06:00 30th September 1942
Several fleets have been sent to support the main battle and the destroyer taskforce has arrived first only to find that the IPTN main fleet is disputing control of the area. The bad weather makes fighting them a viable option and after one hour fighting is in full swing with the IPTN screens. The destroyer group is not going to work wonders but it should perform good preparatory duty before the main fleet arrives.
10:00 30th September 1942
Because of the weather our task force is doing well and I decide to stay until the main fleet arrives to try to make sure that contact is made.
Close action in bad weather
15:00 30th September 1942
Unfortunately the IPTN is not keen and they break off and retreat northwards. This is an interesting development because it means they are heading for port which immediately exposes them to the usual German port strike arrangements.
End of September review
An intelligence review tells us little at this point as nothing has really changed since the last check. The main issue for review is the current operational plan. Things seem to have developed form the previous indecision into a clear-cut path for further operations.
Africa
The plan for Africa is quite simple. The limited forces present are going to slowly nibble away at French forces and one day they may defeat them. I am not too concerned about this and it can go on and on forever without my being too worried. The arrival of substantial expeditionary forces more or less guarantees it will go on for a long while. If it becomes too tedious then I may have to pull back a bit and allow them to expand. The French are badly in need of good opportunities to expose themselves.
The Great Pocket
The plan here is quite simple, advance on all fronts with and reduce the pocket to nothing. The defending forces are now incapable of effective combat so this is really just a marching exercise.
South China and South East Asia
The incursion into South China will be reinforced, the Guangzhou pocket reduced and the entire coastal strip occupied. This will give me full control of China and allow me to confine the remaining enemy forces in South East Asia. This will be followed up by finding their supply depot and starting anti-convoy warfare to work towards putting them out of supply. The Petal Throne now has a large supply of convoys and escorts so this could become a very long and drawn out operation but it appears to be by far the most efficient way to progress.
Naval and Amphibious operations
Naval operations will continue to try to completely suppress the IPTN and remove it as an effective fighting force. In parallel an invasion of the Philippines will take place as soon as possible. Once the Philippines have been annexed I may move on to take Taiwan and maybe the Ryukus. I haven’t made I clear decision on this yet. Taiwan and Ryukus make good forward bases for the enemy and would make forward bases for me. The general position would feel more secure with them captured but I’m not entirely sure whether it would make any real difference. If I do take them they are likely to be built up as forward bases for an air war against the Japanese home islands.
The main follow up action to the Philippines will be an invasion of Australia. I don’t feel at all secure with Australia on my flank and I know they are fielding major forces backed by major industrial capability so it would be nice to eliminate them. To this end there will be a build up around Timor followed by an invasion of Australia using major German forces. This will involve every mobile division I can spare and I will be trying to make it as overwhelming (and hence as cheap) as possible. Since Australia has inherited several islands out in the South Pacific it will be sensible to extend this operation to capture New Zealand despite the threatened difficulties indicated by intelligence estimates (over 80 divisions). This should shift the active front out into the South Pacific and reduce the eastern campaigns to Germany versus the Petal Throne supported by the USA.
Manchurian Front
This area will continue with the current plan but in the medium term is going to fall back to a defensive mode and if considered desirable I may pull back to economise on the rather large force currently securing the area.
Territorial Security
Major forces will remain in Europe to provide coastal security but many areas outside Europe will be stripped of their current defences. This especially applies to the Middle East. Land supply routes to the East are no longer threatened by allied landings along the coast from west India to the top of the Arabian Gulf so I am going to remove the defences.
In Siberia partisan levels are dropping so numerous garrisons can be removed to provide better partisan reduction elsewhere. Key airfields will remain garrisoned to make air operations including transfers, builds up and anti-partisan operations quite safe but other defensive units are likely to be removed. For the time being security will continue to be provided by garrisons.
The troops released will ultimately make their way into the inland areas of China where they will provide partisan suppression as well as airfield security. Hopefully this will go some way to reducing TC load so that the supply situation eases up in a few months time.
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