Defeat into Victory - Godefroy(A) vs Deaniks(J) - finish

[godefroycz]

April 30, 1942

At Luganville, the situation calmed down. My vessels retreated under the protection of aircraft at Noumea and the Japanese aircraft carrier disappeared. It was a small aircraft carrier with one Kate squadron, so the enemy probably doesn't want to risk it either.

Everything is going very well in China. In the Yellow phase of Operation Peacock, units of the 20th and 26th Army Groups attacked in the direction of Ichang. This is a very risky move across the water and I was worried about how it would turn out. Yesterday I learned of the death of the Queen and I no longer checked the unit movements and the turn closed. Fortunately, it turned out well. Ichang was captured just at the river crossing and the Japanese fled in panic.

Ground combat at Ichang (83,48)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 122092 troops, 730 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 4029

Defending force 23993 troops, 136 guns, 76 vehicles, Assault Value = 815

Allied adjusted assault: 4515

Japanese adjusted defense: 572

Allied assault odds: 7 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied forces CAPTURE Ichang !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
9143 casualties reported
Squads: 256 destroyed, 95 disabled
Non Combat: 252 destroyed, 114 disabled
Engineers: 28 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 59 (29 destroyed, 30 disabled)
Vehicles lost 39 (36 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Units retreated 6

Allied ground losses:
8035 casualties reported
Squads: 279 destroyed, 892 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 90 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 49 disabled
Guns lost 49 (1 destroyed, 48 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

[godefroycz]

Summary April 1942

And we have another monthly summary. I think I'm not bad at the end of April, even if there aren't many significant changes.

Burma and Malaya
The Japanese completed their occupation of Burma. The only mystery is the fact that they left Myistyina unoccupied. I don't really understand this move. The Imperial Guard Division has turned just ahead of it and is retreating south along the railway. The British Air Force attacks Japanese units and bases. The Japanese have no planes here.

In the middle of the month, the Japanese finally broke the resistance of Singapore's defenders. I think it's only because they ran out of stock. This is apparently a key factor in this game, as the Japanese now have little time left for further major operations. In addition, difficult battles still await them in other places.



Philippines and DEI

Nothing has changed at all in the Philippines. The main forces are surrounded at Clark Field and Bataan. The southern and central Philippines are in Japanese hands. The Japanese also occupied most of Java and smaller islands in eastern Indonesia. In Java, the strongly fortified Bandoeng is held, which is also in mountainous terrain. He thus holds back some of the forces advancing on Batavia.

The decisive battle for Palembang is also approaching. The Japanese have four divisions here so far and more are probably on the way.



Pacific
The Japanese advance on Hawaii is now at a stalemate. The Japanese attacked several times and were always repulsed. Obviously, they will need reinforcements. I decided to unsettle the opponent a bit and since Noumea is already very well occupied, I will land in Efate and Luganville and start building bases there. I can probably say that the Noumea - Suva - Pago line is sufficiently reinforced and a Japanese attack would take several months.



China
The previous Japanese advance towards Sian was halted and, on the contrary, the opponent was threatened with encirclement and was forced to withdraw. The Chinese launched Operation Peacock, which is currently proceeding according to plan. The cities of Nanyang and Ichang were captured and the Japanese came under pressure. After a long time, they used the air force, and you can tell in the open terrain around Nanyang. I have to think about whether to move planes from India and make China a regular front or wait for now.



Overall, air and naval combat are now very limited. The only reasonable reason I can think of is the massive training of Japanese pilots. On my end, the training is automatic, as I don't have much use for the planes other than scouting. Plus, I massively upgrade ships.


The overall overview


Allied ship losses

[godefroycz]

May 1 - 2, 1942

The new month did not start positively. USS Tresher is sunk by submarine I-7 off Hawaii. The Japanese are becoming more active over Burma and I am watching reconnaissance planes over Akyab and Chittagong. I don't know what that means yet. The British attempted to attack the oil fields above Magwe, but the attack was a disaster and several dozen aircraft were shot down. I can train for the next two months.
The Japanese tried to attack in Palembang, but it is obvious that 4 divisions will not be enough for this. I think it will be a long battle.

Ground combat at Palembang (48,91)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 51439 troops, 477 guns, 175 vehicles, Assault Value = 1590

Defending force 29723 troops, 512 guns, 263 vehicles, Assault Value = 1027

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 4

Japanese adjusted assault: 415

Allied adjusted defense: 2680

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 6 (fort level 4)

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

Japanese ground losses:
4621 casualties reported
Squads: 18 destroyed, 415 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 56 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 54 disabled
Guns lost 31 (1 destroyed, 30 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1135 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 51 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 21 (6 destroyed, 15 disabled)

Assaulting units:
38th Division
Yokosuka 2nd SNLF
12th Division
29th Division
4th Guards Division
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
9th Base Force

Defending units:
Riouw KNIL Battalion
2nd KNIL Regiment
WS KNIL Territory Regiment
12th Indian Brigade
18th British Division
Barisan KNIL Regiment
2/15 Punjab Battalion
SE Borneo KNIL Battalion
Makassar Garrison Battalion
So.Sumatra Garrison Battalion
Zuid KNIL Battalion
Prajoda Garrison Battalion
11th Indian Division
SSVF Brigade
West Borneo KNIL Bn /1
3rd Heavy AA Regiment
Teloekbetoeng Base Force
2nd ISF Base Force
223 Group RAF
Bengkalis Base Force
Palembang Base Force
272/273rd Bty 80th AT Gun Regiment
North Borneo Base Force
24th NZ Pioneer Coy
5th Field Regiment

[godefroycz]

May 3 - 5, 1942

It is interesting that the air force did not operate in China at all, but now hundreds of aircraft have appeared. Nanyang is massively bombed. In some raids I lose up to 300 men. This is unbearable. I quickly try to bring in reinforcements to push the Japanese out of the city.
The Japanese have sent reinforcements to Medan and it seems that the base will soon fall. I hope to damage a lot of industry.

Air losses (J:A) 3:3

[godefroycz]

May 6 - 9, 1942

There is not much activity during this period. The Japanese are strengthening their positions and for now I'm waiting and building some reserves. I don't want to give up territory without a fight anymore. On the last day, the Japanese created huge "meat grinders". They tried to attack Palembang again and most notably attacked Clark Field for the first time. I was very curious about that and wanted to know what my situation was. So far so good. Stocks will be a problem, because of course there aren't many left in mid-May.

Ground combat at Palembang (48,91)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 45559 troops, 456 guns, 160 vehicles, Assault Value = 1378

Defending force 29820 troops, 537 guns, 278 vehicles, Assault Value = 986

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 3

Japanese adjusted assault: 219

Allied adjusted defense: 2515

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 11 (fort level 3)

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

Japanese ground losses:
5638 casualties reported
Squads: 47 destroyed, 444 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 50 disabled
Guns lost 43 (3 destroyed, 40 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1099 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 94 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 36 (4 destroyed, 32 disabled)

Ground combat at Clark Field (79,76)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 66013 troops, 577 guns, 352 vehicles, Assault Value = 2222

Defending force 54329 troops, 738 guns, 527 vehicles, Assault Value = 2096

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 379

Allied adjusted defense: 6688

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 17 (fort level 2)

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

Japanese ground losses:
14142 casualties reported
Squads: 115 destroyed, 791 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 86 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 82 disabled
Guns lost 103 (7 destroyed, 96 disabled)
Vehicles lost 30 (1 destroyed, 29 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1448 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 181 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 37 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 31 disabled
Guns lost 21 (3 destroyed, 18 disabled)

Air losses (J:A) - 15:7

[godefroycz]

May 10 - 11, 1942

Not much enemy activity. The only thing I see as a problem is the rather heavy losses in the raids on Nanyang. The last AVG planes try but the Japanese are outnumbered.
USS Narhwal and USS Nautilus, converted to transport submarines, brought the first supplies to Buna. There is a fairly strong garrison here from the troops that retreated from Port Moresby. The Japanese haven't been able to capture the base yet, and it doesn't cost me anything to reinforce it. I could use it later.

Air losses (J:A) 21:0

[godefroycz]

May 12 - 13, 1942

Still virtually no enemy activity. The only inconvenience is the raids on Nanyang. But I managed to create a complete encirclement of the Japanese units near the city. I have about 5000 AV here, there is about 1000 AV in every direction that help could come from, and I can quickly move reinforcements from the city at any time. I don't have much suplies, so I'll passively wait for the Japanese to eat canned goods and drink sake. I still have a backup of 1000 AV in Sian in case something goes wrong.

Air losses (J:A) 23:5

[godefroycz]

May 14 - 17, 1942

The Japanese land the 5th Division at Merak, Java, apparently with the aim of first conquering all of Java and eventually solving Palembang. Just like in Singapore, I manage to wear down the enemy without trying. The attack on Palembang is again unsuccessful.

Ground combat at Palembang (48,91)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 51176 troops, 551 guns, 768 vehicles, Assault Value = 1532

Defending force 29836 troops, 546 guns, 292 vehicles, Assault Value = 929

Japanese adjusted assault: 608

Allied adjusted defense: 1732

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
5259 casualties reported
Squads: 17 destroyed, 407 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 39 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 86 disabled
Guns lost 51 (2 destroyed, 49 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
795 casualties reported
Squads: 18 destroyed, 34 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Guns lost 46 (10 destroyed, 36 disabled)

The attacks on Batavia and Clark Field also turn out the same, and Japanese losses mount.

Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 32081 troops, 274 guns, 47 vehicles, Assault Value = 1056

Defending force 22096 troops, 145 guns, 81 vehicles, Assault Value = 504

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 596

Allied adjusted defense: 763

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
2611 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 235 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 39 disabled

Allied ground losses:
601 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 68 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled

Ground combat at Clark Field (79,76)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 57890 troops, 570 guns, 351 vehicles, Assault Value = 1534

Defending force 53184 troops, 735 guns, 527 vehicles, Assault Value = 1954

Japanese adjusted assault: 399

Allied adjusted defense: 3979

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 9 (fort level 2)

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

Japanese ground losses:
9051 casualties reported
Squads: 124 destroyed, 395 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 125 disabled
Engineers: 25 destroyed, 26 disabled
Guns lost 78 (33 destroyed, 45 disabled)
Vehicles lost 36 (7 destroyed, 29 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
953 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 147 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 37 (3 destroyed, 34 disabled)

The Allies land troops on Tanna, the last enemy-held base in the New Hebrides.
Air losses (J:A) - 9:3
It's not much in four days. On May 15th, casualties on both sides were even 0. Enemy activity in the air is now very little.

[godefroycz]

May 18 - 19, 1942

Intel has been giving me information for a long time that at least 3 divisions are moving to Midway. Then they were going to Lahaina, so I wanted to intervene. I counted on the fact that they would have an escort and simply risked it. What's sad is that two large CVs are not even able to damage one medium and one small. 31 bombers went through CAP and not a single hit.
USS Yorktown will not be salvageable. USS Saratoga is doing pretty well, cruising at 21 knots, and I can try to pull her out of enemy range.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Lihue at 179,102

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 74 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 25
B5N2 Kate x 14
D3A1 Val x 29

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 4 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 3 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 6 damaged
D3A1 Val: 2 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Saratoga, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Smith, Bomb hits 1

Morning Air attack on TF, near Lihue at 179,106

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 46
E8N2 Dave x 2
F1M2 Pete x 12

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 49
SBD-3 Dauntless x 56

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 16 destroyed, 11 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna
CV Junyo
CVL Zuiho
CL Jintsu

Ait losse (J:A) - 25:58

[godefroycz]

Maybe it's a mistake, but I accepted the Japanese side's proposal for a peaceful solution. It is true that the Allied side is not doing very well at sea, but the Japanese seem to be running out of steam when it comes to raw materials. Virtually all refineries and oil fields have been damaged, and the fate of Palembang remains open.
For me, it was a valuable experience of a battle with a human opponent, and since I want to try something new, we will agree on some variation by Andy Mac.
I am surprised that in half a year AAR had 6000 views. I didn't even expect that, so I'll probably continue to write another AAR.
I'm opening the AAR now for deaniks and maybe he can contribute some comment or summary.

[godefroycz]

For completeness, I am adding the Operation Peacock plan. The first two phases were 100% fulfilled. Unfortunately, the last one did not start, but I optimistically think that it would also be successful.

OPERATION „PEACOCK“

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE

The strategic objective of the operation is to prevent the Japanese from further weakening positions in China and transferring troops to the Pacific. I know from intelligence that at least seven divisions have been transferred from the continent and deployed in the fighting in the south. I'd definitely rather have them in China than anywhere else. Of course the best would be to force the Japanese to deploy some of them back in China. Since they were already "paid for" it would be a win-win situation. The operation will be divided into several successive phases.

PHASE „RED“

The objective of the first phase is to capture the city of Nanyang, with a subsequent possible advance to Sinyang or Loayng. I am not yet strong enough for a large-scale offensive in the lowland terrain full of roads, and I will not go on any adventure. I expect the enemy to bring in reserves from the Kaifeng, Ichang, and Hankow area as the troops southeast of Sian are in danger of being cut off.

The attack will be conducted from two directions. The 4th and 24th Army Groups (1400 AV) will attack from Sian, and the 2nd, 3rd, 32nd and 33rd Army Groups (2400 AV) will attack from Ankang. Nanyang will be bypassed from the south to prevent the enemy from withdrawing in that direction, and at the same time have the attack flanked so that I will be aware of possible reinforcements in time.

Further actions will be adapted to the situation. We must not forget that if the Japanese start to withdraw from Sian, they will be pursued by other units of about 3500 AV. In total, I have 7300 AV in the area.



PHASE „YELLOW“

This part will start on D+7. As I hope the Japanese might withdraw some troops from Ichang, I will allow them plenty of time to do so. The second phase will be very simple. Units concentrated at Changteh will move to the river southwest of Ichang. Surprisingly, they cross it and occupy the city as quickly as possible.

Units of the 20th and 26th Army Groups are ready for the operation. Total 3500 AV. After capturing the city they will not advance further as the terrain is not good for me and Hankow and Wuchang are heavily fortified and can be supplied by ships.
The 26th Army Group will fortify in Ichang and the 20th Army Group will move as quickly as possible to Kukong.

PHASE „WHITE“

The last phase of the operation will be launched 30 days after the capture of Ichang, as I will need the forces of the 20th Army Group. If I want to force the enemy to do something, I have to threaten some important objective. And that destination will be Hong Kong. The attack will again be conducted from two directions.

The 12th, 19th, 20th and 27th Army Groups will advance from Kukong. Strength 4700 AV. Unfortunately, not all forces will be able to be deployed near Hong Kong. Moreover, I don't expect him to be defended by any major force. Everything will depend on the moment of surprise. Some troops will protect our left flank at Kanhsien, and if the opportunity arises, they will occupy the city. A significant part of the troops will secure the right flank by besieging Canton. The rest will try to conquer Hong Kong.

The other direction from Liuchow will contain units of the 1st and 35th Army Groups and some units of the Central Reserve. Total 1950 AV. A smaller part will be provided by Pakhoi and Kwangchowan ports. The remainder will advance to Wuchow, and if the enemy retire from there, occupy the town, and proceed to Canton, where they will join up with the first party.




This is the basic operational plan written on April 4, 1942. We will see how much of it can be fulfilled.

GEN Chiang Kai-shek