mind_messing
Posts: 3393
Joined: 10/28/2013 Status: offline
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October 11th to October 22nd, 1944 North Pacific I keep getting a lot of SigInt hits up here, and after my luck in rumbling the Sabang landing force, I'm diligent on following up any and all reports from SigInt. To that end, I've beefed up the air presence in the Kuriles and on Hokkaido and send a pair of slow E ships off to be an annoyance and to see what's up. Central Pacific Allied troops land and take Ponape with a minimum of fuss. Fortunately I'd lifted the good defending units out beforehand. Truk is now the new frontline here, defended by a rag-tag force of units flown out from the Marshalls. South-West Pacific The Allies are still static at Sorong/Waigeo. I've taken this lull to move a division from Babeldoab to Luzon, and plan to lift a second division from Yap to Luzon as well. Eastern DEI The Allies continue to land more troops on Timor, and continue to take massive losses to the unloading troops when doing so. The losses seem to occur in the "defending troops fire at landing craft" stage, meaning that the bombarding Allied ships aren't doing much to stop it. The Allies are approaching AV parity at Latuem, and while the defending Japanese troops have level 6 forts, they're pretty much out of supply. However, the time they've bought has been a great boon, as pretty much all the combat units from Dili to Soerabaja have been, or are in the process of being sent to Luzon/Formosa. Western DEI The string of attrition off Palembang continues. There's one inconclusive engagement on the 12th October, before a more general battle develops on the 14th: quote:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Palembang at 48,91, Range 3,000 Yards Japanese Ships - I give TF command to Tanaka, what a good move! CA Tone CA Chikuma CA Suzuya, Shell hits 1 CL Oi, Shell hits 1 DD Isonami, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk Allied Ships DD Hailey DD Owen DD John Rodgers DD Farenholt DD Welles DD Caldwell DD Hobby DD Kalk DD Satterlee DD Russell DD Roe, Shell hits 1 DD Case DD Quiberon DD Quadrant, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage DD Quality, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk DD Queensborough DD Racehorse, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage DD Rocket, Shell hits 3 quote:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Palembang at 48,91, Range 1,000 Yards Japanese Ships CA Tone, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1 CA Chikuma, Shell hits 3 CA Suzuya CL Oi, Shell hits 3 Allied Ships DD Hailey DD Owen DD John Rodgers DD Farenholt DD Welles DD Caldwell DD Hobby DD Kalk, Shell hits 1 DD Satterlee, Shell hits 13, and is sunk DD Russell DD Roe DD Case, Shell hits 4, on fire DD Quiberon, Shell hits 1 quote:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Palembang at 48,91, Range 2,000 Yards Japanese Ships CA Suzuya, Shell hits 2 Allied Ships DD Hailey, Shell hits 23, and is sunk DD Owen DD John Rodgers DD Farenholt DD Welles DD Caldwell DD Hobby DD Kalk, on fire DD Russell DD Roe DD Case, on fire DD Quiberon, Shell hits 4 quote:
TF 5 encounters mine field at 49,90 - Entrance hex to Palembang Allied Ships DD Case, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage DD Roe, Mine hits 1, heavy damage DD Caldwell DD Welles DD Farenholt DD Hobby, Mine hits 1 7 mines cleared To complete the poor showing for the Allied destroyers, IJA dive bombers put some more hits on the retreating destroyers when day breaks. However, this pretty much spells the end of the IJN naval resistance of Sumatra - the IJN ships are forced to Batavia to reload, and not a moment too soon, by the 16th, a much larger force of US and British ships sweeps up the river, including modern CA's. The Allied ships bombard Palembang, and close the airbase. Follow on airstrikes from the 17th to the 21st attack other airbases on Sumatra and attempt to bomb the oil at Palembang. Japanese air power does a good job at resisting, but is mostly confined to operating from Oosthaven and Batavia. Even so, the combination of level 6 forts in Palembang, combined with heavy flak and bad weather means that only 20 points of oil is knocked out of action. More Allied troops land at Singkawang, but the Japanese defenders have managed to dig forts back up to level 3. I'm unsure as to what the Allies have landed, but they'll still be facing about 450 AV of Japanese units. I'm very happy to have held here for so long - I get the impression that it's interfering with the timetable to move eastwards from Singapore. Vietnam The situation is still stable here, but is hanging by a thread. I am of the opinion that if I get one more week to consolidate, I can make a fighting retreat across China. Further supplies and troops are being dropped off in China in preparation. Upwards of 8 divisions have already been abandoned, along with artillery and HQ units. Most are being bought back for deployment to Luzon/Formosa. Luzon/Formosa Big supply and troop convoys inbound to both islands, and I'm flying in troops from Minadano by plane for good measure. Luzon is now the hub for most of my air power, and I'm jumping at the chance to get some squadrons rested and trained.
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