The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

4/1/45

Intelligence Screen: The Allies have been on a roll, but the bombing sabbatical from mid-February through mid-March may have affected the projected auto-victory date. On the other hand, things do seem to be taking on a snowballing aspect, given the situation in Malaya, China and Korea. The Allies have strong positions and plentiful supply. Perhaps I can nudge things back on track.

Re: the base VP swing: part of it would be the new bases taken but part would be getting supply to bases below minimums (making them eligible for VPs) and the rest is the Allied secret weapon - engineers to rapidly build the bases. John doesn't have many engineers so he cannot advance the denominator through construction as rapidly as you can advance the numerator X2. Your logistics in action! [&o]

[BBfanboy]

Re: Malaya - didn't see you mention taking Georgetown before but the map shows it is now Allied- congrats! I like that base for its larger port and HI that can provide some supply.
Taking Kuala Lumpur absolutely severs supply flow to his units north of there and resource flow to Singapore. Well done on the para assault! [:)]

[BBfanboy]

Re: NE China: John will lose a lot of what he has in the plains but any he withdraws will make their Alamos at Peiping and Tientsin. I am sure John is aware of the VPs those bases represent. Anything you can do to cut off retreat of his troops in that direction will be good. I have no idea how much he can bring in from Manchukuo and Korea. PP are likely an issue given the time it takes to get the points ot buy a division.

[Canoerebel]

I've cut the rail to Manchukuo for John's west flank army, so he may have trouble extracting his army from west China. And my units up at Tsinan have the angle to really close the pocket. Chengting, west of Peiping, appears to be the best choke point.

The limiting factor for Allied ops in North China will be drawing enough supply at forward bases to allow meaningful air operations. John seems to be having the same issue.

I have no idea if Russian Activation is in play, but a major Allied army may be approaching Manchukuo by the end of April.

[jwolf]

I wonder if the Japanese base score is being hurt by low supply at some bases, reducing the score.

[JohnDillworth]

Torpedo hits can cause all kinds of damage or just a bit. Fair chance that CA is not going as fast as it was yesterday. Might want to send some subs to have a look-see

[palioboy2]

If you plan on just sending sweeps over a target that has previously been battered like Nagasaki you could consider sending in night fighters and bombers the night before. He likely has lots of airplanes on the field that could be destroyed, it will increase his pilots fatigue for the next days fighter battles and if you even just damage some planes it should help to create a numbers mismatch during the daytime. If you are spending a day sending sweep you need to push to create as effective a killing environment as possible. Especially killing pilots.

[Canoerebel]

4/1/45

Malaya: With the sudden leap forward to Kuala Lumpur, what once seemed like a long-away campaign for Singers now seems possible in the medium term. Allied troops are railing forward in good order. Lots of engineers and base forces are also coming up to help with air ops at bases like Georgetown and Kuala Lumpur.

At the moment it does not look like John has the troops necessary to make a stand north of Singers. If that's true, the Allied army could reach Johore Bahru in about two weeks.

[Canoerebel]

4/1/45

China: The Japanese counteroffensive in China is over. In fact, it appears that the Allies may have broken the back of Japanese resistance here. John still has a decent army on the western frontier (I think) and can make a good stand around Peiping and Tientsin, relying in part on his army that's retiring from Tsinan. But I think the Allies are going to pocket a massive Japanese army in middle China while, at the same time, pushing the front toward the Manchukuo border.

Korea: The Allied offensive here is just getting underway. Two divisions will arrive at Moppo tomorrow. That base is ripe for taking, I believe. Then most of the Allied army will work the Fusan offensive.

Air War: Sweeps over a number of important industrial targets encountered little CAP. Is John's fighter strength weakening and stretched thin, or is this just a brief hiatus? I'm testing with more sweeps tomorrow. I should know in a few days if the way is open for daylight raids over southern Japan. John still has a stout air force, I think, but he may be consering it for key bases and battles.

[JohnDillworth]

John seems to be reacting to multi day raids by shuttling in fighters to hot spots. Consider not hitting the same target 2 days and n a row

[Canoerebel]

4/2/45

Malaya: With 7th Indian Div. up, Kuala Lumpur is secure. All Allied units will press south as fast as possible, though converting from strat mode to move mode will take a few days.

John used his air force to vigorously counterattack today, hitting undefended Kuantan and getting chewed up over Kuala, where I had pretty good CAP. The big question now is whether John has any ground units to establish roadblocks or speed bumps north of Singers.

[Canoerebel]

4/2/45

Leaving town for a quick visit with Daughter. So I'll let this diagram speak for itself. Back tomorrow night.

[Canoerebel]

4/3/45

Asia: Encouraging day on the ground, where he Allies take Moppo, Korea, and the biggest IJ army in CHina launches a disastrous deliberate attack, weakening itself substantially.

But the war continues very tough in the air....and from a points standpoint. I am not scoring points in big allotments. I keep winning victories and marching forward without driving a stake through the heart of the Nipponese vampire. I'm working on ideas.

[JohnDillworth]

He is going to start pulling large formations out, which John is really good at. What can you do a Fusan? Do a massive port strike shut it down?

[Canoerebel]

I'd do that and everything else - maximum air power and combat TFs. With Moppo in hand, the Allies will be able to bombard and interdict at Fusan (or will be as soon as Moppo airfield is up and running, which should be inside a week).

[JohnDillworth]

Should be able to send some big boys in to Bombard

[CaptBeefheart]

I wonder how his Manchurian/Korean garrison level is doing. I trust the Soviets are ready to take advantage of an early start to hostilities.

Cheers,
CC

[palioboy2]

Are you hitting his airfields with night raids before sweeping during the day? Bombarding any of his seaside AFs? Try it to create mismatches so your guys can get a numbers edge?

[Canoerebel]

My bombardment TFs have focused on Moppo (just taken), Keijo (key base about to undergo siege) and Port Arthur (biggest airfield supporting enemy ops in China). I won't turn bombardment TFs loose against Japan until I take Fusan; and I won't turn them against Fusan until they can be based at Moppo, which needs a week of airfield repair plus and influx of aviation support.

I am only occasionally using night bombers. John has more night bombers flying than daytime. They render nighttime raids a waste of time - few hits scored in exchange for too many aircraft lost. (The exception is raids against airfields in China.)

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: Commander Cody
I wonder how his Manchurian/Korean garrison level is doing. I trust the Soviets are ready to take advantage of an early start to hostilities.

Cheers,
CC

The Russians, as noted a week ago, are fully prepped for three key targets. I have no idea if they'll activate or not, but I'm ready to use them if they do.