Utsunimiya's War
(HoI3 TFH - Interactive Japan AAR)
Chapter Forty-Five: The Fifth Week - 29.7.1937 To 4.8.1937
The Land War
At the start of the fifth week the Army was engaged in three battles. The Battle of Nangong, the Battle of Yangquan, and the Battle of Hunyuan. All of which they were winning.
The first, the Battle of Nangong, ended shortly after midnight on the 29th of July. It was a Army victory. The Japanese had lost 19 soldiers while the Chinese had lost 112 soldiers.
By the time the sun was peeking over the horizon the Battle of Yangquan also came to an end. Another victory in which the Army lost 20 soldiers while the Shanxi lost 75 men.
At this point it was clear that the Nationalist 'Revolutionary' Army was having problems. Unless they received reinforcements, and soon, their battle line was going to fall apart.
Around this time the Battle of Siziwang Qi, on the Shanxi border, had started when a Japanese cavalry unit attacked two Shanxi infantry divisions.
Back near the coast a Chinese unit tried to slow down the Japanese marching into Cangzhou. And totally failed as the Japanese swept them out of the way. The Army lost not a man while the Chinese lost 3 men from their vanguard.
In Nangong the withdrawing Chinese infantry, failing to move fast enough, were overcome by the advancing Japanese. And therefore another Battle of Nangong began.
At midnight on the 30th the Battle of Hunyyuan came to an end. The Army lost 28 men while the Shanxi lost 190. While the Shanxi WERE being pushed back they seemed to be better at keeping their lines in one piece.
On the morning of the 31st the 19. Hohei Shidan in northern Korea was, once again, complaining about a lack of supplies. And, once again, the locals complained about the Japanese soldiers were taking their stuff and leaving behind useless IOUs.
It seems that the Shanxi were still hopeful about their odds at keeping the Japanese Army contained and launched an attack on the Japanese troops in the Province of Yangquan. And were defeated. The Shanxi lost 11 men while the Japanese lost no one.
A few hours before noon the Japanese stated the Battle of Xinzhou hitting Shanxi militia with a Mountain Division. It ended shortly before midnight as a victory for the Army. 5 Japanese soldiers died during the engagement while the Shanxi lost 80 soldiers.
By the afternoon of the 31st the Chinese front line looked like a wet paper bag. Unfortunately many of the Army's front line units were showing signs of supply issues. Would the Army start to run out of steam before they could start pushing through the holes?
By the 1st of August the Army announced another victory as the Battle of Nangong came to an end. The Army lost 137 soldiers while the Chinese lost 321 soldiers.
It was also decided that the Province of Qingdao, with its major port, was added to the list of objectives that the HQ of 'China' Operations was to try to take. Or at least TRY to take. This objective was suggested by General Shō-ichi Utsunimiya and the Imperial Japanese Navy. (See Navy War)
It was also noticed that all of the Mountain Divisions and most of the Infantry Divisions under 'China' Operations had finished their upgrading.
Soon the Battle of Hunyuan started as another Militia unit from Shanxi attacked the Province. And failed with the lose of 9 men from their vanguard. The defending Japanese mountain unit lost no one.
By nightfall the Japanese sent a Infantry Division into the Province of Huairen to take if from the two Shanxi units defending it. One unit was an infantry division and the other was a militia division. It was hoped they would easily be overwhelmed by the better armed and better led Army unit.
It was late afternoon on the 2nd of August before the next battle started. The Japanese launched an attack on the Province of Handan. A Mountain Division against a Chinese Infantry Division.
While this new battle raged the Battle of Siziwang Qi, to the northwest, came to an end. The Army announced it a victory having lost 217. The Shanxi had lost 273 men.
By the morning of the 3rd the mountain unit in Handan finally won the battle. The Army had lost 24 soldiers while the Nationalist had lost 41 soldiers.
By the evening of the 3rd the Battle of Xinzhou started. Again. As a Shanxi unit tried to invade it and take it away from the defending Japanese mountain unit. And, again, failed. The enemy lost four men while the Army lost two.
Another Battle of Siziwang Qi started as a retreating Shanxi militia unit turned to defend itself against an advancing Japanese cavalry unit. And was soundly beaten as it lost 14 soldiers. The Army lost nobody and, of course, claimed a small victory.
Near midnight on the 4th the Battle of Horinger began as a Army Infantry Division attacked two enemy militia units plus an enemy HQ.
At the same time another Japanese Infantry Division was attacking the Province of Turns Zuoqi. It was defended by one Shanxi militia unit.
An hour later a Japanese Mountain Division attacked a Chinese unit in the Province of Handan. Many believe the battle started because the Chinese were too slow to properly withdraw from the province.
It was assumed the Army would win all the battles in the end.
By the end of the fifth week the Republican units were so thin it was collapsing around them. As for the Shanxi, while putting up a more solid front, they were in danger of losing their nation's Capital to the advancing Japanese.
For the week the Imperial Japanese Army claimed twelve victories and lost, to Land Combat, 452 soldiers. The Nationalists, during the same period of time, lost 477 soldiers to Land Combat and the Shanxi lost 656 soldiers to Land Combat.
The Army Air Groups, the 1. Nihon Koukuujieitai and the 3. Nihon Koukuujieitai, continued to launch Ground Attacks on the enemy. They did so without rest. They did so with little to no help from their comrades in the Japanese Fighter Groups.
They started the fifth week with attacks on Yangquan and Hunyuan. The Province of Yangquan was only bombed that once. It was said 64 Shanxi soldiers were killed.
The Province of Hunyuan was bombed a total of four times and a total of 225 Shanxi soldiers were killed.
The Army Air Group that finished their attacks on Yangquan moved to bombing Nangong. The Chinese stationed there were attacked seven times and lost a total of 686 men.
The Bombers from Hunyuan moved to attack the Shanxi in Siziwang Qi. The Shanxi there were attacked eleven times and lost a total of 1,035 men.
By the 2nd of August one of the Air Groups had moved on to bombing the Shanxi in the Province of Huairen. The mixture of enemy infantry and militia had no defense against the bombs dropping on them.
They were attacked by the bombers a total of nine times and lost 719 soldiers.
At this point one of the Air Groups went to bomb the Chinese defenders in Handan. Handan was only attacked once and the Chinese lost a total of 113 men.
At this point many within the government were starting to joke that the Army Air Forces were doing more to win the battles than the ground troops were.
The bombing of Nanjing continued, of course, without any interference from Chinese aircraft or anti-aircraft guns. The 1. Hikoutai only lost a plane here or there to technical problems. Of course, these planes were easily repaired or replaced.
During the fifth week the Tactical Bombers launched twenty-four attacks on the city. Bomber crews witnessed hits on the supply and fuel stockpiles. But the Nationalist just kept replacing the loses.
They also reported that the infrastructure was nothing but twisted rails, cratered roads, and ruined bridges. So the supplies and fuel was going nowhere fast.
The flames of the city helped guide the pilots during the night and the pillars of smoke helped guide the pilots during the day. Utsunimiya was starting to feel sorry for the people of Nanjing.
By the 31st of July operation 'Underbelly' had secured all it's objectives and was sending the home islands Chinese metals and coal.
On the 1st of August the Navy decided that next target for invasion would be the Port of Qingdao. It was both a major port and a major urban center. And what was left of the Chinese Navy seemed to be hiding there. This was why it suggested that province as the next objective of the Army. If the Province was threatened by the land side the Nationalist would likely pull out any defenders it had to deal with the threat from the Japanese Army and make it easier to grab. Of course the Navy would ask the Advisers of the Empire to decide if such an operation should be allowed. (See Land War)
Then the 1st Task Group, on the 2nd of August, found a Chinese Light Cruiser in the Maro Hae Sound. Of course the planes were launched and the warships moved forward to engage. And so the Battle of Maro Mae Sound had begun.
And ended with the Ping-Hai being sunk. It was attacked twice by the carrier planes but in the end the Kongo-Class Battle Cruiser, the Kirishima, took credit for the kill.
By the end of the fifth week the Navy reported that five enemy convoys had been attacked. At this point many within the government, and among the public, were wondering just how many convoys the Republic had left?
The Imperial Japanese Navy also claimed another Naval Victory AND pointed out that no Japanese convoy had, so far, been threatened by the Chinese military.
Misc. Events
The Emperor's Cabinet, with the help of the Imperial Advisers, had decided to wait till after the war before creating the military government of Mengkukuo. It was rumored that the advisers had very interesting views on the subject but none of these views were released to the rest of the government or to those in the military.
On the 2nd of August it was announced that Amelia Earhart had disappeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with her navigator Fred Noonan. Few people were surprised as she was not known for being a very GOOD aviator. Funny enough the rumor was that the Japanese had done away with her as she was thought of to be spying for the Americans. But in fact she had been a spy for the Imperial Japanese Navy! And it was likely that the Americans had done something to silence her.
Also on the 2nd of August, which seemed to be a very busy day, the government of Germany once again invited the Empire of Japan to join in the 'Axis' Faction. And once again the Japanese government turned the offer down.
It was also announced, in the news, that Saudi Arabia was having problems with illegal printing presses funded by European sources. But they decided to ignore the issue as they had bigger problems to deal with.
During the week two trade deals were broken with the Soviet Union, one deal was canceled with the UK, and one offer from Finland was turned down. On the other hand Trade Agreements were made with the USA, Belgium, and Chile. The Imperial government did its best to keep the raw resources pouring into the factories.
By the end of the fifth week the Head of Intelligence reported that the Communist Chinese had captured two agents, the Nationalist Chinese had captured one agent, and the US had captured one agent.
The nurse didn’t train in the US, did she?
