Cuttlefish
Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007 From: Oregon, USA Status: offline
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If your bayonet breaks, strike with the stock; if the stock gives way, hit with your fists; if your fists are hurt, bite with your teeth. - General Mikhail Ivanovich Dragomirov: Notes for Soldiers, 1890 ‘Tis but a scratch. - The Black Knight: Monty Python and the Holy Grail --- July 2, 1943 – July 13, 1943 Allied forces continue to encircle Borneo; they now occupy the entire island except for Miri and Kuching. San Jose and Iloilo have also been occupied. The last of the stranded carrier planes were repaired and flown off San Jose the turn before the base fell and transport aircraft pulled out all the aviation support troops there. It was a small triumph but it was neatly done. I’ve had few enough things to be pleased with in the game lately. Land-based aircraft have carried out port attacks against both Singapore and Manila. Heavy bombers, unescorted, were used at Singapore and suffered no losses despite heavy Japanese fighter cover. The battles over Manila have been more fierce, with around thirty aircraft lost on both sides in several attacks. I had, fortunately, long since pulled out all high-value targets at both ports, with the exception of badly damaged ships under repair. A number of small freighters, auxiliaries, and patrol craft were sunk, along with two I-Boats at Singapore, a pair of small RO subs at Manila, and a destroyer at each base. Just to make sure that nothing was missed Allied cruiser forces have also raided Singapore. Some small tankers and freighters were lost. Allied carriers raided the coast of Malaya looking for shipping but they too found mostly only small ships. Between the various Allied attacks I have lost around forty or fifty ships. Almost none of it was of any further use to the Japanese war effort (the subs and destroyers being the exceptions) but it has still been discouraging to watch. There has been one naval battle during the period. While Q-Ball’s carriers were in the South China Sea I slipped a modest task force based around Kongo and heavy cruiser Furutaka undetected through the San Bernardino Strait. The task force pounced on San Jose, seeking to attack shipping, but instead ran into a heavier Allied task force based around battleships Nevada and Royal Sovereign. The resulting battle was inconclusive. No ships were lost on either side and both Kongo and Nevada sustained moderate damage. Under the Sea: I-155 strikes again, sinking large APA Wharton near San Jose. The sub was damaged by the escorts and this time is going to Yokohama for repairs. I am not taking any chances on a Das Boot ending for this gallant submarine! Japanese subs have also sunk another APA and a pair of xAKs during the period; the two xAKs went down at the east end of the Torres Strait. Allied subs have been very quiet, with one major exception. Battleship Ise took two torpedoes while en route to the Home Islands for repair, turning a short stay into a long one. In the Air: I am building up a massive force of bombers, choosing to give Q-Ball a free hand now in hopes of being able to send 1000 planes against him in the future. It has required discipline to absorb the beating I am currently taking without striking back but so far I have managed it. And who knows, maybe the easy victories will make Q-Ball just a little careless. The recent dogfights over Manila have convinced me of one thing: the era of the A6M2 is over. My Tony and Tojo fighters have acquitted themselves well but the Zero just can't hold it’s own against the newest Allied planes On the Ground: a fresh Japanese division just reached Luzon from China. Also arriving safely there from Tokyo were some aviation support battalions, AA units, and 18th Army HQ. To the south an infantry division arrived in Singapore from Rangoon and has taken up position at Mersing. Construction troops have been sent to bolster the engineers already on Okinawa
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