RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (Full Version)

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Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/5/2021 12:39:55 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: rustysi

As to the Dec 9 turn, I see you're employing the old 'death by a thousand cuts' routine.[:D]


Yeah, but death to who? Actually, much of it is the pile of crappy (for the most part) shipping scattered around the SRA. I've read that a lot of AFBs write it all off and are happy with whatever does survive. I'll sink whatever I can reach, but really like when an xAP, TK or AO goes down. And warships, of course. Only the 3 DDs from Hong Kong and 1 US DD have been sunk, unfortunately. The rest have run for the hills. They'll show up later, I'm sure.

The problem I'm having at the moment is deciphering which of the multitude of enemy TFs are merchants and which are warships.



Wirraway_Ace -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/5/2021 3:51:02 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli


quote:

ORIGINAL: rustysi

As to the Dec 9 turn, I see you're employing the old 'death by a thousand cuts' routine.[:D]


Yeah, but death to who? Actually, much of it is the pile of crappy (for the most part) shipping scattered around the SRA. I've read that a lot of AFBs write it all off and are happy with whatever does survive. I'll sink whatever I can reach, but really like when an xAP, TK or AO goes down. And warships, of course. Only the 3 DDs from Hong Kong and 1 US DD have been sunk, unfortunately. The rest have run for the hills. They'll show up later, I'm sure.

The problem I'm having at the moment is deciphering which of the multitude of enemy TFs are merchants and which are warships.

The ASs and the float plane tenders, including the destroyer and patrol boat versions, are nice to bag. They give the allies a lot of early flexibility that is, shall we say, undesirable. Watch out for those cagy ship captains that move incrementally south, from port to port, using move/disband, move/disband. They drive me mad, and are thus a distraction the Japanese player can ill afford.



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/7/2021 2:46:10 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Wirraway_Ace


quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli


quote:

ORIGINAL: rustysi

As to the Dec 9 turn, I see you're employing the old 'death by a thousand cuts' routine.[:D]


Yeah, but death to who? Actually, much of it is the pile of crappy (for the most part) shipping scattered around the SRA. I've read that a lot of AFBs write it all off and are happy with whatever does survive. I'll sink whatever I can reach, but really like when an xAP, TK or AO goes down. And warships, of course. Only the 3 DDs from Hong Kong and 1 US DD have been sunk, unfortunately. The rest have run for the hills. They'll show up later, I'm sure.

The problem I'm having at the moment is deciphering which of the multitude of enemy TFs are merchants and which are warships.

The ASs and the float plane tenders, including the destroyer and patrol boat versions, are nice to bag. They give the allies a lot of early flexibility that is, shall we say, undesirable. Watch out for those cagy ship captains that move incrementally south, from port to port, using move/disband, move/disband. They drive me mad, and are thus a distraction the Japanese player can ill afford.


That's an interesting tactic. It never entered my mind that the Allies can do something like that. How do you counter that? Port attacks? Not likely. I guess, the best tactic is to catch them while they're running. Gotta think about that some more...



Wirraway_Ace -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/7/2021 4:01:20 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli


quote:

ORIGINAL: Wirraway_Ace


quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli


quote:

ORIGINAL: rustysi

As to the Dec 9 turn, I see you're employing the old 'death by a thousand cuts' routine.[:D]


Yeah, but death to who? Actually, much of it is the pile of crappy (for the most part) shipping scattered around the SRA. I've read that a lot of AFBs write it all off and are happy with whatever does survive. I'll sink whatever I can reach, but really like when an xAP, TK or AO goes down. And warships, of course. Only the 3 DDs from Hong Kong and 1 US DD have been sunk, unfortunately. The rest have run for the hills. They'll show up later, I'm sure.

The problem I'm having at the moment is deciphering which of the multitude of enemy TFs are merchants and which are warships.

The ASs and the float plane tenders, including the destroyer and patrol boat versions, are nice to bag. They give the allies a lot of early flexibility that is, shall we say, undesirable. Watch out for those cagy ship captains that move incrementally south, from port to port, using move/disband, move/disband. They drive me mad, and are thus a distraction the Japanese player can ill afford.


That's an interesting tactic. It never entered my mind that the Allies can do something like that. How do you counter that? Port attacks? Not likely. I guess, the best tactic is to catch them while they're running. Gotta think about that some more...

It is a click-fest for the Allied player. Each turn they set a new home port within their move radius, click return and auto-disband.
Yes, surface ships on patrol with reaction can catch them. Nav Search coverage is the key, though doctrinal organization of your DD squadrons with a CL (with its float plane for organic Nav Search) works very well. The TBs can also do this mission if the area is covered by Nav Search aircraft. Watch out if the enemy is doing this tactic with Houston or Boise--that does not necessarily end well for the IJN squadron if the intercept occurs during daytime.



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/7/2021 8:31:32 PM)

The 10 Dec turn is back to Mike. Mike is living up to his sig, running. That makes me nervous. I can see a few warships on the edge of my naval search limits. I'm trying to keep warships in support of my invasions, which is difficult. I do have 4 BBs and a couple of tiny carriers entering the SRA. That'll help, but they're not completely in position yet. I'll post the replay later. A few errands to run first.



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/8/2021 7:38:30 PM)

10 Dec 41

Sub War

More rats caught:

xAK Tai Sang – sinking sounds after attack
xAP Kelantan – sinking sounds after attack
xAP Neptuna - sunk
xAKL Bust – sunk
xAK Demosthenes – sinking sounds after the attack

That was just the subs.

Unfortunately, Murakumo was hit by a Dutch sub torpedo today as she limped back to safe harbor and went down. Down one Fubuki class.

Off Aparri, the Seawolf was able to hit an xAK with one of those “bad” torpedoes I’ve heard so much intel on. [8|] Not sure I believe my intel folks. She’ll make port unless another of those bad torpedoes hits her.

5 Fleet

The Adak invasion fleet finally completed loading and left Ominato. They’ll arrive at Adak in 6 days.

4 Fleet

KB will arrive off the coast of Wake tomorrow and work over the troops and any shipping in range. The invasion fleet is a day south of Wake and undetected. They’ll go in the day after.

The Ocean island invasion force is 1 day out. It’ll invade, reload and end up at Nauru island.

The 4 Aobas visited Guam on their way to Truk and bombarded. They’ll reach Truk in the next day or two. The Guam invasion force should hit tomorrow.

SE Fleet

The two AMCs that start the war in the far south Pacific visited Tahiti, sinking an xAK and two xAKLs. They’ll continue their tour of the south Pacific before heading back to Truk.

The Kavieng invasion will land tomorrow. Everything else is still flowing to this AO.

SRA

Some of my small combat TFs continued their clean up of the scurrying rats:

xAKL Princess of Negros
xAKL Compagnia Filipinas
xAKL Dos Hermanos
xAKL Taurus
xAK Si Kiang
TK Mindanao
xAKL Sagoland
xAKL Paz

Mainly trash, but killing a TK is always good early in the war.

I landed a battalion at Kota Bharu, but I don’t think it’s strong enough to take the place. I have another battalion marching down from the north. I’ll give it a shot when they arrive.

The second attack on Johore Bahru was a failure. I didn’t really lose anything, but There are a BUNCH of Allied units there now. The infantry regiment that has been pursuing will reach Johore Bahru tomorrow. I’m not attacking tomorrow. We’ll see how things look the day after. The remainder of the Mersing invasion force is still 20 miles from Johore Bahru. The Mersing gambit has failed, I fear. It wasn't for nothing though. These attacks on Johore Bahru are causing significant Allied casualties that probably won't be replaced. Today's attack allegedly destroyed 69 infantry squads. I'll take that.

The Yamada Det swept Singapore today, killing 11 Buffalos for the loss of single Zero. A couple more crashed on the way home, so it wasn’t as one sided as originally thought. A sentai of Oscar Ibs then swept, killing another couple of Buffalos.

Some Nates shot down one of two remaining fighters over Georgetown and damaged the other. Another 4 fighters and a Blenheim I bomber were destroyed on the ground with an additional dozen or more (mainly bombers) damaged in the subsequent bombing. The RAF is being worn down.

I see only 2 bombers at Georgetown and 18 fighters and 73 bombers at Singapore. Tomorrow, I’m starting night bombing of Singapore’s airfield. Once the enemy fighters are gone, I’ll start day bombing.

On a brighter note, paratroopers dropped on Victoria Point and took that level 4 airfield. I was going to fly in the remainder of the paratroopers (from Bangkok) as a staging point to fly them to Pt. Blair when I realized I can fly them from Bangkok directly to Pt. Blair. I’m flying the paratroopers back to Bangkok and will then invade Pt. Blair.

In the Philippines, I’m getting some good intel. Some Nells finally flew from Jolo against some ships at Tarakan, missing Pope and Pillsbury. I can see there are about half a dozen enemy warships there.

Kaga launched her Vals against AO Pecos hitting her 13 times. Sinking sounds were heard immediately after. There’s no way she survived 13x 250 kg bombs.

Over Luzon, there was no air-to-air combat today. I see 70 fighters and 35 auxiliary aircraft still on the island. No bombers are left. I now have 60 Zeros at Vigan and will begin sweeping tomorrow to clear out the enemy fighters (and gain some nice experience). [;)]

Miura det landed at Legaspi and will take that base tomorrow and begin working its way up the peninsula. Tomorrow, Kimura det will land at Atimonan, cutting off that peninsula. Together, they form the 33 Regiment, part of 16 Division, the remainder of which lands at Mauban (Just SE of Manila) in 2 days. This division will clear the southern half of Luzon and push into Luzon. I see 5 units in Manila, none moving. There are 26 in Clark Field moving toward Bataan. There are currently 5 in Bataan. Looks like a long siege is in store. No matter. I have time and my bombers can use the experience.

Burma

I still see the AVG sitting at Rangoon.

My troops are debarking from their trains and beginning he long marches to move into Burma.

I have engineers and AS arriving at Chiang Mai. I will build this to a level 4 airfield and stage my bombers here to support my initial ground campaign.

China

Garrisons are finally beginning to arrive at their destinations, freeing up other forces to allow my offensive to begin, eventually.

I had an initial assault of Hong Kong:

Ground combat at Hong Kong (77,61)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 18420 troops, 322 guns, 218 vehicles, Assault Value = 567
Defending force 6515 troops, 132 guns, 80 vehicles, Assault Value = 225
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2
Japanese adjusted assault: 388
Allied adjusted defense: 261
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
603 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 37 disabled
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
376 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 47 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
68th Ind.Infantry Battalion
19th Ind. Engineer Regiment
38th Division
20th Ind. Engineer Regiment
2nd Mortar Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
5th RF Gun Battalion
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd RF Gun Battalion
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
21st Mortar Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion

Defending units:
Rifles of Canada Battalion
Winnipeg Grenadiers Battalion
1st Middlesex Battalion
Kowloon Brigade
102nd RN Base Force
Hong Kong Fortress

It looks like they lost ~1.5 battalions worth of infantry. I’m trying another assault tomorrow. It’ll take a while to whittle them down.

Other Stuff

I’m being a little more aggressive with my economy than normal. I never came close to having any supply issues last game. All 11 of my R&D engine factories that weren’t already >30 have been increased to 30. 35 of 77 R&D air factories still have not been increased to 30. That should be done in ~ a week or so.



rustysi -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/8/2021 10:53:12 PM)

quote:

I’m being a little more aggressive with my economy than normal. I never came close to having any supply issues last game.


I've found from experience that if I keep my total supply stocks above 1.8M, I'm OK. Anything below that and I tend to have trouble finding supply for ground ops.



jdsrae -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/8/2021 11:23:34 PM)

I setup all factories in Dec 42 and didn’t run out of supply.
I watched the supply at Tokyo and it did get below 500k there in about Feb 42, before starting to climb again in about Apr 42.
That was about when I started exporting supply from Japan to forward areas.
You can always toggle factory repairs off but I didn’t need to do that.



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/11/2021 3:01:08 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: jdsrae

I setup all factories in Dec 42 and didn’t run out of supply.
I watched the supply at Tokyo and it did get below 500k there in about Feb 42, before starting to climb again in about Apr 42.
That was about when I started exporting supply from Japan to forward areas.
You can always toggle factory repairs off but I didn’t need to do that.



Good to know. I try to minimize pulling supply out of Japan as much as possible. I try to use supply generated in the SRA if possible.



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/11/2021 3:09:48 PM)

11 Dec 41

Sub War

My subs are running out of targets. The I-121 sank an xAK off Oosthaven. I’m moving my subs to locations where enemy warships may move when they come out of hiding. Basically, a screen. So far, he’s only lost 4 or 5 DDs. He has a lot of warships hiding in the SRA. I now have 6 BBs in the area, just in case, along with Kaga, Ryujo, Zuiho and Hosho.

Mike had quite a few subs off Takao, but they disappeared today. Not sure what’s up with that.

5 Fleet

Nothing going on yet. Invasion fleet to Adak still enroute.

4 Fleet

The Wake invasion fleet goes in tomorrow, supported by KB. I suspect Mike pulled the fighters there out. I would.

The Guam invasion occurred today and that assault will happen tomorrow.

Finally, Ocean Island was taken.

SE Fleet

Kavieng was invaded and an assault will go in tomorrow.

Lots of stuff is enroute to this AO. It should heat up soon. [;)]

SRA

I still have a number of small surface TFs running around supporting invasions and cleaning up on enemy shipping. Today, two TFs, one of 4 Fubukis and the other of Nagara and 2 DDs earned their pay sinking 3 PGs and 5 xAKLs. Yeah, pretty much trash, but it’s better than nothing and they’re worth a few points.

I continually shuttle the surface groups back to base to refuel/rearm so there are constantly forces on the frontline. I’m pretty worried about his warships coming in force to trash an area.

I have the original 2 Kongo TF (reinforced with the CA TF that started the war near them) at Singkawang, along with the 22 Air Flotilla, 18 Zeros (+18 more Zeros attached from 23 Air Flotilla), 9 Claudes, 54 Betties, 90 Nells, recon and Mavis (attached from 21 Air Flotilla) all guarding for an enemy thrust north toward Saigon, which is now a Japanese lake.

The other thrust I’m worried about is north from either side of Celebes. There I have Kaga and Ryujo, which will be between Davao and Manado tomorrow. Between Samah and Takao are 2 TF, one of 4 BBs and the other of Zuiho and Hosho. Both are heading south into the same area as the Kaga TF and the carriers will merge, forming a TF of 39 Zeros, 43 Claudes, 26 Vals and 54 Kates. Once Cagayan is taken, I’ll send 21 Air Flotilla HQ there, along with some of their 72 Nells/Betties to scour the area with torpedo laden bombers.

Over Manila, Japanese Zero sweeps shot down 13 US fighters at a cost of 2 Zeros. I now see no enemy fighters at Manila, 15 at Clark Field and 15 at Bataan. I’m sweeping Clark tomorrow.

In addition to the 30 fighters, there are only some auxiliary aircraft in Luzon. Six Catalinas torpedoed an xAK (she’ll survive) and sank an xAKL. These were part of 16 Division, which will land at Mauban tomorrow.

Antimonan was invaded today. Legaspi is now Japanese.

I see 5 enemy units in Manila, 25 in Clark Field (some or all are moving to Bataan) and 6 at Bataan (up 1 from yesterday). It looks like he is going to hole up in Bataan, which is fine with me.

A handful of B-17s visited Jolo today doing no damage and losing one to the Zeros stationed there. I’m pretty sure they came from Cagayan, where they started the war. I don’t have any recon on that base (I will tomorrow). I will have 146 Regiment land at Butuan (next door to Cagayan) tomorrow and the 4 and 7 Tank Regiments land there the day after. Some Betties are bombing Cagayan’s airfield too, just to try and damage some of the bombers so they won’t be able to get away when the tanks arrive.

In Malaya, an Oscar sweep of Singapore (Yamada’s Zeros rested today) shot down 2 Buffalos at a cost of 2 Oscars. I see only 3 Buffalos and 66(!) bombers in Singapore. Mike’s bombers have no real target anymore. My ships have unloaded and are out of range heading home. Mersing’s airfield is at level 1, so I have a sentai of Oscars stationed there on CAP. Any bombing there will shred his bombers with basically no Buffalo support.

The infantry regiment FINALLY reached Johore Bahru. It (along with the 4 armored units) will attack tomorrow, but I don’t expect much. I actually don’t want to push them out. The main body (2 infantry divisions) will arrive tomorrow. All I want to do is to kill and disable some more infantry. That’ll make taking Singapore all that much easier. Right now, I see 14 enemy units in Johore Bahru and 20 more in Singapore. I also see another 13 units in northern Malaya.

I landed a second infantry battalion at Kota Bharu. I’ll try an attack tomorrow to see if I can oust them. I know they aren’t very strong.

The IG Division and 14 Tank Regiment are a couple days rail from Singora where they’ll debark and begin marching down the western coast of Malaya.

I will make a para drop on Port Blair tomorrow. After that succeeds, I’ll fly in some engineers and AS, then fly some Zeros and Mavis there, then some Betties once the airfield size increases.

Burma

Crawling along the trail to Moulmein….

The AVG is still at Rangoon.

China

Maneuvering continues. A couple of attacks did occur. I liberated Kweiteh, killing a Chinese Corps in the process. I also cleared the hex west of Wuchang.

More divisions have been freed from garrison duty and are moving to reinforce the front line in several places where I am attempting to encircle groups of Chinese.

The 38 Division attacked Hong Kong, getting 1:1 (just under 2:1) and reducing the forts from 2 to 1. All 3 enemy battalions are now combat ineffective, but the Kowloon Brigade is still ok. I’ll bombard (air and ground) and rest the 38th for a day then try again.

Reinforcements

xAK Ishikari Maru – Toho – immediately began conversion to a troop carrier, as I’m doing to all my Tohos.

Other Stuff

I’m accelerating 3 Unryu CVs and 3 DDs, along with a CVE with my excess merchant points. I’m still gaining NavShip points so I’m going to accelerate more DDs tomorrow.

Many of the ships used in the Phase I invasions are back in port. I’m loading up some Phase II invasion fleets. Once I push out/destroy the B-17s at Cagayan, I’ll begin to consider taking some of the oil centers.

I have quite a few reserves for Phase II and III missions:

48 Division (-Miura and Kimura Dets in S Luzon) – moving to Cam Ranh Bay
56 Division (-146 Regiment landing at Mindanao) – SW of Formosa
4 Division – just south of Japan and headed to Pt. Moresby
21 Division – loading at Shanghai
33 Division – N of Formosa headed to Burma
38 Division – currently investing Hong Kong
IG Division – will debark soon and move into northern Malay and push south

There are 5 additional divisions available for use in the SRA, along with 16 Division and 65 Brigade on Luzon and 5 and 18 Divisions entering Johore Bahru tomorrow. (55 Division is moving into Burma.)

I may land another division at Mersing to join the divisions assaulting Singapore. I’m not sure if IG Division will make it to Singapore in time. We’ll see.

Initially, 3 divisions will invade Java. One division, and all the armor I can scrounge, will invade Sumatra.

You can see that adds up to more than the number of divisions I have available, hence the Phases.

In addition, I have quite a few SNLFs and companies, along with 3 allocated parachute units to clean up all the little places and oil centers.

I’m toying with the idea of landing 33 Division (along with another division) at Mersing to hasten the demise of Singapore. Then, I’ll sail them up the coast and drop them off at Moulmein (which I should have by then).



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/11/2021 6:35:26 PM)

Ok, I've been attempting to gather some intel from Malaya to see how successful the Mersing Gambit was.

I do not think any combat units (anything with any type of combat squads) has entered Singapore yet. That will happen when I push the rabble out of Johore Bahru, which will most likely be on 12 Dec. So, the Singapore garrison currently consists of 213(115) AV. *Note, some of the disabled AV will recover. I'm confident it'll be minimal. Anyway, I see 20 units in Singapore, 3 up from what starts there. Nothing in Johore Bahru has been destroyed, but 3 units have disappeared, moved into Singapore: III Cps HQ, 29 Bty/3 HAA & 1 HKS Hvy AA.

There are currently 14 units in Johore Bahru. Here are the combat units:
22 Aus Bde
27 Aus Bde
2 Argyl Bn
5/2 Punjab Bn
112 BF
111 BF
3/16 Punj Bn

Their starting strength is 282(66), but they have been beat up. I estimate their current strength to be in the neighborhood of 87(126), so they've lost about 135 AV. Tomorrow, they will be attacked with 2 armor regiments, 2 recon regiments and an infantry regiment with a combined AV of 306. They have at least level 1 forts. I hope they aren't pushed out because on 12/12, they will be hit by an additional 2 divisions, over 900 AV added to tomorrow's attack. That should shred them, with their remnants adding little to the defense of Singapore.

There are units scattered in various locations totaling 607(154) AV. These guys are doomed and have no way of adding to the defense of Singapore.

My guess is that some of the units in Johore Bahru were in strat mode headed to Singapore but were ensnared in the battle at Johore Bahru.

The battles of Johore Bahru aren't over yet, but I'm confident the Mersing Gambit will definitely speed up the capture of Singapore.

We'll see soon enough. [;)]



RangerJoe -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/11/2021 9:11:59 PM)

Even if you do push them out on the next attack, they still will be hurting when three IJA infantry divisions would move to Singapore. If that is the case and you do not have your armoured units in reserve pursuit mode, make sure that nothing less than a division moves into Singapore on the first day. Hopefully, you will have the armoured units in reserve/pursuit mode and enter Singapore with no shock attack.



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/11/2021 9:36:01 PM)

If this next attack doesn't push them out (hoping that is the case [sm=innocent0001.gif]), when the divisions arrive in their regiments, they'll need the two recon regiments to combine. So, there will only be 2 tank regiments for pursuit. I won't pursue. They'll just get attacked and driven back out of Singapore with heavy losses.



RangerJoe -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/12/2021 12:31:06 AM)

That is why you should also have infantry units also pursuing so they arrive the next turn when the enemy counterattacks.

You should have as many divisions formed up as is possible.



rustysi -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/12/2021 10:20:28 PM)

quote:

xAK Ishikari Maru – Toho – immediately began conversion to a troop carrier, as I’m doing to all my Tohos.


Have you considered doing so with some Lima's as well. Same speed and can haul about 1/3 more.



jdsrae -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/13/2021 2:58:21 AM)

I just pack the troops into the cargo holds of xAK if no AP, AK or AK-t are available.
If they’re lucky someone will have hosed the ammonium nitrate out first!



rustysi -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/13/2021 4:07:53 AM)

OK, it is somewhat a matter of preference.[:D]

But in the order of efficiency it could be better to do something else.[:'(]



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/15/2021 2:14:53 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

That is why you should also have infantry units also pursuing so they arrive the next turn when the enemy counterattacks.

You should have as many divisions formed up as is possible.

Only formed divisions will enter Singapore. I've seen the carnage of broken down divisions in major battles.



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/15/2021 2:17:25 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: rustysi

quote:

xAK Ishikari Maru – Toho – immediately began conversion to a troop carrier, as I’m doing to all my Tohos.


Have you considered doing so with some Lima's as well. Same speed and can haul about 1/3 more.


I haven't converted any Limas yet. Tohos are small enough to fit nicely into small ports and a 14 kt speed is really nice. I'll check on the Lima size to see what size port they work well with.



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/15/2021 2:18:16 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: jdsrae

I just pack the troops into the cargo holds of xAK if no AP, AK or AK-t are available.
If they’re lucky someone will have hosed the ammonium nitrate out first!


Yeah, I usually do that too, unless I want to get there faster. Then I'll scrounge up some xAPs.



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/15/2021 2:24:11 AM)

12 Dec 41

Sub War

Nothing to report. Most of my subs in the SRA are redeploying to areas where the Allied warships may be lurking. There were a number of Allied sub attacks and ASW combat on both sides. I won’t mention that unless it’s significant.

5 Fleet

The Adak invasion fleet is plodding along.

4 Fleet

The Guam invasion force (I/33 regiment, a rump battalion, really) attacked, took no damage, only disabled a couple of enemy squads, but reduced the fort to 0. They’ll attack again tomorrow.

The Wake invasion kicked off today. KB was notably absent. I had set them all to naval attack with ground attack as a secondary assignment. They did nothing.

That’s too bad, because the ground troops could have used that support. I didn’t have the Nell daitai, out of Kwajalein, fly because I wasn’t sure about the Wildcats that start the war there. They have been evacuated (unsurprisingly). They’ll fly tomorrow, along with 3 daitai of Vals from KB with a primary mission of ground attack. The Maizuru 2 SNLF and 53 NG invaded. Today’s shock attack didn’t do well (it rarely does without support). The SNLF took the brunt of the disablements. I’m trying again tomorrow. We’ll see how they fare with some real support this time. (Keeping fingers crossed.)

SE Fleet

The Kavieng invasion force attacked (I/66 Naval Guard). Nothing happened. Literally nothing. The company sized unit has no losses, no disablements and has a disruption of 7 and fatigue of 10. They’ll try again tomorrow…

The Rabaul invasion force (144/55 Division & 15 BF) is 5 days out. The’ll get the support of 2 BBs.

I also have a right hook in process, II/66 NG & and AS battalion, 3 days out from Shortlands Island. They’ll have the support of 4 Aobas.

There’s more headed this way but it’s farther out.

SRA

Philippines:

Things started well with 27 Zeros sweeping 25 fighters over Clark Field killing 10 for no loss. I still see 45(!) fighters there so more sweeps tomorrow.

The 16 Division (-) landed at Mauban, dropping off all their troops. An xAKL was sunk by the 3 Vildebeests that escaped from Hong Kong. Can’t seem to kill off those pesky stringbags. [:@] Fortunately, it was an xAKL and it had already disgorged its troops.

Mauban is undefended (the hex immediately SE of Manila) and will be liberated tomorrow.

Atimonan was liberated today. That unit (part of 16 division) will head up the peninsula to eventually meet the remainder of 16 Division.

Mindanao:

The 146/56 Division landed at Butuan (just east of Cagayan). There’s a weak regiment there that’s attempting to run. I hope they’re still in the hex tomorrow when they attack. In addition, the 4 and 7 tank regiments are landing there tomorrow. That force (plus Kure 1 SNLF at Davao) will liberate Mindinao.

I have confirmed that there are Allied planes at Cagayan, undoubtedly the B-17s. I’m attempting to damage as many as I can so I can destroy them on the ground soon (the easiest way to kill 4E bombers). [sm=innocent0001.gif]

Sorong:

I wanted to land some AS here to build another airfield for naval search/fighter support/bombers possibly. I had 2 TFs coming from different locations. They were both to land today. The II/81 NG landed without a hitch. Then, Houston, Boise and 4 DDs showed up to sink all but 1 ship of the TF:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Sorong at 82,107, Range 5,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Umikaze, Shell hits 12, and is sunk
DD Suzukaze, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
PB Gamitsu Maru #1, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Nittai Maru, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Shinkoku Maru, Shell hits 18, and is sunk
xAKL Ujigawa Maru, Shell hits 14, and is sunk
xAKL Heiwa Maru, Shell hits 6, and is sunk



Allied Ships
CA Houston
CL Boise, Shell hits 1
DD Alden, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Edsall
DD John D. Edwards, Shell hits 2
DD Whipple, Shell hits 1, heavy fires

The 2 DDs were Shiratsuyus. I like to use them as KB escorts. Unfortunate. The xAK Nittai Maru would sink later that day.

No, it wasn’t done. Later, this happened:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Sorong at 83,106, Range 6,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PB Saiko Maru, Shell hits 36, and is sunk
xAK Tenryu Maru, Shell hits 31, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Houston, Shell hits 1
CL Boise, Shell hits 1
DD Edsall

Japanese ground losses:
1033 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 62 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 9 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 12 (10 destroyed, 2 disabled)

That was an AS battalion, which is now being rebuilt.

So, what happened to John D. Edwards and Whipple? Apparently one of them was damaged worse than originally thought, formed an escort TF and is being escorted by the other.

I was pleased that a PB was able to hit both the Houston and vaunted Boise! Death by a thousand cuts!

I have some subs that are hoping to intercept either of those TFs. It’ll be a few days though.

Celebes Sea (between Tarakan and Mindinao):

Action started in the area in the wee hours of the morning. CAs Maya and Ashigara, CL Natori and 5 DDs raided Tarakan harbor, seeing what looked like (I thought at the time) was the Marblehead TF. In a nice rendition of the Keystone Cops, no one could hit anyone. The Allied ships weren’t even underway! [8|]

Here’s what was there:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Tarakan at 67,91, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Maya
CA Ashigara
CL Natori
DD Ikazuchi
DD Inazuma
DD Satsuki
DD Minazuki
DD Fumizuki

Allied Ships
DD Peary
DD Pillsbury
DD Pope
AS Otus, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
AO TAN 1
TK British Sailor

The 3 ships were loading fuel or oil. Otus went up like a firework. I now see only 5 ships 2 hexes north of the Balikpapan gap. Maybe Kaga will catch them tomorrow?

Kaga and Ryujo are stationed just SW of Mindanao and found another US TF composed of (at least) CL Marblehead and DDs Paul Jones, Parrott, Stewart and Bulmer. In a couple of feeble attacks by Kaga, they managed to sink only Bulmer.

Half of Kaga’s Kate daitai managed to redeem themselves by sinking xAP President Madison. She was empty. I’d rather they hit the warships…

Ryujo’s Kates sank the AS Canopus.

These carriers are heading toward the Balikpapan gap (the deep water hex 4 hexes due east of Balikpapan. They’re going to go a couple hexes east of it to clear out the shipping I can see in the area.

Zuiho and Hosho are still 25 hexes north. They’ll catch up…eventually.

The 4 BBs headed here are still 22 hexes north.

Malaya:

I see only 2 enemy fighters over Georgetown and no fighters (73 bombers, 9 auxiliary) in Singapore. I’ll continue to sweep anyway. Today’s sweep of Singapore downed 2 Buffalos at a cost of 2 Oscars.

I’m reluctant to bomb Singapore with the IJNAF. That’s a waste of precious pilots. That’ll be a job for the IJAAF once Johore Bahru is taken. (More below.) Once it is taken, I plan on assigning 18 Zeros and 81 Sallies there to begin the bombing of Singapore.

I am using the IJNAF to night bomb Singapore. Today, they destroyed a Blenheim on the ground and damaged another half dozen. Is it worth the supply cost? Not really.

So, what happened at Johore Bahru today? I attacked. It was the perfect attack! There were 2 Aussie brigades and 3 infantry battalions defending. At the start of the attack, one brigade and 1 battalion were combat ineffective and the other brigade was at 45, while the 2 remaining battalions were at 7 and 4. After the attack, they were at 22, 1 and 0, and they didn’t retreat! Tomorrow, I’ll hit them with 2 full divisions, a regiment and 2 tank regiments. I hope to kill some of them off and trash the rest. That will definitely help expedite the liberation of Singapore. Here’s what happened. Note that the only units that attacked were 2 tank regiments, 2 recon regiments and an infantry regiment:

Ground combat at Johore Bahru (50,83)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8437 troops, 176 guns, 356 vehicles, Assault Value = 1150
Defending force 8720 troops, 106 guns, 55 vehicles, Assault Value = 113
Japanese adjusted assault: 218
Allied adjusted defense: 215
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), preparation(-), fatigue(-)
experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
258 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
766 casualties reported
Squads: 41 destroyed, 31 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 24 (15 destroyed, 9 disabled)

Assaulting units:
42nd Infantry Regiment
114th Infantry Regiment
21st Infantry Regiment
22nd Recon Regiment
5th Recon Regiment
41st Infantry Regiment
1st Tank Regiment
55th Infantry Regiment
23rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
11th Infantry Regiment
5th Engineer Regiment
56th Infantry Regiment
6th Tank Regiment
21st JAAF AF Bn
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
5th Field AF Construction Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
54th Const Co
55th Const Co
20th AA Regiment
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
53rd Const Co
25th Army
18th Mountain Gun Regiment
18th JAAF Base Force
34th Field AA Battalion
5th Field Artillery Regiment
5th JAAF AF Coy

Defending units:
22nd Australian Brigade
3/16th Punjab Battalion
27th Australian Brigade
2nd Argylls Battalion
5/2nd Punjab Battalion
112th RAF Base Force
223 Group RAF
11 Battery/3 HAA
109th RN Base Force
272/273rd Bty 80th AT Gun Regiment
2nd ISF Base Force
111th RAF Base Force
5th Field Regiment

41 combat squads destroyed and another 31 disabled! Outstanding! Highlight of the day (almost).

The two battalions at Kota Bharu attacked today. They didn’t oust the Brits, which is a good thing. They’ll have another opportunity to kill some more of them. There were level 2 forts, which were reduced. There were no Japanese losses, just some disablements. They’ll try again tomorrow. There were 167 Japanese bomber sorties as well, which did great execution. Those two Brit brigades are getting smashed.

The Allies had about 22 bomber sorties against shipping at Singkawang and Kota Bharu causing no damage and losing 9 bombers. The RAF is pretty much done for.

Burma

Elements of the 55 Division and some Thai forces are advancing (slowly) on Moulmein.

The AVG is STILL sitting at Rangoon.

China

At Hong Kong, the 38 Division rested while the arty bombarded, along with 182 bomber sorties. Tomorrow, another attack.

35 Division and 3 IMB trashed the 98 Chinese Corps and cleared them from the intersection just NW of Kaifeng, opening that rail line for the Japanese.

Two divisions with arty support cleared the rail line 2 hexes E of Taiyun, trashing another Chinese corps.

Finally, an IMB cleared another Chinese corps off the rail line just NE of Taiyun.

Finally, a parachute drop on Port Blair liberated that base for Japanese use. The paratroopers will hold while transports fly in engineers and AS. Eventually, the paratroopers will be relieved by garrison troops.

Other Stuff

Nothing today.



btd64 -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/15/2021 1:06:01 PM)

I love reading your aar's. Always colorful. We still have to find some time to meet up....GP



RangerJoe -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/15/2021 4:56:55 PM)

Personally, I would pursuit with the armour, and an infantry division at Jahore Bahru while everything else attacks. The idea is to follow the retreated units into Singapore with no shock attack with the infantry division arriving the next turn the other units moving in.



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/15/2021 5:17:30 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Personally, I would pursuit with the armour, and an infantry division at Jahore Bahru while everything else attacks. The idea is to follow the retreated units into Singapore with no shock attack with the infantry division arriving the next turn the other units moving in.


Turn's already gone. You keep saying the infantry will arrive the turn after the armor. When I tried that at Mersing, the infantry took 2 days after the armor arrived for the infantry to show up. There would be only 2 tank regiments sitting in Singapore waiting to get beat up. And one of them is pretty small. I'm going conservative. Sorry. I'm hoping tomorrow's attack kills off some of the units currently in Johore Bahru and trashes the others. The infantry is in poor shape with one Aussie brigade at 22 AV, one infantry battalion at 1 AV and one base force at 2 AV with everything else there at 0 AV. Some will heal, but it won't be much.



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/15/2021 5:18:47 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: btd64

I love reading your aar's. Always colorful. We still have to find some time to meet up....GP


Thanks, Brian. I appreciate that. We'll figure it out. Things are just too busy at the moment. Being retired takes a lot of time!



btd64 -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/15/2021 5:26:10 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli


quote:

ORIGINAL: btd64

I love reading your aar's. Always colorful. We still have to find some time to meet up....GP


Thanks, Brian. I appreciate that. We'll figure it out. Things are just too busy at the moment. Being retired takes a lot of time!



I hear you. It does take a lot of time....GP



RangerJoe -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/15/2021 5:26:50 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli


quote:

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Personally, I would pursuit with the armour, and an infantry division at Jahore Bahru while everything else attacks. The idea is to follow the retreated units into Singapore with no shock attack with the infantry division arriving the next turn the other units moving in.


Turn's already gone. You keep saying the infantry will arrive the turn after the armor. When I tried that at Mersing, the infantry took 2 days after the armor arrived for the infantry to show up. There would be only 2 tank regiments sitting in Singapore waiting to get beat up. And one of them is pretty small. I'm going conservative. Sorry. I'm hoping tomorrow's attack kills off some of the units currently in Johore Bahru and trashes the others. The infantry is in poor shape with one Aussie brigade at 22 AV, one infantry battalion at 1 AV and one base force at 2 AV with everything else there at 0 AV. Some will heal, but it won't be much.


The difference is the speed of travel on the grey hardball road compared to the yellow dirtball road.



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/15/2021 6:17:30 PM)

Been doing a little math with the R&D engine factories.

Here's what I have:

Ha-60: 80 & 40 (fully repaired)
Ha-45: 5x30 (when fully repaired)
Ha-43: 4x30 (when fully repaired)

Ha-60 will become operational 7/42. The size 80 factory will become operational and the 40 will convert to Ha-43 7/42.

Ha-45 will become operational 9/42. 1 will become operational (and 1 currently operational factory will convert to Ha-45). The remaining 4 will convert to Ha-43 9/42, bringing the total to 9.

The Ha-43 becomes operational 5/43. Not sure how many will become operational. At that point I'll determine what end war engines I may need (if any).



Mike Solli -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/20/2021 2:11:28 AM)

13 Dec 41

Sub War

Well, the first depth charge hit of the war goes to the Allies. The AM Cairns hit the I-166 off Soerabaja. Damage wasn’t bad at 10-13(10)-0-0, but she’ll still head home for repairs.

The Seadragon managed to hit a Toho class with 2 working torpedoes! She didn’t make it.

On a brighter note, the I-164 put 3 torpedoes into an xAK sinking her. She was hauling fuel.

I-165 (probably) sank an xAKL after 24 shell hits (using everything down to 13.2 mm machine guns). At least she didn’t waste any torpedoes on her.

The I-157 found the Langley and put 2 torpedoes into her. Sinking sounds happened immediately after the attack.

5 Fleet

Some of the subs assigned to this AO finally reached their patrol areas. I see a TF at Dutch Harbor, probably some of the AMs(?) that start the war there.

The Adak invasion fleet is plodding on.

4 Fleet

Off Wake Island, KB finally launched some attacks. In the morning, 54 Vals disabled some squads and in the afternoon, full deck loads of 115 Kates and 53 Vals diabled a few dozen squads. The Japanese troops rested today, but will shock attack tomorrow.

The Guam deliberate attack didn’t do much. We’ll try a shock attack tomorrow.

SE Fleet

The only attack was the I/66 Naval Guard against a small Aussie company. They didn’t quite get the 2:1 needed (13:7) but reported a third of the enemy infantry was disabled. The Naval Guards are fine and will shock attack tomorrow.

The following invasions are in process:

Shortlands Island is 2 days out and unspotted.

Rabaul and Gasmata invasions are both 4 days out and unspotted. I may delay the Gasmata invasion a day. I’ll decide tomorrow.

There are a series of company sized invasions that are a week or so out. These include Finschafen, Madang, Wewak, among others.

SRA

Lots going on here…

Philippines: The 16 Division (-) took Mauban (just SE of Manila) and will clean up the base to the west and invest Manila. There are only 5 enemy units in Manila. The rest of the division are the Miura and Kimura dets, which are cleaning up the peninsula to the south down to Legaspi. To the north is 65 Brigade and some support units still in Lingayen. There are 4 artillery units with the 65 Bde and they will be reinforced with 6 more artillery units once the Hong Kong attack concludes. It looks like Mike is withdrawing some (or all) of his units in Clark Field to Bataan. Currently, there are 17 units in Bataan and 15 in Clark Field, and I see movement from Clark to Bataan. That’s perfect for me. I am not allocating any more force to Luzon, just the division and brigade, along with the artillery. I was hoping he chose not to fight, but to flee. I really don’t care if it takes 6 months to reduce Bataan. I see 8 fighters in Bataan and 5 auxiliary craft (Catalinas) between Clark and Manila. A day or two of sweeps will eliminate the fighters. Then a day of bombing the airfield so no more forts are built. After that, artillery bombardment and the 5 Air Division will bomb them to oblivion.

How do I know they were Catalinas? Well, they tried to torpedo whatever they could find. Unfortunately for them, I had CAP. For no loss (ships or aircraft), I shot down 2 enemy fighters and 4 Cats. I love killing Cats. It makes it that much harder for him to spot me.

Mindanao: There’s still a herd of Allied shipping fleeing south. They are currently to the SE of Mindanao. Kaga and Ryujo are 2 hexes NE of the Balikpapan gap and sank an xAKL in the morning. In the afternoon, they found two Dutch surface TFs. One included Java, Tromp and 2 DDs. They managed to put a torpedo into Java, leaving her burning and heavily damaged. Later in the day, I heard sinking sounds. I hope it was her. They, they launched a small attack against the second Dutch TF, 3 hexes to the east of Balikpapan. I saw only De Ruyter and DD Piet Hein, but managed to sink the DD. That TF reportedly has 6 ships in it. The Kaga/Ryujo TF will move a few hexes hoping to hit them again tomorrow if they’re foolish enough to stick around. (I hope they do.)

On Mindanao itself, the 146 Regiment at Butuan (the hex east of Cagayan) took Butuan and was reinforced by 4 and 7 Tank Regiments. I confirmed that Cagayan has B-17s there through recon and strafing Claudes(!). The Claudes managed to damage 2 bombers. I suspect Mike will pull out all the operational B-17s (and anything else that may happen to be there), but I hope to destroy all the damaged planes soon. I’ll continue to strafe to damage any operational planes that are there tomorrow. I’m sending the two tank regiments to take that base. The 146 Regiment (of 56 Division) will clean up the enemy unit trapped to the NE. These forces (+Kure 1 SNLF at Davao) will clean up Mindanao, with the exception of Zamboanga, which will be taken by Kure 2 SNLF. Once Mindanao is liberated, 146 Regiment will merge with the rest of 56 Division for Phase II (see below) and the tank regiments will also prepare for Phase II.

Butuan was defended by 103 PA Infantry Regiment and was rendered combat ineffective in the attack and retreated to Cagayan. I should have waited a day and then attacked with the infantry and pursued with the armor. Dumb mistake. It would have accelerated the liberation of the island.

Malaya and environs: Kota Bharu was liberated, trashing the two Allied brigades and driving them south. I’m chasing them. The goal is to take Temuloh and Malacca as soon as possible so the IG Division can rail down to Johore Bahru as soon as possible and join the attack on Singapore. I may use paratroopers to assist with Temuloh. The 91 Naval Guard is 23 miles south of Malacca and will attack in a couple of days. I don’t think any enemy troops are in either of those bases.

The RAF is done in Malaya. Intel says there are 3 fighters and 51 bombers in Singapore and only 2 bombers in Georgetown. I had a LOT of AS in the Mersing invasion force and they marched to Johore Bahru. I now have 84 Sallies, 12 Zeros and 18 Oscars there. The Oscars are flying CAP and the Zeros will sweep Singapore. Then the bombers will go for the airfield. I’ll lose some Sallies to flak, but that’s what the IJAAF is for!

The CW did try a few small attacks against my shipping, primarily Hudsons, but they were ineffective and several were shot down.

The attack on Johore Bahru was very successful. Unfortunately, the 27 Aussie Brigade got away to Singapore, only to be destroyed at a later date. Yesterday, their AV was 22. Here’s the attack:

Ground combat at Johore Bahru (50,83)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 31335 troops, 347 guns, 357 vehicles, Assault Value = 1136

Defending force 6190 troops, 65 guns, 54 vehicles, Assault Value = 31

Japanese adjusted assault: 808

Allied adjusted defense: 45

Japanese assault odds: 17 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Johore Bahru !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), preparation(-), fatigue(-)
experience(-)

Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
38 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2843 casualties reported
Squads: 102 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 157 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 49 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 54 (48 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Vehicles lost 54 (54 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 10

Defeated Allied Units Retreating

Assaulting units:
41st Infantry Regiment
55th Infantry Regiment
56th Infantry Regiment
22nd Recon Regiment
114th Infantry Regiment
5th Division
1st Tank Regiment
23rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
6th Tank Regiment
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
18th Mountain Gun Regiment
54th Const Co
21st JAAF AF Bn
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
25th Army
20th AA Regiment
34th Field AA Battalion
55th Const Co
18th JAAF Base Force
5th Field AF Construction Battalion
53rd Const Co
5th JAAF AF Coy

Defending units:
12th Indian Brigade
111th RAF Base Force
223 Group RAF
2nd ISF Base Force
112th RAF Base Force
109th RN Base Force
272/273rd Bty 80th AT Gun Regiment
22nd Australian Brigade
11 Battery/3 HAA
5th Field Regiment

All of the Allied units are combat ineffective. I estimate that the Singapore garrison has approximately 250 AV. I am attacking with IG, 5 18 Divisions, and may throw 33 Division in as well, along with 1 and 6 Tank Regiments, 4, 15 & 23 Independent engineer regiments, and 4 artillery regiments. I’m hoping Singapore doesn’t last long.

The victors of Singkawang cleared Sambas (the base to the east) today and are continuing on to Kuching.

Sorong: The NG company who made it ashore just to see their little invasion fleet be destroyed by the nasty American fleet took Sorong, destroying the little Dutch base force there. At least they have huts to sleep in…

Burma

The invasion troops are still crawling toward Moulmein. Chang Mai’s level 1 airfield is being upgraded to level 4 in order to support the invasion forces until airfields in Burma can be liberated and upgraded.

I see 55 fighters (2 squadrons of AVG?) at Rangoon.

China

The deliberate attack on Hong Kong went in behind 180 bomber sorties. There was no doubt:

Ground combat at Hong Kong (77,61)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 18140 troops, 322 guns, 217 vehicles, Assault Value = 547

Defending force 5502 troops, 129 guns, 78 vehicles, Assault Value = 124

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 405

Allied adjusted defense: 125

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Hong Kong !!!

Combat modifiers

Defender: terrain(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
244 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
5941 casualties reported
Squads: 295 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 437 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 21 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 171 (171 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 92 (92 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 6

Assaulting units:
68th Ind.Infantry Battalion
67th Ind.Infantry Battalion
38th Division
19th Ind. Engineer Regiment
20th Ind. Engineer Regiment
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion
5th RF Gun Battalion
2nd RF Gun Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
21st Mortar Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion

Defending units:
Winnipeg Grenadiers Battalion
Rifles of Canada Battalion
1st Middlesex Battalion
Kowloon Brigade
102nd RN Base Force
Hong Kong Fortress

Infrastructure is intact:
Manpower: 4(1)
Resources: 60(0)
Heavy Industry: 80(1)
Light Industry: 220(0)
Repair Shipyard: 50(0)

That’s 380 supply and 160 HI a day. Best of all was 370k fuel!

38 Division will rest a few days until transports arrive in preparation for Phase II.

Not much else of interest, but maneuvering is happening.

Other Stuff

Phase II is being solidified. You may have noticed that I have yet to take any oil fields. That’s not until Phase III. Actually, that is Phase III. Phase II’s goal is to prevent the Allies from being able to bomb the oil fields once I liberate them. One concern I have is the Fortress Palembang. I’m concerned about the British 18 Division. They can reach Sumatra around 27 December. I intend on preventing that from happening by an early attack on Java. There are actually 3 phases to the invasion of Java and Phase 1 will kick off the Sumatra invasion.

Java Phase 1: 38 Division will invade and take Merak. Once that occurs, I will have access to Oosthaven, Sumatra. 48 division, 2 & 8 Tank Regiments and 3 and 21 Independent Engineer Regiments will invade Oosthaven. The infantry and engineers will move to invest Palembang from the NW (no river from that direction, thus no shock attack). The tank regiments will move to take Benkoelen and Padang, preventing the 18 British Division from being able to get to Palembang. They don’t have to stop the Brits. They just have to delay them. (This is assuming the Brits are going to Sumatra.)

Java Phase 2: This will happen concurrently (or slightly after) Java Phase 1 begins. 56 Division, 17 Medium FA Regiment, 22 Air Flotilla HQ, 16 Army HQ and 1 JAAF AF Base Force will land at Kaldjati. I really like this base. It has a level 4 airfield and is clear terrain, which the Dutch will have a hard time holding. Once this base is taken, I will have a level 4 airfield and 120 AS there. I will move elements of 22 Air Flotilla and 3 Air Division there to gain air supremacy over Java and southern Sumatra, as well as the surrounding waters. 56 Division will land as all its components. Ideally, it will stay that way for a little while so can scurry all over, overwhelming the Dutch and taking Bandoeng and/or Buitenzorg. That probably won’t happen because of the terrain those bases are in, but we’ll see.

Java Phase 3: This is the floating reserve consisting of 21 Division (currently loading at Shanghai) and 4 and 7 Tank Regiments, available after the conquest of Mindanao. They will either reinforce the Merak and/or Kaldjati or make a third landing, depending on the situation. One possibility I really like is to land them all at Semarang and drive the armor across to Djokjakarta to cut the island in half.

Once this unfolds, I’ll be able to start taking the oil fields without fear of enemy bombing.

We’ll see…



Zeckke -> RE: Logistics in the Pacific - USSAmerica (A), Mike (J) (10/20/2021 11:09:55 AM)

remebef to save the engines, more engines more engines to reppus¡ maestro¡



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