Stemming the Tide
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0000 August 26th 1944.
North China Army Headquarters. In Transit.
Japanese advances were going very well throughout China and chaos had been sown into Higashikuni's opposite numbers headquarters.
Forces were advancing into southern Yunnan because of the redeployment of a large amount of enemy troops out of the area.
Yamashita had advanced into Nanchong and he could see the new Chinese capital of Nancheng. An assault could be made now but Higashikuni would wait. He would sacrifice early gains for long term victory and send General Yamada towards Tianshui instead. This would isolate all Nationalist Chinese forces outside of the Nancheng pocket, although China's puppet Nations could still supply these forces.
Nationalist China was not allied with Communist China and the northern Country could be used to crush the Nationalist forces against its borders.
More troops were still catching up to the initial advance and were due to arrive in Wanxian shortly. When these forces arrived an attack on Nancheng would likely follow.
In the center four Chinese divisions had redeployed to Fuling increasing the number of enemy troops from three to seven that were now surrounded. General Itagaki would receive support from General Anami in Chongqing to ensure a victory in this province.
Lt. General Chandra Bose would halt his advance into Jinghong as two fresh enemy divisions appeared. The Close Air Support aircraft would deal with these in due course, once they had finished bombing the troops retreating from Kunming.
Yamashita had advanced into Nanchong and he could see the new Chinese capital of Nancheng. An assault could be made now but Higashikuni would wait. He would sacrifice early gains for long term victory and send General Yamada towards Tianshui instead. This would isolate all Nationalist Chinese forces outside of the Nancheng pocket, although China's puppet Nations could still supply these forces.
Nationalist China was not allied with Communist China and the northern Country could be used to crush the Nationalist forces against its borders.
More troops were still catching up to the initial advance and were due to arrive in Wanxian shortly. When these forces arrived an attack on Nancheng would likely follow.
In the center four Chinese divisions had redeployed to Fuling increasing the number of enemy troops from three to seven that were now surrounded. General Itagaki would receive support from General Anami in Chongqing to ensure a victory in this province.
Lt. General Chandra Bose would halt his advance into Jinghong as two fresh enemy divisions appeared. The Close Air Support aircraft would deal with these in due course, once they had finished bombing the troops retreating from Kunming.
0600 August 26th 1944.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Palau Trench.
The American Carrier fleets were withdrawing after failing in their attempt to land anywhere in the Marianas. Yamamoto had arrived back in the Palau Trench and was heading to the South Mariana Trench to remove any hostile shipping still left behind.
The bombers and interceptors continued to ply their trade as they attacked whatever they could find. In this case a single Transport fleet.
Some less welcome news was the sighting of a major Surface Action Group entering the Malacca Strait. Unfortunately the sighting had been made by most of the Siamese fleet, which was totally unequipped to deal with three quarters of the Royal Navy's Battleships. It took less than an hour for the Siamese ships to sink. Yamamoto would need to keep a close eye on this fleet as it could be a disaster if one of his smaller fleets met this much larger one. The five Battleships alone were a big enough problem but this fleet also contained eighteen Light Cruisers which would cause high damage to bombers as well.
BB Division 1 arrived in the South Mariana Trench at 1700 hours on August 26th and promptly sank the only two remaining enemy ships present. Yamamoto's Flagship would be credited with both kills. Two armoured divisions would also perish with the Transport ships.
0000 August 27th 1944.
Intelligence Offices. Tokyo, Japan.
Kuniaki was having a fairly quiet time of late. He had no funding to increase espionage efforts for Japan and research was progressing slowly.
Some bright sparks in the aircraft and rocket industries had worked out that it was possible to put rocket engines on interceptors. This was nothing but theory of course, as they didn't even know how to build a Practical Turbojet Engine yet. They were politely informed to at least work that out before additional funding would be available to attempt any practical testing.
In the Armaments Ministry Ginjiro was having a fairly heated argument with Ushiroku Jun, the Chief of the Air Force.
"I am aware of the problems this will cause Minister Ginjiro but it is necessary and has the Imperial seal of approval." Jun said handing Ginjiro the signed document proving his words.
"I hope your aircraft don't get damaged Minister Jun because they are not going to get any replacements for some time with this production order." replied Ginjiro.
"How long until you have enough spare capacity to both supply and repair Japanese forces?" asked Jun.
"More than a month until some other production completes and there will be a steady decline in supply reserves, which are already low, during that entire time as well."
"Well we need those Aircraft or it would not be necessary. Short term problems must be overcome to obtain long term goals."
"Oh I know the theory Minister, I just don't like surprises when I am trying to balance a somewhat delicate industrial base. I will build your aircraft but you can explain to the other Armed Forces Ministers why their troops and ships aren't being repaired and why they are struggling for supplies."
"Fair enough I suppose." replied Jun leaving the room.
"I am aware of the problems this will cause Minister Ginjiro but it is necessary and has the Imperial seal of approval." Jun said handing Ginjiro the signed document proving his words.
"I hope your aircraft don't get damaged Minister Jun because they are not going to get any replacements for some time with this production order." replied Ginjiro.
"How long until you have enough spare capacity to both supply and repair Japanese forces?" asked Jun.
"More than a month until some other production completes and there will be a steady decline in supply reserves, which are already low, during that entire time as well."
"Well we need those Aircraft or it would not be necessary. Short term problems must be overcome to obtain long term goals."
"Oh I know the theory Minister, I just don't like surprises when I am trying to balance a somewhat delicate industrial base. I will build your aircraft but you can explain to the other Armed Forces Ministers why their troops and ships aren't being repaired and why they are struggling for supplies."
"Fair enough I suppose." replied Jun leaving the room.