Kuzuryū - A History of Japanese Expansion in Asia

[Hrvatskiwi]

PROLOGUE

July 30, 1944
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The bare branches of the cherry trees that flanked the shrine lay still in the afternoon sun. Only the wafting of incense smoke and the light breeze billowing through the chrysanthemum-emblazoned banners broke the illusion of complete stillness. The permanence of the scene gave one the impression that the trees, the cloth, and even the participants were carved from stone. Such a state of affairs seemed permanent. Perhaps that was by design.


Representatives from all over the Empire had gathered to honour the mausoleum of the Emperor Meiji. In a sense, it was from his action that all this was possible. The restoration of the power of the imperial house and the demolition of Shogunate power had allowed Japan to transcend its prior role in history. No longer a collection of warring fiefdoms, artificially bound together by a series of increasingly corrupt, decadent and isolationist warlords, the islands which were once a peripheral backwater was now the hegemon of Asia. A guiding light for budding Asian nationalist movements to the south, the envy of the United States and the decaying Western European empires, Japan had succeeded in the aim of equalling and perhaps surpassing the gaijin imperialists.


The Imperial Japanese Army had known virtually nothing but victory. They had cemented dominance over Korea and taken the island of Taiwan through defeat of the decadent Qing Empire in 1895; vanquished the mighty forces of Tsarist Russia in a close-run contest a mere ten years later, making history as the first Asian nation to defeat a Western power in modern times; brought peace to a China torn apart by rival warlords; secured the independence of the Manchu and Chahar Mongol peoples; and had brought the islands of Nan’yo from the stone age to the modern era. Whilst remnants of the Guomindang continued to fight Japan and its satellite states in Sichuan and Gansu, the well-resourced zaibatsu conglomerates had already begun the process of reconstruction, digging mines, building factories and the like to exploit the natural and human resources of a subcontinent. The future appeared bright for the Land of the Rising Sun.


Various persons of influence attended the ceremony. The most notable, aside from the Emperor Hirohito himself, was the Kangde emperor of Manchukuo, Aisin Gioro Pu Yi. Seated nearby was the Prince of Mokyo/Inner Mongolia, Demchugdongrub, accompanied by Buyaandelger (Li Shouxin), his Chief of Staff. Not far from the Mongol delegation sat the severe and imposing Kuniaki Koiso, the so-called “Tiger of Korea”, Governor-General of Japan’s earliest and most-advanced colony. Seated on the next row behind was Wang Kemin, chairman of the North China Political Council and practically President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China (ROC-Beijing) and Liang Hongzhi, leader of the Reformed Government of the Republic of China (ROC-Nanjing). The presence of these men indicated a desire to curry favour with the Japanese establishment, now that the worst of the fighting in China appeared to be over. Surely, some of these men lost sleep at night, aware that they had largely outlived their usefulness.


The subdued and tasteful ceremony did belie some tensions that bubbled underneath the surface between members of the Japanese elite. Military officers sat only amongst themselves, actively avoiding engagement with the commercial and industrial magnates in attendance. These two groups had strongly opposing visions of Japan’s future. How would the Emperor, and the civilian government, balance the wills and interests of these groups? Could they? There were rumblings outside the empire, too. The United States grew increasingly frustrated with its inability to trade with China, and sheltered a number of anti-Japanese groups. The Western powers eyed Japanese designs of Southeast Asia with suspicion, most vocal of which were the Australians, backed by the powerful and extensive British Empire. Some in the military advocated a strike northward against the Soviet Union, to eliminate the Communist threat. Guomindang remnants continued to fight from the remote and hilly western provinces of China. Communist partisans fought behind enemy lines, particularly in Shaanxi and adjacent provinces. Industrial unrest flared up from time to time, particularly in Shanghai, but also in Wuhan, Beijing, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Fuzhou. It seemed unlikely that any of these forces could individually dismantle the powerful Japanese Empire, but could such forces collectively align against them?

 

[TastySpam]

Watched.

 

[History aficionado]

This timeline, even if we haven't seen the POD, seems very interesting. Watched!

 

[Logan2879]

???

 

[The Tai-Pan]

No Nazis, perhaps?

Looks good so far!

 

[Hrvatskiwi]

Hi readers! I know the POD is not yet apparent, but it will come sooner or later. This post completely describes OTL events, but I've tried to make them more comprehensible (Chinese warlord politics is VERY complicated) and is necessary to contextualise the things that occur later ITTL.

==

The Japanese conquest of China would not have been possible without taking advantage of the fractious political landscape left in the wake of the Qing collapse. In order to comprehend the process of the incremental subjugation of China to the Japanese Empire, one must understand the gradual fall and collapse of the Qing Empire and the establishment of the Republic of China.

Once one of the greatest powers of Eurasia, the Qing Empire was founded by the Manchus of the Northeast, a distinct ethnic group related to various Siberian peoples such as the Evenki and Nanai. Taking advantage of internal tumult and peasant rebellions against the Han nativist Ming Empire (which had itself liberated China from the rule of the Mongol Yuan dynasty), the Manchu established an expansive, militarist empire. Wary of losing their cultural identity like past 'conquest dynasties', the Manchu instituted an ethnically-hierarchical system, with Manchu at the top and Chinese (especially southern Han) at the bottom. Past their 17th-century peak, the Qing gradually failed to effectively modernise, and were further undermined by the depredations of industrial Western powers, which carved out spheres of influence and poisoned the Chinese body politic with opium. Humiliated and disenfranchised, the Han Chinese defied Manchu authority in a number of rebellions, including the Taiping and Boxer rebellions. What few realise is that the seeds of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 lay in the 1850-1864 Taiping Rebellion. During the later stage of the Taiping disturbances, provincial governors were allowed to raise their own armies, the Yong Ying, to fight the rebels. Many of these forces were not disbanded after the war, decentralising military power in the late Qing state and thus undermining central authority, whilst strengthening the ability of local elites to coerce their populations through the threat of violence. The most powerful of these formations was the Beiyang Army, which was the most modern Chinese force, relatively well-trained and equipped compared to the other private armies.

A mutiny of troops stationed in Wuhan in 1911 lit the flames of rebellion across Southern China. Soldiers loyal to the Qing Empire defected in large numbers to the mutineers. These forces established a provisional government in 1912 based in Nanjing, the 'southern capital' of China, headed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, a career revolutionary who had spent a long exile overseas, organising opposition to Imperial rule from within the diaspora community. Recognising that the Beiyang Army was fully capable of crushing the nascent revolutionary army, Sun negotiated with its commander, Yuan Shikai, to bring an end to the Qing Empire. In order to secure this goal, Sun would cede the presidency to Yuan. Yuan accepted, but refused to move to Nanjing, insisting on maintaining Beijing as the capital, within his base of power. A military man rather than a civilian politician, Yuan expected unwavering loyalty and submission from his citizenry. Reacting to his ever-greater tyrannical streak, a rebellion spread across the southern provinces in 1913, but were dispersed by Beiyang forces. In 1915, Yuan announced that he would establish a new imperial dynasty, adopting the title 'Hongxian Emperor'. The southern provinces once again rebelled against Yuan Shikai, starting the so-called National Protection War, but on this occasion the military commanders refused to back Yuan, opposing his bid for the monarchy. Yuan renounced his restoration bid and attempted desperately to win back the support of his commanders, but he was unable to do so before passing away on June 1916.

The death of Yuan Shikai split the Beiyang Army into a number of factions. This was the time of 'alignment politics', where warlords would band together against other warlords who sought to achieve hegemony. This musical chairs-esque environment made defections and betrayals a common occurrence. Given the poor state of infrastructure in China, railway lines were key to political control of regional economic hubs. This resulted in fierce fighting over railway lines and the use of rolling stock for military needs, denying their use for commercial activity and stunting economic development. The resultant stalling of the economy in the various warlord domains, coinciding with a need to pay for military expenditures and compensating for severe corruption, the warlords began to depend on taxation of the opium trade. "Opium suppression bureaus", which were in reality tax stations (and often opium dispensaries) could be found throughout China. Despite the harm generated from opium addiction, which had been normalised in Chinese society, the warlords disingenuously and cynically utilised the trade to fuel their own ambitions for power.

A number of warlord coalitions, dubbed "cliques" in popular parlance, formed after Yuan Shikai's death and rapidly territorialised, backed by the warlords' personal armies. Two of the major northern cliques, the Zhili and Fengtian Cliques, allied temporarily, whilst the Anhui Clique formed their own independent faction. While Li Yuanhong replaced Yuan Shikai as the President after his death, political power was in the hands of premier Duan Qirui, the leader of the Anhui Clique. The government aligned itself with the Zhili Clique, requiring their protection to maintain control of the capital, Beijing. Feng Guozhang, head of the Zhili Clique, was named Vice President of the de jure Beiyang Republic. The political situation in the republic remained shaky, as Li and Duan butted heads on whether China should join the Entente, and thus secure a position at the table in the eventual peace (and thus counteract Japanese influence) or whether they should remain at peace, focusing on internal self-strengthening. Taking advantage of this political unrest, Zhang Xun, a die-hard Qing loyalist marched into Beijing on 1st July, dissolving the parliament and announcing a Manchu restoration. Duan ousted Zhang Xun upon return to Beijing at the head of an army of reinforcements from Tianjin. As the parliament was reformed, the fundamental disagreements with Feng Guozhang led to Duan's resignation in 1918. Feng forged a temporary alliance with the Fengtian Clique based in the Manchurian provinces, headed by the "Mukden Tiger" Zhang Zuolin. Duan, taking ostensibly private loans that were in reality underwritten by the Japanese government (in exchange for confirming Japanese claims to Germany's Jiaozhou (Kiautschou) Bay concession, railways in Shandong, and privileges in Manchuria), built a private army and took control of Outer Mongolia. In response, the Fengtian and Zhili Cliques, forging alliances with the warlords in Southwestern China which had previously been threatened by Duan's Anhui-based armies. Backed by the British and Americans, who sought to counteract Japanese intrigues, the Zhili and Fengtian Cliques pressured Xu Shichang, the post-Duan president, to dismiss General Xu Shuzheng, who had led the Mongol expedition. In November 1919, the "Jade Marshall" Wu Peifu of the Zhili Clique met with representatives of Tang Jiyao and Lu Rongting at Hengyang, where they established the so-called "National Salvation Army", forming the basis of an anti-Anhui Clique coalition. In April 1920, at a memorial service, Cao Kun, another Zhili Clique leader, signed up more warlords, from Hubei, Henan, Manchuria, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Zhili, to the National Salvation Army. The Anhui Clique forces which opposed this coalition were dubbed the National Stabilisation Army. The National Salvation Army was covertly supported by Japanese troops and advisors.

Despite seemingly greater military strength, the Anhui forces were outmaneuvered and defeated. On July 19, 1920, Duan resigned, and the Zhili and Fengtian forces entered Beijing four days later. The Fengtian and Zhili Cliques formed a short-lived coalition government, by now headed by Cao Kun, who had ascended to leadership of the Zhili Clique after Feng Guozhang's death in 1919. Their Anhui proxies having been defeated, the Japanese shifted their financial and diplomatic support to the Fengtian Clique, hoping to strengthen their influence in Manchuria and Beijing. In 1922, the Fengtian Clique replaced Premier Jin Yunpeng with Liang Shiyi without consulting the Zhili leaders. It became clear that the nucleus of a Japanese client government was forming, as a cabinet under Liang's leadership was established on 25th December 1921 with Zhang Zuolin's support, which immediately granted amnesty to six former Anhui Clique cabinet members. The crisis intensified as the new cabinet withheld $3 million promised to Zhili Clique military forces. In response, Wu Peifu and the rest of the Zhili Clique forced Liang Shiyi to resign. Seeking to settle the political deadlock by force, Zhang Zuolin resolved to secure the Zhili Clique's submission by force. Zhang gathered 120,000 troops to oppose the 100,000 soldiers of the Zhili armies, commanding his troops himself. The Zhili armies were commanded by Wu Peifu, architect of the victory over Duan's forces.

The Fengtian forces advanced along two axes in the Beijing-Tianjin region. Whilst initially achieving a modest advance, Wu Peifu commanded Zhili forces in Beijing to flank Fengtian forces. Whilst achieving some surprise, the attack was checked and Zhili forces were forced back into a defensive stance. In response, Wu Peifu pulled these forces back, leading the Fengtian forces to believe they achieved an advance and rushed forward recklessly. Wu drew Zhang's forces into an ambush, where they were soundly defeated. Despite achieving steady advances on the Tianjin front, news of the other wing's defeat led to a number of defections by Fengtian officers. The drop in morale of the Fengtian forces allowed Zhili troops to achieve victory over Zhang's soldiers in the Beijing suburbs, and Zhili troops entered Tianjin on May 5. The British consul at Luanzhou brokered a peace after these Zhili victories, where Zhang Zuolin agreed to withdraw his forces behind the Shanhai Pass (the boundary between Manchuria and Hebei). This war gave the Zhili Clique the status of primus inter pares amongst the Northern Cliques, with a firm hold over the central government.

 

[The Tai-Pan]

Very nice update. Might be OTL but to me, it was all brand new due to lack of knowledge about the time and place.

 

[Hrvatskiwi]

With Yuan Shikai attempting to crown himself Hongxian Emperor, the always restive Southern provinces were driven into rebellion. Warlords Cai E and Tang Jiyao of Yunnan declared the province's independence in it's capital, Kunming on December 25, 1915. They formed the National Protection Army, which marched against the forces of the Beiyang government. Yuan Shikai's forces, numbering 80,000, were sent reeling by a major defeat in Sichuan against the National Protection Army. Emboldened by the initial success of the rebellion, the warlords of Guizhou and Guangxi provinces declared their independence in February and March 1916. Shortly thereafter, the provinces of Guangdong, Shandong, Hunan, Shanxi, Jiangxi and Jiangsu followed suit. Faced with mounting opposition, Yuan Shikai abandoned his attempts at imperial rule. The rebel provinces rescinded their declarations of independence, but the message was clear: that any attempt to centralise control by one faction would not be met without resistance.


In 1917, Sun Yat-sen returned to China to advocate Chinese reunification. Sun was reluctantly supported by Lu Rongting, a Zhuang peasant who had risen up the ranks of the Qing army and had become one of the major warlords of the south. Lu had opposed the Guomindang in its 'Second Revolution' in 1913, but had sided with anti-Yuan forces in the National Protection War. By April 1917, however, Lu had extended his control over Guangxi and Guangdong, heading the 'Old Guangxi Clique'. In 1918, as the southern militaries were reorganised, Tang Jiyao and Lu Rongting were appointed joint chiefs. Schisms between Lu and Sun emerged as the latter suspected the former's loyalties. Lu and his Old Guangxi Clique was, at its core, self-interested. The warlords lacked the ideology of the Guomindang, which sought to reunify China under their rule. Sun suspected that, sooner or later, Lu would align with the Beiyang government against the Guomindang's revolutionary project. Sun provoked Guangxi Clique defiance by reallocating troops and attempting to strip Lu's major ally in Guangdong, Cen Chunxuan, of his army and reassign them to Chen Jiongming, one of Sun's lieutenants. With Cen and Lu rejecting such a move, Sun directed Chen to attack Lu and the other Guangxi warlords. By October 1920, Chen captured Guangzhou and drove the Guangxi warlords out of Guangdong in the First Yue-Gui War. In 1921, Chen attempted to unite the neighbouring regions behind Sun's regime at Guangzhou and pushed into Guangxi itself. Lu sent two armies against Chen's forces. They drove Chen back and occupied Qinzhou and Lianzhou. Lu's ally Chen Binghun's forces collapsed during the counterattack however, losing Wuzhou and allowing Chen to drive up the rivers into Guangxi as allies moved in from Guizhou to the north. Lu Rongting stripped down in July 1921. By August, Chen had occupied Nanning and the rest of Guangxi. Although Chen and the Guangdong troops occupied Guangxi until April 1922, their control barely reached beyond Nanning. The countryside continued to be patrolled by Guangxi Clique loyalists styling themselves the Self-Government Army. Sun Yat-sen and Chen Jiongming split over plans for the Northern Expedition. By May 1922, Sun Yat-sen's Cantonese troops had evacuated Guangxi, leaving it to Chen.