Chapter 44: Stage 3 - September 30, 1943 to November 15, 1943
The third and final stage of Unternehmen Abendsonne began on October 5, 1943. Unable to secure a beachhead by crossing the narrow straits from Shikoku to Honshu, the marines boarded their transports and landed near the undefended city of Kyoto directly. By October 6, the city was secured, and the 25 Japanese destroyers hiding in Kyoto's naval base attempted to escape past Flotte 3's blockade. None of the destroyers succeeded. Absent from the battle was the KMS Graf Zeppelin, which was forced to pull back from combat operations due to heavy CAG losses from Japan's remaining fighter screen.
Flotte 3's battleships make short work of the Japanese destroyers
The Reich's invasion of Japan went smoothly after the capture of Kyoto, as Japanese defenders fell back toward Tokyo to prepare a new line of defense. By October 15, the southern portion of the country was occupied, and Japan had assembled a defensive line in the city of Nagoya, consisting of an infantry division and 2 paratrooper divisions. Attacking from 3 directions, two German mountain and two marine divisions attacked the city, securing it 5 days after the initial attack began. The Battle of Nagoya was the bloodiest battle of the invasion, with 2,744 German KIA and 5,716 Japanese KIA. Intelligence obtained after the battle showed that the men defending Nagoya were the only combat-ready troops in Japan, and were preparing to be sent to China when the Reich attacked. As a result, they fought savagely with outdated equipment to repel the German invaders, but were ultimately unable to defeat battle-hardened soldiers who had fought against France, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union.
The Battle of Nagoya was the bloodiest battle of the invasion
During the entire operation, the Kriegsmarine had 5 surface raider groups assaulting Japanese merchant shipping, in order to further starve the island nation as well as to prevent the flow of supplies to China. Unlike the War in the West, the surface raiders were mostly ineffective, as shown by the mere 20 ships the raiders managed to sink in two months. There were several reasons for the raiders poor performance. First, the Kriegsmarine was operating far from its home waters, and had to be much more cautious, because damaged ships would be unable to quickly retreat to a friendly port. Second, the routes Japanese convoys would take were unknown to the Kriegsmarine and the convoy raiders spent most of their time attempting to find the established routes. During the War in the West, the convoy routes were well known before the war, and the Kriegsmarine took advantage of geographical bottlenecks. Third, the IJN, despite its losses, was still a formidable opponent and, unlike the UK, had quickly developed an effective plan to thwart German commerce raiding.
After its initial losses in Stage 1 and Stage 2, the IJN had quickly recovered and created a large "net" of patrol ships along the major convoy routes, and actively patrolled these routes with cruisers and the remnants of its capital ships. While the Reich's raider groups were more than capable of dealing with destroyer escorts, they were not equipped to handle larger patrols for an extended period of time. A perfect example was the October 31 battle of Seohan-man, near the Chilhi Gulf. Admiral von Nordeck's group, consisting of the O-class battlecruiser KMS Oberdonau and the heavy cruiser KMS Blücher, came into contact with a cruiser patrol led by Admiral Kato. Both Japanese cruisers struck the Blücher, damaging its forward turret. The Blücher took several more hits before the Oberdonau struck and sunk the IJN Jintsu, prompting Admiral Kato to retreat. Von Nordeck then headed to Shanghai in order to repair the Blücher.
Von Nordeck's raider group is spotted by Japanese cruisers
Overall, the situation for Japan was dire. With its army stuck in China and its last defenders retreating to Tokyo, it was only a matter of time until Armee 1 and the Reich's special forces took full control of the island nation. Indeed, on November 3, the Battle of Tokyo began, and was concluded a day later on November 4. Japan was on the verge of collapse, which was symbolized by the Emperor Hirohito's flight to Seoul. After the Battle of Tokyo, only a single paratrooper division existed and was in a position to affect the Reich's advance.
The Battle of Tokyo prompted the beginning of surrender negotiations
After the Emperor's flight to Korea, some remaining elements of the Japanese government attempted to negotiate a surrender. Negotiations were difficult, as the Japanese felt that, despite the loss of the majority or their homeland, that the IJN would eventually regain its strength and defeat the Kriegsmarine. With this belief in mind, the Japanese negotiators were demanding a return to the status quo. Admiral Raeder, who was authorized by Hitler to head the Reich's delegation, flatly refused the terms. It wasn't until every major Japanese city in the home islands were occupied that Japan accepted Raeder's peace terms. His terms were:
1) Japan and Manchukuo were to immediately cease hostile activities against the Republic of China and the German Reich
2) Japan was to cede to Germany all of its Pacific possessions, with the exception of Okinawa
3) Japan's armed forces were to immediately return to Japan from overseas
4) The Japanese Emperor must renounce his divinity
5) Japan would release Manchukuo from its control
6) Japan would cede Korea to the German Reich, who would oversea a switch to Korean self-governance
7) Japan would cede Taiwan, East Hebei, and Dalian to the Republic of China
8) In the event of a German war with the USSR or United Nations, Japan would assist the Reich with its full capacity
On November 15, 1943, Japanese Emperor Hirohito renounced his divinity and surrendered to the German Reich, thus ending the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Japan surrenders to Germany
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@OpAphid: Welcome to the forum and the AAR! I'm glad you like it so far. As a present, I wrote this chapter
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