Surprise Attack by Rikuto on Narcona

NOTE: Dogon is the GM of this war and wrote this battle report. He gave it to me to check before posting.

9:15PM: Rikuto subs “Kawake” “Tsuruga” and “Shiroyama” enter the patrol area of the 5th and 3rd fleet. They recon the harbors of Onmas and Interon, locating the ships, and discovering the location of the ships.

3:00AM: The subs have finished their recon, and retreat from the recon zones to report.

4:00AM: With new orders, the subs concentrate on Onmas, preparing for a strike.

6:00AM: The fleet is in position, the aircraft carriers are buzzing with action. Aircraft are taking off left and right, and circling into their attack groups, preparing to strike. The subs are submerged again, and under patrolling boats. All forces are waiting for an attack order.

6:15AM: The attack order goes out. The aircraft fly in to the harbor, camouflaged by the sun. The subs strike the enemy subs, sinking them both with two torpedoes. The third sub, the Kawake, charges towards the enemy missile cruiser. It fires two torpedoes. One strikes ten feet from the nose, and the second sails by two feet under the hull. Two destroyers move to assist the missile cruiser as it flees the sub strike. Just then the Rikuto planes streak overhead. The missile cruiser fires a salvo at the ground attack group diving on the ship. The 3rd Ground Squadron takes three hits, and the demolished aircraft disintegrate into clouds of debris. Seven aircraft drop bombs and peel away, and five strike the missile cruiser. A huge fireball envelops the ship, and it sinks quickly. The seven aircraft join the two that did not dive, and continue onwards. Meanwhile, the subs have ran away, and the destroyers search for them. The aircraft concentrate on the aircraft carriers. The first wave bombers hit the flight decks, while the ground attack groups drop torpedoes and hit the hull. One carrier slows and begins listing to the left as soon as the engines are hit, and is stuck in a circle. The other takes direct hits to the flight deck, and the stored aircraft fuel ignites, causing a fire to rage throughout the hangar. The heavy cruisers are next to be wrecked, with torpedo bombers attacking low and fast. They streak over the cruisers as the torpedoes splash into the water and streak towards the cruisers. AA fire hits the torpedo bombers, and of the two ground attack groups, the 3rd and the 6th, the 3rd takes two causalities, and the 6th takes four. The first heavy cruiser takes two hits amidships, three aft, one fore, and the rest miss. The second takes three amidships, one aft, and the rest miss. The first heavy cruiser is hit high, and the 3rd turret is jammed in place, 27 degrees to port from rear. Fires break out on two decks, and damage control teams scramble to contain them. The cruiser’s wood deck catches from the spreading fire, and the ship begins to burn out of control. The fire continues to spread, and eventually hits the magazine of the third turret, the ammo detonating, and the ship breaks in two, sinking quickly, taking a good two-thirds of the crew to the bottom with her. The second cruiser takes heavy hits, but seals bulkheads and continues at a slightly slower pace. The rest of the fleet retreats towards the continent as fast as they can, running for the hopeful salvation of costal defense and air force cover.

6:45AM: The second wave scrambles as the first aircraft begin returning from the first attack wave. The aircraft still with ammunition and without holes try to slow down the retreating fleet, scoring rare hits, lighting fleeting fires on the light cruisers. They are put out quickly, and the aircraft return as they are replaced by the second wave. The 8th and 9th break in on attack angles for bombing runs on the three light cruisers, and the 12th torpedoes the two destroyers. The first of the three light cruisers takes twelve direct hits, and lists seven degrees starboard, leaking oil and taking heavy casualties, but not taking on water. The second cruiser takes 9 direct hits, and the front turrets jam as their roofs collapse. The third cruiser is not so lucky. It takes 20 direct hits, and the hull cracks, leaking water into the upper decks, and begins listing to port. The aircraft continue towards the harbor, and the third cruiser turns in a wide circle. With the huge distractions, the second and third cruiser collide. The second cruiser crumples, but with quick reflexes, they react quickly and get the upper deck breaches sealed. The third takes on more water, and capsizes. The turrets slide out as the boat settled upside down and begins to sink. The two destroyers take rarer hits, and are slowed down by damage taken, but continue, and do not sink.

7:00AM: The second wave arrives at the harbor. They check for any more naval vessels, and after a brief furball, leave back towards the carrier group.

8:30AM: All aircraft are back aboard the carriers, and the navy is now steaming towards Interon. The aircraft are being re-armed, patched up as much as possible, and refueled. Injured pilots are being cared for and replaced by back up pilots. The 1st wave for Interon is preparing and doing one last emergency brief. The subs remain to watch for ships giving chase, but the 5th fleet, know it’s beaten, limps back to port.

10:00AM: The island attack groups are ready. The first wave takes off and engages the third fleet, consisting of the same type of warfare as before. The third fleet was prepared, as it had partial warning. The ships are closer together, and steam to meet the enemy fleet. The only issue with that plan is the planes attack first. The two missile cruisers destroy incoming aircraft, but after the annihilation of the rest of the 3rd Ground Squadron, they are focused on by the attack aircraft, and sunk quickly. The fleet continues to steam towards the Rikuto fleet, but is slowly picked off by the ground attack and bomber aircraft, while the air superiority keeps any Narconian air reinforcements busy and away from the battle. The Narconian fleet actually gets in range of the Rikuto fleet, but after taking so many casualties that they are down to a heavy cruiser, a light cruiser, and a destroyer. They open fire, hitting the “Hidaka” aircraft carrier and pulverizing the flight deck, as well as lighting fires on the control tower. The Rikuto fleet returns fire, and the huge volley of return fire sinks the light cruiser and destroyer, and the heavy cruiser begins to sink. It immediately surrenders, but slips beneath the waves, and the crew is picked up as prisoners and treated as harshly as such. With the 3rd fleet entirely annihilated by the giant battle, the assault on the island begins.

11:00AM: As landing craft disembark from their host ships, the Rikuto bombers pound the enemy airfields into submission. With a majority of both sides Air Superiority damaged or shot down, there is little resistance as the AA nests are flattened and the runway cratered. Narconian troops move towards the beachhead as they expect a land invasion. The ground attack aircraft strike, but are more suited for attack on armored targets and provide minimal damage, only killing the leading tank division, anti-infantry division, and infantry regiment. The remainder of the 6th ground attack group is destroyed by enemy AA, with only two planes surviving, and those were merged into the 9th to fill in for casualties.

12:00PM: Noontime finally strikes, and the landing craft are within a thousand feet from shore. Machine guns and artillery from shore open fire, cutting into the landing craft. The 141st and 142nd special regiments have been ashore since 10:30AM, having parachuted down. They have noted the positions of enemy artillery, and relayed them to command. Ground attack groups 8 and 9 dive in, wrecking the two artillery positions and anti-air positions with the help of bomber group 21, but not without taking heavy casualties. The 8th is down to 6 aircraft, and the 9th is down to 7. The incoming landing craft are hit hard by the artillery before it is destroyed, with the 2nd Special Forces, 4th Armored Battalion, and 7th Artillery Battalion all taking heavy hits and being reduced to nearly nothing. The first landing craft hit the beach, and the door on the nose drops, releasing the 1st Special Forces onto the beach. They hit the sand and dig in, returning fire at the machine guns on the dunes. Next is the 8th and 9th infantry divisions, and they join in at the command of the 1st. The 3rd Armored Battalion hits next, and suppresses the machine guns with HE rounds, blasting the dunes apart where the enemy machine gun nests are. Finally, the 5th Anti-infantry and the 6th Anti-Air hit the beach, and the attackers roll up into the plains beyond the dunes, fighting heavily-dug in infantry. Concentrated Ground-Attack sorties and AP rounds from the tanks help to suppress two armored divisions, with the 3rd taking heavy casualties. The remainder of the 4th reinforces the 3rd almost up to full strength, and the ground attack aircraft and the two surviving artillery pieces eliminate a third armored division. The fourth begins to retreat beyond the dunes, and the 3rd armored pursues. Tank warfare rages in the dunes as the infantry war rages on. The large numbers of enemy infantry are matched by determination and heavy air support on the other side. Still, the forces become locked in in the dunes, with large volumes of fire being exchanged with minimal casualties taking place. The armored battle rages on, with the forces declining at almost the same speed. Two tanks on the Rikuto side roll around one dune at what was suspected to be one tank are eliminated by what turns out to be 4, and the anti-tank regiments eliminate the last of the Rikuto tanks while the ground-attack planes eliminate the last of the Narconian tanks. With no artillery to re-direct, the recon groups flank the enemy with reinforcements from the landing of the 10th and 11th armored divisions. The 11th wreaks havoc in the back of the infantry’s lines, allowing the Rikuto forces to push them from the dunes. With the obvious ahead of them, the Narconians retreat and flee for the city, getting enough of a lead to get into the city. Firefights rage on the edge, but a stalemate is reached while the air support dwindles from casualties and constant landing for re-arming.

RESULTS:
Rikuto fleet destroys vast majority of 5th Narconian fleet. Bad defensive strategy leads to counter-attack by the 3rd Narconian fleet straight into the brunt of the Rikuto fleet. 3rd fleet entirely annihilated, Rikuto takes minor casualties, loss of a “Ama” class destroyer (the “Uma”) and elimination of usefulness of the carrier “Hidaka” with the absolute destruction of the flight deck. Ground forces land, and the partially-dug in infantry in the dunes puts up heavy resistance, but is forced to retreat to more suitable combat locations in the city. Rikuto maintains air and sea dominance over the battlefield, and holds the land from the sea to the edge of the city. Biggest issue for Rikuto is penetrating the city with smaller numbers. Biggest issue for Narcona is re-organizing the ground army from total chaos and finding a solution for the enemy navy and air support
CASUALTIES:
Rikuto:
3rd Ground Attack Squadron
6th Ground Attack Squadron
7th Air Superiority Squadron
4th Air Superiority Squadron
2nd Air Superiority Squadron
Destroyer “Uma”
Carrier “Hidaka” (Heavily damaged, still floating and under power, all combat use is gone)
2nd Special Forces
4th Armored Battalion (3 vehicles survived, reinforced into the 3rd Armored Battalion)
7th Artillery Battalion (2 guns remain)
8th Infantry
3rd Armored Battalion
Narcona:
Entire 5th fleet except for 2 light cruisers and 2 destroyers.
Entire 3rd fleet
4 Air Superiority Squadrons
1 Ground Attack Squadron
1 Bomber Squadron
4 Standard Regiments
1 Anti-tank Regiment
4 Armored Battalions
3 Anti-Infantry Battalions (2 surviving vehicles)
2 Anti-Air Battalions
2 Artillery Battalions (1 surviving gun)

On behalf of the Narconan people, we will fight to the death until this enemy is destroyed. They will face our wrath.