U-boat carnage

The second year of war dawns. The Allies win initiative again. The weather is rainy except in the Med. The Commonwealth chooses a Naval action to send escorts out to protect their convoys. They send light cruisers with good AA factors to the Med. Naval aircraft and subs look for the unprotected Italian convoy in the West Med but fail to locate them. The Ozzie naval air unit flies to Netherlands East Indies, a transport with the armoured corps moves round the African coast and a heavy cruiser moves an infantry division from the UK to Malta. Lots of old bttleships move into the Est Med. The French move escort light cruisers to patrol the Carribbean and the Brazilian coast. The Chinese move units around to shore up their crumbling line. The Americans can now use land based aircraft in sea zones so use a naval aircraft to help patrol the East Coast waters. The Soviets sailed out into the Black Sea to support Odessa and moved land units into Poland from the Soviet Union and away from the German bridgehead across the Dniepr. 

Mussolini launches a devastating response in the Med - his naval aircraft damage the convoy in the West Med, sink HMAS Sydney and damage the other two light cruisers escorting the convoy; in the Red Sea the convoy and light cruiser escorts are aborted back to base along with the Italian sub. So the Commonwealth forces in North Africa are now cut off from supply! Hitler congratulates Mussolini by phone and says he clearly is doing fine on his own. Germany chose a no-cost combined and sent subs over many sea zones. Only the sub unit in the Caribbean found targets and damaged all the tankers and one convoy. In the Ukraine a combined attack on the Stalino militia destroyed it but with the loss of the Dusseldorf militia. The railway gun and Rumanian bombers (the latter very luckily) flipped over the two defending Soviet armies in Odessa. In China two artillery units bombard Mao's hex flipping over both Mao and the strong infantry army in the same hex. 

Good weather this impulse. The Royal Navy moves tankers and a convoy point to replace the ones lost in the Caribbean and avoids the u-boats. Heavy bombers and  a mosquito attempt to bomb the Ruhr but the new German night fighters shoot down the Mosquito (Bomber Harris sobs) then flak aborts one of the heavy bombers and the ne Lancaster causesone build point damage - a very costly bombing raid. Transports move a tank corps around Africa and some naval aircraft to Gibraltar. A convoy moves into the Red Sea putting North Africa and Malta back in supply. Thr Chinese launch a bombing raid on the Japanese infantry occuppying Kweiyang and a mass dogfight ensures overhead. The Zero is shot down (the best news the Allies have had this Turn) as is the Chinese lend lease P40E. The Soviets launch their long awaited offensive on the stack of infantry outside Konigsberg. They lose an Il-16 fighter and an NKVD division but destroy a motorised division and infantry corps. 

Italy moves a transport from Libya to Italy. Frogmen try to attack the Royal Navy's battleships in the East Med but fail to find them and are destroyed. The Germans move forces arouind Konigsberg. The Rumanians attack Odessa with a German mechainsed corps and heavy air support whilst the Soviet armies are supported by the Black Sea fleet and bombers. In the dogfight over Odessa the Soviet Migs are shot down and the pilot is lost. The Soviets lose all their units in Odessa but take two Rumanian infantry corps with them. The Rumanians have lost many units being running dogs of fascism alongside the Nazis (from Stalin's point of view). The Japanese start rearranging units to get the marines and Yamamoto HQ out of China ready to take part in offensives against the Europeans and Yankees.

The weather is rotten in the Northern hemisphere this impulse. The Commonwealth choose a no-cost combined impulse. They send a transport carrying an armoured corps into Tobruk escorted by a battleship and two cruisers and three light cruisers already in the East Med. Italian naval aircraft find these vessels and damage a light cruiser and send a battleship back to port but the armoured corps makes it to Tobruk. Two infantry corps and the Alexander HQ move into Libya. The Soviets move the Vatutin HQ to guard the eastern end of the Kerch Straits.

Japan moves Yamashita HQ to  the Vietnamese Chinese border by transport. Italy moves units away from the Commonwealth in N Africa and towards the front line in Poland. Hitler chooses a no-cost Combined impulse. The u-boats gain surprise in the Faroes Gap and evade the aircraft cover. The u-boats gets damaged but damage a light aircraft carrier and light cruiser and send many tankers and convoys back to port leaving the UK short of resources and reduicng their production capability. Iron crosses all round.


Iron crosses for these u-boat captains!

No partisans arrived. In the US entry phase they chose to reflag merchant ships making goood the Commonwealth losses and also hepling out the Free French. The US also agreed to lend lease for the Western Allies including build points. Hitler maxed out on building and repairing u-boats. He is angry at the Wehrmacht's failure to make progress against the Reds so started building SS units. Stalin mass mobilised the population with building 5 militia armies to appear next Turn. The US and Commonwealth both put their Production towards repairing damaged Royal Navy ships. Japan focussed on building invasion forces and garrison troops to replace forces stationed in China, freeing them to take part in land offensives in the rest of Asia.

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