Bullwinkle58
Posts: 11302
Joined: 2/24/2009 Status: offline
|
May 13, 1942 Smacked 1) Bad day for the Allies at sea. Cruiser TF comes to within three hexes of Colombo, on the western side, and finds heavy, fast xAP TF leaving empty to go to CT to pick up. No escorts. I don't have enough (the RN is in the midst of withdrawing a bunch of DDs I need), and this is normally a straight-shot milk run to the map edge. That he did this indicates he might know the RN is at sea. Or, it might be an attempt to pull them away from Sabang. Or, he might not care about losing two CAs. Don't know. Don't klnow whcih direction they retired to; search assets are as rare as escorts. Could be Rangoon, could be the Strait. I will do what I can to find and engage, but the Bay is pretty big and the IJN ships are pretty fast. Day Time Surface Combat, near Colombo at 24,49, Range 23,000 Yards Japanese Ships CA Atago CA Chokai DD Yudachi DD Tadeshiwa, Shell hits 1 Allied Ships xAP Empress ' Asia, Shell hits 21, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk xAP Duchess of Bedford, Shell hits 21, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk xAP Moreton Bay, Shell hits 19, heavy fires, heavy damage xAP Esperance Bay, Shell hits 16, heavy fires, heavy damage xAP Largs Bay, Shell hits 19, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk xAP Lancashire, Shell hits 5, heavy fires xAP Dilwara, Shell hits 12, heavy fires, heavy damage xAP Boschfontein, Shell hits 10, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk xAP Rangitiki, Shell hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage xAP Rangitata, Shell hits 21, and is sunk Everything eventually sank. One more day and USS Arizona would have run right over this hex. 2) Shallow water near Balikpapan. O16 worked over by two SCs. Then sinks SC Ch14. Then worked over second time by other one. Still not seeing tankers coming and going here. 3) Night bombing of Kunming ineffective. Day bombing Haiphong Resources nets 12 hits. Many bombers moved to PBang. Multiple strikes on Djambi oil by B-25C, Hudsons, B-26, A-24, some with esocrts. 5 Oil hits in total. The P38E sweep arrives last and finds the Zeros eating dinner. B-17s flown in from Soerbaja sit today out to rest and do not attack Medan as ordered. 4) Japanese air activity targets PBang, Sabang, Prome, Chungking, the Big Stack, Bataan, Pt. Blair with multiple raids at most. Only PBang has any real CAP, there to protect bombers on the ground, and it does well. 5) China Hudsons probe bomb the LCU west of Chungking and find the 58th ID. It is playing hexside games to cut resource flows to Chungking I believe. The Big Stack bites the bullet and gets marching orders today, to move one hex west into contact with the 3-stack on the yellow road to Paoshan. Japan will have a menu of options now. I expect a wholesale move out of Tsuyung and into the hex for a huge battle on the road. The Chinese will continue west if given time. If there is a battle the survivors will do the same, seeking supply. I am hopeful this might give Chungking a supply-rest and stop the leakage. If the Big Stack makes it to Lashio relatively intact they represent a very nice mobile striking force, one with Red Army HQ in the stack. If there is a battle the Big Stack is big enough to cut up the Tsuyung defenders pretty well if the battle takes place on the road. 6) In Burma the force moving from Bassein is three large LCUs and they catch a retreating armor unit in Move mode on the road to Prome. Tough losses, but Prome is no longer a pushover, and the retreat of this unit puts it close to enetering Prome. Ground combat at 54,51 (near Bassein) Japanese Shock attack Attacking force 28665 troops, 281 guns, 286 vehicles, Assault Value = 1014 Defending force 1108 troops, 18 guns, 59 vehicles, Assault Value = 85 Japanese adjusted assault: 134 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 134 to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: op mode(-), leaders(+), experience(-), supply(-) Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-), fatigue(-) Japanese ground losses: 62 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied ground losses: 888 casualties reported Squads: 46 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 54 destroyed, 13 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 18 (18 destroyed, 0 disabled) Vehicles lost 65 (65 destroyed, 0 disabled) Units retreated 1 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 6th Guards Division 7th Ind.Tank Brigade 5th Guards Division Defending units: 50th Tank Brigade 7) Five Seabee battalions arrive today and will be put to work.
Attachment (1)
< Message edited by Bullwinkle58 -- 5/19/2013 10:00:36 PM >
_____________________________
The Moose
|