Home Islands west. Yesterday Kurume reconed with 21 units, 23,320 troops, 358 guns, 953 AFV. Only the armor was in place to attack.
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Ground combat at Kurume (103,58)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 5919 troops, 398 guns, 866 vehicles, Assault Value = 619
Defending force 16629 troops, 343 guns, 820 vehicles, Assault Value = 449
Allied adjusted assault: 176
Japanese adjusted defense: 355
Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3)
Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
181 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 37 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 125 (116 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Units destroyed 1
Allied ground losses:
38 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 9 (1 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Vehicles lost 37 (5 destroyed, 32 disabled)
Assaulting units:
670th Tank Destroyer Battalion
193rd Tank Battalion
1st USMC Tank Battalion
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
766th Tank Battalion
710th Tank Battalion
38th Infantry Division
767th Tank Battalion
10th USMC Field Artillery Battalion
2nd USMC Field Artillery Battalion
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
4th USMC Field Artillery Battalion
226th Field Artillery Battalion
223rd Field Artillery Battalion
82nd Mortar Battalion
7th USMC Field Artillery Battalion
11th USMC Field Artillery Battalion
Defending units:
48th Tank Regiment
15th Tank Regiment
13th Tank Regiment
212th Division
4th Tank Division
206th Division
11th Tank Regiment
312th Division
3rd Tank Regiment
14th Tank Regiment
56th Depot Division
107th Ind.Mixed Brigade
67th Field AA Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
9th Ind. Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
23rd AA Regiment
2nd RF Gun Battalion
1st Tank Regiment
36th Field AA Battalion
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Another attack tomorrow with all units present. Another two divisions will arrive tomorrow but too late to participate. Today's air strikes by the Empire affected our troops a bit, but our air strikes really drove home the hurt on the Imperial minions. 116 vehicles were reported destroyed, including 50 in one single attack. Of course those were in addition to other types destroyed and all types disabled. Adding that 116 to the above 116 gives a total of 232 vehicles destroyed on the day. I don't know which unit was destroyed but I figure it just might have been a tank unit.
Kumamoto has accepted landing of a base force and a construction regiment. Airfield service damage is down to 30%. Three more base forces, an air HQ, and elements of two infantry divisions are in harbor and will commence amphibious unloading tonight. A 24 strong group of night Hellcats were on the job from Kumamoto's runways overnight and helped break up inbound strikes.
Yesterday Kagoshima reconed with 17 units, 72,180 troops, 346 guns, and 31 AFV. Today Kagoshima shows 17 units, 76,380 troops, 385 guns, and 36 AFV. Our USA 194th Tank Bn rolled into town, blocking rail egress. The 5th USMC division is about two days behind, so the tankers are hunkering down to defend.
; Julia Child