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Appreciated my friend.
Good catch. I elude to that in the last part of this update. Both moves paid-off handsomely.
You'll soon read more confirmation to that General-outlook.
I've had zero luck at making it aware that 7 CAG-wings sit in Honolulu and not on flat-tops.
Chapter 56
“Steady Wins the Race...we Hope”
AJCO {Wrapping-up 1 April, 1942}
AJCO {Wrapping-up 1 April, 1942}
As stated earlier; we are concerned about so many bases taken behind the US-effort.
Maybe they have some troops in those transports? That would be nice.
We plod along and focus only our troops.
Due to losing the Admiralty Islands
Now that we started many convoys to the DEI, we need to build a larger buffer.
Thankfully, the Dutch can give us a hand here too.
My prediction about this front appears certain. Romania’s entry made little difference.
1. Since we are needing to stop IJN supply, those French subs are needed.
2. The Brits & Americans are finally making Multi-Roles. Carry-on!
3. Looks like we should get some Dutch CLs for scouting or better...early-warning patrols.
4. We know where those two French Transports are located.
Loose-ends on the last report
* On 26 March USN BB-Force NZ left Hobart and returned to Wellington. USS Lexington TF came down from Noumea to Auckland to finish repairs, closer to home, while the RN-Raiding Fleet finishes final repairs in Brisbane.
* 28 March Valiant TF arrives in Batavia and then re-bases in Oosthaven.
* 29 March General Yamashita attacks Wellington again, losing 397 men to our 76.
* 31 March {Hopefully}To impact the IJN and any possible moves against Java, a repaired Lexington begins convoy raiding in Pegasus Bay, while to the SE, the Battleship squadron pursues enemy supply-ships in Western Bounty Trough.
* 1 April We asked British-Command to retake Singapore & Kutching after their recent success in North-Africa, Egypt and Syria; we must retake Borneo’s oil-wells.
* Several American units still guard captured Ponape but we control no other island behind the Philippines-Front except for Pearl Harbor, where our Pearl-Garrison, commanded by Kiwi Lt. General Mead, yet bolsters the vital-port’s defense.
* From further Dutch-Tactical strikes on Blenheim, we add another 996 enemy dead, making the final tally this period of bombing-runs at 2,249; together with the many repulsed assaults on our capitol-city which have lead to high-casualty-lists, the invaders are losing many troops in this doomed occupation of South-Island.
[Before we move forward – to where we go next, “we” must pause and acknowledge the fact that we saved an undefended Brisbane and prevented Luganville from being overrun again by that enemy invasion-fleet, by “making a show, they did not want to see.”
]
One wonders just how many attacks the Japanese will have made on Wellington by the end
This now has the feel of a corner being turned. And operating a big Allied sub fleet out of the DIE - if it can be sustained - would be useful.
So....Germany seems to be pushing into the USSR? The Polish rebellion will not do much to stop that.
It looks like the Allies have retaken a good chunk of the DEI, if I'm reading that map right. That should certainly help squeeze the Japanese, given the whole purpose of taking those in the first place was to secure access to valuable resources for their war machine.
I thought we would reach the end sooner than we have; I'm waiting till then to make a single count. I think it was @Bullfilter that said...it may be that it proves to be Japan's Stalingrad. Whatever their final loss, it will be high.
We can nab several flotillas, spread them about and see how it goes.
Not so fast.
When infra is in tatters, the ground is mud and tanks are about...the last thing needed is disrupted supply lines.There is something else; since the M-R Pact did not fire, Germany's started with all of Poland. In around 6-7 months the Axis Front is not much farther than were it began.
If the German Blitzkreig Bonus (game-mechanic) did trigger...it has not amounted to much.
You read it correctly. From Oosthaven, we can take the Refinery and we have it all.
Rubber, Gold, Cinchona and several resources also.
Other than the production screen and the combat...not at this time.
I'm glad you asked or stated that though.
No offense intended to anyone here, but I guess, that some gamers may be a little too WC-minded and <imvho> miss out on the challenge and fun of this game. It is not easy because it takes several gameplays but once the General
gets a good idea of what the A,I. can get right more often than wrong, well...that's the way to play for me.The Player of this game has a lot of options but I try to keep a lid on my exploitations.
i.e. I could have nabbed larger fleets or say an Army from both the UK & USA at minimum...and large wings of various planes and just supplied NZ through Tagging and fought the larger-War from Wellington; but I like to keep it vaguely realistic.Next update we'll focus somewhat more back home but with my self-imposed limitations, and choosing to open up the Java-Front for the Allies, the clock needs to tick before I can nab a few more units and begin to expand operations.
After the Brits clean-up in Syria, I'm hoping my 2 calls (provinces) to SE-Asia will be answered. If so, then I will do what I've been doing and look at the ports on the US West-Coast and see what is just sitting there; usually a very large assortment of troops that should already have been deployed somewhere...anywhere.
It remains a source of wonder that the US can build so many garrisons, while simultaneously failing to garrison anything in the Pacific. "Never in the field of human conflict have so many, defended so little, so badly."
Once those islands get re-taken, and protected, that will be the corner turning. Until then all this welcome progress in the Philippines and DEI remains painfully vulnerable.
Though maybe Japan will exhaust itself in Wellin-Grad and the small Pacific Islands will turn out to be irrelevant. That's probably a surer path to victory than hoping for the AI to stop making the same mistakes over and over again.
Once those islands get re-taken, and protected, that will be the corner turning. Until then all this welcome progress in the Philippines and DEI remains painfully vulnerable.
Though maybe Japan will exhaust itself in Wellin-Grad and the small Pacific Islands will turn out to be irrelevant. That's probably a surer path to victory than hoping for the AI to stop making the same mistakes over and over again.
Actually the fleet was the most efficient garrison the US had, if the enemy can't reach the island he can't invade. Maybe move the entire US fleet to Hawaii will get things in motion?
Together we've reimagined that quote a few times now...and I must admit to brilliant successes every time.As you know, that is the Suspense behind all my actions. I cannot get everything in my own war-zone in control, let alone do much in the Central-Pacific; that's a big part of my interest now.
Wellin-GradThough maybe Japan will exhaust itself in Wellin-Grad and the small Pacific Islands will turn out to be irrelevant. That's probably a surer path to victory than hoping for the AI to stop making the same mistakes over and over again.
Great name from our perspective. From the IJNs? How about Hellin-Grad?I didn't go into great details because I succeeded only somewhat but after I created more reasonable fleets of the human-sort for flexible & effective expansion, or in this case safer reclamation; instead of having a gargantuan fleet in LA...there are a few mammoth fleets and all based in Philippine ports.
In order to take care of the 7-Wing land-carrier called USS Pearl-Harbor, I would have to play the USA for several days but I am not risking our thin and marginal control of our own war.[Folks, as a heads-up, I had intended to do a slower build-up of some more Allied forces inside ANZAC HQ but another surprise necessitated getting it done now; that sort of situation presently remains the flavor our game.
The next update will cover the changes and then we'll advance, even of on unexpected soil.
]
The next update will cover the changes and then we'll advance, even of on unexpected soil.
You invaded Canada?
You invaded Canada?
No, because they accepted our demands, er, humble request.Incoming!
Chapter 57
“About-face!”
AJCO 2 April – 24 April, 1942
AJCO 2 April – 24 April, 1942
With all of our “collected” units in action either defending at home, New Guinea, various islands or in the East Indies I would need to risk much to react to a new threat on the Australian Mainland.
As I looked about to see what units we should invite to our party, I saw something I had missed earlier; either I did not see it or it just transpired.
After watching the St. Patrick’ Day Parade, that we successfully bluffed away from the mainland and elsewhere,
I must admit...I did not expect this new landing.
After the earlier close-call nearly losing Brisbane and having only a single AST Infantryx3-Division guarding Sydney, I decided to pull two French Infantry-divisions from the stalemate in East-Africa and ship them to Sydney. Once landed, that French Corps will march to Melborne and drive the enemy out.
America had a Marine-division sitting amid a lot of troops in San Diego, so now that unit was volunteered for our command
and sent to bolster our force on Java and once we take that Refinery, will strengthen a possible push on to Singapore. Now that a few French units are headed to Sydney, I need more Marines to give the Allied-forces more flexibility in our part of the world. This new division will now give us three US units in-action. Once the British solidify their lines in the greater-Med, I hope to get at least one British Marine unit to assist in a future move back to Borneo.Since we are forever from building all of our badly needed Destroyers, the Dutch lent us another small fleet, consisting of 2 CLs and a DD-flotilla and these new Raiders were ordered to Port Moresby to eventually patrol the Coral Sea.
Moving on to planes, with only have one bombing-unit, Canada offered a two Squadron TAC-Wing and of course we accepted.
Once landed, they first bombed the enemy marines at Melborne but soon we sent them in to destroy the port’s facility instead.
These bad-boys landed in Sydney on the 2nd
While our transports were hauling the new volunteers, the enemy made a weak attack on Wellington. We lost 27 soldiers while they lost another 209 men; proving even a skirmish is costly for the invaders holding South-Island. If we can make it back to cutting off their supplies again, we will finally be able to remove them.
After sinking a supply-ship south of Admiralty-Islands, the 1st Dutch raiding squadron was still on mission but two wings of IJN Naval-Bombers, apparently based in Truk targeted the small fleet and I quickly pulled them back to Rabaul for minor repairs. About the time I made this defensive decision was just before the 2nd Dutch Raiders arrived in Moresby and went to work in the Coral Sea; so we kept pressure on the enemy’s sea-lanes even after their naval-bombers halted our more northerly patrol-route.
Our now famous Dutch-Tactical Wing, was given a rest, after finishing the last of the run chiefly reported earlier; the daring pilots added another 705 enemy casualties. As they were ordered back to base to rest and repair, the Canadian TACs made a brief run over Melborne, taking out 491 enemy marines, before switching their sights on the port, in an effort to add more pressure on IJN shipping; it took 13 strikes to destroy the naval-base there. To add even more pressure, the RN-Raiders (4 DD-squadrons) were brought out of Brisbane and sent down to seek shipping off Melbourne.
The USN BB-fleet and Lexington TF are again convoy raiding in our own waters. HMS Lexington & Co. had great success in finding a convoy in the Eastern Bounty Trough on 3 April, attempting to reach Christchurch and sinking 3 vessels and an escort.
We have lots of our own wolves on the prowl now; will we see those CVs soon?
The French arrive and are quickly assigned their orders.
Remember, at the start of Barbarossa, Minsk lay just across the border.
The deployment of all forces we have in NZL & AST
The new Front is operational and the new Allied totals for each of our Theaters.
[Note: I had intended to do a detailed look at NZ but this new invasion and the need for expanding our military forces, delayed that plan. With such a small country the main thing to tell this time was that we finished People’s Army which I thought necessary, to improve our Garrison-Morale since we have so many of them in harms’ way.
Next update I will do a small one and report on some odds & ends that I’ve wanted to cover at some time.]
The French is within walking distance of the invasion? nothing is within walking distance in Australia ...
As long as the Aussies keep them supplied, they'll get there. Btw, I never base any of my fleets in Australian ports, to make sure I put no hardship on units based there before and now.Uprisings are a 'rinse & repeat' affair. The Allies place their cells over and over, making the Axis periodically pull many units back from the Front to only redeploy to the Front...to do It again. So far? Three times this game and of course other nations have them as well but they are usually not as massive, or often. We're only nearing mid-42, so it will happen once more time...at minimum.
Big picture the Japanese invasion of Australia is just going to get more of their Marines killed, but it is yet another distraction that the ANZACs didn't need. Those French division and RCAF bombers could be much profitably employed in the DEI, so perhaps the Japanese move isn't quite as suicidal as it looks - if it keeps the re-capture of the DEI off-balance then it might be a strategic master-stroke (not that the AI is capable of such deep thinking, but hey )
)