Quisling! An AFB does Japan (No PanzerKat)

[John B.]

I'm going to have to hunt those engineering tanks down! But, I think with the KB in Truk he is stymied in the Cent Pac for now so I may have some time.

[Aurorus]

You vehicle pool is very low. I assume that you just finished filling out all the the reinforcements for the armored divisions. Try to avoid further vehicle losses for the next few months. You can also "stockpile" unnecessary vehicle devices (like tractors or obsolete tanks or armored cars) to prevent these from using vehicle points for replacements. See the first couple pages of my AAR for an explanation of how this works.

[John B.]

That is a big recent decline in the vehicle pool but there was just two elements of the 2nd tank division that came online in Manchuria. I'll have to look for your instructions in your AAR.

[John B.]

The second day of the carrier incursion seems to have gone well. Looks like I can chalk up a couple more of the big US APs. I think these are the ones that convert into APAs in 1943 so by now I've sunk 8 of them in this war. That's a nice dent in his invasion lift capacity. No big navy ships have gone down thus far.

Two pending naval battles. Looks like there is a Brit TF heading towards Blair/Rangoon. I have the mini KB in Medan that will strom north to see what happens. My guess is that there are Brit carriers in there but my mini KB should be on par with them. Part of his push into Burma I suppose.

And, there is an allied TF 7 hexes west of Perth. I can't imagine what's in there but I have a BB TF (with air cover from Perth) so we'll see if there is a surface action.

And, I did find the electrical engineers and they are heading to port and points south.

[Aurorus]

Put a little dent in the F4F pool too. As you know, the allies are very short of naval air for the first 8-9 months of the war. An F4F nest on an atoll is an inviting target for a quick invasion, immediate shock attack, and possible complete destruction of those units. If the air units fail to escape, all the pilots will be listed as MIA for an added bonus.

[John B.]

CARRIER BATTLE RANGOON!!!

Looks like Scott sent most of the Royal Navy to both (a) take Blair and (b) judging by the huge TF and the fact that it's heading east take Moulmein. Trying to cut me off in Burma. My boys sprinting out of Medan managed to engage Scott and it appears from the strike reports that he had three CVs and the Hermes.

[John B.]

His first strike put a hit on a BB and a CVL. I had an early strike of VAls that got wiped out as well as a Nell attack that lost 6-7 planes.

[John B.]

Oh but the Kates, those sweet sweet Kates. [&o] A hit rate of more than 33% and there was ammo explosions reported on two of the CVs that were hit an a fuel explosion on the other one. The Vals really got wiped out and I only have a few left but the Kates made it through and are ready for day two.

[John B.]

Scott had a second raid in store and they put another fish into the CVL. It is not on fire and should make it back to port as well as the BB. They are detached and heading south.

[Aurorus]

Very nice: a clear win for the IJN. The question is: can you finish those CVs?

[John B.]

Judging by the high Martlet Ops losses I'm going to guess that he lost a CV. And, with two torpedo hits each on the other CVs as well as damage to the Hermes he may be out of air cover. So, I'm sending my remaining CVS due West to see if I can either pick off survivors or shred his Blair landing force. I've also flown in about 100+ bettys and Nells that have been bombing in China and they are at Moulmein, Rangoon, and Magwe. I have torpedoes at Magwe but it's only a level 3 airbase so my bettys there may only be able to carry bombs. I'd be surprised if Scott pushed on to Moulmein or Rangoon since he's now a sitting duck for my land based air. He may well send surface TFs south to try to intercept the mini KB so it's a bit of a chance to keep them in the fight but with the chance to take out 2-3 more British CVs and really end the British naval threat for a long time I think it's worth it.

If he does land at moulmein I'm at level 4 forts with a tank regiment, a SNLF and a raiding regiment on the ground and an ID on a train that can be there in two days.

I'll keep you posted.

[John B.]

I don't think Scott expected my carriers since it appears that his fighters were all on CAP and he had nothing escorting his naval strikes. Given that they got three hits with no escorts it could have been ugly if he had a few to keep my fighters at bay.

[John B.]

Knife fight at 2,000 yards with my CV TF.[X(] I'm glad I ran into these guys after they had bombarded Port Blair since there was only one hit on a CV. And, my luck held since the hit and the torpedo hit left that CV with only 1 systems damage and 4 flotation damage. The Fuso went down but it took the Repulse with it and two Brit. DDs. Phew!!

[John B.]

The remaining pilots of the KB got their licks in and took out one of these CVs (it sank when land based air attacked it). The other CV is still reported as floating. It took the torpedo hit and two more bomb hits (on deck armor so no biggie). My guess right now is that he lost two CVs and a CVL. My losses thus far are two damaged CVLs. This really knocks a hole in British hopes for Burma.

[John B.]

The remaining Kates got a transport with some nice British squads on board. Scott ran away (as he should) from the Moulmein invasion but I'm surprised he stuck in out here in Blair. I have a small surface TF heading in there to see what else I can dig up. He mined it so I hope I don't lose any ships. Scott also hit Ramree Island in a nicely coordinated attack. I have lots of Betty's that will hit that invasion fleet this time and the Razor is taking in a CA. I had the mini-KB in position only to cover the movement of a division to Rangoon. For me, it's better to me lucky than good. [:D]

[John B.]

The land based air attacks were not that great this time. But the Bettys did score some hits on two CLs. The ship losses show to CLs down but I suspect I only got one of them.

[John B.]

Here are the air losses for the turn. I think this confirms the loss of another carrier. I just wonder about the high ops losses last time. Maybe a CV did not go down but that just represented planes that could not land and had to ditch. If so, then my estimate would be 1 CV and one CVL. I guess I'll find out in the long run.

[Bif1961]

Ground loses are a good indicator. Whatever was carrying those 16 Fulmar IIs went down.

[John B.]

I only know he lost one CV since that's what I saw sink. The Hermes is pretty weak and took a torpedo and a bomb through the flight deck. Given how slow it is and that I have not seen it I suspect it went down as well. Of the other two CVs, one took one torpedo hit and a fuel explosion and has not been seen since. Scott may have been able to have it sprint away if the damage was not too bad. That leaves on CV that I know is still afloat. It took at least three torpedo hits and two bomb hits so it might not be in great shape. My planes can't reach it anymore but I have a lot of subs between it and home and the Razor's CA TF is sprinting out of Rangoon in its general direction hoping to catch it. I think it's almost certain that I took out at least one CV and one CVL and pretty good odds that I took out two CVs and a CVL. And, his torpedo plane losses will take him a long time to replace.

In a strategic sense, I thwarted Scott's seaborne attempt in Burma and have basically limited the Brits to overland actions for a long long time. I'll get some nice bonus points for moping up the British brigade stranded at Blair and the East African Brigade stranded at Ramree Island and China remains cut off from any real resupply.

I can't gloat too much. I was simply lucky that I moved the mini-KB up to Medan in anticipation of covering a troop convoy and I was VERY lucky that (a) my carriers took at least three torpedo hits with no catestrophic damage and (b) in a long lasting surface combat at close range with two British BBs he only got two hits on my CVs and all of them remained in action.

[John B.]

Well things have now settled down a bit after the surprise carrier battle near Rangoon. My subs finished off a crippled Brit CV by putting 4 more torpedoes into it so I know for certain that I got two CVs because I saw them sink and I'm pretty sure I got the Hermes and 60% sure I got the last CV.

With Burma safe and reinforcements on the way now I have to figure out what to do next. I'll mop up the British brigade at Port Blair and I think I may try to retake Eniwetok. He has a couple of units there and has not reinforced them. I can land ( I hope) kill them and run away. I'll have to wait to see where his carriers are. There was a curious report of SBDs bombing my subs near Melbourne so I wonder if he's sending carriers to Perth. It's a long way with no fuel but Scott did retake Esperance while I'm in the process of taking everyone out. I did catch a squadron of P-38Es on the ground at the Esperance airfield and I think I've knocked it out.

Alas I think that China is now a stalemate. Bad terrain and lots and lots of Chinese corps mean that any push is likely to result in high losses.