Canoerebel
Posts: 21100
Joined: 12/14/2002 From: Northwestern Georgia, USA Status: offline
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4/24/43 Battle of Sumatra: No amphibious landings. Two BBs bombard the contested hex south of Langsa. Enemy bombers focus there and on Langsa. Three enemy divisions in that hex (there was a fourth that John just withdrew) deliberate attack with these results Ground combat at 45,75 (near Medan) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 38439 troops, 353 guns, 126 vehicles, Assault Value = 1212 Defending force 19390 troops, 336 guns, 385 vehicles, Assault Value = 650 Japanese adjusted assault: 592 Allied adjusted defense: 581 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 2768 casualties reported Squads: 9 destroyed, 131 disabled Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 13 disabled Allied ground losses: 611 casualties reported Squads: 4 destroyed, 43 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Guns lost 31 (1 destroyed, 30 disabled) Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled) Assaulting units: Imperial Guards Division 19th Division 2nd Division 4th Ind. Engineer Regiment 15th Ind. Engineer Regiment Defending units: 32nd Infantry Division 763rd Tank Battalion 20th Indian Division 198th Field Artillery Battalion John should be encouraged by these results. He'll probably step up the bomardments and bombings. I'd expect him to send another division there post haste. Then he might try a shock attack. But I'm going to reinforce the hex with another US infantry division. It should only take a few days to reach there from Langsa, even if bombing's force combat-mode movement. If John does focus his BBs on the Langsa sector, it might give an opening to get Sabang's airfield up and running. There has already been some improvement. So we'll keep a careful eye on this situation. An opportunity may (or may not) be in the offing. On the west side, John's lead division has advanced into the hex with the picket RCT (52 AV). No sign of KB or the Kongos in recent days. Operation Circus: Lots of Jap subs sniffing around Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. Allied ASW, including USN DDs near Melbourne, have attacked. Thus far the subs aren't sniffing the right ports. Peanut 3 will be in place in less than a week. Peanut 2 is about two weeks out. Peanut 1 and Peanut 4 may not make it in time. Cotton Candy 1 is in place. Cracker Jack 1, 2, 3 and 4 are in place, though I haven't expended the PP yet - waiting until the right time. If Operation Chicken goes into effect instead, there's no need to spend PP on Cracker Jacks.
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