As early as 1935, after Chiang Kai-shek gradually stabilized his rule in the Yangtze River valley, under the guidance of the German military advisory group, the Nanjing government purchased a large number of new weapons and modernized its national defense. At the beginning of 1936, in order to strengthen the equipment of the army to prepare for War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the Military Commission of the National Government set up the Army Reorganization Division, headed by a young military general, Chen Cheng, who was responsible for the reorganization and equipment of the army. It is estimated that 60 adjustment divisions will be completed by 1938. After reorganization, the personnel and weapons and equipment of the adjustment division are: 10923 officers and men, more than 3,800 foot guns, 328 light and heavy machine guns, 46 guns and mortars, and 243 Grenade launchers. Before the "July 7th Incident" broke out, only 50 182 infantry divisions under the National Government were reorganized. Moreover, due to China's backward industry, the so-called adjustment divisions only enriched some melee weapons. Due to foreign exchange restrictions, the plan to import artillery from overseas was not completed. In addition, there are four artillery brigades directly under the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs, about 600 chariots and anti-aircraft artillery units.
At that time, it was true that China had a huge army. Before the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the army under the National Government consisted of 49 armies, 182 infantry divisions, 46 independent infantry brigades, 9 cavalry divisions, 6 independent cavalry brigades and 20 independent cavalry regiments, with a total strength of 1.7 million. After the beginning of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, local warlord troops in Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Sichuan accepted the adaptation of the National Government and went to the anti-Japanese battlefield. Chiang Kai-shek's own troops also expanded, and soon the total strength reached 2 million.
China's navy has been managed by Chiang Kai-shek for many years. Before the Anti-Japanese War, there were 70,000 ships 100, totaling 70,000 tons, including 2 cruisers, 3 destroyers, 6 gunboats 16, inland river gunboats 13, 8 torpedo ships and transport ships, and about 3,800 marines. All the ships are organized into four fleets. The first fleet is the coastal fleet, and the second fleet is the Yangtze River Fleet, both headquartered in Shanghai; The Third Fleet is the Northeast Navy, headquartered in Ahava. The Fourth Fleet is the Guangdong Navy, headquartered in Guangzhou. But what disturbed Chiang Kai-shek was that most of these ships were old-fashioned ships left over from the Qing Dynasty, with backward equipment and weak firepower, which could not compete with Japan's modern fleet.
China Air Force is dominated by Northeast Air Force. During the September 18th Incident, hundreds of fighter planes fell into Japanese hands. After Chiang Kai-shek established the Nanjing regime, he actively set up an air force to fight against Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan and Li Zongren. Up to the September 18th Incident, there were more than 100 planes. Because of the weak combat effectiveness, the 1932 silt battle in Shanghai and the subsequent Great Wall battle all flew far behind to avoid the battle. From 1933, the Americans helped Chiang Kai-shek draw up a three-year plan to build an air force. The Air Force has begun to take shape. It has set up a general aviation school in Hangzhou and branch schools in Luoyang, Guangzhou and Longzhou to train pilots and ground crew, and imported aircraft from the United States and Italy. 1in the summer of 936, Chiang Kai-shek brought down Chen and swallowed more than 100 Guangdong planes. In the winter of that year, on the occasion of Chiang Kai-shek's 50th birthday, people from all walks of life across the country were mobilized to make suggestions, and more than 0/00 planes were obtained. Before the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the number of Chinese Air Force planes was 25 1, 2 12, and 257 bombers were all imported from abroad. However, compared with thousands of excellent Japanese fighters, China Air Force is still inferior.
Japan at that time:
In terms of army combat power, the Japanese army has well-trained non-commissioned officers and soldiers, as well as heavy artillery firepower, coupled with chariots, flexible communication equipment and chemical weapons with great lethality, and has good naval and air fire support. More importantly, the Japanese intelligence gathering in China can be said to be very thorough and complete, and the logistics and troop supply are very efficient (the Japanese army even has a detailed and accurate map of China, while the China army sometimes doesn't even have a rough map). On the other hand, when Chinese army troops fight on the battlefield, what they lack most are heavy artillery, anti-vehicle (tank) weapons and light and heavy support firepower used by infantry. In addition, the communication and confidentiality of the Chinese army are poor, and the logistics, medical care (almost no medical care) and troop replenishment system can be said to be chaotic.
As far as the navy is concerned, Japan has a world-class naval force designed and produced by itself. Japan has a complete fleet of world-leading capital ships and aircraft carriers, with 285 large warships, with a total tonnage of14 million tons. In China, there are only five or seven small old ships, with 59,000 tons, which can operate in inland rivers and coastal areas. Therefore, in terms of naval power, the China Navy and the Japanese Navy have no ability to engage in direct fire, and can only carry out sneak attack, blasting and mine-throwing operations.
As far as the air force is concerned, Japan has a variety of air force aircraft designed and produced by itself, of which 30 wings, 128 squadrons and 1443 fighters belong to the army. There are seven or three navies deployed on aircraft carriers. China, on the other hand, has to buy 35 second-hand and assembled aircraft of different models from various countries and divide them into 32 squadrons, not to mention the training and logistics support in China, and the system, funds and training are very complicated and backward.