Climb Mount Narodnaia is the fourth campaign of Wargame: Red Dragon.
Background[]
For decades, the status of the Kuril Islands has poisoned Japanese-Soviet relationships, and the recent remilitarization of Japan under American auspices has done little to warm them up. When the joint Japanese-US Navy exercise FleetEx ’84 brings those navies at short distance from Vladivostok, Moscow sees this as a rehearsal for an impending attack.
What if, in a “Pearl Harbor-style” operation, the USSR had launched an airborne operation against Japan aimed at neutralizing the Western fleets there, as a prelude to a global war?
Overview[]
The Soviet invasion is well underway and is poised to completely overrun Japan, part of the invasion is tasked with ensuring the security of Osaka as well as capturing at least three airports in the South-Western region of Japan while the rest of the invasion force is busy taking the rest of Japan.
With the Carrier Minsk deployed to the Sea of Japan, a marine brigade is deployed to Osaka and rapidly seizes it as the Japanese forces present surrender after a fierce but one-sided fight as the lighter Nana-yon Shiki As are no match for the heavier Soviet T-55AMVs.
The Carrier Kuznetsov is deployed on the eastern coastline of Japan, and stages a joint atttack on the region of Gobo with its airport together with an infantry group from Osaka. Its attack helicopter squadron with top of the line Mi-24Vs and Mi-24Ps combined with the anti-air artillery that the infantry group brought makes quick work of the only heavy tank battalion in the entire theater as well as its supporting helicopter company.
At the same time, two VDV groups from the 98th Guards VDV division deploy to Hiroshima and seize the airfield from the defending forces whose tanks quickly capitulate under a hail of ATGM fire.
The South Korean navy attempts to intervene, deploying both its Eastern as well as its Southern sea fleets, however both are rapidly wiped out by the Minsk task force with its 4 Sovremennys.
With two out of three airfields now secured within a few days of the start of the campaign, the Soviets begin to consolidate while making a steady advance down the main island of Japan. Meanwhile an independent naval battalion deploys from the Kuznetsov to Nankoku and quickly seizes it, providing another base from which to mount further attacks.
The Soviets begin grinding the Japanese down, although the Japanese have superior numbers of cheap tanks and repeatedly throw themselves headlong against the Soviets, time and time again they are thrown back with heavy casualties, sometimes with the destruction of entire battalions.
However, soon reinforcements from the United States arrive, with all the airfields on the main island taken, they are forced to land further South and without heavy tanks, are unable to break through Soviet lines. Despite this setback, the primary US task force escorted by the Carrier Enterprise arrives with several regiments of marines, tanks and even airborne battalions.
An early assault by the airborne battalions ends in disaster as they are unable to consolidate a beachhead and completely wiped out. The main task force then attempts to land at Nankoku but are blocked by the Kuznetsov task force, despite being completely outnumbered the carrier Kuznetsov and its escorts are most certainly not outgunned with two squadrons of anti-ship planes and 4 Udaloy II destroyers. The Enterprise task force is completely wiped out and all of its ships destroyed in the ensuing engagement, the remaining landing forces are chased off by the Kuznetsov.
With the threat posed by the American reinforcements gone, the Soviets proceed to grind their way through the remaining resistance in the South-western area, deploying the bulk of their heavy tank force to crush the remaining resistance under iron threads.
Despite putting up a fierce fight, the Soviet forces totally obliterate the last pockets of resistance, forcing a Japanese surrender and an American withdrawal.
Events[]
- 2nd Guards Tank Division becomes available when capturing any enemy seaport.
- 3rd Guards Tank Division will be available for the rapid capture of Nagasaki.
- 42nd Motorized Rifle Division is made available on Turn 2.
- First American reinforcements arrive on Turn 6 at any non-soviet airfields.
- Task Force Enterprise and additional US reinforcements arrive on Turn 7.
Trivia[]
- Name of the mission is a reference to a codeword sent from Tokyo to the Japanese Navy's carrier task force just before the Attack on Pearl Harbor. It was sent on December 2, 1941 and contained words "Climb Mt. Niitaka", a symbolic reference to the highest peak in the Japanese Empire. According to the records this was supposed to be the final order to commence attack and task force had orders to carry out the air strike on Pearl Harbor after receiving this message.
- It was a very common imagination for a possible Soviet invasion for Japanese in 1980-90s. These fictions, for example, "ソ連軍日本上陸", "ソ連軍日本侵攻", "Tokyo Wars", mostly described a defeat or Pyrrhic victory for Japan.
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Gallery[]
See also[]
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