Bushido Code - an HOI3:SF Japan AAR

Children of Twilight - India Rising

The Prime Minister came to the realization that even with his upgrade plan the IJA would not have enough existing manpower to take on the American army on its own soil. Given the choices available the ability to reduce the garrison needs of the empire. How to go about this and maintain the security perimeter of the empire coincided with ongoing "policing" problems in the subcontinent of India.

Hayashi directed the formation of a puppet Indian regime and allowing them to deal with the domestic situation there, freeing up the garrison troops from there to be redeployed to Persia and Africa.

Dewirix said:

Ah, Greeks and Persians, shoulder to shoulder to the last man. Just like the good old... wait, that's not how it's supposed to go.

I take it as a sign of the US's desperation that they've annexed Venezuela. Still, they shouldn't be allowed to hang on to that oil.

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Oh there are alot of things they shouldn't be allowed to hold onto

Played a lot tonight, so I'll have plenty of update material coming up.

General Ichiki's False Start


Sunset over Sugar Plantations

Ichiki's Kure NLF division was the unit which had pushed into the French Congo, setting his forward HQ at Boukoumoukongo he had placed his regiments so as to secure the potential routes of attack from the north as well as cut the Chemin de fer Congo-Océan (CFCO) the Congo-Ocean Railway to isolate Brazzaville from the port at Port Noire. An infantry regiment, the artillery, and engineers were detailed to this task, securing the substantial sugar plantations as their base as well as cutting the railway at Kiosi and patrolling as far as the Niari River His other regiments were located near Kimpandzou in the center and north of Satou Bouala on the far left flank to the west.

Facing the Japanese was a combined US/French Corps under the command of "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell, two French infantry divisions and the 44th US National Guard division. The Americans were screening to the south from the key crossroads of Loubomo as far as Manga Kala where their advanced outposts could observe the Japanese positions just over 2000m south. The French 2nd Infantry was guarding two prime paths to the south at Tsiboukou which if the Japanese took would irretrievably separate the Allied force. The last division was the French 81st located at the far eastern keypoint of Loudima Poste where roads and rivers converged, just around 7km west from the Japanese at Kiosi.


Terrain near Tsiboukou

On the 23rd of February General Ichiki and his staff made an error of assumption in their intelligence appreciation of Allied activity, believing that the Allied Corps was pulling out for some position in the north. Wanting to keep close contact with the enemy, as much to push along an enemy assumed to have lost the will or capacity to fight as anything else, the Kure division was ordered to attack along each of their three attack axis.



The Japanese facing the positions of the French 81st division at Loudima Poste had discovered through a stealthy reconnaissance that the heights above the town were barely screened, most of the 81st's forces were deployed on the plain east of town towards the plantations. The regimental officers hatched a daring plan where the Pioneers would surreptitiously get the Artillery across the Niari. Arriving at a commanding position and setup before dawn, they rained down deadly accurate fire on the French positions. The 81st's commander felt that Loudima Poste was compromised and withdrew, obligating Stillwell to order the division in reserve at Mbote - an order delivered in a manner which brought complete understanding to the French *why* Stillwell was called "Vinegar Joe." General Guillaume in charge of the 81st was himself a hard boiled character and he went to III Corps HQ for some words with Stillwell...the two Generals parted company that day on less than amicable terms and protests lodged against one another.

Otherwise the Allied positions of the US 44th and French 2nd were holding firm against the unsupported regimental attacks directed at them. Ichiki realized he had made a mistake by this point, but his sense of superiority held firm. He believed his bushido could crack the allies and send them fleeing up the trails.



To a certain extent the General was right. His men assaulted with gallant grimness the Allied positions, which began to give way around the French 2nd division. Stillwell was replaced as III Corps commander by the French General Carpentier, who goaded the commander of the 81st back into line in a manner deemed more appropriate to French sensibilities.



Meanwhile in the air and unopposed the Nakajima Kikka's of Tactical Wing "A" were in action against the Allied lines of communications at the front and in depth.


Nakajima Kikka




Mitsubishi Hiryu

With Allied (French) sensibilities suitably mollified, General Stillwell again resumed command of the battle, the Japanese were pushed back towards their starting points.



On the 6th, with the complete Japanese mastery in the air over the area, the Germans dropped paratroops and airlanding infantry at Brazzaville.



Unfortunately for General Ichiki, his Kure division simply could do no more to attack and were even unable to hold their start positions, being pushed south of them by the US 44th National Guard and eventually staging an organized retreat towards Leopoldville.



On the 10th it was the US troops turn to be surprised by the sudden appearance of the Sasebo NLF division in their flank along the Louvila river at Moukeke. Without the support of the two French divisions, Stillwell withdrew north with the Sasebo division hot on his tail and engaging the Allied III Corps at Maga Kala and a track pass towards Kimpandzou.

Fall of Point Noir

The Sasebo division had fallen on the weakened allied III Corps' flank and having taken the Manga Kala - Kimpandzou line, only for want of men General Maeda was forced to choose which direction to push. Knowing that the Yokohama division was following him up the Louvila valley by about two days march, Maeda decided to split the III Corps at Tsiboukou and sent word to General Otani with the Yokohama NLF to concentrate against Loubomo.

Again the oddly hillocked country around Tsiboukou became the scene of intense fighting between the 2nd and 81st French divisions and the Sasebo NLF, by the twelfth the Yokohama NLF had arrived at Manga Kala allowing the whole of Maeda's troops to be brought to the fight.



The relentless bombings by the IJA and the appearance of the Yokohama NLF put the Allied III Corps in a bad position. Stillwell understood that their logistical situation was totally untenable with the constant air raids on the two trunk roads available and the IJN shutting down even the simplest of coastal traffic. When the French 2nd division had been weakened to such a state that it had to be taken off the line, and with no reinforcements coming to their aid, Stillwell instructed the Allied III Corps to make strategic withdrawal towards their supply base at Libraville.



The US 44th NG Division went north from Loubomo while the French 81st division covered the withdrawal of the 2nd with rear guard actions at a hill pass near Kimandza, Boma.



These heroics allowed the French 2nd and US 44th to get themselves into line on the north bank of the Niari River (@ -3.647441,12.419958 and -3.690911,12.335243 resepectively); the 81st passing through them before taking up position at Balabitetsi making the strategic withdrawal a successful venture for the Allied troops, at least as far as their immediate preservation as a fighting force. However, they had given up ground and paid a hard price for their earlier victory of the Kure NLF.




(Edit: I went through and directly linked to all the terrain map references, including the S African ones.)

Treachery Found!

The investigations conducted by Security Minister Yasui of the various cabinet level officers had run their course without anything untoward being discovered. The popularity of the JCP with the populace was still at a highly disturbing level, perhaps fueled by a passive-aggressive displeasure with the government and the ongoing climate of war, while wildly successful, has still waged for nearly a decade. A desire for a change, for something, anything, different...an alternative progressiveness which had been denied channeling into the constitutional democratic process which had been created and then subverted by the existing Imperial oligarchy. This was the sociopolitical climate which had proven fertile to some fortuitous nudging by external forces.

Of course Yasui really didn't care about all that. His main interest was bound up in his "side work"; that is the security "surcharge, fee, tax" that he was shaking down the contractors on the massive Nagasaki work projects that had built up around the not so-secret-anymore "special" plant and accompanying industrial city that had grown around it near Nagasaki University. A recent problem were a unionization trend in the workers, these often being fronts of or otherwise instigated by the Communist cells. One of these groups was making demands that could upset certain carefully arranged "business plans" of Yasui if accepted, so he of course directed more resources from the Parliamentary probe (which, after all, was making zero progress) onto these problem "union shops."

Oddly enough this was the step which revealed the traitor in the Cabinet and much more. One of the surveillances had shown a German to be seen with several of the key Union organizers in Tokyo - albeit at different times and different places. This man was a member of the German embassy staff, just the same Yasui had him picked up for questioning, and after catching the man in a lie they ramped up their interrogation of this Sorge person. At the same time another German embassy staffer, a recent arrival named Walter Schollenberg indicated that they had also been observing this Richard Sorge and after he was arrested by the Japanese, Schollenberg revealed that his own surveillance of Sorge provided pictures and names of additional "Unionizers" ...and the best surprise of all: Sorge often utilized a number of Tokyo "dead drops"...one of which was frequented by a staffer serving a Cabinet Minister.

Yasui had the staffer picked up immediately and subjected to an aggressive debriefing...after which the Security Minister could bring the identity of their leak to the Prime Minister. Foreign Minister Kishi was denounced at the monthly Liaison Meeting by the Prime Minister himself, who replaced Kishi with a tractable service bureaucrat.

Meeting Dr. Schweitzer

NLF Generals Otani and Maeda split up the tasks before their divisions, with a planned rendezvous at Libraville as the ending objective to their current operations.



With this agreement in place Maeda's Sasebo NLF division began moving forward to the as yet unprepared French 2nd division position when they were taken on the flank by the Corps support elements of the French III Corps located on a ridge overlooking the route of advance.



Otani's division had moved off the overglorified path that pretended to be a road on the maps well before the ambush point, striking out through the broken jungle and hill terrain to cross the Niari River to the west of a range of hills running north-south. The advance scouts had located a likely ford point and the Yokohama division was crossing there when from the ridges above they were taken under fire by Stillwell's National Guard troops.



Meanwhile, the Sasebo division had deployed against both the III Corps support troops *and* the 2nd division troops attempting to setup to hold the Japanese off. Under an artillery umbrella the Japanese NLF troops stormed both hillocks and had sent the opposition reeling from what should have been strong positions.



The conditions were better for Stillwell's troopers, who conducted a fairly skillful fighting retreat north, keeping themselves in the hills and ahead of the Yokohama division. On the 23rd of March they made a stand at the important crossroads of Tchibanga to try and keep Otani's troops from linking up with the Sasebo division advancing to the east while simultaneously allowing more time for some of the French troops to withdraw further north.



Just to the east the French 3rd division, a fresh formation, had come down the road from the north and unawares had passed by the first couple Japanese regiments which were operating towards the hills west of Ndende. Encountering the balance of the division south of town they went into action, but within a few hours found themselves encircled.



Stillwell's troops, having held as long as they could and under threat from the east by the Sasebo division, retreated back towards Port Gentil, with having saved the majority of the French III Corps from being cut off.



The French 3rd Division's predicament was proving acute, having started near Ndende the French forced themselves out of the encirclement but were under constant assault pressure from the Sasebo division forcing them to keep rolling north. The 3rd division called on the 1st French motorized division to come down from Libravelle and secure the pass to Lambarene.



However the Japanese got to the pass before either of the French troops and in a sharp enagement at Yambi they forced the 3rd division towards the west where they merged with the columns of III Corps troops falling back on Port Gentil.



The morning of the 27th General Maeda was called to a surprisingly large hospital "campus" in Lambarene where his troops were attempting to collect wounded French soldiers for shipment out of the combat zone. The problem was the head doctor was apparently some kind of German national and was preventing the Japanese from evacuating those wounded French soldiers he had taken into his care.

Maeda understood immediately who the Doctor was, being aware of him through the relationships he had cultivated during his time in Germany and the UK just before the last Great War. Knowing the philosophy he would be arguing with, and respecting the world wide notoriety of the subject, Maeda arrived at a diplomatic solution where the hospital would be under guard and when the Soldiers within were ready for transport they would be handed over to the Japanese.

This was how General Maeda Toshinari met Dr. Albert Schweitzer.

Dewirix said:

Is the plan to clear all of Africa before moving operations to the Americas? Bases on the west coast would give you easy access to South America.

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It's working out that way, that's for sure.

Battling towards Bata


Komo River at Kango

After his encounter with Dr. Schweitzer, General Maeda continued pushing his division towards Libraville. The French 1st Motorized under General Juin setup their first line of resistance with a strong position along the north bank of the Komo river at the village of Kango.




Odowwenga delta river mouth

To the west the Yokohama NLF division was moving in on Port Gentil along the coast when at the Odowwenga delta islands they encountered resistance from the French 2nd division.



Back along the Komo river, the French 1st Motorized was repulsed from their positions and continued to fallback towards Libraville.



Things were not as easy for the Yokohama division, still battling the French 2nd amongst the delta islands, while intelligence reported the arrival of the remainder of the French III Corps getting into positions behind the 2nd.



This meant after the Yokohama troops had finally gained the north bank of the Odowwenga, they were confronted with another defensive line manned by Stillwell's US 44th National Guard division beginning where the terrain was restricted by delta swamp to the east and the coast to the west.



Maeda's Sasebo NLF occupied Libraville, but the rear of his column at Nkan was set upon by a relief force coming down from the North led by General DeGaulle.



The US 44th was being steadily forced back towards Port Gentil, their new positions just near Ntchengue were fighting tenaciously but the the condition of their force was desparate.



To the north, DeGaulle's counter attack was sent packing.



Port Gentil was rapidly turning into a mess, there was no escape by sea or land and the streets were full of troops, civilian refugees, and troops in such condition of material and morale as to be no better than refugees. The fighting had moved into the outskirts of the town in the vicinity of the port.



As the American troops reached the end of their rope and the Yokohama NLF was entering the streets of Port Gentil proper, the forlorn garrison surrendered.




General Maeda was not yet done, he had been given a wide discretion in advancing north and his goal was to get the port of Bata, a nominally German possession inherited from the Spanish.

His choices were to move far inland, but at this point the majority of their supplies were being shipped along by coastal freighters and lighters. So Maeda decided to cross the Rio Mitemele and gain Asalayeng on the north bank by a rapid amphibious coup de main. They ran into the former Spanish militia as they advanced north from Asalayeng.



This did indeed surprise the majority of defenders who had shifted inland and once the militia was pushed aside, the next substantial resistance was encountered at the Rio Benito.



The defending French made a fighting retreat until they were north of Bata where they simply disengaged and retreated.



7th Army had sent the stop order to Maeda anyway, so he stopped his advance. The high command had other ideas about how to proceed and ordered the two divisions to take some well deserved rest.

Operation "N"

The 7th Army HQ, still located at Nairobi, had ordered the NLF to stop their "march northward" after the liberation of Bata. The Army dominated staff was concerned that the NLF would continue to capitalize on the success of Operation "BG."

Once again Admiral Yamamoto took steps to out maneuver the Army brass. Citing the Army orders to the two divisions to the north, he ordered the two NLF divisions then resting at Boma onto transports. Ostensibly they were to be taken to Accra to begin consolidate the NLF in a single location.



When they were underway out of Boma, the truth of their destination was revealed, on the morning of May 2nd the bulk of Mount Cameroon loomed on the horizon and the NLF troops were loading onto landing craft. The troops were put ashore at the foot of Mt Cameroon, on the beaches just west of Batoke.



The surprise landings were unopposed, in fact the operation had been so rapid that in the afternoon the French II Corps support elements were very shocked to run into NLF troops advancing inland at Mutengene.



These support troops were roughly handled by the advancing NLF, and the Japanese were free to move from the shadow of Mt Cameroon.





As the Maizaru division continued pushing on Douala, they encountered the 1st infantry division just outside the city at Bonaberi.

At the same time the Sasebo division demonstrated to the north, pinning down the French 1st Motorized. Maeda's troops did not take any new territory however, they simply kept the French in place.



The French 1st Infantry was displaced, which obliged the 1st Motorized to make their escape to the north also. The Yokohama division was called in to pacify Douala as the Maizaru moved to try and cut off the 1st motorized. However they missed their opportunity and tangled with the 1st Motor's rearguard at Djoukou.



With the escape of the French troops, it was time to take a firm hold on Douala before moving forward.



Yamamoto was no done yet, further to the west another NLF division was being landed unopposed at Lagos.



Now the Allied troops in Nigeria were in real trouble and the IJA Generals from Nairobi to Tokyo were incensed at being upstaged by the Navy, again.



The Japanese in eastern Nigeria were on the move also, encountering stiff resistance near Mont Koupe from a fresh French infantry division.



After a sharp fight, the French fell back.



In the west Maeda's Sasebo division was put ashore and ordered to move inland as Otani's Yokohama troops were pushing light French forces out of their way.

Dewirix said:

This war has seen some strange battles, but Africa is proving to be full of them. Spanish, French, British and US units all jumbled together to defend land that in all honesty is hardly worth keeping.

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The supply rules / expeditionary force is part of the problem. However we did see Greeks and Persians operating as themselves (not expeditionary flagged forces) in S Africa...I have no idea what the heck was going on with Africa where everyone from the aforementioned Greeks & Persians, to Poles and Americans and Australians have turned up.

The situation isn't going to get any less confusing in S America with there being S African territory there now!

We've still got at least one surprise left in Africa before that.

I wont even go into the dozen (!!!) FJ divisions the Germans deployed to Africa...and to date their "biggest" accomplishment is the taking of Brazzaville and eating IJA supplies.

Battle of Bloody Falls

As Horiuchi's NLF division was pursuing the Spanish militia deeper into Nigeria, they were blindsided by the appearance of a US Marine division on their flank outside Bafoussam. The American Leathernecks had established a strong position along a parallel satellite road and had lit into the Japanese troops.



The veteran NLF troops turned their attentions from the escaping Spanish and took on the Americans, first by securing their own LOC's from the aggressive Marine attacks at the southern side of the American position and the left/rear flank of the Japanese.



Taking this ground the Maizeru division assaulted along the satellite road, the two opposing marine forces fought with bitter tenacity. The American's were ever ready to christen landmarks with colorful new names, and this winding ridge top road became known as Purple Heart Lane.

On other Nigerian fronts the progress was quicker as the resistance was lighter. General Ichiki's Kure division had gone around the imposing bulk of Mt Cameroon along the north side and come into the Calabar region with minimal troubles.



Along Purple Heart Lane the fighting continued, the Japanese having pushed their way across the ridge lane while holding their control of their right flank crossroads against determined American attacks.

Now the Maizeru division planned one big assault on the diminished USMC position now consolidated around their former left flank. Casualties among the Marines had been horrendous with the unforgiving pounding from the IJA tactical airwing and relentless advance of the NLF troops. Around a small waterfall the Leathernecks were dug in deep and it was going to take an all out assault by the Japanese to remove them.


Bloody Falls

top of Bloody Falls

This assault began in the evening of the 1st of June with infiltrations by the NLF pioneers supported by artillery.



It took four days of hard fighting to remove the Americans from this position, which became known as "Bloody Falls"



In Nigeria as a whole the Japanese were in control of the entire coastal stretch, the Allied forces were being steadily pushed deeper into an interior that was unable to sustained them.



Admiral Yamamoto was already looking towards his next coup against the Army...back in Tokyo the Army had already guessed his intentions and were flying a surprise of their own to the front.

Yamamoto's Opening Gambit

Yamamoto's next step was the last remaining Allied bastion (of note) in Africa proper, Liberia. This American protectorate founded by freed slaves was heavily reinforced by the US and had become the final refuge for a number of allied formations as well.


Liberia Sitrep

Yamamoto's plan was to start out slow as operations in Nigeria were wound down he would transfer NLF troops to the Japanese holding at Freetown, currently occupied by most of the Kriegsmarine and a huge assortment of Italian soldiers...all who had occupied the Freetown to keep the port from Allied hands, but at the same time had basically taken the place over as a huge tropical resort.


Hitler: You had me fly down to hot as hell Africa for this? We could've done this someplace more comfortable, we've got all of Europe to choose from for pete's sake! I should never let Goering talk me into these things, they never work out like he says.

While this was going on of course the "mopping up" was continuing in Nigeria.





The bulk of the remaining Allied forces had setup a redoubt around Beli Hill in eastern Nigeria. It would be here that the French 52nd division, the last remaining credible formation, would make their stand, with the remaining forces spread along the Taraba river on the right flank and the mountains of the left and rear.



This was the kind of warfare that General Gamelin could wrap his head around, entrenchments and static defense! However there was nothing that he nor the French could do about the omnipresent IJA Tactical Wing A. The fantastic jet and turboprop bombers of the IJA spread terror as they howled across the Nigerian terrain and the sounds of their engines and bombs reverberated in the hills. This aerial onslaught was matched with the massed Type 94 75mm's from both of the NLF artillery regiments.

The fighting was hard, the French new they were at their final African "Alamo" and intended to make their stand "one for the history books."

Not wanting to wait overly long, Yamamoto shifted his as yet unused 1st NLF division to Freetown with orders to probe the allies.



Running into Liberian Republican Guard troops, the NLF marines gave them a rough time before sending them back over the Boma river.

Qorten said:

You will have to either delete the pic with Hitler and the swastika or edit out the swastika in the pic.

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Good catch.

Battle of Ascension

All the while during the African campaign to date the CSF 1 and Japanese submarine forces had been blockading the American held island of Ascension in the mid-South Atlantic to reduce pressure from the American submarine campaign.