China is now one of the most powerful economies in the world and is a major regional leader, with one newspaper going as far as calling it 'the America of Asia', owing to it's political and economic weight.
But that success only came after the end of a bloody nineteen-year long Communist insurgency, which only froze for a short time during the Second Sino-Japanese War, only to start up again in 1946.
The Communists had been driven back from South Manchuria after a month-long battle at Spingjie. As the Nationalists reached Harbin, Lin Bao threw 100,000 conscripted factory workers into the path of the advancing Nationalist army, to little avail. The suburbs of Harbin, the gateway to the north, had been reached by the advancing Nationalist units by early June.
After a short, but intense battle, the main leadership of the Communist insurgency was arrested and summarily executed.
But what if Chang kai-Shek, for some reason, stopped his offensive and gave the communists enough breathing room to reorganize and counterattack, leading to a Nationalist defeat?
But that success only came after the end of a bloody nineteen-year long Communist insurgency, which only froze for a short time during the Second Sino-Japanese War, only to start up again in 1946.
The Communists had been driven back from South Manchuria after a month-long battle at Spingjie. As the Nationalists reached Harbin, Lin Bao threw 100,000 conscripted factory workers into the path of the advancing Nationalist army, to little avail. The suburbs of Harbin, the gateway to the north, had been reached by the advancing Nationalist units by early June.
After a short, but intense battle, the main leadership of the Communist insurgency was arrested and summarily executed.
But what if Chang kai-Shek, for some reason, stopped his offensive and gave the communists enough breathing room to reorganize and counterattack, leading to a Nationalist defeat?