Into the Fire - the "Minor" nations of WW2 strike back

[Wings]

Chapter 40

South-East Asian Campaign

December 7th - 20th, 1941

​

With the eye of today, one might think that the actions that led to the Kota Bharu disaster were frankly reckless, if not outright disastrous, but that would be disregarding the vision of the Imperial Japanese forces of the time. The oil embargo by the United States following the Franco-Indochinese incident and the occupation of the Paracel Islands had been dangerously close to shattering their war effort, and with every passing moment, the Chinese were getting better armed thanks to the Hanoi-Kunming railway and the Burma Road.

Japan was thus on a timer. It needed to strike fast, and that is why so many divisions that were usually affected to tasks in China were rerouted to Southeast Asia. It is also why several aircraft carriers were finished with larger capacities, at the cost of training, armor and other considerations.

It must be said that the Japanese also grossly overestimated their capabilities, and downplayed their opponents. To them, the United States were weak, and their army feeble. Taking the Philippines and annihilating their fleet at Pearl Harbor would have them come cowering to Japan’s feet. Similarly, Japan held the Europeans in no less contempt. The French were already defeated, had lost their mainland and could not properly supply their colonies. The British relied on their unmotivated local and Indian troops to protect their colonies, and would surely break at the first sign of fighting, if not turn their guns on their masters. For the Dutch, more of the same…

One could thus see how the Japanese mounted confidence during the fateful days of December 1941: defeat was simply not an option for them. As for the Thais, Japan actually did not expect to have to fight them. Phibun, ambassador to Japan, had explained that the local government was deeply unpopular amongst the army, and that it would refuse to fight against the colonialists. In fact, Japan had maintained a large network of collaborators in Thailand, which is why they expected little resistance, and that is why convoys towards the Kra Isthmus even sailed in broad daylight (the approach to Singora, Kota Bharu and Tourane, for example, were done at night). The extent of Japanese infiltration of Thai forces in the Southern Army also explained the lack of resistance at Singora and Talumpuk, with most Thai forces joining the Japanese the moment they landed. And to cap it all off, Phibun had assured the Japanese that the Thai Army would in fact coup Pridi's government in advance, further cementing the Japanese confidence...

Despite this, courage alone couldn’t win wars. Japan expected this, and knew it had to strike hard and fast. Everything had been timed: the strike on Pearl Harbor would bring the death knell of the American fleet, and then the IJN would sweep the South China Sea, taking the airfields at Tourane, allowing the Japanese to attack Singora and take the airfields there, and finally moving on to Bangkok, Malaya, Saigon, Singapore, Burma…

The issue with this plan was simple: Japan did not expect failure. And when victory did not come swiftly, it set in motion a catastrophic chain of events.

On December 8th, chaos swept Thailand. Despite the Japanese being leagues away, Thai outposts reported fighting in several areas, including Bangkok. Fortunately, Phraya Songsuradej knew exactly what was going on, and immediately evacuated the government from the capital. In fact, "Phibun's clique" had made their move. General Charun Rattanakun Seriroengrit and his followers tried to seize the main government buildings in Bangkok, but was rebuffed long enough for the government to leave the city. However, Seriroengrit did manage to secure the airfields, including Don Mueang, despite a firefight with loyalist units. Most of the planes for their part had withdrawn to Chiang Mai, depriving the coupers of them. The airfield being secured, IJA aircraft could move in as soon as the evening of December 8th, causing even more chaos in the Thai apparel.

On December 9th, a day after the landings in Indochina, Japanese troops of the 5th Infantry Division landed at Singora, with the clear objective of seizing the airfield complex in the area. Later that day, elements of the 33rd Infantry Division landed along the Kra Isthmus. These troops were supported by Kondo's fleet, which had come down after the successful strike at Tourane, and made good use of the poor weather which hindered Allied reconnaissance. That same day, Phibun made an announcement on Radio-Tokyo calling for "the Royal Thai forces to lay down their arms and join their Japanese brothers-in-arms against the colonialist threat".

Contrarily to what they had hoped, Phibun's address was not recieved everywhere, and when it was, it was far from unanimous. Far from it, in fact. Unit commanders chose according to who they supported, landings were opposed here and there with surprising intensity, including at Ao Manao beach, where the Thais of the 5th Infantry Division held against the Japanese of the 33rd Infantry for a day, pinning them on the beaches [1]! At Singora, however, the weak garrison had difficulty in containing the Japanese, who seized the airfields with relative ease. Soon enough, swarms of Ki-27, Ki-43 and other aircraft came pouring in a large line from Hainan to Singora via Tourane or Bangkok. These aircraft were not very contested, as the French squadrons in Indochina were fighting to defend Hanoi, Cao Bang and Bac Can, to the north. It thus fell to Commonwealth aircraft to oppose these fighters, which they did with mixed success.

In the meantime, the British did not remain inactive. Honouring the Anglo-Thai agreement, British troops of the 17th Indian Division moved into Pattani, lending a hand to the disorganized Thais, and lending a decisive air support to delay the installation of IJAF aircraft in the area. In the night, the navy would also move in, with the British battleships of the Royal Navy executing a vigorous shelling of Japanese troops at Singora. Admiral Tom Phillips would have liked to stay…but he was informed of a large carrier force heading for him. In fact, Kondo's force had been spotted by Hudsons of Sqn 1 RAAF, but the strong air cover surrounding the carriers meant that the information provided was inaccurate, but they had gotten most things right: 5 carriers and a large number of warships. Phillips himself did not have his entire force to bear: the Indomitable was still moving from Fremantle, and the French Far East Force had stayed in Singapore, leaving Phillips with only one CV and one CVL. Fearing a trap, Phillips immediately turned back to Singapore, something that would be reproached to him later.

Kondo for his part had been ordered to support the troops and protect a convoy leading Japanese troops towards Kota Bharu, in order to flank the Indian troops that had reportedly entered Thailand. Kondo’s objective was twofold: to support the landing operation by luring the Royal Navy into a decisive battle, and to annihilate the Thai naval forces, which had yet to leave port, and had sided with the civilian government, shelling the Thai insurrectionist positions in the city. Kondo was informed of Force Z's sortie, but did not manage to intercept, fearing that fighter cover from Malaya could turn the tide in the Allies' favour, while Singora was not yet secured.

December 10th, 1941, was still the day considered to be “Thailand’s Pearl Harbor”. Early in the morning, a swarm of D3A1 “Val” flew to Don Mueang, and plunged on the anchored Thai vessels, wreaking havoc amidst the fleet which had been such a nuisance for the insurrectionists. There were little survivors: the destroyer Phra Ruang, which was at Ko Samui, along with two submarines and three torpedo boats. The Phra Ruang was ordered to make due haste towards Singapore, with the two submarines in tow [2]. The three remaining torpedo boats did not have the range and would have to scuttle. Disheartened and outgunned, the loyalist forces had to give up the capital to the insurrectionists.

Kondo's presence in these waters also meant that his navy was also quite vulnerable, as the Allies had other means to sting him with. And the British submarines surely did not take their presence well. In the afternoon, the destroyer Oyashio was sunk by the HMS Oberon, and the Ryujo itself was taken for a target several times. Kondo was thus forced to withdraw northwards in the night, fearing that he was risking his ships too much, and thinking that the link between Tourane and Singora was enough to secure the bridgehead.

But this also meant that precious hours were lost. While the bridgeheads in Thailand were too solid, and the situation in the country too chaotic for them to be pushed out, it was not the case at Kota Bharu! There, the landed Japanese were expected to take the Indians from the rear and destroy them. Problem: while there were certainly Indians in the area, they were also faced with Alan Vasey’s 7th Australian Division! The Japanese were decimated on arrival. The Commonwealth troops had mined the area, and had already placed several traps, including petrol canisters that were detonated and set ablaze, raising a sea of flames which gave the landscape a hellish feeling.

With no naval support, Kondo's force having bombed Bangkok and turned tail, the Japanese were left to fend for themselves, in a desperate fight for survival. The men of the 18th Infantry Division, when they reached the shore, were faced with machine-gun fire emerging from pillboxes, as well as armored vehicles rushing to them! These were in fact Valentines lent by the Australian 1st Armoured which had come to the rescue. Air support was sparse at best, with the IJA focusing its efforts on the Thai front, leaving the Japanese at the mercy of the Allied air forces Thus, to add to this disaster, the Spitfires of Sqn 30 RAAF and Beauforts of Sqn 458 RAAF came to hack the landing barges to pieces, massacring the remaining Japanese on the beaches. At night, the Commonwealth troops were victorious: their opponents were tired, and had not even made it out of the beach.

However, there was little time for celebration. The Japanese did not cease fighting, even when it was clear all hope was lost. Japanese troops feigned to surrender, before taking the pin out of a grenade and taking a few Aussies with them. Some, out of ammunition, just limped back into the sea to drown. This was the first contact for the Commonwealth troops with the fanatical devotion of the Japanese fighters. But for these ones, it was a disaster. Nearly five thousand Japanese troops lay dead or wounded, and the beachhead had been completely destroyed.

The Imperial command was enraged, but did not have time to linger on this defeat. Singora had been secured and the airfield was now fully stocked with modern fighters and bombers, and the Thai Army seemed to be in full rout.

On December 14th, Japanese troops began moving northwards towards Bangkok, finally under friendly air cover, to link up with the insurrectionists and their own air forces at Don Mueang. The weak resistance of the Royal Thai Air Force, overwhelmed and outgunned, meant that the British had to send the two squadrons of the AVG in Burma down to Moulmein to relieve some pressure. Despite this, the Thai army still struggled, still reeling from the attempted coup a few days pruor. The Japanese had been reinforced with armour, and were now coming dangerously close to Bangkok.

Phraya knew that Bangkok's fall would take a heavy toll on his units, but by this point, it was too late. Taking the most loyal units, those of the Phayap Army, under Major General Phin Choonhavan (the son of a Chinese immigrant, he had good reason to dislike the Japanese), he ordered a stopper line towards Singburi and Prachinburi, in order to defend the northern half of the country. Phraya and Phin did manage to save numerous Thai troops, and rallied a sense of common cause amidst the Thai army, but it also meant several things: the road to Bangkok was completely open, and so was the road to the Cambodian border.

This meant that Japanese troops entered the capital almost without firing a shot, and that the airfields at Don Mueang were finally relieved on December 18th. With Bangkok secured, Japanese troops rushed towards Pattaya, but also Sa Kaeo, aiming for Battambang and Cambodia, trying to outflank Saigon. On December 20th, the first units had reached the border.

But while in the north things were going well, in the south it wasn’t much the case. The 17th Indian Division had attacked and repulsed the Japanese from Pattani towards Singora, seriously threatening the airfields there. And while the use of these airfields became less strategic thanks to the capture of Bangkok, they were very important to cover the troops who would push towards Malaya! Despite the reinforcement of IJA planes, these still came in at a pace deemed too slow for the Imperial Command, and the Commonwealth air forces still held the upper hand, despite the agility of the Ki-43 “Oscar” which often clashed with the P-39s, P-40s and Spitfires deployed in the area by the RAAF and RNZAF [3]. The Allied squadrons thus managed to "pick off" the IJA planes as they came in, forcing the Japanese to pour more and more forces into the endeavour. For the Japanese, Malaya would have to wait: it had bit off more than it could chew, and the priority was now to secure Thailand, and, most importantly, secure the airfields at Singora and Don Mueang.

The British command for its part was confident. It had lost only a few irrelevant localities in Burma (most notable of which was Mergui), and Malaya had not been attacked by land forces since the Kota Bharu debacle. As such, Alexander planned to use the 11th and 17th Indian Divisions to surge from their positions at Jitra and Pattani to attack northwards towards Singora and Trang, dislodging the Japanese from their positions and retaking the airfields. Codenamed Operation Matador, this push would be executed on December 21st, 1941. Admiral Tom Phillips was thus ordered to sally with his force in order to support the troops with a vigorous shelling of Japanese positions in the area.

Phillips, who wished to redeem himself for the mistake he made a week earlier, made every preparation he could, wish a vengeance. This time, if the Japanese came to him, he would be ready. These actions set in motion the events that would lead to the first battle over the horizon in history…





[1] OTL this unit was thrown into disarray when the order to stop fighting came through. With no such order here, they stand their ground.

[2] These submarines were the HMTS Matachanu and Sinsamut.

[3] The Ki-43 wasn’t extremely superior to the P-40 but since it was used in bigger numbers, it gained that reputation. With less Ki-43 in the air against more P-40s, it gains less of a “killer” reputation than OTL and will lead to Allied pilots learning to deal with it a lot faster than OTL.

 

[Wings]

Chapter 41

Philippines Campaign

December 1941

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Despite Asiatic Fleet HQ knowing about the Pearl Harbor attack early, between confirmations and counter-confirmations, General Douglas McArthur would only be informed of the state of war between the United States and Japan at 03:40 AM on December 8th. Immediately, General Lewis H. Brereton (Far East Air Force) requested a strike against the airfields in Formosa, but was rebuffed by General Richard K. Sutherland (McArthur’s chief of staff). Once more, at 06:15 AM, Brereton begged Sutherland to attack Formosa as news of an attack on Davao airfield came, but Sutherland rejected this once again, angrily telling him to await orders.

Brereton then got two calls at 08:00 and 08:30 AM. The first from General Henry H. Arnold, in Washington, to tell him to not get caught with his pants down, and the second from his French counterpart in Tourane, who informed him that they had just been attacked by a large Japanese force. General Brereton, now sure that a threat was coming, ordered all units on full alert. He made every B-17 take-off, ready to carry out the raid, or withdraw to Mindanao. Once more, Brereton asked Sutherland for authorization for a raid, and once more, he was refused.

At 09:25 AM, when Japanese bombers attacked USAFFE headquarters at Baguio, as well as two other deserted airfields, Sutherland refused to budge. Sensing disaster, Brereton still put all units on full alert, ready to take off at a moment’s notice. In the meantime, he landed all the B-17s, and refuelled them, getting ready for them to take off in the other direction.

Finally, at 10:14 AM, McArthur authorized Brereton to conduct an air strike on Formosa, but by now it was too late. About a hundred fighters had taken off from Formosa and were zoning in on Clark Air Field, where Brereton’s force was located. At 11:30 AM, Iba Field detected the oncoming wave, prompting USAFFE to jump into action. All available fighters took to the air, including the old P-26s, while the B-17s were ordered straight to Mindanao. Having gotten the full details of the strike on Tourane, Brereton did not want to risk his planes being hit on the ground while they were being armed [1].

Brereton was right to do so. When his fighters encountered the curtain of enemy aircraft, it was to see that almost 80 A6M “Zero” were heading straight towards them. Over 40 P-40s were shot down, alongside 16 P-35s and all 12 P-26s. But the Japanese strike wasn’t clean: twenty-two “Zeros” were shot down, including one downed by a particularly brave P-26 of the Philippine Army Air Corps which was immediately destroyed afterwards [2]. As for the bomber force, it could carry out its strike on the Clarke and Iba fields unmolested, with the loss of only four G4M “Betty”. Luckily, because of Brereton’s quick thinking, most B-17s had managed to leave towards Mindanao (only four were destroyed on the ground), but the damage to Clark field was extensive, and Iba field was totally put out of action. As a result, and with a heavy heart, Brereton ordered the last fighters to evacuate to Batangas or the Visayas, stating to McArthur that it was either this or have them be destroyed in another inevitable upcoming raid.

But the Japanese were not done. Another raid struck the Cavite Peninsula, dealing heavy damage to the Naval Base and forcing Admiral Thomas C. Hart to concede that – in effect – Cavite had ceased to operate as a naval base. Luckily, only one submarine was damaged, which was a small miracle. Hart ordered the submarines currently at sea to make for Cam Ranh at the end of their patrol, an order which would soon be changed to Batavia or Singapore. The heavy units for their part would continue to operate from there up until December 22nd.

More air raids came during the following days, with the airfields being cratered one after the other, each time with the USAAF not being able to do much about it. But they were learning. Less and less pilots tried to dogfight the “Zero” with their P-40s, instead opting just for a frontal pass, denying a combat that would be doomed considering the superior maneuverability of the “Zero”. Moreover, each casualty they dealt the IJA was felt dearly by the Japanese, who still had yet to properly attack Malaya, Burma or the Dutch East Indies.

On December 10th, the Japanese finally started landing, around Aparri, in Northern Luzon. And while the U.S air forces could do little about it, it was not the case for the U.S. Navy. DesDiv 58, under Lt.Cdr. Miller, sailed in the night to try and catch the transports unaware. Their gamble paid off as the destroyers on guard did not expect the U.S Navy to be so bold, and swiftly, three transports had been sunk! Unfortunately, these transports had time to call for help: namely that of the cruiser Nagara and its escort.

In the early morning of December 11th, almost twenty-four hours before the French, the U.S were struck with the power of the Long Lances. The cruiser Marblehead was fatally hit, with the destroyers Parrott and Bulmer following it at the bottom of the ocean. Hunted down, the USS Barker was sunk later that day by an air attack. The last survivor, the destroyer Stewart, rendezvoused with the heavy cruiser Houston and the light cruiser Concord off Mindoro and made haste towards Miri, in Borneo, where the modern units of the Asiatic Fleet were concentrating before withdrawing towards Batavia. Pearl Harbor had promised reinforcements in the form of an extra Destroyer Division and a cruiser, for the moment.

The raid of DesDiv 58 did delay the Japanese landing slightly, as it contained much of the heavy equipment of the divisions, and it was not until December 12th that Japanese forces took Tuguegarao airfield, which was completely cratered by Japanese bombs, and empty of any aircraft. That same day, Japanese forces landed at Vigan and Legazpi, prompting the U.S command in the Philippines to start concentrating to defend Manila, in a set of defence lines south of Rosario and in front of the Philippine capital. McArthur also requested from the Navy in Pearl that aircraft carriers come to reinforce his depleted air squadrons, which was of course denied.

On December 20th, the Japanese landed on Mindanao, but this time, the Americans struck back with vigor! The submarines patrolling in the area claimed three transports, and then a heavily escorted formation of B-17s came to strike at the unloaded troops! Shocked, they requested air support, but it was too late: the damage had been done and the unloaded troops had been seriously hit. As a result, they could hardly do more than hold on to their territory and hope for reinforcements [3].

In fact, Mindanao wasn’t where things would be decided. Up north, another Japanese force made landfall in Lingayen Gulf, where they were once more struck by the U.S Navy! Two more transports were sunk alongside the seaplane carrier Chiyoda, struck by the USS Snapper. The British HMS Osiris would also claim the seaplane carrier Mizuho, prompting Kondo to retreat from Lingayen Gulf quite quickly! In fact, this was due to the submarine threat, but also to the fact that the landings had been completed in relatively good order, and the fact that the Army (decidedly useless) was being shelled and beaten back in Thailand! Kondo thus steamed south to meet Force “Z” in the Christmas Day battles…

McArthur hardly cared about Kondo's fleet. He only saw that a large number of Japanese forces had been landed on Luzon (the failure of the Mindanao landings notwithstanding), and had to order the evacuation of Manila on December 23rd, after a probing attack by a lightly armored American force failed to dislodge the Japanese from their landing grounds. What’s more, Hart had told him that the U.S Navy was completely evacuating Cavite, which was now the target of almost daily bombings by the IJA and IJN. Most of the heavy units had in fact already joined Batavia, safe for a few old destroyers, but this still enraged McArthur, who couldn’t do much about it regardless. On December 26th, while Tom Phillips and Régis Bérenger were fighting a battle of gargantuan proportions just south, admiral Thomas C. Hart quietly boarded a submarine and left towards Singapore, after a short stop at Palawan to let the storm pass…

McArthur, after seeing the result of the Christmas Day battles, was fuming. “God strike me down if I run away, tail between my legs, while our Allies are fighting and dying out there, like that fool Hart did!” he exclaimed to Sutherland, his chief of staff [4]. McArthur would honor that promise. But while McArthur ranted, his forces were being pushed back both in the south and the north. Brave, but poorly trained and equipped, General Wainwright’s Filipinos put up a strong fight, but one doomed to failure. Manila was swiftly declared an open city, and the retreat was sounded all the way to the Bataan peninsula, where McArthur was confident he would hold.

On December 29th, a sally by the American armored brigades at Malolos, to cover for the retreating units from South Luzon, finally gave some reason to be optimistic. The M3 light tanks entered the town and encountered enemy armored vehicles. These were Ha-Go tanks of the Japanese 16th Infantry Division, and they did not last long. Sixteen of them were knocked out or destroyed, for no losses on the American side, while the U.S-Filipino forces could safely withdraw towards San Fernando! A small success, but one that was dearly needed by the Americans. Just like the French at Quang Ngai and An Khe, or the British at Pattani, the Americans had discovered that the Japanese tanks were hardly a match for their own vehicles...

The Japanese of General Homma vowed revenge. In fact, they considered that victory was now assuredly theirs: the Americans had just boxed themselves in the Bataan Peninsula. 80,000 troops (the vast majority of which were Filipino) which were now trapped like rats. All they needed to do was clean them out, or starve them out. The Japanese were far from thinking that these “trapped rats” were about to write one of the most magnificent pages in both U.S and Filipino army history.



[1] OTL the B-17s were caught unaware on the ground, and mostly wiped out. Because Brereton gets detailed information on the number of Japanese fighters in the Tourane strike, he stops the arming of the bombs and orders the bombers to Mindanao to avoid a slaughter.

[2] With more fighters in the air, FEAF puts more of a fight but is no less decimated by weight of numbers.

[3] With the Clark raid not going as well as OTL, the B-17s can mount a solid response to the Mindanao landings which are effectively neutered.

[4] McArthur didn't use the word "fool" but a slightly more pejorative term.

 

[Wings]

Chapter 42

South-East Asian Campaign

December 21st - 31st, 1941

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On December 21st, 1941, an artillery barrage like most Japanese had never seen before struck southern Thailand. Operation Matador had just been launched.

Operation Matador was conceived as early as 1937, but had consistently been ignored until 1940 and the Franco-Japanese incident. Then, Robert Brooke-Popham envisaged a Japanese landing along the coast of Siam, in the Kra Isthmus, and envisaged a plan to attack these landing grounds before the Japanese could be ready to gain a real foothold. However, the chaos of the Thai coup and the ease in which the Japanese could land at Singora and establish a reliable air base there severely hampered the British. Commonwealth troops did make an incursion towards Pattani, but had to stop as the Kota Bharu beachhead needed to be neutralized.

Finally, as the threat of a new landing on the Malayan coast seemed low, British forces decided to renew their assault. The objective of the attacking forces, the 11th and 17th Indian Divisions, was to take back Singora and deprive the Japanese of their crucial airbase while Kluang was still awaiting reinforcements from the convoy that had recently left Britain.

The Japanese forces holding the area, in contrast to the British, were hardly prepared for such a determined assault. Their armour was shredded by the few Valentine tanks the Indians had put on the line, and they themselves could not imagine such a massive thrust in one go. Only sheer dogged resistance allowed them to hold, as well as the promise from General Yamashita that reinforcements were on the way.

Indeed, a convoy carrying the bulk of the 56th and Imperial Guards Infantry Division had left Hainan with Thailand as their destination. It would be escorted by Kondo’s fleet once it had been done with supporting the landings in the Philippines, and would reach Surat Thani and Bangkok around December 26th or 27th. It was now up to the Japanese to hold for four to five days.

However, the poor Japanese were struck by the sheer violence of the attack, and had been quite battered, being repulsed to the outskirts of Pattani after only a few hours of fighting. Soon enough, everything became a massive struggle to keep possession of Hat Yai and Singora. Worse for the Japanese, Admiral Phillips had sailed in the evening of the 21st in order to reach Singora airfield in the night of the 22nd. The brutal shelling of the airfield and the Japanese positions by the Royal Navy’s battleships cost the Imperial Japanese Army numerous men but also numerous aircraft which were so desperately needed and which kept coming by small numbers from their bases in Formosa or Hainan…

This shelling allowed the Commonwealth squadrons stationed in Malaya to be able to support the troops on the ground effectively. Sqn 36 RAF’s Hurribombers and Sqn 100 RAAF’s Wirraways, both operating out of Kluang, were particularly deadly and allowed the 11th Indian Division to seize Hat Yai on December 23rd. By then, the Japanese had formed a desperate defence line around Singora, hoping to defend the vital airfield and small port, alongside their similarly shocked Thai allies [1].

The impending disaster at Singora forced the Japanese Army to ask a maximum escort for the fleet. With Saigon not even close to falling, it was now vital that the two IJA divisions make it safely to Thailand, otherwise the entire area south of the Kra Isthmus was at a very real risk of falling. If Singora fell, the Indians could very well rush to Surat Thani, where the next large concentration of troops was located, which happened to be right on the rear of the Burmese front! A massive disaster in the works, not to mention the loss of Singora airfield as well as the newly constructed Surat Thani and Trang strips (one could hardly talk about airfield at the moment).

The Japanese air force did try to relieve the pressure however it could, notably by staging massive bombing raids in the area: Singapore, Alor Setar, Kluang and Medan were hit by Ki-21 raids from Don Mueang, which had for major effect not the destruction of allied aircraft, but the distraction of their fighters away from the front.

However, the use of bombers on this front and the Commonwealth assault meant that operations in Burma had to be halted before they really even began. Japanese forces did not go further than the northern shore of Mergui, and did not pursue the Free Thai forces past Ang Thong, the objectives had changed: to consolidate the Thai State with their local allies, and to link up with General Kita’s 6th Army in Indochina, by taking Saigon. While the situation could not yet be called worrying, it was uneasy at best. Which is why so much hopes were placed on the convoy Kondo escorted.

Kondo for his part had linked up with the convoy with his entire fleet off the Paracels, and sailed southwards. The crews were tired after almost a month of constant fighting and darting around the region, but Kondo knew that this was not the time to lose focus. The British had been deceived once and would certainly not be deceived again: there would be opposition to his fleet, and he thus intended to crush the colonialists by weight of numbers. However, if he thought that he could obtain the element of surprise, he was wrong.

In the early hours of December 22nd, off Nha Trang, the French submarine Le Tonnant detected Kondo’s fleet without being able to get into position. This report was then confirmed the next day off Poulo Condore by the HMS Otus and Severn, the latter of which was its last known message, being sunk by the convoy’s escorts a short while later.

This time, the British were determined not to get caught unaware. On December 23rd, Beauforts of Sqn 415 RCAF and Sqn 489 RNZAF spotted the fleet rounding Ca Mau Cape, and moved into attack position. Surprised and not expecting an attack, the Japanese defence found itself letting the Beauforts straight through, which executed a perfect attack on the light cruiser Natori, which quickly sunk. Most of the crews were not able to celebrate their success, as Kondo’s fighters hacked them and their escort to pieces, but it was a victory nonetheless. One that the submarine arm failed to replicate, as the convoy entered the Gulf of Thailand unmolested.

Admiral Tom Phillips, at the first sign of the fleet, raised anchor from Singapore in an attempt to intercept it. He brought with him his entire force, save for the older cruisers and destroyers, as well as the French cruiser Lamotte-Picquet, heavily damaged from the fight at Cam Ranh, and the Australian light cruisers, which he sent to escort the American force from Palawan towards Batavia. However, the admiral thought that the fleet, bearing due south, would attack Borneo or Malaya. It was not until the Beaufort attack on December 23rd that he was made aware of the move into the Gulf of Thailand.

But the Allies were not the only ones with a submarine screen. On December 24th, a Japanese submarine spotted Phillips’ force off Terengganu, while Kondo had just passed Phu Quoc. Kondo immediately reacted by turning to face this foe, not wishing to be trapped in the Gulf of Thailand, and made to intercept it as soon as possible in accordance to the doctrine of decisive battle of the IJN. The essential had been there: the convoys of the IJA had been escorted to Thailand safely…or almost [2]. All he needed to do was give them a sufficient escort for them to rally Surat Thani and Bangkok without the Allies interfering, something the IJA could very well do from its bases at Don Mueang (Singora was at that point considered too contested to be able to help with anything).

It would not be until noon on December 25th that the Japanese located Phillips’ fleet, steaming off Pattani [3]. In fact, Phillips himself would locate Kondo’s fleet, and got ready to face it. The Japanese, though, were first to the draw in launching their fighters and bombers, and it was they who struck first. A massive wave of around 40 “Val” escorted by 30 “Zero” thus made its way to the Allied fleet, somewhat hampered by the clouds. On the other side, Phillips had dispatched a slightly smaller wave of 15 Swordfish, 10 Albacore and 5 SB2U, escorted by 20 Martlet, 10 Sea Hurricanes and 5 F4F. At around 2 in the afternoon, the Japanese raiding force arrived into contact with the Allied CAP. The “Zero” completely obliterated the Allied planes, despite the best efforts of their crew, leaving the massive strike force to freely hit the Allied ships.

However, the “Val” soon found out that these ships were not as toothless as it may seem. Some of them were veterans of the fights in the Mediterranean, under almost daily attack by SM.79 or Ju-87, and as such, their anti-air power was large…and accurate. Despite this, the “Val” soon executed the poor HMS Hermes, which attracted every bomb, it seemed. In addition, the Formidable was hit badly, while the Dixmude also suffered minor hits. In their elation, the Japanese confirmed three carriers sunk, something a bit presumptuous…

Kondo had just launched the second wave when the Allied force came crashing towards him. Luckily, Kondo had put on a sizeable CAP…but one that clearly wasn’t sufficient to face the oncoming threat! The Swordfish of Sqn 810 managed to place two torpedoes on the Junyo, with only one torpedo actually exploding. The SB2U of the Dixmude were luckier, for their part, managing to score several hits on the seaplane carrier Kimikawa Maru. However, the carriers were not the only targets of the Allied raid: navigating alone, the poor battleship Yamashiro was struck by the Swordfish of Sqn 814 and the Albacores of Sqn 801. The battleship reduced speed to 5 knots: a sitting duck.

The second Japanese wave was just as brutal as the first one, but this time, the Allies had put every single available plane in the air, and received support from Malaya. The bombers had much more difficulty in adjusting their aim, but thanks to effective cover of the escorting “Zero”, they managed to score several hits. The Formidable, which had until then eaten hits as if they were mosquito bites, sank at around 6 PM. Its compatriot, the Indomitable, was luckier. Well defended by the Sea Hurricanes and the French F4F, it received only three hits, though its speed was reduced to 13 knots. As for the Dixmude…the French light carrier’s CAP of TBD was literally swept away by the “Zero”, leaving the British to work overtime to save her. Struck by four torpedoes and two bombs, it miraculously stayed afloat, but Admiral Lacroix had to send it back to Singapore immediately [4].

On the other side of the battle, the Allies took revenge. The French SB2U of the Dixmude finished off the Yamashiro, while the Albacore and Swordfish, escorted by the Fulmar and by P-40s coming from Malaya, decided to strike the aircraft carriers. The Ryujo took a beating, with four hits being recorded, but it was the Junyo which took the brunt of the Allied effort: it would sink six minutes after the Formidable.

With night falling, Phillips was overjoyed: he had sunk an enemy carrier and a battleship, for the loss of a carrier and a light carrier on his side. However, he could hardly pursue with his own aircraft. He thus sent the Indomitable and the Dixmude back to Singapore, escorted by the battleships Royal Sovereign and Rodney, as well as his destroyer escorts and the cruiser Dorsetshire. In the meantime, his unmolested ships would try to find and kill off the Japanese navy, though weary as Admiral Bérenger, who had put his flag on the Suffren, warned him of the deadly accuracy of the Long Lance torpedo.

In fact, Kondo had done much of the same. Thinking the Allied navy to be in poor shape, he sent his remaining carriers northwards under escort, and tried to finish off Phillips’ ships in night combat. In the dead of night of December 26th, the radar of the Prince of Wales finally detected the Japanese…and they were coming straight towards them!

The guns of the Royal Navy thus opened fire on the Imperial Navy, with the battlecruiser Repulse’s volley being particularly devastating. The battleship Ise would soon find itself burning from bow to stern, attracting the fire of the Malaya, Canberra and Dupleix. The Japanese battleship was the first casualty of the battle.

However, the Long Lances soon sprunt into action. A massive volley struck the Allied battle line, wreaking havoc. The Prince of Wales was struck five times, with the Cornwall being hit by two torpedoes in turn. The Repulse would be hit by one, as was the Enterprise. Tom Phillips was struck by the brutal and unexpected attack, and now his ship was in grave danger of sinking as he had attracted much of the fire of the Japanese line.

The Repulse, though, kept firing on the enemy, undeterred. Even as the Cornwall slowly sank next to her, the battlecruiser gave the Japanese another devastating volley, striking the heavy cruiser Ashigara. At this point the combat degenerated into an all-out brawl: torpedoes and shells rained down on either side, striking down ships which had stood proud just twenty-four hours earlier. The Japanese battleships focused on the stricken Prince of Wales, devastating the poor battleship, including the bridge, where Admiral Tom Phillips was either killed or incapacitated. In response, though, the French squadron led by Admiral Bérenger, led by the Suffren and Dupleix, executed a perfect torpedo run alongside the HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerk, as well as the HMS Mauritius and Emerald which left the battleship Fuso in a state similar to that of the Prince, and sent the heavy cruiser Haguro to the bottom.

After a brawl that lasted almost two hours, the two navies finally broke off. The Prince of Wales, slowly sinking, was the last vessel to go down, being finished off by a salvo from the cruiser Maya. It thus joined many other Allied ships at the bottom of the South China Sea: the battleship Malaya (too slow to dodge many Long Lance torpedoes), the cruisers Cornwall and Emerald and the destroyers Jervis, Jupiter, Paladin and Le Fier.

The Japanese did not fare much better. The battleship Ise was joined by the no less impressive Fuso, alongside the heavy cruisers Ashigara and Haguro and the destroyers Asagumo, Kagero, Shiokaze and Oshio. Though for them, like for the Allies, the journey home was far from over. Damaged during the battle, the heavy cruiser Takao was sunk by a volley from the submarine Sidi-Ferruch, while on the Allied side, the I-19 would claim the HMS Enterprise and its escort, the HMS Eskimo. Overall, not a single ship in the Allied fleet had returned without a single scratch. For some, like the battleship Resolution, or the heavy cruiser Canberra, it was even wondered if sinking the poor ship wouldn’t have been a mercy…

Nonetheless, both sides claimed victory. For the Japanese, the Christmas Day battles were a success, as Force Z now was down to a single serviceable carrier (which was still damaged), and claimed to have all but annihilated the threat coming from Singapore (partially true). However, on the other hand and despite the loss of Admiral Phillips, the British of Captain Tennant (senior officer of the fleet, on board Repulse) claimed that the Christmas Day battles had stopped any naval threat the Japanese posed in the short-term, and that “Singapore was saved”.

In truth, both of these assertions were true. The Japanese had won in the sense that they had knocked out the Allied naval forces, by forcing them into a defensive posture. The Japanese could now freely escort convoys into Thailand, without fear of Force “Z” sallying out to intercept them. However, the decisive battle that took place took a massive toll on the Japanese fleet. Two aircraft carriers had been effectively sunk, and the Ryujo needed repairs. The IJN would need, in order to satisfy the objectives of the Imperial Command, to bring their Kido Butai down to South-East Asian waters, throwing plans of invading Midway or Hawaii into jeopardy. Even the planned landings in New Britain or the Solomons now seemed to have been greatly delayed. Although the sea lanes to Thailand had been secured, the price to pay was so heavy that it was hardly worth paying…

The result for the forces on the ground were aggravating: the IJA had managed to reinforce Thailand, though it did not diminish the fighting spirit of the Indians, who continued to push towards Singora. But the great victory at sea and the promise of imminent reinforcements gave the IJA a renewed will to fight. Street by street, alley by alley, Singora had to be cleared, as the defenders had no will or spirit of retreat. On December 27th, the first elements of the Imperial Guards Division came to relieve the beleaguered defenders of Singora (the 5th Infantry Division), having managed to punch through the elements of the 11th Indian Division guarding the flank at Hat Yai.

With this new foe, Alexander was forced with a dilemma: he could continue to try and force the decision at Singora but suffer immense casualties for little strategic gain, or withdraw to a more defensible position at Hat Yai and along the Na Tap. In the end, Alexander chose the latter. He knew that with the loss of Force “Z”, the sea lanes were going to be Japanese until substantial naval reinforcements arrived. Bleeding out his force at Singora with the Japanese poised to counter-attack was not his goal: the airfield there had already been obliterated by artillery, and within range of Allied bombers. Alexander considered Operation Matador over on December 30th, ordering the troops of the 17th Indian Division to withdraw from Singora to the heights around Hat Yai. The IJA had won, but like the IJN, it was a very bitter and very expensive victory. For all intents and purposes, the 5th Infantry Division had ceased to exist as a fighting force.



[1] Though the bravery of the Thai soldiers was not to be discounted, the Japanese hardly trusted most of them, who were relegated to menial duties. When Singora seemed to be about to fall, the Thais were finally sent to the front line…where some promptly defected.

[2] Another raid by Beauforts on December 24th had claimed one transport and a submarine attack by the HNLMS K-XVIII had claimed another that same day.

[3] By a reconnaissance seaplane of the IJN Ise.

[4] The Indomitable would land the French aircraft that could not make it to Malaya.

 

[Wings]

Chapter 43

Indochina Campaign

December 21st - 31st, 1941

​

On December 21st, after the Navy claiming it had annihilated Touzet du Vigier’s detachments at Quy Nhon and An Khe, the Japanese launched their assault. Unfortunately for them, they were welcomed with a flurry of light and medium tanks, ambushed along the roads.

General Kita raged: the Japanese general had been promised that the armoured force had been annihilated and thus expected a swift and easy victory. After a series of curses against the Navy, he decided to stop his attempt to cross the Ha Thanh River at An Khe, too heavily defended and with hills and forests that did not allow the air force to accurately support him. Instead, he focused his efforts on the bypassing of Quy Nhon through the Bac Tang gap.

Here, a fierce fight took place, pitting Frenchmen against determined Japanese. These ones, with their tanks desperately vulnerable, instead charged madly at the French armour, carrying demolition charges and often blowing themselves up with them in order to knock out the behemoths in front of them. These suicidal charges hit French morale, and also knocked out several tanks, forcing Touzet du Vigier to reconsider his options.

The Frenchman, under pressure from the Japanese fighters and bombers which had now almost free reign over the area, finally decided to withdraw his forces southwards during the night. The aim was still to block the road to Saigon, but he would do so at Ninh Hoa, right in front of the now abandoned Cam Ranh naval base. The French General also took great care to delay Japanese forces all along the coastal road leading to Nha Trang through Tuy Hoa, helped by many local militias who had spontaneously volunteered, and who Touzet du Vigier was only too happy to arm despite some of his subordinates’ reserves. At Ninh Hoa, Touzet du Vigier would also receive the reinforcement of the 1st Annamite Battalion, formed with local troops and who had been raised following the invasion, with accelerated training.

It must be said that Touzet du Vigier could hardly count on the forces present in Cambodia, who reported that the Japanese had crossed the border in small numbers at Poipet, on the road to Sisophon. Clashes were limited for the moment, but the Japanese were gaining stronger air support, operating from Don Mueang. In fact, the Japanese had mastery of the skies everywhere but in Northern Vietnam, where the P-40 of the AVG and the AdA continued to be massive thorns in the side of the Japanese, who still hadn’t breached Lang Son. To the south of Vinh, however, the situation in the air looked gloomy for the French: in all, they could count on 30 fighters and 20 bombers, spread out over the airfields of Tan-Son-Nhut, Phnom Penh and Pakse (in Laos).

It was in this border city, turned into a fortress, that the Japanese tried once more. First, they tried to bypass the city to the south, but this attempted was repulsed by the French. Instead, they once again assaulted the city head-on, hoping that determination would win the day, but in vain. The French colonial troops assisted by Foreign Legion units held their positions, though the situation became more and more untenable. Bac Can was similarly attacked by the Japanese, but these once had been delayed through the jungle by militia, traps and the P-40 of the AVG, which made any assault doomed to failure.

On December 24th, thinking that the French would have their minds on Christmas, the Japanese tried again, but were similarly repulsed, with (and it is rare to note), heavy air support by the Martin Maryland (“Bourgogne”) of the French Air Force. However, things had started to turn sour to the east, at the Lang Son fortress. On the coast, Japanese forces were taking a serious toll on the defenders of Tien Lang, which commanded the road leading to the rear of Lang Son. Similarly, the mountain troops stationed on the border at Yen Khoai were showing signs of fatigue, and by December 26th, Catroux had no choice but to order the evacuation of the Lang Son fortress. The next day, French forces retreated to Quang Lang and Ha Long, last “stops” before Hanoi and Haiphong.

To the south, Japanese forces stumbled once again on the stopper placed at Ninh Hoa. The coastal city saw the engagement of the French armour with resounding success once again, with Japanese infiltration attempts being mercilessly countered by the Vietnamese infantrymen of the 1st Annamite. It must be said that these men were particularly shocked with the brutality of the Japanese, especially at Hue, which the French propaganda did not fail to show in all of its gruesome detail. The Franco-Vietnamese forces would manage to make more time for Saigon to prepare, with full mobilization having been declared. The Japanese managed to dislodge the French from Ninh Hoa with the support of their air force, but they were immediately stopped in the city outskirts, between the hills, by strong detachments of the Indochinese Armoured Battalion. Lacking anti-tank weaponry and with worsening weather, the Japanese were forced to order a much-needed break on December 28th, but Kita was adamant: the offensive would continue! The planned date for the assault would be January 6th.

On the other side, Touzet du Vigier was worried. He hardly had many armoured vehicles left, between the fanatical charges, the mines, the weather and the air raids…and he needed to defend Saigon! Leaving the 1st Annamite and elements of the 2nd Indochina Division, the remaining M2s, M3s and S-50s (about 35 tanks in all) were withdrawn towards Phan Thiet for rest before the inevitable battle of Saigon, which the infantrymen were desperately trying to push back.

To the north, Bac Can finally broke. On December 27th, a determined assault by the Japanese forced the French to withdraw towards Thai Nguyen, which commanded the access to Hanoi. Catroux, who had now evacuated his HQ from Hanoi to Hoa Binh, on the Black River, committed his last reserve: the 14th RTA of the 191st Infantry. The 12th RTA had for its part withdrawn to Vinh, with the exception of one battalion sent southwards to bolster the defences of Pleiku. The Japanese, on the other hand, thinking that the French had finally routed, were surprised to see that they had once more regrouped and concentrated on new defensive positions. An assault on Thai Nguyen was broken on December 28th, and the defenders of the coastal town of Cam Pha held off an assault of similar magnitude the next day. The Japanese were once again stuck, and extremely frustrated: something that the civilian populations of Hanoi and Haiphong would pay dearly later on. In the meantime, just like their comrades in Annam, the Japanese had to stop to rest and await the next assault. Here, the Air Force would be particularly solicited to get rid of the pesky enemy aircraft that dotted the sky and made any Japanese progression impossible.

On the “western” front, the arrival of reinforcements by sea greatly helped Japanese progression. Until December 27th, they had only succeeded in taking Sisophon and had yet to even lay siege to Battambang. But with the Imperial Japanese HQ desperately needing to link up their forces in Thailand with those in Indochina via Saigon, the road to Siem Reap was thus particularly reinforced. And the Japanese weren’t alone! The Thais of the 1st Infantry Division (at this point it wasn’t really a division, but the equivalent of a reinforced battalion) were right on their tails, eager to prove their worth in battle…and their determined resolve to attach the western Cambodian provinces to Thailand! Exposed, on the worst of terrain, with no aerial support and limited armour, French forces of the 3rd Indochina Division were forced to evacuate Siem Reap. The fall of the Cambodian city meant that Battambang could likewise no longer be held: the French defence would need to be fixed on Pouthisat and Kampong Thom, on the eastern side of the Tonle Sap.

Slowly, but surely, Indochina was being choked out, and the fight in Indochina suddenly seemed as hopeless as the one the Americans were fighting in the Philippines…

 

[Wings]

Chapter 44

Eastern Front (Leningrad-Lake Ilmen area)

January - April 1942

​

The arrival of winter signalled a pause in the Wehrmacht’s offensive operations, but it certainly did not stop the Soviet desire to counter-attack. Chief of all was the situation to the north, with Leningrad now fully under siege, and Rommel having started to nibble at the perimeter of the city, taking key artillery positions and crossing, while the Finns slowly did the same to the north.

For the Soviets, an attempt needed to be made to make contact with Leningrad, or at the very least Lake Ladoga and to establish an overland route. Ever since the fall of Kobana and Chernoye, this vital link had been cleanly severed, and German positions along Lake Ladoga and the Volkhov river had been significantly strengthened. This also meant that a consequential number of civilians that General Khozin had planned on evacuating through the Lake stayed trapped in Leningrad, putting a large strain on the already finite resources of the Soviet Leningrad Front [1]. As such, the Stavka put a particular attention on a counter-offensive in the area.

Kirill Meretskov’s Volkhov front would have the task of striking towards the Germans. Using four armies, it would strike at two locations: first towards Kolchanovo in order to reach Lake Ladoga, and secondly towards Volkhov itself and bridge the river. The two forces would then move in a gigantic pincer to cut off German forces in a large pocket at Kiselnya and march towards Kobona, reinstating the “Road of Life”. This offensive would coincide with Pavel Kurochkin’s Northwestern Front’s offensive towards Lake Ilmen in the similar hope of encircling and destroying a large number of German troops at Demyansk while pushing the Germans back across the Lovat River.

Arguably, it was Kurochkin’s offensive which was met with the most success. On January 9th, an artillery barrage of gigantic proportions struck the German positions. These ones were at the end of a very long logistical line, and were outnumbered and outgunned. Despite this, however, they held their ground until a strong effort by Vlasov’s 2nd Shock Army burst through the lines of the 81st Infantry Division, managing to cavalcade all the way to Staraya Russa before being stopped. This did allow the 11th Army to exploit the gap left by the defeated German division and stream southwards.

The Germans were faced with a double threat: the fall of Staraya Russa and the possible encirclement of their most advanced units around Demyansk, which had come under attack by Eremenko’s 4th Shock Army on the southern flank. The Germans, unprepared to face such a counter-attack, were soon overrun and the possibility of an encirclement loomed. Von Leeb, seeing that Staraya Russa, an essential logistics hub for the Heer, had been held thanks to the intervention of many Police battalions sent from the rear, realized this threat quite quickly. He asked for II Corps, the congregation of units defending the area, to withdraw immediately, even going over Hitler’s head to do so! The Guide had been against this idea, saying that holding it was an “unconditional necessity”. Von Leeb’s order was countermanded, which led to his resignation and replacement by Von Kuchler.

On January 17th, 1942, II Corps had managed to hold, though it held only by a literal thread. Soviet troops had also managed to reach Maryovo, but were stopped at Kholm, in front of waning ammunition and lack of armoured support, which was supposed to be diverted to Leningrad. With this in mind, the pace of operations slowed, with the Soviets unable to exploit the initiative they had gained.

In February, the Soviets sought to finally close the trap on the Germans, with the injection of the 1st and 2nd Guards Corps. These two formations advanced southwards from their positions, quickly reaching Maryovo to the south, and completing the encirclement of no less than 95,000 Germans, which had hardly fought to break through. By February 20th, the encirclement was deemed “secure”. Despite this, the Soviet fighting potential was at its end, and the trapped German divisions could not be annihilated.

The Germans, in order to sustain the pocket, ordered an air bridge to be established. Having lost many transport planes during the failed assault on Limnos last Autumn, Hitler had to cancel plans of an airborne raid on Malta in the Spring in order to keep II Corps alive. This air bridge would be remarkably executed, with 270 tons of supplies being dropped each day by Alfred Keller’s Luftflotte 1. This allowed II Corps to stay in fighting shape until relief came, in the Spring.

Von Seydlitz-Kurbach’s forces attacked on April 11th, and had managed to make contact with the trapped men barely a week later. It came at a high cost in men, but mostly in planes, with more than 250 aircraft lost in this operation alone. But the Luftwaffe had saved more than 95,000 men from death or captivity. However, these men, by the end of the Demyansk siege, were hardly fit for service, and would need to be sent to the rear for a long rest period.

To the north, Meretskov’s offensive faltered. Despite having many resources allocated to it, the plan envisioned by the Stavka of an offensive on several axes was just too ambitious. Things started well as the 4th and 52nd Armies struck German forward positions at Vyachkovo, quickly reaching the Volkhov. However, the 59th Army failed to break resistance at Khvalovskoye, and for good reason! These were the grizzled veterans of the Azul Division. The Spaniards managed to contain the Soviet advance for three days before falling back towards Morozovo and the Sias river, where they were relieved by elements of the 126th Division. Their defence had allowed Von Leeb to redeploy several elements along Lake Ladoga to strengthen the crucial road along the Sias, which could break the link with the Finnish troops.

Volkhov was also the theatre of heavy fighting. With the river being reached, bridging it proved to be an incredible task, as the 3rd Shock Army came to assist the 4th Army, with the 52nd being tasked with pushing north and assisting the 59th. The addition of Purkaev’s men proved to be decisive, and despite staggering casualties, a small bridgehead was achieved in the ruined city. It then managed to expand that bridgehead towards Borgino, but failed in coming even close to the Leningrad-Olonets Road. It must be said that Ivan Galanin’s 59th Army hardly fared better. At the cost of massive casualties, it broke through at Morozovo, but once again failed in front of German-Spaniard resistance at Kolchanovo.

However, because of Leningrad’s primordial importance, the 59th Army was better supplied than its counterparts south of Lake Ilmen. Galanin ordered one final push at the end of January to break through towards Lake Ladoga, and finally shattered the Axis lines, managing to drive a wedge all the way to the Volkhov. Soviet forces had Lake Ladoga in sight, but were brutally stopped. Galanin’s attempts to the north were stopped at Ryzhkovo, just five kilometres away from Lake Ladoga. In the meantime, Purkaev had managed to extend his bridgehead 4 kilometres inland, but no more. Disorder had spread to his troops, which often had to be rallied by NKVD elements. Furthermore, all armies lacked armoured vehicles, and the ambitious offensive had been spread too thin, forcing Meretskov to order a pause. This pause would extend throughout February, with the Soviets unable to force their way towards the shores of Lake Ladoga. Meretskov would later write that if he had had committed to the push at Volkhov and received more armoured vehicles, notably through lend-lease, he could have cut the road to Olomets and reached Kobona [2].

Similarly, during the Spring, the Germans counter-attacked. The 59th Army was pushed back from its positions, but managed to keep control of Kolchanovo. German forces also attacked from Staraya Ladoga towards Volkhov, in the hopes of encircling Purkaev’s 3rd Shock Army. Thankfully, with Purkaev not managing to exploit his breakthrough quite far, he was able to withdraw across the Volkhov on April 26th without too much damage [3].

All in all, the northern Soviet counter-offensives had been met with mixed results. On the one hand, it proved that with sufficient means allocated, they could defeat large German formations. This led to the Soviets becoming more eager towards Lend-Lease equipment, which would be a great step forward towards the Finno-Soviet accords of November 1942, along with other events. On the other hand, it also proved that the Soviet war machine was not quite ready for operations of that scale just yet, and that it was still vulnerable to critical counter-attacks, which the Soviets would be painfully made aware of just a few weeks later.





[1] As far as I gathered, almost 1.5 million civilians were evacuated using the “Road of Life”. With it being cut early, a large proportion of it would remain trapped.

[2] An analogue to OTL Khozin thinking he could’ve reached Lyuban if he had more firepower.

[3] Because Purkaev’s offensive failed, he does not get the fate of Vlasov, who was encircled and captured as his 2nd Shock was isolated and destroyed, too far in enemy territory.

 

[Wings]

Chapter 45

Eastern Front (Central Russian area)

January - April 1942

​

With the successful counter-offensive around Moscow, the Stavka had high spirits during the planning stages of the future winter counter-offensive. It was hoped that this one would catch the Germans off-guard and completely destroy them, thus driving them out of the Soviet Union. This was undoubtedly optimistic, but the Front commanders themselves hoped that they would at least be able to kick out the Germans from the Russian SSR. One city especially had been circled in bright red on their maps: Smolensk. The city, which had been retaken by the Germans in Autumn, was one of the major targets of this Winter offensive.

When Soviet forces struck all across the front, it came as a massive shock for the Germans. To them, the Soviet army was dying, and once the logistical problems had been resolved, they would just be able to walk into Moscow like one walked into the park on Saturday afternoons. No less than fifteen Soviet armies had been committed to an attack which ranged from Lake Ilmen to the north to Orel towards the south. Ivan Konev, who commanded most of the forces in the Russian sector of the front, had one key objective: Smolensk. Stalin had wanted the city, and he would give it to him!

Konev, for this purpose, used his major asset: armoured formations which struck in two large pincers at Safonovo and Yelnya, mirroring earlier engagements by the Germans. Hitler ordered the forces present in the area to hold at all costs, and engaged Walter Model’s 4th Panzer Army to defend Smolensk. Model managed to break out 5,000 German troops which had remained trapped in Safonovo for two days, shocked at the speed and firepower of the Soviets. In the meantime, Konev also struck southwards, towards Bryansk and Orel, threatening to cut the crucial road linking the two cities. Partisan activity and logistical issues hindered the German efforts to plug in the gaps of this offensive, leading to the Soviets advancing almost 50km in certain areas of the front from January 10th to 15th.

On the road to Smolensk, things were heating up for Model. Konev had attacked on the evening of the 16th with his trump card: a battalion of KV-1 tanks which proved particularly deadly. Safonovo had to be abandoned under rising Soviet pressure, with the 4th Panzer Army left to scramble to defend Smolensk. However, with limited Luftwaffe activity due to horrific meteorological conditions, German limited counter-attacks had no effect and the Soviet troops seemed unstoppable. Worse, the 29th and 39th Soviet Armies had managed to outflank the Germans from the north, and were now at the gates of Smolensk. Fearing an encirclement, Model begged Berlin to disengage or risk being encircled in turn.

At OKH, in Berlin, one saw that the situation was quickly turning sour. With the prospect of two large pockets forming (the first one being the Demyansk pocket, covered previously), Hitler consented for Model to withdraw towards the outskirts of the city, but to prepare a counter-offensive as soon as possible.

By the beginning of February, Model’s troops had extricated themselves from the city and the potential pocket, reforming on the Katyn-Talashkino line. The Fourth Battle of Smolensk had just ended in a Soviet victory! Konev could be happy, as his other forces were not doing so well.

Despite good efforts from the 1st Shock Army, along with the 22nd, 43rd and 50th Armies, the German 2nd Army had managed to hold the line around Orel and Bryansk. In Orel, urban fighting was especially violent, with the Soviet 43rd Army suffering the brunt of the casualties. This unit continued fighting despite the losses, and soon began to draw a wedge in the German device. However, since most of the effort was drawn towards Smolensk, this Army did not receive the hoped-for reinforcements.

Instead, on February 10th, the Germans counter-attacked, forming two large pincers aiming for Bolshoy and Zolotaryovo, before closing in on the Orel-Tula Road. Caught off guard, the Soviet advance faltered and chaos broke. It did not help that the leader of the 43rd Army, Konstantin Golubev, had been killed in an artillery strike in the first hours of the fighting. With the formation in disarray, Guderian’s 2nd Army encircled and destroyed the formation in Orel.

Despite this setback, Soviet forces continued to pressure the Bryansk-Orel Road, attempting to destroy German logistics in the area. A spearhead of the 33rd Army had managed to cut the Roslavl-Bryansk Road around Dubrovka, but were soon stopped by the timely arrival of the 3rd Panzer Army. This one managed to rescue the isolated German units at Star and Ivot, and pushed the Soviets back towards Jizdra by the beginning of March, after a month of gruelling combat in extremely poor conditions.

Northwards, Model also struck.

On February 18th, his forces attacked the road to Yelnya, before moving northwards towards Glinka. Similarly, another effort was made to the north-east from Demidov towards Zimets, with the objective of repeating the encirclement of the Third Battle of Smolensk.

Konev immediately saw the danger, but his forces, worn-out by the fighting and with little armoured reserves, did not have a chance to hold on. He instead asked the Stavka to retreat towards Yartsevo and Yelnya, holding a much smaller front on better-prepared positions. But Stalin refused the mere idea. Smolensk was a hero city, and it was unthinkable to even think that it could be given back to the Nazis…again!

Thus, the three armies in Smolensk (the 29th, 39th and the recently-arrived 10th) were ordered to fight until they were relieved. Logically, this did not happen. Model’s forces punched through the hastily-drawn Soviet defences and closed the pocket on February 22nd. The Soviet command, however, saw that his northern flank around Kamenka was desperately vulnerable. Konev was thus asked to attack Kardymovo with the forces he had at his disposal (including the 1st Shock, withdrawn from Bryansk), while an airborne assault to the north and the attack of the trapped forces to the west would allow to trap the German forces at Kamenka and relieve the defenders of the city.

In fact, the division holding Kamenka was the SS Das Reich division. No one would exactly be saddened by their annihilation! And it must be said that initial efforts were good! On February 24th, the 1st Shock Army slammed into the flank of the 4th Panzer Army, right on the 197th Infantry Division. During three days, the division fought back-to-back, with help from the SS, and came close to the breaking point, if not for the timely intervention of the 206th Infantry. To the north, the airborne assault of IV Airborne Corps was however a massive failure. Dropped at random, often with little knowledge of the terrain or without clear objectives, the paratroopers were cut down by the infantrymen of the 129th Division. But it was a close thing! On February 28th, the Airborne Corps had been within 6km of linking up with the 1st Shock and 11km of the defenders of Smolensk. But it was just out of their reach.

A counter-attack by the Das Reich on March 1st forced the 1st Shock to withdraw or risk being encircled itself. The paratroopers for their part completely spread into the countryside, either regaining their lines in small groups, or joining the partisans, when they were not captured.

For the defenders of Smolensk, it was essentially a death sentence. With the road to Kamenka secured, nothing stopped Model from hammering at the three trapped Armies without any contest. On March 19th, after a fierce and determined resistance, the Fifth Battle of Smolensk had ended with a bloody but uncontested German victory.

Overall, the Soviet counter-offensives in Russia yielded mixed results. On the one hand, it was clear that the Soviets had recaptured much of the lost territory from 1941: in some cases, almost 60 to 70km of it were reconquered! The German high command had been shell-shocked, and the Soviets proved that they could mount broad-front offensives with some degree of success. Furthermore, the offensive cost the Germans a great deal of manpower, and the weather would soon come to add even more on top of it, with at least twice as many Germans succumbing to disease as they did to war-related causes.

However, with a relatively unbroken front, the German defence was solid [1]. Despite initial setbacks, the Heer proved that it was still a force to be reckoned with, and for now, the Soviets did not have the amount of materiel to be able to decisively strike at the Germans. The loss of three armies in a doomed attempt to keep a city which was now only a large field of ruins was also to blame. On that, Hitler and Stalin were quite similar, in their refusal to admit defeat and their insistence for troops to stand their ground.

The Soviets did have some reasons to be happy. The KV-1 did give a lot of satisfaction, earning it the nickname “the devil of Smolensk” by many German infantrymen. Furthermore, their offensive plan was not bad, it was just done under horrific weather conditions which hampered their advance, and their armoured formations, which could have been more decisive if given the chance, were lacking in numbers and experience. The overall lack of experience amidst the staffs also was a sticking point, but one which would change as the war progressed.

Finally, the Germans had been pushed back to the Yartsevo-Yelnya-Lyubokhna-Ivanovskoe line, on the edge of cities like Bryansk, Orel and Roslavl. The situation was now clear to everyone except the most fanatical Germans: the Heer would never approach Moscow again.



[1] With better logistics lines, notably due to not having to deal with countless salients like Rzhev or Kaluga, the Germans don’t concede massive swathes of territory like OTL but that doesn't mean that they don't get their shit kicked in.

 

[Wings]

Chapter 46

Eastern Front (Ukraine area)

January - May 8th, 1942

​

As most of the Soviet winter counter-offensives were met with vastly limited success, one notable exception to this rule was the southern strike aimed at the Dniepr. Here, the Soviets struck with such force and determination that it inflicted Nazi Germany’s first “real” defeat of the war in the East.

Here, Soviet reconnaissance had noticed that the enemy positions were poorly set up, and that the reserves were composed of the Hungarian I Corps, which, for the Soviets, were at best second rate units. The objective was thus for the Southwestern Front of Kostenko and the Southern Front of Malinovsky to attack across the Donets, break through the German lines, run through the Hungarians, reach Krasnograd and rush both northwards to envelop Kharkov and southwards the Sea of Azov, destroying the German army on the sea, perhaps even isolating Crimea in the process [1].

As usual, while the initial plan was sound, the Soviet high command severely overestimated their offensive capacities and those of the enemy.

Yet, on January 18th, it was a true deluge of fire that struck German positions on the Donets River. At Izyum, especially, the German infantrymen suffered greatly under the shells. These were the men of the 17th Army, under General Hoth, who knew something was coming, but were not ready for this amount of destruction being wrought onto them. Quickly, the Soviets broke through in several places, and almost 48 hours into the offensive, had pierced almost 30km into enemy territory. Soviet armoured brigades reached Barvinkove, threatening German units stationed in Slavyansk.

General Von Kleist, commanding the 1st Panzer Army, saw the danger immediately, and committed his reserves to plug in the gap that was forming, while asking to evacuate Slavyansk. This was denied by Hitler, of course, who told him to stand his ground. The problem was that the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk salient was now in great danger of being closed as Soviet units streamed in. Likewise, Friedrich Paulus, commander of the 6th Army, had to commit his own reserves to protect his flank at Kharkov, with Soviet forces having advanced on to Pervomayskye, and were making a mad dash to Krasnograd, held by the I Hungarian Corps.

On January 23rd, Malinovsky, seeing that his counter-offensive was working, committed two cavalry corps into the breach, and managed to cut off Slavyansk. There, the infantrymen of the 257th Infantry Division found themselves surrounded, forcing Von Kleist to send the 14th Panzer Division, just recovered from the Balkan Front, to help relieve the beleaguered defenders. Von Kleist was annoyed to have to send this unit which he wished to save for the push along the Sea of Azov, but he had no choice. On January 28th, he formed a counter-attack in a break of good weather, taking advantage of the Luftwaffe’s support to maintain a land corridor to Slavyansk. Hitler, facing several pockets in several places, and under the severity of this particular offensive, agreed to withdraw the 257th to Alexandrovka, in order to maintain the link with Pokrovsk to the south [2].

However, while Malinovsky could trumpet his triumphs to the south, things had started going awry. He had managed to break through all the way to the gates of Krasnograd, but, as he waited to turn to the north and south from the city, he was met with fierce resistance. The Wehrmacht had committed what it truly did not wish to commit: the I Hungarian Corps of General Gusztav Jany…and the Slovak Volunteer Corps of Ferdinand Catlos! These two units, although regarded by both the Germans and Soviets as second-rate, kept Malinovsky in check for four days at Krasnograd.

General Jany even committed his 1st Armoured Division, made of Panzer IIIs and old Toldi tanks, to flank Malinovsky’s forces at Palatky. The German-made tanks made the commanders think that a massive counter-offensive was on the horizon, with the reinforcement of Paulus’ reserves adding to the credence. In fact, Jany could not advance very far with his makeshift force, but the mere sight of these tanks had its little effect! To the south, the Slovaks of the 1st Slovakian Infantry Division also fought to hold the flank at Popivka. These men, under the leadership of Augustin Malar, had no love for the Hungarians, but wished to prove their worth to the Germans. Setting up a collection line for the routed infantrymen of the 298th Infantry Division, they then made several localized counter-attacks which hampered the Soviet progress, forcing the Stavka to commit the 9th Army.

However, the Hungarians and Slovaks had made enough time for the cavalry to arrive. To the north, Paulus committed the 57th Infantry Division to stabilize the line, while Von Kleist sent elements of the 25th Motorized Division reinforced by a Panzer Abeitlung to stop a breakthrough southward towards Dnepro or Pavlograd. By February 18th, the offensive had stalled, forcing Malinovsky to halt offensive operations and go on the defensive.

Although the offensive failed to meet its targets of destroying three entire German armies, it did succeed in retaking the most territory, creating a massive salient in the Ukraine, which could be used as a springboard to attack towards the Dniepr in the Summer. Likewise, the Germans had spent many resources into the cauldron, forcing them to delay a “Model-style” counter-offensive until the Spring had settled in. The I Hungarian Corps and the Slovak Corps would for their part be commended in their actions by the Fuhrer, who appreciated the fighting spirit of these “Uralic Aryans” [3]. The Slovak Corps, which had taken large casualties, was however withdrawn from the front.

And it was not all terrible news for the Germans. On April 9th, Von Manstein renewed his assault against Sevastopol, using the positions across the Belbek that the Romanians had managed to conquer the past autumn. In the meantime, the Soviets had been able to sour the General's mood by landing on the Kerch Peninsula. However, these landings, made largely at random and one by one, were easily countered by the Germans, and did not live very long. By March, most of these small landings had been destroyed, and only some scattered resistance remained by the start of April [4].

On April 9th, the German shelling of Sevastopol was immense, and, combined with an intense air campaign to reduce Sevastopol to rubble, almost flattened the city. Facing large minefields and lines of bunkers, the advance was slow and methodical, but effective.

With the return of partially good weather, the Luftwaffe continued its deadly effectiveness, sinking warships, tankers and transports alike in the port of Sevastopol. On April 12th, the cruiser Molotov was sunk by a raid of Ju-87 and Ju-88, adding to the four destroyers already sunk previously.

On April 16th, the German-Romanian forces had managed to clear most of the northern sector and painfully reached Inkerman. One by one, the coastal batteries fell, at a staggering cost every time. It would not be until April 23rd that the whole northern portion of Sevastopol Bay would be cleared, with the last Soviet defences either surrendering or attempting a mad dash across the bay. The Romanians for their part had taken less casualties than the Germans, and managed to take the railway station across from the Chernya river, tightening the noose around the remaining Soviet forces in Sevastopol.

In order to breach the defences, the Luftwaffe launched its most devastating raid yet. In a scene of nightmares, what remained of the buildings left standing in Sevastopol was flattened, with such destruction only comparable to the methodical cleansing of Leningrad, a few months later [5]. During the bombings, General Ivan Petrov was killed, with Admiral Oktyabrsky being wounded, but managing to escape by air.

On May 1st, a general assault was launched by both Romanian troops in the south and Manstein’s troops to the east, closing in on the ruins of Sevastopol. It did not take long for the defences to be breached, and on May 8th, Major-General Novikov presented his surrender. Out of the 60,000 men captured by the Germans, a third were wounded, while 20,000 had previously been evacuated to Krasnodar, where they prepared the defence of the area against an inevitable German landing.

Sevastopol had fallen, but the casualties were staggering. While the city itself was a field of ruins, its ports installations sabotaged with the hulks of ships littering the harbor, the Axis had not gone out of it unharmed. In their haste to precipitate the fall of the city, Manstein’s forces suffered about 50,000 casualties, with the Romanians suffering about 15,000. The result was damning: the 11th Army would not be able to participate in Case Blue [6].



[1] Yes, they did think they could do that in OTL.

[2] So the offensive goes better for the Soviets here due to the slightly exhausted state of the German Army and the lack of major Panzer reserves, even moreso than OTL. This will be a problem when we get to Case Blue.

[3] OTL up until 1943 the "Aryan" status of the Hungarians was still really up in the air according to German "race theorists", though as usual they would bend their own rules to fit the narrative of the war. Though it did not apply to all Nazis: Hermann Goring himself had a whacky plan to get crowned King of Hungary and even "Magyarized" his family tree...

[4] Because the Sevastopol pocket is smaller than OTL, Manstein can better counter the landings on the Kerch peninsula than OTL.

[5] Oh boy, Leningrad, I am not looking forward to writing your chapter...

[6] Because of the size of the Sevastopol pocket and pressure mounting on his shoulders, Manstein is more aggressive than OTL and suffers a lot more as a result. The 11th Army is still knocked out of Case Blue (though it's not like logistics would've allowed it to fight anyway) and can only join as a reinforcement later. It also means the Soviets keep a lot more forces they'd have otherwise left in the Siege.

---

Map of the Eastern Front as of May 8th, 1942

Spoiler

 

[Wings]

Chapter 47

Indochinese Front

January-April 1942

​

A relative calm had settled over Indochina in the early days of January, with the Empire of Japan licking their wounds before going back on the offensive. Only the push towards Phnom Penh continued, with the Thais now helping the Japanese try to break the locks on the Tonle Sap.

Easier said than done, especially since air support had to be split between several fronts, and Malaya seemed to be hoarding resources more than any other. So much, in fact, that the remaining aircraft in southern Indochina managed to hold their own for some time, trading evenly with Japanese fighters until January 4th and a large IJAAF raid against Phnom Penh, which did not have much to envy to the Rotterdam raid of 1940.

With renewed air support on this front, the area became untenable for the French forces. Kompong Chnang fell on the 5th, and Kompong Thom shared the same fate two days later. The last locks towards the city of Phnom Penh had been blown open. King Sisowath Monivong had already left the city for the relative safety of Paksé, from where he would later join the Luang Prabang redoubt in company of his fellow monarch, the King of Luang Prabang (and future King of Laos) Sisavangvong.

On January 6th, a general assault was given for all Japanese forces in Indochina, though once again, the famous “colonialists on the verge of surrender”, were clearly far from it. The assault on Thai Nguyen was repulsed with heavy losses on both sides, while the assault on Phnom Penh was similarly stopped short of the city. Only the southern front showed some progress, as the Ninh Hoa lock burst open with little resistance.

It must be said that all French forces in southern Indochina had been sent towards the defence of Saigon, where the general mobilization had already raised two makeshift infantry regiments. Catroux did not expect to hold the area much longer, and had prepared contingencies to evacuate the administration to Luang Prabang or Dien-Bien-Phu. The soldiers would hold as long as possible before disengaging in turn towards the redoubt.

Catroux himself left on January 8th, after the Japanese led another massive assault on Thai Nguyen, finally breaking the defenders. With the road to Hanoi wide open, Catroux did not insist and left for the Highlands.

However, this did not mean that the French resistance collapsed. With the reinforcement of elements of the 12th RTS, Kita’s forces were delayed at Ba Hang and Tu Son, with the Hanoi-Haiphong Road only being cut on January 11th. With this link broken, Hanoi was now left almost toothless. Despite the brave resistance of the Vietnamese volunteers, Legionnaires and Tunisian Spahis, Catroux ordered to evacuate the city on January 17th, declaring it an open city in the hopes that the occupier would spare it, like the Germans had done with Paris. He was wrong.

On January 19th, Japanese troops entered Haiphong. Seeing that the French had completely laid waste to the port, they passed their nerves on the population instead. The Vietnamese port city was subjected to a brutal sack, with no mercy being given by the soldiers of the Rising Sun, who killed, raped and pillaged their way through the town. Though this was nothing compared to the fate of Hanoi.

The ”rape of Hanoi” as it became known, was the equivalent of the “rape of Nanking” for the Vietnamese. After about a month of continued fighting, Japanese troops entered Hanoi exhausted and angry on January 23rd. Immediately, the Japanese went straight for the French High Command building…which had been completely evacuated and totally empty. Expecting to have been able to force Catroux to sign the surrender of all French forces in Indochina, the Japanese were furious. In an act of rage, the soldiers killed everything that came within their reach: men, women, children, babies, animals…nothing escaped their wrath. For four days, Hanoi would burn, as mass executions and rapes followed one another, each more horrific than the other. It is estimated that about 30,000 civilians were slaughtered, though the number could be higher, as Japanese exactions continued throughout the occupation [1].

In Cambodia, the siege of Phnom Penh did not go well at all for the Japanese. Assaults on January 8th and 11th failed miserably, with the French managing to counter-attack on one of the bridgeheads on the Mekong, annihilating it entirely. However, with continued pressure and a determined attack by the Thai 1st Infantry Division (which was sent in as cannon fodder by the Japanese), the defence system broke on January 13th, forcing the French forces to abandon Phnom Penh. King Sisowath Monivong, then Prince Norodom Sihanouk, from Luang Prabang, would call for the population to resist the occupier and wait for the eventual liberation of Cambodia [2]. It must be said that with the Cambodian capital being put to the torch, and masses of civilians being happily strafed by Japanese aircraft, the local population would only be too happy to oblige.

The entire goal of the French strategy was now fixed on two points: to defend Saigon and cover the withdrawal of troops to the Highlands. The key withdrawal points of Pleiku, Buon Ma Thuot, Pakse and Song La were reinforced with Mountaineer brigades and Legionnaires, while the remaining troops would just delay the Japanese. The Vietnamese, furious after the rape of Hanoi and Haiphong, were eager to take up arms, whatever their prior political motivations.

Having encountered little resistance along the coast, the Japanese expected to not have to face much more resistance towards the south. However, they got a rude awakening when they came back into contact with Touzet du Vigier’s armoured vehicles protecting the bridges over the Soai Rap River. On January 26th, the Japanese were ambushed, with the forward elements completely annihilated, around Long Khanh [3]. Supported by the Vietnamese, but also the Chinese, who knew what would happen to them if captured, the French held on doggedly, forcing the Japanese to stop.

This was only a small delay, as the Japanese also struck from the Cambodian border, heading for Tay Ninh, but here too progress was slow, thanks to the armoured elements of General Touzet du Vigier. The Siege of Saigon would be a brutal affair for the Imperial Japanese forces. Even with air superiority, the stubborn resistance of the French, combined with a population that fought tooth and nail against the Japanese, made so that the advance was extremely slow.

It would take until February 16th to see Saigon finally fall into the hands of the Japanese. In the meantime, Emperor Bao Dai had managed to rally Dien-Bien-Phu, in the company of General Touzet du Vigier. The Indochinese Armoured Brigade had lived, losing all of its vehicles during this campaign, but having managed to repel and delay the Japanese for almost two long months. Its men were evacuated as top priority to the Highlands, then to Burma to which they were repatriated to Algeria, where they would form the basis of the formation of the French 5th DB, which Touzet du Vigier would eventually go on to lead [4].

The Japanese for their part did not make Saigon suffer the fate of Hanoi. Partly because they still had to clean up resistance in many parts of the city, and partly because they were so exhausted that even massacres were beyond them. The city was looted and pillaged, with excesses occurring as often as one expected for the Army of the Rising Sun. However, the Chinese population, greatly present in Saigon, would suffer much more.

The Japanese would then try to force their way into the Highlands, but this was a gruelling task. Although Indochina’s coasts had been conquered, their logistics were strained, only allowing them to make small incursions inland. Surviving French aircraft had already redeployed to the Dien-Bien-Phu and Luang Prabang airfields, covering the remainder of French forces withdrawing to the “Highlands redoubt” [5]. This one had been reinforced thanks to the two “Singapore convoys”, allowing the transfer of the rest of the 191st Infantry along with much-needed equipment and even aircraft.

Thus, Vietnamese cities fell, but they fell at a high price for the Japanese, and they fell only very late. Buon Ma Thuot was captured only on March 20th, after a dogged resistance by the 1st Vietnamese Mountain Brigade, helped by the French 12th RTS and the 1st Laotian Infantry Battalion. Pleiku would fall similarly a few days later, along with Pakse, which was left vulnerable after the Japanese incursion into Thai territory.

Japan had thus ended victorious in Indochina, but it came at a steep price. And while they did conquer much of Indochina, some of it remained out of reach, and actually holding the ground would prove just as deadly. The Vietnamese resistance spread, while the leaders of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam had rallied alongside the French colonial forces. And with the Rising Sun’s offensives stalling everywhere and the start of fuel shortages, it was not going to get any better for the Japanese, though that did not stop them from trying their luck… [6]




[1] The usual MO for Japanese forces whenever they came across a city that resisted them, unfortunately...

[2] This was pretty much Sisowath Monivong's last act as King of Cambodia. He would die on April 23rd in Luang Prabang. King Norodom Sihanouk would succeed him. His ITTL reign will go a lot smoother than the OTL (excluding the war, for obvious reasons).

[3] As usual the Ha-Go tanks do NOT fare well against the S-50 and this isn't bound to change, the tank was designed to counter German Panzers...

[4] The infusion of experienced officers will be a good boost for French forces ahead of campaigns against the Germans in the Mediterranean. France is slowly building itself a very respectable armoured force.

[5] More or less an arc covering Xanamkhan - Kasi - Phonsavan - Ban Na Keng - Pa Hang - Black River - Yen Bai - Lao Cai. The mountainous terrain means that it's hell for the Japanese to get through, and there's a supply line to Burma and China.

[6] Pulling offensives while overstretched, with no logistical support, without knowing where you're going or where your enemy is, and with major petrol shortages. What could go wrong?

 

[Wings]

Chapter 48

Burma-Thailand front

January - April 1942

​

The neutralization of Force “Z” and the securing of the South China Sea allowed Japan to ease its logistics somewhat, and send more troops to Thailand to pursue its ambitions. However, this did not mean that every problem had been fixed. The soldiers of the Rising Sun were still fighting on several fronts, with each General wishing to see their front being allocated top priority.

Furthermore, while Japan could move more freely, this wasn’t to say that they were invulnerable. Allied submarines still operated in the area, targeting Japanese convoys with increasing aggressiveness, forcing Japan to divert escorts from other fronts. And, to add insult to injury, the Commonwealth air forces deployed in Malaya harassed shipping entering the Gulf of Thailand, with the IJAAF doing little to stop it as it was already trying hard not to be outmatched by their counterparts, which received new reinforcements with the first “Singapore convoy”, named “Substance” or “GS-1”, arriving in mid-January of 1942 [1].

With Indochina attracting much of the attention of the General Staff, the Thai and Burmese fronts were considered quite secondary. For much of early January, the Japanese only made small advances into the Thai hinterland, pushing past Singburi but not daring to venture further, with a distinct lack of resources stopping them.

In the meantime, the Allies had reinforced their positions. The then weak Burmese Army had now seen the arrival of the 50th Indian Tank Brigade, alongside emergency reinforcements for “C” Force, now truly transformed into the Canadian 6th Infantry Division. Additionally, new air wings had reinforced the area, including the American “Flying Tigers” and the Burma Volunteer Air Service squadrons.

Though the Allies did not only sit on the defensive and wait. On January 15th, a large raid by the RAF and RAAF, which included several Australian B-24s, struck Bangkok. The aim was to destroy the docks and Don Mueang airfield, both of which were severely hit. In addition, the city took a toll, with the extent of the raid meaning numerous buildings were destroyed alongside large civilian casualties. And though Japan did manage to make some propaganda out of it, it also revealed that the Imperial Air Force was very overextended and had failed to properly defend the Thai capital. In fact, in between Indochina, Malaya, the Philippines and China, the air force could hardly be everywhere at once. Don Mueang airfield would be reinforced in time, but the Commonwealth bombers would switch their targets and no raid of this magnitude would hit Bangkok for many months.

The Japanese general staff thus continued its preparations, with the hope that finally their prayers would be answered and sufficient resources would be allocated to them. General Shojiro Iida, in command of three divisions (one of which was still being transferred), saw the monumental task in front of him and wondered how he would be able to achieve it. He did control Mergui, but not much else of Burma. As far as Thailand went, he could control Singburi, but needed to move all the way to Raheng while clearing the northeastern provinces to relieve General Kita’s Indochinese forces. A tall task, and all of that under minimal air cover.

Thailand was the first to be struck. Judging that the Free Thai Army had little in the way of resisting a push, the offensive began on January 26th with an attack by the Japanese 55th Division from Singburi towards Nakhon Sawan. Opposite, General Choonhavan only lined up four infantry divisions, mostly understrength (the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 12th), but still managed to delay Japanese forces in their advance. The reinforcement of anti-tank weapons provided by the British proved decisive in slowing down the armoured vanguards of the Japanese Army, forcing them to be more careful in their approach. And Iida had issues of his own, with the “Loyal” Thai 7th Division not being extremely willing to go fight their compatriots, and showing much less enthusiasm than the 5th Division in Cambodia [2].

The Thai resistance was brave, but not enough to deter the Japanese. After Nakhon Sawan, Nai Mueang fell, putting the Japanese in front of Raheng. There, the Thais had dug in and the 1st Infantry Division, one of the best units of the Thai Army, was ready to meet the invader. And they had support! Namely, RAF, Chinese and American aircraft flying from Moulmein…and Thai P-39s flying from Chiang Mai! The battle of Raheng thus occupied both land and air forces. Captain Kamrop Blengkam, flying on P-39, achieved ace status, shooting down three Ki-27, one reconnaissance Ki-36 and one Ki-48. He was the first Thai pilot to reach this status, but he wouldn’t be the last! [3]

Added to these (mostly) modern aircraft were the brave airmen of the BVAS. These ones also participated in the battle of Raheng, but in much more outdated aircraft. If you were lucky, you got a Buffalo, if not…Hawker Fury or Audax would do! The brave Indian and Burmese airmen often paid for their audacity with their lives, but in some cases, it paid off! BVAS totalled 8 aircraft shot down against 12 lost during the battle of Raheng alone. In Delhi, like in London, one observed these brave squadrons, encouraging Whitehall to pressure for more modern aircraft to be sent. The BVAS would find its first Hurricane during the month of February (though it would continue flying on Fury well into June 1942) [4].

On the ground, the decisive defence of the Thais proved increasingly painful for the Japanese 55th Division, which expected to breeze through Raheng. A fierce urban combat followed, just like the fights that had engulfed Singora not too long ago. Under the weight of numbers and firepower, however, the Thais retreated from the city on March 2nd. No small feat, as they had made the Japanese pay the price for their entry into Burma. The fighting was so violent that General Iida had to order a pause before moving towards Moulmein.

A week later, the Japanese started probing the defences of the 1st Burmese Division at Mae Sot, while consolidating their positions around Raheng. There would be no pursuit towards Chiang Mai, which was judged strategically insignificant compared to Burma, with the Free Thai government doomed to fall [5]. The 55th Japanese Division, exhausted after fighting from Bangkok to Raheng, was tasked with securing the north-eastern quadrant of the country, with the 41st and 33rd Infantry Divisions taking over for the push towards Moulmein. In the meantime, much of the Burmese coast, including Tavoy and Ye, had been taken, but resistance stiffened at Panga.

Opposite them, William Slim, GOC Burma, had prepared his defence in three stages: a first defence line in the Thai mountains, a second along the Haugthayaw River, and a final one beyond the Salween, with the Canadians holding the northern flank while the Indians and Burmese covered Moulmein and its approaches. Slim had by then been reinforced with the “Halberd” and “Spotter” convoys, which bolstered his armoured and air forces, allowing him to be confident in his ability to at least hold off the Japanese on the east bank of the Salween.

The Japanese quickly brushed aside the Mae Sot position, taking Myawaddy and crossing the Burmese border. However, they had the bad surprise of being ambushed and harassed by the 1st Burmese Division when crossing the mountains separating them from the valley leading to Moulmein [6].

Most of these troops were local Burmese, reinforced with Indian and British guides, who were only too eager to show off their skills in ambush warfare which made them famous during their wars against the British. It was thus not until March 23rd that the Japanese made contact with Slim’s second defence line at Kanni. There, the Japanese were once again stopped, by a combination of Allied air power…and armoured vehicles! Those were the tanks of the 50th Indian Tank Brigade, mounted on Valentines, Tetrarch and Crusader! A very rude awakening for the Japanese, which suffered under the blows of the tanks…which were withdrawn after only a few days.

Slim knew that his position was exposed, and thus did not want to risk being flanked. He was satisfied with having inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese, and withdrew his tanks towards Ein Du and Pa-An, where the Canadians had set up a collection line. He also ordered delaying fights to be made in Moulmein, but refused the idea of fighting with his back to the river.

On March 29th, Japanese units resumed contact with the British lines, with no more success than earlier. On the plain, the Indian tanks had a field day with the Japanese lines, while the RAF and ROCAF kept any air attackers at bay. The Japanese would suffer terribly, whether at Ein Du or further south, at Kaw Wan and Okhpo, where the Indian 8th Infantry had set up “delaying” positions before the evacuation of Moulmein. It wouldn’t be until April 5th that these positions gave way, and Slim gave the order to evacuate all forces to the west bank of the Salween. General Charles Harvey, commander of the 8th Indian, was disappointed: he assured that he could’ve held longer.

Slim would have to wait almost three weeks until the Japanese went back on the offensive. On April 20th, the Japanese 33rd and 41st Divisions attempted to cross the Salween at Martaban and Pabu, trying to outflank the Commonwealth forces. But Slim had prepared his positions well, and did not hesitate to vigorously counter-attack. The main Japanese landing, in the village of Martaban, found itself pincered by Indian armoured vehicles which cut off several thousand Japanese from the river, and sent many more straight back into the unforgiving waters of the Salween. Not even a strong effort from the Japanese air force saved them: the 8th Indian had eliminated almost 4,000 Japanese men in just a day. At Pabu, the situation was slightly better but no less desperate. The Canadians failed to repulse the Japanese on the first day thanks to the timely intervention of the air force, but Slim now had reserves he could redeploy.

On April 21st, the Canadians, assisted by the 50th Tank Brigade, struck the positions of the 33rd Infantry Division hard. Blasting through the flanks, assisted by the Indian Crusader tanks, General Arthur Potts’ men wreaked havoc in the Japanese rear. During this assault, Lt-General Shozo Sakurai, commander of the 33rd Infantry Division, was severely wounded by a ROCAF raid on his forward HQ [7]. The confusion made so that no order to retreat back over the Salween was given, with over 900 men perishing in the attempt to cross the river.

The Battle of the Salween was a decisive Allied victory. The Commonwealth forces had stopped the advance of the Japanese troops dead in its tracks, with minimal casualties. General William Slim was warmly congratulated by Marshal Robert Brooke-Popham and by Churchill himself, gaining the respect of his peers after stopping an offensive of an entire army corps with only three rag-tag divisions [8]. As for the Japanese, this would mark the furthest extent of their push into Burma, which became a sideshow. One could blame General Iida for this, as he was nowhere near as charismatic and decisive as his peers, Generals Kita and Yamashita, nor did he have the (relative) success they had. However, Iida had been dealing with poor logistics and intelligence, exhausted units and overall, the complete disinterest of the high command, too focused on the operations in Malaya and the East Indies to care about a backwater.

The Japanese command was adamant to the forgotten general, though. Once Singapore had fallen, Burma would be next! [9]







[1] You guessed it, OTL Malta Convoys become ITTL Singapore Convoys.

[2] For simplicity's sake, the Allied-aligned Thai government will be referred to as the "Free Thai Forces", while the Japanese-aligned government will be referred to as the "Loyalist Thai Forces".

[3] OTL the RThAF got a whopping total of 5 victories for the entire war.

[4] The reasoning for that isn't that the British government is cheap, but more because they're much easier to maintain and repair while flying from airfields in the middle of nowhere. The French have this same tactic using old Potez aircraft for bombing missions on Japanese squadrons, operating from forgotten mountain villages.

[5] This reasoning is of course bound to change.

[6] With the Japanese only setting the little toenail into Burma, the 1st Burmese Division doesn't see mass desertions like it did in OTL and retains much of its fighting potential.

[7] With all the Asian nations doing better, don't worry, I did not forget the ROC.

[8] A bit overdramatic considering that the "Army Corps" was composed of two under-supplied divisions (a third neutered by the Thais), and that Slim's own divisions were not the dregs of the Indian Army either. Still, Slim earns recognition by his peers much earlier than OTL, and that will be a boost for the future.

[9] Can't fault them for being optimistic.

 

[Wings]

Chapter 49

Philippines Campaign

January - April 1942

​

With the retreat into Bataan Peninsula, it was only a matter of time until the Japanese came knocking for the 80,000 trapped Americans. However, after the conquest of Luzon, such an attack was delayed, time for the Japanese to regroup and launch their assault.

It wouldn’t be until January 15th that the first Japanese troops came into contact with the first defence line, around Porac, at the edge of the Peninsula. Judged impractical by McArthur, this defensive position only held a mere 24 hours before the Japanese pierced it. Likewise, the following delaying position at Layac was swept away in much of the same fashion.

It wouldn’t be until January 19th that the Japanese troops of the 48th Division attacked the main American defence line anchored around Mount Natib. Expecting little resistance, the Japanese were struck by a deluge of fire from the American artillery, as well as tank support. The Filippino troops holding the line, encouraged by McArthur, heroically resisted. Try as they might, the Japanese broke their teeth on the Mount Natib line, just as they had on the fortresses of Cao Bang and Lang Son, just across the Sea. The Japanese tried to commit their armoured reserves, but these were countered by the American M2s and M3s, with deadly effect. Not only that, but on January 25th, air support came to support a localized counter-attack by the Filipinos which drove the Japanese back four kilometres!

However, while the situation seemed fine on the surface, the Filipinos were getting exhausted. The Japanese were starting to commit more and more troops, signifying that a general assault on the Peninsula was near. Fort Wint fell on January 31st, with Japanese artillery soon being able to strike positions at Moron, on the coast.

McArthur then grew concerned, notably with the food situation. The good news came on February 2nd, when a strange visitor docked in Mariveles. It was the French submarine Surcouf, which had ditched its armament and carried no less than 15,000 boxes of K-rations: in all, 180 thousand “daily” rations. In other words: it allowed to hold for two more days. In exchange, the French submarine would take several civilians and wounded to Miri, in Borneo. The arrival of the French submarine marked the beginning of the “Singapore Express”, which would help supply Bataan, ration by ration, munition by munition [1].

Although the French submarine’s reinforcement was not large, it raised morale amongst the troops quite heavily: neither Washington nor their other allies had abandoned them. For McArthur, it strengthened his resolve to stay and fight even harder, just like Alexander in Singapore or Catroux in Hanoi. On February 4th, a massive assault on the slopes of Mount Natib by the 48th Infantry Division spectacularly failed.

To try and break this nut, the Japanese devised a plan to outflank the Americans. They sent several battalions to land behind enemy lines, in the hopes of outflanking the defenders of the Mount Natib line. However, these forces were intercepted by PT-boat patrols, and surprise was lost. As they landed, they were immediately set upon by McArthur’s reserves, members of the Filippino militia and police, as well as the guns of the American ships still present around Corregidor. Overall, these landings were a complete failure. Immediately contained, they were then methodically eradicated. By early February, seeing that the operation was a failure, the Japanese resumed their mass assaults against the Mount Natib line.

Finally, the line broke in several places on February 9th, forcing McArthur to order his troops to pull back towards the Bagac-Orion line, north of Mount Mariveles. Thinking they had the upper hand, the Japanese immediately assaulted it on February 15th, breaking through along the Tuol River. Unfortunately for the Japanese, General Jonathan Wainwright had lured the Japanese in. Quickly filling in the breach, the Japanese were contained in two large pockets, which were then dutifully eliminated by the Filipino Scouts on February 24th.

General Masaharu Homma had been forced to concede that the Bagac-Orion line was tough, and that his units needed rest. The 48th Infantry Division was at the end of the line, and was needed by the 16th Army for future operations in the Dutch East Indies. Thus, it was sent back for rest, and the 16th Infantry Division was brought on the line. This one was supposed to now be cleaning the Visayas, but in front of the increased resistance in Bataan, Homma had no choice but to commit it if he wanted the Peninsula to fall soon.

On the other side, the American government finally decided to evacuate General McArthur on March 12th. However, when confronted to Lt. Bulkeley, who had come to pick him up to bring him to Miri, he just simply said “I do not need a taxi, I need supplies!” [2]. Instead, McArthur agreed for the vessels to take his family, alongside General Wainwright, who he ordered to continue the fight by commanding a guerilla in the southern half of the country, notably the Visayas and Mindanao [3]. Seeing this, Manuel Quezon, with whom McArthur had long conversed, also refused to be evacuated. The Filipino president chose to lead from the Philippines, for as long as it took. He chose to give up his spot on one of the small craft to an injured Filipino soldier [4].

McArthur had chosen to stay, following in the footsteps of his British, French and Thai colleagues. Some historians would also claim that the flight of Admiral Hart, at the time when Admiral Philips charged headfirst into the Japanese fleet, made him reconsider. He did not want to be seen as a coward in the face of a battle he had yet to give, let alone lose.

McArthur staying on the ground, alongside the increasing success of the “Singapore Express” raised morale everywhere. The Marshal of the Filipino Army himself even came to the front line, inspecting defensive works and carrying words of encouragement to the troops in the face of the upcoming Japanese offensive.

On April 3rd, 1942, the Japanese did come knocking. Infuriated by their setbacks, they fully intended to break Bataan. General Homma committed the entirety of the 16th Division to that effect, along several battalions of the 48th. He thought that he would be facing starved, crazed Americans, and would be in Mariveles by the end of the week. He was wrong.

For two days, Americans and Filipinos held the line against attacks that only gained in intensity. On April 6th, Japanese troops had limited success in piercing the line, but these efforts were countered with vigorous assaults by the Filippino troops, who, though outnumbered, threw themselves forward with great energy. The next day, the Japanese were repulsed to their starting positions.

This did not discourage the Japanese attempts. Throughout April 8th, renewed efforts were made to breach the Bagac-Orion line. To the west, at Bagac, General Parker’s I Corps held firm. However, to the right, at Orion, General Jones’ II Corps faltered. On April 14th, on Mount Samat, the Japanese assault was particularly sustained, and forced the Americans off, holding a key position above Orion and the right flank of the American defensive device. McArthur counter-attacked on the mountain, but with too many efforts going on at the same time, it failed. With a heavy heart, he ordered to withdraw to the San Vicente River.

McArthur in fact had another plan. Taking General Brougher’s 11th (PA) Infantry Division, which had been less hit by the Japanese surge at Bagac, he intended to retake Mount Samat and flank the Japanese positions at Orion. He also asked Jones’ II Corps to attack Japanese positions along the river to stop them from reinforcing the mountain. Feeling that this was a useless waste of men, Jones objected and almost refused the order. McArthur immediately removed him from command, telling him: “if you don’t want to fight, you can run away like the Admiral!”. Jones was placed under arrest, and replaced by General Clifford Bluemel. True to his word, Jones was placed on the USS Stingray and sent to Singapore [5].

On April 19th, McArthur counter-attacked, taking the Japanese completely by surprise. Mount Samat was retaken by the Filippino scouts, while General Lim’s 41st (PA) Division struck the Japanese lines along the San Vincente with enormous ferocity, pushing them back through Orion. The men then managed to pivot towards the west, making General Homma completely panic.

The Japanese commander had long lost the hope of making Bataan a quick affair, but he had at least hoped to end it quickly once the San Vicente was breached. But now, the Americans had retaken Mount Samat and were threatening to encircle a good number of his troops in the process! Worse, Homma had almost no reserves: everything had been committed into this offensive which had lasted almost two weeks and given almost no results. Still, Homma knew that he needed to show something. He pushed his troops to retake Mount Samat, but to no avail. The Americans had dug in and were well-supported by their artillery. To add insult to injury, on April 20th, P-40s came to help the defenders of the mountain, and B-17s came to raid the Japanese lines in the largest air attack since the beginning of the Battle of Bataan.

At Bagac, I Corps was only beaten back a few hundred metres, the Japanese being beaten bloody by the American artillery every time they tried to advance. In the centre, along the flanks of Mount Mariveles, their infiltration attempts were blocked by the Filipinos who attacked with effervescence, sometimes only armed with machetes, in the dead of night. Mount Samat held, and General Lim’s 41st Division had managed to retake the lost American positions, all the way to the Santo Domingo River. Homma knew he was done for. During the night of April 21st, he committed seppuku, only four hours before the order that relieved him of his command arrived [6]. He was replaced by General Shizuichi Tanaka.

After a month of hard fighting, the Americans and Filipinos themselves were exhausted and desperately needed supplies to avoid near-starving conditions. General Edward P. King told McArthur that if the Japanese continued their assaults, it would take them less than 24 hours to breach the Bagac-Orion line. This would fortunately never come to pass, as Tanaka could not afford to launch another offensive so soon, with the 16th Division depleted and the need to transfer the 48th Division for the upcoming East Indies Campaign, to which it was necessary [7].

Bataan was exhausted, Bataan had bled, but Bataan had held.





[1] Logically, an entire chapter will be dedicated to the functioning of the "Singapore Express".

[2] Sorry Zelensky, this quote goes to McArthur here. McArthur's fear of being seen as someone who runs away from battle like a coward takes over ITTL, since Indochina is still fighting and Malaya has yet to even be breached. He doesn't want to end up like ITTL's equivalent of Hart, who had the misfortune of evacuating on the day of the Battle of the Gulf of Thailand.

[3] Both out of friendship with Wainwright and pragmatism: McArthur needs someone who he completely trusts in order to conduct operations in the Philippines, which he still considers "his domain".

[4] Quezon refusing to leave will only strengthen his popularity with the Filipino people and will in turn lead to a stronger Filipino will to fight.

[5] McArthur considers here that the humiliation of being packed off to run away is a bigger punishment than a court-martial which he doesn't have the time for.

[6] Homma's early death will also mean trouble for Masanobu Tsuji, who had managed to use Homma as a shield for his crimes. With Homma gone, the Americans (and Filipinos) won't be as forgiving ITTL.

[7] The Japanese strategy slowly shifts from one place to another...

 

[Wings]

Chapter 50

Malayan Front

January - April 1942

​

With the supply situation in Thailand stabilizing, and the securing of the Thai coastline, General Yamashita could finally prepare his operation to take Singapore. This veteran of two wars sought to bring the Malayan Peninsula to heel and take Singapore, thus removing a serious thorn in the side of Japan.

To do so, he needed to replenish his forces, which had been severely hit during the retaking of Singora, and to devise a plan to attack the colonist forces. To this end, Yamashita asked for another landing to be made, near Kuantan this time. This would allow Japanese forces to flank Commonwealth forces deeper than at Kota Bharu, where Yamashita surmised that they had been dropped on the front lines. These forces could then outflank the Commonwealth and even push to cut the road Kuala Lumpur – Kota Bharu Road. Yamashita had wished to land further south, at Mersing, and run towards the airfield at Kluang, but such an operation without having secured Borneo or the Riau Archipelago first was deemed too risky to be attempted. After the landing at Kuantan, and with Commonwealth troops in disarray, Yamashita would then be able to punch through towards Pattani, and run along the eastern coast of Malaya, perhaps even encircling troops around Penang which would’ve been under pressure from Yamashita’s divisions coming from Singora [1].

The problem with that plan, as sound as it was, is that it assumed that the Commonwealth troops were truly spread thin. However, far from it, General Harold Alexander benefited from experienced troops which had been replenished thanks to the “Singapore Convoys”, and from bountiful air support which still managed to hold the Japanese at bay despite increasing pressure. Even better, in January, he received the reinforcement of ten submarines from Europe: the HMS Upright, Urge, Ultimatum, Ulster, Unshaken, Usurper, Unbending, United, Triumph and Trident [2]. Churchill furthermore promised him larger surface units (including carriers) to compensate for the loss of the Prince of Wales, Hermes and Formidable as soon as the upcoming operation in the European theater was over. In fact, the arrival of several American heavy units at Bandung, Batavia and Darwin gave way to cautious optimism on Alexander’s side.

Finally, on March 11th, once his army was well-supplied and with the promise of naval and air support, Yamashita launched his great offensive towards Singapore. Unfortunately for him, the convoy leading troops for the landing at Kuantan was spotted, twice. First by the USS Sargo, which operated a “Singapore Express”, and then again by the HMS Unshaken, which managed to sink the destroyer Shirayuki before running. It is unknown whether the HMS Proteus, which was lost around that time, also managed to spot the convoy.

When the Japanese 9th Division landed at Kuantan, they were thus expected, but the Japanese were lucky. Most aircraft had to defend Singapore Naval Base from the largest Japanese raid since the start of the War, thus leaving the 11th Indian Division to fend for itself. This one, far from being discouraged, waited for nightfall in order to attack, free from harassment by air or sea. It was thus the turn of the Japanese to be taken by surprise. All of a sudden, the entire beachhead lit up, with the Indians detonating explosive charges in the middle of landing barges which had come to reinforce the Japanese that had landed in the afternoon. A lucky hit made an ammunition barge explode, wreaking havoc and causing panic amidst the Japanese. The soldiers were thus pinned on the beaches, with the bravest trying to advance being cut down in the Indians’ prepared positions. It would not be until dawn that the Japanese fleet would be able to reply.

The big guns of the battleships started to shell the Indian positions…until an explosion came from behind them! The ammunition transport ship Kashino had just been blown up by a salvo from the HMS Urge, which had managed to sneak into the anchorage! Minutes later, it was the turn of the Beauforts of Sqn 458 RAAF and the Hudsons of Sqn 1 RAAF to attack the ships, wreaking havoc and damaging the heavy cruiser Mogami. Fearing a trap, Admiral Nagumo, in charge of the operation, had to order a withdrawal in order to not risk his heavy units.

The landed Japanese were thus now at the mercy of the Indians. They would resist for a time, but the following night, an audacious raid carried out by the destroyers HMS Encounter, Foxhound, HMAS Napier, Nestor and HMTS Phra Ruang managed to sink several transports still at anchor, along with a minesweeper and the destroyer Asagiri, left behind to protect the landing barges. All five destroyers would rally Singapore without any issues, escaping Nagumo’s wrath.

With no hope of reinforcement or supplies, the landed troops of the 9th Infantry Division had no choice but to fight to the last or commit suicide by either drowning or throwing themselves on the Indians. Just like Kota Bharu, Kuantan had been a disaster for the Japanese [3].

Thankfully for Yamashita, his attack on the Commonwealth positions at Singora seemed to be more fruitful. Initial engagements south of the city proved successful for the Japanese, allowing them to extend the perimeter around the city. However, Yamashita also had cause for concern. In the air, the promised superiority was not there, and the Commonwealth ground units had an unhealthy number of AA batteries! By force of numbers, though, the Commonwealth troops were repulsed towards Hat Yai and along the coast, with Japanese forces threatening to cut off the Hat Yai – Pattani Road.

It was on the coast that the Japanese advanced the most, with the Australians forced to withdraw across the Na Thap River, conceding control of the road. However, the Japanese were not able to break through at Hat Yai, solidly held by the Indians of the 17th Infantry Division. On the evening of March 15th, Yamashita still had yet to reach Pattani, with the Australians of the 1st Armoured Division delaying his advance along the coast.

On March 16th, he thus ordered an assault on Hat Yai, in order to gain ground and push the British troops back to the border. Under severe artillery fire, the Indians fought bravely, but it was an uneven battle. At nightfall, General Alexander ordered General Lewis to withdraw his troops to the border, at Changlun. With this advance, and fearing a turning movement by the Japanese towards the east, General Gordon Bennett ordered the 8th Australian Division (and the elements of the 1st Armoured still engaged) to withdraw towards Pattani in order to protect the city and the road to Kota Bharu.

Yamashita had for his part sent the Imperial Guards Division in pursuit of the Australians, but they were ambushed along the coastal road by delaying elements left there by the Aussies. The RAAF, too eager to support its compatriots, kept the Japanese in check in the sky, further angering Yamashita who already saw himself in Kuala Lumpur by this point! It wouldn’t be until March 19th that Pattani was finally in artillery range, and March 22nd when they entered the city.

In Pattani, fights were fierce. The 1st Australian Armoured jumped at the throats of the Imperial Guards, almost annihilating an entire company of Ha-Go light tanks. Likewise, the 8th Australian Division fought to delay the Japanese forces entering the town, which had spread their forces thin. Yamashita was forced to cancel the assault on March 25th, while waiting for reinforcements to catch up [4].

This respite could’ve led to believe the Commonwealth forces that the Japanese had been spent, but quite the opposite. On March 31st, Japanese troops advanced on the Indian positions on the border, while Pattani was assaulted on April 4th. The former did not last very long: Changlun and Arau were only delaying positions, with the biggest hope of stopping the Japanese being at Jitra, where the British 18th Division had set up a collection line. Soon enough, the 17th Indian Division was ordered towards Jitra, from where they would pass on the torch to the 18th Division, recuperating at Alor Setar, and, if necessary, defending the crossroads there.

At Pattani, though, the assault by the Japanese Imperial Guards, supported by the 56th Infantry Division, did not have the expected results. The 8th Australian Division, still supported by the Crusaders and Valentines of the 1st Australian Armoured, stopped the assault a second time, on April 8th. By now, Yamashita had grown sick of the determined resistance, and, knowing full well his units would be too exhausted to carry on further than this, ordered a general assault.

This one came on April 13th, after a deluge of artillery, at the same time as an assault on Jitra. Both positions seemed to hold, but the Australians, exhausted and outgunned, started faltering. Despite the efforts of the RAAF to support their compatriots on the ground, the situation became dire as elements of the 56th Infantry Division broke through to the south, threatening to encircle the town. With this in mind, General Bennett ordered to withdraw on April 16th, after almost a month of delaying manoeuvres. The Japanese were thus victorious, and ran towards Yala and the border, but were once more delayed by the 1st Australian Armoured, which ambushed the Japanese along the bottlenecks in the hills around the coast. On April 22nd, the Japanese came into contact with the 7th Australian Division, at Kota Bharu, which had set up a collection line along the Kelantan River. The 7th was the last “true” unit to have never seen combat, and as such was completely fresh, forcing an exhausted Yamashita to stop the pursuit and dig in along the Kelantan.

At Jitra, things were not looking up either for the soldiers of the Rising Sun. Thanks to support from Sabang and Alor Setar, the British of the 18th Infantry held the Japanese attackers in check, while the guns of the HMAS Adelaide and the HMS Dragon calmed the ardor of those who tried to attack on the coastal road. By April 25th, Yamashita had to throw in the towel. After a month and a half, his forces had certainly managed to take some territory, but they had hardly managed to scrape Malaya, and Singapore remained far away.

The Japanese offensive did do some non-negligible damage to the Allied forces, and was overall a success. The 17th Indian Division had been severely mauled and would need rest. The 8th Australian was withdrawn entirely, with coastal defence duties near Singapore, it also needing rest and recompletion. The 1st Australian Armoured was also withdrawn from the front, having taken serious casualties and needing its stocks to be replenished. Lucky them, the next Singapore Convoy (Calendar) was due to arrive on the 27th of April with a batch of new armoured vehicles, the long-awaited M3 Stuart and M3 Grant! After that, we would have to wait for the Harpoon convoy, in June… [5]

For Yamashita, it was a setback, but not a failure. He had yet to commit the 5th Infantry Division, which was resting around Surat Thani, and could hope to have the Allies pinned down by the Dutch East Indies Campaign. This would allow him to rely more on his air support, which had been lacking until then, and for him to be able to cut his way straight towards Penang, then Kuala Lumpur! The start of the operation was slated for May 9th, and it was to be considered the last successful large-scale Japanese offensive in the South-East Asian theatre.



[1] More or less OTL Yamashita's plan.

[2] The Ulster is OTL's HMS P-36, which will live to see it being assigned a name ITTL.

[3] This time the Japanese underestimated the sheer submarine presence the Allies have, and their ability to be extremely annoying to the Japanese. Not to mention the Commonwealth Air Force, which is still just as present in the skies over Malaya.

[4] Just like ITTL's Rommel, Yamashita gets some comeuppance for being too hasty in exploiting his breakthroughs, as the Australians inflict a painful defeat to him early on in his "Blitzkrieg".

[5] The Japanese certainly will not wait that long!

 

[Wings]

Chapter 51

Dutch East Indies Theatre

January - April 1942

​

The availability of Japan’s Kido Butai allowed the Imperial High Command to set its sights on Southeast Asia once more, though the Navy and Army both had diverging interests. And with the Navy’s better performance, the High Command had to concede for it to launch its own operation to secure Rabaul, before coming to support operations in the Malay Barrier.

The securing of Rabaul went overall well, the Australians having evacuated the base along with several other locations in New Britain. The delay did however cause the Japanese to push back the offensive in Malaya and their planned landings in Borneo and the Moluccas. A delay that was beneficial to them, as the Philippines still resisted, and only Davao and its outskirts had been secured by the time the High Command wished to launch its operation to take Borneo and the first Indonesian islands. This in turn delayed their plan to take Bougainville, Tulagi and make a landing in New Guinea proper, but these operations would be launched as soon as the Malay Barrier had been secured.

This delay allowed the Allied forces in the area to reinforce themselves quite considerably. The protection of the Malay Barrier was deemed by every involved nation to be paramount to the defence of South-East Asia. American naval assets had thus made their way to Bandung and Batavia, bolstering the Dutch forces there. It was planned for the first U.S division, the “Amerijav Division”, to be activated in May 1942, with it fit for operations in September [1]. It would then be joined by the 25th Infantry Division, which would cover Java, Bali and Timor. In the meantime, the Australians would bolster the Dutch defences, with U.S support being mainly confined to naval and air assets.

Because of Davao’s isolated nature, and the activity of U.S and Filipino troops in the area, the Allies kept a tight watch on the naval base, and noticed the gain in activity as soon as February. This activity prompted General ter Poorten, Commander in Chief of all land forces in the Dutch East Indies, to declare all Dutch forces on high alert. This activity prompted the transfer of U.S troops of the 1st Battalion, 148th Field Artillery Regiment, to Bandung, alongside an entire USAAF squadron, on P-40s, and a Bomber Squadron, on A-24s.

But the first landings the Japanese made were not on the Dutch side of Borneo! On March 19th, well-escorted by the Kido Butai which wished to avenge the Kuantan disaster, which happened just a week prior, Japanese forces of the 2nd Infantry Division landed at Miri. The port was chosen as it was a prime refuelling spot for the ships of the Bataan Lifeline, and a good landing area to then move to Brunei Bay, which was marked by the IJN as a potential landing base. This time, the Kido Butai came prepared. The British submarine HMS Grampus would unfortunately fall victim to the escorts, though the Dutch submarine HNLMS K-XV would manage to sink the destroyer Amagiri. The landing itself went without a hitch, and British naval forces in Singapore were powerless to stop it. Quickly, Japanese troops occupied Brunei in front of weak British resistance, leaving the Kido Butai to triumphantly withdraw. This might have led to a moment of overconfidence however, as during it, the light cruiser Kitakami was sunk by a salvo from the French submarine Ouessant.

This loss did not overly affect the operations of the Imperial Japanese Navy. On March 26th, they landed at Kota Kinabalu, once more facing weak British resistance. Four days later, it was the island of Tawi-Tawi, in the Sulu Archipelago, which saw a 100% Imperial Navy involvement, with SNLF units taking control of this strategic island, left undefended by the Allies.

The next target would be a little tougher to swallow. Kuching, in Sarawak, was the target of the Japanese planners. However, here, the British had managed to shore up defences, and benefitted from air support coming from Singapore. Maneuvering was thus risky for the Kido Butai, which did not want to risk losing units, and therefore stayed in deeper waters. The fight for Kuching lasted all day, both on land and at sea. On land, British forces conceded the city but fought heavily around the airfield, which had been duly sabotaged. At sea, the Kido Butai found itself attacked by a wave of torpedo bombers, of No. 489 Sqn RNZAF and the brand-new TBD Devastators of VLG-1 (KNIL) operating from Singkawang [2]. The air attacks made the IJN pay a hefty price: the cruiser Kinu was sunk, along with the destroyer Kikuzuki and two transports. The Dutch air arm could rejoice, which was not the case of its submarine arm, which lost the HNLMS K-VIII and K-XVI to the annoyed escort.

Despite the losses, the Kido Butai would continue to support the ground operations, forcing the British forces to withdraw on April 1st towards Singkawang. They would then retreat to Pontianak, with Singkawang falling on April 24th. The British were then evacuated to Pulau Bangka at the end of the month. With almost all of British Sarawak under Japanese control, Allied high command now saw an attack on the Dutch-held part of the island to be only a matter of time.

The Allies would not have to wait long. Informed by USAAF personnel in Mindanao of the sailing of a convoy towards the south on April 11th, all forces in Dutch Borneo were put on high alert. The Japanese high command had in fact organized a double strike. The first was aimed at Manado, in Sulawesi. This area was deemed essential as the Dutch operated two airfields there, which needed to be destroyed. An airborne assault was thus organized, which had mixed results. Thanks to the advanced warning, the Dutch did manage to sally out and defend the air assault, but lost a great deal of their number, with the outdated Buffalos not managing to do much against the much more powerful Zeros. Still, four Japanese bombers were shot down, causing more than fifty casualties. The airborne assault was combined with a landing of SNLF forces, which the Dutch had a hard time in containing. After four days of struggle, Major Schilmöller ordered the troops to scatter inland. A small group of Dutch troops, surrounded in the airfield, chose to surrender. The Japanese, though, were in a foul mood. They had seen about 400 killed in the assault, and were not prepared to give mercy to their adversaries. The commander of the Dutch forces defending the airfield, Lt. Wielinga, was beheaded on April 16th. Sixteen other Dutch soldiers (four Dutch and twelve Menadonese) were bayoneted and killed [3]. About 1,000 troops made their way into the jungle, to carry on the fight there.

On the other side of the strait, Japanese forces landed in force at Tarakan, where they were met with a wall of black smoke: the Dutch had duly sabotaged and destroyed the oilfields. As for the fight: it was rough for the Japanese, which struggled in the area. Worse, sporadic Allied air attacks made progress difficult, and Dutch submarines had managed to sink three transport ships. In addition, two minesweepers were sunk by coastal batteries, and five Japanese aircraft were shot down. As a result, the fight lasted five long days, at the end of which the Dutch finally surrendered. The Japanese had suffered almost 500 killed, a number equalled by the Dutch. 600 more were taken captive, but the men of the coastal batteries would not be spared. The Navy, furious, took the 219 men to the spot where they had sunk their minesweepers and threw them into the sea where they would drown to the last [4].

With the fall of Tarakan, it now became obvious for the Allies that the next target would be Balikpapan, the only question was when the Japanese would launch their assault. Dutch and American naval assets were put on high alert, with Allied planes being committed when possible. The Japanese had until then tried to neutralize Bandung airfield and Surabaya naval base, without success. The island of Java had seen a massive increase in its air defence, with flak and extra RAF, RAAF and USAAF squadrons lending a hand to the overwhelmed ML-KNIL aircraft. On April 21st, for example, a massive raid hit Bandung airfield, with more than 50 Japanese aircraft committed. This one was answered by 15 ML-KNIL Buffalos, 12 USAAF P-40s, 6 RAF Hurricanes and 20 RAAF P-40s. Overall, the Japanese saw the loss of 12 bombers (7 “Nell” and 5 “Betty”) and 8 fighters (all “Zeke”), while the Allies saw the loss of 17 fighters overall (7 Buffalo, 8 P-40, 2 Hurricane). These numbers highlighted the sheer ferocity of air combats over Java, which would reach its zenith during the invasion of Java, in June 1942 [5].

On April 23rd, the fears of the Allied High Command realized themselves: the Japanese struck Balikpapan. Here, just like in Tarakan, the oilfields were sabotaged, and the Japanese were welcomed with a thick wall of black smoke. Resistance around Balikpapan was extremely strong, however, with much of the Borneo Garrison being deployed in the area. To this end, it was decided to have the Dutch fleet attempt a sortie, once reconnaissance had confirmed that the carriers had left the area, having chickened out after a Dutch submarine had sunk two cargo ships in the bay.

Karel Doorman put his flag up on the light cruiser HNLMS De Ruyter, and had a strong force with him. He was accompanied by the CL Java, the CLAA Jacob van Heemskerk, the DDs Banckaert, Evertsen, Kortenaer, Piet Hein, Van Ghent, Van Nes and Witte de With. In addition to the Dutch force, the Americans contributed the heavy cruisers Houston and Minneapolis, along with the destroyers John D. Ford, Peary, Pillsbury, Pope, Alden, Edsall, John D. Edwards, Hammann and Morris. The Australians also committed a token force, with the cruiser HMAS Perth alongside the destroyers Vendetta and Vampire. Their plan was to intercept the main Japanese fleet with the cruisers while the destroyers would wreak havoc amongst the transports.

Opposite them, Admiral Takagi was in charge of the defence of Balikpapan, and was aware of an Allied fleet having left Bandung by IJN reconnaissance planes. Adhering to the doctrine of decisive battle, Takagi did not refuse combat, and instead sallied out with his fleet, which he thought could easily dispatch the Dutch. Takagi however did not factor in the presence of the Americans or Australians, though he still outnumbered them in large units.

The heavy cruisers Nachi and Myoko were the first to spot the Allied fleet, at around 6PM on April 24th, prompting the Allied fleet to immediately return fire. Doorman, in order to attack the fleet at anchor, tasked several destroyers to run towards Balikpapan while the cruisers and most destroyers would draw Takagi’s fleet so that they would not be bothered. This worked a little too well, as the Japanese executed several torpedo attacks, though only the USS John D. Edwards was hit, sinking quickly afterwards. Additionally, the Myoko found a hit on the Houston, which saw its speed brought down to 10 knots [6].

But Doorman had managed to close the distance, now being able to bring the guns of the light cruisers to bear. The Java managed to score a hit on the destroyer Yamakaze, which sunk shortly thereafter. Takagi, realizing that he was losing the initiative, ordered two massive torpedo runs in order to sink the Houston. However, with fading light and poor coordination and aim, none of the 90 torpedoes found their mark [7]. The destroyers which had launched had thus found themselves in a bad spot, now under fire from the Allied light cruisers. The De Ruyter scored a hit on the Sazanami, which would also sink an hour later. The Japanese destroyer was avenged by the heavy cruisers, which repeatedly struck the light cruiser Java, which stopped, in flames.

With night now upon both sides, Doorman attempted one last sally before withdrawing. This one had mixed results to say the least. The Americans and Australians did not fully understand Doorman’s orders, and were thus left to dry when the Dutch column suddenly accelerated [8]. With the Japanese hot on their trail, the USS Edsall and HMAS Vampire were sunk by a torpedo salvo, with the Perth only damaging the light cruiser Naka. As for Doorman’s attack, it was mostly ineffective: he lost the HNLMS Van Ghent to a torpedo, but succeeded in sinking the destroyer Harusame and crippling the heavy cruiser Nachi.

Both sides then disengaged, with the Allied fleet taking the time to withdraw to collect survivors (the Java had sunk by the time Doorman came back). Unfortunately, it wouldn’t all be smooth sailing for either fleet. The Houston was finished off by an air attack launched from Tarakan as it approached Surabaya, taking the USS John D. Ford with it; and the Nachi was struck by Beauforts of No. 458 Sqn RAAF as it rounded Kuching. Overall, numbers seemed to favor the Japanese: they had lost one light cruiser and three destroyers for the sinking of one heavy cruiser, one light cruiser and six destroyers. But unfortunately for them, the main effort of the Allied fleet had succeeded: a task force of American and Dutch destroyers descended upon the anchorage at Balikpapan, sinking six transport ships (including a munitions transport ship), one tanker and three minesweepers, for the loss of the sole Peary, which had to be scuttled after it was hit by a torpedo launched from one of the Japanese destroyers left behind. Later, in the morning hours of April 25th, the American submarine USS Snapper would come and sink the seaplane tender Sanuki Maru, as a last middle finger to the Japanese Navy on this fateful night. These losses would only be partially avenged as the submarine I-22 crippled the HNLMS Kortenaer, which had to be scuttled, while an air attack damaged the Van Nes, which could be repairable [9].

This naval victory left a very sour taste in the Japanese mouths. Balikpapan would not be a new Kuantan or Kota Bharu, of course, these were Navy men, not the incompetent Army! [10] But it meant that the battle for the control of the oilfields would be much longer than planned. The battle would in fact last until May 3rd, when the Dutch commander, Cornelis van den Hoogenband, ordered the Dutch troops to withdraw inland, towards the Samarinda II airfield. Exhausted, the Japanese did not pursue.

Japan thus continued to extend its hold over the Indonesian islands, but the price was become heavier to pay by the day (and Bandjarmasin had yet to be secured!). On April 29th, SNLF elements fought dearly to take Kendari, in the Celebes, postponing the landings at Ambon and Makassar until the units that had fought in Borneo and Manado could be sufficiently rested. And in the meantime, the Allies kept pouring in troops, equipment and ships. None were so important than the arrival, on May 4th, of the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, at Tjilatjap naval base, escorting men of the new “Amerijav Division” to the island that would soon find itself in the frontlines [11].



[1] Goodbye Americal, hello Amerijav.

[2] A Borneo Campaign in 1942 means the ML-KNIL get some recent units, though they're pretty much at the bottom of the list for reinforcements. Most of their squadrons still fly on old B-10s.

[3] As OTL, the Japanese did not cope well with losses at Manado.

[4] Unfortunately as OTL.

[5] This is still relatively exceptional in terms of numbers both for the attackers and defenders. Most raids will not have as many aircraft devolved to them. It is just there to illustrate the losses both sides are taking.

[6] Houston gets Exeter'd.

[7] Amazingly, as OTL.

[8] Instead of a language issue, this was a communications issue. Doorman spoke perfect English, but wasn't on the same frequency as the Australians. The Americans thus had to play middle-man for the entire battle (which happened in OTL at Java Sea). One moment where the Americans don't understand what you want to do and suddenly it all falls apart.

[9] The Japanese "win" the battle by sinking twice as many ships as their opponent, but in practice it's a really tough blow. This is essentially a "better-case" Java Sea which still ends in a tactical Allied defeat.

[10] But really mostly because the ML-KNIL did not have the manpower, firepower and air support the Commonwealth divisions could enjoy in Malaya...

[11] No Guadalcanal, Bougainville or New Guinea Campaign means no Battle of the Coral Sea...but that doesn't mean Lexington won't see carrier on carrier action before Summer! The reasoning will be explained on the Singapore Express chapter, but it essentially has to do with Bataan becoming a point of national pride with the U.S, which leads them to invest heavily into the defence of Java and Singapore.


Note: Map of the South-East Asian Front on May 1st, 1942

Spoiler

 

[Wings]

Chapter 53

Siege of Bataan

Rest of 1942

​

Supplying Bataan was always going to be a monumental task, if not an impossible one. In fact, the US Navy hardly believed in it themselves. They had prepared six destroyers to try and run the IJN blockade, but with the situation in Malaya and Borneo, this was deemed too risky, and these units were sent to Java instead.

Thus, to supply the besieged forces, the only solution found was to organise supply by submarine. The U.S Navy hardly believed in these supply runs, since most of these submarines would not be able to carry much of anything. Attempts made by the USS Seawolf, Trout, Seadragon, Permit and Sargo were only partially successful, and clearly would not be able to meet the needs of the 80,000 trapped personnel in Bataan and Corregidor.

However, the Americans were quickly approached by the head of the French Pacific Squadron, Admiral Decoux, who proposed an audacious plan. The French had a submarine, the Surcouf, which was…odd to say the least. Not only was the submarine much larger than the average submarine of the time, with 4,300 long tons displacement submerged, but it was also very recognizable with its cannon. The submarine had been operating from Darwin, and had just rallied Singapore. Admiral Decoux thus offered Admiral Hart, head of the Asiatic Fleet, a plan [1].

The Surcouf would literally clear its premises: it would carry no torpedoes and only the strictly necessary personnel, in order to load a maximum number of rations. All in all, the Surcouf could carry 15,000 boxes of K-rations, or about 2 days’ worth of supplies for the entire peninsula. It would then set sail from Singapore, heading to Bataan, a journey of between 3 to 6 days. With no other clear option, Admiral Hart accepted this plan, and the Surcouf docked at Mariveles on February 2nd. It would unload during the night, and then run to Miri, then Singapore.

Over the course of the month of February, the Surcouf would thus complete three and a half round-trips to the besieged peninsula from Borneo, only carrying rations each time, and leaving with wounded or civilians. The success of the French submarine (which was nonetheless tiring for its crew, which hardly had a moment to rest) emboldened the Americans to do the same with their own. On March 4th, the submarine USS Argonaut docked at Mariveles, carrying supplies, spare parts for the few P-40s remaining, and water filtering kits for the island of Corregidor. On March 5th, it would be the USS Narwhal that would come, bringing in more rations, as well as desperately needed rice and flour. The two submarines would see the arrival of the Nautilus only two months later, as the latter had been stuck in San Francisco for a long-overdue refit [2].

The defenders of Bataan would come to name these submarines the “Three Musketeers”. A nickname that did not change with the arrival of the Nautilus. After all, the Musketeers were four in total in Alexandre Dumas’ story. Each time, these submarines would bring in much-needed ammunition, supplies, and even the soldiers’ mail! Morale was of the utmost importance for McArthur, and he thus asked the Navy to spare some room in the submarines for the mail, which was more important to him than a few rounds of ammunition.

With the repulsion of the Japanese offensive in April, Bataan suddenly became a point of national pride for the United States. McArthur and Quezon’s heroic resistance in a dire situation emboldened the country, so much so that letting them down now was impossible: Bataan had to hold.

Supply by submarine was good, but it wasn’t good enough. Even if the “Three Musketeers” worked overtime, they wouldn’t be able to bear the weight on their shoulders alone. Of course, other submarines of the Asiatic fleet helped, but Hart, then Carpender, wished to keep most of these in offensive operations, not supply ones [3]. President Roosevelt thus ordered to construct six new “submarine cruisers”, which would be put on the slips immediately. These submarines would have the exact specificities of the Argonaut, but with more space intended to transport ammunition, supplies, etc… These submarines were assigned as top priority to Mare Island Naval Shipyard, in Vallejo. Put on the slips as early as April 6th, the first of the class, the USS Dugong, would enter service on August 7th, 1942. All six would be operational by the end of the year [4].

However, there would still need to be more than this to keep Bataan afloat, especially if the Asiatic Fleet submarines wanted to hunt Japanese shipping instead of "playing taxi". The United States considered to supply Bataan by air, but this was quickly ruled out. The secret B-17 bases in Mindanao, the Visayas and Palawan would need to be kept as such. Thus, there remained only the naval option. Using destroyers as blockade runners was entirely out of the question, and would only be used as a last resort in the mind of the high command. PT-Boats were also proposed. Operating from Singapore, they could rush to the Riau Archipelago, then the Spratly Islands, before heading to Bataan [5].

This was judged impractical. The British and Commonwealth forces could offer air cover as far as the Riau Archipelago, but the rest of the journey would have to be done with no air or naval cover, with the very real chance of running into Japanese air patrols coming from Saigon or even the Spratlys themselves. Makeshift bases could certainly be implanted in the Riau Archipelago, which had already become much more strategic after the fall of Borneo. Riau itself was targeted by the Japanese, who tried to land there in June 1942, but were repulsed by the bolstered British garrison. With more pressing matters, the Japanese did not insist, thinking that the fall of Java would mean that they could try again later [6].

However, the main issue for the U.S PT-Boats was range. An American PT-Boat could only go about 500 miles on average, which was nowhere near the distance required to make it to Bataan, which was around 1500 miles. Of course, the supply bases on the Riau Archipelago could help with such distance, but then, it was the open ocean. Filipino guerillas could try to supply PT-Boats arriving on Palawan, but Japanese efforts to cut the “Singapore Express” meant that the island was occupied as early as May 6th, therefore removing this idea from the board. Tanaka had indeed marked the island as very strategic for the conquest of Bataan, both for its use as a seaplane base and to deny the Allies possibilities of resupplying there.

The British presented their own solution. The Royal Navy had just designed a new kind of motor gunboat, the MGB-501, built by Camper & Nicholson. This launch resembled a US PT-Boat, but had an effective range of 2000 miles, which meant that it could easily rally Bataan, provided it could be resupplied there. The issue the Americans ran into was that these launches were too useful for the British to just be handed over, and not many were in service with the Royal Navy. The Aegean Campaign made the need for these types of boats especially pressing for the Royal Navy, which was thus extremely reluctant to part from them…except for a good price [7].

In the end, there was really no other choice for the Americans. Submarine resupply was never going to be enough; destroyer blockade runners were too risky and not worth the risk, and American PT-Boats were just too limited in range. On June 9th, the U.S Navy signed a contract to acquire every single MGB-501-class vessel the Royal Navy had, which was unfortunately only five vessels (three had been completed as regular MGBs). These ships were especially modified in ways similar to the submarine cruisers, with armament dressed down to the complete minimum and bolstered with a Packard engine and extra fuel tanks which would increase their speed and autonomy. They would arrive in Singapore in October 1942, ready for their first Singapore Express run [8].

Of the five vessels engaged, two would be sunk by Japanese aircraft, and one would be declared irreparable after a Japanese strafing run. Only one would survive the war, all being preserved in museums today (one in Singapore and one on Corregidor, as is tradition! [9]). But they had done their part.

Overall, the submarines and enhanced MGBs would manage the impossible: to supply Bataan through the siege. In return, these vessels would evacuate as many people as possible. First were non-essential personnel and wounded, of course. Then came specialists: officers and technicians who would make the bulk of the new divisions to be sent to the Pacific theatre. McArthur also insisted on evacuating a good number of Filipinos. These ones were usually Scouts, but also people who knew certain key areas: the Visayas and Mindanao were especially useful. Several hundred Filipino Scouts would thus bolster the ranks of the U.S Guerillas on the islands in this way. Both General McArthur and President Quezon were offered many times to be evacuated, but each time both refused. They insisted that they were to be there when the siege would be relieved.

But it would not be this year [10].





[1] Admiral Decoux is still technically the head of the French Pacific Squadron, though Admiral Bérenger is more well-known, in a Helfrich/Doorman situation.

[2] The Nautilus was in refit until mid-April OTL.

[3] Admiral Carpender would succeed Admiral Hart as head of Asiatic Fleet, though the command only included submarines in the Singapore-Philippines area. Admiral Fletcher will command "East Indies Fleet", which will operate from Java and Timor.

[4] The submarines will be USS Dugong, USS Espada, USS Fanegal, USS Garlopa, USS Hammerhead and USS Jallao. OTL Hammerhead will become USS Ono and OTL Jallao will become USS Jawfish.

[5] A resupply base in the Spratlys was considered but never put in place due to the fact that it would be too exposed to Japanese reconnaissance and naval assets.

[6] As said before, the British substantially reinforced Riau with mostly Indian troops.

[7] Nothing can't be paid for! In cash or otherwise...

[8] These "enhanced" MGBs would take the name of Allied victories in the Asian theatre up until then: USS An Khe, Moulmein, Kota Bharu, Raheng and Kuantan. Bataan was not chosen so as not to put any superstition on the mission: all five of these localities had by then fallen to the Japanese.

[9] The USS An Khe is preserved at the Singapore War Museum at Fort Siloso, while the USS Raheng is preserved at the Siege of Bataan Memorial Museum, at Corregidor.

[10] Still a long way to go for the besieged unfortunately, but there is hope.

 

[Wings]

Chapter 54

Mediterranean Theater

January - April 1942

​

Ever since the end of Operation Sirocco and the fall of North Africa into Allied hands, the eyes shifted towards Sicily. Once Greece had held and it was certain that the Axis could not reach Athens, preparations for Operation Torch began in earnest. This name was chosen as it was easily pronounced in English and French, the two main languages spoken by the participants in the operation. Operation Torch would thus aim at securing Sicily, an objective which only grew stronger with the entry of Japan into the war. The Strait of Sicily needed to be secured, and the Regia Marina definitively put out of action. This would allow the British to begin transferring units to the Far East, and stop them from having to devolve many resources in protecting the Singapore Convoys.

With the Greek Army being slowly reinforced and reequipped, it was possible to divert divisions from the Greek Front to participate in Torch. Planners estimated the concentration of troops to be ready as soon as the end of February, but this was considered too early, as the Allies needed more aircraft. The arrival of the first American Fighter Squadrons in Tunis helped relieve this worry, and planning started for a landing in mid-April 1942.

In addition, Churchill had his eyes on the bigger picture. For him, Sicily could be enough to turn the tide on the Italians, whom he knew were dallying. He thought that the capture of Sicily would likely turn the country against Mussolini, thus presenting an opportunity for the Allies. First in continental Italy, of course, where Churchill thought he could very well strike northwards. But also, in Greece. There lay nearly 15 Italian divisions facing the Allies in Greece, and Churchill hoped to kill two birds with one stone by invading Sicily. He could then shift to Italy, but it would also lead the Italians to surrender their piece of the front, leaving the Germans brutally over-extended on too large a front to cover, allowing for an Allied offensive which could well push the Germans all the way back to the Aliakmon River. Churchill had his eyes set on other prizes, to the north: Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, chief of all, and then…we would see.

Grand plans, certainly, but he would need a sizeable force, and ensure that Axis forces were lured away. This was Operation Mincemeat. The body of a Royal Navy officer washed up on a beach in Spain with a briefcase chained to his wrist, the contents of which outlined the plans for a large landing near Thessaloniki, on the German flank, as well as a French-led effort to retake Corsica. This led to the redeployment of several divisions initially slated for the Eastern Front towards Bulgaria and Thessaloniki, as well as the reinforcement of Sardinia and Corsica with several Italian divisions [1]. The 1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann-Goring was also deployed to Italy as a reserve, joining the 1st Fallschirmjager Division, which was located in Gela, awaiting a planned drop on Malta which was slated for…April (but delayed because of the Demyansk Pocket relief) [2].

The Allies also had to wait a little longer for the delivery of the first LCI and LCT. These would be crucial for the smooth landing of troops, and had been accumulating in North Africa ever since October 1941. Likewise, the Allies waited until some RAF Squadrons had been transferred from Egypt and the “mainland” before starting the operation.

There was also the issue of diversions, to make things more believable. Assaults were planned on the island of Samothraki, right off the coast of Bulgarian-occupied Thrace. Several commandos would also be landed on Thasos and Corfu, in order to perfect the diversion, which would occur two days before the launching of Operation Torch. The Allied air forces would also organize a large sweep in Greece, and a large bombing of Ploiesti, on the same day [3].

As for the Allies forces, they were plentiful. These were divided into three groups. The largest one, which would assault the beaches in the south-east, around Syracuse, would be under British command. This would include the 6th Infantry and 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Divisions, which had fought in Greece and Libya, respectively. It would also include the 2nd NZ Division, possibly the most experienced unit in terms of naval landings, as well as the 5th Indian Division, which had already seen battle. Finally, the 2nd South African Division and the British 44th (Home Counties) Division would complete the order of battle, with the 44th occupying the role of floating reserve.

To the south, the “Belgian-Polish Corps” would land between the towns of Marina di Ragusa and Pozzallo. This curious amalgamation would incorporate the Belgian 2nd Infantry Division, which had seen fire in Greece, along with the new 5th Infantry Division, a majority Flemish unit, placed in floating reserve. The Belgians would fight alongside the 3rd Polish Infantry Division, which had evacuated in August 1940 following the General’s Plot [4].

Finally, the French would land further west, in the vast stretch of beaches between Licata and Scoglitti. Their Corps would also number three divisions, with two of them being already experienced: the 192nd Infantry Division and the 86th African Infantry Division. They would be joined by the (relatively) untested 1st Alpine Division, and the 13th DBLE would also provide support as a floating reserve [5].

An armored component was likewise not forgotten. The Franco-Belgian Armored Group would be formed for this purpose, with units coming from the 1st Belgian Armored Division and the French 2nd Armored Division, operating in the French sector, in second echelon. This was deemed to be satisfactory in an area which was not very suitable for tank warfare, though the entirety of both divisions were placed on alert in Tunisia in case of an emergency.

An American participation was, of course, required. The American air and naval forces would be the most present, of course. A task force centered around USS Ranger would provide support for the landings, alongside the HMS Illustrious, Eagle, Ark Royal and MN Verdun. Air cover would be provided by the 33rd and 57th Fighter Groups, who would join French, Belgian, British, South African, Polish and even Czech aerial assets in the region [6]. For ground forces, however, there was a disagreement. The Americans insisted on having troops participate in Torch, while the rest of the Allies were reluctant, as the U.S. forces were not experienced (for the British) or not appropriately armed (for the French). Bowing to political pressure however, it was finally decided to send the 13th Armored Regiment, commanded by Colonel Paul Robinett. This is not a coincidence, as the Regiment would be assigned to the French landing area, and Robinett studied at the French Saumur cavalry school [7].

A sizeable order of battle for the Allies, then, the Axis one paled to in comparison. Opposite them, the Italians were determined to hold Sicily, but hardly had many men to devote to the task. There were thus only five divisions on the island: the 1st Infantry Division Superga, the 4th Infantry Division Livorno, the 26th Infantry Division Assietta, the 28th Infantry Division Aosta, and the 54th Infantry Division Napoli [8]. And it had just lost the 16th Motorized Division Pistoia, which had left for Sardinia and Corsica due to fears of an Allied landing there. They were timidly reinforced by the 1st Fallschirmjager Division, bringing the total number of Axis divisions on the island to six, thus facing twelve full Allied infantry divisions (plus the Foreign Legion Brigade, the Franco-Belgian armored group and several commando groups).

The Regia Marina was not to be of great help either, considering the thrashings of the previous year. Since the beginning of the war, it had lost four battleships, five heavy cruisers, six light cruisers, thirty-six destroyers and about the same number of submarines. And it was not much better in the air. Certainly, the Italians could count on the experienced X Fliegerkorps, which had proven to be a thorn in the Allied side during their runs across the Mediterranean. However, the state of the Italian air force was poor. Many experienced pilots had either lost their lives or been captured during the many attempts to stop the Greece or Singapore convoys, or over the Pindus Mountains or Attica. The Regia Aeronautica thus put a sizeable force in the southern half of Italy, but most of these aircraft were only manned by inexperienced recruits or transfers from Northern Italy who had not seen a P-40 before.

The Allied preparations finally culminated in the launching of Operation Torch, the first step into an Axis country, on April 19th, 1942.





[1] Most notably, one would see the presence of the 3rd and 60th Motorized Divisions in Bulgaria, having been diverted from Case Blue (which the Germans are adamant will reach the Baku oilfields this time). With the 16th Panzer in Greece, this means that XIV Panzer Corps is erased from Case Blue.

[2] The 1st FM-P is located around Naples and will see action during Torch. Additionally, the landing on Malta had been previously delayed as well, due to the catastrophic losses suffered on Limnos by the German Paras.

[3] RAF bombers waited to bomb the oilfields until they had concentrated enough firepower to effectively bomb the area and it was certain that the Heer could not make another run for Athens. The bombers operate either from Crete or Rhodes, as Tatoi is reserved for operations on the Greek front only.

[4] Another consequence of a longer Battle of France and a more unstable situation post-collapse.

[5] I say relatively as their core did fight in the Battle of France, as part of the Army of the Alps.

[6] Both of these American Fighter Groups join the fray earlier due to a lessened threat on Hawaii as the Kido Butai definitely turns its eyes towards the Dutch East Indies. Additionally, the need for American air forces to be present in the area was also paramount, and an Allied North Africa in 1942 greatly helps the transfer of aircraft directly to Tunisia from the U.S.

[7] Like the Fighter Groups, the transfer of troops to North Africa was accelerated thanks to the Allies having control over all of North Africa. The Americans can logically see fire much earlier than in OTL.

[8] In essence, the Italians have traded the 15th Panzergrenadier and 29th Panzergrenadier of OTL for the 1st Infantry Superga and pieces of the 16th Motorized Pistoia ITTL.

 

[Wings]

Chapter 55

Mediterranean Theater

April 1942

The day before Torch started, a gigantic air operation, mobilizing all the available Allied units, started. At Rethymnon and Rhodes, 50 Avro Lancasters took off in order to go bomb the Ploiesti installations. Caught off-guard, the Creditul Minier refineries were bombed with near-impunity by the RAF. Due south, Bulgarian railway junctions at Sofia and Plovdiv were bombed, just like Alexandroupoli and Skopje, with more German opposition. German airfields were targeted as far as Sofia, all in order to perfect the diversion.

In Italy, Sardinia was hard hit as well. Cagliari, Decimomannu and Villacidro were hit by bombers, who were then succeeded by fighter sweeps. Sicily was targeted, but with less intensity: Comiso and Trapani were the most badly hit, with the installations of X Fliegerkorps present in Sicily being severely shaken and dozens of aircraft being lost on the ground [1]. Operations would continue into the night, with the bombing of Enna and several key positions in Sicily. It was also during the night of April 18th to 19th that Torch started in earnest.

Elements of the 1st Airlanding Brigade and the 1st Parachute Brigade landed near Syracuse, while elements of the 1st Belgian Parachute Battalion landed near Comiso, where a fierce battle raged for control of the airfield, which would soon come to host the Spitfires of the RAF and Hurricanes of the SAAF. Likewise, French paras of the 1st RCP isolated the Western landing beaches, paving the way for the Allied landings. SAS and commandos would also land as reconnaissance, taking over lighthouses and key crossing points. This completely disorganized the command of General Alfredo Guzzoni, who was now flooded with reports of an airborne assault in progress over Sicily. Dispatching the 1st Infantry Superga, he attempted to restore order…until the shock came.

At forty past five in the morning, General Bernard Law Montgomery’s 1st British Army landed on the shores of Sicily, with the 2nd NZ Division in the lead, closely followed by the 2nd South African Division and the 6th British Infantry Division. The Belgians and French landed a few minutes later, under scattered opposition, which is dispatched thanks to the big guns supporting the landings from offshore. This does not say that the Italians did not react, but with the confusion of the airborne landings, and the air support of the P-40s and brand-new P-51 Mustangs of the French Air Force, which saw their baptism of fire in the skies over Sicily, it is hell [2]. The ground units cannot move without being subjected to hell from above, and the Italian high command was itself confused as no reconnaissance could be carried out. And X Fliegerkorps took time to respond, as its installations had been bombed out and most of its forces still laid in Continental Italy. On the ground, the 1st Fallschirmjager Division was just as confused as its Italian partners, and the reports that arrive in Berlin were contradictory at best [3].

But the time to clarify the situation and transfer air assets to Cosenza, the damage had been done. The Allies had gained a massive foothold on the Italian island, with the British (well, South Africans…) having taken Syracuse and now in the process of moving towards Augusta. Comiso had been taken by the Belgians of the 2nd Infantry Division, while the French had already started to land the first elements of the Franco-Belgian Armored Group, with their S-50 “Arcole” and S-55 “Turenne” in the lead. General Juin’s 2nd French Army had come to Italy with a vengeance!

These tanks would see action during the second day of operations, helping to secure Niscemi and the roads towards Caltagirone, thus opening the road to Enna and General Guzzoni’s headquarters. The Italians having nothing to counter the behemoths, the French push was more hampered by the geography, with the hills being the main obstacles for the French vehicles, who were joined by the Belgian M3s. The Allies had managed to spread out, with the British encountering the resistance of the German paratroopers on the approach to Augusta. The French had for their part committed the 13th DBLE which reached Porto Empedocle, while the Poles inserted themselves between the Belgians and the British, hoping to seek contact with the German paratroopers.

That very day, without waiting for a reaction from X Fliegerkorps, which was still concentrating in Cosenza, the Regia Aeronautica struck. In an attempt to sink the invasion fleet, it committed everything it had to attacking the ships on the British side, off Syracuse. However, by now, the British and French had learned from their lessons in Greece. Fighter Directors immediately launched aircraft from the fleet carriers, allowing to intercept the Italians before they could do much damage. Despite a true sense of courage and sacrifice by the Italian crews, this attempt was doomed. Poorly escorted and facing off against an experienced enemy, no ships were sunk by the Italians, who lost nearly 90 aircraft for the loss of 20 Allied fighters. Only the old HMS Hawkins was severely damaged and sent back to Alexandria for repairs, with the U.S Navy also experiencing a brush with disaster, with the cruiser USS Augusta seeing a bomb hit, thankfully without too much damage but with casualties, while their aviators, too excited, bore the brunt of the casualties that day.

The next few days are not much better for the Italians. The hills formed a good defensive barrier, but it seemed as if the entire world was crumbling, with all of southern Sicily seemingly falling to the Allies. On the evening of April 21st, Augusta capitulated to the 6th British Infantry Division. The next day, a Franco-Belgian effort by the 1st Alpine Division and 5th Belgian Infantry Division managed to make a dent in the lines of the 26th Infantry Division Assietta, forcing Guzzoni to withdraw them to Caltanissetta, almost in the center of the island, in order to avoid it being encircled and destroyed.

In Berlin, the situation was finally becoming clear. The attacks in Greece had subsided, and elements of X Fliegerkorps could finally be transferred to Cosenza without worrying about a new Allied bombing raid in Greece [4]. Additionally, Hitler assented to sending the 1st Fallschirm-Panzer Hermann-Goring to Sicily, asking Mussolini for means of transport to get the Armored Division onto the island and drive the Allies into the sea! [5] Something Mussolini was only too happy to accept, considering the alarmist reports he received from Guzzoni. Though by April 22nd, the Italians, with the help of their German allies, had managed to stop the advance of the 1st British Army just short of Catania. But this small victory came at a price, with the Poles of the 3rd Infantry Division blasting through the lines of the 1st Fallschirmjager at Palagonia, thus securing the south-eastern side of the Italian island [6].

The Regia Marina was the next to try its luck, but did not do much better than the Regia Aeronautica. Trying to oppose the fire support groups which had sailed towards Catania, they would lose two destroyers for no losses to a Franco-British group (which included a Greek and an American destroyer). But the Allies would not be getting out scot-free on that day. X Fliegerkorps, having assembled all its aircraft (nearly 200!) around Cosenza and Catanzaro, launched a massive raid aimed at the same invasion fleet the Italian had failed to destroy. Just like a few days ago, the Allies launched their aircraft with good coordination, but these were not the SM.79 or the Re.2002 of Superaero, these were the Ju 87 and Ju 88 of the Luftwaffe! Properly escorted by Bf-109 and by surviving Italian aircraft of the earlier slaughter, this attack submerged the Allies. While the French and British held their own, the Americans, new in this high-intensity fight, lost their footing and some cohesion, leaving their carrier, the USS Ranger, prone to attacks [7]. Despite the efforts from the French CLAA Georges Leygues, the U.S carrier group was severely hit. The destroyer USS Roe was hit by two bombs which quickly sank it, with the carrier USS Ranger itself being shaken by several bombs and hit by two. While one only perforated the carrier, the other started a huge fire which dropped its speed and made it a prime target for the German bombers. Three smaller bombs would find their mark on the Ranger, one of which struck one of the engine rooms, forcing the carrier to stop. After two hours of agony, it would finally sink. X Fliegerkorps had succeeded where the Italians had failed: they had taken out a carrier, but it had cost them 80 aircraft, for the loss of only 25 Allied aircraft. Worse, the Americans would accompany the French and British on “vengeance raids” that day against the airfields at Cosenza and Catanzaro. Hit no less than four times, X Fliegerkorps’ offensive strength was annihilated in less than a day with over two thirds of its aircraft destroyed, either in flight or on the ground (about 130 destroyed out of 180 engaged).

In Rome, this news was a disaster, which only served Mussolini to ask for the transfer of the Hermann-Goring Division to be accelerated, and fast. In addition, he ordered the Regia Marina to give it the best escort it had, with a transfer planned for the night of April 24th to 25th. In Berlin, Hitler was more preoccupied with the operations in the East, and the imminent fall of Sevastopol, but still took time to reassure his ally. The Panzers sent would undoubtedly turn the tide and smash the Allies, sending them tumbling back into the sea. The problem was…the Hermann-Goring Division paled in comparison to its Eastern Front counterparts, having only been formed recently, and still lacking the number of tanks a proper German Panzer Division should have. As for the losses incurred by X Fliegerkorps, the Fuhrer assented to transfer aircraft from Norway, which was as calm as could be and not in any imminent danger: 80 fighters and bombers were thus immediately transferred to southern Italy. Likewise, units were pulled from Greece in order to bolster aerial forces in Sicily, who were now submerged by the Allied numbers [8].

But Hitler will soon see his hopes dashed. During the night of the 24th to the 25th, the Italo-German set sail from Naples, bound for Palermo, with the bulk of the Fallschirm-Panzer Division. As Mussolini promised, the Regia Marina sent the bulk of what it had left to escort it: the battleship Giulio Cesare, the heavy cruiser Trento and the light cruisers Raimondo Montecuccoli, Emanuele Filiberto Duca d’Aosta and Giuseppe Garibaldi in the lead, along with several destroyers. The movement of these heavy ships from La Spezia did not go unnoticed by Allied intelligence however, which prepared a welcoming party. Looming in the shadows, a Franco-American squadron supported by the HMS Barham and Queen Elizabeth, prepared to intercept.

The following battle was the last ride of the Regia Marina. The Trento was sunk by a volley of shells and torpedoes from the cruiser Montcalm, with the two light cruisers being engaged and destroyed by the U.S cruisers Augusta, Tuscaloosa and Brooklyn. The Giulio Cesare, isolated, did not have a chance against the British battleships and the French old lady Lorraine. Six Italian destroyers were also lost, for the loss of three Allied ships: the destroyers USS Livermore and MN Basque, and the French cruiser Gloire, sunk by a German submarine as it limped back to Tunis. The sacrifice of the Regia Marina was not in vain though: most of the convoy transferring the Hermann-Goring Division managed to make it to Sicily. The rest of the division’s equipment would be sent through Messina, in very small doses.

And not a moment too soon, either! The situation was worsening by the day for the Axis troops. In the south, French troops had managed to reach Caltanissetta, threatening Enna, with the British still stuck in front of Catania. The South Africans however had started to envelop the Italian troops around the city, hoping to reach Paterno and the flanks of Mount Etna. The situation became critical enough for the Hermann-Goring Division to be committed almost immediately. With the fall of Caltanissetta and Enna on April 26th, the Panzer Division was committed for a push on the flanks of Mount Etna, towards the South Africans at Paterno, driving a wedge which could counter-encircle the British in the Catania “cauldron”, an area in which the Panzers could properly move. On April 28th, with the fall of Trapani imminent, General Paul Conrath decided to act before the situation became uncontrollable. With a swift move, he tried to burst through at Sferro, but was hit with the vigorous defence of the Polish 3rd Infantry Division, guarding the flank of the South Africans. With the offensive in progress, the Franco-Belgian Armored Group was immediately called to reinforce the Poles, putting pressure on the German flank while moving to Gerbini.

The fight was fierce, but the Hermann-Goring was outmatched. The French Arcoles had no problems in dispatching the Panzer IIIs, struggling a little more against the Panzer IVs. The Belgians used their own Crusaders and M3s to similar effect, blunting the German spearhead at Gerbini, forcing Conrath to abandon his attempt. The British had by then began their own flanking maneuver across the Simeto River, seriously threatening the Germans with encirclement. In the only true large armored battle of the Invasion of Sicily, the Allies had come out on top. However, the losses incurred by the Allies required reinforcements, which involved the dispatching of the 13th Armored Regiment, which landed the next day at Gela [9].

With the threat of the German armor gone, Montgomery was free to launch his units towards Paterno and Centuripe, where fierce fighting occurred between the Commonwealth units and the German paras and Italian infantrymen. Further inland, the fall of Enna prompted French and Belgian troops to move towards Termini Imerese, isolating Palermo. The small town was reached on April 30th, with Palermo occupied on the same day. This move effectively isolated the 28th Infantry Division Aosta, trapped in the hills around Prizzi and Corleone. With the Aosta encircled and the slopes of Mount Etna contested, it seemed that it was now only a matter of time until the fall of Sicily, but the Allies were growing tired after almost two weeks of fighting, and a small pause would be needed for the French at the very least. But General Juin was adamant: he bet Montgomery that he would be in Messina before him, even if he started from Palermo! The race was on [10].



[1] With VIII Fliegerkorps being busy in Crimea, X Fliegerkorps had to cover an area stretching from Sardinia to the Aegean Sea.

[2] The Mustang sees combat early, this will be helpful for the Americans in seeing how their bird performs against the opposition.

[3] The German Paras were also scattered along the eastern coast of Sicily, which certainly did not help communications.

[4] Logically, the Allies could not sustain operations in both Sicily and Greece at high intensity for more than a few days. It did buy them enough time to secure the air over the Italian island, though.

[5] The Hermann-Goring was reclassified as a Panzer-Division earlier due to the threat of an Allied invasion of Italy early. Of course, bearing the name of the Reichsmarshall (and being its personal guard), it had priority in getting equipment.

[6] It doesn't come as too much surprise that the Poles were extremely motivated to fight against the Germans, and the British were only happy to let them have it.

[7] A mix of inexperience, overconfidence and cockiness ends up costing the U.S. aviators who fought they'd eat the Germans alive. Unfortunately for them, the men of X Fliegerkorps have been fighting here for over a year, and they knew their trade well.

[8] It may seem like this exposes Greece, but it was clear that the Allies would not attack there by this point, and the Luftwaffe command felt confident enough to divert resources from there.

[9] The Americans arrive! Unfortunately, they won't see a lot of action, but enough to gain experience. The Hermann-Goring is not down yet after all.

[10] General Pire, of the Belgian Army, would have liked to get in on this bet, but his forces will be relegated to clearing the hills for a while...

 

[Wings]

Chapter 56

Mediterranean Theater

May 1942

​

May brought a small pause in Allied operations in Sicily, except on the British side, where the fall of Centuripe and Paterno came in to celebrate the beginning of the month. With the flank of Mount Etna secured, the South African and British troops were free to rush towards Acireale, closing the Catania pocket on the 1st Gebirgsjager and parts of the 26th Infantry Division Assietta. It would take three days for Montgomery to mop up the town, and set up positions in front of the “Etna Line”, which would need a few days’ preparations to breach. The French and Belgians would also continue clearing the lines of the Aosta division, which fully surrendered on May 4th, 1942.

In the meantime, the Allies did not stay inactive, with French Foreign Legion and British SAS battalions landing on Ustica and the Aegadian Islands. The Allied air forces continued their interdiction missions, stopping the Germans or Italians from being able to ensure naval dominance.

With the establishment of the “Etna Line”, the Allies also managed to buy a few “calm” days, occupying positions without too much of a fight. Nicosia was thus occupied by the Belgians of the 5th Infantry Division, with the Poles pursuing the remnants of the Hermann-Goring Division all the way to Cerami, only stopping in front of the improvised defences of the Etna Line at Troina.

The French for their part covered the most ground: with the fall of Palermo, their divisions continued along the northern coast, past Cefalu and towards Santo Stefano di Camastra, which was reached on May 7th. Their advance stopped around Caronia, with the 1st Alpine Division taking positions in the hills around Mistretta, holding the Belgian flank.

By now, success seemed completely assured for the Allies: the remaining German and Italian forces only held a small quarter of the island, but still defended it with vigor, having established many small obstacles and improvised forts to try and stop the Allied advance while preparing for an upcoming counter-offensive which would drive them out of Sicily. Of course, this was not to be. With the Allies in full control of the seas, and the Regia Marina having been completely decimated, holding Sicily was just an illusion. Hitler in fact categorically refused to send divisions to Italy, though he did agree to the withdrawal of the 6th SS Gebirgs-Division Nord from the Finnish front, for an immediate deployment to Italy [1]. And with the upcoming fall of Leningrad, Hitler also anticipated he could free up more divisions for his “PanzerKorps Italien”, which would be tasked with defending the Boot in case Mussolini faltered in this duty [2]. As for Mussolini, he did not have many divisions at his disposal, the Greek Front having consumed most of his reserves. By the time he redeployed the 25th Infantry Division Bologna and the 17th Infantry Division Pavia, from Naples and Taranto respectfully, the Etna Line had already been breached.

On May 11th, the Etna Line was pierced in several places, and in one go. Belgian troops, helped by armor, smashed the lines of the Hermann-Goring around Troina, reaching Cesaro by nightfall. Likewise, to the south, Montgomery engaged the 50th Infantry (Northumbrian) to clear the defences of the Etna Line around Adrano and Acireale. After only twelve hours of fighting and under Allied-friendly skies, the Etna Line broke. However, with the shortening of the front, the fighting did not subside until several days. Cesaro was not entirely secured until May 13th, when the Poles finally cleared the last remaining German armored vehicles. General Guzzoni warned Rome that same day: he could not expect to hold much longer.

In fact, in Rome, the opinion was divided. Mussolini seemed to believe that with upcoming German reinforcements, the Allies could be driven out of Italy and that their offensive would soon run out of steam. On the other side, General Vittorio Ambrosio, chief of the armed forces, disagreed. The General saw Italy as lost, just like the War in general, and did not see how much longer Mussolini would last as head of government. Ambrosio thus looked to the future: to preserve his forces for what was to come. He believed that with the War lost, the only thing he could do was surrender to the Allies, which would mean turning against the Germans, and for that, he would need as strong of an Army as possible. As such, Ambrosio continued to delay the sending of the Pavia and Bologna Divisions, which he thought were much better used for the “defence” of Naples and Taranto. He just failed to mention against who these divisions would defend those cities.

Ambrosio’s point of view was shared by friends in high places: Marshal Badoglio, and the King himself, Vittorio-Emanuele III. The latter even gave his direct assent for the General to do his utmost to keep Italy as well-defended as he could. Likewise, the King knew that Mussolini would not last much longer. The fall of Sicily was the death knell for Il Duce, and the King would be unwise not to take advantage of it.

Finally, these fears were realized on May 15th, with the Allied general offensive towards Messina. French units started to move along the coast, taking San Fratello and moving towards Torrenova. To the south, the Poles pushed back the Germans in cooperation with the 2nd NZ Division towards Randazzo, on the northern slopes of the Etna. This town was the last bastion before the open road towards Messina, and was thus the scene of very fierce fighting. The Germans and Italians held onto the town with determination, forcing the Allies to fight hard and call several times on air support to unlock the situation. It would not be until May 21st that the town finally fell into the hands of the Polish 3rd Infantry Division, but this one would not cavalcade towards Messina: it had to be replaced at the front by the 2nd Belgian Infantry Division.

The fall of Randazzo meant that the Allies now had Messina in their sights. Paul Conrath, commander of the Hermann-Goring Division, knew that it was over. That night, Berlin gave him the order to evacuate his forces towards the mainland to avoid annihilation. However, these orders were not matched by the Italians: Mussolini believed that even with the loss of the town, Sicily could still be held. Worse, he ordered reinforcements to be sent! Ambrosio consented to send more troops in direction of Naples, but there would be no embarkation. The General, as a fine negotiator (and opportunist) even managed to wrestle from the Duce the repatriation from Greece of a few divisions, including the valuable Principe Amedeo Duca d’Aosta motorized division and the Littorio armored division [3].

With the fall of Randazzo, the Allies immediately got moving. French troops rushed past Capo d’Orlando, towards Brolo, reaching Falcone on the 22nd. On the 24th, Montgomery seized Taormine, last town of any significance before Messina. The Franco-Belgian Armored Group, emboldened by the British successes and wishing to honor Juin’s promise of being the first in Messina, rushed as fast as they could, bolting past Tonnarella and cutting the Milazzo peninsula on the 27th.

The fall of Milazzo prompted Ambrosio to order Guzzoni to immediately evacuate Messina with the forces he had. The Allies were now less than 20 kilometres from the heart of the city, and there was nothing stopping them. What mattered now was the defence of Italy…against who, though, was left unanswered. In fact, there was not much more Guzzoni could save…if only the scattered remains of two infantry divisions.

On May 29th, after a month and a half of furious fighting, the French tanks of General Leclerc entered Messina a little over an hour before General Montgomery’s 6th Infantry Division reached the suburbs of the town. General Juin, arriving in the afternoon, later quipped with the British General: “I believe we have won the first stage of the Giro d’Italia!” [4]. Montgomery lost his bet, but he was no less happy. His forces had reached Messina with minimal casualties, and the Empire had won a great victory! On the Allied side, only the Poles of the 3rd Infantry Division had truly suffered, with the French 1st Alpine Division and New Zealander 2nd Infantry Division also seeing a relatively high number of casualties.

On the other hand, it was a near disaster for the Axis. General Guzzoni had escaped along with the remnants of the 1st Infantry Division Superga and the 4th Infantry Division Livorno, both of which did not even have a quarter of their initial strength. General Conrath’s Hermann-Goring Division fared little better, having preceded the two Italian divisions across the Strait of Messina. But the Axis also lost big: the 1st Gebirgsjager and Assietta Divisions were lost in Catania and in the fights along the Etna Line, the Napoli Division was crushed during the Battle for Enna and the Aosta Division crumbled in the hills over Palermo. And now, as if to taunt them, the Allies launched a massive raid on Naples, on the day after the fall of Messina.

Operation Torch was a massive success for the Allies, and one that would resonate everywhere. But now, there was work to be done, as their gaze turned towards an even greater prize: Italy.






[1] The Finnish Front was becoming a hell for logistics, and with no hope of reaching Murmansk and operations in progress towards Leningrad, it was decided to recall most of the "excess" divisions from the Northern part of the front.

[2] Or, really, more to take control of Italy if Mussolini (or his successor, Berlin was not blind) had the bright idea of handing it over to the Allies.

[3] While avoiding to commit to sending them replacements in Greece, which did not fail to send alarm bells both in London and Berlin.

[4] Referencing the cycling race that took place in Italy annually.