沒有國民黨就沒有中國, Without the Kuomintang there would be no China, A Republic of China Story

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諸言-Intoduction
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    • CELTICEMPIRE

    諸言-Intoduction​

    China has been a great civilization since antiquity. But with greatness comes envy. For thousands of years, China’s enemies sought to plunder and conquer. Since these enemies usually came from the North, a Great Wall was built to keep them out.

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    But no one had expected that China’s enemies would ultimately come from across the sea. The Western powers humiliated China, taking over port cities and selling opium to the people.

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    It didn’t help that China was ruled behind the scenes by a woman who prevented China from doing what it needed to get out of its predicament.

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    Since efforts to reform the last dynasty failed, it was determined that there was only one course of action left: Revolution. China’s last emperor, a young child, was overthrown. But after the revolution, China was fragmented, ruled by quarrelling warlords. The revolutionaries who had overthrown the emperor, led by Sun Yat-sen, sought to unite the country.

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    The Kuomintang and allied warlords launched the Northern Expedition to crush the enemy warlords and reunify China. Another group they allied with were the Communists, who shared the Kuomintang’s Anti-Imperialist views. Then Sun Yat-sen died, succeeded by Chiang Kai-shek.

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    While at first Chiang Kai-shek saw the Communists as allies, he would soon see them as enemies needing to be vanquished. A civil war broke out with the Kuomintang on one side and the Communists on the other. As Nationalists fought against Communists, Chinese sovereignty was increasingly being encroached upon by Japan. The Nationalists were winning. But right before the Nationalists could deliver the final blow, Chiang was kidnapped by two of his generals and forced to sign a ceasefire. The Nationalist and Communist forces would work together against a common enemy once more.

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    Japan invaded China, hoping they could quickly break China’s will to fight. But China continued fighting. Japanese soldiers, indoctrinated to see their race as superior, committed horrific acts against those they viewed as inferior. But China never surrendered. For eight years, at first alone and later with allies, China fought back. The Japanese vowed to never surrender.

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    But they eventually changed their minds.

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    And now, Japan has been defeated. But will there be peace? Even as Japanese soldiers evacuate China, Nationalists and Communists are both trying to be move in to the territory they once occupied. It seems that civil war may soon erupt once more. And if hostilities resume, will the Republic of China survive under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, or will China become a Communist nation under Mao Zedong?
     
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    • C.Z.A.R

    C.Z.A.R

    CELTICEMPIRE said:
    諸言-Intoduction​

    China has been a great civilization since antiquity. But with greatness comes envy. For thousands of years, China’s enemies sought to plunder and conquer. Since these enemies usually came from the North, a Great Wall was built to keep them out.


    But no one had expected that China’s enemies would ultimately come from across the sea. The Western powers humiliated China, taking over port cities and selling opium to the people.


    It didn’t help that China was ruled behind the scenes by a woman who prevented China from doing what it needed to get out of its predicament.


    Since efforts to reform the last dynasty failed, it was determined that there was only one course of action left: Revolution. China’s last emperor, a young child, was overthrown. But after the revolution, China was fragmented, ruled by quarrelling warlords. The revolutionaries who had overthrown the emperor, led by Sun Yat-sen, sought to unite the country.


    The Kuomintang and allied warlords launched the Northern Expedition to crush the enemy warlords and reunify China. Another group they allied with were the Communists, who shared the Kuomintang’s Anti-Imperialist views. Then Sun Yat-sen died, succeeded by Chiang Kai-shek.


    While at first Chiang Kai-shek saw the Communists as allies, he would soon see them as enemies needing to be vanquished. A civil war broke out with the Kuomintang on one side and the Communists on the other. As Nationalists fought against Communists, Chinese sovereignty was increasingly being encroached upon by Japan. The Nationalists were winning. But right before the Nationalists could deliver the final blow, Chiang was kidnapped by two of his generals and forced to sign a ceasefire. The Nationalist and Communist forces would work together against a common enemy once more.


    Japan invaded China, hoping they could quickly break China’s will to fight. But China continued fighting. Japanese soldiers, indoctrinated to see their race as superior, committed horrific acts against those they viewed as inferior. But China never surrendered. For eight years, at first alone and later with allies, China fought back. The Japanese vowed to never surrender.


    But they eventually changed their minds.


    And now, Japan has been defeated. But will there be peace? Even as Japanese soldiers evacuate China, Nationalists and Communists are both trying to be move in to the territory they once occupied. It seems that civil war may soon erupt once more. And if hostilities resume, will the Republic of China survive under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, or will China become a Communist nation under Mao Zedong?
    Click to expand...
    Is this a Chinese Civil War TL?
     

    CELTICEMPIRE

    SY79OM0.png

    Welcome to Without the Kuomintang there would be no China. This TL will follow the Republic of China throughout the Cold War era.

    -Historical figures will be referred to by the names that they are best known by. The majority of names will be Romanized using Pinyin.
    -Most Chinese cities and provinces will be Romanized with Pinyin. I know that Pinyin was not invented until after the PoD of this TL, but more people will recognize Pinyin names.
    -All Chinese characters I use will be traditional rather than simplified characters.
    -If you see me using Chinese incorrectly, please do not hesitate to correct me.
    -Starting this TL in no way means that I've abandoned America's Silver Era or Man of the Hour.

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    一, Conflict Resumes
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    • CELTICEMPIRE

    中國國民黨如能存在一天，則中國國家亦必能存在一天。如果今日的中國，沒有中國國民黨，那就是沒有了中國。如果中國國民黨革命失敗了，那亦就是中國國家整個的失敗。簡單地說：中國的命運，完全寄託於中國國民黨。

    If the Chinese Kuomintang can exist for a day, the Chinese state will also exist for a day. If there is no Chinese Kuomintang in today's China, there will be no China. If the Chinese Kuomintang revolution fails, it is also the failure of the Chinese state as a whole. Simply put: China's fate rests entirely on the Chinese Kuomintang.
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    -Excerpt from China's Destiny, written by Chiang Kai-shek and Tao Xisheng

    On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced that Japan would surrender to the allies. The war that had cost millions of Chinese lives, both military and civilian, had ended. Celebrations erupted across China. Chiang Kai-shek addressed the victorious nation by radio:

    “Right will triumph over might-this great truth which we never once doubted has been finally vindicated. Our faith in justice through black and hopeless days and eight long years of struggle has today been rewarded. The historical mission of our National Revolution has at last been fulfilled…

    We have won the victory. But it is not yet the final victory. The universal power of righteousness has not simply achieved one more triumph. We and the people of all the world fervently hope that this war may be the last war in which civilized nations engage…”
    Click to expand...

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    (Soong Mei-ling, First Lady of China)​

    Chiang knew that the victory over Japan would in all likelihood not bring lasting peace in China. Even before the war with Japan had ended, when both sides were supposed to temporarily put aside their differences, there had already been battles between the Nationalists and Communists. With the common enemy gone, the situation would likely escalate into full out war.

    Chiang Kai-shek met with Mao Zedong at Chongqing, the capital of Nationalist China. At the negotiations, the two sides agreed to a democratic election to determine which party would rule China. Neither side intended on keeping the agreement, and the Nationalists and Communists had been pressured into negotiations by the US and USSR respectively. In 1946, the Chinese Civil War resumed.

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    (Left: Mao Zedong, Right: Chiang Kai-shek)​

    The Nationalists were strong in the South and in urban areas, while the Communists were strong in the North and in rural areas. The Communists, by this point, had greatly expanded their territory by occupying land recently occupied by Japan. The Communists were particularly strong in the Northeast. The Nationalists launched an offensive to take the cities of Siping and Changchun in the Northeast. The Nationalists were led by Du Yuming, while the defending Communist forces were led by Lin Biao. Lin Biao was ordered by Mao Zedong not to retreat from Siping, orders that Mao would regret giving [1]. Despite outnumbering the Nationalists two to one, the Communists were defeated. Most of the 200,000 soldiers defending Siping were killed or captured. Lin Biao himself was killed in the fighting. Du Yuming’s forces marched into Changchun on June 2. The campaign was an outstanding success. The Nationalists gained the upper hand.

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    (Left: Du Yuming, Right: Lin Biao)​

    The war was far from over, however. The Nationalists’ next move was an offensive against the Communists in the North China Plain. The heavily outnumbered Communists couldn’t win in a conventional fight, so they planned on having half their force of 60,000 retreat while the other half would engage in guerilla warfare. In their retreat, many Nationalists were killed. The Communists claimed victory. Part of the failure of the Nationalists was due to Nationalist soldiers that could have helped in the North China Plain were diverted to fight Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping in Central China. In July, the Nationalists failed in their attempt to retake the Datong-Puzhou Railway in Southern Shanxi province. Hu Zongnan failed to link up his forces with those of Yan Xishan. In the Northern part of Shanxi, the Nationalists were successful, however, inflicting heavy casualties on the Communists. The Nationalists also captured Huaiyin and Huai’an in Jiangsu Province. Nationalists moved into the highly economically important region and captured several important Communist bases [2].

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    (Yan Xishan)​

    The Nationalist victories in 1946 were well-earned and decisive. As a result, many Communists began to question Mao Zedong’s effectiveness as a leader. The victories, especially those in Manchuria and Jiangsu, outweighed the defeats suffered elsewhere on balance. The Kuomintang and its military arm, the National Revolutionary Army, looked to be in a good position. After all, they outnumbered the Communists and controlled much more territory. But victory was not yet assured. Chiang Kai-shek had plans to retreat to the Island of Taiwan, recently returned to China, if he lost the war on the mainland. The Communists still held two advantages. The first was that their spies had infiltrated the Nationalist government and military. Nationalist spies knew very little compared to their Communist counterparts. The second advantage was propaganda, where the Communists once again did a much better job than the Nationalists. The Nationalist government was losing popularity and more Chinese turned to the Communists. Leadership on both sides were aware that the outcome of this war was very much unsure.

    1: This is the PoD, OTL Lin Biao disobeyed Mao's orders, which was a good strategic decision.
    2: This is basically what happened OTL.
     
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    • President Eternal

    It occurs to me, that a China united (or at least mostly dominated) by the Nationalists instead of the Communists will probably take the wind out the Red Scare in the US. Sure, there'd still be fear of the Soviets, but without a second major power going Red as well, the Domino Theory doesn't carry as much weight.
     
    二, New Battles and a New Constitution
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    • CELTICEMPIRE

    中華民國基於三民主義，為民有民治民享之民主共和國。

    The Republic of China, founded on the Three Principles of the People, shall be a democratic republic of the people, to be governed by the people and for the people.
    Click to expand...

    -Article I of the Constitution of the Republic of China

    As the year 1947 began, Nationalist troops under Du Yuming were in the middle of an offensive against Communists in Jilin Province. While it was a victory for the Nationalists, the Communists were able to retreat with most of their forces surviving. Similar battles would play out across China. In a conventional war, the Communists would have been quickly wiped out, but their use of guerilla warfare made it possible for them to compete with the well-equipped professional Nationalist army. The Winter and Spring of 1947 saw a series of small-scale battles being fought in Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi, and Shaanxi provinces, with the majority of them being won by the Communists. The Nationalists under Hu Zongnan scored a victory at Yan’an in March, capturing the Communist headquarters and forcing Mao and the rest of the Communist leadership to retreat. This was more of a propaganda victory for the Kuomintang than a major strategic victory, however [1].

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    (Left: Hu Zongnan, Center: Nationalist soldiers in Yan'an, Right: Mao Zedong's retreat from Yan'an)​

    Some Communists were dissatisfied with the leadership of Mao Zedong. General Peng Dehuai was one such Communist who dared to voice his disagreements with Mao. Others, like Deng Xiaoping, stood firmly behind the Chairman. Attempts by the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics [2] to exploit divisions within the ranks of the Communist Party were unsuccessful, and mainly resulted in dead Juntong [3] agents. Chiang Kai-shek faced opposition to his rule as well, and not only from the Communists. Many Chinese, especially students and intellectuals, saw Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang as obstacles to China becoming a democracy. While Chiang said that he supported a transition to democracy guided by Kuomintang rule, the fact remained that in the 1940s China still was not a democracy. In 1947, Chiang Kai-shek outlawed the China Democratic League and placed its leader, Zhang Lan, under house arrest.

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    (Zhang Lan)​

    Chiang Kai-shek was also criticized for the Civil War. There were many in China who wanted the Nationalists and Communists to stop fighting. This viewpoint was also supported by many in the Chinese military and government. Anti-Chiang sentiment was present throughout the country, but it was particularly strong in Beiping [4]. While the other major cities of Nanking, Chungking, and Shanghai were strongholds of KMT support, Beiping Mayor He Siyuan was an opponent of Chiang. There were even Communist sympathizers in the military leadership in Beiping. Northern China, especially Northeastern China, would continue to be where opposition to the Kuomintang was highest. This political division in China can be seen to this day, where the Kuomintang is stronger in the South and the West while it is weaker in the North.

    While Du Yuming was a hero for the Nationalists for his victories against the Communists in the Northeast, there was a new rising star in Shandong Province. In 1947, General Li Mi attacked the Communists in Shandong throughout the summer and won victories for the Chinese government. Li Mi wanted more troops sent to Shandong, hoping that with more men he could finish off the Communist threat in the province. But it was not to be. Other generals wanted Chiang Kai-shek to take troops out of the Northeast and send them to fight Communist forces in Hebei, Shanxi, and Shaanxi. Generals like Yan Xishan and Hu Zongnan did not see the fighting in the Northeast the same way as Chiang did. Chiang Kai-shek continued to order Du Yuming to go on the offensive against the Communists there.

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    (Li Mi)​

    As 1947 drew to a close, Communist forces went on the offensive and won minor victories in Shandong, Hebei, and Hubei provinces. On December 25, the new Constitution of the Republic of China came into effect. The man behind the text of the new constitution was John C. H. Wu, who served as ambassador to the Vatican City. The constitution established political rights for the people, equality between the nationalities, and the division of powers. There would be five branches of government; the Executive Yuan, the Legislative Yuan, the Judicial Yuan, the Examination Yuan [5], and the Control Yuan [6]. Elections were scheduled to be held in January 1948. In addition to elections, Chiang Kai-shek had also planned new offensives, which he hoped would finally destroy the Communists in 1948.

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    (John C. H. Wu, father of the Chinese Constitution)​

    1: As in OTL
    2: The Intelligence Agency of the Republic of China
    3: 軍統, What the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics was commonly called
    4: Modern Day Beijing
    5: The Examination Yuan validates the qualifications of civil servants.
    6: The Control Yuan has the power to impeach and censure government officials, to audit budgets, and to propose corrective measures.
     
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    • CELTICEMPIRE

    President Eternal said:
    It occurs to me, that a China united (or at least mostly dominated) by the Nationalists instead of the Communists will probably take the wind out the Red Scare in the US. Sure, there'd still be fear of the Soviets, but without a second major power going Red as well, the Domino Theory doesn't carry as much weight.
    Click to expand...

    That's correct. the Cold War still happens but it's going to be a very different Cold War.
     
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    noobius

    I wonder if the martial law that Chiang proclaimed over Taiwan and the remaining territories of the ROC would still be as harsh as it was otl in this timeline. Because without Chiang and co being under the siege mentality mindset from the discovery of the CCP spies in their midst and the loss of the mainland, would they still be so draconian?
    Edit: In addition, since the ROC seems to be clearly winning as if now in this timeline, would Truman still place that arms embargo on the ROC like he did otl?
     

    CELTICEMPIRE

    noobius said:
    I wonder if the martial law that Chiang proclaimed over Taiwan and the remaining territories of the ROC would still be as harsh as it was otl in this timeline. Because without Chiang and co being under the siege mentality mindset from the discovery of the CCP spies in their midst and the loss of the mainland, would they still be so draconian?
    Click to expand...
    The KMT will be authoritarian, at least in the early ears, but not as draconian as OTL Taiwan during the same time period.
    noobius said:
    Edit: In addition, since the ROC seems to be clearly winning as if now in this timeline, would Truman still place that arms embargo on the ROC like he did otl?
    Click to expand...
    The embargo still happens.
     
    三, Elections and Civil War
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    • CELTICEMPIRE

    From January 21-January 23, the 1948 Chinese Legislative Elections were held. An estimated 150 million people went to the polls (more than three times as many than in the American Presidential election later that year). 759 legislators were elected. Most represented districts in their provinces, but some represented specific professions or minority groups as well. The Communist Party boycotted the elections and the China Democratic League was banned. Thus, the only two opposition parties that took part in the election were the left-wing Chinese Democratic Socialist Party and the right-wing China Youth Party. The Kuomintang won over 700 seats. The Legislative Yuan would be led by Sun Fo, the son of Sun Yat-sen. The China Youth Party was given two cabinet positions; Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and Minister of Industry and Commerce.

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    (Sun Fo)​

    The 1948 elections were good for the Kuomintang’s image, both at home and abroad. However, the Communists were still gaining new recruits in the Chinese countryside. They pursued land reform, making them increasingly popular with the peasantry. Chiang Kai-shek wanted to enact land reform, and crack down on the rampant corruption in the government as well. However, he did not want to alienate the allies he needed in order to defeat the Communists. Chiang was seen as corrupt by many, and westerners who didn’t like him referred to him as “General Cash-My-Check.” This was not a reflection of the reality. Chiang Kai-shek tolerated corruption, but was not himself corrupt. After the Communists were defeated, Chiang could attack corruption. In the meantime, the Communists took advantage of the weaknesses of the Kuomintang regime [1].

    In the opening months of 1948, the Communists went on the offensive, taking territory in Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Shanxi, and Shaanxi. Communist offensives failed in Shandong, repelled by General Li Mi. As the Communists won victories, they also won new recruits for the People’s Liberation Army. But Chiang Kai-shek had his own offensive planned for the Spring. This offensive would involve three generals; Yan Xishan, Fu Zuoyi, and Li Mi. These three generals would attack, encircle, and annihilate Communist forces in Hebei. The Communist forces were situated between the three cities of Beiping, Tianjin, and Baoding and led by Nie Rongzhen. The planned encirclement failed, as Fu Zuoyi’s staff was infiltrated by Communist spies. Nevertheless, Nie Rongzhen was forced to retreat. Communist forces in Western Hebei were under attack from Yan Xishan and in Eastern Hebei from Li Mi. While Communist casualties were relatively low, the Nationalists took a lot of ground, mostly confining the Communists to the Southwestern part of the province by June.

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    images

    (Left: Fu Zuoyi, Right: Nie Rongzhen)​

    While battles were raging in Hebei, the Legislative Yuan agreed to temporarily grant more power to the President in order to combat the Communist threat. Du Yuming attacked Communist forces in Songjiang Province in June. Most of the province was pacified but some Communists retreated into what would soon be known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Communists were on the offensive in Henan, and by September forces under Xie Fuzhi had surrounded Kaifeng. Hu Zongnan was also under attack from Peng Dehuai in Southern Shanxi. In September and October, Nationalist forces under Tang Enbo broke the encirclement of Kaifeng and relieved the city’s garrison. Tens of thousands of soldiers were killed on both sides in the fight to relieve Kaifeng, with the Nationalists suffering higher casualties. The rest of 1948 saw mostly minor skirmishes, some won by the Communists and some won by the Nationalists.

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    (Tang Enbo)​

    1: Contrary to popular belief, Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang were not, in general, a bunch of corrupt, far-right puppets of the West.
     
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