2 October Japan declares war on British Malaya. Britain calls us as allies and after a delay to deploy our Far East submarine fleets, we join in the war.
Immediately our subs are attacked by the Japanese navy in the South China Sea. Things don't look optimum and I order them to disengage and head back to Saigon. This is achieved with the loss of only one sub.
At this time I note that what had been a steady sinking of German convoys in the Bay of Biscay and off the coast of Iberia had stopped. Have they a new route or have they been wiped out?
With the expansion of the war we decide to embark on growing rubber in Madagascar. The naval base on that island is also strengthened.
A Japanese fleet engages our subs in eastern Micronesia and I order the sub fleet to retreat (all the way to Madagascar).
Another battle starts in the South China Sea. I am horrified to find the sub fleet which I had ordered back to Saigon had ventured back out. It was all sunk :-(
After having some thoughts about what to do with the French navy and whether I should send it to the Pacific, I decided to wait for now.
Back in Europe the Germans are continuing to attack Belgium, Luxembourg and the breech in the Maginot Line.
By 17 October we are now producing a surplus of rifles. Is it time to switch some production back to aircraft?
Nothing seems to be happening in the Pacific, but three US National Guard divisions are seen in Singapore. As the overly challenged French I am happy to leave aspects of the war to others.
Japan is getting oil from Venezuela and five old destroyers are sent to patrol the waters off its coast. (This turns out to be a waste as I think the shipping used is solely from Venezuela and therefore neutral.)
Late October and all the Axis attacks in Europe seem well contained. Only the airwar in Northern France seems to be a problem (with my airforce suffering excessive losses). Is this because Germany has deployed new types of fighters?
At the end of October Japan attacks Hanoi.
2 November and mutinies breakout in the French army. What, again? We attempt to contain them by deploying loyal troops to surround the mutineers.
Five factories are switched to aircraft production. Research is started on our own fighters as we are currently only licensing the Spitfire from the UK. While this is good in the short term, it limits future options. It wouldn't be an issue if I knew what the English were doing.
Hanoi falls early November.
By the first of December the mutiny is crushed! (The effect is hard to determine, except that it has used up Political Power which is in very short supply in France).
The airwar in Northern France is continuing to be a concern and more factories are switched to fighter production. Where are the other Allied air forces?
11 December and Siam joins the Great East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere.
More worrying is that the Belgians seem to have abandoned part of their front line. They did have 17 divisions there, now only 2...
Late December sees the Axis withdraw from the air war over the Alps. I shift 100 planes to Northern France.
31 December sees Saigon invested. The loss of IndoChina will seriously reduce access to rubber which is essential for aircraft production.
1942
There is a major lull in the fighting on the Western Front and that gives us a chance to complete fortifications and digging in on the Maginot Line.The British navy is reported as engaging the Japanese navy in the South China Sea. Despite having a numerical advantage, the British navy is getting mauled and ends up being sunk :-(
Saigon falls and we now have a rubber shortage (as predicted). However by late January we have found enough trading partners to make up the shortfall.
31 January and Belgium launches an offensive against the Germans. Somewhat bizarrely this causes the Germans to start attacking the Maginot Line again.
The critical air war is now at 1 to 2 odds, a marked improvement.
Siam enters the war.
The first newly recruited French division in a long time arrives and is deployed to Luxembourg.
9 February and the Belgian's offensive has reached Koln. We cautiously join in.
10 February and the Belgians have crossed the Rhine.
Five fortress divisions are now ready to be deployed on the extended Maginot Line, just when the crisis is over. So it goes.
19 February and the air war switches to Western Germany.
27 February and the US joins the Allies.
28 February and the US would like to send us 70 divisions to help us out. YES PLEASE!
7 March and there are further mutinies in the French army. Again we will surround them with loyalists. I'm not sure what the effect of these mutinies are, but they consume scarce Political Power to put down (and that stops me getting extra Generals or putting better advisors into the Government).
Note the poor state of the Axis divisions
(the orange bar denotes the strength of the division)
No comments:
Post a Comment