See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28

[apbarog]

24 Sep 43 - New Guinea

I think that Walker finally realized that all he had to do to rescue his troops was to open a hexside in the contested hex. That is what I think the unit leaving Madang is supposed to do. I'm countering this move by moving to the hexes to the north. I hope to stop him from even trying to do this. One of my blocking units is just artillery, so if he moves into that hex, I won't stop him. I think he'll give up when he sees me already in those hexes.

I feared a countermove to Milne Bay for quite awhile. The entire offensive north from Australia relies on supplies moving between New Guinea and Australia. I kept an infantry division at Milne Bay just in case. But that time has passed. All of this attention now is just Walker wanting to open up the hexside for his troops. I think.

His units have been isolated for quite awhile. He could certainly be airdropping supplies. I've occasionally used ranged CAP to see if I could catch some transports, but never have. The enemy's 1st Infantry Division is in the contested northern hex. That is his strongest unit. It was defeated in an attack long ago, but still has a good number of troops.

I don't fear a big offensive here because most, if not all, of the enemy carriers are at Singapore. With the upcoming Java invasion, and landing elsewhere soon after that, I'm not too concerned with having to react to something Walker comes up with. I think I will be keeping him plenty busy.

[apbarog]

26 Sep 43

Enemy patrol boats are very active near Bataan.

Sub Sturgeon spots BB Haruna, 4 cruisers, and 7 destroyers southbound west of Luzon. This task force ends up at Busuanga at the end of the day. This is 10 hexes from Zamboanga. I have no real surface groups near Jolo or Zamboanga, and no bomber units there either. I choose not to react for now. Worst case is that I get bombarded. Not significant enough to alter my immediate plans. Enemy carriers are still at Singapore.

Allied medium and heavy bombers hit Magwe's oil again. No CAP. Good results. Just 36 working oilfields there, and 265 damaged now.

Miri's oil gets the heavy bomber treatment also. No CAP. Now 105 working oilfields, and 196 damaged.

Lots of shipping heads toward Java today. Most US carriers are involved. Shipping will gather at and near Mataram, and be 3 hexes from Banjoewangi.

And probably more importantly, loading begins for the rest of the Java landings. One Indian division and the big Chinese corp starts loading at Port Hedland. The other Indian division has to wait a day to start loading on ships that will arrive tomorrow. Units from Darwin and Timor are also loading.

Many units for the next set of invasions are loading at Darwin also, to move closer to their targets.

I don't know if my plans will work, but I look forward to my small landing on Java, followed by a big landing at a place to be determined on Java, immediately followed by another big landing elsewere, with only the time needed to move my APAs in between.

[apbarog]

27 Sep 43

Surprise action in the Indian Ocean.

Battleship Kirishima and some destroyers appear at Cox's Bazar, find 2 tiny xAPc unloading a bit of supply, and sink the small ships. I was fortunate. A bigger task force with 5 LSTs and a few xAKs left the port as the enemy moved in. The enemy then bombarded the base, but it was a very poor bombardment. A handful of disabled squads. That is all. However, no sooner had Kirishima left, then battleship Hiei, a cruiser, and a few destroyers appeared to bombard the base. They do a pretty good job, with over 300 casualties, including some destroyed. Moderate airbase damage and minor port damage. The 3 fighter squadrons there are hit, disabling most of the planes but not destroying any. A large number of engineers get to work on the base.

Subchaser PC-776 made a dash toward Rabaul, and found RO-64 just south of Rabaul. The sub takes major damage but could survive.

Near Akyab, the Allies attack again, and get 1 to 2 odds again, but the results are very good this time. 1335 enemy casualties and 599 friendly. We are wearing them down. One day of rest should be enough, then we go again. Having sufficient supply at Cox's Bazar is making a big difference here.

The battleship group at Busanga yesterday moved back northeast to the Luzon coast, south of Manila. Another group of some kind, with a cruiser spotted, is on the east coast of Luzon. Manila now has over 40,000 troops. This has been growing.

Today, we land on the eastern tip of Java. There will be no bombardment, but one heavy bomber squadron will hit the airfield, and some mediums will hit the troops. The infantry division that will land is without most of its support units. They are still loading at Makassar and will join soon. I hope to take the base quickly, start building the airfield, and wait for a response.

Meanwhile, a large group of APAs will leave Port Hedland. All invasion troops are loaded except for one Indian division, which is loading now. I may or may not wait for them. I noticed that the terrain at Soerabaja is clear, not city, so I'm more likely to follow the original plan and assault the base directly.

Lots of other units moving here and there. It's going to be an interesting end of the year.

[apbarog]

28 Sep 43

Sub Redfin spots a transport TF near San Fernando on Luzon. 2 torpedoes miss an E-boat, and E Iki gets a good depth charge attack on the sub. Redfin is moderately damaged and should survive the trip home. It will go around the east side of Luzon, which is a bit longer trip to safety, but Walker's ASW activity is almost all on the west side of Luzon. This TF had a bunch of true AKs and an LSD. Probably a troop convoy to Manila.

Boela is bombarded by battleship Oklahoma. I'd ignored Boela for awhile, and allowed the airfield to be completely repaired. Not wanting a surprise deployment of enemy bombers, I sent Oklahoma in and used some heavies to hit the airfield. The airbase is now moderately damaged. Oklahoma will go to Lautem to rearm and refuel, then head toward Java.

Banjoewangi, Java is invaded. The only interference is a single shell hit on an xAKL.

During the day, 30 F6Fs from Mataram swept Soerabaja. It goes poorly, with just 10 A6M3a Zeros and 8 Oscars on ranged CAP from somewhere. A few Hellcats are lost, for no gain. The Hellcats are great at sweeping, but I have so many of them. I need to use what I have. They are a bit expendable.

At Banjoewangi, a small enemy strike arrives. 9 Vals escorted by 11 Zeros. The CAP is weaker than I imagined. Good thing that I dedicated an F6F squadron from Denpassar for LRCAP. Fewer than 10 planes from my carriers participated, despite hundreds being set to a range 1 CAP. Nearly every enemy plane is shot down.

B-25s bomb troops at Banjoewangi, and do well in the clear terrain. I have an unwritten personal house rule not to use heavy bombers for bombing ground troops, and I don't go overboard using medium bombers in clear terrain. Both Walker and I do this.

12 B-25s bomb troops at Soerabaja, just to see what's there. They find the 65th Brigade. It's possible that there isn't an enemy division there.

I now know why Walker moved over 100 fighters to Hansa Bay. I had been occasionally bombing enemy troops stuck in the interior mountains of New Guinea. When I saw his fighter deployment, I stopped this. But I forgot a Bolo squadron in Australia. They flew today, and 6 were shot down my 10 Zeros and 2 Tojos. The Bolo unit had been on ASW duty, but I switched them recently to help bombing the troops. I'll now use the Bolos to train up some new pilots for ground bombing, and then they will upgrade to heavies.

Enemy carriers are still at Singapore.

Today the Allies will attack again near Akyab. A reinforcing Indian division is almost to Cox's Bazar. It may or may not be needed to help the breakthrough. An enemy battleship task force that bombarded Cox's Bazar went to Port Blair.

Unloading at Banjoewangi will continue. CVEs will move to the invasion hex, to help better with the CAP. CVs will stay one hex away. Lots of shipping is northbound from Port Hedland. The final Indian division is loaded, and may catch up with the others, as it is able to move 8 hexes a day, while the big task force is moving just 6. I'm really looking forward to dropping that huge Chinese corp directly on Soerbaja.

[apbarog]

29 Sep 43

Unloading continues at Banjoewangi. DMS Zane makes a run from Banjoewangi towards Soerabaja, and finds a midget sub. The sub misses with 2 torpedoes, and Zane sinks the small sub. It appears that the channel between Soerabaja and Banjoewangi has midget subs. One hex had 5 subs spotted, probably all midgets.

Near Iba, Luzon sub Pargo spots an ASW group of patrol boats and sinks PB Kinsui Maru. Still lots of ASW concentration here, in the area and on the sea.

Bombers hit Boela and Makin, just because.

Another Allied deliberate attack near Akyab gets 1 to 1 odds, but poorer results than the previous 1 to 2 odds. About 1200 casualties for both sides, with more destroyed for the Japanese. I'll wait for a replacement Indian division to arrive. It's almost to Cox's Bazar. We will win this hex, and then take Akyab.

In the Indian Ocean, 10 hexes south of Port Blair, SigInt reports heavy activity. This is probably the battleship group that was at Port Blair. It's headed to Singapore now. Also, in the South China Sea, well west of the Philippines, a surface group is sighted. This is probably the battleship group that was stationed southwest of Manila for a couple of days. So Walker is concentrating everything at Singapore. Could it be that the plan to draw attention to Java is working?

Banjoewangi was captured. The 2 units there were the 2nd Recon Regiment and the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment. Both retreat into the mountains to the west. I've kept track of a tank division that has been located at Batavia for a long time. Today, there are far fewer vehicles there. Walker is moving the tank division towards my invasion. I'd like to see where it goes before landing. Taking Soerbaja will be much more difficult with it there. However, if it moves to the mountainous hex of Malang, as I predicted, my next invasions will essentially trap it. This is going to be very interesting.

Landings will continue at Banjoewangi, with the rest of the invasion troops landing, and the followup support units. CVEs stay at the invasion point (a bit risky), and the CVs move a bit east. Soerabaja invasion shipping will move closer to Mataram. Just a few days until the hammer is swung.

Then the APAs run off to load the next invasion's troops. Not near Java.

[apbarog]

No turn from Walker today. Hopefully tomorrow. We had a good run of 4 turns in 4 days, so I can't complain. He has less free time than I do, and the busy part of his week is Wednesday through Friday, so this is to be expected.

But I can't wait to see how the next few turns unfold on Java.

[apbarog]

30 Sep 43

3 enemy destroyers bombard Cox's Bazar. An Allied cargo task force moved out of the way, fortunately. I suspect that Walker used these ships since he could rearm them at Rangoon, but his battleships could not.

Enemy minesweepers immediately finds the minefield just laid at Toboali. I've done enough minelaying here and there to keep Walker alert for more.

East of Formosa, sub Stingray finds an xAK task force. No engagement despite two encounters.

25 Hellcats sweep Soerabaja. A couple of planes downed for each side. 59 Oscars and 10 Zeros on CAP. Airfield here still has moderate damage. 22 P-38s then sweep and trade a couple of planes also. B-24s arrive and do minimal damage to the airfield, and don't hit any planes on the ground.

25 P-38s sweep Rangoon, and find just 8 Nicks on CAP. Most of the Nicks are shot down. Should force Walker to move some fighters here. Wish I'd sent bombers too.

Today is probably the biggest day of risk with the Java invasion so far. Unloading continues at Banjoewangi, so there's lots of juicy shipping here. And now I'm moving many, many APAs there, not to unload, but to get into range of Soerabaja without giving away my next move. The ships will be adequately covered with all of the carriers nearby, and land-based air, but only moderately covered with combat ships. And we all know that it can be unpredictable which task forces are engaged when enemy ships show up. I don't think anything is coming, but it's something to be aware of.

With a range of 4 hexes from Banjoewangi to Soerbaja, my Soerabaja invasion will be plotted with the next turn. Still no sign of the enemy tank division that moved away from Batavia. I'm doing more recon today. Some sweeps and bombing of Soerabaja. I'm blind bombing enemy troops at Malang, assuming that there will be some there. This is where I've guessed that Walker would move the tank division. A perfect situation would be to bomb it when in Strat mode, and invade Soerabaja as the tanks are switching to combat mode.

[apbarog]

1 Oct 43

My mines that I just dropped at Toboali are completely cleared.

I sent 3 subchasers to Soerabaja to hunt the many subs in the area. 2 subchasers hit 2 mines each and sank. One SC sank a midget sub. I sent to YMS to Soerabaja also, and they swept many mines, over 30. Notably, they got the message that they were sweeping mines many times, meaning many separate minefields. There are a lot of mines there, no doubt. I paused for a bit to consider whether to invade there or sweep some mines for awhile.

I finished sweeping mines at enemy held Tarakan. I'm not invading here anytime soon. I'd like to, but things are committed for elsewhere. Walker isn't getting any oil from here any longer, with the base isolated by sea. That's what matters.

Near Laoag on Luzon, sub Sturgeon finds a big tanker convoy and gets 2 torpedo hits on big tanker San Ramon Maru, probably sinking it. It may be headed to Manila. There was no fuel loaded.

US destroyers damaged a midget sub at Banjoewangi.

22 P-47s swept Soerabaja, downing about 10 planes for the loss of a couple. With Soerabaja's airfield damage around 50, Walker took some aircraft ops losses with planes flying from here.

B-24s bomb Malang's airfield, just to keep forts from building further. Some bombers hit Soerabaja's airfield also.

Big day today. I decided to go ahead with the Soerabaja landings. Every minesweeping ship in the area is moving there to sweep as many mines as quickly as possible. But we're invading today, so there will be mine hits. One slow battleship will be bombarding, so it's at risk too. Almost every APA I have is involved with this landing. Lots of risk. The goal is to get unloaded as quickly as possible, and then retire to Balikpapan to immediately load for the next set of invasions. Carriers will cover Soerabaja. Land-based air will continue to cover Banjoewangi. An Indian LRP unit will paradrop onto Tjepoe. I don't know what is there at the moment. There hasn't been much there, but I don't have recent recon. And the tank division that was at Batavia a few days ago is still missing. A side note- SigInt reports that 32 Div/C is loaded on ships and headed to Batavia. So Walker is reinforcing Java. Excellent.

Recon was not good at Singapore today, so I don't know if enemy carriers are still there. I see some shipping northeast of Batavia, but only see patrol boats. I have 2 more slow battleships with my carriers, ready to continue bombardments if needed. B-25s are to hit the troops, while heavies hit airfields in the area.

Look out Java, here come the Chinese!

[apbarog]

2 Oct 43

Some turns just stand out in a game. This was one of those. It didn't have the big carrier battle, but it had some interesting and unique events that just make the game so enjoyable, regardless of how the results turn out.

I sent every minesweeper at full speed to Soerabaja. 2 YMSs sweep 49 mines to start things out.

Near Banjoewangi, a subchaser sinks an enemy midget sub. I won't list every midget sub encounter, but a total of 9 midget subs were sunk today. They were at Soerabaja, Banjoewangi, and in the channel in between. One midget sub was able to fire a torpedo at a DMS, but it missed. One was encountered at Soerabaja, and forced to surface, where it was fired on by a destroyer and battleship Pennsylvania. It was amazing to see that the final kill shot was a 14 inch shell from Pennsylvania!

The two YMSs at Soerabaja then swept another 17 mines, but one hit a mine, and sank.

The big Soerabaja invasion task force then arrived at Soerabaja:

CL Helena, Mine hits 1
CL Leander, Mine hits 2
DD Monssen, Mine hits 1, heavy damage
APA Wayne, Mine hits 1
APA Warren, Mine hits 1
APA Callaway, Mine hits 1
APA Bolivar, Mine hits 1

Damage is:
CL Helena SYS 4/FLOT 14-8/ENG 2/FIRE 0
CL Leander SYS 13/FLOT 34-24/ENG 0/FIRE 0
DD Monssen SYS 16/FLOT 82-61/ENG 1/FIRE 0
APA Wayne SYS 11/FLOT 40-36/ENG 2-1/FIRE 0
APA Warren SYS 10/FLOT 43-31/ENG 14-11/FIRE 0
APA Callaway SYS 14/FLOT 14-7/ENG 0/FIRE 0
APA Bolivar SYS 7/FLOT 32-30/ENG 1-1/FIRE 0

DMS Hovey then swept another 11 mines. DD Conyngham then hit a mine.
DD Conyngham SYS 25/FLOT 73-56/ENG 1/FIRE 0
3 PT boats then each hit a mine at Soerabaja. All sank.

Battleship Pennsylvania then hit a mine.
BB Pennsylvania SYS 11/FLOT 14-9/ENG 0/FIRE 0

2 LSTs grounded while landing supply.
LST 449 SYS 4/FLOT 12-10/ENG 4-2/FIRE 0
LST 471 SYS 47/FLOT 42-18/ENG 37-16/FIRE 0

BB Pennsylvania then bombarded Soerabaja, causing 110 casualties, and found that the 38th Infantry Division is at Soerabaja. More than I had seen by recon. Troops then began to land at Soerabaja. By the end of the day, all troops except part of a HQ unit had completely unloaded. That was because the HQ unit was not on APAs.

76 more mines were then cleared.

9 P-38s swept Madioen, downing a couple of Zeros and Oscars while losing 2. B-24s bombed Soerabaja's airfield, finding no CAP and no planes there. All had flown and/or railed out. Some heavies bombed Madioen, doing almost no damage in thunderstorms. B-25s then bombed enemy troops at Soerabaja to good effect. Previous bombings had never spotted the 38th Division. I think it arrived very recently.

About 50 heavies bombed Babeldaob, destroying 8 Tinas on the ground, and sinking the ACM there. The fragmented parts later found heavier CAP, and some heavies were lost.

B-26s bombed the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment at Probolinggo. This is one of the two enemy units that retreated from Banjoewangi. Both are in bad shape.

Some B-25s bombed enemy troops on Boela, to little effect. The Americal Division then attacked at 1 to 3 odds, with 339 enemy losses and 500 friendly. The other US division had been withdrawn and is recovering in Australia. If Americal can't wear the enemy down over time, that division will return at full strength and full prep.

An armor battalion then began landing at Probolinggo. The most damaged LST at Soerabaja will move to Probolinggo and attempt to unload its supply before sinking.

I list the default enemy bombardment attack at Soerabaja to highlight the units involved:

Ground combat at Soerabaja (56,104)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 714 troops, 40 guns, 84 vehicles, Assault Value = 474

Defending force 59520 troops, 639 guns, 914 vehicles, Assault Value = 2153

Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
53 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 6 (4 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Assaulting units:
38th Division
16th Recon Regiment
4th Tank Regiment
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
Southwest Area Fleet
40th JNAF AF Unit
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
104th Ship Eng Coy
91st JAAF AF Bn

Defending units:
5th Indian Division
50th Cmbt Engineer Regiment
50th Tank Brigade
17th Indian Division
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
5th Chinese Corps
XV Corps Engr Bn /2
602nd Field Artillery Battalion
I Marine Amphib Corps
17th Indian Light AA Regiment

At Soerabaja, the enemy's 38th Division is full strength. The 5th Chinese Corp is a monster, with 900 and some assault value. By the way, all enemy mines were swept. 3 PT boats and a YMS sunk by mines. 11 other ships hit mines.

And finally, probably the most interesting event of the day. I dropped 75 C-47's worth of the Indian 14th LRP Brigade on unoccupied Tjepoe, northwest of Soerabaja. But when they landed, they found the enemy's 3rd Tank Division on trains moving to Soerabaja.

Ground combat at Tjepoe (54,103)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 672 troops, 11 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 57

Defending force 7863 troops, 113 guns, 442 vehicles, Assault Value = 360

Allied adjusted assault: 14

Japanese adjusted defense: 61

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
71 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 11 (7 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
80 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
14th LRP Bde /1

Defending units:
3rd Tank Division


The paras are vastly outnumbered here, but they've done a great service by stopping the tank division from getting to Soerabaja. A very big question, and one that I don't know the answer to, is with this combat, did the tank division get kicked automatically into Combat mode, or is it still in Strat mode? If it's immediately in combat mode, the paras are in immediate trouble. If it's still in Strat mode, Walker won't attack until he has switched them to Combat mode, giving me a day or two or three. The best part, is if they are in Strat mode still, he can't leave the hex in that mode while the paras are there too.

Since just a fragment of the 14th LRP is now at Tjepoe, I decide to fly in more of them. I sent some fighter sweeps to clear any CAP that Walker may put up. I lost a few C-47s, but added another squadron of 12 to Mataram to fly in more paras. Maybe I can get their strength up enough to bog down the enemy for a bit. And maybe take Soerabaja, and rush up the road to rescue the paras at Arnhem. Uh, I mean Tjepoe.

Timing. Timing is everything. Tjepoe was (probably) empty yesterday. The paras could have taken it. But then the tank division could have railed around the base and still gotten to Soerabaja. Very interesting turn, I thought.

Everything at Soerabaja attacks today. A battleship will bombard the base again. Medium bombers will hit the troops, again. Maybe a whole infantry division can be defeated by the large army I have there. The Chinese unit is huge. The 3rd Carbabineers Regiment is a very large armor unit. Maybe it will be enough. Who knows what the fort level will be. This could come down to a race of reducing Soerabaja's defenses before the enemy tank division can dispose of the Indian paras at Tjepoe.

US carriers will move a bit north, to a point 2 hexes from Soerabaja. This will be a bit more unpredictable than sitting 1 hex from the base. And I counted the hexes to Palembang. I could get in range of Palembang in just one day's steaming from that location. I'll be leaving the area very soon anyhow, once all of the landings are complete. Just considering Palembang, as long as it doesn't interfere with the next set of invasions, which will start loading as soon as the APAs get to Balikpapan.

[apbarog]

2 Oct 43 - Troops at Soerabaja

[jwolf]

Do you need to repair the APAs before you can launch another amph operation? If so, where could you repair them? (unless you can get Soerabaja quickly [8D])

That took a lot of guts to plow into and through all the mines.

[apbarog]

Looking at the damage, APA Callaway is probably usable, but the others should be repaired first. I certainly have enough to unload 2 divisions in one day. I just unloaded an Indian division and the huge Chinese corp in one day.

Honestly, there weren't as many mines as I thought. I was able to sweep all of them on invasion day. Unfortunately, 15 or so mines were swept the hard way. I suspect that it was effective to have many minefields with fewer mines than one big minefield. But that's just my observation.

If I can take Soerabaja quickly, it was worth it. If Walker continues to focus there, and maybe even reinforces Java more, it was worth it.

Thinking about his carriers, I'm guessing that they headed north from Singapore to the Indian Ocean. They could interdict my cargo route to Cox's Bazar (which would make me very happy that they are in an area of insignificance), or go around the tip of Sumatra and come "south" and challenge Java from the other side of the island, or interdict shipping that Walker may think is going from Perth to Java (it isn't).

[apbarog]

3 Oct 43

Landing of a couple of unit fragments continue at Soerabaja. LSTs unload lots of supply. One LST is hit by a 24cm T45 howitzer battery, and another LST is damaged while beaching.

At Probolinggo, midget sub Ha-28 spots the badly damaged and slowly moving destroyer Monssen, fires 2 torpedoes, and one hits, sinking the destroyer. Then midget sub Ha-26, also at Probolinggo, spots badly damaged LST-471 passing by, fires 2 torpedoes, and sinks the LST with one hit. Nice work by the midget subs. You don't see that every day. There were many other midget sub encounters, all ending badly for the subs. 4 more midget subs sunk today.

Cruisers Cornwall and Mobile bombarded Probolinggo on the way home. They had been covering invasion shipping. Good results.

Battleship Nevada bombarded Soerabaja, with good results.

Battleship Arizona bombarded Tjepoe, hoping to hit the 3rd Tank Division there. Damage was light to moderate to the facilities, but only one gun of the tank division was hit.

Southeast of Cam Ranh Bay, sub Sculpin spots a big tanker convoy, but there is no engagement. Then Sculpin spots an ACM escorted by 2 PBs, and hits one patrol boat with a torpedo, probably sinking it.

31 Hellcats swept Madioen, with about 10 planes lost for each side. A mix of Zeros, Oscars, and Tojos were there, totaling about 60 planes on CAP. B-24s then arrived, and did good work on the airfield and destroyed about 10 Oscars on the ground.

25 P-47s swept Magwe, finding 36 Zeros and 41 Oscars. About 8 enemy planes downed for the loss of about 4. P-38s then swept, downing about 4 and losing 2. The first appearance of the P-51 Mustang took place over Magwe. 25 P-51As swept last, finding 17 Zeros and 19 Oscars, destroying about 4 planes and losing 2.

At Tjepoe, another 80 C-47s dropped more of the Indian 14th LRP Bde. Unfortunately, I learned that the 3rd Tank Division was kicked out of Strat mode with the para shock attack yesterday, so today the tank division attacked, got 39 to 1 odds, and disabled just about every para squad. About half of the para unit is now at Tjepoe, but 90% of its combat squads are there, with about 90% of its support left behind at Mataram. The Indian para unit will be lost tomorrow. Dropping on the enemy armor as it was on trains heading to Soerabaja and forcing them to detrain at Tjepoe was a stroke of luck, mostly good luck, as it kept the enemy from reinforcing Soerabaja. The Indian 14th LRP Bde deserves special recognition

At Probolinggo, the 193rd Tank Battalion attacked the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment and took the base.


Last but not least:

Ground combat at Soerabaja (56,104)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 56898 troops, 603 guns, 890 vehicles, Assault Value = 2151

Defending force 17279 troops, 164 guns, 216 vehicles, Assault Value = 457

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Allied adjusted assault: 2523

Japanese adjusted defense: 181

Allied assault odds: 13 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied forces CAPTURE Soerabaja !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
8815 casualties reported
Squads: 112 destroyed, 218 disabled
Non Combat: 310 destroyed, 79 disabled
Engineers: 39 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 89 (59 destroyed, 30 disabled)
Vehicles lost 191 (190 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units retreated 10

Allied ground losses:
663 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 70 disabled
Vehicles lost 18 (2 destroyed, 16 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
50th Cmbt Engineer Regiment
50th Tank Brigade
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
XV Corps Engineer Battalion
17th Indian Division
5th Chinese Corps
5th Indian Division
I Marine Amphib Corps
602nd Field Artillery Battalion
17th Indian Light AA Regiment

Defending units:
38th Division
16th Recon Regiment
4th Tank Regiment
104th Ship Eng Coy
Southwest Area Fleet
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
40th JNAF AF Unit
91st JAAF AF Bn

The enemy retreated into the mountains at Malang, where they now show movement to the west. It remains to be seen if Walker will really move them all west, or just defend to the last man in the mountains at Malang. I would stay put, and tie up units for awhile. It would take quite an army to dig them out of the mountains any time soon. I'm leaving an Indian division at Soerabaja, and moving the 2 armor units, an Indian division, and the big Chinese corp out to the west. They may or may not be able to encircle the enemy units at Malang, depending on how fast the enemy moves, or if it does at all. I'm preparing to encircle if I need to, then gain control of all of the hexsides, and then leave a small holding force to pin the enemy. I'm not rushing to engage the 3rd Tank Division at Tjepoe. I now want to take my time and give Walker a chance to send more reinforcements to Java, while I build more airfields and make the most of the gem of Soerabaja.

Soerabaja is taken. The airfield and port are very damaged. It now has 84,000 supply and 28,000 fuel, as well as 111,000 oil. I may have delivered 10,000 supply, so it's quite a windfall of resources. Shipping will arrive delivering lots of support units. Aircover will be weak, with the carriers leaving, and just relying on some LRCAP from Denpassar, 4 hexes away. This should be ok for one day, until Walker sees that the carriers have left. I was tempted to strike Palembang, but with no recon there at the moment, I couldn't be sure of finding tankers, and I decided it wasn't worth striking the oil with carrier aircraft. Not when I will soon be able to do so with the heavies.

I'd like to clear Java, but remember, my plan was to try to steal Soerabaja quickly and keep Walker engaged here. I think that is working. The next big operation will kick off from Balikpapan, which is overstacked and getting more so. I need about 3 days for all of the needed units to switch out of strat mode and into combat mode.

My losses so far for the Java operation are 3 PT boats, a YMS, an LST, and a DD. I'll risk a damaged LST in Soerabaja's shipyard for now, but the other damaged ships are heading to safer ports, some with ARDs waiting.

Oh, and today the Allies have taken the lead in victory points.

[jwolf]

Fantastic result at Soerabaja -- well worth the sacrifice at Tjepoe, as well as the mine casualties. With Java under siege, it's hard to believe the Japanese would commit a major CV fleet to the Bay of Bengal. But who knows?

[Macclan5]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

Thinking about his carriers, I'm guessing that they headed north from Singapore to the Indian Ocean. They could interdict my cargo route to Cox's Bazar (which would make me very happy that they are in an area of insignificance), or go around the tip of Sumatra and come "south" and challenge Java from the other side of the island, or interdict shipping that Walker may think is going from Perth to Java (it isn't).

Congrats and very great update vis a vis Soerabaja.

Nicely feinted - nicely executed.

The position of this major task force is a curiosity. Of all places to send the remaining IJN assets the Indian Ocean strikes me as a major mistake. To Hong Kong or Saigon.. or CRB. "Shorten the lines of communication and support" not the opposite... but.... ??

[apbarog]

Just speculation on my part. All I know is that KB left Singapore about 3 days ago. My South China Sea subs haven't noticed a jump in D/L. And nothing seen near Java. So I'm guessing around the other side of Sumatra or north to raid my shipping into Burma. Just guessing right now, though.

[apbarog]

4 Oct 43

A more quiet day. A couple of enemy units, probably armor fragments, moved out of Malang. Still more there. A couple of Allied armor units moved west out of Soerabaja. They will continue to the southwest to intercept the enemy units leaving Malang. I hope that Walker evacuates Malang completely. I don't want to deal with the mountainous terrain.

Two more midget subs were sunk today. None sighted during the day. The surviving ones appeared to head west of Soerabaja to safe ports. One did take a shot at an xAP at Soerabaja, but missed.

South of Cam Ranh Bay, sub Grunion spots a big tanker convoy with big tankers. But Grunion fires 2 torpedoes at PB Nishimi Maru, hits with one, and probably sinks the ship.

Then, south of Soc Trang, sub Salmon spots a different tanker convoy, and hits big tanker Yamaoka Maru with one torpedo. The ship was loaded with fuel, and is burning, and most probably sank. This attack is notable because it occurred in the shallow water a bit further west. I've generally avoided the shallows with subs, but this time I got away with it. Walker may be sending the tankers in the shallows from Singapore up towards Saigon, and then hugging the coast. Not sure yet. He'll come to the conclusion eventually that he'll have to do this.

B-24s hit Madioen's airfield, but do minimal damage in bad weather.

The enemy's 3rd Tank Division continues to mop up the 14 LRP fragment at Tjepoe. 150 to 1 odds destroyed about half of what's left of the unit. Allied armor, now adjacent to Tjepoe, would need 2 more days to reinforce Tjepoe, and there just isn't enough time to save the paras. As I said before, those paras are the heroes that made conquering Soerabaja a one-day affair, delaying the enemy armor at Tjepoe.

I considered beginning loading at Balikpapan for one of the next invasion spots, but all of the units aren't quite ready. I want to land at two locations simultaneously, and load all of the first target's units together, with support units, and they aren't all in combat mode yet. Tomorrow.

Walker is unavailable for turns through the weekend, so I'm taking my time with this turn, and sending it to him on Sunday. Next turn won't be until Monday, at the earliest.

[apbarog]

4 Oct 43

A look at the South China Sea. Using Balikpapan as a big submarine base has greatly increased the patrol time for the subs.

[apbarog]

Macclan5, I am responding to your War Room thread "Seeking some experienced advice about the "restricted Indian Divisions'. Advice / Observations. " I couldn't do so there, as my deployment of Indian/Brit units the Pacific have been important, and I don't want to give Walker my strategy.

First, note that my game is a DBB game, and the OOB does vary from the unmodded game. I've had to be careful with upgrading Indian units (as well as Australian units). Some units have odd TOEs after upgrading. I think some just follow radical historical changes in TOE. Others may just be incorrect.

I did recently purchase the restricted 23rd Indian Division. It has a nice strength. I'm working on filling it out with '43 devices, but it is going into battle for me as reinforcements in the fight near Akyab. It's at Cox's Bazar, about to get to the fight.

I have 4 other Indian divisions that are not restricted and being used actively. I don't recall if I bought any of these out. The 5th and 17th Indian divisions are in Soerabaja now. The 11th Indian division is in the fight near Akyab. Finally, the 39th Indian Division is in the jungle near Chittagong, holding the line in a hex with a part of the Imperial Guard Division.

Other restricted Indian units have been key in the push to Cox's Bazar, as that is still in Burma. Any further movement south requires unrestricted units. I used restricted ones as much as I could, saving the unrestricted ones for the push to Akyab.

A side note - I've moved Indian LRP units to the Pacific, and they have made some key para drops, taking some bases along the way, north of Australia. With enough C-47s in the area, these units are nice to use.

I long ago decided not to fight a major offensive in Burma. My push to Akyab will probably stall after taking Akyab, with good defensive terrain beyond it, including a river crossing. Future reinforcements to the theater are being saved for a landing elsewhere in the area, not for adding to the front.

[apbarog]

5 Oct 43

It was a busy day for the US subs. Sub Tambor, in the shallows near Pescadores, spots an xAK convoy. No engagement.

Then Sub Skipjack spots a huge convoy near Laoag, with tankers and xAKs, fires two torpedoes at a patrol boat, and misses.

Sub Billfish then spots a big tanker convoy near Soc Trang, just inside of the deep water area. Billfish gets one torpedo hit on TK Kyokuzan Maru, and it is carrying fuel. It is burning and surely sunk. Billfish then gets another attack, and hits tanker Hiburi Maru, which is also loaded with fuel and now burning, and surely doomed. A great day for Billfish. Two tankers!

Sub Sturgeon is spotted by 4 E boats, south of Hengchun, China in the shallows. No engagement.

Sub Spearfish is also in the shallows near Swatow, China and takes one good depth charge hit from a patrol boat escorting at least one xAKL.

Sub Flying Fish torpedoes PB Ogashima near Subic Bay.

Near Hong Kong, in the shallows, sub Tambor is found by E boats, and takes a good depth charge hit.

At Tjepoe, on Java, the enemy 3rd Tank Division eliminates the rest of the 14th LRP Bde. About half of the unit survives on Mataram. It begins to rebuild, and preps a new target, far, far away...

Today the Allied troops on the road near Akyab are reinforced by a new big Indian division. We attack.

We also attack at Boela with the one division still there. B-25s support.

Balikpapan is the center of activity for future operations. US carriers refuel and move outside of the port, to await transports which will start to load for the next invasions. I moved some TKs and AOs to Balikpapan to refuel my carriers. With just a size 4 port, only about one big task force can refuel per day. I got everything refueled in one day this way.

In an effort to accelerate progress, I am going to make more use of my less efficient xAPs in my landings. The combat troops will still unload quickly using the APAs, but I will be bringing the support troops on other ships. It's time to get things really rolling while the enemy is focused on Java. I hope to land at destination "A", covered by carriers, while troops for destination "B" are loading, then move them to destination "B" with the carriers moving there next, etc. There could be as many as 5 separate landings done one after the other in this manner. My limiting factor is simply the shipping needed for the troops.