Few nights ago, I played a scenario called OPERATION OLYMPIC.
I used the 509th Composite Bomb Group to open up the front
lines near Miyazaki not once, but twice; and my troops spent
like a week fighting the japs in the irraddated wasteland
I probably sent cancer rates thru the roof, heh heh.
the Briefing:
OPERATION OLYMPIC 1945
The invasion of Kyushu
Date: November 1 - December 1, 1945
Location: Kyushu
Map Scale: 5 km
Time Scale: Full day turns
Unit Scale: Regiment/ Battalion
Length: up to 31 turns
UNIT COLORS
ALLIED
U.S. 6TH ARMY - Green on Green
I Corps, IX Corps, XI Corps - Green on Green
V Amphibious Corps (USMC) - Blue on Olive
US Navy Forces - Blue and White on Blue
US Navy 'Seabees' - Blue and White on Blue
UK Royal Navy Forces - White on Brown
JAPANESE
16TH AREA ARMY (Imperial Japanese Army) - Red on Tan
Imperial Guards - Tan on Red
National Volunteer Combat Force - Yellow on Yellow
'Special Attack' (suicide) Forces - Yellow on Tan
Navy; Naval Air; Naval Land Forces - Yellow on White
Ketsu-Go Force (Air) - Red on Tan
ALTERNATE HISTORY
It is November 1st, 1945... the last showdown in the Pacific War has begun. Japan has endured defeat after defeat at the hands of the U.S. military. Its cities and industrial regions have been systematically attacked and devastated by legions of B-29 bombers. With Allied submarines choking off Japan's vital sea-lanes, hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians are facing the grim reality of imminent starvation. The Kwantung Army has been nearly overrun by the Soviet Far Eastern Front; remaining units on the mainland are mounting a last-ditch defense on the Korean peninsula, and along the Chinese coast. For the Land of the Rising Sun, there is neither hope of obtaining an 'honorable peace', nor of achieving an eventual stalemate.
Nevertheless, the war continues. The Emperor Hirohito, reluctant to see the war drag on, was placed under virtual house arrest after a bloody Imperial Army coup in early October 1945, the overthrow coming after he stated his intention to accept the terms of the Allies at Potsdam. Though not blind to the grim military reality, the government under General Anami is prepared to go down fighting, to the last man if necessary, to preserve Japan's sacred honor.
In America, the Manhattan Project had run into serious technical difficulties in July, just as the first atomic bomb was to have been tested in New Mexico. Radioactivity from the test warhead was found to have interfered with the electronic detonator, rendering the weapon ineffective. The atom bomb program was temporarily halted while the weapon is hurriedly re-designed. General Leslie Groves has promised the first two A-weapons by mid-November for use in Japan.
Although President Truman would have been pleased to end the war with Japan without a ground invasion, the hour of decision has come. Following months of preparation, the largest Allied amphibious operation ever is now ready. Operation Olympic will land over 160,000 troops of General Walter Krueger's Sixth Army on the southern shores of the Japanese island of Kyushu within three days. Once the southern portion of Kyushu has been conquered, the region's airbases will be used to support Operation CORONET, the drive on the Japanese industrial heartland on the island of Honshu. In command of 'Olympic' on 1 November ('X-Day') will be none other than General Douglas MacArthur.
Intelligence assessments grimly warn of high casualties once US troops hit the beach; Japanese fanaticism in the defense of their homeland is expected to be costly to the invaders. The Japanese have been reportedly arming civilians with all manner of weapons, and pressing them into military service as part of the National Volunteer Combat Force. Fortresses and bastions have been constructed all over the southern half of Kyushu, manned with over 750,000 troops. The American forces will also encounter many powerful Japanese elite Imperial Guard units for the first time. Many more, however, will be raw recruits and civilians whose determination against veteran American troops may not be enough. The volcanic terrain and cliffs will make the fighting reminiscent of the more vicious phases of the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns.
The initial US attack will come as a three-pronged assault: the US I Corps (25th, 33rd and 41 Infantry Divisions) will storm the eastern beaches near Miyazaki; the US XI Corps (1st Cavalry, 43rd, and American Infantry Divisions) will land on the southern beaches inside Ariake Bay to take Konoya and Shibushi; the US V Amphibious Corps (2nd, 3rd, and 5th Marine Divisions) will attack the western beaches and attempt to push over the hills and capture Sendai and Kagoshima City. The reserve units of the US IX Corps (77th, 81st, and 98th Infantry Divisions) will land at the mouth of Kagoshima Bay, or can be assigned to reinforce a troubled beachhead elsewhere. The objective will be to capture the southeastern third of the island (all territory south the Sendai-Tsuno line) by X+30 (turn 31). For the US, capturing these objectives on time will be vital to the success of Operation CORONET, in order to provide tactical air cover for the assault on Tokyo and the Kanto Plain.
Due to the increasing casualty ratio and the strong likelihood that the Japanese will resort to the use of poison gas to protect their homeland, US forces will likely be given permission and equipment to use chemical warfare against the Japanese defenders. Rumors of a new American super-weapon that might end the war at a stroke, however, may yet turn out to be true. When this new weapon becomes available, the 509th Composite Group stands ready to conduct tactical A-bomb strikes in support of 6th Army's advance, if so ordered by the theater commander.
The U.S. invaders will also have to contend with wave after wave of kamikaze attacks on supply lines and shipping. With limited manpower reserves (every reinforcing unit will have to be diverted from the build-up for Operation Coronet), it would be well for the US player to achieve victory by reaching the objective line as soon as possible.
In addition, due to American war-weariness, there is a chance the US public will demand a negotiated end to the war if heavy casualties are incurred at the invasion beaches, or if chemical weapons are used. Delayed effects of atomic weaponry on friendly forces may also contribute to this problem.
SCENARIO NOTES
A. Terrain - The terraced farmland and raised roadbeds in Japan are represented as 'bocage' hexes.
B. Map - The northern portion of the island of Kyushu is not material to the planning for American operations during OLYMPIC, and does not need to be taken, except at the theater commander's discretion should the Japanese be completely routed. The map is included in order to give the Japanese player the option to commit local 56th Army and 16th Area Army forces to the fight (in spite of ferocious US interdiction efforts).
C. Forces - Every effort has been made to render the situation on the ground in Kyushu as accurately as possible. The forces and objectives reflect the likely outcome of plans that were being made on both sides when the war ended. It is assumed that the Japanese decided to move three of 36th Army's six divisions from the defense of the Kanto Plain to southern Kyushu, and these are in the process of appearing in the battle area as the invasion begins. Units with red-on-tan colors represent regular Japanese Army units plus units raised during the January and June levies. Units with yellow-on-yellow color scheme are conjectural and represent a potential third levy in October. Japanese force supply is set at 30% to reflect the commitment of emergency reserve to stop the invaders, plus homeland advantage. American supply and reinforcements start strong, but taper down after the first six days to reflect supply lines stretching all over the Pacific, and transport losses to kamikazes. Historical uncertainty over which Corps-level assets would be assigned to the US assault forces also led to some conjecture on my part. The 11th Airborne Division was not scheduled to make an airdrop as part of Operation OLYMPIC, but would be brought in as dismounted infantry on turnaround shipping from Luzon once a secure beachhead existed.
D. Objectives, Events, and Strategy - There are four major invasion zones in Kyushu with beaches wide enough to permit the establishment of US supply bases. The locations of US supply points are Kushikino (13,54), Winton Beach (13, 55), Plymouth Beach (15, 66), Ford Beach Blue (28, 62), Dusenberg Beach/Shibushi (29, 61), Chrysler Beach (36, 51), and Cord Beach (35, 53). The American player's first priority is to protect both the primary beachhead hex for each of the three major landings, and the beachhead units themselves. Then to push into the interior towards the major objectives, while being on the lookout for potentially strong Japanese counter-attacks.
US embarked units, which do not make it ashore during the first turn, are vulnerable to enemy air and coastal gun attack, as was feared historically. US rocket launcher vessels will be removed when their ammunition supply runs out, as will the US battleship covering forces (they have been firing upon the Japanese coasts for many days prior to the invasion).
Barring seizure of all objectives by Turn 31 (X-Day-plus-30), the Americans can also win by causing a Japanese surrender through the use of the A-bomb. There is a 13% chance of this happening following US use of atomic weapons (there would be a larger chance if the Emperor were still assumed to be available to voice his opinion before the War Cabinet). There are point bonuses for the Japanese if chemical and nuclear thresholds are crossed, and for each US beachhead support unit destroyed. Also, US war fatigue and anxiety over casualties is modeled as the event variable number. The higher this number gets, the greater the likelihood that MacArthur will be instructed to abandon the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and seek a cease-fire.
The Japanese player's highest hopes, operationally speaking, might be to crush one of the American beachheads, bleed another one severely, and delay the third before US air power can wear down the defense. Cave strongpoints and fortifications have been installed all over southern Kyushu, but are strongest near the beaches - where this campaign will be won or lost. Bitter experience prior to this operation has taught the Japanese that once Americans gain a secure foothold, the overwhelming weight of their resources decides the outcome. But holding the Americans to the beaches will be a tall order - each of the three prongs of the attack represents a major amphibious assault in its own right. Lastly, a word of caution when attempting to move units by road or rail, even in northern Kyushu: America rules the skies, even though all of Japan's remaining air force has been committed. The Japanese fuel situation and heavy allotment of kamikaze missions will force most of Japan's air units out of action only a few days into the battle.
Moreover, redeployment of selected US air assets from Europe is now complete. P-47 Thunderbolts and B-17's from the 8th Air Force in Europe, fairly fresh from the defeat of Nazi Germany, will be sending out their veteran pilots in droves to interdict Japanese army formations reinforcing the assault zone. The Japanese may have to choose between reinforcing the beach zones too slowly to make a difference, or rushing units to the front in the face of rampaging enemy fighter-bomber sweeps.
Neither side will need to worry about refugees - the Japanese civilians are not expected to flee their homes (and are liable to be shot by their own military forces if they try), but could contribute to an all-out guerilla campaign if the US uses chemical weapons against Japan.
Sources
'Code-Name: DOWNFALL', Allen and Polmar, 1974
'16th Area Army Forces, August 1945', courtesy of The Nafziger Collection and The Reports of General MacArthur, Japanese Demobilization Bureau Records.
'The Invasion of Japan: Alternative to the Bomb', John Ray Skates, 1994
'The Fall of Japan', William Craig, 1967
'DOWNFALL: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire', Richard B. Frank, 1999
Scenario design by: John P. Boomershine
