Jolo invaded and will be attacked today. Small unit action.
Gato got 2 dud hits on xAK Tensin Maru at Noumea. The enemy combat ships weren't seen. It was probably an aborted bombardment of Noumea, aborted when the ships were spotted to the southeast.
Maybe all of the enemy cruiser action down there is to keep my attention while the US carriers head to Java? All speculation. KB is now at Ulithi topping off the tanks.
The pesky HDML at Tanjoengpinang, just southeast of Singapore, is sunk by Bettys.
It was a day of bad luck for the subs on both sides.
I-18 had recently moved to near Wellington to see if convoys were using the port. AO Kaskaskia was spotted. 2 torpedoes were fired, and they missed.
I-24 just moved to near Perth, for a similar reason as I-18. It spotted tanker Harpa, fired 4 torpedoes, and got a hit, but it was a dud.
Tautog spotted xAK Meisan Maru west of Noumea, inbound. The ships are carrying the important air HQ for Noumea. 2 torpedoes were fired and one hit, but was a dud.
Gato then spotted the same convoy arriving at Noumea, and fired 2 torpedoes at the same ship. Both hit, and both were duds. Gato then attacked again, firing 4 torpedoes at another xAK. Got a hit, and again, it was a dud.
Pompano was sitting at Wake Island. AV Kiyokawa Maru and an SC appeared. 4 torpedoes were fired at the AV. One hit, and it was a dud. The AV is delivering search planes to Midway.
The attack at Pingsiang was supposed to be successful today. It almost was. But the enemy had reinforced with a fresh infantry corps.
Ground combat at Pingsiang (82,54)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 38968 troops, 336 guns, 252 vehicles, Assault Value = 1379
Defending force 23943 troops, 116 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 433
Assaulting units:
39th Division
70th Division
9th Tank Regiment
26th Division
23rd Tank Regiment
3rd Tank Regiment
12th Tank Regiment
11th Tank Regiment
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
11th Army
Botanko Hvy Gun Regiment
Defending units:
73rd Chinese Corps
28th Chinese Corps
88th Chinese Corps
10th Group Army
29th Group Army
16th Construction Regiment
Need a day of rest for resupply, then we go again. Bombers will hit the adjacent enemy, trying to prevent any other reinforcements from making it there in time.
All shipping is now leaving the Aleutians. KB is leaving Ulithi to move down near Sorong. Lots of shipping is heading to Manila to load up for the next invasions. KB will support.
Porpoise missed a patrol boat near Bataan.
Narwhal got a dud hit on xAK Asakaze Maru at Tulagi. It is unloading fuel.
Gato got another dud hit, after several yesterday, on an xAK at Noumea.
Dutch sub KXIV hit xAK Yubari Maru with a torpedo near Balabac. The ship was going to Cagayan to pick up a small unit for the next small invasion. The ship was sunk. The Dutch subs have done very well in the war so far.
Gato, yet again, got a dud hit on another xAK at Noumea.
Lots of Japanese bombers hit Chinese troops southeast of Changsha. 9 H-81s were there. The escorting Nates were downed in droves, although they did a fair job tying up the relatively few planes of the Flying Tigers. 16 Nates and 7 Sallys were downed. No American planes lost. A big, trained Oscar unit has moved to China from Bangkok, to look for the Flying Tigers.
After all of the bombers and Nates went in, finally the Tojos swept, finding no enemy planes still in the air. Then 13 Zeros swept with the same result.
More sub news.
Sub attack near Lahaina at 195,107
Japanese Ships
SS I-3, hits 1
Allied Ships
CV Hornet
DD Morris
SS I-3 launches 4 torpedoes at CV Hornet [ONE HIT --- IT WAS A DUD]
I swear that OPilot is living a charmed life in this game.
Loading at Manila begins for the invasion of Tarakan. Balikpapan will follow. KB will support.
Tautog got a dud hit on xAK Meisan Maru as it left Noumea to the west. The US subs have had a string of bad luck with cargo ships near Noumea this week. Grayling missed a cargo ship at La Foa. I was loading a small combat unit at La Foa for an invasion of Tanna or Efate.
Pingsiang was heavily bombed by the Japanese and then we attacked.
Ground combat at Pingsiang (82,54)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 39728 troops, 336 guns, 462 vehicles, Assault Value = 1335
Defending force 22460 troops, 115 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 291
In an interesting engagement of mine-laying subs, I-124 missed Argonaut with 4 torpedoes at Noumea. Zeros swept Norfolk Island but found nothing. Recon has finally made it to Noumea and will look at Norfolk.
The British cruiser TF, seen earlier in the war bombarding Johore Bahru, bombarded Pontianak. The only unit there is the tiny III/124th Infantry Battalion, so losses were light. The base took minor damage but that is not important. I'm not using it as an airbase. I'd rather have the British hit here. 2 fresh Japanese infantry divisions, along with another partly recovered division, crossed into Singapore to reinforce. The final round of attacks will begin. There should be enough there now to conquer Singapore, even with the expected rebuilding of enemy forts. I gave up trying to bomb the base. Flak was too heavy. Flying very high didn't do enough damage. Flying low was suicide. DBB is rough with lots of flak.
KB aircraft, at the extreme range of 8 hexes, found enemy ships at Ambon. Kates flew with bombs and missed a lot at 10000 feet.
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ambon at 76,109
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 32 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
B5N2 Kate x 126
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 3 damaged
Allied Ships
CL De Ruyter, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Tromp
CL Java, Bomb hits 2
CL Sumatra, Bomb hits 4, on fire
CLAA Van Heemskerck
DD Kortenaer
DD Evertsen
DD Tjerk Hiddes
A smaller strike did proportionately better.
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ambon at 76,109
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 66 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
B5N2 Kate x 18
Allied aircraft
no flights
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
B-339D: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
CL De Ruyter, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
CL Java, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CLAA Van Heemskerck
Finally, 5 Bettys and 6 Zeros attacked a carrier TF near Norfolk Island. 2 squadrons of Wildcats were on CAP and most of the Japanese planes were shot down. Total air losses for the day were 15 Zeros and 7 Bettys while downing 11 Wildcats.
After a long pause for reinforcements, the assault at Singapore began again. Just missed a 2 to 1 attack.
Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 89532 troops, 908 guns, 577 vehicles, Assault Value = 2665
Defending force 49926 troops, 598 guns, 416 vehicles, Assault Value = 734
Japanese ground losses:
2632 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 217 disabled
Non Combat: 44 destroyed, 46 disabled
Engineers: 32 destroyed, 31 disabled
Vehicles lost 62 (17 destroyed, 45 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
2688 casualties reported
Squads: 30 destroyed, 81 disabled
Non Combat: 99 destroyed, 91 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 38 disabled
Guns lost 65 (25 destroyed, 40 disabled)
Vehicles lost 62 (10 destroyed, 52 disabled)
Units destroyed 2
A day or two of rest is now needed. I'm throwing lots of Sallys at Singapore to try to stop the fort building. I know that it is suicide. I've tried before. But I will try again and just take the losses to flak.
Fuel storage explosion on CV Yorktown
Ammo storage explosion on CV Yorktown
SS I-22 launches 8 torpedoes at CV Yorktown
If the explosion reports are accurate, Yorktown may be in trouble. I may have seen multiple explosions before, but I don't remember a case. The Japanese subs in the area will move to cut off movement towards Sydney and Auckland. If Yorktown is in very bad shape, it may just disband at Norfolk Island, just one hex away. I'm doing recon of the island so I should see it if that happens.
2 Japanese destroyers moved from La Foa to Noumea to hunt for the sub seen there. The sub wasn't found, but some mines that it dropped were. Michishio hit one and is gravely damaged. The size 2 port may not be able to save it. SYS 17/FLOT 93-66/ENG 29-22/FIRE 7.
Sasebo 3rd SNLF landed at Tanna. No enemy seen.
About 50 Sallys flew at 7000 feet to bomb Singapore and prevent fort building. The airbase is showing just 8 damage, but that's something, and 9 Sallys were shot down by flak. Brutal. The Sallys will continue on their suicide runs until Singapore falls. The troops will attack today.
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Here's my current air production from Tracker. Note that I have many aircraft types turned off. My wars with OPilot are low intensity wars in the air, compared to some in other AARs that I have read. I don't want to overproduce early models. My plan is to keep about 100 of Zeros, Kates, Vals, Bettys, Nells and Sallys. I've had a hard time producing enough Sallys. Engine and airframe production had to be scaled up quite a bit from the start.
This is a PDU OFF game. I will be going big on Franks, but not like a PDU ON game would be. Have to continue to use older models, and lesser desired upgrades. But I'll use as many Franks as I can.
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Tarakan was invaded. Minor single shell hits on 2 cruisers, a destroyer and an xAP.
Major Japanese bombing of Hengyang, southwest of Changsha. Hit the airfield and troops. May try a river crossing here. Starting to move. Depends if the defense is reinforced. It probably will be.
Progress at Singapore, but it is bloody. Lost an assault engineer unit. It was very low in troops after the last attack, but every engineer is needed. Units now have very high fatigue and disruption. At least 2 days of rest needed. Bombers didn't fly but they are ordered to do so again today.
Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 87668 troops, 907 guns, 571 vehicles, Assault Value = 2544
Defending force 47574 troops, 579 guns, 406 vehicles, Assault Value = 631
xAK Nihonka Maru was hit by a torpedo from Dutch sub KXI. The ship is SYS 17/FLOT 90-59/ENG 12-3/FIRE 2 and will surely sink today. It fled east towards Jolo.
3 ships hit a mine each at Balikpapan:
CA Tone (about 12 SYS damage, not bad)
AK Kaga Maru (SYS 2/FLOT 43-35/ENG 0/FIRE 0)
xAP Buenos Aires Maru (SYS 44/FLOT 46-38/ENG 14-0/FIRE 69) (also hit by a big CD gun)
Samarinda and Balikpapan were invaded. Both should be captured today.
I-7 just took up patrol 8 hexes southwest of San Francisco. It hit xAP Maui with a torpedo. Later in the day, it attacked again, getting 2 more torpedo hits. Maui was sunk. It did not have troops on it.
A big Japanese air attack on Hengyang and troops there found many H-81's of the Flying Tigers. The US planes came from Changsha. Many Sallys were destroyed. Escorting Nates did nothing and might as well not come. Zeros did sweep but arrived after the slaughter of bombers and downed just the one remaining H-81 in the air.
Bettys from Noumea bombed the airfield at Norfolk Island, doing minor damage and damaging a couple of Catalinas. 4 enemy units there, including tanks, it appears.
Tarakan was captured.
Destroyer Michisio was badly damaged by a mine the other day at Noumea. Disbanded in the size 2 port, the destroyer is slowly accumulating more damage, including fire. It isn't going to make it. I'm making a desperate attempt to fly in the Special Base Force from Koumac, to get more naval support to Noumea. However, I don't remember if naval support actually helps put out the fires for a ship disbanded in port. It may be just the size of the port that matters. It's all I can do though. After the attempt, the base force will go back to Koumac.
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Big xAP Buenos Aires Maru sank after it left Balikpapan. It was burning out of control. 2 DMS's swept some mines at Balikpapan but got hit by coastal guns. Both are moderately damaged but will survive. Base support for Balikpapan will land at Samarinda, where there are no mines.
Manado was invaded. It should be taken today.
Interesting spotting of US cruisers near the northern tip of New Zealand. They were on the west side, probably coming south from Norfolk Island. They apparently are going to Wellington instead of Auckland. I have subs near Auckland. OPilot may be a bit cautious as I've raided Auckland with carriers already. He doesn't know that I have subs near Wellington also.
Ever smaller numbers of Sallys continue to bomb Singapore. In one example, 6 flew and 4 were shot down by flak. Just brutal. Singapore is showing 8 airbase damage, so at least the goal of stopping fort building is being achieved.
Balikpapan, Samarinda, Tandjoengselor and Singkawang were all captured.
KB will now leave the Borneo area and head back to Truk. It will then go back to the South Pacific. Light carriers will take over covering further landings on Java and Sumatra. Will US carriers known to be in the South Pacific, this seems reasonable.
I-15 is on patrol west of Melbourne, on the coast. It spotted huge xAP Empress Asia but missed it with 2 torpedoes. Interesting spotting. I think it is more likely that it is carrying troops to Melbourne from India, rather than the reverse. It would be more in line with a reaction to my strong early move into New Caledonia.
Ndeni was invaded. It is undefended.
2 US task forces were spotted just north of Wellington. They are southbound, and one of the them is the carrier task force. Carriers not spotted today though.
Bettys from Noumea bombed Norfolk Island's port, hitting both AVPs there. One is badly damaged and burning, the other is just burning.
More progress at Singapore, but it continues to be very costly. Good thing that I wasn't intending a move to India. The troops at Singapore will need extensive recovery time.
Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 85074 troops, 907 guns, 564 vehicles, Assault Value = 2346
Defending force 45964 troops, 564 guns, 393 vehicles, Assault Value = 576
Japanese ground losses:
1454 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 293 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 24 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 37 disabled
Vehicles lost 32 (2 destroyed, 30 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
2310 casualties reported
Squads: 67 destroyed, 70 disabled
Non Combat: 57 destroyed, 150 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 12 disabled
Guns lost 64 (23 destroyed, 41 disabled)
Vehicles lost 82 (30 destroyed, 52 disabled)
Units destroyed 1
Need to rest a day or two and then attack again. Singapore is close to falling. I'm disappointingly a month behind schedule, having not send enough troops to do the job initially.
Manado was captured.
I've flown most of the special base force from Koumac to Noumea, but unfortunately, the naval support is part of the small part still at Koumac. They should arrive today. The destroyer Michishio continues to accumulate more damage in the size 2 port. It is now SYS 30 (+6)/FLOT 90 (-1)/ENG 40 (+3)/FIRE 35 (+9). And I don't even know if naval support will help put out the fires. It will be an inconclusive test.
The awesome French destroyer Le Triomphant appears between Ndeni and Luganville. It intercepted the small invasion convoy coming from Ndeni after dropping off troops there.
Day Time Surface Combat, near Torres Islands at 119,147, Range 15,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
APD Nadakaze, Shell hits 1
xAK San Francisco Maru, Shell hits 14, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Zuisyo Maru, Shell hits 6, heavy fires
Allied Ships
DD Le Triomphant
Poor visibility due to Rain
Maximum visibility in Rain: 15,000 yards
It's a blind spot for the Japanese. There's search planes at Tulagi and Luganville, but this destroyer is fast and wasn't seen in its approach. Both bases still don't have airfields but are building. Lunga is a size 1 airfield and building. So little risk for OPilot to raid there. The destroyer may head to Luganville next. I have over 100 mines there, but enemy subs haven't discovered any in several visits. He may think it is safe to go there.
Newly arrived upgraded sub chasers hit Greenling with a depth charge at Noumea.
South of Hengyang, Japanese forces rout already routed Chinese forces. They retreated south towards Kukong, which greatly increases the chance of surrounding the Chinese around Kukong.
Ground combat at 79,55 (near Hengyang)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 29126 troops, 239 guns, 323 vehicles, Assault Value = 985
Defending force 15000 troops, 71 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 397
S-41 hit xAP Palau Maru with a torpedo at Luganville. Just disregard the 100+ mines there; nothing hits them anyhow. The transport will probably burn up.
Singapore. Is. Finally. Captured.
Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 83623 troops, 907 guns, 564 vehicles, Assault Value = 2190
Defending force 43695 troops, 547 guns, 366 vehicles, Assault Value = 468
Japanese ground losses:
2381 casualties reported
Squads: 13 destroyed, 83 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 23 disabled
Guns lost 28 (3 destroyed, 25 disabled)
Vehicles lost 26 (7 destroyed, 19 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
56889 casualties reported
Squads: 865 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 4101 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 191 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 689 (689 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 486 (486 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 31
The only thing notable about the enemy units is that it was just about every Allied unit in Malaya. Lots of rest and recovery ordered for the victorious troops. DMS's are on the way to sweep the mines. And inevitably hit a few. I have no problem finding them.
Near Samarinda, Perch got a torpedo hit on xALK Nissyo Maru. A part of a small base unit was lost. Not a dud hit. Trigger got a dud hit on a patrol boat near New Zealand. Sailfish got a torpedo hit on already damaged AK Kaga Maru west of Mindanao. The damaged ship was headed in a big convoy back to Manila. Kaga Maru will try to make it to Cagayan, but it is several days away, and with damage of SYS 50/FLOT 65-49/ENG 9-3/FIRE 36, it isn't going to make it. Another hit that wasn't a dud. Pollack got a dud hit on an xAK in the Aleutians. So, 2 of 4 hits were duds. OPilot continues to do better than the expected dud percentage for the applicable US subs.
Efate was invaded. It was not defended.
Japanese forces attacked at Kukong. The enemy was showing movement out of town. I wish more had moved. It was strongly defended.
Ground combat at Kukong (79,57)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 32467 troops, 278 guns, 111 vehicles, Assault Value = 994
Defending force 39434 troops, 212 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1028
Assaulting units:
116th Division
19th Ind.Mixed Brigade
22nd Division
15th Tank Regiment
12th Army
13th Army
4th Mortar Battalion
Defending units:
49th Chinese Corps
50th Chinese Corps
21st Chinese Corps
100th Chinese Corps
3rd New Chinese Corps
23rd Group Army
11th Chinese Base Force
7th War Area
18th Chinese Base Force
We'll continue to try to encircle this force. The enemy is strong enough to break out to the northwest, but OPilot may not know that. The enemy may try to escape to the west on the trail that heads just north of Wenchow.
Next up will be loading a division at Manila for Makassar. Then gathering forces for the Java invasion, using divisions currently at Tarakan, Samarinda, Balikpapan and the Makassar division.
Trout found xAK Kensin Maru at Amchitka Island, unloading supply and unescorted. Trout engaged on the surface and got 9 shell hits, fired many dud torpedoes and got 2 good torpedo hits, and sank the ship. I had 4 xAKs in the Aleutians, escorted by one patrol boat. As they reached each invasion base, an xAK dropped out of the task force and started to unload supply. I repeated this all the way to Adak Island. Enemy subs appeared before I could gather them all back up to leave.
Some minor bombing in China. Norfolk Island bombed.
The pursuit of the Chinese continued around Kukong.
I want to invade Makassar and Java before 1 April, and that is going to be a challenge.
Little action. US subs missed a couple of ships. OPilot is still comfortable moving subs directly into newly captured Japanese ports. Not enough sub chasers or air ASW to go around. That is improving but slowly.
AK Kaga Maru miraculously did make it to Cagayan, but the damage spiked way past the point of no return. With Cagayan just a size 2 port, and somewhat damaged at that, the ship was scuttled with damage SYS 99/FLOT 85/ENG 39/FIRE 95.
A division started loading at Manila. It was going to invade Makassar, but I decided that may be overkill. It will go to Java with 3 other divisions. A naval guard unit will go to Makassar from Babeldaob. All of the smaller carriers are either at Jolo or moving to Jolo from Babeldaob. They will support Java. KB is about to get to Truk. It will move back to the South Pacific.
Little activity again. Bombed Cebu. It's essentially isolated but produces a bit of supply, and it's still firing flak. Bombed troops in the clear near Hengyang. They appear to have stopped their move across the river, after seeing a Japanese unit get there first. The Japanese unit is just artillery, but OPilot probably doesn't know that yet.
I'm having some trouble trying to sweep the mines at Singapore. Have 4 DMS's there, in a minesweeping task force. Tried home port of Singapore, destination Singapore, not docked, no refueling, and they didn't sweep. Moved them out with a nearby base as the home, and ordered them to patrol from there to Singapore. No mines swept. I've run into this before occasionally. I don't seem to have the trouble with the local minesweeping missions, but these DMS's cannot make such a mission, just minesweeping. I ordered a few AMc's to Singapore to help, but they'll take a week or so to get there.
Loading at Manila continues for Java. Loading to begin on Borneo for Java tomorrow.
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