WesWorld

31st July - early evening - industrial complex near Dandong

For a while there was silence. In the second attack, the Koreans had almost made it, thought Major Jason Hu. Supported by three tanks which pulled in with top speed up to fifty meters to the chinese positions before they could be destroyed, the attack had resulted in heavy losses. Fortunately this attack was just collapsed in front of its success. The third, a half-hearted attack, done by exhausted men, had not even reached the kill zone at nightfall. From the east gunfire boomed: Now the chinese troops in the other part of the industrial complex were attacked. The break was urgently necessary for him and his men according to the lossy last hours - so they could finally recover a bit, but what the men more needed than sleep is ammunition.
But what should i do, he wondered. Command his men to shoot less, was out of question. Support was requested, but he didn't believe that they would arrive in time. For a moment he had a word in mind ..... surrender ... but he had caught himself immediately and said to himself ... NO NEVER. There is a minimal chance if we immediately break out, he thought, but to have success we must coordinate our actions. For this reason he need a radio call with Colonel Hau Lung.

[size=1]date corrected[/size]

1st August 1943, SITREP 2nd Army

AB1/IC22: After a short firefight tanks of the 1st Armored Brigade captured the village of Dongdian just 3 kilometres east of Gushanzhen. AB 1 will go around Guanshanzhen, avoid urban warfare and wait until RD 17 catches up.

RD48/IC40: The battle for the industrial complex is two days old now and still raging. Despite our troops took tremendous casualties little achievements have been made so far. Yesterday evening RR1 and RR2 managed to finally capture the power plant which was defended by the 4th Chinese Infantry Regiment. Though instead of surrendering the surviving soldiers of the Chinese regiment waited for the night fall and managed to break through to their mainforce at the industrial complex under the cover of darkness, leaving heavy weapons and their wounded comrades behind.
One batallion of RR 1 was able to break into the northern Chinese defence line and is engaged in heavy close quarters combat. Several combined frontal assaults of RR 3 and EngB 252 were bogged down by heavy small arms fire and failed ultimately.


Chosenian soldiers of the RR1 are fighting their way through the city. Every squaremeter soil which is gained has to be paid with blood.


Situation at the industrial complex.

1st August 1943 - HQ of the 154th Fengtian Regiment - in the basement of a building in Dangdong

»Nutria is not responding, sir«, said the communications officer.

»It's hopeless«, muttered Major Shi-Peng. They had told him to hold the enemy as long as possible, had promised him reinforcements. Now none of this had worked. His regiment was forced to retreat to Dangdong and was now fully enclosed. His artillery was destroyed. Well over a thousand of his men were dead or missing, and hundreds are wounded. It was enough.

»Try to take make a radio connection with the commander of the Chosen Forces. Say, I propose a cease-fire and be willing to meet him at a place of his choice.«

2nd August 1943, SITREP 2nd Army

RD32/IC40: RD32 cleared the northern part of Yuanbao from remaining enemy forces. However, Chinese troops are still defending the city districts south of the central trainstation.

RD48/IC40: The final attack on the industrial center in Dandong has been aborted due to heavy friendly casualties and lack of ammunition. The rifle regiments of RD48 are currently holding their positions and waiting for resupply.

RD30/IC22: Good news from Dongang. About 600 surviviors of the 154. Fengtian Regiment which held positions at the Donggang harbor have finally surrendered when they realized that there was no hope for relieve or rescue. The Chinese prisoners have already been disarmed and will be escorted to the POW collection point.


These Chinese soldiers made the right decision. Instead of fighting and dying in a battle they could not win, they dropped their weapons and surrendered to the impregnable army of Chosen....unfortunately not all Chinese soldiers are as wise as them.

3rd August 1943, SITREP 2nd Army


RD32/IC40: RD32 is reorganizing at the Yuanbao central station for waiting for resupply

RD48/IC40: After the last days of heaving fighting all regiments of the division are understrength, fatigued and low on ammo. The Division ist holding its position for resupply.

AB1;RD25/IC22: The 1st Armored Brigade and Rifle Division No. 25 launched a combined assault on the town of Gushanzhen this morning and after encountering weak resistance units of the RD25 captured the towncenter by early afternoon.

air activity: Chinese recon flights on all front sectors. Furthermore spotters observed Chinese transport planes dropping supplies for the isolated Chinese divisions in Yuanbao. Unfortunately our fighters arrived to late and were unable to intercept. Hopefully we will have more luck the next time.

4th August 1943, SITREP 2nd Army


RD48/IC40: Disconcerting news from the Dandong industrial complex: Just after midnight Chinese troops from the encircled regiments at the Dandong industrial complex started to penetrate the defense lines of the 1st Rifle Regiment/RD48 which already suffered heavily during the recent battles.
Due to the fact that the Chinese infiltrated our lines with small squad and section sized units the breakout attempt went unnoticed by the men of RR1 for the first few hours. Only at sunrise the Chinese intentions became obvious and all units were alerted. At this time RR1 was unable to offer organized resistance as the companies and platoons were seperated by Chinese troops. Heavy skirmishes between small infantry units ensued and the Chosen infantrymen tried their best to inflict as much casualties as possible amongst the Chinese troops.
Meanwhile the parts of the Chinese 24th Infantry Division from Yuanbao launched an attack against the northern flank of the RR1/RD48 which was defended by a weak infantry company only.
The streets of Dandong saw heavy fighting today and due to the confusion the Chinese attacks have caused, the situation is still unclear. RR2 which moved into the industrial complex found considerable quantities of heavy equipment which was left behind by the Chinese. While we have not received a final report from RR1 yet, we are expecting that the bulk of the isolated Chinese regiments managed to break through to the main force at Yuanbao.
This development is a considerable setback and will most probably cause further delays.


Chosen Infantry of the RR1 is moving through the streets of Dandong. The Chinese attack caused much confusion and several Chosen infantry squads had to fight on their own, as they were seperated from their respective platoons.

5th August 1943, western theatre/Army District North

SITREP 2nd Army

RD48/IC40: RR1/RD48 confirmed that the Chinese isolated regiments which achieved a breakthrough yesterday managed to unite with their main force in southern Yuanbao. Casualties have been high on both sides.

IC28: The divisions of the IC28 (RD45, RD18, RD6, RD20) crossed the Yalu at Chongsu and Hekoucun without encountering considerable resistance. IC28 will advance via the road S202, secure the town of Yongdiancun and then capture the city of Kuandian.

IC22/MC1: The 1st Armored Brigade will be attached to the MC1 from now on. The Remeinaing units of the 1st Motorized Corps will arrive in Gushanzhen shortly and then continue to advance to Zhuanghe along the coast. IC22 will advance north-west on the road S312 and capture Xiuyan.

SITREP 1st Army

The units of the 1st Army started their adavance this morning. Two Corps, IC4 (RD2,RD5,RD28,BR103,BR107) and MtnC1 (MtnRD1, MtnRD4, BR125), crossed the border on multiple locations between Hunjiangcun and Ji'an.

air activity:
Columns of IC22 advancing on the coastal highway were attacked several times by Chinese ground attack aircraft. 12 Vehicles and 31 men have been lost. 1 plane was claimed by AAA.
In the Yuanbao area the Chinese continued to drop supplies by plane. This time however friendly WAC-190 fighters were in the air and managed to intercept the Chinese transport planes. 4x SAC-52 were claimed by our pilots while a fifth SAC-52 was damaged and crash landed on friendly positions. The crew was taken prisoner.


Ltn. Jeon Se-Hong is scoring hits on a Chinese SAC-52.


There goes another Chinese transport plane.


This SAC-52 was forced to crash land near the village of Xinsheng. The surviving crew was detained later.

6th August 1943, Combat Report

6-8-1943, 7:21

From: CS-10, LOCSTAT: 26°29'N 123°34'E

To: Submarine Command

CS-10 engaged a Chinese passenger ship with 3 torpedos this morning. Two torpedoes hit the target. Enemy ship is sunk. Few suvivors.


CS-10 has spotted a Chinese ship maneuvered into attack position.


Two torpedoes hit the target. Heavy fires and several secondary explosions were observed. After only 18 minutes the ship is sunk.

Supply Column of the 29th AID - somwhere near Zhuanghe - late at night of the 3rd August

The column of Corporal Wu drove like the firefighters. Now, even with fully open lights. Otherwise they would be surely rumbled into the next bomb craters and had killed themselves.
Before them, fifteen to twenty kilometers away, reflections jerked in the sky of the night, flares flickered in all colors.

"Whether we still do that?" said Sergeant Pi concerned.

"We have to. Ammunition and fuel are just now urgently needed. It's about all, so the damned lorries have to potter about for a while."

For a time they drove in silence. The light beam of the headlights danced up and down. Deep holes, bomb craters, wide rolled obstructions , small and low ditches filled with water.
It was a wild ride by hook or by crook.

"Hopefully the damned Koreans are not in the air," Sergeant Pi mumbled. "It's hard to overseen our light show."

"No other way. We must ride what's inside. If we are to late, it's all over !!!"

4th August - Industrial Complex south of Yunbao - 3rd IR/24th ID

At 2 clock the companies assembled. One hour late the went slowly, softly, gently. No one exactly knew where the Koreans had their guards.

Dark figures appeared, pushed themselves between them.

"What's going on?" someone asked.

"Shut up," was the reply. "Engineers"

Well, everything was together, grenadiers and engineers. Thus, the ensemble was ready for the fight. Support from the Air Force must be omitted due to the darkness.

......

He put the glass down and looked at the watch. "Ten minutes then operation "Amber Moon" starts. All right, Lieutenant?"

"Everything in position, Major. All regiments and the Artillery Regiment has reported to be ready. Ten minutes to go."

"Ten Minutes", growled Major Jason Hu and looked on the paper with the operation plan.

Quoted

Operation "amber moon":
- common outbreak of the two regiments (3rd & 4th) with support of the engineer battalion
- Covering with gunfire from the Divisional Artillery Regiment
- simultaneous attack of the two northern regiments (1st & 2nd)
- connecting and thus relieve of troops from the industrial complex

Result:
building of a new line of defense in Yuanbao with the 17.ID

......

As the mortars and artillery fired, they were immediately before the enemy positions! Commands rang shrilly through the night, Machine guns pounded, the cauldron of wild dancing impacts and explosions grew up in front of them. Muzzle fire - fire back ! Jumping - slam down ! Up again and again to the ground .... On the right side, hand granades already rumble. The battle awoke in the middle of the night. A struggle for life and death.

As the sun rose it was over. They had actually done it, and the connection with the division was restored.

Always securing to the back, the rest of the division moved back to Yuanbao.


[size=1]Battle line before operation "Amber Moon"[/size]




[size=1]Battle line after operation "Amber Moon"[/size]

6th August - early morning - northeast of Keelung - aboard passenger steamer SS Mongolia

Two hundred and twenty miles northwest of Keelung the Chinese passenger steamship SS Mongolia stomps through the South China Sea. The captain tried to calm the nervous passengers. About four hundred are on board. Women and children are among them. They pray fervently to the gray overcast sky, to let them unquestioned achieve the protective harbor.

"According to the international maritime law passenger ships must not be attacked. Unless they sail in a convoy. But we travel alone.", the captain of the Mongolia tries to appease his passengers.

As a blood-red eye the sun rises. Passengers and crew members are watching this spectacle.



nearly the same time - about 50 nautical miles away - aboard passenger steamer SS Asiatic

It is shortly before half past eight when the radio operator of the Asiatic brought a note to the bridge. It is an emergency call. It's the Mongolia, which is radioing for help. She cries out to the world, been torpedoed by a chosen submarine. The Chinese destroyer Taichun and Nantou confirmed and already changed course for assistance. Likewise from Keelung several Do-24 Flightboats are flying to the position, which is mentioned in the SOS-Call.

The captain sighs, then says "Full spead ahead. We are trying to save what can be saved. Officer of the watch - make everything ready for the salvage of the castaways."

But after 20 minutes the distress call gets silent. The captain and his officer look at each other and know what that means - the Mongolia is sunk.

"When do we reach the last position of Mongolia ?" the captain asked.

"With maximum speed now at 22 knots ...... in a little bit more than two and a half hour." the officer of the watch replied.

"And the other ships ?"

"Estimated at the same time."

"Hopefully we can at least save a few lives." the captain sighed and looked with binoculars to the horizon.

7th August 1943, Pyongyang, Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Chosen

Weekly combat report no. 2

Generally our offensive is successfull. Especially at the coastal area MC1 and IC22 are advancing as quickly as planned. Though, Chinese forces are still holding out in Yuanbao and IC40 is occupied with their destruction. Therefore the recently redeployed IC1 will take point and advance to Fengcheng. IC40 will follow as soon as the Chinese units in Yuanbao have been wiped out.
The units of the 1st Army are gaining ground and encountering little organized restistance. Their advance is only slowed down by the rough terrain.
With teh exception of Yuanbao this week saw relatively little fighting. The Chinese forces seem to have problems to build up a new line of defense.



casualty report week 2:

KIA:2856
WIA:6540
MIA:109
POW:45
tanks:9
light tanks:17
armored vehicles:32
unarmored vehicles:71
art. guns:19
fighter planes:21
bomber planes:15
recce planes: 6

8th August 1943, Dalian, Headquarter of the 3rd Infantry Corps

Combat report no. 1:

Overview map


In the headquarter of the 3rd Infantry Corps, it was like in a real estate office shortly before the close of trading: Phones were ringing and buzzing, teletypes were clattering, orderlies came in and go out, and the wireless operators gave each other the door in hand. Everywhere there was a frenzy of activity.

"A foolishness," sighed the old General Yang Xiong "how nice it would now to get some sleep. But it's not, it is really not. The enemy does not sleep. So, gentlemen carry on! There will come quieter times again - may be."

In the smelly room General Kuo Tsung-fen, the commander of the 3rd Corps, said to his Chief of Staff General Yang Xiong: "Now it's getting serious. We must finally stop the Koreans ! Let's make no mistake about it: This will not be easy ..... Now how does it look?"

The Chief of staff looked thoughtfully at the pictures, still painting the last positions on the map and began to report the situation ......

"Our 29th Armored Infantry Division was able to stabilize the front at Zhuanghe after fierce fighting. However, here absolutely more units are needed to prohibit a breakthrough and thus prevent the advance of Chosen units to Dalian.

The 154th Fengtian Regiment was almost completely wiped out in battles in and around Dongang and unfortunately had to surrender.

Parts of the 24th Infantry Division were able to hold the major industrial complex in Dadong, thus delaying the advance of the enemy. However, a large part of the division was surrounded during these action. Only through the successful operation "Amber Moon" a disaster could be prevented. Meanwhile, the surviving parts of the division are in Yuanbao.

Also in Yuanbao the 17th Infantry Division has to fight against the 40th IC of the chosen army in bloody street skirmishes. While the northern part of the city (also the train station) already is occupied by the army of Chosen, the 17th ID holds the southern part. By the withdrawal of the 24th ID to Yuanbao are now nearly 20,000 soldiers in the city, which must be supplied from the air because chosen forces have closed the ring around Yuanbao on 5th August.

The 141th Fengtian regiment has withdrew to the north to the city of Fengcheng.

Die 22th Infantry Division is now in and around Xiuyan.

The 19th Tank Division moves from Mingyangzhen to Zhuanghe to stabilize the front.

The 122nd Fengtian Regiment is in Huanren.

In Shenyang now the 1st Fengtian Territorial Tank Division is formed with the arms shipment from Mexico.

In the north-east, our neighbours are the units of the 6th Infantry Corps." with these words he closed his speak.

General Kuo Tsung-fen sighed and looked at him silently and inquiringly .... then he looked to the map

9th August 1943, onboard CS-10, somewhere in the East China Sea


Lieutenant commander Ryom In-Tak pressed his eyes against the optics of the periscope. Carefully he recognized the lines of the ship which silhouetted against the grey sea and compared them with the drawing in the ship recognition manual. He was sure he indentified the ship he saw correctly and couldn't comprehend his luck.
It's the SS Asiatic, Ryom In-Tak mumbled in disbelief. Just three days after his successfull attack against the SS Mongolia he had once more the opportunity to send another Chinese ship to the bottom of the sea.
With a firm voice he gave the necessary orders to his officers: Prepare for attack. Target is at 3  5  0 degrees, range 3800, speed is approximately 20 knots, course north west. Open muzzle doors one to three.

Just a few minutes later, three torpedoes were on their way to the target. Everyone was quiet in anticipation of the impact, but the only thing the crew of CS-10 heard was the ticking chronograph which lieutenant commander Ryom In-Tak held in his hand.
Ryom In-Tak waited another minute but it was all in vain, the torpedos have missed or failed to detonate.
Angrily Ryom In-Tak threw his cap on the ground:
These bloody armchair generals in Pyongyang. Instead of supplying us with functioning weaponry they are giving smart speeches about victory. How am I supposed to fight with those useless torpedoes.
Ryom In-Tak was furious. There was no chance to get into a good position for a second attack and the SS Asiatic was too fast to follow.

Instead of just activating the switch to retract the periscope, Ryom In-Tak turned the periscope some degrees to the left and was stunned for a second when he saw a warship quickly closing in. Such a rookie-mistake. Ryom In-Tak must have overlooked the destroyer escorting the chinese ship....it was too late, the destroyer must have spotted the periscope in the calm sea and was now doing an attack run.
Ryom In-Tak was screaming orders with concern in his voice: Enemy destroyer! Flank speed. Rudder hard to port. New depth 120 meter. Get us out of here!


Lieutenant commander Ryom In-Tak screwed up and within seconds CS-10 has turned from predator into prey.

10th August 1943, Jeju Do, Headquarters of Airfleet 18

Since the beginning of the hostilities in late june Chosens navy and airforce made combined efforts to deny Chinese naval traffic in the Yellow Sea area. This became even more important when Chosens intelligence service NBID received reports about mexican armament shipments to support China.
As Jeju-do is a giant unsinkable aircraft carrier which is a key in controlling the Yellow- and East China Sea, supreme command decided to deploy additional two bomber squadrons (63rd and 81st Bomber Squadron) to Jeju and to intensify the operations against Chinese merchant shipping.
In the afternoon of the 9th August 1943 a Chosen recon plane spotted a small convoy of merchant ships steaming with slow speed from the east to the Chinese coast.
It was immediatly decided to start an attack on the next day and therefore now, in the morning of the 10th August 1943, 32 WAC-120 and 14 Ki-51 are waiting on the runway and waiting for permission to take off.

At 11:10 the first aircraft reach the Chinese convoy and begin their attack run with bombs and cannons. Four large freighters as well as a smaller merchant vessel and a destroyer escorting the convoy are spotted and engaged.


The first bombs are close but no hits are scored yet.


While the Ki-51 score their first hits on the enemy freighters, some of the WAC-120 are concentrating on the Chinese destroyer which is resisting with heavy AA fire.


After half an hour the battle is over. Two freighters as well as the destroyer are sinking while a third freighter is burning.

7th-14th August 1943, Pyongyang, Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Chosen

Weekly combat report no. 3

The operation is conducted as planned in all sectors with exception of the Yuanbao area where IC40 is still besieging two Chinese divisions which refuse to surrender.
The Chinese resistance is especially weak and unorganized in the frontsectors of IC1 and IC28 where only two Chinese Fengtian Regiments are trying to delay our advance. We expect that Fengcheng will be captured by elements of IC1 without heavy fighting. Spearheads of IC28 have reached the outskirts of Kuandian this morning.
MC1 and IC22 operating at the coastal area are only slowed down by remnants of the 29th Armored Infantry Division and the worsening weather conditions. Since 11th August heavy rain is turning the once dusty roads into mud tracks. Air operations in the area are also hindered by the monsoon.
In summary we are suprised how fast the Chinese resistance collapsed. With exception of the coastal area, there is no coordinated defense at the moment.


Infantry of the Mountain Rifle Division No.1 is advancing. At this point the rough and mountainious terrain is more of a problem to the Chosen soldiers than the Chinese defenders which are rarely seen in that area.

casualty report week 3:

KIA: 1497
WIA: 3870
MIA: 101
POW: 67
tanks: 6
light tanks: 12
armored vehicles: 29
unarmored vehicles: 67
art. guns: 13
fighter planes: 23
bomber planes: 18
recce planes: 3

15th August 1943, Pyongyang, Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Chosen


The command of the 12th Submarine Fleet reported that they were still unable to make contact with CS-10 operating north of Formosa. The last sign of life from CS-10 was a contact report from the 9th of August.
Our intelligence intercepted Chinese radio messages which indicate that Chinese naval vessels sunk a submarine in the afternoon of the 9th August. Therefore we assume CS-10 has been lost in combat with the Chinese Navy.


Chosens Navy mourns the loss of CS-10 which was presumably sunk by Chinese vessels. There are no informations about survivors.

9th August - East China Sea - aboard HICMS Ju-2

The HICMS Ju-2 was along with her sister ship, the HICMS Ju-5 on patrol, which was intensified after the sunk of the SS Mongolia. The deck vibrated under the feet of the men. The bow of the boat cut through the blueness of the sea.

"Periscope port bow, distance 3000 !"

"Note to Ju-5: submarine alert !" The ensign uses the flip lamp to send the message. "We are attacking !"

"Hard to port! Both FS (full speed)!"

Huang Qifan saw with a panoramic view that everything was on the battle stations. His ship made now nearly 18 knots, the periscope came very quickly closer. The submarine still not swung away, or dive in deeper and therefore safe regions. The periscope was still visible, then it went down and at this moment Huang Qifan had raised his hand.
"Throw !" he cried.

Qifan dropped his hand. The whistles of the waterbomb officers shrilled in the two nocks. Then the wabos clapped into the water, slumped on the set depth and detonated.
The sea reared up. A powerful explosion rumbled up from the sea. A water hill rose high into the air.

"Damned !" cried the ensign over the din of the pelting water, that the men completely by-wetted. A rumbling, breaking and cracking, bubbles, green streaked oil geysers.

"Breaking bulkheads !" reported by the radio operator from the hydrophone. And what no one knew of the others, heard Ge Honglin: that here a boat was compressed by the increasing water pressure. That thirty, forty sailors were dying by the force of the water.

Then it was over. A single water bombs throw was sufficient to destroy the enemy. This U-boat was surely sunk.

17th August 1943, Combat Report

17-8-1943, 14:54

From: CS-21, LOCSTAT: 31°26'N 125°19'E

To: Submarine Command

CS-21 engaged a Chinese tanker (12000 GRT) with 2 torpedos. Only one torpedo detonated and the ship had to be finished off with the deck gun. No survivors.

August 19th, 1943

From: Paul Theisman, President of the Republic of France
To: Jong Un, President of Chosen, and Ministers of State

To all those to whom receive these presents, greetings.

Information has been received regarding Chosen's apparent policy of total submarine warfare in the region of seas between China and Chosen. This policy, with its attendant risk of accidental sinking of neutral merchant vessels and belligerent merchants not subject to lawful attack according to the Geneva Conventions, is an affront to the law of civilized nations.

The Republic of France therefore requests and directs Chosen to immediately cease and desist its uncivilized attacks upon merchant ships upon the high seas, and to otherwise offer satisfactory assurances regarding the safety of neutral shipping within international waters.

If Chosen fails to publicly denounce unrestricted submarine warfare by the date of September 1st of this year, the Republic of France intends to sequester all funds held in French banks by the Government of Chosen, terminate all trade and sales otherwise permitted by neutrality conventions to the nation of Chosen, and authorize French naval forces to sink Chosenian submarines on sight as is proper for pirates and brigands of the sea.

Respectfully,
The Republic of France