obvert
Posts: 14050
Joined: 1/17/2011 From: PDX (and now) London, UK Status: offline
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March 5 - 8, 1943 I arrived back to a turn from Nick. I think I still know what I was doing here, but I'm sure in my sleep-deprived state I forgot something major in my adjustments. I'm a few turns behind as I'd planned to catch up but found I was doing a lot of more important things there like laying by the pool, eating Madagascar prawns and sleeping 10 hours a night! SUBS: My subs are fanning out from the SW corner of OZ up to the North and around into the DEI. it's the first time I've used any there since early in the game. Now that I'm beginning to secure the routes from Cape Town again, OZ will begin getting regular fuel shipments and subs will base from the closest possible port, currently Esperance. Grenadier gets a shot at Kinugasa near Torokina with four fish but none find the mark. INDIA: Night mining claimed it's first victim with DMS Taneko taking one for the team at Madras. A strike on Trincomalee didn't go as planned as sweeps came in late (even though much closer to the destination) and the LR CAP and escorts got smashed by numbers. Still, the later sweeps evened the score a bit and it wasn't disastrous, but it's a crime I can't do better than this with the elements in place. I'll figure it out soon, as these are still the preliminary rounds. A few bombardments get mostly losses for the Allies at Madras, but it's still good to throw them in occasionally. All troops are now prepping for the base as is the India Command, so soon the bonuses may kick in and things might get a bit dicey for Nick here. CENT PAC: Probing the area for any remaining Japanese resistance. I'll start bombarding other islands including Mili and Nauru. Two USN battleships have moved into the area to add some weight to the fleet here. SO PAC: The Milne Bay invasion lands. This is another shoestring op with only one AP and a bunch of APD and one fast xAKL. If this works I'll quickly expand the move to the islands North of Milne Bay and fast transports will load up to drop troops beginning tomorrow. Aussie cruisers are moving in to lend support and will bombard Milne Bay. Some LR CAP will come from nearby islands. CHINA: Changsha falls. This is a decisive finale to the battle with 87k Chinese troops lost and a large Japanese Army now free to work on ether the Chungking of the Sian area. A small tank led army continues to apply pressure up into the mountains near Kunming, and it is likely it'll eventually break through as supply wanes. OZ: Albany is empty and landing craft will deliver small forces to claim the base in the next few days. AA and a base force are being loaded to follow. Tanks are moving toward Kalgoorlie and will arrive within about 8-10 days depending on Japanese resistance. There haven't been any more bombing of the ground troops since Esperance was taken. SIGINT: Looks ike he's loading up at Exmouth and maybe at Port Hedland. I'd guess though that those troops will move to the DEI perimeter. 38/Imperial Guards Division is loaded on a Std-D Cargo class xAK moving to Port Hedland-5th 19th Division is loaded on AK Yamaura Maru moving to Truk. -6th 5th Amphibious Brigade is located at Exmouth(50,129).-6th 4/17th Garrison Unit is loaded on xAK Unkai Maru #6 moving to Exmouth.-8th -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Mar 5, 43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TF 232 encounters mine field at Madras (35,40) Japanese Ships DMS Taneko 32 mines cleared -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TF 472 encounters mine field at Esperance (56,153) Allied Ships AM Doomba AM Madras 31 mines cleared -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TF 477 encounters mine field at Esperance (56,153) Allied Ships AM Swallow 2 mines cleared -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Naval bombardment of Nauru Island at 127,128 Allied Ships CL Montpelier CL Denver CL Trenton Japanese ground losses: 236 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 22 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled Airbase hits 2 Runway hits 12 Port hits 3 CL Montpelier firing at Kure 5th SNLF CL Denver firing at Nauru Island SOC-1 Seagull acting as spotter for CL Trenton CL Trenton firing at Nauru Island -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TF 232 encounters mine field at Madras (35,40) Japanese Ships DMS Taneko, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage 32 mines cleared Morning Air attack on Trincomalee , at 31,47 Weather in hex: Severe storms Raid detected at 32 NM, estimated altitude 27,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 11 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M5c Zero x 30 Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 108 Allied aircraft Hurricane IIc Trop x 10 P-400 Airacobra x 16 F4U-1 Corsair x 36 Japanese aircraft losses A6M5c Zero: 2 destroyed Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 3 destroyed Allied aircraft losses Hurricane IIc Trop: 6 destroyed P-400 Airacobra: 3 destroyed F4U-1 Corsair: 3 destroyed Aircraft Attacking: 12 x F4U-1 Corsair sweeping at 25000 feet 6 x F4U-1 Corsair sweeping at 25000 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Trincomalee , at 31,47 Weather in hex: Severe storms Raid detected at 39 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 14 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M5c Zero x 21 Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 88 Allied aircraft Liberator II x 21 Kittyhawk I x 16 Kittyhawk III x 16 B-24D Liberator x 18 P-400 Airacobra x 3 P-40E Warhawk x 25 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses Liberator II: 2 destroyed, 6 damaged Liberator II: 1 destroyed by flak Kittyhawk I: 1 destroyed B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed, 9 damaged P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed Airbase supply hits 1 Runway hits 17 Aircraft Attacking: 12 x Liberator II bombing from 10000 feet Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Trincomalee , at 31,47 Weather in hex: Severe storms Raid detected at 39 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 13 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M5c Zero x 16 Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 74 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk I x 15 B-24D Liberator x 6 B-25C Mitchell x 3 P-40K Warhawk x 25 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk I: 1 destroyed B-24D Liberator: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged B-25C Mitchell: 2 destroyed P-40K Warhawk: 2 destroyed Aircraft Attacking: 3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Trincomalee , at 31,47 Weather in hex: Severe storms Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 26,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 13 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M5c Zero x 5 Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 10 Allied aircraft Hurricane IIc Trop x 16 P-39D Airacobra x 7 P-40K Warhawk x 96 Japanese aircraft losses A6M5c Zero: 3 destroyed Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 5 destroyed No Allied losses Aircraft Attacking: 22 x P-40K Warhawk sweeping at 25000 feet 25 x P-40K Warhawk sweeping at 25000 feet 4 x Hurricane IIc Trop sweeping at 10000 feet 19 x P-40K Warhawk sweeping at 25000 feet 7 x P-40K Warhawk sweeping at 25000 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Mar 7, 43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Changsha (82,52) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 138789 troops, 1378 guns, 762 vehicles, Assault Value = 3899 Defending force 78563 troops, 263 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1518 Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2 Japanese adjusted assault: 5217 Allied adjusted defense: 801 Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 2) Japanese forces CAPTURE Changsha !!! Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), disruption(-), supply(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 6751 casualties reported Squads: 6 destroyed, 406 disabled Non Combat: 22 destroyed, 61 disabled Engineers: 31 destroyed, 34 disabled Guns lost 34 (1 destroyed, 33 disabled) Vehicles lost 14 (6 destroyed, 8 disabled) Allied ground losses: 87990 casualties reported Squads: 1751 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 3889 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 119 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 357 (357 destroyed, 0 disabled) Units destroyed 16 Assaulting units: 8th Ind Engineer Regiment 59th Division 116th Division 68th Division 58th Division 40th Division 13th Division 3rd Division 70th Division 60th Division 3rd Tank Division 39th Division 16th Division 2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment 5th Fleet 11th Army 11th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion 10th Mortar Battalion 4th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion 1st Mortar Battalion 12th Army 51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion 1st Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion Tonei Hvy Gun Regiment 6th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 12th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion 5th Medium Field Artillery Regiment Defending units: 2nd Chinese Corps 26th Chinese Corps 59th Chinese Corps 94th Chinese Corps 18th Chinese Corps 79th Chinese Corps 3rd New Chinese Corps 6th War Area 30th Group Army 29th Group Army 14th Construction Regiment 19th Group Army 9th War Area 27th Group Army 5th Construction Regiment 17th Chinese Base Force -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Mar 8, 43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Torokina , at 109,130 Weather in hex: Heavy rain Raid detected at 31 NM, estimated altitude 25,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 6 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M5 Zero x 56 Allied aircraft P-38G Lightning x 20 Japanese aircraft losses A6M5 Zero: 12 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-38G Lightning: 2 destroyed Aircraft Attacking: 4 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 25000 feet CAP engaged: Yokosuka Ku S-2 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 36 scrambling) 6 plane(s) intercepting now. 0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters between 19000 and 27000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 40 minutes 281 Ku S-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling) 8 plane(s) intercepting now. 0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 19000 and 29000. Raid is overhead -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 71,48 (near Kunming) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 13628 troops, 245 guns, 485 vehicles, Assault Value = 419 Defending force 17526 troops, 90 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 432 Japanese adjusted assault: 327 Allied adjusted defense: 148 Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), experience(-), supply(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 383 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 22 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled Allied ground losses: 1031 casualties reported Squads: 47 destroyed, 37 disabled Non Combat: 75 destroyed, 5 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled Guns lost 10 (2 destroyed, 8 disabled) Units retreated 4 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 19th Ind.Mixed Brigade Guards Tank Division 13th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion 20th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 23rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment 8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment Defending units: 34th Chinese Corps 73rd Chinese Corps 49th Chinese Corps 88th Chinese Division 9th Group Army -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When I get CAP up around Ceylon I inevitably pick off a lot of search planes. I've been turning the tip naval bases into search CAP traps for a while and now with PTs, Amc and subs around the ports the attracted planes get zapped regularly. This really adds up!
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< Message edited by obvert -- 1/2/2015 1:55:01 PM >
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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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