Chinese forces in India, 1942-?, absent US mission

[daveshoup2MD]

My understanding is that at the end of the Burma campaign, some 9,000 ROC troops retreated, in various detachments, west into India (many other retreated north into China, but set that aside); if the US had chosen not to set up the US mission to the Chinese forces in India (so no Ramgarh training center, no effort by Stillwell and his subordinates to train and re-equip the ROC forces, no airlift from China of additional personnel, etc.) what happens?

9,000 veteran soldiers with knowledge of Burma and experience against the Japanese, and some respectable commanders - Sūn Lìrén and Liào Yàoxiāng appear to be well-regarded, for example - doesn't seem like an asset that would be simply set aside.

Historically, the agreement between the ROC government, the Americans, and the British was tripartite; Ramgarh was a British installation, of course, and the British (and Commonwealth, etc.) provide material (both from British sources and re-directed L-L) to the Chinese, etc., which suggests the British certainly "could" have set up something roughly similar to the US mission ... and they had a tradition of supporting various "exile" armies, from the Free French to the Ethiopians, during WW II and before. Of course, that being said, Anglo-Chinese relations were not especially close, for multiple reasons.

But if the Americans had passed on the idea of a military mission, would the British have picked it up? If so, who fills the role of British chief advisor? de Wiart went to China in 1943, and was a prisoner before then; Lindsay Tasman Ride and Tony Keswick had the requisite knowledge of China and the Chinese, but both were doing other things at the time, and were not professional soldiers.

Was there a British officer with the sort of experience working with the Chinese that Stilwell had?

If there was, and the 9,000 or so Chinese troops are what they have to work with, presumably the end result is a brigade group (under one of the Western-trained general officers, with the other commanding the training center with British advisors) that ends up as part of 14th Army, how are they used?

Thoughts?

[JustKomrade]

Hello, the only similar thing that I can think of is Tulip Force, or Mission 204.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_2 ... l%20Harbor.

[daveshoup2MD]

Hello, the only similar thing that I can think of is Tulip Force, or Mission 204.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_2 ... l%20Harbor.

Thanks - interesting. There's a mention here, as well:

https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and ... -1939-1945

The board came up with some options from the British end, as well:

viewtopic.php?f=114&t=257206