Flaming Dragons-A Warlord China Alternate History

[Hendryk]

I don't think anyone will disagree when I say that the Nationalists successfully crushing the Communists is a positive development. I guess the NRA did about as well as could be hoped given the circumstances.

The territory may have been under the control of the Young Warlord [1],

Don't you mean the Young Marshal?

 

[CCA]

So is China unified once more?

 

[tukk323]

More comments yay! Its always good to have comments

Communist Argentina? Hm... Peoples Republic, I note, not People's Republic...

Uh, ok that's a mistake on my part, will fix it.

I don't think anyone will disagree when I say that the Nationalists successfully crushing the Communists is a positive development. I guess the NRA did about as well as could be hoped given the circumstances.

Don't you mean the Young Marshal?

Indeed the have crushed the communists (though not completely-take note of The Battle for China 1928-1945)

I simply came up with an ATL nickname for him, but was the Young Marshal used before the POD, I would assume he only was named so, once he took over after his fathers assassination by the Japanese. In TTL he is viewed more as a warlord since he tries to be as independent as he can rather than completely joining the KMT (since they after all responsible for the death of his father rather than the Japanese), but he still supports the now unified government.

So is China unified once more?

Unified, but not neccessarily safe

 

[Hendryk]

I simply came up with an ATL nickname for him, but was the Young Marshal used before the POD, I would assume he only was named so, once he took over after his fathers assassination by the Japanese. In TTL he is viewed more as a warlord since he tries to be as independent as he can rather than completely joining the KMT (since they after all responsible for the death of his father rather than the Japanese), but he still supports the now unified government.

Ah, fine, but you need to keep in mind that "warlord" (a term that incidentally entered the English lexicon as a literal translation from the Chinese junfa 军阀) was only used as a derogatory term. The value-neutral term was "military governor" (dujun 督军). Now, another possible nickname for Zhang Xueliang could be the Young Tiger, since his father was the Tiger of Mukden.

 

[tukk323]

Hey readers, sorry this has been on hiatus, i did have one post almost done, since my hometown of Christchurch was hit by a very damaging earthquake, I have been very distracted hopefully once i have come back from visiting this week, I will be in a writing mood again and will have some posts for you

 

[Typo]

Sorry for what happened in your town, but this is a very interesting TL I'd be glad to read more of

 

[yourworstnightmare]

Hey readers, sorry this has been on hiatus, i did have one post almost done, since my hometown of Christchurch was hit by a very damaging earthquake, I have been very distracted hopefully once i have come back from visiting this week, I will be in a writing mood again and will have some posts for you

Don't worry, your readers will be here waiting when you return.

 

[CCA]

Glad you're ok mate. If you need somewhere to stay in Dunedin - flick me a PM.

 

[tukk323]

Glad you're ok mate. If you need somewhere to stay in Dunedin - flick me a PM.

Hey awesome of you to offer! Its been so good to see on the news websites all the offers of help for Chch, from the rest of the country and the world.
My family actually went to Dunedin for a few days to get out of the city, but they are heading back to Chch tomorrow, as I arrive from Singapore on Wed, there house is livable , but got a bit of damage.

 

[tukk323]

And here's a little teaser for whats coming in the next few posts

'
18 April 1995
Los Angeles
USA

Moving to Los Angeles may have been the best move that John Lau had ever made. Despite the lack of radiation around southern China and Hong Kong, the British colony had been flooded to the brim with refugees fleeing the chaotic mainland. The last year had seen some semblance of order restored to the still-liveable parts of China, but the government was only surviving by the skin of its teeth. So the people still left the country in droves, seeking a better life in places like Hong Kong, South Japan, Vietnam, even Korea, which had taken some damage from the nuclear exchange between the old Chinese government and the former USSSR, but had managed to secure plenty of aid from Europe and the US.'


'
From ‘The Complete Second World War, Volume 1: The Opening Moves, From Manchuria to Yugoslavia’
By Robert Keegan
© 1985, Coleman Publishing Group, St Louis, USA
'

'
Zhang Xueliang wasn't going to retreat. His father hadn't retreated in battle and he wouldn't either. If the Japanese wanted a fight he would give it to them
'

 

[LeX]

A nuclear war between China and the USSR? That sounds really ugly.

 

[Wendell]

Well we now know that this is not pretty in the end for anyone in North or East Asia, but I do look forward to reading more.

And I hope that all is well for our author, given what has happened to his hometown recently. Making sure his affairs are in order should take precendence over this work of AH.

 

[tukk323]

8. Fast Times At Whampoa Military Academy

18 April 1995
Los Angeles
USA

Moving to Los Angeles may have been the best move that John Lau [1] had ever made. Despite the lack of radiation around southern China and Hong Kong, the British colony had been flooded to the brim with refugees fleeing the chaotic mainland. The last year had seen some semblance of order restored to the still-liveable parts of China, but the government was only surviving by the skin of its teeth. So the people still left the country in droves, seeking a better life in places like Hong Kong, South Japan, Vietnam, even Korea, which had taken some damage [2] from the nuclear exchange between the old Chinese government and the former USSSR, but had managed to secure plenty of aid from Europe and the US.

John had tried his hand at acting in Hong Kong, but the growth of the film industry had been killed off by the flood of refugees and people having far greater concerns than investing in films. So he had come to America, where things seemed heavenly in comparison. And after a few minor roles in some films and one big role last year, he had managed to land the main character in a large scale historical film. Granted it was about Chinese history, which no doubt helped him, but there was no end of actors in LA and enough of them were Asian that he still had to compete for the role. And here he was now, ready and dressed in costume to begin filming in what he hoped would lead to fame and fortune.

“Ready John?” asked Daniel Spielberg [3], the director. Having him as director only made the film even more important for John. Spielberg had won several Academy Awards for his past films and his last historical film Three Days Of Blood [4], had received Best Film. He was one of the biggest names in Hollywood and John was excited to be working with him.
John nodded and stood up from his seat and made his way towards the set. It was a replica of Whampoa Military Academy as it looked in the 1920’s.
John heard the phrase “Action” and stood up to the podium to re-enact the famous speech Li had made at Whampoa shortly before the Northern Expedition.
He put a stern look on his face, hoping to capture Li’s military training and spoke to the extras that were standing below him as the cameras rolled.


From the LA Entertainment News-October 1995 Issue
Review of ‘Raising Flags: The True Story Of General Li Zongren’
By John Mabell
Despite broaching a controversial subject, Spielberg has managed to pull off what this critic considers another Oscar winning film. While any historical film will be biased in certain ways, Spielberg has managed to maintain an incredible amount of historical accuracy, while also balancing the need for plenty of action and drama. Hong Kong native John Lau has certainly come a long way since starting out in Hollywood and word is that he will be in the running for Best Actor for numerous awards.

As for the film itself, it gives us a brief view of Li’s early life and rise to power in south China, before becoming the Republic’s key military figure, then there is plenty of action detailing the battles that made up the Chinese Civil War and the Chinese part of World War II. Interspersed with this is Li’s struggle amongst the various government factions during the and after the war and his eventual rise to president in the chaotic aftermath of the assassination of President Wang in 1947. More action follows in the with the brief Sino-Soviet Border War and the spin-off conflicts in Korea, Japan and Vietnam as Li takes control of his country in more turbulent times.

The pacing of the film does at times feel slow, but this is more than made up for in the large scale battle sequences and tense dramatic moments between the various historical figures. The length provides enough slow and fast paced material to flesh out into a 2 hour and 45 minute epic that is certainly worth waiting in line at the box office for.

A film poster for Raising Flags, starring John Lau as Li Zongren.


Discussion at on www.althist.org
Thread started by LI-2
Topic: Could anyone else have done as good a job as Li Zongren as commander of the Kuomintang Army?

Jackhigh: This is a tough question. Do you mean as commander of the army or do you mean could someone else have done an army job and also gone on to become an impressive leader? For the latter I would say no.

LI-2: No, only could someone have stepped into place and commanded the NRA during the Chinese Civil War and Japanese invasion as well as Li did.

Blackguard: I suspect Li Jishen or He Yingqin would have been decent commanders but Li Zongren had more experience in politics and his position in both the army and the government was pretty crucial during the Clique Crisis, he managed to persuade President Wang to allow the warlords to maintain regional control and independent armies while some of them were on the verge of outright rebellion, a war between them at this time would have been devastating and could have allowed the communists to regroup and gain more ground. Not to mention the state of the Chinese armies when it came to the war with Japan.

Agoraphobiaaa: I reckon if Li had died during the late 1920s somewhere then Zhang Fakui would have been made commander of the army. He was very close to Wang Jingwei and his ‘Iron Army’ 4th corps was the one that had inflicted the final defeat on Zhang Zuolin. This gave him a very large status amongst the other generals. Its fortunate he shared similar aims to Li Zongren (anti-communism, regional independence) otherwise he may have tried to take power form him, but as it was he was content to follow Li, though they had some disagreements during the Clique Crisis. Zhang led some capable campaigns against the Japanese as well, in Nanjing, and Wuhan.

Democratic Bob: No Li Zongren in command equals Warlord Civil War in 1928.

LI-2: Seems like there are some candidates, but there is something else I should mention Li Zongren came up with the strategy of prolonged resistance that was very effective against the Japanese, would anyone else have thought this up? Otherwise the IJA could have made it much further into central China, perhaps even forcing the KMT to surrender.

Jackhigh: Doubtful. For Japan to conquer China would require far more men than they actually had, at worst it would allow more men to be used in the Pacific and delay the US victory perhaps, but the end result is the same. On Li Zongren, apparently Zhang Xueliang’s decision to fight the Japanese in Manchuria, came after he had a heated phone conversation with Li and Wang Jingwei, without Li would he have still fought them, or would he have kept to his orders and let them march into Manchuria?

Taken from “The Battle For China:1927-1945”, By Eric Warren © 1999, Blackwoods Books, London, UK

Chapter 5. Disputes

With most of the main communist forces defeated (except for the fortified enclaves in Manchuria and Tibet) China had now finally been properly unified under the Kuomintang National Government. But with unification came the need for the central government, which had been relocated to Nanjing, to reorganise things. First and foremost was the army. While the NRA made up the bulk of the armed forces, the warlords still retained significant numbers under arms, that answered directly to them, so the appearance of unity was not always there. Wang Jing-wei was tempted to try to reorder the armies in, but the warlords would be resistant as it would mean giving up the personal power they had over their regions. Fortunately General Li Zongren and the German military advisor Max Bauer were able to advise Wang on the best course of action, to retain the loyalty of the warlords. Bauer had originally advocated a corps professional army and many local militia forces when he first came to China, but at the time Chiang Kai-Shek had not wanted to implement this.

But since the end of the Northern Expedition Bauer had been working with Li to make this plan a reality. Bauer had brought thirty German officers to train troops at Whampoa and in particular develop a military intelligence branch. Some of these soldiers would be placed alongside the various clique armies in the spirit of cooperation and the clique leaders would retain leadership over their own militia forces and direct as they saw fit, providing that the declared themselves and their provinces as part of the central government. There was some discourse over the mixing of the armies, but Li Zongren smoothed things out, by meeting with the leaders and explaining to them that they would not be bearing any of the costs for the German trained troops, but still receive their aid as well as potential training for their own men. The so called Clique Crisis had not lasted long and there was still ongoing discussions but for the most part the warlords found the new order acceptable, though Zhang Xueliang is one notable exception to this. For President Wang he scored big political points by securing relations with the warlords, particularly since his military background was severely lacking. Though many have pointed out that the placement of these forces had a hidden purpose. Since many of the NRA soldiers in the provinces had been trained in military intelligence at Whampoa they would also be able to track down communists and their sympathisers amongst the militia forces, but they would also be able to keep track of the warlord forces to see that they maintained their loyalty to Nanjing and could report back of any dissent amongst the warlords.

Max Bauer from his early days in China, when he first met Chiang Kai-Shek and became involved with the Kuomintang. Bauer would continue as a military adivsor in China until his death in 1937.

[1] ATL brother to Hong Kong actor Andy Lau.

[2] By damage, this mostly means fallout that hit these countries due to weather patterns, although the one like Korea that had actual alliances with either of the two sides did take some hits from nuclear weapons.

[3] I hardly think this one needs explanation .

[4] A film depicting the Battle of Gettysburg.

 

[tukk323]

9. Trouble In The North

“Frivolous thinking is due to foreign thought. Japan must no longer let the impudence of the white peoples go unpunished. It is the duty of Japan to fulfil her natural destiny, to cause China to respect the Japanese, to expel Chinese influence from Manchuria, and to follow the way of imperial destiny.”
-General Sadao Araki of the Imperial Army of Japan.


2 August 1930
Mukden
Republic of China

Colonel Seishiro Itagaki and Lieutenant Colonel Kanji Ishiwara had spent a long time planning this and tonight it would come to fruition, they had no choice but to act. Itagaki had received word that the Minister for War, Jiro Minami had dispatched a general to curb what he called ‘insubordination and militarist behaviour’ of the Kwangtung Army. The irony of it was that both of them considered themselves true patriots. Both of them had put a great deal of planning into this. A secret artillery bunker had been constructed over the last several months and disguised to look like a swimming complex, so that when the time came they could initiate a fire fight with Chinese troops and make it seem as if they were the aggressors. As both of the plotters waited at the officer’s club where the artillery was hidden, another soldier who believed in their cause was planting the explosives that would start everything off.

Lieutenant Hiro Sakamoto of the 29th Infantry Regiment had just finished placing the last of the explosives that would hopefully start the chain reaction needed for Japan to seize Manchuria. Hiro stood back and examined them for several seconds to make sure everything was ready. He had placed the explosives near to a small Japanese barracks and he had also placed the first set near the tracks of the South Manchuria Railway. He had placed them far away enough so that no real damage would occur and by the morning the Chinese would hopefully be under attack.

As he turned around to walk to his place to detonate them someone called out “Who’s there?” in Japanese.
Hiro froze, unsure what to do. It was clearly a soldier from the barracks and his discovery next to the explosives would be hard to explain. He thought as fast as he could and then decided. In the dark the soldier didn’t see him draw out his knife and he responded in a friendly voice.
The other soldier stepped forward when he realised it was another of his own and Hiro stabbed him as quickly as he could several times. The man dropped to the ground, with no sound but a quiet gurgling which soon stopped after half a minute. Hiro ran towards the detonation point as quickly as he could. If anything the dead soldier would simply add believability to the story that the Chinese had attacked the barracks. Hiro reached his destination and slammed his hand down on the detonator.
[1]

Seishiro Itagaki and Kanji Ishiwara, the instigators of the Manchurian Incident.

Site of the explosion at the South Manchuria Railway, which provided the spark for the invasion of Manchuria.


From ‘The Complete Second World War, Volume 1: The Opening Moves, From Manchuria to Yugoslavia’
By Robert Keegan
© 1985, Coleman Publishing Group, St Louis, USA

Japan’s desire for land and resources would have to come at the expense of a weaker nation, and China had become that nation in the eyes of most Japanese militarists. Despite the size of the Chinese armies and the advances that had come in Kuomintang military they were still far behind Japan, whose own forces were the most advanced in Asia. This was well known in Japan and combined with the historical victory they had achieved in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1896, led many Japanese officers to believe that China would not put up much of a fight for Manchuria. The IJA was eager to flex its muscles and there was much contempt among the army for the government of Hamaguchi Osachi, which had failed to manage the hardships brought on by the Great Depression and also faced accusations of selling national security by agreeing to the London Naval Treaty. Osachi continued to oppose the militarists, but his assassination on 27 June 1930 put the final nail in the coffin for Japanese diplomacy and peace.

Despite the close timing of the assassination to the Manchurian Incident, they were not part of any elaborate conspiracy, although the soldiers involved in both shared similar views. Osachi’s assassin, Inichi Hosukawa, was a member of Aikoku-sha, one of the many nationalist secret societies that had sprung up among the Japanese armed forces (others included the Black Dragon Society, the Cherry Blossom Society and the Double Leaf Society) while the Manchurian instigators were not part of these societies, simply radical members of the Kwantung Army. Theses plotters had been planning an incident near Mukden for some time, in order to seize Manchuria for Japan, and with Hamguchi’s assassination they simply moved up their timetable as the opportunity had presented itself. After all they could not be sure if his successor would curb their activities or not. Carrying out the incident earlier than planned had two important effects, one it meant that the forces for invading Manchuria were not as prepared as they would have been and this gave Zhang Xueliang time to concentrate his units that were stationed north of the Great Wall. It also ensured that there was less time to woo certain Northeastern Army generals to the Japanese side. This meant that Zhang Xueliang was able to mount a stubborn, if short resistance and he made the Japanese pay in lives for every inch of Manchuria they took.

Hamaguchi Osachi, the confusion following his assassination allowed the Kwangtung Army free reign in Manchuria


6 August 1930
Mukden

Zhang Xueliang angrily slammed down the phone, almost breaking it in the process. Major General Feng Zhanhai flinched slightly as he did so, but calmly asked “Sir, what are Nanjing’s orders?”
“Those weak shit heads want me to ‘withdraw’ to a secure, defensive position” said Zhang shaking his head. “To hell with that” he said defiantly “they may have flashier force than ours, but I’m going to make them pay hell for invading us. If they want Manchuria they’ll have to pay for it dearly.”
Zhang Xueliang wasn't going to retreat. His father hadn't retreated in battle and he wouldn't either. If the Japanese wanted a fight he would give it to them


Headline from Central Daily News
Nanjing, 12 September 1930

Young Tiger [2] Lives Up To Father’s Legacy,
Stalls Japanese Army At Mukden.​

General Zhang Xueliang, the ‘Young Tiger’, disobeyed orders and fought the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.


[1] Jiro Minami was appointed as War Minister earlier than OTL due to butterflies and Itagaki and Ishiwara have correspondingly taken action about a year earlier. In OTL Minami sent Major General Yoshitsugu Tatekawa to counter the independent ambitions of the Kwantung Army in 1931 but he was slack and was in an alcohol-induced sleep when the railway explosion of the Mukden Incident happened. Despite the change of timing and exact circumstances the officers were fanatics prepared to do anything they could to bring Manchuria under Japanese rule, so an incident is still likely to happen.

[2] In OTL Zhang was in Beijing at the time of the incident, helping refugees from the Yangtze River floods and he obeyed Nanjing’s orders to not offer the Japanese resistance. This earned him the nickname ‘General Nonresistance’ in the newspapers and among the populace.

 

[Hendryk]

Carrying out the incident earlier than planned had two important effects, one it meant that the forces for invading Manchuria were not as prepared as they would have been and this gave Zhang Xueliang time to concentrate his units that were stationed north of the Great Wall. It also ensured that there was less time to woo certain Northeastern Army generals to the Japanese side. This meant that Zhang Xueliang was able to mount a stubborn, if short resistance and he made the Japanese pay in lives for every inch of Manchuria they took.

I'm glad that in TTL the Japanese invasion of Manchuria won't be a cakewalk.

 

[LeX]

Hm, I wonder how Zhang's troops will fare against the IJA.

 

[tukk323]

10. A Crouching Tiger.


15 September 1930
Mukden
Republic of China

Lieutenant Bei Xing ducked as another rattle of bullet fire rang out. He was the last survivor of his unit. The Japanese had finally penetrated the last area of the city held by the Chinese and they would now have no choice but to retreat. An exploding artillery shell nearby, almost knocked him off his feet and he was showered with dust. He looked up above the makeshift barrier to see Japanese soldiers advancing through the street. With only himself left, there was no chance on stopping the Japanese from marching straight to General Zhang’s command further behind him, he needed to get back and warn them!
But from behind him he heard shouts and the sounds of running boots. He turned his head briefly to see the general’s personal guard unit coming down the street and start firing at the Japanese. Bei was deeply encouraged by this sight and he joined them, coming out from his cover and fired his rifle off at the now scattering Japanese soldiers. After some time most of the soldiers had been driven back and a few were left injured on the ground. The artillery fire had ceased as well, indicating that the Japanese had slowed down their offensive in this part of the city.
As he looked up he saw a car approaching the battle site. It was General Zhang! The car slowed down and Bei could see that it had mounted guns on the side. Even when traveling it seemed the general was prepared for fighting! It stopped as it reached the soldiers and the general spoke to his men.
“You did well here, that will buy us some time, but we can’t hold the city any longer. The Japanese have overrun our positions on both the eastern and western sides of the city, we can’t hold it any longer. I’m going to personally order the remaining positions to pull back and we’re going to join General Ma’s force further south.”
Then the car left and the men started clearing the sit in an orderly manner.
“Soldier?”
“Uh...yes” said Bei somewhat in a daze as his mind processed everything.
“Thank you for your help. Where’s the rest of your unit?”
“All dead sir.”
“I see. Well you best report to Colonel Wujiang at the Southern command centre, I’m sure he’ll be able to assign you a unit. It’s only a few streets that way” and the man pointed behind Bei, who nodded.
“Best hurry though, they’ll begin evacuating soon and you don’t want to be caught in the city when the Japanese finally take it over.”
Bei saluted the man and started making his way through the now mostly empty streets. He could hardly believe he had seen the Young Tiger up close. Just the feeling of that had reinvigorated him, he felt like he could face the Japanese again, with General Zhang on their side, they would eventually push them out of Manchuria.

Japanese troops at the Battle of Mukden.


Imperial Japan’s Folly: Invading China, By Marco Bravelli, English translation by Antonio Grimani © 1978, Gravello Publishing House-Kingdom of Italy, Nice

While the Japanese soldiers that prepared for the invasion of Manchuria had planned well for some time, there were certain aspects of the suspected ‘walkover’ campaign that they had overlooked. They had fully expected to drive the Chinese garrison at Mukden out immediately, and that the Chinese would rapidly flee before them without putting up much resistance. Initially it may seem ludicrous that less than a thousand Japanese soldiers could make several thousand of the enemy retreat, but this assessment had some merit, as the Nanking government did initially decide not to resist the Japanese invasion, but this policy was reversed when General Zhang Xueliang made the decision to fight for Mukden. Secondly, even if the Japanese could not push occupy Mukden quickly the Kwantung Army was ready to be transported there by rail, and reinforcements began arriving at the city by the 10 August. The Japanese also had much knowledge of the Northeastern Army, due to Zhang Zuolin’s ties to Japan and many of the Chinese forces in Manchuria were underequipped, poorly trained and lacking in loyalty and morale, while the Kwantung Army was one of the best that Japan could field.

But General Zhang’s resistance decision, threw a wrench into their plans for a quick taking of Mukden to secure a stable base for the rest of the invasion. Zhang had fortunately been in Mukden at the time of the incident and seeing the Japanese invade what had been his father’s land for so long was too much for him to run from. He ignored his orders from Li Zongren on the morning of 3 August, 1930. He organised his troops as the Japanese began moving into the city and with his sheer presence of personality, encouraged his soldiers to fight as hard as they could. He had no air force to call on though, it had been relatively small and Japanese planes had taken out the airfield long before he could issue any orders to it. His army held the Japanese in position for several days until Japanese reinforcements started arriving from Korea and they pushed further into the city. Zhang decided to make the battle for Manchuria hinge on Mukden and concentrated his forces there, even removing some form northern Manchuria. This made him a hero in the eyes of most Chinese, as he was successfully holding the Japanese invasion back, eventually President Wang ordered that more troops should be sent to support his forces. While this may have made things seem rosy the reality was different from the perception. The Northeastern Army had been holding back the Japanese at Mukden at a huge cost in casualties and supplies, in fact several units had begun running out of ammunition. Additionally Zhang’s concentration of forces at Mukden had led to Japanese seizures of many of the outlying areas of Manchuria. By early September the Kwantung Army reinforcements had taken the Liaodong Peninsula and most of the main rail lines giving them the advantage of being able to transport their forces faster. In the north several Chinese generals decided to rebel against the Republican government and collaborate with the Japanese, Xi Qia and Zhang Jinghui [1]. The IJA 7th Infantry Division and these rebel Chinese forces quickly took many of the towns in the north and east and then prepared to march on Harbin.

Eventually even Zhang had to admit that Mukden could no longer be held and pulled the last units out on 16 September, making a retreat to Harbin. In the north General Ma Zhanshan had been fighting a retreat back to Harbin and he arrived there a few days after Zhang where consolidated there forces and prepared to make another stand against the Japanese. The Japanese were rapidly marching through Manchuria and taking most of the small towns, but were constantly besieged by the members of the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies, who were conducting guerrilla warfare against them. By the time the Defence of Harbin had begun the total casualties for both sides were: China: 17,890, Japan: 4990, and the Japanese had begun to become weary of fighting of what they called ‘bandits’, they were eager to engage the bulk of the Chinese armies at Harbin. Harbin was the final stand for the Chinese forces, thought it was a battle that would last for nearly three months and require more of the Chosen Army to be brought in from Korea. The IJA 2nd Division’s aggressive tactics were what finally pushed the Chinese out of Harbin and a good deal of the defenders were encircled and trapped in the city to end up as prisoners [2], many of them fated to end up in the infamous Unit 891 [3].


-Timeline of the Invasion of Manchuria

1930
2 August
Mukden Incident-explosion set by radical Japanese soldiers gives the IJA a pretext to begin an invasion of Manchuria, General Shigeru Honjo, commander of the Kwantung Army, tacitly approves it.

3 August
General Zhang Xueliang disobeys orders and begins fighting the Japanese. Battle of Mukden begins as the IJA 2nd Division attacks Chinese forces in Mukden.

6 August
Stubborn Chinese resistance, prompts call of reinforcements to Mukden

10 August
Kwantung and Chosen Army reinforcements arrive at Mukden.

20 August-8 September
The Kwangtung Army marches through Manchuria seizing Liaoning and many of the towns in eastern Manchuria.

16 September
Zhang Xueliang’s forces retreat from Mukden as the Japanese finally seize the city.

3 October
General Xi Qia defects to Japan and seizes towns in Heilongjiang province, his forces clash with those of General Ma Zhanshan.

26 October
Ma Zhanshan finally begins retreating after fighting back numerous Japanese and Chinese troops, he makes for Harbin to join with Zhang Xueliang.

18 November
Battle of Harbin begins

28 November
The League of Nations proposes a ceasefire and a neutral zone in Manchuria. Both sides agree to talks, but fighting at Harbin continues.

10 December
The Japanese government is in crisis and Prime Minster Wakatsuki resigns. His replacement is Sadao Araki, who managed to manipulate the crisis to his advantage. He breaks off talks with the Kuomintang government and sends additional reinforcements to Manchuria.

29 January
General Zhang Xueliang retreats from Harbin, his army pursued by Japanese aircraft.

4 February
The League of Nations issues the Jones Report [4], following which the Japanese officially withdraw from the League of Nations.

12 February
Zhang Xueliang is given a hero’s welcome in Nanjing. The Nanjing government has decided to discontinue fighting the Japanese in Manchuria, although they refuse to recognise any puppet government.

23 February
The independent state of Manchukuo is declared, with former emperor Puyi, declared head of state, though he has little real power.

Statue of General Zhang Xueliang in Harbin (1984), the Republic of China’s first recipient of the newly created Order of Blue Sky and White Sun [5].

Japanese troops entering Changchun.


[1] Zhang Haipeng also collaborated in OTL in return for military supplies, but here the lack of a Central Plains War has meant that he has far more military supplies and Zhang Xueliang’s resistance has convinced him to remain with the Kuomintang government.

[2] Somewhat like a mini-version of Stalingrad, thought the roles are reversed with the invaders being the ones who manage the encirclement and the defenders running out of food, ammo and supplies.

[3] TTL Unit 731.

[4] Similar to OTL Lytton Report.

[5] This is a military award established in 1929. Although in TTL it is the highest military order that can be given out as opposed to becoming the second highest to the Order of National Glory.

 

[Hendryk]

Hopefully the six months it took for the Japanese to take control of Manchuria won't have been wasted by the Nationalists. In any case Chinese public opinion is now fired up and ready for war.

 

[Tony]

Excellent update!! The war is beginning a bit faster than in OTL!!

And I would like to ask, whether or not the elected government in Tokyo would "create trouble" for the Kwantung army as in OTL. You know, Japanese prime ministers Reijiro Wakatsuki and Tsuyoshi Inukai did not even recognise the independce of Manchuria before April 1932.

Inukai opposed the actions of Kwantung army at first, and he would be assassinated in the infamous May 15th Incident in 1932. If nothing is changed in TTL Japan, Wakatsuki of the Rikken Minseito (Consitutional Democratic Party) should have been the Prime Minister of Japan at the time. Would he get mad or remain silent like Giichi Tanaka, and then got removed from office in 1929?

 

[Hendryk]

As he looked up he saw a car approaching the battle site. It was General Zhang! The car slowed down and stopped as it reached the soldiers and the general spoke to his men.

I wonder--could that be his late father's custom-made Packard, which came with side-mounted machine guns?