To demonstrate to the West that the Nationalist Army’s morale was intact, a battalion of the German-trained 88th Division had been fighting off the Japanese 3rd Infantry Division for two days. The site of the Chinese stand was a six-story concrete structure at the south end of Zhabei known as the Sihang (“Four-Bank”) Warehouse, so-called because it was built and jointly operated by four Shanghai banks. Throughout the 27th and 28th the over-strength battalion withstood everything the Japanese could throw at them, while ever-increasing crowds of Chinese and westerners stood on the opposite bank cheering on the defenders. On the 29th, with a Chinese flag now flying atop the warehouse, the “lost battalion” as it was dubbed by the international press, stood firm in its resolve to fight to the death.
Attacker: Japanese (6th Infantry Regiment)
Defender: Chinese (1st Battalion, 524th Regiment)
5.5 turns
Players: 2 OBA: None Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:14.0 D:10.0
AFVs: A:4
Type 94 Tankette x 4
AFVs: D:0
Guns: A:2
Year-41 Type Mountain Gun x 2 Type 89 Heavy Grenade-Launcher
D:0
Misc Rules:
Grain is OG. Areas south of river are not in play.
I deferred and Jim took the Chinese in this one. With fanatic Chinese resisting the Sons of Nippon, I expected a HtH CC bloodbath and that's what I got. Jim's plan was to hold a few other buildings and spread my force thin, then let mutual destruction in HtH CC help him hold the factory. Jim and I both read the Hong Kong Wargamers's AAR, so he knew I'd use the AFV breach "trick" [B23.9221], but the tankettes were ineffective. What was effective was WP in the first two turns. That allowed me to quickly take the outlying buildings and get MMC behind the factory to attack it from all sides. I took oK13 in CC from its broken defenders, then every MMC break resulted in APh entry/CC . When his two MMC in oJ13 broke and the Hero died in CC, his chance of holding one and retaking another location vanished. Good scenario although the counter density makes it a bit of a hassle to play.
2023-08-02
(A) Shane Pask
vs
Japanese win
The Japanese plan was to take all outlying buildings in case the assault on the factory was not completely successful. The tanks were to be held back for use as breaching tools. Their puny armament made them pretty unsuited for anything else.
The Chinese set up to hold the factory. Putting the HMG on the roof may have been sound but putting one of only two leaders with him probably wasn't. I think the hero should have been up there instead. Still, it took three CH in one ROF tear from the guns to remove them.
In the end, the Japs tied up the hero and a squad in melee inside the factory long enough to get others into the factory for the win.
2023-07-19
(A) Jobbo Fett
vs
xs-bombing
Chinese win
A truly tense scenario where the Japanese swarmed the city and forced a couple of squads to break and fail to rout. Tankettes roamed the open ground but failed to make a mark as most overruns either found dummies or couldn't affect real troops. The low firepower also meant they never had a chance at breaking units in defensible terrain. Heavy rain sealed their fate as they couldn't affect anyone with often +3 DRM shots. The infantry, on the other hand, progressed through the town while taking casualties, which I couldn't quite afford, especially a few squads lost to a set DC (And another that almost killed a large stack, which had tried to get into CC, into to be ambushed, which the Chinese withdrew from - whew!). Ultimately, the Japanese were able to take control of most of the factory, but could not drive out the last squad in the last hex due to low remaining FP and movement. Every hex being fortified made it impossible to get into the much needed Close Combat and force a victory.