The Chronicles Of The Nineteenth Route Army

The protracted and deadly struggle between China and Japan in the last century left the Chinese people not only with painful memories but also with deep regrets. A great nation with over ten million square kilometers of territory, a population of forty million, and millions of troops suffered casualties exceeding twenty million among its military and civilians after eight years of bitter fighting, yet achieved a victory that was neither glorious nor shameful. The Ethiopians, riding camels and wielding rudimentary rifles, defeated the Italian army, while Finnish soldiers, using sleds, confronted the heavily armed Soviet Red Army, forcing them to sit at the negotiation table. In contrast, the rhetoric emphasizing the disparity in strength between China and Japan appears particularly feeble and powerless. In fact, we could have done much better! This book focuses on the political force outside the Kuomintang and the Communist Party—the 19th Route Army—and explores an alternative model for defeating the Japanese invaders. In contrast, the rhetoric emphasizing the disparity in strength between China and Japan appears particularly feeble and powerless. In fact, we could have done much better! This book focuses on the political force outside the Kuomintang and the Communist Party—the 19th Route Army—and explores an alternative model for defeating the Japanese invaders.