January 13th 1942
Wasted Matilda
Today was a big day for the Empire, both Sydney and Canberra were captured, and Japanese victory points went up 3 000 (yeah, three thousand).
Ground combat at Sydney (90,167)
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 51928 troops, 464 guns, 203 vehicles, Assault Value = 1462
Defending force 26276 troops, 399 guns, 338 vehicles, Assault Value = 183
Japanese adjusted assault: 1315
Allied adjusted defense: 629
Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Sydney !!!
Japanese ground losses:
1325 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 27 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 19 destroyed, 14 disabled
Guns lost 9 (3 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Units destroyed 1
Allied ground losses:
6822 casualties reported
Squads: 348 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 761 destroyed, 73 disabled
Engineers: 109 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 287 (275 destroyed, 12 disabled)
Vehicles lost 177 (172 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Units retreated 16
Units destroyed 3
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
An engineer regiment (the 56th if the combat animation is to be trusted) was destroyed. The assaulting stack was 1462 AV strong, to be compared with the 1720 of the first attack (and knowing that a tank regiment reinforced the attackers during the battle). The defenders have retreated off the road network, which is a good thing as it means pursuing them will take a while.
The fall of Sydney frees a lot of troops. 320 AVwill be needed for garrison duty, and about 300 seems to have been lost so far (some will be back), which means about 1600 AV are free to march on Melbourne or Brisbane. Here is the disposition of forces.
As you see, two columns, each an infantry regiment and an armored unit (tank or recon regiment) are in Canberra, and on the road north of Newcastle. Neither of them can do much damage. If they advance too fast, they run the risk of being cut off, and I probably have enough troops to resist them anyway. The main force is in Sydney, where about 1100 AV should be available for further rampaging.
Both Brisbane and Melbourne have level three forts, Melbourne will certainly reach four by the time he arrives. I have 200 AV west of Melbourne (two Indian brigades), and 250 around Rockhampton, which should be available once the enemy beachhead is destroyed. The first contingents from Cape Town should be arriving at the end of the month. By mid-February, about 1000 AV and a lot of tanks will be around.
KB seems to be retiring. If it goes back to Truk to rearm, there is no way it can be back before the end of the month. A small CV force has been spotted off Rockhampton, probably two or three light and escort carriers, but it is much smaller, and runs the risk of an attack if is sails too close to my coastal bases.
So, there. Joseph holds a central position between Brisbane and Melbourne. If he splits his forces, he might have just enough for Brisbane, but I don’t think he can capture Melbourne before I reinforce it. So his best course of action would be to focus on one objective (this is what the central position is all about). I would love him to go for Brisbane, because I think it will buy me enough time to build the counter attack, and sweep him northwards, but Melbourne seems the more likely choice. I don’t see the point of landing so many troops, so far south, triggering reinforcements, just to stop at Sydney and settle for the northeast.
If he goes for Melbourne, the debate will revolve around the time he needs to get close, and the amount of troops he needs to use to prevent spoiling attacks on his northern flank, build enough air bases to support his assault (he needs the air superiority, and having KB parked in the straits between Melbourne and Tasmania looks like a bad idea), and garrison enough to defend his supply lines. But in any case, I am pretty hopeful.
[Edit]I forgot to mention... when a port is captured, all the ships in port and most of those in the yards, materialize at once as a series of task forces. As a result, 70 ships just appeared in Sydney, in various states of damage, but all with full bunkers. I organised them into small task forces, sorting the cripple from the valid and grouping them by speed, and tried to send them in as many direction as possible. I am certain Joseph will have submarines, and planes, and maybe even surface ships looking for them, but as I was expecting to lose all, every ship saved is a bonus. I wonder how many I can get to port...
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