatened that if Chiang Kai-shek insisted on civil war, then the United States would not continue to provide him with military support.
Chiang Kai-shek expressed strong dissatisfaction with Marshall's remarks, and in the previous war, Marshall had been a staunch supporter of himself. Now this staunch supporter has suddenly changed his court, which makes Chiang Kai-shek feel that he has been "betrayed".
Indignation at Stalin's violation of the agreement to put himself unjust and to help the Communist Party
As we all know, the relationship between the Communist Party and the Soviet Union before and after the founding of the People's Republic of China was particularly good, Mao Zedong and Stalin were even more close to each other, and the Soviet Union had the title of "Big Brother" in New China. What many people don't know is that in fact, the Soviet side initially supported the Kuomintang.
In the early days of the Communist Party' founding, its main activities depended on the Comintern, but the Soviets were actually more optimistic about the powerful Kuomintang at that time. After all, at that time, the Kuomintang was the ruling party, and there were still elite generals, while the number of the Communist Party when it was founded was only more than fifty, and the strength of the two could not be compared at all.
The Soviet Union would help the early Communist Party, only out of ideological care, but for the Kuomintang, they really believed that the Kuomintang had the possibility of unifying China, so the interaction between the Soviet Union and the Kuomintang was more like diplomacy between the two countries.
At first, Stalin was relatively friendly to Chiang Kai-shek, and although he did not help him too much, he did not do anything excessive to the Nationalist government.
By the end of World War II, Chiang Kai-shek and Britain and the United States hoped to quickly resolve the battle, so everyone thought of the Soviet Union as a possible ally. Although we all have different ideologies, we were all victims of German fascism in World War II and should be united.
At that time, the Soviet army was very strong, but it did not participate much in World War II, so Chiang Kai-shek and Britain and the United States hoped that Stalin would send troops to northeast China to contain Japan's most powerful Kwantung Army on this battlefield.
In addition to this incident, Chiang Kai-shek also proposed that he hope that the Soviet Union would recognize him as the sole legitimate leader of China after the war; that support for China's weapons and materials would only be provided to the Nationalist Government and not to the Chinese Communists; that the northeast region would be surrendered by the Nationalist government's troops and that the Chinese Communists should not intervene; and that the Soviet Union must remain neutral in the Kuomintang-Communist civil war that was likely to break out after the end of the War of Resistance.
Stalin actually hoped for an early end to the war, but for his own interests, he put forward several conditions, the most important of which was that the National Government must recognize the independence of Outer Mongolia.
Previously, Outer Mongolia had always been a land belonging to China, but because of the continuous civil strife, such areas inhabited by ethnic minorities inevitably closed their doors for autonomy, and after a long time, they had the idea of wanting independence. Recognizing the independence of Outer Mongolia is tantamount to selling out its homeland in exchange for help from the Soviet Union.
In defiance of the opposition of the people, the urgent Chiang Kai-shek signed another treaty with Stalin that lost power and humiliated the country: the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance.
To Chiang Kai-shek's indignation, Stalin did not keep his promise. Although the Soviet side did send troops to contain the strength of the Kwantung Army, he did not fulfill all the conditions proposed by Chiang Kai-shek.
When Chiang Kai-shek and Stalin signed this treaty, they were saddled with a lot of insults such as "traitors", and now the Soviet Side has defaulted, which is equivalent to putting Chiang Kai-shek on the fire and roasting it. Within the Kuomintang, there were many voices of dissatisfaction with Chiang Kai-shek because of this incident, and Chiang Kai-shek, who had been "betrayed," naturally hated Stalin to the bone.
Strong accusations against Li Zongren for "colluding" with the United States and forcing himself to go to the wilderness
Marshall and Stalin were both external forces, and Chiang Kai-shek believed that he would eventually fail for both internal and external reasons, and the internal reasons were mainly in Li Zongren's body.
As a first-class general in the Kuomintang army and the leader of the Gui warlords in the Kuomintang, Li Zongren had a high status and influence in the Kuomintang from the beginning of the Northern Expedition. Even Premier Zhou Enlai once said: "General Li has done three great things in his life, the first is the Northern Expedition, the second is the Great War of Taierzhuang, and the third is the return to the motherland." ”
The relationship between Li Zongren and Chiang Kai-shek changed from good to bad, and when Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei fought for power, they did not attract Li Zongren to serve in their own camp. At that time, the two people also became brothers to show their closeness.
However, later, the two people had a very unpleasant quarrel because of the mismatch between the distribution of benefits and the demands of interests. In 1931, Li Zongren, who had always been dissatisfied with his lack of due treatment, also made trouble with independence and wanted to form a faction of his own, forcing Chiang Kai-shek to go to the wilderness in exchange for temporary peace.
Later, although the incident of "making independence" was quelled, the estrangement between the two sides could no longer be repaired. Chiang Kai-shek did not heed Marshall's advice and insisted on fighting after the civil war, and the United States began to think about replacing him.
At first, the United States only had this idea and did not implement it too much, but in 1947, when Chiang Kai-shek was losing step by step in the War of Liberation, the United States began to seriously consider the feasibility of this idea.
Within the Kuomintang at that time, Li Zongren was the biggest force besides Chiang Kai-shek and the most optimistic replacement candidate for the United States. After several contacts, the two sides, both eager to change the status quo, quickly established a cooperative relationship, and the United States turned to support Li Zongren.
Chiang Kai-shek never imagined that Li Zongren would "catch fire in the backyard" and stab himself in the back. From this time on, the United States no longer provided much military assistance to Chiang Kai-shek, but instead shipped all the supplies to Li Zongren.
There are many factions within the Kuomintang, and the cadres trained by Chiang Kai-shek's concubines, the Whampoa Military Academy, and the Gui army led by Li Zongren do not belong to the same team, so this move by the United States has greatly weakened the combat effectiveness of Chiang Kai-shek's concubines.
In addition, during the War of Liberation, the armies of Li Zongren and other local factions paid great attention to preserving their own strength and did not listen to Chiang Kai-shek's deployment at all, so Chiang Kai-shek could only use his own troops more. As a result, Chiang Kai-shek's concubines have been depleted, while Li Zongren's strength has hardly been lost.
Against this background, Chiang Kai-shek was cut off from military supplies by the United States, and even if Soong Meiling went to the United States in person, it would not help, and Li Zongren could easily force Chiang Kai-shek to go to the field again by force. However, Chiang Kai-shek's strength in the Kuomintang dictatorship for many years should not be underestimated, and the front line of the War of Liberation was not in good condition, so Li Zongren only became vice president, and the presidency was still led by Chiang Kai-shek.
Chiang Kai-shek could never forgive Li Zongren for secretly establishing relations with the United States behind his back, especially with the help of the United States, forcing himself to go to the wilderness, so after the defeat of the Liberation War, Li Zongren did not dare to flee to Taiwan, but went to the United States to take refuge.
Chiang Kai-shek was always reluctant to admit the incompetence of the Nationalist government and the popularity of the Communist Party
Many historians and military scientists have analyzed the real reasons for Chiang Kai-shek's eventual defeat, and the results have never been due to these three people. Marshall, Stalin, and Li Zongren are just three people who happen to be at a critical juncture.
In the final analysis, Chiang Kai-shek's defeat was the result of a combination of problems within the Nationalist government and too good on the Communist side.
From the time Chiang Kai-shek took over the Nationalist government, this government was not a perfect government. The government has a strong bureaucratic atmosphere, corruption has always been a serious problem, and at the same time, there are many shortcomings in management such as unreasonable management systems and plans that can never be implemented.
However, Chiang Kai-shek has been busy encircling the Communist Party, and has not paid attention to these problems at all, even if he occasionally realizes and thinks about changing, but because of lack of determination, he often chooses to give up for various reasons.
In addition to these, Chiang Kai-shek also had great problems in handling military issues. In the War of Resistance Against Japan, although Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Government responded passively to the war, it also lost a lot of troops. On the other hand, on the Communist side, although there were heavy casualties, because of the popularity of the people, many people joined the army, so the replenishment of troops was fast and numerous.
China's land is so big, the population is so large, young and middle-aged people go to the Communist Party to join the army, the Kuomintang department naturally has no one. By the end of the War of Liberation, although Chiang Kai-shek was still able to retreat to Taiwan with nearly a million troops, he was still insufficient compared to the growth of the Communist Party's troops in millions of units.
In addition, the Communist Party began to "fight the local tyrants and divide the land" very early on, and later vigorously carried out land reform in order to win the support of the peasant class. After the land reform was realized in several small places, it quickly spread throughout the country and laid a good mass foundation for the Communist Party.
In addition to giving practical benefits to the peasant class, the military discipline of the Communist Party is particularly admirable. The policy of "not taking the masses for a needle and a thread" has been implemented very strictly, and the people are naturally more inclined to support the Communist Party than the Kuomintang army, which often fights and robs houses. Under the guidance of this line, the Communist army "fighting guerrillas" in the mountains and wilderness for many years, and the Kuomintang troops, which were good at large-scale battles, did not know how to fight with them.
In the face of such a powerful opponent, Chiang Kai-shek's hands are a corrupt and backward government, and his failure is actually doomed very early. But he insisted that his failure was the responsibility of Marshall, Stalin, and Li Zongren, which was somewhat unreasonable.
Throughout his life, Chiang Kai-shek thought about how to defeat Mao Zedong and eliminate the Communist Party, but he did not even dare to face the reality, and put all the responsibility for his failure on others.