History UsefulNotes / TheOtherChineseArmy

** The ROC army is transitioning to an all-volunteer force, but that may shrink the army's size even further, given that volunteers will demand higher pay to keep up with civilian jobs.

*** BadassDecay: ... but that was in 2010. Since then, China's military has poured a fortune into research & development as well as expansion of its air & naval forces while the Taiwanese defence budget has steadily shrunk. In 2012, China introduced a new attack helicopter, the WZ-10 as well as a new stealth fighter, the J-20, and they have been steadily building up their amphibious fleets, especially the Type 071 ships which are capable of holding 800 troops apiece. In February 2014, renowned international relations scholar John Mearsheimer published a controversial article called [[http://nationalinterest.org/article/say-goodbye-taiwan-9931 "Say Goodbye to Taiwan"]], saying it's only a matter of time before the island will eventually reunite with China. In response to that article, [[http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2014/03/07/2003585056 the Taiwanese government held a meeting]] regarding the state of national defence, to which the military estimated [[BolivianArmyEnding it could only hold off a Chinese invasion for a month, at most, without outside aid.]]

* [[DraftDodging Conscription]]: Like all draft-based armies, this is the cause of its share of problems and animosity. It goes back to the transformation from the National Revolutionary Army to Republic of China Armed Forces--officers were almost exclusively (professional) Chinese evacuees from the Civil War, while enlisted men were overwhelmingly (poor) Taiwanese conscripts (an racial divide that unfortunately survives to this day, though is ''far'' less severe).
** Additionally, across the strait the [[ChineseWithChopperSupport other other Chinese Army]] gets its manpower from volunteers (making official conscription redundant; they do have ''billions'' of men to find volunteers from, after all), as oppose to requiring men to go before a formal draft board. Unlike it's first-rate technology, the branches of the ROC Armed Forces probably cannot count on first-rate morale: hence the shrinking length of mandated service.
* PuttingOnTheReich: A suprisingly Allied example, with their Stahlhelm helmets. Justified in that Germany trained the Nationalist Army in the 1930s. It doesn't help that some of the ideology of the Kuomintang had fascist overtones and Chiang for a time expressed his admiration for fascism. The Japanese invasion changed his view, of course.

* BadassArmy: Current projections by both the US and Chinese governments that were leaked by wikileaks reveals that they both think that the tiny little island nation's military could ''easily'' repel a massive Chinese invasion while inflicting heavy losses due to superior technology, morale, defenses, and China's overall lack of a navy.
** The Marines branch is generally considered to be this, not limited to but especially when compared to the Army branch.

** BadassDecay: Things have been generally allowed to become rundown across the board since early 2000s. Popular opinion is that while the Marines has managed to keep their tough-guy credential, the Army is at risk of losing theirs if hasn't already.

** The Marines are generally considered to be this, not limited to but especially when compared to the Army.

** BadassDecay: Things have been generally allowed to become rundown across the board since early 2000s. Popular opinion is that while the Marines managed to keep their tough guy credential, the Army is at risk of losing theirs if haven't already.

** A large part of ROC Army's defeat on Mainland China lies not in any perceived or real superiority in terms of competency on the Communist side but in the idiotically-bad, morale-damaging mismanagement on the Nationalist side. Veteran formations were broken up, their equipment "re-distributed", regional military commanders still very much divided by inter-clique rivalries, and soldiers demobilized as a result promptly finding themselves employed by the Communists. Many of those generals responsible for such decisions ended up getting captured.

** BadassDecay: Things have been generally allowed to become rundown across the board since early 2000s.

** A large part of ROC Army's defeat on Mainland China lies not in any perceived or real superiority in terms of competency on the Communist side but in the idiotically-bad, morale-damaging mismanagement on the Nationalist side. Veteran formations were broken up, their equipment "re-distributed", and soldiers that were demobilized as a result promptly employed by the Communists. Many generals responsible for such decisions ended up captured and couldn't continue to plague the ROCA after the exile.

** The "Lost Army" of ROC Army's 93rd Division. Cutoff by Communist advances in China's southwest provinces during the founding days of Communist China, they escaped into Burma and held on into the 60s, despite being virtually neglected by Taiwan and having to fight both the Chinese Communists and Burmese troops sent to exterminate them, until either being finally evacuated to Taiwan or settling down in Thailand.

** Additionally, across the strait the [[ChineseWithChopperSupport other other Chinese Army]] gets its manpower from volunteers (making official conscription redundant), as oppose to requiring men go before a formal draft board. Unlike it's first-rate technology, the branches of the ROC Armed Forces probably cannot count on first-rate morale: hence the shrinking length of mandated service.

* TookALevelInBadass: Ironically the ROC forces started to become competent after they were exiled to Taiwan.

* WhatTheHellHero: When the ROC forces arrived in Taiwan they forcefully took over every factory they could find, including the sugar factories (which had been built by Imperial Japan). Many Taiwanese were beaten up, jailed, or outright slaughtered by the Nationalists for protesting against the Chinese Army's conduct. If the Taiwanese were poor under the Japanese, they were now destitute and starving under the rule of the Nationalists. This is one aspect of the infamous 'White Terror' period- which followed a failed Taiwanese revolt against the new government (it didn't help that minority elements of the revolt were legitimate troublemakers, which the military failed to tell apart from the rest)- the other aspect being police crackdown and executions. One wonders how paranoid Chiang Kai Shek had got by that point...

* WhatTheHellHero: When the ROC forces arrived in Taiwan they forcefully took over every factory they could find, including the sugar factories (which had been built by Imperial Japan). Many Taiwanese were beaten up, jailed, or outright slaughtered by the Nationalists for protesting against the Chinese Army's conduct. If the Taiwanese were poor under the Japanese, they were now destitute and starving under the rule of the Nationalists. This is one aspect of the infamous 'White Terror' period that followed a failed Taiwanese revolt against the new government (the other aspect being police crackdown and executions). One wonders if Chiang Kai Shek was terrible at managing his soldiers' behavior towards civilians...

The ROC allegedly sent some special forces against the Chinese Communists in the Korean War through ''Burma'', but this was never proven. They also sent advisors to Vietnam.

The ROC Armed Forces was later improved with US weaponry. Previously, the ROC had captured Japanese weapons, and many of their guns were purchased from NaziGermany [though eventually, the ROC used US weapons almost exclusively].

It started from the Guomindang forces trained by Chiang Kai Shek during the 1920s, during which they initiated the Northern Expedition of 1926-28. Later, they participated in the war to wipe out the Communist guerrillas of Mao Zedong, but it was later proved to be punitive. When ImperialJapan later attacked China during the Manchurian Incident in 1931, the National Revolutionary Army, then known as the NRA, were screwed. It is also the same case in the {{Second Sino-Japanese War}}, though fairly, they are [[{{Determinator}} never willing to give up]]. Unfortunately, the Nationalists squabbled a lot with the communists, and as the Communists later curbstomped the Nationalists in 1949, most of the ROC later relocated to Taiwan.

The Republic of China Armed Forces is the military of WWII era China and later Taiwan.

* WhatTheHellHero: When the ROC forces arrived in Taiwan they forcefully took over every factory they could find, including the sugar factories (which had been built by Imperial Japan). Many Taiwanese were beaten up, jailed, or outright slaughtered by the Nationalists for protesting against the ROC Army's conduct. If the Taiwanese were poor under the Japanese, they were now destitute and starving under the rule of the Nationalists. This terrible scenario changed when America installed naval bases later and (presumably) demanded changes in attitude. One wonders if Chiang Kai Shek was terrible at managing his soldiers' behavior towards civilians...

* In ZhangYimou's ''ToLive'', the main character joins the Nationalist Army during the Civil War. When he and his friend sleep through a battle in which the Communists wipe out their entire unit, they surrender to the Communists, who let them join up and live in exchange for providing entertainment with their traditional Chinese shadow puppets.

* WhatTheHell,Hero: When the ROC forces arrived in Taiwan they forcefully took over every factory they could find, including the sugar factories (which had been built by Imperial Japan). Many Taiwanese were beaten up, jailed, or outright slaughtered by the Nationalists for protesting against the ROC Army's conduct. If the Taiwanese were poor under the Japanese, they were now destitute and starving under the rule of the Nationalists. This terrible scenario changed when America installed naval bases later and (presumably) demanded changes in attitude. One wonders if Chiang Kai Shek was terrible at managing his soldiers' behavior towards civilians...

It started from the Guomindang forces trained by Chiang Kai Shek during the 1920s, in which they initiated the Northern Expedition of 1926-28. Later, they participated in the war to wipe out the Communist guerrillas of Mao Zedong, but it was later proved to be punitive. When ImperialJapan later attacked China during the Manchurian Incident in 1931, the National Revolutionary Army, then known as the NRA, were screwed. It is also the same case in the {{Second Sino-Japanese War}}, though fairly, they are [[{{Determinator}} never willing to give up]]. Unfortunately, the Nationalists squabbled a lot with the communists, and as the Communists later curbstomped the Nationalists in 1949, most of the ROC later relocated to Taiwan.

Conscription was the rule; every 18 year-old, able-bodied male had to serve. In the last few years, the term of service as been ''regularly shrinking'', however...

** Additionally, across the strait the [[ChineseWithChopperSupport the other Chinese Army]] gets its manpower from volunteers (making official conscription redundant), as oppose to requiring men register. Unlike it's first-rate technology, the branches of the ROC Armed Forces probably cannot count on first-rate morale: hence the shrinking length of mandated service.

The ROC Armed Forces was later improved with US weaponry. Previously, the ROC had captured Japanese weapons, and many of their guns were from NaziGermany of all nations [though eventually, the ROC used US weapons almost exclusively].

<<|ForcesWithFirepower|>>

Conscription was the rule; every 18 year-old, able-bodied male had to serve.

* PuttingOnTheReich: a suprisingly Allied example, with their Stahlhelm helmets. Justified in that Germany trained the Nationalist Army in the 1930s. It doesn't help that some of the ideology of the Kuomintang had fascist overtones and Chiang for a time expressed his admiration for fascism. The Japanese invasion changed his view, of course.

* TookALevelInBadass: ironically the ROC forces started to become competent after they were exiled to Taiwan.

The Taiwanese also sent mercenary pilots with their F-5s into North Yemen to fight communist South Yemen.

** Although part of it is deliberate; both Nationalists and Communists have been independently agreed on the fact that the China would lost to Japan on a face-to-face combat; their strategy is to let Japanese take as much land in the beginning such that the Japanese military would be stretched too thin, and the Chinese would have time to prepare a more realistic rebound. As a result, those battles were intended to ''delay'' not ''deter''; and before the entrance of the US they used a combination of terrorist and guerrilla tactics to ensure the Japanese would be stretched thin.

* In the WebOriginal AlternateHistory SuperpowerEmpireChina1912 , they appear to be more competent. In fact, China at this point went back to the Imperial system, albeit modernized. They still use the Republic of China flag since the founding Emperor at the new dynasty is a Han scholar who despite their ideological differences, is a friend of Sun Yat Sen.

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