An important day for the Empire... 
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/21/43
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Day Air attack on Tsitsihar , at 65,24
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 32
Ki-61 Ic x 19
Allied aircraft
P-40N Warhawk x 27
Pe-2 x 152
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged
Ki-61 Ic: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-40N Warhawk: 13 destroyed, 1 damaged
Pe-2: 7 destroyed, 36 damaged
Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 17
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Pe-2 bombing at 10000 feet
after only light losses for the attacker yesterday they show up again today and meet a different Cap. The 100% useless nightfighters were flown out and the Tojos were replaced by Tonies and Zeroes which means that we dish out more damage today. While the enemy escorts failed to locate the target yesterday, they show up with the full number of bombers today. Even though absolutely succesful, fighting the escorts did take time and the number of enemy bombers was just too big. After fighting their way through, around 80 bombers dropped their load again and again on the airfield. [:)] Nice! But why isn´t Miller bombing my industry? [&:] If he wouldn´t have lost his Mitchells and Liberators, he could achieve something. Why? Because I was dumb enough to move out all my units that have engineers in them. Only an aviation regiment is sitting at the airfield and this could have turned out bad. If he would be able to knock out the airfield completely then he could wreck my industry because I can´t repair the airfield without engineers. My bad. But I guess Miller doesn´t know that I don´t have engineers at the base and I have already increased the number of fighters at this base. The Pe-2 are low on morale now so I guess I will keep them honest until my engineers arrive at the base.
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Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 47
D3A Val x 81
A6M3a Zero x 78
B5N Kate x 82
G3M Nell x 9
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 287
Ki-61 Ic x 34
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 297
Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 1
Aircraft Attacking:
31 x Ki-61 Ic bombing at 2000 feet
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Day Air attack on Gili Gili , at 56,94
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
PV-1 Ventura x 87
B-17E Fortress x 76
B-24D Liberator x 47
IL-4c x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
E7K2 Alf: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
PV-1 Ventura: 1 destroyed, 24 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 19 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged
IL-4c: 7 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
172 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
Airbase hits 14
Airbase supply hits 12
Runway hits 214 [8|]
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x IL-4c bombing at 12000 feet
8 x PV-1 Ventura bombing at 12000 feet
25 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 12000 feet
Miller nukes Gili Gili. At least he also lost a couple of his bombers in this attack today. Such an attack is devastating as it puts an airfield out of operation for at least a week. Five of those attacks could shut down nearly all of my airfields in the area around Port Moresby. Not good...
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Day Air attack on Luganville , at 72,107
Allied aircraft
Beaufighter VIF x 17
Beaufighter VIC x 8
Beaufighter Mk 21 x 9
No Allied losses
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 19
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Beaufighter VIC bombing at 2000 feet
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Day Air attack on Wallis Island , at 93,107
Allied aircraft
P-40N Warhawk x 69
P-47C Thunderbolt x 16
Allied aircraft losses
P-40N Warhawk: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
P-47C Thunderbolt: 2 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
70 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 31
Aircraft Attacking:
16 x P-47C Thunderbolt bombing at 2000 feet
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Day Air attack on 6th Mongolian Cavalry Division, at 60,8
Allied aircraft
Yak-1 x 56
Yak-9D x 186
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
20 casualties reported
Aircraft Attacking:
36 x Yak-1 bombing at 2000 feet
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Day Air attack on 33rd Division, at 46,104
Allied aircraft
Beaufort I x 32
P-40N Warhawk x 15
A-36A Apache x 3
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
23 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Beaufort I bombing at 15000 feet
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Day Air attack on 33rd Division, at 46,104
Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 52
B-25J Mitchell x 53
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
104 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 10000 feet
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Day Air attack on Apamama , at 86,92
Japanese aircraft
Ki-61 Ic x 9
Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 126
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61 Ic: 6 destroyed
Ki-49 Helen: 4 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed, 28 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
50 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 12
Runway hits 78
Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 10000 feet
and also Apamama is hit hard today. We lose too many aircraft on the ground. Don´t know why so many were sitting on the ground anyway and the same goes for the fact why there is Cap over Apamama. I´ve set two Tony sentais on LRCAP Tarawa so there shouldn´t be any Cap over this base and all my Helens should be out on nav search... oh well... I have to withdraw again and just wait for the things to come. Trying to oppose the enemy (even if unescorted) is a bad idea - as if I wouldn´t know that already... when I have to move in a TF, I have to also move in massive Cap. The TFs unloads and heads back, pull out the Cap also. That´s the way to go...
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Day Air attack on Salamaua , at 54,88
Allied aircraft
Barracuda x 39
Spitfire Vb x 17
No Allied losses
Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 3
Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Barracuda bombing at 16600 feet
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Day Air attack on Baker Island , at 94,92
Allied aircraft
Liberator VI x 124
PV-1 Ventura x 23
Allied aircraft losses
Liberator VI: 26 damaged
PV-1 Ventura: 2 damaged
Airbase hits 14
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 46
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Liberator VI bombing at 10000 feet
big day for the Allied bomber force it seems. Looks like every base that had big numbers of 4E bombers launched an attack today... losses in total: 10 heavy bombers (if you include the Ventura that is dropping the same number of bombs than a B-17)... the Ventura also seems not that immune to everything as the 4Es...
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Highlight of the day...
Ground combat at Wyndham
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 263231 troops, 2156 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 4229
Defending force 94500 troops, 251 guns, 255 vehicles, Assault Value = 1076
Japanese max assault: 3660 - adjusted assault: 3255 [&o]
Allied max defense: 863 - adjusted defense: 249 [&o]
Japanese assault odds: 13 to 1 (fort level 5) [:)]
Japanese forces CAPTURE Wyndham base !!!
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vb: 7 destroyed
F-5A Lightning: 1 destroyed
PB2Y Coronado: 1 destroyed
Japanese ground losses:
3414 casualties reported
Guns lost 97
Vehicles lost 5
Allied ground losses:
149908 casualties reported [X(][:D]
Guns lost 334
Vehicles lost 173
BANZAI! While I expected to do at least another 3 attacks, the enemy defense absolutely collapsed today and an adjusted Japanese av that nearly achieves the base av is enough to get an impressing 13:1 today. A months long siege ended with a big Japanese victory today. BANZAI! As it stands now, the operation against Northern Australia seems to have turned out as the biggest victory of the war so far and the world is impressed by another succesful combined operation of the Japanese forces. The only downside of this whole operation was the loss of nearly two dozen DDs to mines and PTs and the lucky torp hit on a heavy cruiser that blew up the cruiser´s magazine. All in all it was nevertheless absolutely worth it. We not just forced nearly 150.000 enemy troops to surrender, we also sunk two US CVs, three RN CVs, a modern US BB, three RN BBs and dozens of other ships in the range of DDs, AOs, AKs, etc.
We achieved absolutely more than we could have expected. All we first wanted to do is to stop the enemy expansion out of Timor after the loss of Lautern. It was an all out attempt and while we threw in the kitchen sink, the enemy refused to do so until it was too late. IMO, there were thee big mistakes done by the Allied:
a) concentrating all or most major ground forces at Broome and Derby (due to Allied intel as all my troops were planning for those bases [:D]) when I decided to land at Darwin
b) not using every available bomber and fighter against my invasion of Darwin. No matter if I employed the whole IJN, with four big airbases on Northern Australia and a big base on Timor the Allied could have wrecked havoc on my ships.
c) during the months long siege of Wyndham the deciding factor in the end was supply. As long as the enemy was supplied and as long as we couldn´t knock down the forts, there was no chance at all to achieve something. We could only hope to stalemate the enemy as long as possible, which would have been a success also. Then the Allied show up with all their carriers and lots of other major ships to bring in a supply convoy. No matter how many losses the Allied took in this operation, the task of the mission was to bring in supply and I guess I haven´t been able to sink a single of the supply carrying AKs. BUT and that´s a big BUT, we spotted something like only a dozen big AKs, which would make up for 66.000 supplies which is by far not enough to feed nearly 200.000 troops that are holding against ongoing attacks. And this must have been the biggest mistake that has lead to this disaster. Would Miller have used 80 AKs, then there would have been 440.000 supplies which would have been enough to hold out forever. Forever means at least long enough until I would have given up or would have been forced to give up due to enemy invasions into my territory somewhere else where I would have needed those troops that sieged Wyndham.
It´s easy to speak about your opponent´s mistakes when you achieve a victory but my operation wasn´t perfect either:
a) just too many DD losses... I was so pissed off by the enemy super duper mines and PTs that I just refused to accept that it´s totally off that I would lose one or two DDs to mines every time a surface or bombardment TF of mine entered one of the three enemy hexes. The enemy goes in and out of my bases without having to fear anything from 10.000+ mines. The Allied surely didn´t have more than 2000 mines at each base, yet my DDs got wrecked. I should have just stopped the bombardment tries as they didn´t achieve anything anyway. Another thing that works super well for the Allied in this campaign but nearly none at all for me. Never have seen such onesided results concerning mines and bombardments like in this game before. A smart Japanese player would have just accepted it that it´s not worth it and would have stopped them. I didn´t and suffered...
b) I pulled out my tank units for the assault on Russia and opened up another huge front... too early! I could have achieved much more if my tanks would have staid at Wyndham and I shouldn´t have brought them to Russia before Wyndham fell. Then bring them to Russia and do what I´m doing there now. Would have delayed the Russian adventure by probably two or three months but would have sped up things in total. But I guess the fear of major Allied counterattacks through the Pacific was the reason why I wanted to take on the Russian asap as I could then pull out lots of divisions to garisson the continent in early 44. As it looks now, this won´t happen before mid 44 but honestly, I seriously doubt that the Allied will threat the continent before 45 anyway.
After having my doubts if we would ever be able to take out Wyndham it was in the end satisfying to see the base surrendering with still so many troops left. The enemy flew out major parts of two USMC divs and at least another USARMY div. I´m sure that he also was able to pull out fragments of every unit and if he´s luckier than me then those units will rebuild. But that will take time and time is all I need. We will lose in the end, the question is only when will that be... [;)]
We scored impressing 2.414 points for Allied ground losses today, now being at 25.490. BANZAI!
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Ground combat at Kweiyang
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 113171 troops, 1259 guns, 32 vehicles, Assault Value = 2450
Defending force 163152 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 4777
Allied ground losses:
20 casualties reported
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Ground combat at Chungking
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 15846 troops, 182 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1659
Defending force 146328 troops, 476 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value = 3013
Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported
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Ground combat at Irkutsk
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 6989 troops, 198 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 6257
Defending force 127096 troops, 1549 guns, 204 vehicles, Assault Value = 2594
Allied ground losses:
180 casualties reported
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Ground combat at 67,32
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 75112 troops, 868 guns, 7 vehicles, Assault Value = 1946
Defending force 4377 troops, 20 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 64
Japanese max assault: 1502 - adjusted assault: 2202
Allied max defense: 40 - adjusted defense: 64
Japanese assault odds: 34 to 1
Japanese ground losses:
124 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
Allied ground losses:
174 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
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Ground combat at Irkutsk
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 94495 troops, 1425 guns, 132 vehicles, Assault Value = 2592
Defending force 339497 troops, 2409 guns, 2715 vehicles, Assault Value = 6257
Japanese ground losses:
212 casualties reported
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Ground combat at 67,32
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 4012 troops, 7 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 51
Defending force 95726 troops, 1089 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 1935
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Ground combat at Karachi
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 63786 troops, 467 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 2863
Defending force 67119 troops, 656 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 1358
Japanese ground losses:
37 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Allied ground losses:
19 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
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Ground combat at Townsville
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 54125 troops, 630 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 1276
Defending force 101779 troops, 1218 guns, 7 vehicles, Assault Value = 2067
Japanese ground losses:
52 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
