Straight Into the Teeth: A Story of Logistics, Patience, and Firepower

[witpqs]

Really don't understand the move here. This area is swarming with dangerous Allied fleets. Why would Japan send a small SCTF like this right at me? I did end up losing 40-50 planes attacking the other destroyers that got away so in net VPs it's a wash but all those planes and pilots are replaceable and ships are not.

It's hard to say without a conversation with him. It could have been a surface intercept foray that missed.

[Capt. Harlock]

The CL Kenya would go on to sink. Without naval bombardment I'm not sure how I'm going to take Rangoon. I could be stuck there for many months.

In 1943 the IJN can't afford to trade ships on an anything like an even basis. When he runs low on ships the bombardments can proceed. Perhaps if your TFs were optimized for surface combat at first (e.g., including Fletcher-class DD's), with the serious bombardment vessels to follow in a week or so?

[Lowpe]

I fully understand what Japan was trying to accomplish near Ocean.

I bet the cruiser/bb clash was a great one for Japan to watch. All those 5,6 and 8" shells pinging off the armor! That is the kind of fight you love to get into with the Yamoto.

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

The CL Kenya would go on to sink. Without naval bombardment I'm not sure how I'm going to take Rangoon. I could be stuck there for many months.

In 1943 the IJN can't afford to trade ships on an anything like an even basis. When he runs low on ships the bombardments can proceed. Perhaps if your TFs were optimized for surface combat at first (e.g., including Fletcher-class DD's), with the serious bombardment vessels to follow in a week or so?

I agree that Japan cannot trade ships on an even basis. But I have no immediate reinforcements in the Indian Ocean; only that medium sized cruiser fleet. Bulk of my fleet is concentrated in the Pacific and I have no plans of sending more to the IO any time soon. So I will just have to settle for a strategic stalemate for a number of months. That being said, keeping the BB Yamato tied down out west is a victory in itself. Would not like to see that ship sortie against my amphibious task forces in the Pacific.

ORIGINAL: Lowpe
I fully understand what Japan was trying to accomplish near Ocean.

I bet the cruiser/bb clash was a great one for Japan to watch. All those 5,6 and 8" shells pinging off the armor! That is the kind of fight you love to get into with the Yamoto.

No, the Yamato battle was next to Rangoon. Not Ocean Island. I fully understand what Japan was doing in Rangoon and it was a smart move. It's the cruiser sortie in the Gilberts in the direction of my CVs that I don't understand. Best guess is that Rev Rico thought he could sink my ASW fleets.

[Lowpe]

I was aware of the battle locations.[:)]

The Cl/DD raid going at Ocean which you own, and Nauru is contested.

[Sangeli]

I've really ramped up my punishment on Nauru. I have about a dozen cruisers and another dozen battleships supported by 50ish destroyers providing continuous bombardment rearming at Ocean Island (4 hexes). Have about 10 AE and AKE in Ocean Island to keep up with this demand. The cruisers can bombard pretty much everyday now because rearming 8 inch guns is fast. BBs can go only every other day. On top of 75 4E, 60 2E, and 200 1E bombers are providing air support. Concentrated firepower and logistics is a beautiful thing

[Sangeli]

I decided to change the thread title ever so slightly because of this last post

[Sangeli]

December 3rd, 1943

Looks like Japan tried to sneak in an AK into Nauru:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Nauru Island at 127,128, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
AK Nitti Maru, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Ammen
DD Philip
DD John Rodgers
DD Spence
DD Stevens
DD Terry
DD Trathen
DD Waller

Japanese ground losses:
1193 casualties reported
Squads: 89 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 40 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 47 (42 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 16 (16 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Surprised Rev Rico would risk an AK carrying an LCU here but there it is.

Allied ships smash Nauru:

Night Naval bombardment of Nauru Island at 127,128

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M8 Zero: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
CA Baltimore
CA Wichita
CL Birmingham
CL Marblehead
DD Lang
DD Bancroft
DD McCalla
DD Jenkins

Japanese ground losses:
220 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 24
Port hits 4


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Night Naval bombardment of Nauru Island at 127,128

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M8 Zero: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB Indiana
DD Gilmer
DD Stewart
DD Gridley
DD Gwin
DD Dashiell

Japanese ground losses:
183 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 5 (2 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 12
Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 1


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Night Naval bombardment of Nauru Island at 127,128 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

1 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB Royal Sovereign
BB California
BB Pennsylvania
BB Oklahoma
BB Colorado
CL Jeanne d'Arc
DD Stuart
DD Litchfield
DD Allen
DD Fanning
DD Hammann
DD Stanly
DD Sigsbee
DD DeHaven
DD Bullard
DE Levy

Japanese ground losses:
656 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 54 destroyed, 44 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 19 (13 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Resources hits 5
Airbase hits 24
Airbase supply hits 8
Runway hits 84
Port hits 14
Port fuel hits 8
Port supply hits 1


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Night Naval bombardment of Nauru Island at 127,128

Allied Ships
CA Frobisher
CA Northampton
CL Columbia
CL Cleveland
CL Phoenix
CL Boise
CL Leander
CLAA Oakland
DD Le Hardi
DD Paulding
DD Hatfield
DD Brooks
DD Clark
DD Reid
DD Hughes
DD Farenholt
DD Duncan
DD Guest
DD Fullam
DD Claxton

Japanese ground losses:
368 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 14 destroyed, 55 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 7 (2 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Resources hits 2
Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 10
Runway hits 58
Port hits 8
Port fuel hits 7

One thing I noticed was that during these bombardments there was only ONE coastal shot fired in defense. Does that mean the defenders are out of supply?

No bombers would fly today unfortunately.

Here's what the base looks like today. Despite these bombardments the Japanese have made a quick recovery of their AV, partially due to reinforcements being brought in. Most likely it was by air so now I have continuous LRCAP.

Ground combat at Nauru Island (127,128)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 16890 troops, 471 guns, 295 vehicles, Assault Value = 495

Defending force 15317 troops, 171 guns, 16 vehicles, Assault Value = 232

Japanese ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
754th Tank Battalion
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
24th Marine Regiment
19th Infantry Regiment
7th Infantry Division
226th Field Artillery Battalion
249th Field Artillery Battalion
9th Marine Defense Battalion
7th Marine Defense Battalion

Defending units:
26th Ind.Mixed Brigade
2nd Amphibious Bde /1
88th Naval Guard Unit
14th Garrison Unit /1
2nd Naval Construction Battalion
40th JNAF AF Unit
4th Fleet
21st Air Flotilla
32nd Special Base Force
37th JNAF AF Unit
1st IJN AA Battalion

Not sure when I will order my next attack. Perhaps another two or three turns of these bombardments. Nauru is actually rough terrain so I need to be careful. Kind of unfair an island would be both an atoll AND rough terrain but there it is.

[tiemanjw]

Nauru is actually rough terrain so I need to be careful. Kind of unfair an island would be both an atoll AND rough terrain but there it is.

It is very wooded, much more so than other atolls. x2 doesn't seem like a stretch for that nasty little place.

[Sangeli]

December 7th 1943

Nauru has been very slow. Despite ~1500 casualties per day from bombardment, the LCUs are still holding strong. A deliberate attack also failed to reduce the fort. Could be another week I'm stuck here.

But I did finally pull the trigger on the Port Moresby invasion. I've had this planned for well over a year but I simply did not want to risk it at the wrong time. I noticed a fleet carrier heading back to Japan so I decided this was a good a time as ever. Invasion force was not detected until D-1 so only LBA tried to stop me:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M4-Q Nell x 18
G4M1 Betty x 18
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 66
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 11
Ki-84a Frank x 2

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 14
P-38H Lightning x 30
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 15
F4F-4 Wildcat x 41
F4U-1 Corsair x 4
F4U-1A Corsair x 18
F6F-3 Hellcat x 108

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M4-Q Nell: 9 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 12 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 11 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
xAP Edgar Allan Poe
xAP Kedah, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



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Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 22
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 19
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 11

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 13
P-38H Lightning x 20
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 15
F4F-4 Wildcat x 38
F4U-1 Corsair x 4
F4U-1A Corsair x 18
F6F-3 Hellcat x 95

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 15 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 3 destroyed

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
xAP Raranga, Torpedo hits 1
AK Prince Georges

Allied ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



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Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M8 Zero x 28
G3M4-Q Nell x 18
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 7
Ki-84a Frank x 2

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 13
P-38H Lightning x 17
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 13
F4F-4 Wildcat x 38
F4U-1 Corsair x 4
F4U-1A Corsair x 18
F6F-3 Hellcat x 83

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M8 Zero: 9 destroyed
G3M4-Q Nell: 12 destroyed
Ki-61-Ia Tony: 1 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 9 destroyed
F4U-1A Corsair: 1 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
xAP Tjisadane



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Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M4-Q Nell x 22

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 9
P-38H Lightning x 10
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 8
F4F-4 Wildcat x 14
F4U-1 Corsair x 3
F4U-1A Corsair x 12
F6F-3 Hellcat x 58

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M4-Q Nell: 15 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38H Lightning: 1 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed



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Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 33
Ki-48-IIb Lily x 23
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 2

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 6
P-38H Lightning x 5
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 7
F4F-4 Wildcat x 7
F4U-1 Corsair x 2
F4U-1A Corsair x 11
F6F-3 Hellcat x 50

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 9 destroyed
Ki-48-IIb Lily: 9 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-48-IIb Lily: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
APA Elmore
xAP Ville d'Amiens, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Masaya, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Allied ground losses:
23 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

A couple of ships lost but overall I did very well here. I had my CVEs one hex back with most of the fighters at 100% CAP range 1. I also had a lot of range 8 LRCAP here. Seems to have been a good combo here. Keeping the CVEs back a hex was definitely the right move as I don't want them to come under air attack.

Definitely have enough to take the base quickly.

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 6414 troops, 126 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 243

Defending force 35633 troops, 798 guns, 607 vehicles, Assault Value = 1516

Japanese ground losses:
46 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
33 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
1st China Assault Division
5th Guard ADU Coastal Gun Battalion
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
20th Ind. Engineer Regiment
15th Base Force
2nd IJN AA Battalion

Defending units:
640th TD Bn /1
2nd Marine Division
14th NZ Bde /1
41st Infantry Div /1
3rd NZ Armoured Sqn Rgt /1
27th Infantry Div /1
767th Tank Bn /1
XIV US Corps /1
144th USA Base Force /1
225th Field Artillery Battalion
33rd Medium Rgt /1
N Force Detachment /1

[Capt. Harlock]

1st China Assault Division

Port Moresby is a long way from home for those lads! [:D]

Kudos for a well-executed amphibious operation. I'm sure those losses will put a dent in his aircraft reserves.

[Sangeli]

Here is the butchers bill on the day. There were also some P-51 sweeps over northern Thailand.

[Sangeli]

Apparently fortifications can be transported by ship! Some of the invaders of Port Moresby arrived with level 5 forts. Others with 0. Probably not an intended mechanic by the developers.

[Lowpe]

That is a display bug that happens with fractional units. The base the whole unit left from had the fort level.

[Sangeli]

December 8th 1943

I haven't been showing all the bombardments of Nauru but this one was especially brutal so I thought I'd share it:

Night Naval bombardment of Nauru Island at 127,128

Allied Ships
BB Massachusetts
BB South Dakota
BB Montana
BC Strasbourg
BC Dunkerque
BC Repulse
DD Le Fier
DD Flusser
DD Sterett
DD Benham
DD Maury
DD Helm
DD Blue
DD Frankford
DD Doyle
DD Carmick
DD Caldwell
DD Laffey
DD Bradford
DD Beale
DMS Hamilton

Japanese ground losses:
1243 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 108 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 9 disabled
Guns lost 7 (5 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Resources hits 5
Airbase hits 29
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 118
Port hits 23
Port fuel hits 5

The support units based on Nauru are getting crushed under the weight of my firepower. Won't be long until the support units are literally destroyed by the bombardments. Mind you there were additional cruiser and destroyer bombardments which caused an additional 1000 casualties. And when there are no support squads left then the guns will be focused on the combat squads.

Port Moresby falls easily:

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 32454 troops, 789 guns, 607 vehicles, Assault Value = 1517

Defending force 11301 troops, 179 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 238

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 4

Allied adjusted assault: 3532

Japanese adjusted defense: 567

Allied assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 4)

Allied forces CAPTURE Port Moresby !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
4454 casualties reported
Squads: 60 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 142 destroyed, 53 disabled
Engineers: 53 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 70 (50 destroyed, 20 disabled)
Vehicles lost 37 (37 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 5

Allied ground losses:
535 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 99 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Vehicles lost 46 (5 destroyed, 41 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
41st Infantry Division
27th Infantry Division
767th Tank Battalion
2nd Marine Division
14th NZ Brigade
640th Tank Destroyer Battalion
3rd NZ Armoured Sqn Regiment
XIV US Corps
33rd Medium Regiment
225th Field Artillery Battalion
144th USA Base Force
N Force Detachment

Defending units:
1st China Assault Division
5th Guard ADU Coastal Gun Battalion
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
15th Base Force
20th Ind. Engineer Regiment
2nd IJN AA Battalion

Unfortunately it looks like most of the defenders will be able to retreat mostly intact to Buna.

And finally here's a look at Nauru:

Ground combat at Nauru Island (127,128)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 19890 troops, 533 guns, 393 vehicles, Assault Value = 420

Defending force 9390 troops, 133 guns, 5 vehicles, Assault Value = 150

Japanese ground losses:
27 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
24th Marine Regiment
19th Infantry Regiment
754th Tank Battalion
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
7th Infantry Division
226th Field Artillery Battalion
9th Marine Defense Battalion
249th Field Artillery Battalion
7th Marine Defense Battalion

Defending units:
26th Ind.Mixed Brigade
88th Naval Guard Unit
14th Garrison Unit
2nd Amphibious Bde /1
4th Fleet
21st Air Flotilla
32nd Special Base Force

My LCUs are not in great shape here so I'm inclined to wait 4-5 days before launching another deliberate attack. By that time I'm hoping there will only be around 4,000 defenders.

[Capt. Harlock]

My LCUs are not in great shape here so I'm inclined to wait 4-5 days before launching another deliberate attack. By that time I'm hoping there will only be around 4,000 defenders.

That sounds a trifle optimistic. There seems to be an issue of "diminishing marginal returns" with bombardments. (Apparently the defenders learn to be faster about getting into their foxholes.)

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

My LCUs are not in great shape here so I'm inclined to wait 4-5 days before launching another deliberate attack. By that time I'm hoping there will only be around 4,000 defenders.

That sounds a trifle optimistic. There seems to be an issue of "diminishing marginal returns" with bombardments. (Apparently the defenders learn to be faster about getting into their foxholes.)

You mean I'll start causing less casualties with fewer defenders? I actually do not think this will happen but we will see. The mechanic does make sense though; fewer targets means fewer potential casualties.

[Sangeli]

December 13th

The pace of bombardment has slowed down but because of ammunition issues; my AEs needed to be replenished. But in doing so I found out a more optimal way of using them. Rather than keep them AEs disbanded in port, I keep them in support fleets continuously loading supply. There is a load tender button available for disbanded ships but loading supply the more standard way seems to work a let better. Plan for Nauru is to get all the unit fragments that were left behind (especially of the ID I landed since I cannot split it into thirds for recovery while a fragment its elsewhere) and land them in a shock attack with everyone else. Given how I took Tarawa in a turn when it had a level 6 fort, I am hoping I can do something similar with Nauru. But if things go badly I could end up seeing great number of destroyed squads since my units in Nauru are far from recovered.

I had also neglected to mention that both the CV Enterprise and CV Bunker Hill have taken torpedo hits putting them out of action for some time. But I have two fleet carriers that just arrived from PH to replace them so operations should continue as normal.

Things at Port Moresby are a little sketchy right now. Supply is very low and I sent 5 LSTs to resupply base "covered" by a cruiser fleet. Well the Japanese managed to intercept my LSTs while my cruiser fleet sat idle a few hexes away. I guess my covering fleet was too far away. Japanese now bombing Port Moresby at will with 200+ Helens a day. Developing a new plan now to cover a larger supply convoy of AKs with cruisers, CVEs, and LRCAP. Will likely use a similar approach as I did in the actual invasion though I can probably get some P-39s and P-40s based out of Port Moresby to give some assistance as well with some limited capacity given AF damage and supply issues. As long as the KB doesn't show up it should be OK.

Lastly things in Rangoon are just stuck. I don't see a way forward here. Overall the Japanese have more AV in Burma than I do and my totals include a number Chinese corps. Navy wise we're at parity and while I can suppress his air force with mine, I can't really make an impact on the ground with them except in open terrain. I am bringing in more reinforcements from India to assist in taking Rangoon but even with them I'm only going to have a small edge in AV. Bypassing Rangoon is also out of the question I think because opening up the Burma road is just too important. Pulling out of Burma to assemble a Sumatra invasion doesn't feel like the right either because the Japanese would likely notice my pullout and I am very against the idea of moving fleet assets to the Indian Ocean yet. So I think I will just have to wait, push harder in other theaters, wait for my strength to build up, and wait for the Japanese to start having major crises elsewhere which reduce their ability to defend Rangoon.

In other news my troops in New Caledonia have reached Noumea, attacked it a few times, and turned around. I decided not to prep them for the base because I felt it was better to prep them for actual amphibious landings. The Japanese in Noumea number only 600 AV but are backed by 3x terrain and level 5 forts. I would have liked to have had the Noumea harbor but it's not worth the cost. The base is worth a whopping 650 VPs for Japan but once I destroy the light industry there supply will run dry so those VPs won't count for Japan's total by the end of the war.

[BBfanboy]

Using the "load tenders" button on disbanded ships can only load up to 1000 operations cycles - i.e. one phase of loading. Loading at dockside lets you use both phases of loading but there would be no ops cycles left to provide replenishment to any ships that need it. You just have to have a whack of AE/AKEs and cycle them as you are doing.

[tiemanjw]

Lastly things in Rangoon are just stuck. I don't see a way forward here. Overall the Japanese have more AV in Burma than I do and my totals include a number Chinese corps. Navy wise we're at parity and while I can suppress his air force with mine, I can't really make an impact on the ground with them except in open terrain. I am bringing in more reinforcements from India to assist in taking Rangoon but even with them I'm only going to have a small edge in AV. Bypassing Rangoon is also out of the question I think because opening up the Burma road is just too important. Pulling out of Burma to assemble a Sumatra invasion doesn't feel like the right either because the Japanese would likely notice my pullout and I am very against the idea of moving fleet assets to the Indian Ocean yet. So I think I will just have to wait, push harder in other theaters, wait for my strength to build up, and wait for the Japanese to start having major crises elsewhere which reduce their ability to defend Rangoon.

could you bypass Rangoon (such as take Pegu behind him) and backfill? Sure it doesn't open up the Burma road right away, but at least either cuts him off to make it easier, or possibly he sees the move in advance and pulls back leaving Rangoon underdefended.