The Setting Sun - Gotterdammerung, Japan 1944.

[Remble]

Raaritsgozilla - Enemy fighters and interceptors are nearly always trouble. Fortunately I managed to destroy a lot of the American ones in the Pacific.

EnglandWarrior - Thank you. For the moment the Air War is getting a little intense but it tends to come in fits and starts.

Beppo - Thanks. British and American Fighters would be a huge problem but so far they seem to only be acting alone and not in too large numbers. Loss of air superiority would see me moving backwards quickly I would imagine. Why the Aleutians? Why does the AI do anything

I would not be so sure that Barcelona is in reach this year. The Allies are a different beast to the Soviets as they actually do contest air superiority occasionally and with so many European Allies they can produce troops quickly and right at the front in a lot cases.

Sokraates - Things do get somewhat interesting

Maj. von Mauser - I am not quite sure why the Austrian interceptors appear to be better than the American and British fighters but they are doing rather well most of the time. I would say it is experience but those interceptors have been battered enough to have little left by now.

Nathan Madien - New planes will help certainly but remember the Allies are already upgrading to level X and I am only upgrading to IX.

Col - Thank you. Experience is crucial in two ways. Firstly my pilots have much more experience and secondly my Commanders also have much more experience. Add those together and they shift the odds pretty dramatically. In most cases my groups outnumber the enemy as well which makes the losses a little worse for the Allies.

serutan - Correct. Time to use all that space I have at my disposal

Update to follow ...

[Remble]

Operation Influx

27

0400 April 17th 1949.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Fuso, In Transit.

News of enemy Carrier sightings were always of the highest importance for Ozawa as these ships possessed the ability to target his own in or out of port. The appearance of an American Carrier Task Force off the Aleutian Islands immediately had him thinking of Calhoun.

Kondo had found Admiral Sprague instead with a smaller two Carrier Task Force. This was a dangerous place for Allied ships to remain as there were twelve Japanese bomber squadrons patrolling these waters. Ozawa was a little surprised to see an outdated Light Cruiser amongst the escort ships for the two Carriers.

0800 April 17th 1949.
Africa Army Headquarters. Abadan, Persia.

The enemy forces along the North African coast had been eliminated by Itabana but fresh Allied troops could easily make their way ashore without any presence of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Kawashima would be forced to halt his advance towards Barca after a Canadian Armoured division was unloaded in the province. Itabana was given orders to remove it or weaken it sufficiently that Kawashima could force it to retreat.

2000 April 18th 1949.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Fuso, In Transit.

The pursuit of Admiral Sprague began anew as dawn broke over the West Aleutian Trench with Kondo again being the first to encounter the enemy fleet.

By 0500 hours on the 19th Sprague had lost both of his Light Cruisers, USS Boise and USS Concord, and the Destroyer Division that were escorting his Carriers. He would manage to escape the aircraft hunting him overnight but both of his Carriers were hit with the USS Randolph suffering the majority of the damage.

The Imperial Japanese Fleet was also occasionally in action as it encountered small anti-Submarine fleets from various Nations around the African coast. IJN Junyo and IJN Hiyo sank one Italian Destroyer Flotilla apiece during a minor battle on April 20th in Cape Vilanandro.

0500 April 23rd 1949.
Africa Army Headquarters. Abadan, Persia.

The reason for the Italian withdraw from Africa became apparent on April 23rd as another invasion took place along the coast.

This time the Italians had landed in El Alamein with one division initially but this was reinforced by two more shortly afterwards. Maybe they might stay ashore this time.

Itabana was engaged elsewhere and would not be available to deal with the invasion for several hours. He was attacking the Canadian Armoured division in Barca which was now under French control. Higashikuni would have thought that the British would be in control of this area of the World but apparently the French had spread their influence to North Africa as well. The tank division had already been upgraded twice since it had initially arrived in the province but Kawashima would force it to retreat after it had been badly damaged and suffered almost total organisational loss.

Umazu and his Interceptor wing were the first to attack the three Italian Infantry divisions that were now in El Alamein but he would only get the chance to strike once as all three divisions withdrew under cover of darkness. The Italians were clearly intent on making a nuisance of themselves but were not otherwise much of a threat so far.

1300 April 23rd 1949.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.

The Allied Spring offensive had halted for a week or so to allow troops to catch up and for the weather to clear a little but renewed attacks began on the 23rd which placed additional stress on Hata's front line.

General Yamashita, Hata's Second in Command, was forced to abandon Kaunas after six enemy divisions assaulted his position. Conditions were very much in Yamashita's favour as the battle commenced and he briefly thought of trying to hold his position but further Allied reinforcements joined the battle at 1400 hours leaving him no choice but to head for Wilno.

0700 April 24th 1949.
The Skies Above the Coast of Tobruk.

Umazu had been ordered to conduct coastal patrols to try and locate the Italian invasion fleet before it could escape the vicinity and he found it fairly quickly.

Three Transport Flotillas escorted by two Destroyer Flotillas were located off the Coast of Tobruk as they headed back towards Italy. Another Allied Armoured division arrived in Barca to halt Kawashima's advance once again. This time it was Brazilian.

0500 April 25th 1949.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.

The Allied offensive continued to grow in stature as April progressed with another attack on April 25th. The mud seemed to be of little consequence to the Allies who were relishing the end of the Winter snow.

Hata's main force in Grodno was the target of the latest assault with General Dohihara's ten divisions, including all six tank divisions, coming under attack from eighteen Allied divisions. Hata was again tempted to allow the battle to progress but the slowly diminishing Japanese Manpower reserves dictated a more prudent approach. He ordered Dohihara to withdraw towards Wilno and Lida rather than contest Grodno.

1400 April 26th 1949.
The Skies Above Crete.

The Italian invasion fleet had been tracked to the port on the island of Crete where Itabana was tasked to destroy it.

His Tactical bomber group would only manage to sink the two escorting Destroyer Flotillas before the enemy fleet sailed from port.

2000 April 27th 1949.
Central Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.

The pressure on Hata's line continued to grow in the north as yet more attacks began as the Allies used their numerical advantage to push the Japanese defences backwards.

General Tanaka Shizuichi was given no alternative but to withdraw after his three divisions were attacked by an Allied force four times their number. he withdrew north east across the river towards Dagaupulis. Yamashita's corp that had completed it's withdraw to Wilno moved north towards Swieciany to plug the gap that appeared after Jekapils was vacated.

The situation worsened again on April 28th as the Americans invaded Finland once more with Helsinki falling to their latest amphibious assault. Sakai and Obata were quickly airbourne to try and prevent further troops reinforcing the beach head but they would be unable to stop two more divisions coming ashore.

1000 April 28th 1949.
The Skies Above the Coast of Tobruk.

The Italian Transport Flotillas that had lost their escorts in Crete were spotted again off the Coast of Tobruk as they looked to conduct another invasion on the North African coast.

This time there would be no escape as Itabana caught them as they tried to unload their troops. All three flotillas were destroyed along with the Infantry divisions that they had been carrying.

0200 April 29th 1949.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.

The first province to shake itself free of the mud along the Western Front was Baranowicze. The Allied Commanders were quick to spot the opportunity that this presented.

Lt. General Kasahara would be the latest Japanese Commander to be ordered to withdraw by Hata. He headed for Bobraisk as fourteen Allied divisions pursued his four.

Japanese bombers were extremely busy during this period but they were having little apparent effect on the Allied troops which were still steadily increasing in numbers along the front line. Nakajima had moved to Memel to try and prevent any more troops boarding Transport ships to reinforce the landing in Helsinki as Shimoyama launched attacks on the large Allied army that had moved into Grodno.

Obata was tasked with removing the American troops in Finland as was usually the case. The mud had already cleared across most of Finland which could see a rapid advance from the Allied troops if they were not destroyed quickly. There were insufficient troops close to the landing zone to be able to throw the Americans back out to sea.

[Maj. von Mauser]

Those Italians were really making a neiusance of themselves!

And now the Finland issue again. Not to mention the main assault.

Alot of Allied divisions are about to be destroyed.

[zdlugasz]

Two upgrades in so short time? It must be some cheat. Was it really the same division?

[Sokraates]

I didn't know about the upgrade-cheat of the AI. It is depressing how much help the HoI2-AI is getting only to be slapped around by the player anyway. Surely those few divisions contesting your supremacy in Europe will also soon be slapped around, won't they.

[Kanil]

Crazy upgrading Canadians. O.o

[Raaritsgozilla]

The further you are forced to withdraw, the harder it will be to defend the line.

At least those CAS will do some damage to the advancing armies

[cosminus]

The situation overall is becoming more intense but I'm sure your strategic and tactical skills will ensure final victory to your forces.
Also I would recomend to try next Armageddon with latest patch (1.3 beta 2 IIRC). Overall I found it better than DD. The airforce is overpowered in Doomsday but the Arma patch will ballance it little better.
I do enjoy every update you are posting, keep it going.

[EnglandWarrior]

Is it just me or does it look like the allies are trying a Barbarossa?

[LuXun]

That allied offensive seems to be brutal this time. Do you have a defensive line in mind for to retreat to for your front? Or are you going to retreat as needed to keep the cohesion of your line? Barbarossa II is gathering steam against you.

[Pier]

Do you have strategies planned to counter the offensive, or is it just going to be slowly trading land for space, while the bomber rain death from above?

You don't really have loads of armor to try encircling, or will you lure the enemy into pockets?

Also, how many divisions do you have committed to Africa now?

[Beppo]

How many transports are left to the Allies?!?!? Good stuff. Didn't see any updates re: South Africa. I can only assume you are progressing slowly but surely.

Are you looking to cut off the Med. coast of North Africa? I might be tempted to leave that for last, myself. You'd have to garrison all those beaches to keep the Allies from repeated landings.

-- Beppo

[Krogzar]

Wow nice update, allies are on the move, and instead of your spring offensive it's clearly theirs

Exiting, and I wonder how this will unfold. Surely you'll beat them, though you rhave the majory risk of being overwhelmed now!

Good Luck and keep up the good work Remble!

/Krogzar

[Nathan Madien]

Originally Posted by Remble

Obata was tasked with removing the American troops in Finland as was usually the case. The mud had already cleared across most of Finland which could see a rapid advance from the Allied troops if they were not destroyed quickly. There were insufficient troops close to the landing zone to be able to throw the Americans back out to sea.

I can picture the recruitment poster:

JOIN THE US ARMY! WE CAN SHOW YOU FINLAND!

[Remble]

Maj. von Mauser - I need to destroy a lot as the Allies can produce a large number as well.

zdlugasz, Sokraates, Kanil - The double upgrade is not anything particularly unusual or just an AI trick. That Armour division could have been sitting in a deployment pool until recently where it would not upgrade. If it is years old it would upgrade very quickly to catch up with new technology. The aircraft I purchased in Creek from the Balkan Minors upgraded at least 3 or 4 times in their first month with the first taking only 2 or 3 days.

Raaritsgozilla - The line will indeed spread as I am forced back and my CAS will cause much damage

cosminus - Thank you. I am not too worried as the Allied armies are nothing compared to what the Red Army was and my airforce is much more experienced now. I don't have ARMA

EnglandWarrior - They are trying Barbarossa yes. Will the Allies succeed where Napoleon and Hitler could not? I think not

LuXun - It is gathering steam yes but each advance puts them further from their new recruits and makes them more vunerable. My withdraw will maintain a cohesive line at all times as it is easier to attack with such a line.

Pier - Withdraw and bleed them dry with my Airforce and await developments before I choose when and where to counter attack. Pockets are nice if they can be achieved but without large numbers of fast moving troops they are not too likely. 28 divisions in Africa.

Beppo - The Allies keep building new Transports but their numbers are nothing compared to 1944. South Africa progress is in the update but is too slow to show much during the normal updates.

Hirohito will discuss options with the High Command after the monthly meeting but I have little choice but to advance quickly in North Africa because of basing restrictions for ports and airbases.

Krogzar - Thanks. Spring is always the most fun month with renewed attacks in a lot of places. The Emperor is confident that his Commanders can beat anyone

Nathan Madien - It won't be all that long before they will have to recruit to defend their own lands

Monthly update to follow ...

[Remble]

Update (May 1st 1949)

0000 May 1st 1949.
Imperial Palace. Tokyo, Japan.

"Good morning your Majesty, Gentlemen. I will begin with an update on our goals for the year." Hideki began the monthly meeting.

"- Reduce the United States Navy to below fifteen Aircraft Carriers.

- Reduce the Allies to below twenty member States.

- Capture Europe with the exception of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

- Capture Africa.

- Capture all territory in the Mediterranean Sea and purge the sealanes of enemy shipping.

- Destroy the Comintern Alliance.

Not surprisingly none of the objectives have been achieved so far and most are far from complete."

"Which are posing the largest problems and why?" asked Hirohito.

"Capturing Europe and also the Mediterranean largely because of the strength of enemy forces. Distances are not so great in this area. Africa is the reverse with few enemy troops and vast distances to cover, complicated by a lack of port and airbase facilities on the western seaboard." replied Hideki.

"I see. The easiest?"

"Destroying the Comintern as there are only two member States and only one of those has much of a force. Natural progression through southern Europe would remove both as long as we can defeat the Allied Armies in theater."

"Good. Please continue Prime Minister." stated the Emperor.

"Yes your Majesty. We shall begin the monthly reports with the Intelligence briefing."

"Your Majesty, Gentlemen, good morning." Kuniaki began. "I am still trying to inifiltrate various enemy Countries with my agents with limited success but the major enemy reports are accurate."

"No change to French Industrial Capacity and they completed research into Advanced SP Rocket Artillery and Semi-Modern Anti-Air Artillery.

The numbers indicate the loss of twenty nine Infantry and one Armoured division in the last month. These numbers are possible but could also be inflated due to redeployments and the return of some troops to their native Countries.

The French continue to have no Airforce and we have not seen any of their ships."

"One Factory Complex has been liberated from the British by our forces in Africa and no research projects were completed. Their current list of research topics are very advanced designs and should not be ready for a few months.

There is only one change to their Armed Forces and that is the loss of one Bomber squadron. This is almost certainly inaccurate as aircraft numbers are never close to being correct. The main reason for the lack of any losses is the apparent transfer of control of the Allied campaign in Africa. The French are currently commanding both the European and African theaters which means no British forces are active."

"Where are those seventy divisions then?" asked Hirohito.

"Quite possibly guarding the beaches in the British Isles your Majesty, but I would expect some to be garrisoning what is left of their overseas holdings."

"That could make landing in Britain a little difficult if it is true."

"Correct your Majesty."

"American Industrial Capacity increased by one and they completed research into Supersonic Fighters. Obviously a bad thing once they have upgraded their current forces.

Their Armed Forces lost two Infantry divisions and one smaller ship during April."

"Two other fairly major members of the Allied camp are West Germany and Italy. The reports on these two Countries show that West Germany is still providing troops in Europe under French command and Italy is certainly not. This could make trying to make progress in Italy a little difficult if they really do have seventy divisions on home soil. On the plus side the Italian Navy took a pounding in April."

"We finished research into Improved Turbojet Interceptors and our current forces have already begun their upgrades. Plastics should hopefully complete during May but it might be close. Nothing further." Kuniaki concluded.

"Armed Forces please."

"Good morning your Majesty, Gentlemen." Tanigawa began. "The Americans are still trying to land on Andreanof Island in the northern Pacific but we have managed to remain in control of the island so far. Nothing else is happening in the Pacific or Indian Oceans.

We are making decent progress in Africa but our forces are small and we are experiencing delays as we encounter enemy troops. Our Airforce is providing support which allows us to continue moving forwards. On a Strategic level we will have no choice but to advance across northern Africa quickly in order to obtain port and air facilities in north western Africa. Failure to do so would mean that our target of capturing Africa this year will be almost impossible."

"What about Gibraltar?" asked the Emperor.

"That is on our list of things to capture and is close to the top your Majesty. In order to deny access to the Mediterranean we have to capture it and this will mean the conquest of at least southern Spain to facilitate an attack against the 'Rock'. Obtaining a port and airbase on the north west coast of Africa should be easier but may still prove to be costly as we will have to add more troops to our thrust or risk being cut off by Allied invasions behind our lines."

"Or use the Imperial Japanese Navy to halt such invasions."

"We could your Majesty but the enemy does like it's Naval bomber squadrons and the Mediterranean is not a friendly place to operate ships as a result. We know that the Italians have at least five such squadrons just for one example. Needless to say, if we are prepared to send our fleets into the Mediterranean Sea, then there are other potential targets as well, as the Allies are concentrating their efforts in the north."

"We will discuss options after the meeting I think. Bring along your Military collegues as well."

"As you wish your Majesty. Europe sees us moving backwards as the Allies are using their superior numbers to force us to withdraw. We are more or less happy to oblige as they are suffering losses to our Airforce as they advance and we are not taking many casualties at all. There is some evidence that the British and American Airforces are now becoming more involved in this theater, which could make things a little less pleasant for us."

"Are there still signs of Allied divisions moving back to their own Countries?"

"Some your Majesty, and this could result in some sort of split within the Allied camp but I believe that this would not happen as their leadership is pretty much under control. Even minor probems help us though. This is the problem with large Alliances as many voices wish to be heard and some are not so happy when they are ignored.

Territorial losses have been relatively minor so far on the Western Front but now that the mud has cleared along much of it things could begin to move at a much quicker pace. Over to Minister Satoru for more details." concluded Tanigawa.

"Your Majesty, Gentlemen, good morning. Thank you Minister Tanigawa. I will start with Africa this month as there are no new developments in the Pacific or Indian theaters." Satoru began.

"Here we see the Strategic overview of the African continent without the north west region. We have been making good progress in the north particularly despite Allied opposition but we are advancing across the entire continent, even if it is slowly, particularly in the south. We will continue to move forward as quickly as possible."

"In the north our advance is along the coast and one province inland to maintain a supply line should the Allies land behind our front line forces. There is no need to move deeper into the desert as much of this territory cedes to whoever controls the borders. There are no enemy divisions known in this area but our forces are slowly approaching the point of needing to rest."

"The north east shows a similar picture with our troops advancing across the entire front. We have met some enemy troops redeploying into this region which has caused some delays."

"Similar in the south where progress is slow due to terrain but we are making progress. The Belgian capital of Banana is not too far from our advance along the western coast. Capturing this province would be very welcome but we have no idea what forces are defending it as this area is out of range of our air patrols."

"Moving on to Europe we have lost five provinces in April. Not many given the odds against us but the small number is more due to bad ground conditions than anything else as we are very much outnumbered along almost the entire Front. You will also notice another landing in Finland by the Allies."

"A closer look shows three enemy divisions already in Helsinki with few of our own troops close by. Our Tactical bomber group operating from Turku will be tasked with destroying these enemy troops to allow us to close the beach head."

"The main Front shows our forces stable and dug in or in the process of digging in. We have been facing most problems in the north so far which is why both of our Close Air Support groups are based there. They are operating from Lodz and Minsk currently. May is likely to decide which way this theater progresses and how quickly. Should we have a good month then the recent Allied advances could be reversed, and if they do then we will lose more territory but with minimal loss of life. There are some provinces we will defend, such as Kiev, but most we will just withdraw from once attacked.

The Imperial Japanese Airforce will be doing most of the work as usual up until the time comes for our ground forces to take a more active role. Nothing more from me so over to Minister Osami for the Naval breifing." concluded Satoru.

"Your Majesty, Gentlemen, good morning." Osami began. "We suffered no losses to the Imperial Japanese Navy during April and inflicted quite a bit of damage to our enemies."

"This list shows that our Aircraft Carriers had an active role in some of the damage but most was caused by bomber patrols as per usual. There were no capital ship losses even though we did attack an American Carrier Task Force in the northern Pacific. Obviously the Italian Navy had a particularly bad month after it was caught during invasions along the North African coast.

No new American Carriers were produced in April but they do still have enough to send some our way if their normal doctrine continues. That concludes the Armed Forces briefing for today your Majesty." Osami concluded.

"Industry please."

"Good morning your Majesty, Gentlemen. No new production was started in April but a large shift in factory output did occur." Ginjiro began.

"Our Industrial Capacity is unchanged from the previous month but out Transport Capacity worsened due to redeployments of Garrison divisions.

Basic resources are very much under control but Oil is becoming a concern as more and more of our Armed Forces receive additional offensive supplies. Our Supply stockpile can handle such an increase but we may have to begin to trade for Oil on the open market soon."

"Can we acquire what we need?" asked Hirohito.

"We can your Majesty. We still have good relations with some major Oil producers that have large reserves. Venezuela and Saudi Arabia to name two." replied Mamoru.

"Manpower has become an issue of late as well with our reserves down to only 1,000 men. We recruit just over 20,000 a month right now but with our production schedule we could easily run out of Manpower in the next month or so."

"You have my permission to halt any production you see fit after discussing it with the relevant Armed Forces Minister."

"Thank you your Majesty. Garrison production is likely to be the first to go. Our Convoys are overloaded as well as we suffer minor losses which have not been replaced. I am building more but will need quite a few to make up for the increase in need due to our conquests overseas. The shortage is not having any ill effects on our Armed Forces so far.

I made a large alteration in output after the latest Interceptor model became available and this has resulted in a decrease in Supply production and a huge increase in upgrades. Current reinforcement requirements are not Manpower intensive and can be maintained. Nothing further." Ginjiro concluded.

"Thank you Gentlemen. Progress will need to increase now that the Winter is behind us in the north. I will see you all next month unless something develops in the meantime." Hirohito stated as he stood and left the meeting followed by the Armed Forces Ministers.

[EnglandWarrior]

Guess this will be a month of action

[E. Jünger]

I am seriously considering doing a hoi3 japan aar named 'I am not Remble'.

[Maj. von Mauser]

Looks like a decisive month ahead, will the line hold, or will you have to retreat?

The Italian Navy really did have a bad month, jeez.

[Nathan Madien]

Originally Posted by Remble

Nathan Madien - It won't be all that long before they will have to recruit to defend their own lands

It sounds like somebody is getting ambitious.

Originally Posted by Remble

"That could make landing in Britain a little difficult if it is true."

"Correct your Majesty."

Yes, but you're Japan. You will do it.