China’s War of Resistance Against Japan from 1937 to 1945 required sustained military engagement across multiple fronts. Contemporary military records show that large-scale conventional battles were carried out primarily by Nationalist forces and regional armies.
The Nationalist government organized 22 major campaigns involving more than 100,000 troops each and fought more than 1,100 large engagements. More than 200 Nationalist generals were killed in combat. Major battles such as Shanghai, Taierzhuang, and Changsha formed the backbone of China’s frontline resistance.
During the same period, the Chinese Communist Party expanded its forces from roughly 30,000 personnel to more than one million by the end of the war.
The contrast between battlefield participation and force expansion is documented in both military records and internal Party accounts.
Mao’s wartime directives and internal records
Accounts from within the Communist Party provide direct evidence of Mao Zedong’s wartime instructions.
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Li Rui, who served as Mao’s secretary, recorded in his memoir The Lushan Conference in Reality that during the 1959 Lushan Conference, Mao referred to earlier wartime decisions and stated: “I told you not to fight the Japanese.”
The remark was made in the context of criticism directed at Peng Dehuai for launching the Hundred Regiments Offensive in 1940. That campaign, one of the largest Communist-led operations against Japanese forces, had been carried out despite internal opposition.
Earlier, the Battle of Pingxingguan in 1937, often cited as a key Communist victory, was also initiated at the field-command level and later incorporated into official narratives.
These records indicate that major Communist engagements during the war were not aligned with central strategic directives.
Available battlefield data shows that Communist forces did not organize large-scale campaigns comparable to those conducted by Nationalist units.
While Nationalist forces maintained continuous large-scale operations, Communist forces focused on building organizational networks in occupied and rural areas. This approach contributed to rapid expansion in manpower and territorial influence.
By the end of the war in 1945, the Communist Party had established control over significant parts of northern China, with a substantially enlarged military base.
China’s wartime resistance contributed to changes in its international status. In 1943, treaties with the United States and Britain formally ended extraterritorial privileges imposed since the 19th century. China later became a founding permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
These developments followed years of sustained frontline combat and military losses.
After the war, the balance of forces shaped the next phase of conflict. With expanded military capacity, the Communist Party entered the Chinese Civil War shortly after Japan’s surrender.
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Diplomatic decisions after 1949
In 1972, the People’s Republic of China normalized relations with Japan and renounced claims to war reparations. Japan had previously provided reparations to several countries affected by its wartime expansion.
The decision remains part of the historical record of postwar East Asian diplomacy.
Official narratives in mainland China describe the Communist Party as the leading force in the resistance. At the same time, military records and archival materials document the scale and frequency of Nationalist-led campaigns.
Differences between these accounts continue to be examined by historians, particularly regarding wartime strategy, battlefield participation, and the relationship between military action and political outcomes.
By Yu Xiaoqi
