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TF 12 encounters mine field at Singapore [UK] (22,51)
Japanese Ships
MSW W.6
MSW W.3
DD Harukaze
DD Asakaze
DD Fumizuki
DD Natsushio
AK Yoko Maru, Mine hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Hibiki
DD Yudachi
DD Harusame
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TF 69 encounters mine field at Singapore [UK] (22,51)
Japanese Ships
DMS Shumushu
DD Honda
PC Ch 7
DE Tsuga
DD Hatakaze
DD Yamakaze, Mine hits 1, on fire
Hmm, I still haven't sent my carriers in as I wanted at least 1 or 2 days of mineclearing to go on first to prevent them being hit by too many mines.
In other news Hosho which had gotten 55 sys and 82 flotation damage is now down to 60something flotation damage. With a little luck she might even survive ( which I really wouldn't have thought possible just 2 days ago.
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TF 70 encounters mine field at Singapore [UK] (22,51)
Japanese Ships
DD Ayanami
DD Shikinami
DD Hatsuyuki
DD Hatsushimo
DD Murasame
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Day Air attack on Pearl Harbor [Oahu] , at 114,72
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zeke x 8
Ki-21-II Sally x 114
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-II Sally: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
Allied Ships
AK Antares, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Laida, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AR Rigel, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
Port hits 9
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 1
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Day Air attack on USAAF 5th Base Force, at 44,59
Japanese aircraft
D3A2 Val x 20
B4Y1 Jean x 69
No Japanese losses
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Day Air attack on ROC 9th Field Army , at 49,31
Pounding enemy troops at Honan. My hope is
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-I Oscar x 6
Ki-32 Mary x 114
Ki-51 Sonia x 99
Ki-264 Angel x 3
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-32 Mary: 1 damaged
Ki-51 Sonia: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied ground losses:
70 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
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Day Air attack on ROC 61st Field Army , at 49,31
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zeke x 34
Ki-32 Mary x 51
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-32 Mary: 1 damaged
Allied ground losses:
13 casualties reported
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Day Air attack on ROC 49th Field Army , at 52,40
Japanese aircraft
D3A2 Val x 45
E8N2 Dave x 8
Ki-27 Nate x 12
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
40 casualties reported
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Day Air attack on ROC 49th Guerilla Regiment, at 45,41
Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 32
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
8 casualties reported
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Day Air attack on KNIL 4th Regiment, at 19,59
Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-II Sally x 51
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
47 casualties reported
And softening up the Dutch at Merak.
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Day Air attack on Pp Army 21st Division, at 44,50
Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 3
Ki-32 Mary x 43
Ki-48-I Lily x 15
Ki-49 -I Helen x 4
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-32 Mary: 1 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
17 casualties reported
And at Baguio. I think I'm developing quite the fetish for ground support missions in this game. Normally I don't go in for them much but with the lack of Allied fighters and bombers being based forward I have run out of worthwhile targets.
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Day Air attack on Pp Army 91st Division, at 44,50
Japanese aircraft
Ki-32 Mary x 28
Ki-48-I Lily x 8
Ki-49 -I Helen x 6
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported
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Day Air attack on TF, near Sabang [Sumatra] at 19,41
Japanese aircraft
B4Y1 Jean x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
B4Y1 Jean: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
AK Mangola, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
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Day Air attack on TF, near Koumac [New Cal] at 65,114
Japanese aircraft
F1M2 Pete-FF x 2
Allied aircraft
Hudson IV x 4
No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
CA Aoba
DD Ootori
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Ground combat at Baguio/Balinta Pass
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 105937 troops, 1579 guns, 585 vehicles, Assault Value = 2802
Defending force 10330 troops, 187 guns, 112 vehicles, Assault Value = 442
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2
Japanese max assault: 2770 - adjusted assault: 1042
Allied max defense: 321 - adjusted defense: 316
Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2
Japanese ground losses:
744 casualties reported
Guns lost 20
Allied ground losses:
357 casualties reported
Guns lost 21
Damn but that malaria saps one's offensive power. Tomorrow my forces will Shock Attack and Baguio should fall. In the meantime I have forces at Clarke Field ( another temperate zone ) sitting still, recovering disruption and fatigue and getting ready to attack Bataan.
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Ground combat at Olongapo/Bataan
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 25074 troops, 353 guns, 17 vehicles, Assault Value = 735
Defending force 27144 troops, 628 guns, 94 vehicles, Assault Value = 814
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Ground combat at Iman [AMUR]
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 91318 troops, 1592 guns, 1131 vehicles, Assault Value = 1895
Defending force 37027 troops, 507 guns, 30 vehicles, Assault Value = 1078
Allied ground losses:
132 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
As you can see the Soviet AV is falling daily. It fell by 8 AV today and while that's nothing massive over the course of a week or two that really does add up.
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Ground combat at Koumac [New Cal]
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 7292 troops, 109 guns, 27 vehicles, Assault Value = 535
Defending force 5684 troops, 140 guns, 7 vehicles, Assault Value = 217
Japanese ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
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Ground combat at Merak/Serang [Java]
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 13894 troops, 222 guns, 59 vehicles, Assault Value = 672
Defending force 3925 troops, 52 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 156
Japanese max assault: 710 - adjusted assault: 532
Allied max defense: 108 - adjusted defense: 44
Japanese assault odds: 12 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Merak/Serang [Java] base !!!
Japanese ground losses:
176 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
Vehicles lost 1
Allied ground losses:
264 casualties reported
Guns lost 9
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
And now the way is clear for my Infantry Division to land without disruption. Excellent. I have also transferred in the necessary Zero Sentai to provide LRCAP for the convoy as it enters the range of land-based bombers operating from Soerabaja.
I won't cover this force with an SC TF as I am resting my CAs, BBs and DDs in Singapore and allowing them to repair in preparation for the move on India.
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Ground combat at Honan [Cent China]
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 83047 troops, 1306 guns, 44 vehicles, Assault Value = 2405
Defending force 44131 troops, 770 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 2056
Allied ground losses:
15 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
In contrast to Iman this Japanese bombardment is all about burning Chinese supplies. If the Chinese supplies get used up then this 2,000 AV stack is just so much dead meat on the table for my attackers. If the supplies aren't burnt up then my forces are in for a very bloody battle indeed.
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Ground combat at Iman [AMUR]
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 26179 troops, 427 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1077
Defending force 106863 troops, 2094 guns, 1214 vehicles, Assault Value = 1895
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Ground combat at Baguio/Balinta Pass
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 7553 troops, 151 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 422
Defending force 106197 troops, 1547 guns, 585 vehicles, Assault Value = 2758
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Ground combat at Singora [Thailand]
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 3115 troops, 68 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 95
Defending force 4457 troops, 47 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 131
One other thing I've done recently is shut down production of Topsys, prepare to shut down production of Mavis patrol planes and stopped expansion of Zero production as my supply levels in Japan are just not up to further expansion and the Topsys and Mavis use Hitachi engines which are in quite short supply right now ( and which I'm going to need lots of for the Ki-48 II and Ki-109 which both come on-stream in 2 months time.
Already I'm operating with only 3/4 of my armament factories operational and curtailed aircraft production in lesser types. I am continuing to expand my Mansyu production as I am seeking to build 60 Ki-264 L ( transports ), 60 Ki-264 A ( level bomber with 100 Kg bombs ), 90 Ki-264 Bs ( with Hs-293 guided bomb variants --- specialised CV and BB killers ) and 90 G9Ms ( four-engined torpedo bomber with outsized torpedo ). Since each of the bomber variants requires 6 engines ( it only really needed 4 but I set the requirement at 6 to simulate the difficulty Japan would have building such complex planes ) and the transport variants require 5 the number of engines needed to reach this goal of 300 Ki-264 variants per month is 1,740. That means to JUST produce the Ki-264 class I will have to invest 2,300,000 tons of supplies. I'm up to about 450 Mansyus per month now and so am on course to hit 1,750 per month by year's end ( which is when the last of the Ki-264 variants comes online ).
So, I'm managing to produce just enough of the planes I deem essential to the war effort but I'm having to cut corners elsewhere ( e.g. I've amalgamated my recon squadrons so that the front-lines have Ki-46s. This means that, in effect, I'm only using 20% of the squadrons with the other 80% disbanded into them. Is this risky? Yeah it means I have very limited recon potential BUT since I have the initiative I can concentrate what little recon potential I have wherever I want and so a little can go a long way.
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