[HEADING=2]Entry 20 - Atop Mountain Peaks[/HEADING]
Note : Crikey, it's been a busy week. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on my missed schedule in the coming days.
Time to move fast. I establish a battle line (as best as I can) Northwest of Madras and begin breaking the Chinese pocket there.
I need to cut through here as fast as possible so that I can get to the Northern front before they take half of India out from under me.
Meanwhile, the Allies are attempting to retake Calcutta. I just need them to hold out a bit longer...
100,000 men are rushing to Calcutta's aid, and to push the Chinese out of India. The Chinese have, mercifully, stopped advancing to deal with the threat to their flank - the tired, badly-beaten men of the 4th Marine Corps.
While the Allies retreat in disarray on the Western border.
Back in France, I load up 2 Panzer divisions, to be shipped to East Africa. After defeating the Portuguese, it shouldn't be hard to head down to Cape Town and show the South Africans what it means to wage war against me.
With the naval base made of nothing but rubble and wreckage, the supplies in Calcutta are vanishing fast. It was always only a matter of time before the brutal weight of Allied numbers would reclaim the city.
The 100,000 men of Calcutta are in Allied hands now. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten.
I need to halt the Chinese advance where it is. To this end, I'm flying 40,000 Paratroopers to Burma to begin a new type of war. Behind-enemy-lines attacks on Chinese supply.
I land in Yunnan, quickly moving over the mountains to take this vital strip of land from the Allies.
As long as I hold Yunnan, the Chinese supply trucks cannot get through.
The pocket north of Madras collapses entirely, and I rush the men upwards, to meet the Chinese threat at Calcutta.
Hmm. The Americans have either taken men out from Vietnam (bad) or landed a fresh force (worse) in Asia.
The only pleasing thought about this is that an American division needs its supplies just the same as a Chinese one.
The Panzers land in Portguese East Africa. Maybe, possibly, a surrender is in view...?
GAH! I simply cannot figure this out. I have minutely scoured the map. Portugal does still own territory, but no Victory Provinces. Why won't these bastards just surrender already? Sheer bloody-mindedness?
I actually have to boot up a game as Portugal to see the problem.
Just a short plane journey from my shores, the Portuguese own some small, insignificant islands.
These little sets of islands are worth as much to Portugal as Lisbon. Methinks the game is trolling once again.
Sitrep on the Afghanistan situation. I'm pushing from the East with 3 divisions.
Forces from India are meeting up with troops from Persia near Karachi and pushing North.
And I've united my front in the North and am pushing the Allies back.
There's a minimum of 37 divisions trapped here, probably closer to 45. Almost half a million men, caught in the world's biggest pincer movement.
For the first time, the supply situation goes my way, even for just a few days.
The Chinese fall back as our fronts meet, with 150,000 men on their way to Burma.
Having now seen the problem with Portugal, I begin the invasion of South Africa. Happily, it seems that all of their troops are on the other coast, since the road to Durban looks pretty clear.
When I take Dali, Yunnan will surrender, cutting China off. The entire region here, extending west all the way to the front near Delhi, is nothing but mountains. It makes movement agonisingly slow, even for tanks and mobile divisions.
I begin the vast movement of ships back to France, in preparation for the planned 1946 invasion of North America.
I retake Calcutta, as the slow, lumbering column of defending infantry retires East.
After a brief battle, the Paratroopers off the coast of Europe accept the surrender of the Portuguese Empire.
With a single division, I beat back the Allied force at Nepal, soon to take the nation.
I take the port of Durban as I press on the South Africans from both sides. Since my forces on the other coast are more mobile than theirs, I should be able to cut the retreat of at least two or three divisions.
Yunnan surrenders, cutting off supply to the Chinese forces in Burma and India. Now, we'll see what these irregulars are made of.
Soon, the Allied forces are surrendering en masse around Calcutta.
At Sundarbans, the huge Allied force you saw (the one comprised mostly of Greeks and Danes for some inexplicable reason) surrenders. After months of warfare in the city, only 53,000 remain as prisoners, out of the original 133,000.
Nepal surrenders.
I've got 'em on the ropes now. Not long before this Chinese army stops thrashing about and just gives in.
The South Africans have no taste for war, apparently. I drive into Johannesburg without a shot fired.
The plan is to stick to the coast, where it's a bit flatter, hit Port Elizabeth before planting the German flag in Cape Town.
Whew. Breathe. Time to stop just building and to take action. I deploy another 360,000 Marines in France, and soon ship them off to the Icelandic naval complexes.
It's a daunting task. I have to hit fast enough that I can secure a position and a supply chain, but I also have to hit a location close enough to Greenland and Iceland.
It's a nightmare to plan. I had an idea in the back of my head that I could always just deploy nukes on the US if everything went bad, but I've had to throw that plan out. The Americans have rapidly sped up their nuclear program, to the point where it's a neck-and-neck race to deploy a working nuclear device first.
Basically, I can either play "safe" and hit Northeastern Canada, where I have dominance and an easy battle, but there are virtually no strong naval bases to maintain supply until Halifax.
Or, I can play a gamble, and aim for Boston and the Northeastern United States, where my position would be a lot more uncertain militarily, but I could guarantee a good naval base and easy access to the Industrial heart of America - the East Coast.
Please, feel free to add your suggestions in your comments. The opinion of anyone who's ever tried an invasion of N. America (ideally in the game, but real life works too) would be most welcome.
I have now pushed the Chinese out of India, into the new front - Burma.
At the same time, the Allies break in Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of Allied prisoners are taken.
The Americans and the Canadians land in force in Burma. On the one hand, it's an imbuggerance. I'll have to take men off the attack against the Chinese, losing all momentum and allowing them time to prepare a counterattack, to meet the new threat.
On the other hand, I find it almost comical. I'm about to show the world the true meaning of the words "naval invasion".
Bhutan surrenders. I know it seems like a small victory, but a remarkable proportion of the Allied force is made up of these little Empire states.
I'm pulling the nearest available 10 divisions South in Burma, to Rangoon. It's going to be tough. I can't spare any ships, nor can I get my Indian forces into Burma fast enough. Maybe some Paratrooper support, but nothing like the numbers I'll need to fight these two fronts.
I must prepare for the very real possibility of a retreat from Burma mere weeks after I entered it.
END OF ENTRY 20
Well, chaps/chappettes? Thoughts on the entry, or the complex problem of invading North America?
