TURBULENT TIMES
The Final Push
1936, August - October
On August 10th Higashikuni's army begins its march to Datong - a city in Taihang mountains. This isn't the shortest or safest route to the warlord capital, but Kwantung Army has much more troops present in that region. Transferring them to the South could take even longer. 80 000 warlord soldiers rally to defend Datong, but they lack equipment, ammunition and, most importantly, aircraft. With IJAAF dominating the skies they will be forced to surrender sooner or later. Japanese pilots rarely hit their targets, but the psychological effect is what matters.
On August 16th, Chinese receive reinforcements from the capital. Higashikuni reacts immediately and requests for more support. 4 IJA divisions, including the Imperial Guards, join the battle and assault the Chinese positions around the city. But they fail to quickly brake the defensive line. The battles drags on for 8 more days and another 6 IJA divisions are sent to the frontlines. This is it - no more reserves are available. Chinese also throw their last men into the battle. Fortunately, their last division arrives hours before the fall of the city, too late to influence the outcome of the battle.
Datong falls on August 28th, and the road to Taiyuan is cleared. But not for long - the retreating Chinese soldiers reach the capital first and quickly organize the defenses. Most of the enemy soldiers lost their weapons during the retreat and now are armed with pitchforks and bamboo sticks. The battle for Taiyuan turns into a slaughter. Japanese soldiers are shocked, but this is war - not training. During both battles IJA lost only 2800 soldiers and 10 bombers - insignificant losses compared to Chinese. Of course, they have an endless supply of manpower, while for Japan every dead soldier counts.
Higashikuni and Terauchi continue their attacks southward, but General Hata is ordered to advance through the Ordoso desert to the city of Yuling - the last refuge of the Shanxi warlords. The city is captured almost without any resistance, that's because the remaining Shanxi soldiers fled to the Ma warlord territory days before the Japanese arrival. On October 8th, two days later after the capture of Yuling, Hirohito officially announces the victory in China.
Nationalist troops strengthen their positions along the new border with Japan, but no incidents take place. Both sides are careful not to provoke each other, since war could mean trouble for both Chiang and Hirohito.
1936, October - December
Hirohito is informed daily about the Guangxi-Guomindang war and it is clear that Chiang Kai-shek will win. Li Zongren is loosing more and more land every day and Guangxi is slowly overcome by economical crisis. Although Zongren's men are more experienced and better trained, they have to count their bullets - ammunition is scarce while Chiang's armies are numerous. On October 10th, Nationalist armies arrive from the North and brake the fragile front in several places at once. Days later Guilin, the Southern warlord capital, is overrun by the advancing Nationalists and, on October 16th, Li Zongren is forced to sign a peace agreement. Most of the coastal provinces, including Guangzhou, are handed over to Nationalists and Li Zongren is publicly trialed and humiliated, but eventually Chiang pardons him and. Zongren did such a good job in modernizing Guangxi that Chiang decides to keep him as a Guomindang representative in the region.
After the victory, Chiang becomes even more feared by other warlords and gains almost absolute control over China. His fiery speeches about a "strong, united China" excite the masses and thousands of young volunteers join the rapidly growing and developing army. Furthermore, China is the number one trade partner in the region for the Western countries, while Japan is usually ignored. This angers Hirohito very much…
In late October Chiang Kai-shek leaves Nanjing for Xi'an. On December 4th he is welcomed by the local Guomindang leaders and is shown around the newly built military base. Chiang gives a speech about the importance of resisting the communism and reveals his new plan of suppression of Mao's forces. One of the listeners is Zhang Xueliang - former warlord of Manchuria and present ally of Guomindang. He is clearly unhappy about Chiang's position against communists.
After the speech he joins Chiang for dinner and tries to persuade him of joining forces with the Communist Party: "While you are busy fighting your own, the Japanese are gaining lands in the North! They have crushed Shanxhi warlords and you did nothing to help them! They will not stop there… But it's not too late to save the situation - you must make peace with Mao and together push the Japanese back where they came from!". "Push them back all the way to Korea and give Manchuria back to you? Is that your plan Zhang? You make me laugh!" - replied Chiang and ordered his bodyguards to escort Zhang outside.
But Zhang wasn't ready to give up yet. On December 12th, Zhang's soldiers arrest Chiang. Two of Chiang's accompanies are killed during the incident. He is taken to a secret location somewhere near the communist frontier. Later that evening, a delegation from Communist China arrives under the cover of darkness. The fate of Chiang and the entire China is in their hands…
Zhang hoped that Mao will reach an agreement with Guomindang, but instead he begins demanding Chiang's head. Things quickly deteriorating and Chiang is faced with a death sentence. But then, on December 14th, Mao receives a note from Stalin himself. To his surprise, Stalin is well aware of the incident and the note clearly states that Chiang Kai-shek's death would not be beneficial to Soviet interests in the Far East. Mao has no other choice, but to negotiate for peace. So, four days later, both Communist Party and Guomindang reach an agreement to create a united front in case of any further Japanese aggression. The next day, Zhang escorts Chiang Kai-shek to Nanjing, where Chiang orders to arrest him for treason.
Japanese intelligence was aware of Chaing's kidnapping, but nobody suspected Stalin's involvement. However, the outcome of the
Xi'an incident is frightening. On December 20th Hirohito was informed about the peace in China: "A united China? Never!" - shouts the Emperor and openly declares to his ministers:" We must prepare for war! It's either they, or we!"
Internal Affairs
1936, December
On December 22nd, Hirohito arranges a top-secret meeting with his ministers and top IJA and IJN commanders. The topic is clear - war with China. "To mach China's military strength on land we must expand the Army first. The Navy can wait!" - began Kitohito. "Nonsense!" - replied Mineo. "Gentlemen, gentlemen, without a strong Air Force there will be little use of both the Navy and Army." - concluded Yamamoto. But Japanese industrial capacity isn't limitless, in fact it can barely support the current projects, not to mention the supply production. Hirohito has to choose one path, and he chooses the obvious - infantry. 15 new infantry divisions are planned to be raised, a small amount indeed. But that is the maximum that Japan can afford at the moment.
Japanese research priorities also become a hard discussion topic. Despite many disagreements, Hirohito persuades his ministers to
focus on industrial and agricultural research. After all, manpower and industry will be the key factors in any future wars. However, the Air Force and the Army will soon receive some new equipment as well.
And the final issue of the meeting is the Pacific defense plan. This plan places 10 garrison divisions under the direct control from the Imperial Japanese Navy. These soldiers will guard the most important air and naval bases in the Pacific region in case of American aggression. Chief of the Navy examines the map and comments on the lack of troops: "The gaps in the security chain are huge! If the Americans decide to intervene in our future "affairs" in China, then I can not guarantee total protection from an invasion". "How more men do you need, Admiral?" - asks Hirohito. "From the looks of this - at least 50 000 more!". It is hard to argue with a professional, but Japan has barely enough men to guard the border with China, so Mineo's request is politely rejected.
Later that month, Mineo receives several new additions to the Imperial Japanese Navy - 10 Type C-class submarines and a light cruiser,
so he can't complain too much. The new cruiser IJN Kumano joins her sister ship IJN Suzuya and becomes part of the IJN Special Task Fleet.
Meanwhile, the IJN battleships Nagato and Mutsu receive the new fire control systems, making them even more powerfull than before.
1937, January
At the beginning of new year, a massive counter espionage campaign takes place in Japanese occupied parts of China. Hundreds of
Chinese are arrested and interrogated. Most of them turn out to be working for Guomindang, the Communist Party or Guangxi. Japan is being secretly attacked from all sides, but Kempeitai is steadily wiping out these unwanted "guests".
