The Setting Sun - Gotterdammerung, Japan 1944.

[PrawnStar]

Good update, the resource situation looks as 'interesting'!

Good work Riptide, enjoyed it!

and Remble, it looks like Deus might have found a custom title for you 'Cherrypopper'

 

[Manziel]

What I think he meant was that, regardless if you prefer Moskva or Moscow, Stalin had remained in the city while the possibility of it falling to the Germans was very real. He never left it while the Germans were within sight of it.

that is what people believe but not what he actually did

 

[unmerged(84739)]

"Cherry popping"? *Sigh* Perverts.

 

[unmerged(61891)]

that is what people believe but not what he actually did

Both are wrong, according to history. He remained in Moscow for the siege, but he left in fear in October for a short period.

However, it *is* plausible that he actually did flee but no one knew about it, or at least no one who would've recorded it as history. But it's not really important or impactful to this AAR, either way.

 

[unmerged(59906)]

Inner Circle, Maj. von Mauser - Thank you. The AI does seem to be getting its act together a little bit more, although it is a little late. Wilson is no longer in Burma, his divisions did not survive the march from Sittang to Moulmein

ColossusCrusher - Mj. General Banzai was a gift from Paradox to AARland, it would be a shame not to use him

harezmi - I have plans for many things and Australia and New Zealand are in those plans. My hands are tied to a possible war in the north soon and any further plans to invade elsewhere could be a bad idea. The Soviets will require the complete attention of all of my airforce and nearly all of my army if I am to stop them.

thatguy - The Sun has Set on the 'old' Japan and New Japan has been formed from the remnants of the old.

Riptide - Very nice work Riptide and thank you. I am very glad to know that I have until August to get my forces into position. It would be rather amusing if that actually does happen

Sokraates - I am glad Rangoon fell fairly easily, I do not have the manpower to fight protracted battles. VH increases losses so I have to be a little careful on occasion. Banzai is a character under development still, after all he is still young and low in the chain of command.

Deus - Almost all of the forces will go north and very few to India. My airforce will obliterate the Allies in India I expect so I won't need many troops just to sit and defend Karachi.

trekaddict - Repairs before upgrades always. A below strength slightly better unit is no better than a repaired slightly inferior unit.

safferli - The armour will be needed but I doubt it will be enough.

GoforitPanzer - I am going as fast as possible, but according to inside sources Stalin is not going to attack until August. Persia is still split and a British puppet.

PrawnStar - The resource monster is beginning to rear its ugly head again for sure. Time for Mamoru to stop loafing and get back to doing some work.

I do seem to attract a fair few first posters but I am not alone in doing that by any means. You only have to look at some of the other larger AAR's to see them full of newcomers too. It is very nice to know that my writing is good enough to attract a wide audience of both older players/posters and new.

Stalin may or may not have left Moscow it all depends on what story you read. Historians argue all the time on this and other topics as there is no real concrete proof either way.

Update to follow ...

 

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Operation Dilemma​

22​

0600 May 8th 1945.
North China Army Headquarters. Toungoo, Burma.

The thunderstorms across India and Asia continued on as May progressed. This did not halt ground operations in any way.​

British forces pushed their current advantage in India by launching an attack against Lt. General Nishihara's three infantry divisions in Ranchi. He would be forced to withdraw towards Calcutta as a result.​

1300 May 8th 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Gulf of Martapan.

Admiral Godo had caught up to the American Submarine fleet off the coast of Taiwan.​

The enemy fleet was kept at long distance during the entire battle but it would sustain only light damage during a nightime engagement. Godo would follow the Submarines for several days and intercept them regularly. All of the encounters would be at night and the Submarines would escape any major damage.​

2300 May 8th 1945.
North China Army Headquarters. Toungoo, Burma.

While attacks were forcing Japanese forces back in India the reverse was true in Burma as Higashikuni continued to collapse the British defence.​

General Abe landed on schedule in Rangoon, capturing the final airbase and port facility that the Allies had held. It was just a matter of time now for the remaining Allied troops unless a major intervention occurred.​

Higashikuni ordered another attack against Thom Buri on May 9th which was again a hard fought battle. Two of the British divisions retreated after several hours of fighting leaving only one to continue the battle. This time Japanese forces would be successful.​

General Ueda's position in Darbhanga came under attack in northern India by an equal sized British force. He would hold on this occasion as the enemy advance began to stall.​

0000 May 10th 1945.
Intelligence Headquarters. Tokyo, Japan.

Kuniaki had received word from Sumimoto of the completion of a research project. Small Arms Assembly Line would result in the next set of infantry coming available a week earlier than planned.​

He tasked Kawasaki with researching an improved means of supplying Japanese forces.​

0700 May 10th 1945.
North China Army Headquarters. Toungoo, Burma.

Higashikuni had begun to redeploy his troops from Burma towards their defensive positions in northern China but he also ordered another troops movement to ensure that the British forces in Burma did not spread.​

Admiral Kato embarked three divisions from Bassein and headed for Alor Star to block the British advance towards the province. This would be successful.​

British forces in India were not finished with their advance and launched an attack on General Kawabe in Vishakhapatnam. The enemy forces would be reinforced by the division that had just occupied Ranchi and would force Kawabe to withdraw towards Cuttack. The Japanese forces in southern and northern India were about to be isolated from eachother.​

1800 May 14th 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, South Bay of Bengal.

Yamamoto had moved his fleet south west as he no longer needed to watch the Burmese coast. He received word from Carrier Group D as he did so.​

Godo had chased the Submarines as far as the South Philippine Trench but had encountered a small Canadian fleet instead of the Submarines. Night and rain made Carrier operations almost impossible and Godo would lose one of his escorting Destroyer Flotillas as a result. The sinking would remain a mystery as no ship could claim the killing blow. Godo was ordered to return to Osaka for repairs.​

0400 May 15th 1945.
North China Army Headquarters. In Transit.

Higashikuni had begun to move his headquarters north to its new defensive position as fighting continued in India.​

Ueda had launched a counter attack against the British and forced them to retreat from Ranchi. Nishihara would advance into the province.​

 

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Unfortunately the British had attacked Ueda during the battle for Ranchi and he would have to withdraw east towards Rangpur. The fluid battles in India were showing no signs of stopping for the time being despite the presence of the Tactical bombers.​

0800 May 16th 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, South Bay of Bengal.

Naval patrols had spotted one of the large American Battlefleets in the East Celebes Sea.​

Spruance was heading towards Burma again. Ozawa and Genda had been resting their aircraft in Borneo and were passed the information. They would begin to hunt north of Borneo the next morning.​

Yamamoto had moved his three operational fleets into position to cover most of the southern end of the Bay of Bengal. He did not want an enemy invasion fleet landing troops behind Japanese lines.

BB Division 1 was covering the center and encountered four Submarine Flotillas. None would be sunk during the engagement.

Genda's Naval bombers would encounter an enemy fleet at 1100 hours on May 18th.​

It would not be Spruance. A new fleet would need to be added to the list of enemy formations, as the Carrier USS Boxer was sighted at the head of a meduim sized American fleet, led by Admiral Wright.​

Ozawa and Genda would encounter a smaller fleet on their next patrol containing just two Destroyer Divisions. Neither would sink and there had been no sign of Spruance.​

0200 May 19th 1945.
North China Army Headquarters. In Transit.

The Tactical bombers had begun to inflict large amounts of damage on the advancing British forces. The weather had cleared up making their missions considerably easier.​

The forces that had been advancing into Darbhanga had been completely destroyed which allowed Ueda to move forwards again.​

Mj. General Banzai occupied Thom Buri at 1700 hours on May 19th and the British were reduced to controlling only two provinces in Burma.​

That would change again the following morning as Banzai was again spearheading an attack. This time Field Marshal Hata commanded the assault on Moulmein. The attack gave Hata a considerable amount of experience in Jungle warfare and his troops would fight better in this terrain as a result of his leadership.

The loss of Thom Buri had placed the British forces oout of supply once more and they had no chance of surviving this attack. They would be forced to retreat towards Kra, the only remaining province under total British control.​

0000 May 20th 1945.
BB Divsion 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, South Bay of Bengal.

Ozawa had switched his patrol pattern north in an attempt to find Spruance. The American could have turned his fleet around after reports of Naval bombers in the area.​

He would not find Spruance but he did find Wright and his new Carrier. No ships would be sunk but enough damage had been inflicted to put the USS Boxer in port for a while to repair.​

Yamamoto had ordered Carrier Group C to escort Kato and his Transport fleet back towards the north western Indian coast to take another look at the defences. Kato had embarked a full sized infantry corps commanded by General Abe for the mission.

The defences of Ahmadabad were still very solid but Abe did notice the possibility of a landing in the area that could provoke a reaction from the defenders of the only airbase the Allies had in India. He discussed his plan with Nagato who would have to provide support and the Admiral agreed with his assessment of the situation. They would need Yamamoto's permission and orders to conduct the operation and the response was quickly received. They were to execute their plan immediately.​

 

[unmerged(89090)]

I bet India is now going to go the way of Burma in the way of an uber encirclement/blockade.

 

[Nathan Madien]

I wonder what Japan will get out of occuping India.

By the way, Remble, earlier you were mentioning "old" Japan and "new" Japan. I thought I should point out that earthquakes don't care whether Japan is old or new. They will still equal a bad day.

 

[unmerged(87183)]

I don't know, I think it might be time to start pulling out of India.

The Soviets are coming, and you can set up a good defensive line around the Burmese border.

Also, how many divisions do you think you have destroyed in Burma so far?

 

[unmerged(61891)]

I believe it's wise to continue harassing India, but not press for a total occupation at this time. You run a serious risk of stretching your forces too thin and allowing the Jewel to succumb to the Red Horde. Strategically for Japan, India is better suited as British territory than as Russian territory, as it would make that particular front all the broader.

 

[Juan_de_Marco]

or take India but leave the brits Pakistan, and cut them off at karachi, starve them. Then it is still nominally british, and soviets wouldn't enter, but you'd still have the spaaaaaace, and then deal with the soviets. Also, leaving that british spot of pink in Kasmir can be useful if Soviets advance (or you let them advance) across western China, and you want to cut them off from the motherland across Sinkiang...

 

[Thurak]

There are so many options to deal with India and the Middle East... I would strongly advise not to fear any borders to the SU as more borders also mean more confused AI and more possibilities to bomb the Red Army to death. With all the 500 divisions in Vladivostok it will become difficult to bomb effectively, but in the deserts of Persia and the plains of India bombers will be effective.

But I am sure remble has its own masterplan that will work

 

[Lord Strange]

Been away for a week. It seams indias gone a bit pear shaped. However, well done in BUrma, although i think you need to move divisions from there to India.

 

[Sokraates]

Oil and supplies coming up.

The way it looks, the days of the Britisch in Burma are numbered. Do you have any plans on what to do if the Soviets do not declare war?

 

[unmerged(59906)]

thatguy - You may well be correct

Nathan Madien - India does have some energy and industry all of which is of some use. Earthquakes are certainly a bad day for all concerned.

Maj. von Mauser, Riptide, Juan_de_Marco, Thurak - No idea exactly how many divisions have been destroyed in India and it is not possible to accurately check because a large amount of them are minor country forces. Probably somewhere between 20 and 40.

I do have plans for India and its possible problems. My solution will be the least gamey, which definately rules out only leaving Pakistan British. Tanigawa or Satoru will make all things clear in the monthly meeting and give his reasons.

Lord Strange - The next update should provide some re-assurance as far as India goes. No more troops will be heading that way.

Sokraates - If the Soviets do not declare war then I will declare war on them when my troops are ready. I am not about to put my whole army on their border and let it sit there.

Update to follow and yes I was very very tempted to leave it as a cliffhanger

 

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Operation Dilemma​

23​

0800 March 21st 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, South Bay of Bengal.

Plans were hastily made to try and take advantage of a lapse in the Allied defences in western India. The operation began a few hours after the orders were received from Yamamoto.​

General Abe's infantry corps launched their assault towards Karachi which was only defended by a headquarters division commanded by MacArthur. Carrier Group C provided support for the invasion with the intial fight for the beaches taking twenty four hours. It would take Abe two more days to fully land his forces in the now vacant province.​

Ozawa had been out looking for the Carrier fleet of Wright but found Spruance heading back west instead. Some minor damage would follow but nothing serious and Spruance would be gone by the time the bombers returned.​

Having completed his mission to support the landing in Karachi, Nagano set about patrolling the Mouth of the Indus where Carrier Group C encountered a mixed fleet of mostly Transport Flotillas. Aircraft from IJN Hiyo and IJN Ryuho would account for both of the sunk Transport Flotillas, one Canadian and one Brazilian.​

0300 May 22nd 1945.
North China Army Headquarters. In Transit.

Allied troops still had the upper hand in India and were continuing to force Japanese troops backwards. The Imperial Japanese Air Force was slowly evening the odds.​

Of the four divisions advancing on Vishakhapatnam one would fall to the bombers in the early morning of May 22nd.​

At 1800 hours on May 22nd the remaining three divisions captured Vishakhapatnam and launched an attack north towards Ranchi. The infantry would quickly lose their organisation during the attack but the presence of the armoured division was enough to force the Japanese defenders to withdraw towards Calcutta again.​

Allied bombers were also operating over eastern India and had the range to attack the cavalry divisions in Vijayawada. Yasuda's interceptors had moved to Ceylon in order to halt these bombing runs and succeeded in intercepting the bombers at 0600 on May 23rd. They would cause enough damage to ground the South African aircraft for several days.​

General Abe landed in Karachi at 0200 hours on May 24th after fighting off MacArthur's headquarters for a second time. The reaction that he had hoped for appeared to be happening as at least one of the defensive divisions in Ahmadabad was moving his way. He would watch and wait.​

The two cavalry divisions in Vijayawada came under attack at 2200 hours on May 24th from two British divisions. The Japanese convoy system had worked well and the two defending divisions were already being supplied, the same could not be said for the British convoys who had yet to recover from losing Karachi. The lack of supply told as the British assault crumbled leaving the two cavalry divisions holding the province.​

Ueda's arrival in Darbhanga was greeted by a counter attack which would be fruitless for the British. Out numbered and out of supply, the single division quickly halted its advance.​

The remaining bomber wings were still operating in Burma and had reduced the defenders of Kra down to three divisions. Two more were retreating from Moulmein and no attack was planned for Kra until Banzai and his marines occupied the province. There would be no retreat possible for the Allies once the final battle for Burma started.​

 

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0700 May 25th 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Trincomalee.

Yamamoto had moved his fleet into Trincomalee to undergo repairs as other operations continued.​

Carrier Group C encountered another fleet in the Mouth of the Indus, again mostly containing transport Flotillas. The Honduran led fleet would lose two of its Transport Flotillas to aircraft from the Carriers IJN Hiyo and IJN Ryuho.​

Another wuld be sunk the following day by aircraft from IJN Hiyo as Ahmadabad was blockaded by Carrier Group C.​

2100 May 27th 1945.
North China Army Headquarters. In Transit.

The advance of British troops into Ranchi led to two counter attacks by Higashikuni's Indian forces. Support was provided by Tactical bombers.​

Both Ranchi and Vishakhapatnam were attacked as they both contained only one defending division. Both attacks were over quickly with victories for Japanese commanders in both. Neither of the Allied divisions would remain functional for long as the bombers tore them to pieces.​

The British had moved two of the three defending divisions from Ahmadabad leaving only one French militia division to hold the vital airbase. Abe's corps was embarked from Karachi and headed back to sea to capture the only province that could provide the Allies with any hope of holding India. Carrier Group C prepared its aircraft to assist.​

Lt. General Nishihara re-captured Ranchi yet again but this time he would not have to worry about a counter attack as the Allied forces were becoming less of a problem with the constant air attacks against them. His troops would need to rest for several days before any further advance could be made.​

The five longer ranged Tactical bomber squadrons, led by Lt. General Tsukahara, began to try and reduce the French militia's organisation in Ahmadabad in preparation for the forthcoming invasion.​

Abe began his invasion at 0000 hours on May 30th with aircraft from Carrier Group C providing the intial support. The return of Tsukahara two hours later would decide the battle decisively in Abe's favour.​

He was due to make landfall with his entire corps at 1200 hours on June 2nd. He was not going to leave Ahmadabad until he was relieved by forces from eastern India. Higashikuni would not stop until he controlled all of India and was sure that he could do so without committing any more forces to the area.​

0100 May 30th 1945.
The Skies Above the West Celebes Sea.

Naval patrol aircraft were continuing to search for enemy fleet activity all over the Pacific and were the first line of defence for the Imperial Japanese Navy.​

These patrols had their dangers. The single patrolling squadron, led by Mj. General Saboru, encountered enemy interceptor and fighter squadrons during its patrol path. His already damaged squadron disintigrated as eleven enemy squadrons converged upon it above the West Celebes Sea.​

2300 May 30th 1945.
Diplomatic Offices. Tokyo, Japan.

Mamoru had just arrived at his office to pick up his briefing papers for the monthly meeting due to start shortly, when his assistant knocked on his door.

"Come in." Mamoru said.

"Minister Mamoru there is a diplomat here to see you, he says it is urgent."

"Why do they leave it to the last possible moment before I go to see the Emperor." Mamoru thought as he gave his assistant permission to show the Foreign diplomat in to his office.

"Good evening Ambassador." Mamoru greeted the diplomat.

"Minister Mamoru." the Ambassador replied matter of factly. Mamoru was familiar with the tone being used by the man opposite him and he knew what was going to come next. Even so he maintained the diplomatic fiction as was required.

"Social visit or business Ambassador?" he asked.

"Very much business I am afraid Minister Mamoru." came the reply. "I know you are a busy man and are due at a meeting with the Emperor shortly. Please convey my regards to his Majesty, and inform him that it is with great regret that my Leaders have decided to forgo further diplomatic efforts, and a state of War now exists between your Country and mine."

"I will pass along your message." replied Mamoru as the Ambassador showed himself out.​

Mamoru checked the map hanging on his wall just to confirm where Oman was, and having made the necessary notes, he headed off to the meeting.​

 

[unmerged(54335)]

Really nice AAr

I dont often post but this one is one of the best I´ve seen. Im gonna follow this one. Also like the other "Gotter" scen you did an AAR on. My only complaint is the slow posting

Keep it up, I´m gonna stay with you on this one!

 

[ColossusCrusher]

No, no OMAN!
Anybody but Oman!