Apologies for the slight delay. On the plus side, this is the last update before the Sino-Japanese War kicks off!
1937: The End of the Beginning
Despite the end of the war with Mao's Communist forces, the Republic of China staunchly refused to demobilize their massive army. More and more troops moved from the area around Shanxi and Yan'an...freed up to move to the border with Japanese controlled territory. Thanks to the creation of Mengjiang, the Qing no longer shared a border with the Republic...but the amount of troops so nearby was a worrying sight nonetheless. For unlike the Republic that could afford to focus their forces against Japan and her 'allies', Manchukuo could only focus a relatively small portion of its military on the border.
Or, rather, on
that border. The rest of the rapidly expanding army was deployed along the truly massive frontier with Soviet Russia. It was well known that Japan and Mongolia (and through them, Stalin) had competing claims on the Khalkin Gol region. Border clashes were a regular enough occurrence that Japan felt secure moving their troops to the mobilizing frontier with the Republic of China...but the Qing military could ill-afford to do the same. Were a full-scale war to break out, they would be the first to fight the Soviets...and leaving the border undefended would do little good in such a situation.
So despite the mobilization of the usurper Chinese, the Qing military could only focus a small portion of its Army on that border.
Luckily for Mancukuo, however, the crash industrialization that Japan had forced through in the decade since taking the region over bore fruit. The army was rapidly expanding to cover its many fronts, to the point that the reborn Qing Empire could reasonably be considered a major power in the region. Of course, the majority of these new units were hastily trained, and armed, militia drawn from various ethnic groups present in Manchuria...from Mongols to White Russians. So despite the numbers, the
quality of the units left something to be desired.
Nonetheless, having the recognition of being a rising power was a major boon to Pu-Yi and his ministers.
Far from Asia, events reached a boiling point in the Iberian Peninsula. While the troubles of the Spanish Republic should have meant little to the Qing, or even their Japanese masters, watching the Civil War quickly did become important. Spain was far from its colonial Empire these days...but it wasn't the Spanish themselves that made this Civil War so important, even in far away Manchuria and Tokyo. What made it important was the Proxy War status it quickly gained.
Soviet Russia supported the legitimate government, while Italy and Germany supported Sanjuro and Franco, the Nationalist Spanish. This was important...as both of those powers were making major efforts to draw Japan into their camp. Were these efforts to succeed, events in far-away Europe would have far more importance than they seemed at first.
Though, for the Spanish at least, it didn't seem like their war was going to end any time soon.
Regardless of the outcome of the Spanish Civil War, the aftereffects were being felt in Asia. The Fascist nations of Europe were slowly but surely bringing Japan further into their camp. The government in Tokyo annulled every Naval Treaty it had signed, and began mobilizing its forces...including the Kwantung Army. While the Manchuko Navy fought to maintain 'control' over their old Japanese ships, the Army watched as trainloads of troops and munitions moved to the border with the Republic of China. Anyone in Manchukuo who payed any attention to the situation realized something major was soon to happen.
Little did they know just how major this event would be.
A seemingly innocuous clash along the border between Japanese territory and the Republic exploded into the Second Sino-Japanese War. And this time, the Qing would be fighting their own people alongside the Japanese...to reclaim the Mandate of Heaven.
