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

[CaptBeefheart]

I usually park my B-29s at Aparri (or nearby), then Taihoku, then Ningpo as I capture bases. Due to the limited stacking, you might want to keep Okinawa free for fighters, dive bombers and mediums.

Cheers,
CB

[apbarog]

9 Mar 44

OPilot tried a night naval attack with 35 Frances coming from Shanghai and targeting AKs at Okinawa. All bombs missed from 2000 feet with partial cloud weather.

The enemy was cleared out of Hong Kong. Lots of support troops finished off.

Ground combat at Hong Kong (77,61)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 32408 troops, 548 guns, 682 vehicles, Assault Value = 1191

Defending force 5701 troops, 49 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 17

Allied adjusted assault: 1050

Japanese adjusted defense: 5

Allied assault odds: 210 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
8266 casualties reported
Squads: 92 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 536 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 65 (65 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 3

Allied ground losses:
70 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
18th British Division
34th Cmbt Engineer Regiment
18th Cmbt Engineer Regiment
254th Armoured Brigade
110th Cmbt Engineer Battalion
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
14th Army Engineer Battalion
11th (East African) Division
125th RAF Base Force
3rd TAF Base Force
123rd RAF Base Force
31st Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
243 RAF Base Force
118th Light AA Regiment

Defending units:
22nd Ind.Mixed Brigade
Hong Kong Def Force
19th Ind.Mixed Brigade
Hong Kong Special Base Force

Armor from Hong Kong will go north to Canton. The British divisions will guard in between Hong Kong and Canton. Canton is almost fully stacked with Chinese. Yes, over 200,000 of them. Over 140,000 enemy there. The Chinese won't think of attacking until the enemy's supply is depleted.

[apbarog]

10 Mar 44

Way up by the Russian border on the mainland, I've had a couple of subs watching the approaches to two northernmost Japanese bases. I'd had SigInt months ago that a tanker was going there. I'd mined the biggest base, but nothing was seen there. Until today. Four patrol boats appeared. Pintado missed PB Sonan Maru #5 with two torpedoes. Now OPilot knows that I'm looking here. It's a minor thing. As the Japanese, I'd be using the shallow mined islands from Fusan to Japan, moving just 3 hexes and in protected spots. He probably is.

Two units of Georges coming from the direction of Japan swept Nago. P-47s and Hellcats were range capping from Naha. It went ok, with 15 Georges downed for the cost of 7 Hellcats and 3 Thunderbolts. I noted that he is sweeping at 30,000 feet. I was playing the I can go higher than you game with the P-47s at 35,000. The Hellcats were at 9,000. Worked out ok this time.

Interesting developments at Daito Shoto. This island is well to the southeast of Okinawa, out by itself. I'd been doing some recon there, and it was empty. OPilot noticed my interest, and overnight, four destroyers used fast transport to drop off the 6th Indpt SNLF Coy. Turned out that I was dropping paras there during the day.

Ground combat at Daito Shoto (98,69)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 747 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 28

Defending force 405 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 14

Allied adjusted assault: 4

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

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

Allied forces CAPTURE Daito Shoto !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(-), disruption(-), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
148 casualties reported
Squads: 18 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
20 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
2/6th Cav/Cdo Bn /1

Defending units:
6th Indpt SNLF Coy

A battle of tiny units, won by the paras. Base support will be coming in a week or so. Want to put Cats here to help watch the perimeter.

45 or so B-24s were moved to Naha. They are ordered to fly to Hiroshima at night, in first strategic bombing of Japan. I'm going for a big target with the first strike. I'll be more random after that. And mix in daylight raids. Hit some airfields too. OPilot asked me some questions about kamikazes. I've been expecting them. They are probably being saved for the invasion of Japan.

[BBfanboy]

Congrats on the timing of that paradrop at DS. His troops were likely completely unprepped for that base and with your shock attack they could not resist. One day of delay may have been enough for them to get rid of their disruption and fatigue and hold against you. Moving fast pays off.

[apbarog]

11 Mar 44

27 Frances at Shanghai again tried a night naval strike. Today they found the CVEs just west of Okinawa. All bombs missed, and 6 or so bombers were shot down by flak.

The B-24s ordered to do a strategic bombing of Hiroshima from Naha did not fly. The orders remain.

Perch hit tanker Kotai Maru with a torpedo near Ominato. The tanker was loaded with fuel, and was traveling along the west coast of Hokkaido.

In Malaya, Beaufighters had been moved up the coast to go after a small enemy task force that had been spotted at small ports southwest of Bangkok. Small naval targets and no CAP equals sunk ships. I love these planes.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Chumphon at 52,66

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 32 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter VIc x 21

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AG Ryua Maru, Shell hits 5, Bomb hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Menado Maru, Bomb hits 8, and is sunk
PB Fukkai Maru, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
21 x Beaufighter VIc bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb

The odds for the cleanup attack at Temuloh was 215 to 1. Maybe the end really is near this time?

I made a most unfortunate mistake. I had ordered two British armor units to move from Hong Kong to the hex east of Canton. They moved north of Hong Kong, and I noticed that one of them was continuing its movement into Canton instead of moving directly to the northeast. The pathing must have liked the good road into Canton. I fixed this unit. But I didn't notice the other Brit armor unit doing the same thing. Today it crossed into Canton from the southeast, in movement mode, crossing a river, triggering a shock attack and attacking alone. The unit was almost completely wiped out. 150 tanks lost. This was a really good unit and would have helped greatly at Canton. The only two very minor upsides to this fiasco was that the hexside is now closed and 100 of the 150 tanks were obsolete and can now be upgraded to newer models. I list the combat to show the units arrayed on both sides. Over 200,000 Chinese.

Ground combat at Canton (77,59)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 4010 troops, 99 guns, 282 vehicles, Assault Value = 6068

Defending force 104808 troops, 878 guns, 411 vehicles, Assault Value = 2810

Allied adjusted assault: 0

Japanese adjusted defense: 21401

Allied assault odds: 1 to 99 (fort level 5)

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

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

Allied ground losses:
1549 casualties reported
Squads: 54 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 154 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 23 (23 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 393 (375 destroyed, 18 disabled)

Assaulting units:
20th Chinese Corps
25th Chinese Corps
54th Chinese Corps
37th Chinese Corps
254th Armoured Brigade
88th Chinese Corps
62nd Chinese Corps
11th Chinese Corps
98th Chinese Corps
73rd Chinese Corps
60th Chinese Corps
94th Chinese Corps
34th Chinese Corps
2nd Prov Chinese Corps
1st New Chinese Corps
22nd Artillery Regiment
25th Group Army
7th Artillery Regiment
1st Artillery Regiment
39th Group Army
10th Group Army
30th Group Army
Y' Force
3rd Heavy Mortar Regiment

Defending units:
8th Ind.Infantry Brigade
22nd Division
104th Division
51st Division
13th Ind.Infantry Brigade
17th Division
60th Division
116th Division
7th Ind.Infantry Brigade
64th Division
20th RGC Division
9th Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
23rd Army
5th RF Gun Battalion
47th JAAF AF Bn
10th Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
11th Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
4th Mortar Battalion
4th Air Div /2
Canton Special Base Force
13th Army
5th Air Army /1

[BBfanboy]

50% bomb hits by those Beaufighters! That is some good accuracy!

The tendency for armoured units to use paved roads when shorter paths are needed is one of the land movement quirks that bugs me. I still don't see why the waypoint routines in naval movement could not have been added into land movement so you can override that tendency. It is also a bit ironic that the vehicles built to travel off-road are the ones most likely to avoid that! [8|]

[apbarog]

12 Mar 44

5 US Fletcher class destroyers made a high speed run from Okinawa to the southeastern coast of Kyushu. I was hoping to take out some sub chasers, and to show that I'm knocking on the door. Near Kanoya, the destroyers ran into sub chaser Ch 40 and quickly sank the small ship. That was the only contact made. It probably wasn't worth the damage done to the destroyers from the high speed run, but I wanted to threaten the many sub chasers in the area.

Enemy troops at Nago and Naha were bombarded, as in most nights. US troops attacked in both locations, further whittling down the enemy strength. At Nago, the casualty ratio was 1146 enemy to 170 friendly. A tougher fight at Naha continued, with the ratio being 1452 enemy to 719 casualty. Okinawa fell quickly, but the fight there is still tough. It's a good thing that the 5 US divisions on Okinawa are not assault troops for Kyushu, but it would be nice to have them available as a nearby reserve.

[apbarog]

13 Mar 44

Peggys, probably from Shanghai, tried to bomb Taihoku's port at night. I had tried my night strategic bombing of Hiroshima the night before. The Peggys got one port hit with clear sky and bombing at 15,000 feet. Nothing of importance at Taihoku, but plenty at Takao, so I moved some night fighters there.

Temuloh on Malaya is finally cleared.

Ground combat at Temuloh (50,78)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 18275 troops, 228 guns, 340 vehicles, Assault Value = 481

Defending force 2680 troops, 43 guns, 5 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Allied adjusted assault: 192

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 192 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
3047 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 335 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 58 (58 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
503rd Parachute Regiment
111th LRP Brigade
Guides Cavalry Regiment
Provisionl Tank Brigade
14th LRP Brigade
16th LRP Brigade
21st Australian Brigade
50th Indian Para Brigade
4th West African AA Regiment
118th RAF Base Force
2nd RAA Jungle Field Artillery Regiment
5th RIAF Adv/Sqn Base Force
144th RNZA Bty
30th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
7th RAF Adv/Sqn Base Force

Defending units:
1st Division

The enemy's 1st Division tied up many units at Temuloh for a long time. Most of the Allied units need to move to Singapore to rest and recover. Most have at least 50% disablements. US paras will move to Singapore to head to Luzon.

In the past few days, I've received notice that Shokaku, Taiho and Zuikaku were sunk in the battle near Okinawa.

[apbarog]

14 Mar 44

Enemy battleships spotted.

ASW attack near Kochi at 106,61

Japanese Ships
BB Hiei
BB Kongo
CA Mogami
CL Kitakami
DD Naganami
DD Hayashimo
DD Kiyoshimo
DD Asashimo
DD Hamanami

Allied Ships
SS Bluefish

Thresher hit tanker Arima Maru #4 with 2 torpedoes near Haha-jima. The tanker was carrying fuel and undoubtedly sank. In the war, Thresher has gotten hits on 2 xAKs, an AV, BB Haruna, RO-66, an E-boat, an xAKL, and now a tanker. Only the E-boat and tanker are known to have sunk.

A deliberate attack at Nago reduced the enemy strength a bit more. It's a grind. Naha will be attacked today. Amami Oshima will be invaded, east of Okinawa.

[apbarog]

15 Mar 44

Bettys went after invasion shipping at Amami Oshima. 12 of a reported 13 were shot down.

British slow battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant, with battlecruiser Renown, 2 light cruisers and 8 destroyers bombard Amami Oshima while a US armor unit lands. Looks like the 2nd SNLF was in the process of moving to Amami Oshima.

Ground combat at Amami Oshima (98,64)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 3784 troops, 51 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 133

Defending force 678 troops, 3 guns, 127 vehicles, Assault Value = 69

Assaulting units:
1st Ind Engineer Regiment
Amami Oshima Fortress
Yokosuka 4th SNLF
Yokosuka 2nd SNLF /1

Defending units:
766th Tank Battalion

An attack at Nago gets 25 to 1 odds and causes 1167 enemy casualties, with most squads destroyed. 6 units evaporated by attrition after combat.

Naha has been rougher for the US troops and today was no exception. Progress is slow and costly. I consider myself fortunate to have taken Nago and Naha in the first 2 days of fighting. Cleanup is taking a lot longer.

Ground combat at Naha (95,66)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 39069 troops, 570 guns, 482 vehicles, Assault Value = 1202

Defending force 17106 troops, 141 guns, 49 vehicles, Assault Value = 110

Allied adjusted assault: 1450

Japanese adjusted defense: 125

Allied assault odds: 11 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
571 casualties reported
Squads: 89 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 47 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 27 (7 destroyed, 20 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
825 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 99 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 20 (2 destroyed, 18 disabled)

[apbarog]

16 Mar 44

Lots of enemy air attention at Changteh in China. Enemy air is still a big threat when they sweep with lots of good fighters (Franks) in one location. That was Changteh. 48 Franks swept, finding 25 P-47D2s. Even losses. Then 39 Oscars found just 6 Thunderbolts, and shot down 1 or 2. Helens then bombed. Then 43 more Franks.

I love Beaufighters. I've said so with every successful low level strafing and bombing. I still love them.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Kagoshima at 102,60

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 74 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 42
Ki-61-Ic Tony x 42

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter X x 21

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufighter X: 6 destroyed (17 actually lost)

I'd limited their range from Okinawa so as not to fly to Nagasaki. But they flew to Kagoshima and ran into many fighters. Time to rebuild the unit.

Things could have gone better at Shanghai. None of my P-38s from Formosa swept. None of my B-24s from Formosa or China bombed. My carrier fighters flew, and ran into more fighters than expected. Some were training.

17 Corsairs swept finding 27 Zeros, 36 Georges, 41 Tojos and 49 Franks. The Corsairs actually downed more planes than they lost. Then 106 Hellcats from the carriers swept, finding slightly fewer enemy planes. Losses were about even, with about 8 on each side. Then carrier bombers attacked, with what I thought was an adequate escort.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Shanghai at 92,55

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 76 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 11
N1K1-J George x 34
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 31
Ki-84a Frank x 45

Allied aircraft
Wildcat V x 6
F6F-3 Hellcat x 119
SBD-5 Dauntless x 33
TBM-1C Avenger x 72

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 11 destroyed
SBD-5 Dauntless: 7 destroyed, 9 damaged
TBM-1C Avenger: 13 destroyed, 13 damaged

Japanese Ships
TK Nisshin Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
TK Kyokuyo Maru
AMc Wa 7, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AMc Hamanogo Maru, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AMc Hakusan Maru #2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
SC Ch 3
E Nomi
SC Ch 2
SC Ch 1

TBMs went after tiny minesweepers. My sweeps didn't put much of a dent in the enemy CAP. I needed the P-38s from Formosa to fly.

Total air losses were:

49 F6F-3s
25 TBM-1Cs
17 Beaufighters
16 SBD-5s
10 P-47Ds
9 F4U-1As

16 Franks
7 Zeros
6 Nicks
3 Tojos
2 Oscars

An ugly day in the air. There are still decent targets at Shanghai, with CVEs and TKs showing on the mouseover. May be all tankers. But I'm not going back to Shanghai.

Another 35 SBDs attacked and sank a lone SC southeast of Shanghai.

Nago is cleared of the enemy, with 1068 enemy casualties and the last 3 enemy units dying to attrition. One depleted US division will be evacuated from Okinawa after changing to Strat mode.

[apbarog]

17 Mar 44

Cebu is finally captured. Had to bring in another Australian brigade. Davao is now the only enemy held base in the Philippines. Both sides have too much strength there for the other to attack. Nowhere for the enemy to go. They do still manage to have supply.

Big para drop on Amami Oshima today.

[apbarog]

18 Mar 44

Slow battleships Tennessee, California and Oklahoma bombarded Amami Oshima. British battleships Queen Elizabath and Valiant did the same. Bombers contributed but did poorly in severe storms.

The big air offensive over Nanchang meant to hit the 3rd Tank Division didn't really pan out. The bombers did fly, but results were poor. Other units were hit, and there wasn't a single strike that hit many tanks, even when the tank division was hit.

A deliberate attack at Naha had a ratio of 1113 enemy casualties to 578 friendly. Wearing them down.

Paras dropped on Amami Oshima and armor attacked also. Poor odds but good results.

Ground combat at Amami Oshima (98,64)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 2095 troops, 3 guns, 127 vehicles, Assault Value = 122

Defending force 4303 troops, 49 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 124

Allied adjusted assault: 145

Japanese adjusted defense: 253

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
522 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 8 disabled
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
86 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
2/7th Cav/Cdo Bn /1
766th Tank Battalion
2/6th Cav/Cdo Bn /1

Defending units:
1st Ind Engineer Regiment
Amami Oshima Fortress
Yokosuka 4th SNLF
Yokosuka 2nd SNLF /1

The paras will rest a day or two, then another fresh para unit will drop in, with units already at Amami Oshima attacking. Battleships will continue to bombard.

[apbarog]

19 Mar 44

About 30 Peggys flew from Shanghai on a night bombing mission hitting Takao's port. I had anticipated this move, moving night fighters there a few days ago. OPilot had done the same mission against Taihoku, which had very few ships in port. Takao is full of ships, including AKEs. It's a juicy target, and I guessed right. Unfortunately, the night fighters were set at CAP 0%. I neglected that setting when putting them on Escort. One reportedly hit submarine Tautog, but Tautog is fine. Fog of war, it wasn't hit. OPilot bombed at 11,000 feet.

Enemy subs had a successful attack, the first in a long time. I can't remember how long. I-183 hit unescorted huge AP Gen. O.H. Ernst with a torpedo east of Borneo. Ernst was moving from Busuanga to Singapore to pick up a US para unit. Ernst will survive, as it made it to Tandjoengselor. I'll move it one more hex to Tarakan for some emergency repairs. It is SYS 26/FLOT 40-26/ENG 53-34/FIRE 0.

Another attack at Amami Oshima is ordered. A fresh para unit will drop in, with the units already there also shock attacking. Battleships will bombard. Bombers will bomb.

[apbarog]

20 Mar 44

The Peggys came back to Takao for another night raid on the port. This time, the night fighter PV-1N Ventura aircraft were assigned a proper CAP percentage. 5 Peggys were shot down and no bombs hit the port. I noticed this message at the bottom of the report for this engagement:

Some CAP have air radar

Interesting, don't remember seeing this message before.

More paras dropped on Amami Oshima. The odds were worse than the last attempt, but the results weren't bad.

Ground combat at Amami Oshima (98,64)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 3088 troops, 18 guns, 127 vehicles, Assault Value = 157

Defending force 3908 troops, 51 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 105

Allied adjusted assault: 122

Japanese adjusted defense: 436

Allied assault odds: 1 to 3 (fort level 2)

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

Japanese ground losses:
436 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled

Allied ground losses:
110 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Assaulting units:
766th Tank Battalion
2/6th Cav/Cdo Battalion
2/7th Cav/Cdo Battalion
1st Aus Para Bn /1

Defending units:
1st Ind Engineer Regiment
Yokosuka 4th SNLF
Amami Oshima Fortress
Yokosuka 2nd SNLF /1

Battleship bombardments and bomber attacks will continue. It will be an attritional fight.

In China, northeast of Canton, the enemy division was finally surrounded and eliminated.

Ground combat at 77,57 (near Wuchow)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 6442 troops, 43 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 202

Defending force 4026 troops, 42 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 25

Allied adjusted assault: 157

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 157 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
5958 casualties reported
Squads: 256 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 288 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 45 (45 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
66 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
5th Chinese Cavalry Corps

Defending units:
65th Division

At Canton, the Chinese will do an artillery attack and see if any progress can be made that way. Otherwise, a deliberate attack will have to wait until the 140,000 enemy at Canton run out of supply.

The first 7 plane B-29 units are training at Bombay, having arrived from Aden. When all of the planes are operational, in a few days, they will deploy to the Chinese capital for their first bombing raid. The target will be Fushan. It has 55 oil, just a size 1 airfield, and is 28 hexes from Chungking. 28 hexes is the normal range limit for these B-29s. There aren't many oil production sites left for Japan. It will be interesting to see if OPilot is defending this one.

I need about 2 more weeks for the Japan invasion troop preparation values to be at an acceptable level. I want all of the assault wave to have at least 50 prep. Really looking forward to the big invasion of Japan. Have never been on either side of such. No idea how it will turn out. I'll be bringing a lot, but a lot may not be enough, in April 1944. It will be a learning experience.

[BBfanboy]

Have you looked at Chungking's supply and air support ability to keep the B-29s in operation?

[apbarog]

I should have said Changsha, not Chungking, for the B-29s. Changsha is a size 7 airfield, and is almost an 8. Supply is plentiful in China now, with big convoys unloading at Hong Kong. The limiting factor, right now, is that there is only about 100 ground support for the aircraft at Changsha. I can move some, but not a lot, in from other bases to the west. I will consider moving some north from the coastal bases.

[apbarog]

Invasion of Japan

[BBfanboy]

In case you are not aware, Kurume can be accessed by sea from both NW and SW.

[apbarog]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

In case you are not aware, Kurume can be accessed by sea from both NW and SW.

Yes, I plan on approaching from the SW, when I land on Kumamoto also. CVEs will cover both from Kumamoto.