The United States of America vs. Japan

Prematch: Both sides are pumped for this exciting conclusion between two different teams and two different ways of approaching things. While the Americans did beat the Japanese they won’t have their aircraft and navy to save them now, it’s army vs. army.

            On the American side the soldiers are pumped and happy. They’ve beaten the trained and disciplined French Army and handed the Great Khan his first defeat. Their blood is running but the Generals know this will be a tough fight that will be decided on tactics and troop movement. Rumsfeld and his generals work hard to develop a strategy to defeat the hardy Japanese.

            While the Japanese know they’ve had an easy road to the finals, from their standpoint, they know that the Americans will not just roll over and play dead. The soldiers laugh at the doughboys and have quiet reflection to prepare for the upcoming battle. Prince Kotohito and his generals are thinking of ways to knock the fast moving Americans on their backs.

American Battle Plan: The Americans have the advantage in the tank department but their “army of one” is hardly a match for the Japanese in hand-to-hand combat. They will try to stay at midrange just out of Japanese charging until their tanks can push the Japanese back and infantry will follow the tanks.

Japanese Battle Plan: The Japanese will hunker and let their artillery take care of and use of American tanks. Then their own tanks will come charging in with the Japanese infantry to clear the battlefield of any Americans willing to resist the Japanese army one-on-one.

The Match

            With the sign of the bell the Americans begin their artillery barrage but the hunker down Japanese aren’t too badly hurt by it since they still use the World War I style of trenches which is effective against artillery. American tanks start moving in the middle of the barrage and Prince Kotohito knows that he has to act because he can’t let the Americans take the offensive. The Prince orders that his tanks to attack the American tanks from the flanks to slow them to be hit by Japanese artillery. The plan is executed and works to an extent, while the American advance is slowed to almost a standstill and Japanese artillery is having limited success, Japanese tanks are being lost at a rapid rate not being able to keep pace with the Americans.

            It’s Rumsfeld’s turn to worry this time because his rapid advance is now all of a sudden not so rapid. American artillery is reluctant to fire at the Japanese tanks for fear of hitting their own, something the Japanese aren’t afraid of. Also to add to his problems the American infantry has started a slow retreat not wanting to be caught in the middle of a tank battle. Rumsfeld and his generals come to an unwelcome conclusion, their going to have to take their time and this won’t be a quick battle like the rest of them, their going to have to fight like the Americans did in the Pacific in World War II, slow advances covered by heavy artillery barrages.

            Prince Kotohito though suffers from being successful but not knowing how to capitalize on it. While the Americans might not be willing to fire near their own men, the Japanese infantry are far close enough to get hit. To abandon the trenches under this fire would be suicide, even by Japanese standards. He knows that his tanks won’t be able to hold out much longer and then the advantage swings back to the Americans. He decides to do something crazy but necessary to take the advantage from the Americans for good. What he will do is have a battalion of Japanese soldiers make a wide right out of artillery sight and mix in with the tanks, then their free form artillery fire, from there they will engage as a whole the spread out Americans where artillery fire still won’t fire on them because their afraid that they’ll hit a hidden American soldier. The ambitious plan just might be crazy enough to work.

            The American are finishing up the Japanese tanks and Rumsfeld orders his men to move in for the impending charge. The Japanese battalion sweeps off unnoticed by American artillery and it looks like the plan might be successful. Just as the Japanese are getting ready to strike an American soldier on the far left flank spots them and blows the whistle and soon American troops in the area lay down suppressive fir to halt the Japanese advance while reinforcements and tanks are moving in to sweep them off.

            The Japanese commanders both with the battalion and back in the main know what is about to happen and they don’t like it. Prince Kotohito has a plan though. While the Japanese battalion holds a significant portion of the American forces his main line will attack hitting the twisted American lines on their sides. The American artillery though catches this scheme and start blowing holes in the Japanese advance, their loud noise alerts the Americans to the threat on the flanks and they turn to meet the charging Japanese. Soon it gets to the point where the only thing that the American tanks can do is try and run over Japanese soldiers while Japanese soldiers throw grenades in the guns of tanks. The organized American though execute a fighting withdraw hoping to keep the Japanese at range and avoid close combat.

            One of Rumsfeld’s commanders though sees an error in this thinking; he realizes that is the Japanese on the American far left can merge with the Japanese main attack; they can cause major havoc to the American center. Rumsfeld agrees and orders the Americans to hold their ground. The troops know that this means they bayonet training they all blew off in camp will come back to haunt, if not kill them. What neither side realizes though is that the Japanese advance is severely weakened by constant American fire and when they finally do hit, it has much less an effect as the Japanese had hopped. Faced with this watered down attack the Americans easily take out their pistols and out duel their opponent to the last man. The Americans win the day and are the all time champions (in my opinion at least)!