Actually, Chiang was a pretty sharp operator. He had almost finished off the Communists, despite major Soviet assistance to Mao, when the Japanese invaded. Then the bulk of his military efforts had to be diverted towards fighting the Japanese - according to Imperial Japanese records, over 90% of Chinese military casualties during the Sino-Japanese War was incurred by the Nationalists. The Communists spent that time recuperating and recruiting while studiously avoiding any major engagements with the Japanese.
My guess is that the Nationalist forces were probably suffering from a very bad case of post-traumatic stress by the time WWII ended, whereas the Communists were well-rested. The end of WWII also saw the Communists resupplied with huge amounts of WWII-surplus American Lend Lease equipment that the Soviets handed over to Mao.
Chiang sent troops to defend the Northeast based on his belief that the Soviets were not providing logistical support to the Communists. He was wrong and thereby lost the cream of his Nationalist forces. Chiang was also hobbled by the fact that in Communism, he was fighting an organized religion that promised, as opiate for the masses, paradise on earth, and gave its high priests, the commissars, the pretext and authority to execute anyone who merely disagreed with them. Meanwhile, Chiang's forces and supposed subordinates were in fact a coalition of independent military commanders with their own sources of funding and supplies.
Finally, at a key moment in the struggle for China, Congress ended financial aid to Nationalist Chinese forces, thereby sending 100,000 GI's to their deaths during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, neither of which would have occurred had China not turned Communist. A recent book entitled "The Generalissimo" examines Chiang's life and a lot of the reasons that the Communists won, using material from Imperial Japanese and declassified Soviet archives. It demolishes a lot of the conventional wisdom about Chiang. I highly recommend it.
Salve
Agree, though problem was there were so many disagreements. One Chiang had to deal with serious problem going back to 1920’s of China economy, as well growing threats on boths sides: Mao communist activist as well people in serious trouble of economical situation.
Japan decided to go and take Manchuria, which has enormous natural resource, even after capitulation of Japan, Zukov forces where moving there for fallowing week, Stalin was a imperialist, and decided that US has no stomach to fight.
Problem with China was, there were great fighters on Chiang side, but Mao new he has backing of Stalin. In 1945 fights, majority of people were so tired of fighting, they just gave up, in not all the way
Japan invasion was nothing else but imploding communist in China, it was a nothing else but absolute murder of thousands of innocent people, which Mao enhanced much more, he make Stalin look like a kid.
China could be and I think it is in heart a very democratic country of people, but loyalty in Chinese is first. What scares the communist is people speaking up, they will crush this, but one day, they will meet faith of Romanian guy who though same way. Stalin got poison by Beria, he was preparing for war, it was not coincidence he died in 1953.
Merci
Salve
Roosevelt, Truman were politicians without knowledge of geopolitics, , as were majority of politicians in England and United States.(Sounds familiar with today) After Japan, all they had to do , is reinforce Chiang and his army, go in Sun Tzu warfare style, go low hit hard, no, for political agreements were done like in Easter Europe, Yalta, you know send millions of innocent people to death so Britain can have Greece, wow, now pay back is coming back.
Don’t let idiots run show business or it will show you who looser is.
You will not read this in Western Books, they like talking about their victories, but no one wants to talk of millions who were put to gulags, and death because of their policies.
Merci