The Collapse of Nationalist China

     II Gun encounters some trouble when moving along the Yangtze.  I was continuing my standard operations here, mainly as a matter of habit, as this area is very unlikely to be relevant before the end of the war.  Because II Gun was already across the river, the idea was to have them push southwest and clear the way for III Gun to cross unopposed in their rear.  The Chinese put up an unexpectedly stiff resistance at Fanchang, at cost us 161 KIA, while losing 425 themselves.  This turns out to be the last significant engagement of the war, however.

     After the Battle of Enshi, the remainder of V Gun pours across the river and set up to attack Changde.  The Chinese unwisely ignore the more immediate threat, and shuttle troops to attempt to block IV Gun at Jinshi.  By early December the entire V Gun is set to launch the final assault of the war, and pitch into Changde.  The city is held by a single militia division, which crumples after several hours of perfunctory resistance.  There are few casualties to speak of, and V Gun occupies the city on December 7^th, 1937 (a day that will live in moderate amounts of fame).  The Nationalist Government formally surrenders the next day.

     At this point, I run some scenarios past my political advisers (i.e. I save and restore a few times).  It turns out that declaring war against Xibei San Ma alone is not sufficient to keep our country mobilized, even if I declare war against Yunnan and the Guangxi Clique too.  When I let the Nationalists surrender without continuing the war against the other states, however, I am allowed to stay fully mobilized (meaning, I keep the service-by-requirement and total economic mobilization policies).  I have to admit that I have no idea how this game works sometimes.

     Anyway, I decide to redeploy my troops to a employ blitz strategies against these states, when I decide to resume the offensive.  2 Homen-Gun continues in the west.  VIII Gun is sent to Banbar, to attack Tibet’s capital of Lhasa.  VII Gun is sent to Sogxian to attack northward towards the Xibei San Ma capital at Golmud.  VI Gun is deployed to Guangyuang to capture the eastern Xibei points of Tianshui and Lanzhou.  The cavalry units are positioned along the eastern border, to prevent any mischief, as originally planned.

     1 Homen-Gun will be responsible for Yunnan and the Guangxi Clique.  V Gun will proceed from Panzhihua to Dali.  IV Gun will take a longer route from Xichang to Kumming.  III Gun will be sent to Anshun to capture Baise.  II Gun will be split into three groups to hit Guilin from multiple directions.  I Gun is ferried to the southern coast, and will hit Nanning from the south.

Invasion plans of 1 Homen-Gun for the Spring of 1938

     With the new year, we get a fresh crop of generals to choose from.  In order to help with potential supply issues, generals Honda, Okabe and Sagara are put in charge of VI, VII, and VIII Gun, respectively.  We also make some minor adjustments to our cabinet, but leave the air and naval command as is.

     In early February our rocket test site is completed.  While I have little use for rockets themselves, they open the door to jet engine and missile research, which provides some of the dramatic improvements in the late game.  The completion also frees up a large chunk of my IC.  With my divisions pretty well set for artillery and engineers, I’ve been working on some mountain and marine divisions.  Sadly, the mountain troops won’t be ready for the invasions of the minor Chinese states, all of which are heavily mountainous, but I predict they will have plenty to do throughout the next decade.  The marines are built with an eye towards the Oceanic states.  Australia, in particular, will require a fair number of beach landings.

     On February 16^th the Changkufeng Lake incident erupts.  It is a minor affair on both sides; we lose 500 supplies, they lose a mediocre general, not a big deal.  It has a grand significance, though: to remind us we now have less than ten years to build up an army that can topple the Soviets.  That won’t happen with our current resources, manpower, and strategic location.  We do, however, have a good start.