My invasion of the Japanese Islands have now entered its third week and has seen two full weeks of heavy fighting that has cost a great many Russian casualties. Thankfully, I have managed to either bottle up the Japanese naval forces or destroyed a large portion of it. However, my momentum has slowed down to a crawl and my 1st, 2nd and 4th Russian armies have stalled at Osaka awaiting the arrival of naval support.
Despite my reservations, I have decided to begin an assault on Osaka and then possibly Tokyo itself, depending on the condition of my forces after the fall of Osaka. I have been spending a good deal of gold each turn to steal Japanese plans that allows me to view all Japanese units; thankfully my economy is quite strong and can afford to do this each turn for now.
I have also combined the 1st and 2nd Battle Squadron off the coast of Osaka in preparation for the assault on the city.
Battle of Ryukyu Islands
General Kuropatkin’s reinforced 3rd Army (having been brought back up to strength by troops from Hong Kong), had reached the Ryukyu Islands and came ashore unopposed last week and are now prepared to assault the city. He hoped that a determined and effective preliminary bombardment of the city would reduce the defenders and prevent such terrible losses that the 3rd Army suffered at T’aipei. Against the nineteen divisions of the Russian 3rd Army stood just four Japanese infantry divisions, yet the stubborn defense of T’aipei showed that even overwhelmed and outnumbered, the Japanese were tenacious and nearly undefeatable defenders.
The need for swiftness was not lost on Kuropatkin, as his attacks on the southern-most Japanese islands was drawing away the much needed East Asiatic Fleet from the main attack on Osaka to the north. The Ryukyu Islands, Kuropatkin knew, must fall.
On Feb 24, Kuropatkin ordered a massive artillery and naval bombardment on the city - the day-long shelling was particularly brutal and the Japanese defenders suffered heavy casualties. By the next morning, Kuropatkin gave the order to attack; in all, four cavalry and two infantry divisions participated in the attack. Advancing swift and relentless, the Russian troops broke onto the Japanese positions on the city’s outskirts and were initially thrown back. The Russian 19th Cavalry and 16th Infantry divisions made little headway in their assaults and both were wiped out by the weakened Japanese 33rd Infantry division (suffered 2/5 hp from shelling). The Russian 7th Cavalry was then ordered to continue the attack and despite heavy losses (¼ hp) was able to overrun the Japanese 33rd Infantry.
The following day, Kuropatkin ordered a second assault on the city, and three Russian divisions began moving up from the landing zone to the south. Again, just as at T’aipei, the Japanese defenders forced the Russians to pay dearly for each foot of ground captured. The 17th Cavalry and 13th Siberian Cossacks assaulted two nearly depleted Japanese infantry (both 1/5 hp) and were able to overrun the enemy positions only after multiple attacks that cost each division heavy losses (both divisions were red-lined). Finally, the 3rd Guards Infantry moved forward to assault the remaining Japanese defenders of the 1st Ryukyu Islands Home Guard, easily overwhelming the conscripted soldiers. The city had fallen.
Battle of Osaka
To the north, the newly arrived General Alexander Dutov’s Russian 4th Reserve Army had relieved the Russian 2nd Army in the siege of Osaka. Though three Russian armies were present at Osaka, it was decided that the 4th Army would be tasked in capturing the city, with the 1st and 2nd Armies held in reserve. General Dutov held a planning conference with his corps commanders on Feb 24 and was presented with a plan outlining the army’s objective in the upcoming attack. At the meeting, however, Dutov’s corps commanders expressed doubt as to the army’s ability to take the city by storm without a much greater concentration of artillery. Dutov called for the support of 1st and 2nd Army’s artillery in a preliminary bombardment as well as naval gun support from the 1st and 2nd Battle Squadrons that arrived the day before just off the coast and within naval gun range of the city.
At 6.05 am on Feb 25, the Russian artillery bombardment began, when fifteen batteries opened fire. The heavy bombardment was very effective and seven Japanese divisions, lacking any real defensive or fortified positions, took casualties (seven divisions suffered 1 hp losses each). Just before 6.30 am, the naval guns off the coast also began shelling the city. Osaka’s coastal forts quickly were reduced to rubble and the Osaka naval Academy was laid to ruin. Further naval shelling began hitting Japanese defensive positions, causing more losses to the front-line defending units (a total of 5 hp to the infantry).
Heartened by the effectiveness of the bombardment, Dutov ordered the first Russian troops forward at 10.57 am. The 7th, 8th and 9th Cavalry corps began the attack but quickly encountered a great deal of trouble during their advance on their objective, the Osaka Road region. The 8th and 9th Cavalry corps fell back after only advancing no more than 400 yards, suffering heavy losses in the process. The 9th Cavalry did not even manage to come to grips with the enemy before being throw back, the entire corps completely wiped out, while the 8th Cavalry succeeded in briefly engaging a weakened Japanese infantry formation (at 4/5 hp and taking 2 hp) before it too was surrounded and either killed or taken prisoner by the much smaller enemy force.
The only real gains were made by the 7th Cavalry, having overrun the enemy positions (a 3/5 hp infantry division) along the road after three separate attacks that cost the corps two full divisions laid waste and a third reduced to half strength. By 5.56 pm, the roadway had been secured, but all offensive operations were put off until the next morning.
On the morning of the 26th, it was clear that the operation was not going according to plan. The initial dawn assault nearly failed to reach its objective and suffered terrible losses. Dutov now ordered an advance along the entire line, hoping to overwhelm the outnumbered Japanese.
The 10th Cavalry Corps was ordered to exploit the success of the previous morning by pushing the salient along the Osaka Road to the city itself. Initially, the advance went reasonably well; the 51st Cavalry division swept over a Japanese position, surrounding and wiping out an under strength (3/5 hp) infantry division with little of no casualties.
Advance of the Russian 10th Cavalry Corps:
The 8th Siberian Cossacks division attacked next, pushing for the outskirts of the city, only to repelled by stiff and bloody fire. Finally, the 7th Siberian Cossacks division moves forward into the salient and under the confusion of the previous attacks, quickly overran one Japanese (3/5 hp) infantry division then another (3/5 hp), but was itself nearly wiped out (¼ hp).
To the north the growing expanse of the advance was supported by a combined attack of the 11th Cavalry and 8th Infantry corps to the north. With all chances of a quick victory gone, Dutov expected attrition rather than breakthrough, would bring victory. The 11th Cavalry Corps made little gains initially and advanced under heavy defensive fire that disintegrated two of its three divisions even before reaching the enemy line. The last division, the 49th, pushed the Japanese back and after a brief but bloody struggle overran a weakened (2/5 hp) Japanese infantry division but suffered nearly crippling losses itself (¼ hp).
Russian 8th Infantry Corps Moves forward:
The 8th Infantry Corps, meanwhile, suffered similar difficulties in its advance. Advancing over a mile under withering defensive fire, the 42nd and 49th Infantry divisions assaulted the enemy positions only to be thrown back with less than 100 men left out of both divisions combined. The 47th Infantry division advanced more cautiously and was able to storm the enemy positions of a single Japanese infantry division (at ¼ hp) and capture them despite heavy losses (¼ hp).
That evening, Dutov met again with his corps commanders to discuss continuing the offensive the following morning. Though his subordinates reluctantly agreed to continue the attack, several almost openly forbad Dutov to commit their units to combat the next day.
At 7.00 am on the 27th, the third day of assaults commenced. The 9th Infantry corps was ordered to press the pinch in the Russian line between the 8th Infantry and 11th Cavalry corps. Here, the Russian faced a short approach to the enemy positions, with the small outlying village of Shimoda as their objective. The corps managed to get near the enemy positions within the village, but as the volume of fire increased, the advance was stalled and unable to advance after no more than 100 yards.
Russian 9th Infantry Corps Advance Halted:
By 9.20 am, the corps had suffered heavy and sustained fire from the village and a fruitless series of bloody charges reduced the entire corps to no more than 80 men effective in all.
To their left, the 12th Cavalry corps attacked with all three divisions at 10.23 am, moving off at virtually the same time from their staging area atop a low hill. The 6th Siberian Cossacks division charged deep into the village, causing considerable losses to the enemy (1 hp to 2/5 hp infantry division) before being driven back (taking ¼ hp). The 49th Cavalry division pressed the attack on the village and despite also suffering heavy losses (¼ hp) overran the enemy positions killing the 1/5 hp infantry from above).
The 10th Infantry corps now began it advance on the last pocket of enemy resistance, a weakened division of Japanese infantry (at 2/5 hp). The 38th Infantry division moved only a short distance before it came under murderous fire from the enemy line and was thrown back. The 22nd East Siberian Rifles division were able to reach the enemy line despite the heavy volume of fire but within minutes, casualties mounted and although a spirited charge briefly took portions of the position (causing 1 hp to the Japanese infantry), was too thrown back though the division was able to return back to the rear, despite heavy losses (¼ hp). At 10.56 am, the 40th Infantry division advanced forward, meeting little resistance before crashing directly into the enemy line. However, the spirit of the Japanese defenders was broken and the last Japanese division was soon overcome.
By 11 am, all resistance had ended and the city was taken, though not without a heavy cost. In the ensuing three day battle, Dutov’s army suffered the destruction of 17 entire divisions and five more greatly weakened out of thirty-two divisions. In just three days, Dutov’s army lost over half its men.
Week 21 - 25, 1903
The decision is made to disband the Russian 2nd Army and incorporate it into the 1st Army, and an attempt to push onto Tokyo is made. For this, the weakened 4th Army along with the 1st Army will march on the city and siege it while awaiting the arrival of the 3rd Army and East Asiatic Fleet to arrive from the Ryukyu Islands. While besieging the city, I will continually bombard it with artillery and naval guns in hopes of weakening it as best as I can.
However, the success of an assault on Tokyo appears very difficult indeed. The city is now garrisoned by no less than thirteen infantry divisions. Even with the combined force of the 1st, 3rd and 4th Armies, I am unsure if success is possible.
Then what I have been dreaded happens. A glance at my CivAssist informs me that 28 Russian cities are about to riot! The Russian war weariness has set in, and only after four weeks of fighting!. Despite this, I decide to try one assault on Tokyo before seeking peace since everything is almost in place. I bump up my lux slider to 90%, dropping the rioting cities down to only eight, and I then manage thise with entertainers to get them under control. Unfortunately, this results in all my Japanese cities, including those in Korea, to begin starving.
In Week 25, the 3rd Army comes ashore at Tokyo and the East Asiatic Fleet arrives off the coast as well. I have the war weariness under control for now, allowing me one try at capturing the city. At this point, logic has escaped me. Everything tells me to get a peace treaty, but even after so many losses, I want the Japanese capital in my grasp, no matter what the cost.
Razrush'te teh malen'kih zheltyh ubl'udkov! Ha Ha it means this...Destroy those small yellow mongrels! LMAO I put yellow bastards in my translation and it came back mongrels. 
I think the cost was worth it, as you gained some very productive cities - and shattered much of Japan's military in the process (never mind your own, heh). I agree with the waiting game - you have no real choice if you want to rebuild your military.
