On September 9th, Germany annexes the Sudatenland. This is good for me, because it means that the Germans are still fully willing to serve as the main event in Europe while I sweep up the European colonies en masse. However, they aren’t scheduled to really step up to this role for another year, which means I need to decide whether I want to idle away a precious year of time, money, and accumulated resources, or swallow the big pill in and go at the Allies alone.
In the meantime, we still have one country left on the worth-conquering list: Siam. We’ve been buying rare materials from them for awhile now, but it would be cheaper to just conquer them, so, you know …
Siam has six victory points total: three in the capital, Bangkok and one in each of Phet Buri, Chaiya, and Khon Kaen. With a unity around 70%, that means we need to capture five points. Khon Kaen is deep inland, surrounded by mountains and jungles, making it the obvious choice to ignore. Our plan, then, is land near each of the remaining points and capture them rapidly, before Siam has a chance to mobilize fully.
Fortunately, we have recently completed ten full divisions for Rikusentai (marines), which are great at naval landings, and in jungles. They are divided up into LXI Gun and LXII Gun. LXII is put in charge of capturing Chaiya. They will land at Sichon, which should be an unopposed landing, and then separate into two groups: one will head north to capture Chaiya, the other south to capture the port at Nakhon Si Thammarat. This guarantees a supply line, if there are any problems. The northern portion of the campaign will be carried out by I, II, and LXI Gun. I Gun will land at Chon Buri, where they can attack Bangkok without a river crossing penalty. II Gun will land at Hua Hin, and strike at Phet Buri from the south. LXI Gun will land at Nakhon Pathom, in between Bangkok and Phet Buri, and will be responsible for preventing the reinforcement of either province by Siam, and helping either I Gun or II Gun if needed. This plan is well-designed to prepare for contingencies. If II Gun is successful, they will capture a large port which will allow for resupply and reinforcement of themselves and LXI Gun; if I Gun is successful, they will capture Siam’s supply stockpiles, and can hold out indefinitely. Also note that I tend to avoid attempting to land on the key provinces directly. The amphibious assault penalty is so steep (even for marines), it is almost always preferable to land in an adjacent province and fight by land, than to attack defended provinces directly.
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| My first naval invasion of the war, Siam |
The invasion is carried off with a hitch. We declare war on October 16th, and the landings are completed by the 18th. LXII Gun meets no resistance whatsoever, and captures Chaiya with nothing more than legwork. Bangkok is defended by the Royal Bangkok Police division (a full strength garrison unit), which puts up a tenacious but futile resistance. They lose 964 killed, while I Gun suffers 77 casualties. Phet Buri is defended by the 1 and 2 Thai Infantry Divisions, which are unmobilized. They take 495 casualties here, and inflict 43 on us. LXI Gun is not involved in any combat. On the 22nd the Siam government formally surrenders. We get a nice little chunk of war booty in the form of 100 money, 3000 units of supplies and fuel, 2000 metals, and 1000 rare materials.
The naval portion of the invasion is worth recapping. Siam had a pair of light cruisers and a destroyer; nothing significant, but enough firepower to sink unguarded transports. 1 & 2 Kaigun kept them in port at Phet Buri, while the carrier groups hammered them. I had the groups from 10 Kaigun perform the port strikes while 11 Kaigun’s flight groups performed intercept duty. We were able to quickly neutralize Siam’s air force, but the ships rather doggedly stayed afloat. 10 Kaigun’s flight groups were eventually worn out, so those from 11 Kaigun took over. It was the Zuiho that eventually gets credit for sinking the destroyer and one of the cruisers, while the Akagi claims the other cruiser.
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