Republican News 1919

[Logi]

January 1, 1919

As a new year dawns on the Gregorian Calender, the 1919 elections are just a step off. Although it is thought that Hu Hanmin will win the elections by a landslide, the future can not be predicted. The Republic of China wishes everyone a happy New Year!

[Logi]

January 7, 1919

"What?" Hu Hanmin, who rarely lost his calm, was furious. The aide visibly shrunk from the murderous aura coming from the President. "Why was I not alerted sooner?" The aide scrambled for an excuse, "Um... but sir.... we didn't know." "You're telling me, for four years, you couldn't get a peek at what they were doing with their time? This kind of military buildup is unprecedented!" The aide cringed as Hu Hanmin yelled at him. Hu Hanmin turned his back on the aide, "I see why Mr. Chiang Kai-shek told me to watch out for you people. You're all utterly useless!" Hu slammed his desk, "Guards!" A well-dressed soldier appeared in the room. "Sir?" "Take Mr. Tang out of this room. He will be deposed of his rank, status, and position. I'll deal with the rest of the lot later."

[Logi]

January 14, 1919
Emergency War Board Meeting

"Sirs, as I have briefed already, the Middle Kingdom currently possesses an outstanding number of forces in relation of ours.

First their Naval forces number well in the hundreds in Torpedo Boats, Destroyers, River Patrol Boats, and Submarines. In comparison, our forces are minuscule, possessing only 24 modern Torpedo Boats, 144 Motorized Torpedo Boats, 6 modern Destroyers, and 3 submarines.

Their Army, although estimated to be the same size as ours, 2.5 million troops, is of higher quality. Their forces have obtained more technologically advanced weapons, whilst we are researching weapons of same capabilities.

The only area where we best the Middle Kingdom in is that of the airforce, they have, last detected, no airforce to speak of. However, the airforce is a relatively new weapon of war and thus can not be relied on to offset this skewed balance of power.

As now in perspective and relation of our greatest enemy, the Republic of China is horribly weak. We need to bolster our strength two fold unless we wish to be crushed by those maggots."

The men in the room murmured about themselves. President Hu Hanmin looked up from his papers, "I have an announcement. Sirs of the War Board, I know drastic actions must be taken to ensure our survival. We must go on war footing, establish our control over all the industries and make sure no a single drop of material is wasted. We will have to impose rationing on the civilians, elevate taxation, put our forces in excess to reserve. The Five-Year Plan is already a stepping stone from completion and thus we need not to invest even more in the plan. I was offers to be placed for construction in foreign yards, I want the obsolete ships scrapped, I want embassies working at Red Alert. I want diplomatic ties tightened, I want drills being implemented in schools. Get on it men. Directors of the Army, Airforce, and Navy stand behind, I need to talk with you. The rest are dismissed!"

After the people shuffled out of the room, the three Directors looked at the President curiously. "I need you three to draw up plans for the defense of the Republiv of China in three cases: An attack by the Middle Kingdom, Deustche Kaiserreich Brandenburg, and Independent Indochina; an attack by the Middle Kingdom and New Switzerland; and an attack by the Middle Kingdom alone. I will need you to locate and create supply depots, draw up timetables, drill the soldiers. In a few days, we will hold a national wide training session for the troops. We need them on this best preparation for when this shit hits the fan."

The Directors nodded solemnly and left the room, leaving President Hu Hanmin and Vie President Feng Huang Yu alone in the room. The Vice President looked at President Hu Hanmin and decided to leave him to his own thoughts and left the room as well.

[Logi]

February 5, 1919

"You better have some good news for me, Mr. Yun Ming." President Hu Hanmin glanced wearily at Yun Ming. Yun Ming nodded slightly, "I come hear to report one thing and suggest another. First, Ming Wei Yu had withdrawn from the Middle Kingdom successfully, he reports that he is not certain of his success. Second, I would like to propose development into new fields of warfare." President Hu Hanmin lifted his eyebrows at Yun Ming, "Go on." Yun nodded, "I think it is clear with the current state of affairs, it will very hard to catch up with the forces of the Middle Kingdom. Therefore, we need to think outside the box. Instead of trying to match the Middle Kingdom's raw power, we should invent more effective and efficient weapons to deal with them. Rocket power has immense potential and remains hugely untapped. Air power is yet another under-appreciated force. We need experimental designs for everything, new weapons, new foods, new tools." Hu Hanmin nodded, "Yes, but when will it be developed? New weapons take too long to appear, too long to refine. By that time, the Middle Kingdom will have crushed us." YUn shook his head, "Mr. President! How can we give up before we try, if those pigs wish to take us down, we'll at least leave a few scars on it. The times are hard, I'm sure you understand that more than anyone, but we must try something! How can we resign to defeat already?" "You are right, you'll be charge of organizing this innovative approach." "Most certainly, Mr. President, it is my job after all."

[Logi]

February 20, 1919

"So what are we experimenting with here?" "We have been testing this idea, grown in the jungles of Vietnam. These soldiers have fought in the southern regions against both the forces of Indochina and Siam, and have developed a most curious system." "You have my attention." Yun Ming observed the soldiers in training at the Whampo Academy. The General Zhang Zongchang continued, "These soldiers were raised from the countryside where hunting game was the main source of a living. Crackshots if you will." "I notice a few females in their." "Of course, they have the right to serve their army and nation as well. There is no point to keep valuable troops from the battlefield." The complete dismissal of female soldiers as a unusual idea surprised Yun Ming. The General gestured for the Minister to follow him down the hall. "As I was saying, what these soldiers have developed in these tight and small teams of elite soldiers. I think the idea has its origins in their hunting days. But what happened in the Vietnam was that brigades of troops were separated in the vast jungles. One of these groups was left without an Officer, now called XiaoLamGun 1275th. One of the Privates, Private Liao Xin Li, took charge of her group and led them threw the jungles. This band of hundred troops marched tens of miles down to combat the heavily armed Indochinese, the Siamese stranglers, and won every time. I think the key here is the tightness of the group formed by the informality between the members, and the able to think for themselves yes. I do not, as a general, approve of insubordinate behavior, but these soldiers listen to what I tell them. The difference is that they don't need a central command to them for every action, as long as we give them a general directive, they will take to do it. Any decisions made along the way, is made by the unit's members. They discuss the best course of action amongst all the unit and have the leader decide the next course. They've proven their ability, now I want to see if it will work on other groups." Yun Ming nodded deep in thought once in the hall his turned to his right and noticed a room full of female nurse. "What's wrong Mr. Yun? Follow me, I have something else to show you." Yun Ming decided not to ask and continued on the tour.

[Logi]

March 4, 1919

Rocket Test Facility, Outskirts of Yangshuo County
"So what graces our humble Facility with your presence, Minster of Projects?" Yun Ming ignored the sarcastic in the man's voice, "Get to work, we'll be testing things here again." "Again, haven't you tested everything you need to know about rockets already? Its been 2 years since the last test was run you know." "I have executive permission from the President to reopen this Facility to testing new rockets." The man smiled, "Oh but how can we test nothing?" Yun Ming clenched his fist, this man was incredibly annoying and was wasting his time. "The Factory will take care of that, just call the members back to the Facility, that is all. If I fine that the President orders have not be followed through on, I can ensure that the SS will find you." The man's face placed at once at hearing the words SS, he nodded fervently and left. Yun Ming looked at the retreating man in disgust and left the Facility.

[Logi]

March 12, 1919

A badly shaken messenger enters President Hu Hanmin's office bearing a scroll marked with the Imperial seal. The President looked at the messenger for a moment before focusing on the scroll, "What do you have for me?" The messenger handed over the scroll and Hu Hanmin scanned through the contents.

Dearest Children
Your recent actions have drawn the attention of the Celestial throne, it is with deepest concern that we pen this missive to ask if you are preparing for another WuHan

Signed General Tan at the request of his highness Emperor Kailie

President Hu Hanmin sighed and a smirk appeared on his face. Still as patronizing as ever. He took a pen from desk and began a letter in response.

General Tan,

We have not, nor do we plan to However this measures were taken as protective measures against what might be seen as the hostile and unnecessary buildup of the Imperial forces. We had no intelligence or warning, and we were forced to assume the worse and thus make preparations.

President Hu Hanmin on behalf of the Republic of China and its peoples.

President Hu Hanmin looked up from his paper and at the messenger. "Take this back there," He folded his letter by three and slipped it into one of the many envelopes lying around. "I'll make sure you get an express train back to the Imperial Palace."

As the messenger left, he called in the Vice President. "Call the War Board together." Hmph, although they had sent an imperial scroll, they could still be arming against the Republic.

approved by maddox

[Logi]

March 26, 1919
The letter exchange continued.

Dearest Children
Your Concerns are noted by the Celestial Emperor, however the son of Heaven cannot stop his preparations to smash the abomination known as the New Swiss.  We will continue such preparations for their punishment as we deem necessary.

Signed Third Brother Tan  Internal Defense at the request of his highness Celestial Emperor Kailie

Third Brother Tan of Internal Defense

Your plans are duly noted by the Republic of China, however, as Imperial China will not stop its military build-up, the Republic of China is forced to continue its preparations as well. However, we will not interfere with your efforts to destroy the New Swiss. Unless the forces of Imperial China turn onto the Republic, we shall not act.

President Hu Hanmin on behalf of the Republic of China and its peoples.

approved by maddox

[Logi]

March 31, 1919

President Hu Hanmin had passed the Enabling Act two months earlier calling for the temporary dissolving of the Legislative Assembly and the Executive Branch the power to act without consent of the other two branches. This Act was call for Emergencies and President Hu Hanmin today announced the ending of the Enabling Act. The Crisis was over now, and though the elections had been delayed for one month, it could now resume.

[Logi]

April 4, 1919

The Elections began with little fanfare, it seems obvious who will win the elections.

Opposing candidates:
Wang Jingwei, Age 36, (For President)
Sun Fo, Age 29, (For Vice-President)

Incumbents:
Hu Hanmin, Age 40 (Incumbent President)
FengHuang Yu, Age 26 (Incumbent Vice-President)

[Logi]

April 7, 1919

President Hu Hanmin has declared the ending of command economy as the outstanding external threat that had forced the Republic to prepare for war has been temporarily alleviated. However, the change back to a consumer economy will take a few weeks to implement.

[Logi]

April 14, 1919

Report from the Department of Aeronautics:

The current extent of air power has create several roles for airplanes namely;

Fighter, Heavy Bomber, Medium Bomber, Short Bomber, Interceptor, Close-Air-Support, and the Scout

Of these roles, we only have aircrafts that fit several of them:

NAMCo NA-01 serves well as a heavy bomber, possessing both the range and payload to perform its mission.

Although outdated, the Flying Fish Y.II performs well enough for its role as a scout. However, productions of the plane have been so small, there is not enough to fill its role.

The Taco Ca. II serves as an excellent Close Air Support plane.

However as the other roles are lacking, it proves, that though the airforce is large, it lacks vital components which make the Republic weak.

We require a fighter with the capacity to push into enemy territory, an interceptor to eliminate enemy planes over the Republic, and short and medium bombers.

To counter this immediate weakness to the Republic, the Department of Aeronautics request for additional funding from the government.

[Logi]

April 21, 1919

Elections are a landslide in the favor of President Hu Hanmin and unless a miracle occurs, it is predicted that Hu Hanmin will continue his large lead.

[Logi]

April 27, 1919

The polls have spoken, President Hu Hanmin is announced President of the Reformist Republic of China again. However tough times seem to be ahead for President Hu, as recent polls showed an outstanding approval rating on economic matters, however the approval rating on military and diplomatic matters have been less than desired. It seems the quiet of economic reform has made the Republic forgotten internationally in the citizens' eyes.

[Logi]

April 30, 1919

"What is this?" President Hu Hanmin dropped a fat folder onto the Secretary of Defense's desk. The folder spilled a few photographs. Looking at the folder, the Secretary noticed the big words on the folder, "Bei-Lam-qing-chu" "I would like to know who formulated this plan." The Secretary looked at the President for a moment "That would be Chiang Kai-shek sir."

"I thought so," the President nodded lightly to himself, "Tell him I will not allow a preemptive attack on Shangri-La."