2015年CRI WWII's China Theatre (I)

 

August 15th, 1945, three months after Nazi¹ Germany's final defeat, the world heard the then Emperor Hirohito conceding defeat, and announcing that Japan would surrender to allied² countries unconditionally³.

"We have ordered our government to communicate to the governments of the United States, Great Britain, China, and the Soviet⁴ Union that our Empire accepts the provisions of their joint⁵ declaration."

A surrender ceremony was held on USS Missouri at Tokyo Bay on September 2nd.

As a main battlefield in World War Two, China's resistance war lasted longer, suffered one-third of the world's total casualty and paved the way for a quicker defeat of Nazi-Germany and Italy in Europe.

For Europe, it was a war of almost 6 years since the occupation and partition of Poland in September 1939. But for China, the war dragged on for 14 years, starting with the occupation of its northeast in September 1931, and then turning to a full-out war after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in Beijing on July 7th, 1937.

Rana Mitter, Professor of History and Politics of Modern China at University of Oxford⁶, also the author of "Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945", believes China played an important and substantial role during the war through its lengthy⁷ resistance to Japanese aggression⁸.

"Because China did continue to resist Japan, it made it possible eventually for the allies to join it after Pearl Harbor, and eventually win the victory in Asia."

Hu Dekun, President of the Chinese Association for the History of World War Two, says China was the first country to fight against the fascists⁹, and it fought alone against Japan until 1941, when the Pacific War broke out.

"The Marco Polo Bridge Incident marks the whole nation's resistance against Japanese invasion. China is the first battlefield against fascism in the world. The Communist Party of China and Kuomintang both fight against the Japanese invaders¹⁰. In the following 4 years, China fought alone. That was incredible."

As incredible indeed, as Britain once did in Europe, fighting alone, in the early years against the German military machine after the fall of France, till Adolf Hitler opened a second battlefront against Josef Stalin's Red Army.

Japan struck Pearl Harbor in 1941, and attacked British and US troops in Southeast Asian nations at the same time.

Even then, China was still the main battlefield against the Axis¹¹ powers in the east. Among Japan's 51 ground corps¹², nearly 70% were located in China.

Rana Mitter says China's resistance is of great strategic significance to World War II.

"They made sure that very large numbers of Japanese troops……were held down in China rather than being redeployed, sent away instead to the Pacific or elsewhere. And that means that by making that contribution, China played a significant role in the overall ally's victory."

Sugiyama Hajime, Japan's then Chief of Army General Staff once admitted "It is actually impossible to move northward¹⁴ since massive troops have been deployed¹³ in China."

Then U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt praised Chinese people's efforts against Japanese aggression.

"We are fighting on the same side as the brave people of China—those millions who for four and a half long years have withstood bombs and starvation and have whipped the invaders time and again in spite of the superior Japanese equipment and arms."

Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said: "If the Japanese attack the West Indian Ocean, all our positions in the Middle East will be lost. Only China can help us to prevent that from happening."

Former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin said: "Only when the Japanese invaders' hands and feet are tied up, can we avoid fighting on two fronts simultaneously¹⁵ when the German invaders attack us."

Pinning down the majority of Japanese divisions in China -- that helped ensure a quicker victory in Europe, as China effectively delayed or prevented Japanese troops from advancing elsewhere as planned. This made it impossible for the three Axis countries from joining hands in Euro-Asia, relieving Russia of fighting on two battlefronts, while allied nations could fight side by side on both theatres.

Besides fighting at home, China also sent expedition troops to Burma, today's Myanmar in 1942, to fight alongside British forces, helping¹⁶ secure vital supply lines in Southeast Asia.

But the cost of war, which involved four million troops from both sides, was bitter pains and heavy losses. Approximately 35 million Chinese people were killed or wounded, that's about one-third of the world's total casualty.

Xiaoyi with Part One of our special series on the 70th anniversary of VJ Day, focusing on the Chinese Theatre. Tomorrow, our second report reviews the difficult battles, featuring two Chinese individuals, a guerrilla soldier and an oxherd boy.

1 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

2 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

3 unconditionally   

adv.无条件地

参考例句：

• All foreign troops must be withdrawn immediately and unconditionally. 所有外国军队必须立即无条件地撤出。
• It makes things very awkward to have your girls going back unconditionally just now! 你们现在是无条件上工，真糟糕！ 来自子夜部分

4 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

5 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

6 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

7 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

8 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

9 fascists   

n.法西斯主义的支持者( fascist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists. 老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

11 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

12 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

13 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

14 northward   

adv.向北；n.北方的地区

参考例句：

• He pointed his boat northward.他将船驶向北方。
• I would have a chance to head northward quickly.我就很快有机会去北方了。

15 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。