AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/27/42
The action is really slowing down now with the fall of Manila, the convoy action finishing and much of the fighting in China winding down for a bit. So far we've had 6 days in which the combat report was under 10 Kb. 2 of these were in the last 3 days ( the other 4 were in mid-December when there was a 2 or 3 day period of re-organising my air groups and retasking my shipping which resulted in a lull).
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Sub attack near Muntok at 21,55
Japanese Ships
APD APD-32, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
APD APD-39
APD APD-38
APD APD-37
Allied Ships
SS KXV, hits 13, on fire, heavy damage
K- XV sinks but unfortunately so does APD-32. This is a bitter blow as my APDs are having a great war so far and I plan to keep them in the DEI in their ASW role.
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Day Air attack on Rangoon , at 29,34
Japanese aircraft
Ki-48 Lily x 27
Ki-49 Helen x 113
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48 Lily: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 7 damaged
Allied ground losses:
20 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Airbase hits 24
Airbase supply hits 8
Runway hits 156
It is interesting here to note the effect of armour and durability on my bomber losses. The Ki-48s are suffering a loss rate of approximately 6 % while the Ki-49s are suffering less than a 1% loss rate.
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Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 41
Ki-21 Sally x 338
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3
Allied aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 destroyed, 58 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IF: 1 destroyed
Blenheim I: 2 destroyed
Martin 139: 2 destroyed
Blenheim IV: 5 destroyed
Hudson I: 3 destroyed
Catalina I: 1 destroyed
Swordfish: 1 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
229 casualties reported
Guns lost 7
Vehicles lost 1
Airbase hits 25
Airbase supply hits 11
Runway hits 400
Oh yeah, Singapore is CLOSED for business. A few more results like this and I will switch to Port Attacks preparatory to conducting a drive-by bombardment by the battleline in order to make it look like I may be planning an invasion of Singapore. It won't fool Trey for long but if the results from Manila are anything to go by it could greatly damage Trey's defence of Singapore and burn a hellacious amount of supplies. This will allow me to commit extra forces to Rangoon ready for my attacks there at the beginning of February.
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Day Air attack on 1st Tank Regiment, at 37,26
Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 7
No Allied losses
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Day Air attack on 120th IJA Base Force, at 41,35
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 3
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
IL-4c: 3 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
4 casualties reported
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Day Air attack on TF, near Hilo at 114,70
Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 10
G4M1 Betty x 11
Allied aircraft
P-36A Mohawk x 4
P-40B Tomahawk x 7
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-36A Mohawk: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
AK Sea Thrush
AK Sage Brush, Torpedo hits 1
OOPS. My gathering of naval land-based bombers at Palmyra is blown by my forgetting to set their naval attack range to less than 20... I have rectified this error and will set them to a range of 11 ( the same as the 60 Zeroes co-located at Palmyra). It is 660 miles from Palmyra to Johnson and thus I should be able to range on any APs and AKs while they are unloading. Certainly I will take losses to enemy LRCAP operating from carriers but hurting Trey's first major counter-invasion will force him to play more cautiously while KB is in the Indian Ocean and will save many of my Pacific holdings. As such I have brought an additional 200 Nells and Bettys as well as an additional 100 Zeroes into the area. I can only stage 50 Zeroes and 100 Bettys/Nells out of Palmyra on any given day but being able to maintain my throw weight for three massive strikes should be quite devastating to any Allied invasion of Palmyra. I also harbour no illusions as to the survival of those groups. If, after disbanding, I can muster even half of the front-line Daitais I started off with at full strength I will be surprised. Still, massive losses in a somewhat decisive battle in a small period of time favour the Japanese more than a steady rate of loss which, over time, will bleed them just as badly but for less return.
It will also closely mirror my planned methodology during 1944 wherein I plan to fly further Kamikaze groups in after the initial groups have immolated themselves in the bowels of the American fleet to maintain my throw weight over time. Everything I know suggests that doing this should allow my 2nd and 3rd waves to inflict disproportionate loss on the Americans. Again I'm trying to shape things so I can learn lessons and adopt superior solutions in coming months and years.
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Ground combat at 44,30
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 127370 troops, 1153 guns, 61 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1950
Defending force 59172 troops, 334 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1486
Japanese max assault: 1874 - adjusted assault: 419
Allied max defense: 1451 - adjusted defense: 1465
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1
Japanese ground losses:
3083 casualties reported
Guns lost 96
Vehicles lost 9
Allied ground losses:
325 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
OOPS!!! Ok, so the Chinese forces holding in the mountains north of Chungking are there in strength 
. Of course any forces committed to defend these mountains will be unavailable to aid in the defence of Chungking itself. I count only nine units there at present, down from 20 just 2 weeks ago.
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Ground combat at 45,31
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 20067 troops, 244 guns, 6 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 441
Defending force 14596 troops, 47 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 453
Japanese max assault: 415 - adjusted assault: 163
Allied max defense: 363 - adjusted defense: 42
Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1
Japanese ground losses:
129 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Allied ground losses:
116 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
The work to attrit cut-off enemy units continues.
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Ground combat at 48,30
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 101055 troops, 1119 guns, 10 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1884
Defending force 27736 troops, 164 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 645
Allied ground losses:
190 casualties reported
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Ground combat at Rangoon
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 47259 troops, 268 guns, 10 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 667
Defending force 28417 troops, 239 guns, 272 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 625
Allied ground losses:
34 casualties reported
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Ground combat at 23,47
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 10416 troops, 183 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 55
Defending force 4161 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 3
Japanese max assault: 46 - adjusted assault: 39
Allied max defense: 1 - adjusted defense: 16
Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1
Japanese ground losses:
18 casualties reported
Allied ground losses:
81 casualties reported
This represents attacks on a Brigade and Base Force I've cut off on the Malaysian peninsula. It looks like they have run out of supply and now are extremely vulnerable to attacks resulting in losses favourable to my forces. I'm having a hard time coming to terms with the combat model governing cut-off units. It makes little sense to me that these units seem to be able to withstand heavy odds and inflict higher casualties on my own troops than they themselves suffer but every day brings a bit more understanding of likely outcomes and aids future planning. The cost of these lessons is, unfortunately, high.
I didn't realise it until I came to write the AAR of this day but today was the first time in a long time that enemy B-17s and LB-30s didn't fly against Johnson. I wonder if this is due to morale issues among the bomber groups or shows a certain sensitivity to four-engined bomber losses on the Allied side? It will be interesting to see how long it is before they fly against Johnson again and if there is an immediate naval follow-up to these 4-engined strikes.
