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A late Japan with stabilized resource situation!

That's just amazing.

What is this secret operation I hear? Since you don't seem to be diverting any ground forces from the Soviet front, I don't think you're going for Oceania; is it a full-scale naval war with the USN? An IJN grand fleet hunting down the likes of Spruance? A focused strike on risky but strategic islands?

Excitement, excitement!
 
Nice batch of updates despite the mentioning of yet another so-called secret operation... :p
 
Remble said:
SokraatesYou forgot to remind me of something, but as I had already done the scene setting post I remembered anyway :)

Right, sorry. I thought I should remind you at the end of august. But it's comforting to know that you think for your readers as well. :D

And before I forget: Energyku surpluso banzai!*


*Anyone who can actually speak Japanese, please feel free to ROTFL/bang your head against the nearest wall (preferably the first) and then correct me.
 
Good, it looks like Agricultural Production is going to finish soon. Hopefully that will ease a little bit of pressure off of the MP situation.
 
Would be interesting to see an update on the Puppies.

Anyways, nice monthly Update. :)
 
Yes, Gn. Banzai must seize Panama!

EDIT: 1000 POSTS!!!!
 
what is next? considering that your digged in armies located on Soviet border, if you invade somewhere, it will be very difficult to control the area in the future. if every time you leave some of your troops for garrisoning, you won`t have enough troops left to make further operations. unfortunately your MP sucks ...

good luck and please don`t suicide for keeping this thread exciting...
 
harezmi said:
good luck and please don`t suicide for keeping this thread exciting...

Pfff ... suicide is for others to commit. Remble instead opts for slightly risky secret operations.

@Remble: Do you still plan to declare war on the Soviet Union after August is over or will you rather concentrate on battering the US Navy?

If we are allowed to vote on this subject, I'm for the naval campaign (until the Soviets declare war on you, that is).

Do relations have any effect on the event that makes the Soviets declare war on Japan?
 
Sokraates said:
Pfff ... suicide is for others to commit. Remble instead opts for slightly risky secret operations.

@Remble: Do you still plan to declare war on the Soviet Union after August is over or will you rather concentrate on battering the US Navy?

If we are allowed to vote on this subject, I'm for the naval campaign (until the Soviets declare war on you, that is).

Do relations have any effect on the event that makes the Soviets declare war on Japan?

I'm with Sokraates on this one. If the Soviets don't DOW you, then pick a fight with the US Navy. :)
 
harezmi said:
good luck and please don`t suicide for keeping this thread exciting...

The question is: Is declaring war against the SU as soon as possible suicide or contrary the only way to survive?!? War beginning in autumn gives his bombers half a year free hunting before the real ground action starts. They have twice as much industry and much more manpower...
But at first remble will crush the USN within two months or so ;). Then we will see what comes next.
 
Thurak said:
The question is: Is declaring war against the SU as soon as possible suicide or contrary the only way to survive?!? War beginning in autumn gives his bombers half a year free hunting before the real ground action starts. They have twice as much industry and much more manpower...
But at first remble will crush the USN within two months or so ;). Then we will see what comes next.

Yes, that's a valid question. I believe Remble will have to declare war on the Soviet Union in the end, though it may not be the best time to do so now. On the other hand, even though the defensive lines a deep within former China, Japanese troops are guarding the border to Mongolia, so a thrust into the "soft underbelly" would be possible.

In the end, my preference for the Pacific campaign is for purely hedonistic reasons: we've seen different nations marching across Siberia so often but have seen so few AARs with some decent naval action, which I very much enjoy. This AAR has not only decent but great naval action so I want more of it. Period. ;)
 
So, everything, your resources and military planning, now depends on what the Soviets do. It seems there is little you can do but wait and watch. Great as usual!
 
Sokraates said:
Yes, that's a valid question. I believe Remble will have to declare war on the Soviet Union in the end, though it may not be the best time to do so now. On the other hand, even though the defensive lines a deep within former China, Japanese troops are guarding the border to Mongolia, so a thrust into the "soft underbelly" would be possible.

In the end, my preference for the Pacific campaign is for purely hedonistic reasons: we've seen different nations marching across Siberia so often but have seen so few AARs with some decent naval action, which I very much enjoy. This AAR has not only decent but great naval action so I want more of it. Period. ;)

I also support notion of Naval Campaign from "artistic" point of view, however Remble is short on modern hulls.

New Islands would require units to guard new beaches, which is big minus. Australia would additionally require garrisons (which probably are far far away in the production planning).

On the other hand I do not think that attacking USSR before winter is the best thing. True Soviets will build new units, however during winter Japan's offensive will not move forward, Remble will lose major energy trade partner and USSR will have time to move units east and will gain extra IC.

So overall I vote for Pacific or eventually Middle East/Indian Ocean campaign.

Pacific campaign could rely on knocking out only naval bases and airfields, thus denying enemy fleets and aircrafts access to more and more ocean. The problem would be still existing enemy transports and not diminished enemy's possibility to supply -convoys (and of course stacks of USN CVs :D ). And frankly speaking Remble's navy is too weak for anti convoy warfare.

Anyway it will be interesting.
Banzai!
 
zdlugasz said:
...Anyway it will be interesting.
Banzai!

*Banzai looks up* "Yes?"

Anyhow, I think an invasion of Australia would be like a bridge too far. Unless, of course, the invasion would be nothing more than the Japanese performing an hit-and-run to show the Australians that even they are not safe.
 
Deus - I don't have the forces to attack through Afghanistan unfortunately, but it would be a nice route to take. My IC is adequate but not huge. Congrats on your 1000 the post :)

alan_le_cowboy - Thank you. I can add the puppets in to the next monthly update.

budseligsucks - No land war is a good thing. It saves manpower if nothing else. There is still the Bear to watch over, but I am thinking the capture of India has thrown the AI into dormancy.

Irenicus - It is nice to not have to worry about resources for once. The Pacific is probably going to become a dangerous place to be soon.

Murmurandus - Thanks. This one is not totally secret, just partially :)

I Killed Kenny - Denial of bases is a strategy I like to use. I could DoW the Soviets but with the current resource position I would find it almost impossible to justify. Judging by other posts a Pacific War is a more attractive option as well. There will come a time when I can justify a DoW on the Soviets but not just yet, although I would not mind doing it myself.

germanpeon - The research finishes right at the end of August and should help a little.

Maj. von Mauser - Thank you :)

Electric Sheep - Banzai would probably try it if ordered to do so.

ColossusCrusher - Congrats on your 1000th post :)

harezmi - Over extension is always a problem, which is why I stopped at Karachi. I could probably have advanced through Persia and Iraq easily enough if I had wanted to but it does just mean more to guard.

Sokraates - alan_le_cowboy is correct. The DoW is scripted and relations have zero effect.

Thurak, Sokraates - I am finding myself in a position close to that of Germany in 1941. Attack now or wait until they grow even stronger. I don't think another 100 divisions for the Soviets will make much difference at this point. I will wait and see if they DoW me for a while longer but I won't wait forever. A major land war with the Soviets is a much better option than trying to reach and invade he USA.

BlkbrryTheGreat - Slapping the Australians around is usually fun and would be possible.

robou - I can operate in the Pacific regardless of what the Soviets do but the extent of any campaign relies on airforce, and that can only support one theater for the time being.

zdlugasz - An accurate run down on the situation :) I would only add that winter in Siberia means its summer in the southern hemisphere.

Nathan Madien - I could always invade them, annex them and let the Allies take it back. It would take several years for a new Australia to catch up to the current force size.

I am tempted to attack the Soviets as I have no choice but to do so at some point. Doing it during winter may even be better for me as it slows down any possible advance they could make. This would allow my aircraft almost 6 months to reduce their force size before campaigning begins in earnest.

The Allies would probably force me backwards in the Pacific if I attack the Soviets now and it would make more sense to try and neutralise the Pacific first. I cannot make the Pacific completely safe but I could hopefully do enough damage for it to take two years for the USN to recover. That gives me two years to defeat the Soviets beginning sometime in 1946 probably. That sort of timetable is not too stressful and the Soviets are merely a land based force and therefore absolutely no global threat. Even if I lose to them on the ground they can't hurt Japan anywhere near as badly as the Allies can.

You can have 4000 divisions but if they can't reach the enemy they are of no use. Besides I am thinking on the possibilites of totally defeating the Red Army which means I might have to start with an invasion of Tirana :D

Edit: The supply problems mentioned in the following update are due to the convoy system failing to transfer oil to Asia. Japan is usually plagued by this type of thing at some point and it is not totally unexpected. I have tried every way possible to fix the problem in game but it will require a reload to solve the problem. I will hold off on that reload as any such thing hurts the AI more than me. There will come a time when oil in Asia is crucial enough that I have no choice, but for now I will let the AI carry on with whatever its plans are without interuption.

Update to follow ...
 
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Expanding Empire
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1400 August 1st 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, In Transit.

Yamamoto was leading the main Battlefleets back to Japan to prepare for a new phase in the War in the Pacific. Whilst the Allies still possessed several navies that could possibly harm the Imperial Japanese Navy, it was only the United States Navy that he had any major concerns about.

Part of that Navy was making a nuisance of itself around Japan.​

aug1451400gr.jpg

Cooley had returned to launch a Carrier strike against the Transport fleet in Fukuoka. This time it would cause nothing but minor damage. The Imperial Japanese Air Force had moved its Korean based bombers to the port province and they scrambled to protect the Transport ships and launch a counter strike against the Carriers.​

aug2450100gr.jpg

The port strike ended quickly as the bombers chased the rapidly retreating Cooley away from Japanese home waters. By August 3rd he had reached the Izu Trench and his fleet was suffering for its audacity. The bombers would fail to sink any ships but the damage had been sufficient to prevent a return for quite some time.​

aug3451700gr.jpg

BB Divisions 1 and 2 encountered a smaller Carrier fleet in the Gulf of Mannar as they headed back to Japan. These two fleets were slightly faster than Carrier Group C and were therefore the first to contact any enemy fleet. The encounter would not prove decisive but the night encounter during heavy rain made sure that none of Yamamoto's ships received any damage. IJN Yamashiro would claim the only enemy ship sunk, the 7th Destroyer Division. A pursuit was ordered to the north east as both fleets were heading in that direction to return to Japan. No further contact would be made with the much faster Carrier fleet.​

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Cooley's damaged Carrier Task Force was spotted headed through the Mariana Trench but BB Division 3 was already on its way back to Japan and would not attempt to intercept.​

aug6450900gr1.jpg

All but one of the Submarine fleets had been fully repaired and they sailed on August 6th for various ports around the central Pacific. These fleets would be used to warn of incoming enemy fleets as well as to prevent invasions of key areas.​

aug6451700gr1.jpg

Admiral Lockwood's smaller Carrier fleet was spotted again at 1700 hours on August 6th. It has managed to get behind the Japanese Battlefleets and would be allowed to go on its own way. Yamamoto had orders to return to Japan and that is what he would do.​





0000 August 14th 1945.
Intelligence Offices. Tokyo, Japan.

Kuniaki was aware that one and possibly two research projects were due for completion in August and the first concluded on August 14th.​

aug14450000gr1.jpg

Kawasaki had finished their project to improve the Japanese supply chain and were tasked with another project, this time aimed at enhancing the Japanese research process.​





1500 August 15th 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, In Transit.

The voyage back to Japan was taking much longer than anticipated due to a problem with the convoy system which Minister Ginjiro was fervently trying to fix. Yamamoto had another concern.

Lt. General Yokoyama Isa, the commander of defensive forces on Guam, had sent an urgent message to inform the Commander of the Pacific that the Americans were growing bold once more.​

aug15451500gr1.jpg

Three divisions were attempting another landing on the island. The enemy troops were suited to such a mission but the rain and jungle conditions still gave Yokoyama Isa a large advantage.​

aug16450000gr1.jpg

By midnight on August 16th there were six divisions attacking instead of three and the extra troops momentarily swung the battle slightly in the Americans favour. There was nothing Yamamoto could do to assist the defenders on this occasion, they would be left to fight the invasion alone with nothing but some small harassment from interceptor squadrons overhead.

An enemy fleet had arrived to provide some assistance to the invading force and this would prevent the Japanese Submarines in the area from attacking the Transport fleets.

Yokoyama Isa was equal to the task at hand and by 1300 hours the amphibious assault was doomed to failure as mounting casualties forced it to be abandoned. Yamamoto would have dearly loved to have sunk all six Transport Divisions along with their troops but would have to wait for another time.​