Operation Influx
21
1100 February 22nd 1949.
Africa Army Headquarters. Abadan, Persia.
The two Marine divisions continued to be used to hasten the expansion of Japanese holdings in Africa as they swept north along the eastern coast.
The invasion of Djibouti went without a hitch allowing another airfield and port to be denied to the enemy. Both divisions would be embarked back onto their Transport ships immediately.
1100 February 22nd 1949.
The Skies Over the Western Front.
The transfer of Tanaka and Fukui to the Middle East had left a shortage of Interceptor wings in Europe which required a little re-organisation. Saboru and Watanabe would be used to escort both Dive bomber groups which would leave Fukudome's wing to conduct air superiority missions for the time being.
The arrival of a Dutch Tactical bomber squadron was greeted by Fukudome over Kiev as it tried to attack the airfield. None of the bombers would return to their base.
Sakai and Obata found a Transport fleet in the Gulf of Finland during their latest search of the Baltic for enemy shipping. Whatever troops were onboard would not make it to shore before their Transports were sunk.
By February 23rd Fukudome had moved to Sevastopol to halt more bombing runs against Hata's Headquarters. The Spanish Airforce had now arrived at the front where it too found itself outclassed by the more modern and experienced Japanese aircraft. None of the Spanish squadrons would be totally destroyed but they would all suffer heavy damage before escaping.
Shimoyama had moved north from Kiev to conduct attacks around Brest Litovsk while Nakajima hunted further north around Kaunas. The arrival of the Japanese Armour in Bialystok had opened a larger gap in the Allied lines but Hata did not possess enough spare troops to advance further. Allied forces were moving to block the advance but there were not very many reserve divisions behind the front line.
American fleets were still trying to move to land additional forces in Finland but none of them were getting through as Obata led the attacks against them as they tried to navigate through the narrow channels off Turku.
0400 February 24th 1949.
Africa Army Headquarters. Abadan, Persia.
After being picked up in Djibouti the two Marine divisions had headed north along the Red Sea giving them more landing opportunities against undefended beaches.
They would split up on this occasion with Imamura making for Port Sudan as Banzai headed towards the port of Massaua. Capturing this province would remove the last Allied port in this part of the World.
Admiral Kaga arrived in Djubouti a few hours later where he dis-embarked four of the six Infantry divisions that he carried from Diego Garcia. He would set sail one more and deposit the remaining two divisions in Mogadishu to the south. These troops would capture the remaining coastline in the north and head towards Addis Ababa to try and annex Ethiopia.
2200 February 24th 1949.
North China Army Headquarters. Stalingrad, Soviet Union.
The successful attacks against Allied shipping in the Baltic Sea had allowed Kanin to slowly advance and re-claim territory that had been seized during the Allied landings in Finland.
Mj. General Wakamatsu captured Oulu which had been the major port being used by the Allies in Finland. Another division was closing in on Viipuri in the south leaving Wakamatsu to take Vaasa.
Fukudome was again in action over Sevastopol on February 25th as he intercepted two bomber squadrons from El Salvador. Both were shot down before having any chance of escaping. Romanian Interceptors were still flying regular air patrols over the Black Sea but were being ignored for the time being by Hata's air Commanders.
More American ships tried to dodge the two Japanese Tactical bomber wings patrolling the Baltic to no avail. Kanin was sure they would continue to try and may well succeed in landing in Finland again once the bombers moved onto other targets.
1500 February 26th 1949.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.
Hata had given orders to advance around Kiev which would capture Zhitomir and Vinnitsa and establish a buffer to protect Kiev from direct attack.
The Allies were not willing to allow Hata to control Zhitomir just yet and forced the advancing Infantry to withdraw back towards Kiev. Time was on Hata's side and he was slowly gaining a numerical advantage, but that would likely switch again once troops from Italy, Spain and other recent additions to the Allied cause arrived.
Ground attacks missions were being pushed deeper and deeper into Allied territory as both groups tried to hunt down easier targets. There were not very many to be found but there were still more advancing towards the front. A large number of enemy troops seemed to have left Chisinev on the Romanian border and they could easily be moving north to try and strengthen the Allied center.
Attacking deep behind enemy lines did open the bombers up to more frequent Allied interceptions. Most of the Allied air superiority aircraft had already been dealt with locally but some remained. The two Canadian Interceptor squadrons that attempeted to bounce Nakajima over Radom did not get far as the bomber escort wing forced them to return to base with heavy losses.
0300 February 30th 1949.
The Skies Above Addis Ababa.
Itabana had received orders to head south to Djibouti and conduct a reconnaisance attack towards the Ethiopian capital to ascertain the Country's defences.
A more modern Infantry division in Addis Ababa was all that Itabana found, and it would not be there for long, which would leave Japanese troops with an enemy free march towards the Ethiopian capital.