In May 1942, the Chinese Expeditionary Force's operations into Burma were completely defeated, and some officers and soldiers chose to return to Yunnan, where they experienced hardships along the way; others retreated to India with relatively light losses. Stilwell, chief of staff of the Chinese theater and commander of the US military in the China-Burma-India theater, has always despised senior generals of the Chinese army, advocated "asking for soldiers rather than officers," and tried to reform the structure of the "army stationed in India." Commanders below the regimental commander were filled by Chinese officers, and senior commanders were appointed by AMERICAN officers.
Stilwell
Chongqing agreed to abolish the "Headquarters of the Commander of the First Road of the Chinese Expeditionary Force" and establish the "Headquarters of the Chinese Army in India", appointing Stilwell as the commander-in-chief, Luo Zhuoying as the deputy commander-in-chief, Bertno as the chief of staff, and Wen Mingjian as the deputy chief of staff. As for the proposal to remove and replace middle- and lower-ranking officers, chiang kai-shek, He Yingqin, Chen Cheng, Du Yuming, and others all held an opposing attitude.
Stilwell is good at hard work and is willing to approach ordinary soldiers, but his personality is straight forward, and he sometimes looks harsh and mean to people, so he is called "sour vinegar Joe". In the first battle in Burma, Stilwell had a quarrel with Luo Zhuoying and Du Yuming, and after the reorganization of the "Chinese Army in India", the contradictions did not improve and intensified. Chiang Kai-shek was so distraught that Luo Zhuoying "failed to follow his will, and in India he raised doubts among outsiders and deeply sighed." It was decided that Chen Cheng would concurrently serve as the commander of the expeditionary force, dismiss the post of deputy commander-in-chief of the army stationed in India, establish a new 1st Army, and transfer Zheng Dongguo to command.
Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Mei-ling and Stilwell
"We are going to appoint you to India as the commander of the newly organized 1st Army of the Chinese Army in India. After the greeting, Chiang Kai-shek opened the door to the mountain. Zheng Dongguo froze for a moment, "I have some experience in leading soldiers to fight, but if I want to deal with foreigners independently abroad, I am a complete layman, and if I do not do well, I will not miss the overall situation of the War of Resistance." Chiang Kai-shek understood Very well the difficulties of Zheng Dongguo: "It will be difficult for you to go there, and it is not easy to deal with foreigners, but the War of Resistance requires the help of the Allies, and someone must shoulder this heavy responsibility. Zheng Dongguo no longer hesitated: "Report to the headmaster, I am willing to go to Ramga, India!" ”
Jeong Dong-kook
Zheng Dongguo is indeed too difficult, not only to find ways to get along with the Americans, but also to safeguard the prestige and interests of the Chinese government and the military before the United States. In order to take into account the overall situation, we have to devote considerable time and energy to alleviating and defusing all kinds of dissatisfaction with the Americans by the troops stationed in India. In Stilwell's view, the headquarters of the army stationed in India can directly command the newly formed 22nd and 38th divisions, so the authority of Zheng Dongguo has been reduced by changing the law. According to the establishment of the nationalist army, the military-level units should have direct subordinate units, such as artillery battalions, engineer battalions, heavy battalions, special service battalions, etc. Stilwell did not agree to the establishment, and Zheng Dongguo's military headquarters only had a staff of thirty or forty people, so he had to dispatch the special agent company of the newly formed 22nd Division to serve as a daily vigilance.
Luo Xuewan, who was then the operational staff officer of the newly organized 1st Army, was indignant about this: "Zheng Dongguo is the supreme commander of the Chinese army in India and the representative of a sovereign and independent ally, but he uses an old British car, which is far inferior to the new American car in which Stilwell and Bertno are sitting." ”
Sun Liren, commander of the newly organized 38th Division
Under the support of the British and American military logistics system, the Chinese troops stationed in India are not worried about food, and the ammunition used for live ammunition is overwhelming, which is completely different from that in China. Zheng Dongguo was mixed, and the level of business of the US liaison officer was reliable, but the authority was too large, and he could directly mobilize troops below the battalion level. There are quite different Chinese and Western cultures themselves, and some liaison officers have too high self-esteem, and contradictions and disputes have arisen one after another. Berteno was even more domineering, and even the honor guard had to point fingers: "If you don't send troops at will without the consent of the General Command, we American officers simply go back!" ”
Stilwell and Liao Yaoxiang, commander of the newly formed 22nd Division
In the summer of 1943, Stilwell removed Wen Mingjian, deputy chief of staff of the headquarters, without authorization, which finally triggered a collective backlash from the generals of the army stationed in India. On August 14, Zheng Dongguo sent a telegram to Chen Cheng to report to Chongqing, "Since wen Mingjian took office, he has worked hard to rectify things, maintained his strength in the face of trouble, achieved remarkable results, and was even framed for a small time, and the whole army was indignant, even if it had to be replaced, it should be reported to the central authorities for handling, and still replaced by Chinese, in accordance with the purpose of Sino-US cooperation, although the post is extremely patient, it is really impossible to maintain the hearts of the army."
Liao Yaoxiang and Sun Liren were cautious in their words and deeds, and this time they also made it clear that it was difficult to accept, "The main purpose of Sino-US cooperation in matters of duty and affairs bears the burden of humiliation, and now that the US side has taken such unreasonable measures, officers are bound to be flattered and try to survive in the future, and how can the discipline of the army and the dignity of the state system be disgraced." Berteno was stubborn, saying that "the troops stationed in India are trained by American equipment, and military affairs, including personnel, must be subordinated to the general command, even the Chinese government is not allowed to ask questions." Zheng Dongguo argued on the basis of reason: "China is a sovereign country and cannot accept colonial treatment! Chiang Kai-shek was very angry when he heard the news, and sent a telegram ordering He Yingqin to correct Stilwell: "Why did he withdraw from the committee without first asking the chairman of the committee for personnel transfers?"
In the archives of the "National History Museum" in Taipei, Chen Cheng called Chiang Kai-shek to report the Wen Mingjian incident
Later, Wen Mingjian returned to China to report for duty and was transferred to the chief of staff of the Third Theater; Stilwell no longer insisted that AMERICAN officers take over the staff business in an all-round way, and agreed to Li Shenzhi's succession as deputy chief of staff of the headquarters. Zheng Dongguo recalled his zhengrong years in his later years, and his evaluation of Stilwell was somewhat mixed: "Although he was prejudiced against Chinese generals and his temperament was relatively impatient, he did 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. ”
bibliography:
1. "My Horse Career: Memoirs of Zheng Dongguo", Oriental Publishing House, 2012
2. "Chinese Expeditionary Force", Taipei "National History Museum", 2015 edition
3. "Long Compilation of Mr. Chiang Kai-shek's Chronology", Taipei "National History Museum", 2015 edition
4. Archives of the "National History Museum" in Taipei