ORIGINAL: jwolf
Probably acceptable losses from LST's point of view; he got the just in time reinforcement he needed at Pescadores. Too bad, it's a nice base.
True....but is it essential enough for a 40k garrison?
LST vs. IdahoNYer (DBB-C, A AAR) 6 yrs and done! VJ Day!
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
RE: 31 Jul - 1 Aug 44
True....but is it essential enough for a 40k garrison?
2-3 Aug 44
2-3 Aug 44
Highlights – Saipan’s coastal batteries best US BB bombardment!
Jpn ships sunk:
DD: 1 (Umigiri)
E: 1
PB: 1
xAK: 1
Allied ships sunk: None
Air loss:
Jpn: 10
Allied: 12
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 2 Attacks, 2 ships hit (PB sunk, AK dam) Also one US sub crippled by ASW, likely won't make it back to port (80 float dam)
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph Inv:
Biak (SOPAC)
Manokwari (SOPAC)
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
Siam Reap (SE Asia)
Surat Thani (SE Asia)
Batangas (SWPAC)
SIGINT/Intel: NSTR.
West Coast/Admin: NSTR.
In NOPAC, NSTR.
In CENPAC, I get a nasty surprise when the US BB TF (5BB, DDs) bombarding Saipan gets bested by the CD guns! BBs New Mexico and Tennessee will need some paint and body work at Pearl with system damage in the 20s. At least it wasn’t part of an Amphib invasion; those CDs would have butchered APAs!
With no plans to land at Saipan in the near future, will go back to focusing on Guam. The two damaged BBs are detached and will head to Pearl with a few DD escorts while the remaining three will focus on bombarding Guam - initially from a hopefully safe distance of 20k yards. The Guam Amphib operation officially begins with the US 77th ID beginning to load assault transports at Tabiteuea. Once loaded they will head to Kusaie to link up with the 2nd Mar Div and support troops which will start loading shortly. A third division, the US 38th ID, will remain at Ponape until the first two are ashore due to a lack of assault shipping. Additional support troops and an infantry regiment are also at Rota, and will shuttle across via landing craft. Meanwhile, LBA will focus more on Guam starting next turn with Heavies hitting both the port and AF.
In SOPAC, the US CV TFs will be reduced to one CV TF off Manila as the other two are in the process of heading to Cam for replenishment - the first one I sent last turn is just off the coast and should head back next turn refueled, rearmed and with new Hellcats if all goes well. The transports have moved off Luzon and are also heading to Cam to replenish and prepare for future operations. In the rear area, troops are landed at both (2 IN Bns) Biak and (1 IN Reg) Manokwari. Biak looks to have a few guns left behind from the two Bdes once there, while Manokwari looks to be abandoned. I expect both to be taken next turn. Elsewhere, I’m scouring the rear area for engineers, baseforces and port support units that are no longer needed in the rear that can be pulled forward to the Philippines. I’m also looking at moving the major US Fleet Train base at Manus forward to Davao once Davao port is built up a bit - that of course includes moving a number of ARDs and ARs which will be a slow and laborious process. Also still on the move are the Formosa Amphib troops, which the first convoy should be docking and offloading next turn at Saigon. Will still be a bit before all will be assembled and prepared, so may use some of the assault transports for use SE Asia first.
In SWPAC, on Luzon, troops continue to advance without meeting opposition. South of Manila, lead elements take Batangas just 40m away. Will consolidate troops here before moving onto Manila, still reported to hold 80+k troops. North of Manila, troops will attack San Fernando next turn and should occupy Cabanatuan and advance on Clark. On Mindanao, the US 25th ID begins its final leg to Cagayan, and once arrived, will attack to secure the base with a 4+ division attack. On the outer islands, an Aussie Bn advances to Bacolod, just north of Cebu, to find it occupied by about 200 troops. Will recon by bombardment before attacking. Heavies rest before resuming the attack on Manila.
In China, NSTR.
In SE Asia, troops close in on Vinh, and one over anxious recon Bn advances onto Vinh and will likely get pulverized if the defenders attack - will pull him back if possible. Vinh is strongly held, and to get around Vinh will require movement into the jungle, which will take some time. Truthfully, I need the time anyway as troops from Bangkok still need to be moved forward, and a massive shifting of engineers and baseforces from Burma to Thailand still needs to take place. While the bases recently taken in eastern Thailand can be expanded to support Heavies, they need a lot of work and the necessary engineers are lacking. I had planned to bring the US 20th Air Force support elements in, but with bases available in northern Luzon, these will be transferred to SOPAC and brought in to the Philippines - so SE Asia will be somewhat short baseforces and engineers until I can get this sorted out. In the drive into Malaya, Surat Thani is taken which allows the attackers to have secondary roads to assist the advance from this point south.
Highlights – Saipan’s coastal batteries best US BB bombardment!
Jpn ships sunk:
DD: 1 (Umigiri)
E: 1
PB: 1
xAK: 1
Allied ships sunk: None
Air loss:
Jpn: 10
Allied: 12
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 2 Attacks, 2 ships hit (PB sunk, AK dam) Also one US sub crippled by ASW, likely won't make it back to port (80 float dam)
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph Inv:
Biak (SOPAC)
Manokwari (SOPAC)
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
Siam Reap (SE Asia)
Surat Thani (SE Asia)
Batangas (SWPAC)
SIGINT/Intel: NSTR.
West Coast/Admin: NSTR.
In NOPAC, NSTR.
In CENPAC, I get a nasty surprise when the US BB TF (5BB, DDs) bombarding Saipan gets bested by the CD guns! BBs New Mexico and Tennessee will need some paint and body work at Pearl with system damage in the 20s. At least it wasn’t part of an Amphib invasion; those CDs would have butchered APAs!
With no plans to land at Saipan in the near future, will go back to focusing on Guam. The two damaged BBs are detached and will head to Pearl with a few DD escorts while the remaining three will focus on bombarding Guam - initially from a hopefully safe distance of 20k yards. The Guam Amphib operation officially begins with the US 77th ID beginning to load assault transports at Tabiteuea. Once loaded they will head to Kusaie to link up with the 2nd Mar Div and support troops which will start loading shortly. A third division, the US 38th ID, will remain at Ponape until the first two are ashore due to a lack of assault shipping. Additional support troops and an infantry regiment are also at Rota, and will shuttle across via landing craft. Meanwhile, LBA will focus more on Guam starting next turn with Heavies hitting both the port and AF.
Night Naval bombardment of Saipan at 108,93 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!
315 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
BB New Mexico, Shell hits 24, on fire
BB Tennessee, Shell hits 20, on fire
BB California
BB Pennsylvania
BB Maryland, Shell hits 5
Japanese ground losses:
145 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 10 (3 destroyed, 7 disabled)
Vehicles lost 9 (3 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 16
Port hits 8
OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for BB New Mexico
Saipan Naval Fortress firing at BB New Mexico
BB New Mexico firing at Saipan Naval Fortress
Saipan Naval Fortress firing at BB Tennessee
BB Tennessee firing at Saipan Naval Fortress
OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for BB California
BB California firing at 35th Ind.Mixed Brigade
OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for BB Pennsylvania
BB Pennsylvania firing at Saipan
Saipan Naval Fortress firing at BB Maryland
BB Maryland firing at Saipan Naval Fortress
In SOPAC, the US CV TFs will be reduced to one CV TF off Manila as the other two are in the process of heading to Cam for replenishment - the first one I sent last turn is just off the coast and should head back next turn refueled, rearmed and with new Hellcats if all goes well. The transports have moved off Luzon and are also heading to Cam to replenish and prepare for future operations. In the rear area, troops are landed at both (2 IN Bns) Biak and (1 IN Reg) Manokwari. Biak looks to have a few guns left behind from the two Bdes once there, while Manokwari looks to be abandoned. I expect both to be taken next turn. Elsewhere, I’m scouring the rear area for engineers, baseforces and port support units that are no longer needed in the rear that can be pulled forward to the Philippines. I’m also looking at moving the major US Fleet Train base at Manus forward to Davao once Davao port is built up a bit - that of course includes moving a number of ARDs and ARs which will be a slow and laborious process. Also still on the move are the Formosa Amphib troops, which the first convoy should be docking and offloading next turn at Saigon. Will still be a bit before all will be assembled and prepared, so may use some of the assault transports for use SE Asia first.
In SWPAC, on Luzon, troops continue to advance without meeting opposition. South of Manila, lead elements take Batangas just 40m away. Will consolidate troops here before moving onto Manila, still reported to hold 80+k troops. North of Manila, troops will attack San Fernando next turn and should occupy Cabanatuan and advance on Clark. On Mindanao, the US 25th ID begins its final leg to Cagayan, and once arrived, will attack to secure the base with a 4+ division attack. On the outer islands, an Aussie Bn advances to Bacolod, just north of Cebu, to find it occupied by about 200 troops. Will recon by bombardment before attacking. Heavies rest before resuming the attack on Manila.
In China, NSTR.
In SE Asia, troops close in on Vinh, and one over anxious recon Bn advances onto Vinh and will likely get pulverized if the defenders attack - will pull him back if possible. Vinh is strongly held, and to get around Vinh will require movement into the jungle, which will take some time. Truthfully, I need the time anyway as troops from Bangkok still need to be moved forward, and a massive shifting of engineers and baseforces from Burma to Thailand still needs to take place. While the bases recently taken in eastern Thailand can be expanded to support Heavies, they need a lot of work and the necessary engineers are lacking. I had planned to bring the US 20th Air Force support elements in, but with bases available in northern Luzon, these will be transferred to SOPAC and brought in to the Philippines - so SE Asia will be somewhat short baseforces and engineers until I can get this sorted out. In the drive into Malaya, Surat Thani is taken which allows the attackers to have secondary roads to assist the advance from this point south.
RE: 2-3 Aug 44
IMHO Saipan is the nastiest CenPac base for the CD guns except for Truk. At both bases I had to set the bombardment range out quite a ways in order to minimize damage from the coastal batteries.
RE: 2-3 Aug 44
ORIGINAL: jwolf
IMHO Saipan is the nastiest CenPac base for the CD guns except for Truk. At both bases I had to set the bombardment range out quite a ways in order to minimize damage from the coastal batteries.
Unfortunately.....I figured that out the old fashioned way!
4-5 Aug 44
4-5 Aug 44
Highlights – Biak and Manokwari taken; advance continues north of Manila.
Jpn ships sunk:
E: 1
PB: 1
xAK: 2
Allied ships sunk: None
Air loss:
Jpn: 2
Allied: 17
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 6 Attacks, 1 ship hit (xAK sunk)
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph Inv: None
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
San Fernando (SWPAC)
Lubang (SWPAC - flipped)
Biak (SOPAC)
Manokwari (SOPAC)
Cabanatuan (SWPAC)
Kratie (SE Asia)
SIGINT/Intel: Recon confirms what looks to be a major IJA withdrawal from their positions in SW China - most troops along the line SW of Nanning appear to be on the move towards Hong Kong. However, an estimated 50k troops or more remain in northern Vietnam.
West Coast/Admin: NSTR.
In NOPAC, NSTR.
In CENPAC, BB TF (3BB, DDs) does much better in bombarding Guam from 20k yds inflicting a few casualties but not suffering from any CD batteries. Will close the range 2k yds each subsequent bombardment and see what happens in the next few turns. 77th ID is afloat on assault shipping at Talib, and will head to Kusaie to link up with the 2nd Mar Div and support elements which has begun loading. Bombers continue to prep Guam as well. Based on the distances involved, will still be about a week before troops come ashore.
In SOPAC, in the rear areas, both Biak and Manokwari are taken without loss - both were level 4 forts, but pretty much abandoned. A few IJA stragglers are still roaming the jungles of New Guinea, but other than using some spare aircraft to bomb, won’t worry too much about them. At sea, the refuel/rearming of the CV TFs continue at Cam Ranh Bay. One CV TF has been completed and resumed station off west of Luzon, one CV TF has swapped out 5 CVs worth of Hellcats for the latest model and will head back to sea next turn, and the last CV TF will head to Cam this coming turn. This will provide all three CV TFs with full sorties avail and full plane loads - once assembled will start looking for targets near Formosa again, although will likely remain in the South China Sea in order to also provide some cover for SE Asia amphibious operations against Hainan and perhaps Kwangchowan. Two CVE TFs will remain to cover the support troop and supply convoys heading to Lingayen, while the other two will detach to SE Asia to cover their amphibious operations. Likewise, most of the assault shipping will work under SE Asia command for a few weeks. The troops earmarked for Formosa have begun landing at Saigon and still need some time to assemble and complete planning. Still looking at later this month to begin landings - assuming airfields in northern Luzon can be made operational to support.
In SWPAC, on Luzon, troops take San Fernando from light opposition of a few support units, and seize Cabanatuan which was undefended. The tank battalion at Cabanatuan will now head towards northern Luzon, while the ID will hold in place for now. Clark AF looks to be defended and troops moving in will recon by bombardment next turn. Subic Bay looks to be undefended and troops advancing there should flip the base next turn. South of Manila, troops consolidate at Batangas awaiting some additional artillery moving in before closing in on Manila. Additional troops are still flowing in, and with the 20th AF switching from SE Asia command to Pacific Ocean Areas, additional baseforces are now available which will start flowing in to Lingayen. Focus in Luzon is to get the AFs in northern Luzon up and running, capable of supporting the Formosa landings, and then continuing to expand them to support B-29s. Manila will be sieged, but that will be a long term process to reduce the defenders. Lastly, finally launching the long awaited attack on Cagayan in Mindanao. Success here will release 4+ divisions for future operations.
In China, Chinese troops begin advancing SW of Nanning as the IJA pulls back. Original plan was to have the Chinese troops fight south to link up with a SE Asia command landing at Kwangchowan to cut off IJA troops to the west - that might not be either necessary or feasible as the IJA has a bit of jump here. Still, it does look like the Chinese can cut the lifeline to Hanoi at a minimum.
In SE Asia, with the IJA pulling out of SW China, recon will focus on bases in Hainan, Pakhoi and Kwangchowan to see if landings can take place. Two Bdes are currently mostly prepped and “available” at Cam Rahn Bay to land on Hainan depending on recon. The troops earmarked, and also mostly prepped, for landing at Kwangchowan are still mostly in the DEI, and just starting to ship to Cam. While the troops in the DEI were prepping to seize Kwangchowan, the bulk of the follow-on forces were to be the Indian IV Corps, most of which was just released from taking Bangkok and is still moving to Vietnam. So, bottom line is we’re not really ready to launch any prepared landings either at Hainan or Kwangchowan with ground troops - although assault transports are available and land based air can range from Tourane and Hue bases. So, depending on what the recon flights observe, may launch with what is available - two Bdes landing at Hainan and then bringing in troops from the DEI to land at Kwangchowan. I have a small window here of available assault transports before they are needed for Formosa. On that note, Saigon port is packed and busy offloading the lead elements for the Formosa landings and more troops are flowing in. Cam Ranh Bay is also jumping with troops arriving for Lingayen and now the added burden on the stevedores of loading troops for Hainan. Lastly, losing the 20th Airforce will cut available baseforces to SE Asia by over 50%, and much of the 10th and 14th Airforce baseforces still need to be moved out of rear areas in Burma and the DEI.
Highlights – Biak and Manokwari taken; advance continues north of Manila.
Jpn ships sunk:
E: 1
PB: 1
xAK: 2
Allied ships sunk: None
Air loss:
Jpn: 2
Allied: 17
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 6 Attacks, 1 ship hit (xAK sunk)
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph Inv: None
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
San Fernando (SWPAC)
Lubang (SWPAC - flipped)
Biak (SOPAC)
Manokwari (SOPAC)
Cabanatuan (SWPAC)
Kratie (SE Asia)
SIGINT/Intel: Recon confirms what looks to be a major IJA withdrawal from their positions in SW China - most troops along the line SW of Nanning appear to be on the move towards Hong Kong. However, an estimated 50k troops or more remain in northern Vietnam.
West Coast/Admin: NSTR.
In NOPAC, NSTR.
In CENPAC, BB TF (3BB, DDs) does much better in bombarding Guam from 20k yds inflicting a few casualties but not suffering from any CD batteries. Will close the range 2k yds each subsequent bombardment and see what happens in the next few turns. 77th ID is afloat on assault shipping at Talib, and will head to Kusaie to link up with the 2nd Mar Div and support elements which has begun loading. Bombers continue to prep Guam as well. Based on the distances involved, will still be about a week before troops come ashore.
In SOPAC, in the rear areas, both Biak and Manokwari are taken without loss - both were level 4 forts, but pretty much abandoned. A few IJA stragglers are still roaming the jungles of New Guinea, but other than using some spare aircraft to bomb, won’t worry too much about them. At sea, the refuel/rearming of the CV TFs continue at Cam Ranh Bay. One CV TF has been completed and resumed station off west of Luzon, one CV TF has swapped out 5 CVs worth of Hellcats for the latest model and will head back to sea next turn, and the last CV TF will head to Cam this coming turn. This will provide all three CV TFs with full sorties avail and full plane loads - once assembled will start looking for targets near Formosa again, although will likely remain in the South China Sea in order to also provide some cover for SE Asia amphibious operations against Hainan and perhaps Kwangchowan. Two CVE TFs will remain to cover the support troop and supply convoys heading to Lingayen, while the other two will detach to SE Asia to cover their amphibious operations. Likewise, most of the assault shipping will work under SE Asia command for a few weeks. The troops earmarked for Formosa have begun landing at Saigon and still need some time to assemble and complete planning. Still looking at later this month to begin landings - assuming airfields in northern Luzon can be made operational to support.
In SWPAC, on Luzon, troops take San Fernando from light opposition of a few support units, and seize Cabanatuan which was undefended. The tank battalion at Cabanatuan will now head towards northern Luzon, while the ID will hold in place for now. Clark AF looks to be defended and troops moving in will recon by bombardment next turn. Subic Bay looks to be undefended and troops advancing there should flip the base next turn. South of Manila, troops consolidate at Batangas awaiting some additional artillery moving in before closing in on Manila. Additional troops are still flowing in, and with the 20th AF switching from SE Asia command to Pacific Ocean Areas, additional baseforces are now available which will start flowing in to Lingayen. Focus in Luzon is to get the AFs in northern Luzon up and running, capable of supporting the Formosa landings, and then continuing to expand them to support B-29s. Manila will be sieged, but that will be a long term process to reduce the defenders. Lastly, finally launching the long awaited attack on Cagayan in Mindanao. Success here will release 4+ divisions for future operations.
In China, Chinese troops begin advancing SW of Nanning as the IJA pulls back. Original plan was to have the Chinese troops fight south to link up with a SE Asia command landing at Kwangchowan to cut off IJA troops to the west - that might not be either necessary or feasible as the IJA has a bit of jump here. Still, it does look like the Chinese can cut the lifeline to Hanoi at a minimum.
In SE Asia, with the IJA pulling out of SW China, recon will focus on bases in Hainan, Pakhoi and Kwangchowan to see if landings can take place. Two Bdes are currently mostly prepped and “available” at Cam Rahn Bay to land on Hainan depending on recon. The troops earmarked, and also mostly prepped, for landing at Kwangchowan are still mostly in the DEI, and just starting to ship to Cam. While the troops in the DEI were prepping to seize Kwangchowan, the bulk of the follow-on forces were to be the Indian IV Corps, most of which was just released from taking Bangkok and is still moving to Vietnam. So, bottom line is we’re not really ready to launch any prepared landings either at Hainan or Kwangchowan with ground troops - although assault transports are available and land based air can range from Tourane and Hue bases. So, depending on what the recon flights observe, may launch with what is available - two Bdes landing at Hainan and then bringing in troops from the DEI to land at Kwangchowan. I have a small window here of available assault transports before they are needed for Formosa. On that note, Saigon port is packed and busy offloading the lead elements for the Formosa landings and more troops are flowing in. Cam Ranh Bay is also jumping with troops arriving for Lingayen and now the added burden on the stevedores of loading troops for Hainan. Lastly, losing the 20th Airforce will cut available baseforces to SE Asia by over 50%, and much of the 10th and 14th Airforce baseforces still need to be moved out of rear areas in Burma and the DEI.
- Attachments
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6-7 Aug 44
6-7 Aug 44
Highlights – Cagayan taken on second assault.
Jpn ships sunk:
SC: 1
AG: 1
xAK: 1
Allied ships sunk: None
Air loss:
Jpn: 6
Allied: 14
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 3 Attacks, 2 ships hit (SC, AG sunk)
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph Inv: None
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
Subic Bay (SWPAC)
Cagayan (SWPAC)
Siargao (SWPAC - flipped)
SIGINT/Intel: Initial recon flights indicate Kwangchowan and Pakhoi both not garrisoned which may provide an opportunity to land SE Asia troops to block withdrawing IJA troops in SW China.
West Coast/Admin: NSTR.
In NOPAC, 6th Marine Div arrives at Dutch Harbor along with necessary support. All ground elements now present in the Aleutians for Kuriles; awaiting release of assault shipping from Guam campaign and of course the CV TFs busy in the South China Sea. Clock is ticking to get Kuriles landings done before arctic weather precludes operations until ’45.
In CENPAC, BB TF (3BB, DDs) continues its bombardment of Guam, this time from 18k yards. No response from CD batteries, and damage inflicted is light. Will continue to reduce range. Guam Amphib TFs from both Talib and Kusaie will rendezvous at Ponape next turn as well as linking up with three CVEs to provide cover just in case Truk has some Kamis avail before setting sail to Rota. Air bombardments will now shift to hit primarily ground targets instead of port/AF. While I don’t expect a major response from L_S_T to counter the Guam landings, an MTB/SSX surge is always possible.
In SOPAC, the last CV TFs replenishes at Cam Ranh Bay and will rejoin the Fleet next turn. All three CV TFs, plus the usual accompanying ASW and surface TFs will sortie to the NNW towards the Chinese coast to provide cover for SE Asia amphib landings on Hainan and potentially Kwangchowan. The transport troops earmarked for Formosa continues, with the last Army formations now at sea or boarding transports in the DEI heading to Saigon. Will increase air recon over Formosa, and hopefully can begin bombing targets in the next week from Luzon bases - which should coincide with troops just about set and prepped to board assault transports.
In SWPAC, Cagayan is taken on the second attack, inflicting about 3500 casualties on the defenders, but costing about 2400 Allied losses - although the vast majority are disabled squads. Need to rest the troops for a turn or so before continuing the attack, but the endstate is not in doubt. On Luzon, troops take undefended Subic Bay and will attack both Clark and Vigan next turn. Troops will also start to move on to Manila from the south while all available Heavies and a few mediums will focus on Manila. The US 81st ID, earmarked for Luzon has arrived at Cam Ranh Bay, but its trans-shipment to Luzon will be delayed a bit by the use of assault transports for Hainan. The first two 20th AF baseforces have boarded transports at Cam and will begin the transit to Luzon. I need the baseforces more than additional combat troops at the moment - I have no plans to attack Manila any time soon, although troops will advance onto the base once the majority of the force is assembled. From there, bombardments - ground, air and sea - will be the norm for a while.
In China, three Chinese Corps are currently “in pursuit” of the withdrawing IJA troops SW of Nanning with more following. If SE Asia troops can gain Kwangchowan, an estimated 30k IJA troops may be trapped near Pakhoi.
In SE Asia, with Kiungshan on the north side of the island of Hainan is reportedly undefended, the 100th Indian Bde is prepped, and will land there and troops will march overland to secure Samah. Troops earmarked for Samah were loaded in the DEI and will follow but remain on the assault transports - if additional recon can confirm Kwangchowan is in fact undefended, they will be put ashore there and Samah can wait. I’m trying to accelerate the timetable here by about a month, and doing this on the fly is a risk. Still, transports are available, as are the CVE and CA TFs to provide cover (released from Luzon), but the majority of the intended assault troops for Hainan and Kwangchowan are still either enroute from the DEI or haven’t loaded yet. The follow on troops for Kwangchowan were to be the Indian IV Corps - and they are largely still enroute from Bangkok. So, even if Kwangchowan is undefended, putting a couple of Bdes ashore on mainland China is a risk - they will be fairly exposed until additional troops can reinforce. And most of those reinforcements aren’t positioned in Indochina yet. The main body of the Indian XXXIII Corps is still assembling west of Vinh, and it will be some time yet before they’ll be able to advance beyond Vinh toward Hanoi.
8-9 Aug 44
Highlights – Clark AF taken; proposed amphib landings at Kiungshan and Kwangchowan are a go!
Jpn ships sunk:
xAP: 1
xAK: 1
xAKL: 1
Allied ships sunk: None
Air loss:
Jpn: 18
Allied: 17
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 2 Attacks, 1 ship hit (xAKL sunk)
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph Inv: None
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
Clark AF (SWPAC)
Vigan (SWPAC)
Bayombong (SWPAC)
Polillo (SWPAC - flipped)
SIGINT/Intel: Further recon flights continue to indicate Kwangchowan and Pakhoi on the Chinese mainland, and Kiungshan, on Hainan are all ungarrisoned, so it’s worth a shot to execute a quick landing with unprepped troops. Recon is also showing Batan Island north of the Philippines also not garrisoned, so will attempt to secure that base with its level 2 AF as soon as possible.
West Coast/Admin: NSTR.
In NOPAC, NSTR.
In CENPAC, both naval and air bombardments against Guam continue with minimal success, but the beatings will continue. Amphib TF with 3CVEs providing cover will depart Ponape next turn and head to final staging at Rota where they will rendezvous with the BB, CA and CVE TFs.
In SOPAC, all three CV TFs have taken position east of Hainan to provide cover for the upcoming SE Asia amphibious landings on the coast of China and Hainan. SOPAC troops are still arriving at Saigon for Formosa and recon flights find less than expected IJA concentrations at the initial landing site one the SW corner of the island, at Hengchun. Takao looks to be fairly well defended, but the NE base, Taihoku, looks to be the most heavily defended. Secondary landing targets in the center of the island at Kagi and Taichu appear to be garrisoned, but not well defended. So, once the troops finish assembling at Saigon, and some additional planning time is allotted, Formosa Amphib should embarking in about 1-2 weeks. By that time, assault transports will be returned from SE Asia as well. Tight timeline for a major 3 plus division initial landing, but do-able.
In SWPAC, the advance on northern Luzon continues with Clark Field and Vigan being taken against minimal opposition from support troops. Troops push on from Vigan to Loaog along the west coast while a tank battalion is heading toward the east coast to Tuguegarao and then on to Aparri. The tankers will be followed up by infantry, although it’s not clear whether or not they’ll be needed. The first two 20th Air Force baseforces have arrived at Lingayen from Cam Ranh Bay with many more following in the next few weeks. On Mindanao, troops still need a bit of time to recover before resuming the attack against IJA troops at Cagayan. Additional engineers are arriving at Davao as well in order to increase the port’s capabilities as quickly as possible - ultimately, Davao can be a level 6 port, and until Manila is taken, the best port available in the PI.
In China, two of the three Chinese corps advancing SW of Nanning halt as the IJA have established a rearguard to delay their pursuit. The remaining troops continue to move south, with the objective of linking up with inbound SE Asia troops.
In SE Asia, as mentioned, additional recon has come up with zero IJA units defending Pakhoi and Kwangchowan on the Chinese mainland, and Kiungshan on Hainan. So, the intended landing with the one mostly prepped 100th IN Bde at Kiungshan will go in next turn, but instead of following up with additional troops to follow on to seize Samah, I’m diverting at least the lead Bde to land at Kwangchowan. As its prepped for Samah, it will take serious disablements, but should be able to take the undefended base - as long as it is truly undefended - recon has “missed” enemy units before. A further Bde intended for Samah is already at sea, and will follow on to Kwangchowan once secured. Troops that have actually planned for Kwangchowan, including the well experienced Aus 9th Infantry Div, will follow - but that division is just starting to load at Oosthaven in Sumatra. Troops of the Indian IV Corps have begun arriving at Cam Ranh Bay as well, but they need to transition to combat mode and also board transports. Lastly, I’ve got two airborne Bdes available in eastern Thailand - one of which will attempt to seize the undefended base of Lang Son, just east of Hanoi, and the other will either go into Pakhoi or reinforce at Kwangchowan as the situation develops.
Highlights – Cagayan taken on second assault.
Jpn ships sunk:
SC: 1
AG: 1
xAK: 1
Allied ships sunk: None
Air loss:
Jpn: 6
Allied: 14
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 3 Attacks, 2 ships hit (SC, AG sunk)
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph Inv: None
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
Subic Bay (SWPAC)
Cagayan (SWPAC)
Siargao (SWPAC - flipped)
SIGINT/Intel: Initial recon flights indicate Kwangchowan and Pakhoi both not garrisoned which may provide an opportunity to land SE Asia troops to block withdrawing IJA troops in SW China.
West Coast/Admin: NSTR.
In NOPAC, 6th Marine Div arrives at Dutch Harbor along with necessary support. All ground elements now present in the Aleutians for Kuriles; awaiting release of assault shipping from Guam campaign and of course the CV TFs busy in the South China Sea. Clock is ticking to get Kuriles landings done before arctic weather precludes operations until ’45.
In CENPAC, BB TF (3BB, DDs) continues its bombardment of Guam, this time from 18k yards. No response from CD batteries, and damage inflicted is light. Will continue to reduce range. Guam Amphib TFs from both Talib and Kusaie will rendezvous at Ponape next turn as well as linking up with three CVEs to provide cover just in case Truk has some Kamis avail before setting sail to Rota. Air bombardments will now shift to hit primarily ground targets instead of port/AF. While I don’t expect a major response from L_S_T to counter the Guam landings, an MTB/SSX surge is always possible.
In SOPAC, the last CV TFs replenishes at Cam Ranh Bay and will rejoin the Fleet next turn. All three CV TFs, plus the usual accompanying ASW and surface TFs will sortie to the NNW towards the Chinese coast to provide cover for SE Asia amphib landings on Hainan and potentially Kwangchowan. The transport troops earmarked for Formosa continues, with the last Army formations now at sea or boarding transports in the DEI heading to Saigon. Will increase air recon over Formosa, and hopefully can begin bombing targets in the next week from Luzon bases - which should coincide with troops just about set and prepped to board assault transports.
In SWPAC, Cagayan is taken on the second attack, inflicting about 3500 casualties on the defenders, but costing about 2400 Allied losses - although the vast majority are disabled squads. Need to rest the troops for a turn or so before continuing the attack, but the endstate is not in doubt. On Luzon, troops take undefended Subic Bay and will attack both Clark and Vigan next turn. Troops will also start to move on to Manila from the south while all available Heavies and a few mediums will focus on Manila. The US 81st ID, earmarked for Luzon has arrived at Cam Ranh Bay, but its trans-shipment to Luzon will be delayed a bit by the use of assault transports for Hainan. The first two 20th AF baseforces have boarded transports at Cam and will begin the transit to Luzon. I need the baseforces more than additional combat troops at the moment - I have no plans to attack Manila any time soon, although troops will advance onto the base once the majority of the force is assembled. From there, bombardments - ground, air and sea - will be the norm for a while.
In China, three Chinese Corps are currently “in pursuit” of the withdrawing IJA troops SW of Nanning with more following. If SE Asia troops can gain Kwangchowan, an estimated 30k IJA troops may be trapped near Pakhoi.
In SE Asia, with Kiungshan on the north side of the island of Hainan is reportedly undefended, the 100th Indian Bde is prepped, and will land there and troops will march overland to secure Samah. Troops earmarked for Samah were loaded in the DEI and will follow but remain on the assault transports - if additional recon can confirm Kwangchowan is in fact undefended, they will be put ashore there and Samah can wait. I’m trying to accelerate the timetable here by about a month, and doing this on the fly is a risk. Still, transports are available, as are the CVE and CA TFs to provide cover (released from Luzon), but the majority of the intended assault troops for Hainan and Kwangchowan are still either enroute from the DEI or haven’t loaded yet. The follow on troops for Kwangchowan were to be the Indian IV Corps - and they are largely still enroute from Bangkok. So, even if Kwangchowan is undefended, putting a couple of Bdes ashore on mainland China is a risk - they will be fairly exposed until additional troops can reinforce. And most of those reinforcements aren’t positioned in Indochina yet. The main body of the Indian XXXIII Corps is still assembling west of Vinh, and it will be some time yet before they’ll be able to advance beyond Vinh toward Hanoi.
8-9 Aug 44
Highlights – Clark AF taken; proposed amphib landings at Kiungshan and Kwangchowan are a go!
Jpn ships sunk:
xAP: 1
xAK: 1
xAKL: 1
Allied ships sunk: None
Air loss:
Jpn: 18
Allied: 17
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 2 Attacks, 1 ship hit (xAKL sunk)
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph Inv: None
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
Clark AF (SWPAC)
Vigan (SWPAC)
Bayombong (SWPAC)
Polillo (SWPAC - flipped)
SIGINT/Intel: Further recon flights continue to indicate Kwangchowan and Pakhoi on the Chinese mainland, and Kiungshan, on Hainan are all ungarrisoned, so it’s worth a shot to execute a quick landing with unprepped troops. Recon is also showing Batan Island north of the Philippines also not garrisoned, so will attempt to secure that base with its level 2 AF as soon as possible.
West Coast/Admin: NSTR.
In NOPAC, NSTR.
In CENPAC, both naval and air bombardments against Guam continue with minimal success, but the beatings will continue. Amphib TF with 3CVEs providing cover will depart Ponape next turn and head to final staging at Rota where they will rendezvous with the BB, CA and CVE TFs.
In SOPAC, all three CV TFs have taken position east of Hainan to provide cover for the upcoming SE Asia amphibious landings on the coast of China and Hainan. SOPAC troops are still arriving at Saigon for Formosa and recon flights find less than expected IJA concentrations at the initial landing site one the SW corner of the island, at Hengchun. Takao looks to be fairly well defended, but the NE base, Taihoku, looks to be the most heavily defended. Secondary landing targets in the center of the island at Kagi and Taichu appear to be garrisoned, but not well defended. So, once the troops finish assembling at Saigon, and some additional planning time is allotted, Formosa Amphib should embarking in about 1-2 weeks. By that time, assault transports will be returned from SE Asia as well. Tight timeline for a major 3 plus division initial landing, but do-able.
In SWPAC, the advance on northern Luzon continues with Clark Field and Vigan being taken against minimal opposition from support troops. Troops push on from Vigan to Loaog along the west coast while a tank battalion is heading toward the east coast to Tuguegarao and then on to Aparri. The tankers will be followed up by infantry, although it’s not clear whether or not they’ll be needed. The first two 20th Air Force baseforces have arrived at Lingayen from Cam Ranh Bay with many more following in the next few weeks. On Mindanao, troops still need a bit of time to recover before resuming the attack against IJA troops at Cagayan. Additional engineers are arriving at Davao as well in order to increase the port’s capabilities as quickly as possible - ultimately, Davao can be a level 6 port, and until Manila is taken, the best port available in the PI.
In China, two of the three Chinese corps advancing SW of Nanning halt as the IJA have established a rearguard to delay their pursuit. The remaining troops continue to move south, with the objective of linking up with inbound SE Asia troops.
In SE Asia, as mentioned, additional recon has come up with zero IJA units defending Pakhoi and Kwangchowan on the Chinese mainland, and Kiungshan on Hainan. So, the intended landing with the one mostly prepped 100th IN Bde at Kiungshan will go in next turn, but instead of following up with additional troops to follow on to seize Samah, I’m diverting at least the lead Bde to land at Kwangchowan. As its prepped for Samah, it will take serious disablements, but should be able to take the undefended base - as long as it is truly undefended - recon has “missed” enemy units before. A further Bde intended for Samah is already at sea, and will follow on to Kwangchowan once secured. Troops that have actually planned for Kwangchowan, including the well experienced Aus 9th Infantry Div, will follow - but that division is just starting to load at Oosthaven in Sumatra. Troops of the Indian IV Corps have begun arriving at Cam Ranh Bay as well, but they need to transition to combat mode and also board transports. Lastly, I’ve got two airborne Bdes available in eastern Thailand - one of which will attempt to seize the undefended base of Lang Son, just east of Hanoi, and the other will either go into Pakhoi or reinforce at Kwangchowan as the situation develops.
- Attachments
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8-9 Aug 44
10-11 Aug 44
Highlights – Landings go in at Kiungshan and Kwangchowan, both are undefended, but only Kiungshan falls.
Jpn ships sunk:
CL: 1 (Kuma - replaces Oyodo)
SS: 1 (RO-43)
E: 1
TK: 1
AO: 1
xAK: 1
Jpn ships un-sunk:
CL: 1 (Oyodo)
Allied ships sunk:
SS: 2 (Croaker, Gunnel - both succumbed to bomb damage enroute to ports)
Air loss:
Jpn: 10
Allied: 20
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 3 Attacks, 2 ships hit (AO, xAK sunk)
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph and Airborne Inv:
Kiungshan (SE Asia)
Kwangchowan (SE Asia)
Lang Son (SE Asia)
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
Kiungshan (SE Asia)
Long Son (SE Asia)
Siquijor (SWPAC - flipped)
SIGINT/Intel: IJA troops are in full retreat in SW China, so the Kwangchowan landing is probably a few days too late. SIGINT says an IJN convoy is bringing a division to Okinawa, so the CV TFs will attempt to interdict.
West Coast/Admin: NSTR.
In NOPAC, NSTR.
In CENPAC, the Guam Amphib TF is about 6 hexes from Guam and I was tempted to route it directly to Guam and begin the landings, but I stuck with it going to Rota to stage. No rush here. Another turn of BB and air bombardment won’t hurt - they aren’t doing much, but what the heck.
In SOPAC, as mentioned, the CV TFs will head east, transit south of Formosa, and attempt to hit a reported convoy heading to Okinawa. Of course, no idea of the timing of the convoy, it may already be offloading troops. Still, moving the CVs toward the East China Sea isn’t a bad idea anyway - they’ll be in a better position to begin the isolation of Formosa in preparation for landings.
In SWPAC, Manila becomes the focus of every bomber that can range. AFs in range are packed with the bombers and they focus on the AF which is put out of commission, as well as getting some supply hits. Focus will shift to hitting troops as US forces should enter the city next turn from the south. The three divisions and supporting troops will sit tight until more artillery and troops from the north can arrive, and then ground bombardments will begin. A good month or so of bombardments is the plan prior any ground attack. Also, recon shows Batan Island north of Luzon to be undefended, so the much traveled Aussie 2/9 Cdo Bn will attempt to grab the level 2 AF. Batan will allow LBA fighters to range Formosa on normal range, and P-38s to range Okinawa on drop tanks.
In China, the advance SW of Nanning will resume as the IJA looks to be in full retreat. Even if most IJA troops pull east, I’m looking forward to linking up Chinese troops with Commonwealth elements coming ashore!
In SE Asia, the landings at Kwangchowan and Kiungshan go in much as expected - heavy disablements at Kwangchowan, about 50%. The 16th LRP Bde will still take the town next turn, and reinforcing troops should begin landing on the second day. Additional troops will begin flowing in as quickly as they can be shipped, but committing the assault shipping for this transit will only last for a week or so - most will be pulled for the Formosa landings. And with the IJA moving east quicker than expected, there is little incentive to delay Formosa. LBA will still attempt to hit the withdrawing troops to slow them down, including basing an A-20 group to Liuchow in China to range targets, but I doubt many IJA troops can be cut off as the main body of troops coming ashore - the Aus 9th Div and Indian 5th Div are still a few days out. Lang Son is taken by the 50th Indian Para Bde via airborne assault, just as an IJA unit looks to be heading east toward the base. Between taking Lang Son and the landings at Kwangchowan, IJA troops remaining in Indochina are effectively cut off. On Hainan, Kiungshan is taken undefended, and troops will be brought in as shipping is available to take Samah. Kiungshan AF is taken intact, and fighters are brought in to provide CAP. Both CVE TFs will remain to support the flow of troops until they are needed for Formosa, although at this point, I don’t see L_S_T throwing Kamikazes at anything west of Formosa.
Highlights – Landings go in at Kiungshan and Kwangchowan, both are undefended, but only Kiungshan falls.
Jpn ships sunk:
CL: 1 (Kuma - replaces Oyodo)
SS: 1 (RO-43)
E: 1
TK: 1
AO: 1
xAK: 1
Jpn ships un-sunk:
CL: 1 (Oyodo)
Allied ships sunk:
SS: 2 (Croaker, Gunnel - both succumbed to bomb damage enroute to ports)
Air loss:
Jpn: 10
Allied: 20
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 3 Attacks, 2 ships hit (AO, xAK sunk)
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph and Airborne Inv:
Kiungshan (SE Asia)
Kwangchowan (SE Asia)
Lang Son (SE Asia)
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
Kiungshan (SE Asia)
Long Son (SE Asia)
Siquijor (SWPAC - flipped)
SIGINT/Intel: IJA troops are in full retreat in SW China, so the Kwangchowan landing is probably a few days too late. SIGINT says an IJN convoy is bringing a division to Okinawa, so the CV TFs will attempt to interdict.
West Coast/Admin: NSTR.
In NOPAC, NSTR.
In CENPAC, the Guam Amphib TF is about 6 hexes from Guam and I was tempted to route it directly to Guam and begin the landings, but I stuck with it going to Rota to stage. No rush here. Another turn of BB and air bombardment won’t hurt - they aren’t doing much, but what the heck.
In SOPAC, as mentioned, the CV TFs will head east, transit south of Formosa, and attempt to hit a reported convoy heading to Okinawa. Of course, no idea of the timing of the convoy, it may already be offloading troops. Still, moving the CVs toward the East China Sea isn’t a bad idea anyway - they’ll be in a better position to begin the isolation of Formosa in preparation for landings.
In SWPAC, Manila becomes the focus of every bomber that can range. AFs in range are packed with the bombers and they focus on the AF which is put out of commission, as well as getting some supply hits. Focus will shift to hitting troops as US forces should enter the city next turn from the south. The three divisions and supporting troops will sit tight until more artillery and troops from the north can arrive, and then ground bombardments will begin. A good month or so of bombardments is the plan prior any ground attack. Also, recon shows Batan Island north of Luzon to be undefended, so the much traveled Aussie 2/9 Cdo Bn will attempt to grab the level 2 AF. Batan will allow LBA fighters to range Formosa on normal range, and P-38s to range Okinawa on drop tanks.
In China, the advance SW of Nanning will resume as the IJA looks to be in full retreat. Even if most IJA troops pull east, I’m looking forward to linking up Chinese troops with Commonwealth elements coming ashore!
In SE Asia, the landings at Kwangchowan and Kiungshan go in much as expected - heavy disablements at Kwangchowan, about 50%. The 16th LRP Bde will still take the town next turn, and reinforcing troops should begin landing on the second day. Additional troops will begin flowing in as quickly as they can be shipped, but committing the assault shipping for this transit will only last for a week or so - most will be pulled for the Formosa landings. And with the IJA moving east quicker than expected, there is little incentive to delay Formosa. LBA will still attempt to hit the withdrawing troops to slow them down, including basing an A-20 group to Liuchow in China to range targets, but I doubt many IJA troops can be cut off as the main body of troops coming ashore - the Aus 9th Div and Indian 5th Div are still a few days out. Lang Son is taken by the 50th Indian Para Bde via airborne assault, just as an IJA unit looks to be heading east toward the base. Between taking Lang Son and the landings at Kwangchowan, IJA troops remaining in Indochina are effectively cut off. On Hainan, Kiungshan is taken undefended, and troops will be brought in as shipping is available to take Samah. Kiungshan AF is taken intact, and fighters are brought in to provide CAP. Both CVE TFs will remain to support the flow of troops until they are needed for Formosa, although at this point, I don’t see L_S_T throwing Kamikazes at anything west of Formosa.
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12-13 Aug 44
12-13 Aug 44
Highlights – Batan Is and Kwangchowan taken; US CV TFs sink ASW TF enroute to the East China Sea.
Jpn ships sunk:
SC: 3
Allied ships sunk: None
Air loss:
Jpn: 5
Allied: 21
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 1 Attack, 0 ships hit
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph and Airborne Inv:
Batan Is (SWPAC)
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
Vientiane (SE Asia)
Tuguegarao (SWPAC)
Batan Is (SWPAC)
Kwangchowan (SE Asia)
Nakhon Si Thammarat (SE Asia)
SIGINT/Intel: Japanese airforce is just not flying - even the ASW patrols seem to be less. No CAP on vulnerable targets - supply situation must be very critical. Will be interesting to see if CAP flies over Formosa and/or Okinawa.
West Coast/Admin: NSTR.
In NOPAC, NSTR.
In CENPAC, the Guam Amphib TF is about 6 hexes from Guam and I was tempted to route it directly to Guam and begin the landings, but I stuck with it going to Rota to stage. No rush here. Another turn of BB and air bombardment won’t hurt - they aren’t doing much, but what the heck.
In SOPAC, the CV TFs transit south of Formosa hitting an ASW TF in the Formosa Straits, sinking three SCs. CVs will continue east then northeast into the East China Sea to cover approaches to Okinawa. The last division and support elements earmarked for Formosa arrived in Saigon last turn. One Bde remains in Batavia as a “garrison” until it is relieved by an Indian Bde enroute. Most units still need about a week or so of prep time, and will start loading in about a week. An Australian Bde currently in Borneo, and support units will start loading for Orchid Island, just off the SE coast of Formosa next turn. This small scale invasion should precede the main event and it will be a good indicator of whether or not L_S_T will fly Kamikazes to defend Formosa.
In SWPAC, an undefended Batan island is taken by 2/9 Cdo, and the AF taken intact. P-38s are flown in and will fly sweeps over Okinawa in support of the anticipated CV airstrikes. Should have enough supply on site for at least one sweep, and aviation support will start arriving via air. On Luzon, Army tankers take undefended Tuguegarao and will head to Aparri, also reportedly undefended. Infantry should secure Bataan next turn as well, leaving only Laoag in the NW corner, defended by a few remnants. Manila is invested by US ground forces - three divisions and much supporting artillery and armor advanced in from the south. Another division and additional support will move in next turn from the north. More will follow - another division is north of the city, another is awaiting transit in Saigon, and a third is in convoy from the States. Once fighting is done in Mindanao, will look to see if these troops are needed in Luzon. On that note, the troops at Cagayan have recovered enough for another go at the remaining IJA troops at Cagayan, and the Para Reg will attack to take Surigao on the NE tip of Mindanao.
In China, troops continue to move south pursuing the withdrawing IJA troops.
In SE Asia, Kwangchowan is taken, and another Bde is in the process of offloading. The withdrawing IJA troops are subject to effective bombing attacks from 3+ groups of mediums which inflict over 3500 casualties in numerous attacks - none opposed by CAP. While the bombing is effective, and attacks will continue, the chance to encircle these troops is doubtful. The Indian 5th ID and the Aus 9th IN are still a few days out from landing - by the time they arrive, the IJA troops will likely be well to the east. Additional infantry, armor and support troops are loading at Cam Ranh Bay and will also be shipped to Kwangchowan, but truthfully, I’m not sure that this is necessary at this point - the opportunity to trap 50k+ IJA troops is likely past. But they will have a role to play relieving the paratroops that took Lang Son and continuing to attack towards Hanoi from the east. In any case, available assault shipping will be severely cut within a week. In Vietnam, the XXXIII Corps continues to assemble its combat power around Vinh, and it will be a few days before enough troops can assemble before an attack is made. The XV Corps continues its slow progress south in the Malayan Peninsula, still being delayed more by terrain than any established defenses.
Highlights – Batan Is and Kwangchowan taken; US CV TFs sink ASW TF enroute to the East China Sea.
Jpn ships sunk:
SC: 3
Allied ships sunk: None
Air loss:
Jpn: 5
Allied: 21
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 1 Attack, 0 ships hit
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph and Airborne Inv:
Batan Is (SWPAC)
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
Vientiane (SE Asia)
Tuguegarao (SWPAC)
Batan Is (SWPAC)
Kwangchowan (SE Asia)
Nakhon Si Thammarat (SE Asia)
SIGINT/Intel: Japanese airforce is just not flying - even the ASW patrols seem to be less. No CAP on vulnerable targets - supply situation must be very critical. Will be interesting to see if CAP flies over Formosa and/or Okinawa.
West Coast/Admin: NSTR.
In NOPAC, NSTR.
In CENPAC, the Guam Amphib TF is about 6 hexes from Guam and I was tempted to route it directly to Guam and begin the landings, but I stuck with it going to Rota to stage. No rush here. Another turn of BB and air bombardment won’t hurt - they aren’t doing much, but what the heck.
In SOPAC, the CV TFs transit south of Formosa hitting an ASW TF in the Formosa Straits, sinking three SCs. CVs will continue east then northeast into the East China Sea to cover approaches to Okinawa. The last division and support elements earmarked for Formosa arrived in Saigon last turn. One Bde remains in Batavia as a “garrison” until it is relieved by an Indian Bde enroute. Most units still need about a week or so of prep time, and will start loading in about a week. An Australian Bde currently in Borneo, and support units will start loading for Orchid Island, just off the SE coast of Formosa next turn. This small scale invasion should precede the main event and it will be a good indicator of whether or not L_S_T will fly Kamikazes to defend Formosa.
In SWPAC, an undefended Batan island is taken by 2/9 Cdo, and the AF taken intact. P-38s are flown in and will fly sweeps over Okinawa in support of the anticipated CV airstrikes. Should have enough supply on site for at least one sweep, and aviation support will start arriving via air. On Luzon, Army tankers take undefended Tuguegarao and will head to Aparri, also reportedly undefended. Infantry should secure Bataan next turn as well, leaving only Laoag in the NW corner, defended by a few remnants. Manila is invested by US ground forces - three divisions and much supporting artillery and armor advanced in from the south. Another division and additional support will move in next turn from the north. More will follow - another division is north of the city, another is awaiting transit in Saigon, and a third is in convoy from the States. Once fighting is done in Mindanao, will look to see if these troops are needed in Luzon. On that note, the troops at Cagayan have recovered enough for another go at the remaining IJA troops at Cagayan, and the Para Reg will attack to take Surigao on the NE tip of Mindanao.
In China, troops continue to move south pursuing the withdrawing IJA troops.
In SE Asia, Kwangchowan is taken, and another Bde is in the process of offloading. The withdrawing IJA troops are subject to effective bombing attacks from 3+ groups of mediums which inflict over 3500 casualties in numerous attacks - none opposed by CAP. While the bombing is effective, and attacks will continue, the chance to encircle these troops is doubtful. The Indian 5th ID and the Aus 9th IN are still a few days out from landing - by the time they arrive, the IJA troops will likely be well to the east. Additional infantry, armor and support troops are loading at Cam Ranh Bay and will also be shipped to Kwangchowan, but truthfully, I’m not sure that this is necessary at this point - the opportunity to trap 50k+ IJA troops is likely past. But they will have a role to play relieving the paratroops that took Lang Son and continuing to attack towards Hanoi from the east. In any case, available assault shipping will be severely cut within a week. In Vietnam, the XXXIII Corps continues to assemble its combat power around Vinh, and it will be a few days before enough troops can assemble before an attack is made. The XV Corps continues its slow progress south in the Malayan Peninsula, still being delayed more by terrain than any established defenses.
14-15 Aug 44
14-15 Aug 44
Highlights – Guam landings go in; fighting ends at Cagayan as IJA resistance ends.
Jpn ships sunk:
SC: 3
PB: 1
AV: 1
AG: 1
xAP: 1
LST: 1
xAK: 1
ACM: 2
Allied ships sunk:
SS: 1 (Thorough)
Air loss:
Jpn: 4
Allied: 21
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 1 Attack, 0 ships hit
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph Inv:
Guam (CENPAC)
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
Bataan (SWPAC)
Surigao (SWPAC)
Dinagat (SWPAC)
SIGINT/Intel: Sub sights big IJN support convoy moving in the East China Sea - assuming its heading to Nagasaki - which may be worth a look by CV TF air search.
West Coast/Admin: CV Hancock arrives at Balboa. She’s the first “Long hulled” Essex class CV to arrive, and doesn’t need a refit until Jan ’45. She also arrives with the usual lackluster pilots which had to be exchanged with veteran pilots, so her arrival and another CVE, the US Navy fighter pilot pools are reduced by about 40%. Hancock will head to Los Angeles to pick up a NF Hellcat squadron to round out her air complement, and then sail to join the fleet.
In NOPAC, Amchitka based subs have been venturing into the Sea of Japan on a more regular basis, and although targets remain slim, the SS Lionfish found a big fat AO off Vladivostock - and missed of course, but I think she found the port being used to ship fuel/oil out of Manchukuo - Rashin. Will vector a few more subs to the vicinity, and put it on the list to mine once B-29s can get into range.
In CENPAC, the Guam Amphib goes in and two divisions plus support are landed without problems. The Amph TFs are offloaded and one will head to Ponape to bring in another division, and the other will move across to Rota to bring in an infantry regiment. Will hold off any attacks until the entire force is assembled, leaving more time for the naval and air bombardments to continue their work. Also, the two BBs damaged by Saipan’s CDs arrive at Pearl - they’ll need about 3 weeks to repair.
In SOPAC, the CV TFs move into the East China Sea to a point about 120m NW of Okinawa and hit a small convoy at Amani Oshima - sinking an AV, AG and 3SC. Not the big convoy carrying an IJA division reported by SIGINT, which I now believe has headed back to Nagasaki, or has not loaded out from there yet. Either way, Nagasaki may be worth while exploring, but will need to be able to sweep first - and the CVs are too far away right now to plot effective sweeps. So, the CV TFs will enter a bit deeper into the East China Sea, but remain about 7 hexes off Nagasaki - close enough to plan sweeps for some fighter squadrons on normal range. Will try to get some better intel from air search and perhaps some recon before launching any strikes over a major Japanese port.
In SWPAC, troops wipe out the last IJA defenders of Cagayan in two attacks - IJA losses reported at over 16k while Allied losses were limited to just over 500, the vast majority disabled. Surigao is also taken, and the remnants of Davao’s defense were brought to combat in the eastern jungles of Mindanao, losing the vast majority of their force. The four US divisions and NZ Bdes at Cagayan are now “available” for future operations. All have a number of disabled squads, but nothing dramatic. The one SWPAC HQ division will plan for Manilla and move to Luzon as soon it can move to Davao and transports can be gathered. Two divisions and the New Zealanders will plan for landing at that same Amani Oshima that the CV TFs hit shipping near this turn. The fourth division will reinforce the Formosa landings and will plan for Taihoku on the eastern tip of Formosa. Also need to remission the troops earmarked for the Pescadores - recon is still reporting 40k or more defenders, so the two or so Aussie divisions currently planning aren’t enough, and I’ll bypass unless a sizeable amount of the defenders are pulled out. On Luzon, troops secure an abandoned Bataan - only mines remaining that need to be swept.
In China, NSTR.
In SE Asia, the British 29th IN Bde begins moving out of Kwangchowan, but will be way too late to prevent the IJA exodus towards Canton. The 5th Indian Div has arrived and will start offloading next turn, and the Aus 9th Division should arrive in the next turn or two. While LBA keeps hitting the withdrawing IJA troops with good effect, the Allied ground units won’t likely catch the fleeing IJA. If that pans out, the majority of the Allied troops will head west towards Hanoi, leaving the majority of the pursuit to the Chinese. I have no plans to try and force a crossing across a river to seize Canton or Hong Kong from the west. Long term, SE Asia command troops will look for future amphibious operations along the Chinese coast, but that won’t happen for a long while. In the meantime, focus will be to link up with Chinese troops and establish a supply route to the Chinese from the South China Sea ports - ultimately Hanoi/Haiphong. Ground troops in Vietnam are still assembling near the IJA positions in and around Vinh, and will attempt to prevent this force from withdrawing behind the rivers around Haiphong. The Indian XV Corps is still working towards Singapore overland, and should be engaging enemy troops near Singora in the next few turns. Although Singers is still a long way away from a ground assault, BBs Valiant and Queen Elizabeth will begin bombardment runs starting next turn. With the BBs available, no time like the present to start reducing the 30k+ defenders down.
Highlights – Guam landings go in; fighting ends at Cagayan as IJA resistance ends.
Jpn ships sunk:
SC: 3
PB: 1
AV: 1
AG: 1
xAP: 1
LST: 1
xAK: 1
ACM: 2
Allied ships sunk:
SS: 1 (Thorough)
Air loss:
Jpn: 4
Allied: 21
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 1 Attack, 0 ships hit
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph Inv:
Guam (CENPAC)
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
Bataan (SWPAC)
Surigao (SWPAC)
Dinagat (SWPAC)
SIGINT/Intel: Sub sights big IJN support convoy moving in the East China Sea - assuming its heading to Nagasaki - which may be worth a look by CV TF air search.
West Coast/Admin: CV Hancock arrives at Balboa. She’s the first “Long hulled” Essex class CV to arrive, and doesn’t need a refit until Jan ’45. She also arrives with the usual lackluster pilots which had to be exchanged with veteran pilots, so her arrival and another CVE, the US Navy fighter pilot pools are reduced by about 40%. Hancock will head to Los Angeles to pick up a NF Hellcat squadron to round out her air complement, and then sail to join the fleet.
In NOPAC, Amchitka based subs have been venturing into the Sea of Japan on a more regular basis, and although targets remain slim, the SS Lionfish found a big fat AO off Vladivostock - and missed of course, but I think she found the port being used to ship fuel/oil out of Manchukuo - Rashin. Will vector a few more subs to the vicinity, and put it on the list to mine once B-29s can get into range.
In CENPAC, the Guam Amphib goes in and two divisions plus support are landed without problems. The Amph TFs are offloaded and one will head to Ponape to bring in another division, and the other will move across to Rota to bring in an infantry regiment. Will hold off any attacks until the entire force is assembled, leaving more time for the naval and air bombardments to continue their work. Also, the two BBs damaged by Saipan’s CDs arrive at Pearl - they’ll need about 3 weeks to repair.
In SOPAC, the CV TFs move into the East China Sea to a point about 120m NW of Okinawa and hit a small convoy at Amani Oshima - sinking an AV, AG and 3SC. Not the big convoy carrying an IJA division reported by SIGINT, which I now believe has headed back to Nagasaki, or has not loaded out from there yet. Either way, Nagasaki may be worth while exploring, but will need to be able to sweep first - and the CVs are too far away right now to plot effective sweeps. So, the CV TFs will enter a bit deeper into the East China Sea, but remain about 7 hexes off Nagasaki - close enough to plan sweeps for some fighter squadrons on normal range. Will try to get some better intel from air search and perhaps some recon before launching any strikes over a major Japanese port.
In SWPAC, troops wipe out the last IJA defenders of Cagayan in two attacks - IJA losses reported at over 16k while Allied losses were limited to just over 500, the vast majority disabled. Surigao is also taken, and the remnants of Davao’s defense were brought to combat in the eastern jungles of Mindanao, losing the vast majority of their force. The four US divisions and NZ Bdes at Cagayan are now “available” for future operations. All have a number of disabled squads, but nothing dramatic. The one SWPAC HQ division will plan for Manilla and move to Luzon as soon it can move to Davao and transports can be gathered. Two divisions and the New Zealanders will plan for landing at that same Amani Oshima that the CV TFs hit shipping near this turn. The fourth division will reinforce the Formosa landings and will plan for Taihoku on the eastern tip of Formosa. Also need to remission the troops earmarked for the Pescadores - recon is still reporting 40k or more defenders, so the two or so Aussie divisions currently planning aren’t enough, and I’ll bypass unless a sizeable amount of the defenders are pulled out. On Luzon, troops secure an abandoned Bataan - only mines remaining that need to be swept.
In China, NSTR.
In SE Asia, the British 29th IN Bde begins moving out of Kwangchowan, but will be way too late to prevent the IJA exodus towards Canton. The 5th Indian Div has arrived and will start offloading next turn, and the Aus 9th Division should arrive in the next turn or two. While LBA keeps hitting the withdrawing IJA troops with good effect, the Allied ground units won’t likely catch the fleeing IJA. If that pans out, the majority of the Allied troops will head west towards Hanoi, leaving the majority of the pursuit to the Chinese. I have no plans to try and force a crossing across a river to seize Canton or Hong Kong from the west. Long term, SE Asia command troops will look for future amphibious operations along the Chinese coast, but that won’t happen for a long while. In the meantime, focus will be to link up with Chinese troops and establish a supply route to the Chinese from the South China Sea ports - ultimately Hanoi/Haiphong. Ground troops in Vietnam are still assembling near the IJA positions in and around Vinh, and will attempt to prevent this force from withdrawing behind the rivers around Haiphong. The Indian XV Corps is still working towards Singapore overland, and should be engaging enemy troops near Singora in the next few turns. Although Singers is still a long way away from a ground assault, BBs Valiant and Queen Elizabeth will begin bombardment runs starting next turn. With the BBs available, no time like the present to start reducing the 30k+ defenders down.
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- 440811.jpg (115.46 KiB) Viewed 264 times
RE: 12-13 Aug 44
Seems like really fast progress now. I wonder when you will hit an ambush or some really hardened defense. Whatever logistic troubles LST has, I'm sure he has something, somewhere, waiting for you.
RE: 12-13 Aug 44
ORIGINAL: jwolf
Seems like really fast progress now. I wonder when you will hit an ambush or some really hardened defense. Whatever logistic troubles LST has, I'm sure he has something, somewhere, waiting for you.
I REALLY thought L_S_T was going to throw the kitchen sink at me during the Luzon landings. But now, I'm starting to think he's saving what he has to protect the Home Islands - so a Downfall Scenario is in the making.
RE: 12-13 Aug 44
Speaking for the fans, a Downfall scenario would indeed be cool to see -- someone else suffer through it! [:'(] I'm anxious to see how this shapes up for the endgame.
16-17 Aug 44
16-17 Aug 44
Highlights – CVs hit a few targets in the East China Sea with good effect; Lang Son retaken by IJA.
Jpn ships sunk:
E: 1
SC: 7
APD: 3
xAK: 2
xAKL: 1
Allied ships sunk: None
Air loss:
Jpn: 42
Allied: 27
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 4 Attacks, 1 ship hit (xAKL sunk)
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph Inv: None
Bases lost:
Lang Son (SE Asia)
Bases Liberated:
Aparri (SWPAC)
Laoag (SWPAC)
Bacolod (SWPAC)
Guiuan (SWPAC)
Almagan (CENPAC - flipped)
SIGINT/Intel: SIGINT tells me that the IJA’s 9th ID is on transports at Nagasaki - and air search and recon confirms transports still at sea at the port.
West Coast/Admin: NSTR.
In NOPAC, NSTR.
In CENPAC, Almagan Island, one of the smaller atolls in the Marianas just south of Pagan flips to Allied control - it had a garrison on it that LBA had been hitting; either that eliminated the last man standing or L_S_T pulled the garrison out. Will make a good PBY base once engineers do some work. At Guam, US forces hold tight, no ground bombardments from either side, just the continued work of the BBs and LBA which continue to accomplish little. The Amph TF enroute to Ponape to bring in another US division apparently had an LSD that had grounded during the assault - 80+ float damage. I managed to miss that, so the TF traveled a total of three hexes - so will detach the LSD back to Rota with a DD escort and the TF can now continue to Ponape, a few days late.
In SOPAC, the CV TFs move into the East China Sea and air strikes hit a convoy with about a half dozen good size xAKs off Tokara Retto, about 80m off the SW coast of Kyushu with good effect. Four strikes go in and report hitting all xAKs as well as a pair of Escorts and SCs. An E, 2SCs and 2xAKs are reported sunk, but most other ships are left burning. Strikes also find and sink an ASW TF of 3SC off Saisho To and sink three APDs apparently returning from Amami Oshima. A good two days work! Recon and air search report a convoy still at Nagasaki, so as planned, the CV TFs will move one hex closer next turn and launch strikes. Plan is to start with three Helldiver squadrons hitting the AF at night, hopefully disrupting the expected CAP a bit. Daylight will hopefully bring sweeps by F6Fs and Corsairs followed by strikes on the convoy as well as port strikes. I fully expect a solid CAP of Franks and Georges waiting, so if the sweeps don’t go in first, it could be an ugly day at the races. Still, it will be a good test to see how well the CVs can provide the “Big Blue Blanket” over the Home Islands - although hitting the convoy is important, just as important is seeing how well Naval air can cope with CAP over a Japanese city. I plan on using the CV TFs to provide sweeps and LRCAP in support of the strategic bombing campaign. Regardless of effectiveness, I plan to pull the CV TFs south of the East China Sea where they can still interdict naval transports inbound to Formosa and Okinawa and then begin replenishment operations.
In SWPAC, a good day in the PI! Both Aparri and Laoag were taken on northern Luzon paving the way for establishing those AFs for 20th Air Force’s B-29s. A few IJA remnants remain in the north, and a few ground troops will hunt those down in the coming days. The majority of the ground troops continue to mass against Manila which remains the hottest target in the Pacific for the bomber crews. Flak claimed three B-24s and three mediums over two days with a number more being shot up as ops losses. LBA will continue to work over troops in Manila despite the losses. Ground troops will await one more division moving in from central Luzon before starting bombardments. In the outer islands, Bacolod, just north of Cebu, is taken by an Aussie IN Bn after a number of attacks against its SNLF Co defenders. They fought hard to the last! Guiuan, on Samar was also taken, but was not defended.
In China, NSTR.
In SE Asia, I’m surprised by an IJA attack by three IN Bdes to re-take Lang Son. I saw the troops approaching, but didn’t expect three Bdes nor that they would be well supplied. I could have easily missioned LBA, but never thought it would be necessary. I was reinforcing Lang Son with the US 475th IN Reg by air, but only about 1/3 had been brought in to reinforce the Indian 50th Para Bde. So, the IJA retook the base at a cost of 1475 Allied casualties in exchange for 600 IJA. Will look to have the Indian IV Corps retake the base enroute to Hanoi/Haiphong. I have plenty of Chinese troops available, but they are restricted, so can’t enter Vietnam. The 5th Indian Div is mostly ashore at Kwangchowan, but will take a few more days to completely offload, and the Aussie 9th ID should start offloading next turn. The Indian IV Corps elements are now mostly planning for Haiphong. CVE TFs continue to provide CAP, but will pull off when the 9th ID completes offloading to support the Formosa landings. Vinh continues to be a roadblock to the XXXIII Corps elements which are getting closer to beginning their assault. A few more days.
Highlights – CVs hit a few targets in the East China Sea with good effect; Lang Son retaken by IJA.
Jpn ships sunk:
E: 1
SC: 7
APD: 3
xAK: 2
xAKL: 1
Allied ships sunk: None
Air loss:
Jpn: 42
Allied: 27
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 4 Attacks, 1 ship hit (xAKL sunk)
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph Inv: None
Bases lost:
Lang Son (SE Asia)
Bases Liberated:
Aparri (SWPAC)
Laoag (SWPAC)
Bacolod (SWPAC)
Guiuan (SWPAC)
Almagan (CENPAC - flipped)
SIGINT/Intel: SIGINT tells me that the IJA’s 9th ID is on transports at Nagasaki - and air search and recon confirms transports still at sea at the port.
West Coast/Admin: NSTR.
In NOPAC, NSTR.
In CENPAC, Almagan Island, one of the smaller atolls in the Marianas just south of Pagan flips to Allied control - it had a garrison on it that LBA had been hitting; either that eliminated the last man standing or L_S_T pulled the garrison out. Will make a good PBY base once engineers do some work. At Guam, US forces hold tight, no ground bombardments from either side, just the continued work of the BBs and LBA which continue to accomplish little. The Amph TF enroute to Ponape to bring in another US division apparently had an LSD that had grounded during the assault - 80+ float damage. I managed to miss that, so the TF traveled a total of three hexes - so will detach the LSD back to Rota with a DD escort and the TF can now continue to Ponape, a few days late.
In SOPAC, the CV TFs move into the East China Sea and air strikes hit a convoy with about a half dozen good size xAKs off Tokara Retto, about 80m off the SW coast of Kyushu with good effect. Four strikes go in and report hitting all xAKs as well as a pair of Escorts and SCs. An E, 2SCs and 2xAKs are reported sunk, but most other ships are left burning. Strikes also find and sink an ASW TF of 3SC off Saisho To and sink three APDs apparently returning from Amami Oshima. A good two days work! Recon and air search report a convoy still at Nagasaki, so as planned, the CV TFs will move one hex closer next turn and launch strikes. Plan is to start with three Helldiver squadrons hitting the AF at night, hopefully disrupting the expected CAP a bit. Daylight will hopefully bring sweeps by F6Fs and Corsairs followed by strikes on the convoy as well as port strikes. I fully expect a solid CAP of Franks and Georges waiting, so if the sweeps don’t go in first, it could be an ugly day at the races. Still, it will be a good test to see how well the CVs can provide the “Big Blue Blanket” over the Home Islands - although hitting the convoy is important, just as important is seeing how well Naval air can cope with CAP over a Japanese city. I plan on using the CV TFs to provide sweeps and LRCAP in support of the strategic bombing campaign. Regardless of effectiveness, I plan to pull the CV TFs south of the East China Sea where they can still interdict naval transports inbound to Formosa and Okinawa and then begin replenishment operations.
In SWPAC, a good day in the PI! Both Aparri and Laoag were taken on northern Luzon paving the way for establishing those AFs for 20th Air Force’s B-29s. A few IJA remnants remain in the north, and a few ground troops will hunt those down in the coming days. The majority of the ground troops continue to mass against Manila which remains the hottest target in the Pacific for the bomber crews. Flak claimed three B-24s and three mediums over two days with a number more being shot up as ops losses. LBA will continue to work over troops in Manila despite the losses. Ground troops will await one more division moving in from central Luzon before starting bombardments. In the outer islands, Bacolod, just north of Cebu, is taken by an Aussie IN Bn after a number of attacks against its SNLF Co defenders. They fought hard to the last! Guiuan, on Samar was also taken, but was not defended.
In China, NSTR.
In SE Asia, I’m surprised by an IJA attack by three IN Bdes to re-take Lang Son. I saw the troops approaching, but didn’t expect three Bdes nor that they would be well supplied. I could have easily missioned LBA, but never thought it would be necessary. I was reinforcing Lang Son with the US 475th IN Reg by air, but only about 1/3 had been brought in to reinforce the Indian 50th Para Bde. So, the IJA retook the base at a cost of 1475 Allied casualties in exchange for 600 IJA. Will look to have the Indian IV Corps retake the base enroute to Hanoi/Haiphong. I have plenty of Chinese troops available, but they are restricted, so can’t enter Vietnam. The 5th Indian Div is mostly ashore at Kwangchowan, but will take a few more days to completely offload, and the Aussie 9th ID should start offloading next turn. The Indian IV Corps elements are now mostly planning for Haiphong. CVE TFs continue to provide CAP, but will pull off when the 9th ID completes offloading to support the Formosa landings. Vinh continues to be a roadblock to the XXXIII Corps elements which are getting closer to beginning their assault. A few more days.
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- 440813.jpg (231.02 KiB) Viewed 264 times
18-19 Aug 44
18-19 Aug 44
Highlights – East China Sea FURBALL!!!!
Jpn ships sunk:
xAK: 3
xAKL: 3
Allied ships sunk:
SS: 1 (KVII - lost to a mine off Pescadores)
Air loss:
Jpn: 1378 (not a typo!)
Allied: 107
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 3 Attacks, 2 ship hit (xAK, xAKL sunk)
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph Inv: None
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
Baler (SWPAC - flipped)
Culion (SWPAC - flipped)
SIGINT/Intel: SIGINT is still telling me that the IJA’s 9th ID is aboard transports heading to Okinawa - no sign of this convoy in the East China Sea though. While I do think L_S_T is having supply/fuel problems, this past turn shows that he still has the ability to mass air and sail the KB!
West Coast/Admin: BB West Virginia has finally finished its repairs from Pearl Harbor damage in Washington; she’ll begin her journey to join the fleet. Also, CV Bunker Hill and three CVLs have completed refit at Soerabaja and are enroute to join the Fleet.
In NOPAC, NSTR.
In CENPAC, the US 38th ID begins loading on assault transports at Ponape, bound for Guam. BBs finally had a reasonable bombardment effect at Guam, inflicting over 300 casualties. Once the 38th ID is ashore - which will likely overstack - will look to begin ground attacks. With some luck, will have Guam secured by the end of the month.
In SOPAC, well….what can I say….I didn’t see this one coming! Good possibility L_S_T set this whole thing up to draw me in with the IJA 9th ID potentially on transports in Nagasaki, but in truth, I wanted to test defenses around Nagasaki as well. Outcome….he’s got a hell of a lot of capability left!! The carefully crafted Allied plan started to unravel right off the bat when the initial night raid on Nagasaki AF with Helldivers doesn’t fly at all. With daylight, sweeps don’t find any CAP over the target and instead, the first of 45 (FORTY FIVE!!!!) separate raids start coming in against the US CV TFs. On the positive side, although I had fighters sweeping and on LRCAP over Nagasaki, I still had planned a robust CAP over the CV TFs. About 350 fighters, including the brand new F6F-5s as well as a good number of USMC and Brit Corsairs augmenting the F6F-3s were stacked from 5k through 31k on CAP. And every single one was needed! The raids included conventional strikes as well as Kamikazes, some well escorted and some came in without any escorts. The raids also came in from all points of the compass; bases in China, Okinawa, Japan and Formosa were all likely used.
The screenshot below shows some of the strikes and the direction of origin.
CAP did very well, and the F6F-5 looks to be a solid improvement over the F6F-3. Still, despite shooting over one thousand aircraft (many squadron tallies were over 100 planes!) the sheer number of strikes started to wear down the CAP and strikes were making it through to attack ships. Ironically, the first strike to get through targeted the CA Boise II….how the heck did L_S_T manage that! AA fire was fairly good, but raids concentrated (randomly?) on one CV TF and ammo was concern with many 5” batteries in the red by the time it was all over. The 6th raid consisted of 195 Oscar IVs, some escorting, some Kamikazes, and was the first raid to break through CAP to manage any hits, scoring 2 hits on CVL Belleau Wood out of 8 raiders that broke through. Belleau Wood was lucky, she received a third Oscar Kamikaze hit in the afternoon. By nightfall, fires were extinguished and she’s still well capable of flight operations at (28/8/19) and no major damage. By late morning more and more raiders were getting through an exhausted CAP which was only managing to get a half dozen planes up to engage. Even unescorted strikes were getting through such as a flight of 18 Sallys which although losing 6 to AA fire, planted a single bomb on CV Long Island II’s flight deck which caused moderate damage at (30/17(5)/17(1)). She’s still capable of flight ops, but will need yard time. The change to the PM phase allowed CAP to recoup a bit, and the first afternoon raid was met by a robust, but very fatigued CAP of over 250 planes. As in the morning, by late afternoon, more and more raiders were slipping past the CAP, but my luck was holding as no hits were scored. Intermixed with all these Japanese strikes, the US port strike on Nagasaki found and hit a single xAK with 5 bombs. The naval strikes found no targets in Nagasaki during the morning, but did find a convoy there in the afternoon, leaving 12 xAKs burning - but no troops were reported lost. Other morning and afternoon US strikes hit a few small convoys roaming the East China Sea; a few xAKs and xAKLs sunk and a few more damaged. No CAP on any of these targets.
Highlights – East China Sea FURBALL!!!!
Jpn ships sunk:
xAK: 3
xAKL: 3
Allied ships sunk:
SS: 1 (KVII - lost to a mine off Pescadores)
Air loss:
Jpn: 1378 (not a typo!)
Allied: 107
Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 3 Attacks, 2 ship hit (xAK, xAKL sunk)
Jpn Amph Inv: None
Allied Amph Inv: None
Bases lost: None
Bases Liberated:
Baler (SWPAC - flipped)
Culion (SWPAC - flipped)
SIGINT/Intel: SIGINT is still telling me that the IJA’s 9th ID is aboard transports heading to Okinawa - no sign of this convoy in the East China Sea though. While I do think L_S_T is having supply/fuel problems, this past turn shows that he still has the ability to mass air and sail the KB!
West Coast/Admin: BB West Virginia has finally finished its repairs from Pearl Harbor damage in Washington; she’ll begin her journey to join the fleet. Also, CV Bunker Hill and three CVLs have completed refit at Soerabaja and are enroute to join the Fleet.
In NOPAC, NSTR.
In CENPAC, the US 38th ID begins loading on assault transports at Ponape, bound for Guam. BBs finally had a reasonable bombardment effect at Guam, inflicting over 300 casualties. Once the 38th ID is ashore - which will likely overstack - will look to begin ground attacks. With some luck, will have Guam secured by the end of the month.
In SOPAC, well….what can I say….I didn’t see this one coming! Good possibility L_S_T set this whole thing up to draw me in with the IJA 9th ID potentially on transports in Nagasaki, but in truth, I wanted to test defenses around Nagasaki as well. Outcome….he’s got a hell of a lot of capability left!! The carefully crafted Allied plan started to unravel right off the bat when the initial night raid on Nagasaki AF with Helldivers doesn’t fly at all. With daylight, sweeps don’t find any CAP over the target and instead, the first of 45 (FORTY FIVE!!!!) separate raids start coming in against the US CV TFs. On the positive side, although I had fighters sweeping and on LRCAP over Nagasaki, I still had planned a robust CAP over the CV TFs. About 350 fighters, including the brand new F6F-5s as well as a good number of USMC and Brit Corsairs augmenting the F6F-3s were stacked from 5k through 31k on CAP. And every single one was needed! The raids included conventional strikes as well as Kamikazes, some well escorted and some came in without any escorts. The raids also came in from all points of the compass; bases in China, Okinawa, Japan and Formosa were all likely used.
The screenshot below shows some of the strikes and the direction of origin.
CAP did very well, and the F6F-5 looks to be a solid improvement over the F6F-3. Still, despite shooting over one thousand aircraft (many squadron tallies were over 100 planes!) the sheer number of strikes started to wear down the CAP and strikes were making it through to attack ships. Ironically, the first strike to get through targeted the CA Boise II….how the heck did L_S_T manage that! AA fire was fairly good, but raids concentrated (randomly?) on one CV TF and ammo was concern with many 5” batteries in the red by the time it was all over. The 6th raid consisted of 195 Oscar IVs, some escorting, some Kamikazes, and was the first raid to break through CAP to manage any hits, scoring 2 hits on CVL Belleau Wood out of 8 raiders that broke through. Belleau Wood was lucky, she received a third Oscar Kamikaze hit in the afternoon. By nightfall, fires were extinguished and she’s still well capable of flight operations at (28/8/19) and no major damage. By late morning more and more raiders were getting through an exhausted CAP which was only managing to get a half dozen planes up to engage. Even unescorted strikes were getting through such as a flight of 18 Sallys which although losing 6 to AA fire, planted a single bomb on CV Long Island II’s flight deck which caused moderate damage at (30/17(5)/17(1)). She’s still capable of flight ops, but will need yard time. The change to the PM phase allowed CAP to recoup a bit, and the first afternoon raid was met by a robust, but very fatigued CAP of over 250 planes. As in the morning, by late afternoon, more and more raiders were slipping past the CAP, but my luck was holding as no hits were scored. Intermixed with all these Japanese strikes, the US port strike on Nagasaki found and hit a single xAK with 5 bombs. The naval strikes found no targets in Nagasaki during the morning, but did find a convoy there in the afternoon, leaving 12 xAKs burning - but no troops were reported lost. Other morning and afternoon US strikes hit a few small convoys roaming the East China Sea; a few xAKs and xAKLs sunk and a few more damaged. No CAP on any of these targets.
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- 440816a.jpg (288.01 KiB) Viewed 264 times
RE: 16-17 Aug 44
So, at the end of the first day the Fleet was still in good shape, and although the CAP was tired, it could still fly about 300 planes for day two. But then the wild card shows up in the deck - the KB appears just off the south coast of Korea! Not sure if it sailed in from the Yellow Sea or Sea of Japan, I’m betting on the latter. In any case, at this point I’m now starting to seriously worry. The KB could really tip the balance if the land based flyers come back in strength, and I figure I’m likely low on AA ammo at this point. Then again, I’m also a bit concerned whether or not what I’m seeing has actually happened….or is it the dreaded synch bug! And now the computer AI admirals decide to muck up a solid disposition with all US TFs in range of the KB and in the same hex, along with supporting CA, BB and ASW TFs. Think General Sickles moving into the Peach Orchard on day 2 at Gettysburg for this stellar move! Adm Spruance decides to close the range by not one, but two hexes - closing to within 120m of the KB. My naval strike range was set at 6 hexes, so no move was needed and Spruance has just taken over 100 CAP fighters with him! But the weather gods come to the rescue and apparently sock in BOTH US CV TFs for both AM and PM phases! Not a single strike is launched against any US or IJN TF in the East China Sea. Amazing! So, at the end of the turn, the US Fleet is in very good shape. The US CVs lost 45 fighters in air to air, and another 34 to ops losses. Relatively few pilots were killed - 18. Considering a reported 1181 planes were shot down, that’s about a 15-1 loss ratio…WoW!
Below screenshot from Tracker shows respective losses - there was minimal air combat elsewhere, except for the usual Allied bombing runs.
Below screenshot from Tracker shows respective losses - there was minimal air combat elsewhere, except for the usual Allied bombing runs.
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RE: 16-17 Aug 44
So, the question for the turn was of course, “now what?”. Three courses of action came to mind, stay forward and attempt to engage the KB, or pull back and perhaps engage the KB if they come south, or run like hell at flank speed out of the East China Sea. Since I don’t need to sweep or hit Nagasaki, I actually have more fighters available for CAP (363 to 442), and enough fighters (235 assigned escort) to likely overwhelm the KB CAP. However, I think there is just too much risk to warrant a prolonged stay in the East China Sea, but not enough to warrant a bug out at speed either. I’m steaming south to just WSW of Okinawa at mission speed. If Spruance wasn’t two hexes away, I might have chosen to stay, but I think I’ve had a lot of luck go my way in the last turn. To many aircraft got through CAP and just plain missed targets. If L_S_T can manage another mass LBA attack, I probably won’t be as lucky. AA Ammo, especially 5” ammo, is short on a number of ships, and although I rebalanced the TFs in the same hex, some CVs and many DDs are in the red, and that is NOT a good way to start a fight. But what really tipped the balance is I really don’t relish being able to be hit by LBA from all four compass points - so by pulling to the SW a bit, I hope to outrange much of the LBA in the HI. China, Okinawa and Formosa will still range, but the majority of the LBA was coming from Japan. The major questions that won’t be answered until next turn are: First, what will the KB do - come south, hold in position or withdraw. I’m thinking L_S_T will withdraw unless he can put another 2000 LBA into the air again, which is the second question. Not sure that’s feasible at this point, but heck, I didn’t expect 45 separate attack waves against the CVs either. Still, I’m worried about Spruance’s position - his TF is vulnerable to a highspeed surface TF heading south, so I’m moving my BB TF (2BBs, DDs) to Spruance which hopefully can reach him before any excitement begins. I’ve detached 2DDs within his TF as a Surface TF, but that will only be much use against MTBs. In any case, the plan is for Spruance to catch up to the Main Body before morning strikes go in, and then all the TFs head southwest together. The two other CV TFs still have a CA TF (2CA, DDs) and a DD TF (4DD) for protection against surface engagement, and will be slowed a bit by the two damaged carriers. Two CVE TFs (about 180 fighters each), with their supporting CA TF will sortie NE from Batan Island to link up with the CV TFs on day 2 as they comes south. The CVEs will also launch small strikes against Okinawa’s AFs, perhaps catching some planes on the ground, along with the lone B-24D squadron that can range from Naga. B-29s out of Vietnam and B-24s out of Clark AF will hit Taihoku AF on Formosa with the same purpose. Lastly, subs will of course attempt to intercept the KB, wherever it heads. If the KB does come south, I figure there’s still a good shot at a carrier battle, starting with the first night phase - I’ve got a few US squadrons on night naval. Also coming towards the fray is a BB TF (2BB, DDs) with the newly arrived in the Pacific Brit BB Howe, and freshly upgraded Indiana. They’ll depart Naga and head north to join the Fleet - likely too late to participate in any fight next turn, but can potentially swap out ships with depleted AA ammo. Lastly, the Repl TF is moving to range a/c replacement and will loiter south in the Philippine Sea. The CV TFs will also be needing fuel that the Repl TF can help with as well, but it can not provide AA ammo or sorties, both of which will also need to be replaced - and that will require a port visit. But before I even think of how to do that effectively, I need to get through the next replay without pulling what’s left of my hair out!
Hopefully the outcome will resemble this screen shot below.
In SWPAC, northern Luzon AFs are starting to become operational. As mentioned, Clark AF has a B-24 group now operating from it, P-38s out of Laoag will sweep Formosa, and recon aircraft are operating out of Tuguegarao. Engineers still have much work to do, and most are still enroute to destinations, both at sea or marching overland from Lingayen. With the CVEs departing Batan Is waters, CAP will fall to LBA. P-47s out of Batan will also attempt to provide some LRCAP over the Fleet once they move in range. The Orchid Island amphib is moving forward with the Amphib and support TFs heading to Lingayen and Vigan to initially stage. The landings on Orchid, just off the coast of Formosa, will need the CV TFs in the vicinity, so hopefully actions in the East China Sea go well!
In China, NSTR.
In SE Asia, NSTR.
Hopefully the outcome will resemble this screen shot below.
In SWPAC, northern Luzon AFs are starting to become operational. As mentioned, Clark AF has a B-24 group now operating from it, P-38s out of Laoag will sweep Formosa, and recon aircraft are operating out of Tuguegarao. Engineers still have much work to do, and most are still enroute to destinations, both at sea or marching overland from Lingayen. With the CVEs departing Batan Is waters, CAP will fall to LBA. P-47s out of Batan will also attempt to provide some LRCAP over the Fleet once they move in range. The Orchid Island amphib is moving forward with the Amphib and support TFs heading to Lingayen and Vigan to initially stage. The landings on Orchid, just off the coast of Formosa, will need the CV TFs in the vicinity, so hopefully actions in the East China Sea go well!
In China, NSTR.
In SE Asia, NSTR.
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RE: 16-17 Aug 44
Forgot this....here's combat report from the last turn.
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- combatreport_440818.txt
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RE: 16-17 Aug 44
At minimum, I think you need to rearm especially for the AA guns which probably saved your butt. It's probably not prudent to stay or return so close to Kyushu until you have neutralized some of the airfields from China, Taiwan, and/or Okinawa.
I'll bet your heartrate accelerated a bit during that turn ... [:D]
I'll bet your heartrate accelerated a bit during that turn ... [:D]
RE: 16-17 Aug 44
The great Marianas turkey shoot pales in comparison to what you just did.
RE: 16-17 Aug 44
ORIGINAL: jwolf
At minimum, I think you need to rearm especially for the AA guns which probably saved your butt. It's probably not prudent to stay or return so close to Kyushu until you have neutralized some of the airfields from China, Taiwan, and/or Okinawa.
I'll bet your heartrate accelerated a bit during that turn ... [:D]
Just a tad jwolf……..kept thinking my luck was going to run out with each raid!