Utsunimiya's War
(HoI3 TFH - Interactive Japan AAR)
Chapter Fifty-Six: Stalled - 16.9.1937 To 22.9.1937
The Land War
The twelfth week of the conflict with the Republic started out with the Imperial Japanese Army in six battles. The Battle of Yucheng, the Battle of Puyang, the Battle of Suide, the Battle of Dengkou, the Battle of Linru, and the Battle of Pingyin.
Shortly after midnight on the 16th of September one of the battles came to an end. The Battle of Linru was a victory. The Army lost 70 men and horses while the Nationalists lost 488 soldiers. Sadly, the cavalry unit seemed to be too disorganized to march into Linru to take it.
Before midnight of the 17th, 24 hours later the Army announced another victory. The Army won the Battle of Dengkou at the cost of 84 men. The Communists lost 568 soldiers. Once again it wasn't, really, a very valuable province. But it was a victory.
On the early hours of the 17th, when the sun was finally above the horizon, the Battle of Yucheng just ended. The Nationalist soldiers just melted away. Seems the Army Bombing Group had blasted them to the point where they could not stand it anymore. (See Air War).
Of course the 19. decided to complain, again, about the lack of supplies available in northern Korea. And, once again, General Shō-ichi Utsunimiya ignored their complaint. Because, at the moment, there was nothing anybody could do about it.
Sadly, there was a REAL problem in the Province of Puyang. There the 37. Hohei Shidan, under attack from four Nationalist divisions, was starting to be worn down. Even with the superior leadership of Major General Inanba, and with a river helping them, the Japanese soldiers were being pushed to the limits.
The Imperial Army, during the late afternoon of the 18th, launched two attacks. First they sent in a infantry division into Jinan to try to push out the Nationalist infantry division defending it. The Army was finally trying to get the airbases.
The second attack was on Zibo by another infantry division against the Nationalist infantry division there.
Then there was bad news. The Battle of Jinan was a defeat. The Army lost 7 men while the Nationalists only lost 2 men. It was embarrassing but it also was a warning sign. The Imperial Japanese Army had reached the end of the road. Those units facing the Nationalists had pushed too hard, had been TOO aggressive, and now were feeling it.
Then late in the evening of the 18th the Battle of Pingyin just halted. Once again there were no lists or reports. The Nationalists just ran away after being driven to madness by the Japanese Bombers (See Air War).
At midnight, on the 19th, another Battle of Pingyin started as the Nationalists attacked the Japanese mountain division who was moving into the province. And they failed. The Japanese took victory, and the Province, at the cost of zero men while the enemy lost 3 soldiers.
Around 9 AM in the morning the Japanese who were marching into the Province of Yucheng found to their annoyance that the province that had meant to be empty was not so empty. There was a Nationalist infantry division waiting for them.
An hour later the Army sent in a cavalry unit into the Province of Zhengzhou. A valuable and very important urban center of the Republic. It was guarded by a lone Nationalist unit. Over eleven thousand horsemen against just over five thousand infantry in the streets and roads of a modern city. Who decided this attacks?
By the afternoon the Army reported a victory in Yucheng. They had lost 8 soldiers while the Nationalists had lost 15 soldiers. A victory. But a small one.
At the same time they won the Battle of Zhengzhou. This was a Major Victory! Now the Army did lose 16 soldiers and horse while the Nationalists only lost 5 soldiers. But this was likely due to the cavalry not being suited for street warfare. Either way this was a blow to the Republic's unity.
Back in the Battle of Puyang the Nationalists, maybe sensing victory OR sensing that victory might be slipping away, switched to using 'Shock' tactics. One of the Chinese units had dropped out of the battle. But the Japanese were easily able to counter the enemy by using 'Ambush' tactics.
The problem was the Japanese troops were also being worn down and it was likely they would break soon.
To the west, on the front with Red China, the Communists sent in a militia unit to try to retake Dengkou. And were defeated by the Japanese infantry division they ran into. The Japanese division lost no one while the Communists lost 8 men in their vanguard.
Then Japanese Army sent in a cavalry division into Yulin to take on a Communist mountain division and a militia unit. To be frank the odds were in favor of the Communists and, to Utsunimiya, this looked more like the roll of the die then good planning.
On the morning of the 21st, at 3 AM, news of disaster shock the Army as the Battle of Puyang was lost. The Japanese division fled after losing a total of 757 soldiers. The Nationalists had only lost 489 to the Land Combat.
At the same time the Army announced they had won the Battle of Zibo with only losing 131 men. The Nationalists had lost 194. But this news, while good, didn't really make up for the Army's major defeat. Nor the Navy's major defeat (See Navy War).
The Nationalists, sensing blood, attacked the Province of Pingyin with two divisions against the Japanese mountain division now occupying the province.
The Army countered by launching a attack on Jinan, again, with the infantry trying to rush the enemy using a 'Breakthrough' tactic against the defending Nationalist infantry.
During the evening of the 21st the Province of Zhengzhou was officially occupied by the Empire of Japan. This helped the Army's morale a tad but not much.
Before midnight, on the same day, the Army sent a infantry division and cavalry division into the Province of Baofeng to push out the Nationalist infantry. This province was pretty worthless but would thin out the enemy's line even more.
The next day, on the 22nd, a infantry division was sent into Guangrao to kick out the Nationalist division protecting the province. This was the Army still trying to head east to take Qingdao.
A few hours later the Army announced a victory in Baofeng. 27 Japanese soldiers died while the Nationalists lost 114 soldiers.
By the end of the week the Army had gained ONE objective but still had three to go. Eight-four days after the start of the war and Nationalist China was still standing.
Of course the Army claimed eight victories. They also tried to downplay the two defeats and the two unknown results. The loses to Land Combat during this week had been high - 1,100 soldiers were lost. In comparison the Nationalists lost 1,310 soldiers that week to Land Combat and the Communists lost 576 men to Land Combat.
The Army Air Force had it's hands full this week trying to support all the Land Battles going on. In cases it did so well that the enemy fell apart and fled. In other cases even the awesome might of the Japanese Bombing Groups were not enough to turn the tide in favor of the Imperial Army.
One Air Group continued to bomb the Province of Yucheng. There were five more bombing runs and another 391 Nationalists were killed. On the 17th of September the Chinese infantry lines collapsed and there was nothing left to bomb.
The other Air Group was still bombing the Province of Pingyin. On the 18th both Army Air Groups joined together to bomb the Police unit in Pingyin. There was nine bombing runs which killed 937 men from the Nationalist Police unit before the Air Groups stopped. They stopped due to the enemy just melting away. Leaving behind dead bodies and broken equipment.
Now the two Air Groups were free to attack other enemy occupied provinces. One started dropping bombs on the Nationalist infantry in the Province of Zibo. There was a total of seven bombing runs which killed 672 Nationalist soldiers. At this point the Air Group moved onto Jinan on the morning of the 22nd.
The other Air Group hit the Province of Zhengzhou to soften the Nationalist Infantry Division guarding the province. There was only a total of two bombing runs which killed 294 enemy infantry.
By the morning of the 19th it was reported that both of the Imperial Army's Fighter Wings had completely upgraded their planes to Nakajima Ki-27 Kyunnanas. This meant the Army's Fighters were all now top-of-the-line monoplanes.
The Air Group from Zhengzhou moved onto the Province of Juye on the 20th of September to drop bombs on the Nationalist Infantry Division stationed there. It was if the Army was trying to hit as many enemy units as they could. There was only a total of six missions and the Japanese bombers killed 521 Nationalist soldiers before moving on to Jining.
On the 22nd the other Air Group started to blast the Nationalist infantry in Jinan. The Province had become the center of a series of battles - the Imperial Army REALLY wanted those airbases! There was a total of three attacks and the enemy lost 303 soldiers.
The second Air Group that had finished blasting Juye had moved on to bomb the Police unit in the Province of Jining. Before the twelfth ended there was a total of three attacks and the bombers killed 369 soldiers of the Nationalist Police units.
On the morning of the 22nd, at the same time the bombings of Jinan and Jining had started the Chinese "Russian" Bombers showed up and bombed the Japanese infantry in Linru. They bombed Linru a total of three times. They only killed 25 Japanese soldiers but that was still 25 soldiers too many. Where were the Japanese Fighter Pilots?
While the Army Air Force tried its best in supporting the ground operations in the end too much was going wrong for it to put all the issues to right. Either the Army would need to be increased in size for future conflicts or the Army Air Force would need to be increased in size.
The Imperial Japanese Navy wasn't doing much better than the Army. All their Air Forces outside of Japan were trying to do their best to protect the Port of Qingdao.
The attack on the Provinces of Laiyang and Longkou had continued. The Naval Bombers joined in on the attacks on Laiyang by 4 AM on the morning of the 16th (See Below).
Laiyang was bombed eighteen times and it was reported that 872 Nationalists died.
Longkou was bombed eighteen times and it was reported that 985 Nationalists died.
The attack on the Province of Jiaozhou had also continued. A bombing run had just been finished on the morning of the 16th when the Chinese Fighters pounced on the CAGs in the dark. And even in the dark the enemy pilots, tired and confused, were defeated in what the Navy called another 'victory'.
In the end Jiaozhou was bombed eighteen time and it was reported that 315 Nationalists died.
This meant, from the 16th till the 20th, 2,172 Nationalist soldiers were killed due to Japanese Ground Attacks carried out by the Navy.
The newly assembled 10th CAG was also deployed to Hiroshima. The brand new Wing of Nakajima A4Ns would need time to prepare themselves. They, of course, would have to wait for their second Wing to be finished before either would be assigned to a NEW Carrier or be sent into combat.
Also on the morning of the 16th the Naval Bombers, having FINALLY reached Shanghai, were ordered to launch Ground Attacks on the Province of Laiyang. The hope was that the weight of bombs alone would, hopefully, bring the attack by the Nationalist forces to a halt. The Bombers joined the CAGs in the Laiyang bombing runs (See Above).
By the morning of the 17th it was clear that the bombing runs were hurting the Nationalists. BUT the Battle for Qingdao continued and there was no sign of it stopping any time soon.
On the morning of the 20th there was some good news. One of the Nationalist Infantry Divisions had dropped out of the Battle of Qingdao. Sadly this good news was balanced out by the bad news - the Japanese defenders were on the verge of total collapse. Even with the air support and the 'Big Guns' defeat was just around the corner.
At 8 AM, on the 20th, shortly after the last news it was announced that the Battle of Qingdao had come to an end. It was a defeat. 674 Japanese soldiers had been killed. In return the Nationalist Divisions had lost 845 soldiers due to the Land Combat.
The only silver lining in this dark cloud was the fact that the Japanese Division, the 48. Hohei Shidan, was escaping the port using military and civilian craft. It would be withdrawing to the nearby Task Groups.
Of course at this point all Carrier planes were recalled to their Carriers and the bombers were sent back to Shanghai.
The Tactical Bombers of the 1. Hikoutai were sent out, from Shanghai, to bomb the Nationalist Cavalry and HQ stationed in Neze. It was hoped that this would help the Imperial Army's push southwards. Funny enough by the 21st the Cavalry had abandoned the Province leaving the HQ behind to deal with the bombs.
By the closing of the 22nd of September there had been a total of four bombing runs and 285 Nationalists, mostly horsemen, had been killed.
It was also noticed just HOW many Nationalist units were hanging around the defenses of Shanghai. And it looked like a few of them were heading south to attack Operation 'Pitch-Fork'. The Naval Bombers were called in to try to soften this units before they got out of range.
The Naval Bombers starting hitting the Province of Jiande. There were 12 enemy brigades moving through the province at the time. Thirty-One THOUSAND soldiers of the enemy. The units who were mostly made up of infantry, but with militia and artillery units mixed in, suddenly found bombs dropping on them.
Jiande, and the enemy units within it, was hit ten times. It was reported that 447 Nationalists, mostly militia and artillery, were killed.
At the end of the seven day period the Navy wasn't really making any public statements. Even their 'victory' against Chinese Fighters seems somewhat unimportant. This silence just made the public, and many within the media, all the more vocal in their displeasure at the loss of Qingdao.
During the twelfth week there was very little news that wasn't related to the war. The only NON-related news was the fact that Japanese had accepted a Trade Agreement with the USSR. And the US had BROKEN a Trade Deal they had with the Empire.
This LAST action meant that the Treasury, as of the 18th, was in the RED. On the other hand all the stockpiles were in the Green. So nobody was really THAT alarmed.
On the other hand it seems both Sweden and Switzerland were aligning themselves towards the Comintern. That was SOMEWHAT alarming. A Europe going totally Communism seemed to be bad for future trade with that region and would make the USSR a tad too powerful.
On the 18th the Head of Intelligence told the Spies in Nationalist China to switch priority from Covert Operations back to Disrupting the Nationalists' National Unity.
On the 20th the Spies within the Republic infiltrated the local military HQs around Jinan. Soon the information that had stolen would be in the hands of the Imperial Army. Giving them unit strengths and weaknesses.
It was also reported that the capture of the Province of Zhengzhou, by the Imperial Army, had pushed Nationalist China very close to final defeat.
Even the capture of Qingdao by the Republic didn't help them as much as many critics among the Japanese media thought it did. They had lost more in Zhengzhou than they regained in Qingdao.
Though it was noticed that the UK, the US, and France were all allowing the Republic to trade on credit. In other words the Republic would pay its debts AFTER the war. This was NOT announced to the public. Of course the Republic had no convoys to import any material they purchased.
By the end of twelfth week the Head of Intelligence reported that the Canadians had captured one agent, the Nationalist Chinese had captured two agents, and the Communist Chinese had captured two agents.
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Author's Notes:
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