Isn´t Johnson an Atoll?? Unloading on an Atoll with xAKs and xAPs sounds like bad mojo? Or do you have A LOT of them so you will be able to unload completely before the shock attack?
Yes and yes. [:)] If I had thought there was a combat unit there I would have waited and brought the APs from San Diego. Time versus risk. The landing force is Marines too, not Army. Still, it could go badly. I really don't like early-war amphib, but I want Johnson back for a buffer. I gave him ample warning of this and he got ready. Whatever it costs, I'm taking Johnson back.
Yes and yes. If I had thought there was a combat unit there I would have waited and brought the APs from San Diego. Time versus risk. The landing force is Marines too, not Army. Still, it could go badly. I really don't like early-war amphib, but I want Johnson back for a buffer. I gave him ample warning of this and he got ready. Whatever it costs, I'm taking Johnson back.
Isn´t Johnson an Atoll?? Unloading on an Atoll with xAKs and xAPs sounds like bad mojo? Or do you have A LOT of them so you will be able to unload completely before the shock attack?
Yes and yes. [:)] If I had thought there was a combat unit there I would have waited and brought the APs from San Diego. Time versus risk. The landing force is Marines too, not Army. Still, it could go badly. I really don't like early-war amphib, but I want Johnson back for a buffer. I gave him ample warning of this and he got ready. Whatever it costs, I'm taking Johnson back.
Yes and yes. If I had thought there was a combat unit there I would have waited and brought the APs from San Diego. Time versus risk. The landing force is Marines too, not Army. Still, it could go badly. I really don't like early-war amphib, but I want Johnson back for a buffer. I gave him ample warning of this and he got ready. Whatever it costs, I'm taking Johnson back.
Allied SWAGGER in '42! love it.
[8D][8D][:'(]
(It helps when you're 19 hexes from US Navy Central!)
So I will have to eat my comment about minefields being almost useless? [:D]
Mines are effective in Amphibious defense operations, and submarines penetrating the harbor. However, I have found that mines are not very effective for BB defense unless my opponent forgets to set a range ... I have also mined strats with some effect, but the total lifespan of mines in open waters makes this a one time opportunity where intelligence aligns just right.
I suspect the Riff-Raff operation ran into some mines ...[8D] If this is true .. the good news is that PH is close by ..
[The Moose knows this ] ACM's will not replenish the mines if there is no supply ...
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
[The Moose knows this ] ACM's will not replenish the mines if there is no supply ...
[:'(] Crackaces, are you suggesting that it is a good thing that ships can clear the minefield by hitting them? [X(]
No wonder you end up fighting the Japanese in Burma [and doing very well at it] where naval support is minimal! [;)]
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
[The Moose knows this ] ACM's will not replenish the mines if there is no supply ...
[:'(] Crackaces, are you suggesting that it is a good thing that ships can clear the minefield by hitting them? [X(]
No wonder you end up fighting the Japanese in Burma [and doing very well at it] where naval support is minimal! [;)]
No .. although hitting mines does clear them but the use of DMS are far more efficent [8D].. but I was stating that if the intended target is exhausted of supply then ACM's will not keep the minefield replenished .. so one anti-mine strategy is to simply isolate the target. The strategy is absolutely essential for a target like Truk or "Buzzlebob" (sic). But a well supplied target with ACM's is going to extract a toll when it comes to an amphibious invasion .. .
But yes .. I feel much more comfortable with Burma as a theater of operations ... [8D]
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
So I will have to eat my comment about minefields being almost useless? [:D]
They made me change my pants. Does that count? [:)]
Seriously, does any JFB have a read on what Japan's pre-war and monthly mine inventories are like? I know the Allies' pretty well, but I'd like to know if what I've found at Johnson and Palmyra is a lot or a little compared to the pile.
So I will have to eat my comment about minefields being almost useless? [:D]
Mines are effective in Amphibious defense operations, and submarines penetrating the harbor. However, I have found that mines are not very effective for BB defense unless my opponent forgets to set a range ... I have also mined strats with some effect, but the total lifespan of mines in open waters makes this a one time opportunity where intelligence aligns just right.
I suspect the Riff-Raff operation ran into some mines ...[8D] If this is true .. the good news is that PH is close by ..
[The Moose knows this ] ACM's will not replenish the mines if there is no supply ...
Mine encounters to follow in the daily. I did run into a "few." [:)]
Mines have played a far greater role in this game than ever in an AI game for me. They are subs' worst enemy in 1942 before ASw upgrades catch fire.
ACMs have organic mine supplies when they come out of the yards. Ten I think. USN at least do. You can lay them, or hold them on-board for replacements.
Edit: Tracker sez that Chimo-class ACMs have a mine inventory of 20. The more common Alder-class ACMs do not have a mine inventory on-board, either newly arrived or later. Never noticed that.
Operation RIFF-RAFF is in full swing, yet the most important war action today was far, far away. But first, the mines!
1) After yesterday's bad air results the US Navy re-programmed and bulled ahead. The wait-and-see was junked and the bombardment group was ordered in. Range at midnight meant the mission would be executed in daylight. "Land the landing force!" was issued by flashing light and semaphore flags and the big boyz heaved forward toward the reefs surrounding Johnson, figuring staying in the Bigger Boyz wakes might save them from the mines probably lurking. Red sub icons were in Johnson harbor, as well as two more due east in the TFs' path from Pearl.
The carriers moved forward toward their stand-off on "Station 'h'" due east of the objective. After a staff meeting (in my head) the TF commander decided to hold the four CVs together one more day to maximize CAP cohesion. One Hornet DB squadron was sent back to Pearl and a new carrier-capable USMC Wildcat squadron came aboard. Whether they will contribute is uncertain, but they can be sent ashore immediately when the base falls.
The four DMSes, given a break from ASW, begin their mission at night under 3% moonlight. At first 2 mines, 3 mines. Then, with DL up, 9 mines, 11 mines. The Air TF commnader is sweating on his flag bridge. After daybreak the totals skyrocket. 20 mines. 81 on the next pulse. Overall, including the few found by the landing force, 197 mines are located and swept WITH NO EXPLOSIONS! [:)] There is still a red mine dot on the base, but this has to be the majority. Even if not, the landing force gets to the beach and begins to disembark safely.
A lone mini-sub tries for the bombardment group, but fails to connect and is driven under by the ASW escort. The BBs, supported by several float planes spotting, go to work. Results are excellent, especialy in the matter of Zeroes.
Naval bombardment of Johnston Island at 164,112
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 28 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 7 destroyed on ground
Allied Ships
BB Mississippi
BB New Mexico
BB Idaho
BB Colorado
CA Minneapolis
CA Salt Lake City
Japanese ground losses:
835 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 49 destroyed, 131 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Guns lost 10 (5 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 30 (12 destroyed, 18 disabled)
Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 12
Runway hits 34
Port hits 16
Port supply hits 12
The first wave goes in, and, with only about 40 prep, experiences severe disruption. But the Shock attack, while not decisive, goes well. The base should fall tomorrow.
Amphibious Assault at Johnston Island (164,112)
TF 349 troops unloading over beach at Johnston Island, 164,112
Defending units:
6th Base Force
10th JAAF Base Force
Tomorrow will see more sweeping and the landing of the Air HQ and base force. I don't htink the Ind. Reg. will be needed; it will be held off-shore. Intel recieved of intense radio at Kwajalein, which I have to assume is the KB if it isn't already on the way. The USN carriers will move to a more defensible location, and the bombarment group will be sent home. My goal is to only risk CL and smaller, and to get some LBA, especialy patrol, onto the island ASAP.
Overall an A- effort. The sweepers get an A++.
2) At Bataan the supply ship makes port. Air attacks concentrate on the AF, letting it begin to unload. No criticism of Japan. After these months with the PI behind the lines as it were no air unit would be expected to be on Naval attack. A large TF loaded with escorts and one xAK is moving past Lingayan a couple of hexes offshore. It is attacked by an RN submarine to no avail. It would be easy to strip an escort off to wait for the merchant to come out if the Bettys have other jobs. No idea if a small dollup of supply will help Bataan, but it can't hurt.
3) The mountain bombing of the Tsuyung stack continues, this time with a big (30) Oscar escort. The AVG, with a handful, comes long-time from Paoshan to meet them. One Oscar is downed and no casualties on the ground ensue from the disrupted raid. The next comes unescorted and the AVG destroys 1 Sally and damages 3 for 8 casualties on the ground. The final escorted raid of 32 bombers and 11 Oscars destroys an AVG fighter, but again scores no damage on the ground.
4) Operation FUDD builds momentum. About a dozen TFs are moving toward rally points and a half-dozen more are loading, some at unimproved ports like Cox's B. 7th Aussie Div loses men and equipment over the side twice trying to load here.
The coordination of so many LCUs, from so many nations, some on roads, some in jungle, some motorized, some not, has beaten the staff officers. With one more day of PP accumulation to load the main landing division for Rangoon at Madras, orders are given to overtly begin to approach designated targets at Prome, Bassein, and Toungoo. A strong Indian division and a strong armor unit are almost through the jungle SE of Akyab and onto the yellow road leading to Prome. The Chinese corps trying to cross the river north of Prome is bombed again, but has LRCAP and a trade of fighters is achieved for light ground damage. Not waiting, the corps and armor due east of Prome on the road begins movement into the target, showing a dot. The para drop on Bassein will be held back until Rangoon is a clear target.
The problem with FUDD is a lack of PPs and so many restricted units which need to walk to Rangoon. It will take time.
The central question--what does Japan know? What can they see? What can they react with? FUDD rests on many assumptions, one of which is difficulty of the IJN to get into the B.of B. easily with Singers untaken. Almost the entire RN OOB is underway for Pt. Blair, but is not there yet. The Straits of Malacca are not mined yet, and have no subs on patrol. Four are heading there, but are several days away.
So . . .
Imagine my surprise. Fish CAN fly! [:'(]
Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Blair at 47,58
Weather in hex: Light rain
Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Allied aircraft
Hurricane I Trop x 6
Hurricane IIa Trop x 6 Swordfish I x 11
Japanese Ships CL Isuzu
CL Kashii, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
CL Jintsu, Torpedo hits 1
CL Nagara, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
Animation results show CL Jintsu Listing, Counter-flooding, never a good sign. CL Nagara recieved a penetrating hit, with major engine damage and flooding reported.
Mike's email was, umm, rather incredulous.
Where did these ships originate? How did they get that far north? More importantly, where will they go tomorrow? Rangoon has the best piers for patching system, but so far light CAP. He knows I have B-26s at Pt. Blair which can reach most of the Thai coast. If he has flooding the nearest real help is Hong Kong. I'm assuming he doesn't know the RN is coming over the hill, or that there is a 3-ship RN reaction force of CL/DD at Pt. Blair now. I need this cruiser TF gone and quickly. Is it the lead of a stronger force? Don't know. But I don't want a naval battle as FUDD is in motion. Some of the distances are small between load port and objective, but so are escorts. It's a shoestring, 1942 lash-up operation. The next turn could be interesting.
But for today, well done, Fish! [:)]
5) Icing on the cake at Balikpapan. Leaving the heavies on Port since the anchor symbol still burns, they go in low once more. Bad losses, but hits on two enemy shiops, including a DD which might not make it.
Morning Air attack on Balikpapan , at 64,97
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 8
Ki-44 Tojo x 5
Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 5
B-17E Fortress x 7
Japanese Ships
DD Amatsukaze, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Toko Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
6) Canton I. forts go to 3. The garrison is still incoming. A squadron of Wildcats unloads at Christmas I. whose AF is about half-way to 2. Colombo AF goes to 7. Upgraded subs are coming back with radar. And it was another good day for future hopes. Today's arrivals:
CA Devonshire arrives at Cape Town
CLAA Atlanta arrives at Balboa
AM Benalla arrives at Melbourne
AM Castlemaine arrives at Melbourne
AM Echuca arrives at Sydney
SS Growler arrives at Balboa
SS Halibut arrives at Balboa
AE Shasta arrives at Cristobal
AP Hunter Liggett arrives at Balboa
AP Heywood arrives at Balboa
AP George F. Elliot arrives at Balboa
AP Fuller arrives at Balboa
AK Alcyon arrives at Balboa
xAP Noordam arrives at Los Angeles
xAP Tjisadane arrives at Alameda
AM Punjab arrives at Sydney
No.8 Sqn RNZAF arrives at Auckland
251 ShAD/67 ShAP arrives at Spassk-Dalniy
251 ShAD/294 ShAP arrives at Spassk-Dalniy
307th BG/370th BS arrives at Spokane
307th BG/371st BS arrives at Spokane
307th BG/372nd BS arrives at Spokane
308th BG/373rd BS arrives at Boise
308th BG/374th BS arrives at Boise
308th BG/375th BS arrives at Boise
307th BG/35th RS arrives at Spokane
308th BG/36th RS arrives at Boise
307th BG/HqS arrives at Spokane
308th BG/HqS arrives at Boise
641st Towed Tank Destroyer Battalion arrives at Cape Town
100th RN Base Force arrives at Aden
Looks to me like Riff-Raff has held his attention and kept KB in the Marshalls, and Mini-KB is likely watching for game in the area between DEI and Oz, since you have sent some convoys to Darwin. I think FUDD is going to be a total surprise to him - most IJ players seem to think of Burma as a land war with air support and do not plan for naval intervention unless they see something coming back at Ceylon.
Four CLs is not the usual composition of a TF sent to check out hints of an amphib operation - you need CAs to fight your way past the CAs/CLs defending the invasion. I think it was a raiding TF sent to try and bag some supply convoys heading for the Port Blair area. Your usual thorough search should reveal if there is anything coming through the Strait of Malacca next turn.
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
Looks to me like Riff-Raff has held his attention and kept KB in the Marshalls, and Mini-KB is likely watching for game in the area between DEI and Oz, since you have sent some convoys to Darwin. I think FUDD is going to be a total surprise to him - most IJ players seem to think of Burma as a land war with air support and do not plan for naval intervention unless they see something coming back at Ceylon.
Four CLs is not the usual composition of a TF sent to check out hints of an amphib operation - you need CAs to fight your way past the CAs/CLs defending the invasion. I think it was a raiding TF sent to try and bag some supply convoys heading for the Port Blair area. Your usual thorough search should reveal if there is anything coming through the Strait of Malacca next turn.
KB has been at Truk or east since 12/7/41 so far as I can tell, but right now all I have is radio intel, and Kwajalein can have that without carriers. I split the USN CVs into two TFs on the turn just sent back, and withdrew three hexes NE of former location. There are a lot of naval targets between them and Kwajalein, so if the KB does come I hope to have time to run back to Pearl. The BBs are on the way home too.
One of my hopes is "everybody knows" you can't re-take Rangoon this early. The mass of Chinese troops available in Burma and the lack of need for PPs to walk the Indian Army there is different here, and I hope he is surprised. It has been suggested to me that there might be a stiff psychological blow if Rangoon could fall while Singers is still in the Empire.
Down south of there I see now a new stack of 17 LCUs on the road, headed more or less for Moulein. So I don't have a lot of time, even if most of that is support. I figure it has to be Bangkok's.
I "think" some or all of those CLs have ASW capability; I wouldn't go there without some DDs though. And Oscar CAP, thick in Burma when I've played the AI, seems to be in China or helping at Singers/Palembang.
I wish I had more search, but I may have enough. Sabang has a Dutch DO unit (small), and a small Hudson force. The former is looking right down the Strait, and the latter now north and NE toward the cruisers and the Strait exit. I now have two subs with good torps in the Strait headed for choke hexes. Soon there will be four. All will base at Colombo.
Well, the island fell. So, before the war moves onward, I wanted to document a bit of the fascinating lore associated with this atoll. To say the USA hasn't been very nice to it would be a gross understatement. From Wiki:
"The first Western record of the atoll was on September 2, 1796 when the American brig Sally accidentally grounded on a shoal near the islands. The ship's captain, Joseph Pierpont, published his experience in several American newspapers the following year giving an accurate position of Johnston and Sand Island along with part of the reef. However he did not name or lay claim to the area. The islands were not officially named until Captain Charles J. Johnston of the Royal Naval ship HMS Cornwallis sighted them on December 14, 1807.
By 1858, Johnston Atoll was claimed by both the United States and the Kingdom of Hawaii. The islands came under the jurisdiction of the United States following the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 with Hawaii. By 1890 the atoll's entire guano deposits had been depleted (mined out) by U.S. interests operating under the Guano Islands Act.
From July 10 to July 22, 1923, the atoll was recorded in a pioneering aerial photography project.
On July 29, 1926, by Executive Order, President Calvin Coolidge established Johnston Atoll as a federal bird refuge and placed it under the control of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
On December 29, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt transferred control of Johnston Atoll to the United States Navy in order to establish an air station, and also to the Department of the Interior to administer the bird refuge. In 1936, the Navy began to develop a base for seaplanes and an airstrip with refueling facilities. On February 1941 Johnston Atoll was designated as a Naval Defensive Sea Area and Airspace Reservation.
The atoll was briefly shelled by Japanese naval units shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. But as the Pacific War soon shifted west, the island's role changed from being a combat outpost to a refueling and resupply base for American aircraft and submarines.
On November 1, 1957, a United States Coast Guard LORAN-A station was commissioned (on Sand Island) which switched to a LORAN-C station in 1979. The station was disestablished on July 1, 1992.
The Johnston Atoll area was used during the 1950s and 1960s as an American nuclear weapons test site—for both above-ground and underground nuclear tests. Later on, it became the site of a chemical weapons depot and the site of the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS). All of the chemical weapons that were once stored on Johnston Island have been incinerated, and that process was completed in 2000 and JACADS demolished by 2003.
Between 1958 and 1975, several scientific sounding rockets were launched from Johnston Island. There were also several nuclear test missiles that were launched from Johnston Island in 1962 during the "Operation Dominic" series of nuclear tests, from a launchpad at
16.7370°N 169.5240°W. Twelve thermonuclear warheads were exploded in all, one of which was deliberately disrupted when the PGM-17 Thor carrying it failed to launch scattering plutonium debris over the island. Afterwards, the radioactive debris and soils were placed in a 25 acres (100,000 m2) landfill on the island, along with residue from Agent Orange containers returned from Southeast Asia after the Vietnam War, PCBs, PAHs, dioxins, and sarin nerve gas from the Soviet Union and East Germany.
In 1963, the U.S. Senate ratified the Limited Test Ban Treaty, which contained a provision known as "Safeguard C". Safeguard C was the basis for maintaining Johnston Atoll as a "ready to test" above-ground nuclear testing site should atmospheric nuclear testing ever be deemed to be necessary again. In 1993, Congress appropriated no funds for the Johnston Atoll "Safeguard C" mission, bringing it to an end. Congress redefined the island's military mission as the storage and destruction of chemical weapons.
In 2003, all structures and facilities, including those used in JACADS, were removed, and the runway was marked closed. The last flight out for official personnel was June 15, 2004. After this date, the base was completely deserted, with the only structure left standing being the JOC building at the east end of the runway.
On August 22, 2006, Johnston Island was struck by Hurricane Ioke. The eastern eye-wall passed directly over the atoll, with winds exceeding 100 mph (160 km/h). Twelve people were actually on the island when the hurricane struck, part of a contracted USAF crew sent to the island to monitor groundwater contamination levels. All 12 survived.
On December 9, 2007, the United States Coast Guard swept the runway at Johnston Island of debris and used the runway in the removal and rescue of an ill Taiwanese fisherman to Oahu, Hawaii. The fisherman was transferred from the Taiwanese fishing vessel Sheng Yi Tsai No. 166 to the Coast Guard buoy tender Kukui on December 6, 2007. The fisherman was transported to the island, and then picked up by a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules rescue plane from Kodiak, Alaska.
Since the base was closed, the atoll is likely to have been visited by sailing vessels crossing the Pacific, as the deserted atoll has a strong lure due to the activities once performed there. One vessel blogged about stopping there for several days during a trip from Honolulu to the Marshall Islands.
In 2010, a Fish and Wildlife survey team identified a swarm of Anoplolepis ants that had invaded the island. The crazy ants are particularly destructive to the native wildlife, and needed to be eradicated. A "Crazy Ant Strike Team" was formed to stay on the island for nine months to bait traps for the ants and eliminate them. The team camped in the old chemical weapons storage bunkers on the southwest corner of the island. It is believed that the ants arrived with private boaters visiting the island illegally."
Additional Johnson Lore: Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), English author, and source of some of the best quotes ever, had this beauty: "No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned..."
President Andrew Johnson: "It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word." (My HERO!!!)
President Lyndon B. Johnson: "If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: "President Can't Swim."
Arte Johnson, on "Laugh-In": "Verrrrry interesting. But stupid!"
"But Bullwinkle", the crowd says, "what of the war news?"
1) Operation RIFF-RAFF progresses well. Multiple TFs come to the beach and begin to unload. To the rear is a Port Services unit which will help with the supply build in a few days. Today the Marines continue to come ashore, as well as an Air HQ and a base force. The minesweepers clear 57 more mines. A second TF of sweepers is inbound, but should be unneeded. Minelayers with over 100 Allied mines are ready at Pearl as I expect Johnson to be bothered by IJN subs for quite some time. Today RO-64 comes in and is pounded by ASW TFs for at least one penetrating hit and control room flooding.
The Japanese gunners on the island offer weak CD opposition which is suppressed by the numerous CLs, APDs, and DMSes escorting the landings. At the end of many phases of landings and sniping the final battle takes the island and wipes out the defenders.
Ground combat at Johnston Island (164,112)
Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 4134 troops, 117 guns, 73 vehicles, Assault Value = 125
Defending force 3385 troops, 24 guns, 59 vehicles, Assault Value = 13
10th JAAF Base Force Wiped Out at Johnston Island by attrition!!!
Johnson has a stacking limit of 6000, but it is close enough to Pearl that supply is not a problem, so it will be overstacked long enough to rapidly build defenses and get an air base up and working.
Operation SWEET POLLY, the invasion of Palmyra Island, will wait for a bit more prep as well as stabilization of the carrier air wings. It will be more difficult as there are known bombers there, as well as patrol assets. A mine dot has been visible since the 63 swept several weeks ago. The island is under continuous recon from Christmas I.
2) The landing division for Rangoon is bought out at Madras and begins loading. Other FUDD assets continue to move toward their objectives.
The IJN CLs remain two hexes east of Port Blair, either by design or due to engine damage. Two Swordfish attacks take place in morning and PM phases. Three Oscars are found to CAP this TF. The first attack penetrates and gets one fish on target, but it duds. The second four crates get clean misses. One Fish is lost, and one escort. Another Fish crashes on landing. The RN reaction force at Port Blair is ordered to sortie, but refuses to close and retreats to port. If the CLs are still there tomorrow more of the RN will be in range, including BBs.
Of concern, however, this sighting is recorded: "Japanese Fighter Bomber sighted over Little Andaman." This could be a Glen plus FOW. Or it might be a piece of MKB. A lot of that force was seen at Palmyra delivering planes not that long ago. A speed run to be here might be barely feasible, but system damage would have accrued. Or it could be a small part of the MKB. Don't know. Search will be adjusted. The RN has two carriers at sea and the third three days from coming out of upgrade at Colombo. Albacores are the only strike planes at sea, however.
3) Singers is pounded again to a degree probable to restrain fort building. AA is the only defense. 67 bombers are damaged, 4 destroyed.
4) The Allied LRCAP over the mountain stack NE of Tsuyung takes a toll once more. 6 bombers destroyed, 3 damaged at the cost of 1 AVG P-40E. Far to the east the IJA tank regiments blocking this stack's supply line are themselves cut off from supplies to the rear. It is uncertain if Japan realizes this yet. (Will do a screenshot soon to illustrate.) This is a nice little tactical problem for both sides. The 100,000+ plus men sititng at Tsuyung are motionless.
5) 24 Blenheims bomb Rangoon to assess CAP and the AF in general. Only one small unit of 9 Oscars is seen. The CAP over the cruisers might also have come from here, but in summary Rangoon is still lightly held.
6) Palembang is strongly swept, but no CAP is up. Odd here. Multiple ships are in the harbor taking on fuel for Oz and no naval attacks are performed.
7) Similarly, the supply ship at Bataan unloads in peace despite attacks on the base.
Getting some Land based air on there will make things a little easier for you.
Thanks.
Yes, LBA will be a load off as far as Pearl being surprised goes. Be nice to force the IJN sub base back to Kwajalein too. Makes those San Diego patrols more of a "wave and goodbye" proposition, fuel-wise.
Wow - he left a large BF at Johnston just to support 8 Zeros and perhaps some patrol AC? Seems like an AVP or two for the Patrols would be more economical use of scarce resources. I wonder if that BF had naval support to enable reload of sub torps. It's a tough call, risking an AS vs a BF.
No bombers hitting Palembang? They could be all sent to deal with Singers or Burma.
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
