Moses(Japan)vsJohnIII

[moses]

THIS IS A NO PEAK AAR. JOHNIII may not view and please help keep my plans secret.[;)]


This is an historical start. On turn 1---- I invade Batan Island, Guam, and Khota Buru. I also sent some para's to Taytay Island on the west side of the PI. All of my other TF's are within 4 hexes( one days sail) from my bases.

Dec 7: All goes well. A B17 from PI scores a lucky hit on a PG but the allied air attacks at the main landing at Khuta Buru are beaten off by large numbers of Nates and Oscars.

PH attack: Arizona and Oklahoma sink!!!!!

BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 13, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CA San Francisco, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 10, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 10, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 9, on fire
BB California, Bomb hits 8, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CA New Orleans, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Hull, Bomb hits 1
SS Narwhal, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Raleigh, Bomb hits 2, on fire
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 10, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
CL Helena, Bomb hits 2, on fire
PC Tiger, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Detroit, Bomb hits 1
DD Farragut, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AR Medusa, Bomb hits 1, on fire
SS Tautog, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DM Gamble, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

[moses]

Dec 8: Bombardments go in at Aparri and Vigan and the initial landings go in at Apari. Battan Island is secure and I get an initial 1-1 attack at Khotu Buru.

Dec 9: Khotu Buru falls as does Aparri in the PI.

A two BB bombardment group hits Wake without opposition.

My carriers have left PH to the east and south. The idea is to leave him uncertain as to whether any of my carriers are loitering between PH and SF. KB will head to Palmyra and bomb that base to prevent bomber transfers and then move to a position to support a rapid invasion of Tarawa, Canton Island, Pago Pago, and Suva. I will continue by taking all of the islands between Canton and New Zealand with the ultimate objective being the total conquest of Austrailia and New Zealand.

He has advanced 3 units from Aloa Star to Songia in Malaysia. This seems incredably risky for him. My main effort was intended for Malaysia and I already have the bulk of 2 divisions and numerous artillery and tank units at Songia. More is on the way. If he gets overly aggressive it could be a rout here.

JohnIII's subs are pouring out of the PI and are being engaged by the bulk of the Japanese navies ASW ships. About 8 ASW groups and two groups with AV's and CS's flying ASW. I've hit 4 or 5 five subs with depth charges already and a couple more reported plane hits.

[moses]

DEC 10:

Malaysia: Of the three allied units that moved to Songkhia one was an Indian Brigade and was shock attacked out. The other two units passed through and I suppose are on their way to Bodou where they will meet up with the Imperial Guard Division. If Those are two Brigades then the defence of Malaysia seems already lost.


Ground combat at Songkhia

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 72801 troops, 614 guns, 217 vehicles

Defending force 2993 troops, 28 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 270 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
186 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
993 casualties reported
Guns lost 18


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Changsa: Since day one I have been pounding the Changsa airfield with two Sally groups transfered from Russia and an Ann group. The idea is to keep them from building forts and reduce Chinese morale while my forces get organized for an attack there. Today a part of the AVG showed up.

Day Air attack on Changsha , at 47,36

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 19
Ki-30 Ann x 24
Ki-21 Sally x 52
Ki-15 Babs x 5

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-27 Nate: 4 destroyed
Ki-30 Ann: 4 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 6 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40B Tomahawk: 4 damaged


Allied ground losses:
40 casualties reported

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 34-----My guys still got the mission done. Zeros will be here tommorrow.

China coast: John sent only 2 of the divisions in the vic. of Nanning to Nanning. the others engaged my division from Hanoi which entered China to ensure that no monkeybusiness went on in this area. He attacked at Nanning and we both attacked near the Chinese border from Hanoi. All attacks failed and so now he will not be able to take Nanning and thus get those divisions quickly to the Changsa area. My division will pull back to Hanoi to be redeployed to the PI.

PI. The allies are attempting to hold forward at Vigan. My initial attack failed to dislodge the allies. To the south my invasion force approaches Daveo. I had some frightening moments as 5 B17's dropped bombs on the Ryujo but no hits were scored. A second invasion fleet will be at Cyagan(sp North of Daveo) in a couple days and its bombardment group should discomfit those B17's tommorrow.

[moses]

Dec 11:

Malaysia: Those two units breaking out to the north are now in Bondou and I expect they will try to take the currently unoccupied city next turn. The Imperial guard division and a tank brigade should be there to meet them. They each start the turn with 30 miles to go and are on the rail. I expect to hold the town easily. The rest of my force heads to Aloa Star which is presumably held by the Indian Bde which was driven from Songkhia last turn with heavy loss. Ive got two bombardment groups and a big bunch of transports heading toward ports on the Malaysian coast as a deception operation.

North PI: At Vigan he has the 26th PS cav Regt. If thats all he sends I should be able to drive it out. I have a serious supply shortfall in the northern PI. Just didn't send enough so now I'm scrambling to get more there quickly.

South PI: My troops land at Daveo and a Bombardment group hits Cayagan destroying a couple B17's. The South Seas detachment will land at Cayagan in about 3 days. He appears to have split the single division in Daveo and is sending a part to Cayagan. Ahhhh 'he who defends everything defends nothing'.

No sign of the allied carriers or the British BB's since the start of the war. I have subs out all over with Glenns flying. But the CV's are nowhere in sight? I have sent single PC's out in all directions from Kawajellin as a precaution against surprise carrier raids. I'm rather hoping he is camping out waiting to smash a Wake invasion which I have postponed until later in the month.[;)]

[moses]

Dec12:

Malaysia:He has evacuated Aloa Star and I will take it next turn. His troops that went north are I suppose bent on going to Burma but I see no way that they will arrive as the route is cut. At best they will sit at Victoria Pt. and perhaps be evacuated in some way.

North PI:Vigan falls 26th PS cav regt retreats.

South PI:Allies shock attack at Daveo and lose heavily inflicting zero losses on my troops. I will attack next turn against his disrupted troops.

Carriers are sighted (I think??) by glenns in a position about 10 hexes SE of Tarawa. Actually my recon says 6 ships and two CA's but there is no reason for CA's to be there unescorted and its a logical place for carriers to be. Presumably he is waiting for the standard landing at Tarawa to begin and then he swoops in and kills a bunch of ships.

I had placed these operations on hold until I had proper carrier support. KB is in vic. Palmyra which it bombed last turn and will again the next turn as it heads toward vic. Tarawa/Canton Island.

Thus the allied carriers are in a bad position. My carriers are coming up behind him. Nothing is going to happen at Tarawa until my carriers arrive. If he moves toward Kwajilan he may be able to score some hits but my carriers will arrive and he will be caught in an area where I have plenty of recon and he is blind. Plus he might well get hit by a Nell.

So most likely he will just have to keep moving to the SW gaining fuel at various small US bases. Perhaps he settles at Numea to defend that area. Should he at any point try to return to PH area he risks being caught by KB.

[PimpYourAFV]

Uh oh, the legendary moses is putting the boots to some dude. You're the guru on Chinese defence or something right? I guess it won't matter with you doing it from on top this time.

[moses]

I'm organizing China now. Takes a bit of time to get the garrisons straigtened out and the troops massed in the proper places. In the meantime I bomb Changsa airfield every turn to prevent fort build up.

Currently my forces are massing in front of Changsa and two hexes opposite Homan. My key decision in the next few turns will be whether to send the guys near Homan immediatly to Changsa or to do a quick operation toward Homan to disrupt a few units there and reduce their counteroffensive capability.

Either way I will eventually concentrate at Changsa either in the next few days or after a brief (week long) excursion around Homan.

[PimpYourAFV]

Okay looking forward to the chinks being churned into chunky soup.

[moses]

Dec 13:

Aloa Star falls without a fight and I retreat a Bde from Bandou. Davao falls and it looks like southern PI will be a nice base earlier then I could have hoped.

He still has that naval force sitting 10 hexes off Tarawa. They must be carriers despite what my recon says. He knows where my carriers are as I've hit Palmyra twice as I've passed it. But perhaps he is not aware that I know where he is. Will this dull his sence of danger?? Or are these really only AK's and I am the one being fooled.

China: His deployments suggest a cat-herding type of defence. I have massed forces at the rail junction near Homan and near Changsa. I will briefly move toward Homan and retreat a couple allied units hanging out in front of the city then everything will shift toward Changsa.

[moses]

Dec 14: A bad day for Japan.

South PI: This was my most risky operation as it was outside land based air support and cover by only one carrier with Claudes and Kates. Still I thought this might be enough to keep his BB's away. Once the invasion at Davao landed successfully and took the base my carrier pulled back. It was tired of being attacked by small groups of B17's. The result:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Davao at 41,61

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara, Shell hits 17, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Yukikaze
DD Tokitsukaze, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Yamakaze, Shell hits 8, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Kawakaze, Shell hits 10, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Umikaze, Shell hits 20, and is sunk
DD Suzukaze, Shell hits 26, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Shiokaze, Shell hits 12, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
BC Repulse, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CA Houston
CL Marblehead, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Boise
DD Alden
DD Barker, Shell hits 1
DD Bulmer
DD Edsall
DD John D. Edwards
DD Paul Jones
DD Parrott
DD Whipple
DD Stewart
DD Stronghold
DD Jupiter

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Davao at 41,61

Japanese Ships
DD Yukikaze, Shell hits 29, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Shiokaze, Shell hits 16, and is sunk

Allied Ships
BC Repulse, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CA Houston
CL Marblehead, on fire, heavy damage
CL Boise
DD Alden
DD Barker
DD Bulmer
DD Edsall
DD John D. Edwards
DD Paul Jones
DD Parrott
DD Whipple
DD Stewart
DD Stronghold
DD Jupiter

My surface force lost every ship but at least kept the transports safe. Next turn I will try to reverse the verdict as my CV returns and I have Nells based at Davao to try and get the damaged Repulse.

Then: In Malaysia I sent my Nells in against Singapore airfield for the first time in a while. My escorts failed to fly. They were based at a different airfield from the Nells and were socked in by weather. Big mistake!!! The result:

Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 90

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 2
Buffalo I x 12
Blenheim IF x 4
P-40B Tomahawk x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 19 destroyed, 23 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
Blenheim IF: 1 damaged
P-40B Tomahawk: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged


Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 13 [:@][:@]

Then to top things off my 55th Division which was heading to Tavoy and then Burma decided to go off-road. The allied moved a base force unit SE from Tavoy which blocked the direct route for my division so it decided on a new route of it own. Its now in a woods hex adjacent to Tavoy and is effectively lost for the next 10 turns.[:@][:@]

Oh well.[:(]

In other area's the ground offensive proceeds normally. My units took Tuguegarao in the northern PI and the supply situation there has begun to clear. In two days all will be fine there. In Malaysia my troops march down the west coast unopposed. Out in the Pacific my carriers will be in the vic. of Baker Island and the general offensive in this area will begin.

China: I begin the movement to contact at Changsa and SE of Homan. Forces should make contact in Homan next turn. My only goal there is to retreat the small stack SE of Homan one hex and then head with this formation toward Changsa. My forces should arrive in Changsa on the 16th. The allies show no evidence of concentration anywhere and appear to be sending a unit from the Canton area to Nanning?????? While losing Nanning would be annoying it would not be important in the slightest. But sending an additional Chinese unit in that direction shows a tremendous underappreciation of China's defensive difficulties.