The American ambassador in Hankow replied that although he supported Rabe's proposal for a ceasefire, Chiang did not. The following day, on December 10, Rabe got his answer from the Generalissimo. ![]() The second telegram was sent through Shanghai to Japanese military leaders, advocating for a three-day ceasefire so that the Chinese could withdraw from the city. The first was to Chiang through an American ambassador in Hankow, asking that Chinese forces "undertake no military operations" within Nanjing. From this gunboat, Rabe sent two telegrams. In an attempt to secure permission for this cease-fire from Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, Rabe, who was living in Nanjing and had been acting as the Chairman of the Nanking International Safety Zone Committee, boarded the USS Panay on December 9. The Chinese government left for relocation on December 1, and the president left on December 7, leaving the fate of Nanjing to an International Committee led by John Rabe, a German national. Tang gathered about 100,000 soldiers, largely untrained, including Chinese troops who had participated in the Battle of Shanghai. In a press release to foreign reporters, Tang Shengzhi announced the city would not surrender and would fight to the death. Chiang planned to fight a protracted war of attrition to wear down the Japanese in the hinterland of China. Chiang's strategy was to follow the suggestion of his German advisers to draw the Japanese army deep into China and use China's vast territory as a defensive strength. To preserve the army for future battles, most of it was withdrawn. He and his staff realized that they could not risk the annihilation of their elite troops in a symbolic but hopeless defense of the capital. Nevertheless, on December 1, headquarters ordered the Central China Area Army and the 10th Army to capture Nanjing, then-capital of the Republic of China.Īfter losing the Battle of Shanghai, Chiang Kai-shek knew that the fall of Nanjing was a matter of time. The General Staff Headquarters in Tokyo initially decided not to expand the war due to the high casualties incurred and the low morale of the troops. By mid-November the Japanese had captured Shanghai with the help of naval and ( aerial) bombardment. The battle was bloody as both sides faced attrition in urban hand-to-hand combat. In August 1937, the Japanese army invaded Shanghai where they met strong resistance and suffered heavy casualties.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |