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I once was able to pull off a massive "encirclement", what it really happened is the Japanese broke through my center and linked with a small amphibious invasion but I eventually was able to cut them off (~30 divisions IIRC) and destroy them although it was costly as I had few troops to spare from the pincer itself in order to contain the breakthrough so they kinda rampaged all over for a while 
... I have done the same thing as France but it s a dangerous thing to try without sufficient troops to contain the pocket.
... I have done the same thing as France but it s a dangerous thing to try without sufficient troops to contain the pocket.
Go for the United Front option in the Xian incident, and move all troops towards the northern coastline plus Shanxi. Assuming you move your forces quick enough, you will arrive in time for the Japanese invasion. Hold your position in roughly the middle of the Shanxi land, and keep the IJN stuck in a couple coastline cities. Send troops from your allies to help. Once you have enough troops and the IJN forces in Shanghai (and the area around, if they spread) are low on supplies, counter attack. Eliminating them should hurt Japan significantly, and you can then keep a small garrison at Shanghai, and use the rest to push into Manchuria. Encircle when possible, and abuse your allies's armies (In particular, use the Communist Chinese troops for the most important and/or hard battles, since they have very strong troops with good doctrines). Eventually you should be making progress. Annex (Or puppet, if you prefer) Manchuria, and conquer Korea.
From there, it would be wise to set up a navy. Don't attack until your navy is strong. Let the Japanese launch Pearl Harbor and invade the Pacific, and, due to the loss of land, get crushed by the Allied forces. From there, use your navy to land in Japan and smash them before the other nations arrive.
From there, it would be wise to set up a navy. Don't attack until your navy is strong. Let the Japanese launch Pearl Harbor and invade the Pacific, and, due to the loss of land, get crushed by the Allied forces. From there, use your navy to land in Japan and smash them before the other nations arrive.
Only manage to beat Japan twice as Nat. China.EmperorGilmour said:
On both occasions I have annexed all of the small Chinese Clans before the first ear run out.
Then I massed my forces on the Japan border. When I was ready I DoW'ed Japan, I've broken through their lines and made a run for their province next to the Russian Border.
Also I've targeted Manchuria's Capital and VP Provinces to enable me to annex them, with them out of the way, I've kept on encircling the Japanese troops (I made sure to cut of small portions of their armies) and crushed them. Within two years, I manage to push Japan out of the mainland.
Keep in mind to check your beaches, for the Japs like to land troops.
How exactly are you always defeated? A little description should help a bit.
At game start don't try to annex the communists since it would be a waste of time. Use all your resources in building infantry and upgrading it to 36'. The options in the Xi'an event are not so important, since the 18' troops of the warlords barely make a difference. Make sure you have at least 3 infantry divisions guarding each province, then use the rest of your troops guarding the south of Huanghe. If you could ally with Shanxi, use their troops to defend northern China as long as you can, but don't try to save it- it has to be annexed by Japan so the land you take in the future won't go to them thus preventing the Fading Sun event to fire.
From the defensive line south of Huanghe you should be able to keep the Japanese away but they do have the ability to penetrate your line. Try to close them off once they do, then encircle and eliminate them. You will have to do that several times(usually in about 1-2 years) before you could push the Japanese back with superior quantity, or quality, too, of infantry. But make sure don't make any offensice move in winter, you won't be able to afford the lost. Once you could do that, try to gain control of all coastal provinces and the most important three: Andong, Liaoyuan, and Jilin. This move will cut off the Japanese supply in China and make sure any Japanese left in China will be dead meat. Then prepare for the invasion of Korea. Once you capture Seoul and Busan(probably Pyongyang too). Wait for the Fading Sun event to fire...
At game start don't try to annex the communists since it would be a waste of time. Use all your resources in building infantry and upgrading it to 36'. The options in the Xi'an event are not so important, since the 18' troops of the warlords barely make a difference. Make sure you have at least 3 infantry divisions guarding each province, then use the rest of your troops guarding the south of Huanghe. If you could ally with Shanxi, use their troops to defend northern China as long as you can, but don't try to save it- it has to be annexed by Japan so the land you take in the future won't go to them thus preventing the Fading Sun event to fire.
From the defensive line south of Huanghe you should be able to keep the Japanese away but they do have the ability to penetrate your line. Try to close them off once they do, then encircle and eliminate them. You will have to do that several times(usually in about 1-2 years) before you could push the Japanese back with superior quantity, or quality, too, of infantry. But make sure don't make any offensice move in winter, you won't be able to afford the lost. Once you could do that, try to gain control of all coastal provinces and the most important three: Andong, Liaoyuan, and Jilin. This move will cut off the Japanese supply in China and make sure any Japanese left in China will be dead meat. Then prepare for the invasion of Korea. Once you capture Seoul and Busan(probably Pyongyang too). Wait for the Fading Sun event to fire...
focus on infantry
Right off the bat do these things:
1. Focus on land/infantry techs. Abandon the Firepower Focus Land Doctrine tech tree. Immediately begin researching Mobility Focus, the Human Wave tree using Falkenhausen. You should be able to get to Def in Depth before he is recalled (if you haven't already conquered Manchuko that is.)
Also Immediately Research 1936 Infantry. You should initially throw all your IC at getting rid of that 25% dissent. Then immediately pour all your IC into upgrading your infantry. You may be able to get all your troops up to '39 by the time Japan attacks.
These two things alone will make your army much better than Japan's by the time they DOW. All your research should be aimed at improving your army.
2. Pull all but 9 divisions immediately south. Leave Chiang or Falkenhausen with 9 divs. to hold back the Communists. Beating the Communists quickly is hard, so if you haven't when the Peace event hits, make Peace with them. When the Ghangxi Clique attacks, crush & annex them (your infantry should be all '36 by then), if you have time crush Yunnan too.
3. Pull all your troops North, leave 3 militia w/ artillery brigades on each beachhead to prevent amphibious assaults.
4. Forge the common front w/ the Communists. They form a redoubt holding your left. Take control of them, and use them as a static defense as you plow through the Japanese along the coast. You should be able to cut them off from their ports, and envelope them inland. Annihilate them, and the plow on into Korea.
After you've upgraded entirely to 36'/39' infantry, you can build about thirty or forty transports, and maybe research marines. Build 5-10 warships, and use the flotilla to land maybe a dozen troops on Japan. The AI will only have garrisons there, and you should be able to crush them.
Say Sayonara, Japan. After Japan is finished, break your alliances with the Communists, etc. and crush them all.
That's the basic outline. You can attack the Dutch & English and all that jazz when the time seems right. Your army should be good enough to take on the Soviets, too.
Right off the bat do these things:
1. Focus on land/infantry techs. Abandon the Firepower Focus Land Doctrine tech tree. Immediately begin researching Mobility Focus, the Human Wave tree using Falkenhausen. You should be able to get to Def in Depth before he is recalled (if you haven't already conquered Manchuko that is.)
Also Immediately Research 1936 Infantry. You should initially throw all your IC at getting rid of that 25% dissent. Then immediately pour all your IC into upgrading your infantry. You may be able to get all your troops up to '39 by the time Japan attacks.
These two things alone will make your army much better than Japan's by the time they DOW. All your research should be aimed at improving your army.
2. Pull all but 9 divisions immediately south. Leave Chiang or Falkenhausen with 9 divs. to hold back the Communists. Beating the Communists quickly is hard, so if you haven't when the Peace event hits, make Peace with them. When the Ghangxi Clique attacks, crush & annex them (your infantry should be all '36 by then), if you have time crush Yunnan too.
3. Pull all your troops North, leave 3 militia w/ artillery brigades on each beachhead to prevent amphibious assaults.
4. Forge the common front w/ the Communists. They form a redoubt holding your left. Take control of them, and use them as a static defense as you plow through the Japanese along the coast. You should be able to cut them off from their ports, and envelope them inland. Annihilate them, and the plow on into Korea.
After you've upgraded entirely to 36'/39' infantry, you can build about thirty or forty transports, and maybe research marines. Build 5-10 warships, and use the flotilla to land maybe a dozen troops on Japan. The AI will only have garrisons there, and you should be able to crush them.
Say Sayonara, Japan. After Japan is finished, break your alliances with the Communists, etc. and crush them all.
That's the basic outline. You can attack the Dutch & English and all that jazz when the time seems right. Your army should be good enough to take on the Soviets, too.
oh yeah,
Important point: make sure you leave as much of Ghanxi's, Yannan's, Shanghi's, armies intact as you conquer them, since their divisions become Nationalist when you annex. This will double or even triple the size of your army. I usually attack Hainan asap from the sea to prevent a large number of divisions accumulating there and being annihilated.
Important point: make sure you leave as much of Ghanxi's, Yannan's, Shanghi's, armies intact as you conquer them, since their divisions become Nationalist when you annex. This will double or even triple the size of your army. I usually attack Hainan asap from the sea to prevent a large number of divisions accumulating there and being annihilated.
oh and by the way
Important point: make sure you leave as much of Ghanxi's, Yannan's, Shanghi's, armies intact as you conquer them, since their divisions become Nationalist when you annex. This will double or even triple the size of your army. I usually attack Hainan asap (before the Japanese navy's around) from the sea to prevent a large number of divisions accumulating there and being annihilated.
Important point: make sure you leave as much of Ghanxi's, Yannan's, Shanghi's, armies intact as you conquer them, since their divisions become Nationalist when you annex. This will double or even triple the size of your army. I usually attack Hainan asap (before the Japanese navy's around) from the sea to prevent a large number of divisions accumulating there and being annihilated.