Capt Henry_MatrixForum
Posts: 103
Joined: 4/1/2005 Status: offline
|
December 7, 1941 “Hostile Invasion Force Sighted off Bataan. Estimate 40-plus ships. Am Engaging.” So opens a new War in the Pacific. This message was sent from the Commanding Officer at Corrigidor to General MacAurhur’s headquarters. Unfortunately, General MacAurthur had left orders that he was not to be disturbed. His staff informed this unfortunate officer that he must be mistaken in his sighting, as General MacAurthur had not authorized any forces to practice night amphibious landings off Bataan. When told that the attackers were not friendly but Japanese, the staff confidently replied that the General hadn’t authorized them to attack either. Fortunately, Corrigidor’s gunners could see better than General MacAurthur’s staff could think. Almost all ships in the invasion fleet were hit, and 15 are confirmed sunk. A second landing attempt after dawn met with similar results. Night landings on other Luzon bases went much more smoothly for the Japanese as drowsy Philippine Army units failed to raise the alarm. MacAuthur’s odd command structure had other negative results. Sure that the contact reports were false, no reports were sent to Washington or other commands. Hours after Corrigidor’s report, MacAurthur’s radio operators picked up a faint signal. It was sent in the clear and read, “Air Raid Pearl Harbor. This is no drill.” All eight of the Pacific Fleet’s battleships were hit, as were the Helena and San Francisco. Battleship structural damage range from 15 to 70. So begins a battle between Captain Henry and CVN65. A brief status report: North Pacific All is quiet. No contact reported by PBYs out of Kodiak Island. All aircraft at Anchorage are conducting training. West Coast No enemy contact reported. All submarines on the coast are ordered to Pearl. The ancient S-boats are especially prized as it is hoped their torpedoes might actually work. Transport groups are organized to ferry supplies to Pearl Harbor and Australia. Troop convoys are organized to ship men to Pearl. If CVN gives me time, these troops will begin to shift south, securing a line of communication with Australia. South Pacific Forces will reorganize at Pearl and then take a roundabout route to Noumea. With its victory point value and strategic location, this base and island need to be held if possible. My limited experience with CVN in War Plan Orange indicates that he is a methodical player, but not one given to lightning advances. We shall see. Some of his moves today indicated an interest in striking deep into Allied areas. Central Pacific Pearl Harbor has been hit hard. No battleships are yet in danger of sinking. A strike tomorrow could drastically change that. With only ten operational fighters on Oahu, I order them to Hilo. Their numbers are too small to do anything except provide additional targets to the Zeroes of the KB. AA will be the sole defense of the fleet should another attach occur. Wake Island falls to a fierce assault. Enterprise and Lexington are ordered south towards Suva. South Pacific No contacts reported. A task force en route to Australia with artillery is rerouted to Suva. Australia Troops are ordered to move up to Darwin. The stock scenario’s railroads should make this a fairly rapid transfer. Aircraft are ordered from the south to the east coasts. Southwest Pacific Enemy troops are reported landing on Rabaul. Headquarters are ordered transferred from Brisbane to Townsville. Philippines Troops land on all northern Luzon bases except Vigan. I think he’ trying to trap forces in Vigan. The landings at Bataan are ill advised as I expect another 15 to 20 transports to be sunk by the end of the next turn. If he continues to land, I hope the shore batteries can inflict maximum damage. The 16th Division is the only unit identified at Bataan. Our ground forces can hopefully hold against a direct assault as much of the unit has been disabled in landing. If he moves rapidly to attack Luzon I could be facing problems. If he takes time to establish himself I will have a little breather. The shattered remnants of the Clark Field air groups are ordered south to Davao to reform. P-40Es at Manila are ordered north and set to naval attack. Unescorted landing forces are sighted at Jolo. Boise, 60 miles away, is ordered to intercept. The Houston is also ordered to the scene as are four destroyers off Borneo. All surface combat vessels at Manila are ordered to Bataan to engage the invasion force. I don’t envision much surface opposition as I can only hope that my opponent will bring the two Nagatos within range of my coastal defenses. After engaging, all forces are to set a course for Java. S-class subs are also ordered to attack the invader all along Luzon’s western and northern coasts. Consideration is being given to removing some forces from Luzon as CVN clearly has vastly superior forces. It is only a matter of time. His landings on Jolo will allow him to effectively destroy any surface evacuations with torpedo bombers. Most support craft are ordered from Manila to Darwin. I will try to sneak a few transport ships through as time passes. CVN is also landing forces at Lagaspi. On a side note, a port attack on Hong Kong guts the 2 DDs and 1 DM in port. All three are at 99 system damage. With the Japanese already assaulting, I expect to scuttle them in port. We did have a house rule limited the Japanese to one port attack, but I’m not sure if this attack was CVNs or the squadron commander. With only three ships involved, I’m not going to make any fuss about it. Getting them out of Hong Kong would likely have been difficult anyway. Plans in this theater are sketchy. Preservation of the P-40Es are of paramount concern as they will be needed to defend points further south. I am intending to train the p-40s on naval attack and frequently shift bases to try to avoid airfield attacks. With Zeroes escorting the bombers, a CAP mission looks a lot like suicide. There are currently 2 P-40Bs, 4 P-26s, and no P-35s operational in this theater. Malaya Landings all along the east coast of the peninsula. I’m transferring Vildebeests from Singapore north to get them within torpedo range of the transports. Two Fuso class battleships have been identified so far. The two Nagato class are bombarding in the Philippines so that leaves something like six battlewagons unaccounted for. Some of the Kirishima class are likely with the KB. Although there can’t be many battlewagons about, there can be aircraft, so Force Z is sent to Java. I’d like to raid with it, but CVN knows where it is and has to be prepared for it. I’m going to try to loose POW in the shuffle and see if I can’t pop her out somewhere where CVN is not looking. I might get the benefits of a raid and the benefit of future service from Force Z as well. A decision is made to begin moving some combat forces out of Malaya. Combat units garrisoning Singapore will begin moving to India. Front line units will stand in place and receive support from nearby units. I’m hoping to execute a fighting retreat to Singapore as I do need time to strengthen India. It’s a guess, but WPO experience makes me think CVN is going to make sure of Malaya before he turns north into Burma. ABDA Some light cruisers and destroyers are ordered toward Jolo as additional support for Boise and Houston. Air units are ordered to western Borneo to guard against invasion. Some planes are also transferred to Sumatra to attack the forces invading Malaya. All units are ordered to improve their fortifications. Menando is reported to be under amphibious attack. India All occupied bases are ordered to expand. There aren’t many planes to allocate. The Buffaloes in Rangoon are sent down to Sumatra to assist the Malaya defenders.
|