Inside the Beltway - Winter 1944

    Back in late 1939, I was rather surprised by the resilience of the Allies, France in particular.  Five years later, unexpected resilience rears its ugly head again and upsets many plans and predictions.

Germany Down, But Not Out

    The most obvious example of tenacity occurs in Europe.  In my last post, I indicated that the fall of Athens and Tirana was imminent, and as the front began to shrink, the European Axis powers would collapse quickly.  Athens did, in fact, fall quickly; however, that was the extent of my accurate predictions.  The Italians were able to reinforce Tirana and fend off numerous encirclement attempts, before finally surrendering the city in March.

    It is worth mentioning that a few years ago the Germans sent a large expeditionary force to Hungary.  So large, in fact, that the Hungarians kept up around 50% more brigades than Germany itself for the last few years.  I suspect the motive for this was to allow Hungary to supply the manpower for reinforcements.  It worked reasonably well for a few years.  The Germans and Hungarians each lost manpower steadily, but maintained a strong continuous front.  The German manpower reserve has long since run dry, however, and by the end of last year even the Hungarians bottomed out.

    Yet they have managed to deal even heavier losses to the Soviets.  The deep well of Russian manpower has also come up dry.  Throughout the winter each of the combatants were hovering between zero and ten points of manpower, meaning that men were being sent to the front the minute they received their uniforms.  I fully expect the Soviets, with greater continuous manpower production, to eventually win out.  Yet every week or so of game time, I scroll over to Eastern Europe, expecting to see the massive red blob finally swallowing up Berlin and Budapest, only to find the Germans still hanging on in Leningrad and Riga, and the Soviets only barely encroaching on the Hungarian border.  I can’t help but to wonder if the Germans can pull out a victory after all.

Hell on the West Coast

    With the invasion of the American Atlantic coast imminent, I know that I need to maintain pressure on their forces on the Pacific.  The Americans themselves obliged by launching fruitless counterattacks against positions I gained in December.  A pair of counter-attacks against San Luis in Mexico cost the Allies around 4,000 dead, with less than 500 casualties to us.  After this stinging rebuke, they shifted back to the hotly contested Riverside area.  I Gun occupied the province in a light counterattack after the ill-fated XIII Gun was driven out at the end of last year; unwilling to accept the result, the Americans begin a relentless counter attack which runs from January 12^th until February 1^st.  I Gun is reinforced and replaced by II Gun, which in turn is replaced by a recuperated XIII Gun.  When the massive host of American armor finally relents, their only claim that of having set a new record for carnage.  They lose over 29,000 men, three full divisions worth, in the wasted effort.  We suffer 16,500 casualties; a tremendous number, but easily replaceable.

    With the three new corps now settling in to active duty, I now have enough frontage to expand the occupied zone further.  In Mid January, as I Gun comes under fire in Riverside, I launch an attack up the coastline at Santa Monica with XIV Gun.  Little did I know that the Battle of Santa Monica would eventually dwarf even the ghastly Battle of Riverside.  It started inauspiciously, but mildly.  After a week of fighting, I call off the attack in order to conserve strength, in light of mounting casualties at Riverside.  This first engagement costs us 6,700 dead, and we inflict only 5,000.  After the American collapse at Riverside, I start over with the fresh XV Gun in early February.  The fighting escalates quickly, and becomes every bit as intense as the fighting at Riverside.  Like there, my forces eventually wither away from exhaustion, and I send in fresh divisions to keep the pressure up.  First XV Gun, then XIV, then XIII Gun, then XV again each have their turn, until the attack finally breaks down on March 9^th.  We reposition and rotate the troops, allowing them to fully regain strength, before heading into the breach one last time in mid March.  This last assault pushes the American defenders past the breaking point, and they retreat on the 31^st.  The final tally for these battles demonstrates an impressive level of resolve that far exceeds my expectations.  Through the nearly three-month long battle, the Americans suffer 56,000 casualties, twice the losses at Riverside and far ahead of any other battle losses of the war.  Nor was the battle lopsided.  The survivors of the three corps earn “veteran” status at the expense of 47,000 dead, or nearly one third of the men sent into battle.

    These battles, along with a number of smaller ones, are obviously taking a toll.  Previously, I had thought that units that do not receive reinforcements due to lack of manpower reserves do not regain organization strength.  Yet that obviously is not the case.  By mid January I begin seeing American divisions entering battle with full organization and around 80-90% troop strength.  As winter wears on, the average troop strength steadily declines, yet organization remains high.  By the end of March it is common to see American divisions at 50% or less manpower, but still fighting strong.  This is a possibly disturbing fact.  I had expected the depletion of the American strategic manpower to lead to a complete collapse of their fighting strength, but despite the fact that I have obviously succeeded in bleeding them dry, they continue to fend us off, launch counterattacks, and otherwise bog us down.

The Atlantic Coast

    With no immediate prospects for success on the Pacific Coast, the need for an offensive on the Atlantic Coast becomes even more apparent than ever.  In late January the bulk of newly re-established 2 Homen-Gun (VI-X Gun) are stationed around the Caribbean, and a few transport fleets shuffled into the area.  The invasion begins, then, on January 28^th, with VIII Gun landing at Annapolis.

    Despite the significance of the campaign, I did not create a detailed plan of any sort.  The reasons for this are that I had very little information on American troop deployments, nor are there really any critical strategic objectives (outside of Washington, of course).  For all I knew, the entire coastline was teaming with dozens of fresh armor divisions.  Or, the entire coastline could be defended by a single half-strength militia division.  I really didn’t know.  So, my plan was to throw everything I had at the area.  My initial goal was to capture Washington as quickly as possible.  I expected the Americans to have a large depot of supplies there, which could help fuel my invasion.  After that, my plan is to simply drive outward in all directions, focusing on taking areas that generate manpower.

I usually try to deploy my troops in numerical order, but wasn't able to this time.  This arrangement will haunt me for months.

    The landing itself went off mostly smoothly.  I expected Washington itself to be defended, and without my Rikusentai available, a landing at Annapolis seemed to be the quickest route to Washington.  An American infantry division moved in to block the landing, but was eventually driven off.  However, once landed, VIII Gun came under constant counter-attacks, preventing any attempts at Washington.  Accordingly, I decided to land more troops south of the city, starting with VII Gun immediately south.  Eventually this caused an overall breakdown in the counter-attacks, and I was able to take Washington on February 6^th.

    Fortunately, the Americans did have a decent stockpile of supplies in Washington.  We captured around 70,000 units of supplies and 99,000 units of fuel, which should keep us supplied for several months.  Well supplied, and with a usable port, I begin bringing my force in with gusto.  Throughout the remainder of the winter, I expand outward from Washington in all directions.  I am most successful in the south and southwest, but I am brought to a halt almost immediately northwest of Washington, where I quickly encounter the Appalachians.  In March, in particular, a series of battles in and around the province of Cumberland costs us around 15,000 dead from VII and X Gun, with about an equal number lost by the Americans.  Further, some of these were successful counterattacks, in which we lost ground.  With disproportionately high casualties, few gains and a real chance of losing Washington to a stray blitz attack, I decide to settle in to a hard defense in this area, and focus offensive operations on the flanks.

    The invasion of the American homeland is now fully underway, and the war has entered its climactic stage.  I have 15 corps aligned on two fronts, the largest by far I have fielded in this game; they are opposed by an even larger number of bled down, but better equipped, Allied divisions, who have proven to be impervious to my traditional attrition methods.  The spring of 1944 promises the most eventful period of the war.

The San Diego Breakout - Autumn 1943

    Looking back at this play-through, there is a rather obvious trend of activity.  The summers tend to be uneventful, frequently even dull, while autumns tend to be action-packed.  1943 may be the most extreme example of this trend yet.

A Slow Collapse on the Eastern Front

    In my last post, I predicted that the European Axis forces might completely collapse by the end of the year.  The situation did not deteriorate that quickly, but only due to heroic efforts of the Germans and Hungarians to sustain a cause which is now quite obviously hopeless.

    In the far north, the Germans have maintained a dogged defense of Leningrad.  The Soviets have made aggressive efforts to recapture the city; failing that, they have switched tactics to attempt an encirclement of the city by capturing Varna.  Even this effort was only barely fended off by the Germans.  The Soviets have now switched focus even further south, attempting to encircle the entire region by capturing Riga.  They are not successful before year-end, but the ultimate success is a matter of time, and I expect this will be the death blow for the Germans.

    In the southern portion of the line the Soviets are much more successful.  The Romanian army collapses completely in October, and the nation is annexed outright on November 1^st.  This is repeated by the Bulgarians, who surrender on the 29^th.  By the end of the year, the Soviets have occupied Salonica on the Aegean Coast, and are within 30 miles of the capture of Athena and Tirane.

    By the end of 1943, the front now stretches from Athens to Leningrad, and is as long as it possibly can be.  The front will begin to shrink early next year as the Soviets advance in the Baltic States and in the Balkans.  This will cause a concentration of force which favors the Soviets, who will be capable of maintaining continuous attacks against the exhausted Axis forces.  I do not foresee the Germans surviving past June.

Idle Invasions in Central America

    During the summer, I began transporting troops to Central America in preparation for the beginning of the invasion of the East Coast of the United States.  This is a lengthy process, so I decided to employ my idle troops with invasions of a few countries in the area.  Costa Rica came first, way back in May.  That invasion, taking only a week, was not worth mentioning even in the uneventful summer.  The operation against Venezuela came next.  Venezuela is a tricky country to invade, because its capital, Caracas, has no nearby port.  Normally when I invade Venezuela, I don’t have to worry about the Suriname/Guyana area either, since I typically have already conquered the Allies completely, or have not yet declared war on them.  These provinces, then, also complicated matters.

    With a fair amount of time to kill, I decided to be thorough about the invasion.  I deployed my LXII Rikusentai Gun to Cayenne; from there they marched westward, driving gradually to Caracas.  While this was going on, I landed LI Gun near Maracaibo, the other victory point province in the country.  After lengthy marches and a respectable amount of fighting, Venezuela surrenders on November 2^nd.  The Rikusentai continued westward to arrive (eventually) at Maracaibo, to begin amphibious landings in the Caribbean.  LI Gun headed south to form the core of my force against Columbia.  VIII Gun was sent to Maracaibo, in order to occupy Cartagena, while VII Gun maintained a defensive position on the Panama Isthmus.

    My forces were in their launching positions on December 20^th, and I declared war against Columbia.  This invasion went smoothly, with little fighting in Cartagena and none on the Panama Isthmus.  LI Gun occupies Bogota on January 9^th, forcing the government to surrender.  LXII Gun, meanwhile, makes short work of a few minor Caribbean nations, forcing the surrender of Haiti on January 4^th and the Dominican Republic a week later.  I plan on a landing near Washington DC soon, so the Central American campaign is placed on the back burner for the current time.

Operation Head-Up-The-91-Until-You-Hit-The-215

    With our spies reporting that the Americans are nearing the bottom of their manpower pool, I decide that I have nothing to lose by beginning an offensive in the San Diego region.  In the best-case scenario, I can inflict losses so heavy that the Allies completely crumble and flee headlong across the continent.  Worst case scenario, I have to break the attacks off early, losing a few men for no gain.  The most likely result is the infliction of a moderate amount of casualties on both sides, which I can afford, and the Americans can’t.  I can live with that.

    The plan is fairly simple, and has no particular goal.  The attack will be initiated by IV Gun moving to Mexicali (from Tijuana), and attacking northeast to El Centro.  III Gun will attack Coachella, and II Gun will attack Riverside.  I and V Gun will anchor the flanks, in Los Angeles and Mexicali, respectively.  If the initial attacks are successful, V Gun will attack eastward to San Luis Rio Colorado.  Newly recruited corps may be brought over, and added to the offensive later.

The San Diego Front in early December 1943

    The attack kicks off on December 8^th.  The fighting, predictably, is very heavy.  The bulk of the American forces are armored, as are some of my divisions.  The fighting rages for three full days before we start to see progress.  On the 11^th the defenders at Riverside fall back; we lose 1,400 killed, and inflict nearly 6,000.  Southward, the defenders put up a more dogged defense.  The defenders at El Centro hold on until the 14^th, inflicting 3,172 casualties on us and suffering over 8,000 themselves.  The defenders at Coachella hold out an additional day; the battle there ends with 2,243 dead on our side and a staggering 10,417 on theirs.

    The AI will generally attempt to reinforce a province under attack.  If they are unable to get the reinforcements to the front in time, they have a bad habit of simply converting the reinforcement to a counterattack.  This usually fails badly, as the now-attacking force is generally inadequate for the task.  I see quite a bit of this scenario during this offensive.  The first case erupts when II Gun arrives at Riverside on the 15^th; the attacking Americans, which we outnumber, collapse quickly, losing 3,500 men in the effort, far more than the meager 700 I lose.  III Gun meets a similar situation upon arrival in Coachella; they lose over 1,500 defending the province, and inflict over 6,000 on the would-be attackers.

    Around the 18^th, newly-formed XV Gun arrives in Los Angeles.  Thus, with the center of the line secure, I decide to press offensives on both ends.  V Gun has a surprising amount of success at San Luis; I expected the Colorado River to pose a formidable obstacle.  Happily, we are able to match the results we had elsewhere, losing a tolerable 2,249 killed, while inflicting 7,143 casualties on the combined Mexican and American forces.  This, sadly, marks the end of lopsided successes.

    By the 26^th, I Gun has had such little success attacking Pasadena that the attack is cancelled.  I pay over 6,000 casualties for this attempt, inflicting slightly fewer.  Eastward, II and III Gun make similar attempts against Barstow and Twentynine Palms, which are likewise cancelled.  The casualties in these battles are lower, with around 5,000 total for us and around 7,500 for the Americans.  Despite the casualty disparity, our organization is reduced significantly.  The Americans are not slow to take advantage, and immediately begin an intense counterattack at Riverside.  II Gun is forced to withdraw on the 24^th after suffering another 2,500 dead.  Newly formed XIII Gun is ushered in to attempt to keep the province.  They arrive in time, but the attackers maintain a withering assault, eventually driving my recruits back on the 30^th.  The corps suffers nearly 9,000 dead, proving they are dedicated, if not skilled.  I’d rather have skilled.

    Both sides stand down to take a much-needed breather at the end of the year.  The total figures for the operation are jaw-dropping.  In a short three weeks, we lost over 33,000 killed in action, far more than in the previous eleven months combined.  The Allies fared even worse, losing over 60,000, roughly an entire corps, not including losses from air strikes.  Overall, this is not a bad trade-off; my losses are replaced within days, and part of his will never be replaced.  Manpower reserves aside, however, one lesson is clear.  The Americans still have many more divisions, and thus much greater front-line strength than I have in this area.  Even after lopsided victories, I was unable to persist in the attacks in a way that could guarantee cascading victories.  Instead, my troops were forced back onto the defensive and were pushed back to their starting points by overwhelming counterattacks.

    Apparently, the need for a second front is as great as ever.  My forces in Central America, then, are sent to staging areas for an invasion of the American East Coast.  My plan is for an amphibious assault directly at Washington DC.  This will allow me to capture a massive stockpile of supplies, while keeping those same supplies from the Allies.  More importantly, it will draw forces from the West Coast.  This will allow me to resume a steady offensive in that region; meanwhile, it may take months for the Allies to redeploy, during which time my troops should have an impressive superiority in the East.  These factors, combined, should bring a (relatively) sudden end to the American war effort.

Attrition Arising - Mid 1943

    During the spring and summer of 1943, the primary focus of my efforts revolves around one word: manpower.  This is the main advantage of an early conquest of China.  While every other nation in the world is robbing the cradle and the grave to put warm bodies on the frontline, I still have over 4000 manpower points (about four million men) happily wandering around undrafted.  If I do manage to completely overrun the planet, it will be due largely to this bottomless pit of manpower.

The German-Soviet Front

    It has been awhile since I have mentioned the ongoing war between the Germans and the Soviets.  The simple reason for this is the fact that nothing of significance has occurred in well over a year.  The border has remained largely static, shifting by a few provinces here and there, but still running roughly from the Ukranian-Romanian border north to Leningrad.  The armies themselves, however, have apparently been quite busy.  My spies indicate that Germany has bottomed out on their manpower reserve, ranging from 0 to 20 points most of the year.  Even the Soviets, who I expected to maintain a comparatively large reserve, are now hovering between 20 and 100 points.  Late in the summer, the effects of this imbalance begin to show, as the Soviets begin to steadily gain provinces, especially in the south.  Thus far, the gains have been small, but a complete collapse of the Axis forces could occur within a few months.

A Different Kind of Hollywood Bomb

    I initially had modest expectations for my bombing campaigns in Southern California.  These raids, beginning in late 1942, seemed likely to deplete the American manpower reserve somewhat, but early anti-aircraft fire and fighter coverage indicated my planes were as likely to spend as much time in the hangars as in the air.  In order to keep the pressure up, I eventually deployed three carrier fleets to the area, and used their CAGs to fill in while the tactical bombers were recouping.  While these bombers were obviously less effective, they were more resilient; consequently, the enemy AA units and fighter squadrons began to wear down, and the tactical bombers were able to stay aloft longer.  By the end of summer the bombers are spending 25 days a month in the air.  The CAGs, on the northern and eastern sections of the target area are more likely to see action with enemy fighters, but are still performing missions around 15 days a month.

    These raids, cumulatively, have had a significant effect.  By the end of summer our spies report American manpower down to 50 points or less.  They still have full control over the bulk of their population, meaning they’re still getting a fair amount of reinforcements.  Even so, their low manpower shows we are dealing more damage than they can keep up with, which is a great sign.  A few more months of bombing will lead to units being pulled permanently off the front lines; once we begin the land war in earnest, the Americans are likely to collapse quickly, or at least as easily as the Brits.

The Conquest of Iberia

    The main event of the middle of 1943 is the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal).  As with Britain, I’ve carried out this invasion many times before from different angles.  Unlike Britain, I don’t really have it down pat.  The infrastructure is generally low (for Europe), and the terrain is almost random, with mountain chains, hills, forests and plains intermingled throughout the peninsula.  Spain has an extremely high national unity, requiring attackers to take every victory point, including the hard-to-reach Madrid.  Portugal is arguably worse; inexplicably they refuse to surrender unless you conquer most of their African colonies as well as their mainland.

    One of the most interesting things about a conquest of Iberia is that it highlights the value of infantry.  I have hit the peninsula using large (250-500k man) armies, made of well equipped combined arms divisions, only to have the invasion bog down to a crawl due to supply shortages.  This invasion in particular demonstrates the less-is-more concept; using only four corps (less than 200k men), with no armor, I had no supply problems, and combat was still fairly light.

    The Iberia Invasion Plan, like most of my plans, is short on details, and leaves a lot of room for ad hoc maneuvers.  It has two phases: Portugal, and Spain.  The conquest of mainland Portugal is not expected to be difficult, or even worthy of any particular attention.  IX and VI Gun will lead the attack by deploying in the provinces neighboring Lisboa; with the capital surrounded, they will attack and overrun it, securing supplies and a significant port.  VI Gun will turn south and occupy the southern half of the country, while IX Gun turns north and moves up the coastline to Porto.  VII Gun will be quickly shipped in to align on IX Gun’s right, and sweep up the Spanish border.  Portugal will not surrender from the occupation of their mainland, but we will establish a safe base of operations.

    Phase Two will involve the three Gun from Phase One, as well as VIII Gun, shipped in from Australia.  IX Gun will continue northward along the coast, then turn eastward toward Bilbao and the French border.  VII Gun will aim for Madrid, and then move towards either Barcelona or Valencia, as needed.  VIII Gun will proceed in a vague eastward line, likely aiming for Murcia and Valencia.  VI Gun will be responsible for the southern coastline, primarily Seville, Cadiz and Malaga.

The plan for my Iberian conquest.

    The operation kicks off with the declaration of war against Portugal on April 5^th.  The landing is accomplished within two days, and the attack is launched against Lisboa.  This battle is one of the largest of the campaign, which indicates the ease of conquest.  We suffer only 337 killed; the Portuguese suffer 1,782, and lose another 10,000 captured.  After this battle, only a few Portuguese divisions remain in existence, and they are able to slow my forces by only a few hours, and surrender around Porto within a month or so.

    My troops get to enjoy a bit of downtime while awaiting the arrival and deployment of VIII Gun.  The Spaniards, until my conquest of Portugal, had the bulk of their army deployed on the French border.  Once our troops begin to arrive at their kick-off points, though, the Spanish army began moving en masse to guard against them.  They had managed to get most of their army in place along the border before VIII Gun arrived on June 21^st.  It was a credible, although completely futile, movement.

    The war opened on the 22^nd; the Spanish forces, while not mobilized, were able to put forth a few days of fighting along various spots on the border.  This, however, was the extent of the Spanish opposition.  Those units which fought the hardest along the front were encircled and destroyed; those that retreated quickly were overrun within a few weeks.  My advance was highly uneven, due to Spanish defense, terrain quirks, and irregular routes of march.  This caused a few problems, in particular near Madrid.  Since this city was a major focal point of the offensive, I decided to stall a bit here to mop up loose ends.  IX and VIII Gun cut off and destroyed a few pesky divisions that attempted to get behind the offensive, while VII Gun itself encircled the city and forced the surrender of its defenders.  The city fell on August 2^nd.

    Normally, the AI will do everything they can to slow my advance.  Even when hopelessly outmatched, they will attempt to fight just to stall, by imposing post-battle confusion; failing that, they will frequently try to outflank the attackers, in order to force us to turn around and deal with them.  These tactics rarely do much good, but are annoying.  With no supplies, though, even these tactics are impossible.  The capture of Madrid, and the nation’s supply depot, brings an end to all resistance.  The remaining Spanish forces begin a headlong flight to the French border.  This does little good; they are prohibited from entering German-occupied France, and the remaining unoccupied areas of Spain are insufficient to provide supplies or reinforcements.  Even so, it takes another two months to plod through the rough terrain.  Barcelona is finally captured without a fight on October 5^th; the government and remaining forces surrender the next day.

    Because my war declaration prompted Spain to join the Allies, their off-shore colonies continued a show of resistance.  Troops were sent to occupy the Baleares in mid October, and North Africa in the end of the month.  The finale of the campaign occurs as we enter Tangiers on the 31^st.  This gives me credit for the Gibraltar game objective; this is the eighth objective we’ve claimed, and therefore we have now technically won the game.  Of course, it defeats the purpose of playing to claim victory before even winning the two biggest campaigns, so, I fight on.

    On last note is worth mentioning here.  Over the last year or so there has been little naval combat, aside from an occasional lone destroyer or unescorted transport ship meandering around.  Portugal and Spain did have navies, of course, and I considered myself adequately prepared for both with one carrier fleet and one gunship fleet.  The Portuguese were disposed of with little ceremony.  We began port strikes against Lisboa, which prompted their navy to attempt a break out, and resulted in their complete annihilation.  The Spanish fleet, however, was dispersed throughout various ports.  This complicated their destruction.  I was able to sink two fleets, based out of Cadiz, but with various other matters to attend to, I neglected to finish the job with the other fleets.  I was surprised, then, a few weeks later to see my gunship fleet under heavy attack off the coast near Porto.  The situation was worsened by the fact that I had not even bothered to return the fleet to port for repairs since the beginning of the campaign.  My fleet was able to drive off and sink the Spaniards, but at the cost of a light cruiser.  This was the first ship lost in combat in over a year, and hopefully will be the last.