The Little Giant - A Kaiserreich Japan AAR

[Teivel]

So they did have a mass of infantry in the pipeline. Looks like your timing and tactics were spot on given what they were doing. Would have been hilarious to see the CSS Lenin launched by the PSA (let's just assume they took her over and didn't rename her.) What class of BB is the USA BB VIII?

As well as the aircraft, they should have been more aggressive with the navy as you said. They could have really made a fight of closing your supply lines.

 

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Most of the best battleships at the start of the scenario (like Japan's own IJN Tosa) are BB-VIIs, 1922-class. The BB-VIII is a significant upgrade, 1934-class. My fancy new BBs under construction are BB-IXs, 1939-class. BB-VIIIs are pretty good, closer to the BB-IXs than BB-VIIs.

The closest real-life equivalent to the 1934 class BB-VIIIs for the United States would probably be the North Carolina class. After the Colorado and West Virginia were completed in 1923, BB construction ended until the United States laid down the USS North Carolina in 1937. The ship launched in 1940.

Edit: BB-VIIIs would also be equivalent to the King George V-class or Bismark-class battleships. Also, Littoro/Vittorio Veneto class & Richelieu-class.
BB-IXs would probably be equivalent to the Iowa-class, Lion-class, Alsace-class, or H-class battleships (of those, only the Iowa-class battleships existed in reality).

 

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The United States ended where it began: Boston, Massachusetts.

General Higashikuni led three Japanese divisions in an assault on the city. Higashikuni led the early stages of the assault on San Diego during the fighting in California, commanding Japanese forces before Field Marshal Yuhi took over command there. He had few other successes during the American campaign, but as the highest ranking officer near Boston during the somewhat disorganized drive through New England, Higashikuni held the honor of taking the city that began the American Revolution.

Lt. General Alexander defended the city. Alexander bravely led American forces in the heavy fighting around Vancouver and the Columbia River earlier in the war, including successful actions against General Higashikuni. Nearly killed by shrapnel during the Japanese bombardment of Wenatchee, Alexander spent much of the war recuperating in a Canadian hospital in Edmonton. With the guilt-driven dedication of the convalescent who lay in a comfortable bed as his brothers fought and died, Alexander decided to draw his line in the sand in Boston.

He led a fine division, most of the men eager to join Alexander and the United States itself in Martyrdom. The appropriately named "Custer Division" stood ready to fight, die, and make its way into the history books.

General Alexander, with little hope of breaking through Japanese lines, stationed most of his men in Charlestown. A good portion of the Custer Division held Winter Hill, but the American division's last and heaviest fortifications were sited, where else?, on Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill.

Alexander told his men to hold until God came for them. He wanted the battle to be so fierce it would plant the seed of a second American Revolution - this time against the great power across the other ocean. But God did not come for the Americans. The Japanese army came for them. Japanese soldiers rode to their assigned positions, dismounted, and slowly wore down the Americans, advancing behind the limited cover provided by Type 93 and Type 99 armored cars.

The Custer Division managed a brave last stand in Charlestown. One Americans would long remember. Though the people of Charlestown, particularly those foolish enough to stay in the city and not evacuate to Boston proper, wished General Alexander had surrendered rather than force the Japanese to destroy their homes and neighborhoods.

After the Custer division's last stand, America was out of the fight. But no President or high official could be found to officially surrender. It was thought MacArthur had long since removed himself to Canada. So after the capture of Boston, Emperor Hirohito announced over Japanese and American radio the annexation of the United States of America by the Empire of Japan. An annexation that would continue until such time as the war in North America ended and a post-war settlement could be decided upon.

Even though it was long expected, the announcement of Japan's annexation of the United States still surprised the world. The defeat of the United States had been unfolding since Chief of Staff Nagata devised his daring plan to break the Canadians in Vancouver and then encircled the American army in the largest pocket seen since Genghis Khan - perhaps ever. But it still seemed unreal, impossible. Particularly as the war in Europe, where casualty rates were much higher than in America, continued to see few new developments. British strategic bombing had damaged a few German industrial complexes over the past year, but hadn't done anywhere near enough damage to harm the German war effort. And the Hochsees Flotte, with the assistance of the Luftwaffe, was still managing to hold back the Republican Navy. Thus the German army could concentrate all of its tremendous force on the front with France. While France poured all its revolutionary fervor into the same unbreakable front.

The Republican Navy claimed it was making progress. The British had heavily invested in aircraft carriers in the late 1930s, when it still looked like Germany had the overwhelming advantage in battleship numbers. Now their carrier contingent allowed for fighter cover for British surface ships, which in turn could escort mine sweepers, which in turn were slowly attempting to clear a path to the heavily-mined Danish coast. Perhaps one day they would succeed.

Shortly before the annexation of America, the European world took note of the passing of Wilhelm II, Kaiser of Germany. His son, Wilhelm III, became the new Kaiser. Wilhelm II was a major figure in European politics, but his old age meant he left the war to his generals and ministers to plan and fight. The younger Wilhelm had a reputation as a womanizer and was even regarded as something of a dove, having publicly regretted the outbreak of the first Weltkreig during that conflict. Those with little understanding of politics thought that the accession of the new Wilhelm might herald a new era for the German Empire, possibly even a peace offering. France might be satisfied if Germany conceded Alsace-Lorraine. But those with more experience in politics knew that a modern nation, even a monarchy, was far more than just one man. In truth, the new Wilhelm would be no more than the second Wilhelm had become: an essentially irrelevant figurehead with no actual influence over German policy.

Summer saw Japanese forces moving north to cooler climes. After the annexation of America, the Japanese army began a general offensive targeting most of Eastern Canada. From Winnipeg to the Atlantic Ocean, defensive positions became a base for offensive operations. Japan finally secured and broke out of northern Minnesota. Forces in the upper peninsula advanced into Sault St. Marie. Powerful attacks into southern Ontario from both Detroit and New York prompted the Canadian commander there to pull back for a final defense of Toronto. Japan ignored only the strong garrison in Ottawa and the isolated mountains of the west.

Japan considered the rapid conquest of Canada somewhat urgent. The American populace would only wait so long to learn of Japan's plans for a new post-war order. A speedy defeat of Canada would go a long way to limiting the amount of time the former United States had to resent Japanese occupiers and pass on that resentment to the new generation of teenagers and young men who might decide to do something violent.

The enemy navy could also still be a problem. The Atlantic and Gulf coasts remained vulnerable to landings, though by now the Entente respected Japan's ability to eventually respond to coastal raids. The United States Navy was presumed to be in Halifax, or perhaps operating against the Republican Navy in the Atlantic.

And despite the total defeat of the United States, the more perceptive Japanese leaders in Tokyo knew that Japan could never successfully occupy the whole of America. There were simply too many Americans, and too much proud history, for such an arrangement to result in anything but a bleeding wound for the empire.

The simplest solution, and so one often discussed in Tokyo, was to recreate the United States under its old constitution. Members of the legitimately-elected Hoover and Curtis governments could be found to rekindle the flame of American democracy. Japan itself had, at times, praised the American experiment in democracy, so the idea was not entirely against Japan's stated support of democratic government. But few in Tokyo were truly comfortable with the idea. In only a few years such an America could match and then surpass the power of the Japanese Empire.

The next most obvious solution was to rely on the obvious tension between the North and the South. Liberate the United States, yes, but detach the South under its own government to weaken the north. Southern regional pride could become patriotism for their own nation. The black mark on history that was the slave government of the Confederacy could be avoided by calling the south something else - maybe something that sounded like the opposite of the Confederacy: the Federated Union of America.

This second plan to split the United States in two held sway in Tokyo for some time. On the ground in America, the defense of Canada went poorly for the Royal Army. The real fighting had already been done in the United States, and Canada lost too many divisions there to stop the Japanese Army on its own soil. Canadian defenses in Winnipeg held out against all expectations, but in the east, the Quebecois declared Montreal and Quebec open cities, ordering thin Canadian defenses to withdraw and promising not to oppose the Japanese advance in exchange for the safety of their people and the safety of the cities themselves.

As plans began to be drawn up for the partition of America - should Kentucky be part of the Federated Union of America, even though it wasn't part of the Confederacy? - the new minister Itawa Takio pointed out the problem of modeling the Federated Union of America too closely on the old Confederacy, particularly with the lower ranks of the America First movement still living in the south. Wouldn't Japan be tacitly approving of the inevitable racial discrimination that would take root in the country?

At the moment the Japanese occupation technically considered black and white southerners equals. Though whites-only and blacks-only public facilities still existed, and the long-oppressed part of the populace was well aware that white supremacists would ignore legal niceties whenever Japanese occupation forces weren't in the immediate vicinity, which was almost always.

Japan couldn't wave a magic wand and force racial harmony, admitted Itawa, but it could at least avoid creating a state that the white population of the south would see as the natural successor to the Confederate States of America. And even without the South, the North had more than enough industrial power to surpass Japanese production in the long run. Itawa argued for a radical new regime in America, a post-war order that would change things to the extent that America and Canada couldn't essentially recreate themselves a generation from now, as France had done after the Weltkreig. Look how well that worked out for Germany.

And, hinted Itawa, Japan need not abandon America completely. Had not the Pacific States shown that the American west had a distinct identity from the rest of the country? Had not the Mormon cult shown much of the Rocky Mountains ultimately held allegiance to something entirely different from the American ideal? The peculiar American focus of the Mormon cult made it seem as if they should be the most zealous defenders of the old order. But they also had a history of suffering discrimination - and prophecies of America's demise were woven into their religion. War experience suggested they could easily abandon the United States as well.

After all, everyone knew Japan could never successfully occupy America in the long term - because Americans were so foreign, so numerous, and didn't know how to be anything other than Americans. Even Huey Long's movement had laid claim to the whole country, not just the south. But these factors didn't seem to apply out west, where the Rocky Mountains were sparsely populated and saw themselves as different from the rest of America. Perhaps America could be broken apart in a way that would benefit both Japan and democracy.

Military planners in Tokyo ignored the political machinations and prepared for the final stage of the Japan's naval reinvention. The new battle fleet had been delayed repeatedly, but with Kure Naval Yard now swarming with competent women the completion of the new fleet was expected in mid-1942. To that end, work finally began on destroyer escorts equipped with new, smaller radar systems. The destroyers would serve a basic anti-submarine role and counter enemy destroyers, but much of the technologically advanced equipment of ships was dedicated to the mission-critical role of locating and tracking enemy vessels to allow Japan's battleships to close on and destroy the enemy. Japan expected to rely heavily on variations of the new Kagero-class ships in the future.

{A Kagero-class destroyer.}

Production of appliqué armor and several modular copies of the same new radar system was also started. Japan's light carriers were already being constructed, but the design of armor and radar systems had lagged behind the actual construction of the hulls. The same was true for the radar systems destined for the fleet's light cruisers. With the new construction, the vision of the Admiralty would become a reality: a modern battleship fleet covered by fighter planes from small carriers - and every ship in the fleet carrying radar for an unprecedented advantage in detection and command-and-control capability.

The Canadian army fought hard to defend Toronto against the Japanese assault from southern Ontario. But after considerable damage to the city by Japanese bombers, the Canadian forces defending Toronto were forced to surrender. Picked elite troops and Canada's limited armor defended the capital in Ottawa. Unlike the wiser Quebecois, Anglo-Canadians stubbornly resisted and saw considerable damage done to their cities as a result. Nor could the Canadians hope to withstand the assault of the victorious Japanese Army. Already Edward VIII had abandoned the city, moving his court onto the various ships of the Royal Navy.

The battle for Ottawa saw the Japanese Type 92 light tank humiliated in battle once again, as Canadian light tanks proved significantly more effective in battle. But the armor contest was secondary to the overwhelming advantage the Japanese army had in sheer numbers.

Japanese wrecks on the shores of Lake Ontario.

Edward VIII took refuge in the Caribbean Federation, accompanying the massive joint Canadian-American fleet (commonly referred to as the Anglo Fleet) on its retreat to the naval base on Trinidad. The Governor General of the Caribbean Federation, Gordon J. Lethem, welcomed his king to the Federation. Lethem offered the governor's residence in Georgetown to the king, but Edward turned him down. Conscious of his declining power, the great Anglo Fleet had become Edward VIII's patrimony. It was with his ships that Edward VIII dreamed he might be able to reestablish the power of his house somewhere. It was rumored Edward opened up negotiations with the Hughes government in Canberra. Perhaps the Canadian king could convince the Australasians to renounce their alliance with Germany, accept the Anglo Fleet as a mighty bulwark against Japan, and sue for a favorable peace on the basis of Pacific naval supremacy - in exchange for the installation of Edward VIII as head-of-state in deed as well as in name.

{Supply depots at the Trinidad Naval Base}

At the end of June, news from the European war finally burst on the headlines of the world's newspapers. For years it seemed, the chaos that was America kept the world's observers breathless. But the long stalemate of the European war, and its grim death tolls for no gain, made any change in that theatre seem as momentous as the dramatic shifts in momentum America witnessed. And change had finally come to the front lines in Europe.

The Republican Navy managed a landing in Denmark. In the face of stiff resistance by the Hochsees Flotte, despite a seemingly unending morass of naval mines, and with the Luftwaffe engaging British naval aviators and surface ships daily, British transports nevertheless penetrated the Limfjord and unloaded the marines within on the shores of northern Jutland. Right into overlapping fields of machine gun fire set up by the Danish army. The British pressed on nevertheless. France claimed much of the martial glory of the Internationale, but it was the determined British that first broke the defenses of Mitteleuropa. The bloody fight to hold beachheads turned into the capture of Aalborg on June 20 as the Republican Navy flooded Denmark with British reserves, who at long last entered the fray on the continent.

The same day the British occupied Aalborg, the French entered the outskirts of Nancy, capital of Lorraine. The fighting to even reach the city had been fierce, death and distruction visible everywhere thanks to massed artillery and both German and French air power. But the nightmare of the city center still waited. The German Army fought the French in ruinous urban combat. The French measured the 'liberation' of Nancy street by street, house by house. But the French poured a massive number of soldiers into their first real opportunity to break the German line. Finally, on June 29, French generals announced Nancy liberated for the Commune of France.

Commune of France engineers attempt to clear a road in 'liberated' Nancy. "The fighting in Nancy is hardly worth mentioning," joked the French political officer who took the picture, "look, even the city's trees survived the battle intact."

In South America, Rio de Janeiro did not fall, to the shock and amazement of the syndicalist units defending it. Maybe riotous Sao Paulo gave the La Platan army indigestion. Maybe enough Venezuelans reinforced Brazilian lines. Perhaps the command in Buenos Aires decided to knock Bolivia out of the war first. But La Paz did not fall. Winter snows and the fearsome ring of fortified peaks around the Bolivian capital prevented any hope of capturing the city before summer. La Plata had not yet broken the syndicalist alliance. And suddenly the Bolivian, Brazilian, and Venezuelan divisions still fighting began to consider if they might be able push forward once more.

First National France refused to join in the war in Asia. Then Australasia defected to Mitteleuropa. Then the disaster in the Canadian Rockies when seemingly inhuman Japanese infantry tunneled through ice and snow to cut off the Pacific Coast. Proud Vancouver and Victoria fell. The plains had to be evacuated. Hope still survived in the form of the great North American alliance, until Japanese black magic entrapped virtually the entire American army. The fall of United States was followed by the loss of Southern Ontario, Winnipeg, Quebec. And then the King abandoned Canada. As news crossed Free Canada of the King's flight and the capture of both the capital and the naval base at Halifax, time came to admit defeat. The remaining members of Parliament gathered in Edmonton (as yet unoccupied by Japan) and offered Canada's unconditional surrender.

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The black-and-white photograph is actually from Manila, American troops are defending against the Japanese attack on the Filipino capital.

Note that for practical reasons, I actually chose "Occupy Them!" rather than "Balkanize America!" during the "Fate of America" event. That option added 5% dissent, which seemed appropriate, and allowed me to fix the borders as I wanted.

As regards the new destroyers: OTL, most Japanese destroyers were notable for carrying heavy torpedo armament. They were thus significant threats in a naval battle. But they were a bit light on AA & ASW, many didn't have radar, etc., which fit Japan's overall desire to engage in major, decisive battles that would produce an overwhelming advantage similar to the Battle of Tsushima and allow for a negotiated peace. In Darkest Hour terms, they'd be equipped with a torpedo add-on rather than one of the other options. The destroyers I ordered are thus different from OTL Japanese destroyers in their perceived operational role.

P.S. Of course that's not actually a picture of Japanese wrecks on the shores of Lake Ontario. That's on some pacific island, and the vehicle in question is actually a largely intact Type 95.

The photograph of French soldiers in Nancy is actually of American soldiers in Valognes.

 

[Kaiser_Mobius]

Well, we fought hard to defend our homes from the Japanese invaders, but alas it was not enough. If only the American forces had gotten their sh*t together and raised a large enough army to hold their ground, North America would have been held and the Japanese would have been pushed back. Oh well.

At least some solace can be found in that the American's may finally get the peace they very much deserve, although it seems most likely that the USA as it was before 1936 will never see the light of day again. Maybe some day, perhaps by the 1990's or the new millenium whatever states you carve out of the country will decide to reunify into a reborn democratic United States like how Germany did IRL.

Finally, I would like to request again that Canada not be broken up for the sake of the Quebecois, but I get the feeling such a request will fall on deaf ears. If you do break up Canada by cutting Quebec off the country, perhaps you should create some separate state out of the Maritime Provinces, as well as give Labrador to a collaborationist Quebec for the sake of nicer borders? Might as well do that now then, since a Canada without a direct link to the maritime provinces would most likely lose those too. Oh well, I guess the rest of Canada in Ontario and the West will get over it eventually, but it is still going to be a painful separation.

Anyways, your achievement in North America was very impressive. With so few soldiers you managed to overrun the entire continent, even without Mexican help. Thats quite a feat, although the poor Japanese Navy really suffered to help achieve it. Have you thought of building lots of submarines as a stop-gap measure while you wait for your new battleships and other vessels to finish production?

Anyways, I guess now I can go back to rooting for Japan again, as well as rooting for Germany to squash the vile French and British syndicalists...

Good update.

 

[Nikolai]

Good update! I agree with Mobius, at one point in the far future, American will probably reunite. But for Japan, Balkanizing the thing sounds like a good idea.

 

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@Kaiser Mobius
When you release Quebec, they automatically get the Maritimes, Newfoundland, and Labrador. Not sure why, but there you go. Quebec will be very much "Greater Quebec" and presumably have a very federal structure. And Japan isn't releasing Quebec for the sake of the Quebecois... I'm afraid Japan is being much harsher than that. You may yet burn for revenge with the rest of Canada. Apologies in advance.

@Nikolai
Thank you.

 

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In 1937, after Canada occupied New England to ensure the Combined Syndicates of America didn't gain control of the region, the governors of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York petitioned the Canadian King to recognize the legitimacy of their elected state governments and allow civilian leaders to maintain control of day-to-day operations in the region. Despite the willingness of the occupied state governments to cooperate with Canada, the King declined.

In 1941, six of the very same men traveled to Tokyo to make a similar appeal to Prime Minister Hamaguchi and Emperor Hirohito (the governor of New Hampshire had been assassinated after the formal return of New England to the United States, presumably for his open hostility to MacArthur). The former governors hadn't held any real power since Canada occupied New England, but this only made them more credible as representatives of the American tradition of democracy. The parallels between the two appeals were not accidental. Japan trumpeted its belief in democracy far and wide, making freedom a core element of its domestic and foreign propaganda, even though Japan often failed to live up to this ideal in foreign affairs (support of Kolchak in Vladivostok being a notable example of this failure).

By deliberately contrasting Japan with Canada in a very public and visible manner, the appeal of the governors for the restoration of American democracy put Japanese planners on the spot. They could wait no longer to devise a plan for a new order in America. Visible support for democracy was considered crucial to put Japan in a strong post-war position vis a vis a Europe dominated by either the Internationale or the German Empire.

Prime Minister Hamaguchi summoned a special council consisting of his cabinet, American experts from the Foreign Ministry, and a variety of major figures in the Diet, including members of the opposition. Hiratsuka Raicho represented the Vote party, forcing her way onto the special council by pointing out that half of the American electorate were women and claiming she was best positioned to ensure their future was not ignored.

The ultimate goal of the council was to break America into as many small democratic states as possible. But each state needed to have its own distinct identity to encourage regional rivalries and prevent the various states from simply merging with each other after the end of the war. There was thus tension between the two goals: the new Americas needed to be large enough to have coherent identities, but not so large as to rival Japan.

The special council quickly realized that two obvious candidates already existed: Quebec and New England itself. Language, culture, a nascent separatist movement, and Japanese appreciation of Quebec's wise decision not to resist Japanese occupation already set Quebec apart from the rest of Canada. The creation of New England as a new American state seemed to mesh with an established regional identification. The region's lack of participation in the Second American Civil War already meant a significantly different reality on the ground than much of the rest of America. And while the New England governors desired the recreation of the United States of America, Japan could claim that creating New England was a form of accepting the delegation's demands.

The main problem with the idea was creating a viable economy for New England. Massachusetts and New York were part of a larger economy on the northeastern coast. The string of cities from Boston to Washington D.C. would natural gravitate towards integrating socially and economically. The special council went round and round the problem until Hiratsuka broke up laughing. The undignified outburst drew everyone's attention. "So make New England bigger." The solution seemed too simple to work. But foreign ministry staff in attendance agreed with Hiratsuka. The North, from the perspective of the first American Civil War, was split culturally between the eastern seaboard and the Midwest.

Japan's special council established Maryland as the southern limit of New England. The western border would try and correspond roughly with natural barriers. Sturgeon Point was perhaps the least populated section of the Lake Erie coast. The border would proceed south from there to the Allegheny River and the largely unoccupied hills along the Allegheny. The Allegheny took the new border southwest until it makes its shart southern turn. The border would continue southwest through Moraine State Park until it reached the old Pennsylvania state border. That border would be roughly followed, with minor changes to take geographic features into account, until meeting with the Maryland border. With Maryland being included into New England, Maryland's southern border sufficed, already following natural river borders. Except for Cape Charles, which would be added to New England. This plan folded Pittsburgh into New England and also made a point of ignoring the old state borders in favor of new lines based on geographic features. New England would become Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Excepting Dunkirk, Erie, and those parts of northwestern Pennsylvania that were geographically closer to the Ohio country than New England.

The Ohio country would have to become part of some other new America, as would Virginia. Some of the special council proposed making Ohio and southeast Michigan a country of its own. This seemed feasible geographically and economically. But there was little culturally distinct between Ohio and other parts of the Midwest, like Illinois. And Indiana was a problem. It wasn't developed enough to be independent. Instead it served as a natural bridge for unification between various parts of the American Midwest. The special council also had additional concerns about a South that too closely resembled the old Confederacy.

Canada also continued to trouble the council. A Canada stretching from Vancouver to Ottawa along the old borders would be tempted to simply complete the country through some sort of federation or alliance with Quebec, which seemed to go against Japanese interests. After one late night session endlessly discussing the same problems, an unnaturally straight Canadian-U.S. border and a Canada seemingly impossible to break up beyond the secession of Quebec, a tired and frustrated Itawa finally declared that Vancouver, as a Pacific city, should be dominated by Japan anyway.

The room went quiet. What Japan would gain from the American campaign had become sadly obvious to the special council: a few years of begrudging loyalty during the war, and then nothing but a sullen peace with whatever states Japan carved out of the continent. And while colonialism was now a taboo subject in Japanese politics, many of the men in the room began their careers in politics when Japan was still looking for ways to match or exceed the Europeans in colonial projects. Which of course did not include the, ahem, national territories of Formosa and Korea.

Glance at a map and any man can see the great geographic divide between eastern North America and the mountainous west. The Central Valley of California and the Salish Sea are isolated outposts of civilization geographically, not truly part of a contiguous whole. And many on the special council had spent a long time staring at maps of North America.

The head of the army, Hata Shinroku, was one of the few members of the special council that could genuinely be called a nationalist. "You are all aware, of course," Hata said hesitantly, during a moment of silence, "that the Canadians also imprisoned their Japanese immigrant population after the Americans did." Most of the special council were not aware of this. "Surely some special protection would need to be set up for them."

Greed is a powerful motivator. The bounty of the west, not the least of which was Californian oil, Utah metal, and a whole host of natural resources, tempted Japan's special council. Sorely tempted it. As did Japan's declared mastery of the Pacific. As the more liberal members of the council started to realize where discussions were headed, they loudly protested against Japan 'tying down its resources' in a colonial adventure amongst a population so foreign.

The nationalists spoke not of a colony, but of minority rights for native Alaskans, recounted the difficult fighting around Vancouver for no specific reason, and even noted that Japanese Americans got along fine with their 'so very foreign' neighbors until the "naturally repressive tendencies" of American national government intervened.

Somehow the nationalists gained the ear of the emperor. Hirohito showed up at a key special council session two weeks after the New England governors arrived in Tokyo. The lack of an answer from a paralyzed Japanese government to the request for an American civilian government was on the verge of becoming an major embarrassment. The special council went through all the old arguments again, but tentatively, all of the representatives unclear what to make of the silent presence of the emperor.

Finally Hirohito spoke, after the room seemed out of new ideas. "The Pacific States are the root of much of America's anti-democratic problems. Surely Japan has close natural ties with the Pacific, and can make a direct effort to enact reform for as long as is necessary?" The ideology and underpinnings of the idea did not, after close consideration, make much sense. It seemed obvious that someone gave the Emperor an indication of what he should say. But slowly the momentum shifted in favor of a direct Japanese occupation of part of America.

Soon thereafter, Japan officially announced that New England, the bastion of American democracy even during the Civil War, had a special mission to keep the flame of America's democratic tradition alive. Praising New England in every way that would distinguish that region as separate from the rest of the United States, Japan announced the return of civilian government to New England under the leadership of the six surviving governors who had won the last legitimate elections. Japan itself would pay special attention to the administration of the "distinct and critical" cities of Washington D.C. and New York City.

Japan also made a small change to America's borders with Mexico. Part of northern Louisiana west of the Red River was ceded to Mexico. Most of Texas' border with America already followed the Red River, and the change seemed minor enough. At the same time, Japan agreed to purchase a large amount of construction equipment and other everyday supplies needed to begin establishing new administrations in America. The agreement and continued Japanese technical support pleased Mexico, already beginning to notice a sharp drop in raw material exports to Japan as Japan began to utilize American resources shipped out of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Vancouver.

New Englanders were initially angry at the idea of being separated from the rest of the country. But they were hardly willing to turn down the opportunity to return to an elected civilian government. And the copious flattery poured on by Japan as the first region of America trusted to return to democracy didn't hurt either.

The biggest sticking point was New York City, obviously a critical component of New England as designed by Japan and yet still under Japanese occupation. Many New Englanders feared that Japan would try to keep the city as a permanent colonial outpost similar to Singapore. Most important, Asa Randolph shared those fears. Reappearing on the streets of New York, in one breath Asa Randolph called for the working class to organize itself as one unified force for justice. In the next he demanded the end of the "undemocratic" Japanese occupation. Long thought dead, Asa Randolph had been praised and made larger than life by virtually every political movement that hoped to court Curtisite sentiment, trade union sentiment, or the black population of America. Not least of which was Japan, who had publicly praised Asa Randolph's politics before the war with America.

All of New York seemed to respond to Randolph's call for action. At least he promised a march of one hundred thousand working class New Yorkers. Men and women, particularly those employed by the Japanese occupation forces, would occupy Central Park and demand the evacuation of Japanese forces from New York. All the people, he promised, would demonstrate their love for freedom. And if Japan also loved freedom, they would not stand in the way of the people.

Japanese leaders in America met with Randolph to convince him to abandon his plans for protest. Randolph refused, promising the largest civil protest in history if Japan didn't give into his demands. Japanese generals nervously reported back to Tokyo, asking for instructions.

Japan caved. Prime Minister Hamaguchi publicly praised Asa Randolph as "exactly the sort of man that proves democracy is already growing strong again in New England." Ceding control of New York to the new New England government, Japan evacuated New York shortly before Randolph's planned protest. They even flew the American leader to Tokyo, where Prime Minister Hamaguchi met with Randolph personally. Hamaguchi quietly arranged to accept Randolph's input on American policy in exchange for Randolph's agreement to take the concessions Japan was willing to give and not stir up more dissent.

Randolph was aghast to discover that the Japanese special council on America had decided to continue applying natural borders to America. The southern division of America, the Federated Union of America, would take the Ohio and Missouri rivers as its northern borders. The Federated Union thus consisted of the old South and the border states east of the Mississippi (the Virginias, Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana) as well as a sizable western region consisting of Arkansas, much of Missouri, Oklahoma, and the high plains. New Orleans would officially be part of the Federated Union, though Japan planned to temporarily occupy New Orleans to ensure a "fair and open flow of trade down the Mississippi."

Various cities were considered appropriate for a new capital. Richmond was ruled out because of the association with the Confederacy. So was Atlanta, because of its service as the capital of the True American Union movement. Savannah, Tampa, and Miami could have sufficed, but they were considered too far east to concern themselves with the west of the new country. St. Louis on the edge of the country's northern border and would be too close culturally and economically to the northern Mississippi region. Tuskegee was also considered, as a clear break with the racist past of the South. But Japanese planners eventually decided on Memphis. Large enough to work as a capital, it held a strategic position on the Mississippi River between the east and west halves of the Federated Union.

On the advice of Asa Randolph, a majority of the Japanese appointments to the Federated Union government, including its provisional president, were black. Japan also planned to ensure that the first units armed by the Federated Union were majority-black, as a way to head off a potential white supremacist terror campaign intended to 'redeem' the Federated Union. The same concerns had led to the inclusion of the less racially-troubled high plains in the Federated Union borders in the first place. The Federated Union Constitution also strictly limited the power of its prefectures in favor of the central government.

The Federated Union quickly began proceeding with plans to develop a military, both as a way to jump-start the economy of the new country and as a way to increase the prestige and preserve the rights of its black citizens. Japan helped with funds for programs to end segregation and establish the power of the new Federated Union government.

{Early Federated Union propaganda designed to get the populace behind its military program.}

Japan planned to establish "Mississippi-Ohio" and "Anglo Canada" to the north of the Federated Union, but the unpleasantly geographic and ethnic nature of the two names gave Japan pause. Eventually a few analysts from the Foreign Ministry suggested that perhaps the American Midwest and most of Canada should be combined. After all, there was hardly a strong natural border between the two countries. Even the Great Lakes were as much a benefit to commerce and trade as a hindrance. Yes, the amalgamation would create the most powerful of the New American states. But also one that had no independent access to the sea. The Federated Union and Japan would control the Mississippi outlet, Quebec or New England could restrict access to the St. Lawrence. And by now Japan's planners were comfortable with future Japanese control over Vancouver and the Pacific Coast.

Part of the special council began to float twin theories in favor of this new amalgamated country. It would be powerful, yes, but also erode both the Canadian and American identities by ignoring them in the very creation of the new country. And its internal politics would likely be dominated by regional rivalries between eastern Canada, the old American Midwest, and the Canadian plains country. The plan became settled when it was decided to transfer control of Ottawa and the settlements along Hudson Bay to the control of Quebec. Ottawa had a sizable French-speaking minority, and Canadian identity would further be split with the loss of the old capital to separatists.

Japan itself would continue direct occupation of the Rocky Mountains, Alaska, and the Pacific coast. Local and prefecture-level elections would be held, but sovereignty would remain with Japan until such time as it was decided to create an independent Pacific America - or even integrate the region into the Japanese Empire.

Soon after the New England formally gained independence with its capital in Boston, Quebec declared its independence, naming Montreal its capital city. Japan then announced the creation of the Federated Union of America, with its government in Memphis, and the Confederation of Great Lakes, with its government headquartered in Chicago.

The new map of North America looked about right to the special council. Reasonably coherent blobs that had clear rivalries with each other, domestic concerns to take care of, and Japan retained direct control of regions considered vital to the increase of its national power.

Japan did not simply assume the new American regimes would remain friendly. Experienced garrison divisions with sufficient Japanese Americans serving as translators and liaisons (few others had the language skills necessary) were stationed in Montreal, Halifax, Boston, Washington D.C. (administered by Japan for political reasons), Atlanta, Nashville, New Orleans, Chicago, and Toronto. A five-division force was stationed in the District of Columbia to manage any unexpected contingency. And most of the infantry divisions that served in the war were stationed across Alaska, the Pacific Coast, and in the Rocky Mountains. All told, Japan dedicated thirty-three army divisions to the establishment of the new Americas.

{Three divisions were awaiting transport to the western Pacific when this screenshot was taken.}

The Entente was dead in all but name. The Caribbean Federation served as no more than a temporary harbor for Edward the VIII as he looked for a place in the world where he could reestablish his house. Iceland in the north Atlantic found itself isolated once again. The Union of Britain called upon the people of Iceland to rise up against the bourgeois tyranny of its government. But with the British army putting everything it had into holding Jutland against a sizable German army and pressing east onto Odense in a drive to take Copenhagen, it could spare no troops for Iceland. To almost everyone's surprise, the Icelandic syndicalists failed to take control of the government.

But while syndicalism suffered a (very) minor setback in Iceland, syndicalists in South America scored a major vicotry when Brazilian and Venezuelan forces managed to retake Sao Paulo from La Plata. The successful offensive, which did not also result in collapse somewhere else along the long front with La Plata, made headlines around the world. Not only was Brazil no longer in imminent danger of suffering total defeat, but the reopening of Sao Paulo allowed firewood and other sources of heat to flood into troubled metropolis. The unusually harsh winter was so bad in Sao Paulo that the temperature nearly reached zero degrees Celsius on several different days.

As Japan settled affairs in America, the 'other' war in Asia finally came to a conclusion. The Qing declared a successful end to their long-running campaign to root out millenarian Christian resistance. The Shangqing had been a particularly virulent threat to the imperial court in large part because they had challenged the legitimacy of the Qing Empire. After losing untold men rooting out mountain stronghold after mountain stronghold, the prophesied end had finally come for the Shangqing Christians. Thankfully, the rest of the world hardly noticed.

Except Japan and the Republic of China, who no longer had the luxury of ignoring a distracted Qing empire. Privately, many in Guangzhou and Tokyo were relieved the Qing hadn't managed to defeat the rebels when Japan was still uncertain about its victory in America. The Qing might well have decided to invade the Republic of China, also a rebellious territory in the eyes of Beijing.

Relations between Tokyo and Guangzhou were better than ever. Not just because of the threat of the Qing, but because of China's unexpectedly large efforts in support of the war. The Chinese air force had been as active as the Japanese air force in America, and China had even supported the Princely Federation in securing New Guinea from Germany and Australasia.

The Australasians had pulled their divisions out of the south of New Guinea, allowing the Princely Federation divisions there to advance on the last remaining Australasian-held territory on the island. But then the Australasians landed back in undefended Port Moresby, trapping the Indian divisions without supplies in hostile country. All of the island was lost to Australasia except in the south where the Princely Federation divisions stubbornly refused to die. They did eventually disband due to lack of supplies, but not before holding out long enough for a Chinese force to land at Lae and retake northern New Guinea. Unwilling to commit more ground forces to a colony they didn't really care about, Australasia decided to evacuate the island in when the Chinese moved south. Japanese intelligence guessed that Australasia only had sufficient troop transports available to carry one division, which probably played a large part in the Australasian decision not to contest New Guinea.

At the same time, south China's surprisingly capable shipyards had already produced numerous destroyers and even several light cruisers using Japanese designs - and more were on the way. Tiny Chinese task forces could be found almost everywhere in the Pacific, escorting Japanese convoys, ensuring Chinese forces in New Guinea weren't cut off from supplies in the way Indian forces were, and in general making huge strides in covering for the weakness of the Japanese navy.

Note the Chinese have no less than two small task forces ensuring the safe delivery of supplies to Lae.

The French did not achieve a breakthrough against the German army when they finally managed to take Nancy. But by late summer the French had, despite horrendous casualty reports that caused Japanese generals to wonder if the French weren't exaggerating the intensity of the fighting, pushed the Germans out of their massive network of fortifications. In the process the French secured Colmar, Longway, and Arlon. The Germans had stopped attempting counterattacks, and were now clearly hoping to rally their forces and hold the battle lines where they currently stood long enough for winter to set in and for Germany to devise a plan to deal with the setbacks it was suffering.

The Commune of France, hoping to maintain the (limited) momentum it had seized, liberated syndicalist Belgium. The move emphasized France's respect for self-determination. As French diplomats pointed out throughout the world, the Commune chose not to annex the francophone territories of the new nation.

Most of the Japanese army remained in America. But three divisions were transferred back to Japan. From there the Japanese fleet picked up additional garrison divisions ready for deployment and sailed for Mumbai. With the new Americas only just beginning to put together civil administrations and organize elections, Japan couldn't undertake a new offensive. Even those divisions not actively ensuring the Americans did as Japan urged were posted to Washington D.C. in case the Anglo Fleet caused problems along the coast.

But three spare infantry divisions were (hopefully) enough to seize the German base at Djibouti and other imperial possessions in the Indian Ocean.

Germany left Djibouti undefended, having concentrated its remaining forces outside of Europe at the Suez canal (not least because they could purchase food from Egypt there rather than rely on supplies from Germany). This allowed Japan to occupy Seychelles, Tananarive, and generally evict imperial administrators from Madagascar and minor islands.

At the same time, Puyi, flush with success against the Shangqing, declared Germany a barbaric, child-like upstart who was now receiving its due punishment. This in comparison with ancient China's natural ascent to its position as the great world power.

The break in relations between the Qing Empire and the German Empire, and the Qing victory in its recent war, led Japan's Foreign Ministry to invite Puyi to visit Japan for a "summit of the emperors". The hope was that closer diplomatic ties could be created that would prevent hostility arising from the Qing's sudden absorption of Manchuria and their opposition to the existence of the Republic of China.

It was planned that Puyi would tour Tokyo (hopefully impressing upon him with the power and size of the Japanese metropolis in case his advisors hadn't informed him of the strength of the Japanese Empire) before meeting with Hirohito. But disaster struck when Puyi heard of the cultural importance of the Yasukuni shrine. Built in 1872 to commemorate those who died in service to the emperor, the Yasukuni shrine was a key part of the connection between the Shinto faith and the imperial family.

Puyi became enraged when he saw the part of the shrine's museum that honored casualties suffered by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War that took place in waning years of the late nineteenth century. Furious the display hadn't been removed for his visit, Puyi launched into an angry tirade about the audacity of "tributary barbarians" who refused to show respect for the "Xuantong Emperor". Puyi had to be physically restrained from overturning displays, but he still managed to spit on a memorial to Yamagata Aritoma, the field marshal in overall command of the Japanese victory over China in the Battle of Pyongyang in 1894 and a former Japanese prime minister.

Puyi never met Hirohito. Japanese officials escorting Puyi on his tour of Tokyo ordered the Xuantong Emperor's immediate expulsion from Tokyo. Rash nationalists even criticized the Foreign Ministry for allowing Puyi to leave without facing trial for his 'crimes.' Though in truth Puyi was guilty of no more than perhaps a disturbing the peace violation.

When the reason for the expulsion became public in Japan - and the expulsion itself became public in China - relations between Japan and the Qing empire fell to their lowest point since declared war ended in 1885.

The Germans failed to hold their defensive lines in time for winter snows to slow the French. Commune forces advancing out of Nancy and Colmar took Strasbourg. And then the daring French forces pushed on to capture Mainz. The loss of Mainz sent a shockwave through Germany. German volunteers, even many who had avoided conscription earlier in the war, streamed west, determined to maintain "Die Wacht am Rhein".

The first French attempt to cross the Rhine at Mainz failed spectacularly in the face of heroic German resistance. Resistance not just by the German army, but even thousands of German citizens who built defenses while under French artillery fire, risked life and limb to sabotage bridges not destroyed by German regulars, and generally exhibited a patriotism far above anything seen in Germany earlier in the war. The German Army, despite divisions moved south to counter the French, even manged to push the British north in Jutland. They now threatened the British hold on Aalborg. The British Admiralty swore up and down the Republican Navy would maintain supplies to forces on Funen, but a landing on Sjaelland and the march on Copenhagen was out of the question for now.

But heroic German defense on the east bank of the Rhine prompted the French to expand their salient into Mainz. The Commune's army occupied Metz and the Saarland, threatening Trier and Luxembourg.

As the European war reached a fever pitch, both sides struggling to establish a favorable position for the upcoming winter, Japan continued to clear the last vestiges of German influence in the Indian Ocean. The Japanese fleet even made stops at the Cocos Islands and Christmas Island.

The French threat to take Trier and Luxembourg became the French capture of Trier and Luxembourg. As German forces shifted to meet the advance north, the direction of Commune forces shifted again. A massive operation to cross the Rhine barrier succeeded in late fall. Crossing the Rhine on an improvised bridge made from river barges, Commune armor broke German defenses on the east bank of the river and penetrated far enough for the French to capture Frankfurt-am-Main. The significant victory on the east bank of the Rhine threw Germany into a panic. But an early snowstorm and French exhaustion promised to prevent a major breakthrough.

German generals prayed for a harsh November. And December. Whatever gave them enough time to regain control of the front.




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It always irks me when I play a democratic Japan and Transamur doesn't choose to oust Kolchak in favor of a republic.

In terms of support for integration policies in the Federated Union, I decided to give them 2000 money units a year since I now have oodles of cash thanks to the way resource depots work in Darkest Hour. Basically Tokyo now gets to decide what to do with all the vast wealth the British loyalists evacuated to Canada.

P.S. Those aren't the normal borders of the balkanized America. Generally Canada is never involved in that process, New England is smaller, the Federated Union of America is basically the confederacy, and the Great Lakes Confederation stretches south and east instead of north and west, with its capital in D.C. I had to rig some custom changes since I couldn't even release the Great Lakes Confederation once I enlarged New England and put a claim on D.C. After a few pitiful failures trying to make an event to release the Great Lakes, I finally found one where Russia releases Poland, changed those events, and spawned the new events through the console.

Then I had to go and edit my save to change everyone's cores to their borders. Since the Great Lakes Confederation & the Federated Union of America were technically part of the same alliance, the Federated Union kept trying to give Kentucky to the Great Lakes Confederation (since Kentucky wasn't part of the Confederacy, the Federated Union didn't have cores on it, but the Great Lakes Confederation did). After several reloads, some acceptall territory demands and province gifts, I finally got the borders settled where I wanted them. That was somewhat frustrating.

 

[Teivel]

America: While the Balkanisation campaign seems to be well considered, i share Japanese concerns over the longer term. How is new England going to be kept int he fold for more than a few years? More importantly, how on earth does one hold onto the entire West Coast? Alaska and some of the Canadian territories can be understood due to the low populations, but integrating the West Coast is a tall order. Hypothetically, if you followed a Formosa/Korean model and the vote party got their way, you may end up with a truly significant dilution of the Japanese electorate (if not for that Japanese language requirement). I look forward to watching the politics going forward.

Asia: Pu-Yi.... The Japanese just rolled over the Pacific States and are closely allied with your southern rival. Why on earth would you do such an idiotic thing. A united China may be on the horizon if Japan is willing to put principle over the realpolitik need to maintain a position of strength over their Chinese allies.

Europe: Have the German watch on the rhein events fired? if so, i expect them to use the reserve corps they get to stem the tide during the winter. The war is still up in the air as long as they have time to recover.

 

[unmerged(228389)]

Europe: Germany did get one event, there was an announcement that "Die Wacht am Rhein" happened to them. I thought I had a screenshot, but I didn't. (Why I referenced it in the writing). I didn't see any other events firing related to that, however. In some ways I think it would be better for Germany if winter happened a month or two later. If France penetrated far enough for Austria to join the war AND winter happened right at that point I think the French would be done for.

Asia: Heh. Strange things happen when you don't dictate what events fire when. But Japan does not want a war in China. Japan's still at war with Germany, George VIII, and Australasia. It would be political suicide to attack someone else right now. Japan would, of course, back the Republic of China to the hilt. But frankly the Republic is already doing great things for being just a few years old. I doubt they're really ready for a war themselves.

America: I still think you're overestimating the population of the west somewhat. It's nowhere near as populated as, say, Korea. Just for fun I looked up some census records. I estimate the occupied population of western America (not counting D.C. & New Orleans) as roughly 10,750,000 people (+ a few from lightly populated parts of CO & MT I suppose). 11 million is a lot, but not overwhelming. For comparison, the 1940 population of Japan, Korea, and Formosa is roughly as follows:

Japan proper (here including the Kurils and all of Sakhalin): 74 million
Korea: 23.5 million (this assumes a population reduction of roughly 500,000 as a result of the civil war)
Formosa: 5.5 million (with a population reduction of roughly 300,000 as a result of the civil war.

For the curious, I arrived at the population totals for western America from OTL census records, picking a number closer to the 1930 census for states that saw lots of fighting in the KR timeline & lots of immigration in the OTL, and a number closer to the 1940 census for the states not seeing a lot of fighting. The various states & provinces break down as follows:

California: 6 million (not much more than Formosa)
Washington: 1.6 million
Oregon: 1 million
British Columbia: 750,000
Utah: 530,000
Idaho: 470,000
Wyoming: 240,000
Nevada: 100,000
Alaska: 70,000

Sources:
http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/resapport/states/california.pdf
http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/resapport/states/utah.pdf
http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/resapport/states/nevada.pdf
http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/resapport/states/oregon.pdf
http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/resapport/states/washington.pdf
http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/resapport/states/wyoming.pdf
http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/resapport/states/idaho.pdf
http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/resapport/states/alaska.pdf

http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-r.../his/index-acc-eng.cfm?province=59&GEO=submit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Imperial_Japan

Anyway, that's why I have 30+ divisions in America on anti-partisan duty. Sure, a lot of those are garrison divisions in the chief cities of the new puppet states. But a little over half are full infantry divisions with attached MP & Cavalry brigades (cavalry brigades have suppression, just like MP brigades). And those are deployed in the occupied areas. There's a division in or next to every occupied province on anti-partisan duty. When I get the time with my fleet I'll even move a garrison division onto Adak, the base in the Aleutians. Which, yes, makes Alaska very unprofitable. But them's the breaks. The rest of America is very profitable - no more resource problems at all!

P.S. Mexico, by comparison, is occupying roughly 7.5 million people: 6.5m Texans & .5m each for Arizona & NM, with a Mexico proper population of roughly 20 million. So yeah, kind of smart of them to not help me in the war. They're probably barely maintaining internal security as it is.

 

[Teivel]

I had a number approaching 20 million for the west in my head but i can see that's way overshooting the mark. 10-11 million can be kept under control, particularly given that the occupation may be self-financing when the industrial benefit of their resource production is taken into account. Even though the space is large, the population is pretty well clustered in most places so i don't see the task as impossible. To borrow one of your phrases, it's a bold move, but not undoable if there is political will behind it.

Die Wacht am Rhein is Germany's reserves event so they'll be enjoying a brace of new militia divisions to help hold the line. I agree that getting the chance to play out the 'appeal to old friends' chain would have been ideal. I remember i was playing a game as a Carlist Spain and wondering what on earth i'd do if the syndicalists beat the Germans. Then Germany rolled the dice and...

Austria has chosen "In Memory of Franz Joseph, We shall Fight!"
Ottoman Empire has chosen: " The Kaiserbund is back!The Sultan shall aid the Germans!"
Bulgaria has Chosen "We owe the Germans everything, it is time to pay them back!"

I decided to launch an attack across the Pyrenees as the tide began to turn....

 

[Metroid17]

I think the justification of "well, the west coast is way different from the east" is kinda weak, as far as preventing rebellion goes. Korea and Formosa spent years under occupation and they still got pissed enough in the end to violently revolt - a military occupied west coast is a powder keg just waiting to happen.

The AAR's kinda taken a turn for the surreal for me as far as realism goes (Man in the High Castle, anyone?) but I guess we have the game and spotty AI to blame for that, eh? I noticed how you kept sneaking in a lot of self-deprecation for the Americans to justify their lack of resistance throughout the campaign, but I don't really buy it - if anything a foreign invasion would probably galvanize the living hell out of anyone still moping over the civil war. Nothing gets people riled up like the terrifying "other" coming to occupy them.

I'd be surprised if the new order you've built here lasts - realistically speaking, no one's gonna forget that an occupying force erected this thing.

 

[unmerged(228389)]

I'd be surprised if the new order you've built here lasts - realistically speaking, no one's gonna forget that an occupying force erected this thing.

Well of course not. But the Japanese can try to convince themselves of that. And on the other hand, a brutal civil war does tend to reduce patriotism/nationalism.

 

[Gukpa]

Please,invade Brazil and free my nation from the sindies :'(

 

[Kaiser_Mobius]

"This is not Peace. It is an Armistice for twenty years."

 

[Mkoll13]

But what if living under Japanese occupation in this timeline ain't half bad?

 

[undeadmonkey]

U.S.A Outcome

I think the justification of "well, the west coast is way different from the east" is kind of weak, as far as preventing rebellion goes. Korea and Formosa spent years under occupation and they still got pissed enough in the end to violently revolt - a military occupied west coast is a powder keg just waiting to happen.

Actually it is a good Justification, By my understanding of the KR lore and this timeline the U.S west coast is must different from the east, this is why they can form PSA in game during the civil war.

Why? It Begins when Germany wins world war one and the U.S doesn't get back the money from the loans to the entrée, and Germany shutting the USA out of most of the worlds economy causing the Great depression to Be much worse then in our time line. Also their is the changes to the military not building to levels like we see in todays America allowing for each of the factions to hold enough form with the militia men they form to be a threat, the west coast was able to escape this due to trading with Asian country's like japan.

And then one must think of the events that have taken place in Game, The U.S.A has abandoned Democracy and the Constitution in favor by the PSA who was suppose to restore democracy after the civil war. And the bloody fighting in the east coupled with the president handing over states to Mexico brings into question why the people were fighting,for they have lost most of what they started with and began all this looking for change, that was in the end brought on by japan.

So why would people enter into rebellion against japan when she is restoring democracy to America, why keep the military in power?(assuming that's the gov type japan is in this game) Most of the east coast sounds beat up to the point were they would accept any reasonable new order in America for a very long time simply to rebuild. And west would accept occupation as long as japan restored some form of the old system or restore the old one as an method to rule, as long as they don't oppress the Americans or treat them bad.

But the outcome long term would be depended on three factors, 1) Japans response to the states trying to reform the U.S.A, 2) Some form of democracy and no outright miss-treatment by Japan. 3) Some form of Local Autonomy and successful rebuilding projects across the country.

Balkanisation campaign

Ahhh the age old question when Turing Japan into a major power.:mellow: Siting Next door to China, Russia, and the U.S.A you have major challenges for long term control over just Asia due to these powers able to have large influences and larger industrial bases and higher manpower in theory at least. Compared to Japan, Balkanization of powers is can be considered realist due to having the power to take control over any future alliance with Japan due to shear weight and Size when coming to the future in Asian affairs .

This is not Peace. It is an Armistice for twenty years."

Hmmm... Sorry for Seeing Canada Balkanized like that .

 

[NikephorosSonar]

I'd rather we not discuss the KR America too much, it's one of the weakest and least plausible parts of the lore.

 

[Jape]

snip

The main problem nationalism, regardless of democracy its the Yellow Peril beating Americans, regardless east-west tensions I imagine that would easily trump it.

 

[Nikolai]

No way Japan can hold on that much of America.

 

[Mkoll13]

There's no way to find out unless we try!