Chapter Summaries

General Hitoshi Anami returned to Tokyo after Prince Kan'in Kotohito secured him another chance to lead the Southern Army. Anami promised to concentrate Japanese forces on Borneo and defeat the Germans, leaving his command under pressure to deliver a victory.

• Prince Kan'in Kotohito persuaded General Shunroku Hata to give General Hitoshi Anami another chance as Southern Army Commander.
• Prince Kan'in Kotohito summoned General Hitoshi Anami to Tokyo, and Anami ordered Lieutenant General Tadaichi Tsukada to prepare a plane.
• General Hitoshi Anami flew from Manila to Tokyo and reported that the Netherlands East Indies Expeditionary Army had been shattered while Japanese forces were landing on Borneo.
• Prince Kan'in Kotohito warned General Hitoshi Anami that another failure could cost him his post.
• General Hitoshi Anami vowed to land the 14th Area Army and other forces on Borneo and attack the Germans with overwhelming numbers.

After committing himself to a major campaign in the South Seas, General Hitoshi Anami secured air, anti-tank, and personnel support before returning to Manila. He ordered the 14th Area Army to hold on Borneo until the 7th and 18th Area Armies reinforced it, and Japanese forces began massing there for a renewed offensive.

• General Hitoshi Anami visited Lieutenant General Hideki Tojo, the Equipment Department, and the Training Department to secure support and resources for the South Seas campaign.
• General Hitoshi Anami returned to Manila on March 14, where Lieutenant General Tadaichi Tsukada reported that Japanese forces had landed on Borneo and were holding back from attacking the Germans.
• General Hitoshi Anami ordered Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma to lead the Borneo campaign, temporarily attach the 24th Independent Mixed Brigade and 72nd Brigade, and wait for reinforcements before attacking.
• The defeated Netherlands East Indies Expeditionary Army withdrew to the Philippine Islands for reorganization, and Lieutenant General Kawabe Masazō was removed from command.
• The 14th, 7th, and 18th Area Armies began landing on Borneo in large numbers to reinforce the Japanese buildup.

The Island Nation's Army reinforced Borneo and launched an offensive against German forces in eastern Borneo. Lieutenant General William Adam ordered a withdrawal, leaving the Germans concentrated around Brunei City to prepare for another battle.

• FW-190 reconnaissance fighters evaded Island Nation's Army Air Force fighters over Sennah Port as reinforcements arrived.
• Lieutenant General William Adam told Major General Erwin Villo that the 23rd Army Group would withdraw once the Island Nation's Army attacked, aiming to inflict further losses elsewhere.
• By March 26, the 14th Area Army, 7th Area Army, and 18th Area Army had assembled in Borneo, and General Hitoshi Anami ordered them to sweep through eastern Borneo.
• The Island Nation's Army advanced cautiously while five German infantry divisions withdrew by truck with their supplies.
• The German infantry divisions reached the area around Brunei City and began building defensive positions.

The Island Nation’s Army found eastern Borneo abandoned by the Germans and, under Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma’s command, occupied the region while preparing to attack the German 23rd Army Group near Brunei City. Both sides readied for a decisive battle, as the Germans fortified Brunei City, fought for air superiority, and requested naval protection against enemy capital ships.

• Major General Lin Yixiu reported that the Germans had withdrawn from Kinabatangan, and Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma ordered further reconnaissance.
• After reports confirmed a German withdrawal across eastern Borneo, General Hitoshi Anami ordered the Island Nation’s forces to advance cautiously and appointed Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma to command the three area armies.
• Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma led the 14th, 7th, and 18th Area Armies in occupying eastern Borneo and confirmed that the German 23rd Army Group had concentrated near Brunei City.
• The German 23rd Army Group built defenses around Brunei City while the 5th Air Group intensified its fight for air superiority against the Island Nation’s Army Air Force.
• The German Navy Pacific Fleet and Indian Ocean Fleet received a request to send capital ships secretly to the South China Sea to deter Island Nation naval bombardment of Brunei City.

After the Island Nation's Army took eastern Borneo, Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma met with Lieutenant General Seiichi Tanaka and Lieutenant General Akito Nakamura to plan an assault on the German forces near Brunei City. Honma decided that their armies would split into two columns and advance toward the city.

• The Island Nation's Army occupied eastern Borneo after the German 23rd Army Corps withdrew toward Brunei City, destroying supplies and infrastructure as it retreated.
• Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma warned Lieutenant General Seiichi Tanaka and Lieutenant General Akito Nakamura that the German forces around Brunei City remained a serious threat.
• Lieutenant General Seiichi Tanaka and Lieutenant General Akito Nakamura agreed to follow Honma's command and help defeat the Germans despite expecting heavy losses.
• Honma explained that the armies could cross the mountain ranges by road or detour along Borneo's northeastern coast, while avoiding a mass advance through the jungle.
• Lieutenant General Seiichi Tanaka proposed using naval Capital Ships to support an advance along the coastal highway, and Honma ordered the armies to split into two columns and advance on Brunei City.

Masaharu Honma planned a coordinated offensive to break the German defenses on Borneo, requesting naval support while sending forces toward Brunei City from two directions. The Island Nation armies advanced as Lieutenant General Wilhelm Adam deployed German divisions to block their routes.

• Masaharu Honma ordered the 18th Area Army to advance west along the coastal highway while the 7th and 14th Area Armies attacked across Mount Witti to pin down the German main force.
• Masaharu Honma reported the plan to General Hitoshi Anami, who approved it and asked General Staff Headquarters to coordinate naval support.
• The 18th Area Army detoured around northeastern Borneo as the 7th and 14th Area Armies advanced toward Brunei City.
• German reconnaissance tracked the advancing forces, and Lieutenant General Wilhelm Adam sent the 226th Infantry Division to Beaufort to block the 18th Area Army.
• Wilhelm Adam positioned the 227th and 229th Infantry Divisions in the valley between Sipitang and Lawas to defend the main route across the Crocker Range.

Lieutenant General William Adam and Major General Erwin Villo prepared the 23rd Army Group’s defenses for the Island Nation’s approaching offensive in Borneo. With German ground and naval forces ready, Adam expected to hold the enemy and possibly counterattack.

• Major General Erwin Villo reported that the Island Nation’s 35th Army, nearly eighty thousand strong, had advanced to within thirty kilometers of the German defensive line, with more forces following.
• Villo confirmed that the 227th and 229th Infantry Divisions had prepared defenses in the Crocker Range with barbed wire, mines, and illumination flares to repel attacks and night raids.
• Adam noted that the 18th Area Army threatened the Beaufort line, and Villo reported that the 226th Infantry Division had fortified the five-kilometer coastal-to-mountain position.
• Villo said two Derfflinger-class Battleships and three Blücher-class Battlecruisers were standing by near Lion City, while the Pacific Fleet would send two carrier battle groups into the South Seas.
• Adam concluded that the forces were ready to stop the Island Nation’s attack and might counterattack the 18th Area Army with naval support.

The Island Nation's Army's 35th Army suffered more than three thousand non-combat deaths while marching through dense forest without enough medicine. After reaching the German defensive line on April 11, Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki ordered an attack that afternoon by the 30th Division and Independent Mixed 54th Brigade.

• Major General Miyoshi Tomochika reported that the 35th Army had lost more than three thousand men to venomous insects, snakes, and ants, and that medicine was unavailable.
• Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki ordered the troops to speed up their march and reach their destination before morning.
• On April 11, the 35th Army arrived before the German 227th Infantry Division and 229th Infantry Division, and Suzuki gave the exhausted soldiers a meal before the battle.
• Suzuki told the division and brigade commanders that the 35th Army had to break through the German defensive line despite the expected casualties.
• Suzuki ordered Lieutenant General Asasaburo Kobayashi's 30th Division and Lieutenant General Tōkichi Hōjō's Independent Mixed 54th Brigade to attack that afternoon.

The Island Nation's Army began its assault on the German defensive line at Crocker Range with an artillery bombardment, while German commanders Leser and Manteuffel prepared to hold their positions. The shelling damaged some defenses but caused few German casualties, and the Island Nation's commanders considered committing more artillery.

• German forces built three trench lines, extensive minefields, and barbed-wire barriers across the Crocker Range pass, while concentrating artillery behind them.
• Major General Leser and Major General Manteuffel discussed the approaching attack and confirmed that the air force and radar were ready to defend the positions.
• Lieutenant General Asasaburo Kobayashi and Lieutenant General Tōkichi Hōjō ordered the 30th Division and Independent Mixed 54th Brigade to attack.
• Colonel Noboru Ōtsuka directed the Island Nation's artillery to bombard the German line with field guns and mountain guns.
• German troops sheltered in bomb shelters as the bombardment damaged some defenses but inflicted few casualties.
• Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki praised the artillery's strength, and Major General Miyoshi Tomochika suggested bringing in artillery from three more divisions.

The German artillery launched a devastating counterbombardment that nearly destroyed the Island Nation's Army artillery units. Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki and his generals were left without a practical way to challenge German artillery.

• Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki ordered the artillery units of the 22nd Field Artillery Regiment, 100th Division, and 102nd Division to prepare for battle.
• Major General Abraham ordered the 23rd Heavy Artillery Brigade and artillery from four infantry divisions to bombard the Island Nation's Army positions.
• German shells guided by spotting aircraft devastated the enemy artillery positions, killing artillerymen and destroying guns.
• Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki and the other generals recognized that their artillery could not match the Germans.
• Major General Miyoshi Tomochika suggested using the Army Air Corps or navy Capital Ships, but neither option was practical.
• After barely more than ten minutes, the 30th Field Artillery Regiment and 54th Independent Mixed Artillery Unit had been almost completely wiped out.

Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki ordered the Island Nation's Army to attack the German defensive line despite the loss of its artillery. German bombardment devastated the advancing troops, while Suzuki and his fellow commanders continued to accept the casualties.

• Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki requested air and naval support to destroy the German artillery positions.
• Suzuki postponed sending the Island Nation's artillery into battle until nightfall, then ordered Lieutenant General Asasaburo Kobayashi and Lieutenant General Tōkichi Hōjō to attack without artillery support.
• The 30th Division's 74th and 77th Infantry Regiments and four battalions of the Independent Mixed 54th Brigade advanced against the German defensive line.
• German artillery pounded the attackers, killing many soldiers before they reached the defensive line.
• Kobayashi protested that the assault was sending soldiers to their deaths, but Suzuki and Hōjō allowed it to continue as German commanders Major General Leiser and Major General Manteuffel welcomed the losses.

The Island Nation's Army suffered catastrophic losses under German artillery fire, but Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki ordered the 35th Army to keep attacking regardless of casualties. The latest assault continued as Suzuki reported to Commander Masaharu Honma that his forces were still trying to break through.

• German artillery devastated the Island Nation's Army's first assault, killing most of the more than ten thousand troops committed and forcing the survivors to rout.
• Lieutenant General Asasaburo Kobayashi and Major General Miyoshi Tomochika urged restraint or a delay, but Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki insisted the attack continue without pause.
• Suzuki ordered Kobayashi and Lieutenant General Tōkichi Hōjō to send more troops forward, and the remaining regiments and Independent Mixed 54th Brigade launched another assault.
• German shells again tore through the attacking soldiers as Suzuki watched from the rear and continued sending troops into battle.
• Suzuki told Major General Miyoshi Tomochika to report to Commander Masaharu Honma that the attack was ongoing and that the 35th Army would keep trying to break through.

Masaharu Honma ordered the 35th Army to continue attacking the German defensive line regardless of casualties, while preparing the 41st Army to take over. After the 30th Division and Independent Mixed 54th Brigade were nearly destroyed, fresh Japanese divisions attacked at night but were stopped by German artillery, minefields, and barbed wire.

• Masaharu Honma ordered the 35th Army to maintain its assault and told the 41st Army to prepare to replace it when it lost combat capability.
• Seiichi Tanaka and Tachiki Ayabe arrived at headquarters, where Tanaka agreed with Honma’s plan to grind down the Germans despite heavy losses.
• Sōsaku Suzuki halted the 30th Division and Independent Mixed 54th Brigade’s attack at night after both units had been nearly wiped out.
• Sōsaku Suzuki ordered the 100th Division and 102nd Division to attack the German line that night.
• The German artillery suppressed the Japanese bombardment, and the 100th and 102nd Divisions advanced without adequate fire support into minefields and barbed wire under heavy German fire.

The Island Nation's Army's 35th Army failed to break the German defensive line and was ordered to halt, while the 41st Army took over the attack and also suffered a repulse. Meanwhile, Major General Friedrich prepared the German 226th Infantry Division to block the Island Nation's Army advancing toward the Beaufort line.

• Lieutenant General Sōsaku Suzuki's 35th Army suffered devastating losses without breaking through, so Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma ordered it to stop attacking.
• Major General Leser and Major General Manteuffel rotated fresh troops onto the German first defensive line to relieve their exhausted regiments.
• The 41st Army took over the offensive but was also smashed against the German defenses.
• The Island Nation's Army's advance force reached Bapa, prompting the German 226th Infantry Division to prepare for an attack expected by the following afternoon.
• Brigadier General Georg reported that German troops and artillery were ready, while their fleet was approaching; Major General Friedrich said they would block the Island Nation's Army.

Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida’s 15th Army rushed to Beaufort under orders to attack the German 226th Infantry Division, despite his expectation that the well-prepared defenses would cause heavy losses. The Japanese began their assault believing their artillery outmatched the Germans, unaware that German reinforcements gave them superior guns.

• Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida and Major General Haruki Isayama discussed the German defenses and the pressure from Front Commander Lieutenant General Akito Nakamura to attack.
• After receiving orders to launch the attack by the next day, Iida ordered the 15th Army’s five divisions to hasten their march to Beaufort.
• On April 13, the 15th Army arrived at Beaufort, rested briefly, and began attacking the German 226th Infantry Division’s defensive lines.
• Isayama reported that the Japanese had 254 artillery pieces and believed they could overwhelm the Germans, while Iida remained cautious.
• The Japanese commanders relied on outdated intelligence and did not know the German division had received enough artillery reinforcements to outmatch their guns.

The German 226th Infantry Division and its reinforcements counterattacked the Island Nation's artillery during its bombardment, then called in air support to destroy the guns. Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida ordered the surviving artillery to take cover as losses mounted.

• Colonel Moritoshi Riho ordered the Island Nation's artillery to bombard the German defensive line.
• Major General Friedrich ordered German heavy artillery to target the Island Nation's guns and requested air support.
• German heavy artillery devastated the Island Nation's artillery positions, while Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida learned his guns could not reach the German batteries.
• German dive bombers and ground-attack aircraft joined the assault under fighter cover and inflicted heavy losses on the Island Nation's artillery.
• Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida ordered the artillery to retreat and take cover.

After German air and artillery attacks nearly destroyed the Island Nation's Army 15th Army's guns, Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida ordered the 4th Division to attack the German defensive line without artillery support. The chapter ends as more than ten thousand soldiers began a costly “boar charge.”

• Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida fumed as German aircraft destroyed the 15th Army's artillery and the Island Nation's Army Air Force arrived too late to protect it.
• German BF-109 fighters routed the Island Nation's Type 1 and Type 97 fighters, while the 15th Army lost all but a few dozen of its more than two hundred guns.
• Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida ordered the troops to attack despite their lack of artillery, assigning the first wave to Lieutenant General Kitano Kenzō and the 4th Division.
• Lieutenant General Kitano Kenzō sent the 4th Division's infantry regiments into position, and more than ten thousand soldiers charged the German defenses in a “boar charge.”

The German military slaughtered the Island Nation's Army as its 4th Division launched repeated assaults against the German defensive line. By nightfall, the 4th Division's main infantry regiments had suffered losses exceeding seventy percent, and Shojiro Iida assigned Chiba Kuma-ji and Kawata Suezaburo to lead the night attack.

• Friedrich and Georg watched the Island Nation's Army charge, and German artillery opened fire with heavy howitzers and field guns.
• Shojiro Iida and Haruki Isayama recognized that the German guns were devastating the attacking troops, but the Island Nation's Army continued its advance.
• The German 2261st Infantry Regiment used mortars, grenade launchers, machine guns, and rifles to stop the attackers at the defensive line.
• Kitano Kenzō lamented the massacre, while Shojiro Iida argued that heavy casualties were necessary to win.
• At dusk, Shojiro Iida halted the assault after the 4th Division's main infantry regiments suffered losses exceeding seventy percent, then assigned Chiba Kuma-ji and Kawata Suezaburo to lead the night's attack.

Lieutenant General Shojiro Iida sent the 72nd and 73rd Divisions to attack the German defensive line at night, but mines, wire, and German firepower stopped them and inflicted grievous losses. With the line still intact at sunrise, Iida requested naval gunfire support from Area Army Headquarters.

• Lieutenant General Chiba Kuma-ji and Lieutenant General Kawata Suezaburo prepared their divisions for a night assault after the 4th Division's disastrous battle.
• Chiba and Kawata decided to send two regiments from each division in the first wave, then commit their remaining regiments.
• At eight o'clock, more than fifteen thousand soldiers from the 72nd and 73rd Divisions advanced toward the German positions without artillery support.
• German mines exposed the assault, and flares and heavy fire struck the advancing troops as they struggled against minefields and barbed wire.
• The 2262nd Infantry Regiment held the German line through the night, forcing the 72nd and 73rd Divisions to halt at sunrise after suffering grievous losses.
• Shojiro Iida requested Navy fire support, asking for large-caliber naval guns to break open the German defensive line.

The 18th Area Army suffered heavy losses against the German defensive line and asked the Navy for naval-gun support. Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo reluctantly prepared to assist, despite fearing the risks to the Navy.

• Major General Seiji Moriya told Lieutenant General Akito Nakamura that the 15th Army’s offensive had failed and three divisions had suffered grievous losses.
• Lieutenant General Akito Nakamura agreed to request naval-gun support from the Navy to help break the German defensive line.
• Major General Ryunosuke Kusaka reported that Southern Army Commander Hitoshi Anami had arrived at Subic Bay, likely to seek Navy support.
• Major General Ryunosuke Kusaka warned Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo that aiding the Army could expose the Navy to heavy losses, but Nagumo insisted he would decide what to do.
• Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo reluctantly went to the reception room, knowing he could not refuse the Army’s request without risking the Army-Navy alliance.