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MichaelU -> RE: Going The Distance: BTS 4.6 MichaelU/lb4269 (A) vs bristolduke (J) (5/4/2018 9:51:43 AM)
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March 23-25, 1942
It looks like it's on in the DEI. Allied intelligence has been feverishly trying to divine what is behind the intense bombing campaign in Java, and at last we have our answer. Some loose radio discipline reveals this.
21st Infantry Regiment is loaded on xAK Yamaura Maru moving to Kalidjati.
5th Mortar Battalion is loaded on a Yusen N Cargo class xAK moving to Kalidjati.
Adding to the picture, A Dutch sub operating in the Makassar Straits gives us some valuable intel.
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ASW attack near Tawi Tawi at 71,90
Japanese Ships
DD Fubuki
BB Tosa
BB Hitachi
CA Mogami
CL Niyodo
CL Natori
CL Jintsu
DD Hatsuharu
DD Minazuki
DD Satsuki
DD Usugumo
Allied Ships
SS KXIV, hits 2
And search planes pick up several CVLs at Singapore. Looks like mini-KB is back.
Let's catch up on what has happened in the last three days, then talk about how we will attempt to extract maximum damage from the defense of Java.
The air war over Java has been vicious. The Palembang Zero sweeps stopped after No 242 squadron sorted them out, destroying large numbers of enemy fighters in sweeps of the airbase. The Japanese are instead hitting the ports to damage the ships lying in wait for the invasion.
We had hoped our ships at Semarang would escape notice while he focused on Soerebaja, but apparently not. Several waves of Bettys, escorted by Zeros, hammer the port and do enough damage on BC Repulse and CA Chester to knock them out of the upcoming fight. While the damage is superficial and could be easily fixed at Soerebaja, it is a bit hot there at the moment. Poor old Repulse, she was damaged early in the war by crashing into a destroyer, and she is also likely to end her latest sojourn in the DEI without firing a shot.
Outside the DEI, one member of our sub patrol off Noumea catches a bomb and is heavily damaged. What is particularly annoying is that at the same time a Japanese sub sails straight into Noumea harbour, straight past the 113 mines, and has a go at a transport group. We lost a DM laying that minefield.
Our troops in Manila for the first time are showing a supply negative in their combat results. Also a first, they take more losses than they hand out in an attack, 1,464 to 1,021. But they are not done yet, a second Japanese assault is given something of a bloody nose.
Here's the second result. Notice how the Japanese AV plummets. They must be discouraged by the tenacity of the defenders.
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Ground combat at Manila (79,77)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 41805 troops, 445 guns, 157 vehicles, Assault Value = 852
Defending force 42950 troops, 412 guns, 139 vehicles, Assault Value = 507
Japanese adjusted assault: 70
Allied adjusted defense: 657
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 9 (fort level 0)
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
2053 casualties reported
Squads: 12 destroyed, 47 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 109 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 38 disabled
Guns lost 12 (3 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 15 (4 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
637 casualties reported
Squads: 34 destroyed, 48 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 51 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 10 (1 destroyed, 9 disabled)
A small ASW grouo patrolling the Torres Straits ahead of our carriers gives SS RO-34 a good smack. Thank goodness for that. The carriers run the strait next turn and I'd much rather this sub wasn't waiting for them. We're hoping the shift in our carrier force will go unnoticed.
In China, the victorious Lanchow forces cross the river in pursuit of the Japanese units they had driven and bloodily driven back, and catch them still milling around in confusion on the far bank.
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Ground combat at 83,34 (near Lanchow)
Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 32879 troops, 114 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 973
Defending force 8627 troops, 74 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 221
Allied adjusted assault: 857
Japanese adjusted defense: 103
Allied assault odds: 8 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+)
Japanese ground losses:
3034 casualties reported
Squads: 143 destroyed, 28 disabled
Non Combat: 43 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 27 (9 destroyed, 18 disabled)
Units retreated 5
Allied ground losses:
850 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 89 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
It's going to be a long time before those regiments are ready to threaten us again.
One of the biggest changes I've noticed with the BTS mod is that China isn't quite the black hole it normally is for the Allies. There is the matter of the 350 replacement squads a month. We have so far used 1,281 of them. That is a lot of replacement AV.
But there also just seems to be a lot more supply. We can actually afford to take replacements, fly some planes and do the occasional attack, all without immediately running out of supply. China started the game with 95,000 total supply and is now sitting at around 175,000, which has been stable since early February.
Admittedly we haven't been fighting all that hard, which is why I'm taking the fight to the Japanese when I can, to force them to commit more resources to China.
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