of Wuhan, and allowing rail traffic to travel in all four directions of the compass. If Beiping fell under Japanese control, then an order from Tokyo could send thousands of troops from Korea and Manchukuo into the heart of the mainland. If Chiang surrendered the city, he would cede north China for a generation, and put the Nationalist heartland in great danger. Chiang recognized this in his diary entry for July 10: “This is the turning point for existence or obliteration.”
