Thank you Don, so the thread ends up in the Osprey book, unless we contact the author for the source.DonMegel wrote:I tried to reply yesterday but my post did not go through.
The book was "Chinese Warlord Armies: 1911-30" by Osprey. I know it is not very in depth but it was one of the few eBooks I could find on the matter.
I looked at Arming the Chinese at the University library but I could not take it home. Is it worth buying? Keep in mind I am more interested in who used what kind of equipment rather than the politics behind why.
Was that armored car with the KMT markings pre or post 1927?
Google translate butchers Chinese, is there a better translator out there?
Please note that, things could have been ordered or inquired by Chinese but were not actually sent to the customer.
The underlying politics was indeed more complicated than equipment. The contemporary conflicts in Africa sometimes remind me of the Chinese era of warlords, the war between or among local deputies of foreign powers.
That armored car was post 1927. KMT did not have the ability of heavy weapon building, until 1927 after the "north expedition force" took control of traditional arsenals in Shanghai (Kiang-nan) and Hubei Province (Han-yang). Armored trains and draisines first.
You may browse the whole book (not too thick) first, to see if there is enough interesting information. Probably it is an excellent introduction. To us who have Chinese files for cross-check, of course worth buying.
The electric translators cannot help much on special names in history or geography, and the grammar could be chaotic. If you know other languages, try cross-checking with them. When I did not know much Japanese language but had to understand the key information in Japanese, I tried translation into Chinese, English, German and a bit Russian. If you get to know some Chinese guy on campus who has the knowledge and the hobby, that might be very convenient.
For long term benefit, studying the target language is the most effective way.