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1925: China Takes Flight - The Third Year of Consolidation

1925 was an auspicious year for the Kuomintang Government in South China. It was the year in which the "Official Investigative and Purchasing Commission" led by Feng Ru finally returned to China bringing with them trains, planes and factories. Feng Ru although only being tasked to to make a few purchases of aircraft and if possible - cheap licenses to obsolete planes - had bought with him a seed with which a viable military-industrial complex could be constructed.

Feng Ru's travelled to Europe through the Soviet Union and the Trans-Siberian line where he was given an enthusiastic reception by a fellow friendly 'revolutionary' government and treated as an ambassador of a friendly nation. However Feng Ru realized that the Soviet Union could not be of much help the Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily (Soviet Military Air Forces) while having a greater industrial base than China also lacked much in the way of qualified experts and experience. Feng Ru however was able to secure a Soviet promise of help in the form of advisors with experience industry and agricultural reform.

From the Soviet Union Feng Ru took a cruise ship to Germany. Feng Ru received an even more enthusiastic reception from the German government. The reasons for this enthusiastic reception were many among them were Chiang's status as a minor celebrity due to being a feature in a hit film directed by Hans Behrendt. Although the film Die unglaublichen Abenteuer von Chiang (The Amazing Adventures of Chiang) was heavilly imbellished and in some cases astoundingly inaccurate (Chiang was portrayed as a 6-foot half German, half-Chinese soldier with blue eyes) it was still highly popular and was a popular film among conservative circles this opened many doors for Feng Ru and he managed to secure substantial German help.

The first was in the area of aviation, although Germany had no air force it still had lots of trained engineers, industrialists and aviators with huge experience in the aviation industry. Although a portion of these had gone to the Soviet Union following the Treaty of Rapallo - China was thought to be a more attractive prospect. China was not ideologically hostile and Sino-German spheres of influence were quite different. China was also in the midst of warlordism and conflict meaning that any aircraft designed could be subjected to combat conditions. To this end a German Air Mission consisting of engineers, industrialists and pilots under the leadership of Gunther Pluschow was sent to China to aid the KMT government in the development of an air force. (Although ostensibly their official purpose was to aid in the development of crop dusters and other civil aviation infrastructure.)

The second was in the area of naval forces. Germany was facing a range of naval restrictions by the Treaty of Versailles including the submarine. It was believed that China could act as a 'testing ground' for new submarine types. It was also seen as a way for the existing naval expertise not to be lost. To this end a Naval Advisory Commission consisting of naval instructors, shipbuilders and engineers under the leadership of Wilhelm Canaris (who had served in the German East Asia Squadron) was dispatched.

The third was in the area of industy. Sino-German agreements were signed to help in the construction of railways and a cadre industrial advisors were sent to 'advice' in the construction of Chinese industry both civil and military.

The fourth was in the army. Although as substantial German aid had already been delivered in the previous years in the form of German advisors and German industrial advisors to the Guangzhou Arsenal there was frankly little room for improvement. Krupp promised to send more artillery advisors to help in the development of native Chinese artillery.

From Germany, Feng Ru proceeded to Italy where he was also warmly received. He successfully negotiated a small "Italian advisory commission" consisting of Italian industrialists, aviators, naval instructors and other military advisors.

After Italy Feng Ru spend the rest of his time in Europe in France and England. Although the various aircraft manufacturers wanted to do business and were eager to do so, the fact that Sun Yat Sen's government in southern China was not the 'official' government meant that French and English could be of little help. Feng Ru however did manage to purchase a plethora of obsolete World War I fighter planes such as the Nieuport 17. Feng ended up purchasing over 300 of other obsolete planes of various types.

1925 was the year that these various advisors and material purchased from various countries began to arrive in substantial numbers. 1925 was the year that the seed for an organized and vast Chinese military-industrial complex was sown. 1925 as Feng Ru was found of saying would be the year that "China takes flight"

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