On September 18, 1931, in order to launch a war of aggression against China, the Japanese created the September 18 Incident, because the Then National Government in Nanjing and Zhang Xueliang, who presided over the military and political affairs of the northeast region, pursued a strategy of non-resistance, resulting in the Japanese occupying Shenyang In less than a day, within a week, they controlled more than 20 cities in Liaoning Province and Jilin Province, and after more than 4 months, all three northeastern provinces fell.
After the September 18 Incident, the Japanese army entered Shenyang
The day of September 18, 1931, was the beginning of China's fourteen-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the beginning of the all-out aggression of more than 30 million compatriots in Northeast China by Japanese imperialism.
At the time of the September 18 Incident, if the Northeast Army resisted to the end, would it be able to resist the japanese invasion? Today, we will discuss this issue in detail.
After the September 18 Incident, people at that time sighed, believing that "the Grand Marshal (Zhang Zuolin) is here, and he will not end here", so if Zhang Zuolin is really still there, will the three northeastern provinces fall? This must start with the combat effectiveness of the Northeast Army.
The predecessor of the Northeast Army was the armed forces of the Fengzhi warlords, on December 29, 1928, after Zhang Xueliang announced the "Yizhi" in the northeast, the Northeast Army was incorporated into the National Revolutionary Army system of the National Government in Nanjing, called the Northeast Border Defense Army, whether it was the Fengzhi Warlord Period or the Northeast Border Defense Army period, the Northeast Army can be said to be one of the stronger fighting forces in China at that time, and for a period of time, the Northeast Army was the only army in China at that time with both sea, land and air organization.
Around 1928, the total strength of the Northeast Army was about 300,000 people, of which the number of aircraft owned by the Air Force was estimated to be between 200 and 300, the total strength of the Northeast Army Navy was more than 3,300 people, with 21 large and small ships, with a total tonnage of about 32,000 tons, and the strength of the Northeast Navy exceeded that of the Central Navy at that time, when the total tonnage of the national navy was about 42,000 tons.
The Northeast Army is not only a sea, land and air army, but also has a seaplane formation, which is the earliest naval aviation, in order to facilitate seaplanes to carry out sea operations, the Northeast Army will also convert some warships into seaplane carriers, seaplane carriers are actually the prototype of aircraft carriers.
So, what is the actual combat effectiveness of the Northeast Army?
During the period of the Fengzhi warlords, the Northeast Army participated in two Zhifeng Wars, the first Zhifeng War, the Fengjun 120,000 people entered Guannei, but later, the direct warlords won, Zhang Zuolin was forced to retreat to the northeast; the second Zhifeng War, the Fengjun 150,000 people participated in the war, and finally, the Fengzhi warlords won, the direct warlords were defeated, but the reason why the direct clan was defeated by the Feng clan was largely due to the internal discord among the direct warlords, Feng Yuxiang and Zhang Zuolin formed an anti-direct alliance.
In terms of domestic warlord melee, although the combat effectiveness of the Northeast Army is relatively strong, it cannot be sure of victory, so how effective is the Northeast Army, as a border defense army in the northeast region of China, in resisting the attack of foreign armies? In the Middle East Road incident, the combat effectiveness of the Northeast Army has been exposed.
The Northeast Army in Harbin at the time
In the late Qing Dynasty, there was a railway in northeast China that was controlled by the Japanese and Russians respectively, and this railway was the "Middle East Railway", also known as the "China Eastern Province Railway".
After the end of the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongzhang, in order to use the power of the Russians to resist Japan's aggression against northeast China, allowed Tsarist Russia to obtain the privilege of building a railway in northeast China. In 1903, the Middle East Railway was successfully built, but the railway was soon controlled by the Russians, and the railway line also became the Russian sphere of influence, and after the end of the Russo-Japanese War, the Middle East Railway was bounded by Changchun Kuanchengzi Station, which belonged to the Japanese sphere of influence to the south and the Russian sphere of influence to the north.
During the Beiyang government and the Nanjing Nationalist government, Chinese always hoped to regain sovereignty over the Middle East Railway, and of course the Soviet Union also made some concessions, changing the period for returning the Middle East Railway to China free of charge from 80 years in the Tsarist Russia era to 60 years, and at the same time, within this 60-year period, China could also redeem the Middle East Railway.
After the establishment of the National Government in Nanjing, Chiang Kai-shek launched a so-called "revision of the New Treaty" diplomatic campaign, hoping to abrogate or revise a series of unequal treaties signed between China and the great powers since the Opium War, including the restoration of tariff autonomy, the abolition of extraterritorial jurisdiction, the recovery of leased land, and so on.
In July 1929, in response to the diplomatic activities of the Nanjing Nationalist Government to "revise the New Covenant", Zhang Xueliang adopted a tough attitude toward the Soviets, took back the operation rights of the Middle East Railway by force, and arrested and repatriated senior Soviet employees. In August, the armed conflict between the Northeast Army and the Soviet Army escalated in an all-round way, and the conflict continued until December, with about 100,000 troops on the Northeast Army and about 40,000 troops on the Soviet side.
But in this war, Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army was defeated miserably, killing more than 3,500 people and more than 18,000 people were captured, while the death toll of the Soviet army was 281, 4 people were missing, and more than 700 people were injured, of course, the specific number of casualties of the Northeast Army is controversial, and some scholars estimate that the Northeast Army died more than 2,000 people and captured more than 7,000 people, but no matter what, Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army was a fiasco.
In the case of the rapid collapse of the Northeast Army, Zhang Xueliang had to demand an armistice, on December 20, Zhang Xueliang signed the "Boli Agreement" with the Soviet side, the Middle East Road maintained the status quo before the conflict, Zhang Xueliang not only did not take back the Middle East Railway, but also fought a defeated battle, Chiang Kai-shek refused to recognize the "Boli Agreement" on the grounds that Cai Yunsheng, who participated in the signing of the "Boli Agreement", did not obtain the authorization of the National Government in Nanjing, and still insisted on negotiating with the Soviets, hoping to reclaim the Middle East Railway. But until the 918 incident, there was no result.
In the Middle East Road Incident, the Northeast Army rapidly collapsed, fully exposing the essence of the Northeast Army's external strength and cadres, which further strengthened the Japanese people's confidence in expanding their rights and interests in aggression in Northeast China, and in less than two years, the 918 Incident broke out.
Zhang Zuolin
In summary, if Zhang Zuolin was still there at the time of the September 18 Incident, the Northeast Army might not have been able to resist the Japanese invasion. The Huanggutun Incident occurred in June 1928, just a little more than a year later, the Middle East Road Incident occurred, the Northeast Army in 1928 and 1929 combat effectiveness did not change significantly, so even if Zhang Zuolin commanded the Northeast Army, it may not be able to defeat the Soviet Army. At that time, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese Kwantung Army was stronger than that of the Soviet Army, and in the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese also defeated the Russians, and the Northeast Army was defeated by the Soviet Army, so, too, it was easy to be defeated by the Japanese army.
Therefore, if at the time of the September 18 Incident, Zhang Zuolin commanded 300,000 Northeast Troops to resolutely resist the japanese army's aggressive behavior, then the final result is likely to be defeated, but the time for the Japanese army to fully occupy northeast China will be postponed, and it may take more than 3 months to occupy Shenyang, Changchun and other cities.
Moreover, if Chiang Kai-shek had not given substantial assistance to the Northeast Army and had not been prepared for an all-out war with the Japanese when Zhang Zuolin was engaged in a deadly struggle with the Japanese army, it was also a matter of great uncertainty as to how long the Northeast Army, as a local warlord armed force, would be able to hold out and whether it would choose to retreat to North China in the middle of the way in order to protect itself.
However, in any case, in the face of Japanese aggression, it is better to resist than not to resist, and even in the time of resistance, it is worth making great sacrifices, so the September 18 Incident always reminds us not to forget the national shame.