(Alternate History) The Second Sino-Japanese War

[X] Plan Vermilion Distraction

Agree with the reasoning, we are obligated to support the southern gambit.
 
[X] Plan Vermilion Distraction

My fears were that this would lead to another pyrrhic "victory" for the Second Army, but Klinker confirmed that the Second Army's "Support Fifth Army" option will only lead to general assault across the Yalu in the case of the Chinese pivoting away from the river to counter the Fifth.
 
VOTING WILL CLOSE IN 5 HOURS

For those interested, there was a background roll for whether Admiral Nikolai Ottovich von Essen was up to his old tricks or not. He failed the roll to make his way undetected to the Swedish naval base on Gotland (the large island in the Baltic Sea) to deliver his ultimatum (that would violate Swedish neutrality and almost certainly drag them into the war). Just like IRL, he was recalled before he could cause any damage, and Sweden remains blissfully unaware that they were almost dragged into fires of a general European War.
 
May 28th, 1915 - Counteroffensive succeeds, Operation Vermilion begins
09:00, Pyongyang HQ, May 28, 1915


Map changes, May 15th-28th, 1915 -- IJA Wolseley Armoured Car built by Mitsubishi

Were it not incredibly inappropriate, you would be pointing and laughing at your fuming subordinate. The Nationalists were furious and delighted at the same time, their newspapers singing your praises to the high heavens where only weeks before they had been calling for your head. The wide front offensive by the Chinese had vindicated your stance earlier in the month, and these past two weeks had proven you more right than you had ever hoped to be. If there was one thing that could make infantry captain Hideki Tojo furious, it was being faced with your own stoic reaction to his complaints, followed by his complete humiliation when your stance proved correct. In the army, the nationalists had lost much of their credibility over the past month, even if victories over the Chinese had emboldened them on the home front.

As far as months went, you were fairly fond of this one. May had proven to be disastrous for the Chinese in many cases. You had gained as much as 90 kilometres in two weeks against entrenched divisions occupying rail lines and fortified positions. The Imperial Guard under Kan'in had invented a new form of offensive: Heavy artillery fire, arranged in the new "creeping barrage" manner where the artillery cleared the ground in front of infantry advancing mere metres behind, had driven the Chinese into their trenches, and a wide front attack had locked down the reserves intended to reinforce them. The infantry charge the followed the artillery fire mere seconds after, proved devastating to even the elite divisions of the IVth Chinese Army, never mind the militia, who more often than not simply turned and ran at the sight of the Imperial Guard's red-trimmed uniform.

The Prince Kan'in had gained a good 30 kilometres of ground on his lonesome, and was now separated from the Second Army Corps by about the same distance in the form of a wedge, formed by infantry of the IVth army occupying the defensive positions on the Yalu river. A counter attack in the western end of Liaotung had struck the cavalry guarding his supply lines at the end of the week, and while initially it seemed touch and go, the Chinese were running out of steam by now. One of the issues Kan'in had noted however, was the lack of ability to combat the new Ilya Muromets aircraft that the Chinese were sending his way. Scout planes, with their machine guns, had been intended as a stopgap until proper interceptor planes could be delivered, but lacked the range to support the beleaguered divisions on the western end of Liaotung. They had instead been relegated to supporting the Fifth's advance in the west, which they did with much success.

Elsewhere along the front, the Third Army Corps had successfully pushed back Chinese divisions on the coast with naval artillery providing cover fire for the advancing infantry. The armoured cars and infantry of the First Army Corps saw significantly less success on the other hand, and had not managed to break through the entrenched positions occupied by the western flank of the XXIInd army. Their assault had seen them take severe casualties, 4000 dead over five days, but had locked down any reinforcements heading for the south eastern positions where the Third was advancing. The usefulness of the armoured cars proven itself once and for all, as they had covered the retreating infantry of the First Corps and fought for almost 48 hours while outnumbered ten to one to ensure the safe evacuation of the 92nd, 94th and 98th infantry brigades.

Meanwhile, the Fourth Corps had successfully broken through with their own armoured cars, and shoved back the Chinese IVth army's eastern flank from the shores of Yalu to the mountains beyond, leaving the IXth's and IVth's communications somewhat disrupted and the railway line going south from Harbin within striking distance, as well as capturing one of the two railway bridges across Yalu.

Field Marshal Hiiragi's Operation Vermilion had begun earlier than anticipated, on the 21st, after it was estimated that bad weather would linger over the straits of Formosa for more than two weeks following the 21st. The operation had apparently been spotted by Chinese fishermen, and the Changjiang Fleet had sallied to intercept the amphibious landing, but had been turned away after heavy fighting by the IJN, who managed sink three of the Chinese protected cruisers, and having none of their own ships sunk.

Though ultimately the Changjiang Fleet had been turned away, they had managed to do inhibit the landing forces, and two divisions of the five intended had been forced to turn back to Formosa. Dr. Nakamura, or Sun Yat-sen as he was known in China, had managed to sneak by undetected, and divisions led by Lie Liejung (who had been introduced to you by his pseudonym, Lie Xiehe) had captured Guangzhou and its surrounding area, but had then encountered the Chinese First Army moving south from Chunking. The First Army had successfully beaten back the republican forces to Guangzhou, but was now faced with a problem of their own: Cai E, the military governor of Yunnan, had raised 150,000 men, of which two thirds were professional soldiers, in support of the republican army and was now moving rapidly westwards, capturing both Nanning and Fangchenggang. At the same time, Japanese landing force had managed to secure Shantou, and then sent two divisions north, beginning the fairly substantial trek towards Nanking and Shanghai, where the intention was to reinforce them from Formosa at Xiamen and Fuzhou with additional divisions.

On the topic of military operations across the sea, the European War was now raging on all fronts. The Balkan League, consisting of Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Greece had declared war on the Central Powers, and Serbia and Montenegro and successfully advanced far into Bosnia and Croatia, capturing Sarajevo, Dubrovnik and through some miracle, Novi Sad in the Serbian part of Hungary. The Russian forces had also advanced into Austria, capturing Lemberg in the first day of the offensive, after which Galicia-Lodomeria fell in mere days. General Brusilov, the commander of Army Group South West, had managed to cut off the Austrian retreat towards Krakow, and surrounded 650,000 men in the Carpathian passes, after they had been forced to reroute their retreat, but Brusilov's forces were fast running out of everything from guns and ammunition to food and medicine.

Germany's General von Hindenburg, in the meantime, had advanced far into Congress Poland, and captured Brest-Litovsk, cutting off most of the Russian forces in Congress Poland from the railways, and the remaining two railways heading west into Poland were now overloaded, ferrying supplies into both Austria and Poland, as well as encircling two Russian armies in the marshes south of Kaunas and Vilnius. On the western front, Kronprinz Rupprecht of Bavaria and Helmuth von Moltke had once more crushed French offensives, and together encircled 200,000 men under General Joffre just north of Nancy, as well as annihilating two cavalry divisions.

The Ottoman Empire had seen resounding success on all fronts, somewhat surprising given that their military command had been decapitated and the general opinion was that they, as a nation, were a collapse waiting to happen. Bulgaria and Greece, smelling blood in the water after the horrendous casualties of both Russia and the Ottomans, as Typhus had broken out on both sides of the Caucasian front, and had declared war on the latter. The two nations had combined their forces and attacked, only to suffer defeats that could only be called disastrous. Greece had seen three quarters of her entire army encircled and captured or killed. With the Ottomans at the gates of Thessaloniki, they now also faced a coup from the monarchists at home, who had been fiercely against a war against the Central Powers given the origin of King Constantine of House Glückburg. Bulgaria had not fared much better, as Ottoman counter attacks had driven deep into the heart of the nation and taken Plovdiv and Burgas.

Romania, in response to the poor performance by Austria-Hungary, declared war on the Central Powers just yesterday evening. They announced their intention to "reclaim" Hungarian Transylvania, a region largely occupied by Romanians. Russia and Serbia were not necessarily pleased by this, as Romania did not have the arms stocked, nor the necessary industry to produce them, to fight a war longer than a few weeks. The Entente largely viewed this as an opportunistic land grab by an overly ambitious upstart, but nonetheless agreed to let Romania into their alliance.

In a mere month of fighting, the casualties now exceeded a million men, though most had been captured in encircling manoeuvres after foolish, rash or otherwise ill-advised offensives, rather than killed. The dead still made up more than quarter of the men lost, now nearing the 500,000 mark. Truly, a war to end all wars.


VOTE BY PLAN

NOTE: OPERATION VERMILION, THE AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT ON SOUTHERN CHINA, HAS BEGUN THIS TURN.

Deploy Reinforcements ordered last turn:


(Planes will proceed to the airfield closest to their area of operations)

[X] Infantry Division 1 (with Engineers x2)
-[X] First Army Corps
-[X] Second Army Corps
-[X] Third Army Corps
-[X] Fourth Army Corps
-[X] Fifth Army Corps

[X] Armoured Car Division 1
-[X] First Army Corps
-[X] Second Army Corps
-[X] Third Army Corps
-[X] Fourth Army Corps
-[X] Fifth Army Corps

[X] Armoured Car Division 2
-[X] First Army Corps
-[X] Second Army Corps
-[X] Third Army Corps
-[X] Fourth Army Corps
-[X] Fifth Army Corps

For next week, you have an acquisitional budget of ¥730k (You have received additional funds due to victory)

Each infantry must have 2 supporting brigades. Non-committed votes will lead to extra infantry and MGs by default. Vote twice on one option to double down on it.
Note: Cost changes due to change in demand & supply

[X] Infantry ¥112k
-[X] with supporting anti-aircraft guns ¥40k
-[X] with supporting engineers ¥50k
-[X] with supporting artillery ¥60k
-[X] with supporting heavy artillery ¥90k
-[X] with extra infantry and MGs ¥60k

Cavalry:
[X] Cavalry ¥120k
-[X] with supporting artillery ¥60k
-[X] with supporting engineers ¥50k
-[X] with supporting armoured cars ¥55k
-[X] with extra cavalry & MGs ¥50k

Armour:
[X] Armoured Cars ¥220k

Air:
[X] Mitsubishi IJAAS-4 "Kyu" Tactical Bomber (Squadron) ¥160k (comes with 4 25kg bombs and 2 MGs per plane)
[X] Mitsubishi IJAAS-4 "Hachi" Scout Aeroplane (Squadron) ¥81k (comes with a single 25kg bomb & 2 MGs per plane)
[X] Mitsubishi IJAAS-4 "Juu" Interceptor (Squadron) ¥120k (comes with 3 MGs per plane)

Manoeuvres

[X] First Army Corps
-[X] The First should attempt to assault the XXIInd's flank, in an attempt to drive a wedge between the IXth and the XXIInd. (again)
-[X] The First shouldn't concern themselves with the Third, and should instead support the Fourth, attempting to roll up the flank of the IVth.
-[X] The First should hold position, no movement.

[X] Second Army Corps
-[X] Push into the centre of the IVth while the west and east is falling back!
-[X] Act in support of an offensive launched by the Fifth!
-[X] Act in support of an offensive launched by the Fourth instead!
-[X] It's too heavily fortified. Hold position!

[X] Third Army Corps
-[X] We have seen success in our attack on the XXIInd, press the advantage!
-[X] The Third's position as a whole is good. Don't overextend and play the safe game. Hold!

[X] Fourth Army Corps
-[X] Hammer the flank of the IVth, go west!
-[X] Hammer the flank of the IVth, go north west and attempt to encircle them!
-[X] Push into the IXth, drive them north to widen the front!
-[X] Hold, no movement is in your favour.

[X] Fifth Army Corps
-[X] Attack in concert with the Second to link up across Yalu!
-[X] Attack solo, the Second mustn't attempt to cross Yalu until you are in position!
-[X] Hold position, overextending now could be fatal!

[X] IJAAS
-[X] Raid the IVth & XIXth by western Yalu!
-[X] Raid the IXth & IVth by the eastern end of Yalu
-[X] Raid the XXIInd's the western flank!


[X] Write-in


Want to redistribute divisions?

[X] Write-in
 
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Well damn, the European war is very mobile right now.

I recall that it was in the first few months OTL, but the conditions here seem to be trending towards a swifter, more decisive conflict.

Happy to see our own plan worked. Given that we are now essentially the diversion pining down Chinese armies from aiding the emperor, I expect the armies in front of us to steadily lose their supplies as more of it is diverted inward.

Btw, Imp guard figured out the rolling barrage first? Props to them. Japan may becoming the leading innovator in trench warfare in this TL, since Europe is being too mobile to need it right now.
 
Here we have requisitions for extra-heavy Cavalry Divisions, in hopes that it'll lead to full motorization of the cavalry, eventualy leading towards spearhead divisions (motorized infantry & light "tanks") useful for independent mobile/maneuver warfare.

I decided on this direction for the following reasons:
-I have little hope that the armoured cars will maneuver properly on the muddy, artillery blasted no man's land
-without radios the armoured cars and artillery will not coordinate well or at all
-jack of all trades formations don't excel in any of them
-heavy artillery pieces will slow down the divisions, negating the speed of the armoured cars

In terms of reinforcements and maneuvers this plan calls for continued pressure on the Chinese along the Yalu and the XXIIth's western flank. Airforce is directed against the hard targets in the XXII, while landside reinforcements are going to the taxed First Corps.

[X] Plan HanEmpire

Deploy Reinforcements ordered last turn:

[] Infantry Division 1 (with Engineers x2)
-[] First Army Corps

[] Armoured Car Division 1
-[] First Army Corps

[] Armoured Car Division 2
-[] Fifth Army Corps

Reinforcements:

[] Infantry ¥112k
-[] with supporting anti-aircraft guns ¥40k
-[] with supporting heavy artillery ¥90k

Cavalry:
[] Cavalry ¥120k
-[] with supporting armoured cars ¥55k
-[] with supporting armoured cars ¥55k

[] Cavalry ¥120k
-[] with supporting armoured cars ¥55k
-[] with supporting armoured cars ¥55k

Manoeuvres:

[] First Army Corps
-[] The First should attempt to assault the XXIInd's flank, in an attempt to drive a wedge between the IXth and the XXIInd. (again)

[] Second Army Corps
-[] Act in support of an offensive launched by the Fifth!

[] Third Army Corps
-[] We have seen success in our attack on the XXIInd, press the advantage!

[] Fourth Army Corps
-[] Hammer the flank of the IVth, go west!

[] Fifth Army Corps
-[] Attack solo, the Second mustn't attempt to cross Yalu until you are in position!

[] IJAAS
-[] Raid the XXIInd's the western flank!
 
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Good work all around, let's do more.

[X] Plan Momentum Cometh (Alt. Title: Steel Charge)

Deploy Reinforcements:
[·] Infantry Division 1 (with Engineers x2)
-[X] Fifth Army Corps
[·] Armoured Car Division 1
-[X] Fifth Army Corps
[·] Armoured Car Division 2
-[X] Fifth Army Corps

Order New Units:
[·] Infantry ¥112k
-[X] with supporting anti-aircraft guns ¥40k
-[X] with supporting anti-aircraft guns ¥40k
[·] Cavalry ¥120k
-[X] with supporting artillery ¥60k
-[X] with supporting armoured cars ¥55k
[·] Cavalry ¥120k
-[X] with supporting artillery ¥60k
-[X] with supporting armoured cars ¥55k
Budgeting: ¥700K - (¥112K - ¥80K) - 2(¥120K - ¥60K - ¥55K) = ¥68K

Manoeuvres:

[·] First Army Corps
-[X] The First should attempt to assault the XXIInd's flank, in an attempt to drive a wedge between the IXth and the XXIInd. (again)
[·] Second Army Corps
-[X] Push into the centre of the IVth while the west and east is falling back!
[·] Third Army Corps
-[X] We have seen success in our attack on the XXIInd, press the advantage!
[·] Fourth Army Corps
-[X] Hammer the flank of the IVth!
[·] Fifth Army Corps
-[X] Attack in concert with the Second to link up across Yalu!
[·] IJAAS
-[X] Raid the IVth & XIXth by western Yalu!

Moral of the story so far is that Armoured Cars are good but you know what's better? Armoured Cars with artillery. Pricy? Definitely. But we just can't literally get enough of them, not in this war. But now that Vermilion is done with - Klinker having confirmed that any future failure of Vermilion is not going to be pointed to us when blame game occurred - we can refocus. The First will keep the pinning action, ensuring that the Third will be able to press through and cover the bulge. But that one is sideshow to the other gambit.

Klinker have said that there is approximately ~300K Chinese troops in the IVth. We're also given the chance to encircle them. But sadly, that is not going to be pushed here. Not when the stakes are this high... for now. For now, we're giving the Fifth the power boost, giving Engies to fortify the supply lines, and two whole stacks of Arm. Cars to power through the 30km line of defences in a hard breakthrough power. The airforce is going to cover those two bits.
Btw, Imp guard figured out the rolling barrage first? Props to them. Japan may becoming the leading innovator in trench warfare in this TL, since Europe is being too mobile to need it right now.
KlinkerKing Today at 02:11
Yes
It's not a coincidence that it was invented on the shortest front with the greatest number of troops per square metre
(Mostly because the Chinese XIXth is fuck-off huge, numbering a good 450k or so)
The tactic itself isn't perfect. Friendly fire is going to be accounted and rolled for so while we have this unlocked, it's not exactly going to be a silver bullet. And as an icing on the cake:
Shiel/d/er Nyan~ Today at 02:13
Is Von Gallwitz [The German Military observer] going 👀 at the new doctrine advance?

KlinkerKing Today at 02:13
Yuup
There will be letters to Willy and von Moltke about this
As for the requisition, the sole squadron of Muromets is the only air force the Chinese has. The Interceptors are good, but they useless outside of the role of taking down that sole squadron. Instead, we can opt to take the Infantry Division and load them up with (early) AAs. This would cover the risk zones and make attempts and biting through the Fifth's front a foolish opposition. And as a bonus? Well, those AAs double as machineguns when it comes to offensive, so they help there too.
 
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Well damn, the European war is very mobile right now.
It is, mostly in the east though. Anywhere the front isn't hundreds of kilometres wide, it quickly grinds to a massive halt and stalls out (see: Caucasus front, Elsass-Lothringen). Honestly, it's not too different from OTL, other than AH doing worse than usual.

Here we have requisitions for extra-heavy Cavalry Divisions, in hopes that it'll lead to full motorization of the cavalry.
In terms of reinforcements and maneuvers this plan calls for continued pressure on the Chinese along the Yalu and the XXIIth's western flank. Airforce is directed against the hard targets in the XXII, while landside reinforcements are going to the taxed First Corps.

[X] Plan HanEmpire

[X] Plan Momentum Cometh (Alt. Title: Steel Charge)

So the main differences between @Vocalend and @HanEmpire 's plans are:
- Han wants encircle the IVth army, or at least force them to withdraw from the Yalu before fording the river, where Vocalend wants to add more pressure by attack across the river, presumably wanting to deorg the Chinese units so that they can be encircled later.
- Vocalend wants to go with Cav+AC+Artillery and Han prefers Cav+2xAC. One is focused on utilising the new Creeping Barrage, where the other wants to innovate a mobile strike force resembling motorised infantry or light tanks.
- Han is choosing to go more into artillery, where Vocalend prefers to double up on the AA.
 
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[X] Plan Momentum Cometh

I like combined divisions, more variable makes war different.
 
Also something to note: anything that fires projectiles fast enough and hard enough to bother aircraft, both fires rapidly enough to suppress infantry and hard enough to rattle anything armored. Even if it's only quad Maxims.
 
Also something to note: anything that fires projectiles fast enough and hard enough to bother aircraft, both fires rapidly enough to suppress infantry and hard enough to rattle anything armored. Even if it's only quad Maxims.
Yup. AA at this point in time for Japan is basically pod-mounted HMGs with a much better elevation and stabilisation than normal. Proper 75mm AA was purchased IRL from Britain but not until 1921, despite encounters with German aircraft.
 
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I would like to remind the good folks lurking in the thread that the current vote is still a tie, and while I could end it with a coin flip, I'd rather see if we can get a consensus first.

On a separate note, the War in Europe has been (mostly) rolled for for next turn, and you would not believe what kind of nonsense has transpired (I'm looking at you, Austria-Hungary).
 
Thanks for your participation everyone! Vote will close in 5 hours!

As a thank you for not making me flip a coin, I have provided this detailed picture of the events in China leading up to the beginning this quest :V
 
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