Where'd I put that sword again? Erkki(evil IJ) vs Iroquois(A) no Iroquois

[Erkki]

February 3 1942


China: the deliberate assault near Sian doesnt go too well... no leader or exp bonus despite having 3 different level HQs in range. Hopefully just bad luck. Another attack in 5-6 days.

Ground combat at 84,42 (near Sian)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 53358 troops, 486 guns, 74 vehicles, Assault Value = 1747

Defending force 52796 troops, 243 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1624

Japanese adjusted assault: 929

Allied adjusted defense: 1606

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
5420 casualties reported
Squads: 15 destroyed, 577 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 39 disabled

Allied ground losses:
669 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 110 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled

Assaulting units:
110th Division
41st Division
13th Division
3rd Ind.Mixed Brigade
32nd Division
12th Army
11th Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
36th Chinese Corps
76th Chinese Corps
47th Chinese Corps
16th Chinese Corps
1st Chinese Corps
93rd Chinese Corps
4th Group Army
4th Construction Regiment


Burma: another bombing day.

Malaya: Temuloh surrenders!

Ground combat at Temuloh (50,78)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 9831 troops, 66 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 336

Defending force 5123 troops, 32 guns, 16 vehicles, Assault Value = 66

Japanese adjusted assault: 184

Allied adjusted defense: 58

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Temuloh !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
277 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 30 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2473 casualties reported
Squads: 132 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 548 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 23 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 17 (17 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 11 (11 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 6

Assaulting units:
2nd Engineer Regiment
II./4th Infantry Battalion
I./4th Infantry Battalion
II./124th Infantry Battalion
56th Infantry Regiment
2nd Recon Regiment

Defending units:
8th Indian Brigade
12th Indian Brigade
3rd SSVF Battalion
1st Hyderabad Battalion
5/14th Punjab Battalion
272/273rd Bty 80th AT Gun Regiment

DEI: 2 more Hudsons shot down over the invasion fleet...

South Pacific: PM deliberate attack destroys an enemy unit:

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15877 troops, 210 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 439

Defending force 7085 troops, 69 guns, 39 vehicles, Assault Value = 115

Japanese adjusted assault: 236

Allied adjusted defense: 143

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
371 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 32 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
183 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 4 (3 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
53rd Division
1st China Assault Division
34th Field AA Battalion
21st Fld AA Gun Co

Defending units:
A Coy/NG Rifles
30th Australian Brigade
Port Moresby Brigade
Port Moresby Coastal Gun Battalion
14th RAAF Base Force
15th RAAF Base Force

Central Pacific: AMC Nosiro intercepts a tanker TF in daylight!!! But the captain dishonors himself, the ship and his family by destroying only 1 TK(fuel cargo burning) before disengaging despite having plenty of ammo and torpedoes left. He is ordered to intercept the tankers again!!!

Day Time Surface Combat, near San Francisco at 204,92, Range 17,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
AMC Nosiro Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire

Allied Ships
AVD Mackinac
TK T W Drennen
TK Hagood
TK Halo
TK Esso Richmond, Shell hits 1
TK Gulfbreeze
TK Gulfdawn
TK Beau, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
TK Eidsvold, Shell hits 1
TK Fosna
TK British Princess

Good signint on Pearl reveals no large warships in the port.

Submarines: CA Canberra torpedoed near Brisbane! Heavy flooding reported.


Those are some FAT tankers just waiting to be sunk! I was really disappointed to see Nosiro destroy just 1 of them. 2 more were hit but their cargo didnt catch fire.

[John 3rd]

Nice work with the interception...

[zuluhour]

I like the style.

[Erkki]

Thanks!




February 4 1942


China: Nanyang pocket reduced with deliberate attack. IJA will now wait for the 2 reinforcing divisions and tank support here before it attacks again, which will be in 6 days. I dont want to spend months rebuilding these units even if I can quickly take care of this enemy force.

Ground combat at 86,46 (near Nanyang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 45041 troops, 386 guns, 138 vehicles, Assault Value = 1434

Defending force 35662 troops, 221 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 465

Japanese adjusted assault: 847

Allied adjusted defense: 102

Japanese assault odds: 8 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1386 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 131 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2391 casualties reported
Squads: 69 destroyed, 94 disabled
Non Combat: 21 destroyed, 58 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 14 (2 destroyed, 12 disabled)

Assaulting units:
13th Ind.Mixed Brigade
15th Division
40th Division
37th Division
87th Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
29th Chinese Corps
84th Chinese Corps
7th Chinese Corps
13th Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps
7th New Chinese Corps
12th Chinese Corps
3rd Group Army
31st Group Army
21st Group Army
48th Chinese Corps

Burma: IJA reaches Prome! Blenheims bomb IJ armor at Meiktila but IJAAF had moved 2 squadrons of Ki-43s to Toungoo and was airlifting aviation support from Bangkok today so the 9 bombers are caught by surprise. They lose 5 of their number and dont hit a thing. An IJAAF General Major pilot scores 2 victories!

Malaya: -

DEI: IJ recon regiment routs the Dutch again. Half of Sumatra is under Japanese control.

South Pacific: Port Moresby bombed by G4Ms, no hits scored.

Central Pacific: AMC Nosiro fails to find the enemy TF again.

Submarines: A French sub destroys a medium size empty xAK near Tulagi. These French subs are a PITA and seemingly invulnerable to ASW. They've sunk more ships so far than USN, RN and Dutch submarines combined. IJN gets it revenge only hours later when in the Maledives a very large British xAK in fuel cargo is hit 3 times. [:)]

Submarine attack near Addu at 18,49

Japanese Ships
SS I-123

Allied Ships
xAK City of Pretoria, Torpedo hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage

xAK City of Pretoria is sighted by SS I-123
SS I-123 launches 4 torpedoes at xAK City of Pretoria

[Erkki]

February 5 1942


China: Another day of bombing. Ki-43s sweep Sian(aerial recon revealed fighters there) and bag 4 I-15s without getting even fired at once. Knowing how good the Chinese fighter pilots are I wouldnt let them fly combat sorties before going through several months of training first.


Burma: Prome falls! The Retreating British force retreats towards Magwe instead of Akyab, which would have been much safer option. Now this force too is in risk of getting pocketed or bloodied again.

Ground combat at Prome (55,50)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8796 troops, 116 guns, 36 vehicles, Assault Value = 272

Defending force 8267 troops, 137 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 233

Japanese adjusted assault: 133

Allied adjusted defense: 51

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Prome !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
282 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 30 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
4287 casualties reported
Squads: 127 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 192 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 36 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 72 (72 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 20 (20 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 4
Units destroyed 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
Imperial Guards/B Division
Imperial Guards/C Division
55th Mountain Gun Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
46th Indian Brigade
1st Gloucestershire Battalion
17th Indian Division
103rd RN Base Force
100th RAF Base Force



Malaya: starting the march to Singapore in a couple of days. I know I may capture it a bit behind the historical schedule, but I did use at least 1 division less than the historical Japanese force too.

DEI: Samarinda invasion D minus 2.

PI: The Allies have forgot a PI division and a base force at Iba. IJA sent some tanks and an Infantry regiment to take care of them but looks like no progress will be made for some time unless the defenders happen to be short on supplies.

South Pacific: -

Central Pacific: USN has sent what looks like one of the many anti-submarine destroyer forces to take care of Nosiro. They're sighted by sub-borne E14Y floatplanes. Nosiro will withdraw.

Unfortunately also right between Midway and Aleutians the IJN replenishment TF supporting raiders runs directly into 2 USN ships, a xAK and its escorts. While its interesting to know that the Allies apparently move troops using this route and even without escorts, the raider force has been revealed and its safety is compromised. Changing to plan B: see if theres anything worth attacking near Dutch Harbor and then bug out.



Submarines: I-171 bags a TK near Melbourne(she had laid mines here earlier but no luck with them).

Sub attack near King Island at 81,173

Japanese Ships
SS I-171

Allied Ships
TK Gulfking, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Alfred Clegg
TK Mobilstation
DD Cone

I had noticed that the USN subs had been checking out the various bases in the Gilberts and Marshalls probably looking for cargo ships or stationed bigger warships. Dunno. They had checked out all but Kwajalein, Eniwetok(these 2 have minefields and strong defences initially) and Tarawa. Jaluit was secured only recently and since the sub there was driven away with depth charges I figured I could unload some supplies at Tarawa too and let the CM that was with the force to drop its mines there. That was 6 days ago. A USN sub finally paid a visit today and hit 3 mines! [:D]



TF 301 encounters mine field at Tarawa (136,128)

Allied Ships
SS S-34, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
SS S-34, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
SS S-34, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage [8D]

Scratch another one! I think after this one the Allies will stop using subs as aggressively as they have now. Hopefully not, though.

[Erkki]

February 6 1942



China: More bombing...

Burma: IJAAF and IJNAF bombers keep bombing the retreating British.

Malaya: Lots of bombers lost over Singapore again... Even at 20,000 I suffer nearly 10% losses on average. Thats 9 bombers lost today alone. Not all AAA units even made it to Singapore.

DEI: Samarinda invasion D minus 1.

PI: -

South Pacific: -

Central Pacific: As expected, USN destroyer force finds and sinks AMC Nosiro.

Submarines: A USN sub enters Taihoku(oil port on Formosa) and hits a mine!




Meanwhile in real world, one of Vladimir Putin's advisors, Sergei Markov, has today warned Finland, Sweden and the Baltic countries about their "russophobia". He warns that "Russia musnt be cornered" and notes that russophobia may "launch world war 3 like antisemitism started world war 2". He also warns that the NATO membership of Finland would "weaken the security situation in Europe and would only be a sign of fear of Russia". This is not the first time that a Russia official including secretaries, high-rank military commanders or even president himself has given comments like these during the past 60 years. I can assure you dear readers that there is absolutely none of russophobia, fascism or russo-centric xenophobia or racism in this country. The economical bounds with Russia have historically been strong despite the many past indefferencies. Russia's leadership seems to still live in the polarized pre-globalized world of the Soviet era. In Russia's rethorics Russia seems to be the threatened, bullied country surrounded by enemies, and to its own citizens it is showing its strength by striking back and protecting her interests everywhere by any means. Russia's world seems to be divided between Russia and its "comrades" and everyone else that are their direct competitors and enemies controlled by the US.

It seems to be inconceivable to Russia that their neighbours, trade partners and the EU actually ARE sovereign democratic nations and not united to compete with Russia(and China) under the US flag. Democratic principles are alien to Russia. Russia cannot even make difference between criticism towards a nation's leadership and criticism or xenophobia towards language or culture. On the other side of the fence, European nations that have long concentrated on doing business cannot understand why Russia is turtling up. Sending troops to annex land from her sovereign neighbours, supporting insurgents, blackmailing, behaving unexpectedly and even downright threatening neighbouring countries(in addition to Ukraine) is not good business. Neither side meets the other to the eye and they keep misunderstanding each other. Russia does not even understand that there is no one other side but a multitude of them in her neighbours, EU, NATO and US, while the EU has hard time realizing that superpowers(or nations thinking they are one) just wont play along the rules, which is making any responses such as economical constraints ineffective, as economy obviously is not in any priority to Russia.

While I am sure that a lot behind the recent events has its roots in the Russian inner politics and economical situation and not in the imagined NATO-built sieging perimeter around Russia, theres bound to be some truth in Russia's views as well. I still find it very worrisome developement that Russia is abandoning its foreign relations for military strength and reinforcement of what they call "national identity" and "patriotism" that seems to equal purchasing new fighter aircraft, modernizing military and blackmailing and bullying neighbouring countries. None of that makes for good business in the long run, even if they do strengthen Russians' support to Mr. Putin and his government. For now I dont want to go deeper into the situation in Ukraine but theres many sides to it, even if I dont as a whole support Russia's politics there, especially not what happened on Crimea and now on the Russian-Ukrainian border.

Just some compiled thoughts from a small, democratic northern country neighbouring Russia that has survived 2 wars already, and from someone who has some of the few Russian minority's members among his friends and neighbours.

[obvert]

Difficult to understand on a personal level when you hear things like these Russian official comments but know the relationships of people are often very good on a daily basis. How do we respond? That is the thing the press and social media have to do even more than they do already. Make sure there is a good dialogue, open communication and simply bypass these old bastions of division.

[Erkki]

Agreed!



February 7 1942


China: IJA division crosses the river from Kanhisien towards Pingsian and(unsurprisingly) beats the snot out of the defending KMT Corps that had been bombed for weeks!

Ground combat at 82,55 (near Pingsiang)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 12981 troops, 104 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 464

Defending force 4204 troops, 42 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 119

Japanese adjusted assault: 584

Allied adjusted defense: 2

Japanese assault odds: 292 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), disruption(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+)

Japanese ground losses:
300 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 56 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2167 casualties reported
Squads: 156 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 47 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 24 (11 destroyed, 13 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
104th Division

Defending units:
88th Chinese Corps

Revealed by aerial recon, in Hengyang the Chinese seem to be moving a great number of units towards Kweiling... IJAAF bombers will pay a visit tomorrow. Good part of these Chinese troops are probably the same ones that were driven away from the coast, around Nanchang and from Kukong-Kanhisien area.

Chinese bombers fly a rare attack sortie and hit IJA troops near Changsha. This great IJA force is having a sitzkrieg war with their Chinese counterparts.


Burma: IJ bombers hit British troops at Magwe and cause considerable damage. British Blenheims attack IJA troops in Prome - IJAAF will be providing fighter cover tomorrow.

Malaya: -

DEI: Samarinda invaded! The landings go smoothly and nearly all troops are ashore by the dusk. This landing force includes 2 regiments and an aviation support battalion - a 42-strong Ki-43-Ic Sentai will be flown in to protect the oil well tomorrow. Zero-LRCAP from CarDiv II shoots down all 3 attacking Martin 139WH bombers over the fleet.

Hudsons attack advancing IJ troops near Makassar. Allied air forces have been flying a lot of these kinds of itty-bitty attacks, to little effect.

Tomorrow: IJA paratrooper regiment will drop to Lautem on Timor, from Kendari. There are over 50 transport aircraft available for this operation. I hope to catch more Catalinas on the ground!

North Pacific: CarDiv III sights 2 small merchant task forces near Kodiak, Alaska, but only the other B5N unit launches twice and both times has to turn back. Zeros attack some xAKs with 60kg bombs but miss. CS Chitose's floatplanes dont launch at all. First the replenishment TF encountered merchants in the middle of nowhere and now this. CarDiv III will be on its way home now...

[Erkki]

February 8 1942


China: IJAAF and IJNAF bombers score some good hits today.

Burma: RAF Blenheims hit Prome again but lose 3 of their number to defending Hayabusas. I'm not sure why the Allies dont use their fighters... They should have some with range to escort or sweep. IJ bombers hit well.

DEI: Samarinda falls! Just 1 out of the 100 oil well points is damaged. Some Dutch fighters get destroyed on the ground. A Dutch sub attacks the unloading fleet but only managed to get depth charged itself. For some reasons even Catalinas try to attack the fleet but miss - they get away as the carriers had been moved away already. Boela(small oil port) invaded in the Eastern DEI.

At Lautem, he paratrooper operation doesnt go quite as planned: 44 AV worth of troops gets lifted for the loss of 6 transport planes but the troops dont manage to secure Lautem. They'll be waiting for reinforcements now.

Ground combat at Lautem (72,115)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 544 troops, 7 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 41

Defending force 744 troops, 42 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 10

Allied adjusted defense: 11

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 1)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
71 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
22 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 7 (2 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
1st Para Assault Div /1

Defending units:
2nd KNIL AA Battalion
Lautem Base Force

Ki-43s from Palembang sweep Batavia and shoot down 2 B-339s to no loss.


South Pacific: The IJ force at Port Moresby was let to rest for a week before attacking again today. This time its a success!!

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 16313 troops, 212 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 461

Defending force 6887 troops, 66 guns, 39 vehicles, Assault Value = 92

Japanese adjusted assault: 241

Allied adjusted defense: 59

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Port Moresby !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), fatigue(-), morale(-)
experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
205 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2966 casualties reported
Squads: 25 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 207 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 34 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 59 (55 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 31 (31 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 4
Units destroyed 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
53rd Division
1st China Assault Division
34th Field AA Battalion
21st Fld AA Gun Co

Defending units:
30th Australian Brigade
Port Moresby Brigade
Port Moresby Coastal Gun Battalion
14th RAAF Base Force
15th RAAF Base Force


Banzai!!!!!




North Pacific: CarDiv III sights nothing to attack but Catalinas keep tracking it.

Submarines: Yesterday when AMC Nosiro sunk the submarine I-23 was in the adjacent hex. I gave her the order to sail where Nosiro sunk and then head directly towards Pearl. The Japanese fleet boats are very fast and she caught up with the enemy force.

Sub attack near Lahaina at 197,96

Japanese Ships
SS I-23

Allied Ships
DD Benham
DD Lamson
DD Drayton

SS I-23 launches 2 torpedoes at DD Benham
I-23 diving deep ....

ASW attack near Lahaina at 195,97

Japanese Ships
SS I-23

Allied Ships
DD Benham, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
DD Lamson

SS I-23 launches 6 torpedoes at DD Benham
DD Lamson fails to find sub, continues to search...

Banzai! I-23 only has 2 torpedoes left now but since she has an E14Y floatplane she'll stay in the area as she can help finding targets for the other subs. Interestingly DD Benham was smoking before she was hit - could be damage from high speed run... Or perhaps from a collision?

[Erkki]

February 9 1942


China: the experimental attack near Sian with an infantry brigade and the newly arrived tanks goes with mixed results: the infantry unit gets whopping 1:93 odds but some Chinese squads get disabled still with no tanks lost. They have no AT weapons here.

Near Nanyang, the pocket gets reduced again:

Ground combat at 86,46 (near Nanyang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 46279 troops, 425 guns, 332 vehicles, Assault Value = 1487

Defending force 32654 troops, 214 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 299

Japanese adjusted assault: 49

Allied adjusted defense: 77

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: morale(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
161 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 44 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1369 casualties reported
Squads: 42 destroyed, 70 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled

Assaulting units:
37th Division
13th Ind.Mixed Brigade
40th Division
12th Tank Regiment
15th Tank Regiment
15th Division
87th Infantry Regiment
China Expeditionary Army
4th Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
85th Chinese Corps
29th Chinese Corps
13th Chinese Corps
7th Chinese Corps
84th Chinese Corps
7th New Chinese Corps
21st Group Army
3rd Group Army
12th Chinese Corps
31st Group Army
48th Chinese Corps

I'll attempt to smash this pocket in 4 days.

Also IJA will start moving the heavy artillery from Canton to first Shanghai on ships and then to Sian front. I have just one artillery unit here and I really want to play the war of supply attrition with the Chinese. Also more arty is already underway from Changsha sector where it had been sitting idle. Should have started moving the arty units in Canton area as soon as Hong Kong fell - it will take at least 15 days for them to arrive to the front.


Burma: IJNAF and IJAAF bombers bomb the retreating British. Lots of attacks go after the surviving defenders of Pegu who have been retreated twice, now near Toungoo... The last attack of the day meets AVG's H81s and 11 G4M1 bombers are lost for all reasons with 5 or 6 crews. They probably flew from Akyab and were drawn as leaking/alerted CAP to this hex. Losses were quick replaced with two mouse clicks... A luxury that probably wont last for more than half a year at most.

Malaya: 2 recon units enter Singapore hex before the rest of the army and get smashed pretty hard... Oops! The good news however is that the forts level and defending AV are revealed: only level 3 and 450 AV. The advancing IJ force should have easily enough force to secure the city quick

DEI: troops start boarding ships at Ambon and Kendari for Timor landings! I hope to land on Java by the end of the month.

South Pacific: A small USN task force at Luganville, and another one with 2 ships reported seems to be approaching Tarawa, now 120 nm away... They are either pickets, a bombardment force, destroyer sweeps or aviation support ships that will attempt to disband at some of the islands still held by the Allies nearby.

Submarines: E14Y sights another large merchant or transport convoy approaching Hawaii. 6 subs vectored in!

[Erkki]

February 10 1942


China: Nanyang pocket bombarded. IJ division advancing towards Ankang from Nanyang meets 2 Chinese units across the river - they will be bombed tomorrow to estimate their strength.

Burma: Ki-43s sweep Akyab and battle AVG's Hawks. 4 Ki-43s and 3 pilots are lost for 4 H81s.

DEI: USAAF A-24 Banshees reappear to bomb IJ paratroopers at Lautem. Dutch Catalinas attack IJN fleet near Samarinda but get shot down by the newly arrived Ki-43s. CarDiv II withdraws and probably disappears from the enemy.

South Pacific: Luganville reconed: 4 units with 5000-ish men, some bombers and aux planes(Catalinas). The airfield is still size 1. Airfield is probably under construction...

Central Pacific: Some small USN warships arrive at Tarawa but avoid hitting the mines. Dunno what they are up to.

Submarines: IJN subs attack the American task force approaching Hawaii and score a hit on a merchant.

[Erkki]

February 11 1942


China: the KMT force on the road to Ankang is 2 Corps, strength unknown. Attack across the river that was planned for tomorrow is aborted.

Burma: Ki-43s sweep Akyab again with much better results: 3 Hawks shot down for just 1 Ki-43(crash at landing) and no pilots. Both sides had over 20 planes in the battle simultaneously. IJ deliberate attack on retreating British near Toungoo gets about 1:1 in losses but its fine, as their retreat is delayed. A recon regiment is closing their escape.

Malaya: 25th IJ army will attack Singapore tomorrow!

DEI: -

South Pacific: Aerial recon reveals Allied shipping and troops on Efate and Espiritu Santos. Both seem to still be lightly garrisoned and would fall to a division-size attack, probably.

USAAF B-17s attack Port Moresby and score some hits on the airfield... I'm not going to do anything about air attacks on Port Moresby until I have planes that work against the B-17s, namely Ki-45 and A6M3b. They're both 1½ months away and will probably enter frontline use in 2 months or so.

Central Pacific: the USN task force withdraws from Tarawa.

[Erkki]

February 12 1942


China: reinforcements arrive to the Nanyang pocket. Attack ordered for tomorrow! IJAAF keeps bombing the pocket as well as Hengyang in the Changsha sector. An IJ division today reaches the hex across the river to South from Hengyang and blocks the retreat of the KMT Corps. Another division is chasing it.

Burma: AVG does not fly today, but RAF's Blenheim bombers sortie to attack advancing IJ troops on the Mandalay-Lashio road. 77th Sentai's Ki-43s shoot down 5 of the 9.

Near Toungoo, Imperial Guards retreats the British and inflicts lots of casualties! 1 unit stays in the hex and probably wont be able to escape, while the 3 retreated units retreat to different directions.

Ground combat at 56,49 (near Toungoo)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8393 troops, 116 guns, 36 vehicles, Assault Value = 226

Defending force 5093 troops, 82 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value = 145

Japanese adjusted assault: 126

Allied adjusted defense: 61

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
75 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1984 casualties reported
Squads: 51 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 106 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 11 (4 destroyed, 7 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
Imperial Guards/B Division
Imperial Guards/C Division
55th Mountain Gun Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
17th Indian Division
103rd RN Base Force
100th RAF Base Force
46th Indian Brigade


Malaya: IJA storms into Singapore! Engineers get a bit roughed up in the first attack but other than that, it went about as well as I expected. Forts lowered and plenty of enemy squads were hurt despite the forts and defensive terrain. I dont know where that disruption(-) came from - all the attacking units were well rested and there were less than 10 disabled devices in the entire force. The recon units that crossed the hexside a couple of days prior did not attack. IJA will rest a couple of days before attacking again. Reinforcements including a 3rd recon regiment, an artillery unit and a 120-AV regiment will arrive in 5 days.

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 47335 troops, 445 guns, 133 vehicles, Assault Value = 1663

Defending force 31100 troops, 381 guns, 371 vehicles, Assault Value = 445

Japanese adjusted assault: 1409

Allied adjusted defense: 751

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
5275 casualties reported
Squads: 17 destroyed, 260 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 40 disabled
Engineers: 38 destroyed, 34 disabled
Guns lost 30 (5 destroyed, 25 disabled)
Vehicles lost 10 (2 destroyed, 8 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1828 casualties reported
Squads: 61 destroyed, 85 disabled
Non Combat: 19 destroyed, 126 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 21 disabled
Guns lost 63 (14 destroyed, 49 disabled)
Vehicles lost 48 (7 destroyed, 41 disabled)

Assaulting units:
12th Engineer Regiment
5th Division
I./4th Infantry Battalion
55th Infantry Regiment
113th Infantry Regiment
56th Infantry Regiment
41st Infantry Regiment
56th Recon Regiment
II./124th Infantry Battalion
148th Infantry Regiment
146th Infantry Regiment
2nd Engineer Regiment
II./4th Infantry Battalion
114th Infantry Regiment
2nd Recon Regiment
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
23rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
25th Army
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
4th Ind. Engineer Regiment
15th Ind. Engineer Regiment
56th Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment

Defending units:
2/17 Dogra Battalion
22nd Australian Brigade
2nd Malay Battalion
SSVF Brigade
2nd Gordons Battalion
27th Australian Brigade
2nd Loyal Battalion
1st Mysore Battalion
Singapore Base Force
1st Indian Heavy AA Regiment
11 Battery/3 HAA
Malayan Air Wing
Malaya Army
Singapore Fortress
III Indian
29 Battery/3 HAA
24th NZ Pioneer Coy
112th RAF Base Force
1st HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
2nd HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
AHQ Far East
111th RAF Base Force
224 Group RAF
223 Group RAF
30 Battery/3 HAA
109th RN Base Force
5th Field Regiment


DEI: I forgot to mention that Makassar fell yesterday. G3Ms from Kendari flew to attack the couple of ships fleeing Makassar and sunk an AVP.

South Pacific: all quiet today.

Submarines: IJN subs near Hawaii withdraw from the USN ASW air and surface patrols around Pearl.

[Erkki]

February 13 1942


China: the Nanyang pocket gets reduced considerably. Some of the Chinese Corps surrender!

Ground combat at 86,46 (near Nanyang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 65094 troops, 565 guns, 332 vehicles, Assault Value = 2162

Defending force 30427 troops, 214 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 195

Japanese adjusted assault: 1737

Allied adjusted defense: 19

Japanese assault odds: 91 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), morale(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
171 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 10 (1 destroyed, 9 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
9726 casualties reported
Squads: 724 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 540 destroyed, 67 disabled
Engineers: 13 destroyed, 14 disabled
Guns lost 126 (29 destroyed, 97 disabled)
Units destroyed 7

Assaulting units:
12th Tank Regiment
13th Ind.Mixed Brigade
15th Division
40th Division
37th Division
116th Division
15th Ind.Mixed Brigade
15th Tank Regiment
87th Infantry Regiment
China Expeditionary Army
4th Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
13th Chinese Corps
29th Chinese Corps
7th Chinese Corps
84th Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps
3rd Group Army
21st Group Army
12th Chinese Corps
48th Chinese Corps
31st Group Army
7th New Chinese Corps

Another deliberate attack is ordered for tomorrow. I'm expecting the rest of them to give up!

Far in the North advancing IJ routs this KMT Corps for the 2nd time:

Ground combat at 90,32 (near Paotow)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 5716 troops, 66 guns, 100 vehicles, Assault Value = 159

Defending force 3518 troops, 40 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 83

Japanese adjusted assault: 112

Allied adjusted defense: 33

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
250 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1391 casualties reported
Squads: 40 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 25 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 9 (3 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
1st Cavalry Brigade
4th Cavalry Brigade
11th Indpt Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
81st Chinese Corps


Burma: Blenheims sortie to attack IJ troops near Toungoo but no Ki-43s intercept. Bassein occupied, the defenders of Pegu get routed for the 3rd time:

Ground combat at 56,49 (near Toungoo)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8265 troops, 116 guns, 36 vehicles, Assault Value = 214

Defending force 1419 troops, 18 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 10

Japanese adjusted assault: 173

Allied adjusted defense: 5

Japanese assault odds: 34 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), leaders(-), disruption(-)
morale(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
264 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 39 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 6 (2 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
Imperial Guards/B Division
Imperial Guards/C Division
55th Mountain Gun Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
100th RAF Base Force
103rd RN Base Force
46th Indian Brigade


Malaya: -

DEI: due to the changed strategic situation(see South Pacific) the landings on Timor are a go!! IJN force with BBs Fuso and Yamashiro parked itself in the middle of the Banda Sea. 9 USAAF A-24s from Koepang and all were shot down by Zeros or flak.

South Pacific: H8K air patrols sight USN carriers North of Espiritu Santo!



The IJN will respond in force tomorrow.

[Erkki]

February 14 1942


South Pacific: The USN CVBG withdraws but does it rather lazily. It sails South through the New Hebrides and is still within naval search range today and is found several times by H8Ks.

Enemy shipping of some xAKs and xAKLs stays at Luganville. They are either unloading something important(doubtful), were not cared about, or the enemy did not expect KB to advance. KB remains out of strike range today, and will now withdraw.




China: Nanyang pocket is nearly destroyed:

Ground combat at 86,46 (near Nanyang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 64912 troops, 565 guns, 332 vehicles, Assault Value = 2139

Defending force 18719 troops, 172 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 22

Japanese adjusted assault: 1357

Allied adjusted defense: 9

Japanese assault odds: 150 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(-), disruption(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
37 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
8317 casualties reported
Squads: 412 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 540 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 20 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 96 (94 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Assaulting units:
13th Ind.Mixed Brigade
12th Tank Regiment
37th Division
15th Division
40th Division
15th Tank Regiment
116th Division
15th Ind.Mixed Brigade
87th Infantry Regiment
China Expeditionary Army
4th Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
29th Chinese Corps
84th Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps
13th Chinese Corps

Burma: 3rd Division storms across the river into Schwebo and routs the British!

Ground combat at Shwebo (59,45)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 13074 troops, 120 guns, 32 vehicles, Assault Value = 442

Defending force 1470 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 58

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 284

Allied adjusted defense: 3

Japanese assault odds: 94 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Shwebo !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(-), preparation(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+), fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
18 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
720 casualties reported
Squads: 54 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 35 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 2
Units destroyed 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
33rd Division

Defending units:
Upper Burma BAF Battalion
13th Burma Rifles Battalion
9th Burma Rifles Battalion


Malaya: historically Singapore surrendered on February 15th. Wont happen now.

DEI: Lautem invaded! Koepang invasion D minus 1.

PI: bombardment attacks at Manila have been advantageous to Japan despite Japan actually having less troops and AV there(and defenders having forts for sure). They also burn the defenders' supply so they'll keep bombing!

Submarines: a French submarine gets depth charged near Rabaul.

[Erkki]

February 15 1942


Looks like the enemy ID'd the Kido Butai only yesterday, as they reacted today:


South Pacific: KB withdraws but at range 20, Catalinas still keep her tracked... A "CVE" reappears between New Caledonia and Espiritu Santo. Probably CVL Charlotte. Enemy TF at Luganville flees directly East while another 2-ship one, probably pickets, appears 13 hex E of Ndeni.

B5N squadron flown to Lunga. CarDiv II with Soryu, Hiryu and CVL Ryujo will meet the rest of the carrier fleet tomorrow.

All enemy submarines in the Marshalls and around Truk have disappeared - they are probably heading to the waters around Ndeni.

I think the larger enemy CV task force withdrew towards Fiji - the submarines near Noumea nor the 2 between New Caledonia and Fiji did not sight any enemy aircraft today.




China: Nanyang pocket eliminated!

Ground combat at 86,46 (near Nanyang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 48349 troops, 423 guns, 332 vehicles, Assault Value = 2150

Defending force 12026 troops, 92 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 12

Japanese adjusted assault: 1214

Allied adjusted defense: 4

Japanese assault odds: 303 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(-), disruption(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
31 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
6134 casualties reported
Squads: 537 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1191 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 21 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 120 (120 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Assaulting units:
15th Division
12th Tank Regiment
40th Division
15th Ind.Mixed Brigade
116th Division
15th Tank Regiment
37th Division
13th Ind.Mixed Brigade
87th Infantry Regiment
China Expeditionary Army
4th Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
13th Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps

I think this pocket contained about 1300 combat squads and about 1100 support.


Burma: Blenheims reappear but meet Ki-43s today. 4 of them are shot down and they dont hit a thing.

Malaya: -

DEI:

Troops storms across the river and into Balikpapan on Borneo and the Dutch retreat! Oil wells and refineries have only very minor damage. Some B-339s and Catalinas are caught by the IJA troops.

Lautem on Timor falls! The victorious paratroopers(most arrived on ships...) will pursue them to Dili.

Koepang on Timor invaded! Troops nearly ashore by the end of the day. Shock attack ordered!

[Erkki]

February 16 1942


China: IJA starts to regroup for attacks towards Ankang and Sian. Supporting IJAAF sorties against the 2 KMT Corps defending in the advanced position and hits them well. For the Sian operation IJA will have to resort in raw firepower.

Burma: Taung Gyi occupied.

Malaya: -

DEI: Koepang falls! A 4-ship destroyer squadron finds the 2 ships trying to escape and destroy them both. You dont often see a destroyer score 3 hits(1 dud) against another... 0% moonlight and the very close range of 2000 yards must have helped!

Night Time Surface Combat, near Koepang at 67,115, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Yugure
DD Ariake
DD Ayanami
DD Asakaze

Allied Ships
AVD William B. Preston, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
AVP Bellatrix, Shell hits 8, and is sunk

AVP Bellatrix sunk by DD Ayanami at 2,000 yards
AVD William B. Preston sunk by DD Ayanami at 2,000 yards


Ground combat at Koepang (68,116)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 13298 troops, 159 guns, 154 vehicles, Assault Value = 519

Defending force 1771 troops, 25 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 46

Japanese adjusted assault: 651

Allied adjusted defense: 7

Japanese assault odds: 93 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Koepang !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), fatigue(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
19 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 14 (1 destroyed, 13 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1964 casualties reported
Squads: 77 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 63 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 24 (24 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 2
Units destroyed 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
8th Tank Regiment
1st Kure Assault Division
90th Infantry Regiment
54th/C Division

Defending units:
Timor Garrison Battalion
Dili Detachment
Koepang Base Force




PI: IJ tanks reach Iba where the coastal defense unit, base force and a PI Infantry division defend. Deliberate attack ordered for tomorrow. Bombardment of Manila goes well again.

South Pacific: USN carriers disappear. B-17s strike Port Moresby again(they bombed it yesterday too but they didnt score hits, from 10,000 ft only, so I forgot about them) and this time score 1 runway hit. Flak scores lots of hits on them and 1 B-17E is reported as lost. Kido Butai is now: full strength: 6 CVs, 3 CVLs and 2 BBs, with 560 aircraft!

Morning Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 8
B-17E Fortress x 8

Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 1 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 7 damaged

Runway hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Ground Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-17D Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Ground Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
2 x B-17D Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
2 x B-17D Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
1 x B-17D Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Notice the halved bomb load and pretty low altitude.


Submarines: A USN submarine is found in the strait between Formosa and the coast of China. An escorting ship is guessed to hit it a couple of times... Need more air search here.

[Erkki]

February 17, 1942


China: another day of mass aerial bombardments. A new aviation support battalion arrives to Wuchow which means even more bombers for tomorrow...

Burma: 47th Chutai finds no enemy over Akyab but 77th Sentai sweeping Chittagong meets RAF Hurricanes and AVG Hawks. Only 2 Hayabusas are lost(with 1 pilot over target) for 9 confirmed kills and approximately similar number of damaged. Score is 2 to ~12. Bombers keep hitting the retreating British.

Malaya: Reinforcement regiment and artillery unit will reach Singapore tomorrow. Attack planned for the day after.

DEI: -

PI: deliberate attack at Iba achieves only 1:2 odds and 1:1 casualties.

South Pacific: An Allied task force arrives to Luganville. Kido Butai partially refueled. B-17s strike Port Moresby again.

Central Pacific: A small allied task force probably lays a minefield at Wake.

Submarines: A USN sub hits and sinks a lone Aden Cargo class merchant carrying resources from Indochina.

[Erkki]

Theres been some discussion on night fighters in other AARs... Has anyone tested them as daytime fighters? Do the UP-facing guns work as F or CL guns in daytime engagements? Some of them NFs are very heavily armed and I'd be interested in trying them out as daytime interceptors...

[Erkki]

Re. previous post: I was thinking about trying the night fighter Ki-45KAId - the better 37mm cannon + twin 20mm cannons mounted UP. C model has 1 20mm cannon less but both guns face ahead. If the D model in daytime engagements has in practice 3 cannons facing ahead it should work pretty good. I'll make sandbox tests myself at some point and let you know! The Ki-45KAId could be useful as it becomes available before IJAAF has other cannon-armed fighters(in mid-43 SIGH!!).



February 18, 1942


The battle of Coral Sea continues!


South Pacific: In an unexpected move the Allies advance the CVL Charlotte and her escorts only 200 nm SW of Guadalcanal. I think it was hoped that Charlotte would find shipping to attack near Guadalcanal. The newly arrived B5N1 squadron escorted by the 4th Kokutai S Zeros sortie twice, both AM and PM phases. Out of 17 individual torpedo attacks, CVL Charlotte is the target in approximately 10 but no hits are scored. One of the escorting cruisers, identified as the Australian CL Perth, is hit! Charlotte's entire F4F Wildcat wing seems to be up but it fails to penetrate the escorting Zeros until after the attacks. Zeros scored 3 - 0 over the Wildcats and at least damaged 6 or 7 more.

Anti-aircraft fire shoots down 1 B5N and another is lost to a Wildcat over target. 2 Zeros were damaged enough to be written off.

Bihoro Ku K's 30 G4M1 bombers also sortie from Rabaul but they fail to find the target due to the range. Pity.

Far to the South, a submarine-borne E14Y float plane sights a USN CVBG on its way to Sydney probably. I think this is the same one that was seen couple of days ago near Espiritu Santo.

Another E14Y finds what seems to be merchant TF near Fiji.







China: A cut-off KMT Corps is retreated near Changsha. Another day of hard-hitting bombings.

Burma: Blenheims hit Lashio's airfield(for whatever reason).

DEI: Boela occupied!

Submarines: a Dutch submarine hits an AMC near Balikpapan. It would have refueled and then dashed across the Java Sea and went raiding into the Indian Ocean.