During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the weapons and equipment of the Chinese army were generally far weaker than those of the Japanese army, and some poorly equipped troops even had only one-tenth of the firepower of the Japanese army. In this case, the war against Japan is very difficult, and the casualties paid are often very large.
However, in the context of the overall equipment of the Chinese army being weaker than that of the Japanese army, there is also a US military stationed in India. The weapons, equipment and firepower of this unit are stronger than those of the Japanese army in front of it, and the quality of its soldiers is also the best of the best, and in this case, the battle with the Japanese army can achieve greater results at a relatively small cost.
As we know, the army stationed in India was only the new 1st Army at the earliest, and later with the expansion of the scale of troops, the New 6th Army was divided into the new 6th Army. Nowadays, when mentioning the New 1st Army on the Internet, that is, how Sun Liren, the commander of the New 1st Army, is mentioned, and when the New 6th Army is mentioned, it is how Liao Yaoxiang, commander of the New 6th Army, is.
In fact, when Sun Li and Liao Yaoxiang were still the commanders of the divisions stationed in India and there was only one new 1st army stationed in India, the first commander of the army was Zheng Dongguo. At that time, when deciding on the selection of the commander of the New 1st Army, Zheng Dongguo was not the only candidate, the earliest selection was Qiu Qingquan, and even Huang Wei and Li Jilan were also discussed.
Why did the first commander of the New 1st Army stationed in India not consider Sun Liren or Liao Yaoxiang, but choose generals from the domestic troops? Why was it Zheng Dongguo who went last, not Qiu Qingquan and others? Why was Zheng Dongguo so low-key when he was the commander of the New 1st Army that many people still don't know it?
This article will be discussed together.
First of all, let's talk about the source of the Chinese army in India.
After the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941, the Japanese army not only went to war with the United States, but also went to war with Britain and sent land and sea forces to attack british colonies in Southeast Asia.
At that time, Burma was a British colony, and together with India, this was its must-protect place; and the Burmese Passage was the only overseas communication route of the government at that time, so the government attached great importance to the defense of Burma, and the two sides had a common interest in defending Burma.
Before the Japanese army could attack, the Anglo-Burmese authorities had the intention of inviting the Nationalists to enter Burma. However, the British mentality at that time was more complicated, not only overestimating their own combat strength militarily, but also politically afraid that the national army would pose a threat to its rule in Burma after entering Burma, so the Japanese side was pressing step by step, while the national army's troops entering Burma were delayed.
It was not until February 1942 that nationalist troops entered Burma one after another, and it was not until March 12 that the headquarters of the 1st Route Commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force was officially established after the fall of Rangoon.
Its commander was initially designated as Wei Lihuang, but Wei Lihuang did not arrive, and was actually acted by Du Yuming, who served as deputy commander and commander of the 5th Army, and later Luo Zhuoying succeeded him. At that time, the expeditionary force had 3 corps, including the 5th Army, the 6th Army and the 66th Army, with a strength of about 100,000 people.
In the command of the expeditionary force, internal problems were extremely great, and there were many contradictions between Chiang Kai-shek and the United States and Britain. Stilwell believed that the expeditionary force should be commanded by him, but the expeditionary force originally had a commander Luo Zhuoying, and in fact, it was Du Yuming who held real power below, in addition, the staff committee also had command authority, and the commanders of each army division also had their own plans.
Under this multi-headed command, coupled with the pulling of the Anglo-Burmese side, the expeditionary force as a whole actually did not really put up a posture to fight a good fight, and it was defeated in a vacuum.
The Japanese army followed suit, directly rushed into northern Burma and attacked western Yunnan, and the non-combat losses of the expeditionary force were far greater than the battle losses, except for one part of the battle losses. The remaining troops retreated to Yunnan and the other to India.
Among them, the part withdrawn to India is mainly most of the new 38th Division, the remnants of the New 22nd Division and other scattered personnel, totaling only about 10,000 people.
After the disastrous defeat in the Burmese war, Stilwell was extremely angry, believing that the command that the old Chiang had promised him had not been implemented at all, and Du Yuming and others also had great opinions about Stilwell, believing that he was commanding in a disorderly manner. Old Jiang did promise Stilwell that he had command power, but in fact he was unwilling to delegate power, and at the same time, in order to obtain US aid, he could not directly fall out with Stilwell, so the situation at that time was more chaotic.
Stilwell was extremely dissatisfied with the government from Chiang Kai-shek to most of the generals, and he hoped to have an army that was really under his command. The expeditionary force that retreated into the country was difficult to control, but the retreat to India made Stilwell hopeful.
As early as April 1942, when the burmese war was still in progress, Stilwell submitted the "Plan for Organizing the Training of Chinese Troops in India" to Chiang Kai-shek, and then the remnants of the Expeditionary Force arrived in India, so that the troops stationed in India had a foundation, and then the airlifters from the country could be re-dressed and organized in India.
Stilwell himself became the commander-in-chief of the Chinese army in India as he wished, and Luo Zhuoying became the deputy commander-in-chief of the army in India. As for Du Yuming, because of the great contradiction with Stilwell, although his 5th Army headquarters was in India, it then drove back to China. Therefore, under the Indian army, there were only the new 22nd Division and the new 38th Division, as well as special forces formed from domestic airlifters and receiving equipment.
As mentioned earlier, Stilwell did not have a good feeling for most of the generals of the Nationalist army at that time, not even for the officers of the Nationalist army, and he believed that the soldiers of the Nationalist army were good soldiers, but the officers and generals were not.
In fact, the generals and officers of the Nationalist army at that time generals and officers generally had bad diseases such as drinking soldiers' blood, eating empty pay, and squeezing soldiers, but Stilwell was too extreme and decided to draw officers from the US army and directly replace the officers in the Indian army, as long as the Chinese soldiers.
For this situation, it naturally caused a strong backlash from the top level of the government and the army stationed in India, and the final result was mutual compromise, and the US military officers no longer replaced the Chinese officers, but instead took on the responsibility of liaison and training, but the payment of military salaries and so on must be the responsibility of the US military.
However, Luo Zhuoying was expelled back to China because he "wandered around the room all day and had no way to educate and train the army", and the deputy general headquarters of the army stationed in India was cancelled; at the same time, in order to balance, the army stationed in India set up a new 1st army department, and the commander was selected by the country, so the selection of this military commander was particularly important.
First of all, Liao Yaoxiang, commander of the New 22nd Division, and Sun Liren, commander of the New 38th Division, were not considered, and there were both issues of seniority and the heavy responsibility of representing the government in negotiating with the United States.
Initially, the commander of the New 1st Army was initially selected as Qiu Qingquan, a second-term student of Huangpu, who participated in the Eastern Expedition and the Northern Expedition, and later went to Germany to study. Before the start of the All-out War of Resistance, Qiu Qingquan returned to China and served as the chief of staff of the Teaching Corps. After the Nanjing War, Qiu Qingquan served as the deputy commander of the 200th Division (Note: the division commander was Du Yuming, the first mechanized division), and later served as the commander of the new 22nd Division, leading his troops to participate in the Battle of Lanfeng and the Battle of Kunlun Pass.
In 1940, Qiu Qingquan was appointed deputy commander of the 5th Army, and later transferred to the posts of Counselor of the Attendant Office, Director of the Supplementary Training Department, and Deputy Director of the 7th Branch of the Army Officer School.
It is said that after Qiu Qingquan received the news, even his staff members found it well, and asked someone to teach diplomatic etiquette, etc., and waited to go to India to take office. However, Xu Tingyao, Du Yuming and other senior officials believed that Qiu Qingquan was short-tempered and probably could not get along well with Stilwell, and suggested that Zheng Dongguo be transferred.
Of course, in addition to the temperament factor, there is also the ability aspect, such as the evaluation of Qiu Qingquan in the telegram at that time, "I was afraid that qiu Qingquan was afraid of his lack of ability and experience, so he decided to reconcile with Zheng Dongguo." However, Du Yuming did not treat Qiu Qingquan badly, and soon after Qiu Qingquan became the commander of the 5th Army.
At that time, Chen Cheng also briefly mentioned that "the indian army intends to invite Huang Wei or Li Jilan to command, because the academic experience of the generals who are on the one hand must pay attention to it", but Chen Cheng also said that "if you can transfer Zheng Dongguo to go", so the final choice is Zheng Dongguo.
Zheng Dongguo, a first-term student of Huangpu, has a good cultural attainment and participated in the Eastern Expedition and the Northern Expedition. In 1933, during the Great Wall War, Zheng Dongguo, who was the commander of the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Division, led his troops in a bloody battle with the Japanese army, and was the earliest general in the Central Army who had experience in fighting against Japan.
After the start of the all-out War of Resistance, Zheng Dongguo, who was the commander of the 2nd Division, led his troops to fight in the front line of Hebei and Shandong, and participated in the Battle of Taierzhuang. After that, Zheng Dongguo transferred to Tang Enbo's department and served as the commander of the 98th Army.
At this time, Du Yuming invited Zheng Dongguo to the New 11th Army as the commander of the honorary 1st Division, the New 11th Army was the later 5th Army, which was the most well-equipped unit of the Nationalist Army at that time. Soon after, the New 11th Army was renamed the 5th Army, and Zheng Dongguo served as the deputy commander and commander of the Rong 1st Division, and led his troops to participate in the Battle of Kunlun Pass.
In 1940, Zheng Dongguo led the Rong 1st Division to break away from the 5th Army, reorganized the New 11th Army and served as the commander, and the New 11th Army was later changed to the 8th Army, and Zheng Dongguo still served as the commander.
When selecting the commander of the New 1st Army, the reason for choosing Zheng Dongguo was first of all that there was no problem in terms of seniority, Zheng was both a first-term student of Huangpu and the commander of the main army; he also had sufficient combat experience, whether it was the Great Wall War of Resistance, the Great Victory of Taierzhuang, the Great Victory of Kunlun Pass, etc., Zheng Dongguo participated.
In addition, Zheng Dongguo also served in the 5th Army and had a deep understanding of mechanized troops. In the end, Zheng Dongguo has a good temper and can take into account the overall situation, which is also a plus.
After the selection of Zheng Dongguo, lao Jiang personally summoned him, but Zheng Dongguo had concerns about dealing with the Americans. Old Jiang expressed understanding, but still encouraged that choosing you was repeatedly considered, and that it was most appropriate for you to go, and Zheng Dongguo went to India to take office.
In the view of Stilwell, the commander-in-chief of the indian army, the elimination of Luo Zhuoying's deputy general headquarters was a success, but it was naturally unpleasant to have a new 1st Army headquarters of Zheng Dongguo. Therefore, Stilwell did not have the slightest good feeling for the arrival of Zheng Dongguo, and this can be felt in Stilwell's diary.
Therefore, the new 1st Army Headquarters of Zheng Dongguo actually has no direct subordinate units at all, all of which have only thirty or forty people, and the artillery, armored troops, and engineers of the Army stationed in India are all directly under the general headquarters of the Army stationed in India.
In this case, the New 1st Army Headquarters obviously has no command authority. In this regard, as early as before Zheng Dongguo went to India, the top level of the state government had estimated it. Before leaving, How Yingqin gave Zheng Dongguo a task, one was to deal with the United States and Britain, and the other was to unite the troops stationed in India. After arriving in India, Stilwell explicitly gave Zheng Dongguo the authority of the new 1st Army Department to manage military discipline only.
The famous historian Huang Renyu, who was serving as a staff officer in the New 1st Army department of Zheng Dongguo at the time, once said:
Jeongdong was conservative and gentle, and was known for his humility among the generals of the Nationalist army. His strength lies in his tenacity, never likes to ask for credit, knows how to respect his superiors, and can accept the rules of the game decided by his colleagues. He was very generous to his subordinates, letting them act and always speaking for them. Chiang Kai-shek sent him to command the newly formed 1st Army, and seemed to have found a suitable candidate to work under Stilwell.
But although the commander of the New 1st Army is Zheng Dongguo, he obviously has no command authority, Huang Renyu also said:
To this day, I still cannot understand who made an agreement with the United States that our commander-in-chief had no command authority and could only act as commander of the gendarmerie, and the general command could only serve as the office of the military judge. General Zheng was very disapproving, and we felt the same way, but all opinions and protests were invalid.
Later, the command headquarters asked General Zheng to bring a second batch of officers, who he had drawn from the Eighth Army under his previous command. However, in terms of command, the US side has a firm stand and there is absolutely no room for concessions. When General Zheng was on duty in India and Burma, the only army that could be effectively commanded was a whole row of guards led by lieutenants.
In fact, it was not only Zheng Dongguo who did not have command authority, but even Liao Yaoxiang, commander of the New 22nd Division, and Sun Liren, commander of the New 38th Division, initially did not have command authority.
Later, the front-line troops did play well, and the performance of these generals and officers was also possible, and Stilwell gradually delegated power, but Zheng Dongguo still did not have command.
To this end, Zheng Dongguo also asked for a transfer back to China, but it was not approved. On the contrary, after the infantry divisions of the Indian Army were expanded to 5 and divided into 2 corps, the commander of the new 1st Army was promoted to deputy commander-in-chief, taking charge of the re-established deputy general headquarters, and continuing the previous task. At this time, Sun Licai served as the commander of the New 1st Army, but Sun had the right to command.
Stilwell's personality is extreme, but it is not that the oil and salt are not infested, and the commander who can really fight can still be reused. However, the situation of Zheng Dongguo is different from that of Sun Liren and Liao Yaoxiang, the latter two are actually leading troops, and Zheng Dongguo is parachuted on behalf of old Jiang, so it cannot give real command. Until later, after Stilwell left his post, it was still the same, which shows that Zheng Dongguo's lack of command is not only Stilwell's meaning.
Of course, due to the actual performance of Zheng Dongguo, Stilwell's attitude toward Zheng Dongguo was not as tough as at the beginning, and zheng Dongguo was often able to inspect the front line and give advice, such as in the Battle of Myitkyina, and tried his best to play his role. At the same time, the troops stationed in India are also well aware of the significance of the existence of the New 1st Army Headquarters, and often express their attitudes by contacting staff officers.
For Zheng Dongguo himself, the experience of the Indo-Burmese period is obviously not very smooth, but he still made a relatively objective evaluation of Stilwell:
Although he is always prejudiced against Chinese generals, his temperament is also relatively impatient, and he does not respect the Chinese side enough in the handling of some things. But it should be admitted that he was, after all, an upright and talented military general. On the issue of fighting against Japan, his attitude was not only always serious and positive, but also quite strategic, and he had a very good set of methods in command.
It may also be because of this height of understanding that Zheng Dongguo was elected as the first commander of the New 1st Army and served in the Indian Army for a long time. In terms of the actual tasks it has undertaken, it has been well accomplished. However, for commanders, not being able to directly command operations is actually a great pain. Now that we talk about the Chinese army in India, this history should also be understood.