obvert
Posts: 14050
Joined: 1/17/2011 From: PDX (and now) London, UK Status: offline
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Sept 29 - 30, 1942 SUBS: The Swordfish gave the first indication that the intel from a few days ago might actually pay off when on the night of the 29th it launched at two TFs, including the CA Takao. All missed. Then on the 30th Truant comes through on the SIGINT tip in a big way! They're having a bit of a party at Station Hypo HQ in Honolulu! Now 6 subs within a two day travel to Sabang will be on the hunt, with more piling on from 4-5 days away. I just had a thought that Nick could stash her at the absolute closest port on one of the islands off the coast of Sumatra. I'll head that way with one US sub as well. INDIA: At last Nick sends in protection for his troops in the clear and the two sweeps and one bombing run meet heavy LR CAP of Oscars and Zeros. The P-38Es that I have left cut through the Oscars, but not enough so that the bombing run is safe. Loses on the day are about even, but we lose some B-25C and P-40K that I don't want to be without right now. Sweeps are off for tomorrow, then I may bring in more reinforcements, as it's a good place to sweep where he's away from radar coverage. Bellary had indeed been vacated at least for now. I'll head in with armor and see if this is real, or if it's some kind of trap where he rails in a division or two after we get to the city. CENT PAC: The mini-KB bugged out and shipping runs resume to the Gilberts. Some stuff is being flown in to Ocean, and I'll risk a convoy soon with some surface protection. Wildcats now have drop tanks as of Oct 1, so I can just barely LR CAP Ocean as well. SO PAC: Our CV TF moving up through the New Hebrides nearly suffers the same fate as Kaga when the I-10 is sighted by escorts new Luganville. I'll pull this back to avoid search if possible, and also to mis-direct another subs in the area. I'm curous how Nick will react, as the TF has a 4/4 DL, but also he got the report of what ships are here from the sub, and with the CLAA it's obviously a CV TF. He can't know how many though, and so risking anything less than the full KB will be suspect. As long as there is no definitive intel this could be great and give a lot of possibilities to the use of surface ships in the Solomons. I could even risk a dash for Tulagi since I have a full division prepped and some AP/AK ready to go at its base in Suva. In a week I could invade both Lunga and Tulagi. I'll at least get this idea moving and prepare what I can to see how Nick is moving in the background. The Cavalry has made it fully onto Rekata Bay, and I think it's best not to strike now, but to build a few forts and wait to see how the next week plays out. The Kaga hit changes a lot and the CV sighting for the Japanese also means he has to really think before sending out BBs and valuable surface ships to the Southern Solomons. I've got three cruiser TFs and the CV TF in the area so could tangle with just about anything as ing as the main KB is in the Indian Ocean. Here we go! CHINA: The first DA by the troops in the Chikhiang hex is a bit too code to a 1:1 for my comfort, but the Japanese take worse casualties that include 50 vehicles destroyed or disabled. I've got another unit still arriving, so hopefully that will tip the next attack more in our favor. Also, the best part of this one was that it didn't reduce forts. At forts three this is a tough place to attack and bombing is not too effective. With each loss of a fort it'll get a lot easier. SIGINT: The China HQ is being at Henyang makes me think he doesn't plan to go to the mountains just yet,but will focus on Kweiyang and that route. Not that this will help the defense much, but good to know, anyway. China Expeditionary Army is located at Hengyang(80,53). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Sept 29, 42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Sabang at 33,70 Japanese Ships DD Harukaze DD Fumizuki DD Kamikaze Allied Ships SS Swordfish SS Swordfish launches 2 torpedoes at DD Harukaze DD Harukaze fails to find sub and abandons search DD Kamikaze fails to find sub, continues to search... DD Kamikaze attacking submerged sub .... DD Kamikaze is out of ASW ammo DD Kamikaze is out of ASW ammo DD Kamikaze fails to find sub, continues to search... Escort abandons search for sub -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Sabang at 33,70 Japanese Ships CA Takao DD Ariake DD Hatsuharu DD Takanami DD Katsutade DD Tadeshiwa DD Hayate DD Oite Allied Ships SS Swordfish SS Swordfish launches 4 torpedoes at CA Takao DD Katsutade fails to find sub and abandons search DD Tadeshiwa fails to find sub, continues to search... DD Hayate fails to find sub and abandons search DD Oite fails to find sub, continues to search... Escort abandons search for sub -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Chihkiang (78,50) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 34119 troops, 458 guns, 1132 vehicles, Assault Value = 1256 Defending force 40185 troops, 145 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1264 Japanese adjusted assault: 1098 Allied adjusted defense: 1300 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3) Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(+), experience(-), supply(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 1183 casualties reported Squads: 6 destroyed, 199 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 28 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 15 disabled Vehicles lost 55 (1 destroyed, 54 disabled) Allied ground losses: 1403 casualties reported Squads: 4 destroyed, 121 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 26 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled Assaulting units: 18th Tank Regiment 34th Division 17th Tank Regiment 23rd Tank Regiment 3rd Tank Regiment 12th Tank Regiment 17th Division 9th Tank Regiment 13th Tank Regiment 19th Tank Regiment 15th Tank Regiment 11th Tank Regiment 6th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion Tonei Hvy Gun Regiment 12th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion 3rd Hvy.Artillery Regiment 15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment 2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment 1st Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 9th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 4th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 11th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion 4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 13th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion 13th Army 20th Medium Field Artillery Regiment Defending units: 25th Chinese Corps 4th Chinese Corps 45th Chinese Corps 46th Chinese Corps 23rd Group Army -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Sept 30, 42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on 1st Raiding Regiment, at 55,32 , near Patna Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid spotted at 38 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 11 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M5 Zero x 32 Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 73 Allied aircraft B-25C Mitchell x 15 P-40K Warhawk x 14 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 2 destroyed Allied aircraft losses B-25C Mitchell: 5 destroyed, 5 damaged P-40K Warhawk: 2 destroyed Aircraft Attacking: 7 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on 1st Raiding Regiment, at 55,32 , near Patna Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 2 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M5 Zero x 32 Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 23 Allied aircraft P-38E Lightning x 5 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-38E Lightning: 1 destroyed -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on 1st Raiding Regiment, at 55,32 , near Patna Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid spotted at 41 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 9 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M5 Zero x 32 Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 14 Allied aircraft P-38E Lightning x 3 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed No Allied losses -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Vanua Lava at 121,149 Japanese Ships SS I-10, hits 5, heavy damage Allied Ships CA San Francisco CA Salt Lake City CA Pensacola CLAA San Juan CLAA San Diego CLAA Atlanta DD Meredith DD Bancroft DD Lardner DD Duncan DD Laffey SS I-10 is sighted by escort I-10 diving deep .... DD Bancroft fails to find sub, continues to search... DD Lardner attacking submerged sub .... DD Bancroft attacking submerged sub .... DD Lardner attacking submerged sub .... SS I-10 eludes ASW attack from DD Lardner DD Duncan fails to find sub, continues to search... DD Duncan attacking submerged sub .... DD Duncan fails to find sub, continues to search... Escort abandons search for sub -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Air osses for the 30th aren't terrible, but it's been impossible to get a MB pool of anything lately. I have to use them to bomb troops, and this is just going to happen a bit I guess.
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< Message edited by obvert -- 10/7/2014 10:52:35 AM >
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"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
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