Skyrim is distracting you too? Tell me about it. Mine is so bad I want to see a Skyrim mod for HoI2...
give it time. eventually someone will re-do the whole map of the Skyrim/ Elder Scrolls world.
I actually do not think Skyrim/Elder Scrolls would fit into HOI2. Elder Scrolls is medieval and HOI2 is modern. I could see someone doing a mod for it with a game like Medieval II Total War or Crusader Kings, EUIII might be probable but a real, REAL stretch.
Alright people, after a little over 2 months of hibernation, it is time to get this AAR going again.
With the conclusion of the planning for the invasion of China, it was decided that the final preparatory phase of the invasion, the invasion of North Burma in an attempt to cut off Southeast Asia from China, could begin. In accordance with this, a successful attack was launched against Nai Ga.
While the men were still being brought in for the invasion of China, it was decided that Stillwell, who would be quite busy preparing everything for the invasion of China, should hand over actual command to Bradley. No official transfer of command was carried out, as Truman feared that it might tip off the Japanese that something was coming if the word got out. Therefore, Bradley would assume responsibility for planning of American offensives in the region, but final say would have to come from Stillwell and it would be he who would be in charge of carrying out the operation, seeing as Bradley was still in India. Upon seeing the situation on the ground, Bradley decided that it would be advisable to make further advances against the Siamese and Japanese in the region, noticing that they appeared to be assigning the area a low priority. Bradley deduced that the low priority resulted from the lack of offensives and the region being deemed a "safe" front and fearing that the men that might be there defending them might instead be sent to China, Bradley requested that Stillwell make a limited advance in the region. While Bangkok itself remained defended by a powerful 21 division force, the regions of Sittang in Burma and Nakhon Sawan were being weakly held and it was decided that these regions should be the focus of the attack. Stillwell ordered Generals Smart and Freiburg to launch an attack on Nakhon Sawan, with Frieburg only offering support and being ordered to halt his advance when the Japanese in the region had been forced out. Stillwell himself then led an attack on Sittang and planned to do the same as Freiburg. Both attacks succeeded.
In addition to these happenings, a rather strange thing occured. Germany managed to occupy the island of Mindorro in the Phillipines. While this might be considered a minor nuisance, the strategic importance of the island (translation, it is a victory point location) meant that it had to be retaken eventually.
Soon after this occurred, Sittang and Nakhon Sawan fell and General Smart was ordered by Stillwell to keep pushing into Phitasanuluk.
However, upon reviewing a map of the region, Bradley realized a much greater opportunity. An opportunity to shorten the encirclement planned for Southeast Asia. If Smart instead advanced into Chiang Rai and then onto Toungou and the men in Kunchuang advanced on Lashio, the whole of Burma could be transformed into a giant pocket and all Japanese divisions there wiped out. Not wanting to miss what he saw as a golden opportunity, he immediately sent the plan to Stillwell, who immediately signed off on it.
Soon after the order to advance on Chiang Rai was given, General Vanier began his advance into Lashio to complete his portion of the encirclement, successfully forcing the Japanese out of the region.
General Morsehead also decided to advance on Rangoon, serving as the seat of the Japanese occupation government of Burma, successfully forcing the Japanese from the city.
On December 22, 1959, The Americans finally completed their encirclement of the Japanese forces in Burma. A general offensive was ordered to push the Japanese into an increasingly smaller pocket where they could be annihilated.
It was then that another mishap came to the attention of MacArthur. Apparently, a German transport had slipped by the American navy in the Pacific to drop off a division of Germans in Sulawesi. they had landed in Menado and had advanced to Palu. Through a clerical error (I forgot to look over there) this matter did not come to MacArthur's attention for awhile after it happened.
MacArthur did not know it, but this would be the first in a series of reverses for the Americans in the Pacific and, in one case, Southeast Asia that would constitute a major headache for them for the next two months and delay the invasion of China by three months. To deal with the problem in Suwalaki, he asked Patton, on his way to the Philippines, to detour to the island to stop the advance and buy some time for a solution to be worked out. While Patton disliked delaying his capture of Hong Kong, he agreed.
Shortly following this, the Japanese took advantage of General Morsehead's overzealous advance to take back Rangoon, trapping general Morsehead behind enemy lines
Arakan would fall soon after and his mistake would be nullified therefore. It still constituted a headache for American forces.
The series of reverses continued when the Japanese were able to pull off two landings in areas previously secured by the Americans. the first of these was in Malaysia. after landing in Kuantuan, they quickly brushed aside the Malaysian army resistance they met. they then fanned out, seizing Kota Bahru and Singapore. While the loss of Kuantuan and Kota Bahru represented little more then a loss of face, the loss of Singapore was particularly painful. It had served as the main supply point for the American armies in Southeast Asia and the Japanese seizure of it had robbed them of this supply point, forcing them to set up another resupply point in Arakan. More significant was that the fall of these three provinces reduced the American ally of Malaysia to only two provinces remaining under their control. If the capital of Kuala Lampor fell, the nation would be forced to surrender and the Japanese would again control Malaysia. This was something that could not be allowed and 5 divisions from the newly forged Indonesian Army under General Sukarno were immediately ordered to Singora to try and force the Japanese out of Kota Bahru. Another, much more significant general also took a noted interest in the situation. General Bradley decided to handle the matter personally and got on a transport headed to Kuala Lampur to try and help beat back the Japanese advance.
The second setback was that the Japanese were able to land in Lingay Gulf in the Northwest of Luzon in the Philippines. They quickly moved into Aspari and drove off the Philippine army based in Clark Field's attempt to drive them out. The forces in Clark Field where then themselves driven out by the Japanese into the Bataan peninsula.
However, all of this paled in comparison to the Japanese amphibious operation that managed to seize the city of Manila. The capital of the Philippines was again in Japanese hands.
What the Japanese had not counted on, however, was Patton, who was in the area retaking the islands of Leyte and Mindorro on his way to Hong Kong. Upon getting word of the Japanese moves in the Philippines, Patton immediately ordered his men to Bataan to try and drive the Japanese from the island as quickly as possible. Luzon was of great strategic importance, providing a forward base from which the American navy could operate in Japanese home waters. Patton also refused to allow an American ally in the Pacific to fall back into Japanese hands while he was in a position to stop it. The Japanese had made a critical error in not securing the Bataan Peninsula. While the amphibious invasion was bold, the Peninsula provided a base from which Patton could roll back the Japanese gains in the Philippines.
Immediately after landing, he assumed command of the situation. His first priority, decided, should be the recapture of Manila. Therefore, a he immediately ordered his men to attack the city. In conjunction with his attack from the Northwest, he also ordered the two divisions of the Filipino army in Lamon Bay to attack the city from the South.
The overwhelming number of attackers combined with the multi-directional attack proved too much and the Japanese were forced to retreat from the city. Patton then ordered his own men to halt the advance, allowing the Filipinos to liberate their own capital and directing his focus North to the recapture of Clark Field. Once again, the Japanese were completely unable to stop Patton's advance and were driven back into Aspari.
Soon after, Patton's rival, Bradley, also arrived in Kuala Lampur and immediately ordered an attack on Singapore. He had already ordered Sukarno to attack Kota Bahru so soon, it was hoped, the Japanese would be driven back into Kuantuan.
both attacks succeeded and the threat to Kuala Lampur was, at least momentarily, removed.
However by far the biggest news came from Burma. The Japanese had finally been cornered in Rangoon and MacArthur ordered everything he had into an attack to crush them.
the Japanese, knowing that they could not win, resolved to take as many Americans with them as possible before dying. Initially, their zeal was enough to hold out and even temporarily push the Americans back. However, the ordering in of reinforcements was enough to reverse that and. In the end, 18 whole division, two of which joined the battle near the end, were lost in the Burma pocket. This was a not insignificant blow to the Japanese, whose only remaining forces of any real size remained pinned down in the city of Bangkok. More importantly, that was 18 divisions that would prove difficult to replace and that would not be able to participate in the defense of China.
Soon after this victory, Patton was finally able to clear the Japanese forces from the Philippines with the recapture of Lingay Gulf, totaling the loss of 3 more divisions.
Not long after the fall of the Philippines, the Shan States fell to the Americans. Having finally rested all of Burma from the Japanese, Stillwell and Bradley, who was credited with the plan for the liberation, were able to announce the liberation of Burma, the first country on the mainland of Asia to be liberated from Japanese rule.
All of that would soon be eclipsed, however, by a far more momentous event. After many delays and detours, Patton was finally ready to launch his assault on Hong Kong. He boarded a transport and Lingay Gulf and immediately headed for the island. On arrival, he found it guarded by only a single division and immediately commenced his attack. The attack through what remained of the German government into confusion all of them knew that this was the end. there would be no escape as American ships controlled the sea and their airplanes patrolled the air. The only one who remained calm through all of this was the Fuhrer himself. Having originally thought of committing suicide as a last measure of defiance to the Americans, he had decided on a much more fitting measure. Deciding that the man who had once laid claim to the title of most powerful man in the world could not take the cowards way out, he resolved to stand firm and face the Americans. He would not be taken alive, but would fight to the last bullet and hopefully go out screaming his defiance to whatever American or Americans dared to try and take his life. As the poultry force defending the city was brushed aside, Hitler rallied his SS and what remained of the men defending the city for one final stand at the HSBC headquarters. Having been informed of this, Patton decided he would personally lead the final assault and, as he put it "personally be the one to put a bullet or 10 into that bastard". Hitler and his men fought ferociously, but Patton and the forces under him simply overwhelmed them. Finally, with his SS having all fallen trying to protect him, Hitler holed up in his office, bleeding from several wounds and barely able to hold his gun. Patton, as luck would have it, was the first to enter the room.
Upon seeing the man who had brought down his once glorious empire being the first to enter the room, Hitler let out a laugh and said this "After all this, I should have known it would be you who would come to finish the job."
Ordering his men to remain at the door, he advanced toward the Fuhrer and said this
"Well, it finally ends you bastard. You made the world go to hell in a handbasket and sacrificed millions of your countrymen all to satisfy your own petty ambition, and now I am going to put you down like the rabid dog you are".
To this the Fuhrer replied "Really, I wonder, if I am such a rabid dog, why did it take America so long to try to, as you put it, put me down. You had plenty of chances to try and stop my conquest of Europe and even after Europe fell, you had 9 years to try and stop me from destroying the Allies and the damned Soviet Union. Why didn't you take them. I'll tell you why, because your President Roosevelt was weak. Face it, if you Americans really thought I was such a rabid dog, you would have tried to put me down before I rose to power, not after. You Americans are like everyone else. You only care about your own self interests and only when they were threatened did you finally decide that I needed putting down. All this talk about me being a madman is nothing but blatant propaganda to salve your ego and make up for the fact that you entered this thing 9 years to late."
"Enjoy your stay in Hell, I bet they got a special room set up down there just for you, you murdering son of a bitch" and with that, Patton raised his gun to finally end the Fuhrers life. Hitler summoned all of his strength to bring up his gun in an effort to die with at least having the satisfaction of having gunned down the man who had taken everything from him.
He was too slow
Before he could even raise his gun, Patton planted two bullets right between his eyes, killing the Fuhrer instantly. The man who had plunged the World into war, causing the deaths of millions as a result, and had once stood like a Colossus as the most powerful man in the World, was now dead and there were precious few who would mourn his passing.
With the death of Hitler and the capture or death of every member of his government, Patton forced what remained of said government to sign an unconditional surrender and order all German soldiers fighting in Siberia and elsewhere to lay down their weapons. Germany, once the most powerful country in the world, now laid shattered and broken.
Following the surrender, Truman and Patton both flew to Berlin for the announcing from the steps of Reichstag the formation of a new, Democratic German government to roaring crowd. After an occupation lasting for 2 years, Germany was now free to decide its own fate. Theodor Heuss, who had been running things in Germany under the Americans in order to prepare him for leadership of the new German government, now assumed the mantle of President of Germany and turned to Truman and Patton and Patton and personally thanked both of them on the behalf of the German people for having made that day possible in an event that both men would later claim to be one of the proudest days of their lives. After 27 years of authoritarian rule, Germany was finally free.
Well, Finally, Germany is defeated. I have to say, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Germany going hog wild in the Pacific caught me entirely by surprise. However, it did make this a little more interesting then just kicking them around all the time. my Mecklenburg AAR gets updated next, but I will hopefully have another update up soon