Blue Sky White Sun (Axis China 1940)

@Timmie0307 - Thanks. No I haven't modded in Paradox games, but I'm a software engineer by profession and done plenty of scripting so I can probably get into it if given the time... so if enough need arise I might think about it xD
China doesn't really need any industrial help as they already have too much industrial potential, as you'll see in the next update. As for Panzers, well, if I were Germany I certainly won't send any military hardware over the Trans-Siberian railroad where the Russians can poked at it. Their only other deliver means were subs <_<

@gooy - Whenever I play Germany/Japan US declares war after Barbarossa starts regardless of whether Pearl Harbor was launched or not, which I find very ahistorical and depending on mood I scale their Inventionism up some more. As far as the USA... China is INCAPABLE of doing anything to the US except farting in their general direction for at least a decade, which will be explained next update

@whatguts - Thanks for the support o/

(One of my interests has always been in history, including the culture and personalities that comes with it, so I hope if people don't mind that I get a little more into background detail than some AARs --- I'll try to keep them out of the way.)


INTRO - PART II

1600, August 23, 1940. Central Government Administration Complex on Zhongshan Road, Nanking:

Years ago, von Falkenhausen once felt unease when he first sat down as the only westerner among a roomful of Chinese generals --- one could even call it a military clique as most of them were former students and teachers under Generalissimo Chiang back when he was the Headmaster of Whampoa Military Academy. But now, after the Communist Suppression Campaign, after the Western and Southern campaigns that all but unified China, he had earned the respect of every one of these man through the only way that truly mattered to those of military background --- the battlefield. Just the same, the tenacity and courage of the Chinese officer corps has also earned his respect in return.

This time, as he entered the war room once again, there would be no hesitance, no suspicions, no concealed mockery. Falkenhausen exchanged greetings with the assembled generals and staff members --- the most enthusiastic of whom being Chiang's sworn brother Zhang Xueliang[1], whose Manchurian homeland he helped to reclaim --- before getting down straight to business...

"As you can already see general," Chiang said as he waved about the room, "not much has changed. The same men who leads the ROC before you left are still here today, from my trusted students to my ministers and cabinet, all of whom you are already familiar with."



Head of State: Li Sen (Weary Stiffneck: +5% ORG regain, +10% diplomatic costs)
Head of Govnt: Chiang Kai-Shek (Old General: -5% INF/MNT/MIL construction, +5% CA/CL/DD construction)
Foreign Minister: Wang Chonghui (Ideological Crusader: influence nation 67, open negotiations 8)
Armaments Minister: Bai Chongxi (Resourceful Industrialist: +3%IC/resources, -10% Industrial research time)
Minister of Security: Dai Li (Crime Fighter: -10% consumer goods need)
Head of Intelligence: He Yaozu (Industrial Specialist: +2%IC/resources, +2% industrial espionage/sabotage ind)
Chief of Staff: Bai Chongxi (Mass Combat: +15% manpower, +3% INF/MIL/GAR ORG, +3% INF/MIL/GAR ORG regain, +3% oil/supplies stockpile)
Chief of Army: Zhang Xueliang (Guns & Butter Doctrine: -15% supplies)
Chief of Navy: Cheng Shankuan (Indirect Approach: -5% TR/DD build time&cost, +10% BC/SUB offense)
Chief of AirForce: Huang Chenzuo (Air Superiority Doctrine: -5% INT/FTR/AABrigade build time&cost, +5% INT/FTR defense&offense, +10% STR/NAV build time&cost)

"Our current mobilization status remains at the two-year draft and is unlikely to increase. China has an abundance of manpower and I do not wish to put undue burdens upon our industrial efforts by consuming too much for military affairs."

"And you have the people's appreciation for that, Director. Public dissent has been at an all-time low since 1938." commented Bai Chongxi: Chief of Staff, Minister of Armaments, Leader of the Chinese Muslim Association, and a prominent supporter of anti-Soviet policies. In fact, he frequently refers to Stalin as an 'Imperialist Ogre' and states that his lifelong dream was to rescue the Muslims of Sinkiang from the clutches of Soviet oppression. Undoubtedly one of the best Chinese generals, he earned the nickname 'little Zhuge' after the prominent military leader 'Zhuge Liang' of the Three Kingdoms period, a name synonymous with the very concept of wisdom and intellect in Chinese culture.

"Of course it is!" Chiang replied, almost barking a laugh but held back by his gentleman upbringing. "Those ex-Communists and Constitutionalists can call me whatever they want, dictator or traitor-of-the-republic or emperor-wannabe or junior Hitler, yet the undeniable facts are that it is I, and we, who revitalized China. Seven years ago we were seen as backwater peasants squabbling over bits of land. Now? We have industrialized as a world power." The Generalissimo finished by raising his fist in triumph, and enthusiastic applause erupted through the room.

He gestured for the applause to quiet down before returning the focus back to Bai: "as my brother and our Army Chief loves to remind us, a successful war is propelled by a successful wartime industry, so why don't you begin."

"Yes Director. As you all know, the Chinese industrial revolution which we officially began in 1934 with the help of our German Reich benefactors has more than tripled the Chinese economy over the past six years. Of course, some of this was done through the industrial seizure of unification, but it is nevertheless a phenomenal achievement, considering that the country was so recently ravaged by civil war and embroiled in multiple military campaigns. That's an astounding over-twenty-percent per year growth in Gross Domestic Product everyone, which might just top the world records. This is all thanks to the guidance of our Director, the assistance of our German friends, and the protection of our brave military forces. The 'China First' policies enacted by Director Chiang have worked wonderfully, as former enemies like the reformed-Communist Deng Xiaoping have contributed greatly to our development efforts. I would like to also applaud General Yan Xishan, whose ability to persuade Japanese technical specialists in Manchuria to enter our service has also provided us great assistance[2]."



"Resource-wise, we are becoming increasing reliant on trade but nevertheless able to thrive on our existing stockpile for some time to come should war break out. Our prosperous growth in recent years have far exceeded China's own resources, and we must seek raw materials from elsewhere should we continue. We also maintain a healthy stockpile of both supplies and funds."

"Our current military production includes: Two lines of AA emplacements to defend our new industries. Two lines each of air bases and interceptors as we slowly gear up China's air forces. Twelve lines of elite Infantry (2yr draft = 30 experience) in defense of our homeland in these troubled times. Three lines each of artillery, engineers, and armored cars, as well as coastal infrastructure --- both to assist further industrial development and to support future needs to repel Imperialistic aggression. We've found that keeping our coastal defenders well supplies, coordinated, and maneuverable is superior to static defenses."

"In years past, around 60% of our energy supplies are being provided by the UK, although they are now hampered by Kreigsmarine subs operating out of France. We hope to switch that supplier to Japan in the near future, whom our diplomats and traders have worked hard to re-establish a relationship since the war. Over the past year we also shifted our oil trade from the US to Japan. We understand that the ultimate source of this oil is still the US, but US foreign policy in the past has proven unfriendly to anyone who is striving to become an Asiatic power as they consider the Pacific their playground, ...despite the fact they are thousands of kilometers on the other side of the sea... They could trade embargo Japan to stop the oil or interfere with Japan's foreign policy, of course, but such belligerent diplomacy would only push Japan against them --- a circumstance we can exploit to great benefit."

"May you always remind us of your nickname, Bai." Chiang praised.

"Thank you, Director." Bai bowed his head with appreciation before returning to explanations: "Our industrial and agricultural expertise is mostly caught up, with no small amounts of gratitude to our German friends as well as rekindled Korean brethren. Our electronic understanding is getting there, and our medical expertise in only a few years behind. We've recently developed radar technology and I intend to see it deployed as soon as possible to assist our fledgling air force. We also intend to begin research into rocketry, as soon as technical assistance is made available from Germany, as Chinese scientists are sorely lacking in any rocketry expertise."



"Despite all that we've accomplished in recent years, our one critical weakness remains in the field of research. Industrial complexes may be built within a year, but scientists and theorists require generations to cultivate, so please keep that in mind. General Zhang, would you do the honors for the status in modernization of ground forces?"

"Of course, Chief." Zhang Xueliang replied as he stood up and walked to the fore of the room. At only 39 years of age, Zhang was easily one of the youngest members in the history of China to be given such a position of high command... and he's already held it for years.




"In light of our nation's scientific deficiencies, we have focused our advancements on those of greatest interest. Our infantry, cavalry, armored cars, and logistics are fully up-to-date, followed closely by combat engineering, field repairs, and artillery. The battle-hardened soldiers of our early-war conscript armies have been given a choice to either return to their homelands with pride, or enroll professionally and further serve the motherland. With the current surge of nationalism, enlistment has been high, and most of those forces have been fully brought up to professional standards. In fact, many of them have been trained to greatly expand our semi-mechanized forces."



Bai suddenly raised his hand in interjection, "I'm not going to deny that its easier to fight with the new all-terrain motorbikes and armored cars, but you should see the complaint mail flooding my office. My ethic Hui cavalry officers were not pleased, to say the least, when you forced them off their horses and onto motorbikes... well, some were ecstatic..."

A chuckle went through the room. The generals knew the nomadic traditions of the Muslim cavalry and recognized Bai's facts, but his tone easily made it all a friendly joke.

"Let's give them a few months and then see if they'll complain when we propose taking away those motorbikes," Zhang replied before returning on-topic. "In 1935, after the end of our Unification Campaigns, we decided to abandon the manpower doctrine for the more efficient light infantry doctrine, which is more suited towards our infantry-cavalry focus. Losses taken during unification taught us that simply throwing men at the enemy was a tactic of appalling savagery only suited to Bolshevik practices. As modern men, we shall not expend the lives of our brave soldiers so frivolously. Since the Wehrmacht's blitzkreign doctrine is unsuitable for Asia's rough terrain, we shall utilize the tried and proven stormtroop infiltration tactics used during WWI."



Zhang nodded, signaling the end of his part of the briefing, before returning to sit down. Bai then called upon the next staff officer:

"General Huang Chenzuo, state of the air force programs please."



"Of course. Since our complete victory in the Second Sino-Japanese War, significant efforts have been shifted towards updating and expanding our air forces. We now have 9 interceptor wings, although two of them are under-strengthed (the two limited-strength wings China/Guangxi starts with), all awaiting the newest and most-modern model of planes from our research department. All efforts have been focused on a defensive air force due to our nation's poor aeronautic engineering, so our one under-strengthed bomber wing remains sadly out of date. Personally, I would not risk valuable pilots by asking them to partake combat in paper biplanes... bomb-dropping kites are likely to perform better."




"Our air doctrine is also quickly falling behind, as I have no experienced officers to draw experience upon. We've just barely managed to keep our fighter doctrine reasonable."

"We understand our deficiencies and appreciate your best attempts, general." Chiang nodded in appreciation before turning towards Admiral Chen Shaokuan: "Navy?"

"Unfortunately, the air force looks first class compared to us. Our poor, obsolete fleet was badly bombed by Japanese carriers during the war, with all but 2 destroyers and our 2 transport flotillas --- still from the age of sails and steam no less --- scrapped for escorts as they were deemed unworthy of repairing to full naval condition. Construction on a new navy, as I've been told by Minister Bai, is unlikely to start until our destroyer designs are brought up to date."




"No point building boats that are going to be sunk by the first minute of combat," Bai shrugged.

"I concur, but that doesn't change the fact that for all purposes, China is now an industrialized major power with no navy. If a major hostile fleet sailed into the Taiwan strait, our garrison on the island would be in risk of starvation from being cut off. Thankfully, at least our naval doctrine in coastal and convoy defense has been brought mostly up to date, courtesy of our Korean friends' maritime knowledge. Personally, I intend to push for the development of modern destroyers as soon as possible so we can at least keep submarines out of the Taiwan strait."

"We will do what we can, Admiral," Chiang promised. "No world power can last without at least a naval branch to defend its own waters, but in the meantime our demands are many, and I ask for your patience."

"I understand, Director."

"General He, you're next: military intel."

"Yes Headmaster. The Chinese borders face no immediate threat from any major powers. To our north, borders with the Soviet Union and Mongolia lay entirely empty, except for the usual garrison in the strategic city of Vladivostok. As we have no intention to provoke this, our border troops have also been pulled back, pooled into our strategic military reserve at Beijing (total 21 divisions)."

"Along the coast, each province vulnerable to potentially-successful amphibious operations have been fortified with three garrison divisions. Reserve forces are also positioned in Guanzhou, Taiwan, and Korea, although six of these local reserve divisions are our understrengthed ones. Nevertheless, between coastal garrisons and local reserves, any amphibious assault should be impeded long enough for us to redeploy our strategic reserves into position, either from Beijing or from our allies in Korea."



"Curiously enough, we have detected a Japanese invasion fleet of considerable size in the Bohai Sea that has not left for weeks. As Japan had reformed into a Democracy after the war and their public opinion is insufficient to declare war against us even if their civilian officials wanted to, I fail to see what their generals might achieve with this. The age that their military can start wars by simply provoking incidents is long past --- maybe they still fail to recognize this."

"Our main concerns, of course, lay in the south..." He said as Zhang Xueliang helped him unfold a large map of the Tibet-India and Yunnan-Burma borders:



"Over the past month, we have redeployed the core of the Central Army to our southwestern border. Yet despite the buildup, the British and their Raj puppets have not opposed us with more than token resistance. Either they're still underestimating us as some backwater undeveloped nation, or they're too busy being tied up in the European battlefields. We suspect its likely a factor of both. The smaller British puppets Nepal and Bhutan did recall their armies, but individually they stand no more chance of opposing us than a rock does against the river."

"Our excuse for the military movement into the southwest is claims of a Tibetan uprising and guerrilla activities in the Yunnan jungles --- history knows there's been plenty from those anarchic regions, but I doubt any intelligence officer would be fooled, and even those who wish it were true won't keep believing it for long."

"Of course, and that, gentlemen, is the ultimate goal of today's meeting, as each of you here will have a role to commandeer in the upcoming Operation Compass[3]. However, it's also General Falkenhausen's first day back and it would be most rude if we delayed his welcoming dinner any further. I invite everyone to stay and join us. We shall continue briefing our military deployments afterwards. So no alcohol allowed, as you're technically still on duty. Sorry." Generalissimo Chiang finished, not actually sounding sorry at all.



Author's Notes:

• [1] It is often believed that after the Xi'an Incident, the only reason Zhang wasn't executed by Chiang like all the other involved generals was because of this sworn brotherhood bond, which Chiang had made during the Northern Campaign to gain the full support of Zhang's warlord father. Of course in this world, Xi'an Incident had never even been necessary.
• [2] Historically, Yan Xishan was renowned for being able to acquire the support of the surrendering Japanese as 'military advisers' and special forces. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan_Xishan#Relationship_with_the_Japanese_after_1945)
• [3] Despite the fact a compass points north, the Chinese term for it literally translates to "South-Pointing Needle" --- strangely misleading.
  
• I'm still undecided on whether or not I should enact the Chinese equivalent of the 'claiming Indochine' event that Japan normally has... in a Germany game I once saw China take Indochine before Japan could so I wonder if there's an event...
• Bai Chongxi's Chief of Staff +3%ORG is a godsend early in the war since Chinese troops have so little organization. I might switch him out later though (not sure which yet; usually go for either +10%landspd or +20%ORGregain).
• Haven't decided on a naval direction yet, but good chance I'll be going Interdiction for German blueprints (is there a comparison of DH naval doctrines somewhere?). Also, +10%BC offense (Chief of Navy) plus the +5%CA costs (Head of Govt) is a great incentive to develop BC/DD fleet instead of BB or CA fleets. As far as I know, the HOI2 Chinese option of Cruizerg fleets no longer work.

@whatguts - Thanks for the catch! Yeah I have a tendency for really misleading typos that no amt of proofreading catches. Fixed it asap...

@BeardedHoplit - They teach this in classes!? I thought everyone swept it under the rug so only history ppl dug it out.

@Asalto - Thanks and hope you enjoy!

Operation Compass - Final Planning

As the assembled generals and military chiefs sat back down within the war room, Chiang Kai-Shek, Director-General of the KMT, returned to the front and the business at hand.

"Now, as everyone is fed and entertained, we shall return to our deployment planning. General Xue, as your battle plan proposal had been accepted, please inform everyone of its details."

"Yes Headmaster," General Xue Yue responded as he took out a long pointer stick and walked up to the large India-Burma region map in front of the room. He was widely regarded as one of my most capable and creative of the KMT generals. In another world, his accomplishments would earn him the nickname 'the Patton of Asia' from the American Flying Tigers.

"The India-Burma front is filled with both challenges and potentials. Our greatest advantage will be the sparsely deployed border forces of the British puppets and the element of strategic surprise. Our greatest adversary will be the high mountains and deep jungles of the area, frustrating our supply lines and reducing any advance to a crawl. Thankfully though, coming down from the Yunnan highlands and Himalayan mountains, at least we will be the ones advancing downhill the whole way."

"We believe that once the war begins, the British will no doubt pull forces from other theators of operation to reinforce the Raj. The colony is simply too important to the UK to let go. Therefore, despite the poor terrain, it is imperative that we advance into the flatlands of India as soon as possible before it could be significantly reinforced. Due to Britain's powerful air force, we must also seize airfields within India as soon as possible to bring our own air support or our ground forces will be fighting an increasingly uphill battle. As such I cannot stress this part enough: this will not be an infantry grind as every war we've fought before. There will be no slow and steady advance."

"Our advance into India is a race against time."

"Thus, my proposal is a significant modification to our standard operational policy: Chaos Battle --- do not worry about keeping a steady line of advance, do not worry about keeping firm lines of communications, strike fast, strike deep, and strike hard, in that order of priority. Our goal is to maximize strategic surprise, to make the British believe they are under an avalanche that cannot be stopped, to crush their morale and communications and make them incapable of reforming a defensive line."

"The Indians of the Raj are mere puppets of the British. We've all suffered under their Imperialism, which makes them our friends in a way. The same goes to the forces of Nepal and Bhutan, although I stress the need to be careful when fighting the vicious Ghurkas. Our strategic goal is not annihilate their forces, as such casualties will do no good for our future diplomatic efforts. Simply brush them aside and continue advancing until we hit all of the British administrative centers --- force them to relinquish their control of the Raj."



"I will be leading the westernmost advance myself, with a total force of 9 infantry divisions and 6 semi-motorized divisions. Our goal is to advance through the mountains and take Delhi with haste, then march to capture Karachi. We will bypass the deserts from the north, as our infantry and motor forces perform poorly in those sandy conditions."



"The central offensive will have the furthest to go and is therefor the most difficult. Generals Zhang Fakui and Long Yun will each lead 6 infantry divisions, including all of our new artillery- and engineer-supported assault divisions, and attack Nepal and Bhutan. The goal is not to defeat them as soon as possible, which would be hard within those mountain --- you are simply to pin them down and slowly annex those territories. In the meantime, the Headmaster (Field Marshal Chiang) will be personally leading the main force of 3 infantry divisions, 17 semi-motorized and semi-mechanized divisions, and his HQ to directly pass through the gap in between Nepal and Bhutan and advance into Raj territory. Our targets are first, Calcutta and its airfields; second, Hyderabad; and third, the port city and colonial administration center at Bombay."



"The eastern offensive will be led General Zhang Zhizhong, with limited motor elements lead by General von Falkenhausen himself. The main goal is to take Lashio and its airfield with utmost priority, followed by a march on Rangoon. The secondary objectives are to seize the India-Burma borders and if possible, transfer troops towards the center to support the Headmaster's main offensive. A total of 33 infantry divisions, 2 semi-motorized divisions, and 1 HQ division are allocated and deployed for this task."

"The 1st and 2nd Interdict Groups of the air force will relocate to India/Burma as soon as local airfields have been established and basic repairs have finished. Their mission is strictly air interdiction of any British air cover."

"That sums up the offensive plans of Operation Compass. Questions?"



Author Notes:

• Is Chiang Kai-Shek like, the only major Head of Govnt (later Head of State) whom is also a military commander ingame? (and decent one at that).

@Timmie0307 - Franco skipped my mind, although when I military controlled Nat.Spain I never remember seeing him as a commander. Mmmh.
Mao isn't important enough in WW2, whatever CCP propaganda claims =)

@Sumeragi - Yeah the south mattering more than the north to the old Chinese dynasties was the only one I could think of, although don't know that part of history well enough, may need some reading.

@BootOnFace - Surprisingly, China had a 50% chance of joining alliance with Germany in my game, at +45 relations.

Operation Compass - Part I

September 1, 1940:

The voice of Chinese foreign minister Wang Chonghui could be heard across the airwaves as the radio broadcast from KMT's Central Station reverberated throughout Asia:

"...China refuses to stand by and watch as the only major power who has show considerable goodwill towards the development of Asiatic cultures, their self-sufficiency, and their self-autonomy, become targetted by the greed of further Imperialistic aggression by the so-called Democracies of the Britain and its allies. As such, we formally announce our alliance with the Third Reich of Germany and declare war against Imperial Britain and its allies. At this hour, all unequal treaties previously signed by any government, present or past, of China with Britain and its allies will now immediately and unconditionally terminate. The people of China also call upon all people of Asia to rise up against their Imperialistic oppressors and..."

China had became the third signatory of the Tripartite Pact, followed closely by Yugoslavia (whom, despite an almost immediate Coup, chooses to remain within the Axis).

Despite the words of propaganda, the papers had been completed in actuality days ago, in a formal ceremony that took place both in Berlin and in the Nanking government office. In fact, both KMT Director-General Chiang Kai-Shek and General Alexander von Falkenhausen were now in the far southwest of China, preparing their respective commands to begin military operations. The announcement was purposefully delayed to coordinate with the beginning of Operation Compass. The fact that the British Raj was not formally a member of the allies (yet) did not matter to China, for it was a British colonial possession, one that actively aided the war efforts, and theremost must be wrestled away from its British overseers.


World War II had officially begun in Asia.

With Bai Chongxi currently on the front lines, Minister of Security Dai Li, quickly noticing the dissatisfaction (4.4%) caused by the war declaration against the Raj, quickly ordered as much production to be shifted over to consumer goods as possible, including all supply production. China's existing stockpile can hold in the meantime.




September 1:
At the first light, the mountains shook with the rumble of 12 artillery brigades firing as one. Despite the distances separating the two battlefields, echoing sounds passed by the deep valleys of the Southern Himalayan mountains resounded like distant rolling thunder to connect both as one. The creeping barrage was followed by an assault of 12 infantry divisions against 2 Nepal divisions in Kathmandu and 2 Bhutan divisions in Punakha.


Meanwhile, in Lashio (Burma), a much larger battle erupted as 24 KMT divisions attacked a single Raj division from three different vectors, while 9 divisions attacked Kengtung.


Hundreds of miles away, 9 divisions launched their assault on the British Far East stronghold of Hong Kong.


Surprisingly, the defenders of Lashio held on for 14hours despite overwhelming odds. Punakha's outdated Bhutan defenses were the next to fall after 49hrs. Hong Kong's lone British division lasted 4 days and 10 hours. Kengtung and Kathmandu's defenders however refused to retreat until the 6th day.



September 6:
An outdated Raj cavalry division that still preferred saber charges arrived at Lashio before von Falkenhausen could solidify control. They were forced back within 8 hours.




September 8:
Raj reinforcements were somehow being transported to the borders at amazing speed. The westernmost army had sighted troops at Dehradun and Sumdo. With the flanks threatened, two corps were pulled from the advance to assault hostile positions before they could entrench themselves.





September 11:
von Falkenhausen's vanguard had captured the air strip at Lashio. Surprisingly, despite no preparations or forewarning, the Koreans somehow managed to rush down their troops within just 11 days, leaving their coastline completely undefended. Due to such appalling poor judgment, Chiang was forced to take control of the Korean forces and send 4 of their divisions back to the peninsula.

The defenders of Dehradun (western front) quickly expanded to 4 divisions. Unwilling to turn the main western column around in support, General Xue Yue requested for additional reserves, and 6 of the divisions that took Hong Kong redeployed towards the far west. He then called off Lt.Gen Deng's attack, which was achieving nothing more than the death of more men.


At the same time, the first blueprints from the German Reich before to come in, and the General Armaments Department (ex-communist) immediately went to work on accelerating their development of the next field artillery model.



September 12:
Generalissimo Chiang's personally led vanguard secured the mountain pass at Gangtok before any Raj reinforcements could arrive. Before him lay the unguarded plains of India...





Author's Notes:

• The redeployment speed is... a little too fast.
• This AAR is rolling fresh off the game, and I'm still trying to find a preferred style of doing this >_<

Operation Compass - Part II

1400 September 14:
Lt.Gen Chih Fengcheng's corps have arrived in Mipi and ordered an assault on Itanagar to prevent any outflanking movements from the Raj cavalry, with support from artillery pulled off the successful attack on Bhutan. However, scouts also detect another Raj division redeployed in Putao by their astoundingly fast trucks, and is now moving to outflank Chih's forces. He would need to deal one threat asap before tackling the other.




0200 September 15:
Lt.Gen Zhang Xueliang reports that the Nepalnese forces in Kathmandu decided to stop retreating (you can do that!?) and were now forcing his divisions to take each take step forward the hard way again. Meanwhile in the east, intel reports that 3 of the 4+ Raj divisions in Dehradun seems to have vanished, and Lt.Gen Deng was ordered to begin his assault anew. Surely enough, only 1div remained...
His repeated assault would soon earn him a position among the experienced mountaineering generals of the KMT Central Army.



Generalissimo Chiang was not happy with the slow progress, especially on the western front where Xue Yue's forces were still stuck in the mountains: "Clearly we have completely underestimated the Raj's transportation system. To be able to redeploy forces so quickly! And continue to do so across the entire front!"



1400 September 15:
Lt.Gen Lin Wei's 3 assault divisions have arrived in Punakha (Bhutan). They were ordered to rest for 10hrs before joining in support of the attack against Itanagar. With luck, the 9:1 ratio and 3-vector attack will make the defenders collapse faster.
8hrs after that, Lt.Gen Chih reports a successful breakthru of Itanagar's defenses. News of victory itself would not come for at least another 2 days thanks to the mountaneous terrain and rivers.




1800 September 18:
Lt.Gen Zhang reports pushing 2 Nepal and 1 Raj divisions out of Kathmandu a second time. Hopefully this time their morale will stay broken and keep retreating.




0200 September 19:
After given 24hrs to recuperate from their last assault, Lt.Gen Chih's forces were told to intercept Raj outflanking movements on his other flank. A Korean division that redeployed into the area was told to assist.



0000 September 20:
Bai Chongxi was good at his job, but the problem was that he held Minister of Armaments position on top of Chief of Staff role and a frontline military command... Foreign Minister Wang Chonghui had been delegated the task of keep track of resource imports while Bai was away and...
The latest reports claimed a minor loss in shipping from Japan's oil deliveries. With Japan's close proximity this meant only one thing: Allied naval forces have entered Chinese waters.




0100 September 24:
Over the past 3 days, Raj forces continued to repeatedly reinforce frontline provinces where defenders had already been previously pushed aside by Chinese forces. The need to repeatedly assault the same province over and over was bogging down the advance far more than anticipated. But now... some good news had finally arrived.
Lt.Gen Huang Jie's 7th Cavalry (semi-mot) corps had been the first to reach Ranchi. He was ordered to take Calcutta and cut the India-Burma connect asap.




A second report spoke of even better news: General Xue Yue's 2nd Cavalry on the western front finally secured the pass at Simla and broke through the mountains. Within a day, they had also taken Chandigarh, and the undefended Delhi lay within their sight... the Raj had been a little too overzealous in redeploying forces to the front and pulled even their capital's garrison.



0000 September 26:
Chiang had hoped for some luck and receive the first strategic objectives for free, but that was not bound to be. Fresh reports noted the Raj reinforcements that moved into Delhi and Calcutta overnight --- his generals would have to take those objectives the hard way.
Thankfully Calcutta, being on the hard-to-defend open coastal plains, took only 6hrs. Delhi would take another 25 before the capable Xue Yue could push them back.




2000 September 28:
Dire news reached the foreign office: De Gaulle's appeal had been granted by the British. Free France would undoubtedly, with allied naval superiority, begin absorbing France's foreign colonies. Foreign Minister Wang Chonghui immediately began drafting an idea of his that may help curtail this problem...




0000 October 1:
From: General Xue Yue, 2nd Cavalry Corps
To: Director-General Chiang Kai-Shek, 1st Army HQ
Message: Delhi seized. Losses minimum. Redeploying Koreans to hold city. Turning advance to Karachi.

with that, all first stage objectives of Operation Compass have been achieved.