Prelude to the Second Weltkrieg - Part 7: China

Part 1

NOTES FOR NON KAISERREICH PLAYERS: China in this period of the Kaiserreich timeline is broken up into a number of widely varying warlord states. In some ways this is similar to our timeline, where China's nominal central government headed by nationalists like Sun Yat Sen had only nominal, or no control, over swathes of the country. In the Kaiserreich world, because of Japanese and western intervention – especially German support for the status quo – China's various attempts at forming a national government after the collapse of the old Qing dynasty have mostly fallen apart. There have been constant wars between different warlords, combinations of states, and even an old "rump" of a Qing dynasty state ruling over parts of Northern China.

It can be incredibly complicated, but this story is much narrower in focus than all of China. In the southwestern region of China are two provinces or territories called Guangxi and Guangdong (Guang means "expanse" in Mandarin), which were, until recently, ruled as one "Liangguang" (literally, two Guangs). These two areas had existed in a political partnership that had managed to remain peaceful for several years, and was focused on establishing itself as a "model province" for the rest of China to follow. However, as happens in warlord states, there was a falling out at the top, and Guangxi, in the west, broke away from Guangdong in the east, with the two leaders of the respective provinces declaring war on one another.

February 3, 1937 – Near Qingyuan Village, Guanxi Region, China

Zheng Hui woke up that morning not knowing a thing about war.

Of course she'd known for months that her country was technically at war. But the impact of that supposed war on her life had been negligible. Taxes had been raised, but taxes only ever went up anyway, so it didn't seem that different. The newspaper her son Yeun read to them talked about the war non stop, but it seemed there was always some war in the newspaper. The few visitors that came by their village and traders from the cities all brought vague mentions of the war on their tongues, but Hui had always ignored most of those outsiders. As far as Hui was concerned, if this was war, it didn't seem that different from peace.

Some of the villagers talked about worse times coming, a lot of them borrowing memories of previous wars, back in the 20s when soldiers came and went, this way and that, each time wearing different coloured uniforms or no uniforms at all; sometimes claiming to be fighting for a united China, sometimes just for one specific man, sometimes for an idea, sometimes for nothing. The line between soldier, bandit, and idealogue back then had been almost dizzying in the stories of the villagers – all of them operated mostly the same, and they paid Hui and her village very little attention.

That's why Hui knew very few of the villagers she talked to had any idea what those supposed bad times from the 20s actually looked like. Her village was too small to ever attract the conscription gangs that would round up men to fight. It was also too poor to ever be worth going out of the way to ransack or pillage. And it was close enough to the big city Nanning that the few times she even heard fighting, it was in one direction, where the important people and money all sat. Even during the worst of the wars, it had always been something distant and fleeting, almost imaginary, so Hui ignored the gossiping villagers and paid no attention to the stories in the newspaper.

That morning she began her day ensconced in absolute normalcy. She woke up before dawn as was her rhythm, to start breakfast and prepare for the day ahead for her family. She laid out the eight bowls for the eight mouths in her family, started the water for the rice noodles, and prepared the beans and greens that would fill out the rest of the meal.

The rooster announced the start of the day just as Hui finished preparing, and soon the main room in their small home hummed with the motions of her children, her husband, her sister-in-law, and her two fathers – hers and her husband's. The move from quiet morning to rambunctious household was one Hui delighted in. The sounds of a full house were music to her ears, each voice layering upon the next into a wonderful melody that thrummed around her. She finished her meal last and simply enjoyed the pleasant fullness of her house.