Generalissimo

The Battle of Shanghai: The History and Legacy of the Battle That Started the Second Sino-Japanese War , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 114min

On October 29, 1937, a large crowd of people gathered on the bank of the Wusong River in Shanghai to watch a spectacle - a life and death struggle unfolding directly in front of them across the river. The crowd was a curious blend of Chinese, European, and American civilians and journalists. Their focus was on the Sihang Warehouse across the river, but it wasn’t the warehouse itself that fascinated the onlookers. Instead, it was the men inside the warehouse - the men of the 524th regiment and the 88th division of the Chinese Nationalist Army. The soldiers were elite, and they were widely considered the best of the Nationalist Army. They proudly called themselves “the generalissimo’s own”, after Jiang Jieshi, the generalissimo of the Nationalist government and leader of China. The Chinese soldiers were prepared to fight and die to the last man, and they were making their last stand there. By then, the city of Shanghai was in shambles. The Imperial Japanese Military had invaded Shanghai on August 13, 1937, rapidly reducing the once-prosperous city to a pile of burning rubble after three months of brutal urban combat. Countless blazing fires raged throughout the city, some of which had been caused by the fighting, but most had been set by the retreating Chinese Army in a futile effort to stall the Japanese invaders.The Chinese Nationalist Army had fought valiantly against the Japanese, but the Chinese were hopelessly outgunned. Possessing few heavy weapons, aircraft, and artillery, the Nationalist Army could not hope to defeat the Japanese, who possessed superior firepower in every engagement against the Chinese troops. Causality rates for the Nationalist Army were horrific, with some units being completely wiped out in the fighting. Many Nationalist Army units would be completely annihilated in the three months of house-to-house fighting. As spectators watched from across the river, a barrage of Japanese artillery slammed the warehouse, creatin ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Jim D. Johnston. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/171324/bk_acx0_171324_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

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Shanghai 1937: Stalingrad on the Yangtze , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 657min

This deeply researched book describes one of the great forgotten battles of the 20th century. At its height it involved nearly a million Chinese and Japanese soldiers, while sucking in three million civilians as unwilling spectators and, often, victims. It turned what had been a Japanese adventure in China into a general war between the two oldest and proudest civilizations of the Far East. Ultimately, it led to Pearl Harbor and to seven decades of tumultuous history in Asia. The Battle of Shanghai was a pivotal event that helped define and shape the modern world.In its sheer scale, the struggle for China’s largest city was a sinister forewarning of what was in store for the rest of mankind only a few years hence, in theaters around the world. It demonstrated how technology had given rise to new forms of warfare, or had made old forms even more lethal. Amphibious landings, tank assaults, aerial dogfights and most importantly, urban combat, all happened in Shanghai in 1937. It was a dress rehearsal for World War II - or perhaps more correctly it was the inaugural act in the war - the first major battle in the global conflict.Actors from a variety of nations were present in Shanghai during the three fateful autumn months when the battle raged. The rich cast included China's ascetic Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his Japanese adversary, General Matsui Iwane, who wanted Asia to rise from disunity, but ultimately pushed the continent toward its deadliest conflict ever. Claire Chennault, later of “Flying Tiger” fame, was among the figures emerging in the course of the campaign, as was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. In an ironic twist, Alexander von Falkenhausen, a stern German veteran of the Great War, abandoned his role as a mere advisor to the Chinese army and led it into battle against the Japanese invaders. ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: George Backman. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/adbl/017748/bk_adbl_017748_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

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The China Mission , Hörbuch, Digital, ungekürzt, 839min

A spellbinding narrative of the high-stakes mission that changed the course of America, China, and global politics - and a rich portrait of the towering, complex figure who carried it out. As World War II came to an end, General George Marshall was renowned as the architect of Allied victory. Set to retire, he instead accepted what he thought was a final mission - this time not to win a war, but to stop one. Across the Pacific, conflict between Chinese Nationalists and Communists threatened to suck in the United States and escalate into revolution. His assignment was to broker a peace, build a Chinese democracy, and prevent a Communist takeover, all while staving off World War III. In his 13 months in China, Marshall journeyed across battle-scarred landscapes, grappled with Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, and plotted and argued with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his brilliant wife, often over card games or cocktails. The results at first seemed miraculous. But as they started to come apart, Marshall was faced with a wrenching choice. Its consequences would define the rest of his career, as the secretary of state who launched the Marshall Plan and set the standard for American leadership, and the shape of the Cold War and the US-China relationship for decades to come. It would also help spark one of the darkest turns in American civic life, as Marshall and the mission became a first prominent target of McCarthyism, and the question of "who lost China" roiled American politics. The China Mission traces this neglected turning point and forgotten interlude in a heroic career - a story of not just diplomatic wrangling and guerrilla warfare, but also intricate spycraft and charismatic personalities. Drawing on eyewitness accounts both personal and official, it offers a richly detailed, gripping, close-up, and often surprising view of the central figures of the time - from Marshall, Mao, and Chiang to Eisenhower, Truman, and MacArthu ungekürzt. Language: English. Narrator: Malcolm Hillgartner. Audio sample: https://samples.audible.de/bk/blak/011574/bk_blak_011574_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.

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Price: 9.95 EUR excl. shipping