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

[BBfanboy]

Interesting info about those APc's. They were Army vessels until 1950 - maybe that is why I hadn't heard of them.
Given they were based on a tug design, I wonder if they retained an engine powerful enough for towing and pushing. Certainly the hull form doesn't appear to be ideal for fuel efficiency.

[apbarog]

15 Dec 43

DMS Perry went to Pescadores to sweep mines. It swept a few, but got pounded by the Peng Hu Fortress there, and sank.

Sub Pampanito hit tanker Manju Maru with 2 torpedoes near Shanghai. The tanker was not loaded. Audio after combat says that it probably sank. Also spotted were an AS, AD, AG and AKE. These ships are believed to be fleeing Takao and heading towards Nagasaki. Pampanito sank a patrol boat in this area yesterday. Manju Maru was reportedly hit by a torpedo fired by Gunnel near Cam Ranh Bay last month.

Seahorse spotted an oddly similar task force far away near Ulithi. It had an AS, AD, AG and AKE also. Seahorse elected not to launch torpedoes at whatever ship it had picked out. Making a note to check on Seahorse's captain and his aggressiveness. Looked like some juicy targets to me.

Battleships Arizona and Oklahoma avoided the mines at Pescadores and got a good bombardment.

Night Naval bombardment of Pescadores at 84,63

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 10 damaged
E13A1 Jake: 2 destroyed on ground
G4M1 Betty: 50 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed on ground
A6M5 Zero: 27 damaged
A6M5 Zero: 10 destroyed on ground
F1M2 Pete: 1 damaged
F1M2 Pete: 2 destroyed on ground
J2M2 Jack: 35 damaged
J2M2 Jack: 3 destroyed on ground
B6N2 Jill: 2 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB Arizona
BB Oklahoma

Japanese ground losses:
570 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 16 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 4 (3 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Airbase hits 13
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 33

Actual enemy aircraft losses at Pescadores were 20 Zeros, 7 Jacks, 6 Bettys, 4 Jakes, 3 Petes and a Jill. Pretty typical that it was about twice what was reported.

Battleships Nevada and West Virginia bombarded Taihoku but found no enemy planes there. Light damage with 172 casualties and minor base damage.

Battleship Idaho is back to bombarding Davao nightly again. Moderate damage done today.

APDs dropped off a US Marine Raider unit at Vigan. Vigan has shown no enemy troops but there was a unit there to meet the Marines.

4 US DMS went to Takao to sweep mines, and the Takao Naval Base force had a lot of coastal guns. All four DMS were hit.

Dorsey SYS 34/FLOT 3-1/ENG 2/FIRE 0
Elliot SYS 11/FLOT 90-70/ENG 0/FIRE 0
Southard SYS 0/FLOT 9-1/ENG 0/FIRE 0
Hamilton SYS 11/FLOT 0/ENG 0/FIRE 0

Elliot will try to move one hex to Kagi and disband in the small port. The others will head to Manila.

The 1st Australian Para Bn dropped on Karenko on Formosa and captured the empty base.
The 3rd USMC Para Bn dropped on Hengchun on Formosa and captured the empty base.

The enemy cruiser force that ambushed my AMc's at Kudat retired towards Saigon.

My plan around Formosa is to allow one more day of unloading at Kagi, then everything retires towards Manila. Most shipping will move to Soerabaja, including carriers, battleships, sweepers, ASW, and APAs. The Mersing landing will follow.

[BBfanboy]

Re: Grunion - I believe that ships can repair damage better if they do not move during a turn, which may be why it did not move the two previous turns. Just reaching that level 1 port and disbanding will free up more crew to deal with damage - pumping out minor float damage and starting to fix systems damage. Fingers and eyes crossed!

[CaptBeefheart]

Pulling for the Grunion here. It's the little things that count in this game. [;)]

Cheers,
CB

[Lowpe]

Send an AS there, and all of a sudden it becomes a size 8-9 port for repairs.[:)]

[apbarog]

Good idea Lowpe. My closest AS is at Jolo, so several days away. The fate of Grunion will probably be decided by then. But, as always, I'll do what I can.

[apbarog]

16 Dec 43

[Lowpe]

Congrats on Grunion. Nothing quite like saving a doomed ship.[:)]

[CaptBeefheart]

Hip hip, hooray!

Cheers,
CB

[Bif1961]

The USS Gruinon was sunk off the Aleutions and was long lost but parts of it have been found over the past few years.

[ChuckBerger]

I can picture it pulling in to "port" - diesels dead, running on two battery cells, trailing oil, maybe forward torpedo compartment completely flooded, holes in the CT, decking smashed up and hull warped and dented in multiple places... flag flying proudly

[apbarog]

I had another sub escorting Grunion. With it sometimes not moving even a single hex in a day, I imagined that it was being towed back.

17 Dec 43

Grampus hit I-155 with a torpedo near Wenchow. I-155 had been hit by depth charges yesterday or the day before. No doubt it was running on the surface due to previous damage.

I-32 fired 6 torpedoes at CVL Princeton near Takao. One torpedo hit. It was a dud.

Sawfish hit xAP Hakone Maru with 2 torpedoes near Amami Oshima. One was a dud. No troops on board. OPilot is attending to the islands between mainland Japan and Okinawa. The transport had been hit with a torpedo from Pompon near Truk back in July 1943.

Also, Chinhae was built to a size 1 airfield. The base is on the south coast of Korea. This shows OPilot's interest in this area. It makes sense. Japan's connection to Manchuria and China will be through the south coast of Korea.

I-2 sank SC-699 with a torpedo near Tawi Tawi. It took some survivable damage in return.

I didn't think OPilot would send in the battleships after being spotted on their approach, but he did. First, they tangled inconclusively with PT boats, during the day:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Iloilo at 79,84, Range 20,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Hiei
BB Kirishima
CL Natori
DD Isokaze
DD Urakaze
DD Hamakaze
DD Tanikaze

Allied Ships
PT-159
PT-170
PT-171
PT-172
PT-173
PT-174

BB Kongo collides with DD Tanikaze at 79 , 84

The only hit was self-inflicted on the Japanese side. No damage noted from the collision in later combat reporting, but the destroyer probably took some. The enemy found a small cargo task force unloading at Iloilo.

Allied Ships
PC Ariadne, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
xAK Ping Wo, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Taiyuan, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

The enemy then bombarded, and did good work. Fortunately, I had evacuated all of the flyable heavy and medium bombers, leaving just the damaged ones to be destroyed. 10 planes were destroyed on the ground: 4 P-47s, 3 B-25s, 2 B-24s and a PV-1.

Naval bombardment of Iloilo at 79,84

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 31 damaged
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 2 destroyed on ground
F-5A Lightning: 1 damaged
B-25D1 Mitchell: 44 damaged
B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 destroyed on ground
SBD-5 Dauntless: 11 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 16 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 1 destroyed on ground
PV-1 Ventura: 14 damaged
PV-1 Ventura: 1 destroyed on ground
B-24J Liberator: 29 damaged
B-24J Liberator: 1 destroyed on ground

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei
BB Kongo
CL Natori

Allied ground losses:
910 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 28 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 4 (3 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Manpower hits 4
Fires 1586
Airbase hits 25
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 61
Port hits 8
Port fuel hits 5
Port supply hits 1

I didn't think OPilot would send in the BBs, but I prepared as if he would, because he could. One thing I wasn't prepared for was fixing up the base at Iloilo. The many engineers that were there for the construction moved on to Luzon and Formosa. Not many engineers left to deal with the massive damage. More will be shipped in now.

Many land based bombers, mostly dive bombers, attacked the enemy ships, who had no air cover. The morning weather was severe storms.

36 SBD-5s and 3 SB2C-1Cs:
BB Kongo
BB Hiei, Bomb hits 2, on fire
BB Kirishima

23 SB2C-1Cs:
BB Kongo
BB Hiei, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 3

18 SBD-5s:
[BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 1
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 1
BB Hiei, on fire

18 SBD-5s:
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Hamakaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 1

18 SBD-5s:
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 1
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei, on fire
DD Urakaze

In the afternoon, more attacks. Afternoon weather was light rain. Accuracy increased.

29 SBD-5s and 3 SB2C-1Cs:
BB Kirishima
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 5

23 SB2C-1Cs:
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 6, on fire
BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 5, on fire
BB Hiei, Bomb hits 1, on fire

16 SBD-5s:
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 2, on fire
BB Kirishima, on fire

14 Beaufighter VIc's attacking on the deck:
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
DD Hamakaze
BB Hiei, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Tanikaze, Shell hits 4

East south-east of Mindanao, bombers went after another unprotected battleship task force. Light rain here too. Worth noting that 75mm gun hits were observed on destroyers.

18 SBD-5s:
BB Hyuga, Bomb hits 3
BB Nagato
BB Ise, Bomb hits 1
CL Oyodo

8 B-25D1s:
BB Mutsu, Bomb hits 1
DD Minazuki, Shell hits 14
BB Hyuga, Bomb hits 2
BB Ise, Bomb hits 6
DD Nagatsuki, Shell hits 6
DD Samidare, Shell hits 9

8 B-25D1s:
BB Mutsu, Bomb hits 2
DD Yamakaze
BB Hyuga, Bomb hits 4, on fire
DD Samidare, Shell hits 1

8 B-25Gs on the deck:
BB Ise, Bomb hits 7, on fire
DD Fumizuki, Shell hits 6
DD Harusame, Shell hits 3
BB Hyuga, Bomb hits 5, on fire
DD Nagatsuki
BB Mutsu, Bomb hits 3
DD Yamakaze, Shell hits 2
DD Kawakaze, Shell hits 4
DD Minazuki, Shell hits 3

Enemy ship flak took down a total of 7 divebombers and 1 B-25.

US troops attacked again at Ternate. The enemy is slowly collapsing.

Grunion lowered its FLOT damage by 1, but its ENG damage went up 1 to 5. I think it will be ok. An AS will disband into the port today, and should help.

The big armada leaving Formosa was in bad weather today, heading back to the southwest. None of the many task forces in the hex were spotted. The CVE task force lingered near Takao, not having been ordered to follow the others as I would have wanted. They were seen but not attacked. They leave today also.

[CaptBeefheart]

Funny how Chinhae popped up in this AAR. Back in 1995-98 I had a pass to the Chiefs' Club at the small USN sub base there.

Cheers,
CB

[apbarog]

18 Dec 43

Battleships Kongo, Hiei and Kirishima tangle with PT boats again at Iloilo. Combat was very, very short, with hardly any shells fired, and contact broken at the initial contact range of 12,000 yards.

A British surface group led by Repulse bombarded San Fernando and went to Manila. Minor base damage and 421 casualties. A US cruiser force led by Chester bombarded Lingayen and went to Manila. Only 56 casualties and light base damage. 10 Fletcher class destroyers bombarded Vigan, causing 303 casualties and moderate base damage. The DDs then went to Manila. These task forces were headed to Manila after the Formosa operation. Might as well bombard the enemy on the way home.

Near Babeldaob, Dutch sub O16 fired 6 torpedoes at battleship Ise, but missed. Hyuga and Mutsu are with Ise.

The Japanese made a major air effort over Kagi. 2 P-47 squadrons were on CAP, and they did well, but were eventually worn down and outnumbered.

42 Franks swept. Thunderbolts did well.
3 Georges swept. All were shot down.
24 Sallys and 31 Helens attacked the airfield and port. Many bombers were shot down. One bomb hit DMS Elliot in port, sinking her. She was already 90+ flotation damage.
41 Tojos with 31 Franks swept. The P-47s took more losses.
19 Helens bombed the airfield. The 8 P-47s still in the air were no factor. Flak did a lot of damage to the bombers.
8 Vals and 8 Georges went after US destroyers at Kagi. 7 P-47s downed a few planes. Bombs missed
24 Georges swept, downing the 2 remaining P-47s.
In the afternoon, 3 Vals with 14 Georges appeared. A couple of Georges were downed by the 6 P-47s. xAP Daisy Moller was hit by 2 bombs. It had unloaded its troops and still had some supply. It is SYS 32/FLOT 16-5/ENG 10-1/FIRE 28. I don't think that the size 1 port at Kagi can handle the fire, so the transport will take its chances moving to the mined port of Takao. Which was just captured:

Ground combat at Takao (84,65)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 38694 troops, 632 guns, 583 vehicles, Assault Value = 1271

Defending force 11785 troops, 136 guns, 125 vehicles, Assault Value = 95

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Allied adjusted assault: 892

Japanese adjusted defense: 68

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

Allied forces CAPTURE Takao !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2970 casualties reported
Squads: 15 destroyed, 25 disabled
Non Combat: 131 destroyed, 44 disabled
Engineers: 37 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 88 (58 destroyed, 30 disabled)
Vehicles lost 82 (81 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units destroyed 4

Allied ground losses:
174 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
32nd Infantry Division
3rd Marine Division
1st USMC Tank Battalion
1st Marine Division
766th Tank Battalion
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion
XI US Corps

Defending units:
30th Ind Engineer Regiment
Kaosing Fortress
51st Air Defense AA Regiment
51st Ind.AA Gun Co
30th Ind.Mixed Bde /1
Formosa Army
4th JNAF Coy
Takao Naval Base Force
1st JNAF AF Unit /1
48th JAAF AF Bn
4th Air Army
3rd Medium Mortar Battalion
25th Air Flotilla
5th Air Div /1

The pesky 13th Garrison Unit at Dumanquilas on Mindanao is finally destroyed.

Total air losses for the day were 17 Sallys, 14 Georges, 13 Franks, 8 Helens, 5 Tojos and 5 Vals for the cost of 19 P-47s. The 2 depleted P-47s squadrons at Kagi are ordered back to Manila to recover. 2 fresh Thunderbolt squadrons are moved in, as well as 2 P-38 squadrons at the adjacent base to the northeast.

Grunion lowered its FLOT damage to 94. An AS will disband into port today and should help.

[apbarog]

19 Dec 43

I-176 spotted Nevada and West Virginia near Subic Bay. 2 torpedoes were fired at DD Mahan but missed. I-176 was hit by a depth charge. Undeterred, I-176 attacked again, this time firing 6 torpedoes at battleship West Virginia. All missed. Later in the day, air units reported 3 bomb hits on the sub.

The big enemy air force in China came to Formosa, again. This time, they went after Takao. Takao's airfield is still too damaged to support planes. The Japanese wanted to keep it that way. First, 22 Georges swept. 22 P-47s and 14 P-38s, on ranged CAP, intercepted. More enemy planes lost than US. Then 25 Franks swept, and losses were about even. 22 Helens came, targeting the airfield, but came without escort. About 10 US fighters intercepted, downing many bombers. Minimal airfield damage. Then 39 Tojos swept, with just a few US fighters still flying, and most of those were shot down. I'm going to have to load up Formosa with more fighters, once Takao is operational. Once I can get bombers onto Formosa, the enemy will be forced to go defense in China.

B-24s attacked Pescadores' airfield and port. Weather was bad and Franks were covering, based in China. A few bombers were lost and damage to the base was very light.

Total air losses for the day were 15 Helens, 9 Georges and 7 Franks for the cost of 14 P-47s, 9 P-38Hs and 3 B-24s. I need to start bringing air frame types to Formosa that have a large pool, like F6Fs. They don't stand up very well to the Franks and Georges, but I have about 500 of them in the pool.

Saury hit E Kanju with a torpedo, sinking the E-boat, near Tokaro Retto. Saury was hit by a depth charge from another E-boat but will survive.

US Marine raiders begin to land on undefended Philippine islands south of Legaspi. In the Leyte area. OPilot has search planes somewhere. I haven't found them yet. Could be Glens on subs, but I don't think so.

Cleanup at Takao.

Ground combat at Takao (84,65)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 38523 troops, 632 guns, 583 vehicles, Assault Value = 1251

Defending force 8693 troops, 88 guns, 49 vehicles, Assault Value = 29

Allied adjusted assault: 988

Japanese adjusted defense: 28

Allied assault odds: 35 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
998 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 26 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 44 (34 destroyed, 10 disabled)
Vehicles lost 14 (13 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

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

Assaulting units:
1st Marine Division
3rd Marine Division
1st USMC Tank Battalion
766th Tank Battalion
32nd Infantry Division
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion
XI US Corps
860th Aviation Engineer Battalion
71st Coast AA Regiment
58th Base Group

Defending units:
51st Air Defense AA Regiment
51st Ind.AA Gun Co
3rd Medium Mortar Battalion
48th JAAF AF Bn
30th Ind.Mixed Bde /1
Takao Naval Base Force
4th Air Army
Kaosing Fortress
Formosa Army
1st JNAF AF Unit /1

[apbarog]

Per Lowpe's suggestion, an AS was sent to help Grunion repair in a size 1 port. It made a tremendous difference. The day before, Grunion went down 2 points in FLOT. With the AS in port, it went down 39 points in FLOT. Grunion will be ready to move to nearby Manila in just a couple of days. Thanks again, Lowpe.

[EDIT: To be clear, it was minor FLOT damage that went down 39 points. Grunion is now SYS 63/FLOT 52-28/ENG 5-0/FIRE 0. When the FLOT damage gets down to the major damage level of 28, the sub will move to Manila, just 2 hexes away.]

[apbarog]

20 Dec 43

RO-39 hit AKL FS-149 with a torpedo south of Formosa, sinking the cargo ship. It was carrying a fragment of a unit already on Formosa. A few vehicles were lost.

4 US destroyers bombarded Amoy before heading to Manila. A bunch of Franks were damaged, and base damage was minor.

3 US YMS started sweeping mines at Takao. YMS-218 hit a mine and sank. About 90 mines were cleared. There are more. Just southwest of Hong Kong, a suspicious task force was spotted. A few combat ships. I believe this to be the cruiser force previously based at Saigon, the one that hit Borneo a couple of times. As predicted, it is headed to Hong Kong. From there, it is in position to bombard bases on Formosa, and be back to Hong Kong by the end of the day. My big destroyer patrol force missed this task force by a day. The destroyers are south of Hainan Island now, unspotted. They will patrol in the direction of Formosa today.

36 Tojos swept Kagi today. 12 P-38s, 15 P-47s and 18 F4U-1s intercepted. 20 Tojos were shot down. No US planes were lost. The Japanese air force in China is finding things much tougher in Formosa than it did for years against the forces in China.

Another cleanup attack at Takao destroys more enemy units. Some remain. 1204 enemy casualties today. Attacks will take place at Ternate and Davao today.

Grunion's minor FLOT damage is repaired down to the major FLOT damage level. It will now start to leave pier mode and then move to Manila for complete repairs. xAP Daisy Moller, burning in Takao's port, reduced its FIRE level to 6, so it will survive, if it isn't bombed again.

Recon of Naha on Okinawa shows 15 enemy units. OPilot is preparing. I am starting to prepare also. But first Mersing. Then a China landing east of Hong Kong. Then Okinawa.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

Per Lowpe's suggestion, an AS was sent to help Grunion repair in a size 1 port. It made a tremendous difference. The day before, Grunion went down 2 points in FLOT. With the AS in port, it went down 39 points in FLOT. Grunion will be ready to move to nearby Manila in just a couple of days. Thanks again, Lowpe.

[EDIT: To be clear, it was minor FLOT damage that went down 39 points. Grunion is now SYS 63/FLOT 52-28/ENG 5-0/FIRE 0. When the FLOT damage gets down to the major damage level of 28, the sub will move to Manila, just 2 hexes away.]

When system damage is high, runaway flooding can happen very quickly. If the AS can repair a couple of points of system damage per turn (it will certainly do that when the minor float damage is gone) I would leave it until System damage is below 50. It's not like you need to get that sub back in operation ASAP.

EDIT: PS - I believe that repairing damage is one of the things that boosts crew experience. If you have a chance to look at that with Grunion, I would be interested in what you observe.

[apbarog]

21 Dec 43

Over 200 mines cleared in this turn at Takao, and there are still more.

Tullibee hit xAK Lisbon Maru with a torpedo near Swatow, China. E-boat Yomogi then hit Tullibee with a depth charge. The cargo ship probably sank.

Amberjack sank subchaser Ch 37 near Tokara Retto.

Idaho bombarded Davao again, with good results finally. Over 500 casualties. A US division moved from Malaybalay to Davao, taking the long road around to the west, but the shorter path time-wise. With 2 divisons now at Davao, US troops will attack.

US attack at Ternate did ok, causing four times the enemy casualties as friendly, with a 1 to 2 attack. The forts are still holding at 4 however. But the enemy is crumbling, now taking more destroyed squads.

And today's attack at Clark was better than the first one. All the riff raff support units left, leaving just the decent combat units.

Ground combat at Clark Field (79,76)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 40747 troops, 716 guns, 806 vehicles, Assault Value = 1195

Defending force 13025 troops, 134 guns, 158 vehicles, Assault Value = 325

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Allied adjusted assault: 574

Japanese adjusted defense: 724

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
494 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 72 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 9 (1 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Vehicles lost 9 (1 destroyed, 8 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
538 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 44 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 52 disabled
Guns lost 29 (3 destroyed, 26 disabled)
Vehicles lost 23 (4 destroyed, 19 disabled)

Assaulting units:
18th Cmbt Engineer Regiment
37th Infantry Division
Americal Infantry Division
34th Cmbt Engineer Regiment
33rd Infantry Division
4th USMC Tank Battalion
637th Tank Destroyer Battalion
762nd Tank Battalion
I US Corps
Sixth US Army
601st Field Artillery Battalion
226th Field Artillery Battalion
147th Field Artillery Battalion
205th Field Artillery Battalion
602nd Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
32nd Ind.Mixed Brigade
2nd Tank Regiment
30th Ind.Mixed Brigade
9th Tank Regiment
1st Ind.Mixed Regiment
16th AA Regiment

Enemy troops at Takao were eliminated.

Ground combat at Takao (84,65)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 40177 troops, 650 guns, 673 vehicles, Assault Value = 1270

Defending force 4753 troops, 38 guns, 37 vehicles, Assault Value = 13

Allied adjusted assault: 985

Japanese adjusted defense: 2

Allied assault odds: 492 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
5626 casualties reported
Squads: 30 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 533 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 13 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 55 (55 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 38 (38 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 3

Assaulting units:
1st USMC Tank Battalion
32nd Infantry Division
766th Tank Battalion
1st Marine Division
3rd Marine Division
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion
XI US Corps
860th Aviation Engineer Battalion
Wake (Det.) Defense Battalion
58th Base Group
71st Coast AA Regiment
91st Const Rgt /3

Defending units:
Takao Naval Base Force
Formosa Army
4th Air Army /1

[apbarog]

22 Dec 43

All enemy mines cleared at Takao, finally. I need to clear the ones at enemy held Pescadores, but there's big coastal guns there, and I've lost sweepers trying already. Will stick to an air campaign there, for now.

BB Idaho has a poor bombardment at Davao. Just 52 casualties.

Dutch sub KXIV sank patrol boat Yokae Maru at Naha in the morning, then sank AMc Kenkai Maru there in the afternoon.

Submarine Hoe spotted AO Kyokuto Maru near Daito Shoto. US carriers to the west southwest are informed.

Attack at Davao is satisfactory. Forts reduced to 2. It's a grind here, but the outcome is inevitable.

Ground combat at Davao (79,91)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25696 troops, 421 guns, 232 vehicles, Assault Value = 770

Defending force 20807 troops, 205 guns, 87 vehicles, Assault Value = 519

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Allied adjusted assault: 549

Japanese adjusted defense: 2353

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
606 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 49 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Allied ground losses:
982 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 118 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 31 disabled
Guns lost 22 (1 destroyed, 21 disabled)

Assaulting units:
27th Infantry Division
24th Infantry Division
151st Cmbt Engineer Battalion
260th Field Artillery Battalion
82nd Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
24th Nav Gsn Unit
2nd Recon Regiment
38th Division
33rd Ind Engineer Regiment
6th Base Force
41st JNAF AF Unit
61st Field AA Battalion
39th Field AA Machinecannon Company
6th Port Unit
63rd Field AA Battalion
66th JNAF AF Unit

A probing attack at Taihoku, Formosa showed a decent defense. More troops are headed this way.

Ground combat at Taihoku (87,63)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 11793 troops, 202 guns, 132 vehicles, Assault Value = 337

Defending force 9754 troops, 131 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 304

Japanese ground losses:
36 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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

Assaulting units:
7th Infantry Division

Defending units:
Keelung Fortress
34th Ind.Mixed Brigade
33rd Ind.Mixed Bde /1
55th JAAF AF Bn
24th JAAF AF Bn /1
66th Construction Battalion
34th Ind.Mixed Bde /1
5th Air Div /1
33rd Field Const Co
51st Air Defense AA Battalion
13th JAAF AF Coy
25th Air Flotilla /1