The Blue Sky with a White Sun - Nationalist China AAR

[alxeu]

The Blue Sky with a White Sun

The year is 1948. Europe is lost to the Anglo-German Axis, save for the determined might of the Soviet Union, having fought the German war machine to a bloody standstill over seven long years.

In the Americas, the Mexican-Latin American theatre of war was closed in 1946 after heavy resistance from the Mexican and Peruvian armies and their Anglo-German Expeditionary Forces.

In Asia, the Sino-Japanese War has long since ended, back on December 8, 1941, reportedly after the Emperor personally directed the government to peace and a rumored attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor cancelled.

In Africa, Republican Chinese (RoC) forces, having subverted the governments in Iran and Iraq, have flooded into British-held Africa, determined to deprive the Axis war machine of the valuable resources there, and cut off British supply points leading to the East Indies.

The world is in flames, but amidst it all, a white sun is rising in a blue sky...

Spoiler

Hey all, and welcome to my HOI4 AAR for the Eight Years War of Resistance Mod. This wasn't originally going to be an AAR, which is why some stuff is wacky border-wise and why it's starting with a screen from 1948. I'll be doing recap chapters where I explain how we got to this point.

One quick thing: console commands were used and will continue to be used as necessary to ensure a more enjoyable experience. While I won't resort to making it easy mode for me (I've already lowered the difficulty from Regular to Recruit), I did console in invasions of both Iran and Iraq so that I could reach British-held Africa, but, otherwise, have not yet done much else console-wise. Might clean up Europe a bit with a state transfer tool, but won't go much further than that.

 

[alxeu]

Table of Contents

Prologue I - The End of the Nanjing Decade.
Prologue II - The Road to a European War
Prologue III - The 2nd Sino-Japanese War

 

[alxeu]

The End of the Nanjing Decade (Maps provided by the Library of Congress)

In 1936, China was a divided land. While Chiang Kai-Shek's KMT dictatorship was the recognized government of China internationally, large tracts of Chinese land was ruled over by various warlords of differing loyalties to the Nationalist regime. In particular, the Northwest was largely independent from the central government, and men like Sheng Shicai payed more heed to Moscow than Nanjing. In Manchuria, the Japanese puppet government operated under the fist of the Japanese Kwantung Army, as Japanese machinations for China grew increasingly obvious by the day.

While the Chinese Army was relatively large, it was also poorly equipped, and those with weaponry frequently found that their weapons were horribly out of date.

Meanwhile, the Navy was scarcely better, being a coastal defense force more than anything, should their dockyards fall, they'd be easy prey for the IJN.

Internally, various problems, both political and economic, plagued China. Between the sectionalism of the warlords and the outdated industry, China was sorely lacking in modernization and democracy, with Chiang's rule having interrupted the implementation of the Three Principles of the People, and there was major pressure on the KMT to liberalize in the near future.

In order to mitigate these issues, as well as secure China's position long-term against Japan, the Nationalist Government implemented a plan for the upcoming years:

The first of three parts of the plan was strategies for a preparation of War with Japan. While Chiang was hesitant to cooperate with the Communists in Shaanxi, he also was under immense pressure from his subordinates to cooperate within a Second United Front against the Japanese threat. Following the Xi'an Incident later in 1936, he was soon made to follow through with this idea.

Furthermore, there were plans to fortify both the Chinese coastline and the Yangtze River in an effort to delay any possible Japanese attack, while Chiang also plotted various internal revisions in an effort to secure warlord support in the upcoming conflict. Among these plans was one to split the Mongol Political Committee between its holdings in Chahar and Suiyuan, which ultimately failed.

The second area of focus for the Nationalists was one that was planned farther off in the future, during 1937-8. With their occupation of Manchuria in 1931, Japan had drawn the ire of the international community, and with that, China had found nations willing to equip and train their forces for the future war with Japan. To that end, the Chinese government planned to beseech Soviet, German, and British/French/American suppliers for various essential equipment needed to prosecute a long war.

While the diplomatic envoys to the USSR and UK saw success, the Germans refused economic aid to China, and while the Chinese General Staff received training from the Germans later on down the road, Sino-German relations began a gradual decline starting in 1937.

The last portion of the Nationalists' plan for China involved strong investments in the economy and military, in an attempt to modernize both China's small and outdated industrial sector, and to modernize and equip China's corrupt, outdated army. These efforts saw limited success continuing into 1937.

Following Japanese success in getting Inner Mongolia to secede, Japan's government re-orientated itself towards forcing Chiang's government to effectively cede control of northern China to them. However, Chiang, who had by this point settled differences with Mao's Communists and had formed the Second United Front, refused Japanese demands, and Japan decided to avoid conflict for the time being.

However, this temporary delay to hostilities would not last long, and within a year, China and Japan would be at war. Unfortunately for the Japanese high-command, they underestimated the determination of the NRA.

While grievously under-equipped and corrupt, there was no doubt that the mass of bodies in the Chinese army was capable of stopping the Japanese offensive. When Japanese forces invaded China via Beijing and Shanghai (yellow borders representing the pre-war effective front lines), they quickly halted the attacks, with Japanese forces stalling out just south of Tianjin and Beijing, and finding themselves forced into Shanghai (orange borders represent the front lines by the end of 1937). Soon enough, the Japanese invasion force at Shanghai was forced to surrender, and despite repeated attempts at naval invasions up and down the Chinese coast, the northern front would remain the only front for the remainder of the war.

Politically, though, things were beginning to change within China proper. Shandong and the Northeastern Army were incorporated into Chiang's government, and most of the warlords joined the Second United Front (Yellow is extent of RoC holdings, 1/38, while Orange is aligned warlords). While the Communists were aligned with Chiang's government, they were not a part of it, and though Sinkiang had extended its rule to all of the northwest, it still refused to recognize Chiang's authority and join the 2nd Sino-Japanese War (red shows limits of Communist China, Black is borders of Sinkiang, 1/38 onwards).

During this time, multiple Japanese puppet governments were established and disestablished. The longest lasting of these were the Reorganized Government of China, based in Beijing, and Mengjiang, in Inner Mongolia. Other minor governments were propped up to either be absorbed by these, or overrun by Chinese counter-attacks.

Following this period, the war began to stall out, and eyes world-wide began to turn to more pressing matters...

 

[Dunklerdrogon]

tHE fINAL WAR

 

[DylanMultiverse]

Following this period, the war began to stall out, and eyes world-wide began to turn to more pressing matters...

From the studio that brought you the anime adaptation of the best-selling novel "Marin-chan to Kaigun-kun", Soyuzmultfilm presents a crossover anime movie of two of Soyuzmultfilm's anime series Reclaim Our Birthright (Kaiserreich version of Code Geass, starring Edward VIII) and Mein Kampf (Kaiserreich version of Youjo Senki, starring Adolf Hitler).

Hitler's leitmotif:

Edward's leitmotif:

 

[alxeu]

The Road to a European War

There is intense discussion amongst modern historians about whether the multiple conflict in Europe leading up to the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany can be considered a part of World War II. While each of these wars were significant in the build up to the final conflict, each in of themselves were rather self-contained, quick conflicts.

Europe in 1936 outwardly seemed stable, and on course for a conflict between the Fascist powers of Italy and Germany and the Democratic powers of Britain and France. By the end of 1936, however, events were already beginning to realign, for instance, in the case of Spain.

In Spain, the left-wing Popular Front found itself opposed by right-wing groups and its own military, and by October of '36 found itself in near full collapse. By the dawn of a new year, Franco would be in charge, as the last Republican bastions of Barcelona and Valencia fell going into 1937.

Furthermore, by this time, there was also a diplomatic revolution occurring in Europe, spurred on by Edward VIII's decision to refuse to abdicate the throne. Being pro-German, he aligned his nation with Hitler's Germany, and abandoned France for the rising star in European politics, instead deciding that Mussolini's plans for a new Roman Empire were a greater long-term threat to British interests.

Mussolini would find himself isolated from Hitler, and instead opted to form a Mediterranean bloc involving Italy and Bulgaria.

France, now also isolated by British movements, turned towards its allies in the Little Entente, reaffirming their commitments with each other, and prepared for war with Germany following their annexation of Austria. They weren't prepared enough.

The Franco-German War, more commonly referred to as the "Western Front of WW2," lasted into early 1940, but saw the complete dismantling of France's anti-German alliance. While her allies collapsed one by one, France herself held on, having invested heavily into the strengthening of the Maginot line to the Atlantic Coast, and with Mussolini's Italy promising neutrality in the conflict. However, a surprise declaration of war by Britain saw northern France invaded by sea, and with a German offense into Belgium happening simultaneously, France quickly fell afterwards. As part of the Anglo-German treaty following the conflict, Britain was allowed to handle the reorganization of the French, Romanian, and Slovakian governments, but Germany would occupy their territory during this time, and assuming greater influence over Romania and Slovakia following this period. Furthermore, secret discussions regarding Italy occurred, but none of these discussions would see fruition until 1943, after the invasion of the Soviet Union.

The Axis would find themselves joined by new allies during this period: Hungary, Spain, Venezuela, Mexico, and Finland would all join the victorious British and Germans, hoping to gain favor in an increasingly Axis dominated world.

As for the Axis founders? Britain and Germany would both reach their territorial heights during 1942-1943, as the British took near-complete control of both Africa and the East Indies, and as Canada and New Zealand were returned to Imperial control. Australia avoided Imperial ire through a policy of absolute neutrality, and continuing to trade resources to the British wiithout complaint. By the time Australia began to cut it's remaining ties with Britain, Britain's hold on world affairs was weakening, too, though this will be revisited later on, during the tales of the war during 1947.

Of course, these affairs did not all happen in a vacuum. With each new conquest by the Axis, America grew increasingly wary and increasingly prepared for war. By 1943, America's army and airforce would rival Germany's in size, and the America navy was capable of going toe-to-toe with the Royal Navy and easily coming out on top. Meanwhile, China would be coming out of it's own turmoil, though to discuss China more in detail, we must first return to the 2nd SIno-Japanese War...

 

[alxeu]

tHE fINAL WAR

Indeed. Given the casualties suffered by everyone up to this point, I don't think there'll be any stomach for sparing over spheres of influence for some time after this war ends.

From the studio that brought you the anime adaptation of the best-selling novel "Marin-chan to Kaigun-kun", Soyuzmultfilm presents a crossover anime movie of two of Soyuzmultfilm's anime series Reclaim Our Birthright (Kaiserreich version of Code Geass, starring Edward VIII) and Mein Kampf (Kaiserreich version of Youjo Senki, starring Adolf Hitler).

Hitler's leitmotif:

Edward's leitmotif:

Crossovers are always fun. Interesting to think of the Soviets as having made this, too. Wonder if it'd be more propaganda oriented, or if it'll be an attempt to entertain more that anything else.

 

[DylanMultiverse]

Furthermore, by this time, there was also a diplomatic revolution occurring in Europe, spurred on by Edward VIII's decision to refuse to abdicate the throne. Being pro-German, he aligned his nation with Hitler's Germany, and abandoned France for the rising star in European politics, instead deciding that Mussolini's plans for a new Roman Empire were a greater long-term threat to British interests.

I always imagine Edward VIII as Emperor Lelouch vi Brittannia from Code Geass and Hitler as Tanya von Degurechaff from Youjo Senki.

While her allies collapsed one by one, France herself held on, having invested heavily into the strengthening of the Maginot line to the Atlantic Coast, and with Mussolini's Italy promising neutrality in the conflict. However, a surprise declaration of war by Britain saw northern France invaded by sea, and with a German offense into Belgium happening simultaneously, France quickly fell afterwards. As part of the Anglo-German treaty following the conflict, Britain was allowed to handle the reorganization of the French, Romanian, and Slovakian governments, but Germany would occupy their territory during this time, and assuming greater influence over Romania and Slovakia following this period.

And thus, the legacy of Joan of Arc are now ruined for the first time since 1431, thanks to Evil Ed and Funny Moustache.

Crossovers are always fun. Interesting to think of the Soviets as having made this, too. Wonder if it'd be more propaganda oriented, or if it'll be an attempt to entertain more that anything else.

The two animes are made by the Soviets in the 1980s for entertaintment only, but the crossover is made for propaganda because of the Anglo-German Axis.

 

[stnylan]

What an intriguing 1948.