Crossing the Yellow River

     I talked a bit about the two main conquest strategies in my last post as a way of introducing some of the challenges faced when using a broad-front strategy when conquering China.

     One of the biggest problems is the rapid leveling of battle strength during the first few months.  There are two factors that hit the Japanese especially hard here.  First is the fact that, when beginning from the north and advancing southward, the front widens dramatically.  I began with a strength of one gun per province in July, with a large number of troops in a rear reserve.  By the time I hit the Yellow River, I am down to each gun covering two provinces, meaning that my total strength per battle has been cut in half.  At the same time the front is expanding, the Chinese are bringing their divisions to full strength and up to the front line.  In my initial battles, I could give the Chinese a strong tap and they’d go flying to the rear; now the battles, while still not intense, are at least substantial.

     This situation becomes increasingly obvious as I run up against the natural lines of defense.  The first of these is the Yellow River.  In addition to its enormous length and countless twists and turns, it also cuts through some rather severe terrain, and feeds a number of urban areas.  Particularly problematic are the areas around Jinan and Zhengzhou.  In these areas attacking troops receive not just the river crossing penalty, but also the rather significant terrain penalties in the hills and urban areas. 

  

Eastern Yellow River region

     We come up to the river in mid-August.  Mercifully, I Gun was able to cross the Yellow unopposed along the coast, then turn south and drive the Chinese out of Jinan with little trouble.  III Gun, however, met much stiffer resistance near Zhengzhou.  Our plan was to have three divisions cross in force from Puyang to Kaifeng, then the remainder of the Gun cross in their wake and hit Zhengzhou from the East.  Even despite the lack of a terrain advantage (other than the river), the fighting was heavy, and we lose 459 killed, out of 21,000, while the Chinese lose 424, of 8000.  This marks the first time I’ve lost more than my opponent, which is more unsettling considering we outnumbered him by more than 2 to 1.  The follow up attack against the city was also bloody, and we lose 235, and inflict 246 casualties.