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Wow, nice job throwing the Russians into the sea. I assume you'll add sakarin island if all goes well?
Wait, shouldn't Japan wait for Russia to occupy Manchuria before jumping on it ? 
Ok, more seriously, you seem to have local superiority for the moment, but you really can't discard the appearance of a "Mad Dog Fleet" in the horizon at any moment ( especially if Russia can negotiate some rebasing in the way with someone ) or even a mega stack coming from Central Asia ( even if heavily depleted via attrition ). But , if you can gather enough warscore soon enough, that can be most likely prevented...
P.S I assume that Russia still doesn't have the Vladivostok area , right ? That would make things easier ...
Ok, more seriously, you seem to have local superiority for the moment, but you really can't discard the appearance of a "Mad Dog Fleet" in the horizon at any moment ( especially if Russia can negotiate some rebasing in the way with someone ) or even a mega stack coming from Central Asia ( even if heavily depleted via attrition ). But , if you can gather enough warscore soon enough, that can be most likely prevented...
P.S I assume that Russia still doesn't have the Vladivostok area , right ? That would make things easier ...
Indeed -- no going back now! I'm not going to let on to what happens. You might be able to guess, seeing our relative strengths. But, course, the Japanese don't know this yet.
The Russians had BETTER tremble! The wrath of the kamikaze is coming!
I'm not actually that familiar with being on the wrong end of the Sphere of Influence connection, so I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to be able to get out of it. But it happened, and I took the opportunity. I think we'll end up better off now, than if we'd tried to resist back when it first happened. Alot of preparation between then and now.
Wait, shouldn't Japan wait for Russia to occupy Manchuria before jumping on it ?
Ok, more seriously, you seem to have local superiority for the moment, but you really can't discard the appearance of a "Mad Dog Fleet" in the horizon at any moment ( especially if Russia can negotiate some rebasing in the way with someone ) or even a mega stack coming from Central Asia ( even if heavily depleted via attrition ). But , if you can gather enough warscore soon enough, that can be most likely prevented...
P.S I assume that Russia still doesn't have the Vladivostok area , right ? That would make things easier ...
I hadn't actually thought about Manchuria. You're right, they don't have Vladivostok yet. I guess I've gotten so far into the role-playing mindset that historical reality wasn't occurring to me. Yes, a fleet can come at any moment -- got to watch out! I'm aiming to occupy as much as I can, as quickly as I can. We'll see!
It turns out to be quite an interesting war! I'm looking forward to getting the next update up.
Next update should be in a couple of days, I think. I actually got all 3 of my active AARs updated this weekend, so a clean slate means nothing to get in the way!
Thank you all for your comments! I really appreciate it. Thanks, also, for any who are reading silently, but it's always great to hear from folks!
Rensslaer
The 1st Russo-Nippon War was a rather long mid-Nineteenth Century affair, the battles taking a long time, owing to the technology involved and the speed of the necessary sailing and steam ships.
Having started in May of 1861, the first clashes were at sea, in a series lasting through the summer.
It was in that first summer, of 1861, that Japan proved herself a worthy enemy to Russia. Admiral Maresuke Shibayama led his fleet against the Russian invasion transports, and sunk no fewer than 6 of them for no loss of his own.
By October, we had landed Japanese troops in the north and south, both, of what the Russians called Sakhalin Island, which we claimed as our own. We would soon control these lands ourselves, we believed. But our early pride in victories was shaken by later word of worse news…
In November, we were dismayed to discover that Russian troops had landed in the Bonin Islands, which we had settled as part of our own lands. This was not so embarrassing as if they had landed in Japan itself (which they had, but they were quickly dispatched). But it was concerning.
Admiral Iwao Kawakami led his ships against the invasion fleet, and sunk another 3 Russian clippers. We rushed troops to try to evict the Russians from Bonin.
Those troops arrived, soon enough, and at first the Russians seemed to falter before our withering gunfire. But those heady early days of the battle did not last. It became a slogging match, with one side seizing the advantage, and then the other.
By the end of December, it was yet unclear who might win the battle – both sides exhausted, but fighting as tough as they could.
In fact, on the 23rd, General Keisuke Yui determined to withdraw to our ships so his forces could lick their wounds. It was shaming, but not so much so as if he had lost his command in its entirety.
As it was, half of his men did not make it back to the ships. His army was spent, unable to return to Bonin. This news was received in Edo with heavy hearts and dawning uncertainty.
Before a second army could attempt to throw the Russians off our island, a fleet of yet more foreign ships arrived, with more barbarian soldiers. These, the Swedes, were fortunately not strong enough to approach the island and land their cargo.
We did not sink these, but they were turned back, and did not attempt to land a second time. Not there, in any case. We would see them again.
Another army landed in February, 1862, and the tired Russians were unable to stand this time. For the loss of another 3,000 Japanese warriors (on top of the 6,000 lost before), the 6,000 remaining Russians surrendered, and we accepted their arms.
Sadly, both sides had lost 9,000 soldiers, killed or wounded or captured. But Bonin remained free!
Having dropped off his bloodied charges in the home islands, Admiral Kawakami embarked another, fresh, army, and made way for the Kamchatka Peninsula, near the Bering Straits.
Sinking yet another unfortunate Russian steamship – they really seemed not so intimidating after our sinking 3 of them already – he landed an army at Petropavlovsk.
While our army attempted to subdue the frigid, mountainous peninsula to the east, Sakhalin Island had finally fallen to our troops, in June of 1862. If we could win this island in the peace treaty, the fortresses already built by the Russians would help secure it for Japan.
General Iwao Yashiro had proved himself once more, and was itching to be sent elsewhere to wreak more havoc upon the evil barbarians.
By August, General Keisuke Yui had successfully conquered Pertropavlovsk, and now General Iwao Yashiro had landed to the north in Ossora, where he undertook to dig into the mountain passes and await a Russian army so he could bleed them dry.
Now, Yashiro was better on the offensive than on defense, but he was talented enough to be good at both, so the Russians took heavy casualties when they faced off in October.
Could Yashiro hold on, there, against a superior, more technically advanced enemy army?
It seemed possible that the outcome of the war could, indeed, hinge upon the result of this battle in the icy passes of Kamchatka.
Ouch. It looks that you have a dozen of small fleets roaming around and dropping armies everywhere... and armies marching out from somewhere to the far eastern Siberia to tackle you . On the battle that ends the update, I think you can hold it with some luck, since you are entrenched and have a pretty decent general, but we all know about Paradox "luck", right ?
BTW, how is the warscore? Do you think that it will take long for the Russians to accept peace on your terms if you win that battle and occupy a little more of ground ?
BTW, how is the warscore? Do you think that it will take long for the Russians to accept peace on your terms if you win that battle and occupy a little more of ground ?
Excellent showing against the better equipped Russian soldiers and ships so far. If nothing else, Japan has shown themselves to be no push over. Eagerly awaiting the result of the battle of Ossora, it certainly looks pivotal.
Good luck! The only time I played Japan and went against Russia, I ended up having to occupy all of Siberia, just for Sakhalin and Russian Manchuria region. And I only pulled it through because I had technological parity. Not for the faint of heart :/
Nice cliffhanger. The Japanese military appears to be holding their own against the Russians, and prevailing against their navy (albeit transports). And what's up with the Swedes?
Very interesting, the first real war with Russia tends to be the defining aspect of my games with Japan. Let's hope you get out of this war nicely, maybe even keeping Sakhalin.
I hope the Russians win! Go Dragomirov!
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Kidding - the posts here were a bit repetitive so...
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Kidding
- the posts here were a bit repetitive so...
Just because I don't want these posts to sound like a broken record: what happened to all the Russian steamships that had been patrolling around Japan a few updates back? Strange that they wouldn't bring their full naval might against you so late into this war.
Good luck in Ossora, but I imagine those troops are just the tip of the Russian iceberg on the mainland... if you can't obtain a quick peace at this point you'll be eventually pushed back to the sea.
Ouch. It looks that you have a dozen of small fleets roaming around and dropping armies everywhere... and armies marching out from somewhere to the far eastern Siberia to tackle you . On the battle that ends the update, I think you can hold it with some luck, since you are entrenched and have a pretty decent general, but we all know about Paradox "luck", right ?
BTW, how is the warscore? Do you think that it will take long for the Russians to accept peace on your terms if you win that battle and occupy a little more of ground ?
Warscore is minimal at this point, but leaning in my favor. I lost some warscore on that silly lost Battle of Bonin (the 1st one -- I won the 2nd), but made it back with some other good victories. I'm hoping this will be a quick war. As a player I do, anyway. The Japanese who I'm role-playing have no idea what to expect, beyond what they've experienced so far, which has led them to believe they can take the Russians on their own ground just fine.
Thanks! As a player, I was a little surprised at how well I was doing.
Welcome, Fadi Efendi! Yeah, you have to really show your stuff to get these Paradox empires to give way. As you probably know, I'm quite a ways behind tech-wise. Should be interesting!
The Swedes are a Russian ally (sphere of influence member). I wasn't actually expecting to see them -- that's a LONG way to sail a ship!
I've actually been knocking out some of the Russian warships too.
I bet you're right about defining how things go. If I lose this war badly it could hamstring my efforts down the road.
I hope the Russians win! Go Dragomirov!
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Kidding
Always nice to have someone running against the current!Honestly, it might be ALOT more interesting if I lost the war, just to see how it goes.
Actually, I thought I'd mentioned that, briefly, but I've actually knocked out at least 3 of their paddlewheel steamers. I forget what they're called in V2 -- in V1 they were called "raiders". I caught them all individually, and they didn't fare too well against 3-4 sailing warships. As I recall from V1 they didn't do that well against sailing ships back then either. Their main advantage is that they can run away, but they don't.
Oh, ye of little faith!
Maybe, maybe not!Another update coming in the next couple of days. I'd like to say it's already underway, but it's not yet. Kind of busy today, so maybe tomorrow.
Thanks again for all the comments! Any other readers lurking out there?
Rensslaer
How many reforms have you instituted right now? How many are you willing to institute?
Reform?? Sounds like a foreign word. We are not interested in these barbarian concepts, except where they benefit us.
Actually, the Japanese government at this point is so conservative -- and their culture is too -- that there's no interest in reforms. That will change, I'm sure, later on.Welcome, Craig220! Glad to have you along for the ride!
Rensslaer
We were cheered to be informed that the United States – one of those less barbarian countries across the wide Pacific Ocean – had taken up our cause against Russia in their popular newspapers, and had transmitted such sentiments overseas such that Russia’s neighbors heard of her infamy. This was a very kindly act, which we shall have to remember.
A week after the beginning of the battle in Ossora, Gen. Yui’s troops, who had recently secured the province of Petropavlovsk, to the south, began moving north to support Gen. Yashiro in his desperate battle with the Russians in the mountains of Ossora.
As it turned out, though, such assistance was not necessary. Gen. Yashiro’s skills were such, and the spirit of his fighting men, that the Russians gave up after only two weeks of fighting. They had lost almost twice as many troops as us in those frigid highlands.
We seemed to be doing quite well against these Europeans! Why ever had we cowered, so, when they had made their demands upon us? It is good that we have thrown them off.
Even at sea, it seems, we are able to handle ourselves. We engaged two of their smoking ships in late November, and though we did not sink them, they fled the scene and escaped without sinking any of our ships.
Though other Russian ships plied our shores, causing disruption in our localized trade, we also had ships off their shores, preventing the passage of their merchant ships, and our blockade went uncontested in most cases.
Our two most victorious battles, at Ishikara (Hokkaido) and Bonin, where we had destroyed their entire invasion army, have caused the Russians to step back and take a new look at the Empire of Japan who they had treated so lightly (1% Warscore, in Japan’s favor).
In December, 1862, we landed troops near the populous Russian city of Okhotsk, where they had not just a lot of people, but smoking buildings! These were apparently those legendary factories our agents in foreign lands spoke of, and it would be very good for us to capture some of them, and turn them to our uses!
In January, Gen. Yashiro’s troops were able to secure Ossora, and the entire Kamchatka Peninsula, as they called it. And then we landed Gen. Yoshinori Nogi’s army at Ayan, south of Okhotsk, to begin setting up defenses against the small Russian armies our scouts reported lurking in the frozen forests west of there.
Near the end of the month, Gen. Yui (Gen. Yashiro had been reassigned), at Ossora, faced another attack by the Russians. This time our armies were not as well rested, but we had confidence that we would win this battle as well.
All of the initiative was on our side. We were, even as this battle transpired, landing troops to the north of Ossora, at Tillichiki, where we expected the defeated Russians would have to retreat, and where they would then face another hopeless battle against Japan.
It was at this time, then – while the battle raged at Ossora – that the Russians offered us peace terms, as we expected they would.
They offered to let us go free – to not bother us again, and to not make further demands upon us. We had so intimidated them that they were already making this offer!
But it was too late. We had occupied too much of their land, and we were already taking more. It seemed as if nothing could stop us. We rejected their offer – politely, but firmly. It was time to establish what we really wanted.
The Island of Sakhalin was ours, plain and simple. And the Russians had occupied it – STOLEN it from us, by sending settlers where Japanese people already lived in whaling hovels along the shore. It was plainly understood, by all those who mattered, that this was Japanese land, and we aimed to have it.
Gen. Yui, by February, was wearing the Russians down again in Ossora. It was just very favorable terrain, and while Gen. Yui was not so talented as Yashiro, he was still a capable commander.
Gen. Azarov finally ordered retreat in mid-February. But this time, he tricked us! He withdrew south, where we’d arrogantly left Petropavlovsk unguarded.
In April, we considered the prime target city of Okhotsk secured, and were looking forward to owning those factories ourselves. If not this war, then certainly the next! If things went well enough…
Our forces spread out, in order to claim more territory. If the Russians were not offering proper peace terms yet, it would only be a matter of time. Or, perhaps, how much territory we were able to control.
A Russian army from the interior reached Tilichiki in May – the army that was supposed to field Gen. Azarov’s retreat, if he had retreated in the correct direction. Now our initiative was off, and things were suddenly not going according to plan.
The Russian army was smaller than that of Gen. Mineo Kamimura, but our army was not sheltering in the mountains, as our earlier peninsular campaign battles had been. They had also caught us by surprise (really bad die roll!). We began taking casualties at a worrying rate.
And, simultaneously, we had another challenge that appeared to be a setback in the making…
When we first saw the Swedish ships appear, we thought it must be a fluke. This small nation, no one had heard of, sending ships to threaten us??? They disappeared and we figured they would never be back.
In May, they appeared at the Ryuku Islands, and landed a strong force upon the islands, which began to take a serious toll on our defenders there, some of which were newly recruited.
And then… We happened to notice an army of 30,000 marching out of Siberia toward our siege forces at Ayan, which we had not taken yet. This army could quickly defeat an army of the size we had there, and we urgently considered options. We could retreat to Okhotsk, which would be the obvious option… But we would not make it before the army was upon us. It was even questionable if the army at Okhotsk, entrenched and using the fort they had there, could hold off an army of 30,000 in the state it was in (reduced by attrition).
When we did, finally, make our own offer of peace, for Sakhalin Island… The Russians were not interested.