In the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

between 1912 and 1949, a Mobile Barracks of High Command () was a government regional special office opened on behalf of the military supreme commander in a particular region, where there was a high-ranking government or military official as the regional representative of the supreme commander in chief. The term was in use since the time of

ancient China The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

. Generally speaking, a Mobile Barracks of High Command would have the operational authority over the affairs of military, civilians, and Nationalist Party within its area of responsibility, if it was military-related. For example,

He Yingqin He Yingqin (; April 2, 1890 – October 21, 1987) also Ho Ying-chin, was a Chinese politician and one of the most senior generals of the Kuomintang (KMT) during Nationalist China, and a close ally of Chiang Kai-shek. Early years A native of ...

, a four-star army general of ROC, was once the director of Mobile Barracks of High Command at

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

. His official title was, in fact, "Director of Mobile Barracks of the Chairman of the National Government Office at Chongqing." Simply put: He spoke for the Chairman of the National Government of Republic of China in the great area of Chongqing. He was, de facto and de juro, the military governor over several provinces west of

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

(included). Hence, the director of Mobile Barracks of High Command functioned as a provincial governor in the Qing Dynasty. In wartime, due to military considerations, the Director of Mobile Barracks would take over the administrative power of civil affairs and therefore also known as military general governor. Similarly, there were other Mobile Barracks of High Command at

northeast China Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...

, Xifeng,

Xichang Xichang ( Northern Yi: /o̝˨˩dʐo̝˧/) is a city in and the seat of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in the south of Sichuan, China. History The Qiongdu were the local people at the time of contact with China. The county of Qiongdu is ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, and so on. Equivalently, another kind of regional special office, "Forward Command Camp of the Chief of the National Military Council" would be in charge of the operational planning and command functions in its administrative district.

References

{{reflist Government of the Republic of China