Japanese Long Campaign

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Situation at Turn 20

A Coy sector remains pretty much the same. Pl 3, the point platoon is holding off the enemy armour splendidly.

B Coy has been split by the speed of enemy armour. About half of Platoon 5 remains, and I've decided to withdraw them if possible. Platoon 4 is now stranded and I decide that they should remain largely where they are.

C Coy's sector is somewhat stabilising. The ATGs have almost knocked out all enemy armour. However, Platoon 9 is no longer effective and they will be withdrawn. Platoon 7 and 8 will remain to frustrate the enemy infantry.

D Coy has been the most disastrous sector. Platoon 11 is almost completely dispersed by the enemy armour, and the enemy thrust is aimed directly at my soft underbelly, between B and D Coy. Platoon 12 will continue to delay while Platoon 10 hurry to set-up the next position.

I'm beginning to withdraw my HMG Coy. They have been very difficult to deploy and I hardly think its worth spending them needlessly in such an unfavourable terrain and mission.

The current plan for the next 5-8 turns is to deploy A Coy's reserve platoons (Pl 1 and 2) to prepare to meet the enemy armour that is thrusting from D Coy's sector. If that goes awry, it's pretty much a write-off for the entire battalion in this one.

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Situation at Turn 27

A Coy is attempting to conduct a fighting withdrawal to cover the remnants of C Coy that is in full retreat. A Coy will continue to keep the corridor open for Platoon 8 and 9.

B Coy may have to be entirely sacrificed. They are left stranded too far ahead and the safest course of action may be for Platoons 4 and 6 to remain in the forests and defend.

C Coy is in full retreat from the enemy infantry. Platoon 8 is the only remaining effective unit.

D Coy is also in full retreat and Platoon 10 remains the only effective unit.

The Battalion Infantry Guns have been over-run. Our Battalion HQ is moving towards the rear.

It is very unfortunate that the yellow units (destroyed) are wholly my own units in this mission.

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Situation at Turn 37

A Coy is benefiting from the close terrain and making the enemy armour pay for each yard they gain. I estimate approx. 8 armoured wrecks around the first platoon's position, but the enemy reserves appears inexhaustible, and more keep advancing. Enemy artillery is beginning to find the range on our positions and though it feels natural to pull them back, it is perhaps much safer for them if they remain in cover. Their retreat route to the east is too open.

B Coy is also benefiting from the close terrain and fighting enemy infantry that attempts to close. Only enemy artillery will be able to dig these guys out.

C and D Coy's sector has been quiet and my intention is for them to remain on the battlefield till the end.

The ATG and Armoured Cars (AC) are combining well. The ATG has taken out another 5 enemy tanks while the AC is delaying the enemy infantry. However, I estimate they will most likely only be able to hold for the next 3 turns.

Nothing much positive to report. I may lose all VLs but I expect our guys to extract a terrible price on the enemy.

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Situation at End Battle (Turn 58)

A Coy stuck around till the end and repulsed numerous infantry advances, as well as subjected to constant artillery bombardment. The most upsetting issue has been the lack of accurate counter battery fire.

We managed to achieve a Draw for which I had set out at the start of the mission. And achieving that at the loss of 250+ loss while destroying more than 60 enemy tanks gave me a strong impression of how I should better use my infantry against armour next time.

Next battle, I decided to continue the campaign in Manchuria with the new sector being a Defend mission in Mongolia.

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Thought I'll add a screenshot of A Coy's positions at the end of the battle.

This experience is going to heavily influence my planning in my upcoming Defend mission against the Russians.

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Mission
To Defend in the Monglolia Sector with Degawa Battalion for a period of 3 hours (roughly 65 turns). The visibility is very good (53)

Enemy
To expect Soviet forces of 4x infantry battalions reinforced with 3x armoured squadrons, and up to 5x medium/ heavy artillery batteries.

Troops
Degawa Battalion will be supported by 1x 105mm Medium Artillery Battery (off-board), 1x 10cm Type 91 Field Battery (on-board), 1x Light Armour Coy of Type 95 Ha-Go tanks, 1x Anti-tank Pl of Type 94 37mm ATGs and 8x Bunkers.

Terrain
Our sector is bifurcated by a stream running approx. NW to SE, that evenly distributes the Victory Locations.

We will refer to the near side of the stream as TR sector and the far side as LL sector. TR sector is relatively open in comparison with LL sector which provides ample opportunities for close fighting with wooded areas.

The only axis of interest is a dirt road running W-E along the lower half of the map mostly in LL sector.

The stream can be crossed via a bridge from the dirt road, or numerous fording points.

Battle Plan
To concentrate 2 Coys in both TR and LL sectors.

A and B Coys will defend in TR sector, supported by the 1x Armoured Coy. Both Coys will take a 2 up formation, and harbour in and around forested VLs.

C and D Coys will defend in LL sector, supported by the 1x ATG Pl.. Similarly, both Coys will take a 2 up formation and harbour in and around forested VLs.

Bunkers are placed along both flanks and have their arcs adjusted to provide interlocking fields of fire. Bunkers are denoted by blue triangles, and their arcs of fires are denoted by the yellow lines.

All fording points have been blocked off by both barbwire and dragon's teeth, to reduce enemy mobility across the river.

The bridge is blocked by an anti-tank ditch (denoted by the green bar), it is further mined approx. 400 metres from our front bunkers (also denoted by the green bar)

The only fording point that cannot be blocked off by obstacles will be pre-targeted by our artillery. The pre-target hex is a yellow circle.

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

Based on our earlier experiences, we intend for the enemy armour to bypass our forward bunkers, and penetrate into our layered infantry defenses in close terrain. The bunkers are intended to delay and separate the enemy infantry from the fast armour. Our own armour is intended to launch counter attacks to recapture TR sector once enemy armour is neutralised.

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Situation at Turn7

Our early spotting reports describe a large concentration of both armour and artillery. At least a battalion of armour is visible advancing towards TR sector, against our point platoon.