This is a little late, but I'll make up for the lost updates last week with some extra ones this week. I took the screenshots for the update well in advance, but then foolishly forgot to load them onto my laptop for when I went away for Thanksgiving. Such foolishness! Hopefully this (and an upcoming world map later) will help make up for it!
Sweeping the Japanese out of south-east Asia and eliminating a significant number of divisions is indeed a major success for Australia. The question now is whether you can keep them off balance and sustain the momentum - given time I'm sure Japan has enough units left to re-build a front in southern China and make life difficult. Sinking the IJN Kongo was a nice bonus prize!
Southeast Asia a good base for future operations, but taking China with the few divisions I have available is a very difficult proposal, and one that doesn't exactly draw in a huge scope for reward, due to the Red Army entering war with Japan... Maybe I can pull something out of this, though, we'll see!
Awesome! I'm looking forward to the new updates
Thanks! Good to be back!
Hurrah! Any chance for a wider map view?
Yes, but unfortunately not for this update or the next update, as I saved all my screenshots in advance for multiple updates. It's coming, though, and soon.
Reading through this reminds me how I've missed your elegant prose.
You've given the Japanese a good hard shove and they're off-balance. The question now is whether you have enough forces available to keep pushing, or whether the armies of the Rising Sun will recover and start pushing you back again. My biggest concern is that you don't seem to have enough units in southeast China to stop all the Japanese incursions - it looks like you can hold off a direct Japanese offensive in any particular location, but that doing so would leave several other provinces at their mercy. Hopefully, it won't come to that.
Reading this reminds me how I've missed your insightful, detailed commentary. Good to be back, good to have you back!
I have more units in Southeast Asia than first glance would indicate, the only problem is that they're clustered around the west (due to the offensive focusing on Thailand) and not on the Chinese border. The situation will develop and should be a little more clear in a couple updates, once the blitz into SEA has settled a bit. I am, however, outnumbered even with the divisions I encircled, so you're right to be concerned...
Great tha you are back!
Could you do update with some kind of recap? I mean world map, situation on all fronts and list of nations in war?
As above, yes, I'll be doing an update with a recap/world map update, but it has to wait for another couple updates due to taking too many screenshots/play in advance. I can, however, list out the nations now involved in each faction for you:
Allies: USA (
+ Liberia, Philippines), Free France (
in Exile), Australia (
+ Indonesia), Canada, India, Burma, Norway, Netherlands (
in Exile), Kuwait
Axis: Germany, Italy, Japan (
+ China, Manchukuo, Mengjiang), France, Britain, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, Oman, Transjordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Malaya
Comintern: USSR (
+ Mongolia, Tannu Tuva), Finland
Neutral: Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, all of Central/South America
That and some of the wider shots from the new updates and the 5.x updates should hopefully give you an idea of what things are like until then. It's also worth noting that for a variety of reasons, it's very likely that a bunch of the nations currently listed as neutral won't be neutral for that much longer - more to be illuminated on this topic soon, but a LOT of countries are swinging to the extremes of political camps and global threat is huge for some nations now.
Nice to see this is still active!
Australia marches on, Japan is being pushed back, and Kuwait has an incredibly strong force!
Your descriptions of everything was terrific, Saithis, and very evocative. I felt immersed into this story of Australia. And I would like to second a world map request.
Thanks, I'll try not to drop it this time before it's finished, and I'll try to proofread more, haha. See above on world map request!
Great to see this AAR back. Will you Reinforce Kuwait after mopping up in thailand/burma?
Maybe. Kuwait has little strategic importance for me, but Basra does, so by that logic it's likely to happen.
Chapter 5.5 - Operation Hanging Garden
Newly elected President Wendell Wilkie rides triumphantly through the streets, an unlikely leader for the world's richest and most powerful democracy.
The American people placed their faith in Republican presidential hopeful Wendell Wilkie after the tragic passing of President Roosevelt, but this would prove not to be the spark needed to galvanise the Arsenal of Democracy into action - in fact, it was becoming quite the contrary. Wendell Wilkie had been elected off the backs of an isolationist voter base that would prefer to see America abandon the war and focus on her own needs. Forced to balance his own internationalist agenda with the demands of the public, the hard work Roosevelt had done to build the power and prestige of the presidential position was now in a dangerously tenuous position. While many celebrated, strikes and protests against the war and the state of the economy worsened as many called for a stop to US involvement abroad. This pressure was sufficient to force even the Pacific Fleet into a defensive stance, waiting for the Japanese to come to them rather than vice versa.
American pressure to contribute to the Western Front was significant; the Commonwealth mustered eight of its finest divisions in response to this need.
Wilkie's stance to the Commonwealth was clear: there would be no assistance in Asia unless the Empire could first help America's efforts to secure Africa. Fears of a fascist or communist takeover of Eurasia necessitated a vast offensive to turn Africa into a foothold from which any strike could be launched to the north with ease, but Operation Torch was progressing slowly due to its Subsaharan beginnings. Allied Command agreed that in order for this to be completed at any respectable pace, Allied troops would be required to strike from the east as well as from the west. British and Australasian troops would form the core of the 1st Middle Eastern Army, a highly mobile and motorized strike force intended to carve a path into the heart of the Middle East. As long as this elite force could secure the ports required to ship supplies overseas, there would be little to stop them from meeting the Americans and Free French Foreign Legion in Egypt.
Pleased at the plans, Wilkie agreed to continue lending support to the Australian government, albeit on slightly different terms: no longer would lend-lease apply in full to the United States shipments, but in order for Australia to secure much-needed shipments of coal and coke, they would be required to pay for it - a situation untenable were it not for the extremely profitable counter-trade of natural rubber and rare metals from Southeast Asia which would help to fuel the American industry.
This also came with the help of US scientists and engineering. Together with Boeing, the Vickers' engineers developed a powerful new engine which could vastly improve the performance of the Spitfire and Seafire, if early calculations were correct. These technologies would be of help developing and improving all of Australasia's air forces, a critical step to keeping up with the Axis war machine.
As Pownall's 4th Mot. Cavalry cross the Indian border into Iran, the 1st and 2nd divisions make landfall along the southern coast.
On the morning of October 4th at 7am, the first divisions landed on the shores of Iran in massive waves, unopposed by any local forces. Crossing the border from India, Pownall's 4th Cavalry found that the army of Iran had all but abandoned the front, presumably to fight the Russians in the north and leaving themselves exposed. Garrisons and fortified towns were held by old men and children, most of whom surrendered without a fight. It seemed at first that the invasion would be all too easy.
Inglis' Armoured Cavalry land west of the critical port at Bandar Abbas, threatening to envelop the city's defenders completely.
To the west of Bandar Abbas, fresh Allied tanks rolled off the landing craft and onto the soil of Asia. The port city was critical to the offensive in Iran, as supplies could be shipped directly to the docks rather than overland via India, which would slow supply trails to a crawl.
British and Australian light tanks make quick progress across the flat ground of the southern coast, but they will face tougher trials further inland...
Consisting of a maddening hodgepodge of various French and British light tanks, Inglis' 2nd Cavalry quickly enveloped the city from the west, inflicting huge casualties on the port's defenders and shocking a totally unprepared Persian defense. The plan called for Inglis to spearhead a thrust towards the critical oil fields in the west, while the bulk of Allied forces pushed north towards the capital of Tehran.
A unit of the German Asienkorps is spotted in central Persia, suggesting the battle for Iran may be tougher than previously surmised.
The Allies had heard of the Asienkorps - a well-trained, elite unit of Germans fighting in the Middle East under General Erwin Rommel, but this was the first time they had encountered such a foe. The Germans here did not live up to their reputation - underfed, undersupplied and low on morale, they were hardly the elite fighting force that had been feared and if this division was any indication, they would pose no obstacle to the battle for Iran.
The landings and presence of HMAS Vanguard had a powerful effect on the region, and the Persian military was totally unprepared and unequipped for this kind of fight. Control of the Strait of Hormuz was relinquished almost immediately, and what few Axis naval elements existed in the Persian Gulf soon disappeared rather than contest allied control. Total command of the West Indian Ocean now belonged to the Allies, only the Red Sea remained in Axis hands...
Bandar Abbas falls to Inglis' men on the 8th of October, opening the port for vital shipments of supplies to the Allied Front.
Just 4 days after the first landings, Bandar Abbas' garrison was forced to retreat before the two-pronged Australian attack. The ferocity of the Allies' offensive shattered any sense of resistance amongst the Persians and the port city was soon put to work landing additional troops, vehicles, fuel and supplies for the offensive ahead. It was time for the Empire to strike back in the Middle East.
In Burma, over 80,000 Japanese and Chinese soldiers were killed or captured, crippling the offensive efforts of the Imperial Kwangtung Army.
The war in the east was showing equal success. Over 100,000 Axis soldiers had been taken prisoner in Operation White Typhoon, delivering a substantial blow to the Japanese Army presence in Southern China. Most of these prisoners were Chinese, and in turn most of those had been press-ganged into the war for fear of their lives or their family's lives. Nearly half the Imperial units encountered during the offensive consisted of relatively poorly trained Chinese auxiliaries; this, the Allies reasoned, was a sign of how desperate for manpower the Japanese were, and how close to achieving victory in the east they must be.
A counterattack begins in northwest Indochina as Japanese and Manchurian troops assault Australia's defensive positions.
If the Japanese were losing this war, however, nobody bothered to tell them that. On October 11th, Australian troops holding the northwestern city of Vienpoukha in Indochina came under fierce assault by a combined assault of Japanese and Chinese soldiers, including heavy artillery barrages and air support. At first, it seemed that the Australians would hold, and over the cousre of two days they dealt considerable damage to their assailants. On the afternoon of the 14th, however, fresh divisions of Axis soldiers joined the fray, and the Australians soon realized that they would be ground to dust if they held their ground.
The Australians lose the battle to hold Vienpoukha, but continue to push the Japanese Army back into China.
The Australian retreat from Vienpoukha marks the first significant setback of the Allies in Southeast Asia, despite a stunningly successful campaign. The Imperials turned against the Australian push across the entire line, and fought with a sudden and intense ferocity that no one had expected until now. Veteran Japanese units formed spearheads as Chinese conscripts filled the bulk of the army, but try as they might, they found themselves blunted everywhere but Vienpoukha - the Kwangtung Army would continue to be pushed back.
Further attempts to push the Australians back into Siam are futile, resulting only in heavy casualties for the Kwangtung Army.
The massive Japanese counter-offensive would come to a grinding halt in the mountains of Northern Indochina and Thailand. Here, the Allies demonstrated their excellent training and material superiority over the Japanese, efficiently and excellently holding their positions against an intense onslaught of Axis firepower. By the 20th, the Japanese offensive ground to a total halt and was soon called off, leaving significant casualties on both sides. The Australians were undeterred, however, and they would be ready to continue...
The experiences gained in Europe, Asia and the Middle East were piling up, and it was soon acknowledged that the Australian Army was the most veteran and grizzled fighting force the Allies could field. Formed largely of the Empire's toughest survivors and having fought many battles in all kinds of terrain, they were now experts of war; and they intended to prove it.
The defense of Nanning becomes untenable if Hanoi is to resist the oncoming counter-offensive, forcing the Australians to retreat from China.
The counter-offensive was enough to shake Allied belief in the speed of their advance, however, and intelligence suggesting the Axis would soon descend on Hanoi was enough to worry the Australian command. Dougherty's men were withdrawn from Nanning and ordered back to Hanoi itself, where the Australians began to prepare a long defensive line against the expected Japanese attack.
As the autumn rains and freezing temperatures descend upon Eastern Europe, the Eastern Front has slowed to a bloody grind, and after nearly a month of fighting, the Red Army retakes Kiev...
In Europe, the war was beginning to go nowhere. Germany's famous 'blitzkrieg', which had broken the back of the French and won them the land battle in Britain, had now finally faltered before the one enemy no man can fight: Mother Nature. Autumn winds turned to storms, and the downpours transformed Russia's rural landscape into an easily-churned sea of slick mud. As the temperature continued to drop, freezing weather would rapidly begin to set in, and a long battle raged over the city of Kiev, where fresh Russian recruits and Siberian reinforcements arrived to launch a counterattack against the German-held city. It wasn't until October 27th when the Germans finally withdrew from the city, fearing encirclement by the fierce Red Army counterattack. The Soviets had won their first major victory of the war.
A column of German troops retreat from Kiev, where the fighting was bloodiest; perhaps this was the first sign of vulnerability in the seemingly invincible German war machine.
Hitler was furious; Operation Barbarossa had called for the capture of Moscow before the winter set in and began to do its worst, but the blitzkrieg had totally failed him on all fronts. The Wehrmacht had failed to take Vilnius, and now - against his orders for no retreat - they had faltered and retreated from Kiev. They were knocking upon the doors of Dnipropetrovsk and Stalino, which held coal fields critical to the Soviet War Industry's success, nor were they far from the major city of Minsk, but there was no hope of reaching Leningrad or Moscow in 1941, and the cold winter would give the Russians a much-needed chance to rebuild and strike back. Just months earlier, Axis domination of the continent seemed all but certain - now, against General Winter and a war on all sides, the Germans faced down the possibility of defeat for the first time.