Podcasts about china first

President Trump has set the stage for further, dramatic tariffs on a recalcitrant Chinese Communist Party, possibly exceeding 100% on its imports. He is catalyzing an economic disengagement from that mortal enemy that is long overdue. As it happens, the President has another source of leverage in the form of an “America First Investment Policy” he unveiled on February 21st. The essence of that policy is to reduce both dangerous “inbound” Chinese investments here and “outbound” U.S. investments that prop up the CCP, enable its military build-up and underwrite its totalitarian repression of the people of China. Four Wall Street firms are intent, however, on maintaining their China First investment policy by raising over $7 billion for CATL, one of Beijing's military and slave labor-exploiting companies. If you order them to stop, Mr. President, you will get Xi Jinping's attention for sure.   This is Frank Gaffney.

Shaun talks to Frank Gaffney, President of the Institute for the American Future, about America First investing instead of China First and how influence operations in other countries should run.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's no April Fool's prank - the Taliban thinks they are ready for democracy. PLUS, Maureen Steele, co-founder of American Made Foundation, tells Shaun that the lower court administrative judges are unconstitutional and wonders how these criminals in black robes are still allowed to be there undermining our rights. And Shaun talks to Frank Gaffney, President of the Institute for the American Future, about America First investing instead of China First and how influence operations in other countries should run. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last time we spoke about the January 28th Incident. In January of 1932, tensions escalated in Shanghai as anti-Japanese sentiments surged after Japan's invasion of Manchuria. Orchestrated by Yoshiko Kawashima, a Japanese spy, a provocation led to violence, sparking outrage among Japanese expatriates. Japan demanded apologies and compensation from China, threatening military action if their demands were unmet. As the Japanese military amassed forces in Shanghai, the Chinese 19th Route Army prepared to resist, igniting the conflict known as the January 28th Incident, marking the beginning of a fierce struggle for control. Amidst chaos, the Nanjing government struggled to respond to Japan's escalating aggression in Shanghai. Chiang Kai-Shek prioritized avoiding war, urging a diplomatic approach to protect Shanghai's economy. Despite pressure, the 19th Route Army was ordered to withdraw, but tensions flared when Japan attacked the Chinese garrison. The 19th Route Army fiercely resisted, leading to intense battles. As Japan sent reinforcements, Chiang faced mounting protests and criticism for his passive stance, questioning whether he could maintain his strategy against the encroaching enemy.   #144 The First Battle of Shanghai 1932 Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. In the last episode we covered the January 28th Incident. At 11:30 pm on January 28, Japan ordered 2,300 Japanese Marines to advance westward along every branch road on the west side of North Sichuan Road, without waiting for a response. This road, which crosses into the northern area of the International Settlement and has frequently been designated as a Japanese defense zone, includes Target Road (now known as Wujin Road in Hongkou District, Shanghai), Qiujiang Road, and Yokohama Road. Their objective was to seize the Songhu Railway defense line at Tiantong'an Station. They faced strong resistance from the 19th Route Army, further escalating the conflict. In the early hours of the 29th, Japanese aircraft launched from the Notoro seaplane carrier, which was moored on the Huangpu River, attacked the Chinese district of Zhabei. Both the Commercial Press located at No. 584 Baoshan Road and the Oriental Library, the largest private library in China with over 300,000 books, were completely destroyed. That same day the 19th Route Army sent a telegram to the entire nation concerning the situation: Do forgive me it's a rough translation “Urgent. Dear Sir and Madam, the Japanese have occupied our three northeastern provinces, changing the color of our territory and making our nation perish. Recently, they have killed and set fire in Shanghai, and vagrants are everywhere, doing the most despicable and violent things in the world. Gunboats are coming one after another, and the Marines are all landed. At 12:00 a.m. on the 28th, they openly invaded our defense line in Zhabei, Shanghai, and challenged us. Guang Nai and others are soldiers, and they only know that it is their duty to defend themselves and defend their land. They cannot give up even an inch of land or an inch of grass. They resist to save the country and protect the race. Even if they sacrifice only one person and one bullet, they will never retreat and lose the personality of the soldiers of the Republic of China. This thing and this ambition are exposed to the sun and the sun and are known to the world. The spirits of our ancestors in heaven are truly relying on it”. On the morning of January 29, Chiang Kai-shek met with He Yingqin and Zhu Peide to discuss countermeasures. Simultaneously Zhu Peide convened a meeting with He Yingqin, Gu Zhutong, Li Jishen, Deng Shizeng, Lin Wei, and others to address issues such as defense deployment, the security of Nanjing and the Yangtze River, and resistance against Japan. Chiang Kai-Shek established the principles going forward for negotiations with Japan, emphasizing the need to prepare for talks while actively resisting. He stated that negotiations must have a clear final line of defense and a maximum limit that would not compromise administrative and territorial integrity, undermine the spirit of the Nine-Power Treaty, or jeopardize national sovereignty. If these limits were exceeded and unacceptable concessions were made, a decisive battle would be fought, even at the cost of defeat and death.  The defense and military strategy for Beijing and Shanghai included the 19th Route Army defending Shanghai with full strength, while the front guard army consisting of the 87th and 88th divisions would protect Nanjing. He Yingqin would remain in Nanjing, overseeing all party, government, and military personnel left behind. Chiang, along with the Central Political Council of the Kuomintang, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the National Government, and Chen Mingshu, all expressed their commitment to resisting Japanese aggression. Chiang also sent a telegram to He Chengjun, director of the Hubei Province Pacification Office, and Xu Tingyao, commander of the Fourth Division, stating "Last night, the Japanese invaders attacked our 19th Route Defense Line in Zhabei, Shanghai, and the battle is ongoing. Our army is determined to fight to the death. Their naval forces in Han and Xun will likely engage in military operations. We urge you to remain vigilant and defend yourselves, never yielding to them. The Fourth Division should concentrate on strict defense in Wuhan and avoid dispersal. If military funds become scarce, local governments will need to raise them independently." The National Government Military Committee appointed Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan, and Zhang Xueliang as members responsible for mobilizing the army and commanding the Shanghai War. Chiang Kai-Shek officially resumed power after resigning to prevent a surrender and committed to a prolonged resistance. On January 30, the Chinese Nationalist Government announced the relocation of the capital to Luoyang. Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram urging resistance against the Japanese and dispatched the elite Fifth Army to reinforce Shanghai. That night, Dai Ji, the commander of the Songhu Garrison, took charge of military operations in Shanghai, overseeing the 19th Route Army. The commander-in-chief was Jiang Guangnai, with Cai Tingkai as the army commander and division commanders Qu Shounian, Mao Weishou, and Shen Guanghan. Chiang Kai-Shek then issued a telegram to his troops across the nation and again I apologize for the rough translation. "Since the Northeast Incident began, the Central Government has been enduring humiliation and maintaining peace in order to avoid war and protect the lifeline of the country. It hopes to use justice and fairness to awaken the Japanese pirates. Unexpectedly, the more we tolerate, the more arrogant they become. When the Shanghai Incident occurred, we accepted their demands with great pain, but the Japanese pirates still brazenly pressed on, repeatedly attacking our Shanghai Defense Force, bombing civilian houses, throwing bombs on the streets, and our compatriots were ravaged. The country is about to perish. Anyone with blood in his veins would rather endure it. Since the 19th Route Army has risen up to defend itself bravely, our entire army In this time of national destruction and extinction, when the revolutionary soldiers are facing imminent danger, they should fight for the dignity of the country, strive for the survival of the nation, fulfill their responsibilities for the revolution, and be determined to die rather than live in disgrace, so as to deal with the brutal Japan that destroys peace and despises faith and integrity... Chiang Kai-shek and his comrades have shared hardships for a long time. Although I am now in the opposition, I am willing to swear to live and die with the soldiers and fulfill my bounden duty. I am here to inform you in advance with my blood and sincerity, and ask you to be determined and work hard, share the same hatred with the enemy, do not be arrogant, maintain the spirit of sacrifice, stay ready to fight, and save the country from danger." From that day on, the various ministries, commissions and committees of the National Government began to move to Luoyang, but the Military Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remained in Nanjing . At the same time, the frontline troops were ordered to be jointly commanded by the Minister of Military Affairs He Yingqin and the Chief of the General Staff Zhu Peide.  Typically Chinese sources breakdown what is known as the First Battle of Shanghai into three phases. In the previous episode we looked through the event up until the point of the first phase. After the initial fighting, both the 19th route army and Japanese agreed to a ceasefire so they could strengthen their positions and at least allow some form of diplomacy to occur. This went into effect on the 29th. As we mentioned, immediately afterwards the Japanese rapidly began reinforcing their position in Shanghai. They first sent the Sasebo 26th Squadron on the 30th, bearing 474 troops of the Sasebo 3rd Special Marine Corps alongside supplies. The next day the aircraft carriers Kaga and Hosho came over with 30 aircraft from the 1st air fleet. Then the cruisers Naka, Yura and Abukuma alongside 4 torpedo boats came bearing another 2000 marines. On February 1st the Terukoku Maru brought over the Yokosuka 1st Special Marine corps, roughly 525 men who landed at Huishan Wharf. With all that said and done, roughly 7000 Japanese troops had been brought over. On February 1st, the IJN warships began bombarding Nanjing from the Yangtze River, prompting Yu Jishi to frantically demand Chiang Kai-Shek transfer more troops to Shanghai. That night the Japanese light cruiser Tenryu, the protected cruisers Hirado and Taima, and the seven ships of the Navy's 23rd Destroyer Squadron fired upon Nanjing using four 140mm guns, 12 152mm single-mounted rapid-fire guns, 12 120mm single-mounted guns, and 20 76mm single-mounted rapid-fire guns. The rich and officials fled the city for refuge, but the Japanese army did not land any men to follow up the attack. Simultaneously 40,000 Shanghai workers from over 20 Japanese owned cotton mills began an anti-Japanese strike, being heavily backed by Communists. The workers began aiding the 19th route army to blockade the Japanese in the factories and streets and sabotage what they could.  On February 2nd, the Japanese army attacked Wusong several times, but was repelled each time. On the 3rd the Japanese expanded their attacks against Zhabei, Baziqiao and other locations, but the Chinese defenders successfully repelled these assaults as well. On the 4th, the Japanese launched their first major offensive, which extended the conflict to Jiangwan and Wusong. Following a day of intense fighting, the Wusong fort was destroyed by enemy bombardment; however, the Japanese army was unable to land due to the determined resistance of the Chinese defenders. The anti-aircraft artillery company from the 88th Division, reassigned to the 4th Regiment of the 156th Brigade of the 19th Route Army, managed to shoot down a Japanese aircraft. After the failure of the general offensive, Yukiichi Shiozawa was dismissed and sent back to Japan. Vice Admiral Yoshisaburo Nomura, the newly appointed commander of the Third Fleet, succeeded Shiozawa. After Nomura assumed his role, the Japanese army began to bolster its forces. Japan had initially planned to deploy troops when tensions escalated in Shanghai, but the navy had opposed this move. However, as the situation deteriorated, the navy was compelled to seek assistance from the army. On February 2, the Japanese cabinet officially decided to send troops. In response to the urgent circumstances in Shanghai, they resolved to dispatch the Shanghai Dispatch Mixed Brigade, led by Brigade Commander Major General Shimomoto Kuma, along with the 9th Division, commanded by Lieutenant General Ueda Kenkichi. The Shanghai Dispatch Mixed Brigade and the Second Independent Tank Squadron were prioritized for transport. Concurrently, the Japanese Navy also sent the Yokosuka 2nd Special Marine Corps to Shanghai. The 24th Mixed Brigade landed in Wusong on the afternoon of February 7. By this time, the combined forces of the Japanese navy, army, and air force had exceeded 10,000 personnel. At dawn on February 8, the Japanese Army's 24th Mixed Brigade launched an attack on Zhanghuabang, Yunzaobang, and Wusong Town along three routes, but they were repelled by our forces. Meanwhile on February 4, the National Government Military Commission sent out a telegram that divided the country into four defense zones. The first zone, which includes the area north of the Yellow River, was assigned to Zhang Xueliang as the commander-in-chief. The second zone, covering the area south of the Yellow River, was placed under the command of Chiang Kai-shek. The third zone, encompassing the area south of the Yangtze River as well as Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, was led by He Yingqin. The fourth zone, which includes Guangdong and Guangxi, was commanded by Chen Jitang. The telegram also stated that, aside from maintaining troops for local stability, all commanders were to concentrate their forces within their respective defense zones to confront the aggressive Japanese. Additionally, a directive was issued for the provinces of Sichuan, Hunan, Guizhou, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Henan to send troops to serve as a general reserve. On February 5, upon learning that the Japanese army had been redeployed from mainland China to Shanghai, Chairman of the Military Commission Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram from Luoyang to He Yingqin. He instructed that if the Japanese forces landed, the Chinese Air Force would engage in combat. Additionally, Chiang sent a message of condolence to Jiang Guangnai, Cai Tingkai, and Dai Ji of the 19th Route Army, stating "Brothers, you have been fighting valiantly for a week. Each time I reflect on the tremendous sacrifices made by the soldiers and their dedication, I feel a deep sadness... If necessary, Zhong (Zheng) can come to lead in person. When the Air Force enters the fray, the Army must establish various signals in advance to communicate with it and ensure coordinated efforts..." On the same day, the 88th Division arrived in Suzhou. On February 6, Chiang ordered the 261st Brigade of the 87th Division to move from Nanjing to reinforce Kunshan. The troops reached Kunshan on February 7. On February 8, Chiang directed He Yingqin to transfer an artillery battalion to support the 19th Route Army. Then, on February 9, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized the First Division, led by Commander Hu Zongnan, and the Seventh Division, commanded by Wang Jun, to prepare for reinforcement of the 19th Route Army in Shanghai. February 8th marks the second phase of the battle. On the 10th, to ensure that the 88th Division of the Central Army complied with the orders from the 19th Route Army of the Guangdong Army, Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram to Yu Jishi insisting that "your troops must strictly follow the commands of Commander-in-Chief Chiang and coordinate their movements with allied forces." The Japanese Marine Corps, under Yukio Shiozawa, initiated a three-pronged encirclement attack from Hongkou. The National Army mounted a determined defense and ultimately repelled the Japanese forces, pursuing and destroying them, which significantly lowered their morale. On February 11, Chen Cheng, commander of the Central Army's 18th Army, sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek from Ji'an, Jiangxi, reporting that the troops had not been paid for nearly two months and were lacking food. At that time, the National Government was planning to redeploy the National Army that had been engaged in suppressing the Communists in Jiangxi to Zhejiang and Shanghai and to relocate the capital to Luoyang.  On February 12, following a battle at Caojiaqiao, the Japanese army's strategy to consolidate their forces was entirely disrupted. The next morning, February 13, the Japanese 24th Mixed Brigade crossed the Caojiaqiao Bridge in Zhuozaobang and engaged with the Nationalist army. Seizing the moment, the 19th Route Army Headquarters aimed to annihilate the Japanese forces. The Nationalist army surrounded the Japanese troops near the Yong'an Cotton Mill. Additionally, 60 members of a suicide squad launched a suicide attack, resulting in the complete destruction of 1,600 Japanese soldiers. The Japanese army faced significant losses, thwarting their attempt to swiftly capture Wusong. On February 14, Chiang ordered the 88th and 87th Divisions, which were already stationed in Nanxiang and Kunshan near Shanghai, to be reorganized into the Fifth Army. He appointed Zhang Zhizhong, a volunteer eager to fight against the Japanese, as the commander of the Fifth Army. This new army was placed under the unified command of the 19th Route Army and took over the defense line stretching from the northern end of Jiangwan through Miaoxing to the western end of Wusong. It served as the left-wing army, while the 19th Route Army acted as the right-wing, tasked with defending Jiangwan, the area south of Dachang, and the urban region of Shanghai. To replenish the 19th Route Army's losses, Chiang repeatedly ordered reinforcements from various locations. For instance, on February 15, Shangguan Yunxiang dispatched 500 active soldiers from Bengbu to the 19th Route Army; on February 17, Liang Guanying sent 500 unarmed soldiers from Qingjiangpu; and on February 19, Liu Zhi contributed 1,000 active unarmed soldiers from Henan. On February 16, Chiang Kai-shek communicated with Finance Minister Song Ziwen via telegram, stating, "Since the Japanese refuse to withdraw their troops from Shanghai, we must resist until the end. ... Food supplies in Jiangxi and Henan will dwindle, and assistance will be completely halted. Please arrange to deposit 10 million yuan in central banknotes in Nanchang and 20 million yuan in Zhengzhou. This will allow the government to continue functioning, the army to be sustained, and perhaps we can navigate this crisis and avert collapse. This is my final request. I hope you can find a way to assist." To prevent any friction between the Fifth Army and the Nineteenth Route Army over competing for military accolades, Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram to Zhang Zhizhong and Yu Jishi on February 18. "The fight against Japan is a matter of national survival and is not a matter of honor for an individual or a certain unit. Our frontline officers and men should fully understand this. Therefore, the honor of the 19th Route Army is the honor of our entire National Revolutionary Army. There is absolutely no distinction between honor and disgrace. The Fifth Army's joining the front line is feared by the enemy and will also be slandered by the reactionaries (those who oppose the Nanjing Central Government). If we can continue to fight in the name of the 19th Route Army, it will be enough to demonstrate the strength of our National Revolutionary Army. We will share life and death, let alone honor and disgrace. I hope that this will be conveyed to the officers and men of the Fifth Army. They must unite and fight with our 19th Route Army and make no sacrifices to complete the revolutionary mission." Over on the other side, following reports of significant losses suffered by the Japanese army in Wusong, Tokyo received an imperial decree from Emperor Hirohito demanding the Shanghai incident get settled quick. In response, Chief of Staff Zairen urgently ordered the 9th Army Division, commanded by Ueda Kenkichi, to swiftly reinforce Shanghai. By the afternoon of February 13, the main contingent of the 9th Division had arrived at Shanghai Port, and by February 16, all personnel had disembarked in Wusong. Consequently, Lieutenant General Ueda took over command from Nomura. At this point, the Japanese invading forces comprised over 30,000 troops from naval, land, and air units, along with 60 to 70 field artillery pieces, more than 60 aircraft, and dozens of ships concentrated at the Wusong mouth. Ueda issued a statement late on the night of the 13th, asserting, "If anyone obstructs our division from fulfilling its mission, we will take decisive action without hesitation." On the 18th, he sent an ultimatum to Cai Tingkai, demanding, "Your army must immediately cease hostilities and withdraw from the following areas by 5:00 p.m. on February 20: on the west bank of the Huangpu River, retreat from areas connecting the western end of the concession, Caojiadu Town, Zhoujiaqiao Town, and Pushong Town to the north; on the east bank, withdraw from areas connecting Lannidu and Zhangjialou Town to the north, and retreat to a zone 20 kilometers away from the border of each concession Additionally, all military installations in the specified areas must be dismantled and no new ones established. If these demands are not met, the Japanese army will have no choice but to act freely against your forces, and your army will bear all resulting consequences." In response to Ueda's ultimatum, Tsai and Chiang ordered their front-line troops to fire heavily at Japanese positions as a warning. On the morning of February 20, Ueda commanded a full-scale attack across the front, employing tactics to break through the center while flanking from both sides. The 9th Division led the assault on the junction of Jiangwan and Miaohang, aiming to encircle Wusong from the north with the Kurume Brigade and Zhabei with the Marine Corps from the south. The Japanese began with artillery bombardments, followed by infantry and tank assaults on the Zhanghuabang and Yangshupu lines, both of which were successfully repelled by Chinese defenders. Over a thousand Japanese soldiers and several tanks in Zhabei were killed or wounded due to landmines. On February 21, Ueda personally directed thousands of infantry, supported by aircraft and artillery, to attack the Chinese defensive positions. Both sides incurred heavy casualties, and the battle continued until dawn on the 23rd. The Japanese forces attempted to encircle Jiangwan Town from Jiangwan Station, but the Chinese defenders fought valiantly, launching multiple charges and capturing Japanese Major Kong Sheng along with hundreds of soldiers. Ultimately, the Japanese army was unable to withstand the resistance and began to retreat. After the Japanese 9th Division arrived in Shanghai, it prepared to initiate a second major assault on the defenders of the city. The strategy involved a comprehensive attack stretching from Zhabei to Wusong to contain the Chinese army's strength, with primary forces concentrated on Jiangwan and Miaohang. The goal was to seize these two strategic points, achieve a breakthrough in the center, sever the link between the 5th Army and the 19th Route Army, and then defeat them individually. At dawn on February 20, the Japanese dispatched over ten aircraft for reconnaissance and bombing missions over the Miaohang area. Naval artillery and heavy army cannons heavily shelled the Miaohang positions. Simultaneously, Japanese artillery bombarded the Yunzaobang area in an effort to force a crossing and facilitate the Miaohang offensive.   By 9 am, part of the Japanese forces advanced towards the Xiaochang Temple and the Maijiazhai position, immediately conducting a fire search on our troops' positions. At noon, 3,000 Japanese soldiers launched an attack against our forces. The officers and soldiers of the 527th Regiment, defending the Maijiazhai and Zhuyuandun positions, mounted a counterattack, marking the beginning of the Battle of Miaohang. After three hours of intense fighting, the Japanese suffered significant casualties and were unable to continue, retreating to their original positions. Following this, over 2,000 Japanese troops attacked the Xiaochang Temple and Jinjiatang positions. The officers and soldiers of the 523rd Regiment, taking cover in the trenches, launched counterattacks and successfully repelled the Japanese forces. As dusk fell, the Japanese infantry halted their assaults, but naval and land artillery continued to bombard our positions in an attempt to weaken our defenses and personnel for a renewed attack the following day. On February 21, Japanese artillery relentlessly shelled the positions of the 88th Division of the Fifth Army in Miaohang. Following this, thousands of Japanese infantry launched an assault on the Yanjiazhai and Miaohang Town front. As the Japanese forces advanced, the officers and soldiers of the 523rd and 524th Regiments bravely counterattacked and successfully repelled them. However, a significant number of enemy troops coordinated a comprehensive assault on the Maijiazhai, Zhuyuandun, Xiaochangmiao, and Yanjiazhai lines south of Miaohang. Our 523rd, 524th, and 527th Regiments engaged in intense combat with the enemy, particularly at the Zhuyuandun front near Maijiazhai and Xu Xu, where the fighting was especially fierce. After a day of conflict, the enemy was temporarily pushed back. On February 22, the Japanese 9th Division launched a full-scale attack on the Miaohang position held by the 88th Division of the Fifth Army. Throughout the day, aircraft bombed the Chinese defenders, and thousands of artillery shells were fired at them. However, under the direct command of Zhang Zhizhong, the enemy faced a devastating defeat due to the coordinated three-pronged assault by the Sun Yuanliang Brigade, the Song Xilian Brigade, and the 61st Division of the 19th Route Army. The Miaohang position was ultimately saved from peril, inflicting heavy casualties on the elite forces of the Japanese 9th Division and the Kurume Mixed Brigade. This victory became known as the "Miaohang Victory." In the days that followed, the enemy continued their bombardment and attacks but were consistently repelled by the defenders. The Japanese army suffered significant losses, shifting from an all-out offensive to a more focused approach before ultimately halting their attacks. By the 25th, Ueda's overall offensive strategy had also failed. On February 24, the Japanese army decided to escalate the conflict once more, transferring the 11th and 14th divisions from Japan to join the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, which included troops already engaged in the war. At that time, the flagship of the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet, the Izumo, sustained damage from a bombing raid carried out by the suicide squad of the 19th Route Army, which sent shockwaves through Japan. Additionally, the large troop presence made a quick resolution to the war impossible. Consequently, on the 23rd, the Japanese cabinet decided to promptly reinforce the army. The General Staff then established the Shanghai Expeditionary Army Command, appointing General Shirakawa Yoshinori, the former Minister of War in the Tanaka Cabinet, to replace Ueda. They dispatched the 11th Division (led by Lieutenant General Atsutarou Atsuto), the 14th Division (led by Lieutenant General Naoaki Matsuki), and over 100 aircraft to China to initiate a larger-scale offensive in Shanghai. After several reinforcements, the Japanese forces in Shanghai, under Shirakawa's command, grew to over 90,000 troops, supported by 80 warships and 300 aircraft, significantly enhancing their combat effectiveness. In contrast, the total strength of the Chinese defenders was less than 50,000, with inadequate equipment. After a month of intense fighting, the Chinese forces had suffered heavy losses, leaving their river defenses in the Taicang Liuhe area vulnerable. Learning from the failures of the previous three commanders' frontal assaults, Shirakawa opted to land at Liuhe and flank the Songhu defenders. He directed the 9th Division and other units to launch a direct attack on Songhu and Shanghai while using the 3rd Fleet to escort the 11th Division into the Yangtze River estuary. They executed surprise landings at Liuhekou, Yanglinkou, and Qiyakou, quickly outflanking the defenders. On March 1, the Japanese forces initiated attacks in Naobei, Jiangwan, and Miaohang, employing heavy artillery, field guns, and aircraft for continuous bombardment. The infantry capitalized on this to engage in close-quarters combat, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. Meanwhile, Shirakawa secretly instructed the 11th Division to exploit the weakness of the Chinese troops in Liuhe, forcibly landing at Qiyakou, Yanglinkou, and Liubinkou, ultimately capturing Liuhe. The fall of Liuhe posed a significant threat to the flank and rear of the Chinese army, compelling the entire force to retreat to the second line of defense (the Jiading-Huangdu line) by the evening of March 1.  After 34 days of intense fighting, they were forced to retreat to their second line of defense. At this point, the war had entered its final phase, resulting in a stalemate between the two sides. On the 2nd, the Japanese army seized Shanghai, and by March 3, they occupied Zhenru and Nanxiang, subsequently announcing a ceasefire. Now while we have been focused on the Japanese and Chinese perspectives in this, the international community was also heavily involved in the background. After the outbreak of hostilities, the British and American consuls in Shanghai offered to mediate. However despite a ceasefire being implemented the hostilities continued. So on February 2nd, Britain, America, France, Italy and Germany sent a notice to China and Japan "proposing to stop the conflict; (1) both sides immediately stop all violent acts according to the following conditions; (2) there will be no mobilization or preparation for any hostile acts between the two countries; (3) the Chinese and Japanese combatants in Shanghai will withdraw from the contact points; (4) a neutral zone will be established to separate the combatants of both sides to protect the public concession. The area will be garrisoned by neutral military and police, and various methods will be formulated by the consular corps; (5) once the two countries accept the treaty, they will not make any demands or reservations in advance, but will quickly negotiate with the assistance of neutral observers or participants in accordance with the spirit of the Kellogg-War Pact and the December 9th League of Nations resolution to resolve all outstanding issues..." Nanjing generally accepted the terms, but Japan instead proposed non-military zones be established 20 miles around the major ports of Shanghai, Hankou, Tianjin, Qingdao and Guangzhou as a sort of counter proposal. Meanwhile at the League of Nations, Yan Huiqing was drawing attention to the Shanghai incident, obviously linking it to the Manchuria incident and advocated for Article 10 of the League of Nations Charter, which was in regards to respecting territorial integrity and political independence of league nations. The League of Nations agreed and organized a committee to investigate the Shanghai incident. On February 4th Chiang Kai-Shek would write in his diary "As long as we do not lose our national sovereignty and territory, and the Japanese invaders do not put forward unacceptable conditions, we can take advantage of the opportunity of British and American intervention to negotiate with them; we cannot take a tough stance when other countries intervene, which will lead to adverse effects." By late February US Secretary of State Henry Stimson warned Japan for the second time, that the Nine Power Treaty and other treaties had to be maintained. Then on the 23rd he sent a letter reiterating the nine-power treaty and Kellogg War Pact to the League of Nations in regards to the Shanghai situation. On the 29th, a four-point plan for mediating the Shanghai incident was adopted at the League of Nations. The objective was to swiftly establish a local ceasefire agreement with the assistance of civil and military officials from various countries present in Shanghai. Following this, a round-table meeting was to be convened with representatives from nations with vested interests in Shanghai to discuss security measures for the International Settlement, the French Concession, and the local residents, as well as to address other issues. Subsequently, representatives from Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and other nations unanimously supported the plan, with Chinese representative Yan Huiqing and Japanese representative Sato Naotake also indicating their general agreement in principle. However, on March 2, the situation escalated when the Japanese army compelled the Chinese forces to retreat to their second line of defense. The Japanese side adopted a more aggressive stance, presenting four stringent conditions and insisting that the Chinese army withdraw first before halting their attacks. The Japanese forces were only willing to withdraw to the Shanghai and Wusong areas and refused to do so under the supervision of neutral countries, which the Chinese government firmly rejected. On March 3, the Japanese army launched another offensive. On that same day, U.S. Secretary of State Stimson summoned Japanese Ambassador to the United States Idebuchi, condemning Japan for accepting the League of Nations resolution on February 29 while simultaneously escalating military operations. On March 3rd a ceasefire came into effect as a formal meeting was held at the British consulate. The Chinese delegation was led by Guo Taiqi, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, along with military representatives Dai Ji, Huang Qiang, and seven others. The Japanese delegation included Shigemitsu Mamoru, Minister to China, and military representatives Ueda, Tashiro, and nine others. Officials from Britain, the United States, France, and other nations also participated in the meeting. During the negotiations, numerous contentious issues arose, particularly regarding the timing and location of the Japanese army's withdrawal. It would take until May 5th for a armistice agreement to be signed. The agreement designated Shanghai as a demilitarized zone, prohibiting China from stationing troops in the areas around Shanghai, Suzhou, and Kunshan, while permitting a limited number of Japanese units to remain in the city. China was permitted to maintain only a small police force within Shanghai. According to Chinese war reports, a total of 10,254 Japanese soldiers were killed or wounded in the Battle of Shanghai on January 28. According to Japanese data, a total of 3,091 Japanese soldiers were killed or wounded in the invasion of Shanghai: 620 Japanese soldiers were killed and 1,622 were wounded in the army; 149 Japanese soldiers were killed and 700 were wounded in the navy. Another Chinese report, stated the 19th Route Army and the Fifth Army suffered a total of 14,104 casualties 4,274 killed and 9,830 wounded. Among them, the 19th Route Army suffered 8,792 casualties, while the Fifth Army suffered 5,312 casualties. Shanghai residents faced bombardments from Japanese aircraft and artillery, resulting in over 6,080 fatalities, more than 2,000 injuries, 10,400 missing persons, and property losses totaling 1.6 billion yuan. At the onset of the war, the Japanese military intentionally targeted cultural institutions in Shanghai, such as the Commercial Press and the Oriental Library, leading to the total destruction of the Commercial Press, the oldest and largest publishing house in China. The Oriental Library, which housed millions of volumes, including over 100,000 rare ancient texts from the Song and Yuan dynasties and the Sikuquanshu compiled during the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, was first devastated by artillery fire and then looted by Japanese forces. Reports from that time indicated that the Japanese army used trucks to transport the remaining books for seven consecutive days. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Thus what became known as the first battle of Shanghai had come to a not so swift end. Was its resolvement a victory for the League of Nations? Or was it just another indicator that the League of Nations was nothing but promises and pieces of paper? One man took notice of the Manchuria and Shanghai incidents, and he would soon bring Europe into a global war.  

For a dozen years, millions of U.S. investors have unwittingly had their pensions, college savings and other funds used to underwrite companies working for the Chinese military. That means they've helped our mortal enemy buy the weapons that may be used to kill them – and countless other Americans.  President Trump has announced an America First Investment Policy to end this insane practice. But top Wall Street leaders like Jamie Dimon, Brian Moynihan, Ted Pick and David Solomon are helping to raise at least another $7 billion for one such company called CATL. Their “China First” policy subverts Mr. Trump's, and threatens our national security. Today, Paul Atkins will have his nomination to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission considered in a Senate Banking Committee hearing. We need to know: Will he help enforce America First investing – or further enable the Chinese threat?    

Last month, President Trump rolled out an “America First Investment Policy.” It explicitly seeks to end Wall Street's longstanding practice of investing Americans' funds in Communist Chinese companies – especially those tied to the People's Liberation Army. Four U.S. financial leaders – Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan, Bank of America's Brian Moynihan, Morgan Stanley's Ted Pick and Goldman Sachs' David Solomon – however, are determined to continue their China First investing. They hope shortly to raise $7 billion or more for what the Pentagon calls a “Chinese military company” named CATL. It's also accused of exploiting slave labor. Those helping finance what President Trump calls a “foreign adversary” need to be held accountable for making China ever more dangerous. They are imperiling our families and communities.  China's U.S. financial Four Horsemen may not care about yours. If you do, say so at PresentDangerChina.org.  This is Frank Gaffney.

Last month, President Trump told his administration to implement an “America First Investment Policy” to stop Wall Street's underwriting – and greatly intensifying – the threat we face from Communist China. This month, four prominent U.S. investment banks are defying his executive action by ramping up their China First investment policy. J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are helping a Chinese military company called CATL raise $7 billion dollars or more from American and other investors.  They have so far failed to mention President Trump's directive, let alone its potential negative impact on the value of this foreign adversary's corporation and its securities. The Trump team must make an example of CATL's Initial Public Offering by disallowing its enabling by U.S. banks. It should also require prominent warnings about any such future deals that they put China, not America, First.   This is Frank Gaffney.

President Trump recently unveiled one of his most important initiatives called the “America First Investment Policy.” It's supposed to end Wall Street's insane practice of using U.S. retail investors' retirement and other funds to help the Chinese Communist Party threaten our people – and repress those of China. Yesterday, Ronald Reagan's financial warfare expert, Roger Robinson, told Maria Bartiromo's audience that J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have doubled down.  They intend shortly to use our money to raise at least $7 billion for a Chinese electric battery manufacturer known as CATL. The Defense Department says the company supports our mortal enemy's military. And five key legislators – one of whom is now Secretary of State Marco Rubio – have denounced CATL for using slave labor. President Trump, keep Wall Street from putting China First, again: Say “No” to CATL. This is Frank Gaffney.

2024 wasn't just a year of elections but a year of reckoning. Dubbed the "super year," it witnessed a global wave of anti-incumbency. From the UK to South Africa, Japan to France, ruling parties, whether left or right, were humbled—or defeated outright.What does this global rejection of incumbents signify? Do these trends signal a demand for genuine systemic change or simply a cyclical rejection of the status quo?Back home, following the grand success of the G20 summit in 2023, this year, cracks emerged in its "Neighbourhood First" policy as relations with Myanmar, Nepal, Maldives, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, and Sri Lanka faltered. Experts suggest a strategic shift may be overdue.So, how should India's foreign diplomacy and global standing be assessed today? Has its global stature diminished?In this episode of Geeta's World, our host, Anna Priyadarshini, and the foreign affairs editor at India Today, TV Today Network, Geeta Mohan, discuss!Produced by Anna PriyadarshiniSound Mix by Nitin Rawat

Last time we spoke about the second Zhili-Fengtian War.  After the first Zhili-Fengtian War of 1922, the Zhili warlords took control of Beijing. Cao Kun bribed his way into the presidency as Zhang Zuolin retreated to Manchuria to rebuild his army. Zhang appointed key officials and boosted military production, significantly enhancing his army, navy, and air force. The catalyst for the second Zhili-Fengtian War in 1924 was the First Jiangsu-Zhejiang War. Zhang Zuolin declared war on the Zhili clique, accusing them of corruption and oppression. The war saw battles at Rehe, Shanhaiguan, and other locations, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. However, the Zhili forces were plagued by internal betrayal and logistical challenges. Feng Yuxiang's unexpected coup in Beijing further weakened the Zhili's position. Ultimately, the Fengtian army's superior strategy and coordination led to their victory, capturing key cities and forcing Zhili leaders to flee.   #106 the First United Front Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The second Zhili-Fengtian war was by far the most intense war to date for China's Warlord Era. Perhaps up to 450,000 troops participated in battles stretching along the Great Wall Line from Shanhaiguan to Beijing. The casualties were reported to be around 30,000, but estimates for China's Warlord Era are notoriously flimsy. Ultimately it was won by Feng Yuxiang's betrayal against Wu Peifu. Feng Yuxiang's Beijing coup certainly turned the tide, and now he had emerged a major player on the scene. Feng Yuxiang went to work, expelling the former Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Puyi from the Forbidden city and placed Cao Kun under house arrest. Now immediately after Feng Yuxiang had taken Beijing, he began reorganizing his forces into the 1st National Army or better known as the Guominjun. Feng Yuxiang acted as its commander in chief with his co-conspirators Hu Qingyi and Sun Yueh as commanders of the 2nd and 3rd Armies. Now the Guominjun wer certainly an odd motley crew. The Guominjun's ideology was a blend of Chinese nationalism, progressive social reforms, military modernization, and ethical governance influenced by Christianity. Feng Yuxiang's leadership and vision shaped the faction into quite a unique force, striving to create a unified, modern, and moral China. Feng took care of his men's well being, he educated them, promoted their sense of nationalism. Within his territory Feng promoted education, built schools, and established social welfare programs. He believed that improving the living standards of the common people was essential for national strength and stability. He implemented a series of social reforms in the areas he controlled. These included land reforms aimed at reducing the power of landlords and distributing land more equitably among peasants. His Guominjun would become known for its efforts to combat corruption and inefficiency within its ranks and in the administration of its territories. Feng Yuxiang sought to create a more ethical and efficient government. Feng supported the modernization of China's infrastructure and industry. This included building railways, improving communications, and promoting technological advancements. The Guominjun was driven by a strong sense of Chinese nationalism, emphasizing the need to unify China and end the fragmentation caused by warlordism. They aimed to establish a central government that could restore national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Guominjun placed a high emphasis on military discipline and modern training methods. Feng Yuxiang's background in the Beiyang Army influenced his approach to building a modern, professional military force. The Guominjun's ideological alignment with nationalism and reform brought them into close cooperation with the Kuomintang. The alliance with the KMT was based on shared goals of unification and modernization, though it was sometimes strained by ideological and strategic differences. Because of the geographical distance between their spheres of influence they would be more or less isolated from each other and thus it made it difficult to coordinate actions. Feng Yuxiang had hoped by imprisoning Cao Kun and exiling Puyi he would gain popular support amongst the Republican and anti-Manchu in the Beiyang government. Feng Yuxiang also proclaimed the Guominjun troops to be the first in the history of the Republic to serve as a national military establishment rather than a personal army. However no one forget his acts of treachery, the coup d'etat certainly gave him a bad rep. One of the few successes he would have was persuading Dr Sun Yat-Sen to come over to Beijing to take part in the new government. With the collapse of the Zhili clique, a more tenuous balance of power emerged in Beijing. Feng Yuxiang's position in Beijing was weakened each day, because of the maneuvers of Zhang Zuolin. He had moved the Fengtian forces south of Manchuria, proceeding south of the Tientsin-Pukou railway. This effectively gave Zhang Zuolin control over East China from Manchuria down to the Yangtze Valley. Alongside this Zhang Zuolin reached an agreement with Duan Qirui to bring him into the new fold. A 5 day conference took place at Tientsin from November 11th to 16th, including the new triumvirate of Zhang Zuolin, Feng Yuxiang and Duan Qirui. They discussed the future of the Beiyang government. Feng Yuxiang quickly discovered he had little negotiating power beyond his dominance in Beijing and even that was tenuous as Zhang Zuolin pretty much surrounded them all. Feng Yuxiang found out his trump card, the promise from Dr Sun Yat-Sen that he would come participate in the new Beiyang government was useless as both Zhang Zuolin and Duan Qirui had likewise received the same promise from him. During the conference the new triumvirate agreed Duan Qirui would become a figurehead of the new government with a position called the chief executive. Despite Duan Qirui's status as the leader of the practically non-existant Anhui Clique, he was more palatable to the surviving Zhili clique warlords than Zhang Zuolin or Feng Yuxiang. They made sure not to make Duan Qirui a president or premier, his role was specifically meant to be temporary, this was done to lure Dr Sun Yat-Sen over to Beijing. Meanwhile Feng Yuxiang and Zhang Zuolin retained their territories and became the military leaders of the new regime.  On November 24th, Duan Qirui arrived to Beijing and assumed his new office. On December 9th the foreign powers recognized Duan Qirui's new government on the basis he did not alter their pre-existing unequal treaties. This was inevitable as Japan was the leading imperial power in asia and backed both Zhang Zuoli and Duan Qirui. He formed a cabinet without any Guominjun members. It would seem no one had forgotten Feng Yuxiangs treachery, but then again, his Guominjun had no officers with sufficient prestige to be nominated to any posts. Feng Yuxiang had little hope of exerting any control in the new government.  Feng Yuxiang responded the dire situation by resigning his post as inspector general and retired, stating he would spending his future in study and travel. Yet his Guominjun forces still controlled Beijing. Zhang Zuolin took a cue from his move by also resigning his titles, heading over to Tientsin. Thus Duan Qirui with no military power, personally under threat of Feng Yuxiang's forces in Beijing was facing a daunting situation. He had to try and maintain the peace between the two warlords while forming a government acceptable to the foreign powers. His government then decided to make Feng Yuxiang and Zhang Zuolin defense commissioners of the northwest and northeast respectively. Feng Yuxiang now would control Suiyuan and Chahar, setting up new headquarters in Kalgan. Feng Yuxiang's new position did not prove lucrative and it was not an adequate power base. His only real ally was the KMT, but he was far to isolated from them, thus he turned to the Soviet Union.Feng Yuxiangs socialist actions had attracted the attention of communists and indeed within his entourage were many communists. The Soviets were enemies with the Empire of Japan. The Empire of Japan backed Zhang Zuolin, so the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Soviets basically saw Feng Yuxiang as a possible balance against the Japanese who were continuing to expand their influence in Manchuria. Dr Sun Yat-Sen came to the north alongside the Soviet Michael Borodin. Dr Sun Yat-Sen had pleaded with western nations for a long time to support his government with finance and arms, but none offered anything tangible.  Dr Sun Yat-Sen ‘s problem was his hard stance against the unequal treaties. All of the western powers knew, it was Dr Sun Yat-Sen's priority to get rid of the unequal treaties, thus they all refused to support his efforts. However there was a new nation that did not support the unequal treaties, in fact they even publicly stated so, the Soviet Union. Back in Autumn of 1920, Sun Yat-Sen met with representatives of the Commuturn in Shanghai. Sun Yat-Sen told them he believed Lenin wanted him to be the founder of the CCP, because Chen Duxiu did not have much influence with the people of China, unlike him, he was after all kind of a rockstar. After numerous attempts to gain support from Japan or the West, Sun Yat-Sen began to seriously consider cooperating with the CCP who were being supported by the Soviet Union.  In December of 1921, Sun Yat-Sen met with Hendriks Josephs Franciscus Marie Sneevliet, known as Marin, because why is his name that long haha, in Guilin. Marin was a official representative of the Commiturn, Sun Yat-Sen came to him expressing his admiration for the Russian Revolution and for Lenin. He stated that he wanted to learn more about the Soviet achievement, especially their new economic policies. In August of 1922, the soviet diplomat to China, Adolf Joffe was trying to settle issues regarding Outer Mongolia and the Chinese Far Eastern Railway, to which he had little to no success, but during the process he also met with Dr Sun Yat-Sen. Sun Yat-Sen brought up the idea of cooperating with the CCP, it sounded promising. For a few months the Soviets brainstormed and by the 4th congress of the Communist international decided to get the CCP to agree to such a thing. In July of 1922 the CCP accepted Marin's proposal to join the Kuomintang in an alliance. This became known as the Sun-Joffe Manifesto and what it resulted in was the First United Front.  In July the Soviets instructed the CCP to join the alliance, but there was a ton of push back. In Hanzhou, Marin met with Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, Cai Hesen , Zhang Guotao, Gao Junyu , Maring , and Zhang Tailei. Marin pointed out to them that the Kuomintang was a party of all classes who were trying to promote democratic revolution. The CCP joining the KMT would be in line with Lenin's outline on the international communist revolution. Many of the CCP leadership pointed out issues, like anti-communist elements in the KMT, but ultimately they all decided it was a good idea as the reality was, the CCP was only 300 members, they needed help to grow. Thus it was decided, some of the CCP leading figures would join the KMT, with the secret intention of persuading KMT members to join the CCP.  According to testimony from Zhou Fohai, a CCP member at the time who would later join Wang Jingwei's collaborationist government "At that time, the Soviets wanted to collude with Wu Peifu, so it first gave Wu Peifu the honorific title of 'enlightened warlord'. At that time, Sun Hongyi was close to Wu Peifu, while Li Dazhao was close to Sun Hongyi. They took advantage of this relationship and had a secret relationship with Wu Peifu. Li Dazhao went to Luoyang several times, and it seems that there were records in the newspapers at that time. His methods were really clever. Wu Peifu ordered Gao Enhong to appoint Communists as the chief inspectors of the four lines of Beijing-Hankou, Beijing-Fengtian, Jinpu and Longhai. The inspector of Beijing-Hankou was Bao Huicai, and the inspector of Jinpu seemed to be Li Minzhi... Before the Soviets was abandoned by Wu Peifu, it once had an affair with Chen Jiongming. Chen Jiongming... specially summoned Chen Duxiu to Guangdong as its education committee member Chairman of the National People's Congress. At that time, Chen Jiongming's rebellious deeds were already well known, and Guangdong was clearly divided into two factions, Sun and Chen. The Soviets naturally used its strength to shift the situation. So the Soviets colluded with him. Chen Jiongming paid 500 yuan a month to Chen Gongbo to publish the "Qun Bao", which was a result of their collusion. Later, when Chen Jiongming was hiding in Huizhou, Ma Lin and Tan Pingshan went to Huizhou twice to discuss the terms of cooperation. Who would have thought that Chen Jiongming would dare to bombard Guanyin Mountain and endanger Premier Sun. After this rebellious act, Chen Jiongming was despised by the Chinese people. The Soviets was afraid of the attack of public opinion, so it did not dare to openly ally with him. Abandoned by Wu Peifu in the north and isolated from Chen Jiongming in the south, the Soviets, in 1923, followed the orders of the Third International and tried to infiltrate the Kuomintang and carried out its conspiracy to destroy the Kuomintang. " On January 12th of 1923, the Soviets passed a resolution recognizing the First United Front. Sun Yat-Sen accepted the alliance, but with two reservations; number 1, China would not become a communist nation; number 2 that the Soviets would give up the unequal treaties the Russian Empire previously held over China. On January 26th Sun Yat-Sen and Joffe issued a joint statement, declaring the cooperation between the KMT, CCP and Soviet Union. Now its important to note, Sun Yat-Sen did not believe the Soviet system could or would be functional for China. He believed China's largest problem was reunification under national independence. The Soviets abolished the unequal treaties that the Russian Empire had made with China and declared Outer Mongolia was part of China resolving that debacle. The Soviets even stated they promised not to carry out a communist revolution within China. Sun Yat-Sen stated publicly he was willing to accept CCP members into the KMT. Now this was clearly only done in order to receive Soviet finances and arms, but secondly, he truly believed their membership would help strengthen the nationalist movement.  Many in the KMT were concerned with this venture. On February 9th of 1924, at Tsinghua University, Sun Yat-Sen was answering questions about the issue where he stated “Russia is Russia, and China is China. Russia has its own ideology, and China has its own ideology. In my previous speech, I mentioned Russia everywhere. I was talking about the organization of its revolutionary party, not its revolutionary ideology.” Now here comes Mr. Borodin. In September of 1923, Borodin was sent to serve as Dr Sun Yat-Sens political advisor, specifically responsible for facilitating the First United Front. Borodin spoke no Chinese, thus he conversed in English. He had a heavy midwestern American accent, which masked his Russian origin, helping him communicate with the largely anglophone and American educated leadership within the KMT. He was accompanied by Ho Chi Minh, yes the future leader of communist Vietnam.  Borodin showed up in early October to Guangzhou where he held some private talks with the CCP. The CCP had been complaining about how the KMT were quite anti-communist in general, how the alliance made no sense if it was agreed there would be no Communist Revolution pushed by the Soviet Union within China. Borodin told them the real purpose of the alliance was actually a reorganization effort and to infiltrate the KMT. "In the newspapers, I talked about the Kuomintang, but for us, what I said was actually the increase in the influence of the CCP... We must never forget that what we are actually doing is to stabilize the CCP. This goal should be remembered forever."  Now despite the new alliance with the Soviets, Sun Yat-Sen did not stop reaching out to the US and Japan causing Borodin headaches. In his report to Stalin, Borodin mentioned that on January 23, 1924, he talked with Sun Yat-Sen "I asked Sun Yat-sen again and again: How long will he hold on to the fantasy that the Chinese people may get some help from the United States, Britain or Japan? Hasn't he been waiting for such help for too long? Isn't it time to sum up the past full of illusions and failures and turn to a new path?" Then in late January of 1924, during the First Congress of the Kuomintang, Sun Yat-Sen expanded upon the Three Principles of the Peoples and this deeply concerned Borodin who reported to Stalin "Sun agreed to the revolutionary program formulated for the Kuomintang, which catered to us; but he disagreed to publicly say that he would establish a united front with us. For this reason, he did not fully trust us." Borodin also came to Sun Yat-Sen about his program stating “You are facing a choice. Do you want to move forward with the 1.5 billion people in the imperialist camp? Or do you want to move forward with the 1.25 billion people who are oppressed by imperialism? You should make a decision”. Although Sun Yat-Sen would accept many of Borodin's suggestions, ultimately it was Sun Yat-Sen calling the shots, and he butted heads often with Borodin. Borodin stated at one point to those around him "the American spirit was deeply rooted in his mind. Generally speaking, it was difficult to make Sun Yat-sen change his mind." By the end of 1923, Chiang Kai-Shek led Dr Sun Yat-Sen's delegation to the Soviet Union. Chiang Kai-Shek reported back to Sun Yat-Sen “The strategy and purpose of the Soviet Union's so-called ‘world revolution' is more dangerous to the independence movement of Eastern nations than Western colonialism.” Sun Yat-Sen replied that he believed Chiang Kai-Shek was over-worrying and that he “deeply believed that only by allowing the Chinese Communist Party members to be under the leadership of our party and under the unified command of our party can we prevent them from creating class struggles and hindering the progress of our national revolution. If our Northern Expedition is victorious, the Three Principles of the People can be implemented as scheduled. By then, even if the Soviet wants to sabotage our national revolution, it will be impossible. Moreover, the Soviet Union only recognizes our party as the only party leading the revolution in China, and strongly urges its CCP members to join our party and obey its leadership, but does not deny that China has no possibility of implementing its communism. Therefore, it still insists on its decision to ally with Russia and tolerate the CCP” Trouble soon brewed in June of 1924, many leading KMT figures wrote to Sun Yat-Sen accusing the CCP of raising the banner of anti-imperialism and anti-militarism causing the KMT to suffer scorn from western powers and Chinese nationalist scorn. Sun Yat-Sen knew of the problem, it was largely CCP students led by Chen Duxiu making a scene. He explained  "The Chinese young students headed by Chen Duxiu are self-righteous. They initially wanted to monopolize Russian relations and prevent Russia from interacting with our party. Peter used Russia's help to establish his own faction and compete with our party. If I suspect Chen Duxiu and implicate Russia, it will be exactly what Chen Duxiu is planning and help him succeed. If (Chen Duxiu and others) do not obey our party, I will abandon them." Sun Yat-Sen also tried his best to restrict the CCP to be in his own direct orbit. Chen Duxiu had been repeatedly criticizing Sun Yat-Sen's policies in his newspapers, so Sun Yat-Sen went to Borodin to correct the issue. “Since the CCP have joined the KMT, they should obey party discipline and should not publicly criticize the KMT. If the CCP do not obey the KMT, I will expel them; if the Soviet Union protects the Chinese Communist Party, I will oppose the Soviet Union.” Sun Yat-Sen honestly failed to see the threat that the CCP really posed. He truly believed the CCP joined the KMT was not a cooperation between two equal parties. He believed the KMT was China's only revolutionary party while the CCP were just a group of scholars who supported Leninism. He never really took them seriously, but he also made sure never to give them arms when they continuously demanded them.  As for the CCP, they regarded the KMT as quite backwards, many leaders in the CCP thought Dr Sun Yat-Sen was no different than the warlords. When Marin proposed to the CCP that they join the KMT, Chen Duxiu raised opposition arguing "the purpose and foundation of the revolution of the CCP and the KMT are different. The KMT's policies of alliance with the United States, Zhang Zuolin and Duan Qirui are too incompatible with communism. Outside Guangdong Province, it is still regarded as a political party fighting for power and profit. The Sun Yat-sen faction of the KMT has always been absolutely intolerant of the opinions of new members and cannot give them power". A lot of the CCP resented what they saw as Sun Yat-Sen appeasing the right while disenfranchising them. Once the First United Front was established, the Soviets took over management of the Chinese Eastern Railway and began occupying Outer Mongolia. Then money and arms began pouring in, military advisors came to help create Sun Yat-Sens Northern expedition. Sun Yat-Sen dispatched Chiang Kai-Shek to Moscow to investigate their politics and military, while Borodin was made the KMT's organization trainer.  In May of 1924 Borodin helped found the Whampoa Military Academy. There officers of the National Revolutionary Army were trained, the backbone of the KMT. They would all under the leadership of Dr Sun Yat-Sen's number two, Chiang Kai-Shek. The quality of the education was guaranteed by regular visits from Soviet Officers. Many future big names would graduate from the academy, such as Lin Biao and Zhou Enlai. Borodin also established the Peasant Training institute, where a young Mao Zedong would serve. Things were not at all rainbows and sunshine. On May 1st of 1924, a large celebration was held in Guangzhou for the Peasant department. Sun Yat-Sen gave a speech calling on everyone to fight for national liberation and to put the theme of class struggle in a secondary position. This certainly did not sit well with the CCP, whose members began calling for breaking the alliance and arguing the KMT would lose the support of the Soviet Union. Borodin happened to be away at the time, and when prompted, Sun Yat-Sen kept saying they would resolve the matter when he returned. Frantic telegrams were sent and by June 20th Borodin returned. On June 25th a meeting was held with the leaders of the KMT and CCP. Borodin agreed with the point that the CCP was a party within the party of the KMT, but also stated the KMT had to give some ground to the CCP if they wanted to keep favor with the Soviet Union. Suddenly a wave of anti communist statements were lobbed from prominent KMT members, such as Wang Jingwei. They further launched a petition to expel certain communists. On July 15th in retaliation, Chinese workers in Shamian went on strike. Despite these setbacks the First United Front remained firm. Mao Zedong would see an appointment as Minister of Propaganda of the KMT. His job entailed hunting down newspapers and anyone who distributed leaflets, demanding they come to the Propaganda Department for review prior. In the next episode, if not a future one, Mao Zedong's propaganda department would have a lot of work ahead of them. Now all the way back to when I mentioned Sun Yat-Sen and Borodin visited Feng Yuxiang. Borodin came bearing a similar deal to what the KMT/CCP had with the Soviet Union and at first Feng Yuxiang was uncooperative. Yet cooped up in his Kalgan HQ, Feng Yuxiang had no backers, he was very low on funds. Most importantly he lacked arsenal facilities. Feng Yuxiang had struggled to cope, hunting everyone for backers, but the Northwest was not easily accessible. When he made orders with private traders bound for coastal ports, they were simply seized by local warlords who controlled coastal areas. Without domestic capabilities or access to the sea, Feng Yuxiang was pretty much screwed. Thus he caved into the Soviets  An agreement was bought for Soviet financial aid and munitions by February of 1925, brokered by Borodin. From April to August, war materials began to pour into Feng Yuxiangs camp. The cargo was divided into two shipments, traveling over the trans siberian railway from Moscow to Verkhne Udinsk, then south over caravan trade routes to Maimaicheng. In 1925 it took 500 mongol carts to move the small arms, ammunition, rifles and field guns from Maimaicheng to Ulaan Baater, then over motor vehicles to Pingdichuan, to a station on the Beijing-Suiyuan railway all the way over to Fengzheng. It was a heavy haul to be sure: 5,000 cases of petroleum, 1,000 boxes of ammunition, 15,000 rifles, 15 million rounds of rifle ammunition, 27 colt machine guns, 630,000 machine gun ammunition, 1,000 entrenching tools, 30.000 hand grenades, and 100 poods of explosives. Another haul in 1925 included 64,000 rifles, 15.000 carbines, 72 million rounds of rifle and carbine ammunition, 189 machine guns, 6.45 million rounds of machine gun ammunition, 66 field guns, 18,000 revolvers, 5 million rounds of revolver ammunition, 50 field kitchens, 150 twowheel carts, and 16,000 swords. With a new supply line, Feng Yuxiang would distance himself from Zhang Zuolin. The triumvirate was becoming undone and a new war was looming. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. While it seemed a decent compromise had been established with the triumvirate of Zhang Zuolin, Duan Qirui and Feng Yuxiang, dark clouds were emerging. The Guominjun and Kuomintang were both getting in bed with the Reds and soon everyone would be mobilizing for another grand war. 

Last time we spoke about the first Zhili-Fengtian War. The Anhui-Zhili War of 1920 saw the defeat of the Anhui clique by the Zhili and Fengtian cliques, reshaping territorial control. Despite their victory, stability remained nowhere to be seen in North China. Factionalism persisted, with alliances shifting and power struggles intensifying. Zhang Zuolin of the Fengtian clique emerged a significant player with Japanese backing while Wu Peifu of the Zhili clique earned fame as a military genius. Soon a rivalry emerged between the two leading figures while they also tried to unify China. Meanwhile, in South China, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's plans for a Northern Expedition faced challenges amidst internal dissent and external pressures. In the end Zhang Zuolin formed a grand coalition to defeat Wu Peifu and it backfired spectacularly. Wu Peifu won the first Zhili-Fengtian War and now it would be him in the driver's seat in Beijing.   #104 the First Jiangsu-Zhejiang War Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Wu Peifu, who had been born of poor parents in 1874 and had earned the lowest degree in the traditional Qing examination system, decided he would seek out a military career in the Beiyang Army. By 1905 he became a junior officer to Cao Kun's 3rd Division. Wu Peifu had a traditional confucian upbringing, he remained loyal to Cao Kun because of that special confucian bond between mentor and student. He remained loyal despite Cao Kun's numerous failings, even when he threw his lot in with Zhang Zuolin to save his own ass at Wu Peifu's expense. The Zhili victory during the first Zhili-Fengtian war emboldened Cao Kun's ambitions, he soon unleashed his henchmen all over Zhili province snatching up major positions. Cao Kun began a campaign of bribery and intimidation, something very reminiscent of the late Yuan Shikai. After his victory, Wu Peifu returned to Henan province, sending the newly appointed inspector general of the army, Feng Yuxiang to Beijing. Those in Henan strongly petitioned against Feng Yuxiangs transfers as he had gained an excellent reputation as the civil administrator in Henan. Where Wu Peifu went it seemed banditry and extortion flourished. Yet Wu Peifu needed Feng Yuxiang to be in Beijing so he could re-establish his authority in his home base. As we had seen in the last episode, the Zhili Clique was not sturdy. Unlike the Fengtian and Anhui, the Zhili clique was made up of a lot of riff raff, who only joined forces as a means to an end, notably to get rid of their enemies. Feng Yuxiang concentrated his army at Nanyuan, due south of the capital. He went to work, checking fingernails, training his men in the good word of the lord, his men being a single division and 3 mixed brigades now. Feng Yuxiang had come a long way, now probably the most powerful warlord in Zhili province, and he made sure to establish good relations with Cao Kun and his brother Wang Huaiqing the commander of the Beijing police. In June of 1923 Feng Yuxiang and Wang Huaiqing would jointly present their resignations to President Li Yuanhong, stating unless their men were paid, they could no longer be responsible for maintaining order in the capital. Yes the finances of China were in a terrible state. Chinese diplomats were struggling abroad to find foreign banks to loan money, and even they were not getting paid and were resigning en masse. Wu Peifu likewise was not receiving a cent from the central government. After several days of standoff, Li Yuanhong fled Beijing on June 13th, taking the presidential seals with him, issuing orders countersigned by only a single cabinet minister who backed him, the minister of agriculture, and Yunnan general Li Kenyuan. It seems for Li Kenyuan it was a bad call, for Cao Kun forced him out of office within a few months. Cao Kun then bribed his way into office by October 10th. It was an infamous bribery story. Apparently Cao Kun bribed assembly members with 5000 silver dollars each. This act was so egregious, it basically pissed off everyone. The hate tossed Cao Kun's way would help bolster Dr Sun Yat-Sen's continuing efforts in south china, basically saving his career. Cao Kun began his presidency proclaiming a constitution incorporating ideas of a federalist government and then promoted Feng Yuxiang and other notable generals to the rank of Marshal. While Cao Kun began consolidating his control in Zhili, a humiliated Zhang Zuolin would lick his tiger wounds and rebuild in the northeast.  After rallying his troops back together once back in Manchuria, Zhang Zuolin quickly declared his 3 provinces in Manchuria were independent of China. The Beijing government under Cao Kun had immediately gone to work trying to coerce defections amongst the Fengtian generals. Cao Kun tossed extravagant positions, such as governorships to them, but only one notable General, Kao Shihpin took the bribe and rebelled against Zhang Zuolin. Zhang Zuolin's loyal subordinate, great friend to the show, the dogmeat general Zhang Zongchang, easily defeated the defector. Now that Manchuria was independent, Zhang Zuolin firmly repressed any efforts of his provincial assemblies to create civil governments independent of his military control. Thus governmental positions in Manchuria remained in the hands of loyal Fengtian Clique members. Because Zhang Zuolin was now very hostile to all in the Zhili clique, relations with Dr Sun Yat-Sen improved. Thus Zhang Zuolin began propagating the language of national unification, anti-imperialism etc etc. Economically Zhang Zuolin began developing railway lines and built a new port at Hulutao, both of which were competing with the Japanese owned South Manchurian Railway company and port at Dairen. Zhang Zuolin knew full well most of China regarding him as a Japanese puppet. The Japanese however completely failed him in the first-zhili fengtian war, thus he was trying to sport some backbone against them.  Zhang Zuolin and his top commanders took their loss in 1922 to heart. He began a large-scale reorganization of his military. In 1922 his forces had been organized into 5 Divisions, of which the 16th and 28th disintegrated. The 27th and 29th along with a new reorganized 1st were retained at the divisional level, while the rest of the troops formed into the 1st to 27th Mixed Brigades and 1st to 5th Cavalry Brigades. He standardized the units, 150 men formed a company, 3 companies a battalion, 3 battalions a regiment, 3 regiments a brigade at 4000 men strong. He reshuffled commanders and began promoting officers with professional education and less so the banditry opium smoking types he typically preferred in the past. He really made an effort to purchase new weaponry and expanded the output of the Mukden arsenal.  During the warlord Era, modern weaponry was expensive to come by, those like the banditry that made up the Fengtian clique used what they got their hands on. The Hanyang 88 based off the German Gewehr 1888 had been the standard Qing rifle and was widely available. There was also a smaller quantity of Type 1 rifles, a Chinese knockoff of the Mauser Model 1907. Given Manchuria's proximity to Russia and Japan, rifles that found their way into Fengtian hands included the Russian Mosin-Nagant 1891, Japanese Murata's and Arisakas of 1897 and 1905. These were not ideal, pretty outdated, but in general most of the Chinese warlord armies were branding antiquated rifles. In 1922 the Mukden Arsenal was capable of producing just a small amount of ammunition. Zhang Zuolin had always relied on piecemeal packages given to him, at first from Yuan Shikai, then Duan Qirui and the Japanese on and off. Most of the supplies he got were japanese made. He also managed to seize a lot from the Anhui clique during their war in 1920. Something of great value he often seized were cars, by 1926 there were only something like 8000 cars in all of China, it was a very hot commodity. French Renault FT tanks had been deployed to Vladivostok for the allied intervention and siberian campaign, many were sold to him after 1919. Zhang Zuolin would poor 17 million yuan into expanding the Mukden Arsenal after his loss in 1922, he hired numerous foreign advisors to overlook the process. The Mukden Arsenal ballooned to an operating budget of a million yuan, employing nearly 30,00 workers, including foreign specialists. Fengtian would become China's largest arms importer, purchasing from Germany, Italy, France and of course the majority came from Japan. Type 3 Heavy machine guns from Japan flooded in and 14 Renaults from France. The Fengtian began utilizing mines, barbed wire, armored trains, particularly Zhang Zongchang and tanks when possible. Zhang Zongchang  purchased 4 new gunboats who became the nucleus of a naval force in the Gulf of Chihli and began developing an air force. By 1923 he purchased 40 French Breguet aircraft that would be operated by 20 foreign pilots. He also looked to the future, at his son Zhang Xueliang. By 1923 his army was nearly 200,000 strong, certainly formidable, but ridden with issues. A year of intense training had greatly improved the Fengtian forces, but Zhang Zuolin was behind those like Dr Sun Yat-Sen, Wu Peifu and even Feng Yuxiang in trying to infuse within the training some sort of ideology. Zhang Zongchang rose to further prominence during this time period. He had of course gained a lot of respect from Zhang Zuolin after quelling Kao Shihpin. He began amassing a great fortune through extortion, violence and opium dealing. Zhang Zuolin was still receiving assistance from the Japanese, despite not exactly aligning with their wishes. For Zhang Zuolin, tossing away some autonomy was merely a tactical move for his drive to conquer China. Thus it was a means to an end. For the Japanese, they sought an absolute hegemony over Manchuria. In August of 1923, Zhang Zuolin turned to Major General Honjo Shigeru, his Japanese advisor for Japanese arms in anticipation of another war against the Zhili clique. Honjo responded by denying him the request and criticized the Fengtian army's level of training and readiness. Then he basically went on to say that Japan would continue to support, as long as he did not invade China proper, “the Empire always demands that you exercise circumspection so that order may be maintained in the Eastern Provinces”. Regardless of the Japanese position on the issue, Zhang Zuolin had taken enormous lengths to reorganize and retrain his army. Simply put, he had grown too strong for the Zhili clique to leave him alone.  Yet the tiger of Manchuria was not the only problem facing the Zhili clique, there was also Dr Sun Yat-Sen's coalition in the south. Then a minor incident, a train robbery in Shandong occurred in april of 1923. Several foreigners were kidnapped and ransomed. Alongside this the feeling in the air was that a war was about to break out at any moment. The foreigners wanted a stable China, the people of China wanted an end to the wars. Thus the foreign diplomats and Chinese officials began demanding the Zhili and Fengtian cliques sign a peace treaty before another war broke out. A peace agreement was reached in June of 1923, what that piece of paper actually meant, who knows.  In the meantime, the Zhili clique began focusing on the remnants of the Anhui clique over in Fujian and Zhejiang province. In march of 1923, Zhili clique member Sun Chuanfang was appointed military governor of Fujian. Sun Chuanfang was the former protege of the previous military governor of Hubei, Wang Chanyuan and he much like Feng Yuxiang was becoming a rising stay. Sun Chuanfang was being bolstered heavily by Cao Kun. Sun Chuanfang drove the Anhui clique's military governor Wang Yungchuan out of Fuzhou and by early 1924, Fujian province was more or less firmly Zhili dominated. Wu Peifu intended to use Fujian as a springboard to conquer Guangdong. Meanwhile the remaining Anhui warlord, Lu Yungxiang of Zhejiang was obviously panicking. Lu Yungxiang held control over Zhejiang and thus also Shanghai, including her arsenal and extensive revenues from foreign trade, the opium trade and had access to foreign markets. Fearing the Zhili would crush him at any moment, he jumped into bed with Zhang Zuolin and Dr Sun Yat-Sen directly after the Anhui cliques defeat back in 1920. Basically to garner their support and that of foreigners, Lu Yungxiang publicly opposed Cao Kun when he bribed his way into the presidency.  On November 10th of 1923, the police chief of Shanghai, Zhili clique member Xu Guoliang was assassinated. It has been alleged Xu Guoliang was killed by henchmen of Lu Yungxiang. A battle emerged between Lu Yungxiang and the military governor of Jiangsu, Qi Xieyuan over appointing a new successor. You might be asking, “why would two people be fighting over this issue, isn't Shanghai under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu?” Yeah funny thing about that, the city was at the time being administered by Lu Yungxiang as part of Zhejiang. While historically Shanghai had typically been part of Jiangsu province, after the first Zhili-Fengtian War, Lu Yungxiang seized control over the city and it basically became his economic lifeline. Both men fought and nearly began a war, but to preserve the peace they began negotiating and signing minor treaties. Both men agreed not to take allies to fight another and not to allow other warlords armies to pass through each other's provinces, nor augment their current armies. Despite everything it was clear to Lu Yungxiang that Zhejiang was next on the chopping block for the Zhili clique, thus in order to protect himself he hired the Anhui clique Generals Zang Zhiping, the commander of the Fujian 2nd Division and Yang Huazhao the commander of the Fujian 3rd Division, together they were roughly 6000 men strong. Obviously their recruitment violated the peace treaty, and alongside this, Lu Yungxiang gave refuge to many Anhui troops fleeing Fujian. This handed the Zhili clique justification to provoke a war. Meanwhile Qi Xieyuan had expanded his military strength in preparation for seizing Shanghai. He began recruiting troops in Yanzhou and Jining. Initially within Jiangsu Qi Xieyuan had 5 Divisions and 6 Brigades, roughly 43,000 men. Qi Xieyuan also had the support of Naval commander Du Xigui who led 20 warships with some marines. Qi Xieyuan also had a minor airforce sporting some Vime bombers purchased from the UK.  As for Zhejiang, Lu Yungxiang reorganized the two Fujian divisions he recruited into a supplementary Brigade and the 24th Mixed Brigade. These added to his divisions and Brigades brought his manpower to nearly 70,000. Lu Yungxiang also had the support of a Shanghai based fleet led by Anhui clique commander Lin Jianzhang and a small airforce sporting French BR14 fighter bombers. Now Qi Xieyuan knew he had no chance in hell of capturing Zhejiang and Shanghai with his forces alone, so he cried to Wu Peifu. Wu Peifu was of course looking down the barrel of a much larger war with Zhang Zuolin, and he had plans to garner Anhui clique support to his side in the future war. In the meantime he asked Qi Xieyuan to lay low and not do anything rash. So Qi Xieyuan did the very opposite. Qi Xieyuan held a secret military meeting in Nanjing, announcing to other warlords from Henan, Anhui and Hubei that he was going to invade Zhejiang. They all wanted a piece of the pie so the game was on.Qi Xieyuan appointed himself commander in chief and created 3 route armies to attack Zhejiang and Shanghai. The first route army was commanded by Gong Bangduo who would mainly be attacking Shanghai, the second route army was led by Chen Tiaoyuan who would mainly defend Yixing and the third route army was led by Wang Pu who would mainly attack Guangde of Zhejiang. In addition to all of this, Sun Chuanfang with support from Cai Chengxun the governor of Jiangxi organized a Fujian-Jiangxi alliance at Jianou. He too would attack Zhejiang, but his ambitions were much larger than just helping Qi Xieyuan.  The Anhui clique warlords knew that if Zhejiang and Shanghai fell to the Zhili the Anhui clique was all but done for. Thus many of them such as Xu Shuzheng, Wu Guangxin, Ma Liang and Qu Tongfeng began recruiting to fight for Zhejiang. Lu Yungxiang welcomed their help and asked them to send word to the Fengtian clique for additional aid. Dr Sun Yat-Sen also said if war broke out between Jiangsu and Zhejiang he would try to send forces of his Northern Expedition army.   By August of 1924, Sun Chuanfang had moved his troops directly over to the Fujian-Zhejiang border. At 10am on September 3rd of 1924 the first shot of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang war rang around Yixing of Jiangsu province. The Jiangsu forces originally sought to capture Changxing in Zhejiang in one lighting attack, but they found extremely strong resistance. Zhejiang artillery in the mountains surrounded Changxing, roughly 30 miles from Yixing kept them at bay, causing an immediate stalemate. By 11am the fighting made its way along the Shanghai-Nanjing railway. By 10am the next day the Jiangsu forces at Huangdu began firing at Zhejiang fortifications, but the Zhejiang defenders did not fire back. Lured in by the idea the fortifications might be unguarded, Jiangsu forces came over only to be gunned down by machine guns and artillery, killing possibly hundreds. The Zhejiang fighters stormed out of the fortifications to pursue the enemy and by 5pm captured Anting in the process.  Now on the political side of things, because Qi Xieyuan launched the first punch, Lu Yungxiang proclaimed he was only defending his territory. Qi Xieyuan in the meantime proclaimed he was working under Cao Kun, thus Lu Yungxiang began tossing accusations at Cao Kun about his bribery scandal, calling him a treacherous dog, you know normal stuff. Now all this Cao Kun talk, prompted Cao Kun to issue officials orders on September 4th to attack Zhejiang. I wont be getting into here, but this sparked the second Zhili-Fengtian war essentially. So while we focus on this smaller war in a bigger war, don't forget about the bigger war. Now by September the 5th the Jiangsu-Zhejiang war saw battles going on in 5 directions: Yixing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Jiading, Liuhe and Qingpu. Within the Yixing battles, the Jiangsu forces were initially blocked, facing Zhejiang counterattacks, roughly 10 miles from Yixing. The Jiangsu forces were battered, 3 battalions defected on the 6th. On the 7th, the Zhejiang forces entered Shushan, prompting Qi Xieyuan to mobilize the Anhui 5th Mixed brigade to reinforce the area, finally halting the Zhejiang advance. Another stalemate emerged, now between Shushan and Yixing. Over at the Shanghai-Nanjing railway line area, after two quiet days, on the night of the 6th the two armies clashed around Anting. Both sides were evenly matched forming a quick stalemate. In the Jiading area on the night of the 3rd the Jiangsu stormed the west gate of Jiading, the defenders were barely holding on. Lu Yungxiang deployed Yang Huazhao's army who made it over on the 5th. Both sides fought fiercely for days. Over in the Liuhe direction, during the afternoon of the 4th the Jiangsu forces advanced, but the Zhejiang artillery kept them at bay. By 5pm however the Zhejiang defenders were overwhelmed allowing the Jiangsu forces to seize Liuhe as the defenders fled to Luodian. At 3am on the 5th the Jiangsu forces continued their advance, only to see the Zhejiang forces circle back and recapture Liuhe. The Jiangsu forces tossed numerous counterattacks, but were repelled and forced to pull back to their start lines. Over in the Qingpu area on the 5th the Jiangsu divided themselves in two groups departing Anting. One group attack Si Port, only 6 miles away from Anting, the other group attacked Baihe due southwest. By 3pm on the 6th both sides were fighting  around Kongzhai, just 10 miles north of Qingpu. The Zhejiang managed to halt the Jiangsu. Thus after a few days, across all the battle areas, pretty much no one was making significant progress. Just as it looked like the stalemate would not break, on the 8th the Sun Chuanfang's Jiangsu-Fujian attacked. They quickly occupied Xianxia, Jiangshan and Quzhou by the 18th. Lu Yungxiang saw the enemy closing in on Shanghai and panicked. He knew combined these forces could launch two pronged attacks and overwhelm him. Thus Lu Yungxiang sacrifice Zhejiang as a whole and withdrew to Shanghai with his most elite forces. Now leaderless the rest of the Zhejiang army was simply blown away by the Jiangsu-Fujian forces. They quickly seized Jiaxing, Changxing and other cities. The Jiangsu navy began bombarding coastal and riverside towns as the airforce bombed them as well. Facing a three dimensional war, the Zhejiang forces crumbled and by the end of September Zhejiang defense ceased. The Fujian-Jiangsu armies rushed to Shanghai, occupying Jinshanwei, Songjiang, Qingpu and Longhua by October 13th. At that point Lu Yungxiang realized they could not hope to hold Shanghai, so he alongside other warlords fled into the Shanghai international Concession. The rest of the Zhejiang forces fell to Xu Shuzheng who was placed under house arrest. Thus Qi Xieyuan and Sun Chuanfang were victorious. The war between Jiangsu and Zhejiang lasted roughly 40 days. It was a tremendous disaster for the common people who resided in both provinces who were displaced. The Jiangsu provincial peasants association relayed a message after the war to the state council stating "In the war between Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the army passed by, the villages and towns were ruins, the people were migrating, and they were unemployed. The rich were poor, and the poor were dead. No one knows how many people died in the war zones around Jiangnan and Yixing, This is especially true in Kunshan, Jiading, Taicang, Songjiang, Qingpu and other counties.” The Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang and Taicang associations added this to the state council "The war broke out in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the two provinces were severely affected. In Jiangsu, the four counties of Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, and Taicang were the most severely affected, entire towns were destroyed, robbed, or displaced, and the situation was inexplicable... In short, the businesses stopped and the farmers fled. In the past sixty years, their vitality has been exhausted." The Liuhe War Disaster Relief association wrote this report to the Ministry of Internal affairs "The Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces used the Liuhe River as the battlefield, and the stalemate lasted for forty days and nights. People's lives and property were destroyed by artillery fire, and they were repeatedly raped and plundered. The navy also fired long-distance artillery fire from time to time. Therefore, many houses were burned and bombed, such as schools, temples, shops, churches, charity halls, hospitals, and long-distance buses, which were all destroyed by the soldiers... A total of 154 houses in the city were destroyed by artillery fire. Of the 1,529 houses, about 3,300 were damaged by shells, and the total damage was estimated to be over 770,000 yuan. The merchants and civilians in the houses were not affected by this war disaster. For this reason, the residents were exiled and their houses were no longer available, and they were unable to resume operations. The situation was so miserable that it was difficult for them to do so."  Both sides' casualty figures ranged in the thousands to tens of thousands. Official reports stated 30,000 total casualties for the war, with hundreds dying each day of it. However the greatest harm fell upon civilians. Young recruits, often having not been paid for long periods of time, resorting to looting and robbing. Civilians panicked and fled their homes. Women were pressed into service as cooks and in brothels, known sometimes as public wives. Civilians were forced to work for the soldiers, performing things like transporting ammunition, digging trenches and such. They were beaten with gun handles if they did not comply, those who ran were whipping, many were shot. Gang rape was an epidemic, there was a tragic story of an 8 year old girl and a 78 year old women were were gang raped to death by 13 soldiers near Fangtai while they were out picking cotton. Waves of refugees roamed the region, Japanese survey's indicated the Shanghai international concession ballooned with 500,000 refugees. When Lu Yungxiang fled for Shanghai, his Zhejiang army simply looted the province.  Economic losses were insanely high. These losses came from warlords extorting or expropriating to meet military demands. It was estimated that the military expenditure of both sides was 60-70 million yuan. Neither provincial taxes could support such numbers so the warlords forced banks and governments to allocate things like treasury exchange coupons. Sun Chuanfang extorted 800,000 yuan from the Huangzhou banks and would later extort another 1 million yuan from the Shanghai business community. Soldiers burned, killed and looted as was the norm of warlord China. As you can imagine the government bond price plummeted from all of this, banks foreclosed, financial ruin ensued. The entire financial industry of Jiangsu and Zhejiang went on strike because of the war and all of this of course impacted China's overall economy.  Now as I alluded to, the Jiangsu-Zhejiang war was not only a war fought over two provinces in southeast China, but rather a contest between the entire Zhili clique against an emerging anti-Zhili coalition. It was also another disastrous blow to the already dramatically weakened Anhui clique, who pretty much would never recover. From this point forward the Anhui clique would not wield much presence politically or militarily. Although the war was clearly limited in scope to the southeast corner of China, it had an enormous impact across the nation. At the time the Zhili clique was in firm control over Beijing and was vigorously trying to unify China by force, threatening all the other cliques' warlords. Lu Yungxiang desperately looked for anyone to help him out, even turning to Cao Kun and Wu Peifu, asking them to restrain Qi Xieyuang. Of course neither Zhili leader headed this as they very much wanted Zhejiang to fall into their pocket, but they had no idea what a powder keg Zhejiang would turn out to be.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The First Jiangsu-Zhejiang War was but a mere cog in a larger war that was unfolding across China. The Warlord Era was simply one battle to the next, as the warlords fought to unify China in their own special image. The common people are always the ones to pay the price.   

Last time we spoke about the tyrannical regime of Ungern-Sternberg in Mongolia. Ungern-Sternberg's secret police led by Colonel Leonid Sipailov targeted Reds and Jews, executing nearly 900 people, including over 50 Jews. Meanwhile, Ungern-Sternberg built his Asiatic Cavalry Division, aiming to form a Mongolian national army. Damdin Sukhbaatar emerged as a Red leader, trained in military tactics and part of Mongolia's independence movement. The Soviet Union supported Mongolia against Ungern-Sternberg's occupation, aiding the Mongolian People's Party. Sukhbaatar led successful campaigns against White Russians, ultimately capturing Urga. Ungern-Sternberg's forces were defeated by the Red Army, leading to his capture and execution. After his downfall, Mongolia faced internal political struggles, including purges and power struggles within the Mongolian People's Party. Meanwhile, Tibet faced its own challenges, negotiating with China and Britain over its status and borders, leading to the establishment of the McMahon Line, though China disputed the agreement. #103 the First Zhili–Fengtian War Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Well hello there, we are back in the thick of things in north China again. As a bit of a refresher, the Anhui-Zhili War of 1920 had resulted from a combination of Duan Qirui basically pissing off everyone else. The Zhili and Fengtian cliques banded together to defeat the Anhui clique, now Duan Qirui went into a bit of a self exile and most of his territory was seized. The Anhui were not down for the count, but now a fraction of what they once were and confined to Fujian and Zhejiang province. Meanwhile Zhang Zuolin and his Fengtian clique maintained their hold over Manchuria and even added some parts of Inner Mongolia to their booming empire. Cao Kun and Wu Peifu of the Zhili clique had benefited the most from the war, grabbing Beijing, Anhui and northern Zhili province, adding it to their heartland in the Yangtze Valley. Wu Peifu had largely been the mastermind behind the war effort and earned great fame as a result. He became known as a military genius, earning monikers such as “the jade marshal”.  The coalition' victory did not bring stability to north China. Jin Yunpeng was the leader of the Anfu Club and was supported and engineered to Premiership by Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin. They supported him largely because he was the rival of Xu Shichang and a large rift was ongoing in the Anfu club because of them. Despite being a Anhui clique member, he was a relative of Zhang Zuolin by marriage and an early patron to Wu Peifu. While Duan Qirui was in power, his appointment met the needs of all 3 cliques. Thus when Duan Qirui and many of the other Anhui clique officials were cast out, Jin Yunpeng was one of the select few who kept their job. Meanwhile the Ministry of communications, foreign services and other national services all gradually shifted their allegiance to the Zhili clique. Cao Kun was now facing a lot of public hostility from Dr Sun Yat-Sen and his Canton coalition. Immediately after the Anhui-Zhili war, Zhang Zuolin left 30,000 troops within the Beijing area under one of his trusted deputies. Zhang Zuolin's real award however was the captured weapons and equipment of the Anhui forces controlling Chahar, Jehol and Suiyuan province. Random side track, I just so happen to be covering the 1930's wars in Chahr, Jehol and Suiyuan province. If thats of interest to you check out my Japanese invasion of Inner Mongolia series over on the Pacific War Channel at Youtube or listen to the podcast versions at the Pacific War Channel on all podcast platforms. Zhang Zuolin had also inherited Xu Shuzheng's job of reconquering Outer Mongolia. That area as we know had been recently taken over by the White Russian General Baron von Ungern-Sternberg who was trying to recreate some sort of Mongolian empire with him as a reincarnated Chinggis Khan. Fortunately for I would say all parties, Ungern-Sternberg was defeated and killed in late July of 1921. The communists then began to seize Mongolia, but Zhang Zuolin would become too preoccupied to face them, because of a new conflict in the south.  Wu Peifu lessened his hold over Hunan during the Anhui-Zhili War and as a result a power vacuum was filled by Hunanese forces under Tan Yankai. Tan Yankai was a KMT hero associated with Dr Sun Yat-Sen. Anhui Clique generals Wy Kuanghsin and Chang Chingyao had been left with no territory after the war and Military governor of Shaanxi, Ch'en Shufan, also a Anhui general, were all threatened. All 3 of them controlled vast sums of money from their years in government, stored in banks in the foreign concession of Hankow. Meanwhile the Hunanese military, being supported by a coalition of civilian leaders inHunan were looking to form a provincial constitution and to elect a civilian governor. The 3 disenfranchised Anhui generals sought them out and arranged to finance a Hunan invasion of Hubei. The Zhili clique general Wang Chanyuan who had been the military governor of Hubei since 1916. In July 1921 the invasion began seeing Wang Chanyuan defeated, he fled to Wuchang in August.  In response to this, Cao Kun appointed the military genius Wu Peifu to lead an army to reconquer Hubei, supported by Wu Peifu's protege Xiao Yaonan and Wang Chanyuans former subordinate Sun Chuanfang. Wu Peifu moved with his customary speed and decisiveness, moving by rail from Loyang. The Hunan Army had abandoned the Wuhan when Wu Peifu ordered naval units to move up to Wuhan. They were assailed as they moved southward up the Yangtze River. Meanwhile Wu Peifu marched his army overland and by August 27th captured Yueyang, a river port where the Dongting lake flows into the Yangtze. It also happened to hold a railway station for the Wuhan-Chansha railway. Thus Wu Peifu had effectively cut off the Hunan Army's line of retreat in one fell sweep. Trapped now, the Hunan army agreed to return to Hunan and remain there. Wu Peifu kept Yueyang and her strategic railway junction as he then turned his gaze towards Sichuan province. Sichuan's warlords had also come through the Yangtze valley to attack Yichang just a pit upstream from Yueyang. Wu Peifu's forces fought the Sichuanese for over a month until they also agreed to evacuate Hubei province. These small victories bolstered Wu Peifu's image of a military mastermind and enhanced Cao Kun. The Zhili Clique in 1921 controlled provinces containing the two north-south railway lines, the Beijing-Hankou and Tientsin-Pukow. Alongside this they also controlled two prominent east-west lines of communication, the Lunghai railway and Yangtze River. The only other big dog on the bloc at this point remained the Fengtian Clique who controlled 6 Manchuria and Inner Mongolian provinces. Yan Xishan of Shanxi at this point was content with his province, most leaving him alone, thus he remained independent and honestly that's all he really wanted.  Now when Duan Qirui had been defeated, Zhang Zuolin emerged the only significant warlord to be backed by the Japanese. In fact his realm of Manchuria and Inner Mongolia were of grave interest to the Japanese. The Japanese had just lost their poster boy, and now felt very threatened by Chinese nationalism in the south and Anglo-American cooperation, both of these forces creating anti-Japanese sentiment in China. Thus the Japanese heavily supported Zhang Zuolin, making sure his position in the northeast was very stable. However Zhang Zuolin was making things quite difficult. Zhang Zuolin publicly denounced the Zhili clique, particularly Cao Kun and Wu Peifu, labeling them puppets of Anglo-American interest and allies to the radical Dr. Sun Yat-Sen with his KMT and even CCP leanings. Relations between Zhang Zuolin and Wu Peifu were pretty bad, allegedly they began to really sour during the conference in Beijing after the Zhili-Fengtian war. Zhang Zuolin apparently referred to Wu Peifu “as a mere division commander, who only held ceremonial status to himself and Cao Kun”. Zhang Zuolin was ambitious, he was gazing at the territory south of his little empire. He also knew the Zhili clique was not whole heartedly unified, they were vulnerable. At a conference in Tientsin in April of 1921, where Jin Yunpeng was going to reorganize his cabinet, Zhang Zuolin suddenly went out of his way to treat Wang Chanyuan, now the military governor of Hubei and Hunan as an equal to himself and Cao. Now during this time period, our old friend the Christian Warlord, Feng Yuxiang, a Zhili clique member was becoming a rising star. After the Tientsin conference, the Beijing government appointed Yen Hsiangwen, the commander of the 20th division and a close associate of Wu Peifu as military governor over Shaanxi. Wu Peifu added the 7th Division and Feng Yuxiangs 16th Mixed Brigade to Yen Hsiangwens army. Feng Yuxiang's brigade performed very well under Yen Hsiangwen and he was soon rewarded with the 11th Division. Then Yen Hsiangwen committed suicide, or so its alleged on August 23rd, and Feng Yuxiang succeeded him as military governor.  Back over in Beijing, the political scene was increasingly becoming concerned with funding. The usual lenders to China had agreed that a unified Chinese government would be necessary to guarantee future loans. Premier Jin Yunpeng was doing an ample job securing the dissolving Anhui parliament at Beijing, but Dr Sun Yat-Sen remained adamantly oppositional over in Guangzhou. Any prospect of obtaining future loans were evaporating. The banking system within China was dominated by a smaller clique revolving around officials working in the ministry of communications. Many of these officials did not get along with Jin Yunpeng. Then suddenly on December 24th President Xu Shichang appointed Liang Shiyi, the head of the communication group as prime minister. Within just two days after this, the central government funding for Wu Peifu's armies in Hubei and Hunan was cut and the Anhui clique officials were all receiving full pardons. Wu Peifu was taken by complete surprise in these actions, it seemed clear to him the Fengtian, Communications officials and Anhui cliques were forming a coalition against him. Hell even some in the Zhili clique seemed to be involved. Hunan and Hubei were the vast sum of Wu Peifu's power, this was directed at him. Wu Peifu lashed out swiftly by publishing telegrams accusing Liang Shiyi of treason for recent actions during the Washington conference. While the conference was primarily about naval buildups, particularly limiting those between Britain, Japan and the US, there was also a clause signed guaranteeing the territorial integrity of China. Yet apparently Liang Shiyi had cabled the Chinese delegation to go easy on the Japanese, hoping they would reciprocate with some loans to China. Wu Peifu had hard evidence of these actions and laid them out publicly trying to force Liang Shiyi from office. However, Zhang Zuolin began publicly supporting Liang Shiyi. It would turn out the appointment of Liang Shiyi was Zhang Zuolin's doing. Regardless of Zhang Zuolin's support, Liang Shiyi would be forced out of office. Yet Wu Peifu was deserted by other Zhili generals and it seemed even Cao Kun was not whole heartedly supporting him anymore. Meanwhile Zhang Zuolin had gained support of the Communication officials, Duan Qirui, Zhang Zun and Dr Sun Yat-Sen. Yes its kind of like the sinister six getting together to fight spiderman. So Liang Shiyi stepped down, stating it was because of poor health on January 19th of 1922. Zhang Zuolin considered his sacking to be a personal attack on the part of Wu Peifu. Thus Zhang Zuolin resolved to alienate Wu Peifu from the rest of the Zhili clique and destroy him. Zhang Zuolin had a lot working for him, he was loosely related through marriage to Cao Kun and both men began meeting between their HQ's in Mukden and Baoting. Cao Kun controlled roughly 10,000 men and would definitely make for a formidable ally. However Cao Kun refused to publicly issue any statements against Wu Peifu. By March of 1922, anti-Wu Peifu figures began to meet at Tientsin where they agreed on a strategy. Dr Sun Yat-Sen would become the new president, Liang Shiyi would return as Premier, Zhang Xun would become the inspector general of Jiangsu, Anhui and Jiangxi and Duan Qirui would become the military governor of Zhili. To accomplish all of this, Dr Sun Yat-Sen and the Anhui generals Lu Yung-hsiang and Lihouchi of Zhejiang and Fujian would attack Wu Peifu from the south while the Fengtian army would attack from the north. Once Wu Peifu was defeated he would be confined to the position of inspector general over Hunan and Hubei as the sinister 6 would govern China leading to a happily ever after.  Zhang Zuolin's coalition to defeat spider man collapsed immediately. He had been counting on Japanese support, and it did not materialize. The Japanese backed Chinese 2nd Squadron based out of Shanghai had helped Wu Peifu by lending him river gunboats during some war actions in Hubei the previous year and when the first Zhili-Fengtian war broke out, they announced support for Wu Peifu. Their support made it difficult for the Anhui generals of Zhejiang and Fujian who received naval training from them to move against Wu Peifu. Likewise the Japanese backed Chinese 1st squadron based out of Guangzhou caused issues for Dr Sun Yat-Sen to get his forces into the war. When Zhang Xun tried to mobilize, the public who still hated him for his attempt to restore the Qing dynasty basically stopped him in his tracks. Duan Qirui reading the tea leaves, simply became inactive, leaving Zhang Zuolin hung to dry on his own.  As for Cao Kun, since 1920, Wu Peifu held significant power because he controlled the Hankow north-south railway line. As of 1922, he lost control of it and from his point of view Cao Kun did not seem to be a good ally. Wu Peifu would deploy roughly 100,000 troops, he was commander in chief and commander of the western front. The commanders of the central and eastern fronts were Wang Chengbin and Zhang Guorong, with Zhang Fulai as deputy commander over the eastern front. By far his best units was the 3rd division led by Feng Yuxiang. Zhang Zuolin would deploy roughly 120,000 men and was commander in chief of the Fengtian army and commander of the eastern front with Sun Liechen as deputy commander. The commander of the western front would be Zhang Jinghui and under him were deputies Bao Deshan, Zhang Xueliang and Li Jinglin.  In a direct repeat of the Zhili-Anhui war, Zhang Zuolin would attack Zhili along two fronts, east and west. Zhang Zuolin took Junliangchang as his eastern front HQ. Zhang Jinghui took his western HQ at Changxindian and divided his forces into 3 echelons. Wu Peifu took Baoding for his HQ and deployed forces across 3 fronts. Wu Peifu's forces headed by Feng Yuxiangs 3rd Division in the west deployed in the region of Liulihe; Wang Chengbin deployed at Gu'an; Zhang Guorong at Dacheng with Zhang Fulai. On April 28th, Zhang Zuolin arrived at Junliangcheng and deployed the troops along the Beijing-Fenghuang and Jindu-Fuzhou railway lines. The next day the war broke out. On the eastern front, both armies had begun to skirmish on april 21st, but on the 29th, Fengtian General Zhang Zuoxiang led the 4th battalion of the Guards brigade and the 1st Regiment of the 4th mixed Brigade to attack the Zhili 26th division. This saw the Zhili forces retreat towards Renqiu. On the 30th 10,000 Fengtian troops began an assault against Renqiu. Wang Chengbin deployed reinforcements over to Renqiu who defeated the Fengtian forces and pushed them back towards the Yaomadu and Baiyang bridges. On the 31st Dacheng was retaken by the Zhili forces. Zhang Xueliang led 10,000 infantry, 1 cavalry brigade and 1 artillery regiment to counter attack. However Feng Yuxiang's 3rd Division came over leading to a fierce battle. The Fengtian forces were defeated again and now we're pulling back towards Yangliuqing. The Zhili forces then launched an attack upon Machang on May 3rd. The Fengtian forces at Jinghai and Yangliuqing launched a counter attack. A major stalemate emerged along the Yaomadu and Baiyang bridge area. Yet by this time the war in the middle had decisively turned to the Zhili's favor, thus morale was beginning to crumble for the Fengtian. The Zhili unleashed a heavy counterattack, forcing the Fengtian forces to withdraw towards Jinghai. Meanwhile the Zhili forces captured Machang and Qinxian before defeating the Fengtian at Jinghai. By May 4th, news spread that the Fengtian in the western front had lost, causing countless to surrender in the east or retreat to Junliangcheng.  Within the Western front, the battle was mainly fought along the Beijing-Hankow railway line. On April 28th the 24th Division under Zhang Fulai and the 13th mixed brigade under Dong Zhengguo launched an attack against the Fengtian western HQ at Changxindian. They were met by the Fengtian 1st and 16th divisions. The battle was fierce, seeing heavy casualties on both sides. The Zhili forces were about to breach the Fengtian defensive lines, when Fengtian General Li Jinglin rushed over to dislodge the enemy. The Zhili forces withdrew and the next day the Fengtian forces pursued them. The two armies clashed at the Liuli river, where it seemed the Fengtian would win, but the Zhili gradually defeated them. Then the Zhili forces seized Liangxiang and began advancing upon Changxindian and Nangangwa during the night. The Fengtian forces held firm again at Changxindian, mobilizing the 9th and 2nd Brigades of the 28th Division and a Cavalry Brigade from Chahar. However ultimately the Fengtian were relying on their artillery to keep the Zhili forces at bay. Over the course of 2 days both sides were taking heavy casualties. Then on the 30th Wu Peifu personally went to the western frontlines ordered the men to cease offensive actions and focus on heavy artillery shelling of the Fengtian front lines, while he ordered a outflanking maneuver aimed at the Fengtian rear. Wu Peifu divided his forces into 3 groups and launched a fierce attack on May 4th. While this was occuring, the ex-zhili commander of the Fengtian 16th division defected over to Wu Peifu, a very typical situation of warlord era china battles. The Zhili and Fengtian forces suffered tremendously during the days of battle that followed. Many commanders were killed leading the forces on both sides. However the battle would ultimately come down to that of artillery attrition and the Fengtian were consuming more shells than the Zhili and could not replenish them in time. Wu Peifu discovered the situation for what it was and launched a frontal attack to attract the Fengtian artillery fire while also ordering the 21st mixed brigade, an elite formation to sneak behind the Fengtian rear. The 21st Mixed Brigade made a long detour through the Fenghuang mountains, managing to get behind the Fengtian lines. Now surrounded, with artillery munitions nearly exhausted, the Fengtian 16th division surrendered. Zhang Jinghui then jumped into a car heading for Tianjin as the Fengtian army in the west fell into chaos and routed. The Zhili forces stormed Changxindian on the 5th and began an attack against Fengtai. The Fengtian forces fled towards Shanhaiguan, while 30,000 of them were captured alongside their weapons and equipment. Within the middle front, Wu Peifu directed the Zhili forces to focus upon Gu'an. Fengtian General Zhang Zuoxiangs forces were stationed around Yongqing. Zhang Xueliang and Guo Songling were stationed around Ba county. Both sides launched fierce attacks and counterattacks, but gradually the Zhili overwhelmed the Fengtian and seized Shengfeng and Gu'an quickly. Zhang Zuoxiang personally led the 27th and 28th division to try and recapture them, but was repelled. On May 4th, the Zhili army erected a siege upon Yongqing from three sides. After a day of fighting the Fengtian could hold on no longer. Many surrendered outright, some fled for Tianjin, including Zhang Zuoxiang. After the fall of Yongqing the Zhili forces captured Langfang and accepted the surrender of thousands. Casualty reports suggested the Fengtian suffered 20,000 deaths, 10,00 desertions and 40,000 men were captured. However these numbers are absolutely exaggerated, in fact all battles of China's warlord Era are. Some casualty reports listed a total of 10,000 to a possible 30,000 for both sides included and even that seems high. Foreign military advisors and observers noted Wu Peifu's seemed to be far better trained and disciplined compared to their Fengtian counterparts. The Zhili forces also had superior arms, but many of Zhang Zuolin's better units impressed the foreigners with their armaments. Wu Peifu quickly occupied Beijing. Zhang Zuolin met his fleeing troops and Luanzhou, between Tientsin and Shanhaiguan where he gave every soldier 10$ tip. At this point their monthly wage was around 4.20$ thus this was a big saving grace for them. During the battle and afterwards a ton of rumors emerged. It was alleged President Xu Shichang had threatened to attack the Fengtian army from the rear with 3 neutral divisions stationed at Beijing, whether true or not he remained neutral and did not act.  Zhang Zuolin looked over the reports from commanders and found many of his best trained officers had been ignored by subordinate commanders. He also found his generals with banditry backgrounds commanding divisions did extremely poorly. These factors would greatly influence him in reorganizing his army. Meanwhile during the battle a warlord in Hunan, Zhoa Ti had rebelled, spreading rumors that Wu Peifu had been decisively defeated by Zhang Zuolin during the battle and was in fact killed in action. Feng Yuxiang quickly stormed Kaifeng and was rewarded the appointment as military governor over Hunan. He would quickly go to work recruiting troops and instructing them in the doctrines of christianity.  Despite the grand victory, Wu Peifu had major issues. The entire ordeal proved the Zhili clique was not unified. He was unable to pursue Zhang Zuolin's fleeing army into Manchuria to finish them off as a result. Instead a game of politics came about. Liang Shiyi walked away. On May 14th, Sun Chuanfang called for the resignation of the Presidents in both Beijing and Guangzhou and for the old constitution to be revived. President Xu Shichang took the message to heart and resigned on June 2nd. The Zhili clique then persuaded the ever reluctant Li Yuanhong to come back as President and he did so, not realizing he was merely a seat warmer for Cao Kun. Unable to fully defeat Zhang Zuolin, Wu Peifu negotiated a peace with the British mediating. They met on a British warship anchored off the coast of Qinhuangdao on June 18th where general guidelines suggested by the British were established. Shanhaiguan would become the border between the two cliques. Beijing now was under the fully domination of the Zhili clique, but the relationship between Wu Peifu and Cao Kun had certainly been strained.  The war also had a profound effect on south China. Dr Sun Yat-Sens government had collapsed just as he was planning his Northern Expedition. Dr Sun Yat-Sen had made the Yunnan Clique warlord Li Liejun his chief of staff. Chen Chongming opposed this, so Dr Sun Yat-Sen removed him as governor of Guangdong and as military commander of the Guangdong army. Dr Sun Yat-Sen achieved this by marching from Wuzhou along the Guangdong-Guangxi border to Guangzhou with his most loyal troops. He intended to make good on his commitment to Zhang Zuolin, to march north against Wu Peifu, albeit it was part of his northern expedition plans mind you. However Chen Chongming's forces were mostly at Nanning in Jiangxi because of a previous war there, thus he was forced to flee to Huizhou to preserve his eastern Guangdong base. Dr Sun Yat-Sen was advised by many colleagues, including a young Chiang Kai-Shek to postpone the Northern Expedition and first focus on crushing Chen Chongming.  Dr Sun Yat-Sen however believed commencing the northern expedition alongside Zhang Zuolins war was too great an opportunity to pass up. He also believed Chen Chongming would not betray the movement. So on May 6th he began an invasion into southern Jiangxi. While capturing cities in southern Jiangxi on June 13th, it was discovered Chen Chongming and Zhili clique generals were planning a mutiny in Guangzhou. Dr Sun Yat-Sen rushed back to Guangzhou to reason with Chen Chongming who surrounded his office on June 15th threatening his life. Dr Sun Yat-Sen managed to escape the situation, fleeing aboard the cruiser Haichi, then to gunboat Yungfeng. Thus Dr Sun Yat-Sen lost touch with the Guangzhou scene. Meanwhile Wu Peifu orchestrated a propaganda campaign labeling Zhang Zuolin and Liang Shiyi as pro-Japanese stooges. Dr Sun Yat-Sens alliance with Zhang Zuolin got him caught up in the mess. Many influential figures began sending letters to Dr Sun Yat-Sen suggesting he step down as head of the Guangzhou government. Most of the foreign powers in Guangzhou also added to this as the KMT forces were naval bombarding the area threatening the lives and property of many. Meanwhile Chen Chongming's forces seized Whampoa on July 14th. The Chinese 1st squadron in the area changed command to a Wu Peifu loyalist. Thus to all it seemed Dr Sun Yat-Sen was done, but he was still in the game. He still had control over the Northern Expeditionary Army, mostly 10,000 Yunnanese and Guangdong forces. Then Duan Qirui urged action to support Dr Sun Yat-Sen against Chen Chongming. Multiple KMT factions fell into a chaotic war between those loyal to Sun or Chen. Chen Chongming was under attack from all directions and could not hold Guangzhou thus he fled to Huizhou and by January 15th 1923 announced his retirement. Dr Sun Yat-Sen returned to Guangzhou and retook his generalissimo title. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Thus Zhang Zuolin's plot to defeat Wu Peifu basically backfired. Instead of alienating and defeating his rival, his allies all collapsed on him, he was defeated, humiliated and now it seemed Wu Peifu may have very well taken complete control over Beijing. Would Wu Peifu be able to reunify China? Or would they all just keep fighting, what do you think? 

Last time we spoke about the invasion of Outer Mongolia and the First Anhui-Zhili War. During the Xinhai Revolution, Outer Mongolia declared independence from the Qing Dynasty. Conflict arose between Mongolian nobles and Chinese authorities, leading to the formation of a provisional government under Jebtsundamba Khutuktu. Then the Russian civil war led to Russian encroachment of both red and white forces. Russian influence grew, particularly through Grigory Semyonov's attempt to establish a pan-Mongolian state. Duan Qirui seized the opportunity to invade Mongolia under the guise it was to thwart Bolshevism. While he did this to save face, it actually resulted in further conflict, this time with the Fengtian Clique. Wu Peifu and Zhang Zuolin combined their cliques to face Duan Qirui winning a very unexpected victory over the Anhui Clique. Duan Qirui resigned from all his posts in disgrace and now the Anhui Clique was a shadow of its former self.   #99 The First Guangdong-Guangxi War   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. We just covered the first major war in the north, the first Anhui-Zhili War. Out of all the books and even the very few youtube videos I have seen trying to cover China's Warlord Era, typically they do First Anhui-Zhili War, then follow this up with the first Zhili-Fengtian war, second zhili-fengtian war, rarely the anti-fengtian war then suddenly everything jumps south into the Northern Expedition. The reality of China's Warlord era however, is that there really is not chronological series of events. For those statician's out there, its more like a horrifying ANOVA study, if you get the reference, we both share a certain pain haha. Multiple military wars and political wars were raging across China and they all affected other peoples and events, causing this nightmare of incoherency. For this series I am going to try my best to do it in a chronological order, and stating that we are jumping south today.  Back to Yuan Shikai, in 1915 when he was planning to proclaim himself Emperor Walrus over a new dynasty, as we saw multiple provinces declared independence, some even actively rebelled. One of these provinces was Guangxi where Viceroy Lu Rongting declared an open rebellion against Yuan Shikai. Lu Rongting had been appointed governor over Guangxi after the second revolution. Yet after Cai E and Tang Jiyao unleashed the National Protection War, Lu immediately bandwagoned. Some historians suggest Lu Rongting did this because he felt Yuan Shikai was overlooking him and actively preventing him from expanding his sphere of influence into Guangdong. After the death of Yuan Shikai, the new president, Li Yuanhong appointed Lu Rongting as the governor of Guangdong, but this certainly did not sit well with Long Jiguang. Long Jiguang was the current governor of Guangdong and a supporter of Duan Qirui and the Anhui Clique. He was secretly working inline with the Anhui Clique, obeying the Beiyang government, undermining the National Protection movement in the south. When his colleagues such as Liang Qichao, Wang Chonghui and Tang Shaoyi found out they were the ones who asked president Li Yuanghong to get rid of him. Long Jiguang stated he was unwilling to resign his post, and this prompted Lu Rongting to dispatch Mo Rongxin, Ma Ji and Tan Haoming to lead a Guangxi based army to invade Guangdong to get rid of its pesky rebellious governor, or I guess better said anti-rebellious governor.  Now rewinding a bit, when Zhang Xun forced Li Yuanhong to dissolve parliament, Guangdong and Guangxi both declared independence, I think for the 4th time? Hard to keep track of how many times southern provinces declare independence to be honest. When Zhang Xun restored the Manchu monarchy, this prompted Dr Sun Yat-Sen to sail south from Shanghai to Guangzhou to start a rebellion movement, because Mr. Sun is gunna do Mr. Sun stuff. Dr Sun Yat-Sen planned to rely on the power of southwestern provinces to rebel against this new tyrannical monarchy. Then in a matter of days, Zhang Xun's great restoration failed and Duan Qirui became the de facto leader over Beijing with his Anhui Clique dominating the scene in north china. Dr Sun Yat-Sen had planned for a political war, but Duan Qirui dissolved all means of doing so, now the only options were militarily.  On August 25th, a meeting was held in Guangzhou where Dr Sun Yat-Sen announced he was going to launch a Northern Expedition with himself as Generalissimo. A new military government, or I guess you can call it a Junta was formed and Lu Rongting and Tang Jiyao were both appointed Marshals within it. Many armies were mobilized in Hunan, Guangdong, Yunnan and Guangxi. Respective cliques within these provinces all mobilized for their own reasons. One of these armies was commanded by Long Jiguang, though much of his military strength had been depleted during the second revolution. All he had left was 20 battalions, roughly 5000 men. There were several local militia styled armies, such as the “Fu Army” led by Li Fulin or the second Mixed Brigade of Huang Mingtang, but even with these added, Long Jiguang could not hope to face what was coming his way. The armies in Guangxi and Yunnan were better organized, better equipped and more numerous at this time. After the Junta had been created, the Beiyang government took it as a threat obviously and began to put into motion plans to destroy it. At first the governor of Chaomei, Mo Qingyu was sent with military forces to disband the Junta. He was decisively defeated by a coalition army commanded by Chen Bingkun, Shen Hognying, Lin Hu and Dr Sun Yat-Sen. After this Dr Sun Yat-Sen appointed Chen Jiongming to be the commander in chief of the Fujian and Guangdong Army. Then Dr Sun Yat-Sen, through his ally Zhu Qinglan managed to transfer command of the 20th battalion of the Guangdong Army to Chen Jiongming. Chen Jiongming took these troops and immediately attacked the Fujian governor Li Houji, occupying Longyan, Zhangzhou, Tingzhou and other areas along the Fujian, Guangdong border area. After doing this he proclaimed himself a defender of the area and began taxing the populace, being a warlord 101 basically. He established an independence base area in the eastern part of Guangdong and the southern part of Fujian, which was not cooperating with the Old Guangxi Clique.  Now back to Lu Rongting. Lu Rongting was running out of allies. He had backed Duan Qirui, who was forced to give up his posts, and now Feng Guozhang and his Zhili clique were the big dogs in Beijing. Lu Rongting was unsure how to proceed, so he began publicly supporting Dr Sun Yat-Sen and the Guangzhou government. Lu Rongting then tried to dismantle the Guangzhou government through a reconciliation effort with the Beiyang government. Lu Rongting was basically turning everyone against Dr Sun Yat-Sen growing the Old Guangxi Cliques influence. Dr Sun Yat-Sen could see the paint on the wall, so he resigned from his position in May of 1918. An election was quickly held seeing Cen Chunxuan, another Old Guangxi member become president over the Guangzhou government, but in reality, Lu Rongting was pulling the strings. In the meantime, Chen Jiongming over in his area was also doing something similar by trying to negotiate a peace with Beijing. In 1918, Chen Jiongming was appointed by the Guangzhou government as the governor of Fujian province in October. Chen Jiongming set up simple government agencies, actively maintained the social order dominated by local gentry, and vigorously built Zhangzhou's urban infrastructure, reclaimed wasteland, and developed modern education and industry. During the period of protecting the law, merchants gathered in Zhangzhou and the market flourished. While he made Zhangzhou a sort of central government station, overall he was quite the anarchist in how he sought things to be done. By December, Chen Jiongming resigned stating publicly "My governorship over Fujian is in vain because we cannot feed the hungry, clothe the cold, and defend our army in battle. Fujian should be governed by Fujianese”  In December of 1919, Dr Sun Yat-Sen saw Guangdong was building an army and stating publicly  "Today's urgent task of saving the country is to pacify the Gui thieves first and unify the southwest" Dr Sun Yat-Sen planned to return to Guangdong to attack the Old Guangxi Clique forces. Heordered Chen Jiongming several times to send troops to help drive away the Old Guangxi Cliques,  however, in his words "Chen Jiongming made no reply despite repeated calls to urge her to return to Guangdong." Zhu Zhixin, was dispatched 3 times to Zhangzhou with orders of Dr Sun Yat-sen to urge Chen Jiongming to mobilize. He wrote back to Dr Sun Yat-Sen: "Chen Jiongming's forces have exhausted all their strength and are as tired as ever. At this time, the relationship has been hurt, and it is useless to mobilize." Reading between the lines of these sorts of statements and messages, Chen Jiongming clearly had issues with Dr Sun Yat-Sens politics and did not want to get involved at the time. Thus until July of 1920 the Old Guangxi Clique was continuing to negotiate with the Zhili Clique officials controlling the Beiyang government. They agreed to help expel Duan Qirui and his Anhui goons, if the Old Guangxi clique guys would help expel Dr Sun Yat-Sen's followers in Guangdong. On July 14th however, the first Anhui-Zhili war broke out. Li Houji the governor of Fujian at the time, expressed a desire to support the Anhui clique's military and requested Guangdong forces depart southern Fujian. On July 15th, figures in the fractured Chinese navy such as Xu Shaozhen and Li Qian who supported Dr Sun Yat-Sen organized thousands of troops to fight the Old Guangxi clique. Xu Shaozhen became commander in chief and led the forces to attack Guangzhou from 5 different directions. On August 11th, the Old Guangxi clique mobilized their forces, thus beginning the Guangdong-Guangxi War or the first Yue-Gui War. The Old Guangxi Clique had roughly 70,000 troops, but they were by no means a unified force. There were the combined forces of Guizhou Warlords, Yunnan Warlords and Zhejiang Warlords. The Guizhou forces were led by Liu Zhilu, the Zhejiang forces were led by Lu Gongwang and the Yunnan forces were led by Fang Sengtao. The Guizhou would attack Guangdong with the Zhejiang army on their right and the Yunnanese to their left. Guangdong meanwhile would have roughly 25,000 troops led surprising by Chen Jiongming who had a change of heart, he was also aided by Xu Chongzhi and Hong Zhaolin. Chen Jiongming on the 12th of August had suddenly sworn an oath at the Zhangzhou park condemning Mo Rongxin, here is the statement “Ever since Mo Rongxin and others seized control of Guangdong, they have harmed our people in every possible way. The will of the people will be destroyed, the people killed, and expelled...to the extent that they condone the robbers and beggars' soldiers and harass Yan Lu, which is even more difficult to describe. The pain our people suffered from the loss of their provinces was a hundred times greater than the pain suffered by Korea, Annan, and Poland. They are naturally thieves, and seeking money and killing people is their usual skill. Recently, the bandits stationed in Hunan and Guangxi moved into Fujian to oppress our army. Their only intention is to hate the Cantonese people and act as if they are an enemy country... The Cantonese army today is fighting for the hometown and the country, and all its factions and other issues are unknown. It is to swear an oath with tears and to tell each other sincerely. My fellow countrymen, please take this opportunity to learn from me! All officers and men of the Guangdong army kowtowed together”. Chen Jiongming would also go on to accuse Mo Rongxin of "The Gui regards Guangdong as a conquered territory... Now that we are facing heavy troops, it is really unbearable. Although I am weak, I am willing to fight to the death" On August 16th the main bulk of the Old Guangxi clique forces had not yet reached the Guangdong-Fujian border, thus Chen Jiongming set up his headquarters at Zhang Ji Villages, leaving 20 battalions behind in Zhangzhou as a reserve. Chen Jiongming then took personal commander of the central forces, dispatched armies led by Li Bingrong, Deng Benyin, Luo Shaoxiong, Xiong Lue, amongst other officers to attack Raoping and Chao'an from the direction of Pinghe. After this they would break through Fengshun and Zijin, coordinating with a left and right wing. Meanwhile the left wing of Hong Zhaolin and Liang Hongkai led forces from Yunxiao and Zhao'an to attack Chenghai and Shantou while Xu Chongzhi commanding the right wing attacked Jioaling and Shantou from Shanghang. In all around 82 battalions were engaging two major fronts.  The eastern part of Guangdong had been under Guizhou warlord rule for over 4 years when suddenly Chen Jiongming called “the Cantonese people to govern Guangdong and implement democratic politics”. The people there rallied to him, and this would have a profound effect on the war there. The left Guangdong army that departed Zhao'an quickly crossed the border where they defeated troops under Liu Zhilu, the commander of a major Guangxi army. After defeated him they stormed the garrisons at Chaomei, Huanggang, Chenghai and were approaching Shantou. On the 19th, Yu Yingyang, the commander of an artillery battalion under Liu Zhilu had already seized Shantou and declared independence and his desire to defect to the Guangdong army. Honestly this is how most battles worked in the warlord era, subordinate officers looking to dodge a real battle by switching sides, typically selling out their bosses in the process. This prompted Liu Zhilu to flee for Guangzhou. The next day, Deng Keng led the left Guangdong army to capture Shantou and soon they were pursuing the Guizhou forces towards Jieyang and Chaoyang.  Meanwhile the right Guangdong army crossed the border from Yongding to attack Dabu Sanheba. Dabu Sanheba fell on the 16th, and it was followed the next day by Jiaoling. On the 18th an entire day of fighting was seen near Meixian where forces under Liu Daqing, commander of a Guangxi army and the governor of Huizhou were defeated. Meixian was captured on the 19th and Xingning on the 20th. After this the forward Guangxi army had collapsed allowing the Guangdong army to redirect itself towards Longchun and Heyuan. The army in Zhejiang watched the situation, but kept out of it while the Yunnan forces simply began a withdrawal as it seemed clear the Guangdong forces were likely to win. Again, the Guangdong forces were outnumbered perhaps 3 to 1, but these types of battles and lesser wars were won and done by perspectives.  Ye Ju was leading a central thrust for the Guangdong forces, quickly taking Chao'an and Raoping. As he advanced towards Gaopo and Fengshun, there he encountered real resistance. 6 to 7000 men under the Guizhou clique General Zhuo Guiting stood firm, fighting Ye Ju for two days. Then the left wing of the Guangdong army captured Shantou and the right wing the upper reaches of the Dongjiang river, prompting General Zhuo Guiting to order a retreat. As his men fled, the reached the vicinity of Shigongshen where they were intercepted by Yang Kunru leading another Guangdong army who assailed them a long way.On the 26th the Chaomei area in eastern Guangdong was captured. On the same day, Dr Sun Yat Sen proclaimed "The Guangdong army attacked the thieves and recovered Chao and Mei in a few days. The speed of arriving here really broke the courage of the Gui thieves." This caused a panic in Lu Rongting who deployed troops from Guangxi to reinforce the front. The Guangxi army mobilized the first army of Ma Ji, 2nd army of Lin Hu, elements of the 3rd army of Shen Hongying, the 1st Brigade Marine Corps of Li Genyuang and other brigades to the front lines which were now at Heyuan, Boluo and Huiyang. The Guangdong forces continued their march seeing the right wing take Laolong on September 2nd. The battle along the front line was brutal and lost until October. Wei Bangping and Li Fulin representing the Guangzhou government attempted peace talks with the Guangdong forces, as the situation was looking increasingly bad for the Old Guangxi clique. The Old Guangxi clique dispatched police forces to crack down on newspapers, banning numerous publications that were critical of their war efforts. On the 13th of september all newspaper in Guangzhou ceased publications and any newspapers coming over from Hong Kong were confiscated for “publishing false military reports and subverting operations”. Meanwhile, starting in early September the Guangdong forces began working alongside the Cantonese people chanting slogans like “Cantonese people save yourselves, Cantonese people govern Guangdong”.  Heyuan at the frontlines was the gateway to Huizhou. To defend Huizhou, the Guizhou forces had unleashed a month-long bloody battle. To help the war effort, Dr Sun Yat-Sen sent word to Zhu Zhixun over at the Pearl River Estuary, to mobilize the troops garrisoning the Human Fortress to rebel against the Guangxi menace. On September 16th, Zhu Zhixin managed to instigate a small rebellion. The commander of the Human Fortress garrison, Qiu Weinan declared independence from Guangxi, and during the mayhem that soon ensued he was killed by a stray bullet. Despite this, the Guangdong army had won a series of victories, managing to launch a province wide war to expel the Guangxi menace. Civilian forces were uprising against them, in late september Wei Bangping, the director of Police forces for Guangdong and Li Fulin the garrison commander of Guanghui who also happened to be a former Old Guangxi clique member, covertly moved troops from Xiangshen, Foshan and other places to the south bank of the pearl river in Guangzhou. There they declared the independence of Henan on the 26th. All the inland riverway warships and railway lines were taken and soon a letter was sent to Mo Rongxin urging him to quote "Return the power of governing Guangdong Province to the Cantonese people, and lead his troops back to Guangxi to avoid military disasters." Then Wei Bangping and Li Fulin led forces into Sanshui taking control over the vital Guangsan Road, effectively cutting off the Guizhou Army's supply line going from Xijiang to Guangzhou. This was a heavy blow to the Guizhou Army's rear and ability to continue the war effort. During this same time, Huang Mingtang the commander in chief of the 4th army seized Leizhou; Zheng Runqi the deputy commander under Wei Bangpings 5th Army raised a new force in Xiangshan and Chen Dechun the superintendent of Qingxiang and deputy commander of the 2nd army declared independence at Wuyi. From here Taishan, Xinhui, Kaiping, Enping, and Chixi fell under civilian army control. Qujiang, Yingde, and Qingyuan in Beijiang, Gaoyao, Xingxing and other counties in Xijiang, and Qinlian and Qiongya in the south all declared independence one after another. Within the dire circumstances, Mo Rongxin convened a meeting of over 30 representatives from the Guangzhou Chamber of commerce, the Provincial Council and the Public security association on October 2nd. The representatives proposed Mo Rongxin step down so Tang Yanguang could take his position and for the war to end as quickly as possible. On October 14th of 1920, all officers of the Guangzhou Navy held a closed door meeting in Haungpu Park where they unanimously opposed a new effort brought forward by Lin Baoyi, the commander in Chief of their navy to unify the northern and southern navies. On the 19th workers of the Guangdong-Hankou railway then launched a general strike, armed with pistols and explosives which they used against the Guizhou Army forces trying to use railway lines. Over 30 schools in Guangzhou then formed a mass meeting about the entire debacle and what they should do. The principals of the schools proclaimed "if Mr. Mo doesnt leave Guangdong, classes will not be held in each school."  Back on the frontlines, on October the 16th the Guangdong right army finally captured Heyuan, opening the way to Huizhou. Simultaneously the central and left Guangdong armies captured Yong'an, Xiangpu, Lantang, Hengli and Sanduozhu effectively pressing the battle towards Huizhou. Now Huizhou is surrounded by mountains and rivers, making it quite easy to defend. Mo Rongxin concentrated the strength of his 40th Battalion there. At this point the commander of the 2nd army, Xu Chongzhi fell ill, prompting Chen Jiongming to replace him with a man named Chiang Kai-Shek. Chiang Kai-shek joined up in the middle army to begin a siege of Huizhou. The Guangdong forces would captured Huizhou by the 22nd. The very next day, Chen Jiongming held a meeting within the city and the commanders decided to march upon Zengcheng, Shillong and Dongguan in three directions. After this they would attack Guangzhou to finish the campaign.  During this crisis the populations of Bao'an, Sanshui and other nearby cities began an uprising, lashing out against the Guizhou army. As Dr Sun Yat-Sen recalled "The strong people raised their flags and responded, while the old and weak people welcomed them. This is quite the charm of the Revolution of 1911." Within Guangzhou, civilians launched waves of worker strikes, school strikes and general strikes. Mo Rongxin had run out of forces to fall upon, it was all falling apart. On the 24th, Lu Rongting, acting in the name of the president of the Guangzhou government declared the dissolution of the government and the independence of Guangdong and Guangxi. The president of the Guangzhou government, Cen Chunxuan fled for Shanghai. On the 25th of October, Shilon was taken, the next day Dongguan fell and finally seeing the situation was over, Mo Rongxin canceled the supposed Guangdong independence movement. On the 27th Zengcheng fell as Mo Rongxin had the Guangzhou Arsenal blown up and the governors seal was given to Tang Tingguang as he fled the city. Yang Yongtai, the governor of Guangdong province resigned via a telegram, handing his governor seal to Wei Bangping. On the 28th, Jiongming deployed forces to Guangzhou and around the areas of Shougouling and Baiyun to try and catch fleeing enemies. The three Guangdong armies gathered around Guangzhou, launching a general offensive together on the 29th. Mo Rongxin after fleecing after department he could fled with 10,000 remaining loyal troops west as Guangzhou was finally captured. On the 30th, Wang Jingwei and Liao Zhongkai sent telegrams to Dr Sun Yat-Sen stating they were going to appoint Chen Jiongming as the governor of Guangdong; to remove Lin Baoyi as commander in chief of the navy and replace him with Tang Yanguang. On November 1st, Chen Jiongming became the governor of Guangdong and remained the commander in chief of the Guangdong Army. On november 2nd, Chen Jiongming liberated the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway, denying its use to Cen Chunxuan and Mo Rongxin. The same day, Xu Chongzhi paraded through Guangzhou to raise morale for the citizenry, newspapers reported "the citizens rejoiced and rushed to set off cannons. Looking at all the situations, there was a sign of great joy." On the 6th, Tang Tingguang handed the governor seal to Chen Jiongming and sent a telegram dismissing the governor of Guangdong. On the 10th, Chen Jiongming was officially elected governor over Guangdong. Yet the enemy was still not fully defeated. The Guizhou army was retreating along the Xijiang River, where they performed a scorched earth policy, burning and looting every town they came by along the river. They also set up outposts along the Xijiang and Beijing rivers to prevent the Guangdong army from following. To rid the province of the nuisance, Chen Jiongming reorganized the entire Guangdong Army into 5 armies. The 1st army was personally commanded by Chen Jiongming who also acted as commander in chief; the 2nd army went back to Xu Chongzhi, the 3rd to Hong Zhaolin, the 4th to Li Fulin and the 5th to Wei Bangping. After resupplying, the Guangdong army marched west into two large groups to pursue the enemy to Guangxi. When the Guangdong forces entered Guangzhou, the Guizhou army first retreated to Zhaoqing. Because Wei Bangping and Li Fulin seized control over the Guangsan route, the Guangxi Army could only retreat from the Guangdong-Han Road. While under attack, the Guizhou Army divided its self into two groupsl one led by Ma Ji and Shen Hongying who retreated north along the Yua-Han road, the other led by Lin Hu and Han Caifeng headed further south. The Guangdong army pursued their enemy over both land and river, seizing Zhaoqing on the 15th. By the 21st, Lu Rongting ordered all forces still in Guangdong to return swiftly into Guangxi. This effectively was the end of the Guangdong-Guangxi war. On November 28th, Dr Sun Yat-sen returned to Guangzhou from Shanghai via Hong Kong and announced the reorganization of the military government. Overall what would be the first Guangdong-Guangxi war had ended the old Guangxi Clique. The Old Guangxi clique was not down for the count, but they had severely lost face. Guangxi province was not the most developed one in China, it made it very difficult to raise funds to keep the army going. Lu Rongtings ability to control and influence the Old Guangxi Clique began to dwindle. It would only force him and others to perform an identical war against Guangdong in 1921, in desperation to maintain their power. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. In the grand scheme of things, it was another drop in the bucket, yet it was extremely representative of the regular ongoing of China's warlord era. Wherever you looked from 1918-1928, regional warlords fought petty wars to control strategic regions, simply to further exert their own power. For the Old Guangxi Clique it was a bitter lesson, not that they learnt from it though.

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Last time we spoke about the Massacre at Port Arthur, actions in Manchuria and the fall of Weihaiwei. The Japanese had completely destroyed their meticulously cultivated public image when they let loose atrocities upon the Chinese at Port Arthur. Meanwhile, multiple Japanese and Chinese armies fought in Manchuria, culminating in a decisive blow at the battle of Yingkou. The Japanese advance was getting ever closer to Beijing, but the event that would inflict the most serious threat to China was the battle for Weihaiwei. The survivors of the Beiyang Fleet were trapped within the harbor of Weihaiwei when the Japanese snuck onto the Peninsula and laid siege to the great fortified port city. The Japanese stormed the fort's guns and quickly turned them on the Beiyang fleet before launching torpedo boats to finish the job. It was a catastrophe for the Qing Dynasty, now the Japanese could launch offensives at their whim against Shandong province.   #54 The First Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1895 Part 6: Taiwan and end of the War   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Japan had just captured the port city of Weihaiwei. The Japanese government publicly reported their objectives of war were not yet attained and that the diet was prepared to grant whatever amounts were necessary for military expenses required to finish them. Meanwhile the Qing court in Beijing concluded that China's military defeats had been mostly a result of the weaknesses of European weaponry. Yes, that was their conclusion. They pointed out how there was a mismatch between Chinese gunpowder, which might I add was inferior to that of what was being used in the west, and their western purchased breech-loading rifles. From the North China Herald we get this gem "There is a movement in Peking for a return to the use of muzzle-loading rifles and long jingals [sic] for arming the Chinese armies. But the Chinese arsenals before the war was ‘unfit even for firecrackers' and had been provided ‘by unprincipled ordnance officials.' This inferior gunpowder supplied to the Chinese armies in Manchuria and elsewhere since the war began, had undoubtedly been one of the chief causes which has made our soldiery appear ridiculous in the eyes of the world. The powder in the cartridges has been found either not to carry far enough in nine cases out often or not even to explode! This sad state of affairs has been the principal cause of the hitherto astonishing panics of the Chinese soldiery whenever they were confronted by the Japanese." Instead of simply replacing defective powder and using modern weapons. The Qing solution to their gunpowder problem, which was the result of corrupt officials embezzling, was to simply dispose of modern weaponry and start using their old stuff. Instead of simply replacing defective powder and using modern weapons. With the Beiyang fleet's warships destroyed or captured, Prince Gong ordered the closing of the admiralty board since China no longer possessed a real navy. When he did so, they found 5 million taels missing from the account. It is alleged these funds were diverted to Empress Dowager Cixi's summer palace renovations. There was a general recognition in the west after the fall of Weihaiwei that the balance of power in the far east had changed. China was no longer the dominant power, it was clearly Japan. The Qing dynasty faced a horrible decision: they could negotiate a peace deal with Japan or they could risk a coup d'etat. It was to be defeat by the hands of Japanese, or their own Han subjects. The Manchu leadership clearly favored the former, especially since they were under the belief they could enlist some western intervention to mitigate better peace terms on their behalf. For the Japanese, they now were trying to figure how to make their war gains permanent, but to do so they really had to get the Qing to capitulate before foreign intervention occurred. While Japan could defeat China, she could not handle more nations jumping into the mix, particularly the Russians in Manchuria. The Japanese public and military were demanding peace terms to meet their great achievements in the field of battle. Japanese diplomats however were very aware of the international diplomatic consequences of being too ambitious in the peace terms. Cooperation between the Japanese military and diplomatic leadership began to wane after Port Arthur fell. A week after its fall, Premier Ito Hirobumi arranged Field Marshal Yamagata Aritomo to be relieved of his command for medical reasons, but he was not sick. No, it was because Yamagata favored a direct march upon Beijing and this made the Japanese political leadership worried he might not listen to orders telling him otherwise if he remained in the field. They believed such a strategy would ultimately backfire, because it would collapse the Qing dynasty which would simply drag western powers into the mix. As Premier Ito Hirobumi put it “Should this happen, Japan would be negotiating peace not with China, but with the Western Powers. But there is another twist to this story. Yamagata also happened to be Ito's most powerful rival and you can only imagine how much it might displeasure Ito if Yamagata marched into Beijing.  Thus Ito arranged for a different strategy. Beijing would no longer be an objective, instead the 2nd IJA hit Weihaiwei, but another far more distant objective was also tossed onto the map, Taiwan. It was the belief amongst the Japanese leadership, the western powers would tolerate Japan annexing Taiwan. Always trying to emulate the great powers, Japan wanted to obtain colonies, showcasing herself to be their equal. Taking territory on the mainland of Asia was much trickery and could butt heads with nations like Russia, but Taiwan was a lonely Qing held asset very far from her clutches. The strategy was extremely unpopular with the military and Japanese public, both of whom obviously were looking forward to a foothold on the Asian mainland and the ultimate spectacle of marching upon Beijing. In fact the Imperial Family had even sent Field Marshal Prince Komatsu Akihito over to specifically grab command over the march on Beijing. The Japanese royal family wanted one of its members to personally see the capitulation of the Qing emperor, now that would certainly be a hell of a spectacle. But most of the military and public did not understand what would occur if the Qing dynasty collapsed.  By this point of the war, the IJA sought to retain the Liaodong Peninsula, but the Japanese politicians understood this was far too close to the Chinese capital to be tolerated. Meanwhile the financial leaders of Japan sought, as you can imagine, large indemnity payments. War can be expensive. So the Peace demands would have three overarching demands: Taiwan, the Liaodong Peninsula and a fat sum of money in indemnities. Now ever since the disasters at Pyongyang and Yalu, the British and Russian governments began work to mediate between China and Japan. Nothing was coming to fruition, but after Port Arthur fell, the Qing began to get desperate. Just a week after Port Arthur's fall, the Qing government sent its first peace mission to Japan. On November 26th, the commissioner of customs at Tianjin, Gustav Detring and a journalist of the London Times named Alexander Michie arrived to Hiroshima with a letter from Li Hongzhang. Ito Hirobumi refused to receive the letter from Gustav Detring because he was not properly accredited by the Qing government, so he was sent away. When Gaiping fell on January 10th, the Qing government requested a cease-fire, which the Japanese turned down. In fact the Japanese publicly stated they would not halt hostilities even during peace talks. Thus the war continued on. Since the first mission, if you could call it that had failed, the Qing prepared a second. This time the Qing hired a special adviser, the former secretary of state to the US, John Watson Foster. Two commissioners were appointed, Zhang Yinhuan a former minister to the US, Peru and Spain and current Zongli Yamen. The second was Shao Youlin, a previous governor to Taiwan, and current activating governor of Hunan province. Zhang was capable of speaking English and thus he took the head. Speaking of heads, Shao Youlin, though a very unknown official, he was rather infamous for one thing. He had issued a proclamation at the beginning of the war, offering a 200 tael reward for the head of any Japanese officer or 100 taels for a regular soldier presented to him. Now if you have been listening to this series from the beginning you can guess this is the age old trick the Chinese played to save face. Always add some level of insult when performing negotiations. Thus Mr. Shao's appointment was just that, an insult and part of a game, a game the Japanese understood, China was still trying to make her look inferior. If China sent top ranking diplomats, it meant they were treating Japan as an equal. To this the Japanese retaliated. They used diplomatic fine print, found from European international law to rid themselves of the new delegation without breaching any rules on courtesy. They made the Chinese look ridiculous. Here is how it went down according to the North China Herald “the two envoys who should be proceeding were still idling in Shanghai because they were unfurnished with proper credentials” The Japanese also asserted the US minister in Beijing had been asked to draw up a proper set of credentials, but he was extremely late to present them and this was unacceptable. According to the Japanese the plenipotentiary powers of the two envoys lacked the authority to make any decisions. All of this occurred before the fall of Weihaiwei, meaning if the delegation had been successful the Japanese would have had a lot less chips on the table. A few days after the envoys departed for Hiroshima, the Peking Gazette, which was the official organ for the Qing government to publicate its edicts referred to the Japanese notably not with the term Woren, but this time the term Wokou which loosely meant “dwarf bandit'. The envoys reached Hiroshima on January 31st of 1895 and met with Ito Hirobumi on February 1st with Zhang keeping a friendly posture. Zhang continuously asked when he would be meeting with Emperor Meiji and Ito Hirobumi kept promising soon, soon he was a busy man, but in reality the Japanese, pardon my french, were just fucking with the envoys and were going to toss them out of the country. Ito Hirobumi made public statement to the two envoys, that they lacked official seals to conclude real treaties and that Japan had demanded assurances from the Qing government they would send proper envoys with proper seals. He finished off with this “ His Majesty the Emperor of Japan conferred upon my colleague and myself full powers to conclude and sign Preliminaries of Peace with the Plenipotentiaries of China." And on February 2, 1895, Ito called off the negotiations. Thus two days after the second mission arrived, they were already departing in failure. It would take over a month and a half before a third mission would leave China for Japan. In the meantime Japan captured Weihaiwei, destroyed the Beiyang fleet and were advancing upon Beijing by land and sea. This led the Chinese to stop messing around and choose envoys they knew the Japanese would accept. The Japanese made it known they would accept either Li Hongzhang or Prince Gong, China's two top foreign policy experts. Now if Li Hongzhang went, this offered the Japanese an enormous opportunity to humiliate the man who was commanding the Qing Navy and large parts of her land forces. The other choice placed a Manchu member of the royal clan in a position that would more than likely also result in humiliation. The Qing as you might guess, opted to toss the Han Chinese Li Hongzhang. It was the obvious choice to save the face of Manchu pride to scapegoat using a Han, a classica Qing dynasty strategy by this point in time. Thus the man who fought the most to modernize China and scapegoat this entire calamity would become the scapegoat and bear China's humiliation. To ready Li Hongzhang for his new responsibility, Emperor Guangxu simply restored all the honors and titles he had recently taken from him. Li Hongzhang yet again wore the 3 eyed peacock feather and yellow jacket. The Qing imperial court then asked all the highest ranking provincial officials for recommendations on what to include in the peace settlement. Li Hongzhang was provided with this: To accept a peace settlement as long as the Japanese only wanted indemnity payments. If Japan sought any territorial concessions, the Qing would continue to fight. Might I note, all of these officials who gave their recommendations were extremely out of touch with the reality of the ongoing war. On March 19th, Li Hongzhang alongside 100 other officials departed China for the port city of Shimonoseki. Premier Ito Hirobumi was the main Japanese representative and they would be conducted in english, with Li Hongzhang using an interpreter, Ito spoke english himself. Li Hongzhang presented official credentials with Emperor Guangxu's seal fixed on them. It's ironic, that when presented, Premier Ito asked why the Emperor used a seal, but no signature as was custom for modern society. Li Hongzhang waved it off stating it was Chinese custom and Ito did not press upon it, but yet again what a metaphor for China's reluctance to modernize. Li Hongzhang began negotiations by pressing upon things the two men used to talk about, pan-asianism vs western threats. In his words “the yellow race must work together to hamper the designs of the white race”. Ito replied “when I was at Tientsin 10 years ago settling the Korea problem, I gave you friendly advice that many reforms were most important for your country but I regret very much that no change whatever has taken place”. To this Li Hongzhang sighed and replied "the trammels of antiquated manners and customs in my country are most difficult to shake off and one cannot follow one's own inclination in effecting reform." Li Hongzhang then argued for the signing of an alliance between China and Japan against the West, which Ito declined. Then later that day, Li Hongzhang presented a proposal for an armistice, which Ito also declined. The main reason Ito Hirobumi was declining the armistice was because of the upcoming operations to invade Taiwan. Ito Hirobumi countered the armistice proposal by stating it would be accepted if the Japanese could occupy Dagu, Tianjin and Shanhaiguan; if China would cede control over railway from Tianjin to Shanhaiguan, which was her only railway at the time; and lastly pay for the cost of such occupation. According to Japanese foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu "As Li read this memorandum to himself, his face changed color and he appeared stunned. Over and over, he muttered that the terms were too severe." Li Hongzhang spoke with the Zongli Yamen, who in turn spoke to the Qing Court in Beijing and all agreed to reject such an armistice agreement. On March 24th, Li Hongzhang warned Ito "If the terms [for peace] involve the interests of any other country it would be well to proceed cautiously. Your Excellency said that Japan will attack Formosa [Taiwan]. This explains your objection to the Armistice." This was Li Hongzhang threatening that Western powers would intervene if Japan sought too extensive a price for peace and that China knew what they were up to with Taiwan. As Li Hongzhang left that days meeting to return to his lodgings, a Japanese youth named Koyama Toyotaro crept up to Li Hongzhangs palaquin and shot a pistol at him. The bullet went through Li Hongzhang's left cheek, literally just an inch below his eye. The Japanese police grabbed the man as Li Hongzhang was rushed to physicians to help him. The physicians were astounded with Li Hongzhangs fortitude in the face of such pain, especially since they could not anesthetize him due to his age. The operation would take a long recovery time, so Li Hongzhang decided not to have the bullet removed and simply went on with the negotiations. Now you think President Theodore Roosevelt was a badass,get a load of that. The bullet remained lodged deep under his nose. Emperor Meiji had ordered his personal physician to attend Li Hongzhang with bandages rolled up personally by the Empress. Emperor Meiji followed this up with an official public apology to the Qing government "It was of course incumbent on Us, in observance of international usage and on account of the credit of Our country to treat the Chinese Ambassador with proper courtesy and consideration...Most unfortunately, however, a fanatic has come forward and inflicted injury on the Chinese Ambassador. We are profoundly pained by the incident. The fanatic will of course be punished by Our officials in conformity with law." During the following week Li Hongzhang reported he had received over 10,000 letters of condolence from the Japanese public. This was an incredible loss of face for Japan. The wannabe assassin had very publicly breached the most elementary principle of modern diplomatic conduct. That said, the assassin received life in prison by the way. To restore some of their loss of face, Emperor Meiji granted a 3 week armistice to China, his entire military began pulling their hair out. The armistice was to be partial and not general however. What does that mean you might be asking? Well it meant it applied to the mainland, but not Taiwan and the Pescadore islands. The sneakiness of this was not lost of the press, the North China Herald had this to say “this voluntary sacrifice on Japan's part, is, as a matter of fact, no sacrifice and no armistice at all...[T]he march to Peking will not be continued...[but she] will go on with the subjugation of Taiwan." On March 15th of 1895, a Japanese expeditionary force of 5500 men had set sail for the Pescadore Islands. The Pescadore islands were the key to capturing Taiwan, their occupation would prevent the Qing from sending reinforcements across the Taiwan Strait. The Pescadores were garrisoned by 15 Qing battalions who held a recently created coastal defense battery that was created as a result of the French attacks during the Sino-French war. The Japanese opened up hostilities with a large naval bombardment of the Qing forts and batteries before landing ashore on Fisher Island and Penghu on March 24th. American-Canadian James W Davidson was a war correspondent with the IJA during the invasion of the Pescadore islands and later on Taiwan and he has honestly one of the best accounts on the entire story. So I am actually going to leave it to Mr. Davidson to describe how it went down. On March 20th, after a five days' trip from Sasebo naval station, the expedition, consisting of the fleet and the transports, arrived off the Pescadores and anchored near Pachau island to the south of the principal islands of the group. Bad weather on the 21st and 22nd prevented an immediate attack on the forts; but on the 23rd, the storm having abated, the ships got underway, and at 9.30 a.m., upon the first flying squadron drawing near Hau-chiau [候角?], the fleet subjected the Kon-peh-tai fort to a heavy bombardment, to which the Chinese replied for nearly an hour before they were silenced. During the afternoon, the disembarkation of the troops commenced. By the aid of steam pinnaces each towing several cutters, the troops, consisting of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Companies of the 1st Regiment of reserves under the command of Colonel Hishijima, were all landed in less than two hours. The landing of the troops brought the Kon-peh-tai fort into action again, but without inflicting much damage on the Japanese. The troops on shore engaged in a skirmish with some 300 Chinese soldiers, afterward reinforced by 150 more, near a commanding knoll which both forces were desirous of occupying. After a few volleys from the Japanese, answered by an irregular fire from the Chinese, the latter eventually fled, leaving the position in the hands of the Japanese. Staff-quarters were then established in the village of Chien-shan [尖山社]. At 2.30 on the morning of the 24th, the troops advanced with the intention of taking the Kon-peh-tai fort and Makung (Bako) with a temporary company of mountain artillery under Captain Arai and the naval contingent with quick firing guns under Naval Lieutenant Tajima in the van. The night was very dark and the only available route was so frequently cut up with ditches running in every direction that progress was laboriously slow; only some two miles being made after three hours of painful tramping. By about 4 a.m., the Japanese force had all reached the rallying ground, and thirty minutes later, led by the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of reserves, were advancing towards the fort. The 5th Company, under the command of Captain Kinoshita, formed the advance guard, and a detachment of this company, under command of Lieutenant Ishii, were the first to engage the Chinese forces, 200 of whom had taken up a position outside the fort and appeared to dispute the advance of the Japanese. The engagement was very brief, the Chinese flying before the small number of determined Japanese. Meanwhile, the temporary battery of mountain artillery had been shelling the fort from a position too far distant to do much damage to the stronghold, but in a manner sufficiently effective to frighten out the garrison, who left in such haste that, thirty minutes after the first gun had been fired, the Japanese were in possession. Thus was the principal port captured in the Pescadores. The naval contingent were also enabled to participate in the engagement, and with their two quick-firing guns did much execution. The 4th Company of the 1st Regiment of reserves and the naval contingent captured the village, after only a slight skirmish with the enemy. The place had been held by a garrison 500 strong. With the 2nd Company of the 1st Regiment of reserves leading the van, the Japanese forces now reassembled and advanced on the capital and principal city of the islands, Makung. No opposition was encountered on the way, with the exception of some ineffective firing from the Yui-wang island fort [漁翁島砲臺]; and upon reaching the city, the 1st Company stormed the Chinese infantry encampment, being followed soon after by the 2nd Company, which dashed through the gateway with the intention of dividing into three sections and attacking the enemy from different sides. But, to their amazement, their plans were found unnecessary, the garrison, with the exception of some thirty who did make a slight show of resistance, having fled. Some shots were fired at a few stragglers, and at 11.50 a.m. the occupation of the city was complete. Another engagement the same day resulted in the capture of the fort in the Yuan-ching peninsula [圓頂半島] by Commander Tanji with a naval force; about 500 of the enemy surrendering without making any resistance whatever. Two days later (March 26th), blue jackets occupied the Yui-wang island forts and found the place empty, the garrison having fled. Soon after the Japanese entered, a native presented himself, apparently on a very important mission, which proved to be the delivery of a letter stating that the Chinese commander and garrison wished to inform the Japanese that they surrendered the fort. Thus fell the key to Southern China. The Chinese prisoners, with the exception of eight officers, were given their liberty. The spoils of the little campaign were considerable, including 18 cannon, 2,663 rifles, over a million rounds of ammunition, 797 casks, and 3,173 bags of powder, a thousand bags of rice, etc., etc. Rear-Admiral Tanaka occupied the post of first governor of the group, and a government office and military post offices were at once erected. While the battle for the Pescadores was raging, both sides were still undergoing negotiations. On April the 1st, Li Hongzhang's nephew, Li Jingfang met with Foreign Minister Mutsu to ask if he could replace his uncle as plenipotentiary. Given the embarrassing nature of the assassination situation, Mutsu agreed to this. That same day the Japanese handed the Qing delegation an 11 page treaty draft. The draft showed the IJN wanted Taiwan, while the IJA sought the Liaodong Peninsula and the bankers wanted a large indemnity. Interesting point to note, Ito Hirobumi was the main architect of the treaty and he modeled it very much on Otto Von Bismarcks treaty after defeating France in 1871. Ito Hirobumi was a great admirer of Bismarck, and he even modeled the Meiji constitution on that of Prussia. Thus he wanted the Treaty of Shimonoseki as it would become known to mirror the key features of the 1871 Treaty of Frankfurt. For those unaware the Treaty of Frankfurt held territorial annexation, a large indemnity payment and occupation of an enemy city until payments were complete. Ironically for those who know their world war history, the possession of Alsace-Lorraine would become the crux of two world wars, and much could be said of Japan's taking of Chinese territories leading to the same conclusion.  The Treaty held much more than the 3 demands however in totality it included, 1) the complete independence and autonomy of Korea 2) Qing cession of the entire coastal region of Manchuria from the Korean border south, including the Liaodong Peninsula, Niuzhuang, Taiwan, and the Pescadore islands 3) the indemnity payment of 300 million taels, to be paid over 4.5 years with a 5% interest rate 4) mandatory Japanese citizenship for residents in the ceded territories 5) a renegotiation of Sino-Japanese commercial treaties to mirror that with the West powers 6) the opening of 7 cities to international commerce, residence and industry (those being Beijing, Xiangtan, Chongqing, Wuzhou, Suzhou, Jiangsu and Hangzhou 7) the opening to international steam navigation of the upper Yangtze 8) exemption from the likin tax 9) Japanese occupation of Port Arthur, Weihaiwei and Fengtianfu until payments were done and 10) an end to all offensive military operations after treaty signing. Big gulp. To sing this would spell the end of Chinese influence not only over Korea, but major parts of Manchuria, and the complete loss of Taiwan and the Pescadore islands. When presented all of this China agreed to the issue of Korea's independence, but when it came to all the territorial claims Li Jingfang argued they were far too excessive. He also argued the indemnity fee was far too high and countered with 200 taels. It was at this point Ito Hirobumi pulled Li Jingfang aside for an informal meeting on April 8th. There he warned Li that time was running out and the closer the IJA got to Beijing the harder it would be to stop the toppling of the Qing Dynasty. Li immediately sent word back to the Qing court pleading for instructions on what to do, but they were not unified with factions emerging in the court fighting over differing issues. The next day the Qing delegation caved in to the Japanese demands with a few changes: 1) Both Japan and China would recognize Korea's independence 2) the territorial cessions would be the Pescadores, and part of Manchuria where it meets the border with Korea, this meant Andong, Kuandian, Fenghuangcheng and Xiuyanzhou 3) the indemnity payment was reduced 4) the Japanese would extend the same rights to Chinese in the ceded territories 5) The new Sino-Japanese trade deals would not be unequal treaties 6) Weihaiwei would be occupied until payments were made 7) all future disagreements would be submitted to international arbitration 8) all military offensives would cease upon signing. On April 10th, Li Hongzhang made the first visit to Ito Hirobumi since his date with the bullet and the talks began with a small exchange of courtesy. Li Hongzhang had this to say to Ito "What you have done for Japan I wanted to imitate for China. Had you been in my place you would know the unspeakable difficulties met with in China." Then Ito Hirobumi presented Japans revised treaty draft now including 1) Japan refused to recognize the neutrality of Korea and demanded China recognize the independence of Korea 2) Japan agreed to limiting territorial concessions, but wanted the Liaodong Peninsula, Nuizhuang, Taiwan and the Pescadores. 3) the indemnity payment was fine 4) Japan could not guarantee Chinese property right in ceded territories 5) Japan could not guarantee equal trade treaties 6) Japan reduced the list of cities to be opened from 7 to 4, Beijing, Xiangtan and Wuzhou were taken off. 7) Japan agreed to just occupy Weihaiwei 8) Japan refused to accept international arbitration to resolve future disputes 9) To stop military operations once this treaty was signed. The Japanese knew it would take another week or two for the delegation to get answers from the court in Beijing, thus giving their forces more time to subdue the Pescadores and Taiwan. Li Hongzhang began haggling more, so Ito Hirobumi pointed out that 60 more IJN transports were lying at anchor in Hiroshima's harbor awaiting the armistice expiration so they could depart for China. An ultimatum was given to the Chinese on April 11th and on the 15th they delegations met again where they simply hashed out the fine details such as waiving the interest rates and they extended the armistice to Taiwan and the Pescadores as by the 17th they were fully occupied. Finally on april the 17th the treaty of Shimonoseki was signed. With the treaty signed, the wolves came out in China to cast blame and cannibalize. Li Hongzhang's rivals at court came after him without mercy. Li Hongzhang for his part arranged to have his nephew take on the responsibilities of handing Taiwan over to Japan, a rough deal.  Now a lot would change, the balance of power in the far east for example. This is a podcast about the history of China so I do not want to delve too much into Japan, but it is important for the history of future events that you know this. Russia watched the war closely and by the end of it, came to the conclusion Japan posed a serious security threat to Russia and that of her expansion of the far eastern railway system. On April the 23rd, just 6 days after the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, the Ministers of France, Germany and Russia called upon the Japanese foreign ministry to offer some friendly advice. They recommended that Japan return the Liaodong Peninsula to the Qing dynasty on the grounds that Japan's possession of it would quote "would be a constant menace to the capital of China, would at the same time render illusory the independence of Korea, and would henceforth be a perpetual obstacle to the peace in the Far East." It was clear to the Japanese, the 3 western powers would intervene militarily if they did not acquiesce on the friendly advice. The IJN was not capable of facing the three navy's of France, Germany and Russia and thus Japan had to give up the Liaodong Peninsula. In truth Russia sought a warm water port in the Pacific, at this time they only had the cold water port of Vladivostok. As soon as Japanese forces had departed the Liaodong Peninsula, Russia immediately began occupying it and tossed immense funds into building up the naval base at Port Arthur. By December of 1897 Russian warships would be brought over to Port Arthur and in March of 1898 Russian formally leased the region for 25 years from China. And so the seeds of believe it or not WW2, had been sown some would argue. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Thus the first-sino Japanese war of 1894-1895 had come to an end. It was one of the most humiliating defeats for the Qing dynasty and yet again was breaking the dynasty brick by brick. For now the carving up of China was to ramp up. 

Last time we spoke about the situation after the disastrous losses at Pyongyang and the Yalu River as well as the battle for Port Arthur. Coming off their tremendous success at Pyongyang and the battle of Yalu, the Japanese performed an offensive fording the Yalu and easily defeating the Qing forces at Jiuliancheng. After this the Japanese began to advance into the Liaodong Peninsula. One by one, each town saw Qing forces fleeing while giving little battle. Eventually the Japanese seized Jinzhou and Dalian. With bases of operations in hand they then could attack the formidable fortress of Port Arthur. As the Japanese advanced into the Port Arthur region, they came across mutilated corpses of their comrades driving a fiery need for vengeance into their hearts. The Japanese would take Port Arthur with absolute ease as the Qing yet again fled the scene, but this time the victory was met with a disastrous massacre.   #53 The First Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1895 Part 5: The Battle of Weihaiwei   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The massacre at Port Arthur was disastrous for Japan's public image. Thomas Cowan of the London Times went to Hiroshima on his way home after witnessing the massacre and met with Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu to tell him what he saw personally. Upon hearing the story, Mutsu told him “that an investigation would be made and that he showed no disposition to interfere with the correspondents duty and the reports were telegraphed on December 1st”. On December 16th the Japanese foreign ministry issued a formal statement to the foreign press on the matter  "The Japanese Government desires no concealment of the events at Port Arthur. On the contrary, it is investigating rigidly for the purpose of fixing the exact responsibility and is taking measures essential to the reputation of the empire. Japanese troops transported with rage at the mutilation of their comrades by the enemy, broke through all restraints and exasperated by the wholesale attempts [by Chinese soldiers] at escape disguised at citizens, they inflicted vengeance without discrimination. While the Japanese government "deplores" the excessive violence, it protested "exaggerations" in the press reports and insisted that "the victims, almost without exception, were soldiers wearing the stolen clothes of citizens." Three days later the London Times reported “that most foreign reporters agree that the excesses were committed, but say that they were excusable, and that they have had their parallels in the best European armies. The Japanese military promised they would also launch an inquiry into the matter, but no one ended up being punished. Luckily for Japan the west would later on become obsessed over the peace terms and their attention was less focused on the Port Arthur Massacre.  Meanwhile the Qing government was trying to deny there even was a defeat at Port Arthur, let alone a massacre. The Shanghai China Gazette had this to say "The most strenuous efforts have been made by the Chinese officials to conceal the fact that the great stronghold has passed out of their hands, and is now a de facto Japanese naval yard. Telegraphic notices have been sent...all over the empire by the officials saying that a wicked report has been set on foot by the enemy that they have captured Port Arthur, but it was utterly untrue, the place being garrisoned by 30,000 brave Chinese soldiers who would never give it up to the Japanese. Official telegrams to this effect were published to-day in all the native papers, and thousands of Chinese will thereby be kept in blissful ignorance of the terrible position in which China stands to-day. Ostrich-like, most of the Chinese prefer not to believe the unpleasant truth and rather listen to the barefaced mendacity of their wretched rulers. But the stupidity of the latter gentry, who have brought the country to its present desperate plight, is only emphasized by this false manoeuvre." A month later the same China Gazette asserted this "By many it is not yet known or admitted that Port Arthur has been taken and is held by the Japanese - even of the 'well-informed' officials. The same is said to be true in Peking." Of course the Qing court had good reason to try and conceal the defeat at Port Arthur. The mandate of heaven was under attack, the Japanese were pouring into the Manchu homelands of Manchuria. Internal rebellions could spring up at any moment, everything seemed to be hanging from a thread. After the defeats at Pyongyang and Yalu, Emperor Guangxu demanded to take personal control over the prosecution of war in Korea. He even wanted to leave the throne under Empress Dowager Cixi so he could concentrate on the frontlines, but his advisers pretty much put their foot down on that one. The Manchu leadership needed to maintain their control over national security….and luckily for them and unluckily for Li Hongzhang they had a scapegoat for the disasters.  In October of 1894, just before losing at Port Arthur, Prince Gong had been reinstated. A decade earlier he had been demoted because of the disastrous losses during the Sino-French War, but in reality Cixi just considered him a rival. He was appointed high commissioner of the Peking Field forces, co-president with Prince Qing of the Admiralty, the Zongli Yamen and of War Operations. Yes the age old tradition of tossing a ton of titles on a single person. The Qing government even created for him a small general headquarters. Prince Gong was the 6th song of the Daoguang Emperor, uncle in law of Cixi and alongside Li Hongzhang, one of China's top experts on foreign affairs. The foreign community respected him ever since the second opium war. Prince Qing had been the head of the Zongli Yamen since 1887. Thus two Manchu princes, Gong and Qing were in control of the capital's defense. Gong and Li Hongzhang were sharing responsibilities for the war, but Gong was specifically only responsible for the defense of the capital while Li Hongzhang retained responsibility for prosecuting the war against Japan.  After the fall of Port Arthur, Li Hongzhang went to the Qing court seeking punishment and within 24 hours he was deprived of all his titles, honours and office, ompf. And when all was said and done…he remained at his post. As the New York Times headlines stated at the time "Viceroy Li Hung Chang Has Lost the Rest of His Wardrobe." The foreign press had learnt much about China's practice of degrading and punishing officials, while simultaneously not actually implementing any policy change. Li Hongzhang would retain his post throughout the war, regardless of the titles and honours, he really was a scapegoat. And its not like he was not aware of this, upon receiving his punishments he began to toss mud at the Qing officials, blaming them for resisting railroad construction plans as now they were direly needed to deploy troops. He would also go on the record to complain naval funds had not been so forthcoming. Basically it was a big old Li Hongzhang “I told you so moment”. Colonel Maurice of the British Royal Artillery was very blunt when stating “Li Hongzhang is being treated as a scapegoat. He is the only man in China who has advocated European methods, and he is now being punished on account of the failure of the old Conservatives who refused to follow his advice." Back to the frontlines, upon taking Port Arthur, the Japanese did not rest long to continue their sweep towards Beijing. But the next important target was the naval base at Weihaiwei. There was also suggestions amongst the Japanese military leadership to perform a winter campaign in Manchuria as a diversion. The thought process being, to hit the Manchu homeland to divert many of their land forces away from the shores of Bohai and Shandong. The Qing had divided their forces in Manchuria into three armies forming a line between the coastline at Gaiping all the way to Liaoyang. The northmost army was stationed at Liaoyang. They were to defend the road to Mukden from the east via the Motian Pass and the south via Haicheng. If you pull up a map, you will notice the Motian Pass forms this bottleneck between Fenhuangcheng and Liaoyang. The second army took up a position at the port city of Niuzhuang and walled city of Haicheng. Lastly the third army commanded by General Song Qing was positioned at Gaiping. Now back at the end of October, Marshal Yamagata was pursuing Qing forces and his 5th division seized Fenghuangcheng unopposed. Their next objective was Haicheng, taking this would enable the 1st IJA in eastern Manchuria and 2nd IJA advancing up the Liaodong Peninsula to link up communications. It would also cut off the Qing in 3 directions, leaving them only a westward retreat. After Fenghuangcheng fell, General Song ordered 10,000 of his forces to advance to the Motian Pass threatening the rear lines of the Japanese marching upon Haicheng. This prompted General Nozu Michitsura to move his 10th brigade to Motian pass to prevent the Qing from concentrating there. He was successful at repelling the Qing forces gathering there and by late november the Qing were routing. From there the Japanese were forced to pull back to Fenghuangcheng to resupply, but in that time period the Qing began to reconcentrate at the Motian Pass. Then the Qing launched an offensive at Fenghuangcheng, but were served two terrible defeats on December 9th and 14th. While this was going on the 5th brigade under General Katsura Taro was pursuing a Qing Army led by General Ma, around 6000 men strong who looked like they were going to attack Port Arthur. Katsura pursued Ma's forces to Haicheng where he not only defeated them, he also seized the city by December 13th.  The seizure of Haicheng had ruined General Song's plans, now the Qing line of defense was cut in two by a Japanese army. General Song was forced to re-establish a new defensive line. On the 18th of december he ordered 10,000 of his forces to storm the town of Niuzhuang, but they were intercepted along the way by the IJA 5th brigade. They were forced to withdraw, suffering 500 casualties vs 440 for the Japanese. The next day, the Japanese attacked the retreating Qing forces around Ganwangzhai a town just southwest of Haicheng. The Qing put up a stiff resistance, but were forced to give ground. This prevented General Song's army from reaching the road to Liaoyang to connect with the other Qing armies to the north. The Qing would try four times to retake Haicheng during January and February to no avail. Then on January 10th, the 2nd IJA launched a three-pronged attack upon the walled city of Gaiping. The cities 5000 strong garrison fought for their lives, they had prepared for the attack by causing the water in the nearby streamers next to the city to freeze on an incline, making it difficult for the Japanese to cross. While this tactic would have been high effective centuries ago, with modern artillery it was undercut gravely. The Qing would have 1200 casualties defending Gaiping while inflicting 307 upon the Japanese. 10,000 Qing reinforcements were arriving at the scene from Yingkou whereupon they found the retreating garrison and this tossed everything into a panic. But to the relief of General Song, the Japanese temporarily halted their advance, due to overstretching their logistical lines. Now the Japanese had an enormous supply route going all the way from Jiuliancheng to Haicheng and Gaiping.  General Song Qing would not give up and launched a major counteroffensive to retake Gaiping and Haicheng. 20,000 Qing forces stormed into the region and were beaten back mostly by the 5th Brigade. General Song's men received 300 casualties for their efforts while inflicting only 41 upon the Japanese. Undeterred, General Song tossed two more offensives between January 17th to the 21st of February. The offensives greatly strained his men and just when their logistical supply lines were beginning to suffer, General Nozu prepared his counter offensive. On the 16th of February as 15,000 Qing soldiers attacked Haicheng in 3 columns led by Generals Zhang Xun, I K'o T'ang and Xu, they would also be aided by bandit forces the next day. On the 21st the Qing bombarded Haicheng with artillery, while they received reinforcements in the form of 10,000 men under Governor Wu Dacheng from Shanhaiguan. Meanwhile the Japanese were also reinforced by elements of the 1st division. On the 21st, the 1st division led by General Yamaji assaulted a large hill named Taping-shan being defended by forces led by General Ma Yukun. By the 24th General Yamaji seized the hill forcing the Qing to take up new positions in nearby villages, and soon Yamaji unleashed artillery from the hilltop upon them. The Qing had to withdraw from the area after receiving 800 casualties. The fighting was extremely rough for the hill, not to mention the winter conditions costing the Japanese 250 casualties from combat and another 1500 cases of frostbite.  On the 28th, General Nozu Michitsure unleashed his counterattack aimed at Niuzhuang and Liaoyang. He began with a large artillery bombardment, then sent his forces in a wide front offensive. The Qing defenders were driven into a rout, many retreating north towards Jinzhou, offering only rear guard actions as they did. Lt General Katsura Taro pursued some of the retreating Qing all the way to the walls of Liaoyang, reaching it by March 3rd while the main bulk, the 3rd and 5th divisions under General Nozu advanced upon Niuzhuang and Liaoyang eventually by the 4th of March. During the rout the Qing had taken another 400 casualties, while inflicting 124 upon the Japanese. General Song then tosses 2500 men led by General Xu at Haicheng yet again only to be repelled by the IJA 1st division.  On March 3rd, the 3rd and 5th IJA divisions began their assault of Niuzhuang by first softening the city up with an artillery barrage for 2 hours. The artillery barrage did more than soften up the city, all the Qing defenders abandon their wall positions and move into the interior. The Japanese 5th division enters the city with zero resistance to find 2000 of the 5000 Huai army troops defending Niuzhuang are fleeing. Those who stay fight fiercely against the 6000 men of the 5th IJA division, but in the end they are forced to abandon Niuzhuang after 1900 deaths. 633 Qing defenders are taken prisoner. The Japanese were forced to destroy nearly all the buildings in the city using artillery to smoke out Qing defenders and this goes on well into the night. By 11pm, the Qing have all departed the city. While the battle over Niuzhuang was occurring, the 1st and 3rd divisions began an attack against Yingkou. General Song under threat of encirclement was forced to withdraw from Yingkou over to Tianzhuangtai. By March 7th, the battle for Yingkou becomes nothing more than sporadic resistance, but the port city falls with relative ease. At port in Yingkou the Japanese seized the gunboat Mei Yuan and two transports that were icebound. General Song rallied around 11,000 men at Tianzhuangtai to continue launching counter offensives, but General Nozu kept up the pace to hinder the Qing from recuperating. The 5th Brigade was left to garrison Niuzhuang and Yingkou as the rest of the Japanese advanced upon Tianzhuangtai. The Qing were taken off balance by this and tried to put up a defense, but were utterly defeated resulting in 2000 casualties and lost their entire artillery force which was captured by the Japanese. The Japanese loses were reported to be unbelievably low at 16 deaths and 144 wounded. As a result of this last defeat, General Song's army ceased to exist as a real force. Full scale combat in Manchuria pretty much ended with the seizure of Tianzhuangtai, though minor skirmishes would occur in hill areas with pockets of Qing resistance. The victory over Yingkou gave the Japanese complete control over the southeastern portion of Manchuria, and when April came around, Yingkou's harbor would be ice free allowing for further supply lines via the sea. The Japanese had thus acquired a base of operations to perform offensives within Zhili and thus the road to Beijing was open. The offensive against Beijing would see the 1st and 3rd divisions of the 1st IJA marching towards Shanhaiguan, while the 5th division would garrison parts of Manchuria and the 2nd and 6th divisions would be held in reserve around Dalian. At this point Emperor Guangxu began shuffling officials. Li Hongzhang was relieved of his command in the field, and this was handed over to a 6 man strong committee of defense headed by Prince Chun. Alongside this, Li Hongzhangs viceroyship over Zhili, something he had held for quarter of a century, was handed over to Liu Kunyi. Liu Kunyi tried to pretend he was too ill to take the appointment and would remain in Beijing through January of 1895, continuously trying to weasel out of the new post. Rumors began to emerge that Liu Kunyi was an opium addict, which was not unheard of, Generals like Ye Zhichao and Wei Rugui were known opium addicts. Despite his attempts to thwart it, Liu Kunyi now commanded the Xiang Army, composed of large numbers of Hunanese and Hubei forces. By December 28th, Liu Kunyi was made commander in chief of the imperial armies within and without the Great Wall, including the territories of Zhili, Shandong and Manchuria. The defense committee had organized 50,000 men for the defense of Zhili, stationing them around Shanhaiguan, with another 55,000 around Beijing. This meant Liu Kunyi had a whopping 105,000 men under his commander with 80,000 of the provincial forces within the theater of operations. General Song Qing meanwhile still held command over 35,000 men in Manchuria alongside another General who was commanded 10,000 at Liaoyang.  As all of the shuffling was going on for the Qing, the Japanese did not simply lay idle. Their primary objective remained Weihaiwei and in January of 1895 as their forces were marching through Manchuria slowly towards Beijing, they split up the 2nd IJA. In the third week of January the entire 2nd division and most of the 6th were handed over to Marshal Oyama who redeployed them across the Yellow Sea to Shandong Province in preparation for an assault upon Weihaiwei. Now when the Japanese attacked Port Arthur, they did so intended to take her naval facilities intact so they could use them, but for Weihaiwei the goal would be much different. The Japanese intended to destroy the Beiyang fleet within her port, so that the seaways would no longer be under any threat, thus allowing Japan to move troops at will, though by this point they had basically already achieved this.  The advance upon Weihaiwei began with a diversionary bombardment of the outlying town of Dengzhou on January 18th. Dengzhou was roughly 100 miles west of Weihaiwei and its defense consisted of four 210mm guns and six 150mm guns. The purpose of the diversionary attack was to turn the Qing attention westward, while the Japanese landed forces 30 miles east of Weihaiwei at the easternmost tip of the Shandong Peninsula known as Rongcheng. Japanese forces departed Dalian on January 19th and 22nd, landing between the 20-23rd. Dengzhou was bombarded by the cruisers Naniwa, Akitsushima and Yoshino as the 2nd IJA forces led by General Oyama Iwao landed at Rongcheng. His 2nd IJA consisted of the 6th division under General Kuroki Tamemoto and the 2nd division under Lt General Sakuma Samata. The 2nd IJA divided into two columns marching west towards Weihaiwei, one over a coastal rode, the other around 4 miles further inland. The Japanese ushered in the Chinese New Year by timing the invasion of Weihaiwei on January 29th. It was the most important holiday to the Chinese and perhaps the Japanese chose it specifically to not only surprise the Chinese but also hammer in a message “that the old days were finished: Wake up and Modernize or suffer dire consequences” Once in the vicinity of Weihaiwei the Japanese performed a three-pronged attack upon the landward fortifications south and east of the town. Weihaiwei had three categories of defenses; those on two harbor islands, those on the mainland overlooking the northwestern entrance to the harbor and those on the mainland overlooking the southeastern entrance to the harbor. These fortifications were equipped with the best artillery available: a total of 161 guns, between 7-24cms worth, mostly of Krupp and Armstrong design; the northern forts had 43 guns; Liugongdao island had 61 guns; Ridao island had 8 guns; the southern forts had 49 guns and the harbor itself held 15 Beiyang warships, 13 torpedo boats and 248 sea mines and booms. Nearly 11,000 Qing defended the city, with another 4000 or so on their way from Tianjin, but they would not make it in time. The troops were led by Admiral Ding Ruchang and Commander of the Dingyuan Liu Buchan. The two Beiyang commanders had little faith in the Qing soldiers under their disposal, and only really trusted the sailors of the Beiyang fleet. The IJN combined fleet had dispatched a naval patrol outside Weihaiwei's harbor threatening any ships that tried to escape with torpedo attacks, leaving the entire Beiyang fleet bottled up. The weather conditions hit as low as -6, with severe blizzards, thus terrible for the incoming Japanese, but a typical summer for Canadians, haha. The most outlying forts were hit first by Japanese artillery. This resulted in a 9 hour long fight until the Qing defenders abandoned the forts, leaving them all nearly intact. During the storming of the outlying forts, Major General Odera Yasuzumi leading the 11th infantry regiment, was hit by shrapnel from a shell fired from the Jiyuan. Odera would die from his wounds and became the only Japanese general to die in combat during the war and the highest ranking Japanese death of the war. He would be posthumously promoted to 3rd Court Rank and his son was ennobled with the title of “Danshaku / Baron”. With the outlying forts seized, the Japanese began turning them upon Weihaiwei itself battering it before the men stormed Weihaiwei on February 2nd.  To probably no surprise of any of you listeners by now, the Japanese entered the city to find the garrison had fled the night before. It turned out when the siege began, the Chinese hospital staff were the first to flee, leaving some foreigners to try and take over medical services. Admiral Ding Ruchang only succeeded in having a few of the forts surrounding the harbor destroyed before the Japanese simply grabbed them. Now the very guns that were meant to protect the Beiyang fleet trapped within the harbor were unleashed upon them. To make matters worse on the night of February the 3rd the Japanese tried to remove the booms blocking the entrance to the harbor but were unable to. The following night they tried again and this time were successful allowing two squadrons of torpedo boats to enter the harbor. Two IJN torpedo boats began opened fire to cause a distraction as others snuck in to try and torpedo the Dingyuan. The Dingyuan received crippling damage as 3 other Qing warships were sunk. The following night a squadron of IJN torpedo boats made repeated attacks upon the largest Qing warships at anchor, disabling two and a transport. By February the 7th the IJA and IJN were launching combined bombardment attacks upon the Beiyang Fleet. In response the Qing torpedo boats not already disabled tried to make a break for it, unsuccessfully running into a IJN blockade. Out of 13 ships, 6 were destroyed and 7 were captured intact by the Japanese. As defeat was certain, Admiral Ito Sukeyuki tried to make an appeal to Admiral Ding Ruchang, who happened to be his personal friend. He wrote a letter urging his old friend to come back with him to Japan. He advised ding to prevent any further loss of life by capitulating and to accept political asylum in Japan until the war's end and that he assured him, he would return to his native land and could secure China's future by setting new policies. "It is not the fault of one man that has brought China into the position she now occupies. The blame rests with the errors of the Government that has long administered her affairs. She selects her servants by competitive examination, and literary attainments are the test" In the modern age China owes her preservation and her integrity to-day wholly to the fact that she then [thirty years ago] broke away from the old and attached herself to the new." Now Ding despite being the Admiral of the Beiyang Fleet, in a typical Qing fashion was greatly out of his element. He had formerly been a cavalry officers, he actually held little naval training at all, he was not even very popular amongst the sailors. He was a man of Anhui province, but most naval officers hailed from Fujian. As was typical, the Qing dynasty favored loyalties rather than military experience, thus led Ding to where he was. He resisted capitulation until the very end and had actually tried to die in action multiple times by standing on deck when bombardments were occurring. According to a foreign advisor "Ding declared at first that capitulation was impossible; but later he said he could arrange it by committing suicide, and so save the lives of many." Depending on the sources you read, he chose to kill himself, or his sailors actually proded him with knives to do so. Admiral Ding Ruchang killed himself via opium overdose, followed by Admiral Liu Buchan and Captain Yang Yonglin who shot himself as the Japanese boarded the Dingyuan. Ding had no choice but to kill himself as Emperor Guangxu had already degraded him the prior summer for not preventing the IJN from entering Bohai. After the fall of Port Arthur the emperor degraded him again and tried to bring him to the Board of Punishment where he would have been beheaded, had it not been for Li Hongzhang intervening on his behalf. Before killing himself Ding wrote back to Ito "I am thankful for the admiral's friendship, but I cannot forsake my duties to the state. The only thing now remaining for me to do is to die." Liu Buchan before doing the same had ordered the scuttling of as many of the Beiyang warships as possible with explosives. Command of the Beiyang fleet fell onto the Scottish born Vice Admiral John McClure who wrote a letter of surrender in Admiral Ding's name on the morning of February 12th. Per the terms of the letter; the remaining ships, forts and stores were surrendered to the Japanese at the request all the Qing troops, civilians and foreign advisors would be allowed to depart unmolested.  Dings suicide wiped away the stain of defeat and made him a tragic war hero to both China and Japan. The Japanese admired his final act since it fit within their bushido code. Admiral Ding alongside the other commanders who committed suicide were honored by the Japanese. They accorded them full military honors and granted their men extraordinary leniency. An American professor who taught English in Japan shortly after the war wrote of the event, explaining its significance to western audiences. "What would have been the feelings of the North for Robert E. Lee if, at Appomattox [when the South capitulated to the North at the end of the American Civil War], rather than share the fate of the gallant men he had surrendered, he had committed suicide from a sense of devoted patriotism? Instead of admiring him for the unsullied hero and knightly character that he was, North and South alike would have despised him. And yet nine out often of my Japanese schoolboys wrote of the suicide of Admiral Ting [Ding] as the noblest thing of which they had ever heard." The letter of capitulation would be the first one handed over to the Japanese without the use of the term Woren. Later on when the war was officially over, the Qing soldiers and officers signed promises not to take further part in the war and were set free by the Japanese. The officers were provided safe passage aboard the gunboat Kangji, which carried the bodies of Ding Ruchang and the other dead captains. The IJN went out of their way to fly flags at half mast and the flagship fired a long salute as the boat bearing Ding's body left port. The fall of Port Arthur had been Empress Dowager's birthday present from Japan. Li Hongzhangs had come on Februray 12th, with the fall of Weihaiwei and 3 days short of his 72nd birthday. Back in Beijing, upon hearing the news of Weihaiwei's fall, Emperor Guangxu in a fit of rage authorized the governor of Shandong province to behead all fugitives without requiring to report back to the capital. The New York Times said of the event "Emulating Alice's Wonderland Queen, China's Emperor Says of Wei-Hai-Wei Defenders, 'Off with Their Heads.'" Some of the Qing leadership began advising the court they should hire foreign mercenaries or even engage Chinese fishermen to attack the Japanese home islands. For men like these, the modern era had still not dawned. In reality, China should have offered peace negotiations after losing Port Arthur, but for many members of the Qing elite this was unthinkable. As allegedly murmured by some “Dwarves could not possibly bring China to her knees”.  On the eve of the offensive against Weihaiwei, Governor Wu Dacheng who now held the titles of assistant imperial commissioner of defense; president of the board of war; vice president of the court of congress; governor of Hunan and officer of the premier button made an official proclamation to the Japanese. It was he, who offered surrender. In his own words "I of a charitable state of mind, and so could not bear to see Japanese troops going to destruction before my fresh battalions in this severe cold." Meanwhile the Japanese publicly reported their objectives of war not yet attained and that the diet was prepared to grant whatever amounts were necessary for military expenses required to finish them. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Japanese had defeated countless Qing armies in Manchuria and now had neutralized China's last great naval port of Weihaiwei. Would the Qing court bend the knee to the Japanese, or continue the fight?  

Last time we spoke about the battle of the Yalu River. It was an absolutely catastrophic week for the Qing dynasty. Within just two days they suffered a major land defeat and now a defeat at sea that practically annihilated the Beiyang fleet. Corruption and incompetence ran rampant as the Beiyang fleet crews found themselves undertrained, understaffed, lacking ammunition and what ammunition they did have, some of it was filled with concrete and porcelain. The Qing dynasty's corruption problems were shown on full display as the IJN combined fleet outperformed them, despite having smaller warships and less of them. Quick firing guns defeated the big guns at Yalu and now the Japanese held control over the seas. The Beiyang fleet now flee's to Weihaiwei to try and repair their ships for another chance at a decisive naval battle, but will it ever come to be?   #52 The First Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1895 Part 4: The Battle for Port Arthur   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. After the battle of the Yalu River, the Japanese had a enormous boost to their propaganda campaign. Despite this the Qing backed press continued their charade of blemishing the losses, take this article from the North China Herald "In spite of the reiterated denials of the Japanese authorities that any of their vessels were badly injured in the recent naval fight, information which we have been able to gather from quarters entitled to all credence, corroborates in a very circumstantial manner the statement that the Japanese lost four vessels in the actual fight, and more probably later on, as the Chinese heavy guns treated them very severely. The Chinese engaged fought with wonderful bravery; there were no skulkers." Despite their claims, by September the 20th the jig was up for the Qing government as foreign military advisers who had participated or witnessed the battle at Yalu arrived to Tianjin. They began spilling the story to the western press, and unlike the Japanese press, the Qing could not simply write them off as mere propaganda. The foreign press corroborated the Japanese reports that 5 Qing warships were had been sunk and “to a man regard the statement that the Japanese lost no ships as a barefaced lie”. Even the foreign eye witnesses could not believe not a single Japanese ship was sunk. The reports caused severe issues for Beijing. This alongside other issues prompted Emperor Guangxu to take an unprecedented move, he summoned Inspector General Constantin von Hanneken, a Prussian officer who was working as a military adviser to the Beiyang fleet for an imperial audience. Von Hanneken was also one of the engineers who helped build the defenses at Port Arthur known to the Chinese as Lushunkou and at Weihaiwei. He of course was present at the battle of the Yalu and the EMperor demanded to learn what actually transpired from him. It certainly says a lot about your Empire, when you would trust a foreigner over your officials.   It is also at this point Japan altered its position on foreign reporters. As mentioned near the beginning of this series, the Japanese opted to have a blackout on news about the war. On August 2nd of 1894 an Imperial Ordinance had been published requiring all newspapers and other publicans to submit any information concerning diplomatic or military affairs to the Japanese government authorities prior to publication. Well after the victories at Pyongyang and Yalu, the Japanese government decided to undermine the Qing war propaganda efforts by allowing foreign correspondence to accompany the IJA. Foreigners would not be given the same accommodation for the Qing ground forces. As explained by a reporter for the Peking and Tientsin times “no one could guarantee the safety of a foreigner accompanying the Chinese troops. Two interpreters accompanying the Second Japanese Army were captured and killed by Chinese forces”. Another major event occurred after the disaster at Yalu, Empress Dowager Cixi abandoned her plans for her extravagant 60th birthday celebration, which really adds to the myth about the embezzlement of naval funds. On September 25th, EMperor Guangxu issued this edict “"H.I.M. the Empress-Dowager, in view of the continuation of the war with Japan, cannot bear to be celebrating her birthday anniversary with great rejoicing while her subjects and soldiers are all suffering from the hardships of war, hence she has commanded that the triumphal progress from Eho [the Summer Palace or Yiheyuan, to the Forbidden City and the celebrations at the former place be given up, and only the ordinary celebrations settled upon in the Palace be observed on the auspicious day. We did our best to try to pray her Majesty to reconsider the above decision, but the grace and virtue of her Majesty has resisted our prayers." It was estimated by the French press that Empress Dowager had spent nearly 80 million francs in preparation for the celebration that was canceled. This is about the time you hear rumors of Empress Dowagers infamous embezzling scandal. It was said by many that she had siphoned naval funds in the figure of 100 million taels which was the reason why the Qing Navy received no significant funding after 1889. As I mentioned in the previous episode, its not so black and white, but indeed the summer palace did see serious renovations. Some of those renovations costs upto 14 million taels and it seems like at least 11 million did come from funds originally dedicated to the navy. There is also a huge amount of irony, as one of these renovations was to refurbish a marble pavilion in the shape of a boat for one of the palace gardens. Too good to be true some would say. The first two key battles of the war were focused on expelling the Chinese from the Korean Peninsula. After the victory at Yalu, the war theater now shifted to Manchuria. The IJA wanted to clear a way from the Korean border to the Liaodong Peninsula in preparation for an attack upon one of her grandest and most important fortresses and naval bases, Port Arthur. The Fortress of Port Arthur took over 16 years to build and its naval station was considered superior to that of Hong Kong. If Port Arthur were to fall, the Qing would be unable to repair their best damaged ships and would succumb to a naval war of attrition. Guarding the southern shores of the Bohai was China's second most important naval base, that at Weihaiwei. Weihaiwei and Port Arthur worked together to check any sea approaches to Beijing. If both fell, the rest of the war would literally descend into mop up operations. Japan's war plan was to execute a pincer attack against Beijing. Their forces would advance in 3 columns. 1) Part of the 1st IJA would move south through Manchuria towards the Liaodong Peninsula; 2) the 2nd IJA would land on the Liaodong Peninsula and advance upon Port Arthur; 3) another part of the 1st IJA would advance from the Korean border towards Mukden, hoping to seize it and use it as a down payment later on to decapitate the Qing dynasty. Once Port arthur was taken, the 1st IJA would continue their land campaign in Manchuria to clear a path to Beijing while the 2nd IJA would amphibious attack Weihaiwei. If successful this would obliterate the Qing southern naval forces and leave Beijing at their mercy. As a coup de grace, the Japanese were also organizing a 3rd IJA at Hiroshima in anticipation for amphibious landings at Dagu to march upon Beijing. However the Japanese were under no illusions of this all coming to be, they figured great powers would intervene at some point to limit their war aims. The Qing counterstrategy was quite minimal; it rested upon the assumption the Japanese would never be capable of crossing the Yalu River. After their defeat at Pyongyang the Qing ground forces made their next stand 125 miles to the north along the Yalu River. The river constituted the boundary between Korea and China. It was deep and wife, making it a formidable obstacle for the advancing Japanese army. Two fortified outposts faced another fromm opposite sides of the river, one at Jiliancheng on the Manchurian side and the other at Uiji on the Korean side. These became the headquarters for the opposing armies. General Song Qing fortified the northern bank of the Yalu for 7 miles going as far south as Andong and 10 miles north to Hushan. General Song Qing was 74 years old, famous for helping suppress the Taiping 30 years prior. He was one of Li Hongzhang's subordinates during the campaign against the Taiping and Nian rebellion. Since 1880 he had served as an assistant to Li Hongzhang, overseeing the defenses of Manchuria. By 1882 he alongside his troops took up a station at Port Arthur, and apparently there he had done very little to modernize the Manchurian army. After the battle of Pyongyang, Li Hongzhang put him in charge of directing the war and gave him authority to reorganize the army. Meanwhile the 1st IJA led by Field Marshal Count Yamagata Aritomo departed from Pyongyang on October 23rd. The 56 year old Yamagata was the father of the modern Japanese army, a leading Meiji era statesman. He had overseen the introduction of national conscription in 1873, the reorganization of the army along first French, then Prussian lines in 1878 and the adoption of an independent General staff system. During the 1880s he also oversaw the organization of the national police force and system of local government. He was prime minister from 1889-1891, during his time he introduced the imperial rescript on education. So needless to say he was a colossal figure. His plan was based on Napoleons successful tactic of making a feint to the front while delivering a blow to the flank, this time directed at Hushan. He planned to use a small force to attack the Qing left flank, in the hopes of turning its flank and feinting the movements of the main bulk of his army. The main bulk would concentrate on the center of the Qing lines. But to do all of this, he had to cross the Yalu.  The Japanese had learned bitter lessons about fording large rivers at Pyongyang, they could have massively lost the battle because they never prepared the tools to ford such things. This time the IJA carefully prepared themselves. Yamagata occupied Uiju by October 23rd with around 10,000 troops of the 3rd and 5th divisions of the 1st IJA. On the other side of the Yalu, General Song Qing had 16 km's of fortifications in the form of hundreds of redoubts and trenches manned by nearly 23,000 troops.  On the night of October 24th, the Japanese crept up to the Yalu river near Uiji and secretly erected a pontoon bridge to get the main body of their forces across. Miraculously this went undetected. The IJA 3rd division led by General Katsuro Taro performed a night attack against Hushan. Incredibly, upon attacking Hushan, the Japanese found the Qing garrison had deserted their fortifications the night before! Simultaneously the IJA 5th division led by General Nozu Michitsura sent his men over the pontoon bridge and attacked Jiuliancheng, also finding positions deserted. In fact only a Qing rear guard even bothered to make a token resistance! In less than 3 hours of combat the fortifications at Hushan and Juliancheng were already in Japanese hands? According to a military analyst named Du Boulay, "The Chinese garrison [at Jiuliancheng] which might have inflicted great damage on the hostile army from behind battlements of solid masonry, silently decamped during the night, keeping up a desultory fire in the meantime, in order to encourage the belief that they intended to retain possession of the stronghold." When the Japanese came to Dandong the situation was the very same. The Qing had abandoned enormous quantities of weapons, rice and other war materials. The battle to stop the Japanese from entering Manchuria resulted in about 34 deaths and 111 wounded or the Qing and practically nothing for the Japanese.  It had turned out the field commanders, Generals Yikteang'a, Ye Zhicheng and Nie Shicheng had all retreated to Fenghuangcheng. Yiketang'a was a Manchu general in control of banner forces from Heilongjiang province and not under direct command of Li Hongzhang. The 1st IJA split into two groups to pursue the fleeing Qing forces. One group was commanded by Lt General Taro who advanced northwards towards Fenghuangcheng chasing after General Nie Shichengs men. At Fenghuangcheng, Yiketang and Nie chose to torch the city and fled the scene by October 30th. By November 15th, the Japanese seized Xiuyan just due west of Fenghuangcheng. By taking both these cities the land approaches to Port Arthur were now severed.  Meanwhile the other Japanese group led by Lt General Oku Yasukata were advancing north towards Mukden. Severe winter conditions began to hit the region as General SOng Qing moved his forces to Liaoyang to block the Japanese advance upon Mukden. Because of the descending winter, both sides went into winter quarters. The Qing sources at this point stopped claiming victories, and instead began presenting events as brave encounters against overwhelmingly superior numbers. Take this from the North China Herald on November 2nd "When the Japanese army of forty odd thousand attacked Chiuliench'eng [Jiuliancheng] on the 24th of October there were only a little over 5,000 Chinese troops to oppose the enemy. But it took the latter two whole days to take the city. When the city was abandoned all the modern Krupp and Hotchkiss guns, over twenty in number, were carried along with the army, the ones left to the enemy being some thirty odd old muzzle-loading pieces, a hundred years old, which had been placed there many years ago as a defence against possible native or Corean marauders." Because of the absence of decent telegraph lines or good roads, communications were extremely slow to come out of the Manchurian campaign. Initial coverage tended to be based more so on rumor than fact, kind of like social media today. It would often take more than a month for a comprehensive account to become known.  General Song Qing's forces had retreated in the general direction of Liaoyang to protect Mukden. It was after all the ancestral home of the Manchu, thus it held tremendous symbolic importance for their dynasty. The city could not afford to lose if the Manchu hoped to still control China. But for the Japanese, Mukden was like their trump card to play later, their primary target of course was Port Arthur. The Manchu leadership were following the traditional strategy focusing on the land war and dynastic continuity while overlooking the need to deny the Japanese access to the coast to continue landing their forces. They assumed China's vast territory and population would prove too much for the Japanese Army, that time was on their side and a war of attrition would deliver victory. This was a possibility of course, a strong government could abandon their capital and continue to fight, but the Manchu's fought under the belief they would lose the dynasty if they left the capital too long. If they were absent too long, perhaps the Han would strike a deal with the Japanese. Thus it was imperative to the Manchu they must thwart Japanese landings in China proper; the key to this of course was to deny Japan access to the key ports in Bohai. To do this they had to hold Port Arthur which held the only repair facilities capable of maintaining their best warships. Their land forces needed to concentrate at Port Arthur, not disperse in Manchuria.  The next order of business for the Japanese was to seize Jinzhou and then Dalian which were on either neck of the Liaodong Peninsula. Once they were taken the Japanese could launch a land offensive against Port Arthur whose primary defenses anticipated an attack by sea. The 2nd IJA of Major General Nogi Maresuke and Lt General Baron Yamaji Motoharu began arriving at  Pi-tse-Wo, present day Pikou along the Liaodong Peninsula on October 24th. Their first objective was Jinzhou, the most important fortified town in southern Fengtian province. It was a major transportation intersection, located at the fork in the road from China proper to the Liaodong Peninsula and Korea. One route followed the western coast of the Peninsula going to Niuzhang and further to parts of the Great Wall of China at Shanhaiguan. The other route went northward to the Yalu River. Jinzhou held a garrison of 1500 soldiers equipped with four 240mm, two 210mm and two 150mm artillery pieces. On November the 6th, General Nogi's men stormed Jinzhou, taking it with very little resistance. Jinzhou was actually quite a tough position to defend because it was surrounded by hills, making it easy for an enemy to position their artillery to batter the fortifications. The next day General Nogi's men advanced upon Dalian. Dalian was garrisoned by 3500 soldiers equipped with 5 forts and batteries consisting of eight 240mm, four 210mm, 6 150mm and two 120mm artillery pieces. It was a formidable fortress and it was taken without a single shot fired. Yes Dalian defenders had all fled to Port Arthur the night prior. Taking Jinzhou and Dalian was literally a cake walk. Dalian was a port town and its dock facilities greatly aided the Japanese supply lines. The Qing defenders of Dalian had left so fast they had even abandoned plans that showed the minefield locations for Port Arthur's defenses. While all of this was going on, the Beiyang fleet and limped back to Port Arthur by early November only to receive orders from Li Hongzhang over in Tianjin, to withdraw to Weihaiwei. It seemed Li Hongzhang did not want to risk another tussle with the IJN combined fleet. Thus Port Arthur would not be reinforced by the Beiyang warships big guns, and to add insult to injury, as the Beiyang fleet was pulling  into Weihaiwei, the battleship Zhenyuan struck some rocks at the entrance to her harbor and had to be beached. The only dockyards capable of repairing either of the two giant German built battleships were at Port Arthur, thus one of China's best warships was out of commission. The commander of the Zhenyuan, Commodore Lin Taizeng, who was the grandson of the famous Lin Zexu who had legendary destroyed the crates of Opium that led to the opium wars was so ashamed of what had happened he committed suicide via opium overdose. That is quite the case of bad luck.  After the battle of Yalu, both Li Hongzhang and Admiral Ding Ruchang's top priority was the preservation of the Beiyang Fleet. Ding was given instructions throughout the rest of the war to defend the Bohai coast from Weihaiwei to the Yalu, basically this meant protecting Beijing where the Manchu leadership were. This strategy wasted the Beiyang fleet on convoy duty instead of interrupting the IJN transportation of troops and materials to the theater of war. But from the Manchu point of view, the top priority was the protection of the dynasty and their most dangerous enemy was not necessarily the Japanese, but rather the Han population of China. Before the battle would commence over Port Arthur, Colonel J.F Maurice of the British Royal artillery informed the London and China express this “a comparatively small Chinese naval force could make it very difficult for the Japanese to transport large quantities of troops to the Asian mainland. Yet Admiral Ding did nothing to impede their troop build up to assault Port Arthur”. The Japanese Weekly Mail were complete dumbfounded at this time and produced this in an article “"When we begin to think what the loss of Port Arthur would signify for the Chinese Fleet, and what the abandonment of the place to its fate would imply under the circumstances, we can not but marvel at China's apparent inaction. Port Arthur is the only dock in north China. Did it come into Japanese possession, the Chinese war-ships would have no place to go for repairs and consequently dare not risk an engagement. Moreover, Port Arthur alone is not invested. The Japanese are holding the entrance to Pechili [Bohai] Gulf...Yet despite its easy accessibility for purposes of relief, and despite the crippling consequences involved in its capture, the Chinese seem resolved to leave it to its fate." It was unbelievable from the Japanese point of view. The very lifeline of the Japanese military relied upon her sealanes and transport. It was so direly needed, even merchant ships were helping the Japanese military to perform the task and they did so completely undaunted. As explained by the North China Herald “ordinary unarmed merchantmen, have been regularly plying to and fro without any escort, and they could have been waylaid and sent to the bottom time after time had China but risen to the occasion. The movement of the Chinese fleet have throughout the war been. . . utterly and incomprehensibly imbecile. . . The Chinese fleet has not attempted to meet the Japanese fleet in the open sea, or weighed a single anchor to hinder and debar the unprotected transports of Japan passing to and fro with their freight of eager invaders”. After the war, Hilary A Herbert the United States secretary of the navy provided an analysis on China's performance against the Japanese. "China had in this war a chance, and only one chance to win, and that lay in her fleet. To seize this chance required aggressive and daring use of that navy. Instead, China had entered upon a losing game of transporting troops to Korea, the battle ground Japan had chosen, in competition with an enemy, whose lines by sea were shorter and whose transports were as three to one. The result of this game was shortly seen in the numbers that met each other at the battle of Ping Yang [P'ydngyang]. Japan, having beaten China in transporting troops to Korea, was then allowed to choose her own time and place for a sea fight in the battle off the Yalu. The first of the untoward results of the unfortunate policy of scattering her war ships upon which China had embarked, was that she was worsted off Asan [at Feng Island], where three of Japan's ships attacked two of the Chinese vessels." The Chinese were doomed. To defeat Japan, China needed to be aggressive and daring. But the whole incentive system in the Qing dynasty penalized anyone who left its traditional war path, which was losing them said war. To break with the norm, to defy traditions and such, even if met with success in battle meant the creation of enemies within the Qing court. No one was willing to take daring action, not even the champion of China at this time, Li Hongzhang.  With Dalian in hand, the Japanese had gained yet another perfect location to have their massive convoys deliver troops and materials. Dalian in many ways was the perfect base of operations to launch an attack upon Port Arthur. Reports began to circulate that within the fortress of Port Arthur, the soldiers had lost all discipline. The foreign military advisor Captain Calder reported this to Li Hongzhang “at Port Arthur with the growing unruliness of the so-called defenders, that the fabric was tottering. The Generals did little else but quarrel amongst themselves and act in opposition. Soldiers were wandering about in mobs, taking pot-shots at electric light lamps and destroying everything in the most wanton way. In some of the smaller forts the soldiers were finding amusement in discharging the smaller guns at everything and anything a small fishing boat for instance”. Before the Japanese made it to Port Arthur, the Chinese defenders of the city began looting it. The North China Herald stated on December 21st "commander of the submarine mines and torpedo corps, in his fright, cut the connecting electric wires and carrying away the firing apparatus immediately fled, his example being well imitated by those under him, so that of the 600 odd torpedoes laid in the harbour not a single one was fired against the enemy. "news of the fall of Port Arthur has been expected every day...Foreigners from Newchwang [Niuzhuang] and Port Arthur give a most deplorable account of the state of things among the common people. All who can are fleeing with such of their possessions as they can take away."" Skirmishes between the Japanese and Chinese began on November 20th on the outskirts around Port Arthur. The next day the main attack began. The Japanese lacked the proper grade and range of ammunition for their larger siege guns, thus the Qing held an enormous advantage in artillery. But the Japanese were able to storm the forts. As reported by the Japan Weekly Mail on December 8th "Chinese gunnery was hopelessly ineffective...What fighting followed was mere carnage...The Chinese officers abandoning their men to their fate, got on board two small steamers that remained in the harbour and put out to sea." It proved unnecessary for the Japanese to besiege the fortress, because the Chinese had given up quickly. The Japanese had begun their assault at midnight on the 21st under some heavy fire initially, but they had stormed all the important landward defenses by noon the following day. Defense by land required coordination among the forts on the semicircle hills surrounding the fortress. But the Chinese were not coordinating, thus the Japanese picked the smaller forts off one by one, turning their fort guns upon the others. Eventually the Japanese took forts closer to Port Arthur and began using their guns on the dockyards and arsenal. The shore fortifications held out a bit longer, but the final one was neutralized by 5pm. During the night of the 22nd, the Chinese defenders began deserting their remaining positions. Most of the Qing officers fled using two small boats in the port, literally ditching their men to their fate. The Qing had abandoned 57 large caliber and 163 small caliber artillery pieces. Within the fortifications and the dockyards were enormous stores of coal that the Japanese would readily take for their warships.  The taking of Port Arthur was a colossal victory for Japan. There were outrageous estimates from the Japanese that they had inflicted over 4000 casualties upon the Qing at Port Arthur and only received 300 in return. Regardless of the real figures, it was the turning point of the war from the perspective of the western world. But while it was a grand victory it would represent a defeat for the Japanese. Ever since the sinking of the Kowshing, the Japanese had striven to acquire a reputation for absolute impeccable behavior on the battlefield. Since then they had demonstrated their military prowess, their high degree of civilization and their humane treatment of civilians and POW's. From a public relations viewpoint, they were brilliant. Even the anti-Japanese North China Herald reluctantly had to agree "Official corruption has certainly sapped China's strength and brought about defeat and loss, and Japan's humane treatment has certainly been the chief cause of her victories." Japan had signed the Geneva Convention and Minister of War Marshal Oyama Iwao had alerted the IJA of their responsibilities as such “Japanese soldiers must never forget that however cruel and vindictive the foe may allow himself, he must nevertheless be treated in accordance with the acknowledged rules of civilization; his disabled must be succored and his captured kindly and considerately protected.Our Army fights for the right and in accordance with the principles of civilization. Our enemies are the military forces of the country with which we are at war, not the individuals of the country. Against the force of our foe we must fight with all resolution, but as soon as any of his soldiers surrender, are taken prisoners, or receive wounds, they cease to be enemies, and it becomes our duty to treat them with all kindness." But at Port Arthur the Japanese would fail tremendously. Because of how the Japanese had treated civilians so well, alongside Oyama's publicized promises, countless civilians stayed within Port Arthur when the Japanese took it. When the Japanese patrols first entered the Port Arthur region on November 18th, they came upon mutilated Japanese bodies. Thomas Cowan of the London Times and James Creelman of the New York World were traveling with the Japanese patrol forces and witnessed this. Cowan had this to say "The sight was most revolting and was sufficient to excite revengeful feelings in the hearts of the best disciplined men." Creelman described what they saw when entering Port Arthur “the Japanese troops found the heads of their slain comrades hanging by cords, with the noses and ears gone" and "a rude arch in the main street decorated with bloody Japanese heads." Throughout the war, the IJA would discover severed heads and other mutilated body parts of their fallen comrades, but until Port Arthur they had not taken their revenge it seemed. One particularly bad incident occurred on November 18th when the IJA found a large group of wounded soldiers they had left behind in an area, were severely mutilated with their hands and feet cut off. As one eye witness, James Allan wrote after the war "Strongly as the massacre by the Japanese troops in Port Arthur is to be condemned, there is not the slightest doubt in the world that the Chinese brought it on themselves by their own vindictive savagery towards their enemies...[O]ne of the first things I saw on the morning of the 19th was a pair of [Japanese] corpses suspended by the feet from the branches of a huge camphor tree...They had been disemboweled; the eyes were gouged out, the throat cut, the right hand severed. They were perfectly naked, and groups of children were pelting them with mud and stones." When the Japanese began moving into the region on November 18th, the Qing government had issued bounties on POW's. Up to 50 taels were given for Japanese heads or other body parts.  When the Japanese came to the fortress of Port Arthur there were several mutilated body parts of their comrades displayed at the entrance to the city. Several soldiers including Lt Kijiro Nanbu vowed revenge. The IJA entered the city at around 2pm and they began killing everyone who remained in the city.  Here is a diary entry from Makio Okabe of the 1st division “As we entered the town of Port Arthur, we saw the head of a Japanese soldier displayed on a wooden stake. This filled us with rage and a desire to crush any Chinese soldier. Anyone we saw in the town, we killed. The streets were filled with corpses, so many they blocked our way. We killed people in their homes; by and large, there wasn't a single house without from three to six dead. Blood was flowing and the smell was awful. We sent out search parties. We shot some, hacked at others. The Chinese troops just dropped their arms and fled. Firing and slashing, it was unbounded joy. At this time, our artillery troops were at the rear, giving three cheers [banzai] for the emperor.” James Allen tells us "Nobody was spared, man, woman, or child, that 1 could see. The Chinese appeared to offer no resistance. Many of them prostrated themselves on the ground before the butchers with abject submission, and were shot or stabbed in that posture. The dead were mostly the townspeople; their valiant defenders seemed to have been able to make themselves scarce.the diabolical orgy of murder and mutilation, rape, lust, and rapine."" Thomas Cowan had this to say during the first day of the cities capture "I was greatly surprised next day to find them still killing the Chinese. They practically routed out the whole of the town: every house was entered and searched; the Chinese were driven out and killed; some were even killed in the houses." The Japanese press tried to place the blame of the massacres upon coolies working for the IJA, but as Cowan explained “The murders were all done by soldiers in uniform; not the work of coolies, so far as I could see." The Japanese press also tried to argue the case that it was difficult to distinguish civilians from combatants, and indeed many Qing soldiers wore civilian clothing, but this did not account for the killing of women and children. Again Cowan tells us  "the hillsides around Port Arthur were strewn with their uniforms. I saw scores of Chinese hunted out of cover, shot down and hacked to pieces, and never a man made any attempt to fight...I watched intently for the slightest sign of cause, confident that there must be some, but I saw none whatever. The Japanese perhaps also are barbarous at heart, like the Chinese. To prove it, for the fact remains that a dozen white men saw these Japanese commit these savageries for four clear days after the day of the fight." Western press reports like Cowan were corroborated by diaries from Japanese soldiers.  Creelman ran into a Japanese legal advisor named Agria Nagao of the 2nd IJA who told him this "On the night of the second day [of the massacre] the legal adviser of the army told me that Field Marshal Oyama regarded the continued slaughter as quite justifiable. 'Prisoners are a burden.We took a few hundred prisoners at Pingyang [Pyongyang], and we found it very expensive and troublesome to feed and guard them. We are taking practically no prisoners here."'" The massacre lasted several days, and one of the reports many Western audiences would remember was this chilling one from Cowan “Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were spent by the soldiery in murder and pillage from dawn to dark, in mutilation, in every conceivable kind of nameless atrocity, until the town became a ghastly Inferno to be remembered with a fearsome shudder until one's dying day. I saw corpses of women and children, three or four in the streets, more in the water ... Bodies of men strewed the streets in hundreds, perhaps thousands, for we could not count – some with not a limb unsevered, some with heads hacked, cross-cut, and split lengthwise, some ripped open, not by chance but with careful precision, down and across, disembowelled and dismembered, with occasionally a dagger or bayonet thrust in the private parts. I saw groups of prisoners tied together in a bunch with their hands behind their backs, riddled with bullets for five minutes and then hewn to pieces. I saw a junk stranded on the beach, filled with fugitives of either sex and of all ages, struck by volley after volley until – I can say no more.”  The scale of the killing has long been debated. Figures range dramatically. Scout reports sent by Li Hongzhang placed civilian deaths at 2700 within the city, but this did not account for the countless people slaughtered in the surrounding area. After WW2 the CCP built a cemetery proclaiming the death toll to be 20,000, this figure includes the soldiers as well, but the number has been orthodoxy ever since. Creelman asserted 60,000 were slain, which would have represented the entire population around Port Arthur. It was a atrocious beyond imagination. As Creelman explains in the greater context of national status "The Japanese troops entered Port Arthur on Nov. 21 and massacred practically the entire population in cold blood. The defenseless and unarmed inhabitants were butchered in their houses and their bodies were unspeakably mutilated. There was an unrestrained reign of murder which continued for three days. The whole town was plundered with appalling atrocities. It was the first stain upon Japanese civilization. The Japanese in this instance relapsed into barbarism." Japan's meticulous crafted public image as the only civilized nation in the Far East was shattered. It would even threaten to upset the ratification of an American-Japanese treaty providing japan juridical equality. Japan had undone so much they had worked for in just a few days of senseless slaughter. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The victory and capture of Port Arthur was a major turning point of the war, but it represented not just victory but also a defeat in many ways for Japan. Her public image had been shattered by senseless slaughter, would it undue everything?  

Last time we spoke about about the first large land battles of the First Sino-Japanese War: the battles of Seonghwan and Pyongyang. The Qing's plan to perform a pincer attack from the north and south of Korea was smashed when they lost Asan. However not all was lost, they still held the extremely formidable defensive position at Pyongyang with some of their best units and best equipment. The Japanese 1st Army deceived the Qing defenders and made an incredible victory at Pyongyang sending the remaining survivors fleeing towards the Yalu River. It was a tremendous blow to the Chinese despite their home press proclaiming every event to be a victory. Now the Qing have their backs against the wall along the Yalu, if the Japanese were to take it they could march right into Manchuria. While the Qing be able to rally themselves and hold the Japanese within Korea, or will this war see action within their borders?    #51 The First Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1895 Part 3: The battle of the Yalu River   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Literally a day after the battle of Pyongyang, the second major battle of the entire war took place. The IJN had been trying to engage a very reluctant Qing navy who were under orders not to cross the Yalu-Weihaiwei line. Well the Japanese crossed it for them. The Beiyang fleet had difficulties operating in the open sea, where the IJN warships held an advantage in speed and better maintenance. The Beiyang fleet thus operated more so along the coastlines, with her two colossal German built battleships the Dungyuan and Zhenyuan only capable of hitting 15-16 knots speed. To give a comparison, the IJN ships had a rough average speed of 20 knots. Now in early September, Li Hongzhang decided to reinforce the Qing forces at Pyongyang and he had his Beiyang fleet escort their transports to the mouth of the Taedong River. On September 12th around 4500 Qing troops left Dagu aboard 5 transports heading for Dalian where they joined 2000 more troops. Admiral Ding Rucheng, initially wanted to send the transports with only a light escort, keeping the bulk of the Beiyang fleet in a safer position incase the IJN combined fleet offered battle. However reports of sightings of the Japanese cruisers Yoshino and Naniwa who were performing reconnaissance near Weihaiwei led to disaster for the Qing. The Beiyang Fleet commanders took these reports to indicate the IJN combined fleet were all around Weihaiwei, it just so happened the entire Beiyang Fleet was to head to Weihaiwei on the 13th. The Qing hunted down the cruisers for an entire day, but found no sight of them, so Admiral Ding turned back for Dalien arriving on the 15th.  The Japanese victory at Pyongyang meant the Qing land forces were concentrating at the Yalu River. Reports began to reach Admiral Ding about the supposed grand victory, but he read between the lines the truth of the matter when the reports also stated the transport of further troops to the mouth of the Taedong river was no longer necessary. Admiral Ding surmised correctly that the Qing line of defense would now be established on the Yalu River, so he decided to bring the troops there. At around 1:00am on the 16th the Beiyang fleet and the 5 transports departed Dalian Bay. The Beiyang fleet consisted of the 2 ironclad battleships, the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, a smaller coastal defense battleship called the Pingyuan, the cruisers Laiyuan, Jiyuan, Jingyuen, Jingyuan and Zhiyuen, smaller cruisers Chaoyong, Kwan Chia, Yangwei and the gunboats Guangbing, Zhennan, Zhenzhong, Fulong and Zuo 1. Now I really need to take a moment here to explain a lot about the two opposing naval forces. These Qing ships I just listed, most of them were built before 1887, for the Japanese the majority would be built after 1890. About 10 significant ships from each side would take part in the upcoming battle; for the Qing the two battleships which each holding ⅓ more displacement than the largest Japanese warship. The Qing warships could only go as fast as their slowest, and the two battleships only pulled 15 or so knots, meaning the IJN would enjoy a massive advantage in speed.  The armaments of the Beiyang fleet were created mostly at the Jiangnan and Fuzhou Shipyards and they were by far and large superior to that of the Japanese. They had foreign expertise overlook the developments, but because of the nature of the Qing navy this did not extend to the maintenance for the ships. Qing regional leaders were skeptical of Li Hongzhang and the naval board, and refused to pay anything more than the bare minimum required for the basic maintenance of the navy. Many of these regional leaders were not happy about the naval board having its director being the Manch Prince Chu'un, and his successor Manchu Prince Qing. Why were they not happy you might ask, well other than the regular ethnic rivalries. Neither Manchu director could administer funds properly nor prevent Empress Dowager Cixi for allegedly diverting funds for other purpose, now hold on a minute for those who might be screaming “thats a myth” I will get to it. A lot of rumors sprang up that the Empress Dowager had embezzled funds from the navy to restore the old summer palace, this is infamous to anyone who learns 19th century Chinese history. In fact, as the story goes Cixi had rebuilt the expensive Marble Boat in the palace garden with funds that were earmarked for modernizing the navy. It is alleged Cixi devoted 100 million taels to the purpose of rebuilding the summer palace and the Qing navy would not see additional funding after the year 1889. Some estimate the summer palace renovations took 11 million from the naval funds, enough to buy around 6-7 warships. To be honest I am a huge fan of a podcast called “Our Fake History” and I hope he tackles this myth one day. But it seems Empress Dowager Cixi was not wholly at fault for the decline of the Qing navy. No it seems Emperor Guangxu's quote “lack of interest” in developing and maintaining the military was to blame. Grand Tutor Weng Tonghe advised Guangxu to cut all funding to the navy and army, because he did not see Japan as a true threat, and during the 1890's large natural disasters occurred which seemed a much more pressing issue to allocate funds to. After the Taiping Rebellion could you blame the emperor? Regardless its just to say its not black and white, there were numerous variables when it came to the funding scandals. But as a Chinese friend of mine put it once, “everyone learns about Cixi embezzling for the palace at the cost of the navy”, it certainly is the prevailing idea.  Li Hongzhang's ordnance supply officer for the Beiyang fleet was his son in law Zhang Peilun who was referred to by Professor Wiliam Lockwood as a quote “champion swindler”. He described the man to so corrupt, sailors would often find shells filled with sand and quote “when the shooting began, the Chinese fleet found that its total supply of ammunition amounted to fourteen shells per gun. Two 7000 ton ironclads had only 3 shells in all for their 10 inch guns”. There is zero question on the issue of corruption when it came to the Qing navy in the late 19th century. They were hampered with shortages of ammunition, there are even reports some shells were filled with cement rather than explosives. Not only would the Qing sailors find little shells to fire during the battle of Yalu, imagine the lack of practice as a result of never having ammo? Poor accuracy and seriously questionable naval orders during battle would plague the Beiyang fleet. Alongside the lack of ammo it is also alleged the Qing warships had half their crews, because of salary embezzlement. So the Beiyang fleet would come into the battle undermanned, undertrained and underequipped, the recipe for disaster. Now as for the Japanese, the IJN combined fleet consisted of 2 formations: the flying squadron composed of the 4 fast cruisers: Yoshino, Takachiho, Akitsushima and Naniwa led by Admiral Tsuboi Kozo. And the main fleet consisting of the cruiser and flagship Matsushima followed by Chiyoda, Itsukushima, Hashidate and the ironclads Fuso and Hiei led by Admiral Ito Sukeyuki. There were also two dispatch vessels, the Saikyo Maru led by the Swedish born captain John Wilson and the Gunboat Akagi. Unlike the Beiyang fleet which was 1 of the 4 non cooperating fleets that made up the Qing navy, the IJN combined fleet were consolidated under a single command, always unified, trained extensively together as a single fighting force. Although many of the Qing ships had more armor, they were slower and the Japanese specifically trained using the Jeune d'ecole strategy, emphasizing speed and quick firing guns to overcome larger opponents. The Japanese would be coming into this battle with adequate ammunition, better training and the specialization in fighting larger battleship class ships by outmaneuvering and outfiring them. I always found it easier using gamer terms, the Japanese adopted a glass cannon strategy, relying on speed over defense, but alongside that their enemy greatly lacked proper firing capabilities making the Japanese a charmander to the chinese bulbasaur. The Qing's ironclads had short barrels as main armaments, meaning their shells had low muzzle velocity, resulting in poor penetration and terrible accuracy, especially at long range which they never should be firing at anyways. Although the Qing sailors were well drilled, they had practically no gunnery practice as a result of having no ammunition to work with. The lack of training in gunnery in combination to not having shells to fight with, or having the wrong caliber shells on certain ships and literally finding out some shells might be filled with cement or porcelain would lead to disaster. Aboard the Jingyuan was US naval advisor Philo McGiffin who went on the record saying “many of the gunpowder charges were thirteen years old and condemned”. Sadly Li Hongzhang had tried to delay a naval battle against the Japanese specifically to give his fleet more time to equip their ships with additional ammunition, but the Qing imperial court deemed this cowardice and forced his hand to press on. In the end, the Qing fleet was bigger and armed with bigger guns, but the Japanese would be faster, and capable of firing their smaller guns more so and more accurately.  Admiral Ding's Beiyang Fleet reached the mouth of the Yalu River at around 2pm. The transports escorted by 5 warships: the Zhennan, Zhenzhong, Guangbing, Pingyuan and a torpedo boat landed the troops until the morning of the 17th. Meanwhile the other Beiyang ships anchored in some shallow waters around 8 nautical miles south west of the mouth of the Yalu river. At 9:20am on the 17th the fleet conducted a training exercise lasting for about an hour and a half, before returning to their anchorage, but soon after at 11:28am, observers aboard the Qing warships began to spot smoke coming from the south-west.  Admiral Ding attempted to form his fleet into a southward facing line abreast using his two battleships in the center. In the line going left to right were the Guangjia, Jingyuan, Jiyuan, Zhiyuan, Laiyuan, Jingyuen, Yangwei and Chaoyong. Another group of four ships led by the slow Pingyuan were escorting the transports upriver and were forced to try and catch up which they would around 2:30. Late in the morning the two fleet began approaching another in very different formations. The Qing were trying to uphold their line abreast, but there was enormous confusion in signals, no doubt to the fact all of their signal books were written in english and very few of the officers could speak or were familiar with english. Added to this was the differing speeds of the various ships, thus they ended up in a asymmetricalwedge formation with the two battleships at the fore and the other vessels trailing behind on two flanks. According to various accounts, there was a consensus that the formation was done in great disorder. In fact it may not have been a deliberate formation, but rather the order in which the warships simply foundselves in as they tried to form a line abreast. For the IJN combined fleet they approached in a single column formation with the flying squadron in the front, followed by the main squadron. The order of ships in line for the Japanese was first the fasted protected cruisers, Yoshino, Naniwa Takachiho and Akitsushima. Then came the flagship Matsushima alongside her two sisters, followed by Chiyoda, Fuso, Hiei, Akagi, and the Saikyo Maru. With the Beiyang fleet in sight, Admiral Sukeyeki gave orders for the flying squadron to attack the Chinese right flank, hoping to annihilate their weaker boats at the end of the formation. Upon seeing the flying squadrons maneuvers, Admiral Ding ordered his ships to change course in such a way that it would have exposed his flagship, the Dingyuan, but put the rest of the squadron in a good position to fire upon the Japanese. However, Admiral Ding's Captain aboard the Dingyuan ignored the order allegedly out of cowardice, instead he ordered the Dingyuan to fire its main guns well before the Japanese were even within range. The order to fire apparently caused great confusion amongst the other ships, seeing the Chinese right flank firing into a maelstrom against the IJN warships, but the CHinese left flank basically was left out of the action. Now Admiral Ding aboard his flagship Dingyuan, alongside her sister Zhenyuan went straight forward against the IJN's center hoping to tussle the most while the rest of the Beiyang fleet maneuvered around to avoid hits. In one source I was reading, they tell a tale that the initial firing of Dingyuans main battery was aimed directly forward and thus literally destroyed her own flying bridge and quote “thereby demolishing the temporary flying bridge on which Admiral Ding was standing. Ding's leg was crushed so he could not stand, let alone walk, during the hositilities. This made it impossible for him to repeat his order in time. The wounds would also make it fiddicult for him to follow the battle”. However as pointing out by Pilo McGiffen in his memoris “Ding was merely catapulted by the shockwave of the guns going off”. Historians have come to a consensus today that the flying bridge was hit by the Japanese and Admiral Ding's poor legs were crushed as result of their gunfire to it, alongside countless officers who were killed and injured.  The Dingyuna opened fire at 5000 meters, which was ridiculously too far to cause damage to the Japanese ships. As soon as the Dingyuan opened fire, the rest of the Qing warships followed suit, wasting countless precious shells firing from too far a range to possibly hit the Japanese vessels. According to Vice Admiral G.A Ballard of the British navy, the Qing formation doomed her from the beginning, as the line abreast strategy required the strongest ships, not the weakest to be on the wings in order to prevent the weaker ships from being picked off, which the Japanese would do. The Qing also failed to change course in such a way as to prevent the Japanese from going around their wing allowing their vessels to deliver full broadside gunfire at close range. The Japanese held their fire for a full 20 minutes as they simply headed diagonally across the Beiyang fleet going twice their speed. On the signal of Admiral Ito the Japanese squadrons divided with the flying squadron led by Tsuboi ramping from 8knots to 14knots heading for the center of the Qing formation. The Qing were confused by this sudden bullrush towards them, but then Tsuboi's formation turned slightly to port, moving around the right flank of the Chinese formation as they began to open fire on the weakest units from the effective range of 3000 meters or less. The Japanese gunfire first battered the Chaoyong and Yangwei, as Tsuboi steered his squadron northward to engage the Qing reinforcements coming from the Yali River, this was the Pingyuan group.  Meanwhile the IJN main squadron followed the same course direction as the flying, but to the Chinese left flank, making a full turn around them to circle behind and hit their rear. However their slowest ships, the Fuso and Hiei came instead came into a shorter range and boldly steered right between the two Qing battleships, passing through their line receiving and returning fire as they did. They would join their main squadron coming out on the opposite side. Unfortunately for the Akagi, she broke through the Chinese line towards the left its center and came across 3 Qing warships to her stern, just within 800 meters. Akagi was hit with a shell to her bridge which killed her Captain and several others; her forward magazine was destroyed and she tried to speed up to avoid more hits. Over in the flying squadron, the Yoshino could see the peril of the Hiei and Akagi, so instead of leading down the enemy's rear, she changed course more to starboard to come to their rescue, wedging herself between the enemy and the Akagi. As Yoshino did this she poured shells from her broadsides upon the enemy and now the Chinese right wing was enveloped between two fires. The flying squadron was now turning with starboard helm, passing a second time entirely around the Chinese right flank. The Hiei and Akagi signaled their damage and and received permission to retire out of action. Three Qing warships the Laiyuen, Zhiyuen and Kwang-ki tried to pursue the Hiei and Akagi, but despite their damage they managed to outpace them and returned fire from a distance. The Zhiyuen returned to the battle, the Laiyuen received too much damage had was taken out of the action and the Kwang-ki fled. In the center and right of Admiral Ding's fleet the gun battle was raging. The admiral had been wounded 20 minutes into the fight and because of his injured Commodore Liu Tai Tsan had to take command of the fleet. All four of Zhenyuans heavy guns were knocked out by IJN quick firing guns early into the fight, thus she was reduced to using her 6 inch guns. The Yangwei and Chaoyong who were stuck on the very outside of the right flank received the initial hellstorm from the Japanese as they passed by. Both ships were battered early and unable to fire back. The Chaoyong was ablaze and ran aground over a large rock while the Yangwei also ablaze beached to save herself. The Chaoyong was last seeing settling after, before sinking with her upper mast remaining above the surface. The Zhiyuen was forced to retire early as all 3 of her gun carriages were hit by IJN quick firing guns. The Beiyang fleet as a whole was caught between the two IJN squadrons who were unleashing their broadsides upon them to devastating effect. The Qing were evidently tossed into a state of chaos with some ships fleeing, others dueling, some sinking already. The Japanese kept up their column formation, making circles around their enemy, they would make 3 full circles during the battle. After some time the DIngyuan attempted to close in on her enemy, to the Japanese it looked like she was trying to ram one of them. She broke the formation with 3 other ships charging at full speed. Admiral Ito reported in his action report “that at half past 2 the Jingyuan steamed past the front of hi squadron, but she received such a storm of projectiles that her crew seemed to fall into a state of the greatest confusion, and presently she took fire” The Jingyuan was battered too badly that she adopted to try and flee at the last moment, but the Japanese flying squadron chased her down battered her until she sank. It is said her gunners kept returning fire until she was under the waves. At 3:20 the severely damaged and burning Zhiyuan had returned to the fight after chasing the Akagi and attempted to ram the Naniwa or Yoshino depending on the source, but she would be shot upon until she sank in the process taking with her Captain Deng Shichang. Captain Shichang was one of their greatest commanders and spent some time overseas evaluating foreign fleets, his loss was a grave one. At 3:30 the two flagships were in close range and the Matsushima's main turret was hit by a 12 inch shell. There was not great damage, but fires began over the deck. Another shell hit Matsushima's forward 4.7 inch rapid fire gun killing some men and hurtled the turret across the ship violently. The Japanese flagship had been the target of many of the Qing warships from the offset of battle and received numerous hits. Her commander and first Lt were killed alongside 120 men. Admiral Ito was forced to transfer his flag to the Hashidate. Also at 3:30 firing ceased on both sides as many were putting out massive fires. It took around an hour for the gun duels to really pick up again. 5 IJN warships of the main squadron were fighting back and forth with the 2 Qing battleships until around 6pm. The Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were able to resist the punishment because of their heavy armor, but all the sailors on deck were decimated by shells and fragments going everywhere. When the Qing opened fire upon the Japanese as they passed from port to starboard, they failed to score any significant hits using their 12 inch and 8.2 inch guns. The two IJN squadrons had made full circles of the Beiyang fleet, using their quick firing guns, smashing the Qing warships superstructures and swept their deck's with carnage.  During the melee, quite a few of the IJN warships received devastating hits as well. The Yoshino, Akagi and Saikyo Maru were put out of action from sustained hits. The Hiei who was a much slower ship than the rest, received severe damage and it did not help her captain had decided not to follow the flying squadrons sweep maneuver, but instead pass directly through the Qing line. This poor decision made the Hiei a very easy target as she ran a gauntlet. By late afternoon the Beiyang fleet was tipping to the point of collapse, many warships had literally fled for their lives or had been sunk. The Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were nearly out of ammunition. Aboard the Dingyuan, Admiral Ding was pretty much out of commission and their foremast was destroyed making it impossible to signal to the rest of the fleet. The rest of the Qing ships began forming up into pairs of 3 to mutually support another in the duels.  When the Japanese had begun firing, the Jiyuan turned to flee from the offset, and upon seeing this the Guangjia joined. Jiyuan was hit only once, as for Guangjia, she quickly became lost and ran aground, forced to be scuttled by her crew later. There are also claims, the Jiyuan may have collided with the Yangwei causing her to sink during this process. The Saikyo Maru tried to finish off the Yangwei which managed to beach itself. The Saikyo Maru got roughly handled from the beginning of the fight. She had first opened fire from a long range, but then got close to the Qing ironclads. After an hour of combat, her steering gear got damaged sending her sailing off uncoordinated. Upon seeing her in distress the Pingyuan tried to hunt her with some torpedo boats. Torpedoes were fired at the Saikyo Maru, they all missed with some getting within 40-50 yards of her. The Saikyo Maru fled for her life and would escape. The better trained, better maintained IJN rapid firing guns simply out performed the Chinese, who had limited ammunition, ill maintained equipment, less gunnery training and well when you find out some of your shells have cement or porcelain in them, I would say demoralized as well. While the Japanese were certainly scoring better and more significant hits, this did not mean the Qing were not fighting for their lives however. The Qing warships continued to fire everything they had. The Laiyuan, despite being a burning wreck continued to fire upon the enemy to the bitter end. The primary armaments of the Qing battleships fired 197 rounds, scoring around 10 hits. While this is extremely low, when they did hit they knocked out the Japanese flagship from the battle, but unfortunately for the Chinese they were unable to deliver killing blows. Overall the Beiyang fleet scored about 10 percent of their hits. The Japanese scored roughly 15 percent, but take into consideration the Japanese were firing at a rate 3 times to that of the Chinese.  When night was coming upon them, Admiral Ding gathered the remnants of his Beiyang fleet and steered towards Lushunkou. The Japanese had 4 ships severely damaged, with some light damage to two. The Japanese had around 180 deaths, 200 wounded. The flagship Matsushima suffered the worst amount of casualties at around 100, after receiving a 12 inch shell. Hiei would have to be retired from combat because of her injuries; Akagi lost many men and required repairs; the Saikyo Maru which was not really a warship, she was actually a converted liner that lacked offensive armament, but came into the fray nonetheless was hit by 4 12 inch shells which knocked out her steering sending her wandering for quite some time. The Qing had lost the Zhiyuen, Yangwei, Kwang-ki, Chaoyong and Jingyuan, with 850 deaths and 500 wounded. The Dingyuan was reported to have been hit with no less than 200 hits, but her thick armor protected her from serious damage. The deepest dents were around 3 inches. Her upper deck was completely destroyed by fire; two secondary battery guns were disabled, all of her signal halliards were shot away, but her engines were in perfect working order. The Zhenyuen was hit approximately 120 times, but her injuries proved worse than her sister. Her main battery was crippled and when she made it to anchorage she was nearly sinking. The Laiyuen suffered most from fire damage, she had to be gutted fore and after with the deck and bulkheads about her magazines being found red hot. The Pingyuan according to Admiral Ito's report suffered horribly from fires, but she took little part in the fighting. Of the entire fleet only 3 escaped without serious injury, the Jingyuen, Jiyuan and Guangbing. The Yantai correspondent of the Shanghai based newspaper, the China Gazette had this to say after the battle "There is no doubt the Chinese fought bravely, but they were no match for the Japanese whose tactics were admirable throughout the fight...The unfortunate Chinese gunners lost their heads and fired wildly, their officers left their ships at the mercy of the enemy by their clumsy seamanship while, on the other hand, almost every shot of the Japanese told." A reporter for The Japan Weekly Mail said this "The Japanese men-of-war preserved their battle array intact from first to last, but the Chinese were soon compelled to fight without any tactical order." The New York Times ran the headlines, "China's Waterloo in Corea. Japan's Great Naval Victory." After the battle the Japanese discovered to their intense interest that some of the Chinese shells were filled with cement instead of explosives. They also reported finding some ammunition filled with porcelain, others being the wrong caliber for the guns on the ships. It seemed to the Japanese military leadership they had grossly underestimated the degree of corruption and incompetence within the Qing dynasty. Admiral Ito chose not to pursue the fleeing Beiyang fleet because he knew his fleet lacked weapons capable of sinking the two ironclad battleships. Unbeknownst to him the Beiyang fleet had basically fired all of their ammunition and the two battleships were sitting ducks. According to Sir Robert Hart, the inspector general of the Qing maritime customs, on the eve of the battle of the Yalu quote “the Chinese had no shells for their Krupp artillery and no powder for their Armstrong guns, these were some of the main offensive weapons of their fleet”. The IJN would be criticized for not pursuing the Qing later on, but the admirals were making decisions based on the knowledge they held at the time and that knowledge was that they could not take down the two battleships.  The loss at Pyongyang on land and at Yalu upon the sea were devastating to the Qing and absolutely dazzled foreign presses. It was recognized that after the battle of the Yalu, it was Japan who controlled the sea. Meanwhile the official battle report handed back to the Qing imperial court was this “the Chinese fleet had defeated a numerically superior fleet of the Woren...sinking three of the enemy's ships and severely injuring the rest, but losing four of our own in the battle." The Japanese would actually find an official dispatch to Li Hongzhang later on in Port Arthur that said this concerning the battle of Yalu "more terrible than any to be found in the Naval records even of Western countries. The ships of both sides were considerably damaged, especially those of the enemy. The enemy retired first, so that victory may more or less be said to have rested with us. Had not our rear become disordered, the entire victory would have been ours." The dispatch also went on to recommend rewards for those who fought bravely at Yalu. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. While the Qing had the bigger ships, bigger guns and more armor, the Japanese managed to defeat them because of better training, better maintenance and well, having ammunition seemed an important variable also.  

Last time we spoke about about the emerging war between Big brother China and Little brother Japan. Li Hongzhang struggled to do everything he possible could to thwart the outbreak of war with Japan, but he could not stop the inevitable. The Japanese began landing troops and soon seized King Gojong trying to force Korea to take up the reforms they wanted them to. Li Hongzhang tried to keep the Qing forces at a distance, but the Japanese would not stop reinforcing their position in Korea. Eventually Li Hongzhang decided to play with what he thought was a Japanese bluff, sending further reinforcements to Asan, but the IJN intercepted the transports and disaster struck. The IJN sank the Kowshing and other Qing vessels ushering in the first shots of the First Sino-Japanese War. The Genie was out of the bottle and could not be put back in.   #50 The First Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1895 Part 2: The battles of Seonghwan and Pyongyang   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The battle of Pungdo and sinking of the Kowshing robbed the Qing of 1100 men and 12 pieces of artillery along with other war materials that were needed at Asan. It's important also to remember the major differences between Japan and China when it came to their military forces. The Qing were composed of multiple different forces, as a journalist at Le Journal des debats politiques et litteraires said “there are chinese troops: there is no Chinese army, or rather there are as many armies as there are regions”. I know for those of you listening to the series I repeat the structure of the Qing military too often, but I imagine some people listening only joined us for the First Sino-Japanese War, so welcome and here is how the Qing military works. You have the 1) 8-banners army made up of Manchu, Mongol, Muslim and Han banners, 2) the Green Standard army which can be honestly seen more as a armed police force, made mostly because the 8-banners were very outdated 3) then there is the Yong Ying militias and hired mercenaries 4) lastly we have the foreign training army which are basically private armies held by grand officials like Li Hongzhang. The Yong-Ying's were pretty much the bread and butter, serving as a kind of national guard and sent to hot spots within the empire where rebels would break out. Many of these Yong-Ying types received foreign training thus fall into that 4th category, making them like the cream of the crop. Overall Yong-Ying's and well trained troops make up 10% of the total Qing forces, the Green standards make up the vast majority. Li Hongzhang like I said had a personal army, the Huai Army, created to fight the Taiping back in the 1860's. They were the elites, but as Li aged, he lessened his oversee on them. Adding to Li's age, the Qing court was reluctant to fund such an army, led by a Han no less, who might become too powerful and unseat their Manchu ruled dynasty. I mean they had good reason to worry, Li Hongzhang's teacher Zeng Guofan got to a point he could have done this with his army, he just chose to retire instead, kind of a Sulla thing to do I always find. Now as you can see the Qing military is quite regional in nature with many warlord like figures controlling private armies and the Qing state controlling the less effective forces, it severely lacked unity. So to was the situation of the Qing navy. There were 4 autonomous squadrons: the Beiyang (northern), Nanyang (southern), Fujian and Guangdong. Only the Beiyang possessed a modern fleet based at Weihaiwei and under the control of Li Hongzhang, yes old Li had a lot of firepower. China's arsenals and naval academics were the property of their province of origin and count not be counted on to supply other provinces in the event of…oh I dunno a war. We saw during the Sino-French War of 1884-1885 how this could led to disaster, when Li's Beiyang fleet declined to help the Nanyang fleet. Well, that decision came to bite him right in the ass, as now it would be the Nanyang fleet who would ignore his calls for him. Even within the Beiyang fleet, the guns and ammunition were not standardized. Gunpowder was local and not appropriate for import guns resulting in logistical mayhem. The supply system was likewise very ad hoc and prone to flaws leading to the Beiyang squadron grossly undersupplied. Again another reason for all of this ridiculousness, was the Manchu not wanting the Han military to be strong enough to overthrow them. The Manchu deliberately prevented the creation of a unified national army, it was the basis of their strategy since they defeated the Ming dynasty. The German press would focus on the fundamental weaknesses of the Qing land forces and on the eve of the war an article stated this “the lack of a unified command. Each of the provincial armies was the personal creation of that province's governor. It is naturally in the interest of each [provincial] Viceroy to retain the fruit of his exertions for himself; in no case is he inclined to come to the assistance of a neighbour who is worse provided, and incur the danger of denuding his own province, for whose safety he is responsible with his head. The same system of individual responsibility applied down through the military ranks. It squelched initiative and promoted defensive rather than preemptive action. By this system, common action is virtually excluded." It really was a terrible system, backed by horrific punishment for failure. Punishments ranged from exile to cudgel blows to executions. If you failed to hold your position against an enemy attack you were decapitated. If you destroyed arms the Qing government gave you, you would receive a lethal number of cudgel blows. In an era of slow communications, this made things a nightmare for commanders in the field, you could not retreat because of decapitation and could not destroy your weapons to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. Basically Qing officers would be forced to go into battle as scheduled and stay there until victory or death.  In contrast the Japanese as described by the same German article as before "When three decades ago, Japan awoke out of the sleep of her isolation and attached herself to the civilisation of the West, her first care was the re-organisation of her army. The result may truly be called astonishing. The Japanese army is in reality a European force and any one of their army divisions, with the exception of the cavalry, which is small and would look badly mounted, might march through the streets of any town on the Continent, without, at first sight, being recognised as Oriental troops." Though obviously 19th century racist, it indeeds shows how Japan had what we would consider a modern army. The Times of London had this to say about them "They are brave, temperate, patient, and energetic, and though the Chinese might be made, under European officers, as fine soldiers as they are, at this moment they are about 200 years behind them; and, although the victory is not always to the strong, as found out in the Boer campaign, from every data that a soldier can judge by the Japanese should beat the Chinese in Korea with the greatest ease." Indeed the Japanese army was based on the Prussian model, with universal conscription and a standard term for service. They had Murata Type 18 Breech-loading rifles with the same type of ammunition, 75mm field guns and mountain pieces based on Krupp design. While the Qing scrambled for the right ammunition, when it could be found at all because of the rampant corruption involving embezzlement of military funds, the Japanese had excellent materials and logistical capabilities.  The Japanese navy was based on the British and French, adopting the Jeune D'école doctrine. While the Qing had some large foreign purchased battleships, the Japanese focused on arming faster cruisers to combat them. Now the Japanese military strategy for this war was to first seize control of the sea so they could transport soldiers to the mainland at will. From there the IJA would invade Korea to expel the Chinese. Once Korea was occupied, Japan would strike at Weihaiwei which would provide naval access to Peking. This could be followed up with an invasion of Zhili province, though that notably would be an enormous task. The IJA invading forces would be in two groups; the 1st IJA under Yamagata Aritomo who would invade Korea and enter Manchuria from the north and the 2nd IJA under Marshal Oyama Iwao who would invade Manchuria from the south and attack the Liaodong Peninsula, hoping to meet the 1st IJA at Weihaiwei afterwards.  For both nations the only efficient way to deploy troops to Korea was via the sea. There could be no war if Japan could not ferry her troops, and for China despite sharing landmass, the situation was arguably the same. China had the railway line between Tianjin to the cost and north to Shanhaiguan, but that was as good as it got, it did not reach the Korean border. The road system in Manchuria was terrible adding to the logistical issue. Japan's military got the Japan mail steamship company to lend her 90 steamships to transport the troops to alleviate other warships for military tasks. On the other side, the Chinese merchant fleet which was about ⅓ the size of Japans barely helped them. An article from Berlin's Neue Preussische Zeitung stating “China has 40 troop transports versus Japan's 450”. It was obvious to all, controlling the sea would win the war. The Pall Mall Gazette interviewed a long-time resident of Japan who predicted the war would be won at sea, stating "Which ever side holds the chief commercial ports of Korea...with the capital, completely controls the country. If Japan succeeds at the outset in sweeping the Chinese from those waters...she wins the key to the whole situation. It would be impossible for China to send up troops since the land route entailed an enormous distance where provisioning and feeding a large army would be unmanageable even for a well-organized European nation." Despite all of this, the Chinese leadership believed they held time on their side and that a war of attrition would see them victorious. They also had considerable assets in the Beiyang fleet, such as their two great ironclad battleships, the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan. However the Qing warships were overagged and basically obsolete. The ships were ill maintained, their crews lacked discipline. The Qing ships were much slower than the Japanese. The Qing battleships main armament was short barreled guns in twin barbettes mounted in echelon which could only fire in restricted arcs. Their short barrels meant their shells had a low muzzle velocity, poor penetration and terrible accuracy at long range. The Japanese emphasized quick firing guns, quicker ships and would outfire the Qing dramatically. There is honestly a litany of issues with the Beiyang fleet, take the signals books issued to it, they were all written in English, a language very few Beiyang officers understood. Regardless, I do not want to delve too much on the Beiyang fleet here, because that is certainly going to come about later. When the Japanese began landing forces at Chemulpo, Li Hongzhang had missed a key opportunity to destroy their transports. He made a crucial strategic error, ordering his fleet to sortie east of the Yalu-River, away from the Korean Peninsula. Basically he was trying to minimize any risk to his precious two battleships. He opted to use his fleet to deter attacks and help the Qing convoys of troops. His mindset was that of a “prevent-defeat strategy”, he sought to preserve his navy, this decision ceded the initiative to the Japanese. Now the Japanese could choose the timing and location of hostilities. Obviously Li believed time was on his side and that eventually they would overwhelm the Japanese with pure numbers. He was prolonging as much as he could, there was also a belief the winter months would hurt the Japanese, while the Manchu warriors would hold a distinct advantage.  Now as a result of Li Hongzhang trying to thwart further conflict, the Qing had deliberately encamped their forces outside Seoul. General Ye Zhichao had 3000 men stationed at Seonghwan and another 1000 at his HQ in Cheonan, just a bit northeast of Asan. He had been hunkering down awaiting the arrival of reinforcements, but the battle of Pungdo and loss of the Kowshing delivered an enormous setback to this. Major General Oshima had roughly 4000 men with him and he began to march upon Asan from Seoul. Ye Zhichao was very aware of this and had his men erected forts, dug trenches, made earthworks, and flooded surrounding rice paddies. Ze Zhichao planned a pincer attack against Seoul, by massing troops at Pyongyang in the north and Asan in the south. The Japanese divided their forces to make a night attack: a small diversionary force would engage the Qing at the front while the main bulk would march upon their rear flank. The diversionary force consisted of 4 companies of infantry with one engineer who began their attack on the night of July 28th. Meanwhile 9 companies of infantry, 1 cavalry and a battalion of artillery snuck around the Qing defensive lines by crossing the Ansong river. The Qing fought hard but were unable to hold out. The Qing forces at Seonghwan had to flee for their lives back to Asan which was 10 miles southwest, and in doing so they left a large amount of weapons and supplies. The Japanese pursued them to Asan where further disaster struck the Chinese. Despite spending over 3 weeks fortifying the area, it seems their defeat at Seonghwan had broken their morale, as the Qing forces at Asan literally fled upon seeing the Japanese approaching the city. As a result the Japanese took Asan the next day. The Chinese were estimated to have 500 casualties while serving the Japanese 34 deaths and 54 wounded. The Chinese survivors fled towards Pyongyang, which would be a brutal 26 day march as they had to detour widely to avoid being hit by Japanese forces coming out of Seoul. The victory confounded columnists who all came to a similar conclusion that “the Chinese forces fight badly and are ill equipped”. A reporter for the Yokohama based Japan Weekly Mail had this to say : "The Chinese are indeed skilled in the art of running away. As they fled they generally cast off their uniforms and donning the clothes of Koreans made the best of their way to what they considered safe places. The directions toward which they fled are unmistakably indicated by the cast-off uniforms. Even the Vice-commander of the Chinese troops appears to have been tempted to avail himself of this method, for his uniform was left behind in camp." It would be a theme played out during this war. The Qing forces would take the habit of disguising themselves as civilians to escape battles. This would unfortunately result in many Japanese troops not trusting Chinese civilians near battlefields leading to atrocities. It is plain to see why Qing troops did this, as we have already seen, retreating was met with extremely harsh punishment, you were better off trying to escape into the crowd. A commander from the Shanghai based North-China Herald had a different take on the battle of Seonghwan "The Chinese have retired from the Yashan [Asan] district after several day's heavy fighting, 10,000 Japanese against 3,500 Chinese. In the first days, the Japanese met with a sharp reverse and severe losses, the Chinese loss being unimportant. On July 29th the Chinese withdrew, leaving the camp in charge of a guard of 300 men, who were attacked and captured by an overwhelming force of Japanese before dawn. The guard was killed. The Japanese lost 500 men, found only heavy baggage in the camp, and took no prisoners, many Chinese noncombatants in the vicinity being slain." Despite such claims, the Japanese had not engaged a small guard at Asan, it was the main body of Qing forces. The Qing had been handily defeated and alongside the men lost a ton of equipment. The Qing court had no way of knowing any of this however, because of the cell like structure of their military, who would simply report back to them victories or very minor defeats. In fact on August 3rd, General Ye Zhichao was congratulated in an imperial decree for quote “killing over 2000 Woren”, he received bonus payment for himself and his troops. Later on when the Qing court figured out what really happened, General Ye would escape decapitation only because he used the bonus payments to pay off officials to speak on his behalf.  From the offset of the war the Qing government had a policy of publicizing false war bulletins, but the realities of what was actually happening on the battlefields could not be concealed from the western viewers. Every battle was reported a Chinese triumph in China and this actually was very reminiscent of our tale of the French-Sino War. A small article sprang up from a British reporter in Shanghai stating this "I read somewhere during the Franco-Chinese war [of 1884-5] the native papers of Shanghai reported the death of Admiral Courbet thirty-seven times, while the number of the killed among the French, according to these reliable (?) sheets reached 1,600,000. The amount of falsehood which these papers have poured forth since the commencement of the 'War of Pygmies and Pigtails' is simply astounding. O, that the word liar' had the same force in Chinese as in English for no other purpose than to enable one to tell a celestial, You are a liar!'" There are a wide variety of reasons the Qing government pumped up the propaganda this way. Ironically a major reason was because of their policy of decapitating defeated commanders. The Qing court officials also had barely any real knowledge of what was going on because 1) all the commanders were sending false reports back to them and 2) when defeated commanders were brought back to Beijing, they were beheaded so fast they never got to make real reports of what occurred on the battlefield. The court would only really begin to figure things out in times of war when the battles got closer to Beijing! And above all else, the Qing court could not allow the bad reports to get to the Han public out of fear they would rise up to topple their Manchu rule, something that remained their top obsession throughout the Dynasties lifetime.  After the defeat at Asan a rumor emerged that the Emperor had demoted Li Hongzhang by stripping him of the Order of the Yellow Riding Jacket. Many speculated Li was demoted because he failed to thwart war. Regardless Li Hongzhangs presumed demotion cast a shadow over his ability to perform official dealings. Li Hongzhang would tragically become a very useful Han scapegoat for the Qing dynasty.  Now while the loss at Asan meant the Qing plan to perform a pincer attack against Seoul was lost, it certainly did not mean the loss of Korea however. The bulk of Qing forces were stationed at Pyongyang, the old capital of Korea. The city sat on the right bank of the Taedong River which was large enough to provide a shipping route to the sea. Holding Pyongyang was imperative, it defended the approach to the Yalu river and behind that lay Manchuria, Qing soil. Pyongyang was surrounded by the wide river to the east and south, with cliffs along the river banks, mountains to the north and the massive city with fortified walls that could prolong a siege. The Qing seemed to hold all the major advantages, they had been massing troops and supplies and constructing fortifications at Pyongyang for almost 2 months. Altogether the Qing had 13,000 troops dispersed at 27 forts surrounded by trenches and moats. The majority of the Qing troops also arrived to Pyongyang by boat, while the Japanese all have to trek overland, via miserable Korean roadways crossing mountains and rivers. The Qing had invested a lot in Pyongyang because they were not just defending the city, they intended to recapture the rest of Korea using it as a main base, thus it was given their most modern equipment. Some Qing troops would carry American Winchester rifles, they had in total four artillery pieces, 6 machine guns and 28 mountain guns. On paper this looked wonderful for them, however there were serious problems. The reality of the situation was summed up just prior to the battle by the Pall Mall Gazette s "from more than one source agree that the Chinese army in Northern Korea is in a deplorable condition. The generals are said to be grossly incompetent, the minor officers discontented and disheartened, and the rank and file exhausted and dispirited. What roads there were a month ago have been washed away by floods. Transport through Manchuria to Korea is impossible; guns, ammunition, and food stores are blocked, and spoiling all along the long route southward. Food is becoming scarcer every day at the front.” The four Chinese commanders at Pyongyang each commanded their own army, but none adequately coordinated with the others. When the Japanese attacked, they did parcel out static defensive sectors, but this became more of a hindrance than help. Their plan was very simple: if their lines failed to hold out at Pyongyang, surely they would be able to hold out at Yalu….yes great plan. The Qing commanders in the field had no real worst-case scenario plans. Weak logistics and organization plagued the Qing forces throughout the war.  Now for the Japanese, Pyongyang held symbolic importance going all the way back to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasion during the 16th century. After the victory at Seonghwan, the Japanese held a reinforced brigade about 8000 strong within Korea led by General Oshima. Around 7000 of these troops were concentrated around Seoul and Chemulpo. The Japanese controlled southern Korea and it was time to expel the Chinese from it completely. The Japanese had 4 routes to march upon Pyongyang from; one via Chemulpo; one from Pusan; one from Wonsan and another done amphibiously, by landing on the eastern coast near the mouth of the Taedong River. The Japanese were hard pressed for time, as every day could see more Qing forces marching into Korea from Manchuria. Thus the route from Pusan was rejected and they opted for sending the bulk of their forces to march from CHemulpo on the west coast and two smaller forces from Wonsan on the east. The idea to land forces at the mouth of the Taedong river was not rejected outright, but they were going to only consider it as a last resort.  The Chemulpo force would be the 1st Army led by Marshal Yamagata Aritomo consisting of the 5th provisional Hiroshima division led by Lt General Nozu Michitsura and the 3rd provisional Nagoya division led by General Katsura Taro. Although Aritomo held overall command, he did not land at Chemulpo until September 12th, thus Lt General Nozu commanded the 1st Army against Pyongyang. His Wonson column was led by Colonel Sato Tadashi; another from Sangnyong was led by Major General Tatsumi Naobumi with the Combined Brigade led by Major General Oshima Yoshimasa. Nozu's plan was for the combined brigade to make a frontal assault from the south, while his main division attacked from the southwest and flanking maneuvers would be carried out by the two columns.  On September 15th approximately 10,000 Japanese troops made a three-pronged attack on Pyongyang. At 4:30am on the 15th, the attack began from the east with an artillery barrage on the forts along the west bank of the Taedong river to divert the Chinese attention from the main attack. The Japanese feigned an attack from the south while Nozu and Oshima performed flanking maneuvers to deliver a massive blow from the north. The Japanese army's main bulk designated to hit from the southwest would actually not end up participating in the main attack that broke through the principal Chinese fortifications. The fighting was fierce, with the Chinese launching repeated cavalry charges, igniting prearranged blazes, picture the scene from the last samurai if you saw that amazing film, by the way I did a review of it on the pacific war channel hint hint. The Japanese found themselves in blazes of fire and repeatedly being charged upon by cavalry units and while it was certainly valiant and showcased the bravery of the Qing forces, it was unbelievably stupid. The Qing had not taken advantage of the natural barrier that was the Taedong river and literally charged into the field, instead of forcing the Japanese to march through a muddy nightmare. There was no attempt to attack the Japanese columns as they crossed the river when they were extremely vulnerable. The Japanese had utterly failed to prepare the necessary equipment for crossing the Taedong river, they had no pontoon bridges so they ended up just stealing Korean river boats to ferry troops in secret. This was an enormous opportunity to smash the Japanese, but the Qing utterly failed to grab it.  The Japanese successfully deceived the Chinese as to where their main attack was coming from. The 24 hour long battle saw heavy rain, causing massive amounts of mud for the Japanese to march through. The Japanese artillery was too far back initially to be effective, leading the vanguard troops who had taken the first line of Qing defense, some earthworks to abandon them in the morning. This ironically caused the Qing to begin writing reports to the Chinese press that they had already won the battle and that the Japanese were even fleeing. In reality the Columns from Wonsan and Sangnyong had seized the major fortress at Moktan-tei, due north of Pyongyang, giving the Japanese a position to bring their artillery to bare upon the city walls. Once their artillery began raining hell from Moktan-tei the Qing's defensive position was shattered and they offered their surrender at 4:30 on the 15th.  During the night many Qing forces tried to flee for the coast and border town of Wiju along the lower reaches of the Yalu river. Japanese snipers killed large numbers of the fleeing Chinese as they did. As a result of the surrender, in the morning two Japanese columns entered the northern gate of the city unopposed, but because there was no way to communicate this with rest of the forces, the main bulk of the Japanese army continued its attack against the city's west gate. Later that day they would find it all undefended to their surprise. Later that morning the Combined brigade entered the city through the south gate. After seizing control of the city it was estimated the Qing casualties were around 2000 killed with 4000 wounded while the Japanese only reported 102 deaths and 433 wounded. 700 Chinese were taken prisoner, many escaped north fleeing for the Yalu. Many believed “the flower of the Chinese army was all but annihilated at Pyongyang”, indeed Li Hongzhang's elite Huai army with the best equipment had lost there. Though there was also rumors in China that Li Hongzhang actually held back his best troops. A reporter at the Japan Weekly Mail had this to say : "What resistance was made could not have been very great. This is the more surprising, as the Chinese took possession of the city on the 4th of August and had ample time to thoroughly entrench themselves." Commander of the British Royal Artillery at Colchester, Colonel J.F Maurice had this to say about the battle "Field Marshal Yamagata has conducted the campaign in the most brilliant manner, and his tactics would not have disgraced a Western general." One article from the North China Herald noted the ethnic loyalties that did not look too good for the Manchu “ Troops under the Moslem general Zuo Baogui had fought very well until he had perished in combat. In contrast, the Manchu troops have hitherto proved themselves utterly untrustworthy. The Jilin Manchus are far more intent on hunting for something to fill their opium pipes, than on doing anything to uphold the dynasty which has pampered them for so long a time that they seem to have concluded that the dynasty exists for their special benefit. The forces of the Jilin division remained under the separate command of a Manchu general. The Manchu forces at Pyongyang "retreated almost intact" rather than fight." Indeed the Muslim General Zuo Baogui, a Shandong citizen died in action from Japanese artillery and a memorial was constructed for him. It did not look good for the Manchu, and countless Han readers would have been ignited with bitterness about this. At Pyongyang it was reported, the Qing left behind 35 good field guns, hundreds of magazine rifles, hundreds of breechloaders, 2000 tents and 1700 horses. The magazine rifles were noted to be superior to the Japanese Murata rifles. Hallmarks of the Qing campaign for the war were present at Pyongyang; the abandonment of large quantities of war supplies; the looting and abuse of local civilian populations; the torture and mutilations of POW's and the use of civilian attire to flee the scene. up the abandoned supplies. The New York Times described the fleeing Chinese as "only too apparent. Rifles, swords, and ammunition, which they had thrown away in their haste to escape, were constantly being found. The fugitives had acted the part of bandits. Villages had been pillaged and afterwards set on fire. Farms had been destroyed and all the stored produce burned. The Korean natives who had resisted the robbers had been ruthlessly slaughtered. Many bodies were found hacked with spear thrusts. The whole line of retreat was one scene of desolation."According to a reporter at Moskovskie vedomosti, "The people fear Chinese soldiers much more than the invasion by the Japanese." The Qing troops had little choice but to plunder or starve because their military's logistics were frankly a joke. Plunder was the only solution for the Chinese soldier while the Japanese soldier had a modern logistical line keeping them going.  Western observations were notably disgusting with how the Qing treated POW's, after all many nations had signed the August 22nd 1864 Geneva convention mandating the protection of POW's. But in retrospect, the Qing could not even take care of their own forces let alone the mouths of the enemy. There was also the issue of how the Qing had an official reward system built on payment per head. However that does not explain the wide ranging atrocities committed such as disembowelment, removal of facial features, extraction of livers, cutting off of penises and so on. The Qing penal code held insurrection to be “the worst of the ten abominations” and the Chinese most likely considered the Japanese actions to be basically an insurrection against their confucian order meriting the most severe punishments. Punishments under the penal code short of execution included cangue, handcuffs, shackles, caning, ankle crushers, finger crushers, the Chinese rack and the ever favorite prolong kneeling on chains. A lot of the horror was due to the Chinese views of their own cultural supremacy and disgust for barbarians. The American secretary of state ordered his consul in Shanghai to hand over to the Qing authorities two Japanese found spying. The Qing officials promised no harm would come to them, but we are left with this account. “The tortures included kneeling on chains while their captors stood on their legs, the removal of fingernails, the crushing of tongues, the pouring of boiling water on their handcuffed wrists until the metal reached the bone, the smashing of their groins, and decapitation just before they expired from all the other abuses” The Japanese coming off the bad publicity of the Kowshing incident took the opportunity to earn recognition from the west by showcasing how their modern Japanese medical units treated the Chinese POW's with utmost care. The Japanese military transported around 600 POW's to Tokyo, 111 of whom were sick or wounded who notably received top quality care. A correspondent from The Japan Weekly Mail had this to say "What has proved a thousand times more interesting to me is the way the Chinese prisoners and wounded have been treated, and for this I hardly know how to express my admiration...I had some conversation with a captured commander. He said he could not understand the meaning of the Japanese kindness...I went from there to the hospital for wounded Chinese. They were treated exactly as if they were Japanese...I do not see how Japan can be refused the place she rightly claims among the civilized nations of the world." Again, this is from a Japanese correspondent. After the battle of Pyongyang, there would be scant to no reports about the welfare of Qing POW's. Diaries from Japanese soldiers after the war would indicate the Japanese were not interested in taking POW's since they would just burden their supply lines as they marched deeper into Manchuria. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The battles of Seonghwan and Pyongyang have caused the Qing forces to flee all the way to the last existing natural barrier before Manchuria, the Yalu River. While the Qing be able to stop the Japanese from marching upon their land?  

Last time we spoke about the assassination of Kim Ok-kyun and the Donhak Rebellion. Conflicts between China and Japan had heated up to the boiling point at last. The pro Japanese politician Kim Ok-kyun was assassinated serving also as an insult towards Japan. The Beiyang Fleet's visit to Nagasaki resulted in embarrassment and an awkward threat for Japan. Japan was not happy with the SINO situation and actively began building her navy to have the capability of facing off against the Beiyang fleet. Then a violent rebellion of the Donghak faith emerged in Korea prompting a very panicked King Gojong to call upon his Qing allies for aid. The Qing took up the call for help and although it differs from source to source, did or did not notify the Japanese of their actions. Regardless, both China and Japan prepared forces that would embark for Korea. The chess pieces were on the board and now things were set into motion that could not be undone.   #49 The First Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1895 Part 1: The Battle of Pungdo   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The Tonghak rebels can be seen more as a symptom than a disease of the ailing Joseon dynasty. She was a nation stuck between two tigers, two tigers who were both trying to eat her. The turmoil of the later half of the 19th century was tearing Korea apart. Her citizens were forced into this quasi black and white choice between China or Japan, particularly when it came to the topic of modernization. The Tonghak followers were rallying against a tyrannical government who were overtaxing them. Major revolts occurred in 1885, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892 and 1893. By February of 1894 the unrest rose dramatically and in April the Tonghaks were in a full scale open rebellion. The target of their hatred were the corrupt officials oppressing them through over taxation and incompetency. But one thing that is funny about the Tonghak story, one that is almost never mentioned, is rumors spread to the Tonghaks that China and Japan were on the verge of sending troops and this prompted them on June 1st to agree to a cease-fire to remove the possibility of foreign intervention. Well that should have been the end of our story, China and Japan keep their boys home and the 3 nations lived happily ever after? On June 2nd, the Japanese cabinet decided to send troops to Korea, if China did so, they also made sure to muzzle any political opposition by asking the emperor to dissolve the lower chamber of the diet. We have the official documentation to back this, thus if China did not send troops, Japan would not have a justification to send there's, however a problem arose. The next day, King Gojong on the recommendation of the Min clan and Yuang Shikai, requested China send troops to help suppress the rebellion. King Gojong had thus unwittingly given the hawkish Japanese military leaders the pretext they desired for so long, another chance to intervene in Korea on a large scale. Why did the Min clan push King Gojong to do this despite the Tonghak basically calling a truce? Turns out the Tonghak's were particularly targeting the Min clan and their allies and there were rumors they had contact with the Daewongun. Within a few days Japan is on a military footing. On June 5th the first IJA HQ is established and on the 6th the ministries of the IJA and IJN issued instructions to the press not to print any information concerning warlike operations, they mean business. Despite this many Japanese news outlets ignore the order, leading to countless being suspended for a day. Now again the sources are sticky with how this part goes down, but on June 7th, China notified Japan in accordance with the Treaty of Tianjin. The notification states that China is sending 2000 troops to Nanyang, which is located on the coast between Seoul and Asan. Within hours of receiving the notification, Japan sends its own notice to China that it is also sending troops, which is in line with the treaty. Also at this same time the Asahi Shinbun reports that Russia is sending ground forces and warships to Korea. It seems the Asahi Shinbun made this report largely to compare the actions of Japan and China to a western power, alongside noting how much Japan had modernized. Remember, Japan's Meiji restoration began exclusively as a means to thwart colonization, but by this point Japan now seeks to become a world power. Japan is emulating the greatest nations of the world, and the actions she will take for the following years certainly emphasize that. Within days, 2000 Japanese IJA forces have landed and are marching towards Seoul despite the Korean government pleading for them to refrain from sending forces. It is far too late however, the troops are arriving and it seems Japan was prepared well in advance to do this. In accordance with the treaty of Tianjin, the end of the rebellion meant that China and Japan no longer had legitimate grounds to send forces and should have withdrawn. But Japan began making claims their troop deployment was necessary for the protection of their embassy, consulates and citizens within Korea. Now by the 8th, 4000 Japanese soldiers and 500 sailors have landed at Jemulpo, current day Incheon. A public ceasefire acknowledge for the Donghak rebellion is issued on the 11th, though it is already known days before. The harbor of Incheon looks like its participating in an international naval show. On the 13th 9 IJN warships and transports along with 4 Beiyang warships are anchored there. Alongside them are an assortment of international ships from nations like Russia, Britain, France and America. Also on the 13th the Japanese government sends a telegraph to the commander of Japanese forces in Korea, Otori Keisuke to keep the forces within Korea for as long as possible despite the public announcement that the Donghak rebellion is over. On the 15th another 8 more Japanese transports arrive with 6000 troops disembarked. On the 16th Japanese foreign minister Mutsu Munemistu meets with the Qing ambassador to Japan, Wang Fengzao to discuss the future status of Korea. Wang states the Qing government intends to pull out of Korea once the Donghak rebellion is fully suppressed and expects Japan to do the same. But he also acknowledges that China will retain a resident to look after Chinese primacy in Korea, ie: Mr Yuan Shikai. Soon there are 10 IJN warships actively patrolling Korean waters and on the 18th the ministry of the IJN issues new naval fleet regulations. On the other side, Li Hongzhang is trying desperately to avoid war and maintain stable relations with Japan. He has been spending years doing this, trying to get other Western powers to take a more active role in Korea to thwart Japan's ambitions over her. During this period and even in the upcoming war, Li Hongzhang continues to try and involve western powers to end the conflict. When King Gojong pleaded for help, Li Hongzhang made sure the troops would not go directly to Seoul, which he knew would upset Japan. The troops instead went to Nanyang and Asan where they could hit the Donghak before they marched northwards from Cholla upon Seoul. Li Hongzhang had hoped by doing this, the Japanese would choose not to become involved, but he was gravely wrong. Once Japan began sending troops, Li proposed to the Japanese that both nations should agree to withdraw. On the 16th Japan made a counterproposal, stating China and Japan should cooperate in assisting Korea to undertake the major steps to promote modernization. However it was obvious to all, Japan sought to promote economic development in Korea for its own interests, to obtain Korean grain at cheap prices. Thus Japan's proposal was refused. On the 22nd Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi told his fellow politician colleague Matsukata Masayoshi, he believed the Qing empire was making military preparations and that “there is probably no policy but to go to war”. Mutsu Munemitsu likewise sends word to Otori Keisuke to press the Korean government on Japanese demands. On the 26nd Otori presents a set of reform proposal to King Gojong, but instead of accepting them, he insists on troop withdrawals. At about this time, Yuan Shikai see's the paint on the wall and on the 27th requests permission from Li Hongzhang to return to China. However Li Hongzhang only sent a response 20 days later granting it. On July 19th, Yuan Shikai would disguise himself as a Chinese servant of a Russian military attache and flee Seoul for Peking. In the later half of June, Japanese newspapers are ramping things up. The Japan Weekly Mail read this “It is apparent that the restless energies of the people yearn for employment in a foreign war”, a week later “The Tokyo journals unite in urging upon the Government the importance of utilizing the present opportunity for wiping away the stain left on the national honor by th fatal error of 1884”. The bitter lesson learnt from 1884, next time bring more men. Such news articles were working wonders as during the last week of June, Japanese public petitions from multiple prefectures were requesting permission to raise troops. In early July an imperial ordinance established extraordinary powers to regulate the sale of goods with military applications raising public concern. By the third week of july, the “Korean question” was the only thing in the Japanese press and the Japan Weekly Mail predicted “It now looks as though war is inevitable”. Indeed on July 7th the British ambassador to China openly acknowledged the mediation between China and Japan had failed. Now initially China just sent 2-3 thousand forces, while Japan matched them with 8000, these are the numbers they are reporting officially, the real numbers for both are much higher. Regardless, once the fighting begins, both sides toss troops into Korea at such a high rate it was hard for people to keep actual figures. Now Li Hongzhang made no war preparation attempts to match the increasing Japanese numbers coming into Korea. His strategy remained to avoid hostilities. He hoped to secure European intervention to rein in the Japanese, this was his primary strategy. Li Hongzhang was the commander of the Qing's most modern military force and had a considerable amount of knowledge about Japan because of his role as a diplomat. He knew the Qing forces were no match for the IJA, for that there is no doubt. Li worked like a mad dog to push European powers to rescue the Korea situation, but he had overestimated their willingness to intervene and to be honest their disgust with the Qing political situation. Li Hongzhang seems to have misread the political situation in Japan as well. Many Chinese officials in Japan were feeding reports back to China about feuding between the Diet and Cabinet and their conclusions were that the political divisions would most likely prevent Japan from launching an effective military campaign. Its sort of interesting they came to such conclusions, as it may have been more of a understanding of their own Chinese political situation rather than Japan. The Manchu-Han division was indeed hampering Chinese foreign policy for example, but Japan shared a national identity, it was a case of apples and oranges. Li Hongzhang first turned to Russia for help in mid June, but it came to nothing. Britain made an effort, but failed. Italy tried mediation and like Britain failed. King Gojong went to the Americans for help, but they were employing an isolationist policy at the time. Yes good old isolationist America, back in the ol days.  Now when the Japanese made their counter proposal and the Qing declined it on June 21st, Japan responded by stating they did not intend to withdraw from Korea until their reforms were implemented. Li responded “On the approach of the Chinese forces the insurgents [Tonghaks] dispersed. China now desires to withdraw, but Japan refuses to evacuate simultaneously with China, and proposes a joint occupation, the administration of Korean finances, and the introduction of reforms. These are tasks which China cannot accept." The reality of the matte for the Japanese government was that the current Korean situation did not meet her national security interests nor her economic ones. As Japan poured her troops into Korea, her politicians also put relentless pressure on King Gojong to implement their desired reforms. The Korean government unsuccessfully tried to convince Japan that they would adopt the reforms if they withdrew their troops.  On July 22nd, the Japanese received word, Li Hongzhang had overcome domestic opposition with the Qing court and now large reinforcements were going to be sent to Korea. Though Li Hongzhang wanted to avoid hostilities, his hands were tied, if the Qing did retain a presence in Korea it would threaten the legitimacy of their Manchu dynasty. But in a typical Qing fashion, the troops were delayed and would not make it to Korea in time. Well the Japanese were done dancing with the Chinese and Korean, on the 23rd the IJA forces in Seoul suddenly stormed the Joseon royal palace and took King Gojong hostage. The New York Times had this to say "The Japanese have announced that they will hold the King of Corea as a hostage until the internal reforms demanded by Japan shall have been satisfactorily guaranteed." Well the Tonghak rebellion flared right back up and took rapid momentum, going from what was a regional event to a national uprising. The IJA were brutal in their suppression of the Tonghaks and this fueled the Korean public against them. Likewise the Qing were placed with their backs against the wall, if they did nothing about Japans seizure of King Gojong, they were basically giving up suzerainty over Korea. Japan's actions were obvious, they wanted war and they were going to get it. On the afternoon of the 23rd, with King Gojong in hand, the IJA began storming and disarming Korean garrisons in Seoul. By the end of the day the capital of Korea was in Japanese hands. The Japanese then recalled the Daewongun to oversee the Japanese style reform program. Yes the anti-foreign, isolationist icon ironically was chosen. The Daewongun always looking for an opportunity to regain power had little options laid bare to him so he took up the job, on the sole condition Japan refrain from annexing any Korean territory. That day the Daewongun met with King Gojong at the royal palace, they had not seen each other for nearly a decade. The father scolded his son for misrule and Gojong apologized requesting the Daewongun become regent again. I will add these sources are coming from Japan, I am sure it did not at all go down like this. Give the sort of feeling when you read about Hernan Cortez and Moctezuma II, if you know the sources for that one, well you know. The Daewongun went to work, immediately exiling the Min clan to some small islands and the new government renounced multiple treaties with the Qing dynasty, thus severing its tributary ties.  The Japanese backed reform program became known as the Kabo reform movement, which would go on from July 1894 to February 1896. It was not all bad to be honest, a lot of it was to create an efficient and honest government. Posts were given fixed responsibilities and salaries; a national budget was established; better tax structure; the military/judiciary and educational system were given overhauls and the nation's infrastructure was modernized rapidly. The most significant reform was taking away the Yangbang class monopoly on public offices, basically an end to the Chinese examination system. In a single stroke the Japanese had destroyed Korea's aristocracy, the elites were destroyed. As for the Daewongun, ever the plotter, he secretly envisioned a pincer movement on Seoul with the Tonghaks from the south and the Qing from the north. Unfortunately for him, the Japanese found out about this later on when they found documents containing such plans and this would lead later on to him being forced into retirement.  Li Hongzhang knew Qing forces were no match for the Japanese. Zhili, Shandong and the Fengtian provinces had around 40 battalions with 20,000 or so first-line action men and 20 battalions only fit for garrison duty. All of the rest were Green Standards who were pretty useless. And lets be honest, this series has shown the Green Standards to be …well nothing less than so. He faced around 50,000 Japanese to his estimates, and he concluded they would need to recruit 20-30 additional battalions which would set back the dynasty 2-3 million taels. William Ferdinand Tyler who served in the Beiyang northern squadron and witness the battles of Yali and Weihaiwei later on had this to say of Li's position "the Viceroy's game was merely bluff, not genuine defence; his army and navy were the equivalent of the terrifying masks which Eastern medieval soldiers wore to scare their enemy. He knew that if it came to actual blows he would stand but little chance; but he carried on his bluff so far that withdrawal was impossible, and the Empress Dowager urged him on - probably much against his will. And Japan 'saw him,' as they say in poker." Just about everyone believed China would stomp Japan however. British envoy to China, Sir Robert Hart embodied the worldview stating “999 out of every 1000 Chinese are sure big China can thrash little Japan”. But China was fractured realistically. Empress Dowager Cixi's authority over the dynasty was only held because it was fractured, she could not allow the nation to have a real unified government. Such a government would most certainly unify against her and the Manchu. To stay in power Cixi checked every possible rival, even Li Hongzhang. All of the internal turmoil undermined the Qing's ability to modernize its military and this also caused factional rivalries within the military. Cixi controlled the funds for the Qing navy and infamously siphoned naval funds for the renovation of the Summer Palace. Li Hongzhang could not do anything about this specific matter because he would lose favor with her, and her favor was all that kept his authority so he could deal with the conflict. Yet all these internal problems were non existent in the minds of the elites in China nor the western onlookers who simply believed China would give Japan a quick spanking, take this from the North China Herald  "the breaking out of war between China and Japan is only a question of days, perhaps of hours. The real reason for Japan's desire for war was "that the Japanese government prefers a foreign to a civil war. The discontent of the majority of the House of Representatives was getting serious...A foreign war, however, is expected to reunite the people; it is an outlet for the bad blood which has been accumulating of late years in the body politic."  While the Japanese were doing everything possible to stir up a war, Li Hongzhang was extremely careful to minimize the possibility of a clash. He ordered the Qing forces to encamp 80 miles to the south of Seoul around Asan. He was in contact with the Tonghak and indeed a pincer maneuver was agreed upon. The Qing forces took up a stance between Asan and Pyongyang and the Japanese realized it would be much easier to hit their reinforcements at sea rather than commence with a land offensive. On July 16th, when 8000 Qing forces arrived to Pyongyang, the Japanese sent Li Hongzhang an ultimatum, threatening to take action if any additional forces were sent to Korea. At the same time orders were given to General Oshima Yoshimasa leading the 9th brigade of the 5th division at Chemulpo and the commanders of IJN warships there to initiate military operations if any more Chinese troops were sent to Korea. Li Hongzhang suspected Japan was bluffing and therefore sent reinforcements to the commander at Asan, General Ye Zhichao, 2500 troops who left Dagu on 3 transports, the Irene, Fei Ching and Kowshing. The first two transports carrying 1300 of the troops left on the night of July 23rd with cruiser Jiyuan, torpedo boats Kwang-yi and Tsao-kiang as escort, they could also rely on the cruiser Weiyuan at port in Chemulpo for support. The two transports successfully landed their troops on the 24th. The IJN had deployed a component of their combined fleet to Korean waters by this point. The IJN sent 15 major warships and 7 torpedo boats under Vice Admiral Ito Sukeyuki from Sasebo to Gunsan on July 23rd. There was also the flying squadron of Rear Admiral Tsuboi Kozo who was dispatched to Chemulpo to aid the weak forced anchored there. At Chemulpo were the ships Yaeyama, Musashi and Oshima, while Tsuboi was bringing the cruisers Yoshino, Akitsushima and Naniwa. Tsuboi's task was to prevent any Qing landings. The, Captain Fang Boqian of the Jiyuan received word of the Japanese actions in Seoul and Chemulpo from the Weiyuan and on July 25 ordered the Irene and Fei Ching to head back to Dagu, while the Weiyuan would head for Weihaiwei to report to Admiral Ding Ruchang of the situation unfolding in Korea. However the third transport, the Kowshing was late, thus Fang Boqian decided to remain at Asan bay with cruiser Jiyuan and torpedo boat Kawng-yi to protect its landing.  On the morning of the 25th the Jiyuan and Kwang-yi departed Asan to meet up with the Kowshing and Tsao-kiang. Near the small island of Pundo the Qing vessels would run into the Tsuboi's squadron. Tsbuoi's had gone to Pungdo trying to rendezvous with the Yaeyama and Oshima. At around 6:40am, the Japanese spotted two warships heading south-west, these were the Jiyuan and Kawng-yi. Tsuboi guessed they were escorting Qing transports and went in to investigate. Captain Fang Boqian spotted the incoming Japanese warships, greatly alarmed by their appearance. He ordered the Qing ships to increase speed to escape and this prompted the Japanese to do the same. Yoshino headed the formation with Naniwa and Akitsushima behind, trying to outmaneuver the Qing and prevent their escape.  At 7:45am the Yoshino and Jiyuan were closing in around 3km from another, then at 7:52 Naniwa suddenly opened fire on the Jiyuan. After Naniwa, the Yoshina and Akitsushima began firing. Yoshina and Naniwa concentrated on Jiyuan while the Akitsushima fired upon the Kwang-yi which was around a km behind Jiyuan. The Qing ships returned fire, but the Japanese had distinctly taken the advantage by opening up first. The first shells hit Jiyuan's conning tower, demolishing it and severely damaged her steering mechanism. The second volley hit her forward barbette guns taking them out of action and soon shells were hitting her midship causing carnage and panic amongst her crew. Qing commanders had to quell the panic with their revolvers pointed at the gunners until they regained their composure and continued to fire upon the enemy. The Jiyuan made a dash for open sea as her crews tried to repair her steering mechanism. Meanwhile the Kwang-yi was hit at the offset of battle, the Akitsushima had fired a shell penetrating her hull below the waterline and damaging her boiler room. She rapidly took on water, prompting Captain Lin Kuohsiang to ordered her beached. Enveloped by fire, smoke and steam Kwang-yi turned southeast to beach along the shore while Naniwa began firing on her. Kwang-yi's crews quickly abandoned ship as the Naniwa shelled her ferociously causing numerous explosions and turning her into a fiery wreck. 37 of her crew died while 71 including captain Lin Kuohsiang swam to shore.  While the Kwang-yi was destroyed, the Japanese cruisers continued to pursue the Jiyuan which they caught up to at 8:10am. Yoshino and Naniwa were almost abeam of her prompting Captain Fang to prepare to surrender his warship, but then they all saw smoke from the horizon, two more warships were approaching Asan. It was the Kowshing and Tsao-Kiang. The Japanese immediately turned their attention to the new ships bolting towards them as the Jiyuan attempting sneakingaway. Upon spotting the Japanese coming at them, the Tsao-Kiang immediately turned around for Weihaiwei as the poor Kowshing continued slowly towards Asan. Upon seeing what Qing warships were before him, Tsuboi sent Naniwa over to investigate the Kowshing, Yoshino to hunt the Jiyuan and Akitsushima after the Tsao-Kiang. The Tsao-Kiang was caught by 11:37 and surrendered without a fight to the Akitsushima. At 12:05pm the Yoshino ran down the Jiyuan and began firing upon her from 2.5kms away. Captain Fang made daring move and steered his ship among some shoals, managing to escape the Yoshino who would not risk the dangerous waters. Meanwhile the Kowshing, which was a British vessel captained by Thomas Ryder Galsworthy chattered last minute by the Qing had no knowledge of the battle that had occurred. Galsworthy felt safe under the protection of the British civil ensign and just kept sailing. At 9am the Captain of the Naniwa, Captain Togo Heihachiro, yes the future legendary fleet admiral of the IJN combined fleet who would win the legendary battle of Tsushima ordered the Kowshing to follow him as he would escort it to the Japanese squadron. Galsworthy made a protest citing British neutrality, but complied nonetheless. The unfortunate issue, was the Qing soldiers on his ship who did not comply. The Qing soldiers began threatening to kill the crew if they continued to sail over with the Japanese. Galsworthy tried negotiating with the angry Qing soldiers, but when it became obvious they were in real danger he along with the British crew jumped overboard, swimming for the Naniwa. Allegedly, as the sources are Japanese mind you. The Qing soldiers began firing upon the British in the water killing all but Galsworthy and two other sailors who were rescued by the Naniwa. Upon seeing all of this, the Naniwa then opened fire on the Kowshing, completely obliterating her. Very few aboard managed to swim to safety. It was carnage. The Kowshing launched 2 lifeboats full of Qing soldiers which were fired upon by the Naniwa. 1100 Chinese died in what became known as the battle of Pungdo, 800 alone from the Kowshing. As a foreign commentator said of the event "It was truly a pitiable sight that such a number of officers [on the Kowshing], amongst whom were two generals, should not have sufficient military experience to understand the absurdity of attempting resistance in a merchant vessel against a powerful man-of-war.". The Japanese had damaged a cruiser, captured a gunboat and sank another. Something was noted by a reporter of the Japan weekly mail about the battle "the Chinese ships made a miserable fight. There seemed to be a problem with bad ammunition. The Qing had scored a hit, but  the shell had failed to explode and thus did no significant damage. It is suspected to be a result of bad equipment or careless inspection." For those of you who know about the first Sino-Japanese war, or perhaps just know the general history of Empress Dowager Cixi and the corruption of the late Qing dynasty, this is indeed one of the earliest pieces of evidence of what will be a large problem for the Qing Navy. The battle of Pungdo and sinking of the Kowshing would be soon followed by formal declarations of war. On August 1st, Japan declared war on China, stating Korea was an independent state and that China was trying to hold her as a dependency and had rejected Japan's offer to cooperate. Japan had to declare war because China had made “warlike preparations and sent large reinforcements and had opened fire on Japanese ships”. Sounds about right? There was no mention of Japanese much larger warlike preparations, the taking of King Gojong and the first shots being fired from IJN vessels. However the Japanese clearly were writing a declaration not aimed solely at China, but at the world powers, because the thing she coveted most was to join them of course. The declaration made in the name of Emperor Meiji used specific terms like “family of nations, law of nations, international treaties and such”. Japan was being very diplomatically minded. On the other side, Emperor Guangxi on the same day Japan declared ware made the formal declaration of war against Japan and did so by calling the Japanese “Woren” multiple times in the declaration. The declaration showed disdain for the Japanese, and to even make a point the Qing had it translated in English specifically referencing what Woren meant haha. The declaration wreaked of the traditional way the Qing spoke of those they considered inferior and showcased to the world powers, China had not changed much.  The world's press still remained certain, Japan would be crushed by big China. On July 24th, the Times of London predicted China would win because of her size, population and that time was on her side. British advisor to the Qing military, William Lang was interviewed by Reuters and predicted the Japanese would lose. Lang thought that the Chinese navy was well-drilled, the ships were fit, the artillery was at least adequate, and the coastal forts were strong. Weihaiwei “ was impregnable. Although Lang emphasized that everything depended on how China's forces were led, he had faith that 'in the end, there is no doubt that Japan must be utterly crushed'. Only time would tell. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. It seems despite all the efforts, war has finally broken out amongst the siblings of China and Japan. The world seemed convinced big brother would defeat little brother, but little did they know how wrong they would be.

Francess McDonnell and Aisling O'Brien bring you the biggest stories of the week in Irish agriculture, which this week include: - Silage season kicks off and a difficult year ‘demands farmer understanding' say contractors - Sinn Fein's Claire Kerrane says ‘CAP should support food production' - Government trade mission to China - First peak milk prices announced and Kerry Group suppliers to get 2022 top-up payment - Minister examining turf cutting impact on commonage in ACRES - The walk from the field to the mart Rate, review and follow The Farming Week, Agriland's weekly review of Irish agriculture and visit Agriland.ie for more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-farming-week/message

The Chinese foreign minister has said the country's modernization is not motivated by the idea of putting China first.

Tony Cheng is a Managing Partner at Foresight Ventures, where he covers Web3 investments for the firm while also acting as Head of Corporate Development at Bitget Exchange. Formerly an investor at Sequoia Capital China and 3G Capital, Tony is well-versed in both traditional and crypto VC. Tony has also worked as a consultant at Oliver Wyman after earning his business degree from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.In this conversation, we discuss:- Investing around the world- Managing investment size and portfolio construction- Working with Bitget - Vetting founders- Importance of conviction- Investing in the West vs. China- First-mover advantage- Strength of a community- Investment trends of 2023- Various ways where the VC landscape changed in 2022- Navigating different bear and bull market cycles- Day in the life of a VCForesight VenturesWebsite: foresightventures.comTwitter: @ForesightVenLinkedIn: Foresight VenturesTony ChengTwitter: @tcheng_100LinkedIn: Tony (Wenji) Cheng, CFA   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.  PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers.  PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions.  Code: CRYPTONEWS50  This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below:  PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50

Hello bitches, a quick short episode this week as we head towards the holiday season! (01:08) Festival season, anticipating ‘The Best of 2022” (03:12) Protests in China (06:50) Falling for Christmas, Lindsay Lohan & George Young, the joy of watching trashy film (10:30) Venom, Tom Hardy (12:03) First Love, Japanese drama on Netflix, Hikaru Utada is a music genius, Helen's obsession with Japanese pop culture. (18:49) E.T   Facebook | Asian Bitches Down Under Instagram | Asian Bitches Down Under  Buy Me A Coffee | Asian Bitches Down Under BUTTER BUTTER active wear - use code ABDU10 for $10 off  Real Mandarin in Taiwan Bundle with the code ABDU for a 10% off special!  Email: asianbdownunder@gmail.com    

Last time we spoke, the ironclad steam warship Nemesis had made a name for herself wrecking havoc upon the Qing navy. Lin Zexu was dismissed and Qishan began negotiations with the British. Hong Kong island was now under British occupation, Chuanbi fell to the British and it seems a treaty would be ratified but both the Emperor Daoguang and Britain's parliament rejected it forcing Britain to continue its war. The British attacked the Bogue, the First Bar island, Whampoa Island and soon Qishan was rushed to Beijing and cast into chains by the Emperor. Then the British attacked Canton hoping to force the Qing government to come to a deal. Emperor Daoguang was being fed false reports from his officials of the ongoing war, but how long could they delude him until everyone realized this was a serious war? This episode is the First Opium War Part 3: treaty of nanjing   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War.   As usual the reports coming back to the emperor were embezzled. It was said the British were stopped at the walls of Canton by the army of General Fang and repelled. In fact, on top of the Qing forces beating back the British it was said a peasant militia had killed thousands of British forcing them to flee Canton. Some went further than this and said the British expedition was on its last legs. Yishan's report to the Emperor said “the barbarians had begged the chief general that he would implore the great Emperor in their behalf, that he would have mercy upon them, and cause their debts to be repaid them, and graciously permit them to carry on their commerce, when they would immediately withdraw their ships from the Bocca Tigris, and never dare again to raise any disturbance."The Qing court urged the emperor to build upon the great victory and to bring an even larger army into the field against the barbarians. Now that the factory quarter was secure, Elliot turned his attention back to Amoy, but he still had a large problem. The British force was full on facing an epidemic of malaria and dysentery causing numerous casualties. The British warships were becoming hospitals for the countless decimated troops. Elliot had to take the force to Hong Kong island to treat the men. On July 21 of 1841 while Elliot was forming plans to attack Amoy a merchantman from India arrived with opium and a copy of the Canton Press. The newspaper read that Elliot had been dismissed by Palmerston on April 30th of 1841! It turned out the British press had vilified Elliot for making truces with the Chinese instead of pushing for a decisive victory. The Canton truce was lambasted because the 6 million was just a fraction of their demands. Elliot sent word back to Palmerston to ask why he was being dismissed and got a reply. “Throughout the whole course of your proceedings, you seem to have considered that my instructions were waste paper, which you might treat with entire disregard, and that you were at full liberty to deal with the interests of your country according to your own fancy.”. Elliot would make a public statement “it has been popularly objected to me that I have cared too much for the Chinese. But I submit that it has been caring more for lasting British honour and substantial British interests to protect a helpless and friendly people”.   Even Queen victoria made a statement about Elliot when she wrote to her uncle King Leopold of Belgium “All we wanted might have been got, if it had not been for the unaccountably strange conduct of Charles Elliot, who completely disobeyed his instructions and trie to get the lowest terms he could”. Sir Henry Pottinger, a diplomat and veteran of the Afghan wars replaced Elliot as superintendent of Trade and given an annual salary of 6000 pounds, twice that of Elliots to rub it in. Sir William Parker was also sent to be commander in chief and both he and Pottinger held impressive resumes and vast military experience. Pottinger served during the Napoleonic wars as a cabin boy at the age of 12 and then later joined the Indian army. Parker at the age of 31 retired with the rank of captain and a large fortune in prize money from the French ships he captured during the Napoleonic wars. Parker had been spending 15 years on his estate in Litchfield as a gentleman farmer before being called out of retirement by Palmerston. Parker and Pottinger arrived in August of 1841 and were met graciously by Charles Elliot before he left with his family back home to England. The opium smugglers were delighted to finally be rid of Charles Elliot and his moralistic distaste for the opium trade. They had hoped the new guys would be more amenable than Elliot and were in for quite a shock. One of the first things Pottinger did was tell the residents of Canton “could allow no consideration connected with mercantile pursuits…to interfere with the strong measures which he might deem necessary, and if they put either themselves or their property in the power of the Chinese authorities, it must be clearly understood to be at their own risk and peril.”. While Elliot was argued to be a Sinophile, Pottinger was the very opposite a Sinophobe. Pottinger did not have any understanding of Chinese culture nor their protocol for saving face in dealings. When the governor of canton came to greet Pottinger in Macao, Pottinger simply sent a subordinate to meet the man insulting him greatly.  On August 21 of 1841 the British armada was 32 ships strong, with 4 regiments of over 27,000 men aboard them. Pottinger left 1350 men to garrison Hong Kong and sailed for Amoy (present day Xiamen). Amoy was a granite island around 300 miles north of Macao and not really of any value, it was quite barren, but it was closer to Beijing and thus a threat to Emperor Daoguang. Amoy had been fortified by the Qing recently, they built a few batteries on Gulangyu island which lies just off the coast of Amoy and they prepared defenses all along Amoy's coast. Amoys coast held 96 embrasures and over 200 cannons to defend its harbor. Then the Qing sent a force to garrison it, adding an additional 42 cannons and 10,000 troops. Gulangyu island's batteries had 76 cannons including some more modern artillery smuggled over from singapore. The British armada first made contact with Gulangyu island as it protected the approach to Amoy and the Druid, Blonde and Modeste blasted its fortifications from 400 yards away. As was typical of this war, the cannons at Amoy and Gulangyu were antiquated and in fixed positions. To give you a visual idea of the issue, these cannons could not swivel well, they were basically fixed to the ground, greatly hampering range and accuracy. Thus when the British ships began to bombard them they could not effectively return fire. After 90 minutes of bombardment, the Qing cannons went silent and the British began landing troops without any opposition. Major General Gough disembarked from Nemesis by 3:45pm as Amoy's batteries were neutralized and 26 chinese war junks in the harbor were put out of commission. Despite the ferocity of the British bombardment , Amoy's fortresses cannons began opening fire upon the troops and Gough personally led a bayonet charge towards the fortresses southern wall. The Qing soldiers on the fort began to fire their matchlocks at the British but were overwhelmed by the enemy's gunfire. Soon many of the Qing soldiers routed and when the Qing commander realized the situation was hopeless he marched straight into the sea committing suicide by drowning himself. The reports going back to Emperor Daoguang were “that the Manchu commander rushed out to drive back the assailants as they landed, fell into the water and died” sort of a positive spin on the story. The British forces scaled the forts walls and opened its gates. Inside the fort the British found a large number of opium pipes lying beside the cannons its alleged. When the British found Amoy's treasury they found a record indicating that there were thousands of silver taels, but none were to be found. It turned out the Qing officials had snuck the silver out before the British arrived. Pottinger took no time ordering the armada to refit and continue sailing north, now he wanted to make up for Elliot's giving away of Chusan.  On September 25 of 1841, the armada assembled to attack the fort of Dinghai on Chusan for a second time. Dinghai was much better fortified than Amoy and held more cannons. Dinghai's garrison was commanded by General Keo who had a large number of Gingalls. Gingalls are quite interesting and a bit comical to look at. Google one up and you will understand immediately, try to imagine a giant gun that takes a tripod and 2 men to fire. The gingall was one of the most used weapons by the Qing during this part of the century and it was not very effective against the British. The defenders of Dinghai put up an impressive resistance as noted by the British. The British sent the 55th foot to assault them and took the Dinghai fort, losing 2 men with 28 wounded. When General Keo knew the British had won the battle he slit his own throat. The British found 100 iron guns, 36 outdated brass cannons and 540 gingalls in the fort indicated the capability of the Qing military. Pottinger wrote back to Palmerston to make his resolve adamantly clear “under no circumstance will Dinghai and its dependencies be restored to the Qing government, until the whole of the demands of England are not only complied with, but carried into full effect”. Catastrophe hit again when the British ship Nerbudda transporting some British and Indian soldiers went aground off Taiwan. The British soldiers fled in lifeboats leaving the Indians behind who spent 5 days on ship until dehydration and starvation forced them to go ashore on rafts. The Qing forces in Taiwan seized them and imprisoned them. In march, an opium ship named the Ann also went aground on Taiwan and 14 of her survivors were imprisoned alongside the Indians from Nerbudda. The Qing officials were desperate for good news and sent reportes to the Emperor that a large naval battle had been won at Taiwan and 2 ships were sunk. Emperor Daoguang was delighted and rewarded the Taiwan officials with honors and silver.   Meanwhile the British armada left a garrison at Dinghai and sailed for Jintai which lies 10 miles east of the mainland. They began to bombard Jintai's forts on October 10 and it proved to be a difficult task as its forts were atop a large cliff. Around 4000 Qing troops garrisoned the city, quite a few were Mongol bannermen. Major General Gough sent a force of 15000 men to flank the fort on the cliff while Wellesley and Blenhem covered their march with bombardment. By the afternoon the British had 3 men dead and 16 wounded, but as they allegedly killed several hundred Chinese. Jintai was taken by the late afternoon and the Qing commander Yukien attempted to drown himself, but having failed to do so committed suicide by overdosing on opium. The British captured around 150 cannons and noticed amongst the majority which were antiquated, the usual sort they kept finding, a few were state of the art. The Qing were replicating the British style cannons it seemed. Many prisoners were taken, but Gough had to let them go; he simply did not have enough men to spare to guard them. Yet before letting the POW's go, the British attempted a rather heinous act. The British marines used their jackknives to cut off the Manchu queues of the Qing prisoners as take away gifts. Before too many of these marines were able to do so, to the credit of Gough he ran to the scene to stop the act.   After securing Jintai, the British sent Nemesis up the Yung River and soon discovered it was crossable and that they could navigate it to get to Ningbo. On October 13th, the British armada landed troops on Ningbo 10 miles southeast of Jintai. Ningbo's gates opened for them without a fight as the Royal Irish band played “saint patrick's day in the morning”. The British found the building that held the prisoners from the Kite and burned down the prison. Pottinger wrote to Palmerston that he “looked forward with considerable satisfaction to plundering Ningbo as a reprisal for the maltreatment there of British prisoners” and that is just what he did. The British looted 160,000 in funds and placed a 10% taxation on its citizens. Pottinger also confiscated provisions, Chinese ships, property and the main Pagoda's bell as a prize sent back to India. The Qing authorities left Ningbo and the British failed to set up any form of police and thus many looters ran rampant, Chinese and British alike. Gough and Parker were livid at the conditions, the inhabitants of Ningbo had opened the gates without a fight and should be left unmolested. They both argued Pottinger was allowing British honour to be stained at Ningbo.  Now while a lot of these victories seemed easy they were also pyrrhic in nature. Disease continuously reared its ugly head reducing the British troops. Every place they occupied had to be garrisoned and now they were down to 700 able men and had to winter in Ningbo. The humiliated and pissed off citizens of Ningbo began hurling rocks at the occupiers. Soon it became very apparent police were needed at Ningbo and thus a Qing official was set up as the chief of police named Yu Dechang. In reality the British were having Yu Dechang compile a list of the wealthiest residents of Ningbo so they could extort them for more money. Yu was also doing something else, he was spying for the Qing military who was currently massing troops outside Ningbo to retake the city! Emperor Daoguang had taken up action as soon as reports came that Ningbo had fallen. He sent his cousin Prince Yijing to recruit an army to “drive the English into the sea”. Prince Yijing was a 48 year old general and a honored veteran of wars against Muslim rebels in Xinjiang province from a decade earlier. Yijing brought with him quite an unlikely band of literary scholars whose expertise lay in confucian teachings and not the art of war. The scholars also happened to be rampant opium addicts and were deemed by the British later to be “weekend warriors”.  On march 10th of 1842, Yijing had a force of 5000, mostly ill trained intellectual types. When they came to the gate of Ningbo they were met with a head impaled on a pike and a sign reading “this is the head of the Manchu official Lu Tai-lai who came here to obtain military information”. Prince Yijing was enraged and ordered his men to scale the walls and charge the center of the city. However the British had spies of their own who had warned them of the incoming assault force. The British had deliberately left the city's western city gate quasi open in order to give the impression they did not mean to defend it. In truth the western gate had been mined heavily and when the Qing rushed to it, the mines exploded killing many. Over in the southern gate the Qing pushed back some British defenders all the way up to the city center. British soldiers reported that the Qing attacks appeared to be visibly impaired by opium, including their 2nd in command General Zhang Yingyun who was leading the rearguard once the city was breached. In the city center Major General Gough with 150 men and a field artillery piece met Zhang's force with massive gunfire. The artillery piece, a single howitzer tore the Qing troops to pieces at such a close range. Corpses began to pile apparently 15 feet high blocking the streets if you believe British sources. Not all of the Qing were these intellectual types by the way, there was a volunteer force of 150 aboriginal Chinese from Golden River. This group were not using matchlocks and instead pikes,swords and spears which were their favored weapons traditionally. The 150 unfortunate and very brave souls had rushed the British position and were completely annihilated. The British lost 5 men and reported to have inflicted up to 600 casualties upon the Qing. Bei Qingjiao a literary scholar with the Qing forces reported Zhang to behaving bizarrely during the battle in the city center. Bei reported that Zhang was commanding with an opium pipe in his mouth and collapsed in a narcotic daze. When his men began to rout, Zhang also abandoned the fight by crawling onto a litter and fleeing.  It was also reported the Qing forces had devised a rather comical military tactic during this battle. In order to destroy the British warships, some of the Qing wanted to throw monkeys holding firecrackers at the ships to set them ablaze. This was not the first time the idea was thought of during the first opium war by the way, though there is little evidence it ever occurred. There was also an idea put forward to sent Chinese merchants with smallpox contaminated meat to weakened the British prior to the attack, but General Yijing vetoed this plan deeming it to be too unethical. The battle had a devastating psychological effect on the Qing military. They had suffered nearly 600 casualties and taken nearly no British down with them. The Qing commanders were realizing the British technological superiority was too significant and a defeatist mindset began to set into the Qing military as a whole. For failing to retake Ningbo, Emperor Daoguang sentenced Prince Yijing to death. Prince Yijing would escape death and instead was exiled to Turkestan. When the Qing forces made their retreat from Ningbo and sent over 270 Chinese vessels to blockade Jintai, but it seems the commander of that force, Chen Tingchen did not want to risk an invasion and never landed troops. Instead they found a British shipwreck and salvaged pieces from it to sent to Beijing as proof they had won a great naval victory. Having failed to take Ningbo, the Qing began to poison its food supply which prompted the British to attack a village named Tzeki just up the river in retaliation where many Qing soldiers had fled to. Pottinger returned to Hong Kong in February of 1842 and found the city transformed since he last saw it. Now it really looked like a westernized city, there was a four mile road, 2 dozen brothels and builders busy constructing everywhere. The tea trade was continuing in Canton and so was the opium trade. It was estimated every 4th ship that stopped at Hong Kong was carrying opium at this point. Another 100 ships were sent to China carrying thousands of troops. Gough went from having a force of 3000 to 10,000. By may of 1842 the hostilities would fire up again. On may 18th, the British were sailing further north edging closer to Beijing to put pressure on the Emperor and came across Chapu, a town 75 miles northwest of Chusan island. Major General Gough divided his force of 2220 men into 3 groups with a right and left wing and artillery in the center. The British force landed on Chapu without resistance until they reached a joss house further inland. There were 300 Chinese barricaded inside the joss house who refused to surrender and fired upon the British inflicting casualties. The fight over the joss house went on for many hours as the British stormed parts of Chapu city bombarding its walls with artillery. Gough lost one of his senior officer Lt Colonel Nicholas Tomlinson who died leading a breaching party of the 18th Royal Irish storming the city. Aside from the Joss house fight and the initial breaches the battle went over quite well for the British as the Qing defenders had only seriously guarded one side of the city walls. In Goughs words after the battle “the enemy were completely taken by surprise as usual, they were unprepared for anything except a frontal attack. They gave way on all sides and took to flight, with the exception of a body of some 300 Tartar troops who seized a small joss-house and held it with indomitable pluck and perseverance”.  The Royal Irish were infuriated at the loss of their commander and wanted to kill POW's, but British officers intervened. Instead the POW's were subjugated to having their Manchu queues tied up together in groups of 8 to 10 men and marched in public after the city was officially captured. Despite this many POW's were bayoneted. When the British found the main Qing barracks they found a horrid scene. The Manchu had a military tradition of not being taken alive and a large force of Manchu had committed suicide after poisoning their wives and children. Black and bloated faces were seen alongside soldiers with slit throats. The British reported 13 dead and 52 wounded taking the city while the Qing they claimed lost thousands. Next the British sailed forth to attack Wusong which lay at the mouth of the Yangtze River. By taking Wusong they would be able to cut off the important second capital of Nanking from its riverway. They believed taking Nanking would bring the Qing to the bargaining table and would be easier than an attack on Beijing itself. They could also take Shanghai and cut its tax revenue to Beijing. On June 13th, the British armada made it to Wusong after being fired upon by forts along the Huangbu river, an estuary of the Yangtze which caused 3 deaths. They laid anchor off Wusong and began naval bombardments of its port on June 16th. After a few hours the Qing forts stopped returning fire and the British began landing troops to assault them. As was becoming typical, the Qing defenders had mostly fled during the cannon exchange but some stayed put to meet the invaders such as the Qing commander Chen Huacheng. Chen would go down fighting to the end as the British scaled the fort walls and occupied them. Hundreds of Qing soldiers were killed during the invasion and bombardments and by the late evening Wusong was occupied in full.  On June 19th, the British marched on Shanghai just a few miles south of Wusong. They found no sign of the enemy there, just 2 pieces of artillery left on the city's walls. The invaders scaled the walls and opened the gates as its residents fled the city. The residents of Shanghai bribed the British with 300,000 dollars to prevent looting, but the British officers simply let their men plunder. An eyewitness saw some of this pillaging go down. A wealthy and respected Qing official named Cao was living in a walled home with a courtyard in the suburbs of Shanghai when some British soldiers kicked down his front door. They began to loot the man's entire food supply and demanded of Cao to show them where he was hiding his silver. They put a knife to his throat and shouted “fan ping! Fan ping!” meaning “foreign cakes” an idiom for silver. Despite their belief the man was hiding silver about, they did not find any. Cao and his family lost all their food and to make matters worse after a few days some Chinese looters came by and stole some food Cao's family had found. Cao was forced to go door to door begging for food to feed his family, but the city had been picked clean. Cao himself wrote “foreigners have contented themselves with loot and rape, but as the city fell without resistance there has been no general slaughter. They are pressing the people into their service to do all their heavy work, such as shifting gun emplacements and gunpowder. They take anyone, buddhist monks, notables, and well known people”.  Despite Shanghai's commercial and strategic importance, the British only occupied it for a week before marching towards Nanking. By taking Nanking they hoped to end the entire war, but between them and Nanking was the walled city of Zhengjiang around 50 miles west of Nanking.  Zhengjiang held around 1583 bannerman and 2700 Green Standard Army troops and by mid july the British were blockading the route between the Yangtze river and the grand canal. On the morning of July 21 the British landed 4 brigades and attacked Zhengjiang from 3 different directions. The 1st brigade of 2310 soldiers and supported by an artillery brigade made a frontal assault attacking a Qing army in front of Zhengjiang's walls. The 2nd Brigade of 1832 men attacked Zhengjiangs western gate supported by a naval bombardment. The 3rd brigade consisting of 2155 soldiers attacked the northern gate.   At 7am the British 3rd brigade landed at Beigu mountain and its grenadiers charges the north gate as bannermen atop Zhengjaings walls fired down upon them using gingalls mounted on tripods. The 3rd brigade managed to set up artillery battered the defenders atop the walls who in the haste were trying to fire back with their own artillery. After an hour the artillery of the bannermen were knocked out and the British grenadiers bayonet charged the gate and scaled the walls bringing the fight to the wall tops.  The British 1st brigade landed and took some highlands near Jinshan and by 8am began to attack the Green standard army stationed outside the walls of Zhengjiang. When the 1st brigade began to battle the Green standard army, the British 2nd brigade stormed the western gate as the armada naval bombarded its walls. There were many houses in front of the western gate which the British occupied and fired from at the wall top defenders. The bannermen atop the walls desperately fired using gingalls upon the invaders but could not stop the British grenadiers from reaching the gate. British engineers blew up bombs using gunpowder at the west gate and it was soon breached. The Green Standard army occupied with the 1st british brigade saw the city had been breached and fires were emerging. They assumed the city was a lost cause and the commander of the Green standard army ordered a retreat. Within the city the street fighting was fierce and the British third and second brigades managed to fight towards another pincering the bannermen within the city. The Manchu commander of the bannermen, General Hailin ordered the Manchu to kill themselves rather than fall to the enemy. Again families were poisoned and soldiers strangled or slit their throats. General Hailin gathered up all his court papers into a pile, sat upon the pile and lit himself on fire. Pottinger wrote of this scene “he was worthy of a nobler and better fate”. The non Manchu residents of the city did not share this view however as before his death General Hailin ordered all the non manchu residents executed on charges of treason. I am hardly qualified to explain this, but just know the animosity between the Manchu and Han Chinese at this time was particularly bitter. A poet named Zhu Shiyun who lived on the outskirts of Zhengjiang city gave an account of this event. Of General Hailin he wrote “Hailin was in a very excited state. All over the town he arrested harmless people on the ground that they were in league with the enemy. He handed them over to the Prefect to imprison and flog. It was only at the four gates that he had a cannon pointing outwards. Inside the city his whole activity consisted in arresting passersby on suspicion of their being traitors. Whenever women or children saw Manchu soldiers, they fled in terror, upon which the soldiers ran after them and slew them, announcing to Hailin that they had disposed of traitors , for which he gave them rewards. The Barbarians different and the same were now on both sides of the gates”. The British had around 40 dead, a hundred wounded and allege they killed perhaps a thousand Chinese.   In contrast to the Manchu led horror, public opinion in the city improved of the invaders on July 24th when the British hung a rapist and looter from their own ranks. They hung placards to the men warning anyone would face the same fate for such crimes. It should be said, both these men happened to be Indian, a noticeable pattern in this war, the blaming of everything upon Indian soldiers. By August 16, a proclamation was made officially forbidding looting oh and on September the 5th opium was proclaimed fully legal and traded to the residents.  Major General Gough used his artillery to blast holes in Zhengjians walls before taking the army to march onwards, making sure the city could be easily retaken later if need be. With the capture of Zhengjiang, the British gained control over the traffic upon the Yangtze river. The British quickly blockaded the Grand Canal paralyzing the region. The governor of Nanking, Yilibu sent word to the emperor summing up the situation “The Yangtze River is a region like a throat, at which the whole situation of the country is determined. Now they have already cut off our salt and grain transportation and stopped the communication of merchants and travelers. That is not a disease like ringworm, but a trouble in our heart and stomach.”. In addition to all of that, the path to march upon Nanking was now wide open. After that it was Beijing that could be marched upon! Emperor Daoguang appointed Yilibu and a Manchu court official named Qiying to negotiate with the British. The emperor gave Qiying plenipotentiary power and ordered both men to do anything necessary to halt the British advance before it reached Beijing. Meanwhile the British were marching towards Nanking with naval forces sailing the river threatening to bombard the city. Yilibu quickly raised the white flag before a shot could be fired. Unlike previous Qing officials, both Yilibu and Qiying recognized the impending disaster should they embellish reports to the emperor. No they knew they had to tell him straight what was occuring to make sure they were not caught doing anything that would bite them in the ass later so to say. One of their first reports back to Emperor Daoguang to explain the situation in Nanking read “should we fail to ease the situation by soothing the barbarians, they will run over our country like beasts, doing anything they like”.  Yilibu approached the British displaying the typical arrogance the British had become accustomed to in China. Yilibu sent a low ranking soldier to meet Pottinger. Pottinger as you might remember was …well an asshole honesty, a complete sinophobe who knew not much about the rigid Qing protocol and its hierarchical nature, but he knew when he was being insulted. Pottinger declined the low ranking solider and demanded to meet with Yilibu himself, whom he assumed held plenipotentiary power. Pottinger accused the Qing of performing the same ruse they did with Elliot countless times, making promises without the emperors authority so they could just back out of them later. While Yilibu hesitated, Pottinger made a point by ordering attacks on local villages along the Yangtze river. Yilibu did not hold plenipotentiary power however and the Emperor quickly dispatched a seal to give it to him when Yilibu pleaded for it. As Yilibu stalled waiting for the seal, Pottinger brought up the steam warship Queen and trained her guns on the walls of Nanking and began setting up 18 howitzers on the beach to rain hell into the city. Yilibu panicked and sent his subordinate Zhang Xi to meet the British aboard the Queen. Zhang Xi took a very aggressive stance with Pottinger demanding he stop his threatening actions or else. Pottinger replied he would attack Beijing after Nanking fell, a blunt message. Zhang Xi retorted that the British military successes were only due to the kindness and forbearance of the Emperor saying “who cannot bear to kill or injure human creatures. But if pushed too far would arm every inhabitant of the great empire to fight off the invaders”. The interpreter Thom looked at Zhang Xi and objected to saying his message to Pottinger and Zhang Xi screamed while pounding the table with his fists an spitting on the floor “you kill people everywhere, plunder goods, and act like rascals; that is very disgraceful; how can you say you are not rebellious?”. Zhang Xi was escorted off the ship after his outburst which honestly could have made the British attack Nanking at any moment, kinda a loose cannon of an official. Luckily on August 9th, Yilibu received the seal of plenipotentiary power just as the British brought Cornwallis into firing range of the city walls and landed troops to camp outside them.  On August 11, Yilibu offered 3 million off the bat to postpone the British attack upon Nanking, he even said Qiying would bring it himself to Queen Victoria. Pottinger agreed to postpone and begin negotiations. Yilibu then began the classic Chinese ploy of procrastination instead of negotiation. He hoped to weary the enemy down. When Pottinger sent Yilibu a treaty, he pretended to examine it, but in truth was just biding time. Then the British told him they would commence attacks on August 13th. Yilibu was cornered now, he begrudgingly made an appearance aboard the Queen and promised to begin serious negotiations if the British called off the attack. Yilibu and other emissaries met for 4 days traveling back and forth from ship to shore until Yilibu agreed to terms. However despite his potentiary powers, Yilibu argued he still had to send a copy of the treaty to the Emperor for approval. Basically the terms were so terrible he knew he was facing death if he just signed off on them. The British understood Yilibu's predicament and allowed for this, then they invited him and his colleagues aboard Cornwallis on August 20th to wine and dine them. They served the Chinese tea and cherry brandy and Yilibu and Qiying put on a show of Qing manners by bowing before a painting of Queen Victoria. Macartney, Napier and Amherst probably smiling from their graves. While Yilibu awaited Beijing's approval, Pottingers spoke to him about the opium trade. At first Yilibu refused to discuss the subject all together, until Pottinger told the interpreter to tell him the meeting would be kept secret. Then Yilibu explained the decades of hardship opium had brought upon the Qing dynasty and suggested a common solution. Why could the British simply stop the production of the crop in its held parts of India? Pottinger replied that the Americans, French or some other nation would simply take up the business and added “If your people are virtuous, they will desist from the evil practice; and if your officers are incorruptible, and obey their orders, no opium can enter your country.”. Yilibu quickly realized the opium issue was a deal breaker and dropped the matter.  Yilibu was under terrible stress, while he was dealing with the British he was simultaneously receiving orders from Beijing to not meet with the British until they sailed away from Nanking. Yilibu ignored these imperial edicts and continued negotiations which was quite brave of him. When the British demanded Fuzhou be opened to British trade, Beijing ordered him not to allow it, but Yilibu ignored that order, also accepting the term.  The result of the negotiations was the Treaty of Nanking and it represented a total diplomatic defeat for the Qing dynasty. The original demand for 6 million in reparations for the 20,000 chests of confiscated opium and the cost for Britain's war reparations ballooned to a sum of 21 million. That was half of China's yearly tax revenues back then. Yilibu accepted the amount to be paid in installments. The British gained everything they wanted except for the legalization of the opium trade in China. Despite written instructions from Lord Palmerston to “strongly impress upon the Chinese plenipotentiaries how much it would be to the interest of that Government to legalize the trade,” Pottinger did not press upon the issue after receiving a message from Emperor Daoguang through Yilibu “gainseeking and corrupt men will for profit and sensuality defeat my wishes, but nothing will induce me to derive revenue from the vice and misery of my people.”. The Emperor Daoguang refused to agree to a formal recognition of the treaty and sent another letter to Yilibu to give Pottinger “Our nations have been united by friendly commercial intercourse for 200 years. How then, at this time, are our relations so suddenly changed, as to be the cause of a national quarrel from the spreading of the opium poison? Multitudes of our Chinese subjects consume it, wasting their property and destroying their lives. How is it possible for us to refrain from forbidding our people to use it?”. The Qing government did not want to admit publicly that a shocking amount of the Chinese population were suffering from opium addiction. On August 27th of 1842 Beijing approved what it thought to be the complete text of the treaty of nanking. The draft was signed on August 29th aboard the Cornwallis and Yilibu was so sick he had to be carried onto the British ship to sign it. The signatories, Yilibu, Qiying, Parker, Gough and Pottinger gathered in the cabin of Cornwallis as the seals were fixed. A lunch was served afterwards as the Qing banner and Union Jack flew on Cornwallis's masts. Qiying insisted on stuffing Pottinger's mouth with a candied plum at dessert time stating it was a Manchu custom and symbol of agreement. An English crewmember who witnessed this said “I shall never forget Sir Henry's face determined resignation”. The Qing left after lunch and despite Qiyings playfulness with the plums it masked their despair at the terms of the treaty. The British had agreed to give back Chusan and Amoy after the reparations were paid in full. They demanded access for trade and permanent residence at the ports of Canton, Amoy, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai. Each port had to have a British consular official and the limited trade through the Cohong system was to be abolished. The pretense that Britain was a tributary inferior nation to the Qing dynasty was to be abolished and now they were to be treated as equal nations. Hong Kong island was to be a permanent British colony and Nanking would be blockaded by Britain's armada until the first reparation payment of 6 million was paid. Yilibu was so terrified of the Emperor he sent an edited version of the Treaty of Nanking to Beijing omitting the points the Emperor and screamed not to allow. The British flotilla at Nanking remained for several weeks until the British crews began to all get sick. By october 12 of 1842 the 6 million was paid and the British fleet departed Nanking. Those shipwrecked prisoners from the Ann and Nerbudda would become unfortunate victims. The Daoguang emperor ordered their execution and on August 10th the captives were taken 3 miles outside the city walls and executed. As reported in the Chinese repository a publication in Canton All the rest—one hundred and ninety-seven [prisoners]—were placed at small distances from each other on their knees, their feet in irons and hands manacled behind their backs, thus waiting for the executioners, who went round, and with a kind of two-handed sword cut off their heads without being laid on a block. Afterwards their bodies were all thrown into one grave, and their heads stuck up in cages on the seashore. Pottinger threatened retaliation for the massacre but the governor of Canton Yiliang said he arrested the ring leaders and they would be punished at Beijing for their crimes. Back in Britain the Treaty of Nanking was hailed,  the Illustrated London News crowned  “it secures us a few round millions of dollars and no end of very refreshing tea. It gives an impetus to trade, cedes us one island in perpetuity, and in short puts that sort of climax to the war which satisfies our interests more than our vanity and rather gives over glory a preponderance to gain,”. The London Times hailed it and the British fleet “early victorian vikings”.  Much like the Treaty, the press made no mention of the reason why the war occurred, ie the illicit opium trade. Now Hong Kong island would fill its function as an offloading point for opium. Despite the Qing governments best efforts, demand in China rose for opium and it continued to flood into China. Many in the British parliament wanted to abolish the trade and many tried. In the end most paid lip service to it. An Order in Council gave Pottinger the power to “forbid the opium traffic in Hong Kong.” Pottinger paid lip service by issuing a lukewarm threat on August 1, 1843: “Opium being an article the traffic in which is well known to be declared illegal and contraband by the laws and Imperial Edicts of China, any person who may take such a step will do so at his own risk, and will, if a British subject, meet with no support or protection from HM Consuls or other officers.” The Opium merchants ignored Britain's sanctions and efforts to stop them were laughable. The Opium trade continued to thrive in China and the end of the First Opium war had done nothing to end the controversy over the illegal trade. Jardine and Mathson both left China and entered parliament as staunch Whig supporters. Their Chinese counterpart Howqua died of diarrhea a year after the signing of the treaty of nanking. Howqua most likely died the richest man on Earth at the time. Lin Zexu was eventually forgiven by the Emperor in 1845 and assigned a new post but died near Canton in 1850 before he could return to service. Emperor Daoguangs wrath over the treaty of Nanking fell unevenly. Qiying was still in his favor, while Yilibu was sent into exile in chains. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.  And so the Qing dynasty sued for peace, but at what cost? The underlying problem had not changed, that of Opium. Could China rid itself of the illicit substance or what conflict rear its ugly head yet again?

Last time we spoke, Lin Zexu's efforts against opium were not going well enough and he was losing favor with Emperor Daoguang and it seems his aggressive actions had brought war upon the Qing dynasty. The British warships proved too formidable, their cannons superior and the Qing were losing territory such as Chusan Island. Even the mighty Dagu forts were no match for the British warships who sailed through Chinese waters uncontested. Qishan began talks with the British, telling them Lin Zexu might be fired at any moment and that he would most likely be his replacement. Elliot faced a hostage crisis yet again with the captives from the Kite being held in Ningbo and had to negotiate a ceasefire in the meantime, but now Britain's most powerful weapon had just arrived in China, the Nemesis. This episode is the First Opium War Part 2: The Nemesis Terror   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War.   The emergence of Steam power in the 19th century is somewhat comparable to the emergence of nuclear power in the 20th century. Its power would make its worldwide debut during the First Opium War. The 660 ton steam warship Nemesis was launched in 1839 and arrived in China at the height of the Ningbo prisoner crisis. Nemesis had an iron hull giving it outstanding armor for its time. The coal consumption for the Nemesis was an absolute nightmare and this made it journey from Britain to China quite a slow process as it had to make numerous coal stops. Nemesis arrived to Macao on November 25 of 1840 and soon crossed the Gulf of Canton to sent anchor in Danggu, awaiting the arrival of the man of war Melville. Nemesis arrived at the perfect time to intimidate the Qing as Qishan and the 2 Elliots negotiated. The 3 men would meet aboard the Melville outside Canton harbor on November 29th and Qishan offered some promising news. Governor General Lin Zexu had finally been fired by Emperor Daoguang as a result of not fully eradicating the Opium trade. The Emperor had said to Lin Zexu “Externally you wanted to stop the trade, but it has not been stopped. Internally you wanted to wipe out the outlaws, but they are not cleared away. This has caused the waves of confusion to arise and a thousand interminable disorders. In fact you have been as if your arms were tied, without knowing what to do. It appears that you are no better than a wooden image” ouch.  Lin Zexu tried to make his case to the Emperor stating the barbarians were being ruined by dysentery and malaria and predicted they would be unable to maintain the troops so far from their home and soon have to depart. Lin Zexu begged Emperor Daoguang not to give into the barbarians. They would best deploy the military rather than diplomacy. “The more they get the more they demand, and if we do not overcome them by force of arms there will be no end to our troubles. Moreover there is every probability that if the English are not dealt with, other foreigners will soon begin to copy and even outdo them”. Emperor Daoguang angrily replied to this “if anyone is copying, it is you, who are trying to frighten me, just as the English try to frighten you!”.  And so, Lin Zexu left Canton in disgrace, but while enroute to Beijing he was given orders to return to Canton to assist Qishan in negotiations with the barbarians. The 2 Elliots when hearing about Lin Zexu's dismissal were quite relieved, they assumed this meant the Emperor was planning to make peace. Charles Elliots at this time would also lose the help of his cousin George Elliot as George had developed heart problems and had to sail back to England. For the negotiations at Canton, Elliot wanted to bring some more intimidation so he gathered some warships and more troops at Canton. Qishan began negotiations on December 4th, by apologizing for the cannon attack on the British by the Bogue forts and as I said previously handed over poor old Stanton. Elliot began negotiations by demanding 4 ports be opened to trade, Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuzhou and Amoy. He also demanded the surrender of an unspecified island, reimbursement for the confiscated opium chest and of course reparations for the war itself, quite a large pill to swallow. Elliot was also hoping such demands would be met quickly, because the British began to fear both France and Russia would begin joining into the war and plying for their own share in its spoils. Qishan agreed to pay 5 million over the course of 12 years, Elliot however wanted 7 million in 6 years and the surrender of at least Amoy and Chusan. The men eventually agreed to 6 million, but Qishan refused any territorial demands. Elliot resorted to threats “there are large forces collected here, and delays must breed amongst them a very great impatience”. Soon Elliot began ordering his troops to go ashore and perform military drills and target practice. At the beginning of 1841 negotiations were still stagnant. Then a rumor spread that the Emperor had chosen war and Elliot decided to prepare. On January 5th of 1841, Elliot informed Qishan that if an agreement was not reached within 2 days he would recommence war at 8am on July the 7th. Well no agreement came and Elliot made do with his threat. On the morning of July 7th, a force of 1500, soldiers, marines and sailors aboard Madagascar, Enterprize and Nemesis landed at the mouth of the Canton River. Their escort force 4 sailing and 4 steam warships began to bombard the Chuanbi Fort and the walls of Tyocoktow Fort across from Chuanbi. When the 8000 Chinese defenders in the forts saw the British ships they initially screamed at them and waved flags in defiance while they opened fire from their batteries. However the Chinese cannons were all tied down and could not be properly aimed at the invaders and thus after 20 minutes of firing at the barbarians they stopped. When they stopped firing the British took advantage of the cease fire and 2 companies of marines scaled over the walls of the Chuanbi earthen walls at 9:30am. The muddy flats in front of the fort made dragging the artillery pieces a nightmare as the men looked up at the forts to see Qing soldiers screaming and waving flags at them. Yet the British bombardment was targeting the Chinese cannons and soon they were getting knocked out one by one. Many of the Qing soldiers were told the British killed all their prisoners and thus many resisted to the bitter end. A British officer said of the carnage “a frightful scene of slaughter ensued, despite the efforts of the British officers to restrain their men”. By 11am, the Qing banner was lowered by the British whom raised the Union Jack in its place. The British reported they had killed 600 Qing soldiers and took another 100 prisoner. The British reported 30 casualties of their own, but as they put it, not because of any Chinese defender, no only because of accidental explosions from their own overheated artillery pieces. Many Qing defenders fled the city, but Major Pratt of the 26th regiment flanked their retreat forcing many back into the forts. The British warships continued to shell the city killing numerous defenders. Once it looked like Chuanbi was simmering down, the British ships began to fire upon 11 Chinese war junks anchored at the mouth of the river using Congreve rockets. One British officer who witnessed this stated “The very first rocket fired from the Nemesis was seen to enter the large junk ... and almost the instant afterwards it blew up with a terrific explosion, launching into eternity every soul on board, and pouring forth its blaze like the mighty rush of fire from a volcano. The instantaneous destruction of the huge body seemed appalling to both sides engaged. The smoke, and flame, and thunder of the explosion, with the broken fragments falling round, and even portions of dissevered bodies scattering as they fell, were enough to strike with awe, if not fear, the stoutest heart that looked upon it”. Both the Chinese artillery on top of the forts as well as the Chinese war junks did not return fire. Instead the defenders were fleeing or jumping overboard to get away from the naval bombardments. The British fired muskets at them as they did so killing many. Inside one of the forts many Qing defenders were becoming burned and horribly disfigured because they antiquated matchlocks gunpowder would often explode on them. The British gunfire only added to their misery. A staff officer who took part in the battle wrote later in life “The slaughter of fugitives is unpleasant, but we are such a handful in the face of so wide a country and so large a force that we should be swept away if we did not deal our enemy a sharp lesson whenever we came in contact.”. As the British warships bombarded the Chinese War junks the Chinese captains fell into a rout scattering into Anson's Bay just east of Chuanbi. There, the nightmare ship, Nemesis went forward by itself attacking over 15 Chinese war junks. An extremely lucky congreve rocket fired from Nemesis hit one of the war junks powder magazines exploding it to pieces. The 14 other war junks witnessing this continued to scatter and many of their crew jumped overboard to escape. Nemesis did not pursue them any longer and instead steamed up river torching a few war junks as it went along and seizing others before rejoining the armada.  3 more fort remained operation near Chuanbi and next day the British began to prepare their ships to bombard them, but a white flag was lifted over them and a messenger arrived telling the British Admiral Guan was requesting a 3 day ceasefire so he could speak with Qishan. Charles Elliot was quite mortified by the massacre of Chuanbi and accepted the 3 day cease fire. Elliots soldiers however were livid with this decision and wanted to simply march on Canton. To alleviate the men, Elliot ordered them to demolish the walls of Chuanbi and the Tycocktow forts. Qishan then met with Elliot to negotiate at the Lotus Flower Wall due south of Canton city. Elliot brought with him a show of force, 56 royal marine, a 15 member fife and drum band and Captain Rosamel commander of a French corvette named Danaide. Inviting the French captain was a diplomatic courtesy and a method of keeping an eye on the French whom the British like I said feared might take a shot at the spoils of war. Qishan performed the customary wining and dining of Elliot and his entourage and eventually they began their diplomacy again. By January 20th they agreed to what has become known as the Chuanbi Convention. The British agreed to purchase Hong Kong island for 6 million and the Chinese would pay 6 million for the war reparations, sort of a swap in other words. Both nations would exchange ambassadors and now contact between the nations would be direct and official, no more tributary status. Above all else trade would resume and the British would hand over all the forts and places they had captured, including Chusan island. Qishan presumed Emperor Daoguang and his Qing court would agree to these terms and even made plans to exhort the 6 million in reparations directly from the Hong merchants to sweeten the deal. Elliot had to assume Britain would be pleased, because messages took a long time to get back home, but in fact Palmerston and others in Parliament were quite livid Elliot did not get the 20,000 opium chest amount and the war reparation amount they had demanded. The British foreign minister said of the Chaunbi settlement “after all, our naval power is so strong that we can tell the Emperor what we mean to hold, rather than that he should say what we would cede”.Emperor Daoguang was so pised off when he found out about the Hong Kong cession he recalled Qishan immediately to Beijing and ordered the execution of Charles Elliot. Elliot would eventually received word from Parliament about the Chuanbi convention and the it turned out the British government refused to ratify the agreement, uh oh. On the same day the Chuanbi convention was signed, January 20th of 1841, Emperor Daoguang ordered Qishan to stop negotiations with the barbarians, because he was sending reinforcements to Canton from the interior. Thousands of Qing troops were enroute under the command of a 70 year old general named Yang Fang. Yang Fang was so old, it was alleged he was deaf and had to give his men orders in writing. The Emperor also sent with him his cousin Yishan as a new diplomat. Charles Elliot was completely aloof at the looming conflict, nor the Emperor's rejection of the Chuanbi agreement. On January 26th Lt Colonel George Burell occupied Hong Kong island in accordance with the Chuanbi agreement. Similar to the Chusan island situation, Elliot allowed opium to be stored on Hong Kong island. In a letter at the time from Matheson to Jardine he mentioned “Elliot says that he sees no objection to our storing opium there, and as soon as the Chinese New Year holidays are over I shall set about building”. Soon Matheson began building an enormous stone fortress in Hong Kong and moved the companies HQ there.  Hong Kong became a brilliant new jewel in the crown of her Majesty. It held a deep harbor and a very small population that would not give too much trouble. The British were overjoyed to leave the malaria dysentery filled nightmare of Chusan for Hong Kong. By February 1st, Charles Elliot proclaimed Hong Kong island an official British territory and its residents subjects under the crown, something the Chuanbi convention never stipulated.  Elliot met Qishan again, this time at a place called Second Bar, a small island 20 miles southeast of Canton to put the imperial seal upon the Convention of Chuanbi. Qishan informed Elliot that he had been fired and that the Emperor was pissed off like hell much to the shock of Elliot. Qing soldiers began to mass around the Bogue and as noted by Commodore James Bremmer in his military dispatch “I must confess that from this moment my faith in the sincerity of the Chinese Commissioner was completely destroyed, my doubts were also strengthened by the reports of the Officers I sent up to the place of meeting, who stated that military works on a great scale were in progress, troops collected on the heights, and camps protected by entrenchments, arising on both sides of the river, and that the island of North Wangtong had become a mass of cannon” Elliot decided yet again to take up arms. On february 26, the Modeste, Druid, Wellesley, Queen and Melville began to bombard the forts on Wangtong and Anunghoi island on the Bogue. There were 3 forts on Anunghoi island holding 42, 60 and 40 cannons atop them each. The warship Blenheim alongside Melville, Queen, and four rocket boats approached the southernmost fort, dropped anchor 600 yards away, and fired their broadsides. The Melville approached five minutes later and within 400 yards of the fort, and fired broadsides in quick succession. A British officer who witnessed the scene said "The firing of these ships was most splendid: nothing could withstand their deadly aim ... One or two shot were sufficient for the 'dragon-hearted' defenders of the north fort, who, 'letting' off their guns, fled up the hills." The 3 forts cannons were stationary guns set at such a high elevation that when they return fired they were only able to hit the topsails of the British ships. The Chinese return fire lasted only 15 minutes,  by 1:20 pm the forts stopped returning fire and  300 Royal Marines stormed the forts. By 1:30 pm, the 3 forts were captured 250 killed or wounded in Anunghoy.  Over on Wangtong island there was 40 gun fort on its western side called Yong'an Fort. Between this fort and the forts on Anunghoi was a large boom chain cable to stop warships and passage could not be made until all the forts were taken. Commodore Bremer aboard his flagship Wellesley alongside 7 other warships began to bombard the fort and its batteries and in less than an hour the Chinese stopped firing back. By 1:30pm Major Thomas Simson Pratt commanded 1037 troops to storm the beach of the island. In the words of British officer Edward Belcher “Opposition there was none. The unfortunate Chinese literally crammed the trenches, begging or mercy. I wish I could add that it was granted”. Belcher also alleges some Indian soldiers would begin executing prisoners when he personally tried to stop them “two were shot down whilst holding my shirt, and my gig's crew, perceiving, my danger, dragged me away exclaiming ‘they will shoot you next sir!”. There were around 2000 Qing defenders on the island and it is estimated 250 were killed and or wounded. The British claim to have only 5 casualties. When the British and Indian force entered the forts they found that the defenders had most likely fled the moment the battle began. Within 2 hours, the forts on Anunghoi and Wangtong were seized with minimal effort. Charles Elliot stated he had almost died in the battle from a Chinese cannonball that nearly hit him as he sat reclined in a hammock on the deck of his ship. You can't make that stuff up…or perhaps you really can if you are the British during the 19th century trying to show off. Honestly folks, when I give reports from this war, a lot of it comes from British primary sources and I can assure you they are embellishing the shit out of it. A thousand Chinese were taken prisoner. Admiral Guan's body lay among the defenders, a bayonet in his chest. The British gave the old warrior a cannon salute from the warship Blenheim when his family retrieved the body and sailed off with it. With the fall of the Bogue forts, the mouth of the Canton River and the gateway to Canton belonged to the British. Lin Zexu wrote of the event "I got home at the Hour of the Monkey [that is 3 p.m.] ... and when night came heard that the Bogue forts and those on Wangtong Island were being invested, preparatory to attack, by the English rebels. I at once went with Deng to Qishan's office and at the Hour of the Rat [that is 11 p.m.] we heard that the Wangtong, Yung-an and Kung-ku forts have fallen. All night I could not sleep." On February 27, Elliot made his way up the Canton River aboard Nemesis when they came across the warship Cambridge which was in trouble. Cambridge had been captured and surrounded by Chinese War junks. When Nemesis alongside some other British steamers approached, the Chinese war junks opened fired on them. When the British ships managed to maneuver into a position where they could fire broadsides they sent a tremendous volley. Added to the shells were congreve rockets which set fires to many of the war junks. The Cambridge was also opening fire upon the British as Chinese crews were operating her. The British bombardment after an hour soon sent the ships scattering about and many of their crews jumped overboard. On the sides of the river were some earthworks defense with batteries and British troops began to land and stormed their positions. Captain Thomas Herbert of warship Calliope said of the event “I landed with the seamen and marines and stormed the works, driving before us upwards of 2 thousand of their best troops, and killing nearly 300”. Lt John Elliot Bingham of the Modeste wrote “As the enemy fled before Lt Stranshams party, they attempted to cross a deep branch of the river in which numbers of them perished and many were shot”. Thus the British claimed to have killed 300 Chinese during this battle near the First Bar Island on the Pearl River at the cost of losing 1 man with a couple wounded. The day after the battle Lin Zexu wrote "I hear that yesterday the English rebels broke resistance at Wu-yung. The regulars from Hunan were stationed there, and had heavy losses, their Commander Hsiang-fu being also among the killed."   After the battle was over the British realized they could not tow the Cambridge, so Elliot ordered the ship scuttled. During the firing upon the Chinese war junks, a British sailor died when his musket exploded in his hands. Elliot awaited some other ships and men before continuing to sail towards Canton.  On March the 2nd, Commodore Bremer dispatched a force to prod Whampoa Island which held a battery of around 25 cannons and had around 250 Qing troops defending it. The smaller naval force of 3 British warships bombarded the island destroying the cannons and defensive structures with ease. The marines who stormed the island reported around 20 dead defenders and lost a man to grapeshot. Lin Zexu wrote in his diary on the day of the battle “I hear that the English rebel ships have already forced their way to the fort at Lieh-te. Early in the morning I went to talk things over at the General office in the Monastery of the Giant Buddha”.  As the armada made its approach to the city the 10,000 civilians fled, including Lin Zexu's family. An American merchant in Canton wrote of the scene “Canton never looked so desolate. The hatred of those who had not fled registered in their faces. They scowl upon every one of us in a way indicative of a greater dislike than I have ever before observed”. Cantons harbor was too shallow for the Nemesis to dock, so Elliot took her completely alone up the Canton river and back down destroying apparently a few forts and 9 Chinese war junks. If that is to be believed, Nemesis truly lived up to its name wow.  Poor Qishan was again recalled to Beijing to be punished. He was not only recalled, but arrested and cast into chains. He made it to Beijing by March 12th and his entire fortune of 425,000 acres of land, 135,000 ounces of gold and 10 million in cash was taken from him by Emperor Daoguang. Luckily for Qishan his death sentence was reversed by the Emperor to just hard labor at a military encampment near China's northernmost border with Russia. Lin Zexu did not receive blame for the military blunders and instead remained in power at Canton. The reason as to why this came to be might be because Lin Zexu was as guilty as every other Qing official in sending the Emperor very embellished stories about the war. “Our regular troops sank 2 of their dinghies and shattered the mainmast of one of their warhips after which they retired”. Like the other officials playing broken telephone, Lin Zexu also feared the Emperors wrath and for good reason. By March 13, the rest of the British armada arrived outside Canton and began to blow all the Chinese ships to pieces within the harbor. The armada also bombarded the city's walls knocking out its cannons. On march 19, British marines and sailors landed near the foreign factories district forcing Chinese defenders there to pull back giving no resistance. The next day the British occupied their old English factory and planted the Union Jack back upon its roof.  Our old friend Houqua came to Elliot at the English factory begging for a truce on behalf of General Fang. Elliot greeted Houque kindly and agreed, he also told everyone in Canton that trade was to be restored. The months of the opium smugglers were watering at this, but Elliot then dictated that all the opium found on any British ship was to be confiscated. Elliot was trying to make it known they were here for the tea trade and to show Britain was going to be on its best behavior. Unbeknownst to Elliot, the truce was a feint. For the next few days, the British watched Chinese ships full of Qing soldiers sail past the factories vantage point.  Despite Elliots talk of confiscating all opium, the smugglers were more bold than ever. With the British armada as armed guards, the smuggler ships came in some carrying more than 1000 chests each! Elliot was furious and tried to stop the opium vessels from unloading their cargo in Canton, but the merchants simply ignored him. Elliot feared getting chewed up by members at parliament if he molested the dealers anymore, knowing full well parliament had a ton of opium lobbyists working full time. Its actually scarily like current governments today. Some, albeit I bet a few politicians in the congress/senates/parliaments of large nations today actually want to put a stop to the worlds most horrible troubles, but lobbyists are a powerful force and when your political job is at stack…well like Mr. Elliot, how much do you put your neck out on the line? Also Elliot had greater issues to worry about, when the British took back the factory the Qing officials set a price upon the heads of any British citizen and a king's ransom of 50,000 for Elliot's head.  Ever since the first battle at the Bogue, Qishan and Lin were both sending reports to Emperor Daoguang about how the war was going. Lin Zexu was sending amazing tales of Qing victories, all fabrications. Qishan was sending report, of how corrupt the Qing military had become and how it had fallen to such lengths it could not hope to match the barbarians. Qishan counseled strategic surrender and hinted towards resuming the opium trade. Well we all know what happened to Qishan for his more honest words on military matters. General Yang Fang also urged the Emperor to allow the opium trade to continue arguing that if the British occupied themselves with making money, they would have little time or any desire for war. The Emperor replied to General Fang “If trade were the solution to the problem, why would it be necessary to transfer and dispatch generals and troops?”. Emperor Daoguang ordered General Fang and his colleagues Ishand and Longwen to take back Hong Kong island. By late March, Elliot had decided the next target was to be Amoy, around 400 miles northeast of Canton. Elliot thought it would be a good time to attack Amoy in May, but in the meantime he fell quite ill while in Macao. In the meantime he was receiving intelligence reports from Canton that the city was being surrounded by more and more Qing troops. It seemed General Fang was amassing forces trying to bring the British back to the peace table. Elliot headed the show of military might by putting off the Amoy plans and concentrating on arming Canton. On May 11th, Elliot took Nemesis over to Canton and quickly saw the Chinese were building fortifications outfitted with new cannons. He also saw the Chinese navy was increasing its presence in the area. To that end he sent a letter to the governor asking they cease military preparations but received no word back. On May 21st, Elliot ordered the British and even urged the Americans to leave the factory quarter. All of the British quickly left, just a few Americans stayed and in less than 24 hours the factory quarter was shelled by the Chinese military from the opposite side of the river. The Chinese then began sending fireboats from the river at the nearby British warships. Elliot had Nemesis begin bombarding the Chinese war junks nearby which were using the fireships as cover. The fireships failed to hit any of the British vessels and instead ran into shorelines setting parts of Canton ablaze. Nemesis began firing on fortifications and Chinese artillery positions and by the morning the battle over the sea dissipated.  On May 25th, Nemesis escorting 70 other vessels full of thousands of troops made its way to Tsingpu, 2 miles northwest of Canton proper. Tsingpu had a natural harbor from which the British formed a beach head to assemble its forces and equipment. The military strategy involved multiple ships bombarding differing parts of Cantons defenses and 2 invasion forces. The first force which I will call right force was led by the warship Atalanta consisting of 330 men of the 26th Cameronians, Madras Artillery and some Engineers. They were going to bombard the south walls of Canton while they landed troops at the factory quarter to occupy it. The other force was that of Nemesis which landed at Tsingpu, designated as left force consisting of 6000 men with various troops such as  the 49th foot, 27th Madras infantry, some Bengal Volunteers and 380 Royal marines.  Leading left force was Major General Hugh Gough whom performed a reconnaissance of the area and said “the heights to the north of Canton were crowned by 4 strong forts and the city walls, which run over the southern extremity of these heights, appeared to be about 3 miles and a half distant”. Basically if you had a map, which can be found of this battle the left force has landed northwest of Canton. To its east lies various hills and forts that protect the approach to the large wall defense of Canton city. There were 4 large forts each holding various cannons and troops.  Gough's force at 3am was being fired upon by the 2 most western forts of the 4. Then the British managed to place their artillery, 12 pounder howitzers, 9 pounder artillery pieces, half a pound mortars and a ton of Congreve rockets. The British began to fire back upon the 2 western first and cover of fire, Lt Colonel Morris of the 49th advanced up a hill towards the nearest fort, while Major General Burrell led the 18th royal Irish to support his flank. While this was occurring, the Qing sent a large force to hit the right flank, but General Gough saw this coming and ordered some royal marines to close the flank up. With their land based artillery and warships bombarding, the left force was able to capture all 4 forts taking light casualties and when they occupied the forts they held a vantage point looking into Canton city.  On may the 25th Goughs force began setting up around these 4 forts, they saw an incoming force coming from the northeast of around 4000 Qing soldiers. They were advancing through an open paddy field and attacked the British 49th at 3pm. The 49th were putting up a good fight, but then General Yang Fang showed up to the scene rallying the troops trying to overwhelm the 49th. Gough quickly ordered the 18th division with some royal marines to reinforce the 49th position and placed Major General Burrell in charge of repelling the enemy. The fighting was intense, but the British force managed to rout the enemy and in turn burnt down their military encampments.  By the early morning of may 26th, Gough had prepared his men for an invasion of Canton's city walls, but at 10:00am a white flag appeared overhead. Gough sent the British interpreter Thoms to find out what the Qing wanted. The Qing envoy begged for hostilities to end, Gough agreed to a ceasefire, but said through Thoms that he would only negotiate with the commander of the Qing forces in Canton. “"I had it explained that, as General commanding the British, I would treat with none but the General commanding the Chinese troops, that we came before Canton much against the wishes of the British nation, but that repeated insults and breaches of faith had compelled us to make the present movement, and that I would cease from hostilities for two hours to enable their General to meet me and Sir Le Fleming Senhouse.". No Qing commander came forward, so Gough resumed preparations to attack Cantons walls. Then 7am the next morning, just as the British artillery was getting ready to fire, another white flag was raised and some Qing soldiers were shouting the name of Charles Elliot. It turned out the reason they were shouting this was because Elliot had been negotiating with the Qing during the course of the battle. Now since may the 26 Major General Gough was in a standstill position. His forces were occupying those 4 forts north of Canton city's walls and his transport ships were over at the beach head some 5 miles west of him. So there was Gough with 6000 soldiers just loitering about in the blazing hot sun, basically in the middle of some paddy fields north of Canton. You wont hear from this from my main source which I will add seems to be quite skewed to the British side, but a minor incident occurred. A local villager named Wei Shaoguang accused a British soldier had raped his wife. The local village populace became enraged and soon a crowd of over 10,000 began swarming around the British position. They were armed with pikes, swords and all the common village weapons you can think of. To make matters worse for some of the British, many of their muskets were sodden because of the marshy paddy field geography and were failing to fire when villagers attacked. A 2 hour long siege occurred and the British had to withdraw to one of the western forts which was soon surrounded. Gough sent word to the governor of Canton Yu Baochun telling him if the villagers did not stop the siege his force would commence an attack upon Canton city. Yu tried to stop the villagers, only to be labeled a traitor to the people of Canton. It sounds like a lackluster event, but it actually is the beginning of a larger issue. The villagers had taken matters into their own hands to deal with the foreign invaders because they saw their Qing government appeasing them. This feeling that the Qing were weak or not doing enough would feed into multiple movements that would later break the Qing dynasty. Then on May 29th, General Fang broke the ceasefire and ordered his men to suddenly attack, shouting “exterminate the rebels!”. Fire rafts were launched at the nearby British warships docked at Whampoa, but failed to do any damage. Stinkpots were tossed at British warships and some war junks tried using grappling hooks to board them. Some of Fang's forces broke into the factory quarter and began to pillage it. The British in response sent ships up the Pearl River to bombard the walls of Canton, but no soldiers were sent in to invade the city. The secret reason as to why was because at this point the British troops were being decimated by dysentery. In reality the British had some 2500 able fighting men to face off against a possible Qing force of 20,000 within Canton city. Luckily for the British their warships bombardments were enough to draw out a truce agreement.  Now the Qing agreed to pay 6 million in the course of 7 days if the British promised not to sack Canton. The Qing military would pull back at least 60 miles from Canton and the British would pull back to the Bogue and occupy the forts there. There still remained major issues, the status of the opium trade and that of Hong Kong island, trade was still not resumed and the compensation for the 20,000 opium chests confiscated. The British knew the situation was tense and ignored these issues for now to allow Canton to normalize again. The British also made sure to avoid mentions of a military victory over the Chinese as they wanted the Emperor to save face and thus be more likely to accept their deal.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.  The British attacked  Chaunbi, Bogue, the First Bar island, Whampoa Island and now Canton in their war to bring the Qing government to meet their demands. It seemed by taking Canton a treaty might be formed at long last and perhaps peace could be restored.  

Last time we spoke, Lin Zexu had brought the foreign barbarians to their knees and Elliot was forced to hand over 20,000 chests of opium. Lin zexu destroyed the illicit substance riding his nation of its filth. Elliot made a terrible error when he told the opium merchants the British government would compensate them for the confiscated contraband. This would all lead to Captain Henry Smith of the Volage firing the first shot of the First Opium War. Britain was in a financial bind, they needed their tea fix and China was closing off trade to them. How was Britain going to compensate the opium merchants and open up China to keep the tea flowing? That is when Thomas Macaulay made the suggestion to Lord Palmerston, a rather out of the box idea. Why not make China pay for it all. This episode is the First Opium War Part 1   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on the history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War.   Lin Zexu's attempt to send a letter to Queen Victoria proved to be a failure, no one cared. But back in China Lin Zexu's war against Opium earned him a promotion. He went from high commissioner to taking Deng Tingzhen's title as Governor-General. This seems to have bolstered Lin Zexu's resolve to deal with the foreign barbarians as he wrote at the time “Only by knowing their strengths and their weaknesses can we find the right to restrain them”. Lin Zexu shared his countrymens contempt for the foreigners, but he knew he had to learn more about this enemy in order to defeat them. Lin Zexu was a scholar and had a practical mindset for how to go about the task. Lin Zexu began by buying the British warship Cambridge for use to the Chinese navy and anchored it around the mouth of the Canton River. The only problem was that Elliot made sure to order all of Cambridge's cannons removed before it was sold and the Chinese sailors were unable to properly sail the vessel, thus it was literally towed to the canton river.  By spring of 1840, there were only a few small limited battles between the Chinese junks and some British vessels still attempting to smuggle opium into canton. Elliot decided the first course of action was to map the Yangtze river so he could provide good intelligence to the incoming British force. He sent a ship from Jardine Matheson & Co called the Hellas, unbeknownst to Elliot, Matheson told its captain Frederick Jauncey to try and sell opium while they navigated the Yangtze to hedge his profits. The Hellas ran into trouble on May 22nd of 1840 when Captain Jauncey ran into what he originally thought were just a few Chinese merchant ships, but were in fact 8 war junks. They opened fire on Hellas and attempted to ram and board her, but Hellas was able to keep the fire fight at a distance until some strong wind picked up allowing Hellas to make an escape. Captain Jauncey earned a broken jaw and almost lost an eye during the battle and a few of his crew were hurt, but there were no fatalities. By the end of May the Hellas limped back to Macao for some medical treatment. On June the 8th, a Chinese fleet of fireships loaded to the brim with gunpowder were sent into the British ships anchored at Capsingmum some 45 miles east of Macao. Many of the British vessels fled for their lives, but the warships, Volage, Druid and Hyacinth rushed forward to stop the fireship attack. They used grappling hooks to tie up the fireships from a distance and towed them away from the rest of the British flotilla thus saving them all. The next day, the long awaited British force Palmerston promised finally arrived in Chinese waters. There was a scarcity of sailors hindering what could be amassed for hte China expeditionary force, due to the ongoing wars and other operations against the French in the mediterranean sea and the forces of Mohammed Ali in Egypt. By the end of June 17 men of war had assembled including 3 line of battle ships, the Wellesley, Melville and Blenheim. The East India Company also lent a hand providing 4 armed merchantmen steamers, the Enterprize, Madagascar, Atalanta and Queen. Following behind the force was 27 troopships carrying the 18th Royal Irish, the 49th Bengal Volunteers, the 26th Cameronians,a corps of Bengal engineers, and another corps of Madras sappers and miners. On its way to catch up to this force was British most devastating weapon, a brand new ocean-going Iron warship, the first of its kind named Nemesis. She was launched in 1839 and deployed to China as her first operation. She was powered by 2 60 horsepower Forrester engines and armed with 2 pivot mounted 32 pounders and 6 6pounder guns. She had watertight bulkhead, the first to be used for a warship at the time enabling her to survive a lot of hull damage. It goes without saying this one warship will have a daunting part to play in this story and the Chinese would nickname her “devil ship”.  The British armada did not just bring military assistance, it also was secretly carrying more opium, because of course why not. Over 10 thousand chests were snuck away aboard the ships ready to flood the Chinese market. The large British naval presence would allow the smugglers to offload their opium at Lintin during broad daylight with impunity. The armada gathered itself at Singapore to devise a strategy going forward. There in Singapore, the marines practiced amphibious assaults while Chinese war junks in the distance observed from a distance. By June 1 of 1840 enough warships had gathered at Singapore to launch the invasion of the Qing dynasty. So on June 16 the first ship, a steamer named Madagascar entered the Gulf of Canton followed a bit later by a large part of the armada. Aboard the Wellesley, captain Elliot met with the commander of the expeditionary force, Commodore Sir J. J Gordon Bremer and they discussed strategy. Jardine had made a proposal, to commit some warships to blockade the entire eastern and southern coasts of China and seize the island of Chusan. Jardine argued they should also blockade the mouth of the Bei He River which flowed into the Yangtze, the waterway for food and other shipments directly to Beijing. Chusan island was a critical depot for the Qing, more than a quarter million ton of grain pass through it to go to Beijing to feed the capital. Depriving the capital of a major food source and revenue would bring the Chinese to a peace settlement and thus a British victory.  The British Admiralty's Sir John Barrow thought Jardine's proposal was too much, threatening the Qing capital would just result in the Chinese digging in deeper to defend themselves and not bring them to the peace table. Barrow argued they should focus around the gulf of canton, shell the city and seize Hong Kong. Charles Elliot argued a middle ground: take Canton then sail up the Bei He river to threaten Beijing. Elliot also argued they could instead attack Shanghai because attacking such a prominent city would make the Qing lose face and intimidate them. Another man who had just arrived was Elliot's cousin, Admiral Sir George Elliot who had been given co-plenipotentiary powers. He brought with him a peace treaty with orders to make the Qing government agree to every article of it and to continue the way until it was done. Sir George Elliot arrived in the later part of 1840 and ordered a blockade of the Gulf of Canton using 5 warships while he and the rest of the armada sailed north. The British merchants were disappointed, they expected a direct assault upon Canton, they had hoped to open the city back up for trade. Both Elliot's got aboard the Wellesley as the armada made its approach towards Chusan. George Elliot also had with him a letter from Palmerston to inform the emperor Britain intended to blockade and seize various Chinese ports as a response to the Qing siege of the Canton factories. Palmerston also cheekily added that if the Emperor wanted to stop the opium trade he should probably convince his people to stop smoking opium. At the end of the letter Palmerston added that to avoid “unpleasantness” the Emperor was invited to send a delegation to a shipboard meeting with the two Elliots who most likely would park their warships at the mouth of the Bei He River. The Elliots gave the letter to a Captain named Thomas Bourchier whom went ashore with a white flag at Namoy just 300 miles north of Canton. As Thomas entered the harbor some Qing officials came aboard. Thomas explained to them that the armada meant to bombard the city if they did not respect the white flag. As he explained this to them, along the coast a ton of Chinese began to form a crowd near his boat so he sailed off. With his ship a few hundreds yards away from the shore he waited to see what the Chinese would do. Then Thomas noticed cannons being mounted on a nearby fort. Thomas sent his translator named Robert Thom on a small raft with a large placard repeating what retaliation the Chinese could expect if they fired upon his ship. Thom also began to shout the orders at the crowd along the beach, but they simply screamed insults in return. Then some of the people on the beach began to swim out towards Thom's boat and some arrows and gunshots were fired at him. Suddenly one of the cannons from the fort fired and some nearby chinese junks joined them all aiming for poor Thom. Thom dashed back to Captain Thomas and reported to him what had happened. Captain Thomas responded by sending another letter explaining that the British government had no quarrel with the Chinese people, only their emperor. He sent the letter with a courier in another small raft and as it approached the shore the mob rose up yet again and soon gunfire was going off. It is alleged after this Captain Thomas literally threw a message in a bottle before sailing off towards Canton.  By July 1st the armada anchored in the harbor of Dinghai on Chusan Island. Dinghai held around 40,000 inhabitants within a 5 sided 22 feet high wall city. It held many towers and was surrounded on all 4 sides by a canal. The city had 16 hundred defenders, but in reality they were all just some fishermen, sailors and quickly raised up militiamen armed with spears, bows and some matchlocks. There were also 12 chinese war junks that had followed the British armada keeping a safe distance. The British noticed one of the Chinese war junks had a banner indicated a high Qing official was aboard and they signaled they wanted to talk. The Chinese war junks invited a British delegation aboard their flagship. Commodore Bremer went aboard with his interpreter and met with the Qing commander of the Chusan garrison. Bremer did not mash words he was quite blunt demanding the “surrender Chusan or face the consequences”. The Qing host was not intimidated however and sent the British back to their boats. When the British were back aboard their vessels, instead of blasting the chinese war junks, well they simply invited the Chinese aboard the Wellesley to wine and dine them. In the 1997 movie “the opium war” this scene is quite well done, I highly recommend watching it. So the Qing officials dined and one Qing officer even analyzed some of the 74 guns aboard Wellesley. That officer was quoted to say “it is very true you are strong and I am weak. Still I must fight”. After dinner, Commodore Bremer demanded their surrender again and gave them 24 hours to comply. The Chinese in the meantime ran ashore and began to stuff a ton of sandbags with rice and other things to strengthen the defenses around Dinghai's walls. The 24 hours passed and Bremer brought the Wellesley closer to the shore, but he had to wait for some more reinforcements to arrive to launch an amphibious assault. By 2pm on July 5th, 6 British warships arrived to the scene and Bremer fired a single cannon targeting a tower on a small fort. The Qing fired a single cannon in response, which led Bremer to start shooting volley's every 10 minutes. As the maelstrom was going on, Lt Colonel George Burrell led the 18th Brigade in an amphibious landing. Suddenly the Chinese stop firing just as the 18th brigade landed ashore. The British took the situation by storm and began bombarding the Chinese war junks to pieces and Dingshai's fort towers. Lord Jocelyn, a military secretary said of the scene. “The Crashing of timber, falling houses and groans of men resounded from the shore. Even after the bombardment ceased, a few shots were still heard from the unscathed junks. We landed on a deserted beach, a few dead bodies, bows and arrows; broken spears and guns remaining the sole occupants of the field”. The 18th brigade found no resistance on the beach. The Qing defenders had fled almost as soon as the first cannons had gone off. A Qing commander on scene, Brigadier Zhang had refused to give up the fight, but had both his legs blown off by cannonade and had to be whisked away on a litter. The local magistrate and some of his subordinates watched in horror as the defenders departed and they all committed suicide.  A detachment of the 18th brigade set up 8 9 pounder artillery pieces and some howitzers on a hill which had a vantage point overlooking the city of Dinghai. They then began to shell the now defenseless inhabitants forcing countless to flee for their lives. The British reported not a single casualty during the volley exchange nor the beach assault. Lord Jocelyn described the planting of the Union Jack by the Joss house in Dinghai “the first European banner that has floated as conqueror over the flowery land”.  The city of Dinghai was a mile from the shoreline and Colonel Burell slowly marched his men to its formidable walls as artillery rained hell upon them. The residents of Dinghai responded with their own artillery forcing Colonel Burrell to hold back his men from a distance and wait it out until the next day to assault the city. During that lull the British soldiers found some samshu in a local fishing village and proceeded to get drunk as hell and looted the fishing village during the night. An Indian soldier said of the incident “A more complete pillage could not be conceived. The plunder ceased only when there was nothing to take or destroy”. The artillery was going on throughout the night and at around midnight of British 9 pounders hit a gunpowder deposit inside Dinghai turning the city into an inferno. The next morning the British saw most of the defenders were fleeing and sent a detachment of 12 men to approach the south wall to prod it. There was no resistance so the men began to climb the rice bag defenses that had been piled almost 2 stories high in front of the wall. Within minutes they were over the top and could see the city that once held 40,000 people was all but deserted. Lord Jocelyn said of the city “The main street was nearly deserted, except here and there, where the frightened people were performing the kow-tow as we passed. On most of the houses was placarded "Spare our lives;" and on entering the jos-houses were seen men, women, and children, on their knees, burning incense to the gods; and although protection was promised [to] them, their dread appeared in no matter relieved.”  The British reported that perhaps 2000 Chinese died, which is complete nonsense, the Chinese state something like 25 died so the actual number is somewhere in between, quite a large range I know. The British themselves might have lost up to 19 men. They found a ton of antiquated weapons and armor as they looted the city such as padded cotton jackets which displayed the disparity between the 2 forces. Robert Thom who witnesses the looting said “No one has been killed in cold blood that I am aware of, and only one or two cases of rape occurred perpetrated it is said by the sepoys”. By the way a lot of the primary sources for this war will lay blame on the Indian soldiers for misconduct and take it was a grain of salt. I am not saying it did not happen, it most certainly did, but the idea that the British redcoats were not taking part in such ventures seems dubious.  By Jul 11th, Jardine and Matheson reached Chusan and found out Admiral Elliot was forbidding their opium ships from landing on the island. Yet they pressed their team of smugglers to persist and against Elliots wishes unloaded opium. Chusan would become a storehouse for opium and by November of 1840 43 opium smuggling ships were using Chusan as an offloading point. 12,000 chests of opium would be brought to Chusan by the end of the year.  Chusan island would also bring quite a lot of misery to the British. Colonel Burrell refused to allow his troops to occupy the abandoned city of Dinghai fearing repercussions from the Chinese and instead kept his men in a particularly malaria infested paddy field. With the scorching heat and an order that all men keep their top buttons on their uniforms fastened almost 500 men would die to malaria and dysentery. A lot of variables were at work, bad provisions, too much Samshu, stagnant water and the most evil culprit, malaria invested mosquitos took a heavy toll on the British. By October, only 2036 out of 3650 troops would be fit for duty.  By december more than 5000 men were admitted to hospitals and 448 deaths would occur. If anyone knows the story of Japan's invasion of Taiwan in the 19th century, it really reminds me of that ordeal. Taking an island by force and with incredible ease, only to fall victim to brutal mother nature. On july 27th, Elliot had gathered many warships at Dinghai and felt he had enough firepower to proceed 500 miles north to Beijing. A week after Dinghai fell, Beijing got the word. However this is where a large problem would emerge for the Qing dynasty. The Emperor was given word through Qing officials, and if the news was bad, the officials would fear enraging the Emperor and more often than naught falsify what they told him. In this case the officials downplayed the severity of the incursion. They told him of alleged weaknesses of the foreign invaders. The governor of Jiangsu Province lying at the mouth of the Yangtze River, Yukien told the Emperor “take our fort at Woosung. From the bottom upward there is the stone base, then the clay base, and finally the fort itself. It is even elevation far above the level of the barbarian ships. If they shoot upward, their bullet will go down and consequently lose force. Moreover the barbarians are stiff and their legs straight. The latter, further bound with cloth, can scarcely stretch at will. Once fallen down, they cannot again stand up. It is fatal to fighting on land”. Yukien would also make remarks about how the barbarians lacked bows and arrows. While this might come off as humorous, I bring it up for important reasons. The Emperor will continuously be given these sort of reports, downplaying of events such as battles, made up stories about victories over the British and much more. The Emperor will be reacting accordingly based on the information he is given and this will be quite the crux of the entire war.  The British armada approached the mouth of the Bei He River in a course of 10 days and was only 75 miles southwest of Beijing. However at the mouth of the Bei He River lied one of the Qing dynasty's most formidable defenses, known as the Dagu forts. 2 Dagu forts guarded the mouth, though to Elliot they looked pretty decrepit and deserted. Elliot was still trying to find a Qing official who would take Palmerstons letter to the Emperor and at the mouth he saw several Chinese war junks. Elliot sent a man with the letter to the war junks and the commander of the warships replied that he would send the letter to a higher ranking Qing official who was only a short distance away. Thus Elliot waited to see what would occur and it turned out the Qing official was Qishan, the governor of Chihli province. Qishan sent word to Elliot that his letter was sent directly to the Emperor, but that Elliot would need to wait for a reply.  On May 13 of 1840, one of Qishans subordinates came aboard the Wellesley providing the British with food and water and this was followed up for several days with more gifts. Then Elliot was told the Emperor had officially received the letter, but it would be regretfully another 10 days or so for the Qing court to discuss with the Emperor the letters contents. Do not forget, the story I spoke of about the malaria and dysentery outbreak on Chusan was raging by this point and thus Elliot decided it best to scatter the armada in search of cleaner water because the Chusan wells seemed to be the culprit at the time. Some of the ships went hundreds of miles away in search of water and as this all occurred, 10 days had come and gone. When all of the armada regrouped with their fresh water reserves, Elliot decided they needed to speed up the Qing courts process. Elliot ordered the warships Madagascar and Modeste to begin firing at some forts on Chusans outskirts, but before the shelling could begin a messenger from Qishan suddenly appeared. Elliot was invited to meet with Qishan in 3 days time. The meeting would be on july 30th and the location was a fort in southern Chusan. Qishan brought gifts and food with him for the British and had a flotilla built up so the British would not have to walk in mud to the fort. Elliot, Qishan and Jocelyn had a large dinner and then they discussed the Palmerston letter for over 6 hours. Qishan during the meeting made a mention of the precedent set by the Macartney and Amherst missions, that of the tributary system. Elliot insisted both men were not tributaries, but ambassadors holding equal status to the Emperor. Qishan could feel the tension in the room and changed the subject, he pointed out that the occupation of Chusan island was unacceptable for the Emperor. Elliot understood and said the British occupation was temporary, they were merely using it as a base of operations. Then the largest looming subject emerged, Opium. Qishan demanded a promise from Queen Victoria that Britain would stop exporting opium to China. Similar to Lin Zexu, the Qing had a difficult time understanding the representatives of authority for other nations and assumed Queen Victoria held a similar position to their Emperor. Elliot said plainly that he did not have the authority to grant such a concession and then made the remark “if the Chinese wanted the opium trade to end, they should stop using it”. Elliot also made a remark that most of the Opium was coming from other sources outside British influence, but he had little evidence to support this. Qishan swallowed this resentfully but did not quibble over it. Instead Qishan moved to the subject of reparations as Palmerston had demanded compensation for the 20,000 seized opium chests and for war reparations for Britain who was invading China! Qishan flat out called these demands ludicrous, when he said this, Elliot began to write something on Palmerstons letter and when Qishan asked him what he was writing Elliot replied “I am writing what is your opinion on the matter, because many of the Emperor other officials might have differing ones”.  Qishan then began to explain to Elliot that Lin Zexu had fallen out of favor with the Qing court and that Qishan agreed with the British that Lin Zexu had mistreated them and employed unnecessary violence. Qishan made a remark that the Emperor was most likely going to fire Lin Zexu and punish him. It seems Qishan was hinting to Elliot that he might be replacing Lin Zexu as his successor and with it plenipotentiary powers. So you get the idea here, Qishan is basically hinting while nothing can be done right now, perhaps when he is in charge he will help the British out. Qishan also kept stating that the British should go to Canton, as it was the center of foreign trade and a much more logical and practical place for them to go to further negotiations. But both Elliot and Qishan knew why he was stating this repeatedly, he wanted the British to get as far away from the Emperor as possible.  George Elliot informed Charles Elliot that he felt the armada was quite vulnerable sitting in Bei He Bay and urged him to end the negotiations and leave. Likewise upon hearing the news that Lin Zexu was going to be dismissed soon, Charles Elliot agreed and they too the armada and sailed away. This rather abrupt partie however gave the Chinese the impression the barbarians were done with the war all together. As you can imagine many Qing officials began telling Beijing this. As you can also imagine the British departure was only temporary. By September of 1840 the British armada re-emerged at the mouth of the Bei He River. The Elliots had order the armada to up the pressure on the Qing and Charles Elliot had written a note to Palmerston at this time “It is notorious that the Daoguang Emperor entertains the utmost dread of our enterprising spirit”. What he meant by this, was by sending periodic naval patrols he was trying to scare the shit out of Beijing. Back over in Canton, despite the incredible efforts of Lin Zexu, the opium trade was still rearing its ugly head. Since Jardine & Matheson were now able to shove their contraband on Chusan island it began to flood right back into the Canton market. By the fall of 1840 6500 chests had gotten through the Canton trade from Jardine & Matheson Co alone. Many hundreds of others were flooding in from the other independent smugglers and despite the severity of punishment for using the substance, there was still an enormous demand. The Elliots of course banned the trade of opium on Chusan, but they were not morons, they knew it was simply going to Canton in the end. Of course they were allowing the trade to go on, they were after all quite broke. The Elliots had no other way of raising money to continue the war effort other than relying on the sale of opium. Both Elliots understood the fiscal dependency they had on the opium smugglers and the prohibition of its sale on the island of Chusan was merely symbolic, a way of keeping face, so typically british. Thus vessels were allowed to offload opium near Chusan with zero interference from the British armada, which in turn was patrolling the waters thus protecting the opium dealers in the end. The hope in the end was by symbolically banning the substance at Chusan, perhaps this would alleviate the Emperor while simultaneously allowing the condonation of revenue for the war effort by allowing its trade to ports like Canton.  Over in Beijing, Emperor Daoguang hesitated over Lin Zexu, he was not yet comfortable dismissing him. This embolden Lin Zexu, whom began to crack down even more so on the Chinese opium consumers. Lin Zexu put out an edict limiting the amount of time opium addicts had to wean themselves off the drug “while the period is not yet closed, you are living victims. When it shall have expired, then you will be dead victims”. Yet despite his efforts Lin Zexu could do little against the opium vessels which were being protected by the British armada making patrols in the Gulf of Canton, Amoy, Chusan and the Mouths of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. Then to the horror of the Chinese the British began seizing Chinese ships along the coast and taking their cargo to sell and finance the war effort. Imagine how cash strapped a nation has to be to start performing this sort of looting. Between June and July of 1840 the British armada had seized 7 large trading vessels plundering their cargo. In retaliation the Chinese raised a price for the heads of any British military personnel at 100$ for a soldier taken alive, 20$ for a corpse, $5000 for a British captain and for a British ship 10,000$, cha ching. Things got out of hand quite quickly, Chinese desperate to make some coin turned to attacking European and American civilians such a missionaries. Gangs of Chinese would hunt them down beating them nearly to death. On August the 5th, Vincent Stanton a tutor of a British merchants children alongside a missionary named David Abeel made the terrible decision to go swimming in Macao' bay. Stanton was kidnapped and brought to Canton. Until this point Macao was seen as the last safe spot in China for foreigners, but the kidnapping of Stanton broke that. Adding to everyone's fears, 8 Chinese war junks docked at Macao sending the Portuguese colony into a frenzy.  It turns out Stanton's kidnapping was masterminded by Lin Zexu, it was psychological warfare. He was not able to go after the British warships, but he was able to target anyone on land. The Governor general of Macao, Pinto pleaded with Lin Zexu to return the man, but it came to nothing. The British felt they had lost face, Stanton was one of theirs and they had even tried allowing the Portuguese aid the situation to no avail. 2 weeks after Stantons kidnapping the British had had enough. 4 British warships from the Armada were sent to Macaos Casilha Bay alongside 400 soldiers. The British warships opened fire upon the Chinese war junks whom returned fire. However the Chinese war junks cannons were old and obsolete, they could not match the range the British were firing from. The Chinese crews began to panic when their return fire was literally only matching half the distance of the British and soon jumped ship. Meanwhile the british warships simply continued to rain hell upon the war junks. As noted by British officer “The [Chinese] junks, which were aground in the inner harbour, were utterly useless, for none of their guns could be brought to bear, though several of the thirty-two pound shots of the ships found their way over the bank, much to the consternation of the occupants of the junks." The Chinese crews tried to establish a defense on the coast, but the British soldiers overwhelmed them with musket fire. The Chinese war junks still intact made a break for it, as the rest of the Chinese fled into the fortifications. The British warships battered the walls of Macaos fortifications until their batteries stopped returning fire and the British and Indian soldiers soon scaled the walls. By 5pm the Chinese routed inside the Macao fortifications as the British set fire to multiple barracks. In the end the Chinese suffered upto 60 dead with 120 wounded and the British reported only 4 wounded, but take the number with a grain of salt. In Beijing Qing officials told Emperor Daoguang there had been a major victory at Macao and that many British were dead and multiple British warships laid at the bottom of Casilha Bay. These Qing officials were court officials who were received false reports from the military at Macao. Its sort of like the game broken telephone, where every link embellishes the story to make it more and more positive. All the Chinese soldiers began to abandon Macao and no more Chinese War junks came to its harbor. In the eyes of the Portuguese and British they had saved Macao, in the eyes of poor Stanton…well he was imprisoned in Canton.  The Stanton kidnapping distressed the foreign community in China, but there was another incident that scared the shit out of them. A french missionary named Father Jean Gabriel Perboyre was illegally operating in Hubei Province and got captured in September of 1839. He was tortured and interrogated for over a year and on September 11th of 1840 he was executed publicly at Wuchang. The priest was killed by strangulation, but the Qing authorities decided to place his body on a cross after his death. This set a panic into the foreign community as others were likewise captured and killed and the British on Chusan island were falling victim to malaria, dysentery and starvation, because all the food on Chusan had dried up. They began to eat moldy rice from Chusans stockpiles and bread made from worm ridden flour stuck aboard their ships for quite a long time. It is alleged that the pickled beets and pork on the British warships was so rancid even the iron-stomachs of the British couldn't tolerate it. The drinking water likewise was a source of disease, contaminated by the local sewers. The interpreter Thom wrote a letter to Matheson stating “even the natives hold their noses because of the waters smell. Unless we can manage to get the canal and town cleared out, I fear that we shall be getting some contagious distemper among us. The climate moreover is moist and mosquitoes swarm in amazing numbers. Let no man come here without mosquito curtains else he will bitterly repent of it”. The British did not realize the mosquitoes were the culprit of their malaria nightmare as the belief at the time for europeans was that malaria came from rotten vegetables. The dysentry killed more people than the malaria however, coming from the horrid food and water situation. 12 soldiers died in August, the next month 24, while 250 were hospitalized and by mid september a third of the force was too sick to fight. Being a specialist in the Pacific War I do have to say what amazing parallels this will play out for the Japanese and Americans in the island hoping warfare. Not fun to battle the elements, malaria and a terrible provision situation.  Then there was horrible incident when a commercial ship called the Kite ran aground on a sandbank on september 15th. The Captain named John Nobles lost his 5 month year old baby, and he, his wife and 26 crew members clinging to the boats wreckage until a Chinese war junk captured them. All of them were put in chains and imprisoned at Ningbo. They were placed in wooden cage, the wife of John Nobles stated “mine was scarcely a yard high, a little more than three quarters of a yard long, and a little more than half a yard broad. The door opened from the top. Into these we were lifted, the chain around our necks being locked to the cover. THey put a long piece of bamboo through the middle, a man took either end, and in this manner we were jolted from city to city to suffer the insults of the rabble, the cries from whom were awful”. Some of captured crew were beat to death, 3 men died of dysentery and those who were Indian amongst them were treated extra harshly. One of the English prisoners believed the Chinese treated the Indians worse, because they ate their rice with their fingers which angered them.  When Charles Elliot heard the news of the captives from the Kite he was mortified, particularly because one of the prisoners was a woman! He went to Ningbo aboard the Atalanta to negotiation their release and was immediately told, all the prisoners could go if the British gave back Chusan. The British did not say no, but did nothing to indicate they would hand over Chusan, so the Chinese began to threaten to kill the prisoners. This prompted the Charles Elliot to demand a meeting with Qishan at Chinhai only 10 miles away from the prison at Ningbo. Elliot stated to Qishan if the prisoners were not handed over he would end the peace talks outright. Qishan played some hard ball demanding Chusan returned, but eventually a compromise was made. Elliot agreed to stop British ships from seizing Chinese vessels and blockading the ports and in return the Chinese would still hold the prisoners, but they would improve their living conditions. To show good faith, Qishan released poor old Stanton from his prison in Canton and handed him over to Elliot. The situation did not satisfy the British, but while they danced around with diplomacy, more and more troops from India were being brought to Chusan and the most fearsome weapon Britain had at its disposal had just arrived, the Nemesis.    I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.  Lin Zexu's efforts against opium were not going well enough and was losing favor with Emperor Daoguang, the British were winning battles and taking territory. How will the Qing Dynasty rid themselves of the invaders? Join us next time to find out. 

Thanks to its rich history, China's has plenty of artifacts that are being sold and exposed in museums. And there is a market for it, a huge one, where some pieces can be sold for several thousand yuan. How did that market evolve, and what are the dark corners of this industry? Featuring Isaac Duffy : Collector Sun Jiahui : Freelance writer Zhang Bo : Architect & Collector Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! With thanks to Wen Jiayin for production assistance, Stephan Lambadaris for the voice-over & Sean Calvo for music support.

Last year, the Court of International Trade questioned whether first sale duty savings can apply to transactions from non-market economies like China. The appellate court's recent decision will provide a sense of relief for importers enjoying these benefits.

Hosts: Ansel Lindner and Christian Keroles Listen To This Episode:  Apple / Spotify / Google / Libsyn / Overcast / RSS Fed Watch is a macro podcast with a true rebellious bitcoin nature. Each episode we question mainstream and bitcoin narratives by examining current events in macro from across the globe, with an emphasis on central banks and currencies. In this episode, CK and I catch up on the week, go through an update on the evolving Chinese financial crisis, talk about why “fiat” money today should rightly be called credit-based money and the side effects of that fact, and lastly, we dive into the bitcoin chart and so forth. You can access this episode's slide deck of charts here or below, depending on the medium where you are viewing these show notes. Please check out the Fed Watch Clips channel on YouTube, subscribe and share. China First up, is the situation in the Chinese economy. They are facing some major issues in their real estate market, economy and banking system. Currently, 28 of the top 100 real estate developers have defaulted on or restructured their debts. There is a growing “mortgage boycott”, where purchasers of unbuilt housing units in projects that are now delayed due to the pandemic, developer financial situation, and zero Covid policy, have refused to pay their mortgages. It started with 20 projects and has since grown to 230 projects. The boycott accounts for roughly 100,000 households refusing to pay their mortgages. This amounts to 0.1-0.5% of all outstanding mortgages and 1% of outstanding mortgage value. The rhetoric around this mortgage crisis is eerily similar to that in the US in 2007. Excuses like it is a small number of mortgages, effects are contained, and others are being used. As a result of the developer and mortgage problems, small and medium-sized banks are running into solvency issues. Chinese banks have $9 trillion in exposure to real estate and it accounts for 20% of bank assets. You can see if there were a problem with perpetually falling home prices, it could very quickly cause a solvency issue for banks as well. Indeed, that is exactly what we are seeing.   Lower your time preference and lock in your BITCOIN 2023 conference tickets today! Use the code BMLIVE for a 10% Discount!  https://b.tc/conference/2023 Use promocode: BMLIVE for 10% off everything in our store! https://store.bitcoinmagazine.com/ #bitcoin #bitcoinmagazine #money #btc #crypto #cryptocurrencies #cryptocurrency #cryptonews #buybitcoin #shouldibuybitcoin #fedatch  

Not since China's detonation of its first atomic weapon in 1964 has the United States been so concerned with the country's nuclear capabilities. Recent satellite images suggest China is constructing 100 new ICBM silos, and the Pentagon estimates that China could possess well over 1,000 nuclear warheads by the end of the decade. In addition, the successful test of a cutting-edge, nuclear-capable hypersonic missile last month has rattled the U.S. security community. Why is China rapidly bulking up its nuclear arsenal, and why now? What does this spell for an already fraught U.S.-China security relationship? And how should the United States respond in its efforts to maintain "strategic stability”? On December 13, 2021, the National Committee interviewed M. Taylor Fravel and Tong Zhao to discuss these questions and more on China's expanding nuclear capabilities.

Maria Bartiromo is onto what is, arguably, the most important story of our time. It has a prominent business angle befitting the Fox anchor's principal beat. But it is also of the utmost strategic significance as our financing of the threat posed to America by the Chinese Communist Party will likely determine our fate, and surely that of our children and grandchildren. In three must-see-TV interviews last week, Ms. Bartiromo exposed the utter indifference of a driver of this “China First” strategy, J.P. Morgan's CEO Jamie Diamond, to the massive losses U.S. investors have lately sustained in China. And she featured two brilliant critics of Wall Street's underwriting the CCP's “rise” – Roger Robinson and Jonathan Ward – who established that it is enabling the Party's terrifying determination to dominate and destroy us. Maria's right: That must stop, now. This is Frank Gaffney.

Welcome to Finance and Fury. This episode is to look at Central bank digital currencies - Central banks releasing digital currencies is an inevitability at this stage - proof-of-concept programmes are currently in the works across the globe - with more than 80% of central banks looking at digital currencies – The RBA is one of them There is a lot of cover in this topic – we will define a central bank digital currency and go through why central banks are looking at pure digital currencies as an option – We will also look at what is happening in China with their plans for the distribution of the digital yuan – but also look at the alternatives the RBA is looking at   Defining the different forms of currencies in the modern monetary economy – physical and digital Physical money is easy - Think of cash in your wallet – either in notes or coins – this is physical money – when you log into your bank account and see digits on a screen – this could be considered a digital currency – but you can still convert these digits into physical money Digital currency is the name given to the electronic equivalent of physical money or cash when it is issued in a purely digital form Digital currency is managed, stored or exchanged on digital computer systems over the internet. Types of digital currencies include cryptocurrency, virtual currencyand central bank digital currency Under current legislation – you can still convert your digital currency into fiat currency, hence physical – you can withdraw digital forms of money – i.e. exchange BTC for AUD, then withdraw this AUD Currently – the digital representation of your physical money can be used via payments technologies such as online banking and electronic financial transaction point of sale – EFTPOS for short These payment methods are linked to commercial bank accounts in your own name, as well as deposit-taking mobile wallets, and gift, credit or debit cards – most people listening would have most likely used this form of payment – transferring the right to a physical currency digitally A CBDC is different to cryptocurrency – or cryptoassets based around the terminology used in legislative frameworks these are government sanctioned and centralised in their production – exactly like physical money - a cryptocurrency such as BTC or ETH does not – it is decentralised A CBDC would still have a ledger – but this would be centrally controlled and fully integrated into the financial payments system Currently - Every single day - Central banks are issuing conventional digital money to commercial banks that can then be exchanged with cash at par value – you go to an ATM to withdraw digital representations of your dollars for physical ones – the internet revolutionised this in the financial system banks used to have to store more physical currency – or at least a paper entitlement to this – to meet the demand of consumer payments - digital was never a consideration – with the decline in physical currency demand – less economic activity is conducted in this manner – so banks need to hold less physical cash - I remember going to Coles with my grandparents when I was a kid – they would take out cash for their weekly spending and pay in cash for everything – because this was how things were done in their day – today – credit and debit cards have mostly replaced cash payments In the current monetary economy - the RBA actually does issue digital currency to commercial banks through the provision of money into each bank's account within the exchange settlement account (ESA) system — However – there is no major central bank that purely issues digital currency directly to the public Whilst most currency that exists is digitised – it can still be transferred into physical currency Plus – you don't get your digital cash from a central bank – you get it through commercial banks The transfer of the monetary system from a physical currency to a digital one would be a form of a monetary reset - Let's take a step back and look at the previous monetary reset that occurred – Under the gold backed currencies – you could convert your paper money for gold at the equivalent pegged value – until this was banned by Governments on the population – in the US from 1933 – but other Central banks could still convert currency for gold under the Brenton woods system – until 1971 when any form of gold standard was abandoned Think of a Central Bank Digital Currency as a similar process of reducing your financial freedoms – you can currently convert your digital money into physical money – but when the nation adopts a pure digital currency policy, this is no longer possible – no more physical cash – everything is digitised – the same as when the population was no longer allowed to convert the currency for the asset backing it – i.e. gold This brings us to a core component of this episode – the People's Bank of China (PBoC) – which is one of the most prominent central banks globally, aims to be the first major central bank to issue digital currency for use by the general public and business – replacing physical cash This digital yuan will be fully produced and backed directly by the Chinese central government The underlying technology for this is different to the blockchain ledger, and will be controlled by the Chinese government and not distributed across the Chinese financial system - or any other nodes – like a decentralised ledger that crypto operates on   Why do Central Banks – particularly China's want a digital currency? Based around the released papers - it is suggested that the Digital Currency electronic payment system will alleviate the risks to the financial system that are present with both physical money or cryptocurrency transactions – these are anonymous counterfeiting, money laundering and illegal financing This sounds like a great argument if you are a monetary official – on the surface - because under a purely digital currency, monetary regulators can completely monitor digital currency transactions – for them this is a major plus as they will greatly increase their financial and monetary supervision capabilities – but what about for the individual in the economy – who makes up the economy So, Governments and Central Banks want to track every transaction that someone makes – this is firstly in an aim to reduce the black market economy Black market economies emerge to fill in the gaps of an imperfectly legislated economic environment – with tradies in Australia – the 10% discount to pay in cash to avoid GST In other nations that are highly regulated through central planning – black markets emerge to provide goods as well as currencies to fill in a gap – because of limitations of government controls – these sorts of economies exist mostly in communist/socialist economies like Venezuela and North Korea Where there is demand – people will find a way to fill this through providing the supply – whether it be food or drugs – if people want it and the government wont allow it – it will likely find its way onto a black market The black market fills a hole to reduce the inefficiency of the government – allows the economy to function at a greater capacity than it would under a complete governmental control – hence, the introduction of a pure digital CB currency removes this natural phenomenon to help right any wrongs that central planning creates This is particularly relevant in nations which complete central planning – socialist/communist countries like Venezuela and North Korea, or the USSR, China and Cuba in the past – the only way for people to get an allocation of food was often through the black market – but at imperfect prices due to market disruption All of these operate on cash – which cannot be tracked and measured by the government - It actually creates a completely centralised and controlled economy – the monetary authorities may view this as a win – but for the every day individual, this limits their ability to maximise their economic output – the greater limitations occur in situations where economic transactions are limited by government – countries like Australia are relatively free – but in countries like China – this could really reduce the individuals living standards if they are both cut off from cash payments and restricted in the digital payments – The most alarming factor of all of this – especially for China – this relates to their social credit score system – monitoring what you spend your money on – allows them to allocate you a score If you spend too much on alcohol, or if you are hoarding too much cash and not being a productive member of society through investing or spending this, well – you will see your score lower – even if you are friends with an alcoholic – your score will lower – then you save, spending money, cannot travel, find accommodation to live and you become homeless quickly as you are completely cut off – you can also not beg for money This digital Cb currency from China has the added element of being able to piggy back onto what is already an incredibly authoritarian system of control of its population – where if you score is also too low – now you no longer have the right to access this currency and you are shut off – with no method of redemption From an Economic perspective – monetary officials want to create the perfect world – where they can measure spending down to the exact dollar and manipulate the economy through making adjustments to the money supply and interest rates – they can also get a measure on inflation They have been trying to do this for decades but with little effect – think about monetary policy for a minute – the control over interest rates is aiming to control behaviours of individuals that make up the economy – if there are lower interest rates, this based on the rational models that entities like the RBA have, which theorises that a lower interest rate should decrease the incentive to save cash and instead people will spend it – this should then increase inflation and then interest rates can increase over time – but these models aren't perfect – as unintended consequences occur – what happened in practicality is that the lowering of interest rates to help increase inflation resulted in credit growth – i.e. mortgage sizes – where people were borrowing more money – whilst interest rate payments were lower per dollar borrowed, people now had more borrowed dollars – so total interest rates did decrease, but loan repayments for principal increased – resulting in more money flowing into debt repayment – hence less being spent in the economy – therefore the inflation never materialised as hoped Monetary officials think that these models aren't perfect because they don't have complete data – they don't know how much exactly each individual is spending and where they are spending this – plus, inflation is currently measured by around 0.8% of households keeping a manual diary and reporting this back to the ABS – would be much easier to have a direct line to every transaction you make and measure the relative price increases – this equals a completely centralised and controlled monetary system What they never understand is that there I no way to control a complex system like the economy – any model is never going to work as the economy is non-linear – i.e. if you put in $100 to the economy expecting a multiplier of 2 under a linear system – you would get $200 – under a non-linear system you could get $20, -$50, $100 – who knows – inputs do not equal outputs In addition – thin about Welfare payment that governments and central banks can make – a recent proposal was made in limiting spending and transactions to a card where it could only be spent on food or other essential goods – no alcohol or withdrawn as cash to spend on who knows what – this would fulfill this if CB digital currencies came into existence But also – Digital currencies in their pure form are only from CBs to commercial banks – the invention of digital CB currencies allows for the expansion of helicopter monetary policies The payment directly from a CB to your bank account – this is the basis for economic policies such as UBI based around modern monetary theory – MMT So these CB digital currencies allows for a circumvention of fiscal policy – no longer goes a government decide on welfare payments – CBs can directly pay individuals as the commercial banks would no longer be required as a financial intermediary The end result of this is Central Banks increasing their Control over the economy – We already do don't have a free market economy – money is the life blood of any economy – it is what facilitates the exchange system of the economy – but the control of the supply of money and the interest rate control affecting incentives to save or spend has completely destroyed the natural state of the economic and business cycle What is even more telling about the potential implications for us – is when looking at a speech given by the Bank of England's chief economist in 2015 – where CBDC would be the ideal mechanism to implement negative interest rate policies – if you get charged to save, then you would withdraw your cash savings and put it under your mattress – but if this is not possible, you would have no options to either spend or invest the cash Increase spending – from both the population but from a central bank through just issuing more digital currency – as well as economic transfer payments directly to the population – if this doesn't come from a government, and from the creation of the money supply – it isn't technically debt represented on a balance sheet anywhere Under the current economic environment – for governments to spend money they don't have, they get into a deficit and fund this through issuing a bond – with digital currencies directly issued from a CB – no government debt From a central bank's point of view – a digital currency can also reduce the costs involved in handling, maintaining and recycling banknotes and coins throughout financial systems and economies It is true that it does cost money to print dollars and produce coins – There can also be currency shortages - Coin shortage in the US at the moment – the costs go up over time to produce these assets, whilst inflation reduces the real value of the currency I did some maths for Australia – looking at the 20c coin – it weighs 11.3g – and constitutes 75% copper and 25% nickel – well at current market prices this represents around 7c of nickel and 11c of copper – so even the raw materials are worth around 18c – let alone the manufacturing costs – so in producing a 20c coin, the RBA may actually be losing money if commodity prices continue to rise     China is serious about this – they are rolling it out - It will initially be distributed to all commercial banks affiliated with the Chinese central bank such as the Agricultural Bank of China First phase - it is designed as a replacement for China's Reserve Money (M0) – this is the monetary reference to central bank notes and coins – it is essentially the base money supply on which banks can extend the money supply to commercial banks Second Phase - it will be distributed to large fintech companies such as China's Tencent and Alibaba to be used alongside their WeChat Pay and Alipay inhouse payments respectively The first public testing is already going on - in October 2020 - China's central bank issued 10 million yuan ($2 million AUD) of digital currency to 50,000 randomly selected consumers This digital currency is available for transactions across 3,389 retail outlets in Shenzhen Next phases of testing - 4 key cities are going to be the first cities to test the use of the DCEP These cities will be closed economies – where pilot tests and this is testament of digital currencies - Beyond this first stage of domestic integration – China is thinking of internationalising the RMB by offshoring the yuan into Hong Kong and Singapore Multinational foreign firms – companies such as McDonalds and Starbucks will also take part in the DCEP testing alongside local hotels, supermarkets, postal lockers, bakeries, bookstores, gyms   Does this relate to Australia and why would cash disappear? Studies by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) suggest there are two main reasons why cash could disappear Cost - The relative cost of its use of physical cash compared to digital methods – as we went through earlier in the episode – the major reason to get rid of a fiat cash is if it is worth more than what the value you attribute to it is – i.e. why spend 0.21c to produce a 0.2c coin?   Undesirable outcomes – Central banks think that physical cash has a socially undesirable outcome – i.e. the attractiveness for tax evasion, money laundering and illegal transactions In Australia - large-scale cash transactions have been deemed such a social risk that in 2019 the Currency (Restrictions on the Use of Cash) Bill 2019 was introduced in Federal Parliament to ban cash transactions over $10,000 – this is a step to limit cash How the RBA views this topic on alternative digital payment methods Australia's digital version of the Australian dollar (AUD) will be some way off In 2020 - The Reserve Bank today announced that it is partnering with Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Perpetual and ConsenSys Software, a blockchain technology company, on a collaborative project to explore the potential use and implications of a wholesale form of central bank digital currency (CBDC) using distributed ledger technology (DLT). This is part of ongoing research at the Reserve Bank on wholesale CBDC. From a central bank/governmental perspective - The benefits have been acknowledged to include improved financial tracking cost reductions from reduced production and general handling of coins and banknotes. In China, Australia and elsewhere, the cashless trend is seen to be strong with both business and consumer habits seen as key drivers in the likely seamless adoption of a DCEP.  China is the first mover – where they are cracking down on crypto assets – as they are implementing their own digital currency - China wants complete control – any nation that implements this also likely wants complete control Be prepared for the next decade of change – as central banks adopt digital money – replacing physical currency Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you want to get in contact you can do so here: http://financeandfury.com.au/contact/ 

1. Beijing authorities silent on virus situation 2. China: First human case of H10N3 bird flu 3. Severe flooding in South China's Guangdong 4. 2 Chinese-New Zealand ex-lawmakers' China ties 5. UK carrier joins nato ahead of China voyage

1. Beijing authorities silent on virus situation 2. China: First human case of H10N3 bird flu 3. Severe flooding in South China's Guangdong 4. 2 Chinese-New Zealand ex-lawmakers' China ties 5. UK carrier joins nato ahead of China voyage

Amerika zerfällt, das westliche Imperium bricht zusammen, die neue Weltmacht heißt China. So zumindest sehen es die Führer der Volksrepublik. Ihr Auftreten in Hongkong, ihre Drohgebärden gegenüber Taiwan, ihr Verhalten auf der internationalen Bühne werden zunehmend aggressiver. Wird der Handelspartner zum Feind? Martin Durm diskutiert mit Stefan Kornelius - Leiter Außenpolitik, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Shi Ming - Publizist, Trier, Prof. Dr. Eberhard Sandschneider - Berlin Global Advisers

The Chinese Communist Party couldn't have written a better bill then Biden just did. It delivers the death blow to America's economy and currency that China has been seeking. With it in place, they'll soon rule the world economically. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Prime Time, Rachel Kelly speaks to Audrey Tinline, Senior Journalist, BBC to find out the biggest headlines they’re tracking this week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kia ora,Welcome to Wednesday's Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect New Zealand.I'm David Chaston and this is the International edition from Interest.co.nz.Today we lead with news China seems not to care what the international community thinks of them.But first, the Fed boss has been testifying at the US Congress and has said they are not contemplating any rate rises and they are a long way from reaching either their employment of inflation goals. But he does see 'hope for a return to more normal conditions this year". These remarks have taken some of the steam out of the bond market rate increases.American retail sales slipped again last week, and compared to the same week a year ago the gain was trimmed back.However a reduction in consumer sentiment has not shown up in the latest and widely-watched survey, which is actually quite bullish especially for the coming year, coming in better than expected. However, those surveyed were ;marginally less optimistic about the short-term outlook over the next few weeks.The latest Fed regional factory survey, this one for the Mid-Atlantic states, shows little change from a healthy expansion.And an interesting side-note. The Tesla share price has sunk -13.4% in the past two days, and is in fact now below the level it was at when the stock entered the S&P500. The price of bitcoin is slumping too. Elon Musk has lost US$15 bln in two days, and he is no longer "the world's richest man".New data including indexes tracking electricity consumption, operating rates at factories and traffic congestion indices show that China's industrial production is resuming significantly faster than in previous years after the week-long Spring Festival holiday. That is because people were encouraged to stay where they work during the holiday to help contain the pandemic flare-ups.China is applying a China-First policy to its southern neighbours, choking off water flow to the Mekong River and the four countries that rely on it. That is reinforcing animosity in the region. China now has eleven upstream dams on the river and is able to have a severe impact on Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.And in Geneva, the Chinese foreign minister denounced ‘sensational claims’ of genocide, forced labour and religious oppression against Uygurs and other ethnic minorities in his country. As Trump taught, the "big lie" is an effective propaganda technique to deflect and confuse.This pushback comes after Beijing said it would fix the election process in Hong Kong so that the "right result" always happens. And after more satellite evidence China is building many more military installations on reefs in Philippine waters.In Europe, inflation rose in January, but just to the expected level. Core inflation is now up to +1.4% pa, a rise from +0.2% in December, so it is quite a move, even if as expected.In Australia, they are facing a sharp fall away in their exports. Their trade surplus came in at AU$8.8 bln in January. January import of goods fell -10%, while export of goods fell -9%. Exports of meat were down -39% and coal was down -8% and these two drove the decline in January. Exports of iron ore fell too.The latest global compilation of COVID-19 data is here. The global tally is still rising but at a little-changed pace, now at 111,878,000 and up +322,000 in one day. The UST 10yr yield is up +1 bp at 1.36% today. The price of gold will start today down -US$4 at US$1808/oz.Oil prices are up by about +US$0.50 and are now at just on US$61.50/bbl in the US, while the international price is just under US$64.50/bbl. They have been quite volatile in between, rising another +US$1.50/bbl but then falling back just as sharply.And the Kiwi dollar opens at 73.3 USc and unchanged from this time yesterday. Against the Australian dollar we are holding at 92.7 AUc. Against the euro we are still up at 60.3 euro cents. That means our TWI-5 is still at 74.3.The bitcoin price is now at US$47,418 and -11.4% lower than this time yesterday and on top of the -7.2% drop the day before. It is now well off the record it set two days ago of US$58,332, in fact down a sudden -19%. Volatility has been extreme in the past 24 hours at +/- 11.2%.You can find links to the articles mentioned today in our show notes.And get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. We will do this again tomorrow.

In two of the earliest tests of Joe Biden's foreign policy, both Myanmar (Burma) and Russia demand International headlines; one for coup d'état and the other for jailing a popular dissident challenger. Looking a layer deeper, Charlie exposes why each is a signal to the CCP that D.C. is putting China first and America's interests, once again, last. Charlie also takes your questions on impeachment, woke public school indoctrination in Seattle, and what to do with local Chamber of Commerce chapters.  Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/support See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aan het einde van dit jaar, waarin corona de bestaande verhoudingen overhoop gooide, kijkt Bureau Buitenland in een drieluik terug op de lange termijn gevolgen van de pandemie. Vandaag in deel 2: welke ontwikkelingen heeft de virusuitbraak in gang gezet in het land van herkomst zelf, in China? En wat betekenen die veranderingen voor de Chinese positie in de wereld? Volgens China-deskundige Frank Pieke leidt de pandemie er in ieder geval mede toe dat op het gebied van het Chinese buitenlandbeleid ‘de handschoenen uit’ zijn. Het is vanaf nu China First. En dit brengt grote geopolitieke gevolgen met zich mee.

①The orbiter-returner of China's Chang'e-5 probe waiting to go home ②Poverty relief still tops agenda after key milestone in China ③First batches of COVID vaccine delivered to UK hospitals ④Indonesia receives first COVID vaccine from China ⑤Iran says "satellite-guided instruments" used in assassination of nuke scientist

China is enorm actief als het aankomt op het overnemen van of het zich inkopen in westerse bedrijven. Met als gevolg eveneens een steeds groter wordende politieke invloed. Wat zeggen de mensen daarover? Zou de controversiële handelsoorlog die zich afspeelde tussen Trump en China ons toch iets waardevol kunnen leren? Waarom zijn we immers zo afhankelijk van China? Moeten we ons zorgen maken over de rijzende ster van Azië? En vooral: zijn wij bereid om datgene te doen wat noodzakelijk is als we willen loskomen van de Chinese invloed? Akamba en Maxime geven er speciaal een schoolachtige spreekbeurt over en focussen zich op drie peilers: technologie, economie en cultuur. China first. Of toch niet?

Bob Ney in conversation with Steve Bowers on the Polls now and four years ago, is Joe Biden moderate or progressive, what about China, and the one thing President Trump never mentions - the First Lady.

Hey everybody! Trevor Chambers with Olde Raleigh Financial, once again, we continue with our Meet the Masters series as part of our blog called, Soundtrack to an Advisor's Life. I got a great guy today that I'm excited to have and host, Andrew Opdyke, he is from First Trust Portfolios, and he an economist there. Welcome buddy, how are you? Andrew Opdyle: I'm good Trevor, I'm happy to be with you today. How are you? Trevor: I'm really good. So we use some of your products, and I must say, I want to give a shout out to First Trust, you're really a first class organization, and I'm sure it must be challenging, but a fun organization to work for. And all the events you've ever been in have been so professionally run with you guys, and I just wanted to shout out to that. So my man, interesting times to be an economist, huh? Andrew Opdyle: Oh my gosh, I never thought, yeah, when I went through school in undergrad, grad school, all that, I never thought I'd spend this much time looking into things like epidemiology, and looking into how the constitution is written in specific areas related to election timing and things like that. So an unusual year for sure. Read Full Interview Transcript at: https://olderaleighfinancial.com/meet-the-masters-andrew-opdyke-cfa-discusses-china-first-trust-advisors-and-more/ Olde Raleigh Financial Group 3110 Edwards Mill Road, Suite 340 Raleigh, NC 27612 Phone: 919.861.8212 This material is provided as a courtesy and for educational purposes only from Olde Raleigh Financial Group, A member of Advisory Services Network and should not be construed as investment advice. All information contained in this video is derived from sources deemed to be reliable but cannot be guaranteed. All economic and performance data is historical and not indicative of future results. All views/opinions expressed in this video are solely those of the presenter and do not reflect the views/opinions held by Advisory Services Network, LLC. Please consult your investment professional, legal or tax advisor for specific information pertaining to your situation.

Wonderwheel is my production computer. Will he crash before we NEED THE FILE! Always an adventure, Always a Blessing. Always where it is the Last Place I Look. Let's Talk Ukraine Justice and the Nere-Do-Wells and DNC Operatives covering for MS13/DNC Murders and Russian Hacking that leads to exfiltration but non-delivery. Assange is Trump's get out of Jail Free Card. They spent 5 years for the DNC and their MSM operatives to gorge on Orange Man Bad and Trump World Evil instead of bolstering and creating a Leader worth a fuck. We get this stuttering moron who is completely caught in this Ukraine operation. Did US Taxpayer get misappropriated by NGOs via the State Department and the Ukraine Embassy from Yovanovich, well then let her appearance in Schiff's circus be enough of a TV Guide paragraph not to watch. Meanwhile, the partisan pundits are done because when this goes Ukraine Justice, Their DNC First, China First, Anti-American lives will be shown for what they are. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/4256/support

Wonderwheel is my production computer. Will he crash before we NEED THE FILE! Always an adventure, Always a Blessing. Always where it is the Last Place I Look. Let's Talk Ukraine Justice and the Nere-Do-Wells and DNC Operatives covering for MS13/DNC Murders and Russian Hacking that leads to exfiltration but non-delivery. Assange is Trump's get out of Jail Free Card. They spent 5 years for the DNC and their MSM operatives to gorge on Orange Man Bad and Trump World Evil instead of bolstering and creating a Leader worth a fuck. We get this stuttering moron who is completely caught in this Ukraine operation. Did US Taxpayer get misappropriated by NGOs via the State Department and the Ukraine Embassy from Yovanovich, well then let her appearance in Schiff's circus be enough of a TV Guide paragraph not to watch. Meanwhile, the partisan pundits are done because when this goes Ukraine Justice, Their DNC First, China First, Anti-American lives will be shown for what they are.

대한민국은 한국인이 먼저다! KOREA FIRST! NOT CHINA FIRST [[ TEAM GZSS가 간다! ]] - 2019 - 08 - 03

Luke Gromen believes that the much ballyhooed celebration over the end of the US-China trade war is extremely premature. To Luke, it's a case of an immovable object getting hit by an unstoppable force. For the US to prosper and start making things again, it will have to give up the dollar's reserve currency status. For China to move forward, it will have to give up its predatory IP policy and other China First measures. It's effectively a fight for world domination. And it has a long way to go before it's resolved. 

Luke Gromen believes that the much ballyhooed celebration over the end of the US-China trade war is extremely premature. To Luke, it's a case of an immovable object getting hit by an unstoppable force. For the US to prosper and start making things again, it will have to give up the dollar's reserve currency status. For China to move forward, it will have to give up its predatory IP policy and other China First measures. It's effectively a fight for world domination. And it has a long way to go before it's resolved. 

Craig is on with Jim Polito discussing the lie-detecting eye scanner and the new Huawei scandal involving its CFO. These and more tech tips, news, and updates visit - CraigPeterson.com --- Related Articles: “Blade Runner” Eye-Scanning Lie Detector May Be Coming To A Dystopian Future Near You Why Huawei Should Worry America --- Transcript: Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors. Airing date: 01/15/2019 Lie Detecting Eye Scanner - Huawei And China First Strike Military Craig Peterson: 0:00 Hey, good morning, Craig Peterson here. Got my little robot running in the background, cleaning the floors. These things are great if you don't have one of these. I have a Roomba. One of their newer models that I got on sale. It was a beta winners and alpha testing, actually. So I love these things. Anyhow, this morning, I was on with Jim Polito, and we talked about a couple of different things. We talked about Huawei and their impact. We also talked about this Blade Runner style I scanning a lie detector. Is that something that's coming our way? Should we be worried about it. And we've been doing a lot of work here on the DIY security for business. So keep your eye out for those videos. And those courses. We're going to be doing some coaching and consulting and everything. This is going to be something out, never done this before. So you're going to get a great deal on that is as well as the free training that comes as part of that live. So anyways, here we go with Mr. Polito Have a great day. Everybody Unknown 1:03 sees everybody's favorite genius. And he's here now our good friend and Tech Talk guru. Craig Peterson. Good morning, sir. Unknown 1:13 Good morning. I'm not sure I like being back from Naples, Florida. You're a little cool. Oh. Amy. Unknown 1:21 Danny Do I still have Here it is. Unknown 1:25 Everybody for Craig Peterson is back from Naples, Florida. Oh, how he's. We suffered. Craig, come on. Canadian. Canadian. You're supposed to be able to Unknown 1:44 forget it. I don't even want to get into it. Unknown 1:47 The weather? Yeah, it won't. It was 89 when I laughed driving because we went and visited a couple of people work for me down there. My daughter at nine next morning. Got up. It was 69 next morning. We get up it was 49 as we continue to go further north and then and then it was 29 and now Yo, single digit Yeah. Talk to the Chamber of Commerce and get this taken care of. Unknown 2:14 Yeah, this weather What did we get right outside here? Well, we got 23 now but you're up you're up farther north. So anyway, Craig's again I'll Unknown 2:28 I'll keep playing and if you do it oh keep doing my cousin's down in Naples right now for the season so really like to be in Naples all right here and if you know what if you want to be able to tell if I'm telling the truth about I want to be in Naples right now you could I think it's fair to say yeah, Jim's telling the truth about that now what if you thought I was lying about that there's a new type of technology available that will scan my eyes hey I was a big fan of the movie Blade Runner which was a great Harrison Ford movie I never saw the remake but the original Blade Runner you telling me that they're soon going to have the technology to be able to tell if I'm lying just by my eyes Unknown 3:25 well it looks that way are it is on its way. You know we've had a number of technologies over the years to try and get people telling lies you've probably seen in the back of magazines I remember this as a kid you know right next to the X ray glasses Unknown 3:44 little miss a little thing that you could use to listen to people's voices and felt they were lying to you and that technology's been around for a while so you can take a voice sample and do some serious analysis on it and often Cal someone's got the stress markers right that's what they're looking for typically is a stress markers and everybody knows what a polygraph is. We've seen them all over TV and the movies for years right and the whole idea in fact Penn and Teller did wonders their famous TV shows about polygraphs and how inaccurate they were and all it's doing is just measuring your heartbeat and your and your skin conductivity. Right Unknown 4:32 It's ga stanza said it's only a lie. If you believe it's a lie. Unknown 4:39 He is right from Unknown 4:42 if you're a very good liar, you can beat the poly Unknown 4:46 well how often do you think people do that? How frequently do you think professional polygraph die or Unknown 4:54 get it right Unknown 4:55 now that i don't know i don't know so mean I do know that it is still inadmissible in court which means that judges have said okay that's fine but we're not going you can use that as an investigative tool law enforcement but we're not going to use it as evidence so I can't be that high Unknown 5:19 yeah human operators of course are interpreting what they see based on the questions that are being asked and and which up 62 maybe as much as 75% accurate at the absolute past the polygraph so this is new technology kind of like absolutely what what they were using and in Blade Runner and I did see the second movie and I did like it It wasn't the same It was definitely a little different universe so yeah I don't know you missed a lot there but that Blade Runner saying where they hook it up and they look in your eyes This is called IV patch This is a new company it was bark back I should say by Mark Cuban and they've been around now for four or five years so quite a while this wasn't Unknown 6:11 this wasn't on Shark Tank was it Unknown 6:13 No I don't think you'll realize I think this is one of his independence of fun that he did oh Unknown 6:20 I'm just joking Unknown 6:23 I want to 25% of the company $400,000 Unknown 6:27 Yeah exactly. Well he might have done that anyways I don't know maybe he gives us on Shark Tank be super watching you never know right yeah um. But it is a next generation lie detector but bottom line justice to scams as said yeah this is really the same old polygraph now. Unknown 6:48 She's so please who are saying that it is better. They're claiming an accuracy rate of 86%. Okay. That give or take 10 to 20% better than the Polycom graph Unknown 7:02 is a while back. Yes. And kill if you don't think you're lying. Not really ever show anything. So it's, it's basically Unknown 7:09 looking for the same markers, right? It's looking to see Unknown 7:17 it's looking to see if it's if it's really, really working. I mean, if you really, really stressed out Unknown 7:25 yeah, if you think you're lying, because your eyes going to construct or dilate based on whether you think you're lying. Whether you are feeling uncomfortable. Now they're claiming they've got 500 customers and 40 countries, there are people who are deploying it. And I got this great quote from University Minnesota Professor professor there, no science and psychology saying, it's astounding to me that they're paying customers deploying this technology and actually screening people with that. So expect it to be in the test. They like that we Unknown 8:03 have a problem with it. If you are an as an investigative tool for police. And if and if a suspect wants to submit to it. Like if I if I had a loved one missing and they wanted to make sure I didn't have anything to do with it. I'd say give me the poly Give me the whatever the test is, so that you'll stop looking at me and you'll start looking for my loved one. But I wouldn't I certainly wouldn't submit to it for other reasons. And yeah, I in court, I wouldn't want that. So okay. Literally a little simpler deployment of the technology. But the same idea looking for stress. Now speaking of stress, and we're talking with Craig Peterson. And in the short time we have left, we got another important topic, but I want to remind you at the end of the segment, we're going to give you an 800 number. He text My name to it, Jim and Craig will send you the information we discuss today. Plus a whole bunch of other stuff. And he'll keep you abreast of everything important that's going on in technology. Who Wait, am I pronouncing the name of the Chinese company properly? Huawei? Wow. Wow. is a company a massive telecom company in China. And they are I'm concerned about them, because I'm afraid that because there is no line between Corporation in the state in China that if I'm using Say it again. Well, why why why? Why always technology the state is China is going to be listening in. Unknown 9:50 Yeah, you got some real good concerns there. And one of the problems we have in the US is, guess what our phones are using much of our backbone for our telephony networks. And even some of our data network is provided by Huawei. So we have some evidence that Huawei has been breaking sanctions with Iran and hence the arrest in Canada of their CFO when she was changing planes over in Vancouver. I understand that was just yet another arrest of Huawei executive. I think he was in South Korea, I'm trying to remember but but they China's largest telecom company is really because of the technology they happen to us. They can monitor the electronic communications of anyone using one way technology and apparently some people have found that happening Yeah, and one way is now illegal to use for illegal the rules have been changed cannot be sold on in the military bases turn up to us by our government, at least not directly. Unknown 11:06 Yeah, see, this is I get it. We were just talking about company in Western Mass, that's Chinese. And it's great. They're they're bringing great jobs to the region. They build rail cars and these cars are going to be used I believe on the orange line in Boston on the T great jobs manufacturing Chinese company but people are sounding the alarm and say, wait a minute, these just aren't rail cars they have electronic technology within them what is our guarantee that there's not some backdoor in there that somebody in China can throw a switch but click a mouse and shut down that train and and it's that's why I wanted to bring this up that you were talking about about this you know, that's a small example how about a massive telecom company whose technology is in just about everything over here? Yeah, Unknown 12:00 yeah, exactly. And while we set to overtake apple and the iPhone and the smartphone market here in the US and worldwide it's a real concern it's a very big concern we got to remember just as you said this the People's Liberation Army Communist China you know, it's you're talking about PC politically correct earlier today. And believe me, they are communists, this is Red China read used to mean communist, right? Yeah. And then they change the terminology on us and they are not our friends. China's current philosophy is to use technology as a first strike attack. It's true their enemies. Unknown 12:41 That's true, Unknown 12:43 Craig, we're up against the clock here. So folks, if you have a text My name to this number 855-385-5553, that's 855-385-5553 Unknown 13:00 Standard data and text rates apply. But you'll get on Craig's list and you want to be on his list because he will provide you with this information. Plus, if there's ever a massive hacker a crisis you'll get a message from him. He will not abuse the time and the information that you give him and he certainly won't sell it to anyone else. Craig, this was great. Thank you so much for your time. We'll talk to you next week. Unknown 13:26 Thanks Jim. Take care. Take care. Bye bye. Unknown 13:28 All right. A final word when we return. You're listening to the Jim Polito show your safe space --- Don't miss any episode from Craig. Visit http://CraigPeterson.com/itunes. Subscribe and give us a rating! Thanks, everyone, for listening and sharing our podcasts. We're really hitting it out of the park. This will be a great year!  More stories and tech updates at: www.craigpeterson.com Don't miss an episode from Craig. Subscribe and give us a rating: www.craigpeterson.com/itunes Follow me on Twitter for the latest in tech at: www.twitter.com/craigpeterson For questions, call or text: 855-385-5553

1994 or 1528 China's first alien abduction --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Will China contact ET First? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Join Florian and Jesse in an all new all different podcast episode! Is Deadpool banned in China? Does Zack Snyder lift? Is Legends of Tomorrow better than Arrow? Find out in this new episode presented to you by Superhero Gazette! Find us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/superherogazette Find us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ctU5tRz3SeKXr1nFXaYqg

China First Part Trekking The World Ancient Routes

China First Part Trekking The World Ancient Routes