Chapter 22: Long-range Warfare (July – December 1943)
After the marines’ landing on Formosa, American troops quickly captured the rest of the island and began digging in. Construction teams went to work right away on America’s ambitious goals for the island; Formosa was already fitted with a decent airbase and a large dock, but the Americans wanted to transform it into a fortress, capable of supporting a massive aerial presence while supplying an entire army for future invasions.
Soon, a huge number of American planes started operating from the island – initially, several waves of fighters were used to secure the region against bombing raids, while heavy bombers searched for Japanese warships and convoys.
Within weeks, the first strategic bomber wings were sent towards southern Japan itself, in an effort to damage the enemy’s morale and potentially cause some damage to their war effort. The bombers were only able to operate conservatively, since they were out of range of escort fighters and would frequently encounter Japanese fighter planes, both native and lend-leased, but their attacks were still a major shock to the same nation which had expected 1943 to be the year of Japanese conquest in the Pacific.
For the next several months, the American strategy was simply to hold Formosa and let their air force do the work. The primary goal here was to gain air superiority over the East China Sea, as control of the skies would be crucial to any upcoming operations. Bombers were also sent occasionally to patrol the seas for Japanese shipping, while strategic bombers would occasionally deploy at nighttime. The battle for air superiority began intensely, with Japan throwing huge numbers of planes based in Min territory to try and destroy the American air bases.
But over time, Japanese attacks began to wane as the American position grew stronger and stronger. Anti-air installations soon stopped the Japanese from trying to bomb Formosa, and it was difficult to outnumber the Americans as they continued to deploy more and more planes to the region.
By October, the Japanese stopped flying near Formosa altogether and began using their planes for defensive purposes instead. Despite both nations’ planes being roughly equal in terms of quality and technology for the duration of the battle, America had gained the upper hand through sheer numbers – the country’s industrial output was massive, to the point where even the frequent heavy bomber losses were replaced.
The bombing raids increased in frequency and size as the American position was strengthened, forcing the Japanese to further spread out their own air force just to defend their territory. The early American heavy bombers often struggled without escorts, resulting in some serious losses to Japanese and foreign planes, but they did manage to do heavy damage to Japanese infrastructure on the southern island of Kyushu.
By November, an entire army of marines and armor were stationed on Formosa to stand by for a future operation. With international pressures continuing to rise, the Americans hoped to bring an end to the war as soon as possible, so they devised a plan to engage the Japanese with the new Combined Fleet near Formosa, supported by America’s numerous land-based warplanes, and then quickly launch a huge invasion into Japan’s mainland itself, where the defenses should be weak enough to establish a foothold since the majority of Japan’s army was devoted to mainland Asia and the Pacific islands.
The bombing patrols over the sea caused minor damage to some Japanese screening ships and convoys, but the Japanese navy was wise enough to avoid patrolling the area in full, knowing that America would need to deploy its full navy in order to progress any further. Even with the current air coverage America had over the region, the only major invasion they could attempt without exposing their inferior fleet would be an invasion of China, which the Japanese were well equipped to defend against.
Meanwhile, the strategic bombing raids over Southern Japan continued. A staggering number of American bombers were now in rotation, keeping the Japanese fighters quite busy. The majority of American bombing raids failed to accomplish anything meaningful; either due to retreating from inbound Japanese fighters detected via radar, or simply due to the inherent inaccuracy of bombing from a very large height, especially at nighttime. Still, the sheer number of bombs dropped did manage to do some decent damage to Japanese infrastructure over the final months of 1943.
Over the next several months, the current wave of American bombers would begin to struggle and take increasing losses as the Japanese adapted to the situation and developed or imported better anti-air weapons, but the sheer number of American bombers available made the country unconcerned with losses, as long as the raids continued to succeed.
In September, another invasion of Beixue was attempted with a larger force of Marines, accompanied by two armored divisions. However, the enemy had taken the time since the last attempt to reinforce their capital even further, ultimately resulting in another failure for the Marines.
Meanwhile, American shipping continued to take heavy damage from raids. The old Pacific Fleet was still operating in the area, but the raiding ships of Beixue were very skilled, picking their targets and avoiding the American fleet.
After being foiled twice by the impenetrable defenses of Beixue’s capital, a new plan was made for the marines to invade a port farther north, which would be less fortified and defended by fewer men. That next month, this attack was attempted with full support from the Combined Fleet.
The landing was successful at first, but several waves of attackers were forced to retreat after taking heavy losses, while the enemy continued to reinforce rather than fall back despite their own losses. Beixue was seemingly impenetrable.
Frustrated by the continued failures, the Oregon Marines were bolstered significantly in number, and began planning another much larger invasion of that same northern port.
That December, the very well-funded American R&D divisions decided on the final designs for a whole new generation of warplanes - including new fighters, as well as medium and heavy bombers. The main priority for all of these planes was range, as any invasion of Japan or Beixue would need the support of Tactical Bombers in order to have a realistic chance of success.
Specifically, the new American fighters would significantly outclass all of the planes they were put up against, thanks to the unprecedented speed they were capable of reaching. In order to satisfy the need range without sacrificing these speeds, the fighters were equipped with droppable fuel tanks, which could be ejected if necessary once they entered a combat zone to reduce weight.
The new wave of bombers were also much better defended than the previous generation, with better cannons and armor in order to be capable of attacking raiding without fighter support. Already the Japanese struggled to defend against the numerically superior American bombers; this next generation would make it far more difficult for them to resist the annihilation of their industry.
A huge number of American factories were devoted to these new warplanes, with the intention of deploying a meaningful number of them for operations within just two months. The war had already dragged on too long, and America was aiming for a decisive victory soon so that Japan could be forced to surrender as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile though, the postwar turmoil in Europe continued to distract Livonia’s sphere of influence, and the continued American embargo brought a new kind of pressure as the winter of 1943 set in. Already Livonia’s commitment to Japan had been quite weak, so this was a great opportunity – America’s successes in the Pacific War combined with Europe’s own struggles provided a great opportunity for the two nations to negotiate. While they may remain enemies, America could certainly buy time to defeat Japan if they played their cards right.
After the marines’ landing on Formosa, American troops quickly captured the rest of the island and began digging in. Construction teams went to work right away on America’s ambitious goals for the island; Formosa was already fitted with a decent airbase and a large dock, but the Americans wanted to transform it into a fortress, capable of supporting a massive aerial presence while supplying an entire army for future invasions.
Soon, a huge number of American planes started operating from the island – initially, several waves of fighters were used to secure the region against bombing raids, while heavy bombers searched for Japanese warships and convoys.
Within weeks, the first strategic bomber wings were sent towards southern Japan itself, in an effort to damage the enemy’s morale and potentially cause some damage to their war effort. The bombers were only able to operate conservatively, since they were out of range of escort fighters and would frequently encounter Japanese fighter planes, both native and lend-leased, but their attacks were still a major shock to the same nation which had expected 1943 to be the year of Japanese conquest in the Pacific.
For the next several months, the American strategy was simply to hold Formosa and let their air force do the work. The primary goal here was to gain air superiority over the East China Sea, as control of the skies would be crucial to any upcoming operations. Bombers were also sent occasionally to patrol the seas for Japanese shipping, while strategic bombers would occasionally deploy at nighttime. The battle for air superiority began intensely, with Japan throwing huge numbers of planes based in Min territory to try and destroy the American air bases.
But over time, Japanese attacks began to wane as the American position grew stronger and stronger. Anti-air installations soon stopped the Japanese from trying to bomb Formosa, and it was difficult to outnumber the Americans as they continued to deploy more and more planes to the region.
By October, the Japanese stopped flying near Formosa altogether and began using their planes for defensive purposes instead. Despite both nations’ planes being roughly equal in terms of quality and technology for the duration of the battle, America had gained the upper hand through sheer numbers – the country’s industrial output was massive, to the point where even the frequent heavy bomber losses were replaced.
The bombing raids increased in frequency and size as the American position was strengthened, forcing the Japanese to further spread out their own air force just to defend their territory. The early American heavy bombers often struggled without escorts, resulting in some serious losses to Japanese and foreign planes, but they did manage to do heavy damage to Japanese infrastructure on the southern island of Kyushu.
By November, an entire army of marines and armor were stationed on Formosa to stand by for a future operation. With international pressures continuing to rise, the Americans hoped to bring an end to the war as soon as possible, so they devised a plan to engage the Japanese with the new Combined Fleet near Formosa, supported by America’s numerous land-based warplanes, and then quickly launch a huge invasion into Japan’s mainland itself, where the defenses should be weak enough to establish a foothold since the majority of Japan’s army was devoted to mainland Asia and the Pacific islands.
The bombing patrols over the sea caused minor damage to some Japanese screening ships and convoys, but the Japanese navy was wise enough to avoid patrolling the area in full, knowing that America would need to deploy its full navy in order to progress any further. Even with the current air coverage America had over the region, the only major invasion they could attempt without exposing their inferior fleet would be an invasion of China, which the Japanese were well equipped to defend against.
Meanwhile, the strategic bombing raids over Southern Japan continued. A staggering number of American bombers were now in rotation, keeping the Japanese fighters quite busy. The majority of American bombing raids failed to accomplish anything meaningful; either due to retreating from inbound Japanese fighters detected via radar, or simply due to the inherent inaccuracy of bombing from a very large height, especially at nighttime. Still, the sheer number of bombs dropped did manage to do some decent damage to Japanese infrastructure over the final months of 1943.
Over the next several months, the current wave of American bombers would begin to struggle and take increasing losses as the Japanese adapted to the situation and developed or imported better anti-air weapons, but the sheer number of American bombers available made the country unconcerned with losses, as long as the raids continued to succeed.
In September, another invasion of Beixue was attempted with a larger force of Marines, accompanied by two armored divisions. However, the enemy had taken the time since the last attempt to reinforce their capital even further, ultimately resulting in another failure for the Marines.
Meanwhile, American shipping continued to take heavy damage from raids. The old Pacific Fleet was still operating in the area, but the raiding ships of Beixue were very skilled, picking their targets and avoiding the American fleet.
After being foiled twice by the impenetrable defenses of Beixue’s capital, a new plan was made for the marines to invade a port farther north, which would be less fortified and defended by fewer men. That next month, this attack was attempted with full support from the Combined Fleet.
The landing was successful at first, but several waves of attackers were forced to retreat after taking heavy losses, while the enemy continued to reinforce rather than fall back despite their own losses. Beixue was seemingly impenetrable.
Frustrated by the continued failures, the Oregon Marines were bolstered significantly in number, and began planning another much larger invasion of that same northern port.
That December, the very well-funded American R&D divisions decided on the final designs for a whole new generation of warplanes - including new fighters, as well as medium and heavy bombers. The main priority for all of these planes was range, as any invasion of Japan or Beixue would need the support of Tactical Bombers in order to have a realistic chance of success.
Specifically, the new American fighters would significantly outclass all of the planes they were put up against, thanks to the unprecedented speed they were capable of reaching. In order to satisfy the need range without sacrificing these speeds, the fighters were equipped with droppable fuel tanks, which could be ejected if necessary once they entered a combat zone to reduce weight.
The new wave of bombers were also much better defended than the previous generation, with better cannons and armor in order to be capable of attacking raiding without fighter support. Already the Japanese struggled to defend against the numerically superior American bombers; this next generation would make it far more difficult for them to resist the annihilation of their industry.
A huge number of American factories were devoted to these new warplanes, with the intention of deploying a meaningful number of them for operations within just two months. The war had already dragged on too long, and America was aiming for a decisive victory soon so that Japan could be forced to surrender as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile though, the postwar turmoil in Europe continued to distract Livonia’s sphere of influence, and the continued American embargo brought a new kind of pressure as the winter of 1943 set in. Already Livonia’s commitment to Japan had been quite weak, so this was a great opportunity – America’s successes in the Pacific War combined with Europe’s own struggles provided a great opportunity for the two nations to negotiate. While they may remain enemies, America could certainly buy time to defeat Japan if they played their cards right.