After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan in 1945, Chiang Kai-shek pretended to invite Chairman Mao to Chongqing for peace talks, but also stepped up mobilization of troops to prepare to launch the civil war .
On the surface, the United States acted as a "mediator" and actually gave the Kuomintang a large amount of weapons and equipment to support it in the civil war. But today, some people believe that Chiang Kai-shek's group's final failure was due to the poor support from the United States.
Then you might as well calculate how much the United States paid to support Chiang Kai-shek's group back then, and why its effect was so unbearable.
Chiang Kai-shek and Chairman Mao
The national army gradually equipped US equipment after the War of Resistance Against Japan. After the War of Resistance Against Japan, the United States fully supported the Chiang regime
When Chiang Kai-shek mentioned today, he would think that the reactionary government he led was the spokesperson of the interests of the United States in China, but in fact, the relationship between Chiang Kai-shek and the United States became close only after the outbreak of the Pacific War .
Before Chiang Kai-shek was recognized by the American consortium through his marriage with Song Family , but he chose to cooperate with Germany to develop military power.
In the military reorganization plan formulated by the National Government in 1935, 60 divisions based on German equipment should be trained as the main force in the fight against the Japanese army. During that period, the Kuomintang army included Soviet weapons and guns supported by the Soviet Union during the Huangpu period, and equipment purchased from Japan, Britain, France and other countries;
In addition, Northeast Army , Sichuan Army and Shanxi Sui Army have imitation weapons produced by the arsenal and weapons produced by themselves according to actual domestic conditions. On the contrary, during that period, the National Army had almost no US-made guns and cannons except for some American fighter jets in the Air Force.
Chiang Kai-shek
It was not until After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, due to the rapid tension in U.S.-Japan relations, the United States provided China with a loan of US$25 million in 1939 for the sake of maintaining hegemony; then a total of US$670 million in loans were given to the National Government, equivalent to 53% of the total aid received by China.
The US government acquiesced to Chennard as a private identity to form the " Flying Tigers ", and the Kuomintang began to develop a strong interest in American equipment from then on [1].
But it was not until sneak attacked Pearl Harbor that the United States became ally with China and formally provided weapons and equipment to the National Government.
It can be said that the rapid increase in the Kuomintang army's equipment in China and the United States was a reflection of the rapid approaching of Sino-US relations at that time.
From 1941 to 1945, the United States' weapons aid to China was mainly handed over to the Chinese army in India established in India, and at the same time, some of the weapons were airlifted back to China using the " Hump Route ".
KMT army
However, during that period, the United States also realized that there was serious corruption within the National Government, so Roosevelt President did not want Chiang Kai-shek group to continue to engage in autocratic rule after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
However, when Japan officially surrendered in August 1945, the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union escalated sharply after the end of the European war; although the Truman government was very disgusted with the corruption and incompetence of Chiang Kai-shek's group, it also believed that only with the help of Chiang Kai-shek could China be controlled and made China an ally against the Soviet Union.
So after Japan surrendered to MacArthur , in the name of the commander-in-chief of the Allied Army, required that the Japanese army in China could only hand over weapons to the Kuomintang army.
Although the United States did not want a full-scale civil war in China during that period, the attempt to support the Kuomintang family has become increasingly obvious.
MacArthur
In fact, during the War of Resistance Against Japan, the proportion of materials obtained by China only accounted for 1.8% of the total amount of foreign aid in the United States, and it was concentrated in 1945, and it was even lower than 0.4% in the previous years.
According to statistics, the United States has supported more than 20,000 military vehicles of the National Army, 1,300 military aircraft and transport aircraft , and 3,604 tanks of various models; 36 M-1918 155mm howitzers, 481 M-101 105mm howitzers; 600 75mm mountain cannons of various types, 300 M-3 37mm war defense cannons and 32,000 mortars of various types.
also has 1,000 "Bazuka" bazooka , 310 flamethrowers, 1,500 M-1917 water-cooled heavy machine guns, 8,000 M-1918A1 light machine guns, 150,000 M-1903 springfield rifles, 30,000 Thomson submachine gun and other light weapons .
KMT army
But World War II ended until June 1946 Chiang Kai-shek launched a civil war, and the weapons and materials provided by the United States exceeded the total aid for the War of Resistance Against Japan.
firstly, it can equip the complete equipment of 6 American armed divisions; it sold 15,000 cars worth US$68 million to the Kuomintang army at the price of scrap iron, worth US$50 million to the arms;
handed over more than 200 aircraft stationed in the United States, with about 4,000 tons of weapons and ammunition; it sold more than 700 aircraft to the Kuomintang army, and the Kuomintang Air Force was able to establish 8 brigades; 5,700 heavy-load trucks; military clothing worth US$5 million; landing craft worth US$40 million, and 271 naval ships.
In June 1946, for US$175 million, various heavy weapons worth US$825 million were sold to the Kuomintang army for its civil war in the name of "surplus materials".
Korean Army
The US Armed Army was established late and the specific equipment was not complete, but its firepower was strong and became the main force of the National Army in the civil war
Although we think that the main force of the Chinese Democratic Party is fully equipped with American equipment, there were very few American weapons in the Kuomintang army until 1940.
In 1937, its three German armed divisions and the teaching corps were known as the "element of the national army". By the end of 1940, they obtained 20 divisions of light weapons from the Soviet Union and formed four Soviet armed assault troops.
It was not until 1942 that China, the United States and Britain reached an agreement to form the Chinese army in India based on the remnants of the first batch of expeditionary forces entering India that the United States began to provide equipment to China in an established manner.
However, although it is claimed to be US equipment, the United States actually provides China with some outdated American weapons based on its "Europe first, then Asia" strategy and transportation conditions restrictions.
KMT army
U.S. main force represented by the Kuomintang New First Army and New Sixth Army . The infantry is equipped with the already eliminated bolt-action rifle; the squad leader and deputy squad leader are equipped with the submachine gun , and the light machine gun is a 7.62mm version of the cloth "Brun" machine gun specially produced.
Infantry Battalion is also equipped with water-cooled heavy machine gun , which was eliminated by the US military. The infantry regiment is equipped with 82mm mortars and 37mm anti-tank gun .
Each infantry division of the US Army is equipped with three battalions, a total of 54 105mm howitzers, and one battalion of 18 155mm howitzers.
The firepower of the American Armed Division of the National Army had been weakened at the beginning, and only planned to equip a 105mm howitzer battalion and a 75mm mountain artillery battalion; when it finally formed the army, it was actually a 105th howitzer battalion directly under the army, and each infantry division had a 75mm mountain artillery battalion.
National Army American Armed Division
The 36 155mm howitzers assisted by the United States belong to the old model and are classified as an Artillery Regiment directly affiliated with the headquarters of the Indian Army.
The US Infantry Division has a tank battalion, each regiment has a tank company; but the US Arsenal Army of the National Army does not have a direct tank team, and has formed seven tank battalions directly under the headquarters of the Indian Army.
It can be said that it is known as a full-American equipment, but its heavy firepower level is not only different from the US military, but it does not have much advantage even compared with the Japanese A-level division.
Although the Chinese army stationed in India achieved the best record of the Chinese army in the War of Resistance against the US military under the conditions of air support and sufficient logistical support, the second phase of the Expeditionary Force formed in Yunnan during the same period was not high, resulting in huge casualties in counterattack western Yunnan .
National Army American Armed Division
After the surrender of the Japanese invaders, although all the equipment was not handed over to the National Army, the Kuomintang army still obtained 312,000 artillery, 686,000 rifles, and 3.3 million machine guns of various types. In addition, there are 383 tanks, armored vehicles, 151 and other heavy equipment.
In contrast, although the People's Army also obtained some weapons to surrender to the Japanese army, the 1.27 million troops were only equipped with weapons such as 447,000 rifles, 48,000 light and heavy machine guns and 1,559 mortars.
However, due to insufficient US equipment transported back to China, by August 1945, except for the new 1, 6 and 74 armies, 3 divisions were able to be equipped with US equipment; the 5th Army and 18th Army, the 2nd, 8th, 13th, 53, 54th, 71, 73rd and 94th armies could only be divided into 20 divisions of weapons.
, while the 20th, 26th, 28th, 46th, 52th, 60th, 62th, 64th, 92nd and 93rd Army can only be divided into 10 divisions of the US equipment, which can only be regarded as a "semi-American equipment force" compared with the "All-American equipment force". In this way, at the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Kuomintang army had hundreds of divisions and the US-armed troops with only 39 divisions.
National Army American Armed Division
0After the second batch of weapons of 30 divisions of U.S. aid in 1947, the newly established Youth Army, the 35th Sui Army, the 7th and 48th Guizhou Army; the 1st, 10th, 14th, 85th and 100th armies have also developed into US-armed and semi-armed troops. In addition, some miscellaneous armies such as Liu Xitian's 3rd Army, which are also semi-armed troops.
So by the time before the civil war broke out in 1946, the Kuomintang army was basically half of the Japanese army, one quarter of the American army and one quarter of the national army and miscellaneous army.
Although the number of US Armed Forces does not have an advantage, it is the army with the best equipment and training level in the past.
plus it can get sufficient ammunition support, so its firepower level was the most powerful on the domestic battlefield at that time.
In addition, the three rapid columns formed by the foreign army are even known as the "synthetic troops". They use an infantry brigade with a motorized vehicle as the backbone, including the chariot battalion, two artillery battalion, and two engineer battalions behind the armored search battalion; they are equipped with 40 tanks, 24 artillery pieces, and 200 cars.
It is precisely because of its comprehensive advantages in all aspects that Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng dared to express their views on "eliminating the Communist Army from three to six months" in 1946.
Chiang Kai-shek
The US arms embargo is a completely false proposition. Its poor logistics capabilities affect the situation
There is a legend about the Kuomintang US Armed Forces, that is, the consumption of US Armed Forces is too high, the firepower is poor, and the weight is relatively large, and it is inconvenient to march in mountainous areas. Some people also pointed out that the United States imposed a 10-month "military embargo" on the National Government from July 1946 to May 1947 to show that it "does not interfere in China's internal affairs";
seriously affected the firepower of the National Army and the U.S. armed forces, which led to the failure of the battle, so the United States is responsible for the final failure of the Kuomintang army. However, the so-called "arms embargo" of Chiang Kai-shek's group did not include equipment during World War II, and the national army's logistics system already had sufficient inventory.
It was not until half a year later that the front line troops had a written report on "emergency shortage", but their inventory still met the needs but they were not distributed in time.
Every time our army annihilated American and semi-American troops, the amount of guns and ammunition seized exceeded the consumption.
National Army American Armed Division
Moreover, although our army moved into a strategic counterattack throughout 1947, there were still many difficulties in various battlefields. It was not until 1948 that we dared to take the initiative.
In fact, although the United States has many conflicts with Chiang Kai-shek's group on many issues, it has always been its policy to support Chiang Kai-shek's group in controlling China and curb the development and growth of our party, which has close ties with the Soviet Union.
At that time, the Kuomintang group did not complain that the Americans "favored" the CCP. The so-called "weapon embargo caused failure" was more of an unreasonable argument after it fled to Taiwan.
Moreover, the number of heavy weapons and equipment of the US military is not more than that of the Japanese invaders in China and there are no tanks and a large number of heavy artillery at the first level, so its poor combat effectiveness in mountainous areas reflects that the overall logistics capabilities of the national army are too poor.
National Army
Many Kuomintang troops have no special transportation teams at the level, and they are not able to mobilize millions of people to actively support the front as the People's Liberation Army.
Therefore, many national army combat troops must rely on soldiers to carry all the supplies and ammunition with them. Some troops simply do not have guns but transport teams in the full sense.
As for "Although the US equipment has strong firepower, the firearm is complex, and it consumes too much ammunition and has poor field combat capabilities.
US mechanization does more harm than good, at most the two are equal," more Huaye Commander Chen Yi At that time, in order to inspire soldiers to fight against the US armed forces, deliberately exaggerating the enemy's weaknesses was not completely realistic [2].
National Army
A large amount of US mechanics helped the PLA develop and grow, and the US imperial support for Chiang Kai-shek instead "lost China"
According to statistics, from the beginning of the civil war in 1946 to 1999 At the end of 1949, Chiang Kai-shek's group was finally defeated and left the mainland. The United States successively supported the Kuomintang army about $5 billion in funds and weapons and equipment.
is about $275 billion in gold, although it is far less than the $2.26 trillion it was wasted in Afghanistan ; but this aid also exceeded most of the puppet regimes supported by the United States, and it was impossible to see that it deliberately "embargoed weapons" to drag the national army back.
But these aids are just like Afghanistan and Ukraine today. Most of them did not play their true purpose; this is the important reason why the United States supports the weapons and ammunition of the National Army, but Chiang Kai-shek Group is difficult to return.
Chiang Kai-shek and others
At the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, only a few elite troops in the People's Army had contacted the US equipment, and most of the troops were not as good as the national army of the same level as the opposite level.
However, since 1946, Chiang Kai-shek Group issued The full-scale attack began. Our army annihilated 700,000 enemy troops within one year, thus continuously obtaining US equipment.
, especially in 1947, Su Yu commanded East China Field Army , and successively launched Subei Battle , Lunan Battle and Laiwu Battle ; it was annihilated the US Armored Army and Rapid Column of the National Army in an integrated manner, and all the 18th Division of the Sixth Column, and all the regiment battalions of the 16th Division and 17th Division were replaced with US equipment.
Liberation of other battlefields The army gradually built its own U.S. troops by seizing the Kuomintang army. The guns and cannons that the United States aided Chiang Kai-shek began to destroy the Chiang Dynasty.
Su Yu
KMT troops became our army's "transportation brigade" which made the Americans unable to bear it. Dr. 1948, after the Liaoshen Battle , the US State Department's Far East Affairs Director Butterworth; submitted it to Secretary of State Marshall , a memorandum, summarizing the anti-resistance since 1945 The number of American equipment lost by the national army after the victory.
It pointed out that 17 of the 29 American armed divisions that received the statistics had all losses, and 85% of the American equipment was lost to the battlefield; in addition, half of the American equipment needed to be supplemented by the two divisions, and only 4 divisions had a loss rate of about 15%.
But before the Americans could "provoke a military controversy" against Chiang Kai-shek, the National Army lost more than a dozen American armed division equipment.
and 550 tons of American equipment After the ammunition was transported to Peking , Fu Zuoyi accepted the peaceful adaptation and became the spoils of our army.
Chiang Kai-shek
Traveling the Battle of Crossing the River Americans estimated that half of the main forces of the PLA were equipped with US equipment, and the aid to Chiang Kai-shek was completely "investing the enemy".
When Chinese People's Volunteer Army fought head-on with the US military in North Korea, many US soldiers were shocked. I was surprised to find that the "Eighth Route Army" actually had so many American weapons [3].
American imperialism originally tried to use weapons to help completely reduce China into its colony, but in turn helped the Chinese people stand up completely.
References
[1] Communication: Friendship and win-win cooperation - let the spirit of the "Flying Tigers" cross history and show the future. Xinhuanet. 2019-12-23
[2] Pan Wangzhu. Senior generals of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party who came out of the Whampoa Military Academy [M]. Beijing: Communist Party History Press, 2016.04. Page 24.
[3] Qu Aiguo. The War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea and the Modernization of the People's Liberation Army. "Research on Contemporary Chinese History" 2010(6): 92-96
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