Bushido Code - an HOI3:SF Japan AAR

Dewirix said:

Well, everyone's arrived at the party now!

Do you have any plans to advance into Siberia?

Click to expand...

Actually I've placed the 1st Army on the Korean/Manchurian/Soviet border, but don't plan on moving them. If the Soviets annex Manchuria before the Puppets arrive to save them then that gives me the opportunity to annex it back and have contiguous Japanese territory from Korea to North China...if the Puppets arrive in time *and* save them, that works too

Mostly I don't plan on moving off the defensive line until one of those conditions has clearly developed, if the puppet forces get up there and hold the line it will also give me an idea about the relative value of the Soviet units...but if I see an excellent opportunity to cause some real manpower damage I plan on taking that.

Operation Kanpuu : Battle of Bombay, Part 1 - November 20th to 26th, 1941

The delivery of 8th Corps to Ceylon for occupation and "working up" duties freed Ishiwara's 5th Corps for deployment directly to the subcontinent. Since these theater decisions had been freely delegated by IGHQ to the South Seas Expeditionary Army and Army Group B/2nd Army command there was not any need to consult Tokyo. The SSEA HQ at Singapore was deeply involved in dealing with the new American problems and had deferred all India matters to AGB/2nd Army commanders.

AGB (Dohihara) and 2nd Army (Hata) had been working very closely with one another since the China War, in the field AGB and 2nd Army HQ's were virtually synonymous, often times the AGB staff would administer a portion of 2nd Army's front while Hata's staff would do the other.

These two headquarters had landed at Madras and it was from this region that the decision was made to land 5th Corps at either Bombay or Karachi. While 2nd Corps troops from Madras were striking overland for Bombay already, the cautiousness that had crept into Operation "R" came into play and Dohihara and Hata agreed that the closer port (Bombay) would be the target, with 2nd Corps troops coming up to lend landward support.

Mikawa's AF-1 taskgroup at Tricomelee loaded up 5th Corps and by the 20th was dutifully unloading the assault troops against the Bombay beaches. Around midday the Royal Navy sortied from Bombay to disrupt the landings with what should have been an overwhelming force.





The fighting continued into the darkness of night...







The RN broke off contact which allowed some of the transports to offload their troops to the north of the city, but the RN sortied again in the morning daylight...

Operation Kanpuu : Battle of Bombay, Part 2 - November 20th to 26th, 1941

Mikawa was not pleased with the loss of a destroyer and watching two of his transports beached and burning ashore...but with some troops ashore and others still mounting assaults combined with the RN's inability to break the older battleship screen to take out the transports further out to sea, he stayed the course.

















On the 23rd the RN committed the HMS Venerable, a light carrier, to the destruction of the assault force. Mikawa still held firm knowing that CSF 2 was not far off to the south.











With the arrival of CSF 2 the pressure would seem to be off the AF-1 warships and transports.












By the 25th all of 5th Corps was ashore and Bombay was in Japanese hands.



Before the fall of the city the RN had loaded transports and formed a convoy to run the virtual IJN blockade.

Operation Kanpuu : Oyaji Force Progress - November 26th, 1941

In the Burma area the news arrived on the 26th that the Kingdom of Siam had joined in the righteous axis cause. Their troops already on the border with British Burma began marching inland.



Meanwhile just to the south the 7th Corps was finishing clearing out southern Burma.

Kwantung Theater Defenses

The Soviets wasted no time in rushing into Manchuria, they had not chosen to test themselves against IJA regulars in Korea yet.

Stern Chase of HMS Ceres - November 28th, 1941

CSF 2 task group sortied from Bombay to try and catch any stragglers heading west to Karachi. Near that port they encountered the HMS Ceres operating as a lone picket ship.

As the Ceres beat back towards port she dodged concentrated fire from the CSF 2 cruisers for three hours before finally being made DIW and sinking with her guns defiantly firing out of range till the last.

Updates from around the Fronts


The warfare in the Philippines came to an end December 3rd as a new, friendlier to Japan, government was installed. Plans were immediately made to transfer the NLF troops to Java for eventual use against Australian holdings.



In central India the boundary between 2nd and 5th Corps was established as was their mutual advancement responsibilities. One 5th Corps division was detailed to make a dash for Karachi and thus deny that port to the RN...leaving their only refuge in mainland Asia at Chittagong, where CSF 2 would be waiting.



In Manchuria the Soviet advance was steady, but slow.

Operation Kanpuu : Oyaji Force Progress - December 4th to 9th, 1941

Sea of Japan Battles - December 9th to 13th, 1941

Burma and Manchuria Updates

Palmyras Point - December 24th to 26th, 1941

With the arrival of special police troops in Ceylon the composite divisions that made up 8th Corps were ready for combat deployment.

As with the landings at Bombay the decision was entirely a local affair, and with the near disaster that the Bombay landings had become before the arrival of CSF 2, it was decided that the 8th Corps landings would be conducted in a safer location.

It was assumed that most of the heavy RN elements had posted themselves from Bombay to Karachi or points west, or far to the south-east at Australia, basically abdicating the Bay of Bengal to the IJN.

The 8th Corps was to be put ashore from Palmyras Point and to the south along the beaches of the Mahanadi river delta, from these positions in Orissa they were to link up with 2nd Corps to the south and 4th Corps at Calcutta.

However, on the day of the landings the AF-1 task force found the HMS Barham and two carriers waiting for it off Palmyras Point. CSF 2 was far away and Admiral Mikawa could not turn tail and run without leaving the transports and 8th Corps to a messy death at sea.











By Christmas morning the Barham group had disengaged and some elements of 8th Corps had made it ashore. Admiral Mikawa had not lost any ships and he was optimistic that they could get the rest of the troops off and be away before any more RN interlopers arrived...he was wrong.































With great loss of shipping, the 8th Corps was deposited on the shores of Orissa and could begin their mission.

Battle of Okushirishima - January 1st to 2nd, 1942















After causing the Soviet ships to flee, the IJN chased them back towards Vladivostok.

Havn't lost any divisions via transport loss, in fact so far I've lost only a single full division in India from 5th Corps (tried to make a dash to Karachi) and that mixed brigade unit of Shigeta's (from the last India campaign)

I'm not entirely sure how HOI3 is dealing with the embarked units being lost during an invasion attempt, from watching some current Allied attempts (a few months in the future) it would be my guess that divisions already allocated to the ground combat are "safe" until the fleet they are in moves away from the valid invasion sea zone or is otherwise totally destroyed...although they do receive a reduction in their attack %, likely through loss of various bonuses (shore bombardment, etc.)

The RN's ability to locate my assault fleet is/was simply uncanny, although I must take some blame in not allocating one of the CSF's upfront for force protection. Since no troops were directly lost via that, I can fall back on the historical Japanese apparent ambivalence about transport ship losses

2nd Battle of Wake Island - January 8th, 1942

Yamamoto's CSF 1 catches some American battleships just east of Wake Island...

India Overview - KM sighted off Ceylon

You note the apparent Japanese advance on Karachi and the little bit of territory out that direction was a failed "dash" on the western India port which resulted in the loss of a 5th Corps division - Yuyoushi's 2nd Division



What are those Germans up to now?

Capture of Chittagong - January 22nd to 24th, 1942

Asaka's 4th Corps having linked up with the forces from south was able to turn to the east and march on Chittagong.

Battle of Sundarbans Delta - January 24th to 25th, 1942

The Amagi and Soryu of CSF 2 were lying in wait off Chittagong when the Royal Navy was forced to sortie out, ready or not, after the 4th Corps had evicted the British from the city.







Clearly shocking to the Royal Navy's morale was the loss of HMS Hood in addition to the carrier HMS Venerable.







Afterward CSF 2 loss contact with the majority of the British fleet, asides from locating the HMS Queen Elizabeth - however, after a day of weather the storm of the Japanese the warship slinked away, albeit heavily damaged but making good headway.

Burma - 26th January to 12th February, 1942