Post by 575 on Jun 23, 2024 20:42:54 GMT
Jun 23, 2024 14:34:59 GMT 575 said:
Mussolini had due to the poor performance of his troops in China seemed fit to send off the new Reggiane 2000 fighter aircraft which was almost as fast as the Zero and outperformed the Ki-27 and also replaced most of the Divisional command.The CCNN Legion regiment was kept around as an additional. A third Army Alpini regiment was sent off to bring the Division up to strength.
Also a Tank Regiment was shipped off which would actually be a real boost to the force as the M13/40 tank was superior to anything the IJA fielded. It also had a decent 47mm gun that would fire both AP and HE ammunition. Totally obsolete against anything in British and French service in China it was really something.
Britain and France had used some time to build up their logistics network into Far East Asia as fighting continued. The in place logistics to supply China had been worked on as had the industrial areas of India to up production in area – ammunition being the logical item to not have to haul all the way from Europe. Too heavy in regard to volume. Ammunition production had been going on in India for a long time so no problem in gearing up as human resources being no problem – too many peoples in need of a job to sustain themselves and their families.
This also freed up resources for supplying China as the skills were around for reloading ammunition cutting down on parts to supply letting more chemicals being shipped.
Singapore port had been repaired since the IJN bombing during early November 1941 and was in full working order providing the Base facility necessary for keeping the RN units supplied and repaired in area.
Which the French Navy despite Cam Rahn Bay which was a little too close to Hainan Island for comfort would also be using as would the Dutch operating in NEI waters.
The Dutch had become a supplier of medium flyingboats as both the French and the British had begun using it in the Far East and it freed up resources in design and production in both countries. The Dornier Do 24 had been renamed Fokker Do 24 just to settle any Franco-British uneasyness about the heritage of the aircraft.
Air Operations in area called for fighters of longer range – the Dewoitine D 520 in its latest iteration had this as well as an even more powerfull engine. The Spitfire was lacking the range but droptanks had become a stable for use in area.
There was some planning going on of a Navy offensive into the Japanese Carolina and Marshall Is which would also make for more room if the US became involved. Already US aircraft was being supplied and the ground forces had seen some build up though not very significant.
The lack of any such Navy offensives wasn't seen possible untill at least late 1942 when 2 more RN Carriers (Implacable class) would be finished and the French Carrier Joffre and possibly Alsace/Graf Zeppelin so too.
Then come late 1943 the RN would begin taking into comission the first of the Colossus (otl Audacious) class which had been redesigned to carry 80 aircraft.
As ships of the King George Battleship class had been sent to the Far East to replace the sunk Rodney and the 2 Lion class ships not finished the RN had decided to build a new 15” Battleships of surplus odds and ends (otl Vanguard) to have something new in the Atlantic/Med facing Soviet Union (no real threat) and Italy (possible threat) which would be finished late in the year.
The Lions had been earmarked for Far East to counter anything big the IJN might have up the sleeve.
More reasonable untill more hulls were in area would be to move troops into China. This would of course tie down WAllied resources significantly but it would be a way of taking on the Japanese and give more immediate aid to China. It would also force the IJA to relocate troops and prevent these from going into other places.
Move some more armour into Tonkin to attack into Kwangtung and Kwangsi Provices to put stress on the IJA and also move air units into Tonkin to support the ground troops on offensive.
The French and British decided to both move an Armoured and two Infantry Divisions to Tonkin for the operations as well as more air units. The French would also move their Parachute Regiment into area to test that in battle – a drop just behind Japanese lines to interfere with movement and possibly wreck logistics.
The RN had been moving Landing Craft to the Far East to build up such a capacity – at some time Hainan Is had to be taken out which would rob the IJN of an important base and provide one for the WAllies.
As initial planning got going both the French who had been the more eager for going into China and the British who had been less so inclined got hooked on Hainan Is.
Still the Kwangsi/Kwangtung offensive would be the main show with the British Infantry cut one Division down to be replaced by a Canadian.
The one British was then planned along an Australian – a new division had been raised that would deploy to New Guinea releasing the Division there - for the new Hainan plan.
The French Paratroop Regiment and British Royal Marines would be the advance guard landing first on Hainan Is. Aircover for the operation would fly from FIC.
The French would detail the Foreign Legion Infantry Division and the Senegalese Infantry for Hainan Is.
The two Colonial Infantry Divisions would be kept in Tonkin as reserve for both China and Hainan Is.
Britain moved two Infantry Divisions – one British one Indian and a Royal Marines Regiment size unit to FIC in preparations for Hainan Is.
When units had been moved to FIC in preparation for operations the French would have 2 Armoured and 9 Infantry Divisions and a Parachute Regiment there and the British 1 Armoured and 5 Infantry Divisions and a Royal Marine Regiment.
The major units of the French Navy in FIC were the two Dunquerque class and one Bretagne class – the second Bretagne class ship had been sunk during the second IJN attack on FIC.
The last of the Bretagne class would also go to FIC as soon as possible.
This left only the Richelieu in home waters and the RN moved the three KGVs to the Med to have a sizeable force to counter something silly Italian activity.
As the damaged Carriers had been repaired the RN now had 5 in area – Ark Royal, three Illustrious class one the latest with more aircraft capacity and the old Glorious. Two KGVs had been sent off to Singapore to replace the losses of Battleship Rodney and Battlecruiser Repulse; the RN now had 3 Battleships and 2 Battlecruisers in the Far East.
The WAllies thus had a force of 5 Aircraft Carriers, 7 Battleships and 2 Battlecruisers as well as minor units and the Dutch Submarines and Destroyers.
Opposing this force was the IJN of 2 Fleet Carriers, 2 Light Carriers and 10 Battleships. During 1942 another 4 Light Carriers would be completed.
Looking good. Some comments.
a) Of course changing the divisional staff is no good if what's sent in are party hacks or other fascist sycophants. A lot will depend on who Mussolini sends and whether other problems are resolved. For instance how well are the forces interacting with the Chinese, how good are the logistics and how is the morale of the force after a probably disappointing initial operation.
b) I don't see any real point of operations into the Carolina and Marshall Is as that would distract air and naval as well as land forces and doesn't really affect Japan's combat capacity.
c) Taking Hainan would be a big boost and I suspect would force the IJN to respond before their ready for another clash. However its going to be a tough nut given its rugged terrain and how hard the Japanese will fight to defend it while its also going within range of other Japanese bases in S China so it could be quite a risk. Operating for any period of time within the range of enemy aircraft while relying largely on CV based air cover yourself is possible but as the USN showed OTL it needs a hell of a lot of forces and even then they took some heavy losses.
Otherwise looking good. If the operation into southern China goes in 1st it would probably draw away some of the fire as well as simply attiring/trying down some of the Japanese forces that could threaten the Hainan operation. Mind you a successful capture or even nullification of Hainan would make supplying their lodgements in Borneo even harder.
d) How are things going with Borneo anyway? There were a number of divisions pulling back into defensive positions but can they be supplied - else you might end up with something like Bataan, where the forces can be largely ignored and starved out. If they are supplied successfully are the Japanese trying to attack them, which once the allies get use to Japanese tactics is likely to be very costly for the Japanese - human bodies against firepower is never a good option.
a) This time its going to be somebody with some experience.
b) Well its more to think of an indirect approach to tackle the IJN - which is soon overruled in favor of the more direct approach. The Hainan idea a British approach to keep close to the sea! Having Chinese Partisans in the central mountains in Hainan is seen as a benefit - generally with the WAllies fighting the Japanese on the periphery of the island and the Chinese holding the high ground in center.
c) Hainan will be difficult but with something running om the Chinese coast too it might off set the Japanese.
d) Borneo is up in the next installment. The Australians have been working to establish logistics inland and a defensive line for the retreating units to have a breather. There will be Jungle fighting. 
