LargeSlowTarget
Posts: 4443
Joined: 9/23/2000 From: Hessen, Germany - now living in France Status: offline
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REPORT FOR Jan 11-12, 1942 Allied Submarines: Ed is quite aggressive with his subs even though the Mark 14 torps miss or dud most of the time - closest thing to a kill this turn was SS Porpoise landing a dud on xAK Gyoko Maru near Masan at 101,55. Three or four other attacks by US subs have been parried by alert escorts. With subs seemingly everywhere - from the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan to the Gulf of Siam, off the Home Islands, off Indochina, around Truk, Rabaul and Kendari - I try to escort everything, even if it means waiting a few days for escorts to arrive where needed. Requires constant juggling of TFs because even with most Ansyu class xAK and Kiso class xAKL converted to PBs, there are not enough escorts for everything I want to move. For example, supplies at Truk are down to 20k because the Marshalls, Rabaul and now Port Moresby took stocks from Truk but I have only enough escorts left for one Home-Island-Truk supply shuttle run. Priority is in the SRA for the moment. I try to assign a minimum of two PBs per convoy. The PBs are not sinking or even damaging subs, but without them it would be worse. Our submarines: Heavy ASW near Pearl Harbor forces a redeployment of our submarine cordon further to the south in the waters between PH and Palmyra / Christman Is. I hope they will sight some of the reinforcements that must be on their way to Australia and the SoPac. SS I-16 attacks SS Trout at 97,159 near Brisbane and launches 2 torpedoes at 1,000 yards - SS Trout, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage. Trout should be sunk but might as well made Brisbane. If she did, she *may* fall victim to the next SSX attack which is approaching Brisbane and for which I-16 is scouting for. China: The net is closing slowly around the isolated units in North China - once all hex sides are closed, the DAs will start. Forces engaged amount to one division, three brigades, a tank regiment bought-out from Kwangtung Army and cavalry units. Once the mopping-up is done, it is planned that they advance on Lanchow. In the Eastern Plains, both sides are marching stacks of units in the Nanchang-Chengchow-Loyang area and the IJAF continues bombing to slow the Chinese down - no air opposition this time. Chengchow is being evacuated by the Chinese, I have ordered units to advance and take ownership. With some luck I may trap 10 enemy units at Nanyang (see recon bombardment below), four of the six hexes around Nanyang are ours, the remaining two more will be occupied soon and no movement out of Nanyang has been noticed. Ground combat at Nanyang (85,45) Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 39261 troops, 481 guns, 19 vehicles, Assault Value = 1086 Defending force 52406 troops, 222 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1187 Japanese ground losses: 56 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied ground losses: 41 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Assaulting units: 1st Ind.Mixed Brigade 13th Division 3rd Division 2nd Ind Engineer Regiment 8th Ind Engineer Regiment 138th Infantry Regiment 51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion 11th Army 15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment 1st Mortar Battalion 14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion 4th Mortar Battalion Defending units: 92nd Chinese Corps 48th Chinese Corps 29th Chinese Corps 41st Chinese Corps 85th Chinese Corps 90th Chinese Corps 4th Construction Regiment 3rd Group Army 5th War Area 22nd Group Army Burma: Air battle over Rangoon - one Oscar Ib and one Ki-30 lost for two Flying Tigers down, no hits on a small convoy of one KV and two xAK at Rangoon harbour. Need to get Singers asap to move the Navy flyboys north to blockade Rangoon - the IJAF is useless against shipping target. Recon indicates that the Allied defenses at the two river crossings south of Pegu seem to be mere speedbumps, but I am waiting for reinforcements after the fall of Singers. I do not want to risk a river crossing with the subdivided 55th Division alone and getting it trashed by bad dice rolls or enemy reinforcement railed in - and I do not want to recombine the division either as I have garrison plans for later for this unit. However, in the meantime I have four Thai divisions marching through the jungles north of Chiang Mei in the direction of Toungoo. I hope they remain undetected and that I can time their arrival at Toungoo with the river crossing attacks south of Pegu so I have a chance to trap the enemy forces defending Rangoon. Malaya: Bombing of Singers airfield continues - 38 airfield damage and rising, no CAP, no counter-attacks. Ed seems to run his air forces in Malaya (like in China and Luzon) on a "one turn on, three turns off" schedule and keeps losing planes destroyed on the ground at Singers. Speaking of the ground, 25th Army continues marching in direction of Malacca - the base is lightly defended and should fall next turn to our advance force. Then they will face the defense line in the jungles of Kluong. Elements of the 6th Thai Division have eliminated the remnants of the 208th RAF Adv Base Force in the jungles north of Victoria Point. PI: My air searches spot some shipping activities around Bataan and Manila, but the IJAF bombers on Luzon are not better than their brethren over Rangoon. I assume Ed is still sending small ships with supplies from the outlying islands to Bataan. After the fall of Manila I will deal with Cebu which is the most likely supply source as it has some light industry. I have ordered a recon bombardment at Manila. The first attempt to DA is waiting for a) Combat Eng units which took a beating in the Clark Field assault and are replacing losses at Clark, b) for the heavy artillery from Hong Kong currently unloading at Lingayen and c) the 16th Division coming up from the south. Ground combat at Manila (79,77) Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 29583 troops, 372 guns, 139 vehicles, Assault Value = 1006 Defending force 17633 troops, 236 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 515 Japanese ground losses: 40 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied ground losses: 53 casualties reported Squads: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled) Assaulting units: 2nd Tank Regiment 56th Engineer Regiment 21st Division 48th Division 4th Tank Regiment 7th Tank Regiment Sasebo 1st SNLF 14th Army 2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion 9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment 8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion 56th Field Artillery Regiment Defending units: 1st PA Infantry Division 91st PA Infantry Division 51st PA Infantry Division 71st PA Infantry Division 2nd PA Constabulary Regiment 1st USMC AA Battalion Nichols Field AAF Base Force Far East USAAF II Philippine Corps Cavite USN Base Force On Mindanao, the 16th Naval Gard takes Dadjangas and retreats the 2nd/101st PA Battalion into the jungle hex to the north-west. Some elements of the 2nd Division are advancing on Cotabato, the balance of the division is moving from Cagayan to Butuan. The enemy stack at Butuan is moving in direction of Davao. Polillo and Boac are occupied by the Japanese 5th column / Rowboat Corps - never heard of these places and did not bother to look for them, I assume they are island dots in the Visayas. Borneo: Three platoons of the 1st Indpt SNLF Coy at Jolo have moved last turn aboard two APDs to capture Tandjoengselor, the base just south of Tarakan, in order to block the retreat of the Tarakan garrison - the base falls this turn. The invasion of Tarakan has started, our troops are ashore with few losses and will shock attack next turn. The Dutch Coastal Artillery landed a few hits and xAK Tusima Maru sinks later that turn due to fire damage. One HDML and five British MTBs oppose the landing force and in several rounds of combat the embedded escorts sink the HDML and three MTBs for no damage on our side. But then it is payback time for the remaining two stubborn MTBs: Day Time Surface Combat, near Tarakan at 67,91, Range 1,000 Yards Japanese Ships CS Chitose, Shell hits 16, Torpedo hits 2, on fire CA Maya CA Chokai CM Itsukushima CL Isuzu DD Murasame DD Harusame DD Yudachi DD Samidare DD Satsuki DD Minazuki DD Fumizuki DD Kikuzuki DD Yuzuki DD Tsuta DD Yomogi PB Myoken Maru PB Saiko Maru PB Kinsyo Maru #2 PB Kinsyo Maru #4 PB Tonon Maru xAK Sinsei Maru, on fire xAK Toyooka Maru xAK Turuga Maru xAK Tusima Maru, heavy fires, heavy damage xAP Yoshino Maru xAP Mizuho Maru xAP Kitano Maru xAP Atsuta Maru xAP Kanzyu Maru xAP Montevideo Maru xAP Teikyo Maru, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage Allied Ships MTB 7 MTB 8, Shell hits 1 Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions: 28,000 yards Range closes to 19,000 yards... CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 19,000 yards Japanese ships attempt to get underway Range closes to 17,000 yards... Range closes to 15,000 yards... Range closes to 13,000 yards... Range closes to 11,000 yards... Range closes to 10,000 yards... Range closes to 9,000 yards... Range closes to 8,000 yards... Range closes to 7,000 yards... Range closes to 6,000 yards... Range closes to 5,000 yards... Range closes to 4,000 yards... Range closes to 3,000 yards... Range closes to 2,000 yards... Range closes to 1,000 yards... MTB 7 engages CS Chitose at 1,000 yards MTB 8 engages CM Itsukushima at 1,000 yards Range increases to 2,000 yards CS Chitose , CM Itsukushima screened from combat - escorted by DD Harusame CA Chokai engages MTB 8 at 2,000 yards MTB 7 engages CS Chitose at 2,000 yards Massive explosion on xAP Teikyo Maru MTB 8 engages xAP Teikyo Maru at 2,000 yards Allied TF attempts to disengage CS Chitose screened from combat - escorted by DD Harusame Range increases to 7,000 yards CS Chitose , CM Itsukushima , xAP Teikyo Maru , xAP Montevideo Maru , xAP Kanzyu Maru , xAP Atsuta Maru , xAP Kitano Maru , xAP Mizuho Maru , xAP Yoshino Maru , xAK Tusima Maru , xAK Turuga Maru , xAK Toyooka Maru , xAK Sinsei Maru screened from combat - escorted by DD Tsuta , DD Yuzuki , DD Fumizuki , DD Minazuki , DD Murasame , PB Tonon Maru , PB Kinsyo Maru #2 DD Satsuki engages MTB 7 at 7,000 yards Range increases to 11,000 yards CS Chitose , CM Itsukushima , xAP Teikyo Maru , xAP Montevideo Maru , xAP Kanzyu Maru , xAP Atsuta Maru , xAP Kitano Maru screened from combat - escorted by DD Yomogi , DD Yuzuki , DD Fumizuki , DD Samidare DD Satsuki engages MTB 8 at 11,000 yards Range increases to 17,000 yards CS Chitose , CM Itsukushima , xAP Teikyo Maru , xAP Montevideo Maru , xAP Kanzyu Maru , xAP Atsuta Maru , xAP Kitano Maru , xAP Mizuho Maru , xAP Yoshino Maru , xAK Tusima Maru screened from combat - escorted by DD Kikuzuki , DD Samidare , DD Harusame , DD Murasame , PB Kinsyo Maru #2 Range increases to 21,000 yards CS Chitose , CM Itsukushima , xAP Teikyo Maru , xAP Montevideo Maru , xAP Kanzyu Maru screened from combat - escorted by CL Isuzu , PB Tonon Maru , PB Saiko Maru Task forces break off... A very strange encounter - despite CAs, CL and DDs present no defensive fire until the MTBs got within 1000 yards - in broad daylight! My TF commander must have confused the closing enemy with friendly forces - the first symptoms of victory disease? The convoy is ordered to disband in the closest friendly port one hex south (Tandjoengselor) - which at size 1 is not much help. Chitose *may* survive - fingers crossed. Lesser Sunda Islands area: Koepang and Denpasar have been invaded with SNLF forces and should fall next turn. The invasion TFs and their light SAG cover are ordered no to stay around - who knows what surface forces the Allies have nearby at Java and Darwin. Three B-17Es from Darwin bomb our invasion forces at Koepang without effect. Six B-17Ds from Darwin attack Makassar and five Forts are damaged by Zeros on CAP. PNG / Solomons: Port Moresby falls as expected and the PM garrison retreats to Kokoda - may they rot and freeze in the Owen Stanleys! Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 12940 troops, 98 guns, 14 vehicles, Assault Value = 400 Defending force 3086 troops, 37 guns, 31 vehicles, Assault Value = 70 Japanese adjusted assault: 370 Allied adjusted defense: 69 Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 2) Japanese forces CAPTURE Port Moresby !!! Allied aircraft no flights Allied aircraft losses P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed Catalina I: 1 destroyed Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-), preparation(-), morale(-) experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 78 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied ground losses: 826 casualties reported Squads: 24 destroyed, 15 disabled Non Combat: 59 destroyed, 2 disabled Engineers: 15 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 14 (14 destroyed, 0 disabled) Vehicles lost 26 (26 destroyed, 0 disabled) Units retreated 4 Assaulting units: 4th Division Defending units: 49th Australian Battalion Papuan Inf Battalion 13th Field Regiment 15th RAN Base Force I have decided to prep the 4th Division at Port Moresby for Darwin - tentatively as a SIGINT trap, but I may pull off an invasion later when the SRA is secured. My "strategic moat" in the SoPac will remain the PM - Solomons area, with some *possible* speedbump operations in the US-Australia island chain - that will depend on future events ands enemy reactions. I do not want to overextend in a DBB-C game. Elements of the 66th Naval Guard Unit land simultaneously at Buin, Shortlands and Tulagi. Shortlands as a size 2 island triggers a shock attack and the undefended island is taken. Last but not least - the Air-Sea Battle off Port Hedland: After the Kates of Mini-KB did spear the Prince of Wales with two torps between Flores and Port Hedland on January 10, the question was in which direction Force Z would flee. PoW surely must have floatation damage, so I did rule out the route West into the Indian Ocean. Moving to Java would have meant crossing the area where Mini-KB operated, so I ruled that out as well. Back to Darwin would have risked a known submarines presence and air attacks from Kendari. Remainded the southern option towards Australia, so I ordered Mini-KB and the escorting SAG to a position closer to Australia - and BINGO! Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Hedland at 54,119 Weather in hex: Clear sky Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 13 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 20 B4Y1 Jean x 6 B5N1 Kate x 27 Allied aircraft no flights Japanese aircraft losses B4Y1 Jean: 1 damaged B5N1 Kate: 3 damaged B5N1 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak Allied aircraft losses Walrus II: 1 destroyed Allied Ships BB Prince of Wales, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 3 (+ 2 duds), and is sunk DD Evertsen DD Pillsbury DD Peary Aircraft Attacking: 6 x B5N1 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp 5 x B5N1 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp 6 x B4Y1 Jean launching torpedoes at 200 feet Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp 3 x B5N1 Kate bombing from 10000 feet Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb 12 x B5N1 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp Magazine explodes on BB Prince of Wales There were some follow-on strikes on escorting destroyers with some additional bomb hits. Mini-KB is out of torpedos but has some bomb sorties left and will return to Kendari by the way of Port Hedland where a convoy has been spoted by naval search. The escorting SAG will remain with Mini-KB just in case but it has split off a TF with one CL and two DDs with orders to chase cripples from PoWs screen. Now, where is Repulse, Houston and the biggest prize of all - Boise?
< Message edited by LargeSlowTarget -- 10/21/2014 1:38:45 PM >
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