Speedy vs Swift - Jap perspective. Fight to the death

[DuckofTindalos]

Well, he did lose about 20 of them at Wake, so that might present a problem...

[Speedysteve]

I have brought some. Forgotten the exact number. I think 6-10. Will check when I get home. If not my ships will be the minesweepers whilst the men disembark [;)]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

D-Day is fast approaching at PM..............

I expect landfall tomorrow or the day after.

BNetties from Rabaul damaged the airfield again today. NO Allied planes exist at the base. Excellent.

A Sally and Helen Sentai have flown into Lae and will soften up the troops tomorrow.

KB is moving a further 60 miles NW to provide support.

For the viewers, the invasion fleet escorts consist of:

1 x CL
8 x DD
8 x PG/PC
6 x MSW.

Werner's last mail made me laugh:

"Looks like the Armada out there"

My reply:

"Death is coming for you and boy is he hungry"

Werner's reply:

"As an Englishman you of all people should know what can happen to the Armada"

[:D]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Yes!

PM is mine. My recon have over-estimated! [:)]

There are 3 brigades there and 2 BF's. In my mind there is no way they can withstand 6 divisions/brigades worth + extras.

I'm now thinking Werner will not move against me here knowing it is a lost cause. As such i'm presuming the next major scene will be Noumea........

Anyhow I have to take PM first.

Initial waves spotted a lot of mines. The CA Kako + DD Hatsukaze and Kawakaze hit mines (MK16 and sub laid VH2's). All are in 40's SYS and flooding...........

I anticipate taking the rat hole withn 4 days.

Steven

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

An interesting day of mine clearing, shelling and unloading at PM. 3/4 of the men are ashore now and have already encircled the place. The enemy there knows he is outnumbered and has withdrawn all of his men into the town itself. It's going to involve a lot of house to house fighting.

As mentioned though the outcome is not in doubt as Werner admits himself. In some ways it would have been nice if there were more Allies there = more POW's [:D]

Provided all the men unload tomorrow I will order the storming of the town.

It seems Werner is not responding at all. No air raids or ship TF's spotted. Interestingly though I don't believe he has spotted KB! Logically he would assume it is there but maybe (if he hasn't spotted it) he will atempt to intervene. We can but live in hope.

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Burma -

To keep the ruse going the 33rd has moved to within 60 miles of Kohima. Since Werner has moved men from Ledo (destination unknown) the 55th is advancing on Ledo itself. The dense jungles mean slow movement (12 miles covered so far)

About 1/3 of the main combat troops have been airlifted from Rangoon to Akyab so far with no response from Werner. Good good. Let's keep it that way.

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Sub war -

A tit for tat day today. I-168 is patrolling 360 miles NE of Canton Island. At daybreak the submerged boat heard the approach of a single small ship! Next thing the commander knows the sea is erupting around him with DC explosions! The trained commander does not panic though and silently evades his attacker.

The ship remains searching for I-168 though. Time for payback! The commander stealthily rises to periscope depth and spots his assailant! The APD Stringham. 2 stern tubes open fire...........and the fish miss! To prevent further risk the boat slips away into the day on a SW course..........

SS Growler is detected today after battering an AK carrying supplies ot Paramushiro! The heavily listing AK is ordered to Etoforo Jima. Unlikely she'll make it. An ASW TF is despatched from Japan to hunt for the scum.

Regards,

Steven

[Rob Brennan UK]

Congratulations on PM ! looks too easy for words .. nice going. hope he does send in fleet however i wouldn't expect him to after he got drubbed at wake earlier. All you have to do naw is keep PM open, easier said than done if he's upgraded cooktown to a level 5. Although as allies getting engineers there is a royal pain the arse and needs a lot of forward planning to achieve ( i forgot in one game and paid for it ) .

Whats next planned ? woth 6 divs at PM maybe noumea ? India is a long way away for now. however the akyab trick looks rather interesting. hope it works as when you het to the rail lines he will be in all sorts of trouble. that said i'd be suprised if he doesnt have some a/c on recon in the area even if its older dutch stuff ( some have 1/2 decent range ) . any plans on building akyab up as a support airfield ? would really scare the RN off to ceylon at least. Good for sallies and helens too. can hit the big targets round calcutta from there.

all in all a good game for the japs , well played !

Good luck for the future too[:D]

[Speedysteve]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the comments Appreciated[:)]

Yes all being well PM will be captured within a day or 2 more. The defenders have been bombed from the air and shelled from the sea for several days running. Since most troops are now ashore a full scale attack will be launched on 17th May. To coincide with this every capital ship in the area is to pummel the defenders wuth a 'rain of steel'. Fingers crossed for the men.

Intel put the odds heavily in my favour 3:1 in my combat troops against his entire defence force!

As you say I don't expect him to come near me at PM now. Werner knows its a lost cause.

As for PM and it's use. I think the eternal debate for both sides. I hate the place for the Allies and Japanese. As the Allies its a thorn in the Japanese side but hard to keep if the Japanese really want it. As the Japanese it needs to be taken else the Allies can push on the New Guiean mainland in 43 but once taken hard to keep as an active base!

As such it is to be used purely as a buffer. Very little will be left there (a large NG unit) initially. In time I may move a construction Bn or 2 to build defences but thats all.

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Future plans -

Case blue phase 2 will commence in the next few days. This will be the consolidation phase of the operation. The Solomans will be taken by light forces whilst the PM fleet moves back to Truk for R & R.

Phase 3 is the taking of Noumea and its environs. I know very little of what Werner has down there but I suspect Noumea will have a lot of men and material. Hopefully his CV's would be there too! The good news is that he has not built up the ports/airfileds in the area = he can't house too many active planes.

The not so good news is that despite relatively light losses for Phase 1 - 3/4 of the divisions at PM have taken 25-33% disablements with the landings and heavy coastal fire. These will need time and R & R at Truk.

It's ok though since within the next week the 38th, 48th Divisions, 65th Brigade will arrive at Truk from Java. These are in good shape and will form the core of the Noumea invasion forces along with PM remnants. If needed the depleted units could also be used and will be sent as a floating reserve.

As to the exact compostion and detailing of what forces go where for Phase 3 I haven't decided that yet. I will formulate that part when the PM section is back at Truk.

Time is of the essence too though. Each day means he is getting stronger. I predict Phase 2 to start in the next few days and for that to end within 2 weeks. Phase 3 will hopefully start within 3-4 weeks.

----------------

Burma -

For me to be successful up there will require luck on my part (Werner not noticing the buildup at Akyab) and if i'm honest a bit of slack work on his part. If those 2 occur and the forces can move from Akyab on to the rail BEFORE he relocates men from Ledo/Kohima. I have a chance.

I also hate Akyab as both the Allies and Japanese. I can be bombing into oblivion by the Allies. I woud like to turn it into a fortress that emitted air superiority. HOWEVER, I feel that IF I expand the place a lot Werner will bomb it since he'll know when the airfield expands etc. I am currently expanind the airfield to sizze 4 to give the place of having the option of handling mediums. Beyond that I am unsure. It will depend on how Werner reacts and if he spots the Akyab build-up.

Once more thanks for your comments and Banzai for my men at PM tomorrow [:)]

Regards,

Steven

[Rob Brennan UK]

sounds like a good plan steven !

Noumea will be interesting. are you planning on hitting it directly or the smaller 2 bases on the same island? also luganville and efate may need to be silenced as well.

I 100% agree on your assesment of PM and akyab . i loathe the places as both sides. [:D][;)]


In a couple of months you will have tonys and tojos, well worth using a load of them to defend akyab and PM .. but right now it qould be a waste of zeros imo. oscars my work in akyab as most RAF fighters cant reach you.

just my 2p

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

The attack at PM went very well today. The Allies had little fight after being shelled by 6 Battleships, 16 Cruisers and 24 Destroyers. The bombing at 10am by Sallies and Helens from LAe was the signal for the attack to begin. It was not without mishap as some areas of the town fought on for the whole day. Nonetheless by nightfall lthe place was generally secure and over 30,000 more Allied men are on the way to the docks to be boarded on ships for destination unknown........

Banzai! Well done men. With PM secure Phase 1 is over. It has gone very well with lower losses than I expected but also fewer Allied casualties than I was hoping for.

Here are my losses:

2 Sallies
1 Helen
-------------
c.2000 soldiers killed.
------------
AP Kyuden lost in PM harbour due to a mine.
PC Shonan MAru #2 lost at Gili Gili due to a mine.

------------
Also the CA Kako, CL Kashima, DD Hatsukaze and DD Yamakaze were damaged by mines but should all reach port ok.

Allied losses:

C.35,000 men
------------
SS Sculpin
SS Seadragon



------------------------------

Annoyingly Werner has noticed that i'm suffering a few op losses with transport aircraft (1-2 a day). I've said well what do you expect with extended supply lines in the South Pacific they are needed.........

Hmm.

------------------

Rob -

I plan to take out Luganville first. I will land almost everything there and build it up to a level 4 airbase. KB will control the sea lanes. Depending on what recon detects in the area i'll either go for the base above Noumea or for it itself. All depends on what Werner has down there.

Regards,

Steven

[Rob Brennan UK]

Congratulations on PM ! yay .. 30k is a good haul imo.

My philosiphy on PM is all or nothing as allies. placing a few brigades is just giving japan some free kills. He did have several divs and CD and arty that could be stuffed into PM, that would have ruined your day completely.

i would imaging noumea is heavly garissoned so luganville first is a good move. maybe americal div and some base units and an arty defence unit. you should roll over that quickly. hopefully he's already built it up to a level 4 for you already [;)]

great game imo .. let the scourge continue !

[&o]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Thanks again Rob. It's nice to know that firstly people do read what I write (and are interested) and secondly to praise what you think i've done. Many thanks [8D]

Luganville will be the first stop with everything for Phase 3. Potentially (depending on the status of the units at the start of phase 3) upto 9 Divisions/Brigades + support. Werner hasn't built up the area at all. A double edged sword really. If it was built up then he could house more planes but I could use the place with mediums straight away. Despite this upto 6 BF's and 1 Aviation Rgt will accompany the invasion fleet. I believe from map intel that Noumea is heavily defended though. Should be a fun fight [8D]

On a sidenote - I know i've changed my style of late with more thoughts/ideas and pics. Is this what you all want?

------------------------

The 18th was relatively quiet but the 19th May 1942 saw the start of Phase 2 of 'Case Blue'. SNLF troops left Truk today bound for the first 3 destinations - Tassafaronga, Lunga and Tulagi. Also engineers and a BF will be disembarked at Lunga to establish a base here. KB will move from covering PM in due course to support these landings.......

-------------------

Annoyingly Werner has hinted by mail about not having enough troops on the border of Burma. I've not risen to the bait. We'll see how it goes. If needed i'll just build Akyab into a fortress and hopefully hold on until Tony's and Tojo's arrive. When they do they will be able to CAP the place until longer range Allied fighters become available.

All being well China will be a pile of Rubble by then. Troops are advancing in China on 2 fronts towards Kweiyang - 120 miles to go. I'll post a pic of that situation tomorrow.

--------------------

Below is the inital objectives of Case Blue Phase 2.

Regards,

Steven

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Whilst phase 2 gears up I have a little spare time so lets focus on China today.

As mentioned before I never orginally planned to take the place but Werner says he was happy for me to play however I want so i've decided to take the place.

As the map shows below I control most of the railway except Homan and Sian.

I have holding forces in place at Yenen, Homan, Hsingyang and garrison forces in the south (which have trapped 3 Chinese units in the jungle. I'll let them starve).

My main axis of advance now is from the Wuchow area; target = Kweiyang. I have approximately 25 units for this thrust (some advancing from the south east others from the east of Kweiyang. 15 of which are division/brigade size) and 2 further divisions are en route from the east of China.

Werners defence of Kweiyang consists of 2 groups. Firstly, 60 miles to the south east of Kweiyang are the former defenders of Wuchow. These will pose no threat to my advance since they have been beaten back repeatedly from Wuchow.

The second and main defence group is based within Kweiyang and is apparently formed of 20 units. I have no idea of the composition of these but I suspect them to be relatively fresh units.

I see this upcoming battle as being the key for China. If I break through at Kweiyang then I will move up through Kunming and Yunan and cut the country in 2.

I see Werner as having a tough choice if he loses the battle of Kweiyang - if he stays put in the rest of the country they will eventually be cut off and will starve or be captured. If he retreats from Homan/Sian etc i'll be able to advance from that axis too......

Thats it for now on China folks.

Any thoughts/comments on how I see China developing?

Regards,

Steven

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Werner tells me he is liking the quiet. It's only gonna be quiet for another few weeks and then we'll see how noisy he likes it around Noumea [:D]

The good thing is that the quiet allows me to do a lot of maintenance type stuff - move supplies to repair some minor damaged oil/resource centres, move engineers to bases across the SRA to build forts, move air groups throughtout the SRA for ASW duty etc.

In total today I created 46 new TF's for moving stuff around! The most since the early days of the war[8D]

-----------------------

Today's sit rep is Burma.

The buildup at Akyab continues with only 4000 more 'load points' for both the 4th Division and IGD to go. The 21st Mixed Brigade is down to 40 and the parent is still the smaller fragment in Rangoon [:@] To prevent the bug i'm not moving it this turn in the hope it will convert to Akyab.

Other than that the 33rd and 55th Divisions are moving on Kohima and Ledo as a decoy which is shown clearly below.

Forts and facilities are being expanded at Rangoon (6 port and 6 airfield), Mandalay (5 airfield) and Akyab (60% on way to level 4 airfield). 2 more experienced Oscar Sentai's were moved into Mandalay.

Both Rangoon and Mandalay have a healthy air complement now:

Rangoon:

2 x A6M3 Daitai
2 x G3M Daitai, 1 x Chutai
1 x Ki -46 Dinah Chutai

Mandalay:

3 x Sally Sentai
2 x Oscar Senati, 2 x Oscar Chutai
2 x Dinah Chutai

--------------

Werner's only response is the occasional bombing of the troops on the road to Kohima and Ledo and minelaying in both Rangoon and Akyab with his subs. Fine by me rather that than them torpedoing my ships.

Regards,

Steven

[Speedysteve]

And here's the latest score as of 22nd May 1942....

[Rob Brennan UK]

OOH 4-1 already .. nicely done. any massive troops losses at noumea (i.e him surrendering) may well leave you with an unassailable lead!

China looks good too. in one of my PBEM the japs attacked up the road from ichang to the road junction in the mountains, severing communist and nationalist chinese. was a really deadly situation, unfortunately the game stopped before the situation could be completed to anyones satisfaction ( china was a huge mess ).

Taking kweiyang and moving north has a huge benefit of almost completely islolating china from the brits. good luck on that, china can be slow going at times though

more thoughts are good imo, just dont trust us to give you sound advice , i never read both sides of an AAR 'just in case' btw.

rule britannia ! ( in the thinly disguised japanese empire)

[Speedysteve]

Hi Rob,

Yes the aim is certainly to get to auto-victory but i'm happy to carry on afterwards if Werner is.

China is heating up nicely. Werner is aware of the danger and is moving 10-15 more units from Yenan. I am responding likewise with a further 4 divisions. Since we're on roads though it takes days to move anywhere.

Also I meant to say before to the keen followers of Zuiho she made it back to Japan and is being repaired at Okayama. Good ol girl [8D]

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Other good news - Kaga and Soryu both repairing in Japan will leave in the next week to join KB at Truk. They are not in perfect condition (Soryu - 9 sys, Kaga - 12) but I want the whole KB for Phase 3.

Every day is crucial now. Phase 2 landings should occur at Lunga in about 3 days time.

Both Luganville and Noumea expanded their airfields yesterday (Noumea - 4, Luganville -2).

---------------

More thoughts and ideas are always appreciated Rob [8D]

Below is a snapshot of my industry status..........

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

The quiet continues.

Things are starting to move in place though.

The IGD is all at Akyab now. The 4th Division will all be there tomorrow.

I'm only 60 miles from Kweiyang now. I'm waiting for a further 8 units to move up though since Werner has an estimated 31 units there at present. Should be a fun battle!

---------------------

In the south. Phase 2 landings should occur on 27th May 1942. KB is moving just south of Gili Gili to cover these landings.

Further south still 2 I-boats and an RO-boat are scouting 180 miles from Noumea/Luganville to attempt to spot any incoming ships. Also I-124 is on its way to lay its mines in Noumea's harbour.

--------------------

In the SRA construction battalions and base forces are being moved to key locations for either ASW duty or to fortify the perimeter for future Allied attacks.

At present Lautem, Kuala, Georgetown are receiving construction battalions.

Base forces are being shipped to Brunei, Aparri and Lautem to provide air support.

Several more movements are planned but in time when I have the AP's in Tokyo/Saigon to move the men.

Steven

[Rob Brennan UK]

How many tony's are you planning on making ? [:D]your kawasaki engine pool looks fine.

I am no expert on jap production to be honest, its so machiavellan i am usually stumped by it on a regular basis[;)]. Glad the Zuiho made it home .. hooray .. flags and girls lining the docks to cheer the sailors home.

[Speedysteve]

Hi Rob,

Tonies - 1000's of them [:D]. No in all seriiousness thought it would be nice to get a stockpile of engines whilst I could. If need be I can stop production in the future.

Thanks fior the pic. I recognise them from last night or was it last week. Seen one Geisha. Seen them all [;)]

--------------------

The 26th May 1942 saw both the Soryu and Kaga leave Japan with the new Super-Battleship Yamato bound for Truk [:)]

Other news -

2 transports bound for Andaman Island were interecepted by the SS Truant which put a fish into one of them. She limped towards the island and managed to disembark the 11th NLF which captured the place.

In Burma All combat formations are at Akyab [:)] Just 2 tank regiments, 4 ART battalions and an Engineer Rgt to airlift. Those tanks will be interesting. I wonder if Tabbies can lift them? [;)]

Across the SRA further troops are being shuttled everywhere -

Sorong - Base Force
Bulla - Construction Battalion
Andaman Island - Base Force
Repair crews for refineries/resources - Brunei, Bulla, Amboina

More to follow.............

--------------------

Case Blue phase 2 has landed!

Tulagi and Tassafaronga have been taken with no enemies presemt.

Surprisingly (not) Werner had laid mines at Lunga and despite the MSW and escorts destroying lots of them, the AP Horaisan hit 3 of the buggers and sank. Luckily her troops managed to get off in time.

KB is on station to oversee......

Here's a sit rep:

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

I can now confirm that Phase 2 of 'Case Blue' is almost over. The main Soloman islands have been taken and no enemy troops have been found. The only damage inflicted was the mines at Lunga which sunk 1 of my AP's and damaged another.

All transports and KB are moving back to Truk.

Infact the whole world and his sister are moving to Truk. In due course I will post pics of what I have at Truk. It is the largest gathering of forces I have ever mounted. Numbers and details to follow...........

--------------------

In the Burma region Akyab has sprouted another airfield (size 4). I am going to airlift in an 90AV Support BF after I have airlifted the rest of the artillery, HQ unit and engineers. I have also released a further Brigade from Java which will be moved to Burma and airlifted to Akyab. The 2nd Parachute Rgt will take its place in Soerabaja as garrison.

I am honestly amazed that Werner hasn't bombed or even recon'd Akyab. However, I have noticed 4 units have moved from Ledo to an uknown location. My guess would be Dacca/Calcutta region incase I move from Akyab. We'll find out over the next few months.

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China -

As the forces gather at the gates of Kweiyang I have devised another plan. This time in the North of China..........

The below map shoes the north of China.

For the past 2 months I had 10 units stationed in Homan bombarding his 16 units. It was a clear stalemate with me unable to take the place but he also had no chance of ejecting me from his city.

I have moved all men from Homan initally to Kaifeng and now i'm moving most of them upto Yenen. From there I will move north to the crossroads, clear them and release the 8 Mongolian divisions. I will then move west from Yenen to Kungchang and down to Sian.

I have left 4 divisions worth of men at Kaifeng and Hsingyang has a further 2 incase Werner moves east from Homan whilst i'm gone.

Hope this goes well [:)]

P.S. The white numbers indicate the numbers of my units, the cyan Werner's.