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March 11, 1943

Mush Morton on Wahoo shot 2 torpedoes at a DD and missed.

ASW attack near Pescadores at 84,62

Japanese Ships
DD Kosugiri
xAK Goyo Maru

Allied Ships
SS Wahoo

SS Wahoo launches 2 torpedoes at DD Kosugiri

A DA at Woodlark, it will take a few turn, but it will fall

Ground combat at Woodlark Island (104,133)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 20229 troops, 325 guns, 416 vehicles, Assault Value = 636

Defending force 5136 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 157

Allied adjusted assault: 454

Japanese adjusted defense: 143

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 6)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 5

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

Japanese ground losses:
181 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 35 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Allied ground losses:
514 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 50 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Assaulting units:
5th Australian/A Division
II Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
32nd Infantry Division
5th Australian/B Division
1st Medium Regiment
2nd Medium Regiment

Defending units:
4th GEACPS Brigade

I didn't see these move in but I worry not
I assume this is a prelude to taking Urumchi and its oil production.
But I do believe that getting the oil to move is hard to do and I am not sure he needs it.

Ground combat at Kiuchuan (82,26)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1620 troops, 0 guns, 217 vehicles, Assault Value = 111

Defending force 2070 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 82

Japanese adjusted assault: 82

Allied adjusted defense: 44

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: experience(-)
Attacker:

Allied ground losses:
112 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled

Assaulting units:
3rd Tank Regiment
23rd Tank Regiment

Defending units:
34th Separate Brigade

March 12, 1943

O23 took a beating near Muntok, looking for tankers out of Pamembang.

Sub attack near Muntok at 49,89

Japanese Ships
DD Ikazuchi
DD Inazuma

Allied Ships
SS O23, hits 10

She took a lot of damage, she might make it back, we will see.

Woodlark Island is not going as well as I thought

Ground combat at Woodlark Island (104,133)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 19895 troops, 324 guns, 416 vehicles, Assault Value = 586

Defending force 4866 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 129

Allied adjusted assault: 210

Japanese adjusted defense: 223

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 5)

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

Japanese ground losses:
586 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 49 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

Allied ground losses:
635 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 68 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 15 disabled

Assaulting units:
32nd Infantry Division
5th Australian/A Division
II Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
5th Australian/B Division
1st Medium Regiment
2nd Medium Regiment

Defending units:
4th GEACPS Brigade

I am going to have to wait a bit for my troops to recover some.
I will continue Naval Bombardment there, that will help some

Night Naval bombardment of Woodlark Island at 104,133

Allied Ships
BB Maryland
CL Honolulu
CL Boise
CL Phoenix
CL Helena
CL St. Louis
CL Marblehead
CL Trenton
DD Kane
DD Hatfield
DD Lawrence
DD Sands
DD Gilmer
DD Kennison
DD Dent

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

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 48
Port hits 10
Port supply hits 1

None of my bombers flew, so Woodlark Island defenders got a break, that is three days now.

March 13, 1943

Not much. Naval Bombardment and aerial bombing at Woodlark Island.

March 14, 1943

Not much. Naval Bombardment of Woodlark Island.

Another DA at Kiuchuan in China by Xargun, looks like it will fall in a day or two.

March 15, 1943

SS Hake fires 2 torpedoes at an E boat, misses and pays the price.

Sub attack near Fukue-jima at 100,58

Japanese Ships
E Hiyodori
E Sagi

Allied Ships
SS Hake, hits 12, heavy damage

SS Hake launches 2 torpedoes at E Hiyodori
Hake diving deep ....
E Sagi fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Sagi attacking submerged sub ....
E Sagi attacking submerged sub ....
Sounds of submarine breaking up detected!
Escort abandons search for sub

Kiuchuan falls, not sure it is worth the effort but he is pretty much stalled in China.

Ground combat at Kiuchuan (82,26)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1612 troops, 0 guns, 217 vehicles, Assault Value = 109

Defending force 1903 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 60

Japanese adjusted assault: 63

Allied adjusted defense: 20

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Kiuchuan !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Allied ground losses:
627 casualties reported
Squads: 23 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 14 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
3rd Tank Regiment
23rd Tank Regiment

Defending units:
34th Separate Brigade

The B-17Es at Kavieng are given orders to do a night attack on the port at Truk. I hope they fly.

March 16, 1943

Night bombing of Truk by B-17Es was very underwhelming to say the least

64 B-17Es bombed at night, Partial Cloud, Moonlight 75%, and they reportedly scored one hit on SS I-172, and NO port hits.

Naval Bombardment and aerial bombing of Woodlark Island. Another Australian Armor unit will land tonight from LSTs.

March 17, 1943

So I sent in my B-17Es at 5000 feet. Xargun asked me about it, we have no house rules but I have been keeping my 4 engine bombers at 10,000 feet
or higher until now. The funny thing is he complained about how many fighters he lost, not the small amount of shipping.
According to tracker, he lost 11 A6M2 and 8 Tojo in air-2-air combat and 6 of each due to ops.
I lost 7 B-17Es, 1 air-2-air, 4 flak, and 2 ops.
Too many flak losses so I will move them back up to 8,000 feet to avoid the 25mm flak.
I did hit some ships in port, but not that many.
Here are all 9 of the attacks

Night Air attack on Truk , at 112,108

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 32 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 22
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 21

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed by flak

Port hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
284 Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (5 airborne, 15 on standby, 2 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 9000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 9000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes
997th Ku S-1 with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (6 airborne, 14 on standby, 1 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 5000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 29 minutes



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

Night Air attack on Truk , at 112,108

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 25 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 19

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 3 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed by flak

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
284 Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (16 airborne, 0 on standby, 2 scrambling)
16 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 9000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 9000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes
997th Ku S-1 with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (18 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
18 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 5000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes



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

Night Air attack on Truk , at 112,108

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 13 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 12

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 5 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
997th Ku S-1 with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 5000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 49 minutes
284 Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 2 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 9000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 9000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 42 minutes



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

Night Air attack on Truk , at 112,108

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 31 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 7

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
284 Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 2 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 9000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 9000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes
997th Ku S-1 with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 5000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 5000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes



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

Night Air attack on Truk , at 112,108

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 5

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 3 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
284 Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 2 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 9000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 5000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes
997th Ku S-1 with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 5000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes



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

Night Air attack on Truk , at 112,108

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 49 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 2

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Toei Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
284 Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 2 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 9000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 4000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 38 minutes
997th Ku S-1 with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 5000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 5000.
Raid is overhead



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Night Air attack on Truk , at 112,108

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 46 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 7

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
PB Kyo Maru #6, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
PB Kyo Maru #7, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb



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

Night Air attack on Truk , at 112,108

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 5

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AMc Tama Maru #3, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
xAK Otake Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
PB Takunan Maru #2, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
DD Kuretake, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Sakido Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Port hits 1
Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb



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

Night Air attack on Truk , at 112,108

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 7

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Toei Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Wakatake, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
SS I-172, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
SS I-1, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires

Port hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

I also had SS S-34 hit a PB at Woleai with a Mk-10

2 heavy naval bombardments at Woodlark Island, the Australian 2/9th Armoured Regiment landed at Woodlark.

Bombing of the troops on Woodlark Island

March 18, 1943

Sending in the B-17Es at 8000 feet did lessen the flak losses, to zero.
I still had 3 write offs and 1 air-2-air loss.

March 19, 1943

Not much happened, weather grounded my B-17Es at Kavieng.

Naval and aerial bombardments of Woodlark Island

March 20, 1943

Aggravating, again weather scrubs my night bombing missions to Truk.

March 21, 1943

It would appear that I might have won the night air battle over Truk.
Here are the losses for last night
Here is the mouseover for Truk this turn
with only 15 fighters showing, I am switching to daylight bombing with a single P-38G squadron doing a sweep

Woodlark Island is taken

Ground combat at Woodlark Island (104,133)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 23994 troops, 360 guns, 561 vehicles, Assault Value = 727

Defending force 4021 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 60

Allied adjusted assault: 325

Japanese adjusted defense: 9

Allied assault odds: 36 to 1 (fort level 5)

Allied forces CAPTURE Woodlark Island !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-)
experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
841 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 45 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 10 destroyed, 0 disabled

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

Assaulting units:
II Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
5th Australian/A Division
5th Australian/B Division
32nd Infantry Division
2/9th Armoured Regiment
5th Australian/C Division
1st Medium Regiment
2nd Medium Regiment

Defending units:
4th GEACPS Brigade

March 22, 1943

It figures, I switch to day bombing and the message pops up that all missions to Truk cancelled due to weather.

Grinding down the Japanese at Woodlark Island

March 23, 1943

B-17Es and B-24Ds hit Truk. Heavy rain kept the damage down, I-172 was sunk, xAK Sakido Maru was hit, not listed as sunk
Only 4 aircraft were destroyed on the ground and one B-17E was lost to flak.
There were no fighters in the air and recon shows no aircraft there at all.

Continued grinding on the troops at Woodlark Island

March 24, 1943

I lost a PF but reportedly sank a sub
It seems strange to find three subs in the same hex, I wonder if FoW is affecting this.
I-171 to one direct hit, and I-173 took only damage hits.
I-169 is reported sunk.

Sub attack near Shortlands at 111,129

Japanese Ships
SS I-171, hits 2

Allied Ships
PF Susana
PF Morazan

SS I-171 launches 4 torpedoes at PF Susana
I-171 diving deep ....
PF Morazan attacking submerged sub ....
PF Morazan fails to find sub, continues to search...
PF Morazan fails to find sub, continues to search...
PF Morazan fails to find sub, continues to search...
PF Morazan fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


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

Sub attack near Shortlands at 111,129

Japanese Ships
SS I-169, hits 17, heavy damage

Allied Ships
PF Morazan, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
PF Pacific
PF Susana

SS I-169 launches 4 torpedoes at PF Morazan
I-169 diving deep ....
PF Susana attacking submerged sub ....
PF Susana attacking submerged sub ....
SS I-169 forced to surface!
PF Morazan firing on surfaced sub ....
Sub slips beneath the waves


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

Sub attack near Shortlands at 111,129

Japanese Ships
SS I-173, hits 2

Allied Ships
PF Pacific
PF Susana

SS I-173 launches 2 torpedoes at PF Pacific
I-173 diving deep ....
PF Susana fails to find sub, continues to search...
PF Susana fails to find sub, continues to search...
PF Susana fails to find sub, continues to search...
PF Susana attacking submerged sub ....
PF Susana fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

All enemy forces on Woodlark Island are eliminated.

B-17Es and B-24Ds pound both the airfield and port of Truk. Thunderstorms limited the damage.
Numerous ops losses all over the map and one B-17E lost to flak.

March 25, 1943

More bombing of the airfield and port at Truk. A couple of hits on xAKs and ports and some runway and airbase hits.
I should be destroying some supply each day.

March 26, 1943

Nothing much, bombing of Truk continues.

March 27, 1943

Bombing of Truk continues

First Naval Attack by Attack Bombers, at extreme range
Well trained crews and ably lead.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Truk at 112,108

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 8

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
ACM Tama Maru, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
ACM Tsuneshima Maru, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
ACM Hitora Maru, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level *
Naval Attack: 3 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

10 hits for 24 bombs is really good! I guess they bombed first and didn't need to strafe?
Did you note any increase in pilot Experience, Defensive or LowN skills?

Only 1 of my 4 squadrons launched and yes a few of them got increases, both some experience and some Low Naval and strafe.
They did strafe but usually with Attack Bombers they do not get gun hits, they get flak suppression.

March 27, 1943

It was mostly mines, subs and ASW today.

First Mush Morton found a working Mk-14
He did get two hits, but one was a dud

ASW attack near Pescadores at 84,62

Japanese Ships
PB Chohakusan Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PB Akitsui Maru

Allied Ships
SS Wahoo

SS Wahoo launches 2 torpedoes at PB Chohakusan Maru

Then one of my xAPs found a mine at Woodlark Island, probably laid by sub
Not a large amount of damage, she should be fine, but she does have 2 fires, hope she can
get them put out

TF 255 encounters mine field at Woodlark Island (104,133)

Allied Ships
xAP Nairana, Mine hits 1

And then it was time for Xargun to hit some mines

TF 117 encounters mine field at Rabaul (106,125)

Japanese Ships
SS I-24, Mine hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
SS I-20, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

And then ASW at Rabaul
I heard a sub sink after the engagement

Submarine attack near Rabaul at 106,125

Japanese Ships
SS I-18, hits 20, heavy damage

Allied Ships
PF Pacific
PF Susana

SS I-18 is located by PF Pacific
I-18 bottoming out ....
PF Susana fails to find sub, continues to search...
PF Susana attacking submerged sub ....
SS I-18 forced to surface!
PF Susana firing on surfaced sub ....
PF Pacific firing on surfaced sub ....
PF Susana firing on surfaced sub ....
PF Pacific firing on surfaced sub ....
PF Pacific firing on surfaced sub ....
PF Pacific firing on surfaced sub ....
PF Susana firing on surfaced sub ....
PF Pacific firing on surfaced sub ....
PF Susana firing on surfaced sub ....
PF Pacific firing on surfaced sub ....
PF Susana firing on surfaced sub ....
PF Pacific firing on surfaced sub ....
Contact with submarine is lost

More bombing of Truk, hit airfield, port and naval repair yard

The 35th Infantry Division started landing at Manus.

Nomad: Then one of my xAPs found a mine at Woodlark Island, probably laid by sub
Not a large amount of damage, she should be fine, but she does have 2 fires, hope she can
get them put out

Nairana is one of the small 900/800 xAPs with decent speed (15 kts) that are very handy amongst the islands. If possible, I would spend the PP to get her a captain with Naval skill over 30 to help deal with the fire and other damage.