Bettys in the sky with diamonds- Gladiatt (A) vs John_Smid (J). No John please

[gladiatt]

BURMA 24th July - 27th July

After the successful sweep of 23th of July, my heavy bombers are sent against Rangoon airfield.
Two days of raiding; i sent 163 sorties of heavys. It costed me 4 bombers, and destroyed (on ground or A2A) 10japs fighters, 30 Netties, 6 Lilys and 2 Dinah. The airfield is damaged to 66% !! This good result is probably because of the use of my brand new squadron on F-5 Ligthning; even with a bad experience level, these units really change the scope of results !



In the following days (26th and 27th ), there are nearly no japanese planes left at Rangoon, but there are some back at Pagan !!
On 26th of july, a sweep of 23th FG (40 P-40B) over Pagan catch nothing. My recon show nothing (but there is the intel sign of planes). A raid of Wellington (my heavys being resting after the 2 days of raid on Rangoon) only manage to suffer losses from flak (seems to be a great number of AA units there) : 3 planes lost for no results on the airfield.

On Ground . The weather, the lack of air raids (as my bombers are on duty elsewhere) can't help me to nibble the japs in Mandalay. The incoming of my 5th Indian Div raise my assaut value to 1100 against the 750 japs, but that's not enough.
I must hurry if want to eject the japs from Mandalay, because SIGINT has spotted Imperial Guard Div walking north in the Malayan Peninsula: probably headed for Burma, probably with others units, probably avoiding the sea travel (too dangerous for Jan feeling ?). If this unit and others reach Mandalay, it could well throw me out !

[gladiatt]

24th - 27th July

Koepang bombed daily: from Kendari by Bettys or Sallys; from Maumere, now a level 2 airfield, by Anns and Kate, covered by Oscar/zeros. I can't send fighters in Koepang, the airfield is a total mess.
But my AA guns (inside Base force unit) manage to down a few planes.

SoPac

Port Moresby bombed by AII datai each night. No particular results.

Koumac airfield still host planes, but none seem able to fly. The level of damages is roughly 70%. Can't raise the level to 100 because bad weather prevented hammering by air.
On Ground i am trying to recover disruption for my units. The japs don't seem able to counter attack or to bombard, but don't die either. There are now 22 units (26 units 2 weeks ago); i had spotted japanese subs at Koumac: evacuating units ??? Does the evac try to pick a few part of each unit, or one entire unit before picking another ???

Luganville is the playground of the japanese Zeros and Bettys coming from Rabaul. I had evacuated my fighters from here, being unable to resist. The damages are steadily raising on the base.
Efate is now covered by KB, back from it's raid on Fiji (wich didn't bagged anything). A lone squadron (12th BG/C) of 9 B-24D suddenly face a CAP of 63 zeros; 7 of my bombers are downed, and 1 zero (that's always this).
And a TF is now docked at Efate; it have AP (one hit by naval patrol), MSW (also hit by naval patrol). Evacuating or reinforcing ??? Another TF is coming from north. And there are japanese planes back at Efate after more than 3 weeks without. So ?? Reinforcing or not ?

[gladiatt]

24th - 27th July 1942

CHINA

AirWar is a bit hard in China.

On 24th, a raid of 50 japanese dive bombers just east of Wuchow is ambushed by 12 P-39 of 6th FS; 6 bombers downed.
On 25th, a raid of 50 japanese dive bombers and 17 sally bomb freely Wuchow.

On 26th , west of Sian, 26 Hurricanes of 155th and 615th squadron try to stop a raid of 23 Oscar and 7 sally; turn bad for me, with 1 sally down for 2 Hurricanes.
The same day, east of Wuchow, the 12 P-39 of 6th FS on CAP try to fight 35 Nates escorting 65 divebombers; the Nates must be Top pilots because these obsolotes planes manage to shoot and destroy 1 Airacobra for no losses.
At Wuchow , another japanese raid has a much harder day. 31 Oscar escort 48 divebombers and 13 sally. They face 13 I-16 of 19thCFS and 9 Sptifire Vb of 28th squadron. The Oscar first manage to down 5 Polykarpov, and then start the fight with the spitfire. 2 of the brits are downed for 5 Oscar and 1 sally.
Sorry for readers, my "paint" is acting chaosly randomly, didn't manage to have a screen of these fights.

But Screenshot for 27 th of july, a much better day for me (but not perfect).
West of Sian, 155th and 615 th squadron have a good day. A first raid have 10 0scar downed ofr no loss. FO Lake down 3 planes ( raising to 4 kills) and FLT Baldwin down 3 planes (raising to Ace status); they are both from 615th sq;
Another raid loose 1 Hurricane and down 1 A6M3 and 3 sally.
6th FS had another bad day against Nates [X(]. 6 are downed trying to stop a raid of 52 divebombers.

[gladiatt]

EEEK [X(]

Seem deathstar has reached Wuchow

[gladiatt]

28th July - 29th July 1942

DEI
Now that Singapore has falled, it seem the japanese are willing to recover from their late timetable.
Benkolen (West Sumatra) has fallen.
Sinkep Island (south of Singapore) has fallen.
Padan is invaded 29th july (should fall tomorrow, closing the escape route of all my unit retreating from Palembang)
Bankha is invaded 28th ; on 29th july SS S-37 attack on the surface during night time, sinking an AP with 2 torpedos and 6 4'inch shell. In the morning , a Val on ASW duty hit SS S-37.
Tomini (Sulawesi) fall on 29th july.
Morotai is invaded 29th july.
Usually, a small SNLF is enough for the jap, but Padan and Bankha could have bigger invasions.

[gladiatt]

28th July - 29th July

SoPac

Koumac is bombed daily from Noumea: i don't want this airfield to open, and i don't want fort level to raise there.
On 28th July, 3rd Australian Tank Regiment launch a local deliberate attack, odd are 0/1 but cause 270 casualties for 4 allied and 1 vehicule. The jap AV (wich was around 1000 at the beginning of June) is now at 489; my Assaut Value is 760.

Luganville is under daily japanese raid. No more allied fighter there, as i was suffering more losses than the japs. Supply could become scarce in a few weeks.

Efate. Despite the CAP of Zeros, i decide to launch a raid, hoping to close the airfield in a few days.
On 28th July, 78 Flying Fortress of 43rd and xxth BG (forgot [:o] ) and 11 B-24 of12th BG must face a CAP of 79 Zeros !!
25 B-17 are downed, 28 damaged (6 won't reach base), for 11 zeros.

On 29th July, SS S-28 locate a TF with at least 10 DD , but is hunted and suffer a direct hit.
In the morning 34 Marauder and 11 Liberators attack this TF south of Ouvea. CL Kitakami and CL Naka suffer 2 bombs hits each, both ships are aflame; DD Chidori also suffer a bomb hit.
What are these ships doing here ??? [&:][&:]

[gladiatt]

28th July - 29th July

CHINA
Things are concentrating around Wuchow
29th CFS and 19th CFS ( I-16) don't fight well ( 25th CFS with the same plane was peforming well at Sian).
But 28th Squadron (Spit Vb) fight well, despite terrible odds.

In 2 days, 182 sorties of bomber ( line bombers and dive bombers) are escorted by 120 sorties of fighters (of all type: Nates, Oscar, Zeros). 28th squadron loose 6 planes but destroy 20 japanese planes. FLT Shannon and FLT Cochrane each down 5 planes in these 2 days, achieving ace status.

On Ground, the japanese units bombard on 28th july, and attack immediately after this, on 29th july.
The odd is 0/1, bring my forts level to 8, but fail with 10700 casualties (and 300 guns) for 2400 chinese and 6 guns.

[gladiatt]

30th JULY 1942

Wuchow
Once again fight rage at Wuchow.
3 japanese raids gather a total of 83 fighter sorties and 91 bombers. Once again,19th CFS withdraw quickly of combat. 28th squadron bear the weight of the fight. FLT Cochrane score a 6th kills and bail wounded. Flt Brookes achieve Ace status.
The experience level of the squadron was at 62 three days ago, and is now at 71.
1 I-16 and 2 spitfire are destroyed, for 2 Nates, 2 zeros, 5 oscar and 2 sallys.

The land fight: the jap launch another attack, odds 0/1, but once more reducing forts level (to 7).
The casualties amount to 10000 japs for 3700 chinese

Just south of Wuchow, my forces made an outflank march, and on the first attack (2/1) manage to force the retreat of the japanese units keeping the road between Canton and Wuchow, thus pocketing the 44 units attacking my city.

What will it result ?
Jap withdrawing ? Japs sending a part of it's army south to reopen the way ? All out assaut to capture the city ? Something else ?

[gladiatt]

31th July 1942

DEI
The "cleaning" of the dutch base keep going. Today, Bankha and Padang fell.

SoPac
The japs CV keep CAPing Efate; there is a TF of 5 AP or AK at this base.
I have a swarm of subs in the neighborhoud, trying to catch the japs TF, but the Vals and Kate on Nav Search hit 3 of my subs ....and no contact is made against the japs ships.

CHINA
Wuchow : Another jap delib attack fail, without downing my forts. 11000 japs casualties for 2300 chinese.

Changsa: in order to cause troubles to the japs, i launched a attack on the "small" garrison east of the town

[gladiatt]

VICTORY POINTS JULY 1942

[gladiatt]

1st August 42

SoPac
Success at Koumac; after 2 months of land battle, the base is seized by my forces. The japs units are down to 22 units.
On 2nd and 3r August, my units keep attacking, having fatigue level moderates. On 2nd august, is seen the message "14th naval Construction Bn DESTROYED".

[gladiatt]

General situation SoPac

[gladiatt]

Burma

[gladiatt]

CHINESE



EDIT ; SIGINT just told that Jap 2nd Div is on AP heading for Canton. Willing to reopen the road ?

The japs launched deliberate attacks on 2nd and 3rd August at Wuchow, each failing with heavy losses and dropping forts to level 6.
But the adjusted Assaut Value of the japs have dropped to roughly 350 !!!
Now, i can't allow me to have too high hopes about this pocket...

[gladiatt]

2th August - 8th August

CHINA

There is a continual bad weather on China and SouthEast Asia in general, thus reducing air activity.
A few japs raids on Wuchow and south of Wuchow ignite duels in the sky. The Spitfire is a really good plane, but the 12 planes of 28th squadron are not enough to stop the harassing of troops on ground. In 6 days, i loose 2 Kittyhawk, 2 Polykarpov and 1 Spitfire, for 6 japanese fighters and 2 bombers.
The japs launch 3 ground attack on Wuchow, failing, and then only bombarding the city, but the result is better on chinese side.

[flaggelant]

hey,

if you think you can stall Wuchow, and hold the indochina offensive around nanning, it might be best to engage Canton,
when your in a city hex, you get some extra modifiers as defender (i didnt say you'd have to attack it)

the only real contra's are the lower airsuport and the ability of your oponent to bombard it from the sea.

taking the fight to the city.



if he keeps attacking without supplies he'll run out of army pretty soon, have you noticed any transport flights into Wuchow so he gets some supply?

[gladiatt]

ORIGINAL: flaggelant

hey,

if you think you can stall Wuchow, and hold the indochina offensive around nanning, it might be best to engage Canton,
when your in a city hex, you get some extra modifiers as defender (i didnt say you'd have to attack it)

the only real contra's are the lower airsuport and the ability of your oponent to bombard it from the sea.

taking the fight to the city.



if he keeps attacking without supplies he'll run out of army pretty soon, have you noticed any transport flights into Wuchow so he gets some supply?

Hello Jens.
TOO LATE !
but this will be in another post; no airtransport seems to be helping his troops at wuchow (i put a LRCAP on the city to intercept any air supplying mission). But he probably can wait for his rescuing army to reopen the road. Stay tuned...

[gladiatt]

2nd august - 8th august 1942

DEI

- Sumatra; i still have units crawling too slowly in the jungle, trying to reach a cost after the fall of Padan. The attrition of these troops is raised by the milk-run bombing missions of the japs on them.

Kuala is also bombed by the japs; probably next target in Sumatra.
Makassar is bombed by Helens and sallys.
Koepang is bombed daily. The base is a total mess: nearly 100% damages of airbase, port, runway. The place is shelled by BB Ise and Yamato on 8th august.
Maumere, now a level 2 airfield, seem to host a good bunch of Oscar and Kates; 5th BG (B-17E) attack from max ceiling, but 3 raid in the week bring no result (except 4 ops losses for my bombers....).

Hollandia, in New Guinea, is captured on 8th august, and imediately host enough japs planes to rise the airbalance to 150.

BURMA
I want to trial the god of clouds and thunderstorms ! That's unfair, he is playing on the japanese side. How many mission did this bloody weather cancel in the week, i can't tell, but too much for my taste.
Pagan is targetted because there are japs planes back on it, roughly 10 (recon type). No result on the base or on the planes on ground. My B-17 are attacking from top ceiling, this time not to avoid CAP but Flak !!! the base is filled with AA Guns, previous raids had suffer even at altitude like 22000 feets. Obviously, attack from 36600 feet didn't bring result...

Mandalay. The japs don't attack any more because of inferiority (Assaut value around 700 for the japs, and 900 for me). 3 attacks are launched against the japanese lines, never managing to repulse them or to cause tremendous casualties.
East of Mandalay (on the railroad between Mandalay and Lashio; as i am lasy to put a map here, just look at a previous post please), 8th and 1st jap Tank Reg try to cut the road and launch an attack on 8th august, wich is repulsed. My lba should have hammer the tanks, but only a few missions are flown.

Andaman is from time to time under jap raid, wich don't score great result on my base. No more allied fighters are here: the good fighters (Hurricanes, Spit or else) don't have the range to reach the place (except for AVG but is needed elsewhere), and those having the range are crap (Buffalos or Lysander). I will wait for months for better planes.

SOPAC
Koumac is the bright side of this front. The jap here is taking a beating. Many subs units are destroyed, this cause heavy losses; but sub units mean that my opponant has managed to evacuate fragments , and i will face these units latter and elswhere. Anyway, that's a good thing, local victory is close.

[gladiatt]

SOPAC part 2 (2nd - 8th august)

Efate is a big concern for me : now that it has reach level 2 airfield, it is a real risk for my line of shipping.

The jap CV TF is lurking East of Efate, and covering the base with 70 zeros. My swarm of sub has melted like snow under the sun: the ASW of japs DD and japs planes have damaged nearly 10 of them. None is expected to sink, but they had been sent to shipyards (Auckland or Sidney) to repair. These yards are full of many ships (AK damaged by japs subs, MSW on refit, CL or CA trying to recover from damages for months, and so on...).
Luganville just north of Efate has no planes (except a Catalina squadron slowly depleting from japs raids) since weeks.
I thought i could use the place as a springboard to launch sweeps against Efate.

On 8th august, a raid from Noumea attack Efate, the sweep expected from Luganville didn't occur.
70 zeros have a hard fight with my 112 4E from 12th, 22th and 43th BG; 30 allied bombers are downed, for 21 zeros; the gunners handing 50cal MG braid a curtain of fire in the sky, most of the zeros are destroyed in air to air combat, not on ground.
Same day, a jap raid attack Luganville. 4 zeros and 71 bettys. They encounter 6 new zealand Kittyhawk and 13 P-39 ; my fighters are a bit disapointing . 10 bettys are downed. The japs bombers getting through manage to destroy on ground 9 allied fighters of all types.

[gladiatt]

9th august - 11th august

SOPAC

So, i am still on my idea to close Efate airfield; but things are getting really hard, and maybe this will not be possible.

Efate is sweeped from Luganville on 9th and 10th august, but i have not enough planes, and my F4F squadron (VMF 221) is very disapointing. 6 japanese planes are lost for 17 allied. 11th august is even worse, 100% of my 13 planes are wipped, destroyed, erased....
The raids coming from Noumea are weaker and weaker. 18 japs fighters are destroyed for 28 4E and 8 2E bombers. The airbase at Efate is now at 50% damages (if Recon is to be believed)
The new Ki-61 Tony is spotted above Efate, and seem to be a good plane ! This will probably cause me troubles.