Ah, so many comments. I am happy to see that my long absence has not dampened the interest in this little adventure of mine.
@History_Buff: Thats the plan, but first I am going to drive a massive wedge between the ANZACS and the Japanese, by taking and occupying the large Island territories under the control of both states.
@Karaiskandar: Yeah, about damn time too. After the battles in Humboldt bay at New Guinea and in the seas around the Philippines, the IJN suddenly became far more...quiet.
@Ciryandor: I think there was more than doctrines at work there. I greatly outnumbered the Japanese in carriers there (7 US vs 4 IJN), and even then I took considerable damage. Hard difficulty seems to have an impact as well.
@Xesan: you shall see.
@Austria Hungary: Well I programmed the ANZAC's to build a decent surface fleet with lots of cruisers and even battleships, but after many years they had hardly built any warships. So, I changed their AI to build lots of ground troops and I gave them about 40ish off map IC.
@Lighthearter: Those SKIF icons were not made by me. I did make some custom ones for other countries by simply changing flags around, but that is it.
@Meadow, Karaiskandar, & Asalto: The plan is clear out the ANZACS, then shift north and crush the Japanese, first on the Asian mainland, then on Japan itself. I wanted to end the pacific war.......with a big bang.
@salidas16: every little bit helps.
@CylonAndrew: Mitteleuropa has other plans for Asia.....
As the year 1946 passes and 1947 begins, elections are held in the German Reich, the first to be held after elections in 1944 were canceled due to the war against the Syndicalist Internationale. Interestingly, a more moderate, democratic faction wins the elections, gaining a majority of seats in the Reichstag. This majority still selects Otto Meissner to be the chancellor, with the Kaiser also still maintaining much of his political powers. Still, could this be the beginning of a new relationship between the Allied powers and Mitteleuropa?
Admiral Koga launches an ineffective port raid on a huge number of US warships docked in Rabaul. Note that this raid only utilizes 6 carriers, rather than the usual 9. It seems that the ranks of the IJN are becoming extremely thin now. After this raid, the Japanese fleet withdraws to its ports, ceasing to contest US naval power in the pacific. (seriously, after this raid, IJN carrier attacks kinda....stopped.)
In New Guinea, US forces reach the outskirts of Port Moresby, the key to Northern Australia. Defending the area are some 90,000 Japanese, Manchu, and ANZAC troops, including marines and heavily armed infantry. US forces launch their assault, but it soon bogs down in the jungles and in-depth enemy defenses. Reinforcements will be needed to break the siege later on.
For most of 1947, US naval, air, and ground forces halt to reorganize and reinforce their positions. The US navy, which is key to continuing the advance, is given time to repair its heavily damaged vessels before US troops can resume their offensive.
The pause is also used to allow the US to raise new armies for use against the Japanese. With the offensive having reached its limit, having stretched US forces all across the Pacific, new forces are needed before the advance can continue. These new infantry divisions, massing in California, will allow the US to resume its drive through the Pacific.
As new infantry forces are deployed to the Pacific theatre and the US navy's carriers are repaired to combat ready status, the United States launches another attack. The target of this new offensive: Formosa, a Chinese island that has been under Japanese colonial control since 1895.
As the invasion fleet nears the coast, they are met by a number of Japanese cruisers and destroyers. These vessels are easy prey for the US navy, with many dozens of destroyers and a number of light cruisers being sent to the bottom by American guns and aircraft.
US marines, with heavy naval gunfire support and the aid of light tanks and engineer brigades, storm the beaches at Kaohsiung, crushing the lone division of Japanese garrison troops there.
The marines make huge progress, marching into Taipei and cornering the remnants of the Japanese army on the island in the mountains to the east. After a quick battle, the Japanese forces surrender, ending the Formosa campaign in total US victory.