Operation Influx
27
0400 April 17th 1949.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Fuso, In Transit.
News of enemy Carrier sightings were always of the highest importance for Ozawa as these ships possessed the ability to target his own in or out of port. The appearance of an American Carrier Task Force off the Aleutian Islands immediately had him thinking of Calhoun.
Kondo had found Admiral Sprague instead with a smaller two Carrier Task Force. This was a dangerous place for Allied ships to remain as there were twelve Japanese bomber squadrons patrolling these waters. Ozawa was a little surprised to see an outdated Light Cruiser amongst the escort ships for the two Carriers.
0800 April 17th 1949.
Africa Army Headquarters. Abadan, Persia.
The enemy forces along the North African coast had been eliminated by Itabana but fresh Allied troops could easily make their way ashore without any presence of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Kawashima would be forced to halt his advance towards Barca after a Canadian Armoured division was unloaded in the province. Itabana was given orders to remove it or weaken it sufficiently that Kawashima could force it to retreat.
2000 April 18th 1949.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Fuso, In Transit.
The pursuit of Admiral Sprague began anew as dawn broke over the West Aleutian Trench with Kondo again being the first to encounter the enemy fleet.
By 0500 hours on the 19th Sprague had lost both of his Light Cruisers, USS Boise and USS Concord, and the Destroyer Division that were escorting his Carriers. He would manage to escape the aircraft hunting him overnight but both of his Carriers were hit with the USS Randolph suffering the majority of the damage.
The Imperial Japanese Fleet was also occasionally in action as it encountered small anti-Submarine fleets from various Nations around the African coast. IJN Junyo and IJN Hiyo sank one Italian Destroyer Flotilla apiece during a minor battle on April 20th in Cape Vilanandro.
0500 April 23rd 1949.
Africa Army Headquarters. Abadan, Persia.
The reason for the Italian withdraw from Africa became apparent on April 23rd as another invasion took place along the coast.
This time the Italians had landed in El Alamein with one division initially but this was reinforced by two more shortly afterwards. Maybe they might stay ashore this time.
Itabana was engaged elsewhere and would not be available to deal with the invasion for several hours. He was attacking the Canadian Armoured division in Barca which was now under French control. Higashikuni would have thought that the British would be in control of this area of the World but apparently the French had spread their influence to North Africa as well. The tank division had already been upgraded twice since it had initially arrived in the province but Kawashima would force it to retreat after it had been badly damaged and suffered almost total organisational loss.
Umazu and his Interceptor wing were the first to attack the three Italian Infantry divisions that were now in El Alamein but he would only get the chance to strike once as all three divisions withdrew under cover of darkness. The Italians were clearly intent on making a nuisance of themselves but were not otherwise much of a threat so far.
1300 April 23rd 1949.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.
The Allied Spring offensive had halted for a week or so to allow troops to catch up and for the weather to clear a little but renewed attacks began on the 23rd which placed additional stress on Hata's front line.
General Yamashita, Hata's Second in Command, was forced to abandon Kaunas after six enemy divisions assaulted his position. Conditions were very much in Yamashita's favour as the battle commenced and he briefly thought of trying to hold his position but further Allied reinforcements joined the battle at 1400 hours leaving him no choice but to head for Wilno.
0700 April 24th 1949.
The Skies Above the Coast of Tobruk.
Umazu had been ordered to conduct coastal patrols to try and locate the Italian invasion fleet before it could escape the vicinity and he found it fairly quickly.
Three Transport Flotillas escorted by two Destroyer Flotillas were located off the Coast of Tobruk as they headed back towards Italy. Another Allied Armoured division arrived in Barca to halt Kawashima's advance once again. This time it was Brazilian.
0500 April 25th 1949.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.
The Allied offensive continued to grow in stature as April progressed with another attack on April 25th. The mud seemed to be of little consequence to the Allies who were relishing the end of the Winter snow.
Hata's main force in Grodno was the target of the latest assault with General Dohihara's ten divisions, including all six tank divisions, coming under attack from eighteen Allied divisions. Hata was again tempted to allow the battle to progress but the slowly diminishing Japanese Manpower reserves dictated a more prudent approach. He ordered Dohihara to withdraw towards Wilno and Lida rather than contest Grodno.
1400 April 26th 1949.
The Skies Above Crete.
The Italian invasion fleet had been tracked to the port on the island of Crete where Itabana was tasked to destroy it.
His Tactical bomber group would only manage to sink the two escorting Destroyer Flotillas before the enemy fleet sailed from port.
2000 April 27th 1949.
Central Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.
The pressure on Hata's line continued to grow in the north as yet more attacks began as the Allies used their numerical advantage to push the Japanese defences backwards.
General Tanaka Shizuichi was given no alternative but to withdraw after his three divisions were attacked by an Allied force four times their number. he withdrew north east across the river towards Dagaupulis. Yamashita's corp that had completed it's withdraw to Wilno moved north towards Swieciany to plug the gap that appeared after Jekapils was vacated.
The situation worsened again on April 28th as the Americans invaded Finland once more with Helsinki falling to their latest amphibious assault. Sakai and Obata were quickly airbourne to try and prevent further troops reinforcing the beach head but they would be unable to stop two more divisions coming ashore.
1000 April 28th 1949.
The Skies Above the Coast of Tobruk.
The Italian Transport Flotillas that had lost their escorts in Crete were spotted again off the Coast of Tobruk as they looked to conduct another invasion on the North African coast.
This time there would be no escape as Itabana caught them as they tried to unload their troops. All three flotillas were destroyed along with the Infantry divisions that they had been carrying.
0200 April 29th 1949.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Sevastopol, Soviet Union.
The first province to shake itself free of the mud along the Western Front was Baranowicze. The Allied Commanders were quick to spot the opportunity that this presented.
Lt. General Kasahara would be the latest Japanese Commander to be ordered to withdraw by Hata. He headed for Bobraisk as fourteen Allied divisions pursued his four.
Japanese bombers were extremely busy during this period but they were having little apparent effect on the Allied troops which were still steadily increasing in numbers along the front line. Nakajima had moved to Memel to try and prevent any more troops boarding Transport ships to reinforce the landing in Helsinki as Shimoyama launched attacks on the large Allied army that had moved into Grodno.
Obata was tasked with removing the American troops in Finland as was usually the case. The mud had already cleared across most of Finland which could see a rapid advance from the Allied troops if they were not destroyed quickly. There were insufficient troops close to the landing zone to be able to throw the Americans back out to sea.