I hereby declare all the arguments that need to be made ...{snip} ... have been made. Let the cards fall where they may. {snip}
Perhaps now we can all live in peace.
Perhaps the Titanic will arrive in New York Harbor tomrrow.
I hereby declare all the arguments that need to be made ...{snip} ... have been made. Let the cards fall where they may. {snip}
Perhaps now we can all live in peace.
“Peace in our time!”Perhaps the Titanic will arrive in New York Harbor tomrrow.
No, tanks would be very useful when fighting the Russians. Not the tin cans with machine guns nailed on that the IJA pretend are tanks. Actual tanks.Which was the development of Arctic Warfare Equipment. This would prove to be very useful when fighting the Russians.
Proof that the Ministry of Armaments has indeed been infiltrated by the IJA and infected it with their dishonourable incompetence. What on earth do they think the SNLF troops are? You know then SNLF, the only effective and competent ground forces the country has. Why are we wasting time and money on "researching" troop types we are already deploying?On the 9th of August the Ministry of Armaments than announced there had been another breakthrough. Marine Infantry Divisions could now be trained and deployed!
Disloyalty to the Empire by betting that the worthless Chinese might win!? Perfidy! And money wasted.Many officers within the Army placed bets on who would win as the province was forested and gave little advantage to either side.
The Imperial Japanese Navy Aircraft Carrier, the Kaga, launched a Port Strike on the enemy port. They spotted, and attacked, three Light Cruisers and a Transport Flotilla. But reported NO ground defenders.
Well done Kaga, both the valuable recon, then port strikes and sinking part of the fleeing enemy fleet. Good heavy cruiser support as well to help tidy up. Air power proves useful in power projection on the ground.Even as the big guns opened up the CAG was launched to attack the enemy. The Battle of Haizhou Wan didn't last very long as the CAGs were only give two chances to attack the enemy ships. It took only three hours for all the spotted Chinese ships to be destroyed.
The Kaga claimed the sinking of the Light Cruiser the Ning Hai. This was the THIRD Chinese Light Cruiser claimed by the carrier. The Heavy Cruiser, the Myoko, destroyed the Transports, while the Heavy Cruiser, the Maya, sunk the Light Cruiser the Hai Yung. The Heavy Cruiser of the 2nd Navy, the Asama, claimed the sinking of the Light Cruiser the Hai Chi.
A big bite to consume!the official war goal of the war with Nationalist China. The Republic of China would be absorbed, completely, into the Japanese Empire.
So is it going to be them rather than the Allies? Or as well, to help the Germans if or when the time comes (if Japan even joins the Axis)? Or just a precaution?Arctic Warfare Equipment. This would prove to be very useful when fighting the Russians.
My work is never done - rust doesn’t sleep!On the 10th of August it was noticed that Turkey, once again, was leaning towards a more direct relationship with the Comintern.
A bunch of rebels is well within the Army’s capabilities and beneath the dignity of SNLF troops to concern themselves with. I’m sure we can find more interesting work elsewhere.Annexing this territory and having to spend valuable SNLF troops to garrison it (knowing that the Army, of course, would be worthless for the task)? Such a waste of valuable manpower and training...
So is it going to be them rather than the Allies? Or as well, to help the Germans if or when the time comes (if Japan even joins the Axis)? Or just a precaution?
Particularly when the Prime Minister is correct and and the Chief of Staff is an idiot.Ah, 'tis a heavy burden for a Chief of Staff when your Minister does not share one's own... enthusiasms.
That sounds very bad - replacing a man who accidentally shoots himself in the back a couple of dozen times?The Chief of Staff frowned as he left the building. He wondered if it would be best to find a way to...replace the man.
Quite. The PM sounds like one of the few sane men left in the asylum.Particularly when the Prime Minister is correct and and the Chief of Staff is an idiot.
Keisuke Okada may be a bit too pacifist to my taste, but he definitely gets more things right than the Chief of Staff. Case in point. He served on board Battleships, commanded the Combined Fleet, and is a true Carrier-Battleship moderate, he could bring the Navy together, but he rots away as a Prime Minister no one seems to really listen to.Particularly when the Prime Minister is correct and and the Chief of Staff is an idiot.
General Utsunimiya also thinks the same about electricity, the wheel and people who can tie their own shoelaces without accidentally strangling themselves. He is, after all, only IJA, so almost every form of technology, or even thinking, looks like magic to his simple mind.General Shō-ichi Utsunimiya didn't question it. He just assumed the Army Air Force had received help from the Navy's engineers. They must be wizards he thought to himself. (1)
The IJA maintaining 'Law and Order' in occupied China... Who ever said the IJA didn't have a sense of humour? You will not find a bigger joke in all Japan, outside of our intelligence agencies obviously.Law and Order had to be maintained.
Excuse me, you mean the second sign. The first sign was when they put the Army in charge.This was the first REAL sign that logistics might become a problem the deeper the Army got into China.
Clearly, General Utsumysterytomiya has never heard of such magical techniques as "building new planes", "shipping them over", or "and sending the old ones back for scrapping". Wizardry, indeed.Also, on the 12th, one of the Army's Fighter Groups announced they had upgraded both their Wings. Somehow they had turned biplanes into Nakajima Ki-27s. General Shō-ichi Utsunimiya didn't question it. He just assumed the Army Air Force had received help from the Navy's engineers. They must be wizards he thought to himself. (1)
If we're going to declare war on the Soviets, the Germans would be good help...I hear they have engineering plans for so-called "land battleships" which would be crucial to ensure that it is the Navy, and not the Army, which has operational control in Siberia.Random thought : From a gameplay perspective, I wonder how much entertainment value could be derived from 1) Japan
joining the Axis before Khalkin Gol, and then using that event to declare war on the Soviets....
Random thought : From a gameplay perspective, I wonder how much entertainment value could be derived from 1) Japan
joining the Axis before Khalkin Gol, and then using that event to declare war on the Soviets....
Whatever the reason the Shanxi government's last act was to surrender to the Empire of Japan on the 17th of August.
The Army isn’t doing too badly, even if our expectations were low.The second the news of Shanxi's fall reached Japan the Diet declared war on the People's Republic of China.
OOC: One thing I have noticed about HOI4 is that it does more realistically is progressively rotate new equipment in for old, putting the obsolete stuff into stockpiles. In HOI3, the approach seems to be nothing changes until an upgrade reaches 100%, then it all changes at once and the old gear is just written off.Also, on the 12th, one of the Army's Fighter Groups announced they had upgraded both their Wings. Somehow they had turned biplanes into Nakajima Ki-27s. General Shō-ichi Utsunimiya didn't question it. He just assumed the Army Air Force had received help from the Navy's engineers. They must be wizards he thought to himself. (1)
Hmm, but as OTL history demonstrated, just because they were paranoid didn’t mean the Commies weren’t out to get them! (Sorry about the double negative, but it’s necessary in this case )Funny enough, while the Communists saw Japan as their greatest threat the Nationalists still thought the Communists next door were more of a threat. They were either very paranoid or they still believed all the false rumors the Japanese newspapers and radios had spread!
OOC: One thing I have noticed about HOI4 is that it does more realistically is progressively rotate new equipment in for old, putting the obsolete stuff into stockpiles. In HOI3, the approach seems to be nothing changes until an upgrade reaches 100%, then it all changes at once and the old gear is just written off.
An interesting self-limiting approach (as well as being a gesture to realism). Of course, it means those foregone upgrade costs can offset the new build costs. In my TT AAR, where Turkey buys all its new air and naval units from licences and doesn't really research them itself, this is effectively imposed by that combination of game mechanics. I'm thinking of disbanding the old Blenheim TAC wing I've retained so far for use as a 'recon unit', but has seen little use. I guess one could save a bit by doing so (MP and ongoing supply costs, at least) with old units?That is one good thing about HoI4, indeed. It's why in the future, I'm going require that I cannot use the upgrade function for my air forces and instead build completely new units; and for the Navy, at-sea upgrade rates must be waaaay lower.
For air forces (or tanks for that matter!), it might make more sense to house-rule that planes have to be kept in the capital to do an upgrade. Otherwise you eventually wind up with a lot of outdated divisions that not only have to be continually replaced, but keep being reinforced with, one presumes, old equipment still being manufactured - or else not used at all! Not entirely ahistorical, sure, but probably not what is desired for gameplay either.That is one good thing about HoI4, indeed. It's why in the future, I'm going require that I cannot use the upgrade function for my air forces and instead build completely new units; and for the Navy, at-sea upgrade rates must be waaaay lower.