Just a short spat about my current Japan game
Japanese troops celebrate the occupation of Hawaii.
Japanese and Transmur forces do battle against Syndicalist Philippine troops outside Manila.
The
Japanese Invasion of Hawaii (Codename:
Operation Azuma Sutroraiku) and the
Japanese Invasion of The Philippines (Codename:
Operation Minamikazi) was executed by army units of
The Empire of Japan, The Admiralty of Transmur, and
Manchukuo against the forces of the
Philippines Syndicalist Republic and lasted from January 3rd, 1937 to February 18th, 1937 and from March 21st to May 3rd, 1937 respectively. After the Military Junta, led by
Douglas MacArthur, ruling the
United States collapsed in late 1936 and Civil War enveloped the country the
Empire of Japan, already looking outward for areas of expansion found a tempting target in the former American holdings of the
Hawaiian Kingdom, who had declared their independence, and the
Philippines Syndicalist Republic who had overthrown the colonial American regime. After seizing the strategically vital island of
Guam the Japanese
Kodoha faction which controlled the government began to advocate for an expansion of the
Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere into these newly freed territories. In December of 1936 Japan began to press the
Kingdom of Hawaii to join the Co-Prosperity Sphere to little success. The Kingdom was quickly slipping into anarchy following its independence and Japanese spies in the
Pacific States of America relayed information of the two warming relations in preparation for a declaration of friendship. Japanese military planners, fearing a new American power-bloc in the
Pacific Ocean drew up plans to invade the fledgling Kingdom from bases in Guam. Finally, on January 3rd, 1937 Japanese Marines supported by the 1st Fleet led by famed Admiral Yamamoto landed on Midway Island which was occupied by the Kingdom of Hawaii; and occupied it bloodlessly. The unwarranted and unprovoked attack drew ire from many nations including the
Kaiserreich, the
Qing Empire, the
Russian Republic, the
Pacific States of America and the
Kingdom of Siam yet Japan paid them no mind. The Queen of Hawaii called up a rag-tag militia to defend the Hawaiian Islands but morale in
Honolulu was low. After another month of gathering supplies and men Yamamoto's fleet appeared in
Pearl Harbor as planes from the aircraft carriers
Asahai,
Hirohito,
Fukkatsu, and
Akagi hit targets up and down the chain destroying the tiny
Hawaiian Air Force on the ground. The surface ships of First Fleet surprised the small Hawaiian fleet at Pearl Harbor and sunk most of the ships in the harbor, with the rest being seized and scuttled by the landing force. When the Japanese Marine Corps landed in the occupied Harbor they met only a token resistance of die hard Hawaiian monarchists but they were quickly swept aside by the trained men of the IJA. With that the Queen of Hawaii was imprisoned and the islands were formally annexed into the Empire. The Emperor of Japan
Hirohito called it a monumental victory that was only the first of many and said "Now, the Rising Sun will truly reach its greatest heights yet". After that Japanese military planners then turned their eyes southward to the Syndicalist dictatorship that was forming in the
Philippines.
The
Philippine Syndicalist Republic, being Syndicalist, was barred from joining the Co-Prosperity Sphere which left only one option the Japanese could see, invasion. Yet the Japanese still needed a reason to justify the invasion to their own people as the
Syndicalist Party was a major underground force in Japan. Japanese ships began to sail into Philippine waters, Japanese planes based in
Formosa began to regularly violate Philippine airspace yet still the Philippine military still did nothing witch frustrated the Japanese to no end. As February turned into March and March began to end the Japanese still had no cause for invasion and their puppet in
Manchukuo was preparing to invade the
Qing Empire which would force a Japanese invasion as well, time was running short. Finally however a Zero was flying over Manila when a overzealous AA gunner shot it down, killing the pilot in a fiery blaze and supposedly leaving a stain on Japanese military honor that had to be avenged quickly. The Japanese people, who were told the Zero was simply lost in a storm and not gathering intel and provoking a Philippine response as it was, rallied behind their government and it was not long after a declaration of war was handed down to the archipelago. The same day the Second and Third Fleets began to patrol the waters around and between the
Philippine Archipelago and after a pitched battle off the coast of
Luzon established unchallenged naval supremacy. What followed next was a Japanese/Transmur landing at
Laoag where they were met by
Philippine Army units supported by volunteers from the
Khanate of Mongolia. The battle was hard, but after the Second Fleet appeared off the coast and the Japanese Air Force in the skies the enemy melted away into the woods. What followed was a near oppositionless occupation of Luzon and the country as a whole. Another titanic victory was declared and many expected the war to be over as troops began to filter back to ports to be transported out of the country and let a more friendly government take over policing duties. However, as Japanese troops congregated in
Manila attacks were reported from cities across
Luzon. Before Japan could even respond information reached them that ten Philippines divisions were doing marching on Manila supported by five Mongolian divisions, nearly equal to the amount of Japanese forces in the city. Rather than retreat the Japanese dug in with the
Transmur Army being assigned to reserve duty as the enemy approached and finally the enemy arrived on the outskirts of the city at the end of April and the battle was met. The Second Fleet provided ground support, and the air was filled with Japanese planes yet still the battle was a nail biter as tactics were nearly useless in the close city streets. The Japanese were able to however hold off until
Manchukuo landed on the north of Luzon with a large force and cut off the enemy, sandwiching them between their enemies. With them being attacked from the front and rear the balance of power quickly shifted in the favor of Japan and over the next three days the resurgent Syndicalist threat was destroyed. Japan spread out its forces on the island to support the local forces and resistance was fought whenever it was met but for all intents and purposes the
Philippines became little more than a puppet of the growing
Japanese Empire.