The Close of the Vietnam Campaign - Early July, 1939

    After suffering through the supply deficient doldrums of June, I had resolved myself to a tedious and bland war of attrition for the next several months.  I lacked the punching power to completely eradicate the British fleet, or even attempt it.  Thus, my naval plan was to continue churning out convoys, and use them as unintentional bait to lure out small segments of the Allied fleets that I could chip away at gradually.  On land, the supply situation was dependant on the naval activity, and our plan was to focus supplies on each area individually, starting with Vietnam, and gradually drive the Allies from Asia.  This plan promised many slow, drama-less months, but considering the overall odds against me, that seemed to be the best choice.  July, however, upended this plan, and consequently the entire game.

    July began auspiciously enough, beginning in the Himalayan theatre.  Back in January, my original plan called for LI Gun, our mountain troops, to attack from Tibet southward into Bhutan and Nepal.  This plan was intended to allow me to build infrastructure in the region without risking an annoying counterattack from these countries, while simultaneously knocking them out of the game.  Of course, the border itself lacked the existing infrastructure, so that had to be completed before we could accomplish anything.  This dragged on a bit, and pushed the entire campaign back a few months, perhaps to the detriment of our forces in Burma.  But back in May, the roads are completed and LI Gun starts its hike through the highest peaks in the world.  This march drags on very slowly, and largely without action, and didn’t merit a mention before.  There were a few small battles, but our troops were much better prepared, and on July 4^th, they occupied Punakha with little resistance and forced the surrender of Bhutan.  Although the Bhutanese forces in Burma remain on the front, we at least clear a few divisions and headquarters brigades from the game.  LI Gun then turns west and begins the long march to Nepal, and fades back into obscurity for the next few months.

    In Vietnam, we see the culmination of our campaign.  After the Battles of Hue and Phon Phisai, the French are in dire straits and steadily retreat towards Haiphong, their last port in the area.  VI Gun has been redeployed to assist in Burma, leaving II and IV Gun to finish up the French.  The northern region of Vietnam is somewhat complicated, and makes for interested envelopment opportunities.  The northern border, with China, is impassable, as is the far northwestern edge.  The province of Phu Tho is also impassable, making a small corridor of provinces in the northwest that are easily entrapped, as well as Haiphong.  The terrain of the area is predominately jungles, but Hanoi features urban terrain, and a few rivers run through the area, giving the defenders some added resilience.

    II Gun was not involved in the Battle of Phon Phisai, and advances northward along the coast, attempting to break across the rivers before the French can dig in well.  IV Gun has a longer march, and steadily pushes the French up to the northern corridor.  16 & 17 Shidan break off to the east, and advance through Hanoi to attempt to cut off the French in Nghia Lo.  The French spot the plan, however, and retreat through the area too fast for us to spring the trap.  This turns out to be only a minor inconvenience, however, as the French are soon reduced to only three traversable provinces.  We therefore begin the final maneuvers on July 7^th, sending 8 Shidan to capture Thai Nguyen and divide the French.  The battle is hard fought, and marks the last real combat in the region.  We lose 1552 killed, and inflict only 1103 dead on the French.

II and IV Gun bring the Vietnam campaign to a close

    Now separated, we deliver the death blows against the final pockets of resistance.  IV Gun throws its full weight against Vinh Yen on the 9^th.  We no supplies, or possibility of reinforcement or evacuation, the French accept their fate.  They surrender within an hour or two, giving up nearly 40,000 POWs, our largest take yet of the war.  Haiphong presents a different option.  They have a total of 22 ships in harbor here, and this area is within range of easy port strikes from China.  Normally, I would leave the land forces here alone, and wither away the ships with air power.  However, we have a sense of urgency here, as our forces in Burma and the Malay Peninsula are in steady retreat due to lack of supplies.  Likewise, Haiphong is the last province in the Gulf of Tonkin bonus, which will give us +10% research efficiency and +10% leadership.  Thus, I forgo the easy naval victories, and order II Gun to finish the French.  They show some fight here, inflicting 224 casualties on us, but ultimately have no real chance of survival.  They suffer 1017 dead themselves, before the remaining 9973 surrender.

    With Haiphong captured, the French are now driven entirely out of Asia, excluding a single port in India.  Overall, the Vietnamese campaign is quite successful.  We fought in five major multiple-province battles, at Saigon, Paksane, Hue, Phon Phisai, and Haiphong, as well as a number of smaller pitched battles.  Our estimates for total casualties are: French POWs - nearly 80,000; French Killed in Action – 6500; French Killed by Bombers – 3000-6000; Japanese Killed in Action – 5000.  The territory itself is quite valuable; in addition to giving us the Gulf of Tonkin bonus, it yields around 10 additional manpower points, the Black Soil bonus in My Tho, about 18 units of rare materials daily, and small amounts of leadership, metals and energy.  Most importantly for the near future, the conquest will greatly improve my supply situation.  I can now focus my efforts on the two remaining areas, and return II and IV Gun to Japan, alleviating the strain on my supply lines.  It is also safer to ship supplies to the Vietnamese ports, and ultimately, I can carve a land route through the jungles along the Vietnamese-Chinese border, further safeguarding my supply routes.  As II Gun occupies Haiphong on the 15^th, I take a moment to reflect on all of this, and feel pretty optimistic about the future.  This feeling, however, lasts exactly 24 hours, as the event I was most dreading comes to pass.  I receive notice on the 16^th that the Americans are storming the Ryukyu Islands, and they are doing so in force…