JocMeister
Posts: 8262
Joined: 7/29/2009 From: Sweden Status: offline
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20th-23rd May -44 Some good and some bad... New Guinea This is where it all happened. After the Sarmi strike Erik withdrew from the area. I sorted out CAP and whatnot and decided to do the first deliberate attack on Biak after the reinforcement. Went well over expectations and the prepping of a Corps HQ and Command HQ payed off for the first time! quote:
Ground combat at Biak (87,110) Allied Deliberate attack Attacking force 22546 troops, 455 guns, 596 vehicles, Assault Value = 943 Defending force 19393 troops, 119 guns, 98 vehicles, Assault Value = 603 Allied adjusted assault: 1669 Japanese adjusted defense: 949 Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 4) Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 3 Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), forts(+) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 1934 casualties reported Squads: 41 destroyed, 83 disabled Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 18 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled Allied ground losses: 722 casualties reported Squads: 5 destroyed, 127 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 35 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 30 disabled Guns lost 30 (1 destroyed, 29 disabled) Vehicles lost 54 (3 destroyed, 51 disabled) Assaulting units: 1st USMC Tank Battalion 110th Combat Engineer Battalion 32nd Infantry Division 1st Cavalry (Spec) Cavalry Division 138th(Sep) Infantry Regiment 3rd NZ Armoured Sqn 98th Field Artillery Battalion 51st Marine Defense Battalion 2nd RAA Jungle Regiment Defending units: 3rd South Seas Gsn 53rd Infantry Brigade 49th Infantry Regiment 4th South Seas Gsn 1st Indpt SNLF Coy I/84th Naval Guard Unit Kure 2nd SNLF 4th Raiding Rgt /1 8th Garrison Unit 9th Tank Regiment 5th Garrison Unit /1 37th JAAF AF Bn 24th Field AF Construction Battalion 3rd FF Const Unit 66th JNAF AF Unit 13th Air Fleet /1 This is good news. Despite Erik flying in numerous small units we managed to drop the forts to 3. The won´t be going up after this... Tanks and the Calavary division are in great shape. But again I´m completely powerless to stop him from flying in troops. He has some 400 transports (Aux) spread out at various bases. I´m guessing these are floatplanes since the AF is toast. Despite having 120 Hellcats on LRCAP over Biak nothing happens. It has now jumped from 24k troops to 31k in 3 days. What can I do??? Now for the less fun news...I think Erik played me and I fell for it. Remember the thing that pissed him off? On the 22nd my DBs flew against a BIG BB TF NE of Sarmi consisting of quote:
BB Yamato, Bomb hits 1 BB Fuso BB Yamashiro, Bomb hits 1 BB Ise, Bomb hits 1, on fire BB Musashi, Bomb hits 1 Erik complained in an E-mail about this TF reacting to something out of CAP protection and stuff. I didn´t think much of it but thought since they wrongly got there he would just withdraw after getting the paint scratched. I did not send any PTs or Fletcher after him. Well, I guess I should have... quote:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Sarmi at 91,114, Range 9,000 Yards Allied aircraft no flights Allied aircraft losses SOC-1 Seagull: 2 destroyed OS2U-3 Kingfisher: 2 destroyed Japanese Ships BB Yamato, Shell hits 1 BB Musashi, Shell hits 3 BB Fuso, Shell hits 7 BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 2 BB Ise, Shell hits 2 DD Shimakaze, Shell hits 1 DD Maikaze, Shell hits 4, on fire DD Amatsukaze, Shell hits 2, on fire DD Harusame, Shell hits 5, and is sunk DD Yamakaze, Shell hits 8, heavy fires Allied Ships CA Portland, Shell hits 10, and is sunk CA Wichita, Shell hits 1, on fire CA Baltimore, Shell hits 10, and is sunk CA Boston, Shell hits 3 DD Fletcher, Shell hits 1 DD Beale DD Chauncey, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk DD Claxton DD Kimberly, Shell hits 1 DD Philip, Shell hits 1 DD Spence DD Wadleigh, Shell hits 8, and is sunk Can´t say I´m too happy about it. He sent them straight into Sarmi at night. Somehow he also managed to avoid combat with the numerous other TFs there and still sprint out of bomber range in the morning. Not sure if this was a Maskirovka or he simply took advantage of the situation. Whatever it was I payed a pretty hefty price for it... CENTPAC Well, the gig is up! Erik spotted one of my CV TFs (3/3 DL). No point in hiding anymore. In we go. I decided to forgo the BB bombardment. They are still 4 days away. Only 2 units and 2600 troops with 26 guns. Could be empty of combat troops. Erik is hanging out at Babeldaob with more or less the whole IJN(see screenshot). He could actually get within range of my CVs in 3-4 days at cruise speed and only 2 days at flank. Not sure why his is staying in sight. I don´t think he will show up. Not for Eniwetok. I´m actually starting to think he will give up the Marianas. Strangely enough I just got intel on Marcus which is heavily fortified. No clue how he is reasoning. Burma Well, Erik abandoned Prome which was probably a mistake. While it was in a clear hex he still had level 6 forts there. I won´t have to worry about the supply in the area anymore as 80.000 just flowed in from Ramree to Prome in Monsoon. I was a bit worried I would have to cancel operations during the Monsoon and withdraw to Ramree. I decided to just send a token force to Bassain. Supply more or less forced me too. I´m concentrating on bombing the AF at Rangoon hopefully burning supply. NOPAC My little "poor mans" invasion is detected. With the LST it takes forever to get anywhere. 6 FPs get through the 60 Hellcat CAP and puts a 60kg bomb in one of the LSTs. DEI In about a week the first assault shipping should arrive. With the whole IJN at the wrong side of New Guinea I´ve decided to make the jump. I will try to land 2 divisions in one go to establish a base immediately. I´m hoping Erik doesn´t keep a very close eye on Darwin and mistakes the APAs/AKAs for one of the numerous cargo TFs cruising the area. I will rely on DDs to cover everything. Another TF of 12 Fletchers are on the way.
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