Great AAR, it's been an interesting read! Hopefully you are able to hold off those barbarians from expanding into your realm!
You should also check out this thread: Link
You should also check out this thread: Link
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Great AAR, it's been an interesting read! Hopefully you are able to hold off those barbarians from expanding into your realm!
You should also check out this thread: Link
Thank you for nominating me.
I have been a bit busy as of late but I have been working on new chapters for it and they will be posted soon.
End the Manchu Dominance (1860—1864)
January 1860 brought a major change in the highest levels of the Qing imperial government. The Emperor, facing pressure and the threat of outright rebellion in the provinces, was forced to end the dominance of the Manchu ruling elite and give more rights to ethnic Han Chinese as well as the minorities. This decision caused the traditional, reactionary Conservatives to fall from grace and they were replaced by the more moderate Imperial Faction as the dominant political clique. This, needless to say, caused quite a stir, to say the least, not only in the Manchu Court but also among the Qing subjects and foreign diplomats in Peking. The Emperor emphasized that this did not change China’s Confucian ways, but that it was merely symbolic, but still this event definitely has signaled to many that times are changing.
The policies favored by the Imperial Faction are largely the same as the Conservative ones. However this has increased the militancy of the Manchu elite that forms the Emperor’s strongest supporters.
In February the Chinese finished researching muzzle-loaded rifles and have begun equipping their troops with the new weapons. The Emperor has begun to research Army Professionalism in order to increase the combat capability of the imperial forces.
On June 3, the twelve ships of the Guangdong Fleet, commanded by Admiral Suksaha Shangzhi, departed for their first shakedown cruise, visiting Japan. The fleet reached Osaka on July 27, and after staying there for several days, departed for Yokohama on August 6.
They arrived later that August in Yokohama, where they also spent a few days before turning for home back to Canton.
In late September, the Emperor thought it was bizarre when his diplomats informed him that the Russians had declared war on some barbarian wasteland in the deserts to the far west known as Oman. It seemed completely worthless and out of the way, so the Son of Heaven could not understand why they had made such a decision. In November the country’s first naval base along European lines was finished in the port of Canton.
In January 1861, the Emperor was informed of a new political party that was formed, a conservative party known as “Zhiqiang” (meaning “the will is strong”). It seems to advocate a different brand of conservatism than the Imperial Faction so the Qing Emperor permitted it to exist. In fact, it became so popular that it replaced the Imperial Faction completely by the end of the month, a movement advocating some technological advancement but cultural conservatism. The following month, two frigates were complete, becoming the basis of the Nanyang (“Southern Ocean”) Fleet in Shanghai.
As if to further solidify the fact that it seems to be the dawn of a new era, the Emperor took a further radical step: he signed a military alliance with the British barbarians, making the offer. In doing so the Emperor’s intentions are to eliminate the heavenly kingdom’s two possible rivals, the British and the Russians, who probably will not dare to grab anymore Chinese land at the risk of war against Britain. The latter barbarians had been humbled enough by their last wars with China to accept an alliance.
This action of course was extremely controversial, coming within the year of great political upheaval throughout China. Still, the Emperor is convinced this is a good move. Later that month, the British, as if satisfied that this arrangement has also eliminated a potential threat to them, invaded Bhutan from their Indian colonies. They also entered into alliances with Afghanistan and Nepal, according to the Qing foreign ministry. The Emperor believes that this decision was a good one.
The implications for Confucian ideology are not significant, he also believes, as this military alliance is merely part of the traditional policy of playing barbarians off against each other.
In February it was discovered that some anti-Qing groups were having contacts with the US government, which the secret police was sent to take care of by going through their mail. Although the American diplomats in Peking were displeased, the Chinese government will make it clear that such actions would not be tolerated.
The following month saw the establishment of the Nanyang Fleet with two wooden frigates, based in Shanghai.
In May, the Peking Court received word that the barbarians annexed Bhutan. A month later the Russians had achieved more influence than Britain and caused them to lose favor among the court, but so far the alliance with the British remains in effect.
Later that year it seems many of the barbarian nations came together and signed some agreement known as the Geneva Convention. Of course, the Emperor sees China as above such limitations.
In January 1862, a coalition of states called the CSA has declared independence of the United States, and the Emperor watches this with interest. That same month the Manchu Court learned that a socialist party was formed in China, although it remains underground.
Throughout the year, the Qing Emperor oversaw continued expansion of the imperial army while keeping a keen eye on barbarian affairs, most of it being not concerning to Chinese interests.
By mid-1863, the British let it be known that their military alliance with China was no longer in effect. The Emperor saw it as a slight for them to decline this honor extended to them by the heavenly kingdom. Still, he did not take action.
With that agreement gone, the Russians took advantage of the situation to declare war in early December 1863, as the Emperor had feared. If the backstabbing British barbarians decided to take advantage of the situation China might be faced with a war on two fronts.
PS. Sorry for the long hiatus.
Oh dear...they kept you in an alliance in order to clean up their borders around India and then ditched it. This probably means they're coming back for more sweet, sweet China land. Or they've made an alliance with Russia
It was a very clever idea to form an alliance with the UK - a shame they were not truly receptive
It does rather suppose they wish to come calling again.
It does rather suppose they wish to come calling again.
An alliance with the UK wasn't a bad idea. It's a pity the barbarians broke it first. The Qing are at least showing adaptability.
The War of the Mongolia Concession (1864—1866)
In December 1864, as the Russian Empire declared war (along with France, their ally), the Chinese army prepared to march north to meet them on the Russian frontier. However, this time the Emperor and his military advisors had to be more careful, as they kept in mind the British threat to the south. While many Chinese armies began the long march towards the mountainous northern borders, several were also deployed closer to the frontier with British India and Burma, just in case.
A Russian army entered Khovd on December 31, and on New Year’s day the board of war operations finalized its plans for the mobilization of armies towards the north. A significant reserve was also left in the south in and around Tibet to ward off potential English aggression. Thus only the armies closest to Mongolia and Manchuria would be deployed to fight initially, while several formations from the heartland of eastern China begun to be moved further north towards Inner Mongolia and the Peking area for potential deployment.
On January 22, a battle erupted in Aigun, a border town on the Manchurian frontier. A force under General Songgu Teimei was driven out by the attackers at a cost of only 2000 Russians in early February, much to the outrage of the Manchu Court. His troops, with reinforcements from a nearby region, then advanced back at the Russian positions.
They began the assault on March 9, and ten days later it looked as though the Chinese force would be repelled amidst heavy fighting, so another army of 27,000 from a further region was dispatched. These combined forces represented the majority of the troops that the Qing had in Manchuria at the moment, but reinforcements were on the way from the Peking area.
French squadrons consisting of one man-of-war and three frigates each began blockading Chinese ports throughout March. Since their numbers appeared to be limited at the moment, the emperor ordered Admiral Suksaha Shangzhi’s Guangdong Squadron to sortie against the nearest enemy formation. This force at Canton was the largest the Qing possessed with 12 vessels.
Much to the court’s further outrage, on the 21st Peking received word that General Songgu’s force had been defeated again with a loss of some 13,000 men. Granted, the majority of this force consisted of poorly trained Green Standard irregulars of very poor quality, but they had significant numerical superiority.
An army of some 27,000 new army troops made its way towards Aigun by early April.
On April 13, the same day that the Guangdong Squadron first encountered and opened fire at the French ships in the Taiwan Strait, the board of war operations decided to launch an offensive at the Russian force at Khatgal with overwhelming numbers to redeem the failure at Aigun, which cost China prestige in the eyes of the (albeit barbarian) world.
Furthermore on April 21 Peking received a report that French troops had landed on virtually undefended Formosa. However, the island was not considered important and its temporary loss to the French barbarians would be of little lasting consequence as in the past, the board of war operations assured the Son of Heaven.
On April 27, the combined Chinese army of over 50,000 troops besieged the Russians at Khatgal. Initial reports from the field commanders indicate that the assault is proceeding well, showing that the numerical superiority is achieving the desired results. An additional army of 21,000 men stands by in a nearby province to back up the troops there if need be, with more forces not far away.
However, as if to dampen that positive report, it became clear by early May that the new Chinese army advancing on Aigun had not fared much better than the Green Standard irregulars last month, and had lost over 6000 men, but on May 4 an additional 33,000 had joined into the fray to back up the exhausted attackers—the first of the reinforcements from the south. Just to make sure, the emperor ordered General Mingzhu Xingde’s army, holding defensive positions to the south, to also march north and assist. The problem appeared to be the lack of any capable general leading the attack on Aigun, and he hoped that General Mingzhu’s presence would help the situation.
By late May, it has become apparent that the naval Battle of Taiwan Strait is not going well, and likewise situation at Aigun is not looking good as General Mingzhu’s troops have not yet arrived.
On June 1, on a positive note, the Russian force—fighting for months against successive waves of Chinese with no reinforcements—unexpectedly gave up and finally withdrew. Although the Emperor was assured that China had regained its prestige, he planned on looking into after the war the cause of such failure—with in total some 30,000 Chinese troops being killed during the battle despite much reinforcements, for far fewer Russian losses with no support. This was only changed in the last minute by General Mingzhu’s timely arrival. It stood in contrast to the very successful operation at Khatgal. While the imperial armies of the Son of Heaven seemed to be infinite, he did not want to cause unnecessary losses.
Meanwhile, in the waters of the Taiwan Strait a naval battle had dragged out for a month as the French and Chinese fleets engaged each other. Admiral Suksaha Shangzhi’s squadron, in the end on June 7, had retired after losing five precious ships in combat. On the other hand, French Admiral Lucien Bazaine had only lost one vessel. It was a poor performance of the Qing navy—and that was really all it was, since the naval situation was of no consequence compared to the fighting on the ground. However, the emperor wanted to see how his imperial fleet would fare in combat against the European barbarians that seemed to have mastery of the waves, and was honestly not too surprised (unlike some members of the court). The navy still had far to go.
In early June, Peking gave orders for the massive armies in the eastern Chinese heartland provinces to move to positions further north and south to reinforce the fighting troops and the defenders on the British frontier (in case the king of England decided to make a move at this moment).
However, the latter fear proved to be unnecessary when unexpectedly, on August 10, the British minister in Peking informed the Manchu Court that Britain had entered the war against Russia and France on China’s side. This was met with a mix of surprise and joy, as the Manchu elites were certain that the gallant Qing imperial army had proved the country’s worth and convinced the British that they were better to have as an ally than an enemy.
The emperor remained calm and skeptical, believing that perhaps it was mere opportunism, as the barbarians may want to preserve the Son of Heaven’s domain in order to carve it up themselves at some later date. But he did not voice those concerns and graciously accepted their offer of assistance.
It also seemed to have convinced the older vassals that China was not a spent force after all, as the same day the Korean representative in the imperial capital also extended his government’s desire to enter in a military alliance. Korea was now China’s only official ally.
The UK demanded that they be given the right to carry out negotiations with the enemy. Some took this as a slight, but the emperor did not mind appearing to be above the enemy by having foreign barbarian proxies do his bidding.
But the war was not over, as on August 20 Peking received word from its diplomats in London that France and Russia ordered a general mobilization in response to Britain’s intervention. On August 29, a sizable Russian army attacked the Chinese defenders at Khovd, an intelligence indicated that another large force would attack Khatgal. Additional units were being marshaled from throughout the empire to counter this threat.
Unexpectedly, the Russians attacked with such quickness that they were able to defeat three Chinese armies on the border in quick succession before they could reinforce each other—reversing the situation on the frontier. Barbarian armies launched more attacks than anticipated in one fast offensive. More reinforcements were deployed by Peking immediately towards the north. Although these were significant setbacks and a blow to Qing prestige, the emperor was convinced that with Britain on their side, the Russians will never succeed.
The great distances of the empire made this reinforcement effort difficult, but the blow of the Chinese counteroffensive concentrated on Khovd throughout the winter of 1864, where the Chinese achieved numerical superiority. The Russians began attacking across the entire front with renewed ferocity that they had not shown before, with the Qing losses in troops being unexpectedly high.
On January 10, 1865, word of the victory at Khovd from General Suksaha Tiemei arrived in Peking and provided the first good news in months since the entry of Britain into the war, giving a good start for the new year. The Russians and French reacted unexpectedly tough despite the British promising to assist China. The emperor and the Manchu court definitely were not expecting such persistence.
On January 20, a Russian attack on Urga, the Mongolian capital, was beaten off, and on the 22nd the victorious army from Khovd reached the reinforced Russian army at Khatgal. A Chinese vanguard of a few hundred men was quickly annihilated, but the main force put up a fierce assault. A small Russian brigade of 3000 men was beaten off at Bayan Tyumen to the east on February 7.
The emperor received word that on March 5, the Russians again attacked Urga, but the board of war operations had foreseen this and deployed reinforcements. This attack had been fought off on the 16th before the reinforcements could arrive. Even more good news arrived in Peking on the 26th when General Mingzhu Xiangying’s forces of 80,000 men defeated a large army of 43,000 Russians at Khatgal.
Another bit of good news pleased the Manchu court. France had apparently had enough of the situation and sued for peace on March 17. How long would the Russians continue to fight without their ally? So far China could afford to continue the fight, having massive reserves to call upon.
However, new Russian brigades arrived at Khovd, Bulgan, and other provinces, so the massive army at Khatgal went south towards Khovd before it could fully rest and replenish its losses, attacking on April 11. In mid-may , this force was also put to flight back over the Russian border, albeit with much heavier Chinese losses than Russian. On the 21st another attack at Bulgan was beaten off.
The Emperor could not help but acknowledge the enemy’s persistence and determination. On June 6, the Russian army launched yet another assault on Khatgal against a 50,000-strong Chinese army under General Suksaha. The fighting raged on for a month despite the Chinese numerical superiority, until finally on July 3 the barbarian attackers retired to their side of the border.
The news of a defeat of the small Chinese garrison at Urga did nothing to change the Emperor’s positive attitude, as he was convinced Russia would not drag the war on for much longer. On August 22, another attack was launched at a 9,000-man Russian force at Khovd. It was forced to retreat on September 3 after a brief engagement.
A much larger battle was being waged south of Khovd at Tulta, with more than 100,000 men participating, and in October another offensive began at Khatgal. Soon after Khovd itself had also become a battlefield once again. By this point the Chinese government was surprised by the persistence of the Russians and wondered how long the war can continue.
The Russians then attacked at Manzhouli over to the east in November, a front that had gone quiet over the past several months, and defeated a small Chinese garrison before retreating.
The emperor learned that another assault was beaten off at Khatgal on the 18th of that month. Several days later, the intense battle raging on at Tulta was joined by some 20,000 British troops. On December 15, Khovd was cleared of foreign invaders and the army there proceeded south towards Tulta to provide assistance.
Around this time, the emperor learned that meanwhile the British had begun offensive operations into Russian territory across the Chinese border. Sometime in December another Russian force entered Manzhouli, and so on New Year’s day of 1866 the Emperor ordered an army there to retake it. The war against Russia and its allies over the desolate, barren wastes of Mongolia has now been dragging on for two years.
Disaster struck on January 6, however, when word reached Peking that the massive engagement at Tulta had ended with a Chinese defeat. A nearby army has been marshaled to the location to avenge this. In February, the forces at Manzhouli were defeated, and the Emperor was forced to call in more reinforcements from the southern provinces. This was somewhat made better by a victory at Tulta over the victorious Russians there several days later.
On March 12—nearly a year since France left the war—a Chinese army prevailed over a massive Russian assault at Ninguta, the easternmost Qing domain. An army of some 33,500 Russian troops was forced back over the frontier by nearly 50,000 valiant Chinese defenders after intense fighting in the freezing Manchurian mountains. Skirmishes continued throughout March and April in the north, and during that time Russia’s last remaining staunch allies—Serbia and Krakow—exited the war as well. The fact that not even these two countries, which the emperor was informed were vassals of the Russian emperor, must mean that the Russians themselves would hopefully soon give up their attempt at carving up yet more Qing territory (as if Manchuria and Sofianova had been not enough).
These kinds of back and forth skirmishes continued throughout the summer, with each side seeming to not being able to gain significant ground. While the planners in Peking, Moscow, and London were looking over the maps, hundreds of thousands of men lay dead on the barren land of the Russo-Chinese frontier, and and countless thousands of Chinese civilians had to flee from these regions.
Finally, after the defeat of a Russian force and Manzhouli by a Chinese army and a British victory at the Russian city of Nerchinsk, on September 10, 1866, the Russian government asked for a ceasefire and signed a white peace. The great War of the Mongolia Concession of 1864—1866 was over, and it seems the Qing Empire was able to weather the storm.
Note: Sorry for the long hiatus, I had a number of issues. Mainly, at first I kind of lost interest for a bit, then a problem emerged that my mouse had problems with right-clicking. Of course that is necessary to move troops, and sometimes the right click on my mouse would work, other times it wouldn't, so that became irritating. I did not expect this war to last this long but thankfully I was able to get through it without too many problems with the mouse. Anyway, you can expect installments more regularly from now.
No worries on the delay - such things happen. As for the war, it is good to get out of the war ahead. That British involvement was most welcome.
China might actually survive now at least one of the colonial powers capable of taking it has apparently decided to dominate with trade and 'support' instead. In time, you might become a 'required' secondary power in the eyes of these barbarians and they'll stop trying to kill you and start trying to seduce you.
Surprising, I know, but even the the casualty rate was usually much higher for the Chinese side than the enemy.
F***ing Brusilov
I didn't even think of that, glad you noticed.
Indeed.
Yes, I am sure the Chinese government is also hoping for that, but we shall see.
Reconstruction (1866—1869)
Once again, Chinese Confucianism has proven itself superior to anything that the European barbarians could muster against it. China was still the center of the universe, the emperor and his advisors were convinced, otherwise the barbarians would not be trying to attack it so frequently in a vain attempt to get to bask in its reflected glory.
As the final negotiations to bring about an end to the war finished up in September 1866, the Son of Heaven turned his eye back to domestic affairs, having finished overseeing the defense of his domain from foreign barbarian aggressors. Orders for the army’s demobilization were given, and many units began returning to their peacetime dislocation. Among the first to return were the defenders of the imperial capital, the Forbidden Banners and other Manchu units, which the emperor was proud of having sent to the front where they proved their worth in battle alongside the rest of the imperial army. They had, however, sustained enormous losses against the Russians, and the Manchu capital guards would need to be replenished with new soldiers. In fact, the army as a whole had lost thousands of troops, entire brigades having been wiped out. Another recruitment and conscription drive was necessary to replace the losses and bring the Chinese army back to its prewar strength.
In the meantime, research of army professionalism was finished, and military plans had begun to be researched with the help of European advisors. The Emperor planned to focus on the economy more after that before further developing the military. Speaking of the economy, it was largely unaffected during the war and continued to be as successful as ever.
Turning his attention to the rest of the world to catch up on the events of the past two years, it seems that the United States were experiencing a civil war, but the federal government was nearing victory over the rebels. The reformed Ottoman Empire had reached a place among the great powers of the world once again, while the formerly declining power of Spain also claimed a spot among that group largely due to its successful industrialization. Surprising, especially considering how much of northern Spain it had lost to France. Bavaria had lost much of its territory to Austria.
In January of 1867, the emperor’s attention became fixated on how much ground the liberal Reformer faction had gained in Peking during this time. They now held nearly half of the seats in the national assembly, which was albeit pretty toothless and existed to serve the emperor. Still, the Reformers were gaining influence over the Chinese government, and were attempting to push the Son of Heaven to liberalizing China further by granting more rights in some sphere. He did not want to do so at this time.
Despite the rise of the liberals, increasing agitation from some circles in Peking have called for launching an offensive strike on the foreigners in order to show them that China cannot be trampled on. The emperor did not believe the army was ready for war so soon after the ending of the last one, and did not see the point of attacking Russia now just to humiliate it. Quite the contrary, he looked forward to an era of peace in order to rebuild the country from the losses.
The next two years followed this pattern, with the Chinese army eventually regaining much of the strength it had lost during the war, but the experienced and battle hardened troops could not be replaced. In June 1868, the Chinese government began constructing the country’s second major warship, a man-of-war, in Canton.
In foreign policy, the emperor continued denying requests of alliance from the various barbarian tribes on the western frontiers, beyond Xinjiang, but did continue to improve relations with the British. He figured that they could provide assistance in the future, seeing as they are a rival of the Russian Empire. Around October 1868, news arrived in Peking that the American Civil War was drawing to a close, with the rebellious bandits of the Confederacy practically defeated. The emperor was reminded of this other potential power, and decided to improve relations with the U.S. as a counter balance to the European barbarians. The Americans did not seem to have any imperialistic ambitions on China or anyone else, as far as he could tell.
Bad news was reported in November. The Manchu Court was informed by the Korean representative that Russian influence had penetrated Korea to such an extent that it was now in the sphere of influence of Russia. The Chinese conservatives were outraged over this blatant intrusion on the traditional vassal of China, and saw this as a sign that the Russians had not given up on expansion in Asia. The emperor made note to continue monitoring the situation in Korea and Japan as Russia and other foreign barbarians fought over influence in those areas.
Later that month, research on military planning was finished and the Emperor began to look into establishing private banks, with the assistance of foreigners. This would help further develop a rudimentary central Bank of China that had been established earlier, and had already been using some of the dynasty’s great wealth to make generous loans to barbarian nations as a sign of the Son of Heaven’s magnanimity. Despite their constant attempts to look down on China, the emperor was amused to know that several European countries were on the list of borrowers of funds from the Bank of China. This was surely a sign that the rest of the world could not continue to ignore the Qing Empire’s Confucian power.
However, the Emperor’s much hoped for era of peace did not last long, as the British declared war on China for the Changtang region of Tibet in March 1869, rekindling the disputes over this region that had caused so much bloodshed in the past. Unlike before, the news was not greeted with so much despair or disappointment as it was with boredom, not so much a reaction of panic as “here we go again.” The Manchu Court remained full of confidence that they would be able to finish the war before any other power could join in, as the treaty with Russia lasted until 1872 and the one with France (which, having no significant Asian holdings, did not pose a major threat) until 1871. The Emperor tended to agree, not surprised by the British backstab, and intended to win this war as quickly as possible to return to internal development.
What was surprising was that the Korean vassals treacherously betrayed their sovereign by not agreeing to aid the Qing in this war. Perhaps this was the work of Russian influence, hoping that Britain could weaken China enough for them to be able to take advantage of it later. Regardless, this insolence from the Koreans will not be forgotten.
This is a strange blend of what we would expect and s few unexpected things. France and Austria blobbing is no surprise, as is the US continuing to get strong. Spain and Ottoman coming back to the great power table however is of interest...as is the fact that Japan and Russia are not the only game players in Asia anymore. China can hold their own now, at least in a limited fashion.
Hmmm..I wonder if this is the beginning of the Chinese Federation...let's see what happens to British India.
I agree, especially by the resurgence of Spain regardless that it lost a third of its homeland to France. But British and French meddling is not welcomed by the Qing. At least so far the Britain and Russia have managed to attack one at a time rather than at once.
Yes, it may be eventually time for some offensive actions against Britain by China.