Pax's Alternate History Snippet repository.

[Faralis]

very funny to read,how soviet belived in powerfull England plot!

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In paper, the UK was the most powerful empire in the world atm. We know they were almost ruined by WWI, but they didn't. And it's just 3 or 4 years since the brits stopped officially supporting the Whites.

Is an over exaggeration, but they had reasons to distrust the brits.

Weimar was already building "tractors" in the SU, so no idea why they included them in the conspiracy.

 

[Imperator Pax]

That's one that we should be seeing more of is socially English conspiracies were a popular fear of the time because of London / the British empire s hitherto dominant capital financial position

Germany and France both also got hit with this to a lesser extent due to cultural stigma / inertia

 

[ATP]

In paper, the UK was the most powerful empire in the world atm. We know they were almost ruined by WWI, but they didn't. And it's just 3 or 4 years since the brits stopped officially supporting the Whites.

Is an over exaggeration, but they had reasons to distrust the brits.

Weimar was already building "tractors" in the SU, so no idea why they included them in the conspiracy.

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Yes.Book i mentioned was made on soviet intelligence papers which stopped to be secret,and soviets really belived that there is british mastermind which control both Germany and Poland as if they were their puppets.
Which is bullshit - but soviets really belived it.

That's one that we should be seeing more of is socially English conspiracies were a popular fear of the time because of London / the British empire s hitherto dominant capital financial position

Germany and France both also got hit with this to a lesser extent due to cultural stigma / inertia

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Agree,althought London City arleady was replaced by NY Wall Street as dominant financial position.
Another thing - soviet agent i mentioned should go to China and Tibet next year.Here:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Roerich&ved=2ahUKEwiHiZmomcOIAxXuCRAIHd-0LoQQFnoECBsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0Szlb8RjKiKo9tFovh3nmX

Dude really belived that he could create buddhism which could support soviets,which,of course,was bullshit.
But - you could use his expedition as comic relief.

And most of his paintings are good.

 

[Imperator Pax]

"he's an artist, he paints fine, but boy are his ideas queer." - Young Carter probably.

 

[Imperator Pax]

April 1924
The 10th ​Division of the Army had reached strength on schedule for the summer drill... it was just that the drill the previous year had started a little earlier than originally laid out. Right now they were herewith 1st​. The active portions of the 5th​ were currently on the border with Hupeh, and the 7th​ were with Bill at the lake. It was a fairly typical deployment... at least it was on paper. Typical meant most would mean that the reading would be largely taken in stride.

The reality though was what having the10th​ at strength meant. Percy had reminded him that Xian's triangular divisions were roughly equivalent in size to British ones. Admittedly there were slight differences but by and large it was a close enough thing. "We don't have a navy," Or if he had wanted to be an asshole he could have pointed out the lack of outstanding debt to the United States which was something of a repeated topic of discussion in Europe... but the Brits at least seemed good for the money unlike the French.

"You might one day."

"I respect my neighbors borders as long as they respect mine. I respect their property when they respect mine."

"But you do carry a very large stick," Percy returned borrowing from one of Teddy Roosevelt's stump speech arguments, "You have gunboats now, that is a start."

He bit down at the riposte as Percy scored the point, because that was true, and the expedition had been a thing, "Cole has riverine craft that frankly will need something other than the 1PDRs they were built with," The 1PDR had been on cutters and small navy boats when he'd gotten to the Philippines and even though the Army had taken them to war, and Black Jack had had them in Europe too, they were long in the tooth. The issue had been that Cullen had been in the process of looking at other artillery... the 25mm autocannon had still been in development, the 3 inchers of the regular army had been against his preference and the heavier 122mm with its better high explosive was not ready. The latter had currently the least amount of work put into it, but given time and probably ten years then they'd have something that met his standards, "If any of us will have a navy, it will be Powell, and I wish him all the luck for that endeavor." He'd need it, Allen expected, Navies seemed impossibly expensive things... but then ten years ago he would have thought ten divisions would have been too great a burden financially to support... but then the war in Europe had occurred "So the 10th​?"

"Its not so much the tenth, though their timing could hardly be missed," Percy stated, "Its the question of what goes from here," The englishman remarked. "And I will not deny that Minister Schurman," Always Minister not Doctor from the English bluebloods, but he supposed that the South was not that different in the distinction either... "has also questions. You plan to expand."

"And if we do it will be on a similar time frame, but for the moment we expect no new divisions." He paused, and offered the englishman an out, if he needed one, "Is this about Zhang?"

"In part yes, I understand that whatever complaints exist between Mukden Xian are unlikely to come to blows. And," Percy paused, " to be certain Zhang has ties to America, and similar positive sentiments exist with Japan, even with the passing of Prince Yamagata. Zhang purchases a great deal of materiel."

"From Britain."

"Yes, of course, but Germany and Italy as well. He enjoys the benefit of international trade, which are within the letter of the law," He might protested the Jordan embargo as not being the law but there was little point for as Percy had just outlined for all the griping done about enforcement in the interests of business, and politics the letter of the law rather than Jordan's intentions were the important thing... even the letter was flaunted frequently enough. "Zhang's arsenals, his factories they're productive... and its heavy industry. I don't need to point that out to you of course, but it exasperates the divide with the south, where some of my colleagues in the Foreign Service are already drawing comparisons between Northern Italy and Southern Italy." Which had been something that probably had been bound to happen, but also highlighted the change in opinions voiced by the British diplomats. "But it also brings to mind concerns that China is going to break apart, not just north and south but that the north will splinter unless something is done. The Chinese themselves understand this from their own history spawning that idiom about kingdoms dividing."

Japan been worried about that as well. As had the States. China, her myriad of provinces were densely peopled. It had been hard in the early years for the Cadre to grasp what administering even a 'small' Chinese province entailed... and the devastation of China's civil war in their grandfathers' days when the states had similarly been enjoined in conflict.

Allen stood up, and rifled through a series of papers. All intended for public disclosure all documents for which the cadre planners, and the general staff had furnished to each other, and also to the legislature's lower house, "I cannot speak to that," For the truth was domestic sentiment was complicated... efforts to bring the south back into line had bled the north of treasure and men and more to the point had failed. Yunnan was just the most conspicuous, and every year Manchuria seemed further and further distant from Peking... and xian as well regardless for which the salt gable and other taxes were sent to the beiyang government in the capital. It was the public sentiment of the north which grew disaffected with the idea of a parliament of fools. "Tenth division is up. If we plan to establish further divisions, it will follow something along this model," The public records were clear on the procedure at this point.

Percy understood that, "Yes John Allen, I was here for when the process was begun. Zhang has 27 Brigades now." Twenty seven brigades for the three provinces of Manchuria, which came out to about a brigade per million people, if one only counted army, "and then the air force and his small navy." Thus Zhang Tsolin on paper had 9Divisions under his command, and a sizable air force to represent a wealthy industrialized small country the likes of Manchuria, but there were complicating factors... "But that's the example, isn't it? The planned expansion will be more than two brigades, or two divisions even. You'll lay it out so everyone will know its coming, but that transparency for whatever it wins you with the public, is not as reassuring to people outside Xian as you might think."

and yet, while it was sometimes hard to discern the new president's feelings but Hughes generally seemed favorable to the cadre's influence both here, and Powell's work as head of the MAK. Hughes also was favorably disposed to Britain thus it plausible that a cordon around the soviets was practicable. What Harding's death meant... well the Cadre was not expecting a full break from isolationist talk but Coolidge did not seem likely to extend recognition to the bandits in moscow which was a relief.

 

[ATP]

"he's an artist, he paints fine, but boy are his ideas queer." - Young Carter probably.

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Yup.Buddhist-leninism is queer,no matter how you look at it,becouse dude really tried to sell locals in China and Tibet that Lenin is Maitreia which was supposed to come for buddhists !

That aside - you could buy cheaply some small naval gun for your gunboats from A-H or germany,for example

Škoda 7 cm guns - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Skoda 66mm naval gun,should be enough for river warships.
Here,i found list of most naval guns used :

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_naval_guns_by_caliber&ved=2ahUKEwjw8qyRuY-PAxXJgSoKHeEJJcUQFnoECBQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw05rO2pg8DMZphQjLm4OiYw

You should found something there for your boats !

P.S Roerih claimed,that brits tried to sabotage his expedition,here it could be done by your americans!
By the way - maybe you made Shamballa and Agharta real in your story? Himmler belived in second,and even send at least 3 expedition to Tibet to ally with them! but - it would be before 1939,not in 1924.

 

[Unik]

How hard is administering China, let alone a province? Are the provinces that huge and powerful? Btw how is the Cadre administering their zone of control and how is the logistics of the army at the moment?

 

[Imperator Pax]

How hard is administering China, let alone a province? Are the provinces that huge and powerful? Btw how is the Cadre administering their zone of control and how is the logistics of the army at the moment?

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The simple answer is railways... and yes the biggest issue with Chinese administration is that in this period is that infrastructure both in material and manpower had been neglected for so long that there were provinces that had degenerated to the point where some counties in Sichuan were fielding local armies in the tens of thousands of troops its not that they're powerful per se its that the lack of effective centralized bureaucracy and infrastructure meant that force projection in most provinces never mind the the post Yuan Shikai Beiyang government in Beijing just lacked the ability to stop seasonal warfare which ussually ended up destroying or at least preventing maintenance on dikes and roadways b/c these provincial armies frequently impressed laborers as baggage carriers for their campaigns.

For the Cadre this is why the railways are so important because it largely obviates the traditional importance of baggage carriers as well as goes into administration since the railways started as a way to carry goods, tax revenue and provide postal services and the rail allows a reliable functionally all weather way to move both in between counties in a province, and in between provinces i.e. between Shansi and Shensi or out west through Gansu, or into Tibet to Lhasa There is also the industrial urbanization component which weakens though not all together eliminates the importance of seasonal work which reinforces centralized leadership