Japan '46 Operation Coronet Allied AAR

[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.