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

[FeurerKrieg]

June 3rd, 1943
Our planes bombed Chungking today, destroying 1 P-40N and 13 SB-2c bombers on the ground. For now, the enemy appears to have pulled back any fighter resistance from Chungking, which means that our bombers will now be able to practice bombing the enemy without harassment by enemy fighters. 1 Lily and 1 Nell were lost in the run due to mechanical problems.

This run was at 16,000 and didn't seem to take too much damage from flak. I might have to increase altitude if we start to take more damage.

[center]
Bombing runs make good practice for our pilots[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

June 4th, 1943
I was wrong about fighter resistance at Chungking, as today there were enemy fighters up to meet our bombing run. Thankfully, they are not good pilots and our escorts made easy work of them. We took down 6 P-43A Lancers and 19 P-40N Warhawks, while losing 3 Tonys. Our bombers were not bothered by the enemy fighters and managed to destroy an SB-2C on the ground.

The airfield at Pagan was finished (sz 4) and that base will now work on fortifications.

[center]
Enemy resistance is easily dealt with[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

June 5th, 1943

A very quiet day with no air action anywhere. The weather continues to be bad in Burma, hopefully it will continue. With Allied attacks coming from several bases, I don't think the enemy can risk launching attacks on bad weather days, since one rained out sweep would be a disaster for the bombers.

In the Philippines, the airfield at Legaspi continues its leisurely construction. (sz 3) A few base forces are in the PI now, preparing the defenses for the potential future bad times.

[FeurerKrieg]

June 6th, 1943
Another quiet day. Have we scared the Allies away in Burma?

A pilot training in a Ki-36 Ida crashed today, destroying the aircraft and dying in the process. A good reason to continue using trainer aircraft - accidents like this are at least less costly from a material standpoint when they occur in old aircraft.

[FeurerKrieg]

June 7th, 1943
No action today, but an intel report raised some eyebrows.

Heavy radio traffic was detected about 300 miles north of Pearl Harbor. This could mean a large fleet has sailed and is heading for Wake using a northern route to hide behind Midway for as long as possible, or is sailing north to the Aleutians.

We will not fight overly much for the Aleutians. The bases are ill equipped to handle the enemy heavy bombers and two engined bombers could only be escorted as far as PJ and OJ, where our fighters would be waiting for the tired and fatigued escorts after their 600 mile flight. If the twin engined bombers were unescorted, our canons could do some real damage to them.

In any case, hard to tell which way the enemy is going, if this intel report is even a solid report. For now, a Glen equipped submarine has been sent to the area to try and confirm the intel report.

Today I-19 was hit by a B-25C near Christmas Island. The sub has some flooding but should be able to make it back to Tarawa for repairs.

[FeurerKrieg]

June 8th, 1943
A very quiet day, I-19 is bringing its damage under control and will be fine.

[FeurerKrieg]

June 9th, 1943
Our bombers in China attacked Chungking today, although due to a blunder by high command (me), our fighters were not ordered to escort. Thankfully only 3 enemy P-40N Warhawks defended the base. They were able to take down 1 Nell and 4 Lilys, but the rest all got through to drop their ordinance on target.
[center]

A mistake that could have been much worse[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

June 10th, 1943
Yet another very quiet day. It has been a long time now since the enemy has attacked in Burma, we are almost to the middle of June. The less they attack the better for the Empire, as our pilot forces stay strong.

[FeurerKrieg]

June 11th, 1943
A quiet day.

Weather forecast in Burma tomorrow is only partly cloudy. All our aircraft have been put on high alert in case the Allies attack.

[FeurerKrieg]

June 12th, 1943
No clouds, but the air was instead filled with bombers over Meiktila as the Allies launched three wave of planes at the base. We exacted a decent price, but our Tony pilots took it on the chin pretty good. Thankfully the Navy pilots didn't lose very many of their number.

First, our planes launched an attack on Chungking (escorted this time) and we killed 3 P-40N Warhawk and lost 2 Nells to flak.

Then in Burma, an initial wave that was heavily escorted hit Meiktila. Following that, two more wave of bombers came in, although the last had no escorts at all. The composition of these attacks can be seen in the picture below. The base damage is at 63 support/82 runway.

Some Vengeance DB's attacked Mandalay also and took some losses from the AA guns there.

The final tally of losses in Burma this time was (A2A/Ground):

Ki-61-Ib Tony: 35/19
A6M3 Zero: 7/6
J2M Jack: 3/10
Ki-44IIb Tojo: 0/2

Total: 45/37

Allied all A2A or Flak
P-47C Thunderbolt: 32
P-38G Lightning: 13
P-40N Warhawk: 9
Beaufighter VIC: 9
Blenheim IV: 5
Wellington III: 3
Vengeance I: 3
B-17D Fortress: 1
B-26B Marauder: 1
Liberator III: 1

Total: 77

In total planes, the Allies came out ahead this time, but in A2A, it was still to our favor. As usual, several of our pilots were rescued and will fight again.

In the Pacific, Naura Island airfield was finished today. (sz 4)

[center]
Heavy attacks again Meiktila[/center]

[center]
And a smaller attack against Mandalay[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

June 13th, 1943
There are no additional attacks in Burma today. The engineers at Meiktila spend most of the day fixing themselves up and make little progress on the actual facilities. (Damage: 63/81)

Our planes hit Chungking killing 1 P-40N and losing a Tony.

In the Aleutians, our Tonys and Tojos were flying CAP over a couple transports unloading supplies at Adak - right under the enemy's nose. Today that enemy attacked with a half a dozen planes. Our CAP disrupted the attack enough that all the bombs misses. I expect we will see a stronger attack tomorrow, but with bad weather, we can hope for some unescorted bombers that our fighters can pounce on.

In the combat at Adak 5 P-40E and 3 B-25C Mitchells were brought down, for the loss of 3 Tojo and 1 Tony.

[center]
Attacks on our transports[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

June 14th, 1943
Burma was again quiet as bad weather descends on the area. The engineers at Meiktila have stepped it up and repairs are making good progress now. (63/56)

In the Aleutians, the weather was better than I had hoped it would be. First a sweep of 40 Corsairs from Umnak engaged our planes, and then a sweep of 18 P-38Gs from Dutch Harbor came in for a tangle. 8 Tonys and 9 Tojos went down along with 2 P-38Gs. Although we damaged several, no Corsairs were seen splashing down.

[center]
Enemy fighters sweep our convoy CAP[/center]

After the sweep, a group of escorted bombers came in and attacked our small convoy. The B-25C's came in at wave top level and put some bullets into our ships. Only two were hit with bombs though, one was an MSW and the other an AK.

[center]
Some of our ships take some hits[/center]

The ships will stay on and get as much cargo unloaded as possible. All the ships present are low capacity AK's that had been deemed expendable when sent on this mission given the proximity of the large (sz 8) airfield at Umnak.

Far to the south, the airfield at Aitape was expanded today. (sz 3)

[FeurerKrieg]

June 15th, 1943
Lots to report on today!

In Burma, since the airfield was barely open at Meiktila, and the Allies might try to keep it closed, I moved in a 12 plane unit of the 37mm cannon armed Nick-b's. The Allies did attack, with 85 B-24Ds escorted by only 3 P-38Gs. Our Nicks dodged the P-38's easily and then shot up the B-24s as best as they could. They seemed to disrupt the raid somewhat as damage was not as heavy as I would have expected. The base is now at 72/83.
[center]

Attack on Meiktila[/center]

In the Aleutians the Allies launched air strikes all over the place.

59 unescorted Liberators hit Kiska where 20 Tojos were waiting. We damaged some and the raid only lightly damaged the runway. A couple planes were destroyed on the ground though.
[center]

Kiska bombed ineffectually[/center]

Then, at Attu, 48 PB4Y Liberators and 36 B-24D Liberators arrived and blew past the 6 Tonys on CAP. They did much better and blast the runway at Attu hard. Several planes were lost on the ground there as well. Attu is at at 42/66.

[center]
Attu is hit harder[/center]

Then a couple raids went for our ships, with one AK taking a 2000lb bomb. CL Tama was also attacked by some PV-1 Venturas, but they missed. Our fighters on station (1 Sentai Tony and 1 Sentai of Tojo) will move to Kiska where the facilities are still in good shape. Our Bettys will pull back to Paramushiro Jima before more heavy bomber attacks happen.

[center]
Small ship, big bomb.[/center]



In the Solomons, Admiralty Island airfield expanded (sz 3) as did the airfield at Green Island (sz 4).

And finally, the big news of the day, CVL's Chitose and Chiyoda finished their conversions to CVLs and are ready to join the KB. Their airgroups were empty so they have been put on shore duty to train. Once the carriers reach Kwajelein, more experienced units will be stationed on the carriers.
[center]


Converted light carriers - Chitose and Chiyoda arrive[/center]

This brings the full KB up to 8 Carriers and 7 light carriers.

[thegreatwent]

Nice to see the Nick's do something without getting destroyed. I look forward to seeing how you use your new light CVs.

[scott64]

What do you do get those CVLs [X(] converted?[8|]

[FeurerKrieg]

Disband the CS's (Chitose and Chiyoda only) into Osaka anytime after Dec 31, 1942.

[FeurerKrieg]

June 16th, 1943
Our planes attack Chungking again, today they destroy an IL-4 bomber on the ground.

In the north, our ships retreat westwards under cover of bad weather, but some attacks are still launched against the slower ships.

A pair of B-25Cs misses a PG near Kiska. Then 20 A-20G Havocs fight through some Tonys and hit a MSW with two bombs, sinking the small ship. One of the bombers was shot down by our Tony fighters. Finally a trio of B-25C attack an AK near Amchitka, but they miss also.

At Meiktila and Attu Island repairs continue. (Meiktila: 72/59, Attu 42/58)

[center]
Air attack on a minesweeper[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

June 17th, 1943
Today in Burma, a great opportunity was not utilized as well as it could have been. The enemy sent 105 B-24D Liberators to bomb Lashio, and for whatever reason, only 5 P38G fighters escorted the attack. However, at Lashio, only about half of our fighters were there to defend as half were off flying CAP over Mandalay. Such are the fortunes of war. Even so, we took down all 5 P-38s and 31 of the B-24s, which is nice given how hard they are to bring down. We lost a few planes on the ground and 1 A6M3 was shot down. The airbase took some damage, but is still operational (24/26). The airstrip at Meiktila was opened up again (72/24) and some planes will be moved in asap.

Attu was hit again by heavy bombers, damaging the base further (58/75) and destroying a few planes on the ground.

For the day, the Allies lost 44 planes to Japan's 21.

[center]
Navy fighters get a nice shot at enemy bombers[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

June 18th, 1943
Our planes hit Chungking, destroying 1 SB-2c, but losing a Nell.

In Burma, Akyab was hit by a sizable amount of Allied aircraft. Meiktila repairs are moving fast now. (59/0)

A convoy unloading supplies at Kiska was hit by 5 PV-1 and 10 B-25C. The bombers got past our Tonys on CAP and hit two frigates. Thankfully the transports did not get hit so they can get their supplies unloaded. One of the frigates is pretty bad and may not make it home. Our Tony and Tojos will stay at Kiska for now, as the airfield at Attu is still not open (58/66). Bad weather continues to keep 2 of the 3 main bases covered in clouds most days, not to mention the three supply convoys.

[center]
Frigates take the hits[/center]

[FeurerKrieg]

June 19th, 1943
Today P-38G's flew a sweep of Kiska, but our fighter did well - shooting down 2 of the P-38Gs and taking no losses. Afterwards, 60 B-24D Liberators showed up and our planes weren't able to bring any down. 15 of our planes were lost on the ground, but the airfield is in good shape (8/14).

Enemy aircraft attack Akyab.

A small airfield was opened at Wewak in New Guinea. (sz 1)

[center]
Enemy planes attack our base[/center]