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The Red Sun rises in the east. A Leninist Japan AAR

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unmerged(45985)

Sweden the snabbmat nation
Jul 4, 2005
565
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That cencored thingy on the thread name is there because i want to keep you from knowing what will Japan's ideology be...

So, I updated my HoI 2 with the 1.3A patch... The result: All my save files corrupted... :eek: My Bulgaria AAR was utterly destroyed! Oh crap. But fortunately I managed to get a book about Japanese kamikaze pilots for christmas so I read it and now I'm eager to make my own AAR of Japan. Of course I'll make Japan something really different and this time I will concentrate on what happened when the result of the Russo-Japanese war was a weeny bit different... I also am going to make the text sound more like a history book (not a dry boring history book though :p ). I hope you enjoy.

Nation: Japan
Ideology: Currently under the shroud of mystery...
Difficulty: Normal/Normal
Version: 1.3A :mad:

The first part will come soon! I hope you'll want to read it!
 
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yes it was a good AAR :( . Oh well hope this one is going to be as good as your last one. A couple Japan AARs have sprouted up lately. :p
 
I hate the corrupted save file thing too... I had just conquered Italy, Yugoslavia and Hungary... But maybe I'll do it again after this one... And I'm positive this will be at least as good as the other Japan AAR's around.
 
My first update on this AAR. Hope you like it! The next update is coming in a few days... Depending on how boring it will be at school :rofl: ...

Prelude: The Russo-Japanese war, Part 1

In the late19th century Russia and Japan sought to expand their sphere of influence in Eastern Asia. Their interests collided at Korea peninsula and Manchuria. China lost the Sino-Japanese war against Japan and formally gave up its rights to Korea and as well ceded Taiwan and Port Arthur to Japan. Three Western powers, Germany, France and Russia, intervened in 1895 and forced Japan to give China Port Arthur back. After that Russia managed to lease Port Arthur from China. When Japanese troops tried to invade Korea the Russians retaliated by occupying most of Manchuria and parts of Korea. The countries’ relations were at boiling point by 1903 and as the negotiations didn’t manage to produce a favourable solution to the problem Japan sent an ultimatum to Russia’s government on 31st of December 1903. And just 3 days before the ultimatum arrived to the Russian government they started attacking the Russian navy at Port Arthur on 6th of February 1904. This resulted in a declaration of war from both sides on 10th of February.

The Japanese command knew that in order to take the fight to mainland Asia, they had to control the seas. So they decided to neutralize the threat created by the Russian fleet in Port Arthur. On February 8th the Japanese 1st and 3rd fleets under admiral Togo made a torpedo attack against the Russian fleet, damaging to battleships. The naval skirmishes went on and on because the Russians didn’t want to leave the port and the Japanese didn’t want to go too close to Port Arthur’s artillery.

Because the Russian navy was stuck in Port Arthur the Japanese could effortlessly land to Korea in February. They quickly occupied Korea and by end of April they were ready to cross the river Yalu and storm into Manchuria. On May 1st the Japanese 1st army that consisted of the 1st the 12th and the Guards divisions, nearly 40000 men, was commanded by Major-General Tamesada Kuroki. The Russian army consisted of only 25000 men. The Japanese troops managed to cross the river without any opposition and then assaulted the Russian positions. In the end Japanese troops had lost only 1000 men as the Russian casualties rose as high as 3000 men. The road to Manchuria was over and Russian Far East commander Alexei Kuropatkin’s attempt to stall more time for reinforcements was thwarted.

yalu6st.jpg

Japanese soldiers cross a river under fire during the battle of river Yalu.

In May more Japanese troops landed to Manchuria and started to advance north. In June the Japanese also landed in Talien near Port Arthur and proceeded to siege the port in August. The garrison held and the Japanese artillery shells began to fall in the port. In the end of August the Russians tried to relieve Port Arthur, but their attempts were cut short and the Japanese 1st, 2nd and 3rd armies engaged the Russians in Liaoyang. The Russians had 15000 men and they outnumbered the Japanese forces by 25000 men. Although the Japanese casualties (23500) were higher than the Russian casualties (18000), the Russians retreated to Mudken to attain more favourable positions.
Japanese troops also tried to crush Port Arthur’s defence but ceased their attempts after heavy casualties.

liaoyang0vx.jpg

Japanese troops fighting for the town of Liaoyang.

At Mudken the Russians joined with their newly arrived reinforcements and began to dig in. The winter stopped Japanese of pursuing the Russians and they halted. When spring came the Japanese attacked the city in the end of February. The Russians had been busy for the months the battles had calmed down a bit. Nearly 250 000 men had arrived to Mudken by the Trans-Siberian railway and the Russians boasted with nearly 400 000 men. The Japanese on the other hand had only 250 000 men. The Japanese attack was slowed down into a crawl nearly immediately as the Russians made heavy resistance. They managed to advance into the city but on 6th of March when the Japanese flank attacks had had no effect the Russians counterattacked with nearly 50 000 cavalry. The Japanese flanks were in disarray and the Russian commander Alexei Kuropatkin used this to his advantage. He ordered a full scale frontal assault that broke the Japanese lines on 10th of March. The Japanese troops retreated hastily back to Liaoyang. It seemed that the god of luck was smiling again to the Russians.

mantsuria8wj.gif

The Japanese campaign in Manchuria and Korea so far.
 
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Ah, well... I had a boring afternoon so I managed to get the second part of the prelude finished. Hope you'll like it!

Prelude: The Russo-Japanese war, Part 2

The Japanese command was still in shock of their loss in the city of Mudken when their British allies, that still remained neutral in the conflict, gave them some critical information. The Russians had sent their whole Baltic fleet; 11 Battleships, 8 Cruisers and various Destroyers, to the eastern Asia and they were well on their way. Admiral Togo was dispatched with his 3fd fleet to patrol in the Yellow Sea and to intercept the Russians. They left the weakened 4th fleet to guard Port Arthur, so that the Russian fleet there wouldn’t interfere.

The Baltic fleet was due to arrive on May to the Yellow Sea, so the Russians forged a plan. They planned to attack Port Arthur via the Trans-Siberian railway’s extension there and lift the siege. Then they could damage the 4th fleet and free their fleet locked in Port Arthur. The plan was executed in the end of March and the 200 000 men large force was sent on it’s way. At the same time Alexei Kuropatkin commanded the larger force of 300 000 men to distract the Japanese armies dug in at Liaoyang. The plan worked and as the Japanese were engaged in fighting the Russian armies sneaked past them and started the march towards Port Arthur.

The 2nd battle for Liaoyang was bloody as the Japanese troops tried furiously keep their foothold in Manchuria. Both sides sustained terrible losses and on 7th of April the Japanese troops were forced to retreat southwards. The Russian commander didn’t pursue as he wanted to use the capture of Port Arthur to threaten the flank of the Japanese forces.

On 28th of April the Russian relief force, after fighting their way through 400kilometers of enemy territory, arrived with 50 000 men less to Port Arthur. The Japanese army left to keep the city under siege was completely surprised and as the Russians attacked from both sides the Japanese were destroyed. They lost nearly 25 000 men as dead or wounded and another 20 000 as prisoners.
When the Russian army’s artillery started pounding the Japanese 4th fleet the Russian fleet attacked out of Port Arthur and massacred them. The Russians sank 3 battleships and crippled 2 beyond repair. Some of the cruisers managed to escape, but it was clear that the Japanese supply lines to Manchuria and Korea were compromised. Admiral Togo’s 3rd fleet was immediately dispatched to get rid of the Russians that were spreading havoc in the Japanese rear.

On 28th of May the Russian Baltic fleet arrived to the Yellow Sea, only to find the Japanese navy skirmishing with the Russians. They located the Japanese fleet during the next night by following the lights that were created by their guns as they tried to destroy the Russian fleet. On May 29th at 6 o’clock in the morning the Russian Baltic fleet engaged Togo’s 3rd fleet and now outnumbered the Japanese navy with 10 battleships. As the Japanese turned to face the new threat the Russians encircled them. The slaughter took two days and during it only 12 Japanese ships managed to escape. Admiral Togo sunk with his flagship Mikasa. The Russians lost only battleships; Sisoy Veliki and Navarin along with a few old armoured cruisers.

mikasa9xi.jpg

The Mikasa before it was sunk by Russians in the Battle of the Yellow sea.

After the Battle of Yellow Sea the Japanese navy was reduced to tatters and the Russians controlled the seas. The Japanese troops were exhausted and out of supplies and they were driven back to Korea by the end of June. The last battle of the war was battle for Pingyang where 400 000 Russian troops beat the Japanese 200 000 man army easily and sent them retreating to Seoul. The Russians suffered only 15 000 casualties as the Japanese left 20 000 dead behind. It seemed that the war was over. The American president Theodore Roosevelt expressed his willingness to act as the host for the peace negotiations and on 15th of August the factions met in Washington.

mantsuria23hg.jpg

The Russian campaign in Manchuria and Korea until the peace negotiations start.
 
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Prussian_King: On that era communism wasnt such a popular ideology... Especially for the Russians :D ...

lifeless: In my timeline The battle of Tsushima never happened. Instead the Japanese navy had to engage the larger combined navy of Russia in the Battle of Yellow sea. In the "real" Russo-Japanese war, the fleet at Port Arthur was destroyed in the january of 1905.

hurricanehunter: You'll see soon enough :cool: (my poker face).
 
Prelude: Aftermath

The treaty of Washington was signed on 28th of September, after over a month of negotiating. In the pact Russians demanded that the Japanese would withdraw all its forces from Korea and give Russia the rights to Korea. Also the Japanese army was reduced to 50 000 men and the Imperial Japanese Navy was reduced to consist only of light cruisers and destroyers. The Russians insisted that a garrison of 50 000 men should be placed to the islands north of Japan to make sure they won't try to break their terms of peace. The Japanese declared that if the Russians wanted to invade Japan they could do it openly. Roosevelt managed to assure the Japanese that this force was there only to make sure that the treaty was respected. Nothing else. He also insisted that Russia would make the garrison only 20 000 men large. Russia and Japan finally agreed shake hands on 25th of September and both factions accepted the terms, though neither of them truly liked them. Russia didn't wan't prolonged war on Japanese soil as its resources were already thinly spread.

The terms were crushing and Japan was humiliated throughout the negotiations. After the signing president Truman said:
“If I would have known what the Russians would demand from Japan, I wouldn’t have been willing to act as a host for these peace negotiations. These negotiations were a farce and they did nothing to restore peace between the countries. I say that in a few years the bitterness that has rooted in Japan’s society during this peace will burst in flames and start another war between these two countries.”

roosevelt1ky.jpg

United States’ president, Theodore Roosevelt, photographed just after the negotiations’ end with a grim expression on his face.

Truman was right. The Japanese people were indeed bitter. In one month they had been stripped nearly of their status as a power in the east. The 20 000 men garrison of Russian soldiers didn’t either do any good for the nations’ relationships. The only reason the Japanese didn’t start a war with Russia again was the garrison.

The post-war years went by and the tensions in Europe grew and grew. It was seen in Japan in the redeployment of part of the Russian garrison to elsewhere. By 1910 the garrison had been reduced to 5 000 men. The Russian communist Vladimir Iljits Lenin often visited Japan and found that the Japanese people were very receptive for his thoughts of rebellion against their Russian oppressors. His thoughts rooted in the mid-class and in the year 1912 a Japanese communist, Tashimo Yukiori founded the People’s Social Party of Japan, that was also called in Japanese the kishi aka, the bloody banner. The party was an underground movement with only few members and no other rebelling group took even notice in it.

During the years after the war the Russian people grew more and more displeased of their leaders. The shortage of food and other supplies was enormous and soon led to strikes and rioting. The tsar thought that his people were to be treated with an iron rule, so he crushed the “rebellion”, as he said it, violently. Of course this made the people even more and more infuriated. The time of the Russian empire was drawing close to its end.

___________________________

You can guess what the ideology will be but I'm not telling it yet! :cool: (my poker face...)
 
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