After Action Reporter

Mopping up Portugal’s holdings is the name of the game now. By June 1943 we’re half way across Africa, we’ve discovered we can’t re-base to our friend’s ports (thus extending our range) and we’ve discovered that the Portuguese have recaptured the Azores somehow! Time to go take them back.

June 1943

In addition to worrying about the Portuguese I’m also adjusting technology to include Advanced Construction III so I can, if need be, improve the infrastructure in my new African holdings in a vain attempt to aid my troops crossing the continent (well, if the first attempt fails maybe a subsequent one would be helped by good infrastructure).

I’ve also added more convoys to my production queue. We’re running a little low and the Portuguese sunk a couple as well (although we sank many more of theirs). These new provinces in Africa will require transport ships to get their resources back home, so ships it is!

In other news I’ve also discovered that Portugal still holds Macau, in China (I sunk a convoy headed there) and that it seems D-Day has occurred! The US is currently freeing Belgium and the Netherlands from the Hun scourge!

Bad news in the Azores, I’m afraid. 13,000 Portuguese troops have managed to escape to the islands and without Marines we’re very unlikely to capture them. When we capture Lisbon we can probably bomb the islands, but that is unlikely to give us the edge we need. Hmmm. Annoying. Our fleets will have to patrol more diligently to prevent them escaping or reinforcing.

July 1943

On July  we begin the Battle for Lisbon. In total, we have 140,000 troops vs Portugal’s 35,000. Our air support is pounding enemy troops, but it will still be a tough, bloody battle. I’ve also just heard that if I can lower Portugal’s national unity while also taking provinces I’ll force a surrender quicker. We currently occupy 55% of their important terrain and their national unity is at 80%. We’ve got a bit to go, but I think we can make it happen if we try hard!

Only July 21, we get some great news!

Portugal’s capital moves to East Africa and I get to choose an occupation policy. I switch to Military Government. It may slightly increase the chance of rebels popping up, but it provides us with more resources as well as industrial capacity, so it’s worth the risk.

August 1943

By the start of August two things are clear. Firstly, I may need to take at least one more province to force Portugal’s surrender (I’m thinking an invasion of Guinea-Bissau – it will be costly, but we have to do it) and the Soviets are not coming back any time soon from their current position.

Meanwhile, the US and Allies are making great inroads into Europe and perhaps we should think about being on the winning team! I really don’t see us having any other options and so, with that in mind, I cancel our alignment to the Soviets and instead switch to aligning with the Allies. I won’t join just yet – I need to prepare the military first – but I think it’s clear who is going to win this war and so it’s time to pick a side!

As for Portugal, I have everything devoted towards spying on Portugal and decreasing their national unity, but progress seems extremely slow. We’ll have to take somewhere, thus we load an Infantry Corps onto a fleet and send them off towards Guinea-Bissau.

By the 17th of August a fairly desperate battle is taking place on Guinea-Bissau and in its skies. We’ve got Tactical Bomber and Strategic Bomber support, but the bad guys have three wings of interceptors and a good number of troops defending. The troops defending are mostly HQs, but our troops are not trained or equipped for amphibious warfare and the fight is slow going.

September 1943

The battle for Guinea-Bissau rages the rest of the month and into September. Then, on September 8, we get a small rebel uprising in Portugal. Damn, time to send in the lads to put the rebel down!

Three days later the battle is won, but it’s clear we’re going to have to station some garrison troops around Portugal, perhaps backed up by Military Police as well. And, speak of the devil, the first of our Garrison/MP divisions rolls off the production lines and is deployed to the troublesome area.

On September 30 the Portuguese send their fleet out of Guinea Bissau’s harbor and attack our invading fleet. Their attack doesn’t go well for them, but I applaud their pluck.

Finally, on September 14 we take Guinea-Bissau! It’s our most bloody battle ever, with 2,100 losses to me and 2,400 loses to the Portuguese. We also have another Garrison/MP division come off the production line as well as our first port. Unfortunately, we don’t have much use for it, but the freed up Industrial Capacity is appreciated and I order an entire armored corps and another Interceptor wing! Time to think big!

October – December 1943

The rest of the year is spent tidying. I have managed to pick up some energy import deals from various locations – mostly South America, and so my IC is steadily climbing as I have the energy available to fuel the factories.

I have also moved Garrisons around – one division to the Guinea-Bissau and one to the Cape Verde Islands – to ensure they remain mine. I still haven’t removed the invasion forces from Guinea-Bissau as the Portuguese are sitting next door in Vichy territory waiting for me to give them a chance, I expect.

Our slide towards the Allies is progressing as expected and if we wanted to we could probably join the Allies some time in 1944. We might not need to though, the Allies have captured all of France that isn’t Vichy France, and will probably soon be pressing towards the German heartland. But… how about Vichy France? It’s time they taste some justice for joining the damn Axis powers!

As for Portugal, we’re only 1% away from seeing them surrender! I plan to do this through pressure from our spies rather than through invasion – we’ve run out of targets except for the heavily defended Azores anyway. We’ll just have to be patient.

Read on! HOI3 AAR: Viva el Socialismo! – #9