Operational Report
April 23-May 24, 1942
Part Two
We now shift focus to Australia (where glory and disaster have occurred), Burma, China, and the Economy.
Australia
DISASTER!
I had left off with a CVE TF (Taiyo and Unyo plus CS Nisshin, CL Natori and 5 DD) moving slowly towards the corner of Australia looking for easy prey. They carried 30 Zero, 12 Val, and 9 Kates plus floatplanes. Little was I to know that they would run into the British Pacific Fleet! Ahhh...these few days were hard to watch.
4-23 CVEs sink 1 SKL
4-24 The TF spots two British CVs as well as another STF nearby. CRAP! OK. The Brit Strike of 16 F, 11 Swordfish, and 15 Albacore comes in facing 24 Zeros. The Zeros shred the Fighters and knock down 4-5 TB but the rest get through. This game is EVIL. The first 16 TB MISS! Then it all falls apart as Mizuho takes 1TT, Taiyo gets 1TT, and Unyo is CRUSHED by 3 TT.
My counter of 6 Zero and 9 Val easily fight past 9 CAP Fighters but cannot penetrate Indomitable's Deck Armor. HATE those CVs!
Luckily Unyo doesn't take much down with her but Taiyo is screwed so I fly off her Kates (no TTs anyway). Immediately move the TF FULL Speed east towards Broome where I gather 27 Zero and 36 Betty. No one is moving quickly and that is BAD!
4-25 My poor TF runs into 4 Brit BBs, 1 CL, and 6 DD. [X(] Taiyo is sunk but the rest escape only to be sunk later by aircraft. Lose CS Mizuho, CL Natori, and a DD. NASTY turn and quite hard to watch. I nearly cried but my cat consoled me out of the crisis...
4-26 The carnage ends as I lose a pair of DDs due to air attack. The only GOOD thing I will say is that I save a new Moon-Class AA DD who is now snuggled alongside CV Akagi!
Well...that finishes off my CVEs. Well done and a tip of the hat to Bill for his patient work. He stated they had been down by Perth waiting for a few weeks. He did quite well in the ambush. Always good (I guess) for this to happen so one doesn't get totally sloppy.
GLORY!
In a total opposite for my skills, the the naval drubbing is countered by the relentless ground action pushing down from Daly Waters to Tennant Creek. As noted in my previous Post in this area I HOPED I had him surrounded NE of Daly Waters. He wasn't. He escaped to daly and then south. Using my Armor (5 Tk Reg) I hook around him several times as my Infantry (2 ID and 5 Art units) drove down the road. My bombers (nearly 200+) have relentlessly pounded his units.
Several times I caught up only to have him slip out of the hex just ahead of the attack. This pattern ends on the May 21st. I finally get 17 units in one hex where I can and DPO land a solid punch! I attack on the 20th and drain his supply while keeping my armor back. On the 21st my Tk Reg join in a Shock Attack that nets a 3-1! Nearly 20 units are forced to retreat and they lose 467 Squads, 607 Non-Com Squads, 12 Eng Squads, 53 Guns, and 252 Vehicles. BANZAI!
Included within this total are the 1st--4th Aussie Inf Div. I am attaching a screenshot. What serious Infantry does he have left in Aussieland? Who knows Order-of-Battle here? If I can hit him again before or at Tennant Creek then things just might get pretty interesting in Australia...
Burma
Am driving on Paoshan, China right now. Everything else is quiet. He has staged night raids against Mandalay and Akyab but nothing more then that. Spotted some shipping so I'm moving two small STF to Port Blair for Raiding. Several Betty/Nell units are now ready to attack if able.
I've only got 3 ID and 3 Tk Reg present here. Still cannot believe he didn't put up a major fight here. If he evens simply tried I could NEVER have taken Burma. Am about to buy out the 12th ID from Manchuria to augment my forces here.
China
Interesting developments. I moved NW out of Sian only to find the Chinese moving with me. I've used the opportunity to squash some of his units and have given up grabbing the oil up there. Am currently moving back towards Sian to dig in, rebuild units, and plan for future operations.
In the south I grab Liuchow with a 5-1 attack on April 30th (another 400 Chinese Squads destroyed) that forces back 7 units defending the town.
I've done everything I wanted in China and so now I will work on settling things down, and create a solid (hopefully) defensive line. Might even offer a Truce to the Chinese for 6 months...
SS Action
LOTS of damaged subs on the Japanese side. The Brits are EVIL and the Americans are getting better. I haven't lost many but I've got a bunch of cripples getting repaired (probably 12-16).
4-27 I-165 sinks TK Fenris off Bombay
4-27 I-29 sinks TK Sunchaser at Umnak
5-2 Ro-63 sinks AKL Argus at Noumea
5-3 I-30 gets a DOUBLE kill sinking AKs Barpeta and Bandra near Karachi
5-9 I-30 scores again sinking AP Malda--Karachi
5-12 I-30 shots her last Torps sinking AK Cornish City--Karachi. GO I-30!
5-16 Ro-34 sinks PG Herald and is then seriously damaged near Diamond Harbor
Engineering (get ready for 230 days worth):
4-24 Pisanuloke AF-4
4-25 Aomori Pt-6, Fanning AF-2, X-Mas IO AF-1
4-26 Soerabaja AF-7
4-27 Lunga AF-4, Darwin AF-4
4-29 Ominato AF-6, Wuchang Pt-2
5-1 Amchatka AF-1, Derby AF/Pt-2
5-2 Samah AF-6, Midway Pt-3, Haiphong AF-4
5-3 Katherine AF-3
5-4 Shikuka Pt-5, Lunga Pt-2
5-5 Etorofu AF-2, X-Mas AF-7, Pt Blair AF-2, Broome AF-4
5-6 Pt Arthur AF-8
5-7 Luganville AF-2
5-9 Katherine AF-4, Port Moresby Pt-2
5-10 Sapporo AF-2, Prome AF-2
5-12 Canton AF-7, Soerabaja Pt-8
5-13 Fusan AF-6, Saigon AF-8
5-14 Fanning AF-3, Wyndham Pt-2
5-15 Paramushiro Jima Pt-5
5-16 Darwin Pt-4, Wyndham AF-5, X-Mas IO AF-2, Lunga AF-3
5-17 Saipan AF-7, Amchatka AF-2
5-18 Adak AF-5, Oosthaven AF-3
5-20 Katherine AF-5
5-21 Kona Pt-3
5-22 Lunga Pt-2
5-23 Attu Pt-2, Lashio AF-3, Darwin AF-5, Palembang AF-6
5-24 Liuchow AF-2
I need to summarize losses for both sides and that will take a few minutes so I'll Post this as is and then add a Part 3.