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

[apbarog]

No turn from OPilot today. I'll bet that the activity on Malaya is the cause. He has to decide whether to do anything about the threat to Singapore, and whether to use the army around Bangkok. He needed some extra time on this one.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

No turn from OPilot today. I'll bet that the activity on Malaya is the cause. He has to decide whether to do anything about the threat to Singapore, and whether to use the army around Bangkok. He needed some extra time on this one.

Yeah, if you are right, this is the worst feeling a JFB gets. The unexpected or early attack that leaves you absolutely scrambling for some kind of answer. [:(]

You have had simply a masterful game.[&o]

[apbarog]

2 Jan 44 - Part One - The Formosa Area, and a mention in the Solomons and Mindanao

I tried to run 2 subs past Tsushima, trying to get to the enemy base near the Russian border that is being visited by tankers. Seal and Perch both hit a mine at the fortress base. Perch is SYS 10/FLOT 34-28/ENG 1-0/FIRE 0 and continued on past Tsushima. It will continue on its mining mission, and will retire to the Aleutians afterwards. Salmon is took more damage. It is SYS 34/FLOT 77-53/ENG 1-0/FIRE 0, and started to move back towards Formosa. It is going to be a tough trip, moving no more than a hex a day. There are many enemy subchaser groups in the area, so the odds of survival are low. It heads towards Formosa.

Allied cruisers bombarded Amoy again, doing light damage. US cruisers bombarded Pescadores, also doing light damage. US destroyers bombarded Chaochow, doing light damage. Similar story at Foochow.

4 YMS cleared mines at Taihoku.

Enemy aircraft hit Wuchow. It's an easy target of opportunity. Clear terrain and no CAP. But it doesn't mean much. Some supply lost and a damaged airbase that isn't used. Over 100 enemy fighters and 100 enemy bombers participated.

US bombers went after 4 destroyers next to Rabaul. One SBD squadron got lost on the way. The Warhawks held off the Zeros but at a high cost.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Rabaul at 107,126

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 15

Allied aircraft
P-40N5 Warhawk x 24
SBD-3 Dauntless x 14
SBD-5 Dauntless x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40N5 Warhawk: 4 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Akatsuki, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Minegumo

Another fragmented raid followed, with no bomb hits from 2 SBDs. 16 Warhawks were lost, with 6 Zeros shot down.

The enemy continues to look around northeastern Australia. Today there was recon of Horn Island.

US attack on Mindanao was less than optimal.

Ground combat at Davao (79,91)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 24365 troops, 437 guns, 246 vehicles, Assault Value = 598

Defending force 18529 troops, 194 guns, 87 vehicles, Assault Value = 459

Allied adjusted assault: 245

Japanese adjusted defense: 1111

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
137 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1762 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 195 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 49 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
Guns lost 65 (2 destroyed, 63 disabled)

Assaulting units:
27th Infantry Division
24th Infantry Division
151st Cmbt Engineer Battalion
260th Field Artillery Battalion
131st Field Artillery Battalion
82nd Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
24th Nav Gsn Unit
2nd Recon Regiment
38th Division
33rd Ind Engineer Regiment
6th Base Force
63rd Field AA Battalion
6th Port Unit
41st JNAF AF Unit
61st Field AA Battalion
39th Field AA Machinecannon Company
66th JNAF AF Unit /1

One US division will pull out of the line to recover. Davao will take a long time to reduce. I think that OPilot is getting supply into Davao using aircraft, but I haven't been able to catch him doing it. He uses transport aircraft a lot, judging by ops losses, and he's good at it. I try to catch his transports but never do, then I give up trying. And he continues using them. It's working for him.

Cleanup at Clark continued, and is going good. Another 1000 enemy casualties. Also good cleanup at Taihoku on Formosa. 2398 casualties.

[apbarog]

2 Jan 44 - Part Two - The Singapore Area

US destroyers Bagley, Henley and Jarvis moved to Singapore and sank PB Hakozake Maru and AMc Sapporo Maru. They didn't find AMc Mogami Maru, but the inbound cruiser bombardment force did, and the tiny minesweeper was sunk. Then they bombarded.

Night Naval bombardment of Singapore at 50,84 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-84a Frank: 24 damaged
Ki-84a Frank: 2 destroyed on ground
B5N2 Kate: 5 damaged
Ki-21-IIb Sally: 79 damaged
Ki-21-IIb Sally: 3 destroyed on ground
Ki-46-III Dinah: 14 damaged
Ki-46-III Dinah: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-61-Ic Tony: 36 damaged
Ki-61-Ic Tony: 1 destroyed on ground
H8K2 Emily: 60 damaged
H8K2 Emily: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-57-II Topsy: 8 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 26 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 40 damaged
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 2 destroyed on ground
A6M5 Zero: 32 damaged
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 28 damaged
Ki-49-II KAI Helen: 3 damaged
D3A2 Val: 2 damaged

5 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CA Cornwall
CA Suffolk
CA Sussex
CA Dorsetshire
DD Braine
DD Boyd
DD Bennett
DD Bache
DD Aulick

Japanese ground losses:
720 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 57 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 16 (2 destroyed, 14 disabled)
Vehicles lost 9 (2 destroyed, 7 disabled)

Airbase hits 53
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 140

It was good work, but enemy planes were still overhead when a renegade B-24 squadron bombed Singapore at the commander's discretion when its assigned target didn't have any ground targets to bomb. 6 B-24s were lost. Planes were destroyed on the ground at Singapore: 5 Sallys, 3 Franks, 3 Oscars, 1 Tony and 2 Emilys.

Destroyer Jarvis sank midget sub Ha-12 at Singapore.

Indian paras dropped on Port Dickson, Kluong, Temuloh and Kuala Lumpur. US paras dropped on Malacca. 4 out of the 5 bases were empty and were captured. The 14th LRP Brigade drew the short straw.

Ground combat at Kuala Lumpur (49,79)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 409 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 35

Defending force 16332 troops, 134 guns, 44 vehicles, Assault Value = 492

Allied adjusted assault: 0

Japanese adjusted defense: 261

Allied assault odds: 1 to 99 (fort level 0)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), preparation(-), fatigue(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)

Allied ground losses:
343 casualties reported
Squads: 27 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
14th LRP Bde /1

Defending units:
1st Division
80th Garrison Battalion

I think that the enemy 1st Division was moving on the rail line. Unknown if it was going north or south, but I doubt it was meant to stop at Kuala Lumpur. It's there now. The rest of the 14th LRP Brigade will drop onto Kuantan today. It also got no recon ahead of time. They can't get unlucky two times in a row, can they?

Mersing will be invaded today, as will the island adjacent to Singapore.

[Lowpe]

You know -- if you get some ground bombers in range of northern Malaya- say Sabang, and set their range to short of Kuala Lumpur so you don't automatically target the 1st, and select naval attack with a secondary ground attack mission and have decent recon over northern Malaya, you may very well catch IJA reinforcements on the rail lines...which are horrendously vulnerable.

Nice paratrooper jumps. Japan definitely not ready for any of this...

[apbarog]

Won't just having a ground attack mission set with no target specified do the same thing? I haven't used your method before. I am targeting the division at Kuala Lumpur today, figuring that it will be on the move, either Strat mode to the north or movement mode to go after paras.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

Won't just having a ground attack mission set with no target specified do the same thing? I haven't used your method before. I am targeting the division at Kuala Lumpur today, figuring that it will be on the move, either Strat mode to the north or movement mode to go after paras.

Yes, but method lets you get in an afternoon only attack, after your sweepers have flown.

[apbarog]

That's brilliant. Another example of learning something new even after playing this game non-stop since the beginning. Thanks.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: apbarog

Won't just having a ground attack mission set with no target specified do the same thing? I haven't used your method before. I am targeting the division at Kuala Lumpur today, figuring that it will be on the move, either Strat mode to the north or movement mode to go after paras.

Yes, but method lets you get in an afternoon only attack, after your sweepers have flown.

To Clarify....secondary missions always fly in the PM Phase? I had no idea if that's the case. I think alot of folks don't know that, based on the fact that everyone's sweepers seem to always sweep AFTER the bombing run!

[Jorge_Stanbury]

When target is left to the commander, there is always a high risk of falling to CAP traps

What I have done before, might be a bit gamey, was to set the squadron to naval attack, range 0
then secondary mission bomb "X"
meanwhile fighter squadrons are set to sweep

unless there is bad weather or some failed check, fighters will sweep on the AM phase. bombers won't fly until PM because they are looking for ships (at range 0)
then at PM only the surviving CAP will fly

[Lowpe]

Lots of little tricks like this. Most players are absolutely unwilling at allow the local commanders to make decisions, but that is one of the aspects of the game I really enjoy.

Read the manual and understand how the AI picks targets. A lot of it is based on DL and can be manipulated thru search arcs and turning off and on recon and hoping your sigint doesn't trigger some dl.

Yes, it can be a dangerous tactic, but the danger can be minimized and most times getting that guaranteed afternoon strike is worth it.

[apbarog]

3 Jan 44

All enemy mines are cleared at Taihoku.

2 support ships fled Singapore, and had an amusing number of encounters east of Mersing. ACM Hinode Maru and AG Nichiryo Maru ran into a big US destroyer task force that was moving to Mersing. Visibility was just 6,000 yards, at night, and the Japanese ships evaded combat. They ran into the same task force again in the next hex, and the same result happened, with even less visibility, 2,000 yards. During the day, the ships ran into a huge AKA supply task force, and both sides evaded combat. Finally, luck ran out for the fleeing ships, with 3 Dutch destroyers finding them and sinking them.

Battleship New Mexico joined the ships bombarding Pescadores. The Peng Hu Fortress claimed another victim, hitting cruiser Canberra with 2 shells, causing SYS 29/FLOT 4-0/ENG 1-0/FIRE 0, forcing the cruiser to Manila for repairs. The bombardment caused 385 casualties and little base damage. At nearby Amoy, OPilot tried to sneak in an ACM, but TBFs at Takao sank ACM Choun Maru #21. The search continues for the other twenty.

Apparently, the enemy carriers northeast of Okinawa yesterday were covering a bombardment force inbound to Miyako-Jima. Light cruiser Yura and 7 destroyers bombarded, causing moderate damage to the port. The para unit that took the base was just lifted back to Formosa by Coronados. All that is at Miyako-Jima is the part of a SeaBee unit that could be airlifted in by seaplane. The vehicles are still on the way from Manila. This island is not a big deal to me. It's the most "forward" base towards Okinawa, and seems to have OPilot's attention. Risking the carriers to cover that task force seems risky. US carriers are moving out into the South China Sea, west of Luzon. They'll try to lurk out there, unseen, if possible.

Mersing was invaded. It was not defended. There were a number of enemy bombing strikes on bases that Allied paras had taken. Maybe the intent was to stop fort building. Not sure. There's no supply there to destroy, yet. Malacca was hit. So was Temuloh and Kluong. But at Kluong, some P-47s wandered by and shot down 12 Sallys.

Tandjoengpinang, the island just south of Singapore, was captured. Many engineers are unloading. I expected a drawn out campaign to take Singapore, so I wanted a close base for AKEs, so that bombardment of Singapore could be daily. Now it looks like Singapore could fall rather quickly.

B-24s bombed Johore Bahru's airfield, finding no CAP or any other planes on the ground. Singapore's air has been evacuated. Movement is seen out of Singapore. Probably just the base support. There's nowhere to escape, though.

Cleanup continues at Clark. Another 1304 enemy casualties.

Battleship Iowa appeared on the East Coast. Appeared after the dominance of the battleship, and yet had a very long career.

Battleship Iowa

[apbarog]

4 Jan 44 - Part 1 - Malaya

US DMS's swept mines at Singapore. Coastal guns fired back. DMS Long is SYS 32/FLOT 74-54/ENG 0/FIRE 0, mostly from a mine hit. Nice to have captured the nearby island, with a size 3 port.\

2 B-24 squadrons bombed Singapore. 2 ACM's were hit and sunk.

Mersing flipped to the Allies. Most troops unloaded at Mersing. Mersing has twice the stacking limit right now. Fortunately, I've unloaded a large amount of supply. Troops start to move out.

[apbarog]

4 Jan 44 - Part 2 - Formosa and Philippines

San Fernando was captured.

Ground combat at San Fernando (80,74)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 28002 troops, 452 guns, 295 vehicles, Assault Value = 800

Defending force 12291 troops, 285 guns, 129 vehicles, Assault Value = 42

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Allied adjusted assault: 482

Japanese adjusted defense: 127

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE San Fernando !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
490 casualties reported
Squads: 31 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 108 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 27 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 93 (78 destroyed, 15 disabled)
Vehicles lost 63 (63 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
247 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 63 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled

Assaulting units:
1st (Spec) Cavalry Division
4th Marine Division
40th Infantry/C Division
I Marine Amphib Corps
249th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
31st Ind.Mixed Brigade
1st JNAF AF Unit
62nd Field AA Battalion
101st Machine Canno AA Battalion
24th JAAF AF Bn
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
23rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
5th JAAF AF Bn
14th Army
14th Mortar Battalion
1st Ship Engineer Regiment
12th Mortar Battalion
44th Field AA Battalion
209th JAAF AF Bn

US Paras dropped on Batan Island and took it from the 4th Indpt SNLF Coy.

Tahihoku was cleared.

Ground combat at Taihoku (87,63)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 40235 troops, 632 guns, 680 vehicles, Assault Value = 1251

Defending force 5384 troops, 47 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 61

Allied adjusted assault: 793

Japanese adjusted defense: 3

Allied assault odds: 264 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
6299 casualties reported
Squads: 197 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 337 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 46 (46 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 6

Allied ground losses:
44 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
3rd Marine Division
7th Infantry Division
1st USMC Tank Battalion
1st Marine Division
766th Tank Battalion
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion
XI US Corps

Defending units:
34th Ind.Mixed Brigade
33rd Ind.Mixed Bde /1
25th Air Flotilla /1
66th Const Bn /1
13th JAAF AF Coy
Keelung Fortress
55th JAAF AF Bn /2

Another 1349 enemy casualties at Clark as the enemy is being cleaned up.

[EDIT: Some air combat over Miyako-Jima. 26 Lilys with 42 Tonys attacked 24 P-38Hs on LRCAP. Many Tonys were downed with a few Lightnings lost, but all of the Lilys got through. They bombed the port in severe storms and barely scratched it.]

Suspected enemy carriers east of Luzon.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

4 Jan 44 - Part 2 - Formosa and Philippines

Suspected enemy carriers east of Luzon.

If you haven't already done it, now would be a good time to send all your carrier aircraft to various Philippine air bases to await KB's suicide ...

[apbarog]

5 Jan 44

Sub Cabrilla spotted an xAP convoy south of Japan but missed E-boat Hachijo with 4 torpedoes.

2 YMS swept mines at Singapore. One was sunk by the 10th Special Base Force there. 4 slow US battleships are about to refuel at the Allied island base adjacent to Singapore. The daily bombardments are about to begin. Hope there aren't too many mines.

BB New Mexico and friends bombarded Pescadores again. Light damage. New Mexico was hit by a coastal gun. Just a few SYS damage.

British cruisers and US destroyers bombarded Kota Bharu. Lots of Helens damaged, with a few Tojos. A couple of Helens destroyed. The airfield was operational later in the day, with 20 Tojos sweeping Kuantan from here. 27 Hellcats were on CAP and they were massacred. Franks swept afterwards. 19 were lost and no Tojos or Franks were downed. Terrible. The Hellcats cannot stand up to anything better than Zeros and Oscars. Not without elite pilots. I'm trying to use more Hellcats on the front, with hundreds of them in the pool, but this kind of result happens frequently. After the sweeps, there were a couple of Hellcats still in the air, somehow, and they destroyed 8 Sonias.

A small strike went after 2 cargo ships unloading supply at Kuantan. The Hellcats didn't recover for the afternoon strike.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Kuantan at 51,79

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B5N2 Kate x 5
D3A2 Val x 5

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 2 destroyed

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
xAK Era, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires [SUNK]
xAK Aroona, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Some supply was unloaded at Kuantan, so the paras west of there now have supply. Mission accomplished. Hopefully Aroona will unload more supply today. Lots of Allied shipping heading away from the Singapore area now, headed to Soerabaja for some repairs. When the troops on Luzon are recovered, the invasion of China will come next. Luzon still has to be cleared though.

Enemy air activity in China at Changsha. Georges. Franks. More Franks. Oscars covering bombers. Looks impressive but just not important. The threat to China is very close, to the south.

More cleanup at Clark. 3 more enemy units destroyed, with 3760 enemy casualties. The enemy also evaporated at Batan Island.

[apbarog]

6 Jan 44

New Mexico bombarded Pescadores again. Minor base damage and 306 casualties. US cruiser force hit there also, with light damage and 128 casualties. Hope to take out the big guns of the fortress unit there.

Kukong was the target of choice for the enemy aircraft in China.

A-29s went after the airfield at Kuala Lumpur. I figured that there wouldn't be enemy air with no base support. I was wrong. LRCAP there today. 10 Hudsons lost to Tojos.

Enemy task force spotted 7 hexes east of the US carriers, east of Luzon. Looked like it was going to be a carrier battle, but it was just a light surface force. CL Yura and some destroyers.

18 TBM-1Cs attacked, carrying bombs due to the range. 2 bombs hit destroyer Hayanami. In the afternoon, 34 SBD-5s attacked, carrying 500 pound bombs due to range. One bomb hit destroyer Hamanami. 3 bombs hit the already damaged Hayanami.

More cleanup at Clark. 3866 enemy casualties. Just one enemy unit left there. San Fernando is still tougher, with so many enemy support units. A 1 to 1 attack yields 521 enemy casualties and 190 friendly. After Clark is finished, a division will move from there to help at San Fernando.

No sign of the enemy carriers today east of the Philippines. On Malaya, things progress. Some armor has made it out of Mersing. Other units are following. Most will turn south for Singapore, while others move to relieve the paras to the north. 4 slow US battleships will bombard Singapore. There are still mines there. Sweepers continue to work, although today, they were at Singapore and didn't sweep any mines. I changed their orders to try and get them going again.

[BBfanboy]

Embed a couple of DMSs in the bombardment TF at Singapore. They will take care of any mines in the way of the BBs.

I have taken out a couple of fortresses by bombardment only - it takes a long time, a month or more of constant attacks on it. At first nothing seems to touch the fortress but in fact the squads in it are being disrupted. After a few days, disablements appear among the support squads. Those are the guys that man the guns, so it has an effect on the fortress ability to fire back.

Eventually you get a few gun disablements while some support squads get destroyed. The first disabled guns are the light ones - AA and non-static artillery. Keep it up and you start to knock out CD guns and destroy the non-static artillery. The smaller CD guns go first, of course. Once most of the support squads are gone the guns get destroyed fairly quickly because there is no one there to repair them.

Add bombing to your attacks if you can. Once the fortress is no longer shooting back at you, move your bombardment in closer. You can even consider letting the escorts bombard to wear down other units at the base. And don't forget to have ASW against the mini-subs he might spawn there.

[apbarog]

7 Jan 44

2 YMS sweep mines at Singapore. One is badly damaged by the guns of the 10th Special Base Force. US battleships followed:

Night Naval bombardment of Singapore at 50,84

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
H8K2 Emily: 10 damaged
H8K2 Emily: 1 destroyed on ground [2 destroyed]
Ki-57-II Topsy: 4 damaged
Ki-57-II Topsy: 1 destroyed on ground [2 destroyed]
Ki-21-IIb Sally: 37 damaged
Ki-21-IIb Sally: 2 destroyed on ground [7 destroyed]
Ki-84a Frank: 4 damaged
Ki-84a Frank: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 7 damaged
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-61-Ic Tony: 5 damaged
Ki-61-Ic Tony: 2 destroyed on ground [3 destroyed]
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 3 damaged
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
BB Arizona
BB Oklahoma
BB Nevada
BB West Virginia

Japanese ground losses:
598 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 20 destroyed, 45 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 19 (8 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 17
Port hits 2

The battleships can rearm at the adjacent island. The only limiting factor is that the battleships are draining the AKEs faster than they can resupply at the size 3 port.

9 US destroyers sprint to Nago, on Okinawa. Numerous small task force have been coming and going here. The destroyers were set to go there at full speed and not remain on station. They found just one motor torpedo boat, which was quickly sunk. Then 2 destroyers hit mines. Clayton is SYS 27/FLOT 52-31/ENG 0/FIRE 0 and Cotten is SYS 20/FLOT 20-11/ENG 3-1/FIRE 0. They made it halfway back to Formosa and were not attacked. They should make it to safety. So, northern Okinawa is already mined. That makes it highly likely that southern Okinawa, at Naha, is mined also, being a bigger base.

Battleship New Mexico and escorts made the daily bombardment run to Pescadores. New Mexico is slowly taking more SYS damage from an almost daily enemy gun hit. Minor base damage done today. Guns are being destroyed and disabled every day. Eventually we'll get the big guns. US cruiser force also bombarded Pescadores, doing minor damage.

Snapper sank patrol boat Hayakafuku Maru near Kuroshima. Cabrilla hit AG Anbo Maru near Tokara Retto.

After decimating the Hellcats at Mersing yesterday, the enemy returned in force. There was a big fight with 2 P-47 squadrons that I'd moved to Mersing. The enemy swept with 33 Tojos and 33 Franks in the morning, and 29 Tojos in the afternoon. Total air losses were 20 Tojos and 19 Franks for the cost of 13 P-47s. The Thunderbolts are down to about 18 flyable planes. They are ordered to stay and repair and are not reinforced. Mersing is just a size 1 airfield and cannot adequately support more than 50 aircraft. Some shipping is unloading at Mersing, mostly unloading supply. Malaya now has about 150,000 supply, so the situation is good, despite Mersing being overstacked by a factor of 2.

The last enemy unit was eliminated at Clark. One division will head north to help the cleanup at San Fernando. The other units will head to Manila to recuperate and prepare for the China coast invasion.

Iba was cleared. Troops at Iba will move south to clear the enemy unit at Subic Bay.

US carriers, east of Luzon, moved south, and were not spotted. Enemy carriers were not spotted either. US carriers will move to Jolo to refuel, if no enemy is seen. They may stay in the Mindanao area, given the last location of the enemy carriers, and the SigInt about Manado.

The CVEs and CVLs used at Mersing are now at Soerabaja repairing. The APAs are there or about to be there. All ships will repair fully. They'll be used next in the China coast invasion. It won't happen until the troops on Luzon have recovered.

[apbarog]

8 Jan 44

The daily bombardment of Pescadores. Note that enemy devices are being destroyed. B-24s contributed today. The main enemy ground unit on Pescadores is the 2nd Amphibious Brigade.

Night Naval bombardment of Pescadores at 84,63 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

18 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB New Mexico
CL Hobart
CL De Ruyter
CL Sumatra
CL Leander

Japanese ground losses:
308 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 10
Port hits 9
Port fuel hits 5

Swatow was bombarded by US cruisers. Minor damage. SigInt reports the enemy 51st Recon is at Amoy, so OPilot is reinforcing the coast, at least somewhat.

5 Wildcat V's bombed patrol boat Tenshin at Batu Pahat, northwest of Singapore. B-25s sank ACM Choyo Maru #2 in port there. Has to be mines. If there are no defenders, the base will flip soon.

More cleanup at San Fernando, but got even losses, about 400 casualties, with a 2 to 1 attack. Troops will rest and wait for another division to reinforce.

The 3rd USMC Parachute Battalion dropped on empty Iriomote and captured the base. Iriomote is just east of Formosa.