The northen part of Hata's line had been slow to see combat but there was a steady increase in battles in this area as the more modern enemy troops began to pick up momentum. Chandra Bose was forced to withdraw from Torun towards Suwalki after being attacked by superior numbers on October 22nd. The river defence would not help him much against more modern enemy troops.
Watanabe caught the Romanian Dive bombers over Warsaw at 0800 hours on October 22nd. Despite only having three squadrons with him he was still able to destroy almost half of the attacking bombers and would ground them for several weeks as a result.
The Romanian Army had managed to strengthen it's position along the border by the afternoon of October 22nd which led to the first co-ordinated attack against the Japanese defences in this area. General Ueda's four divisions came under fire from six enemy divisions almost all of which were no more modern than his own. The cross river attack which had begun at dusk gave Hata the chance to allow Ueda to defend his position rather than order an immediate withdraw.
A second assault began to the north as four French controlled divisions attacked Ushijima Mitsuru's defences in Lvov. This province was pivotal in the south central region and Hata had no wish to lose it. He would also order a defence to be attempted here as the enemy lacked a battlefield commander and the night conditions favoured the Japanese.
By 0400 hours on October 23rd both Ueda and Ushijima Mitsuru had successfully repelled their respective attacks which gave Hata confidence that he could hold under fairly close odds given reasonable defensive terrain and conditions. Transport Capacity was also causing some concern as it had greatly increased again due to the redeployment of rear divisions towards the front lines. Additional supplies could counteract this up to a point but even this balance was becoming less useful.
By 0400 hours on October 23rd both Ueda and Ushijima Mitsuru had successfully repelled their respective attacks which gave Hata confidence that he could hold under fairly close odds given reasonable defensive terrain and conditions. Transport Capacity was also causing some concern as it had greatly increased again due to the redeployment of rear divisions towards the front lines. Additional supplies could counteract this up to a point but even this balance was becoming less useful.
A second night attack against Lvov, at 2100 hours on October 23rd, gave Hata no option but to order Ushijima Mitsuru to withdraw towards Tarnopol as fourteen enemy divisions forced the issue.
0000 October 24th 1948.
Intelligence Offices. Tokyo, Japan.
Kuniaki's research teams were having a busy month as they completed another project. Teiji Takagi, Japan's leading Electronics expert, finished research into an Advanced Electronic Computer.
Kuniaki ordered a change in paths by handing Nakajima a contract to research an Improved Turbojet Interceptor which would hopefully reduce Japanese Interceptor losses which had begun to increase as combat began in earnest in the west.
1800 October 24th 1948.
Diplomatic Offices. Tokyo, Japan.
The Finnish Ambassador was not surprised by his summons to the Diplomatic Offices of Minister Mamoru. He was well aware of his Countries problems after it's main Ally had collapsed.
Mamoru liked to make such things official with the Finnish Ambassador handing over the key to his Diplomatic residence after it had been confirmed that his Country had become the latest to accept Japanese rule.
General Yamashita had concluded his march to Vaasa to allow for the Diplomatic move but he did not stay long before beginning his redeployment south. Few resources were handed over by the Finns but Japan's gold reserves did improve quite dramatically.
