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Cuttlefish -> RE: KB Revealed, or, Learning Things the Hard Way (10/16/2009 7:21:18 AM)
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When you strike an enemy and overcome him, never give up the pursuit as long as your men have strength to follow; for an enemy routed, if hotly pursued, becomes panic-stricken, and can be destroyed by half their number.
- Stonewall Jackson, 1824-1863
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1/13/42 – 1/17/42
Kido Butai raided Darwin, where my carriers continued what is beginning to seem like a personal vendetta against the Austrialian coastal minesweeping fleet. And then, as far as I can tell, they vanished from Q-Ball’s sight.
My hope is that if my opponent thinks there is any chance that KB is on the loose in the DEI he will have no choice but to pull any surface targets of value out of the region. In reality KB is already around New Guinea and on the way back to Truk. They will lie low there for a little bit, at least long enough for my forces to penetrate far enough into the DEI to isolate Java.
I have no idea where his carriers have gotten off to. Japanese intelligence has reluctantly admitted that Enterprise was not sunk after all, but on 16 January SBD-2 dive bombers flying out of Balikpapan struck at the approaching invasion force, scoring a hit on Mogami. They took a shot at shipping mustering at Tarakan, too, but there are Zeros there now. I’m thinking that they almost have to have been from one of Enterprise’s air groups. If so, then Enterprise really was badly hurt. That would be good news, anyway.
Luzon: after a week of bombardment at Clark Japanese forces attacked. The results were disappointing, with over 9000 Japanese casualties to only around 1500 Allied. Bombardment and air attacks will resume for a while, then we will try it again. Lather, rinse, repeat. He did counter-bombardments for a couple of days and then stopped; I’m hoping the supply drain was too severe for him to do that much, because they were fairly effective. It would also mean he has to watch supplies; I’m assuming that in AE, as in WitP, running him out of supply in the key to eventual victory here.
Malaya: Japanese forces now control the entire peninsula. The last units are moving into place by rail and as soon as they are ready the siege of Singapore will commence in earnest.
Burma: good news here. The 33rd Division and 112th Regiment crashed into Pegu, shattering the half a dozen or so defending brigades, forcing one to surrender and putting the rest to flight. Because I had already cut the road north they had no choice but to retreat into Rangoon. What’s left of his force looks like it’s withdrawing up the coast and my units could be in Rangoon as early as next turn. If I catch his forces again I will hold back my armor to pursue and see how that works.
DEI: Ambon finally fell, and with it almost 5000 prisoners. Airplanes based here should be able to shut down sea traffic in and out of Darwin. The Balikpapan invasion force is en route, covered by Ryujo and Zuiho. I am hoping the threat that KB might be in the area will deter him from interfering with this operation.
China: in the north the stalemate at Singkawang continues. In the south Japanese forces are wearing down the defenders of Wenchow and are elsewhere pursuing fleeing Chinese forces. I tried to catch them all in a pocket but he saw the danger and slipped away too quickly for the trap to close.
Pacific: my midget sub attack at San Francisco did nothing but raise Q-Ball’s eyebrows. Worse, two of the carrier subs hit mines and now must struggle back across the Pacific. In WitP I would be confident they would survive but I don’t know if they’ll make it now, with float damage around 60.
Port Moresby looks to be virtually undefended. I am bringing more recon planes into Lae and should soon know more, but I have seen no planes or ships there and have identified only a few hundred defenders (one unit). I thought the troops he pulled out of Kavieng and Rabaul went there, but I may have been mistaken. Noumea, on the other hand, seems to be well garrisoned. Maybe that’s where they went? At any rate, if it's as weakly defended as it seems I won't wait for the 53rd Division to arrive but will attack immediately.
Submarine warfare: though my subs have scored notable success in the Java Sea so far the many submarines surrounding Hawaii and off the American coast have so far made few attacks and only scored one hit. His subs launch a lot of attacks; every two or three turns one succeeds. Q-Ball seems to be operating a wolf pack off Sakhalin; they scored against a convoy bringing down resources from there. I have sub chasers operating in the area but without luck so far. To date the only confirmed kills I have on subs were Cachelot, sunk on 7 December at Pearl, and O19, sunk by I-155 (the same sub that hit Enterprise).
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