John 3rd
Posts: 17178
Joined: 9/8/2005
From: La Salle, Colorado
Status: offline
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Combat Report
August 4-5, 1942
To the thunderous sound of 3 BB’s large guns, Operation Black Wind begins landing four reinforced Infantry Divisions at Port Moresby. The Aussie 1st Corps HQ, 2 Inf Div, A-T Regiment, and 3 BF tremble in fear at the Japanese onslaught!
Like a coiled serpent, Operation Urgent Fury begins to unfold as it slowly moves towards Perth, Australia.
The hope is to see-saw the Allies back-and-forth between the twin objective so that they are not in the right position in EITHER case!
Regional Reports:
North Pacific
Dutch Harbor My small Northern Fleet TF of 3 CL and 5 DD sweep into Dutch Harbor and sink MSW.
Kiska When returning to the base the TF hits a minefield on the 5th and I lose DD Manazura! This sucks! Will send a couple of MSW up here to clean it up.
Central Pacific
Midway Midway is hit both days by 33 and 27 B-17. They inflict some damage, destroy 4 Betty on the ground, and cause a couple of casualties. I decide to move the Daitai of Betty back to Wake. There are two Chutai of Mavis/Emily still there to conduct recon.
South Pacific
Lae The AF moves to Sz-5 and strikes continue to radiate from here to Port Moresby.
Port Moresby Operation Black Wind begins! My massed invasion fleet begins landing on the 4th and take a large amount of ineffective CD fire. I have about 10 ships damaged but there is no interference otherwise. By the 5th, 2/3 of my troops are offloaded. I send back 33 of 98 ships on that day. My bombardment force of 3 BB pound the base during both phases of the 5th.
I am surprised by the massive CD with little damage. In two of the four invasion phases, there were OVER 3,000 shots fired and I have had only 4-6 ships heavily damaged. It is weird but a nice development…
Things look pretty good. Spot no Allied movement by sea and I’ll be done offloading on the 6th.
Gili-Gili This base takes a MASSIVE hit on the 5th by (catch this!) 46 B-17 and 104 B-24! HOLY CRAP! They are intercepted by 27 Zero and AA fire. Considering the scale and scope of the attack, casualties are very lite. I lose 4 Zero, 3 Helen, and 8 Kates on the ground for 2 Liberators and 21 others damaged. The AF goes to 33% damage. Raise the CAP over the field and see…
On the brightside, the B-17s WERE over at Perth 10 days ago. They have moved and that ONLY helps my other planned operation….
Noumea I load 2 Engineering Regiments as well as 2 Artillery units onto a convoy. This group will head to PM and augment the initial forces if needed. The convoy departs on the 5th.
Sub Action:
SS Finback puts a TT into a PG near G-G
I-175 sinks an Aussie PG with 2 TT near Brisbane
SS Flying Fish hits an AK near Lae with 3 Shells and 1TT but takes 3 Shells back
NE Australia
Perth Normal routine of naval, air, and land bombardment every day. Troops are out of supply but holding up pretty well.
7,97 Life get scary here VERY quickly when I spot a new Aussie Infantry Division arrive. They Shock Attack on the 5th and my troops hold. It is a frightening 17-1 attack. They won’t hold for very long…
Kido Butai passes the DEI barrier islands on the 4th and enters open waters on the 5th. I set my Zeros to 70% CAP, Vals and Kates are on Naval Attack, and my CAs are providing Recon with Alfs, Jakes, and Daves.
DEI
Koepang On the 5th, CVEs Unyo (Sys-39), Taiyo (Sys-25), Chuyo with 5 DD as escort depart heading due west. They each have a Daitai of Zeros (two are A3 and one is A2) with experience in the 70s.
Lautem The base gets a supply convoy and two SNLF reinforcement units.
Dili I begin to expand Dili’s facilities by landing a small construction unit and base force.
Burma
Continous story of massive Allied Airpower being used all along Nate’s perimeter hitting troops near Myitkina, the base at Mandalay, Akyab, and elsewhere.
Andaman The British continue to show some interest in hitting this base. Small B-17 strikes hit here on both days—no damage. Pick-up the approach of a Bombardment TF on the 5th. Nate has 18 Sally strike from Andaman. There are no hits but BBs Valiant and Warspite are attacked. Nearly 90 Betty (at Sabang and Rangoon) as well as 80 Sally prepare to attack the next day…
If the Brits do bombard the base then the 5,000 mines there will certainly raise havoc. We hope to get some ships damaged this way and then FINISH them with the Bettys!
China
Yenen The siege drags on and on and on and on…
49,26 The Chinese are desperately trying to break Nate’s cordon around Yenen. There are two Deliberate Attacks staged on these days that both result in 0-1. As mentioned in the last update, there are now about 80 Allied Bombers (B-25, Wellington, and Chinese) and 100 fighters (some Chinese but mostly P-40) attacking this hex.
Nate has been waiting for the Zeros to rest up some before trying to make a fight here. Should happen sometime soon.
Home Islands
Engineering Sapporo Pt-8
My exhausted ships from Noumea begin approaching the Home Islands. I spread CVs Shokaku, Zuikaku, BC Hiei, 5 CA, 1 CL, and 1 DD around various repair facilities. All these ships are at Sys-15 to 20 in damage. I have significantly expanded my repair yards, we’ll see how fast they can repair and then upgrade.
Combat Summary
August 4th-5th
Planes
Japan—19 total—4 Fighters, 7 Bombers, and 8 Torpedo Planes. Nearly all of these planes were destroyed on the ground with no pilot loss.
Allies—7 total—3 Fighters, 2 Bombers, and 2 4EB.
Shipping
Japan—1 Ship—DD Manazura
Allies—2 Ships—1 MSW and 1 PG
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Printable Version
RE: The Month of Decision: July 1942 - 
So if the transports are 3 hexes from Perth and the carriers are six hexes away you could easily get slamed. 
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