# China Role in WWII



## DBII (May 8, 2009)

I am not up on the history of the China. What role did the China play in the war? Other than renting land and workers to build air bases and providing an underground network, I do not know what they did. Did the Chinese military play a part in slowing the Japanese until VE day?

DBII


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## Von Frag (May 8, 2009)

I don't know a whole lot, but I think they had some success when commanded by Stillwell.


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## glennasher (May 9, 2009)

Mao's Red Army kept the Japanese on it's heels, when they chose to fight. Oftentimes, they didn't choose to engage, as they had little equipment and no mechanization at all. If nothing else, they kept some of the Japanese occupied with chasing them, which is something, in itself.
Stillwell, Chennault, and others worked well with Chiang's troops, but there was a lot of corruption there, and it was hard to get the Nationalists to fight.


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## davebender (May 9, 2009)

KMT China (not Mao's communist faction) tied down the bulk of the Japanese army for the entire war. Just as the Soviet Union tied down the bulk of the German army for the entire war.

Putting things in perspective...
If the entire Japanese army had been available for employment in the Pacific they could probably have over run Australia. Alternately they could have invaded India.


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## Negative Creep (May 11, 2009)

They did play a big role. Part of the reason for re-invading Burma was so that the Burma Road could be reopened. Chinese forces under Stillwell did launch a limited offensive south, but the bulk of the fighting was on the Chinese mainland. Churchill was pretty contemptuous towards China, but Roosevelt harboured an affection so was eager to supply them. The country was in the midst of civil war when Japan invaded and the Nationalist and Communist forces fought each other just as much. As Dave said they were somewhat exhausted by 1941, so their main role was tying the Japanese down


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## davebender (May 11, 2009)

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/midd...map_folio/txu-oclc-588534-54922-10-67-map.jpg
Then you need to seize (or better yet retain) the French port of Haiphong. It has a direct rail connection with Kunming. That rail line can transport about 100 times as much cargo tonnage as the Burma Road. With Haiphong and the connecting rail line in Allied hands it becomes possible to conduct offensive military operations from Chinese territory. Like the B-29 raids which failed historically for lack of proper logistical support.

Retaining Haiphong requires the USA to rush military assistance to French controlled Vietnam beginning in July 1940. France cannot do it as the RN has destroyed part of the French Navy and trapped the remainder in port. If the French garrison is strong enough then Japan will leave Vietnam alone.


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## timshatz (May 11, 2009)

Read a book called "Retribution" by Max Hastings. Best book I've read about the war in China. According to the book, if you lived to see the next day, you were doing very well. 

Harsh doesn't begin to describe it. 

Amazon.com: Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 (Vintage): Max Hastings: Books

Another one would be Iris Chang's "The Rape of Naking". But I think this book is one of those books that takes a toll on you to read. However...

Amazon.com: The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II: Iris Chang: Books


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## syscom3 (May 11, 2009)

davebender said:


> If the entire Japanese army had been available for employment in the Pacific they could probably have over run Australia. Alternately they could have invaded India.



Subject for a whole different thread.

This is not true because from a logistics point of view, the Japanese were already overextended in 1942.

They simply didnt have the shipping to move any more troops than what they already had deployed, and to keep them supplied.


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## davebender (May 11, 2009)

If most of the Japanese army was intended for use in the Pacific then they would have built more transport capability during the 1930s using money historically expended to pay for the war in China.


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## syscom3 (May 11, 2009)

davebender said:


> If most of the Japanese army was intended for use in the Pacific then they would have built more transport capability during the 1930s using money historically expended to pay for the war in China.



The Japanese didn't have the industrial capacity to build warships and commercial vessels to the extent you are proposing.

And even if they did, the allied strategy of island hopping meant that 90% of their forces would have been neutered without a shot being fired.


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## davebender (May 11, 2009)

Japan was the only nation that was island hopping in the Pacific during 1941 and 1942. If 20 or so additional IJA divisions are available (not tied down in China) then they are likely to hop all the way to Australia by May 1942.


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## syscom3 (May 11, 2009)

davebender said:


> Japan was the only nation that was island hopping in the Pacific during 1941 and 1942. If 20 or so additional IJA divisions are available (not tied down in China) then they are likely to hop all the way to Australia by May 1942.



They didn't have the sea lift to do so.


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