Recaps

Field Marshal Manstein ordered preparations for a cautious invasion of the Island Nation's Mainland, warning that its armed forces and civilians might resist fiercely. German forces captured Okinawa after a naval and air bombardment, leaving the island ready to serve as a base for attacks on the mainland.

• Manstein told the Pacific Theater commanders that Germany would invade the Island Nation's Mainland and warned them to prepare for resistance from millions of mobilized civilians.
• Manstein ordered the commanders to prepare for an attack on Okinawa in five days.
• On August 25, German carrier aircraft and warships attacked the Island Nation's military facilities on Okinawa, and five Marine Corps Divisions landed that afternoon.
• German forces captured most of Okinawa before sunset, while Island Nation troops retreated into the mountains and continued resisting.
• Three days later, the German Marine Corps had nearly wiped out the Island Nation's forces on Okinawa and began repairing the airfields for future bombing raids on the mainland.

Germany launched a massive bombing campaign against the Island Nation, beginning with an incendiary raid that devastated Tokyo. The campaign then spread across the country, leaving nearly all major cities in ruins and severely damaging the Island Nation’s population and industry.

• Germany transferred strategic and tactical air groups to the Russian Republic’s Far East to prepare for raids on the Island Nation.
• On September 15, German bombers and fighters crossed the Sea of Whales to attack Tokyo, while carrier-based aircraft joined the assault.
• The Island Nation’s Army Air Force engaged the German formation but suffered disastrous losses and was driven away from Tokyo.
• German aircraft suppressed Tokyo’s air defenses and dropped napalm bombs, setting much of the city ablaze and causing catastrophic casualties.
• Germany bombed cities across the Island Nation over the following days, devastating its major urban centers and industry.

Hideki Tojo refused to surrender despite the German bombing campaign devastating the Island Nation, while German commanders prepared an invasion. On October 18, German forces began landing at Fukuoka on Kyushu Island.

• General Gen Sugiyama warned Hideki Tojo that bombing had devastated cities, caused more than two million civilian casualties, and left the Island Nation short of supplies.
• Hideki Tojo insisted the Island Nation would keep fighting and try to inflict heavy casualties on German landing forces.
• Field Marshal Manstein ordered an invasion beginning with a landing on Kyushu Island, with attacks to follow against Honshu Island and Shikoku Island.
• Field Marshal Rolf Kars confirmed the Navy and seven Marine Divisions were ready to support the landing.
• On October 18, German aircraft and more than ten Capital Ships attacked Fukuoka, then the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions and the 3rd Army Corps and 13th Army Corps landed.

German forces captured Fukuoka after routing the Island Nation’s 40th Army Corps, then annihilated the corps when it launched a desperate counterattack. On October 19, German armies engaged additional Island Nation forces north and east of the city.

• Nakazawa Mitsuo ordered the 40th Army Corps’ artillery to fire, but German dive bombers devastated its positions as the infantry was routed.
• Yokoyama Isamu ordered the 40th Army Corps to fight to the end and sent reinforcements toward Fukuoka, which German aircraft and naval planes bombed along the way.
• German forces drove the 40th Army Corps from Fukuoka on October 18, then used the damaged port to unload troops and heavy weapons.
• Nakazawa Mitsuo ordered a counterattack, and the corps’ soldiers charged German defenses but were destroyed by German air, naval, and ground fire.
• German forces annihilated the 40th Army Corps, losing few troops, and on October 19 engaged the 56th Army Corps and other Island Nation forces near Fukuoka.

German forces advanced across Kyushu and prepared landings on Shikoku and Honshu, while troops sweeping villages around Kumamoto faced deadly attacks by Japanese civilians. After German soldiers died because they hesitated to fire on civilians, Manstein ordered frontline troops to stop showing them mercy.

• Bock reported that German forces had defeated Japanese troops on Kyushu and were advancing, while Manstein confirmed the planned landings on Shikoku and Honshu.
• Keitel reported that Army Group was ready to land at Ise Bay and advance north and south.
• German troops of the 128th Infantry Division entered Kikuyo Town to search for Japanese soldiers and armed personnel.
• An old man shot two German soldiers, and the company commander ordered his troops to fire immediately on any threat.
• A boy detonated a grenade, killing himself and John, as civilians across the village attacked German soldiers with weapons and tools.
• Manstein ordered frontline troops to stop showing the Japanese people kindness.

German commanders requested and received Emperor Qin Tian’s approval to use nuclear weapons against the Island Nation, whose civilians were inflicting heavy casualties on German forces. A German bomber dropped an atomic bomb over Tokyo Bay, and the blast left the Island Nation troops unconscious.

• Field Marshal Bock, Field Marshal Keitel, and other commanders reported that Island Nation civilians had caused more German casualties than the frontal fighting.
• Field Marshal Manstein decided to request authorization to use nuclear weapons, and Emperor Qin Tian approved the request.
• Germany transported atomic bombs to the Russian Republic’s Far East and prepared two H-31 bombers with fighter protection.
• On October 31, the German formation flew over Honshu Island to Tokyo Bay while Island Nation forces failed to stop it.
• A German H-31 dropped an atomic bomb by parachute over Tokyo Bay, and the explosion’s bright flash knocked nearby Island Nation troops unconscious.

Germany’s atomic bomb attacks devastated the Island Nation’s Army and forced the government to surrender unconditionally, allowing Germany to take control of the country. Field Marshal Manstein then received Emperor Qin Tian’s order to organize trials for Island Nation war criminals, including Emperor Hirohito in Tokyo.

• A German atomic bomb killed more than one hundred thousand Island Nation’s Army troops, and General Keisuke Fujie ordered rescue efforts.
• General Gen Sugiyama told Prime Minister Hideki Tojo that the bomb had caused more than two hundred thousand casualties, and Hideki Tojo realized the war was lost.
• The German military dropped further atomic bombs on Yokohama, the Boso Peninsula, west of Tokyo, and Northern Honshu, causing over one million deaths in three days.
• The Island Nation government sent an envoy to seek peace, and Hideki Tojo accepted Germany’s demand for unconditional surrender.
• The Island Nation’s Army handed over its weapons and equipment, and Germany took control of the entire Island Nation in less than two weeks.
• Field Marshal Manstein received Emperor Qin Tian’s order to organize trials for Island Nation war criminals, especially Emperor Hirohito in Tokyo.

The German military staged trials and executions of Japan’s leaders, including Emperor Hirohito, then placed the country under military rule. After Germany celebrated its wartime victories and expanded its global military reach, Qin Tian abdicated in 1946 and passed the throne to Friedrich.

• Germany deployed troops and weapons throughout Tokyo before beginning the trials of Japanese officials on November 16.
• German judges sentenced Hideki Tojo, Gen Sugiyama, Shigetarō Shimada, Oshimi Nagano, and other Japanese leaders to death, and they were hanged.
• Hirohito was tried and hanged as Islanders attempted to rescue him, and German forces fired on the charging crowd.
• Germany divided the Island Nation into five military administrative zones and kept it under military rule.
• Qin Tian held a promotion ceremony on December 20, 1941, elevating Manstein, Raeder, Kesselring, Guderian, Rommel, and other generals to marshal ranks.
• Germany consolidated its global military presence, and Qin Tian abdicated in 1946 in favor of Crown Prince Friedrich.