By the end of May, some divisions are shown pounding encircle Soviet positions. This is their last stand.
By the beginning of june, our troops have gradually ran out of supplies in western Sinkiang and have been pushed back by Soviet soldiers. An assault on Tannu Tuva has also stalled outside the undefended capital due to the lack of supplies and ammo.
Our troops in the north are preparing to launch a major offensive action soon, codenamed
Operaton Autumn Mist. Their objective is to reach the Yenisei River and fortify their positions behind this river.
On the 3rd of June, France has fallen to the Wehrmacht onslaught. A new regime aligned with Nazi Germany has been organized called Vichy France. They are still a formidable military force. Their navy is one of the biggest in the world and their air forces are very modern too. Many in France have not accepted defeat and instead joined the British and other allies to keep on fighting against the Axis.
The last of the encircled Soviet troops are being destroyed once and for all. An entire Soviet Field Army has been annihilated in
Operation Red Khanate. It is a blow that the Soviets will take some time to recover from.
The troops defending Lhasa have been beaten and the Imperial Army is entering the city.
Three days later, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has made peace with Japan on the advice of his counselors. The child is very smart and mature for his age. Him and his entourage will be rebased in Japan to the Imperial Shrines. The ancient city and its monuments will be preserved.
With the Fall of France, the Battle for Britain is about to begin.
The United States is supplying Great Britain with lend-lease, weapon systems and other war necessities. Many merchant american ships traveling to Europe have been sunk by Germany with great loss of life and so the U.S. Navy is conducting an undeclared campaign against german U-Boats in the Atlantic
The United States has launched an embargo against the Axis powers.
At the same time, we are trading with the U.S. for oil as we only have 10% of this vital resource stockpiled. But it is not enough to import it due to our war needs at the moment. Our resources keep on dwindling and at this rate, we could run out of oil in one or two years if we do not find a local source.
Our troops in the northern sector are almost ready to launch
Operation Autumn Mist. They have stockpiled supplies and ammo for months now for our final push to the Yenisei River.
The Soviets are advancing in Sinkiang and our troops are out of supplies and cannot resist them efficiently. About half of Sinkiang has been lost to them. We are currently performing a tactical retreat to face them in more defensible positions.
Tactical retreat by Imperial soldiers to set up fortified lines. The capital of Sinkiang is being evacuated. Most troops around this sector are specialized anti-tank divisions.
By the end of the month, we have given up some ground to buy some time for our new defensive positions to be consolidated agaist a future shock assault by the Soviets. The plan is to absorb the initial drives, then counterattack and push them out of Sinkiang once again.
In the other side of the globe, the small Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has surrendered to the Wehrmacht.
Operation Autumn Mist
Imperial soldiers have consolidated their defensive positions in the north and have stockpiled resources, supplies, ammunition and other neccessities for about six months now, since the month of January. The purpose of this stockpile en masse is that the Imperial Army will launch an offensive codename Operation Autumn Mist on the 1st of July. The entire Imperial front will advance and break the enemy's lines and push them into and beyond the river Yenisei, the largest in the region. Once this strategic objective is reach, the troops will stop and immediately start building fortifications to prepare for a future Soviet counterattack. An entire Imperial Field Army will take place in this major operation. Improvised airfields shall be built close to the frontlines to support the early advances of our troops. It is very critical that the Army does not slows the pace of the starting operational tempo because the poor infrastructure of this area means operations can only be launched after lengthy periods of ammasing key supplies. Time will not be on our side if the engagement lasts long enough because our forces could run out of supplies and fail to reach their objective. We must be determined in our struggle and have the will to carry it out to a conclusion.
I order as follows:
a) The Imperial Army must perform a mass assault until it reaches the Yenisei River. Time is of the essence.
b) Troops stationed in western Mongolia must drive northwards in the direction of Tannu Tuva to meet up with the Imperial forces performing the mass assault.
c) The Air Force will support them for as long as is possible but once out of range, they must rebase to Japan to be repaired and fitted for their next operations.
Troops in Sinkiang performing a tactical retreat to amass supplies and ammo to perform a future counterattack and retake western Sinkiang. Forces in western Mongolia will drive to the north, past Tannu Tuva and link up with forces in the north.
After-action review
Two years and a half and our conduct in the war has been very sucessfull from a geopolitical point of view. The territory we have so far conquered is immense and has some resources. The USSR cannot be a threat anymore to our heartlands, their armies are on the defensive with the exception of a few isolated sectors on the long frontline. While we cannot support a war of movement, nor can the Soviets and this was their advantage from the start due to their fast armored divisions but it has been canceled out by the support of our numerous anti-tank corps, poor infrastructure, harsh terrain and bad weather. The Imperial Air Force has also stopped many potential soviet offensives before they even started by serving as mobile heavy artillery units. They were truly important to the war effort by hitting enemy positions that land troops could not and more planes, especially tactical bombers are being produced. The airborne troops were also key assets by quickly reinforcing the weak points of our lines during the mass encirclement in Operation Red Khanate. If they had not been deployed when they were, it is possible that the entire pinzer operation in eastern Mongolia might have failed because some sectors were critically short of soldiers and supplies. The Soviets might have achieved a breakthrough in our lines, perhaps two weeks later on had the paratroopers not arrived just to stop that from happening.
The Imperial Navy is undergoing a massive rearmament in the dockyards of the Home Islands. Multiple carrier groups are being created, each to escorted by a pair of battleships and multiple screen ships. The two strongest carrier task forces shall each be led by one of the two Super Heavy battleships of the Yamato-class. Their air assets are not as strong because they are in peace time and will be so for a long time. Their only enemies, the Republican and Soviet Navy were quickly wiped out and their ports captured years ago. But expecting a showdown with the allies in the future, many CAGs and Naval bombers will be built. Our Pacific posessions will serve as unsinkable carriers and will be the base of the naval bomber wings. If the USN or other enemy navies enter the Pacific, especifically the western zone, the planes will begin to perform sorties and hit them very hard while the Imperial Navy arrives afterwards to deliver the fatal blow.
Our oil resources are critically low and they keep on decreasing, due to the enormous requirements of our war machine. Our imports of it are not enough to offset the deficit in consupmtion and we only have limited central reserves at any one time to purchase them. If this trend continues, the Empire will be forced to extert force upon its colonial neighbors sooner than expected, especially against French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies, one of the biggest sources of oil in the world. Other stockpiles of resources are at optimum or standard levels and are not a source of concern.
In the next update, we will report on the success of Operation Autumn Mist and the frontlines around Sinkiang. Farewell !