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IJNAF elite A6M2 Zero unit Chitose Ku S-1 or its detachments or division(s)

3 (42.9%)

a IJAAF Ki-43 unit in Indochina, to be used in China/East Indies(mostly)

1 (14.3%)

a IJAAF Ki-43 unit in Burma(at least initially)

3 (42.9%)

Total Members Voted: 7

Voting closed: May 04, 2014, 08:49:03 am

[Erkki]

February 10 1942


China: Nanyang pocket bombarded. IJ division advancing towards Ankang from Nanyang meets 2 Chinese units across the river - they will be bombed tomorrow to estimate their strength.

Burma: Ki-43s sweep Akyab and battle AVG's Hawks. 4 Ki-43s and 3 pilots are lost for 4 H81s.

DEI: USAAF A-24 Banshees reappear to bomb IJ paratroopers at Lautem. Dutch Catalinas attack IJN fleet near Samarinda but get shot down by the newly arrived Ki-43s. CarDiv II withdraws and probably disappears from the enemy.

South Pacific: Luganville reconed: 4 units with 5000-ish men, some bombers and aux planes(Catalinas). The airfield is still size 1. Airfield is probably under construction...

Central Pacific: Some small USN warships arrive at Tarawa but avoid hitting the mines. Dunno what they are up to.

Submarines: IJN subs attack the American task force approaching Hawaii and score a hit on a merchant.

[Anvilfolk]

Holy cow, that's about 100 planes attacking at the same time! Is that the Nanyang pocket you are bombing? How effective is that? I didn't even know about the designation of those army bombers (go go navy)!

[Erkki]

Holy cow, that's about 100 planes attacking at the same time! Is that the Nanyang pocket you are bombing? How effective is that? I didn't even know about the designation of those army bombers (go go navy)!

Yeah thats the Nanyang pocket! It has clear terrain and the Chinese army has been cut off for long so the bombers can fly low as theres no flak... The attacks are very effective. I'd say 1 disabled squad per 4-6 individual sorties for long time now. Ki-51 is horrible(tiny load, short range, very vulnerable) but Ki-30 carries a 250 kg bomb so they are useful as long as theres no enemy fighters or much flak. The bombers on average disable something in the order of a battalions worth of troops daily - since the start of the war and in this northern China theater alone. 

[Anvilfolk]

I don't really have a feel for the ground war in WitP yet, but I guess if there's no air or anti-air, your bomber and pilot losses are probably pretty minimal! What's the % of each squadron that you keep in ground attack to get those numbers?

[Erkki]

I don't really have a feel for the ground war in WitP yet, but I guess if there's no air or anti-air, your bomber and pilot losses are probably pretty minimal! What's the % of each squadron that you keep in ground attack to get those numbers?

Every available unrestricted air group that fits in - theres a lack of fields, engineers to build them and aviation support in China. Even the IJN bombers in strategic reserve on Formosa sortie to Changsha- Kukong sector using their great range.

[Anvilfolk]

Nevermind, I think I got confused. When you set ground attack as the primary order, most or all of the squadron will fly unless you set a percentage to "rest", right? I guess I was asking because this seems to be a pretty maximum effort mission. Don't the squadrons get super fatigued?

[Erkki]

Nevermind, I think I got confused. When you set ground attack as the primary order, most or all of the squadron will fly unless you set a percentage to "rest", right? I guess I was asking because this seems to be a pretty maximum effort mission. Don't the squadrons get super fatigued?

It depends. Since theres no flak or fighters the crews dont get combat fatigue(I think) but get it only from range + altitude. Since there is little to no flak most sorties are flown fairly low and at least for now the distances are medium-short too(except for Formosa's bombers, but they are set 20% rest).

[Erkki]

February 11 1942


China: the KMT force on the road to Ankang is 2 Corps, strength unknown. Attack across the river that was planned for tomorrow is aborted.

Burma: Ki-43s sweep Akyab again with much better results: 3 Hawks shot down for just 1 Ki-43(crash at landing) and no pilots. Both sides had over 20 planes in the battle simultaneously. IJ deliberate attack on retreating British near Toungoo gets about 1:1 in losses but its fine, as their retreat is delayed. A recon regiment is closing their escape.

Malaya: 25th IJ army will attack Singapore tomorrow!

DEI: -

South Pacific: Aerial recon reveals Allied shipping and troops on Efate and Espiritu Santos. Both seem to still be lightly garrisoned and would fall to a division-size attack, probably.

USAAF B-17s attack Port Moresby and score some hits on the airfield... I'm not going to do anything about air attacks on Port Moresby until I have planes that work against the B-17s, namely Ki-45 and A6M3b. They're both 1½ months away and will probably enter frontline use in 2 months or so.

Central Pacific: the USN task force withdraws from Tarawa.

[Anvilfolk]

What do you expect the result of 1 and a 1/2 months of bombing by B-17s to be on Port Moresby? I guess with the numbers that I see in the picture there's not going to be particularly large damage, but it will accrue over time?

[Erkki]

What do you expect the result of 1 and a 1/2 months of bombing by B-17s to be on Port Moresby? I guess with the numbers that I see in the picture there's not going to be particularly large damage, but it will accrue over time?

They can keep the airfield cratered if they wish to. Its not too badly damaged right now though and theres plenty of engineers there. At this point of the war, the main importance of Port Moresby is denying it from the Allies. I would like to use the 53rd division in another landing before the end of the month though so if the bombings will continue I will either need to commit carriers to protect the amphibious fleet or use Chitose Kokutai. I think I will need the carriers any way. Target would be Horn Island.

Besides that, Port Moresby is one of the best targets the Allies have available for them right now. From the Japanese perspective that.  They are committing a strategic weapon for insignificant tactical role. Why attack an airfield Japan is not using in the first place. Even if I wanted to fly, say, naval search from Port Moresby, I could use H8Ks or float planes and not need the runway in the first place. I really hope the Allies will keep attacking it and face the fire from those 2 anti-aircraft batteries I brought there on a daily basis for now.


Bay 12 exclusive, heres China now:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Mephansteras]

Sounds like things continue to go well for you.

About how are you doing compared to history at this point? About on par, or a little better?

[Erkki]

Sounds like things continue to go well for you.

About how are you doing compared to history at this point? About on par, or a little better?

Better but not by much. Allies have refused to commit their naval assets(besides submarines) so I have a feeling that I will be missing the early war opportunity to win battles on good odds and inflict losses that will matter for a long time. I'm thinking about trying to trigger a bigger battle by invading Luganville, or something. I could at least bag some ground units there while the Kido Butai cruising near would scare the rest of them away.

[Erkki]

February 12 1942


China: reinforcements arrive to the Nanyang pocket. Attack ordered for tomorrow! IJAAF keeps bombing the pocket as well as Hengyang in the Changsha sector. An IJ division today reaches the hex across the river to South from Hengyang and blocks the retreat of the KMT Corps. Another division is chasing it.

Burma: AVG does not fly today, but RAF's Blenheim bombers sortie to attack advancing IJ troops on the Mandalay-Lashio road. 77th Sentai's Ki-43s shoot down 5 of the 9.

Near Toungoo, Imperial Guards retreats the British and inflicts lots of casualties! 1 unit stays in the hex and probably wont be able to escape, while the 3 retreated units retreat to different directions.

Ground combat at 56,49 (near Toungoo)
 
Japanese Deliberate attack
 
Attacking force 8393 troops, 116 guns, 36 vehicles, Assault Value = 226
 
Defending force 5093 troops, 82 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value = 145
 
Japanese adjusted assault: 126
 
Allied adjusted defense: 61
 
Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1
 
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker:
 
Japanese ground losses:
      75 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
         Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
 
Allied ground losses:
      1984 casualties reported
         Squads: 51 destroyed, 13 disabled
         Non Combat: 106 destroyed, 0 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
      Guns lost 11 (4 destroyed, 7 disabled)
      Vehicles lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)
      Units retreated 3
 
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
 
Assaulting units:
    Imperial Guards/B Division
    Imperial Guards/C Division
    55th Mountain Gun Regiment
    21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
 
Defending units:
    17th Indian Division
    103rd RN Base Force
    100th RAF Base Force
    46th Indian Brigade


Malaya: IJA storms into Singapore! Engineers get a bit roughed up in the first attack but other than that, it went about as well as I expected. Forts lowered and plenty of enemy squads were hurt despite the forts and defensive terrain. I dont know where that disruption(-) came from - all the attacking units were well rested and there were less than 10 disabled devices in the entire force. The recon units that crossed the hexside a couple of days prior did not attack. IJA will rest a couple of days before attacking again. Reinforcements including a 3rd recon regiment, an artillery unit and a 120-AV regiment will arrive in 5 days.

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)
 
Japanese Shock attack
 
Attacking force 47335 troops, 445 guns, 133 vehicles, Assault Value = 1663
 
Defending force 31100 troops, 381 guns, 371 vehicles, Assault Value = 445
 
Japanese adjusted assault: 1409
 
Allied adjusted defense: 751
 
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)
 
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2
 
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)
 
Japanese ground losses:
      5275 casualties reported
         Squads: 17 destroyed, 260 disabled
         Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 40 disabled
         Engineers: 38 destroyed, 34 disabled
      Guns lost 30 (5 destroyed, 25 disabled)
      Vehicles lost 10 (2 destroyed, 8 disabled)
 
Allied ground losses:
      1828 casualties reported
         Squads: 61 destroyed, 85 disabled
         Non Combat: 19 destroyed, 126 disabled
         Engineers: 4 destroyed, 21 disabled
      Guns lost 63 (14 destroyed, 49 disabled)
      Vehicles lost 48 (7 destroyed, 41 disabled)
 
Assaulting units:
    12th Engineer Regiment
    5th Division
    I./4th Infantry Battalion
    55th Infantry Regiment
    113th Infantry Regiment
    56th Infantry Regiment
    41st Infantry Regiment
    56th Recon Regiment
    II./124th Infantry Battalion
    148th Infantry Regiment
    146th Infantry Regiment
    2nd Engineer Regiment
    II./4th Infantry Battalion
    114th Infantry Regiment
    2nd Recon Regiment
    3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
    23rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
    25th Army
    18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
    4th Ind. Engineer Regiment
    15th Ind. Engineer Regiment
    56th Field Artillery Regiment
    3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
 
Defending units:
    2/17 Dogra Battalion
    22nd Australian Brigade
    2nd Malay Battalion
    SSVF Brigade
    2nd Gordons Battalion
    27th Australian Brigade
    2nd Loyal Battalion
    1st Mysore Battalion
    Singapore Base Force
    1st Indian Heavy AA Regiment
    11 Battery/3 HAA
    Malayan Air Wing
    Malaya Army
    Singapore Fortress
    III Indian
    29 Battery/3 HAA
    24th NZ Pioneer Coy
    112th RAF Base Force
    1st HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
    2nd HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
    AHQ Far East
    111th RAF Base Force
    224 Group RAF
    223 Group RAF
    30 Battery/3 HAA
    109th RN Base Force
    5th Field Regiment


DEI: I forgot to mention that Makassar fell yesterday. G3Ms from Kendari flew to attack the couple of ships fleeing Makassar and sunk an AVP.

South Pacific: all quiet today.

Submarines: IJN subs near Hawaii withdraw from the USN ASW air and surface patrols around Pearl.

[Erkki]

Heres some more Bay 12 exclusive stuff.



Luganville is the closest Allied base in the Pacific. Capturing it would cut the lines of communication to Australia a lot, would destroy some ground units and potentially trigger a naval-air battle with favorable conditions to Japan. I've started the operation to secure it today.

Heres what I've earmarked for taking Luganville about 10 days from now.


Troops:

At Lae, boarding ships: 1st Sasebo Assault Division (a Marine division with amphibious tanks and tankettes, equals roughly a regiment and a bit more)
At Saipan(Marianas), boarding ships: 84th Naval Garrison Unit (half a regiment size at 60 AV, mostly infantry)
At Tokyo, waiting for ships: 39th IJNAF AF unit(couple of battalions worth of aviation support, engineers, some infantry


Air:

Chitose Ku S-1 with Zeros(Rabaul)
Bihoro Ku S-1 with G4Ms(Rabaul)
3 x G4M groups in reserve on Formosa and Marshalls
1 x B5N squadron for naval search and close-medium range attack(at Marianas now)
1 x H8K squadron for naval search(already at the Solomons)
2 x E13Y squadrons for naval search(already at the Solomons)
3 x Ki-15 recon wings(Rabaul, Guadalcanal, Truk now)


Naval:

KB will be ready and on station to support in 5 days:
-all 6 fleet carriers + CVLs Shoho, Zuiho and Ryujo. Approximately 500 aircraft on them.
-Battleships Hiei, Kirishima
-Light cruisers Ayase, Minase
-18 destroyers

Independent bombardment force with BB Hyuga, CA Kako and 4 DDs

3 cruiser squadrons with
-CAs Aoba, Tone and Chikuma
-CLs Yahagi, Yubari, Isuzu, Abukuma and Tama
-5 DDs

Torpedo attack squadron with CLs Kitakami and Oi + 3 destroyers

Independently operating scout cruisers Chioyda and Mizuho

2 replenishment forces with 10 AOs, fleet oilers, escorted by CL Kiso and 4 DDs

Amphibious task force with 20-ish ships including an armed merchant with float planes aboard, 4 DDs and 2 PCs.

Bases:
Rabaul has plenty of supply and a rearming ship that can rearm torpedoes and all guns(except maybe battleships, havent looked at it yet). Tulagi can be used for emergency repairs and the air bases in the area can be used to protect ships.



I think the troops available may not be enough to take Luganville quickly, but I will commit them any way as I doubt there is time to waste before the Allies move in enough troops and build forts to be able to hold the place indefinitely. The fleet train to Luganville will be a long one, with all the used fuel and supply brought all the way from Japan or South China Sea, both at shortest 2 weeks' sail away.

A lot of hope is put on the raw force, fear and shock value provided by the full-strength Kido Butai. She should be able to handle anything and the kitchen sink. I'm planning to keep her in the shade just out of the Allied naval search range when the fleet is going in, to invite a response. I'm ready to sacrifice some troops, transport ships and smaller warships if Allied cruisers, battleships or carriers can be sunk.

[Erkki]

Heres the map: