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

[apbarog]

14 Mar 43

I-164 fired 2 torpedoes at destroyer Dunlap near Ponape but missed. Enemy subs have formed a barrier north of Ponape, perhaps anticipating that my carriers are headed towards Truk again. They are not.

Battleships Pennsylvania, Arizona and West Virginia bombarded Saumlaki, east of Babar. Only 38 casualties, and minor damage to the port. The enemy unit there is small, and there is no airfield. I'll be invading here in about a week. Babar needs the support.

Huge attack at Mandalay again, and huge losses. Can't keep this up. I'm not worried about disablements in the long run. I have plenty of supply at Rangoon, so everything will recover. And the enemy can't recover easily in Burma. But I wanted to clear Mandalay quickly, and OPilot hasn't moved out any sizable combat effective units. Only smaller units have fled east. He's making a stand here. We'll win, eventually, but clearing the road to Lashio will be very tough. For now, it's back to heavy, heavy bombing. Non-stop.

Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 70059 troops, 909 guns, 523 vehicles, Assault Value = 1952

Defending force 55423 troops, 672 guns, 235 vehicles, Assault Value = 1458

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Allied adjusted assault: 572

Japanese adjusted defense: 615

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

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1701 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 126 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Guns lost 108 (4 destroyed, 104 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
2625 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 395 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 57 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 48 disabled
Guns lost 73 (2 destroyed, 71 disabled)

Assaulting units:
2nd British Division
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
32nd Infantry Division
24th Australian Brigade
18th British Division
46th Indian Brigade
6th Chinese Corps
XV Indian Corps

Defending units:
5th Division
12th Division
48th Division
56th Division
Imperial Guards Division
15th Garrison Unit
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
2nd Shipping
51st Field AA Battalion
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
6th JAAF AF Coy
3rd Mortar Battalion
5th Mortar Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
7th Field Construction Battalion
5th Field Construction Battalion
31st Field AA Battalion
85th JAAF AF Coy

And for my second unsuccessful attack of the day:

Ground combat at Roi-Namur (132,114)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 3733 troops, 66 guns, 34 vehicles, Assault Value = 84

Defending force 6060 troops, 44 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 96

Allied adjusted assault: 2

Japanese adjusted defense: 136

Allied assault odds: 1 to 68 (fort level 5)

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), experience(-)
Attacker: 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:
729 casualties reported
Squads: 13 destroyed, 32 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

Assaulting units:
24th Infantry/A Division

Defending units:
43rd Naval Guard Unit
6th Base Force
41st JNAF AF Unit
53rd JNAF AF Unit

The US troops had recovered about half of their disablements. It wasn't nearly enough. The adjusted combat strength was terrible. Time for plan "C". The infantry still has tons of supply. They'll sit and recover, if they aren't attacked. They only have one non-disabled squad. Bombers will continue to bomb. There's an Allied dot base 2 hexes to the south that has a stacking limit of 10,000, more than most islands in the Marshalls. And most importantly, it is a 0(2) airbase, so it can be built fairly quickly and to a level 5. I'm sending lots of engineers here as quickly as I can get the transports to the right locations. I'll built that base up and use it to support the long-term reduction of Roi-Namur. The infantry on Kwajalein will be pulled out and go back to Tarawa, where it will continue prepping for Roi-Namur. An armor unit on Tarawa has been ordered to prep for Roi-Namur. Next time we do the Roi-Namur invasion right, and it will be after a long period of relentless bombing. It has level 5 forts, which is tough, and I know that subs are dropping off supply to the enemy. I could mine it, but I think it's better to occasionally send in some cruisers to bombard.

The good news for today is that the shipping at and around Ponape was not interfered with in any way. Enemy battleships remain at Truk. US carriers will move from the NE of Ponape to the SW of Ponape, still range one. A big chunch of the 40th Infantry Division is now loading at Ponape and is going back to Kusaie. It is one of the divisions prepping for Truk.

An interesting note: SigInt says that the Botanko Heavy Gun Regiment is at Bataan. I think it has been there ever since Bataan was lost to the enemy. I also know that the nice Wake coastal gun unit is at Truk.

[jwolf]

5 enemy divisions in Mandalay! [X(] It will take ages to wear them down. OPilot is certainly putting up a vigorous defense in Burma. I guess he doesn't want to see any more Allied supply getting into China.

[apbarog]

Most of the enemy divisions are depleted. Some are wrecked. But there's lots of troops.

15 Mar 43

Sub attack near Ponape at 119,114

Japanese Ships
SS I-24

Allied Ships
CVE Chenango, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CA Australia
CA Wichita
CL Columbia
CL Montpelier
CL Helena
DD Monssen
DD Grayson
DD Kalk
DD Hobby
DD Frazier

SS I-24 launches 8 torpedoes at CVE Chenango

Chenango is badly damaged (SYS 37/FLOT 64-57/ENG 26-12/FIRE 0). The good news is that it split off and headed south, and wasn't seen during the daylight. The bad news is that it split off without any destroyers. As always, everything will be done to save the ship. Subchasers will move to Chenango and join up at the end of the day.

I considered moving to Ponape with the CVE. But subs are all around Ponape, and Ponape is just a size 1 port. Not much help. Not to mention, there isn't much damage that can be patched up there, and that would happen terribly slowly. Ponape is the most forward base, and it is going to get bombed and bombarded at some point. Allied carriers aren't staying forever. Put a CVE in port, and you can guess how long it would take till Ponape is attacked.

I figure the best bet is to move indirectly to the south, and hope to say unspotted. There are 21 F4F-4s and 9 TBFs on Chenango, and they are stuck there until Chenango can dock.

Some Allied bombing at Mandalay. There's so much flak there now. Everything that came from Akyab is there, plus whatever was at the bases in the Burma plain. Bombers have been flying at 15,000 feet and still taking losses. The troops are resting at Mandalay for now.

[apbarog]

16 Mar 43

I-18 gets into one of the carrier task forces near Ponape, but doesn't spot a carrier. 2 torpedoes are fired at destroyer Preston. They miss. The sub is hit by a depth charge and many near misses.

It's obvious that the enemy is not leaving Katha or Mandalay in Burma, despite showing movement arrows. Reinforcements are heading to both. Mandalay is going to be tough, with over 75,000 enemy troops and 650 guns. Bombers will bomb from 20,000 feet today.

The enemy is eliminated northwest of Rangoon, near Bassein.

Ground combat at 53,51 (near Bassein)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2705 troops, 15 guns, 82 vehicles, Assault Value = 108

Defending force 1022 troops, 4 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 3

Allied adjusted assault: 41

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 41 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1353 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 91 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 5 (5 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 3

Assaulting units:
503rd Parachute Regiment
632nd Tank Destroyer Battalion

Defending units:
32nd Special Base Force
15th JAAF AF Bn
3rd Air Div /1

I plan on moving two of the US regiments from Port Blair to Rangoon. They'll have to rest and recover there for awhile. Then they'll go to the front. The regiments might be good to go off-trail into the jungle somewhere. Maybe just to push the enemy supply route to central Burma further inland.

Loading and unloading continued uninterrupted at Ponape. CVE Chenango moved south away from Ponape and was not spotted. Unfortunately, I must have messed up the orders for the subchasers that were supposed to rendezvous with Chenango. They did not do so. I'll try to send some ASW to the carrier today. Chenango's FLOT went from 64 to 61.

Destroyer Mugford is northwest of Nauru. It sprung a new leak and FLOT damage went up 7. It's now SYS 45/FLOT 74-67/ENG 32-26/FIRE 0. It may or may not make it to base. A destroyer is sent out to join Mugford.

Enterprise is now west of Noumea, headed to Sydney for repairs.

[apbarog]

2500 posts! It only took me 17 years!

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

2500 posts! It only took me 17 years!

Congrats on another milestone. You'll get that fifth star yet!

[apbarog]

17 Mar 43

Heavy enemy bombing continues where the Japanese tank division is, east of Lanchow. The two Chinese corp there are in the 70s and 90s for disruption, and the end is near for them. Enemy infantry is moving into the hex again, to join the armor. Lanchow will be next up. No supply at all in the area, so little can be done but delay. And the Chinese have been doing well at that for many months.

Some Allied bombing at Mandalay. Many squadrons needed some rest. The huge enemy stack is still there.

Liberator IIs from Ledo bombed Hanoi's airfield, hitting well behind the lines. No enemy planes there, and minor airfield damage done in thunderstorms.

About 90 enemy fighters at Chiang Mai. I may do a massive sweep in a day or two. Resting the F4Us and P-38s.

So we have a bit of a stalemate in Burma at Mandalay. More Chinese are moving into the hex in a couple of days. Allied units need more recovery from the last attempt. Elsewhere, it's a mostly a time of consolidation and building. Ponape is building, as is Kusaie Island. Some of the Allied carrier task forces will split off and head to Pearl Harbor for the April refits, Wasp included, as are 4 CVEs and 6 cruisers. The rest will go to Australia and then on to Darwin after the 2 US carriers finish the March refit at Sydney, which will happen soon.

A small invasion task force, with an Australian brigade, is on the way to Saumlaki, east of Babar. A followup task force is loading. The big show will be Timor, but not until the carriers are back at Darwin.

No sign of KB for weeks. Must have returned to Japan for refits. That single detection level in the middle of the China Sea long ago may have been KB heading home.

[apbarog]

18 Mar 43

More Allied bombing at Mandalay. It looks like about 15,000 troops just left Mandalay to the east, leaving about 60,000 there. The second Chinese corp will arrive at Mandalay today; tomorrow we attack again.

US infantry at Kwajalein is being picked up to go to Tabiteuea. They are earmarked for the 2nd invasion of Roi Namur. A small ANZAC engineer unit replaces the troops on Kwajalein. Engineers and base support are there.

US task force headed to Pearl Harbor for upgrades is passing south of Kwajalein, unseen. CVE Chenango, however, is northwest of Nauru, moving slowly with heavy damage. It is spotted, presumably by a sub. Detection was 4/7, and Chenango is moving with just one escort, so there's no telling what OPilot saw. Chenango is ordered one hex to the southwest, then southeast towards a point west of Nauru. Maybe a little bit more misdirection will help out the CVE.

[Wuffer]

Still following you daily. The stupid forum just ate a more elaborate answer
So, in short: impressing progress, you basically overrun his first line.

Regarding Truck, there was an attempt in another AAR which turned out muuuch bloodier then expected. I think it was The Moose's.

May I ask about the situation of your tanks? Just thinking about Birma... What is your opinion about Raheng, quasi threatening the neck of his army? And maybe the TOE of this unlucky coastal arty btn at Pt. Blair? Are they captable to deliver support fire for the infantry?

Lot of questions, but I'm just curious.

[apbarog]

Hello Wuffer.

An invasion of Truk is planned but it is not in the near future.

I made a "dash" to try to take Raheng and Chiang Mai with my initial invasion, but the movement was so slow in the jungle. Movement was the slowest for the armor. I couldn't get troops to those locations before OPilot had reinforced them.

Port Blair is in Allied hands, so no threat there any longer. Some troops from there will be sent to Rangoon soon.

19 Mar 43

Did a big fighter sweep of Chiang Mai, where 90+ enemy fighters were seen. None seen today. More Allied bombing of Mandalay troops. Poor weather meant poor results from 20,000 feet. Lots of Allied armor is reinforcing, as well as the second big Chinese corp. We attack today. It'll be another huge battle, bigger than the previous. I have Mandalay slightly overstacked today, and stacking is something like 110,000. Enemy troop strength appears to have dropped below 50,000 as some units escape to the east.

3 heavy bomber squadrons hit Shortland's port and airfield, doing minor damage. Both sides have been quiet in the Solomons for many weeks. This attack, combined with the sighting of an Allied heavy cruiser task force north of Guadalcanal, may get OPilot's attention. It's just smoke and mirrors though. The ships are heading to Australia for upgrades, moving close enough to the enemy to be seen and show activity there.

Enemy troops bombed on Jaluit and Roi-Namur. Ships have loaded the 1/3 of an infantry division on Kwajalein, and will take them to Tabiteuea. They'll reinvade Roi Namur with armor support in a month or so. The Allied dot base 2 hexes south of Kwajalein has Allied troops starting to land. (Ailing-some-or-the-other) The airbase there can build big.

Sturgeon spotted a tanker convoy in the middle of the South China Sea. 4 torpedoes missed an "E" boat. I keep tracking of all locations where tankers are spotted in the South China Sea, watching to see where the current convoy routes are, and when they change.

Some of the US carriers that are heading to Pearl for refits have left the Marshall Islands unobserved. The others are northeast of the Solomons heading to Sydney, unobserved. CVE Chenango was not spotted today as it slowly moved to Nauru Island.

There's an enemy task force a few hexes southeast of Truk. It is in the typical location for an upcoming run-in to Ponape to bombard. 3 CVs were spotted, but just a handful of non-combat aircraft. I don't think any CVs are there, and they are battleships. OPilot does use a CS in bombardment task forces, for some reason. I think that is what is there. There may or may not be a bombardment. Sometimes when his ships are spotted in the current location, they go back to Truk. Possibly hoping for a surprise bombardment.

I'm moving all shipping out of Ponape. It's worth noting that there are only 2 enemy ships in port at Truk now, down from a dozen or so on every other day. OPilot may be fearing another Allied carrier strike, or maybe he's starting to feel like Truk is a bit too forward for valuable support ships. It is. Kusaie is building and is within heavy bomber range. Combined with long range fighter sweeps from Ponape, it is vulnerable.

[apbarog]

20 Mar 43 - Part One - Ponape

Enemy ships return to Ponape. Kongo, Haruna, Hiei and Kirishima, with 2 cruisers and 8 destroyers. At least some of these ships were the ones south of Mindanao heading east, several weeks ago. The enemy finds 6 PT boats. All of the other ships had fled. The fight was at night, but with 100% moonlight and good weather, so the shells started to fly at 9,000 yards. The fight closed to 7,000, then increased until disengagement. No shells hit the PT boats, which didn't get a chance to fire back. The enemy then bombarded Ponape.

Night Naval bombardment of Ponape at 119,113

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 22 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed on ground
SBD-2 Dauntless: 7 damaged
SBD-2 Dauntless: 1 destroyed on ground
F4U-1 Corsair: 2 damaged
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed on ground
P-400 Airacobra: 9 damaged
P-400 Airacobra: 2 destroyed on ground
PBY-5 Catalina: 5 damaged
PBY-5 Catalina: 1 destroyed on ground

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei
BB Haruna
BB Kongo
CA Kinugasa
CL Yubari

Allied ground losses:
541 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 26 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 49 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 21 (4 destroyed, 17 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 37

About half of the fighters were damaged, except for the Corsairs, which only had a few planes on Ponape. The airfield was still operational. In the afternoon, enemy carrier planes appeared over Ponape, targeting the PT boats.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ponape at 119,113

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 147 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 38 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 53
D4Y1 Judy x 23

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 5
P-400 Airacobra x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed
D4Y1 Judy: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-400 Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
PT-147
PT-145
PT-149
PT-146
PT-150

The US fighters were not at their best, having endured the battleship bombardment. But the Judys couldn't hit the fast moving PT boats.

This doesn't look like KB. It looks smaller. I don't know if I believe the sighting of all CVLs though. Maybe a mix. US carriers have left the area though, with half east of the Marshalls heading for Pearl Harbor, and half in the eastern Solomons, heading for Sydney. The enemy carrier task force may or may not be something they could have handled. If the enemy pushes towards Kusaie, they'll find transport shipping to target. I don't think they'll push. Too much risk from growing Allied bases.

[apbarog]

20 Mar 43 - Saumlaki

[apbarog]

20 Mar 43 - Part Three - Burma

Lots of Allied bombing at Mandalay. Then the huge battle. Over 110,000 Allied troops are involved.

Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 96356 troops, 1091 guns, 956 vehicles, Assault Value = 2792

Defending force 36757 troops, 532 guns, 231 vehicles, Assault Value = 1106

Allied adjusted assault: 1675

Japanese adjusted defense: 328

Allied assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Mandalay !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
13343 casualties reported
Squads: 327 destroyed, 234 disabled
Non Combat: 483 destroyed, 56 disabled
Engineers: 141 destroyed, 13 disabled
Guns lost 358 (290 destroyed, 68 disabled)
Vehicles lost 187 (185 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units retreated 15

Allied ground losses:
980 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 138 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 28 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Vehicles lost 69 (8 destroyed, 61 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
254th Armoured Brigade
16th Light Cavalry Regiment
5th Chinese Corps
46th Indian Brigade
2nd British Division
24th Australian Brigade
18th British Division
32nd Infantry Division
6th Chinese Corps
XV Indian Corps
XXXIII Indian Corps

Defending units:
48th Division
Imperial Guards Division
4th Ind Engineer Regiment
20th Ind Engineer Regiment
56th Division
15th Garrison Unit
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
3rd Mortar Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
31st Field AA Battalion
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
5th Mortar Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
51st Field AA Battalion
26th Fld AA Gun Co

A huge victory. The enemy retreated into the jungle to the east, into a hex that has a stacking limit of 50,000 men. The enemy stack is over 60,000 men. They are hurting and maybe even low on supply. Some Allied troops at Mandalay will pursue the enemy. A large stack of Allied troops will move south. The Allied pursuit may not be quick enough, considering that getting enough supply into central Burma for so many troops is very difficult, and will probably take some time.

Remember the goal of all this activity in Burma for the past two months is to open road to China, and force supply into China. Clearing the road east of Mandalay could be difficult if the enemy defends it and manages to stay in supply.

[ChuckBerger]

That must have felt really good.

[apbarog]

It did feel good. The two big Chinese corps were the key. They originally landed at Pegu and Moulmein and pushed for towards Thailand, hoping to cut off Burma further south. Movement was too slow for that to work. If I had anticipated that, I would have sent the Chinese north from the start, and would have been able to clear central Burma faster, and would have cut off all of the enemy that had been at Akyab. As it is now, we still have to fight our way east of Mandalay to China. How difficult that will be depends on how much supply the enemy can pull.

Speaking of the two Chinese corp, they are the ones that were formed from divisions, and are two of the few that can be bought out. I did so at the very beginning of the war, and sent the parts from all over China to the Burma border. Some walked there way north through the jungle and mountains to India. Others were flown out of China. I really like getting those units into India where they can build up to full size. They won the battle of Mandalay and are well worth the effort. If they had still been in China, they'd be just another Chinese corp still with 1941 squad devices, unable to take on reinforcements and out of supply.

[zuluhour]

2 cents: Akyab seems to be an excellent supply source for central Burma. I would pile supplies in there even if not built up.
I use amphibious TFs of small xAKL. Of course you have Rangoon so .... But with the advent of monsoon season it can't hurt.

[Macclan5]

ORIGINAL: zuluhour

2 cents: Akyab seems to be an excellent supply source for central Burma. I would pile supplies in there even if not built up.
I use amphibious TFs of small xAKL. Of course you have Rangoon so .... But with the advent of monsoon season it can't hurt.

+1

Additionally the little dot hex port base south of Akyab ( cannot recall name just now from memory) can be developed and very simply defended ; a Construction Regiment - a number of Indian British should be arriving "just now" for you and an RN base force. Build port to max quickly and CAP with a single squadron from Prome. Your opponent may attempt some air or naval strikes but they have to get through around Rangoon , Port Blair axis

Congrats on the massive victory at Mandalay and the insights on those Chinese Divisions. Another thing you have now added to my "burden" in learning this game [8D]

While the combat summary only indicates Defender : preparation (-) I really have to assume that supplies are very very thin despite any path from Tauang Gyi. Perhaps they "just met the threshold" for no negative factors.

Otherwise the relative portion of destroyed casualties verses disabled doesn't entirely compute (in my opinion though I have no specific evidence on how the engine worked its math)

[apbarog]

21 Mar 43

Australian troops continued to unload at Saumlaki. No interference.

Grampus fired 4 torpedoes at small tanker Tennan Maru in the middle of the South China Sea. One torpedo hit but it was a dud. Position of tanker convoy noted.

Ponape was bombarded again. A different battleship group of three this time. So now there are 7 enemy battleships in 2 task forces working from Truk. Tough times for Ponape ahead. But this is expected.

First, 6 PT boats engaged the enemy, but no hits were achieved for either side. The PT boats did fire some torpedoes in the fight. After the fight, destroyer Hagikaze was reported to have hit a mine at Ponape. Later in the daylight, an enemy task force had moved just one hex away from Ponape. The destroyer is probably gravely damaged. Before they left, though, submarine Hoe fired 6 torpedoes at battleship Ise at Ponape. The torpedoes missed, and the sub was hit with some minor damage. The aggressive sub commander went in for another attack, with no regard for being in shallow water and for the damage already taken. 2 torpedoes were fired at destroyer Arashi but missed. Arashi then hit Hoe with 2 depth charges and some near misses. Hoe is badly hurt with SYS 53/FLOT 78-41/ENG 2/FIRE 0, and unfortunately moved one hex away from Ponape as it's home base was elsewhere. It is ordered to try to make it back to Ponape. It will be vulnerable in port there, with an out of commission airfield, but there is no choice.

And the airfield is out of commission after the battleships bombarded, and an air raid.

Night Naval bombardment of Ponape at 119,113

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-2 Dauntless: 18 damaged
SBD-2 Dauntless: 3 destroyed on ground
P-400 Airacobra: 28 damaged
P-400 Airacobra: 3 destroyed on ground
PBY-5 Catalina: 3 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 28 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed on ground

Japanese Ships
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso

Allied ground losses:
629 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 16 (2 destroyed, 14 disabled)
Vehicles lost 14 (9 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 17

Losses on the ground were 5 SBDs, 4 P400s and 2 P-39s. The few flyable aircraft are flown off of the island. In the daylight, Zeros swept Ponape and Bettys bombed, with Zero escorts. No US planes in the air. An extra 44 Zeros swept afterwards. The enemy carrier force went back to Truk. A good recon shows 92 fighters and 120 bombers. So a decent force but not all of KB. The plan remains building Kusaie while Ponape gets the enemy's attention.

16 Corsairs from Rangoon were inadvertantly left with yesterday's orders to sweep Chiang Mai. They find 35 Oscars, 29 Tojos and 34 Tonys, but do well considering. 10 Oscars and 7 Tonys are downed, for the loss of 5 Corsairs. But of course the enemy could be building hundreds of those fighters, while the Corsair replacement rate is fewer than 20 a month, if I remember correctly.

Saumlaki was bombed heavily, and the base fell to the Australian invaders. The 6th Austalian Brigade eliminated the III/81st Naval Guard Unit on Saumlaki. Followup base support units will land today.

In China, the fight is finally lost east of Lanchow. Constant enemy bombing and literally zero supply doomed the two Chinese corp.

Ground combat at 84,34 (near Ningsia)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 7464 troops, 121 guns, 379 vehicles, Assault Value = 359

Defending force 10417 troops, 82 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 247

Japanese adjusted assault: 168

Allied adjusted defense: 47

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
215 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1630 casualties reported
Squads: 152 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 121 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 14 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 5 (5 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 2

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
6th Mongol Cavalry Division
3rd Tank Division
7th Mongol Cavalry Division

Defending units:
3rd Chinese Corps
38th Chinese Corps

There's another Chinese speed bump to the east of Lanchow, but it is in poor defensible terrain and will not stop the enemy's 3rd Tank Division. Lanchow will hold for awhile, I'm guessing, but it will probably fall. The enemy will have a hard time moving north or south from Lanchow, with mountains to go through, but China will be cut in half. And that may be all the enemy wants to accomplish.

[apbarog]

22 Mar 43

Destroyer Arashi went after the PT boats that had retreated to the northeast from Ponape after combat. Odd that it was just one destroyer. Maybe it was with the badly damaged one that hit a mine at Ponape, and the damaged ship sank. Regardless, one PT boat was lost.

Spearfish fired 4 torpedoes at small tanker Kozui Maru near Bataan. One hit but was a dud. The convoy may be routing through Manila, or it is hugging the coast.

We had a couple of air attacks that were a bit unusual. First, the enemy went after Lunga's airfield with many Bettys from Rabaul, flying at night. There's always been a fair number of planes at Lunga, and recently a few squadrons of heavy bombers moved here from the Marshall campaign. OPilot, above all, does one thing superbly, and that is recon. He had dedicated many units to recon. They do it every day, and see far more bases than I bother to look at. It's hard to hide anywhere near the front. So he went after the heavy bombers on the ground with 65 Bettys. They flew at 6,000 feet, and there were no night fighters, with night strikes being so rare in our war. Between 5 and 10 planes were destroyed on the ground, but none of them were heavy bombers. In return, the excellent flak at Lunga shot down 10 Bettys.

Normally, I respond in kind when hit with a night bombing. But I've done that often enough that it may be getting predicable, and there are only a handful of targets worth striking at night. I will respond, but not today. Maybe a huge strike from Rangoon to Bangkok, with heavy bombers. But not today.

The other unusual strike was a big B-25 strike on Pisanuloke in Thailand. Pisanuloke is only a size 1 airfield, adjacent to Rahaeng, which is a size 4 and normally has lots of fighters. About 50 B-25s hit Pisanuloke's airfield, with escort, and before some sweeps. There were no fighters. I targeted this base because I noticed a big increase of utility aircraft (not fighters or bombers). I suspected lots of transports flying supply to Burma. I was right. 29 Topsys and 5 Thalias were destroyed on the ground. Not a war-changing event but a good one.

The rest of the bombers in Burma and India are resting and recovering from the heavy use supporting the ground attacks in Central Burma.

[BBfanboy]

If he's trying to leave Burma those transport aircraft could have been extracting troops to ensure he had cadres. I think if your unit gets smashed but you saved a cadre they retain the experience level, although replacement troops would bring it down somewhat.