The Union Forever: A TL
- Thread starter Mac Gregor
- Start date
Asia-Pacific War: SE Asia Aug-Nov 1976
The Southeast Asian Theater
August 8-November 4, 1976
August 8-November 4, 1976
Southeast Asia at the start of the war
Malaya
In the weeks following the start of hostilities, the 22nd Corp, soon to be renamed the 15th Army, with 198,000 soldiers under General Takuma Saito made painfully slow progress as it advanced south into British Malaya. The first obstacle was the extensive belts of barbed wire, anti-vehicle ditches, and minefields that had been quickly established by the Commonwealth to protect the Malayan Peninsula after Japan’s victory over Siam in 1972. Opposing the Japanese was a composite force of 145,000 British, Malayan, New Zealander, and Australian troops led by Lt. General Sir Garrett Travers. Commonwealth aircraft and anti-ship missiles usually stopped the Japanese from landing troops along the coast, reducing the battle to a deadly head-to-head confrontation. Commonwealth artillery, such as the Excalibur Mulitple Rocket Artillery System, proved especially effective inflicting serious casualties wherever Japanese forces consolidated. Despite the heavy losses however, Japan continued to pour reinforcements into the conflict forcing the Commonwealth to fall back further south. Special units of Malayan commandos were left behind in the central highlands to wreak havoc on Japanese supply lines. On November 4, the Japanese had forced their way as far south as the Pahang River in the east and to the outskirts of the important city of Kuala Lumpur in the west.
An Excalibur Multiple Rocket Artillery System in action in British Malaya
October, 1976
Burma
While not a priority for any of the belligerent nations, the Commonwealth of Burma was invaded nonetheless by Indian forces from the west and a combined Laotian-Vietnamese army in the east. The job of protecting the lightly defended dominion of 31 million fell to Burmese Major General Khin Hlaing. Wisely, Major General Khin Hlaing planned to husband his resources and wage a guerrilla war against the occupiers. Difficult terrain, partisan harassment, and the monsoons slowed the invading forces considerably. As such by November the capital city of Rangoon was still in Commonwealth hands despite most other major cities having fallen.
Bengal and Assam
Resistance in the recently annexed territories of Bengal and Assam increased after the outbreak of hostilities. The various bands of guerrillas and underground movements while not strong enough to challenge Indian forces in open battle did manage to tie down large numbers of URI troops. The Commonwealth could provide only limited material support to the partisan forces but continued to treat the exiled governments as the legitimate rulers.
While not a priority for any of the belligerent nations, the Commonwealth of Burma was invaded nonetheless by Indian forces from the west and a combined Laotian-Vietnamese army in the east. The job of protecting the lightly defended dominion of 31 million fell to Burmese Major General Khin Hlaing. Wisely, Major General Khin Hlaing planned to husband his resources and wage a guerrilla war against the occupiers. Difficult terrain, partisan harassment, and the monsoons slowed the invading forces considerably. As such by November the capital city of Rangoon was still in Commonwealth hands despite most other major cities having fallen.
Bengal and Assam
Resistance in the recently annexed territories of Bengal and Assam increased after the outbreak of hostilities. The various bands of guerrillas and underground movements while not strong enough to challenge Indian forces in open battle did manage to tie down large numbers of URI troops. The Commonwealth could provide only limited material support to the partisan forces but continued to treat the exiled governments as the legitimate rulers.
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I assume you mean "tie down," although thousands of tie-dyed Indian troops is a sight I'd pay to see.
Looks like Japanese fortunes in the Burma theater isn't going all that much better than OTL's World War Two, with monsoons, crappy terrain and all. And of course, having stay-behind commandos mucking things up in Malaya is bound to cause troubles all of their own regardless of conventional forces.
Speaking of which, between the Excalibur MRAS and Valkyrie attack helo, thanks for the neat little tidbits of gadgetry we're getting a look at! As a mil-tec junkie, I approve. I'd ask about specs and such, but I don't wanna bog down the thread with such trivia. Rather, I'll just give you a nice "Bravo Zulu" for this great, if small, update. Keep it up!
Speaking of which, between the Excalibur MRAS and Valkyrie attack helo, thanks for the neat little tidbits of gadgetry we're getting a look at! As a mil-tec junkie, I approve
. I'd ask about specs and such, but I don't wanna bog down the thread with such trivia. Rather, I'll just give you a nice "Bravo Zulu" for this great, if small, update. Keep it up!
I assume you mean "tie down," although thousands of tie-dyed Indian troops is a sight I'd pay to see.
Hippies II: This time it's personal!
The question there is the status of the land link. I can *easily* imagine Burma in 1976 not having any paved roads at the Laotian border and even if it is, I doubt the connecting line is *that* straight.
OTL when they declared independence I believe they had the most thorough rail system in South East Asia (though that may have been a result of WWII).
Neutrals involved that could swing the war...
Looking at the map and an old population/GDP map, I'm ranking the nations that could get involved involved in the war into 3 categories:
Other Major Powers: German, Russia, USA.
I can't see Germany or the USA joining the war on the Indian/Japanese side. *Maybe* the IEF, but I don't see the advantage for them (unless China joined). If the USA or the IEF join on the Commonwealth side, then things get really ugly for the Japanese. I'm not sure what help the Germans could easily give other than significant materiel at least at the beginning, I'm not sure we've got an equivalent iOTL.
Other Local Powers: China, Thailand, Indonesia.
*China would only join on the Commonwealth side, I think and it would make things uglier for the Indians/Japanese. That makes this war a *lot* bigger.
*Thailand. *Probably* stays neutral, I don't see the advantage of declaring for the Indian/Japanese and joining the commonwealth side at this point would be like sticking your hand into industrial fan blade
*Indonesia not sure. They are sort of in the opposite situation from Thailand, declaring for the commonwealth would be welcome, but not huge, declaring for the India/Japanese they'd get hurt first.
(Thailand/Indonesia have "Zimmerman telegram" issues, I can join the war, but then I'd get nailed *first*)
Other Countries: France, I think is similar to Germany, but weaker, and I'm not sure any other countries would make that much of a difference...
Looking at the map and an old population/GDP map, I'm ranking the nations that could get involved involved in the war into 3 categories:
Other Major Powers: German, Russia, USA.
I can't see Germany or the USA joining the war on the Indian/Japanese side. *Maybe* the IEF, but I don't see the advantage for them (unless China joined). If the USA or the IEF join on the Commonwealth side, then things get really ugly for the Japanese. I'm not sure what help the Germans could easily give other than significant materiel at least at the beginning, I'm not sure we've got an equivalent iOTL.
Other Local Powers: China, Thailand, Indonesia.
*China would only join on the Commonwealth side, I think and it would make things uglier for the Indians/Japanese. That makes this war a *lot* bigger.
*Thailand. *Probably* stays neutral, I don't see the advantage of declaring for the Indian/Japanese and joining the commonwealth side at this point would be like sticking your hand into industrial fan blade
*Indonesia not sure. They are sort of in the opposite situation from Thailand, declaring for the commonwealth would be welcome, but not huge, declaring for the India/Japanese they'd get hurt first.
(Thailand/Indonesia have "Zimmerman telegram" issues, I can join the war, but then I'd get nailed *first*)
Other Countries: France, I think is similar to Germany, but weaker, and I'm not sure any other countries would make that much of a difference...
Good points, allow me to clarify. While India would like a land link to her Southeast Asian allies the priority is driving the British out of Southern India first. Furthermore, as naraht mentioned the road and rail network isn't that built up in Burma.
I assume you mean "tie down," although thousands of tie-dyed Indian troops is a sight I'd pay to see.
Indeed I did. Thanks.
Looks like Japanese fortunes in the Burma theater isn't going all that much better than OTL's World War Two, with monsoons, crappy terrain and all. And of course, having stay-behind commandos mucking things up in Malaya is bound to cause troubles all of their own regardless of conventional forces.
Speaking of which, between the Excalibur MRAS and Valkyrie attack helo, thanks for the neat little tidbits of gadgetry we're getting a look at! As a mil-tec junkie, I approve
Thank you FleetMac!
Good observations naraht. The next update I do will discuss the neutral nation's stances on the war. Cheers.
East Timor is still colony of Portugal. And I think that grey Brunei is mistake. Wasn't that protectorate/colony of United Kingdom on this point?
Dreamworld
I'm still reading through this, and I see one problem with Dreamworld: It's located where it can't be open year-round. A second facility should open somewhere warm...
1959
Domestic Developments
- In March, the Professional Baseball League (PBL) announced its first new expansion teams since 1939. Two new franchises were sanctioned, the Denver Grizzlies and the Panama Canaliers joining the Star and Liberty Leagues respectively. The addition of these two teams brought the number of professional baseball franchises to 30.
- On May 15, Shane Bayard opened the first Dreamworld Amusement Park. Although several locations were considered, Bayard settled on St. Louis, Missouri due to its central location. Over the years it would become one of the biggest tourist attractions in the country. Bayard considered the park to be one of his greatest successes and remarked “that America deserves a place where its citizens, no matter their age, can feel the joy of letting their guard drop and their imaginations run wild.”
- In September, President Anderson signed into law the National Highway Sysem (NHS) Act passed by Congress earlier that year with bipartisan support. The NHS authorized the construction of a massive system of limited access highways that would crisscross the nation and, at President Anderson's insistence, be completely toll free . These “inter-states” would in time greatly improve the ease of long distance auto travel in the United States. The NHS was not without its detractors however such as the powerful railroad lobby that feared the act would erode their market share.
A section of the National Highway System under construction
1959
I'm still reading through this, and I see one problem with Dreamworld: It's located where it can't be open year-round. A second facility should open somewhere warm...
I think he is doing a play off that Walt Disney was going to build Disney World in St. Louis but when he refused to sell beer there the idea was basically scuttled by Anheuser-Busch due to influence they had on St. Louis local government.