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Stilwell's arrival in China was the product of Sino-US military alliance. Stilwell has had many previous experiences in China, and will say that Chinese, is a China, has a considerable understanding of Chinese social and public conditions, and has also developed certain feelings for China. Because of this, he was originally sent to command the Allied landings in North Africa, and came to China in March 1942 to serve as Chief of Staff of Chiang Kai-shek and Commander of the U.S. Army in the Sino-Indian-Burmese Theater.
Stilwell's cooperation with Chiang Kai-shek was not pleasant, and when he first led the Chinese Expeditionary Force into Burma, there were many contradictions over the issue of military command. This also led to the defeat of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, which Stilwell always believed was due to the Chinese generals
"Lack of ability, or lack of guts"
, resulting in no unified command. Chiang Kai-shek argued that Stilwell had no combat experience and did not abide by the rules, "all to blame for the strategic failure."
Before Stilwell was recalled to China, Chiang Kai-shek also twice asked the United States to recall him. In order to stabilize US aid, Song Ziwen could only mediate from it. At the same time, the Soong sisters once again played the role of lubricant, and "signed an offensive and defensive alliance" with Stilwell, reconciling the contradictions between Stilwell and Chiang Kai-shek. At this time, the US government also made a compromise reply, and in response to Chiang Kai-shek's request for increased assistance, Stilwell also lowered his posture.
Chiang Kai-shek said: "In the end, Stilwell was allowed to repent and stay in office and regain his credibility." ”
In the process of cooperating with Chiang Kai-shek, the Americans slowly learned that Chiang Kai-shek's anti-Japanese enthusiasm was not high, but was bent on suppressing the Communists. He deployed a large number of troops to northern Shaanxi to prevent the red armed forces from developing and growing, but the anti-Japanese resistance was passive. The Americans even believed that Chiang Kai-shek wanted to rely on their army landings to help him defeat Japan.
According to the plan of the counter-offensive against Burma drawn up at the Cairo Conference, the Chinese troops stationed in India crossed the Nu River from Ledo, India, and the Chinese Expeditionary Force crossed the Nu River while launching an attack on the Japanese army. As a result, Stilwell commanded the Chinese army in India to launch an attack at the end of November 1943. However, the Chinese Expeditionary Force did not see any movement for a long time, so Roosevelt sent five telegrams to urge Chiang Kai-shek to send troops, until he threatened to stop US aid, and Chiang made a move in April 1944.
Roosevelt was very dissatisfied with this, and he said privately to his son:
"Why can't Chiang's troops defeat the Japanese... He said his troops were untrained, unequipped... But this in no way explains why he tried so hard to prevent General Stilwell from training the Chinese army, nor did it explain why he hoarded most of his most elite troops on the border of Northwest-Red China. ”
In particular, after the Japanese army launched the "No. 1 Operation" plan, Henan and Hunan fell, and Guilin and Liuzhou were in a hurry. The Americans were worried that the Japanese army would hit Kunming and cut off the hump supply line, so that "China would completely collapse."
So the Americans wanted an American general to lead the Allied forces in the Chinese theater, just as Eisenhower led the Allied forces in Europe, and the best candidate was Stilwell. Chiang Kai-shek's first reaction to this idea was to reject it. But the Americans repeated the same tactics, and Roosevelt sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek without mercy: "
Please give him the most urgent consideration, recall him (Stilwell) from Burma, and put him under your command of all Chinese troops and American troops, and give him full responsibility and authority."
Finally, in a slightly threatening tone
"Otherwise, our common cause will suffer a serious setback".
Chinese people are building airports
The telegram did not resemble a dialogue between the heads of state of the two great powers at all, but more like an order from a superior to a subordinate. Chiang Kai-shek was angry and annoyed when he saw it, but for the sake of US aid, he still put up with it.
In the end, he replied to Roosevelt's agreement in principle, but in view of the national conditions, the implementation of this decision "must have a period of preparation"
He also asked the United States to send another representative to reconcile the contradictions between Jiang and Shi. Americans may not be able to comprehend the deep connotations of Chinese culture, and although Chiang Kai-shek ostensibly agreed to give command of the army to Stilwell, in practice he still had various reasons to delay indefinitely.
In the end, the Americans lost patience. Roosevelt sent a telegram again accusing Chiang Kai-shek mercilessly:
"Since you have not yet put General Stilwell in command of all chinese troops, we are in danger of not losing a very important region in China, which could have disastrous consequences
"At the same time again threatened:"
If there is any further delay, all your and our efforts to save China will be in vain.
On September 19, 1944, Stilwell translated the telegram into Chinese and handed it to Chiang Kai-shek in person.
In the past, telegrams sent from the United States were generally translated and relayed by Song Ziwen and others, and the tone would become more euphemistic. This time, as a subordinate, Stilwell actually used such threatening telegrams to directly hand over to a head of state, which made Chiang Kai-shek feel extremely humiliated and angry, and he was determined to drive Stilwell away, and even prepared to be abandoned by the United States and resist Japan alone.
After Chiang Kai-shek consulted with Song Ziwen, he believed that the United States would not abandon him. First, in the Pacific theater, although the United States is already in an advantageous position, the Japanese army resists stubbornly, the US military has suffered great losses, and they need Chinese allies. Second, the United States is busy with elections at home, and losing China's allies is likely to affect Roosevelt's vote. So he called Roosevelt back and asked for Stilwell's recall.
Chiang Kai-shek was basically wrong in major policy decisions all his life, but this time he chose the right one.
The Americans certainly did not have the courage to abandon China.
Stilwell comforts disabled soldiers in India
On October 21, 1944, Roosevelt telegraphed Chiang Kai-shek and agreed to recall Stilwell immediately. On October 31, the New York Times published the news, which made American public opinion explode and criticize the US government for compromise with Chiang Kai-shek. Roosevelt had to answer questions at the press conference, explaining the contradictions between Stilwell and Chiang Kai-shek as "purely personality issues."
The contradiction between Jiang and Shi naturally has a conflict of personality. Stilwell was an acute, typical soldier with a straight and outspoken personality, and he was particularly dissatisfied with the corruption of the Chinese military. He would unceremoniously point out the problems of the Nationalist government in front of Chiang Kai-shek, who was completely unable to understand the principle of Chinese's conduct for man. The American Chennault once said of Stilwell: ""
All of my dealings with Stilwell convinced me that he had always seen himself entirely as an Army soldier and had no understanding of his basic duties as a diplomat, nor did he have the patience to figure it all out.
Chiang Kai-shek could not stand his set at all, and in China he was the supreme leader, and no one dared to talk to him like this.
But even so, the personality problem is only the appearance of the contradiction between Jiang and Shi. There are three deep reasons that really led to the two breaking up:
Stilwell's Policy of Tolerance.
From the american point of view, as long as they can help the Americans defeat the Japanese, they are partners, and they can help and support. Especially after the War of Resistance entered the stage of stalemate, Chiang Kai-shek's primary goal was to preserve strength and passively resist the war, and the Americans were even more eager to support other forces to resist Japan. At this time, the Communist Party's attitude of resisting the war was very clear and positive. So the Americans set their sights on the Communist forces in the northwest.
On July 23, 1944, a U.S. military observation group visited Yan'an. U.S. Embassy staff member Xie Weisi mentioned in the report at the end of the inspection
"The morale of the Chinese Communist Party army is high, the people's officers are certified, and there is a sense of responsibility under the competent leadership ... There is no bureaucracy, no flashy things like Chongqing, and no defeatist sentiment in Chongqing."
This was in stark contrast to the Kuomintang troops.
Stilwell also made no secret of his fondness for communist troops, saying bluntly and bluntly in a memo: "
The 18th Army of the Communist Party of China will be used. There should be no misunderstanding on this point. They may be used in areas where they will not clash with the Central Army, but it should be agreed that they are partners in times of crisis".
Moreover, the "all Chinese armies" mentioned in Roosevelt's telegram to Chiang Kai-shek naturally included the Communist army.
This was the most unacceptable part of Chiang Kai-shek, who had been beaten to death without American aid and training. With the assistance of the United States, it is certain that after the victory of the War of Resistance, it is only a matter of time before he is ousted from power. Chiang Kai-shek insisted: "If the Communist army is used, they must recognize the power of the National Military Commission."
The United States Observer Mission inspects Yan'an
Control of U.S. aid to China
The strategic focus of the United States is in Europe, and it has always attached great importance to Europe, and aid to China is only at the end of the US aid chain, and it can get very few materials. But even so, aid to China is still the only weapon that the Americans can make Chiang Kai-shek "obediently obedient."
And with Stilwell's knowledge of China, he understood very well that if the right to use the materials was controlled by Chiang Kai-shek, with the corruption of the Nationalist government and the army, these materials were likely to enter the pockets of the bureaucrats at the top. Even if it could be effectively controlled, Chiang Kai-shek would distribute supplies to his own troops, rather than to those most in need.
The United States was particularly worried that these supplies would be hoarded by Chiang Kai-shek and used in the future to fight civil wars.
In fact, this situation also happens frequently. In September 1944, Guilin was besieged by the Japanese army, and Stilwell had to send in a convoy to transport away the bombs, cars and other equipment that had been transported at a high cost by ton over the Himalayas, and these materials were hoarded here without real use. Two months later, U.S. intelligence agents found a secretly stored shipment of weapons in a cave near Dushan County, Guizhou
"Including fifty thousand tons of weapons and ammunition, of which there are 50 brand new field guns and many shells".
According to the Nationalist government, these weapons were used to deal with the situation in north China, but Guilin and Liuzhou fell one after another, and these weapons still did not come in handy. This has forced Americans to think seriously about the efficiency of the use of aid.
For Chiang Kai-shek, he could not get control of the materials, as if his neck was choked by others, and he was restricted everywhere. He could have used the distribution of supplies to control the local forces, and if there was no dominance of the materials, the local armed forces would rather listen to the Americans than to him. The reason why he passively resisted the war was to preserve the strength of the central army and eliminate the local forces and the armed forces of the Communist Party.
Cairo meets the Big Three
Conflict over national sovereignty.
At the beginning of World War II, the United States pursued "neutralism" and was unwilling to get involved in the war, in order to avoid conflict with Japan, and even tried to sacrifice China in exchange for Japan's compromise. After the outbreak of the Platform War, the United States' China policy has changed, that is, it hopes to use China's vast space and manpower and material resources to drag the Japanese army back, cooperate with it to win the war against Japan as soon as possible, and reduce its own losses. As a representative of U.S. interests, Stilwell naturally wants to help the United States gain as many interests as possible in China. Therefore, he dared not to take Chiang Kai-shek in his eyes, and even pressed forward step by step.
China has long been oppressed by imperialism and is therefore particularly sensitive to sovereignty. Although Chiang Kai-shek had many shortcomings, especially his love of face, this point became an advantage in the struggle for national sovereignty. He wanted to rely on the Americans, but he didn't want to be a puppet like Wang Jingwei. On April 19, 1942, he called Song Ziwen, who was in the United States for aid.
"It is necessary to firmly adhere to the position of giving and giving, and to give and to maintain its own independent status"
。 On May 18, when Chiang Kai-shek received Magrud, head of the US military delegation, he said directly:
"Wartime treatment has revealed traces of inequality, so how dare you not imagine after the war.
”
He was particularly unable to bear the fact that the Americans were confronted by Stilwell, writing in his diary:
Shi Shi's stupidity, rudeness, and impersonality can be described as extremely impersonal, while Yu Nai was ashamed of the country's weakness, so he was insulted by this. ”
After waiting for the United States to officially recall Stilwell, he wrote in his diary: "
This was the beginning of China's liberation. ”