OOC: Fuso, Ise, Hyuga and Yamashiro are all Fuso/Ise class.
[OOC: So she is, must have had a minor brain fart there thinking about the Yamato. When a bit tipsy the other day. Your completely correct.]
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Adm. Yamamoto, Singapore
Final Plan of the IJN
Adm. Yamamato
Adm. Baltersar
Chinese Peace Proposals:
It is the general position of the Admiralty that the offer as it stands should be
politely rejected, we must state the position that Japan is not in a position of weakness, nor in a position to suggest that she is. Conditional surrender for territories already gained would suit Japan, and Chaing would be allowed to reign over Yunnan/Szechuan provinces along with Long Yun who was his predecessor. When we started this war it was to teach Chiang and his nationalists a lesson. A lesson that was if he cannot cooperate with us, he seeks annihilation. Japan is willing to take the hard fight to see this so. If he wants to remain in power in China, he shall have to accept that the Chinese-autonomous region under our auspice will remain so.
Strategic Bombing:
We know that the Chinese have some reasonable factory assets available to them, yet we only know about the ones at Kunming and Guiyang. We should aim to do some recon to find out where the Chinese have moved industry to, or built new.
Indonesia and Malaya
Currently we do not have the forces needed to occupy Sumatra, Java, and Malaysia-Borneo. My estimated military garrisons that shall be required;
Malaysia-Borneo
Malaya: 3x[2xGAR] 2x[2xINF*]
Borneo: 5x[2xGAR] 3x[2xINF*]
Indonesia
Sumatra: 4x[2xGAR] 2x[2xINF*]
Java: 2x[2xGAR] 1x[2xINF*]
Sulawesi : 2x[2xGAR] 1x[2xINF*]
Total: 32xGAR 18xINF* Brigades
Currently we have 6 GAR brigades out of the total needed. Only about 20% of our needs. But we do have all our infantry needs. Although if we were to recall the army corps as our reserve and replace them with new units.
Given that our production budget planning is only about to kick in, there is no room for these builds in a pragmatic sense.
The administration has decided that the army has been allocated 29.39IC, some 10IC more than the split after common project in the near future, paying the vast bulk of this overspend by not laying two more cruiser hulls. Thus leaving a tiny 3IC units to the navy, after this. Barely enough to recruit these in serial, let alone in the near future. Remember if we were allocating our production IC in ratio to our enemies, the Navy should have access to 117IC units to deal with the Allies.
We would have to request that the army make savings from elsewhere in their budgets to readdress the balance back to ~19IC Thus make a saving of 10IC units on infantry training, about to come to an end.
I am still strongly in favour of placing the new cruiser hulls in the docks, but seeing as the army has an expensive project going, Adm.Baltersar wants Indonesia out of the picture we might have to delay one of the ships. To begin recruiting the garrisons. I am working on tweaking the efficency of a delayed ship for other build plans.
*The Light Infantry divisions could be replaced by militia units at a push, recruited from local sympathiser groups. This would not only put our local supporters in defacto control, they would also cost us far less supplies at the edges of our supply lines, since we would only need to arm them with some of our old rifles and a handful of ammunition to keep the peace.
When the Malay Government gets its act together, these units can be handed back over to the Malayans until such time they wish to disband them and reform their military.
I understand the Armies reluctance to recruit non-formally trained units, but all we need here are police units, not army ones. Although I will suggest if we use informal units we increase the division size to 4xMIL just to give us added flexibility in a complex situation.
The Army has yet to comment on these notions.
Operation Take Ushi
The formal occupation of Borneo Island must continue. In general this will require the respective divisions on the island to continue around the coastal paths capturing the islands large ports. We should prioritise any new Garrison divisions to Borneo, such that we can complete it occupation and leave the needed light infantry divisions around the island. Two near Kuching, and the other towards Balikpapan.
During this time the marines should form up in two groups, one at Singapore, the other at Teluk Anson, while the other infantry divisions take command of the ports on the peninsular for now and the navy reorganise its assets.
The Teluk Marines shall land at Medan and Dumai in two simultaneous operations, only informing the Dutch as we land that we are occupying these Indonesian territories as well for the duration of the war, since the British are using these Dutch harbours as bases of operations following the battles for Singapore.
The marines will march south along the island taking Padong port on the way. Actually occupying all the ports taken is not a huge requirement, although local commanders can assess the situation as they need. The main aim is to sweep the Sumerian island pushing or overrunning any forces present back towards Oosthaven, where we shall once again take the port from the land side forcing the ships into a decisive battle with us where we can mass airpower from Kuching/Singapore.
The Singapore Marines are to follow a similar tactic, landing a Soerabaja in eastern Java, and to march west towards Batavia. Since there is only a single port here for supplies it would be prudent to guard it in the interim between landing and our troops arriving at Batavia.
Adm. Yamamoto strongly suggest both landings are taken at similar times rather than one after another. If we can strike the British fleets twice in quick succession while they are damaged and disorganised when they move from one port to another, we have a far better chance of sinking ships, than if we leave a delay of a week or two between landing to begin the occupation of both islands.
Sumatra may be comparatively unguarded compared to Java, but there is more territory to sweep. Therefore it is unknown which group will arrive at their targets first. It would be best not to try and engage both ports at the same time, rather to engage the one with the larger fleet first with the aim of doing the most damage and hopefully pushing them into retreating to the other local port first. Therefore intelligence missions will need to be flown in some limited port strike missions during the period.
Again on these missions we don't want our aircrews completely battered and drained before engagement. So fighting down to 75% strength will be considered our limiting factor. A key point the administration must check is if we can actually reach these ports from land bases with fighter cover, since its difficult to tell because it appears to be at a range limit.
If we don't have range, one of the ports must be captured ahead of the other in order to re-base aircraft to location. Oosthaven I believe has the larger port and airfield, and so in this case would make the better staging base.
I estimate we have four infantry divisions available in the area as reserves for the local commanders to field to either islands as they perceive needs be. Given the lack of intelligence about forces on each island. I believe it is prudent to keep these units in reserve rather than direct them now.
Supporting Fleets
The following ships should be removed from their current fleets to return for repairs and refit;
IJN Kaga CV
IJN Kashiwara CL
IJN Mutsu BB
IJN Suzuya CA
19 Yuso Sentai TP
IJN Hyuga BB
IJN Kinugasa
Otherwise the fleet compositions can be;
1st fleet: 3x BB, 2x CA, 2x CL, 2x DD
IJN Fuso
IJN Ise
IJN Yamashiro
IJN Aoba
IJN Asama
IJN Kiso
IJN Oi
25. Kuchikusentai
26. Kuchikusentai
2nd fleet: 2x BB, 2x CA, 4x DD
IJN Nagato
IJN Yamato
IJN Ashigara
IJN Nachi
18. Kuchikusentai
19. Kuchikusentai
21. Kuchikusentai
24. Kuchikusentai
3rd fleet, fast division: 2x BC, 2x CA, 2x CL, 2x DD
IJN Ibuki (flagship)
IJN Kurama
IJN Mogami
IJN Takao
IJN Abukama
IJN Kashii
10. Kuchikusentai
11. Kuchikusentai
4th fleet: 1x CV, 2x CVL, 4x CL, 3x DD
IJN Akagi
IJN Hosho
IJN Ryijo
IJN Kumano
IJN Yahagi
IJN Yubari
IJN Kitikama
12. Kuchikusentai
13. Kuchikusentai
15. Kuchikusentai
5th fleet: 1x CV, 2x CVL, 3x CL, 3x DD
IJN Soryu
IJN Shoho
IJN Zuiho
IJN Naka
IJN Tatsuta
IJN Yura
15. Kuchikusentai
17. Kuchikusentai
Spare destroyer assets (~4xDD) in the region may be formed up into minimal destroyer flotilla (2xDD) to run ASW warfare around the Gulf of Tonkin, Taiwan and South China Seas region as local commanders see fit. If at any time these units spot enemy battle or carrier fleets they should return to near bases and not continue their missions.
It is unlikely that the Allies can now operate with fleets in these waters, but to err on the side of caution it is advisable to include contingency.
The Admiralty would like intelligence
maps regarding the merchant war with our coverage, sinking, and losses from now on such that we can more clearly see the geographic state of affairs regarding the merchant war.
Operations:
1st, 2nd 3rd and 4th fleets will continue operations against the British by supporting landing operations on Sumatra and Java. These landings will be made by the SNLF corps. Malaya and Singapore will be secured by the infantry which has been landed there already. The goal is to sweep the whole of Sumatra. Targets of opportunity may be pursued, such as engaging the RN forces currently in Batavia / Java. Submarines should keep our admirals updated on what is going on in the enemy ports in the vicinity as well as the street of Malaca.
If available, air missions should be conducted from captured airfields, ie Kunching/Singapore/Oosthaven. Air attacks against enemy fleets are encouraged, whether or not they are in port. These missions must be aborted if losses are mounting too high.
2nd fleet will act as heavy backup for these operations, being short on large escorts. 5th Fleet will assemble in Singapore and stay there until needed. This will enable our engineers to get these ships into working condition.
If possible, the units on Phoenix Island should be ferried elsewhere. We feel they are exposed out there and we are unlikely to come to their aid in time if the US should attack. Submarines should continue to scout along the US coast and ports. We need to know where the enemy is and what his strengths are. The air units in Kunching will remain in the area as long as they can support the operations here. They may redeploy to other airfields closer to the action if the commanders think it's save to do so.
The garrison divisions on Hawaii will be merged into a single division. Since they are stationary anyway, there is no reason to have two commanding officers.
Production:
There is no additional IC freed up this quarter that was not already taken into account in the last budget, athough there are tweaks and there are some concerns as to undervaluing shipbuilding.
Strategic Rocket and Aerospace Administration
A brief overview of rocket projects;
Lv.1. Rocket Artillery
Lv.2. -No Research Team Proposals-
Lv.3. Strategic Rocket Design/Radar Guided Missiles & Bombs**
Lv.4. Flying Bombs
Lv.5. Surface-to-air missiles / Air-to-air missiles
Lv.6. Jet Engines$
**Greatly improves ground attack roles for light aircraft, as well as sea attack for naval aircraft
$A super powerful engine allowing strong interception ability for such aircraft.
With your acceptance high command, including the army generals. The navy has generally accepted to fund rocket research complexes 2a and 2b, after complex 1 is up and running. Appropriating a large chunk of the soon to be freed up budget. Since the rocketry program. Benefits both branches of the imperial armed forces. Then that leaves the remainder of the budget to be split into two blocks of industrial capacity each.
Since the Administration favoured the Armies modernisation before the laying of a new cruiser we have lost a couple months, and hence some overall ~8.7 months in IC efficiency for the end of 1945 in the medium-priority build plan. Hence now future expansions will be disproportionally more expensive then they would have been. This is regrettable*.
We cannot condone Adm.Baltersars lack of enthusiasm towards naval production. And we should place a new cruiser in production in order to save what we can of the medium production plan, or suffer being locked into the low priority plan for the rest of the war. This could be a most regrettable course of affairs.
While Adm. Yamamoto disagrees with Adm.Baltersar over suspending work on the IJN Musashi, this will go ahead in order that our engineers can focus more on current ship upgrades. Although the administration should balance the production budget, before decreasing/suspending work on the Musashi for upgrades.
Remaining funds should be allocated towards infrastructure projects in China, a slow trickle of new occupation troops, and a continuation (but not expansion) of radar equipment.
Convoy Losses:
It was noted early, that we would bleed IC for the remainder of the war in merchant shipping. It is a knee jerk reaction to order more merchant ships now at the expense of other planning. Again I cannot condone additional merchant shipping to be built, then is already. Instead we shall just change the docks to a permanent merchant shipping construction program. Which shall only be cancelled when we top our decided reserve.
If by this time next year numbers have continued to drop, then we can increase priorities.
Research Considerations
Air Research:
-
In Research Central Air Command Structure '38
- Completed Maritime Attack Ordinance
- Completed Fighter Pilot Training
-
In research CAG Pilot Training '40
- Small Air Search Radar '41
-
In research Fighter Ground Crew Training '42
- Aero Engine '43
- Single Engine Aircraft Armament '43
- Small Fuel Tank '43
- Light Bomb '43
- Single Engine Airframe '43
- Night Fighting '42
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In research Central Air Command Structure '38
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In research Small Navigation Radar (Not requested, query why we have teams work here?)
Naval Research:
-
In research Naval Air Control Doctrine '42
-
In research Naval Air Command Structure '40--->modern
-
In research Carrier Taskforce Doctrine '41 (??)
- Completed Night Fighting Training '42 (Navy ships)
-
In research ASW Tactics 39'
-
In researcch Carrier Escort Role '37
- Cruiser Crew Training '43
- Capital Crew Training '43
- Carrier Crew Training '43
-
In research Battleship Taskforce Doctrine '43
- Crusier Escort Doctrine '43
- Fire Control System Training '43
- Comander Decision Making '43
- Capital Ship Crew Training '43
-
In Research Radar Training '42
- Light Cruiser Design Principle '43
-
In Research Proximity Fuse (wasn't this completed ages ago? or was that just discussion?)
Industrial & Technological:
-Completed Coal Processing Technology '43
-Completed Base Operations 39'
-
In Research Coal to Oil '40
-
In Research Mechanical Computing machine '43
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In research Rocket Science! '3? (believed it was to be cancelled after current teams had finished)
-Combat Radios Combat Radios '42
-
In research Electronic Computing Machine '43
- Decryption Machine '43
- Encryption Machine '43
- Base Operations '40
-
In research Combat Medicine (Shouldn't be high priority at all, we have ample manpower*)
Army:
- Completed Assault Weapons '42
-
In Research Mountain Warfare Equipment '37 ---> Modern (again if got 'em, make 'em good)
-
In Research Artillery Training '42
- Officer Training '42
- Armoured Car Gun '42
It is likely all programs listed here will enter into research or be completed by next meeting. Hence nothing else has been added to the priority list.
Intelligence
Our covert operations units provide a vital task in China and the US, both bleeding away their leadership chasing shadows. However the Admiralty would agree that ongoing missions in Maos enclave may soon be reaching a level of conclusion, if not right now.
A future question is should funds be transferred to Thailand to keep them neutral, or against possibly the Soviets to aid in helping the Euro-axis.
Saving ourself funds for research is of little benefit when we do not have a strong ship building priority, therefore new design there is of little utility. We are not following medium armour builds, or have them in number. Again little utility. Meaning that funds saved for research would only go to completing doctrinal research to a much quicker schedule mostly. Meaning we would quickly run into a position towards the end of the year or next where we have pushed these spheres a bit further then we should have.
In particular the current missions are worth a lot to us. In the US counter-intelligence directly prevents the US from using their own spies and bleeds leadership to them. In China our efforts are reducing their unity, doing much the same and leading to breaking the Chinese will to fight.
Both these should remain as they are.