CRASH AND BURN
1940, January – February
1940, January – February
After the failure in Maoming, IJA officers start looking for other possible places to advance. A safety zone around Guangzhou must be created before Nationalists shift more troops to the South. Thus IJA has to strike hard and strike fast.
On January 8th, Shaoguan, a city North of Guangzhou, is captured after a short skirmish with the enemy. Not waiting for a counterattack, General Higashikuni orders a small offensive along the river Xi to Wuzhou. With the help from IJAAF the battle is won with ease. Finally, the Japanese have full control over the situation!
Afraid that his armies will spread out too much, Kotohito orders to stop the offensive in Wuzhou and wait for more reinforcements.
And thus one quiet month passes as Japanese regroup elsewhere and send 30 000 men to the South. This number may be small, but its everything that Kotohito can spare without endangering other parts of the front. However, IJAAF devotes almost their entire forces for the Southern front. With such an advantage in the air any future offensives should be a breeze.
But Chiang Kai-shek notices this buildup of Japanese bombers and decides to scare them away by dispatching his “new” fighters. On February 5th, 50 Chinese interceptors are spotted near Guangzhou. This Chinese move was unexpected, but Japanese are prepared for everything. Minutes after the first enemy planes are sighted, 200 IJAAF interceptors are sent to deal with them. The air battle is short and messy. The outnumbered, outgunned and outmaneuvered Chinese pilots are shot down one after another.
The destroyed enemy planes are examined and identified as American Curtiss Hawk 75A model fighters. Once again the Chinese are using US weapons to fight the Japanese. This is very insulting, especially as US claims to have such great relations with Japan. Horinouchi, the Japanese ambassador in Washington, tries to protest, but he receives the usual reply: “Business is business…”
On February 10th, the official non-aggression pact with USA expires. Arita Hachiro leaves for Washington with hopes of prolonging the pact or signing a new one. But US Foreign minister Cordell Hull agrees to reestablish the pact only if Japan retreats from China by the end of the year. Seeing that Hull is not interested in reasonable debate, Arita returns home empty handed. However, Hirohito was expecting this kind of reaction from USA - if they want war they will get one soon enough! But for now, Japan has to ignore these insults and continue satisfying American metal, coal and oil tycoons.
Another Pocket?
1940, February 13th - March 10th
In the middle of February, a concentrated attack on Guanxi capital is launched. The aim of this attack is to capture the industrial part of the city and further reduce the Nationalist industrial capacity. The loss of Guilin would also significantly hinder the enemy research capabilities. All in all, capturing the city is a vital step in the Southern campaign.
Early in the morning of February 15th, Japanese cavalry reach the suburbs of the city where they are greeted with a hail of bullets coming from all windows, doors and holes. Although Chinese resistance is fierce, they fail to hold the city until reinforcements arrive. After all, IJAAF was bombing their positions for the past few days. However, securing the city turns out to be more of a task than expected. A large Chinese counterattack from the East and the West prologs the battle until IJAAF reduces the attacker organization, allowing the IJA cavalry to successfully assault the enemy.
The attack on Guomindang positions around Hengyang also helps the Guilin defenders. As soon as Guilin is secured, all IJA armies
in the area are concentrated on capturing Hengyang. And, on February 25th, the Chinese defenders retreat, leaving the provinces North of Hengyang exposed to further Japanese advance.
IJA officers, of course, exploit enemy absence and order their troops to move North. On March 10th, the city of Shaoyang is captured and the offensive is halted. Nationalist troops are once again placed in to a difficult situation. At least that’s what it seems at first sight. Upon a closer inspection it is clear, that current IJA forces have very little, if any, chances of braking the Chinese defenses in Changsha. Thus a different approach has to be taken. If executed properly, this could turn out to be the biggest pocket yet!
The Humiliation
1940, March – April
Japanese war in China is progressing slowly, but steadily. During the recent offensives in Southern China, only 8600 Japanese soldiers lost their lives. That includes the bloody defense of Ganzhou. Despite the fact that Japan is fighting the Chinese for two full years now, it lost only an estimate of 80 000 men in action. Amazing numbers indeed!
But the statistics aren’t so generous for the Soviets. Their “liberation” of Finland is a major disaster. During the months of December, January and February they lose almost 130 000 soldiers, thousands of tanks, trucks, armored cars and other military equipment. But, despite these tremendous losses, Stalin continues his stubborn attacks and slowly wears down the Finnish defenses. On April 13th, when Soviets finally gain an upper hand in the war, Stalin signs a peace treaty with the Finns. This comes as a surprise to the rest of the world. Finns are officially defeated and are forced to cede a considerable chunk of their territory to the Soviet Union, but that doesn’t really matter - they are the victors in the eyes of the world! They fought bravely and resisted communist expansion. This shows that Soviet Union has some serious problems with their military…
Meanwhile, Japanese scientists are working hard to keep their country at least on the same level as others. But being on the same level doesn’t satisfy everyone. Yamamoto is trying his best to perfect the Japanese naval doctrines, he is also in favor of better air doctrines. Japan must be prepared to face the numerous Allied navies and Air Forces all the time!
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