I was thinking along the lines of being able to push his new forces through he Netherlands as opposed to having to take them all the way to Italy. Right now he has a friendly port. In a few moves the Axis might have taken that option away from him.


Wheels

I think he is putting all of his new forces into Indochina, I would.

Right, but a linkup between an army in the Netherlands and the one in Italy would mean covering a 1500km+ front with just two armies...it could work, but only if he practically gives up nothern Italy.

Reinforcements are pretty slow, but yes, most (all?) new divisions are being shipped to Indochina. I just sent five divisions of Marines over, with another five in the queue. I do have a corps worth of airborne troops sitting in the UK not doing anything. I'm beginning to think it may have been a mistake to order so many: they require a lot of micromanaging to work. Where do you think I should put them?

I hope to start a few major army builds towards the autumn. Right now a lot of industrial capacity is eaten up by building new convoys. Now that I'm finally getting a leg up on the u-boats, convoy builds should start to slow down over the next few months.

European Theatre

No news to report here, for better or worse. All’s quiet on the Austrian front. I made one probing attack up along the eastern border of Switzerland, which the Germans beat back. Actual quantitative balance of forces is definitely in my favour, but the Germans are pretty thoroughly entrenched now in the Alps. It may be necessary to recruit a few divisions of mountain troops if 1st Army Group is going to have any hope of a northward breakthrough; the mountaineous terrain is really brutal for fighting and heavily favours entrenched defenders.

Asian/Pacific Theatre

The back-and-forth continues in Indochina. Meanwhile, a major offensive in the Malay Peninsula gets underway at the beginning of May with the Royal Marines landing slightly north of Phuket. By 6 May, the defending Japanese 26th Division is defeated, and five Marine divisions are ashore and on the move.





A running battle begins down the peninsula, with the Marines pushing back a few divisions of Japanese cavalry and infantry. Japan even fields a few marines of their own – the ‘Yokohama’ division. 2nd Royal Marines corners them at Ban Khok Kloi, and takes 8,000 prisoners on 14 May.



Further north in Indochina, the rest of 3rd Army is trying to hold their ground on the western side of Bangkok. Japanese and other Axis divisions are mounting a good push across the entire front and have managed to reclaim a lot of the territory I seized from Siam.

My new air detachments in the region are slowing their advance, though, and near the end of May, the front stabilized into a north-south line centred upon Bangkok.



Back on the Malay Peninsula, 1st Royal Marine Corps is advancing steadily yet slowly through dense jungle. Backpedalling Japanese divisions continue to maintain a defensive posture across the peninsula, but by early June, the Marines manage to outmanoeuvre the bulk of the defenders and make a major encirclement at the port of Kota Bharu. As the Marines are far out of the range of allied airfields, I take a chance and send 2 Carrier Group through the Strait of Malacca and over to the west coast of the peninsula to provide close air support.

Once on station, the fleet blocks the port while aircraft bomb a few Siamese ships in the harbour and harass the defenders.







Perhaps unsurprisingly, on 13 June a Japanese carrier group with several transports in tow shows on scene to break the blockade. Rear Admiral Tanaka commands from the Zuiho.

My planes over Kota Bharu are redirected back to sea and engage. Weak fleet composition seriously hamstrings the Japanese: the bulk of their fleet is made up of destroyers, which are easy prey for carrier aircraft and the bigger guns of my light cruisers. It’s not a decisive victory by any means, but 2 Carrier Group comes out on top. However, Tanaka does manage to get past the blockade, and retires to Kota Bharu.



Back on land, the Marines have Kota Bharu surrounded. Tenacious Japanese defences and mountainous terrain mean that the attack that began on 7 June stretches on for a full three weeks. Finally, on 28 June, the defences fall. Casualties are surprisingly light on both sides, but 26,000 Japanese are taken prisoner, and the last sizeable chunk of Japanese power on the Malay Peninsula is defeated. Tanaka manages to slip Zuiho out of port and past the blockade: she escapes to fight another day.





The situation in south-east Asia as of the end of June. Notice the small uprising underway at Ninh Hoa: it probably won’t get anywhere, but nice to know the fifth column is alive and well

It looks like you are doing fairly well in Indochina at the moment.


Wheels

Congrats on the victory. What's next? Liberating Indochina?





Arnhem.

Yes, yes, I'm with Heretic, that sounds like a splendid idea!

Okay, next update will cover July and August with the liberation of Singapore. Not much else going on; the front lines are steady in Asia and Europe. The new airborne divisions are getting shipped to Indochina, and will form up with the 1st Marine Corps as 1st Special Operations Army. Getting ready for a big operation to decisively kick the Japanese out of Indochina.

Liberation of Singapore

The Royal Marines continue to push down the Malay Peninsula. With most Japanese divisions on the peninsula overrun and defeated already, it is a smooth and steady march towards Singapore. The dense jungle does slow my divisions down quite a bit, so much so that they can only manage a couple of kilometres a day. Nevertheless, by 15 July Kuala Lumpur is taken by the 3rd Royal Marines.



On 26 July, 3rd Marines arrives on the outskirts of Singapore with the 5th Marines close behind, and launch their attack against the defending Japanese 4th Infantry Division. The first wave of attacks by 3rd Marines lasts for three days, but between intense rainstorms, the urban terrain, and well-prepared defences, they’re ultimately beaten back at the cost of over 800 men.





2nd and 4th Marines arrive on station by 1 August, and rally for a second wave of attacks. The weather is much more cooperative this time, and despite a few strafing runs by Japanese land-based planes flying out of Singapore airfield, the city is liberated on 2 August.





The Gulf of Thailand

On 29 August, naval bombers from 1 Coastal Group flying out of Singapore spot a very large Japanese surface group moving south-west into the Gulf of Thailand. The group is comprised of fleet carriers Hiryu and Ryujo, escort carrier Unyo, battleships Ise, Yamashiro, and Hyuga, battlecruisers Kongo and Hiei, and numerous other small cruisers and destroyers. Most alarming are a fleet of transport ships in tow. Recognizing this is probably an invasion fleet, I sortie any and all combat groups I have available. Admiral Andrew Cunningham’s 2 Surface Group, led by HMS Hood and recently redeployed from mid-Atlantic patrols to Rangoon, is the first to make contact. Though hugely outnumbered, Hood, Repulse, and their entourage of cruisers and destroyers go in guns blazing. They inflict sizeable damage against the Japanese battlewagons before Cunningham is forced to retire.



Carriers Glorious and Ark Royal next make contact further south in the Gulf of Thailand. Their aircraft get a few blows in, but they too are forced away.



Japanese transports get through to the Malay peninsula. One division each of marines and infantry land and capture Kota Bharu unchallenged.



The Royal Marines deploy from Singapore back up the peninsula. My air attacks have forced the Japanese battle group to take refuge in Kota Bharu harbour. With Japanese sea lines of communication out of Kota Bharu exposed to the harassment of my surviving surface groups, the two divisions aren’t fully supplied, and so fight at a diminished level. By 13 September, they are pushed back into the sea.



The Japanese fleet withdraws northeast back towards the China Sea. Fortunately, my battered fleets have been making hasty repairs at sea, and re-engage as soon as the Japanese leave Kota Bharu. Our fleets trade blows all the way up the Gulf: ultimately, the Japanese lose a pretty serious portion of their battleship fleet: Ise, Yamashiro, Hyuga, and Kongo go to the bottom. We lose light cruisers Southampton and Achilles. I was really hoping to get one of their flattops, but no such luck. Not an easy victory, but one I’ll be happy to take.





European Theatre
New activity on the Austrian front. The Germans launched an attack on my positions at Treviso on 18 September. Luftwaffe dive-bombers hit us hard, and the escorting German Fw 190s outmatch my fighters on intercept duty out of Venice. The Germans definitely have air superiority in this sector.





The line at Treviso holds, and we retaliate by launching an all-out attack against Lasa. German bombers shift their focus to my attacking divisions in Salo, but the defences at Lasa are just too thin to hold up to my attacks. By 24 September, Lasa is taken.



German defences rapidly redeploying to cover the thin sections in their line up north. It looks like we can safely advance northeast without increasing the overall width of front to defend, so I take advantage of their disarray by conducting major attacks across the entire frontage. Good success all around, and by 30 September we are within striking distance of Innsbruck. I don’t intend to advance much further without major reinforcements, as doing so would widen the front and require me to spread my forces thinner, weakening our position against a potential German counter-attack.



New Deployments

Another five divisions of marines are deployed back home. I order up three groups of coastal bombers – Bristol Brigands. Hopefully they’ll give me an edge over the Japanese fleets where my surface groups have so far been getting pounded.