Jolly Pillager v. wneumann (Japanese side)

[jolly_pillager]

Update 2/20/42

4TH FLEET

We seized Savaii today as a base of operations against Pago Pago. Once Pago is taken we can move towards Fiji and the minor islands of the South Pacific and complete the blockade of Aus in the East.

I am contemplating a slightly off the wall plan to patrol these waters. I am forming up several groups of AV's (2 per group) and light surface escort with their floatplanes set to 50% Naval attack. The theory is to give me the ability to patrol larger areas of ocean while keeping my CV's concentrated and less vulnerable. The only real problem I can see with this plan is that these AV groups are slow and defenseless against air attacks and might get eaten up by hit and run raids by American CV's

SE FLEET

Port Moresby is being built into the major airfield in the area alongside Rabaul. In order to provide some satallite fields and further seal off W Aus from resupply I am also planning on seizing Thursday Is.

SAA

Things are well in hand on Java with 4 Divisions ashore, more on the way, and massive amounts of Arty and Armor in support. The island garrisons based on Batavia and Soerbaja have been seperated allowing me to tackle them one at a time. Soerbaja will be first, but I have also landed a Division at Merak to keep the forces at Batavia pinned down.

Some IDIOT in the Army has decided to make all the bases in Malaya and Sumatra BAA instead of SAA. The amount of political effort that IGHQ is having to put forth to fix this snafu means that many other vital tasks are not getting done. We can change over about a base every day (though there needs to be a ground unit from SAA present in the base to do it, which makes it even harder) so I estimate that this is costing me 2 weeks worth of PP's [:@]

BAA

BAA's combat st4renth consists of 2 full strength Divisions and one Division at 1/3 strength. Due to this progress in BAA is very slow and I anticipate the need to transfer SAA troops to this comand as soon as the Java and W Aus ops are complete.

CHINA

The large Chinese salient in the south has been mostly withdrawn (helped along by the IJA). This is allowing me to transfer units to the north where the real battle is going on. The IJA has driven a large salient into Chinese lines at Homan. This intrusion is well secured with Japanese units covering all the flanks and moving behind to cut supply lines. The net result is that I have surrounded Homan with it's appx 6 Corps of troops and have pinned down another dozen Corps in the perimeter battles.

The goal here is to destroy a large number of Chinese troops in a Cauldron Battle and to also force a high operations tempo on as many Chinese units as possible in order to drive up logistical demands accross the theater.

While progress may not resemble the sweping moves of a Blitzkrieg, I think that the result will be logistical collapse followed by rapid Japanese gains. The destruction off large amounts of in-unit supply in the south coupled with the demoralizing impact of crushing defeats there (I have routed about 10 Corps worth of troops at Nanning) means that the Chinese are already under enormous pressure...hopefully I can use that to my advantage and break them fully here.

[jolly_pillager]

So yesterday my CV's on patrol in the S Pacific spotted a lone Amerrican AK at the edge of their search range. Knowing full well that a large troop convoy escorted by CV's had been spotted com,ing S from Panama, I imidiately sent in the KB and had their tanker support withdraw to the North.

This turn I found 3 convoys of AK's, appx 30 ships total, carrying and RCT, a Combat Engineer Rgt, and a Field Arty Rgt and destroyed them all.

The problem is as follows.

1: No American CV's were with this group.

2: The 2nd Marine Division was not with this group. The 2nd Marines are a prime unit for early seaborne movement towards SOPAC due to the fact that I have nothing at all in either 4TH FLT or SE FLT that can take them on and win...any island that they choose to defend will likely not be conquered by me.

This leaves me in something of a quandry. See the picture below...

[jolly_pillager]

As you can see this action was very far south...this leads to the second problem.

See this picture...

[jolly_pillager]

That is my invasion of Pago Pago...the South Seas Detachment is appx 4 days from landing.

The quandry is the missing US CV's and 2nd Marines.

If they are headed for Pago (and thus slipped to the north of the KB) they are in a good position to thwart my landing, and smash a lot of BB's, CA's and AP's.

It is entirely possible that these forces are just south of today's encounter and are also trying to slip through to Oz...this is actually more likely I think.

Also note the AV units I have near Pago...there are 3 AV's and 3 PC's here in two TF's (expanded to 3 TF's this turn). These units can be used to push a screen line out from Pago oriented SE...and have been. This will give me perhaps a days worth of warning if the Americans should attack.

I have 2 options.

1: continue to drive the KB south into the (possible) remainder of the American transport groups.

2: move the KB back to Pago to provide close cover in case of an American counter-attack.

The "book" says that you should never subsume a strategic goal to a tactical one...and severing the SLOC from the US to Oz via taking Pago is a definate strategic goal (*the* goal of moving into the South Pac at all, in fact).

Putting this at risk in order to chase down a target that hasn't been spotted (though is likely to be there) would be a violation of this dictum.

It could be argued that the AV's provide enough early warning to allow me to sprint my CV's back in time...however this is clearly not the case. I can sprint back in time to hit the Americans AFTER they land most likely...but a Marine Division on Pago would destroy my strategic goal by disallowing an invasion of that place...also a two day sprint at this time would be a total of 2 days of sprinting plus at least 1-3 days of normal steaming for the KB...which would exhaust it's fuel reserves and leave me vulnerable to having my carriers and/ or my tankers (an equally important unit, BTW) sunk.

Therefore I have ordered the KB back to Pago after only a single days worth of attacks, despite the opportunity that lies in front of it...I simply have to keep in mind what the Americans CAN do as opposed to what I think they WILL do...and work from that.

On the plus side I got 30ish AK's, an RCT, a Cbt Eng Rgt, and a Field Arty Rgt. [8D]

[ctangus]

ORIGINAL: jolly_pillager

Therefore I have ordered the KB back to Pago after only a single days worth of attacks, despite the opportunity that lies in front of it...I simply have to keep in mind what the Americans CAN do as opposed to what I think they WILL do...and work from that.

Seems like the right decision to me, though of course we could both be wrong. [;)]

On the plus side I got 30ish AK's, an RCT, a Cbt Eng Rgt, and a Field Arty Rgt. [8D]

BANZAI!!!

[jolly_pillager]

Been a while since my last post.

March 3, 1942.

4TH FLEET

Things are going well. the Samoan Islands have been conquered and we are now prepping for an attack on Fiji.

Lack of base forces and ground troops have limited my ability to take the core of islands just inside the Baker-->Canton-->Pago line. This is means that my outer line is extremely vulnerable to being pierced and having it's bases cut off from each other with no where to withdraw to. There is no real solution to this aside from transferring troops and planes to 4TH FLEET as quickly as possible. Unfortunately there is considerable demand for these very same assets elsewhere (SE FLEET in particular as well as the Army's SNAFU in Malaya) and progress is slow.

The KB is retiring to a central location within the 4TH FLEET area to attempt some maintenance and to conserve fuel. This brings up another issue...the area covered by 4TH FLEET is huge...far too vast for the KB to reach a trouble spot in a day or two (much less arrive with sufficient fuel to do anythng worthwhile). The answer is more troops to resist an initial invasion, more Betties to provide local defense, more Zeros to provide fighter cover, more construction troops to build bases up with, and MORE MORE MORE supplies to run all this.

I have knocked the Americans off balance...the presence of the KB helps to ensure that an assault through the central or south pacific would be dangerous for them...but I need to hurry up and reinforce this line at all costs.

SE FLEET

Almost all of the objectives have been reached. Thursday Island is captured, cutting NW Oz off from it's SLOC's. Lunga is occupied and Nomea is sitting all by itself as an outpost of NZ. With the south pacific covered I am going to extend the reach of SE FLEET all the way down to Noumea and Norfolk Island. This will ensure the maximum possible length of retreat when I have to start trading space for time.

SAA

Java is nearly mine, with only Tjilitjap and Soerbaja remaining in Allied hands. Half the Dutch Army was captured in Batavia, and so there is that much less facing me when I attack Soerbaja.

Unfortunately Batavia was heavily damaged by the Dutch before they capitulated. All Dutch Engineers are to be executed upon capture if they were involved in demolition work. Palembang will be scoured clean before it is attacked.

BAA

Burma Area Army is deserately short on troops...especially air units. This is creating the situation where I am vulnerable to air attack by British bombers operating from E India. So far these raids have not targeted the oil fields at Rangoon or Mandalay...but it is probably only a matter of time.

CHINA

The attack against Homan has created a large pocket of troops there. I expect to wipe these out within a few weeks. Also continuous defeats and heavy air attacks have cost the Chinese heavily in supplies, and I hope in morale as well. If I maintain pressure here I believe I can punch through to Sian and deal a decicive blow.

NAA

No activity to report. I have begun garrisoning the bases along the Kuriles to ward off any potential American attacks...but there are few troops available (and none being transfered) and the work is slow.

HOME DEFENSE

ASW patrols and fighter cover against possible CV raids have been initiated, but the quality of crews and the density of aircraft make these efforts token at best.

[jolly_pillager]

Update 3/12/42

4TH FLEET

Preparations are still being made for the invasion of Fiji. The KB showed up at Baker Is, and drained away 13,000 tons of fuel oil in a mornig and STILL only managed to refill CARDIV1, leaving 2/3 of the fleet on emergency fuel reserves. Dispatching more fuel to this theater immediately.

We are finally starting to get some LCU reinforcements for 4TH FLEET. These are desperately needed as I am very thin at this time. The only thing preventing an Allied counter-attack are my Betties, and the KB.

SE FLEET

Now that we own Thursday Is. and Port Moresby it is time to begin securing all of those little dot bases between New Guinea and the Solomons. These will be used as seaplane bases to keep an eye on the Coral Sea. I am going to build Lunga up into a regional airbase before we make the jump down to the Santa Cruz Islands. This will allow local LBA cover for this move and also give me sufficient time to move ground reinforcements to the theater.

I am expecting the Allied counter-attack to be along either New Zealand-->New Caladonia-->Santa Cruz-->the Solomons or Palmyra-->Canton/ Baker-->Kwajalein. Both of these routes are being reinforced.

SAA

I conquered Soerbaja and the Dutch managed to torch EVERYTHING [X(]. I have not ever taken a base and had all production destroyed by the defenders.

This is going to throw a serious crimp in my expansion plans. Without the supplies that Java would have produced the entire attack on Western Australia will be on a shoestring at best. This attack is still on the table, but I am now much more wary of getting caught in a battle of attrition against the 3 Aus Divisions that I have ID'd in Darwin and Katherine.

On the plus side, much of the industrial upgrading that was ordered in the Home Islands and elsewhere has now been completed, so I am getting an increased flow of supplies from the home factories being available for ops as opposed to being used to repair damaged facilities. Maybe it will all balance out in the end...maybe...

BAA

I need more troops in this theater. There are currently 3 Divisions assigned, and they have reached the limit of their reach at Mandalay. A severe shortage of aircraft and aviation support assigned to BAA is also allowing the British to conduct nuissance raids with light bombers with impunity.

The problem is, of course, dealing with the Army brass. They are most unreasonable about troop deployments, insisting that Manchuria and the Home Islands are the most important theaters. IDIOTS! We have a treaty with the USSR and the Americans will NEVER invade Nippon while the Combined Fleet rules the waves.

The result is that we have whole Divisions cooling their heels in Tokyo while the front lines are held by Battalions of naval personel and the advance in Burma grinds to a halt for want of offensive power.

CHINA

The battle lines are stable at this time...but that means that I have large numbers of Chinese troops trapped in Homan and Nanyang. Once these pockets are reduced, I will advance on Sian/ Yenan and crush the Chinese Northern flank.

[alfrake]

ORIGINAL: jolly_pillager

I have large numbers of Chinese troops trapped in Homan and Nanyang. Once these pockets are reduced, I will advance on Sian/ Yenan and crush the Chinese Northern flank.

You really have chunks of Chinese surrounded and slowly starving? Good job General!!

[jolly_pillager]

3/17/42

Homan Falls netting 2 Corps and an HQ

[jolly_pillager]

Uh oh....looks like Walter may be commiting surface groups to the fight.

Has he drawn the proverbial "line in the sand"?

Or are these units merely in transit...

[jolly_pillager]

Nice work at Bataan

[jolly_pillager]

So, I have been tracking these two TF's for several days. Numerous cruisers have been spotted in them which makes them either surface combat or CV TF's...due to the way in which they hovering just outside the range of the KB makes me think they are the US carriers (the KB has been spotted and the Zuikaku ID'ed by B-17's from Johnston...so he knows what and where I am).

The real question is why is Walter keeping his CV's so close to the KB?

Clearly he has to have all of them grouped, or there would not be enough combat power to run the risk...maybe he thinks I haven't spotted them yet (no spotting messages have popped up yet...the TF's are simply displayed on the orders screen)...

In any event...they are now outside air support range of Midway and are within Betty range of Wake (Wake is size 3 and so the Betties are armed only with bombs...but there's 100 of them).

We'll see how it goes.

[jolly_pillager]

Update 4/11/42

4TH FLEET

Fiji and Tonga have been captured. With this the Bismark Barrier is basically complete in territory. Now I just need to get reinforcements out there to stifen the line before the expected American counter-attacks. I believe that I will have until 1943 for this work to be completed. Until such time as sufficient LBA is in place to repel an attack, I will need to keep the KB on station as a mobile counter-attack force.

SE FLEET

All Offensive operations have come to a halt due to lack of troops. Plans are to run down Luganville--->Efate--->Nomea--->Norfolk Is.

SAA

The invasion of NW Aus is on, Broome and Derby have been taken, and my crack Divisions (many have xp in the 90's after Java) should be able to cut off Darwin and take it. Without supplies moving to the Allies, it will be just a matter of time.

Mop up operations are commencing in the Phillipines and the East Indies. The goal is to set up naval bases from which smaller CV's can harrass enemy shipping to Perth.

BAA

NEED TROOPS!

Only 3 Divisions areassigned to this theater and they have reached the limit of their advance. Aviation support is also lacking, preventing me from basing large numbers of army aircraft here. This is where the British will counter attack into, and I need more at the front to stop them.

CHINA

The attack against North China is going well with the capture of some 40k Chinese today at Nanyang (which pockets the survivors of Homan neatly). The last bastion is Sian where 10 LCU's are reported...once I crush this, my lines against southern China will be dramatically shorter, allowing me to carve off sections of front and push the Chinese back towards Chunking.

Map next post.