Chapter 1000 999 [Go to India]
On December 7, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
On December 8, the Japanese army invaded the Malay Peninsula from Thailand, expanding the scale of the war in Southeast Asia. On the same day, the Japanese army attacked Hong Kong, and scholars and celebrities who had taken refuge in Hong Kong evacuated north collectively.
On December 9, Head of State Lin Sen issued the "Declaration of War on Japan", and China officially declared war on Japan. On the same day, the United States and Britain declared war on Japan, and Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.
On December 20, the Flying Tigers shot down 6 Japanese aircraft and damaged 3 in Yunnan, without any damage to themselves, and won the first battle.
By the way, the emblems of the three squadrons of the Flying Tigers are so magical.
"Adam and Eve Squadron" depicts a naked woman chasing a man; "Panda Squadron" depicts a panda with a sideways smile; and "Hell's Angels Squadron" depicts a woman with wings and a halo above her head, also without any clothes.
Together with the team emblem and the magical shark painted on their plane, it adds a bit of humor to the brutal Chinese Anti-Japanese War.
1942, New Year's Day.
Led by the four major powers, the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and China, representatives from 22 countries around the world signed the United Nations Joint Declaration in Washington. It marked the formal formation of the World Anti-Fascist Alliance and laid the foundation for the establishment of the United Nations after the war.
After Song Ziwen signed the "Joint Declaration of the United Nations", he immediately received the task assigned by Chiang Kai-shek - to ask the United States for a loan of at least US$500 million.
Roosevelt urged Treasury Secretary Morgenthau to solve the problem as soon as possible, but Morgenthau was unwilling to give money and instead proposed another method. That is, the United States will bear the military expenses of 1 million Chinese troops every month. Calculated at 10 U.S. dollars per person, the monthly payment is 10 million U.S. dollars.
Song Ziwen bargained and proposed that the United States should bear the military expenses of 3 million people and pay 30 million US dollars per month, and Morgenthau agreed. Song Ziwen was overjoyed and reported to Chang Kaishen: "This is equivalent to 600 million French currency incoming every month."
Chang Kaishen firmly disagrees. He believes that the United States is trying to control China's military.
Due to the failure of the United States in the Pacific War, the U.S. government was even more panicked than Chiang Kai-shek, and congressmen forced Morgenthau to provide money quickly. After a full month of delay, the U.S. Congress passed Bill 422, agreeing to provide China with a loan of US$500 million.
There is no interest on these loans, and there is no stipulation on when they must be repaid. Everything will be discussed after the war is over. Its impact on China's Anti-Japanese War was huge. Without this 500 million US dollars, the legal currency would collapse faster, and China's finances would not even be able to survive 1942.
Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor really saved China.
In late January, Linlithgow, the British Governor-General in India, invited Chang Kaishen to visit India. Roosevelt made it clear that Zhou Hexuan and his wife must also go.
What does Chiang Kai-shek's visit to India have to do with Roosevelt?
However, it was Britain that agreed to India's independence in the "United Nations Declaration". This made Indians overjoyed. However, in practice, there was no hope at all. Nehru, Gandhi and other famous Indian figures made a fuss over this, and some Indians even Unite Japan in the national independence movement.
Roosevelt hoped to establish a Chinese theater in Asia, which required India to cooperate with transportation and other tasks. He did not want chaos in India, so he proposed that Chang Kaishen visit India to persuade the Congress Party to compromise with the British government.
As for Zhou Hexuan's fame in India, it is not far from Tagore's fame in China. He is also an oppressed Asian country and an Asian who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Zhou Hexuan has received high praise in India.
Even Zhou Hexuan's speech "I Have a Dream", historical monograph "The Rise of a Great Power", poems "Praise", "Answer" and other works are widely circulated among the Indian people. The "Collected Works of Zhou Hexuan" published in India five years ago even asked Rabindranath Tagore to write a preface - Zhou Hexuan did not receive a dime in copyright fees.
This situation occurs not only in India, but also in Japan.
Asia before World War II was a symbol of backwardness. Japan's departure from Asia and joining Europe would not change the status quo. Therefore, whenever an Asian achieves great success, all Asian countries will be honored. Both Japanese and Indians regard Zhou Hexuan as an Asian hero.
Even though the Japanese authorities later listed Zhou Hexuan's works as banned books, Japanese people still hid many of them, and senior Japanese intellectuals became more fond of collecting them as they became more banned.
On the advice of his advisers, Roosevelt learned of this situation and asked Chang Kaishen to take Zhou Hexuan with him when he went to India.
On February 5, the Indian delegation headed by Chang Kaishen officially set off, accompanied by Wang Chonghui, Shang Zhen, Zhang Daofan, Zhou Zhirou and others.
After getting on the special plane, Chang Kaishen asked Zhou Hexuan to sit with him, and asked Song Meiling to chat with Zhang Leyi. Such a close attitude made the accompanying government officials look askance at Zhou Hexuan, who regarded him as the most popular person in academia.
"Mingcheng, this time the progressive people in India still need you to contact them." Chang Kaishen said.
Zhou Hexuan said: "I really don't know much about India. I don't know anyone."
Chang Kaishen seemed to have known about the situation in India in advance. He said: "All the elites in India can speak English and Latin, and also like to read Western literature. Take the leader of the Congress Party Nehru as an example. I heard that this person I particularly like Nietzsche and Bernard Shaw, and I am friends with the great writer Romain Rolland. You also know Bernard Shaw and Romain Rolland, and you must have something in common with Nehru."
Zhou Hexuan asked: "What is the purpose of President Jiang's trip?"
Chang Kaishen said: "The purpose is for the two great nations of China and India to work together and fight side by side. China supports India's independence!"
"Okay, I will adhere to this purpose and contact the Indians." Zhou Hexuan was speechless.
Chang Kaishen is not just shouting slogans, he really did this in history.
Roosevelt's original intention was to ask Chang Kaishen to persuade progressive people in India to compromise with the British government. As a result, after Chang Kaishen arrived in India, he actually supported Indian independence in every way and called on Britain to immediately agree to the national liberation of India.
After Chiang Kai-shek's operation, Churchill was so angry that he broke his dentures. At the same time, it caused huge pressure from domestic and foreign public opinion on the British authorities.
While cursing in his mind, Churchill expressed his opinion through Reuters: "The British government has paid sympathetic attention to Chiang's suggestions. At present, the British war cabinet has thoroughly reviewed the entire situation."
Our President Chiang is still continuing to show off his operations. He has not stopped after leaving India and held a grand "India Day" event in Chongqing. He also wrote to Roosevelt and Churchill, criticizing Britain for "closing its eyes to the facts" and urging Britain to immediately change its attitude. It must ease the oppositional sentiments of the Indian people, otherwise it will be too late when Japan attacks India.
Churchill received a letter of criticism from Chang Kaishen and once again smashed his dentures angrily.
The turmoil lasted from February to July, when Chang Kaishen called Roosevelt again, asking Roosevelt to urge Britain to make concessions. This made Churchill so angry that he threatened to revoke the Sino-British covenant, and then imprisoned Nehru and Gandhi together.
Chang Kaishen did this because he wanted to use Indian affairs to improve his status among allies and confirm China's status as a major power in Asia.