Chapter 17 – July 1945
AuthAAR’s Notes: Still refining the combat description and presentation – with a bit more info on the map, I’ll try to put less in the text again. Befitting the strategic nature of this game and AAR, there will be stuff on things such as logistics, research, industry, intelligence and some rather interesting goings-on in other (Allied) theatres.
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Introduction
Taking advice from the 'Politburo'
and recognising the difficult supply distribution in the Far East, the 2nd FE Front (1st & 7th Armies) were given more limited objectives.
1. Far Northern Sector
The only combat action in the Far North centred on
Lazo, where the enemy had been advancing on
Tomtor after winning a battle there in June. A small Soviet probe on
Lazo from
Jakutsk on 1 July was unsuccessful. But The Japanese did not complete their advance into
Tomtor: the Soviets slipped a fresh division in there and then launched a four-pronged attack on 11 July, with light air support.
They had won by 13 July, losing 431 men and killing 606 of the enemy, but
Lazo had not yet been occupied by the end of the month.
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2. Ulya-Tyndinskiy Sector
The 6th and 15th Armies shared the central front where the main offensive effort was now concentrated. The northern part of this front saw heavy fighting during the month, though (with increasing distance from the main Soviet air bases), air support was not as heavy as it had been. Only one province was gained, while one was lost but won back by each side. By the end of the month, the Soviets had won a some late battles and were advancing to but had not yet secured a few provinces – and may not, if (as often happens) the enemy slip reinforcements in first.
Operational summary, Far East – Ulya-Tyndinskiy Sector, July 1945.
[Note: The maps now include the dates for each skirmish and battle, to make the sequence of events a little clearer and also as another way of distinguishing the more important ones. Also, I can then put less in the text descriptions. Let me know what you think - especially if taking the units out detracts from your assessment of the position. I've included a broader map with units at the end in the Theatre Summary.]
Stanovoj Hrebet (five actions),
Aidanskoe Nagor’s and
Nelkan (four actions each) saw the heaviest fighting during the month. The Soviets won large battles for
Enken and Nemuy (both on the Pacific Coast) towards the end of the month, but neither had been occupied.
Aidanskoe Nagor’s was lost by the Soviets on 2 July but regained quickly after a counter-attack on 3 July and reoccupation by 6 July, when a Japanese counter-attack failed to dislodge them. The two major actions here were the defeat of a major Japanese attack from 8-11 July (Soviet 577 v 1,423 Japanese casualties) and another straight after from 11-13 July (Sov 416 v 1,646 Jap) that was also beaten back. The Soviets launched a large attack on
Nemuy from there on 18-25 July, winning after a week of bitter and bloody fighting (Sov 1,027 v 2,393 Jap), the largest total ground casualties in a battle on any sector in the East during the month.
Stanovoj Hrebet had been used for the Japanese attack on
Aidankoe Nagor’s on 8-11 July. After a short probe on 11 July helped to spoil that attack was not pressed further, a larger Soviet attack from 12-17 July (Sov 1,305 v 1,546 Jap) succeeded. But the lead Soviet elements were in turn attacked as soon as they retook the province on 18 July, losing to Japanese troops attacking from
Nemuy and
Tyndinskiy, despite ‘spoiling’ air support. The Japanese regained the province on 28 July, when the Soviets won an immediate counter-attack but were then forestalled on 30 July by Japanese reinforcements arriving.
Two Soviet attempts to take
Nelkan failed until they won a larger battle – with air support this time - from 13-16 July (Sov 228 v 937 Jap), which overlapped with a failed Japanese attack from
Nelkan on
Ust’ Maja (12-14 July). The Soviets took
Nelkan on 21 July and held of a Japanese counter attack to retain possession by the end of the month. The key northern port of
Ulya remained too hard to take for now, but the Soviets attacked
Enken in a successful though expensive nine-day battle ending on 25 July (Sov 1,404 v 1,284 Jap).
The only Soviet air raid in the sector that caused more than 500 casualties was on
Enken (598).
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3. Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy-Solov'ovsk Sector
Similarly to the sector to its north, the line between
Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy and
Solov'ovsk saw each side lose and win back one province, while the Soviets gained one outright.
Yerofey Pavlovich was the most heavily fought-over province during the month, but had not changed hands by the end of it. The two largest single battles took place in
Ust’ Urkima (a Soviet attack won) and
Berezitovvy (a Soviet attack lost).
Operational summary, Far East – Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy-Solov'ovsk Sector, July 1945.
The Japanese occupied
Ust’ Urkima on 1 July after having won a battle for it the month before, but they were heavily counter-attacked as soon as they reached it. The Soviets won that battle on 5 July (Sov 1,161 v 1,272 Jap) with heavy air support and retook the province six days later, repelling a short Japanese attempt to drive them out.
Yerofey Pavlovich was first attacked by the Soviets in early July which they won, but then the Japanese reinforced the province and two subsequent Soviet attempts to take it failed. But the fourth attack, following on straight from the third and after eight days of non-stop air strikes, won through. A Japanese attempt to slip a division in on 28 July was soon defeated, but the Soviets were still advancing as the month ended.
The Soviets liberated
Mogocha on 6 July after winning a fight for it in June, but a heavy Japanese attack mounted from
Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy during 6-11 July defeated them (no cas report). The Japanese were so determined to win this fight they launched an air attack on the afternoon of 6 July with two unescorted TAC wings, killing 92 Soviet defenders before the interceptors could arrive (late, just as the raid was finishing). The Japanese TAC returned that night, but this time two Soviet INT wings were able to disrupt the raid, heavily damaging one enemy TAC wing and preventing any ground casualties. The Japanese reoccupied
Mogocha on 28 July but were attacked straight away by the Soviets, who had won that battle by 30 July and would try to advance secure it in August.
A large Soviet attack on
Berezitovvy in mid-July was an expensive failure (Sov 1,312 v 701 Jap), despite heavy air support. But they had better luck in the mountains of
Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy, winning an attack there on 23 July (no cas report) and brushing away more would-be defenders on 31 July, when they occupied it. Naturally, the Japanese counter-attacked immediately from the south and that battle continued as July ended.
The Soviet Air Force struck hard in this sector in July, including in
Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy (5,323),
Yerofey Pavlovich (4,925),
Ust' Urkima (2,037) and
Berezitovvy (1,545).
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4. The Southern and Mongolian Sectors
Given the revised orders and poor supply in the South around
Lake Baikal, there was no ground or air combat in that sector during July. But Mongolian and Soviet 7th Army units were active in Mongolia, with two provinces liberated.
Operational summary, Far East – Mongolian Sector, July 1945.
A joint Soviet-Mongol attack on
Dzhirgalanta continued from June until it was heavily defeated on 5 July (Comintern 1,441 v 785 Jap). It did lead to a Japanese attempt to interfere with air strikes on
Dzhirgalanta that was itself intercepted over
Muren early on 2 July. The Japanese fighters were heavily defeated and not seen again for the rest of the month.
But despite the initial Japanese victory in
Dzirgalanta, the Mongolians followed up with an attack of their own which eventually saw the province retaken on 14 July (no report). This coincided with a costly but successful Comintern defence of
Taryacin, which had been retaken after victory there in June and was then savagely attacked by the Japanese from 8-14 July (Com 1,441 v 785 Jap). At the end of the month, an attack by a Soviet garrison division on
Ubur Khangaiin was launched, but their shock attack was negated by a local counter-attack by a Japanese regular infantry division and, despite air support, it looked unlikely to succeed.
Six days of continuous air strikes supporting the consecutive Comintern and Mongolian attacks on
Dzhirgalanta killed 3,728 enemy troops, while 619 had been killed in
Ubur Khangaiin as the month ended.
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5. Logistics
Supply production and distribution was a key focus during the first half of July in particular, with wild swings in demand until a broad balance in production (at least) seemed to be attained, though supply on the ground and along the Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR) to
Irkutsk remained problematic. This special report from the Quartermaster General is submitted in part to seek comment and advice from Politburo members
[ie you guys ].
This table summarises selected statistics taken during the month regarding stockpile levels and fluctuations, demand and IC allocations for supply production. At times during the month, alerts stated the stockpile could have emptied in less than three weeks if the current daily deficit was maintained.
Notes to the table:
1. Supply production reached a peak of 150 IC on 12 July and kept steady at 110 IC from 15 July (when I froze it) until the end of the month.
2. The cause of the ‘Convoyed out’ blip (13.20) on 13 July is currently unknown.
3. I have only a glancing familiarity with the supply system, normally I simply adjust production to keep the stockpile balance at where I’m comfortable. And do supply-related research.
4. I don’t really understand how to read/what drives the two big demand factors of ‘Into network’ and ‘Used’, what the latter actually depicts and why it would have fluctuated that wildly. Any expert guidance based on this info and that provided below would be greatly appreciated, as this is becoming a big factor both for general industrial effort and supply on the ground.
In early July, quite a few units were in poor supply, most but not all in the Far East. In the maps below, the top one shows infrastructure, especially the TSR going through
Irkutsk. The one below takes a wider angle and shows poor local supply/throughput (?) along the TSR all the way back to the West.
A small supply trade deal was done on 5 July with Luxemburg (2.28 money for 15.26 supplies) – though it didn’t seem to have much of an impact on the ‘traded for’ total subsequently.
Supply on the ground in the east appeared to have improved a bit by 23 July, with only six divisions in poor supply (mainly around
Lake Baikal, plus one in the far north-east in
Susuman). By 31 July, only the division in
Susuman was listed as in poor supply.
The map below shows supply status to the East on 10, 19 and 31 July. The TSR continued to be a choke point, though the situation around
Irkutsk in particular showed signs of improvement.
6. Naval Operations
The only naval excitement during the month was the loss of a convoy and its escort off the north of Luzon on 4 July as it made the dangerous transit from the West to the Pacific fleet base in Kamchatka. But the Soviets had plenty of both in reserve.
7. Diplomacy
Sweden began aligning to the Comintern on 11 July and continued to do so for the rest of the month.
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8. Research
After a relatively quiet June, July saw a plethora of projects completed.
A major milestone was achieved on 2 July with rocket engines being developed – the team was rolled straight into strategic rocket development.
[A question: anyone ever bother with rocket interceptors? I wasn’t going to, but if there’s any value I’d be interested in hearing.]
Four days later medium tank guns were brought up to contemporary standards. Following on from rocket engine research, work was started on jet engine theory.
On 7 July nuclear physics research matured to the next level. It was discontinued for now, with the last of the ‘Level 5’ medium tank techs being undertaken - into reliability.
On 15 July two projects were completed. The first Soviet helicopter prototype was developed: but in an oversight that would be blamed on Five-Year-Plan bureaucrats in Moscow, researchers didn’t roll straight into applying this to either medical evacuation or pilot rescue. It would have to be taken up some time in August.
[Didn’t realise I’d missed this until I was reviewing the screenshots when writing up the chapter. Will get to them as slots are freed up next time.]
Invasion tactics were worked out on the same day and the work continued: the less time Soviet marines were exposed to sea or air interdiction while trying to get ashore could well be crucial, given the small and primitive navy available to protect the landing craft and transports.
Medium tank armour was brought up to contemporary standards on 20 July, with the important area of artillery barrels and ammunition the next to be focused on.
The drive to improve submarine AA continued on 26 July.
And with medium tanks being brought further up to standard on 28 July, more work went into submarine air warning equipment.
Finally, on 31 July the first advance in strategic bomber armament (a lower priority area, but feel I should do some there for realism) was made, with work going into improving the efficiency of Soviet radar systems (important for the possible next war with the imperialists capitalists and their running dogs).
9. Production
With huge supply production increases being implemented in July, there was little room for new production projects, with most not being replaced when they were completed. For most of the month, there was a substantial ‘below the line’ element in the production queue.
First, on 11 July, some high-cost projects were sent to the bottom of the queue to absorb the shortfall (see a summary at the end of this section – armour and aircraft, primarily). On 14 July, construction of the often-delayed battleship
Sovyetskiy Soyuz was suspended yet again and sent to the bottom of the queue. Better than to the bottom of the sea!
A new wing of Tu-2T NAV was finished on 16 July, but was deployed initially in
Moscow to minimise supply consumption, but a new MOT brigade was added to 15 Mot Div in the 15th Army, bringing it to four brigades (LARM, 2 x MOT, AC).
The second level of work was finished on the original nuclear reactor in
Mytishchi on 23 July and construction was continued at a slightly reduced cost while the expansion came on line. This was one area where, despite the expense, strategic considerations came out on top.
On 30 July, the air base at
Mutina expanded to Level 7 facilities. Given supply demands and its increasing distance from the central front, no more work was ordered for it. And on 31 July, two ENGR brigades were deployed to divisions in 15th Army, bringing 123 SD (2 x INF, AT, ARTY, ENGR) and 32 SD (4 x INF, ENGR) to five brigades each.
The tables below show changes in production queues and IC distribution between 11 and 31 July. The production shortfall remained at around 70 IC despite a reduction in the queue, caused by a large increase of upgrade demand with recent research advances.
Note: I will have to kill off those small supply export (?) convoys I've just spotted!
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10. Intelligence and Security
The Finns were reportedly building their resistance bases once more on 6 July (revolt risk map shown below). The whole Axis would need to be defeated before a Communist puppet government could be installed to remove this irritation.
The sinking of the convoy to Kamchatka had temporarily affected NU (-0.441 vs +0.370 spies raising NU), but at 80.413% NU was strong behind the war effort.
On 12 July, the large surplus in ready spies (21) was employed to infiltrate Turkey.
They were fully established the next day, revealing Turkish domestic spy strength (5) and other information.
After no problems were encountered for the next six days, the Soviet teams were ordered to conduct a full counter-espionage mission to try to erode Turkish security capability on 19 July.
[Note: I'd appreciate any views on whether 'our party' influence and or covert ops would be of any use and what likelihood there would be of being able to conduct a successful coup (something I've never really tried in a game) and whether it's ever really worth it. If not, what other missions would you suggest once counter-espionage has been successful?]
On 22 July, with Soviet spy strength holding up well, and Manchurian and Japanese domestic spy strength at just zero and one respectively, the mission in both countries was switched from counter-espionage to full NU disruption.
The Japanese Kempeitai started the month with three teams, adding one and losing one to Soviet action to finish with three, with no Soviet agents lost. Japanese national unity had decreased by 0.4% from 65.8% to 65.4% (some of which was likely to be from convoy losses).
Manchukuo started the month with three agent teams at home, losing one to Soviet action and another to unknown causes to finish with one, with no Soviet spies neutralised. Manchurian national unity had decreased by 0.3% from 67.9% to 67.6%.
Turkey had five spy teams when the Soviet mission there started on 13 July, losing two to Soviet action bud adding two to remain at five by month’s end. They were able to neutralise one Soviet agent. National unity, not targeted by the Soviets in July, increased by 0.1% from 69.6% to 69.7%.
Fewer enemy agents (31) were neutralised in July compared to June (37). The UK was yet again had top number of agents lost (four), three again from Germany, two from Italy and the two Turkish agents detained there, the rest from Allied and neutral powers.
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11. Theatre Summaries
The Far Eastern Theatre saw Soviet gains in the Centre and Mongolia, a number of important victories and potential advances in August. But July had proven ground was hard to hold for both sides after initial seizure. The most positive aspect for the Soviets was that a division of the Japanese forces into a smaller northern and larger southern enclave was within reach.
Total
confirmed Soviet losses in land combat were up by a little over 2,000 compared to June at 13,647, with just 92 lost to one Japanese air raid for a total (known) of 13,739.
With the operational tempo up again despite the supply problems in the south, the Japanese and their puppets lost 17,332 men (around 4,300 more than in June) in ground combat and 19,957 to air strikes (about 600 fewer than June). Total Japanese/Axis casualties were therefore 37,289, over 3,700 more than in June.
This map shows terrain and general unit dispositions in the Far East as at 2300hr on 31 July 1945.
[Note: let me know if, with the units stripped out of the sector summary maps for simplicity, if this is enough detail for readers. If you’d like more in key sectors, I can find some way of squeezing it in, or add it by request in an appendix of space is an issue.]
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In South East Asia, the Allies have again failed to wrap up Malaya and
Singapore … but look at what has happened in the Philippines – an explosion! After we all dissed the AI for not doing these things well in general and specifically in this case.
The expansion of the invasion from Manila was first noticed by the Soviets early on 4 July, with expansion to a Franco-English invasion force of four divisions rapidly moving in all direction, seemingly on with Japanese HQs (not) opposing them.
The lodgement had grown to take the southern half of Luzon by 19 July and an island-hopping advance had begun to its south. By 31 July, more units were ashore and still advancing north against flimsy resistance – if any. Allied air and naval units had taken advantage of the bases freed up.
And a light French division was making rapid progress along the island chain leading to Mindanao – whose northern coast at
Cagayan de Oro was its next stop.
Allied management in Malaya was far less efficient. The many divisions heading there in late June had halted the Japanese advance and retaken
Kuala Lumpur by the beginning of 4 June – but some were already beginning to turn back north before the job was fully done. Again.
This situation was even more lamentable by the end of the month.
It seemed they were all headed back north by strategic movement, some perhaps to a French amphibious fleet in
Haiphong. Judging by the damage they had suffered, they had been in action during the Philippines campaign.
STAVKA hoped that, if it ever came to war with the French-led Allies, it would be the planners of the Malaya campaign and not the Philippines invasion that were in charge!
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There had been little movement in Australia, though it was noticed the Australians had built up a considerable air force, all of which was based at
Geelong, just west of
Melbourne.
And there had been movement in the Pacific – but the results were mixed. The Americans had retaken the large naval base in Guam with a division of marines. But had lost Midway Island!
