Podcasts about come august

Hey guys, what you are about to listen to is basically a “what if” Japan performed Hokushin-ron instead of Nanshin-ron, ie: What if Japan invaded the USSR during WW2? Before I jump into it I just want to thank all of you that signed up for the patreon, you guys are awesome. Please leave a comment on this episode to let me know what more you want to hear about in the future. With all of that said and done lets jump right into it.   Part 1 The Geopolitical context   Ok so, one of the questions I get the most is, what if Japan invaded the USSR. I've actually already tackled this subject, albeit lightly with Cody from AlternatehistoryHub and once with my friend Eric. Its too complicated to give a real answer, a lot of this is guess work, though I really will try to provide hard numbers. I think off the bat something needs to be made clear since we are dealing with alternate history. I am not doing a “what if Japan developed completely different, or what if the IJA got their way in the early 1930's” no no, this is going to be as realistic as possible…even though this is batshit crazy.    Japan faced the decision of whether to go to war with the USSR in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa. They held meetings, made plans, and ultimately it was decided they would not engage the Soviets. Our scenario will follow exactly what they did to a T, but when the made the decision not to go to war, we will see them go to war.    Now before I jump into our this timeline, I think its very important to explain the actual situation Japan faced in 1941. There were two major strategies that emerged during the 1930's within the Japanese military. Many junior officers in the IJA favored the Hokushin-ron “northern strike” strategy against the USSR. Many officers in the IJN with some in the IJA favored the Nanshin-ron “southern strike” strategy, to seize the resource rich dutch east indies by invading Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The idea of Hokushin-ron was to perform an invasion into Southern Siberia and outer mongolia ending around Lake Baikal where they would set up defenses. They had already tried to establish this during the Russian civil war as part of the Siberian Intervention, but failed to create a buffer state. From 1935-1939 there were 108 border clashes between the USSR and Japan. In 1938 one of these border clashes turned into quite a catastrophe, it was called the battle of Lake Khasan.  The Soviets suffered nearly 800 deaths, more than 3000 wounded, perhaps nearly 50 tanks were destroyed with another 100 damaged. The Japanese suffered about 600 deaths with 2500 wounded. The result ultimately was a ceasefire, but for the Kwantung army it seemed to them like a victory. In May of 1939 they had a much larger and more famous battle known as the battle of Khalkhin Gol.  During the early part of the battle the IJA sent 80 tanks crossing over Khalkhin Gol, driving the Soviets back towards Baintsagan Hill. Zhukov was waiting for the attack and sent 450 tanks and armored cars unsupported by infantry to attack the IJA from three sides. The IJA were practically encircled and lost half their armored units as they struggled to fight back as it withdrew. The two armies spared for the next 2 weeks along the east bank of the Khalkhin Gol. Problem was the Japanese were having issues getting their supplies to the area as they lacked motor transport while Zhukov whose army was over 460 miles away from its base of supply had 2600 trucks supplying them. On july 23rd the Japanese launched attacks supported by artillery and within two days they had consumed half their ammunition stores. The situation was terrible, they suffered 5000 casualties and made little progress breaking the Soviet lines. Zhukov then unleashed an offensive on august 20th using over 4000 trucks to transport supplies from Chita base. He assembled around 500 tanks, 550 fighters and bombers and his 50,000 infantry supported by armored cars. This mechanized force attacked the Japanese first using artillery and the aircraft as his armor and infantry crossed the river. The IJA were quickly flanked by the fast moving Soviet armor and encircled by August 25th. The IJA made attempts to break out of the encirclement but failed. They refused to surrender despite overwhelming artillery and aerial bombardment; by the 31st the Japanese forces on the Mongolian side of the border were destroyed. The Japanese suffered nearly 20,000 casualties, the lost 162 aircraft, 29 tanks, 7 tankettes, 72 artillery pieces a large number of vehicles. The Soviets took a heavy hit also suffering almost 25,000 casualties, 250 aircraft, 250 tanks, 133 armored cars, almost 100 artillery pieces, hundreds of vehicles. While these numbers make it seem the Japanese did a great job, you need to consider what each party was bringing to this fight. The Japanese brought roughly 30,000 men, 80 tanks and tankettes, 400 aircraft, 300 artillery pieces, 1000 trucks. The Soviets brought nearly 75,000 men, 550 tanks, 900 aircraft, 634 artillery pieces, 4000 trucks. There are some sources that indicate the IJA brought as many artillery rounds as they could muster from Japan, Manchuria and Korea, roughly 100,000 rounds for the operation. The Soviets fired 100,000 rounds per day. A quick look at wikipedia numbers, yes I know its a no no, but sometimes its good for quick perspectives show: USSR: Bomber sorties 2,015, fighter sorties 18,509; 7.62 mm machine gun rounds fired 1,065,323; 20 mm (0.80 in) cannon rounds expended 57,979; bombs dropped 78,360 (1,200 tons). Japan: Fighter/bomber sorties 10,000 (estimated); 7.7 mm (0.30 in) machine gun rounds fired 1.6 million; bombs dropped 970 tons. What I am trying to say is there was an enormous disparity in military production. And this is not just limited to numbers but quality. After the battle the Japanese made significant reforms. They increased tank production from 500 annually to 1200. The Japanese funded research into new anti-tank guns, such as the Type 1 47 mm. They mounted this gun to their Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks, the new standard medium tank of the IJA. Because of the tremendous defeat to Soviet armor they send General Yamashita to Germany to learn everything he could about tank tactics. But they simply could not produce enough tanks to ever hope to match 10% of the USSR. The Soviets had mostly been using T-26's, BT-5's and BT-7's who were crudely made, but made en masse. The Japanese would find most of their tank models with less effective range, less armor and some with less penetration power. It took the Japanese a hell of a lot more time to produce tanks, they were simply not on par with the Soviets in quantity or quality. Their tank tactics, albeit improved via Yamashita after 1939, were still nothing compared to the Soviets.  The major outcome of the battle of Lake Khasan and Khalkhin Gol was the abandonment of the hokushin-ron strategy and adoption of the nanshin-ron strategy. But, that didnt mean Japan did not have a plan in case they had to go to war with the USSR. Part 2 Kantōgun Tokushu Enshū Kantōgun Tokushu Enshū or the Kwantung Army Special Maneuvers was an operational plan created by the General Staff of the IJA for an invasion of the Russian Far East to capitalize on Operation Barbarossa. Here our story truly begin. Between 1938-1939 the IJA General Staff and Kwantung Army formed two “Hachi-Go” plans. Variants A and B examined the possibility of an all out war with the USSR beginning in 1943. In both plans they expected to be facing 60 Soviet divisions, while they could deliver 50 divisions, delivered incrementally from China and Japan. Plan A called for attacks across the eastern and northern borders of Manchuria while maintaining a defensive stance in the west. Plan B, much more ambitious, called for striking into the vast steppe between the Great Khingan Mountains and Lake Baikal, hoping to cut off the trans-siberian railway. If this was done successfully it was believed the whole of European Russia would be doomed to be defeated in detail. Defeated in detail means to divide and conquer. This battle would take place over 5000 kilometers with Japan's final objective being to advance 1200 km into the USSR. That dwarves Operation Barbarossa in distance, let that sink in. Both plans faced impossible odds. First of all the railway networks in Manchuria were not sufficiently expanded for such far reaching offensives, especially for plan B. Furthermore the 50 divisions required for them would be impossible to come by, since 1937 Japan was bogged down in a war with China. When Japan went to war with the west in 1941 she had 51 divisions. She left the base minimum in China, 35 divisions and tossed nearly 20 into southeast asia and the pacific. On top of not having the men, the IJA estimated a fleet of 200,000 vehicles would be necessary to sustain an offensive to Lake Baikal. That was twice the number of military vehicles Japan had at any given time. After the battle of Khalkhin Gol, plan B was completely abandoned. Planning henceforth focused solely on the northern and eastern fronts with any western advance being limited in scope. Now Japan formed a neutrality pact with the USSR because of her defeat at Khalkhin Gol and Molotov Ribbentrop pact between Germany and the USSR. The Molotov Ribbentrop Pact came as a bitter and complete surprise to Japan. It pushed Japan to fully adopt the Nanshin-ron strategy and this began with her invasion of French IndoChina, which led the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and United States to embargo her. The Netherlands Dutch East Indies refused to sell oil to Japan, the UK refused to sell oil from Burma and the US gradually cut off selling oil to Japan, with her oil exports alone being 80% of Japans supply, the rest from the Dutch east indies. The United States also placed an embargo on scrap-metal shipments to Japan and closed the Panama Canal to Japanese shipping. 74.1% of Japan's scrap iron came from the United States in 1938, and 93% of Japan's copper in 1939. Other things like Rubber and tin were also off the table, as this was mostly acquired from British held Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.    Now the crux of everything is the China War. Japan was stuck, she needed to win, in order to win she needed the resources she was being denied. The only logical decision was to attack the places with these resources. Thus until 1941, Japan prepared to do just that, investing in the Navy primarily. Then in June of 1941, Hitler suddenly informs the Japanese that he is going to invade the USSR. The Japanese were shocked and extremely angry, they nearly left the Tripartite Pact over the issue. This unprecedented situation that ushered in the question, what should Japan do? There were those like Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka who argued they must abandon the neutrality pact and launch a simultaneous offensive with the Germans against the USSR. The IJA favored this idea….because obviously it would see them receiving more funding as the IJN was currently taking more and more of it for the Nanshin-ron plans. But this is not a game of hearts of Iron IV, the Japanese government had to discuss and plan if they would invade the USSR….and boy it took awhile. I think a lot of you will be very disappointed going forward, but there is no grand unleashing of a million Japanese across the borders into the Soviet Far East, in the real world there is something called logistics and politics.    The Japanese military abided by a flexible response policy, like many nations do today. Theres was specifically called the Junbi Jin Taisei or “preparatory formation setup”. Japan would only go to war with the USSR if favorable conditions were met. So in our timeline the Junbi Jin encountered its first test on June 24th when the IJA/IJN helped a conference in the wake of operation barbarossa. A compromise was made allowing the IJA to prepare an invasion plan if it did not impede on the nanshin-ron plans. There was those in the IJA who argued they should invade the USSR whether conditions were favorable or not, there were those who only wanted to invade if it looked like the USSR was on the verge of collapse. One thing agreed upon was if Japan unleashed a war with the USSR, the hostilities needed to be over by mid-October because the Siberian climate would hit winter and it would simply be impossible to continue. The IJA needed 60-7 days to complete operational preparations and 6-8 weeks to defeat the Soviets within the first phase of the offensive. Here is a breakdown of what they were thinking: 28 June: Decide on mobilization 5 July: Issue mobilization orders 20 July: Begin troop concentration 10 August: Decide on hostilities 24 August: Complete readiness stance 29 August: Concentrate two divisions from North China in Manchuria, bringing the total to 16 5 September: Concentrate four further divisions from the homeland, bringing the total to 22; complete combat stance 10 September (at latest): Commence combat operations 15 October: Complete first phase of war   The plan called for 22 divisions (might I add my own calculations of 20 divisions were pretty spot on), with roughly 850,000 men, including Manchukuo allies, supported by 800,000 tons of shipping. The Japanese hoped the Soviets would toss at least half their forces in the Far East, perhaps 2/3rd of their armor and aircraft against the Germans giving them a 2-1 superiority. Even the 22 divisions was questionable, many in the war ministry thought only 16 divisions could be spared for such a venture, something only suitable for mop up operations in the aftermath of a German victory along the eastern front. It was clear to all, Japan needed perfect conditions to even think about performing such a thing.    The War hawks who still sought to perform Hokushin-ron tried to persaude Hideki Tojo on july 5th to go through with a new plan using a total of 25 divisions. This plan designated “Kantogun Tokushu Enshu or Kantokuen” would involve 2 phases, a buildup and readiness phase and an offensive phase. On July 7th they went to Hirohito for his official sanction for the build up. Hirohito questioned everything, but gradually relented to it. The plan was nearly identical to the former plans, banking on the Soviets being unable to reinforce the Far East because of Germany's progress. The level of commitment was scaled down somewhat, but still enormous. Again a major looming issue was the Manchurian railways that would need to be expanded to accomodate the movement of men and supplies. This meant the construction of port facilities, military barracks, hospitals and such. Kantokuen would begin with a initial blow against the Ussuri front, targeting Primorye and would be followed up by a northern attack against Blagoveshchensk and Kuibyshevka. The 1st area army, 3rd and 20 armies with the 19th division of the Korean army would penetrade the border south of Lake Khanka to breach the main soviet defensive lines, thus threatening Vladivostok. The 5th army would strike south of Dalnerechensk to complete the isolation of the maritime province, sever the trans-sierian railway and block Soviet reinforcements. The 4th army would attack along the Amur river before helping out against Blagoveshchensk. Two reinofrced divisions would invade Sakhalin from land and sea. The second phase would see the capture of Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk, Skovorodino, Sovetskaya Gavan, and Nikolayevsk. Additionally, amphibious operations against Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and other parts of the Kamchatka Peninsula were contemplated.   It was agreed the operation could only afford 24 divisions, with 1,200,000 men, 35,000 vehicles, 500 tanks, 400,000 horses and 300,000 coolies. The deployment of thse forces would mean the western front facing Mongolia and the Trans-baikal region would be pretty much open, so delaying actions would have to be fought if the soviets performed a counter offensive there. Air forces were critical to the plan. They sought to dispatch up to roughly 2000 aircraft cooperating with 350 naval aircraft to launch a sudden strike against the Soviet Far East Air Force to knock them out early.    The Soviet Far East had two prominent weaknesses to be exploited. Number 1 was Mongolia's 4500 km long horeshoe shaped border. Number 2 was its 100% dependency on European Russia to deliver men, food and war materials via the trans-siberian railway. Any disruption of the trans-siberian railway would prove fatal to the Soviet Far East.    Now as for the Soviets. The 1930's and early 1940's saw the USSR take up a defensive policy, but retained offensive elecments as well. Even with the German invasion and well into 1942, the Soviets held a strategy of tossing back the IJA into Manchuria if attacked. The primary forces defending the Far east in 1941 were the Far Eastern and Trans-Baikal Fronts, under the command of Generals Iosif Apanasenko and Mikhail Kovalyov. The Trans-Baikal front held 9 divisions, including 2 armored, a mechanized brigade and a heavily fortified region west of the Oldoy River near Skovorodino had a garrison. The Far Eastern Front had 23 divisions including 3 armored, 4 brigades and 11 heavily fortified regions with garrisons including Vladivostok. Altogether they had 650,000 men, 5400 tanks, 3000 aircraft, 57,000 vehicles, 15,000 artillery pieces and nearly 100,000 horses. By 1942 the Vladivostok sector had 150 artillery pieces with 75 -356 mm calibers organized into 50 batteries. As you can imagine after Operation Barbarrosa was unleashed, things changed. From June to December, roughly 160,000 men, 3000 tanks, 2670 artillery pieces, 12,000 vehicles and perhaps 1800 aircraft were sent to deal with the Germans. Despite this, the Soviets also greatly expanded a buildup to match the apparent Japanese buildup in Manchuria. By July 22nd 1941 the Far Eastern and Trans-Baikal Fronts were to be raised by 1 million men for august. By December it was nearly 1.2 million. Even the Soviet Far East Navy saw an increase from 100,000 men to 170,000 led by Admiral Yumashev. The Soviet Mongolian allies were capable of manning about 80,000, though they lacked heavy equipment.    Thus if this war broke out in September the Soviets and Mongolians would have just over a million men, with 2/3rds of them manning the Amur-Ussuri-Sakhalin front, the rest would defend Mongolia and the Trans-Baikal region. Even though the war against the Germans was dire, the Soviets never really gave up their prewar planning for how to deal with the Japanese. There would be an all-out defense over the border to prevent any breach of Soviet territory. The main effort would see the 1st and 25th armies holding a north-south axis between the Pacific ocean and Lake Khanka; the 35th army would defend Iman; the 15th and 2nd Red Banner armies would repel the Japanese over the Amur River; and other forces would try to hold out on Sakhalin, Kamchatka and the Pacific coast. The Soviets had constructed hundreds of fortified positions known as Tochkas along the border. Most of these were hexagonal concrete bunkers contained machine gun nests and 76 mm guns. The fortified regions I mentioned were strategically placed forcing the Japanese to overcome them via frontal attacks. This would require heavy artillery to overcome. Despite the great defensive lines, the Soviets did not intend to be passive and would launch counteroffensives. The Soviet air force and Navy would play an active role in defeating a Japanese invasion as well. The air force's objetice would be to destroy the Japanese air force in the air and on the ground, requiring tactical ground attack mission. They would also destroy key railways, bridges and airfields within Manchuria and Korea alongside intercepting IJN shipping. Strategic bombing against the home islands would be limited to under 30 DB-3's who could attack Tokyo, Yokosuka, Maizuru and Ominato. The Soviet Navy would help around the mouth of the Amur River, mine the Tatar Strait and try to hit any IJN ships landing men or materials across the Pacific Coasts.    Japan would not be able to continue a land war with the USSR for very long. According to Japanese military records, in 1942 while at war they were required to produce 50 Kaisenbun. A Kaisenbun is a unit of measurement for ammunition needed for a single division to operate for 4 months. Annual production never surpassed 25 kaisenbun with 100 in reserve. General Shinichi Tanaka estimated for an operation against the USSR 3 Kaisenbun would be needed per divisions, thus a total of 72 would be assigned to 24 divisions. This effectively meant 2/3rds of Japans ammunition stockpile would be used on the initial strike against the USSR. Japan would have been extremely hard pressed to survive such a war cost for 2 years.    Now in terms of equipment Japan had a lot of problems. During the border battles, Japanese artillery often found itself outranged and grossly under supplied compared to the Soviet heavier guns. Despite moving a lot of men and equipment to face the Germans, the Red Army maintained a gross superiority in armor. The best tank the Kwantung Army had in late 1941 was the Type 97 Chi-Ha, holding 33mm armor with a low velocity 57 mm gun. There was also Ha-Go and Te-Ke's with 37 mm guns but they had an effective range less than 1 km.   The Soviet T-26, BT-5 and BT-7's had 45 mm guns more than capable of taking out the Japanese armor and the insult to injury was they were crudely made and very expendable. Every Japanese tank knocked out was far greater a loss, as Japan's production simply could not remotely match the USSR. For aircraft the Japanese were a lot better off. The Polikarpov I-16 was the best Soviet fighter in the Far East and performed alright against the Nakajima Ki-27 at Khalkhin Gol. The rest of the Soviet air arsenal were much older and would struggle. The Soviets would have no answer to the IJN's Zero fighter or the IJA's high speed KI-21 bomber that outraced the Soviet SB-2. Japanese pilots were battle hardened by China and vastly experienced.   Another thing the Japanese would have going for them was quality of troops. The Soviets drained their best men to fight the Germans, so the combat effectiveness in the far east would be less. Without the Pacific War breaking out, some of Japan's best Generals would be brought into this war, of course the first one that comes to mind for me is General Yamashita, probably the most armor competent Japanese general of ww2.    Come August of 1941 those who still sought the invasion of the USSR were facing major crunch time. The IJA planners had assumed the Soviets would transfer 50% or more of their power west to face the Germans, but this was not the case. By August 9th of 1941, facing impossible odds and with the western embargos in full motion, in our timeline the Japanese Hokushin-Ron backers gave up. But for the sake of our story, for some batshit insane reason, the Japanese military leadership and Hirohito give the greenlight for an invasion on August 10th.   Part 3 the catastrophe   So to reiterate the actual world plan had    10 August: Decide on hostilities 24 August: Complete readiness stance 29 August: Concentrate two divisions from North China in Manchuria, bringing the total to 16 5 September: Concentrate four further divisions from the homeland, bringing the total to 22; complete combat stance 10 September (at latest): Commence combat operations 15 October: Complete first phase of war   So what is key to think about here is the events of September. The Battle for Moscow is at the forefront, how does a Japanese invasion in the first week or two of September change things? This is going to probably piss off some of you, but Operation Typhoon would still fail for Germany.  In our time line the legendary spy Richard Sorge sent back information on Japan's decision to invade the USSR between August 25th to September 14th. On the 25th he informed Stalin the Japanese high command were still discussing whether to go to war or not with the USSR. On September 6th Stalin was informed the Japanese were beginning preparations for a war against the west. Then on September 14th, the most important message was relayed to Stalin "In the careful judgment of all of us here... the possibility of [Japan] launching an attack, which existed until recently, has disappeared...."[15]    With this information on hand from 23 June to 31 December 1941, Stalin transferred a total of 28 divisions west. This included 18 rifle divisions, 1 mountain rifle division, 3 tank divisions, 3 mechanized divisions and 3 mountain cavalry divisions. The transfers occurred mainly in June (11 divisions) and October (9 divisions).    Here we come to a crossroads and I am going to have to do some blunt predictions. Let's go from the most optimistic to the most pessimistic. Scenario 1) for some insane reason, Stalin abandons Moscow and moves his industry further east, something the Soviets were actively preparing during Operation Typhoon. This is not a defeat of the USSR, it certainly would prolong the war, but not a defeat. Now that seems rather silly. Scenario 2) Stalin attempts transferring half of what he did in our time line back to Moscow and the Germans fail to take it. The repercussions of course is a limited counteroffensive, it wont be as grand as in our timeline, but Moscow is saved. Scenario 3) and the most likely in my opinion, why would Stalin risk moscow for the Far East? Stalin might not transfer as many troops, but certainly he would have rather placed his chips in Moscow rather than an enemy literally 6000 km's away who have to cross a frozen desert to get to anything he cares about.  Even stating these scenarios, the idea the German army would have taken Moscow if some of the very first units from the far east arrived, because remember a lot of these units did not make it in time to defend moscow, rather they contributed to the grand counteroffensive after the Germans stalled. The German armies in front of Moscow were depleted, exhausted, unsupplied and freezing. Yes many of the Soviet armies at Moscow were hastily thrown together, inexperienced, poorly led and still struggling to regain their balance from the German onslaught. Yet from most sources, and by sources I mean armchair historian types argue, the Germans taking Moscow is pretty unlikely. And moscow was not even that important. What a real impact might have been was the loss of the Caucasus oil fields in early 1942, now that could have brought the USSR down, Moscow, not so much, again the Soviets had already pulled their industry further east, they could do it again.   So within the context of this Second Russo-Japanese War, figure the German's still grind to a halt, they don't take Moscow, perhaps Soviets dont push them back as hard, but the USSR is not collapsing by any means. Ok now before we talk about Japans invasion we actually need to look at some external players. The UK/US/Netherlands already began massive embargoes against Japan for oil, iron, rubber, tin, everything she needed to continue her war, not just against the USSR, but with over 35 divisions fighting in China. President Roosevelt was looking for any excuse to enter WW2 and was gradually increasing ways to aid Britain and the Soviets.  Now American's lend-lease program seriously aided the USSR during WW2, particularly the initial stages of the war. The delivery of lend-lease to the USSR came through three major routes: the Arctic Convoys, the Persian Corridor, and the Pacific Route. The Arctic route was the shortest and most direct route for lend-lease aid to the USSR, though it was also the most dangerous as it involved sailing past German-occupied Norway. Some 3,964,000 tons of goods were shipped by the Arctic route; 7% was lost, while 93% arrived safely. The Persian Corridor was the longest route, and was not fully operational until mid-1942. Thereafter it saw the passage of 4,160,000 tons of goods, 27% of the total. The most important was the Pacific Route which opened up in August of 1941, but became affected when Japan went to war with America. The major port was Vladivostok, where only Soviet ships could transport non-military goods some 8,244,000 tons of goods went by this route, 50% of the total. Vladivostok would almost certainly be captured by the Japanese in our scenario so it won't be viable after its capture. Here is the sticky part, Japan is not at war with the US, so the US is pretty much free to find different Pacific paths to get lend-lease to the Soviets, and to be honest there's always the Arctic or Persian corridors. Hell in this scenario America will be able to get supplies easily into China as there will be no war in Burma, hong kong, Malaya and such. America alone is going to really ruin Japans day by increasing lend-lease to the UK, China and the USSR. America wont be joining the war in 1941, but I would strongly wager by hook or by crook, FDR would pull them into a war against Germany, probably using the same tactic Woodrow Wilson did with WW1. This would only worsen things for Japan. Another player of course is China. Late 1941, China was absolutely battered by Japan. With Japan pulling perhaps even more troops than she did for the Pacific war to fight the USSR, Chiang Kai-Shek would do everything possible to aid his new found close ally Stalin. How this would work out is anyone's guess, but it would be significant as I believe America would be providing a lot more goodies.    Ok you've all been patient, what happens with the war? Japan has to deliver a decisive knock out blow in under 4-6 months, anything after this is simply comical as Japan's production has no resources. The oil in siberia is not even remotely on the table. The Japanese can't find it, would not be able to exploit it, let alone quick enough to use it for the war. Hell the Italians were sitting on oil in Libya and they never figured that out during WW2.   So Kantokuen is unleashed with an initial blow against the Primorye in the Ussuri Front followed by an assault against Blagoveshchensk and Kiubyshevka. The main soviet lines south of Lake Khanka are attacked by the Japanese 1st area army, 3rd and 20th armies and the 19th Korean division. This inturn threatens Vladivostok who is also being bombarded by IJA/IJN aircraft. The 5th Ija army attacks south of Dalnerechensk in an attempt to sever the trans-siberian railway, to block Soviet reinforcements and supplies. The 4th IJA army fords the Amur river to help with the assault of Blagoveshchensk. Meanwhile Sakhalin is being attacked from land and sea by two IJA divisions.  Despite the Soviets being undermanned the western front facing Mongolia and the Trans-Baikal region is wide up to an attack as its only defended by the 23rd IJA division, so a limited counteroffensive begins there. The Japanese quickly win air superiority, however the heavily fortified Tochkas are not being swept aside as the Japanese might have hoped. A major problem the Japanese are facing is Soviet artillery. The Japanese artillery already placed along the borders, initially performed well, crushing Tochkas in range, but when the Japanese begin advancing and deploying their artillery units they are outgunned perhaps 3-1, much of the Soviet artillery outranges them and the Soviets have a much larger stockpile of shells. Airpower is failing to knock out soviet artillery which is placed within Tochkas and other fortified positions with anti-aircraft guns. Without achieving proper neutralization or counter battery fire, the Japanese advance against the fortified Soviet positions. The Soviets respond shockingly with counterattacks. The 15th and 35th Soviet armies with the Amur Red Banner Military Flotilla toss limited counterattacks against both sides of the Sungari River, harassing the Japanese. While much of the soviet armor had been sent west, their light tanks which would be useless against the Germans have been retained in the far east and prove capable of countering the IJA tanks. The Soviets inflict tremendous casualties, however General Yamashita, obsessed with blitzkrieg style warfare he saw first hand in the west, eventually exploits a weak area in the line.Gradually a blitzkrieg punches through and begins to circle around hitting Soviet fortified positions from the rear. The Soviets knew this would be the outcome and had prepared to fight a defense in depth, somewhat managing the onslaught.  The trans-siberian railway has been severed in multiple locations close to the border area, however this is not as effective as it could be, the Japanese need to hook deeper to cut the line further away. In the course of weeks the Soviets are gradually dislodged from their fortified positions, fighting a defense in depth over great stretches of land. Vladivostok holds out surprisingly long until the IJN/IJA seize the city. Alongside this Sakhalin is taken with relative ease. The Soviet surface fleet is annihilated, but their large submarine force takes a heavy toll of the IJN who are attempting Pacific landings. Kantokuen phase 1 is meeting its objectives, but far later than expected with much more casualties than expected. The Japanese are shocked by the fuel consumption as they advance further inland. Each truck bearing fuel is using 50% of said fuel to get to the troops, something reminiscent of the north african campaign situation for Rommel. The terrain is terrible for their vehicles full of valleys, hills, forests and mountains. Infrastructure in the region is extremely underdeveloped and the Soviets are burning and destroying everything before the Japanese arrive. All key roads and cities are defended until the Japanese can encircle the Soviets, upon which they depart, similar to situations the Japanese face in China. It is tremendously slow progress. The IJA are finding it difficult to encircle and capture Soviet forces who have prepared a series of rear lines to keep falling back to while performing counterattacks against Japanese columns. As the Japanese advance further into the interior, the IJN are unable to continue supporting them with aircraft and much of the IJA aircraft are limited in operations because of the range. The second phase of Kantokuen calls for the capture of Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk, Skovorodino, Sovetskaya Gavan, and Nikolayevsk. Additionally, amphibious operations against Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and other parts of the Kamchatka Peninsula are on standby as the IJN fears risking shipping as a result of Soviet submarine operations. The sheer scope of the operation was seeing the tide sides stretching their forces over a front nearly 5000 km in length. At some points the Japanese were attempting to advance more than 1000 km's inland, wasting ungodly amounts of fuel and losing vehicles from wear and tear.  So what does Japan gain? Within the span of 4 months, max 6 months Japan could perhaps seized: Sakhalin, the Primorsye krai including Vladivostok, segments of the trans siberian railway, Blagoveshchensk, Kuibyshevka. If they are really lucky Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk, Skovorodino, Sovetskaya Gavan, Nikolayevsk. Additionally, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and other parts of the Kamchatka Peninsula. What does this mean? Really nothing. Pull out a map of manchuria during WW2, take a pencil and expand the manchurian border perhaps 1000 km if you really want to be generous, that's the new extent of the empire of the rising sun. The real purpose of attacking the USSR is not to perform some ludicrous dash across 6000 km's of frozen wasteland to whittle down and defeat the Soviets alongside the rest of the Axis. It was only to break them, in late 1941 at Moscow there was perhaps a fools chance, but it was a fool's chance for Japan.  Japan has run out of its stockpiles of Kaisenbun, oil, iron, rubber, tin, all types of resources necessary for making war. Unlike in our timeline where Japan began exporting resources from its conquests in southeast asia and the pacific, here Japan spent everything and now is relying on the trickles it has within its empire. The China war will be much more difficult to manage. The lend-lease will increase every day to China. The US/UK/Netherlands will only increase pressure upon Japan to stop being a nuisance, Japan can't do anything about this as the US Pacific Fleet is operating around the Philippines always a looming threat. The Japanese are holding for a lack of better words, useless ground in the far east. They will build a buffer area to defend against what can only be described as a Soviet Invasion of Manchuria x1000. The Allies will be directing all of their effort against Germany and Italy, providing a interesting alternate history concept in its own right. After Germany has been dealt with, Japan would face a existential threat against a very angry Stalin. Cody from Alternate History Hub actually made an episode on this scenario, he believed the Soviets would conquer most of Japan occupied Asia and even invade the home islands. It would certainly be something on the table, taking many years, but the US/UK would most likely interfere in some way. The outcome would be so much worse for Japan. Perhaps she is occupied and a communist government is installed. Perhaps like in our timeline the Americans come in to bolster Japan up for the looming coldwar.  But the question I sought to answer here was, Japan invading the USSR was a dumb idea. The few Japanese commanders who pushed it all the way until August 9th of 1941 simply had to give up because of how illogical it was. I honestly should not have even talked about military matters, this all came down to logistics and resources. You want to know how Japan could have secured itself a better deal in WW2? 1941, the China War is the number one problem Japan can't solve so they look north or south to acquire the means to solve the China problem? Negotiate a peace with China. That is the lackluster best deal right there.    Sorry if this episode did not match your wildest dreams. But if you want me to do some batshit crazy alternate history stuff, I am more than happy to jump into it and have fun. Again thank all of you guys who joined the patreon, you guys are awesome. Until next time this is the Pacific War channel over and out. 

2025 season ending for Justin Hermes of Real Estate Realities until after the football season. Justin will be doing his "Year In Review For 2025" & what's to come in 2026 with help from strongman Dan-O from Core Title.

2025 season ending for Justin Hermes of Real Estate Realities until after the football season. Justin will be doing his "Year In Review For 2025" & what's to come in 2026 with help from strongman Dan-O from Core Title.

Discover total number of British Army Regiments that got sent into Boston with purpose behind supporting royal officials who struggled to maintain order. Go behind the scenes and discover what the Sons of Liberty had been celebrating for four consecutive straight years by 1769. Learn which agreement got signed come August 1, 1768, by more than 60 Boston Merchants including some of its main purposes. Determine key difference between Stamp Act versus Townshend Acts. Get an in depth analysis behind how women emerged onto the political landscape come year 1768. Learn everything possible about Thomas Hutchinson. Determine if Boston had been subjected to an assortment of multiple issues by 1770. Find out if there were any merchants who didn't sign the agreement from August 1, 1768. Get a timeline behind what unraveled between February 22 - March 5, 1770. Learn how John Hancock went about getting involved in the wake of what happened from March 5, 1770. Discover what British leadership first began engaging in on March 5, 1770 only to see end results take place following month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Three point stance! Hart: I am worried about Kristian Campbell officially. He has not been good at all recently. Fielding, hitting, everything. Will he ever be a consistent baseball player? Fitzy says he needs to go back to triple A. Fitzy: The MVP this offseason for the Patriots has been Mike Vrabel. This is a best case scenario so far. He cannot be the MVP in the Fall or in August, but now, he has been great!. Stiz: Vibes based betting. Game four in Indiana will go to the Pacers. Put your money on them right now. Gonzo will be the MVP of the Patriots next season. Tom E Curran joins the show He discusses Efton Chism, Stef Diggs as a leader (he has been really frickin good), the questions the offense has to answer, the defensive dominance, Drake's start to camp, Vrabel being the MVP of camp so far, and more! Patriots coverage of the defense vs the offense. It appears that the defense is better in almost every way. Loaded with talent and money. However, the offense is the only thing being covered by the media. Fitzy does not think the Patriots defense is good yet, just adequate.

Author and Educator Neil Rosen joins us for a delightful discussion about reading. He is the children's book author found on Amazon and known by his readers as “Professor Stork”. You can find out why at the end of the interview. Neil joins us to celebrate his upcoming book called REDISCOVERING THE VILLAGE:Classic Strategies To Help Children Develop A Lifelong Love Of Learning, which he co-authored back in the 1960's and 1970's with Gail Simpson. Come August, it will probably be the last book from that time to be finally published. Neil's message is simple: parents should spend more quality time with their students (kids) and make sure that time includes the outdoors.  You can find Neil's other books on his website  https://professorstork.com  including: Penelope and Jack, Together Apart  by Neil Rosen #GrowYourCircle: The graphic novel series that nurtures purpose and empathy while building leadership skills in children (Mila on Purpose Book 1)  **for Middle School Readers

Ben Criddle talks BYU sports every weekday from 3 to 7 pm.Today's Co-Hosts: Ben Criddle (@criddlebenjamin)Subscribe to the Cougar Sports with Ben Criddle podcast:Apple Podcastshttps://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cougar-sports-with-ben-criddle/id99676

WEBSITE: WWW.THE-MASTERS-VOICE.COM Welcome to The Master's Voice End Time Prophecy Blog: (Hear the words of the Lord). READ THIS PROPHECY ON TMV BLOG: https://the-masters-voice.com/2019/08/17/empty-august-17-2019/ PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: If you'd like to support this work it's appreciated. Kindly use Paypal or email me for other options at mastersvoice@mail.com, and please give me some time to reply. If using Paypal DO NOT send your gift with "Purchase Protection", and kindly mention somewhere that it is a gift. This is a freewill offering, I am not selling goods or services. If you are outside the USA please do not use Paypal, contact me instead at the email listed here. Thank you and God bless. Paypal ------- mastersvoice@mail.com.

A song about a spring teenage romance interrupted by the summer vacation break in the schoolyear.  For more about this and more than 700 other examples of various words (usually literary poetry) combined with original music, visit our blog and archives at frankhudson.org  

Daryl Ruiter on Cade York's missed field goals and his future with the Browns. Thoughts on Cedric Tillman's performance. Which wide receivers are most likely to make the team? Should Deshaun Watson and the starters play next week? Listen to The Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima weekday mornings 6-10am on Sports Radio 92.3 The Fan and the Audacy App!

God has a destiny for your life. He wants to give you a personal, prophetic vision of your future which of hope and and blessings. Pastor Scott shares a life-changing message "Your Best Is Yet To Come." Stay connected with us at Stay connected with us at: www.larryhuchministries.com larryhuchministries.com/resources/#podcast

Scripture: Romans 8:18-25

The sun is coming out y'all and the temps are rising. Come August it is going to be HOT in L.A. with some of the most severe heat in the San Fernando Valley. We explain what is happening with our weather and why certain parts of L.A. become almost unbearable. Guest: LAist Science Reporter Jacob Margolis  Some additional news you can use: Why Does It Get So Hot In Los Angeles?https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/why-does-it-get-so-hot-in-los-angeles Tips To Protect Yourself In A Heat Wavehttps://laist.com/news/climate-environment/extreme-heat-wave-is-on-its-way-and-expected-to-stay-through-labor-day-weekend

Musso dives into Kirk Herbstreit's take on SEC Football in 2023. Are LSU and Bama actually ahead of UGA?This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5591967/advertisement

It's that time of year again! The leaves are changing, the weather is cooling off, and students are returning to school. For many of us, that also means our schedules are getting much busier.  If you're like me, you're knee-deep in figuring out how to manage your time and keep everything straight. Managing your time can be challenging, especially when you have a lot of different commitments. But you can do some simple things to make the process a bit easier.  It can be easy to forget that as an entrepreneur, we are in control of our schedule. When we start our own business, we expect that we will have more free time and flexibility in our lives. However, it is easy to fall into the trap of working all the time, feeling like we have no control over our time.    The reality is that as the boss, we can figure out how many hours we want to work, how much we want to charge, and what comes first. If we struggle to manage our time, this episode was meant to give us an idea of how we can do things differently. As entrepreneurs, it is essential to remember that we are in control of our schedules and can create the lives we want for ourselves. Thanks for listening! Must-listen Moments:  [01:32]  I'll tell you a little bit about how I'm currently struggling, and I will, if nothing else, I hope in part to you that this is just the reality of being an entrepreneur, of being a parent, or maybe just being a human being. Right. So we're going to give ourselves a lot of space and understanding as we transition from one season to the next. [08:26 ]  Come August seven, When kids are back in school and in school for 6 hours at a time. The amount of flexibility and freedom I have for just managing other people goes down significantly. So here's my plan to navigate things around me.  [10:27]  As an entrepreneur and a parent, I can say that “make it work!” in a way that means it feels good that you're working the amount that you want to be working without overworking, without killing yourself. Listen to the conversation on this link : https://podcast.shecollective.biz/signup What in this episode hit home for you? DM me on Insta at https://www.instagram.com/shecollective.biz/   Free Stuff: You're invited to book a FREE call with me: https://bit.ly/FreeProfitCall

I'd never been to anywhere in Japan more south than Kobe until very recently. I finally got a chance to go to Hiroshima for the purpose of filming a wakeboarding tournament taking place there. Come August our studio is filming a major tournament in Kyushu so this was a great opportunity to see what the realities on the ground were for filming this kind of content. Being there gave us a chance to go to the war memorial museum which remembers the tragedy of the nuclear bomb being dropped on Hiroshima. It was a challenging and useful experience, totally unique. I thought I knew how I felt regarding the bombing. This gave a much clearer reflection for me to consider my thoughts regarding it. 

Lachlan focuses on Brock Boeser's 2021 for the Canucks, the expectations for his upcoming season and how he's on track for a big pay raise in 2022, plus a Canucks History Corner centered around the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you'll get 15% off your next order.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lachlan focuses on Brock Boeser's 2021 for the Canucks, the expectations for his upcoming season and how he's on track for a big pay raise in 2022, plus a Canucks History Corner centered around the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! BetOnline AG There is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus. Built Bar Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you'll get 15% off your next order. Rock Auto Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 29 of Movies About Girls. This episode was originally released on August 15, 2009.

Pastor Folarin Akinsola delivers another powerful sermon.

TNU's Fall 2020 chapels, were recorded in compliance with COVID-19 safety measures, according to guidelines from the CDC. Our hope is that students may still have the opportunity to engage with our campus' spiritual leaders while still being responsible and safe during the unprecedented times.

Pastor Darrell continues in Matthew 6 and on the Lord's Prayer. This study on the Lord's prayer is meant to refresh us with the deeper truths behind the themes we're called to pray over as we see in the prayer He taught His disciples. Today we are focused on Matthew 6:10 and what it means to say, “Your Kingdom Come". Download our worship bulletin for more scriptures and music references. Click on our podcast graphic below for the complete service. We pray you will have a blessed time of worship!

TNU's Fall 2020 chapels were recorded in compliance with COVID-19 safety measures, according to guidelines from the CDC. Our hope is that students may still have the opportunity to engage with our campus' spiritual leaders while still being responsible and safe during these unprecedented times.

A brief overview of what is to come in August 2020 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mysisterkeeper/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mysisterkeeper/support

MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl joined the Huge Show with the latest plan for fall High School sports in Michigan. Mark filled us in on their decision to push back padded football practice and explained what this means for how things will play out. He also let us know how coaches will be able work with kids, the equipment the athletes will be allowed to wear, and much more. Come August 20, Mark and his team will evaluate how the high schools handled practices. From there, the MHSAA will set certain guidelines in place to start the competitive fall sports season. Huge asked the audience how they feel about sending their kids back to school this fall and if they're comfortable with their child participating in sports. Huge continued the discussion about how the high school sports fall season will look for student athletes. We took your comments on if you would send you child back to play fall sports or not. Then we wanted to take a look at what some of the colleges in the state are doing in this point in time as it pertains to football. Ferris State Bulldogs Head Coach Tony Annese joined us in our first segment to give us an update. We were then joined by Grand Valley Lakers Head Coach Matt Mitchell for his take on how things are being handled as well. In our final hour we wanted to replay the conversation from the start of the show with MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl. We wrapped up by reading your texts and taking your calls about the Huge question of the day. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ilhan Omar's challenger Antone Melton-Meaux could dethrone the antisemitic freshman congresswoman. He out raised her by millions of dollars. Come August 11th we will have to see. @hotboxtalkphukka - Parler @HBTstoned321 - Twitter @hotboxtalk_petrovphukka - Instagram

Question to Dennis Wicker and Becki Gray – Come August 1 high school football teams typically suit up to begin practice for the fall season but there are big question marks. If students aren’t in schools there are questions whether sports should be allowed. And UNC just found out that 37 of their players, coaches and staff have tested positive for COVID-19. What’s your spin? Should high schools and colleges play football this year?

Today's guest is Alyson Beland. Alyson is a career coach here at the Purdue CCO. As a career coach, she advises students and alumni on a variety of career development and job search strategies. Alyson is on the show today because we are discussing how to make the most of your summer in terms of professional development and career fair prep. Come August, those fall career fairs will sneak up on us quicker than we realize, and we need to make sure we have our resumes, letters of rec, and interview confidence ready to go! And for those who have summer internships, Alyson will be giving advice on how to make the most out of your opportunity, how to network with your company, and what skills you should specifically be expecting to grow in. Without further ado, here's my conversation with Alyson.

Since 2014, the faculty and staff of the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine have been developing a new medical school curriculum called the “Pathways to Health and Wellness Curriculum.” Its design is revolutionary and may lead the way for other medical schools to follow. Come August, gone will be the big auditorium lectures. Instead, greater emphasis will be placed on individual and independent studies through the use of a “flipped classroom approach.” “Students will learn interactively through working collaboratively on 16 weeklong patient cases per semester. Students will work in teams along with appropriate faculty,” says Dr. Kenneth Johnson, the executive dean of the Heritage College and the chief medical affairs officer for Ohio University. Students will prepare for classroom learning sessions through self-directed study including access to recorded mini-lecture and modules,” explains Dr. Jody Gerome, the new associate dean of curriculum. “The different aspects of medicine, clinical, biomedical, and social, are woven naturally into patient cases, rather than taught as separate academic silos,” Dr. Gerome adds. Likewise, the program will examine the students’ knowledge more often than the formerly once-a-semester exam. Tests will be given more frequently to make sure the student is keeping up and absorbing the material that is required. During each semester, students and faculty both will have “protected time” for maintaining their own personal wellness and each student will be assigned a faculty mentor for all four years of study. The health and wellness of the patients and the physicians both are in balance under this new plan, says Dr. Johnson. “The first two years of study will be divided into four 16 week semesters covering wellness, acute illness, chronic illness and return to wellness,” says Dr. Gerome. “The changes we are making are designed to convey training in a way that is more aligned with today’s evolving best practices in care delivery, to improve the care provided to our patients and communities and for formalize our commitment to the personal wellness of our students during medical school and beyond,” Dr. Johnson explains. “Health care has to change, and the college needs to adapt its curriculum so it can continue to train doctors who can not only thrive in the changing health care environment, but help lead that changes to improve the quality of care to our patients and communities.” Dr. Johnson has been dean of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine since 2012. Dr. Gerome is a 2005 alumna of the college. She is a practicing physician and an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology.

“I think a lot of people look at ‘happiness' as a decision and I look at it as how I choose to live my life — doing things that make me happy with the people that make me happy.”Jesse ItzlerIt's easy to take risks when your back is against the wall.But it's the rare individual that will continue to push the envelope, face fear and embrace the unknown when that person could choose to live without self-imposed obstacles.Jesse Itzler is one such human.After a barnburner appearance on the podcast back in 2015 (check RRP #197 if you missed it), the man who lives so far “out of the box” that there is no box returns for another stellar exchange that does not disappoint.For those new to the show, this is a guy who fast-talked his way right out of college into a recording contract, ultimately taking his music all the way to MTV, the Billboard 100 and even an Emmy.Jesse then takes a wild entrepreneurial left-turn, creating and ultimately selling big companies like Marquis Jet, the world’s largest prepaid private jet card company, and Zico Coconut Water, before wooing Spanx founder (and Shark Tank guest host) Sarah Blakely all the way to the altar.Despite his tremendous success as a serial entrepreneur, Jesse started to feel his life stagnate. Desperate to avoid the malaise of risk adversity visited upon many a prosperous peer, he embarks on a hare-brained scheme to invite adventure back into his life by convincing Navy SEAL David Goggins — the most popular episode in the history of this show — to move in with him. David relents on one condition: that Jesse comply with David's every demand, no matter how severe. The insanity that ensues is hilariously chronicled in Living With A SEAL, Jesse's well deserved New York Times bestseller.He eats only fruit before noon. He runs 100 mile races. He raises millions for charity. And when he isn't playing super dad to his four kids (check his Instagram stories for daily dad episodes), he's an in demand motivational speaker (check out his TEDx Talk) who just happens to own the Atlanta Hawks NBA franchise with a few friends. No biggie.So the question is: how does this guy have such an extraordinary life?Jesse boils it down to one singular mission statement:Live life full blast. Never be afraid to fail. And never, ever allow yourself to stagnate.In an effort to cultivate community around this ethos, Jesse recently launched Made of Challenges, a series of totally unique, end-to-end weekend experiences that are one part wellness retreat (complete with glamping tents and world-class speakers), one part next-level athletic challenge. Come August is Made of Denali, which entails jogging, hiking or crawling up a mountain in Utah, taking a gondola down, and repeating nine times until you have climbed 20,310 vertical feet — the equivalent of Mt. Denali, the highest peak in North America.In addition, Jesse has a new book coming out this week. An inward-facing sequel to his Goggins-fueled physical escapades, See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Drums of Autumn Chapters 14-15 Week 9 “Into the Backcountry” Summary: With much haste, they leave Cross Creek by night to take Pollyanne to safety. They ride until dawn. Claire learns a new method of tick removal. They come across a spooky abandoned Indian village. They make camp near a stream. Myers tells the story of the Tuscarora. Claire hopes Pollyanne will be accepted by the Indians. Myers and Young Ian part with Jamie and Claire to take Pollyanne north. Jamie and Claire head southwest to survey the offered lands. Jamie fights and kills a bear. Claire tends his wounds. They become acquainted with three native hunters. Inside the Chapters: Part Five: Strawberry Fields Forever Chapter 14: Flee from Wrath to Come August 1767 Pollyanne had been hiding in a tobacco shed on the edge of Farquard Campbell's property. Claire notes the lavender sky and the ghostly nature of the woman as she exited the building cloaked. Pollyanne is frightened of the horse and refuses to take the reins. Claire offers to have the woman ride with her, so she feels safer. It's difficult to swap her to Claire's horse, but eventually, they get it done. The poor woman is terrified. She clings tightly to Claire. The woman shivers behind Claire as if chilled. Poor sweetie. She's new from Africa, and now she's to be given to the Indians (Native Americans) for her safety. The appearance of Rollo adds another dimension of fear for Pollyanne and Claire's horse (p277, Nook). Claire and Jamie try to determine if she understands where they are taking her. Not knowing what tongue she might understand, Jamie reaches out, squeezes her foot, and says freedom. This she understands and sighs in relief. (1:20) Myer's leads them in an unspoken urgency. Pollyanne is becoming accustomed to the riding and feeling less afraid. She even dozes, leaning onto Claire's shoulder occasionally. Claire is tired and being lulled by the sound of the horse's hooves and the forest surrounding them (p279, Nook). At dawn, they stopped to rest during the light and heat of the day. They woke covered in ticks. Though Claire, as usual, doesn't attract the appetite of the 18th-century bugs. She did, however, carefully checks Jamie and everyone else after they slept. Pollyanne has a different method of tick removal (p280, Nook). The seeds she chewed are called paw-paw and are toxic if swallowed. Pollyanne's stature reminds Claire of African fertility images. After dinner, Pollyanne is willing to ride on her own. She is more comfortable with Claire and excitedly communicates the best she can. Claire understands her better than she understands Claire. Apparently, Claire isn't so skilled with body language communication. They enter a clearing with grassy mounds. Pollyanne is disquieted. She believes this place is evil. Myers explains this place likely used to be a Tuscarora village. He isn't sure what happened. Illness or warfare could be the culprit. They rode on. They are climbing higher into the mountains. The landscape changes to chestnut trees, oak, hickory, dogwood, persimmon, chinkapin, and poplar. The air is lighter and fresher. They have left the smothering heat and humidity of the lowlands. Claire is connecting with nature with every joyous breath. On the sixth day, they are deep into the mountains when they come across a large waterfall. Young Ian is surprised to hear Myers say it's not the biggest one he's ever seen. They camped near a stream hoping for a dinner of fresh trout. Pollyanne brings a bucket of water to make a batch of corn dodgers. They are delicious when fresh and edible for a few days though they lose flavor. Pollyanne is not her normal exuberant self. This is the last night they are all together. Myers will take her into the Indian territory the next day. Maybe she is worried about her uncertain future. Pollyanne makes the batter; Claire tends the fire, Myers goes to smoke a pipe, while Jamie and Young Ian continue fishing. Claire wonders what type of place Pollyanne is from and what things could be going through her mind. It's a great unknown. Rollo joins them by the fire. He noses both Claire and Pollyanne. Pollyanne is not wanting his attentions, turns and spit in his eye (p285, Nook). The corn dodgers are cooking, filling the area with comforting smells. The fire seems a place of refuge in this wild place. She wonders if the fire had held back jungle darkness protecting Pollyanne and her people from leopards. Was it comfort in her land or just an illusion of safety? It had to be an illusion since she was taken and brought to the Colonies. Claire dared not ask. The fishing is very good. Jamie and Young Ian are ecstatic for their catches (p285, Nook). The mere mention of Indians by Myers has Young Ian asking questions. The conversation turns to the abandoned village they'd passed through earlier. Myers explains about the Tuscarora War from forty years earlier. The result was a devastation to the Tuscarora nation with only seven villages left.  The Mohawk had adopted the Tuscarora, or they would have been completely wiped out. This helped the Tuscarora because they were allowed entrance into the Iroquois League. Jamie wants to know why the fierce Mohawk would want to adopt an ailing tribe (p287, Nook). Myers explains further how the Indians cannot hold their drink. Even the first drop is too much for them. Also, their numbers need replacing, so with their similar languages, the Mohawk took in the Tuscarora. These are the people Myers means to have Pollyanne adopted to as their own. Claire asks if the Tuscarora have seen a black woman before. He thinks there are many who've never seen a white person before. He thinks they will like her just fine (p289, Nook). Claire and Jamie aren't sure if this exchange would be a good thing or not. They have eye conversation about it. Jamie speaks up and puts a hand on Myers (p289, Nook). Young Ian jumps in and says he's going with Mr. Myers to the Indian village. He told him. He didn't ask for permission. The clever boy knows Jamie can't say it's too dangerous or why are they taking a woman and leaving her there? The mating ritual is in full swing between Myers and Pollyanne. Without words, she blatantly invites him to bed with her. As they all bed down for the night, Claire wonders if she would do differently? If she was dependent upon a man to get her to safety, would she not do anything to ensure he protected her? When a snapping sound alarms Jamie to take his hand from under Claire's shirt, then replace it with a squeeze of her breast knowing there's no danger, no difference at all. Her future isn't certain either, and she depended upon Jamie, a man bound to her in part by a desire for her body. She describes the cool night, the wind, and the sky. Ultimately, there were differences between her dependency on Jamie and Pollyanne being with Myers. She and Jamie were bonded beyond the flesh, and above all simply for the fact that she had chosen to be there. Chapter 15: Noble Savages After making plans to meet in ten days' time, Jamie and Claire turned southwest, while Myers, Young Ian, and Pollyanne turned to the north. Claire takes in the vastness of this place. Beautiful, rich, and wild. Claire said nothing to Jamie about her worries about anyone being able to live in such a place. She simply followed along behind him. When something new is going to happen, her thoughts are often filled with all the what ifs, the things she's scared of before she comes to a sense of okay. She must allow the chaos and worry to make itself known before settling into the certainty of a decision. They make camp near a stream. It's twilight. The fireflies are out. Jamie loves this time of day. It's when he would leave the cave after Culloden (p292, Nook).  Claire remembers Father Anselm from the Abbey. He always said there was a time of day when time seemed to stop. He thought it could be the hour one was born. Jamie thinks the Father is right (p292, Nook). Claire doesn't know the hour of her birth. It wasn't written on her birth certificate. She knows when Brianna was born though, 3:03 a.m. Jamie is surprised to learn Claire was awake for the birth because she had told him of twilight sleep (p293, Nook). After hearing this, Jamie explains all the ways he's almost died; he'd be okay dying in his sleep, in bed next to her when he was very old.  Jamie tended to the fire while Claire went fishing. It was dark when she returned with the gutted fish. She asks Jamie what he thinks it's like to die (p294, Nook). Jamie set to cook the fish. Claire thinks about the hours she has sat where time stops. It's peaceful without a name. If death lies there, she'd be okay with it. Her eyes were closed; she feels Jamie brush her shoulder. Then she hears Jamie eight feet away exclaim from cutting himself (p295, Nook). It is a large black bear. Jamie was brawling the bear. It is quite a fight. Jamie is holding his own. Jamie tells Claire to run. She must do something. She finds the fish that had been flung into the clearing. She thought she was hitting the bear on the nose with it. The bear notices Claire, and it goes after her with Jamie clinging to its neck with a death grip. Claire moves fast. She heard growling and Gaelic screeches among the rolling mass.  She was yelling for Jamie. She smells blood in the air. Jamie finally crawls into the clearing (p297, Nook). Yes, she had hit Jamie in the head with the fish, not the bear. Claire assesses for injury. There's nothing broken, but he has terrible bruising. Claire goes to calm the horses. When she returns, Jamie has the fire rekindled. He does have scratches on his back from the bear claws.  As she looks at his back, they discuss why a black bear would attack. Usually, provocation caused them to do so. Claire peels his shredded shirt away to see four gouges (p299, Nook). She needs to cleanse the wounds. She remembers seeing arrowhead by the stream. She gives him a bottle of ale, he assures her he'll be fine, and goes to get the medicinal plant. The stream is cold. As she collected the plant, frogs sang around her, it felt so peaceful, until the stress of what just happened hit Claire. She shook so violently she needed to sit down. Death could come anytime. The thought of losing Jamie in a blink of an eye terrified her. She splashes cold water on her face and heads back to him. She can fight any infection that might occur. His care is in her hands now. As she returns to him, he's sitting bolt upright (p300, Nook). So, they were correct; the bear had been provoked. The three Indians sized up Jamie and Claire, while they did the same. The men didn't speak French or English. They rely on gestures and body language. One of the young men mimics a bear. Jamie points to where it lies. Jamie understands they are hunters and have no ill intention. Then he thinks he's going to faint. Claire won't let him. The men drag the bear over near the fire. The men are impressed that Jamie killed the near with his bare hands and the dirk. One of them decides he can treat Jamie's wounds (p302, Nook). Jamie is pale and barely holding to consciousness. He asks for a whisky. This is risky knowing how alcohol is dangerous for Indians to drink. If he didn't offer to share it, they would just take it. The older man appreciated the bouquet of the whisky. He doesn't drink from it though; he has another purpose in mind first (p303, Nook). The man then handed the pipe to Jamie. When it was Claire's turn, she inhaled instead of only allowing the smoke to enter her mouth. One of the men comes up to Claire to ensure she's a woman. To her surprise, he reaches out and grabs her breast. He gestures if she and Jamie are together. Jamie says she's his. They were going to skin the bear, but Jamie claims the right to do so. Before he begins, he says the gralloch prayer. The men were impressed by his praying over the bear. It's hard work skinning an animal. Jamie offered his knife to one of the men. This meant he is offering part of the meat as well. Claire wants to know what the older man did with the whisky (p306, Nook). Claire forgets how formidable Jamie is and what he must look like to others. She can see the air of savagery in him. It's not just the English who think Highlanders are barbarians it seems. These men understood quickly he was a fellow hunter and a civilized man. Jamie was gesturing and acting out the bear attack. He included Claire hitting him in the head with a fish mid-fight. They eat dinner together under the watchful dead eyes of the bear head. They were sharing stories. They exchange names. Claire's name came out “Klah” which they found exceedingly funny. These men are Tuscarora. One is named Nacognaweto. Jamie asks the names of the items surrounding them. He is quickly picking up their language. Claire is too tired to stay awake for any more of the conversation. Jamie is well enough. She curls up by his feet under the watched by the dead bear eyes, and she sleeps. What an adventurous week they've had. They take Pollyanne from the near grip of the law to the backcountry. While Young Ian and Myers took her to the Indians, Jamie and Claire headed toward the land the Governor offered him. The bear attack scared the daylights out of them both. This land is wild and dangerous. Death could easily come at any time. Do you suppose people valued the moments more than knowing there were so many ways death could come? I think we believe death is far away in our westernized lives. There is a sense of delayed mortality. We're always shocked when death or major illness occurs. It's an illusion of safety just like Pollyanne had in her African village. It's a good reminder to make time for the truly important things in life. I am always captured by how Jamie and Claire talk about things. Their conversations are meaningful yet seem easy. They've fallen back into their voiceless and verbal communication with barely a re-learning curve. I do think the Outlander series is a marriage manual. What's Coming up? Chapter 16 and 17 Drums of Autumn (DOA). How can you participate? Send your comments to contact@adramofoutlander.com or call the listener line at 719-425-9444 by Friday of each week. If you're reading ahead, you can leave comments for any part of the book too. Join the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday nights at 6 pm PT/9pm ET using the hashtag #ADoO. Comments or messages may be included in the podcast or a written post. The Outlander book series is written by Diana Gabaldon. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook All images are Wiki Commons. Click on picture for attribution link. Follow A Dram of Outlander Thank you for sharing posts, joining the discussions, and following this website or pages listed below! Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+ To financially support the podcast, go to my Patreon page. Call 719-425-9444 listener/reader line to leave your comments.

The convergence of the AM networks across the UK is a complex tale. Each of the original commercial stations, compelled by the regulator to do something more useful on their AM frequencies, generally chose to launch oldies stations of various flavours. Individual names like Supergold, WGMS, Brunel and GEM.AM gradually evolved into a mighty GWR network of Classic Gold stations, which was nothing to do with the original Yorkshire Radio Network ‘Classic Gold’ station. Meanwhile, At that time, Bauer were merrily amalgamating their AM stations into a Magic AM network, which was nothing to do with the London soft AC of the same name. Capital was assembling its own Capital Gold network too, comprising all its AM offerings such as Xtra-AM, WABC and South Coast Radio. Come August 2007, with GWR and Capital merged into GCap, their two AM networks Gold and Classic Gold became simply Gold. With the new name came programme changes, and here David ‘Kid’ Jensen hosts his last morning show after five year in the slot and prepares to begin the breakfast show. As a sunny day comes to an end, he generously pays tribute too to his colleagues who won’t be part of the new plans. Not sure if he took his competition with him. The single 'Gold' launched at 7 pm on 3rd August 2007, as the stations joined the sustaining service which was to be itself.

Important news first: Josh is back (for this episode, at least)! He’s taken a break from his new life of juggling childcare, work, and leaning in (dudes are allowed to do that too, right?) to talk about some of the most entertaining news in entertainment right now.Idiocracies, Theocracies, and DictatorshipsFirst off in jump cuts, those wascally wegiswators are at it again, trying to classify anything on the internet that takes up more bandwidth than a Geocities site as a potential terrorist threat. You may have heard about net neutrality from John Oliver, and since it’s kind of a tech thing, normally Josh would only be covering this on the podcast he records inside his head. As you may have figured out, though, this could potentially affect Netflix, so the Screeners are all over it. This should be fun…Next up, we’ve got another Biblical movie coming our way in December. Ridley Scott is taking on Exodus, subtitling it “Gods and Kings”. It looks epic, sure, but will it work? We’re sure Melody will love it, at least.And now, for something completely different:  Chad’s already sung the (somewhat backhanded) praises of Seth Rogen and James Franco’s The Interview, but North Korea had to go and whine to the UN that the movie was actually an act of war, so we can’t help but talk about it again.Oh, and because Josh heard Rogen and Franco’s names and really wanted to post this link somewhere again:  Watch this. You can thank us later. It was apparently shot on the set of The Interview, so there’s the tie-in, though we honestly don’t care if there’s a tie-in or not.Speaking of Korea, there’s a South Korean movie opening around the country on demand while its theatrical release is still expanding. Snowpiercer is a unique sci-fi movie with a distribution model that’s gaining steam; have any of the Screeners joined the on demand bandwagon?Well, At Least We’re Not Stuck in One GenreThis episode’s main event is a double feature, though the films could hardly be more different. We have a documentary about one of the most celebrated film critics in the history of film critics, and we have...a Planet of the Apes movie. Which is better? That’s like asking whether Beethoven’s music is better than Bob Dylan’s, whether Dickens wrote better than Hemingway...OK; we can’t keep that up. Just go ahead and listen - but before you do, guess which movie Josh hasn’t seen.It’s That Time of Year Again...The Emmys are upon us once more, and we think it’s in the podcast’s charter somewhere that we have to talk about awards shows, because what’s more fun than watching rich people in fancy clothes pat each other on the back, right?Anyway, the Screeners don’t have time to talk about all the awards, but for this installment of the Cutting Room Floor, they’ve decided to take a look at the most traditionally “important” awards and predict two things about each:  which nominee will win, and which one should win. Come August 25, we’ll tally up the scores and give the winning Screener a golden...alright; we’ll probably just come up with some reason to mock them.That about does it for this episode; join us next time for more Michael Bay bashing -- err, conversation about media! Don’t forget to join the conversation on Facebook!