3.124 Fall and Rise of China: Sino-Tibetan War of 1930–1932

11/04/24 • 34 min

Age of Conquest: A Kings and Generals Podcast

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...

#124 Sino-Tibetan War of 1930–1932

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3.123 Fall and Rise of China: Central Plains War

Last time we spoke about the Chiang-Gui War. China was reunified, but not was all well in Camelot. Chiang Kai-Shek initially popular, faced opposition from various factions, including Northern warlords and rival generals. The KMT decided to relocate the capital from Beijing to Nanking, which sparked resistance from those attached to Beijing’s rich history. The KMT then struggled with demobilizing the massive National Revolutionary Army, which had over 2 million troops. Chiang Kai-Shek aimed to reduce this number significantly but faced challenges, including discontent among warlords like Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan. Tensions escalated into the Chiang-Gui War, where Chiang defeated the Guangxi Clique led by Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi. This victory, however, did not end the turmoil as Feng and Yan formed an anti-Chiang coalition with Wang Jingwei. The struggle led to a dramatic showdown, culminating in the Taiyuan Conference where Yan Xishan was promoted to commander-in-chief, setting the stage for further conflict.

#123 The Central Plains War

We last left off with basically every other big dog in China getting ready to gang up on Chiang Kai-Shek. Yan Xishan was now the commander in chief of an anti-chiang coalition with his deputy commanders being Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren and Zhang Xueliang....however Zhang Xueliang was nowhere to be found. During what has been referred to as the “telegram war” period, the Young Marshal had actually spent the entire time in Mukden frantically telegraming all the significant North Chinese warlords and generals to not join the anti-chiang movement.

To take a small sidestep. In the last episode I explained why Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi and their Guangxi clique turned against Chiang Kai-Shek, but what motivations did someone like Feng Yuxiang and his Guominjun have to do so?

A severe famine hit the Guanzhong region of Shaanxi, where Feng Yuxiang held power. This famine, which occurred in the 18th year of the Republic of China, is also referred to as the "Famine of the 18th Year of the Republic of China." Within Shaanxi, a year without any harvest is called a famine year, two consecutive years of poor harvest are also labeled famine years, and three consecutive years are considered a severe famine. During the 18th year of the Republic of China, the region faced an extreme famine with virtually no harvest for six consecutive seasons over three years. Some considered it a once-in-a-century event, while others claimed it was a disaster seen once in 300 years. According to modern historical records and newspaper reports, Shaanxi experienced drought in 1928, which caused poor summer wheat yields, while autumn and winter crops could not be planted due to a lack of rain. By 1929, the drought worsened. No rain fell from spring through autumn, drying up wells and rivers like the Jing, Wei, Han, and Bao. Most trees withered, and crops failed—summer harvests only amounted to 20%, and autumn yields were nonexistent. The famine was so severe that grass roots and tree bark became scarce, with the roads littered with corpses and countless people fleeing the area.

According to a report by the Shaanxi Disaster Relief Committee on September 5 of that year, 91 of the province's 92 counties were affected by the drought. Except for a few counties along the Wei River that had some green crops, the rest were barren. Among the 91 counties, 24 were extremely severely affected, 27 severely affected, 15 moderately affected, and 25 slightly affected. The most severely hit areas included Chang'an, Wugong, Fengxiang, Fufeng, Qianxian, Qishan, Meixian, Xingping, Xianyang, Lintong, Weinan, Zhouzhi, and others. Out of a total population of over 9.4 million, 2.5 million people died of starvation, approximately 400,000 fled, and over 200,000 women were sold to other regions such as Henan, Shanxi, Beiping, Tianjin, and Shandong.

Back in 1927, Chiang Kai-shek established the KMT’s new government in Nanking. By June, Chiang and Feng Yuxiang succeeded in uniting the two Kuomintang warlord factions during the Xuzhou Conference. In February 1928, Chiang and Feng solidified their alliance by becoming ...

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3.125 Fall and Rise of China: From the Jinggangshan Mountains to the Jiangxi Soviet

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

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 we...