"The Middle East has seen some progress with advances in Central Asia and the Kaukasus mountains. We have lost some territory in Iraq but that situation is not as bad as it was at the beginning of the year and we are moving to reclaim lost territory. The Central Asia Army is still some way off capturing its primary objective of Batum and secondary objective of the resource provinces to its east. Resistance has not increased but a lack of air cover is making more combat occur as we advance. We have also landed on the southern side of the Persian Gulf in an attempt to bait the American forces in the area. So far that bait has not been taken but we have increased our Oil reserves with the capture of Doha."
"The Central Asia Army is advancing in the east to form its defensive line which is south of the snow line. Advances are also occuring to the east to secure the final three provinces of Osh, Stalinabad and Zhambyl which would complete its secondary objective. We are tentatively considering replacing this force with the North China Army for our Spring offensive which would allow all of the troops shown to move west towards the Kaukasus mountains where they could spearhead our advance towards the Ukranian Energy reserves. East Asia Army would assume responsibility for the defence from west of Lake Bailal to Lake Balkash which is the large pond shown in the east of this map. This is still under discussion and could easily change."
"There are still more Allied troops to the west of Iraq but the numbers are greatly reduced. There is some evidence that this may change for the worse and Minister Kuniaki will explain that reasoning. For now we are advancing to retake the north as our bombers destroy enemy divisions as they advance."
"Our advance through the Kaukasus mountains is very slow going but we are making good progress. Capturing Tblisi will allow us direct access to Batum once those troops have rested. The move towards Makhachkala will allow us to break out of the mountains and capture Grozny which has some Oil reserves. Maikop also has some Oil reserves and is another high value target. We will be attempting to not only capture Batum but to also secure all of the mountain terrain before the Spring. The snow melts early in this area which should aid our advance.
I will hand you over to Minister Osami for a Naval briefing as I have finished for today." Satoru concluded.
"Good morning your Majesty, Gentlemen. Thank you Minister Satoru." Osami began. "The spotting of an enemy fleet in Japanese home waters was of some concern and this fleet avoided detection until a few hours ago."
"This map of the north Arabian Sea shows its last known location and heading. Admiral Ozawa is trying to intercept it before it makes contact with CA Division 1. Should it reach CA Division 1's defensive position then Admiral Takasu will engage it with his weaker force. Losses are likely to occur if this happens but CA Division 1 should be able to inflict losses in return which will enable BB Division 1 to finish the job relatively easily. Edwards could also alter course and avoid conflict."
"What about our Naval bombers?" asked the Emperor.
"They are going to patrol this area to try and locate and attack Edwards fleet your Majesty. It is possible that his fleet may be too fast to be found before a Naval engagement occurs but the bombers would assist if that happens." Osami replied.
"Moving on to losses, these were relatively minor. We lost nothing and the Allies only lost smaller escort type vessels and two Transport Divisions. With the exception of the impending combat in the Arabian Sea I do not expect any significant increase in losses during February. Enemy naval activity has not been noticably increased to indicate any reason for concern.
The United States Navy had fourteen Carriers at the beginning of the year and we are tracking the one above the thirteen defensive forces they retain. We will, however, be looking for a second fleet to arrive at some point as there has been an increase in the Carrier numbers during January. Nothing further." Osami concluded.
"Industry please."
"Good morning your Majesty, Gentlemen. In accordance with discussions on January 1st I began the recruitment of Garrison divisions once the research had been completed." Ginjiro began.
"Our base Industry increased by one factory and should slowly continue to increase as we capture more enemy factories. Transport Capacity has worsened due to redeployments and additional high partisan areas being captured.
Stockpiles are as stable as I can make them with the only larger loss being to Energy as Minister Mamoru sent our Siamese puppet some of this resource to allow it to operate its production at a higher level. Supplies are still low but increasing and only limited use of offensive supply should be authorised. Even with the start of Garrison production our Manpower reserves increased in January by 4,000. Our cash reserves dropped as Minister Kuniaki needed to use more than normal for some internal espionage matters.
Production increased slightly as did the production of Supplies with a drop in the need for replacements as ground combat saw almost no losses. Upgrades remain extremely high and are likely to remain so for the rest of the year. Nothing further." Ginjiro concluded.
"Intelligence last today please."
"Good morning your Majesty, Gentlemen." began Kuniaki. "I managed to acquire another agent in the United Kingdom during January and I am more confident about my report on that Country as a result."
"Moscow lost five factory complexes in January and is going to lose a lot more as we advance. They concluded research into Mechanized Wave.
Losses for the Red Army have been relatively minor with only six Infantry and one Armoured division destroyed overall. Most of the Red Army is not close to our airforce anymore which is why the losses have dropped and probably will remain low until we can capture the forward airbases that have been targetted.
No significant developments in their Airforce or Navy."
"British industrial output remains constrained by a lack of Rare Materials but is pretty consistant now. They finished research into Semi-Modern Repair and are currently heavily focused on projects to improve the Royal Air Force.
Their Army remains the largest outside of Japan due to a large influx of lent Allied forces from other Nations. The fact that the Infantry levels remain high means more troops are probably on their way to the Middle East. Only minor losses have occured during January but there has been a large marking down of the number smaller ships they have. This is probably due to my new agent making the reports more accurate as losses to the Royal Navy were not high."
"Industry is stable as always for the Americans. They completed four research projects. Ballistic Missile, Advanced Material Sciences, Modern Static Anti-Air and Modern Heavy Cruiser.
Their Army increased by seven Infantry and two Armoured divisions. No numbers have changed for their Aircraft even though we shot several bomber squadrons down.
There has been an increase of two Carriers as Minister Osami made comment on. The extra two are more than likely going to head our way."
"We completed three projects. Fleet Train Doctrine, Improved Turbojet Close Air Support Aircraft and Modern Infantry Division. I expect one more to complete in February. All enemy agents within Japan have been captured as was ordered. Four were Soviet and the other two were American. Done for today." Kuniaki concluded.
"A good start to the year Gentlemen. Spring is something I am looking forward to for a change." said the Emperor as he stood and left the meeting.