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HannibalBarca said:
"Don't lose." :D


He can't. As previously mentoined the Red Navy is a joke.
 
Page 100!
We're there!
This is epic...
 
I Killed Kenny, IndoEsia45 - Midway does look inviting but there are 4 American Carriers around somewhere.

bbcrackmonkey - I would love to do that but I don't have the forces to spare and it also extends my own frontline which is not a good idea I think for now.

stnylan - A grind it will certainly be.

Maj. von Mauser - Thanks. New capital ships are a rare thing for Japan for certain. I didn't really expect to take Mongolia once I saw how many troops the Soviets had over the border.

Black Sun - The vanilla AI has a few minor problems :D

ColossusCrusher - I will do all I can to help the Soviets reduce their supply load.

Ruodnane - It does seem a little strange for Japan to be building old ships when Germany had a modern fleet in my other AAR.

Krogzar - The next update will conclude April and the monthly report will be next. Welcome to the boards :)

Fgorginator _ Correct but you were a few hours early :p

Sokraates - I can provide the intelligence updates to give an indication of the losses. Pretty much every Soviet division killed will be by my aircraft for a long while.

_heikkinen - The Soviet airforce is doing the AI thing, mostly flying back and forth across the Soviet Union. They never have much of an airforce though as they prefer to just throw men at the problem instead.

Middelkerke - I can't really use the Dive bombers that are still in the Pacific effectively just yet for two reasons. Firstly the only airbase in range of the Soviets for my CAS is Urumqi. Secondly it has a capacity of 1 squadron so its already holding 7 more than it should so I can't realistically run another 8 from it.

Panzer6 - Thank you :) The 100 page milestone has now been crossed of course, thanks to you all in great part. Somewhat suprisingly in 'Creek' roughly one third of the posts were mine, that is not the case with this AAR. 350 are mine so far which means I am getting a lot more feedback. I think its fairly safe to say that this AAR will be longer than my previous effort :)

Krogzar - Numbers are a good thing, keeps things in perspective. It actually has been a little while longer than usual because of my computer problems. Monthly reports seem to be roughly every 4 or 5 days.

OneArmed - Thank you, I am glad you are finding it enjoyable :)

robou, HannibalBarca - HannibalBarca has stumbled upon the most secret mission of all. My plan is indeed to not lose :D

zdlugasz - Its defenders have been routed so nothing is protecting it for the moment.

trekaddict - Thankfully it has almost no fleet or that could be awkward.

DvD-IT - I should have ample space to trade for time so I do not expect to have to withdraw to Japan. I have never even played this before as Japan though so I can not be certain of how it will turn out. For some reason I am not unduly worried about being so badly outnumbered.

Onlyhestands - Thank you very much and welcome out of the shadows :)

ColossusCrusher - Now I have to add an index at the front I guess :)

BobaFett696 - Thank you and everyone else who is following still.

I Killed Kenny - That would be interesting. It is highly plausible that I could just abandon Asia completely and invade the USA without having to worry even a little about me still having Japan once I am done.

Update to conclude April to follow ...
 
The Bear
2





2200 April 24th 1946.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Central Marshalls.

Naval air patrols around the Marshall Islands had picked up an enemy fleets approach. The current speed and heading indicated it was heading straight for BB Division 1.​

apr24462200gr1.jpg

Mj. General Kawahara spotted the fleet which contained a Transport Flotilla being escorted by Destroyers. More enemy troops could well be aboard the Transport ships.​





1900 April 25th 1946.
Kwantung Army Headquarters. Harbin, Manchukuo.

The Red Army had made two more advances into Manchukuo which directly threatened Terauchi's own defences in Harbin. The Soviets wasted little time in testing those defences.​

apr25461900gr1.jpg

A total of twenty divisions attacked Harbin's fourteen defenders. All troops were of a similar technology which just gave Terauchi the advantage of defending in a heavily forested region. The three avenues of attack did provide an envelopment for the Soviets.

Terauchi was tempted to order an attack towards Mudanjiang from Jilin, but did not wish to risk weakening that provinces defense, and allow the enemy an opportunity to attack from Vladivostok.

The first battle for Harbin would go Japan's way. Terauchi was sure that more assaults would come, as this was the weak point in the north, with the surrounding areas all riddled with mountains. The timely arrival of two redeploying divisions at 0000 hours would end the battle a few hours earlier than would have been the case. Japanese bombers would have even more targets that were not dug in to harass.​





2000 April 25th 1946.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Central Marshalls.

The American Transport fleet had arrived and been engaged by Ozawa's ships as Japanese marines completed their landing on Majuro.​

apr25462000gr1.jpg

Admiral Triye headed for the islands harbour to pick Imamuro and Banzai up for another seaborne assault. BB Division 1 sank both enemy Flotillas but no ship could claim a killing blow. The Dive bombers had already chosen the next target for the marines.​

apr26461100gr1.jpg

At 1100 hours on April 26th they were ready to attack Maloelap, once again supported by both bombers and the heavy guns of BB Division 1. The defenders had no chance to hold and surrendered after a very brief struggle. A second invasion had also begun towards the undefended Jaluit island to the south.​

apr26462100gr1.jpg

Ozawa was pleased with the current progress but decided to speed things up even more. He ordered BB Division 2 from Kwajalein to escort another Transport fleet north east where an amphibious assault of Wotje would take place. The almost total lack of an enemy fleet to oppose the Imperial Japanese Navy was a situation that was unlikely to last for long.​

apr27460200gr1.jpg

The invasion attempts around New ireland had finally ceased after the defending division arrived. The British Transport ships headed north and lost one flotilla to the Heavy Cruiser IJN Chokai. Both new Light Carriers had arrived without incident and now headed the Heavy Cruiser fleets. Hopefully this area of the Pacific would now turn relatively quiet.

Ozawa received some bad news at 0400 hours on the 27th. Japanese Naval bombers led by Ichimaru and Genda had been out looking for enemy ships around Hawaii. They encountered something far worse for them.​

apr27460400gr1.jpg

Ichimaru would avoid a dogfight but Genda was not so lucky. Four modern American long range Fighter squadrons had caught his two unescorted bomber squadrons close to the island of Midway. Two squadrons had took off that morning and only half of one would return. Genda would be grounded for some time and Ichimaru would have to find another operational area. Japanese Interceptors could not provide coverage around Hawaii as it was too far away. Clearly the Americans did not want any prying eyes looking towards their main Pacific base.

Armaments Minster Ginjiro would order the construction of a replacement squadron for the one that had been lost but it would take several months to complete.​

apr28460000gr1.jpg

The first bomber upgrade to the older Tactical bomber squadrons occured at 0000 hours on April 28th. Almost a month had passed to complete the process and most of the other squadrons were close to being modernised. Their damage output would increase as a result and they were likely to use that extra punch on a daily basis for a long time.​
 
0600 April 28th 1946.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.

The north east was not the only area where advances were being made. Japanese troops were slowly taking control of Mongolia but a Soviet advance had also occured.​

apr28460600gr1.jpg

The capture of Altay was a direct threat towards Urumqi and its airbase. No numbers could be accurately reported so a counter attack would not be immediate. Higashikuni would wait for the Dive bombers to ascertain the exact enemy force composition before he would either act aggressively or wait for the inevitable Soviet attack.​





0900 April 28th 1946.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Central Marshalls.

The journey from Kwajalein to Wotje was a short one which allowed the invasion of the island to commence with little delay. General Umezu had sailed all the way from Australia to capture this remote island.​

apr28460900gr1.jpg

The garrison division defending the island surrendered almost on contact after severe shelling from BB Division 2 and a few visits from the prowling Dive bombers.​

apr28461700gr1.jpg

Both of the invasions to the south had been completed by 1700 hours on April 28th and the invading troops were picked up again. The single division in the south would head east to secure the last island in that direction whilst the marines took on the challenge of Bikini Island and its two enemy divisions. Ozawa had no concerns with either invasion with plenty of support available if needed. Carrier Groups C and D would sail east to escort the southern invasion with BB Division 1 protecting the marines.

During the invasion of the Fiji Islands an enemy fleet had been spotted in Samoa. No investigation had been conducted at the time as Japanese bombers had more important missions to conduct. Ichimaru could operate in this area with no threat from enemy aircraft. The nearest enemy air base was on Hawaii several thousand miles away.​

apr28461900gr1.jpg

He found a fairly large enemy presence in the harbour with Admiral Spruance apparently no longer trusted with control of a seagoing fleet. He was overseeing repairs on an island with no facility to conduct such repairs. Ichimaru would remove the problem for Spruance as much as he could by sinking anything that would remain in the port long enough. The entire fleet consisted of Destroyers and Submarines in various states of repair.​





2000 April 29th 1946.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.

The Dive bombers had commenced their first sortie towards Altay at dawn where they discovered a fairly large force of Russian troops. Six divisions were not going to be enough though.​

apr29460200gr1.jpg

Higashikuni ordered an all out assault to force the enemy troops back out of China. The bombers would provide support but the fighting still lasted for over ten hours before the Soviets finally cracked. They had taken quite a beating during the battle with the bombers causing a substantial amount of the damage. No attempt to follow the enemy troops would take place as Japanese forces went about the process of digging in once again.​

apr29460600gr1.jpg

Another advance into Mongolia allowed Higashikuni to also attack Arvayheer province to the south of Ulan Bator. The battle was over swiftly, as it should have been, at odds of six to one.​

apr29462300gr1.jpg

Soviet forces had also retaken Borzya in the north. Terauchi also ordered an attack to slow the enemy advance down here as well. Japanese and Soviet armour would clash during the battle with the Japanese current numerical advantage proving the deciding factor. How long the odds would remain this way anywhere along the entire Soviet Front was anyones guess, but it would not likely be for long.​





0600 April 29th 1946.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Central Marshalls.

The Transport fleet that had barely made it into the harbour of Meloelap, during its mission to land a defensive division for the Americans, did not make it back out again.​

apr29460600gr2.jpg

Its entry back into the Central Marshalls coincided with both Japanese Carrier Groups as well as BB Division 1 being in the area. IJN Hiyo's aircraft would claim the sinking of the badly damaged flotilla.​

apr30462200gr1.jpg

The final shots fired during April occured at 2200 hours on the 30th. Japanese marines made yet another successful landing this time on Bikini Island. An American marine division and a Brazilian tank division would be taken captive. Support from Kwajalein made the fight all the easier as Japanese troops utilised the Naval supremacy in the region to its fullest. There were no longer any hostile forces on any of the Marshall Islands. All Ozawa had to do now was keep it that way.​
 
It looks like mongolia will be annexed soon if the current rate of advance continues. A shame about Naval bombers though.
Edit If and when you build capital ships will it be BB's with CVL's or CV's?
 
Nice fighting against the Russians.

a few questions: Gonna pick your brain for some knowlege ;)

1) Wouldn't it be better to attack Altay with 9 divisions and not go over the command maximum and keep 5 divisions on full org as a quick reaction force?

2) In Borzyan there are less sovjet divisions. Wouldn't your airforce do more damage there then in Altay?


O yeah btw this AAR is far better then your German AAR (was also good) You can thank the Russians for that (great odds :p )...
 
Nice update as always.

There is someting I do not get. :wacko:


On most of screenshots showing fights with SOV, there is the icon showing lack of supplies.

I guess it is for SOV side? Is it only a display bug or a real problem for them to supply army?
 
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Remble it really helps new people to post because you almost allways answer a post before you place your updates. imo that's a very good way to do it, makes people feel more special to post :D

I can't wait for monthly update, I really hope to see a figure on how many destroyed forces in all theaters in the monthly.

/Krogzar
 
@Krozgar

More than destroyed units, it will be interesting to see how the resources are going:
- is energy leak under control?
- does ground warfare against SOV strongly reduce MP?
- is there still some IC to replace lost ships and planes?
 
alan_le_cowboy said:
On most of screenshots showing fights with SOV, there is the icon showing lack of supplies.

I guess it is for SOV side? Is it only a display bug or a real problem for them to supply army?

It's a real problem, since Japan contributed substantial amounts of supply to the SU before the war. Japan, on the other hand loses a health income of energy. the monthly update will show us the details.

Middelkerke said:
2) In Borzyan there are less sovjet divisions. Wouldn't your airforce do more damage there then in Altay?

Two of those are armour divisions while the ones in Altay are infantry and cavalry. So the chances of succcess are higher in Altay. Also I think that keeping Urumqui as long as possible is a higher priority than invading an knocking out Mongolia.

@Remble: This is nail-biting tension the way I like it. I can't remember whether I have ever waited so eagerly for a monthly update.

Regarding your musings on whether to continue this AAR after the SU is gone (though that's still a long way off): Japan is in a much worse position (at least gamewise) than Germany ever was. Knocking out the UK and the USA would be great achievements in this scenario, especially considering your forces of mostly outdated infantry.

In my humble opinion, once you have defeated the SU (which I do not doubt) and have pulled yourself together to try conquering the UK and the USA, you will find out that the game can still offer a decent challenge.

But that's just my opinion and you will see for yourself, whether I'm correct. All I and probably all other readers ask, is to at least give it a try.
 
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Sokraates said:
Two of those are armour divisions while the ones in Altay are infantry and cavalry. So the chances of succcess are higher i Altay. Also I think that keeping Urumqui as long as possible is a higher priority than invading an knocking gout Mongolia.

Yes ofcourse because there all soft targets. But i would rather destroy 2 Arm division and 2 inf in the same time then i destroy 5 inf and 1 cav...

Buth then again your right that theres more danger coming form where the airforce is operating...
 
ahhhh Admiral Spruance getting pounded by the japs has made you forget your training about repairing ship. You poor silly little man
 
Middelkerke said:
Yes ofcourse because there all soft targets. But i would rather destroy 2 Arm division and 2 inf in the same time then i destroy 5 inf and 1 cav...

Remble will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that the current Japanese CAS aren't powerful enough to effectively destroy armoured divisions.
 
The campaign in that particular island grouping appears to be reaching a successful conclusion.