RHSMRAO vs POLYNIK: Test 11B: Campaigns in Asia

[el cid again]

This was the first turn returned in the first RHSMRAO game test series.

MRAO = Modified Russian Active Option = a Russian active version of CVO. The modification is that KB approaches Hawaii from
the Mandated Islands rather than via the "empty sea" directly from Japan.

As described in another thread, I sought to find the enemy carrier forces. To that end I spread out as many kinds of ships and submarines with seaplane recon as possible. This only partially worked - it appears one carrier force (Enterprise?) lies to the NW of Johnston - at the latitude of Wake. The other one (Lexington?) may have headed NE - out of range of our limited search assets. However, it will be possible to bring forward long range flying boats to get a better picture on the next turn. This because Johnston Island was captured undamaged. Wake suffered badly - and is not usable for now. And attempts to capture French Frigate Shoals and Layton Island failed - due to transit time being too great for the fast transport forces assigned - so Wake, FFS and Layton will not be used for flying boats. But all three have seaplane tenders conducting more limited searches.

[el cid again]

7 December [Hawaii] 8 December [Tokyo]

The night turn began with two TFs detecting Japanese sub laid mines at the entrance to Manila Bay (Olongapo/Bataan/Corregedor hex).

I-157 missed a ML South of Singapore. I-162 put a torpedo into DMS Dragonfly near Johore Bahru in the Malacca Strait. I-18 missed AP Jaegersfontein near Molokai. But she took torpedoes from I-16 when she entered the Pearl Harbor/Oahu hex. Back near Singapore I-158 put two fish into auxiliary cruiser Kanimbla.

The day turn begain with a tiny airstrike out of Singora (which has NO units landed to support operations of any sort) - 5 Ki-30 and 4 Ki-43s - attacking Kota Bahru - without effect. 23 Ki-48s from Cambodia followed up - causing 7 runway hits and 5 casualties. There was no CAP.

This process repeated at Alor Star - but this time the tiny strike was more effective: Ki-30s and 4 Ki-43s caused 19 casualties, 1 gun lost, 1 vehicle lost, and 6 other hits. Again there was no CAP. The follow up attack - also by 23 Ki-48s - caused 61 casualties, 2 vehicles lost, and 54 other hits.

The same thing then happened at Georgetown, in variation: the tiny strike had 5 Ki-30s and 5 Ki-43s, it caused 1 Blenheim night fighter destroyed on the ground, 5 casualties, 1 vehicle lost and 3 other hits. This time 3 Buffalos were met on CAP - but they were ineffective - and also not harmed. The follow up attack was by 21 Ki-21s - and it also met 3 ineffective Buffalos. 4 aircraft destroyed on the ground, 34 casualties, 40 other hits were inflicted. THIS is where he put his air power in Northern Malaya.

[el cid again]

Next 53 unescorted Nells out of Takao, Formosa hit Cagayan, Mindinao: no CAP, 3 B-17s destroyed on the ground, 11 casualties, 19 other hits.
1 Nell lost, 2 damaged - all by AAA.

48 Zeros swept Manila, met 8 P-40 Bs, and shot all of them down - without loss.

52 Bettys, 30 Ki-30s and 18 Ki-21s - escorted by 53 Zeros hit Clark. 3 P-40s and 6 P-26 were met in the air. No less than 18 were shot down (that is - every Allied plane was reported killed exactly twice!!!!) - probably due to killing some on the ground. 123 casualties, 2 guns lost, 3 vehicles lost, 272 hits - but only 38 per cent runway damage. No Japanese losses.

36 Nells out of Kwajalein raided Wake Island. 3 F4F-3s failed to stop them - but 1 was lost to AA fire. 13 airbase related hits.

2 JAAF attacks on the ROC 50th Guerilla Regiment in East China caused 52 and zero casualties, respectively. 2 similar attacks on the Miscelaneous Northern Factions 13th Field Army in Central China caused 38 and zero casualties. Finally, 2 more on the Hopei Militia Regiment in East China caused 42 and zero casualties. [Odd one out of two missed in all three pairs]

15 Ki-48s out of Bako (the Pescadorese) put 2 bombs into AK Anshun - but missed a MSW unit - at San Fernando (Luzon).
Ki-48s drop 50 kg bombs.

CVL Ryujo in company with a CVS made a remarkably ineffective attack on CA Houston at Jolo - 8 Kates and 2 Jakes escorted by 8 Clauds suffered 3 killed and 5 damaged - for no effect. Unescorted Houston was without air cover but good at AAA. Later the same pair of "carriers" made an even less effective attack on CL Boise at Zamboanga - only 2 Jakes arriving over target with bombs - covered by 4 Claude fighters. Finally they managed to do something - putting 2 torpedoes into AK Luzon - right in the same hex (Cagayan).

A new CVL and CVE Hosho at Legaspi sent a strike into San Joe Buenevista vs 2 old DD - and put 3 torpedoes into DD Pope - which sank later.
They then sent 10 Kates - covered by 4 Zeros and 10 Claudes - right into Manila - and put a torpedo and 3 250 kg bombs into PG Isabel. One of these ships is unable to use torpedoes - so it uses bombs.

[VSWG]

ORIGINAL: el cid again

And attempts to capture French Frigate Shoals and Layton Island failed - due to transit time being too great for the fast transport forces assigned

From the manual, p. 17: "Japanese Fast Transport TFs do not receive a bonus movement rate on Turn 1"

[el cid again]

Clearly you - and the manual - know what you are talking about.

[el cid again]

KB is split into two sections - the Southern one - which is due North of Johnston Island - sent a series of strikes into the group led by CA Northhampton. The first of these put 10 bombs and 2 torpedoes into Northampton - and 14 bombs into two other DMS - but missed 3 DMS entirely. A second strike went in on two ships not found (= sunk) - but still another put 5 torpedoes and 10 bombs into 4 more DMS.

RN gunboat Peteral - near Shanghai - took 15 small bombs from Ki-36s and Ki-27s acting as fighter bombers. Later she took 8 more bomb hits from the same players.

6 Bettys flew all the way from Takao (Formosa) to Cebu to torpedo AK Ravnaas.

18 Ki-48s caused 8 airbase related hits at Hong Kong. One was damaged.

52 Nells escorted by the Yamada unit out of Saigon raided Singapore. They met 28 Buffalos in the air and shot down 10 of them. 1 Buffalo penetrated the escort but was not able to do any damage to the bombers. 5 bombers were lost to AA fire - and 15 more were damaged.
12 hits by 800 kg bombs on 9 ships - all transports except one landing craft unit. Apparently no warships are in port.

A surprise - 12 SB2U Vindicators - escorted by 3 Wildcats - attacked a TF at Wake Island. They met 8 Petes on CAP. Another surprise (I hope) - they penetrated to find 2 battleships present - Kirishima and Haruna - but they failed to score on them. 4 bombers lost, 4 damaged.
2 more Vindicators attacked a TF one hex SW of Wake - with support units on it - but failed to hit anything. He must have flown Vindicators off a carrier to do this.

5 Ansons missed CL Chiyoda and a ML near Kavieng. They met 6 Petes on CAP.

4 Kates missed an AK near Tacloban - these from the CVL or CVE at Legaspi. But 5 more put 2 torpedoes into AK Percita at Catarman, at the cost of 1 Kate Lost. Then 5 more put another torpedo into AK Legaspi, again with 1 Kate lost, near Cotabatao [Mindinao] - so likely they came from Ryujo.

9 E7K2s put 3 bombs into AO Robert L Barnes - one hex out of Guam.

[el cid again]

I-16 missed AVD McFarland at Oahu. Counterattacks were allegedly ineffective- but air patrols hurt her so badly I doubt she will make it to Kwajalein - the nearest base able to pump out her flooding.

AP William Ward Burroughs ran into a major SAG at Wake - and was sunk by 14 and 6 inch shell hits. USS Tambor tried to extract revenge - but her torpedoes failed to detonate.

AP Luzon - already with 2 air torpedoes in her - had similar luck at Cagayan - and went down after 6 shell hits - mostly 8 inch.

Ancient CA Idzumo sank DM Thracian and ML Redstart in two seperate actions South of Hong Kong - using 7.5 inch main guns
and 6 inch secondaries.

PG Wake took 3 shell hits in 3 seperate surface actions near Shanghai - but escaped every time and refused to sink - in spite of massive bomb damage. She was virtually abandoned before the war because of system damage. She was at Shanghai only to permit the US Consulate to have a radio service.

I-157 put a torpedo into ML William van der Zaan - South of Singapore.

The SAG at Wake did a too effective bombardment - leading to the fall of the island to ground assault by the 144th Regimental Combat Team - but this made the airfield unusable for some time. 235 casualties, 9 guns lost, 1 vehicle lost, 20 other hits.

BB Mutsu and BB Nagato - coming from different ports - separately bombarded Guam - causing 53 and 163 casualties - and a combined total of 1 gun, 13 vehicles, and 31 other hits.

Troops landed at Legaspi, Aparri, Guam, Johnston Island, Hollandia, Stroeng Trang (Cambodia), Kampong Pfet (Thailand), Cagayan,


An ASW group of 3 units at Singapore attacked AND HIT I-153 - our ASW model is working.

CD guns on Wake were not silenced by battleship bombardment: they fired 136 shots, and scored 11 hits on 3 ships - all of them hurt badly:
2 PCs and 1 AP.

Troops landed at Aparri, Cagayan, Wake, Legaspi, Naga, Kampong Pfet, Stroeng Trang, Hollandia, Johnston Island and Guam.

Ground assault at Wake achieved 34 : 1 odds and caused 2138 casualties, 40 guns lost, 1 vehicle lost, 9 aircraft destroyed.

23 000 Japanese attacked an equal number of Chinese at Wuchang/Wuhan - and suffered 583 to 154 casualties, 20 guns to 4 guns lost.
21 000 Japanese attacked 16 000 Chinese at Sinyang. This usually works on the first day - but this time it failed - 1276 casualties to 47 casualties. 30 000 Japanese attacked 14 000 British and Chinese at Hong Kong. Only 2 of 5 Japanese units made it into combat. 498 to 16 casualties. Things did not start well in China.

Ground assault achieved 14 : 1 odds at Johnston and caused 949 casualties, 5 guns lost, 1 vehicle lost, 5 aircraft destroyed - and a MSW was scuttled.

216 IJN paras achieved 3 : 1 odds at Kavient - and forced the Aussie K force to retreat down New Ireland. Ships have arrived with troops but not unloaded. Same at Singora and probably other points.

[el cid again]

The night turn began with continuing landing operations at Aparri, Legaspi, Hollendia and Cagayan.

3 IJN DD attacked USS Triton - scoring 1 hit. This is the first time I have seen ASW mortars engage - although they
failed to hit - which is not surprising. DM Shiokaze missed S-39. THese attacks near the Philippines.

I-154 put a torpedo into an AK at Singapore.

I-165 was missed by 2 RN DD near Bleitung Island.

CA Mogami and CA Mikuma, escorted by CL Isuzu and 6 DD, raided Jolo (to bombard it). They met USS Houston and there wa surface battle.
DD Miakaze was hit once. Houston was hit 43 times by shells and 6 times by torpedoes - and sink. The same force then engaged and sank AK Bicol in the same place. The bombardment caused 107 casualties, 1 gun lost, 1 vehicle lost and 21 other hits. Finally, very unwisely, these two gunboats (with fairly substantial guns) tried to bombard Canton - each taking 5 hits from CD guns there - and achieving no hits on their targets.

RN WWI era DD Scout and Thanet engaged 2 AKs at Canton - putting 7 four inch shells into Choyo Maru and missing the other entirely.
Two gunboats - Cicala and Moth - then engaged two AKs in the same place - but only managed one hit on Royo Maru. Later in the night these gunboats put 3 shells into AK Taisei Maru. Later still in the night - they missed two more AKs in the same place.

Six IJN river gunboats engaged and put 33 three inch shells into USN gunboat Wake near Shanghai.

BB Nagato and Mutsu bombarded Guam, causing 37 casualties, 2 guns lost and 20 other hits to the Guam Insular Force.

Unopposed landings occurred at Guam, Legaspi, Aparri and Cagayan.

Dutch sub KXI put a torpedo and 2 shells into the Thai Barge Group near Bangkok.

Ro-61 torpedoed and sank ML Pro Patria at Palembang.

[el cid again]

The day turn began with 8 Ki-41 I sweeping Georgetown. No CAP came up to play. Then 56 Ki-48 and 23 Ki-21s hit the airfield there - 2 bombers damaged by AA fire. 5 aircraft destroyed on the ground, 75 casualties, 1 gun lost, 3 vehicles lost, 133 other hits - all by small 15 kg or 50 kg bombs.

39 Bettys, 31 Ki-30, 15 Ki-21 and 139 Zeros raided Manila. 8 P-40s on CAP. 1 Japanese bomber and 2 US fighters were lost. 9 bomb hits on 7 ships in port: 3 burning, 1 with heavy damage: 3 AKs, 1 AP, 1 SS, 1 MSW, 1 AVD. 39 casualties, 1 gun lost, 14 other hits.

3 B-17s out of Oahu hit Johnston Island. 10 Petes on CAP tried heroically and damaged 2 of them - so the entire flight abandoned the mission. No Petes lost or damaged. [So much for "Petes are useless" in RHS.]

6 ROCAF IL-4s and 6 SB-2s hit the 2nd Mountain Gun Regiment regiment in Indochina - causing 10 casualties.

3 JAAF attacks on the 50th Guerilla Regiment caused 43, 0 and 10 casualties, respectively. Another caused 51 casualties to the 88th Field Army. Another caused 87 casualties and 1 gun lost to the 20th Field Army. 2 more caused 50 and 37 casualties to the Hopei Militia Regiment (which is really a guerilla battalion in structure). 10 more torpedoed AP Adrianne Moller at Manila.

3 Dutch B-10s - opposed by a single Pete - missed CA Mogami at sea at Jolo. Later 2 others repeated this exactly. CAP = 1 Pete.

5 Aussie Ansons missed CS Chiyoda at Kavieng. 6 Petes opposed them in the air. Later 3 Ansons missed CL Kashima at the same place.

19 Bettys and 4 Nells out of Takao Formosa missed an AK and torpedoed and sank its MSW escort at San Fernando Luzon.

20 Ki-48s out of Canton put 4 bombs into gunboats Cacala and Moth - which by daytime had withdrawn back to HK. 5 P-40s opposed them in the air - but they achieved nothing. 2 P-40s were damaged however (remarkable performace for the poorly armed Ki-48s).

3 Kates (well covered by 3 kinds of fighters and float fighters) missed an AK at Tacloban - flying off ships at Legaspi.
9 more torpedoed DD John D Ford at Bacolod Ilolo. 9 more put 4 torpedoes into AO Robert L Barnes - but 2 E7K2 in company missed her.
Later still 9 more put another torpedo into the same AO.

11 Ki-30s put a bomb into AS Wuchang - but missed AE Poyang - in spite of 4 Buffalos on CAP. 6 Claudes flew escort. 1 fighter lost on both sides. This may have been in the Malacca Strait - with planes out of Singora.

4 Jakes missed an AO and an AK at sea.

4 E7K2s and 19 Ki-27s put 2 bombs into Wake near Shanghai.

33 Nells out of Bako torpedoed DD Thanet at HK - but missed Scout.

6 B-17s, 10 B-18s, 19 SBDs bombed ML Gokoku Maru South of Hawaii. The big failure of this offensive was leaving PH untouched in a fruitless search for enemy carriers - which were not found in the event (although one of them was spotted near Wake - probably - where it flew off planes). The ship had to be scuttled after 8 hits - mostly from 500 pound bombs.

2 Jakes missed an AP at Cobatao.

17 Nells and 9 Bettys put a torpedo into one PG at San Fernando. 145 Zeros covered - engaged 6 P-40s - all shot down. Another PG was missed. These gunboats expected transports to come there - but I am not landing on the West coast at all. Subs concentrated at Luoag, but I am not landing there either.

Ironically named AK Makassar - in the Makassar Strait - took 3 small bomb hits from 4 Ki-30s out of Singora. Ki-30s carry 15 kg bombs - in packages of 3 (= 100 pounds - but this is more effective than a single 100 pound bomb vs an unarmored target). Later 6 more Ki-30s missed an ML in the same area.

27 unescorted Bettys from Saigon attacked ships at Singapore. They met 27 Buffalos - and 4 bombers were shot down. So was one Buffalo. They penetrated the CAP - and attacked 2 DMS - putting a torpedo into one of them.

18 Nells out of Truk put one torpedo each into 2 AKs at Rabaul. Apparently they were going to try to evacuate Lark Force Battalion.

[el cid again]

S-39 attacked 1 AK and 2 AP at Legaspi. 6 ASW units detected, localized, attacked and finally hit her (once). Later carrier Zuiho, CA Maya (a rare cruiser with ASW), and 2 DD attacked - but missed her.

3 IJN DD attacked S-36 at Aparri - but missed her.

Dutch KXI - at Bangkok - missed the Thai Barge group. Probably too much smoke to see after the shell and torpedo hits she scored earlier.

Ro-60 put a torpedo into Repulse at Batavia. Her escorts successfully detected and depth charged her - scoring one hit.

Unopposed ground assaults took Naga, Legaspi and Hollendia.

Ground assault at Sinyang Central China failed: no casualties on either side (bad die roll???)

2 B-17s were destroyed when Cagayan fell to ground assault - only the base force in opposition. 19 Japanese and 12 US casualties.
1 gun lost on both sides.

Tavoy Burma fell to a company (200 man) air assault. The air support unit fled up the road toward Ye.

A brigade assault at Aparri forced the battalion of Filipinos to retreat at Aparri.

[el cid again]

9 December (Hawaii) 10 December (Tokyo/Manila)

The night turn began with landings over the beach at Guam - the Imperial Guards Brigade finally arriving from Japan.

Ro-34 torpedoed and shelled AK Soochow South of Singapore

Ro-67 torpedoed AK Balus near Rabaul

DD Scout and PG Tutuila entered Canton harbor and tangled with CL Natori and 6 DD: both were torpedoed and shelled until sunk; neither managed to score any hits at all. Later in the night 3 divisions of PTs came in and engaged the same force - one of these was sunk and another damaged. Then there is the rest of the story - as Paul Harvey would say: in a reengagement - the PTs did their job - torpedoing DD Fumizuki - although both remaining PT divisions were sunk. Fumizuki is badly damaged - as you would expect - and only the presence of a major port may save her - but it will be a long time before she serves again - even in that best case.

NW of Hawaii USS Arizona and USS Tennessee in a balanced TF with 2 old CL and 4 modern DD engaged Hokoku Maru - one of the 'eyes of the fleet' ships with embarked seaplanes. This long range battle mainly involved 14 inch shell hits - otherwise 6 inch secondaries and cruiser hits -
and after 34 of these the ship went down. I was glad to see the battleships at sea and considered going after them - but events later in the day changed that.

Sub USS Searaven attacked a destroyer near Aparri - her torpedoes failed to detonate - and she was counterattacked by 6 DD there - 2 of which managed to find her - but she escaped any damage.

A Dutch PC unit attacked Ro-61 at Palembang - but missed her.

[el cid again]

The day turn began with more troops landing at Guam.

12 Ki-43s swept Malaya - met 4 Buffalos on CAP - and shot 1 down.

26 Bettys and 12 Ki-21s escorted by 93 Zeros raided Manila - met 13 P-40s on CAP - and shot 2 down. 1 Ki-21 lost. They scored 14 hits with 50 kg bombs on 12 ships - 6 on fire - 3 with heavy damage: 2 DD, 2 SS, 4 AK, 1 AP, 1 AR, 1 MSW, 1 AS. 37 casualties, 3 guns lost, 2 vehicles lost, 5 other hits.

19 ROCAF bombers of 2 types attacked the 2nd Mountain Gun Regiment in Tonkin (Northern Vietnam) - without effect.

In East China 35 Ki-27s caused 40 casualties to the 50th Guerilla Regiment - just inside China. Another JAAF attack on the 88th Field Army caused 27 casualties and 1 gun lost. 2 attacks on the 20th Field Army caused 0 and 13 casualties respectively. 2 more on the Hopei Militia regiment caused 1 and 36 casualties respectively.

3 Hudsons put a bomb into CL Kashi at Cagayan - not that it can be told by her damage state. This in spite of 5 Zeros on CAP.

14 Ki-48s put a total of 12 bombs into PG Cicala and PG Moth at Hong Kong - sinking both. 8 more put 4 bombs into DD Thanet in the same place a while later.

4 Jakes out of Legaspi missed an AK at Tacloban.

10 Kates from Ryuho put a torpedo into AK Legazpi near Cotabatao, Mindinao.

16 Nells and 8 Bettys out of Indochina put 2 fish into AK Floricita in the middle of the South China Sea.

10 Bettys out of Formosa put a torpedo into PG Genessee at Linguyan. They met 6 P-40s - and damaged 2 of them in a remarkable air battle - all without getting show down or even damaged by the fighters - in spite of no escort. This may imply tired and demoralized fighters - which actually left the scene after the first two passes failed.

3 Nells on a very long range mission missed DD John D Ford near Bacolod.

8 Nells out of Bangkok - without escort - attacked two TK at Rangoon - putting a fish into 1 of them - in spite of 11 Buffalos on CAP. 1 Nell was damaged by the fighters.

3 Ki-30s missed an AE in the Makassar Strait.

10 Nells out of Bako torpedoed DM Tracian near Hong Kong. 1 Nell was lost to AA fire.

19 Nells out of newly opened Cagayan (Doll Pineapple Plantation) put 5 torpedoes into 3 tankers just South of Mindinao. 1 was damaged.

[el cid again]

32 SBDs (and 5 Buffalos) attacked a TF unloading at Wake island - we found the carriers! Just like fishing - one sometimes must be quiet for a while. He did to me what I planned to do to him - used long range land based recon to locate the enemy carriers - in this case out of Midway and Oahu. Anyway - this massive strike (for him in this period) missed 3 ships and put only 5 bombs into 2 others - CL Yubari and DD Hayate - the vital transports being almost entirely unengaged and wholly undamaged. This changed my thinking - instead of battleship hunting we will now try to get these ships - far from home - low on fuel - with us on their LOC. In order to make it more one sided still - we will put out his eyes at Midway tomorrow - hitting it with the northern wing of the KB.

In a fairly coordenated follow up - 3 B-17s came in on Wake - and missed Yubari.
They came in too high to hit - at 15,000 feet.

3 Hutsons missed CL Kashii at Cagayan.

10 Ki-48s and 21 Ki-51s put 7 bombs each into gunboats Moth and Cicala near Hong Kong - sinking both. These planes both are armed with 15 kg bombs - which we drop in 3 bomb clusters = 100 pounds.

9 Nells out of Cagayan put 2 fish into AK Yochow near Catarman

7 Kates from Ryujo put 2 fish into AK Sarangami near Samar.

36 Bettys out of Formosa put 3 fish into PG Tulsa and 1 more into PG Asheville near Olongapo.

8 Nells out of Cagayan hit that force of tankers South of Mindinao again - puting a fish into two of them.
8 more torpedoed AK Soochow in the same area.

2 Jakes missed AK Princess of Negros in the Visayas, near San Jose (Mindoro)
Then they missed another one near Bacolod/Ilolo.

USS Tambor missed an AP at Wake - but her escorts successfully counterattacked - scoring 2 hits.

Troops landed at two river ports in Thailand.

Ground assault on 3 Field Armies on the Rail Line West of Shanghai failed - 694 to 169 casualties - in spite of strong air support.

Ground assault on Hong Kong failed (again) - 382 to 42 casualties - and the fort level remains 6. This is unusually bad for the third day.

Ground assault took undefended Viet Tri North of Hanoi. This special location - a French base - means the French Foreign Legion unit there will automatically migrate to Kunming China - when the Japanese betray the French later in the war.

A shock attack on a Chinese Guerilla Regiment near the Indochina border caused it to retreat - along the coast toward Pakhoi.

The first assault on the Hopei Militia Regiment in East China failed to dislodge it in spite of 3:1 odds = its static squad is still present.

Ground assault took Stroeng Trang Cambodia. This means Viet Ming battalions won't appear here later in the war - but will appear at Kingming instead.

[el cid again]

Almost all the bomber units in the South China Sea area are combat ineffective. As well - many subs are appearing at places like Canton, Bako, Takao, Taichu, Aparri, and in the Visayas = headed for Cagayan. So most will go over to sub hunting. Key locations at Cagayan and Takao and Saigon and Bangkok have one good bomber unit. Many surface action groups - and a minelayer group - diverted from their missions to mix it up with the many transports at sea in the Visayas and East of Mindinao and Samar. As usual subs were sent to points of possible contact or back for reloads and or repairs.

Both halves of the KB headed West and North - trying to engage the enemy carriers NE of Wake. Tankers - with a seaplane tender attached - left Johnston to rondezvous with the Southern half. Two seaplane tenders of the unusual sort that fly at sea (not just at base) also joined in the hunt - as will a matrix of subs with recon planes - and long range recon out of Johnston and Kwajalein. Wake is unfit for flight operations - but Kwajalein became a major hub for both recon and bombers - just in case he goes South, West, SE or SW from Wake - none of which I expect. I think he will go NE - for fuel and the safety of the empty sea - and intel from PBYs out of Midway. Which I hope to shut down tomorrow - weather permitting. Then I have the recon - and he does not - in this area - far from base.

Note KB is unengaged - wholly fresh and undamaged in any sense - and out numbers his carriers 3 : 1 - unless there is only one carrier in his force - in which case it is 6:1.

[el cid again]

10 December 1941 (Hawaii) 11 December 1941 (Tokyo/Manila)

The night turn began with troops landing at Aparri and Guam. At Aparri APD No 1 hit a mine.

I-166 missed a tanker near Singapore.

USS Tautog missed an AV at Johnston Island. Well - she hit but torpedoes failed to detonate.

2 Aussie ASW units missed I-159 at Rockhampton.

A cruiser destroyed group led by Mogami and Mikuma encountered 3 US and Philippine PT boat divisions - achieved tactical surprise and sank one of them.

4 IJN CA and 6 DD at Cebu engaged and sank AK Ravness, then AK Panay, then AK Norse Carrier, in separate actions.
Then they bombarded the port - scoring 8 more hits on 4 ships, causing 64 casualties, 1 gun lost, and 18 other hits.

USS Triton missed Haruna and Hiei at Kwajalein. 3 DD in company with them missed Triton.

6 IJN DD missed S-39 at Legaspi.

[el cid again]

The day turn began with landings continuing at Guam.

Japanese MSW detected mines laid at Bako - the Pescadores.

Dutch KXIII missed an unspecified ship at Saigon.

6 Allied ASW units attacked I-16 at PH - hitting her twice.

I-154 torpedoed and sank AK Kampar at Singapore.

15 Ki-43 Swept Georgetown, met Blenheim NF and 6 Buffalos - and shot down 2 Buffalos. Then 60 Ki-48s and 25 Ki-21s bombed the place,
met 3 Blenheim NF and 4 Buffalo on CAP - and lost 1 Ki-21. I Vildebeeste destroyed on the ground. 86 casualties, 1 gun lost, 2 vehicles lost,
50 other hits.

18 ROCAF bombers of 2 types caused 27 casualties and 1 gun lost to the 2nd Mountain Gun Regiment in Indochina.

57 IJA bombers of 3 types caused 132 casualties and 1 gun lost to the Hopei First Cavalry Corps.

27 Ki-36 caused 89 casualties and 2 guns lost to the 52nd Guerilla Regiment.

4 JAAF attacks on the Hopei Militia Regiment caused 29, 0, 4 and 0 casualties, respectively.

6 Nells out of Cagayan put to fish into AK Elcano near Tacloban. 11 more torpedod and sank DD John D Fort (with 3 fish).

7 Claudes from the CVE force East of Samar put a small bomb into AK Forafric. Then 9 Kates and 21 Claudes put 3 bombs and a torpedo into the same ship.

[el cid again]

KB hit Midway with 48 Vals and 11 Zeros - destroyed 4 aircraft on the ground - caused 10 casualties and 29 airbase related hits.
4 Vals lost - no CAP.

2 Hudsons missed DD Tokitsukaze at Cebu.

15 Ki-30s missed ML Kung Wo in the South China Sea.

15 Nells put 4 torpedoes into two tankers at sea near Mindinao. Then 6 more put 3 fish into TK Dos Hermanos near Bacolod.

15 Claudes put a small bomb into AK San Quinton East of the Philippines. 5 Zeros missed the same target. Then 7 Alfs missed the same target.

I-154 near Singapore torpedoed an ASW unit and was missed by it and another undamaged one.

Ground assault on Guam reduced fortifications to Zero - it likely will fall tomorrow.

Ground asssault on a Chinese Guerilla Regiment foced it to retreat.

Ground assault at Yinkow forced 3 ROC units to retreat.

Allied bombardment at Sinyang had no effect.

Air Assault captured undefended Moulmein.

Undefended Kampong Pfet and Raeing Thailand were captured.

[el cid again]

11 Dec 1941 (Hawaii) 12 Dec 1941 (Tokyo/Manila)

The night turn began with DD Minizuki hitting a mine entering Cam Rahn Bay - indicating sub laid mines there. Unpleasant.
She is in a bad way - but it is a major port with a repair ship.

I-154 torpedoed AMC Manoora at Singapore

Ro-61 torpedoed and sank a PC unit (2 hits) at Muntok, Banka Island

Unopposed landings occurred at Makin and Chang Mai, Thailand

PG Genesee detected mines at the entrance to Manila Bay - but did not get hit

I-16 was engaged by 5 DD at PH - and took a hit. This was the first of several ASW actions involving her and hits
and she is unlikely to make port.

I-159 torpedoed and sank one of two ASW units at Rockhampton - PC Miramar and Numbucca


I-154 - at Singapore - took a hit in an AS attack by a single (two ship) DMS unit.

[el cid again]

The day turn began with a strange sweep of Rangoon by 13 Ki-27s - meeting 24 fighters of two types - 3/4 of those AVG P-40s -
2 Allied fighters were shot down - 1 of each type - for no losses. This may reflect the Nates had an altitude advantage - it was a test.
77 K-21s and 28 Zeros followed up - still met 24 fighters on CAP (but a different mix - 17 and 7 vice 18 and 6) - 9 of which were shot down.
This time two Zeros were destroyed. 3 50 kg bombs hit 2 tankers - 73 hits on land targets..

19 Ki-21s destroyed 3 Vildebeeste on the ground at Kota Bahru. 25 other hits.

4 ROCAF SB-2s caused 10 casualties to the 15th Heavy Artillery Regiment (15 cm) in China. 3 B-10s tried the same thing vs the
2nd Mountain Gun Regiment in Northern Indochina - but missed. Then 18 ROCAF bombers of 2 types caused 7 casualties to the same unit. What is this with focus on artillery?

A JAAF attack on the 88th Field Army caused 18 casualties and 1 gun lost. Another caused 34 casualties and 3 guns lost to the 51st Guerilla Regiment. 3 more caused 11, 0 and 0 casualties to the Hopei Militia Regiment.

2 Hudsons missed DD Miakaze near the Philippines.

14 Bettys put 3 fish into TK Alfred Clegg near Zamboanga. 4 more sank AK Princess of Negros with 2 torpedoes at San Jose (Mindoro). These flying out of Cagayan - but they became demoralized during the process.

The CVE/CVL/CVS force East of the Visayas sank AK Forafrik with 8 bombs - large ones from Kates - small ones from Claudes.
Next they put a small bomb into AK San Quentin in the same area. 7 seaplanes missed AK Morizan. These ships are running EAST into the Japanese Mandated islands - but were spotted and are being persued by a heavy surface force, a light surface force and a carrier group.

I-16 took 3 more hits from 4 DD at PH - total now 4 hits. Yet another ASW attack on her by the same four ships failed to score.

The Imperial Guards Brigade, reinforced, failed to take Guam on the first attack: 36 Japanes, 2 guns lost, 1 vehicle lost - to 25 Allied casualties. This unit was NOT planned up however - which should be a factor.

Ground assault at HK reduced fortifications for the first time in this game - but it was (as usual) expensive for the first reduction:
582 to 96 casualties. We have had bad die rolls at HK in this game so far - this was the first "good" one.

Allied bombardment at Sinyang caused 8 casualties and 1 gun lost.

An attack on the Hopei Militia Regiment achieved 3:1 odds - and 9 to 24 casualties - but it held the ground - flat riceland in East China.
This is the elite among ROC Chinese guerilla units.

Air assault failed at Toungoo and Magwe in Burma. Empty yesterday - units moved in by rail - and defeated both. The Magwe force was apparently wiped out - although only 40 casualties were reported (the rest could not report after dieing????)

Makin fell to a landing party - unopposed.

[el cid again]

Note KB failed to detect enemy carriers and ALSO failed to hit Midway (due to weather???)
He is tracking me and I am not tracking him - so we aborted this operation - and evacuated aircraft from Johnston - now
being harassed by a submarine - to avoid losing a big ship (ships cannot go into port there).

We sent the Kongos into the area - to meet the tankers - and the tankers topped off KB - which reunited - and will try to blind Midway again
tomorrow.