LEBENSRAUM
July 1st 1937 - June 1st 1938
NEW POST MAY 18th
NORTH AMERICA SERIES GAME #3
DIARY OF A CHINEESE WAR LORD
THE CALL TO ARMS
Chiang Kai-shek Diary
August 1937
As expected, the Japanese declared war upon Xanghi on July 1
st 1937. The Marco Polo was their excuse, a convenient story that even a European journalist would not buy. As soon as we received the Japanese Emissary, I ordered his execution. His head was sent back, wrapped in a towel. We shall not fear them and we shall show it. Lin Sen did not approve. But what else to expect from a man of the past like Lin Sen? However, he is still useful. He showed that his talents are still up to the task once challenged. He travelled to XeiBe San Ma and convinced them to join our fight. The same with the Guangxi Clique. They may be corrupted but they will prove to be a useful ally against any Japanese attack in the South. Lin Sen was masterful this time. I guess I can postpone his trial… New occasions will arise. For now, I shall build my alliances within the Kuomintang. Naming Bai Chongxi as Minister of defence was a good decision. It allowed me to toss out Chen Guofu who was too close to Lin Sen. Moreover; this young fellow is now indebted to me. It is priceless.
…
Without any surprise, Xanghi peasants’ army surrendered on August 5th 1937. They lasted 36 days. A pity. But they played their role. They bought us time. Time we used to train more and more troops. Time to bring more Bofors cannons through Yunnan. Time to complete our war preparation and our mobilization. More important, time to form more officers. At this pace, I can’t say we are training them. Giving them a cap with stars, a whistle and a pistol… the training looks more and more “basic” one would say. But those US training officers seem to know their job. Discipline is rising among the ranks. Desertions have been trimmed down. This is an army.
…
Relations with the Communist did not improve during the summer, even with the war at our door. Those fools refused a proposal to allow our troops to cross their land in order to hit Japanese supply lines. We could have made strides if they would have allowed us. No sense of the greater priorities. Mao, I hope those Japs will cut his head once they take Yan’an.
…
I wonder where the Japanese will hit first. On our shores East of Nanjing? In the Qingdao peninsula? Or North of Jinan, along the coast to break through the Yellow River and try to encircle the city by going straight South after? I wonder…
THE 1st JAPANESE OFFENSIVE
Chiang Kai-shek Diary
September 1937
They came for Jinan. They avoided Communist China and moved along the coast North of the city. The strategy is obvious. They will cut through our lines, isolate the Qingdao peninsula and then turn South to trap the city and anything that would still be there.
The assault was more impressive than I thought it would be. We are still lacking officers and the units on the Yellow River broke rather quickly. Hopefully, I ordered, 2 days ago, Zhao Hong Wenguo in the Peninsula, to move his 3rd corps out and plug the hole in a hurry. The objective is just to slow them down. He left behind some brigades. Wise move. Sometimes it pays to give them some slack. These troops will occupy the Japanese even though there is only 9 000 men out there, in three distinct brigades. Enough to play cat and mouse for a month or two.
But this brings me back to Jinan. The city is exposed on its East flank. Plus, the enemy is sitting on the other side of the river. Waiting for the encirclement to take shape. Couple of weeks passed by, the Japanese are clearly making progress on the East flank. One at a time, the provinces are falling in their hands. To make the situation worst, I was just informed that Japanese made a huge landing in Lianyungang. More than 31 brigades. This is huge. Zhao Hong Wenguo failed to repel them. He managed to hold them off for 3 weeks. But he could not prevent troops from the North to break through and supply those 31 brigades. He almost managed to cut them out in this tiny 2 provinces pocket. It would have been a great victory. 4 generations later, they would still be talking about that. But he failed. Accordingly, I ordered his execution. Failure is unacceptable in this war.
…
Sooner or later, the troops in the city and its surroundings will be stuck into a giant pocket. The Japanese are closing in from the South, the East and, of course, they occupy the Northern shores of the yellow River. If I don’t decide soon, I might make a major mistake.
What were their numbers? According to the last reports, we have more than 250 000 men out there. 250 000 men. And 2 special AA support divisions. And one Flying Tiger Squadron. We can’t afford to let the Japanese play with us. I must decide. If the city falls, my grip on the Kuomintang might take a hit.
…
I decided to allow Von Falkenhausen, Commander of the 3rd army, to move those troops out. To allow for a swift retreat, MIL divisions were ordered to attack in order to cover the full retreat. We have so many of them. We can spare 30 000 men for the sake of saving more than 200 000 others.
The retreat was a gigantic success. The Japanese were not ready to prevent that. We managed to reorganize our lines of defense along the Jibo-Zaozhuang-Jiawang Hills line. More important, all our AA units were moved behind the lines.
…
One week later. Jinan fell during the night. The city is burning because of all the combat that took place there. The 55th Soldiers of the people division hold the Japanese for 4 days. Their sacrifice helped save many. More important, the Japanese assault looks stalled.
The 1st Japanese offensive
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=e6af355183388b4a#cid=E6AF355183388B4A&id=E6AF355183388B4A!202
(1) Click to enlarge the picture.
THE 2nd JAPANESE OFFENSIVE: YANCHENG-HUAIYIN POCKET
Chiang Kai-shek Diary
November 1937
As expected, those brave brigades in the Quingdao Peninsula held their ground for more than 1 month. What was less expected was a 2nd landing on the East shores. I guess Japanese High Command wants to win and to do it quickly.
6 divisions, 24 brigades according to our report, landed on sunrise in the Huaiyin province. As for the previous landing, this one could not be repelled and the enemy move quickly to secure another province – Yancheng - moving North to establish a connection with the main Japanese Army North of Pizhou. Only Pizhou now stands between this new forces and the main Japanese Army. I can’t allow that to happen. If they rejoin their lines, Nanjing will be exposed.
I ordered 8 divisions to move toward the shore. Among which, 4 regulars. Almost 100 000 men are marching to break this invasion before they can secure their beachhead any further. To those 100 000 men, we can add the 80 000 in Pizhou. I will make sure that they get proper support and some AA units will be put forward too. Never be careless.
The battles raged for 2 weeks. 2 awful weeks of combat where the Japanese nearly took Pizhou and only a quick counter attack with our reserves massed West of Pizhou allowed us to take the province back. In fact, combats in the zone are daily, going from skirmishes to full engagements between advanced Japanese units and our main forces.
The good news is that the Japanese beachhead is under pressure. General Von Falkenhausen just sent me a message saying that the Huaiyin province was taken, while the Japanese in Yancheng were trying to move back to it. Those 24 brigades are trapped. They can’t go anywhere.
…
The Yancheng-Huaiyin pocket is a major victory. At our weekly meeting, I was able to show to my comrades of the Kuomintang that we killed more than 10 000 Japanese while more than 60 000 surrendered. I shall let the Kuomintang decide on their fate. Mass beheading? I remember some story about a Vlad Tepes, the Impaler. He was so cruel that after he impaled more than 80 000 Turkish soldiers, they did not dare come back before a full century. Would this method works with Japan?
…
As expected, the 2nd Japanese offensive came to a halt in early December.
The Yancheng-Huaiyin pocket
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(1) Click to enlarge the picture.
A PACT WITH THE REDS
Chiang Kai-shek Diary
December 1937
Lin Sen is still very active. Yesterday, he came to me to make me swallow a deal he struck with the Communists. Not the Chinese ones, the real ones, Those from Moscow. A fool he is. I told him I would think about it.
…
One week passed since Lin Sen tabled me this strange deal. I must admit that, the longer I think about it, more and more ideas come to my mind. What if we could really play one giant against the other? What if we could get close to the USSR, to trigger a proper response from our hated American friends? It is risky. But the Reds are making a good trade-off: 2 full wings of fighters and bombers, for a mere 1 000 supply goods and a Non-aggression Pact. They must be truly alarmed by Japan’s progress. Their treat is rising and we shall benefit of it.
After 2 weeks of thinking, and before being seen as feeble, I told Lin Sen to agree to their deal. Kuomintang is watching me. Delaying any further would have given Lin Sen’s Clan reasons to doubt me. Worst, maybe convince others that a new direction would be needed. Lin Sen. Keep your friend near you… and your enemy even closer. Ha, Lin Sen, I shall keep you on a tight leach.
THE 3rd JAPANESE OFFENSIVE: COMMUNIST CHINA
Chiang Kai-shek Diary
March 1938
They deserve their fate. Those Communists refused our offer to help them. Now it is too late. Japan scattered their army when they entered Yan’an. Mao left the city as the coward he is. I heard they all turned their war into a guerilla war. We will see if this works.
This move was foreseen. Accordingly, we’ve been reinforcing the lines South of Communist China during the previous 2 months. When Japanese will test our lines, they shall see a wall of sand bags, bunker and fortifications… and a flooded Yellow River. Yes, I ordered Bai Chongxi to release the dam. Peasants will lose their land but China will prevail. The latter is more important.
As expected, Japanese stopped right on the other side of the river.
THE PLOT
Chiang Kai-shek Diary
April 1938
I should have seen this. They nearly nailed me down. Those two traitors: Zou Zhiou, Chief of Air Force, and Zhang Xuchiang, Minister of State Security. But is there only two of them? Could they have been acting on behalf of someone else? The Americans? The Communists? Mao? Lin Sen? Japan? The plot is thick. Possibilities are infinite.
At least, short term, I shall deal with those 2 traitors.
…
They were executed last week, as an example. To help bolster the national unity, I made sure they would be presented as Japanese agents. It worked. Our people believed us. What else could have been expected? I am Kuomintang. I am China.
…
I appointed an old friend, Zhang Xueliang, as Minister of State Security. I should have done so before. For the Air, I will keep it under my command from now on. I will keep that in reserve, to buy a new ally when I will need one. I may be the Kuomintang, but some members still don’t see things the way I see them. Unity among the Kuomintang is still a work in progress.
THE 4th JAPANESE OFFENSIVE: XEIBE SAN MA
Chiang Kai-shek Diary
May 1938
The last weak spot: XeiBe San Ma. They played their role but I must now intervene or I risk losing this whole front. Clearly, those incompetents can’t be put in charge of a fraction of the lines. Japanese cut through their lines with their elite mountain units and they even took our fortress guarding the Shizuishan Pass. The situation is dangerous.
…
I spent 2 nights over reviewing this plan. I must say Bai Chongxi’s idea is bold. Basically, he is proposing to let the Japanese get in and strike them once they get near our rear lines. To make sure they won’t be able to counterattack, he is proposing that we use all our air forces to harass their supply lines. Brilliant. By the time Japanese figure this out, we shall be able to cut t least 4 to 5 divisions in this pocket.
…
The plan is to be implemented by Commander Sou-Zshang. He made a nice impression last summer when Bai Chongxi and I reviewed the troops. A great young general.
…
Marvelous. This young general did it. He broke through the Japanese lines. His troops isolated half the Japanese army between Yunnan and us. We shall be able to crush them soon.
THE 5th JAPANESE OFFENSIVE: ZHENGZHOU
Chiang Kai-shek Diary
June 1938
We are hard press in the center, between Zhengzhou and Nanjing. The Japanese 5th offensive is better than the previous ones. They now occupy Xuzhou, which is a stone in our shoe. We shall monitor this situation closely.
Our front might collapse if I don’t play my pieces the right way.
But I’m confident. I did foresee Japanese moves before. I shall be able to do it once more.
I am Kuomintang.
I am China.
The last 4 months of war: attacks and counterattacks
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LEBENSRAUM
THE ANSCHLUSS
The Völkischer Beobachter
March 1938
Yesterday, March 12th, Adolf Hitler, our Führer, announced the Anschluss Österreichs, the occupation and annexation of Austria into Germany. Our brothers and sisters from Österreich rejoin today the Greater German Reich. After the remilitarization of the Rhineland and the return of the Saar region, our Führer now brings us forward, uniting all Germans under a unique guidance.
This unification is not the end. It is the 1st step toward the full endorsement of our politic by Europe and the creation of our Lebensraum. As Germany shall embrace its future, Europe shall embrace Germany.
Sons of Czechoslovakia, our Führer is now speaking to you. Accept your fate and ask to join us, as your Austrians comrades have done today. Liberty of all Germans shall prevail over the restrictive schemes imposed by and outdated and ignominious treaty, The Versailles Treaty.
Soon, Polish, Lithuanians and Hungarians will follow you, helping to build a strong Reich, a millennium of peace and prosperity in Central Europe.
Extract of Joseph Goebbels speech
Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
View attachment 54498
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Note: The Völkischer Beobachter ("völkisch Observer") was the newspaper of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP or Nazi Party) from 1920. It first appeared weekly, then daily from 8 February 1923. For twenty-five years it formed part of the official public face of the Nazi party. Source: Wikipedia.