The Wars of the Far East ( A Falcon Cannot Hear Spin-off)
Prelude
The events in the United States, the terrible Civil War that engulfed that nation on July 1937, created a snowball effect that affected the actions of the players in the Far East. While there was no love lost between the Soviet Union, China and Japan during the immediate period prior to the American Civil War the events in North America shaped the policies of the three nations leading to the start of the wars.
Japan:
The Great Depression was the end of the feeble attempt of Democracy in the Japanese Empire, their place taken over by a quasi-dictatorship where the power was wielded by certain cliques in the name of the Emperor. The Japanese Army saw Japan’s salvation in the Asian Continent; they believed that Japan should secure the resources of the mainland by creating a continental empire. The Japanese Navy in the other hand looked to the vast Pacific Ocean as their salvation; the colonies of Malaya and the Dutch West Indies the final prize. The first faction to act in their plans was the Japanese Army.
In 1931 the Kwantung Army, without prior knowledge of the government in Tokyo, created an incident with the Chinese and conquered Manchuria after some feeble resistance. A puppet nation, Manchukuo, was created as a front for the Japanese colonization of the area. In 1932 the Japanese Army created another incident and occupied the Chinese province of Jehol, the province annexed to Manchukuo. Between 1932 and 1933 Japan exploited the internal conflicts of China to their advantage; they sought collaborators and helped them establish governments friendly to Japan. Japan was able to establish two puppet governments in the provinces of Hebei and Chahar but their biggest achievement was the creation of the Mongol Military Government in 1933 that covered the bulk of the provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan but it was better known as Mengukuo. The eventual plan was to move south and defeat the central Chinese government, creating a series of puppet nations that would serve the needs of the Japanese Empire. But plans never survive real life.
The occupation of Manchuria and the creation of Mengukuo created a long border between the Soviet Union and the Japanese Empire. The Japanese Empire was violently anti-communist and their policy in regard to border adjustments with the Soviets involved mainly the use of arms. Between 1932 and 1937 the borders incidents escalated in both size and violence culminating in the Battle of Hulun Nur on April 28, 1937 when elements of the Japanese 19th Infantry Division defeated elements of two Red Army divisions. Japan was elated with the victory and instead of continuing to move south in the direction of China their eyes now moved north in the direction of the Siberian riches. Again real life got in the way of the Japanese Army plans.
The start of the Second American Civil War on July 1937 created panic in Japan. Japan relied in large number of imports from the United States vital to their economy and the fear that the American economic power could fall to the Communist was too much for the ruling classes of Japan. As such plans were tentatively prepared for a possible intervention in the American Civil War but the situation at the time (July 1937-June 1938) precluded any action, letting the situation resolve by itself outweighed the need for intervention during that period. All changed with the Battle of Lake Khasan.
The Imperial 23rd Infantry Division was destroyed by the Soviets in this battle, where the Soviets demonstrated the superiority of their equipment and the large motorization available to them. The new Japanese government that took over after this debacle ordered the stop of offensive operations in Manchuria and a shift to a purely defensive stance. The north path of the Japanese Army was now blocked; the one to the south more difficult because China was seem now as a possible co-belligerent or at a very least a fellow anti-communist nation and not as a potential economic colony for the time being. This opened the path for the Japanese Navy's plans for the “salvation” of the Japanese Empire.
The new Japanese Government decided to intervene in the Second American Civil War and they considered that control of the former United States possessions in the Pacific as necessary to alleviate the logistics of the proposed intervention. The first step was to take advantage of the mismanagement of the situation of the Philippines Commonwealth by Admiral King’s Military Junta to their advantage. The Military Junta gave a small industrial influx to the Commonwealth’s economy in an attempt to make them self-sufficient in regard to ammunitions and small arms but at the same time their invasive actions alienated the government of the Commonwealth. The Filipinos recognized the more reliant on them the Military Junta becomes their chances of independence could fade away. After months of secret negotiations an agreement was reached between the Filipino and the Japanese that ensured the independence of the Commonwealth in exchange for economic concessions for the Japanese on late March 1939.
The months between April and August 1939 were the high water mark of the Imperial Japanese Navy with grudging cooperation from the Imperial Army. The successful support of the Filipino independence and the subsequent campaign to defeat the remaining American forces in the former Commonwealth was followed with the quick captures of the island of Guam and the Aleutian Islands but that could not compare with the final prize, the Hawaiian Islands.
In a bold plan by Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto the bulk of the Combined Fleet stayed behind but at the same time he decided to play for broke and utilize all of the available carriers of the Combined Fleet, even the brand new carrier Zuiho. He faced a larger force, the former United States Battle Fleet, but it was a hollow force. Short in fuel and ammunition, their aircrafts badly obsolete compared to the Japanese ones and with low morale the American Battle Fleet was decimated by air power. The aircrafts of the carriers Akagi, Kaga, Ryujo, Soryu, Hiryu and Zuiho achieved initial hits on the carriers Saratoga and Lexington that put them out of service early on the fight but the aircrews of those two doomed carriers and of the Langley and Ranger achieved the only positive of the battle for the Americans, the sinking of the battleship Mutsu. However, the Japanese second wave and third waves annihilated the Americans. The carriers Lexington and Saratoga were sunk while the small carriers Langley and Ranger were damaged and have to withdraw during the second wave, the bulk of the aircrews doomed to dead or capture. The American commander, Richardson, recognized that without air cover his force was doomed and started to retire to Pearl but not fast enough. The third wave hit the battleships and it was murder; the two ships of the Colorado class were targeted and destroyed, the Idaho exploded when a dive bomb hit between turret A and B, another four battleships suffered serious damages and only the Pennsylvania and the California escaped unscathed. However, to add insult to injury the Pennsylvania was sunk by a Japanese submarine on August 11 while trying to escape to Alaska. With the surrender of the Hawaiian Islands on August 25, 1939 after a short but brutal campaign it seems everything was going according to plans for the Japanese. The bubble burst on August 28, 1939.
Prelude
The events in the United States, the terrible Civil War that engulfed that nation on July 1937, created a snowball effect that affected the actions of the players in the Far East. While there was no love lost between the Soviet Union, China and Japan during the immediate period prior to the American Civil War the events in North America shaped the policies of the three nations leading to the start of the wars.
Japan:
The Great Depression was the end of the feeble attempt of Democracy in the Japanese Empire, their place taken over by a quasi-dictatorship where the power was wielded by certain cliques in the name of the Emperor. The Japanese Army saw Japan’s salvation in the Asian Continent; they believed that Japan should secure the resources of the mainland by creating a continental empire. The Japanese Navy in the other hand looked to the vast Pacific Ocean as their salvation; the colonies of Malaya and the Dutch West Indies the final prize. The first faction to act in their plans was the Japanese Army.
In 1931 the Kwantung Army, without prior knowledge of the government in Tokyo, created an incident with the Chinese and conquered Manchuria after some feeble resistance. A puppet nation, Manchukuo, was created as a front for the Japanese colonization of the area. In 1932 the Japanese Army created another incident and occupied the Chinese province of Jehol, the province annexed to Manchukuo. Between 1932 and 1933 Japan exploited the internal conflicts of China to their advantage; they sought collaborators and helped them establish governments friendly to Japan. Japan was able to establish two puppet governments in the provinces of Hebei and Chahar but their biggest achievement was the creation of the Mongol Military Government in 1933 that covered the bulk of the provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan but it was better known as Mengukuo. The eventual plan was to move south and defeat the central Chinese government, creating a series of puppet nations that would serve the needs of the Japanese Empire. But plans never survive real life.
The occupation of Manchuria and the creation of Mengukuo created a long border between the Soviet Union and the Japanese Empire. The Japanese Empire was violently anti-communist and their policy in regard to border adjustments with the Soviets involved mainly the use of arms. Between 1932 and 1937 the borders incidents escalated in both size and violence culminating in the Battle of Hulun Nur on April 28, 1937 when elements of the Japanese 19th Infantry Division defeated elements of two Red Army divisions. Japan was elated with the victory and instead of continuing to move south in the direction of China their eyes now moved north in the direction of the Siberian riches. Again real life got in the way of the Japanese Army plans.
The start of the Second American Civil War on July 1937 created panic in Japan. Japan relied in large number of imports from the United States vital to their economy and the fear that the American economic power could fall to the Communist was too much for the ruling classes of Japan. As such plans were tentatively prepared for a possible intervention in the American Civil War but the situation at the time (July 1937-June 1938) precluded any action, letting the situation resolve by itself outweighed the need for intervention during that period. All changed with the Battle of Lake Khasan.
The Imperial 23rd Infantry Division was destroyed by the Soviets in this battle, where the Soviets demonstrated the superiority of their equipment and the large motorization available to them. The new Japanese government that took over after this debacle ordered the stop of offensive operations in Manchuria and a shift to a purely defensive stance. The north path of the Japanese Army was now blocked; the one to the south more difficult because China was seem now as a possible co-belligerent or at a very least a fellow anti-communist nation and not as a potential economic colony for the time being. This opened the path for the Japanese Navy's plans for the “salvation” of the Japanese Empire.
The new Japanese Government decided to intervene in the Second American Civil War and they considered that control of the former United States possessions in the Pacific as necessary to alleviate the logistics of the proposed intervention. The first step was to take advantage of the mismanagement of the situation of the Philippines Commonwealth by Admiral King’s Military Junta to their advantage. The Military Junta gave a small industrial influx to the Commonwealth’s economy in an attempt to make them self-sufficient in regard to ammunitions and small arms but at the same time their invasive actions alienated the government of the Commonwealth. The Filipinos recognized the more reliant on them the Military Junta becomes their chances of independence could fade away. After months of secret negotiations an agreement was reached between the Filipino and the Japanese that ensured the independence of the Commonwealth in exchange for economic concessions for the Japanese on late March 1939.
The months between April and August 1939 were the high water mark of the Imperial Japanese Navy with grudging cooperation from the Imperial Army. The successful support of the Filipino independence and the subsequent campaign to defeat the remaining American forces in the former Commonwealth was followed with the quick captures of the island of Guam and the Aleutian Islands but that could not compare with the final prize, the Hawaiian Islands.
In a bold plan by Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto the bulk of the Combined Fleet stayed behind but at the same time he decided to play for broke and utilize all of the available carriers of the Combined Fleet, even the brand new carrier Zuiho. He faced a larger force, the former United States Battle Fleet, but it was a hollow force. Short in fuel and ammunition, their aircrafts badly obsolete compared to the Japanese ones and with low morale the American Battle Fleet was decimated by air power. The aircrafts of the carriers Akagi, Kaga, Ryujo, Soryu, Hiryu and Zuiho achieved initial hits on the carriers Saratoga and Lexington that put them out of service early on the fight but the aircrews of those two doomed carriers and of the Langley and Ranger achieved the only positive of the battle for the Americans, the sinking of the battleship Mutsu. However, the Japanese second wave and third waves annihilated the Americans. The carriers Lexington and Saratoga were sunk while the small carriers Langley and Ranger were damaged and have to withdraw during the second wave, the bulk of the aircrews doomed to dead or capture. The American commander, Richardson, recognized that without air cover his force was doomed and started to retire to Pearl but not fast enough. The third wave hit the battleships and it was murder; the two ships of the Colorado class were targeted and destroyed, the Idaho exploded when a dive bomb hit between turret A and B, another four battleships suffered serious damages and only the Pennsylvania and the California escaped unscathed. However, to add insult to injury the Pennsylvania was sunk by a Japanese submarine on August 11 while trying to escape to Alaska. With the surrender of the Hawaiian Islands on August 25, 1939 after a short but brutal campaign it seems everything was going according to plans for the Japanese. The bubble burst on August 28, 1939.
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