Maximilian's legacy: Interwar and Post World War 2

[lawrencenguyen]

The attack started in 5:00 A.M. in the morning with Japanese Zeros, bombers, and their super weapon, Yamato they achieved the element of surprise and massive casualties were suffered with 3 Battleships and 10 destroyers lost. But they made the critical mistake of not attacking the aircraft carriers on the far south of the bay first and because of that the Mexicans were able to get their planes, Polish PZL-11s and Fokker D XXL

View attachment 474295 Yamato

While the Mexicans had more planes then the Japanese, they were woefully outdated against the more manoeuvrable Zeros and many of the planes were shot down but that gave the remaining battleships, destroyers, and light cruisers time to reorganize and try to take on the beast Yamato.

The Battle got under way with Yamato firing first, instantly causing one destroyer, BMS Aguila, to explode. The destroyers fired back, only denting her left side, realizing they were woefully outgunned they tried to surround her and fire at her sides. It was during this manoeuvre two more cruisers were lost but they managed to get around, and one new battleship, BMS Imperator, The newest of the Imperator class Super Battleships completed back in December emulating both the HMS Hood and SMS Bismarck, outfitted with a 405mm gun. Miraculously the Imperator managed to survived the Zero and bomber onslaught and now in position opened fire on the left side of the Yamato, penetrating her armour.

Shocked and mouth agape the captain of the Yamato, Gihachi Takayanagi, realizing the Marina Imperial had a battleship capable of puncturing the armour ordered a retreat rather then risk losing the pride of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
M​

Some minor corrections you should fix

-The gun calibers should be 406mm, also the Imperator is a 9 guns 16 inch super dreadnought that based on G3 battlecruiser design so it should not be armed with only “a gun”.

The Mexican new battleships also used an improved variant of the same 406mm guns like the Nelson class battleships of the Commonwealth which fired heavier shells so the number definitely need to be corrected.

-the correct name for the Fokker planes is Fokker D.XXI, as in Fokker D.21 in Roman numerals

 

[lawrencenguyen]

The Mexican and Commonwealth plan was to use their combined Navies to battle the Japanese Navy, while the Mexican army would be battling the Axis armies. The first Axis member they had to knock out was the weakest chink in the armour: The Kingdom of Sardinia.

Back in 1939 and before the massive Allied defeats: the first MEF forces arrived on Sicily on December 25, 1940 Christmas Day, they immediately began pushing back the Sardinian army back towards Palermo and the most intense fighting also, the battle the Sardinians gave the most staunchest resistance, was the Battle of Palermo beginning with the MEF surrounding the city and sieging it from both sides and the combined Sicilian and Mexican navies both blockading the city and port.

View attachment 474566 Sicilian Navy bombarding
View attachment 474567 MEF clearing the streets

The Battle begun on New year's Eve and would last until the 19 of January and the battle was filled with street to street fighting and massive tank duels between the Mexican Coche de Combate Oberschlesier, (blueprints given to them by the Germans), and the Sardinian Tankette L3/35.

View attachment 474573 Mexican Oberschlesier tank
View attachment 474574 L3/35 tankette

While the Mexican Oberschlesier was pretty much outdated compared to other tanks the Germans, French, British, and Soviets had and it would be another two years until Mexico creates their first modern tank, it pretty much overpowered the Sardinian Tankettes because of their crappy armour and weak machine gun. During the Battle of Palermo many tankettes were destroyed piecemeal and by the 19, the Sardinian army was firmly routed and surrendered to the Allied army. The Allies recaptured Sicily and together The MEF, Sicilian, and Austrian high Commands were planning on turning the tables on the Axis by invading Sardinia. The plan had to postponed because of the massive losses in Ireland, Denmark, and in Germany so before they could even invade Sardinia they had to hand a decisive defeat to either Britain or France.

Fast forward to March 1940 and Britain began planning what would be known in Germany as the Blitz or lightening with Britain bombing German cities however this would be the first great defeat the Axis would suffer.​

Also the correct tank name is Oberschlesien, which in German means Upper Silesia (the place that produced this tank)

 

[lawrencenguyen]

I have corrected the errors and thank you for telling me.

I have come to the conclusion that Argentina would indeed be suicidal enough to actually stab Mexico and the Commonwealth in the back for the Falklands and we may see a new Balkan league against Bulgaria in the future.

Not just Argentina, but a republican Chile that was overthrown by fascists will also join the cause with Argentina if that coup was successful ITTL.

About the Mexican G3/Imperator class battleships, you can have each ships being named after their monarchs, so perhaps 4-5 ships should fill the quota
-BSM Imperator Maximiliano I
-BSM Imperator Agustin II
-BSM Imperator Emilliano I
-BSM Imperatrix Carlotta.
Maybe BSM Imperatrix Beatrix?? (Named in honor of Emperor Emmanuele first wife)

 

[lawrencenguyen]

Also about Argentina, Im thinking that their Nahuel tanks could be the common medium tanks that they share with another ally to fight with, either Chile or Brazil to steamroll the obsolete Mexican armored corps in the initial stage of the war before Mexico could roll in better tanks with larger guns.

The Nahuel actually had many pretty good features that made the tank a formidable opponent and can be a thorn in the Mexican Army during the early stage:

-reliable vertical volute spring suspensions that were also used on US WW2 tanks
-It has a modern 3 man turret mounting 75mm Krupp 1909 Howitzer that fired the same ammo types like the 75mm M1897 field gun of the French Army
-Its armor is pretty good as well, cast turret with sloped armor that is pretty much immune to 37,47,57 and even 75mm Anti-tank guns at long range due to its thick sloped 80mm armor .
-The tank is also pretty fast, at a speed of 40km/h it can outrun the slower and weaker armored Oberschlesien II and the smaller lightly armored LK II used by Imperial Mexican Army.

The way how Mexican Imperial Army view this tank during the early stage of the war is basically the same way like how the Japanese view Sherman tanks in WW2, they are tough nut to crack and can only be penetrate with AT guns from the sides at close range.

 

[lawrencenguyen]

As for the Argentine light tanks I suggested this. Basically Argentina in the interwar period was quite happy with the M1934 light tanks they got from UoB so they decided to acquire the license and locally produced this tank with some modifications.

The new Argentinian light tanks based the M1934 would has an enlarged turret that can mount a 40mm gun and a coaxial 7.7mm MG. This tank and the Nahuel can served as the two mainstay tanks of the South American Axis nations during their war against Mexico and the Dominion

Left, the original M1934, right, the modified M1934 with 40mm AT gun

 

[lawrencenguyen]

I'm definitely slacking on what type of equipment the Mexican army was using so here's the full rundown of weapons, tanks, and planes:

Rifles: Mondragón rifles (fully functional and useful even in 1940). Karabiner 98, Winchester model 98 (for tank crew), and Mosin Nagants after seeing and using them in the Weltkrieg they decided to manufacture and give them to their colonies and clients.

Machine guns: The Mendoza C-34, basically the Mexican answer to the US Browning 1918.
View attachment 474597

The EMP and MG 34 from Germany

Handguns: P38, C96, Obregón Pistol (a combination between the US colt and Steyr pistols)
View attachment 474598

Tanks: the Mexican Oberschlesien tank, the completely outdated Burstyn Arma de motor used only in the colonies, especially during the Amritsar rebellion. The Polish 7TP, and the Panzer I.

Planes: The Dutch Fokker D.XXI and the Polish PZL-11

The Mexican armory was a combination of old and new weapons and vehicles. While some of the Mexican weapons were either inspired or provided by their Allies.

For their early war Anti tanks Im thinking they would probably use the Bofors 37mm like Poland, alongside the Saint Chamond-Mondragon 75mm Howitzer converted to direct fire to be used as Anti-tank gun.

Bofors 37mm AT gun and 75mm Saint Chamond-Mondragon field gun

After realizing the ineffectiveness of the Bofors 37mm gun and the Mondragon howitzer into make-shift AT gun, the Mexican Army would start to adopt the British QF 6 pounder AT gun (57mm) through Lend-Lease and also start using their imported Swedish/Hungarian Bofors 80mm AA Flak into AT guns because of the high velocity shells and the large caliber made this gun suited for the role in countering Argetine medium tanks.

QF 6 pounder cwt AT gun and the Bofors 80mm AA gun

 

[lawrencenguyen]

Also I forgot to mention: is there any possibility of Thailand or Siam entering as another Axis power along with Japan?

Finally for tonight, the Axis just like in OTL are just as dysfunctional ITTL because to some it up clearly, what do you get if you mix in fascists, communists, and imperialists? Absolute hatred and uncooperation.

Thai entering the war with Japan is pretty much guaranteed but it can also save face later on by signing Armistice with the Allies just like OTL.

Which means the Phibun dictatorship got overthrown and Thai basically rebelled the Japanese the moment Japan position is weakened due to losing the war so they receive less punishment than other Axis nations.

For other Axis powers, i would say, an Indian Liberation Army Azad Hind and puppet Empire of Korea sponsored by Japan as i mentioned.

 

[lawrencenguyen]

Possibly also the Panzerfäust by the German Empire.

Panzerfaust is a late war weapon, if you want a hand carried AT weapon for Mexican troops, i think Anti tank rifles would suit better.

The Polish 7.9mm Wz. 35 AT rifle

German 13.2mm Mauser M1918 T-Gewehr anti tank rifle

 

[lawrencenguyen]

About those anti tank rifles, they too would be obsolete against the larger armored Argentinian tanks, so by then you can shift Mexican anti-tank weapons to Molotov cocktails and Panzerfaust instead, might as well as getting some American M1 Bazooka later through Lend-Lease.

For more Mexican infantry weapons, Im thinking these would do as well. As Mexico has close military ties with Czechslovakian And Hungarian Kingdoms of Danubian Empire as well as Belgium they can get access to these.

From left to right: ZB vz.26, Bren LMG, Type 96, Type 97
Czech 7.92mm ZB vz.26 light machine gun, this gun also served as basis for the British Bren gun and the Japanese Type 96 LMG. This design ITTL is basically what the Danubian Empire shared to their fellow Mexican and Canadian allies as part of the war efforts, the variant used by the Commonwealth forces would later be known as Bren Gun while Mexican variant is pretty much unchanged. The Japanese also captured alot of these Czech-made LMGs from Mexican troops in their conquered Asian colonies and later on managed to reproduce their own models, the Type 96 infantry LMG and the heavier Type 97 tank machine gun.

Polish variant of the Browning M1919 Automatic Rifle, the Browning wz.1928, ITTL Mexico and Poland bought the same pattern of the BAR from the US. The wz.1928 basically had longer barrel than the US BAR and a pistol grip to improve accuracy when firing in short burst or full-auto. Polish bought the BAR from the FN Herstal company in Belgium whereas the Mexican got theirs from the US. Both nations ITTL had their own local production for these LMGs.

The German's older MP-18 Submachine guns, Mexico got a lot of these from their German allies in Europe, as expected, the MEF who were fighting in Europe will definitely received alot of these as surplus equipments.

Since Mexico is also quite friendly with Belgium, they would also had the Browning Hi-Power pistol as part of their standard service pistols for their troops. Of course, you cannot talk about German allies without having the Mauser C96 pistol, these are what would likely be issued to the officers and frontline commanders.

For standard grenades, the Mexican used the same pattern of the M1924 stick grenades like the German Empire. Although later on when fighting Argentinian Blitzkrieg, alot of desperate Mexican troops start to come up with the idea to bundle their grenades together to enhance the exposive mass against enemy vehicles.

Another Mexican service rifle you also forgot to mention is the Steyr M1912 Mauser, these guns are Gewehr 98 designed for export market, although the Austro-Hungarian Army also used them in WW1. Among the customers are Mexico, Chile, Columbia and China. in the OTL, its known as Chilean Mauser but ITTL this rifle would be known as Mexican Mauser owing to the fact that the Mexican Imperial Army had placed for quite a large order of these rifles to arm their colonial troops. (because they dont have enough Mondragon semi-auto rifles to equip them all)

 

[lawrencenguyen]

In order to filtering the tanks used by Union of Britain and the Dominion of Canada, I will make this one into two separate list, first I will recommend on what kind of tanks the UoB would use.

Start off with light tanks, the UoB, much like their French counterpart, prefer cheap, mass produced recon tanks with MGs. The M1934 series of light tanks/tankettes built during the interwar period were the first step in UoB remilitarization program. Additionally, they also had a large number of A4E11/A4E12 amphibious tanks, many of these were used during the invasion of Ireland when the war broke out.

These tanks are equivalent to the Panzer I OTL, armed with only MGs, fast but lightly armored and not ideally suited for a tank-vs-tank battle. Although later M1934 variants do get upgrades with enlarged 40mm AT gun and coaxial MG to give them better fighting chance.

M1934 recon tank and the A4E11 amphibious tank
Other than that, the UoB also used quite alot of tankettes of Carden Loyd Mk VI types, mostly due to economic restraints, these are the most numerous combat tanks in the UoB army. They are primarily used as scout vehicle and artillery spotter or gun tractors and mostly relegated to second-line duties. The M1934 tanks and the Carden Loyd Mk VI tankettes are the most numerous export tanks they produce during the interwar period ITTL.

Carden Loyd Mark VI tankette
The UoB later on replaced the M1934 tanks in combat role with the newer Tetrach light tanks and the Hopkins light tanks before the war starts. Both of these light tanks had the options to use either the 40mm AT gun or the 76.2mm close support howitzers in their turrets. These tanks served as the mainstay UoB frontline tanks during the war alongside the Medium Mark III.

Tetrach and Hopkins
For medium tanks, the UoB used the Medium series, developed from the Great War era medium tanks ,Mark I Mark II and Mark III, with the Mark III being the most numerous version. In particular, the UoB sold a batch of dozen Mark III to the Soviet Union in the early 1930s and these were later used as basis for the T-28 medium tank. By the time of WW2, only the Mark II and Mark III were still in service while the Mark I has been phased out of service a long time ago.

The UoB has planned to replace these obsolete medium tanks with the more modern Matilda II armed with 76.2mm gun imported from friendly Soviet Union ITTL but due to deteriorating war situation and materials delay, there were not enough Matilda II to replace them so the obsolete Medium Mark III is still the most numerous front-line medium tanks of the UoB.

Medium Mark III and Matilda II
Aside from these, the UoB also had their own heavy tanks, the A1E1 Independent were produced in limited number, about 12 tanks produced mainly used as vehicles for propaganda reels and parades as they were regarded as too underarmed and unsuited as a proper combat tank by the time of WW2 ITTL. Other than that, unlike the Dominion of Canada, the UoB really dont have any other heavy tanks due to their smaller economy base compared to German Empire and the Danubian Empire.

One example was sold to the Soviet Union alongside the batch of Medium Mark III, the Independent would later used as the basis for the Soviet own T-35 multi-turret heavy tank.


A1E1 Independent
For tank destroyers and assault guns, the UoB used a crude converted version of their own Carden Loyd tankettes mounted with French 47mm gun, known as SA F.R.C. 47mm. Another tank destroyer they used is the open-topped Alecto armed with a 90mm Howitzer based on the Tetrach light tank chassis, although this one is technically more of an assault gun than a true tank destroyer

SA F.R.C 47mm and Alecto

 

[lawrencenguyen]

Moving on to the Dominion of Canada's tanks, these are their mainstay tanks.

Due to the loss of industrial base in their home island, the Dominion of Canada began a rapid period of industrialization and modernization in the aftermath of the Great War. Thanks to the abundant resources and manpower from its remaining Crown Colonies, money and materials were readily available for the Dominion to restart its militarization again to prepare for the Second Weltkrieg.

The Dominion of Canada first light tank is actually the Vickers 6 tons tank, this design is so popular that it was also sold to many nations, in particular Poland and the Soviet Union were the two major customers who also bought license for locally produced models (7TP and T-26). The Vickers 6 ton comes in two variant, the twin and single turret models. This is one of those few tanks used by both Axis and Entente nations during the Second Weltkrieg. By mid-1940, the Vickers 6 tons had been withdrawn from frontline and replaced by the newer Crusader light cruiser tank and Valentine light infantry tanks, both were vastly superior and can be mounted with the newer QF 6pdr 57mm AT gun.

Vickers 6 ton Type B, Crusader Mk III and Valentine Mk III tanks

The mainstay Dominion of Canada medium tanks were the Ram series, based on the American M3 Lee design but mounted with its main QF 6 pounder gun in the turret instead. Other medium tanks included the Australian Sentinel series, which were mainly used in the Pacific against het Japanese. Both the Ram and Sentinel series utilized the readily available equipments supplied from the US. By mid-war period, the Dominion fast cruiser tanks like Cromwell, Comet and Challenger series would be produced later to supplement the Ram and the Sentinel. Each lines of these tanks were made for different fighting environments, the Sentinel mainly served in Pacific Theatre whereas the Ram II served in the South American Campaign and Allies expeditions in Africa while the Cromwell series on the other hand served mainly in Europe.


Ram II and Sentinel II medium tanks and Cromwell IV cruiser tank
The Dominion of Canada actually used two types of heavy tanks ITTL, the first is the Churchill infantry tanks, which was well armed, but slow, ITTL these Churchills are the NA75 variant using Sherman 75mm guns. Other heavy tanks included the Excelsior Assault tanks with 75mm gun.

Churchill infantry tank and the Excelsior assault tank
For tank destroyers and assault guns, the Dominion used the Deacon and Archer as their early to mid war TDs while later on the US-based Archilles were used to replace both. The Archer in particular is a weird design as its gun is actually facing the back of the tank rather than the front.

Other than that the Dominion also received alot of US lend-lease tanks like M3 Stuart, M3 Grant (Lee is the Dominion variant) which were used as basis for the Ram and of course the M4 Sherman which they later modified into the Sherman Firefly with high velocity 76mm AT gun and the locally produced Grizzly tank.

 

[lawrencenguyen]

Speaking of which, I thinking something of a hybrid between the German Panzer III which is about to role out in the next two updates and the Canadian Commonwealth MK Ram tank.

View attachment 474593 View attachment 474594

Well if you want a Mexican Panzer III equivalent, then I think the Czech Skoda T-21/Hungarian Turan series of medium tanks would be pretty fitting considering this tank ITTL will be the Danubian mainstay medium tanks throughout the war.

Skoda T-21, Turan I, Turan II and Turan III
In OTL The T-21 is the prototype mediumctank developed in Czechslovakia while the Turan I is its mass produced version in Hungary under license, originally armed with a 40mm gun but later on the Turan I gets the upgrade to short barreled 75mm gun but its still no match for the heavier Soviet tanks so they finally rollout the Turan III, with German 75mm AT gun and improved armor protection which never pass prototype stage in the OTL.

Zrinyi I and Zrinyi II
There are also the two assault gun/tank destroyer variants based on the Turan chassis, the Zrinyi I with 75mm AT gun abd the Zrinyi II with 120mm howitzer. (Only the Zrinyi II was mass produced OTL)

In short, this tank would be the Mexican new medium tank used to replace Oberschlesien II and are the equivalent to the Panzer IIIs used by Germany.

 

[lawrencenguyen]

In March 29, with the capture of Denmark, the British were able to make Copenhagen into their new airbase and use it for their raids.

The first air raid was in Hamburg, April 13, a Friday, a day that would be known as "Schwarzer Freitag" after 3 hours Hamburg was in ruins, but Germany didn't give in. In April 20 Kaiser Wilhelm gave a radio speech saying "The German people together with her allies are a resilient people and will not give in to a ideology. We will fight them in the air, in the sea, and in the coldest regions of Europa. Wer werden uns niemals ergeben."

View attachment 474706 Bombing of Hamburg aftermath

This gave a morale boost to the German people, who were going to need it because two days later the second blitz began this time in Berlin, however the German Imperial Airforce had a secret weapon to take on the UoB's Spitfire plane: Messerschmitt BF 109.

The Battle of Berlin was in the balance between the manoeuvrable Spitfire against the faster Messerschmitt and for three nights the two airforces dueled in the skies and the battle was beginning to turn in German's favor with British pilots being downed in enemy territory while German pilots that survived will simply get in other plane and fight again.

View attachment 474708 UoB Spitfire
View attachment 474707 Messerschmitt BF 109

But the final nail in the coffin was not from Germany, but from Britain's archnemsis: The Commonwealth of Canada.

When the Second Weltkrieg broke out the Commonwealth was in a interesting position, it hadn't declared war on the UoB, yet, instead waited for one of the Allies to approach Canada with a offer to regain the British throne. That offer would come after the Battle of Cam Ranh Bay and Mexico needed another sea Ally to help them take on the Japanese and the Yamato. Canada agreed to help them and began to mobilize all of her Commonwealth allies such as Australia, New Zealand, and the Falklands. But mobilization was slow and both Mexico and all the other Allies were getting peeved at seeing Canada basically sit this out, until in March 13 when Canada and her Allies were finally ready and the Commonwealth's pride arrived in the port of Veracruz: The Mighty Hood and three more Battleships and together with three other Mexican battleships: Maximiliano, Agustín II, and Emiliano nicknamed "The Three Emperors" began to leave port in what would be known as Operation Hunter or Hunt down the Yamato.

View attachment 474713 HMS The Mighty Hood

View attachment 474714 "Reclaim the Birthright"

But what the Commonwealth gave to Mexico in it's arrival would be invaluable: Radar technology.

View attachment 474717
Immediately during the Battle of Berlin, Mexico sent it to Germany and the tide forever changed in Germany's favor now German air command could see British planes and be able to send up their planes before the British could ever expect them. By the 5th of May the British Air commander, Hugh Dowding finally called of the blitz.

The first victory Germany had gain and now the British Flying Corp was severely wounded. Now it was time for Germany to show her new military power.

The Western front was now in the balance, while in the Eastern front the Soviet Union would suffer three humiliating defeats at the hands of Austria, Finland, and Poland.​

Bear in mind that ITTL, the Japanese fleet had more than just the Yamato. Because they previously had an arms race with Mexico and USA, they were able to complete most ships they planned for the 8-8 fleet. Which means Japan actually has a large fleet 16cinch and 18 inch battleships of 2 Nagato class, 2 Tosa class, 4 Amagi class and 2 Yamato class. Nagato, Tosa and Amagi were ships that built during the arms race while the Yamato class is a more recent design.

ITTL, due to the Great Depression, only half of their planned 8-8 fleet were completed. After both nations signed the agreement to stop the arms race, Japan actually postponed construction on the remaining ships while focus on their new secret super battleship project which later resulted in the Yamato instead.

The idea is that while the Japanese were lower in numbers, its ships would be superior in quality and gunnery compared to Mexico and USA to fight larger fleet with smaller number.

The IJN Battlefleet would also be assisted by cruisers destroyers and torpedo boats whom will harrass enemy fleet at night causing chaos and havoc then let the battleships finished the leftover in the next morning.

 

[lawrencenguyen]

Speaking of which, the Battle of Zaporizhia was coming to an end after 8 grueling months of vicious street to street fighting and house fights between the Austrian and Ukrainian armies vs the Soviet Red Army. After the Austrians used infiltration tactics with it's Jagdkommandos they managed to destroy multiple guns and the Soviets couldn't just overwhelm them with tanks because the Austrians had built their own Panzerwagens called the Panzerkampfwagen OberÖsterreich and their gun, while weaker to the Soviet T-34's 76.2mm gun, with it having a 74.0mm gun, it was much more fast using a Steyr engine. By April 16, the Battle of Zaporizhia was finished and the Austrians went on the counteroffensive pushing the Red Army back to the Donbass.

View attachment 474838 Austrian OberÖsterreich tank
View attachment 474839 Austrian Jagdkommandos


View attachment 474840 Mannerheim line
View attachment 474841 Timoshenko

In the Caucasus, the combined Turkish and Persian armies invaded and quickly captured the Tbilisi, the capital of the Georgia and Chechnya forcing Stalin to redeploy Soviet soldiers to stop the Turkish and Persian advance.

View attachment 474842 Turkish soldiers

Now it's time to back to the Pacific front.​

For the Austrian tank, the correct gun caliber is 75mm, and also i think you should use one of these as the image for the tank instead given the fact that Austria ITTL used alot of Czech and Hungarian designs. This tank and the whole Turan line in my opinion is the best Hungarian equivalent to German Panzer III/IV

And i think perhaps the tank name should be Skoda T-43M Turan III since naming it as OberOsterreich sounds like its made in Austria while in reality its a Czech/Hungarian tank.

Also the correct engines for Austrian tanks should be Skoda or Manfred Weiss because Steyr is a weapon manufacturer where as both Skoda ans Manfred Weiss produced machinery and weapons for the A-H military.

 

[lawrencenguyen]

September 24, the Marina Imperial and the Royal Navy left the Port of Salina Cruz and the strength of the combined Fleet was 6 Battleships, 12 Cruisers, 8 light cruisers, and 20 Destroyers. The Fleet was going to Cam Ranh Bay and connect with the Pacific fleet in the area. However during the journey they encountered a Japanese squadron of 2 battleships and 3 destroyers. The battle lasted for one hour and one Japanese battleship and one Japanese destroyer were sunk, while one Mexican destroyer was lost. But the ships that escaped warned the main fleet and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto decided to confront them before they could reach Cam Ranh Bay, so he gather up a fleet of 10 Battleships, including Yamato, 14 cruisers, and 20 Destroyers.

View attachment 474945 Admiral Yamamoto

On the October 8 the two fleets came face to face at the Paracel Islands, the battle began with the Japanese breaking into two arrow head formations with Yamato in the middle while the two naval admirals, Hilario Rodriguez Malpica the younger, son of his more famous father, and Lord Mountbatten, decided to mirror the Japanese tactics and split into two arrow heads but with the Mighty Hood and the Three Emperors in the middle.

View attachment 474947 Battle of Paracel Islands
View attachment 474948 Lord Mountbatten
View attachment 474949 Admiral Malpica the Younger

The battle began with the four arrows colliding and all-out mayhem broke out with sailors firing and screaming orders. But the main battle was between the Battleships, Yamato opened fired and the first salvo struck the Hood in her side, the Three Emperors fired back hitting her in bow and stern. Realizing she was outnumbered, Yamato called for help and two battleships Nagato and Fusō came to her rescue and Fusō fired on the Agustín II, while Nagato cut in front of Maximiliano.
Now it was a Equal battle; it was Yamato vs The Mighty Hood and Emiliano while the Fusō vs Agustín II and Nagato vs Maximiliano.

View attachment 474950 HMS Hood
View attachment 474951 Nagato
View attachment 474952 Fusō

Yamato focused all fire on the Hood and Hood was now suffering severe damage while Emiliano fired all heavy shells into Yamato's right side, puncturing a massive hole causing her to lean. Meanwhile the Fusō was gaining the upper hand on the much slower Agustín II and in flanking maneuver fired straight into her ammo compartment causing her to explode and sink rapidly. Fusō was heading straight to help Nagato, who was doing much poorly against the better armoured and better gunned Maximiliano, until she was hit from behind, damaging her rudder, the shot came from the HMS Duke of York, Lord Mountbatten's flagship, that managed to break through the melee. Fusō was now rudderless and was helpless as Duke of York gave the final Coup de Grace, sinking Fusō. Duke of York's victory was short live however when a explosion was heard, a sickening feeling came to Mountbatten as he turned to see what caused the explosion and to his absolute horror it was the former Mighty Hood.

View attachment 474956 Duke of York

Hood was already damaged but the final blow came when Yamato fired again and the shells went into Hood's ammo compartment, already exposed from the holes, causing her to explode.
Yamato then focused all attention on Emiliano, while he fired into her bow again, but it did minimal damage and Yamato fired hitting his turret and just as Yamato was about to deliver the final blow, Duke of York intervened striking her left side and Yamato was already taking in water from her right side and now from both sides. Duke of York fired all heavy shells he had, gouging a massive hole in her middle and that's when the opportunity presented itself and Duke of York delivered the final shot and what could only be described as a thousand sticks of dynamite exploding at the same time, Yamato exploded, not only did she exploded, it was torn in half from the explosion and was now sinking and at the same time Nagato desperately trying to retreat was destroyed to by Maximiliano, but no one noticed.

Both sides saw this and both stopped the fighting, with Japan losing the pride of the IJN, while Mexico and The Commonwealth suffering massive casualties both sides withdrew.

The Battle of Paracel Islands was, what could only be described as a Pyrrhic Japanese victory because while the Japanese Navy managed to stopped the combined Fleet from reaching Cam Ranh Bay and destroyed multiple ships: 3 battleships, 5 cruisers, 4 light cruisers, and 8 Destroyers, they none the less suffered casualties with them losing 3 battleships, 5 cruisers, and half of their destroyers, but the most damning loss was both the Yamato and her captain: Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.

The combined Fleet went to port in friendly German Papua New Guinea for repairs and to calculate on what their new strategy should be, while Japanese limped back to Japan and were thinking on how to break the news of Yamato's destruction and Yamamoto's death.

Meanwhile on land the Japanese were having a field day.​

Why do I had a feeling that the Japanese gonna overrun Indochina through a Blitzkrieg like OTL?

Also, if such is the case, Hong Kong will be the first to fell to the hands of the Japanese, then followed by Shanghai and afterward the whole Indochina would be overrun by the Japanese Army blitzkrieg with the supports of the Navy's carriers. I could imagine that the IJN shore-based medium bombers from Formosa and dive bombers/torpedo bombers launched from carriers had already marked the damaged Mexican battle fleet moored at Cam Ranh as high priorities targets as these ships still had functioning guns which can be used to defend the base, so putting them out of action is a must.

At this point, Mexico and Britain still underestimate the true potentials of carriers and still stick to conventional battleship doctrines, but after the loss of Indochina with the tattered Imperial Army in full retreat to German's Malayan Peninsula down south, they would learn it the hard way that carriers are slowly dominating the new era of Naval Warfare.

 

[lawrencenguyen]

The situations of the Pacific War in the Second Weltkrieg is pretty simple, Japanese Carriers of the Kido Butai are become more and more effective at sinking Allies capital ships and with the Japanese Army effortlessly steamrolling through defenses. You can actually have Mexico pulled a Prince of Wales and Repulse like this:
After the inconclusive battle in South China Sea between Japanese and the combine Mexican/British battlefleets. The Marina Imperial decided its utmost urgent to send more ships to the Pacific Fleet A task force consists of several Capitani Romani class destroyers and three Mexican Reina Victoria Eugenia light cruisers with two Mexican battlecruisers of one new Mexican G3/Imperator fast battleships and one older refitted Mexican Mackensen class with 38cm guns as their flagship, the fleet embarked from the Mexican Pacific port to Saigon, they stopped at German New Guinea for refuel and arrived Saigon a week before the Japanese Army invasion start.

This battlefleet however had no AA cover as most of the Mexican Army planes on the ground were destroyed by air raids by the Japanese carrier planes while the Mexican carriers in the at Cam Ranh were not yet ready to operate any sorties due to bad weather and need for new repair and aircrafts after that unfortunate battle against the Japanese fleet. So basically this fleet were assigned to the Mexican base at Cam Ranh and on the day that the Japanese begin their invasion, this battlefleet was tasked with the job to hunt down the Japanese transport convoy heading to Indochina, but unfortunately while on the way, they encountered the Japanese shore-based G3M and G4M medium bombers laden with torpedoes and bombs making the living hell out of them, made matters worse when the radar that supposed to assist the fire control of AA guns on Mexican ships malfunctioned in bad weather and this resulted in the two capital ships lost after dodging several torpedoes and aerial bombs dropped on them.

The final blow for the Mexican G3/Imperator would be a torpedo hit right in its left shafts, disabling the ship's rudder and caused it to run in circle and flooded quickly, another torp hit on the same side would spell doom for it as the concentrated torpedo hits caused the ship to drop its speed and slowly capsizing. The fate of the Mexican Mackensen type was slightly better, after managed to dodge 6 torpedoes, two torpedo hits the engine room and caused massive flooding, despite the crews best attempt at trying to keep the ship afloat, the vintage Great War era battlecruiser received its final blow with a torpedo hit on the bow, causing the ship to dropped speed and in danger of capsizing. The situation on the Mackensen class become futile and so they basically evacuate the crews from the ship and let one of the nearby destroyer to scuttle the ship. In the end, only a handful of destroyers managed to bail out alive and

The aftermath of the battle between the Mexican battle fleet and the Imperial Japanese Navy medium bombers is an utter military disaster and to make matters worse, this would only be a beginning in a series of misfortune for Imperial Mexican forces in their war efforts in the Pacific. Perhaps having this military disaster and most of their moored battleships being destroyed by the Japanese would help Marina Imperial to urgently speeding up its carriers readiness to combat the Japanese fleet.

For the Mexican battlefleet

The Mexican G3 type Fast Battleship

The refitted WW1 era Mexican Mackensen class

The Mexican Reina Victoria Eugenia type cruisers

The Mexican Capitani Romani type destroyers.

As for the Japanese medium bombers, these planes had excellent range and good performance for their time, but they lacked self-sealing fuel tanks and armor, which means they are quite prone to catching fire when got hit.
Because the crews had no protection, the only things pilots can rely on is their maneuverability and speed, although this advantage too would quickly lost in later years as the Allies would bring faster and better armored combat planes to the war.
The Mitsubishi G3M Nell Medium/Torpedo Bomber

The Mitsubishi G4M Betty Medium/Torpedo Bomber

 

[lawrencenguyen]

During the Blitz and battles in Eastern Europe, The Japanese Army had been utterly steamrolling the Mexican, Spanish, British, and Beiyang armies on April 20 the Japanese landed in Indochina at two places in Da Nang and Thua Thien Hue blindsiding the small Mexican colonial force of 10,000 alongside with 15,000 Vietnamese soldiers against a army of 50,000 Japanese soldiers. The colonial soldiers made their last stand in the former Imperial capital of Hue and they resisted for a astonishing 15 days but morale finally collapsed on May 6 after the neighboring Kingdom of Siam declared war and invaded Indochina from the East. So with morale gone, ammunition running out, and finally being surrounded, the Mexican army surrendered.

The Mexican soldiers were sent back to Japan to be placed in work camps while the Vietnamese soldiers were executed for siding with the Mexicans. Indochina was split with Siam gaining Cambodia and Japan placing the "Empire of Vietnam" little more than a Japanese puppet.

View attachment 475020 Empire of Vietnam

Concurrently in May 3 the British colony of Hong Kong was seized after a lightening fast assault and the British defenders there did the best they could but they were outnumbered, outgunned, and alone. In Spanish Malaya, the IJN bombed the utter hell out of Kuala Lumpur and within a few short days, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded both Peninsulas and the Spanish defenders barely put up a resistance and they surrendered on 15 of May.

View attachment 475021 Battle of Hong Kong
View attachment 475022 Battle of Kuala Lumpur

In the Raj, German and Mexican colonial authorities heavily censured the news from the war in order to not risk revolts and Independence movements, but one man Subhas Chandra Bose knew of the defeats and was in Tokyo organizing a deal with the Japanese government on helping India gain Independence.
While in the Raj, WW1 veterans Paul Lettow Vorbeck and Pascual Orozco were organizing the Indian, German, and Mexican colonial army totaling a impressive 200,000 men at the German Governed region of Burma waiting for the inevitable Japanese attack.

View attachment 475023 Paul von Lettow Vorbeck
View attachment 475024 General Pascual Orozco
View attachment 475025 Indian army in Burma

In Shanghai, the Japanese utterly surrounded the city and general Zhoulin ordered a retreat. The Battle of Shanghai lasted from January to late May 24 and the Battle was especially damaging for the Beiyang Army, because they lost their best soldiers that were trained by Germany and were armed by Mexico. The only good news in all of this was disastrous defeat of the NRA of Chiang Kai Sheik at the Battle of Peking from April to May 17 ending the Second Northern Expedition and results angered the Japanese and were beginning to rethink their alliance with the Kuomintang.

View attachment 475026 Beiyang Army marching in Peking​

Correction: This should be East Asia or Indochina, because this is the Pacific theatre we are talking about. secondly, its Chiang Kai Shek without an i.

 

[lawrencenguyen]

Speaking of which, i think you also forgot to mention Philippines, but since the US has not entered the war yet, Japan technically was not allowed to invade it under international Treaties on neutrality. However, we all knew its just a matter of time before the US entered the war and the fall of Philippines is pretty much guaranteed to happen sooner or later.

 

[Virginia Liberal]

Why didnt they scuttle the battlewagons and carrier.

 

[lawrencenguyen]

They wanted to keep them afloat as decoys to fool the Japanese.

Well tbh that was pretty dumb, they should have flooded all of their BBs and scuttle those before they left. They simply cannot let those modern battleships in the hands of the enemy. This is where i would say scuttling the fleet would be a better option and also a more realistic one here in this scenario.