The Bear
10
0200 July 3rd 1946.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.
The situation remained under control in and around Sinkiang as Japanese bombers continued to slowly reduce the enemy troops in the area. Their current target was mountainous which reduced their efficiency somewhat but it was necessary.
One of the seven Soviet divisions in Gulja would not survive the latest bombing run from the Close Air Support aircraft operating from Urumqi. Higashikuni knew there was a sizable enemy force in Altay but other than that there did not appear to be any large concentration of Red Army troops close by. There were a lot of Soviet troops in Khobdo province but they were all retreating after being attacked piecemeal by the defending Japanese troops.
The militia division in Birjand had also been destroyed but continued bombing in the province would be less fruitfull as the Allied troops had halted their advance and began to dig in.
0700 July 3rd 1946.
Naval Offices. Tokyo, Japan.
Osami had ordered a patrol to be carried out along the Siberian coast as well as the island of Sakhalin. He wished to know exactly what the Red Army was up to in these areas before an operation could be mounted.
Admiral Triye was the recipient of these orders and had made his way north with his Destroyer fleet to investigate. Osami was content with the Soviet position on Sakhalin as most of the forces had already left the island. The remaining divisions also appeared to be heading off the island which would be a huge mistake if it did happen. Japanese forces were very adept at seaborne assaults and an empty island was a certain target. Two airbases and port facilities were something that would be taken if at all possible. Osami would keep a close eye on the Soviet forces in this area but would not order any type of assault until it was a guaranteed success.
Triye would continue north to conduct a reconaissance of the Siberian peninsula before returning to monitor Sakhalin. The return of BB Division 2 to Tokyo for repairs could prove useful if shore bombardment was required. The fleet was still over a week away and needed a lot of repairs but in time it would become available.
Osami placed a quick call to Tanigawa who consulted a list which contained only one word. This would need to be corrected by the Chief of Staff but for now he passed on the word to Osami and scratched it off his list.
Operation Tedious began its early planning stages.
0900 July 3rd 1946.
Kwantung Army Headquarters. Harbin, Manchukuo.
The Soviets were not going to allow the uncontested bombing of their ground forces in Manchuria. Terauchi knew they would have to respond sooner or later and the latest reports had shown this to be the case.
A Soviet Fighter wing and a Polish Interceptor wing had both been spotted heading towards Vladivostok. Hopefully they would need several weeks of reorganisation before they could interfere with Japanese bombers. Whilst Terauchi was a little concerned he was comforted by the fact that his bombers very rarely operated over Soviet territory in this region without at least one accompanying Interceptor wing.
1000 July 3rd 1946.
Diplomatic Offices. Tokyo, Japan.
Mamoru looked up as he heard a knock on his door. His office had been fairly quiet for some time as Japan had lost its main trading partner once the Soviets had declared War.
"Good evening Minister Mamoru." Ginjiro said as he entered Mamoru's office.
"Same to you Minister Ginjiro. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Mamoru asked his opposite number in the Industry department.
"I have a small problem I need your assistance with if at all possible."
"Oh?" Mamoru replied as he immediately became curious. Ginjiro rarely needed much help as he was a most competent Minister.
"You are of course aware that we have a minor energy problem. Well that situation is actually deteriorating at an accelerated rate because of another shortfall in resources."
"Oil?"
"Correct. Our Industry converts energy to oil when we have sufficient surplus, this is causing our energy reserves to deplete a lot quicker than I would like. One way to help the problem is to research more modern conversion techniques which I will approach Minister Kuniaki about shortly. The other way is to increase our oil stockpile which is why I am here."
"I see. I think I may be able to help you out a little as we do have good relations with a major oil producing Country. The losses to the United States Navy have improved our trade efficiency with them as well so they should be cooperative."
Venezuela would indeed be very helpful. The cost was a large amount of supplies on a daily basis but oil reserves would receive a major boost from a large exchange of oil. This was the second such deal between the two Countries and would, over time, alleviate the energy conversion problem. It would take several months to see its full effect and energy stockpiles would drop a lot more during that time.
2000 July 3rd 1946.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Maui.
Ozawa had been reading through his much smaller stack of reports. Enemy fleets were few and far between since the capture of the Hawaiian islands and he did not expect them to pick up too much as the enemy had been severely depleted over the last few months. He was also fairly confident that the rapid response to the Japanese invasion had caused the United States to over react and send too many of its precious Transport ships into the area. They had all been sunk of course.
One report he had just finished reading indicated that the American defenders of Pearl Harbour had not been too thorough when they had destroyed their confidential documents. He would send the captured documents back to Naval intelligence to see if they could decipher them. The process would probably take some time and nothing useful might come from the effort but it was worth looking in to.
He was disturbed by a new report from BB Division 2 commander Admiral Koga. He had set sail at the beginning of the month and should be in safe waters by now but this was not the case. His badly damaged fleet had encountered an enemy fleet containing a Battleship.
What the Brazilians were doing north of Midway Island was a mystery for certain. Fortunately Koga was as adept at utilising an Aircraft Carrier as he was with Battleships. The Brazilian fleet never got close enough to use its guns as Koga used the extra range of IJN Katsuragi and its aircraft to good effect. Only minor damage would be sustained by the enemy fleet and Koga would continue towards Japan unmolested.
0100 July 4th 1946.
Kwantung Army Headquarters. Harbin, Manchukuo.
Terauchi ordered another spoiling attack during the morning hours of July 4th. The forces in Bayan Tumen had still not dug in and would conduct the latest assault.
Four Soviet divisions would be added to the retreating mass in the area after a brief fight. Terauchi would now alter to a purely defensive footing in this area as it was clear that the enemy was increasing its numbers in the area. The last thing he needed was a hurried withdrawal from a vital province.
In Ceylon Lt. General Canine would try one last assault towards Colombo. The Submarines would take their time intercepting the Transports this time which would allow more casualties to pile up on the beaches of the island. Needless to say the Americans got no further on this occasion than they had in the past.
1400 July 4th 1946.
His Majestys' Private Chambers. Imperial Palace.
"Come in Prime Minister we have something to discuss." Hirohito told Hideki as he arrived on time. Some discussion was needed on how to alter the current Japanese philosophy in one area of Government.
"Thank you your Majesty. I have gone over our available options and I believe one of these is most useful at this time." Hideki responded as he sat down.
"Which option and why please?"
"Well your Majesty we could have done many things but I will cover my thinking before I highlight what I consider the appropriate action. We could allow you a more Authoritarian roll which would assist in keeping dissent to a minimum should you decide to attack a neutral Country."
"I don't think I am planning anything like that right now Minister Hideki." the Emperor replied.
"Which is why I discounted this option your Majesty. We could also move to a more open type of Society if we wish. This would have a positive effect in our overseas holdings by decreasing partisan activity. This is one option I considered more than some others as it has several positive effects."
"I take it you didn't wish to recommend this option either?"
"No your Majesty, not for the time being. Moving more towards a Centrally Planned economy would increase our production ability. There are a few down sides to this. Most important are the increased drain of stockpiles by doing so which I do not think Minister Ginjiro would approve of. A second consideration would be the increased time it would take to upgrade our current forces. With the current needs of the Imperial Japanese Air Force in this regard I would also discount this choice."
"That seems fairly reasonable. That only leaves us with one choice does it not?"
"Correct your Majesty."
"I recommend that we increase the effectiveness of our Armed Forces by using less conscripts in the ranks and adding to the training required for our forces. The main advantage of this move would be to decrease upgrade times and provide a small increase in our organisational abilities. A down side is the slight increase in production times for serial projects."
"It seems you have thought everything through Prime Minister. I agree with your reasoning and will let you make the necessary arrangements." Hirohito ended the short meeting.