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undercovergeek -> RE: Turn 9 - 15/12/1941 (10/21/2009 11:59:39 PM)
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Pacific
Now that ive left Pearl a few TFs are now present in the harbour as opposed to docked, but the ring of subs remains in case any ships dare to dash for the west coast. 3 DDs come out on ASW patrol, the Dewey, Hull and MacDonough, the I-169 launches 2 torpedoes at the Dewey, all miss and the 3 set about the sub. The I-169 suffers 3 hits leaving damage of 39/28 major - she heads back to Tokyo for repairs.
The DD Crane is now sailing alone off San Fransisco, i assume her partner sunk over night - 6 torpedoes are fired at the Crane but all miss, the Crane never finds the I-26.
The midway invasion force closes in, 14 hexes to go, the escort waits half way between the two and support ships are stationed 320 miles north of the island.
At Wake elements of the 16th div and its support/bf and construction btns are joined and made ready to sail for Laihana, other TFs are combined as the far flung elements of divisions are finally gathered in the same sea space. The original Wake invasion reboards its ships leaving room for the incoming base force and prepares for Johnson Is, some supplies and AV support are also diverted to this very important small island.
Phillipines/Formosa/South China Sea/Borneo
During the night the Ryujo TF once again closes in on a small TF and spots a sole TK steaming west towards Balikpapan, still unsure of his surroundings the meek and soon to be replaced commander backs away under the cover of darkness. It seems the Ryujo TF is in a perfect intercept spot but the escorts wont engage the TFs it encounters, presumably protecting the CVL being a priority - i may split this group so the CAs can go hunting.
During the day 10 Nells from Jolo roar over the Ryujo TF and attack a small TF west bound - 2 xAKLs, one is bombed and on fire, the other escapes.
The Ryujo TF in reply launches the Kates at a supply TF heading for Borneo, hitting all four ships, 2 xAKs and 2 xAKLs, all four are burning, 2 with heavy damage.
In a clear competition to outdo each other the Nells leave Jolo again and strike at another supply TF heading south presumably to Darwin - hitting 2 xAKs, one is burning and heavily damaged, the other taking the bomb hit with less destruction.
In reply the Kates of the Ryujo find another west bound TF and strike at the 2 xAKs, one receives 9 bomb hits and sinks, the other 4 hits, left smoking and crippled off Manado this ship wont make it throught the night.
Plans for this area include the invasion of Menado, forces and ships are been gathered to stage an invasion of Davao, Cagayan and the small islands forming Mindano - the 65th brigade at Takao may be called upon for this.
Further North elements of SNLFs are being loaded to land at Aparri after some recon has shown the northern bases to be empty.
One big show down at Clark resulted in 3 Zeros and 2 P40-Es been destroyed, I think im sweeping below the CAP here so i will increase the altitude of the attacks and see what happens.
On land the second deliberate attack at Hong Kong yields similar odds and similar casualities to last turn, 570 Japanese and 460 Allied lives are lost - the forts stay up but a larger percentage of the garrison is lost than of the attacking forces. I will try 2 or 3 turns of bombarding and will deliberate attack again.
I will cover China later, for the moment out lying army forces are been pulled to the front line and grouped into a rolling shock force that has beaten Yank in China twice - we'll see if it works again.
Malaya/Burma
As i suspected, the lack of air attacks last turn has let Yank gather his forces and rest for a day - by far the biggest attack in a single sortie leaves Singapore for Mersing - 21 Buffalo escorting 4 Vildebeest and 3 Hudsons. Heading for the unloading transports there the attack meets Oscars for the first time, Ki-43 Ias and Ibs defend the supply ships and lose one of their number in exchange for a vildebeest, however the xAK Koryu Maru is hit by a torpedo and will probably sink overnight. In the afternoon 11 Buffalo, 1 Blenheim and 3 Wirraway return, 1 fighter and 2 bombers never see Singapore again, all the untested Oscars return home undamaged.
11 Blenheims attack the unprotected ships at Kuantan, one leaves the area smoking, leaving in turn a bombed and smoking xAK off the beach.
On the ground the 42nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Tank Regiment,5th Engineer Regiment,11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Recon Regiment, 41st Infantry Regiment, 25th Army HQ, and 5th Field Artillery Regiment open the fight for Johore Bharu, an essential base to slam the door in the face of any further assistance to the beleagured troops at Singapore. The 22nd Australian Brigade, 27th Australian Brigade, 1st HK&S Heavy AA Regiment, 29 Battery/3 HAA, 30 Battery/3 HAA, III Indian Corps, and 111th RAF Base Force do their best to defend. The forts even up the odds but the attack brings them down to zero and after a 1:1 ratio the defenders take more casualties then the attackers - i expect the base to fall next turn.
The Imperial Guards move down the peninsular towards Alor Star and the paras start to land at Victoria Point in preparation for Point Blair. Bombers that have rested since the opening day or 2 will now be moved into the bigger airfields where there is enough support and the attacks on Singapores airfields will begin in earnest.
Summary
Im fairly confident Yank hasnt seen anything off Midway, tracker doesnt give me any indication that the TFs are spotted , and im also fairly sure the CVs are at least east of Pearl, therefore the landings at Johnson, Midway and Laihana should go as planned - he cant stop them all.
The Guards Brigade is bought from the HI and is brought under the command of the Southern Army, i will use its services at either Rabaul, Balikpapan or Luzon - i want to see how the Borneo landings go without any big infantry in place.
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