The Chinese are fighting themselves too?
Also, gripping update. I love how detailed you get in describing the home front. Here's hoping for a GOP landslide. Maybe then in this universe they can get Reconstruction to stick.
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The Chinese are fighting themselves too?
Also, gripping update. I love how detailed you get in describing the home front. Here's hoping for a GOP landslide. Maybe then in this universe they can get Reconstruction to stick.
Part 49: The Second Sinocentric War; Part 5, The Qing Victorious
The Qing military staff had learned immensely valuable lessons from the war effort, and the Qing began to close the gap in tactics and strategy with the Americans.
The Americans, meanwhile, were running out of artillery and trained soldiers, and were now forced to rely on massed hordes of infantry, using numbers of bodies as a stand in for quality. With a two to one numerical advantage, the attack on Klamath Falls by the American horde was successful; but the Americans suffered 2:1 casualties in China's favor, a Pyrrhic victory. And it was to be the last American victory of the war.
The American siege force in San Diego was utterly annihilated, with every last soldier either dead, wounded, or captured by the Qing invasion force. It was a humiliating defeat that began to collapse morale among the American people. Back at home, the movement calling for surrender grew ever louder, angry that so many conscripts had been thrown into suicidal battles with only the most minimal training. In San Diego, meanwhile, the Chinese citizens welcomed the triumphant soldiers as heroes, turning out in the streets to cheer them as they marched through the city victorious.
The battle for Eureka went better for the Americans, since here they still had a few brigades of artillery to provide support against the Qing beachhead, but there too the American lines collapsed into a rout. Still, the Americans could celebrate one final victory, at last capturing Sacramento while all the Chinese forces were busy fighting. The Americans, frustrated by the bloody war, reportedly wreaked horrific retributions on the civilian population of Sacramento, but they had little time to do any damage - the Chinese were already preparing to save the people of Sacramento from the barbarian menace.
But by far the most decisive battle of the entire war was the Battle of Mariposa, which had been raging on for months. At long last, the courageous Americans finally routed. The Americans had thrown everything they had at the Sierra Nevada Mountains in their attempt to break through, sacrificing virtually all their remaining artillery and regular infantry, not to mention countless conscripts, in this desperate final effort to break the Qing defenses, or at least tie them down in the mountains until they could be encircled. The latter hope had nearly come true, but now, with countless Qing reinforcements having arrived from mainland China, any such hopes were utterly dashed. Over a hundred thousand Americans had given their lives for nothing. General Abner Arthur would later retire in disgrace, and forever be immortalized as the architect of one of America's greatest defeats - some even whispered he was a Qing agent, who had deliberately arranged for his own defeat, and called for his head.
The American government tried to stop word of the catastrophe from getting out, but with so many having died, this proved impossible. News of the disaster spread rapidly, and morale at home collapsed. The movement calling for surrender grew from a fringe movement to one with widespread appeal, with even New York City itself hosting anti-war protests, despite them having the most to lose. With almost all the lower class men in the entire country having been drafted, women began organizing a mass women's march on Washington - calling for an end to the war, an end to Jim Crow, an end to the KKK, an end to all of the suffering and death that had now ended the lives of nearly a million Americans. The American leadership began fearing an outright revolution, and began publicly negotiating with China about terms of surrender for the first time - but still, the extreme Chinese demands were unacceptable to America's leaders. And so the war continued.
Chinese anthropologists studied these events in America with great interest, and Xianfeng's regime turned to them for advice on how best to demoralize the Americans.
On their advice, Xianfeng made public announcements promising New Yorkers autonomy - that their state government would stay intact, that they would still be allowed local elections, that China would bring true racial equality. While America did its best to stop rumors of these promises from getting out, America's policies of freedom of speech and press doomed these efforts to failure, and the Chinese propaganda proved effective - Americans grew less afraid of surrender, and thus more in favor of peace. Ecstatic, Xianfeng ordered significantly increased research grants to China's anthropologists, beginning a golden age for the science.
The war still raged on for now, though the American military was on its last legs. The Qing generals were planning a massive advance east to force the Americans to capitulate, but first, they would have to liberate Sacramento.
Qing armies moved east, once again invading Arizona and Nevada.
And another Qing army moved to save the Chinese citizens of Sacramento.
And inspired by the war, Qing training practices improved considerably, both for officers and regular soldiers.
Growing desperate, the Americans mounted one last, hopeless offensive to try and reclaim Portland.
And the battle for Sacramento, the last obstacle to a rapid Qing advance eastward, went on. General Ulysses Barstow had managed to regroup what was left of America's artillery, but against the thunder of 90,000 Qing artillery his paltry 10,000 proved woefully ineffective, even with the mountains as a shield. Over 180,000 soldiers were tied up in liberating Sacramento from the barbarian occupation, and Barstow messaged Washington to inform them that the Union army was utterly doomed unless they received immediate reinforcements.
But alas, the Americans had no reinforcements left to commit. Some proposed expanding the draft to include women, the countless women volunteers who had joined the war effort having dispelled misogynist myths about the frailty of women - but more sane minds knew the American economy would collapse if women, too, were drafted. And hundreds of thousands of people, mostly women (since the men were all dead, captured, or hospitalized from the war) - white, black, and Chinese alike - had finally arrived in Washington, demanding an end to the war and the KKK's reign of terror, in the greatest mass protest in American history. Women nationwide organized additional protests and strikes in solidarity.
With the American army destroyed and the few surviving brigades about to be overwhelmed, and mass protests that threatened to turn into revolution, and no army with which to defeat any potential revolution, the American government capitulated to all demands.
To China, the American government capitulated with the following treaty:
1. New York state would be ceded in perpetuity to the Chinese Empire.
2. America would henceforth refer to California as Fusang in official correspondence, and refrain from referencing "Manifest Destiny" in official correspondence.
3. All coastal portions of Alaska would be ceded in perpetuity to the Chinese Empire.
4. America would agree to allow a Chinese occupation force safe passage through American territory to New York.
5. America formally agreed to recognize the Chinese tributary network as a valid portion of international law, just as Britain had been forced to do.
To the protesters, the government capitulated by passing two acts. The first, was a constitutional amendment giving unlimited power to the federal government to enforce a ban on racial discrimination, reversing earlier court rulings that had undermined Reconstruction. State assemblies approved the new amendment within days, themselves threatened by similar mobs (except New York, which was no longer a part of the Union) The second, was a law based on the constitutional amendment, officially outlawing violent racial hate organizations, banning Jim Crow-style racial segregation laws, banning anti-miscegenation laws, outlawing all discrimination against non-white applicants for federal jobs (including the military), abolishing the registers of Chinese citizens that had been made in the lead-up to the war, banning loan sharking against (overwhelmingly black) sharecroppers, several measures to protect black and Chinese peoples' rights to vote, and several other measures.
After signing this final bill, President Grant officially announced his resignation, accepting blame for America's greatest ever military humiliation. The former Confederates in charge of the US House and Senate, meanwhile, were voted out of leadership by their own parties, serving as scapegoats for the Democratic party's part in stoking racial and international tensions that had led to the catastrophe. The horrific degree of male casualties in the war, meanwhile, ensured that efforts to put women "back in the kitchen," so to speak, were doomed to failure, as such an action would cause the American economy to collapse - this, combined with women's role in the anti-war movement, would catapult feminist's organizations to prominence, normalize the presence of women in factories, and ultimately inspire the women's suffrage movement of later years.
In China, meanwhile, there were celebrations in the streets - especially in Sacramento, where the local population had been further decimated by house-to-house fighting as the Chinese had tried to expel the American occupation. Xianfeng personally awarded medals of honor, along with promotions, to several Qing officers who had helped mastermind the victory, and cheering crowds in Beijing turned out to celebrate the returning Qing armies - China was witnessing the beginnings of a new brand of inter-ethnic patriotism, like nothing China had ever before seen in its history; helped along both by the modernization of China's education system, and its heroic victories abroad.
And so the war ended.
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Will you keep NY until a Chinese majority is reached and then release them as vassals?
Yes! You must Colonize New York until it becomes one with Mother China!
The main thing I don't like about the territories is how ugly it looks when you take land 
I highly doubt that those borders would be exactly like that if another nation were to take a state. The borders would be more jagged and rough. But still quite impressive
I highly doubt that those borders would be exactly like that if another nation were to take a state. The borders would be more jagged and rough. But still quite impressive 
Will you be making any changes to the USA to reflect the concessions, or were those mostly narrative flavor?
Those borders... *shudders*
But beyond that, it seems as if you've changed the US for the better. New York by this point is quite different than the sparsely populated Fusang was when you claimed it. I have no clue what you're going to do with it, but it should be a fascinating read.
Much as I didn't like your idea to invade the US, I'm almost hoping you'll fight them again now to release New England and fix your borders XD
But beyond that, it seems as if you've changed the US for the better. New York by this point is quite different than the sparsely populated Fusang was when you claimed it. I have no clue what you're going to do with it, but it should be a fascinating read.
Much as I didn't like your idea to invade the US, I'm almost hoping you'll fight them again now to release New England and fix your borders XD
Oh my Confucius oh my Confucius oh my Confucius oh my Confucius oh my Confucius oh my Confucius
This Celestial Empire is like... Oh my Confucius
Please. Make California awesome.
This Celestial Empire is like... Oh my Confucius
Please. Make California awesome.
Just narrative flavor.
NY has no cores, so I can't release it as a vassal. I will probably release the Manhattan Commune, though, once I need the infamy reduction.
As for a Chinese majority, I'd like that, but I doubt it will be possible; New York's population is just too high, unlike California's was.
For the moment, the main benefit is a huge boost to China's industry, as New York is one of the most industrialized states in the world. It will also provide a useful naval base for Qing operations against the UK, later in the game.
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Part 50: Chinese New York
With the war over, China moved swiftly to bring New York into the Sinocentric fold. This was easier said than done - even among those in the state who were considered racially Chinese, almost everyone was ethnically Yankee, a completely alien and barbaric culture from the Chinese perspective.
The Qing regime had every intention of fulfilling its promises of autonomy for New York - if only for purely practical reasons. New York was far too far away, and too culturally alien, for a traditional direct administration to succeed - doing so would risk open rebellion. The first act of the new Qing regime in New York was to formally appoint the elected governor of New York as the official Qing governor of the region. The Xianfeng Emperor further promised that so long as the New York electorate continued to elect candidates who was competent and loyal to China, Xianfeng would always appoint whoever the New Yorkers elected as his choice for governor. He also allowed the rest of the New York state government to continue operating largely uninterrupted. Theoretically New York would be subject to the same tax regime as the rest of China, but China did not have the necessary bureaucracy to enforce the measure, and did not risk its position by pressuring the state government to pay up - and so taxes went largely uncollected in New York. For most New Yorkers, daily life remained largely unchanged.
However, for some the changes were quite radical. The New York Stock Exchange shrunk rapidly, as American companies headquartered outside New York were relisted to the Philadelphia Stock Exchange; and the Qing government rapidly bought up 51% stakes in the local factories (at fair market rates), effectively seizing ownership of New York's economy, and imposing its state capitalist economic model. Eventually, the NYSE would outright close its doors, though it remained open, a shell of its former self, for several years.
New Yorkers also found themselves subject to the obscenely high Qing tariff system that all the Empire was subject to, which made trade with the United States so expensive, that it was generally cheaper to ship goods all the way from mainland China to New York than to buy something from the U.S. This threatened an economic collapse in the short term, which the Qing prevented with some heavy subsidies until the New Yorkers could secure new supply chains; the New Yorkers soon adjusted to the new tariffs. Unlike with taxation, the Qing were very rigorous in enforcing the new tariffs - Qing authorities decided that ripping New York away from the American economy and bringing it into the Sinocentric economic sphere were critical to ensuring continued Chinese control of New York, let alone any sort of long-term cultural assimilation.
And of course, New Yorkers trying to cross the border into the U.S. now had to contend with the horrible inconvenience of having to go through immigration checkpoints. However, since almost all New Yorkers retained American citizenship (as well as being awarded Chinese citizenship as part of the annexation), such travel was easy. Those displeased with the Chinese regime would frequently emigrate in the coming years.
The New York state government also had to create its own local services to replace the US Post Office and other related federal agencies, which now could no longer operate in New York.
And last but not least, the Qing regime demanded the New York state government pass rigorous new laws to eliminate the evils of racism, similar to the ones the U.S. government had passed, which the Radical Republicans who dominated New York's state government were more than happy to comply with. On a related note, the Radical Republicans of New York (and the much smaller Democrats of New York), were slowly pressured into cutting all official ties with their USA branches - though unofficial ties would persist well into the future.
Almost all Yankees, of course, perceived the Chinese as an occupying authority, and generally would have preferred to be reunited with the USA. But the relaxed nature of the Qing occupation ensured most Americans did not become outraged enough to take up arms, and the Qing managed to solidify their grip on New York over the years, economically and politically.
Solidifying a cultural hold on New York, however, would prove a far more complicated challenge. The culture clash between Chinese and Yankee culture was immense, and ultimately, the Qing authorities concluded that any such assimilation might be impossible, or at the very least would take a very long time. But still, there were some changes - more and more New Yorkers began learning Chinese and other East Asian and African languages, driven by the growing trade ties with those regions; and New Yorkers were exposed to a heretofore unprecedented amount of Chinese literature and scholarship, which competed against the Western ideas that had dominated New York before.
The effects of New York on mainland China were also significant. The Qing regime viewed New Yorker democracy as purely a local eccentricity, no different from the many ways in which local Chinese villages organized themselves, and thus did not perceive it as a threat; after all, many Chinese villages had effectively been democratic in their methods of choosing their leaders for centuries. As a general rule the Chinese Emperorers had never bothered to interfere with the way locals chose their leaders, so long as said leaders did not rebel.
However, New York was quite simply the largest and freest democratic society within China, and its presence within China's lands would drive an upsurge in activism calling for democratic reforms. Many Chinese scholars who paid a visit to New York were impressed by the degree of freedom of speech, press, and the principles of democracy that remained almost wholly absent in China (at least once they got over the initial culture shock); indeed, in the future many Chinese dissidents would move to New York so they could take advantage of New York's local autonomy. Calls for democracy remained a fringe ideology in China, but over the years they would continue to grow. And China's integration of New York finally convinced the Xianfeng Emperor to loosen restrictions on the importation of foreign literature - to restrictions had largely become obsolete, since Germany had been granted an exemption and now New York's presence within the Chinese nation had effectively ripped a gaping hole in the censorship program. Specific books deemed threatening to the regime were still banned (except in New York, where the local autonomy ensured the censorship laws were not enforced), but no longer was there a blanket restriction on Western literature.
But for now, at least, the Qing regime took relatively little notice of these cultural developments. Of more interest to the regime were the vast quantities of industrial production in New York state, which was one of the world's most industrialized regions, second only to parts of the United Kingdom. Qing engineers visited in droves to learn how to replicate modern American-style factory designs, and the huge artillery factories of New York would provide the backbone of Chinese military production for years to come. With a stroke, China's industrial output finally rivaled the established industries of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. (I literally gained over a hundred points of industry score)
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And so the desire for democracy begins to smolder in the background. Here's hoping His Majesty is able to survive the eventual tensions and agree to a constitutional monarchy.
Though the rise of a certain concubine of Xianfeng's might put a damper on reforms.
Though the rise of a certain concubine of Xianfeng's might put a damper on reforms.
High desire for Democracy should help you reform your country. So all in all everything is looking great in China. But don't forget that your mission is not over as long as a single Yankee still lives outside your own sphere!
Because there's barely anyone living in Alaska, and almost none of them are Americans. =P Remember, America only just bought Alaska from Russia a few years before the war, so any colonists living there are overwhelmingly Russian, and thus the whole place has little if any cultural connection to America. And I honestly haven't paid much attention to Alaska so far, all I've done with it is build and upgrade a local naval base.
But I'll try to fit some mention of Alaska into the next update, then.