WI China from the 'Superpower Empire' TL joins the CP

What if, instead of joining the Entente, China joins the Central Powers in Hendryk's Superpower Empire TL. Sure, they have reasons to dislike Germany but those reasons apply to France, Britain, Russia, Portugal and Japan as well and ALL of those are in the Entente. They have all carved out spheres of influences for themselves.

Japan has Taiwan and Korea which was formerly in China's sphere of influence. Britain has Hong Kong and Portugal has Macau. Russia had annexed northern China in 1793. Several unequal treaties were forced on China, forcing them to buy opium among other things and open up for western exploitation.

The Germans in comparison only have the Shandong peninsula (most of it anyway). Secondly, Germany is hostile to all of these powers and is the second most industrialized country in the world with arguably one of the finest armies in the world, renowned for its iron Prussian discipline. These reasons should make joining the CPs worth considering. Qing Dao can always be bought back or taken back when China is strong enough.

So what if, in the light of this reasoning, Superpower Empire China joins the CPs and starts fighting the Japanese, British, French and Russians with an army modernized by the Germans instead of the British?
 
The main problem is that, well, the Entente surround them. The Central Powers doesn't. So if they join the Entente, they pretty much only have to worry about Qingdao, whereas if they join the Alliance, they'll have enemies on every side.
 
True but China is big and has a huge army. Secondly, the Russians will have most of their forces in the west, dealing with the Germans who are slapping them silly without breaking a sweat. I don't think Tsar Nicholas II can afford to send much troops to Siberia and opening a second front when he's losing in the west. Siberia is worthless and supply lines will be crappy. If China manages to cut the Transsiberian railway, Russia won't be able to wage war there. The Russians will probably let the Chinese invade as there's nothing of value there. Can you imagine hordes of millions of fanatical screaming Chinamen running amock in Siberia XD. Perhaps Russia already surrenders in 1917 or 1916. That would be bad for the Entente.

Britain and France will commit to defeating Germany. Most French and British forces will be tied down in the trenches in France. Otherwise Germany will have a numerical majority there which could crush the French, making Germany the leader of Europe and Britain can't do anything about it. I suppose Britain could fight from India but Alpine warfare is slow and costly and China can throw more men at it. This leaves Japan as China's main adversary and with a German equipped and trained army, China could do quite some damage in Korea and Taiwan.
 
Keep in mind that it has only been two years since the POD, if we assume that China enters at about the same time as they did in the ordinary Superpower Empire TL.
And you're forgetting one factor: the Navies. It might not win you the war, but it certainly doesn't hurt to have complete naval dominance... and that means, no Taiwan for China. How would they get there?

Now, if we could get a neutral Britain and a neutral, or even Allied, Japan, then I could see China joining the Allies. But that would have effects all of its own on the War's course, so...
 
Damn. China could still force concessions from the west. China could still invade Korea, Hong Kong, Macau and French Indo-China and perhaps establish a puppet in Siberia a la the Far Eastern Republic. China can take advantage of the Entente's war in Europe and then make peace, at least if those countries consider it worth it to give up these areas in order to defeat Germany.

As for naval dominance. That won't be of much use in a war that will primarily be fought on land. IMO China is more of a landpower.
 
Okay I've been giving some thought to this. First, like I said in a recent thread on this subject*, China would not go to war with the Western powers because no matter who wins in Europe, the British and French are still going to be the dominant powers in East Asia. China, even in Hendryk's Superpower Empire TL (with a 1912 POD) would not be anywhere near strong enough to make such enemies.

OTOH, that's not to say China can't support Germany under the table. IOTL China joined the Entente. China had hoped to get Qingdao back after the war, but this was instead ceded to Japan. In hind sight, China would've been better off declaring neutrality. A neutral China can help Germany in three ways.

First, facing the inevitable loss of Qingdao, Germany could return the colony to China with an agreement on future trade concessions. In return the Far East Squadron would set sail as in OTL, but the 3,500+ German Marines could also leave unmolested on board transport ships lent by the Chinese. These men could be used in East Africa by Lettow-Vorbeck, putting more pressure against the British.

Second China could invade Mongolia and aggressively build up troops on the Russian border, forcing a Russian counter build up which dilutes Russian resources from Europe. This could be arranged as part of the deal for returning Qingdao.

Third, China's chief contribution to the Entente in OTL was sending several hundred thousand labourers to France to do manual labour, freeing up manpower to fight. This would not be with Chinese neutrality.

This is about the most China could do and it essentially cost Germany nothing.


* https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=115934
 
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