Chapter 612 New Year's Speech

The 29th year of the Republic of China is about to come.

In the year that is about to pass, China has experienced too much sadness and joy. In the 28th year of the Republic of China, it may never be forgotten in the minds of all Chinese people.

The new year is coming, but there is no celebration atmosphere in Anqing.

Both China and Japan are accumulating strength and preparing silently that a new war may erupt instantly with the ringing of the New Year bell.

Wait, wait patiently...

This year was very important to the National Government. Although the National Government did not receive any military assistance from Western countries except the Soviet Union, the National Government's determination to fight against the war won the sympathy and support of the vast majority of countries.

But obviously it is far from enough to just have sympathy and support, but then again, Western countries still adopt appeasement policies in the face of Germany's aggressive oppression. Can they still expect them to provide any help to a Far Eastern country?

The only thing that is thankful is that the Myanmar Highway, the only channel in China that connects the outside world, has so far no intention of closing it.

The past year has been a honeymoon period for cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Whether it is the New Fourth Army nominally commanded by General Zheng Yong or the Eighth Route Army nominally commanded by General Yan Xishan, both sides cooperated happily in some aspects.

Especially in the Third War Zone, after General Zheng Yong launched a large-scale military operation, General Ye Ting, the commander of the New Fourth Army, took the initiative to cooperate and launched several large-scale battles against the Japanese pirates, severely hitting the Japanese pirates' logistics supplies and effectively cooperating with front-line battlefield operations.

The Eighth Route Army was not very disturbing. As their actual leader, Mr. Mao Zedong flatly rejected Stalin's request for the Chinese Communist Party to crack down on the addition of new Japanese troops in northern China.

Of course, the guerrilla war they adopted also brought a major blow to the Japanese pirates, forcing the Japanese pirates to distribute a large number of troops to deal with the attacks that may come at any time.

The Moscow propaganda army adopted a new flattering attitude to reward the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party for a honeymoon. Chiang Kai-shek was no longer a "fascist" or a "reactionary", but now he has become a "hero" and a "great leader".

God knows what Stalin and those Western leaders like Stalin were thinking in their hearts. The praise they said was actually worthless. What they needed was China to hold Japan so that they could arrange it calmly for their own interests.

In their eyes, China is just a pawn that can be sacrificed at any time.

In Nanjing, Wang Jingwei, who was determined to be the "real leader of China", is planning the establishment of a "new national government" in an all-round way to openly become enemies of the people of the whole country.

On July 9 last year, Wang Jingwei accused Chiang Kai-shek of "helping the red elements" and trying to lead China to destruction.

He then claimed that he was the leader of the "orthodox Chinese Kuomintang". The pseudo-KMT held a "Sixth Congress" that elected Wang Jingwei as the "Chairman".

The clowns are making their debut, and the comedy is about to begin...

On the morning of the 1st of the 29th month of the Republic of China, Zheng Yong, the Supreme Commander of the Third War Zone of China, Chairman of the Hubei Provincial Government, Commander of the Wuhan Garrison, and General of the National Government, issued the "New Year's Day to the Third War Zone of China and Letter of the People's Republic of China":

"...The War of Resistance has reached a new stage, and whether victory can be achieved at this stage will determine the final direction of the war.

Before this, the enemy did not realize that China's territory was inviolable and that China could not defeat it. As long as there is a piece of free Chinese land under the enemy's invasion, the National Government will always be supreme.

Now they should be able to realize that for freedom, the Chinese people will fight to the end, and steel will definitely not overcome our determination.

During the two and a half years of the Chinese New Year, we used all favorable conditions to fight the enemy. Although we lost Shanghai and Nanjing, we gave the heavyest blow to the Japanese pirates, causing them to lose troops and generals on our territory and suffer many casualties.

Although our army suffered significant losses due to backward weapons and lack of training, we still have a huge seven million front-line combat forces, constantly attacking the Japanese army, exhausting them and eventually completely defeated.

Since the outbreak of the entire people in the War of Resistance Against Japan, we have annihilated or mostly annihilated many elite divisions, including the third, sixth, ninth and sixteenth, seriously hitting the Japanese pirates' combat plan.

Our power suffered losses in the War of Resistance, but the same Japanese pirates' power was constantly weakening.

Someone asked me before when the war would end. At that time, I told him that I didn’t know that the War of Resistance would be a long and long process, but now I can tell you clearly:

This year will determine the final direction of the war, and the war will be decided within three years.

I mean the decision to determine the time of victory may be extended, but the day of real victory is coming quickly towards our country!

For Western countries, from the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan to the present, in addition to limited support, they have always adopted a cold-eyed attitude.

The British sold us four planes in total, but they were determined not to sell us any other weapons. The French were even unwilling to talk to us. They were afraid of offending Japan, afraid that their interests in the Far East would be damaged, and they were afraid of everything.

I have no scruples to say these words, and I am not afraid of offending these countries, because we no longer need their help, especially when they are unable to protect themselves.

It is conceivable that if Japan wins the war between China and Japan, I can be sure that Japan will not allow them to take even a coin from here.

If China wins, I regret to tell you that you have hurt the most simple feelings of the Chinese people and you can no longer gain the trust of the Chinese people.

I think we should thank the Soviet Union for its help over the past period of time. Their aid weapons played a great role. Thanks to their leader Stalin for being able to make such a decision...

......

Compatriots and soldiers, when the War of Resistance Against Japan reached a turning point, what we need is the whole nation to unite and share generous hatred, and build our Great Wall of Steel with our flesh and blood.

Without assistance, we rely on ourselves; without allies, we rely on ourselves; without airplanes and cannons, we rely on ourselves; without weapons, we still rely on ourselves.

As long as our spirit does not perish, the nation will not perish. As long as our determination does not perish, the country will never perish. This is the source of a country and a nation that maintains its long-term vitality.

In the 29th year of the Republic of China, victory is waving to us. In the 29th year of the Republic of China, this will be the greatest year. In this year, our nation and every country in the world will witness a miracle!

The miracle of victory!

Long live the National Government! Long live the Chinese nation!

Long live the victory of the War of Resistance!”

This is the "1940 Zheng Yong's New Year Speech" that caused a huge shock.

The impact of this speech is not just an analysis of the battlefield form and a prediction of the future direction of war.

It is not even a spiritual encouragement to the people of the whole country.

In this speech, the tone adopted against Britain, France and other countries was unprecedentedly tough.

Zheng Yong bluntly rebuked the attitudes adopted by Britain, France and other countries in the China War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and what is most sensitive is the opinions that China will likely show in the distribution of interests in the Far East once the war is over in the future.

The British and French ambassadors expressed strong protest to the National Government as soon as possible, and the British ambassador accused Zheng Yong:

"Some of the words against the British Empire in this New Year's speech are without evidence and are completely fabricated. This has seriously damaged the feelings of the British government and people and will have an extremely bad impact on Sino-British relations..."

The French ambassador said more explicitly:

"A general who is nakedly slandered, uncultivated and rude, must take back everything he says and take responsibility for the possible consequences..."

If it were in the past, the protests between Britain and France might have caused some panic among the government, but at this time, the situation is much different from the past.

Only when those Western countries' attitudes towards China, as Zheng Yong said, did they truly hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and had lost the last bit of fantasy about their National Government.

Besides, beside them, there is a powerful Germany that may attack them at any time.

In this case, do you expect them to help us any more?

Under Chiang Kai-shek's instruction, the National Government took measures to appease to a limited extent.

As for asking Zheng Yong to apologize, even if the National Government and Chiang Kai-shek came forward, judging by Zheng Yong's temper, he would rather turn around than do such a thing.

Besides, God knows whether the opinions in Zheng Yong's New Year's speech were asked by Chiang Kai-shek to do this...

The Soviet Union seemed quite happy. They obviously thought that they had chosen the right allies and might be able to bring the National Government to their camp in the future.

However, Stalin would not have thought that before sending this New Year's speech, Zheng Yong had already prepared himself to abandon China and choose Japan as an ally.

Like Britain and France, the Soviet Union was not a thing.

It is better to expect them to help you unconditionally and give up your own interests than to expect the Japanese government to surrender immediately, which is more realistic.

To some extent, the Soviet Union poses a greater threat to China.

Zheng Yong knew clearly that the Soviet Union had been secretly negotiating with Japan, and an agreement that was in a collusion on the condition that the Soviet Union gave up aid to China would soon be reached.
Chapter completed!