Rumble in the Southwest witpqs-A vs Andav-J 2011-11-29 to 2017-02-08

[witpqs]

Okinawa.

[witpqs]

Air losses.

[witpqs]

Ship losses.

[Lowpe]

What a good trap, I have been waiting to see something like that. Of course, he should have used more fighters if possible.

And what is even better, is the use of inferior (but probably deep pools) of older planes. Setting up naval cap traps with somewhat obsolete fighters is perhaps their best use.

However, the Allied plane losses are very low and I wish he had been bleeding you better in the air every chance he got.[:(]

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

What a good trap, I have been waiting to see something like that. Of course, he should have used more fighters if possible.

And what is even better, is the use of inferior (but probably deep pools) of older planes. Setting up naval cap traps with somewhat obsolete fighters is perhaps their best use.

However, the Allied plane losses are very low and I wish he had been bleeding you better in the air every chance he got.[:(]

Yes, but I'm not 100% sure it was a deliberate CAP trap. I'm not sure he expected the Allied carriers to be where they were.

[Drakanel]

Wow, those are some rather heavy losses there. Air war definitely goes to japan today.

The result at Liuchow is very good though.

[Rio Bravo]

witpqs-

16 smaller combat ships in one day in exchange for one Luckenbach; that's a nice bag!

Do you have a good guess as to the date when Okinawa will be fully under Allied control with all Japanese dead or captured?

Just curious.

Best Regards,

-Terry

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Rio Bravo

witpqs-

16 smaller combat ships in one day in exchange for one Luckenbach; that's a nice bag!

Do you have a good guess as to the date when Okinawa will be fully under Allied control with all Japanese dead or captured?

Just curious.

Best Regards,

-Terry

I'm guessing the Luckenback had a collision or something and would have sunk anyway since I didn't notice and send it to nearby Midway.

Nago... not really. I won't press any harder than as Naha, and I probably won't have the same level of bombardment resources. However, with airfields building around Nago I might get more bomber support. Then, it is x3 terrain (Woods-Rough).

It is curious what the air transports are doing. I haven't noticed any troop change so far. Maybe they are bringing in supply? That would make sense, because Naha must have started pulling all the extra supply from Nago. There was no supply captured at Naha, and IIRC the defenders started showing supply (-) right near the end. Even after they got kicked out of the base at Naha they could have pulled supply directly from Nago. So if we go with the theory that Nago is already low on supply, then maybe 2 or 3 weeks?

Now if you mean the entire Okinawa operation that is a different story. I'm thinking about staging the forces for Okinerobushima and Kume Jima at Naha, load and unload quickly (LST and LCI, load one turn then unload the next turn) to mitigate that shock attack as much as possible. I think both are lightly defended so won't last long.

[witpqs]

1944 November 30

The Empire captured:


The Allies captured:
Malacca is occupied by the Allies
Allied forces CAPTURE Lahat !!!

There were Imperial amphibious or airborne operations at:


There were Allied amphibious or airborne operations at:


Imperial Naval Bombardments


Allied Naval Bombardments:
Allied Ships Bombarding Amami Oshima
Allied Ships Bombarding Amami Oshima


Our subs tangled with an ACM near Nagasaki.

One tough battle in the mountains.

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Ground combat at 70,45 (near Kunming)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 48293 troops, 418 guns, 212 vehicles, Assault Value = 1296

Defending force 17758 troops, 110 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 546

Allied adjusted assault: 187

Japanese adjusted defense: 2746

Allied assault odds: 1 to 14

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1223 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 81 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled

Allied ground losses:
4467 casualties reported
Squads: 110 destroyed, 295 disabled
Non Combat: 28 destroyed, 24 disabled
Engineers: 14 destroyed, 13 disabled
Guns lost 24 (10 destroyed, 14 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
30th Chinese Corps
11th (East African) Division
120th Red Chinese Division
3rd Prov Chinese Corps
70th Chinese/C Corps
6th Mixed A/T Mtr Regiment
272/273rd Bty 80th AT Gun Regiment
NCAC
7th War Area

Defending units:
57th Infantry Brigade
69th Infantry Brigade
116th/C Division


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Ground combat at 69,51 (near Lao Cai)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 4667 troops, 21 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 88

Defending force 2395 troops, 15 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 36

Allied adjusted assault: 22

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 22 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
32 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
60 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
3rd Chinese Corps

Defending units:
104th/B Division


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Ground combat at 69,50 (near Mengtze)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15933 troops, 5 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 495

Defending force 1291 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 39

Allied adjusted assault: 507

Japanese adjusted defense: 10

Allied assault odds: 50 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
938 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 13 destroyed, 29 disabled
Units retreated 1

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

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
21st Chinese Cavalry Division
50th Chinese Corps
78th Chinese Corps

Defending units:
55th Engineer Regiment


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On Malaya, Malacca capitulated so now on to Kluong as fast as possible. Lahat (on Sumatra) had to be taken by force, pesky politicians.

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Ground combat at Lahat (47,92)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 3457 troops, 48 guns, 16 vehicles, Assault Value = 113

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Allied adjusted assault: 53

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 53 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Lahat !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: leaders(-)

Assaulting units:
147th(Sep) Infantry Regiment


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The 147th heads into Praboemoelih, which will allow troops landed at Oosthaven to move up by rail. A Coy to seize Christmas Island is leaving Batavia on APD. The PB guarding Palembang were dispatched.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Palembang at 48,91, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PB Seki Maru, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
PB Shonan Maru #6, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
PB Shonan Maru #17, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PB Nigitsu Maru, Shell hits 14, and is sunk
PB Hozugawa Maru, Shell hits 13, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Haggard
DD Hunt
DD Knapp
DD Rowe

Improved night sighting under 100% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 100% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 24,000 yards...
Range closes to 18,000 yards...
Range closes to 12,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 8,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 8,000 yards
DD Rowe engages PB Hozugawa Maru at 8,000 yards
DD Knapp engages PB Nigitsu Maru at 8,000 yards
PB Shonan Maru #17 sunk by DD Knapp at 8,000 yards
DD Haggard engages PB Hozugawa Maru at 8,000 yards
DD Knapp engages PB Seki Maru at 8,000 yards
Range closes to 3,000 yards
DD Rowe engages PB Hozugawa Maru at 3,000 yards
DD Knapp engages PB Hozugawa Maru at 3,000 yards
DD Haggard engages PB Nigitsu Maru at 3,000 yards
DD Rowe engages PB Shonan Maru #6 at 3,000 yards
DD Knapp engages PB Nigitsu Maru at 3,000 yards
DD Knapp engages PB Shonan Maru #6 at 3,000 yards
PB Nigitsu Maru sunk by DD Haggard at 3,000 yards
Obayashi F. orders Japanese TF to disengage
Range closes to 2,000 yards
DD Rowe engages PB Hozugawa Maru at 2,000 yards
DD Rowe engages PB Shonan Maru #6 at 2,000 yards
PB Seki Maru sunk by DD Rowe at 2,000 yards
Range increases to 3,000 yards
DD Rowe engages PB Hozugawa Maru at 3,000 yards
PB Hozugawa Maru sunk by DD Knapp at 3,000 yards
Range closes to 2,000 yards
Massive explosion on PB Shonan Maru #6
PB Shonan Maru #6 sunk by DD Hunt at 2,000 yards
Combat ends with last Japanese ship sunk...


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Lots of supply landed at Amami Oshima today, and the landing ships were better targets for the shore batteries. One LST and one LCI(R) (a gunship) went down. Our troops ashore are only marginally better off disruption-wise than they were yesterday, but will attack tomorrow anyway. Four of the old BB and four of the fast BB will bombard tonight.

There was nearly a repeat of yesterday's carrier strike action.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Kagoshima at 102,60

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 17
Ki-84a Frank x 7

Allied aircraft
F4U-1A Corsair x 11
F4U-1D Corsair x 9
F6F-3 Hellcat x 160
SBD-3 Dauntless x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
ACM Oi Maru, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
9 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 10000 feet
12 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 10000 feet
10 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 10000 feet
11 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 10000 feet
10 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 10000 feet
17 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 10000 feet
9 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 10000 feet
14 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 10000 feet
11 x F4U-1A Corsair sweeping at 15000 feet
7 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 10000 feet
12 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 10000 feet
12 x F6F-3 Hellcat sweeping at 10000 feet
8 x F4U-1D Corsair sweeping at 10000 feet

CAP engaged:
24th Sentai/C with Ki-84a Frank (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 17000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 17000.
Raid is overhead
59th Sentai/A with Ki-84a Frank (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes
17th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (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 15000 , scrambling fighters between 8000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 38 minutes



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Kagoshima at 102,60

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 58 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 4
Ki-84a Frank x 2

Allied aircraft
F4U-1D Corsair x 73
F6F-5 Hellcat x 10
SBD-5 Dauntless x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 3 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-5 Dauntless: 2 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x F4U-1D Corsair sweeping at 10000 feet
8 x F4U-1D Corsair sweeping at 10000 feet
2 x F6F-5 Hellcat sweeping at 10000 feet
25 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 10000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x F4U-1D Corsair sweeping at 10000 feet

CAP engaged:
24th Sentai/C with Ki-84a Frank (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 17000 , scrambling fighters to 9000.
Raid is overhead
59th Sentai/A with Ki-84a Frank (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 15 minutes
17th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 16 minutes



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That was the same one that Sablefish elected not to waste torpedoes on. Maybe she was saving it for carrier plane target practice?

A large batch of attack transports (APA) is being sent from Guam to Cam Ranh Bay for sea lift of the the Takao invasion forces. This is ahead of just-in-time: the carriers will need to replenish after Amami Oshima is taken, and of course the first assault is tomorrow.

China.

[witpqs]

Malay Peninsula & Sumatra.

[witpqs]

Java Sea.

[witpqs]

Philippines.

[witpqs]

Okinawa.

[witpqs]

Air losses.

[witpqs]

Ship losses.

[Drakanel]

Seems like the Singapore siege is not far away into the future. You are advancing fast there. It also seems that the philippines are quite empty.

Do you plan to more or less bypass them for the time being? Or are you going to reconsider and take them with some "small" forces, considering how empty they seem to be?

By the way... what is that task force you have INSIDE the hong kong hex? Did someone decide to go and ask some sake to the locals? [:D]

[Rio Bravo]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: Rio Bravo

witpqs-

16 smaller combat ships in one day in exchange for one Luckenbach; that's a nice bag!

Do you have a good guess as to the date when Okinawa will be fully under Allied control with all Japanese dead or captured?

Just curious.

Best Regards,

-Terry

I'm guessing the Luckenback had a collision or something and would have sunk anyway since I didn't notice and send it to nearby Midway.

Nago... not really. I won't press any harder than as Naha, and I probably won't have the same level of bombardment resources. However, with airfields building around Nago I might get more bomber support. Then, it is x3 terrain (Woods-Rough).

It is curious what the air transports are doing. I haven't noticed any troop change so far. Maybe they are bringing in supply? That would make sense, because Naha must have started pulling all the extra supply from Nago. There was no supply captured at Naha, and IIRC the defenders started showing supply (-) right near the end. Even after they got kicked out of the base at Naha they could have pulled supply directly from Nago. So if we go with the theory that Nago is already low on supply, then maybe 2 or 3 weeks?

Now if you mean the entire Okinawa operation that is a different story. I'm thinking about staging the forces for Okinerobushima and Kume Jima at Naha, load and unload quickly (LST and LCI, load one turn then unload the next turn) to mitigate that shock attack as much as possible. I think both are lightly defended so won't last long.

witpqs-

Thank you for letting me know what's coming next on Okinawa.

I'll be watching for the Allies solely owning Okinawa!

Best Regards,

-Terry

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Drakanel

Seems like the Singapore siege is not far away into the future. You are advancing fast there. It also seems that the philippines are quite empty.

Do you plan to more or less bypass them for the time being? Or are you going to reconsider and take them with some "small" forces, considering how empty they seem to be?

By the way... what is that task force you have INSIDE the hong kong hex? Did someone decide to go and ask some sake to the locals? [:D]

All forces for Singapore have been staging farther south over the last few days. After tomorrow those entrained will have one last hop, into Jahore Bahru where 9 divisions plus the armour and the biggest artillery I have will assemble into combat formation for the crossing. There are currently ~70 or 71 k troops in Singapore and no doubt have great fortifications, but I anticipate only a short siege.

I have bypassed the Philippines for quite some time now! Remember that I sliced right through to the south of the Philippines to get to Cam Ranh Bay, and went straight to Okinawa. These are smaller forces going in. The Bde, backed up by a (not prepared) Bn will take the three bases on that island (Panay). A Bde followed by some of the smaller forces on Java and Sumatra will go into Dadjangas and get things rolling on Mindinao. Three or four prepared Bde plus armour will go into Legaspi and begin driving toward Manila. Basically the Philippines is getting the same treatment as the DEI.

The TF in Hong Kong is 2x DD running surfacr combat. So far they found an SSX and mangled it, but there has been an LB in a TF there for some time.

[witpqs]

1944 December 01

The Empire captured:


The Allies captured:


There were Imperial amphibious or airborne operations at:


There were Allied amphibious or airborne operations at:


Imperial Naval Bombardments


Allied Naval Bombardments:
Allied Ships Bombarding Amami Oshima
Allied Ships Bombarding Amami Oshima
Allied Ships Bombarding Amami Oshima
Allied Ships Bombarding Amami Oshima
Allied Ships Bombarding Amami Oshima


Our subs got an AO.

A little progress on the ground in China.

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Ground combat at 69,51 (near Lao Cai)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 4608 troops, 21 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 84

Defending force 2318 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 31

Allied adjusted assault: 81

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 81 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
204 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
3rd Chinese Corps

Defending units:
104th/B Division


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at 70,44 (near Tsuyung)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 23727 troops, 116 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 431

Defending force 3369 troops, 12 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value = 139

Allied adjusted assault: 140

Japanese adjusted defense: 223

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
198 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Allied ground losses:
159 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
35th Chinese Corps
58th Chinese Corps

Defending units:
RGC Capital Brigade


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The real action was in the air, as Imperial fighters swept the skies over our armored spearhead encircling Canton, followed by carefully horded death gliders. Our own shining cloud of P-51D swept empty skies over the enemy fighters' base at Changsha. The bombers came from Hengyang. They destroyed about 4 vehicles and disabled about 67. Air losses were only slightly in the Empire's favor despite their doing the sweeping. Tomorrow P-47D25 and Thunderbolt I & II will sweep Hengyang while P-51D and P-47D2 cover the armor. The B-24 groups have moved from Vinh to Hanoi and will strike Hengyang's airfields.

It was all movement and air strikes on Malaya and Sumatra and will be the same tomorrow. The Christmas Island invasion will land against no opposition.

The San Jose invasion has finished loading and the convoys will rendezvous with the escorts in the Sulu Sea. What a great name.

The verdict is in on Amami Oshima: it will be tough.

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Ground combat at Amami Oshima (98,64)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 40227 troops, 767 guns, 829 vehicles, Assault Value = 1298

Defending force 20608 troops, 282 guns, 44 vehicles, Assault Value = 539

Allied adjusted assault: 504

Japanese adjusted defense: 895

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 4)

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

Japanese ground losses:
1126 casualties reported
Squads: 19 destroyed, 58 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 42 (4 destroyed, 38 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1413 casualties reported
Squads: 23 destroyed, 53 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 32 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 23 (7 destroyed, 16 disabled)
Vehicles lost 75 (11 destroyed, 64 disabled)

Assaulting units:
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion
38th Infantry Division
37th Infantry Division
24th Infantry Division
5th USMC Tank Battalion
3rd Regiment
82nd Mortar Battalion
145th Field Artillery Battalion
223rd Field Artillery Battalion
97th Field Artillery Battalion
7th USMC Field Artillery Battalion
2nd AmphTrac Engineer Battalion
4th Field Artillery Battalion
226th Field Artillery Battalion
4th AmphTrac Engineer Battalion

Defending units:
Amami Oshima Fortress
Oshima Naval Guard Unit
53rd Ind.Mixed Brigade
21st Ind.Mixed Regiment
22nd/C Division
8th RF Gun Battalion
6th Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
72nd Field AA Battalion
21st Special Base Force


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No reduction in fortifications, but the casualty ratio is in our favor. Weather was bad and impaired air support. With the amount of artillery we have in this assault, and the proper armor support, the defense will certainly crack. Meanwhile two divisions are in reserve to speed recovery. One old BB will bombard tonight. All supply is landed but until the landing ships are clear the cruisers will remain on guard.

Naha now has adequate supply with ludicrous amounts on the way. Three divisions there have changed to strategic movement mode and will begin loading. They might leave small fragments behind requiring followup.

China.

[witpqs]

Malay Peninsula & Sumatra.