Wait, I can't read Cuttlefish's new AAR? - Cribtop (J) vs CF (A)

[Cribtop]

March 24, 1942

"The invasion began and we missed it."

- R.E.M. Begin the Begin

Subs

O-19 is twice chased off by escorts of the Java invasion TF. Skipjack then duds on BB Nagato in Indes Fleet before that sub takes a real DC hit from an escorting DD. Overall a relief but no doubt tomorrow every sub in the quadrant will be in Kalidjati.

4th Fleet

Funafuti invaded and taken by SA. The CVE Raider port attack at Canton is scrubbed by bad weather. However, the storms also prevent the CVEs from being spotted, so we will try again tomorrow.

SE Fleet

Woodlark Island invaded. Umboi Island falls. Umboi will soon host mines and a mini sub to help close this choke point to subs.

Paras assault Terapo, but not enough of the unit arrives, resulting in a 1:2 attack, casualties 23(0) vs nil. We will keep flying in more and take the base. We noticed that CF was flying out forces here so we set a Zero LRCAP trap, which claims 3 C-47s. Nice.

14th Army

No change.

16th Army

We march on Darwin while the Wyndham invasion fleet enters safer waters north of Timor. Significant fuel has been moved from Balikpapan to support future operations out of the fast-developing Kendari hub.

25th Army

There is nothing more nerve wracking than watching the replay the day of a big Op. There is nothing more relaxing than watching that Op go off very well.

We have already detailed the unsuccessful sub attacks on our fleet on the way into the beaches. The ships arrive in time for the day phase and we await the inevitable air strikes... which never show up! Given that both the invasion forces and MKB were sighted and even lightly attacked yesterday Cribtop HQ is pleasantly dumbfounded by the empty skies over Kalidjati. Our LRCAP Zeros circle lazily for an enemy that doesn't arrive.

The Japanese air forces, however, are very active. We attack Batavia, Madioen and Bandoeng, damaging several planes on the ground. No CAP again today. These airfields are getting pretty worse for the wear by now. MKB does not attack today in order to keep our fighter pilots fresh.

Then the invasion itself begins. The only defenders consist of a small base force with nominal guns that accomplish no hits. Losses via accident amount to 536 casualties. The vast majority of our troops are ashore with only support squads and supply to unload tomorrow. Two base forces fully unload, allowing us to fly in a 42 plane Oscar Sentai tomorrow. How is that possible? Because 2nd Raiding Regiment paradrops on Kalidjati and takes the base with 3:1 odds vs level 1 forts. The enemy base force retreats with casualties of 236(24) vs nil. Better yet, 24(!) enemy aircraft are destroyed on the ground. Banzai! [&o]

At the end of the day, Kalidjati is in our hands and we will have land based fighters protecting the TFs. Analysis of enemy bases shows only 33 bombers left on Java, of which only 5 are located in Western Java bases. It is safe to say the fate of Java is sealed today. We are not bragging, but are pleased the plan went well. It's just the Dutch, but it's valuable practice for Phase 2.

We also bomb Medan's airfield from Kuala Lumpur with so-so results.

15th Army

We bomb the enemy troops at Akyab while flying in more troops and supplies.

China

Thanks to all the readers for the excellent comments. I confess this whole opportunity has developed rather on the fly, so it represents quite a change in plans for me. I have decided to remain aggressive in this AO and am digesting everything y'all are providing.

DA Pakhoi drops forts to 0 while obtaining 1:1 odds. Casualties 261(2) vs 367(0).

1 of 5 LCUs formerly posted 1 hex west of Wuchang has pulled back, increasing the likelihood this is a feint.

One sour note today. 10th Division has moved into the Sian hex and we are ready to attack, but supplies are in the red. We either attack with low supplies or risk having 32 LCUs slip through our fingers. Any chance supply will increase before the attack phase? If not, should we DA anyway? Big decision here. CF may be in move mode, but maybe not. Thoughts very welcome.

Other

Vava'u makes level 1 airfield, reinforcing Cribtop Intel's suspicions that CF plans to use this base as a convoy stopover. Chittagong makes level 2 airfield. An ominous development as we head towards the inevitable air war in Burma.

[FeurerKrieg]

I'd go for the attack, unless you have calculated the number of days it will take those Chinese units to exit. If the supplies don't increase, and the odds come off bad, it will only take 2-3 days to recover anyway I would expect.

[Cribtop]

Thanks, FK. That is my lean as well. He has been marching for 2 days over a good road. I pushed the attack 1 day to get the extra div in the hex, but may be out of time now. Worst case we get a 1:2, probably not too awful to recover from.

[ny59giants]

You might supplement your advance by using Topsy transport if they are not being used somewhere else.

[Cribtop]

The next turn is away. Fingers crossed on Sian.

Sqz, I did a little poking around the map, and the bases accessible via Burma are indeed economic powerhouses. We may have to press on that route after all. We will soon have base forces in the Mandalay area and can at least recon. I definitely want to secure Lanchow as well. Forces in the south are marshalling for a demonstration at Pingsiang. Still got some thinking to do and some recon to perform, but a plan is beginning to take shape in China.

[Cribtop]

Screenshot on the situation in North China




Comments:

- Note 32 LCU army with movement arrow out of Sian. Flank guard KMT infantry corps is also in retreat.

- It may not look it yet, but we have given orders in the Yenan front to go "non-linear." We will assemble what combat power we have and get to work as Cribtop HQ judges that the enemy here must be starving by now.

- Paotow is a funny little story I haven't had time to detail in the AAR. CF moved in a corps to try to pull a "Loyang style" hexside rescue. We turned the tables by marching a Mongolian cav unit behind his unit and entering via the same (NW) hexside. Thus the rescuers are now as trapped as the rescuees.

- Ankang has 5 enemy LCUs, one of which got beat up near Nanyang. Ichang has 8 LCUs.

- We have a reserve division in Nanyang.

- In a few days we will have 2 Oscar Sentai and a crack Tojo Chutai ready to sweep the AVG. However, the Ami flyboys will probably have to abandon Sian by then (knocks on wood).

[Cribtop]

Screenshot on the Situation in South China



Comments:

- Because we opportunistically poured most reinforcements into the Sian breach, we have a lot less to play with down South. The situation is thus far less developed than Cribtop HQ would like.

- We have 3 LCUs cleaning up Pakhoi.

- Until Pakhoi is finished, or until we reinforce, we don't have the combat power at Canton to do much other than perhaps take Wuchow.

- Most southern bases are lightly held by the enemy. Minor concentrations include Kukong with 7 LCUs, Kanshien with 11, Changsha with 8, and a total of 5 LCUs in the hexes west of Wuchang.

- The major quartet of Japanese bases near Hankow and the forest hex across the river from Ichang are strongly held and strongly fortified.

- We are gathering an army at Pucheng of approximately 1000 AV. Current thought is to take Pingsiang, which is unoccupied. Other options include shifting them to Canton and going for the south China bases up toward Kweilin.

[Cribtop]

Quick hit before a full update. Sian attack goes very well. The base is hanging by a thread and we are considering a second attack tomorrow to try for the brass ring. We have supply but DIS is a bit high.

STILL no attacks by the Dutch airforce at Kalidjati. Very odd. I know they'd probably be immolated, but if he isn't going to try to hit the invasion TF, when is CF planning to use them?

[Cribtop]

March 25, 1942

The enemy front at Sian is nearly cracked today.

Subs

Gar duds on an AMC hunting near Johnston Island. A Pete from MKB attacks a Dutch sub in the Java Sea. We count ourselves lucky that no attacks are made against our TFs unloading at Kalidjati.

4th Fleet

The Raiders attack the port at Canton, but no hits on the 1 ship still at anchor. The only victory today is shooting down a Catalina on nav search. We will retire to Truk rather than press our luck any further. This first cruise was an experiment, and we grade it a B. Not a lot of damage, but had we run into a juicier convoy it could have paid big dividends. Hopefully it alters the enemy's thinking on convoy routes and escorts. We'll rest a few weeks and try again.

The 24th Air Flotilla HQ begins unloading at TB. This base is now "hot."

SE Fleet

We invade the Russell Islands while capturing Woodlark Island. We again intercept C-47s over Terapo. Also at Terapo, we fly in more of the para unit. Tulagi makes level 3 forts.

14th Army

A garrison unit arrives at Manila, freeing combat troops for the final push on Clark, scheduled to begin in April.

16th Army

Marching on Darwin.

25th Army

We again bomb a slew of airfields. Armor that moved off the beaches yesterday arrives in the Bandoeng hex, effectively preventing any last minute rail moves by the enemy and cutting Java in two. The infantry will follow on to take the base soon. Unloading proceeds uninterrupted and should be finished tomorrow. Again, the Dutch planes fail to attack our shipping. This is beyond perplexing to us, but we will take it. Why wouldn't CF at least try to attack?

On Sumatra, Lahat falls.

15th Army

We have a base force at Magwe now and will commence recon of the Chinese frontier as Cribtop HQ begins consideration of Operation Red Dragon - the encirclement and reduction of China from the north, SE and SW.

China

DA Sian misses a 2:1 by 40 adjusted AV. Not bad considering low supply levels! Forts are dropped to 1 and enemy adjusted AV is plummeting (down from 3200 to 2100). Casualties are lopsided in our favor, 15309(642) vs 6723(45) with 1 enemy LCU destroyed. The one sour note is that a small tank regiment draws the lot as first LCU and is thus destroyed as well. Annoying bit of the ground algorithm, that. [:@] After the attacks, DIS is in the 40s for our units, but supply is back in the white. The enemy must be hurting as well. We are strongly leaning toward a 2nd consecutive day of attacks in hopes of knocking out the last fort level and taking the base. IF the Chinese troops had movement reset to 0 miles, however, there is no rush. Does anyone know whether the movement reset is automatic or up to a die roll?

[ny59giants]

From my experience they will continue to move in the direction he wants, even with bad combat results. I would send every bomber you have to ground attack Sian and attack again. Come in at 6k to 8k.

[Cribtop]

Thanks, that decides my actions for the next turn.

PS Just noticed this in the Ops report: "Pilot Takanaka, Y is reported to have escaped capture." BANZAI! You don't see that every day.

[Cribtop]

March 26, 1942

Eto Shinichi piloted his Ki-43 Hayabusa fighter through a partly cloudy morning in China. He recalled similar partly cloudy morning flights in Burma just two weeks ago. Though his Sentai had changed locales, the target now was the same as it was then - the ever elusive American Volunteer Group, made famous in the Imperialist press as the "Flying Tigers." They were good pilots, but so far had proved less than honorable foes - avoiding the IJAAF's front line fighters in Burma, the AVG had fled to China, doing significant damage to second rate Japanese air groups flying the aged Ki-27 fighter. In a sea of victories for Imperial Japan, this lone aerial defeat assumed great importance in the public mind. Shinichi was thus not surprised when his air group was ordered to fly hundreds and hundreds of miles north to avenge the honor of the air service.

Looking to his left, Shinichi observed the squat but powerful Ki-44 prototypes that accompanied his Sentai on this mission. Only 8 of these new aircraft were in service, all piloted by the best Japan had and all flying to Sian today. Sketchy radio reports - actually garbled radio reports, given the poor quality of the Hayabusa's radio set - spoke of a great air battle just to the northwest, where another Ki-43 Sentai had already engaged the enemy. Shinichi cursed his nerves as sweat trickled down his back despite the cool temperatures at altitude. He silently informed his sweat glands that although they might fear the Flying Tigers, he was an experienced pilot in the Emperor's service, and felt no such weakness.

"This sort of thinking is why your Chutai thinks you odd, Lt. Eto," he said.

"Say again?" Crackled the radio. It was the voice of Shinichi's Chutai leader, Nagase Zenko.

Shinichi reflexively hunched down in his seat like a schoolchild, as if that motion would make him less likely to be fingered as the culprit for breaking radio silence. How had a daydreamer like himself ever risen to lead a Shotai? He decided then and there to follow the advice of many fellow pilots and have the radio set removed from his plane before the next mission.

Fortunately, events prevented the completion of that awkward discussion. Zenko's wings waggled in a pre-arranged signal indicating enemy aircraft ahead. And indeed, if a waggle could be an understatement, this one was. Shinichi was awestruck at the swarm of planes ahead and several thousand feet below his flight. He estimated 80 or more machines locked in battles large and small, directly over the sizeable industrial city of Sian.

Shinichi waggled his own wings and used a series of hand signals to instruct the other two planes in his Shotai to follow him. Then he throttled up and put the stick down. The Hayabusa performed like its namesake Peregrine Falcon as usual, quickly nosing over and placing an unsuspecting H81-A3 in his sights. The enemy pilot was a sheep and unaware of his approaching doom. Shinichi got so close he could read the tail number - 39. He was unaware that this marked the aircraft as a member of the AVG's 2nd Pursuit Squadron. Wait... Wait... Now! Just as Shinichi opened fire, the AVG pilot finished his attack run on a Japanese plane, leaving it smoking. Then he banked hard out of the line of the Ki-43's bullets for a moment before entering a power dive. "So much for the sheep theory," muttered Shinichi, who realized the futility of chasing the sturdy and faster P-40 variant toward the deck.

He sought easier prey and stumbled into his fifth kill of the war. Another Ki-43 screamed by him, maneuvering wildly. Shinichi throttled down and nosed up, bleeding air speed and biding his time. Right on cue, the other Hayabusa's tormentor flashed by his nose. Putting the agility of his machine to full use, Shinichi used stick and rudder to flare over to a new heading, then throttled up. He was rewarded with the American plane in his sights and depressed the trigger. At this range, not even the vaunted toughness of the H81-A3 was enough to save his opponent. It flamed out and spun down, a clear kill. Banzai!

A clicking in his ears caused a cascade of thoughts in Shinichi's mind. No, that wasn’t right, because it took him several seconds to realize that the clicks were a common radio malfunction of the Hayabusa's infernal communications device, that this particular failure occurred when a pilot panicked and depressed the com channel multiple times, and that in many cases this panic was induced by seeing a friendly aircraft in jeopardy. Fortunately, it took Shinichi's well trained instincts only a quarter second to interpret all this subconsciously and to slam the Ki-43 into a barrel roll, thus dodging a deadly hail of lead from AVG plane No. 39.

In fairness, not even newly minted ace Eto Shinichi was good enough to know without a visual ID that this was No. 39. However, as the moments passed and he was unable to shake the American with his usual tricks, Shinichi became more and more certain that his enemy in this duel was the crack pilot he had let escape earlier. As the dogfight progressed, Shinichi felt ice in his belly. Not nerves, but real fear, an emotion the eccentric but justifiably cocky young airman had never encountered until now.

Shinichi's focus, having thus wandered for less than a second, cost him. Heavy bullets from the hated .50 caliber machine guns traced a line on the tail of his aircraft. Banking hard right interrupted the deadly connection, and Shinichi praised his ancestors that the enemy projectiles managed to hit one of the few areas of the Ki-43 that wasn't vital. Risking a glimpse at the ground, Shinichi was amazed at how far down he and the Flying Tiger had come in their short battle. He knew then there was only one option left.

Before the war, Japanese Army and Naval aviation was heavily influenced by aerobatics. Test pilots insisted on maneuverability over all other factors. The Hayabusa was one of only a select few planes on Earth capable of performing a Double Immelman, assuming the pilot had sufficient skill. Shinichi had never attempted such a move in combat, but he felt in his frozen gut that it was his only way out of a deteriorating position. Absolutely abusing both stick and rudder, he pulled into a half loop, then rolled from inverted to upright. The H81 couldn't keep up with such a corkscrew, but Shinichi correctly guessed that the devil flying No. 39 would recognize an Immelman and respond accordingly, so the Japanese airman immediately went into a second loop and roll, watching with delight as a stream of tracers occupied the spot he had just vacated. The move cost the Ki-43 all kinds of airspeed, but he had finally shaken the tiger from his tail.

Shinichi was now only a few thousand feet above the ground, and coming up on what must surely be the Sian aerodrome. Damn! All this and he could be dropped by the groundfire that arced around him. An explosion stunned the Japanese ace.

It took him several seconds to realize that he was still flying and gaining altitude. Looking back he saw the two most surprising sights of his short life. First, H81-A3 No. 39 was tail up on the field, burning brightly. Second, the men swarming like ants over the tarmac carried a huge banner - the "meatball" flag of the Imperial Japanese Army.

It took hours for Shinichi to learn the truth - the AVG's fickle Chinese allies had fled Sian ahead of another Japanese attack, leaving their airfield overrun and their elite squadrons in ruins. Eto Shinichi could not believe his good fortune, but today survival was victory enough.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow. I just don't know what to say. Today Sian falls, but Cuttlefish forgets to pull out the AVG. All its air groups and between 54 and 64 H81-A3s are destroyed either in the air or on the ground as Japanese troops capture an abandoned Sian and overrun the airfields. [&o][&o]

Subs

A Jake claims a hit on a Dutch sub near Pontianak. Cribtop HQ is annoyed because MKB was supposed to follow an ASW TF on a circuitous route hugging the south coast of Borneo toward the Makassar Strait. Instead, they all sail toward Singapore through the teeth of a Dutch sub cordon but manage to avoid contact. Whew!

4th Fleet

The CVE Raiders withdraw towards Kwaj and then Truk. Nukufetau is invaded and taken by the mandatory SA.

SE Fleet

Gasmata invaded. Russell Islands fall. More C-47s are shot down by Zeros over Terapo.

14th Army

No change.

16th Army

The Wyndham invasion TF and Celebes Sea Squadron safely reach Kendari. Japanese armor is approaching Katherine in Oz.

25th Army

We bomb airfields at Batavia, Bandoeng and Malang. Several planes are destroyed on the ground and Batavia is now at 100% damage. Still no Dutch attacks on our shipping.

16th Division has unloaded at Singapore. We will soon load various forces for a second wave bound for Java and a third wave of base forces for Palembang.

15th Army

33rd Division leads several LCUs into the jungle and catches 12 retreating British units. DA tomorrow. Our kamikaze supply ship arrives unspotted at Akyab and will unload tomorrow.

China

We sweep Sian with 2 Sentai of Ki-43 and a Chutai of Ki-44 prototypes. Losses are about even, which is fine by us. A total of 8 enemy planes are destroyed in the replay to 6 of our Oscars.

The enemy LCUs are able to skip town at Sian, which falls to Japanese DA by default with all facilities intact. [&o] Better yet - indeed amazingly - the AVG is caught on the field as the base changes hands. All 3 air groups and somewhere between 54 and 64 H81s are destroyed. Gone. The best planes and pilots in the Allied OOB. Wow. Cribtop HQ is stunned. Perhaps CF just forgot to re-base them as he left town. Perhaps he assumed we wouldn't DA two days in a row and was desperate to keep a CAP over his army to prevent slow downs due to bombing. Who knows, but it is a major victory for us. We will follow up aggressively. The short term goal is Lanchow. Long term, we aim for Kienko and the Chungking basin. Air recon shows 41 LCUs in Chungking, though, so perhaps our theory that CF will abandon south China if Kienko is threatened is optimistic. Time will tell.

DA Pakhoi takes the last port in Chinese hands. Odds are 6:1, casualties 933(140) vs 334(1).

Kiukiang makes level 5 forts, which is good given the enemy's threatening moves in Central China of late.

[Cribtop]

March 27, 1942

August 8, Happy Birthday to me! So far I've received a card from my parents and an automated Happy Birthday e-mail from my Dentist's Office. Therefore, not the greatest B-Day so far, but I'm sure it will get better.

Subs

I-21 torpedoes and heavily damages the big AV Tangier near Fiji. This ends a ridiculous string of misses by both side's subs and hopefully is a sign the IJN boats will regress to the mean on die rolls. The attack went in against a big convoy containing AKs and xAKs, which is useful intel.

4th Fleet

No change.

SE Fleet

Normanby Island invaded, Gasmata falls. Flying in support squads of our paras at Terapo triggers a shock attack by the second line troops, resulting in a humorous 1:99 attack with nil casualties on either side. CF has apparently called off the C-47s here as there is no intercept. Tainan Air Group has racked up a nice batch of kills the last few days, but the party is over.

14th Army

No change.

16th Army

No change.

25th Army

MKB safely makes port at Singers, a great relief. The invasion fleet has also withdrawn and will gas up at Palembang before disbanding at Singapore. Thus concludes the last major Phase I invasion. We aren't finished with the ground operations of course, but are now ready to write a retrospective analysis for Phase I.

15th Army

DA in the jungle 1 hex west of Katha catches 10 LCUs of the retreating Burma Army and mauls them, 5:1 odds, casualties 2948(156) vs 266(1). Better yet, these units are redirected in their retreat path from following the main army toward Imphal and pushed into Katha. We will follow up and try to destroy them at Myitkyina. One of the LCUs defeated is the now unemployed ground echelon for the AVG.

Our kamikaze supply ship unloads unmolested and fully supplies Akyab. Banzai! Recon shows substantial enemy ground forces at Chittagong. The question is whether they are unrestricted. We need more ground troops in the Arakan. Fortunately, Imperial Guards Division has almost reached the rail head in Burma.

China

The enemy's beleaguered Sian army is trying to withdraw further to the NW, presumably toward the dot base on the road net to Kienko. We will try to catch them while reconning Lanchow, which we will try to take ASAP while the enemy is still off balance.

[Cribtop]

March 28, 1942

Subs

K XVI duds on a PB near Ternate. Even the Dutch subs are having trouble! She gets a second bite at the apple, however, and sinks a different PB in the same convoy later in the turn. I guess eating torps is one way to escort a convoy.

4th Fleet

Vaitupu invaded and falls to SA. We will now try to create a secret seaplane base at Nukufetau.

SE Fleet

We prepare to ship hordes of SNLF now at Truk to bases in the ever hardening perimeter. Rennell Islands invaded while Normanby Island falls.

14th Army

An experimental BA at Clark Field shows enemy nominal AS at 1559. This is lower than before but still high. We will probably let the garrison "season and ripen" a little longer. Question: is this raw AS number inclusive of supply difficulties?

16th Army

Marching on Darwin.

25th Army

We pound the usual airfields on Java. DA Bandoeng gets 3:1 odds and drops forts to 2, Casualties 378(1) vs 285(2). We attack again tomorrow and expect the base to fall in short order.

In an amusing incident, 2 MTBs fleeing the fall of Pakhoi bump into a dedicated ASW TF of 4 IJN PBs patrolling the approaches to Cam Ranh Bay. Both sides happily avoid contact and the MTBs continue on their way. Can't imagine they'll have the fuel to make harbor.

15th Army

Supply is in the white and fort levels are rising at Akyab. However, we spot another enemy LCU working its way down the coast road toward the base. The IJAAF is called out to slow their progress and our transports will work overtime bringing in more troops.

Speaking of transport planes, we begin flying an Air HQ into Port Blair while a supply ship approaches the base from Singers. Nells will soon prowl the Bay of Bengal.

China

We unleash every bomber in China on the retreating Sian army in hopes of catching them in the open to administer a mauling. Nice to have air superiority in this AO again.

CF now has 6 LCUs in the hex west of Wuchang with what appears to be 5 more en route. Cribtop HQ orders local reserves to deploy to the heavily fortified city itself while also authorizing the attack by our slowly growing southern army on Pingsiang. Based on some math assuming the enemy has 11 X 300 AS KMT corps in this offensive (a worst case scenario), we are actually pretty confident the existing 700 AS garrison with light urban bonus and level 5 forts could hold, but we can use interior lines to shuffle troops around and take the hazard out of play, so to speak. We are very cognizant that CF may attack on other fronts as well to relieve pressure on the north. Cribtop HQ will soon publish staff analyses and ask for input, but we see an opportunity to initiate Operation Red Dragon, making China our Phase 2 objective. If timed correctly, we could catch CF in an offensive posture and deal him a series of defeats of several fronts, with the aim of neutralizing China entirely.

[Cribtop]

March 29, 1942

Subs

KVIII sinks an SC escorting a fuel convoy to Kendari. The same sub attacks another SC but misses. Subs in game really do attack escorts too often for my taste. The Dutchie could have sunk a juicy tanker.

A PG DCs I-3 off Perth and gets a real hit which will force her back to port. Pity as the convoy was full of tankers.

4th Fleet

Tomorrow we will invade the last dot base targeted for this AO's expansion. TB makes level 3 airfield.

SE Fleet

Rennell Island falls and Arawe invaded. We have relieved 144th Regiment of its duties at Rabaul, replacing it with 90th Regt. The 144th is bound for Burma to re-assemble 55th Division.

The convoy that brought SNLFs to Truk was purposefully composed of fast xAKs. They have loaded about 70K resources pulled from Ocean and Nauru islands. Might as well be full on the return voyage.

14th Army

Tomorrow we will pull an independent regiment out of Sinkawang, adding it to another independent regt drawn from Singers. This force will clean up the garrisoned bases in the central PI.

16th Army

A second wave composed of 16th Division, the last regiment of 56th Division and a pack of artillery loads at Singapore for Java.

DA Bandoeng knocks forts to 1 but we get a bad die roll and only 1:1 odds. Casualties 290(12) vs 129(2). We're still in good shape and will go again tomorrow.

15th Army

The IJAAF bombs the 2nd RTR as it tries to march to Akyab. Rangoon makes level 5 airfield. Lots of support troops have reached the rail head at Moulmein and will move out to activate air bases in Central Burma.

China

The enemy stack west of Wuchang has begun to march on the city. We have already ordered an additional 200ish AS to the place and now call on 350 more, all without materially weakening other garrisons. A local reserve division is en route from Nanyang but will loiter north of Hankow on the assumption that CF's Ichang troops will also attack at some point. The IJAAF, unfortunately having failed to prevent the Sian stack from reaching the rough hex north of Sian, will shift to the Wuchang stack. With this air raid, we are trying to present the appearance of panic to suck the KMT onto our fortresses while our southern army moves closer to Pingsiang.

As mentioned, the enemy's former Sian stack has moved one hex into rough terrain. Of two good roads leading away from Sian, CF has chosen the more westerly route, indicating he will expose Lanchow to capture in order to protect his LoC to the Chungking basin. We will move armor towards Lanchow hoping for a coup de main.

Other

With all the goings on I forgot to mention that Haruna finally finished repairing torpedo damage suffered in the first week of the war. She sortied from Kure on the 27th with three modern DDs as escorts.

Lots of less modern DDs will complete upgrades tomorrow. Many will be allotted to tanker convoys as Cribtop HQ has determined that it is time to start hauling oil back to the Home Islands in bulk now.

[Insano]

ORIGINAL: Cribtop
...
The convoy that brought SNLFs to Truk was purposefully composed of fast xAKs. They have loaded about 70K resources pulled from Ocean and Nauru islands. Might as well be full on the return voyage.
...

Hi Cribtop. How do you get the resources off of Ocean and Nauru islands? I have been using the Aden class xAKs but the ports are so small there pretty much needs to be continuous loading going on to take out the resources faster than they are produced. I am guessing the solution is a hoard of xAKLs to shuttle to Truk then reload on larger ships for transport to Japan - haven't tried it yet though.

[Cribtop]

Can't remember the class, but basically one convoy of 3 small xAKs plus escort for Ocean and two such convoys for Nauru. They barely fit but can build up about 65K resources in Truk by the time the approx once per month supply or reinforcement convoy stops in - no dedicated convoy to Japan as I'm sure it's not worth that. Just enough of a old Railroad Tycoon 2 player that I hate to see empty hauls. [:D] I'll check tonight on exactly what ships are involved.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

March 27, 1942

August 8, Happy Birthday to me! So far I've received a card from my parents and an automated Happy Birthday e-mail from my Dentist's Office. Therefore, not the greatest B-Day so far, but I'm sure it will get better.

This is just "so" sad. Don't worry the cake is in the mail...[:D]

[Cribtop]

No, it got better. Mrs. Cribtop and older, talking daughter decorated the house in Party Pig's "Army Men" theme, and Mrs. C made bacon wrapped pork loin (she can cook). Finally, I was served an ice cold birthday beer. The morning when only the Dentist's computer remembered was a bummer, though. [;)]

[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

Can't remember the class, but basically one convoy of 3 small xAKs plus escort for Ocean and two such convoys for Nauru. They barely fit but can build up about 65K resources in Truk by the time the approx once per month supply or reinforcement convoy stops in - no dedicated convoy to Japan as I'm sure it's not worth that. Just enough of a old Railroad Tycoon 2 player that I hate to see empty hauls. [:D] I'll check tonight on exactly what ships are involved.

Loved Railroad Tycoon 2 so I can totally relate to your point about an empty haul. However, do you think the fuel expenditure getting those resources from Ocean and Nauru is worth it? I've only got two hubs set up and practically ignore most of the resource producing bases on the map other than for local consumption, as I don't have many issues keeping the Home Islands resourced up from closer sources. Think how many more miles KB could patrol [;)].

And happy belated Birthday. I'm in the habit of just taking the day off if mine falls on a weekday and doing my own thing. Sucks though when it keeps falling on a weekend. I think one year it fell on the opening day of the NFL season, that was a good day!