Canoerebel
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Joined: 12/14/2002
From: Northwestern Georgia, USA
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9/5/42
Perhaps one of the most important days of the war thus far. While there are some interesting battlefield developments, though, the importance lies in a couple of minor encounters....
John's Spidey Senses: As you will recall, John has recently commented several times that his "spidey senses are tingling." I've been pretty sure, but not positive, he felt like something was up either in the Aleutians or Bay of Bengal or perhaps both. I've been wanting to tweak John's awareness in these areas, plus western Oz, and I think today went about as well as possible.
John's Email Today: "Interesting turn. VERY interesting..." When I received this message, I thought, "Uh oh, something big and bad has happened somewhere - perhaps some raiders stumbled across my line of amphibious TFs moving across the Pacific." Then I wondered if it might have been an encounter with my "feint picket DDs" way up near the Aleutians. Indeed, the latter proved true with some bonus material thrown in.
Phantom Encounter in NoPac: An Allied TF encountered an IJ TF somewhere in NoPac. The encounter yielded no intelligence for either side - both sides avoided contact without disclosing the identity of the foe. The contact led to this report: "Task Force 299 encounters enemy Task Force at 163 , 68." TF 299 is a "feint picket" DD I have on patrol south of the Aluetians. The DD probably came across an enemy picket ship (like an xAKL) that fled. This was the primary "Very Interesting" (to John) encounter in NoPac, but there were two susidiary events - a Lightning recon squadron began work over Akutan today, and an enemy Glen nosed around Prince Rupert.
Meaning: If John's "spidey senses" comments were about NoPac, and I think they were, he just got some very subtle tweaks. (If I were ready to move in the Pacific in the next week, it would be even better, but it's still going to be about four weeks before my operation unfolds.)
Phantom Encounter Western Oz: A second fortuitous encouter perhaps 15 hexes off Oz's SW Cape, where some kind of IJ patrol aircraft reported Allied shipping. The location would be optimal to trigger any concerns John might have about an Allied move on the Exmouth/Port Headland area and perhaps even Cocos Island. The hex is so far from his nearest bsse that I'm pretty sure the sighting was by a Glen or possibly carrier aircraft. (Each of the two Allied TFs consist of an ACM and xAK heading eventually to Chittagong and Akyab - the xAKs are along to provide fuel.) In addition, John reconned Perth for the first time in awhile and found a sizeable "fake amphibious TF" posted there. Meaning: This probably isn't enough to convince John that a major Allied move is in the offing here, but it should be enough to prompt some thought and investigation. He might even conclude that this is a feint while the real move is in the Aleutians.
Bay of Bengal: Enemy minelaying subs have been active recently. One laid mines at Chittagong a few days back (an AMc is working on that). Another one (or possibly two) came in to Akyab today. One sub hit a mine. That sub or another then fired some shots at an RN BB but took in response heavy hits from gunnery. I think at least one of the subs went under. Big enemy air raids again targeted Ramree without opposition.
Burma: Marauders accompanied by escorts and preceded by sizeable sweeps targeted the enemy tank unit adjacent to Magwe. This was the first Allied sweep mission and came off pretty well - both sides losing roughly 25 fighters. The Marauders did pretty good work. The Australian division then crushed the tank unit. Further south, the four UK brigades mauled 143rd Regiment, destroying 100+ squads. The Allies didn't lose any. It's still very early in Burma - where the sitaution is uncertain and fluid - but the campaign has resulted in at least four enemy units getting trashed: 48th Div., 2nd Tank Div.., 8th Tank Regiment, and 143rd Infantry Regiment. A few Allied units have been badly mistreated: Gloucester Battalion, a Punjab battalion, and BFF Brigade. The most serious loss for the Allies was Eastern Army HQ, which lost about 50 of its 250 support.
Pacific: Quiet in all the right places - the Allied shipping continues to move unmolested and apparently undetected. No signs of unusual enemy activity, SigInt, or base building in the targeted region.
Political Points: The Allies have 1750 in the bank. The priority is to have enough to buy an Indian division to insert at Ramree if the need should arise. The next priority is to buy some reserve divisions that will target my secondary objectives in the Pacific just after the main show opens. I need a total of about 3000 AV to cover these two contingencies, so it appears these can be achieved on schedule.
< Message edited by Canoerebel -- 5/9/2013 9:25:46 AM >
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent - 
That alone would make it a "very interesting" turn.
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