Canoerebel
Posts: 21100
Joined: 12/14/2002
From: Northwestern Georgia, USA
Status: offline
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02/09/43
The old guide sniffed the air and looked out over the prairie, the golden grass lovely in the morning sunlight. The song of the meadowlark seemed particularly sweet. The sharp scent of wood smoke and of breakfast cooking struck him as particularly savory. And the laughter of children - too young to appreciate the danger - was charmingly domestic.
Yes, the senses were finely honed and simple things surpassingly desirable when death lurked all around camp.
Battle of Sumatra: No enemy activity. It's been 17 days (January 23) since the last Japanese sweep of Sabang. There is still plenty of time for John to overwhelm the settlers...I mean the besieged Allied fighter corps. So perhaps he doesn't feel the weight of time and the need to move sooner rather than later. Perhaps he isn't even aware that Hellcats will be available in less than two months. And he may well emerge from this campaign victorious. But giving me 17 days to rest and prepare is a meaningful block of time towards the objective of hanging on until the Hellcats come.
The Allied fighter corps at Sabang is up to 399 fighters and 10 fighter-bombers. That's the most I've had there, surpassing the total that was available when the air war commenced around January 1. I've scrounged around to find aircraft with the range to hop from Ceylon or Ramree to Sabang. Thus the total includes one squadron of Buffaloes, two squadrons of Dutch P-40Es, and the Beaufighters. Despite the qualitative deficiencies of these aircraft, their pilots are uniformly excellent and the added numbers are vital.
No signs of an overland campaign getting underway anytime soon. I'm even more concerned about an invasion of Langsa, which would be a coup-de-main in effect. The rotation of Allied infantry on the move towards Langsa from the adjacent hex continues.
Allied 4EB from Sabang hit the big airfield at Alor Star, catching the field without CAP. 10% damage is done to the runway and 5 supply points are destroyed (and I think some Tojos were damaged). John based a big combat TF at adjacent Georgetown after yesterday's RN bombardment run.
Recon shows a sizeable concentration of Japanese naval power at Mergui, up the west coast of Malaya. John will move to cover this base with CAP.
Pop Goes the Weasel: 4EB from Chungking hit Hong Kong today. This was a first and obviously caught John unprepared. No CAP. The bombers found BB Ise in port and hit her twice. They also destroyed two Ship Repair Yard points. I want to see if there's anything else there (like carriers upgrading), so I'll recon the port and send the bombers again (though they don't consistently fly from this base, probably due to supply issues). If John puts up alot of CAP it will suggest there's something there he's worried about.
Weasles Wanting to Pop: John's recon lit up the USN DDs in the Java Sea, but there's no naval air in the area prepared to pounce (IE, no strikes flow, though John will see to that overnight). This caught John's attention and he finally noticed that the Dutch hold Bandjermasin. I'm thinking about moving a few recon planes there (to take a look at Soerabaja) and a few patrols planes there (to scan the seas). There's only eight supply at the base, so these would be suicide missions. But it might be worth it.
It might be worth it because the Allies have had a good run of goosing John here and there in recent days: the air raids on Hong Kong, Alor Stor, and Palembang (and awhile back on Tavooy and Singapore), the bombardment run on Georgetown, and USN DD raiders in the Java Sea (and, awhile back, the Makassar Straits). He's chagrined about Bandjermasin, judging by his email comments. The objective is to make him that little less certain so that he has to post air assets to cover interior bases. Every fighter and bomber not within range of Sabang is helpful.
KB: No sign of it.
South China Sea: Pompano sinks a TK near Brunei.
Australia: 4EB from Townsville and Cairns find more than 30 Tojos over Horn Island. Every Tojo not involved in the Sumatra campaign is a good Tojo. Allies just reconned Merauke, Norfolk Island, and Woodlark Island, continuing a pattern intended to convey Allied interest.
SoPac: Allies recon Funafuti, which didn't show any garrison. But I'm skeptical and the base didn't show any detection level. So further information is needed.
< Message edited by Canoerebel -- 1/20/2016 3:23:50 PM >
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent - 
) 
Don't discuss with him things you learn from reading this AAR. 
As far as I can remember, we discuss your game, our game, and his vs Herbie in our weekly or more phone calls. I stay away from specifics and if we talk about what is going on, its more big picture and me being a counselor to look at pro and con of what he is doing. We often talk about work, family, politics, and sports so AE is not always the main topic. To be honest, I don't have any more knowledge of what his plans are than you do right now. I'm just waiting for the second half of Dec '42 to finish up in our game so my own plans can kick into a higher gear. 
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