The Bear
45
0000 March 17th 1947.
Naval Offices. Tokyo, Japan.
No attempt had been made to force the Japanese cavalry from the coast of Siberia which enabled Osami to launch another invasion to increase the land controlled by Japan.
Lt. General Tsuda began his amphibious assault targetted against Bogorodskoe province at dawn with support being provided from Shima's Tactical bombers as well as a small Destroyer force offshore. The Cavalry to the south also participated to reduce the problems of landing against a defended beach. Even with snow in the province the battle was quickly over with Tsuda's Infantry being the victors.
0400 March 17th 1947.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.
The capture of Iraq had caused a change in the balance of forces in Persia as most of the Allied troops had vanished when the Country had been annexed. Most of them probably redeployed out of the area but it was possible that some had simply chosen civilian life. Either way Higashikuni no longer had to worry about ten Allied divisions in the area.
Kondo began to attack the few remaining enemy troops in northern Persia with only one division left that was not of Persian decent. The more modern Infantry division was American and it had nowhere to run with the coast covered by Japanese ships.
At 0500 hours on March 19th another Soviet Armoured division entered Guyuan province where it was attacked by Chandra Bose with support from the full Dive bomber group operating from Lanzhou. The second Dive bomber group was also in action as it targetted the enemy formation in Yuling to the north east. All of the enemy troops in this part of the front were Armoured or Mechanised divisions and had to be destroyed.
0600 March 19th 1947.
Kwantung Army Headquarters. Mukden, Manchukuo.
The Spring had seen relatively little action across Manchuria as Operation Tedious kept the Soviets occupied. Terauchi knew that sooner or later the snows would melt from the whole area and battle would resume in earnest once more.
The invasion of Bogorodskoe went without a hitch as three more Japanese divisions landed on Soviet soil. The full offensive ground force designated for Operation Tedious was now ashore and was merely waiting for a Soviet response. There was no plan to advance inland as there were still far too many enemy troops in the area.
Sugawara would lead the Dive bombers from Lanzhou to Dalian after a large enemy force materialised in Xinjing province. Most of these troops appear to have arrived by train as there were not enough movements observed to provide such a force from close by. Terauchi would need some reconnaisance before deciding on a course of action.
Shima's Tactical bombers had remained over the latest invasion area and were now providing intelligence on the true Soviet strength in the region. The largest formation was in Komsomolsk province where seven divisions were observed.
Rather than waiting for the bombers to find out what was in Xinjing Terauchi ordered General Fujie to launch a probing attack from Andong using elements of his Headquarters division. Eighteen divisions was more than had been expected and there was no way Terauchi could attack such a force in a snow covered province without suffering a large amount of casualties. He would await developments in the hope that the enemy would weaken its position.
To the east in Liaoyuan province Watanabe's Interceptors attacked the large enemy force to provide an accurate count. Ten divisions was roughly the number anticipated and was no cause for concern for the time being.
0100 March 22nd 1947.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.
Higashikuni was also in need of some reconnaisance, particularly to the Soviet rear, so that he could formulate plans to thwart any Red Army assaults.
The Dive bombers from Beiping would provide the information required as they destroyed an enemy Headquarters division in Bayan Nur. There were still significant Red Army forces moving into the area from the west which may well be enough to dislodge the Japanese defences.
Kondo's bombers were called back to Iraq on March 23rd as Syrian troops crossed the border and occupied Karbala province. The Syrian army was larger than the ground forces Japan had deployed in the area but the enemy lacked air support which would almost certainly mean that Iraq would remain Japanese.
At 0100 hours on March 24th General Asaka arrived in Changde with his Armour and Motorised forces. He attacked the single enemy division that had occupied Erenhot without waiting to reorganise his forces. Victory was swift but Higashikuni had a much bigger problem to deal with as Soviet troops arrived in Datong province. The relief force for Kalgan was still enroute and was not expected for several more days which left the capital of Mengkokuo vunerable.