Speedy vs Swift - Jap perspective. Fight to the death

[Speedysteve]

LGen Mori rose from his chair to greet LGen Kitano. Kitano had arrived the previous evening with his division along with 4th Engineer Regiment, 1st Tank Regiment and 3 Artillery Battalions.

Mori had already drawn up his plan for his attack on the 15th. The additional forces would hopefully be the deciding factor in the long drawn out battle for Singapore. The roster for the attack was as follows:

Mori's - Imperial Guards Division
Kitano's - 4th Division
5th Division
21st Mixed Brigade
4th Mixed Brigade
2nd Tank Regiment
1st Tank Regiment
3rd Heavy FA Regiment
3rd Mortar Battalion
5th Mortar Battalion
14th Mortar Battalion

Opposing them on Singapore Isalnd was a hotch potch assembly of various nations. There were Indians, Australians, British and Malysians on that Island. They had so far withstood everything that had been thrown at them. They had been bombed, shelled and shot at for over a month and yet despite repeated attempts to seize the island the weary defenders had stood fast. They had received no fresh supplies since the start of the seige and should be fairly weary by now.

Mori settled back in his chair after Kitano, had been briefed on tomorow's attack and, left. For the first time in 2 weeks he felt confident that tomorrow's attack would be successful.

H-Hour was 6 o'clock...........

P.S. Could be ironic since this will be the day Singapore historically fell!

A Map of Singapore Island........

[Speedysteve]

Mori's prediction has proved to be at least partially correct.

The jump off at 06.00 went off without any major problems. The added artillery battlaions lobbed shell after shell onto known enemy strongpoints. The assault boats wuickly crossed onto the north coast of the island. The landings were subjected to intermittant rifle, machine gun and mortar fire. Approximately 350 casualties were caused at this stage.

By 09.00 the landing areas were secure and the division began to move inland to the south. They soon encountered a line of fortifications - bunkers, pillboxes, trenches. The air support that was promised to suppress these 'obstacles' did NOT materialise to Mori's dismay. He had no choice but to stall the advance and order the artillery to pound the fortifications whilst at the same time covering the advancing troops with smoke.

6 hours of hard hard fighting was required to overrun these defences. After which the men were ordered to halt and rest for the remainder of the day.

In total 1200 Japanese men were injured or killed whilst over 1800 Allied soldiers were reported wounded, killed or captured.

The map below shows Singapore's Island. The red area shows the limit of Mori's advance for the day.

[Speedysteve]

Mori continued the attack at 08.00 on 16th February. The divisions quickly found the enemy unwilling to to fight and they seemed to posses low morale. By midday 5000 Allied men had surrendered when Mori's men reached the outskirts of Singapore City itself.

By this stage Allied men were surrendering in droves with only pockets of resistance being encountered, mainly by 5th Division on the east side of the City.

By 18.30 it was mainly over. The City was in Japanese hands and over 30,000 Allied soldiers had been captured.

All that remained was a few stragglers to be mopped up.

GHQ was happy with Mori and his plan. Extra Saki for him.

-----------------

This completes most of Phase 1 of my plan. All that remains is 4 PA divisions at Naga, Phillipines.

Phase 2 is the capture of Java which is now in motion. Initially, 65th Brigade, 2nd Division, 38th Division, 56th Brigade + 2 ARM Regiments + 2 Engineer Regiments Will land at Merak on the north west tip of Java. From there my men will march to Batavia. Once captured 60,000 tonnes of supplies and an Aviation regiment will be landed.

If needed Additional forces will be moved from Singapore but i'd like to leave them there for either Burma or resting for the future Wake and New Caledonia operation...........

[pauk]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Hi Sharky,

Sorry when I said Forts I meant Beauforts.

I'll look in to production figures tonight. I have accelerated the following off the top of my head:

CV Junyo.
CV Hiyo.
CVL Ryuho.

Once they are done I will accelerate CV Taiho + Unryu class if poss.

I have kept CV Shinano producing.

I have also accelerated any TK's and CVE's due within 6 months.

I have converted 10 AK's into AR's, a couple into AS's and a couple into MLE's.

Iince most of the SRA has been taken and nearly ALL Allied hsips have left the area the subs have moved slightly further afield - 1 x 180 miles north of Darwin, 1 x 180 miles north of Derby. 3 in Bay of Bengal.

greetings....

There are several aproaches to the ship accelerations. From what i see, you chosed accelerating first CV's. But, did not saw that you stoped Mutsu. Most players stop production of Shinano or/and Mutsu because you don't have enough navalyard points to accelerate all ships you wanted. IMO, Shinano is best choice for stop. Yea, she have great armour but small capacity and saves 180 (IIRC) naval points which is enough for accelerating two CV's. Honestly, I dont know how much exactly points cost accelerating ship (twice?) but i solve this problem in "manual way" - watching and making notes turn by turn to see if my acc. ships move two days ahead. If not, then changes are needed....

I think if you stop Mutsu and Shinano you can accelerate first three Unryu class CV + maybe Hiyo and Junyo, but i don't bother with Unryu class - if you accelerate these (first three)CV's they will came not before April 1943, and by then the game is over (although you don't want admit that[:D])

So yes, i accelerate first CV's too, but you need to be careful with navalyard points....

[Speedysteve]

Hi Pauk,

Thanks for the comments. Some good points.

I have just received Junyo (we are playing +/- 90 reinforcements) but yes I think you're right. I will halt Shinano since she holds so few aircraft. That way I should be able to accelerate 2/3 of the Unryu's. If in time I have enough points i'll continue Shinano.

Good points.

Thanks,

Steven

[Speedysteve]

Whilst my forces are moving to their prep positions for the invasion of Java and LBA from Palembang bomb Batavia into the Stone Age and Soerabaja from Balikpapan I thought i'd update you all on shipping so far.

As Pauk suggested above I have halted Shinano and accelerated Unryu, Amagi and Katsuragi.

Here is a list of my significant ships that are damaged:

DD Amatsukaze - (hit by 250lb bomb near Kendari) - Sys 71 - moving to Tokyo
DD Wakatake - (hit by 250lb bomb near Kendari) - Sys 66 - moving to Tokyo
CV Kaga - (damaged in battle with Enterprise early in the war) - Sys 48 - at Maizuru
CA Atago - (damaged by dutch sub near Kuching) - Sys 47 - At Hong Kong
DD Oshio - (hit by bomb near Kuching) - Sys 30 - at Hong Kong
CV Hiryu - (damaged in battle with Enterprise) - Sys 29 - at Okayama
CS Mizuho - (hit by B17 at Legaspi) - Sys 28 - at Palau
CVL Shoho - (hit by Hudson near Darwin) - Sys 27 - moving to Tokyo
CV Zuikaku - (damaged in battle with Enterprise) - Sys 18 - at Shanghai
BB Haruna - (hit by Swordfish near Kuantan) - Sys 13 - at Saigon

-------------------------

Known ships to have sunk:

Allied:

CV Enterprise

BB Prince of Wales
Revenge

CA Houston
Minneapolis

CL Tromp
Enterprise
Dragon
Durban
Dauntless
Mauritius
Detroit
Marblehead
Phoenix

DD - 16 x

SS - 6 x

AP/AK/TK - 50 x

Japanese:

CL Tenryu
Tatsuta

DD Oite

SS 8 x

AP/AK/TK - 21 x

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

I'd like your thoughts on this:

I have wiped out almost any air per swift has in Java over the past 4 days. As such I am not going to send KB to support the landings. All swift really has left now in Java is LCU's.

Accordingly I will execute the invasion of Wake Island at the same time. KB will be involved in this operation. At presrnt is compreises:

Akagi
Shokaku
Soryu
Zuiho
Hosho

Junyo moving to join.

I am planning on using the 3 divisions from the Phillipines + 2 engineer regiments for the invasion. I hope this will be enough.

Now my questions:

1. Most importantly. Shall I arrive all at once and surprise swift with quick bombardments and invasion or should I send in BB's over several days to supress him more?

2. Which base do you think is best to stage from? Either Marcus Island or Eniwetok? Marcus is nearer but less developed.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Plans are still in progress for the upcoming invasion of Java and Wake Island.

The past 3 days have seen a further reuction Java's air defences. There appears to be virtually nothing left of the Dutch airforce now. This is good. It means I will have little interference from the Dutch when my transports round past Batavia and onto Merak. The final 2 divisions are moving to Palembang and will be unloaded there within 3 days. As such I am going to say within a week ships will be en route to Merak.

Junyo docked at Saigon harbour. KB has been fueled and is about to depart for Tokyo. From there she will escort a large convoy of merchants and tankers whgich will unload at Marcus Island. I have decided to use this as my staging base for Wake Island. It's nearer to Wake than Eniwetok and nearer to Japan for bringing men and material.

The troops bound for Wake are getting some R & R at Manila. Most units are at 90-95% readiness with the lowest being the Shuzan NGU at 87% readiness. Transports will have docked in Manila harbour by tomorrow. They will be embarked and head for Marcus Island. I predict a jump off point for the Wake Operation of 2-3 weeks. This will take me upto mid-March.

With a miracle Zuikaku may even be repaired enough to participate. She is currently at 16 SYS damage. Knowing Werner he may well contest the Wake Operation and I would like another carrier for security.

Burma -

Things progressing fine here. 33rd took Lashio yesterday. 55th is moving on Myitkina and will arrive in 2 days time.

Subs war -

SS I-4 put a fish into another loaded TK bound for PH region [:D]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

The 1st March 1942 has just arrived.

A couple more days have passed with things moved as planned.

The invasion of Java is about to jump off!

The following units are to unload at Merak and march to Batavia and from there the rest of Java will fall:

38th Division
48th Division
35th Brigade
65th Brigade
15th Nav Guard (will remain after occupation for 'securirty' purposes)
14th Tank Regiment
1st Parachute Regiment
2nd Parachute Regiment
15th Engineer Regiment
23rd Engineer Regiment

I hope the above will be enough. I think it will since Werner has only a couple of recon planes in Java. Everything else has been wither withdrawn or wiped out by LBA from Palembang or Balikpapan. This just leaves his Dutch infantry to fight and die.

Other news:

KB has moved past Hong Kong on its way to TOkyo, thence Marcus Island for the invasion of Wake. The land forces are all on their transports at Manila. They will go directly to Marcus and from their to Wake.

I have also decided to use Nagato/Mutsu/Fuso/Yamashiro in the invasion as bombardment platforms and also for protection against any BB's swift might deploy.

MAJOR POSITIVE news: Zuikaku may be able to participate in the Wake Operation. She is down to 13 Sys damage and i'm moving her from Shanghai to Tokyo in expectation. If she reaches near 10 sys damage she will go.

Other good news. IJN SS I-4 found and sank the TK Cathwood with 3 torpedo's yesterday. She was spotted 560 miles north east of PH. The crew had no chance and were left to be picked up by the escorting DD i'd'd as Blue.............

Below is a painting of the I-4 performed by crew members in trials in the late 30's. Historically she attacked the AK Alhena and was probably sunk by SS Seadragon

[fabertong]

Remember those nasty CD guns at Wake....in one of my games my opponent snuck in another MDB and I lost a lot of APs.... so send a big Bombardment group with your invasion force........

[Speedysteve]

Good point Fabertong. Good point.

I'm thinking also since Wake is an Atoll I will move KB and BB's there 3-4 days before the invasion fleet. I will have 4 x BB's in 2 TF's and i'm thinking of using KB's Kates for high level attack to negate flak.

You have me thinking now though. Maybe i'll also move up Hiei and Kirishima from Truk to provide a 3rd BB division. Infact I think I will.

After the first couple of days i'll switch KB Kate's from Wake attack to Naval attack incase swift brings up any ships.

One thing i'm uncertain of is how strong Wake will be. We're not going to do gamey stuff like landing a subs worth of troops to magically see what units he has there so I think I will gage how well the bombardments go and what units the Kate's attack and if I think it is too risky I can withdraw and wait for the units from Java to be free.

I know swift has reinforced it with at least a few base forces, 2 x AA units and another CD unit (when we had my warping units problem one of them warped to Wake and it was attacked and wiped out. Unfortunately in this process I clearly saw what he had on Wake) and this was at the start of January.

Infact your comments have made me think much more on this. I'm going to move an AE (Soya is it?) to Marcus Island. That will allow me to hit hard with the BB's and then restock and back to Wake again.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

I have changed my plan only a little bit. Marcus Island will be too small as a staging base for Wake. As such i'm going to jump off from Saipan. All men have been loaded on transports at Manila and will be heading to Saipan today (2nd March 1942). Zuikaku will take part even if she has 12 SYS damage. Want extra protection.

All men are almost aboard at Palembang for Java. They should be leaving today or tomorrow.

Interesting. I spotted a US sub in Aomori harbour. What is thta doing up there. I wonder if it is laying mines. 5 MSW's are to sweep the harbour just in case.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

The past 3 days have seen mass movement of men and ships by the IJN.

75 ships moved the invasion forces from Palembang to Merak on the north west tip of Java. Protecting this armada were the heavy guns of Kongo and 4 heavy cruisers. Not 1 Allied ship was spotted [:)]

The transports are unloading as we speak with the air force providing cover. GHQ waits with anticipation how strong the Dutch defences at Batavia are.

Operation Wake is moving ahead. All surface combat forces are assembled at Saigon (4 x BB divisions - Nagato, Mutsu, Hiei, Kirishima, Fuso, Yamashiro, Ise and Hyuga). KB has met with Zuikaku at Tokyo (Zuikaku on 12 SYS damage). Transports carrying the invasion force have just passed Palau.

INTERESTING NEWS - I have spotted a LOT of allied subs in Northern Japan over the past 4 days. Is Werner planning something up there. Interesting. I have moved more air searh assets up there just in case. If so KB can always divert up there. There are also a LOT of air units in Home Defense units. If he tries anything with KB nearby I feel confident he will fail.

For the Emperor........

Steven

Below is a picture of the historical invasion of Java. You will see Merak on the western part of the picture where ALL of my forces are landing

[Speedysteve]

Check out his for a weird result:

ASW attack near Ominato at 70,38

Japanese Ships
CV Kaga
CV Hiryu
CVE Taiyo
CS Nisshin
BB Haruna
AV Sanyo Maru
AV Sanuki Maru
AV Kamikawa Maru
AV Kimikawa Maru
AV Kiyokawa Maru
CA Atago
CA Suzuya
CA Kumano
CL Katori
CL Kashima
ML Tokiwa
ML Tsugaru
ML Okinoshima
ML Ikitsushima
AS Jingei
AS Chogei
AS Taigei
AS Nagoya Maru
AS Rio de Janiero Maru
AS Yasukuni Maru
AS Manju Maru
AS Tsukushi Maru
AS Heian Maru
CL Jintsu
CL Abukuma
CL Kiso
CL Yubari
DD Maikaze
DD Asashio
DD Oshio
DD Asagumo
DD Akatsuki
DD Usugumo
DD Shikinami
DD Sagiri
DD Mochizuki
DD Kamikaze
DD Hatakaze
DD Hayate
DD Asanagi
DD Yunagi
DD Sawakaze
DD Okikaze
DD Hakaze
DD Akikaze
DD Yakaze
DD Yukaze
DD Tachikaze
DD Nokaze
DD Namikaze
DD Numakaze
DD Kuri
DD Tsuga
DD Hasu
DD Wakatake, heavy damage
DD Yayoi
DD Tanikaze
DD Isokaze
DD Kagero
DD Akigumo

I think either Nik or Mog had a result like this before.....no real attack happened.

The sub really is there but all those ships in that TF are in various ports across the empire

[Rob Brennan UK]

Just a thought but you might consider using the float planes from the BB's on recon over wake ?

[Speedysteve]

Excellent point Rob. Excellent. I will have lots of spare float planes (CS Chitose in KB will provide most of the scouting craft for any allied ships) and that is a good use for them. Thanks.

The past few days have seen more and more ships gathering at Saipan for the upcoming invasion of Wake. The only ships to enter the harbour are the transports carrying the men who will storm Wake. They will arrive tomorrow. I have decided to unload them for a few days R & R since the travel from the Phillipines has led their Fatigue up in the 50's.

I have taken tally of the shipping involved in this and it is an impressive array:

KB -

8 carriers:

Soryu
Shokaku
Zuikaku
Junyo
Akagi
Hosho
Ryujo
Zuiho

4 Battleship divisions:

Nagato
Mutsu
Hiei
Kirishima
Fuso
Yamashiro
Ise
Hyuga

Totals of shipping in the various TF's:

CV - 8
CS - 1
BB - 8
CA - 12
CL - 9
DD - 41
MSW - 12
PC - 4
PG - 4
AP - 63
AK - 20
TK - 12

Elsewhere, in Java the men have been disembarking for 3 days at Merak now and still more equipment and men is to be unloaded. Merak was a safe choice but the size of the harbour has led to long unloading times. By tomorrow all the vitals should be unloaded and then men will march towards Batavia.

All - a question:

With the Wake operation i'm undecided as to how long I should bombard and bomb the place with KB BEFORE landing troops. I'm currently thinking 3-4 days. What do you think?

Below is a picture taken from a Mavis over a month ago of the island my men will soon be invading.....Wake

[Alikchi2]

I don't know if you should leave your aircraft attacking the island that long - remember what happened at Midway! Nagumo got caught.. it'll tire your AC out as well and cause losses.

Port attack the day before to help suppress the CD guns, but with 8 BBs available you should be able to bombard it into oblivion anyways. Most important should be to keep your pilots fresh and alive, imho. [:)]

[Speedysteve]

Hi Alikchi.

My big fear is two fold.

1. Since its an atoll I need to bring enough force and take the place straight off. As such I want to ensure it is supressed enough to ensure that.

2. As you say though I don't want to get caught with my pants down if his CV's decide to show up.

Good points though. Perhaps the 4 BB divisions will 'nuke' the place enough. Maybe you're right and i'll just need to bomb the port 1 day before. I think i'll just use the Kates to bomb from high up. That way I should avoid a lot of flak losses.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Steven

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Today is the day when my next phase gets moving in earnest!

Virtually the whole of the active IJN left Saipan today on its move towards Wake Island. I wonder if Werner knows i'm coming or not. The airfield symbol on Wake is 'dark green' so there may be a lot of planes there. Accordingly, I am sailing KB + 4 x BB's divisions with my transport fleet. At present I have KB on 80% CAP. I plan to detach KB with 2 x BB divisions when they are 1/3-1/2 way en route. KB will move to within 4 hexes of Wake and perform an airfield attack with Kates. This should net me planes and hopefully CD guns. 2 x BB divisions will then shell the place. KB may well bomb 1 more day depending on the results of the previous day.

The 2 remaining BB divisions will then move in to shell some more. The following day the transports will hopefully unload and take the place.

The above is assuming all goes to plan!

Interesting Werner recon'd Eniwetok FROM Wake with a PBY yesterday. Hmm.

On the other side of theatre all men have finally disembarked at Merak and when organised into fighting units have begun marching to Batavia to wrest control from the Dutch......

Below is the flagship for the Wake invasion 60 miles east of Saipan. Adm Yamaguchi is aboard.........

[Rob Brennan UK]

[;)] glad to help

I was going to suggest you use the BB groups one at a time .. each for 2 days. that way you can bombard for 8 days running with 2 BB's a day

p.s dont forget to turn OFF escort bombard [:-]

and good luck with the invasion