[font="Times New Roman"]25 March 1945[/font]
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RECON:[/font] Some looks are being taken at the small islands just off Kyushu. The Allies have been moving fast, so it's not out of the questions they'd go here next, and soon. I've got small units moving to then try to buy the islands to General Defense and then get some brigades on them. Of course, if several Marine divisions arrive, there is nothing that will help other than hitting the transports. From here, though, that would be very possible.
[font="Trebuchet MS"]TF 208 observes Allied Aircraft at 101,60 near Koshiki-jima Retto[/font]
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CHINA: [/font] Over the troops near Chungking the Allies unleash all of the power of their 4E arsenal that is in range. They also though drop to 4k feet which means they would be using low ground skill, which they may not be trained for, as the attack does very little compared to fewer bombers the day before. [;)]
Our LR CAP does get to the strikes, working against about 90+ P-38s in escort, and we end up in all areas getting about even results on the day. not many 4Es downed, maybe 5-7 all told. Our fighters are in no condition to continue tomorrow, though, and will be moved back to the rail so as not to get caught at small bases.
The troops are stopped as predictably the Allies frantically dash troops into Chungking. The troops moving on the ground are shown to be Chinese cavalry based on a Peggy strike, so they'd be there by tomorrow if we went forward. Also, another unit of unknown type or strength is being flown in by the 881 'auxiliary' planes at Hanoi which must indeed by transports. Or maybe there are more at Ledo flying this unit in while these fly supply to the Chinese. I'll try to LR CAP the Chinese troops to see what happens.
The IJA troops stop short of Chungking, and will dig in there on the main road in the +3 terrain. Low on supply, they will still be tough to move if they get a fort or two built. Near Kweiyang I start troops moving to both flanks to get ownership of the hexes the Chinese are moving to, one to the North and one to the South on the road to Kunming. They will still have to fight to get through, and if I own the hex they may not be able to get supply as easily. The main Allied armies to the SE are moving along the coast and it is still to be determined if any will turn up the yellow road toward Wuchow. This base is lightly defended, as it's a clear hex, but I may throw a division or two behind it in the +3 on the yellow road if he comes this way. Yellow roads are good. Very slow.
Some major sweeps also fly over mostly undefended bases in the SE. It looks like a test. He does catch some bleeding CAP from Canton at Wuchow. More over Nanning hit nothing. Hong Kong is also running very low on supply, while bases to the NW do get a fill-up from the recent drop. I've got some moving direct to HK, but it's a risky endeavor now. May have to drop off at Amoy and see if some flows there.
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HOME ISLANDS: [/font] I haven't looked at tracker to assess fuel levels lately, but due to destruction of HI I'm thinking it might last longer than I predicted earlier. The KB is running off only the fuel from the one successful dash up through the blockade of the DEI, which brought nearly 50k with it. Down to about 15k of that now, so the KB has moved back to the Shanghai area and will most likely head toward Kyushu soon.
I'll be continuing to get some troops off of Formosa into China and back to the HI. I only have about another 1-2 weeks of a window to do this though, so I've sent some bigger TFs to get some more right away. I'l also make some fast transports to disguise what is happening in some spots.
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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR March 25, 45
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Morning Air attack on Wuchow , at 76,57
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A7M2 Sam x 7
J2M5 Jack x 11
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 12
Ki-102b Randy x 10
Allied aircraft
F4U-1D Corsair x 24
Japanese aircraft losses
A7M2 Sam: 2 destroyed
J2M5 Jack: 1 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed
Ki-102b Randy: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1D Corsair: 2 destroyed
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Morning Air attack on 1st Chinese Cavalry Corps, at 75,45 , near Chungking
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-67-Ib Peggy x 25
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
119 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
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Morning Air attack on 5th Ind.Mixed Brigade, at 76,46 , near Chungking
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 23
Ki-83 x 18
Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 6
B-24J Liberator x 114
P-38J Lightning x 35
P-38L Lightning x 56
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 33
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K2-J George: 2 destroyed
Ki-83: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
B-24J Liberator: 2 damaged
P-38J Lightning: 6 destroyed
P-38L Lightning: 3 destroyed
PB4Y-1 Liberator: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
174 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
11 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 4000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x P-38L Lightning sweeping at 10000 feet
3 x P-38L Lightning sweeping at 10000 feet
8 x P-38J Lightning sweeping at 8000 feet
8 x P-38L Lightning sweeping at 10000 feet
8 x P-38J Lightning sweeping at 8000 feet
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Morning Air attack on 5th Ind.Mixed Brigade, at 76,46 , near Chungking
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 11
Ki-83 x 6
Allied aircraft
PB4Y-2 Privateer x 10
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
PB4Y-2 Privateer: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x PB4Y-2 Privateer bombing from 4000 feet
Ground Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on 37th Division, at 67,44 , near Paoshan
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Allied aircraft
Liberator B.VI x 47
Liberator GR.VI x 23
B-17E Fortress x 8
B-17F Fortress x 3
B-24D Liberator x 7
B-24D1 Liberator x 14
B-24J Liberator x 62
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
482 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 46 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Liberator B.VI bombing from 4000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
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Ground combat at Nago (95,65)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 101727 troops, 1905 guns, 1627 vehicles, Assault Value = 4004
Defending force 14340 troops, 372 guns, 125 vehicles, Assault Value = 121
Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 3
Allied adjusted assault: 1517
Japanese adjusted defense: 502
Allied assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 3)
Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 3
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
2860 casualties reported
Squads: 28 destroyed, 31 disabled
Non Combat: 181 destroyed, 72 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 20 disabled
Guns lost 131 (33 destroyed, 98 disabled)
Vehicles lost 21 (2 destroyed, 19 disabled)
Units destroyed 2
Allied ground losses:
941 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 112 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 26 (2 destroyed, 24 disabled)
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Reinforcements:
[font="Trebuchet MS"]DD Sumire arrives at Nagasaki/Sasebo
E No.126 arrives at Tokyo
1st Air Defense AA Battalion arrives at Tokyo
78th Field AA Battalion arrives at Tokyo
4th Ind. AA Battalion arrives at Tokyo[/font]
Losses: none.
Ships Sunk: none.
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[font="Trebuchet MS"]I had the Georges at 20k and the Ki-83 at 32k, so the low strikes got through more easily than they might have if I had been confident there would not be high sweeps. The P-38s also did sweep ahead of the bombers (at 8-10k), clearing most of the CAP by the time the main body arrived. [/font]
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"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
