John 3rd
Posts: 17178
Joined: 9/8/2005 From: La Salle, Colorado Status: offline
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Combat Report June 8-9, 1942 The impact of the Battle off Enggano cannot be understated at this point. My opponent has lost so much troop lift capacity that I doubt if I need to be concerned about a serious Amphib Operation through the rest of 1942. This is not to say I think he'll try something more but it does mean I have a lot of liberties knowing what has been sunk. Time for an around-the-map update. North Pacific I am reinforcing the three major Kurile Bases with a single Bn of those Inf that arrive in may 42. Will NOT neglect this area. A TF is currently unloading a CD unit at Umnak and I have CVE Unyo heading for Attu to re-size two Zero Chutai, two Val Chutai, and two Kate Chutai. They will be expanded from 9 or 12 to 27 each and form the aerial defenses of the Northern Pacific. Central Pacific The only serious component of the Kaigun NOT committed to the IO right now is a CTF comprising CVs Junyo and Hiyo and CVL Nisshin. They have 3 CA and 3 CL as well as about 10 DDs for escort and STF. The whole ensemble is moving from Truk to Jaliut for some serious raiding work. We KNOW all US CVs are either sunk or in the IO so why not? Am moving a group of nearly 12 I-Boats into a position between Hawaii--WC and the Line Islands. Will see if we can bag anything. South Pacific Am gonna start Operational Planning for an invasion of New Zealand. Tentative date shall be August 1, 1942. Need supplies and fuel moved to support locations for this possible assault. Australia Charters Towers falls to the IJA on June 9th. Troops flee there moving towards Cairns. Move a beat-up 33rd ID and a TK Reg for pursuit while bringing the 18th ID across the river to aid the assault on Townsville. Had a very RUDE surprise on the 7th. As mentioned earlier I had loaded an Inf Div and 2 BF at Rockhampton so I could take Cairns and the towns north of there. As my TF split-up, one of them was jumped by both SBD Squadrons from poor sunk Lexington. I had thought these planes were shattered and gone. Man was I wrong. Lost 6 AK and nearly 6,000 men. CRAP! OK. Withdraw TFs back to Bowen to unload what's left there. Move engineers up to Bowen and start expanding the runway... Two Inf Div reached 100% prep for Cocos this turn. DEI Cleaning up islands, bases, and dots throughout the Central and Eastern DEI region. Order all damaged warships back to Soerabaja and Singapore for repairs. This is a fairly substantial number of ships: Soryu, two CVLs, 3 BBs, 2 CAs, and 6-8 DDs. Once at both bases several ships (mainly Yamato) will be sent home. Prior to that, Soryu gets in one more sting when her air group sinks an AK and AP about 12 hexes from Sumatra. Both ships were carrying troops. Palembang is looking nicely secure as the balance of an Inf Div lands to shore up defenses. Two elements of Imperial Guards begin to unload tomorrow. Engineers and Construction units moving in to help with base and fort work. IO Diego Garcia The KB (four CVs and a CVL) launch a pair of massed attacks at shipping located here. The morning sees 58 Z, 35 V, and 67 K while the afternoon has 54 Z, 63 V, and 63 K come in. Both attacks are met by a mix of Allied fighters including F4F and Martlets. Either I just MISSED the CVs or they are disbanded in the Port. The attacks do excellent work as numerous TK and AK are hit while a BUNCH of Support Ships (AG, AKE, AS) get clobbered as well. The sees the loss of 9 Z, 3 V, and 13 K for 5 AG, 2 AKE, 2 TK, and 3 AK sunk with another 9 AK, 8 TK, several APs, and several more AKE/AG seriously damaged. Should note that CA San Francisco is hit with a TT. Order a STF of 3 CA and 6 DD to detach and hit the survivors. The KB moves slightly away and towards Sumatra preparing to leave for fuel. Should be able to attack again tomorrow. Order 2 Daitai of Kates to hit the Port and see what might be there... Burma The Monsoon rules are now in effect. I have Myitkyina but not the dot north of there. All units shift to training and R&R while the Monsoon grounds and stops everything for the next few months. Have just one ID and 3 TK Reg present in theatre. China Still cleaning up the area between Shanghai and the big cities to the west. Those are the events for the last couple of days.
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< Message edited by John 3rd -- 9/21/2012 6:41:05 PM >
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