Europa Games and Military History

Tag: TTDH

Feb I 1942

 Japan

Weather 11 – C&C, 12 – C & Rough, 13 – Rain & Calm.

At Iba the 48th XX breaks up into supported Battalions and loaded onto LCs/TAs – one battalion loads up from the beaches due to Port capacity restrictions. The fleet sets sail for the south, much to the relief of MacArthur who was worried about landings at the “tail” of Luzon.

At Panay island SW of Kabilo D3 II lands, LC Damaged, D 1 and 2 IIs land at Iloilo – one disrupted.

B1 and B2 land at Bacolod defended by Construction III and 2 F IIs who are overwhelmed and destroyed by NGS and Air Support (5:1 = DE)

B3 II lnads at Dumaguete which is seized without problems.

In Borneo, the militia officers of the North Borneo Volunteer battalion (Queen’s Own) are startled by the arrival off Sandakan of the Cruiser Kage and transports carrying the A1 II of the 1st Formosan regt. With NGS the Japanese chase the Borneo militia out of the town (5:1 = DR). Vowing to recapture their drinks cabinet, the NBV II swear to fight the Japanese to the last from the Jungle outside the town.

At Zamboanga the A2 and A3 IIs land much to the surprise of the USAAF service personnel working on 3 squadrons of B-17s. Both battalions land undisrupted and under the guns of the Nachi destroy all three B-17 units.

To make matters worse, the 2/Sas lands at Jolo airfield seizing the port and facilities for no loss.

MacArthur issues a press statement blaming Roosevelt for lack of troops from the US to help defend the islands. Congress condemns the administration.

In Mindanao the US Const II north of Malabang is overrun by Japanese forces. The 16/33 III attacks Cagayan across the mountain range from the SW of the city while the 38th XX sidesteps the defenders of Del Monte to attack the city from the south. the defenders (2nd F III and 94th, 197th Hvy AA IIs) hope to hold out from the unsupplied Japanese (no Res Pts available) but are destroyed instead (3:1 = HX) Of the mass of Res Pts in the city, only one is captured by the IJA. In the port itself, the Patrol Boat flotilla (2) succesfully escapes to Cebu while half a flotilla worth of Merchant ships are scuttled, the remainder reaching Cebu City.

In the exploitation phase the IIs fan out to seize air strips and ports on the islands captured – the Filipino Mixed B narrowly avoids capture at Binalbagan.

US

Units left at Del Monte take one look at the fires of Cagayan and flee south along the road south. The 3-4-4 [III] is left behind by the US 147th Art III who reaches Dulawan on its way to the southern port of Dadiangas. At Cotablato the 41/163. 131 Art III and 43 PS III embark on Merchants 2 and 3. The 148th Art III is left behind due to port loading capacity. The gunners shake their fists at the departing transports who head to Legaspi. rescue is soon at hand however as Merchant flotillas 1 and 4 arrive off the ports to transport the remaining US units out of Mindanao.

In Borneo the NBV heads into the jungle to await the expected Japanese attack.

In southern Luzon, all available units are spread out along the “tail” to defend against sea borne landings.

A press announcement reports the completion of the “MacArthur Line” outside of Manila. The Supreme Commander is photographed inspecting the trenches and announces the line as impregnable. The 11th F XX is rebuilt from Cadre.

 

Jan IV 1942

Japan

Weather – C & Calm, 12 – Mud & Stormy, 13 – C & Calm

Shipping Infantry RPs from Mindanao, the 48/2 For III is rebuilt at Iba where its sister regiments join it along with a fleet of TAs and LCs. MacArthur sweats in his bunker at Corregidor in fear….. The Yok Para Regiment forms up at Bayombomg with transport aircraft joining it. Zeros base at Iba to protect the transports.

Three Light Infantry XXs assault the F 41st XX with attached odds and sods NE of Cabantuan but are rebuffed by the stubborn defenders (2:1 = AS)

In Mindanao, the last supplies are used to execute an attack on remaining US forces in the island. The 38th XX and 16/9 smash the Filipino defenders at Malaypalay (3:1 = HX) before exploiting through to the outskirts of Del Monte airbase. The Mixed Transport unit is overrun on the air strip. West of here the US 41/163 III and 43PS III with Art support are attacked by Japanese forces but hold their ground (1.5:1 = AS) The US forces are cut off from the north by the 16/33 that marched over the mountains to arrive SE of Malabang. Surrounded, the troops wonder what to do…….

US

In an all out effort to sink the transports at Iba and thwart whatever nefarious schemes the Japanese commander is planning, all available US planes attempt to attack the ships. 2 A-24s, 1 B-17, 4 P-40Es, 1 P-40B all attempt to sink the IJN units – no escorts are flown. Amazed at the daring spirit shown, the IJN and IJA air interceptors abort all attack and bomber craft, kill and abort half the fighters while AA aborts another two P-40s at the last moment. Only one lonely looking P-40E is left for its attack run and it is ineffective. It is suggested that if caught in similar circumstances, that a more effective tactic would be the ram the ships with the planes. Supreme Imperial HQ thinks this might be a good idea.

At Del Monte, the B-17s evacuate to Zamboanga while the 2nd F III arrives at Cagayan from Mati by sea. At Malabang, the airbase is destroyed by US construction troops who take to the rougn jungle terrain north of the town. The US 41/163 and 43 PS IIIs with attached artillery head south to Cotablato where Merch 2 and 3 await to transport them to safer areas.

Res Pts are sent by barge to Cebu, IJN forces miss them in the dark. IJN commander orders an increase in floggings to “splice the jib of the swabbies” or some other nautical term. [Note: For some reason the allied player elected to send RPs from Luzon rather than Cagayan where there was a tidy pile of RPs and Merch 2 and 3. This area was under serious threat from IJA units advancing from the south. C’est le guerre de papier, I suppose.]

1 Res Pt is then moved by Transport counter to Dipolog from Cagayan.

[Any reasonable player would have offered his opponent the chance to rethink these moves – unfortunately I thought my opponent had some cunning plan up his sleeve (like relocating several units from Luzon). So I didn’t.]