The official AHF China at War 1895-1949 quiz thread

[Mischa]

Hello!
With some valuable outside help I at last can produce the correct answer.
So, this mysterious ship is torpedoboat Fronde.

Best regards, Aleks

Uffffffff! well done Aleks
You turn!
Regards
Mischa

[AVV]

Thanks, Mischa!
Myt next question should be easier. So, who is this man?

Best regards, Aleks

[AVV]

Hello!
This man was, probably, the last prominent statesman of Chinese Empire.

Best regards, Aleks

[AVV]

Hello!
Second hint: he played an important role in the development of Chinese navy.

Best regards, Aleks

[YC Chen]

Li Hongzhang(李鸿章).
Very easy for we Chinese.

[AVV]

Hello!
Correct, of course.
Photo from Wikipedia.
Thanks for moving up the quiz and over to you!

Best regards, Aleks

[YC Chen]

Ok!
The next question is a little more difficult. Say something about these photos: When and where these photos were taken? Why these trucks were lined up like this?

[AVV]

Hello!
The trucks seem to be post-war Soviet (or licensed Chinese) production. May be, the photos show the results of Chinese nuclear tests?

Best regards, Aleks

[YC Chen]

No, these are scenes from the Civil War 1946-49.
I don't know about the trucks, but they can't be Soviet ones. I have some more photos show this scene, and the trucks in other photos are all the same as the truck in the first photo I posted.
So, can anyone answer the questions?

[Edward Chen]

Ok!
The next question is a little more difficult. Say something about these photos: When and where these photos were taken? Why these trucks were lined up like this?

These photos pertain to the Shuangduiji Pocket, in Anhui Province, sometime after December 15, 1948, when the pocket was finally reduced by PLA forces (who probably put many of those trucks back into service for their use). They often appear in mainland Chinese histories of the Huai-Hai Campaign.

The trucks, mostly of American manufacture, belong to the Nationalist Twelfth Army, a largely motorized force with its own armor contingent under Lt. General Huang Wei, ten divisions in four corps numbering 120,000 troops, encircled in this pocket from November 26-December 15, 1948 during the second of the three major encirclement battles of the epic Huai-Hai Campaign. Because the Central Plains terrain in this area was flat, the trucks were lined up to establish makeshift defensive perimeters, after they were drained of fuel to keep other vehicles running. Only a few thousand troops from the Twelfth Army escaped this pocket, and LTG Huang Wei was captured by PLA forces.

Hope this helps,

[YC Chen]

Well, partly right.
A little additional info: this was called the "Automobile Fortified Line"(汽车防线). Many KMT drivers fled when KMT army was sure to be defeated in "Huai-Hai Campaign", so Huang Wei had up to 800 trucks without drivers at that time. He was so creative that he filled them with soil and lined them up outside Shuangduiji as a fortified line.
Now I'm sure most of these were American trucks because I have found some other photos shows American trucks Iike this. However, I'm still not able to identify them.
Now, your turn!

[Marcus]

An off-topic post by nebelwerferXXX was removed.

/Marcus

[Edward Chen]

This one is actually easy to Chinese cognoscente in military history:

During the Chinese Civil War, the Communists had a list of what they regarded as the Nationalist Army's "top five elite formations," well-equipped combat units that the PLA initially sought to avoid engaging directly, then celebrated whenever these formations were defeated and then ultimately destroyed.
Name these five formations.

Hints:
- They're corps (Jün 軍, often translated as "army" during this period) -sized formations.
- In the case of one of these formations, at the time it was first destroyed it was officially designated a "reorganized division" (essentially take a WW2-era Nationalist Army corps, redesignate its divisions as "reorganized brigades" and disband a regiment from each "brigade" as a cost-saving downsizing measure). During the Civil War this same Nationalist formation was rebuilt then destroyed again two more times.
- Three of them fought in Burma during WW2.

Bonus if anyone can name what was regarded as the "sixth" of Chiang's "top five elite formations." Ironically, unlike the five in the list, this "sixth" formation survived the war despite experiencing heavy combat and losses to be evacuated to Taiwan.

Have fun!

[YC Chen]

Hello,
These five formations, accroding to my memory, were the 74th Division, the New 1 Army(fought in Burma), the New 6 Army(fought in Burma), the 5th Army(former 200th Division, fought in Burma) and the 18th Army.
I googled about the "sixth elite", and the results told me that it was the 52th Army. It fought a famous battle in Yuepu, Shanghai and at last evacuated to Taiwan.

[Edward Chen]

Correct on all counts!

Moving on...