The Naval War in Review

    As promised, I will spend a couple posts providing overviews of the preceding war.  With little going on game-wise, I will probably cover two seasons in my next regular post.  There is also increasingly likely that the game may end with no further significant combat on my part, so I may soon start over or switch to a different game.

Now That It’s Over, I’ll Give It A Name

    Since the war started, I’ve been doggedly trying to avoid referring to the war directly, since I haven’t been able to come up with a good name for it.  The name “World War II” doesn’t really fit, since I did most of the heavy lifting against the western Allies, and Japan was not materially involved in the first world war.  So, after giving plenty of consideration, one thought in particular occurred to me: the nations that I was primarily at war with (Britain, France, the Netherlands, the USA, and eventually Spain and Portugal) all had a tradition of colonialism in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific.  Therefore, I came up with a good name: The Colonial War.  I reserve the term “World War II” for the German conquest of continental Europe and their protracted war against the Soviets.

The War At Sea – January 1939 to July 1941

    Considering that the three main nations in the war – Japan, United Kingdom, and United States – it should come as no surprise that the most critical period of the war was the naval period.  The naval war is delineated pretty well, with the first combat ensuing within days after the declaration of war in January 1939, and the last major battle (involving capital ships on both sides), ended near the end of July 1941.  While I had numerous naval engagements after that period, the later ones were not competitive, usually limited to port strikes or interceptions of small groups of destroyers, etc.

    One of the challenges of naval warfare is its unpredictability.  Fleets are very fast, at least relative to land units; because of the expansiveness of the seas, it is difficult, frequently impossible, to control your enemies’ movements; and, unless you have many radar stations (which is unlikely early in the war), it is difficult to keep tabs on the locations of enemy fleets.  As a result, my strategic naval plan could be summed up as, “play it by ear”.  That’s a sloppy way of running a war, but considering the circumstances, I decided it was better to prepare myself mentally and strategically for the unexpected, rather than attempting to impose a plan on my navy that my opponents obviously had the ability and inclination to avoid.

    In lieu of specific offensive plans, I employed standard techniques and tactics to improve my chances of victory.  Here’s a rough outline of my standard tactics:

1. Always escort troop transports;
2. Fight with a significant numerical advantage whenever possible;
3. Attack the enemy in their ports;
4. Focus on one theater / enemy at time, to ensure thorough victories;
5. Maintain an adequate strategic reserve to deal with contingencies.

    The first four tactics account for the bulk of my early victories.  In real life, the Japanese had the comparative luxury of knowing where the American and British fleets were stationed and launched reasonably successful surprise attacks to help damage those fleets within the first few days of the war.  I, however, could only make educated guesses about the location and composition of enemies; more importantly, the bulk of the enemy fleets were out of range for me, in places like Scapa Flow and San Diego, and even Pearl Harbor was out of my effective operating range in 1939.

    I anticipated small fleets to be in Manilla, Singapore and other significant ports in the region, and planned my opening moves accordingly.  I focused my early landings on Borneo and the Philippines, and early port strikes at Singapore.  I escorted the landing operations with significant gunship fleets; once the troops were landed, the escorts began intercepting the smaller fleets with overwhelming force.  That done, they switched over to the South China Sea to take over on the initial offensive fleet operations.  By rotating fleets, using overwhelming force, and focusing on one region (and ignoring the Dutch, Americans and Australians) we were able to sink 36 warships in the first three and half months, including two battleships and a battlecruiser, at a cost of only two of our cruisers.

    The need for a strategic naval reserve became apparent in mid-April, when the Dutch launched an ill-advised attack deep in our home waters.  By using fleets from Tokyo, we were able to turn a mild disaster into a significant victory, sending virtually the entire Dutch navy to the bottom of the sea at no cost to us.  Thus, the value of a reserve was emphasized, but an additional fact became apparent.  Even after months of lop-sided victories, I was still outnumbered two-to-one.  Not only would I need to play perfectly, I also needed to capitalize on Allied mistakes.  Fortunately, these occurred early and often.

The War in the Pacific

    It is impossible to overstate the importance of the Battles of Naha and Iwo Jima, in July 1939.  The American navy is the most formidable of the game.  They have more ships than any other navy, and they are focused on heavy-hitting aircraft carriers and battleships, rather than the cruiser-heavy focus of lesser navies.

    I covered these battles in depth when they occurred, but in hindsight they were so significant, they deserve special analysis.  While I don’t know for certain, it seems that in each battle the Americans divided their fleets into two parts.  The capital ships were deployed in one fleet, with aggressive tactics, while the destroyers were attached to the transports to give them anti-aircraft and anti-submarine defense.  This plan might have been a good idea later in the war, when I had many more CAGs available.  However, I had few aircraft available in 1939, certainly not enough to overcome the American CAGs, and this deployment instead lead to the disastrous results of these battles, and consequently our eventual victory.

    My fleet compositions, on the other hand, were ad hoc, and unintentionally well suited for these battles.  Each fleet involved (two per battle) had a battleship, a battle cruiser, one or two heavy cruisers and a few light cruisers.  Late in the war these fleets would be ineffective – the varying speeds of each ship would cause them to come into range of the enemy sequentially, allowing them to be focused on and knocked out one at a time.  In this case, however, the American targeting and decision making techs were still low, allowing our fastest ships to survive the first blows.  Our light cruisers, first to engage, took a few salvos, and were able to retreat, drawing the American capital ships away from their escorts.  Our ships then were able to focus on the American pursuers, while the Americans dispersed their fire due to the varying speeds of their targets.  The final result was everything I could have hoped for, and, perversely, what the Americans had planned for.  We annihilated their battleships, while their destroyers and transports were able to escape unscathed.  This emphasizes the drawback of planning for the worst outcome: despite the fact that the land forces were able to carry out their initial objectives, the expeditions resulted in disasters.  Americans were able to occupy Naha, but only briefly; now lacking adequate naval support, their land forces were unceremoniously rounded up and captured.  The forces at Iwo Jima had arguably better results.  That island was well-defended, and the Americans left about a quarter of their landing force dead on the beaches, although the remainder was able to escape.  The plans were thus flawed from the beginning.  Even if the troops had escaped completely intact, or even if they had occupied their respective targets for months afterward, that would have been very poor consolation for the loss of ten extremely expensive capital ships, each of which would take over two years to replace.

    Prior to July 1939, the Americans had a well-composed navy consisting of many strong gunships and numerous aircraft carriers.  Gunships are much more useful than carriers during the early years of the war, and the loss of so many at once was a blow from which they would never recover.  They could have collaborated better with the British, who still had a strong gunship fleet, but Allied nations never cooperate well, especially in naval matters.  Thus, we were able to out-number the Americans in nearly every engagement after that point, winning lopsided battles and incrementally lengthening their odds.  The Battle of the Marianas Islands from November 1939 to February 1940, and the Battles of Marcus Island in March and May of 1940, saw the inevitable withering and eventual eradication of their remaining gunships.  Now lacking surface support, the Battle of Agano Bay in July of 1940 did to their carriers what the battles a year earlier did to their battleships.  The final lengthy siege of Rabul was a one-sided, ignominious end to a once dominating opponent.

The Vaunted British Navy

    My battles with the British, by contrast, tended to be much smaller.  While they were my primary opponent for the first several months of the war, the outbreak of war in Europe caused a dramatic shift in their priorities.  Realistically, the British can import virtually all the raw materials they need from the US, and completely abandon their Asian territories, and they will still have a good chance of winning the war.  The Italians and Germans each possessed significant navies, and their constant harassment of British shipping required the bulk of the British navy to stay near their home islands.  As a result, their naval actions in the East Indies were limited to sporadic raiding.  This was annoying, of course, but it allowed me to chip away at their fleet piecemeal.  Numerous battles each saw the loss of a major British gunship and a few escorts, but these engagements were only significant in the aggregate;  it was not until August 1940 that I was able to sink more than two capital ships in one month, and by that time the British fleet had been already withered down to second-rate status.  The greatest British losses came in 1941, but most of these were due to port strikes rather than open sea battles, as their navy had effectively abandoned offensive operations.

A chart of major warship losses, 1939-1941; Yellow=Japan, Red=UK, Orange=Netherlands, Dark Blue=France, Light Blue=USA, Green=Australia

    The story arc of the naval war is fairly straightforward.  The first six months saw numerous engagements go more-or-less according to plan.  Then in July, I am hit by a pair of heavy blows, which put me in a desperate, but not unexpected, situation.  I recover and deal my opponents a severe blow.  The next year sees almost non-stop intense fights, which generally end in my favor and reduce the fighting capacity of the Allied navies to virtually nothing.  Then from mid 1940 to mid 1941, I am in mop-up phase, where the battles are mostly one-sided, and my losses are due to inattentiveness on my part, rather than any actual competition.  The end of the naval war sees the effective beginning of the land war, which I will discuss in my next post, hopefully along with a summary of my future plans.

The End of the Great Republic - Autumn, 1944

    It has been nearly five full years since the beginning of the war against the Allies, and with great pride I can now say that I have brought low the mightiest military-industrial power of the western hemisphere, possibly in the world.  On October 4^th, 1944 AD, I received formal notification of the surrender of the sovereign government of Paraguay.  Is this the greatest moment of my war-gaming life?  Perhaps.  Also, a couple months later the United States surrendered, but that was a formality after their Paraguayan protectors collapsed.

The Fall of Paraguay

    I have a tried and true method for conquering South America.  Normally, I start with Colombia, sending mountain troops in to take Bogota, while I take Barranquilla with an amphibious assault.  Next, Venezuela.  I hit Maracaibo from Barranquilla, and take Caracas with an amphibious assault.  The mountain troops from Bogota will move southward to take Quito, Ecuador by land, if necessary; otherwise, I can launch an amphibious invasion there as well.  A simultaneous landing at Lima and Arequipa takes care of Peru, and a quick jog north from Arequipa puts me in position to take La Paz, Bolivia.  Then I launch amphibious assaults to knock out Chile.  After that, I launch a long-distance assault on Uruguay, which serves as a launching pad for a largely land invasion of Argentina.  Paraguay is knocked out as an afterthought once the northern victory points in Argentina are taken.  Brazil is last, with a coordinated series of amphibious assaults against their coastal points.

    This plan works well.  For this run, however, I opted not to follow it.  Among other issues, I was importing metals from Chile, and didn’t want to commit the troops to conquering Argentina, which is easier done as soon as possible after the conquest of Chile.  Consequently, I ended up making a lengthy overland drive from Peru, through Bolivia, and to the southeast portion of Paraguay just to secure my South American conquests.  As I noted in my previous posts, my drive through occupied Bolivia was actually halted, due in large part to the fact that my mountain corps was split into two parts.  Once the left wing arrived, however, we started to turn the tide.  By mid-summer, opposition was virtually non-existent, and most of the time was spent marching through the rugged terrain.  The Andes aren’t as bad as the Himalayas, but they still aren’t a cake walk.  We finished the march in Asuncion in early autumn, and my mountain troops, now too far inland to be of any immediate use anywhere, idled on the Argentina border (eating guinea pigs or whatever they do for fun in Paraguay) while our other troops take care of business in North America.

Wrapping Up Eastern Canada

    At the end of the summer, XVI Gun had pushed north to the Canada border, and was well-positioned to launch across the St. Lawrence River and occupy the last few strategic points in the northeast.  The plan is fairly straightforward, although a bit risky.  Ottawa, with its stockpiles of supplies, is the nearest and most important target.  I will leave 76 Shidan at Watertown, to anchor the corps’ left.  The remainder of the corps attacks Ottawa, leaving 77 Shidan behind at Ogdensburg after driving the defenders out.  78 Shidan and the corps headquarters will defend Ottawa while 79 and 80 Shidan press forward, taking Alexandria and Montreal.

    The plan is risky because it leaves the front only one division wide, and could lead to problems similar to those VI Gun is experiencing in the Carolinas.  Regardless, the plan goes off with little trouble.  We occupy Ottawa on October 11^th, and Montreal about a week and a half later.  The Canadians launch a few counter-attacks, but are unable to keep up any sustained pressure.  Newly arrived XVIII Gun establishes a solid line in New England, allowing LXI Gun concentrate along a narrower front, and guard XVI Gun’s right flank.  By the end of October the line is well positioned, dug-in, anchored on both sides, and has fended off a number of minor counter-attacks.  Aside from a few secondary strategic points (the air and sea ports at Quebec, St. Johns, etc), I have accomplished all of my goals in the region, and I decide to have the troops settle in for a couple months of “sitzkrieg” while other corps close out the war elsewhere.

Across the Appalachians

    My greatest advances this season came in the eastern United States front.  At the beginning of the season, the front stretched from the western tip of Lake Erie (south of Detroit) roughly south-by-southeast to the Atlantic coast, between North and South Carolina.  X Gun, in the far north, was responsible for occupying the northwestern corner of Ohio and securing Detroit.  VIII Gun was responsible for the remainder of Ohio; VII Gun for most of Kentucky, and IX Gun for Tennessee.  VI Gun, now re-aligned and re-consolidated, was responsible for South Carolina, and eventually Georgia.  VIII Gun had the easiest course, with fairly straightforward advances over easy terrain.  X Gun was responsible for changing its front from west-facing to north-facing, a movement which turned out to be somewhat complicated.  VII and IX Gun had the toughest route, as they were in the middle of the roughest terrain of the Appalachian mountain range.

    Despite the severe shellacking I’ve been dealing to the Allies over the last year, they were still able to put up a pretty strong front, and resist conventional attacks.  This was especially a problem in the mountainous areas.  Thus I resorted to a new tactic which was particularly well-suited for this situation.  Refer to the painstakingly-crafted grid below:

    In most cases, I rely on superior technology, division composition, air power and overwhelming numbers to achieve victory.  Thus, I would normally attack from D to A, E to B, and F to C, simultaneously.  This allows me to maintain a constant, steady advance.  This autumn, however, my air power was tied up elsewhere, I lacked overwhelming numbers, and had no technology or division strength advantage.  Therefore, I employed staggered concentrated offensives to move the front forward.  That is, I used the forces at E and F to simultaneously attack C.  When they were victorious, F advanced into C while E was halted where it was.  Then, I attacked from C and E to take B; E then advances to B, where I combine it with D to attack A.

    This process is obviously slower, since I am advancing only one province at a time.  The battles, however, are quicker, as I am allowed to take advantage of a 2-to-1 numerical superiority.  This tactic should also be avoided early in the game, since you will be facing 96 or 130 hour waits between combats, which will slow the process down much further.

    The tactic worked quite well, and allowed me to advance the front by 200-400 miles in only two months.  Indianapolis, Louisville, Sumter and Charleston were all summarily captured, with Detroit finally falling on November 25^th.  By the end of November, my intelligence indicated the Americans were within two or three cities of surrendering completely.  I decided to throw caution to the wind and line up my final pushes.  There were several possible targets on the Eastern US Front.  Despite a somewhat far distance over rough terrain, Nashville was the most appealing target, as it was only two provinces from the front, and the Allies had been completely broken apart in this area.  Atlanta and Macon were the next targets.  In order to make the drive quickly, I would need to unhinge VI Gun from the Atlantic shoreline; this was risky (as recent history indicates), but I felt there was a good chance I could bring the Americans to their knees prior to any discomfiture.  As a back-up plan, I launched a drive towards Chicago and Milwaukee.  These areas were fairly far from the front, however, and it would involve stretching our forces in the region thinner, making these less appealing targets.

    As it turned out, most of the effort put into the final push was unneeded.  VI Gun occupied Macon within a few days.  As expected, the Allies attempted to squeeze up the coastline, either to encircle me or attempt a dash at Charleston.  They lacked the strength to accomplish anything with this effort – they weren’t able to even launch discouraging counterattacks, and nothing came from this effort.  We drove the defenders out of Atlanta and were in the process of occupying it when news of the armistice came through.  Likewise Nashville, which was only defended by a single headquarters brigade.  The drive towards Chicago was noticeably unproductive, but was moot with the final captures taking place out west.

The Sun Sets in the West

    On the Pacific Front, most of the action centered around the northwest region, specifically from Portland to Vancouver.  We also made modest gains in Texas and the area around Idaho, but these had no impact on the outcome of the war.

    The biggest contest was the occupation of Portland.  Despite the fact that we were on the outskirts of the city, it took us two months to actually occupy it.  Partly, the problem was mine.  I made an effort to surround the city, in hopes that I could avoid fighting all the way northward to Vancouver.  The weather (bad) and terrain (worse) combined to slow this encirclement down dramatically.  By the time I decided it wasn’t worth the trouble of encircling the enemy, we were already committed.

    XI Gun, which arrived late in the summer, moved up the coast and maintained the areas west and north of the city.  XIII Gun kept pressure up on the area south of the city, and XIV Gun moved up the east side of the city.  Due to the oddities of terrain in the area, XI closed off the escape route northward long before XIV Gun closed the east gate.  XI Gun launched the final attack in late November.  They suffer a few hundred casualties, marking the largest loss of the season.  The three defending divisions are captured, including the frequently-destroyed 82nd Airborne.  The city is occupied on December 2^nd, and is the penultimate occupation of the war.

    Farther north, things move much more smoothly.  XII Gun, which, like XI Gun has spent most of its existence suppressing partisans in southern Asia, is deployed to the Vancouver area in mid November.  Vancouver itself is undefended and falls to an amphibious assault.  Seattle is defended by two garrison divisions, but they are quickly driven out of that city and overran.

    Ultimately, the last drive of the war was essentially an afterthought in a quiet area of the front.  Due to the painfully rugged terrain around Utah, I had largely abandoned the idea of advancing in this region for the remainder of the war.  As a third or fourth tier backup plan, I had 16 and 17 Shidan of III Gun advance towards Montcello, an otherwise insignificant victory point in southern Utah.  It came as quite a surprise to me when this obscure town became our final conquest in the United States on December 7^th, 1944 (a day that will live in … well, you know).  The United States formally surrendered on that day; all other occupied nations, completely abandoning hope, likewise surrendered.  Canada, Mexico, South Africa and Portugal are now all that remains of the once-vaunted Allies.  All occupied territories are now legally part of their occupiers; unoccupied British and French colonies in Africa and elsewhere have also been annexed into the Japanese Empire.

Front Line on December 1, 1944.  Portland, Macon, and Montcello will fall within the week.

Also Mexico

    Newly formed XIX Gun was originally slated to join the other corps of 4 Homen-Gun in Eastern Canada and Northeastern United States.  However, even before they boarded the transports, it was clear there was no need for them on that front.  Consequently, I sent them to Panama for an amphibious invasion of Mexico instead.  I decided to take the historical invasion route of the country: a landing at Veracruz, followed by a drive straight to Mexico City.  This would be supplemented with a drive up the coast, then westward to occupy Monterrey.  The occupation of the three provinces of Monterrey, Mexico City and Puebla should be sufficient to force a surrender.

My invasion plan for Mexico

    The transports were accompanied by 5 and 11 Kaigun, in case the Mexicans had any warships remaining that might interfere with the landing.  It turns out that, yes, they did have an adorable little navy of four destroyers and six transports.  My warships disposed of these craft in short order, and the landing was completed with little difficulty.  Veracruz itself was undefended, and was occupied on November 9^th.  The forces landed there pressed inland over rugged terrain, through Puebla, and captured Mexico City in early December.

    94 and 95 Shidan, landing at Tampico, had more resistance from the Allies but less from terrain.  Ideally, I could have landed them farther north; however, I was concerned about maintaining a ground supply line, so I took the safe route.  Despite mild opposition both during landing and throughout the advance, I was able to capture Monterrey on December 22^nd.  The Mexican government subsequently surrendered, bringing the number of my remaining opponents down to three.

Going Forward From Here

    Ahead of me, the only immediate objective is the capture of Winnipeg, the last victory point in Canada.  I have several divisions converging on that point from multiple directions, and I expect to take it by mid February at the latest.  Other than that, the next few months will be relatively quiet as I march my vast horde back to their nearest ports and begin to redeploy them for the final conquests.  My next post, then, will largely be a retrospective of the Allied War, now effectively ended, as well as a preview of my future plans.

To Lake Erie, and Beyond! - Summer 1944

    On July 17^th we achieved an important milestone by capturing Jamestown, on Lake Erie.  The Great Lakes give me an impenetrable barrier roughly in the center of my line.  Later, this could create problems as it will hinder cooperation between the two wings of the theater; but for now, it allows me to continue to advance without stretching my corps any thinner than they already are.  On a side note, it has been my experience that once the Great Lakes area is overrun, the United States has very little time left.

The Rochester Pocket

    With Jamestown secured, an opportunity for an encirclement maneuver presented itself along the southern shoreline of Lake Ontario.  There is a three-province isthmus between the two lakes: Hamilton on the Canada side, Buffalo and Lockport on the American side.  From Jamestown, I can push northward through Dunkirk into Buffalo, and then close off the western escape/supply route by taking either Lockport or Hamilton.  Several provinces to the east, I can drive up from Binghamton through the Syracuse/Utica area to Pulaski, on Lake Ontario, thus fully enclosing a rather large swath of land and several Allied divisions.

Action on Lake Ontario, August 1944

    The plan is set into motion in late July.  84 and 85 Shidan are given the key assignment of seizing the Buffalo area; the remainder of XVII Gun will serve as the figurative anvil, and hold the central portion of the line, while XVI Gun is responsible for sealing off the eastern escape route.  84 and 85 Shidan have the toughest time of it.  As usual, the initial drive to establish an encirclement is much easier than maintaining it.  They are able to occupy Dunkirk and Buffalo with minimal difficulty, and drive a Canadian division out of Lockport easily.  The AI, however, is very good at spotting these problem areas as they develop.  Whether the Allies feared a complete encirclement, or were merely attempting to keep their supply lines short, they immediately launched an aggressive counter-attack.  We ended up abandoning Buffalo, and held Lockport with both divisions while 83 Shidan came up from Olean to hold Dunkirk.  As weeks of fighting dragged on, I started to become concerned about being cut off myself.

    Eastward, XVI Gun was having a much easier time of it.  They were virtually unopposed in their march to Lake Ontario, which they reached in mid August.  I was able to hold the eastern flank of the region with half of the corps, while the other half drove west to help complete the coup-de-grace.  By this flank and rear attack, pressure was relieved on 81 and 82 Shidan, who in turn were then able to launch counter-attacks to relieve the pressure on the beleaguered 84 and 85 Shidan.  Now realizing the severity of the situation, the remaining Allied forces began to pull back into a small pocket centered on Rochester.  The final attack was launched on August 21^st by the six most organized divisions of XVI and XVII Gun.  The Allied forces, now reduced to a pair of infantry divisions and a ranger division, surrendered after a perfunctory fight.

    After this success, I re-consolidated XVII Gun and steered them back towards Buffalo.  Taking that by the end of August, they crossed over to Hamilton, marking the first time I’ve entered Canada in this war.  81, 82 and 83 Shidan push farther and occupy Toronto, with its crucial victory points, while the remainder of the corps holds the supply line open in Hamilton.  With no obvious objectives within safe striking distance, I decide to let them dig in and hold their position for (what will likely be) the remainder of the war.

Summer in New England

    After the New Jersey campaign, my offensive along the coast stalled out a bit as I concentrated on the central drive towards the Great Lakes and gave my Rikusentai a bit of a break.  By late July, however, it was becoming increasingly important to push up the coast in order to protect the flank of XVI Gun.  On the 24^th I began my drive with an assault against New York City with my 359 and 360 Rikusentai divisions.  Like San Francisco, New York was thinly defended and the occupation is rather underwhelming.  The defenders, a division of garrison troops, are subsequently overrun, presenting an interesting situation.  With the neighboring troops pushing northward rapidly, and the New York garrison captured, New England is left virtually defenseless.  There is only one garrison division in Boston to guard the entire area east of the Hudson River and south of the Canada border.

    In order to capitalize on the situation, I spread LXII Gun out as widely as possible, and have them advance rapidly throughout the area.  I overrun the garrison in Boston in mid August, eliminating the only minor roadblock along the eastern seaboard.  I promptly overextend myself, spreading my divisions as far as possible.  360 Rikusentai, on the far right, reaches the Canadian border at the curiously named Berlin, New Hampshire, in early September.  The Allies respond to this by sending divisions from Canada into Maine, with the likely intent of outflanking me.

    My first instinct is to attack the flanking divisions directly.  I order 360 Rikusentai to attack east, into Rangeley.  My plan is to use them to attack the lead American division, now advanced into Rumford, driving them south to Portland, where they can be encircled and crushed.  Things don’t work out that way, however.  The attack against Rumford starts off well, but 360 Rikusentai quickly falls under counterattacks from the units still north of the border.  Outnumbered and under pressure from multiple directions, I cancel the southward attack.  Even this is only a temporary measure, as the Allies keep up a determined attack with multiple divisions.  The situation degrades, and on September 17^th 360 Rikusentai is completely spent, and begins a retreat back to Berlin.  This is now a severe crisis; Allied troops are already on the march from Sherbrooke Canada to Berlin.  If they arrive first, 360 Rikusentai will be bagged wholesale.  I’ve already lost one division in this war, I’d rather not lose another – much less an expensive, highly experienced marine division.

360 Rikusentai's narrow escape

    My first task is to try to bring in 359 Rikusentai to establish a defense in Berlin.  This is risky.  Unexpectedly, the Allies have launched an aggressive offensive along the Hudson River, and have the bulk of LXII Gun pinned down, attempting to keep XVII Gun’s flank secure.  By moving 359 Rikusentai northward, I am leaving a gap in the line, and I’m running the risk of having both 359 and 360 captured; just as bad, an aggressive sortie through the gap could compromise our entire line in this area, and force months of pointless fighting just to reestablish the integrity of the line.

    The most likely downside, however, is that 359 Rikusentai simply won’t get there in time.  It’s a long march in rugged terrain, and the Allies have a head start.  So, I am forced to resort to the last desperate measure I can think of: bombers.  My tactical bombers are brought in to conduct round-the-clock raids against the advancing troops, with a hope that they’ll be brought down to such low organization or strength that they will be unable to advance at all.  It is a slim hope, but considering the depleted manpower pools of the Americans and Canadians, it is at least possible.

    On September 20^th, after over two solid days of bombing, the effort pays off.  The Canadian division which was en route cancels its march, and my chances of evacuating 360 Rikusentai go up slightly.  The Americans respond by launching two fresh advances, from Sherbrooke and Asbestos.  By dividing their movement, they take my bombers mostly out of the equation, and it becomes a four-way foot race.  If 359 Rikusentai arrives first, they can establish a defensive position and save 360 Rikusentai (at least for the time being); if 360 Rikusentai arrives first, they’ll come under immediate fire, and there is a 50/50 chance they will be shattered or forced to retreat someplace unhelpful.  If either of the American divisions arrive first, 360 Rikusentai gets bagged outright.

    As it turns out, the multi-day foot-race that determined the fate of one of the most revered divisions on the planet comes down to a matter of hours.  At 11pm, on September 25^th, 359 Rikusentai completes its heroic forced march and arrives in Berlin.  The Americans, battered by intermittent bombing raids, butt up against the Rikusentai, and decide to stand down.  360 Rikusentai arrives at 5am the next morning, weary but safe.

    As it turns out, the season finishes up quite well in New England.  In upstate New York, XVI Gun has reconsolidated and spread eastward, allowing the rest of LXII Gun to blunt the Hudson River offensive and reverse it.  A stray American division remains wandering around southern Maine, but as it happens, newly formed XVIII Gun has arrived off the coast, and could use a bit of live ammo target practice before forming up on the front line.

A Sultry Southern Summer

    On the far end of the line, the summer progressed much less favorably.  Early in the season the Allies were able to take advantage of the thinness of VI Gun’s deployment to punch through the line (again…) and escape into the interior of North Carolina.  This was rather sudden, and, unlike the similar campaign in the spring, I had no divisions rearward to block their advance or help stabilize the situation.

    I did my best to attempt to manage the situation, but the weight of numbers eventually took over.  VI Gun had only 4 divisions and the corps reserve, while the Allies, over a few weeks, would bring up to twelve divisions into the area.  The corps reserve, 27 and 28 Shidan were forced to extend the line eastward, in order to prevent neighboring IX Gun from being outflanked and swallowed whole.  This left 29 and 30 Shidan to attempt to stem the tide.  30 Shidan, on the end of the line, advanced south in the wake of the Allied spearhead, to cut off their supplies.  Angered (or frightened) by this, the Allies attacked 29 Shidan at Raleigh, while doubling back with the spearhead divisions.  29 Shidan, greatly outnumbered, was forced to retreat.  Unwisely, they retreated towards 30 Shidan in Goldsboro, instead of a safer northward retreat.

    30 Shidan now found itself encircled, and responsible for the beleaguered 29 Shidan.  My only possible hope was to launch a northward breakout attack, aimed at the recently taken Raleigh.  This effort was successful, and drove the Allies out of the province.  Unfortunately, the retreating armies like to take their sweet time, and are able block my units from using it as an escape route until they’re gone.  Meanwhile, the other Allied divisions, sensing blood, began an aggressive attack against Goldsboro.

    I was left with no good options, other than to fight as well as possible until the Allies cleared out of Raleigh and opened the escape hatch.  29 Shidan, having recovered enough organizational strength to fight, was beaten down quickly.  They surrendered on July 30^th, leaving 30 Shidan left to face the onslaught alone.  Mercifully (or miraculously), 30 Shidan was able to hold out another two days, until the Raleigh route was cleared.  They were able to escape and reach the comparative safety of the other VI Gun divisions.

    The loss of a second full division, on virtually the same ground as the first, was severely demoralizing.  Worse yet, though, was the sequence of cascading catastrophes that was now mid-career.  Now outnumbered twelve divisions to four, I faced a very real possibility of being forced to abandon all of North Carolina and most of Virginia, and possibly everything more than one or two provinces west of Washington, simply to prevent several entire corps from being cut-off and captured.  The setback would be crippling to the entire course of the war.

    The only meager hope came in the form of a few newly recruited divisions.  Originally slated to form part of XVIII Gun, they were renamed 26 and 29 Shidan, and deployed to Norfolk in mid August.  The lead Allied division was already approaching this port, and preventing its capture was the first task.  Fortunately, this division was only a partisan/militia division; the new recruits were able to first halt it, and then completely overrun it.  The remaining Allied divisions were less ambitious, and stayed within sight of VI Gun.  Thus, I had enough of a reprieve to lay out another of my encirclement plans.

    VI Gun Reserve, 27 and 28 Shidan had managed to escape any serious fighting, and were well-rested.  They, then, would be responsible for a drive southward, from Statesville through Laurinburg to the coast at Whiteville.  Meanwhile, 26 and 29 Shidan will complete their march from Norfolk, driving the Allies into a trap at Lumberton, and complete the encirclement by occupying Fayetteville and Wilmington.  30 Shidan, still recovering from the near escape in late August, will be held in reserve and used where needed.

    Surprisingly, the plan goes off with hardly a hitch.  The Allies put up the most significant resistance at Laurinburg, where I am able to concentrate my forces the hardest.  Thus, when that province is taken, I am able to take Whiteville and complete the encirclement with little resistance.  The Allies are already spent, and are unable to mount their accustomed break-out effort from the west, while those forces inside the trap are constantly under fire from 26 and 29 Shidan.  The two divisions in the pocket, one Canadian and one American, surrender on September 24^th, bringing at least an upbeat finale to an otherwise disappointing season.

Atlantic Front, on September 30, 1944

Steady Progress in the West - Summer 1944

    1944 really typifies the annual ebb and flow of the war.  In the beginning of the year I set my plans in motion and establish footholds and bases.  During the spring I launch the key breakthrough maneuvers that are designed to cripple the enemy’s fighting ability.  Then summer comes along, and the drama and excitement give way to endless minor battles and advances, all of which were practically predestined.  The summer of 1944 highlights this trend.  It is dominated by small battles and gradual advances, most of which were inevitable due to our successes earlier in the year.

The Eastern Front Stays Put

    I officially give up on forecasting the outcomes of AI vs AI campaigns.  Starting as early as autumn of 1941 I have been anticipating the imminent collapse of the European Axis.  Every time something major happens (like the fall of Finland, or Romania, or the recapture of Leningrad) I think to myself, “Well Germany, that’s it for you.  You gave it the old college try though.  I promise to be nice when I re-conquer you.”  Then the Soviets distinctly fail to follow through on their success, and the front remains static.

    Throughout this summer, there was very little movement whatsoever.  Estonia was the only scene of any real action, as the combatants took turns pushing each other out of it.  By the end of the summer the Germans have the upper hand here and control most of the country, but I suspect that is temporary.  Aside from that area, the Europeans powers may have well just signed a peace treaty, considered how little was accomplished.

Three years of constant combat has resulted in little movement of the Eastern Front.

The Pacific Front

    One of the interesting parts of strategic games is the tendency for minor situations or decisions to have major effects over time.  This summer is one good example of that.  Both the Western and Eastern Theaters stagnated along their respective southern front, while expanding significantly northward.  This occurred without any concerted plan on my end; instead it is the by-product of geography, the most convenient deployment of reinforcements, and my anal tendency to align my forces in numerical order.

    On the West Coast, the stagnation on the southern front was fairly straightforward.  V Gun had been in charge of pushing this front.  By the time it had advanced a few hundred miles into Mexico, they had spread themselves down to one division per province, and further advancement meant leaving gaps in the line.  On their left, IV Gun was having a much tougher fight in New Mexico, meaning that advances by V Gun would separate them from the remainder of the line.  Ergo, V Gun spends most of the summer digging rifle pits and playing cards.

    By contrast, on the far end of the line we had a fairly high-priority target in our sights: San Francisco.  While my base of operations includes four provinces with 10 point port facilities, our supplies are still being strained.  Therefore, the capture of San Francisco is the only quick way to increase our port capacity, and has the added benefit of removing an airfield, manpower and industrial center from the Allies’ hands.  I eventually spent nearly two weeks lining up the assault on the city, by maneuvering XIV and XV Gun into the neighboring land provinces to close off potential escape routes.  I needn’t have bothered.  The troops holding the city were mostly garrison troops, who would have been easily overrun anyway.  The actual fighting was minimal, and our troops occupied the city on July 21^st, capturing three bled-down divisions in the process.

    The largest battle of the summer wrapped up at almost the same time, as troops from III Gun marched into the province of Grand Canyon.  Total casualties were 3,441 for us, 4,212 for the Allies.  This battle would have been hardly worth mentioning only a few months ago, but is one of only a few battles of this size this season.  This indicates how desperate the American manpower situation has become.  While they are still able to launch some counter-attacks, they have largely given up the “hard defense” strategy of fighting us doggedly over every defensible province.

    This general area was the scene of the hardest fighting of the season in the west.  Western Utah, in particular, was the focus of stubborn fights.  The alignment of the provinces meant that any attack I launched was greeted with immediate counter-attacks.  I was therefore forced to abort most attacks after only a few hours.  Eventually, by September I was able to shuffle enough units to the area to launch a major offensive, forcing an entry into Utah.  By the end of the month I was able to advance into Salt Lake City, striking another minor blow to the Allies.

    The larger gains occurred in the north.  After the occupation of San Francisco in late July, we made quick work of the remainder of California, and crossed into Oregon by the end of summer.  This comparatively rapid advance is mainly the byproduct of inertia.  The deployment of XIII, XIV and XV Gun into this area earlier this year, and XI Gun’s long-overdue deployment in August, have caused a glut of units on this end of the line.  The Allies have virtually surrendered the coastline to us; the few enemy divisions in the area rarely pause in their retreat long enough to force a skirmish, much less an actual battle.

    An overall strategy has coalesced as a result of the inertia and my future needs.  My immediate goal is to capture Seattle, followed by Vancouver.  Vancouver, the northernmost major port on the continent, is a requirement to conquer Canada, with its annoyingly high national unity.  North of that, however, is a vast amount of slow terrain, with no actual value.  Thus, once Vancouver is taken, I will abandon the northward movement and turn eastward with my entire army, aiming for Winnipeg in central Canada.  If all goes according to plan, Winnipeg will be the last point necessary to force Canada’s surrender, and hopefully the United States will be near the breaking point then, as well.

The Pacific Front, as of September 30, 1944

A Bloody Nose in the East - Spring 1944

    Since my initial landings near San Diego way back in June 1941 there have been no divisions captured en masse on continental North America.  While the fighting on the west coast has been fairly methodical (albeit bloody), the fighting on the east coast has been very dynamic and mobile.  It comes as no surprise, then, that this is the scene of the first few mass surrenders.  The surprise is in the details.

The Delaware and New Jersey Campaigns

    Throughout the winter, LXII Gun finished clearing Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles.  I decided to use them to begin our first encirclement maneuver of the campaign, on the Delaware Peninsula.  The plan is fairly simple; I drop them off at Baltimore, then advance through Elkton to Allentown, cutting off the southern provinces on the peninsula.  The initial drive is successful, and almost bloodless.  However, once Allentown is occupied, the Americans launch an all-out counter attack in order to save the two isolated divisions.

    Because the number of troops involved is fairly low (about one corps on each side), the total casualties are fairly low (around 3,000 each side).  However, the fighting is bitter and intense.  My Rikusentai are some of the most experienced defenders in the world, while the Americans are fresh, full strength divisions fighting for their survival.  After weeks of intense fighting, I finally withdraw my troops from Allentown in order to prevent them from being cut off.   The two American divisions on the peninsula quickly take advantage of the opening and escape northward to Philadelphia.

    At this point a massive encirclement tango erupts across the Eastern Theater, as each side begins to launch ambitious drives deep into enemy territory, while the defender responds with similar maneuvers to cut off the spearheads.  The next major event, in April, is a repeat of the Delaware campaign, farther east in New Jersey.  It begins upon the arrival of newly-formed XVI Gun in early April.  They are deployed to Baltimore, then repeat LXII Gun’s drive to Allentown.  The Americans have completely withdrawn from the peninsula, however.  My Rikusentai perform a pro-forma occupation of the peninsula while recuperating their organization, and we deploy for the New Jersey campaign by the middle of April.

The fronts of the Delaware and New Jersey Campaigns

    The plan here is similar to the Delaware campaign.  We will occupy Philadelphia, then push into Trenton, thereby isolating southern New Jersey.  The advantage, here, is a somewhat shorter spearhead; the base of the attack is highly defensible Philadelphia, while the actual penetration is only one province deep.  Two problems offset this advantage.  First, we still have the same amount of troops (one corps); our Rikusentai are now needed to defend the extended front.  Second, these troops are fresh out of boot camp, and have less resilience.

    We occupy Philadelphia and Trenton with little difficulty, but, as with the Delaware campaign, we immediately come under attack once we close the gap.  Philadelphia was not attacked, so I attempted to establish a rotating defense of Trenton, retreating low-organization units back to Philly and bringing fresh units in to maintain the defense.  XVI Gun is able to hold up this way for over a week, but by the end of the month the entire corps is out of steam, and they are forced back.  I don’t think this was a big loss; I did not see any combat troops in Southern New Jersey.  Still, I am miffed about the lost opportunity.  I didn’t have long to dwell on it, though, as a situation westward erupts into a minor crisis.

The Martinsburg Bulge

    The expansion of the front line caused by the Delaware offensive put me in a good position to launch offensives in Southern Pennsylvania.  I was especially concerned about the area directly around Washington.  I have only a tenuous one-province buffer between the Allied army at Gettysburg and my supply base at Washington.  One well-concerted offensive could allow the Allies to recapture the vast supply depot at Washington, and quickly move it to their new capital, which is far out of my reach (Milwaukee? Really?).

    Gettysburg is a tough nut to crack though, as no less an authority than Robert E Lee could tell you.  With all of my mountain troops in South America, I decided my best plan was to drive through the hills and outflank the mountain provinces.  In the north, this involved attacks against York, Harrisburg and Sunbury, while in the center my offensive focused on Somerset, Johnstown, and Ford City.

    The northern portion was successful, if costly.  By late April we occupied the target provinces and defended them from counter-attacks, at the cost of around 10,000 casualties on both sides.  X Gun, responsible for the center and left of the offensive, is much less successful.  They capture Cumberland after a reasonable fight, then turn northward to begin attacks up through the Appalachian hill-passes.  We were outnumbered in the direct attack; this, complicated by numerous counterattacks, led me to call off the offensive on May 4, after losing over 7,500 casualties, and inflicting only half as many.

    Encouraged by the disproportionate casualties, the Allies kept up the counter attacks.  They were able to drive 46, 47, and 48 Shidan out of Cumberland entirely.  They retreated to Martinsburg.  The Allies had their blood up, however, and pressed the attack further.  Three divisions, the American 89th Infantry and the Canadian 8th and 19th Infantries drove into Martinsburg and Romney by late April, forcing the left wing of X Gun to retreat even further down to Winchester.  Ironically, the offensive that was designed to expand the radius around Washington in order to prevent a random Allied breakthrough had now apparently caused such a breakthrough.  The only thing between the city and three fresh Allied infantry divisions were three exhausted divisions of my own and a headquarters brigade.

    I responded by quickly shuffling divisions from nearby corps to the area.  VIII Gun began performing diversionary counterattacks against Gettysburg, allowing the remainder of X Gun to pin down the Allied spearhead with attacks from Hagerstown to Martinsburg.  Westward, VII Gun begins an ambitious attack at Cumberland.  Because of the angle of the front, it was easier to attempt to cut off and surround the spearhead than to try to blunt their advance.  This, surprisingly, was successful, and at the end of the month 33 Shidan and VII Gun HQ occupy Cumberland.

The Martinsburg Pocket

    Mercifully, most of the Allied divisions in the area were now mostly spent from the heavy fighting leading up to the encirclement.  33 Shidan and the VII Gun HQ Division heroically defend Cumberland against desperate counterattacks for a week.  Meanwhile, 46 and 47 Shidan recuperate enough to drive the 8th Canadian out of Romney.  The remainder of X Gun then joins in the attack on Martinsburg.  Now under fire from three sides, and out-numbered two-to-one, the Allied divisions break down and surrender on May 6^th.  Within a span of two weeks, these three divisions transformed from unexceptional divisions on a long line to a critical threat to the existence of my entire Atlantic Campaign, only to end with the indignity of being the first Americans to surrender to foreign invaders on American soil since 1812.

The Battle of the Piedmont Triad

    As the Battle of the Martinsburg Pocket was wrapping up, another frenetic campaign was opening on the far left of the front, in North Carolina.  In the area around Washington, D.C., the hilly and mountainous terrain made offensives slow and costly; by comparison, our advance southward along the Atlantic coast began to snowball, and I frequently found myself advancing into undefended provinces.  This situation was great at first, but the momentum began to overwhelm my forces.  In the north, I had a ratio of one corps per province, or at least one corps for two provinces.  In the wide-open south, VI Gun alone was responsible for all of North and South Carolina.

    In early May, this situation was becoming a significant problem.  I started seeing many more Allied divisions coming to the front.  My plan was to stabilize the front by sidling part of IX Gun south to cover Winston-Salem, and concentrating VI Gun along a three-province front of Statesville-Laurinburg-Whiteville, perhaps moving up to Myrtle Beach instead.

    This plan went awry almost immediately.  The sidling operation proceeded slower than expected, and VI Gun’s deployment prior to that was uneven.  Although we managed to capture each of Statesville, Laurinburg and Myrtle Beach, these provinces were initially held by one division each, with other divisions still in the rear.  The Allies saw the opportunity and counterattacked at Statesville and Laurinburg.  The fighting at Laurinburg in particular was intense, with 3,000 casualties on my side and over 5,000 for the Allies.  The Corps HQ, the only unit defending the province, was driven back to Fayetteville on May 9^th.  28 Shidan, in Statesville, was forced out at nearly the same time.

    Allied divisions began pouring through the gap quickly.  By mid May six divisions, mostly Mexican infantry, had punched through and began a breakout into North Carolina.  The most problematic part of the situation was the encirclement of 26 Shidan.  On the far left of the entire front, they were responsible for anchoring the line along the Atlantic Ocean.  A victim of their own success, they are able to push forward from Whiteville to Myrtle Beach, only to find themselves stranded there as the Allies overran the neighboring provinces.

    For awhile, this seems like a minor crisis that will resolve itself fairly quickly.  IX Gun is able to take over Winston-Salem, allowing 29 and 30 Shidan to re-occupy Statesville.  This allows the three remaining divisions (27 & 28 Shidan, and VI Gun HQ) to focus on recapturing Laurinburg, thus reestablishing lines with 26 Shidan and encircling some of the Allied divisions.

    Despite my best efforts, the situation deteriorates.  27 Shidan and VI Gun HQ are given time to recuperate, while 28, 29 and 30 Shidan press the attack against Laurinburg.  With three divisions on each side, the battle is evenly matched, and unfortunately drags out until May 9^th.  Meanwhile, 26 Shidan is attacked from both sides, and they are only barely able to maintain themselves.  We are forced to conduct air drops to keep them supplied, and even move 11 Kaigun down from Washington to provide close air support.  26 Shidan conduct an impressive defense, but the Allied attacks are relentless.  Laurinsburg is occupied on the 12^th, but due to the quirks of the games rules I cannot retreat 26 Shidan there until the retreating Allied divisions completely exit the province.  I am also unable to even launch counter-attacks, as the primary attackers are now based in Georgetown, out of my reach.

The Piedmont Offensive

    Sadly, on May 17^th 26 Shidan becomes the first division in the history of the Imperial Japanese Army to surrender en masse.  They spent nearly three weeks completely isolated, fending off attacks from forces up to three times their size.  If they had held out another four or five hours, the Allied retreaters at Laurinsburg would have completed their movement, and 26 Shidan would live to fight another day.  That was not to be.

    The remainder of the campaign hardly lifts my spirits.  Although six divisions penetrated my line, all but one were able to escape my envelopment.  This division, stranded in Greensboro, was hit by various attacks and forced into Fayatteville, where they too were forced to surrender.  There was a bit of poetry in that division’s name: the 26th Canadian Infantry.

The Americans Begin to Yield

    In late May the situation in the southeast returns to relative normal, and my forces on the west coast are beginning their hard push to overrun the Allies.  The time is ripe to become more aggressive in the east, so I begin a series of attacks across the front designed to drive the Allies into a complete collapse.  While a complete collapse remains elusive, we are able to expand significantly.  Gettysburg, a thorn in my side since the Atlantic landing, falls on May 30^th.  By the end of June we managed to clear the Appalachians by taking Ford City, also putting us within three provinces of Lake Erie.  Once our front is anchored by water on both sides, the advance should be simplified significantly.  Overall, the fighting throughout the spring of 1944 has been beneficial, and even taking into account many missed opportunities and a lost division, I still consider myself in line to wrap up the conquest of the North American Allies by the end of the year.

An End On The Horizon - Spring 1944

    With my foothold on the American East Coast now firmly established, the war enters the meat-and-potatoes period.  The casualty rates range from 1,000 to 2,000 daily for each side, spread out amongst dozens of battles across thousands of miles of front.  This season will put my infantry-heavy strategy to its ultimate test.

It Turns Out There Are More Germans Then I Thought

    At the end of last autumn, I predicted the Germans were on the verge of collapse, and predicted they would surrender by June.  Over the winter, events foreshadowed that prediction going awry.  It isn’t a big surprise, then, that the Germans have yet to collapse, or even fall back significantly.  The Italians have moved a large force into the Balkans after the loss of Albania, and have stabilized that front.  In the far north, the Soviets are able to retake Leningrad only shortly before the end of June.  The remainder of the front remains largely static, although the Soviets gradually gain a province here or there.  Soviet progress has been so slow, in fact, that they have yet to enter Germany itself, with all of the combat still occurring in the Baltic States, Poland and Hungary.  At this rate it may be my allies’ dogged defense that prevents my complete victory.

A Ground Tour of Western South America, at Bargain Prices

    Way back on January 9^th, LI Gun occupied Bogota, completing the conquest of Colombia.  The East Coast Campaign had yet to begin, so out of idleness, I sent the corps to the Ecuador border, with the idea that I would declare war on them shortly.  However, in the chaos of the capture of Washington, LI Gun was ... sort of ... forgotten.  They sat around for over a month playing cards, writing haikus, doing whatever it is that bored Japanese soldiers do.  In late February things heated up in the United States, and I started looking around for more troops to bring in, which reminded me of my mountain troops.  Unfortunately, they were now a long ways away from any port.  The most reasonable thing to do, then, (and I define reasonable very loosely), was to declare war on Ecuador and use their port.

    Ecuador, like most unaligned South American nations, was demobilized.  I suppose they do this to save resources, or money, or to avoid the appearance of belligerence.  Whatever.  Here’s a tip though: When a corps of Imperial Japanese troops shows up on your border, you are two weeks past the best time to mobilize.  Even with a month-long “administrative error”, they were still woefully unprepared.  Actual combat was nearly non-existent, and we marched into Quito on March 18^th.

    By this point, the need for more troops in the United States has waned a bit.  Thus, I decide to go ahead and finish the most important conquests of South America, and save myself some time later.  I start with a declaration of war against Peru on April 23^rd.  This operation is one of the few (recently) where I have made use of amphibious landings.  I landed three divisions on the plains north of Lima, while mounting a direct amphibious attack against the capital with the other two.  Once the three divisions were safely landed, I brought them into the attack, and withdrew the ship-borne divisions from the fight.  I then brought the two remaining divisions south, landing one at Arequipa directly, and the other north of it.  The idea behind these maneuvers was to prevent any major landing penalties by mounting the major attacks from land.  The operation was successful, with both Lima and Arequipa falling with comparatively light casualties.  Peru surrendered on May 3^rd.

    Next on the docket are the two land-locked nations of South America, Bolivia and Paraguay.  They thought they were so clever when they declared war on me back in 1939, figuring that I couldn’t reach land-locked nations.  They figured wrong.  The two divisions landed at Arequipa immediately head northeastward for a strike against Bolivia.  Despite being mobilized, the Bolivians put up only a modest fight against my veteran mountain divisions, who occupy La Paz on May 24^th, forcing the country’s surrender.

    Here, however, I run into one of the biggest problems of the entire war: the much-vaunted Paraguayan (Paraguese?) army.  All joking aside, they hold the mountains east of La Paz quite ably, and tire my two mountain divisions out quickly.  Meanwhile, the remainder of the corps is taking its sweet time marching into the region from Lima.  It is not until the end of June that the corps is reunited along a sold front east of La Paz, and is able to begin a slow offensive in the neighboring mountains.  The ultimate goal, of course, is Asunción, the capital and only victory point province of Paraguay.  Regrettably, we will need to fight through several provinces of mountains, and eventually two provinces of forest, before reaching the goal.  Once captured, however, the Allies will be limited to only the North American countries (who are currently on the ropes) and South Africa, making a final victory quicker, or at least more dramatic.

Continued Pummeling on the West Coast

    Several times during the spring, I came to the conclusion that the Americans were at the breaking point.  Based on low troop strength and increasingly thin lines, I figured that one good hit would cause the Americans to fall apart and begin a futile headlong retreat to their interior.  Yet each time, even when the attacks are successful, the follow-up attacks are met by fresh troops, and the complete front-wide breakdown eludes me.

    The first such example took place in April north of Los Angeles.  A counterattack at Santa Monica was rebuffed, with around 3,000 casualties to XV Gun and 6,000 to the attacking Americans.  I estimated that the heavy fighting in the area throughout the winter depleted morale enough to launch a major offensive.  Late in the month I launched a three-prong attack against Oxnard, Lancaster, and Pasadena.  I quickly find out how much of a beating half-strength divisions can take.  It’s quite a bit, actually.  Oxnard is taken on the 23^rd, at a cost of 4,500 dead to XV Gun and 7,100 to the Americans.  Lancaster sees the heaviest fighting; we lose 6,000 killed and inflict 15,000 casualties to the Allies before taking the province on the 30^th.  Pasadena, despite being a mountainous province, sees about the same casualties as at Oxnard, but holds out until early May.

    These fights are intense enough that I can not immediately follow up.  Instead, a launch an attack along the east side of the front, centered on Bakersfield.  This offensive drags on for two weeks until it becomes clear they are not likely to succeed.  The battles cost us around 10,000 total casualties in Tehachapi, Mojave, Bakersfield and Barstow.  The Americans and Mexicans suffer over 15,000.  I continue to be impressed with the resolve; despite taking significantly higher casualties and being unable to replace their losses, the Allies continue to fight with a high level of determination.

    By the middle of June, however, that determination begins to waver.  IV Gun launches a successful attack against Prescott, resulting in around 5,000 casualties on each side.  This marks the first battle on the western front outside of California, and signifies the beginning of our slow but relentless expansion in the area.  From this point onward, our troops are in almost constant forward motion.  While there is still heavy fighting along the front, the battles become increasingly shorter and result in fewer casualties.  While an actual victory could easily take another nine months, it is at least on the horizon.

The American West Campaign at the end of June, 1944.  Note that nearly all of my troops are advancing.

Inside the Beltway - Winter 1944

    Back in late 1939, I was rather surprised by the resilience of the Allies, France in particular.  Five years later, unexpected resilience rears its ugly head again and upsets many plans and predictions.

Germany Down, But Not Out

    The most obvious example of tenacity occurs in Europe.  In my last post, I indicated that the fall of Athens and Tirana was imminent, and as the front began to shrink, the European Axis powers would collapse quickly.  Athens did, in fact, fall quickly; however, that was the extent of my accurate predictions.  The Italians were able to reinforce Tirana and fend off numerous encirclement attempts, before finally surrendering the city in March.

    It is worth mentioning that a few years ago the Germans sent a large expeditionary force to Hungary.  So large, in fact, that the Hungarians kept up around 50% more brigades than Germany itself for the last few years.  I suspect the motive for this was to allow Hungary to supply the manpower for reinforcements.  It worked reasonably well for a few years.  The Germans and Hungarians each lost manpower steadily, but maintained a strong continuous front.  The German manpower reserve has long since run dry, however, and by the end of last year even the Hungarians bottomed out.

    Yet they have managed to deal even heavier losses to the Soviets.  The deep well of Russian manpower has also come up dry.  Throughout the winter each of the combatants were hovering between zero and ten points of manpower, meaning that men were being sent to the front the minute they received their uniforms.  I fully expect the Soviets, with greater continuous manpower production, to eventually win out.  Yet every week or so of game time, I scroll over to Eastern Europe, expecting to see the massive red blob finally swallowing up Berlin and Budapest, only to find the Germans still hanging on in Leningrad and Riga, and the Soviets only barely encroaching on the Hungarian border.  I can’t help but to wonder if the Germans can pull out a victory after all.

Hell on the West Coast

    With the invasion of the American Atlantic coast imminent, I know that I need to maintain pressure on their forces on the Pacific.  The Americans themselves obliged by launching fruitless counterattacks against positions I gained in December.  A pair of counter-attacks against San Luis in Mexico cost the Allies around 4,000 dead, with less than 500 casualties to us.  After this stinging rebuke, they shifted back to the hotly contested Riverside area.  I Gun occupied the province in a light counterattack after the ill-fated XIII Gun was driven out at the end of last year; unwilling to accept the result, the Americans begin a relentless counter attack which runs from January 12^th until February 1^st.  I Gun is reinforced and replaced by II Gun, which in turn is replaced by a recuperated XIII Gun.  When the massive host of American armor finally relents, their only claim that of having set a new record for carnage.  They lose over 29,000 men, three full divisions worth, in the wasted effort.  We suffer 16,500 casualties; a tremendous number, but easily replaceable.

    With the three new corps now settling in to active duty, I now have enough frontage to expand the occupied zone further.  In Mid January, as I Gun comes under fire in Riverside, I launch an attack up the coastline at Santa Monica with XIV Gun.  Little did I know that the Battle of Santa Monica would eventually dwarf even the ghastly Battle of Riverside.  It started inauspiciously, but mildly.  After a week of fighting, I call off the attack in order to conserve strength, in light of mounting casualties at Riverside.  This first engagement costs us 6,700 dead, and we inflict only 5,000.  After the American collapse at Riverside, I start over with the fresh XV Gun in early February.  The fighting escalates quickly, and becomes every bit as intense as the fighting at Riverside.  Like there, my forces eventually wither away from exhaustion, and I send in fresh divisions to keep the pressure up.  First XV Gun, then XIV, then XIII Gun, then XV again each have their turn, until the attack finally breaks down on March 9^th.  We reposition and rotate the troops, allowing them to fully regain strength, before heading into the breach one last time in mid March.  This last assault pushes the American defenders past the breaking point, and they retreat on the 31^st.  The final tally for these battles demonstrates an impressive level of resolve that far exceeds my expectations.  Through the nearly three-month long battle, the Americans suffer 56,000 casualties, twice the losses at Riverside and far ahead of any other battle losses of the war.  Nor was the battle lopsided.  The survivors of the three corps earn “veteran” status at the expense of 47,000 dead, or nearly one third of the men sent into battle.

    These battles, along with a number of smaller ones, are obviously taking a toll.  Previously, I had thought that units that do not receive reinforcements due to lack of manpower reserves do not regain organization strength.  Yet that obviously is not the case.  By mid January I begin seeing American divisions entering battle with full organization and around 80-90% troop strength.  As winter wears on, the average troop strength steadily declines, yet organization remains high.  By the end of March it is common to see American divisions at 50% or less manpower, but still fighting strong.  This is a possibly disturbing fact.  I had expected the depletion of the American strategic manpower to lead to a complete collapse of their fighting strength, but despite the fact that I have obviously succeeded in bleeding them dry, they continue to fend us off, launch counterattacks, and otherwise bog us down.

The Atlantic Coast

    With no immediate prospects for success on the Pacific Coast, the need for an offensive on the Atlantic Coast becomes even more apparent than ever.  In late January the bulk of newly re-established 2 Homen-Gun (VI-X Gun) are stationed around the Caribbean, and a few transport fleets shuffled into the area.  The invasion begins, then, on January 28^th, with VIII Gun landing at Annapolis.

    Despite the significance of the campaign, I did not create a detailed plan of any sort.  The reasons for this are that I had very little information on American troop deployments, nor are there really any critical strategic objectives (outside of Washington, of course).  For all I knew, the entire coastline was teaming with dozens of fresh armor divisions.  Or, the entire coastline could be defended by a single half-strength militia division.  I really didn’t know.  So, my plan was to throw everything I had at the area.  My initial goal was to capture Washington as quickly as possible.  I expected the Americans to have a large depot of supplies there, which could help fuel my invasion.  After that, my plan is to simply drive outward in all directions, focusing on taking areas that generate manpower.

I usually try to deploy my troops in numerical order, but wasn't able to this time.  This arrangement will haunt me for months.

    The landing itself went off mostly smoothly.  I expected Washington itself to be defended, and without my Rikusentai available, a landing at Annapolis seemed to be the quickest route to Washington.  An American infantry division moved in to block the landing, but was eventually driven off.  However, once landed, VIII Gun came under constant counter-attacks, preventing any attempts at Washington.  Accordingly, I decided to land more troops south of the city, starting with VII Gun immediately south.  Eventually this caused an overall breakdown in the counter-attacks, and I was able to take Washington on February 6^th.

    Fortunately, the Americans did have a decent stockpile of supplies in Washington.  We captured around 70,000 units of supplies and 99,000 units of fuel, which should keep us supplied for several months.  Well supplied, and with a usable port, I begin bringing my force in with gusto.  Throughout the remainder of the winter, I expand outward from Washington in all directions.  I am most successful in the south and southwest, but I am brought to a halt almost immediately northwest of Washington, where I quickly encounter the Appalachians.  In March, in particular, a series of battles in and around the province of Cumberland costs us around 15,000 dead from VII and X Gun, with about an equal number lost by the Americans.  Further, some of these were successful counterattacks, in which we lost ground.  With disproportionately high casualties, few gains and a real chance of losing Washington to a stray blitz attack, I decide to settle in to a hard defense in this area, and focus offensive operations on the flanks.

    The invasion of the American homeland is now fully underway, and the war has entered its climactic stage.  I have 15 corps aligned on two fronts, the largest by far I have fielded in this game; they are opposed by an even larger number of bled down, but better equipped, Allied divisions, who have proven to be impervious to my traditional attrition methods.  The spring of 1944 promises the most eventful period of the war.

The San Diego Breakout - Autumn 1943

    Looking back at this play-through, there is a rather obvious trend of activity.  The summers tend to be uneventful, frequently even dull, while autumns tend to be action-packed.  1943 may be the most extreme example of this trend yet.

A Slow Collapse on the Eastern Front

    In my last post, I predicted that the European Axis forces might completely collapse by the end of the year.  The situation did not deteriorate that quickly, but only due to heroic efforts of the Germans and Hungarians to sustain a cause which is now quite obviously hopeless.

    In the far north, the Germans have maintained a dogged defense of Leningrad.  The Soviets have made aggressive efforts to recapture the city; failing that, they have switched tactics to attempt an encirclement of the city by capturing Varna.  Even this effort was only barely fended off by the Germans.  The Soviets have now switched focus even further south, attempting to encircle the entire region by capturing Riga.  They are not successful before year-end, but the ultimate success is a matter of time, and I expect this will be the death blow for the Germans.

    In the southern portion of the line the Soviets are much more successful.  The Romanian army collapses completely in October, and the nation is annexed outright on November 1^st.  This is repeated by the Bulgarians, who surrender on the 29^th.  By the end of the year, the Soviets have occupied Salonica on the Aegean Coast, and are within 30 miles of the capture of Athena and Tirane.

    By the end of 1943, the front now stretches from Athens to Leningrad, and is as long as it possibly can be.  The front will begin to shrink early next year as the Soviets advance in the Baltic States and in the Balkans.  This will cause a concentration of force which favors the Soviets, who will be capable of maintaining continuous attacks against the exhausted Axis forces.  I do not foresee the Germans surviving past June.

Idle Invasions in Central America

    During the summer, I began transporting troops to Central America in preparation for the beginning of the invasion of the East Coast of the United States.  This is a lengthy process, so I decided to employ my idle troops with invasions of a few countries in the area.  Costa Rica came first, way back in May.  That invasion, taking only a week, was not worth mentioning even in the uneventful summer.  The operation against Venezuela came next.  Venezuela is a tricky country to invade, because its capital, Caracas, has no nearby port.  Normally when I invade Venezuela, I don’t have to worry about the Suriname/Guyana area either, since I typically have already conquered the Allies completely, or have not yet declared war on them.  These provinces, then, also complicated matters.

    With a fair amount of time to kill, I decided to be thorough about the invasion.  I deployed my LXII Rikusentai Gun to Cayenne; from there they marched westward, driving gradually to Caracas.  While this was going on, I landed LI Gun near Maracaibo, the other victory point province in the country.  After lengthy marches and a respectable amount of fighting, Venezuela surrenders on November 2^nd.  The Rikusentai continued westward to arrive (eventually) at Maracaibo, to begin amphibious landings in the Caribbean.  LI Gun headed south to form the core of my force against Columbia.  VIII Gun was sent to Maracaibo, in order to occupy Cartagena, while VII Gun maintained a defensive position on the Panama Isthmus.

    My forces were in their launching positions on December 20^th, and I declared war against Columbia.  This invasion went smoothly, with little fighting in Cartagena and none on the Panama Isthmus.  LI Gun occupies Bogota on January 9^th, forcing the government to surrender.  LXII Gun, meanwhile, makes short work of a few minor Caribbean nations, forcing the surrender of Haiti on January 4^th and the Dominican Republic a week later.  I plan on a landing near Washington DC soon, so the Central American campaign is placed on the back burner for the current time.

Operation Head-Up-The-91-Until-You-Hit-The-215

    With our spies reporting that the Americans are nearing the bottom of their manpower pool, I decide that I have nothing to lose by beginning an offensive in the San Diego region.  In the best-case scenario, I can inflict losses so heavy that the Allies completely crumble and flee headlong across the continent.  Worst case scenario, I have to break the attacks off early, losing a few men for no gain.  The most likely result is the infliction of a moderate amount of casualties on both sides, which I can afford, and the Americans can’t.  I can live with that.

    The plan is fairly simple, and has no particular goal.  The attack will be initiated by IV Gun moving to Mexicali (from Tijuana), and attacking northeast to El Centro.  III Gun will attack Coachella, and II Gun will attack Riverside.  I and V Gun will anchor the flanks, in Los Angeles and Mexicali, respectively.  If the initial attacks are successful, V Gun will attack eastward to San Luis Rio Colorado.  Newly recruited corps may be brought over, and added to the offensive later.

The San Diego Front in early December 1943

    The attack kicks off on December 8^th.  The fighting, predictably, is very heavy.  The bulk of the American forces are armored, as are some of my divisions.  The fighting rages for three full days before we start to see progress.  On the 11^th the defenders at Riverside fall back; we lose 1,400 killed, and inflict nearly 6,000.  Southward, the defenders put up a more dogged defense.  The defenders at El Centro hold on until the 14^th, inflicting 3,172 casualties on us and suffering over 8,000 themselves.  The defenders at Coachella hold out an additional day; the battle there ends with 2,243 dead on our side and a staggering 10,417 on theirs.

    The AI will generally attempt to reinforce a province under attack.  If they are unable to get the reinforcements to the front in time, they have a bad habit of simply converting the reinforcement to a counterattack.  This usually fails badly, as the now-attacking force is generally inadequate for the task.  I see quite a bit of this scenario during this offensive.  The first case erupts when II Gun arrives at Riverside on the 15^th; the attacking Americans, which we outnumber, collapse quickly, losing 3,500 men in the effort, far more than the meager 700 I lose.  III Gun meets a similar situation upon arrival in Coachella; they lose over 1,500 defending the province, and inflict over 6,000 on the would-be attackers.

    Around the 18^th, newly-formed XV Gun arrives in Los Angeles.  Thus, with the center of the line secure, I decide to press offensives on both ends.  V Gun has a surprising amount of success at San Luis; I expected the Colorado River to pose a formidable obstacle.  Happily, we are able to match the results we had elsewhere, losing a tolerable 2,249 killed, while inflicting 7,143 casualties on the combined Mexican and American forces.  This, sadly, marks the end of lopsided successes.

    By the 26^th, I Gun has had such little success attacking Pasadena that the attack is cancelled.  I pay over 6,000 casualties for this attempt, inflicting slightly fewer.  Eastward, II and III Gun make similar attempts against Barstow and Twentynine Palms, which are likewise cancelled.  The casualties in these battles are lower, with around 5,000 total for us and around 7,500 for the Americans.  Despite the casualty disparity, our organization is reduced significantly.  The Americans are not slow to take advantage, and immediately begin an intense counterattack at Riverside.  II Gun is forced to withdraw on the 24^th after suffering another 2,500 dead.  Newly formed XIII Gun is ushered in to attempt to keep the province.  They arrive in time, but the attackers maintain a withering assault, eventually driving my recruits back on the 30^th.  The corps suffers nearly 9,000 dead, proving they are dedicated, if not skilled.  I’d rather have skilled.

    Both sides stand down to take a much-needed breather at the end of the year.  The total figures for the operation are jaw-dropping.  In a short three weeks, we lost over 33,000 killed in action, far more than in the previous eleven months combined.  The Allies fared even worse, losing over 60,000, roughly an entire corps, not including losses from air strikes.  Overall, this is not a bad trade-off; my losses are replaced within days, and part of his will never be replaced.  Manpower reserves aside, however, one lesson is clear.  The Americans still have many more divisions, and thus much greater front-line strength than I have in this area.  Even after lopsided victories, I was unable to persist in the attacks in a way that could guarantee cascading victories.  Instead, my troops were forced back onto the defensive and were pushed back to their starting points by overwhelming counterattacks.

    Apparently, the need for a second front is as great as ever.  My forces in Central America, then, are sent to staging areas for an invasion of the American East Coast.  My plan is for an amphibious assault directly at Washington DC.  This will allow me to capture a massive stockpile of supplies, while keeping those same supplies from the Allies.  More importantly, it will draw forces from the West Coast.  This will allow me to resume a steady offensive in that region; meanwhile, it may take months for the Allies to redeploy, during which time my troops should have an impressive superiority in the East.  These factors, combined, should bring a (relatively) sudden end to the American war effort.