A Summer of Plodding - June 1939

    June continues in much the same vein as May.  In particular, the lack of supplies is becoming critical.  By the end of June we are down to our last seven convoys, four of which are responsible for carrying supplies to and resources from China.  We have completely evacuated the Philippines, although mercifully the Allies have not taken advantage of this.  Borneo is also hard up; we have evacuated LXII Gun but the Chindai divisions remain in order to keep the Makassar Strait bonus.  While they consume fewer supplies, it is still a problematic situation as I have to choose between putting my convoys on suicide runs to supply them or let the Chindai fade to zero organization.

    The halted advance in Burma comes to haunt me; my line is uneven, and the Allies take advantage of this to imperil the various divisions of IX Gun and force their retreat.  By the end of the month, we have lost a one-to-two province wide swath of land in the area.  Fortunately, the Allies are still not strong enough to mount any legitimate attacks, and so far the losses are due only to maneuvering.

    In the Singapore area, the situation is worse.  After six weeks with little or no supplies and constant air attacks, LXI Gun has reached its breaking point.  It retreats from its position in Johore Bahru, and begins a two month long retreat back up the peninsula, in hopes of reaching supplies and refuge at some point south of Phet Buri.

    The only remaining bright spot on land is our progress in Vietnam.  I am able to ship in adequate supplies to the area via air drops and the minor, reasonably secure ports along the Vietnamese coast.  In early June we fight our first major battle since the collapse of the Hue pocket, at Do Luong.  II Gun loses 652 men and inflicts 937 casualties on the French, as we push back their main body of troops.  Once this is done, IV and VI Gun begin the encirclement of the French right at Phon Phisai, the site of 30 Shidan’s narrow escape back in March.  Phon Phisai is a tricky area to encircle, bordering seven provinces.  One province, Vientiane, has low infrastructure, and can be excluded.  We therefore set IV Gun to occupy the three provinces along the north and east, while VI Gun occupies those along the south.  The only French reaction is to send a headquarters brigade to Muong Bo, which is quickly swept aside.  All the pieces are in place by the 13^th, and we make short work of the French division there.  They suffer 611 dead and 8389 captured, at a cost of 163 casualties to VI Gun.  With the front in this area now much smaller, VI Gun turns west to join IX Gun in Burma (and bring some supplies with them), while IV Gun fans out to sweep the Vietnamese interior.

Now this is how you entrap and destroy a division

    At sea, the situation maintains its low simmer as the Allies continue to raid our convoys and we continue to try to hunt them down.  On June 19^th, 2, 5 and 10 Kaigun hit a group of French and American raiders in the Gulf of Tonkin, and sink a French light cruiser, transport, and two American subs.  2 and 10 Kaigun return to port, but 5 Kaigun stays on patrol, and is rewarded by a battle with a British gunship fleet on the 23^rd.  In a series of battles, with 1 and 4 Kaigun jumping in, we were are able to sink the battleship Nelson, three heavy cruisers, a light cruiser and a destroyer.  However, we lose our heavy cruiser Furutaka, the largest ship we have lost so far.  While I have little use for heavy cruisers, they can be helpful, and I regret its loss.

    On the periphery of the war, a few events of note occur during June.  On the 15^th, Bolivia joins the Allies.  After surviving all of June without being ground to dust by Paraguay, I think I may be overestimating their military ability a bit, and I am mentally fortified to resist Bolivia as well.  In the Middle East, the Turks seize Hatay, a minor event, although it is indicative of the steady escalation in Europe and decline of France’s fortunes.  Closer to home, the Americans, having occupied Mili in March, continues through the Pacific by occupying Panope and the adjoining Kosrae.  This, likewise, is insignificant by itself, but does serve to mark the ominous approach of the formidable American navy, which has been mercifully absent thus far.

A map of the main combat theater in late June, 1939.  Markers indicate large bodies of soldiers.