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0300 January 3rd 1945.
The Skies Above China.

South African Tactical bombers had become over confident and were about to receive a visit from Fukui and his four interceptor squadrons.​

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Bombing a dug in division in Haiphong was not wise with interceptors mere minutes away and the South African aircraft paid a very heavy toll for their troubles.​

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The British were detemined to try and break the land blockade of Burma as they attacked Dimapur again as soon as they had retreated to Comilla. The effects of the Japanese Tactical bombers were clearly evident as was the diversity of forces being used by the British. Lt. General Shojiro was not about to be forced anywhere by these troops.​





1800 January 3rd 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Gulf of Martapan.

Enemy Transport ships were becoming scarce as less and less tried to run Yamamoto's blockade of Rangoon.​

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There was always one foolish captain around that thought he knew better. IJN Yamashiro's guns proved fairly quickly that the enemy captain was indeed stupid.​

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The Marianas had turned into a shooting gallery once more as the Allies tried in vain to break the deadlock. Bombers were split with one group attacking the remains of Fletcher's fleet in the south whilst Ozawa tried to sink the Transport Flotlla in the north.​

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Air patrols had also resumed over the Celebes Sea with the first new contact showing three Transport Flotillas heading towards Indonesia. Wherever they were going they might want to find a better escort than one Light Cruiser.​





0000 January 5th 1945.
North China Army Headquarters. Jinghong, China.

Higashikuni's main advance into northern Burma from the east had run into a defensive division which drained the organisation of the troops more than he would have liked.​

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The Dive bombers were currently harassing a headquarters division in northern Burma and would not be able to assist for several hours. Even this one badly damaged headquarters division proved hard to dislodge until the bombers arrived.​





1400 January 5th 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Gulf of Martapan.

The British tried to succeed with five flotillas where one had failed miserably. As always BB Division 1 was waiting.​

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Only four made it back to harbour after the IJN Yamashiro sank the 2nd Transport Flotilla.​

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Another attempt was also being made in the North Mariana Trench. The single Light Cruiser provided adequate protection against the seemingly toothless Japanese Submarines but it would still be forced to leave the area. Three more Submarine Flotillas had been sent south from northern Japan to provide some cover for Guam, and they had assisted during this latest engagment as they transitted through the area.​

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Carrier Group C had stumbled upon what was a fairly busy shipping lane for the moment as they encountered another small British fleet. IJN Zuikaku would account for the Light Cruiser HMS Sirius while IJN Hiyo sank the 25th Submarine Flotilla. Japanese Carriers seemed to be just about the ships that could seriously damage enemy Submarines.​
 
Remble said:
...

Murmurandus - That amount of statistics should keep you occupied and out of trouble for a while :p

...

One should hope so... ;) :D
 
An excellent round-up post previously.
 
An excellent update mixed with a promise for future secret operations. Ah, the suspense and nail biting.

Now I only hope that the Soviets won't be swayed by the Allies too quickly.

How come the South Africans attack Haiphong? Is this maybe an ingenious trick of the AI to make you think that it is planning a naval landing in Haiphong? As if the AI would ever do that ... *sigh*
 
Ceylon rebasing

Have you considered rebasing the out of supply German ships at Ceylon? Most of them are submarines, and they could be used to raid UK convoys to Burma. Ceylon has two level 10 naval bases, IIRC. It will take a while to repair the ships and the naval bases.

Waiting for them to get to Indonesia and then Japan for repair will take longer, and then you will have to move them again to where you want them. Japan has the advantage of being safely away from Allied port raids, but with your temporary sea dominance of the Indian Ocean, I think the submarines will be safe in Ceylon. Even if you want to repair them in Japan, rebasing in Ceylon will put them in supply, and probably increase their speed.
 
Originally posted by Inner Circle:
you have indonesian politicans as army leaders? :confused:

I'm :confused: too. From what I can understand, Sukarno was never in command of Axis troops. He was merely an Indonesian collaborator, without being in the field himself.
 
To bad my home state of Wisconsin got sunk, oh well.

Good update as always and I am indeed eager to hear what your next operation is about.
 
sbr - I cannot tell you what I have yet to work out :)

Inner Circle - German ships is a misleading term as most are Submarines :)

Deus, stnylan, Funkatronica - Thank you :)

Sokraates - I think it is part of the South African power projection policy. They don't have many troops so they use aircraft instead.

TimEmm - Your are correct and I had already changed their destination. I didn't include it in the update just in case they don't make it. I probably should have though :)

Inner Circle, Mangudai - All I know is that he is an Army Commander and so he has a post.

Maj. von Mauser - Sinking states is always fun. No future top secret plan is evident for now but I can probably make a little secret one time small operation shortly :)

Update to follow ...
 
Operation Dilemma

7





0700 January 6th 1945.
North China Army Headquarters. Jinghong, China.

Lt. General Nishihara was in command of the defences of Ranchi in India. He had three infantry divisions with which to form his defence of the province from the ever increasing enemy forces mustering on its border.

"They are attacking sir." said Mj. General Kim, his second in command.

"How many?" asked Nishihara in reply.

"Quite a few including several armoured vehicles."

"Armoured divisions! Maybe we should see if the Tactical bombers are free as this could get ugly."​

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"No sir I said armoured vehicles not divisions. There are two infantry divisions, one of which is motorised, and about twenty tanks."

"Nothing to worry about then. Time to make them chose something else to do." said Nishihara as he headed for his command bunker.​





2200 January 6th 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Gulf of Martapan.

The Allies were still not done with their attacks towards the Marianas as another contact was made.​

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The Submarines were expecting another visit and quickly forced the Transport fleet away from the North Mariana Trench. Fortunately the Naval bombers could damge the enemy vessels because the Submarines could not.​





1200 January 7th 1945.
The Skies Above East Bengal.

"It is my turn to lead right?" Kondo asked Ichimaru.

"Actually I think its my turn again." replied the Air General.

"Are you sure? You chose the targets in India, I thought I was chosing the ones over this side?"

"It doesn't actually matter today you know."​

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"I guess you are right, there is only one thing to bomb anyway." said Kondo as Ichimaru led the Tactical bomber wings towards the mountaineers below.

Japanese troops were advancing towards the current British supply depot in Dhaka which contained enough supplies to keep the Japanese forces in India supplied for a few days.​





1400 January 7th 1945.
BB Division 2 Flagship. IJN Nagato, Madura Strait.

Koga had turned his Battlefleet around so that it was once again inside naval air patrol coverage. The last thing the Imperial Japanese Navy needed was to find one of its fleets engaged with a superior enemy force right now.​

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BB Division 2 did find an enemy Light Cruiser, HMNZS Leander, in the Madura Strait. The guns of IJN Nagato soon forced the already damaged enemy ship to sink.​





0900 January 8th 1945.
North China Army Headquarters. Jinghong, China.

Japanese troops had advanced into Dhaka and captured the British depot but they did not stop there for long.​

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The very weakened mountain division in Comilla stood no chance of stopping the attack and it would soon cease to function as a coherant force once the bombers returned.​

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In northern Burma the supply situation for the British was soon evident as Dive bombers swooped down upon a headquarters division in Kunchuang province. There were no supplies for Higashikuni's enemies for the time being. He was sure that they would correct this problem in due course and it was unlikely that the new depot would be as easy to capture.​

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Mj. General Iwakuro had also arrived in Punakha province which would result in the Foreign Minister having to do some work.

The note on Mamoru's desk was short and to the point.

To: Foreign Minstry.
From: North China Army Headquarters.

At 0000 hours on January 9th 1945 Japanese forces, namely 20 Gundan led by Mj. General Iwakuro, entered Punakha province. The Country of Bhutan no longer controls any territory.

Field Marshal Higashikuni.
Commander Japanese Forces in Asia.
Commander North China Army HQ.

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A quick diplomatic summons later and the former Ambassador of Bhutan was informed of his newly found status as unemployed.​





0000 January 9th 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Gulf of Martapan.

Carrier Group C now had an interceptor squadron conducting naval patrols in its area of operations and Nagano soon reacted to some of its intelligence.​

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The Transport Flotilla Empress of Canada had entered the wrong sea zone and was quickly sunk by aircraft from the Carrier IJN Junyo. Yamamoto preferred to be sinking British or American Transport fleets but any enemy would do.​
 
0200 January 9th 1945.
North China Army Headquarters. Jinghong, China.

The plans for Burma and Siam had been fairly explicit and Higashikuni knew where the Allies were going to be allowed to advance without much opposition.​

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Field Marshal Hata was commanding the defences of Phitsanulok when twelve Allied divisions attacked his position. Almost the entire force was armoured or motorised, just the type of divisions that you did not want to use in mountains.

Hata still knew that he was outgunned and the plan called for him to withdraw to allow the enemy to suffer under air attack. Higashikuni gave him leave to hold his position for a while because the British were out of supply. Despite the temptation Higashikuni also decided to not order counter attacks against both attacking armies, even though he had the forces to try to do so.​

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Field Marshal Wilson also did not consider supplies to be an issue as he too attacked Japanese forces in Singora. He had lost two of his divisions, which had moved north to protect Thom Buri after the feint just over a week ago. General Asaka soon proved that the Japanese defences were more than solid enough to halt his attack for the moment.​





1300 January 9th 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Gulf of Martapan.

Yamamoto had no idea why no large enemy fleet had tried to dislodge BB Division 1 from its blockade of Rangoon. It was possible that the Americans feared running the gauntlet of Ozawa in the Pacific but he knew the British had more than enough ships to force him to leave. Maybe Carrier Group C was something they did not want to try and pass.​

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Regardless of the reasons five more British Transport Flotillas sank as they tried to leave Bassein harbour. Only one made it back to port. One sank to unknown causes with IJN Yamashiro sinking two more. The Battleship IJN Ise also claimed one and the Battlecruiser IJN Kongo the fifth and final one.​

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The former German Transport Flotillas had made it to Fukuoka and the two Light cruisers had arrived in Tokyo to bolster 1. Kaigan, commanded by Admiral Nomura. In a brief ceremony they swapped their previous ensign for the one of the Imperial Japanese Navy. They did, however, keep their names in deference to their former service.

Both BB Divisions 1 and 2 were soon in combat again as they encountered enemy fleets at the same time.​

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The two Light Cruisers, HMS Southampton and HMS Gloucester, encountered by Yamamoto in the Gulf of Martapan were both sunk by IJN Yamashiro, as it added to its impressive list of tonnage sunk.

Koga had also encountered a small British fleet with the Heavy Cruiser IJN Suzuya sinking the 24th Destroyer Flotilla and IJN Nagato sinking the Light Cruiser HMS Swiftsure.​

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A few hours later the final Transport Flotilla in Bassein tried for the last time to run Yamamoto's blockade. IJN Yamashiro sank the Queen Elizabeth Flotilla.​





0000 January 10th 1945.
North China Army Headquarters. Jinghong, China.

An armoured division had suddenly appeared in front of the advancing forces in Baoshan province. The problem with marching long distances in hostile terrain was the ability of the defenders to respond.​

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The single division had arrived ahead of its commander and the British had apparently still not fixed their supply troubles. It was quickly forced to retreat and would be receiving a visit from the Dive bombers shortly.​

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The battle for Phitsanulok was drawing to a close as Hata decided that his forces were not going to take any more damage trying to hold the province. He gave the orders for an orderly retreat and would let the bombers take over the task of making the enemy pay for their advance.​





0900 January 10th 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Gulf of Martapan.

Koga had found some more enemy Transport ships in the Sunda Strait as he continued to patrol around Indonesia.​

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Unfortuantely two Destroyer Flotillas arrived two hours into the battle which prevented BB Division 2 sinking both Transport fleets. The Battleship IJN Fuso did manage to sink one.​

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The Carrier IJN Zuikaku also sank a british Transport Flotilla as Carrier Group C transitted the South Bay of Bengal. The month had been going very badly for the British Merchant Marine so far and not a whole lot better for the Royal Navy.​
 
Remble said:
0900 January 10th 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Gulf of Martapan.

Koga had found some more enemy Transport ships in the Sunda Strait as he continued to patrol around Indonesia.​

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Unfortuantely two Destroyer Flotillas arrived two hours into the battle which prevented BB Division 2 sinking both Transport fleets. The Battleship IJN Fuso did manage to sink one.​

Look out, one of your ships is under 30% strength.
 
Wow, you took out Bhutan, that must have been tough.

Nice update today. :)
 
Maj. von Mauser said:
Wow, you took out Bhutan, that must have been tough.

Nice update today. :)

Any thoughts about the possibility of planting an Japanese flag atop Mount Everest?
 
The Brits in Burma keep a stiff upper lip, as they keep on attacking. What kind of situation do the Brits consider as "Being out of supply" -- When there's no Tea. The suicide rate in the HQ will probably go up, as a result. :D

Good update.
 
I just read all 38 pages over the course of 2 day and this is one of the best AARs I've read so far :D :D :D !!

I shall now proceed to lurk *sinks beneath a patch of waterlillies*
 
Indeed one mighty foe less... :D