Puppet troops revisited: A case study of the Northwestern Army during the Anti-Japanese War

Abstract

After the Japanese occupation of North China at the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, the Nationalist government adopted the strategy of using the regular army to develop the battlefield to the rear of the enemy in order to sustain a protracted war. As a result, the Northwestern Army, which was organizing anti-Japanese forces in North China, became the Nationalist government's main military force in the occupied area. However, caught between Japanese and Communist troops, the Northwestern Army surrendered to the Japanese for the purpose of self-preservation and thus became a puppet army. From a nationalist point of view, the collaborationists who covered up their self-serving motives and later defended their actions as a crooked path to national salvation had a negative image. In response to Communist expansion, the Nationalist government acquiesced in the measure of collaborating with the puppet troops to annihilate the Communists. To reinforce the battles at the front, the Nationalist government also attempted to plot anti-Japanese mutinies among the puppet troops, but its plan was never implemented. The Northwestern Army forces planned to build an alliance in order to survive as a third force both in the confrontation between the Chinese government and the Japanese army and in the confrontation between the Nationalists and the Communists. Yet, due to the tight control exercised by the Japanese in North China, it was difficult for the Northwestern Army to gain momentum as a third force. After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, the Northwestern Army had to take sides in the Civil War, and this dilemma caused its final collapse.

Keywords:

• puppet troops
• Northwestern Army
• puppet regime
• collaboration with puppet troops to annihilate the Communists
• crooked path to national salvation

Notes

¹ Liu Shih-ming, Weijun: Qianquan jingzhu xia de zuzi (1937–1949) [The Puppet Forces: Pawns Vacillating Among Hegemonic Powers, 1937–1949] (Taipei: Daw Shiang Publishing Co., Ltd., 2002).

² The faction of the Northwestern Army here refers to the armed groups that separated from the army of warlord Feng Yuxiang.

³ Zhongguo di'er lishi dang'an guan [The Second Historical Archives of China], “Shehuibu dang'an” [Archives of the Ministry of Society], serial no. 12, cataloguing no. 6, file no. 7588 (13 December 1937).

⁴ Guofangbu shizheng bianyi ju [Bureau of Translating and Compiling Historical and Political Materials in the Ministry of Defense], ed., Kang ri zhan shi – Ji Cha youji zhan [A History of the Anti-Japanese War: Guerrilla Warfare in Hebei and Chahar] (Taipei: Guofangbu shizheng bianyi ju, 1981), 1.

⁵ Liu, Weijun, 257–58, 270–71, 280–81, 290, 297–98, 346.

⁶ Guofangbu shizheng bianyi ju, ed., Kang ri zhan shi – Lu Su youji zhan [A History of the Anti-Japanese War: Guerrilla Warfare in Shandong and Jiangsu] (Taipei: Guofangbu shizheng bianyi ju, 1980), 1–3, 13; Guofangbu shizheng bianyi ju, ed., Kang ri zhanshi: Jinpu tielu beiduan yanxian zhi zuozhan [History of Anti-Japanese War: Battles along the Northern Part of the Tianjin–Nanjing Railway] (Taipei: Guofangbu shizheng bianyi ju, 1982), 2; Wang Chengbin et al., eds., Minguo gaoji jiangling liezhuan [Biographies of Senior Military Generals in Republican China], vol. 4 (Beijing: Jiefangjun chubanshe, 1989), 33.

⁷ Guofangbu shizheng bianyi ju, ed., Kang ri zhan shi—Ji Cha youji zhan, 1–4.

⁸ Zhongguo di'er lishi dang'an guan, Guofang bu shizheng ju he zhanshi bianzuan weiyuanhui dang'an [Archive of the Ministry of Defense's Translation and Compilation Bureau of Historical and Political Materials and the Compiling Committee of War Histories], archive no. 787 (hereafter referred to as 787), file no. 13290, “Tianshui xingying zuozhan riji” [Battle Diaries in the Tianshui Camp] (February 1940); Taipei guoshi guan [Academia Historica, Taipei], Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu [Documents and Objects of President Chiang Kai-shek], “Zengbian” [Additional Files] (3), file no. 002-090300-00218-140, originally dated 29 February 1940.

⁹ Liu Shih-ming, “Kangzhan chuqi guomin zhengfu wuli zai Hebei sheng de kunjing” [The Dilemma of the Nationalist Government Military Force in Hebei Province in the Early Stage of the Anti-Japanese War], Zhonghua junshishi xuehui huikan [The Chinese Society for Military History Studies], no. 13 (2008), 155–56, 159–63, 178.

¹⁰ Taipei guoshi guan, Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Zengbian” (3), file no. 002-090300-00218-238, originally dated 9 March 1940.

¹¹ Zhongyang shuji chu [Secretariat of Communist Party Central Committee], “Guomindang de fanggong banfa yu women de duice (1939)” [The Nationalist Party's Method of Curbing the Communists and Our Countermeasures (1939)], in Zhonggong zhongyang kang ri minzu tongyi zhanxian wenjian xuanbian [Selected Documents of the Communist Party Center's Anti-Japanese National United Front], vol. 2, ed. Zhongyang tongzhan bu [The United Front Work Department of CPC Central Committee] and Zhongyang dang'an guan [The Central Archives] (Beijing: Dang'an chubanshe, 1986), 351.

¹² Wang Chengbin et al., eds., Minguo gaoji jiangling liezhuan, vol. 2 (Beijing: Jiefangjun chubanshe, 1988), 183, 186–89.

¹³ Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Banian xuezhai” [Eight-Year Blood Debt], file no. 002-090200-00030-054, originally dated 14 January 1942; “Yiban ziliao – cheng biao huiji” [Ordinary Materials – Collection of Charts Submitted] (97), file no. 002-080200-00524-179, originally dated 25 April 1940.

¹⁴ Wang Chengbin et al., eds., Minguo gaoji jiangling liezhuan, vol. 2, 189, Minguo gaoji jiangling liezhuan, vol. 5 (Beijing: Jiefangjun chubanshe, 1990), 140–41; Zhongguo di'er lishi dang'an guan, Guofang bu shizheng ju he zhanshi bianzuan weiyuanhui dang'an, 787, file no. 3857: “Tang Enbo zai Luoyang junshi wendian” [Military Telegrams of Tang Enbo Sent from Luoyang] (January–August 1942). The Nationalist government's memo to Chiang Kai-shek dated 2 May 1942 also mentions that Sun Liangcheng's defection was related to the oppression of Tang Enbo.

¹⁵ Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Luanyi kuilei” [The Puppets That Were under Japanese Protection], file no. 002-090200-00021-418, originally dated 5 March 1943.

¹⁶ Ibid.

¹⁷ Ibid., file no. 002-090200-00021-405, originally dated 19 January 1943.

¹⁸ Ibid., file no. 002-090200-00021-408, originally dated 24 January 1943; Liu, Weijun, 298–301; David Paulson, “Nationalist Guerrillas in the Sino–Japanese War: The ‘Die-Hards’ of Shandong Province,” in Single Sparks: China's Rural Revolutions, ed. Kathleen Hartford and Steven M. Goldstein (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1989), 141.

¹⁹ Liu, Weijun, 263–65, 292–93.

²⁰ See Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Yiban ziliao: cheng biao huiji” (71), file no. 002-280200-00498-119, originally dated 14 June 1938: Hu Zongnan's telegram to Chiang reads, “I propose to appoint Hao Pengju chief of staff of the 27th Army, please respond whether it works,” and Chiang replied, “Hao's speech and behavior are inappropriate and he should not be appointed.” See also “Yiban ziliao: cheng biao huiji” (86), file no. 002-280200-00513-078, originally dated 27 January 1939: Hu Zongnan's telegram asks, “Since Hao Pengju arrived here six months ago, his behavior and ideology have both improved; may I appoint him a general team leader and dispatch him to work in Hebei in the future? Please instruct as to whether this is appropriate.” Chiang replied: “This man is slippery and opportunistic and cannot be trusted.” See also “Yiban ziliao: chengbiao huiji” (90), file no. 002-280200-00517-094, originally dated 26 September 1939: Hu Zongnan's telegram says, “I propose to appoint Hao Pengju and Xiao Sa heads of the training regiment of the seventh branch school and to dispatch them to work in Shandong and east Henan. Yu Yong will be assigned another job. There are three people now who need job assignments: The first is Hao Pengju. He is very talented but has not been assigned a job for a while, and this is not good. I propose to make him head of the training regiment of the seventh branch school with the rank of major general. Enclosed please find the telegram that orders him to work in Shandong and also to oversee the recruitment of soldiers…not sure if all the above are appropriate or not, please send your instructions by telegraph and I will obey.” Chiang replied, “None of these three people are obedient or firm in their minds. Now you recommend them, but they are not capable and only try to curry favor. You should pay special attention to this.”

²¹ Wang Chengbin et al., eds., Minguo gaoji jiangling liezhuan, vol. 7 (Beijing: Jiefangjun chubanshe, 1993), 171.

²² Liu, Weijun, 347–48.

²³ In Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Lingxiu zhishi bubian” [Additional Collection of the Instructions of the Leader] (15), file no. 002-090106-00015-050, originally dated 24 April 1941, Chiang said, “Hao Pengju has been sentenced to death in accordance with military law; how could he flee? This is pitiful. (This man is horrible as anyone with two eyes can discern right away.)” So far, we have not located archival materials about when and why Hao Pengju was sentenced to death.

²⁴ Liu, Weijun, 367–70.

²⁵ Ibid., 269, 276–77, 348, 368–69, 530–31.

²⁶ Ibid., 103–13. For the text of Zhang Yinwu's telegram, see Qi Wu, Jin Ji Lu Yu bianqu shi [A History of the Border Regions in Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan] (Beijing: Dangdai zhongguo chubanshe, 1995), 89.

²⁷ In Guofangbu shizheng bianyiju dang'an, file no. 013.11/1123.6, “Zhang Zijian deng hanjian an,” [The Case of Zhang Zijian as a National Traitor] (April–December 1946), Zhang Zijian, the former wartime chief of the militia of Nantong County, Jiangsu Province, asserted that when his troops were on the brink of collapse, the provincial governor Han Deqin instructed him to “swallow the humiliation and shoulder the responsibility,” and thus he decided to defect.

²⁸ This citation is from Zhang Buyun's self-defense in court after the anti-Japanese War. Zhang claimed this was what Shen Honglie had told him. See Guofangbu shizheng bianyiju dang'an, file no. 013.11/1123.2, “Zhang Buyun hanjian an,” [The Case of Zhang Buyun as a National Traitor] (January–May 1947).

²⁹ Wang Chengbin et al., eds., Minguo gaoji jiangling liezhuan, vol. 3 (Beijing: Jiefangjun chubanshe,1989), 383; Fei Mingxun, “Pang Bingxun panguo toudi de qianqian houhou” [Defection and Treason of Pang Bingxun], Huoxian wenshi ziliao [Cultural and Historical Source Materials in Huoxian], no. 2 (1986), 62 (edited and published by Zhongguo renmin zhengzhi xieshang huiyi Shanxi sheng Huoxian weiyuanhui wenshi ziliao yanjiu weiyuan hui [The Cultural and Historical Source Materials Research Committee of Huoxian County's People's Political Consultative Committee, Shanxi Province]). See also Guofangbu shizheng bianyiju dang'an, file no. 013.11/1123.2, “Zhang Buyun hanjian an” [The Case of National Traitor Zhang Buyun] (January–May 1947). In 1943, Li Xianzhou, the commander of the Nationalist government's 92nd Army, entered Shandong and designated Zhang Buyun's troops as affiliated with the Nationalist government. When Zhang sent a telegram to Li requesting instructions, Li replied that Zhang should “distinguish between the major and minor enemy and decide whether to pursue war or to sue for peace.” When Zhang Buyun finally defected, Wu Huawen sent his chief of staff Ning Chunlin to have a conversation with Li, in which Ning said, “Collaborate with the enemy and puppets as a buffer.”(“Zhang Buyun hanjian an”)

³⁰ Cui Weizhi and Tang Xiu'e, Yimeng kangri zhanzheng shi [A History of Anti-Japanese War in the Yimeng Mountain Area] (Beijing: Zhongguo wenshi chubanshe, 1991), 138–40, 291; Wang Yumin, Kangzhan ba nian [The Eight Years of the Anti-Japanese War], self-published in Taipei, 1974, 25–26, 34, 45, 47–48, 53–56, 64–69.

³¹ “Balu yizong shan dui wei Shen Honglie zhishi bushu jingong balujun shi gei Jiang Jieshi de tongdian” [Open Telegram to Chiang Kai-shek Regarding Shen Honglie's Assault on One Brigade of the (Communist) Eighth Route Army] (16 July 1940), in Shandong kangri genju di [Anti-Japanese Based Areas in Shandong], ed. Zhonggong Shandong sheng dangshi ziliao zhengji yanjiu weiyuan hui [CCP Shandong Committee's Collection and Research Committee of Party History Source Materials] (Beijing: Zhonggong dangshi ziliao chubanshe, 1989), 39; Cui Weizhi and Tang Xiu'e, Yimeng kangri zhanzheng shi, 140; Wang Yumin, Kangzhan ba nian, 125. Wang mentions in his book that one folk song in the CCP-controlled area in Shandong went, “Would rather have the Japanese devils burn all than have the Communist Eighth Route Army call you family.”

³² Ma Xianzhen, ed., Xibeijun jiangling [Generals of the Northwestern Army] (Zhengzhou: Henan renmin chubanshe, 1989), 107–9.

³³ Zhang Xiduo, “Shi Yousan toudi fangong jiqi xiachang” [The Defection and Anti-Communism of Shi Yousan and His End], in Wenshi ziliao xuanji [Selected Compilation of Cultural and Historical Source Materials], vol. 64, ed. Zhongguo renmin zhengzhi xieshang huiyi quanguo weiyuanhui wenshi ziliao yanjiu weiyuanhui [The Research Committee of Cultural and Historical Source Materials of The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee] (Beijing: Zhongguo wenshi chubanshe, 1986), 180–82.

³⁴ Zhongguo di'er lishi dang'an guan, Guofang bu shizheng ju he zhanshi bianzuan weiyuanhui dang'an, 787, file no. 3530, “Junweihui yijiusiling nian gexiang junshi wendian” [All Military-Related Documents and Telegrams of the Military Commission in 1940].

³⁵ Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Yiban ziliao: cheng biao huiji” (98), file no. 002-080200-00525-140, originally dated 25 August 1940.

³⁶ Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Zengbian” (4), file no. 002-090300-00219-086, originally dated 28 August 1940.

³⁷ Ibid., file no. 002-090300-00219-091, originally dated 16 October 1940.

³⁸ Zhongguo di'er lishi dang'an guan, Guofang bu shizheng ju he zhanshi bianzuan weiyuanhui dang'an, 787, file no. 3530, “Junweihui yijiusiling nian gexiang junshi wendian.”

³⁹ Chiang Kai-shek Diaries, the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, entries on 5 December 1940 and 10 December 1940. See also Zhao Rongsheng, Huiyi Wei Lihuang xiansheng [In Memory of Mr. Wei Lihuang] (Beijing: Wenshi ziliao chubanshe, 1985), 235; Liu Gangfan, Gao Shuxun jiangjun [General Gao Shuxun] (Beijing: Tuanjie chubanshe, 1995), 95.

⁴⁰ Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Diwei zuzhi” [Enemy and Puppet Organizations] (2), file no. 002-080103-00010-119, originally dated 6 May 1943.

⁴¹ Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Zengbian” (9), file no. 002-090300-00224-207, originally dated 4 June 1945. Forty or so days after Chen Taiyun was defeated by the Communists in September 1944, he led several hundred remnant troops into hiding in the Japanese-controlled area, and the troops were later reorganized into the 25th Army of the puppet troops. Liu, Weijun, 39.

⁴² Shilue gaoben [A Draft Outline of (Chiang Kai-shek's) Major Events], Academic Historica, Taipei, dated 22 June 1945.

⁴³ Zhongguo di'er lishi dang'an guan, Guofang bu shizheng ju he zhanshi bianzuan weiyuanhui dang'an, 787, file no. 4988, “Shi zhanqu fu siling zhangguan Li Mingyang zai Su bei yidai wendian” [Military Telegrams of Li Mingyang, Vice Commander-in-Chief of the 10th War Zone in North Jiangsu] (1945).

⁴⁴ Wang Chengbin et al., eds., Minguo gaoji jiangling liezhuan, vol. 5, 262.

⁴⁵ Meng Guoxiang and Cheng Tangfa, “Chengzhi hanjian gongzuo gaishu” [A Synopsis of the Punishment of National Traitors], Minguo dang'an [Republican Archive], no. 2 (1994), 111.

⁴⁶ Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Luanyi kuilei” (3), file no. 002-090200-00021-419, originally dated 19 January 1943.

⁴⁷ Ibid., file no. 002-090200-00021-420, originally dated 16 June 1943. See also Paulson, “Nationalist Guerrillas in the Sino–Japanese War,” 136–37.

⁴⁸ Liu, Weijun, 300–302; Cui Weizhi and Tang Xiu'e, Yimeng kangri zhanzheng shi, 387–91, 481–93, 500, 508.

⁴⁹ Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Zengbian” (4), file no. 002-090300-00219-087, originally dated 7 September 1940.

⁵⁰ Liu, Weijun, 261–66.

⁵¹ Shilue gaoben, 3 June 1943.

⁵² Zhongguo di'er lishi dang'an guan, Guofang bu shizheng ju he zhanshi bianzuan weiyuanhui dang'an, 787, file no. 5757, “Jiang Jieshi liyong xinwujun junzhang Sun Dianying dang hanjian yu diren gouda jinxing fangong laiwang midian” [Confidential Telegrams Exchanged between Chiang Kai-shek and the New Fifth Army Commander Sun Dianying Concerning Sun's Treason and Anti-Communist Activities], 23 December 1943.

⁵³ Shilue gaoben, 17 May, 31 May 1943.

⁵⁴ Ibid., 17 May, 3 June 1943; Dai Li shiliao [Historical Source Materials of Dai Li], “Dai gong yimo – junshi lei” [Handwritten Documents Left by the Late Mr. Dai: Military] (1), Academia Historica, Taipei, file no. 144-010103-0001-019, dated 22 May 1943.

⁵⁵ Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Yiban ziliao: cheng biao huiji” (115), file no. 002-080200-00542-152, originally dated 11 October 1947.

⁵⁶ See Xu Yongchang, Xu Yongchang riji [Diary of Xu Yongchang], vol. 7, entries dated 27 July, 25 August, and 16 September 1943 (Taipei: Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, 1990–1991), 130–31, 152–53, 169.

⁵⁷ Liu Shih-ming and Lin May-Li, “Zhou Fohai riji de liyong jingyan” [The Utilization of Zhou Fohai's Dairy], Jindai zhongguo [Modern China], no. 161 (June 2005), 14.

⁵⁸ Wang Chengbin et al., eds., Minguo gaoji jiangling liezhuan, vol. 7, 173–74; Zhongguo di'er lishi dang'an guan, Guofang bu shizheng ju he zhanshi bianzuan weiyuanhui dang'an, 787, file no. 4989, “Shi zhanqu fu siling zhangguan Wang Maogong zai Fuyang yidai junshi wendian” [Telegrams Regarding Military Affairs of Wang Maogong, Vice Commander-in-Chief of the Tenth War Zone, in the Fuyang Area], 1945.

⁵⁹ Liu, Weijun, 347–48.

⁶⁰ Ibid., 205–6; Chiang Kai-shek Diaries, entries dated 30 April 1941 and 18 October 1942. See also Xu Yongchang, Xu Yongchang riji, vol. 6, entry dated 21 April 1941, 89–90 (Taipei: Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, 1990–1991).

⁶¹ Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Wangwei zuzhi” [Organizations of the Wang Puppet Regime] (3), file no. 002-090200-00024-130, originally dated 13 Aril 1940; Liu, Weijun, 272.

⁶² Liu, Weijun, 273–75; Dai Li shiliao, “Dai gong yimo – jingji lei” [Handwritten documents left by the late Mr. Dai: Statecraft] (1), file no. 144-010102-0001-031, originally dated April 1944.

⁶³ Wen Qiang, “Zhongyuanwang Tang Enbo” [Tang Enbo: King of the Central Plain], in Wenshi ziliao xuanji, vol. 32, ed. Zhongguo renmin zhengzhi xieshang huiyi quanguo weiyuanhui wenshi ziliao yanjiu weiyuanhui (Beijing: Zhongguo wenshi chubanshe, 1986), 205.

⁶⁴ Zhongguo di'er lishi dang'an guan, Guofang bu shizheng ju he zhanshi bianzuan weiyuanhui dang'an, 787, file no. 5754, “Guomindang yu hanjian Zhang Lanfeng deng anzhong lianxi jinxing fangong ji diyi zhanqu xiajing diwei qingkuang de wendian” [Documents and Telegrams Showing the Secret Contacts between the Nationalist Party and National Traitors Zhang Lanfeng et al. for the Purpose of Anti-Communism as well as the Situation of the Japanese and Puppet Troops in the First War Zone], 1943–1944.

⁶⁵ “Dai gong yimo – junshi lei” (1), file no. 144-010103-0001-024, originally dated 18 June 1944. This is the work plan of the Military Statistics Bureau, an intelligence agency led by Dai Li.

⁶⁶ Wang Chengbin et al., eds., Minguo gaoji jiangling liezhuan, vol. 2, 191.

⁶⁷ “Dai Li dian Jiang Zhongzheng tongyi juntongju jiaru chengchu hanjian jiguan bi neng jushi chahe gongzui” [Dai Li's Telegram to Chiang Kai-shek Agreeing with the Military Statistics Bureau's Joining with the Office of Punishing National Traitors in Order to Check Their Merits and Crimes Based on Facts], dated 16 August 1945, in Dai Li xiansheng yu kangzhan shiliao huibian: junqing zhanbao [Compiled Historical Source Materials Regarding Mr. Dai Li and the Resistance War], ed. Wu Shufeng et al. (Taipei: Academia Historica, 2011), 324, 326.

⁶⁸ “Dai Li cheng Jiang Zhongzheng baogao sanshisi nian juntongju gongzuo shishi gaikuang” [Report Submitted by Dai Li to Chiang Kai-shek Regarding the Job Completed in 1945], in Guofangbu junshi qingbaoju [Military Intelligence Bureau], Sanshiwu niandu benju gongzuo jihua [The Bureau's Work Plan of 1946], Academia Historica, Taipei, file no. 148-010400-0001, dated 28 January 1946.

⁶⁹ Liu, Weijun, 260–66, 276–77, 527–28.

⁷⁰ Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Diwei zuzhi” (2), file no. 002-080103-00010-119, originally dated 6 May 1942.

⁷¹ Ibid., “Banian xie zhai” [Eight-Year Blood Debt] (56), file no. 002-090200-00080-188, originally dated 4 March 1943; Liu, Weijun, 299–300, 307–8.

⁷² Wang Fang, Wang Fang huiyi lu [Memoirs of Wang Fang] (Hangzhou: Zhejiang renmin chubanshe, 2006), 67.

⁷³ Xu Xiangchen et al., “Wangwei junshi zuzhi he weijun de bianqian” [The Evolution of the Wang Jingwei Puppet Organizations and the Puppet Troops], in Jiangsu wenshi ziliao xuanji [Selected Cultural and Historical Source Material of Jiangsu Province], ed. Zhongguo renmin zhengzhi xieshang huiyi Jiangsu sheng weiyuanhui ziliao yanjiu weiyuanhui [Cultural and Historical Source Materials Research Committee of Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference], vol. 5 (Nanjing: Jiangsu renmin chubanshe, 1980), 214.

⁷⁴ Zhongguo di'er lishi dang'an guan, Guofang bu shizheng ju he zhanshi bianzuan weiyuanhui dang'an, 787, file no. 5754, “Guomindang yu hanjian Zhang Lanfeng deng anzhong lianxi jinxing fangong ji diyi zhanqu xiajing diwei qingkuang de wendian” (1943–1944).

⁷⁵ Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Kangming huoguo kuojun panluan – kangzhan shiqi” [Resistance to the Order, Expansion of the Troops, and Revolts – The Period of the Anti-Japanese War] (7), file no. 002-090300-00208-174, originally dated 20 June 1945.

⁷⁶ “Bao'an di san zongdui silingbu wei Zhou Fohai ‘ceyingfangong’ zhi shoudu gaodeng fayuan dian” [The Telegram from the Headquarters of the Third Brigade of the Safety Protection Troops to Nanjing Supreme Court], dated 14 October 1946, in Shenxun Wang wei hanjian bilu [Minutes of the Interrogation of the National Traitors in the Wang Jingwei Puppet Regime], ed. Nanjing shi dang'an guan [Nanjing Municipal Archives] (Nanjing: Jiangsu guji chubanshe, 1992), 149.

⁷⁷ Zhongguo di'er lishi dang'an guan, Guofang bu shizheng ju he zhanshi bianzuan weiyuanhui dang'an, 787, file no. 5754, “Guomindang yu hanjian Zhang Lanfeng deng anzhong lianxi jinxing fangong ji diyi zhanqu xiajing diwei qingkuang de wendian,” 1943–1944.

⁷⁸ Liu Shih-ming, “Guomin zhengfu jun zai yuzhong huizhan qianqi de qingbao panduan” [The Nationalist Army's Analysis of Intelligence Reports during the Early Stage of the Battle of Yu Zhong], Jindaishi yanjiu [Modern Chinese History Studies], no. 3 (2010), 113–14, 119.

⁷⁹ Zuo Shi, “Wang wei junshi jigou ji weijun gaikuang” [Outline of Wang Jingwei's Puppet Military Organization and the Puppet Troops], in Jiangsu wenshi ziliao xuanji, ed. Zhongguo renmin zhengzhi xieshang huiyi Jiangsu sheng weiyuanhui ziliao yanjiu, vol. 12 (Nanjing: Jiangsu renmin chubanshe, 1983), 176–77. For the military agreement signed by Wang Jingwei and the Japanese on 23 February 1945, see also Cai Dejin and Li Huixian, eds., Wangwei guomin zhengfu jishi [Chronicle of the Wang Jingwei Puppet Nationalist Government] (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 1982), 266.

⁸⁰ Jiang Zhongzheng zongtong wenwu, “Yiban ziliao: cheng biao huiji” (106), file no. 002-080200-00533-004, originally dated 28 January 1946.

⁸¹ Ibid., “Yiban ziliao: minguo sanshiwu nian” (4), file no. 002-080200-00307-115, originally dated 29 June 1946.

⁸² Guofangbu junshi qingbaoju, Sanshiwu niandu benju gongzuo jihua, file no. 148-010400-0001, “Dai Li cheng Jiang Zhongzheng baogao sanshisi nian juntongju gongzuo shishi gaikuang,” dated 28 January 1946.

⁸³ Liu, Weijun, 349–53.