Operation Influx
28
0500 May 1st 1949.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.
The increasingly good weather did not immediately result in more Allied ground battles, with the first attacks of the new month being conducted by the Imperial Japanese Airforce. Hata had no doubt that the Allies would continue their advance soon enough.
Both of Japan's Dive bomber groups were operating in the north with Shimoyama attacking the largest force in Grodno while Nakajima went after the enemy troops in Jelgava. Obata was back in Finland trying to reduce the latest American invasion in that Country. Not for the first time Hata would have to conduct his defence with Allied bombers overhead.
The Allies opened their May campaign at 0200 hours on May 2nd with a large cross river assault against General Nishio's defences in Riga. General Dumitrescu would be allowed his victory as dawn was fast approaching and he had overwhelming odds. Nishio was ordered to withdraw towards Gulbene to maintain a solid defensive line.
Nakajima switched targets to Jekapils and had arrived to begin his attack against the twelve Allied divisions in the province by 0500 hours. Hata would be content to pursue the standard tactic employed against such forces. Air superiority allowed him the luxury of merely withdrawing east to stretch the Allied supply lines and pick off enemy forces with his bombers.
1300 May 2nd 1949.
Africa Army Headquarters. Abadan, Persia.
Progress in Africa was nothing more than satisfactory so far with Higashinuki only too aware of the vast distances his troops were expected to cover by the end of the year. He did have the luxury of air support but only one bomber group was available to cover both north and south.
Itabana had managed to reduce the organisation of the enemy division in Costermanville which allowed Higashikuni to order General Imamura to attack the enemy Militia division in the province. Marines were the best troops for traversing Jungle terrain but even they needed time to make such advances.
0100 May 3rd 1949.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.
The mud was clearing rapidly along the Western Front which allowed the larger Allied forces to begin to launch attacks in what had been quieter regions. The pressure would only increase on Hata's troops for the time being and he would not have many options open to him.
Field Marshall Gadcke launched the latest attack in the south against General Yamada who was defending Vinnitsa. Unlike the Soviets the Allies were beginning the majority of their attacks just before dawn which did not leave any time for Hata to reinforce his defences before the casualties began to mount. He could not afford to replace large losses which meant that Yamada too was ordered to withdraw before the two armies were fully engaged.
On May 4th Lt. General Iida also came under fire as Lt. General Fernandez Cuesta began an attack on Zhitomir. The odds looked to be good enough for Hata to order Iida to hold but the presence of a modern Armoured division pursuaded him to order Iida to withdraw before more Allied troops joined in the assault.
The largest concentration of Allied troops was still in the north where they totally outnumbered Hata's defenders. Heavily outgunned and attacked from three sides, General Koiso abandoned his defences in Luniniec at 0300 hours on May 4th after seventeen enemy divisions, led by Field Marshall von Horn, began to attack his much smaller force.
By 0500 hours on May 4th Obata had managed to remove the two Infantry divisions in Helsinki, which allowed Mj. General Yamamoto to advance towards the Finnish capital after the remaining Mechanised division had advanced into Mikkeli.
The attacks against Hata's defences continued as Lt. General Kotsalos led nine divisions against Yamashita's five in Wilno at 0700 hours. Outflanked, Yamashita ordered his troops to wihdraw as well before losses began to mount.
May 4th had seen the Allies greatly increase the tempo of their advance and there was a possibility that Hata's defences would simply be too weak to stop the advancing Allies. Time was on his side though as his forces withdrew safely and in order for the time being.
Nakajima moved back to Kiev to support the Japanese line in the south after it too had begun to come under attack. Stanislawow would be his first target as Allied troops tried to advance towards Vinnitsa from the province.
The massive Allied forces along the Romanian border would not remain idle either as fifteen divisions, led by Field Marshall Yague Bianco, launched a cross river assault against General Itagaki's three divisions at 1900 hours on May 4th. Itagaki might be able to hold during the night but dawn would certainly see him forced to withdraw so Hata gave him his marching orders immediately. Krivoy Rog would be his destination.
In Finland Obata was struggling to destroy the American Mechanised division rampaging through the countryside and it was threatening to isolate the Japanese forces in Finland from the remainder of the line. Supplies could always be shipped to Murmansk but this could lead to large convoy losses.
Hata was given a momentary chance to order a defence to hold as three enemy divisions attacked the six Japanese Armoured divisions in Lida. Hoshinato was ordered to withdraw towards Minsk an hour later as the enemy numbers grew to the point where he was outnumbered by almost three to one.
The Allied capture of Riga on May 6th led to another attack at 0300 hours. General Tanaka Shizuichi had no alternative but to move back towards Opochka after General Dumitrescu attacked his three divisions with seven. Hata was forced to re-arrange part of his defences to cover a hole that was opening in the north at Polotsk.
The fact that Hata had not captured all of the Soviet territory in this region was also cause for some concern as it was possible that the Allies could isolate his troops in the north if they linked up to this enemy held territory. He gave orders to advance into Narva and Kingisepp to provide an alternative supply route as convoys could not help in the Baltic Sea as it was blocked by the Danes.
The Allies had suffered massive loss of life around Kiev during the Winter after they had advanced into Zhitomir and Vinnitsa. Nakajima began to add to their losses in the two provinces after they advanced to occupy them again. Hata had ensured that Kiev was adequately defended to provide the bombers time to destroy the enemy.
By 0700 hours on May 6th the Allied division in Finland had managed to advance into Joensuu and had temporarily cut the supplies to Japanese forces in the Country.
Obata had destroyed it by 0400 hours on May 7th and he switched his attention to the two American Transport Flotillas in the port of Helsinki, both of which would be sunk.
Nakajima had cleared Zhitomir by 1100 hours on May 7th and switched his attention to the six Allied divisions occupying Vinnitsa. The southern part of the Front was actually shrinking a little which made the Japanese defences stronger for the time being, although there were a lot of Allied troops advancing into the region from Romania.
