Chapter 20: The People's Republic of Korea - April 8, 1946 to May 15, 1946
As the PLA surged forward, the IJA was unable to muster the strength to resist. Battered, demoralized, outnumbered, and outgunned the IJA refused to admit defeat. On April 12, the amphibious attack on the city of Suwon was repulsed, with the IJA losing 4 infantry divisions. Undeterred, the IJA launched another attack on the city of Mokpo on April 20, which was quickly defeated. The IJA lost another 4 infantry divisions in the failed raid. The defenses of India fared no better, and on May 2 the Bengal city of Dhaka was liberated by PLA soldiers and Iran's expeditionary forces in eastern India were crushed.
The Battle of Dhaka eliminated the bulk of India's defenders stationed in the east
As India's defenses crumbled, Japan's last remaining stronghold on the Asian continent was liberated by the PLA in a series of battles. The First Battle of Pusan lasted from May 1 to May 5, and saw losses of 2,351 KIA on the PLA side and 5,649 KIA for the Japanese. The Second Battle of Pusan began on May 6 and lasted until May 11. Despite the ability of the IJA's air bomber wing to operate unnopposed and the IJN supporting the defense of the port city using carrier-based aircraft, none of those efforts were able to save the roughly 16 divisions and 15 field HQs from the PLA's onslaught.
The Second Battle of Pusan was a crushing blow to Japan's army
The capture of the city signaled Japan's expulsion from the Asian mainland, and on May 15 the People's Republic of Korea was declared a sovereign nation under the guidance of the PRC. The only point of contention between China's creation of the new Korean state and the Soviet Union were the areas of northern Korea under Soviet occupation. As with the Soviet-occupied provinces of Manchuria, the USSR's illegal occupation would cause tensions to rise in the future, but due to the pressing war with the Entente Powers it was agreed to let the matter rest in the short term.
The initial borders of the People's Republic of Korea
The creation of the PRK closes this period of WW3. At this point the PLA was the amongst the most modern armies in the world, but the PLAAF was composed entirely of small interceptor aircraft and the PLAN was still in its infancy. The state of the Chinese economy was such that no major increases in spending could be afforded to correct the air and naval deficiencies in the short term. To use simplified terms, the PRC's military-industrial complex had 157 units of industrial capacity. Aside from the 4 destroyer flotillas under construction, the majority of the PRC's budget was being spent on building air fields in Dihua, Shanghai, and Qingdao and on the construction of 20 industrial complexes and improving the Kaohsiung coastal defenses. In short, while the PRC was fully capable of liberating the rest of Asia from the imperialists, it would not be able to take the fight to the Entente itself. Due to its overwhelming naval superiority, the Entente could strike wherever and whenever it chose, and would be unwilling to negotiate any form of cease fire.
Military breakdown of the Communist International
Summary of the PLA's infantry weapons
Summary of the PLAN's submarine and destroyer programs
Summary of the PLAAF's light fighter program
Summary of the state of the PRC's industrial improvements
Summary of the PLA's training programs
Summary of the PLA's operational doctrine
The world on May 15, 1946
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And thus the final chapter is concluded. Thank you to everyone who followed this. It had a rocky start due to my funky work schedule (70 hours a week isn't fun
), but it proved to be very entertaining for me up until the end. The prospect of sitting and waiting to build up a navy from 0 techs is what killed the end game for me, though looking at where I ended up at given I only had 3 LS to start and was fighting for survival, I don't think there was much I could've done to speed up the naval research.
