Republican News 1918

[Logi]

February 11, 1918

The sun dawns on yet another splendid (Lunisolar) year! Business is booming, the people of the Republic are content and we are at peace with ourselves and our neighbors. Though the civil war remains a lingering worry; the festivities commence! Let us wash ourselves and begin a new year of luck! Blessing to all!

In Guangzhou, whilst the New Capital is still in construction, the people crowd the streets as performances take place. The Wei Lei; finally in back from Haiphong and in repair; fired off a salvo in salute.

Everyone is celebrating, even those who follow the Georgian calender and already celebrated chose to join us in our festivity.

Just as the Brown-Earth-Horse (this year's zodiac sign) gallops in the fields freely so will the Republic prosper and its people live freely!

Glory to the Republic!

[Logi]

February 15, 1918

Field Test Facility, Guilin

A slow tank made its way up and down the obstacle arena as a few observers stood on the sidelines. "So... a tank with rockets as its armament?" The researcher shook his head, "It also has a machinegun." "So what would be the purpose of such a vehicle, Mr. Ejin?" The researcher, Mr. Ejin, flipped through his papers and handed a few to the man next to him, "It's a mobile artillery unit. It can cut down infantry and soft up a fortified all without the crew taking a step out. The rockets were designed by Mr. Hsen in Yangshuo County. They pack a heavy punch, a warhead of 225kg! It has a short range but no worries, the tank is armour to withdraw enemy fire and be able to move into range while under fire." The man nodded, "It sounds powerful, but I am afraid of reliably issues and mobility issues."

Mr. Ejin frowned, "Well yes, but the tank should be perfected in a year or two and fix all those reliability issues. As for mobility, it was sacrificed to provide for such heavy firepower."

"Well I think the army will accept limited numbers of such a weapon, but not right now. Our budget is too tight. I'll talk to you again on the orders after this half-year. However, I want you to look into building small and faster such 'rocket tanks'. Is that okay?"

"Yes, yes." Mr. Ejin nodded quickly as the man left.

[Logi]

February 21, 1918

Explosive Munitions Factory, Hong Kong

70% Potassium Nitrate
20% Charcoal
10% Sulfur

A simple formula, but so difficult to attain accurately.

Mill the three items slightly, leaving grains the size of a grain of rice. The Charcoal shall be milled into a fine black powder.

Mix and pour the powder slowly into the tube. Once the powder has been shaped, remove the center tubing to reveal the bore in the solid fuel.

Mold a De Laval nozzle and attach it to the back of the tubing. Rivet the two components together.

Take the Warhead (250lb Amatol) and rivet it to the front of the tube.

Lift up it up carefully and set it up on a pod underneath the Tahem's fuselage. And let the test begin.

-------

The Tahem took off with a rumbling start, carrying the sensitive payload underneath it in rack. Flying out away from land, the Tahem remained in visual sight of observers on the coast. The pilot hesitantly called for the man behind him to light it up. The spotter grabbed firm hold on of the sides of the plane and peeked underneath. With his free hand he ignited the rocket's fuse. There was a distinct hiss as the rocket started to ignite.

"Drop it! Drop it!" The pilot heard the cries of his companion and pressed a button on his cockpit. The button did nothing but let loose the rocket from its holdings.

Time seemed to slow for the airplane crew, the rocket slowly fell down from the plane, hissing. Then, suddenly, the flame inside the rocket reached the main fuel. There was a small hiss and then a very visible trail came out the nozzle.

With a plop the rocket landed in the water and all was silent. The pilot flew over the area as close as he could manage and noticed bubbles rising to the ocean surface rapidly. There was an explosion in the water a few hundreds yards off from the drop point.

[Logi]

March 2, 1918

The Government of the Republic of China has announced it's first ever design competition from civilian and military airplanes! The Republic calls for enthusiasts from all over the world to participate in the contest and display their models. If the Republic likes the model they see they will order it and award the contestant a prize money of 1200 Yuans, enough to buy a decent house in the Republic or any other ware. Furthermore if the contestant is able to produce the aircrafts themselves, the Republic shall pay for manufacturing costs. There is much money to be gained, come and join the contest now.

Contest is to be hosted December 6, 1918 in Hong Kong, Guangdong - Victoria Bay

[TexanCowboy]

Many companies in the CSA annouce their intent to participate.

[Logi]

May 4, 1918
SIC

The Department of Defense has come up with the following paper to convince the officials of the court to immediately and effectively change the makeup of the army and allow such integration of technology necessary for the continued existence of the Republic.

After through analysis, the DoD has come to the following conclusions;

-A soldier needs an 8lb ration per day for idle movement, 16lb for minor operations, and 32lb for major operations.
-A horse needs a minimum of 20lb of fodder per day for vigorous activities and continued service to the army.

- The soldier cannot forage for his own keep as such would reduce the overall organization of the moving army and reduce the ability of the army as a whole to conduct our military strategies.

- The Western provinces do not contain enough local food to sustain for a concentrated army for any substantial period of time; their supplies must come from much farther.

- The soldier must carry enough rations on his person to provide for three days of continuous fighting where supply lines are interrupted (24lb).

- Horse fodder is extremely bulky and unwieldy, requiring so much space it is not feasible to carry with the rider and therefore was be carried separately.

- The Horse is capable of sustained marching speeds of 6 mph whereas footsoldiers are able to sustain 3 mph.

- Motorized vehicles (trucks) are capable in the upward region of 24 mph. The motorized vehicle may consume roughly 8.5 lb of gasoline per 8 miles.

- Gasoline is lighter than water and easy to store, requiring much less space than horse feed. Gasoline is, however, harder to find.

------

The DoD proposed the creation of a greater unified supply organization in each regional Headquarters.These supply groups shall be of motorized nature: The much greater speed of motorized vehicles make their use pivotal in the Republic's mobility doctrine. Furthermore, the usage of gasoline which supply the motorized vehicles is of much easier handling than of horse supply groups which use fodder. In addition, gasoline does not drain on the agricultural output of the Republic thereby alleviating the food situation during wars.

In addition the DoD pushes forward the idea of using motorized vehicles as mass troop transportation as the greater speeds of the motorized vehicles allow for the quicker movement of troops across the frontlines thereby allowing greater maneuverability and increase the chances of chancing the enemy in an unfavorable position.

The DoD calls for the phasing out of cavalry in the army in favor of the motorized infantry which will accomplish the same goals are much greater efficiency.

Furthermore the DoD encourages the creation of a greater organization within the army corps, enhancing the numbers of officers to soldiers so as to relay commands more effectively. This will provide for greater organization of the troops and therefore the army corp will be more ready for sudden operations.

The DoD wishes for the consistent build-up of railroads from industrial centers to the borders of the Republic so as supplies can be transferred quickly to the border.

The DoD notes that such actions will cause the formation of rear area supply dumps and encourages a more robust supply system overall, calling for a supply system that is capable of supplying the four million troops so as to ensure the frontline troops will never run out of supplies with such an abundance of supply groups.

In order to keep up with the demand of such gasoline produced by these motorized vehicles, the DoD calls for greater usage and implementation of the long-honed coal-oil mixture technique to produce the required oil and to reduce dependency on the Western States for such.

*Forwarded to the Republican Legislative Assembly for Consideration in the Budget*

[Logi]

May 23, 1918

Ming Wei Yun was most unhappy once more water rationing had been forced on Hong Kong due to its lack of fresh water. As Hong Kong was his homeland, Wei Yun was unhappy about the little action taken for his home. Thus he brought the issue up to the Legislative Assembly.

[Logi]

May 25, 1918

Ming Wei Yun's case was simple, but not an easy one to get through.

"In Hong Kong, today there lies a population of three million; the result of successfully immigration policies and the wealth of the area as a whole. This population of three million have an average daily consumption of roughly 1.2 million cubic meters of water. As the annual rainfall averages only 2214.3 milliliters it is quite obvious the Hong Kong populace is quite lacking in fresh water. As Hong Kong emerges from the rubble of the Pacific War as a new and important financial center in the Republic it is with urgency that I advise we alleviate the water crisis of Hong Kong and prevent such from happening again.

I advise to tackle the problem on four fronts:
First by introducing seawater flushing to prevent unnecessary waste of fresh water for toilets.
Second by expanding and creating new reservoirs of water for Hong Kong as well as Underground Pumping Water stations and their respective Water Treatment Plants.
Third by establishing a plant to convert seawater to drinking water.
And fourth, by creating pipelines to Guangzhou and the Dong Jiang River to supply Hong Kong with an adequate and constant water source."

The Representatives and Councilmen leaned back in their chairs. One them them inquired, "Mr. Ming, that all sounds fine, but exactly how much would this..." he gestured vividly, "cost?"

Ming Wei Yun was displeased, he hoped this question wouldn't come up. The officials were renown for being stingy and miserly with the government money, even towards a good cause. Ming hesitated and the Councilmen took it as a sign the costs would be exorbitant, "So even you believe it would cost too much to be considered for acceptance." Ming protested immediately, "No sirs, I was simply adding the figures up: The cost of such constructions should be covered by a government funding of 40 million"

The officials gasped, "40 million? Do you understand that is a great cost to the Republic? It is nearly one-six of our entire nation's annual revenue through taxes?"

OOC: To be continued...

[Logi]

OOC: Continuing and I jsut realized I mistaked the guys name, its Yu, not Yun. As the two words in Chinese mean very different things.

Ming Wei Yu quickly interjected, lest he be taken as hesitant again, "The cost is well worth it. Such would allow the unhindered growth of Hong Kong and secure its future productively. This is a one-year paid sum where Hong Kong will pay the government back over the many years to come. I venture that this payment will be paid for by Hong Kong within seven years!"

All that remained to be done was to see if the officials were far-sighted in their plans or near-sighted. Ming hoped they would be at least wiser in their decision than the last rulers he proposed this to.

After a brief break the officials decided (with the forceful persuading by Yun Ming and 'Phoenix' ) to allocate the sum to Hong Kong over the course of one year. They denied Hong Kong such funding for the 1918 year, claiming the budget was already filled to the brim, but the money would surely be ready for the year 1919. They also mentioned in passing the creation of hydroelectric projects along the Pearl River tributaries but made no further comment on it.

Ming Wei Yu walked to the train station and sat back for the ride back to Kowloon. He slept soundly.

[Logi]

September 16, 1918

The Following is a report on the status of the Five-year Plan

The Five-Year Plan for Industrialization and Modernization has already exceeded expectations as the last two years of rapid investment and actions taken by the Reformist Republic of China has yielded a 5.4% growth in the revenue gathered through taxes. The population has grown 2% since our last census and food seems abundant.

The goals set by the Five-Year plan called for the increase in tax revenue through investments in private business and public services by 3%. This number has already been exceeded.

We do, however, have yet to rearch our set goal for increasing our military-grade steel production from 17,000 tons to 19,000 tons. Current annal production reaches 18,000 tons of military-grade steel but no more. However the growth rate has been most promising, the last two years combined have seen an increase of 5.9%.

The railroad construction was well reached within a year and half since the Five-Year Plan's commencation. However, we have already drawn up plans to increase railroad length even further after its outstanding affect on the economy was shown.

To our nearest estimate based on company and business annal reports have shown the total worth of the business in the Reformist Republic of China privately owned as well as government owned, has grown by 6.8%.

Whilst the numbers are not yet in the double digits, we expect by the conclusion of the Five-Year plan we will have far met all our goals and grown in all aspects, save population, by 15%.

[Walter]

Yes, the RRC plan is progressing nicely. And no need to be modest. It's a 5.4% increase in revenue. :)

RRC
January 1, 1917 => 185,700,000 people; 17,000 tons of steel/year; 44 IC; $232,400,000/year
January 1, 1919 => 189,500,000 people; 18,000 tons of steel/year; 47 IC; $245,000,000/year


Increases
--- Population: +2%
--- Construction material: +5.9%
--- IC: +6.8%
--- Revenue: +5.4%

[Logi]

Continued....
I'm estimating unemployment rate in China is still quite high and then pulling a random number that looks okay out.

Through the creation of a dedicated and large railway network, rivaling that of the Western powers, the Reformist Republic of China has incresased its coal output from the many coal basins that lie within the Republic's borders. The national coal output is expect to double soon and may even quadruple by the even of the Five-Year Plan.

Due to the opening of new jobs and the need for dedicated workers at both the expanded coal mines and the new many businesses that have sprung up all over the Reformist Republic of China; unemployment has, by our estimates, fallen by 8%.

Construction has began to allievate the frequent droughts in Hong Kong which is estimate to save hundreds of thousands of lost lives due to lack of water.

The railroad length has increased by 213.5% since the start of the Five-year Plan and further increases are expected.

[Logi]

October 4, 1918

"Salute!" The dawn broke on another day at the Whampoa Military Academy.

"Generalissimo, a telegram from the Guangxi Clique."

"Thank you.", Chiang dismissed the young recruits. Returning to the safety of his office, he peered at the contents of the telegram. "Interesting, so they did make themselves useful."


October 16, 1918

Yun Ming knocked lightly on the doors of the Villa. Soong Ching-ling quietly opened the door and inquired on his purpose. "I'm here to visit Master Sun." "Ah, Mr. Yun. Come in, come in." Soong looked happy as she recognized her guest. Yun looked around for a place to hang his cloth whilst she went to call for her husband. "What brings you to Hong Kong, Yun?" Sun Yat-sen appeared at the doorway. "Paying my respects, Master." Yun looked around before continuing, "Master, I asked by President Hu to seek you. We need your help, the Republic needs your help." "Yun, you know I am no longer young. I can not travel as I used to. What does the Republic need my help for?""Because the Republic is established we need your help more than ever. Can you really say we are truly China when we have not yet unified it? We need to rally the citizen's spirits once more to purge." Sun sighed, "This is why I have trained you, Yun, you are to take my place in leading this revolution. I will take action a few more times. So the Republic is maneuvering?" "Yun smiled, "Like the silent serpent poised to strike." Sun nodded, "Tell Chiang I will be attending his birthday party." Yun nodded, "I will." and he left.

[Logi]

October 24, 1918
An Independent Report

It is one week from General Chiang Kai-shek's birthday. Perhaps it would be best at this time to explain somethings...

To call the Reformist Republic of China a Republic is nothing short of window-dressing. Despite the government's heavily glamorized reports; the people of China do not have the initiative to vote. How could they? The preexisting culture works against the very principles of democracy. How could a generation raised on Confucian values of subordinate and hierarchy exercise their new found power?

The government only rebelled against the Son of Heaven and his misdeeds, it has never touched upon the very foundations of Chinese society. For these new institutions to truly be complete, the foundation must be first destroyed. We must start from stretch.

Now as it is, the Republic of China is nothing but window-dressing. It is in all respects an autocracy. Despite the democratic appearance with its elected presidents and vice-presidents and members of the cabinet; it is all a lie. All the power of the government rests with the retired Chang Kai-shek. Although Chiang gave up seat of President for General, he is, in all respects, the Generalissimo of China. No one can replace his importance or his influence.

In fact the birthday party for Chiang Kai-shek one week from now is not at all a birthday party. What it truly is is a meeting for people from all walks of life attempting to gain the Generalissimo's good will. The one to receive Chiang Kai-shek's support will become a rising star in the government.

Despite the window-dressing, I do not hate it. The Chinese people, as of now, is unprepared for the true revolution into a Republic. I am firmly against undertaking the Revolution now. Autocracy is the best means of government for China at the current time. For a democracy to succeed, we must educate the masses so that each voter is informed. We must instill national pride and self-interest so that every voter feels genuinely the responsibility of their vote. We must unify China so that China can finally be at peace. Until that time, China needs a strong and wise leader to brave the storms of economic, political, and social troubles. We need a leader who is able to conduct his reforms and his actions unhindered. We need an autocracy.

Yet it seems an autocracy is the very opposite of progress. Have we not simply switched the Son of Heaven with another autocratic leader? No. We have no switched anything. Despite our government's ratification of a constitution and a new President, our government is still very much a revolutionary, a transitory. Until we finally purge the monarchist of the north and unify China, the government can not truly settle down. There can be no peace for the reconstruction of the government.

Then when will this  be? It depends. It depends on each citizen's will to unify China, their determination and perseverance in work, their unquestioning loyalty to the Revolution. We need to muster our strengths together and work, no matter how hard, how many fall besides us, for a push to rid us of the Son of Heaven's corrupt government.

Some will question, do we need to work so hard... is it possible to slow the tempo a bit, to put a check on the movement. No, it is not possible! The tempo must not be reduced! We must increase it as much as is within our powers and possibilities. Even if our flesh falls off our bones, we must push on.

To slacken the tempo would mean falling behind. Those who fall behind are beaten. We do not want to be beaten. To be beaten now would mean falling back into decadence, into corruption, into the Son of Heaven's hand. To be beaten now would mean to relive the century of humiliation. To be beaten now would mean the end of progress in China. China has been beaten in the pass times because of its weakness and its backwardness. China was forced to give up its lands to foreigners, forced to give in to the demands of a vassal, humiliated in war.

That is why we must no longer lag behind. In the past we had no fatherland, nor could we have one. But now we have overthrow the chains of oppression and tyranny. We have realized our responsibilities to the nation, we have woken from our sleep. We will defend our nation's independence. To fall asleep once more would mean pulverizing our own fortresses and letting the savages, the scavengers, pour into China to decimate its populace. It would mean the end of China. Do you wish for our fatherland to be beaten and to lose its independence? If that is not wished for, we must put an end to this backwardness and weaknesses in the shortest possible time and develop our powers such that we are feared globally. There is no other way. Either perish, or overtake and outstrip the advanced countries.

As of now the Chinese people lie in the greatest form of degradation, fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance within five years. Either we do it, or they crush us.

This is what our obligations to China and its peoples dictate to us.

[Logi]

October 31, 1918
General Chiang Kai-shek's birthday

It was a festive event in Chiang Kai-shek's villa in Guangdong. Many famous people had gathered, generals, ministers, representatives, even the President and Vice-President. Sun Yat-sen had been talking quietly with Chiang Kai-shek when a sudden appearance surprised many people. Simply two Coolies walked into the room shouldering two empty baskets. When asked who had sent them the two coolies, humbled by General Chiang Kai-shek's height and aura simply uttered Zhang Zongchang. Chiang Kai-shek smiled as he rubbed his temple. 'Zhang Zonchang, he must remember the name.' The feat was that of a capable man, but feel understood the meaning of it. Many of the other members of the party were outraged at the disrespectful attitude Zhang Zongchang had shown Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek simply smiled.