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The Northern Offensive
The Northern Offensive
"You must be as swift as a coursing river. With all the force of a great typhoon. With all the strenght of a raging fire. Most importantly, this offensive must be conducted as mysteriously as the darkside of the moon."
Chiang's exaltation to the Third Northern Expedition Army on the eve of battle.
After months of carefully stockpiling supplies and troops, the "Third Northern Expedition" commenced on January 26 1942 with 10 million men - the same day that the First Northern Expedition commenced nearly 20 years ago in 1926. It came as a complete surprise as it was in the middle of a cold winter with visibility very poor and many Manchurian and Japanese troops huddled in their bunkers. Elite NRA troops meant to spearhead the offensive were given special winter gear.
The Northern Offensive - also known as the "Winter Offensive" had massive success despite - or because of - operating in adverse weather conditions.
There was a key difference to this offensive too - rather than focusing on the capture of prestige targets such as Beiping - the objective was to seize staging grounds, 'flow around' enemy formations which were unable to move effectively during winter and then starve them out by cutting communications. Initially, there was staggering success from the offensive. Tianjin fell on Valentine's Day on February 14 1942 after a stunning 200km advance by the NRA through fierce, if disparate resistance. By the 1st of July, NRA forces had successfully advanced in a line between Tangshang and Chengdu with Beiping partially cut off from supply with a partial encirclement from the South. Although some resupply was possible through Japan's puppet Mengjiang, the infrastructure was not suited to supplying the combined nearly 2 million Japanese-Manchurian armies defending the enveloped city and it began to waste away or escape through Inner Mongolia. Although fierce fighting still took place when Chiang moved to take the city in mid-July it still fell by the 20th of July. At long last - Beiping was free again and phase one of the Northern Offensive was complete. The way to Harbin seemed to lie open with only 3 million Manchurian-Japanese combined troops in Manchuria left to fight an army of nearly 8 million battle hardened NRA troops. However, international events would overtake Chiang's carefully planning.
The Tehran Conference
The Tehran Conference marked a new era of cooperation between the forces of the Entente and the Soviet Union
Following the stunning success of the Northern Expedition and succesful Entente-Soviet cooperation on the "Persian Question," Stalin wanted an excuse to interfere in the war but wanted to secure as many concessions from the Entente as possible. His earlier plan was to sit the war out and unleash a wave of 'international solidarity' across the exhausted fighters, but the rapid collapse of the Manchurian defences convinced Stalin that he needed to interfere in the conflict earlier than expected. What followed was the "Tehran Conference" between the Soviet Union, Japan, France and Britain. The conference proceeded in very high security, with the recently occupied capital of Persia humiliatingly being forced to host a conference of major Entente leaders literally a few weeks after the surrender but the outcome was a successful one. The four powers agreed to the following:
1. A "China First" policy that would bring all four powers to bear against China before turning against Germany.
2. The repudiation of the Chinese-Soviet non-aggression pact and Soviet entry in the war against China in a few months time.
3. The end of any trade deals and military aid between the Soviet Union and China and Soviet Union and Germany.
4. An invasion of Southern China by the Entente powers by the end of the year
There were also some rumored "Secret agreements" concerning a division of spheres of influence post-war, but no concrete evidence has ever been found of these agreements even until today.
The stage was set for "Operation August Storm" which marked the first time the Soviet Union conducted military operations since it's inception. How would the Soviet Army fare against the battle-hardened NRA fighting on it's home turf?
OOC: Sorry for the long delay! It's my new year's resolution to finish this timeline before new year so time to get cracking!
"You must be as swift as a coursing river. With all the force of a great typhoon. With all the strenght of a raging fire. Most importantly, this offensive must be conducted as mysteriously as the darkside of the moon."
Chiang's exaltation to the Third Northern Expedition Army on the eve of battle.
After months of carefully stockpiling supplies and troops, the "Third Northern Expedition" commenced on January 26 1942 with 10 million men - the same day that the First Northern Expedition commenced nearly 20 years ago in 1926. It came as a complete surprise as it was in the middle of a cold winter with visibility very poor and many Manchurian and Japanese troops huddled in their bunkers. Elite NRA troops meant to spearhead the offensive were given special winter gear.
The Northern Offensive - also known as the "Winter Offensive" had massive success despite - or because of - operating in adverse weather conditions.
There was a key difference to this offensive too - rather than focusing on the capture of prestige targets such as Beiping - the objective was to seize staging grounds, 'flow around' enemy formations which were unable to move effectively during winter and then starve them out by cutting communications. Initially, there was staggering success from the offensive. Tianjin fell on Valentine's Day on February 14 1942 after a stunning 200km advance by the NRA through fierce, if disparate resistance. By the 1st of July, NRA forces had successfully advanced in a line between Tangshang and Chengdu with Beiping partially cut off from supply with a partial encirclement from the South. Although some resupply was possible through Japan's puppet Mengjiang, the infrastructure was not suited to supplying the combined nearly 2 million Japanese-Manchurian armies defending the enveloped city and it began to waste away or escape through Inner Mongolia. Although fierce fighting still took place when Chiang moved to take the city in mid-July it still fell by the 20th of July. At long last - Beiping was free again and phase one of the Northern Offensive was complete. The way to Harbin seemed to lie open with only 3 million Manchurian-Japanese combined troops in Manchuria left to fight an army of nearly 8 million battle hardened NRA troops. However, international events would overtake Chiang's carefully planning.
The Tehran Conference
The Tehran Conference marked a new era of cooperation between the forces of the Entente and the Soviet Union
Following the stunning success of the Northern Expedition and succesful Entente-Soviet cooperation on the "Persian Question," Stalin wanted an excuse to interfere in the war but wanted to secure as many concessions from the Entente as possible. His earlier plan was to sit the war out and unleash a wave of 'international solidarity' across the exhausted fighters, but the rapid collapse of the Manchurian defences convinced Stalin that he needed to interfere in the conflict earlier than expected. What followed was the "Tehran Conference" between the Soviet Union, Japan, France and Britain. The conference proceeded in very high security, with the recently occupied capital of Persia humiliatingly being forced to host a conference of major Entente leaders literally a few weeks after the surrender but the outcome was a successful one. The four powers agreed to the following:
1. A "China First" policy that would bring all four powers to bear against China before turning against Germany.
2. The repudiation of the Chinese-Soviet non-aggression pact and Soviet entry in the war against China in a few months time.
3. The end of any trade deals and military aid between the Soviet Union and China and Soviet Union and Germany.
4. An invasion of Southern China by the Entente powers by the end of the year
There were also some rumored "Secret agreements" concerning a division of spheres of influence post-war, but no concrete evidence has ever been found of these agreements even until today.
The stage was set for "Operation August Storm" which marked the first time the Soviet Union conducted military operations since it's inception. How would the Soviet Army fare against the battle-hardened NRA fighting on it's home turf?
OOC: Sorry for the long delay! It's my new year's resolution to finish this timeline before new year so time to get cracking!
- CCA
- Word Count: 720