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introduction
In 1941, the Pacific War officially broke out, and Britain and the United States joined the war against Japan. This incident also affected the course of the mainland's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression to a certain extent, and under the gradual formation of the World Anti-Fascist Front, Chiang Kai-shek and the top officials of the Nationalist Government immediately joined the Anglo-American Front and launched many joint meetings.
(The United States declares war on Japan)
However, although the mainland had already made outstanding contributions to the world's anti-fascist cause in the early stage of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Americans, who were accustomed to "racial discrimination," still did not take China seriously. At that time, the Americans looked down on the Kuomintang, and on the way to the United States, the United States only arranged a hard seat......
Today we will look back at that humiliating and sad history and see the faces that the Americans gave us in the war.
1. Chiang Kai-shek, who rushed to the son
At the end of 1941, the cooperation negotiations between the Kuomintang and Britain and the United States had achieved initial results, and the two sides had basically reached an alliance. However, the situation of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression is still not optimistic, and the situation of the war is still unclear.
Thus, Chiang Kai-shek came up with the vision of Britain and the United States helping China first, and he wrote in his diary:
"The British and American naval chiefs advocated a settlement of Germany first, and then a strategy of the Japanese (Japan), and the most common sense strategy. ”
(Chiang Kai-shek, who loves to write diaries)
In Chiang Kai-shek's view, if the United States can focus its operations on the Pacific theater, it will be able to greatly ease the pressure on Chinese mainland, after all, Japan's military strength is also limited, and under the double attack, its strength will certainly be greatly affected.
During this period, Chiang Kai-shek wrote many letters to Roosevelt, hoping that the United States would lock its strategic attention on Asia and temporarily let go of Hitler, who was contained by the Soviet Union.
In the letter, Chiang Kai-shek referred to the United States as "the recognized contemporary allies of Europe, Asia and the United States" and praised the Americans as the real leaders of World War II.
(Pacific Theater Strategy Diagram)
In order to get the Americans into the war, Chiang Kai-shek even threatened to move India out. He claims that as long as India fails, China will become almost the only large-scale resistance force in all of Asia, which will have an adverse impact on the entire trend of the war.
Chiang Kai-shek's intention to bring the United States into the war was good, and the in-depth evolution of the Pacific War could indeed reduce the heavy pressure on China. But the way he concluded the alliance with the United States was very spineless, and he almost handed over the power of life and death to the United States.
(Chiang Kai-shek)
In today's terms, Chiang Kai-shek at that time was the "licking dog" of the United States. So what kind of effect has this series of flattery achieved?
Second, the general of the national army was humiliated
On March 15, 1942, Chiang Kai-shek sent his henchman Xiong Shihui to the United States to serve as the head of the Chinese military delegation to the United States.
(Xiong Shihui)
On the second day, Chiang Kai-shek contacted the then Foreign Minister Soong Ziwen and said that in the Pacific operation plan, the United States should be promoted as the chairman of the military conference, and the implementation of all strategic plans and counteroffensives should be decided by the conference.
To put it simply, Chiang Kai-shek hoped to win the favor of the United States in exchange for a lower profile, and hoped that the United States would be able to give China substantial help in the future.
After being fully prepared, Xiong Shihui boarded a special plane to the United States. Under the arrangement of the receptionist, Xiong Shihui and other members of the Chinese delegation were placed in the cramped back of the plane, and the spacious front seats were all white.
(Xiong Shihui, who was humiliated in the United States)
If the uneven distribution of seats on the plane is understandable, then what the Americans did next was the greatest insult to Xiong Shihui and even the entire Kuomintang.
After the plane landed, Xiong Shihui and others did not receive due attention at all, and the person in charge of receiving them in the United States was actually just an ordinary captain, you must know that Xiong Shihui at that time was a Chinese soldier with the rank of general!
On the way to Washington, the Kuomintang delegation was transported by train, and the Americans arranged hard seats for them on this trip.
There are friends from afar, and they are happy. But the Americans did the opposite, igniting Xiong with their insulting hospitality.
It is said that Xiong Shihui at that time offered to pay for a larger box workshop, but the Americans refused. This was because the United States at that time was seriously racist, and Chinese were not taken into account at all.
(Racial discrimination is a "fine tradition" in the United States)
This incident was also the most chilling military diplomacy between the Nationalist Government and the United States, and Chiang Kai-shek's sincerity was worthless in the eyes of the Americans......
3. Reaching the Cairo Conference
In 1943, the three German countries suffered huge losses in the perennial war, and the prospects of the war became unprecedentedly clear, and the British and American giants gradually began to discuss the arrangement and formulation of the post-war international situation.
On November 23, China, Britain, and the United States convened the famous Cairo Conference in Cairo, Egypt, to formulate a strategic plan for trilateral military cooperation and a counteroffensive against Burma. Chiang Kai-shek finally got his wish and sat down at the same negotiating table with Roosevelt and Churchill.
(Photo from the Cairo meeting)
And this may have given Chiang Kai-shek the illusion that "I am also one of the giants", and in the photos of the Cairo meeting, Chiang Kai-shek is stiff and straight, and the smile on his face cannot be concealed at all. Roosevelt and Churchill, on the other hand, were very relaxed, without Chiang Kai-shek's restraints.
The political arrangements for the Cairo Conference were quite reasonable, and it was initially stipulated that after the war, Japan would return Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, China's three eastern provinces. And this is perhaps the most successful diplomatic history in Chiang Kai-shek's entire life.
(Chiang Kai-shek and Roosevelt et al.)
However, even so, there were still many Americans who looked down on Chiang Kai-shek, the most famous of whom was Joseph Stilwell, a four-star general in the United States Army.
Stilwell unceremoniously referred to Chiang Kai-shek as a "peanut" and believed that Chiang Kai-shek's corruption was the main cause of the starvation of soldiers on the streets. He had also offered to divide the war materials provided by the United States equally between the Communists and the Kuomintang, because he simply "could not trust Chiang Kai-shek." ”
(American four-star general Stilwell)
From this point of view, the so-called discrimination of Americans is also targeted. Stilvy referred to Chiang Kai-shek as a peanut, but he never showed hostility to the Communists. Perhaps the discrimination suffered by the Kuomintang during the war also needs to find its own problems.
Resources:
U.S. media: American star Stilwell was respected in China and once looked down on Chiang Kai-shek.International Online,2016-02-25
1942: A period of "painless" military diplomacy between the Nationalist government and the United States.Dada Documents.2020-05-13