FeurerKrieg
Posts: 3397
Joined: 6/15/2005 From: Denver, CO Status: offline
|
January 8th, 1942 After all the build up, today went much smoother than originally expected. Malaya/Indochina Nothing much to report here other than our ships are ready sail out for targets mentioned yesterday. DEI A few mines are cleared at Koepang which makes me think they have all been cleared. These sweepers will head on to the next possible mined base - Makassar. Makassar is attacked again today and as expected it is easily captured. Near Jesselton we have been spotting a couple enemy ships and Nagato and Ise were nearby on the way to Cam Rahn, but we kept missing the enemy ships. Today we finally track them down and they are sunk easily. Turns out it was two xAKs. On Java our troops are unloaded without incident at Semarang and they will re-secure the base tomorrow. South of Batavia, we try an attack against a stack of Dutch troops that had retreated from us a few days ago. Unfortunately they have been stiffened with reinforcements so we are unable to chase them back to Batavia. Another pesky Dutch sub hits a transport near Ambon and sinks the ship. Some ASW Sallys are headed to Ambon and will hopefully help reduce these attacks. We unload at Denpasar with no interference from the Dutch at Java, and we expect the base to fall tomorrow. Philippines The free base today is in the southern part of the Philippines, Dumanquilas to be specific. Given that the only other unit we have in the area is at Zamboanga, it wouldn't surprise me if that base flipped back to the Allies sometime. Our DD hunters once again cross paths with the three PT boats still in the area, and once again are unable to sink them. The next day we find them again and manage to get a glancing blow on one, but it doesn't appear to sink. Pacific The events around Port Moresby start with SS Cuttlefish taking a shot (and missing) at the three destroyers we sent to intercept the enemy surface fleet. No surface fleet ever shows up, so the sacrificial destroyers live to sail another day. Our invasion fleets move in under cover of darkness and the light cruisers and patrol boats unload lots of ammo to cover the landings. They all go reasonably well with about 650 troops lost or wounded in the process. Destroyer Karukaya takes a couple hits from shore guns, but should be able to make it home if it can dodge enemy submarine attacks. The next day, we do receive the expected enemy air attacks. The first wave consists of 16 SBD and 5 TBD, escorted by 12 Wildcats and Warhawks. Our CAP is a healthy 33 Zeros and 3 Claudes, but we still tangle to long with the fighters and all but one of the bombers gets through. Thankfully the TBDs all miss, but two cargo ships and one xAP take hits from the divebombers. One torpedo hits Mutsu, but thankfully it duds. A second attack of 18 Warhawks and 15 SB2U-3 Vindicators meets an even stronger CAP as more of our fighters arrive to the scene - 57 Zeros and 7 Claudes. This time, no enemy bombers get through to attack,and our soldiers on the beaches are thankful. A last attack of 10 Warhawks and 2 Vindicators is also deflected. In total, we shoot down 17 P-40E, 17 Vindicators, 1 F4F-3A Wildcat and 1 SBD for the loss of only a single Zero. Air combat near Port Moresby In the afternoon, with the enemy air threat seriously reduced, and no enemy battleships anywhere in sight, our carriers launch an attack on the mystery TF to the west. Morning air search had determined there were a pair of cruisers and had even hit CL St Louis with a bomb. The afternoon strikes go well, with three Kates hitting CA San Francisco with three torpedoes, and CL St. Louis taking two more 250kg bombs. It is unclear what this enemy TF is doing out here, but perhaps it was trying to intercept our carriers. San Fran is reported sunk, and we might catch St. Louis tomorrow, or our subs might get her. We finally get a look at the troops at Port Moresby and there is a fair amount - recon estimates almost 16,000. We have about 20,000 by comparison, however almost all of our troops are our elite marines with 80-90 experience. Even our heavy unit - the 36th Inf Regiment - is 80 experience. We also have an Armor regiment which should help. It will be a tough fight I am sure, but we are going to bring in some more troops with some fast transports from Rabaul, and hopefully our battleships and Bettys can soon shut down the airfield at PM so they can help wear down the ground troops. Damaged and empty ships have been put into a TF and sent back to Rabaul, the rest of our ships will continue to unload supplies for what will probably be a long stay. quote:
Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130) Allied Bombardment attack Attacking force 15610 troops, 183 guns, 97 vehicles, Assault Value = 486 Defending force 19891 troops, 136 guns, 152 vehicles, Assault Value = 532 Japanese ground losses: 145 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled) Allied ground losses: 8 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Assaulting units: 11th Australian Brigade 7th Australian Brigade 49th Australian Battalion 9th Australian Brigade 1st Australian Brigade 34th Infantry Regiment Papuan Inf Battalion 13th Field Regiment 224 Group RAF 15th RAN Base Force Defending units: II/66th Naval Guard Unit Maizuru 1st SNLF II/84th Naval Guard Unit Bandasan SNLF I/84th Naval Guard Unit Maizuru 2nd SNLF 8th Tank Regiment I/66th Naval Guard Unit Kure 2nd SNLF 36th Infantry Regiment 2nd Indpt SNLF Coy Sasebo 1st SNLF III/66th Naval Guard Unit 1st Indpt SNLF Coy Sasebo 2nd SNLF 16th Army /1 And one last bit - our Glens spot the big surface fleet far to the south enroute back to Noumea presumably. Apparently the Allies did not want to risk the battle wagons in the daylight - if indeed the enemy group was battleships at all. China Some armor gets ahead of our infantry and cross the river into Loyang early. 32 tanks are knocked out (disabled), but the infantry will be crossing tomorrow so I'm not too worried about the tank unit. At Wenchow the 17th Division arrived yesterday and today we try again. We only hit 1 to 2 odds, but forts come down to level 2 so I think we are getting closer. Submarines I-153, on patrol in the gap between Sumatra and Java, finds xAKL De Haan and hit the small ship with a torpedo, likely enough to sink it. Near Brisbane, I-171 uses AA and deck gun fire to bring down the xAKL Carroo. EDIT - Had the numbers backwards on the PM ground fight.
< Message edited by Feurer Krieg -- 6/22/2012 7:52:10 PM >
_____________________________
|