Update (January 1st 1949)
0000 January 1st 1949.
Imperial Palace. Tokyo, Japan.
"Good morning your Majesty, Gentlemen. Welcome to the annual meeting." Hideki began. "1948 was a very good year for Japan with some major objectives achieved during the year, although not all of our goals were met. The Intelligence report will show that we failed to keep the United States Navy below fifteen Aircraft Carriers. We also did not manage to reduce the Allies to below twenty active Countries."
"That one is on my shoulders as I changed the Strategic goals." Hirohito stated.
"Yes your Majesty. The objectives for 1949 are going to be difficult to achieve and are as follows:
- Reduce the United States Navy to below fifteen Aircraft Carriers.
- Reduce the Allies to below twenty member States.
- Capture Europe with the exception of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
- Capture Africa.
- Capture all territory in the Mediterranean Sea and purge the sealanes of enemy shipping.
- Destroy the Comintern Alliance.
Any questions?"
"Just a quick bit of addition from me. Does that mean we are going to Declare War on another eight Countries?" asked Tanigawa.
"That seems about right Minister Tanigawa." Hideki replied.
"How many neutral Countries are left?" Satoru asked.
"Twenty I believe." Mamoru replied.
"Nice to know we are going to save some for 1950 then. I would hate for us to have nothing to do next year." Satoru responded jovially.
"Which eight Countries are we going to invite to the party?" Jun asked.
"Italy, Nationalist Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland." Hirohito replied.
"Any idea when we will Declare War on them?"
"Not yet. Probably in the Spring after we have reduced the Allied Armies a little more. I am flexible on the timing but I would hate for Minister Jun's bombers to run out of targets." the Emperor replied.
"Most thoughtful your Majesty." Jun responded.
"You realise that there is a high probability that other neutral Countries may Declare War on us if we pursue this course your Majesty?" Mamoru asked.
"I have given it some thought Minister Mamoru. Japan will pursue it's own course, if other Countries wish to object to that course then so be it." Hirohito replied. "Any of those objectives you would say are impossible Minister Tanigawa?"
"Given the events of the last four or five years I would not say that anything is impossible your Majesty, however, the conquest of Africa might be very difficult to achieve."
"I am authorising the transfer of three or four divisions from the East Asia Army to the Middle East and you will also be getting another five divisions from Australia and the islands in the Indian Ocean. Will that make you a little happier?"
"My previous appraisal was with our current forces your Majesty. The extra troops will make things easier and I would say the task is just difficult now."
"Good. I would hate for you to have to struggle too much to achieve our objectives. Please continue Prime Minister."
"Yes your Majesty."
"The Cabinet has remained the same throughout the last year and we have no intention of altering anything this year. We will either move to a more Centrally Planned economy or increase our Standing Army in September. That decision will be made nearer the time. Over to Minister Hakujiro for a Security briefing." Hideki concluded.
"Your Majesty, Gentlemen, good morning." Hakujiro began. "The Security situation had been worsening all year as our Armed Forces have advanced. Should we even come close to our goals for 1949 then the problems will increase as most of the territory in Europe that we are targetting will be hostile. Africa is failry mild and cares little for who controls things in the most part."
"The situation in Asia has not altered much in China or Siberia but our advance west has increased the partisan load in this area."
"This time last year Australia was completely hostile. The addition of all new Garrison divisions to the area has quelled a large part of the local dissent and the Country is beginning to look stable. The removal of a few of the Infantry divisions should not cause me too many problems. New Zealand could still benifit from a couple of Garrison divisions but the next few are likely to go to Australia to further stabilise the situation."
"My biggest headache is the Soviet Union. We have no Garrison divisions anywhere here and are relying on Infantry and Cavalry divisions to contain any uprisings. I would suggest that we switch our emphasis to this area once Australia is suitably garrisoned."
"How many more Garrison divisions do you need in Australia?" Ginjiro asked.
"Two more would probably be enough for now but I could easily use another five or six." Hakujiro replied. "I could even spread out our Chinese Garrisons a little but that will increase the chance of revolts in China."
"I will leave it up to you Minister Hakujiro, do what you think is best." stated the Emperor.
"Yes your Majesty. That concludes my briefing." Hakujiro finished.
"Diplomacy next please."
"Good morning your Majesty, Gentlemen." Mamoru began. "Diplomatically the last year has been a little quiet overall but we have had some moments of excitement."
"The map of the World has altered considerably during the passed twelve months. If I include the Pacific then we control almost half of the Globe. The major changes have been in the Soviet Union and the Middle East with some small gains in the Pacific. The remaining neutral Countries are spread between Europe and South America with a few contained behind our lines."
"The Axis remains as it was last year. Four Countries of which only one has any autonomy. Our three puppets are under no threat."
"Manchukuo has not increased in Industrial output in the last year but it has produced more Infantry and is making progress with research. The defence of eastern Siberia is Manchukuo's primary aim. Mengkukuo has greatly profitted from our advances into the Soviet Union and has more than doubled it's Industrial Capacity. Infantry and Militia from this puppet are being used to control partisan levels in northern China. Siam has not increased in base Industrial output but is being assisted by us which has maximised it's overall production. Infantry from Siam is being used to control partisan activity in southern and western China."
"This time last year there were twenty two Allied Countries. There are now twenty nine. Seven new Countries have been added due to our aggressive stance in Europe with only Lebanon being removed from the Allies during 1948. The Allies are our main enemy."
"The Comintern has shrunk from six Countries to two with only the Soviet Union and Bulgaria remaining. Only Bulgaria presents any real threat as the Red Army has been almost totally destroyed and Soviet Industry is almost entirely in our hands. Tannu Tuva, Poland, East Germany and Finland were annexed.
Last year we were at War with twenty eight Countries, this year begins with us at War with thirty one. Trade is mostly with South American Countries with Venezuela being chief amongst these. Our need for Energy has dropped but we do still require Oil. Nothing more for today." Mamoru concluded.