Commemorate joint contributions of KMT and CPC
- By Wang Jianlang
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E-mail China Daily, July 8, 2015
Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say the KMT-led frontline battles would have been even more arduous and without the CPC’s guerilla resistance behind enemy lines. Hence the CPC’s role during the war should by no means be deemed insignificant when comparing casualty numbers.
The well-equipped KMT army had more than 1.7 million soldiers when the war broke out, while the CPC-led Red Army had less than 50,000 and the number of guerrillas in South China was just over 10,000. It is understandable that the two armies fought differently given the vast gap in equipment and personnel between them.
Also, it should be borne in mind that although some of the casualty figures are not accurate, it is estimated that there were about 850,000 Japanese casualties in the frontline battlefield with the KMT army and about 500,000 as a result of CPC resistance — a praiseworthy achievement for the CPC army given all the hardships it had to go through.
Of course, the Red Army’s achievements came at a considerable cost in terms of its own casualties, including the 340,000 of the Eighth Route Army, nearly 700 of whom ranked above regimental commander. It was this commitment to fighting the Japanese forces for the sake of China’s destiny that brought the CPC all the public trust and support it acquired.
With the number of its regular troops reaching 1.3 million and its militia over 2.6 million by the end of the war, the CPC which led around 100 million people in an area of 1 million square kilometers, had begun to play a leading role in the country as victory against the Japanese approached.
The series of high-profile activities to commemorate the victory in both the mainland and Taiwan show the Chinese people have learned an important lesson from the war: that national solidarity brought us the final triumph, and is still needed today.
The author is a senior researcher and director of the Institute of Modern History Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
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