Misplaced Pages

#468531

102-690: During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) Xu served in several military units in Communist-controlled areas across North China , and directed the construction of several bases areas. When the Chinese Civil War resumed, in 1947, Xu was active in North China. Forces under his command were responsible for the capture of the heavily fortified city of Taiyuan in the later stages of the war, in 1949. Xu

204-730: A full-scale battle in which Beijing and its port city of Tianjin fell to invading Japanese forces (July–August 1937). , On 11 July, in accordance with the Goso conference, the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff authorized the deployment of an infantry division from the Chōsen Army , two combined brigades from the Kwantung Army and an air regiment composed of 18 squadrons as reinforcements to Northern China. By 20 July, total Japanese military strength in

306-738: A campaign of sabotage and guerrilla warfare . In November 1939, Chinese nationalist forces launched a large scale winter offensive , and in August 1940, communist forces launched the Hundred Regiments Offensive in central China. In December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and declared war on the United States. The US increased its aid to China under the Lend-Lease Act , becoming its main financial and military supporter. With Burma cut off,

408-540: A communist victory and the Proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. In China, the war is most commonly known as the "War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression" ( simplified Chinese : 抗日战争 ; traditional Chinese : 抗日戰爭 ), and shortened to "Resistance against Japanese Aggression" ( Chinese : 抗日 ) or the "War of Resistance" (simplified Chinese: 抗战 ; traditional Chinese: 抗戰 ). It

510-719: A demilitarized zone between the Great Wall and Beijing-Tianjin region. Japan aimed to create another buffer zone between Manchukuo and the Chinese Nationalist government in Nanjing. Japan increasingly exploited China's internal conflicts to reduce the strength of its fractious opponents. Even years after the Northern Expedition, the political power of the Nationalist government was limited to just

612-713: A number of civilian positions. He was made Vice Premier . He headed the National Sports Commission , and in that role facilitated sports exchanges with the Soviet Union and the eastern European countries. He was one of the most well-traveled members of the CCP elite, and led numerous delegations abroad, meeting with leaders of other Asian countries, the Soviet Union , and East Germany . After Mao Zedong purged Peng Dehuai in 1959, Mao appointed He to

714-731: A reputation as a " Robin Hood -like figure". His signature weapon was a butcher knife. Around 1918 He raised a volunteer revolutionary army that was aligned with a local Hunan warlord, and in 1920, his personal army joined the National Revolutionary Army . In 1923 He was promoted to command the Nationalist Twentieth Army. In 1925 He ran a school for training Kuomintang soldiers. While running this school, He became close with some of his students who were also Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members. During

816-727: A result of Depression -era tariffs ), and a protective buffer state against the Soviet Union in Siberia . As a result, the Japanese Army was widely prevalent in Manchuria immediately following the Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, where Japan gained significant territory in Manchuria. As a result of their strengthened position, by 1915 Japan had negotiated a significant amount of economic privilege in

918-536: A result of its victory at the end of the war. Japan had also attempted to annex the Liaodong Peninsula following the war, though was forced to return it to China following an intervention by France , Germany , and Russia . The Qing dynasty was on the brink of collapse due to internal revolts and the imposition of the unequal treaties , while Japan had emerged as a great power through its modernization measures. In 1905, Japan successfully defeated

1020-779: A term used mainly in foreign and Chinese narratives. The origins of the Second Sino-Japanese War can be traced back to the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, in which China, then under the rule of the Qing dynasty, was defeated by Japan and forced to cede Taiwan and recognize the full and complete independence of Korea in the Treaty of Shimonoseki . Japan also annexed the Senkaku Islands , which Japan claims were uninhabited, in early 1895 as

1122-648: A testing zone for advanced biplane and new-generation monoplane combat-aircraft designs. The introduction of the advanced A5M "Claude" fighters into the Shanghai-Nanjing theater of operations, beginning on 18 September 1937, helped the Japanese achieve a certain level of air superiority . However the few experienced Chinese veteran pilots, as well as several Chinese-American volunteer fighter pilots, including Maj. Art Chin , Maj. John Wong Pan-yang , and Capt. Chan Kee-Wong, even in their older and slower biplanes, proved more than able to hold their own against

SECTION 10

#1732773015469

1224-520: Is a period of "total" war. This view of a fourteen-year war has political significance because it provides more recognition for the role of northeast China in the War of Resistance. On the night of 7 July 1937, Chinese and Japanese troops exchanged fire in the vicinity of the Marco Polo (or Lugou) Bridge , a crucial access-route to Beijing. What began as confused, sporadic skirmishing soon escalated into

1326-895: Is known in China as the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression ( simplified Chinese : 抗日战争 ; traditional Chinese : 抗日戰爭 ). On 18 September 1931, the Japanese staged the Mukden incident , a false flag event fabricated to justify their invasion of Manchuria and establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo . This is sometimes marked as the beginning of the war. From 1931 to 1937, China and Japan engaged in skirmishes, including in Shanghai and in Northern China. Chinese Nationalist and Communist forces, respectively led by Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong , had fought each other in

1428-621: Is most commonly used because of its perceived objectivity. When the invasion of China proper began in earnest in July 1937 near Beijing , the government of Japan used "The North China Incident" (Japanese: 北支事變/華北事變 , romanized:  Hokushi Jihen/Kahoku Jihen ), and with the outbreak of the Battle of Shanghai the following month, it was changed to "The China Incident" (Japanese: 支那事變 , romanized:  Shina Jihen ). The word "incident" (Japanese: 事變 , romanized:  jihen )

1530-657: The Central Plains War broke out across China, involving regional commanders who had fought in alliance with the Kuomintang during the Northern Expedition, and the Nanjing government under Chiang. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) previously fought openly against the Nanjing government after the Shanghai massacre of 1927 , and they continued to expand during this protracted civil war. The Kuomintang government in Nanjing decided to focus their efforts on suppressing

1632-477: The Chinese Civil War and the Second Sino-Japanese War , and was generally successful in expanding areas of Communist control. He commanded a force of 170,000 troops forces by the end of 1945, when his force was placed under the command of Peng Dehuai and He became Peng's second-in-command. He was placed in control of Southwest China in the late 1940s, and spent most of the 1950s in the Southwest administering

1734-600: The Chinese Civil War since 1927. In late 1933, Chiang Kai-shek encircled the Chinese Communists in an attempt to finally destroy them, forcing the Communists into the Long March , resulting in the Communists losing around 90% of their men. As a Japanese invasion became imminent, Chiang still refused to form a united front before he was placed under house arrest by his subordinates who forced him to form

1836-706: The Chinese Red Army in Sichuan to victory against local warlords troops that numbered more than 300,000. Over 100,000 warlord troops were killed in conflicts with Xu's forces, and the remaining 200,000 deserted or retreated to other Nationalist-aligned areas. In 1934 Chiang Kai-shek defeated the armies associated with Zhou Enlai , forcing them to undertake the Long March . Zhang Guotao considered attacking them, but Xu refused. Xu's refusal to attack Zhang's rivals may have contributed to Mao's acceptance of Xu under his own leadership later, after Zhang's 4th Front Army

1938-663: The Cultural Revolution was declared in 1966, he was one of the first leaders of the PLA to be purged. He died in 1969 when a glucose injection provided by his jailers complicated his untreated diabetes. He Long was a member of the Tujia ethnic group. Born in the Sangzhi , Hunan , he and his siblings, including He Ying , grew up in a poor peasant household, despite his father being a minor Qing military officer. His father

2040-550: The Fourth Encirclement Campaign . He's forces abandoned their bases, moved southwest, and established a new base in northeast Guizhou in mid-1933. In 1934 Ren Bishi joined He in Guizhou with his own surviving forces after also being forced to abandon his soviet in another Encirclement Campaign. Ren and He merged forces, with He becoming the military commander and Ren becoming the commissar. He joined

2142-818: The German Empire 's sphere of influence in Shandong province, leading to nationwide anti-Japanese protests and mass demonstrations in China. The country remained fragmented under the Beiyang Government and was unable to resist foreign incursions. For the purpose of unifying China and defeating the regional warlords, the Kuomintang (KMT) in Guangzhou launched the Northern Expedition from 1926 to 1928 with limited assistance from

SECTION 20

#1732773015469

2244-689: The Kuomintang , but failed. After the failure of the Nanchang Uprising, He turned down an offer by the CCP Central Committee to study in Russia and returned to Hunan, where he raised a new force in 1930. His force controlled a broad area of the countryside in the Hunan-Hubei border region, around the area of Lake Hong , and organized this area into a rural soviet. In mid-1932 Kuomintang forces targeted He's soviet as part of

2346-636: The Long March in November 1935, over a year after forces led by Zhu De and Mao Zedong were forced to evacuate their own soviet in Jiangxi . He's ability to resist the Kuomintang was partially due to his position on the periphery of Communist-controlled territory. While on the Long March He's forces met Communist forces led by Zhang Guotao in June 1936, but both He and Ren disagreed with Zhang about

2448-855: The Mukden incident in September 1931. Japanese soldiers set off a bomb on the Southern Manchurian Railroad in order to provoke an opportunity to act in "self defense" and invade outright. Japan charged that its rights in Manchuria, which had been established as a result of its victory in 1905 at the end of the Russo-Japanese War , had been systematically violated and there were "more than 120 cases of infringement of rights and interests, interference with business, boycott of Japanese goods, unreasonable taxation, detention of individuals, confiscation of properties, eviction, demand for cessation of business, assault and battery, and

2550-578: The Neutrality Acts of the 1930s . In addition, due to China's fractured political status, Japan often claimed that China was no longer a recognizable political entity on which war could be declared. In Japanese propaganda , the invasion of China became a crusade (Japanese: 聖戦 , romanized:  seisen ), the first step of the "eight corners of the world under one roof" slogan (Japanese: 八紘一宇 , romanized:  Hakkō ichiu ). In 1940, Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe launched

2652-470: The People's Liberation Army as a well-trained, well-equipped military force and promoted the use of foreign military technology. This view was a departure from Maoist political doctrine, and Xu promoted dramatic predictions of an imminent conflict with the Soviet Union in order to generate political support for his ideas. In 1978, Xu was almost killed in an accident of Chinese HJ-73 ATGM demonstration when

2754-531: The Russian Empire in the Russo-Japanese War , gaining Tailen and southern Sakhalin and establishing a protectorate over Korea. In 1911, factions of the Qing Army uprose against the government, staging a revolution that swept across China's southern provinces. The Qing responded by appointing Yuan Shikai , commander of the loyalist Beiyang Army , as temporary prime minister in order to subdue

2856-647: The Second United Front in late 1936 in order to resist the Japanese invasion together. The full-scale war began on 7 July 1937 with the Marco Polo Bridge incident near Beijing , which prompted a full-scale Japanese invasion of the rest of China. The Japanese captured the capital of Nanjing in 1937 and perpetrated the Nanjing Massacre . After failing to stop the Japanese capture of Wuhan in 1938, then China's de facto capital at

2958-668: The Shanghai French Concession , areas which were outside of China's control due to the treaty port system. Japan moved into these areas after its 1941 declaration of war against the United States and the United Kingdom. Building on the hard-won victory in Shanghai, the IJA advanced on and captured the KMT capital city of Nanjing (December 1937) and Northern Shanxi (September – November 1937). Upon

3060-543: The Soviet Union . The National Revolutionary Army (NRA) formed by the Kuomintang swept through southern and central China until it was checked in Shandong, where confrontations with the Japanese garrison escalated into armed conflict. The conflicts were collectively known as the Jinan incident of 1928, during which time the Japanese military killed several Chinese officials and fired artillery shells into Jinan. According to

3162-731: The Taisei Yokusankai . When both sides formally declared war in December 1941, the name was replaced by " Greater East Asia War " (Japanese: 大東亞戰爭 , romanized:  Daitōa Sensō ). Although the Japanese government still uses the term "China Incident" in formal documents, the word Shina is considered derogatory by China and therefore the media in Japan often paraphrase with other expressions like "The Japan–China Incident" (Japanese: 日華事變/日支事變 , romanized:  Nikka Jiken/Nisshi Jiken ), which were used by media as early as

Xu Xiangqian - Misplaced Pages Continue

3264-904: The United States Army Air Forces airlifted material over the Himalayas . In 1944, Japan launched Operation Ichi-Go , the invasion of Henan and Changsha . In 1945, the Chinese Expeditionary Force resumed its advance in Burma and completed the Ledo Road linking India to China. China launched large counteroffensives in South China and repulsed a failed Japanese invasion of West Hunan and recaptured Japanese occupied regions of Guangxi . Japan formally surrendered on 2 September 1945, following

3366-442: The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , Soviet declaration of war and subsequent invasions of Manchukuo and Korea . The war resulted in the deaths of around 20 million people, mostly Chinese civilians. China was recognized as one of the Big Four Allies , regained all territories lost, and became one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council . The Chinese Civil War resumed in 1946, ending with

3468-419: The "biggest bandit". He was the second highest-ranking member of the Military Affairs Commission at the time that he was purged, and the method in which he and those close to him were purged set the pattern for multiple later purges of the PLA leadership throughout the Cultural Revolution. After being purged, He was placed under indefinite house arrest for the last two and a half years of his life. He described

3570-413: The 129th division, but was transferred to several different positions during the war. He briefly spend time with Luo Ronghuan building bases in Communist-controlled areas of Shandong before being transferred to He Long 's United Defense Army, in which he served as deputy commander. The Communist bases Xu helped to establish proved useful after World War II ended 1945 and the Chinese Civil War resumed. In

3672-430: The 18 September 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria marks the start of the War of Resistance. Although not the conventional Western view, British historian Rana Mitter describes this Chinese trend of historical analysis as "perfectly reasonable". In 2017, the Chinese government officially announced that it would adopt this view. Under this interpretation, the 1931–1937 period is viewed as the "partial" war, while 1937–1945

3774-417: The 1921 and 1927 Imperial Eastern Region Conferences reconfirmed Japan's commitment to be the dominant power in the Northeast. The 1929 Red Army victory shook that policy to the core and reopened the Manchurian problem. By 1930, the Kwantung Army realized they faced a Red Army that was only growing stronger. The time to act was drawing near and Japanese plans to conquer the Northeast were accelerated. In 1930,

3876-408: The 1926 Northern Expedition , He commanded the 1st Division, 9th Corps of the National Revolutionary Army. He served under Zhang Fakui during the Northern Expedition. In late 1926 He joined the CCP. In 1927, after the collapse of Wang Jingwei 's leftist Kuomintang government in Wuhan and Chiang Kai-shek's suppression of communists , He left the Kuomintang and joined the Communists, commanding

3978-401: The 1930s. The name "Second Sino-Japanese War" is not commonly used in Japan as the China it fought a war against in 1894 to 1895 was led by the Qing dynasty , and thus is called the Qing-Japanese War (Japanese: 日清戦争 , romanized:  Nisshin–Sensō ), rather than the First Sino-Japanese War . Another term for the second war between Japan and China is the "Japanese invasion of China",

4080-454: The 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria . According to historian Rana Mitter , historians in China are unhappy with the blanket revision, and (despite sustained tensions) the Republic of China did not consider itself to be in an ongoing war with Japan over these six years. It is also referred to as part of the "Global Anti-Fascist War". In Japan, nowadays, the name "Japan–China War" ( Japanese : 日中戦争 , romanized :  Nitchū Sensō )

4182-399: The 1937 " Sword March ", which—with slightly reworked lyrics—became the National Revolutionary Army's standard marching cadence and popularized the racial epithet guizi to describe the Japanese invaders. The Imperial General Headquarters (GHQ) in Tokyo, content with the gains acquired in northern China following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, initially showed reluctance to escalate

Xu Xiangqian - Misplaced Pages Continue

4284-399: The 20th Corps, 1st Column of the Red Army. He and Zhu De planned and led the main force of the Nanchang Uprising in 1927. In the Nanchang Uprising He and Zhu led a combined force of 24,000 men and attempted to seize the city of Nanchang , but they were not able to secure it against the inevitable Kuomintang attempt to retake the city. The campaign suffered from logistical difficulties, and

4386-422: The Beijing-Tianjin area exceeded 180,000 personnel. The Japanese gave Sung and his troops "free passage" before moving in to pacify resistance in areas surrounding Beijing (then Beiping) and Tianjin. After 24 days of combat, the Chinese 29th Army was forced to withdraw. The Japanese captured Beijing and the Taku Forts at Tianjin on 29 and 30 July respectively, thus concluding the Beijing-Tianjin campaign. However,

4488-400: The Chinese Communists through the Encirclement Campaigns , following the policy of "first internal pacification, then external resistance" (Chinese: 攘外必先安內 ). The internecine warfare in China provided excellent opportunities for Japan, which saw Manchuria as a limitless supply of raw materials, a market for its manufactured goods (now excluded from the markets of many Western countries as

4590-725: The Chinese People's Liberation Army." His grandson is allegedly Xu Lei (徐雷), since April 2022 the CEO of JD.com , however the family relationship is disputed and other sources name his grandson as Xu Luo (徐珞). Zhu De Peng Dehuai Lin Biao Liu Bocheng He Long Chen Yi Luo Ronghuan Xu Xiangqian Nie Rongzhen Ye Jianying Second Sino-Japanese War [REDACTED] China [REDACTED]   Japan [REDACTED] 14,000,000 total [REDACTED] 4,100,000 total Second Sino-Japanese War Taishō period Shōwa period Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups The Second Sino-Japanese War

4692-469: The Chinese to deploy troops in their own city. In Manchukuo there was an ongoing campaign to pacify the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies that arose from widespread outrage over the policy of non-resistance to Japan. On 15 April 1932, the Chinese Soviet Republic led by the Communists declared war on Japan. In 1933, the Japanese attacked the Great Wall region. The Tanggu Truce established in its aftermath, gave Japan control of Rehe Province , as well as

4794-404: The Fourth Red Army who he considered disloyal. Xu sided with Zhang, despite the fact that his wife was one of the people purged. With Ye Jianying as Xu's Chief of Staff, he helped Zhang to establish new communist bases and expanded the 4th Red Army to number 30,000 men. While under suspicion and the surveillance of Zhang's political commissars , Xu Xianqian lead the 80,000 strong 4th Front Army of

4896-489: The Japanese Army had been given orders not to advance further than the Yongding River. In a sudden volte-face , the Konoe government's foreign minister opened negotiations with Chiang Kai-shek's government in Nanjing and stated: "Japan wants Chinese cooperation, not Chinese land." Nevertheless, negotiations failed to move further. The Ōyama Incident on 9 August escalated the skirmishes and battles into full scale warfare. The 29th Army's resistance (and poor equipment) inspired

4998-465: The Japanese intercepted most of the attack with A2N and A4N fighters from the aircraft carriers Hosho and Ryujo , shooting down several of the Chinese planes while losing a single A4N in the dogfight with Lt. Huang Xinrui in his P-26/281; the Japanese Army reinforcements succeeded in landing in northern Shanghai. The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) ultimately committed over 300,000 troops, along with numerous naval vessels and aircraft, to capture

5100-468: The Japanese strongholds in Shanghai, leading to bitter street fighting. In an attack on the Japanese cruiser Izumo , Kuomintang planes accidentally bombed the Shanghai International Settlement , which led to more than 3,000 civilian deaths. In the three days from 14 August through 16, 1937, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) sent many sorties of the then-advanced long-ranged G3M medium-heavy land-based bombers and assorted carrier-based aircraft with

5202-412: The Japanese surrender, the command of He's forces was transferred to Peng Dehuai , which operated as the "Northwest Field Army". He became Peng's second-in-command, but spent most of the rest of the Chinese Civil War in central CCP headquarters, in and around Yan'an . After the Japanese surrender, in 1945, He was elected to the CCP Central Committee , and his influence rose within both the military and

SECTION 50

#1732773015469

5304-415: The Japanese-backed East Hebei Autonomous Council and the Hebei–Chahar Political Council were established. There in the empty space of Chahar the Mongol military government was formed on 12 May 1936. Japan provided all the necessary military and economic aid. Afterwards Chinese volunteer forces continued to resist Japanese aggression in Manchuria, and Chahar and Suiyuan . Some Chinese historians believe

5406-406: The League of Nations. No country took action against Japan beyond tepid censure. From 1931 until summer 1937, the Nationalist Army under Chiang Kai-shek did little to oppose Japanese encroachment into China. Incessant fighting followed the Mukden Incident. In 1932, Chinese and Japanese troops fought the January 28 Incident battle. This resulted in the demilitarization of Shanghai , which forbade

5508-472: The Politburo and the Central Committee , and was the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. He was forced to resign his positions, along with Nie Rongzhen and Ye Jianying, in 1985. During the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 , he and Marshal Nie Rongzhen , published statements which, while calling for civil order, warned that the PLA should not resort to bloodshed to suppress the protests. Xu died in 1990. According to his wishes, no memorial service

5610-488: The academy he held various officer ranks in the National Revolutionary Army between 1925 and 1927. In 1926 he took part in Chiang Kai-shek 's Northern Expedition to recover East China from several warlords. After the campaign was successful he moved to Wuchang , where he taught at a military academy. While teaching in Wuchang he joined the Chinese Communist Party . After the end of the Nationalist-Communist alliance in 1927 Xu went underground. He did not participate in

5712-502: The area of the Yangtze River Delta . Other sections of China were essentially in the hands of local Chinese warlords. Japan sought various Chinese collaborators and helped them establish governments friendly to Japan. This policy was called the Specialization of North China ( 華北特殊化 ; huáběitèshūhùa ), more commonly known as the North China Autonomous Movement. The northern provinces affected by this policy were Chahar , Suiyuan , Hebei , Shanxi , and Shandong. This Japanese policy

5814-422: The buildings. He Long He Long ( simplified Chinese : 贺龙 ; traditional Chinese : 賀龍 ; pinyin : Hè Lóng ; March 22, 1896 – June 9, 1969) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and a Marshal of the People's Republic of China . He was from a poor rural family in Hunan, and his family was not able to provide him with any formal education. He began his revolutionary career after avenging

5916-404: The capture of Nanjing, Japanese committed massive war atrocities including mass murder and rape of Chinese civilians after 13 December 1937, which has been referred to as the Nanjing Massacre . Over the next several weeks, Japanese troops perpetrated numerous mass executions and tens of thousands of rapes. The army looted and burned the surrounding towns and the city, destroying more than a third of

6018-411: The city's large foreign community and increase China's foreign support. On 13 August 1937, Kuomintang soldiers attacked Japanese Marine positions in Shanghai, with Japanese army troops and marines in turn crossing into the city with naval gunfire support at Zhabei , leading to the Battle of Shanghai. On 14 August, Chinese forces under the command of Zhang Zhizhong were ordered to capture or destroy

6120-402: The city. After more than three months of intense fighting, their casualties far exceeded initial expectations. On 26 October, the IJA captured Dachang, a key strong-point within Shanghai, and on 5 November, additional reinforcements from Japan landed in Hangzhou Bay. Finally, on 9 November, the NRA began a general retreat. Japan did not immediately occupy the Shanghai International Settlement or

6222-421: The communist political system. Near the end of the Chinese Civil War He was promoted to command the First Field Army , which was active in Southwest China . After the Communists won the civil war in 1949, He spent most of the 1950s in both civilian and military roles in the southwest. He's military accomplishments were recognized when he was promoted to being one of the Ten Marshals in 1955, and he served in

SECTION 60

#1732773015469

6324-492: The communists suffered 50% casualties in the two months of fighting. Most of He's soldiers who survived surrendered, deserted, and/or rejoined the KMT. Only 2,000 survivors eventually returned to fight for the Communists in 1928, when Zhu reformed his forces in Hunan. After his forces were defeated, He fled to Lufeng, Guangdong . He spent some time in Hong Kong , but was later sent by the CCP to Shanghai , then to Wuhan. Chiang Kai-shek continuously tried to persuade him rejoin

6426-403: The conditions of his imprisonment as a period of slow torture, in which his captors "intended to destroy my health so that they can murder me without spilling my blood". During the years that he was imprisoned, his captors restricted his access to water, cut off his house's heat during the winter, and refused him access to medicine to treat his diabetes. He died in 1969 after being hospitalized for

6528-452: The conflict into a full-scale war. Following the shooting of two Japanese officers who were attempting to enter the Hongqiao military airport on 9 August 1937, the Japanese demanded that all Chinese forces withdraw from Shanghai; the Chinese outright refused to meet this demand. In response, both the Chinese and the Japanese marched reinforcements into the Shanghai area. Chiang concentrated his best troops north of Shanghai in an effort to impress

6630-448: The country. China was reduced to a fractured state. As a result, China's prosperity began to wither and its economy declined. This instability presented an opportunity for nationalistic politicians in Japan to press for territorial expansion. In 1915, Japan issued the Twenty-One Demands to extort further political and commercial privilege from China, which was accepted by the regime of Yuan Shikai. Following World War I , Japan acquired

6732-431: The country. Yuan's attempts at restoring the monarchy triggered the National Protection War , and Yuan Shikai was overthrown after only a few months. In the aftermath of Shikai's death in June 1916, control of China fell into the hands of the Beiyang Army leadership. The Beiyang government was a civilian government in name, but in practice it was a military dictatorship with a different warlord controlling each province of

6834-443: The death of his uncle, when he fled to become an outlaw and attracted a small personal army around him. Later his forces joined the Kuomintang , and he participated in the Northern Expedition . He rebelled against the Kuomintang after Chiang Kai-shek began violently suppressing Communists , when he planned and led the unsuccessful Nanchang Uprising . After escaping, he organized a soviet in rural Hunan (and later Guizhou ), but

6936-443: The demonstration. Xu did not originally plan to attend the demonstration, but because both Ye Jianying and Nie Rongzhen , who originally planned to attend, were hospitalized at the time, (Liu Bocheng had already retired by then to poor health) Xu was invited instead. Xu led the preparations for PLA operations in the Sino-Vietnam War in 1979. After resigning as Defense Minister in 1981, Xu remained active in politics. He served in

7038-421: The direction of the Long March, and He eventually led his forces into Shaanxi to join Mao Zedong by the end of 1936. In 1937 He settled his troops in northwestern Shaanxi and established a new headquarters there. Because the Second Army of the Chinese Red Army under He Long's command was one of the few Communist forces to arrive in Yan'an mostly intact, his force was able to assume the responsibility of protecting

7140-529: The early stages of the war, when the Kuomintang forced the Communist headquarters in Shaanxi to evacuate, it was evacuated to the bases established by Xu. During the Chinese Civil War, Xu participated in several battles in North China . Contrary to the common tactic of many Communist commanders during the Civil War, who favored attacking only after establishing forces of several times the defenders, Luo often engaged numerically equal or superior forces and emerged victorious. In 1948 and 1949 Luo engaged and defeated

7242-441: The end of World War II He commanded a force of approximately 175,000 troops across northwestern China. He's most notable subordinates included Zhang Zongxun , Xu Guangda , and Peng Shaohui . He was successful in expanding Communist base areas throughout the period of World War II. Part of He's success was due to the social confusion caused by Japan's Ichi-Go offensive in the areas of China that Japanese operations effected. He

7344-545: The expectation of destroying the Chinese Air Force . However, the Imperial Japanese Navy encountered unexpected resistance from the defending Chinese Curtiss Hawk II / Hawk III and P-26/281 Peashooter fighter squadrons; suffering heavy (50%) losses from the defending Chinese pilots (14 August was subsequently commemorated by the KMT as China's Air Force Day ). The skies of China had become

7446-650: The failed Nanchang Uprising , but led the failed Guangzhou Uprising shortly after. After that, Xu became active in the Eyuwan Soviet . In January 1931, he became the first commander of the Eyuwan Soviet's newly-established Fourth Red Army . The Fourth Red Army numbered twenty thousand soldiers when Xu took command. Later that year, the Central Committee put Zhang Guotao in charge of the Eyuwan Soviet. Zhang purged several top-level officers from

7548-498: The forces of Yan Xishan , a Shanxi warlord who was aligned with the Kuomintang. After the Communists won the civil War in 1949, Xu served as the General Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army . Xu may not have been active as PLA Chief-of-Staff (1949–54), but was named one of the 10 Marshals in 1955, (the only Northerner to have received this honour) and as a member of the party Military Affairs Committee in 1961. Xu

7650-402: The head of an office to investigate Peng's past and find reasons to criticize Peng. He accepted the position but was sympathetic to Peng, and stalled for over a year before submitting his report. Mao's prestige weakened when it became widely known that Mao's Great Leap Forward had been a disaster, and He eventually presented a report that was positive, and which attempted to vindicate Peng. Peng

7752-657: The investigation results of the Association of the Families of the Victims of the Jinan massacre, it showed that 6,123 Chinese civilians were killed and 1,701 injured. Relations between the Chinese Nationalist government and Japan severely worsened as a result of the Jinan incident. As the National Revolutionary Army approached Beijing, Zhang Zuolin decided to retreat back to Manchuria, before he

7854-416: The missile suddenly malfunctioned and turned 180 degrees after traveling several hundred meters, flying in opposite direction toward the observation platform, where Xu and other top ranking Chinese officers were sitting, and landed right in front of the platform. It was fortunate for Xu and the others on the platform that the missile failed to explode, and they survived and remained there until the completion of

7956-707: The new capital after their arrival. When the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army in 1937, He was placed in command of the 120th Division. From late 1938 to 1940 He fought both the Japanese army and Kuomintang-affiliated guerrillas in Hubei . He's responsibilities increased during the Second Sino-Japanese War , and in 1943 he was promoted to be the overall commander of Communist forces in Shanxi , Shaanxi, Gansu , Ningxia , and Inner Mongolia . By

8058-570: The oppression of Korean residents". After five months of fighting, Japan established the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932, and installed the last Emperor of China, Puyi , as its puppet ruler. Militarily too weak to challenge Japan directly, China appealed to the League of Nations for help. The League's investigation led to the publication of the Lytton Report , condemning Japan for its incursion into Manchuria, causing Japan to withdraw from

8160-477: The region by pressuring Yuan Shikai , the president of the Republic of China at the time. With a widened range of economic privileges in Manchuria, Japan began focusing on developing and protecting matters of economic interests. This included railroads, businesses, natural resources, and a general control of the territory. With its influence growing, the Japanese Army began to justify its presence by stating that it

8262-586: The region in both civilian and military roles. He held a number of civilian and military positions after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. In 1955, his contributions to the victory of the Chinese Communist Party were recognized when he was named one of the Ten Marshals , and he served as China's vice premier . He did not support Mao Zedong's attempts to purge Peng Dehuai in 1959 and attempted to rehabilitate Peng. After

8364-458: The revolution. Yuan, wanting to remain in power, compromised with the revolutionaries, and agreed to abolish the monarchy and establish a new republican government, under the condition he be appointed president of China. The new Beiyang government of China was proclaimed in March 1912, after which Yuan Shikai began to amass power for himself. In 1913, the parliamentary political leader Song Jiaoren

8466-568: The sleek A5Ms in dogfights , and it also proved to be a battle of attrition against the Chinese Air Force. At the start of the battle, the local strength of the NRA was around five divisions, or about 70,000 troops, while local Japanese forces comprised about 6,300 marines. On 23 August, the Chinese Air Force attacked Japanese troop landings at Wusongkou in northern Shanghai with Hawk III fighter-attack planes and P-26/281 fighter escorts, and

8568-608: The tensions in the Northeast that led to the Mukden Incident and eventually the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Soviet Red Army victory over Xueliang's forces not only reasserted Soviet control over the CER in Manchuria but revealed Chinese military weaknesses that Japanese Kwantung Army officers were quick to note. The Soviet Red Army performance also stunned the Japanese. Manchuria was central to Japan's East Asia policy. Both

8670-702: The time, the Nationalist government relocated to Chongqing in the Chinese interior. After the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact , Soviet aid bolstered the National Revolutionary Army and Air Force . By 1939, after Chinese victories at Changsha and with Japan's lines of communications stretched deep into the interior, the war reached a stalemate. The Japanese were unable to defeat Chinese Communist Party forces in Shaanxi , who waged

8772-617: Was assassinated by the Kwantung Army in 1928. His son, Zhang Xueliang , took over as the leader of the Fengtian clique in Manchuria. Later in the same year, Zhang declared his allegiance to the Nationalist government in Nanjing under Chiang Kai-shek , and consequently, China was nominally reunified under one government. The July–November 1929 conflict over the Chinese Eastern Railroad (CER) further increased

8874-519: Was a member of the Gelaohui (Elder Brother Society), a secret society dating back to the early Qing dynasty. A cowherd during his youth, he received no formal education. When He was 20 he killed a local government tax assessor who had killed his uncle for defaulting on his taxes. He then fled and became an outlaw, giving rise to the legend that he began his revolutionary career with just two kitchen knives. After beginning his life as an outlaw he gained

8976-796: Was allowed to join both the Politburo and the Cultural Revolution Group . In 1969 he joined the Central Committee . Xu protected Deng Xiaoping when Deng was purged from the government in 1976. Later in 1976 he was one of the military supporters of Hua Guofeng 's coup against the Gang of Four , which eventually brought Deng back to power and formally ended the Cultural Revolution. While serving as Defense Minister from 1978 to 1981, Xu advocated developing

9078-480: Was also called the "Eight Years' War of Resistance" (simplified Chinese: 八年抗战 ; traditional Chinese: 八年抗戰 ), but in 2017 the Chinese Ministry of Education issued a directive stating that textbooks were to refer to the war as the "Fourteen Years' War of Resistance" (simplified Chinese: 十四年抗战 ; traditional Chinese: 十四年抗戰 ), reflecting a focus on the broader conflict with Japan going back to

9180-406: Was assassinated ; it is generally believed Yuan Shikai ordered the assassination. Yuan Shikai then forced the parliament to pass a bill to strengthen the power of the president and sought to restore the imperial system , becoming the new emperor of China. However, there was little support for an imperial restoration among the general population, and protests and demonstrations soon broke out across

9282-670: Was born in Wutai County , Shanxi . He was the son of a wealthy landowner and scholar who had passed the Qing civil service examination . He attended the Taiyuan Normal College and graduated in 1923. After graduation he had a short career as school teacher, then despite his parents' objections, he joined and attended the first class of the Whampoa Military Academy in 1924. After his graduation from

9384-403: Was eventually defeated by Chiang. Zhang was purged after returning to the areas around Yan'an controlled by Mao, but Xu was allowed to rejoin the Red Army under Mao's leadership after making an extensive self-criticism. His first position under Mao, as the deputy commander of the 129th division, was effectively a demotion. During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), Xu did not remain with

9486-538: Was forced to abandon his bases when pressured by Chiang's Encirclement Campaigns . He joined the Long March in 1935, over a year after forces associated with Mao Zedong and Zhu De were forced to do so. He met with forces led by Zhang Guotao , but he disagreed with Zhang about the strategy of the Red Army and led his forces to join and support Mao. After settling and establishing a headquarters in Shaanxi , He led guerrilla forces in Northwest China in both

9588-445: Was formally succeeded as Chief-of-Staff by Su Yu, in 1954. He became one of China's vice premiers in 1965. During the Cultural Revolution , Xu was part of the 1967 February Countercurrent , a group of leaders who criticized the Cultural Revolution for creating chaos and undermining China's leadership. Afterwards, Mao required him to request a leave of absence and undertake self-criticism . He survived politically, and later that year

9690-676: Was fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part of World War II , and often regarded as the beginning of World War II in Asia. It was the largest Asian war in the 20th century and has been described as "the Asian Holocaust ", in reference to the scale of Japanese war crimes against Chinese civilians. It

9792-406: Was frequently able to expand Communist areas of operation by allying with local, independent guerrilla forces who were also fighting the Japanese. He's experience fighting the Kuomintang and the Japanese led him to question Mao's unconditional emphasis on the importance of ideological guerrilla warfare at the expense of conventional tactics and military organization. In October 1945, one month after

9894-575: Was most effective in the area of what is now Inner Mongolia and Hebei. In 1935, under Japanese pressure, China signed the He–Umezu Agreement , which forbade the KMT to conduct party operations in Hebei. In the same year, the Chin–Doihara Agreement was signed expelling the KMT from Chahar. Thus, by the end of 1935 the Chinese government had essentially abandoned northern China. In its place,

9996-594: Was partially rehabilitated in 1965, but then purged again at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution 1966. He long was accused of a mutiny in feb 1964, after a Soviet Union trip with Zhou Enlai. The Soviet were unhappy, with China direction. Cultural revolution followed soon after, to purged communist and rightist leanings in China. Jiang Qing denounced He in December 1966 of being a "rightist" and of intra-CCP factionalism. Following Jiang's accusations He and his supporters were branded an anti-CCP element and quickly purged. He's persecutors singled him out by labeling him

10098-476: Was promoted to marshal after the founding of the PRC in 1949. He held numerous political and military positions, and survived the Cultural Revolution despite attempting to moderate some of its more destructive effects. He was an important supporter of Deng Xiaoping and his return to political power in 1976. He continued to serve in a number of political and military positions until he was forced to retire in 1985. Xu

10200-453: Was simply protecting its own economic interests. However militarists in the Japanese Army began pushing for an expansion of influence, leading to the Japanese Army assassinating the warlord of Manchuria, Zhang Zuolin . This was done with hopes that it would start a crisis that would allow Japan to expand their power and influence in the region. When this was not as successful as they desired, Japan then decided to invade Manchuria outright after

10302-460: Was to be conducted for him which was refused by the government and he was given a memorial with full military honours. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered across the Dabie , Daba , Taihang Mountains , and Hexi Corridor . His official obituary stated that "his life was a glorious one... Xu was an outstanding Communist, a great proletarian revolutionary, a strategist, and one of the founders of

10404-425: Was used by Japan, as neither country had made a formal declaration of war . From the Japanese perspective, localizing these conflicts was beneficial in preventing intervention from other countries, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States, which were its primary source of petroleum and steel respectively. A formal expression of these conflicts would potentially lead to an American embargo in accordance with

#468531