A War to be Won - DesertWolf101 (A) vs Wirraway_Ace (J)

[DesertWolf101]

The Japanese are also trying to crack a path open into China from Burma. Lashio is a similar story with forts being knocked down by Japanese engineers.

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[DesertWolf101]

May 18-22, 1942

More Japanese attacks in China, but with no breakthroughs. The most notable attack being another big effort in the north.

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Meanwhile with the Japanese sending everything available to China, I have ramped up my operations in Burma. Unfortunately the Monsoon season is slowing things down, but I am marching significant forces down the coastal road, holding the Japanese at Lashio, and have annihilated all Japanese forces in the Mandalay plain thanks to complete air dominance.

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The Japanese did attempt to challenge me in the air on the 22nd, but my sweeps came in ahead of the bombers and did their job.

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[DesertWolf101]

May 23, 1942

With the Japanese having committed some airpower to Burma and with Wirraway seeking to target multiple areas in China at the same time, I finally got an opportunity to ambush a Japanese strike that wasn't preceded by 100+ fighters on sweep. Good result over Changsha, where my P-40Es tore into enemy Oscars.

Changsha air battle.jpg (111.29 KiB) Viewed 1202 times

[DesertWolf101]

May 24, 1942

China - Those of you who are familiar with my previous AARs know that I have found wild success in the theater as both the Chinese and the Japanese. Yes I am bragging , but I also make this statement to point out that Wirraway has presented me with the greatest challenge I have yet to face in China and it is a bit disconcerting to face the real potential that I might lose it. I think I can hold on for some time still, but I figure my best chance to defend through the next game year is to find early success in Burma.

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Two key battles took place today. The first is the Japanese battering ram in the northern sector.

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The second is an Imperial shock attack near Chihkiang. The Chinese perform well in both battles.

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[DesertWolf101]

May 25-30, 1942

The Japanese have kept up the pressure in China over the past several days. They haven't made any breakthroughs yet, but the consistent air and land attacks are increasingly eating into my overall supply inventory in the theater. The below is a typical Japanese attack - I usually inflict a significant number of disabled squads and armor on the enemy but usually only a few are outright destroyed as Wirraway takes advantage of his large scale commitment in China to shuffle back battered units and quickly replace them with fresh ones.

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As I noted earlier, I believe the defense of China will depend on my performance in Burma. I am therefore pushing as hard as I can reasonably do so in the theater while managing monsoon effects and the threat of enemy landings behind my lines. Japanese forces have been blocked at Lashio while commonwealth forces are moving down the coastal road.

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The Japanese threatened my position in upper Burma but I turned the tide with air power. The Japanese challenged me in the air here but did not get to the bombers.

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The air bombing allowed me to push back the Japanese and begin a local counterattack.

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[witpqs]

Have you evacuated the non-restricted Chinese units to India?

[DesertWolf101]

Have you evacuated the non-restricted Chinese units to India?

I evacuated about half of them thus far. The rest are either holding key positions or will soon withdraw and thus not worth extracting.

[DesertWolf101]

May 31 - June 5, 1942

Wirraway and I have made it to a new month. Time for a comprehensive status update!

The overall score below reflects the relatively good position I find myself in with very little risk that the Japanese will succeed in getting an autovictory.

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Naval losses have been significant for both sides, especially in terms of cruisers. However, no carriers have been sunk thus far. In addition to the below, the Allies have lost 18 destroyers/APDs and the Japanese have lost approximately 25 destroyers/APDs. Submarine losses have been very low for both sides - three lost thus far for the Allies and approximately the same number for the Japanese.

Naval Losses.jpg (145.24 KiB) Viewed 1049 times

Air losses have been very low thus far. I don't think I have played a campaign with such low air casualties, and I believe this is largely due to Wirraway's considerable aversion to losses. The Japanese have concentrated the overwhelming bulk of their airpower in China and beyond that have made no effort to sweep or bomb allied bases outside of the the SRA (the exception being the the early KB raids against Australia). The lack of Japanese pressure has allowed me to train up a formidable number of very good pilots which has given me the confidence and capability to already dominate the skies over Burma.

air losses.jpg (105.04 KiB) Viewed 1049 times

[DesertWolf101]

The SRA

I continue to hold two key positions in the SRA. The first is in the Philippines where I continue to maintain a presence in both Mindanao and Luzon. I have enough stockpiled supplies to last another month or two depending on enemy pressure. I will try to keep the garrisons going for as long as possible though to keep tying down enemy forces.

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The other holdout is the Dutch garrison on Java. The Dutch have stood up against half a dozen Japanese attacks thus far, keeping four Japanese divisions fully occupied in the process (Wirraway attacks with two then rotates in with the other two). This is the latest attack.

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The key gem for the Allies here is the continued possession of the Cocos Islands, now fortified to level 5 and 53% of the way to level 6. The idea is to eventually work on building up the airfields to be able to strategically bomb key enemy held oil fields, including Palembang.

Java.jpg (161.71 KiB) Viewed 1045 times

[DesertWolf101]

Burma

I am very optimistic about how things are going in the Burmese theater. I am now confident enough that I would be able to deal with any Japanese effort to land behind my lines for the foreseeable future, which in turn is allowing me to move ahead with my forces down the coastal road in an attempt to seize back Ramree Island as a first objective. I am also holding up nicely against 3+ Japanese divisions around Lashio, and am successfully pushing back the enemy down the trail in upper Burma. Base and fortification building is going very well with numerous level 6+ airfields (Calcutta and Chittagong being level 9).

Burma.jpg (381.92 KiB) Viewed 1041 times

[DesertWolf101]

China

Unfortunately, the situation in China is not as rosy as the rest of the map. The supreme Japanese effort here is starting to pay off for Wirraway as the general supply situation for the Chinese starts to worsen. Having held the Changsha sector for as long as I could prudently do so, I have now begun a tricky fighting retreat back to the mountains around Chihkiang. 300+ Japanese bombers will make this a tricky maneuver.

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In the meantime, Chinese forces continue to hold their own against repeated Japanese attacks north of Sian.

Tienshui.jpg (72.2 KiB) Viewed 1037 times

[DesertWolf101]

Next Moves

The coming weeks are going to significantly heat up as I transition to full offensive operations. I have a series of difficult landing operations planned and as part of this I will also be seeking direct battle with the KB. It is still the middle of 1942 and I am facing a very competent player, but I am nothing if not aggressive minded and I am happy to assume the risks involved given my overall favorable situation and the fact that I feel like I have prepared myself well for such a clash. I don't necessarily expect an outright victory, but even a draw that leaves us both with the same approximate number of sunk carriers will be very advantageous to my position. More on this soon.

[GetAssista]

Burma
I am very optimistic about how things are going in the Burmese theater. I am now confident enough that I would be able to deal with any Japanese effort to land behind my lines for the foreseeable future, which in turn is allowing me to move ahead with my forces down the coastal road in an attempt to seize back Ramree Island as a first objective. I am also holding up nicely against 3+ Japanese divisions around Lashio, and am successfully pushing back the enemy down the trail in upper Burma. Base and fortification building is going very well with numerous level 6+ airfields (Calcutta and Chittagong being level 9).

What's the situation with the KB and free divisions for Japan? Those happy pushes along the Burma coast in mid 42 are ripe targets for amphibious landings in the rear (Cox or even Chittagong). Granted, Japan has to prepare extensively, but if it does Allies can't really oppose, not enough material yet

[DesertWolf101]

Burma
I am very optimistic about how things are going in the Burmese theater. I am now confident enough that I would be able to deal with any Japanese effort to land behind my lines for the foreseeable future, which in turn is allowing me to move ahead with my forces down the coastal road in an attempt to seize back Ramree Island as a first objective. I am also holding up nicely against 3+ Japanese divisions around Lashio, and am successfully pushing back the enemy down the trail in upper Burma. Base and fortification building is going very well with numerous level 6+ airfields (Calcutta and Chittagong being level 9).

What's the situation with the KB and free divisions for Japan? Those happy pushes along the Burma coast in mid 42 are ripe targets for amphibious landings in the rear (Cox or even Chittagong). Granted, Japan has to prepare extensively, but if it does Allies can't really oppose, not enough material yet

I was fairly certain the KB was in the Pacific and this was confirmed last turn with a SIGINT report identifying the Kaga at Truk. In terms of free divisions the bulk are in China with the rest predominantly committed to battle in Java and Burma. One division is spread out around New Guinea and New Britain.

However, even if the Japanese had the KB in the Indian Ocean and a significant number of divisions at the ready I don't think Wirraway would be able to capture Cox, Akyab or Chittagong. I have 12 divisions and lots of artillery and armor in the area, all behind high 3-4 level forts and backed up by airpower. The only way I could see the possibility is if stacking limits were not in play, but we are playing with them in this game.

[DesertWolf101]

June 6-8, 1942

Intensive Allied preparations continue across the map.

Wirraway has reinforced the Burmese theatre with fighter Sentai and has carried out his first ever sweep over Akyab which encountered no opposition as I shuffle my squadrons around. Allied troops are pushing both towards Katha in the north and the Japanese blocking position next to Ramree Island on the coast.

[DesertWolf101]

June 10, 1942

A snapshot that perfectly illustrates the Japanese commitment to China. Out of the 6 Japanese divisions currently besieging Changsha, five have come directly from Manchuria. That's a lot of PPs spent, and this is but one sector of in China....

Changsha.jpg (43.7 KiB) Viewed 916 times

[DesertWolf101]

June 11, 1942

Operation Pegasus kicks off with a daring parachute landing by two USMC parachute battalions on Luganville. B-17 bombers from Suva plastered the Japanese defenders (A Naval Guard battalion and a component of the 21st Air Flotilla) before the arrival of the paratroopers, who promptly took the base and destroyed a squadron of 14 Mavis floatplanes, thus achieving the first objective which was to knock out Japanese naval search in the area.

Meanwhile in China I start pulling out the Changsha garrison and other Chinese forces nearby under constant harassment from massed Japanese bombers. In Burma however I successfully knock out Japanese fighters on the ground at Tuang Gyi with more B-17 strikes.

Hold on to your pants, the next week is going to be intense! Air losses for the day below:

Air Losses.jpg (76.47 KiB) Viewed 889 times

[DesertWolf101]

June 12-13, 1942

With the Japanese Mavis squadron neutralized, Allied invasion convoys approached their targets undetected - at least until a couple of them stumbled on a Japanese submarine right next to New Caledonia! Less than ten days ago we got confirmation that the KB is in Truk - will it now respond? Next turn or two I will post maps with more detail on Operation Pegasus.

Meanwhile in China the Japanese launched an attack on Changsha as the Chinese troops continued their fighting retreat. I just noticed that the massed Japanese artillery battering Changsha is also all from Manchuria. I am amazed that Wirraway found enough PPs to spend on all this commitment to China. He must have used every last point he had on this, as Manchuria is undoubtedly at minimal garrison levels already!

Changsha.jpg (84.19 KiB) Viewed 840 times

The Japanese also attacked at Lashio, but the Allied defense continued to hold up quite nicely here.

Lashio.jpg (71.4 KiB) Viewed 840 times

Finally, Wirraway orchestrated a really nice ambush over Burma by bringing in 127 fighters to hit one of my bombing runs on a Japanese infantry regiment. The loss of 8 B-17Es and 7 P-38s is the first significant loss of both types. It's really nice playing against such a skilled opponent.

air losses.jpg (109.15 KiB) Viewed 840 times

[DesertWolf101]

June 14, 1942

Allied ships sighted! The core convoys of Operation Pegasus were finally spotted by enemy patrol aircraft as they prepared for their final dash towards Tabiteuea. Two infantry divisions, a tank battalion, and various HQ, support, and coastal artillery units will move in to carry out the first Allied atoll invasion of the war. The Allied carrier fleet is in support. I also brought plenty of surface warships for escort and bombardment duties but recon of Tabiteuea (not done until the last second to not alert Wirraway) indicates it is weakly defended so I will refrain from bombarding it in case I damage its airfields. At the same time as this invasion takes places, other Allied troops will land on New Caledonia at La Foa, which was already seized this turn by USMC paratroopers. The question is once again- where is the KB and what will it do?

Pegasus.jpg (132.4 KiB) Viewed 813 times

[DesertWolf101]

Operation Pegasus

The operation now underway has been in the works for several months, and includes 3 significant landings plus ancillary operations, all of which are designed to ideally position Allied forces for subsequent operations. The core rationale behind going on a general offensive in the Pacific this early (in a matchup where the Japanese are ably led) is twofold, and that's not counting my general playstyle which tends towards aggressive action.

The first is the desire to take advantage of Wirraway's supreme focus on China. I needed to move quickly to both take advantage of his lack of ground and air forces in the Pacific due to his commitment to China as well as to force him to start defending elsewhere and thus relieve the pressure on the Chinese. The second reason is that I wanted build up on my success against the Empire's oil industry by forcing Wirraway to fight a more active and fuel-consuming naval war.

All that being said, there are certainly many issues that I have to face at this early stage. The first and most obvious is the KB's presence in the Pacific. As I mentioned previously, I have prepared the Allied carrier fleet (and support) as best I can for a potential clash and I think I have a short window of time where I can have decent odds against it. If the KB comes charging in, I am willing to have that showdown here and now.

Assault shipping has also proven to be a huge issue, especially with the multiple landing operations I have prepared. Both the Tabiteuea and the New Caledonia invasions will thus be done with huge numbers of xAPs instead of APs, and I will be leveraging ample naval support to hopefully make up the difference. MacArthur with the Southwest Pacific HQ will personally lead the landings on New Caledonia while Nimitz himself will lead the Tabiteuea invasion with the Pacific Ocean HQ.

The final big issue to contend with is the distinct potential for a Japanese counteroffensive. To that end, I have made sure to arrange significant support in terms of follow up forces where necessary and the setting up of interlocking bases. As you can see in the image posted on the prior post, this includes covert insertion of Marine Raider and support elements over the past few weeks to set up remote outposts that can now be quickly developed into key supporting bases.