~Oct-Dec 1902: Waving a big stick
October 1902: With the Northern Qing attempts to seize Nanjing having proved to be a costly failure, Northern Qing Commander in Chief Ronglu adopts a new strategy. Under his new plan, Yuan Shikai's Guards Army will begin an offensive in Hubei Province with the aim of taking Wuhan. Yuan will then continue to advance along the Yangtze River Valley, encircling Nanjing and encircling the enemy forces there The opposing Southern Qing Second Corps under General Wang Shizen has not yet fully completed its reorganisation and is unable to offer effective resistance, with Wuhan falling within days.
October 1902: The death of Bartolomé Masó and deployment of additional US forces freed up by the end of the Philippines Rebellion have allowed the US to suppress much of he opposition to US rule on the Island. In a move to further undermine support for the insurgents, US president Roosevelt makes a commitment to move the island to responsible government on the same terms as the Philippines as soon as peace is restored and offering a full amnesty to all who surrender. With the rebels growing weary and victory seeming no closer, many take advantage of the amnesty.
October 1902: Tan Sitong, Southern Qing Foreign Minister approaches the members of the Eight Nation Alliance regarding the indemnity imposed in the Boxer Protocol. He argues as the Northern Qing has not agreed to the terms of the Protocol, it is in the interests of the Great Powers to see the Southern Qing win the Chinese Civil War and that the repayment of the indemnity poses an unsustainable burden on the Southern Qing's ability to fight the war. While Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy and Russia are unwilling to agree, he is strongly supported by the British, Japanese, and US, with the French, seeking to further improve relations with the British, also backing the Southern Qing. After some negotiation, Tan is successful in obtaining agreement to suspend the indemnity for two years, in return for an increase of 50 million taels of silver {£6,5228,49}.
October 1902: After the Danish introduction of the Rekylgevær m/1893 and Rekylkarabin m/1896, a group of Danish industrialists formed the Dansk Rekylriffel Syndikat A/S or DRS to market the weapons 0verseas. While the DRS has been unsuccessful in attracting any significant orders beyond small trial batches, it has keep the design alive. Thus when the Danish Army begins looking for an improved version for fortress use, DRS submits a revised version as the Rekylgevær m/1902. Keeping the same recoil operated falling block action and still chambered in 8x58mmR Danish round, the m/1902 is the world's first light machine gun, with a detachable thirty round box magazine and quick change barrel. Impressed by the m/1902, the Danish Army will order 600 for fortress and cavalry, while DRS will market it worldwide as the Madsen.
November 1902: Building on the work done by the Empress Keshun in 1900 and 1901, Southern Qing diplomat Li Jingfang has been conducting secret negotiations with Wei Guangtao, the Viceroy of Yun-Gui controlling the undeclared provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan. Finally, the years of delicate diplomacy pay off when he declares for the Southern Qing. In addition to the resources of the region, Wei Guangtao has under his command some 70,000 troops under General Yang Zengxin. These are incorporated into the Southern Qing Army as Seventh Corp. While these troops are relatively well equipped, they are not fully trained in European tactics. In an effort to rectify this, Southern Qing Army Commander in Chief Lu Yongxiang begins transferring new recruits to the corps, while rotating its current soldiers out for retraining.
November 1902: With Venezuelan President Castro continuing to reject all attempts at a diplomatic solution to the ongoing Venezuelan debt crisis, and European military intervention seeming imminent, US President proclaims that under the Monroe Doctrine, the US has the right to intervene in the internal affairs of Latin American nations who commit flagrant and consistent wrong doing to prevent other nations from intervening. This will become known as the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. In line with this new Corollary, Roosevelt order the US Navy to land Marines in Venezuela and take control of their customs houses to ensure the country makes its debt payments to it creditors. While this move angers the Germans, it finds strong support from the new British Balfour government who deploy a Royal Navy squadron to the Caribbean to reinforce their support.
November 1902: Yuan Shikai's offensive has made good progress, now pushing down the Yangtze River into Anhui Province. In an effort to stabilise the situation the elite Southern Qing Sixth Corps under General Yin Chang is deployed to face the offensive, while General Wang Shizen's Second Corps, which has suffered heavy casualties, is withdrawn to be refitted. This now pits the best units in both the Northern Qing and Southern Qing forces against one another.
November 1902: After his successful renegotiation of the Boxer Indemnity, Tan Sitong has been attempting to secure further arms and ammunition for Europe. Unfortunately, other than the British who are continuing to allow the Southern Qing to purchase considerable quantities of both, the remain European powers are still unwilling to supply arms to China. Finally Tan contacts the new Danish DRS company. The company's director Theodore Schouboe seizes the opportunity, offering to supply Madsen light machine guns. As the cost of a Madsen is only 7% of the cost of a Maxim, Tan immediately places an order for 2,000 guns, with deliveries beginning in the new year.
November 1902: As a result of the Elgin Report, the British introduce a new version of the Lee-Enfield rifle, the Short Magazine Lee Enfield or SMLE. The new rifle is intended as a universal rifle for both infantry and cavalry. The barrel is reduced in length from 76.7cm to 64cm resulting in a lighter handier weapon, improving accuracy. The SMLE also features a charger guide to allow the use of stripper clips for faster reloading, though the policy of issuing a spare magazine is retained. While some older rifles will be updated to the new pattern, this will prove prohibitively costly and most will simply be updated to include a charger guide to allow clip loading.
December 1902: The Commission established by French Prime Minister Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau to investigate the death of Émile Zola issues its report. It find no evidence of foul play, attributing his death to an unusual and highly unfortunate accident. While the report satisfies the majority of the French population and avoids renewed violence, many hard core Dreyfusards continue to believe his death was the result of his actions in support of Dreyfus. Regardless, Zola's death is indicative of the deep political divides which remain in French society.
December 1902: Emperor Napoleon IV completes his investigation into state of the French military. In completing his investigation, the Emperor has drawn heavily on his own experience in the British army, as the recent wars in Palestine, South Africa. His contacts with the British army have allowed him access to the latest intelligence from these regions, including the ongoing Chinese Civil War. His report contains three major major recommendations, Firstly the length conscription should be increased to two years to increase the size of the standing army to match the Germans. Secondly the establishment of a Conseil de la Défense Nationale consiting of senior government, military and civil service officals to coordinate defense policy. And finally the formation of a 40,000 strong long service volunter Imperial Guard. This new force will serve two purposes. A ready reaction force for deployment to meet any crisis in the French Empire, as well as providing a pool of experienced NCOs to allow for the rapid expansion of the army if required.
December 1902: The US intervention in Venezuela has led to the fall of President Castro and his replacement with Juan Gómez. In order to satisfy the creditor nations demands, Gómez agrees to remit one third of Venezuela's customs income to defray its debts. The resolution of the Venezuelan Crisis will have two major effects. Firstly it will worsen relations between Britain and German, will simultaneously strengthening relations between Britain and the US. Secondly it will establish a long term policy of US to intervention in Latin America to 'maintain order' to supposedly avoid European intervention.
December 1902: Southern Qing commander General Yin finally halts Yuan Shikai's drive into Anhui Province in the Battle of Tongling. However the Yuan Shikai has successfully taken much of Anhui Province, further threatening Nanjing. The battles in Anhui have inflicted heavy losses on both the Southern and Northern Qing forces, with both Yuan Shikai's Guards Army and the Sixth Corps badly in need of rest and refit.