Republic of China Election Map

I'll give a more thorough response later, but if I read correctly Japan doesn't get to invade China proper like IOTL, since they have get their butts kicked in 1931. Are you going to have them sit the Sino-Soviet war out, or try to stab China in the back as the war drags on? Also, will the loss of the war against China cause the USSR to fail against Germany?
 
Japan: The problem is that Japan has multiple factions within the Army and Navy, all advocating for a different strategy. They will have to go through a few rounds of power struggles before they can stab China in the back. By then, the war would probably be over.

As for China, I'm altering the TL. I never said that China would win. :D However, regardless of how the war turns out, Stalin cannot feasibly occupy Manchuria, or even puppet it.

Unlike Finland, Manchuria has a lot of open spaces and the Russians have a long tradition of cavalry, which translates well to armored warfare. China simply has fewer forces to rely upon.

What will make this war particularly messy is that neither side has all that many radios, making coordinating that many troops on either side nearly impossible. Despite having a thin veneer of mechanization, both armies are going to end up falling back on the good-old fashioned massed infantry assault after their tanks spend a few hours driving in circles.

I have other plans for Germany. I'll get back to you on that.
 
Huey Long as US president. Don't know about the man, but from what little I know, it'll be fun times in America... also, how anti-Communist is he? A Flying Tigers-type volunteer outfit in Manchuria could be on the cards if the US wants to intervene.

And speaking of Manchuria... is it possible to have the Chinese discover the Daqing oil field 30 years earlier? It'll give United China a valuable resource in the early years.

Marc A
 
Huey Long's stance for or against Communism is irrelevant. This is a perfect opportunity to extend American influence.

However, America just cut its defense budget quite a bit and I don't think Flying Tigers are in the cards. Surplus American artillery from World War I however, is really quite useful, especially those 155mm long barreled heavy guns which are nearly impossible for the Russians to suppress. China keeps the US defense industry alive through the Depression through its large purchases.

This may cause financial strain in China, as the Chinese have to issue debt to the Americans to pay for the weapons. President Long is likely going to want mining concessions for American companies as well.

The British are weak at this time due to a fresh round of revolts in India, so the Chinese might seize British commercial concessions and sign them over to the Americans, which would have the dual effect of driving a wedge between the British and Americans and not alienating conservative Nationalists in the Unified Front by signing over additional concessions.

I'm not sure what the state of Anglo-American relations was like at that time, but it would be a troll move on Sun's part.
 
Manchurian War: Map of the AO.

china_north_east.jpg


siberia_map.jpg
 
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Timeline and Background of the Manchurian War:

Soviet Forces Committed:

Soviet Far Eastern Command: Field Marshal Vladimir Triandafillov. (*****)
Staff Advisor: Grigory Kulik (****)
Chief of Staff: Semyon Budyonny (****)
Commissar: Lev Mekhlis (Lol, not a soldier)

-Transbaikal Front: General Mikhail Tukhachevsky (****)
-Siberian Front: General Kliment Voroshilov (****)
-Amur Front: General Alexander Yegorov (****)
-Far Eastern Front: General Boris Shaposhnikov (****)

Theater Reserve:
-Steppe Front: General Semyon Timoshenko (****)

Total Forces: 2.6-3.4 million men.

---------------------
Chinese Forces Committed:

Shenyang Military Region: Field Marshal Zhang Xueliang (*****)
Chief of Staff: Ding Chao (****)
Air Force: Li Du (****)

Harbin Area Group Army:
38th Army: Peng Dehuai (****)
40th Army: Ye Ting (****)
6th Army: Mao Zejian (****)

Gobi Area Group Army:
Mobile Reserve: Ma Hongkui (*****)
54th Army: Ma Hushan (****)
17th Army: Ma Bufang (****)
2nd Cavalry Army: Ma Buqing (****)

Tangshan Corridor Group Army:
4th Army: Lin Biao (****)

Liaodong Area Group Army:
22nd Army: He Zizhen (****)
39th Army: Su Yu (****)

Mudanjiang Sector:
18th Army: Chen Cheng (****)
20th Army: Tang Enbo (****)
24th Army: Liu Xiang (****)

Theater Reserve:
Beijing Military Region: Field Marshal Feng Yuxiang (*****)
-33rd Army: Liu Bocheng (****)
-15th Army: Sun Liren (****)
-2nd Army: Liang Huazhi (****)
-14th Army: Zhang Guotao (****)

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Unlike the Soviet chain of command, Chinese forces are not only far less organized at the Army level, but also segregated along political lines. The Communists and Nationalists might be cooperating in a United Front, but political ideology influences whose army you'd be joing and why. CPC and GMD troops are generally kept separate, even if they use the same type of equipment, due to their different command structures, training and political ideology.
 
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IOTL Sun Li-jen (Sun Liren) graduated from VMI in 1927 and took his first command, the Tax Police Regiment, in 1937. I believe ITTL you'll need him to perform superbly well against... say, the Kwantung Army, in order to get an army-level command in 1934.

Marc A
 
The subtext of using all of these generals is that China's army got huge really quickly and a lot of these generals were either warlords or guerrilla leaders leading largely fresh recruits from their home provinces. Unlike OTL, the morale and loyalty of the men are not suspect but a lot of them are fairly raw. Although there is overall command unity for the most part, a lack of coordination and low emotional quotients would further complicate things (Lin Biao and He Zizhen for example were manic depressives, Zhang Guotao and Tang Enbo were downright unreliable and it's unlikely Ma Hongkui would deign to listen to the Little Marshal).

This is Soviet Russia's first attempt at modern warfare. Stalin will doubtlessly attempt to micromanage the war from Moscow as well. Also, the Soviet dual-command structure with commissars having precedence over military leaders is going to be troublesome.

China has very few professional soldiers and even fewer who understand the need for modern war, most of whom are going to be younger. The more experienced soldiers, of which there are not many, are on staff duty in the government to keep the war machine running (Amateurs think about tactics, Professionals think about logistics).

Needless to say, this is going to be an extremely messy conflict.
 
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Timeline of the First Sino-Soviet War (June 1934-March 1935), First Stage (June 1934-August 1934), Pt. 1

Author's Note: Refer to the AO map and force dispositions posted earlier.

Siberian Front: The Chita Operation

2 a.m, June 2nd, 1934: The war opens with Kliment Voroshilov's Siberian Front charging pell mell from Chita on the Trans-Siberian Railway towards Manzhouli. 850,000 Soviet troops surge forwards towards Qiqihar, blissfully unaware of the fact that the area will soon become heavily mountainous and has essentially no roads west of Haliar.

Pre-war photoreconnaissance analysis by 38th Army commander Peng Dehuai indicate that the Siberian Front has been poorly organized, with its logistical assets and reserve troops scattered across the steppe. Its main combat elements are widely dispersed. Although Peng's initial orders from Zhang Xueliang are to mount a static defense at Hulunbuir to block off the main road leading to Qiqihar, he has a better idea. Prior to the start of the invasion, he has requisitioned every truck, tank and airplane in the Harbin Area Group Army as well as half the fuel and ammunition reserves available in Manchuria. Most importantly, he "requisitioned" a large shipment of radio sets originally meant for the Xibei San Ma troops in the Inner Mongolian theater, which will have severe consequences later.

8 a.m, June 4th, 1934: The 38th Army fights a small skirmish with troops of the Siberian Front at the town of Manzhouli before retreating towards Haliar.

Due to the presence of large Chinese armored formations in the area, Voroshilov believes that the main Chinese concentration of armor in Manchuria is with Peng's 38th Army and uses his pull with Stalin to divert fuel and ammunition shipments meant for Mikhail Tukhachevsky's Trans-Baikal Front. Voroshilov continues to charge forward.

Morning of June 6th, 1934: As expected, the Siberian Front runs into extremely heavy resistance from General Ye Ting's 40th Army at Hulunbuir. Dug in German made 88mm AA guns, doubling as anti-tank guns, make a horrific mess of Voroshilov's already disorganized spearhead formations. Voroshilov's artillery train, strung out along the steppe and still mostly in limber, is essentially a non-factor. Other elements of the Siberian Front manage to take Mordaga and Mohe. Still, Voroshilov presses on, undaunted by the losses. Repeated massed infantry assaults on Hulunbuir are cut down by pre-sighted Chinese artillery concentrations. Russian artillery pieces are for the most part, entirely without ammunition and basically useless as the bulk of Voroshilov's trucks are still being unloaded from the railhead at Chita.

Evening of June 13th, 1934: After a week of heavy fighting at Hulunbuir, the Siberian Front is forced to withdraw, having taken over 35,000 casualties. Peng's 38th Army immediately counterattacks as the sun sets. In a sporadic and confused night action, 20 years prior to the invention of image intensifying devices, the 38th Army manages to scatter the Soviet rearguard and by morning has recaptured Manzhouli.

Morning of June 14th, 1934: Voroshilov initially planned to retreat back to Manzhouli and wait for his artillery train before continuing. Voroshilov himself is safely ensconced at Chita, largely unaware of what's happening on the front. In the meantime, panic sets in on the Siberian Front as division and corps commanders are scattered by the 38th Army's well organized troops. The 38th Army is quickly moving to capture the Siberian Front's scattered supply trains and surrounding large numbers of enemy troops who are often carted off to the Chinese rear in their own trucks.

June 16th-17th: Konstantin Rokossovsky, one of Voroshilov's army commanders, attempts to rally the flagging Soviet forces, who are now in full rout. Commissar Lev Mekhlis sees this as insubordination and immediately orders Rokossovsky's arrest and summary execution, however, the NKVD troops supposed to carry out the order are in Chita at the moment. Rokossovsky and his staff are captured outside of Mohe by 38th Army troops. As such, Rokossovsky's formal sentence is Death in Absentia.

Voroshilov tells Mekhlis to go fuck himself and that he will not allow such an order to be carried out. Rokossovsky wasn't exactly trying to defect to the enemy after all.

June 18th-June 25th: The 38th Army destroys much of the Siberian Front's supplies and manages to capture over 300,000 Soviet troops strung out along the steppe between Hulubuir and Chita. General Voroshilov is hastily trying to organize a relief column with fresh troops and tanks as they get off the Trans-Siberian Railway, but he has trouble organizing the troops into a proper relief force. When they are finally organized, the relief force is surrounded and cut apart

June 28th: Chinese troops surround Chita. However, defenses around the city have been dug in pretty solidly and the 38th Army is running out of ammunition and aviation fuel. Voroshilov informs Peng that he is willing to fight to the death. Peng, although able to use captured Russian fuel supplies, is running out of artillery shells. He decides to retreat eastwards along the Trans Siberian Railway, ripping up as much track as possible before moving south by mid-July.

In addition to the troops. Peng has captured over 10,000 Soviet trucks and a huge amount of fuel. This will come in handy later.

Peng wins an overwhelmingly victory against the Soviets and cements his reputation as a fearsome commander, but down south, things aren't looking so great.

Even still, this frees up significant mobile forces for operations on the Manchurian plain as the Siberian front is rendered combat ineffective for the duration of the Manchurian Conflict.
 
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