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Collaborationist Chinese Army

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The term Collaborationist Chinese Army refers to the military forces of the puppet governments founded by Imperial Japan in mainland China during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II . They include the armies of the Provisional (1937–1940), Reformed (1938–1940) and Reorganized National Governments of the Republic of China (1940–1945), which absorbed the former two regimes.

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66-565: Those forces were commonly known as puppet troops but went under different names during their history depending on the specific unit and allegiance, such as Nanjing Army . In total, it was estimated that all pro-Japanese collaborationist Chinese forces combined had a strength of around 683,000. Originally, the Japanese did not allow Wang Kemin 's Provisional Government of the Republic of China to have an army of its own and instead relied on

132-466: A central wireless station was built in Nanjing and smaller relay posts throughout occupied China were also established to improve communications between the general staff and outlying units. By January 1943 it was reported that the units in and around Nanjing were organized into a "Metropolitan Defense Army" of some 30,000 men, consisting of the three Guards divisions. Reports from October 1943 claimed that

198-474: A former Nationalist officer, and included 800 cadets divided into two battalions. The academy was issued with some of the best equipment by the Japanese and was intended to allow for the rapid expansion of the Nanjing Army. In September 1941 a Central Military Academy was established in Nanjing with and initial enrollment of one thousand cadets between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. The training course

264-496: A large enemy element on 2 March and routing them, capturing a bridge on the same night, and at dawn overrunning a position of 600 enemy soldiers on the opposite bank, and participating in offensive operations that led to the surrender of Dutch forces over the next few days near Surakarta. The Sakaguchi detachment, along with the Shoji detachment, would receive a thank you letter from their parent unit (the 16th Army ) for their actions in

330-556: A police force of 5,000 men for security. In May 1938 steps were taken towards forming an actual army for his government by opening a military academy in Beijing, with an initial intake of a hundred cadets for a one-year course. In February 1939, a Training School was opened for non-commissioned officers with one thousand cadets undergoing a six-month course. The target strength the Provisional Government wanted to reach

396-907: A post in the Peking Finance committee. He became mayor of Tianjin in 1932. In 1935 Wang was in the Kuomintang Hebei Government and had a post in the Northeast Government Affairs Committee, and the Peking Government Affairs Committee and other important posts. However, he retired to Shanghai in 1935. After the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, the Imperial Japanese Army quickly overran North China , and

462-657: A regular IJA division. It increased in size from 3,000 to around 20,000 men. They, like Wang's Capital Guard divisions, received some of the best supplies and were highly regarded as among the Nanjing regime's best units. They were later moved out of Shanghai and were used for fighting guerillas. Morale and reliability of the average Nanjing Army units was a matter of their location. Intelligence reports from 1944 indicate that those units who were stationed near Nanjing and took orders from Wang Jingwei's government were more effective and motivated than those who were further away and commanded by others. The standard divisional organization of

528-460: A training center, river police corps, and a hospital. The Shanghai police continued to function after the creation of Wang Jingwei's government and the dissolution of the Great Way municipal authority, and further increased to 7,501 as of January 1941. A Gendarmerie Command was also organized in Beijing. There were numerous other collaborationist units that operated in other parts of China under

594-677: The Netherlands East Indies , the Philippines and on a number of islands in the South Seas Mandate . Some were also assigned to Imperial Japanese Navy Land Forces . A detachment of eight Type 94 tankettes forming the 56th Infantry Group Tankette Unit (Also named the Anai tankette unit, after the name of their captain), part of the "Sakaguchi Detachment", had a notable role in the Japanese conquest of Java, engaging

660-569: The Reformed Government of the Republic of China , merged into Wang Jingwei 's Nanjing Nationalist Government on March 30, 1940, but in practical terms actually remained virtually independent under the name of the " North China Political Council " ( 華北政務委員會 ) until the end of the war. Wang Kemin retained power as Chairman of the North China Political Council, as well as becoming Internal Affairs Minister in

726-509: The puppet state of Manchukuo , due to the poor road conditions and severe winter climate. The design of the Type 94 began in 1932. Development was given to Tokyo Gas and Electric Industry (later known as Hino Motors ) in 1933, and an experimental model was completed. It was a small light tracked vehicle with a turret armed with one machine gun . For cargo transportation it pulled an ammunition trailer. After trials in both Manchukuo and Japan,

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792-471: The "Type 97 pole planter" and "Type 97 cable layer", which acted in unison. These used the Type 94 chassis, with the former vehicle first planting a telegraph pole and then the latter vehicle laying the telegraph cable. The Type 94 was mainly deployed in "Tankette Companies". They were attached to infantry divisions for use in the reconnaissance role. Each Japanese division had four tankette platoons, with four tankettes in each platoon. The Type 94 tankette

858-571: The 1920s and 1930s, they had thin armor that could be penetrated by .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun fire at 600 yards (550 m) range. From the 1920s, the Imperial Japanese Army tested a variety of European light tanks, including several Renault FTs , and a decision was reached in 1929 to proceed with the domestic development of a new vehicle based largely on the Carden-Loyd Mk VI tankette design to address

924-809: The Chinese embassy in Tokyo . After his return to China in 1907, he was appointed to a post under the Viceroy of Zhili to manage foreign affairs. After the Republic of China had been established, he was sent to France in 1913. On his return, by orders of Duan Qirui he helped establish the Bank of China , and became its president from July 1917. He served as minister of finance under the Beiyang Government from December 1917 to March 1918. In December 1918, he

990-628: The Japanese Imperial General Headquarters authorized the creation of a collaborationist regime as part of its overall strategy to establish an autonomous buffer zone between China and Japanese-controlled Manchukuo . This government was based in Beijing, and proclaimed Wang Kemin accepted the post of President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China , with its capital in Beijing on December 14, 1937. The government nominally controlled

1056-868: The Japanese. The most notable were the armed forces of the separate puppet state of Manchukuo , along with minor units, such as the early East Hebei Army (1935–37, later merged with the Provisional Government Army), and the Inner Mongolian Army , mainly operating in the puppet state of Mengjiang (which was made an autonomous region of the Reorganized National Government, but was de facto independent). Wang Kemin Wang Kemin ( Chinese : 王克敏 ; pinyin : Wáng Kèmǐn ; Wade-Giles : Wang K'o-min, May 4, 1879 – December 25, 1945)

1122-404: The Nanjing Army was as follows: However, this structure was rarely followed and there was a disparity in the sizes of different units. For example, some units referred to as "armies" had a strength of a few thousand men while others that were called "divisions" had more than 6,000. Only the elite Guards divisions in Nanjing actually followed the standard structure. In order to improve organization,

1188-594: The Nanjing Army were really under the authority of the semi-autonomous North China Political Council , led by former Provisional Government leader Wang Kemin . In 1940, it was reported that the total strength of the units in North China was 22 regiments, along with 8 independent and training regiments. As a result of a recruitment drive in November 1940, the North China Political Council's army increased from 26,000 to 41,000 men. The number of collaborationist police in

1254-739: The Nanjing Government fell quickly and few military units remained loyal to it. Among those were Central Military Academy cadets, who built fortifications in Nanjing before fights broke out between the pro- Chen Gongbo and pro-Chiang Kai-shek factions. Most Nanjing units, however, surrendered peacefully and joined the Nationalists. Reportedly, the Guards Divisions and some of the cadets from the Shanghai Naval Academy later distinguished themselves fighting for

1320-665: The Nanjing Government was first formed in May 1941 with the founding of an Aviation School that took in a hundred cadets, and its first aircraft–three Tachikawa Ki-9 trainers–were received around that time. The Japanese eventually provided more Ki-9s and Tachikawa Ki-55 advanced trainers in 1942, in addition to some transports, including a Fokker Super Universal as Wang Jingwei's personal transport, and several Mitsubishi Ki-57 medium and Tachikawa Ki-54c light transports. Along with them there were also an L2D3 transport and Nakajima Ki-34 eight-passenger planes. Wang Jingwei planned to expand

1386-574: The Nanjing Nationalist Government. Wang was arrested by the government of the Republic of China after the surrender of Japan and tried for treason . He committed suicide before the conclusion of his trial on December 25, 1945. Type 94 tankette The Type 94 tankette ( Japanese : 九四式軽装甲車 , romanized :  Kyūyon-shiki keisōkōsha , literally "94 type light armored car"; also known as TK , an abbreviation of Tokushu Keninsha , literally "special tractor" )

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1452-657: The Nationalists during the Chinese Civil War . The Navy of the Reorganized National Government was first created on 13 December 1940 by the Japanese, with an inauguration ceremony taking place in Weihaiwei . It was attended by officials, including vice chief of naval staff, Zhang Xiyuan , along with the commander of the Japanese naval forces operating in north China. Several former Nationalist navy vessels were handed over by Japan, along with several naval bases, including Weihaiwei and Qingdao . There are reports that

1518-745: The Type 92 cavalry tank , of which only 167 were built with the Type 94, although the Type 94 was the model almost always encountered in the various fronts of the Pacific War . The design of the Type 94 was inspired by the British Carden-Loyd Mark VIb tankettes. The IJA received delivery of six of these in 1930. Although the Japanese determined that both the Mark VIb and the French Renault UE were too small, they liked certain features of each of them. The design of

1584-479: The Type 94 had more similarities with the Vickers light tanks of the time. The hull of the Type 94 was of riveted and welded construction, with a front-mounted engine with the driver to the right. The engine was an air-cooled petrol motor that developed 35  hp (26 kW) at 2,500 rpm. Like many Japanese armored vehicles intended to operate in hot conditions, the engine was given asbestos insulation to protect

1650-611: The UK, along with some French Renault UE Chenillette vehicles and field tested them. The IJA determined that the British and French machines were too small to be practical, and started planning for a larger version, the Tokushu Keninsha (TK, meaning "Special Tractor"). The Imperial Japanese Army also experimented with a variety of armored cars with limited success. The wheeled armored cars were not suitable for most operations in

1716-474: The Wang Jingwei regime would have at least a token armored force. Records indicate that the Nanjing Army was also given 20 armored cars and 24 motorcycles. Since there were few factories in the Nanjing Government's territory, it had to rely on weapons captured from Nationalist troops and those provided by Japan. Due to this the quality and quantity of small arms used by the Nanjing Army varied greatly. Two of

1782-557: The air force and to form a fighter squadron with some Nakajima Ki-27 fighters. However, the Japanese did not trust the Nanjing Air Force enough to give them any combat aircraft, worrying that the pilots might defect to the Nationalists along with them. Morale was reportedly low and a number of Nanjing Air Force pilots made contacts with the Nationalist intelligence service. Some defections by pilots also took place, though

1848-532: The amount of ammunition they received was limited, but later in the war the Nanjing regime was producing some equipment in its own factories. Among those targeted for recruitment by the Nanjing Nationalist Government and Japanese were former warlord officers of the 1911–1928 period. Due to the personal loyalty of Chinese troops to their commanders, several Nationalist Chinese generals that defected brought their armies over with them. Many Nationalist units defected on orders of Chiang Kai-shek in order to preserve them for

1914-463: The army as a strictly infantry force, providing it only with minimal artillery and armor, and what little they did receive was mostly used by Wang's three Capital Guard divisions. The main type of artillery in use by the Nanjing Army were medium mortars, with 31 field guns (including Model 1917 mountain guns) being in use by the Guards divisions. The Japanese provided 18 Type 94 tankettes in 1941 so that

1980-556: The city following the retreat of the Nationalist Army after the Battle of Shanghai . The first police were established under the leadership of Zhang Songlin , the former Jiangsu provincial police commander. Taxes were levied on imports and exports to provide the funding for this new force. This new Shanghai police force accepted anyone, including former criminals that had been released by the retreating Nationalists, and thus it

2046-543: The collaborationist troops that had previously served the Provisional and Reformed Governments, which were both united under Wang's command. In the "Japan–China Military Affairs Agreement" signed by Japan and the Reorganized National Government, the Japanese agreed to train and equip an unspecified number of divisions for the Nanjing Army. They were provided with mostly captured Nationalist equipment along with small amounts of Japanese weapons. Their Japanese advisors viewed

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2112-566: The deficiencies of wheeled armored cars. The initial attempt resulted in the Type 92 Jyu-Sokosha for use by the cavalry . However, Japanese infantry commanders felt that a similar vehicle would be useful as the support vehicle for transport, scout and communications within the infantry divisions. A tankette fad occurred in Europe in the early 1930s, which was led by United Kingdom's Carden-Loyd Mk VI tankette. The IJA ordered six samples from

2178-408: The design was standardized. It was reclassified as the Type 94 (Type 2594; tankette) and was designed for reconnaissance, but could also be used for supporting infantry attacks and transporting supplies. It entered service in 1935. ) The Type 94 was later superseded by the Type 97 Te-Ke tankette , which was designed as a fast reconnaissance vehicle. Many British and American sources have confused

2244-465: The exact number is unknown. The only offensive craft that the Nanjing Air Force possessed were two Tupolev SB bombers which had been flown by defecting Nationalist pilots. In September 1940 another one defected, piloted by the crew of Captain Zhang Diqin and Lieutenants Tang Houlian and Liang Wenhua . They were given a substantial monetary reward for their defections. An entirely new uniform

2310-555: The former Nationalist cruisers Ning Hai and Ping Hai were given to the Nanjing Navy by Japan and were commissioned in a large ceremony, becoming useful propaganda tools. They were used until 1943 when the Imperial Japanese Navy took them for its own use. By 1944, the Nanjing Navy was under the direct command of Naval Minister Ren Yuandao and mostly functioned as a coastal patrol force. At that time, it

2376-414: The hull. Each bogie had two small rubber road wheels with the drive sprocket at the front and the idler at the rear. There were two track-return rollers. In combat service the Type 94 was found to be prone to throwing its tracks in high speed turns. Further redesign work was carried out in 1937 on the suspension and the small idler was replaced by a larger diameter idler wheel suspended from a rocker arm that

2442-531: The intent of creating a new officer class "untainted" by prior service in the Nationalist Army and loyal to the Reformed Government. The year-long training course was given by Japanese officers. However, their training was cut short as the expanded army, which numbered 30,000 men by November 1939, needed officers. Its quality was low, as reports indicated that Reformed Government troops fled from guerillas that they engaged. The Reformed Government Army

2508-417: The jumper having a large blue collar with a white border, and the name of the sailor's ship in Chinese. Officers wore white jackets and trousers with a white peaked cap. High-ranking officers wore black tunics. That was worn with black trousers and black peaked cap with gold trimming and a woven cap badge. The badge was a wreath with a gold anchor along with a blue sky and sun badge above that. The air force of

2574-734: The later war against the Chinese Communists that he knew he would fight after Japan's defeat. As a result, the Nanjing Army was never fully trusted due to its suspect loyalties and therefore received limited heavy weapons, but the worsening war situation for Japan meant that they had to rely on it more often and thus Nanjing units were granted better equipment. These troops were mostly used for defending important locations and for combating Communist partisans. In addition, many local irregular units were raised as well, including militias, volunteer and rural guards, which were mainly formed in order to counter guerrilla fighters. However, their quality

2640-697: The most widely used rifles were the Chinese version of the Karabiner 98k and the Hanyang 88 , though various other kinds also found their way to the army. In 1941 the Japanese sold some 15,000 captured Carcano rifles and 30,000 new Arisaka rifles which were issued to the best Nanjing Army units. Various machine gun models were also used, including the Czech ZB-26 light machine gun and Type 3 heavy machine gun . Even when Nanjing troops were decently armed,

2706-491: The occupants from its heat. The commander stood in a small (unpowered) turret at the rear of the hull. A large door in the rear of the hull accessed the storage compartment. Initially, the armament was a Type 91 6.5×50mm machine gun, although later models carried a Type 92 7.7 mm machine gun . The suspension consisted of four bogies - two on each side. These were suspended by bell-cranks resisted by externally placed armored compression springs placed horizontally, one each side of

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2772-552: The provinces of Hebei , Shandong , Shanxi , Henan and Jiangsu . But its activities were carefully prescribed and overseen by advisors provided by the Japanese Northern China Area Army . The failure of the Japanese to give any real authority to the Provisional Government discredited it in the eyes of the local inhabitants, and made its existence of only limited propaganda utility to the Japanese authorities. The Provisional Government was, along with

2838-492: The region was about 135,000 and local militia numbered about 200,000. Following a reform in 1942, the army increased to 30 regiments. The regimental structure of the North China Council forces was as follows: The first Nanjing Army military academy was actually established before the government, in 1939 near Shanghai , to train the forces of earlier puppet governments. The academy was first commanded by Ye Peng ,

2904-445: The strength of the Nanjing Army in south and central China was 42 divisions, 5 independent brigades, and 15 independent regiments. Information regarding the Nanjing Army is incomplete and creating a full picture of the Wang Jingwei regime's order of battle is impossible. There were different estimates for their total troop numbers, ranging from 300,000 to as much as 683,000. In effect, most military forces in north China that were part of

2970-695: The support of Cao Kun of the Zhili clique from November 1923-October 1924. During this time, he also oversaw the operations of a number of other banks, including the Bank of Tianjin . After the success of Chiang Kai-shek 's Northern Expedition a warrant for Wang's arrest was issued by the Kuomintang and he fled to Dalian in the Kwantung Leased Territory under Japanese jurisdiction. In 1931, Wang Kemin returned to Beijing when Zhang Xueliang took control of Hebei Province, and took

3036-594: The time the Reformed Government was merged with the newly-formed Reorganized National Government of China as the Nanjing Army in 1940. During its existence, the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China fielded a force that was estimated by Western sources to have been between 300,000 and 500,000 strong. Wang Jingwei initially planned to raise a force of twelve divisions under his personal command, although most Nanjing Government troops were only under his nominal control throughout

3102-618: The utility of the design in combat in China, the Imperial Japanese Army was content to retain the Type 94, although the design, and indeed the concept of the tankette, came to be regarded as obsolescent in Western armies. With the start of World War II , a number of Type 94s were issued to each Japanese infantry division in the Pacific theatre , with a tracked trailer. They saw action in Burma ,

3168-511: The war. All military matters were theoretically managed by the Central Military Commission, but in reality the body was largely symbolic and had little authority. The Nanjing Army commanders were able to operate without much interference from Wang's government and in many cases were former warlords or officers of Chiang Kai-shek 's Nationalist Army . Wang initially recruited his troops from former Nationalist soldiers and

3234-454: The work undertaken by the Nanjing Army was guard and police duty in the occupied territories, in order to free up Imperial Japanese Army troops to fight on more important fronts. One of their main tasks was to combat Communist guerrillas fighting in occupied zones. The other main task was to provide support for Japanese army units during their campaigns. Information on the exact details of their operations remain vague and hard to find, however it

3300-430: Was 13,200 men divided into 8 infantry regiments, with six of them being formed into brigades, commanded by a Chinese major general and a Japanese advisor. Along with graduates of the academies, who were given the rank of lieutenant or second lieutenant , there were also former Nationalist and warlord officers. In addition, there was also a 400-man bodyguard unit for Wang. The Provisional Government Army's order of battle

3366-819: Was a tankette used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War , at Nomonhan against the Soviet Union , and in World War II . Although tankettes were often used as ammunition tractors, and general infantry support, they were designed for reconnaissance , and not for direct combat . The lightweight Type 94 proved effective in China as the Chinese National Revolutionary Army had only three tank battalions to oppose them, and those tank battalions were equipped only with some British export models and Italian CV-33 tankettes. As with nearly all tankettes built in

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3432-525: Was a leading official in the Chinese republican movement and early Beiyang government, later noted for his role as in the collaborationist Provisional Government of the Republic of China and Wang Jingwei regime during World War II. Wang was a native of Hangzhou in Zhejiang province. In 1901, he was dispatched by the government of Qing Dynasty China to Japan , where he studied western economics and accounting from his nominal position as attaché at

3498-541: Was an inexpensive vehicle to build, at approximately half the price of the Type 95 Ha-Go light tank , resulting in more Type 94's entering service than any other Japanese tankette (823 units). Production included 300 units in 1935, 246 units in 1936, 200 units in 1937, 70 units in 1938, 5 units in 1939 and 2 units in 1940. The lightweight Type 94 was "tailored" for operating in China and proved to be effective for infantry support and reconnaissance by infantry divisions. Given

3564-472: Was an internal security police which consisted of 72,000 men, or about 200 per district, although its role was ambiguous. Sources report that different militias reached a total strength of about 200,000 in north China, although they were very poorly armed. Other militias included rural and volunteer guards, which were collectively known as the "Peace Preservation Corps". In Shanghai , the " Great Way Government " set up its own police force to keep public order in

3630-401: Was as follows: The poorly-organized Reformed Government of the Republic of China , which managed the occupied zones in central China, raised a minimal armed force of generally poor quality. In December 1938, Pacification Minister Ren Yuandao announced that the army consisted of 10,000 troops. A military academy was established with 320 cadets between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, with

3696-466: Was considered a success and raised to the size of a division. Shortly afterwards another two divisions were created. These Guards units were given the best equipment, weapons, and uniforms, with a personal loyalty to Wang himself. The Taxation Police Corps was created in Shanghai by Finance Minister Zhou Fohai for his own protection and owed its loyalty to him, and he sought to raise its quality to that of

3762-591: Was considered a success. From 1941 to 1944 the troops of Wang's military fought with Japanese forces in a campaign to eliminate Nationalist insurgents in the area between Hangzhou and the Yangtze River. Late in the war, with the defeat of Japan inevitable, several army units redeployed themselves in the Lower Yangtze region on orders of President Chen Gongbo . After the surrender of Japan in August 1945,

3828-585: Was considered totally unreliable by the Japanese. It was recorded of having committed many crimes and was encouraged to rob citizens of their money because they were paid almost nothing. The police often looked the other way when crimes were being committed by others in return for bribes. Efforts to improve its performance included the setting up of a cadet training course which took in 300 cadets. It grew from an initial strength of 64 men upon its creation in 1938 to 6,125 personnel by February 1939, and had 11 branch bureaus, 5 police stations, and 8 special units, including

3894-693: Was designed for the Air Force but were restricted to the officers in command positions. It consisted of a khaki peaked cap, wool jacket with open collar worn with a white shirt and a black tie, along with khaki wool slacks worn with leather shoes. The peaked cap had a gold band round it and a golden woven cap badge with a winged propeller mounted on a wreath. The Japanese raised various local police and militia units to maintain order. Many of these organizations were given names such as "pacification committee" or others. In northern China, there were 63,000 local police officers, or about 130 per district. In addition there

3960-680: Was initially organized as follows: In addition, a 'water patrol corps' was created in June 1939 to police the coastline and inland waterways. It was commanded by Vice Admiral Xu Jianding , the former commander of the Nationalist navy 's Yangtze Squadron. A water police training school was established with 150 cadets trained by 30 Japanese and 30 Chinese instructors. However, it had few vessels to carry out its duty with. There were also plans to form an air force and several training gliders were purchased from Japan, but these plans never came to fruition by

4026-482: Was known that they took part in several major actions during the war against both Communist partisans and the Nationalist Army. Their first major pacification operation occurred to the east and northeast of Suzhou in May 1941. They fought in support of Japanese forces against the Communist New Fourth Army and gave the insurgents heavy casualties before they retreated out of the area. By fall, it

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4092-465: Was now in ground contact; it did not completely solve the problem. Later models of the Type 94 had a revised suspension with the larger diameter idler wheel on a longer chassis. This increased the length of the tankette to 3.35 m (11 ft 0 in). Several variants of the Type 94 were produced. These included the Type 94 "disinfecting vehicle" and Type 94 "gas-scattering vehicle", which were adapted for chemical warfare . Others produced were

4158-637: Was provided for two years before they were intended to join the army as junior officers, and Wang hired reserve Japanese officers to serve as instructors. US intelligence reports indicate that later on they formed a branch of the Central Military Academy in Canton , and another military academy in Beijing , the latter of which probably was used to prepare officers for the units under the North China Political Council's authority. The majority of

4224-480: Was reported that the total strength of the Nanjing Navy was 19 warships, 12 gunboats, 24 special gunboats, and 6 survey craft. There were also 37 small vessels that were under construction since 1942. The navy also included two regiments of marines, one based at Canton and the other at Weihaiwei. A Naval Academy was also set up in Shanghai. The navy uniform was that of the IJN. Ratings wore white jumpers, trousers and cap with

4290-532: Was the only representative of the Beiyang Government to attend a meeting with the Nanjing Government in an attempt to reunify China. He served as Minister of Finance again from July–August 1923 under the premiership of Gao Lingwei . However, Wang was strongly opposed by the Fengtian clique led by Zhang Zuolin , and forced to resign his post after only a week. He returned as Minister of Finance with

4356-566: Was very low due to their limited training and lack of arms, and they were regarded as unreliable. The units that were considered to be the most reliable and loyal by Wang Jingwei included the three Guards divisions in Nanjing (about 10,000 men per division), the 1st Front Army (about 20,000 men), based throughout the Lower Yangtze , and the Taxation Police Corps (about 3,000 men), which had been raised personally by Zhou Fohai and were loyal to him. The Capital Guards Divisions were formed from an independent brigade created in May 1941 in Nanjing, which

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