Time Slip Reiwa Japan

114 - China Upheaval - 24

With the arrival of spring came the end of the natural winter ceasefire. It marked the beginning of Operation Good Morning, the American spring offensive. The first stage, known as Operation Alarm, signaled the end of the ceasefire period with a barrage of ground-to-ground rockets fired from over 500 M-1MLRS vehicles. Each vehicle fired more than 10 rocket rounds, totaling over 5.000, creating a veritable downpour of steel. The defensive line constructed by the Chinese Hebei Garrison Command was literally plowed through in less than thirty minutes.

However, this did not mean that the trenches were completely destroyed, nor were all the soldiers in the trenches massacred. In fact, the casualties remained relatively minimal compared to the scale of the attack. This was the result of trenches built on a scale reminiscent of World War I, under the guidance of German officers, compensating for the lack of heavy firepower. Each unit hit by the rocket barrage reported the American resumption of invasion to the high command.

However, this was precisely the aim of Operation Alarm's rocket barrage. The wireless communications broadcasted for reporting were intercepted by the ground surveillance aircraft (P-4) of SMS Corporation (seconded Air Self-Defense Force), and the information was organized and analyzed by the airborne command and control aircraft (E-302), *1 then transmitted (via datalink) to the F-10 (Republic of Guam/home specification) units. Following these target designations, the F-10s swiftly executed missile deliveries. This marked the second stage, Operation Knock. *2

Not even half a day into the resumption of hostilities, the Hebei Garrison Command lost functionality of its headquarters and communication facilities, with its command structure severely disrupted. The army, numbering 400.000, transformed from a force entrenched in trenches to a scattered group of individuals hiding in holes.

Then came the third stage, Operation Wake-Up, which was the full-scale offensive of the East Eurasian Army Group. Under intermittent artillery support, field engineer units used mine-clearing tanks and armored Japanese construction vehicles (bulldozers and road rollers) to create openings in the trench zone and pour in heavily armored mechanized units. And they did so not just in one or two places, but almost across the entire front. With the loss of command structure and insufficient reserve forces for significant maneuverability, the Hebei Garrison Command couldn't mount a sufficient defense.

Three days after the resumption of hostilities, the Hebei Garrison Command was completely driven out of the trench zone, losing nearly 70% of its total strength. *3 Operation Good Morning was indeed a show of force, a frontal assault leveraging the superiority of quantity and quality (American Play). *4

However, it wasn't all smooth sailing. The East Eurasian Army Group, in its swift advance, unexpectedly took in a massive number of prisoners, requiring a temporary halt to the offensive. To handle the transfer of nearly 280.000 prisoners, transport (truck) units, essential for logistics, were heavily burdened, causing supply disruptions. While some radical factions within the East Eurasian Army Group suggested making the prisoners march, it would take too long for movement. Moreover, arranging their food supply, and the prospect of hosting such a large number of enemy soldiers within the East Eurasian Army Group, raised concerns about potential riots. Even if surveillance personnel were allocated from the East Eurasian Army Group to prevent riots, the sheer number of prisoners necessitated manpower from the offensive units. The offensive had to be temporarily halted. *5

. . .

China

The fact that the Hebei Garrison Command's trench warfare, which the German military advisory team had stamped with approval, stating it could withstand the American offensive sufficiently for one or two years with adequate deployment of reserve forces and uninterrupted ammunition resupply, was rendered ineffective in just three days, had serious implications for China's war plans. It was only natural, given that the Chinese General Staff's war plan, the attrition coercion operation (Seaforth), crumbled from the outset. As a result, an emergency decision was made.