Thanks to everyone for their kind words of feedback and comment! They make the TL seem like a thankful task - I mean I'd do it regardless but the fact that people are reading this makes me more motivated than I might otherwise be.
A deal with the devil
A brave man is a man who dares to look the Devil in the face and tell him he is a Devil.
- Chiang Kai-Shek, On War
Despite appearances, the fate of the Chinese Revolution hung in the balance on May 4 1926 for reasons political, economic and international. Although the National Revolutionary Army had swept all before it in the lightning speed advance towards Beijing with it's groundbreaking use of aircraft, artillery and poison gas it had taken casualties, although they were light in relative terms (100,000 troops lost compared to the 10,000,000 troops they defeated!) the loss of a highly trained, well-equiped soldier was keenly felt.
Another problem was that of overextension. In defeating the 10,000,000 troops, the Kuomintang gained another problem. Although a majority (6,000,000) of these troops were press-ganged farmers, villagers and other who had something to return to. There was still the rather pressing question of what to do with around 4,000,000 armed men of dubious quality and equally dubious loyalty. There could be no question of bringing them to the front, they would be quickly vanquished by the 'silver bullet,' there could be also no question of using these troops as an 'police force' when many of them had brutalized the people they were supposed to be policing. They could also not be told to disband and return home - the only thing they knew how to do was fight and it was likely that they would turn quickly to banditry. The Special Operations Bureau and Kuomintang activists all reported signs that the 4,000,000 men were growing agitated and quite possibly 'mutinous.' This mean that out of an army of about 5 million men, only 1/5th were reliable enough to be militarily useful and out of that 1 million about a quarter were away fighting in the west or otherwise occupied. Chiang did not want his precious National Revolutionary Army chewed up in house to house, block to block fighting which the well-trained, well-disciplined and well-paid (immunity to silver bullets) gangster troops would engage in. Du Yuesheng's troops were famed for being crack snipers.
Financially, the Kuomintang Government was starting to creak at the edges, T.V Soong's substantial silver reserves were being eaten away by the massive expenses of war and if it was not resolved soon there would be massive economic upheaval leading to loss of popular support.
Internationally, the situation was delicate. The Manchurian Zhang Zuoling was finally starting to wake up to the full threat that the Kuomintang posed and had gone from the brink of war with Yan Xishan to a tacit agreement that the
"Kuomintang and the Communists had to be dealt with first." Being bogged down in street-to-street fighting would allow Zhang and Yan to rush troops.
The
"International Community" especially in Britain was beginning to be wary of what was perceived to be "bolshevism" in the Kuomintang. Anit-Kuoumintang propaganda, pushed aggressively by Zhang, Yan and the Japanese was working it's wonders. There were even talks of an intervention force to
"quell the bolshevist insurrection." Winston Churchhill, who would later become Prime Minister expressed the Tory establishment's views about the 'Chinese Situation" clearly when he thundered:
"Having allowed the Russian people to be subjected under the cruel yoke of Communism, will we allow the Chinese to suffer the same fate? Will we wait before these godless communists begin massacering our citizens and other god-fearing people before we act?" The Kuomintang's close links with Europe's two most pariah nations - Germany and the Soviet Union was not endearing it to many western nations. There were even talks of an "international" intervention force to help the "legitemate government of China" put down the "bolshevist insurrection" - in return of course, for more concessions. Japan was the most leading advocate of such a force, for reasons that can only be guessed at.
It was all in the balance. Although the Norther Expedition had been widely successful so far, it had perhaps become a victim of it's own success - however these very successes were influential in bringing together the very powerful forces that were now arrayed before it. Time was of the essense here, if the Kuomintang could take Nanjing, Shanghai and defeat Yan Xishan before the year ended it would have established itself before any outside 'intervention' could take place. If it did not - it would be crushed, as ruthlessly and as totally as the Boxers, the Taipings and other rebellions had been. A few weeks fighting in Jiangsu would make all the difference between victory and defeat.
That was what Du Yuesheng could offer - time. Not only could he deliver Shanghai and Nanjing on a platter but he could also assuage international fears about the Kuomintang. Du Yuesheng and his network of triads and his well oiled patronage system had many influential contacts with western interests and he could 'assure' them that the Kuomintang were a fine lot. But what did Du Yuesheng have to gain from such arrangement?
In a nutshell, it was survival. Although delaying the Kuomintang would utlimately destroy it - Du Yuesheng, and the tidy little criminal empire he had built for himself would be taken down with it. Nanjing and Shanghai were home to large trade unions, sympathethic with Kuomintang aims. Wang Jingwei had even boasted that he had a "fifth column" ready to take Shanghai at a moments notice. Although using these as weapons would destroy the Kuomintang by making them look like bolsheviks and ensuring an international intervention - it would also destroy the triads who would be 'purged' from the cities. Therefore Du Yuesheng was concillatory in the initial negotiations, offering Nanjing as a 'gift' to the new regime to be used as a capital and offering safe transit, transport to the National Revolutionary troops. He would also be willing to flay the Kuomintang bannerm, give the regime a cut from his massive criminal Empire and lobby for them internationally - if they left him alone. From a purely
realpolitik perspetive the two had much to gain from each other
It was however a difficult choice for Sun to make. He understood that time was of the essense and the the deal offered the best chance of uniting China. However the price would cost the regime it's soul. So far the Kuomintang had been scrupulous in dealing with 'bulles, corrupt lackeys, criminals, bandits, warlords and others of reactionary ilk' giving them justice before 'People's tribunals' which usually ended for the offenders with a 7.92 or a 9mm round in the head.. Allowing Du Yuesheng to go unmolested would send a signal that the Kuomintang was a 'business as usual' government and could lead to further concessions. Wang Jingwei and the Kuomintang Left (Red) faction he was the de facto head of all wanted to trigger the popular uprising and deal with Du Yuesheng with this method. In this he found an unusual ally with Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang Centre (White) faction. Chiang shared Wang's personal distaste for Du Yuesheng. Both men agreed that they could crush Du and still unite China. Only the Kuomintang Blue faction agreed with the deal. Despite having only tepid support from one faction, the deal still went ahead. Kuomintang troops would cross across Jiangsu province pouring into Yan Xishan's province catching him unawares. Sun Yat-sen however was broken by this effort. He suffered chronically from bouts of ill health and fainting after this deal, some said that Du poisoned him, others that Sun had sold his sould to the devil and his health was the price to pay.
The deal with the devil yielded results. What the devil delivered, the devil promised. Yan's elite "Beiyang Army" was caught off guard and out of defensive positions. The rest of the year was devoted to clean up operations as Yan and his army were chased over the border to Manchuria where Yan was promoted to "Prime Minister" after acknowledging Zhang Zuolin's presidency. By January 1 1927 the Kuomintang flag flew from Beijing, to Xining to Haikou. The First phase of the Northern Expedition was complete. China was now mostly unified. The Second Phase was about to begin.
Next Update: The Second Phase of the Northern Expedition.
Major Spoiler: The Real Next Update: Arrested Development - the failure of the Second Phase of the Northern Expedition.
Feedback and comment greatfully received (and solicited)
Virtual cookies to anyone who correctly predicts the reason for the spoiler.
, It was really meant to be more of an affectionate reference. Not a BUURN moment.
