Japan '46 Operation Coronet Allied AAR

[ComradeP]

18th of March 04:00 Normal conditions Turn 171:



Normal conditions, time to throw a few punches at the C quality Japanese units near Kamijima.



2 Japanese divisions are relocating from the Urido area to face the Marine push, but not at the place where I would expect them. The Japanese divisions are moving to the Yokoshiba area and the woods north of there.

4th Marine Division is mostly in position. 6th Marine Division will attack north, 4th Marine Division west and north. 1st Marine Division will move in behind 6th Marine Division and move towards Choshi.

The 100 point objective next to Yokoshiba is a coastal artillery bunker, and that will prove to be a nut the Marines can't crack. I'll try to outflank it at first, but that will prove to be costly as Japanese reinforcements arrive.

My objectives for the Marine offensive were:

-Stretch the Japanese defensive line.
-Cross the river north of Choshi.

It seems my opponent thinks I'm trying to turn his flank, but that's not my intention. I'm perfectly satisfied with the Japanese deployment as he's still maintaining a forward defense instead of shortening his lines. What puzzles me is why he keeps his two best divisions around Urido, even though it should be clear to him that I won't be attacking in that area.

Maybe he's playing blind, but he should have a fairly clear idea of where my divisions are. He has not seen any new divisions arrive south of Urido for days, only 2 new divisions near Honno, but he has a bunker line there.

There's only a thin screen protecting the coastal road, but units are moving through the area constantly. I was confident that any Japanese offensive to try and cut off the Marines could be stopped.

[ComradeP]

18th of March 14:00 Turn 176:



20th Armoured and the 24th ID clear Kamijima and surroundings. The Japanese defenders held out long enough to prevent any units from being encircled to the east, but losses were heavy during the retreat. Units are moving uphill to clear the ridges overlooking Kamijima.

32th ID is redeploying from the XIV Corps area to the X Corps area. Now that bunkers have been completed and all 38th ID units are on-map, I felt I could hold the area with 2 infantry divisions and corps assets. The division will move towards Odawara from the north, after passing through Kamijima. The town has been reduced to RUBBLE, but there's a Clear hex to the north that can be used to bypass the town.



The 11th Airborne Division arrives in bits and pieces throughout the day, landing on the XXIV Corps beaches. It will relieve the 4th Marine Division at Yokoshiba. Some units start at reduced strength, but that might be due to an OOB error. They don't take amphibious landing losses.



There are 3 roads leading out of the Field hexes in the 6th Marine Division area: one through Yokaichioa (reduced to RUBBLE as the B quality 1st Line Japanese defenders proved stubborn), one through Izumigawa (coastal artillery bunker), and one through Ashikawa (coastal artillery bunker). I was careful not to target the latter two towns with artillery fire or air strikes.

Elxaime placed two company-sized 2nd Line units in the bunker hexes, sacrificing two pawns to slow me down. A good move, as the Japanese don't take additional losses when they can't retreat and will never retreat from Bunker hexes.

The USMC unit with the blue counter two hexes south of Izumigawa is the A quality FMFPAC Amphibious Recon battalion, a two company Demolition unit. Cutting defensive benefits from Bunkers by 50% helps a lot. As the unit consists of two companies, I can launch two assaults each turn that receive the Demolition benefit.

Ashikawa would be cleared by engineers and flamethrower Shermans (Marine Sherman battalions have 3 regular 75mm Sherman companies and a 9 vehicle flamethrower Sherman HQ company with an assault value of 37).

The 4th Marine Division continues to run into stiff resistance around Yokoshiba.

The 1st Marine Division is moving up along the coastal road. The division will bypass Ashikawa along the Beach hexes.

[ComradeP]

19th of March 04:00 Soft Conditions Turn 181:



20th Armoured Division is slowly removing the Japanese units from the Brush hexes west of Kamijima. A regiment of the 24th ID is moving south. It was all I could spare until 32th ID arrives. 13th Armoured Division and some units of 20th Armoured Division are still busy clearing the various hexes along the ridges around Kamijima.

The elevation increase by more than 1 elevation level leads to a plateau effect which makes it more difficult for the Japanese to keep an eye on the Kamijima area as they can't always spot non-adjacent units at a lower elevation level.

The thick brown hexsides are Embankment hexes which non-(On) Foot units can only cross along roads.



After bunkers were constructed in many forest hexes north of Honno, 97th ID could be freed up. It's redeploying and will relieve 11th Airborne. 11th Airborne relieves the 4th Marine Division and a few days later it will be relieved by the 97th ID. Mostly, as I'm not confident 97th ID can hold that area by itself. XXIV Corps engineer units will relieve the regiment at Katoku.



The Japanese units between 6th Marine Division and Choshi are withdrawing behind a tank screen. Most towns along the Primary road were reduced to RUBBLE. In the end, I chose that clearing the hexes was more important than preventing RUBBLE, as I could still move along the coastal road. I was careful to prevent RUBBLE east of Asahi, however.

4th Marine Division is slowly moving north-east.

Bombardment after bombardment is needed to remove the Japanese B quality 1st Line 44th Division (green counters) from the Forest hexes it occupies.

The company holding Ashikawa will be destroyed during this turn, Izumigawa has already been captured.



Time to take another look at the state of my units.

Situation compared to maximum strength:

III Marine Amphibious Corps:

1st Marine Division: -1236 Men and 12 Vehicles. Most battalions are still in good shape. No units have medium or high Fatigue. The LVT and Sherman units have suffered some breakdowns, but other losses have been replaced.

4th Marine Division: -1472 Men and 23 Vehicles. 3 battalions are at around 60% strength, the rest is in good shape. Each tank company is about a platoon short of maximum strength, mostly due to breakdowns.

6th Marine Division: -567 Men and 17 Vehicles. Considering that this division has been leading the push along the coast, it's in a surprisingly good shape. Being careful with how you advance and leading with tanks pays off. Most battalions are close to full strength. The LVT and Sherman units have suffered some breakdowns, but other losses have been replaced.

One of the three Corps engineer battalions needs some rest, the others are near full strength.

11th Airborne Division is fresh, as it's not at the frontline yet. It has only lost some .50 cal AA vehicles to breakdowns.

XXIV Corps:

7th ID: -376 Men. Good shape. -38 Vehicles, mostly due to breakdowns and some Japanese direct fire at Togane

27th ID: -15 Men. Losses have nearly been replaced/recovered. -11 Vehicles, all breakdowns.

96th ID: -97 Men, -3 Vehicles due to breakdowns. Excellent shape. Losses have nearly been replaced/recovered.

97th ID: -386 Men and -2 armoured cars. Good shape.

Corps Engineer battalions took some losses, but there are a lot of them and most are near full strength.

First Army Troops: -17 Vehicles, mostly due to breakdowns.

X Corps:

24th ID: -258 Men and -21 Vehicles, mostly due to breakdowns. Good shape.

31st ID: -1740 Men and -17 Vehicles. The only division that has been at the frontline and attacking throughout the game. Most battalions could use some rest as they're around 70% strength, but Fatigue is all green. Decent shape.

37th ID: -325 Men, -2 Guns and -11 Vehicles through Japanese indirect fire and breakdowns. Good shape, only lightly engaged at the moment.

Corps engineer assets are 99 Men short and have only been lightly engaged for a while, they're mostly clearing rubble. Only 1 engineer battalion is at the frontline supporting 31st ID.

XIV Corps:

6th ID: -96 Men, -1 Gun and -14 Vehicles through Japanese indirect fire and breakdowns. Excellent shape.

32th ID: -143 Men and -24 Vehicles due to breakdowns and Japanese indirect fire. Excellent shape. aside from some of the tank companies.

38th ID: -342 Men, -3 Guns and -4 Vehicles. One battalion is still recovering from its rough landing, the other units are close to full strength. Excellent shape.

Corps engineer assets are taking some losses whilst digging in, but are only 97 men short of full strength. 13 Vehicles were lost to breakdowns and Japanese indirect fire.

XIII Corps:

13th Armoured Division: -78 Men and -46 Vehicles through a combination of Japanese (in)direct fire and breakdowns. Excellent shape.

20th Armoured Division: -247 Men and -95 Vehicles, mostly due to breakdowns, indirect fire and little rest to recover losses. Armoured infantry is in good shape, tank battalions could use some rest.

Eighth Army troops: -4 Guns, excellent shape. Army troops are mostly tank destroyer units aside from the Flamethrower tank battalion. As the tank destroyers are vulnerable and can't fire from 2 hexes away at soft targets, they've been parked in the rear for most of the game.

Air units:

-3 planes. At most, I'm 6 or so planes short. Losses are quickly replaced, and rotation of carrier units means units that took losses are steadily replaced by fresh ones. It's mostly medium bombers and carrier aircraft that suffer losses due to their Defense value of 16 or 18.

Overall, only the Marines and 31st ID are at a significantly reduced strength in Men, and 20th Armoured Division is starting to feel the reduction in Vehicle numbers. Losses haven't had much of an impact on operations for a while, aside from the X Corps sector.

46641 Men have been recovered/replaced, as I'm 8481 Men short of the maximum OOB strength.

[ComradeP]

19th of March 14:00 Turn 186:



Progress towards the west is limited, but 32nd ID should be able to arrive without the Japanese realizing the entire division is moving in.



The third regiment of 11th Airborne Division is still moving north, together with the bulk of 97th ID.

Meanwhile, bunker construction north of Honno is nearly complete.



Surprisingly, the area around Choshi was evacuated by the Japanese.

There's a coastal artillery bunker in Kurahemachi (the 100 point objective east of Choshi) and a spotter unit in Tokawamachi.

More importantly, it seems there are not that many units on the other side of the river as there are no units visible between Yatabe and Hasaki.

[ComradeP]

20th of March 04:00 Mud conditions Turn 191:



As always, Mud will slow down offensive operations. It also limits the Japanese ability to quickly redeploy troops. Thus far, we've only spotted some Boeitai units and partisans south of Kamijima.

I'm hoping I can turn the Japanese flank before the reinforcement division that will arrive on the 21st and 22th of March arrives at the frontline.

More air units become available this turn, including some very welcome air recon units and 4 fighter bomber units equipped with napalm. Considering the enormous number of air units on the Allied side, air recon assets were minimal thus far. Air recon is limited in many PzC titles, both in numbers and in how air recon works as the planes attempt to spot the area around the selected hex but don't actually move there first. It's like recon spotting.



11th Airborne is immediately involved in fierce fighting. The Japanese C quality 147th Division appeared after marching to Yokoshiba from the area around Urido.



The Japanese are holding a roughly diagonal line from Yokoshiba to Higashi-imaizumi. There don't seem to be any units observing "my" side of the river north of Choshi along the entire length.

1st Marine Division Shermans are firing across the river at the unit in Yatabe. I don't want to turn the town into RUBBLE, so no artillery or air strikes will be used.

A pile of engineers is still clearing RUBBLE in Asahi. It would've been convenient if the town had not been turned to RUBBLE. I don't recall if it was by accident or deliberate.

[ComradeP]

20th of March 14:00 Turn 196:



Odawara was an open city, no Japanese units seem to be in the area. More importantly, there are no units ZOC-blocking the primary road. An oversight. It wouldn't have taken much to make my advance in this area much more difficult.



A regiment of the 96th ID moves in to relieve corps units and 7th ID units north of Honno. 7th ID will move north soon, probably towards Yokoshiba.



The two units east of Choshi were knocked out.

As there don't seem to be any Japanese units on the other side of the river, aside from in the 2 towns with the ferry across the river, 1st Marine Regiment will prepare to cross the river by boat between Takada and Choshi as pontoon construction begins.

I'll be careful not to Isolate the Japanese unit in Hasaki by allowing it to trace a supply path across the ferry into Choshi. Elxaime might still realize something is happening because his local supply value will drop sharply.

[ComradeP]

21st of March 04:00 Normal conditions Turn 201:



Surprisingly, there was nobody home west of Odawara either. 20th Armoured Division is moving along a trail in the hills to the Primary road between Songokubara and Sokokura. Meanwhile, two regiments of the 32nd ID will start clearing the peninsula. The third regiment will continue to move west.

I'll start moving the regiment of the 24th ID, in the hills where you can see the tank counters of 20th Armoured Division, north soon, to relieve 13th Armoured Division units in the hills north of Kamijima.



XXIV Corps assets have relieved the remaining regiment of 97th ID, which is now moving north, and 7th ID. I think I'll use the good weather to move some bridge engineers around to improve infrastructure through bridge construction across streams.

It's unfortunate that XXIV Corps has all but one of the bridge engineer units with boats in this part of the front. I can barely keep units in Corps command range, as I still have 2 Corps HQ's for 8 divisions+Corps assets.



Instead of a massacre, 1st Marine Regiment landed completely unopposed. It was spotted by coincidence at the end of the last day as Elxaime swapped the unit in Hasaki with another unit (which I couldn't see initially).

Even more surprising: there indeed seemed to be little behind the company screen, as my units were not Isolated after crossing the river. It would've taken one of the Japanese companies only a 1 hex move to Isolate every unit on the northern shore until a ferry Trail (full hex ferries have "Trail" hexsides on the map) could be cleared.

The two Japanese units in and around Yatabe pulled back during the night.

The cavalry counter north of Shari is for an immobile coastal artillery spotter unit.

4th Marine Division is relocating as 97th ID units arrive to relieve it.

After the fierce struggle with the 44th Division, 6th Marine Division is enjoying a lull in the fighting. One regiment will move towards the area where 1st Marine Division tanks are, so the entire 1st Marine Division can cross the river.

Part of the fleet has relocated to cover the northern bank of the river. Some battleships have a 33 hex range so they can stay in place, the other ships are still needed to deal with Japanese units around Yokoshiba.

[Green]

Great job! Thanks for sharing.

I was surprised to see that there is a Marine Recon battalion with the demolition attribute. It would be a dangerous job but even still, it seems odd to me. You feel it works well, I assume? 

John

[ComradeP]

It seems the unit was normally used for pre-invasion recon and infiltration missions and not during the actual invasion.

It seems reasonable that the unit would be used here to spot suitable landing sites, though perhaps not in the frontline.

The Demolition flag is quite useful to counter the Fanatical Nation advantages. Aside from the units with high assault values, it's the only real counter to Japanese units in bunkers.

[Green]

Yes, I can see how it could be quite useful. It is just something I have not seen before. Perhaps there are other examples of infantry with the demolition attribute but I have never come across them.