Tuesday, 6 June

Fine, sun

6.00 in the morning and the Allied Army has landed in France. According to Churchill’s report the area should be Brittany’s coastal area, which is from Le Havre to the (name unclear) peninsula. The Allied Army has used 11,000 airplanes, 4,000 war ships and transport ships, and several thousand small boats. (Each division normally needed 400, but today the troops crossing the sea numbered 200,000 people.) Landing losses and difficulties encountered were unexpectedly light. The paratroopers and naval gun fire was so great at Harvre only 650 big and small artilleries fired at the same time, destroying the defence devices on shore before landing. Also paratroopers parachuted to the enemy’s rear, occupying bridges and lines of communication, so progress after landing was also speedy. In the area around Caen they have advanced several miles, and have already entered the city. The Allied Chief in Command, General Eisenhower repeatedly sent out announcements, and in the evening the British King broadcast to the British people. The news was broadcast in the Soviet Union at 2.00 in the afternoon, and I heard that all the trams and so on were all stopped. People were in ecstasy, and some immediately rushed to the shops wanting to buy wine to celebrate. It just happened that in the afternoon the British First Class Secretary, Gifford, got married in the British Embassy and I went to congratulate him at 5.30. Ambassador Kerr said that the mood in Moscow today was like Chongqing in 1941 when China, Britain and the United States became allies. The Canadian Minister Wilgress said when he passed through the various streets in his car, Soviet Union armies all saluted him in his car. I was also happy because if the war in Europe ends earlier, warfare victory for us will come earlier, then the people’s suffering will cease earlier.

Attaché Hu borrowed the May Life Magazine from the American Information Service.  It published an article written by the American reporter, White, that criticised China a great deal, in particular the handling of the Party and education by Chen Lifu and Chen Guofu, and also Party headquarters for being non-democratic, which was in the hands of a few anti-reactionary elements, and nobody would dare to say anything. We should pay great attention to this kind of criticism and try to improve. Honest advice is a good drug, and our party should welcome it. We should have the spirit of Zhi Lu (子路)[1] who was glad to know his faults.

[1] Zhi Lu was a follower of Confucius.