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Priorization should mean that we need three runs of CAGs. I suggest to have at least twice as many CAGs as we can employ on our carriers. The reason being that these are obviously fragile and need a lot of time to regain their intended strength before being usable again. Furthermore, the CAGs can be employed from airfields as well, so we can base them on our islands where we actually may need them, either as nearby addition to our forces or to rotated damaged CAGs out.

Furthermore, level two fortifications on our most important islands seem prudent. If nothing else, they'll make the US pay more blood for our soil, but they'll also help the garrisons to hold out longer. More and larger garrisons would obviously help, too.

Once this has been set into motion, I would still ask for two more Battleship. Our own ships are obviously superior to anything the US can field and we should keep it this way, hence we need additions to our fleets. They need the longest to build, hence we need to start building them now.

Victory at Saipan is not certain, yet. The chances favour us, I believe, but we have to fight hard for it. We plan as good as we can, based on the information we have. We assemble whatever we can and our opponent is noone less than the most sizable fleet in the world.
 
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It seems that General Surt's daydreaming tendencies are contagious. 2 battleships, several forts and 3 CAGs... Hmm, let's see... Yes, that's more than 40 IC, which would constitute 25-33% of the budget reserved for production. Even more, if we take the fact that we will need additional CLs for our fleets into account. How about an additional carrier, Admiral? I am sure that we could use one in the future. Our production budget would love it.

2 CAG runs is all we can afford, unless we want to cut down on fighter production. Additional capital ships should only be ordered in 1942, when the construction of 1 CVL and 1 BC is finished.

Additional aircraft should first and foremost be sent to already existing CAGs in order to make them useful again ASAP.
 
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Gen Cybvep,

think about it this way: Either we build the means to defeat the US or you can swim to Washington, handing over the surrender papers.

The army is basically done in China, thus their needs will take lower priority while we have an active theatre of war in the Pacific. The navy, particularily my office, acknowledged the same fact when it was vice versa and voluntarily freed up production facilities for army gear. Of course, most of the army stuff will be done, but in time.
 
China is NOT defeated yet. If we de-prioritise the Chinese Theatre, the war will take longer. The sooner China is conquered, the sooner we will be able to focus our full attention on the USA and any potential country that might support them (the UK, especially).

I agree that more and more resources will be needed to confront the Americans, but in the long term it is in the Navy's best interest to end the war in China sooner than later.

Our progress will already be slower due to the fact that most of our bombers are now needed elsewhere. At least until the nationalists are defeated, the Chinese Theatre should remain our priority.

However, we should focus on Saipan first. I think that a final comment on the issue from Admiral Yamamoto is required.
 
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Adm. Yamamoto and myself are in agreement on most parts, I merely added a few point to the plan which was drawn up, ie submarines, supportive troops.

The war in China is a matter of few months by now. The Chinese have next to no industry left to feed their armies and a sizable part of their forces was already destroyed. Currently, the terrain is the main enemy out there.
 
As far as I know they were pushing us back in the South not very long ago... Also, they still receive support from the UK thanks to the Burma Road and the nationalists took direct control over Yunnan, which bolstered their capabilities.
 
The Burmese road is a single dirt track, suited for mules only if weather permits. The annexation of Yunnan is unfortunate, but irrelevent to the outcome at large, since Yunnan itself will be more of a burden than an asset to the Chinese. Their forces will need food and ammunition as well, increasing the demand on the miniscule industry. Even if we don't subdue them, National China should collapse in itself, given enough time.
 
Adm. Yamamoto: IJN Akagi

On the ground support of Saipan might I suggest two divisions are sent, one to directly support the Garrison at Saipan, and marrines to Tinian so that even if the battle is lost we can initiate a counter attack while the Americans are at their weakest? Stop.

Saipan_tinian_islands.jpg


Wargames have suggested that the most strategic islands in the pacific are Saipan, Kwajalien, Midway and Hawaii all have airbases and suitable ports, with straights to other islands to allow defense in depth, or retreats if need be. Stop. When I or Adm. Baltersar suggest fortification, I would suggest no more than Lv.1 costal forts, with a single construction crew working on each island at at time (i.e. complete one fort, then build the next). Stop. At 8 months and about 2.3IC each, then the main islands under our control (Guam, Kwajalien, Eniteok) can be fortified in 2 years, at which point we should have taken the rest. For another two years. Stop. Alternatively we have two construction crews working parrallel, and the first wave of fortification is completed in under a years time. Stop.

When I suggest the use of two CV, one shall have its full CAG compliment, the other only one CAG wing. Stop. The larger carriers are much more efficent in their roles than the support carriers. Therefore using a CVL would just reduce our combat capacity. Stop. Remember the partially full carrier, still has CAGs just not its full compliment! Stop.

I am not optimistic on this operation, other than that I believe that a succesful relief mission looks possible, and we have got the USN in a position where we could do more serious damage to them. Stop. You could say this mission is trying to sink two ships with one torpedo...
 
Agreed on all points.

Any comment on the proposed use of submarines to be stationed east and south east of the enemy fleet so they can get a shot at them once they retreat?

Any comment on the proposed use of air support from guam? Light fighters for air supremacy, heavy fighters for anti ship duty.
 
That's the point of using them in the area immediately behind the US fleet. If they retreat, they'll run into our subs. If they get reinforcements, we will know about it and chances are that our subs may get a few hits on the reinforcements, delaying them.

Since the critical stuff has been agreed upon, I believe we can set things into motion. Gentlemen, we've got a US fleet to sink.
 
Influence Levels

Air assets

IJA

8 H-FTRs
3 LBs

IJN
9 CAGs
1 NAV
1 MB

Common
4 L-FTRs
2 HBs
1 TRAN

One more CAG was put into production, which means that now two are being produced. I rejected the idea of putting a third CAG in favour of a CL and convoys (their number fell below the 150 threshold). We need modern escorts and our shipyards need to get as much experience in cruiser production as possible.

Fleets

The situation became a bit messy due to damage suffered during the Saipan Battles and Saipan Blockade. Anyway, all damaged ships were safely escorted to ports and no troop transport was intercepted (they have DD escorts, mostly). The big problem is the poor condition of our CAGs and high aircraft losses during major engagement. Hopefully, additional CAGs will help us to alleviate this problem.

IJN Land Troops

1 SNLF Corps - 5 MAR divisions (15 brigades), currently stationed on Guam
39 GARs (8 GARs [4 GAR divs] are still in Japan, awaiting transportation; two GARs [1 GAR div] were transported to Guam from the Philippines)

IJA Reserve

We have 4 infantry divisions in Japan, but one of them is a light infantry division, i.e. no additional ENGs/ATs/AAs/ARTs. The Army also has 2 GAR divs in reserve and 3 GAR divs stationed on the Philippines are Army-controlled, too. I try to keep 2-3 INF divs in production at all times, but the IJN's needs are more important right now.

Other
We lost 7 convoys and 1 convoy escort. Our subs managed to sink 1 US convoy.

We have killed many enemy spies, but the cost is high - 6 LP is being used on espionage. Hopefully, once we bleed the enemy spies, the situation will be improved.
 
Chapter Four, Part Three: Sino-Japanese War / Japanese-American War
Aug 1941 - Sep 1941

Previously in the Influence Wars...

Progress in China was slow and the Chinese made several counter-attacks, but the Japanese forces managed to capture Chongqing.

The Guam Campaign was successful and the island was conquered, although many Japanese ships were damaged. Invasion of the Philippines has been started. The USA responded by attacking Saipan and the Japanese fleets tried to stop the invasion by defeating the US invasion force. Despite the fact that the USA suffered much greater ship losses, the Japanese fleets were forced to withdraw.

And now, the conclusion...


The Second Battle of Saipan and the Saipan Blockade





Despite our best efforts, on 3rd of September the Americans captured Saipan. The enemy outnumbered the Japanese forces 5:1 and yet the Saipan's defenders fought like true samurai would. If the fleets or reinforcements arrived sooner, their fate might have been different, but the reorganisation and transportation took time. However, since we still had the opportunity to cause considerable damage to the US fleets, a decision was made to engage the enemy forces nonetheless.

Before any major naval engagement began, our fighters harassed the enemy fleets. It was obvious that some US ships suffered considerable damage - in fact, the flames from the battleship USS California could be spotted long before direct contact was made with the enemy.






The first engagement was unsatisfactory - the US capital ships evaded the Japanese torpedoes fired from torpedo bombers, destroyers and submarines and only two transport flotillas were sunk. Our losses, on the other hand, included one light cruiser and one submarine flotilla. This is exactly the kind of engagements which should be avoided.

However, the Americans realised that their position was deteriorating and decided to withdraw. It was presumed that they would try to reach their major bases on Hawaii and the US West Coast and much to our surprise, they decided to seek safe harbour in Saipan instead. Therefore, they managed to evade all Japanese submarine patrols, but it soon became apparent that the enemy made a grave operational error. By docking at Saipan the US ships lost one of the greatest advantage in naval war - mobility. It was now obvious where the US ships were located and there was only one way out of the Saipan's port. Thus, the Japanese blockade of Saipan began.

At first the enemy tried to sneak out from Saipan with a relatively small transport group, but the group was detected and quickly obliterated. The Americans became desperate and sent a major task force against us, including USS Enterprise and three battleships. It was a slaughter on a massive scale. The enemy suffered from ammunition shortages and many ships from his task force ran out of shells at critical moments. In two of such occasions, the Japanese heavy cruisers managed to sink two US battleships. USS Enterprise's CAGs were depleted after many confrontations with our aircraft and ships and deprived from air cover, the US fleet carrier was mercilessly destroyed by the Japanese light cruiser. On the whole, the USA lost 2 battleships, a fleet carrier and several destroyers and transports, while the Japanese ship losses included only one light cruiser. It was a great victory, indeed.

However, this success did not mean that our fleets left the battle unharmed. In fact, many of our ships were damaged and had to be escorted back to Japan. Eventually only one Battlefleet was left to blockade Saipan. Our CAGs suffered heavy losses, too.






The USA made several other attempts at escaping from Saipan, but to the best of our knowledge, all of them were unsuccessful. Since the location of the enemy's ships was well-known, the Japanese bombers and heavy fighters got orders to bomb the US ships in port. The performance of our aircraft was a big disappointment - even though several US ships suffered some damage, the Japanese aircraft losses were immense. Our bomber wing lost about 40% of all its aircraft and the heavy fighter wings lost about 25-30% each (they were not at full strength even at the beginning of the port strikes).

Four capital ships and many screening ships still remain in Saipan's port. Much to our frustration, USS California is still floating, even though it is engulfed in flames.





Many, but not all of our ships have been repaired and are operational again. Troops that were originally intended as reinforcements for Saipan were shipped to Guam, instead. Additionally, the whole SNLF corps was transported to Guam eventually, too. Our marines are ready to take new orders. They expect to retake the lost Japanese territory and avenge the sacrifice of the men who died during the defence of Saipan.

Unfortunately, most of our CAGs are still in poor condition.


The Philippines Campaign





The invasion of the Philippines was a total success and all opposition ceased by 19th of August, after the Japanese naval infantry secured Davao, the last important port that had remained unoccupied by the Japanese forces. Lack of any major US intervention is a good sign, as it means that the US resources are not infinite.


War in China






The fiercest battles took place in Southern and Central China. Unfortunately, we have suffered many setback here. Most importantly, the Chinese recaptured Chongqing. The only piece of good news from that region is the fact that we finally managed to defeat the Chinese in Wanxian. This province was a major obstacle in Central China that blocked our advance for a long time. Since it borders Chongqing from the north, the control of the province should aid us in our future efforts at capturing the city.

Three light bomber wings were withdrawn to Japan, because their limited range, suffered damage and supply problems greatly decreased their usefulness in this Theatre.





We made some gains in the Northern China. Our armies are advancing westwards, which should relieve some pressure from the troops fighting in the South.

Initially our troops in the far north got orders to attack the mountain fortresses of the Chinese communists, but after two major battles and several smaller engagements which resulted in high casualties for no strategic gain the Emperor intervened directly and new orders stated that our troops should hold position and attack only when the opportunity presented itself.

The communists have made some gains by capturing several provinces previously controlled by the Ma Clique. While they are relatively unimportant, this situation is beneficial for us, since the communist forces pin much larger formations of the nationalists and the Chinese warlords.


The Guangxi Clique's proposal





Various problems and setbacks in China did not prevent the pro-Japanese Chinese from sending a representative to Japan with a proposal for post-war territorial transfers. Our allies are willing to accept most of China, including the important territories of Central China, as our sphere of influence, as long they get most of Guangdong and Yunnan and we agree to maintain economic and military cooperation with the Guangxi Clique during the post-war period. Parts of Yunnan would fall under our direct control in order to allow us to create new railways and roads into Burma and beyond. Our allies believe that it would actually benefit them, too, because of the expected boom of commerce in the region.

The Clique's representative also offered the full support of their forces during the potential war with the western powers. In fact, he already stated that the Clique would be interested in the expansion into northern Indochina and parts of eastern Burma.


Overviews






Other matters






Throughout the last months the Japanese economy expanded greatly. Thanks to our conquests, technological advancements and economic mobilisation, the industrial output has increased by almost 60% since December 1940. The size of our Army has not been increased so greatly, but the reason for this is the fact that we suffered high losses in China and that available Army budget was mostly reserved for infrastructure developments in China. Many of the planned routes are already as ready as they can be, given the extent of control we have in China and the planned levels of infrastructure improvements. In fact, General Tojo authorised the expansion of the railway network towards Central China and Burma - something which has been proposed only recently but received the full approval of the Emperor and General Tojo.

Our shipyards are working at their full capacity and we expect that two warships - a light cruiser and a light carrier - will be finished by January 1942 at the latest, while the construction of two additional light cruisers and one battlecruiser should be completed during the first half of 1942. Additionally, we expect to continue the steady production of merchantmen and convoy escorts.

Cost of producing modern equipment and modernising the old stuff has been increased recently, which is mostly the result of new, expensive technological developments in aviation and the fact that not all ships have yet received modern radars, light AA guns and ASW equipment.

We have been slowly rebuilding our spy network and the results are promising so far, but the cost involved is high.


List of researched techs:
Small Fuel Tank, CAS Ground Crew Training, Armoured Car Gun, Single Engine Aircraft Armament, Single Engine Airframe, Battleline Cruiser Doctrine, Tank Crew Training, Bridging Equipment, Capital Ship Crew Training, Cruiser Crew Training.
Click to expand...





In Europe, the Eastern Front looks like a stalemate. The situation is not much different in Scandinavia, either. However, in North Africa the Axis position is clearly deteriorating. The pro-German French State was unable to keep the population in check and many citizens revolted against the government. Moreover, the Italians have almost been repulsed from Libya.
 
Adm. Yamamoto: Guam

Great job men, you have achieved everything that could be asked for. We have crippled a large enough part of the US pacific fleet that they will be unable to conduct naval landings against us. During the engagements we first sank 10, then 13 of the US troopships. This leaves the Americans on Saipan completely cut off and as our marines are preparing for the counter invasion they shall have no chance of retreat.

This is a mixed blessing, as the caged rat fights the hardest, but with victory 28,000 American soldiers will either be dead or in our custody. We need to prepare one of the smaller islands off the Japanese coast as a prison camp for POWs. American soldiers should be treated respectfully since we need to counter their home propaganda to gain their trust and confidence. Furthermore, captured prisoners who saw us with dignity on their return at the end of this war will know that it was their leaders who lied to them, and that we are not a future enemy to the peoples of America.

Not only have we isolated a large part of the American marine corps, we have sunk another 2 American battleships, the USS Tenassee and USS Maryland and the American carrier the USS Enterprise. With the USS Colorado, USS Nevada, USS Oklahoma and USS Pennsylania and USS Lexington, that brings us to 6 Battleships, and 2 Carriers Sank.

I would estimate that this is approximately 1/3rd of the operational USN.

Now that we've given the US a good beating, we should follow this up with a measured offensive campaign. Initially I called for us to make quick attacks, and I still call for this, although now that we have fought several good battles we have got our nose blooded as well, so we need to be careful not to get caught unawares.

For the moment, we shall concentrate on Saipan, to retake it and then deliver an ultimatum to the US that Asia will defend her rightful territories to the last man, and last drop of blood.

With the Philippines liberated from American imperialism we shall need to show the populace that we mean business at improving their quality of life. I might suggest that we let local leaders still administer the islands and respect their lives, and only open up conscription to Filipinos via voluntarism, and not exploit the islands to the hilt [words only this].


Our Carrier Air Groups are suffering because we do not have an adiquate set of doctrine to follow, both Naval Air Control and Naval Air Command Doctrines need to be set up to give our squadron leaders and carrier support staff the necessary training to deal with combat situations, given we are now well experienced having had our baptism of fire this shouldn't be too difficult to put into place. Once the strategists have worked out how to cut communications lines on land better, and the battlefleet taskforce researchers are finished, these Naval Air doctrines should take precedence to keep our CAGs in the action. At the moment the heavy cruisers of the fleet are getting all the kills after the torpedo bombers have crippled them!

Out of the CAGs we do have only two wings could really be considered for limited operations, this means that for any immediate operations the carrier fleet shall be limited to a single CV. As the new CAG wing becomes operational I'd like to see it assigned to one of the CVLs. However given we have 9 CAG wings, but only 5 are shown do I presume that teh IJN Ryujo, Hosho and Zuiho have wings associated with them? Or does the IJN Kaga have some on it?

Either way the dispositions of our fleets are as follows;

In Repair/Refit:
Yamashiro BB 39%
Mogami CA 70%
Suzuya CA 76%
Ibuki BC 33%
Haruna BC 68%
Furutaka CA 40%
Kaga CV 72%
Takao CA
Kitikarama CL
Oii CL
Naka CL


Active:
Mutsu BB
Mikura CA
Tama CL
Kinu CL
Abukuma CL
Akagi CV - 2 CAGs?
Soryu CV - 1 CAG?
Kumano CL
Hirado CL
Aoba CA
Yamato BB
Nagato BB
Fuso BB
Ryujo CVL - CAGs lacking?
Hosho CVL - CAGs lacking?
Zuiho CVL - CAGs lacking?
Kiso CL
Maya CA
Zsuz CL
Yubari CL
Yura CL
Jintsu CL

4 Battleships, 1 Carrier (the IJN Soryu with 3rd and 6th Naval Air Wing), 3 Heavy Cruisers, 10 Light Cruisers, many assorted destroyers. With such a limited fleet it will be dangerous to put to sea when we return to Saipan to begin the counter attack. Pending a full accounting of the missing CAG wings, my suggestion for provisional fleet composition is as follows;

Battlefleet 1
Yamato BB
Mutsu BB
Mikura CA
Kumano CL
Hirado CL
Yubari CL
Kinu CL

Battlefleet 2
Nagato BB
Fuso BB
Maya CA
Zsuz CL
Yura CL
Jintsu CL
Kiso CL

Carrier Support Fleet
Soryu CV - 2 CAGs
Kumano CL
Tama CL
-3 Current Destroyers

I am not a huge fan of merging destroyers into the main battlefleets, since that might reduce overall combat effectivity, but at least we have a large enough pool of destroyers that if our light cruisers take any more battering we'll easily be able to draw up fleets with destroyer, rather than cruiser escort.

The subfleet didn't appear to be that effective, but ironically they did destroy a couple of destroyers, so their application in this event was worthwhile.


The Counter Invasion of Saipan:
It is of my opinion that without a full solid backbone in the fleet at the moment, a full out attack will be dangerous with our limited transport fleets guarded such as they are. The Americans would need to be engaged again to be sure that they can't sneak out and sink the invasion fleet before we can really think of beginning another round of battle. However we do have a minor advantage, it has almost been a month since the Americans invaded, and we have sent the vast bulk of their supplies and support equipment to the bottom of the pacific. On the downside, convoy ships can dock at Saipan to resupply them quite easily.

Therefore it may be prudent to use one our older Battlefleet with the IJN Fuso to sink incoming convoys into the island, while the Battlefleet with the IJN Yamato, and supporting carrier(s) engage the American fleet if it puts to sea from Saipan again. Eitherway, delaying a week or two to insure that our garrison can regroup on Tinian, and that our marines are properly prepped for combat would be prudent. It is unfortunate that even though a new CAG wing and new light bombs will be finished in the next few days it will take weeks to get them into active service, delaying that long might be dangerous, since we need to make the message clear to the Americans that we can attack, and keep attacking.

Attacking the port directly with airpower was shown to be deadly to our aircraft so this should be avoided if possible. If we could get some tactical bombers into Guam however we could definably do with their bombing runs as a screen to the Marines as they land, along with the shells of the fleet.

Thus my provisionary plan would be to regroup the fleets, and put them to sea once again to tempt the Americans out. Out of their docked fleet it looks like they only have the following vessels operationally ready; 1BB, 1CV, 5DD 8CA, 5CL, but they have quite a few more damaged. Of particular worry is those 8 heavy cruisers as they aren't particularly damaged, but they rival us in numbers. Plus there is still a carrier, the USS Saratoga at port.

Hence we need to cycle our damaged ground based aircraft back from Guam, and simply replaced them with others from China, since the fuel stocks and armaments are already on Guam this rebasing should just be an exchange of aircraft really. We need to fly air superiority such that our CAGs can concentrate on naval attacks, and that our battleships are not attacked from the air either.


The Guangxi Plan:
Li Zongren makes his case fairly clear, he is clearly stating he doesn't believe that we can administrate China effectively if he wants 'bits of china back'. I would rather give him Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou;

MAP_0000.JPG


Because these have been the hotseats of rebellion for the Chinese Warlords, Guangdong was hardly part of that anyhow and it was only fought for in 1921. Still, it might be prudent to placate him, we shall loose some factories but overall with Germany stalling in Europe they are hardly a power on the ascendant any more and it is better to have allies closer to home anyhow.

We need to make it clear to Zongren that his ambitions for Ha Noi in Viet Nam will need to wait, but we shall give him complete assistance in such a campaign.

Might I suggest that once China is pacified, we give over a couple of Homogun to Zongren as expeditionary forces (force him to take them) and then let him takeover the conquest of Viet Nam wholesale if he wants it. While we'll let him take Viet Nam, we should make it clear that for the duration of the war and the next 15 years the port at Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon) should be under Japanese administration as a naval base, since Guangxi doesn't have a suitable navy, and a port in the region would be fairly important to having an ongoing deterrent policy in the South China seas.

map_vn.jpg


There is good reason for letting him take this conquest. A) It is a show of support for the Asian Co-prosperity Sphere from him. B) The rest of the world will see that it is movement greater than just Japanese Imperialism, C) It makes the Viet-Gungxi Clique much more powerful, and having a solid ally in the region at the end of our supply lines is worth having. D) The entire area is an ethic hotchpotch that is just bound to fall into Civil war. I'd rather Zongren have that on his plate, rather than us having problems there and in China;

Ethnolinguistic_map_of_Indochina_1970.jpg


Incidentally what does Thailand think of us? Diplomatically is there anyway we could subtly threaten them into joining the alliance? It's unlikely us being at war with America will allow that, still if we make the offer of friendship as part of a grand scheme for Asia now, they will look upon us favourably after China, and once the US gets tired of fighting us.
 
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However given we have 9 CAG wings, but only 5 are shown do I presume that teh IJN Ryujo, Hosho and Zuiho have wings associated with them? Or does the IJN Kaga have some on it?
Click to expand...
Admiral, you are forgetting that fleet carriers can have 2 CAGs, while light carriers can only have 1. Additionally, two CAGs are stationed on airfields in Japan and they have 66% and 75% of their strength, respectively.
 
Well done, Admirals. I have regained faith in your abilities. This is a victory of Tsushima's proportions, although the enemy is stronger than the former Russian Empire, no doubt.

It goes without saying that Saipan should be retaken ASAP. I think that we should be ready to organise a counter-strike in two weeks or so. As a General, I see the possibility of striking at the Americans from two sides - from Tinian and from the eastern sea zone bordering Saipan. 4 marine divisions should strike from the east, one from the south (from Tinian). One fleet should block the Saipan's harbour, while the bulk of the available ships should escort our main invasion force.

As soon as Saipan is retaken, we should resume our offensive operations in the Pacific. The longer we wait, the more time the Americans will have to regroup and build more ships and aircraft.

Losing Chongqing is very unfortunate. In my opinion the troops fighting in the South should be reinforced with 1 additional Homegun from the Philippines, while the infantry from the other Homegun should replace cavalry in the North, which will be withdrawn to counter-insurgency duties - this has already been discussed, I think. The main problem in China now is probably the lack of proper air support, as we no longer have the luxury of using our CAGs in that role, at least not for the moment.

The Guangxi Clique's proposal does not look that bad, although it is very bold of them to demand Guandong. I agree with Admiral Yamamoto that we should demand Hanoi, but considering that we already control Hainan, it is not a top priority. We will get access to Saigon's harbour, anyway and I really doubt that the Clique's leadership plans to build a grand navy. Most likely, they want to expand their territory and their influence in regional commerce. We can offer them a larger part of north-eastern Burma if they insist on getting Hanoi, though.

Thailand is one of the few trade partners we have left, so I think that it is best to leave them alone for now. Ironically, our industrial expansion has greatly increased our resource consumption, which means that we need to search for new sources of metal and coal. I think that researching better equipment and extraction methods may also help us in that regard.
 
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Message to IJN personell involved in the 2nd Battle of Saipan:

Sailors of his divine majesty,

the second battle of Saipan is over. During the first battle, we were surprised, had to act fast to try and safe what is rightfully ours. Though all of you fought hard during the first battle in August, we could not save the island from being taken by the enemy. However, the cost the Americans had to pay was horrendous. Even while our fleets had to break away from battle, you managed to inflict much more damage to the enemy than he was able to deal to us. Even though we did suffer losses, the enemy suffered so much more.

During this second battle for Saipan, you managed to exceed all expectations. Not only did you sink even more enemy vessels at very little cost to us, you also forced the enemy into a position where he is at our mercy. They had to run for Saipan harbor, with you hot on their heels. What ships are left to them there, is not combat worthy for the forseeable future. Many of their vessels are barly afloat, most of them burning, none of them have been left unscathed by your vigor. Even worse for them, their supplies have to run the gaunlet through our own fleets and aircraft.

This by itself is one of the greatest naval victories in history and you are not even done yet. Once our fleets are reorganized, we will force Saipan. We will take back our sacred soil. We will drive out what enemy forces remain there. And we will punish them for their arrogance.

Sailors of Japan, the Emperor requires one more task of you to be done. Though we expect to meet a broken enemy, we should not underestimate him. But this time, it is us who choose the time of battle and it's circumstances. Reconnaissance tells us that there are several capital ships left. Though damaged, they are the backbone of the enemy at Saipan. We will shatter them and if some of their ships manage to escape, they will run home, bringing fear and desperation with them. For they have tried and failed to beat the single most potent navy in the world. This navy is the Imperial Japanese Navy. This navy is you.
 
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Well said, Admiral.

However, I would not overestimate our ability to inflict convoy losses on the enemy. So far our submarines managed to sink ONE, I repeat, ONE convoy. They proved to be far more valuable in reconnaissance and combat roles than in convoy raider roles.
 
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