An Old Friend Comes to Visit - Early Spring, 1940

    By the spring of 1940, it becomes apparent that the German success in Europe will work against me.  Shortly after the fall of France, the Americans throw a massive fleet against Marcus Island.  Following hard upon that the British send ten divisions to defend Singapore, which turns out to be a dark omen of the return of the still-robust British navy to East Asia.

The Dust Settles in Europe

    After the French surrender in early March, the European theatre returns to insignificance.  Germany declares war on Luxembourg on March 27^th, with predictable results.  They are able to send increasingly larger forces to Norway, but the Norwegian defense holds Oslo until May 23^rd, further indicating Allied resilience.  In Eastern Europe, the Winter War wraps up on April 16^th, yielding minor gains to the Soviets.  In May the Italians launch a naval invasion of Greece, which shows some success.  In North Africa the Italians are still pushing west through Algeria against the few remaining French forces there, while the Italian/British border in Eastern Libya has stabilized near Bengazi.

    In June a few small flashes of drama erupt.  On the 1^st, the Soviets claim Bessarabia, followed by Hungary claiming Transylvania the next day.  Poor Romania.  On the 26^th Germany declares war on Yugoslavia, which is likely to end quickly in Germany’s favor.

The Perennially Problematic Singapore

    The seminal event of the spring of 1940 is the return of the British fleet to Asia.  We enjoyed about six months of naval superiority throughout the region, and in early April I grow to rue the squandered opportunity in Singapore.

    As I mentioned in my last post, the Brits deployed ten divisions to replace the forces I captured during the winter, and now the city is effectively impenetrable.  I now need to come up with a new plan to deal with the situation.  It is possible they might try to launch costly attacks across the strait, but this unlikely, and leaves them the ability to continuously reinforce themselves.  I decide, then, to retreat from Johore Bahru, and leave them with an uncontested crossing.  When they get a few divisions across, I will send my navy in to block their retreat and counterattack on land.  I can capture a few divisions easily, then back off again and repeat the process.  Simple enough.  On March 29^th we complete the first run-through of this plan, and bag an infantry division.  We retreat and rest up so we can try again in mid-April.

    5 Kaigun is currently on patrol in the region, and is responsible for blocking the crossing, as well as intercepting convoys and raiders in the area.  On the 9^th we hit a small fleet, and sink a light cruiser and a landing craft.  With any luck the landing craft was loaded up, but unfortunately we don’t get reports on that.  A few days later I position the fleet in the northern part of the straits to allow the Brits to send more troops over to the mainland, an opportunity they unwisely take.  However, they have a bit of information that I do not, namely that a huge fleet group is coming to their aid.  On the 13^th four divisions have crossed over, and 5 Kaigun starts sailing back towards Singapore to close their escape hatch.  Around noon, however, the maneuver is rudely interrupted by the British navy.  All of it.

    We have fought in many major naval battles over the last 16 months, and I can safely say we’ve won the vast majority of them.  We’ve taken advantage of numerous problems in Allied fleet composition: lack of escort ships, lack of air support, outgunned, outnumbered, I’ve always managed to find an edge.  The British, apparently, have been taking notes, and finally decide to just throw everything but the kitchen sink at us.  Also, I think they put an outboard motor on a kitchen sink and used that too.  Their combined fleet group is composed of three full aircraft carriers, and escort carrier, eight battleships, two heavy cruisers, seven light cruisers, 32 destroyers, and 10 transports.  This makes the American fleet group that recently attacked Marcus Island look like a lightweight.

    Needless to say, 5 Kaigun is in trouble.  With one battleship, one battle cruiser, two heavy cruisers, and four light cruisers, the British battleships alone are enough to wipe us out, much less the other 41 gunships and massive air power.  Fortunately, both of our carrier fleets are in the area, and are able to send their CAGs out on air superiority missions to help save at least a fragment of 5 Kaigun.  I retreat as quickly as possible, but it takes only a few hours for the Brits to sink both of my capital ships, the battleship Mitsu and the battle cruiser Kirishima.  As poor consolation, we sink one of the two heavy cruisers.  5 Kaigun is able to retreat into Teluk Anson, where they are likely to spend the remainder of the year awaiting the completion of replacement battleships.

    The British then turn their attention to our carrier fleets.  Fortunately, we have a bit of a head start, and we sail straight towards the safety of Phet Buri.  A long range naval strike battle ensues, and we suffer damage to most of our ships, but are able to escape without any further major problems.

    On land, our initial plan of feigned withdrawals is obviously now implausible.  The first phase went wonderfully according to plan.  An intense battle raged for several days; we lost 3354 KIA, inflicted 5034 killed, and drove the remaining 38,000 back up against the strait.  However, the fleet action through the strait interrupts the otherwise lucrative mop-up operation.  The result is a tactical mess.  Three of our divisions occupy Johore Bahru; our carriers block the retreat of the British forces, but must flee.  British reinforcements then attack from Singapore.  Thus, my troops in Johore Bahru are both defending against the reinforcements and attacking the retreaters simultaneously, while our troops in the north are considered to be only attacking the retreaters, and the British reinforcements are attacking only our troops in Johore Bahru.  The mess of a battle continues until the 23^rd, when the British troops in Singapore break off the counterattack.  I’m reasonably sure the 38,000 retreaters are captured, but not positive.  We suffer another 849 dead, and inflict an impressive 6271 killed on the British counterattackers, meaning the battles work out rather well for me.  I think.  Anyway, with the massive British fleet lurking in the area, I no longer have the ability to cut off retreats, so I set up a hard line of defense at Johore Bahru, which will have to remain until I can do something about the British navy.