Bullwinkle58 -> RE: Nothing Up My Sleeve: Magical Moose Tricks--Bullwinkle58 vs.1EyedJacks (11/3/2013 8:35:54 PM)
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August 20, 1942 Air Strike, Rangoon 1) The sub war near Rangoon gets serious. Patrol zones re-adjusted south and to deeper water, but before the boats can position many fleet DDs jump on O24 in two attacks and sink her. Halibut is also worked over farther south. S-39 takes three hard hits near Mergui. Elsewhere, near Denpasar, SS KXIII puts one in xAK Terukawa Maru. Sinking noises heard later. 2) Today, most Allied air in the Burma theater is aimed at Rangoon in an attempt to flood the zone and whittle down CAP ops points. The carriers, Wasp and a slightly damaged RN hull (don't recall which) move in close to the coast NW of Bassein. Rangoon shows 65 fighers in residence. I figure a lot will escort the troop bombing, but there will be at least 20-30 at home. In a gamble, all Wildcats on Wasp are sent to escort the strike, which is limited to four hexes. LRCAP from Ramree and Prome will try to help, and one small squadron of Sea Hurricanes is left off the RN CV. It's a gamble he doesn't have standing 2Es on naval/torpedo every day, but it's a one-day thing. Won't work twice. An expensive attack starts the run, but it does the job of using up some CAP. Morning Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53 Weather in hex: Overcast Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 6 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 4 A6M3 Zero x 7 Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 11 Allied aircraft Blenheim IV x 6 B-24D Liberator x 3 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 4 damaged Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed on ground Allied aircraft losses Blenheim IV: 3 destroyed B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed by flak Airbase hits 1 Runway hits 10 High-naval-skill 2Es go after ASW DDs. There is no LRCAP on them, and no hits. Morning Air attack on TF, near Mergui at 51,61 Weather in hex: Clear sky Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 5 minutes Allied aircraft B-25C Mitchell x 7 Allied aircraft losses B-25C Mitchell: 1 destroyed by flak Japanese Ships DD Asagumo DD Suresushio The other Rangoon strikes do not fly. Not many, but they don't. Too small I think. Then the naval effort comes in. The RN carrier does not launch any of its Albacores, a key to the attack plan. Probably due to lack of escort. Trade-off, trade-offs. [image]local://upfiles/31387/BE9D0537E52D43CA82DCC635850DFFB1.jpg[/image] It works through the CAP pretty well, but the newer Zeros do get at the SBDs at the end. Unfortunately, despite multiple runs on a nice CA, and two destroyers, damage is light. The xAK will sink, but I had hoped for a lot more. Still, this tactic complicates the defense problem for Japan at Rangoon. He can either withdraw the permanent bombardment force, or assign a lot more CAP, which lets me get at the bombers troop-bombing more easily. Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 54,53 Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 6 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 4 A6M3 Zero x 6 Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 8 Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 10 Allied aircraft F4F-4 Wildcat x 36 SBD-3 Dauntless x 33 TBF-1 Avenger x 15 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed by flak SBD-3 Dauntless: 4 destroyed, 11 damaged TBF-1 Avenger: 7 damaged TBF-1 Avenger: 1 destroyed by flak Japanese Ships CA Myoko xAK Hirota Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires DD Akebono CL Isuzu xAK Hukuzyu Maru CL Natori CA Furutaka Aircraft Attacking: 7 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000' Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb 4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000' Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb 14 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo 7 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000' Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb 9 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000' Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb 3) Some of the MUTTLEYS are very close to the rally hex and will close its hexsides in 1-2 days. It remains to be seen if enough is left after the troop bombing. About 250 are lost today. I have a contingency plan in mind if the attack on Moulmein fails. 4) DD Fortune, fleeing Soerbaja, is overcome by flooding half-way to Batavia and sinks. 5) Soerbaja is supply bombed. At the dot hex being attacked to open supply routes to Batavia, Japan has move din a full division and the attempt fails badly. Soerbaja is sitting at about 11,500 supply with no air ops or construction at all. Ground combat at Soerakarta (53,103) Allied Deliberate attack Attacking force 708 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 40 Defending force 12745 troops, 120 guns, 32 vehicles, Assault Value = 437 Allied adjusted assault: 10 Japanese adjusted defense: 502 Allied assault odds: 1 to 50 Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), preparation(-) Attacker: op mode(-) Japanese ground losses: 12 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied ground losses: 145 casualties reported Squads: 2 destroyed, 26 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Assaulting units: 3rd KNIL Landstorm Battalion Defending units: 33rd Division 6) Rabaul AF goes to Level 6. A key to keeping the B-17s repaired. Their HQ is co-located, supply is six-figures, av support is lavish. Now they need to fix themselves so Truk can be re-visited. More 4E units, mostly B-24s, are coming soon. Rabaul is going to be a major PITA. 7) The second attack on Chungking is made. Forts drop a level to 6; they can't be repaired with 420 supply on hand. Japan loses a lot of men. China loses a lot of men. Time continues to tick by. Ground combat at Chungking (76,45) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 196891 troops, 1988 guns, 1324 vehicles, Assault Value = 8091 Defending force 167485 troops, 1155 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 5144 Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 6 Japanese adjusted assault: 8642 Allied adjusted defense: 11211 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 6) Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 17562 casualties reported Squads: 50 destroyed, 1725 disabled Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 164 disabled Engineers: 9 destroyed, 270 disabled Guns lost 160 (3 destroyed, 157 disabled) Vehicles lost 165 (7 destroyed, 158 disabled) Allied ground losses: 4745 casualties reported Squads: 32 destroyed, 212 disabled Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 128 disabled Engineers: 4 destroyed, 28 disabled Guns lost 90 (3 destroyed, 87 disabled) Assaulting units: 24th Division 39th Division 12th Indpt Infantry Regiment 4th Brigade 28th Engineer Regiment 41st Division 3rd Division 10th Tank Regiment 40th Division 102nd Infantry Regiment 58th Division 20th Engineer Regiment 104th Division 37th Division 5th Armored Car Co 23rd Tank Regiment 13th Division 8th Armored Car Co 23rd Division 12th Tank Regiment 9th Ind.Mixed Brigade 35th Division 36th Division 3rd Tank Regiment 51st Engineer Regiment 11th Indpt Infantry Regiment 9th Armored Car Co 1st Ind.Mixed Brigade 5th Tank Regiment 17th Division 2nd Ind.Mixed Regiment 11th Tank Regiment 9th Tank Regiment 34th Division 13th Tank Regiment 20th Recon Regiment 60th Division 116th Division 6th Division 4th Ind.Mixed Brigade 3rd Ind.Mixed Brigade 26th Engineer Regiment 4th Mortar Battalion North China Area Army 1st Mortar Battalion 14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 8th Ind. Engineer Regiment 2nd RF Gun Battalion 2nd Ind. Engineer Regiment 15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment 5th RF Gun Battalion 21st Mortar Battalion 51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion 11th Field Artillery Regiment 2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 5th Army 1st Army 26th Field Artillery Regiment 52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion 11th Army 10th Mortar Battalion 10th Mortar Battalion Defending units: 7th Chinese/A Corps 45th Chinese Corps 40th Chinese Corps 68th Chinese Corps 51st Chinese Corps 2nd Chinese Corps 8th Construction Regiment 16th Chinese Corps 14th Construction Regiment 3rd Chinese/C Corps 34th Chinese Corps 33rd Chinese Corps 41st Chinese Corps 36th Chinese Corps 47th Chinese Corps 92nd Chinese Corps 3rd Chinese/B Corps 75th Chinese Corps 14th Chinese Corps 1st Chinese Cavalry Corps 3rd Chinese/A Corps 91st Chinese Corps 39th Chinese Corps 67th Chinese Corps 12th Construction Regiment 32nd Chinese Corps 7th Chinese/B Corps 7th Chinese/C Corps 49th AA Regiment Lusu War Area 13th Group Army 18th Artillery Regiment China Command 3rd Construction Regiment 37th Group Army 22nd Artillery Regiment 5th War Area 1st Artillery Regiment 2nd Construction Regiment 10th Chinese Base Force 20th Artillery Regiment 21st Group Army 2nd Group Army CAF HQ 26th Group Army 1st Construction Regiment 1st War Area 41st AA Regiment 1st Chinese Base Force 5th Chinese Base Force 8th Group Army 3rd Heavy Mortar Regiment 4th Heavy Mortar Regiment 7th Artillery Regiment 22nd Group Army Central Reserve 57th AT Gun Regiment 56th AT Gun Regiment 8) Chinese leadership has ordered several low-level, unsupplied LCUs, such as Construction Regiments, out of Chungking to take hexsides in all directions and complicate siege supply. One tries to move across a river when it shouldn't have, and gets clocked. Ground combat at 77,45 (near Chungking) Allied Shock attack Attacking force 740 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 5 Defending force 5856 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 211 Allied adjusted assault: 0 Japanese adjusted defense: 258 Allied assault odds: 1 to 99 Combat modifiers Defender: leaders(+) Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-), supply(-) Allied ground losses: 454 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled Engineers: 33 destroyed, 2 disabled Assaulting units: 10th Construction Regiment Defending units: 59th Infantry Brigade
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