At the close of spring 1941, I find myself in a unique strategic position. Namely, virtually my entire military – army, navy, and air forces – have successfully (and simultaneously) completed their missions, and are awaiting further orders. I am at a significant crossroads in the war, and have several different paths to choose from. The actions I take now will decide the course, and consequently duration, of the war, and ultimately will determine whether or not I can win the game.
Revisiting My Old Plan
When I began this play-through, my first step was to plan out my final objective (world domination, of course) and my path to get there. My plan was to conquer everything in my general neighborhood, starting with the Chinese states, then Australia and New Zealand (if they are unaligned), then the British/French/Dutch colonies. Then I would shift my focus to the Middle East, via India, and eventually North Africa. I would use North Africa as a launching point for an invasion of Great Britain. I hoped to have all of this done by mid 1942, at which point I would turn to the Western Hemisphere.
Obviously, large parts of this plan went awry quickly. This is due largely to the fact that I have little experience playing Japan. I simply had no idea how quickly the Allied coalition would build up due to my successes in China. Australia, New Zealand, and in particular the United States joined the Allies long before I anticipated, and consequently my “Phase 1” plan was off the rails before it even started.
So, in light of the fact that my earlier strategic assumptions no longer hold true, it is a good time to re-evaluate my plan. At this point in the plan, I am due to invade the Middle East, including Persia and Saudi Arabia. While an invasion of the Middle East is necessary at this point, I am loath to carry it out. If I proceed through Persia, I expect to advance at the same rate I did through India – namely, a snail’s pace. Likewise, I have two full armies (about 400,000 men) to use. This is far more than I need for the operation, and far more than my supply lines can support. Yet in order to invade Great Britain, I need to take the Suez Canal. If I don’t, my convoys will have to travel around the entirety of Africa, and would be exposed to raiders from innumerable ports the entire way.
Another objective also comes to mind. The only major strategic bonus I do not have yet is the Panama Canal bonus which would give me +10% supply throughput and +10% resource production. The additional supply throughput is nice, but the extra resources are desperately needed. My industrial capacity is severely stunted due to lack of resources, metal in particular. At my current rate of production, I don’t see how I can build up an army large enough to take on the Soviets. I did not plan on having the American navy decimated this quickly, and that leaves an opening for an offensive against the American powers much sooner than I expected.
So, considering my current capabilities and my future needs, I decide to launch a two-pronged offensive, aimed at capturing the two major global canals. This will be accompanied by a long-overdue re-organization of my land forces.
The Suez Offensive
My forces in India, previously designated 2 Homen-Gun, are to be placed in the newly created Middle-East So-Gun. This will be commanded by Field Marshall Matsuda (skill 5, Logistics Wizard, Battle Master). Below that will be the Iraq Haken-Gun, commanded by Field Marshall Dohihara (skill 4, Logistics Wizard), who previously commanded Kwantung So-Gun with some success. Due to the large area and lack of useful officers (those with the Logistics Wizard trait), I will dispense with the Homen-Gun organization level, and have the five Gun report to either the Haken-Gun or So-Gun directly, depending on their location. These Gun are: VI Gun (Ide, T.); VII Gun (Okabe); VIII Gun (Sagara); IX Gun (Sumida); and LI Gun (Yuhi). The first four are made of five infantry divisions, each composed of two infantry brigades, an engineer brigade and an artillery brigade. LI Gun is made of five mountain divisions, each made of three mountain infantry brigades. The total force strength is 239,000.
My plan is to invade the Arabian Peninsula with VI Gun, and use the remaining forces in Iraq, Syria, Palestine and eventually Egypt. I will leave the neutral states (Persia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey) alone for now. VI Gun will invade Oman at Musqat. They will then separate into two branches, one heading northwest to isolate and capture the British in Dubai, the other heading southwest to take Yemen. VII Gun will launch the initial primary invasion at Kuwait, advance westward, hugging the Saudi border along the most direct path to the Suez Canal. With Kuwait occupied, I will ship the remaining Gun in, and take Basra, and then Baghdad. LI Gun will hug the Persia border and aim towards Aleppo, while IX Gun advances towards Beirut, and VIII Gun heads towards Tel Aviv. The main objective, however, is the crossing and occupation of the Suez, so VIII Gun may be diverted to this effort if necessary.
 |
| My plans for Middle-East So-Gun |
The Panama Offensive
Our mission to occupy the Panama Canal presents a much less clear route. Our easternmost base is Honolulu; from there, virtually all ports along the west coast of the continental Americas are just barely out of reach of my warship fleets. Therefore, I am left with three options: 1) attack the Panama Canal area directly, with no warship support; 2) attack the Panama Canal area directly, with only long-range (capital) ships; 3) attack the Southern California area, then port-hop down the coast to attack the Panama Canal.
The first two options are noticeably unappealing. While I have severely damaged the American fleet, I am sure they have numerous ships, perhaps including a few capital ships, in reserve along their coast. Launching an unsupported invasion invites disaster, as any group of destroyers or light cruisers could rip apart the unarmed transports, sending up to half of my army to the bottom of the sea. Sending them with only capital ship support is little better. In a battle against even small groups of destroyers and cruisers, it is still possible for some of the transports to be sunk, and the capital ships themselves would be imperiled if they face a number of enemy capital ships with no escorts. Bear in mind that I was able to sink nine American battleships in the early days of the war, despite being outnumbered, due primarily to their lack of escorts. I don’t want them turning the tables on me.
Therefore, I am left with the third option, an attack against Southern California, followed by a port-hopping campaign down the coast. I can occupy San Diego and Los Angeles and use them as a base for future operations, or abandon them once they’ve served their purpose. For this operation I have designated the former 1 Homen-Gun and LXII Gun. Field Marshall Honda (skill 5, Battle Master, Logistics Wizard, Defensive Doctrine) has been promoted from the command of VI Gun to lead the newly created West America So-Gun. Reporting to him is Field Marshall Ushijima, S (skill 4, Logistics Wizard, Battle Master, Old Guard) in command of San Diego Haken-Gun, promoted from command of V Gun. I Gun (Nishio, J.), II Gun (Kuribayashi), III Gun (Kano), IV Gun (Terauchi, T.), and V Gun (Tada) will report to Ushijima, while LXII Gun (Hirota) will report to Honda directly. These divisions have begun receiving armor and anti-tank brigades, and vary in exact composition. Total strength of this force is 276,000.
The plan is to land at Oceanside with LXII Gun, supported by 1 and 13 Kaigun. They will launch simultaneous land attacks against San Diego and LA. Once these ports are occupied, I will ship in the remaining Gun. For the time being, I will plan on holding a corridor in this region and build it up to use as a supply base for future operations. I will defend LA with I Gun, Oceanside with II Gun, San Diego with III Gun, and Mexicali with IV Gun. Tijuana will be occupied by V Gun, which will serve as a rear area for recuperation in the event of attacks. I plan on building up the ports in each of these provinces to level 10, as well as adding anti-aircraft, airports, and land forts. I have no intention of expanding out of this area in the immediate future, as invading the USA from the west coast is painful and slow. However, once the full scale conquest begins, I will need all the ports I can get.
No comments:
Post a Comment