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The 18th UK Div, which held the line at Akyab, is currently free for deployment. Instead of abandoning Port Blair I could fly that division in. Hmmm...... I like the idea of keeping 45,000 Japanese troops pinned down at a location that's not extremely important for me.

6/31/42

Lots of action near Java again, but none decisive.

No Pac

LBA hit several AKs & sinks one.

Indian Ocean

Another assault against Port Blair. Forts down to 1, but the odds were down to 1:1 (2:1 last turn). I've decided to reinforce - not with the 18th UK Div (which needs some R&R) but with the 5th Indian Div (in prime shape.)

China/Indo-China

LBA hits a few more transports of the China coast. A TK sinks at Shanghai. The dastardly Japs bomb one of my airfields attacking their shipping. A squadron of AVG & a squadron of Chinese fighters will CAP it tomorrow.

1-2 more days & my troops will enter Haiphong.

Java

Still the main focus of activity. Subs, mines, LBA on patrol & LBA on attack all scored multiple times against Japanese shipping. However only 1 DD, 1 PC & 4 APs sank.

Elements of the 4th Div, 48th Div & 19th Mixed Regiment have now landed at Batavia. No landings against Kragen yet, but it still looks like a target.

CA Atago took a torp from a Beaufort - that was nice. She was burning heavily. I doubt she'll sink but she'll hopefully be out of action a while.

Major naval forces are going in tomorrow...

Monthly update - end of July '42

My last 2 posts said June. That was supposed to be July...

Overall points score went from 1.35:1 to 1.25:1. I'll take that. 1:1 by the end of the year! (I hope.) Here's the intel screen:


China Supply

172.5K (-4.4K). That's the second month in a row this has gone down. (I have increased the operational tempo, particularly with my LBA.) It's not a worrisome level, but I've turned reinforcements off again for units in rear area bases.

Air Losses

642 vs. 718. (Bad guys won - I was hoping to stay at 1:1 or better.)

I did destroy 169 A6M2s - 97 of them A2A.

While this is painful (I emptied my Hurricane pool which started the month over 70, for one thing), but sooner or later this attrition has to start hurting the Japanese, particularly since I still own Java & Palembang's mostly still a wreck.

Ship losses

I continue to inflict more than I receive:

8/1/42

Lots of pics today since there's a lot going on.

The Japs lost 18 ships - 2 MSW, 6 APs, 1 PG, 3 DDs, & 6 AKs. All, except for 4 AKs lost in the Aleutians, were lost near Java.

Air losses were 40:22 in favor of the bad guys, though all my losses were of replacable types.

First, I almost had some good luck:



Edit: you can't read it - that's Shokaku.

Kendari

The Japanese unwisely try to break through here. Two of there units were decimated enough after the action that they ran away:

Ground combat at Kendari
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 10826 troops, 34 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 280
Defending force 9998 troops, 53 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 177
Japanese max assault: 432 - adjusted assault: 46
Allied max defense: 166 - adjusted defense: 189
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese ground losses:
1335 casualties reported
Guns lost 15
Allied ground losses:
193 casualties reported
Guns lost 6
Vehicles lost 1

I've ordered a counter-attack for tomorrow. The only ground support I can provide is two flights of Aussie Hudsons based at Koepang.

Indian Ocean

My efforts to close Rangoon are starting to pay off. For the last 7-10 days I've been rotating bombers based at Mandalay as the AA is fairly brutal.

A Japanese resupply/reinforcement convoy is on the way to Port Blair - two cruiser TFs will try to intercept.

The lead elements of the 5th Indian Div (75 AV strong) have flown in to reinforce my garrison.

China/Indo-China

My troops should cross the river into Haiphong tomorrow.

Java

Finally, Java. Most of the action is still here.

14 ships sunk as mentioned earlier. More were damaged by mines, subs, LBA on patrol & LBA on bombing missions. Some surface combat too - the US BBs sank 1 PG & 3 AKs near Kragen. PT boats at Batavia sanks an already-damaged DD.

No troops landed at Kragen yet and the 2nd UK Div is now in place ready to throw them back into the ocean. At Batavia there's now elements of 2 Jap Divs, 1 brigade and (newly) the 7th Tank Regiment.

Orders for tomorrow:

US BBs head to Batavia. Unlike the cruisers I just lost, these guys have some CAP.

Warspite (which was slowing the CVs down) was detached a couple days ago. She'll replace the US BBs at Kragen.

The main fleet will head to within range of Batavia. That will also put Force Z within range for a night intercept at Merak on the 3rd.

Surrender negotiations?

The following message was delivered from the Japanese through Geneva:

"I'm preparing the white flag.... >:o"

More of an update in a bit. Summary for the day: 34 Jap ships sunk today, most near Java. Some more Japanese were retreated out of Kendari. The first attack against Hanoi reduced the forts from 4 to 2. A Japanese shock attack against Port Blair was easily repulsed. My major fleet units near Java (3 CVs & 3 BBs) inflicted a lot of damage and came out unscathed.

In short, a very good day for the good guys.

I'd like to continue for a bit, at least to see how I do with my first offensive ops in SW Pac & So Pac. But I also don't want to make Pat continue if he can't enjoy the game any longer. We've already tentatively agreed to another game - me Jap, Pat allies - once this game is over.

If anyone reads this in the next hour or two while I work on the turn, I'd be interested in feedback.

8/2/42

Once again, it was a good day for the allies.

Kendari

My counter-atack results in this:

Ground combat at Kendari
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 7471 troops, 44 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 170
Defending force 8681 troops, 9 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 179
Allied max assault: 151 - adjusted assault: 103
Japanese max defense: 98 - adjusted defense: 39
Allied assault odds: 2 to 1
Japanese ground losses:
85 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Allied ground losses:
163 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

3 more Japanese units retreat. 5 more remain in the hex but I expect I'll kick them out tomorrow.

Indian Ocean

The 5th Indian Div helps hold the line at Port Blair:

Ground combat at Port Blair
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 29582 troops, 211 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 607
Defending force 13035 troops, 95 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 341
Japanese max assault: 974 - adjusted assault: 216
Allied max defense: 304 - adjusted defense: 303
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese ground losses:
843 casualties reported
Guns lost 20
Allied ground losses:
266 casualties reported
Guns lost 15

They were aided by SS Truant which sunk an AK, and a Dutch SAG which damaged & drove off a reinforcement convoy.

China/Indo-China

The river-crossing shock attack by my forces reduces the Japanese forts at Haiphong:

Ground combat at Haiphong
Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 157790 troops, 912 guns, 58 vehicles, Assault Value = 4352
Defending force 45946 troops, 484 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 888
Allied max assault: 4228 - adjusted assault: 1216
Japanese max defense: 951 - adjusted defense: 600
Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 4)
Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 2
Japanese ground losses:
1150 casualties reported
Guns lost 37
Vehicles lost 3
Allied ground losses:
3471 casualties reported
Guns lost 85
Vehicles lost 13

With disruption very high I plan to wait several days before attacking again.

Java

Bloody day. I mentioned that 34 Japanese ships sank today. 1 AK sank near Port Blair. 1 AK & 1 TK sank off the coast of China. The rest were near Java. Totals off Java are:

CL - 1 (Sendai)
DD - 6
MSW - 4
AK - 1
AP - 19! (If I counted correctly)

The US BB TF at Batavia accounted for 7 APs, 1 AK, 3 MSWs & 3 DDs. Most of the rest sank due to land-based & carrier-based air.

Looks like the Japs have abandoned an additional attack against Kragen. Most of the TFs in this pic are headed northeast:

8/3/42

Well, the war's basically over, however a few units haven't gotten the news yet. (Pat & I will play a couple more turns to see how a few things turn out.)

This last turn:

- 13 more Japanese ships sink near Java, including CL Kashii.

- The defenders of Kendari route the last Japanese interlopers there.

- Jap LBA launches against my carriers. The Seafires shoot down a ton of zeros but several level bombers get through & put 3 torps into Saratoga (51/64/36)

- Jap shipping seems to be withdrawing entirely from Java. The Kragen invasion seems to have been called off entirely & the Batavia invasion is weak - maybe strong enough to take Batavia as it is, but certianly not against my nearby reinforcements if they get there in time.

20th Century History by I.M. Victorious (2007, Houghton-Mifflin. ISBN 6666666666)

"As a result of the early victory in the Pacific, the United States was able to throw its full industrial weight against the German Nazis, certainly contributing to the 1943 capture of Berlin & Warsaw by the US Army. Some (disreputable) historians even speculate that without such a victory the war would have lasted until at least 1945, with the Soviets taking those cities. Pfftt...

"The allied success in the Pacific War in August 1942 is certainly one of the most dominant factors in the unprecedented peace & prosperity that the world has seen in the subsequent 60 years..."

Hi ctangus i was hoping this going to be a figth to the death game [:(] aftther all your op still has his cvs

Yep, he has his large carriers. However he has lost 359 ships (mainly merchants), including 67 ships in the last 3 days alone. His economy has to be hurting by now, too, since he hasn't taken all of the SRA & Palembang hasn't repaired much yet. He's been unable to permanently close my airbases on Java and keeping his troops there supplied might prove difficult to him.

And we're both looking forward to our new game - the Japanese Empire will last 10,000 years! BANZAI!!! [:)]