By the beginning of 1941, the naval strategic situation has completely reversed itself from six months ago. Last summer, I was under pressure on multiple fronts from superior fleet groups, and was forced to divide my forces and attempt risky operations. Those operations have paid off, and now it is the British and the Americans who are forced to break up their fleet groups and attempt risky operations. However, there is one major difference. My operations were well planned and executed, and had an overall strategic goal in mind. The British and American operations, however, have little chance of tactical success and even less likelihood of strategic gains.
The British Navy Returns to Singapore
The first such half-hearted attempt to gain the upper hand is the British response to the Singapore stalemate. Singapore is a key strategic point, at a highly defensible crossroads between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Its main value to the European powers is to serve as a launching point for operations farther east, while blocking the Japanese navy (and convoys) from extending into India. However, the British Navy, now fighting in three separate areas, is far too overextended to launch offensive operations against me, and I’ve already circumvented Singapore by establishing ground supply lines to India and sea supply lines farther south. Thus, at this point, the British would be better off abandoning the island. Alternately, they could mount a large scale offensive, driving me off the peninsula, retaking Java and Sumatra, and isolating my troops in India. Lacking the wisdom to adopt the first approach, and the resources to adopt the second, they split the difference, and subsequently expose their troops and fleet to piecemeal destruction.
In early January, 12 Kaigun is on patrol off Singapore, with 2 Kaigun in Phet Buri as a reserve. On the 13th we see the first new signs of the British navy as a medium-sized fleet forces its way past 12 Kaigun into Singapore. 2 Kaigun is ordered to the scene, and 10 Kaigun is sent in from Tokyo in order to give us complete supremacy. I begin port strikes, and by the 16th I’ve sunk the battleship Resolution. Having failed to accomplish anything, the British then attempt a break-out back up the Straits of Malacca. We hit them on the 19th, sinking a destroyer, light cruiser, landing craft, and the battleship Royal Sovereign . They manage to escape northward, but we pursue and hit them again on the 20th, sinking another two destroyers and the battleship Prince of Wales. Thus, this ill-advised sortie costs them three indispensable battleships and a number of lesser craft, for no appreciable result.
Later in the month, they decide to extract some value from the port by using it to stage submarine attacks against my primary supply lines. My carrier fleets quickly hunt down the subs and drive them back to port, where they attempt to undergo repairs. Instead, they are the victims of steady port strikes, with 10 Kaigun eventually claiming nine submarines over a five day period in late January to early February.
12 Kaigun is shifted westward, and begins scouting out the ports of southern India in late January. Pondicherry, the last French holding in the region, is home to a group of six French submarines. It is unlikely these subs are receiving supplies adequate to ever operate, but it is better to be safe than sorry, and we sink them all by the end of the month. I continue to scout the ports, and find a small fleet in the Maldives in February. Port strikes here sink three transports and two destroyers. I then return to the mainland, where I spot more ships in Cochin. We launch port strikes here, but the port is better defended, and my flight crews run out of steam without dealing any permanent damage.
A Slow Death at Rabul
After my failed port strike campaign against Rabul last December, I settled into a steady and sustainable plan of blockade. 1 Kaigun maintained station immediately outside of the port, accompanied by a carrier group. 1 Kaigun is mainly responsible for sinking supply convoys heading into port and warships attempting to leave it, while the carrier group was on duty to guard against the constant naval strikes launched by the Americans. Every few weeks I would send the carrier group back to Sydney and rotate in a new group. The system was working reasonably well, and we began slowly chipping away at the American fleet group. Convoys were being sunk steadily, causing the Americans to attempt, and usually fail, to secret a few transports or destroyers out of the port.
As with Singapore, the Allies would have been better off completely abandoning Rabul. It had much less value for future operations, especially considering my relentless invasions of the remainder of the Pacific Islands. On January 21st Phoenix Island becomes the first American island captured since Guam, followed by Christmas Island on the 31st, Palmyra and Jarvis Island in mid February, and Wake Island and Midway in March. These occupations are carried off even despite the fact that I must continuously divert forces to re-occupy islands due to American diversionary attacks. The fleet group in Rabul becomes increasingly isolated throughout the winter. Yet the Americans refuse to attempt a mass breakout, instead sending small groups out to be summarily sunk, and further weakening the remainder. None of these minor fights merit any particular attention, although one in early February has the distinction of being my 500th naval battle, giving me the highly useful Veteran Navy bonus.
Hey, Remember China?
March sees the culmination of the Allies’ inexplicable, ineffective and suicidal plans, via an attempted invasion of the Qingdao peninsula. Qingdao, if you’ll remember, was the site of one of my first major strategic operations back in 1937, allowing me to capture a division of Nationalist Chinese troops. I honestly never thought I would need to type the name Qingdao again, yet here I am, doing exactly that. The British apparently came to the conclusion that the various Allied invasions of Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands, and other areas failed, not because they were poorly planned and executed, but because they weren’t bizarre and desperate enough. Thus, on March 4th the British launch the suprisey-est attack of the war.
In between the cavalry and garrison units I have in the area to discourage rebels, and III Gun still idling away in Japan, I have plenty of land power to deal with the invasion. My sea power, however, needs to be diverted from other areas. 2 Kaigun, having been patched up from the Singapore battles back in January, is sent to intercept. I am further surprised to see the Brits using a rather large fleet for the operation, involving five battleships and a few escorts. A violent fight ensues on the 16th, and we gain the upper hand mostly through a better use of escorts. We sink the battleship Valiant, and send the remainder of his fleet back into the port.
By the 19th, 14 Kaigun is sent to aid, and III Gun is landed on the peninsula. The land battle is brief, and we capture the British division with little effort and drive the fleet back into the open sea. A series of running battles occurs, in which we manage to sink the bulk of the remaining ships, notably the battleships Royal Oak, Queen Elizabeth, and Temeraire. In these battles, I had to perform the interceptions with 14 Kaigun, and then bring in 2 Kaigun once the battle was joined due to the severe damage they suffered in the first battle. Thus, this marks the first time one of my carrier fleets inflicted mortal damage to a large number of enemy capital ships in an open sea battle. If the sea war drags on for another few years, this result will be commonplace, but for now, it is a unique event.
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