I bet they are looking for trouble, comrade ZeletDude. Go get them!
I sure wish it was in my story game though
but no luck 
..
- Part 1 - Fall of the Tsars (New Thread)
- Thread starter Brucha
- Start date
I sure wish it was in my story game though
but no luck ..
I thought they were. 
IvanDolvich2
Order of Lenin
Brucha! Excellent thread so far! 
Can't wait to see how the Korean fight turns out. I am getting my feet wet in AOI too for the first time. Looks great, what an amazing mod!
Keep up the great work and may you and your Marshals dominate the great Russian Empire and beyond!
Edit: Thanks Arexander for putting the thread in your Sig, that's how I stumbled on it.
Can't wait to see how the Korean fight turns out. I am getting my feet wet in AOI too for the first time. Looks great, what an amazing mod!Keep up the great work and may you and your Marshals dominate the great Russian Empire and beyond!
Edit: Thanks Arexander for putting the thread in your Sig, that's how I stumbled on it.
Brucha
King
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2007
- Messages
- 622
Brucha! Excellent thread so far!
Glad to see you back! Yes, what a great mod indeed. Everyone must thank El Justo and the crew for such a wonderful job!
As a teaser, the Russo-Japanese War has begun, but has progressed much different than my first game. I have had some difficulty with saved games between my commanders, but I hope that is fixed. I need to work on the write-up tomorrow, but it will have alot of surprises and times of sheer Russain heroism.
IvanDolvich2
Order of Lenin
Brucha: I just had to mention: What a great map in Post #10! I keep it open in another tab while I read the thread to use as a reference. Excellent scope and not used very frequently in Stories or Game reports. Again, keep up the great work.
Edit: Oh yeah, I hope you don't mind the shameless plug for your story that I put in my Sig. Its just too good not to share.
Edit: Oh yeah, I hope you don't mind the shameless plug for your story that I put in my Sig. Its just too good not to share.
Brucha
King
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2007
- Messages
- 622
The build-up for war is continuing as of the end of my last update. Economically, Russia is doing superbly - almost all Russian cities have completed improvements affecting the economy or production, and most cities are now producing military units. The one thing I am hesitant to go after (as far as improvements) are science ones. I am doing very well on the tech tree so far, and my gold per turn output is excellent. Once the war with Japan is over, I may switch city production over to improve science output then.
In preparation for war, I tried twice to plant spies in the Japanese capital, but failed both times, in Weeks 25 and 29.
In Week 29, 1898, I complete research on Howitzers I - this tech is useless to me, as it adds no new available units or improvements and is only a path towards researching Chemical Engineering (and Chemical Weapons).
That same turn, war breaks out in the world, this time when Germany declares war on Britain - naturally, Austro-Hungary declares war as well. This works well in my favor. With the Central Powers at war with Britain, they will (hopefully) be too busy to interfere with Russia and the coming attack into Korea.
I am, however, able to plant a spy in Toyko, the following turn, and then am able to steal their war plans:
I discover what I hoped would be true. To be able to reinforce the trenches along the Manchurian-Korean border, the cities in Korea itself are lightly defended. In all, there are 10 Japanese infantry divisions in trenches along the border. The city of Hamhung is the most heavily defended city in Korea, with a garrison of 3 infantry divisions, while both Seoul and Pusan are protected by a single infantry division each. I also discover that the Japanese navy is scattered about all over and not grouped together in squadrons more than a couple of ships each.
So, by Week 45, 1898, all is ready for war.
For this story, I am using a more formatted grouping of divisions as so:
3 divisions will make up a corps
3 corps will make up an army
3 armies will make up an army group or front
Thus, for the outbreak of the Japanese war, I have the following forces:
The Manchurian Army Front: consisting of 3 armies (1st Army, 3rd Army and
the 2nd Manchurian Army, overall command of General Aleksey Kuropatkin - me. A total of 27 divisions)
The Russian 2nd Army: (under the command of General Alexander Koslov aka Arexander, 9 divisions)
The 1st Manchurian Army: (under the command of General Nikolay Linevich - aka nuclearplantlif, 9 divisions)
The overall strategy is fairly simple:
The Manchurian Army Front will attack from their positions west of Vladivostok, with the intial objective to clear and capture the trench works north of Hamhung. Once this is accomplished, the attack on the city of Hamhung can proceed.
The Russian 2nd Army will make an amphibious landing on the Kuril Islands via steam transports from Charbarovsk. The 2nd Army’s objective is to capture the city of Kuril Islands itself.
The 1st Manchurian Army has a difficult task. General Linevich must attack and capture the trenches north of Seoul and occupy the rail and road north and west of Seoul to prevent the Japanese from reinforcing Hamhung from the south.
A formal declaration of war is hand-delivered to the Japanese representative in Saint Petersburg at precisely 1 pm, November 8, 1898. There is no mention in the formal declaration that Russian orders have been dispatched to General Kuroptkin to begin operations at precisely 1.05 pm that very same day.
Situational Map Of Manchurian Front
Opening Moves Week 45, 1898
The first shots fired in the Russo-Japanese War occurs along the eastern coast of Honshu itself, north of Toyko. The 1st Cruiser Squadron had been put on alert more than a month before and set off from Sakhalin to a position in the North Pacific. The squadron had orders to enter Japanese waters after war broke out and to harass Japanese shipping lanes along the eastern coast. On November 11, 1898, the squadron steamed south towards Tokyo:
Map of the Battle
At about 0530 hours, the 1st Squadron sighted the lights of a couple of patrolling Japanese gunships in the shallow coastal waters north of Tokyo. With their deck lights turned off, the Russian ships were able to come onto the enemy out of the darkness; in the cover of the pre-dawn gloom, the Russian squadron reduced speed and approached quietly. Upon approaching to within a mile, at about 0600 hours, the Russian cruiser, Pallada, opened fire on the HJMS Kongo - with this flash of gunfire, the Russo-Japanese War had officially begun. As the Pallada opened fire, the entire Russian squadron turned slightly to starboard on a heading of 225° - the Japanese replied by turning into a heading opposite of the approaching Russians. As the fleets approached each other on slightly converging courses the firing began to grow very heavy. Now within effective range, the Pallada concentrated the fire of her 8” guns on the HJMS Kongo directly. As the gun crews found the range, hits began to come quickly and the dense smoke from the firing soon obscured the cruiser from its target. Yet, several hits were registered on the Kongo, which began listing severely to port.
Pallada Under Fire
The accurate fire from the Pallada were so great that the Kongo was unable to turn away before suffering two more hits to aft and much of the deck was aflame. Despite the damage inflicted on the Japanese vessel, several hits were also made on the Pallada. When the two ships had closed to within 3,300 yards, the Kongo fired a torpedo salvo - the Pallada received a severe hit below the water line (2/4 hp), which forced her to turn north and beat a hasty retreat. As the Pallada steamed out of range, the order was given at 0632 hours for the Kongo to be abandoned by her captain, and she sunk a half an hour later.
Meanwhile, at around 0645 hours, the torpedo boat, Byedovi held back at a slightly slower speed to engage the HJMS Hiei with its smaller 2.95” guns at long range. The HJMS Hiei had completed its turn to starboard and was passing within the firing range of the Russian ship. Despite the constant fire from the Byedovi, the Hiei made its evolution and rapidly withdrew out of range, but not before suffering several hits (reduced to ½ hp). The slower moving Byedovi was forced to end its pursuit of the fleeing Japanese vessel.
At about 0650 hours, the last two combatants closed within effective range and both the HJMS Fuso and the Storozhevoi exchanged salvos at 1,500 yards. The initial Japanese fire proved to be quite accurate and the Storozhevoi suffered direct hits - it looked as if she would be sunk within a few minutes; in fact, she began to list to port slightly and took on water towards the aft (took 1/3 hp). A few gun crews bravely continued to fire the smaller 2.95” guns in a gallant display of heroism. As the two ships passed each other to within 1,00 yards, a chance shell ripped through the Fuso's steering and engine room, causing her to circle out of control. The Storozhevoi continued to pound away at the dying Japanese ship, scoring several more hits. The Fuso was soon abandoned with the realization that she was a wreck and would sink. By 0719 hours, the remaining crew had climbed into lifeboats and the Fuso turned up onto its bow and sank quietly into the depths.
Battered and bruised, the squadron limped back north and began steaming for port.
The Battle of Sudong
Meanwhile, at Vladivostok, General Kuropatkin had spent the past months in preparation of the war by massing the Manchurian Army Front near Vladivostok. Kuropatkin’s army commanders had been at odds with the invasion plans, fearing the recent massing of Japanese troops along the Korean-Manchurian border would cause serious delays to the advance on Hamhung. Therefore, it was decided to re-organize the operational plans to include a staged advance from Vladivostok along a 50 mile front, with the goal of occupying the trench-laden hills overlooking the city of Hamhung to the north:
Map of the Battle
At precisely 1.10 pm, November 8, 1898, the 2nd Manchurian Army left its staging areas along the rail lines west of Vladivostok. The crossing of the Korean border was met with no opposition from the Japanese, who opted to remain behind their extensive lines of trenches along the hills to the south. Of the 2nd Manchurian Army’s five divisions selected for the attack, the 27th Infantry Division was advancing from a line of Russian trenches on the Russian far left flank, to assault the enemy eastern-most defenses in a wide flanking maneuver. The 2nd Siberian Rifles, 16th Infantry and 21st Infantry divisions were to assault the center of the Japanese line by frontal assault. On the far right flank of the Russian line, the 3rd Manchurian Rifles was to make a wide outflanking move around the western end of the Japanese line.
At about 3.20 pm, the forward Russian artillery began shelling the Japanese trenches with some effect and was soon joined by the massive booms of naval guns from the Russian Far East Fleet, just to the east.
The 27th Infantry faced the Japanese 11th Infantry Division dug into the trenches opposite the Russians. The enemy general’s orders had been to counter-attack at the east end of the line to break up any Russian assaults in his sector, but this apparently was thwarted by confusion over orders. The 27th Infantry caught the Japanese unaware in their wide flank attack, overrunning the enemy position with relative ease (took 3/5 hp from the attack).
A little to the west, the 2nd Siberian Rifles division opened its assault at about 3.30 pm near the center of the Japanese line, defended by the Japanese 2nd Infantry division. In the initial assault, the Russians managed to overrun the first two lines of trenched but the third one held. Casualties were heavy on both sides, but Major-General Tretyakov (commander of the 2nd Siberian Rifles) pushed his assault further. With half the defenders killed or wounded, the rest were seized by panic and many ran for their lives. Tretyakov was able to occupy the enemy position, but at the cost of about 2/5th of his divisional strength (suffered 3/5 hp).
Japanese Positions in Front of the 16th Infantry Division
In the Russian center, the 16th Infantry division assaulted the center of the enemy line at about 3.50 pm, held by ad-hoc garrison troops. Although outnumbered by almost 3 to one (the garrison unit had only 2 hp), and not nearly trained as a front-line unit (was a 1.10.1 defensive unit), the Russian 16th Infantry was caught before they could barely leave their positions, Caught by accurate fire, and unable to disperse to find cover, they were cut to pieces (unit was destroyed).
Determined to take the enemy position, the 21st Infantry division was ordered forward at around 4.30 pm. The Japanese again defended strongly against successive waves of Russians, who advanced through the torn-up earth and ravines piled high with the corpses of the proceeding waves. Yet, this stubbornness to continue such a bloody frontal assault began to pay off (the 21st infantry suffered 2/5 hp), and slowly the forward enemy trenches were occupied and by 5.23 pm, the last of the Japanese defenders had surrendered.
The final push of the overall attack came at about 7 pm on the far right flank of the Japanese line. The 3rd Manchurian Rifles division had been marching for several hours in a wide flanking maneuver to get around the enemy position. Some time after dusk, the Russian fell onto the unaware Japanese. By 8pm, the enemy trenches were fully occupied and now the Russian troops could look down onto the city of Hamhung itself.
Though the initial attack played out swiftly and with light casualties, the overrall advance of the 1st Manchurian Army Front will have to be put hold until the artillery cna be moved forward to firing positions onto Hamhung itself.
Other News From the Front
Farther to the south, near Seoul, General Linevich began his advance across the Korean border and by November 17th, his 1st Manchurian Army had reached the enemy trenches portecting the western approaches of Seoul itself. With orders to take these very same defensive positions, Linevich began a slow process of maneuvering his artillery into position to begin to shell the trenches. However, as the month drew to a close, it seemed that no action would take place for at least another week.
To the north, General Koslov's 2nd Army made a completely unapposed amphibious landing on the Kuril Islands. The Japanese inside the city made no attempts to hamper the Russian landings; yet, after the initial landings however, apart from a few tentative steps inland, not much advantage was taken of the situation and most troops stayed on, or not far from, the beaches.
In preparation for war, I tried twice to plant spies in the Japanese capital, but failed both times, in Weeks 25 and 29.
In Week 29, 1898, I complete research on Howitzers I - this tech is useless to me, as it adds no new available units or improvements and is only a path towards researching Chemical Engineering (and Chemical Weapons).
That same turn, war breaks out in the world, this time when Germany declares war on Britain - naturally, Austro-Hungary declares war as well. This works well in my favor. With the Central Powers at war with Britain, they will (hopefully) be too busy to interfere with Russia and the coming attack into Korea.
I am, however, able to plant a spy in Toyko, the following turn, and then am able to steal their war plans:
I discover what I hoped would be true. To be able to reinforce the trenches along the Manchurian-Korean border, the cities in Korea itself are lightly defended. In all, there are 10 Japanese infantry divisions in trenches along the border. The city of Hamhung is the most heavily defended city in Korea, with a garrison of 3 infantry divisions, while both Seoul and Pusan are protected by a single infantry division each. I also discover that the Japanese navy is scattered about all over and not grouped together in squadrons more than a couple of ships each.
So, by Week 45, 1898, all is ready for war.
For this story, I am using a more formatted grouping of divisions as so:
3 divisions will make up a corps
3 corps will make up an army
3 armies will make up an army group or front
Thus, for the outbreak of the Japanese war, I have the following forces:
The Manchurian Army Front: consisting of 3 armies (1st Army, 3rd Army and
the 2nd Manchurian Army, overall command of General Aleksey Kuropatkin - me. A total of 27 divisions)
The Russian 2nd Army: (under the command of General Alexander Koslov aka Arexander, 9 divisions)
The 1st Manchurian Army: (under the command of General Nikolay Linevich - aka nuclearplantlif, 9 divisions)
The overall strategy is fairly simple:
The Manchurian Army Front will attack from their positions west of Vladivostok, with the intial objective to clear and capture the trench works north of Hamhung. Once this is accomplished, the attack on the city of Hamhung can proceed.
The Russian 2nd Army will make an amphibious landing on the Kuril Islands via steam transports from Charbarovsk. The 2nd Army’s objective is to capture the city of Kuril Islands itself.
The 1st Manchurian Army has a difficult task. General Linevich must attack and capture the trenches north of Seoul and occupy the rail and road north and west of Seoul to prevent the Japanese from reinforcing Hamhung from the south.
A formal declaration of war is hand-delivered to the Japanese representative in Saint Petersburg at precisely 1 pm, November 8, 1898. There is no mention in the formal declaration that Russian orders have been dispatched to General Kuroptkin to begin operations at precisely 1.05 pm that very same day.
Situational Map Of Manchurian Front
Spoiler :
Opening Moves Week 45, 1898
The first shots fired in the Russo-Japanese War occurs along the eastern coast of Honshu itself, north of Toyko. The 1st Cruiser Squadron had been put on alert more than a month before and set off from Sakhalin to a position in the North Pacific. The squadron had orders to enter Japanese waters after war broke out and to harass Japanese shipping lanes along the eastern coast. On November 11, 1898, the squadron steamed south towards Tokyo:
Map of the Battle
Spoiler :
At about 0530 hours, the 1st Squadron sighted the lights of a couple of patrolling Japanese gunships in the shallow coastal waters north of Tokyo. With their deck lights turned off, the Russian ships were able to come onto the enemy out of the darkness; in the cover of the pre-dawn gloom, the Russian squadron reduced speed and approached quietly. Upon approaching to within a mile, at about 0600 hours, the Russian cruiser, Pallada, opened fire on the HJMS Kongo - with this flash of gunfire, the Russo-Japanese War had officially begun. As the Pallada opened fire, the entire Russian squadron turned slightly to starboard on a heading of 225° - the Japanese replied by turning into a heading opposite of the approaching Russians. As the fleets approached each other on slightly converging courses the firing began to grow very heavy. Now within effective range, the Pallada concentrated the fire of her 8” guns on the HJMS Kongo directly. As the gun crews found the range, hits began to come quickly and the dense smoke from the firing soon obscured the cruiser from its target. Yet, several hits were registered on the Kongo, which began listing severely to port.
Pallada Under Fire
The accurate fire from the Pallada were so great that the Kongo was unable to turn away before suffering two more hits to aft and much of the deck was aflame. Despite the damage inflicted on the Japanese vessel, several hits were also made on the Pallada. When the two ships had closed to within 3,300 yards, the Kongo fired a torpedo salvo - the Pallada received a severe hit below the water line (2/4 hp), which forced her to turn north and beat a hasty retreat. As the Pallada steamed out of range, the order was given at 0632 hours for the Kongo to be abandoned by her captain, and she sunk a half an hour later.
Meanwhile, at around 0645 hours, the torpedo boat, Byedovi held back at a slightly slower speed to engage the HJMS Hiei with its smaller 2.95” guns at long range. The HJMS Hiei had completed its turn to starboard and was passing within the firing range of the Russian ship. Despite the constant fire from the Byedovi, the Hiei made its evolution and rapidly withdrew out of range, but not before suffering several hits (reduced to ½ hp). The slower moving Byedovi was forced to end its pursuit of the fleeing Japanese vessel.
At about 0650 hours, the last two combatants closed within effective range and both the HJMS Fuso and the Storozhevoi exchanged salvos at 1,500 yards. The initial Japanese fire proved to be quite accurate and the Storozhevoi suffered direct hits - it looked as if she would be sunk within a few minutes; in fact, she began to list to port slightly and took on water towards the aft (took 1/3 hp). A few gun crews bravely continued to fire the smaller 2.95” guns in a gallant display of heroism. As the two ships passed each other to within 1,00 yards, a chance shell ripped through the Fuso's steering and engine room, causing her to circle out of control. The Storozhevoi continued to pound away at the dying Japanese ship, scoring several more hits. The Fuso was soon abandoned with the realization that she was a wreck and would sink. By 0719 hours, the remaining crew had climbed into lifeboats and the Fuso turned up onto its bow and sank quietly into the depths.
Battered and bruised, the squadron limped back north and began steaming for port.
The Battle of Sudong
Meanwhile, at Vladivostok, General Kuropatkin had spent the past months in preparation of the war by massing the Manchurian Army Front near Vladivostok. Kuropatkin’s army commanders had been at odds with the invasion plans, fearing the recent massing of Japanese troops along the Korean-Manchurian border would cause serious delays to the advance on Hamhung. Therefore, it was decided to re-organize the operational plans to include a staged advance from Vladivostok along a 50 mile front, with the goal of occupying the trench-laden hills overlooking the city of Hamhung to the north:
Map of the Battle
Spoiler :
At precisely 1.10 pm, November 8, 1898, the 2nd Manchurian Army left its staging areas along the rail lines west of Vladivostok. The crossing of the Korean border was met with no opposition from the Japanese, who opted to remain behind their extensive lines of trenches along the hills to the south. Of the 2nd Manchurian Army’s five divisions selected for the attack, the 27th Infantry Division was advancing from a line of Russian trenches on the Russian far left flank, to assault the enemy eastern-most defenses in a wide flanking maneuver. The 2nd Siberian Rifles, 16th Infantry and 21st Infantry divisions were to assault the center of the Japanese line by frontal assault. On the far right flank of the Russian line, the 3rd Manchurian Rifles was to make a wide outflanking move around the western end of the Japanese line.
At about 3.20 pm, the forward Russian artillery began shelling the Japanese trenches with some effect and was soon joined by the massive booms of naval guns from the Russian Far East Fleet, just to the east.
The 27th Infantry faced the Japanese 11th Infantry Division dug into the trenches opposite the Russians. The enemy general’s orders had been to counter-attack at the east end of the line to break up any Russian assaults in his sector, but this apparently was thwarted by confusion over orders. The 27th Infantry caught the Japanese unaware in their wide flank attack, overrunning the enemy position with relative ease (took 3/5 hp from the attack).
A little to the west, the 2nd Siberian Rifles division opened its assault at about 3.30 pm near the center of the Japanese line, defended by the Japanese 2nd Infantry division. In the initial assault, the Russians managed to overrun the first two lines of trenched but the third one held. Casualties were heavy on both sides, but Major-General Tretyakov (commander of the 2nd Siberian Rifles) pushed his assault further. With half the defenders killed or wounded, the rest were seized by panic and many ran for their lives. Tretyakov was able to occupy the enemy position, but at the cost of about 2/5th of his divisional strength (suffered 3/5 hp).
Japanese Positions in Front of the 16th Infantry Division
In the Russian center, the 16th Infantry division assaulted the center of the enemy line at about 3.50 pm, held by ad-hoc garrison troops. Although outnumbered by almost 3 to one (the garrison unit had only 2 hp), and not nearly trained as a front-line unit (was a 1.10.1 defensive unit), the Russian 16th Infantry was caught before they could barely leave their positions, Caught by accurate fire, and unable to disperse to find cover, they were cut to pieces (unit was destroyed).
Determined to take the enemy position, the 21st Infantry division was ordered forward at around 4.30 pm. The Japanese again defended strongly against successive waves of Russians, who advanced through the torn-up earth and ravines piled high with the corpses of the proceeding waves. Yet, this stubbornness to continue such a bloody frontal assault began to pay off (the 21st infantry suffered 2/5 hp), and slowly the forward enemy trenches were occupied and by 5.23 pm, the last of the Japanese defenders had surrendered.
The final push of the overall attack came at about 7 pm on the far right flank of the Japanese line. The 3rd Manchurian Rifles division had been marching for several hours in a wide flanking maneuver to get around the enemy position. Some time after dusk, the Russian fell onto the unaware Japanese. By 8pm, the enemy trenches were fully occupied and now the Russian troops could look down onto the city of Hamhung itself.
Though the initial attack played out swiftly and with light casualties, the overrall advance of the 1st Manchurian Army Front will have to be put hold until the artillery cna be moved forward to firing positions onto Hamhung itself.
Other News From the Front
Farther to the south, near Seoul, General Linevich began his advance across the Korean border and by November 17th, his 1st Manchurian Army had reached the enemy trenches portecting the western approaches of Seoul itself. With orders to take these very same defensive positions, Linevich began a slow process of maneuvering his artillery into position to begin to shell the trenches. However, as the month drew to a close, it seemed that no action would take place for at least another week.
To the north, General Koslov's 2nd Army made a completely unapposed amphibious landing on the Kuril Islands. The Japanese inside the city made no attempts to hamper the Russian landings; yet, after the initial landings however, apart from a few tentative steps inland, not much advantage was taken of the situation and most troops stayed on, or not far from, the beaches.
Brucha
King
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2007
- Messages
- 622
By Week 49, 1898, the Russo-Japanese War was but one month old and already the Russian troops has made headway in the massive invasion of Korea from Manchuria. One Russian army had already preformed an amphibious landing on the Kuril Islands, another army had advanced to the outer-most trench works protecting the city of Seoul, and the largest configuration of Russian troops had smashed through the initial, northern-most, defenses around Hamhung.
Situation Map of the Front
The Invasion of the Kuril Islands
The attack on the Kuril Islands at the opening of the Russo-Japanese War was organized to protect the approaches into the Sea of Okhotsk and to secure vital forward naval bases into the Northern Pacific Ocean. Just 3 weeks earlier, a small Russian squadron had departed from Chabarovsk, transporting the Russian 2nd Army, which preformed a seamless amphibious landings onto the Kuril Islands, However, it took several more weeks until the landing troops could be sorted out and readied for the attack upon the city itself.
There was a delay of over three weeks before many of the Russian troops arrived from Chabarovsk via steam transports. Even after the initial landings, apart from a securing the beachhead, no advances were made. Luckily, the Japanese defenders within the city choose to remain behind the urban defenses rather than attempt a counter-attack on the beaches. The landings were further hampered by the illness of its overall commander, General Koslov, who had become bedridden during the sea voyage.
Battle of Kuril Islands - Phase 1
On the morning of 3 December, despite the continued illness of Koslov, the 2nd Army’s second in command, Lt-General Semenoff ordered an initial attack and general advance on the city. However, Semenoff’s plan was far too general as far as objectives, other than a general assault on the outer defense, and poorly communicated to the divisional commanders in the field.
The first attempts at an offensive took place at 5.30 pm that day, when Semenoff ordered the 1st Caucasian Rifles division to assault the southern-most point in the Japanese line of defenses, a salient named the Waterworks Redoubt. Advancing forward over open ground with little to no cover, the Russian troops could advance only a half a mile, the entire time coming under increasingly heavy fire from the Japanese. Three separate charges were ordered on the redoubt, with each attack turned back with heavy losses. Finally, at around 6.25 pm, the attack was called off and the remnants of the division fell back, having been effectively destroyed (it was in fact killed off). The Japanese defending the redoubt (members of the 4th Infantry division) suffered less than 30 casualties (did not lose a single hp).
On 5 December, Semenoff launched another attack on the Japanese line, this time to the north, by the 2nd Guards Infantry division. There, the enemy line formed another salient, designated Hill 203, held by a contingent of Japanese garrison troops from the city (1.10.1 infantry). Yet, trouble continued to plague the Russian command and the attack was brought in haphazardly and miscarried. Lacking sufficient artillery to destroy or disrupt the enemy positions, the advancing Russian troops relied on surprise and sheer weight of numbers - but their preparations were detected and the Japanese were ready. Again, the advancing Russian did so under a withering hail of fire that forced the lead battalions back several times. A third charge managed to reach the Japanese positions and a brief melee erupted. Yet, here too, the Japanese resistance, and the quarter mile of enemy trenches were soon retaken by the Japanese and the 2nd Guard fell back in disorder. When it was over, the Russian suffered nearly 15,000 casualties (unit was red-lined), while the Japanese suffered only 1/6th their numbers (1 hp out of 6 lost).
Three days later, on 8 December, the 3rd Infantry division was ordered to continue the attack on the Waterworks Redoubt at 8am. Despite a series of desperate assaults on the enemy positions, the Russians failed to capture any ground and were repulsed with heavy losses once again (unit was wiped out). The defending Japanese 4th Division suffered light casualties (reduced to 4/5 hp).
On the morning of 10, December, Semenoff gave orders for a renewed assault on the enemy positions, despite the massive losses already inflicted on the 2nd Army. Fully 1/3rd of the army’s divisions had been reduced to combat-ineffectiveness and now the Russian divisional commanders refused to continue any further assaults on the Japanese positions. By 11 December, all thought of a swift capture of the city was gone and the plans for the battle had reverted to trench warfare with objective being measured in meters.
1st Manchurian Army Stalls
Pressure to mount another offensive was now growing. Kuropatkin had won a victory at Sedong but his advance on Hamhung was slowed by the wait for the bulk of the 1st Manchurian Army Front to reach Hamhung. As the reports of the worsening situation at the Kuril Islands reached him, Kuropatkin ordered Linevich’s 1st Manchurian Army to begin its attacks on the so-called Kimp’Q Line, a line of trench works protecting the western advances to the city of Seoul.
Map of the Battle
For his part, General Linevich was unsure in his ability to overrun the heavily-defended Japanese positions - against his army of nine divisions were three Japanese infantry divisions. In fact, Linevich had personally reconnoitered the Japanese positions at Kimp’Q just days before and sent a message to Kuropatkin stating that, “…after careful reconnaissance of the enemy trench works, I fear that any attack could not be forthcoming without a substantial and lengthy artillery bombardment to prepare the way for an infantry assault.”. Request from Linevich following this message to high command for reinforcements were turned down.
After a series of communiqués between Kuropatkin’s headquarters and Linevich, it was agreed on for the 1st Manchurian Army to begin the assault with a heavy artillery bombardment, followed by probing attacks to determine the level of enemy resistance. However, Kuropatkin’s further hampered Linevich’s already difficult position by directing the 1st Manchurian Army to attempt to cut off the rail line just west of its position to prevent reinforcements to reaching Hamhung.
Linevich reluctantly began moving into position for the opening attacks. Linevich choose to begin with a conservative plan, targeting the center of the Japanese positions, dominated by the Yentai Redoubt. Though one of the most well-built-up positions of the enemy line, the redoubt was manned by a division of garrison troops (1.10.1 infantry). Thus, Linevich hoped that his Russian troops could overwhelm the 3rd- Rate Japanese troops in a swift assault before the enemy could move up reinforcements to repulse or retake any captured trenches.
On 9 December, the Japanese positions holding the Yentai Redoubt came under heavy artillery fire from Linevich’s 76.2mm Putilov field guns (5 batteries in all). From 6 am, and going on for the next hour, the Russian artillery bombarded the redoubt with devastating shell fire. The defending Japanese troops, lacking any artillery support of their own, could only wait out the punishing shelling and wait for the inevitable Russian assault (garrison unit reduced to 4/6 hp).
At just after 7am, the order was given for the 1st Finland Rifles to advance. Despite the heavy artillery bombardment the hour earlier, the Japanese swiftly mounted a spirited defense, and the 1st Finland Rifles were able to advance a quarter of the way to reaching the enemy trenches, its attacks completely stalled. The 1st Finland Rifles began to fall back towards the Russian line to the rear at 8am, having lost 4/5th of its strength in two hours (they causes 1 hp on the Japanese unit).
Just around 8.30am, Linevich continued the assault on the redoubt by ordering the 7th Infantry forward. The Russian first echelon, advanced down the slopes overlooking the enemy trenches, only to halt on the flat ground some 3,000 meters in front of the Japanese trenches. Forming up as if for parade, in close order, with banners flying, regimental bands playing Лонг ливэ тэ цар (Long live the Tsar), and the officers lining up in front of their men. When they finally came to within 800 meters of the enemy trenches, the Japanese opened fire with deadly accuracy. Within minutes, most of the Russian officers and the front ranks of men were dead or dying. The divisional commander, Major-General Andreev, galloped to front, trying desperately to reorder what was left of his division, until he was struck by a Japanese bullet and fell wounded. As Andreev was carried back mortally wounded, the tattered remnants of his division began to fall back (unit was destroyed). By 9.30 am, the Japanese troops, having suffered only half its men in losses (reduced to 3/6 hp), still controlled the redoubt and other Japanese forces began to move up to reinforce their position form further Russian attacks.
As word of the collapse of the attack reached Linevich, he immediately called off the assault, fearing losing his entire army in such fruitless frontal assaults. Instead, Linevich ordered the 4th and 5th Infantry divisions, accompanied by the 1st Cavalry division, to strike out towards the east and occupy the railway just south of Hamhung.
The Fall of Hamhung
Despite the failure at the Kuril Islands, and General Linevich’s doubt of success north of Seoul, by 13 December, Kuropatkin awaited the attack on Hamhung with confidence. Even as he maneuvered his army front into position for the attack, he learned of the bloody and failed assaults on the Kimp’Q Line days earlier, yet this did little to shake his confidence in his men. His western flank was defended by the 2nd Manchurian Army. In the rear, acting as a reserve and holding the former-Japanese trenches captured a month earlier, was the 1st Army. In the center was the 3rd Army, placed with the objective of attacking the city of Hamhung itself. The Russians totaled 23 infantry and 4 cavalry division and 11 batteries of artillery, The Japanese confronting them inside Hamhung were greatly outnumbered, having only five divisions of infantry and no artillery support.
Map of the Battle
On 15 December, Kuropatkin launched his offensive at 7.15 am with a ten hour artillery bombardment along a 30 km front stretching around the north of the city to the west. For hours, the Russian guns pounded the city so heavily that the effects could be felt as far south as Seoul. As darkness approached, the Russian guns began to fall silent and the Russian Far East Fleet began their relentless bombardment of the city.
This massive preliminary bombardment was followed by an early morning attack by three infantry divisions at about 5 am the next day. The Russian 3rd Siberian Rifles led the attack onto the Hung Sha Fort, the strongest position of the city’s outer defensive line. The two Japanese divisions in and around the fort, had suffered many casualties in the preliminary bombardment, so confidence was high for the success of the attack.
The initial attack began with the 3rd Siberian Rifles advanced rapidly and quickly overran the front-line positions (killing a 2/5 Japanese infantry) within an hour and began fighting their way into the rear trenches right in front of the fort itself. However, it was soon apparent that they lacked the numbers required to drive the attack deeper into the enemy line and instead tried to consolidate their captured positions. To the north, though, the supporting attack was beginning to tell a different story.
Between 6 am and 7 am, the 18th and 20th Infantry divisions began their assaults on the fort from the north, hoping to achieve a break-through following the success of the 3rd Siberian Rifles. However, the halt of the 3rd Siberian Rifles meant that the Japanese defenders of the fort could now turn their attention towards this new attack. For over an hour, the two divisions struggled to advance against a single Japanese division under heavy defensive fire. Despite also being under half effective strength (had 2/5 hp), the Japanese division not only held back both Russian divisions, but threw both back with crippling losses (both units were destroyed). Unfortunately, despite its gains, the 3rd Siberian Rifles were forced to pull back from its forward positions and give up the ground it had captured.
With the collapse of the assault on Hung Sha Fort, Kuropatkin switched the main attack to the south, directed against Hill 920, the linchpin to the far south of the Japanese line. Here too, the attacking Russian troops were met by fierce enemy fire. The attack began at 11 am, and led by the 2nd Manchurian Rifles and 26th Infantry divisions. Even in the first half an hour of the opening of the assault, it was evident that the attack was met by stiff resistance and by noon, the 2nd Manchurian Rifles disintegrated (was destroyed) and the 26th Infantry managed to occupy some 200 meters of enemy trenches and pushed back the Japanese defenders before they too were forced to fall back with such losses that the division was effectively wiped out (was destroyed). In all, the single Japanese division suffered only minimal losses in the attack (went from 2/5 hp to 1/5 hp). At 1.15 pm, a desperate attack was launched by the 2nd Finland Rifles against the fort. Now reduced to less than 20% of its normal strength, the Japanese defenders could not hold back the renewed Russian attack (the 1/5 hp unit was killed), and the 2nd Finland Rifles swiftly overran the position and the hill was captured with light losses (reduced to 4/5 hp).
The next morning, the Russian attacks were renewed at about 8 am by the 3rd Guard Infantry division, and supported by two more infantry divisions. Desperate to hold out against the newest Russian attacks, the Japanese shifted the remaining defenders to the sector of the city now under attack. Yet, within the hour, the 3rd Guards overran a weakened Japanese infantry division (had 1/5 hp), while the 24th Infantry followed this success when it too overran a Japanese division (a conscript 2/2 hp home guard, but suffered 1 hp)). By 11 am, the defense of the city was crumbling, one more push was all that was needed to collapse all further resistance. At 11.20 am, the 1st Siberian Rifles launched attacks against the remaining Japanese division (had 1/5 hp), easily overrunning its positions (killing the Japanese unit and suffered 1 hp). By late afternoon, the city surrendered.
Situation Map of the Front
Spoiler :
The Invasion of the Kuril Islands
The attack on the Kuril Islands at the opening of the Russo-Japanese War was organized to protect the approaches into the Sea of Okhotsk and to secure vital forward naval bases into the Northern Pacific Ocean. Just 3 weeks earlier, a small Russian squadron had departed from Chabarovsk, transporting the Russian 2nd Army, which preformed a seamless amphibious landings onto the Kuril Islands, However, it took several more weeks until the landing troops could be sorted out and readied for the attack upon the city itself.
There was a delay of over three weeks before many of the Russian troops arrived from Chabarovsk via steam transports. Even after the initial landings, apart from a securing the beachhead, no advances were made. Luckily, the Japanese defenders within the city choose to remain behind the urban defenses rather than attempt a counter-attack on the beaches. The landings were further hampered by the illness of its overall commander, General Koslov, who had become bedridden during the sea voyage.
Battle of Kuril Islands - Phase 1
Spoiler :
On the morning of 3 December, despite the continued illness of Koslov, the 2nd Army’s second in command, Lt-General Semenoff ordered an initial attack and general advance on the city. However, Semenoff’s plan was far too general as far as objectives, other than a general assault on the outer defense, and poorly communicated to the divisional commanders in the field.
The first attempts at an offensive took place at 5.30 pm that day, when Semenoff ordered the 1st Caucasian Rifles division to assault the southern-most point in the Japanese line of defenses, a salient named the Waterworks Redoubt. Advancing forward over open ground with little to no cover, the Russian troops could advance only a half a mile, the entire time coming under increasingly heavy fire from the Japanese. Three separate charges were ordered on the redoubt, with each attack turned back with heavy losses. Finally, at around 6.25 pm, the attack was called off and the remnants of the division fell back, having been effectively destroyed (it was in fact killed off). The Japanese defending the redoubt (members of the 4th Infantry division) suffered less than 30 casualties (did not lose a single hp).
On 5 December, Semenoff launched another attack on the Japanese line, this time to the north, by the 2nd Guards Infantry division. There, the enemy line formed another salient, designated Hill 203, held by a contingent of Japanese garrison troops from the city (1.10.1 infantry). Yet, trouble continued to plague the Russian command and the attack was brought in haphazardly and miscarried. Lacking sufficient artillery to destroy or disrupt the enemy positions, the advancing Russian troops relied on surprise and sheer weight of numbers - but their preparations were detected and the Japanese were ready. Again, the advancing Russian did so under a withering hail of fire that forced the lead battalions back several times. A third charge managed to reach the Japanese positions and a brief melee erupted. Yet, here too, the Japanese resistance, and the quarter mile of enemy trenches were soon retaken by the Japanese and the 2nd Guard fell back in disorder. When it was over, the Russian suffered nearly 15,000 casualties (unit was red-lined), while the Japanese suffered only 1/6th their numbers (1 hp out of 6 lost).
Three days later, on 8 December, the 3rd Infantry division was ordered to continue the attack on the Waterworks Redoubt at 8am. Despite a series of desperate assaults on the enemy positions, the Russians failed to capture any ground and were repulsed with heavy losses once again (unit was wiped out). The defending Japanese 4th Division suffered light casualties (reduced to 4/5 hp).
On the morning of 10, December, Semenoff gave orders for a renewed assault on the enemy positions, despite the massive losses already inflicted on the 2nd Army. Fully 1/3rd of the army’s divisions had been reduced to combat-ineffectiveness and now the Russian divisional commanders refused to continue any further assaults on the Japanese positions. By 11 December, all thought of a swift capture of the city was gone and the plans for the battle had reverted to trench warfare with objective being measured in meters.
1st Manchurian Army Stalls
Pressure to mount another offensive was now growing. Kuropatkin had won a victory at Sedong but his advance on Hamhung was slowed by the wait for the bulk of the 1st Manchurian Army Front to reach Hamhung. As the reports of the worsening situation at the Kuril Islands reached him, Kuropatkin ordered Linevich’s 1st Manchurian Army to begin its attacks on the so-called Kimp’Q Line, a line of trench works protecting the western advances to the city of Seoul.
Map of the Battle
Spoiler :
For his part, General Linevich was unsure in his ability to overrun the heavily-defended Japanese positions - against his army of nine divisions were three Japanese infantry divisions. In fact, Linevich had personally reconnoitered the Japanese positions at Kimp’Q just days before and sent a message to Kuropatkin stating that, “…after careful reconnaissance of the enemy trench works, I fear that any attack could not be forthcoming without a substantial and lengthy artillery bombardment to prepare the way for an infantry assault.”. Request from Linevich following this message to high command for reinforcements were turned down.
After a series of communiqués between Kuropatkin’s headquarters and Linevich, it was agreed on for the 1st Manchurian Army to begin the assault with a heavy artillery bombardment, followed by probing attacks to determine the level of enemy resistance. However, Kuropatkin’s further hampered Linevich’s already difficult position by directing the 1st Manchurian Army to attempt to cut off the rail line just west of its position to prevent reinforcements to reaching Hamhung.
Linevich reluctantly began moving into position for the opening attacks. Linevich choose to begin with a conservative plan, targeting the center of the Japanese positions, dominated by the Yentai Redoubt. Though one of the most well-built-up positions of the enemy line, the redoubt was manned by a division of garrison troops (1.10.1 infantry). Thus, Linevich hoped that his Russian troops could overwhelm the 3rd- Rate Japanese troops in a swift assault before the enemy could move up reinforcements to repulse or retake any captured trenches.
On 9 December, the Japanese positions holding the Yentai Redoubt came under heavy artillery fire from Linevich’s 76.2mm Putilov field guns (5 batteries in all). From 6 am, and going on for the next hour, the Russian artillery bombarded the redoubt with devastating shell fire. The defending Japanese troops, lacking any artillery support of their own, could only wait out the punishing shelling and wait for the inevitable Russian assault (garrison unit reduced to 4/6 hp).
At just after 7am, the order was given for the 1st Finland Rifles to advance. Despite the heavy artillery bombardment the hour earlier, the Japanese swiftly mounted a spirited defense, and the 1st Finland Rifles were able to advance a quarter of the way to reaching the enemy trenches, its attacks completely stalled. The 1st Finland Rifles began to fall back towards the Russian line to the rear at 8am, having lost 4/5th of its strength in two hours (they causes 1 hp on the Japanese unit).
Just around 8.30am, Linevich continued the assault on the redoubt by ordering the 7th Infantry forward. The Russian first echelon, advanced down the slopes overlooking the enemy trenches, only to halt on the flat ground some 3,000 meters in front of the Japanese trenches. Forming up as if for parade, in close order, with banners flying, regimental bands playing Лонг ливэ тэ цар (Long live the Tsar), and the officers lining up in front of their men. When they finally came to within 800 meters of the enemy trenches, the Japanese opened fire with deadly accuracy. Within minutes, most of the Russian officers and the front ranks of men were dead or dying. The divisional commander, Major-General Andreev, galloped to front, trying desperately to reorder what was left of his division, until he was struck by a Japanese bullet and fell wounded. As Andreev was carried back mortally wounded, the tattered remnants of his division began to fall back (unit was destroyed). By 9.30 am, the Japanese troops, having suffered only half its men in losses (reduced to 3/6 hp), still controlled the redoubt and other Japanese forces began to move up to reinforce their position form further Russian attacks.
As word of the collapse of the attack reached Linevich, he immediately called off the assault, fearing losing his entire army in such fruitless frontal assaults. Instead, Linevich ordered the 4th and 5th Infantry divisions, accompanied by the 1st Cavalry division, to strike out towards the east and occupy the railway just south of Hamhung.
The Fall of Hamhung
Despite the failure at the Kuril Islands, and General Linevich’s doubt of success north of Seoul, by 13 December, Kuropatkin awaited the attack on Hamhung with confidence. Even as he maneuvered his army front into position for the attack, he learned of the bloody and failed assaults on the Kimp’Q Line days earlier, yet this did little to shake his confidence in his men. His western flank was defended by the 2nd Manchurian Army. In the rear, acting as a reserve and holding the former-Japanese trenches captured a month earlier, was the 1st Army. In the center was the 3rd Army, placed with the objective of attacking the city of Hamhung itself. The Russians totaled 23 infantry and 4 cavalry division and 11 batteries of artillery, The Japanese confronting them inside Hamhung were greatly outnumbered, having only five divisions of infantry and no artillery support.
Map of the Battle
Spoiler :
On 15 December, Kuropatkin launched his offensive at 7.15 am with a ten hour artillery bombardment along a 30 km front stretching around the north of the city to the west. For hours, the Russian guns pounded the city so heavily that the effects could be felt as far south as Seoul. As darkness approached, the Russian guns began to fall silent and the Russian Far East Fleet began their relentless bombardment of the city.
This massive preliminary bombardment was followed by an early morning attack by three infantry divisions at about 5 am the next day. The Russian 3rd Siberian Rifles led the attack onto the Hung Sha Fort, the strongest position of the city’s outer defensive line. The two Japanese divisions in and around the fort, had suffered many casualties in the preliminary bombardment, so confidence was high for the success of the attack.
The initial attack began with the 3rd Siberian Rifles advanced rapidly and quickly overran the front-line positions (killing a 2/5 Japanese infantry) within an hour and began fighting their way into the rear trenches right in front of the fort itself. However, it was soon apparent that they lacked the numbers required to drive the attack deeper into the enemy line and instead tried to consolidate their captured positions. To the north, though, the supporting attack was beginning to tell a different story.
Between 6 am and 7 am, the 18th and 20th Infantry divisions began their assaults on the fort from the north, hoping to achieve a break-through following the success of the 3rd Siberian Rifles. However, the halt of the 3rd Siberian Rifles meant that the Japanese defenders of the fort could now turn their attention towards this new attack. For over an hour, the two divisions struggled to advance against a single Japanese division under heavy defensive fire. Despite also being under half effective strength (had 2/5 hp), the Japanese division not only held back both Russian divisions, but threw both back with crippling losses (both units were destroyed). Unfortunately, despite its gains, the 3rd Siberian Rifles were forced to pull back from its forward positions and give up the ground it had captured.
With the collapse of the assault on Hung Sha Fort, Kuropatkin switched the main attack to the south, directed against Hill 920, the linchpin to the far south of the Japanese line. Here too, the attacking Russian troops were met by fierce enemy fire. The attack began at 11 am, and led by the 2nd Manchurian Rifles and 26th Infantry divisions. Even in the first half an hour of the opening of the assault, it was evident that the attack was met by stiff resistance and by noon, the 2nd Manchurian Rifles disintegrated (was destroyed) and the 26th Infantry managed to occupy some 200 meters of enemy trenches and pushed back the Japanese defenders before they too were forced to fall back with such losses that the division was effectively wiped out (was destroyed). In all, the single Japanese division suffered only minimal losses in the attack (went from 2/5 hp to 1/5 hp). At 1.15 pm, a desperate attack was launched by the 2nd Finland Rifles against the fort. Now reduced to less than 20% of its normal strength, the Japanese defenders could not hold back the renewed Russian attack (the 1/5 hp unit was killed), and the 2nd Finland Rifles swiftly overran the position and the hill was captured with light losses (reduced to 4/5 hp).
The next morning, the Russian attacks were renewed at about 8 am by the 3rd Guard Infantry division, and supported by two more infantry divisions. Desperate to hold out against the newest Russian attacks, the Japanese shifted the remaining defenders to the sector of the city now under attack. Yet, within the hour, the 3rd Guards overran a weakened Japanese infantry division (had 1/5 hp), while the 24th Infantry followed this success when it too overran a Japanese division (a conscript 2/2 hp home guard, but suffered 1 hp)). By 11 am, the defense of the city was crumbling, one more push was all that was needed to collapse all further resistance. At 11.20 am, the 1st Siberian Rifles launched attacks against the remaining Japanese division (had 1/5 hp), easily overrunning its positions (killing the Japanese unit and suffered 1 hp). By late afternoon, the city surrendered.
I think you are doing just great with your story's detail. Two notes though, I found a division of rifles called something like 1st Finish Rifles. I should be Finnish, not Finish. And the second is that I believe you either put a wrong arrow or wrong name on the division who overran Hung Sha Fort.
And the second is that I believe you either put a wrong arrow or wrong name on the division who overran Hung Sha Fort.
IvanDolvich2
Order of Lenin
Nope. Your Battle Accounts are one of the great things about reading your stories. The tension of "will they succeed or won't they?" is part of the fun. The Battle Maps are splendid and add so much. It is also great that you include the mudane Civ3 details such as unit reduced to 4/5hp.
One Question: How do your infantry units retreat or break off an attack? Do they have more than one movement point?
ChaosArbiter
King
Yes; all the normal Infantry units have two Movement Points. Machine-gun units (except a few Light MG units from later) and Militia-style units only have one Move.
Brucha
King
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2007
- Messages
- 622
I think you are doing just great with your story's detail. Two notes though, I found a division of rifles called something like 1st Finish Rifles. I should be Finnish, not Finish.
Actually that is a typo - it should have been the 1st Finland Rifles
Yes. But what about the fall of the Hung Sha fort? In the picture, there is stated that the 26th Infantry Division took the fort and the 2nd Finland Rifles were killed but in the text it states that the 2nd Finland Rifles took the fort and the 26th Infantry Division was killed.
Brucha
King
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2007
- Messages
- 622
Darn another typo - correct it should have been the 2nd Finland Rifles on the map!
M60A3TTS
Ex-treadhead
So what graphics pack do you use for the maps? MS Paint just can't compete.
I was wondering where you got your military symbols from. I always believe the more desrciption the better. In your case Brucha, you have alot of units and your battle descriptions are just right for this story. The Japs seem alot tougher this time around, more true to life.
Brucha
King
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2007
- Messages
- 622
True, the Japanese seem much more of an opponent this time around - I did mod the game to reduce the strength of cavalry so that the main combat units would be infantry. Yet I did not increase the stats of infantry, so that there would be a more world war one style combat. It seems to have worked.
