User blog:Tybaltcapulet/Georgy Zhukov vs Yan Xishan

​​​​​​​ They are called many things. Infantry, Soldiers, grunts. They are the front line men and women who sacrifice their lives on the bloody soil across the entirety of the world. One can create massive technological advancements in the air and sea, fighter, cruisers, destroyers, bombers etc. But at the end of the day the war is mostly decided on who has the most powerful land army.

Today I will be using two major commanders/ generals who are criminally unmentioned and unused on this site. They both were major contributors to their fronts. One proved himself by fighting in the Russian Revolution, Civil War, Khalkhin Gol, and went on to not only dominate vast part of the Belorussian and Ukrainian Fronts, but went on to secure major power post-WWII. The other after making multiple strong attempts against Yuan Shikai to undermine control of Northern China, went on to lead the National Revolutionary Army to victory, and become the Premier of the Republic of China...

Georgy Zhukov: The Soviet Marshal whose commanding skill in the Eastern front and his role in Barbarossa led to recognition by Joseph Stalin himself.

vs

Yan Xishan: The Chinese general, who excelled in both guerilla tactics and anti-guerilla tactics led him to victory against the Japanese.

Georgy Zhukov  Edit
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov (1 December [O.S. 19 November] 1896 – 18 June 1974) was a Soviet Red Army General who became Chief of General Staff, Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Minister of Defence and a member of the Politburo. During World War II he participated in multiple battles, ultimately commanding the 1st Belorussian Front in the Battle of Berlin, which resulted in the defeat of Nazi Germany, and the end of the War in Europe.

In recognition of Zhukov's role in World War II, he was chosen to personally take the German Instrument of Surrender and to inspect the Moscow Victory Parade of 1945.

Yan Xishan Edit
Yan Xishan IPA: [i̯ɛ́n ɕíʂan]; 8 October 1883 – 22 July 1960) was a Chinese warlord who served in the government of the Republic of China. He effectively controlled the province of Shanxi from the 1911 Xinhai Revolution to the 1949 Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War. As the leader of a relatively small, poor, remote province, he survived the machinations of Yuan Shikai, the Warlord Era, the Nationalist Era, the Japanese invasion of China and the subsequent civil war, being forced from office only when the Nationalist armies with which he was aligned had completely lost control of the Chinese mainland, isolating Shanxi from any source of economic or military supply. He has been viewed by Western biographers as a transitional figure who advocated using Western technology to protect Chinese traditions, while at the same time reforming older political, social and economic conditions in a way that paved the way for the radical changes that would occur after his rule.==Pistols Edit==

Mauser C96 (Xishan):
The Mauser C96 (Construktion 96)[4] is a semi-automatic pistol that was originally produced by Germanarms manufacturer Mauser from 1896 to 1937.[5] Unlicensed copies of the gun were also manufactured in Spain and China in the first half of the 20th century.[5][6]

The distinctive characteristics of the C96 are the integral box magazine in front of the trigger, the long barrel, the wooden shoulder stock which gives it the stability of a short-barreled rifle and doubles as a holster or carrying case, and an iconic grip shaped like the handle of a broom. The grip earned the gun the nickname "broomhandle" in the English-speaking world, because of its round wooden handle, and in China the C96 was nicknamed the "box cannon" (Chinese: 盒子炮; pinyin: hézipào) because of its rectangular internal magazine and the fact that it could be holstered in its wooden box-like detachable stock.

Round: 7.63×25mm Mauser

Weight: 1,130 g (40 oz)

Length: 99 mm (3.9 in) (post-Bolo)

Effective Range: 150-200m

TT-33 (Zhukov):
 The TT-30 (Russian: 7,62-мм самозарядный пистолет Токарева образца 1930 года, translit. , 7,62 mm Samozaryadny Pistolet Tokareva obraztsa 1930 goda, "7.62 mm Tokarev self-loading pistol model 1930", TT stands for Tula-Tokarev) is a Russian semi-automatic pistol. It was developed in the early 1930s by Fedor Tokarev as a service pistol for the Soviet military to replace the Nagant M1895 revolver that had been in use since Tsarist times, though it ended up being used in conjunction with rather than replacing the M1895. It served until 1952, when it was replaced by the Makarov pistol.Round:7.62×25mm Tokarev

Weight:854 g (30.1 oz)

Length:194 mm (7.6 in)

Range: 50m

Hanyang 88 (Xishan):
The Type 88, sometimes known as "Hanyang 88", is a Chinese-made bolt-action rifle, based on the German Gewehr 88. It was adopted by the Qing Dynasty towards the end of the 19th century and was a standard Chinese rifle, being used by multiple factions and formations, until the end of the Chinese Civil War. The name of the rifle is derived from Hanyang Arsenal, the main factory that produced this rifle. The rifle was due to be replaced as the standard Chinese rifle by the Chiang Kai-Shek rifle. However, manufacture of the new rifle never managed to match demand, and the Type 88 continued to be manufactured and to equip the National Revolutionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War.Round: 7.92x57mm Mauser

Weight: 4.06kg (9.0lbs)

Capacity: 5 round en-bloc clip, external box magazine

Range: 500m

Mosin-Nagant M1891/30 (Zhukov):
The 3-line rifle M1891 (Russian: трёхлинейная винтовка образца 1891 года, tryokhlineynaya vintovka 'obraztsa 1891 goda), colloquially known as Mosin–Nagant (Russian: винтовка Мосина, ISO 9: 'vintovka Mosina) is a five-shot, bolt-action, internal magazine–fed, military rifle developed from 1882 to 1891, and used by the armed forces of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and various other nations. It is one of the most mass-produced military bolt-action rifles in history with over 37 million units having been made since its inception in 1891, and, in spite of its age, it has been used in various conflicts around the world up to the modern day.Round: 7.62×54mmR

Weight: 4 kg (8.8 lb)

Capacity: 5-round non-detachable magazine, loaded individually or with 5-round stripper clips

Range: 500 m

ZB vz. 26  (Xishan)
 The '''ZB vz. 26''' was a Czechoslovak light machine gun developed in the 1920s, which went on to enter service with several countries. It saw its major use during World War II, and spawned the related ZB vz. 27, vz. 30, and vz. 33. The ZB vz. 26 influenced many other light machine gun designs including the Bren light machine gun and the Type 96 Light Machine Gun. The ZB-26 is famous for its reliability, simple components, quick-change barrel and ease of manufacturing. This light machine gun in the Czechoslovak army was marked as the '''LK vz. 26' ("LK" means "lehký kulomet", light machine gun; "vz." stands for "vzor", Model'' in Czech). ZB vz. 26 is incorrect marking because "ZB-26" is a factory designation (Československá zbrojovka v Brně), while "vzor 26" or "vz. 26" is an army designation.Round: 7.92×57mm IS

Weight: 9.650 kg (21.27 lb)

Rate of Fire: 500 rounds/min

Capacity: 30 round magazine

Range: 1,000 m (1,100 yd)

DP-28 (Zhukov)
The Degtyaryov machine gun (Russian: Пулемёт Дегтярёвa Пехотный Pulemyot Degtyaryova 'Pekhotny "Degtyaryov's infantry machine gun") or DP-27''' is a light machine gun firing the 7.62×54mmR cartridge that was primarily used by the Soviet Union, with service trials starting in 1927 followed by general deployment in 1928. Besides being the standard Soviet infantry light machine gun (LMG) during WWII, with various modifications it was used in aircraft as a flexible defensive weapon, and it equipped almost all Soviet tanks in WWII as either a flexible bow machine gun or a co-axial machine gun controlled by the gunner. It was improved in 1943 producing the DPM, but it was replaced in 1946 with the RP-46 which improved on the basic DP design by converting it to use belt feed. The DP machine gun was supplemented in the 1950s by the more modern RPD machine gun and entirely replaced in Soviet service by the general purpose PK machine gun in the 1960s.Round: 7.62×54mmR

Weight: 11.5 kg (25 lb)

Rate of Fire: 550 rounds

Capacity: 47-round pan

Range: 800 m (874.9 yd)

M1917 Browning machine gun (Xishan)
The M1917 Browning machine gun is a heavy machine gun used by the United States armed forces in World War I, World War II, Korea; it has also been used by other nations. It was a crew served, belt-fed, water-cooled machine gun that served alongside the much lighter air-cooled Browning M1919. It was used at the battalion level, and often mounted on vehicles (such as a jeep). There were two main iterations of it: the M1917, which was used in World War I; and the M1917A1; which was used thereafter.

Round: 8mm Mauser (specifically for the NRA)

Weight: 103 lb (47 kg) (gun, tripod, water, and ammunition)

Feed System: 250-round belt

Rate of Fire: 450-600 round/min

Range: 1,500 yd (1,400 m)

PM M1910 (Zhukov)
The PM M1910 (Russian: Пулемёт Максима образца 1910 года, Pulemyot Maxima obraztsa 1910 goda or "Maxim's machine gun model 1910") was a heavy machine gun used by the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and the Red Army during Russian Civil War and World War II. Later, the gun saw service in the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and some have been spotted in the War in Donbass.Round: 7.62×54mmR

Weight: 64.3 kg (139.6 lbs)

Feed System: 250-round belt

Rate of Fire: 600 round/min

Range:2,000 m (2,187 yd)

National Revolutionary Army (Xishan)
The National Revolutionary Army (NRA), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army (革命軍) before 1928, and as National Army (國軍) after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in the Republic of China. It also became the regular army of the ROC during the KMT's period of party rule beginning in 1928. It was renamed the Republic of China Armed Forces after the 1947 Constitution, which instituted civilian control of the military.

Xishan will receive 28 NRA soldiers equipped with Mausers and Hanyang 88's. There will also be 10 light machine gunners with ZB vz. 26s, and 3 M1917 Browning crews, each with 4 soldiers manning them.

Red Army (Zhukov)
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабоче-крестьянская Красная армия (РККА), Raboče-krestjjanskaja Krasnaja armija (RKKA)), frequently shortened to Red Army (Красная армия (КА), Krasnaja armija (KA); also in critical literature and folklore of that epoch – Red Horde,[1] Army of Work) was the army and the air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and, after 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established immediately after the 1917 October Revolution (Red October or Bolshevik Revolution). The Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations (especially the various groups collectively known as the White Army) of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. Beginning in February 1946, the Red Army, along with the Soviet Navy, embodied the main component of the Soviet Armed Forces; taking the official name of "Soviet Army", until its dissolution in December 1991.

Zhukov will recieve 28 Red Army soldiers equipped with Tokarev TT-33s and Mosin Nagant M1891/30s. There will also be 10 light machine gunners with DP-28s, and 3 PM 1910 crews, each with 4 soldiers manning them.

X-Factors Edit
Training

Xishan attended a free military school in the very late 18th century, and was then sent to Japan in 1904 to Tokyo Shimbu Gakko, a military academy and finally entered the Imperial Japanese Army Academy until 1909 where he was sent back to China as a division commander. Zhukov on the other hand only had one year in the Higher School of Cavalry. He was a conscripted soldier, and didn't have much in the way of formal training.

Experience

Xishan and Zhukov had various fronts and armies they have led and have had early experience before WW2. Xishan first got involved in 1911 in the Shanxi Revolution and eventually took control of the province. He led led the Beiyang Army, The Army Of Shanxi, and fought in various battles/war such as the, The Central Plains War, the 2nd Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. Zhukov was conscripted as a soldier in the Russian Empire in 1915, then after various decorations in WW1 for his bravery, joined the Bolshevik Party after 1917. He then served in the Russian Civil War and went in various Cavalry Regiments from the early 20's all the way to the late 30's. In WW2 he served in Khalkhin Gol and then was a major general through the 1st Belorussian Front, all the way to the fall of Berlin.

Tactics

Xishan's best example of tactical thought is his battle at Taiyuan. He used guerrilla factions to initiate skirmishes from the front and rear of the Japanese, while he mobilized the rest of his army to wait in a targeted city for the battle weary and exhausted soldiers. He did eventually lose, but only due to being outnumbered and having inferior technology. The Japanese suffered very heavy casualties. Zhukov's tactics, as shown by Khalkhin Gol also called "Soviet Offensive" consisted of Zhukov using heavy artillery and aircraft fire to support what seems to be a conventional offensive front, but was supported by 2 reserve tank divisions, which then assisted them in completely overwhelming the Japanese 6th Army.

Setting/voting requirements Edit
This will be a 50 on 50 engagement, taking place in Northern Shanxi. After their major takedown of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union wishes to expand it's borders and make new allies. They find a perfect ally in the future People's Republic of China, who is currently struggling to get support to begin an uprising. Stalin sends in one of his most trusted generals, Georgy Zhukov to begin a front through Mongolia to Shanxi, and declares war of the Republic of China and it's allies.

Being one of the major leader of the republic, Yan Xishan moves his forces to the border to defend from any invasion. Both leaders will know that this battle is taking place and will attempt to plan accordingly. Obviously when Zhukov arrives, the battle will rage on.

Note: There will be background combat ( mortars, tanks aircraft etc.) that will occur around this battle, as this is in the context of a full invasion. However, they will have no effect on this particular battle, and are purely thematic.