Patton in China

I was looking through a book on the Korean war, and it had an interesting footnote in one of the chapters- oddly near the middle. Apparently, after Wedermeyer had taken command in China, and after the Nazis got defeated, the US would send troops and generals to China to defeat the Japanese there. No OOB was given, but Patton would have been in charge of the Northern Sector.

Does anyone know more about this? What impact would Patton have had in China? Would he have been able to defeat the Japanese? What would he have done with the Communists? Would he get into conflict with his superiors?
 
Patton and MacArthur in the same theatre?

The Pacific's not big enough for those two egos.

Maybe not, though they would be on different parts of Asia. This would butterfly out the accident that killed Patton in Germany and sets up some interesting post war possibilities, including interactions with characters such as Chang Kai Shek.
 
I could see this as a way to fight the Communists in China, without actually saying that they;re fighting the communists. If the USSR gets involved however, we could see a North and South China. This isn't necessarily predetermined, however, since the Cold War hadn't started by then. What we do know is that Japanese Army, with poor tactics and logistics vs. Patton=Curb-stomp x 1000.
 
Might pave a way for President Patton!!!!! :p:p


But, I think that China after the war would turn into a very Korea like situation, maybe the Korean War engulfing all of China, and Korea.

I guess a four state situation would be an end result.


North China- Controls all lands north of the Yangzee River, Communist dominated. Capitol is Beijing.

North Korea- Same situation as today.


South China- All lands south of Yangzee River, and Tibet. Capitol at Hong Kong or Shangai. Also in control of Taiwan.

South Korea- Same as today.


With all of these states, I could see a DMZ running across the Yangzee River and Tibet. Probably would be dis-established by the 1970's. Both economies would flourish following. By the 21st Century, North China will start to become very friendly with the South, and possible rumors of unification arise.


As for Korea, same situation as today.



This could butterfly Vietnam. A pro-American government on the border of Vietnam would allow American/Chinese forces to crush North Vietnam at Hanoi at the first sign of trouble.
 
I doubt South China would have Hong Kong as a capital. More likely it would use one of the southern historical capital cities. Maybe Hangzhou if they can keep it, or Shanghai as you said.
 
Perhaps Hong Kong would be the chief economic center of China. I think the Brits would give it to S. China ITTL unlike making it independent IOTL.
 

Xen

Banned
Admittedly my knowledge of the situation in China at this time is limited, but I seem to remember that the Chinese Communists used Japanese weaponry from Cache sites in Manchuria and northern China that the Kuomintang ignored and the Soviets pointed them too. If the Soviets arent in Manchuria and the US under Patton is in north China then when information about these weapon cache's are given to the allies (as they were to the Kuomintang by locals) then rather than ignore the problem, the US is likely to seize these caches.

Without Japanese weapon caches, and without direct Soviet support (which the Communists might get if the Americans are involved) then the Kuomintang will likely win.
 

Hendryk

Banned
South China- All lands south of Yangzee River, and Tibet. Capitol at Hong Kong or Shangai. Also in control of Taiwan.
First, it's "capital", with an a. Second, Hong Kong was under British control. Third, the Republic of China already had its capital in Nanjing. Fourth, you spell Shanghai with two h.

[self promotion]Someone already has.[/self promotion]
I was going to say...
 
I was gonna put this in a seperate thread, but why not save space?


I was wondering if perhaps the shell shocked soldier had been taking a dump at the time Patton was visiting the field hospital, thus preventing the almost career ending slapping incident. I do wonder if he would still have been put in the center of operation Fortitude, and also if he would have been given a command in China. I would like to think he could have cancelled out some of MacAurthur's stupidity.
 
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