User blog:Cfp3157/Season 3 Episode 9: Charles de Gaulle vs. Chiang Kai-Shek



The big boys of World War II take a seat when these two leaders come onto the battlefield guns blazing! Charles de Gaulle, French prime minister who would lead his country against the Nazi and Vichy troops to take back France. But can de Gaulle continue his struggle with an equally determined opponent? Chiang Kai-Shek, the Chinese leader of the Nationalist Party who would lead them in the struggle against the Japanese and the Communist Party of China. Both of these leaders are determined and ready for combat in a battle to prove who is.....

THE DEADLIEST WARRIOR!!!!!

Charles de Gaulle


"Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back on himself. He imposes his own stamp of action, takes responsibility for it, makes it his own."

- Charles de Gaulle

Charle de Gaulle was a French prime minister during the Second World War, siding with the Free French Forces and other Allied nations. De Gaulle also served as a member of the French Army during the First World War, though he was wounded in a courageous charge against the Germans at Verdun. During World War Two, de Gaulle commanded one of the few succesful attacks against the Nazi troops. After World War Two, de Gaulle was elected President twice for his tactical skill during the war.

Chiang Kai-Shek


"Don't be disquieted in time of adversity. Be firm with dignity and self-reliant with vigor."

- Chiang Kai-Shek

Chiang Kai-shek was the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party during World War II and the Chinese Civil War. Chiang, unlike the previous KMT laeder, prefered to embrace the old ways of China and not the West. These ideals put in conflict against the CPC, even erupting to the point of violence. However, in 1939 the Japanese invaded Manchuria. Chiang and the CPC were then forced to cooperate against a common enemy. They did succeed, but after more fighting between the two parties, Chiang and the KMT were exiled to the island of Taiwan.

Tactical Analysis
For once in a lifetime, I will be giving a tactical overview of the two leaders performance during World War II and the two conflicts in Southeast Asia afterwords. (Yes, I know EA did the same thing, but he was actually the one who gave me the suggestion to do this)

Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle, though certainly a respectable leader in his own right, was not nearly upon the level of skill that others such as Patton and Montgomery were as far as strategy was concerned. His skill in holding off the Nazis from Paris is admirable, but it was in vain. de Gaulle fled to London, where he organized several small raiding parties with his hidden army, the Free French Forces. Things like bunkers, checkpoints, and outposts were all destroyed in the process of de Gaulle's idea to be a problem for the Nazi and Vichy troops. However, the Free French were not very influetial in the long run. Their final victory, though, was helping Allied troops from the Normandy invasion through France, assisting the troops from Chambois to the invasino of Paris.

De Gaulle was elected president after the war, but now he faced another threat; Vo Nguyen Giap and the Vietminh in Indochina. While de Gaulle had professional warriors this time around, he couldn't stack up to the hybrid conventionl and guerilla tactics Giap presented. Though de Gaulle inflicted severe damage to the rebels, they could do nothing. So in 1954 the Viet Minh had won and the French left Indochina.

Chiang Kai-shek
During World War II, China's industrial and military power were not prepared for the mass invasion by the Japanese. Chaing realized that they must either surrender to the Japanese or hold off long enough to show the West that they could fight with logistics. So, Chiang organized a massive final stand at Shanghai. Though forced to retreat and with heavu losses, Chiang showed the West that they would not give in to the Japanese so easily. With that, a coalition between the KMT, USA, Soviet Russia, and the CPC was formed to hold China. By 1945, China had recovered all the land but Manchuria taken from them by the Imperials.

However, both parties had been to busy stockpiling for the following civil war for China. Despite the support of the United States, Chiang and the KMT could not handle both the moral support from the poorer people of China to the CPC and the fact that they no longer received much needed logistical aid from the US. It came to realize, while Chiang was certainly skilled, he relied too much on the US to assist him logistically.

Battle
TBA

Expert's Opinion
TBD