The Italian Job 2- Gen.Hoepner(J)-vs.-Mc3744

[kaiser73]

I didn't say to evacuate Burma. I proposed to evacuate the air squadrons. Keep the land forces there.
you don't need to defend the airfields in Mandalay to defend Burma. Just develope the airfields south of Rangoon to lvl 4. When he will try something (not before 43 anyway) you will have many airfields to use for your aircrafts and he won't be able to close all down.

LR Cap makes you lose pilots by operational losses so it's not an option for defending an airfield for long times.

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/15/42

Finally Nanoumea fell. Altough my men were stuck in the crowd ( i know it's not possible to fulfill an island with 50000 men fighting each other, but
if you defend an atoll with one division, i'm forced to use at least 2 full divs to defeat you!), they managed, with the help of the
bombers of the carriers and some warships, to force the enemy to show the white flag. More 15,000 americans in the bag:-)
Now the 18th and the Imperial are moving towards Truk, where they'll rest for one month.
2 carrier divs will stay one more week in those waters to cover the loading ops at Nanoumea, while the 1st Div is aready moving towards Truk


Today he bombed Mytikyna at daylight with his heavists. The base is closed:-( I'm moving my fighters through all burma in order not to let him get any easy victory.
He decided to take Akyab back. 4 units are moving from Chandupur on the coastal trail towards Akyab. No way to stop him now

At Daily waters more nightbombings...10 oscars destroyed:-(((( No way to LRCAP and ambush him-_-''

In China ( see map ) he's moving more units towards Chentgu. My armies are moving back from Lanchow, while in the central front i'm reorganizing my units to engage again his at Ichang.

In PI more bombings at Manila. In one week we'll resume the attacks with the 25th army ( 4 divisions and 1 bde)






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Ground combat at Nanumea

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 37828 troops, 360 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 10963 troops, 47 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 9 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Nanumea base !!!



Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
PBY Catalina: 4 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
940 casualties reported
Guns lost 16

Allied ground losses:
16526 casualties reported ))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Guns lost 64

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/16/42

Another night of bombings over Daily. My oscars on night cap performed very bad, and did not bother the allied mission.
10 oscars destroyed at Daily, all on the ground.
Mandalay has been saved by a night thunderstorm over Diamond.....

In China everything is on the move. 2 new divisions are moving towards the central front, while my 2 armies are getting back to Sian from Lanchow.

In Burma it's now clear that he wants akyab. 5 units are moving there.

nothing else to report.



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Night Air attack on Daly Waters , at 35,90

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 17

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 32
LB-30 Liberator x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 4 destroyed, 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
LB-30 Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 8

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 6000 feet
3 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 6000 feet
6 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
22 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
4 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Gen.Hoepner]

ah, forgot to tell you:

BB Yamashiro is now safe!
30 sys, 10 flt, 0 fire
disbanded at Kwalajein with 2 ARs[:D]

Few days and it will be sent back to Tokyo.

It's already been substituted by BB Fuso which is already moving from Tokyo to Truk after 4 months of repairs[8D]

[1275psi]

how many resourses have you got out of darwin so far?

and how's the oil situation?

Keep hammering away - killing divisions on worthless rocks is the way to go!

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/17/42

What a dramatic day!
70 oscars destroyed on the ground. 15 IJAAF pilots killed in their barracks. Mandalay and Daily Waters closed to any air operation. I'm ready to cry.
He threw everything he had, and he has a lot of everything!
Luckly all my zeros were resting and refitting in backward bases, but the pounch has been really hard.
My oscars at Mandalay and Daily were on Night Cap....this strategy does not pay[:(]. 3 sentais are completely depleted now and my oscar pool is already empty. Gotta take them back and downgrade back to Nates and train them back in china....the war is getting difficult[:(]
Now he should try again to daylight bomb those AF in order to keep them shut forever.
My zeros in Burma are LRCAPPING mandalay from Mouleim and Rangoon, while the oscars are patrolling only rangoon.
At Darwin i have 4 daitais of Zeros LRCapping Daily...let's hope cause 6 hexes of LRCAP does encrease a lot the fatigue levels...
He now has wellingtons....so far so bad[:@]

In China everything is getting ready for the new offensive. 4 more days and we'll begin ( gotta wait for my units to be redeployed)

In Central Pac i'm still loading my units at Nanoumea, while the rest of the RAG army is going towards Truk and Kwalajein.

In The screenshot you can see the Oil_res situation.
At Darwin there are no resources in this Map ( Andrew's one ).

What else to say? In May he will be able to upgrade all his British planes....in Burma it will be a miracle if i can hold him for 1 more month. It's impossible to keep my AFs open....well...probably the old strategy to place my zeros at Mandalay and Rangoon could stop him for a while...but as we've seen the night bombings were a costant drain...but these daylight bombings are a NUKE!![:o]
It's amazing how many 4E bombers he can master so early in the war....there should not be any of them left in England!!!!!!!!!!

ok...let's stop complaining....

The only good news of the day is a Ducth sub sunk at Rangoon while mining...



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Night Air attack on Akyab , at 30,28


Allied aircraft
Lysander I x 12
Wirraway x 7
Mohawk IV x 8
Hawk 75A x 9
Blenheim IF x 7
Vildebeest IV x 18
I-153c x 34


No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:

These night training mission have been a costant since the beginning of the war in Burma--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Day Air attack on Daly Waters , at 35,90

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 5
B-17E Fortress x 78
LB-30 Liberator x 35

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 13 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 6 damaged
LB-30 Liberator: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
225 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

Airbase hits 19
Airbase supply hits 20
Runway hits 160[:@][:(]

Aircraft Attacking:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Magwe , at 31,29


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 67


Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
33 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 29

Each AF north of Rangoon is now closed[:o]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Mandalay , at 33,29

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 12[&:]
B-17E Fortress x 74[X(]
LB-30 Liberator x 52[:@]

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 20 destroyed
Ki-15 Babs: 1 destroyed
Ki-46-II Dinah: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 4 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 6 damaged
LB-30 Liberator: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
126 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Airbase hits 20
Airbase supply hits 12
Runway hits 180

Hope you can imagine my frustration

[PzB74]

You're doing well, so don't despair over a few Oscars....
Remember to go with the flow - not against it [;)]

Pull your air units out of Mandalay, leave a few crack Zeros to hit the Allied bombers now and then.
Shouldn't be a problem if you leave enough engineers to keep the place open. Add a few AA units and don't look back.
Getting rid of the bomber menace from India was on of the reasons why I invaded. If you don't there will be consequences!
The British won't be strong enoug to threaten you in Mandalay for years anyway - so now get the he11 outta Dodge [:-]

[Tom Hunter]

I am with PzB. He concentraited his bombers to get superiority early in the war in a place he knows you will not fight for, because frankly its not that important.

Let him win the air and keep building up the forts. Go fight him somewhere else.

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/18/42

Today the IJN tried to support its comrades of the IJA. 6 zero daitais went of LRCAP at Mandalay and Daily waters. The results haven't been so good.
From Rangoon, Mouleim and Darwin my brave navy pilots engaged a desperate fight against hordes of american and british 4Engines monsters.
We managed to shoot down 30 bastards, but the loss of 16 experienced crews were a damned high price to pay. More 18 oscars were destroyed on the ground ( were damaged since yesterday).
Today i won't CAP over Mandalay or Daily. My guys need some rest. Probably he will go for Rangoon at Night...we'll see.
However i agree with PzB and Tom: i can go on! and i WILL!

In China he pulled out another unit from Chungking....wonder if he sees my plans...


At Nanoumea every men is loaded on APs. Will go to Truk and rest a bit.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Daly Waters , at 35,90

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
A6M3 Zero x 4

Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 5
B-17E Fortress x 67
LB-30 Liberator x 33

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 5 destroyed, 17 damaged
A6M3 Zero: 2 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 5 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 6 destroyed, 23 damaged
LB-30 Liberator: 4 destroyed, 20 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
61 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 58


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Magwe , at 31,29


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 64


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
29 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 39

Aircraft Attacking:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Mandalay , at 33,29

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 9
B-17E Fortress x 57
LB-30 Liberator x 44

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 6 destroyed, 12 damaged
Ki-15 Babs: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 5 destroyed
Ki-46-II Dinah: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 4 destroyed, 1 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 4 destroyed, 27 damaged
LB-30 Liberator: 3 destroyed, 14 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
70 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 79

Aircraft Attacking:

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/19/42

Ok, i'll try today to make an overview of the whole pacific theatre.

Let's start from Burma:

After my ambush of yesterday over Mandalay ( that caused 30 casualities among his 4E bombers and many more damaged planes) he switched
back to night bombing. A bad thunderstorm over Diamond forced down his monsters. Probably the target was Rangoon, cause it's now my main airbase in the area after the enclosure of Mandalay ( which is still 98 run and 90 airbase damage)
His Blenheims and SB2s attacked Magwe and Mitykina during the morning but found a bad surprise:-)
17 zeros based at Rangoon were patrolling the skies of Magwe. 55 Blenheims appeared beneath the clouds at 5,000 feet.
14 of them did not come home and many more were damaged. not a single zero lost in this wonderful mission!

Day Air attack on Magwe , at 31,29

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 46

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 14 destroyed, 6 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
4 casualties reported

Runway hits 4

Probably tomorrow he'll try again to hit Rangoon duing nighttime. I've moved 30 oscars back to Reaghen while i left my zeros there and at Mouleim in order not to be caught
uncovered if he tries the daylight gamble! Think the last 2 days were a bad awaking for him after the last 2 months of easy bombing missions!
The 55th Division is moving from Singapore towards Rangoon, while 3 more little base forces are getting to Bankok from Tokyo: they will be deployed in the area between Bankok and Rangoon.

CHINA:

I got myself to blame for a stupid mistake. Today one of the units that managed to flank Lanchow and push his units back 2 weeks ago, tried to get to Lanchow crossing the river.....an unwanted shock attack that destroyed completely one of my Ind.Bde, but above all a shock attack that showed him clearly that my divisions are getting back from Lanchow...((
But my plans go on however. 1700 Assault points will remain at Lanchow, enough to block him there.In 10 days i should be able to move my divisions on the trails towards Chungking. My central armies are moving towards Ichang...hope he'll eat the bait!:-)


NORTHERN OZ

For sure the ambush of yesterday at Daily wasn't a walk in the park for him. Today his heaviests did not move, probably he's licking his wounds at alice Spring!
Daily is again operative. Moved in 2 zero daitais and one oscar sentai. 90 planes in total are ordered to CAP this key base!
He'll have to go back to nightbombing if he's not looking for a slaughter!
the 4th Mix regiment is moving from Darwin to Daily in order to fortify my flanks ( that are now held by 2 tank regiments)


PI

My 25th army at Manila is only waiting for one more eng regiment to come from Exmouth in order to start the final assault.
He's clearly out of supplies, cause he's not repairing the damages to the AF anymore! GOOD! I'll move 3 more sally sentais here in order to have 200 level bombers and 36 dive bombers to support the final attack!

CENTRAL PAC/SOLOMONS/ NG

I decided to go for Noumea and New Caldeonia when my 4 divisions will be rested. They are now at 250 out of 400 assault value, which means that they'll need at least one month of rest at Truk. In the meanwhile i'll redeploy my CVs and try to go for a long range raid south of New Caledonia.
Loungaville is a secondary objective, cause i hope he's concentrating his main forcers at Noumea. I really hope he'll engage with his CVs to defend this primary target!
Another possibility would be to leave my Divisions in reserve between Kwalajein,Truk and Rabaul, ready to come in and simulate a BIG invasion force composed by 150 AP/AKs moving towards Lungaville and Noumea, covered by CVs and my BBs....should be enough to force him to come in with his CVs while not risking my precious crack land forces....gotta think about it
I really like this idea....a decoy invasion force...but i need to find a base which is vital for him...a base that he cannot efford to lose....so that he will call his CVs.... PH? Midway? Attu Island? Lungaville? Noumea? Palmyra?

[Alikchi2]

You know, I would be pretty scared if I saw 150 APs/AKs headed Pearl Harbor way [X(] An excellent idea!!

[AmiralLaurent]

ORIGINAL: Alikchi

You know, I would be pretty scared if I saw 150 APs/AKs headed Pearl Harbor way [X(] An excellent idea!!

I agree. But PH is a long way from everything else so those 150 transports will have to sail for one month to go there and one more month to return. So you have to do without them for two months.

On the other hand, US CVs will very probably defend PH.... if they are in the area and not in New Zealand. And if your opponent is not confident in PH defenses.

[Gen.Hoepner]

PH would be the ideal target for a decisive battle. I'd say that considering the naval activity i saw in Palmyra since the beginning of the invasion of Canton Island, that island is heavily defended too and he would fight for it, but surely in the central pac the real BIG target is PH. What i'm a bit concerned about is the range of his patrol aircrafts.If i'd go directly for Pealr from Truk and Kwalajein he could spot the decoy TFs between Jonston Island and Kwalajein. In this case, if i was him, i'd wait with my CVs one hex east of PH, staying in the range of my LBbombers and fighters. It would be very risky because at this stage of the war he can master hundreds of good fighters and medium bombers ( b-25,b-26 and so on ) that could really ruin my day. I'm pretty sure he has more planes between Palmyra and PH than between Lungaville and Noumea. I would go for Lungaville or Noumea but i'm pretty sure he has not moved his CVs from PH in the last 2 months ( i have 25 subs scouting the area). So looking for a decisive battle near Noumea would be a bit risky because he could not efford to move back his CVs from PH to New Caledonia in time and above all undetected ( i have 4 chutais of Mavis and Emilies between Canton,Pago Pago, Tarawa and Kwaleijn).
If he' not crazy ( and he's not !) he knows tha situation of my 4 divisions in central pac. He has seen their combat values in the last fights on Nanoumea and he knows they are fatigued and halved in strenght and morale. To be really a decoy operation , a bait, he must believe i have the means to threat his main bases. I'd need more divisions....and those divisions are now sieging Manila, so i must finish the manila siege before going for this new operation.
And what about Midway? i really do not know if he has fortified it or not. It has not been close enough to my operational center in the last months so none of my subs has patrolled its waters....mmmm....
No, ok, Palmyra or PH. These are the choices.
I will now retire most of my subs, leaving only some glen-equipped ones between PH and Palmyra, just to be able to spot any big TFs moving south from PH. I have tons of APs/AKs between Truk and Kwalajein, enough to create this decoy fake invasion force. Let's say i would be ready in....mmm...1 month? ...well, enough however to think twice about it:-)

Thanks for comments guys, really appreciated!

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/20/42

Yes: he's licking his wounds with his heaviests!No attacks at Daily, just recon. My fighters are patrolling again those skies...if he wants to hit me he has to go at night!
In fact, at Rangoon he went at night. 5 planes destroyed on the ground, but Mandalay is slowing repairing and tomorrow should be operative again.
Rangoon and Mouleim are too well defended to go during the day!

In China the first division ( the 61st) entered at Ichang today, so stopping his movements and forcing to defend the place, while 2 armies are massing between Sian and Lanchow, ready to march todards chungking.

nothing more to report.

stay tuned

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Rangoon , at 29,33

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6
LB-30 Liberator x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
LB-30 Liberator: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
91 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
3 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Post Scriptum:

I read one of my previous post and found a good note about Palmyra.
He can always not engage his CVs and transfer all his wildcats and SDBs on the island.....this could transform the whole operation into a disaster!......i cannot decide. If i go for Lungaville/Noumea he won't have the time to do that, but, as stated before, he could decide not to engage for New caledonia because of the distance from PH......

Any thoughts mates?

[Tom Hunter]

If he moves the air groups off the CVs and you take the island then its pretty bad for him because the groups that come back will come in several months, and start with XP in the 50s.

Its true that he can load the CVs up with VMF units instead but either way it weakens him a lot.

If he did that one of two things will happen:

He wins the battle with your CVs and your happy time in the Pacific is over

He loses, and loses the air groups, which fatally weakens him in the Central Pacific opening the door to further conquest by Japan.

If you do go for Palmyra and find his airgroups there you might bring along some small invasion forces to sweep up some of the smaller undefended islands in the area just to prevent him from getting his air groups away. You can't trap the long legged planes but some of the single engine type will get caught.

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/21/42

The report isn't that interesting today. He resumed the night bombings both at Rangoon and at Daily. 5 planes lost on the ground. The same old story.

While in the pacific the operations to take back my ships and my divisions to Truk are taking quite a lot of time, my interests are back to China.
Everything is getting ready for the new big operation to move this front: codename BLUE HEART.
As stated before the aim is to hit the very brain of the Chinese defences: Chungking. There are 2 decoy fronts that are sucking his forces and his attentions far from Chungking. He has moved to Chengtu ( where i have 20,000 men defending the base) a total of 11 units. The other decoy front is Ichang. Here i'm simulating another big effort with my 11th Army, pinning down his 34 units defending the central front. He has attacked today my division that entered yesterday in the Ichang perimeter...the result was great! 160,000 chinese could not dislodge 40,000 japanese very low with supplies[:D]
Now more 4 divisions will support this decoy army at Ichang....good!
At the same time 11 divisions under the command of the 1st and the 13th Army are concentrating on the railway north of Sian. In 1 week they should be ready to start the long march on the mountains that take to Chungking. It's gonna be a decisive effort in China.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Ichang

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 153777 troops, 601 guns, 57 vehicles

Defending force 38473 troops, 463 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
1806 casualties reported
Guns lost 77

Allied ground losses:
2135 casualties reported
Guns lost 62
Vehicles lost 2

[Alikchi2]

[X(] This operation could knock China out of the war... your seizure of the north has put you in an excellent strategic position. It takes forever to march over those mountains, I hope he spots you late!

[Sharkosaurus rex]

The trusty W key will give you away. I'm sure nearly every player uses it in this situation.

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/22/42

Heavy night attacks at Rangoon and Daily waters.20 planes left on the ground:-( 27 zeros are back at Mandalay that is now open again!
His land forces are almost ready to get Akyab back. Will lose the base at the first assault.
In China he's licking his wounds at Ichang: no more attacks today after the great performance of yesterday!
At Truk the first carrier division arrived. Disbanded in port will now be refilled with new planes and pilots and wait for the other 2 divisions in order to start the new carrier operation in the south pacific.
I haven't decided yet where to attack. Palmyra or Noumea?...really do not know. No signs of his carriers.....they are probably waiting at PH.

Everything is quite on my western border. No more allied naval activities in Indian Ocean after my last raids to his convoys. The only thing to report is a recon activity from Perth to Exmouth.Nothing to worry about for the moment



-

[Gen.Hoepner]

ORIGINAL: Sharkosaurus rex

The trusty W key will give you away. I'm sure nearly every player uses it in this situation.

I know i know[:(][:(]....but i must try. I only hope he will forget to use it with his attention taken away from China by my next decoy operation in the pacific...