There’s another book, an old one, called “The China Tangle” that describes America’s efforts to persuade Chiang to fight harder against the Japanese. Apparently, Mao’s forces were much fiercer in this regard and it helps explain why he gained such popularity among the masses.
Mao was a demon, no question. But put it in the context of the Japanese genocidal invasion and everything kind of blends together into a not so hard to digest stew.
By the way, I have a “Mao number” of 3. My good friend’s father was a close associate of his.
“Apparently, Mao’s forces were much fiercer in this regard and it helps explain why he gained such popularity among the masses.”
Chang and Halliday document in detail how Mao actually tried (throughout the mid to late 30’s) to NOT fight the Japanese. It was only under intense pressure from Stalin (who feared a Japanese invasion of Russia) that he began such a struggle. I still have 17 disks to go! At this point Mao just received his orders from Stalin to launch attacks on the Japanese. Before this he has assiduously avoided any major battles with them and concentrated on his new found alliance with the KMT to stay out of the fight while grabbing huge parcels of territory behind Japanese lines (while still avoiding fighting the Japanese). Fascinating...and chilling.