The Collapse of Nationalist China

     II Gun encounters some trouble when moving along the Yangtze.  I was continuing my standard operations here, mainly as a matter of habit, as this area is very unlikely to be relevant before the end of the war.  Because II Gun was already across the river, the idea was to have them push southwest and clear the way for III Gun to cross unopposed in their rear.  The Chinese put up an unexpectedly stiff resistance at Fanchang, at cost us 161 KIA, while losing 425 themselves.  This turns out to be the last significant engagement of the war, however.

     After the Battle of Enshi, the remainder of V Gun pours across the river and set up to attack Changde.  The Chinese unwisely ignore the more immediate threat, and shuttle troops to attempt to block IV Gun at Jinshi.  By early December the entire V Gun is set to launch the final assault of the war, and pitch into Changde.  The city is held by a single militia division, which crumples after several hours of perfunctory resistance.  There are few casualties to speak of, and V Gun occupies the city on December 7^th, 1937 (a day that will live in moderate amounts of fame).  The Nationalist Government formally surrenders the next day.

     At this point, I run some scenarios past my political advisers (i.e. I save and restore a few times).  It turns out that declaring war against Xibei San Ma alone is not sufficient to keep our country mobilized, even if I declare war against Yunnan and the Guangxi Clique too.  When I let the Nationalists surrender without continuing the war against the other states, however, I am allowed to stay fully mobilized (meaning, I keep the service-by-requirement and total economic mobilization policies).  I have to admit that I have no idea how this game works sometimes.

     Anyway, I decide to redeploy my troops to a employ blitz strategies against these states, when I decide to resume the offensive.  2 Homen-Gun continues in the west.  VIII Gun is sent to Banbar, to attack Tibet’s capital of Lhasa.  VII Gun is sent to Sogxian to attack northward towards the Xibei San Ma capital at Golmud.  VI Gun is deployed to Guangyuang to capture the eastern Xibei points of Tianshui and Lanzhou.  The cavalry units are positioned along the eastern border, to prevent any mischief, as originally planned.

     1 Homen-Gun will be responsible for Yunnan and the Guangxi Clique.  V Gun will proceed from Panzhihua to Dali.  IV Gun will take a longer route from Xichang to Kumming.  III Gun will be sent to Anshun to capture Baise.  II Gun will be split into three groups to hit Guilin from multiple directions.  I Gun is ferried to the southern coast, and will hit Nanning from the south.

Invasion plans of 1 Homen-Gun for the Spring of 1938

     With the new year, we get a fresh crop of generals to choose from.  In order to help with potential supply issues, generals Honda, Okabe and Sagara are put in charge of VI, VII, and VIII Gun, respectively.  We also make some minor adjustments to our cabinet, but leave the air and naval command as is.

     In early February our rocket test site is completed.  While I have little use for rockets themselves, they open the door to jet engine and missile research, which provides some of the dramatic improvements in the late game.  The completion also frees up a large chunk of my IC.  With my divisions pretty well set for artillery and engineers, I’ve been working on some mountain and marine divisions.  Sadly, the mountain troops won’t be ready for the invasions of the minor Chinese states, all of which are heavily mountainous, but I predict they will have plenty to do throughout the next decade.  The marines are built with an eye towards the Oceanic states.  Australia, in particular, will require a fair number of beach landings.

     On February 16^th the Changkufeng Lake incident erupts.  It is a minor affair on both sides; we lose 500 supplies, they lose a mediocre general, not a big deal.  It has a grand significance, though: to remind us we now have less than ten years to build up an army that can topple the Soviets.  That won’t happen with our current resources, manpower, and strategic location.  We do, however, have a good start.

Crossing the Yangtze River

       As October comes to a close, I am faced with a four strategic goals:

1. Determine how many more key points I need to take in order to bring the Nationalists to their knees, and how to take them;
2. Capture the port of Shanghai, and its perilous labyrinth of neighboring provinces;
3. Force my entire army across the Yangtze River;
4. Determine which of the remaining Chinese states will be my next target.

     By early November the Nationalists are rapidly reaching their breaking point.  According to my exhaustive intelligence efforts (looking at the diplomacy screen), they have a unity of 68%, and we have around 60% of their points captured.  Shanghai will bring in a few more, but aside from that, it seems necessary to cross the Yangtze in force.  The cities of Changde and Changsha offer another three points, and if necessary Chongqing and a few coastal landings will bring the war to a close.

Shanghai

     First, I need to deal with the Shanghai area, hanging off my east flank.  It is an interesting combination of provinces.  The city itself is situated at the tip of a shallow peninsula.  It is one of the most strategically significant cities in China, offering a level 10 port, a level six airfield, over 11 manpower, two factories, two victory points, and small amounts of leadership, energy and metals.  The city, however, is potentially a tough nut to crack when approaching from the land.  The Yangtze is an immediate obstacle blocking the northern approach to the peninsula, while the Grand Canal cuts through the entire base, making virtually every fight a river crossing.  Lake Tai also sits at the base, narrowing the access to two narrow corridors: a northern approach through Wuxi and Changshu, and a southern approach through Hangzhou.  Several nearby provinces are hilly, and the each of the approach corridors boast numerous fortifications.

     This presents two obvious results: first, it makes for intense combat if the Chinese defend this area in strength; second, if I am fast, I have the opportunity to trap some of the Chinese in the city and force their surrender.  Mercifully, however, the Chinese decide not to contest the area.  After polishing off the Nationalist navy, we employed our carrier groups in bombing runs against this area and the area around Guangzhou.  The nationalists had moved most of their troops to the front, and the troops in this area in particular we used in the defense of Nanjing.  Only two bombed-out divisions remained near Shanghai, and once Wuxi was captured, they began their march southward.  Tied up around Nanjing, we were unable to close the Hangzhou corridor, and the Chinese escaped to the south.  Had I split up I Gun even more in the lead up to the Battle of Nanjing, I might have been able to bag these two divisions, but as it stands, I was able to occupy Shanghai bloodlessly, which is a satisfactory result too.

The Chinese escape from the Shanghai peninsula.  What good are forts if you aren't going to use them?

The Yangtze Crossing

     Westward, the situation is more sanguinary.  The entire army, with the exception of I and II Gun, are aligned along the Yangtze, and face both river-crossing and rugged terrain penalties if I am going to advance.  After mulling over the situation for a few days, I decide V Gun reserve and 21 & 22 Shidan will have the honor of forcing the river by crossing from Yichang to Enshi, one of the few provinces which offers no defensive bonus.  18, 19 & 20 Shidan from IV Gun will launch a complementary attack from Tianmen to Xianning to prevent a counterattack.  The battles rage for nearly a week; on November 14^th the Chinese give up Enshi, killing 602 of our men, while losing 443 of theirs.  The Xianning attack takes another four days, and claims a strangely lighter total of 540 Japanese, while inflicting nearly the same number of casualties against the Nationalists.  From here, the remainders of IV and V Gun will cross the river peacefully, then widen the breach by attacking laterally.  With their flanks secure, the 18-22 Shidan will continue south and focus on the cities of the Dongting Lake area, whose capture will hopefully be end of Nationalist resistance.

The End In Sight

     So, with the Nationalists near the breaking point, I need to start working towards my next natural step.  I want the war to be continuous; if the Nationalists surrender while I am not at war with anyone else, my armies will immediately de-mobilize, and I will need to spend precious money re-mobilizing again in a few months.  The next obvious targets, and, in fact, the only nations I can declare war against, are Xibei San Ma, Yunnan, and the Guangxi Clique.  Each poses interesting problems.  Xibei San Ma is the most accessible, but my forces have already moved past their border, and I will have to give up gains to position myself to attack them.  I do not border Yunnan yet, and their heavily mountainous terrain can pose major problems if I give them time to mobilize.  Guangxi Clique is the most ominous; not only is it the farthest away, they also have the largest army and heavily mountainous terrain; allowing them time to mobilize might be a recipe for disaster.

     Xibei San Ma, then, seems to be the most appealing.  I start my cavalry units westward to line up along the border.  They presently show only three divisions, which is promising.  However, the cavalry has a large distance to cover, and may not get set in time.  In that case, I may need to declare war on Yunnan instead, or against Xibei and run the risk of having some troops cut off.  I will make more definite plans as V-Day approaches.

The Battle of Nanjing

     IV Gun has had little trouble since the Battle of Zhengzhou.  The Chinese forces covering that portion of the front put everything they had into defending Zhengzhou, and have been retreating steadily across the open spaces between the Yellow and the Yangtze.  By October 16^th, IV Gun is on the outskirts of Wuhan, and the Chinese decide to contest the city.  The Battle of Wuhan is comparatively light.  It is one of the few urban areas north of its adjacent river, meaning that we get to avoid dealing with the river crossing and urban combat penalties at the same time.  We lose 161 men from the 18, 19 and 20 Shidan, and kill 371 Chinese.  This is the first, but not the last, battle against the Nationalists in which the starting forces are fairly close in number; we had 20,000 in our three divisions, and the Chinese had 15,995 in their three divisions.  The remainder of IV Gun is also heavily engaged taking the hills of Xishui, losing 164 of 22,000, while inflicting 321 casualties (of 15,000) against the Chinese.

     With most of 1 Homen-Gun approaching the Yangtze, our attention turns to the Nationalist capital at Nanjing.  The city poses an interesting strategic riddle.  To the north and west are plains, separated from the city by the mighty Yangtze.  South and East of the city are extensive hills.  The Yangtze and the Grand Canal combine to ensure river crossing penalties for attackers from nearly any direction, and the fortresses to the west of Shanghai further complicate the situation.  On the appealing side, the city itself is connected to only three provinces: Yangzhou and Man’anshan to the north and west, and Yixing to the south and east.  Because it is the capital, the Chinese are likely to defend it heavily, and it makes an appealing trap.

     By late October II Gun has recovered sufficiently to resume combat operations.  Our plan is use them to hold the Yangtze line at Yangzhou and Man’anshan.  I Gun will be assigned the bulk of the marching and fighting; split into three groups, they will occupy the remaining provinces north of the Yangtze along the coast.  Our recon indicates the formidable province of Wuxi is unoccupied; 1 & 2 Shidan will capture it quickly, then turn left to seize Yixing.  With Yixing occupied, 4 & 5 Shidan will cross the Yangtze hold it, while 1 & 2 Shidan to return to Wuxi and begin dealing with Shanghai.

 

My plan for a perfectly consensual occupation of Nanjing

     The operation goes roughly according to plan.  The bulk of the Chinese forces attempt to obstruct the most direct approach to the city, but II Gun is able to push them back with little trouble.  1 & 2 Shidan are able to cross the Yangtze and Grand Canal unopposed, and prepare to trigger the trap.  Once Wuxi is occupied, however, the Chinese become immediately aware of their dilemma and concentrate forces in Yixing.  On October 20^th we launch at Yixing.  The battle rages for two days, but we are successful and lose only 98 of our 16,000, while the Chinese lose 325 of their 26,000.  By the 24^th the Chinese send more troops to Yixing in a break-out attempt; in this fight we lose another 166, and inflict 222 additional casualties.

     We occupy the heights of Yixing on the 26^th. The Chinese forces inside Nanjing launch a break-out attempt coordinated with forces to the south.  3 Shidan moves into Yixing from Changzhou to help.  The Chinese are quickly spent in the effort, losing 724 dead and inflicting an additional 187 casualties on us.

     With Nanjing completely encircled and the troops inside exhausted, II Gun launches its attack across the river.  The Chinese put up only a token resistance, and promptly surrender.  Despite the rapidity of our movements, the Chinese were able to evacuate most of their troops, and only one division (with a strength of 7930) was captured.  At 3am on the morning of October 28^th, 3, 4 & 5 Shidan occupy the city.  As with the previous capitals, Nanjing had only modest depots to capture, but it is sufficient to keep the war effort well-fueled for a few more months.  We capture around 3500 tons of supplies, 6000 barrels of fuel, 50 units of money, and over a thousand units of rare materials, as well as quantities of metals and energy.  The money and rare materials are especially useful, as my industry has been running at reduced efficiency because of the lack of rare materials for months now.

     On the far end of the front, 2 Homen-Gun spends October slogging through the dense forests between the Yellow and Yangtze river basins.  They make fairly good time of it, but are greeted by ominous sights as they approach the Yangtze.  Across the mighty river are seemingly endless mountains, broken only by the occasional patch of jungle.  Combined with very low infrastructure, this area promises bloody combats, slow recovery, and glacially slow movement.  We halt along the line of the river to plan our next move.  VIII Gun is  stationed in Xuanhun, and observes the Nationalists evacuate the neighboring provinces of Guangyuan and Nanchong.  Not one to turn down free land, I send the Gun across the river, split between the two provinces.  This movement may have been a simple re-adjustment, however, as Nanchong is reoccupied.  VIII Gun reserve, and 36 & 37 Shidan unquestioningly launch into an attack.  Occupied by events in Janing, I don’t notice the attack for several days before I break it off.  The battle marks my first official tactical loss of the game; I lose 426 killed, and inflict only 246, and fail to take the province.

          The Chinese leave the city of Chengdu empty.  I suspect they are attempting to pull as much of their army east as possible, into a more solid core.  We occupy Chengdu in early November; the Chinese, now exposed to attack from three sides, evacuate Nanchong, and VIII Gun makes another attempt to occupy it, this time successfully and uneventfully.

The Chinese Interior - Late Summer 1937

     On the western portion of the front, 2 Homen-Gun starts to meet heavy resistance from the Nationalists.  They are no strangers to rough terrain – the conquest of the Communists was done through the worst terrain we’ve seen so far – but they’ve mercifully been able to avoid river crossings up until now.  By mid September, however, VIII Gun is forced to cross the Wei (a tributary of the Yellow), and pays a steep price: 361 killed.  This is more than double the casualties inflicted (155), and is an evil omen of what I might face in the dense forests and mountain ranges of western China.

     In the east, with the Yellow River behind us, most of my forces have little problems driving the Nationalists ahead of them.  II Gun, however, faces a somewhat unique obstacle – the Grand Canal.  It runs generally parallel to my line of advance, connecting the Hai River in the North, the Yellow River, the Huai, and the Yangtse, until finally flowing into the sea near Shanghai.  Because I am rarely crossing, it doesn’t merit much consideration, but it takes a slight east-west turn south of the Yellow, and II Gun needs to cross to maintain the integrity of the front.  Assaulting from Jiawang to Xuzhou, they take 212 casualties.  this isn’t a staggering number, and reverses VIII Gun’s recent ratio by inflicting twice as many casualties (426) as taken.

     II Gun had lost a fair amount of organization in the attack across the Grand Canal, so I reinforce them with my cavalry reserve.  This turns out to be a big mistake, as the Chinese promptly counter-attack.  With nearly 52,000 troops stacked in the province, they lack the ability to move properly in combat, and suffer an additional 339 dead, while inflicting only 269.

     The remainder of 1 Homen-Gun continues to advance with little difficulty.  I shuffle the cavalry forward to give II Gun some time to re-organize.  This, if anything, further exasperates the problem. After the Qingdao peninsula was taken, Qingdao becomes my biggest port facility on the continent, and my supply base is transferred there.  Supply priority is given to units in order of distance from the supply base: the farthest have top priority, while nearest are the lowest supply priority. The combination of the simple proximity to Qingdao and the halted advance means that II Gun is now the lowest priority for supplies, and consequently receive little or none for days at a time. The organization of some divisions drop to zero, until repairs of the Qingdao ports and the capture of other ports farther south help alleviate the supply issue, and set II gun moving forward again.

Our Progress as of Early October, 1937

     We are able to cross the Huai River with fairly little difficulty, thanks to the leapfrogging of I Gun south of it and the ability of IV Gun to bypass it at its source.  In early October we are coming up on the Yangtze River, Shanghai, and Nanjing, all of which promise to be formidable obstacles.

The Coastal Front - Late Summer 1937

     August 1937 sees the end of the Chinese navy.  The Chinese navy started out with eight light cruisers, two destroyers and one transport.  These ships, combined, are good for little more than target practice.  Shortly after the declaration of war, they sallied out sink a few of my cargo ships, but were quickly driven back into port by my gunship fleets.  My carrier groups then went about sinking them at their leisure.  10 Kaigun (the Akagi and the Kaga) hit each of the Chinese groups in order, destroying them unceremoniously until reaching the last fleet in Qingdao.  The air crews were tired, and the fleet was sent back to Japan while 11 Kaigun took over.  With only three air groups, they were able to sink only one light cruiser before returning to base themselves, leaving 10 Kaigun to return and finish the job.  In the final tally, the Akagi claims three light cruisers, both destroyers and the transport; the Kaga claims four light cruisers; the Zuiho claims one light cruiser and the Ryujo remains honorless.  Our gunship fleets claim no combat kills, although 5 Kaigun, patrolling south of China, sank numerous cargo ships.

     I Gun, after crossing the Yellow River and capturing Jinan, heads due east to cut off the Qingdao peninsula.  I initially break the Gun into three groups: 1 and 2 Shidan travel along the northern provinces of the peninsula, 3 Shidan and the Gun reserve push along the southern side of the peninsula, while 4 and 5 Shidan maintain a defensive position in Junan.  My tactical bombers have been bombing the troops here nonstop since the beginning of the war, so they put up no resistance; by September 9^th they have retreated to Weihai, and surrender when attacked.  This marks the first major surrender of the war (not counting some militia divisions overrun in the first few days), and results in 10,843 Chinese POWs.  With complete naval superiority, I was able to ferry my troops southward and land them at Binhai, thereby avoiding a potentially bloody crossing of the Huai River.

    All of the key provinces of the Chihuli Gulf are now under my control, and, as expected, I don’t receive the bonus due to the fact that I am not in a faction.  Hmmph.  The main reason I’ve been avoiding joining the Axis is concern that I may want to conquer Germany someday.  However, my recent experiences indicate that Soviets generally take care of them pretty well, and the benefits of being in a faction are pretty significant, so I went ahead and joined up.  I’m not sure how Hitler would feel if he knew I was rooting against him, but oh well.

     Once the paper-work goes through I lose the neutrality bonus and gain the Chihli Gulf bonus.  Combined, this translates into a 25% improvement in my research efficiency, cutting more than a month off of some of my research projects.  The “naval supremacy in the east” bonus also becomes available, although I don’t plan on receiving it until the end of the game.  I was expecting the “naval supremacy in the west bonus” too, but it doesn’t show up.  That is not a big deal; I was not likely to receive it until the game was nearly over anyway.  As a trade off, the “pact of steel” bonus (+5% research efficiency, +5% supplies) is now available to me; it is a smaller bonus, but it is more useful because it triggers fairly early.

Crossing the Yellow River

     I talked a bit about the two main conquest strategies in my last post as a way of introducing some of the challenges faced when using a broad-front strategy when conquering China.

     One of the biggest problems is the rapid leveling of battle strength during the first few months.  There are two factors that hit the Japanese especially hard here.  First is the fact that, when beginning from the north and advancing southward, the front widens dramatically.  I began with a strength of one gun per province in July, with a large number of troops in a rear reserve.  By the time I hit the Yellow River, I am down to each gun covering two provinces, meaning that my total strength per battle has been cut in half.  At the same time the front is expanding, the Chinese are bringing their divisions to full strength and up to the front line.  In my initial battles, I could give the Chinese a strong tap and they’d go flying to the rear; now the battles, while still not intense, are at least substantial.

     This situation becomes increasingly obvious as I run up against the natural lines of defense.  The first of these is the Yellow River.  In addition to its enormous length and countless twists and turns, it also cuts through some rather severe terrain, and feeds a number of urban areas.  Particularly problematic are the areas around Jinan and Zhengzhou.  In these areas attacking troops receive not just the river crossing penalty, but also the rather significant terrain penalties in the hills and urban areas. 

  

Eastern Yellow River region

     We come up to the river in mid-August.  Mercifully, I Gun was able to cross the Yellow unopposed along the coast, then turn south and drive the Chinese out of Jinan with little trouble.  III Gun, however, met much stiffer resistance near Zhengzhou.  Our plan was to have three divisions cross in force from Puyang to Kaifeng, then the remainder of the Gun cross in their wake and hit Zhengzhou from the East.  Even despite the lack of a terrain advantage (other than the river), the fighting was heavy, and we lose 459 killed, out of 21,000, while the Chinese lose 424, of 8000.  This marks the first time I’ve lost more than my opponent, which is more unsettling considering we outnumbered him by more than 2 to 1.  The follow up attack against the city was also bloody, and we lose 235, and inflict 246 casualties.

Blitz vs Broad-Front

     There are, broadly speaking, two different strategies you can use to conquer an opponent: blitz, and broad-front.  I may provide a more thorough overview of the two techniques later, but this is a good spot for a brief crash-course in the two.

     First, let’s cover the blitz technique.  You start by determining your victim’s national unity on the diplomacy or intelligence screens.  Then add up all of their victory points.  Multiply that by the unity to find the minimum number of victory points you need to capture to knock them out of the game.  Then identify which provinces you need to capture, and how to get to them as quickly as possible.  This usually involves a combination of marines to capture coastal provinces and airborne or fast moving motorized/mechanized units to capture in-land provinces.

     The benefits of a blitz strategy are pretty obvious.  It allows you to conquer your enemy quickly, thereby giving you the most precious resource in the game: time.  Related to that, is the fact that your enemy will gradually build up his strength during the early part of the conflict.  It may take your opponent weeks or even months to mobilize his forces and move them to where they are needed, so if you can hit him while his guard is down, then you will have a much easier time of it.

     While the benefits of blitzes are significant, so are the risks.  All of your forward forces run a significant chance of having their supply lines cut; airborne and marine troops, in fact, start off with supply lines.  They also frequently lack an escape route in the event of a counterattack.  This means any or even all of your forces can be wiped out en-masse if you run into unexpected difficulties, including something as minor as bad weather.

     Not only are blitzes risky, in some cases they aren’t even possible.  Examples of this include conquests of the Soviet Union, USA, and Germany.  The victory points of these countries are distributed in such a way to prevent any quick conquests.  When facing these enemies, you need to use a broad-front strategy.

     The broad-front strategy tends to be much simpler.  Basically, you place troops in every province along the border between you and your enemy, with your flanks anchored on oceans, impassable terrain, or neutral countries.  You then launch attacks whenever and wherever it is advantageous, and gradually move your entire line forward province by province.  The pros and cons of this strategy are the opposite of those of the blitz strategy.  It is much slower, and a successful conquest can sometimes require years, and because your enemy has a chance to mobilize and move troops to the front, you’ll be fighting harder battles.  On the flip side, there is little or no chance of any portion of your army being cut off and wiped out.

     A big part of the grand strategy portion of Hearts of Iron 3 is knowing when (and how) to use which strategy.  Most countries can be rolled quickly with a fast blitz; unfortunately, the biggest and baddest countries can not.  You need to be adept at both strategies to do well.

     I mention all of this because it pertains to my strategy for conquering China.  Prior to “Their Finest Hour” (TFH), the bulk of Nationalist China’s victory points were located deep inland; consequently, a broad-front approach was necessary.  TFH brought many changes to China, including significantly changing the borders of the various states and completely relocating all of the victory points.  Whereas a blitz was not even possible, now it is the most obvious approach.  Oh well, at least my generals get some experience in.