A Day of Infamy, Japan 1941 AAR
December 1941: Imperial Japanese Navy Update
After the disastrous raid at Pearl Harbor the Imperial Japanese Navy was the laughing stock of the world powers. The blame for this was placed squarely on one mans shoulders, Chūichi Nagumo. He failed to damage a single ship and he also failed to inflict any significant damage on the naval base itself. After the Strike Force returned from the attack Nagumo was releived of his command. He committed suicide shortly afterwards. It seems he was unable to even do that correctly. He opted to but a bullet into his head instead of committing honorable seppuku. He shamed Japan and the Emperor, he shall not even by honored by a picture of him being shown to commemorate his death...
The carrier task force was put under the command of Admiral Godo, a more competent official to say the least. He took the fleet close to Hawaii. His plan was to engage the American carriers in limited skirmishes. By doing this he hoped to tie down the American fleets in a hopeless pursuit, a "cat and mouse" situation as it were. He wanted to keep the American fleets occupied to give the transport fleets the freedom to land troops on the many Pacific Islands, therefore expanding Japanese influence in the pacific, also to keep American combat vessels away from Japanese shipping until more convoys could be created. His plan was approved and set into action:
If Godo so much as loses a single carrier the Japanese Admiralty and the United States Navy will have somthing in common, wanting him destroyed.
While Nagu--Godo's Strike Force was attempting to frustrate the enemy, transport fleets carried brave japanese soldiers to meet the enemy.
One of Japans few motorized divisions was ordered to make a fast advance on Singapore.
A motorized division was landed in British territory, south of Siam. Their objective is to advance on Singapore, a so called british "fortress". Conquering this peninsula is crucial because of its high resource content. As soon as the knuckle-dragging Imperial Japanese Army finishes its work in China, troops will be freed up to help stabilize this front.
Speaking of the IJA, The IJN has decided to send several divisions to China to aid them. An amphibious assault was launced on the Chinese coast. The single territory they landed on was, for all intents and purposes, worthless. However, they have an unguarded path to a Chinese airfield and more importantly, are in a very good position to assist the IJA divisions on the southern front encircle Chinese forces.
Singapore and China are not the only objectives the IJN has. The Philippines are also in the sights of Imperial Japan. Many divisions were loaded into the transport ships and sent to conquer the Philippines. What happened there however was...unexpected.
The soldiers of Imperial Japan are appearing to be bested rag-tag Philippino militias. If General Baba does not get results...if he somehow manages to create a land-based pearl harbor...The situation speaks for itself, all of the men of the Japanese military know what will happen to Baba if the Philippines are not captured because they all have brains in their head. The only exception is a man whose brain ended up splattered on the wall of an aircraft carrier in Kwajelein...
Moving on...
The IJN however has managed to find some good news despite the grim performance of its forces. A picture will suffice, after all they are better than a thousand words.
Behold, the Super Battleship Yamato! The Allied navies shall tremble at the sound its guns and be crushed under the barrage of its shells. The Allies have nothing in their arsenal that can contend with its might. the Yamato shall be a marauder of both the British and American fleets. It is the pinnacle of Japanese ship building and the apex of the battleship. The Japanese Admirals all applauded when its counter was added to the strategic map in headquarters.
Who would ever think that something so insignificant could represent something so fearsome and deadly?
Now that the Yamato was finished, Japanese factories could be used to produce other weapons of war. Now what to produce was a different story entirely. Armaments Minister Ichizo had to endure being berated by both IJN and IJA officials about what was more important to build. Eventually he did the right thing and decided to focus production on marine divisions for the IJN. What use were regular infantry divisions in a naval war where sinking ships and seizing islands were crucial? Besides the Generals all say they will have China defeated in less than two months, so why would they need infantry? Still, Minister Ichizo promised them one extra division.
Not pictured in the production queue are two carriers and several convoys. It seems Ichizo is intelligent and far sighted and has decided to produce what the IJN needs. NOTE: The dismal amount of convoys and the resource deficits
So it would seem that December was not as fruitful as the IJN had hoped it would be. The American fleet is completely intact, although Godo has plans to delay their sorties into Japanese waters.
The Philippine nation apparently has the bravest and best soldiers on earth if their "militia" is able to best Japanese regulars(and tanks) in combat, but hopefully those setbacks are only temporary.
The best news so far is the deployment of the Yamato. It has joined Admiral Yamamoto's battleship fleet. The fleet is scheduled to bombard the shores of Manilla to aid our soldiers against the apparently well trained "militia" of the Philippines. When this task has been fulfilled the fleet is to seek and destroy any British fleets in the Pacific. The reasoning behind attacking the fleets of Britain, the over-the-hill great power, is that British fleets can freely roam into Japanese waters from their numerous Pacific bases. And if Godo is successful in his task to destract the Americans than the Royal Navy is the only force that can attack Japanese shipping and surface vessels en masse. Therefore Royal Navy presence in the are must be sought out and exterminated. The Yamato is the perfect ship to have for this task.
Thus, December has passed. The IJN will report again after its operations in January have taken place. IJN, out. Long Live Hirohito!
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Army update sometime tommrow(hopefully).
