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Can you aerial mine the ports that Erik is using to base his BBs from??

If not those, then how about from Pusan over to Japan?? There are only three hexes that would be needed.

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Can you aerial mine the ports that Erik is using to base his BBs from??

If not those, then how about from Pusan over to Japan?? There are only three hexes that would be needed.

They were set to do that this turn but didn´t fly! Not sure if I´m out of mines or if it was the weather!

The Yamatos were probably on Bombardment, but they will switch to a SAG when they run into other SAGs. Once this is over,
they revert back to bombardment, and try and proceed to their target taking into account ammo and opps. SAGs will retreat
once their ammo is low and they feel the opposition is overwhelming in the destination hex/area. This is stated in the manual.

How many DDs did you have in the taskforce taking on the Yamato?

I am NO expert by any means, but I would like to see how 6 Fletchers take on that task force of Yamatos vs say 12-15 in one SAG...

12 DDs! That battle was lost before it began since the DDs had spent all their TTs at DEs/PBs before running into the Yamatos. Still, I did sink 4 DDs. And going by Eriks TF composition he is scraping the barrel now.

He often has more capital ships then DDs. Last time the Yamatos went in the TF only had 3 DDs. And the CL TF he is operating just have one DD in it. If it wasn´t for the fact that each and every sub of mine is slammed with 10/10 DL I think I would get loads of shots in.

Turn is back. Now I just have to decide what to do tomorrow...

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

12 DDs! That battle was lost before it began since the DDs had spent all their TTs at DEs/PBs before running into the Yamatos. Still, I did sink 4 DDs. And going by Eriks TF composition he is scraping the barrel now.

He often has more capital ships then DDs. Last time the Yamatos went in the TF only had 3 DDs. And the CL TF he is operating just have one DD in it. If it wasn´t for the fact that each and every sub of mine is slammed with 10/10 DL I think I would get loads of shots in.

Sounds like he IS scraping the bottom of the barrel for escorts as you mention.. yikes.

Really looking forward to each update you have.

[font="Verdana"]28th-29th May -45[/font]
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Pretty decent two days.

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Korea
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I´ve already outlined what happened in the waters here on the 28th. While not a stellar result Erik will eventually run out of ships. For the 29th I decided not to do anything. I wanted to get a better feel for Eriks agenda here and see what he did. Moppo is closed anyway and will likely be so for a while. Patience.. Erik has to keep Moppo closed. I can work with that.

I also wanted to shift my CVs a bit south to meet up with some reinforcements. 280 CV planes, 12 CLs and about 40 DDs are coming up from Naha. They also bring with them the assault troops for Kaishu in case I get an opening to dash North. With 4000 AV on board I will have to play this carefully.

Erik did send in his slower BBs and the 3 CA (still escorted by a lone DD) on the 29th. They brushed aside the new PTs and plastered the base again. But not without casualties. One of Eriks precious DDs hit a mine at Moppo and is later sunk by CV air. [:)]

I finally get some much awaited result from the myriad of subs working in the area. Not sure it has been worth the 10 or so subs lost so far. A good result none the less! [:)]

ASW attack near Masan at 101,55

Japanese Ships
BB Yamashiro, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Ise
BB Fuso
DD Kiyoshimo
DD Ikazuchi
DD Yamakaze

Allied Ships
SS Carp, hits 11, heavy damage

She is definitively out for the rest of the war. [&o]

KB is spotted on the 28th far North in the Sea of Japan. Probably wary of a landing further up the Yellow Sea. This makes a possible landing a bit dicey. But I´ll see if I can get him to over extend in the south. I have an empty 15 ship Amphib TF with damaged APAs and AKAs with my CVs. I might be able to fake a landing at Moppo drawing the KB south.

Tomorrow I´ll send in some smaller TFs to try and clear out more of those Es and PBs. At least looks like they are starting to thin out.

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China
------------------------
Things are continuing on track here. My bombers continue to stay grounded though. Both flying from Saigon and Canton. Annoying but on the 29th the 4Es take of at last.

Morning Air attack on 7th Mongol Cavalry Division, at 82,54 (Pingsiang)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
Liberator B.VI x 18
Liberator GR.VI x 9
B-24J Liberator x 5
B-17E Fortress x 4
B-17F Fortress x 5
B-24D Liberator x 4
B-24D1 Liberator x 20
B-24J Liberator x 78
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 7

Allied aircraft losses
Liberator B.VI: 1 damaged
Liberator GR.VI: 1 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
B-17F Fortress: 3 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 5 damaged
B-24J Liberator: 15 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
560 casualties reported
Squads: 30 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 25 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 8 (5 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Mongol Cavalry division?! [X(] Have to check that unit but it sounds like crap. Erik do have 3 other IDs coming down from Changsha that merged with the cavalry this turn. I´m still very optimistic I can cut the Canton stack off. I have the CMA + an OZ reinforced Corp moving in to seal the way out. The easily brush aside a Brigade in the clear East of the Canton stack.

Ground combat at 82,55 (near Pingsiang)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 36799 troops, 668 guns, 1975 vehicles, Assault Value = 2829

Defending force 3267 troops, 15 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 87

Allied adjusted assault: 1514

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 1514 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), disruption(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
3626 casualties reported
Squads: 103 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 172 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 18 (18 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
38 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled

At Hong Kong the second attack goes better then expected! [&o]

Ground combat at Hong Kong (77,61)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 83869 troops, 1588 guns, 1530 vehicles, Assault Value = 2572

Defending force 14300 troops, 138 guns, 80 vehicles, Assault Value = 251

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 4

Allied adjusted assault: 1656

Japanese adjusted defense: 2281

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 4)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(+), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1905 casualties reported
Squads: 30 destroyed, 115 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 38 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 25 disabled
Guns lost 28 (8 destroyed, 20 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
729 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 68 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 55 disabled
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

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DEI
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Not sure what happened here. A small barge TF went astray and ended up within Eriks Jakes flying from Singapore. Lost some barges and some troops.

Mongol Cavalry division?! Have to check that unit but it sounds like crap.

There are a few Mongol Cav units that are under Chinese Command. Also, does your HR not allow Kwangtung units to be bought out with PP's?

ORIGINAL: JocMeister
Mongol Cavalry division?! [X(] Have to check that unit but it sounds like crap.

There was time when they conquer half of world. But now they lack of firepower [:D]

ORIGINAL: Feurer Krieg

Mongol Cavalry division?! Have to check that unit but it sounds like crap.

There are a few Mongol Cav units that are under Chinese Command. Also, does your HR not allow Kwangtung units to be bought out with PP's?

Yes absolutely. I wasn´t implying something was awry. Just expressing a feeling that a Mongol Cavalry division might be...quite useless. Turns out I was right. I guess Erik bought them out to use for garrison duty! Calling this a division is stretching it though! [:D]

ORIGINAL: koniu

ORIGINAL: JocMeister
Mongol Cavalry division?! [X(] Have to check that unit but it sounds like crap.

There was time when they conquer half of world. But now they lack of firepower [:D]

Turns out their TOE is about the same now as it was then! [:D]

So, turn is off to Erik now. Not much planned for tomorrow but some smaller naval sweeps to try and get rid of more "Es". I did send in a CL TF with and mixed bag of CLs including some ancient ones. I think Helena, Richmond, Leander and Gambia? Its intended as a "BB killer" TF with as many TTs as possible. My remaining Gridleys and Mahans are with them. Could get lucky!

More sweeps over the HI as usual. I havn´t been too happy with the results lately. I´m hovering around 2:1 but Erik on the defensive probably saves a lot of pilots. I had high hopes for yesterday when I used 150 P47-25 with good pilots. Didn´t even manage 2:1 and lost 40 P47s and 22 pilots. Yuck. [:(] Did notice that the base they were flying from lacked an AirHQ. The groups flying from that base took appalling losses while 2 groups flying from a base with AirHQ did very well. Not sure if it was the HQ or if they just arrived last when the defenders were spent.

Nonetheless we press on. Corsairs for tomorrow. First night time 2E strike goes in tomorrow. Using 2Es instead of 4Es allows me to put more bombs on target per engine. The drawback is that they arn´t as sturdy and will take higher losses from AA. That and the range of course. But its a means to keep pressure up while the 4Es recover.

[font="Verdana"]Advice/thoughts needed[/font]
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I´m not sure how I want to play this. Erik has adopted a very aggressive stance with the KB. While I have numbers on my side Erik has absolutely nothing to lose. I on the other hand have 5000 AV in Korea that would be lost in the event of a catastrophic Allied defeat. Dancing around and trying to avoid that silly 8 hex strike is nerve wrecking. If I hadn´t changed orders for the fleet on a gut feeling just before ending the turn he would have gotten the 8 hex strike this turn.

So do I take the chance? The Allied fleet is still formidable but if I was to suffer serious damage to my CVs to the extend I could no longer defend the LOC to Korea I´m toast.

Numbers are certainly on my side as can be seen below. But I have to withstand 2000 LBA bombers as well as making sure the rest of the Fleet is safe. Especially the combat troops for Kaishu.

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Allied CV Fleet
------------------------
Fighters: 1700 (About 50/50 CAP/ESCORT)
Divebombers: 510
Torpedo bombers: 480

Do I dare gamble? Or do I play as safely as possible just doing my best to get Moppo open again? A part of me is itching to go ahead with the landing at Kaishu. But is it a bridge to far?

What will make a landing at Taikyu more supportable than the one you already have at Moppo?

ORIGINAL: Amoral

What will make a landing at Taikyu more supportable than the one you already have at Moppo?

No enemy naval bombardments and far away from the 2000 bombers on Kyushu. [:)]

Question is do You will be able to support two major landings at one time
If something go wrong You not only fail to land or support Kaishu but You will risk Moppo also.

I will wait few weeks until Moppo situation will clear. If not manage to open Moppo i will land in Kaishu.

Look at situation You facing like it is 1950[:D] Only difference is that You are sieged in wrong corner of South Korea.

I will also give full command to Douglas MacArthur, i believe he will be good for that task[:D]

[font="Verdana"]30th May -45[/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

Mostly happy about the turn

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Korea
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The mixed CL force doesn´t encounter any BBs but manages to sink 14-16 "Es" and retiring safely back towards Naha. No losses except two subs.

No naval bombardments were undertaken today but bombers hit the airfield. Erik might have decided to try and keep it close via air instead of risking the BBs to subs, PTs and mines. We will next turn if the BBs come back. I decided to head North with the fleet for now to put some distance from the KB.

I have decided on a course of action here. Post coming tomorrow as I´m too tired right now.

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China
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Things continue to go well here. We easily forced our way over the river towards Kweiyang!

Ground combat at 75,50 (near Kweiyang)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 65470 troops, 788 guns, 162 vehicles, Assault Value = 2604

Defending force 3383 troops, 28 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 31

Allied adjusted assault: 2596

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 2596 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
4025 casualties reported
Squads: 129 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 290 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 34 (34 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 4

Allied ground losses:
68 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
16th Chindit Brigade
11th (East African) Division
3rd New Chinese Corps
81st (West African) Division
6th New Chinese Corps

Defending units:
12th Ind.Infantry Brigade
17th Division
149th JAAF AF Bn
3rd Ind. Engr Rgt /1

This mean 15.000 Chinese AV will be in supply shortly.

In the south Eriks Canton stack look closer and closer to doom.

Morning Air attack on 63rd Division, at 82,54 (Pingsiang)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 18
B-25H Mitchell x 3
B-25J1 Mitchell x 44
B-25J11 Mitchell x 73
PBJ-1D Mitchell x 13

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 4 damaged
B-25J1 Mitchell: 3 damaged
B-25J11 Mitchell: 10 damaged
PBJ-1D Mitchell: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
588 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 42 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 38 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 16 (1 destroyed, 15 disabled)

Also attacking 51st Division ...
Also attacking 63rd Division ...
Also attacking 32nd Division ..

So its 3 divisions that are being pounded from the air so they are stuck in combat mode. At least 10 days before they can open the hex side. I hope the weather clears and the 4Es start flying again soon. CMA can launch the first attack in 2 days. Looking very good here!


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Strat bombing
------------------------
The 2Es didn´t take off. I´ve had to stop day light sweeps and bombing for now. I needed to gather all divided recon units so they could upgrade to newer models as the pools of older ones had run dry. This means 80% of my recon capacity are now repairing after upgrades. Should be going again in a couple of days.

I'm confused. You have Okinawa. You have a big AF in Korea with massive AV. You have P-51s, which can fly almost to San Francisco and back. Why are you worried about the CVs protecting themselves? Getting supply to Korea is job 1, 2 and 3. Screw the sweeps, put the strat bombing on the shelf for a week, and force the supplies onto the beach. Stop thinking about playing with airplanes and support the troops ashore!!!! [;)]

In the geography you're in most of the CAP over ships ought to be LBA. Even over carriers. Focus on the one job you simply cannot fail to do. There's no list. There's just supplies. Once that's done you can review the list and worry about E-hunting and sweeps and bombing factories. You're reacting to his moves. Make him react to you. It's May 1945 for cryin' out loud.

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

I'm confused. You have Okinawa. You have a big AF in Korea with massive AV. You have P-51s, which can fly almost to San Francisco and back. Why are you worried about the CVs protecting themselves? Getting supply to Korea is job 1, 2 and 3. Screw the sweeps, put the strat bombing on the shelf for a week, and force the supplies onto the beach. Stop thinking about playing with airplanes and support the troops ashore!!!! [;)]

In the geography you're in most of the CAP over ships ought to be LBA. Even over carriers. Focus on the one job you simply cannot fail to do. There's no list. There's just supplies. Once that's done you can review the list and worry about E-hunting and sweeps and bombing factories. You're reacting to his moves. Make him react to you. It's May 1945 for cryin' out loud.

Ah, and that is the heart of my problem. Getting supply and troops to the beach that is. At the moment I can´t without huge losses. The airfield is well and truly shut. The engineers at Moppo have disruption between 50 and 80. They will need at least a week of uninterrupted rest before they can get the airfield open again.

And they arn´t getting any rest. 500 Fighters and 500 bombers visit daily now. And the naval bombardment can go in again at any point.

Moppo is 10 hexes from my closest base. No way I can get LRCAP up in sufficient numbers so it has to be from the CVs. Problem with that is that with the KB position I have keep my CVs 5 hexes from Moppo or be within range of the KB. And I don´t fancy taking a KB strike with much of my CAP LRCAPing Moppo. There isn´t any clear solution that I can see right now.

Well there is one thing though...I could lay a CAP trap for Erik intentionally drawing a KB strike into something LRCAPed from the CVs. Not sure how comfortable I would be doing that though.

[font="Verdana"]31st May -45[/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

Nightfigthters reach new silliness levels! [8|]

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Korea
------------------------
So as I said the fleet withdrew NW to get out of KB range. I also want to see if Erik is going to follow North. He didn´t this turn but we will see the next one. I´m going to hold here for a turn. I need to refuel some of the DD TFs.

No naval bombardments this turn but the IJAAF continue to show up in force. This is one of 3 big strikes. They were preceded by a massive number of LRCAP supported sweeps.

Morning Air attack on Moppo , at 100,54

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 163 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 45 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 27
Ki-43-IV Oscar x 40
Ki-67-Ib Peggy x 28
Ki-67-Ia (T) Peggy x 115
Ki-84a Frank x 83
Ki-102b Randy x 3

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-67-Ia (T) Peggy: 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
PBM-3D Mariner: 2 damaged
PBM-3D Mariner: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
SS Tantivy, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk

Allied ground losses:
66 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Airbase hits 14
Runway hits 25

Disruption is so bad the AA isn´t even shooting back any more. All units have 50-80 DIS and nothing is being repaired on the airfield. Moppo is well and truly shut down. If completely left alone I would think 10-15 days to recover the troops and get the airfield up and running again. My mistake here was underestimating the power of the Naval bombardments and Eriks willingness to risk his BBs against Mines, PTs and subs. Well played by him!

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China
------------------------
The weather finally clears and Eriks relief force take an absolute pounding from the 2Es from Canton and 4Es from Saigon.

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Morning Air attack on 32nd Division, at 82,54 (Pingsiang)

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
Liberator B.VI x 14
B-24J Liberator x 11
B-17E Fortress x 3
B-17F Fortress x 4
B-24D1 Liberator x 8
B-24J Liberator x 72
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 18

Allied aircraft losses
B-24J Liberator: 2 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
B-17F Fortress: 3 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 3 damaged
B-24J Liberator: 17 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
919 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 50 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 89 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 14 (1 destroyed, 13 disabled)

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Afternoon Air attack on 51st Division, at 82,54 (Pingsiang)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25H Mitchell x 38
B-25J1 Mitchell x 42
B-25J11 Mitchell x 41
PBJ-1D Mitchell x 13
PBJ-1H Mitchell x 14
PBJ-1J Mitchell x 13

Allied aircraft losses
B-25H Mitchell: 2 damaged
B-25J1 Mitchell: 3 damaged
B-25J11 Mitchell: 4 damaged
PBJ-1D Mitchell: 3 damaged
PBJ-1H Mitchell: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
1006 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 55 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 76 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled

Erik stopped movement and looks to have given up on trying to open the hexside to the Canton stack. The CMA + the OZ corps have now reached the relief force and will attack tomorrow. Its x2 terrain but I hope supply, disruption, superior numbers and quality of forces will be enough. There is a good chance I can inflict enough damage to knock these 3 IDs out from the war.

Erik bombarded with the Canton stack. Probably trying to see if he could break out on his own.

Ground combat at 81,55 (near Pingsiang)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 2533 troops, 314 guns, 50 vehicles, Assault Value = 3695

Defending force 63098 troops, 1307 guns, 1201 vehicles, Assault Value = 2101

Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 64 (34 destroyed, 30 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
43 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

He might try an attack here tomorrow. It won´t work though. He would need at least three times the AV.

In Northern China the 17k Chinese AV have are now in supply!! [X(] I´ll wait two more days though so the retreat is cut off by my forces coming up from the south.

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Borneo
------------------------
Miri is secured.

Ground combat at Miri (64,87)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 9583 troops, 165 guns, 169 vehicles, Assault Value = 395

Defending force 5941 troops, 27 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 21

Allied adjusted assault: 120

Japanese adjusted defense: 57

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Miri !!!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E15K1 Norm: 2 destroyed

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), morale(-), experience(-)
supply(-)
Attacker: leaders(-), fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
1294 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 194 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 54 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 8

Allied ground losses:
27 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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Strat bombing
------------------------
My 2Es finally took off and this led to some new silliness. Here is the CAP they encountered.

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Night Air attack on Kumamoto , at 102,59

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5d-S Zero x 4
J1N1-Sa Irving x 23
P1Y2-S Frances x 11

Anyone want to take a guess on how many 2Es 38 Nightfigters can shoot down?

Fourtyfour. Yes. 38 NFs shot down 44 2Es. At night. Many of which are faster then the NFs... Great. [8|]

[font="Verdana"]China[/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

Things are starting to fall into place. I don´t think Erik can save his Canton stack and in trying to do so he exposed another 3 IDs to possible destruction. Tomorrow will be a deciding day. I think Erik will try and break out the Canton stack on their own. The troops are lost anyway so he might as well try. Barring a catastrophic allied roll there is no way they should be able to break out.

If the Canton stack is defeated China is truly defeated. There are no more troops between the Allied MLR and Shanghai. The outcome in Northern China is already given considering the sheer numbers here. Although the Chinese troops have had very little impact on the liberation of China so far.