War in the Pacific AAR Thread: ML (Japan) vs. Leo (Allies)

[Molon Labe]

10 February 1942
Stage set for possible carrier battle in New Caledonia


SouthPAC
A PB escorting the garrison delivery convoy spotted and swept a mine. They're leaving soon anyway and I won't have any immediate need to return, so these mines are going to get to sit here for awhile.

At Luganville, the S-34 picked off one of my DMSs. Which are some of my better ASW platforms right now.

Zeroes from Luganville swept Efate, shooting down 1 P-40.
Then B-17s tried to hit Luganville, but failed to score any hits as they were being attacked by Zeroes. A pair of B-26s snuck in and scored a single runway hit.

Finally, the Banshee dive bombers got their turn. Our Zeroes were somewhat depleted from dealing with the B-17s, so we only got 2 of them (of 9). But they also failed to score any hits.

Mavises flying long range patrols out of Ndeni spotted two task forces, including two ships reported as CVEs and with aircraft numbers implying 1-2 carriers. Based on prior activity in this area, I believe these are actually the Lexington and Enterprise, and the 2nd task force is Force Z. They are sitting in a good position to advance slightly to defend Efate or New Caledonia from an invasion attempt. Which is great news for me because the KB is here ready to tear them apart. The amphibious task forces have been spotted. The KB is officially "undetected" but its Kates generated at least 7 submarine spotting reports for me. So how many times did his subs spot my Kates?


One slight problem is that I detoured the KB slightly west to avoid some subs last turn, so I'm slightly out of position to defend the amphibious task forces this turn. I am in fact quite lucky that I was not attacked this turn. But it does limit my options this turn. I have two divisions loaded up on those task forces, so I can't/won't pull a Halsey and leave them flapping in the breeze while I go off chasing the carriers. Which means if the enemy figured out I have carriers here and chooses to avoid battle, he can. I also have to contend with the possibility that Force Z will charge the expected landing area. My transports are slow enough that he can beat me there. (Recall the January appearance of the Lex/Enterprise/Force Z; Force Z rushed Luganville while the carriers supported with raids) Which means just rushing the beach is probably not the best move for me. So I'll be standing off for a turn, with my heavy covering force ready to intercept any night rush, and my carriers repositioning to bring the amphibs under its umbrella where they belong. If the enemy tries to intervene in the landings, we should be able to launch a devastating strike during daylight.


Hawaii
The I-23 was hit a few times by a destroyer outside Pearl. The damage wasn't serious, but it was enough that I chose to send her home for repairs rather than be at greater risk of a more serious hit.




Java and Banda Sea
Zeroes from Makassar swept Madioen at extended range, splashing 1 Demon and 4 Buffalos with no losses.

Betties flew from Palembang with torpedoes this time, sinking a pair of minesweepers at Merak.

Babar was attacked by Hudsons from Darwin, we shot down 2. No damage on the ground. There Hudson attacks are also consistently targeting Saumlaki just to the east of Babar, but I'm not using that as a base so other than now I'm not mentioning it.

A Dutch sub torpedoed and sank one of my cargo ships at Babar. I believe it had just dropped off construction engineers.


Sumatra
139WH-3 bombers flying from Java attacked my troops outside Oosthaven; Oscars shot down 1 of them. The bombing was ineffective.

Using the 21st Ind. Mixed Brigade landed at Medan to work on the northern areas, we again fought the enemy we beat at Medan but they might have been reinforced as this time they got the better of us, 48 squads disabled/destroyed vs just 2. I have some idle heavies staging at Singapore, and these guys are on the coast, so I think I know how to break through here.


Burma
Blenheim raid on my advancing troops intercepted by Oscars, they turned around and ran, no losses.
Port strikes on Rangoon continued, with Betties scoring a single hit on a cargo ship.


China
We fought one of the few remaining stray Chinese units behind our lines near Chengting in the northwestern mountains. We got the worst of hit due to the terrain benefitting the defender, 28 squads disabled/destroyed to 11. But we'll be working them over with bombers and they'll be desperate for supplies. We'll get 'em.


Reinforcements
52nd Infantry Brigade arrives at Shanghai

[Molon Labe]

11 February 1942
Tactical blue balls...

CENTPAC
I-10 sank a cargo ship off the Samoa Islands in a night surface attack.


Java and Banda Sea, SRA, etc.
I spent so much time thinking about the possible carrier battle that I forgot to turn off the Sweep of Madioen. Oh well. There were 2 Demons left, we got one.

Splashed another pair of Hudsons over Babar. Seems to me these unescorted raids are a mistake.

A minesweeper of mine hit an uncharted rock near Babeldoab and sank.


Burma
Another Blenheim raid on my advancing troops near Moulmein. Splashed one, no damage on the ground.
A port strike on Rangoon hit the Colombo again. How is that ship still afloat?


SouthPAC
No major battle here today. We did not see any searchplanes following our fleets, and our searchplanes didn't find his. There are plenty of thunderstorms and heavy overcast areas though, so I honestly don't know if he ran off or if our forces are intermingled and we just don't know it yet.

Anyway, there were still skirmishes. B-26s again raided Luganville, with flak taking down one. No damage to the base. Which I'm happy for, because I just moved in about two dozen more Zeroes to help suppress Efate, and they could have been caught on the ground. The 11 remaining Banshees then attacked, but since they arrived before B-17s my Zeroes were fresh and ready for them. 3 of the newly arrived Zeroes managed to join in. They lost 6 to my Zeroes then another 3 to flak. I think we can credit prior sweeps of Efate to making these Banshee's efforts wasted, as we basically wiped out the P-40s that should have been escorting them.

One of Hiryu's Kates is claiming a hit on a submarine.

The landings at New Caledonia will now proceed. I'm also going to use a second heavy surface task force to shell Efate, using the extra Zeroes at Luganville to protect them from possible carrier attack. Hopefully this will remove some of the bomber threat in the area.


Sumatra
The Betties from Palembang flew again, this time sinking a minesweeper at Oosthaven.

Their medium bombers attempted another raid on my troops advancing on Oosthaven, this time we were only able to get 1 Oscar this far south and didn't shoot anyone down. The raid was still ineffective regardless.


China
Some enemy units were passing by Nanchang (eastern central area) in open territory, trying to get back to their own lines, so I sallied some excess garrison out to beat on them a little while working them over with light bombers. Round 1 resulted in light casualties to both sides. But by now you know to expect that the longer these skirmishes with isolated units last, the more it tips in my favor.

I also was able to find some spare units to send to Chengchow while the main event is taking place Nanyang. We found Chengchow virtually abandoned, as expected, and took it with minimal losses. But, this was a mistake. The enemy was retreating at my arrival; I could have just let him leave without attacking. During the rout, the enemy destroyed a majority of the light industry in the hex. The cost of repairing these facilities is unlikely to be repaid by their production within the expected time scale of the war, so this damage is, for practical purposes, permanent.


Reinforcements
62nd Naval Guard Unit arrives at Tokyo - another one for Truk to aid our expansion in SouthPAC.

[Molon Labe]

12 February 1942

Sumatra
IJN Kongo and Takao shelled the enemy troops north of Medan that were giving me problems a few days ago. Casualties were light, but hopefully disruption is high and they won't be much of a problem tomorrow.

The regular medium bomber raid on our troops near Oosthaven was successful this time, inflicting a single squad disablement at the cost of one bomber.


SouthPAC
I-172 sank a minesweeper off the coast of Sydney with a torpedo attack, while I-170 attacked a light cargo ship with gunfire on the surface, leaving it an inferno and very likely sinking it before it got to port.

I swept Noumea from Luganville, taking out 5 of 6 defending P-40s with no losses.

B-17s hit Luganville again, flak took down 1. No hits on the airbase. A second raid scored a single runway hit.

The KB unzipped its fly by attacking two singleton picket destroyers, one on each side of New Caledonia. The strikes all missed (save for one scoutplane claiming a hit on one of them).

Landings at the northern end of New Caledonia have begun.

Scoutplanes spotted a large enemy task force near Suva heading east, probably one of the two main TFs we spotted on the 10th. It ran over one of my subs that I put in the path of their likely retreat, but we failed to engage.


China
The enemy is creating a bit of a problem for me in the main battlefield between Nanyang and Sian. Our armored force has run into a superior concentration of enemies prior to reaching the main enemy force. So we actually can't attack or reach the main enemy force. To play it safe, I'll be retreating before he sallies troops out of Sian to envelop us. But, I think the cost of this is going to be reduced strength on the front line with my main force, which was gradually tipping in our favor anyway. So I expect to break through pretty soon.

We've also started to see enemy I-15 fighters start to intervene, and apparently with very well-trained pilots. They shot down an Oscar over Sian and and Oscar and a Lily outside Nanyang with no victories for us.

The second day of attack outside Nanchang resulted in a rout of the enemy. 288 devices destroyed to 2 of mine lost. I also attacked the enemy unit in the northern mountains again, casualties there were light but slightly worse for them, so better than last time.


Java and Banda Sea
I've moved my Zeroes and Betties from Makassar to Koepang temporarily for a strike on Darwin. Ships are still being reported in port, including a "CVE" which I've long doubted but recon is insisting on it so much that maybe the Hermes really is here. No fighters reported. But to be safe, this turn I swept Darwin with Oscars from Babar--clear skies.


Philippines
I'm noting a lack of flak on my airstrikes on Bataan. Because of this, I'm going to try reducing the bombing altitude of one of my bomber squadrons and see what happens. If there's still no flak I'll move everyone down in phases to increase bombing effectiveness. Ground attack tomorrow also, I'm well rested and if he's low on supply maybe I can end it here.


Burma
Port strike on Rangoon damages an AK and an AP, one defending Hurricane shot down. We've reached Moulmien and our forces appear superior. Ordering an attack tomorrow. One enemy Blenheim shot down trying to interdict.

We have an amphibious task force just outside Port Blair. Recon says resistance will be minimal.


CENTPAC
A curious development in the Gilberts, a few bogeys popped up at a dot base/atoll south of Tarawa. My best initial guess was these are aviation tenders looking to secretly set up a Catalina base to spy on my traffic in the Marshalls. But then I saw that Tarawa had reported being overflown by a "torpedo bomber" and a Kingfisher. So this might actually be a CVBG or cruisers. I'm ordering a recon flight of the atoll to see if I can detect any floatplanes at the atoll and/or aviation tenders disbanded. I've also dispatched a light surface combat task force from Truk to attack any aviation tenders we do spot. (I'd have sent one from the Marshalls, but they're all in Tokyo right now for refits)

[Molon Labe]

13 February 1942

Burma/Andaman Sea
Amphibious landings at Port Blair have begun. Our covering force destroyed an HDML and a minesweeper prior to the landings.

We lost a Sally and a Betty over Rangoon to flak but hit a cargo ship and the Colombo in port.

We captured Moulmein, destroying 58 squads with just one of ours disabled.


CENTPAC
The bogeys moved north, so we can rule out that they were trying to set up a scoutplane base. They're probably just testing my reaction. Still no classification, but because of the scoutplane activity we can safely say they're cruisers.


SouthPAC
Kirishima and Hiei pounded Efate to little effect.

S-172 took a serious depth charge hit from a minesweeper outside Sydney and is returning to base for repairs.

Sweeps over Noumea took down 4 P-40s, no Zeroes lost.

I screwed up my CAP coverage for the amphibs landing at New Caledonia, and several enemy bombers attempted raids on them without interference. However, the were mostly level bombers, which were as ineffective as always. There were a few Banshees, but they've suffered so much attrition that they could not attack in numbers and were also ineffective.

There are something like 6 enemy subs converging on the landing site. The S-34 was spotted approaching chased off by destroyers.



Java and Banda Sea Area
A Dutch sub picked off yet another cargo ship at Babar; this one was offloading supplies. I'm moving in extra floatplanes to Babar to try to counter the subs.

I made a port strike on Darwin with Nells flying from Koepang but the raid was ineffective due to bad weather.


Sumatra
We're still stuck at Medan with a failed attack today. 18 devices disabled for us, 8 for him. Hopefully the coastal shelling and aerial bombing will get us past him soon.

We've captured Oosthaven and Ketapang (across the strait on Borneo) with minimal resistance and no losses, and our paratroopers once again routed the former base force they're chasing up the southwestern coast.


Philippines
The reduced altitude of my bombers did not result in flak being fired at Bataan. Bringing everyone down for future raids.

I made a deliberate attack, but in spite of the supply shortage I took the worst of it, 354 devices destroyed/disabled to 311. But his losses skewed towards destroyed rather than disabled, and due to his supply shortage he won't be reactivating disabled units that much. We're getting close.


Intel
HMAS Adelaide is reported sunk at Townsville. Very credible report.

[Molon Labe]

14 February 1942

SouthPAC
I detached 2 CA and 2 DD from the New Caledonia covering force to bombard Noumea. It ran into a DM outside the base and sank it easily. The bombardment destroyed at least 5 aircraft on the ground, along with moderate facility damage to the base itself.

My enemy had the same idea: two cruisers shelled Luganville and got away before the KB could hit them with an airstrike. Fortunately they were no more effective than our battleships were yesterday.

Meanwhile the S-34 continued to try to penetrate the landing site, and ended up getting depth charged for at least moderate damage. I've moved the KB a bit closer and set an narrow ASW search arc to protect the 'phibs from the closing submarine swarm. The KB hasn't been sighted for a few turns so she should be OK without broad coverage.


Java and Banda Sea, etc.
Our second day of raiding Darwin's port resulted in a hit on a British destroyer. Clear skies this time.


Burma and Andaman Sea
Port strike on Rangoon resulted in 1 Buffalo and 1 Oscar shot down, plus a Sally lost to flak. But we finally got the hits we were looking for. Columbo was hit four times, and we also got hits on a transport and a cargo ship. All 3 confirmed sunk. Anything left in port probably isn't worth the flak losses.

Blenheims tried to interdict our marines at Port Blair, Zeroes went after them but failed to intercept. The bombers missed anyway.

My marines attempted to take the base but were thwarted by high disruption; apparently they needed another day after landing to get their **** together. 2 squads disabled on each side.


Sumatra
Dutch bombers raided Palembang. Bad move. We got 4 out of 5 them, no damage.


China
Outside Nanyang, I tried to take advantage of the enemy moving some of its forces north, away from the main group, but our attack still failed to achieve a breakthrough. Squad destruction heavily favoring me, 14 to 182, although total disabled/destroyed was a less lopsided 253 to 453. I'm starting to feel some pressure on my northern armored group now, there's a risk they could be defeated in detail if I can't break the southern group quickly.

In the mountains near Chengting we had a surprisingly bad outcome, acheiving 2 to 1 adjusted assault odds but still suffering worse attrition with 20 of our devices destroyed to 2 of his.

Loyang was vacated by the enemy, we raised our flag there today.


Philippines
I attacked the small island garrison at Bacolod, supported by Vals flying out of Mindanao; we failed to achieve a breakthough. Light casualties on both sides. This probably calls for a naval bombardment.


Reinforcements
91st I.F.Chutai arrives at Tokyo
64th Naval Guard Unit arrives at Tokyo
67th Naval Guard Unit arrives at Tokyo

[Molon Labe]

15 February 1942

Hawaii
I-2 sustained minor depth charge damage from a destroyer, she's remaining on station.


SouthPAC
Sweep of Efate took care of 3 more P-40s, no losses.


Burma
Dumb mistake on my part. I turned off all the Rangoon strikes...I thought. One squadron of Sallies still had attack orders and flew unescorted. I lost 6 to fighters and another to flak.


Philippines
Landed troops at Tacloban. I could be wrong, but I think this means I have troops on every island the US has troops on.


China
By reinforced army at Wenchow attacked again, and failed again, 286 devices destroyed/disabled to 209 of theirs. I have one more unit on the way. If that doesn't make the difference I may have to spend some political points to move something big here.

My armored stack between Nanyang and Sian suffered a rare Allied attack, but with the defensive bonus now on our side, we held them off, just 28 devices destroyed disabled vs 618 of theirs. That probably ends the threat of this stack being defeated in detail, but I'll continue to try to get the main force up here in a hurry.


Intel and Reinforcements
Previous report of sinking of CV Saratoga incorrect. Intelligence reports ship is still in service -- no ****.
42nd I.F.Chutai arrives at Sapporo

[Molon Labe]

16 February 1942

SouthPAC
The S-27 tried to penetrate the landing zone but was depth charged by a destroyer, scoring several damaging near misses.

Off the coast of Brisbane, the I-170 torpedoed and sank an Australian destroyer.

A sweep of Noumea downed 7 P-40s with no loss.

Off the coast of Efate, 4 A-24 Banshees tried to attack the Hiei. Zeroes on long-range CAP took out the single P-40 that was escorting them and shot down one of the bombers. Flak took out a second, and all the bombers that made it to the Hiei missed.

B-17s attacked Luganville, shooting down 1 Zero that intercepted. No damage on the ground.


East Java Sea and Banda Sea, etc.
Nell raid on Darwin scored hits on a British destroyer. I think the intel about bigger ships being here it complete junk.


China
We routed the enemy unit passing by Nanchang again, 49 devices destroyed. We failed to dislodge the enemy unit in the mountains of Chengting again.


Sumatra
Yet another failure to dislodge the enemy unit on the coast near Medan. But we destroyed 10 devices this time. The might be breaking.


Philippines
Tacloban captured.