The First Team: Take Two!

[John 3rd]

This is the first of two screenshots for Burma and India.

Big things happening everywhere!

[John 3rd]

Here is the situation as we move farther west into India proper:

[Canoerebel]

You've got them on the run.  Congratulations.
 
I've read your posts, but somehow I don't feel like I understand what happened to turn the tables so suddenly.  One moment you and Q-Ball were sort of pulling your hair out as the Allied had blocked the Japs and time seemed to be running out.  So what happened that the Allied defenses suddenly collapsed and the Japs are advancing on all fronts?

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

You've got them on the run.  Congratulations.

I've read your posts, but somehow I don't feel like I understand what happened to turn the tables so suddenly.  One moment you and Q-Ball were sort of pulling your hair out as the Allied had blocked the Japs and time seemed to be running out.  So what happened that the Allied defenses suddenly collapsed and the Japs are advancing on all fronts?

That's a very good question. I think a few things:

1. We were probably in better shape than we thought. Part of that was just rants maybe, we expected an early steamroller and didn't get it. We faced a large force at Cuttack, another one at Raipur, and another north of Madras.
2. The first turning point maybe was the fall of Raipur. The troops there retreated NW toward Nagpur. Once that happened, the Allied position at Cuttack was untenable, and could be outflanked. The road was also open straight north. Big problems for the Allies.
3. The other turning point was the capture of the crossroads north of Madras. Once that happened, the road was open to Madras. Even worse, other options opened up to the north.

Basically, they had us at the 3 exit points from Viz, but once one or two fall, it opens the floodgates; they can't cover all the possible routes of advance, so they just get outflanked. The troops at Cuttack, who we couldn't take on accross that river, fled. The troops at Madras also fled. Looking at the map, there are still too many routes of advance available to us; I think they will keep fleeing until nearing Karachi.

The final factor was airpower. Initially, we were just fighting to keep the airbase at Viz open and building. We lost many Zeros over Viz, and they lost even more Blenheims, Buffalos, P-40s.....they threw the kitchen sink at us. In the end, the Zeros won out, and although our air losses have been heavy, we have really taken it to the RAF. The main threat now are 4Es and USAAF units. Once we were able to bomb the troops at Raipur, the defenses collapsed there.

Look at them map above; just this turn, Hyderabad fell; those units retreat to Poona. No doubt they will keep retreating to Bombay. But if they do that, and we get to Poona, the troops at Nagpur are exposed. They will have to fall back. And so it goes....

[Canoerebel]

It's nice to see such a carefully thought out plan begin to bear fruition.  You and John have done alot of planning, organized your moves well, and now it's paying off.  This viewere can't wait to see what happens next!

[Q-Ball]

Thanks for the compliment! I doubted myself there for a bit, but John pulled me through. At this point, the Allies are probably quite worried.

Combat Report
April 26, 1942

Another excellent day for the Empire, as things are really moving in India and Burma. First action in Burma in awhile.

Burma
John had mentioned in a prior post, 6 Chinese Divisions attacked our forces on the Irriwaddy from Lashio; they were defeated and retreated to Mandalay, where there are now 19 units. These divisions had a total of 49 guns and collapsed like a house of cards, so methinks the Allies have supply problems in Burma.

We are sending a division to clear the 2 units in Lashio; this should cut the Burma road, and also cut supplies from China. Once that happens, we will sit tight while the large army at Mandalay starves.

Phillipines
Haven't updated this area in awhile, but we have cleared Cebu and Iloilo, and forces are coming ashore at Tacloban. These landings will clear the PI except for Cagayan, Manila, and Bataan. At those locations are Allied troops that have no access to supplies. We have about 500 AV on Luzon holding them down, and when the supplies run out we'll probably draw that force down more.

India
Hyderbad and Asansol fell today; there are a string of units retreating to the north from there. A handful of units are spotted in the NE of India, but we will have them cut off in about a day or two, and be able to finish off this corner.

As John mentioned, Pangim, Mangalore are lightly garrisoned, and they will fall shortly. The Allies still hold Nagpur, though I bet they will retreat now that we are driving on Poona and Bombay.

Looking at the map of India, it's very tough for the Allies to hold a line before Malir; you have to occupy at least 3 cities, and at least one is on clear terrain. I think if we keep it up, we can clear all of India except Karachi, and isolate the troops in Burma.

Ceylon is still in our rear; we are bombing it for now, we don't have the troops at the moment, so we'll have to get it later

An invasion TF is sailing for Addu Atoll to close the door to Australia (that along with the size-4 airbase at Exmouth).

New Zealand
The initial attack on Auckland failed on size-7 forts, John is bringing up engineers to give it another shot. We control the air. I think between the bombs and engineers we can get it eventually. There are 3 Bdes defending the city.

China
Pucheng still holds amazingly, it's been cut off for 2-3 months, and still dishes it out. Forts are down to 0, and attacks are 1-1 at present, so it's close to cracking.

[John 3rd]

I did this screenshot as I got ready for bed and was pleasantly surprised to find Brad's update so I don't have much to add.

Pure stubborness kept me going with India. Couldn't believe how well they improvised a defense that had us bottled up for several weeks. Kept looking at all of our firepower and couldn't believe that we had been contained. When things broke apart in the west it was like a dam cracking. We reinforced the success and then it was off to the races.

The planning credit goes to Brad. He REALLY does well doing that and keeping my natural aggressiveness somewhat in check by pulling me back some.

Only thing to add is that the Japanese are attacking Auckland tomorrow. An Engineering Regiment and Construction Btn has arrived and it is our fervent hope that this should be enough to begin bringing down the Forts.

Feel like a comprehensive update region-by-region might be a good idea so that'll be on the planning books for tomorrow.

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report
April 27th, 1942

Another good day for the Empire. A quick summary:

India
Nagpur falls to a 4-1 attack, with those forces retreating to Bhopal. We are pursuing those forces, the fall of Bhopal will force them to retreat from Bombay, or accept a siege. Either one is fine for us.

Our biggest problem in India is that we are outrunning our air support; we lack base forces. I am going to close Vizingapatam airbase and move that unit up, but we are stretched, and as a result they actually control the air over our spearheads. Only a matter of time before the air catches up though.

At this point, I don't feel they can stop us before Karachi. If I am the Allies, I would be prepping everyone for Karachi and falling back. I don't think we can take Karachi, but I would like to at least get into the hex, as it's an urban hex and we can pin them down there until the inevitable landing in our rear.

Oh yeah, Dacca falls too, forgot about that one.

New Zealand
A 0-1 attack drops the forts to 6. This will be a tough nut, but I think John has it. We control the air, so we will be able to pummel them into submission. Taking New Zealand AND India would be beyond my wildest dreams at the outset of this.

If we succeed here in India, I think a key will be SPEED; we landed with 7 divisions plus support, and were on dry land 3/20/42; that's 3 1/2 months after the opening shot. Not bad. It would have been 2-3 weeks sooner if not for Singapore holding out. But the DEI was cleared by the end of January, that was key.

[John 3rd]

Brad is right on the money with his summary.

The key to this whole thing was that we KNEW what we wanted to do when the war began.  Though Singapore held us up for at least 3 weeks longer then I felt it should, it did have the advantage of concentrating all of our forces THERE when it fell.  Since they were all present all Brad had to do was give them some R&R and then launch the assault. 

INDIA
At this point I think it is safe to say that everything east of Bombay is ours for certain.  Major Goals as I see them at this point:

1.  Bombay  If we can take this base then we are set for everything else.  Even if we can only drive them back to those last bases in western India then that will be fine by me.  We need this town to move the Allied 4EB line back to Karachi.  This will keep our ability to exploit India's resources, heavy industry, and manpower for as long as possible.

2.  Eastern India/Burma  When we started this alliance Brad and I talked about goals.  I am fixated on destroying units while he saw the bigger picture.  We have now attained a true shot at both.  I WANT TO DESTROY the 25 or so units trapped in this area.  There are about a dozen Chinese units plus then Brit/Burma/India Base Forces--Brigades--Divisions.  When we took Dacca this turn that Brigade chose to withdraw towards Chittagong!  Add another unit to the potential bag of POWs.  We could realistically capture 300-350,000 troops---WOW!

If we can do both of these objectives--take Bombay and destroy those troops--we will have everything from Bombay to Singapore.  Supplies--Oil--Resources will be able to move through the whole area.  It is amazing to think that this is a reality and not a pipe dream!

BANZAI! [&o][&o][&o]

NEW ZEALAND
1.  Auckland will be ours by mid-May.

2.  Picton was captured a few days ago and I have moved a pair of Construction Btn into the town to build the AF up to at least 2.  Once Auckland is headed to collapse I will pull a pair of lesser ground units and some engineers and move them to Picton to lay siege to Christ Church.  So while one seige winds down another begins.

There are a number of units moving throughout the Pacific to settle our garrisons ranging from the Aleutians to Marcus--Wake to the Marshalls and on to Pago Pago.  The biggest concern I have is that there is NO RESERVE in the Pacific.  Everything (including KB) is concentrated in New Zealand and Noumea.  This will have to be rapidly fixed once Auckland falls.

Got a little time before I leave so I will move from this sense on invincibility to a much more depressing scenario in Dan and I's game so he gets a turn this morning. These two campaigns lead me to feel bi-polar!

[Canoerebel]

Darn, I'd be tied in knots if I was your opponents.  They're in a tight spot at the moment and it's got to be tough for them.  However, they've also done a good job given what they have and what they've faced, so no doubt they'll recover their equilibrium and come right back atcha eventually.
 
You guys will be on the offensive for several months, but during some down-time between turns, give some thought to your ultimate defense once the offensive is finished.
 
1)  The likelly link-up with your army in Burma will give you a land route to retreat when the time comes.  That's a great asset (no hastily loading transports to try to extract an army facing isolation).  What bases do you need to protect, and in what numbers, to make sure that the Allies don't cut that land route?
 
2)  You're right about the inevitable landing behind your lines "one of these days."  Look at the map from the Allies perspective and see which ones they will choose (not which ones you think they should choose).  Due to the road network in SEAC, it will actually be kinda hard for the Allies to land on the coast and move anywhere quickly, so that's an advantage for you.  There's a chance they'll forego Burma/Siam and instead move strait on southern Malaya or Sumatra.
 
3)  So down the road you'll want to garrison, but not over garrison, forward bases like Bombay and Madras on the "front lines."  You don't want to give these bases away, but in all likelihood the Allies will land to the rear, outflank these, and force you to pull out.  You'll need stout garrisons at likely invasion targets further back that the Allies could use to move fairly quickly to cut off your position.  Diamond Harbor, Chittagong, Rangoon, Moulmein, and Tavoy are obvious points.  Akyab and Victoria Point aren't as important due to their isolation or poor road network.
 
4)  The Japs have TONS of ground units (or you will eventually) and they are "cheap."  Losing them doesn't cost the Japs alot of points.  Use that to your advantage to garrison towns so that the Allies can't pick them up cheaply.  Who cares if you lose a Mixed Brigade if it slows down the Allies by a month?  Who cares if you lose an NLF unit if it prevents the Allies from picking up on the cheap a decent base?
 
5)  Don't make your forward positions so forbidding that the Allies despair and do something radically different that you aren't prepared for.  IE, you WANT the Allies to land in India and fight across the continent as opposed to embarking on a flanking movement that forces you to withdraw.  Figure out a way to suck them into India proper if you can!

[John 3rd]

Darned right and cogent thinking Mr. Roper!  I will see what Brad has to say on it.  The simple fact that we CAN begin to think along these lines is an important development. 

Sent your new turn to you SiR!

[John 3rd]

We keep a moving...

[Q-Ball]

Combat Report
April 28, 1942

Another day, another base or two captured. John summarized, but here are the happenings:

Lashio fell today. This secures the Burma road, and pretty much cuts off a pile of Allied units in Upper Burma.

Trivandrum also falls; we will build an airbase here to interdict supplies to Oz and Ceylon. A landing on Addu Atoll in a few days should really close the door.

They did kick our paras out of Benares yesterday. This is the risk of dropping paras behind enemy lines; pretty easy to kick them around.

Tommorow is the Emperor's Birthday

[John 3rd]

...and I forgot to celebrate it by ordering an attack upon my future POWs in Auckland!  DRAT!  I did send 4 BC towards Auckland for a coordinated attack on the following day.  My timing is off I guess... 

[Q-Ball]

As great as things are going in India, I have been thinking about what I would be doing right now if I were the Allies. And I think I know: I would be considering an early offensive in the Pacific to take the pressure off India. I think we need to convene a conference of the Imperial War Cabinet to plan how to stave off this potential threat.

Where would I go if I were the Allies?
Well, that's a great question. The short answer is that I would go where a) Kido Butai isn't, b) a place that I can put some pressure on Japan to create angst and countermove, and c) somewhere relatively close to my main bases at Pearl Harbor or Papete, and ideally within 4E range of one of my other bases (Midway, Palmyra, Johnston, Canton, Bora Bora).

The Allies have recently seen 4 BB's at New Zealand, and their last KB sighting was in those waters. They could probably guess (and be correct), that KB is in those waters.

Defending the Perimeter of the Empire
John and I agree there is a threat, and we dispatched some reinforcements to the Pacific a little while ago; more Nav Gd units, base forces, and air units. Some steps so far:
1. Consolidation of 6 Betty Daitais, and 4 Zero Daitais in the Pacific; this is our rapid reaction force for any invasion.
2. Move all CVs to the Pacific. Car Div 2 is currently at Soerbaja, the rest at Noumea.

I am posting here for John's benefit too, but we also need to take the following steps:

1. We need more supplies, at least 10K at every size-4 airbase. We are short at many; if they attack Tarawa, we are in trouble, because we have only 3K supplies there; not enough to support Betty strikes.
2. I propose consolidating KB at Truk; the port is large enough they can still repair, and it is in better position there to react to Wake/Marshalls, which I think is the most likely place to attack.
3. Create at Truk a mobile ground reserve, consisting of:
a. 65th Bde, 1 Nav Gd from Phillipines
b. 1 tank Regt, also from PI
c. 3 small AKs loaded with Supplies and disbanded in port
d. Enough transports to lift all these units quickly
e. Small surface support force; a CL, a couple old DDs

That's just my opinion. Maybe I'm too paranoid, but I would bet they are up to something.

Given John's raid on Papete a couple months back, I doubt their CV's are there. I think they are at Pearl, and have just gotten all the 4/42 upgrades. That makes me think WAKE is their target.

Wake isn't Size-4 yet, and we have a construction batt on the way to speed that up and get some forts. But getting that base to size-4 right away is important. I bet that right now, at least 2 divisions are prepping for Wake, and they are thinking about a move. They have enough BB's, probably just waiting for the final CV upgrades, prep, and supplies to make a move.

[ny59giants]

Don't forget the Aleutian Islands. [:-]

If any of these guys are channeling Nemo, that is where I would go. [:D] The weather now supports operations up there

[Nemo121]

Ah but they aren't channeling me. If they were they'd have massed along one of the axes from Vizgapatam and smashed the invasion. The Allied players here are highly quiescent.
 
There are two quick, high-return axes of advance for the Allies right now:
1. Aleutians.
2. Midway/Wake/Marianas
 
The second would be high up on my preference list right now but I don't think the Allies here have the guts to do it in 1942. They will wait until 43/44 before making serious moves along this axis. They are quiescent to the point of senescence. Are they doing an AAR also?
 
 
 
As to Q-Ball's questions... You haven't, yet, been FORCED onto the defensive thus to go on it now is a highly sub-optimal choice. You have worthwhile targets still to hit, forces to do the hitting with and items in your build queue to replace losses. If you go on the defensive now you will lose the following:
1. All of the losses the Allies will suffer in defending against you.
2. ALL of the time you would gain in 1943 and 1944 when the Allies would have to manoeuvre against and bomb these bases you could take on the cheap now.
3. All the research and prep time for your true perimeter which you will gain by delaying them on an outpost line.
4. Opportunities to smash their fleet in carrier battle. Sure you may never get such an opportunity but the more places he has to invade the greater the chance he will get something seriously wrong and give your CVs an opportunity to interdict his SLOCs.
 
 
If they ARE up to something then attacking and threatening something they think is vital will draw those forces onto your schwerpunkt where mass will meet mass and, at this stage, you'll outmass them. Obviously I don't think that the highest calibre players would be drawn into confronting your schwerpunkt head-on and so against the highest quality players this advice would be different, they'd just wait you out confident that you would fritter forces away against irrelevancies BUT I have seen nothing to indicate that your opponents have figured out which battles they need to decline yet.
 
They commit when they shouldn't, pull out too late or not at all and don't commit on axes which are just begging for a breakthrough. They're not terrible players by any stretch of the imagination but I don't think you need to worry about them being able to disconnect their thinking in the Pacific from what is happening to them elsewhere --- which is what would need to happen for them to mount truly successful offensives in the Pacific.  Sure they'll try to hit you but I wager it'll be ineffectual unless you make major errors.

[Hornblower]

what a mess for the allies..

[John 3rd]

I like the idea of keeping the initiative.  Settling the forces in for fighting the defensive portion of the war makes sense but continuing to 'keep up the skeer' holds a lot of interest for me.  Here are a couple of ideas I've thought about for possible plans:

1.  "Round Aussieland Tour'  We need to combine the CVs into an augmented KB.  Right now CarDiv1 and 5 is at Noumea while the augmented CarDiv2 (with 3 CVL) is at Soerabaja.  We could take CarDiv2 around Australia making it APPEAR that Australia might not be as safe as it would seem. 

Good:  Cause Angst, sink some ships, and bring CVs together (6 CV and 3 CVL).
Bad:  A lot of mileage for possibly little gain.

I am certain that the Royal Navy is based out of Brisbane/Melbourne/Sydney.

2.  Assault Canton Isle  We know the Americans have been present and doing things but the base (to this point) hasn't expanded much and might still be vulnerable.  Could hit it with a couple of Brigades and send the Augmented KB out to sink warships and shipping. 

Good:  Could provide a Fleet Action, strikes at a semi-isolated base that would be beneficial to have.
Bad:  Not too important of base and not a lot of recon has been done here.

3.  Massed Raid into Papeate area.  The Allies have really been expanding the bases there and always have a strong shipping presence.  Could use the combined KB with strong surface support and try to really sink some ships and cause maximum chaos.

Good:  Certain to provoke a fight, definite chance to sink significant shipping, might catch some warships moving between areas.
Bad:  Bases are REALLY built-up with a strong air presence for certain, would be highly dangerous to get close.

These are my initial ideas/thoughts.  Anyone like/dislike?  Different Plans??

Fleet Firepower at Joining:   (522 Planes)
CarDiv1  Akagi-Kaga-Ryujo    192 Planes
CarDiv2  Hiryu-Soryu-Shoho  156 Planes
CarDiv3  Sho-Zui-Ryuho        174 Planes
STF       4 BC

[Q-Ball]

Maybe I am too paranoid; OK, let's not pull KB back, but I think it's prudent to get supplies and shovels out to the perimeter bases, particularly Wake/Marshalls.

Combat Report
May 1st, 2nd 1942

A quiet couple of turns, though we have some impending action coming up, and some interesting Allied moves out in Burma/India.

India
Unfortunately, we had to re-do some of our march orders after our commanders decided to march overland rather than use rail lines. That cost us a couple day's pursuit, but we are back on track, so to speak, with forces heading for Poona, Bhopal, and Benares.

We are moving quick to close the door to NE India at Patna and Ragpur. They are moving units fast to try to get out and flee toward Delhi. Unfortunately most have already made it, but we would like to bag the last few.

Burma
The Allies are pulling out of Mandalay bit by bit, and attempting to retreat to China. Attached is a map of the area:




We are also moving troops up toward Mandalay to push them out if they draw down the garrison. I think we'll try an attack regardless, because I think they may be critical on supplies. We don't have much in the way of troops in Burma (2 Divisions, 2 Bdes), but we can at least cause some trouble. The 4th Division was headed to Diamond Harbor to unload; I diverted it to Burma instead.

One way or another, Burma is going to be cleared.

Strategy
John posted a couple ideas up top. I like all of them, with the exception that KB has alot of ops damage at the moment, though the CV's at Soerbaya are recovering quickly.

I'm not as sure the RN is in Australia, and I think there is good evidence it isn't. We have spotted BC Repulse and 3 D-Class CL near NZ about 2 months ago, so I think those ships are there. (and maybe PoW). But other than that:

1. We spotted Sea Gladiators 3 weeks ago flying CAP over India. Though they weren't on Hermes, Hermes is probably close by.
2. HMS Formidable entered a short time ago, probably didn't make the trip
3. We have spotted "BB,BB" at Karachi, probably the R-Class ones

I think Force Z is in Australia, but the R-Class BBs and CV forces are at Aden/Karachi

Addu Atoll
Our forces still have not been spotted, and are about 10 days out. I would prefer NOT to tangle with the RN at this point, we have the 2 Junyos and 2 CVEs, not enough to really take on a serious force.