The Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1894, in which the decadent Qing government was defeated and Li Hongzhang blindly defended himself, resulting in the total annihilation of the Beiyang Marine Division, which was known as "the first in Asia and the ninth in the world". Cixi saw the situation and was afraid that the Japanese army would invade Beijing and her position would not be guaranteed. Li Hongzhang was hurriedly sent to Japan for negotiations. Ito Hirobumi had already drawn up a harsh armistice clause and said to Li Hongzhang: "The middle hall saw my abridgement this time, but there were only two sentences: allowed and not allowed." Li Hongzhang asked, "Isn't it forbidden to distinguish between them?" Hirofumi Ito replied, "Just debate, but not less." ”
In the end, Li Hongzhang signed the Treaty of Maguan with Japan on behalf of the Qing government, compensating Japan for 200 million taels of silver in military expenses and ceding Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to Japan. After that, the Qing government could not even protect itself, let alone send troops abroad to fight. It was not until 48 years later that the Chinese army once again stepped out of the country and rushed to the anti-Japanese battlefield in Burma, which was the Chinese Expeditionary Force. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, although Japan occupied many parts of our country, with the lengthening of the front line and the resistance of our country, the strength of the Japanese army began to be stretched, and after the occupation of Wuhan, the Japanese army could not attack.
In order to force the Nationalist government to surrender, Japan began to concentrate its forces to sabotage the aid channels of the United States and Britain to our country. After the occupation of Hong Kong, Japan invaded Malaysia and Burma successively, and the Burmese road was immediately cut off by Japan, and the MILITARY ASSISTANCE of the United States to China could only be maintained by the Hump route. In order to reopen the lifeline of the Burmese highway, the Nationalist government formed the Chinese Expeditionary Force to rush to Burma to fight alongside the British army against Japan. The Chinese Expeditionary Force, which entered Burma at that time, totaled about 100,000 people, was under the unified command of Du Yuming.
The British army collapsed in the battle with the Japanese army, successively abandoned the Burmese capital Yangon and Bemu, Arammu and other places, all the way to the rout, in order to speed up the escape, the British army discarded some heavy equipment, including tanks. Even so, about 7,000 British troops were unable to escape and were surrounded by Japanese troops in the Ren'anqiang area. At the critical moment, General Sun Liren took the initiative to ask for battle, defeated the Japanese army with the strength of a regiment, and rescued the besieged British army. British officials called the British army's escape from danger at Ren'anqiang "The Dunkirk Miracle of Asia" and designated April 20 as "the day of the restoration of Ren'anqiang to save the British army", and the Chinese Expeditionary Force became famous for this battle.
Later, the Chinese Expeditionary Force participated in the Battle of Hukang River Valley, the Battle of Menggong River Valley, the Battle of Myitkyina, the Battle of Songshan, the Battle of Longling and the Battle of Tengchong, and repeatedly inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese army. By April 1945, before returning to China after completing its mission, the Chinese Expeditionary Force annihilated more than 49,000 Japanese troops, recovered more than 50 large and small towns in northern Burma, and recovered 83,000 square kilometers of lost land in western Yunnan, which showed the momentum and glory of the Chinese army and impressed the world. Stilwell, then commander-in-chief of the US military in the China-Burma-India Theater, made this assessment of the Chinese Expeditionary Force: "They can compete with any army in the world," which is a very high evaluation.