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

[jwolf]

Will an invasion of Luzon activate Kamikazes? Or has that happened already?

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: jwolf

Will an invasion of Luzon activate Kamikazes? Or has that happened already?

Even if the distance criterion is met, there is no activation before 1944.

[jwolf]

Ah, I forgot about the date restriction. Thanks.

[apbarog]

30 Oct 43

10 Vals flew from Davao to attack cargo shipping at Dumanquilas. Ranged CAP from Oriquieta shot down all of the bombers before they could drop. Looked like an oversight on OPilot's part. They've probably been set up to fly all along, and now I came close enough. Except that most of the Japanese fighters on Mindanao have been cleared out.

Manado was finally cleared out. Most troops there will rest up for Ternate. Palembang's last enemy unit, the 11th Division, is still be reduced. Another 576 casualties today. Oddly, it's not showing out of supply any longer. I've had CAP up. Could only be enemy subs bringing in supply, but I doubt it. There's enemy mines that are harmful to both sides, since I captured the base. May be just a fluke of whether you get the modifier or not.

First probing attack at Wuchow. Chinese attack today. More troops headed in from the north. An enemy division in nearby woods is now headed south towards Canton. Heavy Allied LRCAP over Wuchow.

Ground combat at Wuchow (76,57)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 21666 troops, 109 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 742

Defending force 1434 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 53

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

Assaulting units:
60th Chinese Corps
3rd Chinese Cavalry Corps
39th Group Army

Defending units:
20th RGC Division

I've had two P-38 units in northern China, not doing much now that the short-lived Sian offensive is over. They flew to Kweilin today, and will fly to Jolo tomorrow. They'll come in handy with the advance towards Luzon. Did the first recon of Manila. Lots of aircraft and ships. Only about a division's worth of troops. If that. Lots of units, probably base support. I plan on being there by the end of December.

[apbarog]

31 Oct 43

A mixed nation force of cruisers bombarded Cotabato. The enemy II/124th Battalion is moving out of the hex. With AE/AKEs moving to Jolo, the ships can be rearmed quickly. The enemy did move out of Cotabato, so I'm loading an unprepped amphtrac unit at Zamboanga to land at Cotabato. It will take the empty base, then a division will go to Cotabato instead of Oriquieta.

Wahoo hit AG Tsukikawa Maru with a torpedo near Boac, presumably sinking the support ship.

Franks swept Palembang from Singapore. Thunderbolts and Hellcats flew ranged CAP from the adjacent base. The Franks did well, shooting down 8 Hellcats and 8 Thunderbolts. Then 39 Franks swept again in the afternoon, followed by Sallys with Tojos and Zeros. Despite all the fuss, the Allied troops attacked and caused another 1664 casualties, with 210 destroyed squads. The enemy 11th Division is still holding on, but the end is near.

US carriers are done with refits at Colombo, but have to wait for a battleship to finish. It has 2 days to go.

Enemy air was heavy over the fight at Wuchow in China. First 42 Franks swept. I had parts of 4 squadrons flying LRCAP over Wuchow, but they got massacred, with no Franks being shot down. Hurricanes, P-40s and the first appearance of the P-51A Mustangs. They did terrible. They'll regroup and I'll take a look at bringing in elite pilots for the Mustangs. 36 Oscars came in next, but only one Hurricane remained. Sallys and Helens then bombed the troops. 505 casualties in clear terrain. Then 36 Sonias caused 313 casualties.

Total air losses were 12 Franks and 2 Tojos for the cost of 9 P-40Ks, 7 P-51As, 6 P-40Ns, 6 Hurricanes, 8 F6F-3s and 8 P-47s.

The Chinese finally took a city back.

Ground combat at Wuchow (76,57)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 21297 troops, 109 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1967

Defending force 1428 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 52

Allied adjusted assault: 142

Japanese adjusted defense: 15

Allied assault odds: 9 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied forces CAPTURE Wuchow !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
410 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 5 (3 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units retreated 1

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

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
60th Chinese Corps
11th Chinese Corps
98th Chinese Corps
43rd Chinese Corps
3rd Chinese Cavalry Corps
39th Group Army

Defending units:
20th RGC Division

[apbarog]

1 Nov 43

Enemy air attacked Chengtu in northern China. OPilot noticed that I had fewer fighters there than normal, having sent some south for the fight around Wuchow. Chengtu has industry worth hitting. Oscars swept against Chinese P-40s and P-43s. Even results. 25 Sallys with 12 Oscars arrived, and some bombers were shot down. Minimal runway damage and the industry was not targeted.

At Wuchow, 36 Franks swept in the morning, and found a tougher LRCAP than yesterday. Today it had 24 Hurricanes, 20 P-38Hs and 14 P-40Ns. Still, the Franks did extremely well. They did end up losing more planes to ops losses though. 20 Sallys with 36 Oscars arrived, and a few were shot down. Moderate airbase damage. Then 5 Sallys with 20 Helens, and no escort. More bombers shot down, and light airbase damage. Then 5 Helens and 33 Sonias. Moderate base damage. Then 27 Oscars sweeping, and getting the better of the few Allied fighters still flying. I've given up trying to base aircraft at Wuchow. The base is badly damaged, and it's difficult to get supply in. It will be the forward easy target for the enemy. The Chinese troops will continue advancing through Wuchow, leaving a minimal force there to be targeted.

Total air losses for the day were 14 Oscars, 14 Sallys, 11 Franks and 8 Helens for the cost of 11 Hurricanes, 6 Chinese P-40Es, 5 P-40Ns and 5 P-38Hs. The Lightnings will stay at Kweiyang and defend today, and will then redeploy to Jolo or Zamboanga.

Ongoing cleanup at Palembang. Another 2750 casualties with 158 destroyed squads from the enemy 11th Division. I thought today would be the end of the resistance, but it was not. Can't be many men left.

[apbarog]

2 Nov 43

Plunger missed sub transport SST Yu-4 with 2 torpedoes east of Mindanao. Destroyer O'Brien sank midget sub Ha-27 at Oroquieta. Oroquieta has had lots of transport shipping, but the sub was discovered quickly.

Enemy naval strike from Singapore.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Oosthaven at 48,96

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 36
G4M1 Betty x 18

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
xAK Waimea, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Iron Prince
xAK Macedon
xAK Historian

I was lucky to just lose one ship. Lots of xAPs just arrived there to pick up a US division. The Hellcat squadron had been mauled over Palembang and went to Oosthaven to mostly rest. OPilot may have wanted to go after some xAPs on the other side of Sumatra, near Padang. They were going to an island nearby that got taken with the invasion but was not needed. But the ships weren't seen today, and the closest ships that were spotted were at Oosthaven. I put more fighters at Oosthaven today.

Finally, Palembang is clear.

Ground combat at Palembang (48,91)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 30642 troops, 591 guns, 788 vehicles, Assault Value = 914

Defending force 3147 troops, 25 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Allied adjusted assault: 679

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 679 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
3367 casualties reported
Squads: 34 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 222 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 37 (37 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
2nd British Division
254th Armoured Brigade
5th Indian Division
80th Base Group
77th Heavy AA Regiment
13th Indian Light AA Regiment
6th Mixed A/T Mtr Regiment

Defending units:
11th Division

Most of the troops in the Palembang area start to rest and prepare for a possible Mersing invasion. Just a consideration at this point. The British would have wanted to do so, given the current situation. I may also, but we'll see.

Allied carriers leave Balikpapan today, but just finished refueling and won't get far today. They'll move north for the next operation, along with invasion shipping. And the 6 US carriers at Colombo leave today, escorting invasion shipping for Sabang. Most of the punch for Sabang will be paratroopers from the Andamans. British battleships and cruisers will support. The Sabang operation's goal is to move to Medan and capture one of the few oil production centers still in enemy hands. US carriers will head to Java after the Sabang op.

[apbarog]

3 Nov 43

RO-103 was probably sunk near the east coast of Borneo. It had found a small transport force, but KV Auricula found it.

Dragonet missed xAK Anyo Maru with 4 torpedoes near Shanghai. Sealion missed a big transport, xAP Miike Maru, also near Shanghai.

Plunger's captain declined to fire at AG Columbia Maru near Legaspi. Then the captain changed his mind and fired 2 torpedoes at the small support ship. Both hit, but one was a dud. The ship was probably sunk.

Nicks attacked Chinese troops just east of Changsha, in the woods. Then the enemy attacked.

Ground combat at 83,52 (near Changsha)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 53660 troops, 422 guns, 44 vehicles, Assault Value = 1639

Defending force 48329 troops, 182 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1666

Japanese adjusted assault: 1159

Allied adjusted defense: 1777

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
3535 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 146 disabled
Non Combat: 37 destroyed, 38 disabled
Engineers: 23 destroyed, 17 disabled
Vehicles lost 10 (8 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1117 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 219 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 10 (1 destroyed, 9 disabled)

Assaulting units:
2nd Ind Engineer Regiment
6th Division
39th Division
58th Division
3rd Division
27th Ind Engineer Regiment
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
11th Army
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion

Defending units:
4th Chinese Corps
82nd Chinese Corps
91st Chinese Corps
19th Group Army

Between Cagayan and Oriquieta, on Mindanao, US forces attacked a small unit that had come from Cotabato. The unit was crushed, forcing it to Cagayan. Now I see movement from Cagayan to Malaybalay, which is the mountainous interior base. I'd like to get there first, so the Australian paras that captured Oriquieta are ordered to drop on Malaybalay. No recon has been done there, so it's unknown what the Australians will find. The 2 divisions will advance to Cagayan. Other troops are coming from Oriquieta. Troops for Davao are landing at Cotabato. Airfields are building nicely. Basialan and Oriquieta just reached size 2 airfields. Zamboanga became a size 3 airfield. Bombers are moved into the area to help support.

[apbarog]

4 Nov 43

US destroyers bombarded Cagayan and returned to Jolo. The 10th Garrison Unit and the previously defeated part of a battalion are there, and at least one unit shows movement to Malaybalay.

Badly damaged RO-103 ran into northbound invasion transports near Donggala. The sub was on the surface from the beginning. It was a scary thing to watch, with the xAPs engaging the sub with guns, and the sub sometimes firing torpedoes at the ships. Luckily, no torpedoes hit, and the sub was sunk.

Harder got a torpedo hit on xAK Takaoika Maru near Taihoku.

38 Franks swept Wuchow. Only damaged fighters on the ground, unable to repair with no ground support. Then 24 Oscars swept.

25 P-38s swept Malaybalay, finding no enemy fighters, and clearing the way for the para drop.

With an increased offensive posture for the US fighters, the CAP over the Allied shipping was weakened, and weakened more than I noticed ahead of time. The enemy went after cargo ships unloading supply at Dumanquilas. Ranged CAP was far less than what I thought would be there.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Dumanquilas at 77,89

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 9
D4Y1 Judy x 18
G4M1 Betty x 27

Allied aircraft
P-40K Warhawk x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
xAK Mahukona
xAK Arizonan
xAK Crown City
xAK Canadian, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Carolinian, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Puerto Rican, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Santa Anna, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Mathew Luckenbach
xAK J.L. Luckenbach, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Alabaman
xAK Panaman

Two ships sank. Two others are badly burning but will try to get to Zamboanga. Another is moderately damaged. The enemy went after the task force that was the most weakly protected, but it was also the least important one. Part of a division is unloading at Cotabato nearby, with lots of xAPs. That would have been far worse. OPilot was lucky to move into Davao and strike today, when I had P-47s and P-38s sweeping. Davao was swept and had no CAP, but the US bombers didn't fly due to weather. Davao was where all the enemy planes came from. He boldly moved fighters back in and was lucky how it worked out. OPilot may have hoped that the bombers would go to Cotabato, as he did sweep there with 27 Zeros. There were 17 Corsairs there on CAP. 8 Zeros were shot down for the cost of just one Corsair.

The Chinese continue to get heavily bombed at and near Wuchow. I won't continue to state this. Assume that it will continue for the near future. Lots of clear terrain to go through in the effort to move around Canton and maybe push to Hong Kong.

Australian paras did drop on Malaybalay and captured the empty enemy base in the mountains. I'll try to fly the rest of the battalion in today, along with parts of an engineer regiment and a mortar unit. Fighters will sweep to protect the transports again. No surprise there today.

[apbarog]

5 Nov 43

Good bombardment by 8 mixed force cruisers against Iloilo. Sonias and Dinahs damaged and major airbase destruction. Good to damage this large airbase, which is in range of today's big operation.

Sub Dragonet hit AK Kaga Maru with a torpedo near Taihoku.

B-24s from Java hit Singkawang on northwestern Borneo for the first time. They found a big squadron of Franks. A few bombers were lost, and damage to the airbase was light. No operations planned in this area, but might as well seem to show interest.

The Chinese were expected to win the fight northwest of Canton, going up against the already defeated 20th RGC Division. But it wasn't expected that a fresh division would move in. But the Chinese prevailed anyhow. It didn't hurt to have a British armor unit there. It made the long journey over the Burma Road.

The map shows my dilemma around Canton.

[apbarog]

5 Nov 43 - Sumatra

[apbarog]

5 Nov 43 - Philippines

[apbarog]

No turn today. OPilot needs some extra time for this turn. Understandable, with landings southwest of Luzon, paras dropping onto northern Sumatra, and the Chinese charging ahead in clear terrain in southern China. Looking forward to tomorrow.

[apbarog]

6 Nov 43

Shark hit CM Katsuriki with a torpedo near Bataan. Audio says that the ship sank after combat. Sealion hit tanker Ogura Maru #3 with a torpedo near Ningpo. Audio again implies that the ship was sunk.

Taytay, Puerto Princesa and Balabac were invaded by US troops.

The four US Fletcher class destroyers sped northbound past Balabac, setting up a patrol to the north of Borneo. They found just a single subchaser, and sank Ch 24 during the day. The destroyers were not spotted by air during the daylight. And on the run to the north, they may have just missed enemy destroyers that ended up just north of Balabac. But the enemy ended up in range of Allied carriers.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Balabac at 69,83

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 12
SBD-5 Dauntless x 36

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-5 Dauntless: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Suzunami
DD Fujinami, Bomb hits 1
DD Takanami
DD Tamanami

Disappointing results in bad weather. The enemy could now hit any of the new invasion spots, including adjacent hex Balabac. The 3 APAs there are ordered to flee but it's not known if they can move out of the hex before the enemy moves in, if both are at full speed. I expect that the enemy will arrive first.

British Liberator IIs bombed Davao's port, sinking RO-36. Other bombers hit the airfield, doing minimal damage. No enemy CAP.

On Sumatra, Indian paras dropped on Langsa, capturing the unguarded base. Bombers had hit the airfield and also hit Sabang.

In China, most of the enemy bombers hit Wuchow's airfield. And there were a lot of them.

A first attack at Cagayan gets poor odds but with good results. Another infantry division has since arrived, and the US troops are ordered to shock attack today.

Southeast of Chiang Mai, a big Chinese corp mauls the only enemy unit still there.

Ground combat at 59,54 (near Chiang Mai)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 26023 troops, 179 guns, 14 vehicles, Assault Value = 847

Defending force 1168 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 49

Allied adjusted assault: 240

Japanese adjusted defense: 4

Allied assault odds: 60 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
632 casualties reported
Squads: 26 destroyed, 33 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 12 (8 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Allied ground losses:
116 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
6th Chinese Corps
134th Field Artillery Battalion
3rd (Special Force) Division

Defending units:
4th INA Nehru Regiment

It's a bit of a slow motion offensive here for the Allies. Tying down troops though, although most are retreating in front of the Chinese.

[BBfanboy]

Can your TF at Balabac create some PTs from supply?

[apbarog]

Balabac hasn't been captured yet. It will be today. PT boats are created from the base, not the TF. I'll have more PTs in the area soon.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

Balabac hasn't been captured yet. It will be today. PT boats are created from the base, not the TF. I'll have more PTs in the area soon.

You can create PTs from a TF, if the supply and enough of it was loaded in the USA. Not sure if you can create MTBs from supply loaded in Colombo or Karachi.

[apbarog]

7 Nov 43

Interesting turn.

Bettys tried making some night naval attacks in the Philippines, going after AKs and APAs at Cotabato and Tawi Tawi. Bombs and torpedoes missed. I won't do any big nasty night bombing until an enemy night attack is successful. Then I'll send 100+ B-24s to Singapore or Bangkok or Manila at night. Then the night attempts will stop.

Sabang was invaded. The only unit landing is an Indian engineer unit with decent combat capabilities. The base is held by 3 small enemy units. A big para drop will take place today, providing most of the attack strength.

British sub Trusty sank ACM Seki Maru near Jesselton. Steelhead elected not to fire on an ACM just north of Legaspi. The E-boats with the ACM, however, did elect to fire on Steelhead, getting a depth charge hit.

Kweilin got swept and bombed heavily, with aircraft coming from the Hanoi area for the first time. The number of aircraft at Bangkok dropped a lot today, so that's where they came from. 42 Franks started with a sweep and ran into just Hurricanes, which were no match. 9 Hurricanes were lost, with no Franks downed.

The bad news for the day was near Namlea. Battleship Mississippi, with cruisers and destroyers, had moved adjacent to Namlea yesterday, with the base providing air cover. The location was chosen as the spot to prepare to run into Ambon for a bombardment. I pulled the fighters out, as they wouldn't be needed after the ships retired after the bombardment, but I forgot to order the Mississippi and friends into Ambon with a bombardment. So they stayed in place, with no aircover. Bettys attacked from Sorong, and reportedly put 3 torpedoes into the battleship. Damage is lighter than I expected, with SYS 17/FLOT 45-35/ENG 7-3/FIRE 0. The captain of the Mississippi, Rockwell Torrey, was not pleased. And he isn't the type of guy you want to get angry. Mississippi and escorts will move full speed towards Koepang, and should make 6 hexes and (hopefully) be out of enemy air search range.

Sallys bombed Great Nicobar, just north of Sabang. C-47s had been there, dropping troops on Langsa, with no fighters there due to the lack of space. But the C-47s moved north to prepare to pick up and drop paras on Sabang, and fighters were moved back in. The Sallys were massacred by 15 Hurricanes and 24 P-40N5 Warhawks. 23 Sallys were downed.

10 B-25s attacked shipping at Hong Kong, setting 3 xAKs on fire. They were loaded with fuel. 8 Zeros were on CAP but were ineffective. The B-25s were set to 2000 feet and dropped down to strafe, but did poorly. I checked the pilots and they had no strafing training. Training will commence back at Ledo, where the unit redeployed.

Sturgeon spotted a cruiser force near Quinhon, along the Vietnamese coast. Don't know which way the ships are heading.

US troops attacked at Cagayan. Enemy bombers from Legaspi had disrupted one of the US divisions.

Ground combat at Cagayan (79,89)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 26047 troops, 433 guns, 257 vehicles, Assault Value = 775

Defending force 8206 troops, 96 guns, 59 vehicles, Assault Value = 144

Allied adjusted assault: 396

Japanese adjusted defense: 265

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
814 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 81 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 28 (5 destroyed, 23 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
671 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 105 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 16 (1 destroyed, 15 disabled)

Assaulting units:
24th Infantry Division
3rd Marine Division
260th Field Artillery Battalion
131st Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
10th Garrison Unit
II/124th Infantry Battalion
4th Air Army /1
60th Field AA Battalion
1st Ship Engineer Regiment
65th Construction Battalion
16th AA Regiment
4th JAAF AF Bn /1

Empty Taytay and Balabac were captured, but Puerto Princesa was not. It's a battle of support units. My money is on the fighting Seabees. US battleships will bombard tonight. That should help. Followup troops will also start to land, but they have no combat value.

Ground combat at Puerto Princesa (73,83)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2237 troops, 0 guns, 51 vehicles, Assault Value = 27

Defending force 910 troops, 4 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 12

Allied adjusted assault: 2

Japanese adjusted defense: 43

Allied assault odds: 1 to 21 (fort level 0)

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

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

Assaulting units:
16th USN Naval Construction Regiment

Defending units:
22nd Port Unit

An a part of the 1st USMC Tank Battalion advanced southeast out of Cotabato, crossing a river to attack the II/4th Infantry Battalion. Losses were light on both sides in a 1-2 attack. The better part of 2 infantry divisions will now start to move this way also. The enemy unit now shows movement to the northeast, into a mountain hex just west of Malaybalay. I'd rather it not get there.

[CaptBeefheart]

10 B-25s attacked shipping at Hong Kong, setting 3 xAKs on fire. They were loaded with fuel. 8 Zeros were on CAP but were ineffective. The B-25s were set to 2000 feet and dropped down to strafe, but did poorly. I checked the pilots and they had no strafing training. Training will commence back at Ledo, where the unit redeployed.

I normally train my B-25/26 pilots in Low N (i.e. Naval Attack at 1000 feet, which means skip bombing) and I've had pretty good luck with that, with zero training in strafe. Are you sure you want to train them in strafe?

Cheers,
CB

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

7 Nov 43

Interesting turn.

Bettys tried making some night naval attacks in the Philippines, going after AKs and APAs at Cotabato and Tawi Tawi. Bombs and torpedoes missed. I won't do any big nasty night bombing until an enemy night attack is successful. Then I'll send 100+ B-24s to Singapore or Bangkok or Manila at night. Then the night attempts will stop.

If he was bombing your airfields at night with huge groups, then I would agree. But night naval bombing isn't going to hurt you unless he uses 80+exp Emily groups which is kind of cheesy.

If you can, respond by doing some night naval bombing of your own. Allies are much more successful at it than the hapless Japanese.

I have a love hate relationship with night bombing. Prior to mid 1944, it is almost impossible for Japan to counter especially night raids against runways. But on the other hand the Allies, especially the British, should be dabbling a bit in night bombing to keep Japan on her toes.

Night naval bombing is something most JFBs always dabble in, let them! It is a huge waste of resources. For now, you probably could break a floatplane group down, and put them up in a night CAP and 99.9% of all bombers will miss.

Strafing is an important skill for assault bombers, as it will reduce the effectiveness of AA increasing the hit ratio.