0500 August 16th 1946.
Naval Offices. Tokyo, Japan.
0200 August 17th 1946.
Kwantung Army Headquarters. Harbin, Manchukuo.
1000 August 18th 1946.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.
Naval Offices. Tokyo, Japan.
The Siamese bombers were returning from patrol when they were attacked by a Polish Interceptor wing over Toyama Bay to the west of Japan.
The bombers would sustain some fairly heavy damage but would both survive the encounter.
Japanese forces landed in Siberia at 0800 hours on August 16th. The area was not totally deserted as there was an enemy formation of unknown strength to the north west in Khandyga province. The lack of any type of counter attack led Osami to believe it was a single division.
0200 August 17th 1946.
Kwantung Army Headquarters. Harbin, Manchukuo.
Terauchi was aware of the problems Higashikuni had begun to encounter but his own concerns were for his forces trying to hold a much larger enemy force in Manchuria. They rarely allowed much time for recovery and attacked again.
Field Marshal Tolbukhin had learnt a little from the multiple failed night attacks against Harbin and had decided to launch his latest assault in the morning. Terauchi's troops would be required to hold for eight hours of daylight before night would help them on this occasion. They were more than equal to the task as Tolbukhin received another bloody nose.
Unfortunately Tolbukhin was not the only Red Army commander who was learning. General Rotmistrov launched a night attack against Bayan Tumen province but he had decided to give the orders for the assault to begin an hour before dawn. General Nishio was going to be in a lot of trouble as the battle would already be decided before night could help him. The Tactical bombers were already on their way towards Ulan Bator but even they might not be enough on this occasion.
By 0300 hours on the 18th the situation had deteriorated sufficiently for Terauchi to order Nishio to withdraw to Xilinhot province to the south east. Nishio might have been able to hold but even if he had done so the casualties would have been unacceptable. The hills to the south were much better defensive terrain anyway. Let the Red Army try and defend Bayan Tumen once they captured it.
Terauchi would be the one responsible for informing the Imperial Japanese Army command of the first major loss in a land battle since the War with the Soviets had started. Satoru was not particular concerned by the loss as it had been expected, he did provide a response that Terauchi was happy about.
Terauchi would be the one responsible for informing the Imperial Japanese Army command of the first major loss in a land battle since the War with the Soviets had started. Satoru was not particular concerned by the loss as it had been expected, he did provide a response that Terauchi was happy about.
The reserve forces in Fukuoka boarded two Transport fleets which sailed for Tianjin province. These troops would move north on arrival and provide a defensive force for Changde province to the south of Xilinhot. Changde could become a vital province if things went badly in Manchuria and the Soviets were to capture both Harbin and Xinjing.
1000 August 18th 1946.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.
Satoru would be receiving more messages from his Army Commanders in Asia. August 18th was beginning to turn into a very bad day for both Terauchi and Higashikuni.
Lt. General Ishiwara had been attacked in Qumul province to the south east of Urumqi. He had no chance of holding the twelve enemy divisions assaulting his positions and withdrew to the mountains of Dunhuang. Higashikuni was left with no option as this attack had effectively undermined the defences of Urumqi without actually trying to assault the province. He was not going to risk eight bomber squadrons and fourteen of his divisions for a small airbase.
The bombers headed east to Beiping where they would recover from the journey and continue their upgrading process. Where they would then be employed would probably be decided by the Red Army.
By 1200 hours fourteen Japanese Infantry divisions had also received orders to board trains and head south east to the mountains closer to Lanzhou province. Higashikuni would be a lot closer to the action once the Soviets had managed to catch up. Snow would probably be on the ground by the time they could do that and some of the advancing Red Army troops would die during the march.
Satoru was beginning to hope that Tanigawa would present his portion of the meeting on September 1st.
Satoru was beginning to hope that Tanigawa would present his portion of the meeting on September 1st.
