GreyJoy
Posts: 6750
Joined: 3/18/2011 Status: offline
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Thanks all guys for your comments, especially Thanks to Dan...you're always too kind towards me! Nov 29, 43 After yesterday battle, I had to decide what to do. The allies, as I thought, charged in with their death star, trying to catch my CVs. I knew the risk was high. Many subs around hunting and the enemy fast CL/DDs could run at full speed and catch my slow CVTFs... So I had to take some risks... I reinforced Tanaka's SAG, giving him the Yamato, the Hei, 5 CAs and 7 modern DDs and ordered to remain back, covering my retreat. The line in the sand was at Lautem. I positioned there also the Kikitami TF (basically the Kikitami and 6 old DDs) and some MBTs, along with subs all around. A strong CAP of 300 crack fighters was ordered (100%CAP) over Lautem. The goal was double: First, blocking the advance of the enemy's SAGs and, secondly, act as a juicy bait for the allied CVs, hoping to give him some pain with my CAP, while my CVs would have run back to safe waters. As predicted the enemy advanced at full speed, with 2 sweeping Fletchers TFs that arrived at Lautem at night...only to find their road blocked by Tanaka and flee . Brad also sent some CLTFs (basically a commonwealth Cruiser TF and a Cleveland Class Cruisers TF) one hex south of Lautem, acting as a screening force for his CVs which positioned themselves 3 hexes south east of Lautem. When the day arrived storms covered Tanaka, while my LBA from Dili, Pantar and Koepang attacked the enemy's cruisers, damaging the Perth but basically impaling themselves on a strong LRCAP provided both by allied CVs and CVEs. My CVs were positioned right at 8 hexes from the enemy's CVs...but this time they didn't launch...too tired probably... However, in the afternoon, several more LBA strikes, badly fragmented, tried to penetrate the allied CAP wall and attack his CVs...but without any result... however the allied attacked the Yamato-Bait and basically got chewed up by my crack CAP, losing 120 planes for not a single hit. By the end of the day my LBA at Timor was shattered, having lost 330 planes more... but my CVs are safe and Tanaka now has a chance of charging down towards the enemy CVs just 3 hexes distant.... But... the allied are immediately exploiting the new strategic situation and, during the night, have loaded 25,000 men at Darwin on APAs... where will they go? Saumlaki?... clearly I left an open window now... he has a week of free rides in the DEI.... In Burma the enemy is trying to flank me at Lashio. 1 reinforced Indian division arrived at Lashio and is testing my defences there with some bombardments, while I managed to push back a Chinese divisions south of Lashio who was trying to flank on my right. At the same time, Chinese units are penetrating very deep near the Thailand Border...but we're dealing with them. See the map for the present situation in Burma with the new perimeter estabilished. In China we are clearing the southern cities still in Chinese hands. Fochow and Tsinkiang are finally conquered and now only Wochow is left (near Shangai). Strategically it was a mistake the Darwin raid... I left an open window for him and now he has a free shot in the DEI... probably Saumlaki will fall and that will give him a level 8 AF right in the middle of the DEI... i'm already moving to Balikapan and Tarakan some base forces and some AAs, while fighters are ready to be moved there... the battle to defend my Oilfields is beginning... But he won't be able to bomb them at will... he will need escort or he will suffer HUGE losses... so he will have to do it with some care... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Lautem at 72,115, Range 30,000 Yards Japanese Ships BB Hiei BB Yamato CA Atago CA Myoko CA Nachi CA Mikuma CA Suzuya DD Sagiri DD Oboro DD Ushio DD Arikaze DD Takakaze DD Susukaze DD Benigumo Allied Ships DD Renshaw DD John Rodgers DD Schroeder DD Anderson Reduced sighting due to 7% moonlight Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 7% moonlight: 11,000 yards Range closes to 28,000 yards... CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 28,000 yards CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 16,000 yards Allied TF attempts to evade combat Allied Surface Combat TF evades combat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Lautem at 73,116 Japanese Ships SS RO-60 Allied Ships DD Cotten CL Mobile CL Birmingham DD Gansevoort DD Nicholson DD Kimberly -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Lautem at 72,115, Range 30,000 Yards Japanese Ships BB Hiei BB Yamato CA Atago CA Myoko CA Nachi CA Mikuma CA Suzuya DD Sagiri DD Oboro DD Ushio DD Arikaze DD Takakaze DD Susukaze DD Benigumo Allied Ships DD Daly DD Satterlee DD Carmick Allied Surface Combat TF evades combat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Lautem at 73,116 Japanese Ships SS RO-60, hits 13 Allied Ships CL Mobile DD Gansevoort DD Nicholson DD Kimberly -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Submarine attack near Lautem at 73,116 Japanese Ships SS RO-60, hits 24, and is sunk Allied Ships CL Mobile DD Gansevoort DD Nicholson DD Kimberly -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Moa at 74,118 Japanese Ships SS I-171, hits 4 Allied Ships CA Sussex CA Australia CA Minneapolis CL Perth CL Leander DD Frazier DD Duncan DD Redoubt DD Jupiter DD Maury -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Lautem at 73,116 Japanese Ships SS RO-65, hits 8 Allied Ships CA Sussex CA Australia CA Minneapolis CL Perth CL Leander DD Redoubt DD Duncan DD Jupiter DD Maury -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on TF, near Lautem at 73,116 Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid detected at 74 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 19 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 25 A6M5 Zero x 63 D4Y1 Judy x 45 N1K1-J George x 20 Allied aircraft F6F-3 Hellcat x 201 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3a Zero: 8 destroyed A6M5 Zero: 36 destroyed D4Y1 Judy: 13 destroyed, 9 damaged D4Y1 Judy: 3 destroyed by flak N1K1-J George: 8 destroyed Allied aircraft losses F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed Allied Ships CL Leander, Bomb hits 1 CA Minneapolis CA Sussex CL Perth, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires CA Australia Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CL Perth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on TF, near Lautem at 73,116 Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid detected at 73 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 24 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 26 A6M3a Zero x 49 B6N1 Jill x 54 Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 34 Allied aircraft F6F-3 Hellcat x 175 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed A6M3a Zero: 10 destroyed B6N1 Jill: 26 destroyed, 5 damaged B6N1 Jill: 1 destroyed by flak Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 8 destroyed No Allied losses Allied Ships CA Australia CL Leander, on fire CA Minneapolis -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on TF, near Lautem at 73,116 Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 24 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 18 D4Y3 Judy x 23 Allied aircraft F6F-3 Hellcat x 145 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 7 destroyed D4Y3 Judy: 16 destroyed No Allied losses -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Moa at 74,117 Weather in hex: Light rain Raid detected at 116 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 30 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 16 A6M5 Zero x 1 D4Y1 Judy x 15 Allied aircraft F6F-3 Hellcat x 160 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3a Zero: 6 destroyed A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed D4Y1 Judy: 4 destroyed D4Y1 Judy: 4 destroyed by flak Allied aircraft losses F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed Allied Ships CV Congress CV Hornet CV Constellation Aircraft Attacking: 6 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000' Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb 8 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000' Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb Ouch...we strangely penetrated the CAP and 14 judys got a chance... His CAP was reduced because most of his fighters were LRCAPping the cruisers... very risky.... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Moa at 74,117 Weather in hex: Light rain Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 26 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 4 A6M3a Zero x 5 A6M5 Zero x 2 B6N2 Jill x 9 P1Y1 Frances x 22 Allied aircraft F6F-3 Hellcat x 100 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed A6M3a Zero: 3 destroyed A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed B6N2 Jill: 3 destroyed B6N2 Jill: 2 destroyed by flak P1Y1 Frances: 13 destroyed P1Y1 Frances: 1 destroyed by flak No Allied losses Allied Ships CVL Cowpens CV Congress -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Lautem at 72,115 Weather in hex: Clear sky Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 29 minutes Japanese aircraft J2M3 Jack x 27 N1K1-J George x 127 Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 30 Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 38 Ki-84a Frank x 84 Ki-84r Frank x 27 Allied aircraft F6F-3 Hellcat x 85 SBD-5 Dauntless x 36 TBF-1 Avenger x 35 TBM-1C Avenger x 18 Japanese aircraft losses J2M3 Jack: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses F6F-3 Hellcat: 11 destroyed SBD-5 Dauntless: 19 destroyed, 2 damaged SBD-5 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak TBF-1 Avenger: 18 destroyed, 2 damaged TBM-1C Avenger: 5 destroyed, 1 damaged Japanese Ships CL Yubari, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage *The Yubari was already damaged from yesterday battle...so couldn't move fast enough..* CL Kitakami BB Yamato BB Hiei Aircraft Attacking: 6 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet Naval Attack: 1 x 22.4in Mk 13 Torp. 4 x TBM-1C Avenger bombing from 10000 feet Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb 2 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 10000 feet Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb 2 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 2000' Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb 1 x SBD-5 Dauntless releasing from 3000' Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Tsinkiang (84,61) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 7608 troops, 30 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 257 Defending force 5441 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 42 Japanese adjusted assault: 119 Allied adjusted defense: 2 Japanese assault odds: 59 to 1 (fort level 1) Japanese forces CAPTURE Tsinkiang !!! Combat modifiers Defender: disruption(-), preparation(-), experience(-), supply(-) Attacker: leaders(-) Allied ground losses: 6148 casualties reported Squads: 386 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 350 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Units destroyed 2 Assaulting units: North China Gsn Brigade Defending units: 28th Chinese Corps 49th Chinese Corps -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 62,47 (near Lashio) Japanese Shock attack Attacking force 6984 troops, 79 guns, 139 vehicles, Assault Value = 238 Defending force 4853 troops, 23 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 91 Japanese adjusted assault: 257 Allied adjusted defense: 73 Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-), experience(-) Attacker: shock(+) Japanese ground losses: 237 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled Allied ground losses: 1288 casualties reported Squads: 37 destroyed, 7 disabled Non Combat: 44 destroyed, 13 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled Guns lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled) Units retreated 1 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 1st Tank/A Division 13th/A Division Defending units: 2nd Chinese/A Corps
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< Message edited by GreyJoy -- 5/30/2013 10:21:57 AM >
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