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Dragon Warriors
Dragon Warriors: China’s Elite Troops
During the Great Asian War, the Shun Military fought bravely against the forces of the Unified Indian State but three elite Chinese formations which especially distinguished themselves during the war were elite formations formed during the military expansion and modernization of the 1930s. Those were the 3rd and 6th Landship Divisions, the 1st and 3rd Motor-Infantry Divisions and the 2nd Air Infantry Divisions and they also had played a major role in Operation Shenfang as well.
The 3rd and 6th Landship Divisions and the 1st and 3rd Motor-Infantry Divisions had all been formed in Sun Xinyi’s initial foundation of the Zhuangjia Budui (Armored Force) in the late 1920s and were the core of the famous 2nd Landship Corp, arguably the best Landship formation in the world, both in it’s equipment and it’s tactics as the Chinese Imperial General Headquarters ensured that they recieved the newest and most powerful military equipment and as the Chinese military, under the direction of Marshal Sun Xinyi, had perfected tactics for armored warfare and how to coordinate armored warfare operations with artilery, infantry, and aerial forces. By the start of the Great Asian War, the four divisions comprising the 2nd Landship Corps all were exclusively using Rhino Main Battle Landships and Apocalypse Heavy Landships. The Apocalypse was introduced in 1951 and while weighing 68 tons, proved to be fast and heavilly manueverable as well. It was also heavilly armored and armed with a 130mm cannon as well with the innovative feature of an autoloader . The Rhino was the culmination of development of Landships in the late 1940s and entered service in 1950. It had a new 100mm cannon with a stabilizer and was arguably the best landship when it was introduced as well. While the 2nd Landship Corps was entirely equipped with these two landships by the start of the Great Asian War, many Chinese formations were still armed with Improved Battlemaster and Overlord landships.
The Apocalypse and Rhino Landships, the workhorses of the Chinese Army for much of the Great Asian War
During the Great Asian War’s first half, the 2nd Landship Corps was commanded by General Dong Zhenya, a master tactician and genius at combined arms tactics. Under him, the 2nd Landship Corps fought heroically at the Battle of Guangxi where the Apocalypse was a rude shock to Indian landship crews with it’s firepower unmatched by anything they had and it’s armor being near-impossible to penetrate. However, the 2nd Landship Corps, despite the firepower of both the Apocalypse and the Rhino, were unable to hold back the Indian forces due to air superiority being with the Indians along with the nuclear strikes on the Chinese forces and were forced to retreat to the defensive line established after the Battle of Guangxi. At the end of the battle, the four divisions of the 2nd Landship Corps only had 16 Apocalypse Landships and 102 Rhino Landships while they started the Battle of Guangxi with 130 Apocalypse Landships and 476 Rhino Landships. One major hero of the Battle of Guangxi was the 23-year old Crown Prince Li Bao, who commanded a platoon of Rhino Landships which destroyed a battalion of Indian Landships in an ambush in October 1957. In the aftermath of the Battle of Guangxi, Li Bao was promoted to command a battalion of Landships and went on a tour of the Empire of the Great Shun with his Italian-born wife, Princess Marcella de Medici to promote the sale of war bonds. In addition, Western military observers in China, especially one Jean du Lys, Baron de Arc, who in the future would gain the nickname “Le Jaune”as well, would be impressed by the 2nd Landship Corps’ performance in the Battle of Guangxi as well.
General Dong Zhenya, commander of the 2nd Landship Corps during the early part of the Great Asian War.
The 2nd Air Infantry Division was the most elite of all Jinyiwei “Air Infantry” formations and was amongst the first of the “Air Infantry” formed. During the Sino-Japanese War, the 2nd Air Infantry Division took part in airborne landings during Operation Shenfang and distinguished themselves in said airborne assault, earning them a reputation as an elite airborne force during said battle with their ferocity in battle. By the start of the Great Asian War, the 2nd Air Infantry Division was already moving on from gliders by conducting exercises on small-scale helicopter usage. In addition, the 2nd Air Infantry Division was also taking on a special forces role as well as the 16th Special Battalion was set up in 1955 as a special forces unit under the command of the 2nd Air Infantry Division and comprised of the best troops of said division, which was largely recruited from the Jurchen ethnic minority, which had been used to supply elite troops for the Chinese military ever since the Ming and Shun had conquered the Jurchens in the 17th Century. During the first part of the Great Asian War, the 2nd Air Infantry Division, with the exception of the 16th Special Battalion, spent most of their time training and preparing for airborne operations. However, the 16th Special Battalion was busy with special force raids against Indian forces in which they distinguished themselves in their raids, which were designed to disrupt the Indian military’s supply lines and command apparatus by blowing up bridges, railways, and telephone lines with said raids being marked by the first combat usage of helicopters as they were used to discreetly transport said special force units at night for said raids, which saw mixed results as Indian AA weaponry and fighters frequently shot down said helicopters and said helicopters were also not immune to Indian ground forces as well. However, these operations could be seen as the first predecessors to modern helicopter warfare as well.
The Dragon (l) and the Super Rhino (r) landships, which would be used in the latter half of the Great Asian War
During the lull in fighting during early 1958, the 2nd Armored Corps and the 2nd Air Infantry Division were prepared for the impending battle which the Chinese High Command were preparing for as the landships lost at the Battle of Guangxi were quickly replaced and new crews prepared for any impending battle. During this period, the first Dragon landships, which would be the last and most powerful Heavy Landship the Chinese Imperial Army would field, and Super Rhino landships, which would be the first landship with a smoothbore cannon were being built and introduced during this period with the 2nd Armored Corps getting 12 Dragon heavy landships and 53 Super Rhino landships for this period. In addition, the Rhino landships which were brought in were of an improved variety to the Rhinos used early on in the Great Asian War. If the Chinese Imperial High Command would plan a counter-offensive, the 2nd Armored Corps would be the spearhead of such an attack. It was also in this period that the 2nd Air Infantry Divison’s HQ and the majority of it’s forces, which had been practicing at Xiboliya and Mongolia, were moved to Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province and a major logistics hub ever since Changsha got nuked by the Indians.
During the Great Asian War, the Shun Military fought bravely against the forces of the Unified Indian State but three elite Chinese formations which especially distinguished themselves during the war were elite formations formed during the military expansion and modernization of the 1930s. Those were the 3rd and 6th Landship Divisions, the 1st and 3rd Motor-Infantry Divisions and the 2nd Air Infantry Divisions and they also had played a major role in Operation Shenfang as well.
The 3rd and 6th Landship Divisions and the 1st and 3rd Motor-Infantry Divisions had all been formed in Sun Xinyi’s initial foundation of the Zhuangjia Budui (Armored Force) in the late 1920s and were the core of the famous 2nd Landship Corp, arguably the best Landship formation in the world, both in it’s equipment and it’s tactics as the Chinese Imperial General Headquarters ensured that they recieved the newest and most powerful military equipment and as the Chinese military, under the direction of Marshal Sun Xinyi, had perfected tactics for armored warfare and how to coordinate armored warfare operations with artilery, infantry, and aerial forces. By the start of the Great Asian War, the four divisions comprising the 2nd Landship Corps all were exclusively using Rhino Main Battle Landships and Apocalypse Heavy Landships. The Apocalypse was introduced in 1951 and while weighing 68 tons, proved to be fast and heavilly manueverable as well. It was also heavilly armored and armed with a 130mm cannon as well with the innovative feature of an autoloader . The Rhino was the culmination of development of Landships in the late 1940s and entered service in 1950. It had a new 100mm cannon with a stabilizer and was arguably the best landship when it was introduced as well. While the 2nd Landship Corps was entirely equipped with these two landships by the start of the Great Asian War, many Chinese formations were still armed with Improved Battlemaster and Overlord landships.
The Apocalypse and Rhino Landships, the workhorses of the Chinese Army for much of the Great Asian War
During the Great Asian War’s first half, the 2nd Landship Corps was commanded by General Dong Zhenya, a master tactician and genius at combined arms tactics. Under him, the 2nd Landship Corps fought heroically at the Battle of Guangxi where the Apocalypse was a rude shock to Indian landship crews with it’s firepower unmatched by anything they had and it’s armor being near-impossible to penetrate. However, the 2nd Landship Corps, despite the firepower of both the Apocalypse and the Rhino, were unable to hold back the Indian forces due to air superiority being with the Indians along with the nuclear strikes on the Chinese forces and were forced to retreat to the defensive line established after the Battle of Guangxi. At the end of the battle, the four divisions of the 2nd Landship Corps only had 16 Apocalypse Landships and 102 Rhino Landships while they started the Battle of Guangxi with 130 Apocalypse Landships and 476 Rhino Landships. One major hero of the Battle of Guangxi was the 23-year old Crown Prince Li Bao, who commanded a platoon of Rhino Landships which destroyed a battalion of Indian Landships in an ambush in October 1957. In the aftermath of the Battle of Guangxi, Li Bao was promoted to command a battalion of Landships and went on a tour of the Empire of the Great Shun with his Italian-born wife, Princess Marcella de Medici to promote the sale of war bonds. In addition, Western military observers in China, especially one Jean du Lys, Baron de Arc, who in the future would gain the nickname “Le Jaune”as well, would be impressed by the 2nd Landship Corps’ performance in the Battle of Guangxi as well.
General Dong Zhenya, commander of the 2nd Landship Corps during the early part of the Great Asian War.
The 2nd Air Infantry Division was the most elite of all Jinyiwei “Air Infantry” formations and was amongst the first of the “Air Infantry” formed. During the Sino-Japanese War, the 2nd Air Infantry Division took part in airborne landings during Operation Shenfang and distinguished themselves in said airborne assault, earning them a reputation as an elite airborne force during said battle with their ferocity in battle. By the start of the Great Asian War, the 2nd Air Infantry Division was already moving on from gliders by conducting exercises on small-scale helicopter usage. In addition, the 2nd Air Infantry Division was also taking on a special forces role as well as the 16th Special Battalion was set up in 1955 as a special forces unit under the command of the 2nd Air Infantry Division and comprised of the best troops of said division, which was largely recruited from the Jurchen ethnic minority, which had been used to supply elite troops for the Chinese military ever since the Ming and Shun had conquered the Jurchens in the 17th Century. During the first part of the Great Asian War, the 2nd Air Infantry Division, with the exception of the 16th Special Battalion, spent most of their time training and preparing for airborne operations. However, the 16th Special Battalion was busy with special force raids against Indian forces in which they distinguished themselves in their raids, which were designed to disrupt the Indian military’s supply lines and command apparatus by blowing up bridges, railways, and telephone lines with said raids being marked by the first combat usage of helicopters as they were used to discreetly transport said special force units at night for said raids, which saw mixed results as Indian AA weaponry and fighters frequently shot down said helicopters and said helicopters were also not immune to Indian ground forces as well. However, these operations could be seen as the first predecessors to modern helicopter warfare as well.
The Dragon (l) and the Super Rhino (r) landships, which would be used in the latter half of the Great Asian War
During the lull in fighting during early 1958, the 2nd Armored Corps and the 2nd Air Infantry Division were prepared for the impending battle which the Chinese High Command were preparing for as the landships lost at the Battle of Guangxi were quickly replaced and new crews prepared for any impending battle. During this period, the first Dragon landships, which would be the last and most powerful Heavy Landship the Chinese Imperial Army would field, and Super Rhino landships, which would be the first landship with a smoothbore cannon were being built and introduced during this period with the 2nd Armored Corps getting 12 Dragon heavy landships and 53 Super Rhino landships for this period. In addition, the Rhino landships which were brought in were of an improved variety to the Rhinos used early on in the Great Asian War. If the Chinese Imperial High Command would plan a counter-offensive, the 2nd Armored Corps would be the spearhead of such an attack. It was also in this period that the 2nd Air Infantry Divison’s HQ and the majority of it’s forces, which had been practicing at Xiboliya and Mongolia, were moved to Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province and a major logistics hub ever since Changsha got nuked by the Indians.
- Whiteshore
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