The Battle Over Japan

Frame 4 – The Battle over Japan

Introduction

It is early 1945, prior to the invasion of the Japanese mainland by Allied forces, the Allies probed the defenses around northeastern Japan and Tokyo. The U.S. Navy dispatched several small battle fleets consisting of two to three aircraft carries to penetrate Japanese coastal defenses. The main objective was to ascertain the strength and numbers of aircraft focused on the defense of Tokyo. This to ensure that the concentration of Allied air forces would be directed to the enemy without significant losses from navigational errors and miscalculations associated with long over water flights. The plan also included daylight B-29 raids to draw the enemy into combat over Tokyo so that allied fighters could seek out and destroy enemy interceptor in the air and on the ground. The plan was named Operation “Mouse Hole”.

The Japanese fearing the direct assault on the capital on Tokyo increase it aerial defense forces to save the city from the hellacious destruction that other Japanese cities has incurred. It would be the last major show of Japanese airpower in World War II.  Frame 4 of The Pacific War Scenario will be an attack designed to weaken the Southern portion of Japan, destroy industry and supplies, and prepare for the future invasion of Japan.

Map

Overview of Battle

This final frame of Pacific War 2014 focuses a massive assault by the US to weaken the resolve and supply lines, and Japans last ditch effort to push back the assault.

Victory Conditions

Each side will have their objectives to achieve.  Victory conditions are simple, this is the last push. The US must utterly destroy the Japanese ability to continue in it’s war effort.  The Japanese forces must show that if the US wishes to continue the war, they will pay a very steep price.  It’s win or lose, do or die.

Allied team objectives:

Destroy the backbone of the Japanese war machine.

City Objects in and around Nagasaki, Sasebo and Hiroshima must be destroyed to achieve the objective.
There are about 458 objects around Nagasaki, another 500 around Hiroshima, and about 208 at the Port Facility at Sasebo (P86)
Destroy 450 objects between Nagasaki, Hiroshima and the Port complex at P86 for a Minor US Victory.
Destroy 650 objects between Nagasaki, Hiroshima and the Port complex at P86 for a Major US Victory.

Guns do not count towards this total.  City, Town, Strat Objects only.  While the Logs will show the totals, Bomb Damage Assessment will be crucial for command to plan out follow up attacks.  Damage to objects will show in the text buffers if you have system messages turned on.
(Tip) Create a second text window, select only the system message to show.  This will give you a window that shows only your damage without other conversations cluttering it.

Target Area:  City Around Nagasaki and Hiroshima – Destructible Objects Are In The Center “Island” Area Between The Rivers.

Frame4ijn

Axis team objectives:

Prevent the US Forces from achieving their objective.  Eliminate the attacking US forces before they destroy the industrial complex in and around Nagasaki and Hiroshima.  Destroy  the US Forces and hold them prevent them from achieving their goal.  Destroy the bombers and their escorts.
Prevent the US from destroying 650 objects and shoot down 60% of the US planes for a Minor IJN Victory.
Prevent the US from destroying 450 objects and shoot down 60% of their total planes for a Major IJN Victory.

Japanese Defense Force Operations

Japanese (IJN-IJA) forces consist 180 Planes (Assuming 90 Registered IJN)
This is the Minimum Plane Allocation regardless of turnout, if less than 90 arrive for the frame, the number of planes are still available for the IJN Commander to allocate to any player as the CO wishes.   If more than 90 participate in the frame, the plane allocation will be distributed at the same percentages. (Percentage of “Turnout x 2″)  Axis may rearm and refuel at any friendly field.  The IJN may rearm at any available field.  If you wish to recover a damaged plane, you must land successfully at 119.

IJN/IJA – Airfield A119 West.

  • (25)A6M5B -  (14%)
  • (40) Ki-61 – (22%)
  • (45) N1K2J –  (25%)
  • (25) KI-45(BF110G-2) –   (14%)
  • (45)KI-84 – (25%)

 

US Force Operations

US  forces consist 180 Planes (Assuming 90 Registered US)
This is the Minimum Plane Allocation regardless of turnout, if less than 90 arrive for the frame, the number of planes are still available for the US Commander to allocate to any player as the CO wishes.   If more than 90 participate in the frame, the plane allocation will be distributed at the same percentages. (Percentage of “Turnout x 2″)  US may rearm and refuel in Korea A106  0,12,2. The US may rearm at any available field.  If you wish to recover a damaged plane, you must land successfully at 88.

USAAF – A88 North

  • (45) 73rd Bombardment Wing (B-29) (25%) ** Bombers Must Use 500lb Loadout, 500 rpg machine guns. Formations are on.
  • (45) 21st Fighter Group (P-51D) (25%)
  • (45) 318th Fighter Group (P-47N) (25%)
  • (45) 475th Fighter Group (P-38L) (25%)

 

Summary of Player-Enforced Rules

The following is a summary of some rules that regular pilots must enforce upon themselves during play (as opposed to those rules that are enforced by settings or enforced by how CM’s or CO’s set things up prior to frame start). This is intended as a handy summary list. You still should know the rest of the rules as well.

  • A successful landing will result in a system message stating “Player Name Landed Successfully”. Logs will detail results.
  • Anything other than a successful landing at your home field is considered a death and will result in the loss of a plane. Logs will detail results.  Rearm carefully.  If you damage your plane at a friendly field other than your home field, you will lose that plane once you tower out.
  • Maximum bomber ceiling for all bombers will be FL20.
  • Aircraft hangars have a 1 minute rebuild time.
  • There is a one sector no fly zone at the Air Spawns.  Neither side may enter the sector that has the air spawn for the other sides planes.

Settings

Wind. 5 mph from east to west at 0-5k altitude, 10 mph from east to west at 5k altitude on up.

Clouds. Scattered Clouds Mostly Clear.

Object down time.  Destroyed objects stay destroyed for the duration of the frame with the exception of Fighter Hangers.

Setting Name Value Explanation
BomberWarningRange 26,400 Bases flash when enemy is 5 miles away.
DownTimeMult 600 Destroyed objects stay destroyed.
ExitWhileMoving gunner, boat No exit while moving, except for gunner, boat, and amphib.
FighterWarningRange 26,400 Bases flash when enemy is 5 miles away.
FlightModeFlags  Auto Calibrate Bomb Sight Easy-mode bombsight.
FuelBurnRateMult 1.0 Fuel burn rate.
GroundAutoLethality[Armored] 0.020 Weak auto ack. If you want ack, man it.
GroundAutoLethality[Hard] 0.020 Weak auto ack. If you want ack, man it.
GroundAutoLethality[Soft] 0.020 Weak auto ack. If you want ack, man it.
KillShooter 0 KillShooter is on
PerkPointsDisabled 0 Perk points are disabled.
PlayerResupplyTime 0 No resupply.
RadarAlt 1000 Planes under 1000 ft won’t show up on radar (under radar).
RadarMode[Bishops] Tower Radar Dot Radar within Tower Radar Ring
RadarMode[Knights] Tower Radar Dot Radar within Tower Radar Ring
RadarMode[Rooks] Disable Friendly Counters and Disable Enemy Counters No radar.
RadarUpdateRate 0 No delay
RandomRotate 0
SectorCounterAlt 1000 Planes under 1000 ft won’t show up as counters (under radar).
SectorCounterRange 264,000 50 mile range on counter radar.
TaskGroupCommandCnt 10 Can control up to 10 task groups.
TaskGroupRespawnTime 360 Task groups don’t respawn.
TowerBasedRadarRange 264,000 50 mile radar range.
ViewModeFlags 2 External view for bombers only.

All other settings are as in the Main Arena.

Historical Context

Reference text provided by the History Learning site.

Operation Downfall was the name given to the planned invasion of Japan. Operation Downfall itself was divided into two parts -Operation Olympic and Operation Coronet. By mid-1945, it was apparent that the collapse of Japan was near and the Allies had to plan for the invasion of the Japanese mainland – something that they knew would be very costly in terms of lives lost.

American military commanders were given the task of planning for the invasion - Douglas MacArthur, Chester Nimitz, Ernest King, William Leahy, Hap Arnold and George Marshall. Inter-service rivalry did occur as both army and navy wanted one of ‘their men’ to be supreme commander of planning. Eventually the navy accepted that MacArthur was to have total control if the invasion was to take place. The planning proceeded without taking the atomic bomb into consideration as so few knew about its existence.

The Americans faced one very serious problem. They knew for sure that the Japanese would defend their territory with zeal and that American casualties would be high – probably too high for the American public to accept. The fanaticism that had been shown by the kamikazes, would almost certainly be encountered in Japan and the Americans had to plan for this.

There was plenty of evidence to indicate that any invasion of the Japanese mainland would be very bloody for all concerned. The complexity of such an attack also led to both sides of the US military developing different ideas as to what the best plan should be. The navy believed that a blockade supported by an air campaign would suffice. They wanted to use air bases inChina and Korea to launch bombing raids against key cities in Japan. The army believed that such a campaign would take too long and that the morale of the American public might suffer as a result. They supported the use of an invasion that would go to the heart of Japan – Tokyo. The army got its way.

It quickly became apparent that any invasion of Japan would present huge difficulties. There were very few beaches that could be used as a landing place and the Japanese knew this. Both sides knew that only the beaches in Kyushu and the beaches at Kanto, near Tokyo, could support a huge amphibious landing. The Japanese took the appropriate measures in both areas.

The Americans had planned to land in Kyushu first and use it as a base for planes to attack other targets in Japan. These planes would then be used to give support to the landings at Kanto. As there were so few places to land a massive force of amphibious troops, the Japanese guessed as early as 1944 where such landings would take place.

The actual invasion of Kyushu was known to be fraught with dangers. Therefore, there were those in the American military who advocated the use of chemical weapons on the Japanese defenders. The use of poisonous gas had been outlawed by the Geneva Convention, but neither America nor Japan had signed this. As Japan had used poisonous gas in their attack on China, there were some in the US military who felt it was perfectly justified to use it on the Japanese. The Japanese did fear a gas attack and records do show that senior military figures in Japan wanted to ensure that if there was a gas attack, that the response of the Japanese would be such that it would not make any attack worse. American Intelligence had known for a while that Japan was in no fit state to respond to a gas attack with a gas attack.

The main concern for the Americans was the potential for huge casualty rates. Nearly every senior officer involved in the planning did his own research regarding American casualties – this was based on the experience America had fighting the Japanese since Pearl Harbour.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff estimated that Olympic alone would cost 456,000 men, including 109,000 killed. Including Coronet, it was estimated that America would experience 1.2 million casualties, with 267,000 deaths.

Staff working for Chester Nimitz, calculated that the first 30 days of Olympic alone would cost 49,000 men. MacArthur’s staff concluded that America would suffer 125,000 casualties after 120 days, a figure that was later reduced to 105,000 casualties after his staff subtracted the men who when wounded could return to battle.

General Marshall, in conference with President Truman, estimated 31,000 in 30 days after landing in Kyushu. Admiral Leahy estimated that the invasion would cost 268,000 casualties. Personnel at the Navy Department estimated that the total losses to America would be between 1.7 and 4 million with 400,000 to 800,000 deaths. The same department estimated that there would be up to 10 million Japanese casualties. The ‘Los Angeles Times’ estimated that America would suffer up to 1 million casualties.

Regardless of which figures were used, it was an accepted fact that America would lose a very large number of men. This was one of the reasons why President Truman authorised the use of the atomic bomb in an effort to get Japan to surrender. On August 6th, ‘Little Boy’ was dropped on Hiroshima and on August 9th, ‘Fat Man’ was dropped on Nagasaki. On September 2nd, Japan surrendered and America and her allies were spared the task of invading Japan with the projected massive casualties this would entail.

Links to Historical Information

Web Reference
Operation Downfall – Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Downfall
The American Experience – Operation Downfall
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/pacific-operation-downfall/
The History of War – Operation Downfall – Allied Intelligence and Japanese Preparations
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_downfall3.html
Video Reference
The Last Bomb – Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=g0UvOg94XKk
Imperil Japanese Air Defense – Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ged0wsMJ12k
Japanese Kamikaze
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=3Vzz_QUl-7Y
Books
Hell to Pay: Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-47 …

Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 [Book]

Hell is Upon Us: D-Day in the Pacific, June-August 1944 [Book]

The Last Zero Fighter: Firsthand Accounts from WWII Japanese Naval …

Defense of Japan 1945 [Book]

Credits

Scenario design: The Aces High Scenario Team, ROC, Brooke, Soulyss, Redtail7

Japan: The Aces High Terrain Team
http://downloads.hitechcreations.com/ahiiterr/japan.res

Scenario CM: ROC

Side CMs
IJN: Brooke
US: Redtail7

US Team CO: GhostCDB / Django

IJN Team CO: -AMMO-