Japanese Long Campaign

[sigeena]

I am 5 battles or so into my Japanese LC, which started in July 1937 (The Second Sino- Japanese War started in 7 July 1937 "7/7/37).

I relied on the following sources to build a Standard Infantry Battalion.

http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/..._battalion.htm

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japa...dex.html#index

These are my core units.

A0 Commander
B0 Cav Transport (for HMG Coy)
C0 Cav Transport (for HMG Coy)
D0 Cav Transport (for HMG Coy)
E0 Pack Mules (for Ammo Cannister)
F0 Pack Mules (for Ammo Cannister)
G0 Pack Mules (for Bn Inf Guns)
H0 Bn Inf Guns, Type 92, 70mm

I0 HMG Coy
J0 HMG Pl
K0 HMG Pl

L0 Ammo Cannister
M0 Ammo Cannister
N0 Ammo Cannister

O0 Inf Coy (Alpha Coy)
P0 Inf Pl (Alpha Coy Pl 1)
Q0 Inf Pl (Alpha Coy Pl 2)
R0 Inf Pl (Alpha Coy Pl 3)

S0 Inf Coy (Bravo Coy)
T0 Inf Pl (Bravo Coy Pl 4)
U0 Inf Pl (Bravo Coy Pl 5)
V0 Inf Pl (Bravo Coy Pl 6)

W0 Inf Coy (Charlie Coy)
X0 Inf Pl (Charlie Coy Pl 7)
Y0 Inf Pl (Charlie Coy Pl 8)
Z0 Inf Pl (Charlie Coy Pl 9)

AA0 Inf Coy (Delta Coy)
AB0 Inf Pl (Delta Coy Pl 10)
AC0 Inf Pl (Delta Coy Pl 11)
AD0 Inf Pl (Delta Coy Pl 12)

As you can see, I'm an infantry man, and I only purchase armour as support units, and I'll try and remain faithful and purchase what is available in theatre.

[sigeena]

Mission
To conduct Delay operations in the China Villages Sector with Degawa Battalion for a period of 3 hours (roughly 64 turns)

Enemy
To expect Chinese KMT forces of 3x infantry battalions reinforced with 1x light armoured squadron, and up to 3x medium/ heavy artillery batteries.

Troops
Degawa Battalion will be supported by 1x 75mm Light Artillery Battery (off-board), 1x Medium Armour Pl of Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks, 1x Anti-tank Pl of Type 94 37mm ATGs and 1x Pl of AAMGs.

Terrain
China Villages Sector is a rather flat terrain with heights not more than 20metres at its highest. It is best described by the stream that runs roughly NW-SE across the centre of the Area of Operations (AO). There are 2 roads running almost parallel E-W, both roads bridge the stream. The road to the north is a metalled axis and the bridge is known as a Stone Bridge. The road to the south is a dirt axis and the bridge is known as a Wooden Bridge.

On our side of the AO, there is an additional road running N-S, that links to both roads, that allows us to quickly re-deploy reserves if necessary.

Between the 2 roads, and on our side of the stream, there's also a hilly feature that overlooks much of the opposite bank.

Battle Plan
To concentrate 3 inf coys up front to delay operations and 1 inf coy in reserve.

A coy will concentrate on the southern road, and defend infront of the Wooden Bridge. They'll be supported by 1x HMG pl and 1x ATG pl

B coy will concentrate on the northern road, and defend just behind the Stone Bridge. They'll be supported by 1x HMG pl and 1x Armour pl

C coy will concentrate on the hill between the 2 roads and defend behind the stream. They'll be supported by 1x HMG pl.

D coy will remain in reserve, nearer to the northern road, and at least 3 turns march from the N-S road to our rear.

The Bn Inf Gun Platoon will be positioned in the middle to provide support to both roads.

[sigeena]

Situation at Turn 9

A Coy is currently pulling behind into the trees, after successfully destroying a light enemy armour section. They will continue to delay infront of the Wooden Bridge. An enemy coy is observed to be headed its way and a motorcycle platoon on its flank to the south.

B Coy has successfully secured the treeline leading to the Stone Bridge. They are in close observation of the enemy armour squadron and at least an enemy infantry coy.

C Coy observes an enemy inf coy heading between the 2 roads. The HMG pl in support is taking the enemy under fire as it attempts to traverse the open ground leading to the stream.

D Coy is still in reserve.

[sigeena]

Situation at Stone Bridge Turn 11

The enemy has massed something like a full battalion worth of infantry to secure the stone bridge.

Pl 4 is directly controlling the stone bridge and the road, with the armoured platoon.

Pl 5 is covering pl 4's flank to the south and Pl 6 is covering pl 4's flank to the north.

The enemy is fully intent on securing the stone bridge and has laid alot of artillery, ranging from 81mm mortars to 100mm guns.

B Coy will slowly give ground and not engage in any fixed defence fighting.

[sigeena]

Situation at Turn 22

A coy is facing mounting pressure but the enemy has not fully extended into battle line and thus, it is difficult to judge the size of enemy force. We believe it is at least a coy's worth of infantry. A coy is now pulling back behind the Wooden Bridge. At the same time, the HMG platoon that's supporting their lower flank has been suffering enemy artillery and is currently neutralised (Size 8, Damage 4). This HMG pl will pull back as well and re-supply from a nearby ammo cannister. Before pulling back, the HMG pl observed an enemy inf coy moving towards A coy sector.

B coy has given up the Stone Bridge and the immediate woods around it. We believe that the enemy Bn is severely handled and probably left with a coy's worth of combat power. The enemy armoured squadron is also destroyed. B coy has suffered casualties but mainly from enemy artillery.

C coy is hardly in the fight. The enemy has probed forward but are constantly thrown back by the HMG pl. C Coy has detached 1 pl towards B coy sector to help relieve some pressure.

D coy is in reserve but having observed some enemy moving through the woods to the north of B coy, they are now on the move to protect B coy's north flank.

So far, our 75mm (off-board) is doing very poorly in terms of counter battery work. And the enemy infantry can be handled by our ground guys, but their artillery is quite troubling.

[sigeena]

Situation at Turn 33

A coy has been on the backfoot. The enemy looks to be in battalion strength. They have fully given up the Wooden Bridge and the flank to their south. In fact, they are almost at risk of being split apart. Pl 2 is on the south side of the dirt road and the only force in direct defence of the victory locations. Pl 1 and 3 are holding the enemy in the hamlet and delaying for as long as possible, while support is coming elsewhere.

B coy's position has somewhat stabilised. The enemy is taking a long time to re-org before coming out from the woods. In the mean time, they have detached Pl 6 to march towards A coy's sector. Our Armour pl is also moving towards A coy's sector, after they complete their resupply.

C coy's position has hardly changed. Pl 7 is holding the enemy superbly. They have hardly taken any losses (lack of enemy artillery attention). Pl 8 is moving towards A coy to support, while Pl 9 remains in good support of B Coy.

D coy has battered the enemy inf coy and are pursuing routing units towards north of B coy. Similarly, they are detaching Pl 12 towards A coy's sector.

[Mobhack]

Which is a tiny error - perhaps generated by the pursuit mission using that batloc, but not overriding the name with a "local" one.

Batloc 41 Czechosolvakia is used with a local name override as a rare Manchoko "green and hilly" location as opposed to the usual batloc 20 reddish deserts. So the local name override seems not to have passed onto the special battle.

In which case - simply use the normal pre battle map edit functions to re-spin the map, or just ignore the name string which is merely flavour.

Andy

[sigeena]

Mission
To Advance through the Map and secure the area of operations within 3 hours (roughly 61 turns)

Enemy
To expect approx. 2x enemy inf battalion and 1x armoured squardron, and up to 2x light/ medium artillery batteries.

Troops
Degawa Battalion will be supported by 1x 105mm Medium Batt (off-board), 1x 10cm Light Batt (on-board), 1x Manchuko Cavalry Squadron, 1x Light Armour Coy (Type 95 Ha-Go), 1x Medium Armour Coy (Type 97 Chi-Ha).

Terrain
This particular AO is not much different from what we had fought through earlier in the Changkufeng AO or the much earlier Delay mission in China Villages. Not too difficult to see it as a continuation of the earlier action, even though the map name is Czechoslovakia.

There is a stream bisecting the map running N-S. Since this stream is close to my deploy line, it doesn't have any significant tactical importance.

Roadswise, there are 2 main roads running E-W, and both are along the north and south extremeties of the AO itself. Both roads run through quite a number of wooded areas and ambushes or road blocks should be anticipated.

While the VLs are themselves in wooded areas, the immediate rear of these VLs are relatively open grasslands.

Battle Plan
A and B Coy will move along the North axis and advance against the north most objective. They will be supported by the Medium Armor Coy.

C Coy will move along the South axis and advance against the south most objective. They will be supported by the Light Armour Coy and the Manchuko Cavalry Squadron.

D Coy (which has the most casualties amongst the inf coy) will be in reserve, and most likely support the Northern force, which is also the force nearest to the centre objectives.

Bn Inf Guns will be pushing up along the North axis in support..

[sigeena]

Situation at Turn 10
First Contact erupted around turn 5. The medium armor along the north axis discovered enemy armour ontop of a knoll that nicely overlooks the road itself. As the first platoon of the armor deploys to engage the armour, it quickly turned out to be an uneven contest. at 900m. These were T26 M1933, and their 45mm guns are real AT weapons compared to my Type 97 Chi-Ha, where the 57mm are more HE than AP.

The first platoon quickly disengaged itself after suffering the first 2 losses. We pushed our infantry up to clear the immediate area and found another infantry platoon screening the armour. Destroyed the enemy infantry pretty quickly and dropped the first of our artillery into the enemy armour and luckily destroyed 1 of them with a direct hit. However, until we clear this knoll, we won't be able to continue along the road unobserved.

To that effect, we deploy B coy into line and order them to sweep the woods south of this knoll. If possible, they will attempt to close and destroy the enemy armour.

As for the road along the south. Our first contact was similarly a poor one. Our point tank was ambushed and destroyed by enemy infantry in the woods, approx. 600 metres after crossing the stream. As we push up our cavalry and infantry to sweep the woods, we suffered further enemy artillery dropping on us, stymieing our advance.

This fight is more challenging than previous encounters so far.

[sigeena]

Situation at Turn 17

On the northern road, we have neutralised the enemy armour and presence around the road. Our force can resume marching and moving along the road towards the north most objectives.

As for the southern road, we have managed to slide around the flank of the enemy infantry and cleared the road blocks, at the expense of 1 armour platoon. Similarly, our forces there will resume the march along the road towards the south most objectives.

The artillery situation has improved somewhat. The enemy mortars around the south VLs will soon find themselves under heavy bombardment by my artillery.