Revenge of the Dragon (Or Nationalist China and Their Finest Hour)

[Yearzero]

Do all of you updating in notepad first. Put your links there everything. Then you can just copy and paste the whole thing in one shot. I hate losing work like that. It is hard for me to stay motivated after a big set back like that, so I had to learn how to avoid them.

Not sure why i didn't think of that before,but at least now i do know so that this can be avoided again,thanks!

I use notepad++ for that kind of thing. https://notepad-plus-plus.org/download/v6.7.8.1.html

What does it have that normal notepad (Or anything else) doesn't?

Its looking good, time for war with the Japanesse. I hope tehy aren't too scared of your troops by now.
And like others said, write in something else, than copy-paste it onto teh forum. I use Word, but anything that handles text works fine.

As it turn's out,they actually do get too scared to fire Marco Polo,so unless i seriously drawback my forces (Spoiler: Nearly 500K IIRC,how do i do spoilers?) I'm going to have to attack myself,which allows me to start the war on China's terms instead of Japan's,but i won't go too much deeper into it,not until tonight hopefully

You're getting China back in one piece now

All is left to do now is get Sinkiang back into the fold and,for completeness sake,invade Tibet,which takes awhile due to the rugged and arid terrain,aswell as being lacking in any modern roads or railways.

 

[Yearzero]

Chapter 4: The Western Expedition & The Uneasy Peace (June 30th 1937 - September 24th 1938)


With the reunification of China largely finished, but still underway in the Westernmost provinces, many in China began to wonder whether or not Japan would just sit idly by and watch as a Major Power popped up right across the sea...

Japanese propaganda has already begun fabricating stories about the atrocities carried out in Chiang's name, some in other countries are actually believing Japanese propaganda aswell...

We moved a sizable force to the northern border with Manchuria, we weren't sure whether or not the Japanese would attack, but we were sure that the Francoists had lost the war in Spain, not that this matters to us.

In the west,we were moving on the rogue Governor Sheng and the Tibetan rebels, progress was painfully slow,not due to the breakaway factions having a credible force at their disposal,but due to being way out in the sticks and in some of the most unpleasant terrain Earth has to offer.

Chiang had viewed Sheng Shicai as second only to Mao Zedong in being the bane of China, due to his role in the Soviet interference in Sinkiang, supporting unrest amongst the different peoples residing there aswell as the exploitation of it's raw materials, and he dares to claim that Chiang can do nothing to him due to being out of reach...

Message from Sheng Shicai to one of his commanders intercepted by Chinese intelligence.

He was saying? Shortly afterwards the government of Afghanistan contacts us and offers safe passage should China ever need it, as we have already concluded a similar agreement with Salazar of Portugal, we accept, despite the fact that Sheng dismantled the only road to Afghanistan...

After the conclusion of the Sinkiang Campaign we move onto the Tibetans, despite our forces taking a few months to get into position, Tibet never moves into our undefended provinces, we eventually managed to start an assault on Lhasa, the outcome was never in real doubt (Except as to when the outcome would be decided)

With all of Free China under one banner once again,peace has returned,and with it the constraints of rearming while consumer demands had to be met (Needless to say,China had lots of consumers) despite this,the most ambitious phase of Chinese Rearmament thus far was well under way, but before we get to that, let's take a look at all the other happenings.


In April of 1938, the National Socialists come to power in Austria, and almost immediately the German Wehrmacht on Herr Hitler's orders march across the border,with no shots being fired and Hitler riding triumphantly in Vienna, he is now one step closer to his dream of a Greater Germanic Reich, but he can only get away with so much before the Allied Powers intervened, we thought...

In September of the same year, Hitler met with Chamberlain, Daladier and Mussolini to dicuss the annexation of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany, with no Czech say whatsoever in the partitioning of their country, all the while the British begin exerting further influence on us, many believe that there is now peace in our timer, but we really know that the peace is a lie.

We had also sent our agents to the United States to support the America First Committee, so as to ensure that the Americans do not ally themselves with the British in any future war.

In between all of this,Chinese agents managed to get away with some important technological secrets from the other powers...

Chinese agents get away with a lot of key foreign techs.

These light cruiser guns come at a very interesting time for the Chinese Navy, just before our agents retrevied those blueprints, Chief of the Navy and Minister of Armaments Chen Shaokuan had authorized a incredibly ambitious plan to turn the Chinese Navy into a credible force, earlier,our researchers had worked on the basic blueprints for heavy Cruisers, battlecruisers and battleships, as ancient as the designs may be in comparison to what the other naval powers can build (But very few are) we also know that the Japanese navy has many ancient designs of it's own, so it'll largely be more of a question of experience, which the Japanese have a HUGE advantage in, aswell as the possession of 4 ships which can launch many aircraft to bomb enemy ships hundreds of miles away without harm to themselves (And rumor has it they're skirting the Naval Treaties and laid down another keel) some in Chinese Navy circles argue for the research of these vessels and their aircraft instead of 'obsolete' gunships,but as China is lacking in skilled Aviators which are needed more on land than on the sea,the fact that naval aviation hasn't really proved itself just yet and the assumption that China's new gleet will be operating mostly in the cover of land-based airpower, most feel that this isn't the best course to take, so we laid down the keels of 3 battleships,3 battlecruisers,3 heavy cruisers and another old light Cruiser to assign to our steadily-growing transport fleet,and accordingly we've begun research on light cruiser technology aswell as the doctrines needed to compete with Japan and eventually the British,we're hoping that when the other cruisers finish,we'll have researched at least a couple of generation's in armor,engines and anti-air armament (Aswell as having the main armament on par with anything the world can offer) it will be these light cruisers which will serve as China's escort of choice,in accordance to Chen Shaokuan's Indirect Approach Doctrine.

Due to consumer demands needing to be met (Lest Chiang and the Kuomintang invite the return of Mao and the communists) we can't build as many heavies as we'd like,war would fix this...

Meanwhile, the last preparations were being made for the impending war with Japan,they still haven't provoked any incident at our borders, but we know that this is only due to us appearing too strong for them to beat easily like last time, however,the General Staff is debating whether to launch the Campaign on October 1st (For TEM and SBR) or wait until after the winter snows had melted (More Peaceful R&D/Buildup)... What do you think?

Here's some extra things to take into account... (Techs,Production,Espionage,Armed Forces)

To Be Continued... (And with less pics,to make up for the 20+ already in this...)

 

[sebas379]

Time to drive the Japanese from China once and for all! As long as you make sure not to overstretch teh supplylines in Manchukuo, I can see Chinese force liberating Manchuria and Korea in a matter of months

 

[Yearzero]

Plan of Battle for the Second Sino-Japanese War: The River Plan

(September 24th - October 1st,1938)

After much deliberation,the Chinese Army,under the leadership of Chiang Kai-Shek,have put forth a daring plan to reclaim Manchuria from Japan,all the while destroying a large part of the infamous Kwantung Army,Japan's main fighting force on the continent.

First phase will be to punch straight into the Japanese lines,if our logistics permit,we will try to isolate Japanese division's into pockets which can be attacked from all sides and then destroyed,thus leaving the Japanese front line with a few less division's to get in our way,this will go far in speeding up our advance,according to Chief of Staff Chiang Kai-Shek.

After our Initial Assault,if logistics or weather don't permit us to continue past the Liao river,Yalu will begin when the weather gets a bit less muddy and snowy,we will be focusing on advancing east into southern Manchuria and onto the northern bank of the Yalu river,destroying Japanese divisions in pockets might be harder at this stage,taking into consideration any Japanese reinforcements,logistical strains or the rugged terrain.

After we take Mudken and Harbin,we expect the false Manchukuo-State's Quisling government to come crashing down like a house of cards,the Japanese that failed to make it back into Korea by then will be trapped up in the barren north,isolated,without food,water,shelter and trapped between a hostile Soviet Russia and encroaching Chinese units,the systematic destruction of the Kwantung Army will be all but assured,allowing us to march into Korea virtually unopposed.

Have already started the war,will post another update here later

 

[Yearzero]

Chapter 5: Second Sino-Japanese War: The Opening Act

(October 1st 1938 - January 1st 1939)

With preparation's finally complete,the Chinese Ambassador to Tokyo gave a message to the Japanese Foreign Minister,informing him that as of October 1st,Japan can consider itself at war with China.

Shortly afterwards,Japanese units stage a brief attack on Beiping and Tianjin,though it is quickly repulsed and the Chinese soon begin a general offensive into Manchuria,with only a handful of unit's posted on the border with China,the Japanese are pushed back more and more except in a couple of places,where the Japanese find themselves surrounded instead of on the run,being bombarded from all sides and whenever possible,bombarded from the Air,but the Japanese Air Forces help make up for the lackluster performance of the Army thus far,brushing aside any Chinese attempts to contest the skies (It is during these first Air skirmishes that the American loan officer Chennault and General Tojo clash,it will not be the last time) but in spite of Japanese superiority in the air,it fails to save the divisions trapped in pockets near the border,by October 20,the forces still present in the pockets that haven't decided to die fighting put down their arms,shortly after hostilies began,the Western Powers of Great Britain,France and the United States request to be allowed to run a debt with the Republic of China,we accept,not entirely sure what good this would good us,if any (Or whether or not this is another Western Trick to make a quick buck off of China)

By the end of October advance forces had already reached the River Liao,and an advance Mountaineer division had even crossed the river and moved on to Dalian,however,we had underestimated the time it would take the Japanese to reinforce their front line after our initial encirclements,and the bridgehead soon proves unholdable,as a result,we lose the Mountain division that had earlier seized Dalian after the forces holding the bridgehead were forced to retreat lest they be completely routed (Due to inferior Training and Morale) and the Japanese send a naval force to take back Dalian despite the absence of any of our forces in the area,our aerial squadron's try to bomb the invasion fleet,but as it consisted of 3 carriers + screens,our air forces attacks are utterly futile,but in the meanwhile,as a result of all the battles fought during the Civil War and more recently with Japan,our General's have figured out how to more adequately boost the organization and morale of the Army and increase officer recruitment rates...

In November we managed to trap several more division's on the border with Soviet Mongolia,with Zhao Guoping leading the assault on the pocket,and in the meantime another division is cut off just to the east,with both forces being cut down,the remaining soldiers who see through the Chrysanthemum lies of their warlords,put down their remaining arms,while things are going comparatively well for a while in the north,in the south and east the Japanese have already pushed across the Liao river,and many of the units that were deployed in the initial campaign have begun to tire,affecting their combat performance and slowing down the advance,thus Von Falkenhausen's North China Army,reinforced by fresh Infantry brigades,start marching up north to join the fighting,we order any spare brigades and divisions still marching from the western frontier to Jinan,were they will be reorganized into a new Army with the new Artillery and Combat Engineer's we are currently training,in the meantime,we steal Supply Production level 5 from Japan and Tactical Command Structure from the French,and the Kuomintang starts to align it's foreign policy with that of Germany's...

Situation on January 1st 1939 (Anyone know why that shows less MP lost for Japan than before? And would it be worth it to build Anti-air brigades as China?)

Any advice & tips welcome

 

[sebas379]

The strategic warfare screens are bugged as far as I know. they're a complete mess and unreliable to get any kind of good information from.

My advice is to be careful with your advance. Infra in Manchukuo is horrible and if you push hard your advance might completely outrun its supplylines, come to a halt and be forced back by Japan. Slow and steady is the motto of the day. That and improved infrastructure from your capital northward. Try to crush as many Japanese troops as possible against the Soviet border before turning south and marching into Korea.

 

[Yearzero]

The strategic warfare screens are bugged as far as I know. they're a complete mess and unreliable to get any kind of good information from.

My advice is to be careful with your advance. Infra in Manchukuo is horrible and if you push hard your advance might completely outrun its supplylines, come to a halt and be forced back by Japan. Slow and steady is the motto of the day. That and improved infrastructure from your capital northward. Try to crush as many Japanese troops as possible against the Soviet border before turning south and marching into Korea.

I've ran into supply issues in Manchuria before,in fact in some places some units already report failure of the logistics system,which in addition to being poor,is damaged further by land battles and aerial bombing,i might even pull back a bit in the north so i can focus on crossing the river eastward,i'll also have to make sure my logistical techs are up to par (First level only so far i think) i can also build Infrastructure,but i only learned how to do just before the start of the war so i didn't build any,would it be too late to build some from Nanjing up to the front?

It's still early to tell how many divisions i can trap,taking into account that a fair few of them are Manchukuoan and will surrender once their government falls,but i've used such a strategy (Or at least something similar) before with average results,i might even consider using the new (old) Cruisers and my growing Transport fleet for a amphibious operation just behind their lines or even into Korea,i'll have 4 Marines + new Artillery and Engineer brigades to add to my extra Infantry,maybe i'll build some more Militia for some quick bodies to reinforce the bridgehead (I'll upgrade them later on when i can spare the time/resources/officers,or use them as port garrisons)

Should i worry about building Anti-tank against Japan? I know i'll need them afterward.

 

[sebas379]

AT won't be needed against Japan.
You can always try building up the infra, and try to attack anyways. If it fails, yo ualready began improving and if you succeed you can always cancel after one run for example. And if the advance stalls, slow down and let the supply network catch up. Sometimes slowing down the fighting will improve it so your troops can build up a stockpile for the next push.

 

[TehDarkMiner]

Yea, I wouldn't worry about AT at all - they barely have motorised, let alone armour

I do agree - infra is a nightmare up there so you will want to move slowly. Just be prepared to be forced to move a few troops from the front if you need to save on supplies.

 

[Lonfield]

Quite interesting AAR . You achieved a fast reunification.

 

[Yearzero]

AT won't be needed against Japan.
You can always try building up the infra, and try to attack anyways. If it fails, yo ualready began improving and if you succeed you can always cancel after one run for example. And if the advance stalls, slow down and let the supply network catch up. Sometimes slowing down the fighting will improve it so your troops can build up a stockpile for the next push.

Yea, I wouldn't worry about AT at all - they barely have motorised, let alone armour

I do agree - infra is a nightmare up there so you will want to move slowly. Just be prepared to be forced to move a few troops from the front if you need to save on supplies.

After thinking (And playing a bit more ) about it more and more,i've decided to start building up the Infrastructure,even if only the first level is completed during the campaign in Manchuria,it will still help somewhat with the logistics situation (Better than not building any at all) I also have to keep in mind that more IC devoted to Infrastructure is less for everything else,though i have Just enough IC left over for building my battle fleet and my nearly-complete Engineers and Marine Division's plus another Tactical Bomber and a few more Transports in the queue nearly completed aswell once the former is done,i'll also keep in mind to start gradually withdrawing units from Manchuria if supplies still fail to get through to all the forces stationed there (And i definitely won't send my new special forces up there either,they're gonna be supply/fuel hogs as it is!)

I won't bother with AT for Japan,but do you think a LArm+Cav division would be feasible against Japan,at least for Operation Downfall? As i've yet to research any Light Tank techs apart from the basic design,which happens to be a license built CV33,how we're building questionable-at-best Italian tanks instead of the German Panzers or even Soviet designs is beyond Chiang's understanding (Chiang happens to be a fan of Italian planes and ships however)

Quite interesting AAR . You achieved a fast reunification.

Thank you though i wouldn't say the reunification was fast,it did take until 1938 to annex Tibet Could have sooner,but Chiang was too hell bent on making Sheng pay for insubordination and to keep Sinkiang from going Soviet,some Chinese Generals have spread rumors that Chiang was afraid of the warrior monks in Tibet

 

[TehDarkMiner]

Larm cav, hm, I'm not entirely sure it's worth the short-term cost tbh.
Larm isn't particularly powerful as it is, and with cavalry I think it may just be too expensive. Larm + motorised doesn't even really scale well - Larm is good against weaker opponents, where you want a quick victory and you know they can't stand up to your normal divisions, but against a powerful enemy they're too expensive for what they do

Mind you, you do get construction practicals for normal armour and some motorised practicals too, so it can't hurt to do so if you ever do find yourself with some spare IC and nothing else to spend it on. But I wouldn't recommend it for any other purpose in the context of your game.

 

[Yearzero]

Larm cav, hm, I'm not entirely sure it's worth the short-term cost tbh.
Larm isn't particularly powerful as it is, and with cavalry I think it may just be too expensive. Larm + motorised doesn't even really scale well - Larm is good against weaker opponents, where you want a quick victory and you know they can't stand up to your normal divisions, but against a powerful enemy they're too expensive for what they do

Mind you, you do get construction practicals for normal armour and some motorised practicals too, so it can't hurt to do so if you ever do find yourself with some spare IC and nothing else to spend it on. But I wouldn't recommend it for any other purpose in the context of your game.

So the only real use would be for practicals to speed up production of proper Armor/Motorized,i'll probably save my IC for more pressing needs like a Navy and some semblance of an Air force.

Will have the update posted here later on

 

[Yearzero]

Chapter 6: The Manchurian Capitulation

(January 1st 1939 - June 19th 1939)

Shortly after the New Year,with fresh reinforcements from the North China Army,the Chinese started a general offensive into Manchuria,gradually working their way up the eastern river bank near Mukden,the Kwantung Army and the Manchurian separatists put up fierce resistance every step of the way,combined with undisputed mastery of the air due to having superior aircraft and pilots which still dominate the small and archaic Chinese Air Force and gradually even our sheer numbers of men started doing us no good,nonetheless,by the end of Feburary the Chinese have secured positions on the banks of the Liao River and bridgeheads in the northwest and on the coast just south of Mukden.

We begin to cross over reinforcements over to the southern bridgehead,including Mountain divisions to attack Mukden from the south and Dalian from the north,we start a probing attack from across the river initially as our bridgehead is being expanded south,in addition,we gain a couple more tech steals,one being the latest AA guns deployed on French Light Cruisers,the other being a tech we was only a few months away from researching ourselves,Multirole Fighters from the British.

Once the southern forces reaches the outskirts of Mukden they immediately join the army crossing the river in attacking the city,where on it's outskirts on September 18th 1931,this war first began,retaking the city will almost certainly be a major blow to Separatist morale and Japanese propaganda,on March 22nd,the city is liberated by the Chinese Army,it is perhaps now the end of the beginning...

A few days later in Europe,the storm clouds of war began to rumble as the Germans seize the rest of the Czechoslovak State and partition it between the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia,a Slovakian satellite state and Hungary,in exchange for the latter joining the Axis,shortly thereafter the British guarantee Polish sovereignty,France and Poland start mobilizing their reserves and Italy seized Albania for itself,a few critics in Chinese upper circles start to question the continuing alignment to Nazi Germany...

After the battle of Mukden the Japanese start to get pushed back and back further into Manchuria,only thing slowing down the offensive is battle weariness and to a lesser extent,logistics,with Chinese advance units approaching Harbin,but in the south near Dalian the Japanese are proving to be a real thorn in the side,so we send a transport fleet with 1 Assault Corps to assault Dalian and another fleet to pin down any Japanese interception,but we stumbled into a entire Carrier Division en route,despite persistent attempts at bombing by Japanese naval aviation,we managed to disengage and enter port at Weihai without any loss to ourselves,which,in addition to the completion of the first Light and Heavy Cruisers in April and March,further embarrassing the Japanese military and propaganda machine.

A few days later,we received news that after the capture of the last separatist stronghold at Harbin,the remaining rebel forces that haven't deserted after the fall of Mukden finally drop their arms and hand power over to Kuomintang authorities in the places not controlled by Japanese holdouts,with "Emperor" Pu-Yi taking flight to Tokyo,while massive celebrations and festivals take place in Chinese cities celebrating the 'restoration' of China as a unified country once again after decades of divisions,internal and external.

Meanwhile,the armies in the north have no time yet for celebrations,they start mopping up the Japanese Army Units that managed to get isolated in the chaos following the Manchurian capitulation including several more divisions overran near the borders of Soviet Mongolia,despite the stunning progress in the north however,Dalian holds strong,with the Japanese even sending the Truk Garrison to try and break the Chinese stranglehold,which is already tenuous at best,but not THAT tenuous...

On June 10th,we received a invitation from the German foreign minister Constantin von Neurath to join the Pact of Berlin,we informed him that we needed some time to think things over...

Divided between going Axis,staying independent and taking on every major power at one point or another or a unholy alliance between Nationalist China and the Soviet Union,any way it'll be fun,but the time to make a decision is slowing slipping away (Jap neutrality is 27,i'm the world bogeyman)

 

[Baltasar]

Why would China ally itself to anybody now? Your are undefeatable in the long run, driving out the Japanese is ample proof for that. Let the others do what they think they must, you can easily go on conquering South East Asia, may be India one day, too.

 

[sebas379]

China as an ally to Germany will be so much better for them than Japan. Considering the size of her army she can be a tremendous help against the Soviets, instead of doing something crazy like attacking the USA (I guess). Together you should have the numerical superiority against the Soviets, that should take care of them.

 

[Yearzero]

Why would China ally itself to anybody now? Your are undefeatable in the long run, driving out the Japanese is ample proof for that. Let the others do what they think they must,you can easily go on conquering South East Asia, may be India one day, too.

It's not so much that i'm worried about getting defeated than it is more about being worried about the state of my Air Force,something an alliance with the Fascists or even Communists would help to solve (Like to think of it as using the foreigners and their gifts )

Then again,after Japan is gone i will have more than enough time and leadership to start catching up in air techs.

 

[Yearzero]

China as an ally to Germany will be so much better for them than Japan. Considering the size of her army she can be a tremendous help against the Soviets, instead of doing something crazy like attacking the USA (I guess). Together you should have the numerical superiority against the Soviets, that should take care of them.

You bring up a good point,a combined Sino-German offensive would strain the Bolshevist war machine past its breaking point due to having to fight not just the Germans and European Axis in the west,but dealing with any Chinese incursions from Sinkiang and Manchuria into Central Asia,Mongolia and Eastern Siberia,plus China is the only country that can stand up to a war of attrition with the bear (Wouldn't hurt to research Agriculture a few more levels though)

 

[Remitonov]

Are you planning to release Korea as a puppet?

 

[Yearzero]

Are you planning to release Korea as a puppet?

Probably not,because i would rather release it as a single puppet,but vanilla TFH will only allow me to release North AND South Korea if wanted to completely not worry about governing the Korean peninsula.

Speaking of Korea,i'll have the conclusion of that campaign up today