18Jan

Seoul and Chuncheon fell on 18Jan. The situation is still promising as the UN is preparing for offensives on all fronts. Forward elements have advanced to the Imjin bridge. PYang and Yesong railbridge again operational. Sinuiju railbridge was hit on the 17th by F-84's with several fighters lost during the mission. 4-6 MiG formations are routinely patrolling the Yalu. Any strike in that area is extremely dangerous.

Sinuiju bridge again 6/7 destroyed and F-80's now at Seoul field. (Never noticed that field was jet-capable before. But if the Reds can cheat and deploy at prop-only bases, then so can I!) The 18th brought B-29's round once again. Morning mission to Hamhung Marshalling Yard and 800 more tons destroyed. Midday raid to Sinuiju Warehouses(first time ever, so it'll be interesting to see the effect).

Afternoon to PYang Marshalling Yard. All targets destroyed. A handful of fighters lost for about a dozen more MiGs. Good day with the B-29's with three high-value targets destroyed. Don't think we'll be that aggressive until the Forts come around next time.

A new section of 86's brings each squadron to an average of 8 planes. So, just 2 operational flights from each squadron available. But PYang railbridge and Yesong railbridge will be getting a visit from T-Jets on the 19th. No doubt.

23Jan.

Offensives on Western and Central fronts have stalled due to fierce resistance by Red ground troops. Progess is slow. Battles taking place north of Chuncheon and NW of Munsan. Yesterday, the UN troops secured the west bank of the Yesong railbridge. Force levels on the ground had been equal for the past 3 days. The UN is finally starting to outnumber the Reds, so the offensives may begin to move forward soon.

Intel indicates Communist initiative on the Eastern front. Neither side has been aggressive in the air, and no engagements each of the past two days for the first time all campaign. I have stayed far away from PYang since the arrival of the RedTails. They have not ventured far from their base. So, better not to stir up the bees' nest.

Even though there have been no further engagements with them, their presence has influenced my tactics and strategy. But it has helped that both the marshalling yard and railbridge in PYang are destroyed. If they fix that bridge, we'll go back in regardless of who doesn't like it!

One thing I love about the new patch is the vastly improved recon. I finally have something to do with those Mustangs. In this campaign, the 51's are credited with over 400 trucks. I never came close to that number in the previous campaigns with all of the aircraft!

All told, 752 trains/trucks have been destroyed. Combine that with the focus on the rail system and the supply machine is at a crawl. And I've flown a couple of convoy interdictions in hopes of spotting the elusive donkeys I've heard so much about. Found plenty of trucks, but no donkeys. I'll keep hunting.

A side note. Yesterday intel informed us that supplies were getting through at Chonglin Marshalling Yard. That is the northernmost target on the map. But I have been conditioned to think that if supplies are getting through, then it's best to hit that target. Intel usually doesn't bother with the low priority stuff.

So I gathered up 4 B-26 flights and 4 fighter flights and flew all the way there. Milk run type mission, bombers dropped and we fly home. Debriefing shows only 25 tons destroyed. But the funny thing is, there was only 100 tons left. You know things are going well when they bother to tell you supplies are getting through when there's only 125 tons there! Well, 100 now, but who's counting?

Footnote to previous report. Both F-86 squadrons and the F-84's now based at Kimpo. I moved the F-80's back to Suwon from Seoul. I felt guilty using a prop base for jets. Well...er...or maybe because I couldn't take off on that short dirt strip.

Click to continue

24Jan

The MiGs have virtually dissapeared. The RedTails are still based south of PYang, but they're not engaging unless a mission goes right by their base. The Chinese MiGs are quiet too. I can see them patrolling the Yalu, but they're not sending any flights into Korea. It's been this way for about a week. Missions to Chongjin, Manpo, Wonsan, etc., have gone unchallenged. I'm not sure it will last, but for now I can send strikes just about anywhere there isn't an active base.

For example, it's now the 24th of January in the campaign. Intel indicated both Pyongyang Marshalling yard and the railbridge were back up and running. Also had B-29's. This is the fourth time we've had 'em. That's only 4 times in 19 days. So, I'll use them wisely.

I did the marshalling yard/railbridge combo thing that worked so well on day one. Three flights of B-29's with 1000 pounders target the marshalling yard, and one flight targets the railbridge. I only had 2 Sabre flights available and 2 F-80's. We all went to Pyongyang, fully expecting to be greeted by both the RedTails from Hwainju and some Chinese interceptors. None ever came. No air opposition over PYang. Don't know if that's ever happened before except for when the battle was for PYang itself.

While I'm circling above the city waiting for the Forts to drop, I thought, ya know I don't think I've seen B-29 bombs actually hitting the target. Always too busy fighting off the MiGs. So, I brought the flight down to 8,000 feet and did slow circles around the myard. All the targets in PYang are close to one another, right down by the river. We could easily see the railbridge and roadbridges as well as the myard and 3 non-active airfields. Viper one says bombs away and the first 3 flights drop. Man, carpet bombing at it's finest! Quite a show.

But what I was really interested in was the fourth flight's attack on the bridge. Dropped down to 5,000 ft. and got a good seat. It took about two minutes but I could soon see the 4 big bombers lining up with the bridge. They were roughly traveling parallel, but maybe 5 degrees off line. Viper 13 calls bombs away and I focus on the bridge below. I can see the bombs falling.

For those who have never seen it, PYang railbridge is comprised of 2 large spans that connect in the middle of the river on an island. The first dozen or so 1000 pounders hit right where the spans connect. Several more fell in the river and about the last dozen hit the bank several yards from the bridge.

The debriefing shows 13 of the 29 elements are destroyed. Along with the 4 bridges in one strike on the first day, the most destructive bridge mission for me ever. I don't think they'll be running trains across that bridge again if the campaign lasts until March.

And I should add that it's been snowing quite a bit over the past week. Maybe the MiGs aren't too aggressive in the really bad weather. It's obvious they are airborne, but not straying far from their bases. I didn't pay much attention to the weather before either. But I've been making a point of it in this campaign. I escorted a F-84 strike on Nan bridge in the snow.

Since no MiGs came to play, I just decided to watch and see what the 84's did. It was pretty much a solid overcast, but there were a few clear patches at 15,000 feet. The T-Jets never attacked and landed with the bombs still hanging. So, I tried again, but changed the IP altitude to 13,000. That's 2000 feet below the cloud layer.

But when I flew the mission, the clouds seemed to be at 9,000 and again, the 84's didn't attack. It will take more experimenting, but weather and visibility must be a factor in why they never attacked. Have to try a few more things.

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