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Final Plan of the Imperial Japanese Army
[DRAFT PENDING FULL APPROVAL]

General note, this is very much a continuation of the previous plan.

Status:

General Surt [SN] – Approved
General Comm Cody [SS] – Pending approval

Admiralty Stamp of Approval On Homeland Affairs and Naval Research - Pending Additions


I.
Our general major strategy should be to seek 'Great Power' status (200+ IC) over the next few years via actions in China and factory construction, then onto ‘super Power’ (350 IC) status.

Currently at 128IC (+ ~40 from china) so ~32 to go.

II. Diplomacy/Intelligence
1.a Continue to support our party in the Warlord cliques Yunnan in western China - Yunnan is not relevant anymore, remove focus.
1.b Change spies in Guangxi to counter espionage once we ally.
2. Lower spies to 0.3 LS.
3. Keep 0.1 LS in diplomacy for trade and embargoes.
4. Support our unity until we lose the org penalty then support party.
5. Change spies in NatChi & ComChi to lower unity.

III. Production
1.a Continue the current factory constructions, Replace as and when they are finished by new ones. Navy has Approved.
2.a Repeat build of 2/3xGar as reserve until all the following are properly garrisoned;

-Any port in mainland Japan, ie. where you can walk to from Tokyo, should have 3xGar(+Art)*.
-Any port on the Asian mainland should have 2xGar, including incompetent puppets ports.
-Any other pacific port should get 2xGar
-Any size 10 port should get 3xGar+(art)*, (that should be Truk and Kaohsiung on Taiwan).
-Any additional Garrisons to be formed to placed along the Soviet border

*2.b.I Build the pure garrisons first. Artillery should be constructed separately as a new stream to speed up garrison training. Artillery can be sited later, and individual garrisons can train with their guns while on site.

CLAUSE 3. Build artillery to fill our infantry in the proportion 2 ART:1 AAA:1 AT
3a Start building 10xGarx2 extra to guard ports in China.
3b Start building 5xMPx2 to guard resources and factories in China. For the 3xlarge rare deposits and 2x10 factories.
3c Start building heavy fighters one at a time.
3d Building 3 art types to catch up with inf building.
3e PAUSE the current building inf until the above is finished, then only 2xinfx2 inf. , this should give us an full Homengun each year.

4. Keep upgrades to 10IC for the army. This is more than enough on average for all army units in average.
5. Set reinforcement to keep up with attrition. Balance with supplies. The current total of 15+30 will have to be increased by 5IC, the army expect the supply tax to increase as we march inland.


6. Contingency for war with the Soviets.
7. An escalated war with the Soviets would need substantial investment in infrastructure, namely expansion of the northern ports including Toyahara on Sakhalin, and some rail going west from Sakhalin. Building a mobile airfield gets first priority.
7b. 5xGarx2 will be needed to garrison ports.

8. Build 5 radar in Tokyo, Truk and Taiwan. (we need to find more places starting with T to build radars on!!!)


IV.
The IJA propose a 'research priority list'. I will separate it into three sections; Army, Naval and Homeland Affairs. Technologies at the top of each list are the highest priority.
"&" represents alternate between both programs.

This list will need to be updated every cabinet meeting, changing year, techs or processes. The list will be intended to require slightly more research programs than we can truly fund, such that as some projects are completed others can be started on.

Techs should be allocated by one from each sector, until total research capacity is filled. ---> research projects still retain tenure in the list until date is met. This means that we have recognised them as a long term investment than a single cycle tech now.

No ahead of time except:
*If a tech is before the year by less then a month (e.g. it is Dec '36, but the tech is a '37 tech (ie. 1 month before time), still begin research for competitive advantage)
Techs marked with + are new relative to the last half year

Note: Homeland Affairs will need Navy ratification.

Homeland Affairs
De-/En-cryption machines+
Industrial Efficiency*
Industrial Production *
Supplies Production
Repair Workshops
Fighter Defence doctrine & Interception Tactics & Central Fighter Command Structure

Supply throughput*
Supply Cost*
Rare Materials*
Combat radios
Education*
Agriculture
Radar*(only first *)
All single engine techs+ (except Escort Fighters, as they both affect CaG and land based this tech is common)

IJA
The rapid expansion of the army has led to the diminishing officers ration of 112%, the navy's production of marines is as of yet not a serious drain but further expansion would be a problem.
It was the army's expectation that 2.25 leadership in officers should have been enough to secure a 130% rating at the end of '38 and that the 0.25 LS from spies (while all 4 targets are at 10 spies) should insure we had more, but we might want to increase that by another 0.25 LS.

Manportable AT
Officers & Infantry Training & Artillery Training & security (security added in case we occupy some territory)
Small Arms*
Artillery Barrel & Artillery Sights

Offensive Support Weapons
Timed artillery
Independent tank units
Arctic Warfare Equipment
AT Barrel & AT Sights & AA Barrel & AA Sights
Defensive Support Weapons
Ftr Ground Crew Training & Ftr Pilot Training (either as as good as either)
AC armour & Gun
CAS Ground Crew Training & Ftr Pilot Training
Central Air Command Structure & Communication Line Interdiction.
First Aid
Combat Medicine
Radio detection+
Bridging Equipment+

Should there be any left over slots after all the above is up to date:
L.Arm Gun 2 & Reliability 2 & Engine 2 & Truck Engine.
- Level 2 to open for medium armour and thereby for TD.


IJN
See navy's posts.
Admiral Grull needs to comment if he want to research any CV related techs.


V. Army organization
Fill Homengun as described in the organization post.

2.c Army groups can now be flexible filled with 1-4 of these. With surplus armies waiting to be filled.

3. The 7 Cav divisions of 2xCav should receive a AC to beef them up a little until we got Inf divisions that needs them. Organized in 2 corps in the Moukogo Homengun.

4. Any plan of attack that doesn't secure us the 50 rares in south China is not a very good plan.

5. In case of imminent war with China the northern Homengun will start redeploying to invasion ports for shipping south, leaving the cav and gar and 2 Homengun to guard our back.

6. See revised plan C for deployment of the 10 Homengun that need to attack China.

VI. Leaders
1. All leaders will keep their current rank with the following exceptions.
2. Any leader with skill 5 will immediately be promoted to Ichigun command, if too many demote worst to Homengun.
3. Any leader with skill 4 with positive traits will command Homengun.
4. Any leader with relic trait will only lead Gar and reserves at their current level, promote as needed.
5. Gars will generally not have leaders unless they are in front lines.
6. Leaders should command appropriate units. Armour for our L.Arm f.ex. Marine for Marine.
7. Due to leader shortage restrict leaders for Marine units to marines.

Contingency plans for the pacification campaign to come.

ps.
Japan got many leaders that start with skill 1 that can gain at least 4 levels, among them the original armour leader and the skill 1 Homengun general (Nishio (sp?))
 
*Technical note
L.Arm Gun 2 & Reliability 2 & Engine 2 & Truck Engine.
- Level 2 to open for medium armour and thereby for TD.
BTW medium armour has recently been researched.

5. In case of imminent war with China the northern Homengun will start redeploying to invasion ports for shipping south, leaving the cav and gar and 2 Homengun to guard our back.

6. See revised plan C for deployment of the 10 Homengun that need to attack China.
This is obsolete.

7. Due to leader shortage restrict leaders for Marine units to marines.
Can you clarify your position on that? If you want to remove leaders from SF Corps and Homegun, then the IJN will have to approve that.

*Note to Admirals Baltasar and Grull
Sirs, the Imperial Administration Office requires a clarification on the deployment on submarines and surface raider fleets. Currently we have several unused submarines in reserve - do you intend to use them to extend the reach of the naval blockade AND dispatch surface raiders as well?
 
To Imperial Clerk, from Adm. Baltasar

Regarding deployment of surface raiders, the answer is yes on both accounts. Submarines can operate individually, thus increasing the potential of life experience for our commanders.
 
I will approve of the plan.

(I sound like a yes-man. :( )
 
*Technical note


Can you clarify your position on that? If you want to remove leaders from SF Corps and Homegun, then the IJN will have to approve that.

It is the opinion of strike force north that the navy should concentrate on building ships, and not build a private army, remember that if a capital ship is started now it wont be finished before 1942, if anyone wanted to expand south they need those ship around that time.

If we intend to invade mainland USA we can consider expanding the marines, but a full marine corps is more than we need the next 2 years.

therefore we want to forbid any army leader, ie. non-marine trait, to serve in the marine corps until such a time that we have an agreement with the navy.
 
General Surt,

the navy is not trying to establish an army of her own. The absolute maximum we are talking about at this point is two corps. The currently available SNLF corps is even under army command. I fail to see what you are upset about.
 
General Surt,

the navy is not trying to establish an army of her own. The absolute maximum we are talking about at this point is two corps. The currently available SNLF corps is even under army command. I fail to see what you are upset about.

Admiral Baltasar,
We don't need more marines right now, in fact we got too many already, as I said if we need to invade the Americas we could discuss it again, but that is far in the future.

Now that we have attacked China we would need an expanded fleet to protect our coming gains especially if anyone wants to fight the Allies or the USA. If I'm not mistaken we have build 1 CA, 1 BC, 1 CV and some none capital ships and building a single BB if we want to challenge the naval powers we would need substantial more ships. And then it just isn't OK to waste IC on land units that are not needed or can easily be substituted by inf or gar.

At this time I would assume that the USA, UK and France has each build the same number of capital ships as we have, so I fear we would lose any war against these.

The army as well as the navy could potentially lose any war we or our enemies (ie. the rest of the world) starts, I would feel bad if we can't supply our troops in Asia or overseas because our enemies control the sea.

Considering the time it takes to build a capital ship, between 24-30 months, it seems like now would be a good time to start some more capital ships, unless you think the horizon for war with the allies is '44!

Long live the Emperor and lets hope we wont have to commit hara-kiri to atone for our failings.
 
General Surt,

the navy has asked for another two battleships being started soon. It does not seem logical to ask for even more capital ships if we consider that we still need to upgrade other units and have an ever increasing demand for military supplies. We need to win the war in China first, other operations are secondary to this. If we lose in China, we can as well consider Sepuko. If the army sees sufficient room for more capital ships, we'll gladly request some, but currently, there just isn't enough industrial capacity for this.
 
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Influence Levels

1. Industrial Capacity:

IJA - 60%

IJN - 40%


2. Leadership

IJA - 50%

IJN - 50%


3. Manpower

IJA - 70%

IJN - 30%


No changes here. It hasn't been that long...

General Influence Levels - IJA 60% / IJN 40%

*Note that the General Influence Level doesn't mean much by itself. It's just there to show the average influence levels of both factions.
 
Chapter Three, Part Two: Sino-Japanese War
Aug 1939 - Sep 1939

Previously in the Influence Wars...

The Marco-Polo Incident escalated into a major war with China. The Imperial forces started their advance in the north and secured most of the southern ports. The naval blockade of all major Chinese ports was established. The siege of Guangzhou has begun.

And now, the conclusion...


Politics





August saw many political developments. The impertinent democrats from Washington blatantly violated our sphere of influence by trying to "restore peace in Asia". Obviously, the Emperor staunchly opposed this "offer". The Americans have to mind their own business. However, the repercussions of this move were important, as the Japanese-American oil trade was disrupted and the relations between Tokyo and Washington became strained. The Japanese government increased taxes in order to solve the fiscal crisis and use the additional income to sign trade agreements with other nations.

Additionally, the government received confirmation that Xibei San Ma was now supporting the nationalists in the war against the Empire. It seems that the Chinese are trying to unite their forces in order to oppose the Japanese advance.


The Northern Front


Much progress has been made in the North. What looked like a sluggish advance a month ago evolved into a strikingly fast offensive. Generally, this is where the Japanese have been most successful.






The battle of Hengshui showed the superiority of the Japanese soldiers. Even though the Japanese troops were vastly outnumbered, they still managed to push the Chinese soldiers back with an extremely favourable casualty ratio. The enemy did not have many reserves in the region, which meant that our offensive could progress at a quicker pace.

The outcome of the battle of Jining, on the other hand, was not so favourable. While the battle ended in victory, the casualty ratio was much worse than in Hengshui and it should be noted that the opposing forces were much more evenly matched in numbers. Apparently, the Chinese communists fight with great ferocity.






The Qingdao landing was both a major success and a slight disappointment. While the Japanese forces easily managed to land on the Chinese beaches and conquered the city, lack of major Chinese forces in the area meant that no major encirclement could be formed.





The Japanese formations soon reached Jinan and in a long but relatively bloodless battle the city was eventually taken. Jinan is an important city with an airfield, so its capture was a major success for the Empire. The first objective of the northern advance was completed.


The Shanghai landing and the battle of Nanjing


The biggest surprise of August was the fierce Chinese resistance in the Nanjing Region. The High Command believed that the bulk of the Chinese forces was already engaged with the Japanese forces in the North and the South, but in reality the Chinese had a sizeable reserve located near their capital.






Since the Chinese Navy was virtually neutralised and there were no enemy troops stationed in Shanghai, the landing itself was a cakewalk and the city was taken without firing a single shot. The Japanese forces quickly secured the whole Shanghai Region.

Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that major Chinese forces were located near Nanjing, so it was impossible to take the city by surprise. Because the Chinese were clearly prepared for the amphibious attack near their capital, some believe that Shanghai was left undefended in order to lure the Imperial forces into the city and crush them with overwhelming force. If this is indeed the Chinese plan, then it is our duty to prove them wrong!


The Southern Front


The Japanese advance in the South can be classified as a success. Terrain and poor air support continue to be major obstacles on this front.





The city of Guangzhou fell on 18th of August. It was a crucial moment for the southern campaign, as without this city the Japanese forces could not have hoped to make long-lasting gains in the South. Nevertheless, the logistical situation remained difficult. The capture of one major port was not enough to solve all logistical problems faced by the Imperial troops.






The sinking of the ROCS Ning Hai, the pride of the Chinese Navy, was a big morale boost for the Japanese sailors. The enemy's navy has been annihilated and the Imperial Navy could rule the seas unopposed. Also, the Japanese naval blockade was expanded when the Imperial Navy decided to dispatch additional submarines and surface raiders to hunt the Chinese convoys. Several enemy convoys were sunk during August.






Despite logistical constraints and harsh terrain, brave Japanese soldiers manage to trap several Chinese divisions near Tengxian. While it was not the crushing victory the High Command had hoped for, it was still one of the biggest successes of the Imperial Army in the south.


Other matters





In September, the Chinese government sent a peace offer. They proposed to return to the pre-war borders and they even made some claims in Guangxi. Some thought that it was a joke, but the Emperor found the whole affair insulting.

The success of the quick Japanese advance in the North allowed the Empire to extend its influence to the whole Chihli Gulf. It should be beneficial for commerce and stability in the region.

Also, thanks to a recent agricultural breakthrough more men can be conscripted. Coupled with the surge of the pro-Japanese Chinese volunteers, this means that the Imperial Army has now more than enough men to fill its ranks.





As a result of the territorial expansion, the potential of the Japanese economy has increased significantly over the last month and most of our resource concerns have been solved (this pleased the Emperor greatly). In spite of this fact, the country's industry is still strained. In fact, the supply requirements have never been higher and the Imperial merchant marine has never been so busy.

The High Command decided to halt the recruitment of new infantry divisions and to prioritise garrison troops. Currently new divisions are being formed in order to guard the conquered territory. Naturally, artillery production is still a priority.





According to our intelligence, the Chinese government will not be ready to surrender anytime soon. The Japanese armies will most likely have to advance further inland in order to break the will of the Chinese.


-------------------

Situation on all fronts as of 9th of September







Overview of the Sino-Japanese War






Future decisions


Many important decisions will have to be made in both the near and the more distant future.

Firstly, the German government expressed their will to include the Empire of Japan into the Axis alliance. The question is not IF the Empire should join the Axis, but WHEN it should do this. The rapid expansion of the German influence is certainly promising and the Japanese industrialists notified the Emperor that they could manufacture more modern equipment if they had access to German technology, but it is unknown how the inclusion of the Empire into the Axis will affect the relations with the colonial powers.

Secondly, it has to be decided whether it is beneficial to form Mengkukuo. This could potentially make it easier to administer the area.

Thirdly, a Chinese politician named Wang Jingwei assured the Imperial Court and the government that he would be able to create a pro-Japanese regime in Nanjing if the city is conquered and the Emperor asked the High Command to give advise in regard to this issue. While nobody is very keen to release even nominal control over the recently conquered territory so soon, it might be beneficial to do so in the more distant future, as it could make China less rebellious and would put less of a strain on the Imperial Administration. The issue certainly warrants careful consideration.

Moreover, the Emperor asked the High Command to evaluate the current progress in China and decide the future course of action. It is clear that logistics is the prime issue at the moment and something has to done in order to improve our logistical situation in China. Also, the Imperial Administration suggested that the most able army commanders of the forces stationed in Manchuria should be transferred to these Japanese formations which are being poorly led in China. It is expected that the Soviets will not attack in the nearest future.
 
The lines are nearly as could be expected, a bit further in the north and a little less in the south.
Our ally does surprising well in the north, but that has cost us the big encirclement in the south, only a medium and a small pocket has appeared.

The critical decision was the USA offer to mediate, which has made us to look as the aggressor in this incident and has increased the threat we pose in the eyes of the US Government, I must say the Emperor was badly advised to reject it out of hand. This will properly led to war with the Americans shortly after the fall of China.
 
*Technical note
The lines are nearly as could be expected, a bit further in the north and a little less in the south.
Our ally does surprising well in the north, but that has cost us the big encirclement in the south, only a medium and a small pocket has appeared.

The critical decision was the USA offer to mediate, which has made us to look as the aggressor in this incident and has increased the threat we pose in the eyes of the US Government, I must say the Emperor was badly advised to reject it out of hand. This will properly led to war with the Americans shortly after the fall of China.

The frontline looks ok, but we are outnumbered everywhere and more Chinese just keep coming. Also, logistical problems are becoming more severe, both in the North and in the South. Guangzhou was not a 10-lvl port, as I had hoped. Poor infa means low supply throughtput, too.

We couldn't risk going back to pre-war borders.
 
It is surprising to see that even our "allies" the Guanxi are making progress. Having shortened their front, I would expect them to make themselves useful and support our move north.

The navy will withdraw all battlefleets which can not aid the army currently and which also do not block a Chinese port any more. It's reasonable to move those fleets back to port to ease the supply strain.

The carrier fleets are to be moved south, to aid in the Nanjing region. We feel that the aircraft will be more useful down there with many Chinese forces on the move.

The convoy hunters remain at sea until all Chinese ports have been taken. You never know if they can't find something or not. Afterwards, they'll return to their ports.

Politics:
We shouldn't join the Axis, yet. There is little to gain for Japan if we join Germany already, except for some building licences. The political burden of being part of the Axis will far outweight that little benefit. Furthermore, with Hitler being the leader of that alliance, we'll be subject to his timing regarding war and peace. Something the Emperor surely doesn't like at all.

Mengkuko may be formed later on. We currently can't be bothered with the administrative difficulties and should wait a while until the front has moved away from the propected Mengkuko territory. It'll make little difference to them if they have to wait another month.

The battleship faction strongly supports the idea of forming a puppet-Chinese regime in Nanjing. Not only will this mean that we will have to keep far less troops in China, it will still enable us to exploit the country almost as good. We think that this is a favorable trade-off for Japan. It will also mean that the Chinese, should the really try to topple that regime, will have sufficient Chinese targets before trying to shoot Japanese. In the end, we'll get a lot without having to invest much, once the war is over.

The navy acknowledges the need for improved transportation and suggests that the army provides a plan for infrastrucuture improvements into China.
 
Strike South Faction:

Good, the landings worked, But the Chinese have Militia, and in numbers too.

I advise that we do join the Axis, BUT after we get a Non-Aggression pact from the Soviets.

Mengkuko, I say form them, they have control over a crummy amount of land.

As to Mr. Jingwei offer, I did mention that back in 1936, so i say once the Chinese army is irrevocably defeated, we form the Puppet. Direct control will force us to deal with partisans, a Puppet regime? Not so much.

As for Transportation, I advise work on a Beijing-Nanjing-Shanghai-Guangzhou Railroad if we can..
 
We can not sign a non-agression pact with the Communists! Their mere existence is an insult, to sign pacts with this scum is out of the question. Once we have dealt with China and potentially other countries, we can turn on the Soviets. If Germany do attacke their western border, we'll have so much less to deal with, we will be able to easily march through their depleted ranks. Currently, we can not hope to topple the Communists, but if they were distracted elsewhere, we could roll them up from behind. Even though the territory itself isn't worth much, it'd still provide a good chance to deal with the Communits once and for all. A chance we might not get again.
 
*Technical note

ATM Germany is not at war with anyone and there is no war in Europe. However, it is likely that war will come soon, because Germany is already mobilised and the Czechs are in the Allies. I don't know whether they will attack the Soviets soon, though and I think that we all agree that the Soviets can only be beaten when they are fighting on two fronts.

Concerning infrastructure, I think that we will need infra both in the north and in the south AND more developed naval bases in the south, because Guangzhou is NOT a 10-lvl port. Far from it, in fact. In the north, Shanghai is a 10-lvl port and we have Qingdao and Dailan for support, too.
 
Requirements for more and better ports facilities and improved infrastructure can only be drawn up by the army. The navy can and will contribute to the war effort, though we might have a word in where the ports should be increased.
 
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