Mines in the Pacific
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
RE: Mines in the Pacific
The Japanese CVs incidentally still seem to be active in the Pacific, so hopefully all the Allied bleeding going on out there is distracting him from the main show.
RE: Mines in the Pacific
Here's CENTPAC, with the newly captured Maloelap atoll.
I'm airlifting aviation support to Maloelap, it's extremely dangerous for shipping with Emilies (which being floatplanes cannot be bombed into submission) at Kwajalein.
I'm airlifting aviation support to Maloelap, it's extremely dangerous for shipping with Emilies (which being floatplanes cannot be bombed into submission) at Kwajalein.
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RE: Mines in the Pacific
Caught up on your AAR - As to your Emily problem - no supplies then they can not fly....... Bomb the port / supplies. Also remember your PBYs can do the same.
The Wake
RE: Mines in the Pacific
ORIGINAL: Heeward
Caught up on your AAR - As to your Emily problem - no supplies then they can not fly....... Bomb the port / supplies. Also remember your PBYs can do the same.
Yeah, I'm trying to basically slowly envelop his bases and drive out the supply, but it's not so easy necessarily. I think now I've taken Maloelap most of his airfields in CENTPAC will be within point blank Dauntless range so they are all just going to wither away.
Similar situation in SOPAC, where Rabaul has been totally shut down by the huge airfields at Shortlands and Torokina. Any Japanese convoy to resupply Kavieng or Rabaul is going to get slaughtered.
I think the Marshalls will be rolled over as soon as I get LCUs to prep now, the nearest base he has which can be supplied is Eniwetok which is a long way away. Papua New Guinea is going to be harder though, he has a lot of mutually supporting airfields and he's still able to supply Lae with convoys at the moment. I'm trying to edge closer under an LBA umbrella but it's precisely that sort of leap - to Gasmata perhaps - which he can punish horribly. LRCAP is really unreliable over 2-3 hexes it seems, and Gasmata is about 5 hexes from the nearest Allied base, so any air cover is going to be thin.
The only plus is that it's rare that air power alone stops a convoy, by the time its daytime they've usually mostly unloaded so the troops are ashore. All he can do is sink AKs and APs, and I have bajillions of them. Still, the Zhukov Approach isn't very in keeping with the Allies so I still feel bad every time half a dozen APs gets Nettied.
RE: Mines in the Pacific
September 2nd 1942
Quiet-ish, but just out of sight, the unicorns are gathering.
BURMA/INDIA
The fleet is massing! Gathered at Colombo for refuelling are all the Allied CVs. ~1200 carrier aircraft. Seems like a lot to me...
Transport wise, we have 3 amphibious TFs. One is a 100 ship TF carrying four Allied divisions, this is the main Rangoon assault force. Another is a ~50 ship TF carrying about another division and a bunch of engineers, these will land after Rangoon is taken. And the third is a 25 ship TF holding a division which is almost fully prepped for Port Blair.
Allied pickets between Sumatra and Allied waters have picked up nothing. No IJN submarines around, no 'TF spotted', no IJ aircraft are in range of Ceylon at present. AFAIK, the foe suspects nothing.
Port Blair has been bombed and swept heavily from Akyab, it looks like he's abandoned it as an airbase. The lack of rail lines no doubt makes it an unfavourable base for him to use. Rangoon was swept a while ago and immediately abandoned but I think he's moved back there now, I'll be working on that in the mean time.
On the ground 14th Army has stalled quite badly, so I'm counting on this invasion to reopen the Allied advance. Hopefully five divisions landing in his rear across his supply lines will have a major dislocating effect...
CHINA
The rout continues. IJ forces are now one hex from Chungking though not in strength yet. He did a recon-by-paratrooper on Chungking as well. 2000 AV there and actually supplied, I don't think it'll just roll over like everything else. And an attempt to daylight bomb it was very firmly rebuffed by the P47s and P40Ns there.
Several divisions are en route to the Burmese border to stabilise it, and I'm seriously pondering a major strategic realigment of the Chinese army into the mountainous regions there, where if nothing else the Chinese can secure the Allied thrust.
SOPAC
Supplying his bases has become very difficult for him, only Manus and a couple of bases on the north coast of PNG are in range of SOPAC that can be supplied. One convoy passing by Manus was hit by attack bombers, which might not be all that against warships but they eat AKs for breakfast - one sunk, one damaged.
I've sent in DDs as well but they've not arrived yet, bit of a gamble but you never know.
Kiriwana Island, two hexes from Milne Bay, is now an airfield 2 and P47s are ranging all the way up beyond Lae. The Japs know to avoid these babies.
The situation is almost, but not quite, ready for the next leap, which will be quite a risky one. Buna, or Gasmata, most likely. I've got a division equivalent well prepped for Gasmata but its very exposed to the Japanese airfield at Manus which I have not yet been able to close down.
CENTPAC
Been a lot of bombing and raiding, not much invading due to the need to prep. I'm about to invade Jaluit with a couple of brigades, which should be an easy task. BBs have bombarded it repeatedly and the Japs have not been supplied for months. The massive BB bombardment, day after day, is mostly to try and keep the IJN's attention. Would hate for him to crash the party at Buma.
Quiet-ish, but just out of sight, the unicorns are gathering.
BURMA/INDIA
The fleet is massing! Gathered at Colombo for refuelling are all the Allied CVs. ~1200 carrier aircraft. Seems like a lot to me...
Transport wise, we have 3 amphibious TFs. One is a 100 ship TF carrying four Allied divisions, this is the main Rangoon assault force. Another is a ~50 ship TF carrying about another division and a bunch of engineers, these will land after Rangoon is taken. And the third is a 25 ship TF holding a division which is almost fully prepped for Port Blair.
Allied pickets between Sumatra and Allied waters have picked up nothing. No IJN submarines around, no 'TF spotted', no IJ aircraft are in range of Ceylon at present. AFAIK, the foe suspects nothing.
Port Blair has been bombed and swept heavily from Akyab, it looks like he's abandoned it as an airbase. The lack of rail lines no doubt makes it an unfavourable base for him to use. Rangoon was swept a while ago and immediately abandoned but I think he's moved back there now, I'll be working on that in the mean time.
On the ground 14th Army has stalled quite badly, so I'm counting on this invasion to reopen the Allied advance. Hopefully five divisions landing in his rear across his supply lines will have a major dislocating effect...
CHINA
The rout continues. IJ forces are now one hex from Chungking though not in strength yet. He did a recon-by-paratrooper on Chungking as well. 2000 AV there and actually supplied, I don't think it'll just roll over like everything else. And an attempt to daylight bomb it was very firmly rebuffed by the P47s and P40Ns there.
Several divisions are en route to the Burmese border to stabilise it, and I'm seriously pondering a major strategic realigment of the Chinese army into the mountainous regions there, where if nothing else the Chinese can secure the Allied thrust.
SOPAC
Supplying his bases has become very difficult for him, only Manus and a couple of bases on the north coast of PNG are in range of SOPAC that can be supplied. One convoy passing by Manus was hit by attack bombers, which might not be all that against warships but they eat AKs for breakfast - one sunk, one damaged.
I've sent in DDs as well but they've not arrived yet, bit of a gamble but you never know.
Kiriwana Island, two hexes from Milne Bay, is now an airfield 2 and P47s are ranging all the way up beyond Lae. The Japs know to avoid these babies.
The situation is almost, but not quite, ready for the next leap, which will be quite a risky one. Buna, or Gasmata, most likely. I've got a division equivalent well prepped for Gasmata but its very exposed to the Japanese airfield at Manus which I have not yet been able to close down.
CENTPAC
Been a lot of bombing and raiding, not much invading due to the need to prep. I'm about to invade Jaluit with a couple of brigades, which should be an easy task. BBs have bombarded it repeatedly and the Japs have not been supplied for months. The massive BB bombardment, day after day, is mostly to try and keep the IJN's attention. Would hate for him to crash the party at Buma.
RE: Mines in the Pacific
September 7th 1943
BURMA/INDIA
The American CVs were spotted finally 2 hexes from Port Blair. Helldiver recon over some Japanese ASW ships means he knows full well what is there. Thunderstorms/monsoons prevented any air operations on the day of their arrival however.
Will be landing at Port Blair tomorrow. Soon as it's secure the main Rangoon show is on.
Rangoon and Port Blair have both been bombed to about 50% airfield damage. Allied LBA at Akyab ranges over Rangoon and Port Blair without opposition.
14th Army still stalled but hopefully fixing his main forces in place.
New toys too, B24Js are arriving in large numbers - there are a lot of old B25Cs and some B25D1s in this theatre which are not appropriate given all the land bombing going on, so SEAC is getting the fresh heavy bomber variants until all the mediums have been upgraded to heavies.
CHINA
Japanese forces at the gates of Chungking! That said it looks quite defensible and it's going to take him a while to bring proper forces up, I think I 2-4 weeks yet before things get critical - and by then, the next volley of Chinese reinforcements will be in place and I'll be much more ready for a Last Stand.
SOPAC
Finally got two squadrons of P38s into action over Manus - it was a bloody day for the japaense CAP. Then 50 heavy bombers hit and did more heavy damage, catching quite a few bombers on the ground.
Bad weather stopped play for a bit and then when the clouds cleared, I see a convoy headed towards Manus, a couple of hexes out atm. Catalinas managed to find and torpedo an AK in bad weather but the majority of the bombers at Feni Island couldnt find the target. I've ordered in the DD flotilla at Feni Islands to try and intercept, and moved up another attack bomber squadron, moving some P40Ns back to Woodlark Island.
The heavy bombers at Munda are in the process of being transferred to Woodlark Island as well, where they can reach all the important eastern PNG bases and even up as far as Manus, which means all ~120 bombers in SOPAC can once again easily hit any target in SOPAC that might be asked of them.
Gasmata is definitely the next target, once Manus has been heavily suppressed it will be time.
CENTPAC
Been trying to extricate marines from Maloelap but its hard, they just will not load. Its a badly damaged port 1, with no naval support, I've been using AKs and APs but even so. It had to be fast too as the atoll was overstacked and so I couldnt bring in any engineers or naval support to help matters.
After about 4-5 days of them stuck at Maloelap loading KB arrived, two strikes from about 50 Jills met a half dozen P38 LRCAP - a dozen Jills shot down, five cargo ships and CL Raleigh sunk. I'm pulling them back, with about half of the troops loaded. I need to sneak in some naval support I think, perhaps SST Argonaut can be made useful.
Jaluit atoll was invaded by a USMC tank regiment and some combat engineers, the engineers suffered horribly (75% casualties, mostly disablements though thank god), while the tanks mostly rode over the defenders, who were out of supply. The first day of landing was weird, my troops had an AV in single digits due to fatigue and disruption, mystifying. They soon got their act together though and they enjoyed massive air support, the Japanese were evacuating the day they landed via Topsy and submarine in fact, after three days of fighting Jaluit fell to the Allies with heavy Japanese casualties.
THOUGHTS
Well, KB is still in CENTPAC which bodes well for Rangoon, looks like naval superiority will be mine, and unchallenged at that. So it's safe to assume the troops will get ashore. And safe to assume that the troops will be adequate to the task, I think. Looking good.
Wary of a Japanese counteroffensive now he knows where my CVs are, but he's been very cautious with his carriers, preferring hit and fade attacks at maximum range - I doubt he's up for moving right up to an Allied atoll bristling with Dauntlesses and attack bombers. IMHO that is what he should do, though, to stem the tide.
BURMA/INDIA
The American CVs were spotted finally 2 hexes from Port Blair. Helldiver recon over some Japanese ASW ships means he knows full well what is there. Thunderstorms/monsoons prevented any air operations on the day of their arrival however.
Will be landing at Port Blair tomorrow. Soon as it's secure the main Rangoon show is on.
Rangoon and Port Blair have both been bombed to about 50% airfield damage. Allied LBA at Akyab ranges over Rangoon and Port Blair without opposition.
14th Army still stalled but hopefully fixing his main forces in place.
New toys too, B24Js are arriving in large numbers - there are a lot of old B25Cs and some B25D1s in this theatre which are not appropriate given all the land bombing going on, so SEAC is getting the fresh heavy bomber variants until all the mediums have been upgraded to heavies.
CHINA
Japanese forces at the gates of Chungking! That said it looks quite defensible and it's going to take him a while to bring proper forces up, I think I 2-4 weeks yet before things get critical - and by then, the next volley of Chinese reinforcements will be in place and I'll be much more ready for a Last Stand.
SOPAC
Finally got two squadrons of P38s into action over Manus - it was a bloody day for the japaense CAP. Then 50 heavy bombers hit and did more heavy damage, catching quite a few bombers on the ground.
Bad weather stopped play for a bit and then when the clouds cleared, I see a convoy headed towards Manus, a couple of hexes out atm. Catalinas managed to find and torpedo an AK in bad weather but the majority of the bombers at Feni Island couldnt find the target. I've ordered in the DD flotilla at Feni Islands to try and intercept, and moved up another attack bomber squadron, moving some P40Ns back to Woodlark Island.
The heavy bombers at Munda are in the process of being transferred to Woodlark Island as well, where they can reach all the important eastern PNG bases and even up as far as Manus, which means all ~120 bombers in SOPAC can once again easily hit any target in SOPAC that might be asked of them.
Gasmata is definitely the next target, once Manus has been heavily suppressed it will be time.
CENTPAC
Been trying to extricate marines from Maloelap but its hard, they just will not load. Its a badly damaged port 1, with no naval support, I've been using AKs and APs but even so. It had to be fast too as the atoll was overstacked and so I couldnt bring in any engineers or naval support to help matters.
After about 4-5 days of them stuck at Maloelap loading KB arrived, two strikes from about 50 Jills met a half dozen P38 LRCAP - a dozen Jills shot down, five cargo ships and CL Raleigh sunk. I'm pulling them back, with about half of the troops loaded. I need to sneak in some naval support I think, perhaps SST Argonaut can be made useful.
Jaluit atoll was invaded by a USMC tank regiment and some combat engineers, the engineers suffered horribly (75% casualties, mostly disablements though thank god), while the tanks mostly rode over the defenders, who were out of supply. The first day of landing was weird, my troops had an AV in single digits due to fatigue and disruption, mystifying. They soon got their act together though and they enjoyed massive air support, the Japanese were evacuating the day they landed via Topsy and submarine in fact, after three days of fighting Jaluit fell to the Allies with heavy Japanese casualties.
THOUGHTS
Well, KB is still in CENTPAC which bodes well for Rangoon, looks like naval superiority will be mine, and unchallenged at that. So it's safe to assume the troops will get ashore. And safe to assume that the troops will be adequate to the task, I think. Looking good.
Wary of a Japanese counteroffensive now he knows where my CVs are, but he's been very cautious with his carriers, preferring hit and fade attacks at maximum range - I doubt he's up for moving right up to an Allied atoll bristling with Dauntlesses and attack bombers. IMHO that is what he should do, though, to stem the tide.
RE: Mines in the Pacific
Busy day... this is mentioned in the above report, but here's the blow-by-blow account, ooer.
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Sep 07, 43
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Night Air attack on Chungking , at 76,45
Weather in hex: Overcast
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 19
Allied aircraft
P-40N5 Warhawk x 7
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 2 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed on ground
Runway hits 4
Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
10 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
CAP engaged:
23rd FG/75th FS with P-40N5 Warhawk (1 airborne, 4 on standby, 2 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 11000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
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Sub attack near Taihoku at 87,62
Japanese Ships
E Ishigaki
E W-33
Allied Ships
SS Gato
SS Gato launches 4 torpedoes at E Ishigaki
E W-33 fails to find sub, continues to search...
E W-33 fails to find sub, continues to search...
E W-33 fails to find sub, continues to search...
E W-33 fails to find sub, continues to search...
E W-33 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub
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TF 266 encounters mine field at Jaluit (134,120)
Allied Ships
AM Caraquet
20 mines cleared
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Morning Air attack on Myitkyina , at 64,42
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 35,600 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 10
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Hurricane IIc Trop sweeping at 35600 feet *
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Blair at 47,58
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 35 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-IIb Lily x 20
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 164
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-IIb Lily: 6 destroyed
Allied Ships
BB South Dakota
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x Ki-48-IIb Lily releasing from 10000'
Naval Attack: 2 x 100 kg SAP Bomb
CAP engaged:
VF-1 with F6F-3 Hellcat (2 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 8000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 29 minutes
VF-3 with F6F-3 Hellcat (2 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes
VF-6 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes
VF-8 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes
VF-9 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes
VF-16 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
VF-18 with F6F-3 Hellcat (2 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 20 minutes
VF-22 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 16000 and 18000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
VF-23 with F6F-3 Hellcat (3 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
VF-24 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 11000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes
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Morning Air attack on 80th Chinese Corps, at 79,42
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 47 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 27
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 29
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 11
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-IIa Lily: 1 damaged
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 damaged
Allied ground losses:
94 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
19 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
10 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
11 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
Also attacking 85th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 81st Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 85th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 36th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 81st Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 80th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 85th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 81st Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 80th Chinese Corps ...
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Morning Air attack on 15th Division, at 75,45
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Allied aircraft
A-29A Hudson x 2
H81-A3 x 2
SB-III x 3
Allied aircraft losses
SB-III: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
29 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x SB-III bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 100 kg GP Bomb
2 x A-29A Hudson bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 40,800 feet.
Estimated time to target is 45 minutes
Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 16
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
16 x F4U-1 Corsair sweeping at 36800 feet
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Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 57
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 4 destroyed on ground
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Airbase hits 15
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 108
Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 7
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 2 damaged
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 18
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 31 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 7
No Allied losses
Runway hits 11
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Manus at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 8
Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
xAK Shinko Maru, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Sensan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 100 feet *
Naval Attack: 3 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 8
Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 20
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 24
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on 39th Division, at 75,45
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-40K Warhawk x 17
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 12
Allied aircraft losses
P-40K Warhawk: 3 damaged
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 2 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
56 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
12 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 500 lb GP Bomb
17 x P-40K Warhawk bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 500 lb GP Bomb
Also attacking 15th Division ...
Also attacking 39th Division ...
Also attacking 15th Division ...
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Morning Air attack on 35th Chinese Corps, at 79,42
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 36,740 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 34
No Japanese losses
Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Ki-44-IIb Tojo sweeping at 36740 feet
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Afternoon Air attack on 54th Chinese Corps, at 81,46 (Patung)
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 damaged
Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Ki-30 Ann bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
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Afternoon Air attack on 25th Chinese Corps, at 79,55
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 44 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 9
No Japanese losses
Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manus at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes
Allied aircraft
SBD-5 Dauntless x 12
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
xAK Sensan Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Edo Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
3 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 4000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Sensan Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring PB Edo Maru
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 36
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 3
B-24D Liberator x 3
B-24D1 Liberator x 6
B-25D1 Mitchell x 5
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61-Ia Tony: 1 destroyed
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed on ground
G3M3 Nell: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 16
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
CAP engaged:
68th Sentai with Ki-61-Ia Tony (0 airborne, 17 on standby, 11 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 8 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37730 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 37730.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 40 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 16
Allied aircraft
Wellington B.X x 9
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
Wellington B.X: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x Wellington B.X bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
CAP engaged:
68th Sentai with Ki-61-Ia Tony (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
16 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37730 , scrambling fighters to 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 65 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 44,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 7
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x P-38H Lightning sweeping at 40000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 43,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 5
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 45
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 31
Ki-61-Ib Tony x 10
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 3 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-38H Lightning: 1 destroyed
CAP engaged:
11th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
12 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 20000 and 36740.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 5 minutes
30th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
12 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 14750 , scrambling fighters between 14750 and 36750.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
47th I.F.Chutai with Ki-61-Ib Tony (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30740 , scrambling fighters between 36000 and 37730.
Raid is overhead
54th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36750
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 3 minutes
59th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
10 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 17000 , scrambling fighters between 17000 and 36740.
Raid is overhead
78th Sentai with Ki-43-IIa Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36750
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes
85th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (3 airborne, 18 on standby, 0 scrambling)
21 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 19750 , scrambling fighters between 19000 and 36750.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 5 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 56th Infantry Regiment, at 56,43
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 9
Vengeance I x 14
Allied aircraft losses
Vengeance I: 3 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Vengeance I releasing from 4000'
Ground Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb, 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb
8 x Vengeance I releasing from 3000'
Ground Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb, 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 56th Infantry Regiment, at 56,43
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes
Allied aircraft
Hurricane XIIb x 11
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane XIIb: 3 damaged
Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Hurricane XIIb bombing from 20000 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Jaluit Base Force, at 134,120 (Jaluit)
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 14
B-25G Mitchell x 10
F4U-1 Corsair x 23
Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 4 damaged
B-25G Mitchell: 2 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Aircraft Attacking:
10 x B-25G Mitchell bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 17 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 10
Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61-Ia Tony: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 42000 feet
CAP engaged:
68th Sentai with Ki-61-Ia Tony (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 5 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37730 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 37730.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 21 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 18
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
18 x P-38H Lightning sweeping at 40000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Manus at 101,119
Japanese Ships
PB Edo Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
Allied Ships
SS Skipjack
PB Edo Maru is sighted by SS Skipjack
SS Skipjack launches 4 torpedoes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 79,42
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 10644 troops, 189 guns, 549 vehicles, Assault Value = 496
Defending force 24583 troops, 108 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 957
Japanese adjusted assault: 181
Allied adjusted defense: 263
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
423 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 36 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 44 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Vehicles lost 23 (2 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
445 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Assaulting units:
3rd Tank Division
63rd Infantry Brigade
8th Ind. Engineer Regiment
1st Mortar Battalion
Defending units:
36th Chinese Corps
35th Chinese Corps
81st Chinese Corps
80th Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 80,41
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 103 troops, 51 guns, 17 vehicles, Assault Value = 745
Defending force 38263 troops, 285 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1560
Assaulting units:
27th/B Division
27th/A Division
35th/B Division
27th/C Division
35th/A Division
35th/C Division
12th Army
4th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
4th Mortar Battalion
7th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
Defending units:
95th Chinese Corps
24th Chinese Corps
88th Chinese Corps
40th Chinese Corps
38th Chinese Corps
27th Chinese Corps
41st Chinese Corps
3rd Prov Chinese Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Tuyun (74,51)
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 3616 troops, 50 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2409
Defending force 21981 troops, 213 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 820
Assaulting units:
138th Infantry Regiment
3rd Division
104th Division
55th Infantry Brigade
102nd Infantry Regiment
17th/A Division
17th/B Division
66th Infantry Regiment
40th Division
8th Armored Car Co
17th/C Division
22nd Ind.Mtn Gun Battalion
Defending units:
67th Chinese Corps
30th Chinese Corps
26th Chinese Corps
55th Chinese Corps
44th Chinese Corps
16th Chinese Corps
49th Chinese Division
33rd Group Army
16th Construction Regiment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 66,44
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 6196 troops, 90 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 191
Defending force 3678 troops, 16 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 140
Japanese adjusted assault: 77
Allied adjusted defense: 472
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 6
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
561 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 52 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Allied ground losses:
56 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
5th Infantry Regiment
19th Ind. Engineer Regiment
85th Naval Guard Unit
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
Defending units:
60th Chinese/A Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 74,53
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 1280 troops, 19 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 175
Defending force 3967 troops, 36 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 82
Japanese adjusted assault: 24
Allied adjusted defense: 1
Japanese assault odds: 24 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Allied ground losses:
36 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
115th Infantry Regiment
Sasebo 8th SNLF
Defending units:
9th Prov Chinese Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 67,46
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 1297 troops, 6 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 53
Defending force 491 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 18
Japanese adjusted assault: 11
Allied adjusted defense: 1
Japanese assault odds: 11 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)
Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Allied ground losses:
102 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
Assaulting units:
16th Naval Guard Unit
Defending units:
22nd New Chinese Division
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Sep 07, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Chungking , at 76,45
Weather in hex: Overcast
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 19
Allied aircraft
P-40N5 Warhawk x 7
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 2 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed on ground
Runway hits 4
Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
10 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
CAP engaged:
23rd FG/75th FS with P-40N5 Warhawk (1 airborne, 4 on standby, 2 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 11000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Taihoku at 87,62
Japanese Ships
E Ishigaki
E W-33
Allied Ships
SS Gato
SS Gato launches 4 torpedoes at E Ishigaki
E W-33 fails to find sub, continues to search...
E W-33 fails to find sub, continues to search...
E W-33 fails to find sub, continues to search...
E W-33 fails to find sub, continues to search...
E W-33 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 266 encounters mine field at Jaluit (134,120)
Allied Ships
AM Caraquet
20 mines cleared
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Myitkyina , at 64,42
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 35,600 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 10
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Hurricane IIc Trop sweeping at 35600 feet *
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Blair at 47,58
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 35 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-IIb Lily x 20
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 164
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-IIb Lily: 6 destroyed
Allied Ships
BB South Dakota
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x Ki-48-IIb Lily releasing from 10000'
Naval Attack: 2 x 100 kg SAP Bomb
CAP engaged:
VF-1 with F6F-3 Hellcat (2 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 8000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 29 minutes
VF-3 with F6F-3 Hellcat (2 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes
VF-6 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes
VF-8 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes
VF-9 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes
VF-16 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
VF-18 with F6F-3 Hellcat (2 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 20 minutes
VF-22 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 16000 and 18000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
VF-23 with F6F-3 Hellcat (3 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
VF-24 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 11000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 80th Chinese Corps, at 79,42
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 47 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 27
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 29
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 11
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-IIa Lily: 1 damaged
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 damaged
Allied ground losses:
94 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
19 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
10 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
11 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
Also attacking 85th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 81st Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 85th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 36th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 81st Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 80th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 85th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 81st Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 80th Chinese Corps ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 15th Division, at 75,45
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Allied aircraft
A-29A Hudson x 2
H81-A3 x 2
SB-III x 3
Allied aircraft losses
SB-III: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
29 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x SB-III bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 100 kg GP Bomb
2 x A-29A Hudson bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 40,800 feet.
Estimated time to target is 45 minutes
Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 16
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
16 x F4U-1 Corsair sweeping at 36800 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 57
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 4 destroyed on ground
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Airbase hits 15
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 108
Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 7
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 2 damaged
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 18
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 31 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 7
No Allied losses
Runway hits 11
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Manus at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 8
Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
xAK Shinko Maru, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Sensan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 100 feet *
Naval Attack: 3 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 8
Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 20
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 24
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 39th Division, at 75,45
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-40K Warhawk x 17
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 12
Allied aircraft losses
P-40K Warhawk: 3 damaged
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 2 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
56 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
12 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 500 lb GP Bomb
17 x P-40K Warhawk bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 500 lb GP Bomb
Also attacking 15th Division ...
Also attacking 39th Division ...
Also attacking 15th Division ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 35th Chinese Corps, at 79,42
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 36,740 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 34
No Japanese losses
Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Ki-44-IIb Tojo sweeping at 36740 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 54th Chinese Corps, at 81,46 (Patung)
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 damaged
Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Ki-30 Ann bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 25th Chinese Corps, at 79,55
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 44 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 9
No Japanese losses
Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manus at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes
Allied aircraft
SBD-5 Dauntless x 12
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
xAK Sensan Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Edo Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
3 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 4000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Sensan Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring PB Edo Maru
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 36
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 3
B-24D Liberator x 3
B-24D1 Liberator x 6
B-25D1 Mitchell x 5
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61-Ia Tony: 1 destroyed
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed on ground
G3M3 Nell: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 16
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
CAP engaged:
68th Sentai with Ki-61-Ia Tony (0 airborne, 17 on standby, 11 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 8 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37730 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 37730.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 40 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 16
Allied aircraft
Wellington B.X x 9
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
Wellington B.X: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x Wellington B.X bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
CAP engaged:
68th Sentai with Ki-61-Ia Tony (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
16 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37730 , scrambling fighters to 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 65 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 44,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 7
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x P-38H Lightning sweeping at 40000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 43,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 5
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 45
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 31
Ki-61-Ib Tony x 10
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 3 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-38H Lightning: 1 destroyed
CAP engaged:
11th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
12 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 20000 and 36740.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 5 minutes
30th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
12 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 14750 , scrambling fighters between 14750 and 36750.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
47th I.F.Chutai with Ki-61-Ib Tony (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30740 , scrambling fighters between 36000 and 37730.
Raid is overhead
54th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36750
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 3 minutes
59th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
10 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 17000 , scrambling fighters between 17000 and 36740.
Raid is overhead
78th Sentai with Ki-43-IIa Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36750
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes
85th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (3 airborne, 18 on standby, 0 scrambling)
21 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 19750 , scrambling fighters between 19000 and 36750.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 5 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 56th Infantry Regiment, at 56,43
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 9
Vengeance I x 14
Allied aircraft losses
Vengeance I: 3 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Vengeance I releasing from 4000'
Ground Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb, 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb
8 x Vengeance I releasing from 3000'
Ground Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb, 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 56th Infantry Regiment, at 56,43
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes
Allied aircraft
Hurricane XIIb x 11
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane XIIb: 3 damaged
Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Hurricane XIIb bombing from 20000 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Jaluit Base Force, at 134,120 (Jaluit)
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 14
B-25G Mitchell x 10
F4U-1 Corsair x 23
Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 4 damaged
B-25G Mitchell: 2 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Aircraft Attacking:
10 x B-25G Mitchell bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 17 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 10
Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61-Ia Tony: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 42000 feet
CAP engaged:
68th Sentai with Ki-61-Ia Tony (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 5 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37730 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 37730.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid detected at 21 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 18
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
18 x P-38H Lightning sweeping at 40000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Manus at 101,119
Japanese Ships
PB Edo Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
Allied Ships
SS Skipjack
PB Edo Maru is sighted by SS Skipjack
SS Skipjack launches 4 torpedoes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 79,42
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 10644 troops, 189 guns, 549 vehicles, Assault Value = 496
Defending force 24583 troops, 108 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 957
Japanese adjusted assault: 181
Allied adjusted defense: 263
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
423 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 36 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 44 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Vehicles lost 23 (2 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
445 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Assaulting units:
3rd Tank Division
63rd Infantry Brigade
8th Ind. Engineer Regiment
1st Mortar Battalion
Defending units:
36th Chinese Corps
35th Chinese Corps
81st Chinese Corps
80th Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 80,41
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 103 troops, 51 guns, 17 vehicles, Assault Value = 745
Defending force 38263 troops, 285 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1560
Assaulting units:
27th/B Division
27th/A Division
35th/B Division
27th/C Division
35th/A Division
35th/C Division
12th Army
4th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
4th Mortar Battalion
7th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
Defending units:
95th Chinese Corps
24th Chinese Corps
88th Chinese Corps
40th Chinese Corps
38th Chinese Corps
27th Chinese Corps
41st Chinese Corps
3rd Prov Chinese Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Tuyun (74,51)
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 3616 troops, 50 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2409
Defending force 21981 troops, 213 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 820
Assaulting units:
138th Infantry Regiment
3rd Division
104th Division
55th Infantry Brigade
102nd Infantry Regiment
17th/A Division
17th/B Division
66th Infantry Regiment
40th Division
8th Armored Car Co
17th/C Division
22nd Ind.Mtn Gun Battalion
Defending units:
67th Chinese Corps
30th Chinese Corps
26th Chinese Corps
55th Chinese Corps
44th Chinese Corps
16th Chinese Corps
49th Chinese Division
33rd Group Army
16th Construction Regiment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 66,44
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 6196 troops, 90 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 191
Defending force 3678 troops, 16 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 140
Japanese adjusted assault: 77
Allied adjusted defense: 472
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 6
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
561 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 52 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Allied ground losses:
56 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
5th Infantry Regiment
19th Ind. Engineer Regiment
85th Naval Guard Unit
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
Defending units:
60th Chinese/A Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 74,53
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 1280 troops, 19 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 175
Defending force 3967 troops, 36 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 82
Japanese adjusted assault: 24
Allied adjusted defense: 1
Japanese assault odds: 24 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Allied ground losses:
36 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
115th Infantry Regiment
Sasebo 8th SNLF
Defending units:
9th Prov Chinese Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 67,46
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 1297 troops, 6 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 53
Defending force 491 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 18
Japanese adjusted assault: 11
Allied adjusted defense: 1
Japanese assault odds: 11 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)
Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Allied ground losses:
102 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
Assaulting units:
16th Naval Guard Unit
Defending units:
22nd New Chinese Division
RE: Mines in the Pacific
Bad day for the Japanese. American boots hit the ground at Port Blair, one more day and the whole division will be unloaded. Port Blair looks to have about 100 AV in defence - not enough.
The Japs lost >160 aircraft today, 80 of them on the ground as Port Blair was nuked. Bad luck for him really, the last three days have been bad weather days in the Bay of Bengal, this is the first day in which aircraft flew - and it was a bit too late, as the Royal Navy shelled Port Blair and essentially knocked it out of action on this critical day. Mayhem ensued when the carriers bombed the tar out of Port Blair's airfield without opposition.
Several air raids on the carriers from Tavoy and Moulmein, which have not been suppressed (out of range of Allied LBA), but the range is fairly long and the attacks piecemeal, the Hellcats chewed them up quite badly.
He's lost over 220 aircraft in 2 days now and achieved nothing at all. Must be quite gutting for him. Unfortunately most of those were fighters so I imagine he still is capable of delivering a sting if I lack air cover.
My CV aircrews are getting tired after 2 days of intense action and being stood to alert for the best part of a week now. Not sure if I should press on while the iron is hot or pull back and stand down for a day or two. I suspect I shall press on, as he is undoubtably suffering far more than I am.
More bad news from China though but its only ever bad news from there. The really annoying thing is that every hex lost is one the Chinese will never ever take back, they are simply unable to attack, ever, due to lack of supply.
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Sep 08, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Maloelap at 136,117
Japanese Ships
SS I-22, hits 8
Allied Ships
xAK Dumosa, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
SC PC-1083
SS I-22 launches 2 torpedoes at xAK Dumosa
SC PC-1083 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC PC-1083 attacking submerged sub ....
SC PC-1083 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC PC-1083 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC PC-1083 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Chungking , at 76,45
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 14
Allied aircraft
P-40N5 Warhawk x 7
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed on ground
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 2
Aircraft Attacking:
14 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
CAP engaged:
23rd FG/75th FS with P-40N5 Warhawk (1 airborne, 4 on standby, 2 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 11000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 48 minutes
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Port Blair at 46,58
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 7 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground
B5M1 Mabel: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 3 destroyed on ground
Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales
CA Sussex
CA Shropshire
CL Denver
CL Newcastle
CL Kenya
Japanese ground losses:
325 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Airbase hits 15
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 88
Port hits 26
Port fuel hits 6
Port supply hits 2
Walrus II acting as spotter for BB Prince of Wales
BB Prince of Wales firing at Port Blair
CA Sussex firing at Port Blair
CA Shropshire firing at 53rd JNAF AF Unit
CL Denver firing at Port Blair
CL Newcastle firing at Port Blair
CL Kenya firing at Port Blair
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Invasion action off Port Blair
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force
95 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
CA Suffolk
CL Danae
DD Dyson
AK Chicot
CA Suffolk firing at 94th JAAF AF Bn
CL Danae firing at 23rd JAAF AF Bn
DD Dyson firing at 94th JAAF AF Bn
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 6,000 yards
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Assault at Port Blair
TF 235 troops unloading over beach at Port Blair, 46,58
Allied ground losses:
49 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)
13 troops of a USA Rifle Squad 43 lost overboard during unload of 41st Infantry Div /8
10 Support troops accidentally lost during unload of 41st Infantry Div /30
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Port Blair
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force
46 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
CA Suffolk
CL Danae
AK Chicot
DD Dyson
Allied ground losses:
3 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
CA Suffolk firing at 94th JAAF AF Bn
CL Danae firing at 74th Infantry Regiment
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chihkiang , at 78,50
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 40,740 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 16
No Japanese losses
Aircraft Attacking:
16 x Ki-44-IIb Tojo sweeping at 36740 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 27 NM, estimated altitude 42,800 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 3
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 40
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 2 destroyed
Aircraft Attacking:
40 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 38800 feet
CAP engaged:
54th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 36750
Raid is overhead
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 44 NM, estimated altitude 40,800 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes
Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 14
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
14 x F4U-1 Corsair sweeping at 36800 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 41 NM, estimated altitude 46,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 14
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
14 x P-38H Lightning sweeping at 40000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 54th Chinese Corps, at 81,46 (Patung)
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 2 damaged
Allied ground losses:
21 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Ki-30 Ann bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 36th Chinese Corps, at 79,42
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 6
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 8
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 28
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-IIa Lily: 1 damaged
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 damaged
Allied ground losses:
39 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
19 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
9 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
3 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
Also attacking 80th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 35th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 85th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 81st Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 36th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 80th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 36th Chinese Corps ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 49th Chinese Division, at 74,51 (Tuyun)
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 13
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 20
No Japanese losses
Aircraft Attacking:
13 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
20 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
Also attacking 26th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 49th Chinese Division ...
Also attacking 55th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 49th Chinese Division ...
Also attacking 26th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 55th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 49th Chinese Division ...
Also attacking 26th Chinese Corps ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Blair at 47,58
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 21
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 285
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 10 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied Ships
CV Enterprise
BB South Dakota
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
1 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
CAP engaged:
VF-1 with F6F-3 Hellcat (10 airborne, 8 on standby, 18 scrambling)
(6 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
10 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 43 minutes
VF-3 with F6F-3 Hellcat (6 airborne, 14 on standby, 20 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
VF-8 with F6F-3 Hellcat (6 airborne, 14 on standby, 20 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 35 minutes
VF-9 with F6F-3 Hellcat (6 airborne, 12 on standby, 18 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
VF-16 with F6F-3 Hellcat (5 airborne, 12 on standby, 17 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 48 minutes
VF-22 with F6F-3 Hellcat (3 airborne, 8 on standby, 10 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 52 minutes
VF-23 with F6F-3 Hellcat (3 airborne, 8 on standby, 10 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes
VF-24 with F6F-3 Hellcat (3 airborne, 8 on standby, 10 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 40 minutes
VF-18 with F6F-3 Hellcat (6 airborne, 12 on standby, 18 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 85th Chinese Corps, at 79,42
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 8
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
49 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 15th Division, at 75,45
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Allied aircraft
A-29A Hudson x 2
P-40N Warhawk x 3
SB-III x 3
Allied aircraft losses
SB-III: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x SB-III bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 100 kg GP Bomb
2 x A-29A Hudson bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 39,800 feet.
Estimated time to target is 60 minutes
Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 3
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x F4U-1 Corsair sweeping at 36800 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
Liberator II x 8
B-17E Fortress x 3
B-24D Liberator x 12
B-24D1 Liberator x 20
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 8 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 6 destroyed on ground
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 2 destroyed on ground
B5M1 Mabel: 3 destroyed on ground
Ki-46-III Dinah: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged
Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 108
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Liberator II bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 41 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
Boomerang C-12 x 8
B-24D1 Liberator x 47
P-38H Lightning x 18
Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 5 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Airbase hits 41
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 117
Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 21
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 2 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Airbase hits 5
Runway hits 71
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground
Airbase hits 5
Runway hits 46
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 6
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x P-38H Lightning sweeping at 40000 feet *
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 20
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 44,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 3
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x P-38H Lightning sweeping at 40000 feet *
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 39th Division, at 75,45
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-40K Warhawk x 3
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 7
Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x P-40K Warhawk bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 500 lb GP Bomb
Also attacking 15th Division ...
Also attacking 39th Division ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 39th Division, at 75,45
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 47 NM, estimated altitude 3,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-40K Warhawk x 7
Allied aircraft losses
P-40K Warhawk: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
14 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x P-40K Warhawk bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 43,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 3
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x P-38H Lightning sweeping at 40000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Blair at 47,58
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 3,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 50 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 29
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 10
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 144
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 11 destroyed
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 4 destroyed
Allied Ships
CV Enterprise
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
CAP engaged:
VF-1 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 8 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 42 minutes
14 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-3 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes
14 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-8 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes
11 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-9 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 38 minutes
18 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-16 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 48 minutes
13 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-22 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
8 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-24 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes
11 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-18 with F6F-3 Hellcat (2 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
12 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-23 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 5000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
7 planes vectored on to bombers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Blair at 47,58
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 1 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 6
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 102
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied Ships
CV Bunker Hill
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
CAP engaged:
VF-1 with F6F-3 Hellcat (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 4000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
VF-3 with F6F-3 Hellcat (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
VF-8 with F6F-3 Hellcat (12 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
12 plane(s) intercepting now.
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 5000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 64 minutes
VF-9 with F6F-3 Hellcat (12 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
12 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
VF-16 with F6F-3 Hellcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 1000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
VF-18 with F6F-3 Hellcat (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 3000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 63 minutes
VF-22 with F6F-3 Hellcat (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
VF-23 with F6F-3 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 7000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 95 minutes
VF-24 with F6F-3 Hellcat (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 3
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 40
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 101
SBD-3 Dauntless x 33
SBD-5 Dauntless x 60
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 5 destroyed on ground
B5M1 Mabel: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 4 destroyed on ground
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 8 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 3 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 100
Aircraft Attacking:
15 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
17 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
17 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
33 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 38800 feet
6 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
10 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
8 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
9 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
8 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
12 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
19 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
13 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
18 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
10 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
8 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
8 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
CAP engaged:
54th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 36750
Raid is overhead
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Port Blair
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force
61 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
AK Chicot
DD Dyson
Allied ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Tuyun (74,51)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 66609 troops, 584 guns, 116 vehicles, Assault Value = 2410
Defending force 21950 troops, 213 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 815
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0
Japanese adjusted assault: 1539
Allied adjusted defense: 529
Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Tuyun !!!
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
2527 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 89 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 159 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 18 disabled
Vehicles lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
9400 casualties reported
Squads: 124 destroyed, 73 disabled
Non Combat: 225 destroyed, 114 disabled
Engineers: 34 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 14 (14 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 9
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
Assaulting units:
17th Division
3rd Division
55th Infantry Brigade
104th Division
102nd Infantry Regiment
8th Armored Car Co
66th Infantry Regiment
40th Division
138th Infantry Regiment
22nd Ind.Mtn Gun Battalion
Defending units:
55th Chinese Corps
16th Chinese Corps
44th Chinese Corps
30th Chinese Corps
67th Chinese Corps
26th Chinese Corps
49th Chinese Division
33rd Group Army
16th Construction Regiment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 80,41
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 228 troops, 51 guns, 27 vehicles, Assault Value = 781
Defending force 38299 troops, 285 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1562
Assaulting units:
27th/C Division
27th/A Division
27th/B Division
35th/A Division
35th/B Division
35th/C Division
4th Mortar Battalion
4th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
12th Army
7th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
Defending units:
88th Chinese Corps
40th Chinese Corps
38th Chinese Corps
27th Chinese Corps
24th Chinese Corps
95th Chinese Corps
41st Chinese Corps
3rd Prov Chinese Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 67,45
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 3346 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 127
Defending force 3964 troops, 22 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 165
Japanese adjusted assault: 54
Allied adjusted defense: 274
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 5
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), leaders(-), experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(+), leaders(-)
Japanese ground losses:
217 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Allied ground losses:
109 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
17th Infantry Regiment
Defending units:
60th Chinese/B Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Port Blair (46,58)
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 3154 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 173
Defending force 7023 troops, 25 guns, 85 vehicles, Assault Value = 262
Assaulting units:
74th Infantry Regiment
82nd Naval Guard Unit
55th Field AA Battalion
26th Air Flotilla
52nd Field AA Battalion
94th JAAF AF Bn
53rd JNAF AF Unit
23rd JAAF AF Bn
11th Special Base Force /5
Defending units:
41st Infantry Div /9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 74,53
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 1289 troops, 19 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 52
Defending force 3929 troops, 36 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 81
Japanese adjusted assault: 25
Allied adjusted defense: 1
Japanese assault odds: 25 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-)
experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: leaders(-)
Japanese ground losses:
38 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
Sasebo 8th SNLF
Defending units:
9th Prov Chinese Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Mengtze (68,50)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 4835 troops, 34 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 253
Defending force 1196 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 51
Japanese adjusted assault: 57
Allied adjusted defense: 82
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 1)
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(-)
Japanese ground losses:
90 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Allied ground losses:
30 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
6th RTA Division
Defending units:
2nd Reserve Division
The Japs lost >160 aircraft today, 80 of them on the ground as Port Blair was nuked. Bad luck for him really, the last three days have been bad weather days in the Bay of Bengal, this is the first day in which aircraft flew - and it was a bit too late, as the Royal Navy shelled Port Blair and essentially knocked it out of action on this critical day. Mayhem ensued when the carriers bombed the tar out of Port Blair's airfield without opposition.
Several air raids on the carriers from Tavoy and Moulmein, which have not been suppressed (out of range of Allied LBA), but the range is fairly long and the attacks piecemeal, the Hellcats chewed them up quite badly.
He's lost over 220 aircraft in 2 days now and achieved nothing at all. Must be quite gutting for him. Unfortunately most of those were fighters so I imagine he still is capable of delivering a sting if I lack air cover.
My CV aircrews are getting tired after 2 days of intense action and being stood to alert for the best part of a week now. Not sure if I should press on while the iron is hot or pull back and stand down for a day or two. I suspect I shall press on, as he is undoubtably suffering far more than I am.
More bad news from China though but its only ever bad news from there. The really annoying thing is that every hex lost is one the Chinese will never ever take back, they are simply unable to attack, ever, due to lack of supply.
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Sep 08, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Maloelap at 136,117
Japanese Ships
SS I-22, hits 8
Allied Ships
xAK Dumosa, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
SC PC-1083
SS I-22 launches 2 torpedoes at xAK Dumosa
SC PC-1083 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC PC-1083 attacking submerged sub ....
SC PC-1083 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC PC-1083 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC PC-1083 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Chungking , at 76,45
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 14
Allied aircraft
P-40N5 Warhawk x 7
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed on ground
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 2
Aircraft Attacking:
14 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
CAP engaged:
23rd FG/75th FS with P-40N5 Warhawk (1 airborne, 4 on standby, 2 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 11000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 48 minutes
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Port Blair at 46,58
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 7 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground
B5M1 Mabel: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 3 destroyed on ground
Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales
CA Sussex
CA Shropshire
CL Denver
CL Newcastle
CL Kenya
Japanese ground losses:
325 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Airbase hits 15
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 88
Port hits 26
Port fuel hits 6
Port supply hits 2
Walrus II acting as spotter for BB Prince of Wales
BB Prince of Wales firing at Port Blair
CA Sussex firing at Port Blair
CA Shropshire firing at 53rd JNAF AF Unit
CL Denver firing at Port Blair
CL Newcastle firing at Port Blair
CL Kenya firing at Port Blair
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Invasion action off Port Blair
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force
95 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
CA Suffolk
CL Danae
DD Dyson
AK Chicot
CA Suffolk firing at 94th JAAF AF Bn
CL Danae firing at 23rd JAAF AF Bn
DD Dyson firing at 94th JAAF AF Bn
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 6,000 yards
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Assault at Port Blair
TF 235 troops unloading over beach at Port Blair, 46,58
Allied ground losses:
49 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)
13 troops of a USA Rifle Squad 43 lost overboard during unload of 41st Infantry Div /8
10 Support troops accidentally lost during unload of 41st Infantry Div /30
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Port Blair
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force
46 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
CA Suffolk
CL Danae
AK Chicot
DD Dyson
Allied ground losses:
3 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
CA Suffolk firing at 94th JAAF AF Bn
CL Danae firing at 74th Infantry Regiment
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chihkiang , at 78,50
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 40,740 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 16
No Japanese losses
Aircraft Attacking:
16 x Ki-44-IIb Tojo sweeping at 36740 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 27 NM, estimated altitude 42,800 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 3
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 40
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 2 destroyed
Aircraft Attacking:
40 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 38800 feet
CAP engaged:
54th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 36750
Raid is overhead
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 44 NM, estimated altitude 40,800 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes
Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 14
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
14 x F4U-1 Corsair sweeping at 36800 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 41 NM, estimated altitude 46,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 14
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
14 x P-38H Lightning sweeping at 40000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 54th Chinese Corps, at 81,46 (Patung)
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 2 damaged
Allied ground losses:
21 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Ki-30 Ann bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 36th Chinese Corps, at 79,42
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 6
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 8
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 28
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-IIa Lily: 1 damaged
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 damaged
Allied ground losses:
39 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
19 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
9 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
3 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
Also attacking 80th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 35th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 85th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 81st Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 36th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 80th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 36th Chinese Corps ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 49th Chinese Division, at 74,51 (Tuyun)
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 13
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 20
No Japanese losses
Aircraft Attacking:
13 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
20 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
Also attacking 26th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 49th Chinese Division ...
Also attacking 55th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 49th Chinese Division ...
Also attacking 26th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 55th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 49th Chinese Division ...
Also attacking 26th Chinese Corps ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Blair at 47,58
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 21
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 285
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 10 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied Ships
CV Enterprise
BB South Dakota
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
1 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
CAP engaged:
VF-1 with F6F-3 Hellcat (10 airborne, 8 on standby, 18 scrambling)
(6 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
10 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 43 minutes
VF-3 with F6F-3 Hellcat (6 airborne, 14 on standby, 20 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
VF-8 with F6F-3 Hellcat (6 airborne, 14 on standby, 20 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 35 minutes
VF-9 with F6F-3 Hellcat (6 airborne, 12 on standby, 18 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
VF-16 with F6F-3 Hellcat (5 airborne, 12 on standby, 17 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 48 minutes
VF-22 with F6F-3 Hellcat (3 airborne, 8 on standby, 10 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 52 minutes
VF-23 with F6F-3 Hellcat (3 airborne, 8 on standby, 10 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes
VF-24 with F6F-3 Hellcat (3 airborne, 8 on standby, 10 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 40 minutes
VF-18 with F6F-3 Hellcat (6 airborne, 12 on standby, 18 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 85th Chinese Corps, at 79,42
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 8
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
49 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 15th Division, at 75,45
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Allied aircraft
A-29A Hudson x 2
P-40N Warhawk x 3
SB-III x 3
Allied aircraft losses
SB-III: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x SB-III bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 100 kg GP Bomb
2 x A-29A Hudson bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 39,800 feet.
Estimated time to target is 60 minutes
Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 3
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x F4U-1 Corsair sweeping at 36800 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
Liberator II x 8
B-17E Fortress x 3
B-24D Liberator x 12
B-24D1 Liberator x 20
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 8 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 6 destroyed on ground
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 2 destroyed on ground
B5M1 Mabel: 3 destroyed on ground
Ki-46-III Dinah: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged
Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 108
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Liberator II bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 41 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
Boomerang C-12 x 8
B-24D1 Liberator x 47
P-38H Lightning x 18
Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 5 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Airbase hits 41
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 117
Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 21
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 2 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Airbase hits 5
Runway hits 71
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground
Airbase hits 5
Runway hits 46
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 6
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x P-38H Lightning sweeping at 40000 feet *
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 20
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 44,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 3
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x P-38H Lightning sweeping at 40000 feet *
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 39th Division, at 75,45
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-40K Warhawk x 3
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 7
Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x P-40K Warhawk bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 500 lb GP Bomb
Also attacking 15th Division ...
Also attacking 39th Division ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 39th Division, at 75,45
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 47 NM, estimated altitude 3,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-40K Warhawk x 7
Allied aircraft losses
P-40K Warhawk: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
14 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x P-40K Warhawk bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 43,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 3
No Allied losses
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x P-38H Lightning sweeping at 40000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Blair at 47,58
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 3,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 50 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 29
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 10
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 144
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 11 destroyed
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 4 destroyed
Allied Ships
CV Enterprise
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
CAP engaged:
VF-1 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 8 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 42 minutes
14 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-3 with F6F-3 Hellcat (4 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes
14 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-8 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes
11 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-9 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 38 minutes
18 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-16 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 48 minutes
13 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-22 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 38800.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
8 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-24 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes
11 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-18 with F6F-3 Hellcat (2 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
12 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-23 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 5000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
7 planes vectored on to bombers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Port Blair at 47,58
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 1 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 6
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 102
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied Ships
CV Bunker Hill
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
CAP engaged:
VF-1 with F6F-3 Hellcat (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 4000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
VF-3 with F6F-3 Hellcat (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
VF-8 with F6F-3 Hellcat (12 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
12 plane(s) intercepting now.
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 5000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 64 minutes
VF-9 with F6F-3 Hellcat (12 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
12 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
VF-16 with F6F-3 Hellcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 1000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
VF-18 with F6F-3 Hellcat (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 3000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 63 minutes
VF-22 with F6F-3 Hellcat (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
VF-23 with F6F-3 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 7000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 95 minutes
VF-24 with F6F-3 Hellcat (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 3
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 40
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 101
SBD-3 Dauntless x 33
SBD-5 Dauntless x 60
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 5 destroyed on ground
B5M1 Mabel: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 4 destroyed on ground
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 8 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 3 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 100
Aircraft Attacking:
15 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
17 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
17 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
33 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 38800 feet
6 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
10 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
8 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
9 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
8 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
12 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
19 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
13 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
18 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
10 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
8 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
8 x SB2C-1C Helldiver releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
CAP engaged:
54th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 36750
Raid is overhead
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Port Blair
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force
61 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
AK Chicot
DD Dyson
Allied ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Tuyun (74,51)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 66609 troops, 584 guns, 116 vehicles, Assault Value = 2410
Defending force 21950 troops, 213 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 815
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0
Japanese adjusted assault: 1539
Allied adjusted defense: 529
Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Tuyun !!!
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
2527 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 89 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 159 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 18 disabled
Vehicles lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
9400 casualties reported
Squads: 124 destroyed, 73 disabled
Non Combat: 225 destroyed, 114 disabled
Engineers: 34 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 14 (14 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 9
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
Assaulting units:
17th Division
3rd Division
55th Infantry Brigade
104th Division
102nd Infantry Regiment
8th Armored Car Co
66th Infantry Regiment
40th Division
138th Infantry Regiment
22nd Ind.Mtn Gun Battalion
Defending units:
55th Chinese Corps
16th Chinese Corps
44th Chinese Corps
30th Chinese Corps
67th Chinese Corps
26th Chinese Corps
49th Chinese Division
33rd Group Army
16th Construction Regiment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 80,41
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 228 troops, 51 guns, 27 vehicles, Assault Value = 781
Defending force 38299 troops, 285 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1562
Assaulting units:
27th/C Division
27th/A Division
27th/B Division
35th/A Division
35th/B Division
35th/C Division
4th Mortar Battalion
4th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
12th Army
7th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
Defending units:
88th Chinese Corps
40th Chinese Corps
38th Chinese Corps
27th Chinese Corps
24th Chinese Corps
95th Chinese Corps
41st Chinese Corps
3rd Prov Chinese Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 67,45
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 3346 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 127
Defending force 3964 troops, 22 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 165
Japanese adjusted assault: 54
Allied adjusted defense: 274
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 5
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), leaders(-), experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(+), leaders(-)
Japanese ground losses:
217 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Allied ground losses:
109 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
17th Infantry Regiment
Defending units:
60th Chinese/B Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Port Blair (46,58)
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 3154 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 173
Defending force 7023 troops, 25 guns, 85 vehicles, Assault Value = 262
Assaulting units:
74th Infantry Regiment
82nd Naval Guard Unit
55th Field AA Battalion
26th Air Flotilla
52nd Field AA Battalion
94th JAAF AF Bn
53rd JNAF AF Unit
23rd JAAF AF Bn
11th Special Base Force /5
Defending units:
41st Infantry Div /9
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Ground combat at 74,53
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 1289 troops, 19 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 52
Defending force 3929 troops, 36 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 81
Japanese adjusted assault: 25
Allied adjusted defense: 1
Japanese assault odds: 25 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-)
experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: leaders(-)
Japanese ground losses:
38 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
Sasebo 8th SNLF
Defending units:
9th Prov Chinese Corps
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Ground combat at Mengtze (68,50)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 4835 troops, 34 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 253
Defending force 1196 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 51
Japanese adjusted assault: 57
Allied adjusted defense: 82
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 1)
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(-)
Japanese ground losses:
90 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Allied ground losses:
30 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
6th RTA Division
Defending units:
2nd Reserve Division
RE: Mines in the Pacific
September 20th
BURMA/INDIA
Well, the div landed at Port Blair self-immolated. You can read all about it here... tt.asp?forumid=711 [8|]
After the dust had settled I evacuated what was left of the division to Trincomalee and immediately prepped two more Divs for Port Blair. And then I sailed in on the attack anyway.
D-Day at Rangoon was on the 18th. 5 divisions hit Rangoon, which was defended by one division, and tore it apart. 100 infantry squads, 250 vehicles and 100 guns all destroyed (mostly AA guns). Despite having two weeks warning due to the Port Blair arse up he still seems to be surprised, perhaps by the size of the heavy hand that just hit him. Over five Allied divisions are ashore now, plus baseforces, and now I'm ordering the advance. Pegu is top priority as it cuts Burma off from the rest of the world.
In the air the Allied airfarce did a good job splattering first Prome and then Moulmein and then the base just east of Prome, as he hopped air units around. He's had two cracks at the Allied fleet, both of them went badly. On the 20th we had the biggest air duel yet, when he swept the now Allied Rangoon with nigh on 200 fighters and then sent in about 50 bombers. The attacks were not properly coordinated and went in to the 150 Hellcat buzzsaw - total losses 126 Japanese for 13 Hellcats. But Oscars/Tonies, what did he expect?
It's going to be a hard fight, I think, but he's badly shaken by this. I need to find defensive positions for the Rangoonians to hole up. Fortunately, there is rough terrain all around.
SOPAC
Took Gasmata off him, easy fight for the marines, not so easy on the merchant navy. Took the worst losses yet in so doing - proof that the suppressive abilities of heavy bombers are actually quite limited when you can rush reinforcements in. I think i lost about 10 merchants, and most militarised AKs and APs too. OTOH Gasmata means I can take Talasea as well, the marines are already marching. Barges supply Gasmata, he cannot interdict them so easily.
Much of the sealift capacity here has been ordered to CENTPAC, that said I plan on an assault on Buna soon and transport is being moved aroudn in readiness.
CENTPAC
Majuro was captured fairly easily.
Japanese presence here has gone quiet. I'm assuming KB is hightailing it to the Bay of Bengal, so while the cat is away the mice will play! Sealift is en route to CENTPAC from SOPAC, I plan on assaults on Wotje and fairly soon after that even Roi-Namur!
BURMA/INDIA
Well, the div landed at Port Blair self-immolated. You can read all about it here... tt.asp?forumid=711 [8|]
After the dust had settled I evacuated what was left of the division to Trincomalee and immediately prepped two more Divs for Port Blair. And then I sailed in on the attack anyway.
D-Day at Rangoon was on the 18th. 5 divisions hit Rangoon, which was defended by one division, and tore it apart. 100 infantry squads, 250 vehicles and 100 guns all destroyed (mostly AA guns). Despite having two weeks warning due to the Port Blair arse up he still seems to be surprised, perhaps by the size of the heavy hand that just hit him. Over five Allied divisions are ashore now, plus baseforces, and now I'm ordering the advance. Pegu is top priority as it cuts Burma off from the rest of the world.
In the air the Allied airfarce did a good job splattering first Prome and then Moulmein and then the base just east of Prome, as he hopped air units around. He's had two cracks at the Allied fleet, both of them went badly. On the 20th we had the biggest air duel yet, when he swept the now Allied Rangoon with nigh on 200 fighters and then sent in about 50 bombers. The attacks were not properly coordinated and went in to the 150 Hellcat buzzsaw - total losses 126 Japanese for 13 Hellcats. But Oscars/Tonies, what did he expect?
It's going to be a hard fight, I think, but he's badly shaken by this. I need to find defensive positions for the Rangoonians to hole up. Fortunately, there is rough terrain all around.
SOPAC
Took Gasmata off him, easy fight for the marines, not so easy on the merchant navy. Took the worst losses yet in so doing - proof that the suppressive abilities of heavy bombers are actually quite limited when you can rush reinforcements in. I think i lost about 10 merchants, and most militarised AKs and APs too. OTOH Gasmata means I can take Talasea as well, the marines are already marching. Barges supply Gasmata, he cannot interdict them so easily.
Much of the sealift capacity here has been ordered to CENTPAC, that said I plan on an assault on Buna soon and transport is being moved aroudn in readiness.
CENTPAC
Majuro was captured fairly easily.
Japanese presence here has gone quiet. I'm assuming KB is hightailing it to the Bay of Bengal, so while the cat is away the mice will play! Sealift is en route to CENTPAC from SOPAC, I plan on assaults on Wotje and fairly soon after that even Roi-Namur!
RE: Mines in the Pacific
September 22nd
He tried to force a CV battle at Rangoon but apparently his fleet split up - full speed was involved - and a single partial strike made it in. They got Hellcatted horribly.
In the email exchange that followed, this was brought up :-
"allies are hard code limited to strike range of 7 from carriers. Japanese max carrier strike range is 8. "
I didn't actually know that so unbeknownst to me every turn an Allied CV force doesn't move while under Japanese recon they are flirting with death. Silly me, I was merely using the stats of the aircraft concerned rather than the "Screw the Allies" extra rules.
I've honestly lost count of the number of ridiculous hardcoded "enhancements" that riddle this game to screw the Allies at every turn. [8|] You'd think the Japanese won the war or something. [8|] I wonder what the historical justification for that hardcoded limit is that means if you don't move, every turn, you risk a totally one sided carrier engagement which never actually happened except in the fevered fantasies of the JFB.
Annnnyway, I'm hardly surprised, merely resigned. I'll only update briefly Burma, as not enough time has passed for much to develop elsewhere.
There are T-bolts at Rangoon now, and they've meted out lots of punishment as he persistently tries to sweep it. I think total IJ air losses during the Rangoon invasion so far are now well into the 200s, probably >250 if the current days shenanigans are included, in exchange for about 20 Hellcats. in addition as the fights are all over Allied capital ships and bases, the pilot losses are even more one sided. Going to need more fighters again though I think as if he wins air superiority over Rangoon and manages to crater the airfield, that will be Very Very Bad.
Pegu falls to the Allies with massive casualties, the remnants retreat towards Moulmein. I'm going to have a weak division chase them, as I want to hold Moulmein too. Meanwhile the rest of the Allied land force turns north to try and get into the jungles asap - Pegu is the key here, as it's the link from Burma to the rest of the Japanese Empire. If I can hold that a good 5-10 Japanese divisions will be starving.
Allied bombers are in interdiction mode, hitting Japanese ground units at bases across the rest of Burma to try and prevent strategic movement. Some pretty heavy casualties have been caused, 100+ sort of numbers in a single raid against forested bases, so I think he is indeed in strat rather than combat mode.
I guess next turn I will attempt to force a CV battle. I wasn't planning on seeking CV battle until 1944 but with him down about 50 Judies and 50 Zeroes, it may well be worth the risk. The Allied convoy is finally all ashore at Rangoon now, the 3 escort carriers will escort the convoy north towards Diamond Harbour asap while the other CVs advance SW towards the enemy.
He tried to force a CV battle at Rangoon but apparently his fleet split up - full speed was involved - and a single partial strike made it in. They got Hellcatted horribly.
In the email exchange that followed, this was brought up :-
"allies are hard code limited to strike range of 7 from carriers. Japanese max carrier strike range is 8. "
I didn't actually know that so unbeknownst to me every turn an Allied CV force doesn't move while under Japanese recon they are flirting with death. Silly me, I was merely using the stats of the aircraft concerned rather than the "Screw the Allies" extra rules.
I've honestly lost count of the number of ridiculous hardcoded "enhancements" that riddle this game to screw the Allies at every turn. [8|] You'd think the Japanese won the war or something. [8|] I wonder what the historical justification for that hardcoded limit is that means if you don't move, every turn, you risk a totally one sided carrier engagement which never actually happened except in the fevered fantasies of the JFB.
Annnnyway, I'm hardly surprised, merely resigned. I'll only update briefly Burma, as not enough time has passed for much to develop elsewhere.
There are T-bolts at Rangoon now, and they've meted out lots of punishment as he persistently tries to sweep it. I think total IJ air losses during the Rangoon invasion so far are now well into the 200s, probably >250 if the current days shenanigans are included, in exchange for about 20 Hellcats. in addition as the fights are all over Allied capital ships and bases, the pilot losses are even more one sided. Going to need more fighters again though I think as if he wins air superiority over Rangoon and manages to crater the airfield, that will be Very Very Bad.
Pegu falls to the Allies with massive casualties, the remnants retreat towards Moulmein. I'm going to have a weak division chase them, as I want to hold Moulmein too. Meanwhile the rest of the Allied land force turns north to try and get into the jungles asap - Pegu is the key here, as it's the link from Burma to the rest of the Japanese Empire. If I can hold that a good 5-10 Japanese divisions will be starving.
Allied bombers are in interdiction mode, hitting Japanese ground units at bases across the rest of Burma to try and prevent strategic movement. Some pretty heavy casualties have been caused, 100+ sort of numbers in a single raid against forested bases, so I think he is indeed in strat rather than combat mode.
I guess next turn I will attempt to force a CV battle. I wasn't planning on seeking CV battle until 1944 but with him down about 50 Judies and 50 Zeroes, it may well be worth the risk. The Allied convoy is finally all ashore at Rangoon now, the 3 escort carriers will escort the convoy north towards Diamond Harbour asap while the other CVs advance SW towards the enemy.
RE: Mines in the Pacific
Here's a rare screenie of southern Burma / the naval situation. This is the day after his failed attack on the Allied CV force - he's lost 60 Judies and 40 Zeroes from his naval aviation so I guess an exchange now would be profitable for the Allies.
Port Blair is totally wrecked, I've ordered another B24 raid out of Akyab to make sure it stays that way. The Allied CVs are advancing roughly SW.
The ships at Rangoon - all 200+ of them - are done unloading now, and have been ordered to hug the coast up towards Akyab out of the way. There are 3 CVEs escorting.
You can also see the breakout from Rangoon in progress. I fear that I might not have quite enough divisions to do what I want exactly, though with 14th Army hot on the heels of the Japanese in northern Burma there are certainly plenty of Allies in theatre. One British division is en route to Moulmein, one Australian division is headed NE from Rangoon, three divisions are headed NE from Pegu. I want to find a nice bunch of forest hexes to hole up in and pin him, while 14th Army stays in contact as he retreats. And he is retreating, in northern Burma.
Next turn if I remember I'll take a screenshot centred on Burma as the situation there is become quite complicated. The amphibious assault on Rangoon has certainly achieved the objective of a massive dislocation of enemy positions, anyway! Even with all the cockups due to funky Allied game mechanics.
Port Blair is totally wrecked, I've ordered another B24 raid out of Akyab to make sure it stays that way. The Allied CVs are advancing roughly SW.
The ships at Rangoon - all 200+ of them - are done unloading now, and have been ordered to hug the coast up towards Akyab out of the way. There are 3 CVEs escorting.
You can also see the breakout from Rangoon in progress. I fear that I might not have quite enough divisions to do what I want exactly, though with 14th Army hot on the heels of the Japanese in northern Burma there are certainly plenty of Allies in theatre. One British division is en route to Moulmein, one Australian division is headed NE from Rangoon, three divisions are headed NE from Pegu. I want to find a nice bunch of forest hexes to hole up in and pin him, while 14th Army stays in contact as he retreats. And he is retreating, in northern Burma.
Next turn if I remember I'll take a screenshot centred on Burma as the situation there is become quite complicated. The amphibious assault on Rangoon has certainly achieved the objective of a massive dislocation of enemy positions, anyway! Even with all the cockups due to funky Allied game mechanics.
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RE: Mines in the Pacific
Here's Burma.
6-8 Japanese divisions in Burma right now. This is not going to be a pushover. I do think, though, that my chances are pretty good of pulling this one off.
Not happy with the forces at Rangoon, I think I need more, or he'll be able to concentrate and push me out. I got some reinforcements earmarked, but they won't be able to sail for a good few weeks.
The Chindits are going to run around grabbing bases to disrupt as much as possible in a near-suicide mission, I think I need as much havoc for the Japanese as possible right now.
Oh, notice that Stillwell's NCAC boys have managed to actually sit athwart Japanese supply there, too!
6-8 Japanese divisions in Burma right now. This is not going to be a pushover. I do think, though, that my chances are pretty good of pulling this one off.
Not happy with the forces at Rangoon, I think I need more, or he'll be able to concentrate and push me out. I got some reinforcements earmarked, but they won't be able to sail for a good few weeks.
The Chindits are going to run around grabbing bases to disrupt as much as possible in a near-suicide mission, I think I need as much havoc for the Japanese as possible right now.
Oh, notice that Stillwell's NCAC boys have managed to actually sit athwart Japanese supply there, too!
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RE: Mines in the Pacific
Known Japanese lineup...
One hex east of Akyab is ~3 divisions equivalent though quite badly bruised after some attritional battles. The Allied forces in that hex are an entire corps of 14th Army pretty much.
The bombing hex contains 3 more division equivalents - this is the main threat atm as they are already on the rail network. Hence why almost every bomber in range is targeting them.
There are 25,000 reported troops at Myritkina and Katha which are now trapped by the other 14th Army corps. I think most of them are engineers though. So probably a regiment, maybe, but doubtfully, a division.
In the south Japanese presence is much lighter. There was one division at Rangoon but it's been smashed, and a regiment at Pegu - ditto. Pretty confident that while the Japanese are out of position in the north of the country they can sweep all before them, its a question of how many they can sweep before those three plus divisions arrive. The race to Toungoo is on!
One hex east of Akyab is ~3 divisions equivalent though quite badly bruised after some attritional battles. The Allied forces in that hex are an entire corps of 14th Army pretty much.
The bombing hex contains 3 more division equivalents - this is the main threat atm as they are already on the rail network. Hence why almost every bomber in range is targeting them.
There are 25,000 reported troops at Myritkina and Katha which are now trapped by the other 14th Army corps. I think most of them are engineers though. So probably a regiment, maybe, but doubtfully, a division.
In the south Japanese presence is much lighter. There was one division at Rangoon but it's been smashed, and a regiment at Pegu - ditto. Pretty confident that while the Japanese are out of position in the north of the country they can sweep all before them, its a question of how many they can sweep before those three plus divisions arrive. The race to Toungoo is on!
RE: Mines in the Pacific
26th September sees an IJN raid on Gasmata with CA Mikuma + 7DD, which blows up about 15 barges and destroys 30 valuable engineering vehicles. Plenty more are ashore, though, so don't think it'll have any operational impact really.
The naval engine burned my foe again as his cruiser lingered to fight barges by day as well as by night, however the air model burned me - bad weather in the morning, and in the afternoon the strike wasn't very lucky, a Beaufort scored a hit with a dud torp, and one 1000lb and 3 x 500lb bombs hit CA Mikuma.
Lots of subs for that damaged cruiser to run over on the way home, plus I'm sortieing the Allied surface presence in the area - 2 CL + 3 DD - to the straits near Finschafen in the hope of an intercept.
Operationally things are going well here, got another landing about to happen at Buna - unfortunately a single brigade which I doubt will be enough unless his supply has run out by now, which in fairness it may have. The marines are going to march from Gasmata to Talasea and take it overland which would open up many more possibilities (bear in mind I got about 60 transport aircraft in theatre which I could use to supply fighters at Talasea).
The naval engine burned my foe again as his cruiser lingered to fight barges by day as well as by night, however the air model burned me - bad weather in the morning, and in the afternoon the strike wasn't very lucky, a Beaufort scored a hit with a dud torp, and one 1000lb and 3 x 500lb bombs hit CA Mikuma.
Lots of subs for that damaged cruiser to run over on the way home, plus I'm sortieing the Allied surface presence in the area - 2 CL + 3 DD - to the straits near Finschafen in the hope of an intercept.
Operationally things are going well here, got another landing about to happen at Buna - unfortunately a single brigade which I doubt will be enough unless his supply has run out by now, which in fairness it may have. The marines are going to march from Gasmata to Talasea and take it overland which would open up many more possibilities (bear in mind I got about 60 transport aircraft in theatre which I could use to supply fighters at Talasea).
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RE: Mines in the Pacific
Meanwhile in CENTPAC the Allies are advancing there, too.
The three remaining Japanese islands are all built up and defended and capable of basing a lot of a/c if need be. HOwever constant Allied bombing has meant that he's mostly got them abandoned right now. I'm sure when he spots incoming units though a lot of air units can be brought in on short notice. There have been no convoys here for months, so I'd hope he's out of supply or almost out of supply.
Wotje is going to be hit first, and then hopefully Roi-Namur about a month or so later. 1 Marine regiment + tanks are the first wave, I could send in more if need be but am hoping to avoid that. The invasion will be covered by 25 Airacrobras at nearby Maloelap which is only able to base 1 non-floatplane squadron atm. Given KB is elsewhere and I expect only reasonably light opposition the couple of carriers in the Pacific - a CVE and a CVL from Pearl which might not make it in time - will be deployed to catch any Emilies that may sortie.
There has been no IJN presence detected here for some time, certainly no CVs. There are quite a few cruisers at Truk, recon suggests, but thats probably too far to intervene I would say.
The three remaining Japanese islands are all built up and defended and capable of basing a lot of a/c if need be. HOwever constant Allied bombing has meant that he's mostly got them abandoned right now. I'm sure when he spots incoming units though a lot of air units can be brought in on short notice. There have been no convoys here for months, so I'd hope he's out of supply or almost out of supply.
Wotje is going to be hit first, and then hopefully Roi-Namur about a month or so later. 1 Marine regiment + tanks are the first wave, I could send in more if need be but am hoping to avoid that. The invasion will be covered by 25 Airacrobras at nearby Maloelap which is only able to base 1 non-floatplane squadron atm. Given KB is elsewhere and I expect only reasonably light opposition the couple of carriers in the Pacific - a CVE and a CVL from Pearl which might not make it in time - will be deployed to catch any Emilies that may sortie.
There has been no IJN presence detected here for some time, certainly no CVs. There are quite a few cruisers at Truk, recon suggests, but thats probably too far to intervene I would say.
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RE: Mines in the Pacific
Long time since the last update, there was a hiatus due to holiday but we've done a lot of turns nevertheless.
October 16th, 1943
BURMA/INDIA
14th Army has linked up with I Australia Corps at the western edge of Burma - it has little military significance but is a nice milestone.
Mandalay fell on the 12th, heavy casualties to the Japanese 38th Division. Only a slim wedge of indefensible ground in central Burma is now in Japanese control, plus the trails to Lashio and from Taung Gyi to Pegu. The Aussies in the south have advanced up past Toungoo as far as Taung Gyi but the single division there is unable to capture the town. Reinforcements are en route asap but I think I might be too slow and so the Japs will have a way out of the central Burmese plain.
This means that a large body of Japs will escape into the wilds of eastern Burma. It'll take them months to get out of there I imagine but get out of there they will in time, and it unfortunately means that Burma is going to absorb a couple of divisions at least as a garrison.
Air war has been totally one sided, not even one Japanese sortie over Burma in all this time.
At sea there have been a few fencing maneuvers. Picket ships off Sumatra picked up KB approaching Ceylon - the Allied CV force was scrambled in response. We were both well aware that we were in the Bay of Bengal, I moved the Allied CVs SE of Ceylon to protect the hundreds of transports there should he advance upon it, but he declined battle and moved NE towards Port Blair. He passed around the Andaman islands and headed back to Singapore as best we can tell.
Then a few days passed of a couple of Japanese DDs hunting my pickets and the British submarines in the straits near Sabang. An AMC and an AK were sunk, the lack of forward pickets have compelled me to rebase the fleet to Cochin. This has its flaws, fuel on the Indian subcontinent rapidly drains away while on Ceylon it doesn't. I would love to sortie and invade Port Blair again but lack of fuel prevents me, bear in mind there are 200 odd ships at Cochin and a lot of them are gas guzzlers, the handful of TKs in the area are woefully inadequate to support operations. I assumed the short distance to Aden/Abadan would mean that I could keep the place in fuel no problem with AKs alone, however the small port sizes of Aden/Abadan limit how many AKs you can throw at the problem. 100 AK fuel convoys alas are no solution. Some TKs are en route from the Pacific Theatre but I suspect they will not arrive in time unless I choose to do further naval operations in the Bay of Bengal at the beginning of 44.
A couple of tiny AKL convoys have resupplied Rangoon from Diamond Harbor, each convoy only is worth about 10k supply so this is an ongoing thing. Fighter squadrons at Rangoon have prevented him from attacking them but the IJN certainly could buzz Rangoon if he wants. Hence the use of expendable AKLs.
Plans are to continue mopping up Burma for now. When the fuel situation is resolved more amphibious assaults become possible. I have two Chinese corps prepping for Port Blair, and the US div that failed taking Port Blair so spectacularly prepping for Sabang. By the time its fixed from that debacle it'll be at 100 prep points. Further ops would tie up the fleet for a long time but I think it's worth keeping the CVs here for the last quarter of 43, Sumatra is a big strategic prize.
CHINA
Chungking finally fell, on the 14th. The Chinese Army retreated in good order though and there are almost no reinforcements on the list for them, so largely intact. They are hightailing it out of there as fast as humanly possible, the plan is to hole them up on the China/Burma border, which is extremely defensible, and prevent the bulk of the IJA from interfering with Commonwealth operations in Burma or Malaysia. I'm hoping on getting supply to them in large amounts when central Burma and the Lashio road have been cleared, which I anticipate happening in the next month or so.
SOPAC
The cruiser raid mentioned above didnt encounter anything, the Japs slipped away. The cruisers did get lightly bombed by skip bombing Helens though so I had to pull them back to Sydney to be fixed. The DDs lingered at Gasmata though and saw action! (see below).
The Marines advanced across New Britain to Talasea and took it. SeaBees were then shipped over by AK to Talasea but the port 0 there made it impossible to unload the vehicles, also the AKs took heavy damage from 200 odd sorties that came out of Rabaul ([8|]). Didn't interfere with the Allied operation really as my AKs are near limitless, but still, this bypassing lark just doesn't work.
Been bombing with the 100 heavies still to try and burn up Japanese supply, and it does appear to be working. Japan attempted one convoy run to bases on the north coast of PNG, the range was too far for an aerial strike so I ballsily sent a four DD flotilla up there at full speed. To my own surprise they didnt get attacked by bombers despite this being about 15-20 hexes from the front, so a deep raid, they found a convoy of AKLs escorted by some ASW craft, and set the lot ablaze. Not sure how many sunk but certainly no supply landed.
On the 15th another convoy was spotted NE of Manus headed South. I attempted to assist my naval bombers by a) sweeping Manus and b) bombing the tar out of Kavieng, and moved the US surface fleet, which is quite substantial, up to Feni Islands from their bases in the Solomons. Turned out the Japs were headed for Kavieng, with a strong SAG including BB Fuso, and about 10 AKs.
On the 16th battle was joined! Two Jap DDs buzzed Feni Islands where they met BB Colorado and four CAs and four DDs, the Allies of course couldnt hit a bean so the DDs managed to get away with it, no damage to either side but about 25 percent of the SAGs ammo used up. Allied air attacks were made, mostly attack bombers but some Dauntlesses and Avengers too, the sweeps mentioned above at Manus met nothing. The Avengers went in first and were shredded by 100+ on CAP despite heavy escort, then the B24s hit Kavieng and did some damage but not too extreme. They opened up the CAP enough for bombers to make bombing runs but only with heavy losses, the end result of the day was about 20 bomb hits on Fuso, who magnetically attracted all the firepower away from the AKs, but at a loss of 50 Allied aircraft, half of them Avengers.
Fuso might be in a bad way after 20 hits though, heavy fires were reported. I'm sending in two SAGs and a PT boat squadron to Kavieng, and I'm certain he's barely unloaded anything so far, so if he wants to land he's going to have to linger. Colorado plus cruisers, and a lighter SAG with CA Indianapolis and CL Honolulu plus six DDs. The heavy SAG, as noted, is not on full ammo unfortunately.
CENTPAC
At the tail end of September I was moving warships from CENTPAC to SOPAC (the aforementioned Indianapolis/Honolulu SAG) when long range recon picked up several Japanese TFs near Ponape headed SE, to one of the atoll bases just at the edge of Allied heavy bomber range. As this was pretty much in the dead zone where neither of our airforces could intervene I diverted the Honolulu/Indianapolis SAG to patrol their suspected location and sent in BB Washington plus friends from Tarawa, where they are based. So some luck that he decided to come out just when I was redeploying.
The cruisers found a minelaying TF of half a dozen light ships but again the incompetence of the Allies meant they got away from them pretty much scot free, no sinkings, a couple of light shell hits on Japanese light craft. Next day they were all in flight back to Truk, the cruisers were out of ammo, an angry red airplane symbol had appeared over the island SE of Ponape, and BB Washington was only just hoving into range, so I decided to pull the plug on the op and pull back. The BB shelled the angry red airfield and withdrew while Indianapolis/Honolulu continued to Munda.
Meanwhile the campaign has been going quite well, Wotje has fallen to the Marines, Kwajalein and Roi-Namur are completely suppressed and, I believe, out of supply. A well prepared division is currently sailing to Kwajalein with an amphib HQ supporting, I'm confident it will fall quite quickly, I got units prepped for Roi Namur too so soon as the amphib TF is done the Roi-Namur invasion will proceed, hopefully both atolls will fall within a couple of weeks. Allied bombers are striking targets further in now, to the various atolls around Ponape. I got units prepping for Wake Island and Eniwetok, which will be the next couple of jumps.
The Allied force now of 2 CVL and 1 CVE seem to be doing pretty well at keeping the rather limited Japanese aviation away from my BBs and landing craft given KB is elsewhere. But to leap to the Marianas I think would be rather difficult without the full fleet. Going to be quite a decision in late 43 I think to decide where to put the CVs, keep them in the Bay of Bengal to support an attack on Sumatra, or return them to the Pacific.
October 16th, 1943
BURMA/INDIA
14th Army has linked up with I Australia Corps at the western edge of Burma - it has little military significance but is a nice milestone.
Mandalay fell on the 12th, heavy casualties to the Japanese 38th Division. Only a slim wedge of indefensible ground in central Burma is now in Japanese control, plus the trails to Lashio and from Taung Gyi to Pegu. The Aussies in the south have advanced up past Toungoo as far as Taung Gyi but the single division there is unable to capture the town. Reinforcements are en route asap but I think I might be too slow and so the Japs will have a way out of the central Burmese plain.
This means that a large body of Japs will escape into the wilds of eastern Burma. It'll take them months to get out of there I imagine but get out of there they will in time, and it unfortunately means that Burma is going to absorb a couple of divisions at least as a garrison.
Air war has been totally one sided, not even one Japanese sortie over Burma in all this time.
At sea there have been a few fencing maneuvers. Picket ships off Sumatra picked up KB approaching Ceylon - the Allied CV force was scrambled in response. We were both well aware that we were in the Bay of Bengal, I moved the Allied CVs SE of Ceylon to protect the hundreds of transports there should he advance upon it, but he declined battle and moved NE towards Port Blair. He passed around the Andaman islands and headed back to Singapore as best we can tell.
Then a few days passed of a couple of Japanese DDs hunting my pickets and the British submarines in the straits near Sabang. An AMC and an AK were sunk, the lack of forward pickets have compelled me to rebase the fleet to Cochin. This has its flaws, fuel on the Indian subcontinent rapidly drains away while on Ceylon it doesn't. I would love to sortie and invade Port Blair again but lack of fuel prevents me, bear in mind there are 200 odd ships at Cochin and a lot of them are gas guzzlers, the handful of TKs in the area are woefully inadequate to support operations. I assumed the short distance to Aden/Abadan would mean that I could keep the place in fuel no problem with AKs alone, however the small port sizes of Aden/Abadan limit how many AKs you can throw at the problem. 100 AK fuel convoys alas are no solution. Some TKs are en route from the Pacific Theatre but I suspect they will not arrive in time unless I choose to do further naval operations in the Bay of Bengal at the beginning of 44.
A couple of tiny AKL convoys have resupplied Rangoon from Diamond Harbor, each convoy only is worth about 10k supply so this is an ongoing thing. Fighter squadrons at Rangoon have prevented him from attacking them but the IJN certainly could buzz Rangoon if he wants. Hence the use of expendable AKLs.
Plans are to continue mopping up Burma for now. When the fuel situation is resolved more amphibious assaults become possible. I have two Chinese corps prepping for Port Blair, and the US div that failed taking Port Blair so spectacularly prepping for Sabang. By the time its fixed from that debacle it'll be at 100 prep points. Further ops would tie up the fleet for a long time but I think it's worth keeping the CVs here for the last quarter of 43, Sumatra is a big strategic prize.
CHINA
Chungking finally fell, on the 14th. The Chinese Army retreated in good order though and there are almost no reinforcements on the list for them, so largely intact. They are hightailing it out of there as fast as humanly possible, the plan is to hole them up on the China/Burma border, which is extremely defensible, and prevent the bulk of the IJA from interfering with Commonwealth operations in Burma or Malaysia. I'm hoping on getting supply to them in large amounts when central Burma and the Lashio road have been cleared, which I anticipate happening in the next month or so.
SOPAC
The cruiser raid mentioned above didnt encounter anything, the Japs slipped away. The cruisers did get lightly bombed by skip bombing Helens though so I had to pull them back to Sydney to be fixed. The DDs lingered at Gasmata though and saw action! (see below).
The Marines advanced across New Britain to Talasea and took it. SeaBees were then shipped over by AK to Talasea but the port 0 there made it impossible to unload the vehicles, also the AKs took heavy damage from 200 odd sorties that came out of Rabaul ([8|]). Didn't interfere with the Allied operation really as my AKs are near limitless, but still, this bypassing lark just doesn't work.
Been bombing with the 100 heavies still to try and burn up Japanese supply, and it does appear to be working. Japan attempted one convoy run to bases on the north coast of PNG, the range was too far for an aerial strike so I ballsily sent a four DD flotilla up there at full speed. To my own surprise they didnt get attacked by bombers despite this being about 15-20 hexes from the front, so a deep raid, they found a convoy of AKLs escorted by some ASW craft, and set the lot ablaze. Not sure how many sunk but certainly no supply landed.
On the 15th another convoy was spotted NE of Manus headed South. I attempted to assist my naval bombers by a) sweeping Manus and b) bombing the tar out of Kavieng, and moved the US surface fleet, which is quite substantial, up to Feni Islands from their bases in the Solomons. Turned out the Japs were headed for Kavieng, with a strong SAG including BB Fuso, and about 10 AKs.
On the 16th battle was joined! Two Jap DDs buzzed Feni Islands where they met BB Colorado and four CAs and four DDs, the Allies of course couldnt hit a bean so the DDs managed to get away with it, no damage to either side but about 25 percent of the SAGs ammo used up. Allied air attacks were made, mostly attack bombers but some Dauntlesses and Avengers too, the sweeps mentioned above at Manus met nothing. The Avengers went in first and were shredded by 100+ on CAP despite heavy escort, then the B24s hit Kavieng and did some damage but not too extreme. They opened up the CAP enough for bombers to make bombing runs but only with heavy losses, the end result of the day was about 20 bomb hits on Fuso, who magnetically attracted all the firepower away from the AKs, but at a loss of 50 Allied aircraft, half of them Avengers.
Fuso might be in a bad way after 20 hits though, heavy fires were reported. I'm sending in two SAGs and a PT boat squadron to Kavieng, and I'm certain he's barely unloaded anything so far, so if he wants to land he's going to have to linger. Colorado plus cruisers, and a lighter SAG with CA Indianapolis and CL Honolulu plus six DDs. The heavy SAG, as noted, is not on full ammo unfortunately.
CENTPAC
At the tail end of September I was moving warships from CENTPAC to SOPAC (the aforementioned Indianapolis/Honolulu SAG) when long range recon picked up several Japanese TFs near Ponape headed SE, to one of the atoll bases just at the edge of Allied heavy bomber range. As this was pretty much in the dead zone where neither of our airforces could intervene I diverted the Honolulu/Indianapolis SAG to patrol their suspected location and sent in BB Washington plus friends from Tarawa, where they are based. So some luck that he decided to come out just when I was redeploying.
The cruisers found a minelaying TF of half a dozen light ships but again the incompetence of the Allies meant they got away from them pretty much scot free, no sinkings, a couple of light shell hits on Japanese light craft. Next day they were all in flight back to Truk, the cruisers were out of ammo, an angry red airplane symbol had appeared over the island SE of Ponape, and BB Washington was only just hoving into range, so I decided to pull the plug on the op and pull back. The BB shelled the angry red airfield and withdrew while Indianapolis/Honolulu continued to Munda.
Meanwhile the campaign has been going quite well, Wotje has fallen to the Marines, Kwajalein and Roi-Namur are completely suppressed and, I believe, out of supply. A well prepared division is currently sailing to Kwajalein with an amphib HQ supporting, I'm confident it will fall quite quickly, I got units prepped for Roi Namur too so soon as the amphib TF is done the Roi-Namur invasion will proceed, hopefully both atolls will fall within a couple of weeks. Allied bombers are striking targets further in now, to the various atolls around Ponape. I got units prepping for Wake Island and Eniwetok, which will be the next couple of jumps.
The Allied force now of 2 CVL and 1 CVE seem to be doing pretty well at keeping the rather limited Japanese aviation away from my BBs and landing craft given KB is elsewhere. But to leap to the Marianas I think would be rather difficult without the full fleet. Going to be quite a decision in late 43 I think to decide where to put the CVs, keep them in the Bay of Bengal to support an attack on Sumatra, or return them to the Pacific.
RE: Mines in the Pacific
I think Burma is still the main theatre, so here's a screenshot of the current state of affairs. You can see the I Australia Corps, dumped in Rangoon, are now fully linked up with 14th Army that was pressing down from the north. A lot of 14th Army is stuck in the jungle border and didn't really do anything aside from fix his troops at the Indian border.
Looks like he was smart enough for immediate evacuation and so he's saved a lot of units - thats 37 units at Taung Gyi there, mostly engineers, and they are on their way SE. He just made it out of there. Looks like about 10-12 units have been trapped behind the new Allied lines, I'd guess 2-3 divisions worth of combat troops. So he has limited his losses at least, it wasn't a battle of annihilation.
But the lighting capture of Burma is quite a coup in its own right of course.
I need to open up the corridor to Lashio, I think a division or two will be doing that asap. Then a garrison in Burma - another division probably. A bit of consolidation and then we can head for Tavoy maybe. I guess that wont happen until beginning of December.
Looks like he was smart enough for immediate evacuation and so he's saved a lot of units - thats 37 units at Taung Gyi there, mostly engineers, and they are on their way SE. He just made it out of there. Looks like about 10-12 units have been trapped behind the new Allied lines, I'd guess 2-3 divisions worth of combat troops. So he has limited his losses at least, it wasn't a battle of annihilation.
But the lighting capture of Burma is quite a coup in its own right of course.
I need to open up the corridor to Lashio, I think a division or two will be doing that asap. Then a garrison in Burma - another division probably. A bit of consolidation and then we can head for Tavoy maybe. I guess that wont happen until beginning of December.
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RE: Mines in the Pacific
Fair few turns have passed but its mostly been attrition and slow grinding... mostly. The outer Japanese defensive line has been well and truly broken now.
November 9th, 1943
BURMA/INDIA
The entirety of Burma from Pegu to Myritkina is now in my hands with the exception of Lashio. An Indian division advancing along the road was defeated in the field by a surprisingly powerful Japanese division. I retreated the div to Mandalay but it really needs to be evacced back to India to rest I think. That means Lashio is still in Japanese hands.
Aside from that it's all bad for the Japanese in Burma. Several massive defeats of Japanese units in the Burmese interior have meant about a division and a half worth of squads annihilated, and hes' finally been booted off the railway lines. An attempted Japanese assault on Pegu with an out of supply brigade was repulsed by a Bde of Aussies bloodily. Chindits took the dot hex NE of Lashio in a paradrop, and the Allies are gearing up for the next set of pushes - two or three divisions towards Lashio, the rest for Moulmein. 14th Army has now made it onto the railway network, I'm just waiting for the tanks to reach Pegu and then we'll launch our assault south of Burma.
Naval superiority is, however, heavily contested with a slight advantage to the Japanese in that Port Blair is still in their control and thus means the Bay of Bengal is solidly reconned by Japanese search planes. Rangoon in particular is exposed - there have been several IJN cruiser bombardments of Rangoon in an attempt to shut it down but damage has actually been slight. The reason for the contested naval situation is that KB is based at Singapore and has regularly been ranging out in the Bay of Bengal. While the Allied CV force is based at Cochin I have declined to engage. This has meant that its been very hard to resupply Rangoon by sea, the only reinforcements I've managed to get ashore are a couple of Indian base forces, which are needed as a lot of Burma requires a garrison and I don't want to tie up my combat units.
There was an aborted invasion of Port Blair around the end of October, but in the face of a KB sortie it was abandoned. Fleet in being very much in practice here... events elsewhere are maybe going to tug KB away though, and Port Blair will become less useful to him if the Allied advance breaks out of Burma.
CHINA
Complete collapse. The Chinese army - all 6000 AV, with supply for the entire army on 0 - is attempting to race for the mountainous Burmese border, while being bombed heavily every step of the way and with 4000 AV of Japs hot on their heels. If they can get there, especially if I can capture Lashio and get a supply convoy into Rangoon, maybe the Chinese can at least hold them off there. I suspect however that they are going to be mostly torn apart en route and butchered by the IJA. I can't really imagine China being liberated any time soon, I expect that'll have to wait for 1945. The Russians, even.
So long as the Chinese can form a human shield between Imperial Japanese China and the Allied activities in Burma, I'll be happy.
SOPAC
The main advances have been in the Pacific lately. Talasea and Buna were captured by the Marines in late October and rapidly reinforced with baseforces. USAAF tactics changed a bit for a couple of weeks - rather than massed assaults on a couple of Jap airfields I've had 1 or 2 squadrons set for each IJ airbase in range. I'm not sure how effective this is in comparison but it's possible for me to moderately damage every Jap airfield in the theatre. Then my mini Allied CV force (see CENTPAC entry) covered an assault on Manus by one NZ and one US brigade, which was entirely successful with minimal casualties. The IJ airforce has made 1 appearance since the last update - he did attempt to hit the Manus invasion force with LBA. However the Hellcats aboard the US minifleet saw them off, ~80 Jap airframes shot down for almost no Allied losses at all.
Manus being in my hands is a game changer. It's an airfield 6, and it's only 16 hexes from Truk, which means massed heavy bombers are going to be hitting him very soon. It also lets me threaten a great swathe of eastern PNG. This essentially means the end of the South Pacific campaign, really. It remains to see where we go next.
CENTPAC
Kwajalein and Roi-Namur have both been captured, as well as a tiny atoll to the NE - I formed up a mini CV force (2 CVE, 2 CVL) to cover the landings, and they proved more than adequate to keep whatever tiny number of Emilies he had on hand away. They've been reinforced but not yet supplied, still, Allied bombers are now reaching as far west as Ponape and as far north as Wake, now. That CV force then went to SOPAC and did good service there.
There are so many Allied LCUs in CENTPAC that there literally isn't enough atoll space to house them all! Seems a shame to waste em, so the assaults will be continuing - units are prepping for Eniwetok, Nauru Island, and most importantly of all Kusai Island or whatever its called - equidistant between Ponape and Tarawa. Kusai Island would bring Truk into range, again.
STATE OF THE WAR
IJ scientists have been hard at work, seen a plethora of new aircraft on his side - Franks, Jacks, Jills. His airforce has been keeping fairly low lately mind with a few days of max effort - have to say though that his new toys are not proving to make much odds against the Allies, the P47 and Corsair eat him for breakfast, the P38 is plenty good when sweeping, and even the late model P40s seem to do better than his a/c can manage. First line a/c are still rare on the Allied side, not enough P47s by far and I'm still using a lot of P40Ks and later at the front.
B24Js mean that I have no heavy bomber shortage for the first time in the war, in fact the pool is building up with B24Js rather than bumping along on 0. Medium bombers are still rarer than hens teeth, and unfortunately my honourable foe is not stupid so they've found very few targets to hit. Really I've barely touched the IJN at all in 1943.
Allied strategic plans - I'm going to drive south from Burma and hopefully into Malaysia if all goes well. The objective is to completely dominate the straits between Malaysia and Sumatra with LBA, and then assault Sabang. With Sabang in my hands he's going to lose a lot of his oil.
Meanwhile plans are afoot to move up Papua New Guinea on both north and south shores towards the Philippines, and also towards the Marianas - a long hop, that. I'm going to pull the Allied CV force back to the Central Pacific in readiness for the Marianas, which I imagine will happen in the first quarter of 1944. If 14th Army can capture down as far as Victoria Point I don't think I'll need the fleet CVs to land on Sumatra, the British can manage it with just their escort carriers / Illustrious, I would say.
November 9th, 1943
BURMA/INDIA
The entirety of Burma from Pegu to Myritkina is now in my hands with the exception of Lashio. An Indian division advancing along the road was defeated in the field by a surprisingly powerful Japanese division. I retreated the div to Mandalay but it really needs to be evacced back to India to rest I think. That means Lashio is still in Japanese hands.
Aside from that it's all bad for the Japanese in Burma. Several massive defeats of Japanese units in the Burmese interior have meant about a division and a half worth of squads annihilated, and hes' finally been booted off the railway lines. An attempted Japanese assault on Pegu with an out of supply brigade was repulsed by a Bde of Aussies bloodily. Chindits took the dot hex NE of Lashio in a paradrop, and the Allies are gearing up for the next set of pushes - two or three divisions towards Lashio, the rest for Moulmein. 14th Army has now made it onto the railway network, I'm just waiting for the tanks to reach Pegu and then we'll launch our assault south of Burma.
Naval superiority is, however, heavily contested with a slight advantage to the Japanese in that Port Blair is still in their control and thus means the Bay of Bengal is solidly reconned by Japanese search planes. Rangoon in particular is exposed - there have been several IJN cruiser bombardments of Rangoon in an attempt to shut it down but damage has actually been slight. The reason for the contested naval situation is that KB is based at Singapore and has regularly been ranging out in the Bay of Bengal. While the Allied CV force is based at Cochin I have declined to engage. This has meant that its been very hard to resupply Rangoon by sea, the only reinforcements I've managed to get ashore are a couple of Indian base forces, which are needed as a lot of Burma requires a garrison and I don't want to tie up my combat units.
There was an aborted invasion of Port Blair around the end of October, but in the face of a KB sortie it was abandoned. Fleet in being very much in practice here... events elsewhere are maybe going to tug KB away though, and Port Blair will become less useful to him if the Allied advance breaks out of Burma.
CHINA
Complete collapse. The Chinese army - all 6000 AV, with supply for the entire army on 0 - is attempting to race for the mountainous Burmese border, while being bombed heavily every step of the way and with 4000 AV of Japs hot on their heels. If they can get there, especially if I can capture Lashio and get a supply convoy into Rangoon, maybe the Chinese can at least hold them off there. I suspect however that they are going to be mostly torn apart en route and butchered by the IJA. I can't really imagine China being liberated any time soon, I expect that'll have to wait for 1945. The Russians, even.
So long as the Chinese can form a human shield between Imperial Japanese China and the Allied activities in Burma, I'll be happy.
SOPAC
The main advances have been in the Pacific lately. Talasea and Buna were captured by the Marines in late October and rapidly reinforced with baseforces. USAAF tactics changed a bit for a couple of weeks - rather than massed assaults on a couple of Jap airfields I've had 1 or 2 squadrons set for each IJ airbase in range. I'm not sure how effective this is in comparison but it's possible for me to moderately damage every Jap airfield in the theatre. Then my mini Allied CV force (see CENTPAC entry) covered an assault on Manus by one NZ and one US brigade, which was entirely successful with minimal casualties. The IJ airforce has made 1 appearance since the last update - he did attempt to hit the Manus invasion force with LBA. However the Hellcats aboard the US minifleet saw them off, ~80 Jap airframes shot down for almost no Allied losses at all.
Manus being in my hands is a game changer. It's an airfield 6, and it's only 16 hexes from Truk, which means massed heavy bombers are going to be hitting him very soon. It also lets me threaten a great swathe of eastern PNG. This essentially means the end of the South Pacific campaign, really. It remains to see where we go next.
CENTPAC
Kwajalein and Roi-Namur have both been captured, as well as a tiny atoll to the NE - I formed up a mini CV force (2 CVE, 2 CVL) to cover the landings, and they proved more than adequate to keep whatever tiny number of Emilies he had on hand away. They've been reinforced but not yet supplied, still, Allied bombers are now reaching as far west as Ponape and as far north as Wake, now. That CV force then went to SOPAC and did good service there.
There are so many Allied LCUs in CENTPAC that there literally isn't enough atoll space to house them all! Seems a shame to waste em, so the assaults will be continuing - units are prepping for Eniwetok, Nauru Island, and most importantly of all Kusai Island or whatever its called - equidistant between Ponape and Tarawa. Kusai Island would bring Truk into range, again.
STATE OF THE WAR
IJ scientists have been hard at work, seen a plethora of new aircraft on his side - Franks, Jacks, Jills. His airforce has been keeping fairly low lately mind with a few days of max effort - have to say though that his new toys are not proving to make much odds against the Allies, the P47 and Corsair eat him for breakfast, the P38 is plenty good when sweeping, and even the late model P40s seem to do better than his a/c can manage. First line a/c are still rare on the Allied side, not enough P47s by far and I'm still using a lot of P40Ks and later at the front.
B24Js mean that I have no heavy bomber shortage for the first time in the war, in fact the pool is building up with B24Js rather than bumping along on 0. Medium bombers are still rarer than hens teeth, and unfortunately my honourable foe is not stupid so they've found very few targets to hit. Really I've barely touched the IJN at all in 1943.
Allied strategic plans - I'm going to drive south from Burma and hopefully into Malaysia if all goes well. The objective is to completely dominate the straits between Malaysia and Sumatra with LBA, and then assault Sabang. With Sabang in my hands he's going to lose a lot of his oil.
Meanwhile plans are afoot to move up Papua New Guinea on both north and south shores towards the Philippines, and also towards the Marianas - a long hop, that. I'm going to pull the Allied CV force back to the Central Pacific in readiness for the Marianas, which I imagine will happen in the first quarter of 1944. If 14th Army can capture down as far as Victoria Point I don't think I'll need the fleet CVs to land on Sumatra, the British can manage it with just their escort carriers / Illustrious, I would say.
RE: Mines in the Pacific
The US force of 2 CVL and 2 CVE, about 100 planes, plus BBs and ample surface combatants, was escorting a convoy containing engineers to Manus when the Japanese CV force which had been spotted earlier in CENTPAC hove into view to the north.
I knew this force to be embarking <100 aircraft, so assumed it was a couple of CVLs or one CV. I figured that the US could profitably attempt to engage this fleet, and thus cover the landings - bit of a gamble but I felt the advantage to be slightly mine, with Hellcats versus Zeroes and, I believed, more bombers.
Didn't go well for the USN, as per usual. [8|] Fortunately I had also considered the loss of a CVL to be fairly small beer in the great scheme of things, and just as well, as a CVL was sunk with absolutely nothing being achieved.
Day 1
US transport fleet is one hex from unloading at Manus. Japanese CV fleet sighted 9 hexes due N of Manus.
Day 2
Allied Spitfires moved to Manus despite poor state of runway and no av support to protect transports as they unload in case there's stragglers. Rest of force - two TFs (2 CVE in one TF and two CVL in another) ordered to advance N to engage.
...the CVLs ignore orders and rush on ahead leaving the CVEs a few hexes behind. The CVE fleet ends up stuck under bad weather as well, in a perfect re-enactment of the Allied disaster at Milne Bay earlier in the year, so it's now 2 CVL versus 1 Japanese CV at a range of only 2 hexes. Japanese fighters from Hollandia and Madang manage to coordinate perfectly with the Jap CV strike from the N ([X(][>:][:@]), CVL Cowpens gets hit. Allied return strike is just 8 Avengers ([:@]) and they all get shot down by the Japanese meeny CAP.
CL Detroit + 3 DD are cruising around trying to force a surface engagement meanwhile as I figure there is only limited IJN carrier firepower. They don't find the CV, they do get lightly bombed, 25 sys to CL Detroit, but worth the attempt.
Day 3
Timidity sets in in the Allied high command due to being served up yet another setback at sea and mistakes are made. The US CV fleet all bugs out entirely - my reasoning being that my aircrews are heavily depleted now and the Japanese have just pulled off yet another miracle, and CVL Monterey's fleet is almost out of AAA ammo after fending off air assaults. I'm worried that if the LBA manages another epic coordination like that then the rest is gonna get zapped. This saves the other flattops, as the Japanese do press the advantage. Cowpens gets lightly hit again and is now down to 2 knots speed so is clearly toast no matter what now.
Day 4
The four DD flotilla finds the Japanese at night, but gets slaughtered. Cowpens gets hit again and sinks just off Kavieng.
Errors were made on day 3 I think, I should have stuck to Cowpens like glue and brought her home. I think that would have been within my power still. However, seems to me that it was a worth the attempt - I believed (still do) that the Allied OOB had the advantage. The USN just can't handle the Japanese on anything like equal terms however... not even in late 1943, it seems. And I don't really think it was a Bad Idea, though the results of course sucked.
The operational situation in SOPAC is, as usual, far better than the dismal naval experiences imply though. Manus was resupplied and when the runway is fixed is going to be a major thorn in the IJNs side, denying him Truk ultimately we hope. Also a number of bases like Lae and Finschafen are now ripe for the picking, well behind his main line of resistance. The next couple of weeks are going to see Manus built up and more Allied invasions of PNG.
Here's the AARs with the SOPAC engagement alone included.
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Nov 12, 43
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Manus at 101,119
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 31 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 4
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 4
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 2 damaged
G3M3 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
xAK Clarence Darrow
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x G3M3 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Manus at 101,119
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 35 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Japanese aircraft
D4Y2 Judy x 11
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
D4Y2 Judy: 4 destroyed
No Allied losses
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Feni Islands at 108,126
(This raid looks to have been bad luck on his part, the TF was actually at Feni Islands and there is a lot of LBA there. Actually today there was a lot less than normal due to various sweeps to support bombers trashing Kavieng and Madang, just in case).
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 143 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 37 minutes
Japanese aircraft
D4Y2 Judy x 19
J2M2 Jack x 14
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IV x 2
P-40K Warhawk x 5
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 8
F4U-1 Corsair x 8
Japanese aircraft losses
D4Y2 Judy: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged
D4Y2 Judy: 2 destroyed by flak
J2M2 Jack: 4 destroyed
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 1
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 1
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Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
(This is the two CVLs that ran off on their own. And this is LBA from Papua New Guinea which is miles away somehow managing a sweep! Soon as I saw this I just knew the dice had rolled snake eyes for the Allies again... [8|] A lucky sweep-over-a-TF. This damaged a hell of a lot of Hellcats before the CVs even clashed)
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 102 NM, estimated altitude 38,440 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 15
Ki-84a Frank x 22
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed
No Allied losses
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Morning Air attack on Madang , at 97,123
(Here the buggers are)
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 39
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground
No Allied losses
Airbase hits 14
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 44
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Manus at 101,115
(This came from Hollandia and Madang combined)
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 19
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 11
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 28
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 4 destroyed
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 destroyed by flak
Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed
Allied Ships
CVL Monterey
CVL Cowpens
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rabaul at 106,127
(Transport TF evaccing from Manus got hit a bit but the ships hit were unloaded luckily)
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 5 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 1 minutes
Japanese aircraft
B6N2 Jill x 23
J2M2 Jack x 19
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IV x 1
P-40K Warhawk x 5
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 10
F4U-1 Corsair x 8
Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 2 damaged
J2M2 Jack: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
xAK Beltana, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Bundaleer, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Pierre S. Dupont, Torpedo hits 1
AM Madras
xAK Aldinga
xAK William T. Sherman, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manus at 102,114
(Here's the big hit, Army Oscars from Hollandia managed a link up over an enormous distance... [8|] nothing went the Allies way this day, nothing at all [:(] A lot of Oscars are shot down but they act as human shields for the bombers which is the main thing)
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 17
A6M5 Zero x 23
B6N2 Jill x 24
D4Y3 Judy x 17
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 29
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 28
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 15 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 3 destroyed by flak
D4Y3 Judy: 6 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 4 destroyed by flak
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 5 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed
Allied Ships
BB Alabama
CVL Monterey, Bomb hits 1
CVL Cowpens, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Satawal at 101,111
(Meanwhile the best the Allies can manage is one tiny strike package from what looks like a single CVL)
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 36 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 11
A6M5 Zero x 19
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 12
TBF-1 Avenger x 8
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed
TBF-1 Avenger: 5 destroyed
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Nov 13, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 37,440 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-84a Frank x 19
Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 8
F6F-3 Hellcat x 1
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-84a Frank: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed
Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Ki-84a Frank sweeping at 34440 feet *
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 17
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 14
Allied aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 damaged
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed on ground
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 damaged
Allied ground losses:
13 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Manus at 104,116
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 8
D4Y3 Judy x 5
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed
D4Y3 Judy: 2 damaged
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
CVL Cowpens, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage (this dooms her [:(])
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Manus at 103,113
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 64 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 9
B6N2 Jill x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 2 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 1 destroyed by flak
Allied Ships
DD Kidd
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Kavieng at 105,123
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid detected at 32 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 3 (from Truk.)
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IV x 1
F6F-3 Hellcat x 13 (from nearby CVEs)
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
BB Colorado
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x G3M3 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manus at 103,113
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 70 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 16
A6M5 Zero x 9
B6N2 Jill x 11
D4Y3 Judy x 4
Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 3 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 1 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak
Allied Ships
CL Detroit, Bomb hits 2, on fire (25 sys, nothing major)
DD Kidd
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Kavieng at 105,123
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid detected at 25 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 4 (Truk again)
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IV x 1
F6F-3 Hellcat x 13
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 2 destroyed
No Allied losses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manus at 103,113
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 19 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 5 damaged
G3M3 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak
Allied Ships
DD Kimberly
CL Detroit, heavy fires
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x G3M3 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Nov 14, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Manus at 104,113, Range 8,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
DD Fubuki
DD Asagiri
DD Fumizuki, Shell hits 1
DD Asanagi
E Yanagi
Allied Ships
DD Anthony, Shell hits 1
DD Conner, Shell hits 20, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Kidd, Shell hits 2
DD Kimberly, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
[8|] WTF, come on Allies? 2000 yards to a BB and they didnt even fire torps. Rabbits in headlights.
I knew this force to be embarking <100 aircraft, so assumed it was a couple of CVLs or one CV. I figured that the US could profitably attempt to engage this fleet, and thus cover the landings - bit of a gamble but I felt the advantage to be slightly mine, with Hellcats versus Zeroes and, I believed, more bombers.
Didn't go well for the USN, as per usual. [8|] Fortunately I had also considered the loss of a CVL to be fairly small beer in the great scheme of things, and just as well, as a CVL was sunk with absolutely nothing being achieved.
Day 1
US transport fleet is one hex from unloading at Manus. Japanese CV fleet sighted 9 hexes due N of Manus.
Day 2
Allied Spitfires moved to Manus despite poor state of runway and no av support to protect transports as they unload in case there's stragglers. Rest of force - two TFs (2 CVE in one TF and two CVL in another) ordered to advance N to engage.
...the CVLs ignore orders and rush on ahead leaving the CVEs a few hexes behind. The CVE fleet ends up stuck under bad weather as well, in a perfect re-enactment of the Allied disaster at Milne Bay earlier in the year, so it's now 2 CVL versus 1 Japanese CV at a range of only 2 hexes. Japanese fighters from Hollandia and Madang manage to coordinate perfectly with the Jap CV strike from the N ([X(][>:][:@]), CVL Cowpens gets hit. Allied return strike is just 8 Avengers ([:@]) and they all get shot down by the Japanese meeny CAP.
CL Detroit + 3 DD are cruising around trying to force a surface engagement meanwhile as I figure there is only limited IJN carrier firepower. They don't find the CV, they do get lightly bombed, 25 sys to CL Detroit, but worth the attempt.
Day 3
Timidity sets in in the Allied high command due to being served up yet another setback at sea and mistakes are made. The US CV fleet all bugs out entirely - my reasoning being that my aircrews are heavily depleted now and the Japanese have just pulled off yet another miracle, and CVL Monterey's fleet is almost out of AAA ammo after fending off air assaults. I'm worried that if the LBA manages another epic coordination like that then the rest is gonna get zapped. This saves the other flattops, as the Japanese do press the advantage. Cowpens gets lightly hit again and is now down to 2 knots speed so is clearly toast no matter what now.
Day 4
The four DD flotilla finds the Japanese at night, but gets slaughtered. Cowpens gets hit again and sinks just off Kavieng.
Errors were made on day 3 I think, I should have stuck to Cowpens like glue and brought her home. I think that would have been within my power still. However, seems to me that it was a worth the attempt - I believed (still do) that the Allied OOB had the advantage. The USN just can't handle the Japanese on anything like equal terms however... not even in late 1943, it seems. And I don't really think it was a Bad Idea, though the results of course sucked.
The operational situation in SOPAC is, as usual, far better than the dismal naval experiences imply though. Manus was resupplied and when the runway is fixed is going to be a major thorn in the IJNs side, denying him Truk ultimately we hope. Also a number of bases like Lae and Finschafen are now ripe for the picking, well behind his main line of resistance. The next couple of weeks are going to see Manus built up and more Allied invasions of PNG.
Here's the AARs with the SOPAC engagement alone included.
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Nov 12, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Manus at 101,119
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 31 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 4
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 4
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 2 damaged
G3M3 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
xAK Clarence Darrow
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x G3M3 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Manus at 101,119
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 35 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Japanese aircraft
D4Y2 Judy x 11
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
D4Y2 Judy: 4 destroyed
No Allied losses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Feni Islands at 108,126
(This raid looks to have been bad luck on his part, the TF was actually at Feni Islands and there is a lot of LBA there. Actually today there was a lot less than normal due to various sweeps to support bombers trashing Kavieng and Madang, just in case).
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 143 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 37 minutes
Japanese aircraft
D4Y2 Judy x 19
J2M2 Jack x 14
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IV x 2
P-40K Warhawk x 5
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 8
F4U-1 Corsair x 8
Japanese aircraft losses
D4Y2 Judy: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged
D4Y2 Judy: 2 destroyed by flak
J2M2 Jack: 4 destroyed
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 1
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
(This is the two CVLs that ran off on their own. And this is LBA from Papua New Guinea which is miles away somehow managing a sweep! Soon as I saw this I just knew the dice had rolled snake eyes for the Allies again... [8|] A lucky sweep-over-a-TF. This damaged a hell of a lot of Hellcats before the CVs even clashed)
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 102 NM, estimated altitude 38,440 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 15
Ki-84a Frank x 22
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed
No Allied losses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Madang , at 97,123
(Here the buggers are)
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 39
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground
No Allied losses
Airbase hits 14
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 44
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Manus at 101,115
(This came from Hollandia and Madang combined)
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 19
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 11
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 28
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 4 destroyed
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 destroyed by flak
Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed
Allied Ships
CVL Monterey
CVL Cowpens
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rabaul at 106,127
(Transport TF evaccing from Manus got hit a bit but the ships hit were unloaded luckily)
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 5 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 1 minutes
Japanese aircraft
B6N2 Jill x 23
J2M2 Jack x 19
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IV x 1
P-40K Warhawk x 5
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 10
F4U-1 Corsair x 8
Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 2 damaged
J2M2 Jack: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
xAK Beltana, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Bundaleer, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Pierre S. Dupont, Torpedo hits 1
AM Madras
xAK Aldinga
xAK William T. Sherman, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manus at 102,114
(Here's the big hit, Army Oscars from Hollandia managed a link up over an enormous distance... [8|] nothing went the Allies way this day, nothing at all [:(] A lot of Oscars are shot down but they act as human shields for the bombers which is the main thing)
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 17
A6M5 Zero x 23
B6N2 Jill x 24
D4Y3 Judy x 17
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 29
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 28
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 15 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 3 destroyed by flak
D4Y3 Judy: 6 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 4 destroyed by flak
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 5 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed
Allied Ships
BB Alabama
CVL Monterey, Bomb hits 1
CVL Cowpens, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Satawal at 101,111
(Meanwhile the best the Allies can manage is one tiny strike package from what looks like a single CVL)
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 36 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 11
A6M5 Zero x 19
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 12
TBF-1 Avenger x 8
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed
TBF-1 Avenger: 5 destroyed
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Nov 13, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 37,440 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-84a Frank x 19
Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 8
F6F-3 Hellcat x 1
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-84a Frank: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed
Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Ki-84a Frank sweeping at 34440 feet *
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 17
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 14
Allied aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 damaged
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed on ground
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 damaged
Allied ground losses:
13 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Manus at 104,116
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 8
D4Y3 Judy x 5
Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed
D4Y3 Judy: 2 damaged
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
CVL Cowpens, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage (this dooms her [:(])
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Manus at 103,113
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 64 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 9
B6N2 Jill x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 2 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 1 destroyed by flak
Allied Ships
DD Kidd
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Kavieng at 105,123
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid detected at 32 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 3 (from Truk.)
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IV x 1
F6F-3 Hellcat x 13 (from nearby CVEs)
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
BB Colorado
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x G3M3 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manus at 103,113
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 70 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 16
A6M5 Zero x 9
B6N2 Jill x 11
D4Y3 Judy x 4
Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 3 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 1 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak
Allied Ships
CL Detroit, Bomb hits 2, on fire (25 sys, nothing major)
DD Kidd
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Kavieng at 105,123
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid detected at 25 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 4 (Truk again)
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IV x 1
F6F-3 Hellcat x 13
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 2 destroyed
No Allied losses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manus at 103,113
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 19 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 5 damaged
G3M3 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak
Allied Ships
DD Kimberly
CL Detroit, heavy fires
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x G3M3 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Nov 14, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Manus at 104,113, Range 8,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
DD Fubuki
DD Asagiri
DD Fumizuki, Shell hits 1
DD Asanagi
E Yanagi
Allied Ships
DD Anthony, Shell hits 1
DD Conner, Shell hits 20, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Kidd, Shell hits 2
DD Kimberly, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
[8|] WTF, come on Allies? 2000 yards to a BB and they didnt even fire torps. Rabbits in headlights.
- Attachments
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RE: Mines in the Pacific
We're still ticking along, I've just been very lazy updating this thread. It's mid January 1944 now.
Stephen has babies growing up now, and just didnt' have enough time for the game anymore. So the Japanese have a new commander. He only took over a couple of turns ago so there's nothing to say beyond that really, not sure how scared (or not) I should be, suffice to say I know the guy, and he's a dangerous adversary in every other game i've played with him.
I put together another precis of the war to date, hence this post. WitP, from 1941 to the end of 1943, in one page.
DECEMBER 1941
Pacific
Japanese begin the war with a strike on Pearl Harbor. No BBs sunk but most seriously damaged, some effectively out of the war.
Japanese landing at Tarawa heavily beat up by CA Pensacola, though the Japanese take the atoll.
Battle of Malaya
Japanese begin landings at Kota Baru. Heavy fighting in the north of the country - Georgetown is taken by the mid month. At the end of December the Japanese make a secondary landing at Mersing and the Allies begin a general retreat, but too late, the Malayan Army gets cut in half at the Mersing line. Royal Navy does a good job inflicting heavy damage on the Jap ships at Mersing, though, with PoW getting involved.
By the end of December the RN has to pull back as Netties close in on Singapore.
Battle of the Philippines
Japanese landings at the north of the country. Jap shipping harried badly by PT boats, Boise and Houston however are sunk by superior Japanese surface forces after doing little damage. High intensity fighting, by the end of the month ABDACOMs Dutch cruisers are the only Allied naval assets in the area.
JANUARY 1942
Battle of Malaya
By 7th January all Malaya bar Singapore in Japanese hands and the Japanese have total air superiority. Port Blair is taken by a Japanese battalion. Singapore falls on the 20th.
Battle of the Philippines
Bataan falls on the 17th, marking the end of serious resistance in the Philippines.
Borneo
All northern Borneo under Japanese control by January 1st. Then the Japs begin to encroach on more southerly bases in middle January. Battle of the Makassar Strait is a 3 day clash in the Makassar area with US carriers + ABDACOM cruisers coming up against KB and chums. USS Lexington sunk, some damage to Japanese CS's and cruisers, surface battles between ABDACOM and Japanese BBS with ABDACOM coming out the worse.
Rabaul
Aussie navy wipes out a Japanese landing force in mid January at Rabaul.
Java
KB raids Java at the end of January, inflicting heavy damage to the Dutch air force.
FEBRUARY 1942
Battle of Sian in China. Uber-artillery causes thousands of Chinese casualties per day and this goes on for a whole month. Japanese strategic bombing of Chinese begins in earnest, but mostly mis-aimed at resources in the early days.
Battle of Burma begins on the 1st February with the advance guards at Moulmein being forced back to Pegu, which has been reinforced with several Indian units and 7th Armoured. Pegu under siege for the rest of the month but holds well.
Royal Navy sink a couple of Japanese DDs and transports at Port Blair.
DEI Campaign
Sumatra is invaded finally with Palembang falling early in the month.
Landings at Merak at the northern coast of Java on the 7th. Dutch PT boats inflict serious damage on the Japanese landings. Dutch KNIL forces manage to bottle him up at the landing grounds at Merak - just.
CV Saratoga raids Makassar Strait mid month again, sinks an entire convoy loaded with troops. [:)]
Rabaul
Second attempted landing by the Japanese at Rabaul. Big surface clash between Allied and Japanese cruisers, Allies massacred by Long Lance attack at night. CA Australia and CA Pensacola sunk, Rabaul conceded to Japanese control.
MARCH 1942
China
Loyang falls, the artillery patch has arrived, but too late for the now extremely battered Chinese Army!
Battle of Burma/India
Third naval clash between RN and IJN at Port Blair. CA Exeter sinks some AKs and is in turn damaged by BB Nagato, there follows an indecisive long range carrier clash. RN pulls back to Ceylon.
Indian campaign begins with Japanese landings at Diamond Harbor. Allies race to build a defensive line at Patna-Jamshedphur-Howrah while Calcutta is under siege. RAF massacred in the air but somehow manages to hold out just about over March. Japanese landings at Chittagong and multiple paradrops outflank and pin down several units in East Bengal, including an Indian division. Meanwhile ALlied high command begins to scrape up units from all over the map and sends them to India before total disaster. I Australia Corps is the first to leave, and is involved in all the big battles of the campaign to come.
Battle of Java
Batavia falls in the first week when he reinforces his landings. The KNIL put up quite a fight though and he's forced to fight for every yard over the course of March.
Port Moresby
Port Moresby falls to the Japs in a ballsy lightning raid, a few days before Aussie reinforcements were due.
Sakhalin Raid
BB Colorado makes a daring raid into the waters around Hokkaido, doing little damage but causing much paranoia in the Japanese High Command. [:D]
APRIL 1942
Battle of Bengal
Japanese have total air superiority over Bengal by now, the RAF are reduced to night bombing. Calcutta proves a tough nut and the Japs move to outflank via Jessore. The AIF at Jessore hold him off for a few days but are forced to retreat with Japanese armour hot on their heels - they manage to fall back in good order. Dacca falls to a paradrop. RAF reduced to Fabian tactics - night bombing and hit and run. USMC Dauntlesses at Cuttack begin hitting Japanese shipping in the Bay of Bengal with some success. But all this is giving the defenders the chance to build up the chosen main line of defence... Japs attempt para landings in the Indian interior and at Vizagapatnam on the east Indian coast, but these are seen off by armour.
Battle of Java
Soerabaja besieged, falls on the 22nd. Sumatra, Java and Borneo now wholly in Japanese hands.
SOPAC
US presence building at Noumea/Efate/Luganville. Japanese activity light.
Hokkaido Raids
Allied High Command sends most of the S-boats to Hokkaido where they meet poorly defended convoys. Many Jap convoy ships torpedoed.
MAY 1942
Indian Campaign
P38s arrive and immediately make their presence felt as they get the very best pilots, Flying Circus style. Attempts to bomb Japanese shipping in Bay of Bengal mean massacre of SBDs though.
On the ground things are as close as they could get. Allied main line of resistance at Ranchi-Jamshedphur-Howrah now under siege as the Allies at Calcutta fall back to Howrah. Japanese assault on Ranchi foiled by an Indian division arriving to save the base literally in the nick of time. It's fall would have unhinged the entire Allied defence!
Allied units formerly in Burma which have been attempting to retreat are by now surrounded at Imphal. However most of them are successfully evacuated by air to Howrah, which is just in range.
RN attempts to interdict shipping in the Bay of Bengal are repulsed brutally by Japanese battleships.
Battle of Sian
Sian finally falls on the 24th, mainly due to the crippling damage inflicted on the Chinese army by artillery. Japanese strategic bombing switches to Chinese light industry.
Timor Campaign
Japanese landings at Koepang meet light Allied resistance. Timor falls entirely during this month. Japs also land at Ambon and begin bombing Darwin heavily. Allied attempts to resupply Darwin soon prove bloody.
JUNE 1942
Bengal Campaign
Line stabilised at the Ranchi-Jamshedhpur-Howrah line. Allied attempt to flank the line at Asansol provokes huge air battles as Japanese army aviation bombs the tar out of the LCUs involved. Heavy damage inflicted to Sallies/Helens by P38s, but the LCUs are badly bashed up and the flank attempt is aborted. However the Japanese give up their siege of Ranchi, and begin to focus more on the Jamshedphur-Howrah part of the line.
Imphal falls but he delayed too long, most of the worthy Allied units escaped, with the exception of 7th Armoured who can't be airlifted and were destroyed.
Another RN raid of Japanese supply in Bay of Bengal. CVE Hosho sunk in a surface encounter with RN cruisers.
Indian Ocean Raid KB raids Ceylon, inflicts serious damage to the RN - Formidable, Hermes and Warspite all sunk at Colombo.
SOPAC
Japanese battleships raid Luganville, do no real damage.
JULY 1942
Indian Campaign
Raipur turned into a major Allied bomber base supporting the R-J-H line. B17s there make their presence immediately felt. First signs of the tempo of combat getting to the IJ pilots, the earlier massacres are becoming more even exchanges as Japanese attempts to shut Raipur down mean Hurricanes slaughtering them.
Deadlock on the ground, Japanese focus shifts from Ranchi in the north to Jamshedphur in the middle. Heavy WW1 style combat drags on all month - things are close a few times but the Japanese are unable to break through. Howrah at the southern end of the line falls, but the Allies retreat in good order, and the R-J-H line becomes the R-J-C line as Cuttack becomes the new front line, though in the event he never advances on the coastal road.
Battle for Ceylon begins with Japanese landing at Trimcomalee, initially met with incredulity by Allied high command.
SOPAC/CENTPAC
Preparations are made to get the US really into the war. The Japs at Guadalcanal are plastered by B17s. Arorae and Tabiteaua begin to be built up as a springboard for future offensives.
AUGUST 1942
Battle of Ceylon becomes an avoidable disaster as Allied attempts to attack an armour unit in the highlands of central Ceylon run into massed Japanese infantry. One ill timed attack thus disables half of the entire Allied defence, at a stroke giving the enemy the island. The campaign immediately shifts to an attempt to evac as much as possible via air.
R-J-C Line in India still at stalemate for the first half of the month, but then the Allies begin an offensive aimed at recapturing Howrah which fell last month. It is wildly successful, and the Battle of Howrah turns out to be the first ground battle where the IJA is decisively beaten. Attempts by the Japanese to reinforce Howrah from Calcutta come adrift literally as they shock attack across the river and get pasted. A Jap division equivalent is lost in the process. An Allied pincer meanwhile moves SE from Ranchi to Asansol to try and relieve pressure from Jamshedhpur.
Battle of the Indian Ocean sees the RN effectively destroyed as a fighting force as with the fall of Ceylon they find themselves trapped at Madras with an angry KB nearby. All the 'R' battleships and all bar CV Illustrious sunk. Illustrious somehow manages to make it out of there, the RN takes no further significant role in the fighting here and Illustrious is later reassigned to CENTPAC.
Darwin is abandoned after the third convoy of AKLs sent to supply it is massacred. It's a long walk for the units there to get to Sydney... but off they go!
Yenen falls in China as the Chinese Army begins to fall apart from lack of supply due to strategic bombing and the cutting off of the air bridge as East Bengal is in Japanese hands.
Guadalcal Campaign begins on 8th August as US Army/USMC forces land at Lunga, and NZ forces land at Tulagi. Fighting takes place over a week before both bases are in Allied hands. No real Japanese response at this time.
SEPTEMBER 1942
Battle of Ceylon ends on the 3rd with the fall of Colombo. Air battles rage over Ceylon, ending badly for the Japanese. By the end of the month he's given up flying constant CAP as it just gets massacred. He keeps the Allies on their toes though by occasionally flying massed 50-100 a/c CAP which inflicts more even losses. The air war is clearly going the Allied way by now though.
Battle of Bengal ends as he suddenly decides to call it quits, and the entire IJA force begins to retreat to the India/Burma border. Allied forces retake Calcutta, Dacca, Darjeeling, Rangpur, Chittagong all without resistance. The Japs meanwhile are holed up at the Dimapur-Imphal-Kalemyo line.
Kukong Offensive begins in China with the Chinese Army managing to take back an essentially undefended Kukong and very nearly Wuchow as well. However the Japanese counter at Wuchow and inflict heavy damage on the Chinese.
Perth Raid - KB shows up off Perth and sinks a supply convoy and their escorting WW1 cruiser that was headed from Cape Town to Australia.
Chinese Lanchow Campaign Lanchow and Sining rapidly fall to the Japanese as the loss of Sian opened the door to northern China. Chinese Army is pretty much on 0 supply across the board, that they can hold anything at all is quite an achievement.
Guadalcanal Campaign hots up as the Japanese at Rabaul begin heavily bombing the Allied positions. Repeated Allied attempts to resupply Lunga are thwarted by KB, which is welded to the place all September. Japanese move to take Munda under KB cover. Allied attempts to bomb them result in Allied massacre.
KB raids Luganville in the First Battle of Luganville, sinking CA Dorsetshire and inflicting heavy damage to Allied shipping. Allied aircraft are the underdog but a Jap CL and DD are sunk by Lunga regardless.
CV Soryu torpedoed by O19 for an ammo storage explosion off Lunga, believed sunk, but apparently not...
OCTOBER 1942
Operation Hammer and Anvil begins in East Bengal. Anvilforce blocks the route NW of Silchar where there are large numbers of Japs, preventing any Jap flanking by pressing into India proper. Meanwhile Hammerforce heads for Dimapur. The objective is to force open the route to Ledo so the beleagured Chinese can be helped.
First strategic bombing of Burma, as USAAF B17s destroy the oil at Magwe. First appearance of the Tojo as well, but the P38s wipe the floor with it. Still heavy air combat over Ceylon, with the Allies generally winning.
Guadalcanal Campaign at its low point for the Allies. Lunga is reliant on supply shipped over by APD and transport aircraft, which are now being massed at Ndeni. Lunga is under siege by a Japanese division but just about holds on by a thread, mainly because the Japs are far too timid, perhaps unrealising just how bad the Allied situation is. Japanese cruisers raid Ndeni and wipe out a convoy loaded with combat engineers. Continuing Jap landings at Shortlands and Munda. Repeated attempts to resupply Lunga result in huge numbers of sunk AKLs as KB and the IJN just will not let go! An Allied demonstration with pretty much the entire Allied battleline shelling Tarawa didn't prise him off Guadalcanal. Battle of Munda sees an Allied cruiser SAG run into a Japanese cruiser SAG escorting a convoy, in a night battle despite crossing the T and being roughly equal in force the Allies get massacred, two cruisers lost.
NOVEMBER 1942
Operation Hammer and Anvil goes into effect in India and is a resounding success. Dimapur, Ledo and Imphal fall to Allied forces over November and the air bridge to China is reopened. Massed Japanese forces at Kalemyo and Cox's Bazaar make further advance impossible.
Battle of Trivandrum sees Japanese cruisers clean the clock of the remainder of the RN, with BB Valiant being torpedoed at night in a thunderstorm and sunk by Jap cruisers.
Naval Battle of Lunga is another Allied disaster as CA Takao and DDs find the Allied APD force and sink about half of it. Thus putting Lunga's supply situation into an even more dire position. CV Wasp torpedoed and sunk by an I boat off Nanumea.
Second Battle of Luganville as KB raids again, this time bumping into the US CV force. No ships are lost oddly enough but the Japs lose 200 carrier aircraft to 100 Allied, and the Jap carriers receive a light sprinkling of 1000lb bombs which no doubt wouldn't do their sys damage any good. Battle of Ndeni soon follows with BB Kirishima being sunk by Allied CVs north of Ndeni. This changes the naval situation around Guadalcanal significantly and the Allies waste no time in bringing large amounts of supply to Lunga and Tulagi, which with the IJN finally spanked at least temporarily, is opposed only by Netties, which inflict damage, but acceptable damage. Probably marking the last chance the Japs had to take Guadalcanal.
Liuchow falls in China as the Chinese Army continues its collapse. Mountain Campaign in China as the Japanese Army is checked in its advance towards the Chungking interior by Chinese forces in the mountains between Sian and Chungking.
DECEMBER 1942
Guadalcanal Campaign stays hot as Japanese attempts to resupply Shortlands and Munda come under reinvigorated Allied air attack. Air superiority is very much contested with massed Tojos meeting P40Ks and giving as well as they get. Heavy bombers based at Lunga for the first time thanks to the SeaBeas. Allied landing at Russell Island with SeaBees meets a huge Japanese response, which result in a few empty AKs being sunk for nigh on 100 Japanese aircraft destroyed, mostly Netties.
The end of Hammer and Anvil and the strategic deadlock in Burma/Ceylon means another major strategic redeployment, as Allied High Command decides to shift the focus of the war in 1943 towards SOPAC/CENTPAC. I Australia Corps ordered from the Burma border back to Australia.
JANUARY 1943
Air fighting over the India/Burma border as Tojos sweep Allied bases. The Allies respond with night bombing the airfields with 4Es. Heavy damage to both sides.
Allies mostly disengage from the IJN at Tarawa, both sides apparently content to lick their wounds/resupply.
Heavy fighting in the Solomons on several islands now, USMC raiders meet IJ paras in the southern Solomons, Marines eventually prevail. A 4 x DD USN flotilla raids around Shortlands, sinking some AKs. Near the end of the month a brigade of New Zealanders land and capture Munda half way up the chain, KB arrives and wrecks the transports. USN cruisers that were escorting find and engage KB at night, but the Allies get their ass handed to them in a night battle, CA San Francisco is sunk, one 8 inch shell hit on Soryu. Just after this battle 3 battalions of Allied commandos and a base force land at an undefended Milne Bay, CL Java is torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine during the operation.
2 American destroyers raid Paramushimo Jima in the far north and find two Japanese DDs, there's a minor engagement, the US DDs come off worse but damage is light regardless.
FEBRUARY 1943
Kalemyo on the Indian/Burmese border falls to the Allies - IJ holds no Indian bases besides Ceylon now.
Battle of Milne Bay. Surface battles rage at the SE tip of PNG, with the USN losing. Allies lose 2 CA and a CL, Japanese lose 1 CA. Japanese manage to counterinvade with a brigade and soon the Allies are holding on by a fingernail. Heavy fighting for weeks on end, both sides losing 50 a/c a day and mostly around Papua New Guinea as the Allies try and prevent Japanese resupply.
Vella Lavella captured and reinforced in the Solomons. The Japanese have air superiority over PNG, but the Allies rule the skies over the Solomons.
MARCH 1943
Battle of Tarawa. BB Prince of Wales as a fast BB SAG, a slow BB SAG, and carriers all converge on the atoll. Prince of Wales badly damages CA Haguro in a night clash, next morning Haguro, CL Isuzu and some DDs are sunk by American carrier air. BB Mutsu takes 4 torpedoes. Next day BBs Yamashiro and and Mutsu death ride and charge. They slip past the cover force to get through to the transports, but they are defended by BBs Arizona, California and Colorado, and the American BBs are clearly better in daytime, sinking both Yamashiro and the already badly damaged Mutsu. The Japanese heavy shells were unable to penetrate the American BB armour at 12,000 yards. Tarawa falls to the USMC. Bloodless victory for the Allies, three capital ships lost by the IJN.
Battle of Milne Bay. IJ surface forces prevent resupply by barge, by the end of the month US CVs are deployed. 8 American flattops meet 9 Japanese ones, but the Americans and bad weather do horribly, the US fleet scatters and half of it disappears under the stormclouds, so it ends up 9 Japanese CVs versus 4 Allied ones. CVs Victorious and Yorktown, BB Massachusetts and CVE Chenango with Hornet heavily damaged in exchange for CVL Shoho being heavily damaged in pretty much a reverse Midway. The Allied CV force is down to 3 CVs after this!
Plans are afoot in India for a recapture of Ceylon, which is entirely isolated and being bombed into the stone age.
APRIL 1943
Second Battle of Ceylon. BBs Kongo and Haruna and a couple of DDs contest the landing. The RN only has CAs and old ones at that, CA Frobisher is sunk and CA Hawkins heavily damaged but the Japanese don't get into the transports. The RN don't do very well, despite having so many torpedoes on their ships they barely fire any, though they do fruitlessly expend a lot of ammo against BB belt armour. Colombo falls almost immediately though. Allied ground forces swiftly move to cut Ceylon in half, cutting Koggala off from Trincomalee.
Battle of Milne Bay. Milne Bay eventually runs out of supplies and falls. Another Bde of Allies go into the POW camps - hopefully the last brigade. The ground losses are minor compared to the losses at sea and in the air, though. Transport aircraft manage to evacuate some of the units but the operation as a whole has been a debacle for the Allies.
Battle of Vella Lavella. In the Solomons the Japanese airfields north of Munda are being obliterated by attack bombers, which prove very effective. Vella Lavella is invaded, fighting takes place over a couple of weeks there and eventually 3 American regiments are involved. Nearby LBA makes all the difference, unlike Milne Bay this is an Allied victory, Vella Lavella falls.
Battle of Makin. Makin atoll is assumed to be undefended by the Allies, in fact there is an SNLF unit defending the place. Lazy recon. Fortunately the USMC tanks detailed to capture it are well prepared and despite the rude surprise of Japanese marines, Makin falls. It is quickly reinforced and built up.
MAY
Second Battle of Ceylon. Koggala falls to the Allies. Situation really deteriorating fast for the Japanese, who have 3 divisions on the island totally cut off.
With Milne Bay no longer absorbing Allied resources the advance in the Solomons picks up steam. Rabaul is being obliterated by heavy bombers now and is soon no longer tenable as a major Japanese airfield despite various Japanese ingenuities and major commitment of Tojos.
IJN raid around Makin and Tarawa, KB sinks a Canadian CLAA and retires.
JUNE 1943
Second Battle of Ceylon. Indian tank regiments break the Japanese at Trincomalee, the rest are driven north to Jaffna. There they are finally wiped out and the liberation of Ceylon concluded. 33rd Division, 23rd Division, 74th Infantry Regiment, 12th Division and 14th Naval Guard are led off to the tender mercies of Winstons POW camps. Commonwealth eyes now turn to Burma...
Chinese are being defeated inch by inch, Kweilin falls.
Landings at Shortlands in the upper Solomons. IJN attempts to intervene with cruisers but CA Kinugasa is sunk by CA Quincy and a CL. Shortlands proves well defended, and does not immediately fall despite landing in divisional strength.
Near Kwajalein the first skip bombing raid by Liberators prove successful. USN heavy bombers manage a really long range strike and obliterate Japanese merchants who thought they were safe being out of B25 range. Japanese attempting to reinforce CENTPAC where the bombers at Tarawa can't touch, this proves harder than they thought.
JULY 1943
Commonwealth begins plans for Burma. The plan is to deploy strong forces along the Indian/Burmese border to push the IJA and attempt to get him to commit reserves. When the time is judged ripe, a multidivisional landing will go for Rangoon and hopefully catch him out of position. To that end, Bill Slim is put in charge of 14th Army and Commonwealth forces begin to mass at Coxs Bazaar and Imphal. I Australia Corps and a division of Americans are slated to land at Rangoon, more Americans and Chinese are earmarked to invade Port Blair. 14th Army is soon marching Burmawards, the Imperial Guard are found and defeated on the road to Akyab.
BB Mississippi sunk by a submarine off Mili, Mili is taken though.
P47s in action for the first time, in the Solomons. Up till now the Tojo has been a major problem. The P47 proves to be its master. Two aces made in the first day of combat against the Tojo. Soon aggressive sweeps over New Britain are causing Japanese pilots to die like flies. A small Japanese convoy at Rabaul is hit hard by USMC Dauntlesses.
Japanese start making a major push for China. Most of the IJA bomber force now seems to be operating in the Chinese Theatre - scared of the T-bolt probably. The Chinese, who have been out of supply for months, have no airforce at all and are soon bleeding. Allied attempts to reinforce with P40Ks just mean the Tojos have some easy meat - with no supply the Allies are always outnumbered 3 or 4 to 1.
American reinforcements mean we have 6 CVs again. They head surreptitiously to the Indian Ocean.
AUGUST 1943
Akyab falls to 14th Army, P47s are soon slaughtering the Japanese over Burma as well. By now 5-6 Japanese divisions are fixed on the Indian/Burma border by 14th army, according to plan. Recon suggests this is the bulk of the IJA force in Burma.
Another atoll hop in CENTPAC towards Kwajalein. Maloelap atoll is quite a long hop and KB intrudes, many merchants are sunk but the LCUs get ashore and Maloelap becomes part of the Allied sphere. Kwajalein and Roi-Namur now not very far away.
Two Allied convoys wiped out by IJ bombers at Feni Islands and Deboyne Islands despite fighter cover. LRCAP is very much hit and miss.
Chinese situation deteriorating rapidly and the frontline crumbles almost completely. The Japanese advance as fast as they can march. Before too long they are at the gates of Chungking itself!
SEPTEMBER 1943
Landing at Rangoon
Allied fleet masses at Colombo and the invasion of Burma is launched. KB known to be in the Pacific and the Allies are only spotted 2 days out from Port Blair. Unfortunately the Allies are stymied by a special evac rule - the American division landing at Port Blair apparently failed a morale check and the commander ordered them to reboard the landing craft - despite massively outnumbering the enemy. This had the effect of disabling the entire division. Despite this incredible act of self immolation which means Port Blair will remain in enemy hands, the show must go on. Rangoon duly falls. (This division is still foobed as of January 1944, well done guys, top job).
The delay gives him time to bring up CVs but they are scattered, no doubt from lots of full speed orders. They strike Rangoon but too late, the Allied Hellcats butcher them horribly. P47s are soon flying over Rangoon and then the Allied CVs retire.
Japanese forces are greater than anticipated, the total IJ ground presence is actually 8 divisions. However they are totally out of position and the Allied breakout from Rangoon is rapid. Pegu falls scant days later and then the Allies are sweeping north, towards Mandalay, while a covering force sits at Pegu and Rangoon.
First landing on New Britain, with Shortlands in Allied control and Rabaul out of action there's a daring leap to Gasmata with three Marine regiments. Gasmata falls.
OCTOBER 1943
Liberation of Burma. Mandalay falls on the 12th to troops from Rangoon. Heavy casualties to the IJ division defending it. 14th Army manages to link up with I Australia Corps around the 20th as the entire Japanese defence falls apart. Allied high command breathes a sigh of relief, if I knew how many Japs were in Burma I probably wouldn't have had the stones to try it!
In CENTPAC Wotje falls, only Kwajalein and Roi-Namur left around there.
USMC marines march from Gasmata overland to Talasea on the north coast of New Britain, Talasea falls. Two Allied airbases on New Britain now, they are soon built up and reinforced.
Chungking in China falls to the Japanese! Chinese Army retreats in disarray towards the Burmese border.
NOVEMBER 1943
Mopping up in Burma completed, all bases now in Allied hands. 14th Army splits in half - half go south to Moulmein, the other half continue to mop up and attempt to press towards Paoshan on the Chinese border. At sea though not nearly so rosy, resupplying Rangoon proves very difficult with KB based at, presumably, Singapore, and with Port Blair still in Japanese hands and providing very good warning of Allied fleet sorties. An attempted re-invasion of Port Blair is aborted when KB arrives in force. The IJA in Burma has been gutted horribly, about 5 divisions worth of troops were wiped out to a man, another 3 or 4 escaped mauled and by the skin of their teeth. Along with the Ceylon invasion, a bad year for the IJA, outside of China anyway.
Allied high command realises, oops, there are no radars in Rangoon, as the Japanese begin to fight back and things go badly in the air. A pretty major oversight. A reinforcement convoy MUST get through but the Allied CVs are already en route to the Pacific again. 3 CVEs are drafted. The bulk of KB meets them - 2 CVEs are sunk. But the radars are landed at least. An expensive error.
Attempt in SOPAC to capture the island of Manus north of New Britain. This island is key as it puts Truk in comfortable heavy bomber range. A CVL and 2 CVE head north escorting an amphibious force but the CV force reacts to a single Japanese CV and then... vanishes under bad weather during the morning. The Allied invasion fleet gets mauled. In the afternoon the weather clears but the Japanese manage to coordinate a strike from half a dozen bases and their CVs and CVL Cowpens is blown away without achieving anything in return. Four American DDs find the Japanese CVLs at night but are butchered by the escort rabbit in headlights style. Manus invasion called off.
Buna is captured on Papua New Guinea, the base at Gasmata means the fiasco of March is not repeated. A brigade marches overland to Port Moresby and captures that, too. Merauke, halfway across PNG, is defended by a battalion of SNLF but is taken in a coup de main by two battalions of Aussie commandoes. In an amazingly short time Merauke is built up by SeaBees and soon P47s are ranging all over Papua New Guinea. A Japanese attempt to resupply his bases on the north coast result in slaughter at the hands of Dauntlesses and P47s, so most of PNG is now cut off. Manus is captured by a barged invasion force at about the same time and rapidly built up. Thank god for barges!
Kwajalein invaded at the same time, proves easy to crack after months of being cut off and bombed. Roi-Namur falls days later. Victory in CENTPAC!
Allied submarines are really starting to reap the waves, a sinking a day is probably the average now. The western and southern approaches to the Home Islands is now a continuous line of subs.
DECEMBER 1943
Japanese in Burma now all but mopped up. However, stalemate at Moulmein as Japanese reinforcements plug the gap. Paoshan meanwhile falls to 14th Army as they try and link up with fleeing, routing Chinese, and Rangoon, now with radar, is unbeatable by the IJ airforce. Japanese CVs are no longer in theatre and with air superiority at Rangoon the Japanese can do little to prevent Allied resupply.
The Chinese are being mostly wiped out. A few corps are airlifted to Ledo, the rest have to walk. About half are cut off en route, the other half are trudging over the trackless wastes to India. The Chinese are basically out of the war, though they might make a re-entry at the end of 1944. There already four Chinese corps in Calcutta replenishing, up to about 500 AV now but give it six months and it'll be a major force again.
Battle of Rabaul. 2 divisions land at Rabaul, find 2 Japanese divisions heavily entrenched and apparently well supplied. Siege begins. Have some misgivings, but Rabaul has been cut off for a long time and I expect minimal supply, and I could use a well protected, built up base to replace Noumea. Can't take that long to fall... right?
Landings at Finschafen, and Manus is now built up enough for B24s to be based there. Truk is night bombed and heavy damage is done to fleet/airfarce there. Then Truk is hit by aerial mines as Allied submarines hound fleeing IJ ships. A dozen merchants are sunk.
Attempted invasion at Wake is bloodily repulsed by KB, and BB Colorado is sunk along with 90% of the USMC regiment sent to capture it. Thought KB would not be near given the nearest safe anchorage is now a long way away with Truk being hit by LBA, turns out it was waiting, possibly for months on end, in the open ocean north of Wake along with a replenishment TF. As of end of January 1944 KB was confirmed to still be in that ocean, so he likes sitting out at sea much more than I do. Invasion of Kaseui Island near Ponape is pulled off without a hitch though.
The noose noticeably tightening around Hirohitos throat!
JANUARY 1944
Finschafen and Lae fall to the Marines, so the SE corner of PNG is now firmly Allied. Rabaul holding out - both sides have a division and a half - but the Allies have an enormous artillery advantage with 5 arty units there and every medium bomber in SOPAC has Rabaul as a secondary target. The Japanese are getting noticeably worn down, they've lost a number of forts already.
Battle of Moulmein. 14th Army builds up at Moulmein and manages to drive out the 1500 AV of Japanese defending it with heavy casualties. An armoured thrust of Shermans roars down the road towards Tavoy driving all before them. Looks like they will get Tavoy, but the long thin strip of coast between Rangoon and Tavoy looks very fragile given apparently major Japanese forces over the border in Thailand - all those who made it out of Burma plus reinforcements. However, I'm confident I can hold and build up Tavoy, which is one of those Significant milestones - the oil in northern Sumatra is in 4E range from Tavoy.
Future plans - in the Pacific, to focus on the north and south coasts of Papua New Guinea and advance as far as the opposite end of the strait to Mindanao. In SEAC, hang fire at Tavoy and shift to a naval offensive - Port Blair first, and then island hopping until ultimately a landing at Sabang (Winston would be proud). Ideally cut off Malaya by land. However, the Allied ground situation seems less steady than I'd like and I think a change of axis of advance is needed.
Stephen has babies growing up now, and just didnt' have enough time for the game anymore. So the Japanese have a new commander. He only took over a couple of turns ago so there's nothing to say beyond that really, not sure how scared (or not) I should be, suffice to say I know the guy, and he's a dangerous adversary in every other game i've played with him.
I put together another precis of the war to date, hence this post. WitP, from 1941 to the end of 1943, in one page.
DECEMBER 1941
Pacific
Japanese begin the war with a strike on Pearl Harbor. No BBs sunk but most seriously damaged, some effectively out of the war.
Japanese landing at Tarawa heavily beat up by CA Pensacola, though the Japanese take the atoll.
Battle of Malaya
Japanese begin landings at Kota Baru. Heavy fighting in the north of the country - Georgetown is taken by the mid month. At the end of December the Japanese make a secondary landing at Mersing and the Allies begin a general retreat, but too late, the Malayan Army gets cut in half at the Mersing line. Royal Navy does a good job inflicting heavy damage on the Jap ships at Mersing, though, with PoW getting involved.
By the end of December the RN has to pull back as Netties close in on Singapore.
Battle of the Philippines
Japanese landings at the north of the country. Jap shipping harried badly by PT boats, Boise and Houston however are sunk by superior Japanese surface forces after doing little damage. High intensity fighting, by the end of the month ABDACOMs Dutch cruisers are the only Allied naval assets in the area.
JANUARY 1942
Battle of Malaya
By 7th January all Malaya bar Singapore in Japanese hands and the Japanese have total air superiority. Port Blair is taken by a Japanese battalion. Singapore falls on the 20th.
Battle of the Philippines
Bataan falls on the 17th, marking the end of serious resistance in the Philippines.
Borneo
All northern Borneo under Japanese control by January 1st. Then the Japs begin to encroach on more southerly bases in middle January. Battle of the Makassar Strait is a 3 day clash in the Makassar area with US carriers + ABDACOM cruisers coming up against KB and chums. USS Lexington sunk, some damage to Japanese CS's and cruisers, surface battles between ABDACOM and Japanese BBS with ABDACOM coming out the worse.
Rabaul
Aussie navy wipes out a Japanese landing force in mid January at Rabaul.
Java
KB raids Java at the end of January, inflicting heavy damage to the Dutch air force.
FEBRUARY 1942
Battle of Sian in China. Uber-artillery causes thousands of Chinese casualties per day and this goes on for a whole month. Japanese strategic bombing of Chinese begins in earnest, but mostly mis-aimed at resources in the early days.
Battle of Burma begins on the 1st February with the advance guards at Moulmein being forced back to Pegu, which has been reinforced with several Indian units and 7th Armoured. Pegu under siege for the rest of the month but holds well.
Royal Navy sink a couple of Japanese DDs and transports at Port Blair.
DEI Campaign
Sumatra is invaded finally with Palembang falling early in the month.
Landings at Merak at the northern coast of Java on the 7th. Dutch PT boats inflict serious damage on the Japanese landings. Dutch KNIL forces manage to bottle him up at the landing grounds at Merak - just.
CV Saratoga raids Makassar Strait mid month again, sinks an entire convoy loaded with troops. [:)]
Rabaul
Second attempted landing by the Japanese at Rabaul. Big surface clash between Allied and Japanese cruisers, Allies massacred by Long Lance attack at night. CA Australia and CA Pensacola sunk, Rabaul conceded to Japanese control.
MARCH 1942
China
Loyang falls, the artillery patch has arrived, but too late for the now extremely battered Chinese Army!
Battle of Burma/India
Third naval clash between RN and IJN at Port Blair. CA Exeter sinks some AKs and is in turn damaged by BB Nagato, there follows an indecisive long range carrier clash. RN pulls back to Ceylon.
Indian campaign begins with Japanese landings at Diamond Harbor. Allies race to build a defensive line at Patna-Jamshedphur-Howrah while Calcutta is under siege. RAF massacred in the air but somehow manages to hold out just about over March. Japanese landings at Chittagong and multiple paradrops outflank and pin down several units in East Bengal, including an Indian division. Meanwhile ALlied high command begins to scrape up units from all over the map and sends them to India before total disaster. I Australia Corps is the first to leave, and is involved in all the big battles of the campaign to come.
Battle of Java
Batavia falls in the first week when he reinforces his landings. The KNIL put up quite a fight though and he's forced to fight for every yard over the course of March.
Port Moresby
Port Moresby falls to the Japs in a ballsy lightning raid, a few days before Aussie reinforcements were due.
Sakhalin Raid
BB Colorado makes a daring raid into the waters around Hokkaido, doing little damage but causing much paranoia in the Japanese High Command. [:D]
APRIL 1942
Battle of Bengal
Japanese have total air superiority over Bengal by now, the RAF are reduced to night bombing. Calcutta proves a tough nut and the Japs move to outflank via Jessore. The AIF at Jessore hold him off for a few days but are forced to retreat with Japanese armour hot on their heels - they manage to fall back in good order. Dacca falls to a paradrop. RAF reduced to Fabian tactics - night bombing and hit and run. USMC Dauntlesses at Cuttack begin hitting Japanese shipping in the Bay of Bengal with some success. But all this is giving the defenders the chance to build up the chosen main line of defence... Japs attempt para landings in the Indian interior and at Vizagapatnam on the east Indian coast, but these are seen off by armour.
Battle of Java
Soerabaja besieged, falls on the 22nd. Sumatra, Java and Borneo now wholly in Japanese hands.
SOPAC
US presence building at Noumea/Efate/Luganville. Japanese activity light.
Hokkaido Raids
Allied High Command sends most of the S-boats to Hokkaido where they meet poorly defended convoys. Many Jap convoy ships torpedoed.
MAY 1942
Indian Campaign
P38s arrive and immediately make their presence felt as they get the very best pilots, Flying Circus style. Attempts to bomb Japanese shipping in Bay of Bengal mean massacre of SBDs though.
On the ground things are as close as they could get. Allied main line of resistance at Ranchi-Jamshedphur-Howrah now under siege as the Allies at Calcutta fall back to Howrah. Japanese assault on Ranchi foiled by an Indian division arriving to save the base literally in the nick of time. It's fall would have unhinged the entire Allied defence!
Allied units formerly in Burma which have been attempting to retreat are by now surrounded at Imphal. However most of them are successfully evacuated by air to Howrah, which is just in range.
RN attempts to interdict shipping in the Bay of Bengal are repulsed brutally by Japanese battleships.
Battle of Sian
Sian finally falls on the 24th, mainly due to the crippling damage inflicted on the Chinese army by artillery. Japanese strategic bombing switches to Chinese light industry.
Timor Campaign
Japanese landings at Koepang meet light Allied resistance. Timor falls entirely during this month. Japs also land at Ambon and begin bombing Darwin heavily. Allied attempts to resupply Darwin soon prove bloody.
JUNE 1942
Bengal Campaign
Line stabilised at the Ranchi-Jamshedhpur-Howrah line. Allied attempt to flank the line at Asansol provokes huge air battles as Japanese army aviation bombs the tar out of the LCUs involved. Heavy damage inflicted to Sallies/Helens by P38s, but the LCUs are badly bashed up and the flank attempt is aborted. However the Japanese give up their siege of Ranchi, and begin to focus more on the Jamshedphur-Howrah part of the line.
Imphal falls but he delayed too long, most of the worthy Allied units escaped, with the exception of 7th Armoured who can't be airlifted and were destroyed.
Another RN raid of Japanese supply in Bay of Bengal. CVE Hosho sunk in a surface encounter with RN cruisers.
Indian Ocean Raid KB raids Ceylon, inflicts serious damage to the RN - Formidable, Hermes and Warspite all sunk at Colombo.
SOPAC
Japanese battleships raid Luganville, do no real damage.
JULY 1942
Indian Campaign
Raipur turned into a major Allied bomber base supporting the R-J-H line. B17s there make their presence immediately felt. First signs of the tempo of combat getting to the IJ pilots, the earlier massacres are becoming more even exchanges as Japanese attempts to shut Raipur down mean Hurricanes slaughtering them.
Deadlock on the ground, Japanese focus shifts from Ranchi in the north to Jamshedphur in the middle. Heavy WW1 style combat drags on all month - things are close a few times but the Japanese are unable to break through. Howrah at the southern end of the line falls, but the Allies retreat in good order, and the R-J-H line becomes the R-J-C line as Cuttack becomes the new front line, though in the event he never advances on the coastal road.
Battle for Ceylon begins with Japanese landing at Trimcomalee, initially met with incredulity by Allied high command.
SOPAC/CENTPAC
Preparations are made to get the US really into the war. The Japs at Guadalcanal are plastered by B17s. Arorae and Tabiteaua begin to be built up as a springboard for future offensives.
AUGUST 1942
Battle of Ceylon becomes an avoidable disaster as Allied attempts to attack an armour unit in the highlands of central Ceylon run into massed Japanese infantry. One ill timed attack thus disables half of the entire Allied defence, at a stroke giving the enemy the island. The campaign immediately shifts to an attempt to evac as much as possible via air.
R-J-C Line in India still at stalemate for the first half of the month, but then the Allies begin an offensive aimed at recapturing Howrah which fell last month. It is wildly successful, and the Battle of Howrah turns out to be the first ground battle where the IJA is decisively beaten. Attempts by the Japanese to reinforce Howrah from Calcutta come adrift literally as they shock attack across the river and get pasted. A Jap division equivalent is lost in the process. An Allied pincer meanwhile moves SE from Ranchi to Asansol to try and relieve pressure from Jamshedhpur.
Battle of the Indian Ocean sees the RN effectively destroyed as a fighting force as with the fall of Ceylon they find themselves trapped at Madras with an angry KB nearby. All the 'R' battleships and all bar CV Illustrious sunk. Illustrious somehow manages to make it out of there, the RN takes no further significant role in the fighting here and Illustrious is later reassigned to CENTPAC.
Darwin is abandoned after the third convoy of AKLs sent to supply it is massacred. It's a long walk for the units there to get to Sydney... but off they go!
Yenen falls in China as the Chinese Army begins to fall apart from lack of supply due to strategic bombing and the cutting off of the air bridge as East Bengal is in Japanese hands.
Guadalcal Campaign begins on 8th August as US Army/USMC forces land at Lunga, and NZ forces land at Tulagi. Fighting takes place over a week before both bases are in Allied hands. No real Japanese response at this time.
SEPTEMBER 1942
Battle of Ceylon ends on the 3rd with the fall of Colombo. Air battles rage over Ceylon, ending badly for the Japanese. By the end of the month he's given up flying constant CAP as it just gets massacred. He keeps the Allies on their toes though by occasionally flying massed 50-100 a/c CAP which inflicts more even losses. The air war is clearly going the Allied way by now though.
Battle of Bengal ends as he suddenly decides to call it quits, and the entire IJA force begins to retreat to the India/Burma border. Allied forces retake Calcutta, Dacca, Darjeeling, Rangpur, Chittagong all without resistance. The Japs meanwhile are holed up at the Dimapur-Imphal-Kalemyo line.
Kukong Offensive begins in China with the Chinese Army managing to take back an essentially undefended Kukong and very nearly Wuchow as well. However the Japanese counter at Wuchow and inflict heavy damage on the Chinese.
Perth Raid - KB shows up off Perth and sinks a supply convoy and their escorting WW1 cruiser that was headed from Cape Town to Australia.
Chinese Lanchow Campaign Lanchow and Sining rapidly fall to the Japanese as the loss of Sian opened the door to northern China. Chinese Army is pretty much on 0 supply across the board, that they can hold anything at all is quite an achievement.
Guadalcanal Campaign hots up as the Japanese at Rabaul begin heavily bombing the Allied positions. Repeated Allied attempts to resupply Lunga are thwarted by KB, which is welded to the place all September. Japanese move to take Munda under KB cover. Allied attempts to bomb them result in Allied massacre.
KB raids Luganville in the First Battle of Luganville, sinking CA Dorsetshire and inflicting heavy damage to Allied shipping. Allied aircraft are the underdog but a Jap CL and DD are sunk by Lunga regardless.
CV Soryu torpedoed by O19 for an ammo storage explosion off Lunga, believed sunk, but apparently not...
OCTOBER 1942
Operation Hammer and Anvil begins in East Bengal. Anvilforce blocks the route NW of Silchar where there are large numbers of Japs, preventing any Jap flanking by pressing into India proper. Meanwhile Hammerforce heads for Dimapur. The objective is to force open the route to Ledo so the beleagured Chinese can be helped.
First strategic bombing of Burma, as USAAF B17s destroy the oil at Magwe. First appearance of the Tojo as well, but the P38s wipe the floor with it. Still heavy air combat over Ceylon, with the Allies generally winning.
Guadalcanal Campaign at its low point for the Allies. Lunga is reliant on supply shipped over by APD and transport aircraft, which are now being massed at Ndeni. Lunga is under siege by a Japanese division but just about holds on by a thread, mainly because the Japs are far too timid, perhaps unrealising just how bad the Allied situation is. Japanese cruisers raid Ndeni and wipe out a convoy loaded with combat engineers. Continuing Jap landings at Shortlands and Munda. Repeated attempts to resupply Lunga result in huge numbers of sunk AKLs as KB and the IJN just will not let go! An Allied demonstration with pretty much the entire Allied battleline shelling Tarawa didn't prise him off Guadalcanal. Battle of Munda sees an Allied cruiser SAG run into a Japanese cruiser SAG escorting a convoy, in a night battle despite crossing the T and being roughly equal in force the Allies get massacred, two cruisers lost.
NOVEMBER 1942
Operation Hammer and Anvil goes into effect in India and is a resounding success. Dimapur, Ledo and Imphal fall to Allied forces over November and the air bridge to China is reopened. Massed Japanese forces at Kalemyo and Cox's Bazaar make further advance impossible.
Battle of Trivandrum sees Japanese cruisers clean the clock of the remainder of the RN, with BB Valiant being torpedoed at night in a thunderstorm and sunk by Jap cruisers.
Naval Battle of Lunga is another Allied disaster as CA Takao and DDs find the Allied APD force and sink about half of it. Thus putting Lunga's supply situation into an even more dire position. CV Wasp torpedoed and sunk by an I boat off Nanumea.
Second Battle of Luganville as KB raids again, this time bumping into the US CV force. No ships are lost oddly enough but the Japs lose 200 carrier aircraft to 100 Allied, and the Jap carriers receive a light sprinkling of 1000lb bombs which no doubt wouldn't do their sys damage any good. Battle of Ndeni soon follows with BB Kirishima being sunk by Allied CVs north of Ndeni. This changes the naval situation around Guadalcanal significantly and the Allies waste no time in bringing large amounts of supply to Lunga and Tulagi, which with the IJN finally spanked at least temporarily, is opposed only by Netties, which inflict damage, but acceptable damage. Probably marking the last chance the Japs had to take Guadalcanal.
Liuchow falls in China as the Chinese Army continues its collapse. Mountain Campaign in China as the Japanese Army is checked in its advance towards the Chungking interior by Chinese forces in the mountains between Sian and Chungking.
DECEMBER 1942
Guadalcanal Campaign stays hot as Japanese attempts to resupply Shortlands and Munda come under reinvigorated Allied air attack. Air superiority is very much contested with massed Tojos meeting P40Ks and giving as well as they get. Heavy bombers based at Lunga for the first time thanks to the SeaBeas. Allied landing at Russell Island with SeaBees meets a huge Japanese response, which result in a few empty AKs being sunk for nigh on 100 Japanese aircraft destroyed, mostly Netties.
The end of Hammer and Anvil and the strategic deadlock in Burma/Ceylon means another major strategic redeployment, as Allied High Command decides to shift the focus of the war in 1943 towards SOPAC/CENTPAC. I Australia Corps ordered from the Burma border back to Australia.
JANUARY 1943
Air fighting over the India/Burma border as Tojos sweep Allied bases. The Allies respond with night bombing the airfields with 4Es. Heavy damage to both sides.
Allies mostly disengage from the IJN at Tarawa, both sides apparently content to lick their wounds/resupply.
Heavy fighting in the Solomons on several islands now, USMC raiders meet IJ paras in the southern Solomons, Marines eventually prevail. A 4 x DD USN flotilla raids around Shortlands, sinking some AKs. Near the end of the month a brigade of New Zealanders land and capture Munda half way up the chain, KB arrives and wrecks the transports. USN cruisers that were escorting find and engage KB at night, but the Allies get their ass handed to them in a night battle, CA San Francisco is sunk, one 8 inch shell hit on Soryu. Just after this battle 3 battalions of Allied commandos and a base force land at an undefended Milne Bay, CL Java is torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine during the operation.
2 American destroyers raid Paramushimo Jima in the far north and find two Japanese DDs, there's a minor engagement, the US DDs come off worse but damage is light regardless.
FEBRUARY 1943
Kalemyo on the Indian/Burmese border falls to the Allies - IJ holds no Indian bases besides Ceylon now.
Battle of Milne Bay. Surface battles rage at the SE tip of PNG, with the USN losing. Allies lose 2 CA and a CL, Japanese lose 1 CA. Japanese manage to counterinvade with a brigade and soon the Allies are holding on by a fingernail. Heavy fighting for weeks on end, both sides losing 50 a/c a day and mostly around Papua New Guinea as the Allies try and prevent Japanese resupply.
Vella Lavella captured and reinforced in the Solomons. The Japanese have air superiority over PNG, but the Allies rule the skies over the Solomons.
MARCH 1943
Battle of Tarawa. BB Prince of Wales as a fast BB SAG, a slow BB SAG, and carriers all converge on the atoll. Prince of Wales badly damages CA Haguro in a night clash, next morning Haguro, CL Isuzu and some DDs are sunk by American carrier air. BB Mutsu takes 4 torpedoes. Next day BBs Yamashiro and and Mutsu death ride and charge. They slip past the cover force to get through to the transports, but they are defended by BBs Arizona, California and Colorado, and the American BBs are clearly better in daytime, sinking both Yamashiro and the already badly damaged Mutsu. The Japanese heavy shells were unable to penetrate the American BB armour at 12,000 yards. Tarawa falls to the USMC. Bloodless victory for the Allies, three capital ships lost by the IJN.
Battle of Milne Bay. IJ surface forces prevent resupply by barge, by the end of the month US CVs are deployed. 8 American flattops meet 9 Japanese ones, but the Americans and bad weather do horribly, the US fleet scatters and half of it disappears under the stormclouds, so it ends up 9 Japanese CVs versus 4 Allied ones. CVs Victorious and Yorktown, BB Massachusetts and CVE Chenango with Hornet heavily damaged in exchange for CVL Shoho being heavily damaged in pretty much a reverse Midway. The Allied CV force is down to 3 CVs after this!
Plans are afoot in India for a recapture of Ceylon, which is entirely isolated and being bombed into the stone age.
APRIL 1943
Second Battle of Ceylon. BBs Kongo and Haruna and a couple of DDs contest the landing. The RN only has CAs and old ones at that, CA Frobisher is sunk and CA Hawkins heavily damaged but the Japanese don't get into the transports. The RN don't do very well, despite having so many torpedoes on their ships they barely fire any, though they do fruitlessly expend a lot of ammo against BB belt armour. Colombo falls almost immediately though. Allied ground forces swiftly move to cut Ceylon in half, cutting Koggala off from Trincomalee.
Battle of Milne Bay. Milne Bay eventually runs out of supplies and falls. Another Bde of Allies go into the POW camps - hopefully the last brigade. The ground losses are minor compared to the losses at sea and in the air, though. Transport aircraft manage to evacuate some of the units but the operation as a whole has been a debacle for the Allies.
Battle of Vella Lavella. In the Solomons the Japanese airfields north of Munda are being obliterated by attack bombers, which prove very effective. Vella Lavella is invaded, fighting takes place over a couple of weeks there and eventually 3 American regiments are involved. Nearby LBA makes all the difference, unlike Milne Bay this is an Allied victory, Vella Lavella falls.
Battle of Makin. Makin atoll is assumed to be undefended by the Allies, in fact there is an SNLF unit defending the place. Lazy recon. Fortunately the USMC tanks detailed to capture it are well prepared and despite the rude surprise of Japanese marines, Makin falls. It is quickly reinforced and built up.
MAY
Second Battle of Ceylon. Koggala falls to the Allies. Situation really deteriorating fast for the Japanese, who have 3 divisions on the island totally cut off.
With Milne Bay no longer absorbing Allied resources the advance in the Solomons picks up steam. Rabaul is being obliterated by heavy bombers now and is soon no longer tenable as a major Japanese airfield despite various Japanese ingenuities and major commitment of Tojos.
IJN raid around Makin and Tarawa, KB sinks a Canadian CLAA and retires.
JUNE 1943
Second Battle of Ceylon. Indian tank regiments break the Japanese at Trincomalee, the rest are driven north to Jaffna. There they are finally wiped out and the liberation of Ceylon concluded. 33rd Division, 23rd Division, 74th Infantry Regiment, 12th Division and 14th Naval Guard are led off to the tender mercies of Winstons POW camps. Commonwealth eyes now turn to Burma...
Chinese are being defeated inch by inch, Kweilin falls.
Landings at Shortlands in the upper Solomons. IJN attempts to intervene with cruisers but CA Kinugasa is sunk by CA Quincy and a CL. Shortlands proves well defended, and does not immediately fall despite landing in divisional strength.
Near Kwajalein the first skip bombing raid by Liberators prove successful. USN heavy bombers manage a really long range strike and obliterate Japanese merchants who thought they were safe being out of B25 range. Japanese attempting to reinforce CENTPAC where the bombers at Tarawa can't touch, this proves harder than they thought.
JULY 1943
Commonwealth begins plans for Burma. The plan is to deploy strong forces along the Indian/Burmese border to push the IJA and attempt to get him to commit reserves. When the time is judged ripe, a multidivisional landing will go for Rangoon and hopefully catch him out of position. To that end, Bill Slim is put in charge of 14th Army and Commonwealth forces begin to mass at Coxs Bazaar and Imphal. I Australia Corps and a division of Americans are slated to land at Rangoon, more Americans and Chinese are earmarked to invade Port Blair. 14th Army is soon marching Burmawards, the Imperial Guard are found and defeated on the road to Akyab.
BB Mississippi sunk by a submarine off Mili, Mili is taken though.
P47s in action for the first time, in the Solomons. Up till now the Tojo has been a major problem. The P47 proves to be its master. Two aces made in the first day of combat against the Tojo. Soon aggressive sweeps over New Britain are causing Japanese pilots to die like flies. A small Japanese convoy at Rabaul is hit hard by USMC Dauntlesses.
Japanese start making a major push for China. Most of the IJA bomber force now seems to be operating in the Chinese Theatre - scared of the T-bolt probably. The Chinese, who have been out of supply for months, have no airforce at all and are soon bleeding. Allied attempts to reinforce with P40Ks just mean the Tojos have some easy meat - with no supply the Allies are always outnumbered 3 or 4 to 1.
American reinforcements mean we have 6 CVs again. They head surreptitiously to the Indian Ocean.
AUGUST 1943
Akyab falls to 14th Army, P47s are soon slaughtering the Japanese over Burma as well. By now 5-6 Japanese divisions are fixed on the Indian/Burma border by 14th army, according to plan. Recon suggests this is the bulk of the IJA force in Burma.
Another atoll hop in CENTPAC towards Kwajalein. Maloelap atoll is quite a long hop and KB intrudes, many merchants are sunk but the LCUs get ashore and Maloelap becomes part of the Allied sphere. Kwajalein and Roi-Namur now not very far away.
Two Allied convoys wiped out by IJ bombers at Feni Islands and Deboyne Islands despite fighter cover. LRCAP is very much hit and miss.
Chinese situation deteriorating rapidly and the frontline crumbles almost completely. The Japanese advance as fast as they can march. Before too long they are at the gates of Chungking itself!
SEPTEMBER 1943
Landing at Rangoon
Allied fleet masses at Colombo and the invasion of Burma is launched. KB known to be in the Pacific and the Allies are only spotted 2 days out from Port Blair. Unfortunately the Allies are stymied by a special evac rule - the American division landing at Port Blair apparently failed a morale check and the commander ordered them to reboard the landing craft - despite massively outnumbering the enemy. This had the effect of disabling the entire division. Despite this incredible act of self immolation which means Port Blair will remain in enemy hands, the show must go on. Rangoon duly falls. (This division is still foobed as of January 1944, well done guys, top job).
The delay gives him time to bring up CVs but they are scattered, no doubt from lots of full speed orders. They strike Rangoon but too late, the Allied Hellcats butcher them horribly. P47s are soon flying over Rangoon and then the Allied CVs retire.
Japanese forces are greater than anticipated, the total IJ ground presence is actually 8 divisions. However they are totally out of position and the Allied breakout from Rangoon is rapid. Pegu falls scant days later and then the Allies are sweeping north, towards Mandalay, while a covering force sits at Pegu and Rangoon.
First landing on New Britain, with Shortlands in Allied control and Rabaul out of action there's a daring leap to Gasmata with three Marine regiments. Gasmata falls.
OCTOBER 1943
Liberation of Burma. Mandalay falls on the 12th to troops from Rangoon. Heavy casualties to the IJ division defending it. 14th Army manages to link up with I Australia Corps around the 20th as the entire Japanese defence falls apart. Allied high command breathes a sigh of relief, if I knew how many Japs were in Burma I probably wouldn't have had the stones to try it!
In CENTPAC Wotje falls, only Kwajalein and Roi-Namur left around there.
USMC marines march from Gasmata overland to Talasea on the north coast of New Britain, Talasea falls. Two Allied airbases on New Britain now, they are soon built up and reinforced.
Chungking in China falls to the Japanese! Chinese Army retreats in disarray towards the Burmese border.
NOVEMBER 1943
Mopping up in Burma completed, all bases now in Allied hands. 14th Army splits in half - half go south to Moulmein, the other half continue to mop up and attempt to press towards Paoshan on the Chinese border. At sea though not nearly so rosy, resupplying Rangoon proves very difficult with KB based at, presumably, Singapore, and with Port Blair still in Japanese hands and providing very good warning of Allied fleet sorties. An attempted re-invasion of Port Blair is aborted when KB arrives in force. The IJA in Burma has been gutted horribly, about 5 divisions worth of troops were wiped out to a man, another 3 or 4 escaped mauled and by the skin of their teeth. Along with the Ceylon invasion, a bad year for the IJA, outside of China anyway.
Allied high command realises, oops, there are no radars in Rangoon, as the Japanese begin to fight back and things go badly in the air. A pretty major oversight. A reinforcement convoy MUST get through but the Allied CVs are already en route to the Pacific again. 3 CVEs are drafted. The bulk of KB meets them - 2 CVEs are sunk. But the radars are landed at least. An expensive error.
Attempt in SOPAC to capture the island of Manus north of New Britain. This island is key as it puts Truk in comfortable heavy bomber range. A CVL and 2 CVE head north escorting an amphibious force but the CV force reacts to a single Japanese CV and then... vanishes under bad weather during the morning. The Allied invasion fleet gets mauled. In the afternoon the weather clears but the Japanese manage to coordinate a strike from half a dozen bases and their CVs and CVL Cowpens is blown away without achieving anything in return. Four American DDs find the Japanese CVLs at night but are butchered by the escort rabbit in headlights style. Manus invasion called off.
Buna is captured on Papua New Guinea, the base at Gasmata means the fiasco of March is not repeated. A brigade marches overland to Port Moresby and captures that, too. Merauke, halfway across PNG, is defended by a battalion of SNLF but is taken in a coup de main by two battalions of Aussie commandoes. In an amazingly short time Merauke is built up by SeaBees and soon P47s are ranging all over Papua New Guinea. A Japanese attempt to resupply his bases on the north coast result in slaughter at the hands of Dauntlesses and P47s, so most of PNG is now cut off. Manus is captured by a barged invasion force at about the same time and rapidly built up. Thank god for barges!
Kwajalein invaded at the same time, proves easy to crack after months of being cut off and bombed. Roi-Namur falls days later. Victory in CENTPAC!
Allied submarines are really starting to reap the waves, a sinking a day is probably the average now. The western and southern approaches to the Home Islands is now a continuous line of subs.
DECEMBER 1943
Japanese in Burma now all but mopped up. However, stalemate at Moulmein as Japanese reinforcements plug the gap. Paoshan meanwhile falls to 14th Army as they try and link up with fleeing, routing Chinese, and Rangoon, now with radar, is unbeatable by the IJ airforce. Japanese CVs are no longer in theatre and with air superiority at Rangoon the Japanese can do little to prevent Allied resupply.
The Chinese are being mostly wiped out. A few corps are airlifted to Ledo, the rest have to walk. About half are cut off en route, the other half are trudging over the trackless wastes to India. The Chinese are basically out of the war, though they might make a re-entry at the end of 1944. There already four Chinese corps in Calcutta replenishing, up to about 500 AV now but give it six months and it'll be a major force again.
Battle of Rabaul. 2 divisions land at Rabaul, find 2 Japanese divisions heavily entrenched and apparently well supplied. Siege begins. Have some misgivings, but Rabaul has been cut off for a long time and I expect minimal supply, and I could use a well protected, built up base to replace Noumea. Can't take that long to fall... right?
Landings at Finschafen, and Manus is now built up enough for B24s to be based there. Truk is night bombed and heavy damage is done to fleet/airfarce there. Then Truk is hit by aerial mines as Allied submarines hound fleeing IJ ships. A dozen merchants are sunk.
Attempted invasion at Wake is bloodily repulsed by KB, and BB Colorado is sunk along with 90% of the USMC regiment sent to capture it. Thought KB would not be near given the nearest safe anchorage is now a long way away with Truk being hit by LBA, turns out it was waiting, possibly for months on end, in the open ocean north of Wake along with a replenishment TF. As of end of January 1944 KB was confirmed to still be in that ocean, so he likes sitting out at sea much more than I do. Invasion of Kaseui Island near Ponape is pulled off without a hitch though.
The noose noticeably tightening around Hirohitos throat!
JANUARY 1944
Finschafen and Lae fall to the Marines, so the SE corner of PNG is now firmly Allied. Rabaul holding out - both sides have a division and a half - but the Allies have an enormous artillery advantage with 5 arty units there and every medium bomber in SOPAC has Rabaul as a secondary target. The Japanese are getting noticeably worn down, they've lost a number of forts already.
Battle of Moulmein. 14th Army builds up at Moulmein and manages to drive out the 1500 AV of Japanese defending it with heavy casualties. An armoured thrust of Shermans roars down the road towards Tavoy driving all before them. Looks like they will get Tavoy, but the long thin strip of coast between Rangoon and Tavoy looks very fragile given apparently major Japanese forces over the border in Thailand - all those who made it out of Burma plus reinforcements. However, I'm confident I can hold and build up Tavoy, which is one of those Significant milestones - the oil in northern Sumatra is in 4E range from Tavoy.
Future plans - in the Pacific, to focus on the north and south coasts of Papua New Guinea and advance as far as the opposite end of the strait to Mindanao. In SEAC, hang fire at Tavoy and shift to a naval offensive - Port Blair first, and then island hopping until ultimately a landing at Sabang (Winston would be proud). Ideally cut off Malaya by land. However, the Allied ground situation seems less steady than I'd like and I think a change of axis of advance is needed.