Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

[apbarog]

19 Feb 42

Enemy minesweepers finish sweeping mines at Rangoon.

South of San Francisco, I-26 spots a big outbound convoy with lots of xAKs and a few AKEs. DD Perkins does some minor damage to the sub, which doesn't get a torpedo shot off.

Japanese fighters switch to sweeping Changsha. The P-40s are at Kukong. Bombers follow, and do moderate damage to the airfield.

Bettys bomb troops at Soerabaja.

Tjilatjap is lost. 6 Dutch seaplanes are lost as I wasn't paying attention.

Japanese forces do a probing artillery attack at Bandoeng, the inland mountain base in northern Java. It's going to take an effort to dig out the Dutch here. Supply is over 60,000 and forts are at level 2.

Ground combat at Bandoeng (50,100)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 13875 troops, 254 guns, 102 vehicles, Assault Value = 389

Defending force 23640 troops, 226 guns, 81 vehicles, Assault Value = 487

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

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

Assaulting units:
1st Formosa Inf. Regiment
2nd Formosa Inf. Regiment
47th Infantry Regiment
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Mortar Battalion
48th Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
1st Cav Regiment
IV Landstorm Cdo
2nd KNIL Regiment
Mobiele Battalion
1st KNIL Regiment
4th KNIL Regiment
ML-KNIL
A-III-Ld AA Battalion
KNI Zeemacht
2e-VLG-V Sup Afd
KNI Leger
ABDA
HQ I KNIL Division
Andir ML Base Force
3e-VLG-V Sup Afd

Additional enemy troops are landing at Tulagi. I've formed up 2 task forces that may see action in the Solomons, before the enemy gets airbases and before KB comes back. Battleship Warspite and CL Adelaide and 4 US destroyers make up a bombardment group, and light cruisers Perth, Raleigh, Marblehead, and Boise with 4 US destroyers make up a combat group.

I do this because KB is spotted 6 hexes southwest of Wake. A Wake invasion is probably imminent. It will be interesting, as Wake is reinforced and has supply.

Finally, ARD Dewey's luck may have run out.

[apbarog]

The newspapers may have been printed too soon.

[apbarog]

Here's the defenses at Wake Island

[BBfanboy]

3/3 detection doesn't sound too detailed. Maybe just says two allied ships, which would preclude a carrier raid from that TF. If he sends ships to intercept there is a good chance they will go too far ahead of the TF, since they will not be aware of the slow speed!

[jwolf]

Heh, I love the "Dewey escapes Tojo" headline!

[apbarog]

20 Feb 42

Enemy troops continue to land at Tulagi. Bettys again bomb Allied troops there.

24 Oscars sweep Kukong, and find the P-40 squadron. It's a fairly even fight. The Oscar pilots must be well trained. 6 Oscars are shot down and 5 P-40Es are lost. The Warhawks move back to Chungking to take on plane reinforcements. No US pilots were lost. Warhawks are limited in number, but it's nice to take out a few veteran enemy pilots.

The enemy bombing has picked up in China. I'm starting to move the H-81 Flying Tiger squadron into China. Tojos sweep Nanning, Sallys with Oscars hit Kweilin, Sonias with Nates hit Sian, and Sonias with Nates hit Changsha.

Enemy troops are massing southeast of Sian.

Kota Bharu is all that's left of the British empire in Malaysia. The Imperial Guard Division is moving in.

KB moved a few hexes to the east of Wake Island, and no other task forces were spotted.

[jwolf]

Can you refresh my memory -- why did you attach the xAK to the Dewey?

I wonder if you could beat the odds by changing course NE toward the Aleutians. You do get consistently bad weather up there.

[apbarog]

The ARDs hold very little fuel. Just enough for one day. The cargo ship refuels it every day.

It had moved southeast. I'm moving it one more hex southeast, then east for awhile, if it survives. The Aleutians are certainly an option. The next week is critical. But OPilot will surely send out a combat task force.

[apbarog]

21 Feb 42

Brit sub Truant spots an xAK and 2 patrol boats leaving Milne Bay and fires 2 torpedoes at PB Kyo Maru #7 and misses.

South of Wake Island, KB runs over sub Silversides, and the sub takes a depth charge hit. Damage is minor, but there is a bit of flotation damage, and the sub is ordered back to Pearl Harbor for repairs. KB was 3 hexes east of Wake. This sighting is south of Wake. During the day, KB is seen well to the southwest of Wake, a total of 13 hexes from its position yesterday. OPilot ran them at full speed to the southwest. I wonder what that is about. Either afraid something was about to appear in the area, or off to something else more important. Or wanted to disappear while to the east of Wake.

More troops unload at Tulagi, a new unit. Now there's all or parts of 5 enemy units: 82nd and 83rd Naval Guard units, Kure 3rd SNLF, 1st Indpt SNLF Coy, and Bandasan SNLF. OPilot knows what I have there, and is bringing enough to do the job. As expected. But it is taking time, which is the goal. I move 3 extra Catalinas to Luganville, and they will start extracting small parts of Lark Force. I won't get much out, but it'll be something to combine with Lark's 2 sister units.

Oscars sweep Kukong, and bombers with escorts follow. The operational P-40s were pulled out. There were about 5 damaged ones on the ground, and despite 27 Sallys and 36 Sonias bombing and doing moderate damage to the airfield, no Warhawks were hit. I rail out the damaged planes today.

Sabang is lost. The defenders completely evaporated due to bombing before the actual attack.

Brit carrier Indomitable has finished repairs at Auckland. 5 US cruisers come out of refit at Auckland tomorrow. Then I'll decide whether to sortie for the Solomons, or wait longer. 2 US carriers get significant AA upgrades in March, but would take 21 days (I think) to complete. Tulagi isn't really being defended. Luganville may or may not be. With KB expected for any Luganville invasion, it's a question of whether 4 US and 1 Brit carrier is enough to go up against KB. Still flying Buffaloes and poor pilots. Worthless TBDs. The answer is probably to do the refit and wait for the defense of New Caledonia, which will be held.

The last big convoy from India to Australia is now west of Perth. I haven't talked about any of these convoys. Lots and lots of fuel and supply has been shipped. I evaluated what cargo ships and tankers were needed in the Indian Ocean, and sent everything deemed extra to Australia with fuel and supply. Hundreds of thousands of both.

ARD Dewey? Believe it or not, but it wasn't spotted today. It keeps getting just one more hex away from Japan. Can it make it?

[BBfanboy]

Better send that xAK back to fuel Dewey! An endangered tortoise like that has to be saved!

[apbarog]

Actually, xAK Ethel Edwards never left ARD Dewey. I decided to continue the odyssey no matter the odds.

[jwolf]

That's the spirit! But to show you really care, you should move the US carriers from NZ up to the North Pacific to escort poor Dewey to safety. [:D]

[apbarog]

22 Feb 42

Dutch TF bombards Port Moresby. A small enemy task force left a couple of days ago. It had an xAK. Nothing seen since, but I was hoping to run into something. The bombardment wasn't expected to do much with just a light cruiser. More of a mental note for OPilot to be careful. S-23 spots that xAK but doesn't get a shot near Woodlark Island.

Kota Bharu is bombed and attacked by the artillery of the Imperial Guard Division. Now that it's obvious that the defense is smashed, the base, and all of Malaya, will fall tomorrow.

The enemy attacks at Tulagi.

Ground combat at Tulagi (114,137)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 6489 troops, 46 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 213

Defending force 1642 troops, 35 guns, 19 vehicles, Assault Value = 37

Japanese adjusted assault: 74

Allied adjusted defense: 31

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

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

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

Allied ground losses:
159 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 16 (1 destroyed, 15 disabled)

Assaulting units:
82nd Naval Guard Unit
Kure 3rd SNLF
83rd Naval Guard Unit
1st Indpt SNLF Coy
Bandasan SNLF

Defending units:
Lark Force
56th Cst Art Rgt /2

I'm pleased with this defense. There's a price for the enemy, far more than what the Lark Battalion could have inflicted on the enemy 4th Infantry Division had Lark stayed at Rabaul. Tulagi will fall, but it'll take a bit more time. I pulled out a squad or two of Lark for Luganville, where the parent unit will form after Tulagi falls.

No sign of KB today. It was moving full speed southwest of Wake yesterday, moving toward Eniwetok. It'll be back near Tulagi soon. I may or may not be able to sneak a bombardment force into Tulagi before KB arrives.

And now what you've been waiting for: the update on ARD Dewey. The good news is that it wasn't spotted by air today. The bad news is that some enemy task force ran into it, triggering a naval battle, but nothing occurred. So it ran into something that probably wasn't a combat ship. Nearby, sub Grenadier is ordered to follow ARD Dewey, and should rendezvous tomorrow. Maybe I'll see what OPilot has sent out after Dewey. The bottom line is that he ran into my task force but didn't see what ships were there, but he also knows it probably wasn't combat ships.

[jwolf]

I would guess the Japanese will move with their ships along the same line to try for another intercept (or they may have other, actual combat ships nearby). Maybe you should move the Dewey one hex NE or SE to shift it to a different hex row.

[zuluhour]

I'm thinking you better cross everything you can and run the rabbits foot up the mast.

[apbarog]

23 Feb 42

RO-61 is sitting just to the east of Cooktown. It spots the Dutch light cruiser De Ruyter and destroyers leaving Cooktown after refueling. 2 torpedoes are fired at DD Banckert but they miss.

AMC Hokoku Maru is unloading troops at Tulagi. A Catalina on a search mission gets a bomb hit on the AMC. If the ship is still there tonight, it will have visitors.

Heavy bombing of troops at Kota Bharu, followed by an attack by the Imperial Guard Division. The base is taken and the defenders surrender. Just before surrendering, the defenders radioed India to begin reconstituting the units. 2 Indian divisions whose parts were originally in Malaya immediately form from part fragments. The divisions take Indian Infantry 42, and those are sparse, so the divisions will just rest and train for now. Indian Infantry 42 has 84 squads in the pool, and I get 48 more per month. I want to accumulate enough to be able to upgrade existing divisions, then I'll start rebuilding others.

Changsha is swept and bombed. Changteh is bombed. Troops near Wuchow are bombed. Troops near Nanyang are bombed. With the increasing activity in China, I'm moving air units from India to China. 2 Flying Tigers squadrons and 3 B-17 squadrons.

Another attack at Tulagi, just missing a 2 to 1 attack and lowering the fort level:

Ground combat at Tulagi (114,137)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 6263 troops, 46 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 188

Defending force 1503 troops, 33 guns, 19 vehicles, Assault Value = 24

Japanese adjusted assault: 105

Allied adjusted defense: 55

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
267 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 33 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
73 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 12 (8 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Assaulting units:
Kure 3rd SNLF
1st Indpt SNLF Coy
82nd Naval Guard Unit
83rd Naval Guard Unit
Bandasan SNLF

Defending units:
Lark Force
56th Cst Art Rgt /2
***********************
Another decent defense. A US light cruiser task force will visit Tulagi tonight. I'm not bombarding, just ship hunting. I want to get in and out quickly with the threat of KB returning to the area.

[apbarog]

ARD Dewey and xAK Ethel Edwards

[apbarog]

24 Feb 42 - The Battle for Tulagi

First, sub Sailfish fires 2 torpedoes at xAK Kinugawa Maru at Shortlands. One torpedo hits, with no mention of damage or fires.

The 1st Naval Battle of Tulagi

Night Time Surface Combat, near Tulagi at 114,137, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E7K2 Alf: 3 destroyed

Japanese Ships
DD Shiratsuyu, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Shigure, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
AMC Aikoku Maru, Shell hits 47, and is sunk
AMC Hokoku Maru, Shell hits 22, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Perth
CL Raleigh
CL Marblehead
CL Boise
DD Craven
DD Gridley
DD McCall
DD Maury

Shiratsuyu escapes with minor to moderate damage. US ships aren't scratched. 4 Alfs go down with the big AMCs. Each AMC is worth 27 points, which are the highest point enemy ships lost so far. Previous mentions of a CVL and CA lost were proven wrong. The highest point ship for the Allies is 32 with AS Otis. Needless to say, losses have been kept to a minimum for both sides so far. The US task force retires to repair minor damage from the high speed run.

While at Tulagi, RO-66 spots the US ships and fires 6 torpedoes at CL Raleigh, but all miss. While leaving the area, the navy gets a radio call from troops on Tulagi that they are being overrun.

Ground combat at Tulagi (114,137)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 6085 troops, 46 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 170

Defending force 1393 troops, 25 guns, 19 vehicles, Assault Value = 15

Japanese adjusted assault: 48

Allied adjusted defense: 10

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Tulagi !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
171 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 20 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1741 casualties reported
Squads: 46 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 102 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 12 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 32 (32 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 24 (24 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Assaulting units:
83rd Naval Guard Unit
82nd Naval Guard Unit
1st Indpt SNLF Coy
Kure 3rd SNLF
Bandasan SNLF

Defending units:
Lark Force
56th Cst Art Rgt /2

Whether my delaying tactic of placing Lark Force on Tulagi was a good idea or not is debatable. I still think it was worthwhile.

Enemy bombers hit a few targets in China. US fighters in China prepare, as do B-17s resting at Chungking. One squadron of the Flying Tigers will LRCAP the dot base south of Changsha. It's rough terrain and has Chinese troops, and 2 enemy units have moved into the hex. I expect air attacks soon with the enemy troop arrivals, so I take a chance on LRCAP over the hex.

[zuluhour]

A nice moral boost. You lost nothing unexpected and punished him for his efforts i assume you have some engineers at Luganville? Suva?

[jwolf]

"First naval battle of Tulagi" I guess you are expecting there will be more. [8D]