Second Sino-Japanese War
On December 24th, 1936, the Second Chinese United front was formed. This temporarily put on halt most hostilities between the CPC and KMT. About 6 months later, July 1937, Japanese troops attacked Chinese soldier at Lugou bridge. Japan demanded that they be given Beijing and the entire Shandong penisula as "Compensation." The KMT announced that this was the breaking point of Sino-Japanese relations, and refused to cede the territories. Japan would declare war shortly after. The war would see millions of Chinese dead, entire cities raped and pillaged (See Nanking, and numerous atrocities. Chinese troops were heavily underequipped and undertrained. Throughout the course of the war, CPC forces would become progressively stronger and KMT forces weaker and weaker. The CPC would lead the war against the Japanese, and this would earn them much favour among the people. Chinese forces would engage with Japanese forces in both open combat and guerilla warfare. In 1945, shortly after the surrender of Germany, the Soviets would invade the entirety of Manchuria in just 11 days, a true military feat. Manchuria had previously been a Japanese puppet state consisting of Qing Dynasty remnants. This operation would place Manchuria firmly into Soviet hands. It would not be long before the Japanese surrendered afterward.