Historical Multiplayer AAR, Japans Pacific war

[Alex_brunius]

This is an AAR of my Japanese experience in one of my ongoing HoI4 Weekly Multiplayer games.

Mods: No mans land.

Players on: Germany, Italy, Soviet, UK, Japan, USA and parts of the game Canada and Bulgaria.

Table of contents:

Part 1: 1941 October, Preparation for war ( this post )
Part 2: 1942 October, Disaster in the Philippines, Success in India and on the Oceans.
Part 3: 1943 May, The Rising sun, revenge at Java and the Suez meatgrinder
Part 4: 1943 December, The Roar of the Red Bear
Part 5: 1944 August, The heat of the Steppes
Part 6: 1945, Hawaiian skies in Crimson fire



1941 October, Preparation for war.

Having secured China and annexed the coastline + puppeted the interior in 1939 already Japan is in an excellent economical situation for going to war. The Commonwealth allies are weak and occupied with fighting the Germans and Italians who in Europe have advanced and taken all of Spain, Gibraltar and the Northafrican coast from the Atlantic up to the Allied fortress in El Alamein which seems unbreakable. USA still is a slumbering giant that's waking up from the tension of all the fighting around the world, and Japan is determined to make sure their awakening is a rough one.

The intelligence outlook of USAs strength is not looking that optimistic however, since the early Axis aggression have allowed them to start preparations for war as well:

USA currently as of 1941 has an estimated advantage of:
183% as strong Military Industry as Japan
406% as strong Civilian long term Industry as Japan
211% as strong Naval Dockyard Industry as Japan
144% as strong Airforce as Japan
187% as strong Navy as Japan
50% as strong Army as Japan

Japan will need to rely on superior quality to even stand a chance against this Giant, and cannot afford to make mistakes, or the future looks dark indeed. The hopes of Japan also rests on the European Axis being able to pressure Great Britain and Soviet enough to need significant help from USA both through Lend Lease and through direct support of divisions, airplanes and fleets.

And while our Army might look stronger on paper, no less then 55% of the Japanese divisions are needed for homeland and island defense and to man the Soviet border (despite our NAP), leaving just 88 divisions to cover all offensive operations from Philippines and the Pacific islands to Malaya, Burma and Dutch East Indies.

These 88 divisions are allocated as follows in the initial attack:
6 Marine divisions to invade Guam
30 Marine divisions to invade Northern Philippines
12 Marine divisions to invade Malaya
14 Infantry divisions to invade Siam
14 Infantry divisions and 12 Light Armor divisions to invade Burma ( Japans entire armor strength ):

The Airforce is deployed to be able to support naval battles in the South China sea and the Philippine sea where we expect initial US and Royal Navy resistance to be focused.

State of the Navy:

The IJN consists of a total of 7 Carriers and will be getting one more Shokaku class before going to war, 6 of them are Focused in the 1:st Air Fleet (Kido Butai). Further construction of the Yamato class has been progressing well and both Yamato and Musashi have completed their shakedowns successfully and joined the Kido Butai. To stand a chance against the vastly numerically superior US Navy Japan needs to focus all our most modern ships into a spearhead fleet which can take on and sink anything they throw at us. In October 1941 the Kido Butai can bring 507 Planes to the battle, vastly superior of any other Fleet in the world. 274 state of the art Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero-Sen fighters, 209 Nakajima B6N Torpedo bombers and 24 obsolete D1A2 divebombers.

Before declaration of war the Kido Butai is reinforced by additional Light Cruisers and two Kongo Class fast Battleships.

In December of 1941 Japan Declares war on USA and the Allies, all invasions orders move forward by the word of the Emperor. "May the Divine wind guide our brave soldiers, sailors and pilots to take what is rightfully ours and secure a glorious future for Nihon".

 

[Alex_brunius]

1942 October, Disaster in the Philippines, but Success in India and on the Oceans.

As expected the US Navy appeared in great strength in the south China sea, with as many ships as the total amount available in the IJN. Secondary fleets and shore bombardment fleets had to be called in to support the Kido Butai and many ships including large numbers of screens were lost on both sides. With great superiority of cruisers the US Navy savagely thrashed the Japanese Destroyers sinking over 30 of them. A few Capital ships were lost on the US side, amounting to one Carrier and one Battleship, but most of them escaped badly damaged, while Japan heavier ships lost counted only a single Heavy Cruiser and light damage to Carriers and Battleships. Both sides fleets were forced to break of to head home for repairs. The Japanese invasions their fleets supported however encountered heavy resistance in the Philippines.

The invasion of the Philippines only managed to capture a single small port in Dagupan and surround a few US/Philippine divisions defending it. Despite repeated attacks of the Japanese Marines the US forces in neither Manila nor the northern port in Aparri could be dislodged. Critically not a single airport was captured by Japanese forces, while USA remained in control of the large airports in Manila. So while IJN Carrier fighters rules over the oceans, over land the Air is ruled by the numerically superior US Airforce that throws hundreds upon hundreds of fighters and bombers into the frey, while Japan lacks any meaningful number of bombers which can support their divisions due to lack of range from airbases. The focus on Carrier planes which has enabled the victories at sea also meant only a handful of Tactical bombers with enough range to support are available.

These heavy airlosses despite slightly favorable ratios soon became too much for Japan, who struggle greatly with Aluminium resources for air production, and after a few months the Marines on the Philippines were left without air support and without much supply. 5 Marine divisions also had to be evacuated to lighten the supply load and after that any hope of continued offensive was lost with the fronts settling down to a trench warfare in the jungles. Neither side managed to progress despite attempts from the US and Philippine forces to counterattack.

The US next phase of their naval operations moves to Convoy warfare, with great number of submarines operating trying to deny Japanese divisions in the Philippines their badly needed supplies. So for the months of spring 1942 Anti submarine forces of Japan sink large numbers of submarines, with the Secondary Carrier fleet being responsible for almost 60 American submarines sunk.

Disaster in the Philippines:
While the Japanese fleets have been busy chasing down US submarines all along the coasts of Japan and China, the USA has not been sitting idle. While their fleet has been busy repairing they have managed to sneak in 9 mechanized divisions into Manila unnoticed. A huge gamble considering their lack of naval cover, but one that would pay off many times over. Japanese commanders in Philippines were growing overconfident and felt they had the situation under control having repelled any US attack so far, but the Mechanized divisions came as a complete shock which they were totally incapable of dealing with in part due to a total lack of AT equipment. Despite jungle terrain the US mechanized moved quickly and brilliantly to capture the single port and only hope for Japanese retreat, trapping 25 Japanese Marine divisions in the Philippine jungles. The 25 Japanese divisions surrendered within weeks marking a devastating loss for the Japanese with over 250,000 men captured.

Photo of M2 Half Track in the Philippines.


In the Burmese and Siamese fronts however events have unfolded better for Japan. Japanese Light tanks are blitzing into India proper seemingly unstoppable and capturing large numbers of allied divisions in the jungles there, before 1942 is over all of India has been captured and all that remains is the island of Ceylon. At the same time the infantry is progressing steadily down through Siam towards Singapore, but at a slightly slower pace.


Miracle at Malacca, September 1942:

As Japanese forces closed in on Singapore supported by the Kido Butai off shore the US Navy now repaired together with the Royal Navy converged for the next decisive battle. First up was the Royal Navy Indian Ocean fleet consisting of 7 Battleships, 1 Battlecruiser and 2 Carriers. In the opening hours of combat Japanese land based Navalbombers scored several critical hits on HMS Courageous, sinking here in a single attack. The air-battle was quickly dominated by the massive Japanese air-groups outnumbering the British more then 10:1 which soon had swept all British fighters away and proceeded to heavily punish the Capital ships. British ships pulled back as quickly as possible, but not after having lost 3 Battleships and suffered medium or heavy damage to most of the other capital ships.

Pictures of a Queen Elisabeth class Battleship magazine detonation after rolling over as a result from torpedo attacks and flooding.

The Royal Navy never managed to get their heavy Battleships within firing range of Japanese forces, so they achieved very little except raising the spirit of the Japanese Carrier crews for the upcoming battle with the American fleet steaming south from the Philippines to attack the IJN two days later.

Thanks to superior land based air-support and the element of surprise the Kido Butai once again scored spectacular success. After alot more bloody air engagements with the American wildcats the Japanese Zero proved to be both the stronger and the numerically superior fighter, which allowed the surviving 130 B6N torpedo bombers to put big several holes in all the 4 US Carriers present, sinking them near the strait of Malacca. In the string of battles that followed as the remaining US Forces fought to try to reclaim some honor and make a tactical withdrawal 7 US Battleships and alot of smaller ships were sunk, for the price of 1 Old Japanese Battleship (Hyuga) and some 40 Japanese destroyers and cruisers that in true Samurai spirit refused to sit back and watch as the Carriers claimed all glory by sinking the enemy from afar.

USS Hornet damaged by Shokaku's planes and under tow with 9 degrees list in 1942 shortly before hit by a devastating final torpedo attack from Japanese Carrier bombers and sunk.


Total Allied Capital ships sunk by the Kido Butai thus far near end of 1942:
USS Randolph (1940 Carrier) - Sunk by Soryu
HMS Nelson (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Soryu
USS Ticonderoga (1940 Carrier) - Sunk by Soryu
USS New York (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Hiryu
HMS Malaya (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Hiryu
USS Arkansas (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Junyo
USS Carlifonia (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Junyo
USS Enterprise (1940 Carrier) - Sunk by Junyo
USS New Mexico (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Junyo
USS Hornet (1940 Carrier) - Sunk by Shokaku
USS Essex (1940 Carrier) - Sunk by Shokaku
USS Idaho (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Shokaku
HMS Royal Oak (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Akagi
USS Oklahoma (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Akagi
USS Arizona (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Zuikaku
USS Mississippi (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Zuikaku

HMS Courageous (1922 Carrier) - Sunk by land based Naval Bombers

Total: 11 Battleships and 6 Carriers.
Other Allied losses: Around 320 smaller ships and submarines.

Our Losses: 82 Destroyers, 4 Light Cruisers, 4 Heavy Cruisers, 1 Battleship and 32 submarines
Our Production: +21 Destroyers, +4 Light Cruisers, +1 Yamato class Battleship, +1 Shokaku class Carrier.


After the devastatingly large losses of and damage to destroyers the Imperial Japanese Navy finds itself very short on ASW and screens:

The main effort of Naval production now have switched over to replace the screens and strengthen the Cruisers to deal with the remaining swarms of allied destroyers and light ships having broken their main Capital ship strength. Also visible, production efforts of decent Anti Tank equipment have started to be able to fight the US Mechanized divisions which Japan surely haven't seen the last of yet.

 

[Alex_brunius]

1943 May, The Rising sun, revenge at Java and the Suez meatgrinder

Another major battle with the US Navy has taken place as Japanese and US Marines have played cat and mouse in the central Pacific invading and counter-invading Palau, Marcus island, Wake and the Kuril islands.

This time it was a devastating victory for the Japanese which suffered around 150 planes shot down and minor damage to some Carriers and Battleships, while yet again inflicting devastating losses on the USN.

The following US Navy Capital ships were sunk:
USS West Virginia (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Zuikaku
USS Ranger (1936 Carrier) - Sunk by Junyo
USS Wasp (1940 Carrier) - Sunk by Shokaku
USS Intrepid (1940 Carrier) - Sunk by Shokaku
USS Texas (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Shokaku
USS Nevada (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Shokaku

Japanese News outlet and others around the world have spread an iconic picture of Ace bomber pilot Lt. Kazushige Kodama and his Chutai (crew of 9 torpedo bomber formation) on the Shokaku in front of 7 US Capital ship markers painted and crossed over, 4 Carriers and 3 Battleships. Of those 4 Carriers his Chutai was responsible of sealing the fate of at least 3 with their deadly accurate and daring torpedo attacks.

Photo from a key briefing on board a Japanese Carrier before an important sortie which will end up sinking several US Battleships, among them West Virginia which was hit by 7 torpedoes.

At this point the Kido Butai and the Imperial Japanese Navy seems unstoppable, and with the addition of the larger Shokaku class Carriers Junyo and Hiyo retiring Kaga and Akagi to the secondary Carrier fleet it's now up to 617 airplanes, and all 6 of the Fighter wings + many of the bomber wings are led by Veteran aces:

Revenge at Java

When advancing through Java, right after reaching Jakarta the Japanese divisions however encountered fierce allied resistance yet again. The same 9 US Mechanized divisions who defended the Philippines had somehow made it to Java and with them the US Airforce appeared in great numbers.

Fierce air combat soon broke out and over the 2 month campaign both sides lost around 650 airplanes each, with the Japanese deficiency in CAS and TAC research and production again showing itself leaving their divisions with little to no air support. AT also was in short supply, most of it deployed elsewhere or in the reserves back in Japan waiting for allocation.

It was a stalemate, but just barley with US forces coming frighteningly close to breaking through. Everything looked like Java was heading for a repeat of the Philippines disaster, and the IJN argued fiercely with the Army how to best handle the situation, demanding that they do their part to win the war, while the Army replied that the Navy had been favored too much leaving the Army weak and without modern equipment, which was not entirely without truth. While the Japanese Army had the numbers they were no where near the technological edge and devastating superiority in quality that the Navy enjoyed over their US enemies.

In a heroic effort however to rush AT equipment down to the divisions in need of it some Destroyers were converted to fast Transports, and this effort was dubbed the "Tokyo Express", since the trip could be made in just 4 days with quick refueling stops in Taiwan and Singapore.

IJN Destroyer Arashi in part of the Tokyo Express

The Naval supremacy also allowed planning invasions in the rear of the US Mechanized divisions near their supply port in eastern Java at Soerabaja, with remaining Japanese Marine divisions hungry for revenge.

Once all plans were prepared the Army launched their full scale attack, supported by shore bombardment as the Navy's Marines were landing in the rear of the US forces. Without supply and without a port to retreat from, and thanks to the Anti Tank guns rushed down the US Mechanized divisions could finally be overcome after weeks of tough fighting in the jungles and mountains of Java.

Suez Meatgrinder.

Showing no sign of stopping after India the Japanese Army had advanced through Iran and Iraq, linking up with Italian and Bulgarian forces fighting the Russians and allies in Eastern Turkey. Since Japan is still at Peace with Soviet ( Non Agression Pact ) they can focus on the weaker commonwealth allies, and after some tough fighting in Palestine pushed them back towards Suez where the allies dug in. Contesting Suez locked remaining Allied ships inside the Mediterranean, and also cut allied supplies from entering the sea route to the larger Ports in Egypt. This meant that the large allied forces at Suez and El Alamein soon start suffering from supply shortage as it have to be carried overland through terrible infrastructure in Egypt. Getting through equipment reinforcement also seems to be big issue.

After a month of near constant attacks through allied air superiority the Japanese divisions start to suffer, and develop a shortage of tanks as well as several divisions worth of casualties in men lost, but the allies show little sign of bulging yet, although as long as they can be kept engaged in combat they cannot properly reinforce equipment.

Only after several more months of bloodshed, and assistance from German and Italian ships clearing out the Royal Navy Mediterranean fleet does the Japanese finally manage to cross and together with German and Italian forces advancing from El Alamein large Commonwealth forces are overrun, and the Suez is taken.

Allied convoy raiding also starts taking out it's toll as Japanese ships can't spread thin to defend convoys running from Germany to Japan with the Steel and aluminium needed for new ships and airplanes, with some convoys as large as 150 ships have been caught by US/UK submarines off the coast of Spain.

November 1943, Pacific Advance

USA, still haven't joined the war against Germany, Italy and Bulgaria officially, such is the pressure Japan has been putting on them. Instead they have been sending Lend Lease to both UK and Soviet while staying outside of the war in Europe.

In the third phase of attacks in the Pacific Japan invade Wake, Midway, Dutch East Indies and New Guinea successfully. Another Naval combat develop outside of Midway during one of the invasion attempts where the following US Capital ships are sunk:

USS Maryland (1922 Battleship) - Sunk by Zuikaku
USS Saratoga (1922 Carrier) - Sunk by Hiyo
USS Yorktown (1940 Carrier) - Sunk by Junyo

Intelligence estimates USA still have around 150 ship remaining, but given the amount of Capital ships sunk, and the smaller and less modern forces they can send, not many Carriers or Battleships can remain. In fact not one Battleship more modern then pre-war models have been spotted so far, so it seams all US Navy efforts have been directed towards Carriers. If this is true at most* 3 of the US Starting Battleships can remain, and the only starting Carrier that can remain is the USS Lexington. USA still have a massive amount of Naval Dockyards with over twice of what Japan has, a huge Military Industry and Airforce, as well as a growing army. So the war is far from won yet.

Both Soviet and the allies airplane production which have been their main advantage so far should struggle now when all natural sources of rubber are captured, assuming it can be held.

The rest of the Pacific lies open for taking. Australia or Africa are also options, and while still at peace with them a long front bordering the Soviet Union which still is engaged in a bloody trench warfare with Germany in the east front and Italy/Bulgaria in Turkey. The European Axis screams for help against the communist threat and the US is screaming for Mercy, but where does Japan turn next?

* It is possible more ships were sunk by landbased air or naval strikes which I can't see since they are not properly tracked by fleets or airwings, and since the game does not collect enemy sunk ships anywhere else where you can see it.

 

[Alex_brunius]

1943 December, The Roar of the Red Bear

The Army and the Navy had been arguing for weeks with no end in sight about where to turn next. The Navy argued that it was imperative to keep up the pace in the Pacific against the US Navy giving them no time to recover, rebuild and strengthen their island defenses. The Army on the other hand did not want the Imperial Navy and their strong "Kaigun Tokubetsu Rikusentai" (Special Naval Landing Forces) stealing all the glory themself, they knew all too well by now from experience the only job the SNLF expected the Army to perform in the Pacific was guarding islands captured by them. The Army argued for a bit larger landwar, either Australia, Africa or even some smaller country in South America. One thing they both could agree on however, was that this was not the time to attack the strong airpower and landpower of the Soviet Union. The Navy could add little to this fight and win no glory here, while the Army did not have enough divisions to properly cover the now exceedingly long front. Finally it seemed as if Australia as next target was the most likely compromise, large enough for both the Navy and Army to get equal part of the glory, but small enough to threaten neither of them, and far enough from enemy major powers that them intervening in a strong fashion was unlikely. Especially given the Naval Supremacy of the Navy by now.

The SNLF already had advanced towards the eastern New Guinea securing some vital air and Naval bases needed to stage invasions from, something they were growing increasingly adept at doing by now. Some Belgian expeditionary forces under British control were causing them troubles by mounting a strong defense in good defensive mountain terrain however:

Hardly had the Army and Navy Chiefs of Staff begun working on their invasion plans before they were all thrown to shambles by their enemies however. At his Speech to the nation on November the 21:st 1943 Stalin expressed grave concerns about the growing ambitions of the empire of the rising sun, spreading lies about how Japan had secretly been assisting the Axis forces in the Turkish front giving them safe havens to retreat to, and that it was soon time to settle the unjust score from Tsushima and 1905.

Japanese Army Intelligence also had spotted recent Soviet strong divisions moving up to the borders of previously undefended fronts, like the Great Steppes to the East of the Caspian Sea. There was no doubt about their impending attack.

Total divisions available to Japan at this moment at or near the Soviet fronts for potential use:

• Egypt, Suez, Sinai and Palestine:
  • 19 Infantry Divisions ( all upgraded with AT ), 0 at Soviet border, 3 in mountains in Palestine.
• Iran and Iraq:
  • 25 Infantry Divisions ( all upgraded with AT ), most deployed near Soviet border
  • 6 Light Armored divisions, deployed as central reserve to attack any landings.
  • 5 Cavalry suppression Divisions
• India, Ceylon and Burma:
  • 4 Infantry Divisions ( no AT )
  • 12 Cavalry suppression Divisions
• China ( including Taiwan and Okinawa ):
  • 9 Infantry Divisions ( no AT )
  • 2 Navy SNLF
  • 14 Reorganized Nationalist China Puppet Infantry Divisions
  • 17 Mengkukuo Puppet Infantry Divisions
• Manchukuo:
  • 24 Infantry Divisions ( all upgraded with AT ), all deployed at Soviet border
  • 5 Light Armored Divisions, deployed behind our lines
  • 6 Motorized Divisions, deployed behind our lines
  • 23 Manchukuo Puppet Divisions
• Strategic Reserve Japan:
  • 12 Infantry Divisions ( all upgraded with AT ), currently in training

The reason for the 6 Light armored deployed in Iraq is that our forces have spotted American and British armored and mechanized assets near the Gulf of Aden, obviously planning to invade somewhere near, which is also very worrying.

Our airforce is in an even worse shape compared to the Soviets. With limited aluminium available and after having fought several engagements of attrition with allied airplanes over all heavy combat through the Philippines, Malaya, Java, India and Egypt, as well as with the American Carriers, they have never had a chance to grow strong.

Of the 648 Carrier Fighters deployed, 448 are deployed on our Carriers, meaning Japan has a total of just 600 Active Land based Fighters with which to cover operations over half the globe, and soon a war of Epic proportions with a Soviet airforce estimated to be over 11000 planes strong. The Japanese stockpiles also holds another ~1200 fighters of varying levels of quality, but almost all our bombers are torpedo (naval) variant, meaning they are useless in a land war.

The only upside is that we expect to have a slight quality edge with the new Ki-84 (1944 model) starting to come off the production lines in increasing quantity the last few months.

In preparation for this hopeless airbattle and going by the reports from our Axis partners in Europe about the hordes of Soviet CAS bombers, the Army have not been idle however. New designs of Self Propelled Anti Air units have been produced and now cover all our Tank units:

1944 March update:

The Soviets main push came in the middle east and Iran, where they advance south with significant forces. This was repulsed after having advanced 4-5 provinces deep however as the first Soviet units came into contact with Japanese Light tank reserve used in concentrated fashion. The fast Light tanks could outrun and encircled the Soviet Infantry piecemeal a few divisions at a time, while being mostly immune to the Soviet air superiority speed effect. Japanese divisions in the area have since advanced north and fought in the Turkish mountains assisting Bulgarian and Italian forces in encircling significant Soviet forces here.

These 6 Tank Divisions Self Propelled AA have proven very useful as well, shooting down almost 200 Soviet bombers over Turkey alone:

As the Soviet beaten and low on equipment divisions retreat the faster Japanese tanks assisted by Bulgarian and Italians encircle even more divisions, and the Oil in Baku is soon within reach.

Another front which have developed well for Japan is the Manchurian front where Vladivostok was captured early on, and the strong mobile forces have proven key to quickly reaching the coast and cutting of large Soviet forces without possibility for escape. Smaller naval landings was also planned and executed in support of this to secure the ports.

Picture of Japanese Army soldiers crossing the Khalkhyn Gol river.



The most troublesome front has been India. Left almost undefended Soviet forces have been slowly advancing from the North, and allied forces coordinated a combined amphibious operation on the Northwestern coast of India, using the fact that Japanese Carrier forces were deployed in the Atlantic escorting convoys, and in the Pacific hunting US Ships, to slip past. American forces landed 20 divisions of Marines in Karachi, while the British landed around 15 divisions including alot of south African expeditionary forces supported by 3 American Mechanized divisions in Ahmadabad. They came within hours of capturing Bombay as they advanced south, and the front could not be stabilized with Ahmadabad recaptured until another 23 Infantry divisions and 5 Tank divisions could be rushed in from other areas ( mostly from the Strategic reserve and the quick victories in Vladivostok/Manchuria ). The Americans managed to encircle and destroy 2 Japanese infantry divisions, but we destroyed far more allied divisions when they lost their supplyport.

Another troublesome event was the capitulation of Reorganized nationalist China, leaving the Chinese front wide open.


1944 April update:

The extent of the Japanese Empire and Soviet front as of 1944:

We can also see that the German Panthers finally have been able to advance in the East, no doubt thanks to Soviet being forced to divert both airplanes and forces to their other vast front-lines, and to the German buildup and offensives coordinated with the Soviet attack on Japan. Our efforts in capturing all sources of natural rubber, while all of the Axis keeping up production of AA and fighters, also have payed off greatly. Intelligence estimates that over the course of our first 5 months of war Soviet have went from 11200 airplanes to just 4500.

Casualties on land also look promising:

Since November 1943 and Japan joining Germany has taken 1.04 million casualties, Romania 115K, Italy 73K and Soviet a staggering 4.15 million. As can be seen Japanese losses have been very limited in comparison, with most Japanese losses being attributed to the separate war with the allies.

 

[Alex_brunius]

1944 August, The heat of the Steppes

Progress against the Soviets ( or as the Japanese soldiers informally started calling them "Bush-Ruskies" for their tendency to set up ambushes from
shrubbery ) was slow but steady on all fronts. Advancing across the steppes and fighting constantly along villages with foreign stretched the supply lines to the breaking point.

Yet the statistics spoke their clear language, All Japanese division types advancing along the Soviet fronts had a very high average Win Ratio since the start of the war.

Also interesting to note is how heavily engaged the Armor divisions have been in all areas that have seen fighting. Despite representing less then 8% of all divisions engaged they have been contributing in over 28% of all battles, and come out victorious in almost 7 out of 8 engagements ( Marines and Garrison templates which saw limited fighting not included )

Meanwhile Italy has taken over all Japanese engagements in Africa and also been granted control of the territory there, to shorten the overstretched Japanese forces a little bit. Another similar effort saw Bulgaria rewarded with occupation of the Black Sea coast territories as a thanks for the hundreds of thousands Bulgarians who bled and died fighting back the Soviet along the mountainous terrains through Turkey and Caucasus.

Moscow had fallen to the advancing Germans in May already and the pace started speeding up. The equipment levels and airplanes left that Soviet could muster both started failing them, and it was clear they were becoming weaker and weaker by each following battle.

Stalingrad finally fell to a combined push by Japan, Bulgaria and Italy in July 44 after harsh resistance. As the Axis forces from the Turkish front now linked up with Germans a few hundred km North of it, the Red Army was soon being forced to full retreat:

Their next defensive line obviously planned to be in the Urals was encountered by Japanse scouting armor formations in early August. Here we can also see the next pocket forming as Japanese light tanks surge ahead to meet up with the infantry fighting in the Ashkhabad area:

In the other Soviet - Japanese fronts in India, China and Siberia their token forces had been pushed back, and probably pulled back as well, as Soviet likely found better use of them to make a last stand in the Urals.

The allies proved harder to expel from India. Clinging to a single port and severe mountainous terrain their convoys somehow managed to get past Kondo's force of old Carriers which were patrolling of the shores, as well as submarines in the area. Attacking over land proved a costly affair as well, even when it could be done with good preparation and rested divisions.

Maybe thanks to their own Royal Navy submarines keeping the Japanese Carrier force busy on wild goose chases by threatening their many convoys all over the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf, demanding the constant attention of Kondo's Force.

Not until several months later were could the allies be driven away from India, and then at a huge cost in both Japanese men and equipment. Many of the battles leading up to it saw even worse ratios with as many as 5 Japanese casualties for each allied, even if they ultimately only could end one way.

The Soviets also finally had enough, and surrendered near the end of August having reached over 12 Million casualties by now. The Axis empires now stretched from Casablanca to Guadalcanal, and the puppets of The Russian Empire and Reorganized Nationalist China was set up / expanded. Around the negotiation table Japan caused a bit of a fuss when they opened hard by instantly demanding the Strategic oil in Baku, but none of the other Axis could deny Japans request considering how their own forces alone had made almost no progress against Soviet for 3 years until Soviet foolishly brought Japan into the war and were defeated in hardly more then 6 months.

Greater Japan now easily covered more territory then any other Empire on the globe and including subjects controlled more then half of the Earths population as well.

Photograph from Tokyo after news spread of Japan having signed a victorious peace with their Russian foes.

Hardly had the ink dried on the peace treaty before the European Axis found a new target in taking out Romania which had for all this time refused to join the Axis. Romania changing their mind at the last hour didn't help them much, in the eyes of the battle weary Axis they clearly were not committed to the cause and must be punished, as well as completing Bulgaria's own Mare Nostrum around the Black sea.


1944 October, Borneo:

For the Japanese soldiers deployed along the front there was little time for rest though as they were promptly put on the next train or convoy towards the Pacific, USA had managed to sneak across an invasion of Borneo and Sulawesi from their one remaining Pacific stronghold in the Philippines, in a desperate effort to secure some rubber for the allied airplane and truck production, bridging the gap until their synthetic production could make up for the shortage.

Here are Japanese divisions landing behind the Americans lines in a hastily put together invasion as well as dealing with an encircled US division.

So far the US Navy have not shown up in force, but intelligence now estimates they have 175 Dockyards to our 77, still outnumbering our production capacity just as badly as before we started the war back in 1941.

 

[Axe99]

Nice one I've read the first two instalments, those naval victories are brutal (although if the US player really does have 90-odd dockyards, you'll have more opportunities!). Looking forward to reading more .

 

[stnylan]

Good fun.

Small suggestion - delete your placeholder posts and just post them when you have them ready. This way people who have subbed to the thread one way or other will know that there is a new post.

 

[Farquarsen]

one day, Alex we will have to meet on the HOI IV Pacific Ocean. But not until carrier task forces meeting other naval task forces is fixed to correctly recognize planes do the scouting and not destroyers.

 

[Axe99]

1943 was a good year! I really like they way you've worked historical things into it. Like stnylan says, new rather than reserved posts might make it easier to know when the thread's updated.

 

[optimerad]

Nice read!

I can't wait to read what you write about yesterdays session. That one was intense to say the least!

 

[Praetori]

This campaign is actually even more awesome than the excellent AARs suggest. The fighting in Eastern Europe, Turkey and Mediterranean has been excellent.
The USSR strong enough to hold the Axis grinding in Soviet frontier territory up until 1944 so far (and still going) while the Brits with the RN and RAF are strong enough in Europe and expertly handled to deny any chance of successful Seelöwe (there was actually a large naval battle in the Wester Approaches in early 44 which might have mauled the RN Home Fleet a bit so we'll see).

The Red Airforce has no equal, bar possibly the USAAF and with Soviet production at an all time high there's no shrubbery or crevice that can provide relief from the Soviet onslaught from the air.

With war in full swing from historical 1939-1940 it has taken the Axis some 4 years to drive the Allies out of the Med but it did, as an extension, cost the British Empire their crown jewel, India as committing so fiercely in the Middle east, Med and Asia Minor left the forces arrayed against Japan a bit weak.

The gist of it was Turkey joining the Comintern and Axis (Italian and Bulgarian forces) pouring across the Bosphorus. With Soviet forces mostly focused towards Barbarossa the going was easy at first and the opportunity to roll down into French Syria and British Palestine appeared as a luring opportunity to put pressure on Suez from two directions with invasions of Iraq and British holdings and allied Oil in the Middle East as a target of opportunity.

The Commonwealth however thought differently and put on a massive display of firepower in Syria and the USSR launching into Turkey in defense of Global communism quickly turned the tables. After initial Axis successes at Aleppo and closing in on the Soviet border the Commonwealth launched invasions of opportunity in Turkey behind the main Axis lines through virtue of their Naval superiority in the eastern Med.

At this point it looked like all was lost in Turkey as well as German forces being slowly pushed back in the Baltic states, Belarus and Ukraine.
A synchronized fallback plan was devised with Italian and Bulgarian forces shortening the main front-line and Bulgarian quick reaction forces moving to the invasion sites. German high command at this point lent the full support of the Luftwaffe over Turkey which although sustainable only for a short time was just enough to cut off the Allied divisions threatening the whole Minor Asian theater. The move also freed up reserves after the invasions had been defeated which enabled Axis forces, now strengthened by a temporarily assigned German Arméekorps to stem the red-tide just east of the Anatolian Plain and begin a slow slugging pushback until massive Communist reinforcements from the inner parts of the Soviet Union started arriving....

I won't go ahead of the events in Alex's next AAR but suffice to say it's 1944 and there's still no clear outcome of how this will all play out. The biggest light in the tunnel being Japan capturing most of the Rubber resources in the Far East which should slow down the Allied air dominance with time.

 

[stnylan]

it sounds like a great game.

 

[Alex_brunius]

one day, Alex we will have to meet on the HOI IV Pacific Ocean. But not until carrier task forces meeting other naval task forces is fixed to correctly recognize planes do the scouting and not destroyers.

Looking forward for that

1943 was a good year! I really like they way you've worked historical things into it. Like stnylan says, new rather than reserved posts might make it easier to know when the thread's updated.

I'm quite happy having been able to work in historical photos so far without any of the captions actually telling a lie as far as I was able to see ( although they are taken way out of their historical context to fit the AAR story ).

And yeah, once I do update it I will post a new post saying so as well so it's not missed. With how long the campaign have been running so far though I might even run out of placeholders and be forced to post new posts

Expect some delays on the updating side though since we are going to PDXCON all weekend.

 

[Praetori]

I'm quite happy having been able to work in historical photos so far without any of the captions actually telling a lie as far as I was able to see ( although they are taken way out of their historical context to fit the AAR story ).

I really hope the Japanese CAG pilot picture won't turn symbolic to the campaign as the target mentioned, USS West Virginia, was in fact raised, repaired and then crossed the T for major mayhem on the Japanese forces at Leyte. Or well, that'd be awesome really.

 

[Axe99]

Except some delays on the updating side though since we are going to PDXCON all weekend.

Pffft, priorities! Not serious, of course - hope you all have a sensational time .

 

[Commander-DK]

Update? Please?

 

[Alex_brunius]

Updated with last session. @Axe99 @Commander-DK @stnylan

 

[Axe99]

Looks like the Axis had a very good session - Axis ascendant, even . I wonder if the Allies have any more kick in them?

 

[stnylan]

Updated with last session. @Axe99 @Commander-DK @stnylan

I must confess I can't remember precisely where we had gotten to - one of the "problems" with placeholders is that it is easy to forget how far one had gotten.

 

[Alex_brunius]

Looks like the Axis had a very good session - Axis ascendant, even . I wonder if the Allies have any more kick in them?

There has been ups and down for both sides, so it's been quite an unpredictable ride, but I agree that this last update went mostly in the Axis favor it seems. It's far from over though as you can see on Soviets surrender meter hardly having moved!

The Japanese advance probably can't be sustained either since divisions must be allocated to deal with the advancing Soviets in China now.

I must confess I can't remember precisely where we had gotten to - one of the "problems" with placeholders is that it is easy to forget how far one had gotten.

Sorry about this. Part of the delays is that we had to delay a session for almost 3 weeks as well due to people not being able to play. I have updated my post with links, part numbers and updated the first post with a numbered table of content to help make a good overview. What was added now was the fourth part.

The reason for my formatting was that I didn't think this AAR would grow so large or the game span so long initially, and I wanted a neat short story about the Japanese Navy that could be read without interruptions for someone discovering it later on