A Little Trouble in Big China - A Chinese Warlord Quest

Dadarian · May 24, 2018

The Qing Empire has fallen. Yuan Shikai has passed. The National Protection War is nearing its end. Alas now, behind closed doors, the entire nation churns as individuals try to create and grasp movements in which to ride to power. The future of China, indeed, maybe of all of East Asia, is in your hands! Welcome to A Little Trouble in Big China.

This game is a civil war quest which has rules of my own making. Improving from my previous Mexican quest, each turn your questing ballot will be divided into two parts. The first half will focus on which individual you are giving your support too. The second part then allows you, the player, to write a plan, however brief or complicated you desire, about how the individual you support should act over the course of the turn. This promotes discussion, debate, and participation in the player base.

Each half of the ballot will be weighted in different ways. Votes of support will all be weighted as a whole, wherein even an individual who has the least amount of support can still have some support. That said, plans will be voted in a more traditional absolutist way, where only the plan with the most votes will become the plan that is applied to the individual in question.

The only explicit goal for this quest is that it will stay firmly within the bounds of China's interests, and that the game will end when a singular individual secures permanent control of all of China (think Mao after the KMT fled to Taiwan).

I greatly look forward to QMing this quest, and hope that all of you have an equal amount of fun playing.

Support: Chiang Kai-shek
Plan: Secure control of Manchuria through provoking a fight between Russia and Japan by staging a false flag operation meant to enrage both against one another.

1916

The death of Yuan Shikai has had a great impact on the future of China. Shikai's imperial dreams are no more and the anti-monarchist southern warlords are already parading their victory for all to see even as fighting continues on the front. However, there is still so much work to be done. The Japanese support for the Republicans has secured them occupation of parts of Manchuria and the Coast, important steps necessary for the Japanese Emperor to enforce his unfair Twenty One Demands. As well, the imperialist Western powers also continue to mock the power of China, as Russian troops guard Manchurian railroads and British gunboats travel up and down the Yellow River. Shikai may be dead, but there are many more obstacles to overcome, even as infighting threatens to break out as rivalries arise.

Who do you support?

Cai E: Yunnanese Warlord who heads the Republican army and noted military genius.

Tang Jiyao: Yunnanese Warlord who fought for the Republicans, in control of Yunnan, and ambitious general.

Long Jiguang: Ho Warlord who was formerly loyal to Shikai, but now controls much of Guangdong independently. Noted victor in Guangxi Province.

Duan Qirui: Han General and statesman formerly under Yuan Shikai, one of the favourites to take over leadership from the late Shikai.

Li Yuanhong: Han General and statesman formerly under Yuan Shikai, one of the favourites to take over leadership from the late Shikai. Noted conservative.

Xu Shichang: Han statesman and Shikai loyalist. Civilian. One of the favourites to take over leadership from the late Shikai.

Zhang Zuolin: Han General in Manchuria and noted monarchist. Enemy of Duan Qirui.

Lu Rongting: Zhuang General who fought with the Republicans after suddenly breaking from Shikai in 1913. Leads the Guangxi Clique.

Du "Big-Eared Du" Yuesheng: Han mob boss who has a controlling interest in Shanghai and worked with elements of the Republicans. Ties with elements of the Chinese National Party.

Wu Peifu: Han General formerly under Yuan Shikai.

Sun Yat-sen: Han Revolutionary and leader of the Chinese National Party. Founder of the Chinese Republic.

Ma Anliang: Hui Warlord and General in defacto control of all Muslims in NW China and of the province of Qinghai. Noted reactionary.

Yang Zhengxin: Han General in charge of the Muslim province of Xinjiang. Noted monarchist.

Dadarian · May 27, 2018

January 1st, 1917

Teal - Beiyang Government
Light Green - KMT Government
Dark Green - KMT-aligned Warlords
Grey - Beiyang-aligned Guangdong Clique
Light Brown - Xinjiang Clique
Dark Brown - Ma Clique
Yellow - Japan
Off Green - Russia
Pink - Great Britain
Blue - France
Orange - Netherlands
Dark Teal - USA

Yuan Shikai's death sent ripples throughout the entirety of China. Warlords and politicians throughout the nation scrambled to ensure their personal ideologies and powers were concentrated and increased during the vacuum. This near-anarchic setting allowed for the formation of the three primary factions. These factions being the Republicans under Cai E and Sun Yat-sen, the Guangdong Clique under Long Jiguang, and the former Shikai faction under Zhang Zuolin.

The Republicans did not begin as cohesive as the southern republican movement was divided between the twin tigers of Cai E and Sun Yat-sen. Both of these men did as much as possible to ensure that the forces within the pro-Republican National Protection Army stayed within their Republican sphere, knowing they formed the core of the military strength for the Republican cause. These two contesting men sought separate republics, Sun a more democratic Republic under his tutelage and Cai E a very undemocratic Republic under his direct rule. This campaign for the hearts and minds of the men of the National Protection Army was hindered when Cai E, their former leader, passed away of tuberculosis in early November. Nonetheless, the sure dogged-nature of Sun Yat-sen ensured that the final actions of Cai E were in vain, and secured an initial powerbase in the city of Nanning. Further, Sun secured the support of Cai E's underling and successor Tang Jiyao. This left Sun with enough power to extend his eyes to the prosperous city of Canton. However Sun Yat-sen's march to Canton, where he planned to establish his real seat of power, was interrupted by the will of one man, Long Jiguang.

Long Jiguang, who had formerly fought under Yuan Shikai before breaking away, had secured himself as a warlord based from the city of Canton. Further, he had a reputation as a formidable enemy, as he defeated forces of the National Protection Army more than once. With support from his underlings and some empty suits, Long had established the Guangdong Clique as one of the most organised warlord states within China in 1916. It was this man and this clique which Sun Yat-sen broke into warfare with in the tail end of 1916.

Only a single battle was fought between the two giants of the south, however it was an important battle. Fought outside of the city of Yanping on the far side of the Pearl delta, it saw Ye Ju face off against Li Liejun. Both men, knowing their fate could very well be entire based upon their battle, fought ferociously. Like many battles in China during this time, artillery was few but decisive, rifles were of numerous types, and spears given to those that had no other choice. The battle took place over three days, as neither side could press the advantage until the breaking point. It was only after a second army under Tang Jiyao, who finished assuming control of Yunnan, marched to support that Ju retreated behind the Pearl River delta. By the New Year, the KMT held control of the lower half of the delta and the Guangdong Clique the upper half.

While this fighting was occurring in Guangdong Province, the former underlings of Yuan Shikai organised themselves into a near-cohesive political mass. To call them a clique would imply cooperation and a government would imply administration. Rather, the Beiyang Government coalesced under Zhang Zuolin, who was named President of the Republic. He was flanked by his rivals Duan Qirui, Xu Shichang, and Feng Guozhang, who were joined more out of a distaste for the KMT then each other. That said, each maintained their own power bases, Qirui out of Anhui, Guozhang out of Zhili, and Zuolin out of Fengtian.

When this government was formed, Long Jiguang applied immediately to become an autonomous governor under the Beiyang Government. Zuolin, seeing the chance to humiliate the Kuomintang, quickly agreed. This changed the dynamic of the current front between the KMT and Long, as Long could officially request assistance from the Beiyang government.

Elsewhere in China, warlords began asserting themselves in various provinces. Tang Jiyao became the de facto leader of Yunnan, Lu Rongting's Guangxi Clique accumulated power within Guangxi Province west of Nanning, Big-Eared Du continued to entrench his rule of Shanghai, and Ma Anliang and his family seized formal control of Qinghai.

However, even as the nation boiled in the flaming passions of its various citizens and generals, meetings in the shadows threatened to cause further chaos. General Zhang Xun, a loyalist to the late Yuan Shikai, met with generals and statesmen of the Manchu Restoration Movement. They were keen to put Pu-Yi back on the Throne, however with Zuolin's place as President of Beiyang, perhaps a military option is not needed.

As another year past, China was no closer to unification and peace. Rather, it indeed seemed much farther apart.

Who do you support?

Tang Jiyao: Yunnanese Warlord, Leader of the Yunnan Clique, and general of the KMT Republic.

Long Jiguang: Ho Warlord, Leader of the Guangdong Clique, and autonomous governor for the Beiyang government.

Duan Qirui: Han General, Leader of the Anhui Clique, and powerful member of the Beiyang Government.

Li Yuanhong: Han General, shafted from leadership, general in the Beiyang Army.

Xu Shichang: Han statesman, shafted from leadership.

Zhang Zuolin: Han General, President of the Beiyang Republic, Leader of the Fengtian Clique, noted monarchist.

Lu Rongting: Zhuang General, Leader of the Guangxi Clique.

Du "Big-Eared Du" Yuesheng: Han mob boss who has a controlling interest in Shanghai and worked with elements of the Republicans. Ties with elements of the Chinese National Party.

Sun Yat-sen: Han Revolutionary and leader of the Chinese National Party. Founder of the Chinese Republic.

Ma Anliang: Hui Warlord, Leader of the Ma Clique. Noted reactionary.

Yang Zhengxin: Han General, Leader of the Xinjiang Clique. Noted monarchist.

Feng Guozhang: Han General, Leader of the Zhili Clique. Powerful member of the Beiyang Government.

Zhang Xun: Han General, Leader of the Manchu Restoration Movement.

Dadarian · Jun 2, 2018

January 1st, 1917

Teal - Qing Empire
Dark Teal - Qing-aligned Warlords
Light Green - KMT Government
Dark Green - KMT-aligned Warlords
Yellow - Japan
Off Green - Russia
Pink - Great Britain
Blue - France
Orange - Netherlands
Dark Teal - USA

As China's largest neighbour devolves into a morass of infighting, civil war, and bolshevism, the march toward China's own future marches on. Much like the previous year, the focus is in the province of Guangdong in the fight between Long Jiguang and Sun Yat-sen, and the actions of the Beiyang government under Zhang Zuolin.

In the extreme south, the relief expected by Long Jiguang did not materialise, and he was forced to face the growing might of Sun Yat-sen's KMT alone. On the banks of the Pearl Delta, near the city of Fatshan, the final battle took place. Long Jiguang, and his associate Ye Ju, marshalled the forces of the Guangdong Clique in a defensive formation outside of Fatshan. Unfortunately for them, the gathered armies of both Tang Jiyao and Li Liejun knew that the most obvious place to establish defenses would be the Pearl River, and agreed to a Glorious March. Tang Jiyao would face them head on while Li Liejun would cross the river far to the north and wrap around in order to both deny north support and capture the Guangdong Clique's army.

This Glorious March would be a wild success. Tang Jiyao's army would pound the defenses of Long and Ye for days, with raids being conducted nightly and offenses often, wearing down the morale of the Guangdong soldiers. When Lie's soldiers found their prey, the men of Guangdong broke, with barely a pitched battle to be seen until Ye Ju managed to rally a large segment of the infantry to make one final charge. This is when Tang's men made a full charge themselves, and this Guangdong charge was cut down from two sides. Although Long Jiguang managed to escape capture and make his way to Beijing (where he'd soon find work under Duan Qirui), Ye Ju was not as lucky. His body would be identified by a former officer of the Guangdong Clique in the following days.

With Long fled and Ye dead, the Guangdong Clique quickly collapsed to the benefit of the KMT. Sun Yat-sen was more than pleased with himself as he was driven to Canton to oversee a small but celebratory victory parade. Finally in Canton, Sun made overtures to warlords throughout the nation. Alas, his efforts were mostly fruitless, as the warlords that weren't already under his thumb were either uninterested in losing their autonomy, or were distracted by the happenings in Beijing.

These happenings occurring at the direct result of Zhang Zuolin. President of the Beiyang Republic, Zuolin was much more interested in securing his own power than acting on any other real problems within the nation. Thus, he engaged with the monarchists and military in order to prop up his regime. Individuals like Zhang Xun and Zhang Xueliang saw their weight grow as the monarchists were allowed to infiltrate civil institutions and the Marshal's son saw an increased grip on the Beiyang Army (at the immense dissatisfaction of those within the Zhili and Anhui Cliques).

This would be important due to Zuolin's controversial decision to break with some of the distinctly important, self-empowering policies of the Beiyang government regarding foreigners. Particularly to two individual incidents, the first caused by Zuolin, the second not so much.

The first was when Zuolin made overtures to various European powers in regards to "undesired" (read uncontrolled) portions of the nation to fund Beiyang "projects" (read the army). This would see the sale of Aksai Chin to the British, who quickly incorporated the long desired region into the Raj. This sale proved to be immensely destructive to the credibility of Zuolin, and once again it seemed that the Chinese government was at the beck and call of foreign powers. If this was the sole event of the year, it would have allowed Zuolin's regime to survive intact, however this is when the Japanese took control of the Manchurian railroad from the rapidly collapsing Russian army. Zuolin was far from being able to react in time before his backers outside of the Fengtian Clique, utterly outraged, threw him right out of the Presidency. A united clique of Zhang Xun, Xu Shichang, and Duan Qirui enacted a palace coup of Zuolin, who escaped solely thanks to the power of his son Zhang Xueliang.

As Zhang Zuolin and Zhang Xueliang fled to their base in Manchuria, it was announced in Beijing that the Manchurian Emperor Pu-Yi would once again rule from Beijing. This announcement shocked both the world and those powers outside of the immediate area of the new Qing Empire. Sun Yat-sen quickly denounced both Pu-Yi and his handlers, while many warlords, especially in the west, took it as a positive sign. Both Ma Anliang and Yang Zhengxin quickly threw their support behind the new Qing Empire, while the Manchuria, under Zuolin, reluctantly gave their passive support as well.

Where once there was simply two republics, now there was one republic and a resurgent Empire. Thanks to Zuolin in making the Qing restorationists more important, alongside the generally monarchist nature of the Beiyang government, the Qing Empire was allowed to rise again.

It was in this state of chaos and confusion that the tongs of Shanghai seized control of the Chinese-zone of the city from the governor. Installing a friend of Big Eared Du by the name of Chiang Kai-shek and declaring themselves the Chinese Revolutionary Party (completely different from Sun's Chinese Nationalist Party), the tongs secured themselves in all ways that were not administered by the British authorities.

As Russia continued to be destabilised, Japan continually infringes on Chinese rule, and a newfound Empire, China's future is up in the air.

Who do you support?

Tang Jiyao: Yunnanese Warlord, Leader of the Yunnan Clique, and general of the KMT Republic.

Duan Qirui: Han General, Leader of the Anhui Clique, and powerful member of the Qing Empire.

Li Yuanhong: Han General, general in the Qing Army.

Xu Shichang: Han statesman, powerful member of the Qing Empire.

Zhang Zuolin: Han General, Leader of the Fengtian Clique, noted monarchist.

Lu Rongting: Zhuang General, Leader of the Guangxi Clique.

Du "Big-Eared Du" Yuesheng: Han mob boss who has a controlling interest in Shanghai and worked with elements of the Republicans. Ties with elements of the Chinese National Party.

Sun Yat-sen: Han Revolutionary and leader of the Chinese National Party. Founder of the Chinese Republic.

Ma Anliang: Hui Warlord, Leader of the Ma Clique. Noted reactionary.

Yang Zhengxin: Han General, Leader of the Xinjiang Clique. Noted monarchist.

Feng Guozhang: Han General, Leader of the Zhili Clique. Powerful member of the Qing Empire.

Zhang Xun: Han General, Leader of the Manchu Restoration Movement. Powerful member of the Qing Empire.

Emperor Pu-Yi: Emperor of the Qing, Manchu noble.

Dadarian · Jun 9, 2018

January 1st, 1919

Teal - Qing Empire
Dark Teal - Qing-aligned Warlords
Light Green - KMT Government
Dark Green - KMT-aligned Warlords
Yellow - Japan
Off Green - Russia
Pink - Great Britain
Blue - France
Orange - Netherlands
Dark Teal - USA

The influence of perfidious foreigners, especially the Japanese, continues to affect the Chinese Civil War in surprising ways. The sale of Aksay Chin and the Japanese seizure of the northern Manchurian railroad had seen the rise of the Manchu dynasty once again. Alas, these events did not affect the decision making of much of the politicians at the reigns of the various nations within China, for a new wave of anti-foreignerism swept through. Headed initially, and ironically, by President Sun Yat-sen, revolutionary fervour entered houses throughout the nation.

It was in this atmosphere that the Qing Emperor met with the Prince Kinmochi, prior to his travel to Versailles. Flanked by his father, Prince Chun, and the holder of the Privy Seal, Zhang Xun, the Japanese noble was treated with the utmost honour, with promises of a proper meeting between the two Asian Emperor to be conducted within a decade. This was met with little applause by the common people, and indeed enraged them. It did not matter that many politicians and warlords who dominated China, from Xinjiang to Manchuria, fell under the sway of the resurgent court. The will of the people would not be ignored. A riot in Beijing had to be violently put down by a banner army under Ma Guoliang, an Inner Mongolian politician, after members of the army stationed in Beijing refused to fire on civilians.

Taking advantage of the rhetoric he himself had propagated expansively, Sun Yat-sen attempted to mount a northern expedition. Unfortunately for him, and thanks to his anti-foreigner rhetoric, the armies of the Kuomintang found itself suddenly bereft of supplies from abroad. Canton, once a bustling centre of commerce, was all but emptied of merchants. Further, British patrols in the Yellow river saw an uptick as piracy rose in the wake of "anti-merchant" activity aimed theoretically at foreigners but in reality at anyone with a fancy boat.

Thus, Sun Yat-sen's armies marched north, avoiding Japanese encampments throughout Fujian by going through Jiangxi along the Gan River. At Kanchow, the armies of Tang Jiyao and Li Liejun met with banner armies of the Qing under Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang. Officers of a French patrol boat, one of many that have started to patrol the waters of the Gan River, witnessed the battle first hand. The captain, one Francois le Abbe, wrote the following in his journal.

"A great cacophony arose from the banks of the Gan. Where once there was silence, except for the birds and creaking of men, all too quickly it became a scream of steel and violence. I was all too surprised to see the movement of horse, men atop in a particularly medieval manner, charge too and fro from the northern side. Further, artillery shells, not unlike I heard while serving in the Atlantic, suddenly stopped. I cannot understand why a nation's army would abruptly end their use of artillery.

This had a surprising effect on the infantry from what I could see, as they became agitated. Officers yelling grew louder, and it seemed that the shooting increased if at all possible. This went on for some time, until the shooting grew slowly less common. Finally the armies of the south retreated, as gun fire grew uncommon. It seemed positively barbaric, as fighting could still be heard in the distance. I cannot say how grateful I am that I occupy this ship's deck and not the ground beneath my seat on those shores."

This accounted for only the portion of the battle before the shore, but represented much of the battle as a whole. The fighting was fierce, however constantly disrupted Qing supply-lines as well as acquisition failures by the KMT reduced artillery shells to a minimum, which was quickly liquidated in supply following a couple hours of bombardment. This was followed hours later by a critical lack of small arm supplies on the KMT side, where Tang decided to withdraw completely.

This stalemate stopped the KMT advances for the year outside of Kanchow, with each side attempting to shore up their weaknesses the rest of the year. The Qing manage to calm down the majority of their warlords and politicians while the KMT manage to scrounge, steal, and make munitions in enough numbers to replace those lost at the battle of Kanchow.

During this time, the small and equally ambitious players took advantage of the chaos. In Manchuria, the Fengtian Clique used Manchuria's industrial capacity to war profiteer in the Russian Civil War, providing Supreme Ruler Kolchak with much needed supplies during the Bolshevik's attacks on his Siberian possessions. Some credit these supplies, travelling up the Trans-Siberian Railroad, in successfully defending Omsk from Bolshevik aggression. Alas, not even the Manchurian industries as is could protect the failing Whites, as it seemed that another, larger Bolshevik attack was just around the horizon.

Similarly, the Tongs under Big Eared Du sought to entrench their positions and possessions. Nearby food sources, farms and fisheries, are suddenly controlled by individuals connected to Chiang Kai-shek. Concurrently, information networks are built in Canton and Beijing, where secrets are collected, such as Sun Yat-sen's connection to the Japanese, or the death and replacement of Qing loyalist Ma Anliang with ambitious egoist Ma Fuxiang in Qinghai.

Alas, not all was well within Shanghai. The Tongs nearly topple Du at the mere mention of replacing their chief secondary income, opium, with some distinctly less commercial drug. Further, an offer of citizenship to foreigners is widely and openly derided, as few individuals (namely a drunken American colonel and a hunted French major) even seriously consider Du's offer.

Who do you support?

Tang Jiyao: Yunnanese Warlord, Leader of the Yunnan Clique, and general of the KMT Republic.

Duan Qirui: Han General, Leader of the Anhui Clique, and powerful member of the Imperial Court.

Li Yuanhong: Han General, shafted from leadership, general in the Imperial Army.

Xu Shichang: Han statesman, shafted from leadership.

Zhang Zuolin: Han General, disgraced former-President of the Beiyang Republic, Leader of the Fengtian Clique.

Lu Rongting: Zhuang General, Leader of the Guangxi Clique, KMT-aligned warlord.

Du "Big-Eared Du" Yuesheng: Han mob boss who has a controlling interest in Shanghai and worked with elements of the Republicans. Ties with elements of the Chinese Revolutionary Party (Kemingtang).

Sun Yat-sen: Han Revolutionary and leader of the Chinese National Party. Founder of the Chinese Republic.

Ma Fuxiang: Hui Warlord, Leader of the Ma Clique. Noted reactionary.

Yang Zhengxin: Han General, Leader of the Xinjiang Clique. Noted monarchist.

Feng Guozhang: Han General, Leader of the Zhili Clique. Powerful member of the Imperial Court.

Zhang Xun: Han General, Leader of the Manchu Restoration Movement, Lord of the Privy Seal. Powerful member of the Imperial Court.

Dadarian · Jun 19, 2018

January 1st, 1920

Teal - Qing Empire
Dark Teal - Qing-aligned Warlords
Light Green - KMT Government
Dark Green - KMT-aligned Warlords
Yellow - Japan
Off Green - Russia
Pink - Great Britain
Blue - France
Orange - Netherlands
Dark Teal - USA

The last year in the second decade of the twentieth century was one of stabilisation within China. The warlords within the divided nation took the time to regain their strength and powers, seeing as the Battle of Kanchow was decisively inconclusive for both the new monarchy and the southern republic. It seemed that within both these major parties that a period of self-strengthening was needed in order to truly prevail as the inheritor of all of China.

To the North, the Manchu dithered as their constituent warlords planned and bickered in their ever-fickle fashion. Perhaps the most productive was Zhang Zuolin, the once disgraced president of the Republic. His actions, taken in a place of safety and security (relative to his position as a warlord compared to President) was much more successful in result. The Manchurian Banner Army, fully under the thumb of the Fengtian Clique, was cemented under the Young Marshal Zhang Xueliang as proper and prompt book-keeping was established. Further, industrial activity flourished within the North, as the contacts Zuolin had with the British brought forward much needed engineers and knowledge to the backwards industry there. For all intents and purposes, the Manchurian provinces were the most densely industrialised in all of China, as cheap and poorly produced ammunition was funnelled through the Japanese-controlled Manchurian Northern Railway to White Russian troops fighting for their lives.

This success was a shocking departure from elements within more 'court-friendly' cliques. The death of Feng Guozhang, occurring after a period of extended illness on January 2nd, destabilised the peaceful relations between his Zhili Clique and Duan Qirui's Anhui Clique. Feng Guozhang's successor, a general by the name of Cao Kun, openly bribed individuals in an effort to subvert the authority of Zhang Xun and establish himself as Lord of the Privy Seal. This went directly against Duan Qirui, who also coveted the position for his own gain.

Open warfare broke out in July, as Cao Kun gathered his banner armies under his own command as well as his second in the form of Wu Peifu, and brought them to bare at the town of Suchow. There, they surprised the garrison and evicted the local mayor, in direct defiance to the will of Duan Qirui. The leader of the Anhui Clique responded with vigor, and two weeks later a pitched battle between the two courtiers was fought on the outskirts of Suchow. Here, Wu Peifu managed to outflank Qirui's forces, and cause a rout which broke the back of his army. Duan himself managed to escape unharmed, however his clout within the court was much reduced and Cao Kun soon managed to secure the position of Lord of the Privy Seal and in turn the ear of the young Emperor. Officially, blame for the destruction caused by the Haiyuan earthquake was laid at Zhang Xun's feet, who was forced to resign as a result.

To the south, Sun Yat-sen engaged furiously in the ideals of self-strengthening. Taking careful steps to broach the line between his anti-colonial rhetoric and his needs, the President of the Republic of China (South) opened attempted to open negotiations with numerous non-colonial European powers. The vast majority were uninterested, while the White Russians made clear their allegiances with Zuolin in the North. However, contacts with King Rama VI were productive, as the absolute monarch and avid reformist sought to encourage inter-Asian cooperation in the face of Anglo-French threats.

As Siamese ships began to arrive in Canton, the Pearl River began the expensive and treacherous process of industrialisation. Unlike their Manchurian neighbours in the north, the lack of foreign expertise forced the use of archaic instruments, and in many cases sheer manpower. However, this was China, and manpower was in cheap supply. Vast workshops rose on the outskirts of Canton, housing thousands of men who worked from dawn to dusk on firearms, ammunition, steel, or swords. Lathes were often spun by teams of men, while animals and coolies carried the much needed supplies to nationalised depots.

The one sole mistake that could've been argued made by the Sun Yat-sen regime this year was the legitimisation of the Tong control of Shanghai. Whereas Big Eared Du, and his political face in the form of Chiang Kai-shek, sought to prove themselves as not only the de facto controllers of the powerful city, but the de jure leaders as well, Sun Yat-sen was more than happy to oblige. Diplomats from the Kuomintang met with their peers in the Kemingtang (Chinese Revolutionary Party), and fraternal relations were created all around. The premier gain from this in the immediate future for the Kuomintang was the collection of blueprints for a simple rifle of American origin, which was dispatched to Canton and it's workshops for production directly after the meeting.

This event in and of itself would be an impressive boon to Du, who sought to entrench the excess of the past years. Seeing the employment of real army men, Du ordered them to train the Tong gang-members in the art of war, to which they tried their best. Wherein the vast majority were thugs or varied styled business-associates unafraid to use violence to prove their means, these two men did manage to secure for themselves a core militia of some two hundred men. Although dwarfed in entirety by the vast peasant armies of the major powers of China, it represented both an honour guard for Du and a sense of pride. No longer was he a simple tong leader, but an honest to goodness warlord. Further, the two men took quite a liking to Chiang Kai-shek, who learned under them as a devoted student, and who could in-and-of himself could form the core of a politicised officer's group.

Du's attempts to create fifth columns within both the Empire and the Republic reach some limited results. Individuals seeking to enter the administrations of both were often rebuffed due to a lack of family connections to the positions available, while those that managed to secure positions were oft too low to truly get or create intelligence which was useful or manipulatable for the Tongs of Shanghai. The recent connections between the Kuomintang and the Kemingtang did far more to benefit the Tong's intelligence community (insofar as the term applied to Tong spies) than infiltration attempts.

The last few ideas of Du are stymied in the wake of inter-Tong controversy. Du continued to chase after the idea that the replacement of opium with marijuana was beneficial to the Tongs, coaching his plan in the rampant anti-foreigner sentiment that abounded. However, the truth was that, along with prostitution, gambling, and extortion, opium was one of the pillars that held up the Tong's budget. Further many of Du's peers saw the Tong not as a government, but rather as a way to get rich and stay rich. They had no desire to end the suffering of their fellows, because that suffering in fact enriched their own pockets. Threatening tones from those within the Tong leadership killed an attempt to secure properties all along the coast, both taken as extraneous expenses for the purpose of making the Tongs cash.

Abroad, the Russian Civil War continues to absorb the vast majority of international attention. The actions of Admiral Kolchak, applauded by foreigners and anti-Bolsheviks everywhere, are increasingly desperate. Following a winter offensive, Omsk finally fell before the Russian Red Army. The White Russians were forced to flee their entrenched positions to Krasnoyarsk, the last big city of Siberia. Here, with the support of the muddy season of early Russian winter, they manage to once again best the odds against the Bolshevik threat, as a horrendous multi-week battle for Krasnoyarsk ended with a gritty stalemate. The situation for Kolchak, hailed as the savior of Russia by numerous non-Russian governments, was dire indeed, as even large amounts of cheap Manchurian equipment could stem the endless tide of communist soldiers.

Interestingly, in Mongolia a unique state began to take shape. After having overthrown the Qing governor in 1911, the nine year old state, under the Bogd Khaan and his plethora of ancient ministers, had found themselves in an oddly blissful state. Chinese and Russian influences, both elsewhere occupied, has allowed the Mongolian state to flourish. So Kolchak, under great pressure, formally recognised the Bogd Khaanate in a failed effort to draw them into the war with the Soviets. This recognition would be backed by many of the Admiral's allies overseas, such as Britain and America, leaving the Khaanate quite confused at all their international attention. Whereas once it could have been exceedingly easy to bring forth an army to Mongolia without consequence, little more than returning order to a rogue province, this international recognition has brought a glimmer to the eyes of the Buryat tribe of Inner Mongolia and a dim to those who sought the return of the Mongolia province into China.

Who do you support?

KMT China:

Tang Jiyao: Yunnanese Warlord, Leader of the Yunnan Clique, and general of the KMT Republic.

Lu Rongting: Zhuang General, Leader of the Guangxi Clique, KMT-aligned warlord.

Sun Yat-sen: Han Revolutionary and leader of the Chinese National Party. Founder of the Chinese Republic.

Qing China:

Duan Qirui: Han General, Leader of the Anhui Clique, and disgraced member of the Imperial Court.

Li Yuanhong: Han General, shafted from leadership, general in the Imperial Army.

Xu Shichang: Han statesman, shafted from leadership, member of the Imperial Court.

Zhang Zuolin: Han General, disgraced former-President of the Beiyang Republic, Leader of the Fengtian Clique.

Ma Fuxiang: Hui Warlord, Leader of the Ma Clique. Noted reactionary.

Yang Zhengxin: Han General, Leader of the Xinjiang Clique. Noted monarchist.

Cao Kun: Han General, Leader of the Zhili Clique. Powerful member of the Imperial Court. Lord of the Privy Seal.

Zhang Xun: Han General, Leader of the Manchu Restoration Movement, disgraced member of the Imperial Court.

Prince Chun: Manchu Prince, father of the Qing Emperor. Regent (powerless position as of now).

Tong Shanghai:

Du "Big-Eared Du" Yuesheng: Han mob boss and who has a controlling interest in Shanghai and worked with elements of the Republicans. Ties with elements of the Chinese Revolutionary Party (Kemingtang). Warlord of the Shanghai Clique (?).

Chiang Kai-shek: Han Leader of the Kemingtang. Political Governor of Shanghai.

Dadarian · Jun 28, 2018

January 1st, 1921

Teal - Qing Empire
Dark Teal - Qing-aligned Warlords
Light Green - KMT Government
Dark Green - KMT-aligned Warlords
Yellow - Japan
Off Green - Russia
Pink - Great Britain
Blue - France
Orange - Netherlands
Dark Teal - USA

The various governments of China continued their tremendous efforts to assert themselves as sole legitimate leader of the Chinese people. Through these efforts, sometimes alone and sometimes in conjunction of many working parts, vast changes could be seen throughout the nation. Perhaps the drive could most widely seen within the realm of Sun Yat-sen's Kuomintang controlled sections of Southern China.

An ever busy man, Sun Yat-sen worked with a righteous fervour. The first major policy upon his plate was engaging in land reform, a long tenant of his party. It was with great pride that Sun, presenting in Canton, declared that all land unutilised for a period over a month would be subject to nationalisation, wherein it would be promptly rented to those landless peasants upon which much of the economy relied. Further, farmers were allowed and encouraged to peacefully (although not so politely) seize land from landowners to form communes of their own.

This radical step did exactly two things. The first (and most important for Sun) was utterly endear much of the peasantry to him and the cause of the KMT. Starting outside of Canton and spreading like wildfire, throughout the south land was seized either by the state or by the workers to form a great many communes and impromptu communities of independent small shareholders. This completely terrified the enlanded class, which either fled from the communal grips of the peasantry (quite often to Manchuria), or took to banditry. Particular of import was Bai Chongxi, a Hui Muslim who quickly rose to become an anti-land reform, anti-Sun warlord whose forces managed to harass the KMT's bastion of strength throughout the year.

This banditry was not tolerated by Sun, who offered a blanket amnesty to bandits if they were to take up arms for the Republic. While the former landowners refused on ideological grounds, it was far too often that they would wake up after a night's sleep to find themselves alone in camp, their men deserted to join the ranks of the Republican Army. Although this did not solve the issue of Bai Chongxi, this did much to alleviate the issues of banditry within KMT occupied China.

This hostile warlord in the heartland would not stop Sun however, who continued on his merry march of reform. Granaries were established and filled (often thanks to the 'donations' of former landowners), a national bank was established in Canton, and education was supported throughout the city. Although efforts were made to spread education into the heartlands, it was simply more economical and simpler for the peasants to arrive in Canton in droves for their education and employment as they've always done.

It would be understandable, with numerous former bandits now bearing the uniform of the Republic, that the state would take some interest into the quality of their officers. Thus, the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics was formed in a small office on the outskirts of Canton. This bureau was peopled with the educated and the connected, with more than one member being related to a major Tong. Thankfully for them, they did not find any infiltration within the military outside of individuals who had more loyalty to their warlord or general than to the Republic as a whole and a pair of individuals connected to Zhang Zuolin within the Canton garrison.

Not all reforms were as simple to enact as the above. Efforts to spread newspapers failed due to the distressingly highly illiteracy rate throughout the nation. Pedagogical missions outside of Canton failed due to a mixture of the previously mentioned illiteracy and the competition it was seen to represent to the various secret societies that operated throughout the nation. Finally, although industrial safety laws were enacted, their effect (while saving lives both literally and metaphorically) was seen in the immediate decrease in production numbers of Canton. In order to maintain compliance with the new regulations, less risky but known ways of producing greater amounts of materials (such as having nineteen hour workdays). Finally, a great many men, especially those of wealth, fled to the north in Manchuria following Sun Yat-sen's communal and social policies. This drain was noticeable by the end of the year.

About this time, nearing May, was when Tang Jiyao rose a great cry. Rattling his sabres, he and members of his clique called for another National Protection War. His men received great applause throughout the south, however the traditional supporters of the First National Protection War was about as far as the propaganda sunk, as the supporters of the Qing were a majority of those who supported Shikai in his monarchist ambitions. However, in optics at least, this caused enough support to rise within the KMT to make another offensive north.

The armies of the Republic marched north once again, and once again meeting resistance. Cao Kun, the new Lord of the Privy Seal and the power behind the throne, had desired to cement his legitimacy behind a successful campaign in the south. Meeting once again at Kanchow, it seemed to be a mirror image of the actions taken two years ago. Much to the delight of the Republic, this would not be the case, as the fighting would be much different.

The fighting was fierce, however the Banner Army under Wu Peifu soon found itself surprisingly out-gunned, as the primitive but effective firearms of the Republic were brought to bare. Further, the army of the Republic was in no lack of supply, outside of raids by Bai Chongxi. Wu Peifu, although doing a terrific job for what he could, was forced to retreat. Li Liejun marched successfully into Kanchow, rising the flag with pride.

What followed was a series of skirmishes, as moving battles north to the Yellow River saw a harried Wu due his very best to stymie the Republicans. However he could not make too much of a difference, as by July the last of Wu's men ferried across the river to the entrenched positions of the Banner Army of Li Yuanhong. While the Republicans managed no further, they did consolidate their holding throughout Jiangxi and secure themselves as the sole controller of the province. Without input from Sun, Li Liejun established himself as the Governor of Jiangxi, parking his barracks in Kanchow and happily making himself a warlord akin to Tang Jiyao and Lu Rongting.

Internationally, the actions of Sun Yat-sen had unintended side-effects. The twofold land reform campaign, alongside reaching out the Red Russia, had a chilling effect across much of the Republic's Asian neighbours. Viewing Sun Yat-sen as a fellow traveller of the Bolsheviks, Siamese trade dwindled, efforts in Persia were rebuffed, and promises extracted by Red Russia proved to be all but impossible to prove on, having to be smuggled across the Gobi desert, through incredibly hostile territory. Immigration concerns with the USA were dismissed as well, as the American law makers saw no point in taking advice from the Chinese on immigration.

Meanwhile in the lands of the Qing, Pu Yi's policy of allowing the warlords to do their own thing went about quite well. The once questionable loyalty of some warlords was forgotten as nothing truly changed except for the Qing flag flying from some palaces. The best example of this is in Manchuria, where the once disgraced Zhang Zuolin proved himself a capable governor. 1921 was no exception, where the increasingly powerful Zuolin made himself a credit to the Empire.

Resource companies (using British assistance) were established to extract the wealth of the North for the ravenous factories. A small technical university (Zuolin School of Engineers and Craftsmen) was founded to provide eventual independence from British technical support. Further, Zuolin's son, Marshal Xueliang, marched north in a minor but successful anti-banditry campaign. Marshal Xueliang returned to much applause and fanfare, as it was seen that the young marshal was indeed as much of a warrior as his father. Even Zuolin's secret police, also known as the "Office of Specialists and Talents" proved to be a successful creation, putting two men into the Canton garrison's officer core.

However, once again Zuolin's hubris got the best of him. Firstly, the offer to the Whites to rescind the Chinese treaties in payment for greater supplies and haven should they lose to the Bolsheviks is all but laughed off. Although the Bolshevik menace was very much real, thanks to Manchuria's own industrial might, as well as the entry of Japan and Mongolia to the war, it seemed that the Whites had managed a stalemate at Krasnoyarsk, much to the immense disappointment of the Red Army and Bolshevik high command.

Secondly, and much more importantly, word of Zhang's deal of supplies to Sun Yat-sen, the enemy of the Court, came to the ears of Cao. A very stern letter, accompanied with a demand to immediately cut all supplies to the Republic and indemnification for the entire ordeal, landed upon Zuolin's desk a few days prior to the 1st of October.

The last of China's major independent movements, the tiny Shanghai Clique, was also exceedingly busy through the year. It began with Du establishing Green World Trading, an arms trading company disguised as a common shipping entity. This was met with great approval within the Tongs, as weapons were sold at an exorbitant cost to the KMT, although the Zuolin deal (also reaching the Tong's ears) did much to undercut their profits. Du, seeking greater funds, spoke in great length with Tong leaders over legalising prostitution. This occurred without much adieu on March 8th, when the Prostitution Bureau was formed with the express purpose of providing and revoking permits regarding prostitution within city limits. This helped the entire business stay solely within Tong hands, while at the same time allowing the industry to come out of the shadows and into the pockets of the legations within the International Section. Although American pastors and missionaries began to actively oppose the movement, their reach was little beyond those few Chinese protestants.

Du, having paid off the Tongs for the year, then engaged in Clique business. First he attempted to allocate a section of the city for the medical industry. In his mind, he had a grand plan over how he would see foreigners come from afar to be treated with exotic ingredients. This would not come to pass, as instead of his grand vision, a more humble result saw a growing stream of peasants from across the nearby provinces to Shanghai for treatment. This put less money, but money nonetheless into his pocket. Which was spent on efforts to teach select members of the Tongs and the public (usually Tong leadership and KMNT members) foreign languages. Efforts are stymied as many selected individuals don't have the drive or capacity to learn a new language, and progress is limited to only a few individuals in French, Du himself included

As 1921 ended, there grew a call in Canton for a new round of elections within the Republic. These calls were calm, until a trio of events made them more frantic. The first being the extension of the suffrage to women in Shanghai, which while applauded within European suffragette circles caused a moral panic within much of Republican China. This panic increased when the Communist Party of China was founded (also in Shanghai) by the First National Congress. Further, the Japanese Prime Minister was announced to be assassinated by a railway worker, seeing the end of the commoner Prime Minister and the rise of the Viscount Korekiyo. A known hawk during the Russo-Japanese War, there grew worries that the Japanese would seek to formally entrench their holds on the Southern Coast even in the midst of their war in Russia.

Who do you support?

KMT China:

Tang Jiyao: Yunnanese Warlord, Leader of the Yunnan Clique, and KMT-aligned warlord.

Lu Rongting: Zhuang General, Warlord of the Nanning Clique, KMT-aligned warlord.

Sun Yat-sen: Han Revolutionary and leader of the Chinese National Party. Founder of the Chinese Republic.

Li Liejun: Han General, Warlord of the Jiangxi Clique, and KMT-aligned warlord.

Qing China:

Duan Qirui: Han General, Leader of the Anhui Clique, and disgraced member of the Imperial Court.

Li Yuanhong: Han General, shafted from leadership, general in the Imperial Army.

Xu Shichang: Han statesman, shafted from leadership, member of the Imperial Court.

Zhang Zuolin: Han General, disgraced former-President of the Beiyang Republic, Leader of the Fengtian Clique.

Ma Fuxiang: Hui Warlord, Leader of the Ma Clique. Noted reactionary.

Yang Zhengxin: Han General, Leader of the Xinjiang Clique. Noted monarchist.

Cao Kun: Han General, Leader of the Zhili Clique. Powerful member of the Imperial Court. Lord of the Privy Seal.

Zhang Xun: Han General, Leader of the Manchu Restoration Movement, disgraced member of the Imperial Court.

Prince Chun: Manchu Prince, father of the Qing Emperor. Regent (powerless position as now).

Tong Shanghai:

Du "Big-Eared Du" Yuesheng: Han mob boss who has a controlling interest in Shanghai and worked with elements of the Republicans. Ties with elements of the Chinese Revolutionary Party (Kemingtang).

Chiang Kai-shek: Han Leader of the Kemingtang. Political Governor of Shanghai.

Communist Party of China:

Chen Duxiu: Han Leader of the CPC.

Zhang Guotao: Han General of the CPC.

Dadarian · Jul 7, 2018

January 1st, 1922

Teal - Qing Empire
Dark Teal - Qing-aligned Warlords
Light Green - Left-KMT Government
Dark Green - Warlord-KMT Controlled Provinces
Yellow - Japan
Off Green - Russia
Pink - Great Britain
Blue - France
Orange - Netherlands
Dark Teal - USA
Baby Blue Teal - Fengtian Clique

The Chinese Civil War had, by 1922, started to shake off the stagnation that had affected it for the past few years. Subfactions, infighting, and betrayal all caused new dynamism to run through the country. It seemed that, although the forces that arrayed themselves against the Qing were primarily focused domestically, that did not mean that if blood wasn't shed that change wasn't in the water, and the vultures gathered above and sharks below.

In the Shanghai Clique, the Kemingtang and the Green Gang actively engaged themselves in developing into a domestic, if tiny, powerhouse. The Shanghai Clique, increasingly a duopoly between the Kemingtang's Chiang Kai-shek and the Green Gang's and Tong leader Big Eared Du, began to show the strengths and weaknesses of twin leadership.

Chiang Kai-shek, knowing that while the city was nominally under the control of the British the real strength was in the KMT garrisons, wined and dined both the rank and file and the officer corps. Vacations to the more immoral sections of Shanghai were inundated with members of the KMT's military garrison, where pay was freely spent. Chaing, knowing well what he was doing, managed to secure Kemingtang membership from much of the ranks of the garrison, as representative in a shift in loyalty as any other. This was backed by soup kitchens, eternally paired with a Kemingtang crier, giving to the poor in the name of the Tongs and the Kemingtang

Chiang, perhaps knowing that this would worry the party bosses back in Canton, sought to preempt their disagreement. Using the contacts and companies formed in the previous years, industrial smuggling took a turn in profitability as shipping captains found that if certain industrial goods were brought in without being marked down, fees and waivers would be ignored. KMT internal demand for these industrial goods was well known, and as such it was a simple process for Chiang to move goods smuggled in through Shanghai back out to Canton.

This inflated Chiang's hubris, as he began, in the name of nationalising Shanghai, began seizing "unused" farmland, warehouses, ports, and factories. However, given the consistent economic growth and wealth within the region there was almost no unused land to seize. Indeed, some of Chiang's more eager allies took advantage of the situation to secure for the Kemintang farmland and warehouses from their political enemies. Threats then filtered in from Chiang which spread out within the community about how Chiang would nationalise property of those that went against the Shanghai Clique.

This had twofold effect. The first was the immediate attention the International Settlement, who became immediately worried about the rhetoric and the action in which Chiang has taken. Chiang quickly had several important meetings with the important members of the International Settlement, showing how international law was maintained and seizures of British, American, French, or Japanese assets were not conducted. This calmed down the internationals quite a bit, as they pegged Chiang as another warlord and not an actual nationalist. The second effect was the rapid uptick of Kemingtang membership (and a rise in party donations) within the city. By the end of the year, the underworld was firmly under the thumb of Du, and the overworld in the hands of Chiang.

However Chiang didn't stop there. Eying the prosperous Kiangnan Shipyard, it wasn't long before Chiang had members of the Tong and Kemingtang walk into the shipyard and declared under new management. The production of river boats, usually contracted out to the various riverboat squadrons of the internationals or historically the Qing, turned to Kemingtang hands. Most importantly, Chiang asked the American and British for designs to their battlecruisers. Somewhere between shocked and outraged, it did not take long before word of Chiang's question to reach the ears of the Japanese. In a thoroughly unsubtle move, the Japanese marines expanded their control of Fujian to occupy much of the coast. It was therefore unsurprising when Tong spies in the Qing reported rumors of Japanese outrage at the actions of Chiang.

The other hand of the Shanghai Clique, Du, was equally busy. Perhaps most importantly to the Tong, Du continued to expand the Tong's spy nexus within China. Success was universal in the Qing court, where they found not only places for infiltrators but numerous individuals whose loyalties were completely for sale. On the Manchurian side however, the success was much more limited. A shadow war between Du and Zuolin was waged silently in Fengtian, as Tong spies were placed and rooted out by Zhang security. However, Zuolin's security was far from perfect, and some agents were safely embedded for the moment.

Du, when not happily diverted by his cat and mouse game with Zuolin, continued his progressively commercial plans for Shanghai. Foreign language programs, primarily in French and English, were expanded to all individuals within the Kemingtang and Tongs, which saw a fertile batch of minds within Chiang's growing officer corps. Further, the Shanghai Medical Care Provider Corporation was created, coalescing the medical clinics of the past year into a single coherent entity. Although Du was ambitious with his designs for it, his premier lieutenant in charge of the Corporation indicated that further growth within the city in unlikely, due to the length of travel from the provinces and the incredible poverty of the majority of the Chinese population.

Concurrently with this medical corporation was the formation of the Chiang Jiang Arms Company. Seeking to take advantage of the old Kiangnan Arsenal, Du sought the production of M1915 Howell Automatic Rifles from the British. The British, seeing a chance for profit, cut a very one-sided deal from the Tongs, eliciting immense sums for the rifle. Du was more than glad to pay for the automatic firearm, however he would soon be disappointed in part. Initial reports from Chiang had the rifle, although incredibly modern for the region, was a bit of a goose. Jamming from poor shell ejections was heightened in the wake of poor quality Chinese ammunition, while it was found that a recruit severely hurt himself from being essentially punched in the eye by a bolt. This did not mean the end of the Howell, as Du produced it in limited numbers (enough to outfit a personal guard from himself and Chiang). Further, Du's engineers stated that they could simplify the design back to a reliable bolt akin to the Enfield, which in and of itself would be a major boon for the Clique.

At the year meeting of the Tong leaders, there were many content and smiling faces. Money was being made hand-over-fist, while the Shanghai Clique ruled with total autonomy. There was little ado about the affair, excepting a sales pitch made by Du to the gathered Tongs where he asked for opinions on a future pharmaceutical industry within Shanghai. Suffice to say the idea didn't take and was rejected by the gathered men without exception.

Up north, Zuolin balanced his growing autonomy with the expectations of the Qing Court. This is personified by, over the course of a week and a half, Zuolin changed the name of his government from it's courtly title to the more Republican sounding Province of Manchuria, and renaming his banner armies to the Northeast Defense Force. This was done in tandem with send diplomats south to meet with various court factions, primarily Zhang Xun's and Cao Kun's, and paying them off heavily in payment for their catch of Zuolin's mistake. Further, Zuolin took under his wing the long politically exiled Xu Shichang, who was invited cordially to head the Fengtian Reading Club.

Another example of this balance was the ending of all trade with the Republic (smuggling dropping off due to the lack of payment from Canton) as per Beijing's orders, all the while growing the Fengtian's armies into a swollen beast, as another twenty thousand men took Zuolin's silver. All the while, officers loyal to Zuolin became the vast majority of the officer corps, with those loyal to other cliques often removing themselves to safer pastures.

This left Zuolin in a safe enough position where he began a bureaucratic flurry. Offices in standardisation, payroll, and veterans were all set up to deal with military equipment quality control, military payment control, and military human resource management respectively. On top of this, the various extraction companies of yesteryear were consolidated into Northern Agricultural Exports, which served as a holistic export company, dealing with all things Manchurian. Lastly, the office of security saw it's clandestine budget and personnel increase in the wake of a shadow war with the Tongs of the south.

This didn't go off without a hitch however, as various members of the Manchurian bourgeoisie initially complained about their investments (when invested in one or the other of the various extraction companies) being suddenly amalgamated. Their complaints were quieted though as communist activity took a noticeable and drastic downturn within Manchuria. Due to recent increases in communist rhetoric and action, with much of the first half of the year being dedicated to quelling a growing union movement and communist political clubs, was noticed and appreciated by the bourgeoisie.

The year ended with two boons to Zuolin. The first was a fantastic ceremony reopening the Fengtian Military Academy, where a new generation of officers loyal to Zuolin (more or less) could be trained with all the materials needed to create a proper cadre of young officers. The second was the arrival of Wilhelm Heye to assist in overseeing the training of the new Fengian Academy officers. Whereas the Weimar Republic could have ulterior motives, the importation of an important German officer was a boon nonetheless.

Perhaps the above is the most peaceful section of Chinese history in 1922, as the below will represent the most chaotic. It all began in the Hanyang district of Wuhan, which the KMT captured following a quickly winter offensive. There Li Liejun proudly put up the Five Races flag, citing his regret over not being able to cross the Yellow River to secure the long important district of Wuchang, where the Xinhai Revolution began over a decade ago. However, a telegram from Tang Jiyao requesting a meeting in Kanchow cut short Liejun's plans and he returned quickly to his headquarters. It was here that Liejun met both Jiyao and Rongting. Jiyao explained how a recent missive he received from Yat-sen outlined demands that Jiyao have Liejun fall in line and further give up his control of Jiangxi to civilian control.

Understandably weary, Liejun asked Jiyao and Rongting if they were here to support him or confront him, which a response of support quickly came from the two. Afraid of the precedent this would set, alongside fear's of Yat-sen's left turn, the three men conspired in Kanchow. Luckily for the KMT, Yat-sen announced that elections would be held within the year, which gave the clique a "democratic" out. Agreeing to a strategy, the Kanchow Meeting would be a seminal moment for the fragile KMT.

Sun Yat-sen, believing in his success, continued his leftward political slant. Appointing the well known leftist Liao Zhongkai to a special position of industrial control, Sun allowed the man to gleefully engage in the continued industrialisation of Canton using smuggled industrial goods from the Tongs. As well, the Bureau of Infrastructure was created in order to build roads out from Canton to the many, many new communes throughout the Guangdong province. Further, a military academy was established in Whampoa with the goal of producing officers loyal to the Republic, and not their immediate commander.

While all produced leery expressions from much of the military's leadership, what really gave people pause was the Communist Party of China, or rather their effusive praise for Sun Yat-sen. This was a sign from many within Canton, and fearing Chinese bolshevism not even the delightful Soong Ching-ling could prevent individuals of wealth from abandoning the KMT. For lack of a better term, the idea of a Chinese Soviet Republic under the KMT was not a fanciful notion but rather an immediate future in the minds of many. It did not help that the CPC went about organising unions in Cantonese factories or arming autonomous peasant militias within Guangdong's provinces. Even more shocking was the endemic nature of the CPC after a couple months within the Whampoa academy's premises, as hawkers and students spread to others the latest news on the Party from their brand new newspaper. Unlike efforts from the KMT, the Communist's target of students were fully literate and supportive of a Communist newspaper within Canton.

This widespread arming, combined with a supreme effort by newly imported Mikhail Borodin in containment, rendered much of Bai Chongxi's revolt into waste. Pitched battles in the netherlands of Guangdong chased Bai Chongxi almost right out of the province. Only a series of lost munitions shipments allowed the rebellion to survive in time for the election. These setbacks allowed Liu Xianshi, a warlord well known to Tang Jiyao, to ride into Guiying at the head of a small army and be "elected" governor in a small "by-election".

Perhaps the most energetic within the election were the Communists, insofar as they were a part of it. Explaining far and wide their intent to support leftist unity and secure a broad government of leftist thinkers, they entranced many students. Secret societies once again rose within Qing cities, as students yearned for the day where China may be more free. It was to few individual's surprise that when the CPC reached out internationally, they found a receptive audience throughout Germany, France, Italy, and bolshevik Russia. It's wide said that through Chen Duxiu's personal request that Borodin was exported to Canton, where as mentioned he was quickly put to use as a military asset. It also helped that some members of the Communist party were dispatched to Moscow, where lessons on warfare and communism were ingrained in their Chinese students.

While it was an exciting time to be a Chinese communist, this did not mean all news was good for the Communists in China. Refugees flooded into Canton and Shanghai from Manchuria detailing harsh treatment and (ironically) nationalised assets by the Zhangs. Equally worrisome was that, although clinics were set up within the safe parts of Guangdong without hassle, Shanghai was thoroughly saturated with Tong run clinics, sapping Communist strength in the region as most peasants demonstrated themselves as lumpenproletariet in supporting the Tong over the Communists.

As the election arrived, the results were much watched by all. It'd take nearly two weeks to collect all the ballots from all the locales (minus Bai occupied Guangdong), and it was shocking to Yat-sen. Although the KMT and CPC retained strong majorities in Guangdong, liberated Hubei, and Hunan, surprises occurred everywhere. Shanghai was an absolute majority for the Kemingtang as expected, however what is best described as 'Clique' votes poured in from Yunnan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, and western Guangxi. These votes being of parties often regionally controlled, either directly or indirectly by the warlords within said region. Also surprising was the entrance of Sichuan into the votes, voting for the 'Cliques' as the warlord Liu Xiang seized the province in the name of the Republic away from the Qing. All in all, although Sun Yat-sen was easily voted into the Presidency (being the only candidate), the Cliques held a majority of the Yuan, where they were led by Hu Hanmin. The warlords, whose autonomy and power had been directly threatened by Yat-sen, made their displeasure known. Sun Yat-sen was suddenly very alone militarily, excepting his communist allies.

Abroad, China's neighbours continued to see the seeming final phase of the Russian Civil War. Lenin's increasing incapacity due to a stroke in May resulted in a flurry of activity within Moscow, as the seizure of Vladivostok became the primary goal of those who wanted to become Lenin's successor. This put immense pressure on the various generals on the Eastern Front, who in turn demanded more from their troops. The stalemate at Krasnoyarsk was broken, and the among those captured was Admiral Kolchak, who was quickly executed by the Bolsheviks. The Red Army, finally overcoming the Siberian entrenchments, spread like a wave. Soviet soldiers marched through increasingly desperate White lines with ease, alongside a quickly dissolved force by the Mongolian Khaanate. It took only months to reach the Amur, where it seemed previously that it would take years.

The final nail in the White cause was when Prime Minister Korekiyo resigned after being unable to secure a proper power base in which to administrate from. The Emperor appointed Katō Tomosaburō in his place, a former Admiral and Navy man. Tomosaburō announced that the Japanese Army would be pulling out of Russia to secure on other fronts, and as a result the Whites fled over the border into Korea and Manchuria to escape the chaos.

Doomed, it was only a matter of time until Soviet troops arrived into Vladivostok, which the first one did on the 18th of December. The Soviet Union had won the civil war, and were securing for themselves a puppet in Mongolia in the process. While this was good news to those aligned with the Soviet Union, this was far from good news to those who feared the might of the Bolsheviks, and their potential power to directly influence Chinese politics.

Who do you support?

Left-KMT China:

Sun Yat-sen: Han Revolutionary and leader of the Chinese National Party. Founder of the Chinese Republic.

Liao Zhongkai: Han Politician, Left-KMT, Special Plenipotentiary of Industry of the Republic of China.

Mikhail Borodin: Russian ex-pat and general of the KMT. Borrowed from the Soviets until 1927.

Warlord-KMT China:

Li Liejun: Han General, Warlord of the Jiangxi Clique, and KMT-aligned warlord.

Tang Jiyao: Yunnanese Warlord, Leader of the Yunnan Clique, and KMT-aligned warlord.

Lu Rongting: Zhuang General, Warlord of the Nanning Clique, KMT-aligned warlord.

Liu Xiang: Han General, Warlord of the Sichuan Clique, KMT-aligned warlord.

Qing China:

Duan Qirui: Han General, Leader of the Anhui Clique, and disgraced member of the Imperial Court.

Li Yuanhong: Han General, shafted from leadership, general in the Imperial Army.

Xu Shichang: Han statesman, shafted from leadership, member of the Imperial Court.

Zhang Zuolin: Han General, disgraced former-President of the Beiyang Republic, Leader of the Fengtian Clique.

Ma Fuxiang: Hui Warlord, Leader of the Ma Clique. Noted reactionary.

Yang Zhengxin: Han General, Leader of the Xinjiang Clique. Noted monarchist.

Cao Kun: Han General, Leader of the Zhili Clique. Powerful member of the Imperial Court. Lord of the Privy Seal.

Zhang Xun: Han General, Leader of the Manchu Restoration Movement, disgraced member of the Imperial Court.

Prince Chun: Manchu Prince, father of the Qing Emperor. Regent (powerless position as now).

Bai Chongxi: Hui Warlord, leader of the Landowner Revolt in Guangdong.

Tong Shanghai:

Du "Big-Eared Du" Yuesheng: Han mob boss who has a controlling interest in Shanghai and worked with elements of the Republicans. Ties with elements of the Chinese Revolutionary Party (Kemingtang).

Chiang Kai-shek: Han Leader of the Kemingtang. Political Governor of Shanghai.

Communist Party of China:

Chen Duxiu: Han Leader of the CPC.

Zhang Guotao: Han General of the CPC.

- - -
GM NOTES
- - -

Ok, so this update was a bit crazy for me, even though I had a blast writing it. Essentially you guys are creating increasingly complicated plans, which are great but are seriously slowing down my writing. So to cut down on mission creep, I'm going to ask that plans be reduced to 6 bullet points. These bullet points may be as detailed as you want.

Also new colour for the Fengtian for ease of knowing. However Shanghai is too small to make a difference, so I'm leaving it as is.

Dadarian · Jul 19, 2018

January 1st, 1923

Teal - Qing Empire
Dark Teal - Qing-aligned Warlords
Light Green - Canton-KMT
Dark Green - Kunming-KMT
Yellow - Japan
Communist Red - Soviet Russia
Communist Brown - MSSR
Pink - Great Britain
Blue - France
Orange - Netherlands
Dark Teal - USA
Baby Blue Teal - Fengtian Clique
Beige - Manchukuo

The Chinese Civil War had, without much indication to the international viewer, took a complete left turn in 1923 compared to the previous decades. The past years of bickering, infighting, and turmoil were all thrown out the window as one man changed Chinese history (once again). This man is none other than Zhang Zuolin, tiger of the north, marshal of the empire, bringer of war and conflict

The lead up to this war was a long one, obvious to few outside of East Asia. American, British, and French ambassadors, businessmen, and missionaries went about their days in the many treaty ports with ease and comfort. They willfully ignored the sudden uptick in reports, published incessantly from propaganda engines in Manchuria armed by Xu Shichang (who was happy for a purpose) and Canton. Indeed the International portion of Shanghai was quite blissfully self-absorbed, with only the Governor noting that their coolies grew ever unhappy in the wake of base Japanese crimes against the Chinese. The biggest change for these men came when the Japanese garrison within the International portion quadrupled in size suddenly, stating that the Japanese government needed to protect their people within Shanghai.

So it was in this air of dim awareness that a great cry arose from China. The Fengtian Clique, alongside the Republic (both in it's leftist and rightist forms) issued a large and public rebuke of Japan, it's occupation of China, and its numerous abuses of the Chinese people. Heads swivelled to the Empire, seeking a response in a positive or negative form. None came, as the Xuantong Emperor and his men kept quiet. Ambassadors of the International were once again accosted for demands to address the happenings in China, and condemn Japan. However, in the wake of an ever farther left KMT, a lack of Qing outcry, and a thin hope of salvaging the Entente-Japanese alliance, the International powers refused. This refusal would be further entrenched after members of the Scandinavian nations (where they had ambassadors) announced that the Republic in the form of the KMGT had come to them asking for naval support, which was quickly and firmly dismissed.

Thus, China was both alone and divided when it decided to face down the might of the Japanese. Perhaps it would have been different if the lead up wasn't so obvious, that the campaign for the hearts and minds of the Chinese peasant would be recorded by fearful and aware Japanese agents. It is unknown when the war truly began, with some historians noting that 'survey' teams working for the newly founded Bureau of Land Survey were arrested by Japanese MPs for being spies, which was found to be true as their maps outlaid military indications to the local Japanese presence. Others state that it occurred when Tong members were arrested in Northern Kyushu, seeking ties with the ultranationalist Yakuza there. However most took it to be when Zhang Zuolin's personal train exploded during a visit to see his troops.

Zhang Xueliang, in a pique of anger, launched "Operation Never Forget May Ninth" in revenge of both the apparent killing of his father along with the actions of the Japanese in Manchuria. The Northeast Defense Army sprung into action, and in typical Chinese fashion sought to overwhelm the Japanese garrison in numbers rather than in skill. This would be somewhat successful initially, as the NEDA stole out the Manchurian railroad and the city of Fengtian out from the Japanese garrisons there. However this was as far as the NEDA got, Japanese cavalry and infantry formations were soon reinforced in greater numbers, while the IJN began bombardment from the safety of the water. Over the course of the last few months of the year, Fengtian was bombarded harshly by a combination of Japanese land and naval artillery. 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.

Xueliang also made a powerful push to seize Port Arthur from Japanese control, bring forth a mass horde of nearly a hundred thousand men to take it. Alas, not even the will of the Chinese people could be brought to bare against the power of naval artillery, entrenched artillery, and basic aerial bombardment due to the deployment of what few Nakajima Ko-4s were available at the time. Over the course of three months, tens of thousands of men died, as Chinese troops time and again nearly pushed the Japanese forces to break before breaking themselves. In the end, although the Japanese took horrendous casualties, the Chinese were unable to take Port Arthur.

What truly brought shock to the population of Shanghai was when the Japanese garrison of the International Settlements, swollen months before and long suspicious of the naval inclined KMGT, launched a strike to seize the peninsula from the KMGT. Although the Republic put up an excellent fight, causing unexpected losses to the Japanese garrison and gave the Japanese High Command quite a surprise, they simply could not stand the attack. Although Big Eared Du elected to stay for now, where he was organising the successful expansion of the Green Gang into Taipei, Chiang Kai-shek fled to rightist-KMT territory. Japan had, over the course a couple of weeks, secured the largest shipyards in China. Unsurprisingly, this scared those living in the International Settlements, who in the wake of Japanese assertions that they were simply protecting themselves issued condemnation of Japanese actions to their government, where a formal inquiry was desired in the League of Nations. However following an international treaty in wish Japan reissued their commitment of the safety of the International Settlements, the inquiry was dropped.

As the Japanese picked out their pet warlord for administering their occupied portions of Manchuria (ultimately going with one Zhang Zongchang), the KMT continued to devolve into infighting. President-Grand Marshal Sun Yat-sen (newly crowned as such) continued his march left, even in the wake of widespread rebellion from his generals. As Tang Jiyao issued plea after plea begging the President-Grand Marshal from continuing along his path, it seemed Yat-sen was set in his ways. Bai Chongxi's banditry was finally forced out of Guangdong by numerous popular militias acting together, however Bai Chongxi himself found pleasant lodgings in the 'court' of Liu Xiang in Sichuan. This combined with a purge of the officers base (who more often than not simply took up a commission with one of the warlords) and government (who did the same in the warlord's administrations) was the tipping point for Tang Jiyao. He saw individuals of rightist bent and proper (read flexible) morals be unfairly judged by the Leftist-KMT regime in Canton. Declaring he would no longer support outright communism, Jiyao withdrew all support from the Leftist-KMT.

For all intents and purposes, the KMT had formally divided into two regimes. The first, communist in nature, located in Canton under the President-Grand Marshal. The other, located in Kunming and incredibly decentralised and conservative in nature, under the General. This sent the two regimes understandably spiraling as the split made fighting a distinct possibility. General Tang Jiyao began to seize land, goods, and other funds from open enemies within his province (prompting other warlords to do the same) in order to fund an increasingly bloated army and administration, which had grown tremendously in the wake of individuals fleeing from Canton-KMT persecution.

Meanwhile in the Canton-KMT, the President-Grand Marshal began a process of reformation within the Republican Army with the help of Borodin and Guotao. Beyond the purging of undesirables from within the officer corps, the three men sought to create an army loyal to the Republic, the President-Grand Marshal, and the Three Principles (in no particular order). Further, the Canton Arsenal was widely expanded, with help from funds from the central bank there as well as support abroad, particularly from the Soviets and eurocommunists who sought to create an East Asian people's republic.

This made it easy for the CPC to gain the funds to push United Front propaganda into warlord territory, calling upon peasants to abandon the excesses of landlords and warlords for freedom under the people's chosen President-Grand Marshal. They found fertile ground in the minds of many peasants, who no doubt lived a life of endless poverty. However, the police and landowners were hyper-aware for spies within their lands, and disrupters, saboteurs, and propagandists were often hanged once found.

Elsewhere in the world seemed relatively calm in comparison to China. An attempted expansion of the Shanghai Medical Corporation failed in the wake of their headquarters being seized by the Japanese government and integrated into their regime there. The Soviet conquest of Mongolia was finished without much ado, as the Mongolian Soviet Socialist Republic was declared in Ulaanbaatar to the cheers of literally of dozens of Mongolians. Finally, in the wake of the Great Kanto earthquake, one of the most destructive earthquakes in history which killed over 100,000 people, and an active war with China being waged, the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy work together (for once) to bring about order to the Empire. As atrocities were committed by mobs in the name of the Emperor, the Army openly assisted in these actions to their own ends before conducting operations to end the excesses of the mobs. Their autocratic and openly repressive actions were made all the easier when a student named Daisuke Nanba attempted to assassinate Prince-Regent Hirohito while crying his support for the Japanese Communist Party. This allowed the known martially-inclined Admiral Count Yamamoto Gonbee was appointed by the Emperor following the death of Prime Minister Katō Tomosaburō from cancer (who passed a week before the earthquake, leaving Japan without leadership during this important time). Japan, under military direction, seemed to be both ready and willing to do whatever it was necessary to secure victory for the Empire. Much unlike the divided regimes of China.

Who do you support?

Canton-KMT China:

Sun Yat-sen: Han Revolutionary and leader of the Chinese National Party. Founder of the Chinese Republic.

Liao Zhongkai: Han Politician, Left-KMT, Special Plenipotentiary of Industry of the Republic of China.

Mikhail Borodin: Russian ex-pat and general of the KMT. Borrowed from the Soviets until 1927.

Kunming-KMT China:

Li Liejun: Han General, Warlord of the Jiangxi Clique, and KMT-aligned warlord.

Tang Jiyao: Yunnanese Warlord, Leader of the Yunnan Clique, and KMT-aligned warlord.

Lu Rongting: Zhuang General, Warlord of the Nanning Clique, KMT-aligned warlord.

Liu Xiang: Han General, Warlord of the Sichuan Clique, KMT-aligned warlord.

Chiang Kai-shek: Han Leader of the Kemingtang. ex-Political Governor of Shanghai.

Bai Chongxi: Hui Warlord, ex-leader of the Landowner Revolt in Guangdong.

Fengtian Clique:

Xu Shichang: Han statesman, propaganda minister.

Zhang Xueliang: Han General, the Young Marshal, Leader of the Fengtian Clique.

Qing China:

Duan Qirui: Han General, Leader of the Anhui Clique, and disgraced member of the Imperial Court.

Li Yuanhong: Han General, shafted from leadership, general in the Imperial Army.

Ma Fuxiang: Hui Warlord, Leader of the Ma Clique. Noted reactionary.

Yang Zhengxin: Han General, Leader of the Xinjiang Clique. Noted monarchist.

Cao Kun: Han General, Leader of the Zhili Clique. Powerful member of the Imperial Court. Lord of the Privy Seal.

Zhang Xun: Han General, Leader of the Manchu Restoration Movement, disgraced member of the Imperial Court.

Prince Chun: Manchu Prince, father of the Qing Emperor. Regent (powerless position as now).

Manchukuo:

Zhang Zongchang: Han Warlord, former bandit, "Basest Warlord in China", and leader of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo.

Occupied Shanghai:

Du "Big-Eared Du" Yuesheng: Han mob boss who has a controlling interest in Shanghai and worked with elements of the Republicans. Ties with elements of the Chinese Revolutionary Party (Kemingtang).

Communist Party of China:

Chen Duxiu: Han Leader of the CPC.

Zhang Guotao: Han General of the CPC-KMT.

- - -
GM NOTES
- - -

Sorry for the delay and lack of map. My map-guy is sick and I'm flying out to Vancouver later today for a big interview and family for a week. I won't have my computer but I will have my phone so I'll try to answer questions/add the map when I can.

This was a big turn.

kilopi505 · Jul 21, 2018

(IN CHARACTER POST)

(SONG WRITTEN BY A DRUNK DU YUESHENG AND ATTACHED TO THE PAMPHLETS WHEN HE BECAME SOBER)

*SING TO THE TUNE OF THE FOLLOWING SONG*

Re-vo-lu-tion! Re-vo-lu-tion!
Down with To-kyo's Mi-li-ta-rists!
Re-vo-lu-tion! Re-vo-lu-tion!
Out with Ra-cists! Out with Ra-cists!

Gree-di-ness reigns, Rac-ism reigns,
Ja-pan's Mi-li-ta-rists!
Chi-nese all suffer, Ko-reans all suffer,
Some-thing must be done!

They stole all, they stole all, they stole all the money!
Our mo-ney's in Japan!
They tax us, they tax us, they tax us all!
None of us in Di-et!

All their bu-llets! Paid by Ko-rea!
All their boats at sea! Chi-nese gold at work!

Re-vo-lu-tion! Re-vo-lu-tion!
Us in Di-et! We're en-ti-tled!
Re-vo-lu-tion! Re-vo-lu-tion!
Burn the Em-pire! Rise Re-pu-blic!

Col-la-bo-ra-tors help! They not in Di-et!
Why help the Ja-pa-nese?!
Trai-tors sell their own! Ja-pa-nese Scorn!
Why help the Ja-pa-nese?!

They stole all, they stole all, they stole all the money!
Our money's in Japan!
They tax us, they tax us, they tax us all!
Where is Ci-ti-zen-ship?

All their fac-to-ries! Paid by Ko-rea!
All their roads and ports! Chi-nese gold at work!

Col-la-bor-ra-tors! Our Trai-tors!
Rise up in arms and seize all po-wer!
Ja-pan is open! For the ta-king!
Not their Em-pire! Our Re-pu-blic!

The Em-pire is a glu-tton!
I-t wants all the land!
So all we have we give them!
Ram it down their throats and! Make! Them! Ex-plode!

Re-vo-lu-tion! Re-vo-lu-tion!
Down with To-kyo's Mi-li-ta-rists!
Re-vo-lu-tion! Re-vo-lu-tion!
Out with Ra-cists! Out with Ra-cists!

Re-vo-lu-tion! Re-vo-lu-tion!
Us in Di-et! We're en-ti-tled!
Re-vo-lu-tion! Re-vo-lu-tion!
Burn the Em-pire! Rise Re-pu-blic!

Vote Du Yue-Sheng! Yes, Du! Yue! Sheng!

VoidZero · Jul 22, 2018

This is what should have happened, a declaration of war instead of the train explosion. Excellent art by @Slayers148 (Theoretically this commission should be accompanying the success of war plan last turn.)
Join Zhang Faction in extracting vengeance on this unjust world!

[] Zhang Xueliang
-[] Enemies on all sides

Enact full emergency powers and start military drafts.
Organize displaced civilians into supply producing collectives far from front line, to protect them and reduce drain on military and government resources; also task the collectives to look after the wounded and crippled. Relocate industrial bases to areas further from front line and coastline.
Continue warring with Imperialists defensively, use trench warfare if viable.
Have communication office continue to rally all support and spread Japanese atrocities in China and around the world. Praise the soldiers and civilians' heroic stand against Japanese imperialism.
Issue war bonds, sell land, and borrow money from both internal and external parties. Funds to go toward the military and war effort first and foremost.
Invite all nations and League of Nations to Manchuria to observe the war and protect their nationals.

A Little Trouble in Big China - A Chinese Warlord Quest

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