Rising Sun over the Rockies - F.K. vs OSO - Wake captured by US

[FeurerKrieg]

August 20th, 1942
Liz bombers hit Kweilin, Army bombers hit Hengchow. Our troops are forced back from Hengchow and they resume their positions on our side of the river. To keep up pressure on Chinese supplies, our troops at Changsha made an assault. But the best development of the day was that the enemy troops at Kweilin, as at Liuchow, attempted to attack the lead element of our force, but 4 regiments of tanks and another division arrived in time to inflict heavy damage on the enemy forces. We will wait one more day for the rest of the SAA forces to arrive and then we will begin the assault on Kweilin, hopefully the enemy is now disorganized after their failed attack.

[center]
SAA advances on to city number 2 - Kweilin[/center]

Operation Joukai is moving along well. Enemy units now appear to be moving from Kweilin/Hengchow up towards Tuyun. This is excellent, as it makes it easier to obtain the stated objective of this operation - the isolation of Changsha. Plus, if the CEA can at least hold its position in Tuyun, then when the NCA troops cross the river, and take Hengchow, they will be able to threaten Kweiyang, which would cut off Tuyun, and therefore the Chinese will have to withdraw from Tuyun or risk getting cut off there as well. The more we can force the Chinese to withdraw without a fight, the better we are doing.

A sweep over Chengtu gets two more I-153c. Since our fighters are not to tired we'll fly sweep again tomorrow.

[FeurerKrieg]

August 21st, 1942
Liz bombers hit the rear area support and supplies at Kweilin while the army bombers hit the front line troops. A unit of Lily-II's at Hankow attacks enemy ground troops moving in the backfield north of Hengchow.

Instead of I-153c's at Chengtu today, our Zeros found 9 P-66 Vanguard fighers. 8 of them were shot down with no loss to our own aircraft. Our pilots will rest a couple days and then resume their sweeps.

Tomorrow is the first attack on Kweilin.

[FeurerKrieg]

August 22nd, 1942
Kweilin is pounded by Liz and Army bombers. First attack goes well, reducing enemy fortifications and inflicting heavy enemy casualties. (1 to 1, forts 7 -> 6)
[center]
1st Attack on Kweilin[/center]

The airfield at Christchurch, New Zealand, was completed today. (sz 4)

[FeurerKrieg]

August 23rd, 1942
The assault on Kweilin continues from the air and on the ground. Today's attack does well also. (2 to 1, forts 6 ->5)

[FeurerKrieg]

August 24th, 1942
Assault on Kweilin continues to advance. (3 to 1, forts 5 -> 4) Our troops will rest tomorrow and then resume the attack. We expect to capture the base within 3-4 more days.

In Burma over the last few weeks we have been upgrading our fighters. There are some 150 fighters in Meiktila now, mostly Ki-44IIb Tojos and 36 Ki-61 Tonys. Today the Allies flew sweeps over Mandalay and Magwe to draw our outer patrols into combat. At Magwe, although outnumbered 22 to 5, we lost no Tojos and shot down 1 P-40E. At Mandalay, outnumbered 22 to 12, we lost three Tojos, but took down 3 P-40Es of the AVG. These results speak well of the Ki-44s abilities against the P-40E. Hurricanes and Spitfires don't have the legs to threaten our bases so much, but the problem we currently have is keeping our CAP limited to the base we want it at. I am debating about whether to push more fighters into all the bases, since their leaky CAP will be mutually supportive, or to pull back my fighters until the enemy attempts to begin another bombing offensive. I do not want to fight long attrition battles with my well trained army pilots.
[center]

Good showing by Ki-44-IIb's in Burma[/center]

We also now have Nick two engined fighters at Port Moresby. PM is out of range of any Allied fighters and the Nick should do well against unescorted heavy bombers with its reasonable gun platform and higher durability against enemy bomber machine guns.

[FeurerKrieg]

Hi all - I haven't forgotten this AAR. We've been cranking out two turns a night so I just haven't had the time to update. I'll probably do so this weekend, but for now I can say that Operation Joukai is going great.

We've capture Kweilin and its small resources there. Our troops are holding their positions at Tuyun so our supply line is safe.

Our troops crossed the river north of Changsha and the initial attack forced the Chinese back!

Due to this, OSO abandon Changsha and we were able to capture that level 9 fort base easily and now the bulk of the CEA can join in on the push to Kweiyang, possibly cutting off the enemy troops at Tuyun. Plus there is some 50+ resources and 6 HI in that base. And also 290 'auto supply' for the Chinese is now out of their hands.

The race is now on to see if we can trap a big chunk of these enemy troops in Hengchow and the road north of Hengchow and force a couple mass surrenders.

This operation definitely served its purpose of breaking the stalemate at the river, and now it seems that the Chinese are fighting with low supplies and out of their prepared defensive positions. Good stuff!

More details coming when I complete the daily updates. Game date is now at Sept 1. I think we blasted through August in just two weeks!

[FeurerKrieg]

August 25th, 1942
I-3 hit by MSW Penguin near Johnston Island. The sub should be able to make it back to Kwajelein.
[center]
I-3 takes a hit.[/center]

Zeros over Chungking take down 4 P-43A, 2 P-66, and 2 I-16c. One Zero is lost.

Kweilin bombed by Liz and Army bombers. Our troops rest today, but will resume the assault tomorrow.

[FeurerKrieg]

August 26th, 1942
I-3 is nearly hit again as it retreats to Kwajelein and a dud torpedo saves AK Isuzu Maru from damage by SS Pickerel.

Kweilin is bombed and attacked again. (1 to 1, forts 4 -> 3) The CEA troops have entered Tuyun - tomorrow the Chinese will probably attempt to drive us out, we must hold here to keep our supply line to the SAA secure.

Several airfield expanded today - Baguio in the PI, Onnekotan Jima and Koumac. (all size 3)

[FeurerKrieg]

August 27th, 1942
In the South China Sea, SS Tarpon attacks AP Nichibi Maru on the surface and gets some hits in before being chased off by a hit from the transport's 3" gun. The transport was carrying elements of a base force for Jahore Bharu. It will detach from the convoy and unload at Singapore. Elsewhere, escorts chase off SS Gar and Porpoise.

Chinese bombers (9 SB-3c and 4 IL-4s) attack our troops at Tuyun, and our Sallys return the favor on the Chinese. The expected Chinese attacks comes and.... our troops hold! I feel much better now. Kweilin is on the verge of falling as today's attack pushed forward. (4 to 1, forts 3 -> 2)

[center]
A critical line is held[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

August 28th, 1942
A critical day for Operation Joukai!

First, Liz bombers shift their target to Tuyun to support our troops there, bombing rear areas of the enemy and their supplies. Sallys from Canton target the front line troops, and our troops begin to dig in. Zeros over Chungking today take down 2 P-66 and 2 I-16c, but lose one Zero. As expected, Kweilin is captured! (5 to 1). This important base has some small supply/resource production, and also the capture deprives the Chinese of autosupply from the base. That is great news, and the SAA will immediately begin marching on Hengchow.

The bulk of the NCA troops crossed the river west of Ichang today and did better than hoped. Their attack across the river was so overwhelming, not only did they establish a beachhead, they routed the Chinese forces on garrison duty there! (18 to 1 attack results) Our position is excellent now, as the enemy must either stay in Changsha and get cut off or retreat and let Changsha go without a fight. Either option is excellent for the Empire. Troops from the NCA will now mostly move towards Hengchow to cut off the exit from Changsha, but will also move in all other directions to protect their supply line, and also to stop supplies from coming in from Kweiyang/Chungking area.
[center]
An unexpected blast forward[/center]

Picton airfield in New Zealand expanded today. (sz 2)

[FeurerKrieg]

August 29th, 1942
SS Tarpon tries again but the convoy target is well escorted and it is chased away.

Lilys in China begin hitting the airbase at Hengkow.

Hurricanes in Burma strafe some of our resupply barges at Akyab, none are sunk today, although one barge is damaged.

[FeurerKrieg]

August 30th, 1942
Bombing continue on Tuyun and Kweilin. So far the Chinese have not attempted another attack at Tuyun. Recon shows a mass retreat out of Changsha! Our troops will attack tomorrow and hopefully take this long fought for base.

[center]
Liz bombers from Camranh Bay assist in China[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

August 31st, 1942
Changsha is captured at last! (13 to 1 attack results) 60 Resource centers and 6 Heavy Industry centers are claimed for the Empire. Also, 290 autosupply is now denied to the Chinese. They have a lot of troops and less and less supply production to support them.
[center]
Changsha captured![/center]

Now we are truly in a good position in China. Once our troops reach Hengchow, they can draw supplies from both east and west China. Once Hengchow is captured, we will finally have a road based network connecting Asia from Singapore to Korea. The NCA troops now have access to supplies from Changsha. Three Chinese units are trapped in the swamps north of Changsha and they can now be eliminated since they have no supply source. And most importantly, we have force some 100,000 Chinese to evacuate a heavily fortified base, allowing our 160,000 troops of the CEA to march on Kweiyang, possibly cutting off troops at Tuyun, and hopefully allowing us to connect to the eastern side of the Burma trail.

SS Trusty was hit by a depth charge in the S. China Sea today, but did not sink.

[FeurerKrieg]

September 1st, 1942
A new month with new challenges and opportunities! August saw the loss of some carriers, but the ground war in China has really gone well. And the US still has a ways to go to reach Japan, and the British have yet to advance into Burma.

In China, bombings continue on Tuyun and Hengchow. Our troops at Changsha will rest and see if they need to fight across the river. The units that retreated from Changsha are running up the road to Kweiyang and we may not reach the road in time to cut them all off. Ideally we will drive them all into Hengchow and then force a massive surrender there.

Also, our Regiment reached Kunming today and will interfere with the flow of supplies out of the area. We'll see if the Chinese attempt to push our unit back out.

The airfield at Kiska was competed today. (sz 4)

For the first time, our industry on the Home Islands was running at less than half capacity for want of raw materials. Although oil is abundant, resources are hard to come by. A convoy of 60K will arrive in 3 days, and then 300K is due in a few days after that. The HI needs about 8k external resources a day to run at full capacity.

A new airplane goes into construction today - the A6M3a. Addressing problems with the smaller fuselage fuel tank created by the larger engine the A6M3 uses by adding wing fuel tanks, the A6M3a has the range of the A6M2. This plane will replaces all A6M2s in service.

[FeurerKrieg]

September 2nd, 1942
Two tank regiments attack two Chinese HQs (China Command and 20th Group Army) west of Hengchow forcing them to retreat to Hengchow. Four tank regiments will now move northward to cut off the escape routes from Hengchow, while the SAA infantry marches on the base directly.

Our units have also begun to move into the hex on the road from Changsha to the northwest. Not enough to begin attacking, and it may be that the enemy will escape before we can do them serious harm. No attack on our unit at Kunming. If the Chinese do attack, our unit is fully supplied thanks to constant air transport of supplies. This airlift if costing a lot in ops losses, but if it helps the overall defeat of China it is well worth it. Hengchow needs to fall soon, by mid September I'd like to see the SAA on its way to Burma, Malaya and the DEI.

Jesselton airfield expanded today. (sz 3)

[FeurerKrieg]

September 3rd, 1942
Our brigade tailing the Chinese in the mountains to the northeast of Chungking was counterattacked today and forced to retreat. The Chinese there are not a huge threat as they would have a hard time pulling supplies all the way through the mountains if they tried to attack Sian. But it is good to know they had to attack us, as it means they still have two or three months of hiking to even reach Chungking. Still no attack at Kunming. Perhaps the Chinese are too weak there to attack?

[center]
Pushed back in the mountains[/center]

[Alikchi2]

Looking very good sir! A well-planned an executed op. It's amazing what you can do when you actually define some strategic goals in China and act on them.

[FeurerKrieg]

September 4th, 1942
In China our ground forces continue to chase the Chinese troops. Air attacks continue on Hengchow and Tuyun.

Near Sabang a Ki-32 bomber hits submarine O16. In Burma, P-40Es of the AVG bomb Mandalay taking heavy damage from our AA guns. One of the fighters is shot down.

[center]
Ki-32 divebomber[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

September 5th, 1942
Main action today was in China. Our tanks found two artillery units and forced them back into Hengchow. Likewise, our troops forced three small infantry units northwest of Changsa to retreat to Hengchow.

[center]
Chinese units attempt to head to Chungking[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

ORIGINAL: Alikchi

Looking very good sir! A well-planned an executed op. It's amazing what you can do when you actually define some strategic goals in China and act on them.

Yea, I can't emphasize how much taking the time to plan proper ops helps in this game.