5/22 - 5/23/42
Well, the last couple days have been eventful so I'll probably be verbose. 91 allied planes lost vs 102 Japanese. Some success in Burma. Imminent invasion of PM?
SW Pac
There's been a couple fierce air battles of Port Moresby the last couple days. On the 22nd:
05/22/42
Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 54,93
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 55
G3M Nell x 29
G4M1 Betty x 42
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb x 13
Kittyhawk I x 14
P-39D Airacobra x 64
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 15 destroyed, 9 damaged
Nice!
G3M Nell: 3 destroyed, 11 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 6 destroyed, 20 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb: 4 destroyed, 6 damaged
Kittyhawk I: 7 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 27 destroyed, 10 damaged
To be expected, but still ouch!
Beaufort V-IX: 1 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 8
I reinforced with some P-40s:
05/23/42
Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 54,93
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 60
G3M Nell x 25
G4M1 Betty x 34
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb x 6
Kittyhawk I x 6
P-39D Airacobra x 26
P-40E Warhawk x 27
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 21 destroyed, 2 damaged
Even nicer!
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed, 12 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed, 15 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb: 4 destroyed
Kittyhawk I: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 13 destroyed, 1 damaged
In 2 days a 72 plane group is now down to 13 operational aircraft, plus 19 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 7 destroyed, 12 damaged
Hudson I: 1 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
15 casualties reported
Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 7
Those attacks were based from Rabaul. A naval strike based at Lae torpedoed 2 AKs bringing in supply. Both will survive without further damage. On the plus side I fully unloaded an AA regiment.
I have only 40 planes on CAP tomorrow. Reinforcements are two or more days away. Hopefully I've caused enough damage to force him to stand down for a day or three.
Also, Pat's attacked PM 3 days in a row now. I think he's going to try to take it soon. Although I've spotted no nearby invasion TFs, I've had some Sigint indicating that as well. In response I'm sending the Lexington airgroup to the area from Timor. Additionally, with Arizona & Idaho just reaching Auckland, I'm sending my entire So Pac fleet (2 CVs, 4 slow BBs, +++) towards the area. If I'm wrong in my guess my crews will at the least gain some experience.
DEI
Palembang's closer to surrendering, but I've held 47 days now:
05/23/42
Ground combat at Palembang
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 53167 troops, 325 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 835
Defending force 12178 troops, 83 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 98
Japanese max assault: 761 - adjusted assault: 607
2 Divs +, they must be hurting badly to have such a low AV
Allied max defense: 98 - adjusted defense: 343
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1
Japanese ground losses:
620 casualties reported
Guns lost 15
Vehicles lost 1
Allied ground losses:
191 casualties reported
Guns lost 14
Burma
My CAP did decently against air raids against Akyab. 11:3 on the 22nd and 8:6 on the 23rd. I'll take it. But the best news was the result of the Japanese assault on the 22nd:
05/22/42
Ground combat at Akyab
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 44510 troops, 465 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 871
Defending force 18718 troops, 173 guns, 7 vehicles, Assault Value = 331
Japanese max assault: 1042 - adjusted assault: 409
Allied max defense: 309 - adjusted defense: 575
Almost twice my AV the day before. [&:]
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 3) [:)]
Japanese ground losses:
1061 casualties reported
Guns lost 40
Vehicles lost 2
Allied ground losses:
170 casualties reported
Guns lost 6
I just finished flying the Indian III Corps into here. I had wanted to use it offensively, but it may just make or break holding this base.
No China
One of my 3 cut-off Chinese Corps surrenders. [:(] The division trying to clear a retreat path is still 52 miles away, travelling 2-4 miles a day through thick woods. I honestly don't think they'll make it in time, but I'm not giving up yet.
Japan
I like being able to report "Japan" in a 1942 AAR. This was fun: Chinese bombers terrorize the skies over Nagasaki:
05/23/42
Day Air attack on Nagasaki , at 59,42
Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 6
Allied aircraft losses
IL-4c: 6 damaged
Japanese Ships
AS Heian Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
ML Ukishima, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Japanese ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Port hits 1
The IL-4s were based at Nanchang. I mainly took Nanchang for its resources, but I'm starting to realize this is a great base for offensive air ops. I'll use it sporadically for now, but come November or so, once I have some B-24s & some more fighters to protect the base, I think I'll use it a lot. That makes taking Hanoi (for its resources & HI) even more important. I'll need a lot of supply to do that.
Pic - air losses for the last two days:
