View Single Post
Old 12-29-21, 01:46 PM   #399
Molon Labe
Silent Hunter
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Along the Watchtower
Posts: 3,810
Downloads: 27
Uploads: 5
Default

21 September 1942
Air war: 18 to 2, Japan's pilot quality in crisis

Bay of Bengal
The entire Bay is lousy with enemy submarines, and they tried to interdict my CVBG as it pulled back to Colombo. We ended up in a 3-part engagement with the I-9, as our escorts pursued it relentlessly after it was spotted. It was damaged slightly the first time, evaded us the second, but we hit it hard with multiple patterns in the 3rd. I think she's gone.

A second sub that tried to attack the battle group was also driven off with light damage.

Japan
USS Tautog sank a light cargo ship off Naha in a night surface torpedo attack.

Burma
Most enemy airpower is supporting bombing raids on my armies in Tavoy--those fighters shot down one of my Hurricanes. They also swept Rangoon with 24 Oscars. 10 of them didn't make it back--and they shot down absolutely nothing (our CAP was 22 Hurricanes).

Solomons
The Ndeni op isn't going too great, we still haven't overcome the garrison, and today our marines were bombed by a few Kates being escorted by Nicks--only one P-38 responded, which is a really bad sign that this base is just too far away even for the P-38s.

Malaya
Bombing Singapore is a thing again. Remember the Repulse? Its wreck is still in port there. She took another 19 non-penetrating bomb hits.

China
At Chengchow, we had a coorindation foulup that allowed some Zeroes to get to A-29 bombers, so we lost one of them. But we met the enemy sweeps and took down 8 Zeroes with no losses.

So, we went 18 to 2 in the air with them today, with their only kills being a badly outnumbered CAP fighter and a bomber with no escort. Our kills were all fighter-on-fighter. Especially after shooting down 10 Zeroes without loss yesterday, it's hard for me not to conclude that enemy pilot attrition has hollowed out the enemy air forces.

I also moved some Lysander light bombers to my recently acquired airbase at Amoy. Their job is going to be to patrol the Taiwan Strait and try to get a little recon on the enemy bases at Pescadores and Takao. Hopefully any ships at sea they detect we can refer to submarines, and if there are ships in port we can get them with the heavy and medium bombers that are moving into the region.

Refits and Reinforcements
SS Pickerel begins refit while under repair at Brisbane
AM Pursuit arrives at Seattle
166 Wing arrives at Aden (aviation support-already loading up for Colombo)
__________________
Molon Labe is offline   Reply With Quote