The Setting Sun - Gotterdammerung, Japan 1944.

[gooy]

nice work
what is the estimated US carrier count now ?

 

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Dasfubar - My airforce is performing rather well but has yet to be really tested since the early game. Where is the RAF when you want to fight it?

Irenicus - The American Carrier strength has been a little bit of a fiction of late. Remember the majority of the attacks against it have been by my Naval bombers which are a little outdated and not numerous. The attacks against Spruances fleet were conducted by very modern TACs which are a little dangerous in large numbers.

Novea - welcome aboard Ah but in the real World he would not be court martialled. He would have been killed in action a long time ago given the number of fleets he has lost.

EnglandWarrior - Thanks. It is indeed another Barbarossa type battlefront

Beppo, serutan - Thank you. serutan is correct the numbers are remaining about even right now. That has to change or I am in big trouble. I must be able to kill them faster than they can be replaced.

zdlugasz, FlorisDeVijfde, Sokraates, Maj. von Mauser - Thank you. Repeated attacks usually work as they did here. Calhoun survives because he never heads into enemy air cover after being detected, which makes him very unique amongst Allied Naval commanders so far.

kingterranes - Welcome aboard

Nathan Madien - The AI will give him another fleet, it always does

gooy - Thanks. 16 Carriers.

Update to follow ...

 

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Operation Influx

13​

0900 December 14th 1948.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.

Enemy Fighter interceptions of Japanese bombers were rare, with attacks against unescorted bombers being even less frequent. The Allies had disguised an Interceptor wing by adding a Tactical bomber squadron to it which had gone un-noticed by Japanese air controllers.​

Shimoyama's Close Air Support wing was the unlucky formation to encounter the Czech Fighter sweep. Fortunately the Czech aircraft were pretty much out dated and Shimoyama's pilots were extremely experienced. Two of his squadrons would still sustain moderate losses before he could evade the attacking enemy Interceptors and head for home. The chances of Shimoyama flying without Tanaka and Fukui in attendance in the future were remote given the obvious presence of enemy Interceptors.​

The two Interceptor commanders were not resting. Hata had ordered them to Sevastopol to remove the annoyance of the Central American bomber squadrons that routinely harassed his Headquarters. Only one of the five bomber squadrons would escape and the Interceptors moved back north to escort Shimoyama.​

The destruction of the Allied troops in Lida allowed Hata to order an advance towards the province as no enemy forces were apparently moving to defend it. General Dohihara and Lt. General Hoshinato began their march and were ordered to arrive at the same time to provide the best chance of holding the province on arrival.​

1500 December 15th 1948.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Fuso, Mouth of the Tsiribihina.

Japanese Transport fleets were moving some troops around some islands in the Indian Ocean when a Naval encounter occured off the coast of Reunion Island where Mj. General Banzai was being picked up.​

Not only was Koga still present with BC Division 1, Carrier Group D was also in area escorting the Transport fleet. The unlucky American Transport fleet was blown out of the water by aircraft from IJN Zuikaku.​

Ozawa's BB Division 1 would also be engaged. Spotter aircraft had advised him of the approaching enemy ships and they were of no threat to his fleet. The Battleship IJN Ise accounted for the 5th DD.Division with its sister Destroyer Flotilla simply vanishing beneath the waves with no ship able to claim to have sunk it.​

1000 December 17th 1948.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.

Hata had very rarely ordered attacks since the War in the West began in earnest but there were occasions where he could take advantage of momentary enemy weakness.​

He ordered General Koiso to assault the enemy positions in Pinsk where only one division had arrived. Victory would be swift but the main purpose of the attack was not merely to force a withdraw. Japanese bombers had an urgent task to complete and that was the destruction of Allied forces in Rowne that were moving towards the marshes of Mozyr. Lt. General Muto and his Infantry corps were presently withdrawing towards the province and Hata did not wish to have him over run. Pinsk was targetted to allow the bombers to alter targets after the division was destroyed. The bombers would fail to even attack Rowne and preferred other targets which left Muto in a race.​

1200 December 17th 1948.
North China Army Headquarters. Stalingrad, Soviet Union.

Field Marshall Kanin was happier about the situation in Finland after the invading troops had been destroyed with only mopping up work left to conduct. That altered on December 17th.​

The Allies were not content to leave Finland alone and had conducted another invasion further north. Oulu was the chosen landing point which would require Obata's Tactical bomber group once again.​

He arrived the following day with no sign of any further build up in the province. Only one Infantry division had arrived so far which would not be much of a problem.​

1200 December 17th 1948.
Africa Army Headquarters. Abadan, Persia.

An increase in landings in the Baltic and ever increasing numbers of enemy troops arriving in Europe along the front line pointed to an Allied build up not seen since D-Day in 1944. They were also being fairly aggressive in their approach. The deserts of North Africa were also having their own problems for Higashikuni.​

In conjunction with the Allied build up elsewhere the desert was seeing an increase in enemy divisions arriving almost daily. The possibility of Japanese forces west of the Suez Canal being forced backwards was increasing despite the presence of Itabana and his bomber group. As Suwayz was the latest province lost to the advancing British controlled forces.​

 

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0700 December 18th 1948.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.

Allied advances in the south of Hata's line were not as potent as those further north as there were few Allied divisions in this area. Japanese bombers had managed to contain the south very well so far.​

The latest enemy division to enter Stanislawow would not survive for long as the major movement of Allied troops continued to be north and east towards the Prippet marshes.​

The situation altered dramatically the following day as reports began to arrive at Hata's Headquarters that indicated a major shift in Allied movements. Very large army movements had been detected heading towards Stanislawow from the west and north as well as more enemy troops heading south from further north. There might appear to be only a moderate number of enemy troops along the front but there were still masses of them moving around behind the lines.​

1600 December 19th 1948.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Fuso, Mouth of the Tsiribihina.

Ozawa had messaged the Japanese High Command to inform them of the completion of the build up of forces for the next operation that he would be responsible for conducting. The return signal would be directly to the point.​

To: Commander, Combined Fleet.
From: Africa Army Headquarters.

Begin Operation Perfidious immediately.

Field Marshall Higashikuni.
Commander, Africa Army.​

Four fleets received their orders to sail within the hour. Carrier Groups C and D headed the force that headed for Cape Vilanandro initially. Two Transport fleets accompanied them, both containing Japanese ground troops.​

It could very easily have been the shortest operation in history after the combined fleet was intercepted within hours as it left port and entered Cape Masoala. There had been an air gap due to the needed repairs to the bombers after they had sunk Spruance's fleet, but Ozawa quickly had the aircraft back in the air after this encounter.

Fortunately Admiral Kaga had little difficulty removing the minor threat that had appeared. The two Haitian Destroyer Flotillas were sank to aircraft from the Carriers IJN Junyo and IJN Hiyo.​

1600 December 19th 1948.
North China Army Headquarters. Stalingrad, Soviet Union.

The latest invasion in Finland had not been reinforced by the Allies which resulted in the loss of the single division that had landed initially.​

Kanin ordered Mj. General Numata north towards Oulu after he had secured Turku in the south. He would not get far as the Americans were apparently far from finished with their invasions.​

Turku was itself invaded as Numata received his marching orders north which were hastily cancelled as he turned to defence. Despite the initial combat reports the single American Infantry division was never going to get ashore against a similarly modern division defending a snow covered beach.​

Japanese Tactical bombers found the invading fleet the following day but would fail to sink either ship in the fleet. The bombers were never given orders to pursue further south than the Central Baltic Sea as the Allies could easily provide air cover that was not currently available to Japanese bombers.​

1300 December 21st 1948.
Central Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.

The Japanese forces advancing towards Lida came under attack on December 21st as enemy bombers began to target them as they moved forwards.​

Two Canadian Dive bomber squadrons began their attack against Hoshinato and his Armoured corps in Molodeczno. Fukudome and Watanabe were already in the air providing protection to Nakajima's Dive bomber group to the south and would be unable to respond. Hata had one other option which he could employ. Saboru was based in Minsk and he commanded the repairing Interceptor wing which was used to keep the four front line wings at full strength as required. This wing was currently in relatively good condition and was scrambled to intercept. Neither Canadian squadron escaped.​

Allied troops arrived in Stanislawow in very large numbers at the same time which would give Shimoyama absolutely no chance of clearing them before they could dig in. Allied troops continued to head south in droves to cover the Romanian border from the apparent Japanese build up, which was of course, nothing more than a feint designed to draw the Allied troops south. Hata was impressed at just how much of a response had been forthcoming.​

 

[Krogzar]

awesome update, though I noticed a spelling error (I asume it should have been moved)

The Japanese forces advancing towards Lida came under attack on December 21st as enemy bombers began to target them as they moced forwards.

 

[zdlugasz]

Could you please report current status of upgrades? How many of your INFs are updated so far?

 

[Thurak]

Entertaining show in Europe.

Never thought you would invade Africa so close to Madagascar. A bit more south to take South Africa fast was my favorite guess, but well, every landing spot will be good enough to open a second African front.

Have fun there

 

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Is it a stalemate? It would appear that if you cannot resume the offensive, then you cannot further reduce the Allied ability to fight. In the former Soviet Union and Egypt, the Allies are either pushing you back or building up strength.

Except, of course, for Operation Perfidious. Opening yet another front ought to thin out the Allies even more (and air power is somewhat stymied by troop density) and perhaps knock one of the Allies out of the war.

Good luck!

-- Beppo

 

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As always you get to feel the might of Central America.

BANZAI!

 

[Nathan Madien]

In conjunction with the Allied build up elsewhere the desert was seeing an increase in enemy divisions arriving almost daily. The possibility of Japanese forces west of the Suez Canal being forced backwards was increasing despite the presence of Itabana and his bomber group. As Suwayz was the latest province lost to the advancing British controlled forces.​

It sounds to me you might need to retreat and regroup in the face of increasing enemy strength.

 

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Well, this officially removes the Humiliation Remble suffered in his last AAR, when his navy was defeated by a single Haitian Transport.

Glad to see those Canadian CAS Squadron have finally all been destroyed. The Czech AI was pretty smart to deploy a Tac Squadron with their fighters.

Anyways, look forward to hearing where this Invasion goes.

 

[Sokraates]

How ironic. The few troops of Japan open up a third offensive front while covering a fourth (the Pacific) and yet the AI is not capable of exploiting this.

This just shows how brilliant a commander Remble is. And he's a decent entertainer as well.

I hope you've told your troops to leave the Walenki behind and pack some suntan instead. Otherwise they may feel a bit uncomfortable while demolishing the few enemy troops still left in the south of Africa.

 

[BlueWarrior]

The Allies appear to be developing a Finland fixation

 

[genbrad]

I still can't believe how many invasions the allies keep putting up. Plus they seem to favor a 3 front war

 

[serutan]

Beppo, serutan - Thank you. serutan is correct the numbers are remaining about even right now. That has to change or I am in big trouble. I must be able to kill them faster than they can be replaced.

Depends. If what you're killing is rear area units being brought up rather
than new production, eventually their forces will thin out and all will be well.
If the latter is true, yes, the fecal matter will get rather deep.

 

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Krogzar - Fixed, thank you

zdlugasz - All Inf and Arm are upgraded. Bombers will take until the end of January almost.

Thurak - Undefended beaches determined my choices in Africa

Beppo - Another landing behind Allied lines will bring rewards I expect. The AI will be forced to react which should prevent more opportunites.

Austria Hungary - The smaller Countries certainly keep it entertaining

Nathan Madien - The enemy retreats, Imperial forces make tactical withdraws using elastic defence

Maj. von Mauser - I am amazed anyone remembers that Transport Those Czechs are sneaky!

Sokraates - Thank you South African troops guard almost the entire coast of east Africa, they are a little stronger than I thought given their losses. Do they defend their homeland though? Does the AI ever?

EnglandWarrior - It must be skiing season in Finland or something

genbrad - They do seem to like invasions. Small mostly which are too easy to deal with but occasionally these can get annoying.

serutan - True. I think it is just a case of the mass DoWs only just allowing the Allied troops to mass at the front and the numbers should begin to decline from here.

Update to follow that concludes 1948 ...

 

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Operation Influx​

14​

1900 December 21st 1948.
Diplomatic Offices. Tokyo, Japan.

Mamoru looked up as his assistant knocked and entered his office. "The Portuguese Ambassador is here Minister Mamoru."

"Thank you. Please show him in." Mamoru replied as he stood to greet the diplomat.

"Good morning Minister Mamoru."

"Ambassador. Please have a seat." Mamoru said pleasantly as he offered his visitor a comfortable chair.

"Thank you. You asked me to stop by. I trust you have a proposition for me?"

"In a way, yes. His Imperial Majesty wishes to negotiate terms on some of your over seas territory."

"Oh?" the Ambassador replied growing a little less comfortable. "Any territory in particular?"

"Nothing major really. Your Country possesses certain land in south east Africa that the Emperor in His infinite wisdom wishes to acquire for future expansion against Japan's enemies."

"Ah. That is not going to go over very well with my Government I am afraid. Our European friends would not be too happy with us if we were to just hand over that particular region at this time. They are our main trading partners, as you are no doubt aware, and this could easily lose us their patronage."

"I had expected your reluctance of course, and did explain to His Majesty that you would most likely be unwilling to co-operate in this venture."

"You do your Emperor a great service as always Minister Mamoru. Now, will there be anything else before I head back to my office?"

"Just one more item Ambassador."​

"His Majesty made it very clear how I should proceed should you be unwilling to hand over the required territory. He assures me that this area is of vital interest to Japan's future and a refusal should result in our two Countries entering into hostilities. Please be so good as to inform your Government that it is now at War with Japan."

"As you wish Minister Mamoru." replied the Ambassador a little shocked at the outcome of the discussion.​

1900 December 21st 1948.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Fuso, Mouth of the Tsiribihina.

The Commander of the Combined Fleet was aware of the negotiations in Japan and already new what the outcome would be. Ozawa had already given the orders to begin an invasion of Portuguese territory.​

The two Japanese Marine divisions began their amphibious assault on Quelimane, the northern province of Portuguese territory in south east Africa, as Mamoru declared War. The target was the airbase inland but this plan could easily alter if the Allies had more troops in the area than were thought. Reconnaisance of the coast to the north had shown South African troops dug in along any possible invasion route which was why Portuguese territory was chosen. Invasions were always risky ventures and it was much better to land on unoccupied beaches if at all possible.​

Preparations had been made to capture other Portuguese territory. Their holdings in Asia and the southern Pacific would also be taken as troops began to march towards both Macao and East Timor.​

1000 December 22nd 1948.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.

The Air War in the west showed little sign of relenting its pace as more and more aircraft arrived from the Allies to contest the air space over Poland and the western Soviet Union.​

Air controllers had spotted what they had thought was a Czech Fighter sweep as it headed towards Hoshinato's Armoured corps in Molodeczno. Saboru would again be assigned to the interception and it quickly became clear that this was another enemy wing. The escorts accompanying the Tactical bombers stood no chance at all against the much more modern Japanese aircraft which escaped almost totally unscathed from the slaughter that followed.​

Shimoyama attacked Stanislawow at 0700 hours on the 23rd to confirm just how large an enemy force had moved into the province. He might be able to destroy a couple of the divisions in this large army but would not be able to clear the province this time. The Allies were clearly becoming a lot more serious about their southern thrust.​

The Czech Fighter sweep showed it's hand on December 24th as it closed in on Nakajima's Dive bomber group over Siauliau. Within two hours Fukudome and Watanabe had bounced the attackers greatly reducing any losses that Nakajima would take, although he was doing well on his own. The Czech Interceptors took large losses as they opened the distance and fled back to base but none were completely destroyed.​

Lida returned to Japanese control as the combined forces of Dohihara and Hoshinato arrived in the province. They easily held off an inadequate attack from Allied forces and looked likely to be left to dig in without further interruption. One of Hoshinato's Armoured divisions had suffered moderate losses to the ground attacks of the previous week but Japanese Interceptors had greatly reduced the possible damage.​

 

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Hata breathed a little sigh of relief after he received word from Lt. General Muto that he had won his race to Mozyr and had successfully repulsed the Allied troops chasing him to the province. Japanese troops had also arrived in Korosten to the south of Mozyr and Hata had a solid defensive line once again, although he was still very much outnumbered by the Allies.​

Shimoyama switched to attacking a single enemy division in Iasi on December 26th as Allied troops arrived in Chisinev to block any possible Japanese advance in this area. Allied movements behind the lines continued to show a massive force heading south.​

1600 December 27th 1948.
Africa Army Headquarters. Abadan, Persia.

The Marine invasion in Quelimane had gone successfully but Higashikuni would be left to ponder a march inland as the province would be far to vunerable to other Allied forces detected in adjacent provinces. BB Division 1 remained close by to provide the Marines with shore support and a Transport fleet stood offshore in case a withdraw was required.​

Undeterred Higashikuni ordered the second invasion to be conducted. The Marines were looking for a target of opportunity that was not crucial and they were also a small diversionary force to mask the main landing. Eight Japanese Infantry and Motorised divisions were ordered off their Transport ships towards Lourenco Marques, the most southern Portuguese province, which was also lacking any defence. This force was going to be required to conquer South Africa as quickly as possible before any Allied response could arrive.

The invasion was protected by BB Division 1 to the north, Carrier Groups C and D with the Transport fleet and BC Division 1 to the south.​

0600 December 28th 1948.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.

With the Yugoslav Airforce currently licking it's wounds after confrontations with Japanese Interceptors Hata could turn his attention back towards the more common bombing raids against his front.​

A British Strategic bomber wing had been systematically reducing the Industrial output around Kaunas so Hata had ordered Fukudome and Watanabe to pursuade them to leave for a while. Fukudome caught the bombers over Siauliau with the ensuing dogfight stretching on for two hours before Hata gave a rare set of orders. Watanabe had shown no inclination to join his group Commander so Hata ordered Fukudome to withdraw rather than suffer additional losses in an even battle. The British bombers had suffered higher losses overall which would be enough for the time being. Fukudome had one squadron badly beaten up but it was quickly replaced by one of Saboru's reserve wing from Minsk.​

At 1100 hours on December 28th Hata ordered an attack against the weak Allied forces in Chisinev to allow Shimoyama easier bombing attacks as these forces had already begun to dig in. Despite the support of a Close Air Support wing it took General Ueda almost two days to grind down the defences after a fourth enemy division had joined the battle. No advance was ordered as it was merely a spoiling attack. Hata noted the Naval Gunfire Support the Allied defenders received but it was only a minor amount and was expected to be whatever Romanian ships that were available.​

1300 December 28th 1948.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Fuso, Mouth of the Tsiribihina.

Ozawa had positioned his battlefleets to hopefully intercept any Allied ships that might try and interfere with the landings along the African coast. Koga and BC Division 1 were in the most likely approach route to the south and would almost certainly encounter any fleets arriving from the south.​

Portugal tried to send troops to it's holdings in eastern Africa but the loaded Transport fleet would fail to survive the initial confrontation with Koga who would need a second interception to sink the Destroyer Division. The Battlecruiser IJN Haruna claimed both enemy vessels.​

The successful invasion in Lourenco Marques took any pressure off Ozawa as he no longer had to worry about vunerable Transport ships being attacked with troops onboard. Higashikuni was also relieved but would have to wait until 1000 hours on January 1st 1949 before he could begin to order an advance from the beach head, with initial indications pointing to a weakly defended South Africa.​

 

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The Portugese ambassador was not the only one slightly shocked. War with the Portugese? What? Where'd that come from? Why not just land in South Africa? The units on the South African beaches surely were not that numberous. I can see there was only one division south of Praetoria..... This audience member politely requests a strategic-level overview of the goals in Africa! Are there enough air bases to use Japanese air power to full advantage? Or is this just a feint to draw off Allied troops from the former Soviet Union?

Good stuff, as always. More bombers!

-- Beppo

 

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The Aircraft are Czech, not Yugoslav.........

Smart move by going after Portugal, I'm a bit surprised the AI attempted to send troops there, usually the Portugese AI is extremey lax............