“Then I will take the matter up, personally, with your King!” said Roosevelt.
“The King of England has no authority to give away Imperial Territory,” shouted Churchill. “I alone hold that power!”
Roosevelt laughed heartily. He always enjoyed baiting Churchill, because the latter was so hot tempered and quick to jump whenever he was goaded.
Chiang took Roosevelt seriously.
During the years of the Japanese war, the Generalissimo also had to contend with the Communists. The Chinese Red Armies, while giving lip service to anti-Japanese activity, were in fact so placed militarily as to be facing the Nationalist troops, rather than the Japanese! It is true that the Communists made a number of raids on isolated Japanese posts, but this they did with the purpose of capturing soldiers whom they could then indoctrinate with Communist propaganda. Naturally the Japanese resented these raids and retaliated. Consequently, there were skirmishes now and then, but they were of little importance. The fact still remains that the Japanese fought their major war against the Generalissimo’s Armies. Wherever and whenever possible, the Chinese Communist Armies helped the enemy by attacking Nationalist-held towns and lines of communication.
The Japanese surrender, when it finally came, was received with great jubilation throughout China and the world. It was indeed a triumphant hour for the Generalissimo. Now, at long last, he was in a position to undertake a peaceful rehabilitation of his country and to pick up where he had left off when the Japanese struck. He could go forward with his program of political and social reforms and establish, first of all, a sound economy. The stage was set for his dreams to become a reality—the dream that China would take her rightful place in the world of democratic nations.
Although the American Ambassador, General Patrick J. Hurley, had told Chiang of the decision at Yalta to give Manchuria to Russia as her price for entering the war against Japan, the Generalissimo believed so firmly in the good will and friendship of Roosevelt that he was sure he would be supported in his effort to regain this important Northern province. Therefore, as soon after the Japanese surrender as possible, he sent troops to occupy and try to hold Manchuria. There his army found itself confronted by the Russian Mongolian Army bent on the same mission.
At home, likewise, the Generalissimo was faced with ever-increasing problems. The Allied and Japanese bombing had caused great destruction, not unlike that in Europe. Villages had to be rebuilt, factories and lines of communication restored. Millions of displaced Chinese were waiting patiently to be returned to their homes. Approximately three and a half million Japanese soldiers and civilians were ready for repatriation.
With great courage, inexhaustible patience and amazing wisdom, Chiang Kai-shek began his program of reconstruction and rehabilitation. He little realized that his three great Allies—Russia, England and the United States—had plotted behind his back to snatch from his hands, in his moment of victory, the one area that could change China from a backward agricultural country into a modern and powerful nation. Without Manchuria Chiang was lost. This was the juicy bone that first the Japanese, then the Communists or the Generalissimo had to have to complete their growth as a modern power. Without it each would be rendered impotent.
Chiang Kai-shek had fought for eight years to prevent the spread of Japanese totalitarianism in China. Now he was confronted with a much more vicious brand, Communist totalitarianism. He commented, “The Japanese were a disease of the skin. The Communists are a disease of the bone.”