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I'd garnisson those airport provinces if I were you. Its rather annoying to loose 4xTAC to a revolt.
 
PART XIX: CHANGFUKENG LAKE INCIDENT


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Japanese Type-92 machine gun firing at Soviet positions

June, 1938


We launched offensive towards Zhengzhou. Chinese are counter-attacking in Anyang and Xinjang.


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Technological Researches

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July, 1938

Xinjang was lost but we launched counter-offensive to recapture it. Zhengzhou was captured and Chinese offensive against Anyang was stopped. In the South, mountanious terrain of Wenzhou is making our advance very slow. Most of Chinese troops in Ningbo came to Wenzhou.


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Unit Deployment

A squadron of Ki-48 medium bombers are deployed in Nagasaki. These bombers will be sent to China. Heavy Cruiser Tone is commissioned in Nagoya Naval Yard. A marine division is formed and stationed in Nagasaki.

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General Higashikuni ordered General Shima to stop Xinjang offensive due to stiff Chinese resistance. In Anyang, we are again making strategic withdrawal to the north to reorganize.

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Unit Deployment

3 new infantry divisions are deployed in Kagoshima. Troops are reorganizing for the moment. After the reorganization they will be shipped to China.

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Soviet decision to occupy disputed Chasan Lake area. Kwantung Army entered the region to push the Soviets back. The clashes remained mostly indecisive but the danger Red Army poses against Manchuria alarmed Imperial Government.

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Armaments Program

Due to urgent need for more divisions in China, Armaments Minister Gotaro changed production focus to the Army. 3 new infantry and motorized divisions were added to the Armament program.

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Situation of the Economy

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We transported new divisions from Kagoshima to Hangzhou. Our troops are advancing towards Wenzhou.

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August, 1938


After a month of intense fighting, we finally captured Wenzhou. 3 Chinese divisions are trapped in Ningbo. We are attacking the region to clear out these forces.


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Chinese launched offensive to Wenzhou. We launched offensive to Nanping to delay Chinese attack against Wenzhou. We also stopped our offensive towards Ningbo.

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Navy transported our forces in Jinhua to Wenzhou by sea and we managed to halt Chinese offensive.

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Chinese captured Hefei. We launched offensive against Xinjang to isolate Chinese forces in Hefei.

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In the North, communist rebels took control of Yantai. General Higashikuni decided to send Marines to eradicate rebels.

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Admiral Ozawa's 1st Battle Fleet is sinking Chinese merchant ships carrying supplies to Ningbo.

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Technological Researches

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3 divisions in Ningbo surrendered yesterday. Our cavalry forces captured Xinjang and thus Chinese forces in Hefei are isolated. General Kotohito is attacking Hefei to destroy 4 Chinese militia divisions trapped there.

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You are essentially gambling by leaving pretty much all your non-frontline provinces in China undefended. Bring some GARs. Since you need more IC and more rare materials, prioritise the defence of provinces that have them. I don't know how partisans affect TC and IC output in DH, but I suppose that GARs with some MPs could help you.

Your army is not only small, but it's also outdated. I think that you should de-prioritise Hiryu, Yamato and one of the destroyer groups in production and use that IC for upgrades (the army should be manually prioritised by clicking on the star button). You probably don't intend to attack the Allies before 1940, anyway.

Also, why did you put so much IC into CG production? If it is because of dissent, then after it's reduced to 0 you should use that IC for upgrades, too.
 
You are essentially gambling by leaving pretty much all your non-frontline provinces in China undefended. Bring some GARs. Since you need more IC and more rare materials, prioritise the defence of provinces that have them. I don't know how partisans affect TC and IC output in DH, but I suppose that GARs with some MPs could help you.

Your army is not only small, but it's also outdated. I think that you should de-prioritise Hiryu, Yamato and one of the destroyer groups in production and use that IC for upgrades (the army should be manually prioritised by clicking on the star button). You probably don't intend to attack the Allies before 1940, anyway.

Also, why did you put so much IC into CG production?

For now, my TC situation is green so I don't really need partisan suppressing missions. But I have to garrison my airports in China.

My Army is outdated but Chinese Army is much worse than mine. So for now it doesn't make much difference if my division is 1931 or 1936 model. For ship construction, you are right, I will send motorized divisions to the top of those ships. I lost my hope for early victory in China, I won't be able to go to war against allies before 1941.

Refusal of my peace proposal gave 3 dissent, I am trying to reduce it.
 
So for now it doesn't make much difference if my division is 1931 or 1936 model.
Every new model probably has more SA than the previous one, which would allow you to win battles faster and inflict higher casualties (and reinforcements cost IC, which the Chinese doesn't have in big supply).
 
Wow, China *does* look dangerous in DH.
 
Do you use shore bombardment along the coast? If you can puch the to coastal provinces, you should be able to use a significant modifier.
 
PART XX: TREATY OF MUNICH


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British PM Chamberlain announcing Munich Agreement

August, 1938

Chinese are counter-attacking to relieve their troops in Hefei.

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4 Chinese milita divisions in Hefei are annihilated. Our cavalry forces are leaving their positions in Xinjang after massive Chinese offensive.

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After the conclusion of Battle of Hefei. General Higashikuni flew to Tokyo to discuss the situation of war with PM and General Staff.

Imperial General Headquarters, Tokyo

Attendants :

Prime Minister Hayashi Senjuro
Chief of Staff and IJN Kanin Kotohito
Chief of IJN Fujita Hisanori
Chief of IJAAF Oikawa Koshiro
Commander of China Expeditonary Army General Higashikuni


PM Senjuro : Generals, First of all, I want to congratulate General Higashikuni for his victory at Hefei. I personally requested him to come to Tokyo and inform us about the war in detail. We will be listening to you, General Higashikuni.

General Higashikuni : Thanks Prime Minister. I will be honest and straight. Our situation is not good. We are overwhelmed by Chinese hordes all along the front. Our advancement almost halted. Massive Chinese counter-attacks are pushing our troops back whenever we make any thrust. Chinese soldier is certainly inferior to brave Japanese soldier but at these odds, bravery and quality is not enough. My forces are not enough to deal with the Chinese. If we don't change this situation, we can't win this war. Chinese are recruiting every able-bodied men for war, we have to do the same if we want to defeat NRA.

PM Senjuro: I understand general, we are forming new divisions but it takes several months to fully equip an division. We have already sent our entire infantry divisions to your command, we don't have any strategic reserves left. I think you should counter Chinese offensives with our superior tactics and try to defeat them at smaller campaigns with the available forces.

General Higashikuni : Prime Minister, that's already what I am doing for the last couple of months. But the number of Chinese forces we fight keeps increasing and I think that this war is about to turn into bloody stalemate for us.

General Kotohito : Prime Minister, If General Higashikuni see the situation this much hopeless, we should take it seriously. I think we can send our pacific garrisons to China for defensive duties and thus freeing more of our infantry divisions for offensive operations. In the pacific islands, the local police force could enforce the security.

PM Senjuro : General Kotohito, This is not a bad offer but how would this affect the attitude of United States and United Kingdom in the Pacific ?

Admiral Hisanori : Prime Minister, we don't expect any threat from United Kingdom and United States in the near future. However, if we detect any naval movement, we could reconsider our situation. I agree with General Kotohito, if our struggle in China requires more soldiers, we should send them to China.

PM Senjuro : General Higashikuni, I will approve the transfer of garrison divisions from the pacific to China if this is suitable for you.

General Higashikuni : Yes Prime Minister, even garrison divisions would be extremely helpful. As General Kotohito pointed out, this will ease the defensive burden on our infantry divisions. But we will still need more offensive divisions in the future.

PM Senjuro : I understand General, more divisions will be sent to China in 1939. We expect you to defeat corrupt Chiang-Kai Shek as quick as possible. Admiral Hisanori, did you decide which garrison forces you are planning to send to China ?

Admiral Hisanori : Yes Prime Minister, I think that we can send 13 garrison divisions in the south pacific to China.


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PM Senjuro : Good. General Higashikuni, you can be sure that you will receive your forces within the shortest time possible.

September, 1938

General Ando launched offensive to Xuchang.

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Hatay State

Hatay State was declared today. Turkey has a claim on Hatay province ever since the establishment of Republic.


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Battle of Nanping has begun.

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Chinese captured Baoding. We launched counter-offensive.

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We are conducting heavy air bombardment in Baoding. Chinese division there is severely decimated. We are also attacking Anyang again.

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Battle of Nanping continues. Mountanious terrain is severely limiting the effectiveness of our offensive. 13 Garrison divisions from the Pacific islands arrived at Wenzhou.


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Battle of Anyang continues, this time huge number of Chine reinforcements joined the battle. General Higashikuni's strategy in the North is to delay huge Chinese troops with strategic withdrawals and counter-attacks.

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Technological Researches

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October, 1938

Munich Agreement

Germany annexed Sudetenland region of Czechslovakia which has significant German minority. German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler threatened Czechoslovaki with invasion if she doesn't return Sudetenland to Germany. In the following conference held in Munich, Britain, Germany and Italy accepted the return of Sudetenland to Germany. Being left alone by United Kingdom and France, Czechoslovakia bowed to German demands.



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Overall Advance in China

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PART XXI: BATTLE OF NANCHANG


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Japanese troops charging against Chinese positions in the Battle of Nanchang

October, 1938


Hefei was lost again. We launched offensive to retake it. 4 squadrons of medium bombers are supporting the offensive.

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Technological Researches

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Battle of Anyang

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After a month of bloody battle, Nanping fell. We launched new offensive to capture Fuzhou. There is 1 armaments factory in Fuzhou, we also aim to capture this facility.

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November, 1938


We captured Anyang but Chinese launched another offensive. In response, General Ando attacked Xinxiang to flank Chinese troops there.

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Unit Deployment

3 mountain divisions are deployed in Nagasaki. They will be sent to Southern China.

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Armaments Program

After the conference in Imperial General Headquarters, armaments program was completely focused on the Army. After the deployment of mountain divisions, 3 more infantry were added to the top of the list.

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Fuzhou was captured. Battle of Nanchang has begun. Like Fuzhou, there is also a armaments plant in Nanchang. Furthermore, the biggest military airport of China is also located in Nanchang.Mountain divisions arrived at Fuzhou yesterday.


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Xinxiang was captured but due to massive counter-attack we are retreating towards Zhengzhou.

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Battle of Nanchang was intensified with the arrival of many Chinese divisions. Heavy bombardment of our medium bombers is shattering the Chinese defenses in the city.

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December, 1938

General Kotohito launched offensive to capture strategic Xinyang province.

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Technological Researches

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Nanchang was captured. We immediately attacked mountanious Sanming region.

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Xinyang was captured only to be counter-attacked again. We launched support offensive against Suizhou to buy time for our forces in Xinyang.

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Chinese offensive to Xinyang was stopped and in the south Sanming was captured. The furthest Japanese advance as of December 30, 1938 :

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Another Battle of Anyang. We are making strategic withdrawal to the North again.


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January, 1939

Imperial Conference was held after new year's day in Tokyo.

Imperial Conference, Tokyo

Important Attendants :

Emperor Hirohito
PM Senjuro
Foreign Minister Saotake
Chief of Staff and IJA General Kotohito
Chief of IJN Admiral Hisanori
Chief of IJAAF General Koshiro


PM Senjuro : His Majesty and all attendants of Imperial Conference, we gathered here to discuss the developments in China last year and to be informed about our strategy in 1939. General Kotohito will summarize our operations in the last year to us.

General Kotohito: His Majesty, Prime Minister and all honoruable members of the conference, last year brought us major victories against our enemy. After the elimination of Chinese pocket in Yancheng-Nantong in March, we rapidly advanced towards the western and south-western China. But enemy managed to reorganize and stabilize the frontline by May. After that date, our advancement in the South slowed down considerably and in the North it completely stopped. Chinese recruited massive amount of men into service and at almost all places our forces were outnumbered heavily. We also sent many new divisions in accordance with General Higashikuni's demands. With the arrival of our reinforcements, General Higashikuni pushed Chinese back in the South again, capturing important cities of Nanchang and Fuzhou. In the North, we are continuosly being attacked by a large Chinese Army but General Higashikuni managed to hold our positions skillfully so far. This is the brief summary of our 1938 operations.

Emperor Hirohito : Minister Saotake, Could Chinese bow to our demands after all our successes ?

FM Saotake : His Majesty, Chinese are still holding bulk of their armies, it is highly unlikely that Chiang Kai-Shek would negotiate a peace with us unless we destroy main Chinese Armies.

Emperor Hirohito : Well, then we have to crush them. General Kotohito, what is the strategy of General Staff for 1939 ?

General Kotohito : His Majesty, 1939 Strategic Plans have already been prepared. In 1939, it is not possible for us to launch full scale offensives as we did in 1937 and early 1938. Chinese resistance is very tough and our forces are small compared to Chinese. Our strategic plan in 1939 is to launch strong offensive in the centre and to capture industrial region located there. There are total of 8 IC in the centre which corresponds to 20 percent of the entire Chinese industry. In the centre terrain is also much more suitable compared to other sectors. Important cities of Wuhan and Changsha is located there and loss of these cities would be major blow to Chinese morale. If we can successfully capture this industrial zone, Chinese will have major problems in supplying their massive number of troops. To summarize, our belief is that success of this plan will cripple Chinese war effort and force them to sue for peace soon.


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Emperor Hirohito : General, can we realistically achieve this plan considering our numerical disadvantage ?

General Kotohito : Yes His Majesty, they are superior to us in numbers, but we are superior to them in technology and in the fighting spirit. Apart from these, the Airforce is our strongest weapon which Chinese didn't have any. Our 7 medium-bomber squadrons in China turned the tide of many battles last year. We are again going to fully utilize our mighty Airforce this year.


Emperor Hirohito : Good General, do you believe that we could defeat Chinese this year ?

General Kotohito : To be honest, no His Majesty not this year. But I strongly believe that we could defeat NRA in 1940.


Emperor Hirohito : Gentlemen, we entered this struggle with China considering that it would last only few weeks. Then we thought that Chinese would have surrendered after we destroyed their main Eastern Armies in Nantong, but again they formed strong frontline and continued to fight. I hope that this time we won't fail again. We can't commit all resources of our country to bloody war in China.
 
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This AAR is becoming more and more epic. I really enjoy it.

I agree that the AI is good at counterattacking. Just think how much better it would be if it was able to react to encirclement properly!

The loss of IC in Central China should cripple them, but there are many river crossings in the region, so be careful. Do you plan to conquer other coastal provinces first or strike at the Chinese inner regions? Have you considered strategic bombardment of Chongqing or are your doctrines too underdeveloped for sth like this?
 
Maybe you should consider killing Chinese divisions by defeating them in battle and outrunning them during their withdrawal. For example, in this picture we see the bulk of the defeated force retreating to a province that's practically undefended (one Chinese militia barely qualifies as a defence). If you had immediately attacked this province and taken it before the defeated force arrived, you could have destroyed a lot of Chinese divisions.

Of course, I am just guessing, since I don't have the game, but if it's similar to WiF, this could work. But you'll need some faster units that can outrun the Chinese and hold the province for long enough - maybe unbrigaded Mountain divisions, or motorized infantry divisions (I see you're building some).

Anyway, hopefully you can defeat the Chinese it time. The Americans are lurking.
 
This AAR is becoming more and more epic. I really enjoy it.

I agree that the AI is good at counterattacking. Just think how much better it would be if it was able to react to encirclement properly!

The loss of IC in Central China should cripple them, but there are many river crossings in the region, so be careful. Do you plan to conquer other coastal provinces first or strike at the Chinese inner regions? Have you considered strategic bombardment of Chongqing or are your doctrines too underdeveloped for sth like this?

My Kawasaki Ki-48 bombers have 800 km range and I don't have airfields that will reach Chongqing with that range. In fact, even when I capture airfields which are in range of targeting Chongqing, I don't think I will use strat bombing. Firstly, I didn't research any strategic bombing doctrines, so it would be probably very ineffective. Secondly and more importantly, My 7 medium bomber squadrons are the real force that still allows me to advance in the South. Ground support missions are seriously hampering Chinese militias' fighting capacity. So, I don't want to divert my bomber force to other tasks.

My first plan for 1939 is to capture industrial zone in the center. I will send some of my infantry divisions in the South to the Centre for this task. I want to advance in the South and the coast as well but I doubt if I can achieve this with the current lack of troops.



Maybe you should consider killing Chinese divisions by defeating them in battle and outrunning them during their withdrawal. For example, in this picture we see the bulk of the defeated force retreating to a province that's practically undefended (one Chinese militia barely qualifies as a defence). If you had immediately attacked this province and taken it before the defeated force arrived, you could have destroyed a lot of Chinese divisions.

Of course, I am just guessing, since I don't have the game, but if it's similar to WiF, this could work. But you'll need some faster units that can outrun the Chinese and hold the province for long enough - maybe unbrigaded Mountain divisions, or motorized infantry divisions (I see you're building some).

Anyway, hopefully you can defeat the Chinese it time. The Americans are lurking.

Winner, that was exactly what I thought when I saw Chinese rear was very poorly defended in Xingan. But I lack mobile force in the region. My 6 divisions in Nanchang in that pictures were infantry divisions. So, I am sure that I couldn't have arrived before the Chinese. While on the way, Chinese would have reached the city in masses and the resistance would have grown.

For mobile units, you are right, I need them desperately. I have 6 cavalry divisions as mobile force. But these are in the North. 3 of them in Anyang, if you followed the pictures carefully, you can see that how Chinese hordes are trying very hard to capture this province. I would have shifted these divisions to the South before but my lines are very thin along the huge front and I don't want to leave weakly defended region in the North. I have 3 frontline provinces that are solely defended by garrison divisions. So, you can imagine how desperately I lack more units.

I am producing 3 motorized divisions and they will be ready in May. After they get ready, I will group them with my 6 cavalry divisions and thus create effective mobile force. Hopefully this year maneuver capability of my army will improve.
 
PART XXII: END OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA


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Hitler in Prague Castle, April 1939

January, 1939


PM Senjuro decided to send garrisons of Hokkaido and Sakhalin to China. General Higashikuni wants to gather the largest force possible for the 1939 offensive.

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Another Battle of Anyang. This time Chinese brought many divisions at the same time. We launched offensive against Yangquan and Xinxiang to divert Chinese attention to these provinces.

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February, 1939

Unit Deployment

3 infantry divisions are deployed in Nagasaki.


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After a month of bloody fighting, we defeated Chinese forces in Anyang. We also stopped our delaying offensives. General Higashikuni left Zhangyuan with his HQ to personally command Wuhan offensive. Garrison forse of 5 divisions from Hokkaido-Sakhalin and Central China were stationed to protect the province. In the far north, Jining, 5 infantry divisions from Manchukuo were stationed. General Higashikuni is planning to shift the Japanese forces there to the South and to leave the defense of the region to Manchukuon Army.

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Technological Researches

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Battle of Wuhan

Battle of Wuhan has just begun under the personal command of General Higashikuni. General mobilized 15 divisions for the offensive. This operation marks the beginning of 1939 Offensives.


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General Hata launched offensive in the South to capture Xiamen.

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Battle of Wuhan continues. Chiang Kai-Shek personally took command of Chinese Army defending Wuhan. Our entire medium bomber force is bombing the city of Wuhan.


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March, 1939

Wuhan finally fell. Industrial complexes in the city were also captured by our forces. This great victory was celebrated all across Japan.


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Policy Change

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General Kotohito launched offensive to capture the city of Huangshi. This city also contains an important armaments factory.


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April, 1939


Battle of Huangshi continues. It seems that Chinese are unable to reinforce their troops properly. Most of their divisions are understrength.

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End of Czechoslovakia

Today, German forces entered Bohemia and Moravia provinces of Czechoslovakia. German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler declared Bohemia and Moravia as Protectorate of Germany. Slovakia declared its independence and pro-German Jozef Tiso assumed the leadership of new country. United Kingdom and France issued strong protests but didn't take any action other than this.


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Europe is flaring up. Italian dictator Mussolini gave ultimatum to King Zog of Albania to accept Italian invasion. After the refusal of ultimatum, Italy declared war on small Balkan country of Albania.

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British Guarantee to Poland

After the violation of Munich Agreement by the invasion of Bohemia-Moravia, United Kingdom decided to stop German expansion at all costs, if necessary by force. British PM Chamberlein abandoned all previous policies of appeasement and guaranteed Polish independence against German invasion. We believe that Europe is not far from another great war.


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Lithuania ceded Klaipeda to Germany under strong pressure. German aggression in Europe reached the peak level.

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Huangshi was captured. Battle of Jiujiang has begun. We are rapidly achieving our 1939 aims in the central front. Chinese are sufffering from chronic lack of equipment, they can't replace their losses.


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Unit Deployment

1 squadron of Ki-48 medium bombers and 1 motorized division are deployed in Nagasaki.

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Hopefully the loss of industrial capacity will prevent the Chinese from reinforcing their divisions. Eventually, you'll bleed them out.
 
Bleeding them out is something Makif can ill afford. Bleeding them out means focusing a big chunk of his pittance of an IC on land warfare, when he should be churning out flattops, cruisers, and an airforce.

Getting bogged down in China means he can not strike Indochina/Singapore/India the month he declares war, and that is baaad.

Also, try to concentrate on their INF divisions. Wear them down, bomb them out, circle them in, whatever you must do. China has rather few INF (compared to the sea of MIL), and once you break those, its much, much easier.
 
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Yeah, you should evaluate your resource situation and think about your future plans for a while. You especially need to build some carriers. Don't cancel your current infantry orders, but re-prioritise your production queue once the new "pack" is formed ;)
 
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