Ocean of (joint) Blood. FatR vs Bigred-

[FatR]

Late evening of August 2, 1942. On the edge of the jungle at Trinkat a couple of tired Japanese pilots are surveying smoking remains of a strange double-fuselage plane. At the background Korean workers, who look even more tired, are trying to shove a Zero with broken undercarriage off the runway.

"Well, Asada, remember who was saying that these "forked-tail devils" are just a story cooked up to scare us?"
"Oh, shut up. At least they aren't as invincible as these IJAAF pansies said."

[bigred]

Chinese intel notes large concentration of enemy units at Nanchang.
The bargirls of Nanchang note these Japanese troops speak a manchurian dialect of chinese unfamilar in this area.

[bigred]

message from FatR.

G--d--- subs...

Just starting the replay.

[bigred]

At 2000 yards the royal sovereign did not engage the 15 inch guns...Too bad. the follow up night air attack by 18 SBDs failed to make a Hit..However 20000 tons of supply did unload in the Andamans this turn.

[FatR]

Naval historians will record the naval battle of Little Andaman as one of the most confused engagements of the war, with fleets losing each other in the storm after a brief fire exchange at knife-range.

Meanwhile, 13th Army's staff officers in Southern China ran into a problem - estimated Chinese losses over last month and kill-to-loss ratio are so tremendous that even Tokyo Rose has a problem voicing them with a straight face. Ever since Chinese started to spread their forces across the countryside, instead of concentrating them to contest the control of major roads, it was unending slaughter. IJA's intelligence is at a loss about the reason for this.

[bigred]

once apon a time in America there was a a FRAM oil filter commercial...It said "you can pay me now or you can pay me later"...

Ever since Chinese started to spread their forces across the countryside, instead of concentrating them to contest the control of major roads, it was unending slaughter. IJA's intelligence is at a loss about the reason for this.

The allied high command decided the chinese are not as organized they need to be. Unfortunatly the IJA has caught some of the units as they move in transition to a more organized status.

So the bottom line to Tokyo Rose--you better kill me now while the killing is good...for you.

[bigred]

Wow, talk about an epic turn of events..Not sure this report is reliable. Alot of sunk cruisers...both sides....I figure the Allies can afford the exchange..the combination of the Royal Soverign w/ the absence of IJN BBs, allied SBDs, and submarines are taking a toll of Jap ships..

The Admiralty has sent a message to Admiral Palliser

Palliser, Arthur FE now available for reassignment

since his Tf was shot out from under his sea legs...
The Royal soveriegn is still aflot...but may not make it past the ijn sub patrol.

[FatR]

You probably shouldn't post your exact ship losses. I will, however, return this courtesy the next time I'll be able to take a screenshot, just to avoid an unfair advantage (though you should know already that Tone survived, IIRC it was spotted by your subs, and damage was not great, anyway).

Meanwhile, Zero Hour broadcast for 08/10/42:

"Before we start the music, the Japanese High Command wishes to announce, that the ever-victorious Imperial Navy won another great victory at Southern Andamans over the last four days, with confirmed sinking of a battleship, five cruisers and numerous destroyers and smaller craft. Bodies of countless Royal Navy crewmembers are now floating in the surf and the lucky ones joined their fellow countrymen from the garrizon of Trinkat in prisoner camps."

[bigred]

I was lucky the Royal Sovereign was present. Dont understand why the DD flotilla left the battle..guess they felt outgunned.

[FatR]

Well, as promised, the loss list. Would have been totally sad for the Allies just one turn ago, but I totally forgot to sack my second heavy division commander...

[FatR]

Well, as promised, the loss list. Would have been totally sad for the Allies just one turn ago, but I totally forgot to sack my second heavy division commander after his screwup on 10th...



EDIT: Ah, double post... Does anyone know if you can delete posts on this forum?

[pat.casey]

Starting to feel like guadalacanal. Entrenched land base with a sold air base, lots of surface action, few carriers, etc.

[FatR]

Sure. Unlike RL the situation is stacked against Allies, though.

Meanwhile, one sub that never had any luck before gets a truly royal prize for its crew's patience and hard work...

Sub attack near Port Blair at 45,58
Japanese Ships
SS I-5

Allied Ships
BB Royal Sovereign, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
AM Turkey
DD Nestor

SS I-5 launches 4 torpedoes at BB Royal Sovereign
I-5 diving deep ....
DD Nestor fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nestor fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nestor attacking submerged sub ....
DD Nestor fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nestor fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

[bigred]

Rumors spread thru the British fleet that a new type of IJN BB is in the area of Operations.

[FatR]

Keeping in mind that she underwent trial by fire during a chase for PT boats at Hawaii, caustic tongues among staff officers nicknamed Yamato "The Most Expensive Flyswatter in the World", after the report of this engagement became known.

[FatR]

"While they praised me in newspapers and radio broadcasts, I felt like a butcher at slaughterhouse. Almost every day young men arrived on Trinkat, fresh from training units in Manchukuo and Home Islands, and on the next day we they were already seeking for the enemy planes over Little Andaman, or fighting another raid by Flying Fortresses. They were well-trained and knew how to handle a Hayabusa, but they had no real idea what they were up against, or how to stay alive in their flying gas tanks, or how to nurse a damaged plane home over the sea. Maybe one in four lived long enough to get the hang of our work and score a kill. Our Sentai was called "First and Foremost" then, because we were the best, but we buried more men than our nominal strength that summer. Command drove us hard, and I remember weeks was no pause in fighting, no respite."
From a postwar interview with Takeda Kinoshiro, former commander of 1st IJAAF Sentai.



Okay, the last week saw an almost continual air battle in Andamans. I'm repeatedly hitting Little Andaman, first with sweeps, now with sweeps and bombers, while bigred tries to suppress Trinkat. Unfortunately, I cannot cram everything into Trinkat, to avoid overstacking and even greater losses from 4E raids, so miscoordination due to bad weather harmed Japanese quite a bit.

[bigred]

yes, an air grinder.  Only the strongest survive.
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[bigred]

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[FatR]

Well, that's looks like happy days revisited. Add to here one cruiser that's listed as sunk by an unknown device, one finished battleship and about 8 victims of RO-boats. I-154 just cemented her status as a legend by sinking one of the elusive Allied destroyers. The fateful hit on Enterprise is hard to top, of course, but the crew is trying... I-5 sank three Allied warships including a battleship in a single patrol. I-155 now has 2 Allied cruisers and 4 merchants on its sinkings list.

[bigred]

yes, the cost of victory has been expensive, paid for in the blood of the merchant marine.  But the bright side is 40 tons of supply has been delivered to little Andaman.  Allied command had to chose which was the greater threat, the IJN surface fleet, enemy air or the fleet beneath the waves.

Admiral Palliser, recent victor of a one night 4 engagement battle w/ the IJN notes " seems the nips are afraid to play w/ their toys".
(Palliser's fellow admirals note not a single ship from his command is still afloat, but HE survived)