Kiautschou

Republik Kiautschou (Republic of Tsingtao) is a Sino-Germanic nation primarily located in the Shandong region of the Chinese mainland with the Pacific island of Nauru.

Republic Kiautschou, People's Republic and Republic of China, 2018

History

World War One

Formerly the Imperial German concession of Tsingtao, the Republic of Tsingtao declared both independence from Berlin and neutrality with the outbreak of World War One. With the Imperial East Asian Squadron, commanded by Graf Maximillian von Spee, dispersed throughout the German Pacific colonies, the last governor, KzS Oskar von Truppel, with a clarity little seen in the German military at the time, realized his position was precarious. Surrounded by China, Japan, and separated from Germany by the British “lake” of the Indian Ocean and the bulk of Asia, he realized his position was untenable. Cabling the Berlin, Tokyo and Peking, he informed them of his decision to remain out of the war, and as neutral independent state. He also informed Admiral Spee, via wireless, and recommended that the Count return the East Asia Squadron to their home port and accept either internment, establishment of a local navy, or attempt an insane dash across the Pacific and up the Atlantic, through the Allied navies back to Germany. Spee, understanding his situation, wired his ships, and gave them the same options. The Squadron rendezvoused at Pagan Island in the German Marianas, save the SMS Emden, and returned to Tsingtao in convoy with German merchantmen and passenger liners; holding the bulk of colonists evacuating from German New Guinea and Samoa or were transiting the Pacific when war was declared. SMS Emden was in port and her commander, Captain Karl von Müller, chose to remain in port, while the Austro-Hungarian SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth was interred in accordance with standing neutrality laws.

SMS Scharnhorst, 1914

With the Chinese and Japanese declarations of war against the Central Powers on 14 and 23 August, respectively, a combined British, Chinese, and Japanese force surrounded the concession, including an Imperial Japanese naval squadron off shore. Admiral Spee, approaching the IJN blockade, hoisted a white flag on the mainmast of his flagship, the armored cruiser Scharnhorst. Receiving an order to heave-to from the IJN cruiser Takachiho. A representative of the blockading squadron, Lt. Isoroku Yamamoto, was sent aboard the Scharnhorst and met with Admiral Spee who explained to the Lieutenant that East Asian fleet and convoy were interring themselves for the duration of the war in neutral Tsingtao. With Lt. Yamamoto's return to the Takachiho, and after a flurry of wireless traffic to Allied Naval Headquarters, Hong Kong, the blockade allowed the German convoy proceeded to their anchorages within Tsingtao Bay.

Interwar Years- 1919-1930

With the Armistice declared, Allied troops began pulling out of their fortifications surrounding the city of Tsingtao, and heading to the British concession of Weihai. Minister of State Truppel began a move to return the provincial area of Shantung under their authority. By emphasizing to the province how improved the lives of the citizens of Tsingtao were and the security that the Republic could provide from the marauding bands of Chinese Army troops and warlords, the province came back under the control of the former governor. German infantry from the former III Seebataillon and Chinese militia engaged in pitched battles first against Zhili warlord clique, then the Fentiang Clique, and finally prevented an invasion by the Northern Expedition. As a measure of thanks, Minister Truppel repealed racial purity laws that had been in effect prior to and after independence, but largely ignored. After the Great War, Germans disaffected by the Weimar Republic emigrated to Kaiutschou, bringing with them their trade, military, and scientific skills, as did Czarist Russians made their way to the small republic, to escape the Civil War, and persecution from the Bolsheviks. Persistent rumors abounded Kaiutschou that Anastasia Romanov was seen in Tsingtao. The University of Tsingtao opened its doors in 1921, graduating its first class in 1925. Great Britain ceded control of their concession in Weihaiwei back to Tsingtao in 1930. Admiral of the Fleet Count Maximillian von Spee suffered a fatal heart attack on his 60th birthday, and was buried with full honors in the military cemetery in Tsingtao. With a wealth of precious metals, gems, and minerals, including oil, Kaiutschou proved independent of fluctuating oil prices and uncertain supply lines. With the Republikmarine's original ships begining showing their age, Kaiutschou's mineral wealth also allowed the Navy to begin to upgrade, and purchase ships that the Washington Naval Treaty were going to scrap. From the United States, came the ex-USS Delaware, rechristened RM Graf Spee, and several destroyers. The Royal Navy provided HMS Indomitable and New Zealand, rechristened Truppel and Tsingtao; while the original ships were relegated to cruiser duties throughout the 1920s. All ships were modernized, and all coal-fired ships were converted to oil burners.

2d Sino-Japanese War and the 1930s

The 1930s dawned with saber rattling from Japan, continued civil war in China, and continued stability for Kaiutschou. It also saw creation of the Air Force (Luftstreitkräfte) and expansion of the Army (Heer), as well as reaffirmation of the country's neutral status, going even as far as enforcing its neutrality by arms.

The “Mukden Incident" [1], and subsequent invasion and occupation of Manchuria by the Japanese Kwantung Army, brought a sense of alarm to Tsingtao. The fleet was redeployed to the harbor at Dongying, and the infant Air Force, with its six squadrons of P-12s, Gamecock IIs, and CR.20s and two squadrons of obsolete Fokker D.VII and Albatros W.4 fighters, deployed to improvised fields along the Bohai Sea and Yantai. With the Shanghai Incident in 1932, increasingly bellicose language coming not from Tokyo but Manchuria coupled with the Tanggu Truce, the Kaiutschou military began to fortify the western border as well. In 1935, several skirmishes between the Heer and elements of the Kwantung Army, following the abandonment of Hebei by the KMT with the signing of the He-Umezu Agreement, were fought, with no change to the status quo ante bellum.

Negotiations with American, British, French and German governments saw increased arms sales, particularly with interest in tanks, artillery, and aircraft. Vickers 6-ton, Panzer Is, IIs, and Pz38(t)s along with Soviet BT-2s arrived in sufficient quantities to field an effective armored corps, while Boeing Peashooters, Curtiss Hawks, Gloster Gladiators and Hawker Hurricane fighters replaced the older post-war biplanes.

With an actual declaration of war between the KMT government of China and Imperial Japan, reservists within Kaiutschou were called up for longer training periods, while the Navy practiced more coastal defense drills. RM Elisabeth suffered a crippling engineering casualty that resulted in the aging cruiser being towed back to Tsingtao and laid up, her guns removed and transported to become coastal artillery on the Mingdao Islands.

As Japanese forces expanded their attacks against China in the late 1930s, Kaiutschou defended itself against continued probing aggressions, while attempting to maintain a neutral stance in the larger conflict. Apart from probing attacks by the Kwantung Army on the western borders, Kaiutschou maintained an effective naval patrol, and while the Imperial Japanese Navy wasn’t as land hungry as the Kwangtung Army, Republikmarine and IJN cruisers did skirmish. The IJN cruiser Jintsu, while transiting well within Kiautschou’s 3 mile limit off Sushan Island, was intercepted by the RM Graf Spee and the destroyers Luchs and Tiger. While the official Japanese report stated the RM vessels fired first, the RM ships’ and Sushan lighthouse keeper logs reported that the Jintsu fired after being ordered to heave to. Graf Spee received hits on her superstructure, the Jintsu was bracketed by the Spee’s 12 inch forward batteries, and suffered hits from the Luchs’ and Tiger’s 4 inch batteries. The Jintsu limped out of Kiautschou territorial waters with the Luchs and Tiger making sure the Japanese cruiser remained at sea, while the Spee headed for Tsingtao for repairs.

The Kwangtung Army suffered its second major setback when elements of 179th Independent Combined Brigade attempted to force a crossing of the Zhangwei River, 25 miles north of Qingun in August 1939. Lead elements of the 1/1 Infantry and 1st Armored Regiments, 2d Division, on maneuvers in the area, came under fire by Japanese artillery. Message traffic flashed back and forth, while the two forces engaged in a spirited armor duel between Kiautschou LTKs (Panzer38(t)), Panzer IIs and IIIs, and Japanese Type 95s and Type 89s. 2/1 and 3/1 Infantry dug fortified positions 5 miles behind the front, while elements of the 2d Brigade fortified a line on the Majia River. RK forces collapsed the center, in an orderly withdrawal under fire, drawing the 179th into a pincer movement, and destroyed in detail. Much like the Soviet victory at Khalkin Gol, the Kwangtung Army was chastised by the Imperial High Command in Tokyo and several officers were relieved of their commands.

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