Islands of Destiny: RA 5.0 Japanese Side

[John 3rd]

The Fleet continues to refit:

CarDiv1: 7 and 12 days
CarDiv2: 10 Days
CarDiv5: 1 Day

Present for DUTY in the Home Isles:
4 CVLs
6 BB
4 BC
10 CA
8 CL
35 DD

BB Musashi is finished in 5 Days.

CV Junyo is done repairing at Singers in 3 Days. She, Hiyo, and a CVL will depart Singapore and head for Marcus.

By the end of August I'll have 8 CV and 5 CVL in one spot read for action...

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

August 11, 1942


Won't get around to my Posting on Burma so I'll do a quick cover of Ramree. The 48th ID Shock Attacked over to the target a few days ago and took about 20% casualties on the attack. The troops strength at Ramree isn't too high in terms of AV. It is mostly engineers. The next day, while 48th is disorganized, he attacks with shore bombardments of 4 CL, 1 CA, and old BB Resolution. His Shock Attack right back at me barely gains a 2-1 and forces a retreat. The 48th is now resting with 25th Army HQ and two Artie units working to regain its strength. Right now it is about 50% of its normal. I've noticed it adding about 10 points a day as it settles in. Not too bad for what I learned in crossing over there...

Not sure I understand the thinking here. You have more ID in the area. Ramree Island is the the most recent, dangerous and tenuous of the Allied holdings in the area. Why send the other IDs forward toward Akyab and leave an understrength force to shock alone and then get pushed back (trashed) from Ramree?

[John 3rd]

His Forts are at 4. Even if I came over with a pair of ID I wouldn't have enough to take it back. Cannot go more then two ID due to stacking. Anything I bring across will be bombarded every turn. He has about a gadzillion mines in the hex so I cannot really contest the seas. With my Tojo I might be able to seriously contest in the skies over the base.

For me this is a conundrum. Anyone have any ideas here? Man---I am all ears for some thinking regarding Ramree...

[obvert]

I'd definitely try to shut the base down. Sweep, sweep, sweep. Then bomb. Keep it closed. Then see what the options are to shut down routes by sea.

Edit: Make it expensive for him to maintain first, then see what he is willing to use to maintain it. It is still 42 right? [;)]

[Chickenboy]

I'd sit on the egress hexes and build forts in the jungle. Let him have Ramree if he wants it so bad. Make sure that his supply outflow from there is blocked and you make it irrelevant. If you dig in with 2-3 divisions on the land hex just outside of Ramree, he'll have to shock attack to come across to get you. Your troops will be dug in in the jungle and, unless he attacks with 6-8 divisions, his attack will get pummeled.

The jungle will act as a fine sop for Allied bombs too. You can LRCAP to make him pay periodically for bombing your jungle troops.

I also agree with obvert regarding sweeping Ramree. Maximize the airframe advantages that you have while you have 'em. Kill Allied fighters and then, when they stand down, bomb the airfield. July 1942 is early-very early-for the Allies to solicit attritional warfare so far forward. Make him pay.

[John 3rd]

You guys agree on what I have settled onto as a plan. Had a long talk with my Economics/War Minister while driving back and forth to Loveland this afternoon and there is now a detailed plan. I need to cover that as well as recent developments in Burma itself. Come HELL or high water there will be a detailed Post tonight.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd
Come HELL or high water there will be a detailed Post tonight.

Well?

[ny59giants]

quote:

ORIGINAL: John 3rd
Come HELL or high water there will be a detailed Post tonight.

Well?

Is this what Paula did to you last night??

[zuluhour]

Maybe she was playing with his caboose.[:D]

[pws1225]

Or perhaps 'don't come aknockin' when the caboose is arockin'. in either case, updating an AAR must come second.

[Lecivius]

It's a sunny day where he lives, roads are good, no traffic....

Must be SOMETHING good keeping him busy! [>:]

[John 3rd]

ORIGINAL: zuluhour

Maybe she was playing with his caboose.[:D]

You boys are VERY BAD! [:-]

Ya really made me laugh and thanks for that. Really appreciated it.

My Opener got sick and soooooo I had to get up and 5am and be at work to open the dratted store. Sort of took all the STARCH out of the evening.

Just got home from work and took care of a turn with Dan.

[Sangeli]

Back to the point...

I agree with Chickenboy about Ramree. After all its Summer 1942 and Japan can still use brute force and firepower to crush Allied initiative. Ramree could prove dangerous - but not until mid 1943. If you can take Akyab while good portions of his soldiers are tied down in Ramree even better. He's really setting himself up for a battle of attrition that you can win as LRCAP over a base against sweeps in 1942 is a losing battle. My advice is to sweep, bomb, and bombard the island while preventing supplies from reaching him. Once his supply is dangerously low you can start to bring down the fort methodically and eventually wipe him out before he can breakout and relieve the siege.

[John 3rd]

OK. Here comes the Burma Post----FINALLY.

[John 3rd]

August 15, 1942
Burma

I am Posting the most recent screenshot of the Burma Theatre.

Let me do a methodical 'what is where' description before going into planning and strategy.

Major IJA Units: (From NE to near Akyab to Port Blair)

33rd sits on the rail line SW of Katha facing a pair of Indian ID.
12th ID is due west facing an Aussie ID and several other units.
16th sits in the open to the SW.
4th ID is in the jungle facing another Aussie ID and two Brigades

The line then jumps the open country and then heads into the jungle near Akyab.

The 18th and 21st ID just arrived in the hex SE of Akyab and faces the three units driven out of the previous hex (Eastern HQ, an Artie unit, and an Inf Bn. Another unit has joined these three beat-up formations. Order a bombardment by 21st ID to see what is there. Major issue: I am JUST BARELY over the Stacking Limit here. Any suggestions?

At the Ramree EXIT sits 48th ID at about 60-65% strength along with 25th Army HQ.

Rangoon will soon have the 2nd Armored Division formed up and ready for action.

Port Blair holds the Imperial Guards at about 80% strength.

OTHER units:
1. Two TK Regiments NW of Magwe just crushed a Brit BF and drove it from two hexes.
2. An Inf Brigade sits at Katha holding it.
3. A TK Reg holds Myitkyina.
4. Southern Army HQ is at Moulmein.
5. 14th Army is at Mandalay.
6. Air Divisions/Air Flotillas at Port Blair, Sabang, Rangoon, and Mandalay.

Air Strength:
Rear Areas
1. Mobile Strike Force (Batavia, Oosthaven, Palembang): 57 Zero and 126 Bombers
2. Singapore: 18 TB, 27 DB, 27 F, and 36 B. These planes are in the process of changing airframes currently and then deploy forward.

Southern Area
1. Port Blair: 18 Z, 34 B, and 41 TB
2. Moulmein: 18 Z and 27 TB
3. Rangoon: 87 F and 51 B

Northern Area
1. Magwe: 12 Tj
2. Mandalay: 80 F and 83 B

Naval Strength:
4 CVE (54 Z, 27 DB, 18 TB)
2 CA
4 CL
18 DD
15 SS

Overview
I see this fight as something akin to the Battle of the Pusan Perimeter in Korea 1950. The enemy is in an arc around my troops and I have the advantage of terrain and a BIG river. I hold the Outer edges while having to maintain a mobile 'fire brigade' (similar to the Marine RCT used in Pusan) on hand to drive back incursions along the Perimeter.

The ID, other then what is listed above, are at or near full strength and that helps a lot. They also have excellent experience and morale.

Ground Planning
1. I will threaten Akyab to attempt to force him to pull back unit or divert them from other plans he may have in mind. Can a pair of ID do that? Doubtful but it is worth the effort.. ANY sweating he does distracts him from the real fight.

2. We will simply sit at the Ramree exit and dig-in. He has nothing there I fear at this point. Am moving a few Engineer units there to help with Forts. The 25th Army HQ will stay there to help draw supply and let the 48th rebuild itself slowly.

3. When the 2nd Armored is formed, it shall come as a rude surprise. Plan to move it up to Magwe and use it as my hammer to crush movement coming in from the jungle to the NW. Also serves as an emergency force in case a portion of the perimeter collapses.

4. Have the 56th ID from China coming. When it arrives I will decide what to do with it.

Have some light concern regarding my eastern Chinese flank. When the 2nd Armored is deployed I shall pull and TK Reg and send it east to check and make sure nothing untoward is occurring. Will swing an aerial recon unit in that direction as well just to look around.

Air Battle
Dan has made the fight HERE. Fine. I have MISTER TOJO now and I like what I am seeing. Time to roll back Allied Fighter Cover. I have the airframes and he does not. Time to whack a mole with my superior planes while I still have the advantage.

Am now sweeping Ramree and Akyab. I am sure the Akyab SWEEP this turn surprised him. I came in with three groups of 27, 6, and 12 Tj versus anywhere from 60-99 fighters. Bad weather really impacted my fighters but the results were pretty good with losing 15 Tojo (9 in the air and 6 on the ground) in exchange for over 30 Allied Fighters (at least 24-27 P-40s alone). Ramree got hit by bombers for the first time in ages and they did fairly well without losing any planes. I control the skies over Ramree for the moment so I authorize the Kate Daitai in Moulmein to attack shipping at Ramree.

The bombers up in Mandalay are now targeting Kalemyo. Michael and I spoke yesterday and he noted this is where a good portion of Dan's supply is coming from to help those troops in the jungle. GREAT! We'll beat the hell out of it to draw fighters and help the ground-pounders.

Plan to bring in the planes at Singapore and some from Port Blair to add to the punch.

Naval Planning
I am nipping at him whenever I can with my CVEs, using I-Boats rotating in different areas. His ASW is NASTTY with them Brits. HMS Illustrious and CVL Hermes were spotted, attacked, and MISSED about 10 days ago at Viza. He also has deployed several of the old Brit BBs and a BUNCH of cruisers running the coast. I have two of four ML SS laying minefields at various coastal points and I have gladly heard the WHAM of mine explosions on several occasions. The other pair of ML SS will reach Singers in about a week.


There. Now you have a detailed Post of the Theatre. Will gladly take comments, ideas, and suggestions...

[John 3rd]

Things continue to improve with the KB getting back onto its feet. Current availability with refits occurring:

CarDiv1 (Hiroshima) Akagi 5 Days---Kaga 7 Days
CarDiv2 (Yokohoma) Hiryu and Soryu 6 Days
CarDiv5 (Yokohoma) READY!

CarDiv3 (Singapore) Hiyo Ready---Junyo 3 Days while a CVL waits with them.

4 CVL sit at Yokohoma.

SUPPORT FORCES:
4 old BB, BB Yamato, 4 BC, a crapload of CAs and CLs, and 35-40 DD.

BB Musashi arrives TOMORROW: BANZAI!!!

[janh]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd
Time to roll back Allied Fighter Cover.

I control the skies over Ramree for the moment so I authorize the Kate Daitai in Moulmein to attack shipping at Ramree.

The bombers up in Mandalay are now targeting Kalemyo.

I am nipping at him whenever I can with my CVEs, using I-Boats rotating in different areas.

These parts do actually sound pretty good. Burma is a good place to contest the Allied air power for a while and use the IJA air assets, built up pilot quality and so on. Since the British fighter replacements are not exactly ample at this point, and the British bombers not exactly tough either, this is surely a battle you ought to win.

Contesting the air space over the coast seems to be the key to Burma, at least as far as his efforts to supply and build it up are concerned. Hopefully the Kates will find juicy targets are force him to bring up more fighter cover and LR-CAP over all TFs. I think this supply route is one you must strike with your CV sooner rather than later. Your zeros will also eat through all the TB and B the Brits may throw at them (after a naval hit, one could maybe stage a CAP trap at max range, swapping Vals and Kates against more Zeros?).

I still think this is the theater that KB should be deployed to at this point. Maybe Dan has the American CVs spotted at Western OZ lately over here now. This, or they are somewhere in CENTPAC, perhaps enroute to NORPAC, although this would be a long travel in contrast to the IO. I know you fear him coming through NORPAC, but honestly, doesn't his deployment of LCU/BF/HQ, air and naval assets speak otherwise? I think you caught him flat-footed there, and if he intends to make this a major theater, then likely only because of that. Yet all signs would point at him having all hands full with his LCU stuck in the Gilberts/Marshalls, a crushed offensive in Western OZ, and a battle in balance in Burma. He either is covering-up NORPAC preparations perfectly, or he's not pursuing this actively. My bet is on the latter.

In Burma he might be trying to pull the same trick like you plan: Using Ramree to out-flank you? If I read through your LCU deployment, I get the impression that is "nicely and adequately spread out" to match the Allied forces around. Which is, however, not giving me the impression of an aggressive stance, a Schwerpunkt with a clear goal. I still like your thoughts about going for Akyab in strength. That would have the added benefit of having lots of LCU near Ramree, in case he starts to push eastward from there. My experience with supporting LCU on the seconadary road past Ramree to Akyab isn't the best, but I think it should be doable if you focus all IJA air assets in this theater. If you could manage to get Akyab and threaten Cox Basar, he will have a real crisis at hand. Both places are in Oscar/Zero range, so that you could even get another chance to put a dent in his bomber fleet, and both will surely have him bring out all bombardment assets he has -- opportunities for your CV and Netties. Since it is merely August 42, I think this should really be doable, but you'd surely need to concentrate more LCU for the task -- maybe at the expense of a save perimeter in the northern Basin?

[pws1225]

With respect to the 'JUST BARELY' overstacked hex near Akyab, my experience suggests that as long as you keep the overstacking below 10% or so of the stacking limit, the supply draw penalty isn't too bad and should be sustainable.

[John 3rd]

August 16, 1942

A very nice day for the Japanese Sub Arm:

Waaaaay down by Busselton, Aust sees I-156 put TWO TTs into BB Warspite. NICE!

Waaaaaaaaay up North sees I-160 SINK DD Gilmer with a single TT about eight hexes South of Kodiak.

[John 3rd]

On this same day, the Japanese bombard units just south of Akyab and find opposing them are 4th British Brigade, 1st Glouce. Bn, 2nd Recce, Eastern Army HQ, and 134th Field Art Bn. The 18th and 21st ID shall attack tomorrow. The skies over them shall be swept by LOTS of Tojos making way for a potential trap on the Japanese side. There are heavy warships in the hex (probably wanting to bombard the Japanese units) and if they stay we want to SINK THEM! Move 54 Zero and 42 Kate into Rangoon and prime the TTs BABY! Range is exactly seven hexes away. If he is there tomorrow any planes defending the hex wil be hit by successive waves of Tojos and then the KATES come in...

Cannot WAIT for the next turn here...