Perhaps nothing groundbreaking, but necessary to move things forward! Canadian Thanksgiving...thankfully have me the chance to write this!
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Excerpts from "Pivot 1942". Ganzel, B. and Dworkin, R; F.N. Doubleday, New York, 1987.
Mid 1942 marked a series of changes in the Allied situation, although the change was not necessarily reflected on the map.
The first significant action was the Battle pf Nanking, which pitted some 440 000 Allied troops, the bulk of which were American and Unionist Chinese forces aginst some 760 000 Nationalist forces. After four days of harsh street fighting, the Beiyang Star was draped from the roof of the KMT Headquarters (now a courthouse and government office complex in Nanjing). Casualties were approximately 30 000 Allied and 80 000 Nationalist. The Allied command stressed the importance of waging a clean battle, although some Unionists carried out reprisals against Triads known to have attacked Unionist troops, which was not controversial, but also summarily executed suspected irregular combatants, estimated at 600 by the Unionists and anywhere from 800 to the "ridiculous" figure of 20 000 by various Nationalist sources. While order was quickly brought to Nanking, it became apparent that further fighting deep in Nationalist territory would be even more difficult.
The next major Allied victory in the Eastern China theatre of operations was the Second Battle of Huchow. In contrast to the Battle of Nanking, Unionist forces were not major participants in the initial phases of the battle, owing primarily to the lack of motorization of the Union Army hampering the redeployment of troops from Nanking. The operation was almost entirely a Japanese one, with both the Kwantung and 1st China Expeditionary Armies participating; slightly more were from the former. Overall command fell to Kwantung Army commanding officer General Shunroku Hata, who was eager to repair the Kwantung Army's reputation after its poor performance at the end of Tojo's command.
The battle commenced during the early morning hours of April 27th, 1942, with an IJAAS bombing raid against Xuzhou's electrical infrastructure, fuel and ammunition dumps, as well as Nationalist troop convoys arriving from Nanjing. The IJA artillery performed particularly well during the battle. The lack of purpose-built Type 1 Anti-tank Guns was overcome by employing the Type 92 10cm Cannon and particularly the Type 100 9.4cm Anti-Aircraft Gun in the direct fire role against Nationalist tanks, despite the unsuitability of their mountings.
Nationalist generals Pang Bingxun and Tang Enbei mounted a particularly strong and well-coordinated defence of the city, but it ultimately fell a week later. The Japanese forces, while much smaller in number, were much more mechanized, and turned their air superiority into air supremacy within the openining phases of the battle. The Nationalists, saving what equipment they could, made a hasty retreat for Wuhan. There were not enough Japanese troops to both secure the city and environs as well as pursue the bulk of Nationalist forces, so the decision was made to reinforce Xuzhou instead.
Japanese casualties totalled approximately 24 000 of the 220 000 troops committed, while the Nationalists an estimated 78 000 of 640 000 troops committed, although Nationalist figures vary due to the fluid positioning of forces during this battle.
The Empire of Japan richly rewarded its successful commanders in the wake of the battles of Nanking and Huchow. On June 9th, 1942, both Terauchi and Hata received their Field Marshal's badges, the first two such awards the IJA would make during the war.
Farther to the west, the Nationalist advance into Thailand and Malaya was blunted just inside the Malay border at Kota Bharu in early May. Forces under the command of Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi dug in well, preparing layers of tank traps and using the difficult terrain to their advantage. The first wave if Nationalist troops, under the command of General Feng Yuxiang were already exhausted from months of fighting, and constant harrassment from American, British and Japanese aerial and naval bombardment, and were unable to press their advantage.
The Nationalists' supply chain had been severely disrupted by the "plinking" campaign by the Allied navies, making preparations for a further attack especially difficult.
During this time, the National Army delayed plans for a campaign against British India, partly because the Nationalists did not expect the Unionists to gain as much popularity as they had in such a short time period. The Nationalists also developed new tactics and equipment for aerial attacks on Allied shipping, including a 500kg semi armour-piercing bomb. These new bombs, dropped from licence-built Ju-88s were used in an attack on the IJN's fleet off Burma, and two of them struck the hybrid carrier Fuso. One bomb broke up on impact, while the second penetrated the flight deck, causing severe damage. Fuso, although sitting low and listing, made for Singapore under her own power, although the flight deck and tall pagoda mast adversely affected her stability.
In the Soviet Union, the Germans once again rallied for their summer offensive, intending to capture the Caucasus to secure oil. In the meantime, steel production could barely keep pace with demand, and iron ore stockpiles were critically low. Sweden continued to refuse to sell Nazi Germany iron, and Russia remained the main source now. Nazi Germany was at a crossroads- oil, iron or Moscow- which was needed first?
