SqzMyLemon
Posts: 4239
Joined: 10/30/2009 From: Alberta, Canada Status: offline
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Well, I had better start updating what's been happening to set the stage for the next seven months of the war. I'm over my little pity party and it's time to man up . May 21/42: Sub Ops: The AO Notoro was again attacked by the SS Spearfish, but the one hit was a dud. The tanker lives to see another day with flotation damage down to 92% while travelling at cruise speed heading for Cagayan. China: Continued bombing of the 35th Chinese Corps. All losses inflicted now result in destroyed squads and equipment so the days are numbered for this Chinese force. Australia: Horn Island was swept by Zero's again today, but no Allied aircraft are home. The intention of operations in Australia and area is to try and keep Allied attention centred here and a possible invasion. Anything to keep the focus away from my planned operations in India. New Guinea: Allied B-17D's (7) made an appearance over the 17th Medium FA Rgt. today east of Port Moresby. Leaking CAP of A6M2 Zero's (3) from Buna intercepted. Three bombers were damaged for no loss and no ground troops took casualties. Cape Gloucester was captured today. The Banda Sea: Both Salajar and Ruteng were occupied today. Miscellaneous: Truk expands port to size 7 Clark Field expands fortifications to size 1 Oosthaven expands fortifications to size 2 Kai Island expands airfield to size 1 Lomblen expands airfield to size 4 May 22/42: Sup Ops: SS Silversides takes a crack at the AMC Asaka Maru en route from Truk to Tokyo and launches 6 topedoes. I again get lucky with a dud. SS Snapper also trailing the tanker Notoro Maru attacks one of her escorts, the APD Fuji, but misses. Another day afloat, but flotation damage has increased back to 96%. However, I can now dispand the tanker in port and start repairs. I never thought she'd make it and I think setting her to cruise speed saved her. China: The 35th Chinese Corps was assaulted today by the 15th Ind. Mixed Bde. at 89,40. The deliberate attack destroyed 8 infantry, 3 non-combat and 2 engineer squads and one gun totalling 50 casualties for no loss. The Chinese force retreated west towards Sian in rough terrain and will now be ignored. All Japanese troops around Yenan continue their march towards Sian. Australia: Another sweep by Zero's encountered no Allied fighters. A probing attack by bombers hit Darwin today. G4M1 Betty's (9) based from Koepang caused 4 AB and 4 Runway hits to the airfield. this signifies the start of the suppression and destruction of Darwin as a viable base to launch any kind of Allied offensive from. New Guinea: The 23rd Naval Guard unit began unloading at Merauke and will assault the undefended base tomorrow. I will then quickly re-embark the unit, I was unaware at the time that it could combine with another support unit and become a special BF. Sumatra: Great Nicobar was captured today and will become an airbase to supplement Port Blair. Miscellaneous: Nabire expands airfield to size 1 Den Passar expands airfield to size 4 May 23/42: Sup Ops: SS S-39 sinks the SC CH 23 with one working torpedo near Buna. SC CH 11 comes to the aid of her stricken sister ship and records two direct DC hits on the enemy submarine, heavy damage is reported. The submarine shows up on my sunk list, but I will wait for actual confirmation before I get too excited. If she did indeed go down that will be number two! Australia: Darwin was swept by A6M2 Zero's (22) based at Saumlaki, but no Allied fighters had rebased there after the raid by bombers the day before. This is a good sign. New Guinea: B-17D's appeared over Buna today at 38,000ft . Zero's attempted to interdict, but cannot climb that high. Needless to say no damage was inflicted on ground troops. Long Island was captured. Miscellaneous: Canton expands fortifications to size 3 Roi-Namur expands fortifications to size 3 Lautem expands airfield to size 2 Kai Island expands port to size 1 SS I-11 arrives at Cam Ranh Bay May 24/42: Sub Ops: SS Seadragon launches four torpedoes at the DD Hagikaze near Satawal, but all miss. The DD was escorting an important fuel TF. China: The 35th Chinese Corps has been wiped out, finally. Australia: Horn Island's defenders were bombed by G4M1 Betty's (8) escorted by A6M2 Zero's (6) based from Lae. Casualites was a disabled Allied non-combat squad, so future bombing will be halted. Darwin received it's first heavy bombing attack today. Zero's from Saumlaki swept the skies incase of an Allied air presence, but none were seen. G4M1 Betty's (41) based at Koepang and Ambon combined for a coordinated strike which was great to see. Seven Betty's were damaged while inflicting 13 AB, 1 ABS and 55 Runway hits and one disabled non-combat squad. Java: It's been a long time since I've mentioned Java, but the long awaited assault on Soerabaja began today. Fortifications were dropped to level 4 after 5:1 odds. Japanese losses were 2(42) infantry, 3(101) non-combat and 0(40) engineer squads and 1(23) vehicles totalling 1513 troops, against Allied losses of 84(110) infantry, 91(121) non-combat and 9(26) engineer squads including 1 gun and 1 vehicle disabled totalling 5351 troops. I've brought a lot of force to bear on Soerabaja. AV comparison is 2091 against 542 in favour of Japan. I hope to avoid the trashing of the industry and oil centres here with a quick victory. Miscellaneous: Truk expands fortifications to size 4 Woleai expands fortifications to size 2 Rangoon expands fortifications to size 2 Shortlands expands fortifications to size 2 Lomblen expands fortifications to size 1 Saumlaki expands airfield to size 4 Sidate expands fortifications to size 1 Nadzab expands airfield to size 4 DD Okikaze beginning refit in shipyard at Singapore Loss of CV Hiryu on Apr 07, 1942 is admitted May 25/42: Australia: Darwin was again pounded from the air today, after sweeps again insured the air was free of Allied fighters. The raids today were a little disjointed. The first wave of G4M1 Betty's (25) inflicted 5 AB, 1 ABS and 40 Runway hits while suffering 5 damaged planes. Another wave of G4M1 Betty's (12) caused a further 1 AB, 1 ABS and 11 Runway hits and suffered only 1 damaged bomber. Ki-21-IIa Sally's (20) based from Dili comprised the final raid of the day, resulting in a further 3 AB, 2 ABS and 13 Runway hits on the airfield. Two Sally's were damaged. I will transition the Sally's into the primary force for the Darwin bombing campaign to save the valuable Betty's for their intended purpose of sinking ships. Once the airfield is cratered I will focus on destroying the port. Java: The big news of the day was the fall and capture of Soerabaja! Another deliberate attack at 8:1 odds reduced the fortification down to level 2 and the defenders crumbled. The butchers bill was Allied losses of 810(222) infantry, 2586(227) non-combat and 82(12) engineer squads, with a further 181(1) guns and 5(0) vehicles lost. 14 Allied units were destroyed totalling 35944 troops. Japanese casualties were 3(72) infantry, 3(83) non-combat and 3(40) engineer squads lost including 0(21) vehicles totalling 972 casualties. A great Japanese victory. I don't know if the massive force ensuring only two days of fighting was the deciding factor, but the industry at Soreabaja is in relatively good shape. Oil 154(36), Resources 65(15), Manpower 1(1), HI 8(1), Repair Shipyard 7(1), LI 33(7) and finally Refinery 138(32). More importantly, it escaped the Allies' attention to turn off fuel production, a boon of 237019 fuel at the base! I've been shipping so much fuel to other bases, Japan's stocks are dwindling fast. The priority now is get this fuel to the Home Islands. Miscellaneous: Shikuka expands port to size 5 Eniwetok expands fortifications to size 2 Davao expands fortifications to size 3 Lahat expands airfield to size 3 Tjilitjap expands fortifications to size 2 Dili expands airfield to size 4 Lomblen expands fortifications to size 2 33rd Sentai arrives at Saigon 52nd JNAF AF Unit arrives at Tokyo So it seems I'm back on track somewhat, and I will post a 5 month assesment including the strategic goals for the next seven months as May winds down. With the Java campaign wrapped up the focus will now shift to tackling a bigger fish...India. Enjoy and any comments, as always, greatly appreciated.
< Message edited by SqzMyLemon -- 7/9/2010 6:56:03 AM >
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