I thought @Dadarian said no aircraft available? Does that not naturally mean Standardization is the only option?
Also, how about making the Howell Automatic Rifle the standard rifle and starting to phase out everything else? It has an outsized impact on the Battle of Shanghai, you know?
I took it as meaning that internal production of airplanes is currently impossible, the plan if airplanes won out is to gain planes through other method, this was the base plan I had made up:
Create the ROCAF. Planes will be gained through the following methods:
-Asking the Soviets for planes, flyers, trainers, and engineers with experience in the area. Pay if necessary.
-Offering to buy any plane from wherever possible (any corporation, any government), accepting extreme prices. Try to bribe members of the corporations/ officials in the government so they will accept. Particularly, gain them (both legally and unofficially) through and from the British Raj and French Indochina, as they can go through land.
-Loyal, but little known members of the KMT with experience in business will create separate shell corporations in Shanghai, Macao, Hong Kong, Tsingtao, Beijan and Tianjin, with the purpose of buying airplanes, and smuggling them to the Canton-KMT. The NBIS will aid in this matter.
-Expropriating any plane in the Canton-KMT, with the person being paid and acceptable price, and if they have experience, being offered a job as a trainer/flyer.
-If you (Du Yuesheng) accepted, having you smuggle them in too, in exchange for whatever.
Standarization, as good as it would be, just seems like something that would be better to do when not fighting against an enemy with superior firepower, and little hunger or capability for a long war.
About the Howell Rifle: I don't really have much knowledge about rifles, but since most militaries I know of didn't use automatic rifles at this time, and I don't know how easy they would be to mass-produce, I didn't think they'd be a good choice- in the plan I had them for a support unit that worked like machine gunners (since the KMT has almost no machine guns):
all divisions (starting with the best and cotinuing with the rest) will have a support battalion armed with Howell rifles
But, as I said, I don't know much about rifles.
As this occurred, the Qing government wiped their hands of the Fengtian Clique, outlining them as rogue elements that had unrightfully seized the various provinces from court control.
Try to secretly make a temporal ceasefire/alliance with KMT and reconcile with the Fengtian Clique to make a surprise attack with the united forces from all three sides
Mortenkam, Does "reconcile with the Fengtian Clique" mean going back on this statement made earlier?
@VoidZero, would you consider being declared Governor of the North East/Manchuria by the Republic, in exchange for symbolically accepting it as the legitimate government, and promises of future aid (supposing you survive, of course)?
