Not every battle fought is ever on equal grounds. But having superior numbers doesn't help your enemy win their battles.
Last friday, we outnumbered the Axis forces by at least twenty planes. Does that mean they had a chance of winning? Sure they did. Bad planning on my part could of let the Axis hit us where we were weak or outnumbered. But we were prepared for them.
I had a three front battle to fight. We needed to protect A4, destroy A7, sink the enemy CV fleet, and the tast force west of the CV.
The key factor in any mission success is to examine past battles and to learn from thier mistakes, and from their successes. For our north eastern battle, I used the Midway plan. Bait the IJN with low flying TBM's from the south east while my main strike force flew in high from the south. It worked but at a cost of half a squadron. I also used two excellent fighter squadrons to CAP our CV and to assist our A7 attack if needed.
The second task was to destroy A7. I also had to worry about an attack from A7 on our CV's or on A4. I also had to worry about A5 and A1 being launch pads for other attacks on A4. I put two well known fighter squadrons on defense of A4 and put two more great ground attack squadrons on A7.
The plan worked well, better than I anticipated due to lower numbers of Axis pilots. Squadrons were able to effectively defend areas and destroy assigned targets. Most made it back alive, others were not so lucky but made a proud effort for their squadron.
I would like to thank all the Allied squadron and their members for following their orders and playing out their parts in a manner that can only be described as professional.
Hats off to the Axis who fought bravely in one sided numbers.
Vruth
Allied CO
