User:Dariuscpt/sandbox

Operation Screamlaugh was the code name for the Imperial Japanese invasion of the Republic of China, in which the first iteration began on 7th July 1937, and ended on 9th May 1941, with a narrow Japanese victory. The second iteration, a redraft of the original Japanese plans, was initiated by the United States in an attempt to liberate the Republic of China from Japanese occupation.

This campaign fought around Beijing, Hebei and Sanya, Hainan between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Japanese Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The operation was initially intended to occur simultaneously, however due to unexpected resistance and casualties, split into the Battle of Beijing and Hainan Island Operation as two separate series of battles.

Background
Plans for Operation Screamlaugh had been drafted as early as 1931, with Japanese naval supremacy intended to act as an anchor for the Japanese military forces in the event of a full-scale invasion. This operation was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy to expand its influence politically and militarily in order to secure access to raw material reserves, food, and labor, as well as being partially due heightened tensions between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China since the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931.

Following the invasion, Japanese forces extended their control further into northern China, seeking to obtain raw materials and industrial capacity. A commission of enquiry from the League of Nations made a critical report into their actions, leading to Japan pulling out of the League.

From 1931 to 1937, China and Japan continued to skirmish in small, localized engagements, so-called "incidents", in an attempt to secure land in order to create an adequate staging ground for a final invasion of China.

Japanese Invasion of China
During the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on 8 July 1937, the Japanese China Garrison Army had been ordered by Lieutenant General Kanichiro Tashiro to attack the walled city of Wanping (宛平鎮) in order to search for an allegedly missing soldier. Furthermore, Wanping, in the neighborhood of Lugou Bridge, was on the main railway line west of Beijing and was of considerable strategic importance.

During this time, the South China Naval Force (Fifth Fleet) had been mobilised by Vice Admiral Kondo Nobutake in order to escort a convoy to the island of Hainan for a surprise landing in order to prevent the Chinese from communicating with the outside world, as well as to prevent imports of much-needed arms and materials.

Life Events
Daniel Andrews (10th July 1919 – 29th January 1946), better known as the Death Sausig, was born in Scarborough, England into a family of police officers. His mother died after childbirth, and his father died shortly thereafter, leaving him to become an orphan. By the age of three years old, Daniel floated away from England, causing the Relocation Incident, and was discovered by a Japanese family of military police officers who took him in and raised him as their own. By the age of 19, Daniel had been trained into becoming a secret weapon for the Japanese military program, however he was captured by a group of Chinese thugs shortly prior to the Second Sino-Japanese War.

After his rescue on the 8th July 1937, Daniel had been required to work as a regular soldier in order to hide his abilities until the 1st December 1937 during the Battle of Nanking when he was ordered to use his ability in order to scout the fortified city of Nanking. It is reported that Daniel heavily opposed the Rape of Nanking, going as far as threatening to "float away from it all".

Relocation Incident
On the 21st September 1922, Daniel had accidentally mass-released his powers on the people of Scarborough, which ultimately lead to a total of 1,483 casualties.

Casualties
The very first casualty was observed on Daniel's birthday, with his own mother succumbing shortly after birthing him due to internal bleeding caused by Daniel's rapid inflation and deflation as he learned how to control his powers.

It is not possible to determine the exact amount of casualties caused by the Death Sausig, however there is estimated to be a total of 1,200,000+ military casualties, and 20,000,000+ civilian casualties, making the Death Sausig responsible for nearly a third of all casualties that occurred during World War II. To date, this is the deadliest weapon in all of military history.

Notable Casualties
Peter Kay died on the 2nd July 1924 due to the accidental unleashing of the Death Sausig nearly two years prior, as a direct consequence of the Relocation Incident.

Field Marshal Liam Branagan died on the 8th April 1945 due to a previous encounter with the Death Sausig, his death being attributed to the eventual failure of the Second Iteration of Operation Screamlaugh.

Government Cover-up
Many historians believe that Daniel Andrews did not die on the 29th January 1946, and was instead captured by American forces and taken to Area 51 in order to be experimented on, for military and technological pursuits due to the deadly nature of the Death Sausig.

Second Iteration
After the Attack on Pearl Harbour on 7th December 1941, the United States was able to obtain the plans to Operation Screamlaugh, and under the order of Field Marshal Liam Branagan with the support of Lieutenant General Daniel Clarkson, the re-usage of the plans had been approved. Similar to the original Japanese plans, this reiteration involved securing a beachhead on Hainan in order to effectively link up with local resistance fighters, as well as securing a supply line for all soldiers stationed within China during the operation, however unlike the original plans, the American reiteration of Operation Screamlaugh did not involve a secondary front at Beijing due to contested naval dominance within the East China Sea. For this operation to work, Field Marshal Liam Branagan knew that securing the heavily defended island of Taiwan was necessary, simultaneously cutting off the Japanese forces from supply as well as securing their own supply.

Invasion of Taiwan
Despite initial reports stating heavy enemy presence on Taiwan, there had been an uncontested landing by US forces leading Liam Branagan to believe something would occur on the Island. Instead of proceeding with the Invasion of Hainan, this was postponed for two weeks while the island was scouted for any Japanese forces still remaining. During this postponed period, on the 2nd April 1943, Field Marshal Liam Branagan and his forces were attacked by the Death Sausig which resulted in such a brutal battle that it became known as the Taiwan Massacre, resulting in many casualties on both sides. Lieutenant General Daniel Clarkson was reported as being distraught over the death of his pet squid which had succumbed to the effects of the Death Sausig shortly after the battle was finished.

Invasion of Hainan
In the first invasion wave of Hainan, the waters had been much shallower than expected which resulted in soldiers being forced to dismount far behind the beach itself. This caused soldiers to become stranded in the waters, getting gunned down whilst attempting to storm the beaches. Thankfully due to close air support, there were only two casualties; A 29 year old Polish-American soldier named Przemyslaw Lipiec, nicknamed 'Prez', and Lieutenant General Danny Clarkson's second pet squid, nicknamed "Squid". There had also been unofficial casualties after the landing due to Danny Clarkson taking his squids onto the island and accidentally committing genocide by forgetting to put them in water.

Liberation of China
After two weeks of light fighting, the entire island of Hainan was secured by US forces which marked the beginning of the primary stages of Operation Screamlaugh, now that the Japanese Imperial Army had been split into two seperate theatres with no reliable sea supply lines, and that the initial stage of the plan had been successfully completed. The next stage involved securing the port town of Zhanjiang in order to allow a higher throughput of supplies, which helped fuel a rapid push, initially up the west coast liberating key towns such as Qinzhou, Nanning and Yulin, all within the Guangxi region. This proved to be an initial success for the United States while Japanese response was still minimal, however due to a lack of personnel in order to effectively keep all of the liberated provinces defended, the initial failure of Operation Screamlaugh began to show due to unit overextension.

Throughout early 1944, Field Marshal Liam Branagan had to defend a large portion of Western China with minimal troops in each vital location, which led to him creating a form of Elastic defence, consisting of motorised units that could move between vital areas in short amounts of time in order to effectively hold ground where necessary. This had proven effective throughout the early portion of the campaign, however as more Japanese troops had arrived, Field Marshal Liam Branagan become slowly outnumbered with minimal reinforcements. This outnumbering, as well as the Japanese use of Death Sausig where possible, led to the beginnings of the failure of Operation Screamlaugh, which eventually led to a full tactical retreat, promptly named the Great American Scream Retreat.

Great American Scream Retreat
After a costly loss at the Battle of Guilin–Liuzhou, Field Marshal Liam Branagan made a joint decision with Lieutenant General Daniel Clarkson to officially declare Operation Screamlaugh a tactical failure and retreat the remaining liberation force from Mainland China, leaving behind only small regiments to support Chinese Resistance fighters. Due to the extremely large amounts of materiel and manpower stationed throughout southwest China, the whole evacuation lasted approximately 2 months, from the 29th November 1944 to the 20th January 1945. On the 18th January 1945, en-route to Allied-occupied Hainan, Liam Branagan's convoy was ambushed at Yulin, Guangxi by a large Japanese force. It is stated that Liam assumed direct command of the battlefield, abandoning his convoy vehicles and assuming a defensive position at a nearby farmland. This caused a slow, lengthy battle which lasted 9 hours with few casualties on both sides, until the arrival of Allied Close air support effectively eliminating the majority of the Japanese company. After a second bombing run, Lieutenant General Daniel Clarkson was shot in the chest four times by a surviving Japanese Soldier who was promptly eliminated. Lieutenant General Daniel Clarkson did not die immediately, with his last spoken words being "I'm just glad we killed those god damned slanty-eyed fuckers". Liam Branagan carried Daniel's body all the way to the evacuation point, allowing his body to be recovered, and eventually buried in an undisclosed family cemetery in Alabama.

Liam Branagan
Liam Branagan (9th February 1899 - 8th April 1945) was an English-born, American-raised Field Marshal who was drafted into World War I and continued a military career, rapidly rising through the ranks until becoming "One of the finest minds of his generation."

His place of origin is presumed to be Scarborough, England. At the age of nine years old, Liam moved to Detroit, Michigan in the United States prior to the events of World War I. Later in life, Liam claimed to have no memory of his life in England, except for a singular memory he described as "a strange, feral man running around the house eating raw chicken", however he could not ascertain as to whether this was a recurring dream or a memory from his childhood. It is believed that Liam's father had left him to live with just his mother, who sent him on his own to a well-known black community in order to "live a better life", shortly before disappearing. To this date, there is no explanation as to what had happened to Liam's mother after abandoning him.

Liam grew up in Detroit with his uncle who introduced Liam to the military, fascinating him with war stories that he had experienced during his time, as well as other memorabilia and weaponry. Due to his uncle's military past, Liam learned some important information which most likely helped him during his own personal military career.

At the age of 18, Liam was drafted into World War I and became friends with Daniel Clarkson, who at the time was 19 years old and had been "in and out of the military" since he was 14 years old, below the legal age for entering the military. During World War I, Liam made many notable achievements such as single-handedly raiding a German trench and killing 14 enemy soldiers without getting injured, and famously exclaiming "these niggas burning!" as he burned out a German bunker in the first recorded usage of the Flamethrower by the US Military.

After the events of World War I, Liam continued to stay in military service alongside Daniel Clarkson. He was the very first mixed-race soldier to be appointed to the prestigious position of Field Marshal, and as such was met with skepticism to his abilities. Some members of the Ku Klux Klan even went as far as to say that he "bribed Albert Einstein for the position", however these claims were quickly refuted shortly after the United States joined the war, with his successes in the Pacific Theater overshadowing initial doubts. He had even been seen as the 'Greatest Field Marshal in US history' until his failures that occurred during Operation Screamlaugh.

On the 19th January 1945, Liam witnessed the death of his long-time comrade Daniel Clarkson during the Great American Scream Retreat.

On the 7th April 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, Liam drafted defensive plans for the Xuefeng Mountains whilst under enemy naval barrage, seeing strategic importance in their protection. Immediately thereafter, it is stated that Liam collapsed to the floor and entered a comatose state. This final act led to Allied success in the Battle of West Hunan which caused a snowball effect for the final Liberation of China, saving countless lives. At approximately midday on the 8th April 1945, Liam Branagan died due to what was determined to be a toe infection. His toes, to this date, are preserved in the British National History Museum in London.

Aftermath
Following the events of the war, a large recovery effort was made to identify the fallen soldiers that had participated in the operation. Due to the extent of the damage caused by the Death Sausig, many soldiers' bodies could not be recovered, typically only leaving behind few remains and their dog tags for identification. A notable casualty of this was Field Marshal Liam Branagan, who suffered the second hand effects of the Death Sausig, leaving only his toes remaining.

In 1946 at the Paris Peace Conference, an argument had broken out in reference to Liam Branagan's toes, with both the United Kingdom and United States claiming ownership over the toes. Poland hesitantly supported the British, followed by the French, however the French quickly yielded after the United States threatened war. Seeing a clear strength difference, the Italians supported the United States, followed by the Germans, Hungarians, Romanians and Bulgarians, but when the Soviet Union declared support for England, Italy quickly switched sides seeing a new shift in power, Germany felt split and had half of it's representatives vote for the United States whilst the other half voted for the British, and the Czechoslovakians weren't invited to the peace conference. After fourteen hours of political discourse, a final vote declared the British to be in rightful possession of the toes due to Liam originally being born in Britain.

In April 1948, it had been discovered that the usage of the Death Sausig had caused a lasting effect on the soil quality in China, causing multiple droughts and famines, further increasing the overall civilian casualties, and the consumption of crops that had been grown had shown to cause effects similar to those inbreeding within the children born during the years of 1944 and 1949.

The Geneva Convention of 1949 declared the Death Sausig to be a form of biological warfare and declared its usage a war crime, further adding to the list of Japanese war crimes that occurred during World War II.