Fabertong vs Speedy: The view from the Pole

[fabertong]

19th May 1943......

Today the 23rd army left Rehaeng ...destination the railine west of Myt......

The 23rd army contains 4 Inf. Divs. and 2 tank Reg...........1800 APs.....by the time Speedy spots it, it will be only 16-18 days out.....hard for him to reinforce overland from India......will it be enough.

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: fabertong

Thanks Robert....will try next turn......

Did Kaga ever start repairing? (may take a turn or two before it shows up...)

[fabertong]

Robert....she's moved down to 6 sys....so she's on her way.........

[fabertong]

In response to a couple of PMs...here is the general Org. of the Imp. Jap. Fleet.

SAG -1 Musashi, Nagato, 4 CA, 2CL, escorts......at Saipan
SAG -2 Fuso, Ise, 2CA, 1CL, escorts.................at Palau
SAG -3 Hyuga, Yamashiro, 1 CA, 2CL, escorts...on route to Guam
SAG -4 Yamato, Mutsu, 1 CA, 2CL, escorts........assembling in the HI

AAG -1 Hiryu, Soryu, Hiei and escorts...............at Saipan
AAG -2 Kaga, Akagi, Kirishima and escorts........upgrading in the HI
AAG -3 Shokaku, Zuikaku, Kongo and escorts....assembling in the HI
AAG -4 Hiyo, Ryuho, Haruna and escorts............at Truk


I will watch and wait to see where Speedy is going to attack.......then assemble all forces to oppose invasion.......

[fabertong]

Today my Glens overflew Midway...and found an unusual concentration of ships...with at least 4 CAs identified....so it looks as though Speedy may be Going for Einw...Kwaj...or Wake....I'll overfly Baker and Attu to see if there are any signs there.....if he gathering now, then Yamato will miss the fight....15 sys damage and Kaga at 5 sys may have to skip the upgrade to sortie........

Burma....my extra 4 Divs and 2 Tank Reg.....are now on the railine......and I've moved 250 mixed Tojos and Tonys to fly LRCAP over the railine.....let's hope the Lightnings don't show up.........

Speedys subs have been very active again the last few turns....sinking, on avarage, 1-2 transports a turn......

63rd Div arrives tommorow....I was going to send them to Wake and pull the Imp. G. back to Saipan in reserve...but I may not have time.....

My staff and I will be doing war games for a fleet opposed invasion of Cen.Pac. Islands.....will post our findings later......

[fabertong]

Here is the plan for fleet opposed invasion Eniwetok........Op. Divine Comedy II.......

The 4 x SAGs as detailed above will go in covered by 5x sqdrn A6M3a....flying from Guam......the 3 x AAGs will move to cover the aftermath ...but not seek battle till after the surface action.....
Here is how my staff see the battle developing.....
1st SAG enounters allied BBS ...grouped in threes....we lose 1 BB...but damage the allied force.......
2nd SAG encounters other allied BBS.......same as above..
3rd SAG encounters one of the damaged allied BBs........and then the next.......and is repulsed badly damaged......
4th SAG gets through to the prize...the Transports......sinks 1 AK and retires.....

Morning comes and the allied Carriers move in to destroy crippled BBs.......my Carriers close in to attack allied Carriers......
Allies hit my damaged BBs sinking 2 or 3..
My carriers attack his ....and his CAP destroys all my aircraft....with only minimal damage to them.....
Allied counter strike....sinking 2 carriers and badly damaging 2 more......
Allies shock attack Eniwetok taking the island and destroying all LCUs.....

The next day the Allies finish off the 2 crippled carriers.........

The net result....I lose all the Imp. Jap Navy.......and the Island........

I then explained to my staff that they were wrong....and we will win a glorious victory....I think I won them around....despite mutterings of pea-brained penguin as they left.....they love to kid.......

anyway here is a map......

[Mike Solli]

You got a lot of confidence in your boys, don't you?

[fabertong]

Mike.....I do have confidence in my boys......but I am aware that when Speedy comes he'll come with everything.....if I'm lucky I'll get my SAGs in to attack.....he now has better planes, pilots....more ships....radar.......and godzilla...

[Mike Solli]

It's amazing how quickly the tide turns. In my PBEM (Jun 42) his air power has totally outclassed me (numbers) in Burma and Australia/PM. I would say that I still can trounce him in the Central Pacific and the Indian Ocean though. He's smart enough to avoid those areas.

[fabertong]

and so we wave goodbye to May 1943.......and as of yet no big attack by Speedy.....it will come soon....
May ended poorly for me.....
The bright spots.....I caught some of his airgroups over the railine......and shot down his aircraft at a ratio of 4-1....but then, out of curiousity I held all my 200+ fighters back at Mandalay...and waited for his lightnings......and lost over 100 of my fighters the next turn.......
Then my new army on the railine shock attacked and lost 10,000 men to his 1,000....I was just curious, you understand......
I did sink a destroyer...off Midway.....which is showing more and more ship activity...so I've decided to send the Hiyo and escorts to Guam......
Kaga...has upgraded....hurrah........in 5 days I'll move her and Akagi to Saipan......
I think speedy is going Cen. Pac. and if he does I'm going to meet him with every ship in the Japanese Navy......God forgive me......

[DuckofTindalos]

He has Godzilla? I thought the big lizard worked for you?

[fabertong]

Double agent....I was as shocked as you are........let's hope Mothra stays loyal......

[DuckofTindalos]

You just can't trust giant mutant lizards anymore... Sad world we live in...[:(]

[fabertong]

I know, It's a shocker....my plan to protect the HIs with mutant animals is in tatters.....on to plan B...protect HI with anime characters.......this should work.

Today I overflew .....Baker, Attu/Kiska.......all seems quiet...while Midway has more and more traffic......I'll recon Johnson tommorow....if that is clear.......then I think he's going to go for Wake...........from Midway....if he comes I'll meet him with all I have........

[Mynok]

Methinks you just need to control your curiousity.......[:D]

[fabertong]

It was my curiousity that lost me 1CV and 3CVLs......I wonder what all Speedy's ships are doing around Dutch Harbour..........Bang.

[Mynok]

Scouting with your CV's again? [:D]

[fabertong]

It's the only way.

[Mynok]

[:D] I prefer a nice CS with some small escorts myself, but that's far less exciting, to be sure.

[niceguy2005]

ORIGINAL: Mynok


Scouting with your CV's again? [:D]

I thought that's what the penguin agents were for.