East Wind Rain - Pat vs Chuck - Jap side

[George Patton]

Report of May 22nd , 1942

SW Pac

Four days ago started the Operation MO, the invasion of Port Moresby. My convoys are now north of the Shortlands. From Rabaul the aviation begun the air raids against the enemy afld. Today a great air battler was fought over Port Moresby, durign which I lost 15 Zero, 3 Nell and 6 Betty. Chuck lost 4 Hurricane, 7 Kittyhawk, 27 Aircobra plus 1 Beaufort destroyed on the ground. However the damages to the airbase are minimal.

Chengtin

After weeks of fierce resistance, the encircled 8th Chinese Corps surrendered. 5682 enemy have been captured.

Burma

The second assault on Akyab failed and I lost over a thousand of men. Another two units are still fighting but I suppose they will surrender too.

[George Patton]

Report of May 23rd , 1942

SW Pac

Another bloody day over PM. I lost 21 Zero, 2 Nell and 3 Betty, while Chuck lost 25 fighters plus 1 Hudson destroyed on the ground.

DEI

In Palembang I made a little step towards victory, reducing the fort to 1.

[George Patton]

Report of May 24th , 1942

SW Pac

I can believe the losses of the Zero over Port Moresby. Today again 8 of them have been shot down, together with 4 bombers. The allied lost 22 fighters plus one Hudson.
I start thinking that with PM afld operational, operation MO will be too risky. Maybe a diversion to Noumea will be a surprise for Chuck.

[George Patton]

Report of May 25th , 1942

SW Pac

Chuck reinforced PM with dozens of Hudson. Anyway I setup my Nell on naval attack and they sunk DD Ward in PM harbour.

China

The two other corps in Changting surrendered today. 14945 chinese soldiers have been taken prisoners.

[George Patton]

Report of May 25th - 27th , 1942

SW Pac

Chuck reinforced PM with dozens of Hudson. Anyway I setup my Nell on naval attack and they sunk DD Ward in PM harbour.

On the 27th I made another air raid against PM. 13 Zero and 5 bombers lost, while Chuck lost 20 fighters and 2 bombers on the ground.
In the afternoon the Nell and Zero from Lae attacked the harbor. Non enemy shipshave been hit but 9 allied fighters have been shot down.

China

The two other corps in Changting surrendered today. 14945 chinese soldiers have been taken prisoners.

Burma

After a couple of attempts, I decided to withdrawn the 2 infantry division from Akyab. They started the long march back towards Rangoon. Akyab is not so important to expend two infantry divisions. I will use them elsewhere when they arrive in Rangoon. They’ll probably arrive in 2010, but I have to try. In Akyab they are useless.

[George Patton]

Report of May 28th , 1942

DEI

More reinforcements arrived in Palembang today. This city is becoming more and more to Iraq. I started to find Bush and I found him. When I ask him what is going on over there, he told me: “The war is over”.

[George Patton]

Report of May 29th , 1942

DEI

The rain is protecting my ships while unloading in Palembang.

SW Pac

My recon spotted some enemy ships south of New Guinea, heading SE. I ordered my convoy heading for New Caledonia to turn back but KB is now sailing west.

[George Patton]

Report of May 30th - 31st , 1942

Another month is finished. Operation MO is definitively cancelled. My recon spotted hundreds of enemy planes in PM and Noumea.
All the troops aboard the convoys will be withdrawn to Truk and redirected to Soerabaya. It’s only smart thing that I can do now.
Anyway KB, with 4 CV, will remain in the Coral Sea and will try to intercept enemy TFs spotted by my recon.

[George Patton]

Report of May 30th - 31st , 1942 - part II

DEI

After the reinforcements, my troops occupied Palembang, finally! 8 enemy aircrafts have been destroyed on the ground.
The troops are starting immediately to prepare the invasion of Batavia.
All the oil and resources plants are destroyed in Palembang, but I have an oil escort of 245613 tonns and a resource escort of 40756 tonns. All those raw materials need to be transported in Japan. Meanwhile my engineers will repair the damages.

[George Patton]

Report of June 1st , 1942

I’m checking the air losses of may, and I can immediately see that I lost 170 Zero and 104 Oscar.
I lost also a lot of bombers: 58 Nell, 39 Betty, 80 Sally and 57 Helen.
From dec. 7th 1941, Japan has lost 2460 planes, and the allied 2635.

LTJG Matsuyama I., of F2/Yamada Daitai is still the best pilot, with 11 kills but he’s Missing in Action. The second best pilot is LTJG C. Takagi, of the same Daitai, with 9 kills.
Best Army pilot is WO Hirabayashi E. of 54th Sentai with only 9 kills.


Naval Losses

Allied:

1 CA (Louisville), 1 CL (Adelaide), 4 DD, 1 APD, 5 SS, 4 DMS, 3 ML, 6 MSW, 7 PG, 12 PT, 1 AD, 1 AV, 4 AVD, 1 AS, 7 AP, 58 AK, 1 AO, 3 TK

Japan:

1 CVL (Zuiho), 1 BB (Ise), 14 DD, 2 APD, 19 SS, 14 MSW, 4 PG, 9 PC, 79 AP, 47 AK, 9 TK


The industry is going very well. All the reserves of raw material are really good.

The next month will be very important for me. I absolutely need to complete the occupation of the DEI. This will be my main objective.

[George Patton]

Report of June 1st , 1942

SW Pac

Finally, and the first time for the war, my carriers find enemy carriers.
In the morning 36 Val, 41 Kate and 12 Zero attacked CV Enterprise, NW of Koumac. The enemy CAP was composed by 54 F4F, so I suppose that enemy carriers in the area are two.
During the attack I lost 15 Val, 14 Kate and 6 Zero, while only 4 F4F have been shot down. Due to the distance of the engagement, also Kate were equipped with bombs. My pilots managed to hit CV Enterprise with 13 bombs. The situation seems critical but she could be go back safe to port, because she’s really near to Noumea. CA Chester received also 3 bombs, and CA Indianapolis 1.
CA Chester received another bomb ten minutes later, when 10 Val, on late, attacked her. Six of the Val have been shot down.
The second wave of attacker find the Hornet, that received 6 bombs, one of them exploded causing a fuel storage explosion. The carrier should be also in bad conditions. I lost 6 Val, 5 Kate and 1 Zero during this attack, while only 3 F4F falled into the sea.
Also CA Chicago received one bomb.
In the afternoon my planes returned on the Enterprise. 10 Val and 28 Kate attacked. No CAP were present and the enemy carrier received another 13 bombs.
No enemy attack on my carriers. I suppose I have been very lucky to engage the US carriers at the max distance allowed to my planes and too distant for the enemy.
Now, for tomorrow, I think I should stay in the area. Both the carriers are out of action. Maybe Hornet could be ready for combat again tomorrow but she will be no match for my 4 carriers.
I need only to keep out of enemy LBA based in New Caledonia. 8 hex for B-25 and 6 or 7 hex for B-26.
I suppose that Chuck is forced to send his carriers towards Noumea if he wants to save them. So I will keep the KB exactly where she is. If I see enemy carriers moving south out of range, I will move my carriers tomorrow. Anyway the speed of Enterprise should be very low so she will not escape.

[George Patton]

Report of June 2nd , 1942

SW Pac

Big air battle over Lae. I lost 7 Zero and 1 Nell destroyed on the ground, will attacking formation lost 18 Wirraways plus 2 fighters. I need to pull out all the available planes from Lae now because the enemy bombers are too dangerous.

No enemy CV intercepted today. Chuck retired them out of the range of my planes. I cannot close because of the presence of LBA. I suppose Chuck now concentrate a lot of them in Koumac and Noumea. KB is now heading towards Truk. I hope to read a sinking in the next days.

DEI

Also over Palembang I assisted to an air battle, during which I lost 3 Zero, while Chuck lost 7 fighters and the B-25s scored no hits.

[George Patton]

Report of June 3rd – 6th , 1942[/b]  [/b] Nothing much happened during those four days. I’m a bit disappointed that after 26 bombs Enterprise didn’t sunk. By now both US carriers should be safe at Noumea.   After Palembang I started to land in Bankha. I hope to capture the base quick. The troops in Palembang are preparing for Batavia.

[George Patton]

Report of June 12th – 15th , 1942

SW Pac

Chuck bombed Rabaul on the 12th with 31 B-17. 35 Zero were on CAP and they shot down 4 Fortress, while I lost 4 fighters. In addition two bombers have been destroyed on the ground.

DEI

On the 15th I occupied Medan, abbandoned by enemy troops. The next step will be Sabang, to close the retreat path to the enemy troops garrisoned in Kuala.

[George Patton]

Report of June 16th - 19th , 1942

DEI

On the 18th my troops have occupied Djambi and Kuala, on Sumatra I.
On the 19th 5 of my DD attacked enemy ships in Sabang, sinking 2 KA and damaging 1 AK, 1 MSW and 1 PG. The damaged AK sunk in the afternoon. I suppose that the AK were loading the troops escaped from Kuala.
Meanwhile I started to unload troops directly in Sabang.
Tomorrow I’ll start the bombing of Batavia afld. My troops are starting to load onto ships to invade Java. All the troops previously destined to Port Moresby are now diverted to Java and will land in Batavia.

SW Pac

Finally Lunga afld reached 4 size. Now I can base there Betty and Nell.

[George Patton]

Report of June 20th ,1942

DEI

The first air attack against Batavia afld, made by 138 bombers escorted by 65 fighters gave medium results. 16 enemy fighters were on CAP, 9 of them have been shot down. 5 bombers and 4 fighters are my losses. 31 hits have been spotted on the afld. I hoped more.

In Kendari the fighting started again. The fort has been reduced to 0, thanks to the reinforcements that arrived in the last days. I hope to see this base falling in the next few days.

SW Pac

Betty based in Lunga, started well their duty. Today they attacked AV Langley and MSW Tanager, anchored in Ndeni (Santa Cruz), sinking each with 2 torpedoes.

[George Patton]

Report of June 21st ,1942[/b]  [/b] DEI   A allied SAG intercepted the TF heading for Bali and destroyed it. 2 DD and 1 AP have been sunk. The 15. Nav Gd unit was onboard. Two more AP, very badly damaged, will try to reach Bali tonight. Menawhile I transferred some Betty and Nell in Balikpapan. I hope that they will be useful against enemy ships.   Chuck reinforced the CAP over Batavia. Today I lost 3 Zero and 11 Oscar, plus 2 bombers, while Chuck lost 14 fighters. The afld has been hit hard. A 34% damage is reported.  

[George Patton]

Report of June 22nd ,1942[/b]  [/b] DEI   The last two damaged AP, trying to ground on Bali, have been sunk during the night by the same british TF. The enemy ships fleed and my bombers based in Balikpapan didn’t take-off.   Third day of air battle over Batavia. I lost 2 bombers and 2 fighters, while Chuck lost 10 fighters. Enemy airbase is at 44 % damage.   39 B-17 attacked Amboina afld today. 29 Oscar damaged 21 of them, while 9 fighters resulted also damaged. Small damages to the airbase.   4 Brewester 339D have been destroyed in Kendari by my dive bombers.  

[George Patton]

Report of June 23rd – 25th ,1942[/b]  [/b] DEI   Chuck tried to smash Palembang airfield on the 23rd. He sent 32 medium bombers and 30 fighters against my base. 25 of my fighters were on CAP and they shot down 1 bomber and 13 fighters, while loosing 3.   Sabang is at fort 0. The base should fall on the 26th, so that I can then concentrate my forces to Java.  

[George Patton]

Report of June 26th ,1942[/b]   DEI   After some days of rain, my bombers attacked Batavia again. The afld is badly damaged   Sabang has been occupied and, finally, the Malacca strait is completely under my control.   I moved all the convoys destined to Java near Saigon, but they still remain at sea. Chuck had spotted my ships days ago, north of Borneo, so I suppose he’s waiting for them on Java. Now I’m assembling three fake convoys in Saigon. The ships will be empty and I’ll send them in Indian Ocean, towards Ceylon. I hope Chuck will spot them and believe that I want to unload in Ceylon.