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Will you be declaring war on the Nationalists right after you get an alliance with Yunan?
thanks for the comments everyone. I'll answer a few questions...
* *
For this meeting, Li Jishen hid behind a curtain and watched as his ministers arrived. Lei Zhong was, interestingly, the first in, striding through the doorway confidently. Even for a normally cheerful man, his smile was excessive to have bad news or even no news. Li Zongren and Yu Hanmou were only a half step behind him—Yu Hanmou was gesticulating excitedly to the others, obviously happy about something as well. The rest followed in their turn, sitting down in their normal circle and awaiting Li Jishen’s arrival. As the minutes crawled by, they began feeling more and more uncomfortable, as if they had been tricked.
Wang Shuming was the first to break the silence of the wait. “Do you think this is a test of loyalty?”
Li Jishen smiled to himself at the question—not only had no one deemed such a question worth answering, but it showed that they understood their warlord quite well, or thought they did. Li Jishen sidestepped from behind the curtain and strode forward to join his loyal ministers. None revealed surprised on their faces or in their posture. After sitting down and settling himself, Li Jishen turned directly to Lei Zhong. “I see that you have good news to share. Do so.”
Lei Zhong’s smile, wide as it was already, widened even further. Li Jishen almost winced in sympathy for the pain his face must be enduring, being almost split in two like that. Such thoughts, however, quickly fled as Lei Zhong began speaking. “Heaven has smiled on us. Our efforts at converting the Guangdong populace have been more successful than we could have dared hope! The celestial dice have decreed that the major Guangdong city of Guangzhou have fully invested their loyalty in us!”
Li Jishen simply stated at Lei Zhong for a moment, not understanding as the full implications sank in. Finally, his eyes widened and he gasped. “The Guangdong factory city! The single most important city in the Clique outside Guilin itself! Its factories are now running at full capacity?”
“Yes, sir. This has greatly improved our economical prowess, especially in relations to the consumer good overproduction. I have not taken time yet to predict when Guangdong dissent will have decreased to negligible amounts, but it is falling quite rapidly now.”
Li Jishen noticed that Yu Hanmou was looking excited as well, as if he could hardly contain himself. Putting out a hand to halt Lei Zhong’s briefing, Li Jishen turned to Yu Hanmou. “Yes? I see that you must say something.”
Yu Hanmou nodded enthusiastically before replying. “Because of Guangzhou’s complete conversion from Guangdong to Guangxi, we have the economical power to afford another research project! Believing that you would approve, I made a decision to contract the Kwangtung Arsenal to optimize our infantry divisions—which are in a poor state, really—and bring them up to par with those of the greater powers of the world.”
Kwangtung Arsenal wasn’t the best choice to develop the infantry, but the only better selection was developing his ideas for a ‘spearhead’ doctrine.
Li Jishen pondered this. Yu Hanmou was correct, he did approve of such a decision. It was also good that his ministers showed some initiative, but they could not show too much, as too much initiative made them dangerous. Li Jishen resolved that he required his own network of spies, independent of Lei Zhong. That would, of course, require money, which was at the moment to be dedicated to alliance with Yunnan. Li Jishen nodded. “Well done, Yu Hanmou. Wang JingWei, how goes the alliance with Yunnan?”
Wang JingWei sighed. “We still do not have enough money, though if we continue gaining a profit at the rate we have been, we will be able to propose alliance within ten days due to our increased industrial abilities. However, this expanded industry has had consequences of its own beyond what you’ve already heard. Because more factories began working again, we suddenly had a deficiency of the rarer materials needed to run the factories.”
Li Jishen sighed in his turn. “There must always be bad news, mustn’t there?”
“I am afraid so. Nevertheless, I attempted to strike a trade deal with the French administration in Indochina that they were rather favorable to. I suggested giving them three tons of military supplies a day in exchange for three tons of those materials we required for our factories.”
Wang JingWei’s trade proposal to the French in Indochina.
“And did they agree in the end?”
“Yes, sir, they did. However, the French government in Paris apparently did not like the deal and broke it off after three days. This forced me to look elsewhere, and I proposed a similar agreement to the Dutch administration in their East Indies territories. They accepted and have apparently gotten approval from the government in Amsterdam. I am pleased to say that we do not have to worry about our rare materials supply, at least for the moment.”
“Excellent. Is there anything more to report? Li Zongren, how goes that doctrine of yours?”
“Sir, I am still teaching basic infiltration tactics, I am slightly more than half done with them.”
“Hmm, work as quickly as you can. Is there anything else? Lei Zhong, do you believe it would be worth it to continue the conversion policy?”
“I do not believe so, not at the moment. None of the other Guangdong territories are inherently valuable as Guangzhou is and any more dissent can throw off our preparations for war. I suggest putting it on hold until we are safely ready for a war.”
“Well thought out, I agree with you. If there is nothing else, you are dismissed.”
kind of. as I mention in the update, its random, literally based on dice. I can explain the system of how it works if you're interested. if not, suffice to say that getting a core is rather unlikely (less than 1/6 chance) while there's a greater than half chance of getting dissent or more partisans.
its tempting, but spearhead isn't done yet (and that gives +20% to organization, which can be vital) and I still have a high dissent (16+) and a DOW would only increase that. we'll see as events unfold.
* *
* * *
* *
For this meeting, Li Jishen hid behind a curtain and watched as his ministers arrived. Lei Zhong was, interestingly, the first in, striding through the doorway confidently. Even for a normally cheerful man, his smile was excessive to have bad news or even no news. Li Zongren and Yu Hanmou were only a half step behind him—Yu Hanmou was gesticulating excitedly to the others, obviously happy about something as well. The rest followed in their turn, sitting down in their normal circle and awaiting Li Jishen’s arrival. As the minutes crawled by, they began feeling more and more uncomfortable, as if they had been tricked.
Wang Shuming was the first to break the silence of the wait. “Do you think this is a test of loyalty?”
Li Jishen smiled to himself at the question—not only had no one deemed such a question worth answering, but it showed that they understood their warlord quite well, or thought they did. Li Jishen sidestepped from behind the curtain and strode forward to join his loyal ministers. None revealed surprised on their faces or in their posture. After sitting down and settling himself, Li Jishen turned directly to Lei Zhong. “I see that you have good news to share. Do so.”
Lei Zhong’s smile, wide as it was already, widened even further. Li Jishen almost winced in sympathy for the pain his face must be enduring, being almost split in two like that. Such thoughts, however, quickly fled as Lei Zhong began speaking. “Heaven has smiled on us. Our efforts at converting the Guangdong populace have been more successful than we could have dared hope! The celestial dice have decreed that the major Guangdong city of Guangzhou have fully invested their loyalty in us!”
Li Jishen simply stated at Lei Zhong for a moment, not understanding as the full implications sank in. Finally, his eyes widened and he gasped. “The Guangdong factory city! The single most important city in the Clique outside Guilin itself! Its factories are now running at full capacity?”
“Yes, sir. This has greatly improved our economical prowess, especially in relations to the consumer good overproduction. I have not taken time yet to predict when Guangdong dissent will have decreased to negligible amounts, but it is falling quite rapidly now.”
Li Jishen noticed that Yu Hanmou was looking excited as well, as if he could hardly contain himself. Putting out a hand to halt Lei Zhong’s briefing, Li Jishen turned to Yu Hanmou. “Yes? I see that you must say something.”
Yu Hanmou nodded enthusiastically before replying. “Because of Guangzhou’s complete conversion from Guangdong to Guangxi, we have the economical power to afford another research project! Believing that you would approve, I made a decision to contract the Kwangtung Arsenal to optimize our infantry divisions—which are in a poor state, really—and bring them up to par with those of the greater powers of the world.”
Kwangtung Arsenal wasn’t the best choice to develop the infantry, but the only better selection was developing his ideas for a ‘spearhead’ doctrine.
Li Jishen pondered this. Yu Hanmou was correct, he did approve of such a decision. It was also good that his ministers showed some initiative, but they could not show too much, as too much initiative made them dangerous. Li Jishen resolved that he required his own network of spies, independent of Lei Zhong. That would, of course, require money, which was at the moment to be dedicated to alliance with Yunnan. Li Jishen nodded. “Well done, Yu Hanmou. Wang JingWei, how goes the alliance with Yunnan?”
Wang JingWei sighed. “We still do not have enough money, though if we continue gaining a profit at the rate we have been, we will be able to propose alliance within ten days due to our increased industrial abilities. However, this expanded industry has had consequences of its own beyond what you’ve already heard. Because more factories began working again, we suddenly had a deficiency of the rarer materials needed to run the factories.”
Li Jishen sighed in his turn. “There must always be bad news, mustn’t there?”
“I am afraid so. Nevertheless, I attempted to strike a trade deal with the French administration in Indochina that they were rather favorable to. I suggested giving them three tons of military supplies a day in exchange for three tons of those materials we required for our factories.”
Wang JingWei’s trade proposal to the French in Indochina.
“And did they agree in the end?”
“Yes, sir, they did. However, the French government in Paris apparently did not like the deal and broke it off after three days. This forced me to look elsewhere, and I proposed a similar agreement to the Dutch administration in their East Indies territories. They accepted and have apparently gotten approval from the government in Amsterdam. I am pleased to say that we do not have to worry about our rare materials supply, at least for the moment.”
“Excellent. Is there anything more to report? Li Zongren, how goes that doctrine of yours?”
“Sir, I am still teaching basic infiltration tactics, I am slightly more than half done with them.”
“Hmm, work as quickly as you can. Is there anything else? Lei Zhong, do you believe it would be worth it to continue the conversion policy?”
“I do not believe so, not at the moment. None of the other Guangdong territories are inherently valuable as Guangzhou is and any more dissent can throw off our preparations for war. I suggest putting it on hold until we are safely ready for a war.”
“Well thought out, I agree with you. If there is nothing else, you are dismissed.”
Interesting. I like the style of this AAR.
I do have one question though, how exactly does the 'conversion' work? Do you just randomly pick a province and manually edit it, or is there some sort of event you've written?
I do have one question though, how exactly does the 'conversion' work? Do you just randomly pick a province and manually edit it, or is there some sort of event you've written?
save game editing, and its pretty random.
roll a 6-sided die. 1-3 results in more dissent/partisans (more on that later). 4-5 results in nothing. a 6 results in the possibility of having a conversion.
if a 1-3 was rolled, roll again. 1-3 results in higher dissent. 4-6 results in partisans. if a 1-3, roll again for the dissent value to add. if a 4-6, give each valid (ie, non-core and in selected area for conversion) province a number identity and roll using a die with that many sides and subtract 1 to find out how many provinces are effected. roll the same province-number-sided die again that many times to find out which provinces they are, then roll a 6-sided die for each province, then add that much partisan activity to each of the affected provinces.
if a 6 is rolled in the beginning, then roll the province-number-sided die and subract 2. if the outcome is 0, nothing happens. if it is -1, then roll the 6-sided die for a dissent hit. if it is above 0, that's the number of provinces affected by the conversion. roll the province-sided-die that many times (having given each province a number value) to find which provinces are converted.
I use online dice, otherwise it'd be somewhat difficult to have such a dynamic (with regards to number of provinces) system.
did I manage to explain that well enough? :wacko:
so when I managed to roll and managed to convert Guangzhou, I was quite amazed.
It's important to be lucky - with dice rolling as in everything else
Is there a hint of possible future dissension in that meeting?
Is there a hint of possible future dissension in that meeting?
Good luck with this AAR! It is always fun to watch someone take a "minor" power and do something exciting. Do you have a timeframe for the reunification od China? Or will that be dependant on the IJA's actions?
Myth said:“I am afraid so. Nevertheless, I attempted to strike a trade deal with the French administration in Indochina that they were rather favorable to. I suggested giving them three tons of military supplies a day in exchange for three tons of those materials we required for our factories.”
Wang JingWei’s trade proposal to the French in Indochina.
“And did they agree in the end?”
“Yes, sir, they did. However, the French government in Paris apparently did not like the deal and broke it off after three days.”
French are know to be desinvolt! Hope one futur day you could kick their fat asses out of Asia.As a true Master of China.
Earth's Savior said:Does this mean he's looking towards the Allies?
Yes I think so
. It will be exciting to see if he can survive against the Nationalists and the Japanese 
This ought to be an interesting AAR. Havn't seen many Chinese wAARlords stories around.
Nice start, I'll be folowing
Nice start, I'll be folowing
Li Jishen was just sitting down as the rest of his ministers entered. Wang JingWei was the first in, quickly followed by Bai Chongxi. Wang JingWei was obviously pleased, and Bai Chongxi excited. The others came in quietly, Li Jishen inferred that today’s meeting would belong to Wang JingWei and Bai Chongxi. Li Jishen smiled, it had to be good news from Yunnan then. Li Jishen waited until everyone was sitting and settled before clearing his throat with a cough.
“So, what news?”
To his surprise, it was Lei Zhong who answered first. “Sir, we may have some trouble. For the past several weeks, the British have had two submarine flotillas stationed off Hainan. We have attempted to hail them and demand their business but there has been no response. I hesitate, however, to go through diplomatic channels as it may just be an unimportant matter.”
Two British submarine flotillas have been stationed off Hainan Island for at least a full month.
Li Jishen turned to Wang JingWei, who spoke. “A diplomatic option would cost us, and at the moment we do not have any significant amount of money. I suggest continue trying to hail them, but if they remain and remain quiet when we do have enough money to go make a diplomatic overture, come to me and I shall initiate an inquiry.”
Lei Zhong nodded, and Wang JingWei then turned his attention to Li Jishen. “Sir, I have good news. Mere hours ago, I received a reply from my man in Yunnan that Zhou Zhirou, their foreign minister, and Long Yun, their warlord, have agreed to the alliance.”
Guangxi Clique and Yunnan together control the south and southwest areas of China.
Li Jishen allowed himself a short triumphant laugh. “Wonderful! When shall Bai Chongxi be able to coordinate with their army?”
“In a week, Long Yun said.”
“I expect this to occur as soon as possible. Yunnan’s troops must be ready for any hostile eventuality from the Nationalists and their Xibei San Ma puppets.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Li Zongren, how goes the doctrine?”
“I am still teaching of basic infiltration tactics, though I am nearly done.”
Li Jishen sighed, sometimes he wondered how competent Li Zongren was in the actual theory of military strategy—though there was no doubt he was the finest general the Clique could field. “Very well, then. Is there anything more?”
Wang JingWei nodded. “Yes, sir. According to my sources in the Nationalist controlled regions of China, their general Zhang Xueliang kidnapped Chang Kai-shek and tried to force him to establish an alliance between the Nationalists, the Communists and all warlords to ward off any possible future Japanese aggression. Chang Kai-shek, however, managed to escape and arrested Zhang Xueliang as a traitor. However, a good portion of the population—around ten percent, apparently—does not agree with this decision.”
Li Jishen grunted. “This is merely more proof that they aim to subjugate us by force! Not only that, but they lost themselves a skilled leader. Find out where they are keeping him prisoner, if we can free him then he will certainly join us. It is good to see Chang Kai-shek beginning to destroy his own position like this, before we even have to do battle. You are dismissed.”
“So, what news?”
To his surprise, it was Lei Zhong who answered first. “Sir, we may have some trouble. For the past several weeks, the British have had two submarine flotillas stationed off Hainan. We have attempted to hail them and demand their business but there has been no response. I hesitate, however, to go through diplomatic channels as it may just be an unimportant matter.”
Two British submarine flotillas have been stationed off Hainan Island for at least a full month.
Li Jishen turned to Wang JingWei, who spoke. “A diplomatic option would cost us, and at the moment we do not have any significant amount of money. I suggest continue trying to hail them, but if they remain and remain quiet when we do have enough money to go make a diplomatic overture, come to me and I shall initiate an inquiry.”
Lei Zhong nodded, and Wang JingWei then turned his attention to Li Jishen. “Sir, I have good news. Mere hours ago, I received a reply from my man in Yunnan that Zhou Zhirou, their foreign minister, and Long Yun, their warlord, have agreed to the alliance.”
Guangxi Clique and Yunnan together control the south and southwest areas of China.
Li Jishen allowed himself a short triumphant laugh. “Wonderful! When shall Bai Chongxi be able to coordinate with their army?”
“In a week, Long Yun said.”
“I expect this to occur as soon as possible. Yunnan’s troops must be ready for any hostile eventuality from the Nationalists and their Xibei San Ma puppets.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Li Zongren, how goes the doctrine?”
“I am still teaching of basic infiltration tactics, though I am nearly done.”
Li Jishen sighed, sometimes he wondered how competent Li Zongren was in the actual theory of military strategy—though there was no doubt he was the finest general the Clique could field. “Very well, then. Is there anything more?”
Wang JingWei nodded. “Yes, sir. According to my sources in the Nationalist controlled regions of China, their general Zhang Xueliang kidnapped Chang Kai-shek and tried to force him to establish an alliance between the Nationalists, the Communists and all warlords to ward off any possible future Japanese aggression. Chang Kai-shek, however, managed to escape and arrested Zhang Xueliang as a traitor. However, a good portion of the population—around ten percent, apparently—does not agree with this decision.”
Li Jishen grunted. “This is merely more proof that they aim to subjugate us by force! Not only that, but they lost themselves a skilled leader. Find out where they are keeping him prisoner, if we can free him then he will certainly join us. It is good to see Chang Kai-shek beginning to destroy his own position like this, before we even have to do battle. You are dismissed.”
A little bit of intrigue in the Land of the Dragon. All in all a good lead up to that war that has to hit soon - assuming you end of fighting it, of course.
