Any Chinese intervention during the RCW ?

[elefant66]

Hello,

  were the Chinese involved during the RCW ? 

Perhaps  some Warlord  in Manchuria  assisting the white forces in Siberia or taking offensive action against the  Red forces ?

John.

[Mark Plant]

The Chinese were in no position to intervene in Russian affairs, for fear of the terrible retribution. The Russians were bullying them around enough when they hadn't done anything to deserve it. Nor would they risk crossing the Japanese.

It was the other way round. Quite a few emigrant Whites evacuated to China, sometimes quite heavily armed. On a few occasions the Red crossed the borders to hunt down Whites, especially in Sinkiang, but there was potential around Manchuria too. The Chinese also fought those Whites.

By "Chinese" I mean warlords, given the distance from the centre.

[Red Sveta]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Whites came across Chinese troops in the company of Bolshie sailors, I think it was in the Osprey RCW book. Also in the  Memoirs of Ivan Stenbock-Fermor he mentions attacks by Chinese troops. Neither of these two accounts though are of Warlord troops. There was some fighting with what would be Warlord troops against the forces of Ungern-sternberg. The book The Bloody White Baron is an interesting read I would recommend also Setting the East Ablaze for ideas of actions involving Chinese troops in central Asia.

[cuprum]

The number of Chinese military units that participated in the intervention, about 2,000 people.

In Russia - 33rd Regiment Song Huanzhang (three infantry battalions, one company of cavalry, a machine gun company and two artillery companies). Headquarters - city Nikolsk-Ussuriyskiy.
Arrived in February 1919 the cavalry lodged in Khabarovsk. The company commander Huyzhun Han (Han Huirong), under the command of a Japanese Tanaka.
Infantry Battalion in Vladivostok. Area of responsibility - to the east of the railroad Vladivostok - Nikolsk-Ussuriyskiy. In addition, Vladivostok was a cruiser "Hairong" (according to Chinese sources, there was another support vessel) and the Office of the Judicial Department of the 9th Division, Chief of Hualin Jia (Jia Hualin).

http://siberia-miniatures.ru/forum/showthread.php?fid=12&tid=215

[carlos marighela]

If you are looking for an historical scenario to pit interwar Chinese armies against the Red Army, take a look at the 1929 Sino-Soviet conflict. The Soviets employed a company's worth of T-18 light tanks.

http://english.battlefield.ru/t-18/page-3.html

[cuprum]

Chinese soldiers took part in battles in the Transbaikal from Ust-Urov to Otpor (on the west bank of the river. Argun), from Nerchinsk to Olovyannaya (on the east bank of the river. Onon) and the Ussuri front against the Red Army.
In 1920 Chinese troops occupied the city Troitskosavsk and the adjacent strip 25 versts. In the military barracks was Troitskosavsk Chinese garrison. "Red Barracks" at the same time served as a base for Chinese troops stationed in Mongolia. The occupation lasted Troitskosavsk more than two months.
Only in April 1920, after the March conference of Russian-Chinese, Chinese troops were withdrawn from Troitskosavsk. In the Russian Far East, the Chinese were withdrawn in the autumn of 1920, after the Peking government denunciation Sino-Japanese military agreements in 1918.

[Von Stroheim]

Great pictures of the Chinese sailors in Vladivostok thanks Cuprum.

[elefant66]

Thanks for all the links gentlemen,

John.

[zebra55]

Hello,

very interesting information and photos.

The only problem i have is with the  link Cuprum provided, the first lot of text will not  translate.

Anyone else having this problem ?

Ken.

[cuprum]

Hi Ken.
 
Try to just open up Google translator, and translated to one paragraph.

It's a little inconvenient, but you can choose several values ​​of unknown words.
If something does not understand - I'll try to explain.

[koz10]

I read in a book that discussed Chinese laborers working on the railroad trapped in the Ukraine when the RCW started. They ended up fighting for the Reds.

[cuprum]

During the First World War in Russia at work, instead gone to the Russian army of workers, were recruited at least 100000 Chinese workers. They worked throughout Russia in mines, railway construction, the logging sector.

With the collapse of the economy - the Chinese are in a position not only the unemployed, but who can not return home. They were starving. Hence the ease with which were to serve in the Red Army, and sometimes in the White Army. All served with red around 30-40 thousand Chinese.

[thejammedgatling]

I suppose it is not strictly RCW but the battle for Inner Mongolia..however the battle between Von Ungern-Sternberg and the Chinese garrison at Urga (now Ulaan Baator) would have to rate as one of the most interesting as you've got a real mish mash of just about everything!

Here's the section of the article lifted from wikipedia:

Ungern's troops crossed the northern border of Outer Mongolia on October 1, 1920 and moved south-westwards.[15] Ungern entered negotiations with the Chinese military. All of his demands, including disarmament of the Chinese troops were rejected. On October 26–27 and again on November 2–4, 1920 Ungern's troops assaulted Mongolia's capital, Urga (official name at that time was Niislel Khuree; now Ulaanbaatar) but suffered tremendous losses. The Chinese had tightened their control of Outer Mongolia by this time, strictly regulating Buddhist services in monasteries and imprisoning Russians and Mongols who were considered as "separatists". After the defeat, Ungern's troops retreated to the upper currents of the Kherleen River in Setsenkhaan Aimag (district ruled by princes with the title Setsen Khan) of in eastern Outer Mongolia. He was supported by Mongols who sought independence from Chinese occupation. Bogd Khan secretly sent Ungern his blessing for expelling Chinese from Mongolia. According to memoirs by M.G. Tornovsky, the Asiatic Division numbered 1460 men, while the Chinese garrison was seven thousand men strong. The Chinese had a big advantage in artillery and machine guns, and had built a network of trenches in and around Urga.[16]

On February 1, 1921, Ungern's detachment, led by B.P. Rezukhin, captured Chinese front-line fortifications. Other troops moved to Urga and to the Manjushri Khiid Monastery on the Bogd Uul mountain south of Urga. On February 2, Ungern's troops, after battles, captured other Chinese front lines and secured parts of Urga.[17] During the battle Ungern's special detachment of Tibetans, Mongols, Buryats and Russians rescued the Bogd Gegeen from house arrest and transported him through the Bogd Uul to Manjushri Khiid Monastery. On February 3, Ungern gave his soldiers a respite. Borrowing a tactic from Genghis Khan, Ungern ordered his troops to light a large number of camp fires in the hills surrounding Urga, using them as reference points for Rezukhin's detachment. This also made the town appear to be surrounded by an overwhelming force.[18] On February 4, Ungern launched a major assault on remaining Chinese positions in Urga from the east, capturing the most fortified positions at the barracks and the Chinese trade settlement (Chinese: 買賣城, Maimaicheng). The entire capital was finally taken after several fierce battles, although a part of Chinese troops had abandoned the town earlier. Nevertheless, small battles continued through February 5.

Between March 11 and 13 Ungern captured a fortified Chinese base at Choiryn in the south of Mongolia; further south, Zamyn Uud, was abandoned by the Chinese soldiers without battle.[19]

Remaining Chinese troops, after having retreated to the north of Mongolia, then tried to round Urga from the west in order to reach China. In addition a large number of troops departed the Maimachen (the same name) near Kyakhta on Russian border. Russians and Mongols considered this mass movement of Chinese troops as an attempt to re-capture Urga. Several hundred Cossacks and Mongols were dispatched to meet the Chinese troops of several thousand strength in the area of Urga - Uliastai road near the Tuul river in central Mongolia. There battles raged from March 30 to April 2, the Chinese troops were routed and pursued to the southern border of the country. Thus, Chinese forces have left Outer Mongolia.[20]