The Far East Wars

Status Western Powers Armies Far East January 1943 part 3

Dominion of Australia:

The Australian Imperial Force was pretty active during 1942. While the 7th Infantry stayed in the Far East performing garrison duty in Malaya and Hong Kong the rest of the Imperial Force saw some heavy fighting during the year. In February 1942 the Germans launched their attack of “Fortress Spain” and the 6th and 9th Infantry Divisions were involved in the fighting from beginning to end. Both were assigned to the Cantabrian Front and fought gallantly in the battles in Basque country; they were reduced in size by losses by half their strength at the end of the campaign and were surrounded in the Santander pocket when hostilities ended. January 30, 1943 found the remains of both divisions in Great Britain waiting for their return to Australia while negotiations continued for the return of prisoners.

In the Middle East the 1st Motorized Division (1) participated in the battles in Libya against the joint Franco-Italian forces and fought a magnificent delaying operation with the British 7th Armored Division that allowed for the successful evacuation of Libya after the chaos caused by the start of the Indian Civil War in August 1942 that forced the Commonwealth and British forces to evacuate Cyrenaica. The 8th Infantry participated in the Syrian campaign and was present in the captures of Beirut and Tyre. By January 30, 1942 both divisions were waiting for their return to Australia while negotiations continued for the return of prisoners. But major change was in the horizon for the Australian military forces.

The Australian government recognized that their current military establishment was not sufficient to counter any threats in their immediate area and began to take the steps necessary to remedy that. The sudden end of the war found a large number of Australian men in the hands of the Germans and their allies; the Australians led a successful lobby to get men from Commonwealth countries first on the lists of repatriation with the Germans happily agreeing to it (2) while the British grudgingly have to accept. With the expected return of the Australian forces in Europe and the Middle East in addition to the released prisoners the government was leaning in the creation of a regular army to protect the interests of Australia, but what would be the next step of the government? The Defense Act of 1903 pretty stated that the bulk of the peacetime Australian forces were of the militia type but it had very serious limitations to the establishment of a permanent force. One of the sections limited the military branches that a permanent military force could be raised ; another limited the deployment of forces of the Citizen Militia Force to Australia and their territories except if they volunteer and that was one of the reasons for the creation of the Australian Imperial Force, another limitation was that only graduates from the Military College could be officers and this serious limited the possible number of officers available in a peacetime army and the last limitation was that establishment of any permanent force was arbitrarily limited by financial estimates. As such it was the findings and recommendations of a government committee, an Army committee and an independent neutral report that shaped the post-war Australian army. However, the sudden end of the war found both the Government and the Army unprepared for the situation. While studies and committees began the process to decide the future of those post-war Australian forces something needed to be done in regard to the current threats. The Army therefore had to balance the demands of the government to demobilize forces, together with meeting the commitments necessary to safeguard the security of Australia during this transitional period (3). By January 30, 1943 the main concerns of the Australian Army leadership was the return of the men overseas while defending the Malay Barrier against the possible Japanese threat. Finally the Australian government politely refused to get involved in the Indian Civil War, using the Defense act of 1903 as their legal basis for their refusal.

Australian Imperial Force Units by January 30, 1943:
6th Infantry Division (raised December 1939; deployed to Great Britain and fought in Battle of France in last months. Evacuated from Brest on December 18, 1940; after rest and refit in Great Britain was stationed in Spain by January 1942. Fought in Battle of Spain and evacuated from Santander on December 24, 1942. In Great Britain by January 30, 1943 waiting to return to Australia).

9th Infantry Divisions (raised June 1941 from the amalgamation of the 19th Independent Brigade, Australian rear echelon personnel in Great Britain and the arrival of the 20th Infantry Brigade in April 1941; 19th Brigade fought in France and after organization the division was stationed in Spain by January 1942. Fought in Battle of Spain and evacuated from Santander on January 11, 1943. In Great Britain by January 30, 1943 waiting to return to Australia).

1st Motorized Infantry Division (subordinate units raised as cavalry regiments on December 1939; deployed to Egypt on May, 1940 and converted to motorized infantry and armored cars regiments. Stationed in Egypt and participated in Libyan Campaign; by January 1942 was on rest and refit duty in Egypt. Participated in the 1942 Libyan Campaign and by January 30, 1943 was in Egypt waiting to return to Australia).

7th Infantry Division (raised August 1940; deployed to Singapore on November 1940 with subordinate infantry brigades stationed in Malaya and Hong Kong. By January 30, 1943 division was stationed in the Far East).

8th Infantry Division (raised December 1940; subordinate brigades created in August and September 1940. Deployed to Middle East April 1941 and rushed into Greek Campaign on August 1941 until October 1941. By January 1942 division was on rest and refit duty in Palestine. Participated in the Syrian Campaign and by January 30, 1943 was in Palestine waiting to return to Australia).

(1) By now this formation was truly a combined arms formation; 2 fully motorized infantry brigades mounted in Bren machinegun carriers, a divisional artillery brigade fully motorized composed of 48 25 pdr (87mm) guns in addition to 48 6 pdr (57mm) anti-tank guns and 54 40mm Bofors for anti-aircraft duty, a machinegun battalion, a reconnaissance battalion, a tank brigade composed of 62 Mark III 57mm armed Crusader tanks with 10 armored cars and 8 40mm anti-aircraft tanks included in the tank brigade and additional support units attached to the division.

(2) Germans pretty much know that releasing Australians, New Zealanders and the small number of South Africans on their hands will slow down the recovery time of the British forces in Europe.

(3) Basically OTL events are pretty much pushed into the scene a couple of years earlier ITTL. The threats in the region will allow for a larger transitional force but probably would see a final slightly larger permanent force allowed.
 
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Status Western Powers Armies Far East January 1942 part 4

Dominion of India:

The military forces of India by January 30, 1943 could be separated in four major groups; the forces of the British Indian Army overseas, the forces of the Dominion of India in India proper, the forces of the so-called Republic of India and the paramilitary militias of both sides. By August 19, 1942 a total of close to 220,000 men of the Indian Army were in infantry or mechanized formations fighting in three continents with an additional 75,000 men performing supporting duties like construction and depot administration. The forces of the Indian Army deployed in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, especially the ones raised in 1939 and early 1940 were well supplied with military equipment by Indian standards and had the bulk of the trained Indian officers. The declaration by Nehru on that day affected mainly the formations raised after April 1941 that were raised from volunteers while the bulk of the personnel in the other formations were mainly form the pre-war Army and had a large sense of loyalty to their officers and the Army. However, doubts were seeded in the British military leaders in regard to the reliability of the Indian Army units, especially in Spain were units as large as battalions surrendered to German forces after arresting and in many cases shooting their officers (1). This created chaos in all fronts, with the South Africans in the former Italian colony relishing their role in “neutralizing’ the possible threats (2). In many cases Indian soldiers shot at Indian soldiers, examples of this were seen in Spain, Iraq and East Africa. By January 30, 1943 the forces of the Indian Army overseas were in a process of reorganization with many units disbanded to bring the loyal formations to full strength as soon as possible for deployment back to India (3).

During 1942 a total of close to 750,000 men were in different levels of training in the Indian subcontinent (4) and 4 infantry divisions (5) were ready for deployment overseas at the time (6). After the Nehru’s declaration on August 19, 1942 the British forces loyal to the Dominion of India basically fell in disarray with formations separating mainly according to religious preferences but many soldiers of the Hindu faith from the so-called Martial Races stayed loyal to the British Empire. With chaos going on all throughout the Dominion Mohammad Ali Jinnah was offered the post of Prime Minister of the Dominion and he accepted with the condition of the transformation of the Dominion into a federal style Dominion with a large Muslim Homeland in place (7). This created even bigger chaos with the Sikh, the Jains and the Hindus of the Martial Races also clamoring for their own “Homelands” (8). And then there was the problem of the princely states still resisting the forces of the Republic. As such in reality the forces available for the Dominion of India to present to the field were not very capable of any offensive operations and were raised mainly across religious lines; the Jains, Hindus and Sikh joining in their rejection of Muslim superiority (9)(10).

The main problem for the forces in India proper was the lack of equipment. The Dominion’s Army cupboards were virtually bare. The need to deploy forces away from the Dominion forced the units left behind to be stripped of their artillery, mortars and their best trained officers. The losses of the 1940 to 1942 campaigns forced the deployment of replacements mainly from the pre-war army that left the forces still in India badly trained officers, technical personnel in addition of lacking large number of necessary military equipment. In reality by August 19, 1942 the bulk of the proficient mechanics and radio operators necessary for the operation of modern large military formations were assigned to the divisions waiting deployment at the time. Those 4 divisions basically disbanded without orders but interestingly were the first formations raised by the Dominion mainly composed from non-martial races (11). And those 4 divisions were sorely lacking in artillery and anti-tank weapons (12). The remaining forces were no more than “rifle and grenade troops”. By January 30, 1943 the Dominion of India was in the process to complete the training of 7 new light divisions (13) (14) to use for offensive operations against the Republic of India forces.

Meanwhile the so-called Republic of India was trying to put a coherent military force in place due to the way a large number of militias were hurriedly armed in the wake of Nehru’s declaration with no structure whatsoever. The many armed groups had been loosely coordinated by the National Congress from their “capital” inn Lucknow but in reality the Republic had lost effective control of the armed forces defending it. The changes in the organization of armed forces in the regions under their control began on November 16, 1942 with the creation of a “National Defense Ministry” tasked with the unification of the many disparate armed groups with the former soldiers of the Commonwealth Indian Army (15) with a goal of completing the creation of the Republican Indian Army by early March 1943. By November 30, 1942 all Hindu males between 18 and 45 were considered liable for military service. The brigade was the basic military unit and was based in the British/Indian Army design. What it changed was that independently of the Dominion's government the Republic was forced to reach the same results in regard to the size and structure of the divisional forces (16). The Republican forces lacked proper equipment and the shortage of proper clothing, weapons and ammunition was acute during the early months of the conflict. The only redeeming circumstances were that the large rifle factory in Ishapore near Calcutta and the artillery factory near Jabalpur were captured by the Republic in the initial actions. By January 30, 1943 a total of 10 Republican divisions were forming but the bulk of the forces of the Republic were still composed of militias.

The last military forces in the region at this time were the many different factional militias with the Muslim National Guard, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS for short and the Sikh militias being the largest. These formations in majority of the cases were highly unorganized but followed much localized agendas and during the early chaotic months of the Civil War were the ones that created the climate of distrust between the factions by their actions, especially the crimes against members of different religious groups. Today the terms is “ethnic cleansing” but it was performed in many different ways; the Muslim National Guard preferred expulsion with killings as a last resort while the Sikh actually seems that they relished the killing of members of both the Hindu and Muslim factions but on the other hand the RSS preferred to forcibly “convert” the other religious groups to the Hindu religion with expulsion and killing as last resorts. By January 30, 1943 pitched battles were being fought in the Punjab between Sikhs and Muslims, even when they were supposed to be in the same side. In reality chaos reigned supreme everywhere.

The leaders of the Dominion and the Republic were not able to actually control a lot of what was going on and chaos was everywhere but specially in the Dominion. Jinnah was a capable leader but his years as leader of just the Muslim factions created suspicion in the remaining Hindu and the Sikhs, who feared to be engulfed in a Muslim dominated nation. As such a lot of infighting and mistrust was prevalent in the areas under the “control” of the Dominion, in what really could be called a civil war. On the other hand Nehru had better control of the situation in the areas under his nominal control but he was viewed by many of the more radical leaders of the National Congress as “soft (17)”; with the leader of the RSS, Madhav Golwalkar, and the recently released from prison Subhas Chandra Bose the more vocal critics of Nehru. Nehru was a socialist and believer in equality, willing to accept minorities in his vision of a new India. The problem was that the radicals were destroying any good faith he was trying to cultivate with the minorities and he began to look like an unreliable leader by those same minorities because his words didn’t followed the actions of the militias. By the end of January 1943 there was no end on sight for the chaos in the region.


Dominion of India’s Expeditionary Forces January 30, 1943
2nd Infantry Brigade (raised September 1939, participated in Syrian Campaign in 1942 and stationed in Palestine under reorganization for return to India. Loyal unit)
3rd Infantry Brigade (raised September 1939 and stationed in Borneo until late 1942. Deployed to India and serving under Imperial command. Loyal unit)
1st Armored Brigade (raised December 1939, stationed in Iraq and participated in Syrian Campaign in 1942. By January 30, 1943 unit was stationed in Iraq under reorganization waiting for return to India. Loyal unit)
4th Infantry Division (raised January 1940 composed of 5th, 7th and 11th Infantry Brigades. Division participated in Battle of France during 1940/41 and in the Battle of Spain in 1942. By January 30, 1943 unit was stationed in Great Britain under reorganization waiting for return to India. Loyal unit)
5th Infantry Division (raised January 1940 composed of 9th, 10th and 12th Infantry Brigades. Participated in Libyan Campaigns in 1941 and 1942. By January 30, 1943 unit was stationed in Egypt under reorganization waiting for return to India. Loyal unit)
6th Infantry Division (raised January 1940 composed of 6th, 13th and 14th Infantry Brigades. Division participated in Battle of France during 1940/41 and in the Battle of Spain in 1942. By January 30, 1943 unit was stationed in Great Britain under reorganization waiting for return to India. Loyal unit)
11th Armored Division (raised November 1940 composed of 3rd Moto Brigade and 2nd Armored Brigade. Participated in Libyan campaign in 1941 and 1942. By January 30, 1943 unit was stationed in Egypt under reorganization waiting for return to India. Loyal unit)
7th Infantry Division (raised February 1941 composed of 8th, 17th and 18th Infantry Brigades. Stationed in Iraq and participated in Syrian Campaign in 1942. By January 30, 1943 unit was stationed in Iraq under reorganization waiting for return to India. Loyal unit)
8th Infantry Division (raised February 1941 composed of 1st, 15th and 20th Infantry Brigades. Division stationed in Malaya by January 30, 1942. Loyal unit)
9th Infantry Division (raised April 1941 composed of 21st, 23rd and 26th Infantry Brigades. Division participated in Battle of Spain in 1942. First division completely composed of men not part of the pre-war Indian Army. The division suffered high desertion rate and refusals to obey orders from many of the Indian members of division. Division was declared disbanded on October 17, 1942 with surviving loyal elements used in different ad-hoc task forces. By January 30, 1943 the remaining elements are in Great Britain with personnel allocated to bring up to strength the other Indian Army formations in Great Britain)
10th Infantry Division (raised April 1941 composed of 16th, 19th and 27th Infantry Brigades. Participated in East African campaign and stationed in Somaliland. 27th Brigade was disbanded and remaining forces used as core of new formation for duty future operations)
11th Infantry Division (raised May 1941 composed of 22nd, 24th and 29th Infantry Brigades. Division participated in Battle of Spain in 1942. Second division completely composed of men not part of the pre-war Indian Army. The division suffered high desertion rate and refusals to obey orders from many of the Indian members of division. Division was declared disbanded on October 24, 1942 with surviving loyal elements used in different ad-hoc task forces. By January 30, 1943 the remaining elements are in Great Britain with personnel deemed loyal allocated to bring up to strength the other Indian Army formations in Great Britain)
12th Infantry Division (raised May 1941 composed of 25th, 28th and 30th Infantry Brigades. Division participated in Battle of Spain in 1942. Third division completely composed of men not part of the pre-war Indian Army. The division suffered high desertion rate and refusals to obey orders from many of the Indian members of division. Division was declared disbanded on October 25, 1942 with surviving loyal elements used in different ad-hoc task forces. By January 30, 1943 the remaining elements are in Great Britain with personnel deemed loyal allocated to bring up to strength the other Indian Army formations in Great Britain)
13th Infantry Division (raised April 1942 composed of 36th, 37th and 38th Infantry Brigades. Division participated in Battle of Spain in 1942. Fourth division completely composed of men not part of the pre-war Indian Army. The division suffered high desertion rate and refusals to obey orders from many of the Indian members of division. Division was declared disbanded on October 28, 1942 with surviving loyal elements used in different ad-hoc task forces. By January 30, 1943 the remaining elements are in Great Britain with personnel deemed loyal allocated to bring up to strength the other Indian Army formations in Great Britain)
12th Armored Division (raised June 1941 composed of 4th Moto Brigade in addition to 3rd Armored Brigade and participated in Spanish campaign. Unit disbanded and by January 30, 1943 the remaining elements are in Great Britain with personnel deemed loyal allocated to bring up the strength of the other Indian Army formations in Great Britain.)
31st Infantry Brigade (raised July 1941 and participated in the East Africa Campaign. Unit was disbanded with personnel deemed loyal allocated to bring loyal Indian formations in East Africa to full strength)
32nd Infantry Brigade (raised July 1941, stationed in Iraq and participated in the Syrian Campaign. Unit was disbanded with personnel deemed loyal allocated to bring loyal formations in Middle East to full strength)
33rd Infantry Brigade (raised August 1941 and participated in Spanish Campaign in 1942. Unit disbanded and by January 30, 1943 the remaining elements are in Great Britain with personnel deemed loyal allocated to bring up to strength the other Indian Army formations in Great Britain)
34th Infantry Brigade (raised August 1941 and participated in Spanish Campaign in 1942. Unit disbanded and by January 30, 1943 the remaining elements are in Great Britain with personnel deemed loyal allocated to bring up to strength the other Indian Army formations in Great Britain)
35th Infantry Brigade (raised August 1941 and participated in the East Africa Campaign. Unit was disbanded with personnel deemed loyal allocated to bring loyal Indian formations in East Africa to full strength)
36th Infantry Division (One Brigade assigned to Division raised from British units assigned to disbanded Indian formations in Somaliland and Iraq. Combat British battalions assigned to disbanded Indian formations that served in Spain been reformed in Great Britain for later attachment to this formation. Division HQ and support elements were formed from remaining personnel of inactivated British 15th Infantry Division in India and division activated on December 17th 1942)

Dominion of India Forces in India proper January 30, 1943
14th Infantry Division (raised in November 1942 and still under training)
15th Infantry Division (raised in November 1942 and still under training)
16th Infantry Division (raised in December1942 and still under training)
17th Infantry Division (raised in December 1942 and still under training)
18th Infantry Division (raised in December 1942 and still under training)
19th Infantry Division (raised in December 1942 and still under training)
20th Infantry Division (raised in January 1943 and still under training)

Republic of India Forces January 30, 1943
1st Republican Division (raised in November 1942 and still under training)
2nd Republican Division (raised in November 1942 and still under training)
3rd Republican Division (raised in November 1942 and still under training)
4th Republican Division (raised in November 1942 and still under training)
5th Republican Division (raised in December 1942 and still under training)
6th Republican Division (raised in December 1942 and still under training)
7th Republican Division (raised in December 1942 and still under training)
8th Republican Division (raised in December 1942 and still under training)
9th Republican Division (raised in December 1942 and still under training)
10th Republican Division (raised in December 1942 and still under training)

(1) The lack of trust of Indian Army formations was a big part of many military decisions, like the withdrawal from Cyrenaica or the pulling of the Indian Army formations from frontline duty in Spain after August 1942.

(2) The South Africans were especially brutal in helping putting down the incipient revolt of the Indian Army formations in the former Italian East Africa possessions. At least three infantry brigades and a large number of laborers refused to obey orders and have to be disarmed violently. This force account to close to 20% of the total combat forces in East Africa.

(3) By January 30, 1943 the surviving members of the disbanded divisions are being screened to ensure their loyalty while the British battalions assigned to those same divisions are been organized into fully British brigades for deployment to India.

(4) The bulk of the pre-war Indian Army was located in the Northwest frontier and it was there were the largest bases were located. Those bases utilized as large recruitment and training depots with large infrastructures in place for those two functions. In addition large armories were located in all the major cities were those divisions were assigned to. However, large bases existed near Madras and near Lucknow. The Brigades in reality were large administrative formations to command the forces covering the Afghan frontier.

(5) The 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th infantry divisions were almost ready to be activated and deployed to the Spanish Front at the time of the Nehru Declaration.

(6) As soon as the chaos started many just took their weapons and left. This new crop of soldiers have a very large number of believers in the legality of the actions of the National Congress and for the first time a large number of the soldiers volunteering for service are not from the Martial Races.

(7) He moved the temporary capital to the city of Lahore but with increasing violence between Muslims and Sikhs he finally moved the capital to Rawalpindi.

(8) Khalistan for the Sikhs for example.

(9) This created a lack of unified command during the early period of the conflict with basically the forces of the Dominion raised during the period were for all effects static formations acting more as a police force trying to keep different supposed to be allies factions from killing each other. And they mainly failed miserably.

(10) Historically the British Indian Army was often segregated at the company and in some cases even at the battalion level by caste, tribes and religions. Here due to the terrible interaction between factions is even being taken to the regimental and many cases brigade level segregation.

(11) I have to try to give a bone to the Republic to make them last long enough. However, the lack of unity of the remaining forces of the Dominion under Jinnah is a bigger problem in their attempts to stamp out the rebellion.

(12) They were expected to complete their TO &E at their destination.

(13) Two infantry brigades supported by a 2 battalion artillery regiment and using animal transport. Divisions were missing many of the supporting units that were common in regular infantry divisions.

(14) Formations were highly segregated, with 4 of the divisions composed of Muslims, 1 of Sikh and 2 of a mix of Mahrattas and Rajputs.

(15) The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the National Patriotic Organization was a right wing Indian organization with a large membership by 1942 and lobbied hard enough to maintain an independent recruitment and separate military formations.

(16) Basically exactly like the so-called light divisions of the Dominion under Jinnah. The lack of trained personnel in the use of mechanized equipment in addition to the lack of equipment was the main driver of the way these units were organized.

(17) Even when declaring independence? I guess you can’t please everyone.
 
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Status Japanese Navy January 1943

For the Combined Fleet 1943 was a year to continue to gain strength for a possible conflict with their perceived main threat, the Royal Navy. However, by January 1943 the Japanese Combined Fleet was fighting a slightly resurgent Soviet Far East Fleet (1) that was turning into a threat to the local commerce in the Home Islands but the main threat was to the oil shipments coming from Karafuto (2). As such the proposed construction of 12 small escort type ships to protect local shipment and hunt Soviet marauders was increased to 20. This diversion of funding and materials, while small, affected the planning and desires of some of the leaders of the Combined Fleet. In addition the destruction of the fascist Montgomery Government in North America signaled a possible renewal of the operations against the North American foes (3) but the breakup of the alliance of convenience between certain factions fighting the American Civil War pushed this threat further down the road. While due to the losses in ships and infrastructure the forces in North America were considered neutered for the next couple of years their capacity to recover from the damage was not been taken too seriously by the leadership of the Combined Fleet and that could be a serious mistake. But the British Royal Navy was still considered the biggest threat at this time by the leadership of the Combined Fleet. The end of the war in Europe brought fears of a possible increase of the British and Commonwealth forces in the region could affect the overall situation in Indochina and Philippines. While initially the start of the Indian Civil War signaled a reduction of the size of the British ground forces in Malaya an increase of their naval forces in the region was possible (4).

In regard to the battleship question approval was given to start the construction of the replacements of the Kongo Class battleship, the Shima Class. The previous decision to build 37,000 tons ships was rejected and instead a decision was made to build well protected true fast battleships. As such 2 ships received approval for construction in 1943 with 2 more in 1945. The Shima Class was in reality a scaled down design built around the same main armament of the Yamatos. Starting as a 47,000 tons design it was expected to carry 8 460mm main guns in 4 dual turrets (2 each fore and aft) with a maximum speed of 30 knots and a massive number of anti-aircraft guns to serve in the secondary role of aircraft carrier protection (5). The initial consideration was that the use of the same turret as the Yamatos was impossible to do without sacrificing either speed or protection so the dual turrets were reached as a compromise. What you got was a very long ship (275 meters long) that was considered adequate enough to carry sufficient armor and reach the speeds desired while using the 460mm main armament. The ships were criticized by both sides of the battleship question groups, with some rambling about their large size compared to the ships they were supposed to replace while others were dubious about the capacity of the ships to operate their main armament in combat without suffering damage due to the recoil. The problem was that to receive approval for this pair of battleships the approval for the construction of new carriers was curtailed for the immediate future.

Two new carriers based on an enlarged Taiho (6) with good protection based in their own previous experience and the sharing of information with the Germans were started in early 1942. Also conversion of 2 passenger liners to secondary mission carriers was started around the same time with completion expected in the near future. The Combined Fleet was satisfied with their result in regard to carriers but they knew the replacements for the Akagi and Kaga have to be designed; plans were already in the works for the next generation of carriers and the only thing that could affect this was funding. Protection for carriers was considered essential and another batch of 12 of the Akizuki class anti-aircraft destroyers in addition to an additional unit of the Oyodo class (7) to protect the Kido Butai. Meanwhile the plan to reach a modern heavy cruiser force continued with the approval to start construction of 2 more additional units of the modified Mogami class, now called the Ibuki class. The plan is to replace the Furutaka and the Aoba class initially with the ships of the Myoko class replaced at a later date. Plans for life extension refits were planned for some of the units in the Home Islands during 1943, with construction of light cruisers of the Agano class receiving also priority during the period to replace older ships.

By January 30, 1943 the 2 Special Naval Landing Forces amphibious brigades were fully operational and were slotted for an exercise in the Philippines for the middle of 1943 to test their capabilities. But the message was clear to the Filipinos; the Japanese would be able to reinforce their forces in the Republic fairly quickly if serious resistance against the current regime arises. The 1st Airborne Brigade continued in their developmental stage with the leaders of the Combined Fleet trying to reach a consensus in how to utilize this type of formation. While many were impressed by the large divisional size landings made by the Germans in the Norwegian campaign it was argued that a similar size operation would only work if air superiority is achieved; those same critics stated airborne units would be better utilized as raiding parties to disable or destroy high value targets. By January 30, 1943 the Combined Fleet was moving in the direction of a carrier- led fleet with the battleship in a supporting role. However, the admirals favoring the battleship fleet achieved a great victory with the approval of the Shima Class. Time will only tell if these investments were the right ones.

Combined Fleet Capital Ships and Heavy Cruisers on service and under construction on January 30, 1943

Support Battleship Settsu: Assigned to training command in Home Islands
Training Battleship Fuji: Assigned to training command in Home Islands
Battleship Kongo: Assigned to 3rd Squadron of 1st Fleet and detached to Hawaii
Battleship Hiei: Assigned to 3rd Squadron of 1st Fleet and detached to Hawaii
Battleship Haruna: Assigned to 3rd Squadron of 1st Fleet and detached to Hawaii
Battleship: Kirishima: Assigned to 3rd Squadron of 1st Fleet and detached to Hawaii
Battleship Fuso: Assigned to 2nd Squadron of 1st Fleet on Home Islands
Battleship Yamashiro: Assigned to 2nd Squadron of 1st Fleet on Home Islands
Battleship Ise: Assigned to 2nd Squadron of 1st Fleet on Home Islands
Battleship Hyuga: Assigned to 2nd Squadron of 1st Fleet detached on Home Islands
Battleship Nagato: Assigned to 1st squadron of 1st Fleet detached to Hawaii
Battleship Mutsu: Sunk by Military Junta naval aviation on August 7, 1939
Battleship Yamato: Assigned to 1st Squadron of 1st Fleet in Home Islands
Battleship Musashi: Assigned to 1st Squadron of 1st Fleet in Home Islands
Battleship 110: Cancelled
Battleship 111: Cancelled
Battleship Izumi (ex-Arizona): Assigned to 1st Squadron of 1st Fleet detached to Hawaii


Aircraft Carrier Hosho: Assigned to 3rd Carrier Squadron in Home Islands as training carrier
Aircraft Carrier Akagi: Assigned to 1st Carrier Squadron and detached to Hawaii
Aircraft Carrier Kaga: Assigned to 1st Carrier Squadron and detached to Hawaii
Aircraft Carrier Ryujo: Sunk by Provisional Government aircrafts on January 08, 1940
Aircraft Carrier Soryu: Assigned to 2nd Carrier Squadron detached to Hawaii
Aircraft Carrier Hiryu: Assigned to 2nd Carrier Squadron detached to Hawaii
Aircraft Carrier Zuiho: Assigned to 5th Carrier Squadron assigned to Home Islands
Aircraft Carrier Shoho: Assigned to 5th Carrier Squadron assigned to Home Islands
Aircraft Carrier Shokaku: Assigned to 7th Carrier Squadron assigned to Home Islands
Aircraft Carrier Zuikaku: Assigned to 7th Carrier Squadron assigned to Home Islands
Seaplane Carrier Chitose: Assigned to 6th Carrier Squadron in Home Islands
Seaplane Carrier Chiyoda: Assigned to 6th Carrier Squadron in Home Islands
Seaplane Carrier Mizuho: Assigned to 6th Carrier Squadron in Home Islands
Aircraft Carrier Taiho: Assigned to 8th Carrier Squadron assigned to Home Islands
Seaplane Carrier Nisshin: Assigned to 6th Carrier Squadron in Home Islands
Aircraft Carrier Kaiyo (ex-Langley): Assigned to 3rd Carrier Squadron and detached to Hawaii Home Islands as training carrier
Aircraft Carrier Unryo: Under construction (estimated completion March 1943)
Aircraft Carrier Kasagi: Under construction (estimated completion January 1946)
Aircraft Carrier Aso: Under construction (estimated completion March 1946)
Aircraft Carrier Hiyo (ex- Izumo Maru): Under conversion (estimated completion December 1943)
Aircraft Carrier Junyo (ex-Kashiwara Maru): Under construction (estimated completion February1944)


Super Heavy Cruiser Norikura: Under construction (estimated completion May 1943)
Super Heavy Cruiser Shiomi: Under construction (estimated completion August 1943)
Armored Cruiser Asama: Assigned to 21st Cruiser Squadron in Home Islands
Armored Cruiser Tokiwa: Assigned to 21st Cruiser Squadron in Home Islands
Armored Cruiser Izumo: Assigned to 22nd Cruiser Squadron in Home Islands
Armored Cruiser Iwate: Sunk by unknown submarine April 25, 1941
Armored Cruiser Kasuga: Assigned to 23rd Cruiser squadron in Home Islands
Armored Cruiser Yakumo: Sunk by Red Army aircrafts May 03, 1941
Heavy Cruiser Furutaka: Assigned to 6th Cruiser Squadron detached to Hawaii
Heavy Cruiser Kako: Sunk by unknown submarine on March 27, 1940
Heavy Cruiser Aoba: Receiving life extension refit in facilities at Pearl Harbor. Assigned to 6th Cruiser Squadron detached to Hawaii
Heavy Cruiser Kinugasa: Receiving life extension refit in facilities at Pearl Harbor. Assigned to 6th Cruiser Squadron detached to Hawaii
Heavy Cruiser Myoko: Assigned to 5th Cruiser Squadron in Home Islands
Heavy Cruiser Nachi: Assigned to 5th Cruiser Squadron in Home Islands
Heavy Cruiser Haguro: Assigned to 5th Cruiser Squadron in Home Islands
Heavy Cruiser Ashigara: Assigned to 5th Cruiser Squadron in Home Islands
Heavy Cruiser Takao: Assigned to 4th Cruiser Squadron in Home Islands
Heavy Cruiser Atago: Assigned to 4th Cruiser Squadron in Home Islands
Heavy Cruiser Maya: Assigned to 4th Cruiser Squadron detached to Philippines
Heavy Cruiser Chokai: Assigned to 4th Cruiser Squadron detached to Philippines
Heavy Cruiser Mogami: Assigned to 7th Cruiser Squadron detached to Hawaii
Heavy Cruiser Mikuma: Assigned to 7th Cruiser Squadron detached to Hawaii
Heavy Cruiser Suzuya: Assigned to 7th Cruiser Squadron detached to Hawaii
Heavy Cruiser Kumano: Assigned to 7th Cruiser Squadron detached to Hawaii
Heavy Cruiser Tone: Assigned to 8th Cruiser Squadron detached to Hawaii
Heavy Cruiser Chikuma: Assigned to 8th Cruiser Squadron detached to Hawaii
Heavy Cruiser Ibuki: Under construction (estimated completion December 1944)
Heavy Cruiser Kurama: Under construction (estimated completion February 1945)
Heavy Cruiser Kumotori: Under construction (estimated completion February 1945)

(1) In reality no more than a coastal force but the Soviets were busy creating a mosquito fleet of torpedo boats and coastal submarines in the region.

(2) Japanese name for Sakhalin.

(3) Canada and the factions allied in the Red Oak Pact.

(4) Force Z in Singapore is mainly composed of older ships and this force could welcome a change in regard to the ships assigned to it.

(5) In reality the ships reached nearly 53,000 tons by the time they were completed in early 1948.

(6) 36,000 tons capable of making 32 knots protected by an armored deck and capable of carrying 78 aircrafts in operational missions and close to a 100 maximum.

(7) Not OTL Oyodo cruisers. They are around 7,000 to 8,000 tons anti-aircraft cruisers armed with the same main armament as the Akizuki destroyers (8 dual 100mm dual purpose guns)
 
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Status Western Powers Navies January 1943 (Part One)

Great Britain:

By January 30, 1943 Task Force Z (1) continued to be stationed in Singapore but even with the end of the war and the planned economy measures of the Labour Government to help the British economy plans were being made to improve the composition of the British naval forces in Singapore. On January 22, 1943 the carriers Formidable and Illustrious in addition to the four newest light cruisers of the Colony class (2) received orders to replace the old small carrier Hermes and the old Hawkins Class cruisers as part of the task force in Singapore by no later than May 31, 1943. Also the construction of the Far East battleship, now called Vanguard, was accelerated to replace the old battlecruisers still assigned to the force with a completion date of early 1944. These proposed changes were as much a message to the Commonwealth (3) as it was a message to Japan; even with the chaos on India they will not forget the plight of their Dominions in the region and with the war in Europe over the priority was now to contain Japanese expansion south.

While due to the damage suffered by the Kriegsmarine during 1941 the North Sea and the Atlantic were quiet except for submarine activity the Mediterranean was very active during 1942. The Royal Navy suffered some serious casualties during 1941 against the Italian Regia Marina but learned their lessons well. Fighting mainly a defensive war in the Eastern Med except for supply runs to Malta they caught the main Italian fleet in a trap near Crete (4) that thanks to the use of the air power available ended with the sinking of the battleship Cavour and Andrea Doria and severe damage to the Littorio. No major British unit in the Eastern Med was lost but damage to several cruisers occurred, in a couple cases very severe (5). But the situation in the Western Med was different. The need to support the amphibious operations in southern France put the ships available under heavy risk of both land-based air attack and attacks by the French fleet. Between April 19, 1943 and June 28, 1943 (when the pocket was evacuated) the battlecruiser Hood and the aircraft carrier Ark Royal were lost to land based air attacks against the ships protecting the surrounded Commonwealth forces in southern France. The French fleet tried 3 times to interfere with supply operations of the pocket but failed thanks to a combination of luck, land based air power from Spain and the well planned deployment of submarine pickets that were responsible for sinking the battleship Provence and damaging the Richelieu. But it was the fall of Minorca and Ibiza to a joint Franco-Italian force that neutralized the importance of the airfields in Mallorca and finally forced the evacuation of the surrounded forces in southern France. The end of the war in December 1942 was welcomed by the almost broke Labour Government but not by the Royal Navy.

The leadership of the Royal Navy found them in a new fight; the fight to complete certain projects before the ax came down over those projects and funding was terminated. That same leadership recognized the era of the battleship was over. The bulk of the losses suffered during the Second Great War were caused mainly by airpower or submarines and the leadership was planning accordingly. The First Lord Albert Alexander and the First Sea Lord Admiral Forbes agreed that the completion of the 2 carriers of the Implacable Class (6) were necessary and lobbied Parliament to complete them. That both were more than 80% saved them from scrapping. The same can be said for the battleship Vanguard that was around 80% completed by the end of January 30, 1943. But not all ships were that lucky. The four ships of the Lion Class were finally officially cancelled while it was ordered for the remaining R Class battleship to be put in reserve starting by the end of May1943. But contrary to the battleships the carrier force was going to receive an influx of funding.

Admiral Forbes recognized that in the future the Royal Canadian Navy needed to be integrated to perform certain functions supporting the Royal Navy while he also recognized that a needed requirement for Australia was to acquire an aircraft carrier. In addition the Japanese fleet was viewed as the main threat of the Royal Navy and the carrier was the main weapon to defeat this threat. Air power since 1939 has demonstrated that was capable to disable and destroy all kinds of capital ships; the problem was the attrition of aircrafts could transform a carrier from an asset to a very large expensive target. The choices were to build a large number of new carriers or to design carriers capable of carrying a large number of aircrafts. Of course the second option was accepted. It was a hard sell to the penny pinching Parliament but the threat of Japanese intervention the Dutch colonies was too serious a threat to ignore. Accordingly approval was received to include 2 large carriers (7) (8) to start construction in the middle of 1943 and receiving the highest priority (9).

Also the need for carriers saved the small fighter carriers that were that were laid down in 1942 and were in different degrees of construction by January 30, 1943. The losses of aircraft carriers during the Norwegian and Mediterranean campaigns together with the need to provide protection to the capital ships by assigning fighter protection to battleship formations were the main drivers of the approved construction of the Vengeance Class. A total of 12 were laid down in 1942 with estimated 27 to 30 months completion time but the sudden end of the war didn’t eliminate the need for them. Scaled down versions of the Illustrious class, they were designed to be constructed in commercial shipyards to keep open military yards but unknowingly that was one of their saving graces. Cancelling the small carriers would have affected many workers on the civilian shipyards, a large number of them followers of the Labour Party, and the Labour’s plan was to stay in power for a long while. But still with the cutbacks to the Royal Navy funding 4 of the carriers were offered to the Commonwealths (10) and were readily accepted (11).

Of course you have to cut construction somewhere to pay for the other project allowed to continue. A second set of Minotaur Class heavy cruisers was laid down in late January 1943 but following the modifications agreed on the original 2 cruisers. The 8 inch gun was now considered too weak for successful operational service against the Japanese Combined Fleet, especially the fears of the Australians that considered the ships no a big improvement over their current heavy cruisers and were paying more than 70% of the cost of the second cruiser plus they would pay the same for another one of the second run. As such construction of the original 2 was stopped for months until a decision was made to instead build the cruisers with 3x3 233mm guns (9.2 inch guns) instead. The 2 new cruisers started in January 1943 were ordered with the new armament and like the first 2 were fully tropicalized (air conditioning) (12). The payment for these super heavy cruisers was the last of the Colony class cruisers. The construction of the last 3 Colony class cruisers was suspended until a later date with all the ships already launched and around 70% completion (13). Also a new class of heavy light cruisers with lessons of the war included was put on hold until attrition reduced the size of the fleet.

The interwar expedient of conversion of the old C class cruisers to anti-aircraft was considered a success but the ships were now over 20 years old and the decision was made to retire the old ships. Their replacements were 6 ships that basically were a repeat of the Dido class anti-aircraft ships (14) but instead using the 4.5 inch gun (113mm) as the main armament. With the Dutch anti-aircraft battleship under construction taking pretty much the production of the 5.25 inch (133mm) dual purpose gun it was either cancel construction of new anti-aircraft cruisers or continue production of the new ships with the smaller caliber. Construction was approved in January 23, 1943 with an expected completion of 24 months from the date construction starts. But the C class cruisers were ordered to be demobilized no later than the end of May 1943.

The demobilization order would have left the number of cruisers in the Royal Navy and the Commonwealth fleets at 65 by the end of May 1943, not sufficient to perform all the missions required according to the Royal Navy’s leadership. And it would get worse. The First Lord decided on January 26, 1943 to also to start the demobilization of cruisers over 20 years old since construction and to continue that practice when any cruiser reaches that service time as a measure to save funds (15). But that further decision would reduce the number of ships available to 57 cruisers by the end of May 1943. The problem was now that the Admiral Forbes indicated that with 57 cruisers it will be impossible for the Royal Navy and the Commonwealths' navies to be able to continue their many commitments in the near future. While it was indicated to him that 4 super heavy cruisers and 6 additional were under construction his response was that this construction didn’t resolve the immediate need for more cruisers. The Royal Navy was entering the new penny pinching Armistice Years (16).

(1) The battlecruisers Renown, Repulse, the aircraft carrier Hermes, the four cruisers of the Hawkins class, anti-aircraft cruisers Charybdis and Cleopatra plus a destroyer flotilla.

(2) The light Cruisers Bermuda, Gambia, Jamaica and Trinidad.

(3) Read Australia and New Zealand but mainly Australia.

(4) Battle of Cape Spanta.

(5) CLAA Calypso and the CA York were almost sunk due to torpedo attack and air attack respectively.

(6) Improved Illustrious capable of carrying more aircrafts and slightly faster.

(7) The lessons so far in regard to carriers parallel somewhat OTL but with no American experience to compare as IOTL they will be very long (275 meters ship); armored deck with a closed single hangar, capable of carrying 108 maximum but in reality 84 was the operational number and no deck edge lifts.

(8) The Gibraltar and the Malta.

(9) Even with “peacetime” in place the expected construction time was 32 months. They were completed in 29 and 30 respectively.

(10) Read Canada and Australia.

(11) 2 to Canada and 2 to Australia.

(12) The Vanguard and the new aircraft carriers also will receive full air conditioning.

(13) Large number of light cruisers still on service. Could be completed at later date as older ships are put on the Reserve Fleet.

(14) Armed with 5x2 turrets.

(15) 2 heavy cruisers of the Hawkins Class and the 6 remaining Danae Class were over 20 years by January 30, 1943.

(16) IIRC it was indicated in the original TL that Great Britain’s economy was hurting but they have to continue their nuclear weapons project. However, the need to reduce spending to stop the possible implosion of their economy would force them to make some decisions that will not be well received; especially while they are in an Armistice instead of a full agreed peace.
 
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Status Western Powers Navies January 1943 (Part Two)

France:
The Marine Nationale achieved the greatest success of the Franco-Thai War by their extermination of the fledging Thai Navy during the Battle of Ko Kut Island on February 21, 1942 while suffering minimum damage to their units. The problem was that during these operations in early 1942 the French Squadron in the Far East spent almost all their ammunition and fuel. As such they spent the rest of the year sitting on port with the minor damage to the Suffren and the Lamotte Picquett repaired at best as possible. The end of the conflict in Europe made possible for the leadership back in France to issue orders for the rotation of the ships assigned to the Far East. On late January 1943 the major ships in Indochina were ordered to rotate back to Europe as soon as their replacements arrived (1). But the most important for the French naval presence in the region was that they were able now to replenish their fuel and ammunition stocks. With continued cooperation with the Japanese fleet the Bordeaux government considered the colony to be at least well protected in the near future.

(1) The cruisers in the region were replaced by the heavy cruiser Algerie and the light cruisers Jean de Vienne, Gloire and Montcalm.

Netherlands:

The Dutch naval forces assigned to the Netherlands Dutch Indies received a big boost with the arrival of the battleship Witte de With (1) on December 21, 1942. While severely weakened as a capital ship due to the reduction of the main armament to 1 380mm quadruple turret the number of anti-aircraft guns assigned was impressive for the time (2). The arrival of de With was noticed by the Japanese press but by the end of January 30, 1943 the leadership of the Japanese Combined Fleet was studying ways to counter this new presence in the region (3). But for the Dutch the changed political situation due to the Armistice in Europe changed the dynamic between the Dutch and the Commonwealth/British forces in the region.

The Armistice between Great Britain and the Greater German Reich (4) forced the “Free Governments” to move from London but the British still recognized those governments as the proper governments of the occupied countries and allowed those nations to keep their embassies in London. For the British was an adequate compromise but for many in the Dutch government and military was seen as treachery, their trust in the commitment of the British in facing the fascists as just a show. As such the Dutch government in the Indies decided to ensure their safety as much as possible by using their main resources (5) to achieve this. While the fleet continued to train with the British Royal Navy a deal was reached to increase shipment of oil and gasoline to the Japanese Empire, pretty much a payment to ensure that Japan will stay away from the Dutch colonies for a while. But more important was the deal reached with the Provisional Government in North America that ensured the delivery of oil and gasoline to the West Coast to help defeat the American Soviet Republic in exchange for the sale of American aircrafts, ships and armored vehicles at the end of the American Civil War. This deal was the first of the many deals the American Third Republic made in the last year of their Civil War and the early post-war years that ensured their economic dominance during the late 1950’s (6).

By the end of January 1943 the Dutch naval forces were centered on their anti-aircraft battleship with the other elements in the region mainly in the supporting basis for the capital ship. The 4 cruisers in service (7) were, except for the small scout cruiser Tromp, old and/or badly armed they were just as obsolete as the 8 destroyers in service. As such the Dutch knew their need to acquire more modern units, but they considered the purchase of 20 year-old ships from the British Royal Navy as “wasteful” and instead decided to turn creative. The purchases of the Dutch during 1943 would be interesting in many different aspects.


(1) Former Jean Bart rebuilt as an anti-aircraft battleship.

(2) 17 5.25 QF guns (133mm) dual turrets, 20 40mm quad mounts and 50 single 20mm mounts.

(3) And they don’t know yet about the planned reorganization by the British Royal Navy in Singapore. The Japanese will not be too happy by the second half of 1943.

(4) And their minor allies.

(5) Oil and oil derived products.

(6) In the original timeline is mentioned that the American Republic sold military hardware to the Soviet Union in a cash and carry basis. The needs of the Soviet Union were many and with a war lasting until 1950 you have 6 years were hard needed cash is acquired. At the same time it was stated they sell to anyone but fascists. And of course the ban includes the Japanese.

(7) The Jacob van Heemskerk was captured by the Germans in port and completed by the Kriegsmarine as an anti-aircraft cruiser in 1943 after lessons from the Norwegian campaign were examined.
 
Status Western Powers Navies January 1943 (Part Three)

India:

The navy of the Dominion of India died on August 19, 1942 with the Nehru’s Declaration but it convulsed until December 07, 1942 when the last major unit was destroyed. The August 19 declaration started a mini-civil war on the 4 cruisers and 10 corvettes of the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) that in majority of the cases was won by the Indian non-rates (1). In majority of the cases the officers and petty officers were butchered by their former crewmen. The loss of trained personnel, especially in such hideous manner, was lamented by the British Royal Navy. The now rebel ships were hunted down by the British naval forces in the region and ruthlessly destroyed. On January 17, 1943 the Delhi began her journey to Great Britain for demobilization ending the short history of the Dominion’s Navy.

(1) The Delhi was the only cruiser where the British officers and petty officers were victorious.

Australia:

The end of the war in Europe found the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in the crossroads. They agreed the prior year to take over the patrolling of the eastern approaches of the Indian Ocean while also supporting the British Force Z assigned to Singapore against possible Japanese aggression. The leadership of the RAN had the appreciation that Singapore and their facilities were crucial to the Australian defense, with priority now given to the naval and air assets over the Army in the coming post-war years. The problem was that planning for the post-war development had not envisaged that Australia would face any external threat, but the sudden end of the war found the humbled but still dangerous Japanese looking for places where to replace their losses in the Asian mainland. The view of the Labor Party’s platform was an interesting one; supporting the rights of the indigenous forces in their desire to achieve independence and this been one of the reasons the Australian refusal to send military forces to India. However, their attitude towards the nations in the Malay Barrier was slightly different.

Singapore was considered a linchpin that straddled the lines of communications in South East Asia. Shipping and air routes that maintained served as lifelines of the Australian nation went through the port and it was evident to the Australians that forces based in Singapore were required to safeguard the security of their nation. The problem was how to do it with the probable reduction in the budgets of the armed forces. The overall strategy was based in enhancing British Commonwealth defense planning and preparation while developing regional security arrangements separated from British needs but without clashing those needs.

The first part of the strategy was considered the most important one but the main problem was that the British continued to try to call the shots while the Australian were not interested at all in the Middle East or Europe at this time. Australian understood the concerns of the British but stated that their main concern was and will be the Pacific. Even worse was that the Committee for Imperial Defense continued to dictate instead of trying to treat the Commonwealths as equal partners (1). The penny pinching Labour Government in Great Britain welcomed the desire of the Commonwealths to pull their weight in regional defense as a means to distribute some of their imperial burden but in reality didn’t fully understood the desire of the Australians for a stronger voice in regard to their security. Thanks to the precarious situation in the previous couple of years (2) Australia have taken over responsibility for their home waters and now was ready to take over the protection of the sea communications lines in addition to their previous commitments. The planning for that type of operations was going to happen in conjunction with the New Zealand leadership. Basically the plan was for Australia to be the lead in regard to the protection of the Malay Barrier and to be responsible for the planning of that protection. However, the British still considered Malaya as ‘home territory” and under their operational control. (3) Of course that included the British Force Z stationed in Singapore (3).

The second part of the strategy was problematic. The key guarantor of Australian security in reality continued to be the British Empire. However, the British were occupied with fighting the rebels in India, support of the new regime in Ethiopia, protection of their Middle East possessions, and the fear of the renewal of war in Europe (4) while at the same starting an austerity program. The only powers in the region that could help were the governments of Thailand and the Dutch Indies. As such the Australian began to extend their hand in late January 1943 to the Canadians and the Provisional American Government faction in the war torn United States taking into consideration their fears of Japanese adventurism. Of course with both involved in the last chapter of the American Civil War (5) any kind of agreement aimed at Japan was deferred for a later date. However, Australian diplomats would be busy during 1943 and 1944 trying to achieve their goal of independent regional security in the Pacific.

But with peace on hand a decision needed to be reached in regard to the postwar composition of the fleet. Already 2 locally build destroyers of the Tribal Class (6) (7) were on trials while 2 more were under construction. Also 6 destroyers of the N Class (8) were built in Great Britain for the Australians but one of them was sunk in 1942 in the Mediterranean Front. And that didn’t include the 2 large heavy cruisers of the Minotaur class under construction in Great Britain. What it seems in agreement from the very beginning was the need of the RAN to acquire carriers and in this the British Royal Navy was in complete agreement. As such on January 30, 1943 with very generous payment plans 2 of the fighter carriers under construction in Great Britain were taken over by the RAN with an expected completion by December 1944. The RAN was moving into a new direction with the end of the war in Europe.

(1) Australia, Canada and New Zealand mainly with South Africa relations with Great Britain at an all-time low and the Commonwealth of India was just a basket case not been count on for time been.

(2) 1941 and 1942.

(3) Basically Great Britain is telling Australia; “Fine you are in charge but we are keeping the biggest toy and maybe we let you play with it.

(4) This last one subsided with the German Reich invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1943.

(5) The destruction of the American Soviet Republic by the remaining other factions.

(6) The Arrunta, and the Warramunga

(7) Large destroyers of around 2,500 tons full and armed with 4 dual turrets carrying 4.7 inch guns (120mm) and 4 torpedo tubes.

(8) Large destroyers of around 2,300 tons full and armed with 3 dual turrets carrying 4.7 inch guns (120mm) and 5 torpedo tubes.
 
Status Chinese Army January 30, 1943

The main strength of the Chinese forcers continued to be their apparent unlimited manpower. The non-Communist members factions of the Second United Front were still a force to reckon with, at least number wise. Their combined forces stood at 2.7 million front-line troops in 221 divisions, 42 independent brigades, 7 artillery brigades and 8 independent artillery regiments. Their second line strength was composed of an additional 1 million men in 85 under-strength divisions and brigades. The official strength for a Chinese Army infantry division continued to be an official 9,529 men with 324 light machine guns but after the terrible Shantung Peninsula campaign even more divisions were largely understrength. Also the failure of President Yan to control the different factions began to show as the two largest factions continued to fight parallel wars while the Communist “loyalists” under Mao were more preoccupied with trying to defeat the Soviet backed puppets than to defeat the Soviets per se.

The Central Government forces accounted for around 1.8 million men of the Chinese Army. The 40 German trained divisions continued to be the best forces in all of China (2) but they continued to be utilized as political tools by the Central Government leadership to ensure the loyalty of their political rivals and except for minor actions late in 1942 they have been kept out of combat against the Soviets since 1940. The rest of the infantry formations of the Central Government consisted mostly of ill-equipped, inadequately trained, poorly organized and ineptly led units. Many suffered from malnutrition and clothing shortages. Even the new fast mobile division-size formations that achieved good results (3) during the Shantung Campaign suffered from many of the above weaknesses. Even worse were command problems. President Yan was no more than a figurehead too weak to unite the factions while the actual areas under control by the Central Government amounted to the areas around Kiangsu, Henan, Hubei, Anhui and Chekiang provinces in addition to parts of Fukien.

The armored formations were also divided into two types by January 1943. The 5 German trained battalions (4) were, as the German trained infantry formations kept behind to support he divisions in ensuring the loyalty of the population. That the old Panzer Is still in inventory wwere badly worn out and barely able to run while the locally built copies of the German SdKfz 221 and 222 were very difficult to build in the Chinese factories. As such the best trained personnel in all of China was sitting around training the second type of armored personnel. China continued to send to their deaths thousands of young Chinese men barely trained in the use of armored vehicles; and even worse they have to go to combat in the inferior Japanese Type 95 light tanks or in the Type 97 medium tank. That China continued to import Japanese armored vehicles as fast as they could be delivered was a testimony of the lack of choices but worse, the lack of scruples of the Central Government throwing men to the grinder in useless equipment (5). A total of 470 Type 95 light and 330 Type 97 mediums arrived to China in 1942; only about a quarter of them are still in running condition. An order for 300 additional Type 95 and 120 Type 97 mediums was ordered on January 1943 to replace the losses as best as possible (6) but interestingly with the end of the war in Europe Italy entered the Chinese weapons market again and offered their light CV35 tankette armed with a 20mm gun as a reconnaissance vehicle; Chinese officers in the German trained divisions salivated at the chance to get some even as the vehicles were completely useless in a real war. An order for 120 was agreed for delivery thorough out 1943 with assembly to be done in China. The most common armored vehicle now was the locally produced car similar in appearance to a Soviet BA-10 armored car (7) with hundreds available throughout Central China. But by now the International Brigade was no more. The formation was badly gutted during the Shantung Campaign and the surviving Americans decided to bail out before what they expected was the final battle in Central China. Only the White Russians remained with some hardcore types of different nationalities and were utilized to form “Cossack” cavalry, either mounted in horses, motorcycles or trucks. The Russians knew that would happen in a Soviet victory and were ready to fight to the end to defend their families. Meanwhile the Guangxi/Guangdong faction continued their path into operational autonomy.

The military forces under the command of the Guangxi/Guangdong increased by close to 200,000 men to near 700,000 men under arms but the bulk of the new recruits were suffering of the same weaknesses as the regular infantry divisions of the Central Government; but the problem was compounded even more so by their lack of military hardware, even for Chinese standards. The 12 French trained “divisions” (8) continued to be the elite of their forces and actually performed pretty well in during the defense of Kunming. Sadly their last armored vehicles were destroyed during the operations defending Kunming but a deal was reached with the Bordeaux French government to receive 60 refurnished UE tankettes armed with 13.2 machine guns and 20 refurnished AMR35 with a FT-17 37mm turret installed throughout 1943(9). But of more importance to the faction was the arrival of the first graduates of the training school in Tonkin to form the next generation of young officers and noncoms; a second class of 20,000 men started their training on October 1942 with expected graduation by late 1943. The importance of this was that slowly a western trained military core was entering into the ranks of their army with the expectancy of overall improvement of the army in time. But even more interesting was the effective use of artillery by the faction during the Kunming operation by a large number of white or non-Chinese Asian soldiers and by January 30, 1943 that number was even larger (10).

The dead of Ma Bufang on September 17, 1942 created a leadership vacuum on the noncommunist partisan groups that was never filled. The small partisan bands continued to rely on their own capabilities but with the appearance of Mao’s partisan formations they were either forced to join Mao forces or were exterminated by Mao’s supporters. By the end of January 1943 the noncommunist partisans were reduced to around 200,000 men mainly in Sinkiang and Tsinghai provinces. Meanwhile the Communist partisans continued their process of assimilation of both non-Communist partisans and followers of the puppet People’s Republic of China. Still badly armed their number increased to close to 800,000 men technically operating against the Soviet Army. In reality, as Mao’s conventional forces were also doing, were focusing more of their efforts at establishing partisan and political organizations behind the Red Army’s front lines; rather than opposing them directly. The conventional army of Mao Tse Tung was also following directives to only attack Red Army formations strictly as necessary (11) while creating a political presence in their new areas under control. By January 30, 1943 a new total of 450,000 regulars and 150,000 irregulars were now under the command of General Chu Teh. By this date large parts of Szechuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces were under the actual control of Mao’s forces with the Red Army only controlling large cities and the ground were they stood. Meanwhile a force of 50,000 men continued to be in the province of Jiangxi to protect Mao's home base. By January 30, 1943 the Chinese factions were preparing for the final confrontation with the Soviet Union’s Red Army.

(1) The National Salvation Army formed by President Yan.

(2) 11, 000 men per divisions trained following German standards and supported by 24 75mm guns and 12 37mm antitank guns.

(3) These divisions in reality were more like large concentrations of light armed guerilla lavishly equipped by Chinese standards with machine guns, grenades and mortars. Their mission was simple enough; to harass and slow down any enemy advance while at the same time disrupting their supply lines.

(4) First 3 composed of 3 companies of 1 company of light tanks with 10 Panzer I tanks, and 2 armored cars companies composed of either 10 SdKfz 221 or 222 each and two armored cars in battalion HQ; the other 2 of three companies of German armored cars.

(5) Even the Japanese knew they were obsolete and while they continue to build them they were looking for replacements everywhere.

(6) A large number of Japanese “technicians” are included on the deals. Basically mechanics but in many cases the actual drivers of the command vehicles.

(7) Used any truck frame and armament available. Armament varies from light machine guns, heavy machine guns, 20mm anti-aircraft guns all the way to 37mm guns.

(8) 7,000 men organized and armed like a French mountain brigade. Lavishly armed with artillery and mortars.

(9) Germany allowed the Bordeaux French to scavenge the tank depots and take some vehicles for replacement of vehicles in Indochina but the pickings were slim. Basically the Germans allowed the small utility tankettes and old cavalry tankettes and nothing else. The production of the S-40 tank had priority for the German forces in the West and the replacement of the French losses during the 1942 campaigns to bring French armored forces back to levels allowed by Armistice.

(10) Basically France has joined the war against the Soviet Union to protect the city of Kunming providing artillery and technical support initially but the role could change.

(11) To contest line of communications between large cities as possible with the idea of forcing the Red Army to abandon isolated garrisons.
 
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Status Chinese Navy January 1943

The Chinese Navy on January 30, 1943 was only a small riverine/coastal force composed of small gunboats except for the 2 very small cruisers now operating from Canton. The Ping Yiang, the German style destroyer that could have been their largest ship was finally towed to Japan on October 16, 1942 for scrapping. The metal saved from the ship was used to build more armored vehicles for China. In reality the Chinese Navy was an afterthought of the Central Government’s military planners and, as the other powerful factions in China were also doing, the funds were been expended in ground warfare hardware and aircrafts to try to stop the Soviet Army tide.

Status Soviet Navy Far East January 1943

The Soviet Far East Fleet was the story of two fleets; the one in Vladivostok and the one under construction in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The fleet in Vladivostok was the operational fleet composed of a large number of torpedo boats, coastal submarines and medium range submarines. This fleet was getting adept to disrupt the commerce between the Japanese Home Islands while the only counter prescribed by the Japanese Combined Fleet leadership was to increase the number of Kaibokan (1) ships and the use of land-based air power to protect ships (2). By now the port in Vladivostok was very well protected and a raid by the Kido Butai on September 12, 1942 was repelled with very limited damages to the port facilities and ships on port. However, the leadership of the Far East Fleet recognized any attempt to increase the size of the fleet would be a very dangerous proposition and was better to wait until the end of the war.

On Komsomolsk-on-Amur construction began to get into a crawl as ships began to just sit waiting for towing to Vladivostok for completion but with the dangerous of the trip the decision was to defer the moves until a better time. By now 6 Type 7 destroyers were already laid down waiting for towing while an additional 3 Type 7 destroyers were under construction in addition to the two heavy cruisers of the Kirov class. But more improved designs were ordered for construction in 1943; 3 destroyers based on the 2 Ozornoi class destroyers serving in the Black Sea Fleet (3) and 2 of the improved Kirovs similar to the ones expected to enter duty with the Baltic Fleet in early 1943(4) were expected to be started with great fanfare in the city before May 1943. The Far East Fleet has the potential to increase their firepower very quickly but only if the route to Vladivostok was completely secured. Of course with Japanese ship sand aircrafts patrolling the approaches to that city secured was not the word that could be used when describing the routes to that port city.

(1) Japanese multipurpose ships that could be considered escorts and coastal defense ships.

(2) The Japanese refusal to actually recognize the threat and refuse to institute convoys was well received by Soviet submariners.

(3) The historical Project 30 destroyers than IOTL were completed mainly after the war. ITTL with 2 extra years of peace some were completed in the West but with tanks and aircrafts having priority over ships due to war with Japan not as many as historically ordered completed.

(4) Same as above. The historical Project 68 cruisers.
 
Status Soviet Army January 30, 1943

With the end of the land war with the Japanese Empire the Far East Front began to be slowly raided for personnel to serve as cadre of the new forming divisions in the West. The first to go was Marshall Dmitry Pavlov that was raised to the position of commander of all forces in the West and to direct the expansion of the Red Army in that region. His successor in the Far East Front was General Nikolai Vatutin but Konstantin Rokossovsky continued in his position as Chief of Staff/Deputy Commander in the region(1). While Vatutin wasn’t asked to transfer more units to the Chinese Expeditionary Front he was ordered to disband an additional 10 November 1939 divisional organization formations to help create cadres for the new divisions been raised in the West (2). By January 30, 1943 the forces available to the Far East Front were 12 infantry divisions with Pre-War organization, 8 infantry divisions with the November 1939 organization with no tanks assigned, 1 mountain infantry division, 2 airborne brigades, 6 heavy tanks brigades (3), 4 T-26 tank brigades (4), 4 cavalry divisions with a mechanized regiment attached (5), 3 motorized divisions (6), 3 armored cars brigades, 3 BT-7 tank brigades (7) and 2 T-34 tank brigades (8) (9). The arrival of 5 additional anti-partisan brigades (10) slightly replaced the personnel losses in the region but freed the infantry formations of performing anti-partisan operations in the region and brought the total of those formations in the region to 10. The infantry formations in this Front continued to be the most powerful infantry divisions in the World in regard to personnel and equipment assigned while the whole Front was a veteran war tested organization that could be considered the elite of the Red Army.

Meanwhile in China proper General Kulik failed in his calls for further divisional reinforcements but he was able to replace the losses to bring his current forces to full or near full strength while replacing his tank battle losses with newer models (11). By January 30, 1943 Kulik have under his control 13 infantry divisions with the November 1939 organization; 10 October 1940 infantry divisions (12), 2 mountain divisions, 3 mountain cavalry divisions (13), 7 cavalry divisions with mechanized regiments attached (14), 4 T-26 tank brigades (15), 2 BT-7 tank brigades (16), 3 heavy tank brigades (17) and 6 T-34 tank brigades (18). In addition a total of 10 of the anti-partisan brigades were operating in the theater, freeing the combat units to prepare for offensive operations. While a large number of new T-34 arrived from the west the units still using the older models reached their near full strength by getting vehicles from disbanded units. But the main weaknesses of this force were the terrible supply line that even with the arrival of the anti-partisan brigades was abysmal, the about near uselessness of the puppet Chinese soldiers of the People’s Republic of China (19) and the terrible leadership of General Kulik. The destruction of dikes to slow down the Red Army’s advance in the direction of Nanking/Shanghai the previous year was a success and now Kulik was forced to use gang press labor to construct bridges in addition to trying to build a reliable supply line.

In the rest of the Soviet Union the Red Army continued their plan to reach the 500 divisions but continued to fall behind. By January 30, 1943 a total 387 infantry divisions (20) were active or in the process of organization in the rest of the Soviet Union; with all the new divisions under the January 1941 divisional organization. But as in the previous year the monumental task was too much for the Soviet industry. The pitfall of men and equipment continued but the wishful thinking was that while problems with manpower continued the equipment problem would be resolved as soon as the 500 division was reach. The arrival of more men from the disbanded divisions in the Far East helped to create veteran core of new young officers and senior enlisted personnel but the problem was that they were diluted due to the large mass of men now entering the military forces.

By January 30, 1943 production of the three standard models continued unabated (the T-40 light, the T-34 medium and the KV-1 heavy) with monthly numbers of 171 T-40s, 233 T-34s and 93 KV-1s reached easily. This large influx of vehicles was more than enough to create more tank brigades in the west while replacing combat losses in the China theater. By now the number of tank brigades in the west was incredible; total of 18 KV-1 heavy brigades (21) were operational in addition to 12 brigades of T-34 tanks (22) and countless independent light tank battalions to support the higher command formations for a grand total of close to 8,000 tanks in the region. However, the performance of the maintenance crews continued to be abysmal and in any given time at least a minimum of 30% of the tank force in the region was out for repairs. This large number of vehicles didn’t include the gigantic number of older models in reserve that now sit idle in tank parks in Byelorussia and the Ukraine.

The end of January 1943 found the Red Army moving ahead with their plan to be the largest military force in the World by far. However, the problems they had regarding equipment and training still existed; the priority given to the tools of war made difficult for the Soviet industry to produce the necessary gear for the logistics part of the equation while the fast increase in the number of men jointly with the lack of education of the average recruit and young officer was one of the reasons for their lack of training. But with the completion of the Stalin and Molotov lines the Red Army fell into a false sense of security. The new leader Dmitry Pavlov was confident that the static lines would stop any attack and that the large number of vehicles would suffice to support the infantry formations in repelling any breakthrough. While in China Kulik was preparing for a summer offensive to end it all.

(1) His performance in the region was excellent so far but still not fully trusted by Stalin and his cronies.

(2) The January 1941 divisions. 10, 859 men with 28 76mm guns and 8 122mm howitzers. Also having 18 anti-tank guns per division.

(3) 117 KV-1 & 39 BT-7 tanks per brigade for a total of 936 tanks.

(4) 238 T-26 per brigade for a total of 952 tanks.

(5) 48 BT-7 & 16 T-40 per division for a total of 256 tanks. BT-7 transferred from the west while T-40s are new construction.

(6) 17 T-40 and a tank regiment attached with 270 BT-7 each for a total of 861 tanks.

(7) 238 BT-7 per brigade for a total of 714 tanks.

(8) 238 T-34 per brigade for 476 tanks.

(9) The decision was made to not replace the older models in the region and instead use the production of new vehicles to create new formations in the West or replace losses of last year Chinese operations.

(10) 4, 480 men in an brigade consisting of an infantry regiment supported by a light mortar battalion of 24 50mm & 24 82mm mortars, 24 120mm mortars in a heavy mortar battalion, an artillery battalion of 12 76mm guns, a submachine company and support elements.

(11) That was a sign that Stalin’s patience was running thin with him. You can only stay a favorite of Stalin for so long.

(12) The October 1940 divisions. 14,483 men armed with large number of semiautomatic rifles and submachine guns. Artillery and anti-tank weapons similar to the November 1939 divisions.

(13) Tank squadron with 16 BT-7 tanks attached per division for a total of 48 tanks.

(14) 48 BT-7 & 16 T-40 per division for a total of 448 tanks. BT-7 transferred from the independent tank brigades in area to replace losses while T-40s are new construction.

(15) 238 T-26 per brigades for a total of 952 tanks.

(16) 238 BT-7 tanks per brigade for a total of 476 tanks.

(17) 117 KV-1 & 39 BT-7 per brigade for a total of 468 tanks.

(18) 238 T-34 tanks per brigade for a total of 1428 tanks.

(19) The soldiers of the puppet government were more concerned in selling their weapons, getting paid for doing nothing and waiting for the chance to join the ranks of the troops of the Chinese Soviet Republic under the leadership of Mao.

(20) Including mountain infantry divisions.

(21) 117 KV-1 tanks and 39 T-34 tanks per brigade for a total of 2808 tanks.

(22) 238 T-34 tanks per brigade for a total of 2856 tanks.
 
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Status Japanese Air Forces January 1943

The Japanese Army Air Service failed in their missions against the Red Army (1) but while the original missions still remained now they were assigned the defense of the skies over the Home Islands as part of their responsibilities (2). The number of pilot casualties was vastly reduced and that allowed the continued improvement of the quality of the Army Air Service pilots by not forcing the Air Service to rush pilots into operational combat squadrons. However, the reduction in losses has the negative effect that production was curtailed.

By January 30, 1943 of the 1651 fighter aircrafts available on January 30, 1942 a total of 1206 were still operational (0 Ki-27, 987 Ki-43 and 219 Ki-44), of the 1579 light bombers available on same date a total of 1101 were still operational (307 Ki-30, 370 Ki-32, 321 Ki-51, 64 Ki-53 and 39 Ki-54) and from the 507 medium bombers a total of 355 were still operational (271 Ki-21 and 84 Ki-55). Production during 1942 initially continued at the same pace as the previous year but new changes regarding priorities and needs of the Japanese Empire were initiated by the middle of that year. The Ki-27 fighter was finally phased out with the remaining frames moving to training or secondary missions. However, production of replacement parts continued to support the rapidly dwindling number of frames serving with the Chinese Air Force. Production of the Ki-43 fighter continued at 40 units per month but the bulk of the production was marked for the export market (3). Production of the Ki-44 continued at 36 per month with all production destined to Japanese Army Air Service squadrons. Interestingly the Japanese leadership recognized the weakness of their aircrafts and designed, tested and pre-produced (4) (5) the successor aircraft of the current fighters, the Ki-59 (6). A total of 10 were evaluated against the Thai Air forces in early 1942 and the evaluators were very happy with the results. The 10 test aircrafts were later tested against Red Army pilots and again the results were encouraging. By November 1942 the aircraft was ordered into production by February 1943 with an initial production rate of 10 per month. By January 30, 1943 there were 1,914 (new production + remaining last year aircrafts) Army Air Service fighters for all the Empire (1,257 Ki-43, 651 Ki-44 and 6 pre-production Ki-59 ), with 70% facing the Red Army Far East Command, 15% in French Indochina or Philippines and the remainder dispersed in the Pacific possessions (7).

The process of replacing their older bomber was one of the priorities of the Japanese Army Air Service, with the production of older models complete phased out or drastically reduced. Production of the copy of the SB-2 light bomber, the Ki-53, was increased to 25 units per month and starting in February 1943 replaced the production of the Ki-32 altogether (8). In addition the production of Kawasaki twin engine ground attack Ki-54 (9) continued at 15 aircrafts per month while production of the Mitsubishi ground attack Ki-51 was increased to 30 aircrafts per month starting on February 1942. This was possible by Mitsubishi finally ending the production of the older Ki-30 on February 1942. In addition production of the older Mitsubishi Ki-21 medium bomber continued at 24 frames per month but plans were in the making to mark production for the export market in the coming years. The medium bomber produced by Nakajima (10) was built at a rate of 20 frames per month but already the leadership in the Army Air Service began looking for a replacement. The range of the aircraft was found to be lacking with a large load and a longer range aircraft was already in the works (11). By January 30, 1943 there were 1816 light bombers and 840 medium bombers (new production + remaining last year aircrafts) for all of the Empire (269 Ki-30, 467 Ki-32, 578 Ki-51, 310 Ki-53,192 Ki-54, 552 Ki-21 and 288 Ki-55) with 70% facing the Soviets, 15% in French Indochina or the Philippines with the remainder in Hawaii and other territories. With the failure of the Soviet bombing campaign in 1942 the Army Air Service began to concentrate in the development of longer range bombers to take the war deeper into “occupied (12)” territory while the development of better armed interceptors and rocket weaponry to help in the interception of enemy bomber formations also received priority. But the problem was now that there were more frames in many cases than fully trained pilots and crews. As such plans were already in the making to reduce and in many cases terminate production of older models due to acceptable losses rates making possible the transition to newer equipment while not seriously affecting operations. The victories in French Indochina over the Thai air forces in early 1942 in conjunction with the Naval Service in that region were well received and helped improve the moral of the Air Service. But starting in the last month of 1942 a new mission was at hand for them and they surprised their rivals. By January 30, 1943 the total number of aircrafts available to the Japanese Army Air Service was 4,570 aircrafts not counting small scout planes, transports and training or reserve aircrafts.

The Naval Air Service continued to be the go-to branch in regard to offensive operations of the Japanese Empire during 1942. Their training was still excellent and many can argue the operations against the Thai air force were more as a live fire exercise were the pilots honed their skills in actual combat. The funding of research and development continued with production of the new dive bombers and attack bombers expected to start in late 1943 or early 1944 while the replacements of the remainder combat aircrafts continued.

By January 30, 1943 of the 1659 fighters available on January 30, 1942 a total of 1253 aircrafts were available (178 A5M, 679 A6M, 190 J2M interceptors and 206 J3H interceptors), of the 975 carrier-borne strike aircrafts 878 were still available (580 D3A dive bombers and 298 B5N attack bombers) and from the 1454 twin-engine shore based torpedo/bombers 928 survived (292 G3M, 506 G4M and 130 G6M “anti-shipping” aircrafts). The problem was now that production was outpacing the losses; while older bombers and fighters suffered higher casualty rates than the newer models the production was enough to replace them and even more. By now the Naval Service was starting to suffer the same problem as the Army Air Service, too many frames available compared to trained pilots. As such during 1942 a large number of the older frames were traded to the Republic of China for resources and/or agreements to pay for the aircrafts in allotments (13).

Mitsubishi was ordered to reduce the production of the A6M fighter to 20 aircrafts per month while the production of the A5M continued at 20 units per month for the export market (14). The A5M basically has been basically replaced in the land-based squadrons but some A5M were still serving in garrisons not considered essential or in danger like the Marianas or the Philippines. However, their operational history was almost coming to an end. The Mitsubishi and Hitachi interceptors (15) continued at 15 units per month but plans were in the making to have a production “holiday” sometime during 1943. By January 30, 1943 there were 2046 (new production + remaining previous year aircrafts) Naval Air Service fighters for all the Empire (178 A5M, 1111 A6M, 370 J2M and 387 J3H interceptors), with 25% facing the Soviets except for interceptors that were 100% facing the Soviets. The development of the new fighter aircraft for the carrier fleet was given top priority but for now the problem was to find an engine powerful enough to fulfill the requirements of the Combined Fleet (16).
By the beginning of 1943 the Naval Service fighter force was a force to reckon with and the British Commonwealth knew that.

With the air complements of the aircraft carriers completed the production of the carrier attack bombers continued at the previous year levels (17); 12 Nakajima B5N per month. A small run of Aichi D3A bombers was authorized for the new carriers in the pipeline but the development of the replacement of the D3A (18) continued without a sense of urgency for rushing the replacement into service. Also the production of land-based bombers continued at the previous year levels (19) but close to 75% of the production was for the export market. The G6M “Specials” (20) were devastating weapons against the motorized formations of the Thai Army in 1942 but in reality the aircrafts operated in airspace completely under the control of the Japanese. By January 30, 1943 there were 1,062 light bombers and 1,193 medium bombers (new production + remaining previous year aircrafts) for all the Empire (620 D3A bombers, 442 B5N attack bombers, 352 G3M bombers, 611 G4M bombers and 230 G6M “Specials”) with 25% facing the Soviet Far East forces except for land based bombers where it was close to a 60% facing the Soviets. By January 30, 1943 the total number of aircrafts available to the Japanese Naval Air Service was 4,301 without counting flying boats, reconnaissance seaplanes, training and reserve aircrafts.

The Japanese Naval Air Service continued their grown in regard to aircraft frames but they now were falling behind in regard to the technological gap due to the large number of available aircrafts. The Naval Air Service was now been forced to reduce the production of the current frames while pushing back the development of replacements due to the cost. While some lines, like the D3A dive bomber, were basically canceled others were continued and/or the bulk of the production of certain aircrafts was shifted to service the growing needs of the Chinese forces facing the Soviet Union. Only the growing problems of China kept the economy of the Empire slowly moving along.

(1) To provide tactical support to the Imperial Army ground forces and to counter enemy aircrafts operations against the ground forces.

(2) Some Army Air units were also assigned to Hawaii and the parts of Alaska still under occupation.

(3) Starting in May 1942 10 frames per month were marked for delivery to Chinese forces and that number was increased to 20 by October 1942. In addition the French forces in Indochina reached a deal to purchase a 100 Ki-43 at the start of the Franco-Thai war that was completed at the end of 1942.

(4) Development started in late 1940 but finally the kinks have been ironed out.

(5) Weak armament compared with enemy fighter aircrafts, the lack of self-sealing fuel tanks and armored cockpits were major problems addressed in this new fighter.

(6) A similar aircraft in performance and weapons to the Ki-61.

(7) Including Hawaii and occupied Alaska.

(8) However, production of replacements parts for the large number of operational aircrafts on Japanese and foreign military forces continued for a while.

(9) Similar to OTL Ki-45.

(10) Similar to OTL Ki-49 and called ITTL the Ki-55.

(11) Something similar to the Ki-67. Makes sense to develop a long range bomber to try to reach the Soviet military installations deep in Manchuria.

(12) Manchuria and Korea.

(13) Basically China was getting into a debt that probably will not be able to pay but with the terrible losses suffered by their air forces that is all they can do.

(14) Mainly China.

(15) The J2M and the J3H.

(16) Basically an aircraft faster than the A6M but carrying self-sealing tanks, armored cockpit and armed with 4 20mm guns.

(17) The expected completion of the second Taiho Class carrier and the conversion of the support carriers between 1943 and early 1944 allowed for this reduced production.

(18) OTL D4Y1.

(19) 20 G3M bombers, 35 G4M bombers and 10 G6M “specials” per month.

(20) The anti-shipping modified design of the G4M with two 20mm guns on the sides and one 20mm on the tail, one machine-gun on front and a ventral 57mm on the front.
 
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OOC: Lot of work at the office so it is slowing me down. This was almost completed and it was supposed to be posted by the end of the TL but need to move this along so here it is.

Interlude 7: The United States Third Republic’s capital ships and cruisers construction plan 1944-1953

Under the Provisional Government (January 04, 1944 to January 19, 1945)

The end of the 2nd American Civil War on January 04, 1944 found the post-war United States Navy in a sorry state. In the Pacific Ocean the force was reduced to 1 battleship, 1 small aircraft carrier and 2 modern cruisers (1) in addition to destroyers and submarines. The problem was all the ships were in need of maintenance and refits; in the case of the Ranger there was still damage from combat in 1939. Also the cruiser Northampton, 6 destroyers and 2 large submarines were interned by the Mexican authorities in 1940 and the Mexicans were waiting for a recognized government in the United States before releasing the ships. In even worse shape was the naval infrastructure. The naval repair and construction facilities in the West Coast were basically demolished by the retreating Japanese forces in early 1941 and their repair was not a priority of the Provisional Government during 1941 and 1942. Repairs started in the Bremerton facilities in early 1943 and in the ones near San Francisco in late 1943 but by the end of the war there was a lot of work still to be done.

In the East Coast the post-war United States Navy was in a slightly better shape. 3 battleships in addition to a training battleship (2) were the largest ships available in the region and they were also in need of a refit. But contrary to the situation in the West Coast the infrastructure to repair and service ships still existed in some areas. The facilities in the South and the Philadelphia region were severely damaged but in the New York area the damage was minimal while in New England facilities were mainly undamaged. As such with the end of the war the completion of the ships still laying around in those facilities was started to nothing else to get work for the large mass of demobilizing men looking for work. In reality you can say the initial spur of construction during the Provisional Government period was not directed by them directly as much as independent actions by the local governments in New York City and in Maine who tried to obtain business for their idle shipyards. Their main client was the Government of Guantanamo City that considered the needs of the United States over the own in taking into consideration the need to have a credible naval deterrence until new ships could be designed and built.

Carriers:

The carrier Yorktown joined the Montgomery Government Navy in late 1937 and participated in naval operations supporting Operation East in 1939 (3). Surrendered to the Military Junta in Guantanamo in 1942 and it could be considered it was fully operational except for the need of a maintenance refit. Yorktown entered New York harbor on March 27, 1944 and left February 10, 1945. During the refit anti-aircraft protection (4) changed in the ship to reflect foreign war experience in Europe and the Far East in addition to the installation of radar for air/surface detection and for fire control of the anti-aircraft guns. Ship was finally moved to the Pacific Ocean in late 1945 and was assigned to the Naval Station in San Pedro, California.

Battleships:
The Provisional Government officers knew it would take a while to start the process of development of a new series of battleships for the now reforming United States and decided the best transitional choice they had was to upgrade their available battleships. Right off the bat the oldest of the four battleships in the Atlantic Ocean were rejected based in their age and their main armament (5). The battleship Texas entered Quincy, Massachusetts in May 10, 1944 while the New York entered New York harbor on May 21, 1944 to start their massive reconstruction. The refits extended into late 1947 due to the magnitude of them.

Both ships had their bows increased in length by grafting a new bow section over the existing one while increasing the beam of the ship. The center turret was removed to open space for new machinery to increase speed of the ships (6). All these changes increased the displacement of the ships over 30,000 tons at standard load. New machinery was installed that achieved speeds of 28 knots on their sea trials but it was considered the maximum speed in service not to exceed 27 knots. All the existing secondary armament and anti-aircraft armament was replaced; 6 dual turrets with the 127mm gun that has been on service since 1934 were mounted while 10 40mm turrets (10x4) and 44 20mm guns (11x2) were also installed on the ships. Radar for surface warning/gun control and for air warning was included in the reconstruction. Finally the deck armor was slightly increased over the boilers and the magazines.

The ships left port in 1947 and were assigned to the Pacific Coast. Comparable or better now than the older Kongo Class battlecruisers and/or to the older Japanese battleships they were still inferior to the Nagato or the 2 Yamato Class battleships. However, both ships provided a serious deterrent in the West Coast against the Japanese Empire while newer construction entered service later on; especially with the bulk of the Royal Navy still facing the Kriegsmarine and the combined Franco-Italian forces in the Mediterranean in 1947.

Cruisers:

The first order of business after the war was for the Free City of New York to clear the slips in the city to try to find what was useful and was not. The ship that immediately jumped out was the “light’ cruiser Brooklyn. Almost completed before the start of the 2nd American Civil War, it was used as a floating anti-aircraft platform during the war and suffered some cosmetic damage during the war. As such the ship was taken for completion on February 17, 1944 with all electrical systems, machinery and equipment in the ship refurbished to account for the seven years just sitting on port. By the time this was completed on March 09, 1945 the ship looked exactly like the original plans except for the secondary armament changed to 8 127mm guns (4x2) in turrets and the anti-aircraft battery including 16 40mm guns (4x4) and 12 20mm ones (6x2). This arrangement was followed by the other Brooklyn class cruisers completed during the first Eisenhower Administration. After sea trials the ship was moved to the Pacific Ocean in August 1945 and joined the growing United States Pacific Fleet.

The first Eisenhower Administration (January 20, 1945 to January 19, 1949)

The first order of business for Admiral Claude Bloch, the new CNO of the reconstituted United States Navy was to examine the infrastructure available in the United States. What he found was that except for New York City and the New England region the infrastructure was extensively damaged. Ongoing repairs in the West Coast would make possible the repair of large naval ships in the Bremerton and the San Francisco Bay area by the 1946-47 and in the San Diego area by 1948-49(7). In the East Coast Philadelphia was still a wreck while the shipyards in Virginia and South Carolina were also seriously damaged. As such one of his priorities was to get funding for the repair of the facilities in Virginia but the ones in South Carolina received lower priority (8).

His second order of business was to evaluate the combat vessels sitting under different levels of completion on port all across the United States and his findings were varied. He found 15 submarines with 13 of them in the New England area and the remaining 2 wrecked in California. The decision was to complete the 4 submarine of the Perch Class and 4 of the Salmon Class submarines (9) while scrapping the rest. The number was even higher on destroyers with 26 of them in different levels of construction but the ones in California, Washington State and Philadelphia were wrecked beyond repair (10) while the ones in the South (11) were in different stages of damage; a decision was made to scrap the ones in California but to try to rescue as many as possible from the South for duty with the idea to repay the purchase of oil during the war from the Dutch government in the Indies (11). The need for destroyers for the Pacific Fleet forced the United States Navy to approve the completion of the remaining destroyers under construction in the New England and New York area (12).

The last part was to study their war experience in addition to foreign experience to develop the next generation of capital ships for the United States Navy. But in the meantime studies of possible ships that were in development prior to the Civil War were dusted off and decisions were made to build some of those designs as stopgap measures while studies also continued of new weapons that could improve the technology gap now suffered by the United States in naval terms.

Battleships:

The General Board dusted off the plans for a Washington Treaty battleship that was approved for construction in the FY38 plan and tried to improve on it. Lessons have shown the United States Navy that the aircraft was the new decider in any naval battle but the European experience also demonstrated the need for a powerful surface ship (13). As such the old plans were examined and with the limitations of the old treaty gone this ship were used as the basis to design a balanced design capable of surface operations while at the same time accompany the carrier force. Finally a design was approved for construction on April 08, 1946 but construction has to wait due to the limited number of slips available capable of building ships of the size prescribed (14). The first of the new class of battleships, the Minnesota, was laid down on November 10, 1946 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard followed by the Montana laid down in the Quincy shipyard on January 05, 1947. The ships received the greatest priority in regard to their construction and only took a little over 3 years for both ships to be completed. After short sea trials both ships were moved to the Pacific Ocean to join the main battle-fleet.

The Minnesota Class battleships were an example of American craftsmanship. The first battleships joining the fleet since 1923, they were graceful looking ships with a powerful armament and very fast. With a standard tonnage of around 46,000 tons they were armed with 9 406mm guns (3x3), 20 127mm secondary weapons (10x2), a plethora of anti-aircraft weapons (20x4 40mm guns and 20 x2 20mm guns)and capable of 32 knots. Their protection was sufficient to counter the weapons of all Japanese ships up to the Nagato Class battleships but it was consider that increasing the protection to counter the main guns of the Yamato would reduce the speed of the ships and it was decided speed was the best advantage against the Japanese behemoths. In addition, significant underwater protection was included to counter the dangerous Japanese torpedoes. The ships have surface warning/gun control and air warning radar as part of their defensive capabilities as all ships assigned to the fleet.

The battleship California was moved to the East Coast by the middle of 1947 for a life extension refit. It entered facilities in the New York City area and after a little under 2 years it returned to duty. It stayed in the East Coast as the major naval unit in the Atlantic Ocean.

The battleship Arkansas was allocated for scrapping on the New York City area starting on June 07, 1946. The turrets were saved while steel was recycled for the new battleships.

Carriers:

Another major decision made during the first Eisenhower years was to use two of the uncompleted Brooklyn Class cruisers and use them to build small fighter aircrafts carriers for supporting roles (15). The hulls were utilized to build a pair 11,000 standard tons small carriers with a small complement of 33 aircrafts. Capable of 32 knots the design featured a relatively short and narrow flight deck and hangar, with a small island. All this made them top heavy and blisters were required on the hull to compensate. Their limited size made their seakeeping in inclement weather difficult and their short flight deck caused some accidents. But they were readily available and by early 1947 they were ready for deployment to the main fleet after short sea trials. They joined the Yorktown in San Pedro and their arrival made possible to finally give a life extension refit to the Ranger in the now repaired facilities in Bremerton, Washington.

The carrier Ranger was in a badly need of a refit but it was not able to do so until the arrival of the two new light carriers. The Ranger arrived to Bremerton on July 19, 1947 and was until December 02, 1948. Consider to be too slow to accompany the Yorktown and the 2 new light carriers it was transferred to the Atlantic Ocean to accompany the battleship California.

The half completed hull of the carrier Enterprise was slowly rusting away in Newport News, Virginia and the decision was made to scrap the hull for any usable material. Towed to New York City area shipyards and scrapped there.

Cruisers:

Of the 4 Brooklyn Class cruisers sitting in the New York City area 2 were completed as cruisers following the same design as the original Brooklyn completed in the middle of 1945. Work on the cruisers Nashville and Philadelphia (the former Vincennes) was started on April 08, 1945 and May 02, 1945 respectively and was completed on August 13, 1946 for the Nashville and November 14, 1946 for the Philadelphia. After sea trials arrived to the West Coast around middle of 1947 and assigned to the Pacific Fleet.

The cruiser Northampton was returned by the Mexican government on February 04, 1945 and the ship was towed to the Royal Canadian Navy base in Esquimalt for a life extension refit. The ship completed the refit on January 07, 1946 and rejoined the Pacific Fleet.

The cruisers Pensacola and Chester were both damaged during the Japanese invasion of California in 1940 and were repaired by the Canadians before returning to duty in the middle of 1942. Both ships received life extension refits during 1947; the Pensacola in Mare Island, California while the Chester received his refit in Bremerton, Washington. By early 1948 both ships were back on duty with the Pacific Fleet. However, the Pensacola was ordered to the East Coast on September 18, 1948 to join the Atlantic Fleet.

The wreck of the heavy cruiser Wichita in Philadelphia was raised in 1946 and scrapped for all useful material.

The lessons of the war and copying British doctrine made the United States Navy design the Phoenix Class cruiser. Smaller than previous light cruisers, they were specifically designed to serve in the role of anti-aircraft ships with secondary roles as flotilla leaders. With a 6,500 tons standard weight the ships were capable of 32 knots (16) armed with 12 127 (6x2) dual purpose guns and supported by 32 40mm guns (8x4) and 16 20mm guns (8x2). The ships only have radar for gun control only. The first 4 of the series (17) were laid down in around early 1947(18) and were commissioned around the first months of 1949. The second batch of 4 ships (19) were laid down in late 1947, the first naval ships to be constructed in San Francisco since 1939. The second batch was completed around late 1949 and all 8 ships joined the Pacific Fleet. While considered weaker compared with previous cruisers their mission was not to be used in gun battles but instead as operational support of the carrier force.

The second Eisenhower Administration (January 20, 1949 to January 19, 1953)

Admiral Joseph Curran was the CNO of the reconstituted United States Navy from March 10, 1947 after the retirement of Admiral Bloch to July 16, 1950. Admiral Curran was a former merchant ship boatswain that joined the Provisional Government’s navy in 1937 and received a commission in 1938 due to the lack of officers. Receiving the command of a destroyer but by the time of the Japanese invasion he was in charge of destroyer division and participated in the Battle of the Juan de Foca Straight. Promoted to Captain in 1943 and received his first star at the end of the war. Nominated to replace Admiral Bloch, his accession to the CNO position was viewed as a political concession to the former Provisional President Lewis and to the Committee of Industrial Organizations. He was uneducated and perhaps didn’t understand the technical aspects of the job but he was a magnificent organizer, a supporter of desegregation in the Navy and he recognized the need of newer technology to overcome the Japanese advantage in the Pacific.

His predecessor was handcuff by the lack of infrastructure, budget concerns while the country’s economy began to move into a peacetime one and the need of keeping a large ground force to deal with the last holdovers of the defeated factions in his attempts to improve the lot of the Navy. While Curran was in charge during the last two years of Eisenhower’s first administration it was during his remaining time in office, the first year of Eisenhower’s second administration, where he left his mark. One of his first actions was to officially indicate that the glass ceiling existing in the Navy in regard to promotions and military occupational specialties regarding race was over. Punishment was administrated during the period to certain officers in the East Coast to demonstrate his dedication to this. He was helped by the end of the majority of partisan activity in the United States that allowed for more funding for the Navy vie the Army. He was also helped that the infrastructure in the West Coast was repaired by them and the one in Virginia was almost ready to be exploited again. He feverishly started a construction craze to increase the number of ships available to face the perceived Japanese threat (20) while at the same time supporting the development of weapons. His passing due to a heart attack cut short what it could have been a more productive career.

His successor was Admiral Daniel Gallery; a naval aviator assigned to the Ranger in 1939, he participated in operations against the Japanese in Hawaii, Alaska and California. He was believer in the power of the aircraft in naval matters and was instrumental in the creation of the Carrier Task Forces that served during the 1950’s in the Pacific Ocean. As such the naval construction during his period as CNO (21) was a reflection of his view of those Task Forces and how they should be composed of.

Battleships:

The only battleships constructed during the period were a second run of the Minnesota Class. They were first capital ships to be started in Norfolk, Virginia and Mare Island, California in more than 10 years. The Washington was started in Mare Island on June 17, 1949 while the South Dakota began construction on July 27, 1949 in Norfolk. Exactly like their predecessors except for small changes both ships also received the greatest priority and were completed by the middle of 1952. Both ships were assigned to the Pacific Fleet after sea trials.

Carriers:

2 carriers of the Sackets Harbor Class (22) were approved for construction in 1949-1950 timeframe but Admiral Gallery was able to convince Congress to fund an additional ship in the FY50 budget. (23) The ships were enlarged Yorktowns designed to carry a large air group. Free of the Washington Treaty limits the ships were around 20 meters longer, 3 meters wider and a third heavier. Coming in at 31,000 tons standard and capable of speeds of 32 knots the ships were capable of carrying more than 90 aircrafts to combat. The ships had the most modern surface warning/gun control and air search radar while fairly well protected with anti-aircraft batteries. The first of the class, the Sackets Harbor, was laid down on September 16, 1949 on Newport News, Virginia followed by the Plattsburg that was laid down in Norfolk, Virginia on December 12, 1949. The last of the class, the Lundy’s Lane, was laid down on Newport News on March 14, 1950. The ships also received a very large priority and it took a little under 3 years to complete them. All the carriers were assigned to the Pacific Fleet and formed the base for the 4 Task Forces serving during the 1950’s.

The lessons of the Brandywine Class of light carriers demonstrated that indeed there was a role for them. Exercises in the Pacific (24) showed their importance and at the same the places where there was a need for improvement. The Santiago Class (25) ships were small carriers designed from the keel up as carriers instead of the previous light carrier class and also taking into considerations lessons from that class. Larger hulls gave them better seakeeping in addition to enhanced protection, larger hangar, slightly longer flight deck and an expanded air group. They were 14,000 tons standard and capable of 32 knots with an aircraft complement of 42. The first ship of the class was laid down on November 17, 1949 in the New York City area with the Cienfuegos a week later in the same area. A second batch (26) was laid down in Quincy between February 1950 and April 1950 followed by a third batch (27) also in Quincy during the summer of 1950. A total of 6 ships were built and all joined the Pacific Fleet after completion no later than late 1952.

Cruisers:

A third batch of 4 of the Phoenix class cruiser (28) was laid down in late 1949 in San Francisco. The ships were completed in late 1951 and as their predecessor they joined the Pacific Fleet. This run of 4 was the last of the Phoenix class cruisers groups built with their replacements not entering the fleet until the next decade. This last group of cruiser was the only major cruiser construction during the period.

Foreign sales:

During the Eisenhower administration the United States’ need for cash allowed for the sale and construction of certain naval units for foreign nations. While initially the sales were mainly to the Dutch Indies, or as they are called now the Federated States of Indonesia, were of refurbished submarines and destroyers in early 1948 an order was received to build 2 Phoenix Class cruisers for the Dutch armed with British weapons. This order was the first of many foreign orders taken during the period, from destroyers for Thailand to a carrier for Brazil. By the end of the Eisenhower second administration the United States naval shipyards were very busy indeed, another example of the economic miracle of his administration. (29)




(1) The battleship California, the carrier Ranger, the cruisers Pensacola and Chester.

(2) Training battleship Wyoming, battleships Arkansas, Texas and New York.

(3) The 1.1 inch guns replaced by 40 40mm guns (6x4 and 8x2) and 44 20mm guns (22x2)

(4) Attempt by the Montgomery Government to capture New York City. Reached part of central and northern New Jersey but never got close enough to the city. However, they captured Philadelphia after pretty much demolishing the infrastructure in the city. Have to be considered a pyrrhic victory.

(5) 12 305mm guns (6x2)

(6) This slowed down the process while a decision was made in what machinery to use. Finally the machinery of the incomplete cruisers Philadelphia and Wichita were scavenged, studied and modified to fit the requirements of increased speed for the battleships.

(7) That was how extensive was the damage to the naval infrastructure by the Japanese withdraw in addition that naval matters were not a priority until after the war.

(8) Part of New Africa. The Navy was still a traditionalist and contrary to the Army and the Air Corps the Navy was almost untouched in regard to race relationships even with an official desegregation order. Even with a Jewish CNO it was difficult.

(9) They were over 50% completed by the time the Civil War started with three of the Perch class almost completed.

(10) 6 destroyers.

(11) 7 destroyers, with 3 sold to the Dutch with their main armament in Dutch navy calibers. 1 Benham and 2 Mahan.

(12) 1 Mahan Class, 3 Somers Class, 2 Bagley Class, 5 Benham Class and 2 Sims Class destroyers.

(13) The Bismarck sinking of the damaged Royal Oak, the sinking of the Guilio Cesare and the Conte di Cavour by British ships and the sinking of the Provence also by the British.

(14) Basically only the shipyards in Quincy and in Brooklyn Navy Yard are capable to fit the new class at the time.

(15) Renamed after American Independence battles. The CVL Brandywine and the CVL Cowpens.

(16) During the 1930’s that was the speed decided for the future carriers and ITTL it continued to be the preferred speed for ships accompanying the carriers.

(17) The Phoenix, the Juneau, the Oakland and the San Diego.

(18) 2 in the New York City area and 2 in Quincy.

(19) The Spokane, the Sacramento, the Santa Fe and the Tacoma.

(20) Japan is like a big boogeyman. United States is not strong enough to defeat them but is more than the United States is tired of fighting and in need to improve their economy than real weakness. The fear is that the Japanese return again and that is played by certain factions in the Government.

(21) July 16, 1950 to January 29, 1953.

(22) Named after War of 1812 battles.

(23) IMHO jet naval aviation should be behind OTL. All major naval battles ended by 1943 and with all countries involved pretty much broke jet aircraft development was not in the top of their priorities. Is not for lack of technology but more for lack of funding.

(24) An Armistice was reached with Japan in 1947.

(25) Named after battles of the Spanish American War.

(26) The San Juan Hill and the Kettle Hill

(27) The Manila Bay and the Nipe Bay.

(28) The Boise, the Helena, the Ogden and the San Jose.

(29) Remember is official history so it tends to be rosy colored.
 
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OOC: Sorry for reviving the dead but will try to slowly end this thing. Another interlude that was almost completed before my work related hiatus.

Interlude 8: Commonwealth Divisions and Brigades February 1946 (1)

Great Britain and North Ireland (2)


1st Airborne Division – British
Guards Armored Division- British (3)
1st Armored Division – British (3)
6th Armored Division- British (3)
3rd Infantry Division-British
5th Infantry Division- British
2nd Infantry Division- British
4th Infantry Division- British
9th Armored Division- British (4)
52nd Lowland Division (Air Landing) – British
10th Armored Division- British (4)
47th London Division- British (4)
51st Highland Division-British (4)
53rd Welsh Division- British (4)
55th West Lancashire Division-British (4)
43rd Wessex Division- British (4)
44th Home Counties Division- British (4)
48th South Midland Division- British (4)
54th East Anglian Division- British (4)
46th Infantry Division- British (4)
42nd East Lancashire Division- British (4)
49th West Riding Division-British (4)
50th Northumbrian Division (Motorized) –British (4)

India/Malaya

56th London Division- British in Dominion of India (5)
36th Bombay Division- British in Dominion of India/Dominion of Khalistan (6)
37th Pune Division- British (10) in Dominion of India/ Dominion of Pakistan (6)
1st African Division- King African Rifles in Dominion of India (7)
2nd Armored Division- British in Dominion of India (8)
1st Infantry Division- British in Dominion of India (9)
1st Grenadiers Division- Polish/Indian (10) in Dominion of India/Dominion of Khalistan/Dominion of Pakistan
10th Armored Cavalry Brigade –Polish/Indian (11) in Dominion of India/Dominion of Pakistan/Dominion of Khalistan
2nd Infantry Brigade- Indian/Gurkha in Dominion of India/Dominion of Pakistan (12)
3rd Infantry Brigade- Indian/Gurkha in Malaya (12)
10th Infantry Division-Australian in Malaya (13)
7th Infantry Division- Pakistani in Dominion of Pakistan (14)
8th Infantry Division- Pakistani in Dominion of Pakistan (14)
12th Armored Division- Pakistani in Dominion of Pakistan (14) (15)
4th Infantry Division- Indian in Dominion of India (14)
5th Infantry Division- Indian in Dominion of India (14)
11th Armored Division- Indian (16) in Dominion of India (14)
6th Infantry Division- Sikh (17) in Dominion of Khalistan (14)
1st Armored Brigade- Sikh (18) in Dominion of Khalistan (14)

Australia/New Zealand

11th Infantry Division- Australian (19) in Australia
12th Infantry Division- Australian (19) in Australia
1st Motorized Division – Australian (20) In Australia
2nd Infantry Division- New Zealander (21) in New Zealand

East Africa

2nd African Division-King African Rifles in West Africa
12th Infantry Division – Sudan Defense Force in Sudan

South Africa

1st Infantry Division- South African (22) in South Africa
2nd Infantry Division- South African (22) in South Africa
17th Armored Brigade - South African (23) in South Africa

Middle East (24)

7th Armored Division- British in Egypt (25)
8th Armored Division- British in Egypt (25)
6th Infantry Division (Motorized) - British in Egypt
1st Infantry Division- Egyptian in Egypt (26)
2nd Infantry Division- Egyptian in Egypt (27)
1st Cavalry Division- British in Palestine (28)
Jewish Brigade - Palestinian (29) in Palestine
Arab Brigade - Palestinian (30) in Palestine
8th Infantry Division- British in Iraq
Carpathian Brigade – Polish/Iraqi (31) in Iraq
15th Infantry Division- Iraqi in Iraq (32)

The Americas (33) (34)

1st Infantry Division- Canadian
2nd Infantry Division- Canadian
3rd Infantry Division- Canadian
4th Armored Division- Canadian (35)
5th Armored Division- Canadian (35)
6th Infantry Division- Canadian
Caribbean Brigade- British (36)
Canal Brigade (37)

(1) Excludes divisions of the North American factions in Civil War.

(2) Also includes Faroes, Iceland and Greenland.

(3) Units using the Mark IV cruiser tanks armed with 75mm guns based on the Canadian Ram II. However, a squadron of the Guards is testing an up-armored model with a 17 pounder gun due to the news received from the Russo-German War.

(4) Units were not disbanded but kept at skeleton levels to serve as reception stations in case Armistice with Germany is broken.

(5) Waiting for mobilization back to Great Britain where it will be kept at skeleton levels.

(6) Division formed in India from various diverse British formations and permanently assigned to region.

(7) Waiting for mobilization back to Africa.

(8) Division permanently assigned to the region and using the Mark IV cruiser tank.

(9) Division waiting for redeployment to Middle East.

(10) Polish soldiers naturalized as Indians to be able to continue serving in British Army after 1942 Armistice.

(11) Polish armored formation naturalized as Indians to go around terms of 1942 Armistice. Continued to be assigned infantry support missions and as such was issued the Infantry Tank Mark IV armed with a 40mm gun on a turret and a 76mm howitzer on the hull for infantry support.

(12) Formation fully composed of veteran Gurkha soldiers with British officers.

(13) Unit created from personnel from the Permanent Force. Follows the naming process of the Australian military forces and mainly composed of draftees with a veteran cadre. Only division fully manned by the Royal Australian Army.

(14) Large number of officers and noncoms are British.

(15) Composed of the 3rd Armored Brigade and the 4th Moto Brigade. Used for infantry support and armed with the Infantry Tank Mark IV armed with a 40mm gun on a turret and a 76mm howitzer on the hull for infantry support. Large number of the personnel in the technical branches of the division is British.

(16) Composed of 2nd Armored Brigade and the 3rd Moto Brigade. Main battle tank is the Mark III cruiser tank armed with a 57mm main gun.

(17) Division is partly motorized, with 1 of the assigned brigades moving around in surplus Bren carriers.

(18) Only Dominion formation in the region assigned the Mark IV cruiser tank armed with a 75mm gun.

(19) Units created as skeleton formations to serve as reception stations as second echelon formations in case of emergency. Expected to be fully manned in three to five months and members were part of the Citizen Militia Force.

(20) Unit was kept at skeleton levels to serve as a second echelon formation but personnel is rotated periodically to train in locally produced Scorpion tank (modified British cruiser tank armed with a tropicalized 25 pounder main gun). Personnel are selected from volunteers from the Citizen Militia Force that volunteer for overseas duty and for temporary duty with a small cadre of members of the Permanent Force assigned.

(21) Unit kept at reduced level with one brigade fully manned and rest of the formation in the role of reception station for mobilization.

(22) Units at reduced level with one brigade fully manned and the rest of formation in the role of reception station for mobilization.

(23) Unit fully manned and using the Mark III cruiser tank with 57mm guns.

(24) British Army forced to rely more in locally recruited forces.

(25) Units using the Mark IV cruiser tank armed with 75mm guns.

(26) Unit not fully manned due to loyalty concerns and lack of experience officers.

(27) Unit composed mainly of soldiers from countries under German occupation naturalized as Egyptian to serve as additional manpower in region. Mainly Greeks and Spaniards.

(28) Unit mounted in Bren carriers and utilized for policing duties in Palestine.

(29) Unit composed of Palestinians of Jewish faith and used for policing duties.

(30) Unit composed of Palestinians of Islamic faith and used for policing duties.

(31) Polish soldiers naturalized as Iraqis to be able to continue serving in British Army after Armistice.

(32) Unit not fully manned due to loyalty concerns.

(33) A small number of Australian and New Zealanders volunteered prior to both nations entering the war but the large group is the exiled Americans that made possible the large number of divisions. Close to 75,000 men “volunteered” to serve with the Canadian Army for the duration of the conflict, the equivalent of 5+ infantry divisions.

(34) Between the end of the Alaskan Campaign in the summer of 1945 and February 1946 a total of 10 infantry divisions were disbanded or in the process of been disbanded by the Canadian Government.

(35) Main battle tank by now is the Ram II armed with a 75mm gun, the same tank used the British Army as the Mark IV cruiser tank.

(36) Mix of British and West Indian soldiers.

(37) Mix of British and volunteer Panamanian soldiers.
 
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Operations February 1943- January 1946

The three year period between early 1943 to the end of 1946 brought a lot of change in the region; new nations emerged, the seeds of a marriage of convenience began to emerge, rifts between sister nations became deeper while a nation continued to be a battleground even when accords were signed.

Japan/China/Soviet Union:

The early part of 1943 found the Japanese Empire in a period of flux; the conflicts with both the North American nations and the Soviet Union were still ongoing but the superiority of the Combined Fleet together with the inhospitable of the terrain (1) transformed those conflicts into small clashes of airplanes and ships, secondary to other events. In Southeast Asia the Japanese Empire continued their Cold War with the British Empire and their allies but the start of the Indian Civil War also cooled down the situation in the region somewhat. China was the biggest concern of the Japanese Empire during the period; older Japanese military equipment continued to be imported into China to replace the losses of the Chinese forces in their fight against the Soviet Union while Japanese pilots and technicians (2) participated as instructors and in certain occasions saw actual combat to test new Japanese equipment. The Chinese however were even in worse shape during the period.

The Red Army’s China Expeditionary Force began their spring offensive on April 03, 1943 but as before they moved at a sluggish pace in the direction of Nanking and Shanghai while at the same time another operation was initiated to capture Kunming. The Chinese resistance was a spirited one that caused many casualties but there was no doubt of the end result and plans were already in place to evacuate the government to Fukien by late May. The lack of an unified command, with three factions fighting parallel wars against the Soviets was really a doomed proposition made even worse by the Chinese Central Government signing blank checks to both the French and Japanese in exchange of weapons and “instructors.” Even ones giving the weapons were not sure if they would be able to cash those checks and commercial concessions. But the events of June 1943 changed the course of events in the region.

The German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 15, 1943 was completely unexpected and caught the Soviet Union flatfooted. The Soviets continue offensive operation against the Japanese Empire and the Chinese Second Front during the early summer but by the middle of July the realization of the disaster in Europe brought the end of the Red Army offensive operations in the region. Instead the Soviet forces were ordered to stop in place and dig in. In the air the attacks to the Japanese Home Islands stopped completely while the Soviet Air Forces only were utilized to support defensive operations in China and Korea. Only the Red Navy’s submarine force continued to be a nuisance to the Japanese Empire and the Chinese with half-hearted attacks to Japanese and Chinese commerce. The rest of the summer of 1943 saw the Soviet forces repelling Chinese proving attacks supported by Japanese “technicians” but by early September the number of troops already moved west to try to stop the German advance made possible for small gains all around the fronts. By now the commander of the China Expeditionary Front, the inept Grigory Kulik, was back in the West as commander of the southern front (3) His place was taken by the more able Nikolai Vatutin, a move that finally consolidated all Soviet forces in the Far East under one commander. The requests to release more men and equipment for the fighting in Europe forced Vatutin to make the decision to pull back to more defensive positions and started a fighting tactical withdraw that took his forces to the other side of the Yellow River by the end of 1943 while further to the west his forces move into Chungking and began to dig in.

This retreat was hailed by the Chinese Second Front as a string of victories but anytime they try to fight the Red Army on even terms they were soundly defeated and they pretty much learned to “escort” the retreating Soviets instead to fighting them. Even more dangerous were the moves by the Chinese Soviet Republic of Mao. Mao recognized that the events in Europe changed the equation to his favor and began secret negotiations with the Soviet Union to switch sides and take over the puppet People’s Republic of China. The negotiations progressed steadily during the winter of 1943 and in March 1944 the world was stunned by the news of the fall of Peking and Chungking to Mao’s forces. That the forces of the other factions of the Second Front were not allowed in in the case of Chungking while Peking was completely surrounded by Red Army forces with no attempt to take the city back was recognized for what it was, a treacherous move by Mao. This news was followed by an offer days later by the beleaguered Soviet Union for a peace treaty with both China and Japan. The Japanese recognized that their changes of recovering Manchuria and/or Korea amounted to none in addition to the need of achieving peace to start recovery so they relinquished their rights in those regions in exchange to the same for the northern part of Karafuto (4). The Soviets were not too happy but their current situation in the West (5) forced them to accept that concession to the Japanese and a peace treaty was signed on April 19, 1944. On May 17, 1944 the “independent” People’s Republic of Korea was created with Pak Hon-Yong as figure head but actual control under the commander of the Korean Army Kim Il-Sung, the nation in reality was a Soviet Union’s puppet. But Japan found the treaty the best that could get. Also their new commercial interests in China pretty much made them the owners of the Chinese industry and resources and it was on their interest to try to end the conflict to exploit those resources (6). The Chinese on the other hand were not happy with the offer extended by the Soviet Union.

The Soviet offer was the outright annexation of Sinkiang and Manchuria as republics into the Soviet Union while allowing the continued existence of the People’s Republic of China as an autonomous part of China. The Chinese president Yan Xishan and their advisors recognized they were in no shape to continue to face the Soviet Union but steadily refused to sign a treaty, especially with the front in a static situation. But increased activity by Mao’s supporters in the areas of control of the Chinese Central Government and of the Guangxi/Guangdong factions forced the Second Front to agree to an armistice with the Soviet Union to deal with the internal dissention. An armistice was agreed upon on late May 1944, a move that signaled the end of the Chinese Second Front and the start of the Chinese Civil War. The rest of 1944 and the year 1945 found the non-Communist factions in China successfully uniting to eliminate the remaining Communist forces in Jiangxi and pacifying the Shantung Peninsula but failed in everything else. The port city of Chungking turned into a border town fought over three times before the forces of the southern factions calling it quits. On the north the Communist, well equipped with older Soviet equipment were successful in repelling attempts to cross the Yellow River and were even able to capture the city of Xian from the Central Government. January 1946 found the situation in China as one of a low level war between different factions but none was strong enough to defeat the other.

With peace in the Far East achieved General Vatutin spent the rest of 1944 and the year 1945 reorganizing the Soviet forces in the region as best as he could while giving men and equipment to the war effort against the Germans and old equipment to their new Chinese buffer state. While his command was relatively peaceful the war in Europe was a savage affair and the very survival of the Soviet Union was on doubt by the early part of 1944. However, the terrible battles in Arkhangelsk and Stalingrad ending in resounding Soviet victories while the new Central Front commander Georgy Zhukov recovering Moscow broke the back of the German infantry formations. By January 1946 the Germans were not strong enough to defeat the Soviets while finally the floodgates of American resources began to arrive to the Soviet Union (7). Now the war was turning into one of attrition were the numbers favored the Soviets.

In Japan peace was well received but the cold wars with the British in Southeast Asia and with North American nations in addition to the increased resistance of the Filipino to the Japanese presence in their nation continued to be a drain to the economy. The Japanese Zaibatsus began to move in earnest into China to claim their “rewards” for the Japanese Empire aid to the Chinese Central Government during their time of need while the same was occurring in the Philippines and Indochina. The exploitation of new markets and resources was invaluable to ensure the survival of the Empire and at least on the short term this seems to be achievable. However, one event in the summer of 1945 was the dark cloud in the rosy outlook of the Empire during the period. For close to 2 years the Canadian Government together with the American Provisional Government began to improve the Alaskan infrastructure to make possible the eradication of the remaining Japanese forces in mainland Alaska. Finally in late April 1945 enough resources were in place with adequate lines of communications (8) three Canadian infantry divisions with two 3rd Republic infantry divisions obliterating the remaining Japanese forces in mainland Alaska by the end of the summer of 1945. The Japanese military leaders were embarrassed by how the North Americans were able to achieve all of this from under their noses and news of the events in Alaska was not relayed to the Japanese general public.

(1) Read occupied parts of Alaska.

(2) Read artillerymen, communications technicians and tankers.

(3) Kulik died near Kharkov on early November 1943 and received a Hero of the Soviet Union funeral. His place was taken by the former disgraced Georgy Zhukov.

(4) Sakhalin Island.

(5) By then Leningrad and Moscow were both in the hands of the Germans. Straight from original timeline.

(6) The only way for the Chinese to pay for Japanese equipment and instructors was to basically give rights to production and exploitation of many of their natural resources. Basically they are screwed.

(7) British were selling non-military supplies to the Soviets but the new American Republic began selling surplus military equipment and other needed equipment/supplies to the Soviets for hard cash around late 1945.

(8) This TL Alaskan Highway is created.
 
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