Canoerebel
Posts: 21100
Joined: 12/14/2002 From: Northwestern Georgia, USA Status: offline
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6/10/44 Battle of Luzon: Allied bombers flew en masse against Batangas, doing heavy (but not catastrophic) damage. A couple of tank units then attacked and found enemy AV drastically reduced. John's stack shows a movement dot, so he's belatedly trying to evacuate. My troops are rested and fully supplied and will shock attack tomorrow. If this succeeds, John's losses could be catastrophic and his Luzon defenses crippled. This will be a key battle. Weather forecast is for heavy rain, so my bombers probably won't fly...but his probably won't either. He hasn't employed them yet, but I think he's panicked now and realized what's happening. SigInt reports AA inbound to San Fernando, another belated move on his part. He didn't like B-29s flying against his ground troops, referring to it as a "close support" mission. That's probably the tip of the iceberg to how he really feels. He just doesn't know - I've kept my bombers at 10k even though he has no AA, simply to accommodate his prejudices. And I've used my B29s only sparingly to this point. Where he's had fighters and AA, the effect of my LBA is seriously reduced...yet here he elects to fight on open ground without the benefit of either defense (though fighters showed up today). My impression is that John has mishandled Luzon, as he did Burma earlier in 1944. He didn't understand the nature of the campaign, the risks, and when to pull back. I hope the end results unfold much the same way, but there's still a lot of fighting to be done. Fun House: D-Day Miri tomorrow, as 6th Australian Div. (61% prepped) comes ashore. John has 4k troops - probably less than 150 AV - and good terrain. I'm not using bombardment TFs until I know the strength of the defenses. But Miri's in trouble unless John does something soon. Thailand: John is using the jungle terrain and remoteness to good effect west of Rahaeng, but the most recent Allied attack drove down his AV pretty sharply. I think the next attack will push his guys out of the hex. Elsewhere: Some key events about to transpire in the Pacific. I think John is getting some info now, but I won't say anything yet. Mini KB is in the Timor Sea, where she poses a threat to my DEI shipping...but I'm awfully glad she's off in that corner of the war.
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