By the late 1920s, the Nationalists had partial control of eleven out of twenty-eight provinces. Chiang Kai-shek was keen to continue the battle to unite China, fighting both warlords and Communists while simultaneously seeking to keep the Japanese at bay. On the ground, German and Soviet officers trained China’s army, but a ragtag band of Depression-era American stunt pilots, engineers, and salesmen taught the Chinese to fly. While official Washington juggled its support of China with its unwillingness to provoke Japan, unofficial America joined the fight on the side of Chiang Kai-shek.
