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Molon Labe · 10-21-21, 09:40 AM

13 June 1942
Heavies approaching Darwin--centered around Yamato

Darwin area
We opened up by locating one of the subs off Darwin and hitting it with a very accurate depth charge attack. This looks like a kill, so we probably avenged the AVD sunk here earlier.

The Yamato, Haruna, Hiei and several cruisers and destroyers were spotted approaching Darwin from the north. The AI captains wisely scattered our ASW forces out of the way. Fortunately, they failed to reach Darwin today which meant I got an airstrike on them and I got to evacuate most of the planes out of Darwin immediately afterwards. I'm getting a lot of help here because we have a railroad connection, so every plane that can't fly right now is still getting shipped out. If he was hoping for an aircraft massacre, he's going to be disappointed. Also, he probably still thinks the Enterprise is there--for the 3rd day, she still hasn't been detected (to my knowledge).

The first strike was 16 SBDs of VS-6 escorted by 7 Australian P-40s and 5 US P-39s. The enemy had 7 Zeroes on CAP over the task force, who managed to avoid most of my fighters and go straight after the SBDs. We ended up losing 4 of them to the fighters, while one Zero, one P-39, and one P-40 were also shot down. The strike was hampered by the weather as they bombed in a thunderstorm... also three battleships plus escorts put up a lot of flak, taking out another SBD before it could attack. Out of 11 SBDs that made their attack, only one bomb found Yamato.

VB-6 arrived next with 18 SBDs and 16 P-39 escorts. The enemy only had one Zero left on CAP, but it was able to shoot down a P-39 before it bugged out. The SBDs scored a hit on Hiei. After that two stragglers from VS-6 found the enemy task force and managed to miss. We ended up losing a total of 4 SBDs to flak.

Overall a very disappointing result that two dive bomber squadrons were only able to get two hits on huge targets with minimal air cover. I'm tempted to turn Hornet around to get a crack at these guys before they disappear, but Enterprise is going to be in range of Rabaul's aircraft soon and it's not going to consistently be close enough to airbases to reliably provide cover. Lexington is actually nearby too, but it probably wouldn't relieve Hornet in time for Hornet to get to the Yamato---also I'm still expecting the KB to respond and having 3 of my carriers together when his 6 show up is something I'd rather avoid. So, I'll leave the defense of Darwin to their substantial coastal batteries for now. (5x 155mm M1918; 2x 6-pounder (probably 57mm); 6x 6" MkV/VII, 2x 9.2", 2x 4")

China
Some of the enemy armies moving east near Nanyang have turned northwest, which looks like a move to flank my armies that left Kaifeng
and are now guarding a river crossing on the flank of the frontline. Going to have to move them back a bit and possibly engage. Our bombers are now focusing on this group, and the terrain here it open so they are taking a beating.

Sumatra
Another P-40 down over Palembang with nothing to show for it. These Aussie pilots just aren't on the same level as the Japanese.

Oosthaven held out against an attack led by the Imperial Guards Division, which was surprisingly weak. I'm not sure what explains the lack of enemy firepower here because they didn't take that many casualties in Java and they've had time to replace their losses.

Singkep has been captured.

Thailand
We got another disappointing air result over Raheng, as Oscars swept the air base and the US P-40s there got beaten 3 to 1. There also appears to be an enemy army advancing north up the road from Bangkok. At this time, I believe my forces here are sufficient to stop it, although I may have to consolidate with my Raheng forces if he's concentrated his troops.

Aleutians
My USMC dive bombers are in place. The surface task force is lagging behind, I'm going to have them steam at flank speed for a day to try to get on schedule. If the enemy really is coming, I'd expect my Catalinas to spot them tomorrow. One sub that wanted to dock for repairs at Dutch Harbor has been ordered to Seattle instead to keep it from being offline in port during a potential battle.

Reinforcements
VB-5 arrives at San Francisco (Yorktown's old squadron being reformed--I don't have enough planes to spare to outfit them, so this is going to be a hollow command for now)
369th Coast AA Regiment arrives at San Francisco (unrestricted, ~30% strength)
140th USA Base Force arrives at San Francisco (unrestricted, full strength)
7th USN Naval Construction Battalion arrives at Port Hueneme (restricted, full strength)
14th NZ Brigade arrives at Auckland (unrestricted, full strength)

10-21-21, 09:40 AM	#268
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	13 June 1942 Heavies approaching Darwin--centered around Yamato Darwin area We opened up by locating one of the subs off Darwin and hitting it with a very accurate depth charge attack. This looks like a kill, so we probably avenged the AVD sunk here earlier. The Yamato, Haruna, Hiei and several cruisers and destroyers were spotted approaching Darwin from the north. The AI captains wisely scattered our ASW forces out of the way. Fortunately, they failed to reach Darwin today which meant I got an airstrike on them and I got to evacuate most of the planes out of Darwin immediately afterwards. I'm getting a lot of help here because we have a railroad connection, so every plane that can't fly right now is still getting shipped out. If he was hoping for an aircraft massacre, he's going to be disappointed. Also, he probably still thinks the Enterprise is there--for the 3rd day, she still hasn't been detected (to my knowledge). The first strike was 16 SBDs of VS-6 escorted by 7 Australian P-40s and 5 US P-39s. The enemy had 7 Zeroes on CAP over the task force, who managed to avoid most of my fighters and go straight after the SBDs. We ended up losing 4 of them to the fighters, while one Zero, one P-39, and one P-40 were also shot down. The strike was hampered by the weather as they bombed in a thunderstorm... also three battleships plus escorts put up a lot of flak, taking out another SBD before it could attack. Out of 11 SBDs that made their attack, only one bomb found Yamato. VB-6 arrived next with 18 SBDs and 16 P-39 escorts. The enemy only had one Zero left on CAP, but it was able to shoot down a P-39 before it bugged out. The SBDs scored a hit on Hiei. After that two stragglers from VS-6 found the enemy task force and managed to miss. We ended up losing a total of 4 SBDs to flak. Overall a very disappointing result that two dive bomber squadrons were only able to get two hits on huge targets with minimal air cover. I'm tempted to turn Hornet around to get a crack at these guys before they disappear, but Enterprise is going to be in range of Rabaul's aircraft soon and it's not going to consistently be close enough to airbases to reliably provide cover. Lexington is actually nearby too, but it probably wouldn't relieve Hornet in time for Hornet to get to the Yamato---also I'm still expecting the KB to respond and having 3 of my carriers together when his 6 show up is something I'd rather avoid. So, I'll leave the defense of Darwin to their substantial coastal batteries for now. (5x 155mm M1918; 2x 6-pounder (probably 57mm); 6x 6" MkV/VII, 2x 9.2", 2x 4") China Some of the enemy armies moving east near Nanyang have turned northwest, which looks like a move to flank my armies that left Kaifeng and are now guarding a river crossing on the flank of the frontline. Going to have to move them back a bit and possibly engage. Our bombers are now focusing on this group, and the terrain here it open so they are taking a beating. Sumatra Another P-40 down over Palembang with nothing to show for it. These Aussie pilots just aren't on the same level as the Japanese. Oosthaven held out against an attack led by the Imperial Guards Division, which was surprisingly weak. I'm not sure what explains the lack of enemy firepower here because they didn't take that many casualties in Java and they've had time to replace their losses. Singkep has been captured. Thailand We got another disappointing air result over Raheng, as Oscars swept the air base and the US P-40s there got beaten 3 to 1. There also appears to be an enemy army advancing north up the road from Bangkok. At this time, I believe my forces here are sufficient to stop it, although I may have to consolidate with my Raheng forces if he's concentrated his troops. Aleutians My USMC dive bombers are in place. The surface task force is lagging behind, I'm going to have them steam at flank speed for a day to try to get on schedule. If the enemy really is coming, I'd expect my Catalinas to spot them tomorrow. One sub that wanted to dock for repairs at Dutch Harbor has been ordered to Seattle instead to keep it from being offline in port during a potential battle. Reinforcements VB-5 arrives at San Francisco (Yorktown's old squadron being reformed--I don't have enough planes to spare to outfit them, so this is going to be a hollow command for now) 369th Coast AA Regiment arrives at San Francisco (unrestricted, ~30% strength) 140th USA Base Force arrives at San Francisco (unrestricted, full strength) 7th USN Naval Construction Battalion arrives at Port Hueneme (restricted, full strength) 14th NZ Brigade arrives at Auckland (unrestricted, full strength) __________________ Last edited by Molon Labe; 10-21-21 at 09:55 AM.