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Apr 26 - Japan Cont'd

Decided to see what would happen if the Japanese Indian Fleet initiated the combat. One of the few turns they could actually "see" the adjacent enemy fleet that has been trying every turn to attack them.

So put them in Fleet mode and made two air strikes in the rain.
First round is a miss but the second is devastating.
Sinking two battleships, Valiant and Revenge.

Apr 26 Japan Cont'd

India

Time to break the Indian line and get at Calcutta.
The first attack shown below against the 44th Bde using 4 Air strikes followed by two rounds of infantry attacks costs the 44th 4 points and forces it to retreat.

Apr 26 Japan Cont'd

The first attack allows one of the Japanese armies to advance for an attack against the weak Indian 20th division.
The resulting 6:1 attack forces it to retreat but with no loses.

42 Apr 26 - Allies

Situation

Both the US and UK receive another Transport.
Reinforcements include 3 Supply Trucks and 2 AA to help with the Australian defenses.
Production: US builds three division in anticipation of more transports to move them.

China is snowed in so no action there.

Australia

The Hornet joins the fleet at Sydney with the 2nd US division. This frees up one Australian division to move up to support the line to the north.
Pago Pago runs out of supplies so will be occupied by the Japanese soon.

The US fleet is strong enough to do something but they will have to be careful. If they lose Kido Butai will be freed to raid convoy line until 43.

Here is a summary of the Australian position.

Apr 26 - US Cont'd

India

Another reinforcement from UK arrives in Bombay allowing one of the UK divisions to relieve an Indian division in the southern line which transfers to the northern line.
The remains of the UK fleet also go to Bombay where hopefully the air unit can protect them.

In the North the Indian line reforms around the river west of Calcutta and the city. If the line can hold just a little longer it will have enough infantry to fall back into the interior and still maintain a line.

42 May 10 - Japanese

Situation

Reinforcements include Junyo CV so I have some support to replace losses if there is a carrier battle.
Otherwise receive my usual Inf. Div and build another along with an oiler.

Kido Butai is down to 90% Effectiveness so I withdraw it to Fiji.

China - Clear weather

Japanese attack to clear the armies supporting Changsha out of the way.
A 7:1 attack is made against 22 Army Group forcing it to retreat with 4 loss.
A 5:1 attack is made against the 12th Army below it by advancing an army. Resulting in 2 loss to both sides and the Chinese retreating.

42 May 10 Jap Cont'd

Australia

A 5:1 attack is made against the Aus 3rd Div forcing it to retreat but the Japanese don't have enough movement to take the hex vacated.

42 May 10 Jap Cont'd

India

Rain in the north so I just move to try to turn their line on the north and put my two armies in the south end of the line in position to take Calcutta.

In the south with the arrival of UK divisions there is little the Japanese can to but try to keep them there.

42 May 10 - US

The UK is running out of oil. Production 0, 8 Upkeep and 13 Stockpile.

US transports are still in mid-Pacific so a couple more turns before they can get to Australia.

Interesting thing: Japanese air unit in Fiji attempted to spot and intercept transports at 9 hexes. I had the impression that the interception only occurred at 5 hexes.

With two US divisions in Australia they form a reasonable line. If the units at sea arrive soon enough they should be able to halt the advance on New Castle.

42 May 10 US Cont'd.

China

Clear weather definitely hurting Allies. Chinese still holding their line together but it lack depth.

India

Rain in the north buys the Allies time to shore up that line. UK units are moving into the southern line to free up the Indian units to move north next turn.

Calcutta is still held but probably will fall on the first good weather turn.

42 May 24 - Japan

Reinforcements the usual infantry division.
Production: Inf. div. plus 1 Truck, 1 Escort.
Also increase the Reinf/Upgrade to 120.

Interestingly the Japanese spotted a transport.
Made air strikes from Jiji but they didn't find a target.
Kido Butai sorties and does find a target. The US 77th Division is sunk.

First time I have seen this happen in the game.

42 May 24 - Japan Cont'd.

Australia - Hvy Rain

And, only on the Japanese side. Tried to bread the line while it is still weak but failed.

India

Clear weather so the Japanese can take Calcutta.

With the support of the fleet and air strikes Calcutta is attacked at 7:1 shattering the defender.

The Japanese army advances into Calcutta and with another Army's support tries to break the river line. The attack forces a retreat but doesn't leave enough movement points to cross.

But on the northern end of the line the small divisions advance threatening to turn the Indian left.

42 May 24 - Japan Cont'd.

Attacks against the Chinese army SW of Changsha drive them back allowing me to move another army adjacent to Changsha. Just need one more good weather turn and the city will fall.

42 May 24 - US

Reinforcements: 2 AA's which go to Australian ports.
Production: UK builds Inf. Div. US builds 1 Sub, 1 Marine, 1 Transport and 1 Truck
Time of the US start building some offensive capacity. I'll be building subs each turn so they will become available about the same time the torpedoes upgrade.

Convoy War: UK lost another 2 Merchants.

Convoys:
US is trying to move 40 PP plus 3 Oil to Australia and 14 PP plus 3 Oil to UK.
UK is trying to move 20 PP to India.
To do this the Allies need to stop the CV raids on the routes.

In preparation for regaining control of the South Pacific the US sends 4 Battleships from Pearl toward Australia.

Australia

With the 2 US Infantry divisions that got through the Allies are able to bring two of the front line units up to Corps strength (1 US and 1 Austis). With the fresh divisions disembarked, next turn the line should have the Corps in good terrain. This will probably be enough to stop the Japanese advance.

42 May 24 - US Cont'd.

India

The northern line falls back as far as they can safely move. Two Indian divisions are pulled from the southern line and sent north leaving just the British to hold the southern front.

The Allies still need to hope for some bad weather because more UK divisions won't show up for 2-3 turns. After that it should be possible to stabilize the Indian situation.

42 May 24 - US Cont'd.

And, here is what happens when a fleet is no longer in Raider mode.
Because the Japanese moved Kido Butai out to sink the transport they had to go in Fleet mode which also left them identified. The assumption being that they are at maximum movement range from the Australian bases (they don't know where the US fleet actually is) so they can't be attacked.

But the US fleet can move within 3 hexes of their fleet and trigger "Carrier Interdiction". And, because they can do this in "Raider" mode this seems to give them a lot of protection.

So the move is made:
5 US CV's in Raider mode versus 6 Japanese CV's in Fleet mode.

The results are shown in the screen shot. 2 Japanese CV's sunk.

I repeated this attack a few times to see if this was a fluke. So it is typical.
I would have expected this to be the opposite. Fleet mode superior to Raider mode.
I'll be doing some more testing of this attack since I have the situation saved.

42 Jun 7 - Japan

Situation

The Japanese lost two carriers last turn. Now to see if they can even things up.
Production: They build two divisions. Reinforcements: Usual one division.

Australia and S. Pacific

The Japanese have probably reached their limit. They would need a couple more armies into Australia to break the line that has formed. Since they aren't available or would at least take 3-4 turns to be freed up and moved to Australia, this is probably the end of their drive south.

The rest of the S. Pacific is just a matter of getting enough units to garrison things and trying to keep them from being retaken. I take the last Island as its garrison disappears, Pago Pago is occupied.

Kido Butai tries to even up the losses after sinking of two of her carriers.
1st Attack is a miss.
2nd Attack finds the US carriers and sinks the Saratoga.
An attempt is made by surface ships to strike but they can't find their targets.

I send some DD's to reinforce Kido Butai in case their is another strike by the US.
The subs that the US deployed a few hexes away from their main fleet interdict and sink one destroyer.
To recover the losses two CVL's and the CV Junyo are sent from the Indian Ocean to the S. Pacific but this will take a few turns.

US wins this exchange so far. Sinking 2 enemy to just 1 of their carriers.
If they didn't take much damage compared to the Japanese they may be able to make this battle decisive with another strike.

42 Jun 7 - Japan Cont'd.

India

Rain in the north and some fast running by the Indian army leaves the Japanese army playing catch up. They probably won't even be in a good position to attack next turn.

In the south they do attack and drive back one of the UK divisions exposing Hyderabad to attack if it is only held by a HQ unit.

Probably getting to a critical point in India. The Japanese need about two back to back clear turns to break through these lines. Unless more UK divisions show up and/or a lot of rain, they have a chance to unhinge the defense.

42 Jun 7 - Japan Cont'd.

At last the final battle for Changsha takes place.
1st Attack following 4 air strikes is at 3:1 resulting in -2 vs -3 hits but the Chinese hold.
2nd Attack at 4:1 (turn out to be 3:1) results in -1 vs -2 hits but again they hold.
3rd Attack at 4:1 results in -1 v 0 hits but this time the defender retreats.

The Japanese army has enough movement to follow so Changsha is taken at last.

This will lead to a standing down of most of the Japanese in China. From now on they will just be making attacks of opportunity to weaken the Chinese but no attempt to advance into the easily defended mountains. If the Japanese units gain enough in strength and quality I may make a drive on another VP hex but it will depend on the relative strengths later.

42 Jun 7 - US

US Amphibious Operations Advance to 42.
US receives Division, Merchant, Transport, and Landing Ship.
UK receives a Division.
Production: UK builds division. US builds division, Sub, Merchant, Oiler, Landing Ship and AA. Canada starts a Truck. India is finally able to build a division.

Convoy War - with UK falling behind in capacity apparently US Merchants will start taking up the slack. At least for the US to UK trade.

UK has 45 MM and needs 48. US has 46 MM and needs 47.

Australia

Another US Corps is formed and the line extended.

India

Allied line falls back a little futher to straighten it up.

China - stand in place.

S. Pacific - Carrier Battle

The US withdraws the badly damaged ships and makes another attack.
The first attack fails to find the enemy.
The second attack gets hits but not significant ones. Both the Lexington and Hornet take hits. Probably lost this round.

I also form a surface support group to the east of the carrier and sub groups in case I need to take on that Japanese surface group. The surface group is formed from the battleships that moved from Pearl Harbor earlier joined by the UK surface ships as well as their lone CVL.