ABSTRACT
After the Japanese surrender, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the communists to remain in place and the Japanese to surrender only to nationalist forces, to even fight off the communists, i f necessary.1
The nationalists were the legal government to which the Japanese had surrendered and the Japanese, of course, tried to comply. But the communists, knowing well what was at stake, demanded that Japanese forces near them surrender to their units. When this was refused, the communists launched attacks against important positions and communication held by the Japanese and puppet armies; over a hundred such clashes were reported (not all the Japanese units were disarmed-subsequently the nationalists employed some Japanese units in offensive operations against the communists, particularly in Shantung and Shansi).2
