IdahoNYer
Posts: 2616
Joined: 9/6/2009
From: NYer living in Boise, ID
Status: offline
|
April 44 Summary
A productive, but costly month. The prize of Palembang was finally realized which secured Sumatra while advances in both SOPAC - securing New Guinea, and SWPAC - securing the southern Celebes and a foothold in Java, were all accomplished. Losing two carriers sunk were of course the heavy cost. Still, territorial gains are far in advance of what I anticipated. There is a downside however….gains are outstripping objective planning for the ground forces and forward base development is not keeping up either. China appears to be stabilizing while Burma/Thailand remains in stalemate. The IJN sorties have been scarce, but the one time the IJN ventured a cruiser force to sea was costly to the Allies: Naval losses for the month were fairly minimal to both sides; the IJN reportedly lost 4DD, 1TB, 7E, 15MTB, 2SS and 2SSX compared to the Allies losing 2CV, 4DD, 2SS. In the air, for the first time (as far as I can remember anyway….the Allied air losses exceeded Japan’s - although about 180 came from the loss of the two carriers; 508 for Jpn to 559 Allied.
INTEL: Apparently L_S_T has pulled in his main defensive line well back; much more than I anticipated. The DEI and the Marianas are apparently outside the main defensive belt, only garrisoned to delay. The question now is whether the Philippines are part of the main defensive belt - or whether its Formosa and the Bonins. Perhaps Luzon? I’m still very surprised that the DEI is outside this defensive belt, and that Java and Borneo weren’t more heavily defended - much Allied ground combat power is now freed up. Allied planning needs to now look deeper into the Japanese defenses, with recon expanding to see where the defenses are focused. As of right now, the PI defenses are largely unknown, and that needs to change. As for the IJN, absolutely no idea where the fleet is based, nor what will trigger a major sortie. My best guess is that the IJN is based in the Home Islands. I’m thinking now that an invasion of Luzon will trigger a sortie…but that’s mere guesswork.
SUBWAR: Allied subs finally manage to take a toll of Japanese tankers this past month, sinking 10, as single tankers attempt to pull fuel/oil out of the DEI. It’s still expensive work, as Japanese ASW efforts remain dangerous. Japanese fleet boat combat operations are a rare sight, although it looks like SSTs are being used to evacuate isolated garrisons.
West Coast/USA/Rear Areas: Fighter production jumps to 901 in May with the addition of the British Thunderbolt and the New Zealand Corsair while the obsolete Hurricane finally ends production. Just when I think I’m catching up on US Navy fighter pilot pools, I lose carrier’s worth of pilots which put a big dent into the pools - not all are permanently lost, but most are, and many of those who survived are in delayed status coming back into play. Other pilot pools remain fair to good. April also was a big month for APA upgrades which largely went unheeded, which means I need to get the APAs staggered into ports to refit/upgrade.
NOPAC. While nothing happened in NOPAC, I need to start focusing a bit here - getting into the Kuriles before winter weather returns would be highly desirable. Currently, the US 6th IN Div is slated here, but I’m not sure that is enough. While I’d like to advance along the Kurile chain, it will require bringing the CV TF north, and with the advances continuing briskly in other Theaters, I’m hesitant to bring the carriers to the Aleutians for an extended stay - but that does need to happen before winter closes down arctic operations.
CENPAC. I was very surprised at the lack of air opposition in the Marianas. Good. The Allies main effort will be in CENPAC during May - Yap, Rota and Pagan the primary targets to protect the flank of the main Allied thrust to the PI, and also to neutralize the L_S_T’s ability to use the Marianas. Guam is eventually on the list as a B-29 base, but with the B-29s operating at long range, I’m just not convinced the Marianas are the best base for them in a PBEM strategic bombing campaign. Saipan and Tinian are both heavily garrisoned and I plan to avoid landings there.
SOPAC. The landings at Sorong and Morotai culminated the current SOPAC’s offensive objectives. Next step in the Philippine isle of Mindanao, which still needs a bit more time for planning. Still not sure of the PI’s defenses, so will now focus more effort to that in the coming month. May might see landings in Mindanao, but beyond that, much more recon needs to take place.
SWPAC. Celebes, especially Kendari and Makassar, was much more lightly defended than anticipated. So, by month’s end instead of fighting on Celebes, troops are ashore in Borneo and Java. The challenge now is to build up bases and bring the support train forward - to support further landings on Borneo and the Philippines. Objectives for the troops need to be totally re-worked, so there needs to be a delay - hence the benefit of shifting the main effort to CENPAC for May, and then Mindanao. SWPAC is at a crossroads at the moment - future operations will split SWPAC forces with the majority of the Australians (in the form of I and II Corps troops) securing Borneo as well as some outer PI islands to protect the unimpeded advance towards the South China Sea. The US contingent will focus on planning for Luzon. Still need to work out much of the details for the PI campaign beyond Mindanao.
China. It appears the lines are stabilizing in China for the moment. Could be temporary, will see. Supply is getting better across China, but getting it over 100k is still the challenge.
Burma. Didn’t try to do much in Burma in April. A “holding action” is an apt description. A Major IJA force is still in place north and west of Bangkok - I’m a bit surprised this force hasn’t been pulled east to Indochina and repositioned elsewhere in the Empire. I want to keep them where they are for another month or two, until I can get major naval units from the Pacific Theaters into the South China Sea. May should see some naval assisted flanking to seize Tavoy in the Andaman Sea which will lead to IJA troops in Malaya being cut off from the main body in Thailand. And I think Malaya is ripe for the taking with minimal force - less Singers of course. In the air, the B-29’s use so far is limiting. Its high maintenance rate and small squadron size of 7 planes has limited its effectiveness. B-24s remain the mainstay and have been effective in reducing Bangkok’s capabilities.
IO. Well, Palembang was finally taken. Nice! Now what to do with the troops is the major quandary. While a relatively small contingent of what’s available has started to liberate Java - the main force is without a current objective. And with SWPAC’s Australians taking on Borneo, that’s not a needed option. I’m thinking Indo China - an amphibious operation to secure the flank of any future naval operations in the South China Sea - which will be desirable for operations against Luzon, and perhaps bottle up the large IJA contingent still centered on holding Bangkok. Malaya doesn’t really have much strategic value other than gathering some VPs. Need to make a decision here sooner rather than later as the current planning objective for most of the troops is still Palembang. Any future effort - Indo China, Malaya or elsewhere will require the shuttling of troops between the Burma and IO Theaters. With major operations in seizing Sumatra over, I’m going to consolidate the Burma and IO Theaters back into a single South East Asia Theater Command beginning in May.
 Attachment (1)
|
Printable Version
RE: 24-25 Apr 44 - 
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread