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The Blood of 1918
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The Second Sino-American war began flawlessly for the American forces under Chamberlain. Within a week the front lines of the Chinese defenses had been overrun by American troops. By May 4th, the American troops had driven over 90,000 Chinese troops into utter route, and had seized control of the city of Nanjing. It was an early devastating blow to the Chinese moral, and a blow the tottering Chinese kingdom could ill afford. The sign of American guns blasting apart the Chinese Army sent shockwaves through the country, and the simmering distrust for the Austrian backed government boiled over. In the south, in the Wutang region of China, opponents of the Guwalgiya dynasty rose up and drove out the administrators of the region. The rebellion only further redirected Chinese military power, and forced the hand of the Austrians.
The Austrian military had been centered around the capital in Beijing, but with the American army advancing rapidly North, and the Chinese army being drained by revolt in the South-West, the Austrians were forced to move out. Led by Count Viktor Dankl von Krasnik, the Austrian army moved far more rapidly than any of the American strategists could have presumed. The Austrian forces arrived in three parts just north of the city of ZaoZhuang, spearheaded by von Krasnik’s elite Croatian Guard. Krasnik left the right flank, protected in large part by a heavily watered region, under the inexperienced Prince Otto Weriand von Windisch-Grätz and a collection of Austrian regular troops and Chinese auxiliaries. His left flank was entrusted to Alois Fürst Schönburg-Hartenstein, who’s command was primarily cavalry. Upon reaching ZaoZhuang, Von Krasnik prepared a series of defenses, hoping to lure the Americans forward into a trap of heavy fire. He ordered von Windisch-Gratz to follow his example, while Schönburg-Hartenstein would remain in reserve to drive any American flanking force back.
Fortunately for the Americans, Von Windisch-Gratz was not prepared. He devoted his Austrian regular troops to the front, leaving them without reserves, while the Chinese Auxiliaries were ordered to defend the right flank near the city of Jining. It was a long and stretched communication line, and difficulties in communication between the Chinese and their Austrian overlords only became worse as a result. Meanwhile the American army, quickly rolling up the coast, first engaged the Austrian middle on June 10th, 1918. The two sides had equal strength, but the Austrian position forced General Chamberlain to pause. Chamberlain, ever prescient of the politics of the conflict, ordered Colonel Douglas MacArthur, son of the famous military leader Arthur MacArthur, to led a sweeping engagement of the left flank, primarily to force the Austrians to commit their reserves and show their hand. Meanwhile General George Windle Read was ordered to press hard into the far left flank of the Austrians and try and force a breakthrough.
The Battle of ZaoZhuang
General Read however was quicker than MacArthur, and reached the Austrian lines early on June 13th. His army broke through the outer lines of the Austrian force, with significant losses. Von Schönburg-Hartenstein, seeing the American forces pressing, ordered his reserves forward. Before von Krasnik could effect a change, Schönburg-Hartenstein was engaged, and drove the American forces back. However, the sheer momentum of the press totally denied the Austrians of their backwards mobility. The only option facing Krasnik was to follow the withdrawing American troops. He ordered the advance, hoping to surprise Chamberlain and take the middle. However, on June 15th, even as the Austrian forces began their engagement, MacArthur slammed into the Chinese Auxiliaries. The Chinese, now even further from their Austrian allies, broke with little pressure. Von Windisch-Gratz panicked, and ordered his troops to halt and turn around. This left Krasnik’s right flank wide open, and ruined his advance. The Austrians, fully aware of their own losses, retreated. The gateway to Beijing was open.
Meanwhile in the South, the American army rolled into the city of Nanchang and found itself in a rather unique situation. The Chinese revolt had spread throughout the country, and much of the Chinese army was on the run. Elements of the Imperial army had met up with counter-revolutionary militia, in the city of Cangsha. But American troops in Wuhan and Chinese revolutionaries in Guiyang forced the Imperial forces East towards Nanchang. The leader of the Imperial forces, General Shi Fan Rong, hoped he could delay the American army long enough for reinforcements from Fuzhou, on the coast, to arrive and force a breakthrough. Shi realized that if the Americans split his army from Pi Hai’s forces in the East, the Chinese would have no chance to break free. So he moved north to catch General Peyton March unaware. March believed the Imperial army was based in Linchuan, 40 miles to his South. Little did he know that this army was in fact a rebel army led by Zhu De. March’s forces engaged Zhu early in June, much to the surprise of the Communist revolutionary.
The Battle of Nanchang
Meanwhile, the army under Shi rushed to engage March’s confused flank Zhu, realizing that the Imeperial forces were his primary enemy, met with March on the evening of June 9th, 1918, and brokered a deal. March sent Colonel Patrick Hurley to serve as an advisor and observer for the American army, and tasked the Chinese with driving east to meet up with the smaller American force under Hunter Liggett and press back the newly arrived Imperial army. Meanwhile March turned his full attention against Shi’s rearguard action. With his flank covered, March was able to fully direct his assault against the Imperial army. Although Shi managed to capture numerous heavy artillery pieces in his first advance, he was unable to utilize them, or even in some cases destroy them (lacking heavy explosives of his own). So, when the Americans pressed the Chinese back, they recovered many of their weapons and only added more firepower to the assault. The result was the surrender of Shi to the American army.
Colonel Patrick Hurley meeting with General Zhu De and his second, Mao Zedong.
Zhu De was enraged that the Americans had accepted the Imperial surrender. For Zhu, every Imperial soldier not delivered to him was another one he would have to face when the Americans left China. Hurley attempted to ease the concerns of Zhu, promising American military and economic support to the Chinese rebellion, even if the US government ended its conflict with the Austrian-backed Imperial family. Hurley never received authorization to make these promises, but the situation in China made it almost necessary. The shear manpower needed to fight both the rebels and the Imperial army would have been devastating. Zhu did not trust Hurley’s promises, but realized just as well that fighting both the Imperial Chinese and the Americans would leave his resources strained. An unsteady peace was formed. So, in 1919 when the American government came to the Chinese Imperial house and reached an agreement by which the US government would receive millions in reparations, as well as access to the infrastructure development of South China, the American military made sure much of that infrastructure and resources went to the Chinese rebels.
This further support for the anti-Austrian forces within China caused the Austrian government to turn out the American attempts at armistice. The Americans, insulted by the rebuffed attempts at peace, and still fearful of what the Japanese declaration of war would mean (during the Spring-Summer of 1918, the Japanese fleet had let the Americans have their way, fearful of a direct confrontation so close to the Japanese shore), called upon the British to declare war on the Austrians and put pressure on the Hapsburg monarchy to end the conflict. The British complied. The Austrians turned to their German neighbors for support, and the German monarchy responded indirectly. Rather than declare war on the English, the Germans re-asserted their claims to Iran, and drove the British-supported elements out of the country, effectively conquering the country. The stage was set for the greatest conflict the world had ever seen, a true World War.
The Divided China: Red- Rebel held (South- Zhu De, West- Wu Peifu, North-Zhāng Zuòlín), Yellow-Imperial China, Blue-US occupied China.
