After the communists came to power in 1949, patriotic films about the struggle of the Chinese guerrillas in the Japanese-occupied territories flooded the screens of China. And of course, this struggle was led by the communist revolutionaries.

In reality, the Communist Party had been gradually penetrating the regions where there was no military force and order. Japanese troops were stationed unevenly and only partially controlled the territory they had conquered from the Kuomintang. These areas became ideal environments for the expanding communist movement. The US assisted the government in military matters, though cooperation was complicated by mutual mistrust and disputes between Chiang Kai-shek and the American general Joseph Stilwell. After winning the protracted fifteen-year war with Japan, which claimed the lives of millions of Chinese, Chiang Kai-shek decided not to detain prisoners in China. One million, three hundred thousand Japanese soldiers and officers were repatriated. He also did not take reparations from Japan. But most importantly, he strove to eliminate the reasons that divided the two nations – Chinese and Japanese.

After the communists came to power in 1949, patriotic films about the struggle of the Chinese guerrillas in the Japanese-occupied territories flooded the screens of China. And of course, this struggle was led by the communist revolutionaries.

In reality, the Communist Party had been gradually penetrating the regions where there was no military force and order. Japanese troops were stationed unevenly and only partially controlled the territory they had conquered from the Kuomintang.

These areas became ideal environments for the expanding communist movement.

The US assisted the government in military matters, though cooperation was complicated by mutual mistrust and disputes between Chiang Kai-shek and the American general Joseph Stilwell.



At the beginning of the war, the Communist Party managed to recruit a combat-ready army very rapidly however a Soviet diplomat who visited the base of Chinese communists noted that Chairman Mao did not send his fighters to fight the Japanese.

This is evidenced by the only offensive undertaken by the communists being the Battle of One Hundred Regiments in 1940 led by General Peng Dehuai. Mao criticized Peng for revealing the military strength of the Communist Party. During the "Cultural Revolution" (1966-1976), Peng fell victim to the purge of Mao recalling the General's "betrayal." The issue of the USSR's entry into the war with Japan was significant, and its discussion became the reason for the Soviet side to put forward demands to which the allies were forced to agree. Among them was the expansion of Soviet influence in China and the transfer of the southern part of Sakhalin and all the Kuril Islands. It cannot be ruled out that, by persuading the Soviet Union to start a war with Japan and agreeing to the demands voiced in Yalta by the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, the Allies hoped that the Soviet troops would get bogged down in battles with the Japanese, as the Allied forces. On the other hand, it was calculated that the preparation of the USSR for the beginning of military operations in the Far East would force the Japanese command to stop the transfer of the most combat-ready units from there, which began in 1944 and significantly influenced the course of battles in the Pacific Ocean. Already after the Soviet troops reached the coast of the Yellow Sea, it became clear that the Allied command did not expect such a speed of movement from them.