Slaying the Dragon
1
0400 October 14th 1944.
Imperial GHQ. Tokyo, Japan.
Field Marshal Sugiyama had a fairly easy command. The Japanese mainland was not under any imminent threat of invasion with Yamamoto controlling the enemy fleets to a great extent. He was aware of several Submarine fleets close to Japan that were trying to hamper convoys and looking for unprotected shipping.
One such fleet had been sighted in Abashiri Bay to the north of Japan. Rear Admiral Ito was defending this area from possible invasion and had intercepted the hostile fleet. No ships would be sunk during the battle but the American fleet would be forced to withdraw.
1000 october 14th 1944.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Bangka Strait.
The two Light Carriers that had escaped when the USS Wasp had been sunk had been sighted heading at full speed away from Japanese waters.
The Interceptors would add a little more damage to the two ships as they passed through the West Celebes Sea but no further action would be taken to prevent them from leaving the area.
0700 October 15th 1944.
North China Army Headquarters. Jinghong, China.
Chinese territory continued to shrink as Japanese forces maintained their pace of advance.
General Abe had captured Yichang province which was the current capital of China. More raw materials headed back to Japan from the latest pillaging of Chinese stocks.
The new Chinese capital was located in Ankang province. This latest move would give Higashikuni a few choices in how to proceed. He could easily order an assault on Ankang and its relatively few defenders but he would choose a different path instead. His choice would speed up the conclusion to the war with China if it succeeded.
At 0100 hours on October 16th twelve Japanese divisions, led by General Yamashita, attacked the largest Chinese troop concentration in Xi'an province. Field Marshal Tang Shengzhi had the unenviable task of trying to hold a defence that was being attacked from five different directions simultaneously.
Higashikuni had chosen this path as it would isolate half of the Chinese forces from their supply chain if Japanese troops could occupy Xi'an. It would also mean a large defensive force could end up in the Chinese capital but he could deal with that problem easily enough.
The initial odds for the battle looked to be fairly even. That would change in three hours when fourteen bomber squadrons arrived over Xi'an and began to interupt Tang Shengzhi's communications network.
The defences were over run in under ten hours with the seemingly unstoppable General Yamashita dealing another crushing blow to his opponent. The devasation that had been wrought on Tang Shengzhi's rear areas led to mass confusion as 90% of his forces retreated towards Nanyang province instead of towards the capital in Ankang. Instead of possibly placing half of China's army out of supply Higashikuni now had the chance to isolate nearly all of it.
Following this great success Higashikuni decided to make an attempt to capture the Communist Chinese capital of Yan'an. General Yamada led seven divisions against the seemingly weak defence. The bombers would provide support as soon as they were able although their abilities would be severly hampered by the mountainous terrain.
Thirty six hours after the battle had begun Yamada was forced to abandon the attempt as his casualties mounted. Fighting Communist forces was a different proposition to the Nationalists.
0000 October 20th 1944.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro. Bangka Strait.
Yamamoto's eyes were providing him with considerable information about enemy ship movements. This enabled him to be in the right place most of the time.
The Bangka Strait was a target rich area for the moment with a lot of enemy fleets trying to pass through the sealane. There was also a busy sealane to the south of Indonesia, but Yamamoto could only be in one place at a time.
Two British Destroyer Flotillas were sunk in the early hours of October 20th by the Heavy Cruiser IJN Kumano and the Battleship IJN Yamashiro. A further Destroyer Flotilla, this time Canadian, would be sunk by the Battleship IJN Hyuga in the late afternoon. Yamamoto then headed towards the Sundra Strait and the southern shipping lane.
His first contact on October 21st was around midday when BB Division 1 encountered a British Transport Flotilla in the Gaspar Strait. IJN Hyuga would send it to the bottom.
A second encounter occurred as Yamamoto entered the Sundra Strait at 1800 hours. Both American Destroyer Divisions would fall to the guns of his Flagship IJN Yamashiro.
1600 October 21st 1944.
North China Army Headquarters. Jinghong, China.
Reports from the Chinese front were good as further enemy provinces changed hands and became Japanese controlled.
Hoshinato's armour had captured Pingliang in Communist territory and Lt. General Muto had arrived in Xi'an to isolate most of the Nationalist army. Things were looking decidedly bleak for the Chinese. The single Japanese division commanded by Muto was apparently of such high quality that no counter attack was ordered by the numerically superior Chinese army.
0100 October 22nd 1944.
Prime Minster's Office. Tokyo, Japan.
"Come in Minister Mamoru and take a seat." Hideki greeted Japan's Foreign Minister.
"Thank you Prime Minister, and thank you for seeing me at such short notice." replied Mamoru.
"You are welcome of course. Now what did you wish to see me about. You mentioned the word important several times so I gather it is nothing trivial."
"No it is nothing less than important. I wish to ask for another meeting of the Cabinet to present my latest report." asked Mamoru.
"Again? We had an emergency meeting just a few days ago if you remember."
"I was there I believe. This news requires a similar meeting and a decision from the Emperor, it cannot wait."
"Very well then give me a few minutes to make some phone calls and we can make our way over to the Imperial Palace."
"Whatever you say Prime Minister." replied Mamoru.
Thirty minutes later the full Cabinet was assembled once again in the meeting room of the Imperial Palace.
The Emperor was in a similar hurry today as well as he asked Hideki what the meeting was about as soon as he entered.
"The Foreign Minister asked for this emergency meeting your Highness." Hideki informed Hirohito.
"Ok Minister Mamoru what disaster has befallen Japan this time?" asked the Emperor.
"Your Highness it is nothing bad this time I assure you. I do however require an answer to a question I was asked not too long ago. I am fairly sure of your wishes in this matter but it is not my place to make the decision."
"I am good at providing answers Minister, so what is the question?"
"The Nationalist Chinese Ambassador asked me to pass on a request from his Government."
"To be blunt they wish to prostrate themselves at your feet and beg for mercy. It appears that Field Marshal Higashikuni has convinced Chiang Kai-shek that it is in his best interests to surrender his Country unconditionally to Japan. We have three choices your Majesty. Install a puppet regime, carve China up or annex most of it."
Thank you for the compliments.
