Keynes' Cruisers

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Draconis

I think all those pamphlets are a grand deception to mislead the ATL Axis Intelligence and the OTL readers. This is the U.K. based part of Operation Torch leaving for North Africa.
 

Viper91

fester said:
Mariveles 2145 June 22, 1942


Argonaut had surfaced just after nightfall. 30 tons of shells, 20 tons of spare parts, 10 tons of medicine and 20 tons of chocolate and mail were in the process of being off-loaded. Crews were also manhandling the pair of six inch guns. When she returned to Singapore, the empty deck spots would be filled with British four inch guns to ease supply concerns. General Wainwright ambled down to the dock to speak with the skipper. He had made it a point to talk with the officers of the blockade runners that still kept Bataan minimally connected to the outside world for both updates on baseball scores and an unofficial sense of the world outside of the fortified camp.

The large, awkward and ungainly submarine dove for the bottom half an hour before dawn to avoid Japanese artillery and air attacks. Even as she sat on the bottom, another fifty two evacuees were preparing for departure. All critical personnel had left Bataan months ago. A steady circuit of coastal shipping and fishing boats had moving a few score men each night to villages up and down the coast. Japanese infantry companies were now garrisoning most of the ports but men were still getting ashore. The army on Bataan was down to 71,000 men with the logistical tail far smaller than it has been when the siege started. The trickle of supplies from submarines combined with the shrinkage of the force still allowed the overworked quartermasters to report that as long as there were no surprising rat infestations, the current force could still eat for almost a year.

When the darkness was at its peak the following night, the evacuees marched aboard the submarine. Twenty eight were American airfield construction engineers, seven were wounded infantrymen who could not survive in the field but whose recovery would be rapid enough in a full hospital. Another dozen men were part of a pay and accounting team. Money had become almost irrelevant in the siege, all supplies came from above and the need to provide liquidity for gamblers was low on the priority list. A major and a pair of captains along with two senior sergeants were also being evacuated. They were hardened combat veterans whose knowledge was needed for the ever expanding army stateside. Even now, the Philippines were the proving ground for American mobilization as the successful battalion and company commanders were worth their weight in gold.

When Argonaut passed through the minefields, the pilot boat paused for a moment to bring Surcouf into the bay.
Click to expand...

Nice to see the Philippines garrisons are still holding out well. At this point, if the Japanese want to finish the job, they'd probably have to commit to a major multiple division assault over an extended period. They could probably win, but not without gutting one or two divisions or equivalent.

Are submarines conducting a lot of offensive patrols in the region? Aside from supplying the US and Filipino forces, blowing up as many Japanese transports and warships as possible would help. That and taking out enough destroyers and cruisers would be a perfect way to weaken the Japanese blockade.
 
Story 1413
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    • fester


    Tabriz June 25, 1942

    Men were drinking mid-day coffees in the cafes a few hundred yards from the rail yard. Suddenly they put down the coffee as a loud crash was heard. Eyes searched the skyline looking for smoke or dust rising from an explosion. No one saw anything to worry about. The men resumed drinking their coffee.


    A mile away, half a dozen laborers cursed. A shunting engine crashed into the back of a loaded box car and then derailed. The engineer had been pulled out of the cab with bruises and bad memories while his assistant already on his way to the hospital for his burns to be treated. They would be behind schedule and the production bonus was lost for the week. Soon an American built crane came over to lift the American built engine back onto the French financed tracks. The steady flow of supplies heading to the Caucus Front was barely interrupted.
     
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    • Draconis

    Viper91 said:
    Nice to see the Philippines garrisons are still holding out well. At this point, if the Japanese want to finish the job, they'd probably have to commit to a major multiple division assault over an extended period. They could probably win, but not without gutting one or two divisions or equivalent.
    Click to expand...

    It's nice to see those old subs like the Argonaut and Surcouf getting put to use at a job that better suits their capabilities.
     
    Story 1414
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    • fester

    Kota Bharu, Malaya June 26, 1942

    The experienced sergeant may have smiled. His mustache moved upwards at least a third of a millimeter. That may have been a smile, or it may have been a slight lack of discipline to flick some of the incessant rain off of his face. The company had returned from a thirty mile force march through the jungle. The men, both veterans and replacements for the unlucky or the unwise, had finished the training march in under sixteen hours when the sergeant and major would have been content to complete the march in eighteen hours.

    Now the sergeant was hearing the normal grumbling of reasonably happy soldiers. There was a grumble about the lack of good food. There were more than a few mumbles about the prices in the brothels that had been set up in the seaside city. There were a few moans about the weight of the packs but those were coming from replacements who even now were being shown by the their experienced section mates how to shift the straps of a pack around to ease the bite. One man was demonstrating very quickly how a slight change in the position of a canteen and a blanket relieved the pressure on his back. Mainly, he just heard bitching about the weather.

    The sergeant may have smiled as the battalion was coming together again. There were no reliable rumors of any new actions, but the battalion would soon be going to the front to allow another battalion to reconstitute in the rear as reinforcements and replacements were coming forward.
     
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    • stubear1012

    "Argonaut had surfaced just after nightfall. 30 tons of shells, 20 tons of spare parts, 10 tons of medicine and 20 tons of chocolate and mail were in the process of being off-loaded. Crews were also manhandling the pair of six inch guns. When she returned to Singapore, the empty deck spots would be filled with British four inch guns to ease supply concerns. General Wainwright ambled down to the dock to speak with the skipper. He had made it a point to talk with the officers of the blockade runners that still kept Bataan minimally connected to the outside world for both updates on baseball scores and an unofficial sense of the world outside of the fortified camp."

    I see that the chocolate ordered earlier is still be used. I am wondering two things

    1) How much of the 20 tons is chocolate and how much is mail?
    2) Will all of the chocolate originally ordered be eaten by the end of the war?

    I am really enjoying this timeline.
     
    Driftless

    Driftless

    Donor
    Viper91 said:
    Nice to see the Philippines garrisons are still holding out well. At this point, if the Japanese want to finish the job, they'd probably have to commit to a major multiple division assault over an extended period. They could probably win, but not without gutting one or two divisions or equivalent.

    Are submarines conducting a lot of offensive patrols in the region? Aside from supplying the US and Filipino forces, blowing up as many Japanese transports and warships as possible would help. That and taking out enough destroyers and cruisers would be a perfect way to weaken the Japanese blockade.
    Click to expand...

    And the Japanese would need to extract those additional forces from somewhere to go up against the now dug in and veteran force on Bataan. With their forces in Malaya, Java, Timor and other spots having a hard fight; the Japanese may be content to keep the American/Filipino Bataan force in the bottle for now. On the flip side, the American/Filipinos probably can't accumulate enough reserve supplies to go on the offensive; nor should they. That situation won't change till there's a more clear path for consistent re-supply; probably using War Plan Orange as the game plan.
     

    Ian Henderson

    Driftless said:
    And the Japanese would need to extract those additional forces from somewhere to go up against the now dug in and veteran force on Bataan. With their forces in Malaya, Java, Timor and other spots having a hard fight; the Japanese may be content to keep the American/Filipino Bataan force in the bottle for now. On the flip side, the American/Filipinos probably can't accumulate enough reserve supplies to go on the offensive; nor should they. That situation won't change till there's a more clear path for consistent re-supply; probably using War Plan Orange as the game plan.
    Click to expand...

    Not just the additional forces; where are the additional ships to move them coming from? Further, the Japanese probably don’t know exactly what the Filipino-American supply situation is like. Given the size of the force, the speed of the withdrawal to Bataan, and their own shoestring logistical tendencies, the Japanese might assume that the defenders are on the verge of starving to death and can be waited out. Won’t it be shock as the garrison just holds on.
     

    fester

    stubear1012 said:
    "Argonaut had surfaced just after nightfall. 30 tons of shells, 20 tons of spare parts, 10 tons of medicine and 20 tons of chocolate and mail...

    1) How much of the 20 tons is chocolate and how much is mail?
    2) Will all of the chocolate originally ordered be eaten by the end of the war?

    I am really enjoying this timeline.
    Click to expand...

    New chocolate order. It is calorically dense food. Enough chocolate is being delivered to stockpile at the battalion level a 4000 calorie per infantry man, Gunner and engineer reserve. The rear area/service troops will see none of it.
     

    sloreck

    With the Americans doing well on Bataan and the islands, resistance is stronger and more organized than OTL.

    If the front line troops are getting 4,000 cal/day and adequate nutrients they are doing better than the Japanese.
     
    Donald Reaver

    Donald Reaver

    Donor
    fester said:
    New chocolate order. It is calorically dense food. Enough chocolate is being delivered to stockpile at the battalion level a 4000 calorie per infantry man, Gunner and engineer reserve. The rear area/service troops will see none of it.
    Click to expand...

    Except for that amount that disappears in transit. No way pilferage does not happen.
     

    fester

    sloreck said:
    With the Americans doing well on Bataan and the islands, resistance is stronger and more organized than OTL.

    If the front line troops are getting 4,000 cal/day and adequate nutrients they are doing better than the Japanese.
    Click to expand...
    Front line Bataan troops are getting between 2300 and 2500 calories a day. The chocolate is "iron rations"
     

    fester

    RyderWest said:
    Yeah.On another note about Josh, at least we get official confirmation he is going to survive into mid 1943, if he is just a ground instructor.
    Click to expand...
    You get official confirmation that Josh's probability of survival to 1943 have increased. That is all!

    • Flying fighters is dangerous
    • Training new nuggets is dangerous
    • Corsairs are temperamental beasts with very different handling regimes
    • Shit happens
     
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