Chopsticks in the Mist
...Though the Turkish army was no slouch, the brilliant leadership of the foremost Chinese military minds succeeded in bypassing the Turkish army with a a small force, while the main Turkish army was bogged down slaughtering militia, leading to the eventual annexation of the creation of Attaturk following the capture of Istanbul, April 25th, 1937. Meanwhile, the Japanese army had managed to punch trough the defenders of the mountainous province of Datong despite the heroic efforts of the defenders, long may they live in our memories, and the south of China was stripped of the last remaining militia divisions to contain the advancing armies while awaiting the training of the four elite mountaineer divisions... This called for decisive action, and the great Chiang Kai-shek was never one to tarry when danger called: So he invaded Bulgaria.
"A tad risky, Master?"
"Perhaps, disciple. Perhaps."
...A nation that had long been an offense to Chinese sensibilities and the nobility of man. In fact, in scholarly circles there is some doubt as to whether Bulgaria should actually be considered a nation at all, since it was peopled by a crude barbarian tribe, the Bulgars.
"My head hurts, Master"
"This will fuse at least 12% of the remaining brain cells of a censor without special training, disciple, according to prevalent theory."
...The battle of Varna (May 11th-24th) was the bloodiest clash of armies of 1937. Under the personal command of Field Marshal Chiang Kai-shek, 15 militia, two infantry, and three cavalry divisions took the field. They were faced by the multitudes of the Bulgarian Horde and a Horde Airforce as well, and many were the deeds of bravery committed by the heroic Chinese armies in the face of the savage attacks, and many the acts of treachery by the tribesmen. But justice prevailed. On May 24th the sun shined bright on the battlefield as the tribes broke at last, and the remaining cavalry were sent in pursuit. Mopping up the remnants would take a month, but few were the casualties inflicted by the craven primitives during this time. Yet they had done enough damage already, causing more than 50% casualties on the 20 Chinese divisions. Fortunately, there were always more brave peasants ready to make a living in the army of Mighty China.
"I thought they were conscripts, Master?"
"Why I put up with you, disciple, I shall never know."
"Well, there was that incident with the CENSORED and the CENSORED whom you EXPLETIVE DELETED repeatedly, but don't worry, my mouth is sealed."
"Shut up!"
...For some reason or another, the new neighbours in Romainia, Yugoslavia, and Greece, decided to heavily patrol their borders with China in a menacing way. But the benevolent, humble, and forgiving, leadership chose to take no offense to the 40 divisions the three nations had mustered. Rather, the Chinese armies were withdrawn so as not to cause offense, and redeployed in North-Western China some time later, together with the four elite Mountaineer divisions. Additionally, three reinforced artillery tank brigades with the finest pre-war technology that China could offer, were being raised and would be ready for action come November. But, for now, the 48 militia divisions reinforced by the mountaineers would have to suffice. Following bloody battles Datong was retaken in June and it became obvious that assaulting the approximately 24 front-line battalions of the Japanese army would be suicide. An alternative approach was sought - and found. A separate declaration of war was delivered to the perfidious puppets in Manchuko, and two thirds of all the armies of China were sent in a headlong dash through the one temporarily understrength province in the Japanese defense, Qiqihar. Once taken, the defenders of the key provinces of Manchuko were outnumbered ten to one, and fell quickly to the righteous forces of retribution. The main army of China had thus managed to circumvent the Japanese armies, and in was quickly deployed to contain them, while the cavalry contingent overran Korea. And thus, on July 26th, the armies of Japan were caught in three pockets: Hailar-Oroqen Zizhiqi (three divisions), Linxi-Fuxin-Changchun (eight divisions), and Daliam-Sinuiju (five divisions). A further eight or ten Japanse divisions were routing. Of these three pockets, only the southern one could be supplied by the Japanese. Only mopping up remained. Softened by air strikes from the mighty airforce of China and out of supply, the pockets fell one by one to the armies of Chiang Kai-shek. By September 5th the two northern pockets had been cleansed, and by September 18th, the last sixteen Japanese divisions surrendered in Fuxin. It was a great victory: In one season Japan had lost 17 infantry, 8 cavalry, 2 motorized, and 2 mechanized divisions, and only retained six divisions for the defense of their home isles. Well, six divisions and a relatively humongous fleet, but their ability to project power into China was gone, never to return. Following two years of fierce fighting, it should come as no surprise that the military leadership had grown very experienced. The army boasted seven Field Marshals, the most skilled of whom were Chiang Kai-Shek(9), but the others weren't half bad either (7/7/5/3/2/2). Additionally, many Generals had gained experience, and the Air Marshall of China was quite good (4). And to top it off, it had only cost 600 manpower out of 5000!
"What utter disgracefulness it is to measure the lives of men in abstract units of manpower, Master!"
"It is government policy, disciple. Leave it be."
...To be continued...
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OOC: Methinks that it is soon time for some IC and tech statistics. Not that there is all that much to report concerning tech, really, since China starts with exactly 0 techs, and the first techs are pretty expensive, but still. Things are looking up. And soon the three artillery pre-war tank divisions will be ready...
Ps: Don't ask why I don't just load a single division on a ship and conquer all of Japan. The answer is obvious and two-fold. 1) Japan has a navy. 2) I cannot build transport ships yet. (Of these, I'll have to admit, that 2) is the prime reason)