Communist China

Yan'an

Communist, Marxist

Neutral

Communist China (PRC) is a minor nation in eastern Asia. It starts with a population of 7.01 million in the 1936 start date. It borders Shanxi on the east, Xibei San Ma on the west and Nationalist China on the south. The Communists start out controlling the small and poor province of Shaanxi with very few factories and badly equipped troops. However, due to its mountainous terrain, reasonable population and starting forts, they have not only a good defensive position but a base from which expand their influence over China and perhaps even emerge as the underdog victor of the Chinese Civil War.

Historical background[edit]

In 1912 following the Xinhai Revolution, the Qing Dynasty collapsed, and the Republic of China was formed. However, various warlords also arose, carving out territories from the former empire. In 1921, with the Western powers having ignored pleas for aid in confronting the warlords, the Soviet Union answered by supporting both the Communist Party of China and the much larger Chinese nationalist Kuomintang government of the Republic of China. Under Soviet urging, the two sides formed the First United Front in 1923. In 1927, tensions between communists and nationalists flared, with left-wing KMT members either joining Mao Zedong's CPC or being purged by Chiang Kai-shek's right wing KMT. Soon, armed communist revolts erupted between both parties and the Ten Year Civil War began.

Nationalist campaigns into communist territory in southern China were interrupted from 1929 through 1931, when Japanese expansion into Manchuria (the Mukden Incident and subsequent territorial concessions) and Northern China halted nationalist offenses for a time. Mao's forces declared independence as an otherwise unrecognized Chinese Soviet Republic existing in various pockets throughout China. 1932 to 1933 saw limited success for the KMT, though new failure to halt Japan forced demilitarization of the area around Beijing. But in 1934, careful encircling maneuvers crushed communist pockets, leading Mao's forces to exile on the Long March, nearly obliterating the communists in the process. However, the surviving communists reorganized in Yan'an in far northern China during 1935-1936. There, Mao's conviction in communism's inevitability strengthened. The civil war was temporarily halted in 1937 when Japan invaded China and the CPC and KMT formed the Second United Front to battle the Japanese, but almost immediately resumed after the latter's surrender, ending with the Republic of China's retreat to Taiwan and the establishment of the People's Republic of China under Mao on the mainland.

National focus[edit]

People's Republic of China national focus tree.

Main article: Communist Chinese national focus tree

The Communist China gains a unique national focus tree in the Waking the Tiger DLC. Without this DLC enabled, Communist China uses the Generic national focus tree instead.

The Communist Chinese national focus tree can be divided into 3 branches:

Strengthen the Central Secretariat Branch: This Branch allows Communist China to either befriend the Soviet Union, join with Nationalist China, or go an independent path.

Land Redistribution Branch: This Branch allows Communist China to increase research slots, increase their popular support, and deal with External Politics.

The Yan'an Base Area Sub-branch: This Branch allows Communist China to deal with the Japanese threat, ally and infiltrate China, and increase military power.

Invite Foreign Investors Branch: This Branch allows Communist China to ask Major Countries for industrial support.

Technology[edit]

Communist China starts with only 2 research slots. It can gain three further slots from its national focuses: “Literacy Programs”, “China Medical University”, and “Form the Academy of Sciences". The first research slot is easily obtainable, but the other two require owning a certain number of factories to unlock.

Technology 1936
Army Technology	Naval Technology	Air Technology	Electronics & Industry
Type 88 Basic Infantry Eq.	None	None	None
Doctrines
Mass Assault	None	None

Politics[edit]

Communist China starts the game bordering China, Xibei San Ma, and Shanxi. In the north Japan may justify a war goal with the Chinese Border Incident, and Communist China will most likely end up at war with the Japanese.

Communist China begins with a stability of 57% and a war support of 52%.

National spirits[edit]

If the Waking the Tiger expansion is active, Communist China starts with the following national spirits. Otherwise they start with none.

Aftermath of the Long March

Factory Output: -15.00%
Construction Speed: -50.00%

The long retreat into Shanxi has depleted our forces, and the Yan'an Base Area is not yet ready to support a major uprising. It will take time or outside help to recover.

Low Popular Support

Stability: -18.00%
War Support: -18.00%

The peasants have suffered hard in the civil war. If we want to become accepted as the legitimate government of China, we must first win their support.

Power Struggles

Political Advisor Cost: +25%
Trade Laws cost: +25%
Mobilization Laws cost: +25%
Economy cost: +25%

The party is internally divided about the best way to proceed. Struggles between various factions have erupted and will continue until one of them reigns supreme.

Red Army Weakened

Army Organization Regain: -10.00%
Training time: +20.00%
Reinforce Rate: -1%

Exhausted from the Long March, our Red Army is not fit for combat just yet. We must form new units and form a new Army of Liberation.

Diplomacy[edit]

In the 1936 start date, Communist China has no alliances. In 1939 however, it is in the Chinese United Front faction with China that is at war with Japan.

Ideology[edit]

Communist (Communism)

Can force government of another country to adopt the same ideology.
Can send volunteer forces
Puppet cost: -30%

Political parties[edit]

Political Party	Ideology	Popularity	Party Leader	Country Name	Is Ruling?
Communist Party of China	Communist	100%	Mao Zedong	Communist China	Yes
Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee	Democratic	0%	Generic	Chinese Republic	No
Fascist	Fascist	0%	Generic	Chinese Empire	No
Non-Aligned	Non-Aligned	0%	Generic	China	No

Staff and designers[edit]

These are choices of advisors and design companies for Communist China.

Political Advisors
Advisor	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Zhang Guotao	Communist Revolutionary	Daily Communism Support: +0.10	150
Lin Bojiu	Armaments Organizer	Civilian to Military Factory conversion cost: -20%	150
Zhou Enlai	Ideological Crusader	Same ideology monthly opinion: +100%	150
Liu Shaoqi	Silent Workhorse	Political Power Gain: +15%	150
He Yuandang	War Industrialist	Military Factory construction speed: +10% Dockyard construction speed: +10%	150
Deng Xiaoping	Captain of Industry	Civilian Factory construction speed: +10% Infrastructure construction speed: +10% Refinery construction speed: +10% Requires focus Socialist Market Economy	150
Dong Biwu	Popular Figurehead	Stability: +15%	150
Kang Sheng	Prince of Terror	Effect of partisans on us: -25% Foreign subversive activities efficiency: -30% Non-core Manpower: +2% Requires focus Military Intelligence Department	75

Tank Designers
Designer	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Morozov Design Bureau	Mobile Tank Designer	Armor Research Speed: +15% Armor: Max Speed: +5% Reliability: +10% Requires focus Hire Soviet Designer At peace with Soviet Union	150
Sino-German Technical Mission	Heavy Tank Designer	Armor Research Speed: +15% Armor: Armor: +5% Hard Attack: +5% Requires either focus Chinese Panzers or national spirit German Military Advisors At peace with German Reich	150

Ship Designers
Designer	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Jiangnan Shipyard Group	Coastal Defense Fleet Designer	Naval Research Speed: +15% Carrier: Production Cost: -25% Deck size: -20% Max Range: -50% Capital Ship: Production Cost: -25% Armor: -20% Naval firepower: -20% Max Range: -50% Screen: Production Cost: -25% Max Range: -50% Submarine: Production Cost: -25% Max Range: -50% Controls Shanghai	150
Dagu Shipyard	Raiding Fleet Designer	Naval Research Time: +15% Carrier: Surface Visibility: -10% Max Speed: +10% Deck size: -10% Capital Ship: Surface Visibility: -10% Max Speed: +10% Naval firepower: -10% Screen: Surface Visibility: -10% Max Speed: +10% Submarine: Sub Visibility: -10% Surface Visibility: -10% 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% Requires 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% Requires 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% Requires 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 Concern
Concern	Type	Effect	Cost ()
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 ()
Claire Lee Chennault	Air Warfare Theorist	Air Experience Gain: +0.05 daily Air Doctrine Research Speed: +10% Requires focus Hire Chennault Does not have Claire Lee Chennault as Chief of Airforce At peace with United States	75
Liu Bocheng	Military Theorist	Army Experience Gain: +0.05 daily Land Doctrine Research Speed: +10%	150
Hsia Tian	Air Warfare Theorist	Air Experience Gain: +0.05 daily Air Doctrine Research Speed: +10%	150
Zhang Wei	Naval Theorist	Naval Experience Gain: +0.05 daily Naval Doctrine Research Speed: +10%	150

Economy[edit]

Laws[edit]

Communist China starts with the following laws in 1936:

Conscription Law	Economy Law	Trade Law
Service by Requirement 10% Recruitable population +20% Training time –10% Factory/Dockyard output –10% Construction speed	Partial Mobilization 25% Consumer Goods factories +10% Military factory construction speed −10% Factory (type) conversion cost -10% Fuel Gain per Oil	Closed Economy 0% Resources to market

Of note, “Closed Economy” is the most aggressive trade law.

Industry[edit]

Factories 1936
2 Military Factories	0 Naval Dockyard	4 Civilian Factories

Resources[edit]

Total resources 1936
Oil	Aluminum	Rubber	Tungsten	Steel	Chromium
0	0	0	4	4	0

*These numbers represent the available resources for production at start of the game. In the bracket are the complete numbers including those lost for trading.

Military[edit]

In 1936, Communist China starts with only a small army, and possess neither a navy nor an air force. Overall, it has a total manpower of 701.51K, of which 42.00k is tied in the army, leaving 659.51k available for recruitment. Manpower can be raised by changing the conscription law by spending 150 political power per level.

Army
	Type	No.
	Infantry	8
	Total divisions	8

Navy
	Type	No.
	Total ships	0

Air force
	Type	No.
	Total planes	0

Army[edit]

Communist China's army in 1936 starts with 8 infantry divisions, with 5 of them made up of 6 battalions and 3 of them made up of 4 battalions.

Navy[edit]

Communist China in 1936 is landlocked and thus does not possess any ships.

Air force[edit]

Communist China does not start with an air force in 1936.

Military staff[edit]

Chief of Army
Name	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Alexander von Falkenhausen	Army Offense (Expert)	Division Attack: +10% Requires focus Give Falkenhausen Citizenship Von Falkenhausen is not recalled	150
Zhu De	Army Morale (Expert)	Division Recovery Rate: +8%	150
Su Yu	Army Reformer (Expert)	Army Experience Gain: +10%	150
Otto Braun	Old Guard	Army Experience Gain: -10% Political Power Gain: +10%	150
Ma Jin	Army Defense (Expert)	Division Defense: +10%	150

Chief of Navy
Name	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Ziao Jingguang	Naval Maneuver (Expert)	Naval Speed: +10%	150
Gao Qiu	Decisive Battle (Expert)	Capital Ship Attack: +10% Capital Ship Armor: +10% Screen Attack: +10% Screen Defense: +10%	150

Chief of Airforce
Name	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Claire Lee Chennault	Ground Support (Expert)	Air Superiority: +10% Requires focus Hire Chennault Does not have Claire Lee Chennault as Theorist At peace with United States	75
Fang Zeyi	Ground Support (Expert)	Air Superiority: +10%	150
Gao Gang	Air Safety (Expert)	Air Accidents Chance: -10%	150

Military High Command
Name	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Xu Xiangqian	Infantry (Expert)	Infantry Division Attack: +10% Infantry Division Defense: +15%	150
Nie Rongzhen	Army Regrouping (Expert)	Division Recovery Rate: +8%	150
Chen Geng	Entrenchment (Expert)	Entrenchment speed: +8%	150
Chen Yi	Armor (Expert)	Armor Division Attack: +10% Armor Division Defense: +10%	150
Ye Jianying	Army Logistics (Expert)	Division Attrition: -8%	150
Liang Shen	Air Combat Training (Expert)	Ace generation chance: +10%	150
Deng Ye Peng	Amphibious Assault (Expert)	Amphibious Invasion Speed: +10%	150

Strategies and guides[edit]

A new dawn in China[edit]

Communist China finds itself in an equally precarious position as Nationalist China. While Nationalist China has to worry about its internal political stability, its unstable economy, its weak industry and military, hostile and opportunistic warlords and Imperial Japan that can threaten its holdings, it does have access to a satisfactory amount of manpower, has enough industrial capacity to mount a workable (if desperate) defense and can, with enough effort, execute enough reforms to stabilize its government and economy, build up its industry and military and secure its own territorial holdings and national sovereignty.

Communist China on the other hand has equally pressing issues at hand; while the communists do not have have the same political and economic stability problems to worry about as the nationalists, they control very little territory, manpower, industry and material and are exhausted and crippled after the Long March and will therefore be hard-pressed to hold their own in a direct confrontation with the Nationalists, Japan or even other Chinese warlords. In addition to all that, Communist China also has a rather lofty "victory" condition to aim for: somehow, the communists must survive through the Chinese Civil War, take over all of China and repel Imperial Japan before they can consider themselves truly successful.

That being said, Communist China is not completely broken, for a cornered animal might just be the most dangerous animal, as the Nationalists will soon learn.

Communism? Which one?[edit]

Communist China, unlike all other communist nations in the game, can actually decide what type of communism to adhere to: Marxism-Leninism or Maoism, or to adopt Democratic Socialism.

The Strengthen the Central Secretariat national focus leads to a crossroads with paths to choose from. Each one allows Communist to clean up the internal mess of the government and recover from the damage suffered in the Long March by seeking support from other sympathetic nations.

Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism (Marxist Orthodoxy)[edit]

The Marxist Orthodoxy national focus and all focuses following it are based around the idea of adhering to the original version of communism by drawing closer to the Soviet Union and the Comintern and having the two nations work together to spread the worker's revolution throughout the world. Electing this path will remove Mao Zedong from power and replace him with Wang Ming. Joining the Comintern can be helpful for players who either are new to Communist China or wish to play it safe and do not want to risk facing Imperial Japan and/or Nationalist China alone as if Communist China is able to join the Comintern, any attacks directed against then will also draw the Soviet Union (and all of its allies/puppets as well) into the fight. The Soviet Union is one of the more powerful nations in the game and being in an alliance with them will not only offer a great deal of protection from hostile anti-communist nations but will also guarantee that the Soviets won't antagonize Communist China as long as it remains in the alliance.

Maoism (Agrarian Socialism)[edit]

The Agrarian Socialism national focus and all focuses following it are based around the idea of creating an uniquely Chinese interpretation of Karl Marx's theories (think Communism/Socialism with Chinese characteristics) and having Communist China take matters into its own hands and conquer Nationalist China through using its own abilities and resources. Mao Zedong will remain in power but Communist China will not be able to join an alliance unless via player intervention. Instead, it will form its own faction which can be used to invite other nations into, like Sinkiang or any other warlord that decides to draw closer to the communists. This is the hardest path as Communist China will (in essence) be taking on Nationalist China and Imperial Japan on its own. Communist China will have to take maximum advantage of everything they have available for use including things such like infiltrating nationalist territory and staging uprisings, starting border wars to occupy neighboring provinces and boosting communist party popularity in Nationalist China among other things.

Democratic Socialism (Social Democracy)[edit]

The Social Democracy national focus and all focuses following it are based around the idea of co-operating with the nationalists by forging a coalition government between Communist China and Nationalist China and then subverting the political system from within to gain control that way. Choosing this path will remove Mao Zedong from power and replace him with Zhang Lan and Communist China will enter into a power struggle with nationalist China for political leadership over China. They will never be able to take the national focus Proclaim the People's Republic and form the People's Republic of China but if Communist China wins the power struggle, they will annex Nationalist China.

Building a new China[edit]

The Land Redistribution national focus opens up into three sub-branches, a small one that grants more Research Slots as Communist China's industrial capacity and infrastructure improves, a second medium-sized one that increases the popular support for Communist China and gets rid of some of its starting penalties and a third, large-sized one named The Yan'an Base Area which deals with whether or not Communist China should cooperate with the Nationalists or compete with them. It also includes a sub-branch for dealing with Japan.

Improving the economy[edit]

The Research Slot sub-branch should be progressed down whenever the player has the opportunity to do so as Communist China starts with only two Research Slots and can only unlock more by building up its industry and infrastructure.

The Land Redistribution branch allows Communist China to gradually get rid of the penalty Low Popular Support and it also presents them with a choice; Should Communist China embrace the Opium Trade by legalizing it and applying tax on it or should they ban it and exterminate it for good. Permitting the Opium Trade to continue will reduce the amount of factories allocated to Consumer Goods by 15% but will also apply a penalty named Government Corruption which causes a -10% penalty to Stability and Political Power output. This penalty is normally only found on the Chinese warlords and can be a notable hindrance in domestic politics. Exterminating the Opium Trade on the other hand, will award a flat +5% bonus to Stability with no strings attached.

Dealing with our neighbors[edit]

The final branch of the national focus tree, named The Yan'an Base Area deals with Communist China's foreign policy. They can choose to either cooperate with the Nationalists and form a faction with them, force the warlords to submit to their control and confront Japan. The decisions to cooperate with the Nationalists and confronting Japan are independent from one another so it is possible to take on Japan by oneself while also opposing the Nationalists, although this is only recommended for skilled players.

It is also worth noting that this branch of the National focus tree plays very closely with the choices taken in the Strengthen the Central Secretariat branch of the National Focus Tree so one has to be aware of what choices they made in that branch so as to not pick conflicting policies. If the player decided to cooperate with the Nationalists by electing the Social Democracy national focus, then they should refrain from picking any focus in this branch that antagonizes Nationalist China as this will only make it harder to work together. At the same time, if one decided to oppose the Nationalists by picking either Marxist Orthodoxy or Agrarian Socialism then they can more freely choose whether they should confront Japan first or best the Nationalists and then go after Japan.

A house divided against itself cannot stand (Cooperation)[edit]

Electing to cooperate with the Nationalists will lead to the formation of a faction between Communist China and Nationalist China as well as demands for all Chinese warlords to join it, creating a unified coalition of Chinese nations to better oppose Imperial Japan. If Nationalist China decides to form the Chinese United Front on its own part, then Communist China can help provide more leverage by getting the Warlords to join the United Front as Nationalist China cannot do this by itself due to its focus tree lacking a national focus dedicated to that task while Communist China does have one. Once the Chinese United Front has been formed and all Chinese nations have joined it, Communist China will gain access to a repeatable decision that will, whenever it is taken, cause Japan and its puppets to suffer constant damage to their industry, infrastructure and even their army units, in hopes of provoking them into launching an attack.

The people shall stand up (Competition)[edit]

Electing to oppose the Nationalists will unlock a number of decisions that allows Communist China to infiltrate Nationalist-held territories and stage uprisings, causing those territories to revert to Communist China's control. Communist China will also gain access to a national focus that will give it wargoals against its two neighbors, Shanxi and Xibei San Ma, which can allow the communists to expand their holdings by a noticeable amount and gain space to build factories and infrastructure to better oppose the nationalists. These weak neighbors have few Victory Point provinces, so just bring some artillery support for an on-foot blitzkrieg onto their capital.

Even if Waking the Tiger is not present, you can increase communist popularity in Nationalist China to have neighboring provinces desert to you. Justify the "weak neighbor" wargoals manually: "retake core" is always quick. With no ideological choices ahead, you can take Sinkiang and join the Comintern for additional backup.

At the end of both of these sub-branches there will be a number of national focuses that will help improve Communist China's military high command as well as remove the Red Army Weakened penalty.

The People's Red Army (Military management)[edit]

Because Communist China lacks both resources and manpower it can be quite challenging to build up and maintain a respectable military to contend with the other Chinese factions. As such, when it comes to military build-up, Communist China should strive to collect all the low-hanging fruit that is within its reach to secure every advantage it can. In other words, try to focus on maximizing the utility of all options that you have access to resource-, factory- and manpower-wise.

In the early stages of the campaign, the Communist Chinese player should first prioritize making sure that all of their units (Communist China starts with 8 Infantry divisions) are fully equipped. It does not matter if the the equipment they are using is outdated, just make sure that every man has a rifle and ammunition at hand. Once the equipment issues are taken care of, the player can begin expanding their military;Infantry is cheap and easy to produce but it pays greatly to also introduce specialized units to augment the army's fighting capability. Cavalry units can be of notable use as they are 1.8 times as fast as regular infantry at the cost of only being slightly more expensive in terms of supply use and equipment, which can make them useful as cheap rapid-response units to intercept and delay enemy units while other units make their way over to assist in the defense. Artillery can be quite a potent addition to Communist China's arsenal as, aside from Imperial Japan and, to some extent, Nationalist China, most other Chinese factions employ usually only Infantry along with some occasional Cavalry units so artillery can allow Communist China to score some decisive early victories against other warlords. Beware that artillery is rather expensive to produce in the early game given your lack of resources so it is best to first use support artillery (as it requires fewer guns, albeit at the cost of power) and only upgrade to line artillery (which is more powerful but requires more guns) once the player has secured the means to produce artillery reliably.

In addition to the base artillery, once sufficient industry and resources have been acquired, Communist China can further improve on its fighting capabilities by diversifying its arsenal and introducing Anti-Tank Artillery and Anti-Air Artillery to the fray, granting them some means to effectively deal with tanks, trucks and planes, which can be a very valuable asset when facing Japan

Given the limited initial manpower and industry of Communist China, if facing bigger opponents like Nationalist China or Japan, one possible strategy is to go for a more defensive approach by employing Fortifications and AA defenses. Take advantage of terrain features like rivers as well as any terrain that inflicts a penalty to attacking units, like mountains, hills etc., to maximize the effect of your fortifications. A strong and properly built defensive line (especially if built in layers of multiple successive fort lines) can allow the player to more easily hold off attacks by stronger opponents and inflict casualties to drain their manpower and equipment. Just like Chiang Kai-Shek did with Nationalist China in real life, trading space for time can allow one to build up their industry to launch a decisive counterattack to cut off the enemy's supply lines and maybe even encircle and destroy some of their units. One example includes building a defensive line through the provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi (which are both mountainous) and using it to hold off Japan (or possibly Nationalist China) to buy time, allowing Communist China to build Synthetic Oil and Rubber Refineries, allowing it to then deploy Motorized, Mechanized or even Tank units to launch a counterattack and score a breakthrough.

When it comes to having an airforce, once again the lack of resources effectively prevents any sort of effective airplane production until Communist China can secure enough resources and factories to allow it. Once those resources and factories have been acquired, one could start by producing Interwar Fighters and Interwar Bombers to create at least a basic airforce to work with. Communist China will not be able to out-produce many of its opponents until later in the game, but having the means to acquire air superiority and bomb enemy units and buildings can go a long way in helping win the war. Be advised, though, that creating an airforce is a secondary priority; do not attempt it until you have the means to do it. Make sure that you are able to maintain a functional land army first.