Anyone interested in some intellectual exercise?

Ok, I've looked through it. My understanding is that the flying part of flight training can be broken down into 3 phases:
1) Training aircraft @ flight school.
2) Operational aircraft @ flight school
3) Operational aircraft with an operational unit.
If you cut hours too short in either of the first two phases you see significant decreases in skill and increases in the accident rate for the new pilots. However one reaches a point of diminishing returns after a point and entering the next phase of training will be a more efficient use of resources for a given increase in pilot skill. I'm not sure how or if your program accounts for any of this. If it counts flight hours then it also needs to count the cost (fuel, aircraft maintenance, and occasional accidents).

Note that if you are increasing the number of operational planes you will also need to increase the number of "ground" crews (to include those on the carriers). I believe Shattered Sword made the point that most of the Japanese aviators were rescued at Midway but the loss of the ground crews was a severe blow to IJN airpower (as opposed to the loss of pilots in the Gaudalcanal campaign).

Another factor to consider is native ability. There are two places where this could come into play. Some people just make better pilots flight schools attempt to weed out those who make poor pilots (left hand side of the bell curve) while keeping those who excell. If you are keeping track of individuals then perhaps some sort random draw to simulate this would be worth while. Note as the number of pilots increases you'll be getting a lower average bonus. The other area is that some people who excell in an area are not good teachers while others who are just adequate in an area may excell as teachers. Again not sure if this is something thay you can incorporate or want to even if you can.

 

If you won´t agree with the action at China, give out your plannings, please!

 

For the reason that we have the rights to open up military bases iat French Indochina, we can have Air Fields at there. I´m not sure if we have some at the opening date of "our" war but i will get the information on this fact. If so, we can have enough aircrafts at there at a red alert state for the time i will need some of the Navy´s ships.

 

Since we have pilots in China, we could see about retraining some of them for naval operations. As far as CHina I have stated my beliefs of working out an agreement with Chiang

 

But it seems that the agreement with Chiang is not the only problem you will have with it. And for the first, i would like to have the pilots with me. Later we can make it that way if needed.

 

If you get an agreement with Chiang you might well be able to come to an agreement with the British, Dutch, and US as well. Of course if you do that there goes the war at least in any form we are familiar with.

 

Please tell me any valuable options to China. To me it will hit us in the back if we let the British and the Chinese stay at there positions without doing anything more than be there. The next concerns i have are on the easily overstretched lines by invading one island after another. Defending of islands is a bad thing and the more if you have to defend severals of them with huge distances between them. This would need a giant Navy to secure the supply routes and to attack the opponents. I don´t believe that they are attackking only one island after the other! So in my opinion is China with its industry and the resources serves the the most things we need at one place and not at 10 or more. If that problem is solved, we can take more islands but not the other way.

 

Neutralizing Singapore will have to be part of our initial strikes.

 

http://www.ww2f.com/what-if-pacific...against-midway-invades-australia-instead.html

Ran across some interesting posts here. Not that I am condoning an attack on Australia (against that). I very much want to avoid Midway and any potential slaughter there. I think there are some interesting ideas in this thread. Hope you all find it interesting, within the parameters of our planning.

 

I was not advocating ceasing nor continuing production of any particular ship or class, (other than adding two Shokakus and scrapping the Shinano), what I was trying to point out is that those particular ships were not laid down before we assumed power. We are free to build or not build any ship we choose. We can also change some features of a ship/ship class or even create a whole new class from scratch. Say you wanted to continue producing Akizukis, but with a stronger ASW capability. We can do that.

I agree.

I agree, I'd love to reach a seperate agreement with Australia.

 

I have stated the issue with China is not just fighting the armies, but dealing with the rear areas. We are spending too much money and losing men for no gain. Japan is facing the same problem that the Nazis did in Russia, too much territory and not enough men. China already absorbs I believe 60% of our army if not more and we are unable to force Chiang to quit. There were discussions in reality but Japan was not willing to offer any concessions. We are simply going to have accept an independent China. Now we can try to work it out that it is divided between at least Chiang and Mao and possibly other leaders. Having them fight each other, not us, will be to our benefit

 

Yes it could. The proposal simply needs to be put before the council and its advocate needs to sell it to a majority of the other members. It will be up to the moderator to decide how the US will react. BTW, would you be interested in a job on the council? If so let us know what job you'd be interested in, and what duties it would entail.

 

All of these factors are accounted for and additionally engine and airframe overhauls, airfield conditions and levels of improvement, to include the machine shops, warehouses, etc. that more improved facilities have, weather conditions, etc.

This factor is also modelled. One of my suggestions is that each squadron be paired with a support squadron so we can always insure we have sufficient support for our aircraft. for example, if you were the Americans and you stand up VMF-121 (fixed wing, Marine, Fighter squadron) you'd also recruit and train VMSS-121 (fixed wing, Marine, Support Squadron).

The game actually tracks individual pilots, there is a percentage of attrition built into the initial, 12 month training period, this accounts for those dropped for lack of ability, injuries and accidents. There is additional attrition that occurs once they become operational, due to accidents and mechanical failures. As for the experience/teaching ability question, I would guess that it is not modelled, I don't know how it could be quantified. Assigning experienced pilots to the training command does increase the efficiency of training. It would be my guess that this is a factor pretty much negated by the law of averages. Any group of experienced pilots would have exceptional teachers, superior teachers, average teachers, mediocre teachers and bad teachers so when averaged out over a large group the high and low end would be negated by the greater number falling into the mean range.

 

Yes, it was an interesting discussion. I participated in that thread quite a bit. I too would try to avoid anything along the lines of a Midway Operation. Japan wanted to force the US into a decisive battle. I think Japan would have been better off having the Americans come to them and then have their fleet counter striking the Americans. An intact Kido Butai, backed up by Japanese land based air and surface forces would probably have resulted in horrendous casualties for the americans.

 

That was pretty much the original Japanese plan from what I've read. I think the problem was Yamamoto was starting to realize that the US wasn't going to charge headlong into a well prepared defence or if it did it wouldn't do it until victory was pretty much certain. The US construction plans were well known as they were public record. If he could destroy a big portion of what was left of the US fleet before much of the new construction arrived then perhaps there was a chance the US would quit and if not then Japan at least had a few more months of freedom of action. There was considerable resistance to the Midway plan from what I've read until the Doolittle raid after which resistance pretty much evaporated.

 

Midway was a good idea, but Yamamoto forgot his own principal. If given 3 options the enemy will usually choose the fourth. I would be in favor of such an option if war comes, but with the intent of engaging the enemy fleet rather then taking an island.

 

I feel we can see at least a modest bump in production by ensuring greater materials reach the Home Islands though better organized/protected convoys. More concentrated assaults could also lead to a modest bump by caturing resource areas before widespread destruction can occur. It may also be possible to expand our production infrastructure, thus giving us another modest (hopefully not so modest) boost in overall production. Lastly, we may also see modest gains by 'farming out' production of low tech items ( Cargo/transport Barges, Wooden hulled Sub-chaser's/Minecraft to captured ports on the Asian mainland.

We can also see some production freedom by the items we will no longer produce, such as midget and 'Carrier/Scout' submarines, Probably one or both unfinished 'Yamato' hulls. To that the Submarine Floatplanes can be added as well as all the late war Kamakase craft and of course any of numerous weapon systems we will forego as not being in our long term interest.

I will also push hard to see us adopt a smaller variety of aircraft as is possible. Hopefully we can settle on type of single engine floatplane, one type of multi-engine medium bomber, etc. This hopefully can be expanded into other areas of war production.

As we are planning for a long struggle, we should be able to avoid at least some of the pratfalls that wishfull thinking sometimes lead to.

 

Let the U.S. enter a trap if they move into the Straits of Taiwan, Moluccas, S. China Sea, Celebes Sea or the like where the land based air power can inflict the losses you refer to.

With no blood from Pearl Harbor, The Bridge Over the River Kwai or The Bataan Death March on our hands it should be easier to gain a decent peace when the full might of American industrial power begins to extinguish the Rising Sun (hopefully not until '46). In the meantime, there are lots of good places in Japan to hide all the loot we plunder from the conquered nations.

This "knee jerk" reaction, so unlike anything the Japanese expatriates I have worked with would have ever done, cost them dearly. I imagine the agressive faction had bought into the mythical hype of the indestructible Asian warrior caste. Cooler heads should have prevailed but fortunately they did not and the turkey shoot was on. Of course there were the dark early days which are not to be discounted.:bb-cruising:

It kind of suc@@ to be us then. But a great observation. Thanks for re-emphasizing it. Who do they think they are anyway?

 

I respect your position in reguard to China, and understand that you feel that this approach is in our best interests.

Unfortunately I feel they are counter to our long term interests.

Col. Bobimoto submitted a Intelligence Summery earlier which indicated that the US-Western Embargo had deeper meaning and reasoning other than some moralistic opposition to our efforts in China. They also want to secure the oil and scrap metal for their own war production and profit. Even if we were to acceed to all their demands, and they would be severe, we will likely find that they have bought up all the oil and other materials already, or that the price for those still available will be far too expensive and we will still find ourselves in a economic trap that slowly strangles us with the difference that we are paying the west for the priviledge of a slow and painfull death of our Empire.

As for Chaing he is nothing more than the first rank amung a horde of Warlords and Bandits that infest China. Any agreement that we reach with him will be local and limited as he gains far too much wealth and power by playing the victim to our actions. He will settle for nothing less than ALL of CHINA, even though he lacks the wisdom or courage to secure his kingdom. We have invested too much in North China and Korea to give it up without a fight.

Lastly there is our own flaw to consider. We sit upon this Council because too many of our junior officers as well as beaurocrats have an overinflated sense of their and Japan's Destiny. They will force us to fight or sweep us away. It will take time to reform our military fully so that it returns to being the servant to the Empire and Emperor, rather than the reverse being true as it now is sadly. We have arrived too late to prevent war with at least some of the west.

What we can do however, is ensure we fight this war forced upon us with intelligence, reason and honor. It is all well and good to die on a failed lost battlefield as a Samuri, but we are a nation not just a warrior clan.We may lose this war as nothing is ever certain in any clash of arms, but the Empire and His Imperial Majesty must be preserved, even at the cost of our lives who sit upon this council.


The Prime Minister

 

But to the West he is considered the ruler of China. Come to even an iterim understanding with him and it may be enough to focus the attention of western powers elsewhere. If some minor concessions will help with this so much the better. Indeed it might be possible to grant said minor concessions in a way that will foster infighting in the Chinese forces. Like wise agreement with the Communist is unlikely but that gives an excuse for continued operations in parts of China. In essence an agreement with Chiang means that there is relatiave peace for at least a little while along part of the line in China allowing concentration vs the other sectors and it also cuts into western support for China. If it buys time in which to make a decision that's also useful. What happens on the German Soviet front in early 42 may clarify who is likely to win that contest and if Japan has not joined either side at that point it would allow them to make such a decsion in a way most favorable to their cause.
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