After the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941, the United States, in order to win over the Nationalist government to persist in the War of Resistance and thus drag Japan, organized 26 countries in Washington to sign the Declaration of the United Nations in early the following year. The signing of this declaration, on the one hand, marked the basic plan that constituted the "Allied Powers" of World War II, and on the other hand, recognized China's status as a "fourpower" alongside the United States, the Soviet Union and Britain. On behalf of the National Government, the person who signed the declaration was Song Ziwen, the then "foreign minister," the elder Chiang Kai-shek's brother-in-law and personal representative.
(Song Ziwen)
Soon after, US President Roosevelt proposed the establishment of a separate Chinese theater.
Old Chiang Kai-shek was appointed as the commander-in-chief (supreme commander).
"The conductor is or will be in the future
China
、
Annam (Vietnam)
and
Thailand
United Nations forces in the territory"
。 As we all know, old China was actually poor and weak, and was struggling to support itself to resist the aggression of Little Japan, and to be honest, it was really not a strong country, so these two big sugar-coated shells smashed into the old Jiang dizzy and was very flattered, and decided to repay the favor with a peach, so he took a bad step.
On January 4, 1942, Song Ziwen, who was in a hurry in the United States, formally proposed that Roosevelt "select a loyal general to come to China to serve as chief of staff in the theater", and also attached the basic conditions prescribed by the elder Chiang Kai-shek:
"I hope that his rank is above lieutenant general, and he does not have to be familiar with the old lovers of the East, as long as he has the character and enthusiasm."
。 Old Chiang Kai-shek's meaning is very clear, don't find me a "China pass" that understands everything to add to the chaos, military ability does not matter, as long as the character is good and can "enthusiastically" become a bridge between China and the United States.
Song Ziwen of course did so when he received the telegram, but unfortunately, the Americans lacked the ability to understand the tactfulness of the Eastern way, and the results of his "draft" surprised the uncle.
in Roosevelt
First, there is a "China Pass" that is "China Pass".
The US side took a very serious attitude toward Chiang Kai-shek's request to send Americans to serve as chief of staff, and after some searches and nominations by Marshall, chief of staff of the army, he was the commander of the Third Army
Major General Joseph Stilwell was selected and promoted to three-star lieutenant general (not to meet Chiang's request). But the thing is, this Stilwell is not what it is."
Those who are not familiar with the old lovers of the East
On the contrary, it is a "China Pass" that has been in China four times and has been mixed for nearly a decade.
A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Stilwell began traveling extensively to China in 1911, and in 1926 went to Tianjin to serve as a battalion commander of the 15th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army (according to the "Treaty of Xinugu") garrison, and later promoted to lieutenant colonel acting chief of staff. And marshall, the core figure of the future US Army, served as the deputy commander of this regiment at that time, so the two belonged to the old knowledge, and they were both "China tong" who had a considerable understanding of China's national conditions, which was probably an important reason why Marshall recommended Stilwell.
in Stilwell
On January 19, 1942, U.S. Secretary of the Army Stimson met with Song Ziwen and formally informed the president that he had approved Stilwell to go to Chongqing to serve as the "Chief of Staff of the Chinese Theater.", Minister Song listened to the buzzing of his head, because he knew this Stilwell better, and all the conditions did not meet the requirements of the old Chiang Kai-shek: 1. He was a Chinese who could speak fluent Chinese; 2. He was an "outstanding commander" recognized by the US Army; 3. Although he was very appreciated by Marshall, he was not a close associate of Roosevelt. I'm not even too cold to the president.
But at this point, Song Ziwen was no longer able to push back and refuse, because Old Chiang's conditions could not be brought to the table, and now people are so carefully selected generals according to your request. In desperation, Song Ziwen had no choice but to telegraph Chongqing according to the truth, and said a lot of good things to Stilwell, and there were even some in the telegram
"People are extremely honest and simple
The old Chiang Kai-shek was basically unfamiliar with the US generals, and seeing that Roosevelt had sent someone, and his brother-in-law also had many good words, he replied to the telegram and agreed.
On March 6, 1942, Lieutenant General Stilwell flew to Chongqing and officially reported to the supreme commander of the theater, and the old Chiang kai-shek lifted a stone to drop on his feet, and finally felt a little painful.
Theoretically, the first meeting between the commander-in-chief of the Chinese theater and the chief of staff should have been a very harmonious atmosphere, especially since Stilwell was fluent in Chinese and had no obstacles to communication. As a result, because the communication was too smooth, Lao Jiang was quite unhappy at the first meeting, because Stilwell was aggressive at the beginning, and he first introduced and explained his full set of job series to Lao Jiang:
The special plenipotentiary of the PRESIDENT of the United States, the commander-in-chief of the US military in the China-Myanmar-India Theater, the deputy commander of the Southeast Asian Allied Forces Command, the commander of the US forces in China, the commander of the air force stationed in China, the inspector of military supplies for aiding China, and the supervisor of the Yunnan Burma Highway are the identities of the chief of staff of the Chinese theater (in fact, there are actually more behind, what is the commander-in-chief of the army stationed in India, etc., skipping).
Old Jiang was a little smoked at that time, Song Ziwen, what Western immortal did you invite me? Let's smash the field.
Second, the chief of staff of the theater is called the commander-in-chief "peanut rice."
The first meeting was only the beginning of the collision, in the eyes of old Chiang, since you Shi Moumou is my chief of staff, you must listen to all my commands and orders, including how to use the troops, how to distribute materials and how to fight the battle, but Stilwell did not care about this at all, he wrote in his diary with disdain: "
He was also too stupid to understand that I had other identities, such as the U.S. representative of the advisory board, the commander of the U.S. military, and the lend-lease distributor."
To be fair and objective, the concept that Stilwell initially adhered to when he arrived in Chongqing was really not to come to China to "seize power", but to consider more about how to fight against Japan in order to make the Allies achieve final victory. As a professional soldier, he put forward many suggestions in the strategic and tactical aspects of the War of Resistance Against Japan, and he was able to mingle with grass-roots officers and soldiers within the Chinese Expeditionary Force, which was completely American style.
However, the first battle in Burma only two months later filled him with anger towards old Chiang Kai-shek, and relations between the two sides cooled down.
In order to assist the British army in resisting the invading Japanese invasion of Burma and defending the Yunnan-Burma Highway, the first phase of the Chinese Expeditionary Force stepped out of the country in May 1942, and Stilwell, as the commander-in-chief of the US army in the Sino-Indian-Burmese Theater and the chief of staff of the Chinese theater, had full authority to command the expeditionary force's combat affairs and coordinate relations with the Anglo-Burmese side. As for the 100,000 elites who went abroad to participate in the war, the old Chiang Kai-shek was particularly uneasy, and he used his confidant Lin Wei to form the "Central Military Commission Staff Committee in Yunnan" to intervene and control.
Under the chaotic command system and the selfishness of the British army, the first phase of the Chinese Expeditionary Force suffered a disastrous defeat, the strength of the loss of more than 60%, Stilwell with more than 110 people in the command, painstakingly out of the jungle of northern Burma to India, and then vented all his anger on the old Chiang Kai-shek. In June, he submitted a report to Chongqing, including:
1. Streamline and reorganize the troops, with the commanders above the regimental level being Americans; 3. Replace incompetent senior officers (even requiring the shooting of Zhang Yi and Gan Li junior commanders); 3. Grant full authority to the commanders of the front.
Such a request was completely unacceptable to Chiang Kai-shek, who regarded the army as the root of his life, so from June 1942 onwards, Old Chiang had deliberately "changed horses", coinciding with 7
During the month, Roosevelt's personal representative, Laughlin Curry, visited China, and for the first time, Chiang Kai-shek formally asked for the removal of Stilwell, but the Americans ignored it.
Old Chiang was embarrassed, and then contacted Song Ziwen to ask him to carry out activities in the United States, and strive to drive away this unaffordable and annoying American as soon as possible, Song Ziwen naturally complied with the order, and gently put forward the request for replacement, and the American reaction was unexpected by Jiang Song, in July 1942, Roosevelt authorized Marshall to write a long letter to old Chiang, the attitude and wording of the letter were extremely strong, expressing resolute support for Stilwell's position.
One of the statements is: "
Stilwell is both the chief of staff of the Chinese theater and the representative of the president of the United States, and the United States will not recall Stilwell, and even if he is replaced, any successor will have the same powers as Stilwell
”。
Third, it is easy to ask God to send God hard.
The strong wording and condescending attitude of this reply letter made Song Ziwen feel that "the content is too strong", and once lao Jiang saw it, the relationship between the two sides would directly have to overturn. So as the specific undertaker responsible for the transfer, Song Ziwen had to adopt a strategy of transferring flowers and trees: Stilwell received a copy of the original text of the reply letter, while the version received by Lao Jiang was revised.
Stilwell was quite satisfied with the support of the president and the chief of staff of the army, so his attitude toward Chiang Became more and more mean, he gave old Chiang a contemptuous title of "peanut rice", he refused to distribute the American materials transported according to old Chiang's will, he did not allow old Chiang to mobilize the US troops in the theater, and he also always sharply attacked the Chongqing Army's separate battles, preservation of strength, and high-level corruption, which made Old Chiang very annoyed."
Mad at the brink of anger
", but there is nothing to do about it.
The most intense focus of the collision between Jiang Shi and Jiang Shi is that Stilwell, a "China-connected China" who is very aware of the old Chiang's way of ruling and the delicate relationship between Chongqing and Yan'an, threatens the old Chiang with this pain point at every turn. In this situation, the old Jiang Didian Song Ziwen asked the brother-in-law to drag the relationship and spend silver, in short, at all costs to let the US government remove Stilwell, it is obvious that Roosevelt and Marshall do not nod, he, the commander-in-chief of the theater, cannot replace the chief of staff with a big nose.
On September 15, 1943, after some maneuvering, Song Ziwen formally submitted a memorandum to Roosevelt, asking the U.S. government to reconsider the issue of Stilwell's status. At this time, the United States was beginning to put its main military power into Europe, and there was no large-scale counteroffensive in the Pacific Theater, and it did not want to be too deadlocked with the Chongqing government, so it said in diplomatic terms:
"If the chairman himself formally requests it, the president will consider recalling Stilwell."
Song Ziwen was overjoyed to see the reply, and on September 29, he immediately sent a secret telegram to Chongqing, claiming that several important agreements had been reached with the US government in exchange for concessions from the US side, urging old Chiang to send a direct telegram to Roosevelt as soon as possible.
Fourth, Jiang Song fought hard because of Stilwell.
At least on the surface, the replacement of Stilwell has made great progress, just when the elder Jiang was brewing a telegram to Roosevelt, halfway out of the way to kill a "Song bite gold", well versed in Western culture Song Meiling weighed and issued a warning: "If you make this American hero lose command in China, you may not get their aircraft cannons or anything else." Old Jiang hesitated again and again, heeded his wife's advice, and decided to endure Stilwell again, otherwise the US weapons stuck in the middle of the road was not a joke.
So the draft of the telegram to Roosevelt was torn to shreds, and the matter came to an abrupt end, but Song Ziwen, who was far away in the United States, was put into a basin, and Minister Song was furious: Isn't this playing me? I jumped up and down on this side to change people, and you kicked at the door and said that if you don't kick, you won't kick? He immediately rushed back to Chongqing.
On October 16, 1943, Song Ziwen had a fierce quarrel with his brother-in-law in the Huangshan official residence, and according to the recollections of the guards, the battle was quite lively:
(Chiang Kai-shek and Song Ziwen)
It is said that the angry old Jiang slammed a valuable blue and white porcelain bowl on the ground at that time, and Song Ziwen, who was also furious, slammed the door in a hurry, and we don't know whether they snuffed foul words to each other
"Thought about it behind closed doors"
。 For a time, no one in the Manchu Dynasty Wenwu dared to visit Song Ziwen at all, and the only person who had to go to the Song palace was Wu Guozhen, the "vice minister" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after all, there were official affairs in the ministry that needed to be handled, and Song Ziwen was not explicitly dismissed.
Minister Song, who had calmed down, knew that his arm could not twist his thigh, so he asked the old subordinate who had been full of eunuchs: Do you see this matter ending? Wu Guozhen, a doctor of political science who was once the secretary of the old Chiang Kai-shek, said: This is not simple, you are relatives with the committee, write a letter of repentance to give a step down everything is OK.
Song Ziwen pondered this reason, so he adopted Wu's opinion and wrote a long letter to Old Jiang on December 23, 1943, in a "humble, restrained and ingenious tone", the other contents were not important, and there were eight words to explain the essence of the relationship between the two people:
Although he is a subordinate, he is more than flesh and blood."
The original of this letter, which is still preserved in the "Song Ziwen Special Archive" of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in the United States, is by no means empty.
(Wu Guozhen)
In this way, because a storm brewed by Stilwell gradually subsided, and about the same time old Jiang was also touched by those eight words, by the spring of 1944, Song Ziwen had been allowed to attend public official events.
During this period, old Chiang also made appropriate concessions to some of Stilwell's strong demands, such as replacing and investigating the ineffective expeditionary force commanders Zhang Yi and Gan Li, and allowing the expeditionary force to be equipped with US advisers at the regimental level in exchange for the support of the US government and the arrival of the source of US aid.
Therefore, Lao Jiang's second attempt to replace Stilwell's plan, under the influence of complex internal and external factors, was put to rest in October 1943, and the two sides maintained peace and quiet for a period of time.
Fifth, the last straw that crushed the camel.
After several battles, coupled with his in-depth understanding of the battle situation and the army, Stilwell was increasingly disdainful of what he called "peanut rice", and he not only made suggestions to the president, asking for the Eighth Route Army to provide US aid weapons and equipment to the "xiang" xiang
Flank attacks on the flanks of the Japanese army in North China
At the same time, it was also approved to send an AMERICAN observation team to Yan'an to undertake liaison and communication tasks, and from January 1944, the US military observation team arrived in Yan'an in two batches, and old Chiang's nose was obviously distorted, because this was where his bottom line lay.
Resolutely opposing Stilwell's approach to Yan'an, this reason is that old Jiang can't get it on the table, so he has to wait and wait, and for the replacement of Stilwell, there has been no room for change since then, just waiting for a suitable opportunity.
The opportunity finally came, and the fuse was the sudden outbreak of the Battle of Yuxianggui, which caused the contradiction between Lao Jiang and Stilwell to erupt in general, and eventually led to Stilwell's return to China.
The Battle of Yuxianggui, which began in April 1944, was the most difficult and incompetent large-scale battle of the Chongqing government army in the entire War of Resistance Against Japan, and on the battlefields of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi, Chiang Kai-shek's army lost ground, and by the end of the year, the vanguard of the Japanese army even rushed into southwest Qianxi, causing Guiyang to shake Chongqing in danger.
The large-scale rout of Chiang Kai-shek's army caused strong dissatisfaction from the United States, and Stilwell, who knew the old Chiang Kai-shek and his army very well, was even more intolerable.
At this time, Stilwell was commanding the second phase of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, including the indian army, to carry out counter-offensive operations against Japan in northern Burma and western Yunnan, and in order to save the crisis in the southwest, Old Chiang demanded that the elite of the expeditionary force be transferred back to China to fight the fire, which was something that Stilwell, who was bent on revenge, could not agree, so the two sides quarreled.
In a fit of rage, Stilwell made a suggestion to Marshall:
He had full command of the Chinese army, even including the Eighth Route Army, which was fighting in north China, thus depriving Chiang Kai-shek of his military command.
This proposal proved to be hasty and naïve, and it had already touched the red line that Lao Chiang could tolerate, especially the clause that "the Eighth Route Army should be armed and commanded by the Americans", not to mention whether Yan'an could agree, and Lao Chiang was the first to jump on the high ground to oppose it.
(Soldiers in India)
Interestingly, Roosevelt and Marshall initially agreed to the request and immediately promoted Stilwell to a four-star general so that he could exercise command with "the right status and rank". Roosevelt also sent a special letter to Chiang Kai-shek to this end, asking him to surrender the command of the army, and at the same time, Stilwell was fully responsible for controlling the US aid to China.
Why did Old Jiang ask Fang Xianjue to stick to Hengyang? Why was eight armies urgently dispatched from Tang Enbo to Guizhou to resist the Japanese army? It's all in this political context.
That is, the fiasco at the Battle of Yuxianggui brought old Chiang's military prestige to a freezing point, and under the constant pressure of the United States and Stilwell, old Chiang was eager to make a little improvement and a bright spot on the battlefield to prove his ability and status, so that for Roosevelt's suggestion of "granting Stilwell full authority to command all armies in the Chinese theater", old Chiang had to reply to the telegram at the beginning to express "principled consent".
(Song brothers and sisters)
However, in any case, the US government's demand for command of the army from another sovereign government has effectively violated the norms of international relations, and it is impossible for chiang kai-shek to accept it under any circumstances, so the relationship between him and Stilwell has entered the stage of "life and death", and all contradictions before and after must be settled in general.
In early October 1944, before Hengyang had fallen, Chiang Kai-shek began his Jedi counterattack and made a strong phone call to the U.S. government:
"Without the removal of Stilwell, China and the United States cannot cooperate
This means that if Old Shi does not leave, then we will withdraw from the gang.
This is embarrassing, the US government cannot tear its face with the Nationalist government because of a Stilwell, because there are still interests in the Japanese war and the post-war period, and it cannot completely abandon the old Chiang Kai-shek, so Stilwell's end is doomed.
Stilwell finally returned to the United States.
The Americans did give in, and on October 19, 1944, Roosevelt called back to Chongqing, agreeing to recall Stilwell, and sent General Wei Demai to be the chief of staff of the Chinese theater, and soon liao Yaoxiang's new Sixth Army in northern Burma was airlifted to Kunming, which is enough to show that in the direct battle between old Chiang and Stilwell, it finally ended with old Chiang winning.
Stilwell angrily left Chongqing on October 21, 1944, and returned to China, neither going through the handover formalities with Wei Demai nor leaving any important documents. Two days later, the New York Times published an article criticizing the U.S. government's recall of Stilwell as "passive support for a regime that is increasingly unpopular and untrustworthy."
(Weidmann)
The biggest difference between him and Stilwell, who took over all his posts, was that he did not regard himself as a "China master" and tried his best to maintain cooperation with lao Chiang, and at the beginning of his term of office, Wei Demai removed and replaced the US generals Dou En, Feillis, and others who had a bad attitude toward the old, which made old Chiang greatly happy.
For example, after Dou En's resignation, Chiang Kai-shek wrote in his diary: "This person is the first arrogant and arrogant person under Stilwell's army to insult China, and if the United States withdraws, the sincerity of aiding China will be further improved."
Second, Weidmann adjusted his relationship with Chennault to resolve the situation in which the U.S. Army and Ground Aviation competed for Hump airlift supplies. Wei Demai also interacted very closely with Chiang Kai-shek, and whenever he was in Chongqing, they tried to meet every day, talking about "the chain of command, organization, operations and training, hump transportation, Guangxi defense, redivide of the theater, and so on." ”
(He Yingqin and Wei Demai)
Even on domestic issues, the old Chiang often asked Wei Demai for advice, for example, in July 1945, he truthfully told Wei Demai about the contradictions between himself and Long Yun, and Wei Demai expressed his understanding of Chiang's suffering and promised to let the US army in Kunming monitor Long Yun's changes.
Wei Demai was more clear in his heart: "The American imagination is that as long as Chiang Kai-shek gives an order, the order will be carried out. And I know that he is no more than the head of a loose union, and from time to time he has to go through great difficulties in obtaining obedience to his command."
Obviously, Stilwell could never understand these internal and external pressures of the old Chiang Kai-shek, and for the problems existing in Chiang's army,
Wei Demer's criticism is actually no less than Stilwell's, but he never uses insulting language, which makes Lao Jiang and others more willing to accept his suggestions. Old Chiang's account of this is:
"The criticism of Our military and operations by Wei Demer and others is truly humiliating, but its enthusiasm and forgiveness can be felt. Not as fierce as the past Shi Shi's viciousness, so Yu is right, but there is excitement and self-reflexiveness, and there is great hope for it."
。
In a word, Wei Demai's attitude toward Chiang Kai-shek was more sleek, not as mean and fierce as Stilwell's, but the consequences were also disastrous, that is, the US government's China policy was held by the nose.
(Stilwell on the Battlefield)
End:
The Americans also felt that the removal of Stilwell was a great loss of dignity, and always believed that "the US army had yielded to Chairman Chiang Kai-shek", so they adopted a very low-key cold treatment of Stilwell's return to China, and even did not allow him to publicly give speeches or speeches. Stilwell was ordered to land at a small airfield in the southern United States, and was subsequently "protected" in Washington, D.C., and the Army Information Bureau chief specifically asked him to "abstain from words and deeds," which is very funny to treat a general who has distinguished himself and is outspoken to Chiang Kai-shek.
In January 1945, with the victory of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the Indian Army, a Sino-Indian highway from Lido in India to Yunnan, China, was opened to traffic, and it was named "Stilwell Highway", which is the only memorial to the general.
(with Sun Liren)