Sino-Manchu War (Chinese Civil War)

The Sino-Manchu War (清民内战 lit. Qing-Republican Civil War) was a civil war in China fought between the Kuomintang (KMT)-led government of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Qing Royalist-led Government of the Empire of China (no relation to Yuan Shikai's Empire of China). The civil war began after the victory against Japan in 1945, where Chiang Kai-Shek put down an ultimatum for Warlords across the nation, and the communists, to "surrender, or to be wiped out entirely." All warlords were subdued, and with not much more fighting, the Communist Party of China became a legal opposition party of the Republic of China.

However, the remnants of the former Japanese puppet of Manchukuo did not submit so; Chiang Kai-Shek did not think of them as warlords. In combination with the growing Qing Restorationist movement growing in China at the time, the Nationalist Government had concerns about another Civil War.

In 8th August 1946, Puyi, along with now Pro-Qing Zhang Xueliang, declared the establishment of the Empire of China and declared war on the Nationalist Government around a year later, claiming them as the illegitimate government of China. Seeing this as an opportunity to consolidate their power in China with the fledgling Royalist Government, the Soviets provided aid for the Qing.

Nationalist China
The post-war China suffered from multiple problems, including unrest, a incompetent industry, and a very high illiteracy rate. Furthermore, the NRA had worn itself down by a large amount after the 2nd Sino-Japanese war, meaning internal stability would be hard to maintain. Chiang Kai-Shek, however, decided that if his regime took down any rival regimes, the Nationalist Government would consolidate power in China and would be able to regain lost territories such as Hong Kong, or Guangzhouwan.

Through economical reforms, industrialization and mandatory education for all, China was able to progress further that it had a industrial level above it's own level during the Nanjing decade. The Army Reforms of 1948 were important for the victory of the Nationalists - through military advisors from the United States, China was intending to introduce mass mobilization technology to it's large army, with mass production of truck and transportation. However, due the large nature of the NRA, both mobilization and mechanization were at a slow rate. Nevertheless, China had advanced from a mostly agricultural state to a more industrial state.

Qing Restorationists
Through a lend-lease system, the Qing armies were trained by Soviet standards and were entirely equipped with Soviet weaponry. However, due to the failed industrialization of the Northeast of China, ammunition and supplies were scarce, often causing problems with the operation of the Qing armies.

The Peiping (Beijing) Incident
Increasing tensions between the two regimes prompted both to station more troops near Beijing, preparing for a clash between the two.

On the evening of July 2nd 1947, a NRA Xianbing (Military Police) patrol was patrolling the Xicheng district of Peiping, and faced a group of Qing soldiers at a government building, placing "suspicious items down". The patrol issued a verbal warning, only to be faced by rifle gunfire, and returned fire. Throughout the city, many government buildings were blown up, and this caused wide-spread panic.

The same patrol that instigated the firefight between them and the Qing soldiers were faced with artillery fire and were entirely wiped out but the commanding officer. The next day, the Qing Restorationist movement declared war on the Nationalists, claiming that "(they) mistreated their citizens and it is up to use to return the rightful place of the Mandate of Heaven".

The War Begins
By 5th July, the NRA had mobilized the New 8th, New 87th and 16th Field Armies to Beijing with artillery support and air support from positions near Pinggu, whom the Qing suffered heavy casualties from. The Qing moved the "Mythical Tiger" division to a battle of Chengde with the 24th Battalion of the New 8th, but under a quick blitzkrieg movement devised by Sun Li-Jen, Chengde was retaken and placed under Nationalist control. This was known as the "crab rave maneuver" as the moving troops on paper looked like multiple crab's pincers attacking the enemy in one succession.

Continuous attempts by the Qing to retake Beijing in October and November were futile, and the Qing High Command was forced into a war of attrition against the technologically advanced NRA.

War of Attrition
The Imperial Cabinet declared a state of total but refused to conscript citizens, and switched their tactics to guerilla warfare. A quick mobilization of the regime's forces, including the 1st Dongbei Army, 1st Shantung Reserves, among many others to continue the warfare against the Nationalists.

During the winter of 1947, the Qing prepared for an invasion through the Daxing Anling, which prompted the High Command to build defenses there. The Nationalists, unknowing of this plot, advanced 2 Mobilized Battalions as a vanguard unit into Daxing Anling through Mongolia. However, with Soviet supplied Katyusha Missiles, the Vanguards were kept under heavy artillery fire and were forced to retreat to the main Nationalist force.

The Battle of Daxing Anling began on 3rd January 1948, with more than 500 Nationalist tanks advancing into the area, but were attacked by artillery and fell victim to the mined fields. At the same time, a unknown aircraft bearing a Red Star symbol reminiscent of the Soviet star was spotted in the East China sea. The ROC Airforce scrambled 2 Chu X-P0s to intercept but to no avail. In Daxing Anling, the mechanized assault against the Qing was not advancing any land for the Nationalists, leading Puyi to say: "The illegitimate rulers of the country cannot best us with their foreign toys!". The Nationalist Government responded to this, calling it "ridiculous and hypocritical", as the Qing had both purchased and maintained lend-lease equipment from the Soviets.

In March 1948, mass protests in Shenyang began, against the Qing government. Common catchphrases were "推翻帝制，光我民族 (Overthrow the Monarchy, and further glorify our Ethnicity)". The protests were faced with a bloody armed suppression by the Qing, and some 1,500 protesters were killed. American newsreels showed a protester being subjected to Lingchi (Slow killing), which sparked an negative response from the United States, claiming that it was "inhumane" and the Nationalists were more "civilized than these Soviet lapdogs". This was to much criticism when the Soviets responded to this statement, further worsening relations between the US and the USSR.

By June 1948, the rapid modernizing Nationalist army was reformed into the Republic of China Armed Forces, and multiple issues such as army corruption were addressed by the Chinese General Staff. Furthermore, local weapon production was continued, and with help from Germany, the ROCA was able to produce the third assault weapon in the world, and was slowly issued to infantry.

The Year of Offensives
By Late 1948, it was certain that the Nationalists had the upper hand in the war, and for the Qing to win, it was instrumental for a technological advance and a punishing offensive against the Nationalists. On 3th April 1949, a invading force of 500,000 men was sent from Hebei, which took the Nationalist armies training in Zhangjiakou by surprise, and pushed them back as far as Shanxi. At this time, the Soviet 3rd fleet brought the 6th Holy Seal Army to the island of Taiwan, and the 8th Royal Raiders to the island of Hainan. The Nationalist Government had only recently reclaimed Taiwan and Hainan, and was yet to input defenses and a considerable military presence in the area. The invasion force invaded Taiwan up to Kaohsiung, and the entirety of Hainan.

By July 1949, the preparation for the newly trained ROC marines were not complete, as the M1 Garands purchased by the Armed Forces were yet to be delivered to Guangdong, the location of the Marine Bootcamp. This meant that the amphibious invasions of Taiwan and Hainan were to be delayed until the marines were capable of conducting a D-Day style landing. Hence, the engineer corps began construction of a bridge to the city of Haikou on July 23th to reinforce the final defenses of the area with more men. The Qing, with their newly purchased Ar-2 dive bombers from Soviet reserves, attacked the newly trained 3rd Marines crossing the bridge, causing immense casualties and significant damage to the bridge. Meanwhile, on August 7th, the 4th and 5th Amphibious Landing corps began heading to Taiwan on the newly built ROC Navy Fujian-Class vessels. The vessels opened fire on the island, but did not receive any returning fire from the defenders of the island.

The multiple defeats for the ROCA reduced morale in parts of the army, but the offensives of the Qing were to be used against them.

Down with the Monarchy!
The multiple offensives held by the Qing forces were effective in a quick succession, but the large amount of resources put into the advances and the forces deep in enemy lines greatly increased attrition for the Qing.

Mustering support of the people, the Nationalist Government were quick to create large protests throughout the region, causing less war support and less willingness for the army to fight. However, almost all of them were subdued in a violent fashion by the Royal Guard.

Attempts to attack the ROCA failed, and the war was in it's final stage.

Retaking the Northeast
In May 1950, a mass invasion of the Northeast beginning with 150,000 men. The American-trained 8th Army were in a spearhead formation direct to Shenyang, while the 31th and New 1st were to wipe out any resistance on the way. This strategy proved to be rather problematic, as the enemy could evade the mass sweeps by the ROCA and attack the main lines.

With no place to hold the empire up, Qing forces invaded the Republic of Korea, prompting the United States to send expeditionaries. The forces advanced as far as Hanseong, making it the provisional capital. At this time, Shenyang was retaken but pockets of resistance remained in sectors of the city, hence a curfew and martial law was declared. The advance towards Hanseong was met with little to no resistance, and the quick nature of the Qing infantry advanced soon to annex the entire of the Korean peninsula. However, this annexation would not be long-held: the New 4th Army advanced through Jilin Province and crossed the Yalu River, attacking Qing defenses in combination with howitzer fire and air support. By 1951, the final year of the war, the Qings were effectively beaten into the Korean peninsula. Through a mixture of mechanized assault and an establishment of as C3I system through extensive training in the Whampoa Military Academy, the ROCA was able to push as far as the Bukhan River.

The Bukhan River was an very wide river, and reaches a length of 482km. However, in the Winter of 1951, it was instrumental that the ROCA push forwards to the Kimhwa region, in order to reach Hanseong. Through engineering, more bridges were built and a force of 3 divisions crossed the bridge in an interval of 14 hours, under constant MiG air assaults.

In June of the same year, the ROCA stormed Hanseong and it's high command there. Puyi was found guilty of treason, Zhang Zuolin was killed defending the Imperial Palace, and Zhang Xueliang surrendered. The rest of the Qing General Staff were sentenced to a life sentence in prison for treason. However, fighting would continue until October of that year, when the remnants of the Imperial Cabinet were extracted by NKVD officers to Moscow, creating essentially a government-in-exile. No peace treaty has been signed and it is widely disputed if the war has ended yet or not.