23 FEVRIER 1944
DD Hayashimo arrives at Kobe
TK Shimpo Maru arrives at Yokohama/Yokosuka
Surprise de taille dans le ciel de Birmanie
Les alliés sont de retour, mais ce ne sont plus des P-38 Lightning de l US Air Force mais les flambant neufs Spitfire VIII de la Royal Air Force...
Et cette fois ci les appareils alliés sont en grand nombre, car ce sont presque 50 Spitfire qui se dressent devant notre 1ere vague de 43 N1K2 George envoyée au dessus de la 17eme Indian division...
Le combat est apre mais nous prenons l avantage grace a notre altitude supérieure et surtout à la qualité de nos pilotes...
Mais cela est insuffisant pour chasser tous les appareils ennemis de la zone
Une seconde vague arrive, composée de 36 Ki-84r Frank, mais il y a encore une trentaine de chasseurs britanniques près à nous recevoir...
Nouveaux combats aériens qui voit les forces nippones prendre le dessus abattant un grand nombre d appareils ennemis...
Nouveau danger dans le ciel de Birmanie
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Morning Air attack on 17th Indian Division, at 57,46 , near Magwe
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 24,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K2-J George x 43
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 48
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K2-J George: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire VIII: 5 destroyed
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Morning Air attack on 17th Indian Division, at 57,46 , near Magwe
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 30,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-84r Frank x 36
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 30
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-84r Frank: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire VIII: 6 destroyed
Malheureusement, si l intervention de notre chasse a été victorieuse contre la RAF, cela n a pas été suffisant pour chasser completement l ennemi
Alors que les premiers bombardiers Ki-49 Helen arrivent sur zone, qui plus est sans escorte, il reste une dizaine de Spitfire en maraude...
Mais par un miracle que nous ne pouvons réellement expliquer, les pilotes britanniques laissent passer la plupart de nos bombardiers, et ne daignent seulement abattre que 2 d entre eux, alors qu ils auraient pu faire un véritable massacre....
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Morning Air attack on 17th Indian Division, at 57,46 , near Magwe
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 47 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 24
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 10
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 3 damaged
No Allied losses
Allied ground losses:
41 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
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Morning Air attack on 17th Indian Division, at 57,46 , near Magwe
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 23
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
No Allied losses
Allied ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Bilan de la journée :
17 Spitfire VIII détruits contre 6 N1K2 George, 3 Ki-84r Frank et par miracle seulement 2 Ki-49 Helen...
Le Spitfire VIII se révèle un redoutable adversaire, surtout quand l ennemi est capable d envoyer leurs appareils en nombre
Le Spifire VIII esy légèrement superieur au N1K2 George et quasi comparable au Ki-84r Frank, ce qui explique la difference dans les pertes du jour
Néanmoins , c'est encore une fois la qualité des pilotes qui fait la différence...
Ci dessous les caractéristiques des principaux protagonistes
(A noter qu il y avait 2 versions du Spitfire VIII : H pour haute altitude, Spitfire (H) VIII et L pour faible altitude , Spitfire (L) VIII : la version L étant facilement reconnaissable avec l extrémité des ailes rognées qui faisait perdre aux ailes leur élégante forme elliptique)
il semblerait que le jeu a modélisé la version L car en dessous de 20,000 pieds, le Spitfire VIII surpasse le George et le Frank en manœuvrabilité...
Mais a plus haute altitude, le Ki-84r reprend l avantage...
La puissance de feu du Spitfire VII avec 2 canons de 20mm et 4 mitrailleuses 303 est supérieure a celle du Frank et équivalente à celle du George, même si les canons du George sont peu précis....
Si le Spitfire VIII est beaucoup plus rapide que le George, le Frank arrive presque à le rattraper... mais presque seulement
Principal défaut du Spitfire VIII, son faible rayon d action...
Dans le Pacifique, les américains ne lésinent toujours pas sur les moyens pour éradiquer les derniers signes de présences des forces japonaises dans les Salomons....
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Morning Air attack on 7th Ind. Engineer Regiment, at 106,126 , near Rabaul
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Allied aircraft
A-20G Havoc x 20
B-17F Fortress x 3
B-24D1 Liberator x 33
B-24J Liberator x 65
B-25D1 Mitchell x 25
B-26 Marauder x 3
F4U-1 Corsair x 44
F4U-1A Corsair x 77
F6F-3 Hellcat x 18
PV-1 Ventura x 21
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
143 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 14 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
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Morning Air attack on 7th Ind. Engineer Regiment, at 106,126 , near Rabaul
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes
Allied aircraft
A-20G Havoc x 19
B-17F Fortress x 6
B-24D1 Liberator x 27
B-24J Liberator x 15
B-25D1 Mitchell x 12
B-26 Marauder x 3
F4U-1A Corsair x 24
PV-1 Ventura x 15
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
43 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
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Morning Air attack on 66th Naval Guard Unit, at 106,126 , near Rabaul
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes
Allied aircraft
A-20G Havoc x 12
B-24D1 Liberator x 6
B-24J Liberator x 15
B-25D1 Mitchell x 9
B-26 Marauder x 6
F4U-1 Corsair x 6
F4U-1A Corsair x 13
Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
41 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
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Morning Air attack on 66th Naval Guard Unit, at 106,126 , near Rabaul
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 12
Allied aircraft losses
B-24J Liberator: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
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Morning Air attack on 66th Naval Guard Unit, at 106,126 , near Rabaul
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 13
B-25D1 Mitchell x 29
B-25G Mitchell x 42
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
30 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
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Morning Air attack on 7th Ind. Engineer Regiment, at 106,126 , near Rabaul
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 6
B-25D1 Mitchell x 25
F4U-1A Corsair x 12
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
15 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
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Morning Air attack on 7th Ind. Engineer Regiment, at 106,126 , near Rabaul
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 13
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
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Morning Air attack on 7th Ind. Engineer Regiment, at 106,126 , near Rabaul
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 6 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 1 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 13
Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
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Morning Air attack on 7th Ind. Engineer Regiment, at 106,126 , near Rabaul
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 6
F4U-1 Corsair x 4
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
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Morning Air attack on 7th Ind. Engineer Regiment, at 106,126 , near Rabaul
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 3
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Voilà ce qu il reste aujourd hui de la 29eme Division qui défendait autrefois Rabaul...
il ne reste plus que 6 canons de 75mm endommagés et 6 squads de cuisinier et autres scribouillard...
A ce rythme, dans quelques jours, l unité sera complètement détruite......... et pourra alors etre reformée au Japon....
