The Chinese Civil War
The National Revolutionary Army marching towards the Second Battle of Peking
Seen as a proxy for the wider worldwide advance of both the Nations of Capitalism and those of Communism, Mao Zedong's Regiments of Revolutionary Soldiers and Wang Jingwei's Kuomintang Nationalists battled it out for a decade. The conflict could be traced to the fall of the Qing Dynasty when the Xinhai Revolution finally toppled over the ancient monarchy. A anarchic period ensured and it wasn't until General Yuan Shuaki was able to unite the different warring factions under a new republican government. He established his new government in Peking but found rivals to hold great sway over neighboring city's and the countryside, thus never able to fully unite the country. He died in 1916 and the Warlord Period began as different Beiyang Army Cliques each struggled to hold superiority over the other. The remnants of Shuaki's Government in Peking helped establish the Beiyang Government with the guidance of President Li Yuanhong. To the South in Guangzhou, a new nationalist movement known as the Kuomingtang
[1] was able to create a main rivalry to the northern government. Well known revolutionary Sun Yat-sen assumed leadership of this new faction. Sun appealed to the western nations for support where he was largely ignored with the exception of the United States. Theodore Roosevelt sensed a possibility at gaining United States interests with the installation of power of the Kuomingtang. In a series of secret negotiations with Secretary of State Robert Bacon, the United States offered advisers and monetary aid towards the nationalists in exchange for special military access and economic relations in the case of them beating out the Beiyang government. However this also entailed that they didn't ally with any rival nation's, including the Russian Bolsheviks whom Sun also wanted support from. When Roosevelt died, their was fears that the deal would be abandoned by the more isolationist driven Johnson. However Sun's masterful negotiation skills helped entail a similar renewal treaty in 1920 when Johnson was withdrawing the United States from the Rooseveltian entanglements.
The issue of the newly created Communist Party dawned a new problem for the nationalist's. Communism, along with Anarchism and Socialism, had picked up steam within the Chinese Intellectual Community during the "Century of Humiliation". The Communist Party helped unite these factions in 1921 with full support from Vladimir Lenin in Moscow, and the Revolutionary's in Italy and Germany. The young and energetic Mao Zedong lead the group of radicals and quickly picked up steam and funding within China and by the International Communist Groups. Both the Party of the Kuomingtang had similar goals - to overthrow the Beiyang Government, thus naturally leading to the conclusion that both groups should join under a "United Front". But the new Glass Government in the United States refused to work with Communist's of any kind. The Administration threatened to cut funding and military support if they proceeded, while the Soviet Union watched closely. Sensing a opportunity, Stalin sent Adolph Joffe to meet with Sun to try to back out a alliance between the two groups. Question's over Outer Mongolia, the Chinese Far Eastern Railway, and the willingness to cooperate with the C.C.P. ultimately doomed the talks. Sun seeing no other options caved to the American's demands and refused to work with the Mao and his party. The two groups however did make a pact to not fight each other until the Beiyang Government did fall.
When Sun died of Liver Cancer in 1925
[2], the K.M.T. split between left and right over a successor. Representing the right and the old guard proved to very well be the main chief of the National Revolutionary Army - Chiang Kai-skek. Proscribing to the stringent anti-cooperative ideology of Nationalistic Democratic Socialism, he had gain notorious reputation throughout China as a military genius and a man who reduced Beiyang to little more then Peking and the northern city's. Meanwhile he gain immense popularity among the rank and file for the subduing of the chaotic warlords of the south Chinese Provinces, restoring stability in a region that desperately needed it. Chiang thought for sure he would be the next leader and marched into Guangzhou with a army regiment of 100 over confidentially waiting for the announcement of his leadership position. He would soon find it would not be as easy as a coronation. Left-leaning elements quickly united around close Sun confidant Wang Jingwei. He pushed to more cooperation with the Communists and Cominterm in the short term. "The Communists are our ally's for now. But when the Northern threat [Beiyang Government] is removed, we shall pounce on them and their failed ideologue with all of the resources we have" he said in a argumentative speech to the Guangzhou Assembly, which itself was almost split between pro-cooperative and anti-cooperative members. Jingwei argued that Sun himself wanted for a United Front but was too timid too stand up to the United States. But his arguments could not withstand the total control that Chiang had over the N.R.A. centered on his deanship over the Whampoa Military Academy
[2]. Seeing this advantage, he traveled to Moscow where he offered up alliance in exchange for funding and troops. He finally lost his American Ally's but the Soviet's gladly agreed. The fateful "Battle of the Lucheng" would finally decide this feud. Located in a mountainous frontier town near the Whampoa provisional headquarters at Chongqing. Their a secret ambush by a combined force of both the Communist's Revolutionary Army's and loyal N.R.A members was able to siege and crush a force of 1300 soldiers regrouping and refueling in the town on their way too Chongqing. It emerged a great victory for Jingwei no matter how insignificant it was. It showed that Chiang could not properly hold intelligence on the whereabouts of his enemy's. Similar "battles" in neighboring provinces crushed the moral of both Chiang and those loyal to him. In January of 1927 he finally ended the leadership crisis accepting a secondary role to Jingwei.
The real start to the civil war occurred with the end to the Northern Expedition which ended with the fall of the Beiyang Government in late 1928. Assuming control over Beiyang assets, a "re-unification" of China was expected. But the Communist Party refused too just simply give up power, already controlling large swaths of the countryside due to the infighting between Beiyang and the Kuomingtang. Jingwei spent his time meanwhile purging key Beiyang officials, purging allied communistic groups and militias, and consolidating control. A massacre of these groups by the Jingwei Government was the final straw and the Party dropped alliance with Jingwei, followed in pursuit by the Soviet Union. The objective of defeating Beiyang was over and now a true Communist China was in order. Mao and his forces received mass funding from Stalin's treasury and immediately received access to new weaponry vehicles in the form of guns and artillery. All weapons ready for these allied groups, they started a system of guerrilla warfare as illustrated in Marx's Revolution Theory and remained as a constant threat to the KMT, situated in the far away frontier lands of the west. Hit and run tactics remained a favorite for Commander Mao and would lead a long time insurgency into Wuhan, Henan, and even as far as Guangdong Province's. A attempted outer city raid of Peking, however, was quickly repulsed. The Nationalists main strategy was one of encirclement. Trying to break up and isolate individual pockets of militias, it proved successful in holding the tide in Hunan, Jiangxi, and in protecting much of the Pacific city's ranging from Shanghai to the Capital.
These encirclement tactics were were successful and Mao resulted to increasingly desperate and western attacks and operations. Stalin sent General Ishaq Beg Munonov into the Land of the Uighur's to distract the western allied KMT warlords and republican forces during the Spring months of 1935. He easily beat back the unorganized factions until he encountered Ma Zhongying, General of the Republican Western Army's. He and his men put up a tough fit and resulted in heavy casualties in the Russian Infantry during the battles of Ürümqi. Munonov would occupy most of the province by Christmas and resistance would finally end in major form in the death of Zhongying too a Russian Sniper en route to a refueling village. Sending the message back to Moscow, the Kremlin approved the creation of the Uighur Socialist Republic, unrecognized by all except the Soviets and her ally's. He devised military control over the state, effectively occupying it for the Soviet Union, but also helped create a "Assembly Of Workingmen". To the East, a similar occupation occurred in Manchuria being invaded by the Soviets and a similar "North Manchurian Peoples Republic" being created as a rather puppet, akin to the Mongolian's or Tuvan's.
[4]
The two battles of Peking finally put the nail in the chest of the nationalist beast. A weakness finally hit Jingwei in 1937. A series of defeat's in 1936 leading to the year lead to much of the west to come under Party control. Nationalist army's were largest focused in the south and in the frontier provinces were the Communist operation was greatest. Mao say this as a opportunity to strike at the belly of the beast - Peking. It was largely undefended and had become the "de-facto" capital of the Jingwei's operation's . He moved in for the kill, raising a 200,000 to 400,000 strong army across the Inner Mongolian Steppe. Battle after battle was won along the way. A idea by the Soviet Top Command in Manchuria and in Moscow to connect Soviet Troops with the Communist Army appeared, but was also quickly rejected, Mao wanted to show the entire world, the west included, that he and his "Maoists" were a force to recon with. By sundown, on July 11th, 1937, the army swept into the inner city, while the rest of the city had was enjoying a warm summer's night. They caught them on surprise, as if it weren't already obvious. Jingwei upon hearing of this army was quick to reaction. You see, the main government official's in the city were well evacuated and Jingwei had retreated south from his Presidential Mansion in the city. The citizen's were also advised of the alert, but most stayed. But the scale of the army was not known. Messengers to Jingwei had told him "a army of 50,000 to 100,000 loyal Maoist Troops" and thus the response prepared was much less then needed. A secondary force from the north, a division from the Red Army, also meet up and was unknown up until their attack. They mustered around anywhere from 1 to 5 thousand committed soldiers. By the midnight hours the two group had connected in Tiananmen square, but by that time the casualty were already mounted in the tens of thousands. Citizen's attempting too flee the city were shot down on sight and citizen slaughter was common in individual pockets. And by the outbreak of the sun in the wee morning hours of July 12th; it was all over. Mao paraded himself into the city that same day, to a joyous armory, and planted the flag of the Chinese Communist's directly on the pavement of Tiananmen Square, cementing there rule in the historic capital. The defeat was a horrible blow to the Nationalists in both pride and overall power. Jingwei relocated to Shanghai while the operations of government returned to the southern city. Isolated by the world, and losing more a symbol then a strategic area, Jingwei could have well gave up hope then. Jingwei however planned to retake Peking and show it directly to Mao Zedong. He began to build up his army's once again.
In a final push, Jingwei marched his army again up north, in a similar fashion in 1928. He mustered up all his general's could possibly and gave a order for a siege like tactic, combining Jingwei's southern army, with the remaining Manchurian northern division's. On November 21st, 1937 he entered the city in a final push. Mao however knew he was coming. He purposely left weaker infantry in the center of the city, while ordering his general's to entrap the Nationalist's as they entered deeper into the city. Jingwei on the other hand was receiving positive reports as off yet. By Noon a solider of his took down the flag planted by Mao, and Tiananmen Square fell back into their control. After, it went all downhill. Seeing they had gone far enough, Mao ordered attack. Reigning in with close to 300,000 soldiers from all sides to the city. He also intercepted the replenishing North Manchurian units and destroyed their battalion. Jingwei's troops were not stuck in the city. Jingwei demanded where the Manchurian's were and had no knowledge that the unit was no more. A attack by a outside group of 5 to 10,000 nationalist's were also repulsed around 3 PM as Jingwei ordered as much troops as possible to defeat the siege. The city solider's would put up a valiant fight. They resulted to city warfare, a brave guerrilla attempt to save themselves. And they were very effective in inflicting mass communist casualty's. But by the end of the sun on that day, when the last specks of a colorful sky turned to black and blue, their fight was lost.
Indeed it is said by many that the war ended on that fateful day. Jingwei was crushed of all morale and he started to face mass defections and distrust from other party and military leaders. He survived a coup, yes, in 1938, and he did receive new funding from the Pro-Kuomingtang Roosevelt Government in the United States, but his demise would end the Nationalist's. Mao would lead his boy's to victory time and time again, time and time again increasing his army with new defectors as his rival's received mass troop shortage. On January 24th, 1940 a assassination attempt finally ended Jingwei in his tracks. The remaining army's finally ditched the continental effort and regrouped to Formosa. Mao took what he could, and left the Nationalists on Formosa. He quickly established himself as the first Chairman of the People's Democratic Republic of China, armed and ready.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] - Rooted in the beliefs of Sun Yat-sen, it grew as a direct Chinese nationalist response to the Western Imperialism present in the country. It's main aim was also to establish a Republican government.
[2] - The exact cause is unknown to history but liver cancer, caused by longtime exposure to carcinoma.
[3] - Whampoa was establish by Sun in a attempt to modernize and centralize his military. It has direct origin to the influence that the military academy's in the U.S.S.R had on Sun when he traveled during the early 1920s.
[4] - Mongolia was take per the Bolshevik invasion of the region in 1920 and established as a essential "Revolutionary Republic" to the Kremlin. The Tuvan People meanwhile proved to be a valuable ally to the Soviet's as soon as they invaded the region in 1920. Tuva was established as a fellow Revolutionary Republic. Both are active members of the Comintern.
