The Pacific Empire - A Japan BlackICE AAR

[Macke11]

The Pacific Empire
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Hello and welcome to The Pacific Empire! This is a narrative/history book AAR and it's going to tell you about the Empire of Japan during the Second World War. The AAR is not going to follow history to much and instead maybe focus more on other things. In this alternate timeline, Japan will focus a bit more on the war against China and join the war against the Soviet Union and not focus on the Pacific as much. I will try to balance how much I write about the different theatres though. I'm playing with the BlackIce mod, because it's just a great mod. Hope you enjoy!

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To new readers:
Don't judge the first 13 parts too hard, from part 14 and on it gets better.

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Note:
This AAR is currently going through a restoration project, as the images broke due to some issues with postimg. Whilst I'm at it I intend to take steps to make it more readable and hopefully improve its design format. (Restoration currently reaching chapter 8 - 31/5-2018)

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List of content:

Major Parts:

Part 1 - The Army Reorganisation and a Coup
Part 2 - A Year of Preparations
Part 3 - Beiping and Tianjin, Sub-part 1, Sub-part 2, Sub-part 3
Part 4 - More Static Fighting, Sub-part 1, Sub-part 2, Sub-part 3
Part 5 - "Forgot to name it", Sub-part 1, Sub-part 2, Sub-part 3
Part 6 - "Forgot to name this one too"
Part 7 - The Invasion of the Shandong peninsula
My "Realistic Rules" and Part 8 - The Invasion Continues
Part 9 - The "Incirclement Hunt"
Part 10 - The Start of a Breakthrough
Part 11 - Two Months Of Success
Part 12 - Some Success, Some Failure
Part 13 - Familiar Commanders In Action Again
Part 14 - The Foundation Of Operation Overload
Part 15 - Some Months Later, Sub-Part 1, Sub-part 2
Part 16 - The Follow Up Of Operation Overload, Sub-Part 1, Sub-Part 2, Sub-Part 3
Pausing The AAR (Not a part, but still valid for this list I think)
The Return of The Pacific Empire (It's back!)
Part 17 - The Decisive Blow
Part 18 - Two Important Victories
Part 19 - Operation Wildcat
Part 20 - Capital in Sight
Military Situation Update - January 1940
Part 21 - The Fall of Chongqing
Part 22 - Cugging on to Changde and Chengdu
Part 23 - Uniting the Coast

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Additional Major Parts:

Timeline (Currently updated to January 1938)

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Additional Small Parts:

Very Brief Explanation Of Spanish Nationalist Strategy (No Strategy Is Best Strategy) Spring '39
Intelligence Reports From China, July and September '39

Part 1 - The Army Reorganisation and a Coup
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In the beginning of 1936, Japan was in a quite good position, but at the same time not. The empire had proved itself a great power and provided a strong navy, but it was surronded by brittish, french and american colonies, China and the Soviet Union and the Imperial Army was in need of a reorganisation and modernisation. Emperor Hirohito knew this, so he decided that the new year would be spent strengthening the armed forces. To give the country knowledge about modern warfare, a small military unit was sent to Abyssinia to fight in the war against Italy. Modern military factories were built, like an armament factory in Wakayama and a tank factory in Sasebo. Higher standards for military training were put in place and heavier spending on state controlled industries began.

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Also as a part of the reforms, the industrial specialist Takasu Shiro replaced the more politically interested Okamura Yasuji as Head of Intelligence. Despite the Chief of the Army and chief of Staff, Kanin Kotohito, favouring defensive strategies, the leader of Japans only armoured division, Ochi Yuuichi, managed to convince Hirohito that mobile warfare would be the best strategy for an invasion of China. 10th of January, Aizawa Takase, general of the Kwantung Army, requested a reorganisation of the forces in Manchuria. Kanin Kotohito, also commander of the Kwantung Theatre (leader of all forces in Manchuria), agreed.

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In the morning the 6th of February, a coup started in Japan and it would go on for a month Before the last remainders were captured. 19 of them would be executed in July, but the other 104 coup conspirators were allowed to live, as Hirohito thought it would anger the population to much if he killed all of the participants.

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The day after the coup began, Hirohito announced a basic mobilisation. In early March the One-year wartime service law was enacted, which meant that conscripts would have to serve a year in the army in case of war. Hirohito didn't sign the 2nd London naval Treaty, as it would have reduced the IJN:s capabilities greatly.

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The 17th of April, the army reorganisation was over. The command in both the Kwantung Theatre and the Kwantung Army had been centralised. More than half of the Kwantung army was led by Higashikuni and the Vladivostok Homengun on the Eastern border of Manchuria, while the rest of the soldiers were split up in two crops close to the northern border. The China Front was commanded by Tojo, an experimental general. Under him served Abe and his Kita-Shina Homengun and also Ochi and his armoured division. Abe's Homengun had 3 infantry corps and 2 mobile corps, the Moukogo Gun and the 5 Homengun.

Important positions at the moment:
The Kwantung Theatre: Kanin Kotohito
The Kwantung Army: Aizawa Takase
The China front: Tojo
Kita-Shina Homengun: Abe
1st Armoured Division: Ochi Yuuichi

 

[Macke11]

Part 2 - A year of preparations
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In early May, a month after the reorganisation ended, better structure was implemented in the brigade HQ:s. Some weeks later, Hirohito gave local power to important pro-japanese persons in Inner Mongolia, so he didn't have to worry about rebellions in the area when China was invaded. During June and early July, the japanese military theorists increased the training and communication in armoured and mobile units, recons and anti-tank guns. They also analysed experience from The Great War to prevent a trench war in China. The 7th of July, the two newly built heavy cruisers Suzuya and Kumano were deployed in Maizuru, Central Japan. A civil war in Spain, between the political right and left, broke out the 17th and a month later Japan sent a small military force, like the one to Abyssinia, to help the spanish nationalists and to get even more knowledge about modern warfare.

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Nothing more important than the implemention of the german "Blitzkrieg", increased artillery training and radio technology and some more things like medicine, happened until the 24th of november, when the Two-year wartime service law was enacted. Not many days after this a Project to build out the road networks of the empire, was completed. The 3rd of December Japan signed the Anti-Comintern pact with Germany. The last events of the year were some finished research projects. Some of those were better radios and increased industry efficiency. 2 Days into the new year, Foreign minister Hirota Koki reported that the USA had launched two new Aircraft Carriers, USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise. In response to the american naval construction, Japan started their own, secret, navy expansion program. The IJN wouldn't focus on quantity though and instead on quality.

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The 3rd of January, a new camera producing company was founded in Japan, Kwanon (later renamed Canon). To strengthen the miltary industry, Hirohito followed Armament minister Machida Chuji's advice and constructed armament factories in Osaka, Fukushima, Tottori and Niigata. In March, the empire saw improvements of the artillery and in April of motorised support units and range finding equipment. Just in the beginning of May, Stalin began the Great Officer Purge that would kill around half the Soviet officer corps.

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A month later, the Chief of the navy, Osumi Mineo, convinced the Emperor that the battlecruiser Hiei should be modernised. Late July, incendiary bombs began to be produced and the standard for bombs was increased to 500kg. In August, Kanin Kotohito created the 2 Kita-Shina Homengun, led by the great logistical planner Watana. This new army would be put under the China Front like the other one. The 2 Kita-Shina Homengun wasn't much of an army yet, because it only commanded a single corps, the 22 Homengun. The corps was led by Lt. General Arata Shunji, a general with the motto "attack is the best defence", who had been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun. 14:00 the 21 of August, fightings at the Marco polo Bridge caused war between the Japanese Empire and the Republic of China.

Important positions:
Kwantung Theatre, Chief of Army, Chief of Staff: Kanin Kotohito
Kwantung Army: Aizawa Takase
China Front: Tojo
Kita-Shina Homengun: Abe
2 Kita-Shina Homengun: Watana
1st Armoured Division: Ochi Yuuichi

(I'm trying to not use to many pictures, but there will be more during the war)​

 

[Guaro90]

Love it!!! keep it up! subbed!

 

[Macke11]

Thank you!

 

[Macke11]

Part 3 - Beiping and Tianjin

Tianjin
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The artillery bombarded the enemy positions for three hours, before the offensive began. At Tianjin, the battle began with a breakthrough, but the chinese Maj. general Lin Wei managed to stop them a day later. The battles were fierce and destruction was everywhere in the city. Artillery shells rained down over the city and the Imperial Army hammered the enemy positions.

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When it was clear that the breakthough had been stopped though, Abe changed strategy to a "Blitz attack", but as he didn't have tanks and fought in a city, the strategy failed quite heavilly. Lin Wei was an engineering general, which meant that his skill lay in river crossing attacks and such things. Despite this, the japanese forces couldn't break through because of insufficient experience of urban combat.

The fightings continued without any special events until the 27th, when the Imperial Army broke through the enemy lines again. This time the gap in the enemy lines wasn't big enough to be exploited effectively. The 30th of August, the japanese forces in the city, around 70.000 men, were fighting against 96.000 enemies. The war had become exactly what Hirohito had tried to avoid, a trench war. After a week of fighting, the front was static and no one had the upper hand. There was one positive thing though, the casualties were quite low.

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The 2nd of September, a division HQ of veteran officers was created in Tokyo. It was meant to be the start of a veteran division. Not long after, the autumn mud started to arrive. This made a victory even harder. The 13th, Kanin Kotohito launched a naval invasion South of Tianjin, with the marine division commanded by Tanaka, a good marine general. When the marines had landed, they instantly began attacking the city in the rear.

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This temporarily led to a small gap in the enemy frontline, but it was quickly closed by the chinese general. The night between the 20th and 21st, Lt. general Sun Yuanliang replaced Lin Wei as commander in Tianjin. Yuanliang was better suited for the mission than his predecessor, as he was a defensive leader and had more combat experience. It was now clear that there would be no victory in the nearest future if things continued like this, so Kanin ordered the airforce to do large scaled attacks on Tianjin and Beiping. The 22nd, Abe tried another "Blitz attack" despite its negative results last time. In the end of September, the bad manchurian infrastructure began to take its toll on the japanese army when some troops temporarily ran out of supplies.

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Early afternoon the 1st of October, Tanaka's marine division became under attack by four enemy divisions in an attempt to stop its attack on Tianjin. The attacking divisions were too weak to be a real threat, so Tanaka continued the attack and left a small force behind to defend the rear of his forces. The 2nd of October, the first snow fell from the skies. That was a sign that said "Japan will not be able to beat China this year".

(The battle for Beiping will be its own part)​

 

[sebas379]

Subbed, Japan is always a great country to play, good luck with the war in China!

 

[Macke11]

Thank you!

 

[Macke11]

Beiping
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To the north of Tianjin was the city of Beiping. Beiping would be a very drawn-out and static battle, like the Battle for Tianjin. The attack began during the night and thus the japanese forces gave their enemies an even bigger chance to defend themselves. Field Marshal Li Zongren, leader of the 1st Chinese army group (the army group in the northern part of China), led the defense of the City. He was well suited for this battle, as he was very skilled in defensive combat. During the first hours of combat, the field marshal managed to delay the enemy forces so he could prepare his own men. This was absolutely needed, because the japanese 60.000 men outnumbered his own 45.000 men quite a bit.

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The evening the 22nd of August, the forces of the Kita-Shina Homengun tried an infantry shock. The shock failed to break through the enemy lines. The 24th, Zongren ordered a tactical withdrawal to better positions, just as his enemies were about to break his frontline. Two days later, the Imperial forces tried a frontal assault and, finally, started to damage the enemy forces a bit. They were still far from breaking though. During the 27th, Zongren tried an elastic defense with his cavalry and light infantry, but soon returned to the normal, static strategy. Here the japanese soldiers discovered german equipment and that their enemies used german tactics. Abe sent a secret report to Hirohito, who became upset over that his ally helped his enemy. From now he would keep an eye on his friend in the west.

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The 1st of September, the japanese tried another infantry shock, but the chinese field marshal masterfully countered it with an ambush. The soldiers ran straight into the trap, but most of them also managed to escape. The 4th, Japan still had around 60.000 soldiers in the sector, against China's 37.000. The 5th, Li Zongren recieved a severe wound from an artillery shell and had to be withdrawn from the city. He was replaced by Maj. general Sun Lanfeng, an offensive leader. Lanfeng arrived just in time to face the third infantry shock.

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The army in Beiping was starting to suffer from the combat and some militia units were about to break, but the new general launched a local counterattack on the 8th and temporarily stopped the enemy advance. Two days later, Abe asked Tojo to send in the armoured division to help the forces in Beiping. Tojo accepted and the division was sent to a position northwest of the City. From there it attacked the enemy flank to put more pressure on the enemies. The 21st, a fourth infantry shock was performed in Beiping. More than a week would pass without any important events and the important city had still not fallen when the first snow fell, the 2nd of October.

(From now I will split up every part in smaller parts, like this one)​

 

[sebas379]

Heavy fighting on the border, it might be a real meatgrinder getting through the enemy. Are you prepared for any flanking amphibious invasions?

 

[Macke11]

The losses are actually not that big for me, at least not compared to China's, but yes, it will be a very hard time breaking through in the center. I have four marine divisions more than the one I've allready landed and 14 infantry divisions are being created, though most of them won't be completed before February. The biggest problem with an amphibious assault is the lack of qualified ships. I have a lot of passenger ships (from BlackIce), but they can only transport units and not perform invasions, though there is a single assault ship, which I used for the earlier naval invasion.

 

[sebas379]

I like that ship difference, interesting. It seems you will have to seize a port with the marines, then ship reinforcements in with the passenger ships. Good luck

 

[Macke11]

That will have to wait a while though, as I've allready played enough for part 4 (I think at least), but it's a good idea. The last "sub part" for part 3 will be uploaded soon.

 

[Macke11]

Other Things
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The 24th of August, the 2 Homengun HQ was created in Tokyo and that was the start of the japanese army expansion. The 25th, a naval battle was fought in the waters of Seohan man and the IJN won, but neither side lost any ships. The 2nd of September, a large typhoon hit Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, killing over 11.000 people. Italy won their war against Abyssinia on the 5th and Hirohito began to hope that the "volunteers" would return home soon, if they had survived. During the end phase of the war, the defending forces had been forced back to the border in the west and thus it wasn't sure if anyone would return to Japan or not.

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The same day, an aircraft on a bombing run on Shanghai accidently hit the Brittish ambassador in his car. Four days later, the 18th "Kiku" Division HQ was created in Tokyo. On the 19th, Hirohito ordered the Armament minister, Machida Chuji, to start the creation of 14 new infantry divisons and make preparations for producing three armoured divisions.

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The 20th, new anti-aircraft armaments for submarines were created. A day later, the two first chinese freighters were sank by convoy raiding submarines and cruisers. The 24th, the Emperor decided to enact the war economy law, which gave the state controll of a majority of Japan's factories. The Control Clique, the ruling party, was only popular because of a huge amount of propaganda and would have been the weakest party without it. The 25th, better batteries for the submarines were implemented. The same day, the IJN sank a convoy ship and the next day another one. The convoy raiders were covering almost the entire chinese coast and that made trading very hard for them. More advanced hydrophones were introduced the 1st of October and the day after, the first snow fell.

Important Positions:
Kwantung Theatre, Chief of the army, Chief of Staff: Kanin Kotohito
Kwantung Army: Aizawa Takase
China Front: Tojo
Kita-Shina Homengun: Abe
2 Kita-Shina Homengun: Watana
1st Armoured Divison: Ochi Yuuichi
1st Marine Divison: Tanaka
16 Gundan: Kawagishi​

 

[Macke11]

Part 4 - More static fighting

Tianjin
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The 2 Kita-Shina Homengun re-newed its attack on Tianjin on the 5th of October with a large-scaled attack, but Maj. general Lin Wei countered it with an elastic defense. The chinese army was in a much better position in Tianjin than in Beiping and the Shanxi territories, as they had superior numbers there. On the 10th, Tanaka abandoned his attack on Tianjin and focused entirely on the enemies that attacked him in the rear. This was because of a direct order from Kanin. Japan could not afford to loose one of their well-trained marine divisons, especially as they were very important for a breakthrough in the enemy frontline. Tanaka effectively used snipers to try taking out chinese officers and the strategy delayed the enemy advance. He was running out of supplies though, so plans to evacuate the division began to be drawn up in Kanin's HQ. They would continue to be just plans though and nothing was made to save the marines at the moment.

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The 23rd of October, chinese forces launched an assault on Tanaka's forces. On the 25th, Lin Wei delayed another frontal assault in the city Tianjin for a while, but in the morning on the 27th, the attack could begin. On the 28th, a chinese shock in Jinghai was met by a very effective ambush. The frontal assault in the city ended on the 30th and a few days later the snow fall increased a bit, making the war even harder for the Imperial army. Meanwhile, on the 4th of November, monsoon rains began across the Pacific and Southeast Asia. As Tanaka was an experienced commander, he knew that asymmetric tactics, ambushes and delays could be very usefull when trying to stop an assault and thus he used them very often.

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On the 8th, the japanese forces in the large city tried a shock towards Lin Wei's HQ, but it was soon stopped. Instantly, the japanese troops began a total frontal assault instead. When the enemies launched another shock in Jinghai, Tanaka counterattacked them and prevented further advance. An attack to take the city center in Tianjin was stopped by a well-planned, chinese ambush. Not very long after that, Japan attacked again, broke through the enemies temporarily and seized the city center. During an inspection of the fighting forces on the 15th of November, Tojo realised that most of the Japanese units were on the brink of collapse, but the field marshal ordered continued attacks. He wouldn't accept a withdrawal after all the problems Tianjin had given his forces, he wanted to push the enemies back from the city.

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When the forces launched their next frontal assault, they seized some equipment that the local commander recognised as soviet. A secret message was sent to the Emperor and this time, he was more than a bit upset, "Why are everyone helping China??", he thought. The attack was soon stopped by another one of Lin Wei's ambushes. Meanwhile, Tanaka faced even more assaults on his marines effectively. On the 18th, Lin began to use his snipers in the same way as Tanaka had used his, taking out officers. When Abe and Watana finally managed to create a masterful breaktrough, it was too late and their forces were to weak to exploit it.

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Lin Wei filled the gap in his lines a day after the enemy breakthrough and Japan had lost a good opportunity to defeat the chinese forces in the area. On the 25th, the marine general ambushed another enemy attack on his division. The following day, a shock in the city failed and it was clear that Japan had lost the battle. The fierce fightings would continue a long time after this though. On the evening of the 27th, Watana and Abe performed a masterful "Blitz attack", but the battle was still going more and more in favour of the chinese. In the end of the month, the chinese Maj. general delayed an attack long enough for a light infantry division to reinforce him. On the 1st of December, the chinese outnumbered the japanese at every battleground and were about to win the two major battles.

 

[Guaro90]

Good luck with those battles!!! i think you need it

 

[Macke11]

Yeah, its not going too good at the moment, but I'm making progress in the northwest and, as sebas379 suggested, I could do amphibious invasions on the coast. The problem is that my 14 new infantry divisions won't be completed before February and thus it isn't a very good idea to open up a new front through an invasion, because there aren't enough units for it.

 

[Mkoll13]

The Chinese are putting up a good fight, but victory is inevitable. For the emperor!

 

[Macke11]

Actually, the chinese are not that strong, we just want them to believe they had a chance before we defeat them. The war will be over by Christmas!

 

[Macke11]

Beiping
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On the 16th of October, the japanese in Beiping launched a new frontal assault and, as they actually had superior numbers, hoped to overwhelm the chinese forces. This wouldn't be the case though and, as usually, the enemy army held its ground. On the 25th, Sun Lanfeng was replaced as commander of the chinese forces in the area because of a dispute with his superior. His successor was Maj. general Zhou Tiren.

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Two days later, a "Blitz attack" was launched in Beiping, but like its predecessors it failed. In the beginning of November, the snow fall increased, but a masterful breakthrough was made and at the moment, everything looked good for Japan. On the 5th of November, a chinese marine brigade arrived and stopped the enemy forces very soon. The japanese forces instantly launched another "Blitz attack", which failed. After that, a shock to seize the western outskirts of the town began, but it was counterattacked and stopped by Zhou very soon. A few days later, another large-scaled attack began, but once again, the chinese general stopped them with an elastic defense. On the 11th, the first successful attack was performed in Beiping and the chinese were slowly starting to break. The attack still ended on the 13th though.

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Under the night between the 14th and 15th the Imperial army finally created the breakthrough it had needed for several months then, but that was also the highest peak that they would reach during the battle for Beiping. Not too long after, chinese reinforcements arrived and prevented a great japanese victory. Maj. general Zhou Tiren pushed his enemies back a bit and ambushed them when they continued their attack. The numbers had now turned in the favour of China. On the 20th, a small japanese infantry force managed to reach the airfield in the east, before they got pushed back to their starting positions. The Imperial army soon tried another attack, but was also this time counterattacked. During the end of the month, several attack attempts were made, but none of them was a victory. Some smaller breakthroughs were made, but it wasn't enough. On the 29th, Zhou used an elastic defense and on the 30th he used the snipers. On the 1st of December, China had 85.000 men in the area and Japan had 51.000.

The war in the north
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In the province of Fengchen in Shanxi, the chinese were attacked from both east and west and the defending commander, Maj. general Rudin, was an unexperienced leader, except from his skill in forest combat. The attack was performed by forces from Kawagishi's 16 Gundan, the 26 Hohei Dan from the 13 Homengun and Yamada's Moukogo Gun (a mobile corps, light infantry and cavalry). On the 15th of October, a large scaled assault from both flanks was launched. It was met by snipers. Rudin might not have been the most experienced general, but he knew that snipers using hit and run tactics could be devastatingly effective in forests.

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At that time though, most of the forces had been withdrawn from the province and the Maj. general had a hard time holding his ground. The snipers managed to hold back the attackers for several days and then reinforcements started to arrive, giving the chinese better odds. In late October, the battle changed to a stalemate and Kawagishi asked Abe for reinforcements. As Abe had no available reserves, he asked Tojo, who then asked Kanin. The commander of the Kwantung Theatre decided to re-deployed the 21 Homengun from the Vladivostok Homengun, the Kwantung Army, to the China Front. The corps HQ wouldn't arrive until late November though and then it was far ahead of the divisions.

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On the 4th of November, Kawagishi launched an assault on the western side of Fengchen, when he was told that reinforcements wouldn't arrive anytime soon. The assault ended in the evening the following day. Another assault was launched late on the 6th, but it was stopped after two days. After that, only smaller skirmishes with low activity were fought until the 21st, when Rudin delayed another japanese attack. On the 23rd, the shock could finally begin and a new infantry division joined in from the east. 17:00 the following day, the Imperial army broke through the enemy frontline in both east and west and three chinese divisions started fleeing. Later in the evening, a depressing report reached both Kawagishi's and Yamada's HQ's, the victory had been in sight, but stopped. They both ordered a continued shock though. Rudin soon began to harass the japanes with his snipers again and provoced another attack, which would go on during the last days of the months. The chinese snipers in Fengchen were now given the nickname "Mosquitos", by their enemies. On the 1st of December, Japan's forces in Fengchen were outnumbered by 10.000 men.

Two "new fronts"
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On the 8th of October, a chinese divison invaded the city of Naha on southern Okinawa. It was led by the Maj. general Qiu Qingquan, an offensive leader. The defending garrison was led by Maj. general Matsui, a general whose skill lay in other things than defending. He had been an engineer before he joined the army and was thus good at storming fortresses and cities.

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Around the same time, a small communist militia from China landed on southern Taiwan. Lt. general Nishihara, commander of the 14 Homengun, didn't react before the 17th, when the militia had already taken some ground. He sent in Maj. general Horii and his 48th infantry division to stop the enemy advance in the hills of Nantou. On the 19th, the japanese arrived first in the province and in the afternoon they pushed the chinese back. It's wrong to call the chinese division a divison, as it had just a thousand men.

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An hour after the defensive combat ended, Horii launched an attack on the enemies that had withdrawn south, to Taidong. 4:00 in the morning the next day, the 48th infantry division overwhelmed the militia unit, with the chinese suffering twice the japanese casualties. Horii remained in Taidong for six days to secure the province from the last enemies, but on the 26th he began following the retreating communist soldiers down to the southern tip of Taiwan. On the 27th, he encircled the 1018 enemy men and they surrendered.

On the 25th of October, the chinese forces invading Okinawa finally managed to secure a strong position on the island, but Matsui delayed further offensives inland for a few days. When the offensive began on the 27th, Matsui's snipers shot some important officers and thus the attack ended on the 30th. It would then take until the 17th of November until Qiu Qingquan launched a shock to take the city, but it was met by heavy resistance and failed to make much progress. Qiu tried another shock on the 25th, but failed again and on the 29th it was quite calm on the island again. The attacking chinese division was starting to slowly break, partially because it had lost many officers to the japanese snipers. On the 1st of December, Qiu attacked again, but the invasion had now clearly failed.

 

[sebas379]

This is still the same battle of Beijng? Wow that is going to be an absolute meatgrinder. Are you sure it is wise to keep pushing this hard against well defended positions?