China

China

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Capital:

Nanjing

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Government type:

Non-Aligned, Despotic

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Faction:

Neutral (1936), Chinese United Front (1939)

 China is a regional power located in East Asia. Though it isn't one of the seven majors, it generally ends up as a Major Power due to it leading the Chinese United Front. It borders  Japan and its puppet states of  Mengkukuo and  Manchukuo to the north,  Tibet to the west and  British Raj to the south west. China may also border the  United Kingdom,  Portugal and  France due to their colonial holdings after reclaiming its core territories.

Due to China being fragmented by the warlord era, much of its core territory is owned by warlord cliques with the  Yunnan Clique and the  Guangxi Clique in the south, the  Sinkiang Clique to the far north west and the  Xibei San Ma Clique and  Shanxi Clique to the north. It also borders  Communist China in the north and both nations engage in events revolving around the ongoing Chinese Civil War.

The nation is fractured from civil wars and political strife, making it seemingly weak and easy prey for the Japanese. However, with the highest base population – 340.4 million – (which will increase to an even higher level once China is united) and a great deal of room to grow to an industrial giant, China can buy time and put it to good use. If they can overcome their fractiousness and stand together, China can turn Japan's attack into a dangerous meat grinder to sap Japan's manpower and turn themselves into a power on par with the other world majors.

Historical background

The history of the Republic of China begins after the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing dynasty in 1911, when the formation of a constitutional republic put an end to 2,000 years of rule by various, occasionally competitive, imperial dynasties. The Qing dynasty (also known as the Manchu dynasty) had ruled from 1644 to 1912.

The republic experienced many trials and tribulations after its founding and is fractured by both internal and external elements. The central government was unable to assert full control over the country, resulting in the frontier regions of Uriankhai ( Tannu Tuva),  Mongolia and  Tibet breaking away and becoming de facto independent, and the provinces controlled by often disobedient warlord generals. Worse still, the Western powers and Japan continued to maintain their "spheres of influence" carved out during the Qing dynasty to force trade and exploitation.

In 1928, the republic was nominally unified by Chiang Kai-Shek under the "Kuomintang" (KMT) – also known as Chinese Nationalist Party – after the Northern Expedition, and embarked on a program of industrialization and modernization. However, the republic remained rife with conflicts as the Nationalist government struggled to keep the warlords in check (represented in-game by the presence of autonomous warlord cliques of  Shanxi,  Yunnan,  Guangxi Clique,  Xibei San Ma and  Sinkiang), while fighting a civil war with the nascent  Communist Party of China.

On September 18, 1931, the Kwantung Army of  Japan staged a false flag operation as a pretext to invade northeastern China in what became known as the Mukden Incident, leading to the swift occupation of northeastern China and the subsequent creation of the puppet state of  Manchukuo in 1932. A period of relative peace ensued for the next few years, until it was broken by  Japan with a full-scale invasion in 1937 after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. The Nationalists and Communists set aside hostilities and formed the Second United Front against Japan. The Second Sino-Japanese War lasted until 1945 with the unconditional surrender of  Japan, following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Soviet invasion of  Manchukuo. The Chinese Civil War, however, would reignite almost immediately thereafter, with major hostilities lasting from 1946 until 1950, after Communist forces had taken control of mainland China and the Republic of China had retreated to Taiwan. To this day, although combat has ceased, a peace treaty has never been signed, and the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China both claim to be the only legitimate government of all China.

Events

Main article: Chinese events

National focus

Chinese national focus tree.

Main article: Chinese national focus tree

 China gets a unique national focus tree in the Waking the Tiger expansion. Without the expansion, China utilizes the Generic national focus tree instead.

China's unique focus tree has 4 main branches:

Three Principles of the People

Focuses on the internal social affairs of the nation and regional political relations.

Military Affairs Commission

Focuses on military and fortification reform.

Unified Industrial Planning

Focuses on economic and technological build-up of the nation.

Invite Foreign Investors

Allows for expansion of foreign investment aimed at increasing Chinese power. This branch is shared with  Communist China and  Manchukuo.

Chinese minors that destroy or displace the Chinese national government and declare themselves the legitimate government will adopt this national focus tree. Players of Chinese minors should review their own focus tree and that of Nationalist or Communist China when planning their game.

Technology

China starts with only Great War era technology and with only 2 research slots. It can gain three further slots from its national focuses: “Expand the Academica Sinica”, “Chemical Research Institute”, and “Rural Schooling". While the first extra research slot is easily obtainable, the remaining two require considerable effort to unlock, especially the one from “Rural Schooling”, which requires at least 8 focuses (and potentially more, since most of those focuses will increase inflation which can only be reduced by completing other focuses).

Army Technology	Naval Technology	Air Technology	Electronics & Industry
Type 88 Basic Infantry Eq. Great War Tank Towed Anti-Air I	Early Destroyer Hull Early Cruiser Hull Basic Torpedo Naval Gunnery Casemate Secondary Battery Contact Mine	Liuchow Kwangsi Type 3 Interwar Fighter CAMCO Type 16 Interwar Bomber	None
Doctrines
Mass Assault	Fleet in Being	None

Cosmetic names

Nationalist China has many unique cosmetic names for its equipment, listed here.

Infantry & motorized techs

Type	1918	1936	1938	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944
Infantry Equipment	Type 88	Type 24		TsingTao MP18			ZB vz.26

Armor techs

Tech year	Amphibious	Light (TD/SPG/AA)	Medium (TD/SPG/AA)	Modern (TD/SPG/AA)	Heavy (TD/SPG/AA)	Super-Heavy (TD/SPG/AA)
1918
1934		Type 34			Type 34 Dà
1936		Type 36
1939			Type 39
1941		Type 41	Type 41		Type 41 Dà
1943			Type 43		Type 43 Dà
1945				Type 59

Artillery techs

Tech year	Anti-Air	Artillery	Rocket Artillery	Anti-Tank
1934		75mm Type 10
1936				37mm Type 14
1939		105mm Type 16 Jin
1940				37 mm Type 30
1942		150mm Type 14/19
1943				75 mm Type 43

Aircraft techs

Tech Year	Close Air Support (Carrier)	Fighter (Carrier)	Naval Bomber (Carrier)	Heavy Fighter	Tactical Bomber	Strategic Bomber	Scout Plane
1933		Type 3			Type 16
1936	Vultee V-11	Hawk	N-323	P-60	Type 36	Type 236
1940	Type 12	X-PO	N-650	PF-77	Type 240	NA
1944	Type 24	P12	N-854	PF-99	Type 44	Type 444
Jet Engine Technology
1945
1950

Politics

China in 1936 is a fractured and weakened nation, plagued by intra-KMT struggles, warlordism and an ever-present threat of a communist takeover. Aside from Nationalist China itself, several Chinese warlords (specifically  Yunnan, the  Guangxi Clique,  Shanxi,  Xibei San Ma and  Sinkiang) also control parts of China, dividing up the country into several smaller mutually hostile factions. China starts in an uneasy truce with  Communist China, while  Japan is to its north preparing for war and is likely to invade by mid-1937. Another diplomatic problem China has is one of its national spirits, "Communist Uprisings", which, if communist support rises high enough, will cause a random state to switch over to Communist China's control. This is a highly deleterious national spirit as the loss of a state means loss of resources, factories and manpower among other crippling penalties.

With the Waking the Tiger expansion, China no longer starts with "Communist Uprisings"; instead it has to contend with the Chinese Power Struggle mechanic, in which the communists and the warlords are able to use  political power to contest leadership over China after completing certain national focuses. Communist China is also able to infiltrate and stage uprisings in Chinese states and seize control of them. In addition, China begins with additional, crippling National Spirits that severely reduce its overall combat effectiveness across the board. These require time-consuming military and bureaucratic reform, through both National Focuses and Decisions, to remove.

National spirits

China starts with two national spirits in the base game:

Communist Uprisings

The tensions between communists and nationalists are present in all corners of the country. If communist support in the country goes too high, the communists will take control of a state.

German Military Advisors

• Land Doctrine Cost: -10.00%

A German military mission led by Alexander von Falkenhausen is present in China, and its advisors are assisting us in bringing our army up to Western standards.

With the Waking the Tiger expansion enabled, China starts without Communist Uprisings but retains German Military Advisors. In addition, it also starts with the following:

Nine Power Treaty

We still labor under the effects of the Unequal Treaties that formalize the "Open Door Policy" towards China. The foreigners still have extraterritorial rights, and we are not in full control of our economy.

Army Corruption

• Mobilization speed: -30.00%
• Division Attack: -30.0%
• Division Defense: -30.0%

Our armed force are rife with corruption and nepotism. If we want to turn them into a potent fighting force, we will have to engage in a lengthy and expensive program of army reform.

Ineffective Bureaucracy

• Recruitable Population Factor: −35%

The chaos of the civil war has disrupted the creation of an effective state apparatus. More than a third of available recruits are not drafted, simply because no one knows they exist. Reforming the examination process will ensure that we hire competent people.

Incompetent Officers

• Daily Command Power Gain Multiplier: -70%

Our officers are not yet up to the task of managing a modern war. Hard lessons will have to be learned before they are truly equal to their counterparts in other nations. Educating them will be part of a bigger program of army reform.

Low Inflation

• Consumer Goods Factories: 5%
• Factory Output: −5.00%

Our economists have noticed a slight increase in inflation. We should keep an eye on that.

Ruling party

China starts off as a non-aligned nation, but pursuing its national Focus tree far enough will eventually cause a gradual shift towards democracy.

Kuomintang (Non-Aligned)

Despotism is a form of government in which a single person rules with absolute power.

Traits

• Can’t impose its ideology on other countries
• Can’t puppet countries in a peace conference
• Ideology drift defense: -30%

World tension limits

• Generate war goal : 50%
• Join faction: 40%
• Lend-lease: 40%
• Send volunteers: 40%
• Guarantee: 40%

Political parties

Political Party	Ideology	Popularity	Party Leader	Is Ruling?	Nation Name
Kuomintang	Non-Aligned	100%	Chiang Kai-Shek	Yes	China
Kuomintang	Non-Aligned	Event only	Wang Jingwei	No, can come to power via the Xi'an Incident event chain	China
China Democratic League	Democratic	0%	Weng Wenhao	No	Republic of China
Communist Party of China	Communist	0%	Zhang Guotao	No	Chinese People's Republic
Blue Shirt Society	Fascist	0%	Wang Jingwei	No	Reorganized Nationalist China

Staff and designers

These are choices of advisors and design companies for China.

Political Advisors

Advisor	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Chiang Ching-Kuo	Silent Workhorse	Political Power Gain: +15%	150
H. H. Kung	Captain of Industry	Infrastructure construction speed: +10.00% Civilian Factory construction speed: +10.00% Refinery construction speed: +10.00%	150
Chen Yi	Compassionate Gentleman	Improve relations opinion: +15.00%	150
Kwong Jiang	Democratic Reformer	Daily Democracy Support: +0.10 Has completed focus Legislative Yuan Is not Supervised State	150
Dai Li	Illusive Gentleman	Operative slots: +1 Agency upgrade time: -15.0% Has created an Intelligence Agency Has completed focus Bureau of Investigation And Statistics	150
Generic Advisor	Prince of Terror	Non-core Manpower: +2.00% Foreign subversive activities efficiency: -30% Damage to Garrisons: -25.00% Has completed focus Bureau of Investigation And Statistics	150
Lin Sen	Popular Figurehead	Stability: +15.00%	150
Chen Guofu	Backroom Backstabber	Political Power Gain: +5% Ideology drift defense: +15.0%	150
Soong Mei-Ling	First Lady of the Republic	Stability: +5.00% War Support: +5.00% Requires Chiang Kai-Shek as current country leader	150
T.V. Soong	Financial Expert	Consumer Goods Factories: -5% Has completed focus Financial Policy	150

Tank Designers

Designer	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Sino-German Technical Mission	Heavy Tank Designer	Armor Research Speed: +15% Armor technology: Armor: +5% Hard attack: +5% One of the following must be true: Has completed focus Chinese Panzers Has national spirit German Military Advisors At peace with  German Reich	150
Morozov Design Bureau	Mobile Tank Designer	Armor Research Speed: +15% Armor technology: Max Speed: +5% Reliability: +10% Has completed focus Hire Soviet Designer At peace with  Soviet Union	150

Ship Designers

Designer	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Jiangnan Shipyard Group	Coastal Defense Fleet Designer	Naval Research Speed: +15% Carrier: Production Cost: -25.00% Deck size: -20% Max Range: -50% Capital Ship: Production Cost: -25.00% Armor: -20% Heavy Attack: -20% Max Range: -50% Screen: Production Cost: -25.00% Max Range: -50% Submarine: Production Cost: -25.00% Max Range: -50% Controls Shanghai	150
Dagu Shipyard	Raiding Fleet Designer	Naval Research Speed: +15% Carrier: Surface Visibility: -10.0% Max Speed: +10% Deck size: -10% Capital Ship: Surface Visibility: -10.0% Max Speed: +10% Heavy Attack: -10% Screen: Surface Visibility: -10.0% Max Speed: +10% Submarine: Sub Visibility: -10.0% Surface Visibility: -10.0% Max Speed: +10% Controls Beijing	150

Aircraft Designers

Designer	Type	Effect	Cost ()
CAMCO	Medium Aircraft Designer	Air Research Speed: +15% Heavy Fighter: Reliability: +20% Tactical Bomber: Reliability: +20% Has completed focus CAMCO	150
CAMCO - Fighter Division	Medium Aircraft Designer	Air Research Speed: +15% Fighter: Agility: +5% Air Attack: +10% Heavy Fighter: Reliability: +20% Tactical Bomber: Reliability: +20% Has completed focus Local Fighter Production	50
CAMCO - Bomber Division	Medium Aircraft Designer	Air Research Speed: +15% Fighter: Agility: +5% Air Attack: +10% Tactical Bomber: Range: +10% Ground Attack: +10% Close Air Support: Range: +10% Ground Attack: +10% Heavy Fighter: Reliability: +20% Tactical Bomber: Reliability: +20% Has completed focus Local Bomber Production	50

Materiel Designers

Designer	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Taiyuan Arsenal	Artillery Designer	Artillery Research Speed: +15% Controls Shanxi	150
Liaoning Arsenal	Motorized Equipment Designer	Motorization Research Speed: +15% Controls Liaoning	150
Hanyan Arsenal	Infantry Equipment Designer	Weapons and Equipment Research Speed: +15% Controls Hubei	150
Mukden Arsenal	Infantry Equipment Designer	Weapons and Equipment Research Speed: +15% Controls Liaotung	150

Industrial Concerns

Concern	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Mining Commission		Resource Gain Efficiency: +10.00% Has completed focus Mining Commission	5
Anshan Steel Works	Industrial Concern	Industrial Research Speed: +15% Controls Liaotung	150
Western Refinery	Refining Concern	Industrial Research Speed: +10% Synthetic Resources Research Speed: +15% Controls Liaotung	150
Sino-Soviet Resource Survey	Refining Concern	Industrial Research Speed: +10% Synthetic Resources Research Speed: +15% Controls Urumqi At peace with  Soviet Union	150
Shanghai Electronics	Electronics Concern	Electronics Research Speed: +15% Controls Shanghai	150

Theorists

Theorist	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Bo Yibo	Military Theorist	Land Doctrine Cost: -10.00%	100
Fang Zeyi	Air Warfare Theorist	Air Doctrine Cost: -10.00%	100
Huang Shen	Naval Theorist	Naval Doctrine Cost: -10.00%	100
Claire Lee Chennault	Air Warfare Theorist	Air Doctrine Cost: -10.00% Has completed focus Hire Chennault Does not have Claire Lee Chennault as Chief of Airforce At peace with  United States	25

Economy

Laws

Conscription Law	Economy Law	Trade Law
Volunteer Only 1.5% Recruitable population	Civilian Economy 35% Consumer Goods factories –30% Factory construction speed +30% Factory (type) conversion cost –40% Fuel gain per oil –25% Fuel capacity	Free Trade 80% Resources to market +10% Research speed +15% Factory/Dockyard output +15% Construction speed +40% Civilian intelligence to others +20% Navy intelligence to others

Industry and resources

Resources

	Type	No.
	Aluminum	0
	Chromium	0
	Oil	2
	Rubber	0
	Steel	45
	Tungsten	10

Industry

	Type	No.
	Civilian factory	21
	Military factory	11
	Naval dockyard	1

Industry

China starts off with a modest industrial base that can be grown to an impressive size once it unites with the warlords.

Resources

China starts with a very low amount of natural resources; however, more is within easy reach as subjugating the  Guangxi Clique will allow China to significantly increase its resource pool.

As a result of the national spirit Nine Power Treaty, China is restricted to  Free Trade, causing both units of oil, 8 units of tungsten and 36 units of steel to be exported.

Military

In 1936, China starts with a sizable but under-equipped army, and is supplemented with a small navy and air force. Overall, it has a total  manpower of 3.06M, of which 276.00K is tied up in the army, 11.90K in the navy and 2.60K in the air force, leaving 2.78M available for recruitment.

Army

	Type	No.
	Infantry	52
	Cavalry	5
	Total divisions	57

Navy

	Type	No.
	Destroyer	2
	Light cruiser	7
	Total ships	9

Air force

	Type	No.
	Fighter	100
	Tactical bomber	15
	Total planes	115

Army

The army in 1936 starts with 52 infantry divisions, with 28 of them made up of 4 infantry battalions and 24 of them made up of 6 infantry battalions, and 5 cavalry divisions each of 4 battalions.

Examples of alternative division template names for the National Revolutionary Army include:

• Garrison Units - Jingbei
• Provincial Division - Zhengshi Shi
• Cavalry Division - Qibing Shi
• Reorganized Division - Zheng Bian Shi
• Mountain Division(German Trained) - De Xie Shi
• Mechanized Division - Motuo Hua Bubing Shi

Navy

The navy in 1936 starts with 1 Ninghai-class light cruiser, 1 Haiqi-class coastal defense ship, 5 Hairong-class coastal defense ships and 2 Jianwei-class destroyers docked in Shanghai. Another Ninghai-class light cruiser, the Pinghai, is under construction at game start.

Air force

The air force in 1936 starts with 30 interwar fighters stationed in Beijing, and 70 interwar fighters and 15 interwar bombers stationed in Shanghai.

Military staff

Chief of Army

Name	Type	Effect	Cost ()	Cost ()
Zhu De	Army Offense (Expert)	Army Experience Gain: +0.09 daily Division Attack: +10.0%	100	20
Chen Jitang	Army Organization (Expert)	Army Experience Gain: +0.09 daily Division Organization: +8.0%	100	20
Li Zongren	Army Defense (Genius)	Army Experience Gain: +0.12 daily Division Defense: +15.0%	200	10
He Yingqin	Army Maneuver (Expert)	Divisions speed: +10.00% Army Experience Gain: +0.09 daily	100	20
Alexander von Falkenhausen	Army Offense (Expert)	Army Experience Gain: +0.09 daily Division Attack: +10.0% Has completed focus Give Falkenhausen Citizenship Von Falkenhausen is not recalled	50	20

Chief of Navy

Name	Type	Effect	Cost ()	Cost ()
Xiao Jinguang	Commerce Raiding (Expert)	Naval Experience Gain: +0.09 daily Convoy Raiding Efficiency: +15.00%	100	20
Bai Chongxi	Naval Reformer (Expert)	Naval Experience Gain: +0.16 daily	100	20
Chen Shaokuan	Decisive Battle (Expert)	Naval Experience Gain: +0.09 daily Capital Ship Attack: +10.00% Capital Ship Armor: +10.00% Screen Attack: +10.00% Screen Defense: +10.00%	100	20

Chief of Airforce

Name	Type	Effect	Cost ()	Cost ()
Wang Shu-ming	Ground Support (Expert)	Air Experience Gain: +0.09 daily Air Superiority: +10.00%	100	20
Zhou Zhirou	Old Guard	Air Experience Gain: -10.0% Maximum Command Power Increase: +20	50	0
Claire Lee Chennault	Ground Support (Expert)	Air Experience Gain: +0.09 daily Air Superiority: +10.00% Requires focus Hire Chennault Does not have Claire Lee Chennault as Theorist At peace with  United States	25	20

Military High Command

Name	Type	Effect	Cost ()	Cost ()
Gao Zhihang	Air Superiority (Genius)	Air Experience Gain: +0.12 daily Air superiority attack: +5.00% Air superiority defense: +5.00% Air superiority agility: +5.00%	200	10
Xiao Yisu	Infantry (Expert)	Army Experience Gain: +0.09 daily Infantry Division Attack: +10.0% Infantry Division Defense: +15.0%	100	20
Chen Cheng	Army Regrouping (Expert)	Army Experience Gain: +0.09 daily Division Recovery Rate: +8.0%	100	20
Yu Hanmou	Army Logistics (Expert)	Army Experience Gain: +0.09 daily Division Attrition: -8.0%	100	20

Strategies and guides

The below is one of many player suggested strategies for China. Bear in mind, due to the dynamic nature of the game, it may unfold differently for other players.

China starts off right in the middle of the Century of Humiliation and is still laboring and suffering from its effects, with corruption and incompetence hampering its governmental, military and industrial performance. In addition to that, China is also threatened by  Japan and will most likely only have around a year to prepare before war breaks out.

War can be avoided by signing Non-Aggression Pact (NAP) with Japan using Diplomatic Pressure (with La Résistance) and Improve Relations. If you are at war with Yan's Shanxi when Marco Polo Bridge Event fires and choose "We have Reach the Breaking Point" Japan will invite you to its Faction after it and its Puppets declare war on Shanxi. This is Stalin's Nightmare Scenario because China and Japan will have up to three years to build up and can use Mongolia to pick a fight with USSR any time. A better way is to guarantee Finland after Poland falls in late 1938 and it will be a defensive war in Spring 1939. If you can, research Pick a Fight with Japan Focus before join Japan's Faction and access the bonus meant for Japan but can be use for anyone invading China. Use this method to avoid war and if Finland is not guaranteed, Japan will attack US or Philippines before Hitler goes after Stalin, make sure to go down to at least Legislative Yuan Focus to slowing gain Democracy Support to join the Allies and go after Japan at this point with around Two Hundred total Factories that can be evacuated away from the coast. Take out Japan and go after USSR and Axis.

If 100% Stability/War-Support and Total Mobilization Economy Law in July 1937 is the goal, China will have to focus heavily on military build-up in order to allow it to properly equip and outfit its military to defend against Japan. Taking "Unified Industrial Planning" first is arguably the best choice for national Focuses, since "Expand the Academica Sinica" is available immediately after, which unlocks an additional research slot, allowing you to put more effort into both Industrial and Electrical research. The National Focus "Invite Foreign Investors" grants two civilian factories (which cannot get damaged) and if you can conquer the  Shanxi clique, the "Taiyuan Arsenal" and "Develop the Hanyan Arsenal" will grant additional military factories..

A look at the army

China also suffers from the Nation Spirit "Army Corruption", applies an immense -50% penalty to all division attack and defense, making China's military very ineffective in combat. This makes China's military so weak in fact, that when taking into account Japan's division templates this means that a force of comparable Chinese units might still lose a battle even when outnumbering the Japanese. You are essentially sending your men into a fight they are not likely to win and the only military strategy that China is capable of pulling off at this stage, given its incompetent leadership, is sending in its disorganized units en masse and relying on its massive army to win the day. Significant casualties are to be expected for your soldiers and it may very well be that China's rivers will have to run red with the blood of their sacrifice if China is to have any hope of an independent future.

But there is, however, hope. Even though China's units cannot match Japan's in battle, it is possible to compensate for that by bringing in a bigger stick to the fight. That bigger stick is Artillery; Artillery is quite affordable for China and grants a significant increase to both Divison Soft Attack and Hard Attack. If you place enough Artillery in a single division, you can actually increase its firepower to the point where, even with the penalty, you are able to hold your own against Japan through raw numbers alone. As such, mass-producing and equipping your units with Line Artillery can give your army units the necessary bite to allow them to more easily compete with Japanese units until the Army Corruption national spirit can be removed. In addition to regular Artillery, adding in Anti-Tank and Anti-Air artillery can also be very helpful for dealing with Japanese Tanks, Trucks and Planes, evening the odds in battle.

Additional Tips

• For early division changes:
  • The Sanjiao Jun infantry can be expanded to 7 infantry battalions right away. From here, it can branch in two directions (or some of each):
    • 8 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Anti-Air, 1 Anti-Tank can counter tier 2 light tanks, and help with the swarms of planes Japan will bring while also having the firepower to oppose enemy Infantry.
    • The standard 7 Infantry, 2 Artillery packs significant Soft Attack against enemy infantry and also has a fair degree of Hard Attack for dealing with Tanks and Trucks, making it a good workhorse for general use.
  • The Juntuán garrison infantry can be expanded to 5 infantry battalions, for an even 10 combat width.
  • The Qibing Jun cavalry can be duplicated:
    • The original Qibing Jun can then be expanded to 5 cavalry battalions, for an even 10 combat width. They can be given support artillery later.
    • The duplicate can be named Xiàn Bīng (Military Police) and left at the default 4 battalions for use later with an MP support company to root out resistance. Highlight the name and copy+paste it into the game to make life easier.
  • It can be tempting to research mountaineers, but considering China's small number of research slots, and the limited number of battalions for special forces available, it results in a very small payoff.
  • When using the Mass Assault Doctrine, the -0.4 combat width for infantry will allow considerable additions later in the game.
    • Alternatively, if one wishes to rely heavily on Artillery, one could also switch over to the Superior Firepower Doctrine, to maximize the firepower of Artillery.

"Military Affairs Commission" should be taken early on to start down on the path to removing Army Corruption.

In the standard scenario you'll get roughly one and a half year until Japan attacks. Use that time to build fortifications along your initial border with Japan (level 3 will do) and on or two fallback lines behind the rinext rivers, so if Japan breaks through, they will be slammed with two attack penalties.

Maintenance companies are your best friend. They should be the very first thing your research, and producing enough support equipment is the most important thing after infantry equipment, even more important than artillery - because they allow you to steal Japans artillery... and pretty much everything else. This will prove to be of immense value, as your own war industry is seriously lacking and won't see too much improvement for a while. Therefore being able to re-use dropped japanese equipment is a godsend. Research the level 2 update once it becomes available to increase your capture ratio to a whopping 10%. Same thing theoretically goes for level 3 of that technology in 1942, though chances are you won't have to. By that point Japan will likely have run out of steam and also be fighting on mutiple fronts, completely losing the war of attrition.

Defense of the Coastlines

Guard China's coast closely! If enough firepower is provided and effort is given, China is capable of holding off a Japanese attack from Manchuria but Japan has an Ace in the hole to undermine that and achieve victory. That Ace in the hole is Naval invasions; if China manages to significantly slow down or even halt the Japanese advance into China from Manchuria, Japan is very likely to attempt to launch a naval invasion to open up a second front and overwhelm China by overextending its weak military.

To prevent this from happening, make sure to station at least 3-4 garrison divisions (again, with Artillery to even the odds) at every port on China's coast to prevent Japan from gaining a foothold to open up a second front. You should also have a handful of "reserve garrison" units at the ready to reinforce any port that is under attack. If Japan attacks a port and the battle is not going well, move the reserve units in to assist the garrison units in holding off the attack. If Japan manages to defeat the garrison and capture a port then unless you manage to retake it quickly enough, this can potentially spell disaster as while China is capable of holding off Japan on one front, a second front will very likely be too much for China's weakened military to handle as they will likely not be able to field enough units quickly enough to mount a workable defense.

But if you manage to hold the ports while their units land in other places, they will quickly degrade due to lack of supply and are easy pickings. That way you'll be able to destroy entire division instead of just pushing them back, increasing the speed at which Japan is bleeding out. However, it may be necessary to keep coastline garrisons on the Shandong peninsula, in order to prevent an encirclement of the port on the edge, which will usually result in a loss of that port due to the encirclement penalty.

Stability

China's low starting stability reduces  political power gain as well as factory output, which are both very important for China in the coming years. Being at war with less than 50% stability can also cause negative events to occur. Therefore, increasing China's stability is a top priority. Fortunately, this is one of the easier problems to solve, with several options at China's disposal:

• The Three Principles of the People focus branch contains several bonuses to stability.
• Lin Sen and Soong Mei-Ling can be appointed as political advisers for extra stability.
• The Improved Worker Conditions decision is a good way to gain some extra stability.

Army corruption

The biggest barrier to winning the war against Japan, this national spirit applies a nasty -50% penalty to all division attack and defense. The "Army Reform" national focus will grant access to decisions to reduce and eventually remove the national spirit altogether but this requires a large amount of Army XP, which is difficult to acquire when not at war. Historical Japan will trigger the Marco Polo Bridge Incident as its 8th focus, so China should make sure this focus is completed by then or at least soon after.

At significant political power cost, a decent amount of army experience can be gained by sending an attache to one of the sides of the Spanish Civil war. This may speed up the process of getting rid of army corruption.

Technology

China starts with just two research slots and few researched technologies. Expand the Academia Sinica is a good early focus for the extra research slot, but additional research slots will take longer. Early research should focus on industry and infantry, as China starts with a huge surplus of manpower but an underdeveloped industry. Use Spies(La Résistance) to Steal Blueprints, third/fourth spy can be obtain by Focus and Dai Li as Political Advisor or becoming Spy Master. Use Bhutan or other small nations that is unable to have a Spy Agency for Stealing Blueprints.

Resources

The Nine Power Treaty prevents China from switching away from the  Free Trade law, which will generally result in many civilian factories being traded away for China's  steel needs. Removing the Treaty requires progressing through one of the diplomatic focus branches. The German or Soviet branches are the fastest way to accomplish this, with a total of 7 focuses being required. Note that these two paths typically require improved relations with the chosen nation over that provided by focuses, as well as the Motorized tech which may take more than the length of two focuses to research. however, the focus "rapproachment with the Soviet Union" can be skipped if you sign a non-agression pact manually. this will bypass the focus.

Removing the Nine Powers treaty may not be an urgent concern however. If one is able to conquer the  Guangxi Clique, its plentiful resources will allow China to more easily satisfy its own resource needs and can make it more valuable to export these for a large number of civilian factories which one can turn around and use to import what one needs over land such as from the USSR. This can be used to massively supplement your own factories. In addition, the research and production boosts make free trade a very valuable law as long as you are exporting as much as you are importing.

Inflation

China starts with Low Inflation, a deleterious national spirit that reduces factory output and the number of civilian factories available for construction, and its effects will progressively worsen if any national focus that increases inflation is completed:

Moderate Inflation

• Consumer Goods Factories: 10%
• Factory Output: −10%

Inflation has started to affect the economy significantly. We should consider counter-measures before things get out of hand.

Heavy Inflation

• Consumer Goods Factories: 15%
• Factory Output: −15%

Government-issued money is worth less and less, purchasing power is dropping and some goods are only available to people with the right connections.

Hyper Inflation

• Consumer Goods Factories: 20%
• Factory Output: −20%

The value of our currency is evaporating. Prices rise dramatically from day to day. We must very urgently take counter-measures before we suffer a complete collapse.

Economic Collapse

• Consumer Goods Factories: 25%
• Factory Output: −25%

Our system of currency has completely collapsed. In large parts of the country, trade has reverted to a barter system. Poverty is widespread. Our employees use the paper money we pay them with to heat their homes. An aggressive program of financial and economic reform is needed to resolve the situation.

If China reaches a state of Economic Collapse, any remaining focuses that increase inflation will be locked. To remove its effects, focuses that reduce inflation must be completed. In fact, it is prudent to alternate between focuses that increase inflation and focuses that reduce inflation so as to mitigate the negative effects of inflation. However, since there are only a limited number of focuses that reduce inflation, it is important to complete the focus Forced Loans, which will unlock a decision, re-enactable once every 90 days, that reduces inflation by one level at the cost of 100 Political Power, -3% Stability and -3% War Support.

A choice must be made about whether or not to go down the welfare national focus tree. This will increase one's war support but will also raise inflation. Increasing one's war support may also be done rather cheaply through propaganda without increasing inflation. However, without going down this tree, China can only get 4 total research spots. This may not be a major concern as China both may not need to research many technologies (naval and radar and perhaps tank and air technology with licensed production) and can make up for its technological inferiority with massive numerical superiority. Not going down this path also frees up time to focus on the other national focuses. It may be best to first prosecute the war with Japan to a close and then start working one's way down the Welfare branch while at peace, making it less likely for the Inflation to cause problems while at war.

Subjugating the Warlords

This is the first thing every Chinese player will need if it hopes to fight Japan as a united (at least Nanjing-controlled) China. To start, the player should not hesitate to going to this focus. This means that it will have to pick "Three Principles of the People", then "Nationalism" and finally "Prioritize the Interior". Alternatively, rush down the USSR branch (NAP to by pass Third Focus) if joining Japan's Faction or NAP to delay war with Japan.

Your main enemy in the very early game is Guangxi Clique, not only having basically most of the resources of all of China, but also has a robust industry. As such, this early strike would prevent this warlord nation from building a larger army. Even with the speed of the completion of this focus, they will barely have enough divisions to cover the entire border. This is where China's larger and advanced military comes to play. Use the air force to gain the advantage on single tile battles, use the cavalry and the 6-battalion units to break and exploit lines and use the regular infantry to pin Guangxi Clique's army.

Even if Guangxi clique submits, its steel can still be bought at a cheaper discount. And while the control of the Guangxi province is important, the wars with the Chinese warlords itself is also important, as it brings the much needed army experience for army reforms. The worst case scenario is, ironically, that all of the warlords submit to the Central government. Even so, their forces could be used for garrison duty when a war with Japan ensues.

Note that these reunification wars will either be the second or third conflict around the world (first being the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and the second one potentially being the Spanish Civil war), meaning that other players could either send volunteers or lend lease for early game army experience.

Achievements

Awake and Angry As China, reconquer all of China and Manchuria and force a Japanese surrender.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms As China, puppet and then annex Yunnan and Guangxi Clique.

Sun Tzu Reborn As Any Chinese Nation, Have a level 9 field marshal.

Countries

Europe

Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Czechoslovakia Denmark Estonia Finland France Free France Vichy France German Reich Kingdom of Greece Kingdom of Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Nationalist Spain Republican Spain Romania Slovakia Soviet Union Sweden Switzerland Turkey Republic of Ukraine United Kingdom Yugoslavia

North America

Dominion of Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic El Salvador Guatemala Haiti Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama United States

South America

Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela

Asia	Afghanistan Bhutan British Malaya British Raj China Communist China Dutch East Indies Guangxi Clique Iran Iraq Japan Manchukuo Mengkukuo Mongolia Nepal Oman Philippines Saudi Arabia Shanxi Siam Sinkiang Tannu Tuva Tibet Xibei San Ma Yemen Yunnan

Africa

Angola Sultanate of Aussa Botswana Kingdom of Egypt Ethiopia Liberia South Africa

Oceania

Australia Melanesian Federation New Zealand Tahiti