Japanese Invasion
In September 1931 the Japanese took
advantage of the confusion in China to invade and occupy Manchuria, setting
up a puppet state with the last Chinese emperor, Puyi, as the symbolic
head. Chiang, still obsessed with the threat of the Communists , went
ahead with his fifth extermination drive; 'pacification first, resistance
later' was his slogan.
The Communists had other plans. In late 1936 in Xi'an they convinced Chiang's
own generals to take him hostage, and an anti-Japanese alliance was formed
after negotiations with Zhou Enlai. But it did little to halt the advance
of the Japanese, who in 1937 launched an all-out invasion; by 1939 they
had overrun most of eastern China, forcing the Kuomintang to retreat west
to Chongqing.
In 1941 the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor brought the Americans into
the conflict. Hoping to use Chiang's troops to tie down as many Japanese
as possible, the Americans instead found Chiang actively avoiding conflict,
saving his troops for renewed attacks on the Communists once the Americans
had defeated the Japanese.