With my foothold on the American East Coast now firmly established, the war enters the meat-and-potatoes period. The casualty rates range from 1,000 to 2,000 daily for each side, spread out amongst dozens of battles across thousands of miles of front. This season will put my infantry-heavy strategy to its ultimate test.
It Turns Out There Are More Germans Then I Thought
At the end of last autumn, I predicted the Germans were on the verge of collapse, and predicted they would surrender by June. Over the winter, events foreshadowed that prediction going awry. It isn’t a big surprise, then, that the Germans have yet to collapse, or even fall back significantly. The Italians have moved a large force into the Balkans after the loss of Albania, and have stabilized that front. In the far north, the Soviets are able to retake Leningrad only shortly before the end of June. The remainder of the front remains largely static, although the Soviets gradually gain a province here or there. Soviet progress has been so slow, in fact, that they have yet to enter Germany itself, with all of the combat still occurring in the Baltic States, Poland and Hungary. At this rate it may be my allies’ dogged defense that prevents my complete victory.
A Ground Tour of Western South America, at Bargain Prices
Way back on January 9th, LI Gun occupied Bogota, completing the conquest of Colombia. The East Coast Campaign had yet to begin, so out of idleness, I sent the corps to the Ecuador border, with the idea that I would declare war on them shortly. However, in the chaos of the capture of Washington, LI Gun was ... sort of ... forgotten. They sat around for over a month playing cards, writing haikus, doing whatever it is that bored Japanese soldiers do. In late February things heated up in the United States, and I started looking around for more troops to bring in, which reminded me of my mountain troops. Unfortunately, they were now a long ways away from any port. The most reasonable thing to do, then, (and I define reasonable very loosely), was to declare war on Ecuador and use their port.
Ecuador, like most unaligned South American nations, was demobilized. I suppose they do this to save resources, or money, or to avoid the appearance of belligerence. Whatever. Here’s a tip though: When a corps of Imperial Japanese troops shows up on your border, you are two weeks past the best time to mobilize. Even with a month-long “administrative error”, they were still woefully unprepared. Actual combat was nearly non-existent, and we marched into Quito on March 18th.
By this point, the need for more troops in the United States has waned a bit. Thus, I decide to go ahead and finish the most important conquests of South America, and save myself some time later. I start with a declaration of war against Peru on April 23rd. This operation is one of the few (recently) where I have made use of amphibious landings. I landed three divisions on the plains north of Lima, while mounting a direct amphibious attack against the capital with the other two. Once the three divisions were safely landed, I brought them into the attack, and withdrew the ship-borne divisions from the fight. I then brought the two remaining divisions south, landing one at Arequipa directly, and the other north of it. The idea behind these maneuvers was to prevent any major landing penalties by mounting the major attacks from land. The operation was successful, with both Lima and Arequipa falling with comparatively light casualties. Peru surrendered on May 3rd.
Next on the docket are the two land-locked nations of South America, Bolivia and Paraguay. They thought they were so clever when they declared war on me back in 1939, figuring that I couldn’t reach land-locked nations. They figured wrong. The two divisions landed at Arequipa immediately head northeastward for a strike against Bolivia. Despite being mobilized, the Bolivians put up only a modest fight against my veteran mountain divisions, who occupy La Paz on May 24th, forcing the country’s surrender.
Here, however, I run into one of the biggest problems of the entire war: the much-vaunted Paraguayan (Paraguese?) army. All joking aside, they hold the mountains east of La Paz quite ably, and tire my two mountain divisions out quickly. Meanwhile, the remainder of the corps is taking its sweet time marching into the region from Lima. It is not until the end of June that the corps is reunited along a sold front east of La Paz, and is able to begin a slow offensive in the neighboring mountains. The ultimate goal, of course, is Asunción, the capital and only victory point province of Paraguay. Regrettably, we will need to fight through several provinces of mountains, and eventually two provinces of forest, before reaching the goal. Once captured, however, the Allies will be limited to only the North American countries (who are currently on the ropes) and South Africa, making a final victory quicker, or at least more dramatic.
Continued Pummeling on the West Coast
Several times during the spring, I came to the conclusion that the Americans were at the breaking point. Based on low troop strength and increasingly thin lines, I figured that one good hit would cause the Americans to fall apart and begin a futile headlong retreat to their interior. Yet each time, even when the attacks are successful, the follow-up attacks are met by fresh troops, and the complete front-wide breakdown eludes me.
The first such example took place in April north of Los Angeles. A counterattack at Santa Monica was rebuffed, with around 3,000 casualties to XV Gun and 6,000 to the attacking Americans. I estimated that the heavy fighting in the area throughout the winter depleted morale enough to launch a major offensive. Late in the month I launched a three-prong attack against Oxnard, Lancaster, and Pasadena. I quickly find out how much of a beating half-strength divisions can take. It’s quite a bit, actually. Oxnard is taken on the 23rd, at a cost of 4,500 dead to XV Gun and 7,100 to the Americans. Lancaster sees the heaviest fighting; we lose 6,000 killed and inflict 15,000 casualties to the Allies before taking the province on the 30th. Pasadena, despite being a mountainous province, sees about the same casualties as at Oxnard, but holds out until early May.
These fights are intense enough that I can not immediately follow up. Instead, a launch an attack along the east side of the front, centered on Bakersfield. This offensive drags on for two weeks until it becomes clear they are not likely to succeed. The battles cost us around 10,000 total casualties in Tehachapi, Mojave, Bakersfield and Barstow. The Americans and Mexicans suffer over 15,000. I continue to be impressed with the resolve; despite taking significantly higher casualties and being unable to replace their losses, the Allies continue to fight with a high level of determination.
By the middle of June, however, that determination begins to waver. IV Gun launches a successful attack against Prescott, resulting in around 5,000 casualties on each side. This marks the first battle on the western front outside of California, and signifies the beginning of our slow but relentless expansion in the area. From this point onward, our troops are in almost constant forward motion. While there is still heavy fighting along the front, the battles become increasingly shorter and result in fewer casualties. While an actual victory could easily take another nine months, it is at least on the horizon.
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| The American West Campaign at the end of June, 1944. Note that nearly all of my troops are advancing. |
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