[font="Times New Roman"]Oct 22, 1944[/font]
The Allies attack again at Ketoi-jima. The engineers drop the forts to 3 and that more than anything is making this now a precarious position. The Allied forces did lose another chuck, with significant vehicle and infantry losses. With no army HQ in the hex (or near) I'm hoping the losses are hard to make up and the overstacking is a problem. I can't tell from my end now if it really is though. The Allies are attacking frequently, so either he's running these troops into the ground, or they're doing better than I'd hoped.
At Chang Mai the Allies keep coming as well, and his groups are depleted and end up not doing as well this day as the Japanese keep up the effective low CAP. Curious if he keeps going tomorrow, or if he can? Of the 160 planes that swept or LR CAPed Chang Mai today about 65 were shot down, and the groups were definitely not full strength. Our CAP should be okay, with about 150 fighters operational for tomorrow.
Dan's style is to go hard continually, and the late war Allies can handle this for some time, but I'm curious how long. How are his pilot pools? How are the airframe pools of the top fighters? If two of his best Marine divisions are on Ketoi-jima, what is prepped for the other Kuriles, or for Hokkaido bases?
At this point for me it's all about time, attrition of the production-limited Allied airframe pools, thinning of the best Allied pilots in the bomber and fighter pools, and weakening of strategic bombing assets. I haven't seen the B-29s in a long while, since they hit Paramushiro and lost some 15-20 for essentially delaying that base getting to level 7 forts (which will happen this week).
I'm hoping for more Kurile invasions, because even if they take out some troops, the Allies lose precious time and assets by taking them, and they're not bombing the industry or airframe production. Since June 6th when they landed at Shikuka the strat bombing VPs have levelled off and sit just above 3k (at 3,066) now in mid-October.
[font="Trebuchet MS"][/font]
[font="Trebuchet MS"]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 22, 1944
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 36 NM, estimated altitude 45,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K5-J George x 25
Ki-43-IV Oscar x 38
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 39
Ki-84a Frank x 19
Ki-84b Frank x 11
Ki-100-I Tony x 16
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 15
Spitfire VIII x 8
Thunderbolt I x 5
P-51B Mustang x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIc Trop: 2 destroyed
Spitfire VIII: 1 destroyed
Thunderbolt I: 1 destroyed
P-51B Mustang: 1 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 70 NM, estimated altitude 46,500 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K5-J George x 25
Ki-43-IV Oscar x 37
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 35
Ki-84a Frank x 19
Ki-84b Frank x 11
Ki-100-I Tony x 14
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 8
Spitfire VIII x 20
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K5-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIc Trop: 2 destroyed
Spitfire VIII: 4 destroyed
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Spitfire VIII sweeping at 41500 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 46,500 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K5-J George x 24
Ki-43-IV Oscar x 34
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 26
Ki-84a Frank x 18
Ki-84b Frank x 10
Ki-100-I Tony x 12
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K5-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IV Oscar: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire VIII: 1 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 58 NM, estimated altitude 45,500 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K5-J George x 21
Ki-43-IV Oscar x 31
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 24
Ki-84a Frank x 17
Ki-84b Frank x 10
Ki-100-I Tony x 11
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 10
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K5-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IV Oscar: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire VIII: 1 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 44,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K5-J George x 20
Ki-43-IV Oscar x 28
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 21
Ki-84a Frank x 15
Ki-84b Frank x 10
Ki-100-I Tony x 10
Allied aircraft
Thunderbolt I x 10
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 15
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 3
P-51B Mustang x 10
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K5-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IV Oscar: 4 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 2 destroyed
Ki-100-I Tony: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Thunderbolt I: 1 destroyed
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 2 destroyed
P-51B Mustang: 1 destroyed
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Thunderbolt I sweeping at 42000 feet
4 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 42000 feet
2 x P-47D25 Thunderbolt sweeping at 42000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 45,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K5-J George x 18
Ki-43-IV Oscar x 20
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 17
Ki-84a Frank x 11
Ki-84b Frank x 9
Ki-100-I Tony x 9
Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 14
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 22
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K5-J George: 2 destroyed
Ki-43-IV Oscar: 3 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 1 destroyed
Ki-84b Frank: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 2 destroyed
P-47D25 Thunderbolt: 3 destroyed
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x P-47D25 Thunderbolt sweeping at 42000 feet
3 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 42000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 59 NM, estimated altitude 47,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K5-J George x 12
Ki-43-IV Oscar x 13
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 13
Ki-84a Frank x 10
Ki-84b Frank x 7
Ki-100-I Tony x 9
Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 5
P-51B Mustang x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-84b Frank: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
P-51B Mustang: 2 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 47,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K5-J George x 12
Ki-43-IV Oscar x 9
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 11
Ki-84a Frank x 10
Ki-84b Frank x 4
Ki-100-I Tony x 8
Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 5
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K5-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 1 destroyed
Ki-100-I Tony: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 56,51 (near Toungoo)
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 39881 troops, 739 guns, 824 vehicles, Assault Value = 3047
Defending force 60511 troops, 588 guns, 401 vehicles, Assault Value = 1408
Japanese ground losses:
148 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
31 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Assaulting units:
14th Indian Division
11th Indian Division
22nd (East African) Brigade
72nd British Brigade
9th Indian Division
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion
150th RAC Regiment
6th Australian Division
50th Tank Brigade
2nd British Division
6th Chinese Corps
2/9th Field Regiment
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
XV Indian Corps
101st Heavy AA Regiment
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
97th Field Artillery Battalion
168th Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Indian Heavy AA Regiment
6th Medium Regiment
86th Coast AA Regiment
181st Field Artillery Regiment
134th Field Artillery Battalion
249th Field Artillery Battalion
22nd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
Defending units:
2nd Guards Division
21st Division
16th Division
Yokosuka 2nd SNLF
26th Ind.Mixed Bde /1
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
12th Air Defense AA Battalion
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
8th RF Gun Battalion
6th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
Burma Area Army
115th AA Regiment
16th Army
3rd RF Gun Battalion
56th Field AA Battalion
125th AA Regiment
53rd Const Co
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
62nd JAAF AF Bn
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Ketoi-jima (134,50)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 42833 troops, 525 guns, 904 vehicles, Assault Value = 1816
Defending force 44688 troops, 496 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 1048
Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 3
Allied adjusted assault: 300
Japanese adjusted defense: 2323
Allied assault odds: 1 to 7 (fort level 3)
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
660 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 69 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 17 (1 destroyed, 16 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
2536 casualties reported
Squads: 39 destroyed, 162 disabled
Non Combat: 40 destroyed, 43 disabled
Engineers: 14 destroyed, 65 disabled
Guns lost 37 (6 destroyed, 31 disabled)
Vehicles lost 135 (67 destroyed, 68 disabled)
Assaulting units:
706th Tank Battalion
4th Marine Division
8th Australian Division
3rd Marine Division
5th USMC Tank Battalion
5th Australian Division
XI Corps Combat Engineer Regiment
1st Army Tank Regiment
1st Regiment
237th USN Base Force
4th Field Artillery Battalion
148th Field Artillery Battalion
2nd Medium Regiment
Provisional GMC Grp
Defending units:
11th Ind.Mixed Regiment
85th Naval Guard Unit
71st Division
45th Ind.Mixed Brigade
36th Ind.Mixed Brigade
109th Div /1
49th Mountain Gun Regiment
25th Special Base Force
5th RF Gun Battalion
1st Base Force
34th Const Co
3rd FF Const Unit
11th RF Gun Bn /1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/color][/font]
Seeing the Hurri IIc here is a sure sign the Allies are struggling for airframes.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill