Final answer:
Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist followers fled to Chungking, establishing a new wartime capital there while employing a scorched-earth policy to combat Japanese invading forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Step-by-step explanation:
When the Nationalist government of China, led by Chiang Kai-shek, faced the invasion by Japanese forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War, they adopted a 'scorched-earth strategy' to halt the enemy's advance. This involved retreating inland and destroying infrastructure and resources that could have been utilized by the Japanese.
As a result of this policy, the Nationalist government retreated to the Yangtze River port of Chungking, which they established as their new wartime capital. This retreat resulted in the killing of more Chinese peasants through their scorched-earth tactics than the Japanese had killed in the atrocities in Nanjing, causing significant civilian alienation and provided a propaganda advantage to the Chinese Communist Party, which was gaining prominence at the time.