Bullwinkle58 -> RE: Nothing Up My Sleeve: Magical Moose Tricks--Bullwinkle58 vs.1EyedJacks (1/29/2013 2:17:24 PM)
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February 24, 1942 Singapore Slings. And Arrows. "To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep No more; and by a sleep, to say we end The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks That Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished. To die to sleep, To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there's the rub, For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil," Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1 1) Singapore, beset by many arrows, does not yet shuffle off its mortal coil. Proving once again the usefulness of supply and Forts, it survives and deals another body blow to Japan. This time a deliberate and not a shock attack, the IJA has an HQ in the hex and a fair bit of artillery. The infantry is two full divisions, including the Guards, and numerous regiments. Whether leaving the regiments un-rebuilt is wise I don't know; Mike and I discussed this in passing after the first attack and my impression was he planned to combine. I sought to sow the seeds of doubt, however, by reminding him that once combined regiments are lost forever, and that they are excellent units for garrison duty. The attack does knock Forts down to 3, which is a shame, but that's what they're for. Supply rests at 17,300 after the battle. I must decide if trying to rebuild is worth the supplies versus time versus fatigue versus hope of finishing given the extreme levels of air attack coming most days. Also, from the combat report it appears that the PP investment in changing COs once again pays dividends for the Allies. The Japanese engineer units are devastated. It is unclear how soon a follow-up can occur. Japan so far has been very protective of its troops. A shock attack here almost certainly would have taken down two Fort levels, but the infantry losses would have been much more severe. Ground combat at Singapore (50,84) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 57658 troops, 599 guns, 352 vehicles, Assault Value = 1879 Defending force 44600 troops, 582 guns, 366 vehicles, Assault Value = 1283 Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 3 Japanese adjusted assault: 2143 Allied adjusted defense: 5867 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3) Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(+), experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 7664 casualties reported Squads: 24 destroyed, 416 disabled Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 87 disabled Engineers: 77 destroyed, 103 disabled Guns lost 43 (2 destroyed, 41 disabled) Vehicles lost 17 (3 destroyed, 14 disabled) Allied ground losses: 1061 casualties reported Squads: 45 destroyed, 173 disabled Non Combat: 22 destroyed, 62 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 31 disabled Guns lost 32 (12 destroyed, 20 disabled) Vehicles lost 17 (3 destroyed, 14 disabled) Units destroyed 1 Assaulting units: 4th Ind. Engineer Regiment 56th Engineer Regiment 5th Division 23rd Ind. Engineer Regiment 15th Ind. Engineer Regiment 56th Infantry Regiment 114th Infantry Regiment 16th Infantry Regiment 2nd Tank Regiment 12th Engineer Regiment 148th Infantry Regiment 56th Recon Regiment Imperial Guards Division 55th Infantry Regiment 113th Infantry Regiment 24th Infantry Regiment 3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 25th Army 18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 20th AA Regiment 14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion 18th Mountain Gun Regiment 3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment 56th Field Artillery Regiment 1st RF Gun Battalion 34th Field AA Battalion Defending units: 1st Malay Battalion 11th Indian Division 2/17 Dogra Battalion 2nd Malay Battalion 3rd SSVF Battalion 1st Manchester Battalion 1st Hyderabad Battalion 2nd Loyal Battalion 22nd Australian Brigade 3rd Cavalry Regiment 1st Mysore Battalion SSVF Brigade 5/14th Punjab Battalion 27th Australian Brigade 9th Indian Division 1st HK&S Heavy AA Regiment 1st Indian Heavy AA Regiment FMSV Brigade 2nd HK&S Heavy AA Regiment Singapore Base Force 3rd HK&S Light AA Regiment III Indian Corps 110th RAF Base Force Singapore Fortress 2nd ISF Base Force 24th NZ Pioneer Coy 109th RAF Base Force 1st ISF Base Force 112th RAF Base Force 3rd Heavy AA Regiment 3rd ISF Base Force Malayan Air Wing 111th RAF Base Force 22nd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment Malaya Army 109th RN Base Force BTW, this is a Singapore Sling, the signature drink at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. If one looks up "high British Empire" in the dictionary one sees a picture of the Raffles. It was everything, good and bad, inherent in the Empire. [image]local://upfiles/31387/0D13BF90DC5D4B0E99CB0D2E4C31DE58.jpg[/image] 2) Action in the Makassar Strait is thick and fast. a) O-16 is worked over twice by APD-led ASW TFs. b) A 3-ship TF led by CL Marblehead fights DD Uruyuke, a modern fleet destroyer, twice, sinking her in the second battle. The DD fights well, inflicting 28 system damage on Marblehead plus more on her escorts. c) O-19 puts a fish into DD-escorted AS Rio de Janiero Maru, which was indeed headed to Balikpapan. On fire, she proceeds down the strait and is attacked by S-36, which finishes the job. The sub base at Balikpapan will have to wait, but the idea is a good one, so another AS may be detailed. d) PTs operating at extreme fuel range complicate the tactical picture as they sail from Bandjermasin around the SE corner of Borneo. IJN surface patrols do bite and are pulled a bit south, away from the retiring Marblehead TF. e) B-17s fly "bomber LRCAP" against Balikpapan, challenging the Tojos and bombing the port, both without results. 3) Funny how things work out. Yesterday, landings began at Kendari. Today, Banshees on Timor find they are one hex too short to reach Kendari, so they re-base to Ambon, where a tiny Dutch garrison has lived with its head down since 12/7. It has a bit of aviation support. The Banshees attack the TF at Kendari, but do not hit. Later in the phase Japan begins SNLF andings at AMBON, completely unseen in advance. Two Banshees attack the landing on their doorstep. They also miss. But with sound effects from Curly of The Three Stooges ("Whuuup, whuup, whuup!") they will beat feet back to Timor tomorrow before Ambon falls to a gust of wind. 4) Bombing at Singers shows how much Japan is relying on this to drive the supply levels down. It is unclear how long the Japanese air forces can keep up this rate of loss: Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84 Weather in hex: Light rain Raid detected at 39 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 15 minutes Japanese aircraft G3M2 Nell x 15 G4M1 Betty x 22 Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 21 Allied aircraft Hurricane IIb Trop x 5 Japanese aircraft losses G3M2 Nell: 10 damaged G4M1 Betty: 18 damaged G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed Airbase hits 8 Airbase supply hits 6 Runway hits 40 5) Large Zero sweep of Soerbaja continues the pre-work at this base. The Dutch fighters are no match. Pretty soon some help will be required from Palembang and Batavia, stretching the feeble Allied CAP resources even farther. The shipyard at Soerbaja is crucial to operations in the entire region. It needs to stay viable as long as possible if the sub effort in the Makassar Strait is to continue.
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