Podcasts about Nanchang

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.  

Last time we spoke about the fourth encirclement campaign against the CCP. In 1931, the CCP survived brutal encirclement campaigns while the threat of Japanese invasion in Manchuria shifted focus in China. The new leadership, known as the 28 Bolsheviks, seized control after the downfall of Li Lisan, leading to infighting within the CCP. Despite initial successes, Mao Zedong opposed the aggressive military strategies favored by the Bolsheviks. As the Red Army expanded, Mao's calls for caution clashed with the Central Committee's ambitions, highlighting the struggle for power and differing strategies within the party during a time of upheaval. As the 28th Bolsheviks gained power, they stripped Mao Zedong of key positions, deeming his strategies outdated. The Red Army, while suffering losses, adapted tactics and launched further offensives. Political tensions rose, leading to purges and reorganization under more orthodox leadership. Ultimately, despite setbacks, the CCP's resilience and guerrilla tactics allowed them to persist against KMT forces.   #128 the fifth encirclement campaign 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. So the CCP had just survived 4 encirclement campaigns. Now each time an encirclement campaign was unleashed, it was done so during a very tumultuous time to say the least. The first three were done between 1930-1931 where the Central Plains War and multiple large scale rebellions were kicking off. It was also on the cusp of the re-unification of China, thus Chiang Kai-Shek arguably had bigger fish to fry. During the fourth encirclement campaign Chiang Kai-Shek was very much taking notice of the red menace in his interior, however a rather earth shattering moment occurred, the Japanese had invaded Manchuria. And yes, we will get to the 15 year war in good time no worries folks your boy has a lot of goodies coming. So one can understand Chiang Kai-Shek could not very well fully go after the Reds when the Japanese had invaded northeast China and there was absolutely no telling where or when they would stop. Well the fourth encirclement campaign did not provide the results the KMT needed, so obviously there was to be a fifth…and guess what, the Japanese began an invasion of North China that same year of 1933. Now if you really are itching to hear more about these events we will tackle in a few episodes, over at the Pacific War Channel on Youtube or on all major podcast platforms might I suggest the following: my Kanji Ishiwara series covering his entire involvement in these events and during WW2, my full documentary/podcast on the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and lastly my full podcast on the Japanese invasion of North China. I am a very busy boy over there as you can see.  In the late winter and early spring of 1933, the Kwantung Army had begun an invasion of North China. They specifically began by invading the province of Rehe, modern day Jehol. After this they attacked the Great Wall of China, a pretty insane story to be honest, and descended further into north china. Understandably Chiang Kai-Shek shifted his focus from the Red menace to the Japanese at his front door. Beginning in July, the KMT established a review team to examine why the encirclement campaigns were failing to provide real results and what improvements could be made. They also established division level training units to retrain the forces with the lessons learned against the Reds. There was also a lot of integration of foreign military advisers, particularly Germans who helped develop better tactics and strategies. The Germans immediately proposed a more deliberate strategy against the Soviets. The first step they argued was to establish an economic blockade. Raw materials and durable goods could not be allowed to enter or leave the Soviet areas. Foods like rice and salt were especially targeted, there was to be an absolute ban on them going in or out. The second step was to establish a series of fortifications, basically blockhouses made out of concrete to provide fire support to offensive operations in nearby cities. As NRA forces advanced into areas to clear them, the previous blockhouses would be abandoned as new ones were built. There also needed to be lines of operation, requiring road development in rear areas to expedite logistical needs to the front. Now none of this sounds new compared to what we spoke about in the previous campaigns, but what was the issue was that it was not being done by all units prior. The KMT was also going to introduce political reforms that complemented the new standardized military strategies. New slogans arose such as “Thirty Percent Military, Seventy Percent Political,”. They were going to revive the baojia system.  The Baojia system was an administrative structure that emerged during the Song Dynasty 960–1279 AD and was prevalent in various forms throughout subsequent dynasties. Its primary purpose was to enhance local governance, community responsibility, and social stability. The system was based on the grouping of households into units known as "bao" and "jia". Each bao typically consisted of ten households, while a jia consisted of ten baos, totaling about one hundred households. This hierarchical structure allowed for more manageable governance and oversight, facilitating communication and administration at the local level. Under the Baojia system, each household was assigned to a bao, and the head of the bao was responsible for maintaining order, collecting taxes, and ensuring the compliance of families with local laws and regulations. The heads of the baojia units worked in conjunction with local officials to enforce state policies and maintain social harmony. This system not only provided a means for effective local governance but also fostered a sense of community among families. Neighbors were encouraged to cooperate and support one another, creating a network of mutual responsibility. In addition to its administrative functions, the Baojia system played a significant role in maintaining social order. By organizing families into these small units, it facilitated surveillance and mutual accountability among community members. Residents were motivated to monitor each other's behavior, discouraging misconduct and promoting adherence to social norms. As a result, the system contributed to the overall stability and cohesion of society, particularly in rural areas where government presence was often limited. Now to get all of this done, the KMT increased the NRA forces deployed to Jiangxi to nearly 700,000 who were broken down into 4 area armies and 5 air corps. They deployed the Northern Route NRA Army consisting of 33 divisions in Jinzhi, Jishui, Nangeng and the Le'an front; and the Southern Route NRA Army, consisting of eleven Guangdong divisions and one independent regiment, established a blocking position along a line connecting the cities of Wuping, Anyuan, Shangyou and Ganxian. The Southern Route NRA army would move to the blocking positions north in coordination with the other NRA forces to try and squeeze the Reds. The Western Route NRA army consisting of 9 Hunanese divisions and 3 independent regiments were responsible for blocking the Reds from advancing west of the Gan River. The Fujian-Zhejiang-Jiangxi area army HQ was assigned 11 divisions and 4 security regiments to block any Reds from escaping through northeast Jiangxi. All of this encompassed the fifth encirclement campaign.  When the NRA was ready to commence the campaign, it was too late for the Reds to properly mount a counter encirclement campaign. The only thing the Reds had going for them was their recruitment efforts that saw them grow perhaps 100,000 strong. The Red Army even began touting a slogan “Million Man Army” to further recruit. By late October 1933, the Reds were certainly numerous, but this also meant they needed more supplies and equipment. With their Eastern Front Army now in Fujian, the Central Front Army and local populace should have been raising revenues and stockpiling supplies, especially rice and salt, but that is of course if they knew a fifth encirclement campaign was coming.  On September 25th, the NRA deployed 3 divisions south from Nanchang to attack Lichuan. Within 3 days of battle, the city fell, which greatly shocked the CCP. The Central Front Red Army fell back, waiting for the Eastern Front Red Army to rush back over from Fujian to meet the threat. By October 6th both front Red armies consolidated to perform a counterattack. They first attacked Xunkou, where they annihilated 3 NRA brigades. However the success was to be short lived. For the proceeding two months, the Red Army attacked multiple NRA blockhouses in Zixi, Huwan Bajiaoting, Xiaoshi, Daxiongguan and Yuangai Mountain. Yet they were unsuccessful at breaching the defensive line. The concrete block houses were acting as pillboxes allowing the NRA to concentrate fire using brand new German made machine guns. They also were utilizing new Krupp artillery pieces and German made aerial bombs against the Red army formations whenever they assaulted the blockhouse line. By November the KMT's attention was slightly diverted as Fujian had just seen a full blown rebellion, more about that in the next episode, but to summarize a bit. On November 30th, the KMT 19th route army in conjunction with the Fujian provincial government rebelled against the KMT and set up an independent government. As you might be guessing, they were also working with the CCP. Back in October they had formed a military alliance, better said cease fire. This little arrangement did not last long and there even emerged hostilities. During this chaos the revolutionary military council held an emergency meeting to figure out a course of action. Otto Braun advocated for a strong offensive to decisively defeat the KMT. He argued the golden age of guerrilla warfare in China was over and now the Red Army must conduct convention warfare against NRA positions. Thus Mao Zedong's “lure the enemy in deep” strategy was replaced by “defending against the enemy outside the Soviet”. In January of 1934 the second soviet congress was held where a series of resolutions were passed to focus the Red Army against the fifth encirclement campaign. The resolutions reiterated Otto Braun's offensive strategy and repeatedly attacked Mao Zedong's strategies. Building upon the strategy of defending against the enemy outside the Soviets, Otto Braun also proposed using “short, swift thrusts”. This would see the employment of repeated infantry assaults to overwhelm the NRA blockhouse lines. Otto Braun also advocated for continuing the mass recruitment efforts and brought up perhaps beginning a system of conscription to fill the ranks. After the Fujian rebellion situation simmered down, the NRA refocused their attention against the Reds. The NRA established a line of blockhouses going from Lichuan to Le'an and began clearing out the area south of Ruijin using 35 divisions. The NRA forces first targeted Guangchang, lying about halfway between Nanchang and Ruijin. The NRA's Eastern Front also began advancing west, totaling some 14 divisions. By March of 1934 the NRA Northern and Eastern Fronts linked up at Deshengguan where they began coordinated efforts towards Guangchang. In response to the NRA advances towards Guangchang, the Red Army built a series of fortifications and trenchworks to defend the area. On April 9th, the NRA began its attack on Guangchang, deploying the 3rd Route army's 10 divisions from Nanfeng with heavy artillery and aircraft support. The NRA forces advanced south along both sides of the Xu River leading towards Guangchang. The Northern Route NRA Army established new blockhouses on one side of the river before clearing the other side. It took the NRA forces roughly 2 weeks to advance down the riverway to Guangchang. By April 23rd, they breached the Red Army's defensive lines and seized control over some high ground surrounding the area. The Reds were forced to pull back into the city where they continued to build fortifications and trench lines. On the 27th the NRA began to artillery and aerially bomb the city, easily destroying the wooden fortifications and trench lines constructed by the Reds. On the 28th, the NRA stormed the city forcing the Reds to retreat south. The Reds had suffered 5093 casualties, roughly 20% of their defending force at Guangcheng whereas the NRA suffered 2000 casualties. It was very evident, the NRA were wielding superior equipment, notably the heavy artillery and aircrafts that the Red's had no real answer for.  After Guangchang the NRA advanced in all four directions. By May 1, NRA forces from the Western Front had taken control of both Shaxi and Longgang. Meanwhile, the Eastern Route NRA forces advanced and captured Jianning by May 16. By June, the CCP began feeling the strain from these assaults. A combination of the blockade and the baojia system was gradually eroded local support for the CCP. The attrition warfare strategy also took a toll on the quality of leadership and experience in the Red Army, as more inexperienced soldiers filled the ranks. Under pressure, many of these recruits deserted, further weakening the Red Army's effectiveness. Additionally, the shortage of supplies and food lowered morale and diminished public support for the Red Army's offensive. Even military and party publications gradually withdrew their support for the offensive, shifting focus to the promotion of guerrilla warfare to conserve resources. Recruitment efforts to replenish losses had little impact as the NRA's superior strategy continued to stifle the Soviet, reducing its control from seventeen counties to ten. In the summer of 1934, the Red Army began exploring new strategies, establishing a defensive perimeter stretching from Ninghua to Ningdu and Xingguo. By May, the Central Committee convened and concluded that the current offensive strategy was ineffective, likely necessitating the Red Army's evacuation from the Soviet area. They sought approval from the COMINTERN to change their approach, which was granted a few days later, stressing that the CCP's priority should be preserving the Red Army's combat strength. However, Braun and Bo Gu proposed a different method. Instead of immediately preparing to withdraw from the Soviet, they advocated for a final stand, urging everyone to give their all to defend the territory and secure victory. Alongside this shift in rhetoric, the Red Army maintained its defensive posture, constructing wooden blockhouses and trenches. Additionally, the CCP approved an expansion of guerrilla warfare across multiple fronts to defeat the NRA. In July, the NRA launched another offensive, focusing this time on the city of Shicheng, positioned between Ninghua and Ningdu as their entry point. The two forces clashed fiercely along this final line of defense for nearly a month. In early August, the Red Army mounted a strong counteroffensive during the battle of Gaohunao, inflicting over 4,000 casualties on the NRA. However, the Red Army also suffered heavy losses and was forced to retreat to the last defensive line just north of Shicheng. At Shicheng, the Red Army managed to hold the NRA in a stalemate. Ultimately, the NRA deployed twelve large howitzers, breaking through the defensive line in August. Shicheng eventually fell in October. The defense cost the Red Army 5,000 casualties, leaving it severely weakened and forcing its leaders to consider drastic actions. By this point, the Jiangxi Soviet had been reduced to a small area around Ruijin and Xingguo. With mounting casualties and the imminent threat of an NRA assault on Ruijin, the Red Army made a bold decision to retreat from Jiangxi on October 10, 1934, ending the Fifth Extermination Campaign. There has been a lot of thorough investigative work into why the CCP failed during the fifth encirclement campaign. This episode will be a bit different then previous ones as I thought it might be interesting to tell the overall story and then explain the finer details as to why it went down this way. Going back to when I discussed the NRA analyzing why their fourth encirclement campaign had failed. The analytics from that were incorporated into plans formed by the German advisers such as Hans von Seeckt and Alexander von Faulkenhausen. The Germans dramatically improved the NRA's performance across the board. This was seen in terms of training, the employment of more modern military tactics and of course the Germans sold the NRA some really good toys. Now again this was done in the vacuum of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and Northern China. The real aim of the Germans' assistance was directed against the Japanese, but the advisers acknowledged how China must combat the external aggressor while not succumbing to internal threats. Ironically it was that exact situation that had toppled multiple Chinese dynasties in the past, take the Ming for example.  The NRA also employed effective counterinsurgent strategies that complimented their conventional warfare strategies. Beginning back in 1928 the KMT gradually re-instituted the baojia system. The NRA first cleared out Red areas and then established local administrators who were loyal to the KMT, protected by local militias. Through this the NRA was able to hold cleared areas and block any Red infiltration. Many residents in these areas actively began providing intel to the NRA. The Baojia system also supported the economic blockade, providing a system of sentries at the entrance of villages placing a lot of pressure on the Red Army and local populations. Chiang Kai-Shek's political reform “70% political, 30% military” also helped incorporate many disenfranchised Chinese, taking their support away from the Reds. The NRA also adopted a methodical, patient approach to tackle the Reds. The NRA quickly found out the Reds did not have the necessary weaponry to take out their concrete blockhouses, thus a war of attrition was on the table. Electing for a long campaign rather than a short one severely hurt the Reds who were incapable of conducting prolonged operations. The NRA also had learnt from the Red's usage of diversionary and feint attacks, not falling for them this time around. There was also obviously their NRA enormous advantage in numbers, they did toss nearly a million men at the Soviets. On the other side the Red Army suffered from numerous internal problems. The Red Army had undergone numerous measures to reform and professionalize the army, under the leadership of the 28 bolsheviks whom dominated the Central Committee. The mass recruitment efforts were directly primarily on uneducated peasants who required intensive training. Meanwhile the offensive strategy was decimating Red Army forces, many new recruits were tossed straight into the front lines without any training. The lack of training and political guidance, accompanied with low morale led to mass desertions. By the end of the fifth encirclement campaign the Red Army could not generate the proper forces to fill its demand and simply kept tossing more and more untrained peasants into the lines, degrading the combat effectiveness. The arrival of the Twenty-eight Bolsheviks in the CCP led to significant changes in the overall military strategy of the Red Army. Much of the new leadership's perspectives were shaped by Stalinist Soviet ideology, which markedly contrasted with the views of both Li Lisan and Mao Zedong, particularly in relation to Mao Zedong's approach, which was influenced by political considerations. These ideological differences also resulted in a substantial gap in military tactics. Nevertheless, both the Bolsheviks and Mao shared a similar stance on the expansion and training of the Red Army, emphasizing the vital importance of political training in building a robust party army. Ultimately, the CCP believed that the success of the Red Army hinged on the professionalization of the force, ensuring unity of command, a shared understanding of the mission, and an enhanced capacity to execute that mission. The primary advocate for the professionalization strategy of the Red Army was the Soviet Union. Stalin's interest in the Red Army was driven by both external and internal factors. The Soviet Union viewed an imminent threat from both Japan and Germany. Japan, a longstanding adversary of Russia, had expanded its presence in China, particularly following the 1932 occupation of Manchuria, which posed a direct risk to Russia's southern flank and national security. The Soviets believed that a large, professional Red Army, loyal to the Soviet Union, would serve as a formidable defense against Japanese aggression, and later, German threats. Additionally, the Soviets resumed discussions with the Nationalist government after years of silence to help ensure the security of their Chinese flank. For Stalin, the struggle for control over the CCP was intertwined with a broader power struggle within the Soviet Union against Trotsky. His internal conflicts with Trotsky solidified his communist ideology, resulting in a stringent approach within the COMINTERN and the new CCP. Through the COMINTERN and Bolsheviks, Stalin aimed to consolidate his power by eliminating Trotskyists in China. These internal Soviet political dynamics ultimately influenced the choice of Chinese political and military strategies, which had detrimental effects on the Red Army. At first glance, the policies of the Twenty-eight Bolsheviks closely resembled those of Li Lisan. Both groups viewed the urban proletariat as the central force in the communist revolution. They shared the conviction that merging the revolutionary spirit of the proletariat with modern strategies would empower the Red Army to achieve victory. Additionally, they felt that the conditions were ripe for revolution to spread into urban areas, emphasizing the necessity for the Red Army to engage in the cities to support students and workers involved in the movement. Wang Ming even remarked that although the 1930 assault on Changsha was a mistake, he did not see this failure as evidence against the soundness of the strategy of targeting urban centers. Upon closer inspection, the distinctions between the two factions were quite pronounced. Disputes between them arose early on; in June 1930, Li Lisan criticized Wang Ming, Bo Gu, and two other group members for opposing his plans. However, their differences ran deeper than mere political conflict. Ideologically, the Bolsheviks challenged Li Lisan's characterization of the bourgeoisie. In Wang Ming's The Two Lines, he asserted that all "capitalist bourgeois reformers were counterrevolutionary." This broadened the definition to encompass wealthy and middle-class peasants, who became targets during land reform efforts. Additionally, their strategies for confronting urban centers differed significantly. The factions also had contrasting views on the role of the Red Army: Li Lisan believed it should support urban proletariat uprisings to capture the cities, while the Bolsheviks regarded it as the primary force for seizing the metropolis. The distinctions between Mao Zedong and the 28 Bolsheviks were significant. Unlike Mao Zedong, the Bolshevik-led CCP rejected any form of alliance, insisting on the defeat of both the Nationalists and the Japanese. In their view, both groups were imperialists and posed equal threats to the Soviet Union and the communist movement. During the Mukden Incident, many nationalists and communists sought to forge a united front against Japanese aggression. However, the CCP opposed this, advocating for the overthrow of what they considered the agent of imperialism—the KMT.  The Bolsheviks also held a strong opposition to Maoist military strategies. They believed that an incorrect guerrilla warfare approach had infiltrated the Red Army, epitomized by the "lure the enemy in deep" tactic. Wang Ming likened this strategy to a form of "retreat" or "escape." The Bolsheviks advocated for the significant expansion and professionalization of the Red Army, aiming to move away from a peasant mentality. With a larger force, the Red Army could adopt an offensive stance, employing Soviet tactics to capture urban centers and extend Soviet influence. While guerrilla warfare was not entirely dismissed, it was relegated to local militias in rear and flank areas. In contrast, Mao had a more practical perspective on the capabilities of Red Army soldiers. He recognized that the Red Army lacked the technology necessary for conventional warfare. Moreover, Mao believed that achieving victory was not the sole priority; sustainability after victory and ensuring that the gains outweighed the losses were also crucial considerations. In hindsight, the positional warfare and offensive tactics advocated by Otto Braun and the students proved to be ineffective against the NRA. However, at the time, it is understandable why this approach was favored over Mao Zedongs strategy of "luring the enemy deep." This new offensive military strategy was predicated on the belief that the Red Army was strong and capable of launching attacks against the NRA. Although this assessment may have been overstated, the victories achieved during the Extermination Campaigns did boost the morale of the Red Army. Furthermore, their later success in resisting the Fourth Extermination Campaign reinforced the capabilities of the Communist military forces. This offensive strategy also marked a departure from the tactic of conceding territory, which had always posed challenges for the local population. The CCP garnered more support for its strategy by asserting that the Red Army was now strong enough to defend their territory and confront the enemy directly, allowing locals to remain in their homes. This simple shift fostered greater support for their cause. Conversely, Mao Zedong had a keen understanding of local conditions and recognized the detrimental effects of Bolshevik policies on land redistribution. The Bolshevik approach increased the burden on a larger portion of the local populace and threatened the fragile support necessary for waging a "people's war." Mao Zedong and his followers also aimed to delay and hinder large recruitment efforts, arguing that expansion would be an unnecessary distraction for locals who were already busy with agricultural work. Moreover, the Bolshevik offensive strategy was more conventional compared to Mao Zedongs concept of mobile warfare. At that time, Mao Zedongs approach of "luring the enemy deep" and other mobile warfare tactics were revolutionary in China and faced considerable criticism and skepticism. Even after the significant defeat of the Li Lisan line, the ability of the Bolsheviks and Otto Braun to revive a similar strategy two years later demonstrated the ongoing support for a more conventional military approach. In its new strategy, the Red Army blended traditional and modern tactics to engage the enemy. On the one hand, it maintained its reliance on established strengths in intelligence gathering and deception to outmaneuver the NRA. However, with the introduction of the Twenty-eight Bolsheviks and Otto Braun, the Red Army transitioned from a mobile defense approach to employing “short, swift thrusts” as offensive tactics against the NRA blockhouses during the Fifth Extermination Campaign. The Red Army also capitalized on advantages gained from previous campaigns. Improvements in signal intelligence, particularly through increased collection of wireless communications and the creation of training schools, enabled the Red Army to closely monitor NRA movements during the Fourth Extermination Campaign. Additionally, the Red Army integrated tactical intelligence into its operations, using plain-clothed soldiers and deploying double agents within KMT units to gather intelligence and disrupt them. The thoroughness of the Red Army's intelligence collection was a notable strength. For instance, an intelligence report on the KMT's Seventy-ninth NRA Division analyzed the background and motivations of its soldiers, revealing that many hailed from the same area as their commander, which fostered strong loyalties. This insight made the unit a less appealing target for subversion, given the traditional Confucian emphasis on hierarchical loyalty. The Red Army continued to execute feints and deceptive operations throughout its campaigns. The Eleventh Red Army effectively served as the main effort on two occasions. Moreover, the Red Army sent misleading communications to confuse NRA forces. For instance, while near Huangpi, NRA scouts “intercepted” a message claiming that the Red Army's main forces were positioned in Nanchang, prompting the division units to lower their guard in the city, only to be ambushed. The biggest change to Red Army tactics was the introduction of what Otto Braun described as “short, swift thrusts,” while Lin Biao defined this tactic as “sudden, rapid raids launched against the enemy who emerges from their blockhouses to advance the fortification line by a short distance, specifically between 2½ to 5 kilometers or even less. These thrusts aim to eliminate the main enemy forces before they can solidify their position. Although the tactics appeared straightforward, significant differences emerged in their application, particularly between Braun's theoretical approach and Lin Biao's practical execution. Firstly, the ultimate objectives of the tactics differed greatly. Braun's approach was part of a broader strategy aimed at safeguarding Soviet territory. Rather than seeking a decisive victory over the numerically superior NRA forces, the Red Army focused on defending territory and achieving small tactical victories that could translate into operational and strategic advantages. In contrast, Lin Biao viewed this tactic as a means to “annihilate the enemy or secure victory in the entire battle.”His emphasis was on defeating the enemy and achieving a decisive victory. Secondly, Braun promoted a more methodical strategy, where the Red Army would establish strong points with small clusters of fortifications. These areas provided defensive protection against artillery and air assaults, creating conditions conducive for the Red Army to launch rapid attacks on the NRA when they were away from their blockhouses. During an attack, Braun suggested that the Red Army should first fix the NRA in its rear, flank, or even front, followed by a strike aimed at weakening the enemy to disrupt its forces. Conversely, Lin Biao had a different perspective on the assault, prioritizing mobility and movement for the Red Army during these thrusts. The Red Army's primary defense relied on secrecy, moving quietly to occupy high ground while only establishing makeshift defensive structures for air and artillery protection. When the enemy entered their territory, the Red Army would encircle their forces, cutting off their retreat and swiftly attacking their flanks before they could construct fortifications. He advocated for the pursuit, believing it was the most effective way to convert a tactical victory into operational or strategic success. In contrast, Lin Biao rejected the idea of pursuit, reasoning that if his tactics were executed effectively, the enemy would have no escape route, making a pursuit unnecessary. These differing views on tactics underscored the challenges of translating theoretical military concepts into practical application. Otto Braun's offensive strategy stemmed from his experiences and understanding of Western military traditions. When applied to the Chinese battlefield, Lin Biao adapted his own experiences to formulate his interpretation of “short, swift thrusts,” which incorporated several of Mao's tactical principles. Given the circumstances of the Red Army, Lin Biao aimed for a quick, decisive victory, steering clear of prolonged battles with the NRA. He utilized intelligence and terrain—particularly through reconnaissance—to gain an advantage over the enemy. His strategy prioritized focusing on the enemy rather than merely securing territory, enabling his unit to engage in battle on favorable ground. While the localization of “short, swift thrusts” did not provide the Red Army with the decisive edge needed to overcome the NRA, it illustrated how the Red Army continued to adapt concepts to local conditions to achieve success in combat. Between 1932 and 1934, the Red Army reached its maximum size and level of professionalism, only to be outmatched by a stronger NRA force. With the rise of the Twenty-eight Bolsheviks, the Red Army adopted a more aggressive, offensive strategy. Although this approach would later be deemed a mistake, it initiated a series of reforms that enhanced the Red Army's professionalism. During this period, the Red Army nearly doubled its strength to six army corps. To promote uniformity and centralize command, all Red Army units, including local militia groups, were standardized. Additionally, the Red Army founded the Red Academy and the Red Army War College, alongside specialized schools to train and develop its officers. These reforms contributed to the Red Army's success in the Fourth Extermination Campaign against the NRA and facilitated the expansion of Soviet influence into four provinces. However, following their defeat, the NRA adapted and developed a more effective strategy against the Red Army. Lacking the necessary heavy weapons and supplies, the Red Army could not prevent the systematic encirclement of the Jiangxi Soviet during the Fifth Extermination Campaign. In order to survive the Red Army would have to embark on arguably one of the most important historic moments of the CCP's history, it was a notably very long march. 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 28 Bolsheviks wrestled control over the CCP and this had rather dramatic consequences. For one, Mao Zedong's strategies were thrown to the wind as full on offensive strategies took the center stage. In the face of the most intense NRA encirclement campaign as of yet, the CCP crumbled and would now have to march to away trying to survive.

Last time we spoke about the first encirclement campaign against the CCP. The Jiangxi Soviet expanded despite opposition, but urban uprisings struggled, with labor union support declining. Li Lisan pushed for urban revolts, while Mao Zedong favored rural expansion. In 1930, failed attacks on Nanchang and Changsha deepened the divide between their strategies. Mao's forces later captured Ji'an, but tensions led to purges, including the Futian Incident. Meanwhile, the Nationalist Army launched an encirclement campaign. Mao's strategy of “luring the enemy in deep” ultimately positioned the CCP for survival and future success. The NRA exploited internal conflict among the Reds, launching attacks on Donggu. Miscommunication led to friendly fire between NRA divisions. Despite capturing towns, overextension weakened the NRA, allowing the Red Army to counterattack. Through guerrilla tactics and local support, the Reds encircled and decimated multiple NRA divisions, capturing thousands of prisoners and weapons. Mao Zedong's strategies proved effective, bolstering Red Army morale and influence. By the end of the third campaign, the Jiangxi Soviet had expanded significantly.   #127 The fourth encirclement campaign  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 CCP had just survived 3 brutal encirclement campaigns in 1931, collectively known as the First Encirclement Campaign. The Reds were quite lucky in 1931, for China had major problems requiring Chiang Kai-Sheks attention. Understandably one of those major problems was a full blown Japanese invasion of Manchuria, that rest assured we will tackle in depth in future episodes, but for coherency sake I thought it best to try and get through all the other events before we start talking about the beginning of the 15 year war. The Japanese invasion immediately began influencing the KMT-CCP conflict. The Japanese invasion directly threatened Soviet interests and Moscow looked at the CCP as a potential bulwark against the Japanese. From 1930-1931, the CCP's Red Army was successful in defending their territory against the NRA extermination campaigns, however they still suffered from a lack of discipline, supplies and professionalism. New leadership came from the new Central Committee, now led by the 28 Bolsheviks and a new comintern representative, Otto Braun. The Red Army began adopting a series of initiatives in 1932 to improve. All Red Army units were standardized to establish better command and control. Political indoctrination and military training also became standardized with waves upon waves of manuals distributed to the forces. The Red Army expanded the Red Academy by establishing the Red Army War College for mid-grade and senior officers. Branch schools and speciality schools to increase competency and training. Political mobilization remained cornerstone to the Red Army. Recruitment of new troops also began to see a renewed emphasis on urban proletariats. A large change to the operations for the Red Army was the adoption of Soviet offensive tactics to seek out decisive battles. CCP leaders were under the misbelief that revolutionary fervor would simply have the Red Army victory. What they lacked initially was professionalism, alongside good weaponry and equipment. Couple this with the NRA's adoption of more and more effective counterinsurgency tactics, the Red Army really began to suffer terrible casualties. Now as the Red Army defeated the NRA in the third extermination campaign of 1931 not to be mistaken for the large third extermination campaign later, another intraparty power struggle was brewing in the CCP. After the fall of Li Lisan, a group of students returning from studies in the USSR began a systematic operation to gain control over the CCP. This group became known as the 28 Bolsheviks. 20 or some of them returned to China with the new Comintern adviser, Pavel Mif in 1931. Two key members of the group, Qin Bangxian known colloquially as Bo Gu, and Chen Shaoyu as Wang Ming would seize key positions at the top brass of the CCP. Many of these students attended Moscow's Sun Yat-Sen University, where they became acquainted with Mif, the head rector of said university. This university was a breeding ground for ultra-orthodox Stalinist communist doctrine. It goes without saying the students were indoctrinated with a very Moscow perspective. Mif regarded them as a very well disciplined force and used them to purge out divergent groups within the university. During the third Plenum in September of 1930, Mif attempted to use the forum to denounce Li Lisans plan, but had failed to convince the majority of the Central Committee. After Li Lisan was condemned and recalled to Moscow, Mif saw a major opportunity. At the fourth Plenum in January of 1931, Li Lisan and 11 of his supported were ousted from the Central Committee, with their best positions seized by Moscow aligned CCP members. The next year, the 28 Bolsheviks unleashed a brutal intraparty war with other factions. By late September the Bolsheviks effectively destroyed most of the opposition and incorporated the surviving members into a the Central Committee loyal to Moscow. Bo Gu was appointed head of the Central Committee from Wang Ming who returned to Moscow. Once the 28 Bolsheviks were in control of the CCP at Shanghai, they then set their eyes upon Mao Zedong and the Red Army Soviet areas. During the first All-China Soviet Congress of November 1931, they launched their first attack. Mao Zedong received prior word of their intentions from loyal followers in Shanghai and prepared to face them. Before the Central Committee arrived at Ruijin, Mao had just emerged victorious from the encirclement campaigns, had suppressed dissension amongst his ranks and established a delegation of loyalists within the Soviet Congress. The Bolsheviks failed to gain a majority within the Congress, taking only 2 seats in the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet. Meanwhile Zhu De was appointed Commissar of War and other Mao loyalists took high ranking positions. To try to break Mao Zedongs monopolistic control over the Red Army, the Bolsehviks employed Zhou Enlai.  In early 1932, the CCP urged the Red Army to expand Soviet territory as its forces grew. Successful defenses against encirclement Campaigns brought many NRA soldiers into the Red Army, some willingly, others by force. A key boost came on December 14, 1931, when the NRA's Twenty-sixth Route Army rebelled and joined, forming the Fifth Red Army Corps. With this and other recruits, the First Front Red Army grew to about 70,000, requiring more territory to sustain itself and the revolution. On January 9th of 1932, the CCP Central Committee issued a resolution outlining a new strategy for the party and the Red Army. The resolution assessed the current situation in China, that of a major depression, the effects of the Mukden Incident and the string of CCP successes against the encirclement campaigns. The resolution reasserted the renewed commitment to recruit urban proletariats for the revolution and “expand the territory, link up the separated Soviet areas to form an integrated Soviet area, and take advantage of the present favorable political and military conditions to seize one or two important central cities so as to win an initial victory of the revolution in one or more provinces.” The Red Army would conduct a series of offensive to expand their Soviets and connect them starting in early 1932. They would target southern Jiangxi, such places as Ganzhou, Jiujiang, Nanchang and also Fujian's Fuzhou, Xiamen and Zhangzhou. The resolution also pushed for a “positive and offensive line, rather than the luring of the enemy into the deep strategy, as it was no longer viable”. Furthermore the resolution directly attacked Mao Zedong's strategy as “being right opportunism that underestimated the situation and maintained a pessimistic attitude, and all party and army members should actively guard against its incorrect mindset”. This cemented the divide between the Bolshevik groups adoption of offensive strategy vs Mao Zedong's defensive lure the enemy in deep strategy. The next operation would be against Ganzhou in Jiangxi. The city linked the Hunan-Jiangxi border areas with the Fujian-Jiangxi border areas and provided a nice launching point against Ji'an in the north. During another meeting in 1932 at Ruijin, Mao Zedong expressed his reservations about the operation, stating the Red Army did not have the necessary weapons or supplies to seize a major city. Zhu De backed him up, but the Central Military Committee vetoed them and continued planning the Ganzhou operation. On January 10th orders were handed out for the 1st, 3rd and 5th Red Army corps, along with the Jiangxi Soviet military regional forces to conduct the operation by February. On the other side, the KMT were well prepared to meet an attack against Ganzhou, they were also most likely tipped off.  On February 3rd of 1932 the Red Army arrived at Ganzhou quickly encircling the city. The next day the 5th Red Army Corps, roughly 20,000 men were the first to attack the city. They struck the East Gate, breaching the defenses slightly before being repelled. On the 17th and 23rd the Red Army forces conducted two major assaults, expanding the attacks to the West and South gates, but failed to gain a foothold. During the siege, two NRA brigades reinforced the Ganzhou garrison. Then on March 4th, the Red Army conducted a fourth major attack and was likewise repelled. Three days later the Red army retired to Jiangkou to reorganize after they had suffered 3000 casualties. Despite this the CCP leadership remained undeterred, believing the offensive strategy was still optimal. When Japan began rooting itself permanently in Manchuria, the CCP saw this as the perfect condition for a real revolution to take place. At a meeting on March 18th, Mao Zedong again argued his strategy fit the current conditions much more and that the offensive strategy was too ambiguous. Yet his arguments fell on deaf ears and the CCP leadership had the Red Army reorganized into two route armies. The west route army consisted of the 3rd army corps and was made responsible for expanding the Soviet areas west of the Gan River in Hunan-Jiangxi with a focus built around Zhuchuan, Taihe and Wan'an. The Central Route army consisted of the 1st and 5th Red army corps and would take Mao Zedong's recommendations to perform expansion operations in south Fujian with Xiamen being the final target. On March 26th, the Central route red army occupied Changtin under Mao Zedongs guidance. There they conducted political mobilization of the local populace. Yet seeing little military action taking place, Zhou Enlai pushed Mao Zedong to stop the political mobilization and instead engage the enemy in the direction of Zhangzhou. Thus the Reds headed south and attacked the 49th NRA division. On April 10th the Reds managed to seize Longyan where they annihilated a single brigade of the 49th NRA division. The 5th NRA corps attempted to reinforce the 49th NRA division, but lost two brigades in the process. The Reds then continued marching south and on April 20th seized Zhangzhou where they defeated the 49th NRA division. At Zhangzhou they seized 1675 prisoners, 2000 rifles, some artillery pieces, 13,00 rounds of ammunition, two aircraft and over a million yuan. Alongside that came a lot of provisions, salt, oil and other goods needed to keep their men moving. After the success Mao Zedong telegrammed Zhou Enlai, requesting the Red army move back to Jiangxi with their booty to improve operations in the soviet area. It was Mao Zedong's belief the Reds had made great gains at Zhangzhou but could not hold onto the area. Instead he wanted to expand operations in Fujian using smaller local militia and guerilla groups. The CCP yet again overruled Mao Zedong and on June 5th ordered him to keep up the offensive, now turning towards Guangdong military forces currently occupying southern Jiangxi.  Once that was completed they were to advance north up the Gan River Valley and attack Ganzhou, Zhangshu, Ji'an and Nanchang so as to foster a revolution in Jiangxi. The Red army then reorganized its forces placing the 1st, 3rd and 5th red army corps under the First Front Red Army who advanced into Guangdong. From late june into early July the Reds seized Shuikou, Nanxiong and defeated 15 Guangdong based NRA brigades and expanded the Soviet into the province. Yet even with the string of offensive victories, Mao Zedong still remained vocally in opposition towards the strategy, constantly submitting his recommendation to adjust their footing. On July 25th, Mao Zedong and Zhu De sent a joint communique to the CCP leadership requesting a change of strategy. They argued instead of immediately attacking Ji'an and Zhangshu they could perform clearing operation on the eastern part of the valley, focusing on Yihaung and Le'an. The CCP central committee was initially against the proposals, however Zhou Enlai intervened and gave his support to them. In August the 1st front red army held a conference and confirmed they would attack Yihaung and Le'an. They took Le'an shortly after, defeating the 27th NRA division. With that victory they gained 5000 prisoners, 4000 rifles, 20 machine guns, 20 artillery pieces and 3 wireless communication sets. Afterwards the Reds contemplated attacking Ji'an, however after consideration Mao Zedong argued on September 25th, the NRA presence at Ji'an was too strong. He instead recommended they conduct political mobilization operations around the Le'an Yihuang area. By this point the CCP Central Committee was really pissed off with what they considered insubordination from Mao Zedong. By this time the 28th Bolsheviks had gained enough power and began striping Mao Zedong of key positions with the Red Army. First he was removed from the Military Committee of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Areas. Have I mentioned how much communists love making endless committees? Later in October of 1933 an emergency conference was held at Ningdu to plan future operations on the eve of an impending KMT campaign. Participants included Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Chen yi, Liu Bocheng and Peng Dehuai who all agreed they should take up offensive actions outside the Soviet. Alongside this the party condemned Mao Zedongs strategy called it inadequate and outdated. Zhou Enlai then argued for “expanding Soviet territory swiftly, engaging the enemy on KMT territory, bringing Jiangxi and its neighboring Soviet areas together by force, taking key cities in the Gan valley, including Nanchang, Ji'an, Ganzhou, and Pingxiang, so as to achieve preliminary successes in one or more provinces.” After the Ningdu conference, the Red Army continued with the offensive operation, now attacking Jianning, Lichuan and Taining in October. By November the 1st front army took the Jiangxi county seats of Zixi and Jinxi. This helped the CCP expand the Soviet in the eastern Gan valley, but it also placed them on a vulnerable footing, just in time for the KMT's 4th major encirclement campaign. During the CCP's expansion activities, the KMT had been performing a communist suppression campaign in Shanghai, driving out the Bolsheviks and other CCP members towards the Jiangxi Soviet by late 1932. Their arrival to the Jiangxi Soviet added further tension to the Red Army who were facing a new encirclement campaign. The presence of high ranking Central Committee members also changed their politics. The Mao Zedong adapted Marxist-Leninist theory was replaced by more orthodox and Moscow leaning theory. Many of 28 Bolsheviks moved to many Soviets sparking a new phase.  Before the start of the 4th major encirclement campaign, the Red Army from the Jiangxi Soviet conducted expansion operations into Fujian and Guangdong. Other Red army units performed similar operations in Hunan, Hubei and Sichuan. All of this red activity was enough to push Chiang Kai-Shek to refocus his military operations against them. On April 9th, 1932, Chiang Kai-Shek created the Bandit Suppression Headquarters in Wuhan with He Yingqin as its commander. Beginning in June 1932 He Yingqin had a force of 500,000 soldiers who unleashed a brutal encirclement and suppression campaign against the Hubei-Henan-Anhui and western Hubei-Hunan Soviet areas. By November of 1932, both soviets collapsed. After this Chiang Kai-Shek ordered He Yingqin to direct his efforts against the Jiangxi Soviet. In December Chiang Kai-Shek shifted over 400,000 troops and 30 divisions to the Central Soviet Operation. He even personally moved down to Nanchang to supervise the operation. The main forces consisted of 3 columns, roughly 150,000 troops in 12 divisions led by Chen Cheng. The KMT plan was to build a series of blockhouses as a means of economically blockading the Soviet. Around 240,000 troops were allocated for the blockade, in addition to the main force which brought the entire figure to 400,000 men. Each flank of the blockade had 70,000 troops, roughly 6 divisions who would conduct blocking operations in the Jiangxi-Guangdong border area and the Fujian-Jiangxi border area. Around 100,000 would be used to conduct anti-guerilla operations in the northwest and northeast of Jiangxi as well as in southeast Hunan and southwest Jiangxi. Was the blockade was set, the NRA would deploy 3 columns along separate routes converging upon the Red Army's rear for a concentrated attack. Over on the other side, the Red Army based near Lichuan had roughly 70,000 men from the 1st, 3rd and 5th Red army corps and the 11th,12th, 21st and 22nd Red Armies. The 4th encirclement campaign coincided with the Red Army's urban offensives. By December of 1932 the Reds had targeted Nancheng. The Central Committee issued the attack orders but due to the large NRA reinforcement efforts had to order the Red Army to withdraw from the outskirts of Nancheng. The next potential target was Nanfeng. The Central Committee again pushed for urban offensive as Nanfeng was attacked beginning in February of 1933. On February 7th the Red Army besieged the city. The NRA quickly dispatched the Central Route Army to reinforce the city and conduct a counterattack. Seeing the large concentration of NRA in the area, on February 13th Zhou Enlai ordered the forces to pull out and head over to Luokou.  The Red Army set up a diversion to cover their withdrawal. Using similar tactics employed during the third encirclement campaign, the 11th Red Army pretended to be the main force and suddenly attacked Lichuan. The NRA took the bait immediately sending 3 columns to Lichuan. While marching the 1st NRA column's 52nd and 59th NRA division became separated. On February 25th the two divisions moved west towards Huangpi along two routes separated by a mountain ridge. As they did so, their distance from the NRA 2nd and 3rd columns increased making mutual support efforts impossible. On the 27th the 1st and 3rd Red Army corps and 21st Red army unleashed a surprise attack against the 52nd NRA division. The next day the 5th Red army corps and 22nd red army attack the 59th NRA division around Huangpi. The division was annihilated with its commander captured. After the victory the Red Army pulled back to Luokou.  After the loss the NRA reorganized its force into 2 columns and changed strategy. Now instead of heading in 3 wide columns they would concentrate as 2 down the center of the Soviet. On March 16th, the two NRA columns began their advance as the Reds deployed their 11th army to perform more deception operations. The 11th Red army made a feint towards Guangchang, attracting the NRA front column. This action separated the two columns by 50 kms and isolated the 11th NRA division near Caotaigang. On March the 20th the 1st front red army attacked the 11th NRA division near Xuzhuang decimating them and severely defeating the 9th NRA division. For the remainder of the 4th encirclement campaign there were no other major battles. During March of 1933 the Reds conducted political operations near Le'an until NRA forces moved there to secure the city.  In April the NRA began to withdraw from the Jiangxi Soviet area, effectively ending their encirclement campaign. The NRA had suffered considerable losses for their efforts. They had lost the equivalent of 3 divisions; over 10,000 prisoners were taken. The Reds and seized 10,000 rifles, 300 German made machine guns and 40 artillery pieces. Another consequence of the failed encirclement campaign was the validation of the Bolshevik led offensive strategy. The CCP then adopted a series of reform measures hoping the Red Army could seize large cities. First the CCP attempted to expand the Red Army's overall strength by launching a large recruitment drive. In addition they incorporated all the local militias in the main Red Army. To fund the expansion the CCP adopted a large land distribution policy to generate revenue. Under the guise of performing a land investigation the CCP distributed 80% of the land within the soviet area. During the distribution the CCP attempted to raise nearly one million yuan. During the summer of 1933 the CCP also focused on suppressing counterrevolutionaries. One of the 28 Bolsheviks greatest critics was Luo Ming, the secretary of the Fujian-Guangdong-Jiangxi soviet committee. A large amount of recruitment and taxation had hurt the morale of the local people in the Soviet. When the Central Committee wanted troops there to deploy for action Luo Ming argued they needed to stay for local defense and that they should scale back offensive operations. However from the perspective of the 28 Bolsheviks it looked very similar to Mao Zedongs lure the enemy in deep strategy. At this point there were still many loyal to Mao Zedong and his strategy, so the Bolsheviks saw an opportunity to hurt him through punishing Luo Ming. They created a new pejorative term “Luo Min Line” to describe any non-offensive strategy and began a purge of the Fujian-Guangdong-Jiangxi Soviets leadership. The “Luo Ming line” became a new slogan to describe any in the CCP opposing the offensive strategy. During the summer of 1933, the Central Committee, emboldened by surviving the fourth encirclement campaign, continued to press on with their offensive strategy. With the Bolshviks and Otto Braun, the Jiangxi Soviet increased the central oversight over the Red Army and gradually seized direct control over military matters. On May 8th, the CCP passed a resolution separating the Central Military council and the Red Army leadership. Zhu De and Zhou Enlai remained in charge of the Red Army, but Bo Gu gained greater control over the military council and now controlled the Red Army's strategy and the employment of its military. Also Otto Braun would play a much larger role in military strategy, leveraging his experience at the Frunze Academy to push for offensive action.  The Red Army also reorganized its units to facilitate the execution of the new offensive strategies. In June the CCP divided the 1st front red army into the eastern front red army and central red army. Bo Gu and Braun believed that the Red Army had grown strong enough, both in firepower and manpower, to no longer require coordinated, mutually supportive operations. Instead, they felt the Red Army units could carry out independent operations in different regions. The Eastern Front Red Army, composed of the Third Red Army Corps, was stationed in western Fujian, while the Central Red Army, formed from the First Red Army Corps, remained in the Central Soviet area. Under the guidance of the new Central Military Committee, the Eastern Front Red Army launched expansion efforts into Fujian after the NRA vacated the region. Peng Dehuai's forces embarked on a three-month campaign in Fujian, expanding Soviet-controlled territory, securing supplies—especially salt—and raising funds, addressing key shortages for both the Red Army and the CCP. Before the Fifth Extermination Campaign, the Central Soviet controlled an impressive 60,000 square kilometers, spanning parts of three provinces. However, as they focused on territorial expansion, the Red Army neglected to monitor the KMT, which was preparing for another encirclement campaign. Now we have primarily focused on one of the major Soviets implicated in the fourth encirclement campaign. In reality the fourth encirclement campaign had been a large scale operation against three major soviets: the Hunan-Western Hubei Soviet also referred to as the Honghu Soviet; the Hubei-Henan-Anhui or Eyuwan Soviet and the Jiangxi Soviet. You would be led to believe and rightfully so because many lets just say, CCP aligned sources like to highlight the Jiangxi Soviet story, that the communists had kind of duped the NRA and stolen their victory from them. It was much more of a mixed bag overall. The campaign against the Hunan–Western Hubei Soviet saw the NRA successfully defeat the local Red Army forces, overrunning their main base in southern Hubei and Hunan. The majority of the fighting occurred around Jingzhou and overall was seen as a loss for the CCP. For the campaign against the Eyuwan Soviet, drought, famine and epidemics severely hurt the CCP forces in 1932. Between July and September, Chiang Kai-Shek had allocated more than 300,000 troops for the operation. The CCP suffered tremendously because of the numerical superiority of the NRA. The NRA General Xia Douyin unleashed a scorched earth campaign, killing countless, burning many villages and destroying to seizing crops. Historians like Chen Yaohuang argue the fourth Red Army who participated in this area were defeated largely because they had adopted conventional warfare tactics. The peasantry were very hostile to the NRA, forcing their forces to depend on unreliable local elites for provisions, creating a very vulnerable supply line. However the CCP failed to exploit this weakness by not committing guerilla warfare. Despite the NRA victory, it was a rather incomplete one and they ended their campaign prematurely celebrating. The fourth red army had successfully retreated into the border region between Shaanxi and Sichuan leaving behind a small force to conduct guerilla warfare. The remaining Communist forces in the Eyuwan Soviet, led by Gao Jingting and Xu Haidong, capitalized on the early Nationalist withdrawal to rebuild a guerrilla movement. They hid in the mountains, survived by foraging, and organized poor peasants to seize grain from landlords and public granaries. The 25th Red Army, under their leadership, managed to maintain a Communist presence in the region for several more years. After all was said and done, as was the case with the previous encirclement campaigns, reports from field commanders were far too optimistic. Many reported to Chiang Kai-Shek exaggerated numbers of casualties inflicted, prisoners taken and areas secured. In reality what the communists were doing was simply moving around to give off the impression of major defeats. Sure the Reds were taken enormous losses, but they were constantly recruiting and spreading. They could probably sustain these yearly encirclement campaigns if the NRA did not do something much more bold…like actually encircle the Reds. As great as the Reds were becoming at outwitting their opponent, their luck would eventually run out. 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 Reds had survived 4 large encirclement campaigns. The 28 Bolsheviks and their moscow allies were greatly emboldened thinking it was their time to go on the offensive and usher in a true revolution. However those like Mao Zedong knew the dire reality of the situation and were bracing themselves for the coming storm.

Last time we spoke about the establishment of the Jiangxi Soviet. After the CCP's failed uprisings, Mao Zedong and Zhu De fled to rural China, determined to build a strong, agrarian-based Red Army. Mao narrowly escaped capture and regrouped with fewer than 1,000 soldiers, facing morale and loyalty issues. To rebuild, he implemented reforms, creating political structures within the army to strengthen revolutionary spirit and establish troop soviets for democratic centralism. Seeking refuge, Mao negotiated with local bandit leaders Yuan Weicai and Wang Zuo to secure Jinggangshan, a defensible mountain area. The Red Army began guerrilla operations, seizing nearby villages and towns, rapidly expanding territory. Over time, despite facing encirclement campaigns by Nationalist forces, Mao's Red Army persevered, using flexible tactics, alliances, and propaganda. This period laid the groundwork for the growth of the Jiangxi Soviet, where the Red Army united diverse groups and adapted communist policies to local conditions, eventually strengthening their movement for future battles.   #126 The first Encirclement Campaign 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 last left off with the establishment of the Jiangxi Soviet and its expansion into Fujian province. In spite of the continuous attacks by provincial and NRA forces, the communist movement was flourishing in the countryside. After the multiple failed uprisings in 1927, support for urban insurrection as the cornerstone of the revolution was fragmented. Likewise the KMT unleashed anti-communist campaigns inside major cities, cracking down on communist activities, driving them underground. The urban labor unions were also not very receptive to communist propaganda. A lack of enthusiasm for communism was evident in the early party demographics. In 1928 peasants made up ¾'s of the CCP membership while Shanghai labor union members dropped from 3000 to 700 by 1930. In the face of these statistics, the CCP continued to look at the urban centers as the key to the communist revolution. It was an issue of philosophy. The Central Committee maintained an unwavering belief that the proletariat should carry out urban uprisings as a means of inciting the grand revolution. As the head of the CCP propaganda department, Li Lisan was one of the largest proponents for the urban insurrection model. Li Lisan had returned to China from France in 1928 and argued the proletariat was still very much the center of the movement and that “the peasantry is petty bourgeois and cannot have correct ideas regarding socialism. Only a proletarian mentality can lead us onto the correct revolutionary road.” Li Lishan pushed for the occupation of large cities, rather than expanding the rural Soviets. However his attempts to reinvigorate the labor movements in urban centers was not going well. In 1929 Joseph Stalin came under the belief the communist revolution in China was heating up, citing the economic depression because of the market crash of 1929 as evidence. He had the comintern to begin publishing a series of guidances and measures in February and June of 1929 that reemphasized urban insurrection. In September the Comintern pushed for the CCP to leverage labor unions as a means of delivering the revolution to the masses. In October the Comintern estimated that a crescendo was met and that the revolutionary upsurge was well on its way. Yet the Comintern did not know when the revolution would begin and its subsequent guidance became incoherent to the CCP. Regardless, the CCP took the guidance and prepared to start a revolution. By 1930 the Red Army remained the only force able to lead urban uprisings. Urban labor movements were still not complying, thus Li Lisan was forced to depend on the Red Army. He planned to gain control over the Red Army by establishing central party control over it, dividing the forces away from their leaders. In April of 1930 the Central Committee issued two resolutions for the creation of a General Front Committee to lead urban uprisings. Li Lisan also requested Mao Zedong and Zhu De travel to Shanghai to separate them from their troops. Neither would end up coming to Shanghai. In 1930 the CCP began promoting the Cominterns October directive, reaffirming to all conditions were ripe for revolution, despite the urban labor realities. In February the Conference of Delegates from the Soviet Areas repudiated Mao Zedong's strategies of encircling cities in favor of urban insurrections. To this the Central Committee chastised Mao Zedong and Zhu De's forces for having what they termed a “hide-and-disperse view,” and instead pushed for the Red Army to concentrate and attack. Clearly the Li Lisan plan was counter to Mao Zedongs. Mao Zedong was promoting slow expansion focusing on land distribution and establishing Soviets, rather than a full frontal attack and seizure of a city like Changsha. Mao Zedong foresaw a slow bottom up model; recruits would start as local village militia, become Red Guards, join the local Red Army forces and then the main Red Army units. Li Lisan saw this as defeatist and wanted to concentrate weapons instead of dividing them equally amongst local militias, Red Guards and other Guerilla units. Li Lisan also complained to his colleagues Mao Zedong's strategy was too slow and famously said “by such tactics our hair will be white before the revolution is victorious.”  By 1930 the CCP focused on two provinces to ignite its revolution. A series of uprisings would be unleashed in Nanchang, Changsha and Wuhan. It was believed if Wuhan fell, the revolution would spread to Shanghai setting off a worldwide chain of revolutionary events. Things were not looking good for uprisings in cities. From 1926 to 1930 the working class membership of the CCP had dropped from 66% to 8%. The Red Army, despite growing, suffered from a lack of equipment and training. Mao Zedong and Zhu De had their misgivings about the uprisings, but were something of a minority and complied nonetheless. On June 22nd they both issued orders to conduct attacks.  The 1st Red Army Corps, formed from the 4th Red Army was to attack Nanchang while the 3rd Red Army Corps, formed from Peng Dehuai's 5th Red Army would attack Changsha. Yet against the wishes of Li Lisan, Mao Zedong left 3 army units back at the Jiangxi Soviet to defend the area. The 3rd Red Army corps was the first to attack, capturing Changsha on July 29th. Peng Duhai quickly established a Soviet government with Li Lisan acting as its chairman. However the arrival of Red soldiers did not illicit an urban uprising. On July 30th, British, American, Italian and Japanese ships sailed up the Xiang River to defend their concessions and citizens. Naval bombardment coupled with a lack of urban support dislodged Peng Dehuai's men from the city by August 3rd. They did however grab as much money and supplies as they could on the way out. After their withdrawal, the NRA occupied the city and began purging all communist sympathizers they could find.  The first Red Army corps did not do much better. Mao Zedong and Zhu De's men attacked Nanchang, but initially dispatched reconnaissance forces into the city on August 1st. It was quickly determined that little progress could be made, so the forces moved to Liuyang in Hunan. At Liuyang the 1st and 3rd Red Armies consolidated their forces into the first front red army and planned their next move. The assessment for Changsha and Wuhan was quite grim. NRA forces had recently begun reinforcing the two cities while also establishing a defense in depth. Foreign naval ships were stationed along the Yangtze River providing fire support. Mao Zedong and Zhu De both argued against it, but reluctantly agreed to attack Changsha on September 1st.  The second attack against Changsha was a complete disaster. The better equipped enemy, within strong defensive positions, tossed the Red Army on its ass. After 10 days of fighting and facing severe losses, Mao Zedong and Zhu De made a bold move. They ordered a withdrawal on the 13th, stating that Li Lisan was wrong and a change of plan was required. This caused a deep divide in the Red Army, with many political commissars objective to the order. But the Red soldiers complied and conducted an orderly withdrawal. Now there emerged a faction in the CCP backed by Li Lisan calling for another attack against Nanchang. Mao Zedong and Zhu De believed it was impossible as the NRA held an even stronger position at Nanchang. Thus Mao Zedong came up with a compromise: they would attack Ji'an, a strategic city centered on the Jiangxi Soviet. If captured, the southwestern portion of the Jiangxi Soviet would be joined together to greatly expand the Soviet area.  On the morning of October 4th, the Red Army with local militias advanced into Ji'an from 3 different directions and by nightfall captured the city. This was facilitated by a large influx of peasant support for the Red Army, some claim over a million peasants marched upon the city to support the Reds. They also covertly raided the KMT HQ in Ji'an where they discovered documents about an upcoming NRA encirclement campaign. With this discovery the Li Lisan strategy ended as the CCP now needed to secure their survival. Li Lisans epic failure released a cascade of internal power grabs, that influenced the political and military direction going forward. After the second failure at Changsha, Mao Zedong began publicly attacking Li Lisan to increase his own standing. Within the Red Army two diverging viewpoints emerged, that of Mao Zedong's rural encirclement strategy and Li Lisans urban uprising strategy. Political commissars labeled Mao Zedong as treacherous for attacking Li Lisan, while the peasant troops all agreed with Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong was also confronted with another issue, the Jiangxi Provincial Action Committee was also looking to power grab. They were a newly formed committee who were vying for control over the Red Army. Mao Zedong was currently performing a survey over the rural area of Xingguo and while doing so he suddenly identified suspicious linkages between the KMT funded Anti-Boshevik Corps, aka the AB Corps, who had undercover agents charged with sabotaging communist units and the local Jiangxi Action Committee and 20th Red Army leaders such as one Li Wenlin. Armed with this evidence, Mao Zedong unleashed a huge purge of the Red Army. In November he arrested 4000 members of the 20th Red Army, including all but 2 members of the Jiangxi Provincial Action Committee, all charged with treason. The purge effectively negated his little problem, what a coincidence, but it would cause him some headaches. The following month, a battalion of the 20th Red Army led by Liu Dizao captured Futian and there they released 40 recently purged comrades who were suspected to have ties to the AB Corps. The men who let released them then took them across the Gan River to establish a new Soviet in Yongyang. From the Soviet the accused men looked to clear their names and appealed to the Central Committee as well as Zhu De and Peng Dehuai. The 20th Red Army argued they were wrongfully accused of being AB Corps members. It was their argument that Mao Zedong accused them because they had criticized him. A large group of the 20th Red Army left the Soviet apparently to perform peace talks in July of 1931, but would be arrested, put on trial and executed.  This became known as the Futian incident, though quite slanderous, it did not pick up a lot of steam at the time, mostly because the Comintern and Central Committee were too busy condemning Li Lisan for his failures. Zhou Enlai was sent back to Russia to try and clean up the embarrassing Changsha debacle. When h arrived, he distanced himself and the party from Li Lisan, and this effectively handed the congruence to Mao Zedongs strategy, further helping him consolidate power. Added to this the Comintern sent a letter to the CCP in November of 1930 stating Li Lisans ideas were inconsistent with the Cominterns guidance and antagonistic to the greater communist cause. Li Lisan was recalled to Moscow where he tried to save his ass. In the meantime the CCP's leadership had a difficult time regaining traction until late 1931. Now going back to the documents found, speaking about an encirclement campaign. The NRA dispatch a large force to deal with the Reds. It consisted of the 9th route Army led by the governor of Jiangxi, Lu Diping; the 6th route army from Hunan ld by Zhu Shaoling and the 19th Route army led by Jiang Guangnai. Altogether they were 44,000 men strong, divided into 5 divisions and 3 air-bombing corps. The plan was to encircle the Jiangxi Soviets, pressing them back into the mountains. Once fully encircled the NRA would attack Donggu, Longgang, and Dongshao. After the capture of Ji'an, the Red Army leadership alongside the Jiangxi Action Committee held a conference at Luofang on October 25th, to figure out how to respond to the incoming encirclement campaign. Many called for re-attacking Nanchang and Jiujiang to try and divert the NRA forces away from the Jiangxi Soviet. Mao Zedong argued instead to perform his classic “lure the enemy in deep” strategy. Essentially Mao Zedong wanted to trade land for time. Initially the Red ARmy would evacuate the western areas of the Gan River and head east to mobilize the local people, raise funds and recruit. The eastwards movement would also lure the NRA across the river into Red Army terrain, overstretching their logistics lines. This way the Reds could choose where to face the enemy and hopefully divide and conquer them. It was Mao Zedongs belief the only feasible way to defeat the NRA was to lure them in and then attack places like Nanchang and Jiujiang when they were depleted of defenders.  On November 1st the Red Army began advancing across the Gan River into Ji'an, Jishui, Xingan, Le'an, Yongfeng, Yihuang, Chongren and Nanfeng counties. Within 6 days the Red Army had seized 400,000 yuan and enlisted the support of the local populaces. During this time, members of the 3rd Red ARmy corps rebelled against Mao Zedong's strategy, arguing instead to occupy the western Gan River area. Peng Dehuai was able to suppress the dissension and by mid November the entire Red Army was occupying the eastern bank of the Gan River. The NRA followed the Reds across the Gan River. By November 18th the NRA were advancing in 3 columns; the first occupied Yongfeng and Jishui; the second occupied Le'an and Yihuang and the third occupied Ji'an. As the NRA continued to advance they had limited engagements against the Reds. By the 26th the Reds were now occupying Donggu, Nanlong and Longgang. Things were all going according to plan, but then the Futian incident hit on December 7th. The mutiny jeopardized the Red Army's western flank, forcing them to abandon Donggu and the Futian area by December 15th. The remainder of the 3rd ARmy corps advanced to the northern area of Ningdu county and then occupied Pingtian and Anfu.  NRA intelligence began figuring out there was internal strife amongst the Reds and exploited it. On the 16th Lu Diping ordered 2 divisions to encircle and attack Donggu. The 5th and 18th NRA divisions attacked Donggu forcing the Reds to withdraw while attacking the 5th NRA as they did so. The 2 NRA divisions entered the Donggu area each on the opposite side of a ridgeline unable to know what was going on with the other. On the 20th the 18th NRA attacked Donggu with artillery, unknowingly firing upon their comrades in the 5th NRA for half of a day. By the end of December the NRA forces had taken most of the Jiangxi Soviet. However the NRA forces logistical lines were overextended, exposing them to constant guerrilla attacks. They had captured numerous towns each requiring occupation forces seeing only a third of the troops actually at the front lines. The communist efforts to gain the support of the local populaces also saw them hindering the NRA occupational forces. The local populace spied upon the NRA and provided the Reds with information about a pending attack against Longgang.  2 brigades of the NRA 18th Division were going to attack Longgang on December 30th. With this information the Red Army countered by encircling the 2 brigades using mountainous terrain to mass fires and cut off any reinforcements. On the morning of the 30th, the NRA forces entered Longgang only to be surrounded. The 1st Red Army Corps attacked the 2 brigades while the 4th red Army and elements of the 3rd Red Army Corps blocked the 18th NRA division's rear preventing them from helping from Donggu. By the end of the day the Reds had taken 9000 prisoners, including the divisional commander, Zhang Huizan. Hearing word of the 18th Divisions plight, Lu Diping ordered a withdrawal of the forces to consolidate and reorganize. Tan Daoyuan's 15th NRA division advanced south towards Yuantou. Again the local populace spied and fed the Reds intel, allowing them to quickly pursue them. On the morning of January 3rd, the Red ARmy attacked the 15th NRA division near Dongshao from 3 different directions. The NRA routed under the attack, many of the troops simply tossed weapons and ran. Meanwhile the 3rd Red Army was unable to fully encircle them allowing many to escape. But nonetheless they managed to capture 3000 prisoners, 4000 rifles, 40 machine guns and a cache of ammunition. The defeats at Longgang and Dongshao effectively ended the first NRA encirclement campaign, providing the Reds with numerous recruits, a lot of equipment and much experience. The destruction of multiple NRA divisions saw 15,000 prisoners, 12,000 weapons captured and had validated Mao Zedongs strategies. The victories spread word of the communist forces' strength in the region and this began to swing the tide of public favor. The Red Army followed this up by executing Zhang Huizan, the commander of the 18th NRA division. His head was sent to Ji'an to serve as a warning. From march to April the Red Army held 4 different meetings to determine strategy going forward. During the first meeting on March 18th many were calling for vacating the Soviet areas because of the NRA's numerical superiority. Yet no decision was made. The next meeting a month later the same argument was made, but others also advocated for staying and dividing into small units in order to conduct coordinated attacks to break the encirclement and destroy their enemy. Again no decision was made. A third meeting occurred days later, this time acting on Mao Zedong's advice, the Red Army leadership invited different military units to participate. Dividing forces gained traction, but now they were first asking to make a concentrated attack on the 19th NRA route army to establish a route out of the encirclement. Mao Zedong agreed to this idea, but argued it should be levied against the 5th route army who were facing many issues. The 5th route army were originally from Northern China, thus unfamiliar with the territory. The meeting saw an agreement on attacking and then dividing, but no agreement on target. The final meeting was held in late April, this time with Mao Zedong given the floor to present his perspective. He gave an impassioned speech arguing that luring the enemy in deep made the most sense for 2 reasons. 1) the Red Army and local populace had experience and resolve to defeat the enemy; 2 ) they knew the terrain, Mao Zedong outlined how they could sweep east across the Soviet, hitting the enemy from Futian to Jianning. With the terrain would allow the Reds to isolate the NRA from providing mutual support and allowing them to use overwhelming firepower. Mao Zedongs speech world, the strategy was finally approved. During the period between March and April, while the meetings were held, the Red Army began withdrawing troops from the fringes of the expanded Jiangxi Soviet. Beginning in March the Red Army abandoned the newly acquired towns of Toubei, Dongshao, Luokou, Futian, Tengtian and Zhaoxie. By April 23rd the Red Army had relocated with the 3rd army corps based in Longgang; the 3rd and 4th Red Army's were stationed in the mountains between Donggu and Futian and the rest of the first front red army in the vicinity of Ningdy. As NRA forces slowly occupied Futian and began advancing east towards Donggu, up in the Jiucun mountain range, the 4th Red Army, overlooking the road from Futian and Donggu prepared an ambush. On May 11th, the 47th and 28th NRA divisions walked directly into the ambush. The Red forces initially rolled boulders from the mountain tops, causing casualties and confusion. The 2 NRA divisions were taken by surprise and began signaling for help, but the Red Army severed their wired communications. Because of the mountains and treelines aerial visibility was poor, neutralizing the NRA's air forces.The 3rd Red Army descended the mountains and attacked the divisions fiercely. On the night of the 17th, the NRA forces had been defeated. 5000 guns, 50 machine guns, 30 artillery pieces and numerous supplies were captured. Meanwhile the 43rd NRA division originally enroute towards Tantou, received word of the defeat at Zhongdong, so they changed direction towards Shuinan. They planned to ford the Xiaolong River near Shuinan to consolidate their forces. However local communist militia groups had taken the bridge forcing the NRA to advance to Baisha. On May 19th the Red Army defeated the 43rd NRA division at Baisha, seizing 4000 weapons, 30 machine guns and 2 artillery pieces. The NRA attempted to reinforce them with the 19th route army, but they were too late to the scene and upon seeing the destruction pulled back to Xingguo. These 2 defeats effectively destroyed the 5th NRA route army.  Initially the 26th NRA route army was ordered to occupy Nantuan and then advance east. However once they occupied the city, their 27th division received orders to reinforce the NRA position at Zhongcun while the 25th division remained in Nantuan. Before the 27th division could advance, the 3rd Red Army Corps and 4th Red Army attacked Zhongcun, decimating its defenders and occupying the city on May 22nd. That night the Red Army continued to Nantuan where they destroyed the 25th division. This caused the remaining NRA forces to retreat to Le'an and Yihuang. The Red Army captured 3000 weapons, 10 machine guns and effectively eliminated the 26th NRA route army.  Hearing of the destruction of the 26th and 5th route armies, the NRA began withdrawing back to Nancheng. The 5th Division was the last unit trying to depart Guangchang when it was attacked by the 3rd and 4th Red Armies on May 27th. The 5th Division performed a fighting withdrawal to Nanfeng, losing many in the process. Meanwhile at Jianning in Fujian, the 4th Red Army was occupying Guangchang trying to consolidate their gains with a single division advancing north towards Nanfeng. The 3rd Red army corps and 12th Red Army advanced east, hunting down NRA forces into Jianning by May 30th. The attack caught the 56th NRA division completely off guard. They had not yet even established any defensive works. They were routed as the Reds occupied Jianning destroying a NRA regiment in the process. Along with captured numerous war materials the Reds also got their hands on much needed medical supplies. In the course of two weeks the Reds had traveled over 300km's captured 30,000 prisoners and captured 20,000 weapons. The newfound equipment was enough to outfit the entire first front red army with all modern weaponry, while the older equipment was given to local militia groups. The Red's success was due to good intelligence and mobility. The second encirclement campaign attempt by the NRA had caused the Soviet to grow nearly 5000 square miles. In June the first front Red Army was still in Western Fujian conducting operations. Initially the Reds did not expect the NRA to initiate a third encirclement campaign so quickly after their failure. The Rds had planned a 3 phase expansion operation in the meantime. Its first phase would encompass political mobilization in Jianning, Taining and Lichuan; the second phase involved marching back into southern Jiangxi to consolidate strength in the rear area; the last phase would send the Red Army back to its original base area focusing on the western Gan River area to try and connect the Jiangxi Soviet with the Hunan-Jiangxi Soviet.  The Red army were beginning to receive intelligence reports stating the NRA were beginning to move towards Jiangxi. In response to this the Central Committee issued advice in June of 1931 to counter the new encirclement campaign. They basically just adopted Mao Zedong's strategy used in the first two campaigns. They argued it was essential to politically mobilize local populaces and support small guerilla units to perform attacks on the NRA forces and prevent them from gaining a stable foothold in the area. They also advocated for the consolidation of the Soviets in the area, this being the Henan-Hubei-Anhui Soviet, Hunan-Hubei Soviet and northeast Jiangxi Soviet. The ultimate goal was to link them all up to form a Red Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi area and perhaps even establish communications with some other Soviets in the north. After sending the advice the Central Committee was forced back underground as the KMT unleashed a suppression campaign in Shanghai. It would not be until August 30th when the Central Committee re-established communications with the Soviets, but by that time the encirclement campaign was over. On June 30th, the Red Army got to work preparing defenses. All local militias, Red Guards and guerilla units were activated to conduct delaying actions and defend localities from the NRA advance. The Red Army, roughly 30,000 men strong pulled back inwards into the central base areas in Jiangxi.This was a difficult task as many of them were spread far into western Fujian and southern Jiangxi. After the 2 failed encirclement campaigns, Chiang Kai-Shek had taken notice and personally took over the third campaign. With him came his own troops as he deployed the 5th and 6th NRA divisions to Jiangxi to attack the 1st and 3rd red army corps. Chiang Kai-Sheks entire force consisted of 2 army corps, with another in reserve and one garrison army. Altogether they were 130,000 strong. In late June the NRA forces advanced into the Jiangxi Soviet. By the end of July they had encircled the entire Jiangxi Soviet. Even with the encirclement the local populace continued to support the Red Army, providing supplies and food. On July 31st the Red Army conducted a daring breakthrough from Xingguo, moving west to Wan'an before circling back to Futian to hit the NRA rear. The Red Army managed to escape the encirclement, but while heading to Futian, the NRA discovered what they were doing and quickly reinforced the area and seized Xingguo. On August 3rd the Red Army began occupying the areas near Gaoxing and Laoyingpan. The Red Army conducted a feint in the north using the 35th red Army, 35th division, 12th red army and the 4th and 5th independent divisions to draw the NRA's attention west towards Wan'an. As the NRA advanced the first red army corps began attacking through Longgang and Huangpi. On August 6th the 47th NRA division entered Liantang as the 54th NRA division occupied Huangpi. With only one NRA division occupying Liantang, the Red Army took the advantage and isolated them and attacked. The 3rd, 4th and 12th red armies attacked the lone NRA division, routing it before continuing towards Huangpi to attack the 45th NRA division. The 45th divisions HQ was annihilated in the process and by August 7th, two NRA brigades had been destroyed. The two NRA divisions had suffered more than 1000 casualties, with 3500 men captured and 3000 weapons and 14 artillery pieces lost. The Red Army then focused its attention against the 8th NRA division in Huangpi. On the 11th the 3rd Red army distracted the forces in Longgang with sporadic engagements trying to prevent them from reinforcing Huangpi. Meanwhile the 4th and 12th Red armies combated the 8th NRA division while the 3rd Red Army corps and 7th Red Division maneuvered east to cut off their escape route. Within the rainy and foggy weather the Reds annihilated 4 brigades, resulting in more than 1000 casualties, capturing 4000 prisoners, 3000 weapons, 11 artillery pieces and large ammunition cache. The victories also revealed the location of the main Red forces to the NRA. Chiang Kai-Shek acted by deploying all of his forces to surround the Huangpi area, effectively encircling the Red Army. For over a month the Red Army was under siege. Facing starvation and defeat, Mao Zedong and Zhu De hatched a bold plan to break out of the encirclement. They planned to split their forces, first by disguising the 12th red army as the bulk of their forces, having them advance northeast to attack Le'an and Yihuang. The remainder would then move west and occupy Xingguo. On the night of August the 16th the first front red army, minus the 12th red army silently slipped through a 10 km gap between the 1st and 2nd NRA corps heading towards Xingguo. As soon as elements of the 12th Red Army began attacking Le'An Chiang Kai-Shek pounced on them, deploying the 10th NRA division and 1st and 2nd NRA route armies. For two weeks the NRA chased the 12th Red army up and down mountain ranges. The NRA forces were exhausted and consumed a large part of their supplies, constantly attacked by guerillas. In the meantime the 1st the 3rd red army corps arrived at Xingguo undetected where they refitted and reorganized. By the end of August the NRA realized they had been duped and found out the main bulk of the Reds were at Xingguo. The NRA wheeled around to advance upon them, but just before they could two Guangdong Warlord factions rose up against the KMT, forming a rival government. Fearing an attack against Nanking, Chiang Kai-Shek temporarily lifted the encirclement campaign. As the NRA forces pulled away, the Red's attempted to exploit the situation.  On September 7th, the 3rd Red army and 5th independent red division attacked the 4th NRA corps at Laoyingpan, capturing 2000 men, 2000 weapons and 10 artillery pieces. On the 13th the 7th red army encircled the 4th NRA corps at Fangshiling mountain range while they were trying to retreat to Ji'an. In the process the Reds destroyed the 52nd NRA division and a brigade of the 9th NRA division. With that they captured 5000 prisoners, 4500 rifles and 200 horses. These victories however would be overshadowed by a major defeat at Gaoxing. On that same day the 4th Red Army and 3rd Red army corps were coordinating an assault against the first NRA corps. Based on poor intelligence, the Red Army misjudged their strength resulting in a bloody stalemate. By the end of the encirclement campaign the NRA had suffered greatly. The Reds had destroyed 17 NRA brigades, nearly 30,000 casualties. The Reds losses were quite heavy as well and compromised their position. Yet after these 3 failed encirclement campaigns the Jiangxi Soviet stood at 50,000 square kilometers, encompassing 28 counties in Hunan, Jiangxi and Fujian.  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 Reds had survived 3 brutal encirclement campaigns. Even when Chiang Kai-Shek took notice and personally directed his own forces to quell the Red menace, they simply slipped through his hands. Mao Zedong's strategies were working and further boosting his standing amongst his comrades.  

Last time we spoke about the Central Plains War. Chiang Kai-Shek faced a formidable anti-Chiang coalition led by Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, and Li Zongren. Zhang Xueliang, initially absent, worked tirelessly from Mukden to prevent Northern warlords from joining the coalition. The conflict, exacerbated by severe famine in Shaanxi that fueled unrest, saw major battles as Chiang's forces clashed with the anti-Chiang fronts across multiple railways. Despite initial setbacks, Chiang's strategic maneuvers and alliances, including a pivotal deal with Zhang Xueliang, gradually turned the tide. The Young Marshal's entry into the fray and the subsequent defections from Feng Yuxiang's camp weakened the anti-Chiang forces. By October, the anti-Chiang leaders, overwhelmed and isolated, sought peace. The Central Plains War, a grueling seven-month struggle, ended with the anti-Chiang factions disbanding, leaving China's civil war landscape dramatically altered. Within the vacuum, the CCP was thriving, but now the Generalissimo could direct his full attention on the Red Menace.   #125 From the Jinggangshan Mountains to the Jiangxi Soviet 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 last time we were talking about the CCP, they had performed the Nanchang uprising, Autumn Harvest Uprisings and the Guangzhou uprising. These all did not go very well and literally saw the surviving CCP forces fleeing for their lives into the mountains. Their experiences during these uprisings reinforced the idea they required a strong military force to push forward a new agrarian-based communist revolution. To develop such conditions favoring a revolution, Mao Zedong and Zhu De adapted the Red Army and CCP policies to the local conditions in order to recruit, sustain and retain loyal troops and build a relationship between the army, local populaces and party.  After the collapse of the Harvest Autumn Uprisings, the Red Army scattered into the rural parts of China. Mao Zedong himself narrowly escaped capture by the NRA, as he made his way to Sanwan of Jiangxi province. Countless were killed, arrested or deserted. Less than 1000 Red soldiers remained from the original uprising force. Moral was law, there lacked direction, there existed conflicting loyalties and many blamed Mao Zedong for the failings. In order to counteract this, Mao Zedong held a conference on September 29th of 1927 whereupon he implemented a series of radial policies to stave off an implosion. He began streamlining the command structure, instituted political representatives within each unit to instill revolutionary spirit within the troops. A political cell was established in each squad, a branch at company levels and a party committee at the battalion and regiment level. Next he established troop soviets within the units to provide a form of democratic centralism within the units. Additional he began spinning the narrative in his own favor, shifting blame for the failed uprisings to the collective poor understanding of the revolutionary course within China, rather than upon her leadership. Now initially a large part of the Red Army wanted to return to their hometown of Anyuan, but the local military presence was too strong there. Another option was needed and quickly as they had many sick and wounded amongst their ranks. They looked to the nearby Jinggang Mountain Area as a temporary fix. Many of Mao Zdong's former Peasant Movement Training students knew the area well. Jinggangshan meaning “well ridge mountain”, derived its name from the 5 villages around its main city of Ciping: Big Well, Middle Well, Little Well, Upper Well, and Lower Well. The mountain is situated in the Luoxian range, straddling the border between Jiangxi and Hunan. It also happens to be a place where 4 counties converge: Lingxian, Suichuan, Ninggang and Yongxin. Surrounding it were factional and political enemies, thus preventing most provincial forces from really coordinating efforts or massing against them. The terrain provided ample defensive obstacles. It also stood in the midpoint between Changsha, Nanchang and Guangdong, offering the Red Army flexibility to try and finish the uprisings they started in those locations. Given the weak state the Red Army was in, it would not be feasible to occupy Jinggangshan by force. Jinggangshan was controlled by two bandit leaders named Yuan Weicai and Wang Zuo. Mao Zedong was forced to negotiate with the two to come to an arrangement. The CCP was of course concerned about the trustworthiness of the two bandit leaders. At an early meeting in Gucheng, some CCP members of the front committee doubted the revolutionary character of Yuan and Wang, believing them to only be bandits at heart. Mao Zedong on the other hand argued the two leaders and their loyal followers were crucial to the communist movement. I would argue Mao Zedong was grasping at straws.  As for Yuan and Wang, their primary concerns were the impact of a new military force affecting the regional balance of power. In essence the mountain areas outside the major cities had a complex power dynamic. Bandits and local elites maintained the status quo, any change to that power dynamic could lead to problems. There was also an ethnicity issue. Jinggangshan was considered something of a Hakka ancestral land, and the Han settlers amongst them were more like guests. There always remained a Hakka-Han tension, and this prompted Hakka to vet any Hans coming in. Mao first convinced Yuan how a partnership would be mutually beneficial. In exchange for food, housing and local support the Red Army would provide weapons, training and support Yuan and Wang's operations. Mao presented Yuan with a gift of 100 rifles to sweeten him over. Mao then made a similar gesture to Wang, sending him 70 rifles. The two bandit leaders let the Red Army right in. Upon arriving, the Red Army began conducting guerilla operations and peasant mobilization. On October 7th, 1927 the began activity in Maoping and moved to Ciping. While marching they passed through Lingixan and Shuikou villages, attacking the local elites and their militias, freeing prisoners in jails and holding mass rallies to recruit. On the 22nd they reached Dafen, where they were ambushed by a local militia. Using their knowledge of the terrain the militia inflicted severe casualties, forcing the Red Army to retreat towards Wang Zuo for aid. Wang Zuo was wary of them, but Mao Zedong won him over by promising more weapons and training for his bandits. Mao also pledged to support him against his local rivals, one of whom was Xiao Jiabi. Wang's bandits and the Reds joined forces in Dajing and together seized Shimen. Then the Reds arrived in Ciping on October 15th. They quickly seized the city center and within a month's time established a base of operations. The CCP quickly expanded its influence in the surrounding area, preying upon local populations where government control was weak or in flux. By mid November the Red Army dispatched a battalion west to capture Chaling. This success allowed them to further expand into Suichang in January of 1928. In February the Red Army occupied its first major city, Xincheng in Ningang country. Within two months of action the Reds had nearly doubled their territory now occupying portions of 3 counties. For the most part Mao Zedong was left alone because of the political shakeup after the failed uprisings in the larger metropolitan areas. Contact with the provincial and regional CCP community still existed though. Zhou Lu, a member of the southern Hunan special committee heard about the CCP expansion in the mountain areas and came to inspect them. While at Jinggangshan he gave Mao Zedong orders to dispatch his unit to support Zhu De's forces in a uprising about to hit southern Hunan. After the failed Nanchang Uprising, Zhu De took the remnants of his forces and fled into southern Jiangxi and then Fujian where he linked up with a fellow Yunnanese NRA leader, Fan Shisheng. They stayed with Fan Sisheng's unit awhile, but once rumors spread he was harboring Reds they had to go. By January of 1928 they fled for southern Hunan to try and support urban uprisings. Upon arriving, Zhu De's force began augmenting the local peasantry forces and Zhou Lu said he would get Mao Zedong to lend his support. However the uprising never really got its legs. It began in late January, but the urban workers and local populace couldn't rise as expected. Instead local support turned against the communists. Likewise Mao Zedong's men never made it to southern Hunan, he had intentionally dragged his feet on the issue. Instead Mao Zedong focused his attention in central Hunan holding rallies and mobilizing local peasant groups. Thus Zhu De was pounced upon by local warlord groups in Guangdong and Hunan. Zhu De's Red Army engaged the warlord armies as they slowly retreated into Jinggangshan. Zhu De and Mao Zedong would meet in Maoping for a conference. On May 20th, 1928 they agreed to establish the Jinggangshan Special Committee, with Mao Zedong as its general secretary. Additionally the 4th Red Army was created and nicknamed the Ironsides Army. The 4th Red Army was roughly 12,000 men strong consisting of Zhu De's Nanchang uprising force, now designated the 28th regiment, Mao Zedongs Autumn Uprising force now designated the 31st regiment, Yuan Wencai and Wang Zuo's bandits, later designated the 32nd regiment and the Hunan uprising force now designed the 29th regiment. Zhu De's arrival also brought in a traditional military mindset, adding some more professionalism to the Red Army. Here Zhu De also made a famous quote “When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy halts and encamps, we harass them; when the enemy seeks to avoid battle, we attack; and when the enemy retreats, we pursue”. This statement would guide much of the Red Army's actions going forward. The increase in communist numbers brought unwanted attention immediately from Jiangxi and Hunan forces. The first major military campaign against the Reds began in May of 1928 and was led by Zhu Peide wielding Jiangxi provincial military units. The campaign was based out of Yongxin with the Jiangxi government unleashing the 27th division. One regiment garrisoned at Yongxin was held as reserve while the division sent another regiment to attack the Red Army stronghold in Nanchang and another regiment flanked to the east. The Reds countered by stationing a regiment in the mountains to protect the base, another regiment to defend the mountain passes and 2 regiments to conduct spoiling attacks on the Jiangxi regiments flank. The Red Army was able to destroy the flanking unit, forcing them to retreat back to Yongxin. They pursued them to Yongxin, destroying its garrison regiment in the process. The Red Army then maneuvered to the rear of the Jiangxi division pushing them to pull back to Ji'an. Thus the Reds occupied Yongxin where they went to work establishing a worker-peasant government, expanding the Soviet across the county.  A second encirclement campaign was unleashed in late MAy, with the same Jiangxi 27th division leading the action. This time they were reinforced as they quickly recaptured Yongxin and began cautiously pursuing the Reds into the mountains. The Reds tried to exploit the terrain for guerilla warfare but was met with little success. The Red 28th regiment was soon forced to help distressed red forces at Chaling county. However the Jiangxi Division did not account for the Red Army's mobility. The Red 31st regiment quickly assumed the 28th regiments former defensive positions offering a stiff fight against the Jiangxi forces. When the 28th regiment returned to reinforce the 31st they hit the enemy's rear and advanced upon Yongxin again while the Jiangxi forces pulled back to Ji'an again.  Another encirclement campaign was unleashed the following June this time seeing Jiangxi and Hunanese forces work together against the Reds. The Jiangxi 9th division was deployed in combination with the remaining 2 regiment of the 27th Jiangxi division. The Jiangxi forces performed a frontal attack through the mountain passes using 3 regiments. Meanwhile the Red Army had to perform a feint attack in the east to occupy a Hunanese division. The Red Army deployed a battalion augmented by local guerilla groups along the western flank of the mountain passes. Guerilla attacks on the eastern flank of the Jiangxi forces caused the commander to maintain 2 regiments at Yongxin. Exploiting the mountain terrain the Red Army managed to destroy one regiment as they funneled up the passes. This small victory brought much needed arms and new soldiers who quickly recaptured Yongxin for a third time.  By the end of June, the Jinggangshan base had basically hit its apex in terms of size. They now controlled Ninggang, Yongxin, Lianhua counties and parts of Ji'an and Anfu. At this point Chiang Kai-Shek took notice of the Red gains and directed a new campaign against them. Another series of campaigns were unleashed seeing Hunanese and Jiangxi armies attack the 4th Red Army beginning in July 1928. The Hunan 8th Army began their attack from the west through Ninggang while the Jianxi army unleashed 11 regiments from the 3rd and 6th armies through Yongxin against the eastern border of Jinggangshan. To meet this threat the Reds kept 2 regiments to defend the bases while the 28th and 29th regiments advanced west to slip behind the Hunanese forces to conduct raids against their rear. Meanwhile local Red Army militia forces began a scorched earth strategy removing all food, poisoning water sources and evacuating villagers to deny their enemy. The Hunan 8th army was forced to retreat in the face of this, allowing the Reds to focus on the Jiangxi forces around Yongxin. The 28th and 29th regiments advanced west to support the attack against the Jiangxi forces, but then suddenly turned south towards southern Hunan, citing orders to assist the Southern Hunan Special Committee. Then these 2 regiments attacked the city of Chenzhou, roughly 200 kms away from the Jinggangshan mountains. There they defeated local forces. Afterwards the Red troops began strolling through the streets of Chenzhou as civilians, many of them had families in the area. Some began looting the area. They had made the egregious error of now pursuing their enemy further and gave them too much respite to reorganize themselves. The local forces counterattacked driving the 28th regiment to withdraw with little casualties. The 29th regiment fared much worse, being ambushed trying to retreat over the only bridge leading in Chengzhou. They suffered heavy casualties and many of their surviving forces simply joined the 28th regiment as a result. Meanwhile with the 2 regiments gone from the mountain, the NRA forces were emboldened. 3 Hunanese regiment joined 11 Jiangxi regiments to attack the Jinggangshan mountains. The remaining Reds employed every tactic they knew to survive. They began giving up terrain as the enemy penetrated closer to the mountain base. The 31st and 32nd regiments found themselves retreating to the protection of higher ground, where the established defensive positions along key routes to maximize casualties upon the invaders. Mao Zedong took a battalion from the 3st regiment south to escort the incoming 28th regiment, further weakening the lines. Meanwhile guerillas raided the flanks and rear of the advancing NRA forces heading up the mountain. After repeated failed attempts to get to the peaks of the mountains,the Jiangxi and Hunanese forces ultimately had to withdraw come September allowing the 28th regiment to safely get back to Jinggangshan. From there the Red Army contuined to fight and recapture lost territory. By October they retook Ninggang county and portions of Suichuang, Lixing and Yongxin, but were unable to reclaim everything they once had.  Another campaign coincided with an economic blockade and the arrival of General Peng Dehaui's 5th Army. The Jiangxi and Hunanese forces adopted blockade tactics, normally employed against bandits, to try and deprive the Reds from using markets in the lowlands. Starting in the fall of 1928, NRA and local militias established checkpoints along all routes and trails leading into the Jinggangshan mountains. Local private armies with troops familiar with the area conducted interdiction patrols to capture anyone trying to get past blockades. The blockade halted most local trade, meaning little medicine, clothing, food or salt was getting into Janggangshan. The Reds began subsisting on sweet potatoes and pumpkins, then Peng Dehuais 5th army arrived in December worsening the burden on the area. Simulteanously NRA forces from Fujian were added to the Jiangxi and Hunanese to fully surround the mountains in preparation for a offensive.  In the face of all of this the 4th Red Army's leadership convened a conference at Bailu. The attendees all were trying to figure out how to overcome the situation but their options were very limited. Many called for the same tactics that had been winning them the battles as before. Some called for withdrawing to a safer area momentarily and launch a counterattack when the enemy lightened up. The economic blockade exacerbated the civilian military relations in the mountains and it seemed the local populace was no longer willing to help the Reds. The last option many advocated for was to mount a defense of the mountain range, but this would not allow for any withdrawal route for the 6000 or so troops. Ultimately the adoptd a hybrid solution. The 4th army would break through the blockade to try and draw forces away from the mountains while also obtaining supplies. The 5th army who were pretty battered from their march would defend mountains and base. On January 14th of 1929 the 4th army led by Zhu De and Mao Zedong broke through the blockade and headed south into Jiangxi.  The 4th army at first was only meeting light resistance as they captured Suichuan and Shangyu. After this they headed for Dayu, but there found 3 Jiangxi regiments who ambushed them. The Reds were forced north into the Xingguo-Ji'an area. They marched 30 days, often 30 miles per day to avoid their pursuers, while taking casualties and losing equipment. They found themselves at Dabaidi village on February 10th where 2 regiments of the 15th NRA division fought them. The Reds routed the NRA forces and even captured the two regimental commanders alongside 800 soldiers and their equipment. This victory earned the 4th army a safe place to rest up for quite some time. As we saw in the former episodes, the Chiang-Gui and Central Plains War engulfed Chiang Kai-Sheks attention, giving the Reds some breathing space. During this period, Mao Zedong and Zhu De expanded that is referred to as the Jiangxi Soviet. They did so through a series of campaigns into western Fujian. In February 1929 the 4th army incorporated 2 independent guerilla regiments and used them to occupy Ji'an, Ningdu and Ruijin. In March they entered western Fujian and captured Tingzhou. At Tingzhou the Reds got 3000 NRA soldiers to defect. From Tingzhou they expanded the Jiangxi Soviet to encompass over 20 counties in Jiangxi and Fujian. In light of their major accomplishments, Mao Zedong dispatched word to the Central Committee proclaiming all they had done in Jiangxi and Fujian. In May the Red Army unleashed a second campaign into western Fujian, this time capturing Longyan and Yongding. With every successful campaign the Red Army recruits more soldiers, obtained more equipment, more territory and acquired further fundings sources.  The early days of the Jiangxi Soviet were quite chaotic. Despite the Red Army's expansion, in reality they were not a unified force. Numerous factions with their own ideologies existed. The Red Army was an amalgamation of different groups coming together less so of a common goal, more so out of survival. Many of the soldiers were former peasants, but there were also former NRA troops, warlord troops and bandits. The traditions of these different groups, coupled with a lack of education in the rural areas creating a boiling pot of bad behaviors and this hurt morale. To accommodate this the Red Army made itself extremely flexible in the early days. In the early days it was only about survival. Mao Zedong and Zhu De recognized the fact, in a conventional battle the Red Army stood no chance against even a Warlord Army, let alone the NRA. Thus the 4th army created a new political-military strategy within the rural areas to protect and grow the revolution. The first part of the strategy adopted by Mao Zedong was making alliances. It was a no brainer, increase numbers, gain more legitimacy, learn more about local areas, keep expanding. Yet the Central Committee frowned upon being too open to alliance, like with lets say, bandits? In 1928 a resolution from the CCP 6th Party Congress called for expelling bandits from the Red Army, but this obviously ran counter to everything going on in Jinggangshan. To remedy this, Mao Zedong simply did not comply and vetoed any plans made against the bandit leaders such as Yuan and Wang. The second strategy was adapting communist policies to local conditions. Contrary to the CCP guidance of attacking landlords and rich peasants, the Red Army tended to just attack those disliked by the local community. They often would avoid attacking popular landlords or rich peasants because it could endanger local support. Instead they would use propaganda and negotiations to win over such popular figures. Yet over time the strategies changed from survival to expansion. Mao Zedong described the CCP expansion to come in a series of waves. He believed a systematic development of rural Soviets was an effective way to encircle cities and create the conditions necessary for revolution.  To survive and expand the Red Army had to create a new way to fight their superior enemies. A famous slogan “the enemy advances, we retreat”, became doctrine quickly. The Red Army combined mobile warfare, guerilla warfare and propaganda against their rival the KMT. During the Jingangshan and Jiangxi Soviet period, guerilla warfare was the mainstay. It's purpose was not to gain victory, but to gain time, so the CCP could continue growing. The Red Army in Jinggangshan and Jiangxi focused on small-unit tactics, emphasizing scouting, patrolling, ambushing, mobility and so on. Most guerilla units were local militia units trained by Red Army officers, many of whom were also political leaders. They always sought to meet the enemy via ambush, during a raid, a feint attack or attacks to the rear and flank. Yet the Red Army did often find itself facing those like the NRA in conventional warfare. For these engagements it tended to be done only by the professional Red Army units. A major issue facing the Reds was logistics. They were guests in most of the areas they occupied and had to abide by the local customs. They also could not consume all the local resources in an area, it would hinder growth and foster resentment. Thus the Red Army had to make sure they gained as much as possible from battle. The capture of Tingzhou in 1929 was essentially an economic choice. There the Red Army captured 2 arsenals and a clothing factory. The Red Army also focused strongly on propaganda. Early on propaganda teams were created, each assigned 5 soldiers. These teams had one oratory section and one product section. The oratory section was responsible for spreading propaganda in village markets, centers and halls. The products section was responsible for creating propaganda products. They would go around towns placing up signs and banners to increase awareness. Typically in a month the propaganda teams would hold a large mass rally in the center part of town to vie for local support. They would try to tailor their messaging to meet the local needs. These efforts would help recruitment, elicit support and differentiate them from the run of the mill bandits. If the conditions became ripe and a local populace was sufficiently agitated by social inequalities, the Red Army leaders would make a call for action to topple the local government and push the people to create their own. The Red Army was very careful on who to replace in such situations as the local leadership typically proved useful at transitioning. The Red Army had a selective way of executing key leaders who would be the most troublesome towards their communist needs.  When a new local government sprung up, the CCP would entice everyone to join the Red Army. This saw people join different parts of the Red Army. For teenagers there was the communist youth organization which was basically a feeder unit into the Red Army. The Red Guard was a local militia group that protected the community and supplemented the Red Army when needed. Those who proved themselves capable could join the Red Army proper. The Red Army instituted a series of organizational changes to establish loyalty to the CCP and allow for a dispersion of forces. Initially the Red Army applied the Russian Soviet and NRA models, but changes were necessary to meet local conditions. When the 4th Red Army captured Sanwan, Mao Zedong established party rule over the army by using party representatives and soldier soviets. The party representatives and army leaders held equal footing, allowing for both to have greater oversight into the issues and concerns of the other. It was commonplace in Warlord armies and the NRA for soldiers to be abused. This quasi democratization allowed soldiers to have a greater voice. On June 22nd of 1929 the 4th Red Army held their 7th representative congress in Longyan. Mao Zedong spoke much of party control over the military, ruffling a lot of feathers and would contribute to his failure at becoming the Front Committee secretary General that year. In the wake of that loss, Mao Zedong departed for Fujian to assist the mass mobilization going on over there whence he became quite ill. During that period, Chen Yi representing the 4th Red Army in Shanghai reported to the Central Committee. Based on his reports they authorized political communist control over the Red Army units. At least vindicated that his ideas were accepted, Mao Zedong attended the 9th Representative Congress in Gutian county of Fujian. Here he would issue a famous statement “On the Rectification of Incorrect Ideas in the Party” . It outlined his views on the Red Army and what needed to be improved. That same conference gave a platform to Mao Zedong and Zhu De to push for further centralization of power within the Red Army. The Red Army had suffered numerous casualties, desertions and received numerous new recruits. Because of this Mao Zedong believed the military structure needed change. There was also the issue of factionalism within the Red Army. Mao Zedong believed more educated and centralized control would help maintain the unity of the armed forces.  In December of 1929 a conference was held in Gutian seeing more initiatives adopted to help consolidate military power under party control. The Red Army adopted the political commissariat system from the Soviet Red Army, placing greater control of the army into the hands of the political commissar. The political commissar had political training, but did not have the same power over political operations. The introduction of former KMT and NRA members into the Red Army increased a need for more political indoctrination. Alongside this the Gutian Conference reiterated the equality amongst soldiers and civilians. Mao Zedong and Zhu De understood the important role of military training for the Red Army. Two major groups of soldiers already had formal training, former NRA and graduates of the Peasant movement training institute. Many of these men were lost in the initial battles however leading the Red Army to be filled with peasants with little to any combat experience. Another issue was the Red Guards lacking any experience, requiring Red Officers to be pulled from front lines to help them out. By developing a competent and trained local force, this further allowed the Red Army to advance outside its borders and expand.  With a lack of discipline a lot of property damage became common. To combat this, Mao Zedong initially instituted three disciplines in 1927 (1) obey orders in all your actions; (2) don't take anything from the workers and peasants; and (3) when attacking the local bullies, turn over whatever you take from them. This was expanded further into 8 by 1930 (1) Put back the doors [you have taken down for bed boards]; (2) put back the straw [you have used for bedding]; (3) pay fairly for what you buy; (4) return everything you borrow; and (5) pay for anything you damage. Mao and Zhu later added two more points of attention: (7) defecate only in latrines, and (8) do not steal from captives. The purpose of such rules was two-fold, to curb reckless soldierly behavior and to not piss off local communities.  Yet discipline alone does not guarantee success in war. The 4th Army held many senior leaders who had trained at Baoding, Whampoa and the Yunnan military schools. But at the lower levels the military experience was quite uneven. The Red Army needed to create a universal standard. Mao Zedong established the first training unit, the 31st regiment training units in December of 1927 at the Longjiang academy in the Jingangshan mountains. Zhu De and Chen Yi would create similar units. Once in Jiangxi the Red Army established mobile schools that accompanied the forces to the front lines. The pressure from the KMT led encirclement campaigns made it impossible to implement a normal education system. While schools were important, for many soldiers the only way to learn was from doing. Sometimes conditions did not allow for the training, and the students were thrust into combat immediately. Mao stated “to learn warfare through warfare—this is our chief method.” However many of the new recruits and junior leaders never received formal education and found classes and training boring. To retain interest, practical exercises were used. By the beginning of 1930, the 4th Red Army had expanded from Jinggangshan to Jiangxi, Hunan and Fujian. Additionally 7 other Soviets were established in the interior of China, demonstrating the viability of the CCP model. For a large part it was the efforts of Mao Zedong and Zhu De that allowed the CCP to thrive. However major issues loomed externally and internally. 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. Mao Zedong had forged a seed in the Jinggangshan mountains the would grow into the base of a new 4th Red Army. Forming alliances with local groups and adopting new innovative strategies to survive allowed the 4th Red Army to expand and with it Mao Zedong's career. Yet externally and internally enemies lay everywhere.   

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Last time we spoke about the first Encirclement Campaign against the CCP. Amidst ongoing attacks, the communist movement thrived in rural Jiangxi, even as urban support dwindled. Li Lisan championed urban uprisings, opposing Mao Zedong's focus on rural encirclement. Failed assaults on Nanchang and Changsha highlighted their discord. The Red Army's strategy shifted after capturing Ji'an, bolstered by peasant support. As the NRA prepared an encirclement, Mao proposed luring them deep before striking. Internal strife peaked with the Futian Incident, leading to a purge that solidified Mao's power but weakened the Red Army's defenses. Amidst internal strife, the NRA launched attacks on the Reds but faced fierce resistance. Lu Diping's forces encircled Donggu, leading to heavy losses as artillery mistakenly struck their own troops. The Reds capitalized on local support and guerrilla tactics, inflicting significant defeats on the NRA in Longgang and Dongshao. Despite Chiang Kai-Shek's attempts to reclaim territory, the Reds successfully executed a series of ambushes and strategic retreats. By the end of the campaign, the Jiangxi Soviet expanded significantly, validating Mao's strategies and shifting public favor towards the communists.   #124 Sino-Tibetan War of 1930–1932 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. For those who know their Sino history, we are drawing close to the year of 1931. This is arguably the year WW2 actually began, some of you might be confused by that statement, but I assure you mainland Chinese would argue this point very much. Once we breach that door its going to be a very long time before we can talk about the multiple other things going on in China. For example, a lot happens in China's northwest. So I thought it would be best to tackle some of that before we jump into the 15 year China War. Do forgive me for being a tease. So the first thing I wanted to talk about is the Second Sino-Tibetan War of 1930-1932. Now this is a huge can of worms as they say and to truly understand it we need to cover a lot of history. There has always been conflict between whatever we consider historically China and Tibet. Historians have often broken things down into three major conflicts during the early 20th century that led directly to the second Sino-Tibetan War. After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, the 13th Dalai Lama closely monitored the political changes in mainland China and the situation of the central government's officials and military stationed in Tibet, preparing to organize Tibetan forces and initiate an anti-Han Incident movement. In March 1912, the Dalai Lama issued a "Public Letter" through the Ganden Palace via the Kashag. The Kashag was the governing council of Tibet during the rule of the Qing  all the way to the 1950s. Following the release of this letter, the 13th Dalai Lama immediately formed a "Tibetan People's Army" of over ten thousand troops, deciding to use force to expel the Sichuanese army. The Tibetan forces first dealt with the Sichuan troops stationed in Yadong, Jiangzi, and Shigatse, and then besieged the Sichuan troops in Lhasa. Fearing being attacked from both within and outside, the Tibetan forces hastened to eliminate the Sichuan troops already within Tibet. The local Tibetan authorities also initiated an offensive against the region known as the Kham in the west of Sichuan. After 1939 this would be called Xikang, so to make things easier I will refer to it as such. The extensive eastward expansion of the Tibetan army shocked the entire nation, prompting military and political figures from Sichuan, Yunnan, and other areas to issue telegrams or contact the central government, demanding military action to quell the unrest and stabilize Tibet. In response to the chaotic situation in Tibet and Xikang, the Yuan Shikai government adopted a strategy of sending troops to suppress it. On May 25, 1912, Yuan Shikai issued an order for a westward expedition, and on June 14, the Beiyang government directed Governor of Sichuan,Yin Changheng to lead the troops westward. On July 10  Yin Changheng led 2,500 Sichuan troops westward from Chengdu. At the same time, Cai E also dispatched Yunnanese troops northward to meet the Sichuan army in Tibet. In August, the Sichuan army split into two routes: the southern route led by Zhu Senlin attacked Hekou, modern day Yajiang and Litang, defeating the Tibetan troops and capturing the key strongholds of Maguizong, Jianzibay, and Xie Luoluo, subsequently laying siege to Litang; the northern route was led by Liu Ruilin, who provided assistance to Chengdu and Batang. Meanwhile, the Yunnanese troops entered Tibet via the Nu River, capturing the gateway of Yanjing in northern Yunnan. At the end of August, Liu Ruilin attacked the eastern Tibetan stronghold of Chengdu. On September 3, Zhu Senlin's forces captured Litang and recaptured Gongjue, Sanyan, and Tongpu; shortly thereafter, the areas of Zhanhua, Baiyu, Daocheng, Xiangcheng, and Zha Ya also surrendered. On September 16, the western expeditionary army advanced westward from Chengdu, attacking Jiangda. By the end of September, the western expeditionary army had recovered all territories belonging to the late Qing dynasty's Sichuan-Yunnan border affairs department, except for the counties of Kema and Chayu in the southern route, and Dingqing represented by roughly 39 clans, Shobanduo, Lari, and Jiangda in the northern route.  On September 12, the Beijing government ordered the change of Jiangda in Tibet to Taizhou Prefecture, Lari to Jiali Prefecture, and Shobanduo to Shodu Prefecture. On the 25th, Yin Changheng was appointed as the pacification envoy at the Sichuan border, overseeing the Xikang region, which was divided into the eastern and western border areas, governing the six prefectures of Kangding, Lihua, Ba'an, Dengke, Chengdu, and Jiahe, as well as the two states of Dehua and Ganzi. Just as the western expeditionary army was achieving victory and preparing to enter Tibet from Kangding, the British colonial authorities publicly intervened, trying to prevent the expeditionary army from entering Tibet. Under British pressure, Yuan Shikai was forced to order the Sichuan and Yunnan armies to delay their advance, effectively halting their progress at the Nu River line. At the same time, the Beiyang government's policy towards Tibet shifted from suppression to pacification. Although the Sichuan and Yunnan armies ceased their military actions against Tibet, the significance of the western expedition was profound, as it enabled the central government to basically recover Xikang and played a significant role in curbing the British colonizers and Tibetan separatist forces, preventing Tibet from repeating the fate of Outer Mongolia. Thus ended the first period of conflict. What proceeded was known as the Simla Convention, we actually covered that event in some detail a long time ago in this series. More or less the convention divided Tibet into Outer and Inner Tibet, which also were referred to as U-Tsang and western Kham, ie: Xikang. With the support and assistance of Britain, the Tibetan local government gathered troops in Eastern Tibet to confront the Sichuan army, aiming to use military force to advance the control area of the Tibetan government to Dajianlu. In September 1917, two Tibetan soldiers from the Lhoka area invaded the Sichuan army's defense zone and were captured and sent to Chengdu by the border troops. After questioning by Commander Peng Risheng, it was made clear that the captured Tibetans would have to be detained. Tibet sent a letter to negotiate, requesting the return of the captured Tibetans, to be handled by Tibetan officials. Peng, without assessing the situation, executed the captured individuals and sent their heads back, which obviously infuriated the Tibetans, leading them to mobilize a large force to attack En and Lhoka. The British immediately supplied the Tibetan army with 5,000 quick-firing rifles and 5 million rounds of ammunition to support a large-scale offensive against Enda County and Lhoka. By January 1918, Enda County had fallen, and the counties of Chaya, Ningjing, and Changdu were all under attack from the well-armed Tibetan army. In March, Ningjing County was lost, and the Chengdu garrison, who were quote “surrounded on all sides, though there was plenty of food in the city, had run out of ammunition.” In June, the Tibetan army captured Chengdu, and after accepting Peng Risheng's surrender, advanced rapidly eastward across the Ningjing Mountains and the Jinsha River, capturing the counties of Dege, Dengke, Shiqu, Baiyu, Gongxian, Wucheng, and Ningjing, until they were stopped by fierce fighting from the border troops at Ganzi.  On August 8, 1918, the Dalai Lama expressed his unwillingness to oppose what he called “the Chinese benefactor” but agreed to ceasefire negotiations. On August 21, a ceasefire agreement consisting of thirteen articles was reached in Chengdu among Liu Zanting, a representative of the Sichuan border troops, Jiangbadan, a representative of the Tibetan side, and a representative of the British government. They agreed that the Tibetan army would withdraw from the recently occupied counties of Zhanhua and Ganzi and return them to the Sichuan border, while the remaining occupied counties would be managed by Tibetan officials. They also agreed to a ceasefire for one year starting from October 17, 1918, awaiting a resolution to the Tibetan issue from the central government and the Dalai Lama. This “Thirteen-Article Agreement” effectively recognized the Tibetan army's occupation of the border areas in legal terms. After this, Chengdu and the aforementioned seven counties west of the Jinsha River came under the control of the Tibetan local government. Thus ended the second period of conflict.  Here we come to the year of 1930. Now a lot had occurred during the 1920's. The Beiyang government had tried to maintain the indirect administrative structures of the former Qing Dynasty. In the absence of effective Chinese political control over Tibet, implementation of national policy fell onto regional actors, in this case Fu Zuoyi in Suiyuan and Liu Wenhui in Xikang. Along the Qinghai/Amdo frontier, Sino-Muslim leaders like Ma Bufang projected military authority from the provincial capital of Xining. Now a lot of what we are about to talk about revolves around a place called Yushu. Yushu is a mountainous region of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. The Tanggula Mountains form the southwestern boundary of Yushu, bordering Tibet. In the largely uninhabitable northwestern region of Yushu, you'll find the renowned Kekexili nature reserve and the railway connecting Xining to Lhasa. The main branch of the Kunlun Mountains, which splits Qinghai province into northern and southern regions, forms Yushu's northern boundary, while a branch of the Kunlun range, the Bayanhar Mountains, defines its northeastern edge. Yushu is the source of three of Asia's major rivers. The northeasternmost section of Yushu drains into the Yellow River as it flows towards Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu. Central and southeastern Yushu give rise to the headwaters of the Mekong and Yangzi, known locally as the Zhaqu and Tongtian rivers. The Qinghai provincial government emphasized the region's prominent topographical features—mountain ranges and river systems. Provincial reports meticulously described the mountain passes that link Yushu to key areas such as Lhasa, Chengdu in Xikang, Sichuan, Xinjiang, and Xining, along with the challenging passes within Yushu. Yushu is a very difficult terrain for communication and transportation, quite the obstacle for governance. The journey between the provincial capital and Yushu totaled over 1620 li, a highway connecting such a path would not be built until 1944. A strong local governance was found in the form of Tibetan tribes known as the 25 peoples of Yushu. Yet the Qinghai provincial government sought to govern the land and those in Xining viewed Yushu as a barbarian region, where pastoral nomadism reigned. They would speak of Yushu as being an endless steppe inhabited by barbaric people who wandered aimlessly. Yushu had a complicated economic geography with monasteries occupying the richest land and concentrating monetary, spiritual, and political power on the local scale and pastoral tribes migrating in the areas in between. The monasteries acted as sites for periodic markets of trade, throughout Yushu. As much as they were Tibetan Buddhist monasteries for religious devotion, they were also landowners with powers of taxation. The hereditary tribal ladders of the 25 peoples of Yushu were thus a secondary network of political and economic authority in Yushu. The pastoral tribes who traversed the borderless region of Yushu, Xikang and Kham confused outsiders. The Beiyang government, as I have said, tried to simply adopt the former Qing policies. For Yushu they were ruling through an indirect system of local headmen. Each tribe determined their title, either company commander or battalion commander and were responsible for bi-annual taxes and periodic military conscription to the government in Xining. One of these tribal leaders, Cai Zuozhen, the leader of the Buqing tribe came from Huangyuan, lying between Xining and the Riyue mountains. His father worked as a translator for the Xining tribute tax collection missions. The 1920's were continuous years of strife, especially between the tribes. No governing body really understood or had any real control over the region. In 1929 Yusuhu became an official county and on August 6th of that year, Ma Qi advocated an 8 point plan for calming her border problems. The plan included reconstructing a civilian government, promoting Tibetan Buddhism, opening more land for agriculture, training troops, establishing factories and mills, improving transportation and securing borders. He sought to implement all of this through the Yushu county government. However in the same year the Civil Affairs Bureau recommended adding 7 new counties some of which would carve chunks out of Yushu. The plan never materialized due to ongoing government difficulties, but remained on the table. In the meantime the government began a provincial level training program for self-government regions within Qinghai. 50 graduates came out of this program, none came from or were sent to Yushu. By the late 1920's the region was being fought over by multiple parties for multiple reasons. There were 3 overarching reasons for why war would break out. Number 1 was because of the border disputes between Tibet and China. The Tibetans claimed areas inhabited by their people in the neighboring provinces of Qinghai and Sichuan were being ruled by warlords with loose connections to the Nanjing government. 2) There was a dispute between the 13th Dalai Lama and 9th Panchen Lama. To clarify the Panchen Lama is second to the Dalai Lama, to be more specific “the Panchen Lama is the reincarnation of Amithaba, the Buddha of Boundless Light, while the Dalai Lama is the reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara (Chenrezig in Tibetan), the Buddha of Compassion. Traditionally, each acts as mentor to the other, and plays a key role in identifying the other's reincarnation”. Anyways the 9th Panchen Lama had been exiled and seen to be quite pro Chinese. 3) was the complex disputes of the people in regions like Yushu. Now the catalyst for the war was a chieftain from the town of Beri, which is in Yushu but is in an area claimed by Tibet, but under control of Sichuan. This chieftain whose name I cannot for the life of me find, seized items from the Targye Monastery. It is alleged the 9th Panchen Lama incited this action. The monks of the monastery rallied forces and took back the properties. The chieftain then asked for help from the governor of Sichuan, Liu Wenhui. Liu Wenhui unleashed forces into the area, forcing the Targye monks to ask for help from the Tibetan government who drove his men out. Thus began a series of clashes. The KMT Muslim official Tang Kesan was dispatched to negotiate an end to the conflict. Muslim General Ma Fuxiang, as head of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, sent a telegram instructing Tang Kesan to break the agreement with Tibet, fearing political rivals in Nanjing were exploiting the situation. In the following years, Tibetan forces launched repeated attacks on Liu Wenhui's troops but were defeated multiple times. In 1932, the Tibetans rallied 6000 troops along the Jinsha river, an area that acted as the boundary between Yushu and Xikang. In response to the Tibetan threat, in March the Qing government established the Qinghai Southern Border Region garrison under Ma Bufang. Two brigades deployed in Yushu; the first brigade was led by Ma Xun and the 2nd by Ma Biao. The Tibetans invaded, but only Ma Biao's men were ready at the border as Ma Xun's were still enroute from the provincial capital. At the time of the attack Ma Biao had one camp of cavalry, alongside some headquarters personnel for a combined total of 400 men. He dispatched his secretary Wang Jiamei to Tibet to try and negotiate a peaceful settlement. It is believe he did this simply to delay the enemy as he immediately telegrammed Ma Bufang for reinforcements, but they would not arrive until mid-june. On March 24th the Tibetans attacked Lesser Surmang, gradually forcing their way into southern Qinghai. After 8 hours of battle, both sides suffered tremendous casualties. During that night within the county seat of Jiegu, Ma Biao convened a conference attended by chieftains, merchants and important town leaders. At the meeting, Ma Biao asserted “our strength is sufficient to protect the lives and property of Yushu's residents. Not only will we resist Tibetan incursions, but in the future we will tie our war horses at the gate of the Tibetan government compound!” However Ma Biao would find it quite difficult to make due on these promises. On March 26th, the Greater Surmang contingent of his forces met 500 Tibetans on the battlefield just southeast of Jiegu. As told to us by Cai Zuozhen “the Tibetans simply overwhelmed the undermanned provincial forces by at least five to one”. They retreated to a camp near Duolongduo where they quickly became surrounded by Tibetan forces. At the same time a detachment of other provincial forces at Lesser Surman, just 30 men were encircled by 100 Tibetans. The provincial forces continuously retreated in the face of an enemy 5-10 times larger than them. The Tibetans methodically seized territory heading north to encircle the county seat of Jiegu. At the same time a contingent of 300 troops from Xikang forded the Tongtian river to attack the monasteries at Labu and Xiewu situated on the two vital thoroughfares heading north to Jiegu. The Tibetans held a strong military position and in one incredible move sweeped and occupied all the areas surrounding Jiegu's southern portion, severing the county seats communication with Xining. Jiegu was the site of Yushu's county government and nominally held the headquarters of the southern Qinghai garrison, thus it was the key holding Xining's position in the southern borderlands. Now outnumbered 10 to 1 by the Tibetans and with their communications severed, the situation for Xining and the Qinghai forces was quite dire. It seemed likely the Tibetans would shut the door, locking Xining out. The Southern Qinghai border region garrison, a mouthful to be sure, under Ma Biao were digging in for a long drawn out defense of the Yushu county seat while Xining went into a frenzy of actions. On April 19th, Ma Lin and Ma Bufang telegrammed the Military affairs commission in Nanjing with strong recommendations for improving the situation. They wanted to move the Southern Qinghai garrison roughly 20 li west of Jiegu and station a regiment between Jiegu and Xining at Daheba to protect the lines of communication. They also requested 2000 rifles, 20,000 rounds of ammunition, 40,000 yuan and 5 wireless telegraphs. While this sounds like peanuts, but do remember Japan is currently full blown invading Manchuria. On the last day of april, Ma Bufang requested Ma Lin dispatch the Southern Qing Border Region garrison's 1st brigade commander Ma Xun, cause everyone's a Ma in this episode, to the southern front as Yushu's Pacification Commissioner. He also again stated he wanted a peaceful settlement to the conflict. 4 days later, Ma Bufang and Ma Lin telegrammed Xi'an announcing Ma Xun's appointment as “Yushu xuanwei shi”, the Yushu Pacification Commissioner. Yet it was not until May 24th, that Nanjing's response reached Xining via Xi'an. Within the communique, Chiang Kai-Shek approved their suggestions and would meet their requests for military aid although at lower levels than requested. Only one wireless telegraph set was sent by Nanjing, but it dramatically improved communications.  On May 26th, Ma Xun departed Xining for Yushu with others stating “regardless of whether peace can be maintained, the communications route between the provincial capital and Jiegu must be protected at all costs”. Ma Xun departed with roughly a regiment of 100 troops, some provincial officials with Mongolian and Tibetan language skills, and a surveyor. Meanwhile Ma Bufang led another expeditionary force as far as Daheba, the site of a proposed garrison between Xining and Jiegu. Ma Xun's Mongolian and Tibetan specialists had orders from Nanjing to visit Qinghai and awe the “barbarians” into loyalty to the new government by offering them doctors, dentists, botanists and anyone who could dazzle the “backward superstitious locals”.  For two months, Ma Biao and his men struggled to maintain Jiegu's defenses, till finally on June 18th, Ma Xun's group arrived. He would soon be followed up by 2 waves of reinforcements on August 20th and September 20th. Despite efforts made by Cai Zuozhen and other small contingents of Qinghai troops, the Tibetans simply have overwhelming numbers. The Qinghai troops however inflicted much more casualties upon them when they fought. A battle broke out on June 27th at the Changu Monastery, 5 li south of the county seat, where Qinghai forces led by Ma Biao defeated a Tibetan force twice their side who also enjoyed high ground advantage. The same forces also fought again near the Tongtian River due north of Jiegu where the Tibetans were forced to withdraw. It also seemed the Tibetans lacked adequate artillery, as was evident with their inability to take Jiegu. Many of the civilians within Jiegu noted the Tibetans fired over forty cannon rounds into the city, but none of the rounds exploded. On July 23rd, Ma Bufang dispatched a regiment led by La Pingfu to Yushu. Despite the combined forces of Ma Biao and Ma Xun engaging the Tibetans three times, they had still not seen the full strength of the Tibetans. There was a great concern on the Chinese side that the Tibetans were trying to lure as many in as possible before overwhelming them with numbers. Ma Bufang also dispatched reinforcements led by Ma Lu to the southern borderlands. On August 20th, La Pingfu arrived at Jiegu and freed the city of a Tibetan encirclement. La Pingfu's troops were exhausted from the incredible 20 day march through insane terrain, they quickly took up defensive positions. This allowed the forces of Ma Biao and Ma Xun to depart south with 800 local militiamen to attack the Tibetans. They found Tibetans in the dead of night. The Qinghai forces used Dadao dui swords to hack them during hand to hand combat. The Tibetans dispersed, but reorganized themselves the next morning. The Qinghai forces took some high ground and met the counter attack, this time decisively defeating the Tibetans who suffered tremendous casualties. After four months, the Jiegu encirclement seemed to finally be broken. Afterwards the Qinghai forces formed three groups to advance south to retake lost territory. Ma Biao and Ma Xun led route armies while La Pingfu followed behind. Ma Bufang ordered a punitive mission against the local Tibetans, hoping they would simply withdraw from Yushu peacefully. He also ordered law and order to be brought back to the region. Military commanders were to gather local religious and political elites who could deal with the inevitable issues like refugee waves. To further push the Tibetans to pull out orders were mandated that medical care be given to wounded Tibetan soldiers with promises of funding for their return journey to Tibet as POW's. Me Bufang also issued communiques to all the inhabitants of Yushu asking them to get their local leaders and militia to expel Tibetan soldiers, promising rewards. Cai Zuozhen's reports differed greatly from Ma Bufang's orders. Cai Zuozhen received reports for example that Ma Biao's men routinely killed POW's, attacked Tibetan civilians and robbed Tibetan merchants. Cai Zuozhen would go on the record to accuse Qinghai forces of burning entire villages, looting monasteries, raping women and even nuns. During this time folk songs emerged in Qinghai talking about bitter lives under the oppression of Xining overlords who conscripted soldiers, stole horses and property to feed themselves on “human soup” while the common people ate husks and chafe. It was often sung “the sun doesn't rise in the Ma Family's Qinghai” As the Qinghai troops continued advancing south they punished locals for helping Tibetans. One local headman in Nangqian who had helped Tibetans had 10,000 jin of Tsampa, 20,000 jin of barley, 3000 jin of yak butter, 200 head of cattle and 40 sheep commandeered by Ma Biao. Many headmen would be forced to give goods to Ma Xun, Ma Biao and La Pingfu, such things as pelts, antlers, horses and money. It was said Ma Biao took enough to be worth 2000 silver dollars from the nomads of Laxiu. During late August and early September, the Qinghai forces fought the Tibetans for the Surman region and the southeastern part of Yushu. They unleashed artillery on their enemy, trapping 2000 Tibetans soldiers into a confined area. They encircled them and systematically annihilated them, massacring 200. Little Surmang quickly came back under Xining's control as the Tibetans fled to Greater Surmang. On September 2nd, La Pingfu led 300 men to occupy the rear exit of Greater Surmang. Despite a valiant defense led by two of Tibet's best generals, they suffered a string of defeats and were forced to relinquish Greater Surmang.  Then the third wave of reinforcements arrived from Xining, Ma Lu's brigade who came to Jiegu on September 20th. This effectively solidified the Qinghai position. Ma Lu, Ma Xun, Ma Biao and Ma Biao all met south of Jiegu at Batang where they agreed they would set out for the Jinsha River which marked the border between Yushu and Xikang. There they would decisively defeat the enemy upon the western shore at Xidengke. At the Qingke monastery, facing the Dengke river, a major connecting point to Changde was the Tibetan powerbase in the region. The monastery's defenses were very solid, 3 lines of over 5000 troops. On October 15th, the Qinghai artillery began raining hell upon the monastery as the infantry encircled the area. The Qinghai forces split their approaches attacking and moving while encircling. They were aided by Xikang troops who also bombarded the monastery from across the Jinsha river. The Tibetans could not withstand the joint attacks and gradually gave up their positions. The Qinghai and Xikang armies then connected across the river. Liu Wenhui led the Xikang forces and was communicating with Ma Bufang who ordered his forces to accept orders from the Xikang army.  Many historians believed Liu Wenhui had coordinated this joint military campaign against the Tibetans, taking advantage of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. It seems Liu Wenhui thought it was an opportune time to “solve the Tibet problem once and for all”, this would have been a hell of an escalation. Liu Wenhui sent word to Ma Bufang who notified Chiang Kai-Shek of their joint operation. However Chiang Kai-Shek demanded they halt hostilities and try negotiations with the Dalai Lama. Meanwhile the Dalai Lama received reports of their string of defeats and the loss of territory east of the Jinsha river, so he agreed to begin negotiations. What came from this was the Qinghai-Tibetan Peace Treaty, which more or less just set everything back to pre-war status quo. The Tibetans would never again pose a serious threat to Qinghai's domination of Yushu. Yushu's strategic passes would remain in Qinghais control well into the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. 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 would appear as a major side quest in the greater scheme of things, the small war between Tibet and Sichuan was just another example of how not unified China still was. Despite all the grand claims, the new Nanjing government was still overseeing quite a fractured nation, who were about to face the full might of the Empire of the rising sun.   

Last time we spoke about the Sino-Soviet Conflict of 1929. In 1919, Soviet Commissar Lev Karakhan promised China the return of the Chinese Eastern Railway at no cost, aiming to foster good relations amid the Russian Civil War. However, the Soviets retracted the offer, causing tensions. Over the next decade, control of the railway shifted between Chinese and Soviet hands, sparking conflicts. By 1929, Zhang Xueliang, a Chinese warlord, attempted to reclaim the railway, leading to military confrontations. Despite initial diplomatic efforts, the situation escalated into a full-scale war. The Soviets, under General Vasily Blyukher, launched a powerful offensive, using their superior military force to overpower the Chinese defenses. After intense battles, including naval engagements, the Soviets gained the upper hand, leading to heavy Chinese casualties and loss of territory. The conflict ended with the Soviets firmly in control, highlighting the fragile nature of Sino-Soviet relations during this tumultuous period.   #122 The Chiang-Gui 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. With the reunification of China, China's Warlord Era was over…but it really wasn't. Chiang Kai-Shek came to Beijing via a trail laid open by Yan Xishan. The Northern Expedition had been completed by August, just as the Generalissimo promised it would. According to previous agreements amongst the KMT, he tendered in his resignation upon completing the Northern Expedition. But the party refused to accept it, instead the Generalissimo was commanded to go visit the tomb of Dr Sun Yat-Sen over in the western Hills. He was accompanied by many of his generals who all oversaw a impressive ceremony, culminating with Chiang Kai-Shek weeping before Dr Sun Yat-Sen's shrine. Now Beijing was of course a symbol of China's Manchu past. The KMT and all revolutionaries within China for that matter hated it for that reason. It was seen as suitable enough for the government of North China, but not for the national capital, no this was moved to Nanking. Nanking of course had been seen as the secondary capital for centuries and held ancient history as being the first capital of China. Yet there was a lot of opposition to this. The Northern Chinese of course wanted to retain Beijing as the capital, many Chinese scholars had arguments against it, the foreign legations were annoyed at the idea of moving their residence and staff, so on and so forth. There was a great love for the northern capital, for its wonderful shops, restaurants rich history and such. Many did not believe Nanking could match Beijing's beauty. But the KMT assured all Nanking would become the gem of China. Beijing, which was actually called Peking at this time, again I just keep using modern terms to not confuse you guys, but Peking was then changed to Peiping translating to “northern peace”. As much as the capital was ruffling feathers, another more pressing issue was the enormous NRA army now that they had no Northern Expedition to run. Armies are not cheap, demobilization obviously needed to be done. However the KMT dragged their feet on the issue. Demobilization is something many governments face, but China's situation was rather unique. The NRA held many professional armies, made up of men who had never been anything but soldiers with no desire to become civilians. Many of the NRA generals also did not wish to carry on as civilians. Most of these men were doing a career and knew nothing else. In June of 1928, over 2 million men were on military pay roll. The minister of finance, T.V Soong, believed in keeping straight books and protested the enormous military expense. The KMT central committee passed resolutions and formed a plan; the standing army, needed to be cut down to at least 715,00 men. But when it came to deciding who gets disbanded, here lay the troubles.  There was another issue, the mechanics of the new government. In the first days of the peace, Chiang Kai-Shek had proven himself a pretty good manager. He had a lot of help from his political right hand man, Hu Hanmin, and they were on good terms. Chiang Kai-Shek was quite popular in the beginning, many looked up to him. However as the days went by, things started to crumble. The first major conflict occurred when Chiang Kai-Shek attempted to do away with the political subcouncils in Guangzhou and Wuhan. Chiang Kai-Shek argued this new united China did not need any more than a single central federal government office. The regimes in Guangzhou and Wuhan needed to disband and become integrated properly at Nanking. However Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren were the respective governors of the two provinces that held these regimes and they very much liked their current status. They obviously resented what they saw as a slight against them by Chiang Kai-Shek. Both men began using the term “dictator” to describe Chiang Kai-Shek, they said things like he was getting too big for his boots.  Now going back to the roots of the KMT, Dr Sun Yat-Sen had hoped to implement a national constitution. Yet simply flinging out what Sun Yat-Sen had once written down was out of the question, a new constitution needed to be drafted. Thus, basically for the next 5 years, China went through an awkward transformation process, trying to become a real voting republic. But in the meantime the country was controlled by a government of 5 “yuans” (committees). These were the executive, legislative, control, judicial and examination committees. The high officials of these committees were members of the State council, also seen as a cabinet, headed by the President. Chiang Kai-Shek became the first president and was very careful on who he included in his cabinet. Yan Xishan became the Minister of the Interior and Feng Yuxiang Minister of War. Both of these men were still bonafide warlords, but they were the two leaders who helped reunify China with him. He had to keep them happy, they controlled vast private armies, he also knew to keep them close.  Nanking was fraught with activity, but no demobilization. Months went by. Chiang Kai-Shek was happy, it was quite a creative time for him, but the reality was, the government was filled with potential traitors, great amounts of land were not really assimilated, nor were their populations. Nonetheless China had not seen such unity in centuries. Chiang Kai-Shek felt an immense sense of pride, he himself was full of energy and overworking. Chiang Kai-Shek began promising to rebuild Nanking in a fitting style. A magnificent tomb was planned for the slope of Purple Mountain, above the ruins of the old Ming temple, where Sun Yat-Sens remains would be moved. The city was remodeled, its old narrow and messy streets were cleared out. Nanking possessed a certain antiquity look, and many were fond of it and hated the construction efforts. Chiang Kai-Shek envisioned retaining the Chinese style of architecture, with sloping roofs, painted ceilings, tiles and courtyards, but also clean, cool interiors with electrical appliances. He basically wanted to blend the new with the old. Chiang Kai-Shek found an American architect to help rebuild Nanking. He also began hunting down advisors for just about every field. He looked up foreign farmer experts, German military advisors, American educational advisors, medical advisors, highway construction advisors and such. The climax to it all was recognition of the new Nanking government from the great powers. Chiang Kai-Shek found himself stuck in interviews with diplomats nearly every day. It is said the Generalissimo worked from dawn to night, with his wife Meiling as his secretary. Her primary role was translating important work into English, she was also his English interpreter. Meiling pushed Chiang Kai-Shek to try and learn English so he would be less dependent on her. She taught him as best as she could, and he was apparently making good headway until he had a incident. One day he was meeting with the British Minister and tried to practice his english by saying “good morning, Lampson” but instead he said “kiss me, Lampson”. Henceforth he never tried talking in English with foreigners. In May came some excitement with the Sino-Soviet conflict. Zhang Xueliang literally tossed the Soviet ultimatum to Nanking, an unwelcome gift to Chiang Kai-Shek. Ultimately Zhang Xueliang could do nothing against the Soviet power. It was certainly a blow to China, but perhaps in the grand scheme of things, Chiang Kai-Shek's mind worried more about the Japanese. The Soviets and Japanese were not all Chiang Kai-Shek should have been worried about, there were plenty of internal enemies. Back in July of 1928, it was estimated the NRA held over 2.2 million soldiers within 84 corps and 272 divisions. This accounted for an annual expenditure of over 800 million yuan, when the national fiscal revenue was something like 450 million yuan. Chiang Kai-Shek advocated for demobilization, hoping to bring it down to 1.2 million with 80 divisions, thus reducing expenditures to 60% of the national budget. By January of 1929 the issue came up again, now based on German military advisors advice, Chiang Kai-Shek wanted to reduce the NRA to 50 divisions at around 800,000 troops. His First Army belonging to the central system would be reorganized into 20 divisions, and the remaining army groups would be divided into 10 divisions. Uh huh you see where this is going. Chiang Kai-Shek also proposed establishing a 200,000 man strong military police force. So if you remember from the end of the Northern Expedition, there were 4 NRA collective armies. The 1st was led by Chiang Kai-Shek, the 2nd by Feng Yuxiang, the 3rd by Yan Xishan and the 4th by Li Zongren. Each of these men were warlords in the own right with cliques behind them. For example Li Zongren was the leader of the New Guangxi Clique who controlled Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei and parts of the Shanhai pass connecting Hubei to Tianjin. The NRA 4th army had 16 divisions and 6 independent units, some 200,000 troops. When Wang Jingwei went into exile, Li Zongren inherited his Wuhan regime government. Li Zongren also had the support of Li Jishen who controlled Guangdong. Now Chiang Kai-Shek certainly had the upper hand, his first NRA army was 500,000 strong and he was the President of the nation. Yan Xishan had over 200,000 troops in his 3rd NRA army and controlled the Shanxi clique, Shanxi province, northern Hubei, Beijing and Tianjin. Lastly Feng Yuxiang had 400,000 troops in his 2nd NRA army, was the leader of the Guominjun and controlled a large part of northwest China, alongside Henan. Alone none of the others could challenge Chiang Kai-Shek, but what if they united against him?  The Guangxi clique led by Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren had won a lot from the northern expedition. They controlled Wang Jingwei's old Wuhan Regime, Guangxi, Hubei, but did not control all of Hunan. They both felt they should control Hunan and its lucrative revenues of course. Yet the governor of Hunan insisted the taxes collected were property of Nanjing. So Bai Chongxi and Li Zongrenplaced him under house arrest. After this Lu Diping was appointed by Li Zongren to preside over Hunan's civilian government affairs. Lu Diping was forced to work with a bitter rival, He Jian. What the Guangxi Clique members did not know was that Lu Diping had been groomed by Chiang Kai-Shek. Chiang Kai-Shek also began arming Lu Diping's private army in February of 1928. He Jian found out about this and reported it to the rest of the Guangxi clique. Li Zongren took notice of the situation and immediately had Lu Diping removed from office and deported. He was replaced by He Jian, go figure. Lu Diping then fled to cry to Chiang Kai-Shek. Chiang Kai-Shek was furious his man had been taken out of office and began threatening the Guangxi clique. Li Zongren's family were living in Nanking at the time and he took them quickly over to the Shanghai concession as he believed a storm was brewing. Li Zongren then met with Chiang Kai-Shek striking a peaceful deal by march 2nd, both agreeing He Jian would temporarily serve as the chairman over Hunan. However back over in Hunan, the situation was quickly deteriorating. Guangxi troops were taking out political opponents in the province and looked to be fomenting a rebellion. Chiang Kai-Shek took decisive action and mobilized his forces to pacify the Guangxi clique. Li Jishen, fearing a war would break out at any moment, sped north to Nanking to mediate, only to be arrested upon arriving by Chiang Kai-Shek. He was charged with treason. With Li Jishen out of Guangdong, the Cantones Generals Chen Jizhen and Chen Mingshu tossed their lot in with Chiang Kai-Shek, thus severing the Guangdong-Guangxi alliance. On March 21st Nanking issued a statement expelling Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi and Li Jishen from the KMT, accusing the 3 men of treason.  Now Chiang Kai-Shek actually was dealing with a lot more than insubordination from the Guangxi clique, in fact there was a growing anti-Chiang Kai-Shek coalition forming. I wont get into it here, but Feng Yuxiang was raising hell in the northwest, Yan Xishan was not at all happy with the new Nanking government and even Wang Jingwei over in Europe was tossing public accusations against Chiang Kai-Shek. This led a lot of KMT officials to resign in protest. Chiang Kai-Shek had a serious rebellion, perhaps a civil war on the horizon. He reacted first by bribing key Northern Chinese leaders to be neutral for the time being so he could focus all of his attention on the Guangxi clique menace. Chiang Kai-Shek did another clever thing, he reconciled with the exiled Tang Shengzhi. Many forces under Bai Chongxi were former soldiers under Tang Shengzhi, many of whom were still loyal to him. Chiang Kai-Shek brought Tang Shenzhi back over to China from Japan and dispatched him to Tangshan in Hubei, where he was ordered to steal back two of his old divisions from Bai Chongxi.  Yes Chiang Kai-Shek was playing the divide and conquer strategy. First he bribed as many as he could, so he could focus on the Guangxi clique. Then amongst the Guangxi he tried to bribe some and arrest others, isolating Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren. In the face of the situation, Zhang Xueliang was the first to publicly express his support for Chiang Kai-Shek, he was followed by Liu Wenhui, the warlord over Sichuan, then Yan Xishan and finally a reluctant Feng Yuxiang.  Initially Bai Chongxi was going to lead his troops station in Hubei to march south to Xuzhou to try and link up with other Guangxi clique forces to advance east and attack Nanking. However as he quickly found out, most of his troops were loyal to Tang Shengzhi who purchased their service and stole them from him. Bai Chongxi lost control over a significant part of his army, panicked and fled Hubei by boat. He intended to flee for Hong Kong, but Chiang Kai-Shek ordered the Navy to halt the ship, and if it did not stop to sink it. Li Zongren quickly asked support from Japanese allies to get Bai Chongxi safely to Hong Kong. Meanwhile Li Zongren began mobilizing 3 armies under Guangxi Generals Xia Wei, Tao Wei and Hu Zongqi. These armies were intended to be deployed in Huangpu and Wuxue, however Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi could not physically get over to them to command them. Meanwhile Chiang Kai-Shek appointed General Zhu Peide in command of 5 divisions in Jiujiang and Nanchang. Their job was to occupy the Wuchang-Changsha railway, thus cutting off the withdrawal of any troops from Guangxi. Chiang Kai-Shek also placed General Liu Zhi  in command of 5 divisions over in Anhui and Hubei's border area with orders to attack Wuhan and General Han Fuju would take 5 divisions from southern Henan to attack Wuhan. On March 31st, Chiang Kai-Shek dispatched his general attack orders. Subsequently He Jian betrayed the Guangxi clique and joined Chiang Kai-Shek. Within the Guangxi clique, the Generals Hu Zongtang, Tao Shu, Li Mingrui and Yu Zuobai all began inhouse fighting over old petty grudges. Chiang Kai-Shek learnt of the situation and bribed Yu Zuobai and Li Mingrui to join his side for 400,000 silver dollars. On April 3rd, Li Mingrui's troops began to defect over in Huayuan and Xiaogan. A bunch of other Guangxi Generals began contacting Chiang Kai-Shek privately, tell him they would not participate in the civil war and asked if they could take their men safely out of the region. So many gaps in the Guangxi cliques defensive lines around Wuhan were exploited by Nankings forces coming from Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan and Yichang. Nearly surrounded at Wuhan, the Guangxi forces fled into western Hubei. At the same time, Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi both arrived in Hong Kong and made their way to Guangxi only to find the situation an utter mess.  On April 11th, Nanking issued a message calling upon the Guangxi clique's soldiers to give up resistance. The demoralized Guangxi troops of Xia Wei, Tao Jun, Hu Zongtang all began surrendering themselves at Shashi, Yichang and other places. On April 25th, Chiang Kai-Shek unleashed an offensive into Guangxi. The response by the surviving Guangxi Clique was to establish an anti-Chiang Kai-Shek coalition on May 5th. They dispatched a telegram calling upon everyone to join them and initiated an offensive first aimed at Guangdong. By the 15th, Feng Yuxiang heeded the call, and began discussing how the Guominjun might send troops to attack Chiang Kai-Shek. However Feng Yuxiangs colleagues, Han Fuyu and Shi Yousan urged Feng Yuxiang not to do so. Then Chiang Kai-Shek offered Feng Yuxiang the position as president of the Executive committee, control over Hubei and Hunan if he continued to support him and send forces against the Guangxi rebels. Feng Yuxiang superficially agreed to Chiang Kai-Sheks request, mobilizing his forces between Henan and Hubei. While this looked like he was helping Chiang Kai-Shek, in reality he was eagerly waiting in the shadows for Chiang Kai-Shek and the Guangxi clique forces to weaken so he might pounce upon Wuhan. By mid May Guangxi's troops began entering Guangdong from two directions, easily overwhelming he Guangdong Provincial army, and marched into Guangzhou. Chiang Kai-SHek mobilized further armies in Hunan, Yunnan and Guizhou to invade Guangxi. This soon saw major battle break out in the Baimu region, ultimately dislodging the Guangxi troops from Guangdong and back into Guangxi. However, simultaneously, the Guangxi forces advanced on the front lines in Guilin and Liuzhou, defeating the Xiangjun, Qijun, and Qijun troops. In the same month, in Hunan, a significant push was made from Shonan to Guilin; meanwhile, Chen Guangdong's forces attacked Zhaoqing from Wuzhou, He County, and Guizhou's Dushan County, ultimately seizing Liuzhou. Chiang Kai-shek quickly mobilized forces led by Li Mingrui, Yu Zuobai, and the old Guangxi clique army under Yang Tenghui to move south towards Guangdong and west to attack Guangxi. Thanks to the strong efforts of these forces, they swiftly captured Wuzhou and Guiping. Wei Yunwei abandoned the city, and the Guangxi forces were unable to sustain the fight. Guangxi Province was attacked from three fronts, with enemy forces advancing from Longzhou. By June, Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, and Huang Shaoxiong had fallen. Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, and others fled to Hong Kong, Sai Kung, Haiphong, and other locations. On June 27, Li Mingrui and his troops entered Nanning. The new Guangxi clique was defeated, and Chiang appointed Li Mingrui, Yu Zuopeng, and Yang Tenghui to govern Guangxi Province. The war concluded with Chiang's victory. What became known as the Chiang-Gui War had lasted for 3 months and ended in victory for Chiang Kai-Shek. It was a severe blow to the Guangxi Clique, though not a fatal one. The Guangxi clique leaders had lost considerable power, but those like Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi would return to cause further trouble.  Victory would be short lived however. As Feng Yuxiang arrayed his forces between Henan and Hubei hoping to pounce on Wuhan at the right moment, Chiang Kai-Shek defeated the Guangxi clique far too quickly. Feng Yuxiang's opportunity was lost and he became extremely bitter over this. Knowing full well what Feng Yuxiang had been planning to do, Chiang Kai-Shek mobilized forces in Shandong and Henan to suppress the Guominjun.  Feng Yuxiang then declared himself commander in chief of the Northwest National salvation army, officially joining the anti-Chiang Kai-Shek cause. Chiang Kai-Shek then bribed Generals Han Fuju and Shi Yousan to defect over to his side greatly hurting Feng Yuxiang. Chiang Kai-Shek also unleashed propaganda warfare accusing Feng Yuxiang of sabotaging the revolution, being treasonous, trying to obstruct the unification of China and such. On May 23rd, the KMT central committee removed Feng Yuxiang from all of his posts and permanently expelled him from the party. Two days later Chiang Kai-Shek personally called Feng Yuxiang, asking him to go into exile abroad and hand over his remaining forces. Completely isolated politically and militarily, Feng Yuxiang sent a nationwide telegram on the 27th expressing his resignation. In order to mitigate Chiang Kai-Shek's advances, and in order to see if he could gain an alliance, Feng Yuxiang took his family to Shanxi on June 21st, claiming to the nation he was about to go abroad. Instead he had Yan Xishan place him under house arrest within the Jinci Temple at Jian'an village.  Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan were not friends by any measure. But they were quick to reach an understanding. The two Warlords made a formidable combination and had similar attributes. Both were strongmen, with firmly loyal and affection forces. Feng Yuxiang had his theatrical Christian values and rustic simplicity. Yan Xishan had this record of being a just man of the people. Both understood their names combined would see many join their cause. They named their coalition the Peoples Army.Yan Xishan then joined Feng Yuxiang to publicly label Chiang Kai-Shek a dictator. Despite the energy and charisma, what the two men lacked as a brilliant political mind, and suddenly Wang Jingwei came out of the woodwork. Wang Jingwei joined their coalition, obviously hoping to get revenge and dethrone Chiang Kai-Shek. He supplied them with loftier motives and more stylish vocabulary. Together they publicly accused Chiang Kai-Shek of departing from the original spirit of the revolution; that he was the scourge of democracy; nothing more than a military man who sought to seize the power of government. Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren bandwagoned and it seemed a large part of China was becoming very anti-Chiang Kai-Shek. After this a “telegraph war: erupted for over a month. Yan Xishan demanded the currently KMT government step down so he and Wang Jingwei could lead a reorganization, implementing proper votes by all party members to determine the party's policies going forward in a more fair manner. Chiang Kai-Shek responded he was willing to step aside for Yan Xishan but not Wang Jingwei. Then Chiang Kai-Shek bribed Yan Xishan with 12.5 million dollars of foreign currency if he backed down. To make matters more complicated, during all of this, Feng Yuxiang sent a secret message with his subordinate Lu Zhonglin to forces in Shaanxi asking them to send people to contact Chiang Kai-Shek. He did this deliberately, making sure Yan Xishan found the note and of course suspected him of being in league with Chiang Kai-Shek. Some real game of thrones shit. It seems Feng Yuxiang pulled a big brain move, because Yan Xishan under the belief Feng Yuxiang was colluding with Chiang Kai-SHek, then publicly claimed he was the commander in chief of the anti-Chiang Kai-Shek coalition and that his deputy commanders were Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren and Zhang Xueliang. So, it seems Feng Yuxiang had dragged Yan Xishan to be binded to the cause because perhaps he knew Chiang Kai-Shek was trying to bribe and divide them?  On February 23, under the leadership of Yan Xishan, 45 generals including Feng Yuxiang , Li Zongren, Zhang Fakui, He Jian, Han Fuju, Shi Yousan, and Yang Hucheng jointly sent a telegram demanding a "general vote of all party members to establish a unified party." On February 27, 1930, Yan Xishan personally visited Feng Yuxiang in Jian'an Village, where they apparently hugged each other and cried, saying to each other: "We live and die together, share hardships, and fight against Chiang until the end" Then they  pledged their blood to form an alliance. Very theatrical. The next morning Yan Xishan hosted a banquet for Feng Yuxiangs family where 34 representatives joined the anti-chiang kai-shek coalition. This became known as the Taiyuan conference. On March 1st the coalition sent officials into 19 provinces and cities including Peiping, Nanking, Guangzhou and overseas to attack Chiang Kai-Shek. They stated "If Chiang refuses to give up, the revolutionary forces will be increasingly destroyed by him. I sincerely hope that our compatriots and comrades throughout the country will , rise up together and eliminate the thieves together.". That sam month the Nanking government held their third plenary session where they expelled Wang Jingwei officially from the party. Yan Xishan then called Chiang Kai-Shek asking him personally to step down. On March 15th, 57 generals from the former 2nd, 3rd and 4th NRA armies sent representatives to Taiyaun to discuss the anti-chiang movement. There they listed 6 crimes Chiang Kai-Shek had committed and promoted Yan Xishan to officially be the commander in chief of the army, navy and air forces of a new Republic of China. Li Zongren, Feng Yuxiang and Zhang Xueliang would be his deputy commanders. Yan Xishan's army moved into the government offices in Peiping where KMT forces were disarmed. In April 1st, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang and Li Zongren announced the inauguration in Taiyuan, Tongguan and Guiping of their anti-chiang army, however one name was not present, that of Zhang Xueliang. 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. After performing the Northern expedition and finally reunifying China it took all but…what just over a year for it to collapse? It really seemed most of China hand banded together against the Generalissimo, but he was no fool and had planned accordingly. The anti-Chiang Kai-shek coalition would find themselves in a war they may very well lose. 

Last time we spoke about the Guangzhou, Gansu and Red Spear Uprisings. During China's Warlord Era, the CCP faced many challenges as they sought to implement land revolutions and armed uprisings. Following the Nanchang and Autumn Harvest uprisings, the CCP held an emergency meeting criticizing Chen Duxiu for his appeasement of the KMT right wing. With strong encouragement from Soviet advisors, the CCP planned a major uprising to seize control of Guangdong province. In November 1927, the CCP saw an opportunity as petty warlords in Guangdong and Guangxi engaged in conflict. Zhang Fakui's troops, vulnerable and demoralized, were targeted by the CCP. Mobilizing workers and peasants, the CCP initiated the Guangzhou Uprising. The uprising was ultimately suppressed by superior NRA troops, resulting in heavy CCP casualties and brutal reprisals. The failed uprisings, though unable to achieve immediate goals, ignited a persistent revolutionary spirit within the CCP, marking the beginning of a prolonged civil conflict that would shape China's future.   #121 The Sino-Soviet Conflict of 1929 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. All the way back in 1919, the brand new Soviet government's assistance Commissar of foreign affairs, Lev Karakhan, issued a manifesto to the Beiyang government, promising the return of the Chinese Eastern Railway at zero financial cost. That statement was made in late July and alongside the railway, he also mentioned relinquishing a lot of rights the former Russian Empire had acquired from unequal treaties, such as the Boxer Protocol. This all became known as the Karakhan Manifesto, and it was formed in a time when the Soviets were fighting the Russian Civil War, advancing east into Siberia. In order to secure the war in Siberia the Soviets had to establish good relations with the Chinese. Yet six months after the july manifesto, Karakhan personally handed over a second version of said manifesto, one that did not influence the rather nice deal of handing over the Chinese eastern railway for free. The Soviets official statement was that they had accidentally promised the deal prior. The truth of the matter was some real politik work at play. The Soviets had been trying to secure a Sino-Soviet alliance against the Japanese, but it looked to them it would never come to be so they simply took the deal off the table.  Henceforth the issue cause a lot of friction. In March of 1920 the Fengtian forces disarmed White Russian Troops along the railway and seized control over its operations. In February of 1922 China and the USSR signed a agreement stipulating the Beiyang government would set up a special agency to manage the railway. Then in November the Chinese announced an area within 11 km along the railway would be designated a Eastern Province special district. In December the Soviet Union officially formed and by May the two nations agreed to settle a list of issues. The Soviets agreed to abolish all the unequal treaties formed by the Russian Empire handing over all the leased territories, consular jurisdiction, extraterritoriality, Boxer payments and such, but the Chinese Eastern Railway would be jointly managed by China and the USSR. Now since the railway sat in the area that Zhang Zuolin came to control, in September of 1924 the Soviets signed an agreement with the Fengtian clique. In this agreement, the Soviets lessened the 80 year lease over the railway to 60 years. The Soviets also promised to hand full control to Chinese administrators, but had a trick up their sleeve. The Soviets let the Chinese think they were adding workers and officials loyal to them, in reality the Soviets were creating more jobs on the railway while hiring Soviet workers. In the end the Soviets controlled roughly 67% of the key positions. When Zhang Zuolin went to war with Feng Yuxiang's Guominjun this changed things considerably. In December of 1925, Zhang Zuolin's army owed the Chinese eastern railway some 14 million rubles, prompting the Soviet administrator over the railway, Ivanov to prohibit Zhang Zuolin's army from using it. Fengtian commander Zhang Huanxiang simply arrested Ivanov disregarding his ban. The Soviets then sent an ultimatum to the Beiyang government demanding his release. So Zhang Zuolin ran to the Japanese to mediate. Things smoothed over until 1928 when the Huanggutun incident saw Zhang Zuolin assassinated. As we saw at the end of the northern expedition, his son Zhang Xueliang responded by raising the KMT flag on December 29th of 1928, joining Chiang Kai-Shek. The next day Zhang Xueliang was made commander in chief of the Northeast.  Now Chiang Kai-Shek's government had broken diplomatic relations with the USSR after the Shanghai massacre purge. Thus Zhang Xueliang felt the old treaties signed by his father with the Soviets were null and void and looked upon the Chinese Eastern Railway enviously. To give some context outside of China. At this point in time, the USSR was implementing rural collectivization, ie; the confiscation of land and foodstuffs. This led to wide scale conflict with peasants, famines broke out, I would say the most well known one being the Holodmor in Ukraine. Hundreds of millions of people starved to death. The USSR was also still not being recognized by many western powers. Thus from the perspective of Zhang Xueliang, it looked like the USSR were fraught with internal and external difficulties, they had pretty much no friends, so taking the railway would probably be a walk in the park.  Zhang Xueliang began diplomatically, but negotiations were going nowhere, so he got tougher. He ordered his officials to take back control over the Chinese Eastern Railway zone police, municipal administration, taxation, land, everything. He instructed Zhang Jinghui, the governor of Harbin's special administrative zone to dispatch military police to search the Soviet embassy in Harbin and arrest the consul general. Zhang Jinghui did so and closed the Soviet consulates in Harbin, Qiqihar and Hailar. All of this of course pissed off the Soviets who responded by protesting the new Nanjing government, demanding the release of their people, while increasing troops to the border of Manchuria. The Soviets announced they were willing to reduce their control over the railway as a concession. This entire situation became known as the May 27th incident and unleashed a tit for tat situation. On July 13th, the Soviets sent an ultimatum giving three days for a response "If a satisfactory answer is not obtained, the Soviet government will be forced to resort to other means to defend all the rights of the Soviet Union." On the 17th the Soviets recalled their officials, cut off the railway traffic between China and the USSR, ejected Chinese envoys from the USSR and cut off diplomatic relations with China. In the background Joseph Stalin was initially hesitating to perform any military actions, not wanting to antagonize the Japanese in Manchuria. However the Soviet consul in Tokyo, sent back word that Japan was completely willing to stay out of any conflict if the Soviets limited it to just northern Manchuria. Thus Stalin decided to act. On August 6th, Stalin formed the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army under the command of General Vasily Blyukher. It was composed of three infantry divisions; the 1st Pacific Infantry Division, the 2nd Amur Infantry Division, and the 35th Trans-Baikal Infantry Division), one cavalry brigade (the 5th Kuban Cavalry Brigade), and the addition of the Buryat Mongolian Independent Cavalry Battalion. The total force was said to be as many as 30,000 with their headquarters located in Khabarovsk. Blyukher also had the support of the Far Eastern Fleet, roughly 14 shallow water heavy gunboats, a minesweeper detachment, an aviation detachment with 14 aircraft, and a marine battalion commanded by Yakov Ozolin. Blyukher had served during the civil war and was a military advisor in China attached to Chiang Kai-SHek's HQ. He had a large hand to play in the northern expedition, and was one of the select Soviets Chiang Kai-Shek intentionally made sure got home safe during the purge. Blyukher would exercises a unusual amount of autonomy with his far east command, based out of Khabarovsk. For the upcoming operation a 5th of the entire Red Army was mobilized to assist. On the other side Zhang Xueliang mobilized as many troops as he could, including many White Russians hiding out in Manchuria. His total strength on paper was 270,000, but only 100,000 would be actively facing the Soviets as the rest were needed to maintain public order and to defend southern Manchuria. The person in charge of the Eastern Line of the Chinese Eastern Railway was the brigade commander of the Jilin Army, Ding Chao, and the western line was the brigade commander of the Heilongjiang Army, Liang Zhongjia, and the chief of staff was Zhang Wenqing. Wang Shuchang led the First Army to guard the eastern line, and Hu Yukun led the Second Army to guard the western line. The Soviet army also had a quality advantage in equipment. In terms of artillery, the Soviet army had about 200 artillery pieces, including more than a dozen heavy artillery pieces, while the Chinese army had only 135 infantry artillery pieces and no heavy artillery. At the same time, the Soviet army also had a quality advantage in machine guns because it was equipped with 294 heavy machine guns and 268 highly mobile light machine guns. The Chinese army was equipped with only 99 heavy machine guns. In terms of air force, the Chinese army had 5 aircraft that were combat effective. On July 26th the Soviets bombarded Manzhouli from three directions along the western end of the Chinese Eastern Railway. Two days later a Soviet infantry regiment, 3 armored vehicles and 4 artillery pieces advanced to Shibali station, cutting the lines to Manzhouli. They then ordered the Chinese military and police to withdraw as they captured Manzhouli. Then on the 29th the began bombarding Dangbi. On August 8th, 100 Soviet troops carrying two artillery pieces and 3 machine guns engaged Chinese forces outside the south gate of Oupu County street, casualties were heavy for both sides. 5 Soviet aircraft circled over Suifenhe City firing 200 rounds and dropping bombs over the Dongshan Army defense post and Sandaodongzi. The next day 40 Soviet soldiers established two checkpoints at Guzhan blocking traffic and they even began kidnapping civilians. That same day 300 Soviet soldiers and two gunboats occupied the Hujiazhao factory. On the 12th, Sanjianfang, Zhongxing and Lijia's Oil Mill were occupied by over 2000 Soviet troops. Meanwhile 80 Soviets amphibiously assaulted Liuhetun using 8 small boats, killing its defenders before returning to the other side. The next day two Soviet gunboats, 300 marines and 2 aircraft attacked Suidong county in Heilongjiang province while another force attacked Oupu county with artillery. On the morning of the 14th both counties fell. In response the Nanjing government dispatched Liu Guang, the chief of the military department to inspect the Northeast front. On the 15th Zhang Xueliang issued mobilization orders against the USSR, seeing his standing front line forces bolstered to 100,000. On the 15th the foreign minister of the Nanjing government, Wang Zhengting reported to Chiang Kai-Shek negotiations were going nowhere, the Soviets were adamant about getting their rights returned over the Chinese Eastern Railways. The next day, Wang Zhenting told reporters that if the Soviets attacked anymore China would declare war. The next day Zhang Xueliang was interviewed by the Chicago Daily News and had this to say. "The Soviet Union disregarded international trust, trampled on the non-war pact, and rashly sent troops to invade our country. We respect the non-war pact and have repeatedly made concessions to show our responsibility for provoking the provocation. If the Russian side continues to advance, we will be willing to be the leader of the war, so we have prepared everything and will do our best to fight to the death."  On the 16th two Soviet infantry companies and one cavalry company attacked Zhalannur from Abagaitu along the border. The two sides fought for 2 hours until the Soviets stormed the Zhalannur station. After another 5 hours of combat the Soviets pulled back over the border. By this point enough was enough. China declared war on August 17th escalating what was an incident around the Chinese Eastern Railway zone into a full blown war.  Blyukher had developed a plan for an offensive consisting of two rapid operations. The first would be against the Chinese naval forces and the second against the ground forces via a large encirclement. After the war was declared on the 17th, the Soviet Army advanced into Manchuria from the western end of the Chinese Eastern Railway. The Red Banner Special Far Eastern Army initially dispatched a total of 6,091 infantrymen and 1,599 artillerymen in front of Manchuria, equipped with 88 artillery pieces of 76.2 mm or above, excluding artillery belonging to infantry regiments, 32 combat aircraft, 3 armored trains, and 9 T-18 light tanks . The army units included: the 35th and 36th Infantry Divisions of the 18th Infantry Army; the 5th Cavalry Brigade; the Buryat Mongolian Cavalry Battalion; an independent tank company equipped with T-18 tanks, the 6th Aviation Detachment, the 25th Aviation Detachment, the 26th Bomber Squadron, the 18th Army Artillery Battalion, the 18th Engineering Battalion, and a Railway Battalion.  The first battle broke out around Manzhouli. Liang Zhongjia, the brigade commander stationed in Manzhouli, reported this to his superiors of the engagement “of the battle situation, the 38th and 43rd regiments under my command fought with a regiment of Soviet infantry and cavalry for 4 hours in the afternoon and are still in a standoff. The Soviet army has more than one division of troops near Abagaitu”. At 10:30 p.m. on the 18th, the Soviets began to attack the positions of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 43rd Regiment of the Northeastern Army in Zhalannur. At 1 p.m. on August 19, the Soviets added about 600 to 700 troops opposite the positions of the 43rd Regiment of Zhalannur. At 5 a.m the Soviets dispatched five aircraft from Abagaitu to Shibali Station. On the 19th, the Soviets captured Suibin County with ease. At 6 a.m. on the 20th, the Soviets used armored trains to transport more than 200 troops to attack the 10th Cavalry Regiment of Liang Zhongjia's troops. After fighting for about an hour, the Soviets retreated. On the 23rd a battle broke out in Mishan and on the 25th 400 Soviet cavalry began building fortifications roughly a kilometer near the Chinese 43rd regiment at Zhalannur. Zhang Xueliang spoke again to the Chinese and foreign press on the 25th stating this. "Foreigners have many misunderstandings about the Eastern Province's actions this time, thinking that it is to take back the Eastern Route and violate the treaty. In fact, we have no intention of violating the 1924 Sino-Russian Agreement or the Agreement with Russia, because China has signed it and has no intention of violating it. China has no intention of taking back the route at all. What it wants is to remove the Russian personnel who are involved in the communist movement. Moreover, in this matter, the Eastern Route is a very small issue. The real point is that the Russians use China as a base for communism, and we have to take measures in self-defense." Between the 28th to the 30th an intense battle broke out at Wangqing.  On the 31st, Soviet gunboats bombarded three garrisons around  Heihe. On September 4th, the Soviet army bombarded the right wing of the 43rd and 38th Regiments stationed in Lannur. At 4 pm on the 9th, a single regiment of the Soviet army, under the cover of artillery, launched a fierce attack on the Chinese army at Manzhouli Station from the Shibali Station, but by 8:30 pm, they pulled back. At 4 pm, 8 Soviet aircraft bombed Suifenhe Station, causing over 50 Chinese casualties and injured a regimental commander. On the night of the 16th, more than 100 Soviet troops attacked the Kukdoboka checkpoint in Lubin County and burned down the checkpoint. On the 18th, the Soviet government announced to the ambassadors of various countries that they had always advocated for a peaceful solution to the issue of the Chinese Eastern Railway, while China's attitude was hypocritical and insincere. It was believed that future negotiations were hopeless, and all previous negotiations mediated by Germany were terminated. From now on, they stated quote “the Soviet Union would not bear any responsibility for any ominous incidents caused on the Sino-Russian border”. With negotiations completely broken down, Blyukher was given the greenlight to launch a fatal blow.  On October 2, more than a thousand Soviet infantryman, supported by aircraft and artillery stormed the positions of the 3rd Battalion of the 38th Regiment in Manzhouli. The two sides fought until the morning of the 3rd. On the 4th Zhang Xueiliang drafted the “national volunteer army organization regulations letter” trying to embolden the population stating "when the foreigners invade the border, the first thing to do is to resist. All citizens or groups who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the country on the battlefield will be volunteers or volunteer soldiers." The new regulations stipulated that volunteers of this new group would be named as the National Volunteer Army. On October the 10th, 30,000 Soviet forces on the Baikal side advanced through the northeastern border of China. At this time, the brigade responsible for defending Liang Zhongjia had been fighting with the Soviet troops for dozens of days. There was no backup and they were in urgent need of help. According to Chinese observations, the Soviets deployed nearly 80,000 troops by land, sea and air on the Sino-Soviet border. Along the eastern front, the Soviets capture in succession Sanjiangkou, Tongjiang and Fujin. Meanwhile at 5am on the 12th the Far Eastern Fleet commanded engaged in a firefight with the Songhua River Defense Fleet, near Sanjiangkou. According to Chinese reconnaissance, the Soviet warships participating in the battle included: the flagship "Sverdlov" a shallow-water heavy gunboat led by Sgassk, the shallow-water heavy gunboat "Sun Yat-sen", the shallow-water heavy gunboat "Red East", the shallow-water heavy gunboat "Lenin", the inland gunboat "Red Flag", and the inland gunboat "Proletariat", with a total of 4 152mm cannons, 26 120mm cannons, 6 85mm anti-aircraft guns, 8 37mm anti-aircraft guns, and more than ten aircraft for support. The Chinese forces were led by Yin Zuogan who commanded six shallow-water gunboats, including the "Lijie" (flagship), "Lisui", "Jiangping", "Jiang'an", and "Jiangtai", and the "Dongyi" armed barge as a towed artillery platform. Except for the "Jiangheng" of 550 tons and the "Liji" of 360 tons, the rest were all below 200 tons, and the entire fleet had 5 120mm guns. In the ensuing battle the Jiangping, Jiang'an, Jiangtai, Lijie, and Dongyi, were sunk, and the Lisui ship was seriously injured and forced to flee back to Fujin.The Chinese side claimed that they damaged two Soviet ships, sunk one, and shot down two fighter planes; but according to Soviet records, five Soviet soldiers were killed and 24 were injured.  At the same time as the naval battle around Sanjiangkou, two Soviet gunboats covered four armed ships, the Labor, Karl Marx, Mark Varyakin, and Pavel Zhuravlev, carrying a battalion of more than 400 people from the 2nd Infantry Division Volochaev Regiment, landing about 5 kilometers east of Tongjiang County and attacking the Chinese military station there. The Northeast Marine Battalion guarding the area and the Meng Zhaolin Battalion of the 9th Army Brigade jointly resisted and repelled the Soviet's initial attack. The Chinese suffered heavy losses, with more than 500 officers and soldiers killed and wounded, and more than 70 people including the Marine Battalion Captain Li Runqing captured.  On the 14th, the Chinese sank 6 tugboats, 2 merchant ships and 2 warships in the waterway 14 kilometers downstream of Fujin, forming a blockade line; and set up solid artillery positions and a 13-kilometer-long bunker line nearby, destroying all bridges on the road from Tongjiang to Fujin. A battle broke out at Tongjiang and according to the the report of Shen Honglie “the Northeast Navy suffered more than 500 casualties (including marines), 4 warships were sunk, 1 was seriously damaged, and the "Haijun" gunboat (45 tons) was captured by the Soviet army and renamed "Pobieda"; 17 officers including the battalion commander Meng Zhaolin and 350 soldiers of the army were killed; the Chinese side announced that 2 Soviet planes were shot down (some sources say 1), 3 Soviet warships were sunk, 4 were damaged, and more than 300 casualties”. On the 18th, the Soviets completely withdrew from the Tongjiang, allowing the two regiments of Lu Yongcai and Zhang Zuochen of the 9th Brigade to recapture it. On the 30th, Admiral Ozolin led some Soviet land forces in a major attack in the Fujian area. He organized the troops under his jurisdiction into two groups. He led the first group personally, who were supported by heavy gunboats Red East, Sun Yat-Sen and gunboats Red Flag, Proletarian, Buryat, minelayer Powerful and the armored boat Bars. Their mission was to annihilate the remnants of the river defense fleet anchored in Fujin. The second group was commanded by Onufryev, the commander of the Soviet 2nd infantry division. His group consisted of the shallow-water heavy gunboat Serdlov, gunboat Pauper and the transport fleets steam carrying the Volochaev Regiment and the 5th Amur regiment who landed at Fujin.  On the other side the Chinese had concentrated two infantry brigades, 3 cavalry regiments and a team of police with the support of the gunboats Jiangheng,  Lisui, Liji and the tugboat Lichuan. At 9 am on the 31st, the 7 Soviet ships suddenly destroyed the river blocking ropes and entered the Fujin River bank, bombarding the Chinese army, as cavalry landed. The Chinese ships "Lisui" and "Lichuan" sank successively, and only the "Jiangheng" managed to participate in the battle, but soon sank after firing only three shots. At 7 pm 21 Soviet ships sailed up the Songhua River, as part of the cavalry landed at Tuziyuan, advancing step by step towards Fujin. At 9 pm 7 Soviet ships approached the Fujin River bank, with roughly 700 infantry, cavalry and artillery soldiers of the 2nd Amur Infantry Division landed. The Chinese army collapsed without a fight, retreating to Huachuan, and by11am, Fujin county was occupied. Chinese sources reported “the Soviet army burned down the civil and military institutions separately and destroyed all the communication institutions. They distributed all the flour from the Jinchang Fire Mill to the poor, and plundered all the weapons, ammunition and military supplies." On the evening of November 1, the Soviet infantry, cavalry and artillery withdrew from the east gate. On the morning of the 2nd, the Soviet ships withdrew one after another. According to Soviet records, nearly 300 Chinese soldiers were killed in this battle, with thousands captured, while the Soviet army only lost 3 people and injured 11 people . The Chinese Songhua River fleet was completely destroyed, and 9 merchant ships were captured. In early November, the weather in the north became freezing cold, leading the rivers to freeze. Soviet warships retreated back to Khabarovsk, and their infantry and cavalry also returned by land. The war on the Eastern Front was basically over.  As for the western front, the main battlefields revolved around Manzhouli and Zhalannur. Since August 1929, conflicts here continued, a lot of back and forth stuff. The soviets would storm the areas and pull out. Yet in November, the war in the west escalated.  The commander of the Soviet Trans-Baikal Group, was Stepan Vostrezov, wielding the 21st, 35th and 36th infantry divisions, the 5th Cavalry Brigade, 331 heavy machine guns, 166 light machine guns, 32 combat aircraft, 3 armored trains, 58 light artillery, 30 heavy artillery, 9 T-18 ultra-light tanks, amongst other tanks. The Chinese side had about 16,000 people. There would be three major battles : the Battle of Zhallanur, the Battle of Manzhouli, and the Battle of Hailar. On November the 16th, the Soviets unleashed a large-scale offensive, tossing  nearly 40,000 troops, 400 artillery pieces, 40 tanks and 30 aircraft against the western front. At 11pm the Soviets crossed over the border. At 3am on the 17th the 5th Kuban Cavalry Brigade set out from Abagaitui, followed by the 35th Infantry Division who crossed the frozen surface of the Argun River, hooking around the rear of the Chinese garrison in Zhalannur along the east bank of the Argun River. At 7am Soviet aircraft began bombing the western front. The Chinese garrison headquarters, tram house, 38th Regiment building, and military police station were all bombed, and the radio station was also damaged. At noon, the Binzhou Railway was cut off 10-12 kilometers east of the city, and Zhalannur was attacked. Supported by 8 T-18 tanks and fighter planes, they attacked Zhalannur several times. On the morning of the 18th, the Soviet 5th Cavalry Brigade launched an attack against the 7,000-man 17th Brigade of the Chinese Army guarding Zhalannur. At 1pm on the 18th the Zhalannur Station and the Coal Mine was occupied by the Soviet army. The Chinese defenders, Brigadier Han Guangdi and Commander Zhang Linyu, were killed in action. More than half of the brigade officers and soldiers were killed and more than a thousand were captured. After capturing Zhalannur the Soviets concentrated their forces against Manzhouli. On the 19th, 7 T-18s supported the 108th Infantry Regiment of the Soviet 36th Division to attack Manzhouli from the east and west. Artillery pounded the city, before it was stormed. The 15th Brigade of the Chinese Army guarding the area was quickly surrounded by the Soviet army. Brigade Commander Liang Zhongjia and Chief of Staff Zhang Wenqing, alongside nearly 250 officers, fled to the Japanese consulate and surrendered to the Soviet army on the 20th. According to Soviet records, in the battles of Zhalannur and Manzhouli, over 1,500 Chinese soldiers were killed and more than 9,000 were captured, while the Soviet side lost 143 people, 665 were wounded and 4 were missing. Additionally 30 Chinese artillery pieces and 2 armored trains were captured by the Soviet army. The Soviets claimed that Chinese troops from Lake Khinkai were attacking Iman, modern day Dalnerechensk. In the name of self-defense, the Soviets began bombing Mishan on November 17 and mobilized  the Soviet Primorsky State Army and the 1st Pacific Rifle Infantry Division. The 1st Pacific Division and the 9th Independent Cavalry Brigade advanced towards Mishan, 40 kilometers from the border. Soviet records showed that during this battle the Chinese army suffered more than 1,500 casualties and 135 prisoners. The Soviets seized 6 machine guns, 6 mortars, 500 horses, 6 mortars, 200 horses and a large number of confidential documents. On November 23rd, 12 Soviet aircraft bombed Hailar, before capturing the city the next day.  By late November the Chinese had suffered something in the ballpark of 10,000 casualties along various fronts and an enormous amount of their equipment was taken by the Soviets. The Chinese officially reported 2000 deaths, 1000 wounded with more than 8000 captured. The Soviets reported 812 deaths, 665 wounded with under 100 missing. The Japanese had actually been quite the thorn for the Chinese during the war. They had intentionally barred Chinese forces from advancing north through their South Manchurian Railway zone, a large hindrance. Likewise the Kwantung army stationed in Liaoning were mobilizing, giving the impression they would exploit the situation at any moment.  In the face of quite a catastrophic and clear defeat, Nanjing's ministry of foreign affairs tossed a cease fire demand asking for foreign mediation. By December 3rd, Britain, France and the US asked both sides to stop the war so they could mediate a peace. The USSR rejected the participation of a third nation and suggested they could negotiate with China mono e mono. Zhang Xueliang accepted the proposal, dispatching Cai Yunsheng quickly to Shuangchengzi who signed an armistice with the Soviet representative Smanovsky. On the 16th real negotiations began and on the 22nd a draft agreement was signed. The draft stipulated both nations would re-cooperate over the Chinese Eastern Railway and that the Red Army would pull out of Manchuria as soon as both sides exchanged prisoners and officials. Thus the entire incident was resolved after humiliating China. While this all seemed completely needless, perhaps not significant, don't forget, the Japanese were watching it all happen in real time, taking notes, because they had their own ideas about 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. And so the Soviets and brand new Nationalist Republic of China went to war over, honestly a petty squabble involving railway rights and earnings. It was a drop in the bucket for such a war torn nation and only further embarrassed it on the world stage. Yet the Soviets might not be the foreign nation China should be looking out for. 

Last time we spoke about the Nanchang and Autumn Harvest Uprisings. On August 1st, during the Nanchang Uprising, the CCP's 2nd Front Army inflicted heavy casualties and seized substantial weaponry. Reorganized under He Long and Ye Ting, the army, then 20,000 strong, celebrated in Nanchang, attracting new recruits. However, faced with an imminent counterattack, they retreated south in what became known as the "little long march." Despite initial successes, like capturing Huichang County, internal strife and harsh conditions reduced their numbers significantly. By the end of August, they reached Guangdong, but relentless opposition from Nationalist forces led to severe losses. The remaining forces retreated east, encountering brutal battles and a final, devastating defeat. Scattered, the remnants sought refuge and eventually regrouped, with leaders like Zhou Enlai and He Long navigating exile and adversity. The uprising marked the CCP's first armed resistance against the KMT, a prelude to continued revolutionary efforts, notably the Autumn Harvest Uprising, amid widespread, strategic shifts in CCP policy and leadership, including Mao Zedong's influential role.   #120 The Guangzhou, Gansu and Red Spear Uprisings 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. Last we left off the Nanchang and Autumn Harvest uprisings saw mixed to….lets be honest kind of lackluster results. Both certainly saw their hardships for the passionate people involved. Countless gave their lives for a cause they truly believed in. This was China's warlord era, so many differing groups made grand promises for bright futures, such as warlords, the KMT and of course the CCP. The CCP having undergone the White Terror, now sought to unleash their own independent revolution, now released by the shackles of the KMT.  On the 7th the CCP Central Committee held an emergency meeting, where Chen Duxiu was criticized for his appeasement of the KMT right wing. It was also during this meeting, the CCP formalized how they would go about implementing a land revolution and armed uprisings. The CCP then received strong suggestions from Joseph Stalin, that they should unleash a major uprising to seize control over a province, hinting at performing such a deed in Guangzhou in the hopes of taking Guangdong. In accordance the head of the CCP Qu Qiubai decided they needed to persuade soldiers to their cause to perform such a thing. Many within the CCP leadership did not support such plans, deeming the chance of winning control over a province to be highly unlikely, but their Soviet advisors were strongly pushing for it.   On the 20th Zhang Tailei, the secretary of the Guangdong CCP provincial committee, discussed plans for a provincial wide uprising. They would mobilize the workers and peasants to hold riots in key locations within Guangdong, particularly Guangzhou. The ultimate plan was to seize Guangdong by establishing uprising committees in Beijiang, Xijiang and Guangzhou. In early October the Nanchang uprising suffered tremendous losses at Chao'an and Shantou. This setback changed the minds of those seeking to seize all of Guangdong and instead they directed their efforts to mobilizing workers in Guangzhou to carry out political and economic struggles. On November 17th within Guangdong and Guangxi, petty warlords began a little war. This was between the KMT aligned warlords Zhang Fakui and Li Jishen. The CCP Central Committee believed this little war was a major opportunity and jumped to exploit it.  Zhang Fakui was vulnerable in particular. He was colluding with Wang Jingwei at the time, his primary job was to eliminate the pervading influence of the CCP in the Guangzhou area. Zhang Fakui's troops continuously rounded up suspected communists and kept a close eye on the Soviet consulate at all times. Zhang Fakui's troops were more or less brutalizing the common people, not a tasteful job by any means and one that demoralized them. It was because of this the CCP knew they might be able to win over some of his troops to their side. The CCP played upon the low standard of living and economic instability of warlord era China, hoping to appeal to the masses for a Soviet communist style system rather than what the KMT proposed. Here is a taste of some of the slogans they wrote on placards and proclaimed in major city centers: Raise the Soldiers' Pay to 20 Silver Dollars! Food for the Workers! Land to the Tillers! Knock Down the KMT and the Warlords! Kill All the Country Bullies and the Evil Landlords! Confiscate the Capitalists' Homes and Give Them to the Rebel Masses! All Authority to the Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers! They passed the “resolution of the Guangdong work plan”, this would require the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee to expand some riots using workers and peasants within the cities and villages; incite soldiers to mutiny and resist the war and hopefully direct all said into a general riot to seize power. They would first begin by mobilizing farmers to refuse to pay winter rent and riot if they could. On November 26th, Zhang Tailei went to Guangzhou from Hong Kong covertly and convened a secret meeting with CPP members there. During these meetings it was decided they would take advantage of Zhang Fakui troops, who were currently very demoralized from fighting battles they honestly wanted nothing to do with. Within Guangzhou was the 4th army teaching corps and part of the guards corps amongst smaller CCP militia groups. Zhang Tailei would act as chairman, Huang Ping and Zhou Wenyong would all lead the uprising. After the meeting Zhang Tailei and the others went to the Teaching Corps and Guards Corps to mobilize them, as well as begin training some worker Red Guards who formed into 7 regiments and 2 death squads with Zhou Wengyong as their commander in chief. The Fourth army teaching corps was reorganized from a KMT political school with Ye Jianying as their leader. In early December, Comintern agent Heinz Neumann arrived in Guangdong, to add the uprising. Its said he had a large influence on the committee and took a leading role in what happened. Ye Jianying formed a communist infiltrated cadet regiment roughly 1200 men strong, that would form the core of their army. Added to this was an ad-hoc Red Guard of about 2000 armed workers. On December 6th the Guangdong Provincial Committee chaired by Zhang Tailei approved a declaration and letter to the people as well as made arrangements for the establishment of a Soviet government in Guangzhou. They had decided to enact the uprising on December 12th. In the meantime the headquarters and staff for the uprising were established, Ye Ting would be commander in chief and Ye Jianying would be his deputy. On the eve of the uprising, Wang Jingwei and Zhang Fakui both became aware of the impending uprising so they immediately began disbanding the teaching units, imposed martial law in Guangzhou and transferred their main forces back to Guangzhou. The CCP found out the jig was up so they unleashed the uprising ahead of schedule on the morning of the 11th.  At 3:30am under the leadership of Zhang Tailei, Ye Ting, Huang Ping, Zhou Wenyong, Ye Jianying and Yang Yin, the entire teaching regiment, part of the guard regiment and the armed worker Red Guards totaling about 5000 people, 2000 of which were the Red Guards, launched a surprise attack upon key points in Guangzhou from several directions. Some Soviets, Koreans and Vietnamese in Guangzhou also were said to participate in the uprising. I read that last one from a single source and I kinda doubt it. In fact evidence suggests the CCP leadership was extremely mixed on this uprising. Commanders Ye Ting, Ye Jiangying and Xu Xiangqian strongly suggested against going through with it, arguing they were too badly armed to have any success, only 2000 of them even had rifles. The CCP began by first seducing troops of Zhang Fakui. The first units to enter the city were the infamous dare-to-die units. As the name suggests, these men were like a suicidal vanguard stormed police stations, seizing their weapons and cars. They also took control over city buses and trucks to spread the incoming Red army units throughout the city as fast as possible. Along the eastern route, under the direct command of Ye Ting the main force quickly defeated an infantry regiment stationed in Shahe, capturing 600 prisoners, numerous small firearms and eliminated an artillery regiment stationed at Yantang. On the middle route, part of the teaching regiment and Red Guards captured the KMT Guangdong Provincial government building sitting on the commanding heights of Guangyin Mountain, known today as Yuexiu Mountain. On the southern route, the 3rd battalion of the Guards regiment and Red Guards attacked the headquarters of the 4th army and their arsenal, but encountered stiff resistance and were unable to capture them. Meanwhile peasants in Fangcun, Xicun and suburbs of Guangzhou launched uprisings with some gaining urban worker cooperation. Within 4 hours of battle the uprising was providing results, excluding the headquarters of the 4th army. The armory, rear office of the 12th division of the 4th army, the police forces and urban area north of the Pearl River was secured. They took control over government buildings, the central bank which at that time had a very large silver reserve and numerous barracks. To suppress any resistance they began grabbing KMT troops who refused to comply and executed them in the streets. They also marked and burnt down the residences of KMT officials. They had eliminated numerous enemies and captured 20 artillery pieces and 1000 small arms. That same day members the new Soviet government of Guangzhou was formed with Su Zhaozheng becoming its chairman. Upon its establishment the Guangzhou Soviet declared a “letter to the people” with decrees.  Meanwhile during the outbreak of hostilities, Chen Gongbo, the chairman of the KMT Guangdong provincial government, Zhang Fakui, Huang Qixiang the commander of the 4th Army and other KMT officials hastily fled to the headquarters of Li Fulin's 5th army stationed over at the Haizhong temple on the south bank of the pearl river. There they ordered the 12th division, the 78th rgiment of the 26th division, the 25th division in Dongjiang and the 1st and 2nd regiment of the 1st training division in Shunde to march upon Gaungzhou. This saw roughly 15,000 NRA troops converging upon the city. On the 12th more than 3 of Zhang Fakui's divisions and part of Li Fulin's 5th army assembled along the south bank of the pearl river with the support of British, American, French and Japanese warships and marines. They prepared a counterattack from the east, west and south. The communists fought desperately against much superior forces in terms of numbers, training and equipment. They suffered heavy losses, including the death of Zhang Tailei. Zhang Fakui's troops arrived one after another gradually surrounding the city. At a critical moment the CCP leadership called for a retreat from the city to preserve the forces they had left. The surviving 1000 Reds fled Guangzhou in the early hours of the 13th whereupon they were reorganized into the 4th Red division. They fled to Huaxian, then Haifeng and Lufegen counties where they joined others performing uprisings in the Dongjiang and Youjiang areas. A few survivors went to Shaoguan, joining survivors of the Nanchang uprising led by Zhu De and Chen Yi. After the KMT secured Guangzhou they carried out a bloody suppression of anyone suspecting of being a communist or sympathetic to the cause. The CCP estimated that perhaps more than 5700 people were killed. The Soviet consulate in Guangzhou was also attacked around 8pm on the 13th. All of its personnel were arrested and according to the testimony of Soviet Consul Pokhvalinsky, diplomats Ukolov and Ivanov “Each of them had a sign tied to their body that read: ‘Russian Communist, anyone can punish him at will.' … Along the way, people threw things at them, hit them, stabbed them with knives, and spit on them.” They both would later be shot, alongside the deputy consul named Hasis. Ye Ting, was scapegoated, purged and blamed for the failure of the Guangzhou uprising, despite the fact he was one of the commanders arguing it should have been called off in the first place. Enraged by how he was treated, Ye Ting fled China and went into exile in Europe. Although the Nanchang, Autumn Harvest and Guangzhou uprisings had all failed to achieve their primary objectives, they did kindle a fire within China. Rather then become demoralized and whither away, the communists pushed even more uprisings and would grow each year. This began what the CCP refers to as the “ten year civil war”, a period that will end in 1936. Now we are going to take a little break from the Chinese Civil War until we hit the early 1930's, but there have been quite a lot of events overshadowed by the Northern Expedition. I of course can't get into everything that was going on in China during the late 1920's, but I thought it be a good idea to at least tackle some of the big ones. If you remember all the way back when I was listing the different warlord cliques, one of them was the Ma clique. Feng Yuxiang's Guominjun had been shoved into the northwest after the Anti-Fengtian war and one province his men began to oversee was Gansu. At the time famine, natural disasters and the forced seizure of farming land for opium cultivation drove the people of Gansu to rebellion. Two Hui Muslim Generals, Ma Zhongying and Ma Tingxiang exploited the situation to perform a revolt against the Guominjun in 1928.  Prior to this, there had been a lot of ethnic/religious fighting within the province of Gansu. An American botanist named James Rock wrote accounts of how he saw fighting between the Hui Muslims ld by the warlord Ma Qi and Tibetan Buddhists at the Labrang Monastery. Back in 1917, Tibetans in Xunhua had rebelled against Ma Anliang because of over taxation. Ma Anliang did not report this to the Beiyang government and was reprimanded for it, seeing Ma Qi sent by the Beiyang government to investigate and suppress the rebellion. Ma Qi commanded the Ninghai Army in Qinghai and used his forces to seize the Labrang Monastery in 1917. This was the first time non-Tibetans had taken the monastery. Because of this ethnic/religious riots broke out between Muslims and Tibetans seeing Ma Qi defeat the Tibetans. Afterwards he heavily taxed the town of Labrang for over 8 years and repeatedly quelled uprisings. In 1921 he crushed Tibetan Monks trying to retake the monastery. In 1925 a full blown Tibetan rebellion broke out, seeing thousands attacking Hui Muslims. Ma Qi responded by deploying 3000 troops who quickly retook Labrang and machine gunned thousands of Tibetans trying to flee. Ma Qi would besiege Labrang numerous times seeing Hui Muslims, Mongols and Tibetans all fighting for control over Labrang, but by 1927 Ma Qi gave it all up. Ma Qi became the governor of Qinghai and moved on. However, that was not the last Labrang would see of General Ma Qi. The Hui forces looted and ravaged the monastery again and in revenge Tibetans skinned alive many Hui soldiers. One of the most common practices was to slice open the stomach of a living soldier and then put hot rocks inside the stomach. Many Hui women were sold to the ethnic Han and Kazakhs. Children were adopted by the Tibetans. Now come 1927, Feng Yuxiang became the governor of Gansu. To control the region, Feng Yuxiang incorporated and promoted Hui Muslim Generals within his Guominjun. Feng Yuxiang placed Liu Yufen with 15,000 troops to act as governor while he jumped into the northern expedition. There was a particularly nasty earthquake that year, followed by drought and famine. Liu Yufen responded to the situation by overtaxing the populace. During the later half of the northern expedition, Zhang Zuolin fomented any rebellious fires he could amongst his enemies and he could see within Gansu there was an opportunity to exploit. He began sending shipments of weapons to the son of Ma Anliang, Ma Tingxiang who unleashed a revolt against Liu Yufen in Liangzhou. The revolt soon spread and this saw Ma Tingxiang unleash a siege against Hezhou in the spring of 1928. To support the siege, Ma Zhongying recruited Hui, Dongxiang and Salar Muslims, forming an army nearly 10,000 strong. By November, the Hezhou besiegers numbered 25,000 and were beginning to starve. So the men were directed towards the Tao River Valley in the south where they began slaughtering Tibetan monks. They burned the place of the Tibetan Tusi Chief King Yang Jiqing after defeating his 3000 man strong army and sacked the Tibetan city of Chone. The Tibetan areas south of Gansu were laid to waste. At Taozhou Tibetan militias tried to fight off the force of Ma Tingxiang but were defeated. However they did inflict severe casualties upon Ma Tingxiang's forces. This only emboldened more atrocities, seeing muslim forces burn printing presses and temples of the Tibetan Buddhists in Chone. The muslims then looted the Gompa (for those who don't know a Gompa is a sacred Buddhist spiritual compound, sort of like a buddhist university) and massacred the Tibetan Buddhist monks of the Labrang monastery.  The Austrian-American botanist Joseph Rock witnessed much of the carnage and even found himself stuck in a battle in 1929. He described seeing Muslim armies leaving behind Tibetan skeletons over wide areas and decorated the Labrang Monastery with severed Tibetan heads. During the 1929 battle of Xiahe near Labrang, severed Tibetan heads were apparently used as ornaments by Hui Muslim troops within their camps. Rock stated “how the heads of young girls and children were staked around the encampment. Ten to fifteen heads were fastened to the saddle of every Muslim cavalryman. The heads were "strung about the walls of the Moslem garrison like a garland of flowers" The blood flowed until 1929 whence Liu Yufen with support of Feng Yuxiang finally drove off their forces. Its estimated up to 2 million died in the war across Gansu. Ma Tingxiang tried to defect to Chiang Kai-Shek, but would find himself captured later by Feng Yuxiang who executed him. Another notable rebellion occurred in the good old province of Shandong, because where else right?  You may remember me talking about a small group known as the Red Spear Society. They were a movement made up of peasants, who formed self-defense militias during China's Warlord Era. There were numerous branches, but the largest one was in Shandong, particularly within Laiyang county. They of course were so numerous in Shandong because of our old friend the Dogmeat General Zhang Zongchang. Zhang Zongchang notoriously abused the populace of Shandong with gross mismanagement, over taxation and pure brutality. Lets also be honest, Shandong just keeps rearing its head through this podcast series, its basically the melting pot for uprisings. In the fall of 1928, banditry rose exponentially across the Shandong Peninsula, leading more and more villages to join the Red Spear Society trying to defend themselves. Meanwhile with Zhang Zongchang defeated and tossed into exile in Dalian, his subordinate, Liu Zhennian became the new ruler of the province. Liu Zhennian had defected to the KMT at the very last moment, betraying his master so he could steal his fiefdom. Liu Zhennians rule was just as bad if not worse than the Dogmeat General. He overtaxed the population, though a little less than Zhang Zongchang mind you. He used his personal army to brutalize the population, many of his troops simply became bandits looting and pillaging the countryside. All of this further antagonized the Red Spear Society.  In 1928 the Red Spear Society organized a militant tax resistance, causing Liu Zhennians officials to fear even going near a village, particularly at Laiyang and Zhaoyuan where large concentrations of Red Spears were. Now the Red Spears were not the only problem that would hit Shandong in the late 1920's. Our good friend, Zhang Zongchang, exiled in Dalian could not take it anymore and wanted to seize back his power base from his former subordinate. He formed a plot to perform an uprising in Shandong with the help of Chu Yupu and Huang Fengqi. Zhang Zongchang first enlisted the help of one of his former White Russian Commanders, Generals Grigory Semyonov and Konstantin Petrovich Nechaev. Zhang Zongchangs plan to recapture Shandong rested upon the tens of thousands of his former soldiers still within the province. Many of them had not joined the NRA and instead tossed their lot in as bandits. Within quite a precarious economic situation without a real leader, many of them were willing to come back to Zhang Zongchang. These men were certainly not in the best shape. They were demoralized, lacked weapons and training, but they did have one thing going for them. Their war was to be against Liu Zhennians forces and not the crack NRA. Liu Zhennians forces were technically part of the NRA, but in reality they were just a bunch of under trained Fengtian troops who had no real allegiance to the new Nationalist government. They had zero support from the population of Shandong, whom they terrorized. Zhang Zongchang would also have the financial backing of Japan for his little venture.  When Zhang Zongchang came over to Shandong, this caused Liu Zhennians garrison units at Longkou and Huangxian to mutiny in late January of 1929. The local commanders, Liu Kaitai, Xu Tienpin, Li Xutung and Kao Pengqi all began working to overthrow Liu Zhennian. They renounced their allegiance to the KMT and began a revolt. Roughly 3000 men strong consisting of Zhang ZOngchangs former Shandong troops and some Ex-Zhili forces they began to loot and pillage Longkou, Huangxian and Dengzhou. The foreign communities in these parts fled to two Japanese warships at harbor. The Imperial Japanese Navy then sent a squadron to protect their citizens in the area. This was soon followed up by 20,000 troops of Liu Zhennian. However instead of facing Liu Zhennian's men, the mutineers fled into areas defended by the Red Spears. The mutineers and Red Spears formed an alliance, and they prepared an offensive against Longkou. In February the rebels gained the upper hand and pushed Liu Zhennian into the Zhifu area in northeastern Shandong. On February 19th, Zhang Zongchang, Chu Yupu and Huang Fengqi landed at Longkou with a small detachment. The mutineers promptly joined their old master and as he set up a new HQ at Dengzhou. From there they marched upon Zhifu. 15 miles short of Zhifu Zhang Zongchang's now 5000 man strong army ran into Liu Zhennians near Fushan. Zhang Zongchang was hopelessly outnumbered, but luckily Huang Fengqi had spent most of February recruiting their old comrades and managed to assemble 26,000 troops. Meanwhile, Liu Zhennian now had fewer troops than Zhang Zongchang and his KMT backers did not support him very much. What he did receive from the KMT was 200,000 rounds of ammunition, and roughly 50,000 yuan for military funds. Furthermore he was impaired by the presence of the IJN who were secretly supporting Zhang Zongchang by not allowing NRA reinforcements into the area. After a series of skirmishes, Zhang Zongchang arrived at Zhifu with a force nearly 25,000 strong, while Liu Zhennian only had 7000 men left to defend the town. On february 21st the two sides clashed and surprisingly it was Zhang Zongchang who lost. Despite their numbers, they simply were not armed well enough to fight an army who enjoyed fortifications. Another issue they faced was the fact, Zhang Zongchang was not even present during the battle. Zhang Zongchang suffered 500 casualties, roughly 200 deaths and 300 captured, perhaps worse he lost nearly 3000 rifles and 15 machine guns. He pulled back his army to Dengzhou, undaunted by the defeat. Zhang Zongchang's troops then began pillaging the local population. Zhang Zongchang began negotiations with Liu Zhennian trying to convince him to surrender. Certainly Liu Zhennian was not in a good state, by February 25th roughly 15,000 of his troops near the area of Weihaiwei had defected to Zhang Zongchang. By the end of the month Zhang Zongchang effectively controlled eastern Shandong. It was around early March when Zhang Zongchang announced a new warlord coalition, consisting of himself, Chu Yupu, Qi Xieyuan, Wu Peifu, Bai Chongxi, Yan Xishan and countless Fengtian commanders who would soon launch a campaign to defeat the KMT. You are probably thinking to yourself, some of those names don't make any sense, why would they join old Dogmeat? They didn't, he simply made the entire thing up, because he had something cooking in Beijing. Zhang Zongchang sought to foment an anti-KMT movement in north China. On March 2nd, 20 armed men wearing civilian clothing suddenly disarmed the Shanxi Army guards at the Yonghe Temple. These men then fired into the air signaling a regiment loyal to Zhang Zongchang to perform a mutiny. The mutineers quickly manned the temple walls, barricaded themselves in and seized control over nearby fortifications. From their vantage points they began shooting at the local populace causing panic and disorder. Then at lightning speed the KMT forces in Beijing surrounded the Yonghe Temple and forced the mutineers to surrender. Only 2 mutineers were killed, 35 were wounded, but a lot of civilians had been hurt. Despite being a bit comical if you think about it, the Beijing Revolt as it became known received a lot of press. The Nanjing government then took some steps to prevent any more Shandong NRA troops from joining the rebels. Meanwhile back over in eastern Shandong, Zhang Zongchangs troops had literally razed 6 large towns and 50 villages to the ground, apparently in retaliation because someone tried to assassinate Zhang Zongchang. It would not take much for those back under the Dogmeat Generals rule to want to kill him. He was back to his old brutal ways, going even above and beyond. It is said captured women were being sold as slaves at Huangxian for 10-20 mexican dollars. One of Zhang Zongchangs commanders, General Li Xudong had his forces plunder Laizhou before returning to the frontlines around Zhifu. Liu Zhennians forces were likewise looting, albeit on a smaller scale. Liu Zhennian was also ignoring orders from Chiang Kai-Shek to control his men and act in accordance with NRA protocols, IE: no raping, looting and such. The civilian population of Zhifu were so brutalized many simply fled for Dalian. There emerged a growing international concern for the foreign community in eastern Shandong. Several foreign warships began to anchor there. Meanwhile the Red Spear Society was occupying parts of Shandongs hinterland, expanding their influence as countless villages and towns joined them for protection. The Red Spear Society were not the only ones forming localize self defense forces. Being Shandong, the act of doing so had been as ancient as time it self, a lot of irregular armed groups rose up such as the one 2000 man strong army led by Wang Zucheng known as the “southern army” and another force calling themselves the White Spear Society. This group was explicitly raised to defend local villages from Zhang Zongchangs men, but quickly found themselves under attack from local armed groups as well. The White Spears, like the Red Spears, formed a powerbase in Shandongs hinterland.  By early March, Zhang Zongchang and Liu Zhennian agreed to a 5 day ceasefire. Zhang Zongchang followed this up by trying to bribe Liu Zhennian to defect back to him. He offered him 100,000 yuan but in Liu Zhennians words "I thought my loyalty was worth at least 500,000 yuan". Zhang Zongchang was unwilling to pay that much, so Liu Zhennian remained on the side of the KMT. Thus both parties gathered more troops to do battle, once the 5 days were over Zhang Zongchang attacked Zhifu. While under siege, Liu Zhennian received 7000 reinforcements from a local warlord named Sun Dianying. Unfortunately soon after, one of Liu Zhennians regimental commanders, Colonel Liang defected to Zhang Zongchang, opening the gates of the city. Liu Zhennians forces managed to retreat in good order eastwards as Zhang Zongchang began brutalizing the local population. A 6 day long spree of rape, murder and looting devestated Zhifu. By March 28th the Japanese and KMT government signed an agreement resulting in the departure of Japanese forces from Shandong. Meanwhile Liu Zhennian's army had fled to Muping where they found themselves yet again under siege. Liu Zhennian sortied to attack his assailants, inflicting 2000 casualties. As the siege progressed, Liu Zhennian offered to surrender on April 4th, but Zhang Zongchang refused, thinking he had the win in the bag. Unfortunately for Zhang Zongchang, his men gradually sought to plunder the undefended countryside rather than maintain the siege, greatly reducing his strength. During a final attempt to take Muping on April 22nd, Zhang Zongchang's army was routed. Liu Zhennian launched a counter offensive forcing most of Zhang Zongchangs men into the countryside. Countless simply became bandits again, Zhang Zongchangs big attempt to retake the province had crumbled.  Zhang Zongchang yet again fled to Dalian, leaving Chu Yupu with just under 5000 men. Chu Yupu fled to Fushan where he took its 20,000 inhabitants hostage. For 13 days Chu Yupu was besieged by NRA forces. During those 13 days, Chu Yupu's men raped, murdered and looted. Apparently they tied up over 400 women and children to be used as human shields during the siege as well. Chu Yufu eventually surrendered, whereupon numerous women and girls committed suicide having become raped and pregnant. Over 1500 NRA and 2000 rebels were reportedly killed during the siege of Fushan. The city that had been plundered heavily for 13 days, was then plundered by the besiegers. Chu Yupu had secured a deal with the KMT to be allowed to go into exile in Korea with 400,000$ worth of silver. Now again back to those Red Spears. By the summer of 1929 they had ballooned into what was effectively a proto-state around Dengzhou. They had established a magistrate, taken over all the local administration and introduced land and head taxes to fund themselves…which is ironic. Within their territory they refused to pay governmental taxes. They introduced a forced conscription of at least one member of each family. The taxes collected funded buying arms and ammunition and any NRA or KMT officials who came near were shot on sight. It got to the point if anyone was caught speaking without the local dialect they were turned away. By august they were roughly 60,000 strong and were too large for Liu Zhennian not to deal with any longer. On September 23rd Liu Zhennien unleashed an encirclement campaign between Dengzhou and Huangxian, performing a scorched earth policy. His troops destroyed 18 villages and largely burned down another 60 killing everyone they encountered, whether man, woman or child. By November the Red Spears in the area ceased to exist. It was just another sunny day in Shandong province.  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 Guangzhou uprisings was another testament to the lengths the CCP would go to try and carve out a new communist China. The Gansu and Red Spear uprisings were just a few amongst countless tales of the absolute mayhem and chaos that was China's warlord era, when the real victims were always the same, the common people of China.  

Last time we spoke about the beginning of the Chinese Civil War. By early 1927, Chiang Kai-Shek had assembled a team of right-wing KMT members and anti-communist allies like Dai Jitao and Wu Tiecheng, strategizing to sever ties with the Soviet Union and garner support from local gentry, merchants, and international diplomats. Despite publicly maintaining a façade of supporting the Soviet alliance, Chiang Kai-Shek was secretly preparing an anti-communist campaign. The turning point came on April 12, 1927, when Chiang's forces, with the help of the Green Gang, launched a brutal attack on CCP members and workers in Shanghai, marking the beginning of the Shanghai Massacre. This violent crackdown spread across the country, leading to the collapse of the first united front between the KMT and CCP. In the aftermath, the CCP called for mobilization against the KMT, sparking further conflicts such as the Wuhan-Nanjing war and the Nanchang Uprising. Key CCP leaders like He Long and Zhou Enlai emerged during this period, setting the stage for the next phase of the Chinese Civil War.   #119 The Nanchang & Autumn Harvest Uprisings 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 left off in the midst of the Nanchang uprising. On August the 1st the CCP 2nd front army had successfully inflicted 3000 casualties and captured more than 5000 small arms of various types, 700,000 rounds of ammunition and a few cannons. With more and more CCP aligned units arriving the army needed to be reorganized. It was decided the uprising army would continue to use the designation of 2nd front army of the NRA with He Long serving as its commander in chief and Ye Ting as his deputy. Ye Ting would also command the 11th army consisting of the 24th, 25th and 10th divisions, Nie Rongzhen would be his CCP party representative; He Long would command the 20th Army consisting of the 1st and 2nd divisions with Liao Qianwu as his CCP party representative. Zhou Enlai with Zhu De as his deputy would lead the 9th army with Zhu Kejing as his CCP party representative. Altogether they were 20,000 strong and now very well armed.  On August 2nd, tens of thousands of people gathered in Nanchang to celebrate the great victory and the establishment of the revolutionary committee. This drew a large number of new recruits, particularly young students. Upon hearing the news of the uprising, Wang Jingwei urgently dispatched Zhang Fakui and Zhu Peide to quell the uprisers. On August the 3rd in accordance with orders from the CCP Central Committee the 2nd front army withdrew from Nanchang heading south along the Fu River. This withdrawal became known as the “little long march”. They planned to enter Guangdong province via Ruijin and Xunwu where they would first occupy Dongjiang. They hoped there they could develop further forces, perhaps gain foreign aid and if all went spectacularly capture Guangzhou. Upon entering Jinxian county, the commander of the 10th Division, Cai Tingkai expelled the communists from his ranks and instead took his division northeast into Jiangxi leaving the movement. A large reason he was able to pull this off was because the 2nd front army had been too hastily reorganized. The troops rushed into new formations and left Nanchang far too fast. The conditions of their march were also rough, it was a scorching hot week. By the time they made it to Linchuan on August 7th, they now numbered 13,000.  They rested in Linchuan for 3 days then continued advancing southwards. On August 25th, their vanguard reach Rentian of Ruijin county. Li Jishen the commander of the NRA 8th route army was stationed in Guangdong. Li Jishen dispatched 9000 troops led by Qian Dajun from Ganzhou over to Huichang and around Ruijin to block the advance of the Reds. He also transferred 9000 troops led by Huang Shaohongs army based in Nanxiong and Dayu over to Yudu to support Qian Dajun. The CCP Front Committee took advantage of the fact Qian and Huang's armies were not yet fully concentrated in the area, unleashing a one by one attack. On the 26th the Red's attacked Rentians defenders, routing them and capturing Ruijin county. They then concentrated their forces to attack the main portion of Qian Dajun's army in Huichang. After a fierce 4 day battle they managed to capture Huichang county. The Red's reported inflicting over 6000 casualties upon Qian Dajun's army and capturing over 2500 guns while suffering 2000 casualties. Then in early September the Reds repelled an attack by Huang Shaohongs forces near Luokou just due northwest of Huichang. Having survived the encounter, the Reds withdrew to Ruijin, one unit after another, then they changed their route to head east, passing through Changting and Shanghang in Fujian province. From there they headed south along the Tingjiang River and Hanjiang river. On the 22nd, the 25th Division of the 11th Army occupied Sanheba in Dapu county of Guangdong province. Meanwhile the main force continued southwards and occupied Chao'an and Shantou by the 23rd. During this period Li Jishen ordered the remnants of Qian Dajun's army to try and contain the 25th Division and Huang Shaohongs army to attack Chao'an via Fengshun. He also dispatched Chen Jitang and Xue Yue with 3 divisions, roughly 15,000 men from the East Route to advance eastwards from Heyuan hoping to force a decisive battle. By the way for Pacific War fans, Xue Yue will become one of China's greatest Generals. Just a little bit about him. He was born to a peasant family in Xiaopingshi village of Guangdong in 1896. In 1907 he entered the Huangpu military primary school and two years later he joined the Tongmenghui. In 1917 he was admitted to the 6th class of the Baoding Military academy. The next year however he departed in July to join Dr Sun Yat-Sen and Chen Jiongming's new army in Guangzhou. He entered their army as a captain following the army into Fujian where he helped capture over 20 counties centered around Zhangzhou. In 1920 he help attack the Guangxi army of Cen Chunxuan where the commander of the 1st division, Deng Keng, appointed him as a major commanding a machine gun company. The following year the machine gun company expanded into a battalion. In 1921 Deng Keng ordered a personal guard to be formed to protect Dr Sun Yat-Sen, with Xue Yue, Ye Ting and Zhang Fakui as the commanders of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd battalions.  In March of 1922 when Chen Jiongming went to war with Dr Sun Yat-Sen, Xue Yue escorted his family to Guangzhou. There he defended the presidential palace where a 10 hour battle emerged nearly seeing Dr Sun Yat-Sen killed. Xue Yue and some of his men got Dr Sun Yat-Sen and his family away to safety as he led a campaign to quell Chen Jiongmings rebellion. As Chiang Kai-Shek led troops to attack Chen Jiongming, Xue Yue was appointed major general adjutant and chief of staff of the 1st division of the Guangdong army. In 1925 he served as deputy commander of the 14th division of the 1st NRA Army. During the campaign heading east, Xue Yue proved himself a brilliant commander, enough so to receive personal praise from Chiang Kai-Shek via telegram. During the Northern Expedition Xue Yue helped capture Jiangxi, Changsha, Liuyang and Nanchang. He was promoted to commander of the 1st division as the NRA invaded Zhejiang and led men to capture Hangzhou, Nanjing and Shanghai. However after the Shanghai massacre, Xue Yue made the rather poor decision of publicly calling for Chiang Kai-Shek to be arrested for being a counterrevolutionary. He was quickly purged from the 1st Army, fled for Guangdong where he found a new post as a divisional commander under Li Jishen. Back to our story, the CCP Front Committee decided to establish a 3rd division of the 20th army and stationed them at Chaoshan. Thus there 6500 men were positioned to meet the enemy's advance. On September 28th the main bulk of the Red army encountered the East Route Army near Shanhu in Jieyang county. The Reds managed to defeat them and marched upon Tangkeng where they fought a fierce battle near Fenshui village, a monument to that battle exists there to this day. By the 30th, the Reds had suffered another 2000 casualties and were unable to put up much of a fight so they pulled back to Jieyang. That night Huang Shaohongs men recaptured Chao'an.  On October 3rd the Red army evacuated Chaoshan and advanced to Haifeng, passing through the Lianhua Mountain. However enroute they were intercepted by the East Route Army, leading to a bloody battle where they were broken badly. Units and commanders dispersed, with one large force of 1300 making it to Haifeng. The Reds had suffered a disastrous and decisive defeat with only over a 1000 troops remaining as a complete unit, who would later reform into a regiment. Zhu De and Chen Yi faked their names and sought refuge amongst a local Hunanese warlord. Starting basically from scratch they turned their little force into a 10,000 strong army who would go on to fight in the border areas of Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Hunan, managing to save 800 Reds who were simultaneously performing an uprising in southern Hunan.  Countless were arrested, deserted or went into exile. Zhou Enlai, Ye Jianying and Ye Ting lost contact with the others and fled to British Hong Kong, with Zhou Enlai becoming seriously ill. The three had two pistols with them and were successful in reaching Hong Kong. Nie Rongzhen, the other communist leader, also successfully escaped to Hong Kong. He Long who had strongly opposed the little long march plan, accurately pointed out that marching 1000 miles in the blazing heat of summer would put too much strain on the troops and that the Hunan would have been a better place to set up shop rather than Guangdong. He Long simply took up and went home, demoted from his position as commander. It is said he became a beggar and was not well received by his family. Yet he would rise back up and lead a 3000 man strong Red Force who would later be wiped out by the KMT. By April of 1928 these forces would contribute to the Autumn Harvest Uprising, something we will talk about later. The Nanchang Uprising saw the first shots in armed resistance against the KMT. It was also when the CCP officially declared their firm stance against the KMT and marked the beginning of their journey to create their own military. Within the vacuum of hundreds of smaller uprisings, the Nanchang Uprising alongside two other events we will talk about, the Guangzhou Uprising and Autumn Harvest Uprising are the three more important uprisings during this period of time.  Back on August 7th, the CCP Central Committee held an emergency meeting in Hankou known as the “August 7th Meeting”. Here they abandoned Chen Duxiu's right-wing appeasement strategy and determined a new policy that would involve implementing land revolution and armed uprisings. They called upon the entire party and people of China to resist the KMT. This saw widespread uprisings spring up all over the place. One of their largest campaigns was referred to as the Autumn Harvest Uprising, which would be performed in Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong and Jiangxi where the foundation of the workers and peasants movement was the highest. A lot was debated about how to perform such a campaign. Many called for making the peasant association the center of it by declaring them a type of local government, whence they the CCP would seize all of the power from them. In addition to seizing rural power, they needed the backing of urban workers and the poor. Many pointed out the Autumn Harvest Uprising like the Nanchang Uprising should have the main purpose of launching a land revolution. It would be optimal of it was launched simultaneously in Hunan centered around Hengyang, Changsha and if possible at Baoqing.  After their August 7th conference the CCP Central Committee sent one Mao Zedong and Peng Gongda, at the time alternate members of the Provisional Political Bureau to Hunan to reorganize the Hunan Provincial committee. For the Autumn Harvest Uprising Mao Zedong was appointed the Central Special Commissioner with Peng Gongda as Secretary of the Provincial Committee. Now we haven't spoken about Mao Zedong in some time. I think the last time we left off about him was with the founding of the CCP party. In 1921 alongside those like Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, he too was a founder and he began setting up a branch of the CCP in Changsha. Within Hunan he also established a branch of the Socialist Youth Corps and Cultural Book Society, who opened a bookstore to spread communist literature throughout the province. During the warlord era, Mao Zedong was involved in the struggle for Hunan autonomy. Mao Zedong hoped a Hunanese constitution might increase civil liberties, thus making his work to cause a communist revolution easier. The movement was successful at establishing a provincial autonomy under a Hunanese warlord, but Mao Zedong would find that not quite optimal. By that same year of 1921, communist groups had sprung up in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Jinan and Changsha, and on July 23rd it was decided to form a central meeting. The first session of the national congress of the CCP was in Shanghai, attended by 13 delegates, one being Mao Zedong. However, undercover police infiltrated the congress, forcing the delegates to hop on a boat near Jiaxing in Zhejiang to escape. Although Soviet and CCP delegates attended the first congress pretty much ignored Lenin's advice to temporarily accept an alliance between them and the bourgeois democrats who were also espousing a national revolution, ie: the KMT. Instead many in the CCP sought to stick strictly to the Marxist belief only an urban proletariat could cause a real communist revolution. At that point Mao Zedong was the party secretary for Hunan, working out of Changsha. In August he founded the “self study university” where readers could gain access to revolutionary literature. He also joined the YMCA Mass Education Movement to combat illiteracy, though it should be noted he had a huge habit of editing textbooks to fit his communist ideals.  He continuously organized worker strikes, particularly against the warlord governor of Hunan, Zhao Hengti. Some of these successful strikes were the Anyuan coal mine strikes, which saw both bourgeois and proletarian methodology incorporated. Mao Zedong had mobilized many walks of life, miners, gentry, military officials, merchants, Triads and even members of the Church. His work in the Anyuan mines also involved his wife Yang Kaihui who was fighting for women's rights. She sought to increase women's literacy, education and political power within peasant communities. Mao Zedong and Yang Kaihui were not irregular in advocating for women's rights amongst the communist leaders, but they would be some of the most effective. Because of Mao Zedong's success in the Anyuan mines, Chen Duxiu invited him to become a member of the CCP Central Committee. Mao Zedong failed to make it to the second congress of the CCP in Shanghai, held in July of 1922, with the excuse he lost the address. There the CCP delegates agreed to forming the first united front. Mao Zedong enthusiastically agreed to this decision, arguing for an alliance across China's socio-economic classes. Mao Zedong's work in the first united front would see him become the chief of propaganda for the KMT. Mao Zedong was a vocal anti-imperialist with a lot of his writing directed against the governments of the UK, US and Japan. At the third congress of the CCP in Shanghai in June of 1923, the delegates reaffirmed their commitment to the first united front. Here Mao Zedong was elected to the Party Committee and took up residence in Shanghai. At the first KMT congress held in Guangzhou in 1924, Mao Zedong was elected as an alternate member of the KMT Central Executive Committee where he would put forward resolutions to decentralize power to the urban and rural bureaus. His enthusiastic support for the KMT would earn him suspicion from colleagues such as Li Lisan who had worked closely with him in Hunan. After the KMT congress he went to Shaoshan where he found the peasants were becoming increasingly restless. Many had seized land and wealth from local landowners. This convinced Mao Zedong that peasants were an effective revolutionary force, something the KMT leftists were proposing, but not the CCP at the time. Later Mao Zedong would be one of many in the CCP calling for an end to the first united front in the face of major grievances. However Borodin continuously advised not to break off with the KMT. In the winter of 1925, Mao Zedong fled for Guangzhou after receiving a lot of heat for revolutionary activities. He led the 6th term of the KMT's peasant movement training institute, the first government sponsored training institute for rural political activities. Here Mao Zedong was secretly training and preparing militants while also teaching them basic socialist theory. When Sun Yat-Sen died and Chiang Kai-Shek rose to power, Mao Zedong supported his NRA and their northern expedition. Yet in the wake of the northern expedition Mao Zedong was helping the peasants rise up and seize the land of wealthy landowners, in many cases with violence. It was this type of behavior that began to really ruffle the feathers of the KMT leaders who of course were landowners themselves. In March of 1927 Mao appeared at the 3rd Plenum of the KMT central executive committee in Wuhan, who were actively trying to strip Chiang Kai-Shek of his power and bolster Wang Jingwei in his stead. Mao Zedong played an active role, pushing peasant issues, arguing for the death penalty to be exacted on those found guilty of counter revolutionary activity, justifying it by simply stating “peaceful methods cannot suffice”. In April Mao Zedong was appointed to the KMT's 5 member central land committee where he urged peasants to stop paying rent. He then put into motion a draft resolution for land acquisition calling for the confiscation of land belonging to "local bullies and bad gentry, corrupt officials, militarists and all counter-revolutionary elements in the villages". Mao Zedong then carried out a "Land Survey", stating that anyone owning over 30 mou (four and a half acres), which constituted 13% of the population at the time, were uniformly counter-revolutionary. Many of his colleagues thought he was going too far, some not far enough. In the end only some of his suggestions were partially implemented.  When the Wuhan-Nanjing war broke out, Chiang Kai-Shek performed the Shanghai Massacre, beginning the White Terror. The CCP state more than 5000 communists were killed by the hands of the Green Gang in Shanghai. Over in Beijing Zhang Zuolin performed his own little white terror taking the life of those like Li Dazhao. In May the CCP claim tens of thousands of communists and their suspected allies were murdered, perhaps up to 25,000. The CCP contuined to support the Wuhan government, somthing Mao Zedong supported initially. Yet by the time of the CCP's 5th Congress he had changed his mind and was staking all of his revolutionary hope of peasant militias. It really did not matter as the Wuhan government performed its own white terror, albeit less violent in july. The CCP then founded the Workers and Peasants Red Army of China to go to war with Chiang Kai-Shek. Thus this brings us back to our story about the Autumn harvest uprising. In mid August, Mao Zedong and Peng Gongda arrived in Changsha. For the later half of August they helped reorganize the Hunan Provincial Committee where the issue of how to launch the Autumn harvest uprising was discussed. Mao Zedong proposed narrowing the scope of the uprising after the results of the Nanchang uprising. Regarding the area for the uprising, it was agreed it should not be too large, and should be concentrated around 7 counties. They needed to rely solely upon the power of the peasants, with roughly 1-2 regiments as a military backbone. They would no longer fly the KMT banner, now it would be the Red flag of the CCP. During the meeting a firm agreement was made regarding land distribution: "The current land revolution has reached the stage of fundamentally abolishing the land rent system and overthrowing the landlord regime. At this time, the party's policy towards farmers should be that the poor peasants lead the middle peasants, capture the rich peasants, and overthrow the landlord system. This is the land revolution." Mao Zedong emphasized at the meeting: “Our party's previous mistake was to ignore the military. Now we should seize power and build power on the barrel of a gun." To usher in the Autumn Harvest uprising the Hunan Provincial Party Committee decided to establish two leading organizations: the first was the Front Committee composed of various troops with Mao Zedong leading them, the other was the Action Committee composed of county committees, their leadership and Yi Lirong would lead them. The uprising was scheduled to begin on September 9th, with the destruction of a railway. On the 11th all counties would revolut simultaneously. On the 15th Changsha would revolt and on the 16th Changsha would be captured. At that time Red Army forces were stationed in Xiushui, Tonggu, Anyuan and along the border area of Hunan and Jiangxi. In early September Mao Zedong arrived in Anyuan and Tonggu preparing the military leaders. It was decided the forces in Xiushui, Tonggu, Anyuan and a few local counties would unify into the 1st Division of the 1st Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army. The division was roughly 5000 men, with Lu Deming as its commander in chief and Yu Shadu as the 1st division's commander. The 1st division held 3 regiments; the 1st regiment at Xiushui composed of the former National Revolutionary Army Second Front Army Headquarters Guard Regiment, Pingjiang Workers and Peasants Volunteer Corps and the Peasant Self-Defense Forces of Chongyang and Tongcheng Counties in Hubei Province; the 2nd regiment located in Anyuan, was composed of the Anyuan Workers' Picket Team, Anyuan Mine Police Team and some Peasant Self-Defense Forces in Anfu, Yongxin, Lianhua, Pingxiang and Liling Counties; the 3rd Regiment, located in Tonggu, was composed of the Liuyang Workers and Peasants Volunteer Corps and the Guard Regiment, and part of the Pingjiang Workers and Peasants Volunteer Corps.  The plan was for the 1st Regiment to capture Pingjiang; the 2nd regiment would capture Pingxiang and Liling and the 3rd regiment would capture Liuyang. Afterwards the regiments would simultaneously march upon Changsha, hopefully with the full cooperation of peasant armies who were performing uprisings in various counties as well as the urban workers in Changsha would perform their own uprising. On September 9th, 60 railway workers in Changsha began destroying the railway lines from the city to Yueyang and Zhuzhou. On the 11th the 1st Red division launched the uprising. The 1st regiment departed Xiushui and Zhajin advancing to Changshou street via Longmen. Their main bulk entered Jinping when they were suddenly attacked by the Qiu Guoxuan regiment, this was the remnants of the Guizhou warlord Wang Tianpei. The troops were scattered after losing 200 men and their weapons. The forces then moved quickly towards Pingjiang and Liuyang counties, trying to get closer to the 3rd regiment. The 3rd regiment at this time was under the direct command of Mao Zedong who managed to capture Baisha in Liuyang county during the afternoon. On the 12th he captured Dongmen City, annihilated a great part of the warlord forces there. On the 14th two KMT battalions counterattack Dongmen City. The 3rd regiment fought them for several hours before moving to Shangping. Meanwhile the 2nd regiment departed Anyuan and attacked Pingxiang, failing to take it. On the 12th they turned to Laoguan due west of Pingxiang. With cooperation from a peasant uprising they managed to capture Liling county where they also defeated one KMT battalion, capturing a lot of weapons and rescued 300 communist prisoners. On the 14th another two KMT battalions from Changsha, another from Pingxiang all counterattacked Liling. The 2nd regiment immediately turned north to attack Liuyang county on the 15th, but the KMT forces caught up to them inflicted severe casualties. By the 17th Mao Zedng ordered all the regiments to concentrate in Wenjia city due southeast of Liuyang city. At this point the Red Army broke into separate offensives. Workers and peasants were performing uprisings in Pingjiang, Liuyang, Liling, Zhuzhou, Anyuan and other places. Their successes were of varying scales. Some of these peasant and worker armies were armed with nothing more than spears, broadswords, some had small arms. They resorted to house to house warfare, storming buildings, trying to capture guns. They massacred the gentry and landowning classes as they found them hiding in their homes. Red army forces aided those in Liling and Liuyang, managing to capture the county seats, establishing revolutionary regimes. The uprising in Zhuzhou saw its railway station captured, disrupting a lot of transportation. The uprisings in Pingjiang failed to gain the cooperation of the workers and peasants, so three guerilla units were formed who raided the local area. Overall however, the peasant and worker leaders were being arrested en masse by KMT officials. The peasants and workers became afraid they would be caught up in the White Terror slaughter, thus the uprising ultimately failed. The large workers uprising that was supposed to break out in Changsha never formed.  On the 19th the entire 3rd regiment, the remnants of the 1st regiment and scattered members of the 2nd regiment arrived in Wenjia city one after another. That night Mao Zedong presided over a CCP Front Committee meeting, to analyze the situation and figure out what to do with their forces. They quickly decided to abandon attempts to capture Changsha. Their remaining forces at Pingjiang and Liuyang departed as the KMT were hunting them down, pushing them south along the Luoxiao Mountains. On the 20th the departed Wenjia city heading towards Shangli city. It was there they learned there were KMT troops assembling in Pingxiang, so they turned towards Luxi on the 24th. They then continued south, but were soon ambushed by KMT forces. Lu Deming was killed during the battle leaving the army leaderless, seeing heavy casualties. On the 26th the Red forces attacked and occupied Lianhua and by the 29th entered Sanwan Village in Yongxin COunty. This time they were down to less than 1000 men, morale had collapsed. Their leadership began reorganizing at Sanwan, they referred to their surviving force as the 1st regiment of the 1st Division of the 1st Red Army. In reality they only had two battalions in strength. However their reorganization efforts at least saw them form proper companies and the implementation of a more democratic system. Afterwards they continued south arriving at Gucheng in Ninggang county on October 3rd. There Mao Zedong presided over another CCP Front Committee meeting. They studied everything that had gone wrong with the Autumn Harvest Uprising. They made plans for establishing bases of operations for the two battalions then led by Yuan Wencai and Wang Zuo. After the meeting, Mao Zedong led the forces to Maoping on the 7th. From there they moved to Suichuan county in Jiangxi. Then they moved a great distance through Hunan province to Ciping sitting in Jinggang Mountain, the middle section of the Luoxiao Mountain Range by the 27th. From here onwards their force under the leadership of Mao Zedong would establish a revolutionary base of operations. The Autumn Harvest Uprising was the first time the CCP flag was publicly raised in an armed struggle. It was done to showcase to the people of China the determination of the CCP to independently lead a revolutionary war. After the failed uprising, Mao Zedong really began to take charge of the situation. He ditched the original central committee's plan to capture Changsha and instead marched a great distance into the deep rural areas where the KMT were at their weakest. He sought to embark on a guerilla warfare campaign within the countryside. Here in these remote places they would establish revolutionary bases, preserving and developing Red Armies.The cost of the failure is honestly very difficult to estimate. There are claims the anti-communist mass killings in Hunan alone saw 80,000 killed in Liling alone, and perhaps up to 300,000 in areas like Chaling, LEiyang, Liuyang and Pingjiang.  Meanwhile going back in time a bit to August of 1927. The failed Nanchang uprising gradually spilt southwards to the Dongjiang area of Guangdong. On the 7th the CCP Central Committee held an emergency meeting, where Chen Duxiu was criticized for his appeasement of the KMT right wing. It was also during this meeting, the CCP formalized how they would go about implementing a land revolution and armed uprisings. On the 20th Zhang Tailei, the secretary of the Guangdong CCP provincial committee, discussed plans for a provincial wide uprising. They would mobilize the workers and peasants to hold riots in key locations within Guangdong, particularly Guangzhou. Thus another major uprising was about to be unleashed. 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 Autumn Harvest Uprising was a bold move by the CCP. As the Wuhan and Nanjing KMT government unleashed their separate white terrors, the CCP were trying to not only survive the onslaught, but to formulate their own revolutionary movement. Within the emerging communist vacuum it seemed Mao Zedong had found his calling and was striving to reach the top. 

Last time we spoke about the finale of the Northern Expedition, the reunification of China. In May the NRA advanced from the Yellow River bridgehead despite losing access to the Tianjin-Pukou railway, forcing a 60-mile march. General Chen Tiaoyuan captured Tehzhou on the 13th, as the NRA cleared northern Shandong. They then converged on Beijing, with Feng Yuxiang's 2nd Collective Army and Yan Xishan's 3rd Collective Army advancing from different directions. Yan Xishan fought the NPA, recapturing territories and capturing Nankou, which led to speculation he would enter Beijing first. Despite NPA counterattacks, the NRA forces continued their advance. By late May, the NRA's combined efforts and internal NPA issues led to a general retreat of the NPA forces. On June 6, Yan Xishan's troops entered Beijing. The NPA's Zhang Zuolin was assassinated by Japanese officers, leading to a power shift to his son Zhang Xueliang, who later aligned with Chiang Kai-Shek. By December 1928, China was unified under the KMT.   #118 The Chinese Civil War Draws First Blood 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. So I said a few times during the northern expedition that I wanted to push aside the emerging Chinese civil war. Although we loosely covered a lot of the major events, this episode is going to try and narrow and focus it down. Now please note, up until this point I have to admit I had been using sources that were either skewed towards the Chinese nationalist views or were trying to be non biased. For some of these episodes I intentionally am using some CCP aligned sources, I will try my best to balance things out. Also a large part of this is going to be a retelling of the Shanghai Massacre, but more from the point of view of the CCP. All the way back in 1926, Chiang Kai-Shek had managed to seize power over the Kuomintang. He exerted control over the party and army as he unleashed the Northern Expedition. By November 9th Chiang Kai-Shek set up a new headquarters in Nanchang. Chiang Kai-Shek was determined to purge the party of communists and began to do so here. He began by recruiting a large number of right-wing Kuomintang members such as Dai Jitao and Wu Tiecheng. Dai Jitao was a member of the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee and had served as the Minister of the KMT's propaganda department. After the death of Sun Yat-Sen, Dai Jitao had actively promoted an anti-communist movement, drawing support from warlords, right wingers and those the CCP would describe as “imperialists”. In May of 1925 with the support of Chiang Kai-Shek, Dai Jitao began an anti-communist campaign in Shanghai. He ran two successful pamphlets loosely translated in English as "The Philosophical Foundation of Sun Yat-senism" and "National Revolution and the Chinese Kuomintang”. Both worked to promote the teachings of Confucius and Mencius while distorting Sun Yat-sen's thoughts. Dai Jitao was arguing that Sun Yat-Sen's ideology chiefly came from Confucianism instead of western philosophy and that in fact the man was a traditionalist. He twisted Sun Yat-Sen's three principles, castrating them of revolutionary content. All of this quickly became a "banner" for the Kuomintang right-winger to carry out anti-communist activities. After Chiang Kai-Shek arrived in Nanchang, he immediately invited him to go north to jointly plan the purge of the party and anti-communism. Wu Tiecheng joined Dai Jitao, he was the director of the Guangzhou Public security Bureau and a well known KMT right-winger. Prior to the Zhongshan ship incident, Wu Tiecheng stated he had suggested to Chiang Kai-Shek that they impose sanctions on the CCP. In his words “with the registration materials of the special household registration of our Public Security Bureau, we can immediately arrest a dozen of the main Communist Party members, and then use a ship to transport them to a small island near Zhongshan County , or send them to Shanghai. As for the minor members, they will be temporarily detained." Chiang Kai-Shek said "I will think about it first." After the Zhongshan incident, Chiang Kai-Shek pretended to dismiss him from his post, but specially invited him later to Nanchang and dispatched him to Japan as a liaison. Another large figure who was invited over was Huang Fu, who had served as the Minister of Foreign affairs and Education for the Beiyang Government and as its Prime Minister. When Chiang Kai-Shek came to Nanchang he wrote to Huang Fu twice inviting him to come south. On December 31st, Zhang Jingjiang and Chen Guofu were also invited to Nanchang. Zhang Jingjiang was a member of the KMT's Central Supervisory Committee. After the secondary Plenary session of the second central committee, he became chairman of it. He used his authority and colluded with Chen Guofu, the Minister of Organization to dissolve the Guangzhou Municipal Party committee, which at the time was being led by left winger KMT. They did this by placing confidants in various positions to steal power. Simultaneously, they suppressed worker and peasant movements in Guangdong, even dispatching gangsters to kill their leaders and burn down the provincial and Hong Kong strike committee HQ. All of these people gathered at Nanchang formed a anti-communist cabal backing Chiang Kai-Shek. In January of 1927 these men went up Mount Lushan to a famous hotel called Xianyan where they plotted. After several days of meetings, as my source argues, mostly based on the advice of Huang Fu, these following decisions were obtained. Number 1, they would enact a policy of separating from the USSR and purging the party of CCP. Number 2, the NRA must settle the southeast by forming an alliance with the gentry and merchant class there. Number 3 in their diplomatic efforts they had to abandon the USSR and ally themselves to Japan. Number 4, to increase their military power they had to unite with Feng Yuxiangs Guominjun and Yan Xishan.   Upon returning to Nanchang, Chiang Kai-Shek took action, first by attacking Borodin. He sent a telegram to Xu Qian, the chairman of the Wuhan joint conference, stating Borodin had insulted him in public at Wuhan and demanded he be removed from his advisory position. He also recomended expell Borodin back to the USSR. The source I am reading states Chiang Kai-Shek had two rationales for going after Borodin. "Chiang Kai-Shek felt that except for Borodin, the Kuomintang leaders in Wuhan were all politically incompetent. ... As long as Borodin was there, he could not gain a dominant position. Secondly, he was using Borodin like a scape goat to hide his real anti-Soviet purpose'. At this time Chiang Kai-Shek was being labeled a USSR stooge by the NPA and a Japanese stooge by the CCP. In response, Chiang Kai-Shek stated publicly "Our alliance with Russia was left by the Prime Minister. Although its representatives have been arrogant for a long time and oppressed our party leaders in many ways, I believe that this has nothing to do with the Soviet Union's spirit of treating us equally. No matter what their personal attitudes are, we will never change our relationship with the Soviet Union towards Japan. Why should we unite with the Soviet Union? It is because the Soviet Union can treat China equally. Since the Soviet Union has not given up treating us equally, how can we give up the policy of alliance with Russia. ... Not only Japan, but any country, if it can treat China equally, then we will treat them the same way as we treat the Soviet Union. It is not impossible to unite with them. We unite with the Soviet Union to seek freedom and equality for China. It is completely based on the meaning of treating our nation equally, so we must unite with the Soviet Union. If the Soviet Union does not treat us equally and oppresses us in the same way, we will also oppose them in the same way. I have said for a long time." In regards to the CCP Chiang Kai-Shek stated to his close confidants “When I was in Guangzhou, I was always paying attention to the actions of the CCP. I wanted to implement my proposal to overthrow the CCP in Guangzhou, however I did not do so. I was unable to do so because it could mean the end of the Kuomintang”. After the success of the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-Shek lamented to his confidants “although our army has won a great victory, I still worry the enemy is not at our front but at our rear. The CCP is causing much trouble within, we must make sure it does not split out party or even collapse our army. There are thorns everywhere”. Publically Chiang Kai-Shek stated "Now there is a rumor that I distrust and alienate my Communist comrades and have a tendency to oppose them. In fact, it cannot be said that I will not oppose the Communist Party. I has always supported the Communist Party... But that is to say, if the Communist Party becomes strong in the future and its members are arrogant and tyrannical, I will definitely correct them and punish them. ... Now many Communist Party members are actually oppressing the Kuomintang members, showing an overbearing attitude, and tend to exclude Kuomintang members, making Kuomintang members embarrassed. In this way, I can no longer treat Communist Party members with the same preferential treatment as before. If I still have the same attitude as before, then I am not in the position of a Kuomintang member, and I cannot be a Kuomintang member. Although I am not a Communist Party member, from a revolutionary perspective, I have to take some responsibility for the success or failure of the Communist Party! I am the leader of the Chinese revolution, not just the leader of the Kuomintang. The Communist Party is a part of the Chinese revolutionary forces. Therefore, if Communist Party members do something wrong or act tyrannically, I have the responsibility and power to intervene and punish them." As you can see, publicly Chiang Kai-Shek was always walking on eggshells when attacking the CCP. If you know the old boiling frog analogy, it's more or less like Chiang Kai-Shek gradually getting the public to attack the CCP. At the ceremony where Li Liejun was appointed chairman of Jiangxi, Chiang Kai-shek once again gave a speech, saying that communism was only a method of economic development, which might be applicable in some countries, but if China adopted communism, it would be a great harm and would only lead to the overthrow and revolution of China. In late January, Chiang Kai-Shek met with Momuro Keijiro, a representative sent by Japan's minister of Finance and Navy at Lushan. Chiang Kai-Shek explained to Keijiro that he understood the importance of the political and economic relationship between Manchuria and Japan. He understood the Japanese had spilt a lot of blood there during the Russo-Japanese War. He believed Manchuria required special consideration and hoped the Japanese would correctly evaluate the KMT's struggle to reunify China. Chiang Kai-Shek then met with the Japanese consul General in Jiujiang, Edo Sentaro, explaining he did not only intend to abolish the unequal treaties but would try to respect the existing conditions as much as possible, such as guaranteeing the recognition of foreign loans and repayments and respecting foreign owned enterprises.  After these meetings Chiang Kai-Shek met with representatives of the Imperial Japanese Military such as Nagami Masuki and Matsumuro Takayoshi. It was Dai Jitao who set up these meetings. Chiang Kai-Shek began the talks by making it clear the KMT would not work with the CCP and was willing to work with Japan to prevent the spread of Communism in China. Chiang Kai-Shek also met with the Japanese politician Yamamoto Jotario who would go on to say in Beijing that he believed the Generalissimo was an outstanding military leader. Needless to say, as my source would put it “Chiang Kai-Shek was closely colluding with Japanese imperialism”. He was also establishing contacts with the US. He dispatched Wang Zhengting to Shanghai to meet the American consul general there. Wang Zhengting told him the KMT had washed their hands of the communists and that there would be nor more incidents such as the one that befell Hankou. The American consul general in Guangzhou was likewise contacted through the finance minister of Guangdong, Kong Xiangxi. What the American consuls told their government was “if the powers want to drive the Soviets out of China, they should establish direct contact with Chiang Kai-Shek”. Chiang Kai-Shek also publicly expressed regret to numerous nations for incidents such as the one in Nanjing. He was gaining a reputation as being the only leader in China capable of restoring order amongst the chaos. Many of these foreign diplomats privately told Chiang Kai-Shek that if he wanted to really brush shoulders with them he had to purge the communists and soon. To truly purge the communists Chiang Kai-Shek reaches a deal with the bourgeoisie of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. They will support him economically if he helps suppress the worker movements in Shanghai. They fund Chiang Kai-Shek some 500,000 Yuan in early March, then on the 29th the Shanghai Commercial Federation pledges 5 million Yuan, with another 3 million on April 1st. Around this time Chiang Kai-Shek secretly send Wang Boling, the deputy commander of the 1st army; Yang Hu, chief of the special affairs department of the general HQ and Chen Qun the director of the political department of the eastern route army to Shanghai in disguise to meet Huang Jinrong. Huang Jinrong was a chief detective working in the French concession of Shanghai. He also happened to be one of the top three gangsters working under Du Yuesheng of the Green Gang. Huang Jinrong summoned Du Yuesheng and the other Green Gang leader Zhang Xiaolin, as they all discussed how to purge the communists. The Green Gang leaders seized the opportunity to help the KMT. They began monitoring the CCP, armed their gang members and began to attack anyone who was picketing. They formed the “China Progress Association”, which in reality was just Green Gang members. This association proceeded to attack the Shanghai General Labor Union, providing the perfect pretext for Chiang Kai-Shek to act.  On April 1st Wang Jingwei returns to Shanghai from aboard. By the 3rd Chiang Kai-Shek telegrams that Wang Jingwei is reinstated and holds secret talks with him. On the 8th Chiang Kai-Shek organizes a Shanghai Provisional Political Committee, stipulating it will decide all military, political and financial decisions and will replace the Shanghai special municipality provincial government that was established after the third Shanghai worker uprising. On the 9th he unleashes martial law prohibiting assemblies, strikes and marches, and established the Songhu Martial Law Command, with Bai Chongxi and Zhou Fengqi as the commander and deputy commander. Chiang Kai-Shek then takes his leave for Nanjing, leaving the job to Bai Chongxi who will supervise a coup in Shanghai. In a vain attempt Chen Duxiu tells the CCP to ease up on the Anti-Chiang Kai-Shek stuff. Then its announced to them that Chen Duxiu had managed to form a deal with Wang Jingwei. Chiang Kai-Shek send word from Nanjing to carry out the purge, in a very “execute order 66 fashion”.  April the 12th takes a wild turn in Shanghai. In the early morning a signal is raised over a warship anchored near the Gaochang temple. Hundreds of well armed Green Gang, Triads and some secret agents wearing blue shorts and white cloth  armbands with a black gongs on them, dispersed from the French concession in several cars. From 1 to 5am they attacked the picketing workers in Zhabei, Nanshi, Huxi, Wusong, Hongkou and other districts. The workers resisted immediately causing fierce street battles to break out. The 26th Army of the NRA, an old Sun Chuanfang unit that recently defected, came to forcibly confiscate guns while stating they were “mediating an internal strife amongst the workers”. Over 2700 armed workers in Shanghai were disarmed. More than 120 were killed with another 180 injured. The Shanghai General Labor Union club and all their associated pickets in the districts were occupied. Within the foreign concessions, foreign military and police forces arrested more than 1000 CCP members and workers who were immediately handed over to Chiang Kai-Shek's men. On the morning of the 13th, the workers from Shanghai's tobacco, silk factories, trams, municipal administration, postal services, sailors and various other industries went on strike. Over 200,000 workers took to the streets and the Shanghai General Labor Union held a mass rally in Qingyun Road Square in Zhabei with over 100,000 participants. They held a quick conference calling for resolutions. The first resolution was to hand over their weapons. Secondly those who destroyed their unions should be severely punished. Third the families of those killed needed to be compensated. Fourth protests should be made against the imperialists within the concessions. Fifth a telegram needed to be sent to the central government, then whole nation and world to demand assistance. Lastly the military authorities should be responsible for protecting the Shanghai trade unions. After the conference, the masses marched upon the headquarters of the 2nd division of the 26th army along Baoshan road to petition for the release of their comrades and for their weapons to be returned to them. They marched for a kilometer and upon reaching the Sandeli area of Baoshan road, soldiers of the 2nd division rushed out and opened fire upon them killing more than 100 on the spot. It was said Baoshan road was flooded with blood. That afternoon Chiang Kai-Sheks forces occupied the Shanghai General Labor Union and General Command of the Shanghai workers. They closed down and disbanded numerous revolutionary organizations and carried out searches and murders. Within 3 days after the Shanghai incident, more than 300 Shanghai CCP members were killed, another 500 were arrested and 5000 went “missing”. Like I said in the previous podcast on this very subject, I will leave it to you as to what missing meant. On the 15th of april the Kuomintang in Guangzhou launched their own coup. On that day more than 2000 CCP members and their supporters were arrested, 200 trade unions were closed. This all would b followed by similar activities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian and Guangxi where CCP members were purged. The NPA in the north would likewise crack down on communists. Li Dazhao had been placed on the Beiyang governments list of most wanted back in 1926 following the March 18th massacre. Since then he was hiding in the Soviet Embassy in Beijing, continuing to lead political maneuvers against the warlords. When the first united front collapsed as a result of Chiang Kai-Sheks purges, Zhang Zuolin ordered troops to raid the Soviet embassy. Li Dazhao, his wife and daughter were all arrested. Among 19 other communists, Li Dazhao was executed on April 28th of 1927 by strangulation. One of the behemoths who ushered in the New Culture Movement and was a founder of the CCP had become one of its greatest martyrs. The first united front was no more and in response to this the CCP declared "Chiang Kai-shek has become an open enemy of the national revolution, a tool of imperialism, and the culprit of the white terror of massacring workers, peasants and revolutionary masses”. This was followed by a call to mobilize, unite and form a solid front to fight the warlords and KMT. In May of 1927 the Communist International issued “the May Emergency Directive” to the CCP. (1) Without land revolution, victory is impossible; without land revolution, the Kuomintang Central Committee will become a pitiful plaything in the hands of unreliable generals. Excessive behavior must be opposed, but not by the army, but through the peasant associations. (2) It is necessary to make concessions to artisans, merchants and small landowners, and to unite with these strata. Only the land of large and medium-sized landowners should be confiscated; the land of officers and soldiers should not be touched. (3) Some old leaders of the KMT Central Committee will waver and compromise. We should recruit more new leaders of workers and peasants from below to join the KMT Central Committee and renew the KMT's upper echelons. (4) Mobilize 20,000 Communist Party members and 50,000 revolutionary workers and peasants in Hunan and Hubei to form several new armies and build our own reliable army. (5) A revolutionary military tribunal headed by prominent Kuomintang and non-Communists should be established to punish those officers who persecute workers and peasants.  Wang Jingwei obtained this document from Luo Yi, the representative of the Communist International. The high-ranking officials of the Kuomintang believed that this was the Communist International's armed seizure of power and they were determined to purge the party. Thus began the Wuhan-Nanjing war. However as we saw, Wang Jingwei would perform his own purge of the communists on May 21st as he found out the Soviets were pushing the CCP to seize control over his regime. In order to resist the KMT's massacres, or as the CCP put it “the white terror”, the CCP Central Committee reorganized itself on July 12th of 1927. Chen Duxiu and other early CCP leaders who had insisted on compromising with the KMT were dismissed from their posts and labeled right-wing capitulationists. The CCP formed an alliance with left wing KMT members forming a quasi second front where they planned an armed uprising in Nanchang hoping it would spark a large peasant uprising. They were led by He Long and Zhou Enlai. He Long a ethnic Tujia and Hunanese native was born to a poor peasant family. He received no formal education and worked as a cowherder during his youth. When he was 20 he killed a local Qing tax assessor who had killed his uncle for defaulting on his taxes. From this point he fled and became an outlaw, apparently his signature weapon was a butcher knife. In 1918 he raised a volunteer revolutionary army aligned with an emerging Hunanese warlord. By 1920 he joined the NRA and began brushing shoulders with CCP members. During the northern expedition he commanded the 1st division, 9th corps and served under Zhang Fakui. By late 1926 he joined the CCP. When the first united front collapsed he joined up with the CCP and took command of the 20th corps, 1st column of the Red Army. Zhou Enlai was born in Huai'an of Jiangsu in 1898. He was born to a scholarly family, many of them officials, but like many during the late 19th century in China suffered tremendously. Zhou Enlai was adopted by his fathers youngest brother Zhou Yigan who was also ill with tuberculosis. The adoption was more of a way to cover Zhou Yigans lack of an heir. Zhou Yigan died soon after and Zhou Enlai was raised by his widow Chen. He received a traditional literacy education. Zhou Enlai's biological mother died when he was 9 and Chen when he was 10. He then fell into the care of his uncle Zho Yigeng in Fengtian. Zhou Enlai continued his education at Nankai Middle School who were adopting an educational model used at the Philipps academy in the US. Zhou Enlai excelled at debate, acting, drama the sort of skill sets needed for public service. Like many students of his day he went to Japan in 1917 for further studies. He tried to learn Japanese to enter Japanese schools but failed to do so. He also faced a lot of racism in Japan, prompting him to become quite anti japanese. While in Japan he became very interested in news about the Russian Revolution. This led him to read works from Chen Duxiu.  In 1919 he returned to Tianjin where it is said he led student protests during the May Fourth movement, though a lot of modern scholars don't believe he did. Zhou Enlai then became a university student at Nankai and an activist. He led the Awakening Society and would find himself arrested. During this time he became familiar with Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu. Then in 1920 he went to study in Marseille. In 1921 he joined a Chinese Communist Cell while in Paris. By 1922 he helped found a European branch of the CCP. When the first United Front began he joined the KMT and in 1924 was summoned back to China. He joined the Political department of the Whampoa military academy. He was made Whampoa's chief political officer, but he also took the post as secretary of the CCP of Guangdong, Guangxi and served as a Major-General. Soon he became the secretary of the CCP's Guangdong Provincial committee. In 1925 he got his first taste of military command against Chen Jiongming, accompanying the Whampoa cadets as a political officer. When Chen Jiongming regrouped and attacked Guangzhou again that year, Chiang Kai-Shek personally appointed Zhou Enlai as director of the 1st corps political department. Soon after he was appointed a KMT party representative as chief commissar of the 1st corps. With the newfound position he began appointing communists as commissars in 4 out of the 5 corps divisions. However his work at Whampoa came to an end during the Zhongshan Warship incident as Chiang Kai-Shek began purging communists from high ranking positions. Whampoa was a significant part of his career providing him with skills and a network. Until the first united fronts collapse he worked to form numerous armed CPP groups. He was sent to Shanghai where he was part of the effort to stage an uprising there. During the massacre he was arrested and nearly killed if not for the work of Zhao Shu, a representative of the 26th army who released him. From there he fled to Hankou where he participated in the CCP's 5th national congress. When Wang Jingwei unleashed his purge, Zhou Enlai went into hiding. When the CCP called for an uprising in Nanchang, Zhou Enlai as a CCP secretary was in a unique position to lead it. The CCP designated Zhou Enlai, Li Lisan, Yun Daiying and Peng Pai to form a Front Committee. The troops available to them were the 24th and 10th divisions of the 11th army of the 2nd front army, the entire 20th army, 73rd and 75th regiment of the 25th division of the 4th army and part of the officer training corps of the 3rd army of the 5th front army led by Zhu De. He Long was the commander in chief of the 2nd front army, Ye Ting was his deputy and acting front line commander. Zhou Enlai was the chief of staff with Liu Bocheng as director of the political directorate. At this time, the main force of the 3rd Army of the 5th Front Army of the Kuomintang Wuhan Government was located in Zhangshu, Ji'an; the main force of the 9th Army was located in Jinxian and Linchuan; and the main force of the 6th Army was advancing to Nanchang via Pingxiang; the rest of the 2md Front Army was located in Jiujiang; only the 5th Front Army Guard Regiment and parts of the 3rd, 6th, and 9th Armies, totaling more than 3,000 people, were stationed in Nanchang and its suburbs. The CCP Front Committee decided to launch an uprising on August 1 before the arrival of reinforcements. At 2:00am on August 1st the Nanchang uprising began. The 1st and 2nd division of the 20th army launched attacks against the defenders of the Old Fantai Yamen, Dashiyuan street and the  Niuxing railway station. Meanwhile the 24th division of the 11th army attacked the Songbaixiang catholic church, Xinyingfang and Baihuazhou. The bloody battle lasted until dawn inflicting 3000 casualties and capturing more than 5000 small arms of various types, 700,000 rounds of ammunition and a few cannons. During the afternoon the 73rd regiment of the 25th division station at Mahuiling, 3 battalions of the 75th regiment and a machine gun company of the 74th regiment led by Nie Rongzhen and Zhou Shidi revolted and came to Nanchang by the 2nd of august.  For the moment it seemed the CCP had achieved a grand success at Nanchang. The CCP then began proclaiming Chiang Kai-Shek and Wang Jingwei had betrayed the revolution and that of Sun Yat-Sens three principles by choosing to side with the imperialists and warlords. Meanwhile the CCP aligned military units began to gather in Nanchang requiring a reorganization. It was decided the uprising army would continue to use the designation of 2nd front army of the NRA with He Long serving as its commander in chief and Ye Ting as his deputy. Ye Ting would also command the 11th army consisting of the 24th, 25th and 10th divisions, Nie Rongzhen would be his CCP party representative; He Long would command the 20th Army consisting of the 1st and 2nd divisions with Liao Qianwu as his CCP party representative. Zhou Enlai with Zhu De as his deputy would lead the 9th army with Zhu Kejing as his CCP party representative. Altogether they were 20,000 strong and now very well armed. There was to be a great celebration, it seemed this was the grand moment the CCP would take the center stage. 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 Chinese Civil War had officially just begun. Chiang Kai-Shek and Wang Jingwei purged their respective regimes of communists unleashing a white terror. In a scramble to survive the CCP reorganized itself and sought revenge with their first target being Nanchang. From here until 1949, the CCP and KMT would fight for the future of China.  

Last time we spoke about the collapse of the First United Front. A quasi civil war had emerged between the Wuhan KMT government backed by the CCP and the Nanking government backed by Chiang Kai-Shek. Chiang Kai-Shek unleashed a violent anti-communist purge at Shanghai, breaking ties with the Soviets, prompting them to toss their lot in with Wuhan. Wang Jingwei eventually took over the rival government, as he tried to alienate Chiang Kai-Shek and squeeze him out of the KMT entirely. Because of the lack of coordination between the two KMT factions the NPA gradually gained the upper hand and began pushing the NRA forces further south. Then Feng Yuxiang and his Guominjun entered the fray invading Honan. Both Chiang Kai-Shek and Wang Jingwei tried to win Feng Yuxiang over, but Chiang Kai-Shek simply had the better deal. Then the Soviets unleashed their own sneaky attempt to get the CCP on top, only to see their advisors and the CCP purged as the Wuhan and Nanking government reunified, as Chiang Kai-Shek stepped down.   #115 The Northern Expedition Part 6: The September Government 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. On August 12th of 1927, Chiang Kai-Shek shocked everyone by agreeing to step down. This came just as the NRA were fleeing towards the south banks of the Yangtze after multiple positions they held in the north were overrun by the NPA. The last rear guard escaped the south bank on August 19th. The NRA had been served decisive defeats. The two KMT factions attempted reconciliation, but they were still very much fragmented. Within the Nanking regime many still supported Chiang Kai-Shek. When Chiang Kai-Shek went into exile, many followed him such as Hu Hanmin, Cai Yuanpei, Zhang Jingjiang, Wu Zhihui and Li Shizeng. For them, any alternative to the generalissimo at the helm of the northern expedition was simply a no go. This exodus did not see the other recall Chiang Kai-Shek. Chiang Kai-Shek traveled with his family to Fenghua near Ningpo in Zhejiang before he took a ship to Japan. Over in Japan Chiang Kai-Shek met with Prime Minister Tanaka Giichi, discussing the futility of trying to reorganize the KMT. During his time in exile he would win the hand of Soong Meiling, his second wife. They would marry on December the 1st of 1927 in Shanghai. Back over in Nanking the situation kept deteriorating. In fact despite the fact Wuhan and Nanking agreed to reunify, they had not officially done so. Tang Shungchih's forces were still harassing near Nanking as the NPA continued to use their heavy artillery upon the second capital of China. The NRA has lost the rich lands of Anhui and Jiangsu north of the Yangtze. Within a do or die type situation the NRA commanders tried to pull it back together. The Guangxi generals, alongside General Ho Yingqin, the commander of the 1st NRA army, were defending the south banks. The Nanking KMT officials praised Wuhan for purging their communists and called for a plenary session. The KMT all met on August 24th, and both sides began negotiations. However the military situation kept getting worse. Feng Yuxiangs Guominjun suffered defeats in Honan to Zhang Xueliang as Sun Chuanfang's artillery pounded upon Nanking and the NRA positions along the southern bank of the Yangtze. Sun Chuanfang unleashed a particularly heavy bombardment on August 25th, seeking to soften up the NRA so he could launch an offensive. Sun Chuanfang was actually butting heads a bit with Zhang Zuolin. Zhang Zuolin favored a strategy of gradual containment of the NRA. Basically allow the heavy artillery to beat them down until they were weak enough for the combined NPA front to advance. But Sun Chuanfang wanted to reclaim his lost territory, especially Shanghai, and he could see the KMT were stuck in limbo. He did not want to wait for them to possibly reconcile and thus lose him the chance to strike back. As his August 25th bombardment raged on, he launched several landing parties towards the southern banks of the Yangtze. Some of these landings parties were diversionary attacks, but two regiments were performing the main real strike. They landed at 3am on the 26th near the town of Lungtan sitting beside the station along the Shanghai-Nanking railway. They secured a beachhead and their vanguard surged inland while Sun Chuanfang tossed thousands across the Yangtze over an armada over stolen river boats. The NRA had spread their numbers quite thin to be able to man the entire lower Yangtze, thus Sun Chuanfangs vanguard were easily able to breach part of the line defended by Li Zongren's 7th NRA army. The NPA forces donned civilian clothing and spread out as they cut telegraph and rail lines. The town of Lungtan was swarmed with river boats as Sun Chuanfang forged 3 beachheads. As the first day of combat came to a close, Li Zongren was able to concentrate his efforts and drove off Sun Chuanfangs forces who were trying to fortify hills and away from the Shanghai-Nanking railway. The fighting saw the NRA suffer 800 casualties, but they managed to capture 3000 NPA who were cut off from their comrades. Better yet, these prisoners came with some much needed field guns. On August 27th, Sun Chuanfang continued to ship men across the Yangtze, via his beachhead at Lungtan. With new reinforcements, his men managed to capture the railway station. Amongst his troops were some of Zhang Zongchangs elite White Russian forces who could prove to be a devastating problem if they acquired armored trains. The NRA reinforced their lines to meet the NPA challenge, now some 30,000 northern Chinese were defending a perimeter of several square miles between the train station and Lungtan. Countless NRA commanders at the frontlines telegrammed frantic messages back to the KMT politicians, demanding they get their shit together so a real counter offensive could be mounted.  As the battle for Lungtan raged on August 28th, Feng Yuxiang over in eastern Honan responded by driving an offensive into Shandong threatening Tsaozhou. Sun Chuanfang had basically gambled a significant part of his forces. He knew very well that if the NRA reconciled and coordinated properly, his beachhead would easily be dislodged, but he was gambling they would take a lot of time to reorganize. On August 30th, Tan Yenkai send a message to Wang Jingwei and Tang Shengchih from Nanking asking for their help. Specifically he wanted them to launch an offensive into Anhui from Wuhan to divert NPA forces. With Chiang Kai-Shek gone, it seemed the Wuhan leaders were more willing now, so they unleashed an offensive towards Hofei in Anhui. The Wuhan NRA sought to out flank the NPA along the Tianjing-Pukou railway line. Further to the north, Feng Yuxiang's Guominjun's forces captured Tsaozhou, 70 miles from said railway. From the direction of Shanghai, Ho Yingqin's 1st NRA army began and advance, converging on the eastern sector of Sun Chuanfangs beachhead. Feng Yuxiang had not been the only other faction to come out of the woodwork to aid the NRA. When Feng Yuxiang entered the fray he also purged his Guominjun of communists, crippling the Wuhan government's plans to advance north. Tang Shungchih's drive north had seen many of Wu Peifu's forces defect over to him. Thus Wu Peifu took the opportunity when Tang Shungchih went back to Wuhan to escape with his remaining forces into Sichuan. From there he announced his retirement. It was a bitter end for the Jade Marshall The turtle warlord of Shanxi, Yan Xishan agreed to align himself with the NRA. This saw his 100,000 strong army join the war and apply pressure to the NPA.  The coordinated efforts against Sun Chuanfang began to show results immediately. The NRA were drawing upon reinforcements as far as Hangzhou, tightening a noose around Sun Chuanfangs beachhead. The NRA navy also disaptched the gunboats Zhuzhen and the Zhudung, preventing Sun Chuanfang from shipping men or materials over the Yangtze. Fighting their way through the enemy perimeter, the 7th NRA army recaptured Lungtan and her railway station for a second time during the night of the 30th. During said night, Sun Chuanfangs had gathered nearly 40,000 troops for a predawn counterattack. The counterattack saw his men fighting with their back up against the river with little to no chance of evacuation because of the NRA gunboats. Their only hope was to recapture a defensible position, perhaps upon some of the nearby hills, to hunker down and hope for reinforcement or rescue. The counterattack was vicious, the NPA forces were basically a trapped but savage animal. Their counterattacks were so fierce, the NRA realized that by defending the lower Yangtze and attacking Lungtan, they might lose control over the delta. They could very well be pushed up the mountainous regions further south. On the 31st the 1st NRA army defending the railway station was dislodged under heavy fire. General Ho Yingqin personally ran along the line wielding his pistol, shouting if the NPA overran them now, he would shoot himself. Sun Chuanfang then looked on in horror as his forces momentum began to break and his entire army south of the Yangtze was being battered. His entire army and dream of retaking his 5 provinces, let alone Shanghai was falling apart. His 40,000 troops were cut off, they had no escape route, their flanks were surrounded, his river craft were all sinking to the bottom of the Yangtze. He alongside his personal guards managed to escape, but nearly his entire army was left behind.  The NRA ended up accepting the surrender of a colossal 30,000 troops, including 10 commanders of brigades, regiments and divisions; 30 heavy artillery pieces and 35,000 rifles. Perhaps 10,000 of Sun Chuanfangs men had been killed in the 6 day bloodbath, only a mere thousand managed to escape to rejoin his 10,000 man strong rearguard along the north bank. Where Sun Chuanfang had once fielded 11 divisions and 6 mixed brigades, now remained 3 divisions with a few mixed brigades. It was a hard won victory for the NRA, they recorded suffering nearly 10,000 casualties, of which 500 were from the 5th Whampoa Academy class who graduated in July of 1926. Despite the severe defeat, the NPA had still re-surged and the KMT were still quite divided. Following Sun Chuanfangs defeat, his decimated troops limped back north onto trains bound for Shandong. Had the NRA been better coordinated they could have pursued the enemy and managed to take some territory within the north china plain up the yellow river. A NRA vanguard did advance to Pukou, but was forced to pause as more infighting broke out between the Wuhan and Nanking governments. On September 2nd, Li Zongren and Ho Yingqin had their troops ready to cross over the Yangtze but awaited instructions from their leaders. Wang Jingwei led a group of Wuhans leadership over to Shanghai to discuss reunifying the KMT. Meanwhile Zhang Zuolins had dispatched a naval force led by Admiral Po Hai who bombarded Shanghai's Woosung docks providing ample incentives for the KMT to get their shit together quicker. On September 7th the KMT held meetings as the NRA began recrossing the Yangtze anxious about the political decisions being made down south. The NRA forces landed at 4 point along the northern banks and would divide into 3 columns for an offensive. The right column advanced between the Grand Canal and Yellow Sea; the middle column north along the railway and the left remained more stationary in Anhui just incase the Wuhan 25,000 man strong NRA force of Tang Shengchih should attack them. Meanwhile down south the KMT came to a temporary coalition, known as the “September Government”. On the 14th the meetings in Shanghai had progressed far enough that the delegates elected to expand them officially into a plenary session for the KMT's 4th national assembly at Nanking. The guys strongly backing the new coalition were the Guangxi Clique generals Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi and the Wuhan officials Sun Fo and Tan Yenkai. Now Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi held leverage over the Wuhan officials as their troops were literally in the vicinity ofNanking. Wang Jingwei was hundreds of miles away from his commander in chief Tang Shengchih, thus he refused to recognize Nanking as the seat of the KMT government. Wang Jingwei also accused Sun Fo and Tan Yenkai of betraying Wuhan's government and refused to travel with the others to Nanking. Wang Jingwei departed Shanghai on September 13th heading for Jiangxi. Over at Nanking on the 15th, 13 KMT officials representing the control committee and military council met as a collective body to officially create the coalition government. On the 19th the gathering had agreed on specific compromises; the first was an agreement that Dr Sun Yat-Sen's three principles was still their doctrine; the second was to adhere to the KMT authority; third to oppose any CCP interference; and fourth to complete the northern expedition to reunify China. Looking at these terms it would seem they were broad enough to please all within the KMT. However the new coalition government did not have two of the largest KMT leaders, Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-Shek. Despite this the KMT had grown to several million members by this point. Estimates are rough but perhaps in 1926 they were 500,000 and by the end of the northern expedition would be 5 million.  Now the new september government faced a plethora of enemies, the first being Tang Shengchich up in the Yangtze valley; the second being the NPA in north china and the third being the CCP insurgents all around them. Although purged the CCP had managed to goad some of Wuhan's NRA over to their new stronghold in Nanchang. Again we will come back to the Chinese civil war a little after the warlord era stuff and I will talk about all the long march, etc. They would go on to stage a coup in early august aimed at taking control over Jiangxi. This was known as the Nanchang uprising and it lasted from august 1st to the 4th. It was followed up by armed uprising in Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong. Yet these all failed and the CCP resolved to maintain their existence through underground operations. The CCP gradually centralized itself, tightened discipline amongst the ranks and performed their own little purges. To suppress the CCP menace, on August 10th before his forced retirement, Chiang Kai-Shek had ordered Li Zongren to carry out operations out of Guangdong into the CCP held areas in Hunan and Jiangxi. By the 12th Li Zongren's subordinate Zhang Fakuei also aided the anti-CCP campaign there. As for Tang Shengchih, like Wang Jingwei he too resisted joining the September government. In fact he grabbed a large portion of the Wuhan KMT and NRA and went back to being a warlord. Basically Tang Shengchih saw an opportunity and grabbed it. On August 21st he pushed the Nanking NRA forces of Wang Pu and Xia Touyin out of Anking over in Anhui and from there he advanced downriver along the south bank taking Wuhu on September 6th. After taking Wuhu, Tang Shungchih loosely held control over Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and the heartland of Anhui, since the Wuhan government had dissolved. He had a few big Generals under his command such as Ho Chen now leading the 35th army along the Yangtze's north bank and Li Xing leading the 36th army on the south bank near Wuhu. Tang Shungchih had profited heavily from Feng Yuxiang's entry into the war. When Feng Yuxiang did so, Tang Shungchih dispatched forces into southern Honan to capture the Wusheng pass. Along the NRA's western flank, Tang Shungchih's hostile presence greatly hampered their ability to focus north. Thus September saw the northern expedition moving at a crawling pace. Many units shifted over to quell what was seen as Tang Shungchih's rebellion, while the central NRA forces maintained a bridgehead at Pukou against the NPA. The NRA vanguard advanced 25 miles north to Chuxian. On October 15th the NRA began to move their forces up the banks of the Yangtze against Tang Shungchih. The armies were led by Li Zongren and Chen Tiaoyuan on the north bank and Cheng Chen with Yue Kaixin on the south bank. Chu Peiteh's 3rd army threatened Tang Shungchih around the Hunan-Jiangxi border. From the south Li Jishen advanced his troops along the Guangdong border and would attack southern Hunan in early November. Basically it was a large encirclement maneuver. The main fighting against Tang Shungchih would occur along the Yangtze as Nanking tossed forces upstream. The forces of Tang Shunchih lost a war of attrition as the NRA surrounded them, cutting off their lines of communication and supply. Tang Shungchih knew he would eventually be decisively defeated and most likely captured. Thus Tang Shungchih secretly got aboard a Japanese steamship on November 12th and went into exile in Japan. The NRA spent some more time clearing up their western flank until they finally could refocus their efforts against the NPA in the north. Ever since September, the bridgehead situation across the Yangtze remained fairly static. Now again the NRA marched north and quickly, advancing 30 miles while they captured Mingkuang in Anhui on November 9th, followed by Fengyang on the 14th and assaulted the capital of Bengbu on the 16th. Their offensive was concentrated along the Tianjing-Pukou railway, but the NRA were avoided frontal attacks against said line as it was heavily fortified by railroad artillery. Zhang Zongchang's armored train specialization was heavily paying off for the NPA. To combat this the NRA adopted sweeping tactics to try and out flank the NPA, striking into the rail communications in their rear. Meanwhile the warlord armies who had acquired skills in scouring the countryside to steal livestock, foodstuff and coolies. But the peasants by this point had acquired their own skills, particularly the age old practice of hiding their produce and vanishing before warlord gangs showed up. The NPA forces along their most southern fronts were beginning to really suffer because of this. Of course word had spread far and wide about the NRA's remarkable practice of paying for what they needed, thus the peasants were heavily aiding them.  Sun Chuanfang launched a counterattack at Bengbu, trying to isolate the city from the NRA's southern lines of communication. However his counterattack failed horribly and he was yet again forced to withdraw his exhausted and demoralized men north, now above the strategic Huai river valley. The NRA were quick on their heels, continuously outflanking and circled them. In November as Kuchen fell, Sun Chuanfangs forces found themselves shoved into the northernmost portion of Jiangsu with their backs against some rugged hills. Further north, the Dogmeat General stood ready with 150,000 Shandong soldiers. Although allied with Sun Chuanfang, they were still bitter rivals. Zhang Zongchang chose to only collaborate with Sun Chuanfang when under attack by the NRA. Sun Chuanfang certainly had a difficult time coexisted with Zhang Zongchang in Shandong.  To the northwest, over the summer as the NRA had pulled back south during the battle of Lungtan, Feng Yuxiang proved a great diversion for the NPA forces when he attacked Honan. Feng Yuxiang had been promised by Chiang Kai-Shek a ton of money and vital war materials, thus he remained loyal to Nanking after the generalissimo's departure. General Ho Yingqin's 1st Army, the 9th army, Xia Touyins new 10th army and Ho Yaozu's 14th army were advancing towards Xuzhou in Jiangsu. 40 miles west, Po Wenwei's 33rd army was advancing north to join up with Feng Yuxiang to assault the western approaches to Xuzhou. On December 12th the NPA tossed a counter attack down the rail way from Xuzhou. The force consisted of 60,000 men under Zhang Zongchang and 10,000 from Sun Chuanfang. These two guys working together was a recipe for disaster. Zhang Zongchangs white russian armored trains were the spearhead, supported by an air squadron also flown by white russians, some Japanese, French and Chinese pilots. The aircraft strafed NRA positions, proving themselves deadly and something for which the NRA had no answer to. Zhang Zuolin had greatly expanded the Fengtian army's capabilities during the Anti-Fengtian war. Though not enormous in number, the Fengtian held a decent airforce, had quite a few Renault tanks, but most importantly had the vast numerical superiority in heavy artillery and men. By December the 14 however the NPA counterattack began to ground to a halt, literally after 2 days of combat. The NRA then turned up the pressure from the west and south, erecting a siege against Xuzhou. The city would fall on the 16th as Sun Chuanfangs entire front along the east-west Lunghai railway collapsed. This inturn forced the NPA to perform a hasty retreat over the border hills into Shandong, where they would dig in for the winter months. Do not forget the NRA consisted almost entirely of southern chinese, who historically have never done well in winter, especially against northern Chinese. The NPA understood this advantage and would make the best possible of it.  The Zhang Zongchang Sun Chuanfang joint operation was an abysmal failure, however the unity in the new KMT government had its own problems. Just as soon as the NRA had dealt with Tang Shengchih, a disgruntled element of the NRA decided to break off. The September government was lacking stability, honestly they lacked a generalissimo. Neither Wang Jingwei or Chiang Kai-Shek were present, the only two men who had real popularity amongst the masses. The only form of leadership now was loosely held by the Guangxi generals at Nanking. Meanwhile Wang Jingwei had angrily moved back over to Guangdong where he began winning over some of the generals in Guangzhou. He was rebuilding a powerbase, seeking to recapture the KMT revolution. In dire need of support, Wang Jingwei became a lot more flexible with his politics. His image had already been stained by communism because of his former ties to the CCP and Soviet Union. He began publicly telling people in March that he had been naive and that Chen Duxiu had seduced him with talk of CCP cooperation without conditions, but in fact it was Chiang Kai-Shek that was correct about the communists. Wang Jingwei was now colluding with Zhang Fakuei who retained some troops that had fought the communists in Jiangxi and Guangdong. There was also Xue Yue's division and Li Fulin's 5th army, Guangxi natives. However Wang Jingwei had not been the only one trying to build a powerbase in Guangdong, so did the CCP. Zhang Fakuei's primary job was to eliminate the pervading influence of the CCP in Guangzhou, they had never stopped creating mass organizations. Zhang Fakuei's troops continuously rounded them up and kept an eye on the Soviet consulate at all times. The KMT were very well aware, most of the time it was the Soviets pulling the strings, ordering CCP members around. During November, the CCP planned to seize Guangdong as their new revolutionary base. Through the Soviet consulate, Joseph Stalin sent orders in mid November, to step up armed activism throughout China. This would start with creating and controlling labor and peasant associations. The CCP played upon the low standard of living and economic instability of warlord era China, hoping to appeal to the masses for a Soviet communist style system rather than what the KMT proposed. Here is a taste of some of the slogans they wrote on placards and proclaimed in major city centers: Raise the Soldiers' Pay to 20 Silver Dollars! Food for the Workers! Land to the Tillers! Knock Down the KMT and the Warlords! Kill All the Country Bullies and the Evil Landlords! Confiscate the Capitalists' Homes and Give Them to the Rebel Masses! All Authority to the Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers! At one point Zhang Fakuei moved his anti-communist operations over to Hong Kong as they were seeing major strikes. By late november some Red Militia, including “dare-to-die” units were being gathered by the CCP. In December, just as Wang Jingwei thought he was grasping at becoming politically relevant again, Guangdong fell into chaos. During early December a large number of strikes sprang up, especially within Guangzhou. Then the CCP attempted a coup. The ringleaders were Zhang Tailei, the ex leader of the Hong Kong Strikers and Su Zhaocheng, the ex minister of labor at Wuhan. They led a Red Militia into the streets of Guangzhou, during the early hours of December 11th. The communists began by first seducing members of Zhang Fakuei's army. When the morning light came up, their dare-to-die units and armed workers stormed police stations, grabbing their rifles, machine guns and armored cars. They also took city buses and trucks to spread red militia throughout the city who quickly stormed KMT governmental buildings, the central bank with its large silver reserves and barracks for more arms. To suppress resistance the CCP began executing officers during the street fighting, marked and burnt down homes of KMT officials. Most of the communists were rural peasants, hoping their actions would jolt the urban workers to join them. Charging down hills of Guangdong, remnants of the Red Army that had been fighting and retreating after the Nanchang uprising entered Guangzhou under Yue Tings leaderships. However bloody and successful the capture of Guangzhou made have been, it was certainly short lived. Outside Guangzhou, Zhang Fakuei, supported by Li Fulin's 5th NRA army, some river gunboats and those loyal to the KMT within the city outmanned and outgunned the communists. Hammer and sickle flags were torn down by December 14th after only 4 days of communist takeover. The anti communist bloodbath that followed, rinsed clean even the Soviet collaborators from the consulate. Wang Jingwei professed to all he alongside his KMT leftist colleagues were guiltless of the CCP coup. A few days prior to the uprising at the plenary session preparing for the KMT 4ths congress set for January, Wang Jingwei surprised all by calling for Chiang Kai-SHek to be invited back to his post as Commander in Chief. The Chiang Kai-Shek loyalists sprang on the issue. Chiang Kai-Shek added his voice into the scene by calling for a cessation of any relations with Moscow, Nanking implemented that straight away, closing all the Soviet consulates within KMT territories and kicking the Soviet diplomats out.  Now it seems Wang Jingwei was desperate to get back into the fold, so he was trying to play for a position as the head of the civilian KMT government while Chiang Kai-SHek controlled the military. However the Guangzhou uprising stained him with further communist suspicion. Yet again it seemed the curtains were falling down upon Wang Jingwei. On December the 17th he boarded a steamer bound for France. His ship would stop at Hong Kong, but he did not bother to step ashore. Like the Soviets, he was being kicked out of China, again. 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 rivalry between the Wuhan and Nanking KMT governments had come to an end. A new September government unified the KMT, however they lacked any real leadership in the forms of Wang Jingwei or Chiang Kai-Shek. The Guangxi clique generals were trying to keep things together, but it simply was not the same. At some point someone would have to become generalissimo again. 

聊中西文化，也聊很多东西！ 第六十八期，第一次去江西南昌玩。去了海昏侯博物院、滕王阁、江西省美术馆等等，吃了拌粉，喝了茶决决，很喜欢很开心！ 00:00 重新制作以前播客的感受 02:10 旅行时，你是哪类人？ 03:30 第一天去海昏侯博物馆 08:55 吃晚饭、逛夜景 11:15 出去旅行能看出俩人适合做朋友吗？ 13:15 看日出、吃南昌拌粉、去滕王阁 19:00 一个人的逛吃逛吃 欢迎给我们来信： ttmiChinese@gmail.com Have online class with Candice, please email candicex2018@gmail.com YouTube: Candice X Chinese Mandarin Instagram: CandiceXMandarin2022 免费学习资料 Free study materials please visit Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/candicex PDF full script for episode 68: https://www.patreon.com/posts/111201443 Full subtitles with Pinyin for episode 68: https://youtu.be/Mq4TPw0aSP8

Last time we spoke about the invasion of Zhejiang. Chiang Kai-Shek kept the momentum going by invading Zhejiang after taking Jiangxi and Fujian. However Sun Chuanfang in desperation ran to an unlikely ally, Zhang Zuolin to form the National Pacification Army. Now the NPA would go to war with the NRA. The NRA also faced internal strife as strikes broke out in Guangzhou and Wuhan. After quelling the worker strikes, the NRA began to concentrate on the Zhejiang campaign performing strategic counter attacks against Sun Chuanfangs offensives. By early 1927 Sun Chuanfang's control over Zhejiang was being undermined by Zhejiang independence movement leaders who joined the KMT to overthrow him. Sun Chuanfang was served disastrous defeats, his armies began to rout with many plundering before they fled north. Those that still continued the fight fled for Shanghai, where Sun Chuanfang prepared to make a last stand to hold the NRA back before Zhejiang fell.   #113 The Northern Expedition Part 4: The taking of Shanghai & Nanking 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 NRA east route army had concentrated around Sungchiang just in front of Shanghai. They made it seem they were preparing for a major assault on the super city, yet up the Yangtze, half of the NRA were secretly preparing an offensive directed against Nanking. If the NRA captured Nanking and its strategic Tianjin-Pukou railway line, Sun Chuanfang's forces south of the Yangtze would be isolated and cut off from reinforcements and supplies. On February 19th of 1927, Sun Chuanfang pulled his battered armies out of Zhejiang as he awaited reinforcements from Zhang Zongchang's Shandong army. Meanwhile the KMT called upon their agents and allies within Shanghai to foment disorder. Going back to November of 1926, KMT and CCP members within Shanghai had been assembling recruits together to strengthen their first united front. Shanghai held a large part of China's modern factory workers, numbering in the several hundred of thousands. They represented a considerable percent of the Shanghai population. Following the formation of the NPA, Shanghai unions began attacking Sun Chuanfang for bringing Shandong mercenaries into Zhejiang and strongly disagreed with his alliance with the northerners. They had real grievances with the northerners, because they had ties to foreign powers like the Empire of Japan. Those in Shanghai sought to break the chains of foreign imperialism and wanted more autonomy. From 1926 onwards many unions, particularly those directed by the CCP organized demonstrations against Sun Chuanfang and the NPA. By February of 1927 the anti-Sun Chuanfang movement really heated up. The National General Labor Union of the CCP had ordered some assassinations to terrorize the Chinese and foreign industrialists. To bring even more Shanghai workers under their influence and hurt Sun Chuanfangs hold over the city the CCP organized a political strike, similar to what had occurred in Hong Kong the year prior. A general strike in Shanghai was planned for February 19th and it would include the foreign concession factories. The strikers had 5 political and 12 economic demands. A major aim of the strike was to seize power through the use of the masses, even against a well armed regime like Sun Chuanfangs. The CCP hoped to direct large crowds of workers against Sun Chuanfang's police stations and garrison posts where they could seize their weapons to arm some workers corps. They had acquired quite a bit of experience during the Hong Kong and Guangzhou strikers when it came to arming workers. However the response of Sun Chuanfangs regime would be vastly different than the KMT in Guangzhou.  Sun Chuanfangs garrison commander at Shanghai responded violently and quickly. He dispatched broadsword carrying executioners and soldiers through the city grabbing and beheading any strikers on sight. Heads were placed on lamp posts at street corners and on spikes all around. Its estimated out of perhaps 100,000 to 350,000 workers who striked, the headcount ranged between 100-500. The CCP continued its efforts to attack police stations, but the general strike died out on the third day. In a form of retaliation the Shanghai workers held a mass trial and execution of at least one police officer. A new garrison commander was sent to Sahnghai, Pi Shucheng in an effort to reinforce the city. By the point he showed up the CCP gave up and told the strikers to get back to work to end the bloodshed. What became known as the second shanghai uprising failed to achieve much.  Despite its failure, the second uprising in Shanghai displayed disunity under Sun Chuanfangs rule. By mid February Sun Chuanfangs Shanghai navy had begun to act suspiciously. On the 22nd as the CCP led sorties against the Shanghai Police, shells from the warships Chienkang and Chienwei fll over the Jiangnan arsenal. Thinking not much of it, Sun Chuanfang blamed a few young officers for the bombardment and gave his Admiral Yang Shuchuang a demerit. Sun Chuanfang was of course reluctant at this point to penalize his subordinates for fear they mutiny. The bombardment did not knock out the aresnal but a fire began mysteriously on the 28th blowing up 40 crates of artillery shells. The uprising did little to weaken Sun Chuanfangs hold over Shanghai, so the NRA shifted strategy. Over in Hangzhou, NRA units advance to the Sungchiang front while NRA units in Jiangxi advance downriver towards Nanking. The 6th and 7th NRA armies advance along the Jiangxi-Anhui border as the eastern route command dug in near Shanghai. Back in December, at the Nanchang conference Chiang Kai-Shek and Borodin had managed to smooth the tension between the CCP and KMT. Borodin agreed to curtain some union disorder that were interfering with the war effort so the First United Front would not collapse. However within the new conquered territories, many that contained enormous industrial potential, strikes and labor violence kept breaking out. This was quite dangerous for the stability of the NRA as they performed the northern expedition. But from the CCP point of view they were simply organizing the enormous untapped power of Chinese workers. The CCP began to really grow in power at Wuhan and were becoming less cooperative with Chiang Kai-Shek. They believed Chiang Kai-Shek was dependent and at the mercy of Soviet aid. They also believed, since he had left Guangdong, a more malleable KMT military figure would better suit their interests. Thus a concerted effort was made to replace Chiang Kai-Shek. You could call it a anti-Chiang movement sprang up and it was taking an effect on the Northern Expedition. Chiang Kai-Shek had just wired the Wuhan administration three times for funds to pay some disgruntled 7th army troops. The administration at Wuhan created by a joint council of the party and government, by insistence of Borodin, were generally compliant to Chiang Kai-Sheks demands. One of their leaders was Xu Chen, the current minister of justice. According to a group close to Wang Jingwei, it seemed the CCP, Chiang Kai-Sheks inner circle and the new Joint Council at Wuhan between January and February of 1927 were becoming quite dependent on Soviet advice. Early in January the CCP were attacking Chiang Kai-Shek with propaganda aimed to make it seem he was in bed with other warlords and the Japanese, thus a betrayer to Dr Sun Yat-Sens movement. Xu Chen the current commander of the 8th NRA army became a potential replacement for Chiang Kai-Shek, but the CCP were still afraid to risk open strife with the KMT. Borodin and CCP leaders like Mao Zedong were encouraged by the CCP membership growth in the countryside and within military units around Wuhan. As the NRA advance through Hunan, CCP membership increased as they spread through peasant associations. It was a similar case in Hubei. The Hunanese commander of the 2nd NRA army brought up the issue at a KMT meeting warning his colleagues “not to neglect the dangers of internal strife. Many of our members have become sidetracked by… ideas … not indicated in Sun Yat-sen's instructions,… not belittle the enemy. Our enemies are now uniting together and gathering to attack us. We should concentrate the power of the Party and obey its orders strictly regardless of our own opinions.” Chiang Kai-Shek of course was not oblivious to the danger all around him. He launched his own sort of counterattack. He began claiming the CCP strategy and those who were following them, threatened the all-class union of the KMT. On February 19th he urged a KMT audience during a speech to “look to … the doctrines of Sun Yat-sen and nothing else.” The anti Chiang Kai-Shek sentiment was felt in crowds at Wuhan. On February 24th, a crowd of 50,000 assembled at the party HQ parade ground where they made fiery speeches against Chiang Kai-Shek and against the Northern Expedition. “All we have seen is military power, but no Party power; individual will but not Party will…. Old degenerate counterrevolutionaries have caused these pathetic facts of the Party. That is why we must… knock down the feudal influences.” After this several people began chanting “Down with the Old and Degenerate!” Then another man made a speech stating “a few individuals could not do the work…. Now the old, rotten feudal thinking members manipulate the KMT, we must therefore knock them down.” Then the chant turned to “Down with Chang Ching-chiang,Oppose the Military Dictatorship.” Then the head of the NRA's Political Departments, Teng Yenta stated “democratic centralization was the way to achieve the ideals of the Three People's Principles, but now our leadership has been occupied by the old, ignorant, and the incompetent …, and we must overthrow personal dictatorship … and bring the military under control….” Chiang Kai-Shek was enraged by all of this of course and he refuted the charges made against him. He singled out Xu Chen who had just made himself chairman of the new Joint Council without KMT party authorization. Chiang Kai-Shek began a little investigation and concluded it was Borodin's doing so he telegrammed Moscow on February 26th requesting Borodin be sent back to the USSR. The next day at a KMT meeting, Chiang Kai-Shek told his colleagues he felt despite the fact the NRA advanced into new territories, while the people saw them as KMT members, they only heard propaganda from the CCP. By March the anti-Chiang cabal now sought to replace him with General Tang Shengchih, the Hunanese defector made commander of the 8th NRA army. According to one soviet report written on the 5th of March, Tang Shengchih was seen to be much more dependent on Soviet aid and a lot more cooperative in helping the anti-chiang effort amongst the other generals. A new anti-chiang alliance would require the support of other high ranking generals such as Chang Fakuai new corps, Chen Mingshu's 11th army, Chu Peitehs 3rd army and the 9th and 10th armies. According to the same Soviet report, Tang Shenchih managed to turn Li Tsungjen against Chiang Kai-Shek and this hampered Chiang Kai-Sheks ability to obtain funds from Wuhan to pay Li Tsunjens 7th army.  Spring of 1927 brought more disunity to the First United Front and thus hurt the Northern Expedition. Although the NRA were clearly on a roll in Zhejiang and Fujian, their progress north of Wuhan and downriver from Jiangxi lost steam. Chiang Kai-Shek still held confidence of the men in the eastern route army concentrating along the Jiangsu-Anhui border, but their offensive was also halted. In southern Honan where the NRA were facing the remnants of Wu Peifu's army, winter's chill was beginning to slow down the expedition.  The offensive kicked back up with a bunch of defections amongst Sun Chuanfang's forces in Anhui. Chen Tiaoyuan, Sun Chuanfangs commander in Chief for his Anhui forces, had became dissatisfied with him and how he was ruling the 5 province empire…which I guess is now more like 2. Chen Tiaoyuan was demoralized, who could blame him. Back on December 5th of 1926, Chen Tiaoyuan began secret negotiations by dispatching some of his subordinates such as Fan Shao-kai over to the KMT hoping to defect and gain a decent position. Simultaneously, Sun Chuanfang maintained hope of holding his frontline in Anhui by promoting subordinates. Sun Chuanfang appointed Chen Tiaoyuan to be the director of defenses over the province on December 21st. On February 20th of 1927, one of Chen Tiaoyuans divisions, led by Liu Paoti defected to the NRA when he was guarding a strategic pass known as the Chimen gateway. This was a 5000 foot high range leading into Anhui. Now the NRA held a mountain side door leading directly into Anhui. The mountain range in question also happened to be the last natural barrier that Sun Chuanfang's troops were utilizing to defend the lower Yangtze area, including of course Shanghai. After that Chen Tiaoyuang tossed the towel to the inevitable and defected to the NRA. Chen Tiaoyuan proved his defection by turning his defensive sector along the Yangtze over on March 2nd. He brought with him the mixed brigade of Wang Pu and elements of the Hunan Army led by Yue Kaixin. The NRA proceeded to advance over the Yellow Mountain and down it to seize Taiping in Anhui on march 3rd. Pretty much unopposed the NRA marched upon Nanking through Anhui taking several routes. By March 17th, the 17th Division of Cheng Chens 6th NRA Army had advanced 200 miles downstream using river steamboats and was only 70 miles away from Nanking. Over the north banks of the Yangtze the NRA formed a spearhead and thrusted it into the soft midsection of the north-south railway. By mid march the NRA captured Hofei in northern Anhui. At this point Sun Chuanfangs relationship with his navy was greatly waning and he was becoming more and more dependent on the Tsinpu railway as an escape option to head north rather than via the sea. Thus March of 1927 saw the NRA effectively begin trapping Sun Chuanfang into the Yangtze delta around Shanghai.  The NRA southern forces were now advancing out of Zhejiang into the delta region. One pincer was heading north along the shores of Lake Tai aiming for the Shanghai-Nanking railway at Changzhou. Meanwhile in Anhui the 6th army was attacking Wuhu on the 6th of March. Anti-foreign disorder broke out at Wuhu as NRA political agents raillied crowds of civilians and soldiers to mob the foreigners maritime customs office and clubhouse. This sent the foreigners to flee downriver to Shanghai by ship carrying more tales of anti-foreign abuse with them. The eastern route force facing Shanghai was met with heavy artillery bombardment as more and more NPA troops from Shandong arrived. Several NRA attacks north of Shanghai against railway links were made, threatening the city's defensive capabilities. By mid march many forces defending Shanghai began evacuating for Nanking. On March 15th the eastern route army had its first major breakthrough over the hills that overlooked Lake Tai. NRA forces managed to outflank the enemy artillery placements and erected a real blockade by march 16th. Now a new NRA pincer moved west against Lishui, 40 miles from Nanking. Along the east shore of said lake, the NRA was effectively blocked by Shandong troops who held an advantage in heavy artillery. By mid march many Shandong reinforcements arrived at Changzhou along the Nanking-Shanghai railway, but were simply turned back to Nanking. Not a good look.  From Wuhu the NRA kept the advance towards Tangtu which was outflanked and captured on the 17th, while the east route force took up a position 50 miles from Nanking on some ridges where Sun Chuanfang had once headquartered. On the 18th, north of the Yangtze the 7th NRA army just captured Hofei and its railway link. The delta area's defenses were falling apart everywhere one looked. The Dogmeat General took one look and ordered a general withdrawal of all the Shandong forces from the Shanghai area to some positions north of the Yangtze. With that Shanghai defenses fell apart. Over at the Sungchiang front the forces of Pi Shucheng retreated into the city towards the railway station, but did not high tail it to Nanking despite being ordered to do so. According to foreign and Chinese journalists, Pi Shucheng had been waiting for the opportune moment to defect to the NRA and had been secretly negotiating to turn Shanghai over. Thus it seemed the NRA had managed to capture the city without provoking the foreigners. On the 20th the NRA managed to flank the railroad artillery position still manned by some White Russian forces. They managed this through more defections, this time from Shanghai police. The Shanghai police controlled the waterways and aided the NRA in navigating them so they could advance more rapidly. Simultaneously Suzhou, Changzhou and Henglin were captured. Sun Chuanfang was receiving zero aid from the sea for over a week by this point as AdmiralYang Shuchuang had taken the fleet upriver to join the NRA's river fleet. Of course Admiral Yang Shuchuangs defection had been in the works for well over a year, but his timing could not have been worse for Sun Chuanfang. On March 21st a bloodless seizure of Shanghai proceeded. Now going back to our conversation about the anti-Chiang Kai-Shek movement, there had been a lot of development during this time period. In January of 1927, Wang Jingwei with his left wing allies, members of the CCP and Borodin had transferred the seat of the KMT government from Guangzhou to Wuhan. On March 1st the KMT government then reorganized the military commission and placed Chiang Kai-Shek under its jurisdiction with the secret intent to arrest him. As the NRA was about to storm Shanghai, a major opportunity presented itself to the CCP. Most of the Northern Chinese defenders still stuck in Shanghai were simply looking to surrender. Thus on March 21st, CCP leaders Zhou Enlai and Chen Duxiu launched an armed uprising. The CCP seized weapons, created a general strike and seized most of the city. This caused many of Sun Chuanfangs soldiers to flee to the railway station or coasts, looting as they did. Major battle took place between armed workers and soldiers, causing fires and damaged to heavily populated areas of the city. For example in the northern suburb of Zhapei, armed workers burnt down 3000 homes. By the night of the 22nd Bai Chongxi's NRA troops were gradually occupying the city, however the general strike was disrupting their efforts. General Bai Chongxi' ordered the CCP to call off the general strike on the 24th, but for over 4 days 322 Chinese were killed and over 2000 were wounded. As the NRA consolidated their authority over the city, their top spokesmen, Chiang Kai-SHek, Ho Yingqin and Bai Chongxi tried to alleviate the foreign community who were ridden with frightened refugees in the international settlement. The settlement was a literal warzone, fitted with barbed wire, gates, marines and soldiers behind sandbag trenches and such. Very real and many false stories were spread of anti-foreign atrocities. The NRA put out notices stating “The purpose of the military operations of the Northern Expedition is to establish a nation governed by the people and to get rid of the warlords. Our army occupied Hunan, Kiangsi, Hupeh, Fukien, Chekiang, Anhui, and other provinces and the unification of the entire nation will be accomplished soon. The Party Army's success is the victory of the people…. In accordance with international morality we shall guard the lives and property of foreigners. We have occupied Shanghai by more than force. We request that consuls inform your nationals to carry on your activities as usual and order the marines not to misunderstand our motives and not to carry out means to obstruct our revolutionary cause'. And now we come to a large and confusing part of the story. At Nanking and Shanghai major events would unfold, seeing the end of the first United Front. After a few days, anti-foreign actions would follow the capture of Nanking requiring more and more public assurances from the KMT. The last demoralized rear guard crossed the Yangtze to get to the safer northern bank. By doing this, now the NPA's most southern position was the rail terminal at Pukou. The NRA vanguard entered Nanking on March 24th, with units of the 6th army and countless NPA Anhui defectors alongside them. Chiang Kai-Shek loyalists in the KMT then charged the head of the 6th NRA army's political department, a CCP member named Lin Xuhan with masterminding attacks upon foreigners. These attacks provoked the foreign powers to then attack Chiang Kai-Shek, diverting his attention from the northern expedition and weakening his authority over the new Wuhan government. Elements of the 6th army had stirred up anti-foreign attitudes amongst their troops and civilians within Nanking. Yet the foreign community in the city would go on to say the attacks they witnessed were not made by civilian mobs. Whatever motivations, the situation that unfolded at Nanking signified a giant breach of soldier discipline. For Chiang Kai-Shek to have permitted such actions to take place was inconsistent with his strategy of avoiding any provocation upon the foreign powers. Yet over 25,000 Nanking refugees flooded over to Shanghai as 25,000 foreign marines and soldiers began defending the concessions, assuring the NRA they were ready for a fight. Going back in time somewhat, the March 20th coup was something akin to a patient zero. Back on January 3rd of 1927 elements of the KMT at Wuhan had triggered mobs to attack the British concessions until they gave back authority at Hankou and Kiukiang to the Chinese. Yet the KMT had never given such orders to do so. It seemed the CCP were pushing these actions. Between March 7th to the 17th, the new Joint Council at Wuhan was openly being defiant towards Chiang Kai-Shek and they held their first plenary session to work against him. They met with KMT leftists and CCP members and agreed to appoint CCP members, Su Chaocheng and Tan Pingshan as ministers; promoted CCP peasant and labour groups and dispatched three representatives to the Third Communist International to discuss China's role in the would be world revolution. It did not seem the CCP intended to keep their promise to the KMT about China not going communist. All of this authority at Wuhan undermined Chiang Kai-Sheks authority and those loyal to him. They immediately voted to take direct control of military funds which had been previously handled by the minister of Finance, T.V Soong, obviously considered a loyal supporter to Chiang Kai-Shek. In order to gain more influence in the NRA, the Wuhan guys began creating a parallel military chain of command and recruited CCP members into major officer positions. They hoped such actions would see more military types defect over to their cause. Now by this point the NRA really had become a giant beast. When the northern expedition launched in July of 1926 the were 8 armies, by March of 1927 they were now 40. Wuhans fiscal and political control over said armies would clearly undermine and probably be capable of getting rid of Chiang Kai-Shek, so it was a no brainer to attempt seizing them for the CCP. The Wuhan cabal hoped to incorporate some of the new armies, made mostly of defectors, whose alliances were probably flimsy to be under their control. Chiang Kai-Shek tried to counter these attacks, but anything he did would be seen as censorship or anti-communist, thus shattering the first united front, from which he still depended….or did he?  Now technically the Wuhan Cabal was only able to do what they were doing because leading KMT figures were not present such as Chiang Kai-Shek and Wang Jingwei. Thus lesser members like Xu Chen and Teng Yenta were able to make some big decisions. Both men were CCP aligned and worked to abolish Chiang Kai-Sheks posts that he held such as ministry of the military which was replaced by the Wuhan Military council. The Wuhan cabal was able to reduce Chiang Kai-Sheks role as commander in chief and give various tasks to other military commanders. Likewise the military education programs at the KMT academics removed Chiang Kai-Sheks supervisory role, depriving him of obtaining the loyalty of the new junior officer corps. Appointment, promotions and dismissals of commanders would be done by the Military council, ie: Xu CHen and Teng Yenta. They first relieved Chen Mingshu, a known Chiang Kai-Shek loyalist and replaced him with a Moscow certified star Tang Shengchih. It became very obvious what they were trying to do. Thus as the Wuhan cabal tore apart Chiang Kai-Sheks authority piece by piece, the NRA's war against Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang began to collapse. Without a high degree of coordination and leadership, the NRA was finding it difficult to fight the numerically superior NPA forces. In March of 1927, Wuhan proclaimed all regulations ordered by Chiang Kai-Sheks HQ to be nullified. This meant although he retained authority over troops at the frontlines, Wuhan now claimed authority over all the other troops. All of these attacks upon Chiang Kai-Shek caused massive confusion in the ranks. Many within the KMT believed and rightfully so that the CCP was trying to take leadership over the movement. As the northern expedition took the NRA into Jiangsu, the momentum of their previous victories had pushed them across the Yangtze. This was heavily aided by the recent Shanghai Navy defectors who eased the crossing using their vessels. Those already operating north of the Yangtze such as the 3rd, 7th and 10th armies were pressing past Hofei towards Pengpu by early April. Pengpu was the capital of Anhui, forming a sort of bridgehead over the Huai river with a railway depot for Zhang Zongchang's armies. Thus its capture would open a door to the invasion of North China. Yet the NRA's momentum died in confusion over which direction they were to take, because of the Wuhan cabal-Chiang Kai-Shek fighting, and their logistical support was falling apart. It seemed to all like the northern expedition might never make it to the north.  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 NRA managed to seize the super cities of Shanghai and Nanking. The NRA now dominated most of south China and were about to begin invading the north, when internal problems arose. The CCP and Chiang Kai-Shek were not seeing eye to eye and now a civil war seemed to be breaking out in the first united front.

Last time we spoke about the beginning of Chiang Kai-Sheks war against Sun Chuanfang. Chiang Kai-Shek had just conquered Hunan and Hubei, but this caused Sun Chuanfang to finally act. Chiang Kai-Shek's forces preemptively invaded Jiangxi to thwart Sun Chuanfangs two pronged offensive and any chance of him linking up with Wu Peifu. Sun Chuanfang was caught off guard, but managed to toss brutal counterattacks. However internal disunity amongst the 5 provinces led to a great weakening of Sun Chuanfangs campaign. In October, the NRA counterattacked, retaking territory and pushing Sun's forces back. Sun's position crumbled further due to rebellions in Zhejiang, where local leaders allied with the KMT. Despite setbacks, by November, the NRA's relentless pressure led to the capture of Jiangxi, significantly weakening Sun Chuanfang's hold and advancing the Northern Expedition. Meanwhile other NRA forces devastated Fujian's defenders and shockingly seized the province.    #112 The Northern Expedition Part 3: The Zhejiang Campaign 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. Beginning in November, until the end of 1926, both the NRA and their enemies took a sort of pause to regroup and figure out what was going on. Chiang Kai-Shek had carried out an offensive down the Yangtze and sought the blitzkrieg to carry on, but many within his ranks wanted to slow down and regroup. Meanwhile Sun Chuanfang received more peace offers and chances to join the KMT, but such a thing seemed too far beneath him. With Jiangxi and Fujian lost, Sun Chuanfang instead turned to an unlikely ally. In a very, the enemy of my enemy is my friend-like fashion he turned north to the Fengtian clique warlords. Now obviously, during the later half of the Anti-Fengtian War, Sun Chuanfang kind of held back. He had served the Fengtian a bloody nose and consolidated his 5 provinces, letting the northerners battle it out amongst themselves. Yet they just like he viewed the new southern menace as nothing more than a communist parasite swarming out of Guangdong. In a fit of desperation Sun Chuanfang took a train on November 8th in Nanking bound for Tianjin.  Once in Tianjin Sun Chuanfang met with some subordinates of Zhang Zuolin and Zhang Zongchang. They all reviewed the dire situation that befell Wu Peifu against the NRA in Hunan and Hubei. Sun Chuanfang fully disclosed what had happened to his forces in Jiangxi and Fujian. The northern warlords acknowledged the NRA was not like any other warlord force they had faced before. They were defeating armies much larger and much better armed, it confused them. Even those who had control over strategic railways seemed to be losing to the NRA. The Fengtian warlords had learnt some bitter lessons during their war with Sun Chuanfang and were not going to underestimate a potential enemy again. The Fengtian decided to form a new alliance to destroy the new red menace in the south. Despite the significant grievances between Sun Chuanfang and the Fengtian, particularly with Zhang Zongchang, he agreed to the alliance. Sun Chuanfang really had no choice after losing Jiangxi and Fujian with ill control over Zhejiang. As for Wu Peifu, he really was the unlucky warlord to be first in the crosshairs of the NRA. The commanders at the Tianjin meeting agreed to do what they could to reinforce him over in Honan so that he might be able to mount a counter offensive against Wuhan. They all also agreed, if Wu Peifu refused their alliance and aid, they would be forced to invade Honan to defend the north from the NRA. To reinforce Sun Chuanfang in the southeast, the Fengtian would fit the bill, but bill Sun Chuanfang they also would. In particular Zhang Zongchang was looking enviously at some of Sun Chuanfangs holdings as his province of Shandong was certainly impoverished, all because of his miss rule might I add. Zhang Zongchang had his eye on the gem of Shanghai and its robust black market, where many of his friends resided. Sun Chuanfang offered Zhang Zongchang a guarantee of 500,000$ in silver collected from the good taxpayers of Zhejiang and Anhui in return for reinforcements.  On November 24th, while Sun Chuanfangs forces in Fujian were being obliterated by the NRA, major agreements made at Tianjin were bearing results. Zhang Zongchang's Shandong troops were advancing south into Anhui aboard the Tianjing-Pukou railway bound for the Yangtze delta. They were 60,000 men strong, including some of Zhang Zongchang's elite White Russian units manning armorer trains with their specialized artillery. Within just a weeks time they were arriving to the battlefield under a brand new banner “the Ankuochün / National Pacification Army”. Zhang Zuolin came up with the name, the idea behind it was to make it seem like they were fighting a war to achieve peace against the evil red horde. Zhang Zuolin took the authority as commander in chief and appointed Sun Chuanfang and Zhang Zongchang as his deputy commanders with their HQ being in the Pukou-Nanking area. Zhang Zuolin proclaimed to the people of China he promised to save China from the red menace. The new National Pacification Army was a whopping 500,000 men strong.  Sun Chuanfangs portion of this grand army was of course the weakest link as he had just been battered by the NRA , but the Fengtian had not even had a chance to lift a thumb. Sun Chuanfang was still obsessed with retaining his 5 province empire and that desire would hinder his management of the war.  As Shandong troops arrived, they found not a grand welcoming from the local populations. They of course had terrible reputations and were the very people who had molested southeast China during the Zhejiang-Fengtian war. The CCP and NRA would exploit the southeast Chinese peoples hatred towards the northerners. Within Jiangsu and Shanghai, the Shandongers forced the locals to accept the Zhang Zongchang bank notes, literally worthless pieces of paper. The CCP and KMT began propaganda campaigns playing off this situation to tell the people the northerners were going to basically rip them all off. Sun Chuanfang could see exactly the sort of game the CCP and KMT were playing at and increased his persecution of them within his territories.  Now although Sun Chuanfang had certainly been weakened, Chiang Kai-Shek was not in good enough of a situation to follow up on his Jiangxi and Fujian victories. Chiang Kai-Shek had moved his HQ to Nanchang and was quite nervous about some looming issues within his ranks. He had already postponed the northern expedition back in July of 1926 when strikes broke out against Hong Kong. In November word spread that strikes were yet again occurring in Guangzhou, particularly at the Guangzhou-Hankou railway. The strikes at the railway were spreading up into Hunan. Over in Guangzhou the Cantonese workers at the Shihching and Mortar arsenals were striking as CCP members were agitating sailors and navy unions to join. The workers were demanding higher wages, clearly trying to take advantage of the fact the NRA were at the frontlines. Chiang Kai-Shek ordered the head of the NRA political department, Teng Yenta to travel from the front lines back over to Guangzhou to see if he could quell the madness. Throughout November a lull occurred, but it broke suddenly in December as strikers armed with pickets began closing up rice shops and banks. Reports came to Chiang Kai-Shek at the front, greatly worrying him about their war material situation. A lot of what they produced came out of Guangzhou and it seemed under threat. On December 8th, Chiang Kai-Shek made a speech, talking about how issues were coming about because of conflict within their First United Front. Following said speech, he appointed the garrison commander, Chien Tachuan to act as Guangzhou's police chief and pacify the city. Chiang met some KMT officials of the Central Political Council at Kuling, ordering them to help restrain labor violence and prohibit strikes in Guangzhou against strategic activities, such as communications, banks, and the supply of food and other “vital necessities. The Guangzhou strike situation then spread to Wuhan as workers began marching for higher wages and better working conditions. Because of this, by late 1926 Wuhan's lucrative arsenal industries outputs were declining. KMT leaders were freaking out over the situation as it looked to them all that another Guangzhou style workers uprising would occur. Word spread that a general strike in Wuhan was being planned on December 3rd, prompting Chiang Kai-Shek to intervene. The workers in general were protesting imperialist employers in the three cities; Hankou, Hanyang and Wuchang. They wanted higher pay and better working conditions, pretty standard stuff. Chiang Kai-Shek called together a meeting at Nanchang of various KMT leaders and Borodin. Chiang Kai-Shek proposed regulating the labor movement. Borodin recommended that the CCP corporate in restraining the union problems. Political department members of the KMT proposed disbanding 1000 armed pickets operating in Wuhan, the same way they did at Guangzhou. Hankou had seen some union violence and this deeply worried Chiang Kai-Shek who envisioned foreign marines storming shore from fleets of gunboats along the Yangtze to defend their nationals and property rights. It was eventually agreed some of the protestor leaders would be allowed to join the KMT to help its new government in Wuhan. It seems Chiang Kai-Shek had his hands quite full with internal problems.  Now back over the situation of Zhejiang. Despite the rather hilarious failure of Xia Chao's rebellion, if it could even be called such a thing. Sun Chuanfang's troops had taken a firm station in Zhejiang to maintain the peace. While the violence had cooled down, the sentiment of the people of Zhejiang had not. During late October, Sun Chuanfangs troops had swarmed Zhejiang trying to create a regime that would pacify and try to conciliate the provincial feelings. Zhou Fengqi had been transferred back to Zhejiang, mostly because Sun Chuanfang wanted to get him and his division out of the Jiangxi battlefield because he was doing a terrible job. Sun Chuanfang hoped his provincial Lt's would prove better defenders if defending their homeland. He also began a propaganda campaign, spreading word that the Cantonese forces were brutalizing the civilians everywhere they invaded. He said things like the Cantonese sought to break the traditional family system, that they were merely communists in disguise and such. Sun Chuanfang had also brought Chen Yi and his division back to Hangzhou and by October 31st, appointed Zhejiangs new civil governor after Xia Chao's head was cut off. Simultaneously, Sun Chuanfang kept his own personal retainer, Lu Xiangting, the military governor of Zhejiang. Now as Zhou Fengqi was heading back to Zhejiang, he came to Shanghai where he proclaimed to the pople that Sun Chuanfang had placed him in charge of defending the province against the Cantonese invaders. When he arrived to Hangzhou, Zhou Fengqi stated publically he had no sympathies for the KMT revolutionaries. Why he did this was because many rumors had spread that he had deserted in the Jiangxi fight to the KMT, which of course was 100% correct. On November 25th, Zhou Fengqi spoke publically about his dead mentor Xia Chao and stated “I would sacrafice anything for Zhejiang… neither the Northern Army nor the Southern Army were his friends and that any who invaded Chekiang automatically became his enemy ….” Now Sun Chuanfangs surprising move to ally himself to Zhang Zuolin had greatly shocked and scared the southeastern populations, the Fengtian northerners were of course the brutes who had hurt them. Thus Sun Chuanfang had become a double edged sword. He was saved by the Fengtian reinforcements, but his 5 provinces populations also deeply resented this. For those in Zhejiang who sought autonomy, it looked a lot like the KMT was a better option going forward. Chiang Kai-Shek was well aware of the situation and exploited it. The KMT began offering peace agreements not just to Sun Chuanfang, but to independent bodies in Zhejiang, such as the All-Zhejiand Association and even the All-Jiangsu association. KMT members in Zhejiang such as Tsai Yuanpei and C.T Wang. These two guys were responsible for writing the Zhejiang autonomous consitution of 1921. Within the safetey of the Shanghai international settlement they proposed a new federal system within which provinces would be able to handle their own affairs and be represented by a national assembly. In December of 1926 they began negotiating both with Sun Chuanfang over in Nanking and the KMT. Sun Chuanfang could see he was losing Zhejiang because of his alliance with Zhang Zuolin. Thus he made a tremendous gamble, he simply gave Zhejiang its independence. He did so hoping the province would continue to support him against the perceived red menace. He ordered Chen Yi to declare the province independent just before the KMT had planned to release some propaganda procliaming Zhejiang was under tryannical rule by northerners. Chiang Kai-Shek then tried to counter the situation by declaring the NRA would not enter Zhejiang if they roke ties with Sun Chuanfang and no northern troops were within their borders. Sun Chuanfang had already declared the northern reinforcements would defend Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui and of course this would mean tax hikes to pay for their protection. Yet again the Zhejiang revolutionaries assembled in the Shanghai international settlement, planning to create an independent provincial regime. On December 8th, they elected a provincial government committee, notably in a form favored by the KMT. Amongst the nominees were some of those responsible for formented the Ningpo rebellion of 1924. That smaller rebellion had seen some local gentry attempt self rule against the nothern warlords ruling them at Hangzhou. There were a few KMT members such as the ex-Zhejiang governor, Chiang Tsung-Kuei. Chen Yi and Zhou Fengqi were elected to the 9 man committee and the Guangzhou agent Ha Xulun who was working behind the scenes to direct matters against Sun Chuanfang. On the 11th december at Shanghai, Zho Fengqi decalred his defection to the NRA in a true modern day politician like fashion. His declaration of course added fuel to those wishing to break with Sun Chuanfang. He soon set up a new HQ at Quzhou and was promoted to commandr of the 26th NRA army. The KMT then descended upon Chen Yi, trying to bring him into the fold. The provincial assembly chairman and head of the Hangzhou chamber of commerce both proposed forming their autonomous state as part of the KMT and pushed Chen Yi to jump aboard the wagon. Chen Yi traveled to Hangzhou and Nanking trying to see what kind of deal he could land, ever an opportunist. Sun Chuanfang refused to move his troops within Zhejiang at Chiahsing as Zhou Fengqi had just joined the enemy, and now he heard word the NRA vanguard had penetrated the province. On the 17th Chen Yi defected to the NRA making his division the 19th NRA army and received promises from Chiang Kai-Shek he would get a nice cushy position in Zhejiang once the war was over. In the 19th the Shanghai group announced the official independence of Zhejiang from Sun Chuanfangs 5 provincial empire. They were now a autonomous province and would: “1) implement self-government for Zhejiang with provincial personnel; 2) oppose militarists who might seek to carve out their own “autonomous” areas; 3) make public the provincial government affairs; 4) subordinate the Zhejiang military to the Provincial Government; 5) provide for the civil freedoms of assembly, press, organization, and speech; and 6) abolish all unconstitutional taxes.” These terms were delivered to both Sun Chuanfang and Chiang Kai-Shek. Now despite doing all of this, the Zhejiang movement was by no means unified. Many of the gentry and military classes were not onboard because the NRA did not have a strong presence in the province. There was also of course Sun Chuanfang collaborators, the type of men who had received good positions from him. Many also rightfully feared Sun Chuanfangs wrath. Zhou Fengqi turned tail immediately from defending Hangzhou and sought the safer refugee of Quzhou. The NRA at this point were still preoccupied with consolidating their gains in Fujian and Jiangxi thus all they really had for Zhejiang at the moment was a vanguard.  In response to the situation Sun Chuanfang assembled his four best divisions along the Zhejiang border. He then formed an agreement with his NPA allies and subordinates in Jiangsu and Anhui to guard his flank as he tossed the kitchen sink into Zhejiang. In a fashion very typical of Sun Chuanfangs military style, he performed a lighting advance. His field commander, Meng Chaoyueh brushed aside Zhejiang divisions from the valleys all the way to the Jiangsu border. The lightning offensive was maintained throughout January of 1927. It seemed to all Sun Chuanfang had succeeded in taking back Zhejiang by force in a quick masterstroke. Within mere days of the offensive, Chen Yi was captured and replaced. Meng Chaoyueh's forces advanced upland, but then ran into the 26th NRA army, reinforced with elements of the NRA vanguard force who had popped out of the Fujian border. Over at Quzhou the NRA dug in, providing something akin to a bridgehead from Fujian into Zhejiang.  Another force under Sun Chuanfang advanced against Chen Yi's 19th NRA army eastwards along Hangzhou Bay's southern shore. At the Tsao River Sun Chuanfangs men found the rebels short on ammunition and served them a crushing defeat around Chuchi. From there many scattered through the southwestern hill side until they found their way to Quzhou. Over there the NRA were holding out under intense attacks until mid January. Within Sun Chuanfangs sink were elements of the Fujian troops who had defeated Zhou Yingren. These units went past Quzhou and seized Lanchi and Chinhua on the 10th. General Ho Yingqin in Fujian now faced the daunting choice of jumping into Zhejiang before the bridgehead closed. But the NRA enjoyed greater mobility and this allowed the 1st NRA army to rush over the border hills to aid the besieged Quzhou before Sun Chuanfang had brought over his heavy artillery.  On January 20th General Pai Qungxi took command over various NRA units and allied forces in Zhejiang to reorganize a battle plan. By the 29th he launched a counterattack out of the highlands. Using local guides who knew the terrain, the NRA marched through tributary valleys leading into the open plain of Qietang where the provincal capital of Hangzhou was. Now with more equal numbers the NRA engaged the enemy at Lanchi and Chinua fighting a brutal 3 day battle. This action turned the campaign around. Sun Chuanfangs forces lost commanding officers of a brigade, regiment and 3 battalions, alongsides 2000 soldiers. The NRA captured large hauls of firearms, but much mor precious, some heavy artillery. The early northern expedition lacked heavy artillery and these pieces would be put to great use. After the 3 day battle Sun Chuanfangs forces would never regain the highlands. Pai Qungxi then divided his force into two prongs aimed at Hangzhou. When Meng Chaoyueh tried to face the NRA through the main valley, but was out flanked. By February 11th around Tunglu, Meng Chaoyueh's forces were routed down the valley, They fled over to Fuyang where they tried to fortify new defensive lines using artillery, alongside some reinforcements, but utterly failed. The defeated greatly demoralized the northerners to the point Zhou Yingren lost complete control over his Fujian units. The soldiers retreated in a panic, breaking ranks as civilians from Fuyang to Hangzhou packed all they had and fled for Shanghai. Their towns were plundered by the soldiers who sought to grab what they could before running home to north china. The battle of Tunglu saw Sun Chuanfang pull his remaining forces towards Hangzhou. There they could mount a defense and feel more secure that the railway line led back to Shanghai and the north. The NRA forces pincer attacked near Hangzhou catching 8000 retreating soldiers who had been waiting on a ferry to get across the Chientang river. Sun Chuanfang tossed more reinforcements into Zhejiang, but they were no longer cooperating with his field commander Meng Chaoyueh who was already having problems controlling the Fujian units. Thus Meng Chaoyueh chose rather than making a stand at Hangzhou, he took his 20,000 men and retreated into Jiangsu. Another province in Sun Chuanfangs infinity gauntlet was being lost. General Meng Chaoyueh and the civil governor of Zhejiang fled for Shanghai on February 17th of 1927. Even the withdrawal out of Zhejiang was an unmitigated disaster as Meng Chaoyueh could not maintain his men's discipline. After advancing 50 miles to Chiahsing many had mutinied, seeking to sack the city. The civilians begged Meng Chaoyueh to force his men to leave them alone and move on, but he dared not try to halt his unruly men. Yet again this proved to be a crucial factor leading to the NRA's success. Where warlords armies went, they looted and molested the common people, while the KMT had strict policies of paying the local populations for what they needed and not to lift a finger upon the common people. The northern chinese tore down civilian barricades, placed by scared shopowners, ransacked them and carried off anything they could. When the NRA made it to Chiahsing after them, they were met with flags and warm greetings. On February 23rd the NRA had effectively cleaned Zhejiang of Sun Chuanfangs forces and allies, most had pulled back to defensive lines west of Shanghai. Their new defensive line was built around the Hangzhou-Shanghai railway line at Sungchiang. Xia Chao was dead, Chen Yi was captured, leaving Zhou Fengqi the last man standing from the triumvirate. Now he was the MVP Zhejiang leader who Chiang Kai-Shek would play upon to consolidate the province. He was quickly appointed to chairman of Zhejiangs military committee and became an official member of her new governmental committee. General Ho Yingqing assembled his forces opposite the Jiangsu border near Chiahsing, preparing for an offensive aimed at Shanghai. Meanwhile KMT members Tsai Yuanpei and Zhou Fengqi began setting up the new Zhejiang government while the NRA organized their offensive. Chiang Kai-Shek was reluctant to attack Shanghai directly. The super city had an enormous population, including countless foreign communities. The great powers had their largest concessions and investments in Shanghai and none of them were taking a liking to the KMT's anti-foreign propaganda. By February of 1927, there had been a plethora of antiforeign incidents that were making foreigners antsy, even those living cushy lives in Shanghai. A month prior at Hankou and Kiukiang, angry chinese mobs spurred by agitators within the KMT, or as Chiang Kai-Shek would tell it, CCP members had attacked British concessions. The British were only able to thwart bloodshed by handing some authority over the concessions back to the Chinese. Foreign residents in the Yangtze valley were evacuating en masse to Shanghai for protection and this helped circulate horror stories in the foreign community there.  It seemed clear to all the foreigners were preparing to defend themselves at Shanghai. It is actually quite reminiscent of the Taiping Rebellion or Boxer Rebellion. As angry mobs of local Chinese approached Shanghai, her foreign residents were banding together to mount and effective defense of the city. All foreign powers with investments in the Yangtze region began pouring what troops they had on hand and recruited volunteers to patrol and defend the city. Command of Shanghai's defenses for the foreign quarters fell to the British commander Duncan who took the Richard Hotel as his HQ. He now coordinated an international force nearly 10,000 strong, consisting mainly of marines and sailors. Duncan had formed an agreement with Sun Chuanfang to help defend a perimeter that expanded outside the foreign concessions. Refers spread around the local population that the British were requesting their government, the US and Japan launch a war against the NRA. Sun Chuanfangs situation got even worse as he had stirred up the foreign community, stating he could not guarantee their safety against the red menace approaching Shanghai. Sun Chuanfang worked alongside the international administrative office to round up and execute any revolutionary agents they could find within Shanghai and her concessions. On the night of January 10th of 1927, inspectors consisting of foreign volunteers who patrolled the streets of the concessions. All suspected revolutionaries were round up and brought to police stations in Sun Chuanfangs areas of control in the Chinese parts of Shanghai. The foreigners also made sure to prohibit any demonstrations or political activities. By late february as the NRA was massing across the border, Sun Chuanfang announced that he, the British and Japanese authorities within Shanghai were cooperating to stop chinese labor unions and workers from performing any mischief. This was followed up by a large round up of suspected revolutionaries. As Chiang Kai-Shek approached Shanghai, he was risking major retaliation from the great powers, who seemed to be aligning with Sun Chuanfang and the NPA. Chiang Kai-Shek risked opening a new front with a great power, perhaps more northern warlords as well. There was no way he could face more opponents and Sun Chuanfang simultaneously. So rather than risk a military confrontation with the Shanghai concessions, Chiang Kai-Shek chose another action. Over at Sungchiang, lying directly in front of Shanghai, the NRA east route army looked like they were preparing a siege against the city. Yet further up the Yangtze the NRA were actually preparing an offensive against Nanking. If Nanking and here ferries linked to the Tianjing-Pukou railway to fall to the NRA, Sun Chuanfang would be isolated south of the Yangtze. To be cut off from his vital railway line that supplied him with men and materials from the north was game over. 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. Chiang Kai-Shek's NRA just kept surprising the world winning enormous battles against the odds. With basically the rest of China's warlords banded together under the NPA, how could the NRA possibly continue the northern expedition? Would they not be crushed by overwhelming numbers, only time would tell. 

Welcome to the China Compass Podcast on the Fight Laugh Feast Network! I’m your host & China travel guide, missionary Ben. You can follow me on X (@chinaadventures), where I post daily details and reminders to pray for China (PrayforChina.us). You can also email me with any questions or comments @ bfwesten at gmail dot com, which is my pen name. If you want to learn more about our missions projects or get any one of my books, visit PrayGiveGo.us. This week, I'm trying to get back into my “normal” podcast schedule, as I comment on current events from a Chinese perspective, highlight one particular Chinese province to pray for, and then finish by telling a bunch of stories from my experiences in that particular province. So we start by discussing China's Olympic pride and propaganda, dating back to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and turning to the current medal competition with the United States. Here are the NPR articles that I referenced... https://www.npr.org/2024/08/09/nx-s1-5068021/olympic-medal-count-paris-gold-silver-bronze-total https://www.npr.org/2024/08/02/nx-s1-5061584/china-paris-olympic-gold-medal-count Next we look in depth at the Chinese province of Jiangxi, which is paired up with Georgia in our Pray for China prayer scheme (https://prayforchina.us/index.php/georgia/). Hot, humid, hilly, located in SE China and and only slightly larger than Georgia, Jiangxi was the early hideout (aka, Jiangxi Soviet) of the the Communist guerillas (led by Mao) in the 1920s and 30s, as well as home to the important Lushan Hill Station, which was built by missionaries in the late 19th Century, but served as a de facto southern capital for the Communist Part for many years during Mao's reign. Finally, during story time I talk about turning 19 on the streets of Jiangxi's capital, Nanchang. I share about our encounters with police (and a sheep!) in Yiyang and Lianhua, getting taken for a (yummy) ride in Ji’an, oversleeping on a wooden bed, walking circles around Ganzhou, and wading through the Dingnan floods all while "running from the light". As I mention on the podcast, get your copy of Borden of Yale (free on Kindle!), who visited northern Jiangxi in the fall of 1904 at the age of just 16, and tells a few stories himself: BordenofYale.com

Welcome to the China Compass Podcast on the Fight Laugh Feast Network! I’m your host & China travel guide, missionary Ben. You can follow me on X (@chinaadventures), where I post daily details and reminders to pray for China (PrayforChina.us). You can also email me with any questions or comments @ bfwesten at gmail dot com, which is my pen name. If you want to learn more about our missions projects or get any one of my books, visit PrayGiveGo.us. This week, I'm trying to get back into my “normal” podcast schedule, as I comment on current events from a Chinese perspective, highlight one particular Chinese province to pray for, and then finish by telling a bunch of stories from my experiences in that particular province. So we start by discussing China's Olympic pride and propaganda, dating back to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and turning to the current medal competition with the United States. Here are the NPR articles that I referenced... https://www.npr.org/2024/08/09/nx-s1-5068021/olympic-medal-count-paris-gold-silver-bronze-total https://www.npr.org/2024/08/02/nx-s1-5061584/china-paris-olympic-gold-medal-count Next we look in depth at the Chinese province of Jiangxi, which is paired up with Georgia in our Pray for China prayer scheme (https://prayforchina.us/index.php/georgia/). Hot, humid, hilly, located in SE China and and only slightly larger than Georgia, Jiangxi was the early hideout (aka, Jiangxi Soviet) of the the Communist guerillas (led by Mao) in the 1920s and 30s, as well as home to the important Lushan Hill Station, which was built by missionaries in the late 19th Century, but served as a de facto southern capital for the Communist Part for many years during Mao's reign. Finally, during story time I talk about turning 19 on the streets of Jiangxi's capital, Nanchang. I share about our encounters with police (and a sheep!) in Yiyang and Lianhua, getting taken for a (yummy) ride in Ji’an, oversleeping on a wooden bed, walking circles around Ganzhou, and wading through the Dingnan floods all while "running from the light". As I mention on the podcast, get your copy of Borden of Yale (free on Kindle!), who visited northern Jiangxi in the fall of 1904 at the age of just 16, and tells a few stories himself: BordenofYale.com

Last time we spoke about the beginning of the Northern Expedition. It was a decisive shift in Warlord Era China as Chiang Kai-Shek spearheaded his campaign to reunify China by invading Hunan. Despite staggering odds and limited resources, predominantly supplied by the Soviets, Chiang Kai-Shek relied on the weakness of his adversaries. Initial successes were achieved by exploiting political instability in Hunan, where local warlords were alienated from the populace. Chiang Kai-Shek strategically gained support from local commanders like Tang Shengchih, bolstering the KMT's forces. The campaign faced logistical challenges, such as difficult terrain and cholera outbreaks, but the KMT's superior strategy and local support led to victories along key river lines. By August 1926, the KMT had effectively weakened Wu Peifu's forces and secured Hunan, establishing a crucial base for further offQensives. However the KMT's actions had now drawn the attention of Sun Chuanfang who was preparing his own offensive.   #111 The Northern Expedition Part 2: The Jiangxi and Fujian Campaigns  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. Chiang Kai-Shek's gamble into Hunan and then Hubei had paid dividends. Wu Peifu had retreated to his stronghold of Wuhan by the end of August. By September the NRA began a siege of Wuchang while capturing Hankou and Hanyang. Once Wuchang fell, Wuhan would be secured. Again for those a bit confused, Wuhan more or less refers to the conglomeration of Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang, sometimes called the “three towns of Wuhan”. Wuhan was the first major objection of the Northern Expedition as it held an incredible arsenal, administrative structures for a government and other lucrative goodies. Now from the offset of the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-Shek and his subordinates chose a divide and conquer strategy. The first major warlord on their kill list was Wu Peifu. They chose him because of his powerbases proximity to Guangdong and to be frank, he was one of the weaker big warlords. To the east of course was Sun Chuanfang, who now reigned over 5 provinces and had a 200,000 strong army that had proven itself quite effective against the Fengtian forces. The NRA tried to both avoid Sun Chuanfang and offer some carrots to him. However Sun Chuanfang had no desire to join the KMT because he figured it would see him receive a lesser role than his current position. Yet the strategy of simply leaving Sun Chuanfang alone had worked thus far like a charm. Sun Chuanfang did not come rushing to Wu Peifu's aid, instead he dragged his feet. It was long enough for the NRA to take ⅔'s of Wuhan, now Wuchang was under siege and they were quite vulnerable. As reports came in, indicating Sun Chuanfang was preparing an offensive, Chiang Kai-Shek did I guess you can say the unthinkable.  Sun Chuanfang had kept his troops at bay, hoping to reap the benefits of the NRA-Wu Peifu war. As Wuchang became under siege, Sun Chuanfang finally decided to act, preparing a two pronged offensive against the NRA. Sun Chuanfang transferred 100,000 troops from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui to aid the 20,000 troops stationed in Jiangxi, concentrated along the Nanxun railway and border with Hubei. He was going to use these forces to cut off the Wuchang-Changsha railway, easing the way for him to seize Hunan and Hubei, adding more gems to his thanos gauntlet. Meanwhile the rest of his army, mostly Fujian based, would invade Guangdong.  Unfortunately for him, he did not expect the unexpected, Chiang Kai-Shek preemptively ordered 50,000 men to invade Jiangxi. As Sun Chuanfang's forces were advancing towards Jiangxi, the NRA bolted into northern Jiangxi, descending into the lowland plain near Poyang Lake. Chiang Kai-Shek's men were now threatening the capital of Jiangxi, Nanchang and further south the major city of Ganzhou. It took the 1st Division of the 5th NRA army 3 days to take Ganzhou, while most of southern Jiangxi fell to other NRA forces. Their victories were sped up by the defection of Lai Shihuang, whose Jiangxi 4th Division was one of those Sun Chuanfang had deployed to defend the province from the NRA. Despite having a larger army, Sun Chuanfang's forces were by no means unified and were failing to work together. The NRA 6th army swept through central Jiangxi, smashing the dazed defenders of Nanchang and taking the city by September 19th. This central sweep was done to attract Sun Chuanfangs fresh troops pouring into northern Jiangxi, who were just getting off steamboats along the Yangtze. In the north along the Yangtze, the NRA offensive ground to a halt when Sun Chuanfangs vanguard engaged them. Sun Chuanfangs fresh troops hurled the NRA back towards the Hubei border with a fierce 3 day long counter attack. This prompted Chiang Kai-Shek to frantically reinforce them, seeing the Wuchang besiegers became a skeletal crew from the 10th to 16th. It was not a decisive victory for Sun Chuanfang, but it certainly was a setback for the NRA whose position in the Yangtze valley was vulnerable. Sun Chuanfangs men steamrolled from Nanking, upriver to Kiukiang in Jiangxi, and he came with them to personally direct the reinforcements. He landed on September 21st and he set to work ordering his forces to sweep the lowlands. His men recaptured Nanchang after a few days and most of Jiangxi fell back under his hand. Sun Chuanfang rounded up hundreds of soldiers, officials and teachers, suspected to be colluding with the KMT and had them executed. Many students, both male and female were being targeted based on their short haircuts, this was in a Russian fashion, a fad at the time. He had their heads impaled on stakes in public places around Nanchang and Kiukiang to warn any who would collude with his enemies. Sun Chuanfang presumed the students teachers were the culprits supporting the KMT movement and made sure to purge any found doing so.  The second half of September saw the NRA losing control of the situation, the Northern Expedition was in danger of falling apart.Sun Chuanfang's two pronged offensive was pushing the NRA deep into Hunan and Hubei, while cutting them off from Guangdong. Isolated into those pockets they would become easy pickings. Sun Chuanfang could also expect support from the battered Wu Peifu who was stuck in Hubei, things were not looking good for Chiang Kai-Shek. Chiang Kai-Shek was also facing issues with his base of Guangzhou as communists and peasantry groups were disrupting his logistical support. Chiang Kai-Shek telegraphed the KMT government in Guangzhou to settle the then ongoing Canton-Hong Kong Strike, that had erupted as a result of the May 13th incident. Chiang Kai-Shek's foreign minister Eugene Chen frantically began releasing multiple announcements to the media that thousands of ex-strikers were going to be sent to the front lines to support the NRA. With this implicant threat, 16 chaotic months of blockades and strikes against Hong Kong and the British suddenly came to a stop. Back over at the Jiangxi front, the fighting was growing more intense through late September. Several areas the NRA was defending were looking dire. By the end of the month, NRA intelligence was indicating General Chu Peiteh's 3rd Army were being driven out of central Jiangxi into Hunan and Wang Polings prestigious 1st Division of the 1st army had been badly mauled and were fleeing across mountains. Sun Chuanfang began trying to coordinate his offensive with Wu Peifu's trapped forces at Wuchang with an ingenious idea of sailing along Lake Tayeh from the Yangtze dikes to land due east of Wuchang. The landing happened on September 25th and initially it sent the NRA 4th army packing. The entire front began to crumble. Yet Sun Chuanfangs position was not entirely secure either. His 5 provincial armies were not as unified as the NRA and his subordinates' loyalties were not trustworthy. In fact his generals representing separate governments of Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian were all clamoring for provincial autonomy. Many of Sun Chuanfangs administrators urged him to form a real federation providing provincial autonomy.  Both Chiang Kai-Shek and Sun Chuanfang were facing different issues, but both could see their authority crumble. Sun Chuanfang began negotiating with Chiang Kai-Shek, offering to halt his offensive into Hunan in exchange for a nonaggression pact between the KMT and his 5 provinces. Chiang Kai-Shek replied in a telegram that the KMT did not desire to enlarge the war and that if Sun Chunfang withdrew his forces from Jiangxi, the KMT would withdraw from the Jiangxi territories currently occupied. Sun Chuanfang then counter proposed he would halt his offensive at the Hunan border if the NRA withdrew all their forces from Jiangxi. Sun Chuanfang was somewhat bluffing Chiang Kai-Shek. While his counteroffensive was certainly impressive, he had actually reached his limit in late September.  In early October the NRA began pushing the enemy back. By the 5th Sun Chuanfang's thrust towards Wuchang had broken and his men were rushing back to the steamers to pull back to Jiangxi. On October 3rd the NRA severed communications via that railway at Tehan. After that the NRA reorganized and gradually pressed back down into the lowlands towards the port of Kiukiang and the railway station south of Nanchang. Sun Chuanfang tossed fierce counter attacks, recapturing parts of the railway, threatening the NRA 7th army's flank. On the 7th, a combined NRA attack tried to overwhelm a fortified hill position that dominated the railway line near Yanghsiu. However Sun CHuanfangs inner defensive lines held and by the days end the NRA had taken a severe beating for their efforts as they pulled back. In the south around Nanchang the battle raged back and forth. By mid-October the capital changed hands multiple times as both sides continued to pour reinforcements in the meat grinder.  The annual holiday known as republic day, commemorating the Wuchang uprising on October the 10th was a morale booster for the NRA forces. Fate would have it, that same day, Sun Chuanfangs relief columns failed to reach Wuchang to aid its desperate defenders. Some of the garrison units secretly negotiated with the KMT and opened the gates of the city to them. As the NRA stormed Wuchang, nearly 100 civilians were trampled to death as people fled the city. Wu Peifu unable to rally any support, simply bid his time over in Honan. For the later half of October the combat began to dissipate somewhat allowing the NRA to reorganize itself. Another major development emerged, Sun Chuanfang had major problems erupting in Shanghai. In fact Shanghai was only the most apparent symptom of the problem, in reality Zhejiang was falling into a full rebellion. During September and early October, certain units of Sun Chuanfangs Zhejiang army began telegraming him demands to block entry into their province or the other 4 provinces under his rule any assistance from the Fengtian forces. A leader emerged, the head of the All-Zhejiang Association “Chuan che kunghui”, named Chu Fucheng. Now Chu Fucheng had numerous connections amongst prominent Zhejiagnese, like Chiang Kai-Shek. Chu Fucheng began orchestrating a counter movement, just before the NRA began attacking Nanchang. On October 15th, his association sent a telegram to Sun Chuanfang, demanding Zhejiang forces fighting for him be returned to duties within their home province and that Zhejiang be given autonomy. Then the civil governor of Zhejiang, Xia Chao began a rebellion, supported by the KMT at Guangzhou.  Now historically, Zhejiang had been quite a loyal province during the late Qing dynasty, a time when many were calling for the end of the Manchu domination. During the warlord era, three leading commanders of the Zhejiang forces had conceded suzerainty over Zhejiang territory to powerful warlords outside the province. This caused a situation that saw northern chinese superiors constantly forced to make conciliations with Zhejiang independence movements that sprang up nearly every year since 1916. Zhejiang had never been successfully shaking over their northern overlords. Zhejiang military leaders such as Xia Chao, Zhou Fengqi and Chen Yi, had defected the the NRA and would become crucial to the KMT conquest of the province. All three of these men had gained political influence within the province through their military power, derived from the final decade of the Qing dynasty.  Shortly after Yuan Shikai's death, Xia Chao had led the small Wubei clique against its rival the Baoding clique led by Governor Lu Gongwang. As governor Lu Gongwang had the upper hand and did all he could to undermine Xia Chao who was leading the provincial police at the time. Xia Chao gradually brushed shoulders with Zhou Fengqi who worked together to try and overthrow Lu Gongwang. However the Anhui clique gradually took over the province, and appointed Lu Yongxiang as its military governor. Xia Chao had read the tea leaves and backed Lu Yongxiangs rise, thus maintaining his own power. After Sun Chuanfang took over the province in 1924, Xia Chao became his vice commander during some of the intense fighting against the Fengtian clique. However Sun Chuanfang became weary of the local officials power and began a isolated the most powerful, moving them around so they could not network together to overthrow him.  Xia Chao was unhappy with how Sun Chuanfang treated him and he began rallying the local gentry to demand provincial autonomy and the adoption of a new constitution. Sun Chuanfang responded by dispatching his subordinate Lu Xiangting to Hangzhou on January 25th of 1926 to be Zhejiangs new military governor. Lu Xiangting showed up with his forces and positioned them along every important route in the province. Thus the attempt to succeed was snapped in the bud. Xia Chao thus put on a smile and welcomed Lu Xiangting, tossing a party for him when he arrived to show his submission so he could maintain his position. In secrecy Xia Chao began building up police and security forces to start a rebellion and he had grown quite the private army, nearly 5000 men strong. Thus at this point Xia Chao held the position of chief of Zhejiangs police and civil governor over the province; Zhou Fengqi and Chen Yi were both divisional commander's over the 3rd and 1st divisions, who had received their positions through Xia Chao. After united the 5 provinces, Sun Chuanfang had transferred Zhou Fengqi's 1st division to garrison the capital of Nanking and Chen Yi's 3rd division to defend northern Jiangsu. These moves were specifically done to remove two the Zhejiangs largest provincial military units from their home areas. Sun Chuanfang likewise had moved over to his new HQ in Nanking and this prompted Xia Chao to presume he would rule over Zhejiang, but of course that did not happen. The year of 1926 produced good conditions for an uprising to take place in Zhejiang. Poor harvests in 1925 and 1926 led to an economic crisis which was exacerbated by over taxation by Sun Chuanfang. Then the NRA launched their northern expedition, led by the Zhejiangnese Chiang Kai-Shek. Once the NRA began their offensive, Xia Chao sent word to the KMT and formed a secret agreement with Chiang Kai-Shek. As civil governor, Xia Chao promised to officially defect if Wuchang fell to the NRA. The KMT likewise notified him their contact Niu Yongjian in Shanghai would create an uprising to help him against Sun Chuanfang. Thus Xia Chao conspired with the KMT to weaken Sun Chuanfangs rear area while the bloody battle over Jiangxi was at its height. Xia Chao was going to receive a new title under the KMT, equivalent to military governor, to be chairmanship over the provincial military committee. Back over in Guangzhou in early October the KMT congress approved the motion. Xia Chao sent word to Zho Fengqi, asking him to bring his 3rd brigade back to Zhejiang, but Zhou Fengqi could not risk such a maneuver, basically some of his most important units were literally hostages to Sun Chuanfang's Nanking HQ. Furthermore if he tried to advance to Zhejiang he would be moving directly through areas held by other units loyal to Sun Chuanfang. However on October 14th, some of Zhou Fengqi's reserve forces at Nanking did attempt to escape, but they were apprehended and disarmed, very few made it back to Zhejiang. Over at Xuzhou in northern Jiangsu, Chen Yi and his 1st division refused Xia Chao's appeal to rebel against Sun Chuanfang. Without these two men and their divisions, Xia Chao was facing a huge gamble with his little rebellion. He hoped the element of surprise would allow him to capture Zhejiang and possibly Shanghai as well. On October 16th, Xia Chao declared independence for Zhejiang and boarded 2500 men of his personal army aboard trains set for Shanghai. It was not long before Sun Chuanfang received reports via telegrams about what Xia Chao was doing. It is alleged Chen Yi may have leaked information about Xia Chao's rebellion to Sun Chuanfang hoping to receive a promotion. As Xia Chao's force of unseasoned armed policemen approached Shanghai they found the tracks blocked and were forced to march by foot against prepared defensive positions. The promised communist uprising in Shanghai failed to materialize as local CCP and KMT members were still debating how to go about creating a rebellion in the city. Many CCP members urged action, but they lacked sufficient arms to really do anything. After a very brief fight on the 17th within Shanghai's western suburbs the Zhejiang, Xia Chao was forced to pull out after forces loyal to Sun Chuanfang led a decisive counter attack. Xia Chao then frantically sent telegrams to Sun Chuanfangs subordinates claiming he had been deceived into defecting over to the KMT. Xia Chao then pulled his men back to Chiahsing. Meanwhile at Hangzhou crowds gathered demanding autonomy for the province.  On the 18th a mass meeting of political activists gathered at Hangzhou proclaiming independence and support for the KMT government in Guangzhou. Xia Chao publicly joined the KMT and soon many significant Zhejiang provincial officials joined. Xia Chao then accepted his new title as provisional chairman and took command of the new 8th NRA army. They were roughly 10,000 strong, completely untrained and poorly armed. Those loyal to Sun Chuanfang began fleeing northwards en masse as Xia Chao went to work appointeding new officials. Already forewarned of the insurgency, Sun Chuanfang transferred loyal troops from Nanking by rail to the Zhejiang border. By the morning of the 20th, his troops were advancing across the border and wrecking amateurish defenses established by Xia Chao's men near Chiahsing. Both sides had railway cannons, but Xia Chao's men proved inept at their use. Xia Chao fled, leaving behind 6000 untrained and hopeless outmatched troops. By the evening Sun Chuanfang had effectively crushed the Zhejiang independence movement as he rounded up hundreds of captured Zhejiang rebels, machine gunning them down at night. The streets of Hangzhou were looted by Sun Chuanfangs men who carried out terrible massacres upon the civilian population. Xia Chao had tried to flee into the Zhejiang hillside in his car but was captured quickly in a nearby town. He was promptly shot in the streets, decapitated and his head was sent over to Nanking where it was placed on a spike as a warning to others. Chen Yi was then appointed the new governor of Zhejiang, adding to the claims it was perhaps he who sold out Xia Chao. Meanwhile Chiang Kai-Shek had all his uncommitted troops tossed into the Jiangxi warzone. Included in these were the 4th class of officers recently graduated in October from the Whampoa Academy. It was certainly a baptism under fire for these young recruits. The reinforcements allowed the NRA to finally crack Sun Chuanfangs growingly demoralized forces. Sun Chuanfangs southern defensive line was the first to begin to sag under an assault by the 2nd and 14th NRA armies. The 14th NRA army by the way was a unit that recently defected from Sun Chuanfang. By October 27th Sun Chuanfangs forces in southern Jiangxi were in a full retreat heading north through Nanchang. As the battle carried into November, the NRA began to concentrate along the Xiu valley for an assault against the Kiukiang-Nanchang defensive line. Reinforced by the 4th Army's 10th division led by Chen Mingshu, the 7th army swept down the lowland and attacked Tehan. The enemy's defensive line crumpled there allowing the NRA to cut the railway line, isolated Sun Chuanfangs south near Poyang Lake. The NRA then captured the ports of Kiukiang and Hukou along the Yangtze, further strangling Nanchang. By the 9th, Nanchang fell and Sun Chuanfangs men were in a general retreat heading down the Yangtze valley. The momentum of the NRA offensive now saw them sweep through Jiangxi. Chiang Kai-Shek began sending agents to Sun Chuanfang again offering him positions with the KMT. During the Jiangxi campaign, both sides had deployed their best troops into what essentially became a two month meat grinder. The casualties would be the highest incurred during the Northern Expedition. According to some KMT records, the final weeks push to capture the Kiukiang-Nanchang railway cost the NRA 20,000 casualties and for Sun Chuanfang, nearly 40,000. Overall the campaign saw the NRA suffer 100,000 casualties. The NRA victory saw them acquire an incredible amount of war materials, greatly expanding their military capabilities. At Nanchang alone the NRA had suffered 4000 casualties, but took 15,000 prisoners and 20,000 rifles, enough to arm an entire corps. A major reason for the heavy casualties was the NRA lack of heavy artillery. Early in the summer of 1926, when the Northern Expedition had kicked off with the invasion of Hunan, the 1st Army led by Ho Yingqin assembled along the border of Guangdong and Fujian. Being one of Sun Chuanfangs 5 provinces, Fujian posted a threat to the NRA's flank if he entered the war. Ho Yingqin had concentrated his men at Swatow primarily to defend the border, but if the opportunity arose he could very well invade Fujian. In September once the Jiangxi campaign began, the 1st Army and Sun Chuangfangs Fujian allies began engaging in border skirmishes. Sun Chuanfang had actually already given orders to his main commander in Fujian, Zhou Yingren to invade Guangdong, but Zhou Yingren had dragged his feet until late September. Zhou Yinren had 4 armies under his command, over 30,000 troops in all. When he finally launched his attack, directed primarily at Swatow, Ho Yingqin had more numbers, but Ho Yingqin had prepared a formidable defensive line over rugged coastal terrain. Zhou Yingren's late offensive was quite characteristic of the poor coordination amongst Sun Chuanfangs forces, a weakness the NRA figured out early and exploited. In another tactical blunder, Sun Chuanfangs navy, operating off Fujian's coasts and riverways, was ordered to support Zhou Jinren's assaults with naval bombardment. The navy did so, but did not target Swatow where the majority of pressure was being exerted. The main reason for this would turn out that Sun Chuanfangs main admiral had already begun secretly negotiating with the KMT to defect. In late September Ho Yingqin's 1st army received a major breakthrough. A well-timed defection of two brigade commanders under Zhou Yingren, provided Ho Yingqin with vital intelligence on his enemy's troop placements and defenses. Ho Yingqin unleashed his offensive, driving a thrust directly into Sun Chuanfangs southern flank. They were attacking what was known as the coastal road that leads to Shanghai. On October 9th, in order to distract the Fujian forces already penetrating the border of Guangdong near Sungkou, Ho Yingqin had some of his troops cross the Fujian border to capture Yungting. By the 10th Yungting was seized as Sungkou was likewise taken by October 13th. Then Ho Yingqin counterattacked the rear of the Fujian forces threatening their lines of communication.  During the rest of October the 1st Army infiltrated the lightly defended back country of Fujian. The populations of these parts were mainly Hakka who had suffered under the rule of Sun Chuanfang. The Hakka people saw the invading NRA as salvation, because by this point they had established a good reputation for not plundering and molesting peoples where they went. Local militias known as “mintuan” began assembling, to a number possibly 10,000 strong aiding the NRA. The NRA welcomed them warmly into the ranks forming 3 Fujianese divisions, one independent brigade and 3 regiments. With the additional manpower, the NRA was quickly isolating and defeating Zhou Yingrens forces. One of the last fortified positions at Tingchou saw the recently arrived 14th army working in tandem with Fujianese allies to take it. As Zhou Yingren pulled back he lost 500 rifles and machine guns, some cannons, ammunition and many men, greatly bolstering the NRA. Zhou Yingren and his men found themselves in unfamiliar mountain heights, with their straw footwear quite unsuited to defend themselves against constant hit and run tactics by the local mintuan. Along the coast, Zhou Yingren's attempts to attack the ports of Chao'an and Swatow had ground to a halt and by October 14th his men had been pushed back to Changzhou. The NRA pressed its offensive simultaneously along the coastal road and down the interior valleys making it impossible for Zhou Yingren to coordinate a proper defense of Chanzhou. By November 8th Changzhou had fallen. Zhou Yingren pulled further back up the coast to Tung'an where he mounted a defense, but the NRA seized Chuanzhou, Xienyu and Yangtai in the meantime. From late September until December Ho Yingqin had conquered the southern part of Fujian, the most populated parts by far and was now pressing upon the walled provincial capital of Fuzhou, lying just across the Min River.  The defenders of Fuzhou were quite demoralized. Zhou Yingren pleaded with Sun Chuanfang to dispatch reinforcements from the adjacent Jiangxi, but he was preoccupied with fighting there and quelling the rebellion in Zhejiang. Zhou Yingren had to do best with what he had. Unfortunately for him, many in the Fujianese navy and maritime forces had not just defected to the NRA, but they added their cannons to shelling Fuzhou from the coast and Min river bank. Then the commander of the Fuzhou garrison, Li Shengchun, simply opened the gates to the city to the NRA. Fuzhou was surrendered basically without any real fight on December 9th. Trapped within the city, the Fujian governor screamed as he was arrested “I don't understand what has happened! Our forces and weapons were superior but you have captured me!” With just under 2000 troops left of his original 60,000, Zhou Yingren limped away to Zhejiang, Fujian and effectively fallen to the NRA. 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. Chiang Kai-Shek was utilizing every trick in the book to divide and conquer Sun Chuanfang's 5 province empire. As formidable as Sun Chuanfang was, he was losing in a battle of wits and now two of his provinces had fallen victim to the NRA. Could the warlord turn things around, or would he be forced to join to lose to the KMT?

Flood control and rescue efforts at Dongting Lake in Hunan province reached a crucial phase late on Monday night, with a breached dike sealed at around 10:30 pm.7月8日深夜，洞庭湖的抗洪救灾工作进入关键阶段，晚10时30分左右，湖南华容团洲垸洞庭湖决口完成封堵。The breach, 226 meters wide, occurred at around 5:48 pm on Friday at a dike in Tuanzhou, a township in Huarong county in the city of Yueyang, which is part of a dike network around Dongting Lake, China's second-largest freshwater lake.17时48分许，紧急封堵失败，堤坝决堤，经初步勘测，决堤口宽度约10米。团洲垸是中国第二大淡水湖洞庭湖周围堤坝防护的一部分。Zhang Yingchun, Hunan's executive vice-governor, said more than 100,000 cubic meters of rock have been used in sealing off the breach, and crews had been sealing off 3.5 meters of the breach an hour.湖南省常务副省长张迎春称，目前已使用了超过10万立方米的块石封堵决口，每小时封堵约3.5米。Following the dike breach, a large volume of water from Dongting Lake rushed into the Tuanzhou dike region, flooding 47.6 square kilometers of the region's total area of 55 sq km.堤坝决堤导致洞庭湖的大量湖水涌入团洲垸，淹没了该地区的47.6平方公里，其总面积约为55平方千米。At least 7,000 residents were evacuated after the dike burst.7000余名居民在决堤中被救援。Several local schools have been turned into temporary shelters, housing about 4,000 residents and providing essential items such as quilts, towels and buckets to disaster victims. Professional medical personnel are available around the clock to those who have been displaced.当地几所学校已成为当地4000余名居民的临时避难所，救援工作组确保居民们有饭吃、有衣穿、有安全住所、有干净水喝、有病及时医治。"Our home was affected twice. Back in 1996, there was another flood and then this year. I think the resettlement process is now very good," Tuanzhou resident Cai Shusheng told China Global Television Network.当地居民蔡树生在接受中国国际电视台采访时表示：“我家曾受到过两次洪水影响。1996年发生过一次洪水，今年是第二次，现在的居民安置做得很好。” After the dike breach, an embankment considered the second line of defense was threatened on Monday.团洲垸的决堤代表洞庭湖的“第二道防线”受到威胁。The embankment, about 2 kilometers from the breached dike and 14.3 km long, separates Tuanzhou from the nearby township of Qiannan.居民居住区距离堤坝决堤处约为2公里，决堤总长14.3公里，将团洲垸与附近的钱南垸隔开。Multiple piping hazards — the movement of water through channels in the embankment — were observed, but they have been brought under control, local authorities said on Monday.7月8日，地方当局表示，目前管道危险是由于湖水不断涌入导致，目前情况以得到稳定控制。More than 300 police officers and firefighters have been working at the site to deal with the piping effect.300多名警察和消防救援队员一直在现场进行救灾抢险工作。Zhu Dongtie, head of Hunan's Department of Water Resources, said the embankment has not been used to prevent flooding since 1996, and it was built to a much lower standard than the dike.湖南省水利厅厅长朱东铁称，自1996年以来，堤防未曾用于防洪，其建造标准低于普通堤坝。Twenty-four incidents of leakage and piping at the embankment have been dealt with, he said.曾发生过的24起堤坝决堤和管道堵塞都已妥善处理。Despite all the difficulties and challenges, the embankment must be safeguarded, he added.尽管存在种种困难和挑战，但堤坝必须守住。The dike breach followed 17 days of heavy rainfall in Hunan, the longest continuous period of heavy rain since 1961.堤坝决口前，湖南面临了17天暴雨，这是自1961年以来最长的连续暴雨。The National Development and Reform Commission has allocated 200 million yuan ($27.5 million) to support disaster-affected parts of Hunan, including the counties of Huarong and Pingjiang in Yueyang, and in neighboring Jiangxi province.国家发展和改革委员会已拨款约2亿元人民币支持湖南受灾地区，包括岳阳华容县、平江县，以及与湖南毗邻的的江西省。In Jiangxi, the flood control situation remains severe due to prolonged high water levels on the Yangtze River and at Poyang Lake.由于长江和鄱阳湖水位长期高于平均水位，江西省防汛形势依然严峻。Water levels at Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, have been high since June 27, when the water level exceeded the warning level.中国最大淡水湖鄱阳湖的水位自6月底，其水位一直超警戒水位。By the end of Sunday night, the water level at Xingzi Station, a key hydrological station on Poyang Lake, still exceeded the warning level by 2.19 meters.截至7月7日晚，鄱阳湖星子站水位仍超过警戒水位2.19米。Floods and other geological disasters have affected more than 1.6 million people in Jiangxi in cities such as Nanchang, Jiujiang and Jingdezhen, causing direct economic losses of 2.23 billion yuan.洪涝等地质灾害累计影响江西南昌、九江、景德镇等城市160多万人，造成直接经济损失22.3亿元。According to the Ministry of Water Resources' Yangtze River Water Resources Commission, as the river basin's inflow recedes, stations in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze are expected to see water levels gradually fall below the warning level from mid to late July.根据水利部长江水利委员会的数据，随着流入水量的减少，预计7月中下旬长江中下游站点的水位将逐渐降至警戒水平以下。sealing offv.封堵warning leveln.警戒水位

This week the Belarusian soft pastel artist Tanya Avchinnikova. Tanya's love of water and its translucency is the focal point and inspiration for her art. She says: ‘I specialize in seascapes and landscapes – places where you can feel a deep unity with nature, and trying to capture the illusion of presence.'  Tanya was born in Minsk, Belarus in 1988. Her mother Elena is a nurse and she has a brother, Anton.  Tanya studied music and began performing as a pianist from an early age so it was only natural that she would pursue a career in music. Tanya studied music at the Belorussian State Academy of Music and earned her Post Graduate degree in Performance at the Urals Mussorgsky State Conservatoire (Ekaterinburg) in Russia. She spent two years in China teaching piano at the Nanchang Normal University in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province.  In 2006, Tanya moved to the UK and earned her Masters Degree at the Royal Birmingham Conservatorie.  She currently works as a ballet pianist at the Performers College, which is part of BIMM University. She lives in Birmingham, England with her husband, the classical pianist Roman Kosyakov. Tanya is a Member of The Pastel Society and a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America. Tanya's website: https://tanyaavchinnikovaart.co.uk/Instagram: tanyaavchinnikovaart Tanya's favorite female artists:Mary CassattMichele AshbyAmy WebberOlivia DunnReisha PerlmutterTanya's playlist:Radiohead (or solo Thom Yorke projects)Kiasmos (or tracks by Olafur Arnalds)Puscifer (or The Perfect Circle)Tomas Dvorak (or his project Floex)Boards of CanadaAphex TwinUlrich SchnaussJon Hopkins  Host: Chris StaffordProduced by Hollowell StudiosFollow @theaartpodcast on InstagramAART on FacebookEmail: hollowellstudios@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support.

This week the Belarusian soft pastel artist Tanya Avchinnikova. Tanya's love of water and its translucency is the focal point and inspiration for her art. She says: ‘I specialize in seascapes and landscapes – places where you can feel a deep unity with nature, and trying to capture the illusion of presence.'  Tanya was born in Minsk, Belarus in 1988. Her mother Elena is a nurse and she has a brother, Anton.  Tanya studied music and began performing as a pianist from an early age so it was only natural that she would pursue a career in music. Tanya studied music at the Belorussian State Academy of Music and earned her Post Graduate degree in Performance at the Urals Mussorgsky State Conservatoire (Ekaterinburg) in Russia. She spent two years in China teaching piano at the Nanchang Normal University in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province.  In 2006, Tanya moved to the UK and earned her Masters Degree at the Royal Birmingham Conservatorie.  She currently works as a ballet pianist at the Performers College, which is part of BIMM University. She lives in Birmingham, England with her husband, the classical pianist Roman Kosyakov. Tanya is a Member of The Pastel Society and a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America. Tanya's website: https://tanyaavchinnikovaart.co.uk/Instagram: tanyaavchinnikovaart Tanya's favorite female artists:Mary CassattMichele AshbyAmy WebberOlivia DunnReisha PerlmutterTanya's playlist:Radiohead (or solo Thom Yorke projects)Kiasmos (or tracks by Olafur Arnalds)Puscifer (or The Perfect Circle)Tomas Dvorak (or his project Floex)Boards of CanadaAphex TwinUlrich SchnaussJon Hopkins  Host: Chris StaffordProduced by Hollowell StudiosFollow @theaartpodcast on InstagramAART on FacebookEmail: hollowellstudios@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/aart--5814675/support.

China's national security authorities have released five typical cases of crimes that threaten national security, urging the public to heighten their awareness as the nation observes National Security Education Day on April 15.中国国家安全部门近日公布了5起威胁国家安全的典型犯罪案件，敦促民众在4月15日国家安全教育日之际提高安全意识。These cases include instances of overseas enterprises and intelligence agencies pilfering rare earth national secrets and rice seeds and seed production technology, and illicit gathering of meteorological data.这些案件包括海外企业和情报机构窃取稀土国家机密、水稻种子和种子生产技术，以及非法收集气象数据。In one such instance, motivated by personal gain, a deputy general manager at a domestic rare earth company, surnamed Cheng, disclosed details regarding China's rare earth inventory categories, quantities, and prices, to an employee surnamed Ye at the Shanghai subsidiary of an overseas non-ferrous metal company.在一个案件中，国内一家稀土公司的一位副总经理程某某向一家海外有色金属公司上海子公司的叶某某透露了有关中国稀土库存类别、数量和价格的详细信息，以牟取个人私利。In November 2023, a court in Nanchang city, Jiangxi province, sentenced Ye and Cheng for offenses related to the procurement and unauthorized provision of state secrets to foreign entities, as well as bribery.2023年11月，江西省南昌市一家法院判处叶某某和程某某涉嫌向外国实体采购和未经授权提供国家机密以及贿赂等罪名。In another case, national security authorities discovered that a former general manager of a domestic agricultural technology company, surnamed Zhu, unlawfully sold five varieties of parent rice seeds under the guise of "cooperative breeding" to a company established by foreign espionage agencies in China, yielding returns surpassing the regular selling price.在另一起案件中，国家安全部门发现国内一家农业技术公司的前总经理朱某某，以“合作育种”的名义，向一家外国间谍机构在中国设立的公司非法出售了五个品种的亲本水稻种子，收益超过了正常售价。A court in Hefei city, Anhui province, sentenced Zhu in January 2024 to one and a half years in prison for illegally disseminating intelligence to foreign entities. In addition, the national security authorities imposed administrative penalties on the remaining 17 individuals involved in accordance with the law.2024年1月，安徽省合肥市法院以“为境外非法提供情报罪”判处朱某某有期徒刑1年6个月。此外，国家安全当局还依法对其余17名涉案人员进行了行政处罚。In recent years, foreign intelligence agencies have persistently deepened their infiltration into China's food sector, extensively pilfering the nation's core scientific research information. In response, the national security authorities have scrutinized nearly 100 individuals involved, penalized 11 key enterprises, and held accountable relevant personnel in accordance with the law.近年来，外国情报机构不断加深对中国食品行业的渗透，广泛窃取国家核心科研信息。作为回应，国家安全部门对近百名涉案人员进行了审查，对11家重点企业进行了处罚，并依法追究了相关人员的责任。national security国家安全；民族安全rare earth稀土元素intelligence agency情报机构，情报局

2024: Dare to HopeNew Year Message to ReadersFrom theeditor-in-chiefJialiang TangAs the ball drops onTimes Square in New York, fireworks light up the Champs-Élysées in Paris, andfake snow falls under the Twin Towers in Nanchang, 2024 has arrived with bangsand whistles. Standing at the prow, looking out at the rough seas ahead, we areboth hopeful and scared, determined and hesitant.In 4 days, thisnewsletter will be three months old. As we grow out of infancy and into childhood,our readers and contributors are growing alongside us. For us all, then, 2024will be a year of growth.Growing up is hard,we get it. Growth comes only after an elbow scrape, a sob, and a tear. Growthis a one-way street down a lonely alley, wandering through brambles and fernswith friends that must go away, a home that you must leave behind. Growth iswanting to see every ocean, every mountain, but still caring for every bird,every stretch of grass. Growth is waking up every morning and saying, "Iwon't give up!" Growth is dancing on a volcano while carrying a mountainon your back. Growth is a journey of no return, out of childhood andadolescence into the mysteries of adulthood.Growth requires thatwe hope for the best but prepare for the worst, reach high but be ready to sinklow, look at the stars but keep your head in the gutter. Sometimes it seemslike growing up is the hardest thing in the world. When getting home past tenafter a 14-hour school day, longer than most working hours in the world, orlooking out the window on your way home from school on a Saturday afternoon atthe happy crowds thronging the city center, it really feels like ours is thehardest "job" in the world.We hear you; ourhearts are with you. I'm not going to tell you that growing up is easy. Itisn't. Nor will I give you a magic time machine to skip it. Because howeverdifficult it is, no matter how treacherously the path winds, it is an awesomepart of the human way of life. Without it, without the sleepless nights, thebroken hearts, the tears of joy or sadness, you can't experience the full spectrumof emotions life has to offer. Finally, happy New Year and may 2024 treat youkindly!

After the Northern Expedition, the Guomindang (KMT) ejected Communists from the Nationalist Party. The Communist Party of China had no army.Zhou Enlai had inserted Communists into the Nationalists' Army and the Nanchang Uprising was a coup planned to carve a Red Army out from the Guomindang's troops. It succeeded and they briefly formed a Revolutionary Committee in Nanchang and He Long took command. They retreated before Zhang Fakui could attack them.While Moscow hoped they would march south and support the Canton Commune, instead they headed south east to Shantou, along the coast. The hoped for resupply ship from Russia never arrived and the Red Army troops were scattered.Zhu De, future Commander-in-Chief of the People's Liberation Army, survived by assuming a fake name and briefly joining the Nationalist Army again and pretending to be loyal. Then he and his troops escaped north and formed Soviets and burned villages under orders of the Communist Party. He then joined forces with Mao Zedong.Mao had already been in the Ridge of Wells area along with the remainder of troops from the unsuccessful Autumn Hills Uprising. Mao had joined forces with bandits and then taken over those gangs and absorbed them. His forces were raiding and looting from "the rich", which included farmers with a few hens.Mao and Zhu and 3000 troops then moved in 1929 before Chiang Kai-shek's troops could capture them. These early days for the Red Army and for Mao's leadership in the countryside held plenty of lessons. They were surviving and learning.Please let me know what you think of my recent podcast changes here !Image: "People's Liberation Army" by Kent Wang is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin previews one of the final JAM-PACKED weeks on the 2023 Pro Tennis Calendar. On Part 2 of today's show, he breaks down WTA events in Nanchang, Monastir, and Cluj-Napoca, plus so much more!! Don't forget to give a 5-star review on your favorite podcast app! In addition, add your Twitter/Instagram handle to the review for a chance to win some FREE CR gear!! Episode Bookmarks: WTA Nanchang - 3:04 WTA Cluj-Napoca - 11:16 WTA Monastir - 15:35 This episode brought to you by: Tennis Point Discounted Tennis Apparel, Tennis Racquets, Tennis Shoes & Equipment from Nike, adidas, Babolat, Wilson & More! Visit their store today and use the code "CR15" at checkout to save 15% off Sale items. Some Exclusions (MAP Exceptions) apply and code will not work on those items. This code will add 1 FREE CAN of WILSON Balls to the cart at checkout.  Tourna CR is excited to partner with Tourna Tennis once again to share their exciting new grip innovation - a longer lasting version of Tourna Grip, which Tourna has spent the last six years researching and developing: Tourna Tuff!! Email sales@uniquesports.com and mention Cracked Racquets to get a FREE sample! -same gold standard sweat absorption as Tourna Grip -same dry feel -same trademarked blue color -still gets tackier when you sweat PLUS new features: -If you didn't like the original Tourna Grip for its durability, try Tourna Tuff. -Stop blowing on your hands between every point and use a grip that absorbs your sweat! -Stop wiping your hand on your shirt, shorts, and towel constantly and get a grip that actually absorbs sweat! Plain and simple = Cracked Fans use Tourna Tuff. Email sales@uniquesports.com and mention Cracked Racquets to get a FREE sample! Tennis Channel Podcast Network Visit https://www.tennis.com/pro-game/podcasts/ to stay current on the latest tennis news and trends and enjoy in-depth analysis and dynamic debates. Find Cracked Racquets Website: https://www.crackedracquets.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/crackedracquets Twitter: https://twitter.com/crackedracquets Facebook: https://Facebook.com/crackedracquets YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC12ZE3jU0n52JkeWV1TB21A Email Newsletter: https://www.crackedracquets.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Xi Jinping has called for efforts to further promote the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, to enable it to play a greater role in making breakthroughs in core technologies and in maintaining the national security of food, energy and industrial and supply chains.Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remark on Thursday while chairing a symposium in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi province, on advancing the development of the economic belt.He emphasized the need to adhere to green development and coordinate ecological conservation and socioeconomic growth through technological innovation, and to make the national strategy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt better support and serve Chinese modernization.Jiangxi is part of the economic belt, which consists of 11 provincial-level regions, stretching from inland Sichuan province in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to coastal Shanghai. Official data shows that the region covers 40 percent of the country's population and accounts for over 40 percent of the national gross domestic product.Since China made the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt a national strategy seven years ago, Xi has chaired four themed symposiums. The first three were held in Chongqing in January 2016, Wuhan, Hubei province, in April 2018 and Nanjing, Jiangsu, in November 2020.During Thursday's symposium, which also was attended by senior officials from the central authorities and relevant provinces and municipalities, Xi commended the significant achievements in implementing the development strategy of the economic belt, highlighting the efforts in environmental protection and innovation-driven development.However, he pointed out that it is important to recognize that ecological conservation and high-quality development of the economic belt are at a critical turning point, and there are still many difficulties and problems that need to be resolved.Noting that the development of the economic belt is crucial to the overall development of the country, Xi said it is necessary for the regions involved in the national strategy to coordinate development and security, and play a greater role in maintaining the nation's security in such areas as food, energy, industrial and supply chains and water.It is important to make greater efforts to protect the environment of the basin of the Yangtze, the country's longest river, and to avoid excessive development, Xi said. He underlined the need to reduce carbon emissions and pollution and enhance green development through industrial transformation.Regarding innovation-driven development, Xi called for transforming the strength of the economic belt in scientific and technological research and talent resources into fresh momentum for development.Progress must be made in making breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, promoting the modernization of industrial and supply chains and enhancing the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, he said.Strategic emerging industries should be developed, and integration of the digital economy with the real economy should be promoted, he added.Xi also emphasized the need to leverage the geological positions of the economic belt to better connect domestic and international markets.Greater efforts should be made to expand international economic cooperation, better leverage the role of free trade pilot zones along the Yangtze River, act as a pioneer in institutional innovation, and explore new paths for building a higher-level open economy, he said.Xi emphasized the need to strengthen regional coordination and integration, with a focus on interprovincial cooperation, ecological governance and shared development.Efforts should be made to enhance regional transportation connectivity and ensure that policies are consistent, rules are uniform and actions are coordinated among regions involved in the economic belt, he said.While asking officials from Party committees and governments at various levels to shoulder their responsibilities for promoting the development of the economic belt, Xi said that various enterprises and social organizations should be guided to actively participate in the development of the economic belt.It is also necessary to increase input in manpower, materials and financing, he added.Yangtze River Economic Beltn.长江经济带 Reporter: Cao Desheng

Obeying the orders of a superior in the army? Yes! But for how long? This is the question that Hiroo Onoda, born in Kamekawa, Japan, on March 19th 1922, should have asked himself. Growing up with his six brothers and sisters, he began working at the age of17 at the Tajima-Yoko Nail Polish Import and Export Company. At the age of 20, when he was called up for military service, his fate changed. Assigned to the 218th infantry regiment in Nanchang, he underwent several months of intensive training to become a real warrior... And he was very obedient !

When China suddenly dismantled its lockdowns and other Covid precautions last December, officials in Beijing and many investors expected the economy to spring back to life. It hasn't worked out that way.Daisuke Wakabayashi, an Asia business correspondent for The Times, explains why China's economic rebound hit a wall, and what it says about the country's next chapter.Guest: Daisuke Wakabayashi, an Asia business correspondent for The New York Times.Background reading: Policymakers and investors expected China's economy to rev up again after Beijing abruptly dropped Covid precautions, but recent data shows alarming signs of a slowdown.Nanchang's skyscrapers represented urban transformation, but the city added apartments faster than its population grew. The result: vacant homes and offices.For more information on today's episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

An incident in which a suspected rat's head was found in food at a canteen at the Jiangxi Industry Polytechnic College in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, has continued to spark controversy.江西工业职业技术学院食堂食品疑似出现老鼠头的事件持续引发争议。On Saturday, a joint investigation team issued a notice on the incident saying that it will promptly announce its findings after the investigation. The team consists of members from Jiangxi's provincial departments of education and public security, the provincial State-owned assets supervision and administration commission, and the provincial market supervision administration, local media reported.6月10日，一个联合调查组就这个事件发布情况通报，称将在调查结束后及时公布调查处理情况。据当地媒体报道，调查组由江西省教育厅、省公安厅、省国资委和省市场监督管理局组成。So far, about 53 million views have been made under the Weibo hashtag "investigation team formed for duck neck incident", as previous results released by Jiangxi's local market supervision administration said the "rat's head" turned out to be a "duck neck", which was also confirmed by the student who released the video.迄今为止，“江西成立鸭脖事件联合调查组”词条的微博阅读量约5300万，江西省市场监督管理局此前公布的通报显示，“老鼠头”其实是“鸭脖”，发布视频的学生也证实了这一点。On June 1, a video titled "A suspicious rat's head found in food at a college in Jiangxi" went viral on social media.6月1日，一段名为“江西一大学食物中发现可疑老鼠头”的视频在社交媒体上疯传。On June 3, the college's official Sina Weibo account issued a statement in response to the incident, stating that the object in the food had been confirmed by the local market supervision administration to be a duck neck. The student who initially found it also said in a written statement that it was identified as a duck neck.6月3日，江西工业职业技术学院官方微博发布情况通报，称食品中的异物经当地市场监管部门确认为鸭脖。最初发现异物的学生也在一份书面声明说异物确认为鸭脖。However, many people and news media, including the China News Service online, questioned the statement and asked, "What is the white striplike object in the picture? Is it a rat's tooth? What is the long, threadlike object that is suspected to be from a whisker? What is the basis for determining that it is a duck neck?"不过，包括中新网在内的不少人和新闻媒体对这一说法提出质疑，并问道：“图片中的白色条状物是什么？是鼠牙吗？疑似是长条状的线状物是什么？是胡须吗？判断是鸭脖的依据是什么？”On Friday, a China Newsweek report said a student had claimed to have found a green caterpillar in food from the same canteen. The Nanchang publicity department told China Newsweek that the claim is being investigated and they will notify the public of the results.6月9日，《中国新闻周刊》的一篇报道称，一名学生声称在同一家食堂的食物中发现了绿色大青虫。南昌市委宣传部回应《中国新闻周刊》，表示正在对此事进行调查，并将向社会公布调查结果。Although the canteen continued to operate normally after the incident, fewer people are using it. Instead, many students have been seen receiving takeout deliveries at the entrance of their dormitories, according to Top News, a media outlet based in Henan.事发后，食堂虽然继续正常营业，但就餐的人越来越少。据头条新闻报道，许多学生将外卖点到宿舍门口。Investigation英/ɪnˌvestɪˈɡeɪʃ(ə)n/ 美/ɪnˌvestɪˈɡeɪʃ(ə)n/n.调查Canteen英/kænˈtiːn/ 美/kænˈtiːn/n.食堂

Last time we spoke Cholera spread like a plague taking countless lives on either side of the conflict. The loss of so much life hurt the Xiang armies positions, and Zeng Guofan worried dearly for the life of his brother fighting at Yuhaitai. Zeng Guofan desperately tossed any men he could to help his brother and it proved effective as Li Xiucheng was forced to flee for the safety of Nanjing's walls. The EVA force lost Ward and gained Chinese Gordon as its leader. But it was to be a short lived command as Gordon and the British became outraged with their allies atrocities and slights against them and thus took back on the stance of neutrality. Yuhaitai was taken and now Nanjing was under siege by the Xiang army, it was only a matter of time for the Taiping to finally fall.   #35 This episode is The Taiping Rebellion part 12: The Fall of the Heavenly Kingdom   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 populace of Nanjing were terrified, with only two gates left open, provisions were becoming very limited and there was almost no way to get out. Roughly 30,000 people were inside the city, 10,000 of which were soldiers. After the fall of Suzhou to Li Hongzhang in December, Li Xiucheng returned to Nanjing pleading with the heavenly king, to simply abandon Nanjing and take the entire movement into Jiangxi province. The heavenly king was livid, saying Li Xiucheng lacked faith in the cause. Without much choice, Li Xiucheng began to prepare the city for a bitter siege. Meanwhile the heavenly king was becoming more and more paranoid and angry. His anger led him to cruelty and he began punishing the people in horrifying ways. For example the new crime of communicating with those outside the walls of the city saw people pounded to death between rocks or flayed alive in public. The people would have fled the city, but they knew the fate of what happened to those who did, as was the case when Anqing fell. By late December they heard the rumors about the fate of Suzhou thus sealing their fate to Nanjing. Zeng Guofan sent reports to his brother in spring of 1864 not to even let women and children escape the city, so their fear was well founded. Zeng Guofan justified this by stating, to force the Taiping to support the entire population within the city would accelerate their starvation.    With Chen Yucheng dead, Li Xiucheng spread too thinly, Hong Rengan found himself yet again thrust into the role of military commander. Hong Xiuquan told his cousin he had to go out of the city to rally troops from nearby territories to help relieve Nanjing. But it was not possible to head north or west, nor was it possible to traverse the river. Hong Rengan set out the day after Christmas of 1863. His first destination was Danyang around 50 miles east of Nanjing which was commanded by an uncle to the late Chen Yucheng. The commander told Hong Rengan he could not spare any troops to help Nanjing, so Hong Rengan continued on to Changzhou. While enroute he found out Li Hongzhang had taken the city, forcing him to winter in Danyang. When spring came, he took his force south into Zhejiang, where Hangzhou was still holding out. Back in 1861 when Hong Rengan went out to get recruits, the work was much easier. This was no longer the case, in the cities of Danyang and Huzhou he found people too afraid to leave their garrisons to go back to Nanjing. Meanwhile the Xiang army was exponentially growing, by 1864 Zeng Guofan had 120,000 troops, Zeng Guoquan 50,000, another 30,000 garrisoned Anhui, 13,000 moved around with Bao Chao and 10,000 were in the area between Anhui and Suzhou.    Li Hongzhang's Anhui army followed up its conquest of Suzhou by marching upon Nanjing from the east. They seized Changzhou and Wuxi with ease as Zuo Zongtang battled Taiping in Zhejiang province. All these armies would eventually converge upon Nanjing. Zeng Guoquan's forces managed to take the Fortress of Heaven on the Dragon's shoulder, pitting it against the Fortress of Earth. With the vantage point upon Dragon's shoulder the Xiang forces were able to create stockade camps at the Shence Gate and eastern Taiping Gate, thus cutting off the city completely. By the end of March, Hangzhou fell to Zuo Zongtang forcing its survivors to flee to Huzhou seeking refuge with Hong Rengan. With the loss of both Suzhou and Hangzhou, the Taiping no longer held any significant cities in the east. There were no more avenues for rescue for the Taiping capital, all that was left was a siege.   Zeng Guoquan's siege army was running dry on provisions, the devastation of the countryside was hitting his men as bad as it was the Taiping. Even though they held the Yangtze, by spring of 1864 there was no longer much food coming from it. His men ate rice gruel and basically nothing else. He confided to his secretary, “If we don't break this city in a month, our whole army is going to crumble to pieces.” Within Nanjing the garrisons first crop of wheat was breaking the surface in april. Zeng Guofans men atop forts and mountain lookouts could see within the city the crops growing with bitterness. They held into the early summer, but Beijing's patience was wearing thin and so were their stomachs. Zeng Guoquan wanted the glory of taking Nanjing for himself, so he resisted the advice of Li Hongzhang to come supplement his forces. Zeng Guofan was torn by this, he understood his brothers ambition, but it was terribly unwise. He wrote to his brother “Why must you have sole credit for conquering Nanjing? Why should one person be the most famous under heaven?” Li Hongzhang realized the family predicament and offered to save face for the Zengs by forming an excuse that he was unable to come help after all.   Zeng Guoquans siege had been enlarged, they built a 3 mile road for supplies through a bog, connecting the river to Yuhuatai. While on the surface it looked like the Xiang forces were loafing around, this was far from the truth, the real siege work was being done under the earth. They did not have large enough cannons to break the walls of Nanjing, so they had to tunnel and mine, the good old fashion way as they say. They would even have to tunnel under moats some 90 feet underground. Each tunnel was made hauling out dirt and rock by hand, but the spotters in Nanjing were always watching. A cool fact I did not know before writing this series, when sappers begin tunneling for long periods of time, the grass on the ground level above them turns brown leaving a kind of path the tunnellers are taking towards a wall. Spotters looked for this and for ventilation holes, after all if you are digging far you have to get air into the work space. Inside Nanjing Taiping sappers dug their own counter tunnels to thwart mines. They often did this by exploding their own mines, flushing gas into the tunnels or flooding them with boiling water or sewage. Imagine dying in a tunnel full of sewage, horrid. At one point a Xiang miner exploded a mine close enough to a wall, but the explosion failed to make a breach and the Taiping quickly went to work building more parts to the wall near it.   By June, the Xiang had mines exploded up in over 30 areas of the walls, but their results were nothing less that 4000 dead sappers. Then on July 3rd, after they captured the Fortress of Earth at the base of the Dragon's shoulder they had a vantage point so close to part of Nanjing's walls they could fire cannons over. Throughout the night and day they fired cannons into part of Nanjing thwarting the Taiping tunnelers while their own worked. The most ambitious tunnel yet was dug, around 70 yards out, digging at a rate of 15 feet per day. It lead to a part of Nanjing's walls 50 feet thick. The Taiping knew what was coming, but the bombardment never ceased, and even the noise from the cannons prevented spotters from figuring out precisely where the tunnel was. By the 15th of July Li Xiucheng was forced to launch a night sortie to try and attack the tunnel opening, but the Xiang army forced them right back into the city. Three days later the tunnel had just about reached its target for the explosives. Zeng Guoquan was impatient, pressured by Beijing, so he ordered his men to pack 6000 cloth sacks under the wall containing over 20 tons of gunpowder. The explosion went off at noon on the 19th, as 400 hand picked veterans crouching hiding on the ground to launch themselves through the breach. The explosive experts lit the fuse and waited, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20, 30 the fuse took that long to travel the tunnel. Then a tremendous blast was heard forming a convulsion sending part of the wall to go up blasting outwards and skyward raining parts of the rubble everywhere killing tons of the 400 men hiding on the ground. When the smoke cleared, a 200 foot wide breach could be seen.   The Xiang forces sounded the drums and stormed down the Dragon's shoulder towards the breach screaming. The clambering over dead bodies and rumble surging forward, many of them holding maps of the inner city. The first troops to breach the hole specifically dodged the defenders rushing further into the city with maps in hand as they had the specific mission to rush to the palace of the Heavenly King to kill the self proclaimed brother of jesus. But Li Xiucheng beat them to their mission and he spirited away Hong Xiuquans son, before they could capture the would-be future monarch. When the Xiang troops entered the palace they found nothing but an eerie silence. Hong Xiuquan the heavenly king, the self proclaimed brother of Jesus was already dead.   Going back in time, to the spring of 1864, Li Xiucheng said to the heavenly king “There is no food in the whole city and many men and women are dying. I request a directive as to what should be done to put the people's mind at ease.” Starvation was hitting the people, but the heavenly king did not seem to pay any notice. Hong Xiuquan began to talk to Li Xiucheng about the 16th chapter of Exodus, how god would preserve the Taiping faithful, just as he preserved the children of Israel for 40 years as they wandered the desert, by scattering manna on the ground amidst the dew each morning. Beginning in 1862, Hong Xiuquan had begun ordering his subjects to emulate the lives of the israelites, storing 10 bushels of manna every year to see them through their times of trouble. What exactly manna is, hard to say, if you read the bible it says it was a small, white flower with the scent of coriander that tasted like honey. The Chinese Taiping bible describes it as “Tianlu and Ganlu” which means sweetened dew. Hong Xiuquan said to Li Xiucheng “everyone in the city should eat manna. This will keep them alive” he then issued an order “Bring some here, and after preparing it I shall partake of some first.” Li Xiucheng states “the Sovereign himself, in the open spaces of his palace, collected all sorts of weeds, which he made into a lump and sent out of the palace, demanding that everyone do likewise, without defaulting. He issued an edict ordering the people to act accordingly and everyone would have enough to eat.” Thus Hong Xiuquan began to eat the weeds he called manna within his palace.    In April of 1864 he began to fall ill with his 50th year of life. He seems to get better in may, but then becomes sick again. The cause of his illness is not understood, but Li Xiucheng account states “its from him eating manna, and when this man was ill he would not take remedies”. Hong Rengan account states “a lingering illness of 20 days took him”. Tiangui Fu the son of Hong Xiuquan said “my father succumbed to sickness”. On May 30th, Hong Xiuquan or one of his aides announces it is time for the Heavenly king to go to Heaven where he will request the Heavenly father and Heavenly Elder brother to send a celestial army to defend Nanjing. There is no grand funeral for the heavenly king. On June 1st he is wrapped in a shroud of yellow silk by his palace women and buried in the bare ground, which was the regular service for the Taiping. No coffins were necessary, because he was expected to rise soon to go to heaven. Hong Xiuquan had ordered coffins to be abandoned prior and that the word “death” to be taboo, because they were all going to ascend to heaven.    Five days after his death, his son Tiangui Fu takes his fathers throne. While the Qing forces are busy sieging the city, for 6 weeks the Young monarch reigns. He is basically at the mercy of Li Xiucheng and Hong Rengan. Li Xiucheng gives this account  “After the Young Sovereign came to the throne,there was no grain for the soldiers, and there was chaos in the armies. . . . The Sovereign was young and had no ability to make decisions, no one, civil or military, in the capital, could think of a solution.” When the explosion went off on July 19th and the slaughter and chaos began within the city, Tiangui Fu stood bewildered in his palace beside his 4 wives. They tried to grab him, to stop him from fleeing, but he broke away from them and ran into the crowds with his 2 younger brothers heading for Li Xiuchengs palace. They grabbed the nearest horses and their bodyguards clustered around them. During the chaos they try to escape through the different gates in turn, each time turned back. Li Xiucheng eventually finds the royal group and whisks them to a safe location. They hide for some time in an abandoned temple on the western side of the city, perched atop a hill from which they can see the Qing forces scattering into the city. The Young monarch and his comrade put on Hunanese clothing as a disguise, something that had been prepared weeks before. They seize the cover of darkness as the Xiang army are busy raping and plundering the city. Li Xiucheng bids a tearful farewell to the Young monarch as he and his small party charge through the breach Zeng Guoquans sappers made, with the sun against their backs they vanish. The horse of Li Xiucheng collapses and his guard leaves without him. Dazed and confused, Li Xiucheng climbs back to the abandoned temple on the hill. He wakes up to find peasants robbing him of his valuables, when he is left with nothing to take, they grab him and bring him to Zeng Guoquans forces.   No one knows where the Young monarch is, but Zeng Guoquan has Li Xiucheng in his hands and interrogates him. Without the leadership of Li Xiucheng the Taiping forces might linger on in the rest of the country to form some small kingdom, but they would never be able again to become a large movement. With the capture of Li Xiucheng, the Taiping rebellion was pretty much dead. Li Xiucheng writes a very lengthy confession before his execution. Before his death he begs the Qing officials to stop the slaughter of Nanjing, to spare the old Taiping veterans who had marched from Guangxi and Guangdong, to give them permission to go back home. “engage in some trade. If you are willing to spare them, everyone will hear of it, and everyone will be willing to submit.” He even provides his captors with some advice, to buy the best cannons from the foreigners, alongside efficient gun carriages and other weapons, so that the best Chinese craftsmen could reverse engineer them and teach the people of china how to make their own. “one craftsman can teach ten, ten can teach a hundred and everyone in our country will know. . . . To fight with the foreign devils the first thing is to buy cannon and get prepared early. It is certain that there will be a war with them.” “Our Heavenly Kingdom is finished . . . and this is because the former Heavenly King's span was ended. The fate of the people was hard, such a hard fate!”  Li Xiucheng speaks to his captors believing the Young Monarch is already dead, but Tiangui Fu was safe accompanied by a few hundred loyal soldiers. Tiangui Fu and his small force circle the shore of Lake Tai, fleeing for Huzhou where Hong Rengan commands a small Taiping garrison. Yet before talking about that I want to talk about the horrors that befall Nanjing.    The Xiang army's discipline broke at Nanjing, they were starving when they stormed the great city, filling their stomachs for the first time with food and the achievement of their ultimate goal, ending the war. After bitter years of campaigning, far away from their homelands, they began to break ranks and laid waste to the capital in an orgy of rape and plunder. Zeng Guofan issues proclamations forbidding troops from murdering civilians, rape of looting, but his commanders ignore this. The bloody occupation of Nanjing sees the fanatical death of many Taiping, refusing to surrender who fight to the bitter end. As Zeng Guofan reported to Beijing “On the 17th and 18th, Tseng Liang-Tso and others searched through the city for any rebels they could find, and in three days killed over 100,000 men. THe Ch'in-huai creek was filled with bodies. Half of the false wangs, chief generals, heavenly generals, and other heads were killed in battle, and the other half either drowned themselves in the dikes and ditches or else burned themselves. The whole of them numbered 3000 men. The fire in the city raged for 3 days and nights…Not one of the 100,000 rebels in Nanjing surrendered themselves when the city was taken but in many cases gathered together and burned themselves and passed away without repentance. Such a formidable band of rebels has been rarely known from ancient times to present”.   The slaughter of Nanjing was the combination of fanaticism from the Taiping and the policy of Zeng Guofan who was determined that the surrender from the veterans Guangxi/Guangdong Taiping was not to be accepted. His goal was the extermination of the whole movement, via the death of its core leadership. He wanted no residue of any successors to try and carry on the Taiping ideology. He performed a ruthless extermination, thus forcing many of the Taiping to fight to the very end or commit mass suicide. Zeng Guoquan's aides reported to him that mass looting, murder and rapes were occuring. Soldiers could be seen running off with gold, silver, furs, jade and any other valuables. At first soldiers burned palaces, but then they moved onto homes, eventually the entire city was aflame. Only when a heavy rainstorm occurred on July 25th did the fires go out. On the 26th, Zeng Guoquans secretary entered the city and was overwhelmed at the sight. All the male Taiping still alive were being used by the Xiang soldiers to carry loot or dig up buried treasure. It seemed like many of them were being set free to flee the city after, but many were also slaughtered after. Countless, elderly who could not perform labor were killed outright. Countless children lay dead in the streets alongside the old, as the secretary wrote in his diary “Children and toddlers, some not even two years old, had been hacked up or run through just for sport. There wasn't a single women left in the city under 40 years old.  Sometimes they had ten or twelve cuts on them, sometimes several times that. The sound of their weeping and moaning carried into the distance all around.” A female Taiping survivor named Huang Shuhua was 16 years of age during the capture of Nanjing. She had this to say about when the soldiers came. “They killed my two older brothers in the courtyard, then they went searching through the rooms of the house. One of the strong ones captured me and carried me out. My little brother tugged on his clothing, my mother threw herself down before him, weeping. He shouted angrily, ‘All rebel followers will be killed, no pardons—those are the general's orders!' Then he murdered my mother and my little brother. My eldest brother's wife came out, and he killed her too. Then he dragged me away, so I don't know what became of my other elder brother's wife. I was grief-stricken, sobbing and cursing at him, begging him to kill me quickly. But he only laughed at me. ‘You, I love,' he said. ‘You, I will not kill.' ” The soldier tied her up and took her aboard a boat back to his home in Hunan. The soldier was from the home county of Zeng Guofan, Xiangxiang. She would spend the rest of her life as the wife of a man who had murdered her entire family. She wrote down her story on two slips of paper one evening while traveling and when at an Inn she secretly slid the papers to someone at the inn before hanging herself.   Zeng Guofan took possession of Nanjing, arriving from Anqing on July 28th, 9 days after his brother's forces breached its walls. Apparently officers from his brothers forces took him around the city in a sedan chair, telling him tales of the battles fought and won, showing him the scenes of the destruction. Poetry, plays, banquettes, song and wine, celebrating was made by the victors. Soon honors would be poured over said victors from Beijing once Zeng Guofan sent news of the fall of the Taiping capital. Zeng Guofan sent inflated numbers of Taiping killed, as you may have noticed when I read those quotes, there was absolutely not 100,000 dead in Nanjing. He was inflating the glory of his family, that of his armies prowess, and he masking over the rape and plundering of the second capital of the dynasty. He was very careful with what information got out. When he came face to face with Li Xiucheng, he had direct orders from Beijing to send the man alive back to Beijing, instead he executed him where he was making sure to overlook the interrogation process himself so he could make sure the writing of Li Xiucheng was exactly the way he wanted it.    Now Hong Rengan was in Huzhou during the downfall of Nanjing, helplessly trying to find help for the capital. When news came that Nanjing had fallen and Li Xiucheng was dead, Hong Rengan found himself in possession of the Young monarch who fled to Huzhou for safety. At this time Huzhou was being attacked by Li Hongzhang's Anhui army and remnants of the EVA force. Not the Ever victorious army, no this was the Ever triumphant army. Basically the remnants of the EVA force were taken by some French officers who continued to work alongside the Qing. The roads to leading to Huzhou were strewn with corpses and severed heads to ward off the Qing/Anhui/EVA forces. The coalitionary forces are too much for the defenders of Huzhou who at the end of August of 1864 flee south. Hong Rengan intends to take the Young Monarch to Guangdong where the Taiping movement started. They rode for 3 months making it to the Meiling Pass, searching for safety. Their escapade left them in a mountainous country 15 miles northeast of a town called Stone Wall where they were finally attacked. Qing soldiers came upon them during the night before the Taiping loyalists could even mount their horses. Hong Rengan fled alone on foot wilding running through a forest where he is captured on October 9th. He is interrogated by the local Qing officials, where he tells them “The heavenly King was nine years older than I and gifted with extraordinary powers of intelligence. A glance at anything was all that was required to impress the subject on his memory. The uprising at Thistle mounted undoubted evidence of the display of divine power throughout those years,and despite the ultimate collapse of the Taiping movement, among those who have enjoyed the smiles of fortune for the longest time the Heavenly King stands pre-eminently forward,”. Hong Rengang is executed in Jiangxi's capital of Nanchang on November 23rd.    As for the Young Monarch, Tiangui Fu, he manages to slip away with 10 followers. His band crosses a small bridge and climbs a nearby hill to hide, but they are discovered by their Qing pursuers. Somehow Tiangui Fu manages to evade them, hiding out in the hills, afraid and alone. He shaves off his long hair and finds work with a local farmer pretending to be a man named Zhang from Hubei. After the harvest for that year, he travels onwards but is finally caught and arrested on October 25th by a Qing patrol. He throws himself at the mercy of the state, confessing “The old Heavenly King told me to study religious books, and would not allow me to study ancient books, which he said were all demonic. I managed, however, to read secretly thirty or more volumes, and still retain some recollection of their subjects and contents. The conquest of the empire was the ambition of the old Heavenly King, and I had no part in it.” He tells his captors if they release him, he will study the Confucian classics and try to gain the lowest degree, that of Licentiate. Instead the Young Monarch is executed on November 18th, a week before his 15th birthday. The Heavenly King is dead, the Young Monarch is dead, all the kings, north, south, east, west, flank, shield, loyal, brave and countless others are all dead.    The day Zeng Guofan took control of Nanjing was a triumph, not for the Qing dynasty but for him. He was at that moment the most powerful man in all of China. His Xiang army was dominant, he was that of a military dictator controlling the vast eastern and central parts of China. He was not fully under the Qing courts control, in fact the Qing relied upon him almost entirely to retain their own control. Until the Taiping menace was defeated, the Qing court watching his efforts without dread, once it was done that all changed. Rumors spread like wildfire, some said Zeng Guoquan told his brother the time was right to abandon the crumbling Qing dynasty and to start a new dynasty from his base in Nanjing. But Zeng Guofan did not do this. In truth, by the time Nanjing was under its last siege, Zeng Guofan began a process for disbanding his grand Xiang army and to relinquish his power. He sought to hold onto his positions as governor general over Anhui, Jiangsu and Jiangxi, and help rebuild Nanjing to its former glory. Many watched expected him to take his army and march upon Beijing, to rid China of the Manchu, but he sent his soldiers home. And thus Zeng Guofan remained a loyal subject, to a child emperor and the Empress Dowager Cixi.   If you are bewildered by this, you are most definitely not alone, countless historians and contemporary figures were confused. Zeng Guofan's ruthlessness and brilliance led him to possess basically unlimited power. All of his top ranking commanders were people he knew, they all had strong personal ties to him, their loyalty was set in stone. What could have possibly stopped him from taking over China? Well, according to his closest family members and friends, they say Zeng Guofan was a man wrecked by anxiety and depression. He was reluctant from the very beginning to be given command, quite uncertain of himself. He was a true scholar and sought nothing but to go back to his books and to lead a life of moral scholarship. He was deeply influenced by Confucian beliefs, but many also think he was influenced by the horrible levels of corruption, greed and incompetence he saw within the Qing bureaucracy. He was never heard to question the legitimacy of the Emperor, and being very devout to Confucianism, he probably really believed in the mandate of heaven. There are also those who point out, to such a brilliant mind, was ruling China a desirable thing? He say how tumultuous the era they lived in was, was it a good era to rule over? Perhaps his uncertainty about himself, left him thinking he could not live up to the task.    Regardless, the Xiang army demobilized in August of 1864, less than a month after the fall of Nanjing. In May he gave a notice for sick leave, which as he told his brother was just an excuse to go into hiding after the war was done. He wanted to escape all of his critics who were growing suspicious of his power. He recommended his brother should do the same, but it seems Zeng Guoquan resented this advice. Zeng Guoquan apparently was beginning to expand his economic powers and Zeng Guofan had this to write to his brother, “Military commanders who have usurped fiscal power have never brought anything but evil to the country and harm to their own families. Even if you, my brother, are a complete idiot, surely you cannot be ignorant that you have to distance yourself from power to avoid being slandered.” Well the Qing court went to work on Zeng Guoquan and his subordinates accusing them of corruption and usurpation. Likewise they hounded Zeng Guofan by proxy, and for the 8 years left of his life they tormented him, not allowing him to retire or pause from duties. Zeng Guofan's dreams of returning to scholarship, his homeland, a quiet life, would never come to be. In 1867 he wrote on the issue of his looming death “I would be happier there, than I am in this world”.   The estimates on the death toll of the Taiping Rebellion are simply impossible to gauge fully. If you go to wikipedia, or pick up any book they all fall on 20-30 million people. There were no reliable censuses at the time, the estimates are based mostly upon demographic projections on what the Chinese population should otherwise have been in later generations. In an American study performed in 1969, by the year of 1913, almost 50 years after the fall of Nanjing, China's population had yet to recover to its pre 1850 levels. In 1999 it is estimated the provinces hardest hit by the Taiping Rebellion, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hubei and Jiangxi suffered a population loss of around 87 million people between 1851-1864. Around 57 million of them dead from war, the rest never born due to decreased birthrates. The projection for the full scale of the war in all provinces is around 70 million dead with a total loss for the population at 100 million. As you might imagine there is a large amount of skepticism over such unbelievable numbers. Regardless the scars of the event were most definitely felt for decades as attested by countless travelers and inhabitants of China. It was frankly one of if not the deadliest civil war in human history.   What is rather incredible is the fact the Qing dynasty did not fall then. Don't get me wrong, it was a mortal wound, but the Qing dynasty would limp on for another 5 decades. Did the Qing dynasty win the war? Not entirely, its safer to say the efforts of Zeng Guofan, foreign intervention and the Qing defeated the Taiping movement. The Qing dynasty was basically put on life support by Zeng Guofan and foreign interests if you really think about it. The Opium wars linked the Qing dynasty to nations like Britain and France who had financial stakes in China and wanted the devil they knew rather than the Jesus they didn't to ensure the flow of unequal trade, see what I did there? Zeng Guofan, was simply in my opinion a strong conservative. I told you bits and pieces about his reluctance to work with foreigners and utilize their technology. He came around to it all of course, but he did so gradually and begrudgingly, there are countless tales of him butting heads over the issue. That issue being modernization, something his successor Li Hongzhang will become a champion of might I add. Zeng Guofan was devout to Confucianism and traditions, honestly he is a large part as to why the Taiping were unable to destroy much of Chinese culture. Zeng Guofan would be villainized by many as a traitor to his race, someone who held up the Manchu.   In the end China suffered immensely, this was after all occurring during the century of humiliation. I will end with this to say about the intertwining years of the Second Opium War and the Taiping Rebellion. These years were a time of chaos and change for Asia as a whole. China would end up slowly moving towards modernization, but another nation would take the opposite route and usher in hyper modernization. The balance of power in Asia was turning, leaving more room for conflict on an unprecedented scale.    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. Sheesh, 12 parts my god, would you believe it if I told you there was a lot more left out? Remember there were other rebellions like the Nian and Dungan, and perhaps given a audience desire I might talk about those as well.  

When it comes to Hainan province, Sanya is not the only city travelers have in mind but also smaller cities and towns dotted around it. We discuss the halo effect of top tourist destinations(00:49). / Laiming called in from Nanchang, Jiangxi Province and brings us the latest on the ground about how folks have reacted since the downgrade of Covid measures on Jan 8th (16:55). / When you find your boss to be extremely annoying…(26:27) On the show: Heyang, Huang Shan & Li Yi

TRACKLIST : Muudu - Slow Jim Glen Pop - Blue Amount - The trip Rampue - Turner Trikk - Don't forget to breathe Max Lessig - As I see it Industrialyzer - Snake whisperer (Radio Slave remix) Tokyo Fan Club - Circles Simone De Kunovich - Path to eternity (On the river of nameless god) Remcord - Rêve de nuit Umit Han - Sieg uber das ungute Saine - Étude

Last time we spoke Hong Xiuquan had gathered a rabble of peasants, named them the god worshippers and declared war upon the Qing dynasty. He gave titles to his closest comrades forming the North, South, East, West and Flank Kings who led the great Taiping armies on a march towards the secondary capital of China, Nanjing. Countless cities fell the Taiping and the Qing desperately tried to encircle and quell the menace. But the Taiping never stayed in any given place long enough to be captured and even when they were dealt significant losses, they simply moved on and recruited more and more to their cause. Their armies grew exponentially and so did their conquests until they reached the secondary capital of China, Nanjing. Nanjing was put through a brutal siege and taken, her citizens put to the sword and now the Taiping held a grand capital city.   #26 This episode is The Taiping Rebellion part 3: The Heavenly Kingdom of Tianjing   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.   14 years after his first vision, Hong Xiuquan alongside an incredible 2 million followers had captured the secondary capital of China, Nanjing. Hong Xiuquan, the heavenly king, Yang Xiuqing the East King and the surviving Taiping leadership had developed their military based on the work of the late Feng Yunshan and their combined experiences from the march from the Thistle Mountains all the way to Nanjing. Much like the military structure the new capital would have 4 families linked to every corporal's family and 25 family units linked under every sergeant. These communities would build the public granaries, chapels for worship and so forth. The sergeants would dwell in chapels, the corporals would take their family and those families under their command to sabbath to worship. Every sabbath day, all senior officers, from generals to captains would visit one of the great churches of the sergeants to pray and work hard obeying the Ten commandments.    By day people would work the land, all serving in some form, whether it was pottery, ironwork, carpentry, masonry, whatever according to their skills. The land under Taiping rule was divided up amongst all with one full share for every man and women aged 16 and older and half a share for children below 16. All of the land was graded according to its productivity and when land was insufficient for the peoples needs, the people were moved to land that was plentiful. Of the products of labor, each corporal saw to it that every family under him had food, but all the rest went to the public treasuries. Sergeants checked the books and tallied the accounts, presenting records to superiors “ for all people on this earth are as the family of the Lord their God on High, and when people of this earth keep nothing for their private use but give all things to God for all to use in common, then in the whole land every place shall have equal shares, and every one be clothed and fed. This was why the Lord God expressly sent the Taiping Heavenly Lord to come down and save the world.”   The public treasuries would give gifts to every family at times of birth, marriage and death according their needs, but never in excess of one thousand copper cash or one hundred catties of grain. Surpluses had to be maintained incase of famine or war. Every family unit with a living male head had to give a soldier to the army, but the Taiping would not take widowers, widows, orphans or childless, nor weak or sick. With births came new families and every 5th family gave a new corporal, and every 25th a new sergeant and so on. All officers and officials, even the highest would be reviewed every 3 years and promoted or demoted according to performance. This was the system pushed out upon Nanjing when it was taken. As you can imagine it was a goliath task to meet these demands, thus the system could not actually be implemented all at once, but they were diligent to starting the listing and recording keeping to establish it. Not everyone flocked eagerly to the Taiping ranks. Many households were reluctant to register their members and hid for weeks, countless fled Nanjing.    The Taiping burnt down countless Taoist and Buddhist architecture, smashed statues and image and stripped or killed priests. Everyone was to conform to the new Taiping religion. Notably though the Chinese Muslims in Nanjing were not attacked and their mosques were allowed to stand. One group in Nanjing that were in a position of particular ambiguity were the catholics who numbered around 200. At least 30 catholics were burned in their homes or cut down in the streets during the early chaos. The Taiping found the catholic survivors in a catholic church, but when pressed they refused to recite Taiping liturgy. The Taiping authorities gave them 3 days to comply, then they burst into the church and destroyed the cross and overturned their altar. 70-80 catholic men had their arms tied behind their backs and were given a trial before a Taiping judge and condemned to death unless they said Taiping prayers. They refused opting for martyrdom, but in the end 25 eventually recited the Taiping prayers and the rest were sent to be vanguard forces in the army. In order to push the movement, the Taiping had to seize the Nanjing printing industry to distribute their sacred texts to all the sergeants for reading and preaching. Back when the Taiping captured Yangzhou in april of 1853 they acquired printing press craftsmen, so they brought them to Nanjing.   Hong Xiuquan makes 3 major strategic decisions, the first was to select Nanjing as the new Taiping Capital now known as Tianjing, the second was to create the printing system to promote the Taiping program and the 3rd was to alter name places in China. Hong Xiuquan proclaimed henceforth the city of Beijing was to be named “Yaoxue- demon's den” and the province of Zhili “criminal's province”. When all the Manchu demons were destroyed, Beijing's name could be restored and Zhili once its people repented for their sins and began worshiping the heavenly father. “The world has long been deluded by these demonic Tartars, and it is imperative that they be soon destroyed. But before we destroy these people, we must first destroy their bases. And before we can destroy the power of their bases, we must first destroy the bases' names.” Emperor Xianfeng by definition was the leader of earthly demons and Hong Xiuquan changed his name that meant “united in glory” to have a dog component added and he also did this to terms referring to Manchu.   The Taiping followers in Nanjing were told the time to end sexual separation had not come yet, any men who forced themselves on women, whether they be veterans or new would be executed. Those who worked as prostitutes would not only be executed, but also their families. Male homosexuality was severly punished, if partner were both aged 13 or older they would be beheaded. If you were under 13 you could be spared unless it was proven you were an active partner. The city of Nanjing was divided similar to what the Taiping did in Wuchang, with blocks for men and those for women and children. Those skilled in specific types of labor lived amongst another, for example carpenters with carpenters tailors with tailors.    Hong Xiuquan had a ceremonial hat made with a fan shaped front, decorated with twin dragons and twin phoenixes. The other kings were allowed to have twin dragons as well but only one phoenix. On the upper part of Hong Xiuquans hat he alone had written “the mountains and river are unified and the heavens are filled with stars”. The 3 surviving kings each had one line embroidered on their hats; for the East king Yang Xiuqing “long phoenix perching in the clouds”, for the north king Wei Changhui “long phoenix perching on the mountain peak” and for the flank king Shi Dakai “lone phoenix perching on the peony”.   Hong Xiuquan had 10,000 people work for 6 months to built him a palace in the former site of the governor generals mansion in the center of the northern side of the main residential city. Within mere days of taking Nanjing, the Qing began counter attacks leading to the gates of Nanjing being reinforced with additional gates built in front or behind the existing ones. Cannon emplacements and palisades for gunners are created en masse. Forward defensive encampments, wooden watch towers as high as 30 or even 40 feet are created. Smaller towns surrounded nanjing are reinforced. Large swathes of area have ditches dug, palisades erected, felled, honeycombed networked of small round holes with straw placed over them and bamboo spikes underneath. Its a regional fortress built with the purpose of overthrowing the Qing.   Now until the capture of Nanjing, the Taiping had been a mobile force whose success for a large part was simply because they would seize a major city and move on before the Qing could get them. The establishment of their Tianjing Capital meant the core of the Taiping movement, its leadership and central army were now in a fixed position. The Qing could finally plan and coordinate large scale action directed at their capital. Interestingly enough, the decision to hunker down in Nanjing is what many scholars regard as the crucial reason for their eventual failure. If they had simply done what they done best and took Nanjing for perhaps a month or so and moved on to Beijing they could have very well toppled the Qing. None the less, the Taiping were in a good position in Nanjing compared to that on Beijing. It is estimated in 1853 Nanjing held 18 million taels of silver, while Beijing was depleted to a possible 3 million. The Nanjing granaries by the end of 1853 totalled 1,270,000 piculs of unhulled rice and 750,000 hulled rice, sufficient to feed the Taiping for many months. An American missionary named E.C Bridgman visited Nanjing in may of 1854 and reported “all the people we saw were well-clad, well fed and well provided for in every way. They all seemed content, and in high spirits as if sure of success”. The surrounding areas continued to supply Nanjing with grain and the Yangtze river continued to serve as its artery of communication and trade.   Now once they had Nanjing the Taiping set out to accomplish their ultimate goal, the final defeat of the Manchu demons in Beijing. But when the Taiping took Nanjing a lot of internal strife began to grow. While Hong Xiuquan was the bonafide religious and political leader to the Taiping, he was never alone and although many of the great figureheads had died, a few large ones remained. Yang Xiuqing the east king, Wei Changhui the north king and Shi Dakai the flank king were the 3 largest leaders alongside Hong Xiuquan. Yang Xiuqing established himself as the highest ideological leader, above that of Wei Changhui and in many aspects above hong Xiuquan. When Xiao Chaogui the West King died, Hong Xiuquan made a proclamation that granted Yang a supervisory power over the 4 other kings, clearly promoting him above the rest. When Xiao Chaogui died, Shi Dakai sort of filled the dead kings space in many ways and when  Nanjing was captured he was the only king constantly occupied in the field, directing and personally leading western campaigns. Hong Xiuquan as the spiritual leader, began to gradually isolate himself within his palace only acting through proclamations. Wei Changhui the north king, acted as the coordinator for the defense of the region around the capital and was responsible for food supplies. This left general administrative supervision in the hands of Yang Xiuqing who also acted as the coordinator of all military campaigns. Now Yang Xiuqing back in the early days of 1851 had coalesced the Taiping when he began in trance-like states to state he was the mouthpiece of God the father. Likewise Xiao Chaogui had these trances where he said he was the mouthpiece of Jesus, hmmmmm. Oh and there was a lot of roleplay in this by the way, when Xiao Chaogui spoke to Hong Xiuquan in a trance state he would refer to him as “younger brother” like wise Yang would refer to him as son. Both Yang and Xiao it seems were in league with another using this unique trance behavior to raise their status. But when Xiao died, there was a lot of confusion, leading Yang to stop messing around for awhile as the voice of god the father. But in december of 1853 Yang once again began to speak publicly as the voice of god. Yang began a campaign where he attempted to humiliate the heavenly king using trances as the voice of god. Yang begins a campaign to humiliate Hong where he uses the voice of god to accuse the Heavenly King of growing to be too harsh and indulgent with his power. That he is harsh to women who serve him and far too indulgent of his 4 year old son. One accusation in particular was that 4 of Hong's palace women were treated so badly that they should be released from Hong's palace and instead should live at Yang's palace. Yang says Hong orders women under him to work in rain or snow and allows his concubines to sneer and scold the other women, oh yes despite all the laws and such Hong and many of the Taiping leaders have concubines. Remember when I said the Taiping rebellion was like a proto marxist one? Yes just like any good marxist they dont live the way they preach, shots fired. Yang continues to argue the women officials are prevented from their duties by the mean concubines and that Hong Xiuquan had even kicked some of them in anger and punished pregnant concubines similarly, something that is a serious crime. You don't kick pregnant women. He follows this up saying in God's voice that the heavenly king should receive 40 blows of the rod for his derelictions. To this Hong publicly prostrated himself to receive said blows, so god would forgive him. Hong's 4 year old son is said to be too self-indulgent and willful because he plays in the rain, and smashes presents given to him…..weird. God states he must stop all of this because it will lead him to abuse the people in the future when he leads.   Yang Xiuqing did not stop at attacking Hong, he also went after two others in particular: the north king Wei Chanhui and marquis Qin Rigang, both men who had been with Hong since the earliest days at Thistle mountain. Wei was an educated man, Qin was a miner who studied military arts and proved himself a formidable strategist. For years both men handled key military assignments for Hong, Qin was regarded as the senior ranking Taiping officer after the surviving kings. Yang began to use the voice of god to humiliate Wei in many ways. Whenever his trances began, Yang's woman attendants would summon Wei at once using drum calls and if Wei was late the women would berate him. Wei was forced to kowtow to Yang when he was in trance and when Yang was in trance he moved by sedan chair while Wei was forced to walk beside it. Yang kept his attendants on Wei's ass also disturbing him. Qin had to endure similar humiliations and was forced to help carry Yangs sedan chair up the palace stairs a few times. To give some more flavor, here is one story about a clash that occurred in december between Yang and Wei.    Yang one day in public suggested that Hong had more than enough embroideries and robes in his palace and should economize for a time instead of getting more. Wei ignored what Yang said and told Hong “You, our second elder brother, are the true Sovereign of all nations of the world, and you are rich in the possession of all within the four seas; although robes and garments are sufficient, it will still be necessary to be constantly engaged in making up more.” Upon hearing this Yang responded “I beseech you, our second elder brother, to pardon this younger brother's crime and permit this younger brother to memorialize straightforwardly. If apparel were insufficient, then it would be necessary to make up more; but if it is said it is sufficient, it will be better to delay the making up of more, and then we can see the second elder brother's virtues of economy and love of man. Why should our younger brother Zheng [the North King] memorialize on the necessity of constantly making up more clothing?” To both of them Hong replied “Brother [Yang Xiu]Qing! You are certainly what the ancients called a bold and outspoken minister. And you, brother Zheng, although you may have a sincere regard for your elder brother, are not so straightforward and open in your statements as our brother Qing; for which he is to be much more commended. Later, in the reign of the Young Monarch, all who are ministers should imitate the example of our brother Qing in speaking straightforwardly as he has done this day; thus will they fulfill their duty as ministers.”   Some of the events I just talked about occur a bit later on, but I wanted to give you the idea that in the background, Yang was humiliating others and doing whatever he could to take more and more power. Now of the 5 kings, 3 survived and the administrative staffs of the former 2 simply were distributed amongst the 3 survivors. But after Nanjing was captured the kings would not be the solo ruling leaders anymore. Additional “princes” were added, they were similar to the kings, just lesser so. They held lesser rank than the kings, but were above the Taiping military rank structure. They come about at different times but there would be the Zhong price: Li Xiucheng, Ying prince: Chen Yucheng, Jun Prince: Lai Wenkwok, Fu Prince: Hong Renda, An Prince: Hong Renfa, Yong Prince: Hong Rengui, Fu Prince: Hong Renfu and the Gan Prince: Hong Rengan, yes our old friend Rengan will come to this story but much later on. It seems Yang orchestrated the creation of these princes and the multiplicity of administrative staffs to make it easier for him to weaken the authority of his most senior rivals.    Yang Xiuqing acting as commander in chief of the Taiping military sent out 4 offensives, 2 towards the north against Beijing and 2 up the Yangtze river into western China. Yang Xiuqings overall plan was to use the northern and western expeditionary forces to create a large pincer to capture the whole of northern and western China. According to Missionary Bridgman “ The Taiping had four armies in the field, carrying on active aggressive operations: 2 of these had gone northwards: they were designed to cooperate and after storming and destroying Peking, to turn westwards and march through Shanxi, Shensi, Kansuh, into Szechuan, where they are expected to meet their other 2 armies, which from Kingsi and the Lake provinces are to move up the great river and along through the regions on its southern bank'.    The northern expedition of around 80,000 men was led by 2 commanders, Li Kaifang and Lin Fengxiang who led the vanguard to take Yangchow on April the 1st. By May the 8th they left Yangchow after receiving reinforcements and advanced towards Ch'u-chou in Anhwei province. As their forces went into Anhwei and Henan province they were bolstered by local bandits, particularly the Nian rebels, who were performing the Nian rebellion simultaneously. Following the same strategy applied to the Hunan campaign and the Yangtze valley, they moved rapidly through Anhwei and Henan without leaving behind garrisons nor supply stations. At first, they did not attempt to take any city that proved to be well defended. However at Huaiqing in Henan at the border of Shanxi, they used their 80,000 strong force to besiege the prefectural city, believing it held rich military supplies.    The siege lasted 2 months, but the Taiping failed to capture it and had to move on. The delay in their march as the result of failing at Huaiqing seems to be a decisive turning point for the northern expedition as a whole. The Taiping suffered terrible losses in both shock troops and officers, while the Qing court in Beijing gained valuable time to prepare against the impending Taiping attacks. The Taiping gradually penetrated Zhili via Shanxi province and reached the suburbs of Tianjin, and it was here another large mistake was made for the second time. The Taiping could have simply marched on Beijing, but yet against chose to attack a secondary target. The northern expeditionary force was tiny compared to that of the entire Taiping army which should have been consolidated and marched upon Beijing. The Taiping were greatly hindered by northern chinas winters, because do remember most of the Taiping were from southern china. The Qing had begun a war of attrition, making sure to take away food stuffs in the path of the northern expedition. The Taiping found it extremely hard to forage and on top of this the Qing even broke dikes in the grand canal to flood the Taiping out.   Emperor Xianfeng also released what would be his greatest weapon, the Mongolian prince Senggelinqin. Prince Seng was from the Horqin left back banner of inner Mongolia and a member of the Borjiqin clan. He was a 26th generation descendant of Qasar brother to Genghis Khan. His name Sengge Rinchen was made up of two tibetan words meaning Lion and Treasure. When he was just a child he was adopted by Sodnamdorji a Jasagh “head of a mongol banner” of the Horqin left back banner and Junwang, second rank prince under the Qing dynasty. He would inherit his adoptive fathers titles during the reign of Emperor Daoguang. It was at the 1853 battle for Tianjin where Prince Seng would earn his fame.    The Taiping expeditionary force had fought its way bitterly from Nanjing to Tianjin, leaving just 80 miles between them and Beijing. Prince Seng rushed to the scene aided greatly by a valuable ally, winter. The winter ravaged the Taiping, many of them had never seen snow in their lives and this forced them to fall upon a village fortification to survive it causing an immediate stalemate. When the weather broke in spring, Prince Seng ordered his troops to build a dirt and stone wall to encircle the entire Taiping army camp from a distance while a crew of 1000 laborers spent a month digging a series of trenches to connect it, via a dry riverbed to the grand canal over 40 miles away. When they broke the dikes, the canal water rushed in flooding the Taiping camp to its rooftops, drowning a considerable amount of the army and forcing their submission. Being a Mongol, Prince Seng and those he commanded preferred the bow and arrow as their chief weapon, something they had overwhelming supremacy over the southern chinese. The Taiping could have overwhelmed Prince Sengs cavalry units, if they had western firearms, but they did not. The Taiping forces were dispersed and destroyed. Lin Fengxiang was captured at Lichen in Zhili province on march 7th of 1855 and Li Kaifang was captured at Fengkuat'un in Shandong on March the 31st of 1855. This was the ultimate end to the north expedition. Had the Taiping marched on Beijing at the rate they were going, it is argued they could have taken down the Qing. Tactical blunders, logistical issues, severe weather and the capability of Qing commanders such as Prince Seng ultimately put an end to the Taiping threat to Beijing, though they were certainly nowhere near defeated.   While the northern expedition was going on there was also a western expedition that left Nanjing on May 19th of 1853, just 11 days after the northern expedition launched from Yangzhou. The objective of the western expedition as conceived by Yang Xiuqing was to follow the Yangtze river and ultimately meet up with the northern expedition in Sichuan province. This would have resulted in a pincer maneuver that could swallow up all of western and northern China. On June 10th the western forces recaptured the vital city of Anqing which had been taken back by Qing forces. They were able to provision up from there and divided the force into several armies to march through the Yangtze valley. One army was commanded by Hu Yiguang who set out north of the Yangtze to conquer Anhwei province. Lai Hanyang took another army south to conquer Jiangxi. A 3rd mobile force led by Zeng Tianyang began to independently attack cities south of the Yangtze.    Hu Yiguang's force got as far as Luzhou, the new capital of Anhwei province at the time. Luzhou was guarded by one of the most capable Qing commanders, Jiang Zhongyuan, a Hunanese native from Xinning. He became the magistrate of Xiushi and Lishui, earning a reputation for being a great scholar and military leader. Zeng Guofan recommended Jiang for a higher office in 1850 to Emperor Xianfeng, but when he was supposed to leave for Beijing his father died and he had to return home to mourn. When the Taiping rebellion began, Jiang was appointed to assist the Grand secretary Sha-Shan-a in quelling the insurrection. Jiang began a campaign of gathering Hunanese volunteers who for the first time fought outside Hunan. It was one of the first waves of local forces led by a gentry class to fight the Taiping menace, something that influenced future Yung-Ying armies. Jiang won a great battle in Guangxi and was promoted to the rank of first class sub prefect. When the Taiping were invading Guilin in 1852, Jiang led his men from his home of Xinning to attack them. He won 3 major battles and managed to lift the Taiping siege of Guilin earning the rank of prefect. After this Jiang thwarted a Taiping naval invasion of Hunan province. He dammed the Xiang river near Suoyi ford and ambushed the Taiping Navy causing massive casualties upon them. It was the battle I mentioned where 10,000 Taiping men and Feng Yunshan perished. He thwarted the Taiping overland invasion of Hunan and besieged the Taiping stronghold of Chenzhou for a month before they fled to attack Changsha, the capital of Hunan. Jiang was one of those who helped defend Changsha earning the promotion of provincial judge of Hubei and then by 1853 assistant commander of the Qing armies in Jiangnan. He then aided in the defense of Nanchang which was besieged from June 22 to september 24th of 1853. For this he was appointed governor of Anhui which is what led him to the battle over Luzhou. When word came that the Taiping sought to attack Luzhou, Jiang rushed over with a small force to try and defend the new capital. He found himself outnumbered and outgunned, especially in siege mining technology that the Taiping had dramatically improved by this point in time. The Taiping took the city by January the 15th and in the process Jiang was wounded and he opted to commit suicide by drowning himself. The Qing lost an important capital city and one of their finest commanders who had proven himself successful at defeating Taiping using local militia forces.    Lai Hanying's army besieged Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi from june to september of 1853, but ultimately failed to take the city. This resulted in Lai losing his command and his army divided in 2 to hit Hubei and Hunan under the leadership of Wei Jun and Shi Zhenxiang. The high point of their campaigns led to the capture of Xiangtan on April 24th of 1854. After a year of taking Nanjing, the Taipings expeditions had run out of momentum. The northern expedition was a failure, the western had gained limited success, but not enough to extend their reach to the upper Yangtze and that of western china. The Taiping riverine forces dominated the Yangtze up into Hunan allowing them to use it for provisioning, logistics and most importantly further recruiting. But the original lightning speed drive of the Taiping had faded and the Qing were beginning to recover from the blitzkrieg. Now the offensives became see-saw's which allowed the Qing more time to recover, reorganize and build up new leadership that could effectively face the Taiping menace. Being a Pacific War specialist, its very much like the situation during the Guadalcanal campaign. Prior to this, the Japanese ran rampant on offensive controlling the when and where actions would occur, but after the horrible loss at Midway and Guadalcanal, the Japanese had gone past their logistical capabilities and lost the initiative, for the rest of the Pacific War the allies controlled the initiative. This is what we call the turning point, and it was here a year after taking Nanjing and losing the window of opportunity to take Beijing that was the Taiping rebellion's turning point. It is not to say they could not win the war, but the initiative was now in the hands of the Qing.   Although the campaign to take Beijing failed and the western campaign only held limited successes near the Yangtze, the Taiping were steadily extending their territory and thus were gaining additional manpower and supplies from the greater Yangtze region. The Taiping were struggling to consolidate their gains to establish better rule. Their offensives were being hampered by both political and religious confusion, often orchestrated by the efforts of Yang Xiuqing. The Taiping structure threatened Chinese traditions and saw backlash particularly from the Gentry class. I would note the gentry and landowner types probably were not the keenist on a group who sought land/wealth redistribution haha. The Taiping were a threat to Chinese social order as much as it was a threat to the Qing rule. Thus the gentry of China began to put their resources together to help the war effort resulting in a large push to the creation of Yung-ying militia groups such as Zeng Guofan's Xiang army. On top of the external actors trying to destroy the Taiping, the Taiping were having a ton of inner conflict as well. A violent and bloody power struggle had emerged destroying the unified political and military command established under Yang Xiuqing.   Now although I spoke about the formation of the new armies, I need to go into it a bit further, especially in regards to Zeng Guofan. While I explained how Zeng Guofan created his force, I did not talk about how this all looked from the Qing dynasties point of few. In late 1852 and early 1853 a number of edicts were made by Emperor Xianfeng leading to the appointment of 43 supervisors of new local corps in the provinces of Hunan, Anhwei, Jiangsu, Zhili, Henan, Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guizhou and Fujian. Amongst the appointed was Zeng Guofan. The Qing government sought to have these organized smaller forces led by the gentry class so they could be loyal and relied upon. These forces were set up in each district to contest the Taiping. Zeng Guofan's Xiang army proved themselves to be highly effective, but Zeng Guofan chose to be very cautious when reporting back to the Qing court. This was because his military organizational building was strongly autonomous and could be seen as a threat to the Qing military. There had been numerous local militia groups that shifted from pro-government to banditry. The establishment of these armies was obviously a last resort means, and definitely could be a threat to the dynasty, they were not so unalike to the bandit armies created in the 17th century to fight the Daxi or Dashun armies afterall.    Zeng Guofan did not state exactly what he was doing to the Qing court, in one of his first memorial he simply reported back that he was enlisting men from the countryside to establish a large military corps at its capital to be trained. It looked like Zeng Guofan was building a personal army, one that could be led on campaigns outside its local area. He sent more memorials stating that local corpsmen could not be relied upon in critical moments and that it was better to recruit from these local corpsmen an official militia, whose rations could be paid from public funds. When he was building the Xiang army he was consciously departing from the Qing courts authorization. He realized that local defense corps that had sprung up all over China were useful against local bandits and small raiders, but they were not large nor strong enough to withstand attacks from larger organized armies such as the Taiping. The Taiping were only growing larger, more organized, better armed. They simply could not be stopped by just local corps, what the Qing needed was a mobile army that could be used for offensive campaigns throughout larger areas.   Now the way Zeng Guofan made the Xiang army was based strongly on personal loyalty, the units were recruited, led and paid for by their commander. The commanders were loyal to Zeng Guofan, thus more or less the Xiang army was a personal army at his command. Zeng Guofan also assembled a number of future leaders who would go on to create their own versions of the Xiang army. Such men were Zeng Zongtang and Li Hongzhang of Anhwei province. By the end of the century, Zeng Guofan's example led to most provinces being dominated by regional forces under military organizations over whom the Qing central government had only minimal control. In many ways Zeng Guofan was a symptom of the ailing dynasty, the Qing were gradually losing control and there was emerging a threat to the political and social order in china. Zeng Guofan say the Taiping menace as a threat to traditional chinese society. He made many proclamations stating as such. “The Taiping rebels have stolen the ways of the foreign barbarians when they distort family relations by calling all people brothers and sisters, when they declare that all land belongs to the heavenly king and that all profit also belongs to him. They force scholars to give up the COnfucian classics to read instead the so called teaching of Jesus. They wipe away our moral standards, the very way we conduct ourselves as humans, the classics, and the institutions that have existed in CHina for several thousands of years. This is not only a tragedy for the Qing dynasty but a great tragedy for the whole of “ming-chiao” Chinese tradition and causes confucius and Mencius to weep bitterly in the underworld. How could any educated person remain sitting, hands in sleeves, without doing something about it”.    Zeng Guofan kept bringing up how the Taiping destroyed Buddhist and Taoist temples, that they were angering the gods who would take revenge. To right these terrible wrongs he said he was under Qing orders to advance his troops by land and water, not just to ease the Qing monarchs but also to console Confucious and Mencius, to avenge the slaughter of millions of Chinese. Appealing to the masses, Zeng Guofan began to ask for recruits, financial support and the surrender of any who decided to join the Taiping. Now I said he paid his army handsomely compared to that of the Green standards and such, but a lot of the funds were not under Qing control. The Gentry class were strongly supporting those like Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan began to ask and obtain permission from the Qing government to sell certificates of academic degrees, official titles and office appointments to sell to these said Gentry. The sale of all these degrees and titles increased gentry contributions, but also increased their influence and it began to build a new gentry role in leadership.    Another major source of income for the Xiang army was new internal custom taxes introduced in 1853. And although the Qing government permitted this new tax, it held no control or supervision over it. Zeng Guofan and other commanders of regional armies were gaining control over regular provincial taxes and were using them to build their armies. The combined income from the gentry class and regional taxes made men like Zeng Guofan basically warlords. Their forces were not really governmental troops although they were fighting for said government. The other side, the Taiping failed to gain any support from the Gentry class because of their alienating religious and economic beliefs. Fundamentally the Taiping were a revolutionary group breaking the stratum of Chinese society, and a large part of that was the Chinese gentry class.    Now Zeng Guofan began with a army of just a thousand men in 1853, composing 3 battalions. When they began to really clash with the Taiping they were soon 20,000 strong with naval and cavalry units. Later on they would become 120,000 men strong and Zeng Guofan had planned to use them for a long drawn out campaign despite pressure coming from Beijing to smash the rebels. Now the first major engagement between the Xiang army and the Taiping came in early 1854 and the Taiping defeated them. But on May 1st of 1854, the Xiang army defeated the Taiping at Xiangtan forcing them to withdraw. Then in a battle at Yuzhou in Hunan in July, the Xiang army on land and river gained a major victory. This victory gained Zeng Guofan great prestige and demonstrated the effectiveness of his army. The battle cost the Taiping more than half their fleet of boats and thus the loss of control over the central Yangtze river area. It was the first serious setback for the Taiping and it reduced their perimeter of military operations. Following up this victory, the Xiang army entered Hubei province and quickly recaptured Wuchang and Hanyang by october of 1854. Soon Zeng Guofans forces began to penetrate into Hubei and Jiangxi provinces marking the failure and end to the Taiping western expedition.   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 Northern expedition was a complete bust, the Taiping had lost the opportunity to claim the dragon throne. But the western expedition proved fruitful and gradually the heavenly kingdom was growing, and perhaps it could eclipse the Qing.  

Na escola, é um clássico. No ambiente corporativo, também é comum. Acontece entre crianças, adolescentes e até mesmo pessoas adultas. Afinal, o que é bullying? E como lidar com esse tipo de situação?Confira o papo entre o leigo curioso, Ken Fujioka, e o cientista PhD, Altay de Souza.> OUÇA (55min 41s)*Naruhodo! é o podcast pra quem tem fome de aprender. Ciência, senso comum, curiosidades, desafios e muito mais. Com o leigo curioso, Ken Fujioka, e o cientista PhD, Altay de Souza.Edição: Reginaldo Cursino.http://naruhodo.b9.com.br*PARCERIA: ALURAA Alura é a maior escola online de tecnologia e negócios digitais do Brasil.Com uma matricula você tem acesso as centenas de cursos online, com lançamentos e atualizações constantes nas áreas de programação, front-end, DevOps, Mobile, Data Science, UX & Design, Inovação e Gestão.Além de instrutoras e Instrutores reconhecidos, Discord exclusivo e a comunidade mais engajada do Brasil.Mas hoje vim aqui falar para você NÃO SE MATRICULAR!Por quê? Porque está chegando a Black Friday Alura e ela terá descontos incríveis nas matrículas.Então aguarde que você não irá se arrepender.Vem aí a Black Friday Alura!*REFERÊNCIASBullying and Peer Victimization at School: Perceptual Differences Between Students and School Staffhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02796015.2007.12087929Do the victims of school bullies tend to become depressed later in life?A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studieshttps://njbullying.org/documents/Ttofi2011.pdfBullying Behaviors Among US Youth: Prevalence and Association With Psychosocial Adjustmenthttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2435211/Emotional Nuance: Examining Positive Emotional Granularity and Well-Beinghttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8901891/Emotional granularity is associated with daily experiential diversityhttps://psyarxiv.com/24mpf/Exploring spatiotemporal changes in the multi-granularity emotions of people in the city: a case study of Nanchang, Chinahttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43762-021-00030-xRethinking School-Based Bullying Prevention Through the Lens of Social and Emotional Learning: a Bioecological Perspectivehttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42380-019-00019-5Workplace Bullying and Harassment in South Korea https://www.jil.go.jp/english/reports/documents/jilpt-reports/no.12.pdf#page=97Cyber-Harassment: A Study of a New Method for an Old Behavior https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tanya-Beran/publication/240793105_Cyber-Harassment_A_Study_of_a_New_Method_for_an_Old_Behavior/links/02e7e52d6b9365ad15000000/Cyber-Harassment-A-Study-of-a-New-Method-for-an-Old-Behavior.pdfBullying and Peer Victimization at School: Perceptual Differences Between Students and School Staffhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02796015.2007.12087929Developing an Understanding of Emotion Categories: Lessons from Objectshttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1529100619832930Emotional Expressions Reconsidered: Challenges to Inferring Emotion From Human Facial Movementshttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1529100619832930Translating Research to Practice in Bullying Preventionhttps://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/amp-a0039114.pdfSchool-Based Programs to Reduce Bullying and Victimizationhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4073/csr.2009.6Natural emotion vocabularies as windows on distress and well-beinghttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18349-0The Development of Emotion Reasoning in Infancy and Early Childhoodhttps://childemotion.waisman.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/318/2020/12/Ruba-Pollak-2020.pdfEffectiveness of the KiVa Antibullying Program: Grades 1-3 and 7-9https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259452909_Effectiveness_of_the_KiVa_Antibullying_Program_Grades_1-3_and_7-9The theory of constructed emotion: an active inference account of interoception and categorizationhttps://academic.oup.com/scan/article/12/1/1/2823712Emotion Words, Emotion Concepts, and Emotional Development in Children: A Constructionist Hypothesishttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6716622/Naruhodo #164 - Podemos ler emoções com base em expressões faciais?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq4oeBZ5kgo&ab_channel=Cient%C3%ADstica%26PodcastNaruhodo*APOIE O NARUHODO PELA PLATAFORMA ORELO!Um aviso importantíssimo: o podcast Naruhodo agora está no Orelo: https://bit.ly/naruhodo-no-oreloE é por meio dessa plataforma de apoio aos criadores de conteúdo que você ajuda o Naruhodo a se manter no ar.Você escolhe um valor de contribuição mensal e tem acesso a conteúdos exclusivos, conteúdos antecipados e vantagens especiais.Além disso, você pode ter acesso ao nosso grupo fechado no Telegram, e conversar comigo, com o Altay e com outros apoiadores.E não é só isso: toda vez que você ouvir ou fizer download de um episódio pelo Orelo, vai também estar pingando uns trocadinhos para o nosso projeto.Então, baixe agora mesmo o app Orelo no endereço Orelo.CC ou na sua loja de aplicativos e ajude a fortalecer o conhecimento científico.https://bit.ly/naruhodo-no-orelo

Last time we spoke, Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo and Emperor Yongli formed a sort of trinity that was chipping away at the Qing dynasty. Each man had his talents and combined they proved a formidable foe, but divided would they fall. Sun Kewang's jealousy led him to butt heads with Li Dingguo undermining all the success they had made. When Sun Kewang was defeated a part of the trinity was gone and the forces of Li Dingguo and Emperor Yongli could not hope to stand against the Qing invaders as they marched into Yunnan. Emperor Yongli took flight to Burma forcing Li Dingguo to spend years trying to rescue him from the Burmese while fighting off the looming Qing menace. In the end even Li Dingguo could not stop the inevitable as he and Emperor Yongli fell. Now the Qing can face their last looming menace, the King of Taiwan, Koxinga.    This episode is Koxinga & the revolt of the three feudatories   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. I have repeatedly said his name, in the west we know him as Koxinga, his actual name being Zheng Chenggong.  It would be his marine forces that would fight the Qing Dynasty until the bitter end. He was born with the name Zheng Sen in 1624, in Hirado Japan, to Zheng Zhilong a chinese merchant and a Japanese woman named Tagawa Matsu. When Zheng was 7 years old, his father had business interests in Quanzhou and the family moved to Fujian province. His father would end up becoming one of the richest men in China and an Admiral under the Ming Dynasty. Zheng Zhilong operated a pirate fleet of over 800 ships along the coast from Japan to Vietnam. The Ming appointed him “admiral of the coastal seas” and he basically was tasked with repeling other pirates and the Dutch East Indies Company. The fruits of his labor wound him up grabbing over 60% of Fujian province land. Zheng Sen would pass the imperial examination at the age of 14 in 1638 becoming one of 12 Linshansheng of Nan'an. Linshansheng basically means the best of the best as students go. In Nan'an, Zheng married the niece of a Ming official named Dong Yangxian who was a Jinshi, meaning he held the highest imperial exam degree, so basically Zheng was brushing shoulders with giants so to say. In 1644 he studied at the imperial Nanking University.   When the Qing captured Beijing, Zheng's father, Zheng Zhilong continued to serve the Ming moving to Nanjing, then after the capture of Nanjing in 1645 accepted an offer to serve  as commander in chief of the Ming forces working under the Prince of Tang in Fuzhou. It seems the war of resistance had gone to terribly for Zheng Zhilong because he became a turncoat in 1646, intentionally leaving the Zhejiang pass unguarded and allowed the Qing to capture Fuzhou. Zheng Zhilong defected to the Qing, but the Zheng army's control lay firmly in his brothers and sons hands. That son, Zheng Sen refused to defect to the Qing and would take most of the Zheng army with him, causing problems. As for his wife Tagawa Matsu, it is alleged the Qing went to Anhai where she was residing in a castle, which I found particularly interesting since this is during the Sakoku period and it was illegal for Japanese to leave the country. Anyways its alleged the Qing marched upon the castle where she was and raped and or killed her. Other stories state she committed suicide while resisting the Qing. Regardless of the implications of her death, the Qing knew they could not trust Zheng Zhilong and would have him put under house arrest for many years until they executed him in 1661. It is said in 1646, while Zheng Sen was busy fighting off the Qing he managed to return to Quanzhou where he discovered his mother had been murdered or committed suicide because of the Qing and thus rebellion was firmly placed in his heart. I cant really get into it but there is an entire mythos around lady Tagawa and multiple perceptions on her and her legacy.    When the Qing took Beijing and gave their head shaving proclamation, Zheng Sen  refused and it is said his will was “as strong and firm as a mountain”. As I had said the Zheng army did not all follow Zheng Zhilong and defect with the Qing, many would follow Zheng Sen. Soon Zheng Sen recruited more followers and organized allied armies in Nan'an Guangdong. When Emperor Hongguang took the mantle, Zheng Sen flocked over to him in Nanking. When Emperor Hongguang was defeated and executed, Emperor Longwu rose up with support from Zheng's father. Emperor Longwu established himself in Fuzhou and the natural defenses of Fujian allowed him to remain safe for some time. Emperor Longwu granted Zheng Sen the name Chenggong and the title of Koxinga “lord of the Imperial Surname”.    In 1646 Koxinga led the Ming armies to resist the Qing, much to his fathers displeasure who wished for a more defensive stance. When the Qing finally broke into Fujian, as I mentioned Zheng Zhilong literally opened the door to them, leaving Emperor Longwu isolated agaisnt the Qing. After the Emperor Longwu was defeated and executed, the Qing approached Zheng Zhilong and got him to defect and secretly appointed him governor of Fujian and Guangdong. Despite the betrayal of his father, Koxinga chose to fight on and led Zheng Zhilong's marine forces to attack Tong'an, Haicheng, Zhangfu and captured Quanzhou and Minan. Because the Qing never placed much emphasis on naval matters, Koxinga's naval forces basically could pick and choose at will where to do amphibious assaults providing him with many successful raids. Zheng Zhilong would send letters to his son asking him to defect to the Qing like he did, but they were to no avail and Koxinga pledged his allegiance to the only remaining claimant to the throne the Emperor of flight Yongli. Before Koxinga could get to Emperor Yongli he as you guessed it began the process of fleeing and this basically resulted in Koxinga never being able to link up with him. As a result Koxinga chose to concentrate on the southeast coast of China where he could safely move via his naval forces. Koxinga's army soon established its base of operations in Kinmen and Xiamen. Using his base of Kinmen and Xiamen, Koxinga established a marine trade network and the anti-Qing forces grew quickly. By 1652 Koxinga led a force of 100,000 to attack Haicheng, Changtai, Zhangzhou, Zhangfu amongst other places. He also greatly benefitted by working alongside the Daxi army. In 1653 Koxinga tried to coordinate with Li Dingguo's army in Guangxi and deployed his navy southwards towards Chaozhou. The following year Li and Koxinga agreed to meet in Guangdong and attack Xinhui together, but this plan never came to fruition. Koxinga's forces simply took too long to get there and Li Dingguo's army was defeated and he had to retreat to Guangxi. In 1655, Koxinga attacked the coastal area of Fujian defeating several Qing armies. Koxinga and Li then planned a northern campaign where they would coordinate rear and frontal attacks upon the Qing.    In may of 1656, the Qing sent Prince Jidu to attack Koxinga's territory. Jidu's forces attacked Kinmen island, Koxinga's main base for training his troops. However a storm at sea battered the Qing ships and as a result they lost the battle against the Kinmen island. This also weakened Qing naval forces in the Fujian coastal area, opening many places for attacks by Koxinga. Then in 1658 the Qing armies carried large offensives against Li Dingguo in the southwestern area, prompting Koxinga to strike at the coastal areas in Zhejiang to try and relieve Li Dingguo's forces. However Koxinga's navy was hit by a hurricane at sea and they were forced to withdraw. This did not stop Koxinga from sending a large army to Zhoushan however, where he sought a base of operations to stage a siege of Nanjing. Koxinga however was quite eager and publicly proclaimed his intent to siege Nanjing, giving the Qing ample time and reason to prepare stronger defenses there.   In 1659 Koxinga marched north alongside his colleague Zhang Huangyan capturing Guazhou and Zhenjing before they would besiege Nanjing. They sprang through the Yangtze River with their navy igniting resistance everywhere they went against the Qing. Koxinga's naval operations in the Yangtze River would hinder Qing supply routes and effectively were starving Beijing out, stressing the hell out of the Qing court. If it is to be believed, an account by a French missionary in Beijing reported they court considered packing up and going back to Manchuria because of what was essential a naval blockade of Beijing. Things got so bad in Beijing the French missionary states the populace of Beijing was waiting to see who would win the siege of Nanjing and were looking to join that said winner. The Qing were reportedly terrified of Koxinga's “iron troops” who were rumored to be invincible.    The siege of Nanjing shocked the Qing, but Koxinga became cocky and in his arrogance he took his enemy lightly. He publicly announced to the populace all they had to do was to join his cause and that he would occupy Nanjing in short time. Koxinga believed that by taking Nanjing he could firmly blockade the grand canal and starve out Beijing  forcing them to pack up and run back to Manchuria, if the sources I talked about before are to be believed, it looks like his plan was working. Lang Tingzuo the governor trapped in Nanjing began to negotiate with Koxinga and Zhang, but in truth he was biding time for the Qing forces to come to the rescue. Despite Koxinga's best efforts besieging Nanjing,  the city was never completely encircled and thus able to obtain supplies and reinforcements in the form of the Qing General Liang Huafeng. After 3 weeks of the siege, suddenly General Liang and his army burst out the gates of Nanjing in a cavalry charge as the Ming forces were busy partying and they were smashed. The entire Ming army fell into disarray and began to retreat back to their ships and Koxinga was forced to withdraw back to Xiamen.  Meanwhile his colleague Zhang had taken a ton of their forces to hit Anhui and was now left high and dry. Zhang's army was eventually and  completely collapsed, but the commander was able to escape to Tiantai where he tried to form another resistance in the mountain range. He would fail to produce anything and by 1664 was captured and executed by the Qing.   Koxinga had lost half his land army, his colleague and many other officers because of his arrogant attack on Nanjing. It seems Koxinga suffered tremendous psychological damage from the major defeat and the loss of so many members of his family. He was known to be quite mentally unstable and had a horrible temper and tendency to order executions at a whim. A Dutch doctor named Christian Beyer who treated him believed he may have been suffering from Syphilis, some other contemporaries believed his mentality was the result of his Japanese upbringing in the form of “samurai ideals on bravery” like laughing to showcase his anger and being prone to quick violence. According to Dr Li Yengyue, he stated Koxinga most likely suffered from depressive insanity.  At this time Li Dingguo's forces were being pushed further southwest and quite simply, the situation did not look good to say the least. This led Koxinga to gather all his officials in secret and tell them he now intended to occupy Taiwan and establish a base there from which they could all settle with their families in safety. He said that perhaps there they could unite all those who were loyal to the Ming and one day they would launch an attack on the Qing and fight the enemy without having to worry about the lives of their families. Thus when the Qing marched upon his stronghold of Xiamen in 1660, Koxinga instead of offering battle sailed off with over 400 war junks and 25,000 troops to Taiwan. Before the departure Koxinga had received a map of Taiwan from a Chinese merchant named He Bin who worked for the Dutch East India company.   It was also during this time when Koxinga had the family of one of his admirals named Shi Lang killed because the admiral allegedly was planning to defect to the Qing, though some sources say he simply had disobeyed an order, sheesh. Regardless after the murder of his family admiral Shi Lang promptly sailed off to defect to the Qing. The Qing were very happy to receive Shi Lang as he held extensive naval experience and had a network of contacts in major trading ports all over east asia. He would become absolutely instrumental to the Qing naval buildup and would emerge late into this story and he held a blood feud with the Zheng family henceforth.   Now the Chinese merchant who gave Koxinga the map, guided the Koxinga's naval force to land on Wei Island and Haliao Island, thereby avoiding the artillery placements within the channel of Taiwan.  Koxinga's forces managed to land at Pengdu Taiwan in 1661 and Koxinga soon led his forces to attack Dutch colonists proclaiming to them "Hitherto this island had always belonged to China, and the Dutch had doubtless been permitted to live there, seeing that the Chinese did not require it for themselves; but requiring it now, it was only fair that Dutch strangers, who came from far regions, should give way to the masters of the island.". They marched to Leurmeng where they fought small groups of Taiwanese aborigines and Dutch resistance. In the bay of Lakjemuyse 3 Dutch ships attacked and destroyed several of Koxinga's junks, but then one of his junks got a lucky shot off exploding a gunpowder supply aboard the Dutch flagship Hector sinking her. The 2 other Dutch warships, were not enough to fight off the large force of junks and had to flee.   Here is an abridged account given by Frederick Coyett, the colonial governor of Dutch held Taiwan about Koxinga's landing. The forces of Koxinga showed up armed with bows and arrows, others had shields and swords. Everyone was wearing coats of iron scales (by the way there is an artist rendition of the soldiers by a contemporary named Georg Franz Muller, worth checking out it looks awesome). The armor allowed for complete protection from a rifle bullet and allowed the wearer great mobility. Their archers were their best troops and their skill was so great it nearly eclipsed that of riflemen. They used shield men to form human walls and Koxinga had 2 companies of “black boys”, many of whom were former Dutch slaves that knew how to use rifles and muskets. They proved quite effective marksmen and caused a lot of harm to the Dutch in Taiwan.    As Koxinga's force charged in rows of 12 men and when they were near enough sent 3 volleys of fire uniformly. The storm of arrows that came forth upon the dutch seemed to darken the sky (a herodotus moment). The Dutch expected their return fire to send the enemy fleeing, but they did not, in fact the Chinese held firm against them and in short time the Dutch realized to their horror that Koxinga sent a squadron behind them and they attacked from the rear. While the Dutch proved courageous at the beginning of the battle, now they were stricken with fear and many Dutch riflemen tossed their rifles without even firing them and began to run. As they faltered and fled, the Chinese saw the disorder and pressed their attack more vigorously. The Chinese force charged and cut down the Dutch and the battle raged on until the Dutch captain Thomas Bedell and 180 of his men were slain.    After defeating the Dutch force when they landed, Koxinga laid siege to the main fortress, Fort Zeelandia using some of his 100 cannons on hand. They outnumbered the garrison there 20 to 1 and the bombardment demolished the roof of the Dutch governors residence. The Dutch return fired from bastion forts killing hundreds of Koxinga's men. Koxinga's cannons proved ineffective against the walls, the Dutch governor wrote that after viewing the alignment of the Chinese cannons, he noticed they were placed quite badly, were unprotected and easy to hit with their own cannons. In the end the Chinese cannons only did some light damage to a few houses. Koxinga was shocked and enraged by the lack of damage to the fortresses walls and decided to give up the bombardment and simply to being starving the Dutch out. On April 4th Koxinga sent his army to besiege the smaller fortress of Fort Provintia, catching its commander Jacob Valentyn and his 140 men, completely off guard. Valentyn had to surrender without putting up much of a fight.   By late May, news of the Siege of Fort Zeelandia reached Jakarta and the Dutch East India Company dispatched 12 ships with 700 soldiers to relieve the fort. The relief force ran into Koxinga's naval blockade and they engaged in battle. However Koxinga had hundreds of war junks and as the Dutch ships tried to fire upon them their aim ended up being too high. Basically of the height difference between the Chinese war junks and Dutch ships, this made aiming the cannons difficult as they cant pivot downwards, so you have to rely upon distance calculations and that in turn is not easy when the enemy knows to just close in on you and are firing upon you. Some of the smaller Dutch ships tried to lure some of the Chinese war junks into a narrow strait with a feigned withdrawal. But as they were doing so, the wind suddenly seized on them, and with only paddles available the Chinese caught up to them and massacred their crews with pikes. It is also alleged the Chinese caught many Dutch lobed grenades using nets and tossed them right back at them, that sounds like a nasty game of hot potato. The Dutch flagship Koukercken was hit by a Chinese cannon after running around and quickly sunk. Another Dutch ship hit ashore and the crew had to run for their lives for Fort Zeelandia. The remaining Dutch fleet eventually scattered and withdrew, all in all they took 130 casualties. By December Koxinga was given reports that the garrison of Fort Zeelandia was losing morale and thus he decided to launch another large offensive, but was repelled again by superior Dutch cannons.    By January 12th of 1662, Koxingas fleet began to help bombard the fort as his ground forces assaulted. With supplies running out and no sign of reinforcements, Governor Coyett hoisted the white flag and began to negotiate terms of surrender, finalizing them by february 1st. By February the 9th the Dutch left Taiwan and were allowed to take their personal belongings and provisions.    Now this siege was honestly a pretty horrible affair aside from the normal war actions. Prisoners on both sides were subjected to some rather gruesome torture. A Dutch physician allegedly carried out a vivisection on a Chinese prisoner and there were reports that the Chinese amputated noses, ears, limbs and genitals of Dutch prisoners. Apparently the Chinese would stuff their mouths with amputated genitals and send the corpses back to Fort Zeelandia, some really messed up stuff. One Dutch prisoner, a missionary named Antonius Hambroek was sent as an envoy to Fort Zeelandia to ask for their surrender, if he failed he was to be killed. Hambroek went to the Fort where 2 of his daughters were residing and urged everyone to surrender, but they did not and thus he came back to Koxinga's camp and was promptly beheaded. Another one of Hambroeks daughters had been captured prior to the siege and Koxinga made her a concubine. Other Dutch women and children that were captured prior to the siege were enslaved and sold to Chinese soldiers. 38 years of Dutch rule over Taiwan had ended and Koxinga would use Taiwan as a military base for Ming loyalists.   The Taiwanese aboriginals played both sides during the conflict. For example when Koxinga's men landed in Taiwan one tribal alliance known as the Kingdom of Middag invited Koxingas subordinate Chen Ze and his men to eat and rest with them only to kill them all in their sleep, allegedly 1500 soldiers. This was followed up by an ambush attack that would cost Koxinga the lives of 700 soldiers. More and more tribal attacks mounted and the brutality pushed Koxinga to offer the aboriginals amnesty and to help get rid of the Dutch. Many of the aboriginals were delighted by the chance to rid themselves of the Dutch and began to hunt Dutch colonists down, helped execute Dutch prisoners and burnt Dutch books used to educate them. Koxinga then rewarded the aboriginals with Ming clothes, made feasts for them, gave them countless gifts such as tobacco, farming tools and oxen and taught them new farming techniques.    Koxinga had a large problem after his major victory, Taiwan's population was estimated to be no greater than 100,000, yet he brought with him almost 30,000 soldiers and their families, so food was going to run out and very quick. Thus Koxinga set to institute a tuntian policy, that being that soldiers would serve a dual role, that of warrior and farmer. All the rich and fertile lands the Dutch held were immediately cut up and distrubed to his higher ranking officers. Much of the aboriginal held territory on the eastern half of Taiwan would also be distributed to Koxinga's men and I would imagine that was a bloody ordeal taking the land. Then Koxinga set his eyes on piracy performing raids against several locations near Taiwan such as the Philippines and even demanded the Spanish colonial government pay him tribute, threatening to attack Manila if they did not comply. The Spanish refused to pay any tribute and instead prepared the defenses of Manila. Koxinga's naval force raided several coastal towns in the Philippines but before he could perform any real sort of invasion, in June of 1662 Koxinga suddenly died of malaria. Koxinga's son Zheng Jing succeeded his father and became King of Tungning. Zheng wanted to continue his fathers planned invasion of the Philippines, but it turns out his fathers little war against the Dutch did not go unnoticed by the Qing.    Back on the mainland, after Koxinga left and sailed for Taiwan, the Qing began to reimplemented the Haijin “sea ban” in 1647. The Haijin had been used in the past mostly to target Japanese piracy. Basically it was an attempt to force all sea trade coming in to be under strict regulation handled by Ming officials. The limited sea trade was to be “tributary missions” between the Ming dynasty and their vassals, such as Korea. Any private foreign trade was punishable by death and as you can imagine all this led up to was an increase in piracy and the formation of many smugglers along the eastern coast of china. The entire idea was to starve out Taiwan by denying them trade with the eastern coast of China. But when the Haijin was reimplemented it led to entire communities along the eatern Chinese coast to be uprooted from their native place and they were being deprived of their means of livelihood. So many communities simply had to get up and settle somewhere else where they could. This sent many coastal areas into chaos. This ironically led countless amounts of refugees from the eastern chinese coast to flee to Taiwan. Then in 1663 the Qing formed an alliance with the Dutch East India Company against the Ming loyalists in Fujian and Taiwan. The Dutch for their part sought the alliance simply to recapture Taiwan.   In October of 1663 a combined fleet of Qing and Dutch attacked and captured Xiamen and Kinmen from the Ming loyalists. Then in 1664 the combined fleet attacked Zheng Jing's navy but ended up losing because it was simply to immense. One of the Qing admirals, a certain Shi Lang, remember that guy, yeah he like I said held a blood grudge against Zheng's family, well he  advised the Qing that the Dutch were only aiding them so they could recapture Taiwan. He said that they did not really require the Dutch naval aid and that he could lead the Qing navy to take Taiwan back on his own. Thus the alliance fell apart.   The Dutch who were probably very pissed off now then began raiding the Zhoushan Islands where they looted relics and killed Monks at a buddhist complex at Putuoshan in 1665, pretty mean thing to do. Zheng Jing's navy attacked them for this, capturing and executing 34 Dutch sailors. In 1672 Zheng Jing would attack the Dutch again, managing to ambush the Dutch ship Cuylenburg in 1672 off the coast of northeastern Taiwan. So a bit of a long lasting war between the Dutch and Ming loyalists remains in the background.    Now from the offset of his enthronement, Zheng Jing actually attempted to reconcile with the Qing, he sought to make Taiwan an autonomous state. Yet he refused their demands that he shave his head in the Manchu fashion nor would he pay tribute to the Qing dynasty. The Qing's response initially as I had mentioned was a policy of trying to starve Taiwan out using the Haijin. This sent the populace of the southeastern coast into chaos and Zheng Jing continued to raid as the Qing really could not stop his larger navy. The Haijin like I said earlier had a disastrous and ironic effect. Soon there was a giant influx of the populace fleeing for Taiwan. Seeing the opportunity, Zheng promoted the immigration heavily and began proclaiming tons of promises and major opportunities for anyone who wished to immigrate to his kingdom. The enticement of land ownership and cultivation in exchange for military service suited many of the immigrant peasants quite fine, I mean for most there was simply no choice. And it was not just peasants who came, a ton of Ming loyalists used the opportunity to flee the mainland from persecution as well. All of this led to quite an enormous boom for Taiwan. A ton of reforms came into effect to meet the needs of the growing populace, agricultural, education, trade, industry and so on. Zheng's main advisor, Chen Yonghua also helped introduce the deliberate cultivation of sugar cane and other cash crops which was further traded with Europeans who helped bring over machinery for mass sugar refining. The sugar economy allowed Taiwan to become economically self-sufficient and a booming relationship sprang with the British. Its funny how the British swoop in and steal all former Dutch things isnt it haha? The Qing tried to thwart all of this with the more intensive Haijin edict, but it only made the situation worse. It was not just Taiwan that was a thorn in their side, the head shaving order had caused a great influx of the populace to emigrate to other places than Taiwan, such as Jakarta and the Philippines. The Haijin and brief Qing-Dutch naval alliance had caused Zheng Jing to intensively exploit the lands of Taiwan and as you might guess this meant running into conflict with the aboriginals. The brutality grew gradually and Zheng's kingdom would put down many aboriginal rebellions against his land grabbing and taxes. A series of conflicts with the Saisiyat people in particular left them absolutely decimated and they lost most of their land to Zheng's kingdom. Zheng Jing's kingdom enjoyed a maritime trade network with the european colonies in the Pacific, Japan and SouthEast Asia.    Now for over 19 years, Zheng tried to negotiate a peace with the now Kangxi emperor, as Emperor Shunzhi died of smallpox in 1661. Despite the peace talks, Zheng never gave up the cause of restoring the Ming Dynasty and one last hooray would occur. Going back to the mainland, when the Qing finally broke the last leaders of the South Ming regime, Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang and Emperor Yongli, they had managed to do this using a lot of Han chinese. It was only logical that they would install more and more Han Chinese to govern the territories that they conquered. Yet by installing certain Han and defected former Ming loyalists in parts of the realm with varying levels of authority led to a few warlords emerging. One was Shang Kexi, a former Ming general who defected very early on in 1634 and one of the most powerful generals to do so. He was given the title “pingnan wang” “prince who pacifies the south” and helped conquer the southern province of Guangdong. When the task was finished he was made governor of Guangdong holding full civil and military authority. By 1673, Shang Kexi was very old and asked permission from Emperor Kangxi to retire and go back to his homeland of Liaodong. Permission was granted and his son Shang Zhixin would take up the mantle of Prince of Pingnan. However, Shang Zhixin and his father would soon be embroiled into a revolt by the actions of others as we will soon see.   Geng Zhongming was a Ming general who served under the Ming warlord Mao Wenlong “the sea king” if you listened to some earlier episodes. Well Geng Zhongming alongside Kong Youde ended up defecting to the Qing and aided in their conquest of the south. Geng Zhongming eventually died and his son Geng Jimao inherited his title of Jingnan Prince (which also means prince of pacifying the south just like pingnang wang) and aided in hunting down Li Dingguo and pacifying the southeast of China. Geng Jimao managed to get both his sons Geng Jingzhong and Zhaozhong to become court attendants under the Qing emperor Shunzhi and married Aisin Gioro women. His son Geng Jingzhong would inherit his fathers titles including the governorship of Fujian province and would become a warlord in Fujian which held a strong naval force.   Wu Sangui who we know quite well was the Ming General who literally opened the door for the Qing to help destroy the forces of Li Zicheng, but this also led to the Qing taking Beijing. Now Wu's career was a lengthy one, he helped defeat Li Zicheng who executed over 38 members of Wu's family, so a large grudge there. For his service against Li, Wu was given the “Qin wang” Prince of Blood title and helped fight the Daxi army in the south alongside Shang Kexi. Wu had the absolutely horrifying job of pacifying Sichuan against the hordes of differing bandit armies and South Ming loyalists. Then Wu became instrumental in the fight against Sun, Li and Yongli eventually defeating them and bringing the far reaches of Yunnan under the Qing yolk. Now the Qing were uncomfortable placing Manchu bannermen so far away in Yunnan or Guizhou and thus the job was given to Wu. He was given the title of Pingxi Wang “Prince who pacifies the West” and control over Yunnan and Guizhou. Wu was granted permission by Emperor Shunzhi to appoint and promote his own officials as well as being given the rare privilege to have first dibs on warhorses before other Qing armies. By that point because of the war against Li Dingguo, Wu already had a large army at his control, around 60,000 men. The Qing were very wary of Wu, but his rule of Yunnan had thus far caused no headaches. Wu inevitably became a semi-independent warlord because of the great distance. All the money he received from taxation within Yunnan and that funds he received from Beijing were spent to expand his military primarily, guess why?    So lets just summarize all of this. As a result of their great aid to the Qing defeating the South Ming regime, basically most of south China was handed over to 3 defected Ming generals.  Basically they were awarded large fiefdoms within the Qing dynasty. Wu Sangui was granted governorship of Yunnan and Guizhou. Shang Kexi got Guangdong and Geng Zhongming got Fujian. Each man had their own military force and control over the taxation and other civil administration of their respective fiefs. In the 1660's each man began to ask for Qing government subsidies to keep them loyal, averaging around 10 million taels of silver annually.  Wu spent several million taels of silver building up his military, up to an estimated third of the Qing governments revenue from taxes. Geng Zhongming was quite a tyrant in his fiefdom and extorted the populace quite harshly before dying upon which his fiefdom fell to his son Geng Jimao and then to his son Geng Jingzhong as I mentioned. Shang Kexi ran a similar tyranny to Geng Zhongming in Guangdong and the combined 3 fiefs emptied the Qing treasury quite quickly. Another large issue was each man simply assumed and expected his feudaltory would be handed down to his offspring, but that was to be decided by the Qing Emperor not them.When Emperor Kangxi took the throne the 3 fief provinces had become financial burdens on the Qing government and their growing autonomous control of each province were becoming a major threat to the Qing dynasty.    In 1673, Shang Kexi sent a memorial to Emperor Kangxi stating “I am already 70 years old and have become weak. I hope I can be allowed to go back to Liaodong, my home place, to spend my old age. In the past I was granted land and houses in Liaodong. I hope that your Majesty will grant the land and houses to me again. I will take some officers and soldiers and old people who have been under me, 4394 households all together, to go back with me. There are 24,375 men and women in all. I hope the department concerned will provide food for all these people on their way to Liaodong”.  Emperor Kangxi replied  “Since you sailed from the island to submit to our dynasty, you have worked very hard and established great contributions. You have garrisoned in Guangdong Province for many years. I know from your memorial that you are already 70 years old. You want to go back to Liaodong. You are very sincere in your memorial. From this I can see that you are respectful and submissive and have the overall interest at heart. I am very pleased about that. Now Guangdong Province has been pacified. I will order the Kings in charge of government affairs, court officials and the officials of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Defense to discuss how to arrange the migration and settlement of the officers and men under you. I will let you know when they have made a decision.”. Oh but there will of course be a catch, for 2 weeks later Emperor Kangxi received another letter ““In the memorial presented by Shang KeXi to Your Majesty he says that he is already old and ill. He asked Your Majesty's permission to let his son Shang Zhi Xin to succeed his title of King of Pingnan. But now Shang KeXi is still alive. There is no precedent that the son can succeed his father's title when his father is still alive. So it is not necessary to consider whether or not to allow his son to succeed his title.”. Emperor Kangxi agreed to this with some stipulations about numbers of military personnel and such.   Then in July of 1673, Wu Sangui asked to be permitted to retire just like Shang Kexi and to be able to “settle down in some place”, the Emperor said he would speak to the court to arrange the migration. Then a week later, Geng Jingzhong asked the exact same thing and the Emperor said he would speak to the court. The court was divided on the issue, and against the majority in the court Emperor Kangxi decided to allow each man to have their wish. Wu Sangui was going to be given land in Guizhou, but he frantically sent word to Emperor Kangxi that he required a larger land because his officers families were many. It was a bit audacious and curious that Wu Sangui began with “settle down in some place” and turned it into “oh but I really need a much bigger place than that”, it was like he was asking for something he knew he could not have.  It turns out, Wu Sangui had assumed when he asked permission to retire that the Qing court would instead try everything they could to persuade him not to retire and to stay in Yunnan. That way they might give him even more autonomy and money thus enabling him to continue building his autonomous state even more. When the emperor said yes to his request it must have been a real shock and to make matters worse for Wu, the emperor immediately began the process of migrating him and his men so he freaked out.    So in 1673, Wu Sangui cut off his provinces connections to the Qing dynasty and began a rebellion under the banner of “Fǎn qīng fùmíng” “oppose the qing and restore the ming”. He was supported by his son Wu Shifan and other Ming loyalists in Yunnan, soon they all cut off their Manchu queues and he sent loyal commanders to garrison strategic passes into Yunnan.  The provincial governor of Yunnan Zhu Guo Zhi refused to join him and so Wu had him assassinated.  By 1678 Wu would declare a new dynasty, here we go again meme, giving himself the title King of Zhou and Great Marshal of the Expedition Army. And thus the Zhou dynasty was born. Wu Sangui ordered all of his followers to cut their Manchu queues and for all the banners to be white, and issued white military uniforms. The next order of business was sending word to Shang Kexi the Prince of Pingnan and Geng Jingzhong the Prince of Jingnan asking them to join the rebellion. Wu Sangui sent his loyal general Ma Bao to command a vanguard and march on Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou. All of Guizhou surrendered without a fight. Soon word got out of the rebellion and the colossal failure of Guizhou to defend itself. Emperor Kangxi immediately ordered the migration of Shang Kexi and Geng Jingzhong to be stopped and began to rally his army to meet the new threat. Generals from multiple provinces were assembled and estimates range quite a lot. Some say 500,000 some say up to a million troops, with the majority being Han Chinese of the Green Standard army were mustered. Emperor Kangxi promised any general who brought him Wu Sangui's head would receive all the titles which Wu had held and any general that brought the heads of Wu's generals would receive whatever titles those generals held, pretty big incentive. Emperor Kangxi also arrested and executed one of Wu Sangui's sons who unfortunately was still in Beijing at the time named Wu Yingxiong.    Wu Sangui's army set out of Guizhou and attacked Yuanzhou of Hunan province. Next Chenzhou, then his army split up taking Hengzhou, Lizhou, Yuezhou and Changsha. Most of the governors simply fled for their lives. Then Wu's army marched into Hubei province attacking Yichang, Xiangyang, Yunyang where he defeated multiple armies. Emperor Kangxi furiously ordered some of his generals to rush to Wuchang as it was strategically important and had to be defended. The southern Qing forces had not been prepared to face the well trained army of Wu Sangui and were falling like dominoes. To make matters worse many rallied to Wu Sangui's cause, such as Sun Yanling, a general in Guangxi. Soon Wu's army was in Sichuan causing havoc, everywhere Wu's army went there were either military defeats for the Qing, retreats or defections.    Then in March of 1674 Geng Jingzhong began a rebellion in Fujian declaring himself Grand General of All the Armies. Soon his forces took Yanping, Shaowu, Funing, Jianning and Tingzhou. Then Geng Jingzhong and Wu Sangui managed to form an agreement that they should combine forces and hit Jiangxi province together. At the same time Geng Jingzhong sent an envoy to our old friend Zheng Jing  the king of Taiwan to come join the party by attacking prefectures and counties across the coast. Soon Geng Jingzhongs forces took Jiangshan, Pingyang, Wenzhou, Yueqing, Tiantai, Xianju and Chengxian. He defeated countless armies, rallied many to his cause and earned many defectors amassing an army of 100,000. Then he set out to attack Shaoxing, Ningpo, Huangyan, Jinhua before marching into Jiangxi province. From there Geng and wu took Guangxin, Jianchang, Raozhou, Kaihua, Shouchang, Chun'an, Huizhou, Wuyuan and Qimen. Thus his forces had hit the provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Anhui. The Southeast of China was in utter chaos.   Meanwhile Shang Kexi notified Emperor Kangxi of Geng Jingzhong's rebellion early. Shang Kexi was loosely related to Geng Jingzhong, his son Shang Zhixin's wife was Geng's younger sister. Now that Geng Jingzhong was rebelling, he knew people would suspect he was going to rebel, but he did not want to. I mean hell the guy is 70 years old, he just wanted to retire. So he asked Emperor Kangxi if he could prove his loyalty by protecting Guangdong Province from the rebels and give his life in doing so. The Emperor was moved by this and ordered more units and money be made available to Shang Kexi for the task. Now remember, Shang Kexi was also the guy who got the confirmation that his son Shang Zhixin would inherit all he had, titles and all.    When Wu Sangui began the rebellion, Emperor Kangxi was 20 years old and Wu assumed he was a “green horn” IE: a incompetant young man with no real experience and thus a push over. But very soon Wu Sangui would be facing the full might of the entire Qing Dynasty and he certainly began to regret his decision to rebel. When his army reached Lizhou he got word that the Emperor had executed his son Wu Yingxiong and his grandson. Allegedly he was eating a meal when a messenger told him this and he exclaimed “The young emperor is so capable! I am doomed to fail”. An odd quote to say the least given the circumstances, but thats how one of my sources put it….I'd rather think he'd shout in grief or something.    Emperor Kangxi dispatched many Generals to help Shang Kexi attack the rebels occupying Yuezhou as Wu Sangui set up defenses there and sent expeditionary forces to march into Jiangxi province. The expeditionary forces took Nankang, Duchang and then Wu Sangui sent more expeditionary forces out of Changsha to hit Pingxiang, Anfu, Shanggao and Xinchang. Emperor Kangxi responded by throwing titles out to countless officials ordering them to suppress all the rebel forces spreading like wildfire, honestly I can't list the mount of Princes that spring up. Countless Qing generals and governors fought and died to the rebel armies. By january of 1675 Emperor Kangxi ordered Grand General Yuele positioned in Yuanzhou to recapture Changsha. Yuele led his forces to take Nanchang, Shanggao, Xinchang, Donxiang, Wannian, Anren and Xincheng defeating countless rebels. When his force made it to Pingxiang they were repelled. At this point Wu Sangui ordered his men to build wooden fortresses to defend cities without natural defenses and to build log barriers to thwart cavalry, log obstacles in the rivers to thwart naval forces and traps everywhere. Then Wu Sangui told his troops he was going to cross the Yangtze River and break the dike near Jingzhou to immerse the city in water. While this was to occur he ordered some subordinates to attack Yunyang, Junzhou and Nanzhang.   In 1676 Wu Sangui's forces approached Guangdong and Shang Kexi was seriously ill leaving his son Shang Zhixin in charge of the defense. Many forces defected to Wu Sangui and allegedly in an effort to save his father, Shang Zhixin defected and became a grand general in Wu's army. Ironically and rather tragically it seems the surrender broke Shang Kexi's heart and he died. In December Shang Zhixin regretted his defection so much he sent a secret envoy to Emperor Kangxi begging to be allowed to defect back over to the Qing and Emperor Kangxi accepted him with open arms right back. Quite a few rebel generals began to defect back to the Qing and the Emperor kept a policy of extreme leniency hoping to win many over without bloodshed. These were after all his subjects and the emperor understood the need to avoid bloodshed whenever possible. Wu Sangui sent forces to attack Ji'an while Yuele made a second attempt attacking Pingxiang. Yuele's forces had destroyed 12 enemy fortresses and killed more than 10,000 rebels before the rebel commander of Pingxiang fled. After taking Pingxiang, Yuele marched on Liling and Liuyang before finally attacking his tasked objective Changsha. Meanwhile Emperor Kangxi also dispatched forces into Zhejiang Province to attack Geng Jingzhong. In 1676 they attacked Wenzhou fighting fiercely and taking multiple fortresses. Despite a fierce month long siege, Wenzhou withstood the Qing and thus they bypassed it to march into Fujian province taking Jiangshan first. Meanwhile Zheng Jing's force arrived at Xinghua Bay to attack Fuzhou, but Geng Jingzhong was at the end of his resources and ended up asking permission to defect to Emperor Kangxi. He asked Emperor Kangxi permission to show his newfound loyalty by attacking Zheng Jing's invading force at Fuzhou. Emperor Kangxi accepted the offer and said he could resume his title of King of Jingnan if he was successful. The forces of Geng Jingzhong, heavily supported by the Qing army sent initially to defeat him mind you, easily defeated Zheng Jing's force sending him packing back to Taiwan. A real game of thrones.    By 1677 Wu Sangui's army were facing stalemates all over the place and Yuele successfully captured Changsha. Then Ji'an fell as many of Wu's men simply retreated. By 1678 Yuele recovered Pinjiang and Xiangyin defeating countless rebels and accepting many surrenders. Then Wu Sangui sent one of his most formidable generals Ma Bao to attack Yongxing and he died in battle failing to take the city. Wu Sangui was 67 years old, 6 years had passed since he began the rebellion. The vast territory he had taken in its peak was declining rapidly. His army was greatly weakened, but despite all of this many of his officials pleaded to him that he should officially declare himself emperor. So he proclaimed his reign title as Zhaowu meaning “demonstrating great military power” of the Zhou Dynasty in march, I guess go big or go home right. He made Hengzhou of Hunan Province the new capital and like all the rest before him began issuing titles and so forth. Then in august he was stricken with dysentery and was so ill he apparently could barely speak. He ordered his son Wu Shifan to come to Hengzhou, and by September 11th he was dead. Wu Shifan decided to take the mantle and chose the title reign of Honghua. When Emperor Kangxi got news of Wu Sangui's death it was like a shark smelling blood in the water and he sent all his armies to crash upon Hunan, apparently the Emperor even considered leading the army he was that eager. Wu Shifan's forces fled for their lives when the Qing armies marched into Hubei, disarray was soon rampant. Soon Yuele's troops marched into Hunan and attacked Wugang which had a fairly stout defense of 20,000 troops. The battle was bloody, Wugangs commander was killed, his troops soon routed and the city fell. The rebel army's morale was low, the Qing took Yuezhou, Changde, Hangzhou. It got to a point where the Qing faced more issues with logistics than they did in the actual fighting of the enemy. By 1680 the provinces of Hunan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Sichuan fell back to the Qing and Wu Shifan fled to Kunming.    Once Wu Shifan was pressed into a corner in Yunnan province the Qing General Zhao Liangdong formed a 3 pronged attack strategy to hit Yunnan. The attack would be performed by Cai Yurong, Zhang Tai and Laita Giyesu. They each marched through Hunan, Guangxi and Sichuan respectfully taking territory as they did. Wu Shifan had no reinforcements and was greatly outnumbered. The Qing generals entered Yunnan and Kunming was besieged for months, but it still held firm. General Zhao Liang proposed they cut Wu Shifans supply route on Kunming lake and this provided quick results. The generals then led a fierce attack upon the city. But before they could capture Wu Shifan he had committed suicide. They decapitated his corpse and sent it back to Beijing. There lies just one more small story to end the tale.   All the way back in 1674 Geng Jingzhong as we know sent an envoy to Taiwan to ask the help of Zheng Jing. Zheng Jing sailed to Siming, the south part of Xiamen in southeast Fujian province. His army then captured Tong'an and marched north to attack Quanzhou which was defended by Geng Jingzhongs army. Geng Jingzhongs men fled the scene after a quick battle and Zheng captured Quanzhou. From there he took Chaozhou, defeating more of Geng Jingzhong's troops, making an enemy out of him. Then in 1675 Geng Jingzhong made peace with Zheng Jing, it seems it was all a misunderstanding and they began to collude. But in 1676 Geng Jingzhong surrendered to the Qing and personally asked to be tasked with defeating Zheng Jing, so perhaps there was something more personal going on between the 2. Well Zheng Jing began the new found war between them by besieging Quanzhou again. The siege lasted 2 months but he was unable to take it. Zheng Jing lifted the siege and instead attacked Fuzhou, but by now Qing forces were crashing into Fujian province. The forces fought for various cities such as Quanzhou, Tingzhou and Zhangzhou. In 1677 Zheng Jing laid siege again for a 3rd time to Quanzhou, but the Qing in the meantime had taken 10 counties back and were overwhelming Zheng Jings armies. He lifted the siege yet again and fled back to Siming, and by 1678 a Qing envoy showed up demanding his surrender. Emperor Kangxi followed this up by sending naval forces to Fujian to attack Kinmen island. Enroute a Qing naval force led by Wan Zhengse attacked Haitan island. During the ensuing battle 16 of Zheng Jing's ships were destroyed with more than 3000 soldiers drowned. Zheng Jing's admiral at the scene, Zhu Tiangui had to flee and Wan Zhengse pursued them. Soon Meizhou island, Nanri island, Pinghai county and Chongwu county were seized by the Qing naval forces. Then land forces and Wan Zhengse consolidated and attacked Zheng Jings forces in Xiamen. They smashed his army there, Zheng Jing tried to flee to Kinmen, but the Qing attacked it simultaneously forcing him to sail all the way back to Taiwan. In 1781 shortly after arriving in Tainan, Zheng Jing died of dissipation on march 17th.    Zheng Jing's eldest and illegitimate son Zheng Kezang was appointed as Supervisor of the state. Now Zheng Kezang was the next in line to take the throne, but this is where that “illegitimate” part comes up. Two political hungry officials hated Zheng Kezang, Feng Xifan the head of the bodyguards and Liu Guoxuan a high ranking military officer. Upon Zheng Jing's death they both began to slandere Zheng Kezang as not being a biological son of Zheng Jing in front of the Queen Dowager Dong. They then launched a coup with the help of Zheng Jing's brother Zheng Cong against Zheng Kezang, killing him and installing his 12 year old little brother Zheng Keshuang on the throne. Some real game of thrones shit. Meanwhile Emperor Kangxi and the Qing court heard about the coup and that a 12 year old emperor was just placed upon the throne and he realized the time was ripe to attack the politically divided and certainly weak island of Taiwan. Then a Qing court official recommended our old friend Shi Lang, the man who had a blood feud with Zheng's family, to command the entire Qing navy against Taiwan. Thus Shi Lang was made commander in chief of the naval force and ordered to take the Pengdu Islands and then Taiwan. Shi Lang rallied 20,000 crack troops and 300 warships for an invasion of Pengdu. Shi Lang also took the time to purchase a number of Dutch made cannons for his bigger ships. Liu Guoxuan of Taiwan knew the Qing would attack Pengdu first and sent a large force there to prepare it's defenses.   In june of 1683 Shi Lang's navy sailed out of Tongshan and captured a few small islands along the way to Pengdu. Now Shi Lang divided his force into smaller fleets before engaging the enemy. He sent one detachment to slip around the planned naval battle and land covertly near Liu Guoxuan's base on Pengdu. Liu Guoxuan was no fool however and placed numerous cannons and troops along the beaches to thwart such attacks. On June 16th the battle of Pengdu commenced and many of Liu Guoxuan's larger ships targeted the smaller fleets of Shi Lang encircled them. Seeing this unfold Shi Lang took his flagship personally in to break up the encirclements. As the battle raged, a stray arrow hit Shi Lang in the eye spraying blood everywhere, but Shi Lang fought on. Shi Lang managed to break an encirclement killing 3000 enemy soldiers and by June 18th captured Hujing island, just southwest of Pendu island proper and Tongpanyu island to its southwest. On June 22nd, Shi Lang organized multiple simultaneous attacks to throw the enemy off balance. He sent 50 warships to hit Jilongyu and Sijiaoshan situated on the west of Pengdu island. Another 50 warships to hit Niuxinwan Bay to attract the enemy's attention as he sailed off personally with 56 warships right through the center to hit Pengdu island proper. The enemy sent all their warships out to meet his separate forces and from 7am to 5pm they fought. The Qing managed to outflank and break the enemies formation, but they fought on tenaciously. In the end the Qing won a battle of attrition as they had significantly more ammunition than the rebel navy whom was forced to resort to boarding ships and melee fighting. Many rebel leaders chose not to surrender and went down fighting to the end in a blaze of gunfire and glory. Over 194 enemy warships were destroyed, more than 12,000 enemy soldiers were killed. Seeing he was going to lose the battle, Liu Guoxuan took his fastest ship and fled back to Taiwan. Shi Lang's detachment that slipped past the battle landed ashore and were met with an onslaught of cannons and arrows from the beaches. However the Qing warships began to tip the scale in firepower breaking open pockets for amphibious assaults and soon the Qing soldiers were breaking through towards Liu Guoxuans base. The Qing defeated the garrison at the base and raised the Qing banner triumphantly.    On july 15th, Zheng Keshuang sent envoys to Pengdu island to offer terms of surrender to Shi Lang. By August Shi Lang accepted their surrender in Taiwan and on August 18th, Zheng Keshuang and all his officers and officials shaved their heads in the Manchu style. They all then positioned themselves to face the direction of Beijing and bowed, Taiwan was now part of the Qing empire. Shi Lang was granted by Emperor Kangxi the title of General of Jinghai, Jinghai meaning “pacifying the sea”. Zheng Keshuang and his highest officials were escorted to Beijing and Zheng Keshuang was granted the title duke of Haicheng   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 Qing war for unification was over, of course there would be countless rebellions during the reign of the Qing dynasty, but as for the threat of a Ming takeover that was not a thing of the past. A brand new world was emerging however, as the 19th century was soon rolling in and with it much much more devious trouble. For the century of humiliation was mere decades from commencing its ugly start.  9500

Last time we spoke about the harrowing tale of what could be one of the most evil leaders in human history, depending of course which sources you read about him. Indeed Zhang Xianzhong, regardless if he was fully, half or less guilty of the crimes against humanity laid against his name, has gone down in Chinese history as a significant figure. The people of Sichuan underwent a horror and it would take two full centuries for Sichuan to regain its lost population. Thus with the fall of Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng and countless South Ming claimants to the throne, who was left for the remnants of the former to rally around? Well one of the self proclaimed Emperors to the South Ming regime was still alive and….fleeing. Emperor Yongli now had an opportunity to harness the scattered Dashun, Daxi and other Ming loyalists to his cause.    This episode is the Flight & Fight of Emperor Yongli   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.   Well after a rather horrifying episode dedicated just to Zhang Xianzhong's regime in Sichuan we now come back to the South Ming regime. Now while Zhang Xianzhong was busy turning Sichuan into a cemetery, the South Ming Loyalists were engaged in a life or death struggle for central and southeast China. A series of Ming claimants to the dragon throne rose and fell. Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are both dead leaving their Dashun and Daxi followers in a power vacuum to be swallowed up by mere Banditry, or perhaps defecting to the Qing or Ming. As for the largest victims, the common people, they were once again caught in the middle, soon to be subjugated to war, famine and general hardship. As one scholar one put it “The long conquest of central and south China required armed struggle in county after county, community after community, forcing countless people to face the grim choices on their own doorsteps.”. When the Qing took Beijing, they faced multiple enemies. Li Zicheng fled west and the South Ming Regime sprang up in the south. It meant the Qing would be forced to divide their forces, resources and attention. But their enemies were not only not cooperating, they we're all fighting another. Hell the South Ming Regime was arguably fighting another more than the Qing at many points. It made sense to take out Li Zicheng first of course, he was an easier target since the Qing smashed his army, and there was the bonus of looking like they were avenging the regicide of Emperor Chongzhen. In the meantime the South Ming Regime was killing itself allowing the Qing to kick the door to the rotting structure and soon a bunch of South Ming self proclaimed Emperors were defeated one by one. Yet when they got to Emperor Yongli…well he kept fleeing. Then they diverted their attention to Zhang Xianzhong and took him out, probably for the betterment of humanity. Now so many remnants of Dashun, Daxi, other Ming loyalist military groups and other bandit armies were roaming around. Many warlords sprang up taking control over them. What would happen if someone began to win over all these free chess pieces so to say to their side of the war?  Now we are going to go back to Emperor Yongli's situation. As I had mentioned 2 episodes ago Qu Shishi had argued with Emperor Yongli that they needed to make a stand, and one would be made at Guilin. Qu Shisi said to the Emperor ““If you want to defend Yue, you should stay in Yue. If you abandon Yue, then Yue will be imperiled. If we take one step forward, then the people will take one step forward. But if we flee far away in a single day, the people will also flee far in a day. If we run, then we cannot defend [territory]. How can we attract people to our cause?”. Well Emperor Yongli fled regardless for the 4th or 5th time I lost count at this point, Qu Shishi stayed behind at Guilin. Qu Shisi understood the necessity not to abandon cities so easily so as to rally more forces to the cause. He had seen the previous South Ming Regimes collapse because they abandoned bases too swiftly, undermining their causes.   Qu Shisi was accompanied by Jiao Lian and they would defend Guilin from multiple Qing attacks in April and June of 1647. During the first assault Jiao had led the defense of the city facing greater numbers and having lesser firearms at his disposal. Despite the deficiency in firearms Jiao's forces defended Guilin using sword and bow to great effect. Several hundred Qinq archer cavalry charged Guilin and pelted the defenders with arrows, one of them striking Jiao, but he kept fighting and held the south gate against the invaders. This inspired his troops and soon they charged out the south gate against the Qing force, smashing many troops of the Red banner. The Qing had to flee, and Jiao's men chased them killing thousands.Eventually Jiao and his men went too far and were surrounded and outnumbered by the Qing who wheeled around on them. It is said Jiao screamed and struck the invaders with his spear, raining blood and flesh all over as he and his men hacked their way out of the encirclement. They fought for some miles, just a force of 300 men against thousands but managed to make it back to Guilin.    This minor victory prompted Qu and Jiao to stress the tactical and strategic importance of Guilin and Wuzhou, urging Emperor Yongli to return and to make Guilin a base of operations. Meanwhile Emperor Yongli was being escorted by Liu Chengyin, an ambitious career military man who was nicknamed “the Iron Club” who protected him in western Huguang. For 3 months no rations were delivered to Guilin and when the Qing learnt about its supply issues they attacked again, this time at the Wenchang gate. Jiao charged out against the enemy covered by some western cannons given to him by some catholic missionary friends. The cannons cut the Qing forces to ribbons, killing hundreds as Jiao charged out to fight them in the fields. The fighting went on for 2 days with the cannons never stopping and although the Qing regrouped to attack again they were smashed so much they had to make a retreat, being pursued yet again by Jiao's forces losing thousands of men. For this victory, Jiao was made military commissioner in chief of the left, military superintendent of Guangxi, and the Earl of Xining. Liu “Iron Club” Chengyin, it seems had been holding Emperor Yongli under house arrest at Wugang the entire time and this began to look really bad. In May of 1647, the Qing captured Baoqing and in a series of battles defeated Liu Chengyin. Emperor Yongli barely was able to escape, sometimes only being just a few miles ahead of Qing scouts. Emperor Yongli made his way through the Guni Pass to Liuzhou, but soon had to reroute to Xiangzhou. By this point locals were shooting arrows at his royal barge, not a good look at all. After the constant urging of Qu Shishi, Emperor Yongli finally decided to return to Guilin by the end of 1647.    The Qing found they were having a hard time pacifying southern and western Huguang province, it held rough terrain and a large number of enemies. Bandit groups were operating by both land and water in numbers ranging from hundreds to thousands. To make matters worse the bandits had multiple spies working within the Qing giving them warning of their movements, allowing them to hide into mountains and forests when needed. Han bannerman Luo Xiujin argued that despite their victories, the enemy would always escape their clutches via mountains. The Qing like their Ming counterparts, were having the exact same problems dealing with confrontations with wandering bandits, particularly in the rugged border country between provinces. Qing officials complained repeatedly of ambushes in mountain passes and heavy casualties. There were also reports that such ambush attacks were making common cause with the Ming loyalists, and this was certainly concerning. The Qing were realizing that the Ming could offer legitimation to bandit groups and use them to ware the Qing down.   In Autumn of 1647, after the Qing attacked Yongzhou, after 10 days of combat, the Ming suddenly charged out of the city and pushed the Qing to flee near Quanzhou where they managed to defeat Qing commander Geng Zhongming forcing him to flee for miles. This was considered the first military triumph for Emperor Yongli's regime.    By early 1648, the Qing seized Quanzhou and managed to defeat some Ming forces near Guilin who routed. The forces who had routed ended up fleeing to Guilin and they quickly set about looting the city before further fleeing. Qu Shishi remained stern as some of his fellow Ming commanders looted, burned and fled Guilin as the situation deteriorated. Guilin soon fell into a mutiny as the city was engulfed in flames. Qu refused to leave his post but  was wounded and had to leave the city by river. When the Qing prince Jirgalang heard of the problems in Guilin he seized the opportunity to assault the city. This prompted, I guess the 6th flight of Emperor Yongli at this point. Qu Shishi was urging the Emperor to stay as Jiao came rushing from Pringle to help, but Qing forces blocked his route to Guilin. Qu urged the emperor “Victory or defeat is still unsure. But if your plan is to run away, then how can this place not be in danger?” Yongli replied, “Surely my minister does not want to see the Altars of State and Grain perish?”.  Qu tried to gather forces and calm things down to defend Guilin as the enemy approached, while Jiao kept fighting to get to the city. Soon Jiao found himself surrounded and fought with his spear courageously, buying enough time for the Ming commander Hu Yiqing to show up from the east joining the fight with his cavalry. It is said, Hu Yiqing had his horses manes clipped in such a way that the Qing thought they were riding bulls and proclaimed “This bull- riding monster is not easy to stand up against!”. The cavalry of Hu managed to smash the Qing force, sending them fleeing for a few miles. Despite all of this, Emperor Jongli continued to flee all the way to Nanning, much to the outrage of Qu Shishi “How can you flee every time the wind blows two hundred li away? How can the people take heart if their leader is so tremulous?”. His words had no effect on the Emperor, in only 18 months Yongli had traveled over 1800 miles across 3 provinces, spending no more than 4 months in any given place. This led to waves of defections, and the court of Yongli began to discuss where would be the best place to set up a base of operation.    Despite the flights of Yongli, in 1648 the Ming had some major successes. Ma Jinzhong took back Changde, He Tengjiao took back Quanzhou and this drove many to the Ming cause, even Yongzhou was taken back after a 3 month siege. Riding the wave of victories, the Ming took Hengzhou and they also began to capture valuable supplies, horses and other war materials. This all forced Qu Shishi to yet again urge Emperor Yongli to go back to Guilin and this time make it his capital. Qu's reasoning was quite sound, Guilin was centrally located in a resource rich area along a river. It was easy to communicate with other sectors and coordinate offensive campaigns. But time and time again Emperor Yongli refused and this had a damaging effect on morale. Soon Ming commanders recaptured Xiangyang and Yichang and this led Emperor Yongli to feel secure enough to return to Zhaoqing, which he hoped to turn into a base of operation. At this point Yongli and many in his court thought that a Ming restoration was truly possible and they now sought to push north of the Yangzi and seize Nanjing and Kaifeng. Sun Kewang had opened up negotiations with their regime and it was expected that he could be relied upon. Qu Shishi for his part argued that now they could push east from Sichuan and north cutting Qing supply lines from Hugaung. Things would all take a dramatic turn for the worse however.   One of the Ming's commanders, Li Chixin who was a former commander under Li Zicheng had been continuously stating in public that Li Zicheng was the former emperor, making quite a bit of trouble. Li then requested permission to take Changsha and Yuezhou on his own. He managed to defeat the Qing commander Xu Yong and marched north to assault Changsha where Xu Yong had retreated. He killed thousands, captured boats, horses and other war materials and word spread of his great success. However the people of Changsha, did not see Li Chixin as their liberator, in fact they threw their lot in with Xu Yong to defend their city. Let us not forget, Li Chixin like many other former commanders of the Dashun or Daxi bandit armies had a reputation of course, who knows what populaces thought of him. Thus Li Chixins command boat when approaching the city was struck by a cannon ball and he lost over 1000 men. Xu Yong was hit by an arrow, but this did not stop him from rallying the defense of the city atop the walls. Li kept up the pressure with his siege ladders, artillery and sappers. But Xu Yong fired arrows, cannons down upon the enemy and led men into the tunnels to attack the Ming sappers costing Li Chixin some thousand men. Then Xu Yong sent secret attacks with boats on the Xiang river and they hit Li's flanks forcing him to retreat.   When Li Chixin was defeated at Changsha he was order to simply move on and relieve forces at Nanchang, but he ended he only went as far as Chaling and hunkered down. In the meantime the two Ming commanders, Du Yinxi and He Tengjiao were forming plans in Xiangtan. Du decided he would head east to rescue Jiangxi while He would try to go to Nanjing linking up with other Ming loyalists there. As part of their campaigns, Li Chixin was appointed vice minister of war and supreme commander of Shandong and Henan, while other commanders received supreme commands over other areas. But nothing came of these appointments as the Qing quickly advanced and hit He Tengjiao as he was departing from Xiangtan. He tried to find allies to help him out, but none could do anything, thus Prince Jirgalang was able to defeat He and took him as a hostage. Prince Jirgalang knew He Tengjiao had quite a lot of military capability and spent many days trying to get He to defect, but it was to no avail. Eventually Prince Jirgalang ordered his execution, or He committed suicide, no report is sure of his fate. When He Tengjiao was dead, many of his men fled to join Qu Shisi at Guilin. Another issue however was the countless “Loyal and True” who were under He Tengjiao's command, since his death they were now without any semblance of order. Bandits will be bandits and soon they were looting and pillaging everyone.    The Qing soon besieged Nanchang and took it in short time, thus dramatically collapsing the Ming control in Huguang. Many Ming commanders defected to the Qing and Emperor Yongli put Qu Shishi in charge of defending the Huguang-Jiangxi Guangdong corridor, but at this point the Qing held the Fujian coast and much of Huguang. By 1649, Li Chixin's troops began to scatter and plunder the area as the Qing pursued them. Eventually Li's forces plundered their way back north earning the moniker “white felt bandits” for the way they dressed. It was hoped by the Ming that they could still coerce Li Chixin and his white felt bandits to return back into the fold, but Li Chixin would die of illness in Guangxi in the late year. The white felt bandits soon scattered off and fell into pillaging under new commanders mostly in Huguang and Sichuan provinces.     As the Ming forces collapsed at Yongzhou in late 1649, Qu Shishi said in anguish “For 2 years I've tried to create a bulwark, and in a single morning everything has collapsed. How can it be believed that Heaven if for the Ming?”. With the death of He Tengjiao and the absolute collapse of the South Ming regime's position in Huguang, Emperor Yongli, you guessed it, fled Zhaoqing for Wuzhou in early 1650. Thus the South Ming regime was barely a thing in Huguang anymore. Now Qu Shisi began begging the emperor to stay in Zhaoqing stating “Yuedong has lots of rivers alongside mountains; [even] good cavalry cannot unite in the wilderness [to attack here]. Since the time [Li] Chengdong returned to allegiance, this has been the secure area. Its resources and tax base are abundant, ten times that of Yuexi, and both competent officials and troops north and south are connected, and we can strengthen ourselves from within and defend ourselves from outside enemies. Moreover, Zhaoqing is one thousand li from Shao[xing]. With stout crossbows mounted on the walls and entrenched brigades in defense, we can wait for royal rescue troops to come from the four [directions]. Wherever we can go, the bandits can go as well. Although the realm is vast, there is only one boundary. If we retreat an inch, we lose an inch; if we retreat a foot, we lose a foot. Now if the court hears of danger and climbs aboard a boat in the middle of the night, where can you go?”.   As you probably guessed, Yongli did not listen and continued his flight. Qing commander Kong Youde, remember that guy all the way back from the very first episodes? Well he sent Qu Shisi a letter, trying to get him to surrender. Kong Youde had been battling the Loyal and True throughout the southwest smashing many of their armies. Qu allegedly burned the letter and killed the messenger. Meanwhile back in Sichuan, Sun Kewang had begun his own program of state building and was beginning to ask the South Ming Regime to install him as a Ming Prince.    Following in his former master's gruesome footsteps, Sun looted Guizhou and severed hands, ears and noses of those who resisted, apparently only 30% of the populace was left alive. Sun set to work training his troops for months, made deals with local cities to establish economic relations all while simultaneously harassing local Ming armies. His forces eventually captured the provincial capital of Guiyang and its surrounding area and he soon began to set up a new entire new regime. But just as Sun was settling down he received word of an extraordinary opportunity unfolding in Yunnan. Thus he and his Da Xi commanders marched southwest entering Yunnan, entering a new dawn for them all.    The collapse of the Ming dynasty at Beijing and that of the Hongguang South Ming regime in Nanjing had led the people of Yunnan to revolt against their former Ming leaders. Yunnan was one of the very last places conquered by the Ming Dynasty in the late 14th century and it remained relatively the same it had been prior. It had a huge aboriginal population governed by chieftains in a system called the Tulsi system. Yunnan thus was always a bit of a quasi-feudal state controlled by the strongest chieftains. Once the Ming Dynasty fell, the chieftains began to fight another for dominance. The Chieftain family that had the largest influence historically because of their relationship with the Ming royal family was known as the Mu clan. The Mu clan was pretty oppressive to the people and even more so when the Ming collapsed. When Hongguang's regime fell, most in Yunnan began to view the Mu clan as being weak and many other clans began to attack them. One clan, the Wu clan to make this all sound more confusing, was rising to prominence at the time and challenged the Mu clan. The Wu had limited military power and the Mu quelled their challenge fairly easily. But the challenge simply encouraged more and more clans to rise up and a leader named Sha Dingzhou used the opportunity. Sha was a military officer for a chieftain who died and Sha managed to get a stronghold of the clan. While the Mu's and Wu's fought, Sha began a campaign that extended to the Vietnamese border. Then Sha tried a coup against the Mu after they quelled the Wu. Sha's force stormed the Mu palace and burnt it down, killing many in the capital of Yunnanfu. This began a war between Sha and the Mu clan for several months with Sha gaining control of the east of Yunnan. However Mu's forces and other chieftains were fighting a war of attrition and likely would win, thus Sha sought external help.    Sha Dingzhou sent a letter to Sun Kewang “inviting” him to come to the rescue of Yunnan in 1647. Unfortunately, this would be a very very big mistake. Sun Kewang claimed to be the brother in law to Mu Tianbo and declared he would avenge his sister's family. Sun Kewang showed up with 100,000 battled hardened veterans who saw a force of just a few thousand disorganized local units under Sha's command. Sun Kewang defeated Sha's army easily and piled corpses in the streets of the first city they took, immersing the city in 3 to 4 inches of blood so it is said.    Sun then took Quijing, a city he expected to simply open up the gates and submit to him as he had just massacred a previous city sending fear throughout the region. They chose to not submit and fired cannons upon the invaders. Soon Sun's men tossed up a cloud of ladders and swarming over the walls of Quijing like ants. Sun's men rounded up all those in the city and severed hands   Sun then ordered his fellow adopted brothers Liu Wenxiu to the west and Li Dingguo to the east to kill all those who would not submit. Sha Dingzhou tried to send armies to attack the invaders where he could, but every army was defeated with ease. Sha would proclaim to all his confidence with his army, but secretly he was pulling his hair out knowing soon Sun would take the province.  Sun eventually marched on Yannanfu and smashed the Sha army defending it, but rather than immediately occupying the city, Sun Kewang instead announced he was going to restore the Jiao clan, that being his sister's clan who was married to a Mu husband. By this point Liu Wenxiu and Li Dingguo had spread a ton of fear into the populace with their campaigns in the east. Despite Yannanfu having a tiny garrison within it, the city was simply falling apart because of low supplies as Sun Kewang's army simply surrounded it and waited. Thus after a few months the gates of Yunnanfu opened and Sun's forces entered the city. Soon Sun Kewang began to proclaim all those who fled the city should come back, or they would soon be killed as rebels. All the wives within Yunnanfu who lost husbands were given to Sun's men. Then he began to force the children to work cutting grass and collecting firewood. Girls of the age 10 and up were forced into drama troupes, some put into brothels. Boys 12 to 20 years of age were castrated. The adult men were killed and their bodies were tossed into the wilderness. Many former Ming officials were killed or they themselves committed suicide. To restore a semblance of order, Sun began practices employed by Zhang Xianzhong such as prohibited fires at night amongst many other rules which could earn a citizen of Yunnanfu a beating or execution depending on the rule. Yunnanfu was basically becoming a Chengdu 2.0, but perhaps not nearly as bad. Then Sun sent his armies to scour the countryside of the city killing many. It was estimated that perhaps half the population of Yunnanfu was dead. It was even alleged that coffin makers ran out of wood in Yunnanfu. Within a month, Sun's forces began to conscript laborers to cultivate enough food for the army to survive. Many homes around the city were razed to make for space for Sun's army training grounds any who resisted were killed. Sun eventually established order through fear, but realized that in Yunnan you required the support of the Tulsi system to truly control the province, so he soon began to establish relations with all the chieftains. Those who resisted of course were threatened.    Sun then began calling himself Ping Dong Wang “Prince who pacifies the East” which was met with animosity from his adoptive brothers. Sun began to place royal titles on everyone, but kept his position elevated from his adoptive brothers who were supposed to all be equal. The 3 other brothers all recognized Sun Kewang nominally as the leader, but had agreed they should all have equal rankings.  Li Dingguo began to argue they should all be equal as things were with Zhang Xianzhong, which angered Sun. Sun then publicly punished Li Dingguo, though Liu Wenxiu and Ai Nengqi would manage to get the punishment lightened. Regardless Li Dingguo was livid stating ““We are brothers. How dare you strike me? Since the death of our father we have been like hands and feet with no ruler among us, yet now we are to honor you as superior? If this is how things are going to be from now on, how can we live together in peace?”. It is alleged Sun went to Li in private and told him he had to do it publicly because if not there could be a mutiny. Sun then tried to make amends with Li, tasking him with hunting down and killing Sha Dingzhou who was on the run.   Sha had run to Lin'an and had held out against the forces of Liu Wenxiu for quite a few months. When Li Dingguo's force showed up the defenders of Lin'an showered them with gunfire, but Li being a veteran commander easily broke their walls in no time using gunpowder. Sha's forces were shocked by the speed and efficiency of Li's army as they quickly overwhelmed the city. The entire city was torched in a single day, it is said 78 thousand were massacred. Sha and his family managed to escape to a nearby town called Ami. After the massacre at Lin'an, Li Dingguo was noted to not again perform such horrible acts against civilians, it seems he was trying to build himself a reputation afterwards that he was not like Zhang Xianzhong or Sun Kewang. In early 1648, Li Dingguo surrounded the town of Ami, cutting off its water supply. After 20 days, the defenders with Sha Dingzhou ran out of water and Li began sapping Ami's walls. Li then invited Sha to a fake banquet making it seem they would allow Sha to defect and take up a grand position in the new regime. The effect led many of the defenders to defect who soon simply opened the gates to Li's men. Li was brought to Sha and his family and instead of the banquet he promised he had the entire household brought to Yunnanfu and flayed alive. Li's successes were extravagant, showing his extreme capability as a military leader. Unfortunately they also bolstered Li Dingguo as a great leader and Sun Kewang began to become quite jealous of this.    Once Sun Kewangs army had secured enough food to sustain themselves for a year, they began government building efforts. Taxes began, agricultural reform, mines were opened, weapons manufacturing, the works. The weather proved great during that year and the harvests did very well, mines produced salt, gold, silver, iron and copper and the faith in the government rose up. In fact Sun had done better than some of the former Ming officials had in the past and he soon began to mint coins, print paper notes and open new roads, which all helped reduce conflict in the province. Within a year Sun's government was gathering much praise and the people were quite content. Things were really looking good and Sun began to explore the idea of formally uniting with the Ming to resist the Qing. Sun had heard the reports about how well the Loyal and True bandits had done under the Ming regime and thought his regime might benefit from this relationship as well. This would help Sun and his inner circle gain legitimacy and at the time it looked like the Ming were doing well. However old dogs can't learn too many new tricks, and Sun's administration still held some Zhang like favorites, like harsh punishments such as decapitation, flaying and flogging. Though Sun disregarded the policy of rewarding soldiers for body counts, so there was that.   But Sun Kewang was not content, he continued to make it more apparent that his position was more and more elevated compared to his adoptive brothers. He began to erect an ancestral temple for Zhang Xianzhong and referred to him as Taizu and linking himself to Zhang. Then he asked Emperor Yongli to invest with the Ming title of prince of blood “qin wang”. Ai Nengqi was perplexed by this and said ““I can name myself prince. What's the point?” Li Dingguo also added, “We haven't conquered an inch of territory, so how can we accept enfeoffment from the court?”. Sun explained to them that only an investiture from the Ming court was legitimate and that after he was invested with the title they would all refer to him as “you highness”. As you can imagine this would also most certainly help Sun alleviate himself over another rising star, Li Dingguo who was highly popular as a field commander. Li was appointed with the major responsibility of training the troops and was noted to share hardships with the men and always led from the front gaining their respect. Li was what you call a soldier's soldier. Li Dingguo soon established 5 rules for his army; done kill people, dont commit arson, dont commit rape, dont steal livestock and dont take money from peasants. Given how soldiers usually acted in this time in history, the response of the populace was ecstasy.    In the summer of 1649, Sun dispatched his court official Yang Weizhi as his emissary to Yongli's court to ask for the investiture of Prince of Qin and offered to fight the Qing on their behalf. By this time Sun had relocated his operations in Guizhou as it was more centrally located, leaving Li Dingguo in Yunnan to train the military. For Emperor Yongli's court the request was quite disturbing, to make Sun a blood prince might put him in line for the throne. Many in the Ming court had no illusions about Sun Kewang, they thought he was trying to vie for the dragon throne himself.  The title of Prince of Qin was normally reserved for the royal family. The court was divided, Qu Shisi called for Sun's execution, many argued Sun was nothing more than a bandit. But they were in a terrible situation, suffering many military defeats at the hands of the Qing. Eventually the court consented to giving Sun the lesser  title of Duke of Jingguo. Yang Weizhi was terrified of relaying the response to Sun who might simply execute him for failing to get the title Sun wanted and made a stop at Wuzhou before returned to Guizhou. In Wuzhou Yang met with Du Yinxi who advised him to simply forge a document to make Sun think he received a better title than what he had been given. Thus with Du Yinxi's help they forged a document stating Sun was invested with the title of Prince of Pingaliao. Meanwhile another official in the Ming court forged another document stating Sun was being invested with the Prince of Qin title he had originally asked for. Turns out that official, named Chen Bangfu wanted to curry favor with Sun.  All of this was done without the awareness of Yonglis court of course.    Thus the first to arrive in Guizhou was the envoy with Chen Bangfu's forgery and Sun was absolutely delighted upon seeing it. Then Yang Weizhi showed up with his forgery of the Prince of Pingliao title, enraged Sun Kewang. Then yes as you might imagine, a real envoy from Yongli's court arrived and Sun found out the truth that he actually received the Duke of Ingguo title, really really pissing him off. To add insult to injury, his 3 other adoptive brothers were also given titles by that envoy of Yongli   In his rage, Sun  sent more emissaries to Yongli who offered him the title of Prince of Yi, but Sun refused this, demanding the title he originally requested. In the meantime Ai Nengqi died as a result of a poisoned crossbow bolt while he was pacifying a rebellious region. He had been ambushed in a forest and his army was significantly battered. He had managed to return to Yunnanfu, but the doctors there could do little to nothing to stop the poison. His army was handed over to Sun Kewangs command, significantly increasing his power. Thus the first of the adoptive children of Zhang Xianzhong was dead, and he would not be the last. Now all the way back in Sichuan the struggle raged on between the Ming loyalists and the Qing. The Qing had sent commander Li Guoying into Sichuan on a pacification campaign and as he entered the wasteland that once was Sichuan he said “For a thousand li there is no smoke [from cooking fires] and on account of the depredations of the bandit gangs, the value of rice is greater than that of pearls.”. His forces occupied Baoning in northern Sichuan where he was attacked multiple times by bandit armies such as the Kuidong bandits, Tan Hong and others. Li eventually rode out of Baoning and attacked the bandit armies fast and hard sending them fleeing into the countryside. Soon his army took Shunqing and he began to stock up supplies in preparation  for a gradual march south. In spring of 1647 he marched into Chengdu and lamented at the ghastly scene, he said to those around him“Chengdu has been down a hard road. Where are all the people?”. Bones were strewn everywhere, and there was no sign of life to be seen. He was given reports that the people of Chengdu had first fled to Yazhou and ate grass and wild plants until they starved so much they resorted to cannibalism. Li left Zheng Desheng as commander of Chengdu which must have been the worst appointment ever, but soon his troops starved, killed their commander and fled back north. Li got a report that 1330 of the 1390 men assigned to Zheng Desheng died of starvation or disease. Even Li himself was quite ill through 1647-1648 and he was hampered by bandit attacks and a very stretched supply line. Reports flooded in that every fortress was ridden with hundreds of sick and starving troops. All the garrisons the Qing commander would set up in Sichuan amounted to a few hundred starving men. The starvation did not allow him to perform a sufficient offensive, the situation became so dire most of the Qing forces had to withdraw from Sichuan with a meager force left occupying Baoning. It was not just the starvation and disease alone they had to worry about, anywhere the Qing set up shop, bandit armies emerged to harass them.    Later on in 1650, the pacification commissioner of Sichuan Zhang Chun made a report that gives quite a lot of insight. He began by describing Sichuan as a den of tigers and that of the Yao-Huang bandits. One could travel for a great distance without seeing any smoke from cooking fires. He estimated that 2-3% of the population in Sichuan was still alive. He laid blame upon the destruction caused by the Yao-Huang bandits, while leaving out that of the Qing's actions and goes on to talk about man-eating tigers found everywhere. People in Sichuan were  terrified to travel just because of tiger attacks. He claimed that in one distinct of a previous population of 506, 228 people were killed by tigers, 55 died of illness and 223 were left alive. He ended the report stating “Many people escaped the clutches of bandits only to end up in the mouths of tigers”. Wow I am just trying to imagine, surviving the horrors of Zhang Xianzhong, then the war between the Qing and Ming and now you got tigers everywhere eating people yikes.   Li Guoying immediately began demanding assistance, and Qing emperor Shunzhi began to promise supplies would be on their way from places like Shaanxi. But all supplies were quickly used up and Li still had little in terms of soldiers. Li kept arguing that as his enemies grew larger in Sichuan his forces grew smaller. The problem was the supplies and men quickly starved and got sick because there was no foundation within Sichuan to feed them. Basically it was like putting bandaids upon bandaids upon even more bandaids for a large wound that needed a doctor to fix it. Thus the situation forced Li to develop a new plan which was “tuantian” “to nourish the troops, soothe the people, and allow for both offensive and defensive warfare”. He sent Qing officials into the countryside to investigate and promote agricultural productivity. As for his army he sent them throughout the north and east of Sichuan, killing and capturing thousands of bandit armies, many part of the Yao-Huang bandits. But like always, bandits could run and hide in mountains, and thats just what they did.  It was estimated by Li that upto 100,000 Yao-Huang bandits could be in Sichuan.    By 1649, Li was promoted to minister of war and vice censor in chief of the right with jurisdiction over the armies of Sichuan. He had multiple victories, one was dislodging Liu Wenxiu from Chongqing where he killed many Daxi.  If you remember way back when, Emperor Yongli dispatched a distant family member named Zhu Rongfan to Sichuan in 1647. Zhu Rongfan began parading around as a Prince of Chu, though in reality he wasn't and amassed 100,000 followers forming a base in Kuizhou. His forces fought the Qing and scored quite a few victories, but in reality they were just a bunch of opportunistic bandits. Then Zhu Rongfan picked a fight with the Ming loyalist commander Yang Zhan who brought the Ming attention upon him. As you might have guessed, he was preparing to proclaim himself emperor as one does and South Ming officials began to investigate the situation. When pressed by them Zhu claimed to be acting on behalf of Emperor Yongli and that he was merely suppressing bandits. They also accused him of trying to claim himself as an heir apparent despite not being a prince of blood. Zhu then tried to make a getaway but was caught by other officials in 1649 who executed him.    Meanwhile the situation in Sichuan kept growing worse and worse. Just because the tyrant Zhang Xianzhong was dead did not mean his lasting effects on the province were gone. In the midst of the war between bandits, Qing and Ming, the common people were starving and dying. Rice was selling at unbelievably inflated rates. Dogs ate human flesh and lurked in city streets. Most cities were empty though because tigers and wolves were prowling them. It was reported that bandits were robbing graves and that people were resorting to cannibalism en masse. Many people fled to mountains away from the threat of other people or tigers. Lighting a fire became like a death sentence inviting anyone to attack you. Disgusting euphemisms began to be said because of all the cannibalism such as “poor man's broth / xia geng” “surplus lamb / yang rao” “scorched bones  / gu yang”. On top of the famine were the terrible diseases which there were many. “Big head plague” as it was called was when one's head erupted in red boils, it was associated with the chills, fever, swelling of the head and neck and was very contagious. There was a similar disease known as “frog fever” where the boils were more so on the shoulders and back. Then there was “horse eye” a sickness when one's eyes became big and yellow. It is also assumed the Qing brought smallpox with them and this invested the south.   By autumn of 1649 most of north and western Sichuan was pacified and a quarter of the province under nominal control of the Qing. In Southern Sichuan the South Ming loyalist Yang Zhan had held control for quite awhile, aided greatly by the hoard of treasure he salvaged from Zhang Xianzhong's naval catastrophe in 1646. He was capable of feeding his own troops and thousands of refugees who stormed over to him. Despite all his good fortune, he had to contest with warlords in Sichuan named Li Qiande, Wu Dading and Yuan Tao. The 3 warlords  invited Yang to a banquet, its always a banquet eh? And yup, they poisoned his wine, typical. After killing Yang they divided his treasure and troops and southern sichuan yet again fell into chaos.    As this all went down, word spread and Sun Kewang, similar to how he took the opportunity with Yunnan's turmoil came back to Sichuan when he heard the south was fractured.  Sun seeking to put further pressure on Emperor Yongli to invest him as a Prince of Qin, sent Liu Wenxiu and Bai Wenxuan with 200,000 to avenge Yang Zhan. Sun's forces made quick work of the warlords and bandit leaders in southern Sichuan taking several cities.Yuan and Wu were captured and sent back to Sun who mocked them saying he would enroll them as regular soldiers in his army. Wu actually did end up serving in Sun's military and for quite a long time. Yuan managed to escape and flee but was caught and killed by Liu Wenxiu. Li Qiande drowned himself when Liu Wenxiu caught up to him. Sun's forces killed countless warlords, bandit leaders and such. Now Sun's army even had elephant cavalry from Yunnan. Many simply submitted to Sun Kewang joining his forces and growing his power.   Meanwhile Li Guoying had initially profited heavily from the death of Yang Zhan, but saw with horror the force of Sun Kewang sweep through the province like a swarm. Li Guoying pleaded with Emperor Shunzhi for more troops to combat the warlord in the south and was promised a mix of Han and Manchu troops under the control of Wu Sangui. Yet even with the extra forces, now the Loyal and Trust, Kuidong bandits, Yao-Huang bandits and other groups were flocking to Sun Kewangs banner and the south of Sichuan was just a minefield of trouble.  Sun asserted his control from Guizhou and began building it up similar to what he did in Yunnan and in a short time the southwest of Sichuan became an armed camp designed specifically to resist the Qing.    Kong Youde was made prince in charge of rectifying the south in 1649 and alongside the Manchu prince Jirgalang both were dispatched and in 1650 they took Longhu, Wugang and Jingzhou. Through their efforts they took 50,000 surrendered Ming troops and many officers and moved to take Quanzhou and then entered Guangxi. Qu Shishi tried desperately to rally troops to defend Guilin, but all efforts were in vain and no significant numbers came. Qu refused to leave as all his colleagues urged him to do so. In november of 1650, Kong Youde's army surrounded Guilin. To help defend the city, Qu Shishi was aided by the Ming official Zhang Tonchang a who had served the Shaowu Emperor and aided in defeating Zhu Rongfan. He had a Fu Manchu style mustache, was loved and respected by his men for being fearless in battle. When Zhang arrived Qu said to him “I have been entrusted with staying to defend [Guilin]. So I should die here. Those without such responsibilities can flee. The frontier has already been lost. How can I think of easily fleeing?” Zhang replied that he was impressed and called Qu a true gentleman, requesting permission to die alongside him, saying, “If it's to be death, then we die together.”Qu was delighted, and the two shared wine. Qu gave his seals of office to another official to send to Yongli. So a sort of bromance if you were.   Kong Youde repeatedly offered Qu and Zhang the chance to defect, but both men refused. Kong then wined and dined them, trying to win them over but to no avail. Zhang spat back at Kong “You are no more than a dog or a sheep. You disgrace the former Sage, and you deserve to die for your crimes!” You're nothing more than the slave who used to carry a bedpan in Mao Wenlong's house! How dare you sully the name of the Sage.”. For this Zhangs feet were severed, but Kong still did not kill him. He kept insisting the Qing were better for all and gave stories of his 20 years as a soldier. Then Kong tried to have their own family members come and talk sense into them, but still it was to no avail.  Both men were eventually  imprisoned and wrote depressing and falistic poems during the captivity before being executed outside Windy Cave at the foot of the celestial crane peak in what is called today, Diecai Shan (folded Brocade hill) public park. Kong Youde allowed proper burials for the two and soon took up residence in the mansion of the former Ming Prince of Jingjiang. Now Guilin and nearby Pingle were in Qing hands. Kong Youde sought to secure Guangxi by 1651, but he was also itching to face Sun Kewang in the west.   In the wake of Qu and Zhang's deaths, Yongli fled to Nanning, hahahahaha this guy. With a more vulnerable Emperor Yongli now in Nanning, Sun Kewang saw an opportunity to establish greater control over him. Sun Kewang sent him welcoming parties, offering him military protection and boasted of how powerful and wonderful he was.    After annoying Yongli enough he was finally invested as the Prince of Qin, though he had already taken to calling himself “guozhu” “ruler of the realm” and had been making appointments on his own authority at Guiyang. Once a bandit, always a bandit as they say. He was absolutely delighted by the news and renamed Yunnanfu Kunming and Yunnan as Yunxing province. Then he dubbed his personal troops the “jiaqianjun” “royal vanguard”. Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu retained their old titles and sat at Sun's left and right side begrudgingly.  Yang Weizhi, the poor guy who had to bear bad news and was punished harshly for it managed to become grand secretary at Emperor Yongli's court and would subsequently try to impeach Sun. Sun responded by having his thugs bring Yang to Guiyang and upon his arrival screamed “Traitorous bandits like you will never be anything else.”. Sun had Yang beaten and dragged through the streets and was trampled to death by horses. His loss was felt heavy by many, particularly by Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu who had become close friends with him. They took his corpse and buried him with a ceremony. With Yang well out of the way, Sun began to construct an imperial palace in Guiyang and used imperial forms of address in his decrees and instructions. Any officials who resisted him were trampled to death by horses. Only Liu Wenxiu and Li Dingguo were exempt from calling Sun “guozhu”. He minted his own coins and constructed more ancestral temples, making further links to Zhang Xianzhong. Sun then declared his state the “Later Ming” regime. His ascension ceremony was attended by 100 officials on July 3rd 1651.   Meanwhile the Qing captured Pingle and Qingyuan as well as other towns along the Huguang-Guangxi border. Jiao Lian was captured by the Qing who tried to persuade him to join them, but he opted for suicide. Emperor Yongli feeling pressured, you guessed it, fled Nanning. This time he and his court debated whether they should flee to Fujian or Vietnam. Most wanted to go east arguing they should join up with Sun Kewang. But Emperor Yongli thought the coast was too distant and the travel too dangerous, for the time being they would camp at Xixing. But as the Qing took Nanning, Emperor Yongli fled again, almost being caught by the Qing who were within just a few miles of his entourage. This prompted Emperor Yongli to accept Sun Kewangs offer of protection. At the beginning of 1652, Sun ordered his subordinate Lt. Genge Sanpin with 3000 troops to escort Emperor Yongli to Anlong. By the time Emperor Yongli arrived his entourage was down to 2900 members. Sun figured the location was convenient for the court of Yongli as it lay in conjunction with Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangdong provinces. It was also close enough to Guiyang for Sun to keep an eye on the Emperor. Sun then set himself up as Yongl's military protector, but refused to personally greet Yongli on the principle that quote “2 dragons cannot see one another”. Thus Anlong became the ostensible Ming capital, but in reality it was just a safe place where Sun could keep the Emperor while he pursued his own objectives.   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.  So the great and horrifying father Zhang Xianzhong is dead, but his 4 adoptive sons quickly took over the family business and are causing mayhem. Sun Kewang emerged the largest brother and soon built himself an empire, matching that of  the fleeing Emperor Yongli. Now Kewang had Emperor Yongli basically under house arrest, or better said kidnapped, all was his for the taking, what stood in his way, but the might of the Qing dynasty?

Dragon Boat Festival food inventory, which one do you like best?The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the favorite festivals for foodies. During the Dragon Boat Festival, you can eat all kinds of delicious snacks, and these snacks have a lot of talk, let's take a look!Zongzi In Guangdong province, the dumplings are filled with five-spice coated fatty pork and plenty of mung beans cooked inside the rice. Often, traditional cooks also add a whole salted egg yolk. In Beijing and other northern provinces, the preference is for sweet dumplings, filled with sugary red-bean paste.Realgar Wine There is an old saying: 'Drinking realgar wine drives diseases and evils away!' Realgar wine, or xionghuangjiu, is a Chinese alcoholic drink consisting of fermented cereals and powdered realgar.Eggs Steamed with Tea It is a custom for people in Central China's Nanchang region to eat eggs boiled with tea at Dragon Boat Festival. The shells of the boiled eggs are then dyed red, put into colorful net bags, and hung round children's necks, which is believed to bring them good luck.Eggs with Garlic In the rural areas in Central China's Henan province and East China's Zhejiang province, people eat eggs with garlic on Dragon Boat Festival. Eggs are steamed with garlic and then shared with families as breakfast. Eating eggs with garlic is believed to promote health.Dagao - Glutinous Rice Cake Glutinous rice cakes are eaten by the Korean ethnic group, who live in Yanbian prefecture in Northeast China's Jilin province. Served with honey or sugar, it tastes delicious and chewy.Eel The custom of eating eel on Dragon Boat Festival day prevails in central China's Wuhan region. Eels are probably eaten simply because they are in season during the festival, fatty and tender, and rich in nutrition.Jiandui - Fried Cake Jiandui is a kind of fried round cake made of wheat and rice flour and something to sweeten them. In East China's Fujian province, every family eats jiandui on Dragon Boat Festival. A legend explains this custom. It is said that the area enters its rainy season during Dragon Boat Festival. People believed there were holes in the sky which, if not filled, would allow the rain to continue indefinitely. Eating jiandui is said to help mend the sky and fill the holes.Pancake In East China's Wenzhou area, every family eats a kind of thin pancake at Dragon Boat Festival. Green bean sprouts, leek, shredded meat, and mushrooms are then placed on the pancake, which is then rolled up and eaten as a wrap.Salted Duck Eggs Tradition has it that it is good to eat salted duck eggs during the Dragon Boat Festival as the burning summer is coming. The salted duck eggs are nutrient-rich and have some effect on the treatment of heat stroke.MianshanziMianshanzi is a kind of wheat flour food made in a fan shape. The custom of eating mianshanzi on the Dragon Boat Festival mainly prevails in Minqin county in Northwest China's Gansu province. This fan-shaped food is made up of five multi-colored layers, with each layer covered with fried sprinkles of pepper powder. The layers are pinched into a variety of patterns to make it appealing to eyes. This dietary custom is said to be trace back to the tradition of making and selling fans during Duanwu Festival in ancient times.What other traditional dishes of the dragon boat festival do you have in your hometown? Please tell us in the comments section!Thanks for watching~ Have a nice day!

Episode 77:This week we're starting On Practice and Contradiction by Mao ZedongThe two halves of the book are available online here:https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_16.htmhttps://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_17.htm[Part 1 - This Week]1. A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire - 01:40[Bonus 1, from the archives]2. Oppose Book Worship[Part 2]3. On Practice: On the Relation between Knowledge and Practice, between Knowing and Doing[Part 3-5?]4. On Contradiction[Part 6]5. Combat Liberalism6. The Chinese People Cannot Be Cowed by the Atom Bomb7. US Imperialism Is a Paper Tiger[Part 7]8. Concerning Stalin's Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR9. Critique of Stalin's Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR[Part 8-10?]10. On the Correct Handling of Contradictions among the People[Part 11?11. Where Do Correct Ideas Come From?12. Talk on Questions of PhilosophyFootnotes:1) 05:17Comrade Fang Chih-min, a native of Yiyang, Kiangsi Province, and a member of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, was the founder of the Red area in north-eastern Kiangsi and of the Tenth Red Army. In 1934 he led the vanguard detachment of the Red Army in marching north to resist the Japanese invaders. In January 1935 he was captured in the battle against the counter-revolutionary Kuomintang troops and in July he died a martyr's death in Nanchang, Kiangsi.2) 06:34The subjective forces of the revolution: organized forces of the revolution.3) 09:36Lu Ti-ping, a Kuomintang warlord, was the Kuomintang governor of Hunan Province in 1928.4) 09:53The war of March—April 1929 between Chiang Kai-shek, the Kuomintang warlord in Nanking, and Li Tsung-jen and Pai Chung-hsi, the Kuomintang warlords in Kwangsi Province.5) 09:58The third invasion of the Red Army's base area in the Chingkang Mountains by the Kuomintang warlords in Hunan and Kiangsi lasting from the end of 1928 to the beginning of 1929.6) 16:12The quotation is from Mencius, who compared a tyrant who drove his people into seeking a benevolent ruler to the otter which ‘drives the fish into deep waters'.7) 16:35The Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in July 1928. It pointed out that after the defeat in 1927, China's revolution remained bourgeois-democratic in nature, i.e., anti-imperialist and anti-feudal, and that since the inevitable new high tide in the revolution was not yet imminent, the general line for the revolution should be to win over the masses. The Sixth Congress liquidated the 1927 Right capitulationism of Chen Tu-hsiu and also repudiated the ‘Left' putschism which occurred in the Party at the end of 1927 and the beginning of 1928.8) 16:46The statement in brackets was added by the author of the letter.9) 20:44The regime set up in western Fukien came into being in 1929, when the Red Army in the Chingkang Mountains sallied eastward to build a new revolutionary base area and established the people's revolutionary political power in the counties of Lungyen, Yungting and Shanghang in the western part of that province.10) 21:44Stable base areas were the relatively stable revolutionary base areas established by the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.11) 25:47Chiang Po-cheng was then the commander of the Kuomintang peace preservation corps in Chekiang Province.12) 26:02Chen Kuo-hui and Lu Hsing-pang were two notorious Fukien bandits whose forces had been incorporated into the Kuomintang army.13) 26:15Chang Chen was a divisional commander of the Kuomintang army.14) 26:37Chu Pei-teh, a Kuomintang warlord, was then the Kuomintang governor of Kiangsi Province.15) 26:40Hsiung Shih-hui was then a divisional commander of the Kuomintang army in Kiangsi Province.

This week on the podcast, we are discussing a plane that is a Chinese based aircraft named the CJ-6 Nanchang with special guest Hugh Hutton, We hope you all enjoy! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/braden-piscopo/support

Agradece a este podcast tantas horas de entretenimiento y disfruta de episodios exclusivos como éste. ¡Apóyale en iVoox! El Q-5 es un avión de ataque surgido del Shenyang J-6, el MiG-19 construido bajo licencia en China. El Q-5 es más que una versión especializada del caza "madre". Tiene evidentes cambios sobre el J-6, en especial el rediseño del morro para alojar un radar, y sustituir la toma principal de aire a dos laterales; alas modificadas; o añadirle hasta 10 afustes para diferentes cargas y una bodega interna. Existen versiones para lanzamiento de misiles anti-buque, y una cuarentena fueron los vectores tempranos de armas nucleares. Se exportó a varios de sus clientes, como Pakistán, Bangladesh o Corea del Norte, Y hoy en día, después de procesos de actualización, sigue siendo un aparato de ataque táctico muy a tener en cuenta. Esto es Aviones-10, un programa de Casus Belli Podcast. Estamos en: Facebook, nuestra página es @casusbellipodcast https://www.facebook.com/CasusBelliPodcast Telegram, nuestro canal es @casusbellipodcast https://t.me/casusbellipodcast Nuestro chat de aviones es https://t.me/aviones10 Twitter, como @casusbellipod https://twitter.com/CasusBelliPod Pinterest, como @casusbellipod, https://es.pinterest.com/casusbellipod ¿Queréis contarnos algo? También puedes escribirnos a casus.belli.pod@gmail.com Si te ha gustado, y crees que nos lo merecemos, nos sirve mucho que nos des un like, que es el corazoncito que sale en el episodio en el móvil arriba a la derecha, si nos escuchas desde la app de ivoox, sea android o IOS. Muchas gracias por escucharnos, y hasta la próxima. Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

China's military, the People's Liberation Army, traces its founding to a 1927 rebellion designed largely as a last-ditch effort to boost morale after a purge by the Kuomintang had killed at least 90% of the members of the Chinese Communist Party.Read the article by James Carter: https://supchina.com/2021/08/04/the-nanchang-uprising-and-the-birth-of-the-pla/Narrated by James Darwin Van Fleet.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We follow the Southern Expeditionary force from Ruijin in Jiangxi province to Shantou in Guangdong.Further reading:Marcia Ristaino, China's Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]Chang Kuo-t'ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)C. Martin Wilbur, “The Ashes of Defeat”Some names from this episode:Zhang Guotao, Leading CommunistYun Daiying, Communist Central Committee memberLi Lisan, Leading CommunistPeng Pai, Communist peasant organizerZhang Tailei, Member of Communist PolitburoQu Qiubai, Top leader of Communist PartyTan Pingshan, One of the leaders of the Nanchang UprisingZhou Enlai, Leading CommunistZhu De, Communist military commanderLin Biao, Company commander in Communist militarySupport the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=DACDMMMEASJVJ)

In this episode of the Expat Empire Podcast, we will be hearing from Edu Santos. Edu learned English at an American school in Brazil while growing up and decided to turn his passion for the language into a career as an English teacher. After working in Brazil and traveling through many countries over several years, he decided to leave Brazil and teach English in China to experience something totally new. He lived in Qingdao, Nanchang, and Fuzhou in China across 5 years before getting stuck at home in Brazil when the coronavirus pandemic halted global travel. Tune in to Edu's story to hear what it's really like to teach English in China and live a life of adventure!   LEARN in this episode:   ✔ How to figure out which visas you need to get to work in China and find reputable companies to help you get them ✔ The best way to make sure you follow through with your plans and set yourself up for success abroad ✔ Comparing what it's like to live in three different cities across China ✔ All the different types of English teaching jobs you can find in China and the pros and cons of each ✔ What it's like to unexpectedly get stranded back in your home country and leave your life in China without being able to say goodbye FIND Edu at: ► Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/readygoexpat ► Expats Exposed Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/35rfP2T25A4jJst31EE0x8 ----- SCHEDULE your free consulting call: https://bit.ly/ExpatEmpireContact DOWNLOAD our free Top 10 Tips for Moving Abroad eBook: https://bit.ly/ExpatEmpireTop10 REVIEW us: https://ratethispodcast.com/expatempire FOLLOW us on Social Media: ► Instagram: https://bit.ly/ExpatEmpireIG ► Facebook: https://bit.ly/ExpatEmpireFB ► LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ExpatEmpireLI

With the Yuan Dynasty reduced to an ever shrinking area of land around Dadu in north China, to tell the story of the expulsion of the Mongol rulers in 1368 is to tell the story of Zhu Yuanzhang, a peasant turned monk turned warlord turned emperor. Today, we give  you the rise to power of Ming Taizu, the Hongwu Emperor, his great victory at Lake Poyang and the Rise of the Ming Dynasty,  and the final Yuan efforts to hold onto their dynasty. I’m you host David, and this is Kings and Generals: Ages of Conquest.       Our last two episodes took us through the period of Mongol rule in China from Khubilai Khan’s death in 1294, through his many successors until the reign of Toghon Temur Khan, who took the throne in 1333. Toghon Temur was largely a puppet to his chancellors; first Bayan of the Merkit, and most notably Bayan’s nephew, Toghto. Though faced with a colossal economic and environmental crisis which spawned a series of uprisings in 1351, the Red Turbans, by the end of 1354 Toghto had nearly crushed the movement and restored order. But Toghon Temur Khan made the foolish decision to banish Toghto in January 1355, a decision which signalled the death blow to the Yuan Dynasty. Toghto was the last actor who could have arrested the fate of the Yuan or controled the dynasty’s resources. Within months of Toghto’s dismissal, the rebellion picked up with new energy, and the power of the Yuan court became restricted to the very north. The rest of the empire became subject to various warlords, some with nominal allegiance to the Yuan, and some seeking nothing but its utter destruction.   A few points should be emphasized. The lack of interest Toghon Temur had in governing ensured that there was no individual in the Yuan court who could step into the role of Toghto. The strengthening of the regional rulers during the chancellorship of Berke Bukha, followed by mass mobilization in Toghto’s last years left provincial, regional and local rulers newly empowered and at the heads of much stronger military forces. The famed Mongol army was one of conquest, not garrison duty: there were simply not enough Mongols to garrison all of China, leaving a light Mongol presence past even the Yellow River. Most actual Mongolian and Turkic cavalry were kept in a few strategic areas, largely centrered around the capital and the steppes. Southern China had been poorly integrated into the Yuan, where Song dynasty structures had often been hastily co-opted. With most of the Yuan government and armed forces in the north, in the south’s countryside banditry became a real problem, as years of flood, famine, locust plagues and other environmental catastrophy annihilated farmland, the local economies and regular support networks. Unable to rely on the Yuan army for protection, regional and local leaders organized local defense forces for protection against bandits, the Red Turbans or even the undisciplined newly mobilized Yuan troops, which militarized and armed the population. It must have seemed apparent that the Yuan had lost the Mandate of Heaven, the right to rule China.   In the years immediately after Toghto’s dismissal, three warlords emerged within the Red Turban movement as the most powerful, all along the Yangzi River: Zhang Shicheng, the former salt-worker who became a warlord, declared himself emperor and was nearly crushed by Toghto during the chancellor’s final campaign; Chen Youliang a former fisherman, then office clerk who became leader of the southern Red Turbans and declared his own Han Dynasty with himself as emperor; and a peasant, turned monk, turned warlord, Zhu Yuanzhang.    Born into a destitute family of tenant-farmers in 1328, Zhu Yuanzhang grew up surrounded by famine and uncertainty in central Anhwei. His grandfather had fought against the Mongols for the Song Dynasty in its final years, and Zhu grew up listening to his exploits. In summer 1344, he lost most of his family to famine within three weeks. Unable to feed him, his surviving family gave him away to a Buddhist monastery for labour. With the monastery also unable to feed him, he spent a few years wandering before the twenty year old Zhu returned to the monastery, where he learned to read and write. There he may have happily stayed, until a local battle between Yuan forces and Red Turbans in 1352 resulted in some of the Chinese troops in the Yuan army sacking and looting Zhu’s temple. Once again having lost everything, Zhu went to the only place he could: he joined a nearby Red Turban group. For a starving peasant turned monk, Zhu showed a surprising aptitude for war and gained the attention of the local Red Turban leader, Kuo Tzu-Hsing. Under Kuo’s tutelage, Zhu rose in the ranks, and within a year was given his own command and married Kuo’s adopted daughter, the future Empress Ma. By the start of 1355 Zhu was leading an army of about 30,000 men and building his own staff of educated men around him, most notably the scholar Li  Shanchang, who encouraged Zhu’s ambitions, urging him to take the city of Nanjing on the Yangzi River. His first attempt in summer 1355 was a failure, but it resulted in the deaths of Kuo Tzu-Hsing’s sons and heirs, leaving Zhu Yuanzhang in sole command of the local Red Turbans.   Gathering his strength, in April 1356 Zhu finally took Nanjing, making it his capital. This brought him to the attention of the figureheads of the Red Turbans in the north, Liu Futong and his puppet “Song Emperor,”  Han Lin-erh. The young Han Lin-erh acted as a sort of symbol for the movement, a Manichean-Buddhist saviour in addition to apparently being a descendant of the Song Emperors. Together, they had redeclared the Song Dynasty, and soon after Zhu Yuanzhang took Nanjing he was appointed governor of Jiangxi province by Han Lin-erh. This placed Zhu at the forefront of the northern Red Turbans on the Yangzi, but Zhu was careful to maintain official subordinance to this ‘Song Emperor,’ who Zhu became the most powerful defender of. In this time Zhu began developing his administrative apparatus, and under the supervision of the scholar Li Shanchang, began cultivating a reputation as a refined, dignified ruler concerned for the safety of the common people. Always he sought to have his armies minimize the destruction they caused, in contrast to the Yuan government forces and the often wild damage caused by other Red Turbans. He gained valuable administrative experience as the governor of Jiangxi, and it is not hard to imagine he was drawing his eye already to the loftiest of aspirations.   All the while, Zhu was eyeing his two powerful neighbours: Zhang Shicheng to the east, who, after a nominal submission to the Yuan government was now happily expanding along the Yangzi River, and to Zhu’s west, the warlord Chen Youliang, the major figure of the southern Red Turbans. Zhu, Zhang and Chen had before even the end of the 1350s were among the most powerful men in China, the three Yangzi lords having wealth and resources beyond any of the minor warlords or Yuan loyalists south of the Yangzi river. To the north it was a slightly different story, where the major powers after the fall of Toghto were the Yuan aligned warlords Chaghan Temur and his nephew, Koko Temur.   Chaghan Temur was a fourth-generation Naiman commander based in eastern Honan, a region his great-grandfather had helped conquer in the early thirteenth century. Both Mongolized and sinicized, having sat for civil service examinations, since the late 1340s Chaghan Temur had been fighting rebel forces with his own army. His victories over them in the early 1350s brought him rewards and titles from the Yuan court, and his power began to expand. Within a few years he was the most powerful force serving the Yuan, doing his best to stay out of the court intrigues and defeat the rebels. In the latter, Chaghan Temur had more successes. In 1358 when Liu Futong and his Song Emperor Han Lin-erh rode triumphant into Kaifeng, once the capital of the Song Dynasty, it was Chaghan Temur who drove them and their armies back, bringing the city once more under Yuan control. By 1362, Chaghan Temur and his allies had managed to restore Yuan Rule from Shanxi to Shandong, and even former enemies like Zhang Shicheng and the pirate Fang Guozhen were sending a token yearly tribute of grain to the capital of Dadu.   Of course, it is difficult to amass such power without making enemies, and Chaghan Temur’s tendency to ignore court orders, make his own appointments and strengthen himself did him no favours. Chaghan Temur was challenged by a rival, Bolod Temur, another powerful commander and father of Toghon Temur Khan’s empress. The court intrigues between the two hamstrung the ability of the Yuan to resist the rebels, and Toghon Temur Khan, in typical fashion, was totally unable to control them. In 1362 officers claiming to be serving the dynasty assassinated Chaghan Temur while he besieged  a rebel city, apparently doubting his commitment to the dynasty- and promptly fled to the same rebels they had been campaigning against. The court then confirmed Chaghan Temur’s will, granting his military and civilian positions to his adopted son, Koko Temur.   While Koko Temur’s name means ‘blue iron,’ in Mongolian, it may surprise you to learn that the final effective figure of the Yuan Dynasty was not a Mongol, but a Chinese. Born to a Chinese father and Koko Temur’s sister, his birth name was Wang Baobao, but he had been officially adopted by Chaghan Temur and in 1361 awarded his Mongolian name by the Great Khan.  Recognized as a true and loyal servant of the dynasty, Koko Temur seems to have preferred the ideals of steppe life more than his Confucian education, and carried himself in the image of a Mongol ba’atar, and had fought valiantly beside his stepfather. Immediately assuming his late stepfather’s command post, Koko Temur completed the siege, caught the men who had assassinated Chaghan Temur, and in a decidedly un-Chinese ceremony,  cut the assassins’ hearts out and sacrificed them to the spirit of Chaghan Temur.   Under the efforts of Chaghan Temur and Koko Temur, most of China north of the Yangzi was secured by the 1363, the Yuan having managed to survive a few serious scares. Rebel forces sent by Liu Futong and Han Lin-erh had raided as far as Liaodong and Shangdu, burning it in 1358, but since then the situation had somewhat stabilized. Bolod Temur continued to denounce Koko Temur, and the court intrigues did not stop. Toghon Temur Khan’s son and heir, Ayushiridara, seems to have wanted his father to abdicate the throne, as the Khan had shown utter incompetence and no leadership throughout the crisis. In alliance with his mother, Toghon Temur’s Korean empress Ki, and the chancellor, they sought to undermine Toghon Temur by convincing him to dismiss one of his chief ministers. The minister fled to Bolod Temur, who was then declared a rebel for housing the minister. Tension raised, Bolod Temur attacked Koko Temur, was defeated and fled to Dadu. At Dadu, Bolod took control of the capital in 1364, putting the chancellor to death and nearly got his hands on Ayushiridara, who fled to Koko Temur. Ayushiridara stayed there under Koko Temur’s protection until Bolod Temur’s  cruel treatment of the court resulted in his assassination in August 1365, and Koko Temur marched Ayushiridara back to Dadu.   Koko Temur was rewarded with royal titles, and ignored Ayushirirdara’s efforts to have him remove Toghon Temur. Koko Temur was by then by far the most powerful man in the north, but had no love for court politics and wanted to continue the war against the rebels. Given overall command and a large army, Koko Temur finally set out in 1366 to clear the rebels off the Yangzi, only to find that some of the Chinese commanders and former allies of Bolod Temur in his service resented this upstart and attacked him. Forced to waste time in a pointless civil war, the final chance for the Yuan to even retain the north was lost as Zhu Yuanzhang unified the south.   China’s future was decided with the opening of hostilities between Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang. While Chaghan Temur rose and fell, the Yangzi warlords quickly moved past any pretenses of ‘peasant uprising to expel the Mongols.’ By the end of the 1350s, it was a battle for imperial power between the three most likely claimants to succeed the Yuan, or at least establish a regional kingdom: Chen Youliang, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Shicheng. By 1357, Chen Youliang had taken control of the Red Turbans south of the Yangzi, Zhu Yuanzhang was the preeminent member of the northern Red Turbans and the protector of the puppet Song Emperor Han Lin-Erh, and Zhang Shicheng nominally recognized Yuna overlordship, though he was clearly building his own kingdom along the coast. Chen Youliang’s state had expanded dramatically, but his eastern expansion down the Yangzi was blocked by Zhu Yuanzhang, and to the north by the effective armies of Chaghan Temur and Koko Temur. Needing more strength before he faced then, and not trusting his Yangzi rivals, Chen decided to deal with the Yangzi foes first. In summer 1360, Chen Youliang sailed down the Yangzi with 100,000 men aboard a great navy. Armies of the early 1360s were built upon peasant troops, but since the 1350s had become operationally much more sophisticated and experienced, with river warfare a key component. Since the early years of the uprisings city walls had been repaired, forcing combatants to resort to lengthy blockades or costly assaults. There is little evidence to suggest Mongol military techniques of the thirteenth century were adopted by the Chinese, cavalry taking only a minor role in these battles.   Chen Youliang’s 1360 attack utilized ships with high sterns which allowed his men to climb onto city walls. This brought him some initial success, and made him so overconfident he had a puppet emperor he had been controlling beaten to death, and had himself proclaimed Emperor of a new Han Dynasty. Chen urged Zhang Shicheng to open another front against Zhu, then sailed for Nanjing. Tricking Chen into disembarking much of his fleet north of Nanjing, Zhu Yuanzhang ambushed Chen’s army and captured much of his navy, forcing Chen to retreat. Due to conflict with Zhang Shicheng, Zhu struggled to immediately exploit this victory. The next year, 1361, Zhu Yuanzhang finally led a naval assault on Chen Youliang’s territory, but was only marginally successful, as rebellion forced him to return to his territory in early 1362. Before he departed, Zhu’s forces took Nanchang near Lake Poyang.    While Zhu struggled with treason and rebellion in his territory, Chen Youliang built another armada. The sources indicate this was a  massive effort, totalling 300,000-600,000 men, with large, red painted ships with iron covered turrets for archers and high sterns to once again climb over city walls- the same tactic which had worked so well for him in 1360. In June 1363 his fleet was outside the walls of Nanchang, and Chen believed its fall would lead to the submission of other nearby cities. Unfortunately for Chen, the walls of Nanchang had been reinforced, and his boarding tactic was unsuccessful. Chen was forced into a siege, ruining his plans and taking away his element of surprise. His forces suffered heavy losses, and as the siege dragged into summer the water levels began to lower, risking the large ships which made up the core of his fleet.    Zhu Yuanzhang did not appear to learn of this until August 1363, during which time much of his forces were occupied near the border with Zhang Shicheng. Rapidly reassembling his forces at Nanjing, he sent an army overland to relieve Nanchang, while he prepared a fleet to confront Chen Youliang. Zhu was outnumbered, with perhaps 100,000 to 200,000 men aboard much smaller ships. Further, he risked opening his flank to Zhang Shicheng and rebellion as had happened in 1361. This operation was a great risk, yet he threw all of his weight against Chen Youliang.    His fleet departed Nanjing on the 15th of August 1363, arriving at the entrance to Lake Poyang on the 24th. There he constructed fortified positions to prevent Chen’s fleet from breaking out of the lake. On the 28th, Zhu’s fleet entered the lake, and a startled Chen was forced to lift his 85 day long siege of Nanchang, suddenly realizing he had been trapped. Late on the 29th, the two fleets met off the island of Kanglang shan, where they waited until sunrise the next day. So started the battle of Lake Poyang, the most famous, and largest, naval battle in Chinese history.   On the morning of August 30th, Zhu deployed his fleet into 11 groups, taking the center with his heaviest ships and stationing his lighter vessels on the wings, likely mirrored by Chen’s larger fleet. Zhu’s wing commanders were experienced and had the wind on their side, and their catapults wreaked havoc on the enemy wings, setting ships and men aflame. In the center Chen’s larger ships pushed back Zhu, his own flagship coming under threat. Zhu was forced to retreat to shallower water where Chen’s fleet could not follow, grounding several of Zhu’s ships in the process.   The first day of battle was disappointing, and Zhu sent his top commander Xu Da back to Nanjing with the damaged ships. The next morning Zhu executed some of his officers to get them to line up for battle, but once again the fight went poorly, Chen’s numbers, larger ships and densely packed fleet proving superior in close combat.  High ranking officers were lost, and by midday Zhu had to pull back, aware that they were playing to Chen’s strengths. Finding inspiration from the fire used by his lieutenants the previous day, Zhu filled some smaller vessels with reeds and gunpowder, and with the wind shift in the afternoon sent these fireships into the densely packed enemy fleet.    Chen Youliang lost several hundred ships, 60,000 men, several squadrons and two of his brothers in the ensuing conflagration, while Zhu Yuanzhang only lost 7,000 men for the two days. The outcome was still undecided however, as Chen stil outnumbered Zhu greatly. September 1st was spent repairing and resting the fleets, and fighting resumed on the 2nd. Chen put his forces into a more open formation as defense against fireships, which allowed Zhu’s smaller vessels to isolate Chen’s ships, even sailing through Chen’s line at one point. However, Chen’s numbers were telling, and by noon Zhu withdrew, under pressure to depart from the lake by his commanders. The army he had sent by land had now relieved Nanchang, the goal of the campaign achieved. That night Zhu sailed out of  Lake Poyang, Chen following the next morning only to find himself confronted with the fortifications Zhu had constructed.    It was clear to everyone that Chen Youliang had been outmaneuvered, and several of his generals defected to Zhu. For nearly a month, Chen waited before the fortifications, trying to determine the best course of action, while Zhu goaded him with antagonizing letters and his food supplies ran lower and lower.   Finding a weak position, Chen ordered his fleet to storm it and take it. But this was part of Zhu’s plan. As Chen was making his way onto the Yangzi  river with his tightly packed fleet he sailed into another trap. Zhu was positioned upstream of Chen with more fireships, which were once more sent into Chen’s fleet. The ships that weren’t destroyed fled back down stream, and with order lost Zhu’s ships chased and captured them. Groups of ships locked in combat sailed down river, where forces Zhu had stationed also joined in. In this chaos Chen Youliang attempted to cross between ships in a smaller vessel, when he was killed by an arrow in the eye. News spread rapidly, and with it the last vestiges of resistance collapse. The following morning around 50,000 men and most of the fleet surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang.    The victory at Lake Poyang was greater than Zhu could ever have hoped. With the death of his main rival and absorption of much of his army and fleet, he quickly annexed Chen’s former territory. By 1364, Zhu was the strongest single power in China, with double the manpower and resources of his next greatest rival, Zhang Shicheng. Zhang had failed to take advantage of Zhu’s war with Chen Youliang, and despite throwing off the pretense of submission to the Yuan Dynastyand  proclaiming himself the Prince of Wu in February 1364, his domain was easily swallowed by Zhu’s forces. Zhang was captured in 1367, and later died in prison. Zhang’s defeat freed Zhu to commit to conquering the rest of China and crush the Yuan, while the deaths of Liu Futong in 1363 and the Song Emperor Han Lin-erh in 1366 left Zhu to assume supreme command.   In January 1368 Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed the Ming Dynasty with himself as emperor, taking the era name Hongwu, meaning “overflowing martial accomplishment,” and began the campaign to push the remnants of the Yuan from China. The Hongwu Emperor did not take part himself, sending his skilled general and boyhood friend Xu Da to do it for him. Victory had already been determined; the Hongwu Emperoe had merely to stretch his hand and seize it for himself.   The Yuan failed to react to the rise of the Ming. The strongest warlord aligned with the Yuan, Koko Temur, had spent the last years battling other Yuan warlords. When Ming armies began to advance in 1368, Koko Temur refused an order from the court to repel them due to regional concerns, and for this was declared a foe of the court, open for all to attack. Koko Temur soundly defeated all of the foes sent against him until he was finally reinstated to his position, but by then it was simply too late. The Yuan could offer no counter offensive as Ming armies crossed the Yellow River in August, general Xu Da approaching Dadu in September. Toghon Temur Khan and his heir Ayushiridara fled the city to Mongolia only days before the arrival of the Ming armies, and on the 20th of September, 1368, Dadu came into Chinese rule for the first time in over 400 years. The city fell without a fight, only a few holdouts being executed. The Hongwu Emperor renamed the city to Beiping, meaning ‘pacified north.’ In time the city became the capital of the Ming Dynasty and was renamed to Beijing, the name it holds today.   Over the next two decades, the Ming incorporated the rest of China. In distant Yunnan, the Mongol prince Basalawarmi held out against the Ming until 1382. The fleeing Toghon Temur Khan and Koko Temur were pursued into the steppes and pushed from Inner Mongolia in 1370 after a humiliating defeat, where Ayushiridara’s son Maidiribala and 50,000 Mongols were captured by the Ming forces. Khan Toghon Temur died soon after, a man broken and humilated, lamenting the loss of his capitals, his empire, yet never understanding how it had happened. Ayushiridara finally became Khan and escaped with the remainder of Yuan forces across the Gobi desert into their ancestral homeland, almost exactly a century after Khubilai Khan had declared the Yuan Dynasty. The Ming continued to probe the border, looking to hunt down the new Khan who had not  abandoned claims on China, despite Ming diplomats urging their submission. Threats, promises of support, using Ayushiridara’s son as leverage, to a rapid completion of a  dynastic history of the Yuan with its glowing portrayal of Chaghan Temur in an attempt to persuade Koko Temur, did nothing to assuage the defiance of the Mongols. This dynastic history, by the way, is the Yuan shi we have referred to so many times over this series, and its rapid completion by the start of the 1370s is part of the reason it’s full of so many errors and even repeated entries.   With Ayushiridara refusing to submit, the Ming pressed the advance. Xu Da inflicted a major defeat on Koko Temur in the Gansu corridor  which assisted Ming expansion in Sichuan and the west. In 1372 Xu Da marched with a massive army into the steppes, well over 150,000 men and torched the old capital of Karakorum, but Xu Da learned how dangerous the Mongols were in their homeland. Koko Temur simply manuevered around Xu Da for a month, exhausting the Ming army in marches into seeming nothingness, before falling upon his disillusioned foe. Xu Da’s army was annihilated, the great general forced to flee, and the impetus for Ming advance into Mongolia was broken. The Ming would never be able to conquer Mongolia, and were forced to step back to a defensive position along their borders. The only exceptions were raids and a brief period of Ming aggression during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, the Hongwu Emperor’s  son, who led a number of campaigns into the steppe. Over time, this border became entrenched and fortified, particularly in the 15th and 16th centuries, into the Great Wall of China as we know it today. Though border walls had existed prior in much earlier dynasties, it took for the Ming Dynasty for them to develop into a single connected fortification across China’s northern border, and the famous brick structure we know it as today. The Yuan did not relinquish their claims on China, though we generally call the exiled court the Northern Yuan. Confined to Mongolia, aside from raids it would not be until the 1450s and the Tumu crisis that  the Mongols would again form an existential threat to the Ming. After the death of Koko Temur in 1375 and Ayushiridara in 1378,  the northern Yuan lost their unity, falling into infighting with the Chinggisid Khans becoming puppet rulers for non-Oirat Chinggisids. It would be many years before Chinggisid unity would be reformed, albeit only briefly, in Mongolia.   So the Nothern Yuan and the Ming would form uneasy neighbours for the next centuries, sometimes at war, often conducting trade, each taking advantage of the other at various times. So would be the relationship until the 1600s, when both Ming and the northern Yuan were finally subsumed by a new enemy-  the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the descendants of the enemies of both the Mongols and the Chinese, the Jurchen. But that’s  a story for another day.       So ends the period of Mongol rule in China. We will return to the later history of Chinggisid Mongolia, but our next episodes bring out attention westwards, to the fates of the Chagatai Khanate, Ilkhanate, and Golden Horde, so be sure to subscribe to our podcast to follow. If you enjoyed this and would like to help us keep bringing you great content, then consider supporting us on patreon at www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. This episode was researched and written by our series historian, Jack Wilson. I’m your host David, and we’ll catch you on the next one. 

Discover what’s possible when a mother’s love transcends her own home.  Our guest today is Mrs. Jie Bing Zhang. As a mother of a 21-year-old autistic young man, Mrs. Zhang is the founder of Huicong Children Rehabilitation Center in Nanchang, China. She is also one of our Global Autism Project partners.  The Global Autism Project partnered with Huicong in 2017, and we have since sent 3 SkillCorps volunteer teams to provide hands-on sustainable training to their teachers and staff.  For this interview, our podcast intern, Linda Zheng, interpreted from Chinese to English for us. Thank you, Linda, for your effort to ensure Mrs. Zhang’s message is understood.  In this conversation, we discuss: The level of autism awareness in China What it was like for Mrs. Zhang to receive her son’s diagnosis Why she started her own autism center  The types of services they offer The partnership between Global Autism Project and Huicong  To learn more about Mrs. Zhang and her work, please visit our show notes at autismknowsnoborders.com. ----more---- We appreciate your time. If you enjoy this podcast and you’d like to support our mission, please take just a few seconds to share it with one person who you think will find value in it too. ----more---- Follow us on Instagram: @autismpodcast Join our Facebook group: Autism Knows No Borders  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Global Autism Project ----more---- We would love to hear your feedback about the show. Please fill out this short survey to let us know your thoughts: Listener Survey. 

Episode #75. This weeks episode deviates away from our recent path of maneuvers. I talk about flying in a Nanchang CJ-6. It was an experience and I learned a lot walking away from it! Top 10 piston engine plane sales of 2020. Another tough learning from others segment. Weekly Weather is a TAF.   Check out the website www.Cubicle2CloudsAviation.com You can still  send any questions you have for to or go to the website and ask it there!  NEWS:   LEARNING FROM OTHERS:   WEEKLY WX:TAF KPHX 172320Z 1800/1906 27006KT P6SM BKN250 TEMPO 1802/1806 VRB03KT  FM180600 10005KT P6SM SCT250 FM182100 21004KT P6SM SCT250 FM182200 26005KT P6SM FEW250 Code C2C at check out for 10% off your entire order.  Go see them in Las Vegas 2010 Festival Plaza Dr. Unit 120Las Vegas, NV  89135 United States YouTube Channel:  Josh Delmar YouTube:

The mutiny that founded the Chinese Red Army.Further reading:Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist PartyStuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party (2 volumes)C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928C. Martin Wilbur, “The Ashes of Defeat”Some names from this episode:Henk Sneevliet, alias Maring, Dutch Communist and early Comintern agent in ChinaZhang Fakui, Guomindang general close to Wang JingweiYe Ting, Communist officerHe Long, Communist officerZhou Enlai, Commanded Front Committee which coordinated Nanchang UprisingMikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and political head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangBesso Lominadze, New Comintern head in China in July 1927Zhang Guotao, Leading CommunistWang Jingwei, Leader of Guomindang “Left”Zhu De, Nanchang chief of public securityAgnes Smedley, Communist journalistZhu Beide, Governor of Jiangxi provinceNie Rongzhen, Communist military leaderSong Qingling, Guomindang Left leader and widow of Sun YatsenDeng Yanda, Head of the Guomindang peasant bureauEugene Chen, Guomindang Left foreign ministerSupport the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=DACDMMMEASJVJ)

Sascha Rensen is originally from Germany and has started his career in China as a teacher at a university in Nanchang. After some time in the country he has successfully transitioned into a business developer for a Chinese construction company and is now based in Wuxi. In this episode he explains what it means to be a foreign sales guy or business developer in China and how that helps the organisation you work for. This is what you'll learn: Working with Chinese colleagues Identifying your strengths and using them Properly dealing with compliance issues Networking and relationship building How he interviews and hires Chinese and foreigners  Connect with Sascha on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sascha-rensen-b30261170/

The question of what sort of revolution the Nationalist revolution will be creates a fundamental division within the Guomindang.Further reading:C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927Alexander Pantsov, The Bolsheviks and the Chinese Revolution, 1919-1927Jack Gray, Rebellions and Revolutions: China from the 1800s to 2000Some names from this episode:Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the GuomindangTang Shengzhi, Hunan warlord who sided with the National Revolutionary Army and contested leadership with Chiang Kai-shekPeng Pai, Communist peasant organizerKarl Radek, provost of Sun Yatsen University in Moscow Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=DACDMMMEASJVJ)

Chinese state media were exposed for publishing a fake video of a heroic disaster rescue by communist party members. The video shows 15 “party members” of a rescue unit of the Chinese Air Force jump into chest-high water to stop water from being released from the Ganjiang River in Nanchang, Jiangxi. However, the truth of the footage was quickly revealed: it was a video from June showing a practice exercise by a different rescue team in Zhengzhou of Henan in the Enshi Grand Canyon of Hubei. Many Chinese netizens lashed out at the fake reports, calling them “shameless.” Meanwhile, after close to 600,000 Hong Kong residents voted in primary polls for democracy candidates, which was seen as a vote against the new National Security Laws, local authorities declared that the vote was “illegal,” and that local authorities are now launching an investigation. They claimed the vote was intended as being against government legislation, which could be a violation of the new National Security Laws that forbid dissent. And residents in Xihongmen town, in the suburbs of Beijing, recently fought with police about having to pay for new entry passes to their village. These entry passes are part of a new system enacted by the government to monitor people’s movements in an effort to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus These stories and more in this episode of Crossroads. ⭕️ Subscribe for updates : http://bit.ly/CrossroadsYT ⭕️ Donate to support our work: https://www.bestgift.tv/crossroads ⭕️ Join Patreon to Support Crossroads: https://www.patreon.com/Crossroads_Josh

Guest Post & Episode by Erin Coyle contributed from post via Travel Massive https://www.fitlifecreation.com/post/5-ways-to-transform-and-travel-sultanate-of-oman     Are you looking to travel to somewhere unique and unusual? Are you tired of having the same travel experiences? Are you looking for a new location that is not a place you would normally travel to? Are you looking for some me time and just need to relax and recharge? I have just the place for you that will solve all these questions.   The place I want to talk about is The Sultanate of Oman. This amazing country is near the UAE and Saudi Arabia. It is well known for its pristine beaches, amazing desert, hospitality, hiking, snorkeling, and camping.   There is something for everyone in this charming country. Most people have heard of the capital Muscat; however, I suggest you drive south two hours to Sur, which is a charming coastal city.   Erin in Her Words   My name is Erin Coyle and I am from the United States. Currently, I am teaching English as a second language at Sur College of Applied Sciences in Sur, the Sultanate of Oman. I have been teaching here for almost two years in a foundation program.   Prior to this, I taught English as a Foreign Language at Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal University in Nanchang, China for five years. Before starting my overseas teaching career, I was a morning show co-host in radio for six years and before this career I worked in event planning and fundraising.   I have always loved traveling, which is part of the reason why I moved abroad. I wanted to try a new career and travel at the same time. I believe traveling is a way for us discover new experiences, new ideas, new cultures, and a way to appreciate what we have.   It is also a chance to meet people from around the world. I also believe we grow each time we travel as we keep discovering new things about ourselves or even try new things that we never thought we would do.   I have had a chance to travel around Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East and South Africa. I’m always planning my next destination!   https://erinsomanadventures.tumblr.com/ https://www.instagram.com/marvelous_sur/     Next Series Coming Up:  Scale Smart: 411 to Automate & Delegate Your Business Like a Boss Faith Focus: Self Hate to Love   Let's CREATE!   Tag us on social media for a chance to win one of our giveaways: a month in the mastermind, a course, and/or event ticket! @katrinajuliafit @fitlifecreation #createitgiveaway #createit #fitlifecreation   FIT Life Creation: Lifestyle Brand: Health, Wealth, Biz in 1   Think Amazon Meets Airbnb for Transformation with Influencer Marketing (Revolve / Like it to Knowit) and Fundraising Twist.   CREATE IN OUR COMMUNITY 1 LIFESTYLE TRANSFORMATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP FREEBIES LIBRARY     2 LIFESTYLE TRANSFORMATION LIVE EVENTS AND RETREATS     3 CONNECT AND CREATE COMMUNITY IN OUR LIFESTYLE ENTREPRENEUR COLLABS   4 WELLNESS, MEDIA, LIFESTYLE & TRAVEL FOR BRANDS

�【重要通知】6月15~17日，Albert将在公众号「Albert英语研习社」直播分享他的独家学习秘诀，赶紧关注他的公众号，抢免费报名名额吧！27-year-old Li Jiaqi has won himself the nickname "King of lipstick" with his maverick sales technique. Once an unassuming shop assistant earning a modest salary in Nanchang in south-east China, he now has more than 40 million followers on Douyin.主播：周邦琴Albert●没有名牌大学背景，没有英语专业背景●没有国外留学经历，没有英语生活环境●22岁成为500强公司全球员工英文讲师●24岁自学成为同声传译●25岁为瑞士联邦总统翻译

�【重要通知】6月15~17日，Albert将在公众号「Albert英语研习社」直播分享他的独家学习秘诀，赶紧关注他的公众号，抢免费报名名额吧！27-year-old Li Jiaqi has won himself the nickname "King of lipstick" with his maverick sales technique. Once an unassuming shop assistant earning a modest salary in Nanchang in south-east China, he now has more than 40 million followers on Douyin.主播：周邦琴Albert●没有名牌大学背景，没有英语专业背景●没有国外留学经历，没有英语生活环境●22岁成为500强公司全球员工英文讲师●24岁自学成为同声传译●25岁为瑞士联邦总统翻译

关注微信公众号「Albert英语研习社」, 获取本节目讲义。 【重要通知】《Albert说英闻》直播版来啦！Albert将直播分享如何轻松搞定长难句，高效提升阅读和词汇！赶紧关注他的公众号，抢免费报名名额吧！ 27-year-old Li Jiaqi has won himself the nickname "King of lipstick" with his maverick sales technique. Once an unassuming shop assistant earning a modest salary in Nanchang in south-east China, he now has more than 40 million followers on Douyin. 主播：周邦琴Albert ●没有名牌大学背景，没有英语专业背景 ●没有国外留学经历，没有英语生活环境 ●22岁成为500强公司全球员工英文讲师 ●24岁自学成为同声传译 ●25岁为瑞士联邦总统翻译

This is my reading of William E. Schubert's I Remember John Sung (1976), printed by Acme Printers (Pte) Ltd. Rev. Schubert, in his introduction, writes: "Dr. John Sung was probably the greatest preacher of this century. I have heard almost all the great preachers from 1910 until now, including R.A. Torrey, Billy Sunday, Henry Jowett, the great holiness preachers, the Methodist bishops, including Bishop Quayle, even Harry Emerson Fosdick, who set a great example of the homiletic art, though I did not agree with him, and finally Billy Graham. Yet John Sung surpassed them all in pulpit power, attested by amazing and enduring results, of which we will give examples later." Dare to be challenged by John Sung's life? May God raises more John Sungs today! Amen #ServeToLead #IRememberJohnSung