The Setting Sun - Gotterdammerung, Japan 1944.

[Remble]

An Alliance Shatters

2

0700 September 9th 1944.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, North Philippine Trench.

The French fleet was still heading in the general direction of the Mariana Trench as was predicted. It was currently off the coast of Davao.

Yamamoto had been unable to catch the American Submarine fleet and decided to move towards Singapore to counter the increased enemy activity in the area. He neatly laid in a course behind the French to avoid any possible conflict with the larger fleet.

Admiral Godo had arrived in the Bonin Islands to embark the marines of Mj. General Banzai. His next port of call would be Kagoshima where he would pick up the second marine division and replace it with an infantry division.

Admiral Ozawa was temporarily resting his bomber squadrons to allow them to rest and repair. He would lead the battered ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy back to Tokyo before handing the fleet over to another commander and returning to Saipan and his bombers.

The French Carrier fleet arrived off Palau at 0600 hours on September 11th. Yamashita's interceptors would cause some minor damage to the enemy fleet as it turned around and headed back towards Indonesia. Both the British and French fleets seemed to have been hoping to encounter smaller Japanese fleets during their short raids into Japanese territory. Yamamoto's network of interceptors made sure that they left empty handed.

0100 September 12th 1944.
Diplomatic Offices. Tokyo, Japan.

Venezuela was proving to be a very good trading partner for Japan and another deal was brokered by Mamoru with the increasingly friendly Country.

Rare materials were to be exchanged for both oil and a small amount of energy in an ongoing trade deal.

0200 Septmeber 13th 1944.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Brunei Bay.

Interceptor squadrons on naval reconnaisance had picked up the British Battleship fleet again. This time it was to the north of the Malacca Strait. HMS Warspite was still showing signs of considerable damage, which did not seem to halt the fleets advance, as it was currently heading towards Singapore.

Yamamoto altered course to put his fleet into the friendly port of Miri in Borneo until it was safe to continue onwards to Singapore.

Godo had completed the latest leg of his transport mission and turned south towards Aparri in the Philippines. He would exchange an infantry division for the current armoured division guarding the province.

The British fleet altered course westwards at 0400 on September 14th, largely due to the ever increasing damage being inflicted to HMS Warspite. The interceptors were not ideally suited to this type of mission but they came very close to finishing off the British Battleship. It would escape for now. Yamamoto ordered his fleet towards Singapore now that the hostile fleet was moving away from the area.

0700 September 14th 1944.
North China Army Headquarters. Anshun, China.

The Imperial Japanese Airforce had done its job well in northern China which would allow a rare advance in this area.

Troops from both Mengkukuo and Japan began moving towards the empty Yuling province.

0000 September 16th 1944.
Diplomatic Offices. Tokyo, Japan.

More news from Europe had arrived on Mamuro's desk. He didn't really wish to know what was contained in the latest report but he had little choice in the matter.

It was more bad news of course. France had been liberated by the Americans. Maybe it made them feel better after having their vaunted Pacific fleet humbled by Yamamoto.

1700 September 16th 1944.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Singapore.

Yamamoto had arrived in Singapore safely and would begin hunting small enemy fleets after a period of resupply.

Godo was moving through his list of places to visit fairly quickly and had so far managed to avoid any hostile fleets. He would now move from Aparri to Davao to exchange another infantry division for an armoured one.

[Remble]

2000 September 16th 1944.
North China Army Headquarters. Anshun, China.

Burma had been quiet for a few weeks as the British moved around the Yunnanese road block. It seemed that they had now done so.

The occupation of Mandalay triggered an attack towards Toungoo province. Field Marshall Hata had no choice but to withdraw towards the mountains of Chiang Rai. Most of his reinforcements had now arrived which prevented any free advances for the British. He still did not have anywhere enough troops to halt their advance but he was slowing them down.

0000 September 17th 1944.
Diplomatic Offices. Tokyo, Japan.

Mamoru was going to start coming into work later. For the second day in a row a message from Europe was sitting on his desk. He preferred to start the day with good news and this was not going to be that type of news.

Another Axis Country had decided to switch sides. Bulgaria had joined the Soviets to strengthen their cause even more.

There were two messages waiting for him at 0700 hours the next morning. He hoped that changing his arrival time at his office might change the news. One message from China and one from Europe were to be opened. He chose to start with China.

General Yamashita was carrying out his orders with his usual thoroughness. He had beaten the Chinese again and made off with another sizable chunk of their reserves when he had captured Nancheng. He acquired more energy and metal than he had done from Chongqing which was most welcome. The oil would also come in useful.

Carried away from the first report he made the mistake of opening the second one before he had time to celebrate a little. The Americans were on the outskirts of Berlin with nothing but a garrison division stopping them from capturing Germany's capital. The Soviets appeared to have lost this particular race.

1600 September 18th 1944.
Imperial GHQ. Tokyo, Japan.

Two enemy Destroyer Divisions had been spotted off Tokyo harbour and the damaged battlefleet, now commanded by Admiral Kato, had been sent after them.

He sank neither Destroyer Division but Kato nearly managed to sink the Light Cruiser IJN Natori in his haste to sink the two hostile fleets.

0000 September 19th 1944.
Intelligence Offices. Tokyo, Japan.

The news coming from Europe was bad but Kuniaki was only watching the progress there with slight interest as it was only going to end one way.

He was keeping a much closer eye on his research teams. Mitsubishi had finished the first project to complete under the new Cabinet. Better Agriculture would lead to more available manpower. Tokyo Arsenal were tasked with improving on the current Infantry division aided by blueprints from Germany.

1100 September 19th 1944.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Bangka Strait.

Yamamoto was now out patrolling the area around Singapore and Indonesia and responded to sightings by his spotter aircraft.

Two American Destroyer Divisions would be his first prey in his new area of operations. Koga would be left in charge of dealing with the Marianas area from now on.

Only the 10th Destroyer Division would be sunk during this engagement by IJN Hyuga.

Admiral Godo had now started the final leg of his current mission. He was heading to Kra to drop off the remaining forces on his Transport ships. These troops would greatly improve the defences of this area.

1200 September 20th 1944.
North China Army Headquarters. Anshun, China.

Higashikuni was now confident of total victory over his Chinese opponents. He just needed time for his forces to move through the mostly mountainous terrain.

The armour of Hoshinato had captured Ya'an after a two day battle with fleeing Chinese troops. He was ordered north towards Tianshui where his tanks could be better utilised in the hilly terrain.

Lt. General Ushijima Mitsuru was ordered to round up the last remaining enemy division in Chengdu and capture the province which contained a fairly large factory complex. He had little difficulty in achieving this task as five dive bomber squadrons stopped by to assist him before heading after the retreating Chinese divisions in Ya'an province.

[sbr]

Nice job.

Wow, 10K energy in Nanchen, what a grab.

Good luck you may need it soon(hope not though)

[Lord Strange]

Ah well, there goes Europe. However China will soon be gone.

[Reado]

having to fight the brits in burma is never good, may i suggest moving some of your tac's into siam to aid the defences? China is doomed, the US is only sending escorts to stop your defence and France's navy is a joke! Brit's are toooooo far from home.

Just my two cents

[Sokraates]

It seems the US will win the race to Berlin this time. How many techs do you still need to trade, before the Axis is reduced to Japan?

Am I right in my assumption that the increased trade efficiency between Japan and Venezuela is due to less enemy ships patroling the Pacific?

And congratulations for capturing 10.000 tons of energy. Your soldiers will have quite a bunch of batteries to carry home.

[trekaddict]

It seems the US will win the race to Berlin this time. How many techs do you still need to trade, before the Axis is reduced to Japan?

Am I right in my assumption that the increased trade efficiency between Japan and Venezuela is due to less enemy ships patroling the Pacific?

And congratulations for capturing 10.000 tons of energy. Your soldiers will have quite a bunch of batteries to carry home.

Considering that this is Japan after all 10.000.000 batteries will last them about 3 days, with their love for electronic toys.

[Winner]

And congratulations for capturing 10.000 tons of energy. Your soldiers will have quite a bunch of batteries to carry home.

It's coal.

[Nathan Madien]

It's coal.

So it is. Too bad the Japanese didn't conquer China before they went to war with the Allies. Having all that Chinese energy definitely would have helped.

[Sondrety]

Rush to take down China and puppet them. After that they will be somewhat able to defend themself if you stall the brits for a few months

[Maj. von Mauser]

I don't think China is doomed, after all he has all those mountains to hole up in, these will enable him to stall the Soviets for quite some time. It's Burma and Siam which he needs to worry about.

Hopefully you will get one last present from Germany before "Das Untergang".

Nice update as always Remble.

[Mangudai]

I need to be picky for a moment: Der Untergang. German grammar is a bitch, isn't it?

I don't think China is doomed either. It's Remble vs. AI, remember.

[Lord_D]

I need to be picky for a moment: Der Untergang. German grammar is a bitch, isn't it?

I don't think China is doomed either. It's Remble vs. AI, remember.

He probably got confused with "Das Boot".

There's too much of those German films around

Great AAR btw

[Mangudai]

Yeah. That German film industry is stealing the thunder from everyone else. Give Hollywood a chance!

[Sokraates]

It's coal.

Oh, please. Don't be ridiculous. If Paradox would have wanted to reffer to coal, they would have called the resource "coal". And not energy.

Just as they wouldn have called the Gurkhas "Gurkhas" and not "Gurkas", had they wanted to reffer to Gurkhas, which Paradox did not. They referred to Gurkas ... whoever they may be.

Thank God they are British units in the game. Had the "Gurkas" been German units, then they must have been a special division of militant vegetable farmers. Obviously so, since "Gurke" means "cucumber" in German.

[Maj. von Mauser]

I need to be picky for a moment: Der Untergang. German grammar is a bitch, isn't it?

Like the the man below, I got Der Untergang confused with Das Boot.

I own both those movies btw.

[Remble]

sbr - Thanks. 10k was a lot more than I had hoped for and was very welcome.

Lord Strange - The AI did all it could I guess.

Reado - China needs to be finished as quickly as possible so the bombers will be staying to speed things along. Once they have done their work there the British are their most likely next target. There is still a lot of territory between the British and anything vital, although Siam is in a small amount of peril.

Sokraates - The following update will show who reaches Berlin first. They have less than 5 blueprints left so I will get them all shortly. The trade efficiency would be due to less ships yes, but it changes almost daily, this was just a good day

Nathan Madien - Their energy will be mine soon enough

Sondrety - China will be annexed. The only puppets Japan will have are those that it started with, if I can even keep them alive.
All troops from China will move to the British front as soon as they can for certain.

Maj. von Mauser - Thanks. The Soviets won't be marching through China very quickly when they come and they can expect to be bombed for almost the entire duration by an increasing number of bombers.

Mangudai - There are some situations that even the AI cannot lose

Lord_D - Thank you

Update to follow ... time for things to get messy again ...

[Remble]

An Alliance Shatters

3

0500 September 21st 1944.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Gaspar Strait.

Air patrols had picked up another enemy fleet close to Singapore which Yamamoto set off to intercept.

He caught the two Destroyer Divisions in the Gaspar Strait where both were promptly sunk. The Battleships IJN Yamashiro and IJN Ise would sink one each.

0800 September 21st 1944.
Intelligence Offices. Tokyo, Japan.

Operatives in Europe had provided the latest update to Intelligence Minister Kuniaki. He would forward the news to Mamoru in due course as he was certain he would not have heard yet.

Berlin had fallen to the Americans. The Red Army had met them on the outskirts of the city. What was left of the Germany's army was being forced south towards Yugoslavia and Greece with little chance of any long term survival.

2200 September 21st 1944.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Gaspar Strait.

Things had turned quiet around the Marianas for a while and Yamamoto was confident of holding under present circumstances. The new report he was reading nearly had him issuing orders to his fleet to move back to the area.

An American Carrier Fleet had been spotted off Saipan with Transports among the ships sighted. USS Bunker Hill and USS Wasp had returned in an attempt to try and secure one of the Mariana islands. There was no indication of invasion which made it likely that Tinian was the target, although this could not be confirmed. Suekuni would watch the fleet for a while until time allowed Koga to sail with BB Division 2 to intercept this fleet at night.

The resting bombers in Saipan were given orders to take off and begin to disrupt any plans Admiral Cooke may have had.

0100 September 22nd 1944.
North China Army Headquarters. Anshun, China.

General Dohihara had moved to take Zunyi province, which had been the most southerly province that had contained Chinese forces before they had been captured.

Other Japanese troops were moving into position to begin more attacks against the faltering Chinese lines. General Itagaki had arrived in Wanxian to support any assault from that province. He would need a period of a few days rest before his forces could be commited.

In the former territory of Yunnan, Xiaguan province had been occupied which cut off the far south from any help from the north. One change in this area was the releasing of Lashio province to the British following the annexation of Yunnan. Why the Chinese had handed over the province was a mystery but it made Japan's defence in Burma less viable as a result.

1000 Septemeber 22nd 1944.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Gaspar Strait.

Admiral Koga had been ordered to sail when he could intercept the American Carriers at night. He left it a little later than normal but would still arrive long before dawn.

He was due to arrive in the North Mariana Trench at 1500 hours where he would try and force the Americans to withdraw.

At 1400 hours the target of American aggression had been confirmed. It was not the undefended Tinian Island but the fairly well defended island of Saipan. Lt. General Hanaya was not concerned. His two divisions could easily defeat an equal force trying to land on his islands beaches. He knew he would not need to force them to leave, something far more deadly would do that for him.

One hour after entering the North Mariana Trench Admiral Koga caught the American fleet. Night and rain seemed to be the most common conditions for naval combat in this region and Koga was happy with this.

The weather made targeting difficult for all ships concerned but it was doubly worse for the Carriers Koga was facing. Only one ship would sink before Cooke was forced to withdraw and cancel his amphibious assault. IJN Musashi would sink the 29th Destroyer Division.

[Remble]

Koga had wanted to pursue Cooke's Carriers but damage to IJN Musashi would force him back to Saipan instead. IJN Musashi had been unfortunate during the naval battle and had been hit more than once causing some extensive damage. Both of Japan's largest ships were now badly damaged but still alive.

Escaping from Koga was easy enough for Cooke, doing the same with Yamashita and Ozawa proved considerably more difficult. The Carrier USS Bunker Hill would no longer be able to escort any furture invasions as it sank beneath the waves of the North Mariana Trench. She sank at 0000 hours on September 23rd.

Somehow a large South African interceptor wing had managed to catch both bombers and interceptors as they were bombing the American fleet. Fortunately Yamashita managed to fend off most of the attacking aircraft before they could do any major damage. Both Japanese bombers and interceptors would need to rest after the attack but so would the South Africans.

The Americans had not finished yet as more alarms were sounded at 0800 hours. Yamamoto was beginning to be slightly concerned about the defences of the Marianas as more of his ships became damaged and their bomber cover was stripped due to damage.

Another assault had been started against Saipan with a follow up American force. Hanaya was still not overly concerned about his defences. Koga had just arrived back in the port of Saipan when the invasion began and he ordered his fleet to turn around immediately.

At 1400 a full flight of Japanese interceptors was ordered to rebase to Palau from Tokyo to add air support to the area. Mj. General Fukui had been conducting anti-shipping patrols around Japan until he received his new orders. His previous patrol route would be taken over by a smaller air wing which would move to Tokyo.

BB Division 2 arrived back in the North Mariana Trench by 1800 hours and quickly pursuaded the latest amphibious force to leave the area. Two ships were sunk, the 21st Destroyer Division, which was providing escort to the Transports, was sunk by IJN Musashi as was the 75th Transport Division. The IJN Musashi may be damaged but it could still fire its main guns when needed.

There had been three American divisions participating in this latest landing and only three Transport fleets carrying them. The 75th Transport Division would take one of these divisions with it when it was sunk, which attacking division it had been would be hard to ascertain.

Yamamoto hoped that this latest loss would cause the Americans to rethink their repeated attempts at landing in the Marianas.

0200 September 24th 1944.
North China Army Headquarters. Anshun, China.

Japanese forces were in position and sufficiently rested to begin another attack against the Nationalist Chinese lines.

General Anami attacked Baoji supported by Yamashita's korps to his south. The current plan was to drive a wedge along the border between the two Chinese Nations to enable the total encirclement of both seperate armies. Anami would be successful in his attack after ten hours of fighting.

2300 September 24th 1944.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Gaspar Strait.

There had been no further attacks towards Saipan during the last twenty four hours and it was possible that the Americans would now require a rest period before they could try again.

They did capture Babo province in New Guinea which left the remaining Japanese troops on the island with nowhere to retreat. Yamamoto would not order them to leave just yet, even though there was still a Japanese Transport fleet waiting to take them from Sorong. He would allow additional American troops to waste their time marching to the area before he would order the evacuation.

Admiral Godo had dropped off seven Japanese divisions in Kra, just south of the current front line in Burma. The two marine divisions would head north to the jungles of Thon Buri and the remaining five divisions, two of which were armoured, would remain in Kra to prevent any British attempts to advance towards Singapore. It was unlikely that these forces could move to Moulmein in time to defend the province to the north. The extra time they would have to dig in may prove to be decisive in the future.

[sbr]

In the former territory of Yunnan, Xiaguan province had been occupied which cut off the far south from any help from the north. One change in this area was the releasing of Lashio province to the British following the annexation of Yunnan. Why the Chinese had handed over the province was a mystery but it made Japan's defence in Burma less viable as a result.

I don't have DD(yet) but Lashio starts the '44 scenario as owned by UK and controlled by the Japanese in vanilla HOI2. Yunnan troops (Yunnanese? ) must have taken it from you and then the Nats gave it back to the UK after annexing Yunnan.

South African Interceptors in the South Pacific?

Looking good.