apbarog
Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002 Status: offline
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16 Jan 42 British task force spotted east of Oosthaven, between Batavia and Palembang. Could be headed to Singapore to cause trouble. OPilot has maintained some air control over Singapore with just Buffaloes, due to ineffective bombing of the airfield, and that he rarely flies the Buffalos on CAP. He's using them mostly as escorts for Blens, or just sitting them on the ground. He could move a surface group in to help protect Singapore, if he thinks he can keep my bombers away. I move the big Zero group from Luzon back to Malaya for sweeping Singapore. Bettys are moved to Malaya, and paired with a smaller Zero escort set to range 14. I'll risk flying to Singapore or Palembang. There were other task forces seen near the British TF. Troops unloading at Koumac and Koumac was captured, and La Foa was invaded. It was undefended also. Midway invasion shipping moved to within 3 hexes of Midway. A big task force of small ships was spotted fleeing Midway to the east. Morning Air attack on TF, near Midway Island at 162,91 Weather in hex: Heavy cloud Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 4 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 18 B5N2 Kate x 31 D3A1 Val x 13 No Japanese losses Allied Ships PC Pulaski, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires PC Ariadne, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk xAKL Kahuku, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk YO-32 xAKL Nebraskan, Bomb hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage xAKL Mauna Ala, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage YO-8, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk YO-53, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk PC Hermes, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk xAKL Hirondelle, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk YO-9, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk The AOs spotted at Midway yesterday turned out to be YOs. Not concerned about enemy carriers now being north or northwest of Midway with just YOs there. But a task force was spotted during the night near French Frigate Shoals. Composition unknown. An evacuated Nanyang was captured by the Japanese. The Chinese have retreated into the woods north of Nanyang, blocking the route to Sian. To the east, we attack at Loyang. Ground combat at Loyang (87,43) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 66905 troops, 511 guns, 175 vehicles, Assault Value = 2059 Defending force 40791 troops, 134 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1118 Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2 Japanese adjusted assault: 1485 Allied adjusted defense: 471 Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 2) Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2 Combat modifiers Defender: forts(+), leaders(+), preparation(-), experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 1084 casualties reported Squads: 2 destroyed, 50 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled Vehicles lost 15 (1 destroyed, 14 disabled) Allied ground losses: 3155 casualties reported Squads: 86 destroyed, 345 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 62 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled Guns lost 18 (2 destroyed, 16 disabled) Assaulting units: 15th Tank Regiment 41st Division 35th Division 8th Ind Engineer Regiment 6th Division 63rd Division 26th Division 12th Army Botanko Hvy Gun Regiment Defending units: 9th Chinese Corps 47th Chinese Corps 80th Chinese Corps 90th Chinese Corps 14th Group Army 1st War Area 36th Group Army Enemy forces are leaving Loyang but not in movement mode. We attack again today. Another Japanese attack at Noumea. Tough going. Reinforcements start to move south from Koumac, and the small unit taking La Foa will head south also after La Foa is captured. Ground combat at Noumea (115,160) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 3557 troops, 38 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 117 Defending force 4452 troops, 60 guns, 17 vehicles, Assault Value = 70 Japanese adjusted assault: 37 Allied adjusted defense: 64 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 1) Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), preparation(-), experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 154 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 27 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied ground losses: 215 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled OPilot commented that he hadn't seen such an early move on Noumea before. I hope that is is wondering what will come next. With a simultaneous move on Midway, he can't be sure where my main push will be.
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