SqzMyLemon
Posts: 4239
Joined: 10/30/2009 From: Alberta, Canada Status: offline
|
Jan. 13/43: Sub Ops: SS Seal attacks the brand spanking new DD Wakazuki near Iwo-Jima, but misses. One near miss DC hit is recorded. I'm going to address getting some air ASW based at Iwo-Jima as the gap between the base and Saipan is an enemy submarine haven. Burma: Some action today as Allied bombers target troops at Magwe. The bombers attacked inbetween two fighter sweeps. The raids are as follows: Morning Air attack on Mandalay , at 59,46 Weather in hex: Moderate rain Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 4 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 15 Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 12 Allied aircraft P-40K Warhawk x 24 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 4 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-40K Warhawk: 5 destroyed Japanese fighters are based at Toungoo. The Nick's did their job, they sucked down the sweeps and allowed the Tojo's to get the altitude advantage. At least the Nick's are armoured which made a difference in terms of pilots surviving, if not airframes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on 4th Division, at 59,46 (Mandalay) Weather in hex: Moderate rain Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 6 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 11 Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 4 Allied aircraft B-24D Liberator x 72 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses B-24D Liberator: 2 damaged Japanese ground losses: 225 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 13 disabled Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 12 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 5 (2 destroyed, 3 disabled) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Mandalay , at 59,46 Weather in hex: Moderate rain Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 22,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 10 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 10 Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 4 Allied aircraft P-40E Warhawk x 24 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed The tally for lost aircraft according to tracker was Allied losses of P-40K's (13), P-40E's (5) and B-24D's (1) while Japanese losses were Ki-44-IIa Tojo's (8) and Ki-45 KAIa Nick's (6). Sadly the Tojo's took the majority of the pilot losses with KIA (3) and WIA (4) compared to the Nick's with KIA (2) and WIA (2). China: Changteh's aibase hit for 10 AB, 2 ABS and 29 Runway hits. Chihkiang's airbase raid was grounded as was the bombing raids ordered to hit the ground troops. Bad luck, as I was counting on the enemy being hit prior to the deliberate attack, however it didn't matter. The deliberate attack went well, in fact better than expected. Supply is definitely hurting the Chinese, as the following combat report shows. I'm sure the concentration of armour also made an impact. It's time to aggressively attack the Chinese. Ground combat at 78,51 (near Chihkiang) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 95534 troops, 1022 guns, 1019 vehicles, Assault Value = 3732 Defending force 63121 troops, 296 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2540 Japanese adjusted assault: 2925 Allied adjusted defense: 1441 Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 3585 casualties reported Squads: 19 destroyed, 378 disabled Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 25 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 77 disabled Vehicles lost 50 (6 destroyed, 44 disabled) Allied ground losses: 21584 casualties reported Squads: 662 destroyed, 340 disabled Non Combat: 621 destroyed, 168 disabled Engineers: 30 destroyed, 15 disabled Guns lost 34 (15 destroyed, 19 disabled) Units retreated 9 So the army will turn and march N.E. to cut the main road to Changteh. I have 3200 AV in reserve at Kweilin and Changsha which will deploy to protect the flanks. I will start bombing the other large Chinese formation due west of Changteh. Bart splitting his forces gave me this opportunity and I plan on exploiting it as much as I can. Divide and conquer! DEI: Allied B-17E's (36) in three separate raids hit Boela today. I goofed with orders for KI-43-IIa Oscar's based at Ambon to provide LRCAP, so the bombers got a free pass. The raid knocked out half the oil production capacity. Miscellaneous: Japan: Device Toko Rocket advances R&D 59th Sentai/C converting to Ki-43-IIa Oscar 81st Sentai converting to Ki-46-III Dinah 8th Mongol Cavalry Division arrives at Kalgan Allied: Tabiteuea expands airfield to size 4 Luganville expands port to size 6 Shilka expands airfield to size 8 Thoughts: I see the future. Allied 4E's...period. The game is going to be an air battle for as long as Bart gets positive results from his bombing operations and doesn't need to risk his navy. So, my defensive priority and strategy will be based on denying Allied bombers access to vital airbases that put my industry in peril. That means I redeploy troops/aircraft to the DEI and Burma to get more airbases built up to combat the enemy 4E threat. Now I see the wisdom of taking Northern Australia and pushing as deep into Burma as possible to delay the inevitable. I may just take a look at what can be done in Northern Australia. Perhaps an invasion of Port Hedland and area to delay Allied buildup efforts and force them to react.
< Message edited by SqzMyLemon -- 1/27/2012 3:51:34 PM >
_____________________________
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
|