On July 17th we achieved an important milestone by capturing Jamestown, on Lake Erie. The Great Lakes give me an impenetrable barrier roughly in the center of my line. Later, this could create problems as it will hinder cooperation between the two wings of the theater; but for now, it allows me to continue to advance without stretching my corps any thinner than they already are. On a side note, it has been my experience that once the Great Lakes area is overrun, the United States has very little time left.
The Rochester Pocket
With Jamestown secured, an opportunity for an encirclement maneuver presented itself along the southern shoreline of Lake Ontario. There is a three-province isthmus between the two lakes: Hamilton on the Canada side, Buffalo and Lockport on the American side. From Jamestown, I can push northward through Dunkirk into Buffalo, and then close off the western escape/supply route by taking either Lockport or Hamilton. Several provinces to the east, I can drive up from Binghamton through the Syracuse/Utica area to Pulaski, on Lake Ontario, thus fully enclosing a rather large swath of land and several Allied divisions.
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| Action on Lake Ontario, August 1944 |
The plan is set into motion in late July. 84 and 85 Shidan are given the key assignment of seizing the Buffalo area; the remainder of XVII Gun will serve as the figurative anvil, and hold the central portion of the line, while XVI Gun is responsible for sealing off the eastern escape route. 84 and 85 Shidan have the toughest time of it. As usual, the initial drive to establish an encirclement is much easier than maintaining it. They are able to occupy Dunkirk and Buffalo with minimal difficulty, and drive a Canadian division out of Lockport easily. The AI, however, is very good at spotting these problem areas as they develop. Whether the Allies feared a complete encirclement, or were merely attempting to keep their supply lines short, they immediately launched an aggressive counter-attack. We ended up abandoning Buffalo, and held Lockport with both divisions while 83 Shidan came up from Olean to hold Dunkirk. As weeks of fighting dragged on, I started to become concerned about being cut off myself.
Eastward, XVI Gun was having a much easier time of it. They were virtually unopposed in their march to Lake Ontario, which they reached in mid August. I was able to hold the eastern flank of the region with half of the corps, while the other half drove west to help complete the coup-de-grace. By this flank and rear attack, pressure was relieved on 81 and 82 Shidan, who in turn were then able to launch counter-attacks to relieve the pressure on the beleaguered 84 and 85 Shidan. Now realizing the severity of the situation, the remaining Allied forces began to pull back into a small pocket centered on Rochester. The final attack was launched on August 21st by the six most organized divisions of XVI and XVII Gun. The Allied forces, now reduced to a pair of infantry divisions and a ranger division, surrendered after a perfunctory fight.
After this success, I re-consolidated XVII Gun and steered them back towards Buffalo. Taking that by the end of August, they crossed over to Hamilton, marking the first time I’ve entered Canada in this war. 81, 82 and 83 Shidan push farther and occupy Toronto, with its crucial victory points, while the remainder of the corps holds the supply line open in Hamilton. With no obvious objectives within safe striking distance, I decide to let them dig in and hold their position for (what will likely be) the remainder of the war.
Summer in New England
After the New Jersey campaign, my offensive along the coast stalled out a bit as I concentrated on the central drive towards the Great Lakes and gave my Rikusentai a bit of a break. By late July, however, it was becoming increasingly important to push up the coast in order to protect the flank of XVI Gun. On the 24th I began my drive with an assault against New York City with my 359 and 360 Rikusentai divisions. Like San Francisco, New York was thinly defended and the occupation is rather underwhelming. The defenders, a division of garrison troops, are subsequently overrun, presenting an interesting situation. With the neighboring troops pushing northward rapidly, and the New York garrison captured, New England is left virtually defenseless. There is only one garrison division in Boston to guard the entire area east of the Hudson River and south of the Canada border.
In order to capitalize on the situation, I spread LXII Gun out as widely as possible, and have them advance rapidly throughout the area. I overrun the garrison in Boston in mid August, eliminating the only minor roadblock along the eastern seaboard. I promptly overextend myself, spreading my divisions as far as possible. 360 Rikusentai, on the far right, reaches the Canadian border at the curiously named Berlin, New Hampshire, in early September. The Allies respond to this by sending divisions from Canada into Maine, with the likely intent of outflanking me.
My first instinct is to attack the flanking divisions directly. I order 360 Rikusentai to attack east, into Rangeley. My plan is to use them to attack the lead American division, now advanced into Rumford, driving them south to Portland, where they can be encircled and crushed. Things don’t work out that way, however. The attack against Rumford starts off well, but 360 Rikusentai quickly falls under counterattacks from the units still north of the border. Outnumbered and under pressure from multiple directions, I cancel the southward attack. Even this is only a temporary measure, as the Allies keep up a determined attack with multiple divisions. The situation degrades, and on September 17th 360 Rikusentai is completely spent, and begins a retreat back to Berlin. This is now a severe crisis; Allied troops are already on the march from Sherbrooke Canada to Berlin. If they arrive first, 360 Rikusentai will be bagged wholesale. I’ve already lost one division in this war, I’d rather not lose another – much less an expensive, highly experienced marine division.
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| 360 Rikusentai's narrow escape |
My first task is to try to bring in 359 Rikusentai to establish a defense in Berlin. This is risky. Unexpectedly, the Allies have launched an aggressive offensive along the Hudson River, and have the bulk of LXII Gun pinned down, attempting to keep XVII Gun’s flank secure. By moving 359 Rikusentai northward, I am leaving a gap in the line, and I’m running the risk of having both 359 and 360 captured; just as bad, an aggressive sortie through the gap could compromise our entire line in this area, and force months of pointless fighting just to reestablish the integrity of the line.
The most likely downside, however, is that 359 Rikusentai simply won’t get there in time. It’s a long march in rugged terrain, and the Allies have a head start. So, I am forced to resort to the last desperate measure I can think of: bombers. My tactical bombers are brought in to conduct round-the-clock raids against the advancing troops, with a hope that they’ll be brought down to such low organization or strength that they will be unable to advance at all. It is a slim hope, but considering the depleted manpower pools of the Americans and Canadians, it is at least possible.
On September 20th, after over two solid days of bombing, the effort pays off. The Canadian division which was en route cancels its march, and my chances of evacuating 360 Rikusentai go up slightly. The Americans respond by launching two fresh advances, from Sherbrooke and Asbestos. By dividing their movement, they take my bombers mostly out of the equation, and it becomes a four-way foot race. If 359 Rikusentai arrives first, they can establish a defensive position and save 360 Rikusentai (at least for the time being); if 360 Rikusentai arrives first, they’ll come under immediate fire, and there is a 50/50 chance they will be shattered or forced to retreat someplace unhelpful. If either of the American divisions arrive first, 360 Rikusentai gets bagged outright.
As it turns out, the multi-day foot-race that determined the fate of one of the most revered divisions on the planet comes down to a matter of hours. At 11pm, on September 25th, 359 Rikusentai completes its heroic forced march and arrives in Berlin. The Americans, battered by intermittent bombing raids, butt up against the Rikusentai, and decide to stand down. 360 Rikusentai arrives at 5am the next morning, weary but safe.
As it turns out, the season finishes up quite well in New England. In upstate New York, XVI Gun has reconsolidated and spread eastward, allowing the rest of LXII Gun to blunt the Hudson River offensive and reverse it. A stray American division remains wandering around southern Maine, but as it happens, newly formed XVIII Gun has arrived off the coast, and could use a bit of live ammo target practice before forming up on the front line.
A Sultry Southern Summer
On the far end of the line, the summer progressed much less favorably. Early in the season the Allies were able to take advantage of the thinness of VI Gun’s deployment to punch through the line (again…) and escape into the interior of North Carolina. This was rather sudden, and, unlike the similar campaign in the spring, I had no divisions rearward to block their advance or help stabilize the situation.
I did my best to attempt to manage the situation, but the weight of numbers eventually took over. VI Gun had only 4 divisions and the corps reserve, while the Allies, over a few weeks, would bring up to twelve divisions into the area. The corps reserve, 27 and 28 Shidan were forced to extend the line eastward, in order to prevent neighboring IX Gun from being outflanked and swallowed whole. This left 29 and 30 Shidan to attempt to stem the tide. 30 Shidan, on the end of the line, advanced south in the wake of the Allied spearhead, to cut off their supplies. Angered (or frightened) by this, the Allies attacked 29 Shidan at Raleigh, while doubling back with the spearhead divisions. 29 Shidan, greatly outnumbered, was forced to retreat. Unwisely, they retreated towards 30 Shidan in Goldsboro, instead of a safer northward retreat.
30 Shidan now found itself encircled, and responsible for the beleaguered 29 Shidan. My only possible hope was to launch a northward breakout attack, aimed at the recently taken Raleigh. This effort was successful, and drove the Allies out of the province. Unfortunately, the retreating armies like to take their sweet time, and are able block my units from using it as an escape route until they’re gone. Meanwhile, the other Allied divisions, sensing blood, began an aggressive attack against Goldsboro.
I was left with no good options, other than to fight as well as possible until the Allies cleared out of Raleigh and opened the escape hatch. 29 Shidan, having recovered enough organizational strength to fight, was beaten down quickly. They surrendered on July 30th, leaving 30 Shidan left to face the onslaught alone. Mercifully (or miraculously), 30 Shidan was able to hold out another two days, until the Raleigh route was cleared. They were able to escape and reach the comparative safety of the other VI Gun divisions.
The loss of a second full division, on virtually the same ground as the first, was severely demoralizing. Worse yet, though, was the sequence of cascading catastrophes that was now mid-career. Now outnumbered twelve divisions to four, I faced a very real possibility of being forced to abandon all of North Carolina and most of Virginia, and possibly everything more than one or two provinces west of Washington, simply to prevent several entire corps from being cut-off and captured. The setback would be crippling to the entire course of the war.
The only meager hope came in the form of a few newly recruited divisions. Originally slated to form part of XVIII Gun, they were renamed 26 and 29 Shidan, and deployed to Norfolk in mid August. The lead Allied division was already approaching this port, and preventing its capture was the first task. Fortunately, this division was only a partisan/militia division; the new recruits were able to first halt it, and then completely overrun it. The remaining Allied divisions were less ambitious, and stayed within sight of VI Gun. Thus, I had enough of a reprieve to lay out another of my encirclement plans.
VI Gun Reserve, 27 and 28 Shidan had managed to escape any serious fighting, and were well-rested. They, then, would be responsible for a drive southward, from Statesville through Laurinburg to the coast at Whiteville. Meanwhile, 26 and 29 Shidan will complete their march from Norfolk, driving the Allies into a trap at Lumberton, and complete the encirclement by occupying Fayetteville and Wilmington. 30 Shidan, still recovering from the near escape in late August, will be held in reserve and used where needed.
Surprisingly, the plan goes off with hardly a hitch. The Allies put up the most significant resistance at Laurinburg, where I am able to concentrate my forces the hardest. Thus, when that province is taken, I am able to take Whiteville and complete the encirclement with little resistance. The Allies are already spent, and are unable to mount their accustomed break-out effort from the west, while those forces inside the trap are constantly under fire from 26 and 29 Shidan. The two divisions in the pocket, one Canadian and one American, surrender on September 24th, bringing at least an upbeat finale to an otherwise disappointing season.
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| Atlantic Front, on September 30, 1944 |
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