The Bear
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42
2200 March 6th 1947.
Kwantung Army Headquarters. Mukden, Manchukuo.
Operation Tedious continued to keep Osami busy as another landing took place along the Siberian coast.
This particular invasion would be short lived as the three Cavalry divisions arrived in Vladivostok. They were soon making their way back towards the waiting Transport ships as Soviet forces attacked them immediately. They had achieved their goal as the enemy troops in Chongyin were forced to move north again preventing any move against the Japanese defences in North Korea.
At 0100 hours Polish Interceptors caught the Japanese Dive bomber group operating around Xinjing over Andong province. There would be a change in operational doctrine as a result even though the bombers managed to escape with minimal casualties. Mj. General Watanabe and his fully upgraded Interceptor wing would now accompany the bombers to provide protection. Fukui and his upgrading wing would move back to South Korea to provide random air cover when needed.
0400 March 7th 1947.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamato, In Transit.
Ozawa was heading back to the Gulf of Mannar when he received a report from Admiral Ito who commanded a Submarine flotilla in the Nine Degree Channel.
The Admiral had decided to engage the enemy Transport fleet which was only defended by one Destroyer Division. There was little chance of the Submarines causing much damage but that would be taken care of by other forces. Ichimaru and Genda had flown from their base in the Fiji Islands and were also hunting shipping in the area from their new base in Colombo.
0400 March 7th 1947.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.
More enemy troops had entered Erenhot which meant another request for support to Terauchi from Higashikuni.
General Nishio led the latest attack against the province as sixteen Japanese divisions forced the smaller Soviet force to retreat. There were more enemy troops heading into the province which would also need to be dealt with.
The Middle East was causing less problems than had been originally anticipated with a general advance now underway. Mj. General Kanda had captured Babolsar and now attacked east towards Bandar Abbas where he managed to overcome the single enemy division defending the province with the help of the Tactical bombers and CA Division 3.
At 0900 hours things turned worse in the center as Chandra Bose was attacked again in Guyuan province. Higashikuni had no choice but to order a withdraw south towards Pingliang province which at least would maintain a defensive line in this part of the front. The Red Army's Armoured forces were beginning to push forward in ever increasing numbers in this area. Hopefully the meeting scheduled for the following morning could provide some relief for Higashikuni as it was becoming ever more apparent that North China Army was going to struggle to hold if the pressure continued as it was.
Another advance in Iraq caused a counter attack by Allied forces as Japanese troops occupied Najaf province. They would hold with ease as the single commanderless enemy division called off its own advance shortly afterwards.
At 2100 hours the Submarine battle in the Nine Degree Channel ended abruptly. The Submarines had caused no damage but the bombers had managed to inflict some. The American fleet fled one hour after the guns of BB Division 1 opened up on them. IJN Musashi sank the 8th Destroyer Division as IJN Yamato did the same to the Sam Houston Transport Flotilla. Ozawa would continue south east to protect the Gulf of Mannar and Ceylon.
An up to date bombing report on Yuling showed that the Soviet build up in the center was increasing as new troops arrived from Bayan Nur to the north west.
