Coming back to this thread I see I forgot to mention that there were other groups in the area that could be considered as combatant forces - bandits and pirates.
Considering that they owed their allegiance to themselves and money, there could be the opportunity to hire them as skirmishers and the like.
There could be other mercenary forces in the region as well - I'm not certain of any basis in the real world for China at that time but I'm thinking of people such as ex-soldiers and police hired as private guards for wealthy individuals travelling in the region, small units hired by merchants to protect their wares, ships, shops etc. etc. professional detective agencies (e.g. Pinkertons), professional tomb robbers, ship masters with their own rivercraft (modified to carry weapons for perhaps) and so on.
I'm thinking very much of some films set in China in the period before WW2 for story/adventure inspiration: -
High Road to China (but without the aircraft)
Seven Women (AKA 7 Women) about a mission station in 1930s rural China dealing with a warlord
There were other movies too, made in the 1920s or 1930s, dramas centred around drilling for oil and so on but I can't recall their names.
It makes for an interesting mix where you can offer a lot of player character choices and plenty of intrigue alongside all the political and military conflict going on.
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