Awakening the Dragon: The Guomindang at war 1936-46

[Gjerg Kastrioti]

Hello All. I know I should be finishing my Victoria AAR, but I've decided to write an AAR for Nationalist China in HOI 2. This was played with version 1.1, hard, Normal. No mods except Stony Road graphics. I hope you like it.

Oh yes, I'd like to thank Xie for his help with pinyin and insights in Chinese politics in the 1930s and 40s. Thanks Xie.

[Gjerg Kastrioti]

Awakening the Dragon: The Guomindang at war

Prologue: A nation in turmoil

China is like a sleeping giant. Let her sleep, for when she awakes, she shall astonish the world.

Attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803, source unknown, possibly apocryphal

By the early 1930s, the China, the middle kingdom (Zhongguo) was in turmoil. Gangsters and warlords ruled most of the country. The last dynasty had been overthrown, and the last emperor was a puppet of the Japanese. Communists and Nationalists fought a brutal civil war for supremacy with competing visions of a new order. Foreign powers fought for influence, both political and military, some such as the Soviet Union seeking allies against enemies, some such as the USA, markets influence and resources, others such as Japan military supremacy.

It was a time when the destiny of the world’s most populous nation would be decided.

Part 1: Shifting alliances, Compromises, war and peace

Every clique is a refuge for incompetence. It fosters corruption and disloyalty, it begets cowardice, and consequently is a burden upon and a drawback to the progress of the country. Its instincts and actions are those of the pack."

Madame Kai Shek


In this short space, it is impossible to do justice to the fragmented factions that took part in the Chinese civil war. Theoretically, China was a republic, with Premier Lin Sen as head of state, with a parliament and separation of powers between different branches of government. The ruling party, the Guomindang (Chinese National Party), originally founded by Sun Yat Sen, had become internationally recognised government of China, and had through diplomacy been able to reverse many of the unequal treaties that had been forced upon China by colonial powers in the 19th century. Foreign investment, particularly American, British and German allowed a small measure of industrial growth and to the outside world it appeared as though China was at last united under a stable, modernising democratic government.

Shanghai: A western skin on a Chinese heart

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun

Mao Zedong


The reality was far different- power in China grew from the barrel of the gun. The most powerful man in the Nationalist government was the Generalissimo, Chiang Kai-Shek (Pinyin, Jiang Jieshi), who commanded the Guomindang armed forces.

Chiang Kai Shek, the Generalissimo of the Guomindang

Chiang retained his power due to certain "Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion”, legislation which granted him emergency powers as commander in Chief of the Army. Also, he possessed a forceful personality, and few within the Guomindang were prepared to openly criticise his policies. When Chiang commanded, he was usually obeyed.

But Chiang’s power, and that of the government were constrained by the power of the regional warlords, who controlled most of the provinces away from the Guomindang’s strongholds in central and Eastern China.

The Warlords

Of the factions competing for power with the Guomindang, arguably the most powerful were the loose knit “Guangxi Clique”, led by figures such as Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren. Li Zongren’s opposition to Guomindang policies was unusual for the various warlords, as it was based at least partly upon moral principles, rather than simply safeguarding personal power. Li Zongren demanded 7 great principles before he would obey any Chinese government, including the release of political prisoners, a free press, and arrests without a warrant.

Li Zongren, the foremost power in Guangxi

Control of the heavily populated commercial and industrial region of South East China gave the Guangxi Clique large financial resources, which they used to equip armies rivalling those of the Guomindang, as well as a small air force and navy.

The mountainous region of Yunnan, was controlled by Long Yun; control of its mineral wealth gave him substantial resources. Long Yun was friendly with the French in Indochina, and much of his army was armed and trained along French lines.

Xingjang (Singkiang), with its old trading cities on the silk road and Uighur Muslim majority, was controlled by various warlords. These included Muslim warlords such as Khoja Nayaze, as well as ethnic Chinese warlords. Although aiming for independence, the warlords of Xingjang fell short of fully breaking away from China, and instead cooperated with the Communists, who offered promises of religious tolerance.

In the Shanxi region of Northern China, a variety of warlords competed for power, the strongest being Yan Xishan. With control of the old capital of Beijing (renamed Beiping by the Nationalists), the various Shanxi warlords were not the most powerful of factions, especially due to own divisions, but Yan Xishan’s natural cunning and skilful political manoeuvres kept his faction secure for the moment. Yan also possessed powerful artillery that was probably the best in China.

Power in the North: Yan Xishan

Yan Xishan showed a large degree of flexibility in social matters in order to combat Communist influence, and had enacted important social reforms in Shanxi, although he remained a military dictator. The other powerful northern warlord was Feng Yuxiang, the "Christian General", a warlord who's protestant faith had led him to mass baptise his troops with fire hoses.

Gansu and the surrounding area was controlled by 3 warlords of the Wu Ma clan. The Ma clans, led by Ma Hungkuei, Ma Bufang and Ma Buqing formed three muslim sultanates in northern China. Although possessing seperate administrations, the Ma coordnated their foriegn policy. The lands under the Sultan's controls were known as the land of 3 Ma, Xibei San Ma.

The Ma clans Ma felt sufficiently threatened by the Communists to cooperate with the Nationalists, and were surprisingly loyal allies of the Generalissimo. Xibei San Ma possessed a large army, including powerful cavalry forces which were ideal for fighting in Northern China.

Xibei San Ma’s Cavalry

The warlords all had a strange relationship with the government. The Guomindang was forced to compromise power with them to avoid conflict. Many warlords were technically members of the Guomindang, some were even government ministers. The fact that the warlords possessed an independent power base meant that it was difficult to control them.

Many Guomindang ministers were corrupt, particularly the notoriously brutal head of security, Zhen Guo Fu. Yan Xishan also used his senior position as armaments minister to siphon supplies to bolster his own personal forces. Many were disloyal, for a variety of reasons; Yan Xishan, for instance, had rebelled against the Guomindang in 1930. There was one item upon which most were united: the need to destroy the other Chinese faction yet to be mentioned, the Chinese Communist Party or Gonchangdang.

Mao and the Communists

Since coming to power in much of China in wake of the revolution, the Guomindang had originally been a broad coalition of different reformist groups. Some were socialist, some communist some nationalist, but all agreed on the necessity of reform. In the late 1920s the Guomindang split, and bloody factional war followed. The left wing of the Guomindang, increasingly dominated by the Communists, called for a policy of armed insurrection, while the remaining Guomindang, now dominated by the right wing headed by Chiang Kai-Shek, would begin a series of brutal crackdowns on the communists, while also attempting to begin expeditions against the warlords.

The Communists were initially divided and weak. Urban insurrections by workers failed, as did other rural based insurrections. However, the Guomindang had more trouble shutting down peasant based soviets in Hunan and Jiangxi provinces. Their leader was Mao Zedong, whose boundless faith in the revolutionary potential of the peasantry put him at odds with the Leninist Shanghai based Gonchangdang centre. In collaboration with his military commander Zhu De, Mao began organising a peasant based Red Army. In late 1931, Mao proclaimed the Chinese Soviet republic in Jiangxi.

Bitter fighting between Nationalist and Communist forces occurred all through the late 1920s and 30s. Chiang was determined to crush Mao’s communist forces, and launched many expeditions. The communist forces were small, but could never quite be destroyed, and several military campaigns against their bases failed.

In 1934, hundreds of thousands of Guomindang soldiers surrounded the Communist stronghold in Jiangxi province, and attempted to starve them into submission. Complete destruction of the Gonchandang seemed possible. To avoid destruction, in what has become known as the Long March, almost 100,000 Communist soldiers, functionaries and party leaders left their stronghold, broke though Nationalist lines and travelled over 10,000 km to establish a new stronghold far to the north in Shaanxi, where their presence was contested by neighbouring warlords such as Yan Xishan. Guomindang forces inflicted crippling losses upon the Communists. Of the original almost 100,000, only 8,000 remained, joined by another 22,000 along the way.

Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai in Yan’an

At the end of the long March, Mao had escaped destruction, and the communists had established new headquarters in Yan’an.

In many ways, the Guomindang and Gonchandang were mirror images, Yin and Yang. Throughout the Long March, Mao had become the supreme leader of the communists, whose authority was near absolute. Chiang’s was consistently undermined by the necessity of compromising with the warlords. Chiang’s army was large, badly equipped, poorly led and inexperienced, while Mao’s remaining cadres, though small, were experienced, committed, and well trained. Equally, the Communist leaders were disciplined and incorruptible, while those of the Nationalists were far from incorruptible.

Numbers alone favoured the Nationalists. But with better tactics, commitment and determination the Communists had perhaps learned the Art of War better than the Nationalists.

War is based on deception

Let your plans be dark and as impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Faced with superior numbers, the Red Army generally fought in small numbers, preferring to ambush small groups of the enemy and avoiding battle where possible. Mao’s guerrilla strategy, skilful use of terrain and the support of part of the population had held off far larger Guomindang forces, which were also reeling from the attacks of an old foe: Imperial Japan.

Japan

In 1931, on the pretext of a terrorist attack on a train, the Imperial Japanese Army had seized Manchuria and established Pu Yi, the last Qing emperor as its puppet ruler. Manchuria had become a Japanese colony, with the Japanese sending in hundreds of thousands of Japanese colonists. Chiang’s response was not encouraging to nearly all Chinese- he did not respond to Japanese attacks, and instead continued to wage war against the Communists, believing China should be unified and the other factions destroyed before tackling the Japanese.

The Japanese are a disease of the skin. The Communists are a disease of the heart.

Chiang Kai-Shek

The Guomindang strategy of essentially ignoring the Japanese occupation of the North was disastrous in terms of popular support, as well as allowing much of China’s industrial capacity to fall into enemy hands. For the leaders of Imperial Japan, civil war in China offered further possibilities for expansion, which they would be certain to grasp.

By 1936, with the Communists entrenched in Yan’an and conducting guerrilla attacks against Nationalists and warlords alike, and the Japanese in the north, it was obvious to all that the Guomindang had failed to defeat either enemy. Its large armies were suffering from poor morale and poor training. Thus in 1936, the Guomindang stumbled forward, continuing the war against the Communist Red Army, allowing the Japanese to control Manchuria and warlords to control much of the country.

But in 1936, this was to change, and the Guomindang was to embark of a much more ambitious course, that would change the fate of China, Asia and even the world forever.

China in 1936

[Maku]

Nice work! Looks very promising, I'll keep an eye on this one.

[Adaptation]

Looks real good,keep it up

[therev]

Like the Pics and I like the subject matter....

[Gjerg Kastrioti]

Nice work! Looks very promising, I'll keep an eye on this one.

Thanks Maku! We are only just beginning.

Looks real good,keep it up

Thanks adaptation! I'll try!

Like the Pics and I like the subject matter....

Thanks Therev, there are an awful lot of pics coming up. Maybe too many, I hope my server doesn't get overloaded.

EDIT: Also, I apologise to all, it looks as though I've made a couple of spelling mistakes on the big map of Asia, I haven't corrected the spelling of Guangxi. It's too late for me to change now, sory about that.

[Gjerg Kastrioti]

Part 1: War And Peace

1936 began inauspiciously. Guomindang armies launched offensives against the
Communists, which failed with heavy casualties. Thwarted by the terrain and tactics of the Communists, Nationalist troops dug in, and a stalemate continued where the only winners were the Japanese. But Chiang Kai Shek still had one card to play. In 1936 the Nationalist army would begin massive reforms, and undergo a transformation from a badly trained rabble to army equal to any European army.

White Ghosts in the Middle Kingdom

Foreign influence was at its height in China in the 1930s. The most numerous were probably White Russians, losers to the Communists in Russia’s civil war that led to the establishment of the Soviet Union. Many White Russians could be found acting as mercenaries in the armies of the Warlords and Manchuria. Russians of the Red variety were also heavily involved in China. The Soviet Union saw China as essential for the containment of Japan, and supported both the Nationalists and the Communists. Stalin hoped the Communists would win, but the disparity in numbers led him to support the Guomindang as well. The Soviets maintained a small military advisor presence.

American and British businesses invested heavily in China. The US supplied manufacturing equipment to CAMCO, (Central Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation) which supplied aircraft and other war materiel to the Guomindang.

However, the most important were the Germans. German businesses, organised by the HARPO (Handelsgesellschaft zur Verwertung industrieller Produkte) invested heavily, and funnelled many military and non military items into China. Krupp for instance, cooperated with the Chung Hing coal company to develop machine tools under license, which in time would significantly improve China’s industrial capacity. The German military mission, operating in China since 1928, was led in 1936 by Hans Von Seeckt and Alexander Von Falkenhausen. The German military mission had had a chequered past. Its previous leaders had often failed to impress their Chinese hosts, and some military advice had proved a failure, such as the campaign which led to the Long March. The military mission in 1936 was different. Von Seekt added enormous clout to the German military mission.Von Seeckt handled the commercial side, negotiating commercial treaties for war supplies in particular. The military side was led by Alexander Von Falkenhausen, who by all accounts did so with spectacular success.

Von Falkenhausen’s aristocratic manner charmed Chiang and other Chinese, but he was also a brave and skilful commander who fought at the front in Guomindang uniform. He knew the region well too. He had been the German military attaché to Japan from 1900 to 1914, and as a young lieutenant had taken part in the Kaiser’s response to Boxer Rebellion.

Alexander Von Falkenhausen, military head of the German Military Mission
to China.

Chiang gave Von Falkenhausen a daunting task- completely reorganise the Nationalist Army along German lines, and make it a force capable of winning victories. It may seem strange that Chiang would hand such an enormous task to a foreigner, but as an outsider Von Falkenhausen was free of the rivalries and intrigue which characterised Guomindang politics. As such he was given enormous powers to rearm and retrain the Guomindang armies.

It should also be mentioned that the Communists also had their own German military mission, led by Otto Braun. Although they had some support from Moscow, the German Communist Military mission fared poorly compared to their Nationalist counterpart. In particular, their advice during the Long March proved poor. Mao Zedong would scathingly proclaim that “Their Germans are better than our Germans”.

Otto Braun (also known as Li De) led the less successful German Communist Military Mission.

Military Reforms

The aim of military training is not just to prepare men for battle, but to make them long for it.

Louis Simpson

In reforming the Guomindang armies, Von Falkenhausen had to make the best use of China’s resources. Lacking in the heavy industry necessary to build and maintain armoured and motorised forces (which in any case were ill suited to the terrain), the new army would make use of China’s main asset: Manpower. The main body of the retrained Chinese army would be infantry trained and equipped to German standards.

The tactics and doctrines developed were variants of the German methods used in the latter stages of the Great War. The offensive doctrines developed were variants of those used by German Strumtruppen. Briefly, these involved the large-scale infiltration of troops close to enemy lines, a brief artillery barrage followed by a swift assault to breach enemy lines in key areas using primarily small arms. These tactics had drawbacks: obviously, the Germans had lost the war. In particular, German counter battery fire had been poor, there had been little overall strategic aim in the German offensives, and coordination between different German forces had been lacking. Also, German forces were split into highly trained assault forces and badly trained trench forces, which fared poorly against Allied counterattacks when the offensives failed.

Von Falkenhausen was determined that these problems would be rectified as he developed his Grand Battle Plan. It was envisioned that Chinese regular infantry would be trained to a high standard, not quite on the same lines as European armies, owing to shortages of equipment, artillery and armoured vehicles in particular.

Von Falkenhausen instituted a more rigorous training program for the Guomindang

It was hoped that training and mastery of infiltration techniques, particularly night attacks would compensate for these material shortages. In many ways the training and tactics mirrored those developed by the armies of Imperial Japan. Despite the expense, Chiang charged the Hanyang Arsenal with equipping every Guomindang division to Von Falkenhausen’s standards by 1938, although some third rate garrison and militia units were found unsuitable for main line duty and useful only for the most basic defensive tasks.


Further developing the Chinese infantry forces, where possible Von Falkenhausen ordered that engineer brigades be attached to each division. Much of the terrain where fighting was expected to occur possessed poor or badly kept infrastructure, and engineer construction brigades would aid significantly in overall mobility in these areas. However, given the expense of manufacturing or purchasing suitable equipment, this request was delayed for the time being.

Although the regular infantry force envisioned by Von Falkenhausen was suitable for virtually any role save direct assaults against enemy armour, it was also decided to train a large number of divisions as Special Forces. More particularly, it was envisioned that roughly a quarter of the Guomindang army, recruited from primarily the Western mountainous regions would be trained as elite Mountain troops, as well as being equipped with skis and other winter fighting equipment. These units would be highly trained, and a match for the best units the Communists had.

Spinning was an important part of the training of mountain troops

However, the training of these forces would require time and money which was simply not available in 1936. Likewise, Von Falkenhausen’s plan to improve the appalling logistics apparatus of the Guomindang armed forces was deferred.

These shortages also dictated that developing armoured divisions along the lines of those being developed in Germany were out of the question. In any case, Von Falkenhausen, Chiang and other senior Guomindang military leaders agreed that tanks were relatively unimportant weapons, which would never be decisive in warfare.

But at the beginning of 1936, this military reorganisation was only commencing. Many figures within the Guomindang, such as Yan Xishan and Zhen Guofu, distrusted Von Falkenhausen’s plans for reforms, which would undermine their power base. Military operations against the Communists continued, and many officers questioned whether Chiang’s commitment to exterminating the communists was the best course of action, given the presence of the Japanese in Manchuria.

Equally, despite some German assistance, Chinese industrial production remained woefully inadequate. Some shortages could be alleviated by trading with more advanced nations, but given the ongoing campaign against the Communists few companies were prepared to trade large quantities of war materiel with China. The problem of obtaining sufficient industry to upgrade the Guomindang war machine appeared intractable.

[pinkus-pils]

nice work, can't wait for the next update

[Gjerg Kastrioti]

nice work, can't wait for the next update

Thanks for reading Pinkus-pils, here's the next update now!

Part 1 continued

January 1936 saw Chiang make several assaults against Communist positions in Yan’an. However, the Red Army guerrillas repulsed the assaults with ease. Chiang made several speeches in which he called for the Chinese people to shoulder the burden of continued military operations, which were not well received. (Moved slider one notch towards interventionism) The Guomindang government was not popular with the people of the Republic of China. Conscription, military failure and corruption sapped confidence in the government. Equally, the depredations of the warlords were blamed on the Nationalist government for their failure to control them. Equally, to many Chinese it seemed absurd that the Warlord armies, comprising hundreds of thousands of men, and the Nationalist armies garrisoned the borders with the various warlords, again requiring hundreds of thousands of men, which by all rights should be fighting for control of Japan.

Still, there was some good news on the Communist front. A large communist army heading for Xingjang led by Zhang Guotao had been defeated by Ma Hung Kuei at Baizhangguan Pass. Even this silver lining had a cloud, for it completed Mao’s control of the Chinese Communist Party. Zhang Guotao had been Mao’s last rival, his grip on the Chinese Communist party was now absolute. Nationalist forces surrounded Mao in Shaanxi, but the Communists were still able to smuggle supplies in, and the war continued without progress.

Chiang demanded more troops from the warlords, to continue the war against the Communists. This time however, Guangxi and Shanxi refused to contribute troops. Relations worsened. In the end, Chiang decided to teach Guangxi a lesson. On February 9th 1936 Nationalist troops invaded Guangxi.

Invading Guangxi

It was in many ways a strange war, perhaps not even a war at all. Bai Chongx and Li Zongren both retained their positions within the Guomindang military, whilst simultaneously fighting against it. Casualties were virtually non-existent, as Guomindang troops moved forward, Guangxi troops retreated. Perhaps the one high point of the war was an amphibious invasion of Hainan Island on March 6th.

Assault on Hainan

Shortly after this, the war ended. After the war, not much had changed. The Guangxi warlords still maintained their positions in the Chinese military, retained much of their influence in the south, and continued their criticism of Chiang’s policies. Still, the Nationalists had gained control of the industries of the South, particularly the relatively industrialised Guangzhou region, and a broad commitment was extracted from the Guangxi leaders that they would place their troops under Chiang’s control. Chiang, for his part, pledged to implement some of Li Zongren’s programs and prevent abuses of power, but little was done to reform the Guomindang.

Scarcely had Guangxi been occupied, than in May Chiang turned against Yan Xishan, whose support of Chiang’s anti-communist campaign had been lukewarm at best. Once again, evidence of the tortured relationship between the warlords and the government. Yan Xishan was armaments minister, a post he retained all through the fighting with the northern warlords, and continued to hold the rank of Lt General in the nationalist military.

Yan Xishan is tamed

Arguably, the effects of the various wars were small. Yan Xishan retained the post of armaments minister and still held significant power and influence within the Guomindang, and significant influence in Shanxi. In future, Yan Xishan’s troops would be subject to Nationalist control.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the wars was the war industries in both Shanxi and Guangxi came under Nationalist control. Although these were few they did allow some military equipment to be produced to outfit the Guomindang armies. Henceforth the Hanyang arsenal was able to announce that it possessed sufficient weapons to begin equipping infantry to modern standards in June 1936. Meanwhile the Kwangtung arsenal would enter into negotiations with IBM to provide census tabulating machines to detail the lists of equipment troops available. Although primitive, the use of these machines would in time significantly speed up efforts to develop military forces.

Research in 1936

The inconclusive wars against the northern and southern warlords had little effect of Chinese politics in the end, although it did strengthen Chiang’s grasp overall. Despite the rapid conclusion of these wars, they generated a large amount of criticism against the Generalissimo’s policies. It was only by July that Chiang was able to make use of the captured industry. It was shortly afterwards that the compromised rule of the Guomindang would be weakened dramatically by a crisis brewing in central China.

[Stuyvesant]

Up to your usual standard of excellence, Gjerg. I like this AAR already and for two reasons: the chance to learn more about a game they do not yet possess (Iwantsit, Iwantsit, Iwantsitnow!) and the opportunity to learn more about a historic period that I know very little of. I know, I know, you're playing a game, not giving a history lecture, but those two or three first posts explaining the starting situation already gave me more information on Nationalist China than I ever had before.

Time for me to keep track of the HOI2 forum.

[Mike von Bek]

I can agree with that. This is making me want to learn more about the Nationalists. To the book depository!

[elbasto]

Superb aar so far, rich in both, in-game details and historical accuracy.

Keep up the Great work.

[Stuyvesant]

A game-related question: is that divided China the standard game setup or are you running a modified game?

An AAR-related question: when will you update again already? Ye gads, man, I've gone at least four hours since I last read anything!

[Pacer]

Nice one so far. you should unite china before throwing out the eastern devils.

[Gjerg Kastrioti]

Up to your usual standard of excellence, Gjerg. I like this AAR already and for two reasons: the chance to learn more about a game they do not yet possess (Iwantsit, Iwantsit, Iwantsitnow!) and the opportunity to learn more about a historic period that I know very little of. I know, I know, you're playing a game, not giving a history lecture, but those two or three first posts explaining the starting situation already gave me more information on Nationalist China than I ever had before.

Time for me to keep track of the HOI2 forum.

Well, it's not totally accurate I'm sure. But I did have a lot of help from Xie Chengnuo in setting the scene. I've probably made loads of errors already. As to your other question, yes, China does start out that fragmented. It's the standard game setup. The AI gets events to annex Chinese minors if they lose a lot of there teritory, but a human does not.

I can agree with that. This is making me want to learn more about the Nationalists. To the book depository!

Well, I learnt a lot about the Chinese civil war on various websites and in a few books, but some nasty stuff will not appear. Thanks for reading Mike.

Superb aar so far, rich in both, in-game details and historical accuracy.

Keep up the Great work.

Thanks Elbasto. Obviously, the further we go on, the less true to life HOI 2 will become, but that's the way of all Paradox games.

Nice one so far. you should unite china before throwing out the eastern devils

Well, I annexed Shanxi and Guangxi. That cost me about 7 months worth of dissent reduction. It's not worth uniting all of China in 1936, but gaining the extra ICs gets you up to 5 tech teams, so its worth it that way. Plus, the warlords suck against the Japanese, so I my bring them under the Guomindang's protective umbrella. Thanks for reading Pacer.

Anyway, we continue, for a quick update. So many AARs to write. I've got to write a multiplayer AAR to get -1% inflation in th EU II multiplayer forum as well!




The Xi’an Incident
With the conclusion of the wars against the warlords, Chiang Kai Shek flew to Xi’an, south of the Communist stronghold, to meet with senior commanders to discuss further offensives against the Communists.

Chiang meets with Zhang Xueliang in Xi’an

The local commander on the spot was Zhang Xueliang, also known as the Young Marshall. Zhang had previously been the warlord of Manchuria, inheriting control after his father, Zhang Zuolin "The Mukden Tiger" had been assinated by Japanese agents. Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931. Chiang had chosen not to risk an all out war early on, and Zhang and his army had headed south, and been integrated into the National Revolutionary Army. The Young Marshall was regarded as one of Chiang's proteges, and deeply patriotic.

However, the reception Chiang received was not one that he expected. Troops loyal to Zhang kidnapped Chiang and demanded that he make peace with the Communists to fight the Japanese. The government was paralysed.

Negotiations between the Nationalists, Communists and the mutineers took place. Eventually, Zhou Enlai negotiated Chiang’s release and a truce between the nationalists and the Communists. The peace stayed in place, but Chiang would have Zhang Xueliang imprisoned for mutiny.

And thus, an uneasy truce settled over China.

Peace in our time

[Prufrock451]

Go, China!

I'm excited to see how far you can take the Nationalists.

[Kasakka]

Bloody hell! It seems like you're having a great AAR here, man! I'll be watching this one closely - keep it up at the same level.

[GuyB]

Great AAR so far! My only complaint is the length of time between updates - I'm very eager to see this one play out. You're doing a great job so far. I'm really enjoying your AAR style. Think you could tell us a bit about the strength of the Nationalist army so far and what kinds of troops it consists of? Oh and please show more of the research you're focusing on. Personally I don't own the game (though I'm hoping to buy it soon) and I'd be interested in knowing more about what some of those technologies do (Early Cavalry and bombers are a bit obvious, but the doctrine's advantages aren't).

[flange3]

Sounds very promising.

[Stuyvesant]

The last episode seems to tug at my memory, so I'm assuming it's historical. Does that mean it's an event in the game where you choose to go historical, or did it only exist in your imagination, with you role-playing it for added historical accuracy?

Side note: is it really that hard to crush the Communists? They look so tiny on the map, compared to your Nationalist China...