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Meanwhile, thousands of miles to the West, the Japanese observers report that the Germans are slowly winning the battle of Stalingrad. Army Group South has finally reached the Volga, north of Stalingrad. The Soviets can now only reinforce their forces in the city by perilous crossings of the Volga under constant bombardment by artillery and aircraft.

The Soviets are organizing flanking attacks, but they are being repulsed with the assistance of the Luftwaffe. Once the city falls, the German flank should be secure and the Reich can start to rebuild and use the Caucasus oilfields over the winter. Joint Axis planning has determined that the Germans will hold on the lower Volga for the winter, while Japanese objectives over the winter will be to take the Kuybishev region and finally eliminate the Vladivostock pocket. In 1943, the Germans, having secured their oil reserves, will concentrate on Moscow, while the Japanese drive West along the Trans-Siberian Railway. Agreements for closer technology sharing, and joint planning for future operations in Russia are being signed.

September 10-22, 1942

As the Battle of Stalingrad rages on, the Japanese drive across the Amur has turned into an all out Blitz with ~ 1500 AV of armour & mobile infantry units leading the charge into Kuybyshevka. The Russian blocking force in front of Birobidzhan has been trapped and are attempting to filter back into Kuybyshevka to the East of Japanese forces, who are even now entering the city.

Harrassed by air, the disorganized Russians are attempting to stand at Kuybyshevka and have all but abandonned adjacent Blagoveshensk. The Japanese army up from Birobidzhan has driven North along the recently cleared road, and now invests the city. A shock attack as the Japanese crossed the river came off at 3:1, and we expect the city to fall soon. Then that army can join in the battle for Kuybyshevka. The aim is not so much to take the region as destroy and trap as many Russian units as possible while closing for good any hope of rescue to the Vladivostock pocket.

Speaking of which, the units in the pocket have initiated another breakout attempt near Mishan. The first few attacks came very close to taking the city, before Japanese reinforcements railed in. It was especially hairy when the Japanese units were unpacking, and Mishan took some 2:1 attacks with forts dropping to 1. Now the Japanese, with plenty of air support, seems able to hold the city, and the forts have been rebuilt to level 3. The pocket seems contained once more (for now).

In Eastern Mongolia, Japanese forces took an abandonned Choybalsan (named after Stalin's puppet, the Mongolian Communist leader, no less), and now are driving towards Borzya. If we can take this vital rail hub and airfield, we might be able to cut the Trans-Siberian railroad and threaten all Russian forces to the East with a grand encirclement. However, as expected, Russian resistance in the region is heavy and mounting.

In other Pacific War news, the KB raided Fiji and sunk CA Houston, CL Marblehead, around 5 DDs and about a dozen xAKs. Nothing too valuable, but nice anyway.

Also, Allied 4E bombers appear to have left the Russian front and have begun raiding Port Blair and the Burma oil in Magwe. Japanese fighters are opposing, but Hurricane sweeps are taking a heavy toll. Hurricanes seem to beat Oscars and Zeros every time.

September 29, 1942

The Japanese drive on Kuybyshevka has succeeded beyond all expectations. The city and adjacent Blagovychechensk have fallen to the Japanese assault, and at least 3 Russian divisions plus 20+ artillery units have been surrounded. The Russian units are desperately trying to filter back into the Svobody, the last remaining Russian stronghold in the region. But their time is running out and Russian units are already starting to surrender.

How many will be able to escape? Will the Russians fall back or try to hold Svobodny? Will the Japanese be able to take the city?

Assuming Svobodny falls, should I pursue the Russians along the rail, or redeploy the army for a fresh drive? It might finally be time to deal with the Vladivostock pocket.

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The Japanese near Boyzra are grinding away on the Russian fortifications outside the city. Russian bombers appeared overhead yesterday, but massive FlaK concentrations made them pay heavily for their efforts.

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Another Russian assault on Mishan achieves a 1:2 and grinds to a halt. Russian and Japanese numbers are now close at around 3000 AV each.

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Meanwhile, the RAF has finally showed itself with sustained sweeps 100+ fighter sweeps over Magwe in Burma. They are being met by Oscars, Tojos, and Zeros, but the doughty Hurricanes are getting a 2:1 kill rate. However, most of the Japanese pilots are bailing out and being rescued fighting close to home. I'm hoping the allied pilots are ending up as POWs.

Meanwhile, the Chinese have been busy pushing forces a long way around the Northern boundary of Japanese forces to suddenly emerge near Paotow. Over 3000 AV of chinese units brush aside the Japanese puppet collaborator units guarding the Northern Flank and are now driving towards Kalgan and Peking. We'll have to organize some units to put up a defense. Most of the Japanese Mongolian forces have been diverted into Siberia, so we're thin all along the Chinese front. We're trying to gather up some forces, but we might need to strip some city garrisons temporarily.

September 29-October 5, 1942.

The battle of Kuybyshevka has entered a new phase with the fall of Svobodny. The IJA is now attempting to clean up the trapped formations of the Russian Amur Army while pursuing the remnants North. Vicious battles are also raging near Mishan (with the encircled Russians in Vladivostok trying to break out). Both sides are taking very heavy losses.

Here's the map.

Meanwhile, the Allies have initiated the largest series of raids to date in Burma, with hundreds of fighters and hundreds of medium and heavy bombers pounding the airfields and oil fields around Magwe. The Japanese are resisting, and fighter losses on both sides are very high.

October 6-15, 1942

Due to threats around Mishan and in China, the Japanese are pulling back to Hailar in the North, and have encircled an NKVD unit on the road. Overwhealming force is moving in to crush it. This relieved the pressure on Borzya, which has allowed fresh Russian units to pour into the line North of Svobodny. It also allowed a Russian counterattack to retake Choybalsan.

The Japanese assault this turn resulted in very heavy casualties (see below). Luckily, most were merely disabled, and the Russian vehicle losses were quite high. These will be hard for the Russians to replace. However, it dosen't look like a breakthrough along the road will be forthcoming. We'll have to consider our options in this area. Priority is going to finishing off the 3-4 Russian division equivalents trapped by the capture of Kuybyshevka.

Ground combat at 116,30

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 170288 troops, 2320 guns, 1992 vehicles, Assault Value = 5760

Defending force 70771 troops, 1447 guns, 1968 vehicles, Assault Value = 3315

Japanese adjusted assault: 2222

Allied adjusted defense: 7839

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 3

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
14035 casualties reported
Squads: 91 destroyed, 1126 disabled
Non Combat: 64 destroyed, 764 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 76 disabled
Guns lost 5 (0 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 204 (51 destroyed, 153 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
2350 casualties reported
Squads: 56 destroyed, 90 disabled
Non Combat: 147 destroyed, 98 disabled
Engineers: 18 destroyed, 20 disabled
Guns lost 44 (24 destroyed, 20 disabled)
Vehicles lost 280 (152 destroyed, 128 disabled)


Assaulting units:
40th Brigade
3rd Garrison Unit
87th Infantry Regiment
1st Tank Regiment
10th Tank Regiment
25th Division
14th Tank Regiment
5th Tank Regiment
38th Division
34th Division
10th Division
48th Division
9th
17th Tank Regiment
18th Division
11th Tank Regiment
29th Division
55th Engineer Regiment
4th Division
19th Division
23rd Tank Regiment
2nd Mobile Infantry Regiment
1st Mobile Infantry Regiment
27th Division
7th Tank Regiment
88th Infantry Regiment
8th Tank Regiment
8th Garrison Unit
Yokosuka 3rd SNLF
20th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
Kwantung Army
3rd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
2nd RF Gun Battalion
5th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
12th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
20th Army
3rd Mortar Battalion
8th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
7th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Mobile Field Artillery Regiment
1st Area Army
5th RF Gun Battalion
4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
26th Field Artillery Regiment
12th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
11th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion
10th Mortar Battalion
4th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
5th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
7th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
5th Mortar Battalion
Tonei Hvy Gun Regiment
9th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
10th Mortar Battalion
5th Army
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Army
Botanko Hvy Gun Regiment
15th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
Korea Army
13th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
1st Mobile Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
71st Mountain Gun Regiment
12th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion

Defending units:
165th Tank Brigade
422nd Rifle/B Division
203rd Tank Brigade
236th NKVD Regiment
171st Tank Brigade
68th Mountain Rifle Division
73rd Tank Brigade
74th Tank Brigade
3rd Rifle Division
172nd Brigade
17th Rifle Brigade
88th Rifle Brigade
41st Rifle Brigade
204th Rifle Division
422nd Rifle/A Division
38th Rifle Brigade
205th Rifle Division
18th Rifle Brigade
12th Rifle Division
111th Tank Division
259th Rifle Brigade
422nd Rifle/C Division
2nd Red Banner Army
36th Army
46th/302nd AA Battalion
129th Engineer Battalion
15th Army
9th/42nd AA Battalion
283rd Engineer Battalion

Japanese forces are regrouping around Kalgan and Peking. The IJAF is now active in the region and punishing the Chinese air force while supporting the ground troops.

Meanwhile, the Russians look like they are preparing for another breakout attempt. The Vladivostock pocket has now been encircled for almost 5 months. So far no signs that the Russians in the pocket are running short on supplies. We are recommiting to targetting airfields in the region to hit their supply dumps.

Actually, while a Russian capture of Mishan is potentially dangerous, I don't mind much if he breaks out to the West. It's a long way before he gets to anything valuable, and he'll consume vital supplies in the attempt.

Oct 16 - Nov 8, 1942.

The remainining Russians on Sakhalin have surrendered, netting a tally of around 50,000 prisoners. Japanese engineers begin to repair the oil wells captured there.

The Russian breakout of the Vladivostock pocket has been stalled at Seishin along the coast, and Yenki on the road to Harbin. We send some BBs to bombard their positions at Seishin, but we didn't seem to do much damage. Nevertheless, we expect to be able to hold them in the difficult terrain.

Meanwhile, over 4 divisions and masses of artillery encircled by the capture of the Kuybyshevka region continue to resist doggedly. Several Japanese divisions are activelly engaged in trying to contain them, and they are being harrassed from the air.

Reinforcements have arrive in the Kalgan region, and the Japanese are now on the move. We are trying to encircle several Chinese divisions, which have broken off their advance on Kalgan, and are now desperately trying to escape.

Chinese and Japanese air forces are sparring daily over the battlefield, with the Japanese slowly gaining the upper hand.

The Russian armored drive from Borzya has reached the China/Manchuria nexus, where we are making a stand. Harrassed from the air and with extended supply lines, we don't expect them to be able to make much more progress.

Meanwhile, the Abukuma ran into the Saratoga and Yorktown while out raiding. She managed to dodge all but one of the bombs during the day, but then the captain decided to try to sneak up on the Allied TF in a daring night attack. It was a bold move, but needless to say she was no match for the CAs guarding the carriers. She went down with all hands. A Japanese I-boat also took a shot at the Saratoga, but saddly, she missed.

In European war news, the Germans have announced that they now control 90% of the city of Stalingrad. They expect to crush the Soviet's final resistance within weeks.

November 9-16, 1942

A russian tank *division* (plus a number of other friends) has now emerged near the Manchukuo/China broder near Lihnsi and brushed aside IJA infantry and mongolian cavalry regiments. I'm bombing them and rushing in reinforcements. I'll probably also call off my attempt to encircle the Chinese near Kalgan - we need the troops to deal with this new threat. We may drive down the road from Hailar with armor to try to cut them off, or at least deny them bases for supply. The western skirmishes go on...

Menwhile, the sighting of allied CVs by Abukuma paid off. Since we knew where the carriers were, we decided to send the KB out raiding between Hawaii and Pago Pago - maybe to catch the carriers rebasing, or maybe just to catch a juicy convoy while the US CVs weren't preparing to support an invasion. The raid paid off big.

We ran into a very juicy convoy indeed: 4 CVEs and several DDs escorting two huge fleet oilers. All but a few of the DDs are now at the bottom:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Manihiki at 162,162

Allied Ships
CVE Nassau, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
CVE Altamaha, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
CVE Prince William, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CVE Copahee, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Case
DD Mahan

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Manihiki at 162,162

Allied Ships
DD Cassin, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Mahan
AO Sabine, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
AO Neosho, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Smith
DD Case, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires

As you can see, there were carrying a valuable load of a/c (attached). Do CVEs have integral air groups, or were these marine units being transported?

Wow, good work on sinking the baby flat tops. He just lost four or five months worth of wildcat production in one turn without being able to use them. That will hurt him for a while.

Hi Rader,

Are u guys playing scn 1?

I ask cuz i see u lost close to 5700 planes in less than the first year.
How are plane pools doing and what has it done too ur pilot quality?


Kind regards,

Rasmus

Yes, scenario 1.

Uggly, horrible, distugustingly high aircraft losses on both sides, but especially Japanese. A lot of that is due to Russian involvement (they have a big air force that is maybe 60% now destroyed).

Also many, many ops losses. I usually don't bother doing anything to prevent them and I work my air groups very hard.

Plane pools are quite healthy... I'm producing a lot of planes!

Pilot quality is ok, but deficient in some areas. I'm training a lot. Pretty much every group not actively engaged - and I rotate pilots a lot.

November 17-26, 1942.

Dissaster!!

A huge Russian attack has swept across the snowy plains. Millions of unstoppable Russian troops are engaged in a giant pincer in a move to encircle an entire army group.

Unfortunately for the Axis, this bodes very badly for the war. Fortunately for the Japanese, at least in the short term, the battle is raging thousands of miles to the West.

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Meanwhile, another decisive battle has erupted in the Second Battle of Borzya.

The Japanese have begun a massive assault on the city, and outnumber the defenders almost 3:1, but both Japanese and Russian reinforcements are pouring in.

The first two attacks came off at 1:1 and dropped the forts from 5 to 4 and then 3, but the Japanese have taken almost 2:1 in casualties. Japanese armoured units are also attempting to outflank the city. Borzya is becoming a meatgrinder and Tokyo has demanded it be taken: either we break the Russians or they break us.

Stay tuned...

(deleted)

November 26-28, 1942.

The Second Battle of Borzya rages on, but the Russians are showing signs of falling back. If so, I think he is making the right decision. Although he is clinging on to the city for now, if he stays there is a good chance his army will be totally shattered. On the other hand, if he pulls back in good order, he can probably hold me in the rough terrain around Chita indefinitely. Still, not a bad result. Once Borzya falls, I can't imagine that he could hold onto any territory East of the rail rail junction near Chita. He absolutely must pull those troops back or risk having them encircled. Doing just that will be the next goal after Borzya falls.

Once the Russians are driven back to Chita, the Japanese aim in Manchuria will be to build up a defensive line near the rail junction, creating a single contiguous front against the Russians in the rough terrain. Once that is established, we can transfer the remaining Southern Army units to other fronts (and maybe even starting buying out the Kwangtung army).

The Russian armor at the Chinese-Manchurian nexus are pulling back as Japanese threaten to occupy the road back into Mongolia. There is still a huge Chinese stack wreaking havock in Northern China, but local Japanese units are starting to bring them under control.

The Russians trapped in the Vladivostock pocket continue to probe the Japanese cordon holding them in. Another Russian assault on Seishin fails, and disorder in the pocket mounts as the Russians show their first sign of running low on supplies. Now that the Russians are low on supplies (we think), a secondary Japanese army is building up to begin mopping up operations. Despite the supply situation, we expect them to put up a rugged defense, and liquidating the pocket ought to take months. Japanese intel estimates anywhere between 300,000 and 900,000 Russians in the pocket ~ plus around 1000 tanks.