Given 1.2, how does one invade USSR as Japan. Obviously the question at this point is almost entirely logistics, and very little strategy. While this may see some major overhaul, its very likely some of this will remain valid in 1.3 a month from now.
Shanxi Region:
While its perfectly reasonable to puppet Shanxi as you conquer China (extract your army in invade elsewhere), annexing it makes dealing with Mongolia much easier.
Assuming that you conquered China, you almost certainly have enough port capacity. Expand Dagu to a capacity 10 port. Improve the infrastructure from Qingdao to Beijing. The more the better. It can't hurt to improve infrastructure from Shanghai to this supply line either. It can be critical in an early war, but can be less critical as other ports are expanded. I added two ports between Qingdao and Shanghai. One was a "mulberry" I placed during my invasion, the second one I added once I had the province. Keep expanding these ports. Other ports in the south should not be an issue. For example, I puppeted Guanxi Clique, so didn't have their ports.
As you can see on the map, I established a two province program of improvements from Dagu and my Quingdao line up to the Mongolian border. this map was taken after victory so you can see Japanese units in Mongolia and I re-drew the Mongolian border. Plus you can see improvements in Mongolian infrastructure I undertook as I advanced.
You start with the North China Army in Manchuria. After the war with China, I sent it back to Manchuria. Obviously supply there could handle it. All additional troops added to China were part of the Central China Army, an army group I added. It's mission in the Soviet war was to advance from the Manchurian border through Xibei San Ma into Mongolia. I could improve infra in the Shanxi region, but not further east. The Central China Army was an army group containing two armies of a total of four corps. Furthest east was the 25. Hendan containing 10 mountain brigades organized into five divisions. Then there was the 2. Hendan containing infantry 10 brigades in four divisions. Those were in Xibei San Ma, all one division to a province. In the Shanxi border, I had three provinces and three full strength corps (roughly 10-12 brigades). These at at then end of the green line of improvements. An airfield was also constructed here that would end up including two units of multi-role fighters and one unit of tac air.
The mission of the 9th Army in Xibei San Ma was to advance more or less unopposed into eastern Mongolia. It never ran out of supply.
The mission of the 1st Army in the Shanxi border region was to
It did these, although one of the corps was withdrawn after the surrender of 22,000 Red Army troops at Nuden so that the other two corps could advance without competing for supply. It remained on the Japanese side of the border ready to advance if required.
The Air started with ground attacks, but shifted to interdiction as I began to cut off Soviet units.
Korea Region:
Here you have two ports, one a 10, the other smaller, but significant at Hamhung.
As things stand at start, they can support you at-start Manchurian forces through some limited offensives. While I returned the North China Army to Manchuria after conquest of China, I added no other forces. Manchurian forces can be presumed to have increased.
Expand the port at Hamhung to 10. This will support your troops in Manchuria and and the Vladivostok region until you take the port itself. As you are no doubt aware, you cannot draw supply through a puppet. This is an unfortunate error in design, and we need a work-around. Fortunatly Manchuria is a Japanese puppet and will loan us some provinces. Improve infrastructure there. It will be useful during the war and the Manchurians will appreciate the improvements when you kindly give their provinces back after the war. You are, after all, a benevolent master.
Using the following cheat code, you can give yourself a supply line from Korea to the Vladivostok region.
changeowner JAP 4456
changeowner JAP 4389
changeowner JAP 4327
This will allow you to control Hunchun, Mys Gamova, and Suifen He, allowing direct supply through to Vladivostok from your large Korean ports.
In addition to my at-start Manchurian army, I added a corps of 9 infantry and four motorized brigades (the Korean army plus Imperial Guard, plus a new inf division and that mot bgd in Taiwan) to advance from Korea into Russia by sea. Sea landings give you that nice invasion supply source, plus you want to cut of the Soviets in that long thin Vladivostok region. I landed close to Vladivostok and cut off four divisions. Another landing occurred further north.
Sakhalin Island:
I suspect Sakhalin Island is ignored in some people's logistical planning.
You start with the southern part of Sakhalin, and a good, but not superior port. Improve it as much as you can, and the infrastructure north. Notice I added an air base. Note another Russian port on the north of the island. Invade by sea with marines to take this and cut off the Russians facing your army. Bring a large fleet along for shore bombardment and protection. Then Sakhalin Island and its two ports can supply the mainland across the Northern Tartar Strait. Consider, if you get close to 20 levels of ports in Korea, Vladivostok is a 10, and you get close to 15 on Sakhalin, that's a port capacity in the low 40's which can be max'd out at 50. Even at 40, we're talking about a capacity for 160 to 200 brigades worth of supply. Most will come from Manchuria, some will invade by sea. You can exceed the theoretical 240 brigade (include your allies, the Manchurians will eat your food and fire your bullets) for a short time because amphib landings bring their own supply. I threw in the 4th Army, with another 20 brigades to make swift work of the Russian defenders, landing on the coast and cutting off units, separating the Vladivostok region from the Amur region. Then I pulled them out. Once I was reduced to shrinking pockets and mopping up, I pulled all air out of Korea and Sakhalin back to Japan to ease supply. Single Tac units could be brought back for specific missions and then sent home, and there was also carrier based aircraft available.
I allowed myself one "mulberry" for the Russian operation, putting a pre-built port at Tumnin. There is a Russian airbase there, so a port would make a single place to garrison. My port was not ready until 6 weeks after the war started, but it was up to level 2 by the time the war ended. Note this map shows the post war boundary. The Bitter Peace will give Japan the Vladivostok region and some coast line north, plus northern Sakhalin Island, but not the province between these, where the channel separates Sakhalin from the mainland. Use this knowledge to start infrastructure improvements during the war with no fear of waste. I improved infra on northern Sakhalin, improved the airbase at Tumnin, and built AAA at Tumnin.
Also, the peace gives you the Kamchatka peninsula.
Further North:
A quick glance at a map reveals how little land separates northern Manchuria from the Sea of Okhotsk. Its hardly rocket science to land at Chumikan and drive south, meeting up with a push north from Manchuria. The HoI3 AI will attempt mightily to break through so expect that. The whole region to the east is cut off and destroyed. I didn't count the small groups cut off in the Vladivostok region, I'd estimate 10-12 divisions. When I finally closed the final pocket, 120,000 Russians surrendered at Belogorsk.
I had three Army Groups in total. Central China Army, which took Mongolia and Tannu Tuva, advanced to the Trans-Siberian Rail link, and started advancing north. Once we crossed into Soviet territory, a lot of Russian divisions showed up and we were one division to a province and were stopped.
Northern China Army was in Manchuria facing west. It did the poorest. It only advanced out of Manchuria a little by the end, and had faced a major invasion early on, however despite being the only AI army group, it did cut off a major invasion force and force its surrender, capturing 38,000 Russians. It had no air assigned, no mountain divisions, and was not my area of interest (hence passing it off to the AI). Once Central broke the armies in Mongolia and advanced beyond, pressure on North was relived and they started a very slow advance. I am not familiar with the details of their supply.
The 1st Army Group was in Sakhalin Island, took over the North Japan Army, and had a single, heavy corps. During the war, the 4th Army with two more corps was attached to it, as well as a group of new builds formed into a fourth corps which was attached to the North Japan Army.
What I called the 2nd Army Group was in Manchuria and faced east with two corps plus some garrison divisions. The at-start forces are organized into armies, but no corps, and no army group. I did all of this during the build up to war. Instead of two armies of corps sized units, I formed new corps and attacked them all to one of the armies. I named the new corps 5. and 6. Hendan in place of the armies, and renamed the armies. One remained, one went south to link the new corps formed in Korea (34. Hendan) out of the Korean divisions and the Imperial Guard to the Manchurian Theater.
2nd Army Group was assigned to AI. I controlled 1st Army Group which invaded from the sea and worked with 2nd Army Group. Then 1st was turned over to AI and tasked with advance from Chumikan, while 2nd took over the northern Manchuria sector, counter attacking in the north.
Aside from some brief supply problems as I finished off the Belogorsk Pocket, things went swimmingly. 4th Army was withdrawn at this time as were all air assets from the 1st and 2nd Army Group areas. Air was restored once the supply situation was back in the black. 4th Army went to Japan.
The war started at the end of May 1943 and was over by mid-November. Germany started off slow, but some time in late June or early July they started cutting off units of the Red Army and never stopped. By late summer there were no Russians stopping the German/Hungarian advance. German supply issues were probably the factor preventing a faster advance.
Had the war come in 1941, certainly I would have had three or four fewer port levels built at Dagu, but you have time to improve Sakhalin's port and Hamhung as these are in Japanese core territories. Plus, I would have had 15 divisions tied up in fighting the British so those would be 40 fewer divisions involved. I let Guanxi Clique take India for me. I would land at the ports with a proper force, link up with Guanxi, drop off a garrison in the port and move on to the next port. Kept Guanxi supplied and didn't use many Japanese forces on the mainland.
Its possible to defeat the Russians with the current situation. Plan a head, consider the three key areas I have identified here, Shanxi to supply your advance into Mongolia; Korea and the borrowing of three Manchurian provinces to supply the advance into Russia; and Sakhalin Island, which connects to the mainland over a channel.
Hopefully the cheat to borrow Manchurian provinces won't be required in 1.3 as supply will pass through allies and puppets. I am not sure what other improvements might change what was done here.
Shanxi Region:
While its perfectly reasonable to puppet Shanxi as you conquer China (extract your army in invade elsewhere), annexing it makes dealing with Mongolia much easier.
Assuming that you conquered China, you almost certainly have enough port capacity. Expand Dagu to a capacity 10 port. Improve the infrastructure from Qingdao to Beijing. The more the better. It can't hurt to improve infrastructure from Shanghai to this supply line either. It can be critical in an early war, but can be less critical as other ports are expanded. I added two ports between Qingdao and Shanghai. One was a "mulberry" I placed during my invasion, the second one I added once I had the province. Keep expanding these ports. Other ports in the south should not be an issue. For example, I puppeted Guanxi Clique, so didn't have their ports.
As you can see on the map, I established a two province program of improvements from Dagu and my Quingdao line up to the Mongolian border. this map was taken after victory so you can see Japanese units in Mongolia and I re-drew the Mongolian border. Plus you can see improvements in Mongolian infrastructure I undertook as I advanced.
You start with the North China Army in Manchuria. After the war with China, I sent it back to Manchuria. Obviously supply there could handle it. All additional troops added to China were part of the Central China Army, an army group I added. It's mission in the Soviet war was to advance from the Manchurian border through Xibei San Ma into Mongolia. I could improve infra in the Shanxi region, but not further east. The Central China Army was an army group containing two armies of a total of four corps. Furthest east was the 25. Hendan containing 10 mountain brigades organized into five divisions. Then there was the 2. Hendan containing infantry 10 brigades in four divisions. Those were in Xibei San Ma, all one division to a province. In the Shanxi border, I had three provinces and three full strength corps (roughly 10-12 brigades). These at at then end of the green line of improvements. An airfield was also constructed here that would end up including two units of multi-role fighters and one unit of tac air.
The mission of the 9th Army in Xibei San Ma was to advance more or less unopposed into eastern Mongolia. It never ran out of supply.
The mission of the 1st Army in the Shanxi border region was to
- cut off at least three provinces full of Soviet and Mongolian troops and remove them from the fight.
- advance on the capital.
- push into Soviet territory.
It did these, although one of the corps was withdrawn after the surrender of 22,000 Red Army troops at Nuden so that the other two corps could advance without competing for supply. It remained on the Japanese side of the border ready to advance if required.
The Air started with ground attacks, but shifted to interdiction as I began to cut off Soviet units.
Korea Region:
Here you have two ports, one a 10, the other smaller, but significant at Hamhung.
As things stand at start, they can support you at-start Manchurian forces through some limited offensives. While I returned the North China Army to Manchuria after conquest of China, I added no other forces. Manchurian forces can be presumed to have increased.
Expand the port at Hamhung to 10. This will support your troops in Manchuria and and the Vladivostok region until you take the port itself. As you are no doubt aware, you cannot draw supply through a puppet. This is an unfortunate error in design, and we need a work-around. Fortunatly Manchuria is a Japanese puppet and will loan us some provinces. Improve infrastructure there. It will be useful during the war and the Manchurians will appreciate the improvements when you kindly give their provinces back after the war. You are, after all, a benevolent master.
Using the following cheat code, you can give yourself a supply line from Korea to the Vladivostok region.
changeowner JAP 4456
changeowner JAP 4389
changeowner JAP 4327
This will allow you to control Hunchun, Mys Gamova, and Suifen He, allowing direct supply through to Vladivostok from your large Korean ports.
In addition to my at-start Manchurian army, I added a corps of 9 infantry and four motorized brigades (the Korean army plus Imperial Guard, plus a new inf division and that mot bgd in Taiwan) to advance from Korea into Russia by sea. Sea landings give you that nice invasion supply source, plus you want to cut of the Soviets in that long thin Vladivostok region. I landed close to Vladivostok and cut off four divisions. Another landing occurred further north.
Sakhalin Island:
I suspect Sakhalin Island is ignored in some people's logistical planning.
You start with the southern part of Sakhalin, and a good, but not superior port. Improve it as much as you can, and the infrastructure north. Notice I added an air base. Note another Russian port on the north of the island. Invade by sea with marines to take this and cut off the Russians facing your army. Bring a large fleet along for shore bombardment and protection. Then Sakhalin Island and its two ports can supply the mainland across the Northern Tartar Strait. Consider, if you get close to 20 levels of ports in Korea, Vladivostok is a 10, and you get close to 15 on Sakhalin, that's a port capacity in the low 40's which can be max'd out at 50. Even at 40, we're talking about a capacity for 160 to 200 brigades worth of supply. Most will come from Manchuria, some will invade by sea. You can exceed the theoretical 240 brigade (include your allies, the Manchurians will eat your food and fire your bullets) for a short time because amphib landings bring their own supply. I threw in the 4th Army, with another 20 brigades to make swift work of the Russian defenders, landing on the coast and cutting off units, separating the Vladivostok region from the Amur region. Then I pulled them out. Once I was reduced to shrinking pockets and mopping up, I pulled all air out of Korea and Sakhalin back to Japan to ease supply. Single Tac units could be brought back for specific missions and then sent home, and there was also carrier based aircraft available.
I allowed myself one "mulberry" for the Russian operation, putting a pre-built port at Tumnin. There is a Russian airbase there, so a port would make a single place to garrison. My port was not ready until 6 weeks after the war started, but it was up to level 2 by the time the war ended. Note this map shows the post war boundary. The Bitter Peace will give Japan the Vladivostok region and some coast line north, plus northern Sakhalin Island, but not the province between these, where the channel separates Sakhalin from the mainland. Use this knowledge to start infrastructure improvements during the war with no fear of waste. I improved infra on northern Sakhalin, improved the airbase at Tumnin, and built AAA at Tumnin.
Also, the peace gives you the Kamchatka peninsula.
Further North:
A quick glance at a map reveals how little land separates northern Manchuria from the Sea of Okhotsk. Its hardly rocket science to land at Chumikan and drive south, meeting up with a push north from Manchuria. The HoI3 AI will attempt mightily to break through so expect that. The whole region to the east is cut off and destroyed. I didn't count the small groups cut off in the Vladivostok region, I'd estimate 10-12 divisions. When I finally closed the final pocket, 120,000 Russians surrendered at Belogorsk.
I had three Army Groups in total. Central China Army, which took Mongolia and Tannu Tuva, advanced to the Trans-Siberian Rail link, and started advancing north. Once we crossed into Soviet territory, a lot of Russian divisions showed up and we were one division to a province and were stopped.
Northern China Army was in Manchuria facing west. It did the poorest. It only advanced out of Manchuria a little by the end, and had faced a major invasion early on, however despite being the only AI army group, it did cut off a major invasion force and force its surrender, capturing 38,000 Russians. It had no air assigned, no mountain divisions, and was not my area of interest (hence passing it off to the AI). Once Central broke the armies in Mongolia and advanced beyond, pressure on North was relived and they started a very slow advance. I am not familiar with the details of their supply.
The 1st Army Group was in Sakhalin Island, took over the North Japan Army, and had a single, heavy corps. During the war, the 4th Army with two more corps was attached to it, as well as a group of new builds formed into a fourth corps which was attached to the North Japan Army.
What I called the 2nd Army Group was in Manchuria and faced east with two corps plus some garrison divisions. The at-start forces are organized into armies, but no corps, and no army group. I did all of this during the build up to war. Instead of two armies of corps sized units, I formed new corps and attacked them all to one of the armies. I named the new corps 5. and 6. Hendan in place of the armies, and renamed the armies. One remained, one went south to link the new corps formed in Korea (34. Hendan) out of the Korean divisions and the Imperial Guard to the Manchurian Theater.
2nd Army Group was assigned to AI. I controlled 1st Army Group which invaded from the sea and worked with 2nd Army Group. Then 1st was turned over to AI and tasked with advance from Chumikan, while 2nd took over the northern Manchuria sector, counter attacking in the north.
Aside from some brief supply problems as I finished off the Belogorsk Pocket, things went swimmingly. 4th Army was withdrawn at this time as were all air assets from the 1st and 2nd Army Group areas. Air was restored once the supply situation was back in the black. 4th Army went to Japan.
The war started at the end of May 1943 and was over by mid-November. Germany started off slow, but some time in late June or early July they started cutting off units of the Red Army and never stopped. By late summer there were no Russians stopping the German/Hungarian advance. German supply issues were probably the factor preventing a faster advance.
Had the war come in 1941, certainly I would have had three or four fewer port levels built at Dagu, but you have time to improve Sakhalin's port and Hamhung as these are in Japanese core territories. Plus, I would have had 15 divisions tied up in fighting the British so those would be 40 fewer divisions involved. I let Guanxi Clique take India for me. I would land at the ports with a proper force, link up with Guanxi, drop off a garrison in the port and move on to the next port. Kept Guanxi supplied and didn't use many Japanese forces on the mainland.
Its possible to defeat the Russians with the current situation. Plan a head, consider the three key areas I have identified here, Shanxi to supply your advance into Mongolia; Korea and the borrowing of three Manchurian provinces to supply the advance into Russia; and Sakhalin Island, which connects to the mainland over a channel.
Hopefully the cheat to borrow Manchurian provinces won't be required in 1.3 as supply will pass through allies and puppets. I am not sure what other improvements might change what was done here.
