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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.