I believe many netizens heard the statement of "Fourteen Years of War of Resistance" at the 93rd military parade. Many people may be a little confused about the statement of "Fourteen Years of War of Resistance": Isn't it often said that "Eight Years of War of Resistance"? Why did it become "Fourteen Years of War of Resistance" again?
In fact, the statement of "Four-Year War of Resistance" was clear as early as 2017. The Second Department of Basic Education of the Ministry of Education issued the "Letter on the Full Implementation of the Concept of "Four-Year-Year-Year-Year-Year-Year-War" in Local Curriculum Textbooks for Primary and Secondary Schools". The letter requires that the textbooks of all levels and types be revised and fully implemented in the spring 2017 textbooks. It is also required that education authorities at all levels conduct a comprehensive investigation. Any words "Eight Years of War of Resistance" will be changed to "Fourth Years of War of Resistance" and the relevant content will be modified depending on the situation to ensure that the concept of the Fourteen Years of War of Resistance is established and highlighted.
In fact, the expressions of "eight years of war of resistance" and "four years of war of resistance" are essentially different in definitions of the historical starting point of China's war of resistance against Japan, and the two are not contradictory.
The starting point of the "Eight Years of War of Resistance" was to start with the "July 7 Incident" in 1937, which is the Lugou Bridge Incident. By 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender, which lasted for a total of 8 years. This expression focuses on the stage of the national war of resistance. After the July 7 Incident, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party achieved the second cooperation and established a national united front against Japan, and China entered the period of national war of resistance for the whole nation. Therefore, the saying "Eight Years of War of Resistance" has been widely used for a long time.
The calculation starting point of the "Four-Year War of Resistance" was based on the "September 18th Incident" in 1931. By the time Japan surrendered in 1945, this period lasted for 14 years, six years longer than the "Eight Years of Resistance". This statement more fully covers the entire process of the War of Resistance Against Japan, so the "Fourteen-year War of Resistance" can more fully reflect the integrity of China's War of Resistance, including the two stages of "local War of Resistance" and "national War of Resistance".
Let's first give a brief review of the September 18th Incident: On the night of September 18, 1931, in the Liutiao Lake area on the outskirts of Shenyang, northeast China, the Japanese Kwantung Army deliberately created an explosion, destroying a section of South Manchuria railway tracks. The operating rights of the South Manchurian Railway Railway Rail originally belonged to Russia, but Russia failed in the Russo-Japanese War and was forced to transfer the operating rights of the "South Manchurian Railway" (Changchun to Dalian section) in northeast China and the relevant rights along the route to Japan.
In that case, why did the Japanese Kwantung Army blow up this section of railway? Simply put, it is to find an excuse to invade China. The Kwantung Army threw the blame on the explosion to China's Northeast Army. After the explosion, the Kwantung Army began to liar that the Northeast Army attacked the railway garrison, and then ordered the troops to attack Beidaying and Shenyang City of the Northeast Army. In just one day, the Kwantung Army occupied Shenyang. After more than four months, it completely controlled the Northeast and realized the strategic concept of the Kwantung Army's lightning occupation of the Northeast.
Since this Kwantung Army is a Japanese army, why is it entrenched in Northeast China?
To answer this question, we need to mention the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-1905, which was an imperialist hegemony war broke out between Japan and Russia in order to fight for control of Northeast China. The place where the two countries exchanged fire was in Northeast China. After the war, Japan signed the Portsmouth Peace Treaty with Russia, and Russia transferred its two core rights in Northeast China to Japan, one was the operating rights of the South Manchurian Railway (Changchun to Dalian section), and the other was the "rental land" in Lushun and Dalian. Subsequently, Japan used the excuse of "protecting the security of the South Manchurian Railway and leased land" to dispatch troops along the railway and leased land. It was nominally a garrison, but in fact it was a military bridgehead established by Japan in the Northeast. This was the predecessor of the Kwantung Army.
Japan is an island country surrounded by oceans, with a small land area and a scarce mineral resources. The Japanese are born with a sense of crisis. What should I do in order to survive? I can only choose to expand externally and look at China, which is vast and vast. As early as the end of the 19th century, Japan embarked on the road of external expansion through the Meiji Restoration. From the perspective of resources alone, Northeast China, called Manchuria at that time, was important in geographical location and abundant resources such as coal, iron ore, and grain. In the eyes of the Japanese, the minerals in the Northeast are Japan's industrialized "fuel warehouse", and grain is the "granary" for its population growth. Controlling the Northeast can solve the shortcomings of Japan's resource scarcity. This is the root cause of the Kwantung Army's deliberate trouble.
The army that guarded the Northeast region at that time was the Northeast Army. Netizens who had studied history knew that the Northeast Army was an armed force that Zhang Zuolin started with local forces and established with the Northeast as the territory. Most of the soldiers were natives in the Northeast, and most of the generals were Zhang Zuolin's fellow townsmen or confidants. They had a strong sense of regional belonging and were an armed force in charge of Northeast affairs. Because the Japanese were afraid of Zhang Zuolin, they designed and fabricated the Huanggutun incident and blew Zhang Zuolin to death. The Northeast Army must be in charge of the commanding army. I am a hero and a hero. Zhang Zuolin's son Zhang Xueliang took over the commanding flag. Therefore, when the September 18th Incident occurred, the highest commander of the Northeast Army was Zhang Xueliang.
At that time, Beidaying was stationed at the Seventh Brigade of the Northeast Army, with a population of about 7,000. The equipment was not backward, and it was quite excellent. But Zhang Xueliang, due to his misjudgment, issued an order to not resist, which made the frontline officers and soldiers passive. Despite this, the Japanese army's initial attack was not smooth, and it was even repelled by sporadic resistance from the Northeast Army. However, as the Japanese reinforcements arrived, the defense line of Beidaying was gradually broken. By the early morning of September 19, hundreds of soldiers in Northeast China had suffered casualties, and the Japanese army only paid the price of dozens of casualties, which caused Beidaying to fall. In just over four months, the entire northeastern China, with an area of more than 1 million square kilometers, fell, and 30 million Northeastern compatriots fell into the colonial rule of the Japanese army, and began a 14-year-old miserable period.
Under extremely difficult conditions, these anti-Japanese armed forces used simple weapons to fight against the well-equipped Japanese army. Even if they were frozen and had no ammunition or food, they never gave up. In the severe cold of minus 40 degrees Celsius, General Yang Jingyu relied on cotton wool and tree bark to satisfy his hunger until he died heroically; General Zhao Shangzhi led his troops to severely damage the Japanese army and was called "the cancer of public security in Manchuria" by the Japanese army. Their struggle was the "first spark" of the 14th year of the Chinese people's war of resistance.
Therefore, we cannot forget this history of the War of Resistance. Although it is a local war and China and Japan have not officially declared war, it is already in a de facto state of war and is an arduous war between the Chinese people against Japanese aggression. The long-term persistence and great sacrifices made by the Northeast Volunteers, the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army and other armed forces under extremely difficult conditions cannot be forgotten.
Only by taking the local war of resistance from 1931 to 1937 and the national war of resistance from 1937 to 1945 as a whole can the continuity and integrity of China's war of resistance be reflected.
