The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression is the first national liberation war that the Chinese people won a complete victory in resisting the invasion of the foreign capitalist-imperialism over a process of 100 years, which marked the historical turning point of the Chinese nation from declination to rejuvenation. In this surging and magnificent nationwide war of resistance against aggression, the Communist Party of China (CPC) safeguarded the basic rights and interests of the Chinese nation, undertook the historical important mission, influenced, unified and led all the Chinese people to advance wave upon wave and fought with sublime heroism to defeat the Japanese aggressors and to win the great victory of the Anti-Japanese War, thus playing a mainstay role in the historical process of striving for national independence and people's liberation.

　　The CPC puts forward the political line of nationwide resistance

　　In the face of the powerful Japanese invaders, the Chinese people who didn't want to be slaves of a foreign power all asked to fight against the Japanese invaders. In view of the questions of how to mobilize and organize all kinds of forces of the whole nation to plunge into the war of resistance and see to it that the war develops towards a direction good for achieving victory by the Chinese people, the CPC timely and correctly put forward the line of resistance against the Japanese aggressors by way of arousing the masses to the most extensive scale possible, arming the masses and relying on the masses to fight Japanese invaders and carrying out an all-round resistance.

　　At the onset of the Anti-Japanese War, the Central Committee of the CPC pointed out that the most profound source of the anti-Japanese strength lied in the broad masses of the people. Only by mobilizing and organizing the people of the country, could a strong "great wall" of the nationwide resistance against aggression be forged and the final victory of the Anti-Japanese War be won. The China's Anti-Japanese War must adopt the all-round and nationwide resistance and mobilize manpower, materials and financial resources, and adjust the political, economic, cultural, military and national defense policies to meet the needs of the war of resistance.

　　The CPC initiated and established the Anti-Japanese National United Front

　　In the wake of the "Sept. 18 Incident", the CPC came out first with the proposal of establishing a national united front of resistance against Japanese aggression, profoundly expounded the political proposition of driving out the Japanese imperialism out of the Chinese territory with a national revolutionary war. The CPC explicitly put forward that the CPC was willing to cooperate with all the forces that had the wish of taking part in the cause of anti-Japanese aggression and for national salvation, and laid down the strategic guideline of establishing an Anti-Japanese National United Front. After the breakout of the Xi'an Incident, with the consideration of the country and nation's future and destiny, the CPC discarded the past enmity and proposed to solve the incident peacefully resulting in boosting the realization of domestic peace. In order to promote cooperation between the KMT and the CPC, the CPC made important concessions on the basis of sticking to the principles and showed the resolution and approach of uniting with all political forces and all the Chinese people to resist the Japanese aggression with the utmost sincerity and concrete acts. Under the adherence and promotion of the CPC, the Anti-Japanese National United Front was formed formally, pushing the Anti-Japanese War of the whole nation to a high tide.

　　The CPC formulated the strategic guideline of a protracted war

　　At the early stage of the Anti-Japanese War and at the critical moment when scientific theoretical guidance was in great need, the CPC members with Mao Zedong as the representative elaborated profoundly the guideline of military strategy put forward by the CPC on the Anti-Japanese War, predicted scientifically the rule of development of the war and stressed on the strategic position of guerrilla war in the Anti-Japanese War and pointed out that the people's war is the only correct road of winning the victory of the war. They pointed out specifically that China should stick to active defense, protracted war, to carrying out guerilla war and the building of revolutionary base in the rear of the enemy, with "guerrilla war as the basic form, but mobile warfare under favorable conditions should by no means be neglected". Practice testified that the strategic guideline of protracted resistance was the only correct guideline of the resisting Japanese invasion. The victory of the Anti-Japanese War was the victory of the line of an all-round resistance, the victory of the Anti-Japanese National United Front initiated by the CPC and likewise the victory of the strategic guideline of protracted war and guerrilla war put up by the CPC.

　　The CPC members were the vanguards and models of the national liberation war

　　On all fronts of the national liberation, the CPC members were the most active ones. They always charged to the forefront on the battlefield to kill the aggressors, created cultural works to stir up the morale of the people and tried to produce ample food and clothing with their own hands to overcome material shortage.

　　Thanks to the vanguard and model roles of the broad CPC members, the armed forces led by the CPC obtained brilliant results in the the Anti-Japanese War. From November 1938 to the end of 1940, the anti-Japanese revolutionary bases in North China pinned down over 500,000 Japanese troops. In 1942, the anti-Japanese forces led by the CPC in North China and Central China tied down 550,000 Japanese troops. In the whole process of the Anti-Japanese War, the anti-Japanese armed forces led by the CPC fought over 125,000 battles and annihilated 1.714 million Japanese and puppet troops (of which, 527,000 were Japanese trops), making decisive contributions to the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.

　　By Xu Zhigong

　　(Aug. 29, PLA Daily)