An attempt by Japan to land at the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean using a APD TF was thwarted by a cunningly placed BB TF that made mincepie out of the APDs.
In a bold operation, taking advantage of the temporary disconfiture of KB, Wake is retaken [X(]. While Warspite attention is concentrated in Wake, a bold strike by the Marine Raider Battalion retakes Tarawa[X(]. Finally, as enemy Carriers steam on to Tarawa, about half of the 40th Div retakes Gili.
In the Banda Sea, Timor is reinforced, using mostly Dutch troops, and some Aussie reinforcements, and a cruser TF based at Darwin conducts bold antishipping raids in the Banda Sea/ Kendari theater.
Now things start to go wrong.
A large CV force, swings by Tarawa, pounds the invasion force some, and heads for the New Guinea area. Taking advantage of this, Operation Northern Star is launched. A large BB force (Which had returned to Pearl from supporting the Tarawa operations) matches up with two prepositioned invasion TFs, and moves towards Marcus Island; no enemy air opossition is expected since there is no functioning AF at Marcus, and the death star is heading to NG.
In the NG theater, Coral Sea 2 occurs, but the allied carriers, distracted by the showing of a Clark Gable movie fail to launch, and are both turned into artificial reefs for the Australian Dive tourism industry. The Death Star remains intact!. The only carrier in the pacific is CVE Long Island. Admiral Nimitz is admitted into the Pearl Harbor Naval Hospital for a "minor" indisposition. Admiral King has to be treated for severe coffee snorting asphixia.
Northern Star finds out three things: a) Not all the Japanese carriers are at NG, b) Some of the Japanese carriers are at Marcus Island, and c) A major Japanese invasion of Wake is in progress. The Transports move to Wake and Midway where their troops are welcome reinforcements. The old BBs run smack into the enemy transports, with predictable results.
The invasion of Wake is delayed, until the japanese scramble a BB TF to smack around the old allied BBs, that return to Pearl for repairs. The Japanes attempt a landing, but are repelled by the strong allied presence in Wake. Two attempts by BBs to bombard Wake succeed, but the bombardment TFs suffer severely from the shore defences.
And that is the situation now.
