一项艰巨的任务

Yi xiang jianju de renwu

“A task of insurmountable odds”

The War of Resistance is over at long last, with the perfidious Japanese menace defeated at the hands of our righteous United Front. With the conflict over, however, old wounds are starting to open up again, and the bleeding has returned. The Communists are making moves in the Northeast all the while Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek is trying to wage a diplomatic war against the Soviets which I do not expect to succeed. Communists will inevitably work in song and waiting will only grant the communists the advantage. The Legislative Yuan and the China Democratic League believe negotiation is possible, but as military men, we must prepare for an inevitability.

Jiang Jieshi’s orders were clear, entrusting me with overarching command of the National Revolutionary Army in the Central China area and the Northeast. Nevertheless, with further study of the situation we are in, the more I realize how daunting the task i have been entrusted to. Manchuria is a veritable power vacuum with most of the province occupied by the Soviet Union. Much of the North China plains are riddled with Japanese surrendered personnel, Communist bandits, and the infrastructure destroyed from the war. Much of the NRA is not in a position to wage war with equipment stockpiles drained to chronic levels despite what my comrades often say. I dread the possibility of victory slithering away from our grasp the more we wait.

I spoke with T.V Soong lately, on A cloudy afternoon in Chongquing reminiscing about the trials China is undertaking. I kept telling him to keep pressuring the Americans to supply us with more weapons. “I need guns, ammo, industrial machinery, rations! I do not care if it’s second-rate Japanese weapons, they need to be delivered now!” But the Premier kept attempting to reassure me the United States stands resolute and will deliver. It has been months now, and each logistical report on my desk speaks of destitution. All the while my peers at Whampoa keep savaging themselves over whose ego is the largest. The task ahead of me to guide the NRA’s war machine is a tall order indeed.

But one must not fault one for trying right?