War across the Atlantic - Smeulders (Allies) vs. SqzMyLemon (Japan)

[Smeulders]

12-13 June 42'

Darwin
Sweeps over the base instead of bomber attacks. The zeroes fly in empty skies though as the LRCAP is back at Katherine.

Subs
Good days for the allies
S-38 takes down xAK Nitiho Maru near Lae, 2 torpedoes slam into the troop laden freighter.
The RAN goes for an encore, I-17 gets hits hard by Nestor and Napier, the guys over at Intel proclaim it sunk.
On the 13th the RAN attacks I-1 and do some damage, but it's unlikely that they get another sinking

[Smeulders]

14-15 June 42'

Darwin
On the 15th, bombers returned over Darwin, but the zeroes keep on sweeping. That's probably a better defence of his bombers anyway, I can't get enough in the air (due to LRCAP from a small AF) to seriously hurt even unescorted bomber formations and if the sweep manages to get to my CAP before the bombers it will just be a slaughter.

China
Some manoeuvring in the South, but no battles yet.

Subs
And we're at the subs already, it was a calm couple of turns.
Trigger is attacked near Oosthaven, but no damage.
I-1 is still on station near Sydney, she shot at and missed Electra.

[Smeulders]

16 June 42'

China

Small map of the things going on in the South of China. I don't pay enough attention to this theatre and these situations are the result of that. Liuchow is isolated and the road back to Tuyun is in danger of being cut as well. 13 units are advancing on the city from the Canton area. I'm not sure how big that force is, but I have decided to retreat from the city. A new line will be made in the forest hexes on the road North. There is some 1500 AV in the city at the moment, but in the open that doesn't mean anything, it's 1500 Chinese AV.

Around Sian enemy forces are advancing as well. The defensive line is in the city itself, so that is a problem as it's an open hex that is low on supplies. There is nearly 5000 AV ready to defend though. Forces advancing seem to mainly come from the troops returning from Ankang.

Subs
No contacts, as Japanese subs seem to have fled from the Sydney area. They're probably looking for hunting grounds not prowled by the RAN DD. Subs have been spotted more to the North in the Brisbane and Townsville areas and around Auckland.

[Smeulders]

17-21 June 42'

China
The unit advancing on the road is recon-bombed and appears to be an independent brigade. Japanese units did arrive in Liuchow on the evening of the 20th, and Chinese forces should have left the city early in the morning on the 21st, so no combat occurred. The Japanese did not attack to take the base on the 21st, so little intel as to their strength. Bombing goes on around Sian, where the airfield is targeted as well, as good move as Sian is low on supplies. Japanese units are moving around North of the city, but I have little intel as to the strength of these units. Some of the force that was holding the mountains North of Anking is being move to protect the road out of Sian.

Darwin
Bombings continue

[Smeulders]

22-23 June 42'

China
Liuchow is not yet taken by the Japanese forces, though they are sitting in the hex, and I'm not quite sure why he doesn't just take the undefended city.

Around Sian there is a lot more movement, troops are now trying to cut off the road in the North , which will probably succeed as I haven't got many troops there. Some troops from the Sian garrison may move North, but then there still is the 34 units stack moving in from the South. Some of these units have been seen splitting off towards the West, into the forests between Sian and Anking. Overall this looks like an encircling of Sian. If the goal is to cut off supply, surprise, surprise, there isn't any anyway, the China supply situation is bad. (And I'm not quite sure why this is, there is no more fort building going on, and there is little combat.) I'm not optimistic about my chances of holding the city even to a direct assault due to this, so an encirclement with the total destruction of defending forces would actually benefit me at the moment.

Last situation is North of Sian, where a Japanese division (27th) is moving on the road between Lanchow and Kungchang. Troops are moving into position to hold the mountains there, if he goes trough with it, a second corps will move out of Lanchow to cut his retreat route.

China is looking bad at the moment, I will take some of the blame for this myself, but as this game was started very early the garrisons were very low as well, meaning the number of divisions that the Japanese player can throw forward is rather huge.

Burma
Katha was finally taken by a Japanese regiment, I still hold Kalemyo (slowly being built into a forward airfield) and the dot base north of Mytkyina. Interesting is that so far, I haven't identified anything in Burma except for 2 regiments, 1 division, 1 cavalry regiment and a pile of RTA units (I'm allowing them there for garrison purposes). Either SigInt is allowing pretty big holes there or Burma is as good as empty.

Southern DEI/OZ ?
Gato gets a dud hit on an APD near Ambon. Normally this would go into the subs section, but this one was escorting 5xAP and an LSD. Can I expect landings there in the near future ? The huge bombardments that keep hitting Darwin don't exactly rule out the idea of an offensive in the area.

Subs
Only one other sub encounter, Trigger is attacked by a DD patrol near Oosthaven.

[Smeulders]

Since the beginning of the war I've been keeping a leaderboard of my subs. The rules are simple, if a ship is hit by a sub, it goes on it's list. If it turns up in the sunk list, the tonnage is added to the ships score, otherwise, if the ship later turns up alive, the ship is deleted from the list again. The following list is my top 10 of subs, in tonnage. First place is still for the Truant, only 1 kill, but a big one. Of note is that the most successful in terms of number of ships (3 confirmed+1 unconfirmed/damaged), isn't in the top 10, his biggest confirmed kill is a 1120 ton TK.

Edit: the names in bold are confirmed kills, smaller font are the unconfirmed/damaged

[Smeulders]

24-26 Jun 42'

China
The situation at the moment is looking pretty grim, 2000 AV cut the road to the North of Sian. Troops from the North and South are sending detachments West to cut off the retreat route there, while a large 34 unit group has entered the city. Unfortunately, it seems like my opponent isn't inclined to cut of the retreat to the East, if that is the case, a lot of my corps will be left behind enemy lines, with no chance to rebuild. In the South I'm moving some small forces forward, the Japanese unit over the river is probably a mixed bde (SigInt info), so some 800 AV will cross to try and rout it with a shock attack, a corps from Changsha will move up the road. I'm hoping this will worry Joseph a bit so he won't use all his forces to move further towards the central plains after Sian falls.



Further to the South Liuchow is captured by 2 divisions and a bunch of artillery. My 1500 AV might have held that back, so the retreat was foolish, another tactical blunder in the ground war.

Subs
Lots of attacks by fleet subs, but all with duds as a result. Trigger hit a DD and an SC near Oosthaven, Growler hit a small PB near Hokkaido and Pollack hit a DMS near Makassar. One torpedo did explode, the S-45 sunk xAK Shofuku Maru near Guadalcanal.

[Smeulders]

27-28 Jun 42'

China
Sian is completely surrounded now, the remaining danger is that he'll just enter from all hexsides now and make Sian a big prison camp. That would be rather painful for his logistics if he want to go any further, so I'm not sure he'll do that.

SE Asia
A sub patrolling the ends of the Malacca straight sighted a large TF on the 27th consisting of BB Mutsu, a CA, 2 CL and a bunch of destroyers, their bearing was unknown. A task force carrying planes (40ish, mainly aux) was seen on the same day a bit further in the straight. On the 28th 2TFs were sighted in Singapore harbour, with one likely being the plane-carrying TF. Some 140 ships were located in the port, with CL and xAP sighted. At the same time SigInt is giving reports of units moving to Singapore and 12/4th Division (so it's on a ship), planning from Trimacolee. All very strange and a if we were a couple of months back I'd take these things as a sign, but a Ceylon landing now ? On the other hand, my opponent did mention earlier that he was disappointed he didn't attack aggressively enough early and that he might make one last great push. This line especially is interesting " My next operation will have absolutely no strategic bearing on the game and in fact will probably hasten my demise, but in an effort to spice things up I've decided to throw caution to the wind", I don't think he was talking about the Sian offensive here. Ceylon has 2 Aussie divisions, 3 Indian brigades and the 7th Armoured Bde, we'll see what happens.

Subs
One extra sub action, Growler engaged a convoy between Korea and Japan, putting one torpedo in a 3400 tonne freighter. As the escorts left the area after a fruitless search, Growler decided to finish off the ship, 2 more torpedoes exploded on target.

[Smeulders]

29-30 Jun 42'

China
As the thread on the main page showed, something went wrong surrounding the Sian defenders. With all of the Japanese force South of the city, a single tank regiment tried to cut off the NE hexside. The river crossing was violently opposed by the over 4000 Chinese AV in the area and the 15th Tank Regiment was wiped out.

Subs
Growler engages a SC that was vectored to the sub after his succesful attack on the 28th. A dud is reported.
O20, near Luzon hits PB Higashiyama Maru. The little boat nearly disintegrates on impact and sinks soon after.

Troop movements
An extra division (20th Indian) is being dispatched to Ceylon. It's a long shot that it will be attacked, but I can get my forces off Ceylon in a hurry if I need them for an offensive.

An extra marine regiment is landed on Luganville. Once the forts reach lvl 3 the airfield building will start. The surface escort for the convoy, consisting of 3 CA and a number of DD are making a small detour to bombard Ndeni.

A new British division is arriving in Aden and is making it's way to the Indian mainland, once it arrives I'm going to take stock and see if small incursions into Burma can begin.

[Smeulders]

Naval Losses



                       Japan               Allied
DD                      1                     0
AM                      0                     1
SS                      2                     0
AO                      1                     0
AK                      5                     0
Small combat        1                     0
ACM                    0                     1

Not a whole lot of combat, some of the entries are FOW corrections as well. It's encouraging to see the subs attacking again, even though the success rate isn't that high due to the duds. Interesting is that the 2 sunk subs seemed to be enough for a withdrawal from the waters around Sydney. Of course, when the RAN/RN is around, it's not that safe to be in a Japanese sub

[Smeulders]

Air losses



                        Japan                      Allies
Air                       5                            1
Flak                     9                            9
Ground                 0                            0
Ops                   116                          30
Total                 130                          40

So that's how little happened, a single fight in which the USAAF challenged the IJAAF which was a small victory. The situation isn't too bad, I haven't had much use for offensive air ops and no where am I forced to defend, so I'm content to sit back. In the meantime my air force is only getting stronger. Also, I'm winning: 3-1 losses in my favour.

[Smeulders]

June overview
The main interest these days is the China front, where the Japanese have launched a large offensive to take Sian. By the looks of it this will happen sooner rather than later. The Allies mainly spent the month making more logistical preparations and are reoccupying bases that were abandoned earlier, most notably Luganville.



Burma
Some of the last bases near the border have been captured, and a Japanese unit has crossed the jungle to take Akyab, but there seems to be no threat towards India

China
Sian is in a precarious position, the troops are outnumbered, have little supply and are cut off. Let's see how long they last. Some spoiling attacks are launched in other areas,but they usually consist of little more than a few corps.

Northern Oz
A bombing training ground for the Japanese airforce, the raids keep Darwin closed down, but I'm not planning to use the exposed Darwin anyway as long as the Torres strait is closed to me.

[Smeulders]

1 July 42'

Burma
Sweeps are being launched into India, over Dimapur and Ledo. No CAP present at these bases.

China
The first attack into Sian is launched and it's a bloody affair, 5100+ AV storms 4800 AV behind level 5 forts. Losses are high on both sides, the Japanese lose 11,000 men, with over 1100 combat squads disabled. The Chinese take 12,000 casualties, the report shows 300 squads disabled / destroyed, but AV has fallen by over 400. The base is already out of supply, but there is still some left in the LCUs. Forts were dropped to 4, but I am happy about the battle, it will take some time for the Japanese to recover and attack again.

SWPac
The cruiser force raids Ndeni and takes home some scalps and intel. Upon arrival a small transport TF is sighted, the USS Pensacola opens fire from long range and obliterates a PB on the first salvo. HMAS Canberra follows up by doing the same to a second PB. RAN Australia and USS Pensacola then shift fire to the single xAK that's trying to get away, but Canberra gets the kill with a torpedo spread at long range. The battle was over so soon that neither the Japanese, nor the Allied DD got off any shots. The force then goes on to bombard the island, troops of a single SNLF company seek cover, nothing else is encountered on the island.

Subs
Spearfish gets a dud on an E near Mindanao
O23 is engaged by a DD near Northern Borneo, but gets off with some nearby hits
Trigger has less luck, she is seriously roughed up by a DD force after she puts a dud in one of them. Damage is high and she is retiring to Oz

[Smeulders]

2-4 July 42'

China
After the first strike the Japanese restrict themselves to bombing Sian with artillery and airforce, but no more attacks are launched. Because of the bad supply situation all useful corps will make a breakout attempt towards the West. The corps under 1/3 strength can stay in Sian and fight it out.
Near Changsha a limited Chinese offensive routs the 12th mixed brigade, casualties are heavy on both sides, but the Japanese suffer 65 squads destroyed as opposed to 6 for the Chinese. The Chinese troops are retreating over the river to their starting positions.


Subs
Only 1 attack worth mentioning, as the Tarpon hits I-9 off the coast of Honshu, of course this is a case of duds.

[Smeulders]

Just because I was working on the next batch of ship badges I'm going to introduce them to the AAR.

It's the USS Trigger, depth charged of Oosthaven a couple of days ago. She's slowly making her way back to Carnaravon and Perth, only about 12 days to go if she keeps up her speed.

[Q-Ball]

Smeulders, I like the ship patches, very nice. Too bad the Japanese don't have much in that vein, since that's mostly what I play.

You are in great shape, BTW. Your opponent didn't expand beyond the historical perimeter, and you got a CV to boot. He should still be pressing you in 7/42, but isn't it seems.

[Smeulders]

Q-Ball: That's true, I'm not sure why he hasn't tried any more large scale attacks. After the fall of Java I had expected something to happen, but so far nothing yet. The 4th division, which SigInt told me was split up (on ships) and prepping for Trimacolee was later reported back at Batavia. I'm not sure what to make of this, I know it was involved in the Java campaign, later it (or a part at least) was on ships and now it's back on Java again. I'm still keeping an eye out for possible offensives, but I've definitely have to start thinking offensively myself now.

5-6 July 42'

Burma
The airfield at Kalemyo (base just inside Burma) has gone to one. A light raid was launched on it by Sallies, but nothing too worrying. The airfields in the NE India are quickly becoming very large, but the Hurricanes haven't really got the range to fight offensively over Burma from these bases, so I'll need bases like Kalemyo to shorten the range.

Subs
Herring hits a small TK with a dud near Sakhalin.
S-38 misses a SC that's hunting it near New Guinea
Drum obliterates a small SC near Honshu, a whole 99 tons added to his score.

[Smeulders]

7-8 July 42'

Subs
3 duds in 2 days, Flying fish hits a SC, Herring another small TK and Growler an xAK.

Troop movements
Another regiment is arriving at Umnak Island. The base should now be secured with 2 regiments there. Time to start moving on to Adak Island.

The division for Ceylon is now nearly completely there, only support remains on the mainland, the Island is up to 4 divisions worth of troops now.

Amphibious ships are arriving at Pearl on the 9th, they'll load a USAAF BF and Marine Defence battalion and will reoccupy Canton Island. An additional raider battalion will move up from the South Pacific shortly to round out the garrison. If this is done I'll start some recon for a move to Baker. A scout ship recently passed close by Canton and reported no air search, so the move should be pretty safe.

[Smeulders]

9-10 July 42'

China
Another shock attack is launched at Sian, forts come down to 3, but another 900 Japanese combat squads get disabled. Losses for the Chinese are nearly as bad though. If things continue this way Sian will not hold long, but the Japanese formations that launched this assault should go into R&R as well.

Sallies launch a raid on Pashoan, the city just over the Burmese border. The Japanese airforce has gotten more active in Burma recently.

New Guinea
B-17 from the 5th bomber group launch raids on Lae. 2 fortresses go down in the raid (1 Flak, 1 Ops), but in return 2 zeroes are shot from the sky and a further 4 planes are destroyed on the ground.

Subs
Sturgeon damages xAK Hokkai Maru off Kavieng
Trusty has just arrived on station between Singapore and Palembang and engaged xAKL Meiko Maru on the surface. The little freighter was torn apart by 20mm fire, but was not yet confirmed sunk.

[Smeulders]

11 July 42'

Burma
Strikes on the new field at Kalemyo again, mainly Oscars sweeping to stop any ambushes. Some designated squadrons are being filled with 50/70 pilots though, so it may be time to contest these raids. The problem is that there are so many bases to defend, so there is always the danger of being slaughtered in leaking CAP. Lashio seems pretty empty as far as fighters are concerned, so Blenheims may stage a raid of their own if recon this turn is positive.

Darwin
Don't worry, still being bombed daily

Subs
Herring has her third dud-attack in less than a week, bad luck.

Troop movement
Forces are starting to shuttle from Auckland to Noumea which will become my new forward logistical centre in the SWPac. The port is only at 3 at the moment, but engineers are working hard to fix that.

The force to reoccupy Canton is loading, they will round Palmyra on the way in. Cover is given by a small cruiser force. A DE is scouting Canton at the moment and again notices no naval search here.