now its time to get it!General Jac said:You are at the gates of Nanjing! Good job Myth
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I hinted at something like this in a previous update, though not quite all of China. Just all remaining Guangxi territory, as well as the provinces the Nationalists begin with in '36. This was as a result of the Japanese DOW on Guangxi.
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Li Jishen walked down streets in Nanjing at random, wondering why the Nationalist defense had not been fiercer, more determined. It seemed to him that their main effort was to the west and in the center—away from the coast. Li Jishen shook his head, that hadn’t yet done them any good, as the Japanese have yet to attack on land, strangely enough, but their chances of a successful attack would diminish as time went on.
As had been the case for the past several months, success had been primarily in the east again. Golukjin made the decision to abandon Hangzhou to advance on Ningbo and firmly encircle the Nationalists in Wenzhou. Even with Nationalist forces infiltrating Hangzhou, Golukjin went ahead and supported Lindemann in his attack, smashing what they believed was five Nationalist divisions.
Golukjin leaving his front—his rear—unprotected to aid in the full destruction of an enemy force.
At the same time, Bai Chongxi had decided to cross the river himself, to attempt to protect Hankou’s flank when Li Jishen next attacked. Supported by Shermentcheff, Bai Chongxi attacked Anqing, placing him squarely in a position where he didn’t have to worry about outflanking while providing support for attacks on both Hankou and Hefei.
The Guangxi attack on the weakly defended town of Anqing.
Bai Chongxi’s move did indeed aid in weakening Hankou’s defenses, but not as Bai Chongxi had envisioned. The Nationalists had immediately attacked Bai Chongxi’s bridgehead from Hefei and Hankou, determined not to allow any Guangxi forces remain on their side of the river. Li Jishen had immediately ordered an attack on Hankou, conscripting Li Zongren to aid with a supporting attack.
Another Guangxi attack on Hankou, to relieve pressure on Anqing.
With Hankou fallen to Guangxi forces, and Li Jishen hoped it would be for the final time, Li Zongren could finally push across the river himself. Supported by Li Jishen and Kravelkin, Li Zongren attacked the weak Nationalist forces in Xiangfan, most of their comrades having been sucked into the violent maelstrom that Hankou had by then become.
Guangxi forces pushing across the river on the western front.
To the east, Bai Chonxi saw that it was time for attack and pushed onward toward Hefei, shielded and supported to his left by Li Jishen in Hankou and supported to his right by Shermentcheff. Resistance was stiff, but the Nationalists were broken in the end and fled northward.
The attack on Hefei.
As with Anqing, Bai Chongxi’s corps was attacked in Hefei and required aggressive attacks in neighboring provinces to protect his position. Li Jishen and Kravelkin attacked Xinyang and halted the Nationalist attack from that direction, but failed to push them out of their positions and had to withdraw back to Hankou. Bai Chongxi was then able to fend off the Nationalist attack Xuzhou on his own.
The Nationalists were getting feisty, as well they should as they were in danger of being cut in two.
Barely allowing his corps recovery from the attacks upon it, Bai Chongxi threw it into supporting Shermentcheff’s advance on Nanjing itself. Golukjin’s corps, which had reached Hangzhou before the Nationalists and fended their attacks off, also provided support. The fighting was short, the Nationalists had very little in terms of an organized defense.
The Guangxi attack on the Nationalist political and industrial capital of Nanjing.
To cap off a successful month, Chen Jitang forced his own way across the river, utilizing the majority of the Yunnanese forces in his assault and attacking Yichang. His aim was to encircle the Nationalists in Wanxian and then crush them, eliminating yet another portion of the hostile army. Li Jishen knew that Chen Jitang had not yet occupied Yichang, but he was sure that the plan would succeed in the end.
Oh, what a heady sensation widespread success was.
It almost sounds like you are setting things up to reveal a 30+ div amphibious landing down south...
Never expected that you would be able to defeat nat china in such a short time keep it up and look out for those japanese buggers
They are coming with Kamikaze and California rolls to sushi you up! You better be prepared!
You did a great job! Never though you finally success so deep in China. Well, I'm excited to see IA Nippon react to your art of war. Good luck!
Nothing is too much for Li Jishen!General Jac said:You may soon meet the Japanese I fear
nothing at the moment, still have dissent I want to whisk away, and other claimants for IC (as you shall see). that, and I don't usually like having stuff in the production queue during wartime, it's my style of play to, as much as possible, get on with what I have on me at the moment.
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Li Jishen was back to staring at the river, glowering across it toward Hankou. Li Jishen supposed idly that if it really didn’t want to be part of Guangxi, a plebiscite could always be held afterward, but stymieing Li Jishen’s progress like it had been was simply rude, no question about it. The fighting that took place in November didn’t go entirely Guangxi’s way, somewhat surprising considering how the Nationalists had performed in October, but Li Jishen was still confident in victory. The Japanese still had not landed, after all.The month essentially began with retreating, advancing too, admittedly, but it was the retreating that constantly stuck in Li Jishen’s mind. He still didn’t like it. It wasn’t him who retreated first, however, but Bai Chongxi. He had found himself in an impossible situation, under attack from four different provinces and with the usual Guangxi aggressive defense, attacking the attackers, only able to be realized against one Nationalist thrust. Bai Chongxi was consequently thrown from Hefei back across the river to Wuhu.
The Nationalists were finding their teeth again.
To alleviate the news of retreat from Hefei came news that Golukjin was attacking Suzhou from Hangzhou, supported by Shermentcheff in Nanjing. The goal was to cut off Chinese forces in Shanghai and destroy them, as the Guangxi generals were slowly realizing that simply pushing the Nationalists back would eventually backfire, as their troops became more and more concentrated.
The attack on Suzhou.
Suzhou quickly fell, and soon Golukjin was in control of the city and ready to support Lindemann’s assault. Unfortunately, Golukjin and Lindemann had been ignorant of a bridge that connected Shanghai and Nantong, affording the Nationalists a route out of the trap.
Attacking the supposed Shanghai pocket.
And then came the retreat from Hankou. Li Jishen couldn’t even remember how many times he had crossed the river withdrawing from the damn city, but it was too many times. The enemy used his newly gained positions at Hefei to good use, but the main attack came from Xiangfan, where large Nationalist forces had halted Li Zongren’s advance across the river.
Yet another retreat, the Nationalists were becoming aggressive again. Or perhaps too cramped.
In Shanghai, Lindemann arrived only to find the last of the enemy retreating across the bridge, and resolved not to let them destroy it. He attacked immediately, supported by Golukjin, and put the enemy to flight once more.
Lindemann was taken aback by the Chinese retreat, but didn’t let it halt his offensive.
With a bridgehead across the river once more, at Nantong, the eastern Guangxi forces resolved to enlarge it even more. Golukjin advanced on Yangzhou, supported on one flank by Shermentcheff and the other by Lindemann. The Nationalist defense quickly crumbled and broke.
Enlarging yet another bridgehead over what had passed into Guangxi military terminology as *the* river.
On the western front, Chen Jitang had finally occupied Yichang and, having to wait for the Yunnanese forces to catch up, decided to aid Li Zongren in attacking Xiangfan again. With the majority of the Nationalist forces that had once been in Xiangfan in Hankou or to the north, it was an easy fight and Li Zongren was soon marching easily.
Yet another attack on a city that had stymied Guangxi progress for months, if never as aggravatingly as Hankou.
As Guangxi officials behind the frontlines arrived to administer the conquered territory, two important developments occurred. The first was that a large proportion of the captured factories were dedicated to fabricating weapons, resulting in the Guangxi divisions all being better equipped by the end of the month than they had been at its beginning.
Guangxi divisions being brought up to the 1936 standard for organization and equipment.
The second was that, by mid-November, the Guangxi industries could afford a third technological pursuit. Li Jishen, having delegated the responsibility to Lei Zhong, received a message informing him that Kwangtung Arsenal had received another contract—to develop a census tabulating machine.
Yet another victory for Guangxi’s burgeoning industry—a third technological pursuit.
Li Jishen was beginning to get worried, however. The Japanese still had not acted beyond sinking the Guangxi transports in Guangzhou and the odd bombing run on Guangxi forces in eastern China. He did not know where their troops were or what they were planning, and this bothered him. Li Jishen sighed, only time would tell. In the meantime, he had to plan the final conquest of the Nationalists and a lenient to ensure that most of the generals defected willingly to his standard.
The various Hankow campaigns are really going to annoy historical military map cartographers. More advance and retreat arrows than you can shake a stick at!
Li Jishen watched yet again as Guangxi soldiers advanced toward Hankou. The Nationalists had already been beaten, and were fleeing southward to Changsha. Looking down at the ever-present map of China, he snorted with amusement and shook his head, the frontlines were becoming more and more confused. Li Jishen smiled, it was ironic that the Nationalists were withdrawing south.
Shermentcheff had, after all, attacked Hefei, supported by Bai Chongxi, to continue the work of expanding the renewed Guangxi foothold across the river. Not to mention, it would unseat the Nationalist government again, which was always an advantageous thing to do. Golukjin did not partake in this battle as his corps required some time to rest and reorganize, but his aid had not been necessary in ejecting the Nationalist defenders from Hefei anyway.
Attacking Hefei once more.
As soon as Shermentcheff has occupied Hefei, he turned around and supported Bai Chongxi’s advance back to Anqing, forcing the sole Nationalist division defending the town to divide its efforts and thus be defeated quite easily. Hankou was thus menaced by Guangxi forces both from Xiangfan, Hefei and Anqing.
The second-to-last move in the campaign to end the Hankou problem one and for all.
Soon, though, the disturbing news everyone had been fearing arrived. The Japanese had landed in unknown strength on Hainan Island. And there was no one to meet them.
The Japanese had landed at least, finally fulfilling the fears of every Guangxi general.
Not allowing the grave news to slow down the conquest of the Nationalists, which could be fatal, Chen Jitang finally launched his assault on Ankang, supported by a large portion of the Yunnanese army, in his effort to encircle Wanxian. The Nationalists would then be stuck between the Communists, the Yunnanese and the Guangxi and would be destroyed in yet another battle of annihilation.
Wanxian, which had stymied progress on the far western front, would soon be helpless to Guangxi forces.
With Bai Chongxi safely marching on Anqing, Shermentcheff changed his axis of support to Xinyang, to hit the Nationalists in the rear, as Li Zongren was attacking them in the front, from Xiangfan. Li Jishen wanted the Nationalist defenders of Hankou encircled, so that they could finally be crushed.
The encirclement of Hankou.
As soon as Li Zongren marched into Xinyang, the final attack on Hankou began. Li Zongren turned around and threw his corps into supporting the attack as Bai Chongxi, Li Jishen and Kravelkin dedicated their units wholly to the battle. The Nationalists attempted to break the siege by attacking Hefei, and succeeded is pushing Shermentcheff out despite Golukjin’s attack on Xuzhou to take some pressure of him.
It was hoped in all military circles—Nationalist as well as Guangxi—that this would be the final battle for Hankou.
The Nationalists were defeated and fled southward toward Changsha, which one vanguard Nationalist division had captured before the battle for Hankou started again. Meanwhile, Ankang fell to Chen Jitang and the final attack on Wanxian began. Nineteen divisions arrayed themselves to attack the estimated three divisions the Nationalists fielded around the mountain town. Victory was quite certain.
Conquering Wanxian would free up nearly 20 divisions for use elsewhere.
Li Jishen shook his head—the Nationalists could not resist much longer now. They could, of course, retreat into neutral Shanxi, but if all their important cities were in Guangxi hands they would be annexed all the same. Li Jishen hoped this would happen soon, the Japanese needed to be dealt with.
China, January 1 1937.
Shermentcheff had, after all, attacked Hefei, supported by Bai Chongxi, to continue the work of expanding the renewed Guangxi foothold across the river. Not to mention, it would unseat the Nationalist government again, which was always an advantageous thing to do. Golukjin did not partake in this battle as his corps required some time to rest and reorganize, but his aid had not been necessary in ejecting the Nationalist defenders from Hefei anyway.
Attacking Hefei once more.
As soon as Shermentcheff has occupied Hefei, he turned around and supported Bai Chongxi’s advance back to Anqing, forcing the sole Nationalist division defending the town to divide its efforts and thus be defeated quite easily. Hankou was thus menaced by Guangxi forces both from Xiangfan, Hefei and Anqing.
The second-to-last move in the campaign to end the Hankou problem one and for all.
Soon, though, the disturbing news everyone had been fearing arrived. The Japanese had landed in unknown strength on Hainan Island. And there was no one to meet them.
The Japanese had landed at least, finally fulfilling the fears of every Guangxi general.
Not allowing the grave news to slow down the conquest of the Nationalists, which could be fatal, Chen Jitang finally launched his assault on Ankang, supported by a large portion of the Yunnanese army, in his effort to encircle Wanxian. The Nationalists would then be stuck between the Communists, the Yunnanese and the Guangxi and would be destroyed in yet another battle of annihilation.
Wanxian, which had stymied progress on the far western front, would soon be helpless to Guangxi forces.
With Bai Chongxi safely marching on Anqing, Shermentcheff changed his axis of support to Xinyang, to hit the Nationalists in the rear, as Li Zongren was attacking them in the front, from Xiangfan. Li Jishen wanted the Nationalist defenders of Hankou encircled, so that they could finally be crushed.
The encirclement of Hankou.
As soon as Li Zongren marched into Xinyang, the final attack on Hankou began. Li Zongren turned around and threw his corps into supporting the attack as Bai Chongxi, Li Jishen and Kravelkin dedicated their units wholly to the battle. The Nationalists attempted to break the siege by attacking Hefei, and succeeded is pushing Shermentcheff out despite Golukjin’s attack on Xuzhou to take some pressure of him.
It was hoped in all military circles—Nationalist as well as Guangxi—that this would be the final battle for Hankou.
The Nationalists were defeated and fled southward toward Changsha, which one vanguard Nationalist division had captured before the battle for Hankou started again. Meanwhile, Ankang fell to Chen Jitang and the final attack on Wanxian began. Nineteen divisions arrayed themselves to attack the estimated three divisions the Nationalists fielded around the mountain town. Victory was quite certain.
Conquering Wanxian would free up nearly 20 divisions for use elsewhere.
Li Jishen shook his head—the Nationalists could not resist much longer now. They could, of course, retreat into neutral Shanxi, but if all their important cities were in Guangxi hands they would be annexed all the same. Li Jishen hoped this would happen soon, the Japanese needed to be dealt with.
China, January 1 1937.
Indee, the Japanese could cause a whole lot of trouble unless they are stopped and stopped soon.
stnylan said:
Looks like they captured Yanan off the Communists, they won't be annexable until its taken back :/
Nice shade of blue across China though
