Early Spring 1939

The Fate of 30 Shidan

    When we last left our intrepid conquerors, 30 Shidan had gotten itself into a tight jam.  Pushing northward towards Hanoi, it ran up against four French divisions.  Sensing the danger, I ordered them to about-face, and attempt to fall back and re-establish a link to the rest of VI Gun.  They failed, however, and the French were able to march into Phon Phisai and Ban Nape before us, completely sealing us off.  I attempted to push the French out of Phon Phisai, but was counter-attacked from the north.  I broke off my attack, but the French, tasting blood, kept up the counterattack.  The situation was dire.

    I was able to bring in my tactical bombers and a cargo plane unit to Haikkou.  They were able to make things hot enough for the French to force them to break off the attack, and the cargo aircraft were able to bring in adequate supplies.  I was still in a bad spot, though.  My fly-overs indicated there was at least one more division in the area, and a HQ unit.  If they moved quickly, they could have completely surrounded 30 Shidan, attacked with everything, and wiped it out.  Mercifully, the AI tends to lack any sense of coordination.  Instead of maintaining the encirclement, the divisions in Phon Phisai and Ban Nape simply kept heading south, thus re-opening the escape hatch.  30 Shidan was able to retreat in their wake, and re-establish a line of supply on March 20^th.  Crisis, averted.

Tensions Escalate in Europe

    Italy joined the Axis back in January, shortly after I declared war.  After a month or two of conference, the European Axis powers decided to start ramping things up in their sphere of influence.  On the 26^th, the Germans finished what they started in the Sudetenland, and annexed the remainder of Czechoslovakia.  Italy joined in the fun and annexed Albania.  The next day, Germany threatened Lithuania and seized Memel.  In early April the Hungarians also join the Axis.  Overall, everything seems to be going apace in Europe.

The Battle of Rangoon

    So far, IX Gun has done little except march.  The Allies put up no resistance as we occupy Southern Burma.  That changes in late March, as we run up against several divisions of British, Nepalese and Bhutanese infantry.  Our first goal is to encircle Rangoon, the largest port in the region.  We complete that maneuver by the 21st, and the Allies promptly launch counter-attacks in an effort to open a corridor.  The counter-attack against Pegu lasts until the 24^th, costing them 890 dead and us 196.  The attack against Henzada lasts until the 27^th, with somewhat higher casualties.  With our rear secure, we launch into Rangoon itself.  It falls after three days of intense fighting, costing us 242 KIA, and the British 867 dead and 9548 captured.  The Allies, however, still feel confident, and launch two additional attacks as we adjust our front in early April.  These are even more lopsided, costing them around 800 dead in each and us less than 100 total. The series of battles costs them an even 4300 dead and twice as many captured, at a cost to us of only 684 dead.  IX Gun has proven not only are they every bit as capable as the rest of the army, but also that the well-led, well-equipped Europeans are ultimately little better than the marginal Chinese forces.

IX Gun tries its hand at encirclement

The Naval War

    With the British stacking dozens of ships in their ports, striking them directly is out of the question.  By March, I am limited to rotating my gunship fleets to try to protect my supply ships heading to Phet Buri and Borneo.  It is an uphill battle, and we are losing transports at a staggering rate.  Nonetheless, they make good bait, and lure out small groups of British ships that we can meet on even terms.  On March 20^th 5 Kaigun sinks a British heavy cruiser and destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin, and four days later 4 Kaigun claims a pair of French destroyers in the same area.

    In April the situation escalates dramatically as 1 Homen-Gun starts occupying the French Vietnamese ports, forcing the ships stationed there to seek new bases. On April 1^st 5 Kaigun sinks the battleship Malaya off of Cam Ranh, and a light cruiser a few days later. 3 Kaigun sinks a heavy cruiser and two destroyers there on the the 5^th. On the 10^th 2 Kaigun engages a large fleet, and sinks the battlecruiser Renown and two destroyers, but loses the heavy cruiser Izumo. With our fleets damaged, they return to Hong Kong for repairs, and let our naval bombers take over. Now stationed in Saigon, they launch attacks against Quang Ngai and sink a French destroyer and a submarine on the 12^th.

    On the 18^th, the Allies try something rather unexpected.  The Dutch, rather preposterously, attempt to invade Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands.  1 Kaigun sallies out and descends on the Taiwan invasion fleet like a pack of wolves.  The entire Dutch fleet, 3 light cruisers, a destroyer, and four transports, is sunk within a day of fighting.  The Netherlands are able to land a division at Naha; 2 Kaigun, still bruised from the battle against the Renown, attempts to sink the fleet, but are only able to pin down a single destroyer.  V Gun, which was marking time in mainland Japan, is brought in to retake Naha.  They kill 496 and take the remaining 5504 prisoners, and force the fleet out into the waiting arms of 2 Kaigun.  We have more luck this time, and polish off most of the fleet, sinking a light cruiser, a destroyer, a submarine and two transports.

    After that bit of diversion, the pilots from 11 Kaigun want to try their hand.  Starting on the 20^th, we begin a relentless port strike campaign against Haiphong.  This is the most profitable operation so far in the war; by the end of the month, we’ve sunk two heavy cruisers, a destroyer and three submarines, all at little cost to us.  To cap it off, we send the battleship Lorraine to the bottom of the sea on the 30^th, giving me a nice exclamation point to a month of naval successes.