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The Bear
5





0100 May 20th 1946.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.

The longer Higashikuni could keep a sizable enemy force away from Urumqi the better it would be for his own troops. Soviet casualties were mounting as the Close Air Support aircraft pounded them day after day but this would stop once Higashikuni was forced to withdraw from the area.​

may20460100gr1.jpg

The initial nine Soviet divisions in Altay had been reduced to eight with a further one damaged so Higashikuni gave the orders to begin destroying the enemy organisation at the same time as he ordered Yamada to attack the slightly smaller Red Army force. After twelve hours of fighting the Soviet defenders were close to breaking point and suffering much larger casualties during the battle. Japanese losses were minor in comparison with the Soviet troops being forced to retreat shortly afterwards. Yamada would rest and await the next enemy concentration to arrrive while the bombers switched back to destroying the fleeing enemy.​





0600 May 20th 1946.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, In Transit.

Admiral Triye had managed to catch the retreating Soviet Submarines again in Vladivostok Bay. They were no match for the Destroyers hunting them.​

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24 Kuchikukantai would account for two more enemy Submarine Flotillas during the encounter and force them to hide in Vladivostok for the time being. Triye headed back to Fukuoka for some minor repairs while the Siamese airforce continued to patrol the sealanes.​

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The Heavy Cruiser IJN Suzuya claimed another American Transport Flotilla that was stupid enough to enter the Central Marshalls were CA Division 1 was on patrol.​





2100 May 21st 1946.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.

Japanese forces were still trying to advance in some parts of Mongolia to try and disrupt the Soviet build up as much as possible. The destruction of province infrastruture was one reason to advance as it provided a good means of slowing the enemy down.​

may21462100gr1.jpg

General Nishio managed to beat the Soviet reinforcements to the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator. Very few resources were captured but the denial of the production to the enemy puppet was worth the march. Nishio would withdraw back south immediately as he was attacked by a much larger Soviet force advancing on the province. He could not fight tanks even in the mountains.​

may22461000gr1.jpg

At 1000 hours on the 22nd news reached Higashikuni of another nine division enemy army arriving in Altay. The bombers would again try and reduce this force to a more managable number before a counter attack was ordered. Sooner or later a second large force would arrive at the same time as the first and no counter attack would be possible. Higashikuni would repulse any enemy troops he could in the mean time.​





0000 May 22nd 1946.
Kwantung Army Headquarters. Harbin, Manchukuo.

The massed ranks of Japanese Tactical bombers with their Interceptor escorts continued to try and scratch the massive enemy army moving towards Manchuria.​

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Rain and mountains made their effect less than was desirable but damage was still being caused to the enemy and it all counted in the long run. This was not going to be a short War and any attrition would help.​

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On May 26th Terauchi would again be called upon to defend the vital province of Harbin. Again he would be outnumbered but this time the Japanese reinforcements had been given time to dig in and this would result in less casualties for Terauchi and his troops. Night decended after ten hours of conflict and the odds changed in favour of the defenders who relished night fighting. The battle would end before dawn with another Japanese victory.​
 
0200 May 26th 1946.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.

Japanese Dive bombers had been harassing the defenders of Altay for four days and it was time to try and evict them from the province. Higashikuni gave the orders to Yamada once more.​

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Another fierce battle with only one side having air support left the result in little doubt. Yamada would order his troops to not pursue the fleeing enemy after another battle lasting twelve hours. They would rest and await the next enemy troops to try and enter China while the bombers did their job.​





1100 May 26th 1946.
Kwantung Army Headquarters. Harbin, Manchukuo.

Things were about to get even worse for Terauchi as the Soviets completed another advance. They would have free troops to redeploy now and there was not much doubt as to which direction they would head.​

may26461100gr2.jpg

Toyohara had been captured allowing the fairly large enemy forces on the island to move elsewhere. The loss of the island province was a part of the overall Japanese plan and the Soviets had merely aided their enemy although unwittingly. Terauchi would give the Red Army time to move its troops off the island before he called on the Imperial Japanese Navy to carry some troops to the island and try and take it back. Should Japan succeed then no Soviet soldier would cross the channel between the island and mainland Asia as the Imperial Japanese Navy would patrol the narrow strait. This would leave the enemy with only one base in Vladivostok for their aircraft and ships. Taking this province could be a little more tricky.​

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Following the attack on Harbin the Japanese bombers had headed for Jiamusi where they reported the exact size of the enemy forces in the province. There were almost as many enemy troops in this one province than Terauchi had to defend the whole of Manchuria.​

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On May 29th the situation deteriorated further as an unknown size enemy force arrived in Jilin. There was no force to stop them advancing on the Manchurian capital of Xinjing but the bombers would provide the needed information on the enemies force the next day with luck. Terauchi did not wish to use any of the troops in Harbin to force a retreat here as they needed to remain dug in. He would try and just use the troops in Liaoyuan to evict the enemy when the time came.​





0300 May 29th 1946.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, In Transit.

The Soviet Submarines had been spotted leaving Vladivostok which led to Triye ordering his Destroyers back out to sea to hunt them down.​

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They found them in the Tsushima Strait but would fail to sink any on this occasion as rain hindered the attack. The Submarines would be forced to flee north and would be chased.​

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Another enemy fleet entered the Central Marshalls in the early morning hours of May 29th. The Transport ships would evade CA Division 1 but would suffer enough damage for the patrolling Interceptors to finish the fleet off.​





0400 May 30th 1946.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.

Lt. General Itou, who led the Japanese Dive bombers operating from Urumqi, was rarely short of a target to bomb. The enemy was certainly numerous but he was doing his best to thin their numbers out.​

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He had already managed to reduce one nine division army to five divisions and he would continue to try and inflict more damage as they ran from the Imperial Japanese Army.​

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He would switch target provinces the next morning to investigate the enemy force that had just captured Gulja and made the situation worse for Japanese forces in China. The threat would not be known until the bombers reported back their findings.​
 
Nice batch of updates Remble.

Do you think you will be able to capture Mongolia?

Anyways, glad to see you are keeping the Soviet's in check for the time being.
 
will be nice to see the june update, its kinda hard to get a good overview from the zoomed in "battle"-screenshots. Are you actually gaining land?
 
Maj. von Mauser said:
Do you think you will be able to capture Mongolia?

Only if he has enough horses.

@Remble: Excellent work in North China and Manchuria, considering the odds.

Though it's not nice to leave us with such a cliffhanger ... actually it's two cliffhangers in one. At least be so kind to provide the number of the enemy troops Jilin and Gulja in the next update (monthly meeting, isn't it?). Alternatively you could do two updates today or tomorrow.

I know, wishful thinking etc. ;)
 
53 divisions in one province.. You got to love that :)

Taking back the island of Toyohara could give you airbases so you can bomb some more sovjet divisions in the rear of the big stacks...
 
Remble,

Any chance you good post a detailed guide on how you are using your air power? It is a little hard to tell when you are using ground attack and when you are using interdiction and in what order. As always, great job.
 
Remble > Congratulations for your captivating AAR(s)!

Could I ask you why all your ministers are called by their first names? Yon don't say "Admiral Isoroku" but "Admiral Yamamoto", right? It really sounds weird when Emperor Hirohito talks to "Prime Minister Hideki"... Besides, Japanese people almost never use their first name, except with relatives. ;)
 
Fgorginator said:
Of course he will capture Mongolia, he's Remble.

Which reminds me: Mongolia tried to invade Japan once. It helped inspire the whole "kamikaze" concept. Now the Japanese are invading Mongolia. Quite ironic, eh?
 
Hmm, wouldnt it be prudent to destroy teh infrastructure of the provinces the soviets are attacking to/from? This should slow them down considerably, IIRC:

Also, do you have a nuke/rocket program? Seems like you need one, now.
 
Eventually there will be no Soviet Divisions... :eek: The defensive tactics seem to be working well, but Manchria is in serious peril if the bombers can't thin out the Russian lines quick enough!
 
Maj. von Mauser, Fgorginator - Thank you. Mongolia is possible but uncertain right now as I have to retake Khobdo before they can claim Ulan Bator. The first time I entered Khobdo I was repulsed without actually claiming it, so that could happen again.

Edzako - I think we have seen the full extent of Japanese advances as there are too many enemy troops everywhere now.

Phax - The land situation is about even overall.

Sokraates - Thanks. Updates will show the enemy troop sizes in due course :)

Roman_legion - Thank you. No, no attempt at all to retake Australia so far.

Middelkerke - There were a lot more troops there than I had thought, fortunately amost of them are merely passing through and heading west.

Funkatronica - Giving them Sakhalin was part of the overall plan. I want them to leave so that I can take it back easily. There was far too large an army on that island for me to defend it and they had an airbase. This way they will move maybe all of those forces off the island and allow me to take both parts and their airbases. I am not sure I could starve them quickly enough.

gunboat - Thank you. Airpower is fairly straight forward. 90% of the time they are using ground attack. The only time I use interdiction is when I am actually attacking a stack or just before. The exception is the islands in the Pacific where I wreck the org first so that I can invade easier. If I am not using ground forces it is safe to assume its ground attack in Asia.

Asa - Thank you very much. To be completely honest I am using their first names by mistake. They appear in the Diplomatic screen as surname, first name which I mistakenly considered the other way around. For the sake of the AAR I will just say that Hirohito likes to be very informal during meetings to cover my ignorance. Thank you for pointing that out :)

Nathan Madien - Mongolia wasn't allied to the Soviet Union when they attacked and they are basically on the receiving end because they chose to be now.

Herbert West - I would love to bomb the infrastructure at some point. I haven't so far because the whole area has bad infrastructure anyway, made worse by the Soviets attacking and capturing it. Right now my bombers have too much to kill to consider infrastructure bombing until I can free them up somehow. I will not nuke and therefore haven't researched it. Rockets might be useful for infrastructure bombing and I will look into possibly doing that.

robou - The Soviets could eaily throw me out of Harbin if they stopped moving towards Mongolia. I like to give the AI something to think about to try and stop it being too rational. You can expect me to invade the eastern coast as well to force more troops away from Manchuria.

The next update should be a monthly report. Hirohito will be postponing the meeting for operational reasons concerned with Operation Mystery. Too many of the normal reports would not be able to be shown to make a meeting worthwhile. The July report will clear up why so many reports would have been classified. I will also add that Operation Mystery is ended in time for the July report and will be fully debriefed prior to that meeting to allow full reports. I will not say whether it was a success, failure or anything in between until that time.

I will expand the ground screenshots for the next few updates to show more of the areas involved in combat to try and give a better grasp of the overall situation in Asia. Update to follow to get June underway ...
 
The Bear

6





0000 June 1st 1946.
Imperial Japanese Army Offices. Tokyo, Japan.

Minister Satoru had been informed of the cancellation of the monthly meeting due to ongoing Japanese actions concerned with Operation Mystery. This allowed him a little time to consolidate his intelligence reports from Asia. A rough estimate of Soviet losses during May could be made and it was thought that roughly twenty enemy divisions had been destroyed by Japanese bombers. A large number of these casualties were from Sinkiang where the Red Army was suffering horrendous losses and making little to no progress against the North China Army.

There also appeared to be a lesser number of enemy troops on this border, although no accurate number could be gauged. The Japanese advance into the Soviet Union, albeit a brief one, had thrown the enemy into a certain amount of turmoil and they seemed to have over reacted and thinned out their offensive forces as a result.

Manchuria on the other hand was looking very bad for Japan. The sheer weight of enemy forces in this area threatened to overwhelm the smaller Kwantung Army. This army had a smaller area to defend than the North China Army but there was little room for any tactical withdrawal or it would cost Japan a puppet. This region did allow some options to further off balance the enemy as there was a large almost totally undefended coastline that could be exploited. The Soviets almost total neglect of one part of their Armed Forces could prove to be their undoing in the long run. Satoru had no Transport fleets to use for the time being but that did not stop him looking for ways to use them when they did become available.

The need to defend southern and central China and its coastline had dropped as there had been no enemy fleet sightings of any note that could point to a possible invasion. A large part of the forces defending these regions was made up of Cavalry divisions, most from Manchukuo, which could be used for hit and run type of raids along the Siberian coast. There was a small possibility that some infantry could be spared from the Pacific if Operation Mystery were to be successful. Satoru would ponder his options and await further reports from his Field commanders in Asia while doing so.​





0700 June 1st 1946.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.

Japanese Dive bombers had paid a visit to the defenders of Gulja to ascertain the enemy numbers and they were found to be inadequate to hope to remain in the province.​

jun1460700gr1.jpg

Higashikuni ordered Tanaka to evict them which he duly accomplished with a minimum of effort. The bombers could remove the fleeing divisions while Higashikuni looked for the next target of opportunity.​





1600 June 1st 1946.
Kwantung Army Headquarters. Harbin, Manchukuo.

Terauchi heard the now all too familiar sound of enemy artillery and rockets exploding nearby which signalled another attack on his forces defending Harbin.​

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The Soviets had advanced into Qiqihar to the north west of Harbin and were using that to form an enveloping attack on his position. Night would allow Terauchi a few hours to respond to the latest advance and order some counter measures to be taken. He was confident he could hold regardless but he would use his troops to force the enemy to retreat where he could. The attack on Harbin would cause a delay in a reconnaisance flight over Jilin to provide an accurate picture of the enemy numbers in the province.​

jun1461700gr3.jpg

Looking at a larger map of his area of operations he also noticed a second Soviet advance which had captured Hailar province. The enemy troops in Jilin were also marching towards Xinjing, the capital of Manchukuo. Soviet forces were also advancing towards Ulan Bator in the west where they were likely to be repeatedly repulsed once they began arriving. He would order two attacks to repell the latest two advances.​

jun1461700gr2.jpg

Field Marshall Zhang Haipang would attack the enemy forces in Qiqihar from the flank as they attacked Harbin. His largely Manchurian force would easily overcome the defenders after a few hours of fighting. This would relieve most of the pressure from Harbin which also caused the Soviet attack against Terauchi to falter and fold shortly afterwards.​

jun1461700gr1.jpg

General Koiso was ordered to attack the newly arrived Soviet army in Hailar province. Not only would this attack protect Zhang Haipang's flank from an attack but it would also delay any further enemy advance once successful. This fight would last several hours longer but would be a victory for Japanese forces as the extra numbers told. This would cause a fairly large delay to the Red Army and should keep this part of the Front relatively calm for a few weeks.​





1000 June 2nd 1946.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, In Transit.

Ozawa was a very busy man once again. Having captured and controlled the Marshall Islands his work was but partly done and he had a huge area to protect.​

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The Canadian invasion of Kolombangara Island in the Solomons had been a short one. Dive bombers had removed the invading forces and Mj. General Harada re-claimed the island after being picked up from Satawan Island to the south east of Truk. He would remain here for a while just in case the enemy tried again.​





1000 June 3rd 1946.
Kwantung Army Headquarters. Harbin, Manchukuo.

Terauchi finally got a report on the enemy forces in Jilin as Japanese bombers and Interceptors began their attacks. Two of the Tactical bomber squadrons were still finishing their upgrades and would be able to fly shortly.​

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Seven enemy divisions had entered Jilin. The bombers would be allowed a few days to reduce the numbers before Terauchi ordered a counter attack to force them to retreat. There were not enough enemy troops for them to capture Xinjing for the moment.​





1500 June 3rd 1946.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.

The two divisions in Gulja had not lasted long and the Japanese Dive bombers soon returned to their interupted mission against Altay province.​

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The four divisions they continued to bomb were already at or below fifty percent strength and would suffer even more casualties to the merciless attacks from Itou, Nakajima and Shimoyama, the three wing commanders.​

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They would be forced to switch target again as Soviet forces advanced into Aksu province in the south. More intelligence would be required before Higashikuni could order any sort of response to this latest move against his forces.​
 
1100 June 4th 1946.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, In Transit.

American forces were trying to penetrate the defences of the Marshall islands again. CA Division 1 was providing protection for the area and intercepted the enemy fleet.​

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The modern Light Cruiser escorting the Transport fleet would cause some problems and neither enemy ship would be sunk on this occasion and the Japanese Destroyers would suffer more damage than the enemy.​

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A second fleet was spotted on June 5th, this time the Heavy Cruiser IJN Suzuya would sink the unescorted enemy Transport Flotilla. Clearly the Americans still wished to have a foothold in this island chain.​





0500 June 6th 1946.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.

The intelligence Higashikuni needed on the new force in Aksu was obtained fairly quickly as the Japanese Dive bombers halted their bombing of Altay to investigate.​

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Only three enemy divisions had entered the province and would be the preferred target for the bombers for the time being. A counter attack could be made from Kashgar when the time came, although this would leave this force open to a counter attack from the north if the Red Army had the troops available.​

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At 1900 hours Lt. General Ishiwara had managed to advance into Khobdo province ahead of Soviet forces, which provided a chance for Japan to remove an enemy. Higashikuni reported the capture of the province back to Diplomatic Headquarters in Japan.​

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Mamoru informed the Mongolian Ambassador that his current residence was required by Japan now that he no longer had a Country to his name. Only minor resources were captured but every little helped. Mengkukuo had inherited Mongolia which removed the responsibility of controlling the partisans from Japan. The added production would assist the small Japanese puppet​

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Ishiwara was invited to leave Khobdo shortly afterwards and he happily withdrew having completed his job without bothering to return fire.​

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Nineteen hours after Ishiwara had captured Khobdo Soviet forces advanced into Ulan Bator. They were too late to save their puppet.​





0000 June 8th 1946.
Industry Offices. Tokyo, Japan.

More production had been completed which would allow Ginjiro to divert the production to upgrading the outdated Japanese forces.​

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The final two Close Air Support squadrons initially deployed to Fukuoka before heading for central China to organise themselves.​





0700 June 8th 1946.
Intelligence Offices. Tokyo, Japan.

The annexation of Mongolia had provided some extra funding to the Imperial Intelligence Corps. Kuniaki would use some of those resources to try and add agents overseas.​

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He would succeed in increasing the number of his field operatives in the United States. The result would be very good intelligence reports from this Country from now onwards.​
 
Last edited:
I am very pleased to see that your response to the enemy attacking with huge numbers on two fronts is to advance.

It is also good to see that you have been proved right by staying out of Tibet, for now. What an excellent little buffer they *may* turn out to be. Not that I seriously believe you will be pushed back that far. That would be defeatist talk and subject to swift discipline. Manchuria must hold! Surely some White Russians should be leaping to the defense of the cities - the Reds would treat them worse than they would your own troops. Not that anyone here is playing by those pesky Geneva rules...

We all eagerly await the result of Operation Mystery.