Speedy vs Fabertong: Death to the Penguin!

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi Capt. - LOL. Just fighting fire with fire[;)]

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Clear weather allowed both Iwo Jima and Etorofo Jima to be attacked throughout the day.

At Etorofo Jima CV Unryu took a reported 11 bomb hits and CA Chikuma 2 bomb hits. Neither was confirmed sunk though. So we'll stay on station until we know for sure.

At Iwo Jima the airfields and supply depots were pounded by B29's from Saipan. CV TBM's hit positions of 8th Heavy Artillery Bde and 43rd Division.

Fiji Bde is boarding at Nanomea Atoll. Once that reaches Apamama we go for Tarawa.

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Brunei was hit again and this time AO Tenshin Maru was hit by 3 bombs but was also not confirmed sunk. A small George Kamikazi strike hit CV Hancock again but caused little further damage - 21/1/1.

Both CV and CVE TF's are low on fuel and ammo and are returning to Kuching to replenish. Japanese troops at Kuching still hold out. Tough little buggers sapping my strength slowly.

A P47D FG swept Miri since I suspected Faber was using transport planes there. He was but none were shot down surprisingly.

A nice little air battle over Palembang as a lone Freighter was attacked from Singkawang:

Day Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 20,55

Japanese aircraft
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 39
Ki-84-Ia Frank x 26
Ki-102a Randy x 26

Allied aircraft
SB2C Helldiver x 13
Mosquito FB.VI x 14
P-38J Lightning x 41

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 17 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-84-Ia Frank: 9 destroyed, 4 damaged
Ki-102a Randy: 8 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SB2C Helldiver: 1 destroyed
Mosquito FB.VI: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
P-38J Lightning: 10 destroyed, 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
AK Hoko Maru

I hope stays there since tomorrow 100 x P51D (their first operational mission) and 72 x P38J will sweep the skies............

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Well at last CV Unryu keeled over at Etorofo Jima today after receiving a further 5 bomb hits. That's 3 of the Unryu class gone in this little saga then.

On the flip side a massive banzai of Kamikazi's flew today. Firstly from Etorofo Jima a Zeke hitting CV Hornet (18/0/8) and a Zeke hitting CVL Belleau Wood (6/0/1). 64 enemy planes were lost in this action.

Around Iwo Jima both Iwo and Bonin were hit hard by CV air and B29's. The Japanese retaliated with a 83 x Zeke Kamikazi raid on CV Saratoga TF west of Iwo Jima. 19 x George fighter were shot down by the escort whilst the Zeke's plunged towards my ships. CV Saratoga was hit (5/0/1), CVL Princeton (8/0/0) and CVL Monterey (26/0/0) with a Kamikazi. 102 enemy planes were lost in this action.

All transport TF's will be at Saipan tomorrow.

5 x BB divisions are en route to Iwo Jima for preparatory shelling.

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In SRA CV and CVE TF are back at Kuching where the Japanese continue to resist fierecly despite being pushed back into a tighter and tighter pocket:

Ground combat at Kuching

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 58899 troops, 415 guns, 402 vehicles, Assault Value = 1220

Defending force 10023 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 81

Allied max assault: 1158 - adjusted assault: 972

Japanese max defense: 45 - adjusted defense: 7

Allied assault odds: 138 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
482 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
199 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Vehicles lost 3

The sweep over Palembang was a success:

Day Air attack on Palembang , at 20,55

Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 11
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 20
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 42
Ki-84-Ia Frank x 15
Ki-102a Randy x 16

Allied aircraft
P-38J Lightning x 63
P-51D Mustang x 90

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 10 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 20 destroyed
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 27 destroyed
Ki-84-Ia Frank: 15 destroyed
Ki-102a Randy: 12 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38J Lightning: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
P-51D Mustang: 5 destroyed, 1 damaged

AK Tyoko Maru was sank by 7 bombs from LBA at Pontianak.

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All in all a good day with over 300 enemy planes lost to my 45, CV Unryu sunk and CV's moving back from Etorofo Jima to Iwo Jima.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Screw that. The 2 x BB Divisions which sailed near to Iwo Jima led to:

TF 1053 encounters mine field at Iwo Jima (63,53)

Allied Ships
DD Murray, Mine hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Hunt, Mine hits 1, on fire
DD Miller, Mine hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CL Helena, Mine hits 2, on fire
DD Morrison, Mine hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Mullany, Mine hits 1
DD Irwin, Mine hits 1, on fire
DD Hutchins, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Ingersoll, Mine hits 1, on fire

Pffft. I do find it weird that when a BB TF assigned with escorts not to bombard should have so many DD's hitting mines............

Anyhow it means all further bombardments of Iwo Jima are off until the actual invasion = about 2 weeks.

DD Morrison sank and 2-3 more DD's will also sink.

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Little else to report other than the usual attacks by me in Burma and in SRA.

Japanese units at Kuching were squeezed into a tighter pocket today:

Ground combat at Kuching

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 58933 troops, 419 guns, 403 vehicles, Assault Value = 1206

Defending force 9306 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 60

Allied max assault: 1144 - adjusted assault: 1123

Japanese max defense: 32 - adjusted defense: 7

Allied assault odds: 160 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
461 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
35 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Vehicles lost 2

Within 7 days I receive the last LCU in Karachi and then we go for Victoria Point straight away.

CV/CVE TF will leave Kuching tomorrow to attack Brunei's port again.

CV Bon Homme Richard will arrive in San Francisco tomorrow.

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Hi all,

Screw that. The 2 x BB Divisions which sailed near to Iwo Jima led to:

TF 1053 encounters mine field at Iwo Jima (63,53)

Allied Ships
DD Murray, Mine hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Hunt, Mine hits 1, on fire
DD Miller, Mine hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CL Helena, Mine hits 2, on fire
DD Morrison, Mine hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Mullany, Mine hits 1
DD Irwin, Mine hits 1, on fire
DD Hutchins, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Ingersoll, Mine hits 1, on fire

must be some kind of loopsided action when the game goes crazy I think. I´ve only seen this in UV. The funny thing is that I´ve seen somthing similar in my recently started BigB campaign when a surface TF had 3 DDs hitting a mine when entering Soerabaja hex and also a CA of the following bombardment TF.

I thought I would never see that again in WITP, now you post this result. The badest die roll you probably had since you´ve started your game me thinks. I had TF enter or bombard ports with 10.000+ mines never ever hitting anything, only invasions were a little bit more dangerous, so those results are very rarely happening.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi castor - may well be but I can't afford to risk more results like that. I'll wait for the invasion I think.

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A fairly quiet day today with bad weather preventing several air raids across theatre.

The good news is that Kuching was cleared of the enemy today. A final Banzai charge by the Japanese:

Ground combat at Kuching

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 59084 troops, 421 guns, 403 vehicles, Assault Value = 1215

Defending force 3293 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 30

Allied max assault: 1156 - adjusted assault: 1133

Japanese max defense: 17 - adjusted defense: 3

Allied assault odds: 377 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
6096 casualties reported
Guns lost 28

Allied ground losses:
38 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

My men are quite battered though with most about 65/70% operational. They will rest there for now and additional troops will try to be found in Australia for Miri.

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4 x CV divisions are around Iwo Jima/Bonin Island now. They will continue to bomb both places before returning to Saipan to refuel.

At Saipan all transports have been refuelled and they will now embark the final LCU's from Saipan for Iwo Jima.

[BrucePowers]

Faber's not going down without a fight...

[DuckofTindalos]

Nope. Those penguins are vicious when cornered.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi guys - Faber has fought well. We are both in agreement though that the Air model has dramatically affected our game. The one thing Faber does have plenty of that can perform ok are LCU's.........

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After a 'calm before the storm' few days things are beginning to move again now.

In CentPac I have ordered the commencement of Operation Cockateil the invasion of Tarawa. The ships will be unloading tomorrow all being well. It will be an interesting test to see the effects daily air bombardment and a total lack of supply can have can Atoll fighting capacity.

2 x DD sank due to mine damage on the way back to Saipan.

2 x 10 SS fleets formed at Saipan today for minelaying duties around Japan.

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An Operation will soon be underway in SRA too. Operation Kiwi will involve:

13th Australian Bde
2nd Australian Cav. Division
ARM Bn
1st USMC Raider Bn
2nd USMC Raider BN
Southwest Pacific HQ

Not a massive force I know but one that is ready to go and is well rested. They will embark at Darwin tomorrow for movement to Jesselton on the NE tip of Borneo.

I have made a snap decision to go for here quickly rather than wait for the Kuching units to recover and go to Miri and THEN Jesselton.

My reasoning is that intel only locates 2 uinits at Jesselton.

CV's are still patrolling outside Brunei (2 ships hit in port today) and an FM2 Squadron will patrol over Jesselton tomorrow to see if any transports are flying in.

[Alfred]

Speedy,
 
How much AV is contained in your Jesselton invasion force?  I think you need to add some BF/eng/air support squads because Jesselton is a potentially dominating airfield location.
 
Assuming that the invasion force is strong enough to quickly capture Jesselton (in the short term, it doesn't matter too much if Jap forces remain there as long as you own the base) and you can fly in air units, then you do open strategic possibilities as previously mentioned in Indochina, Hainan, Formosa and Palawan/Panay/Negros.  This should stretch the penguin's resources and perhaps encourage him to move LCU away from Malaya/Victoria Point to cover the new threatened areas.
 
With an early capture of Jesselton, you might want to consider whether a small delay in launching the Victoria Point operation to see if intel indicates that penguin forces are moved away from that area to meet the new threats.  To encourage this thinking, you might consider launching carrier raids on Hainan/Formosa/the Philippines but not Indochina.
 
Alfred
 

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi Alfred - good to hear from you again. You have been most insightful. There is about 400AV in the assault force. Apologies I hadn't listed the support elements going along. There are 2 x BF, an Aviation Rgt and 2 x SeeBee units embarked for Jessselton also.

You're dead right on the strategic potential of Jesselton. It's why I decided to go for there straight away rather than Miri first.

It's certainly food for thought. The Victoria Point invasion is about 3-4 weeks off at present

---------------------

Well today was interesting as the 'test' at Tarawa played out.

A lingering mine lightly damaged AK Diamond Head.

The landings caused about 15% disruption on my troops but after the end of the day 1100 enemy troops from NLF, SNLF, IJA Rgt and BF units were all that were left after a year of starvation and constant bombardment.

Next contested invasion will be Maloelap. Smaller forces will take unoccupied Nauru and Wotje for example.

----------------------

In SRA AO Tenshin Maru was confirmed sunk at Brunei Port today. Interestingly CVE FM2's spotted Tina's flying transport into Jesselton. Tomorrow every CVE FM2 squadron will fly CAP there.

----------------------

Massive bombings in Burma.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Points:

Japanese: + 875 points
Allied: + 4730 points

Bases:

Japanese: - 2 bases (-156 points)
Allied: + 2 bases (+298 points)

Planes:

Allies lost: 730
Japanese lost: 2021

Troops:

Allies lost: 110 points
Japanese lost: 417 points

Ships:

Allies lost: 23 ships - 191 points.

Japanese lost: 84 ships - 1669 points. A decent amount here. 780 - of these points are made up of 3 x Amagi class CV sank at Etorofo Jima.

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Thoughts:

The biggest scoring month so far for the Allies. I hope it's a sign of things to come. Clear vicotires in the air, on the ground and at sea.

Next month will see the invasion of Iwo Jima, Jesselton and action in Burma again. I expect to see more Allied shipping losses next month but hopefully more Japanese air and land losses.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Bad weather prevented many air strikes in Burma and at Iwo Jima.

Batavia was bombed for the first time by Havoc's from Pontianak escorted by P38J's. They encountered 11 x Tojo. 5 were shot down for the loss of a P38J.

9 x A6M2 tried to attack an AK convoy at Singkawang. Almost 80 x P38J and 51D were flying CAP = 6 were shot down before the rest turned home.

40 x George Kamikazi mauled my CVE TF 120 miles NE of Brunei:

CVE Shipley Bay, Kamikaze hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CVE Steamer Bay, Kamikaze hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CVE Windham Bay, Kamikaze hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

1 of the 3 may survive. All are heading back to Kuching. It p*sses me off them flying at Stratosphere level but compared to uber CAP etc it's acceptable in stock games IMO.

Jesselton invasion fleet will leave Darwin tomorrow.

Koepang's B29's smashed 19 x Topsy's at Samrinda airfields.

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Alls ships and men are ready for Iwo Jima at Saipan but I want to wait another week for more bombing (weather has been awful over here of late).

4 x DD are fast transporting Fiji Bde elements to Nauru from Tarawa.

[Alfred]

Speedy,
 
Whenever I pop around to an internet cafe, I always read your AAR.  I only post if I think I have something constructive to say and it does not interfere with your conduct of the game.
 
I note that you have just commenced a new AAR where your soul has been bought by the dark side.  Seems to me that your opponent has so far been outplayed strategically there.  If an opportunity arises (doubtful in view of the score and map) I might have to offer my 2 cents worth of advice to the Allies.
 
Alfred

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi Alfred - I appreciate your posts. They are well thought out and objective. Post as much as you like....although don't lower my hit per post ratio[;)]

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Bad weather caused most air raids to be cancelled today.

The actions to note were that 254th Ind. Tk Bde shock attacked the rearguard elements of ART, ENG Bn's NE of Rahaeng. They routed the enemy and followed him into Rahaeng without shock attacking! I'm taking a risk and deliberate attacking here tomorrow. Even if temporarily at least I have cut the supply line to the major Japanese forces west of Rahaeng.

A lone freighter was battered with 8 bombs near Batavia by Pontianak LBA.

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In Cent Pac few air missions against Iwo Jima. It's amazing how many times weather has prevented me from bombing here. I may just sod it and invade soon anyway.

Nauru Island was taken today. No enemy troops were present.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

A weird day since we wre majorly out of sync! Maybe since I upgraded to the latest patch before Faber did.

I saw a fairly successful attack at Raheang by my Tk Bde knowing off a fort level. I also saw SS I-180 sink 2 of my damaged CVE's near Kuching!

In reality this is what happened.....................

My attack at Rahaeng failed completely:

Ground combat at Rahaeng

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8824 troops, 33 guns, 474 vehicles, Assault Value = 244

Defending force 19584 troops, 58 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 270

Allied max assault: 222 - adjusted assault: 9

Japanese max defense: 263 - adjusted defense: 635

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 9)



Allied ground losses:
594 casualties reported
Guns lost 17
Vehicles lost 20

The good news is most of my casualties were disablements and will recover in time.

I see Faber with a little problem in Burma now. His troops to the west of Rahaeng will be getting few supplies nowadays. I also wonder what with the movement routines if it will allow him to retreat from his position NE of Moulmein to Rahaeng since I have a unit there? It may say "units may not move from one enemy controlled location to another". Not sure. We'll see.

With the arrival of 19th Indian Division at Karachi i've started to embark troops there for the invasion of Victoria Point.

Rangoon's B29's hit Camranh Bay:

Day Air attack on Camranh Bay , at 34,46

Japanese aircraft
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 4
Ki-84-Ia Frank x 36
Ki-102a Randy x 19

Allied aircraft
F-5C Lightning x 6
B-29 Superfortress x 158

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 2 destroyed
Ki-84-Ia Frank: 7 destroyed, 22 damaged
Ki-102a Randy: 4 destroyed, 12 damaged
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed
Ki-46-III Dinah: 1 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-29 Superfortress: 5 destroyed, 40 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
181 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 38
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 165

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In SRA Koepangs B29's hit Tarakan with P51D escort from Singkawang:

Day Air attack on Tarakan , at 33,61

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 19
Ki-84-Ia Frank x 32

Allied aircraft
Mosquito PR.IX x 5
P-51D Mustang x 34
B-29 Superfortress x 94

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M Jack: 12 destroyed
Ki-84-Ia Frank: 8 destroyed, 13 damaged
MC-21 Sally: 2 destroyed
Ki-57-II Topsy: 3 destroyed
Ki-59 Theresa: 3 destroyed
L2D2 Tabby: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-51D Mustang: 3 destroyed
B-29 Superfortress: 10 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
43 casualties reported

Airbase hits 20
Airbase supply hits 19
Runway hits 89

8 x Zeke Kamikazied into the already damaged CVE Shipley Bay. 3 hit sending the wreck to the ocean floor 60 mileseast of Kuching.

SS I-180 sank the other heavily damaged CVE Steamer Bay with 2 torpedoes. All in all a nice little retribution for Faber. The 3rd damaged CVE reached Kuching safely and will in due course move to Australia with a batch of damaged ships currently at Pontianak.

AK Wales Maru was again smacked heavily near Batavia. This time with 12 bombs. She must sink.

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A couple of air raids hit Iwo Jima. I think I will begin embarking at Saipan for here within a week or 2.

SS S-23 sank MSW W.2 with a torpedo 240 miles east of Aomori. In return she was sunk with 12 x DC.

Alll in all what with CVE plane losses it was 54 of mine vs 79 Japanese for the day.

[Alfred]

Speedy,
 
Welcome news regarding local success at Rahaeng.  Can you reinforce your blocking position there by air dropping paras?
 
If you can maintain your blocking position at Rahaeng, then as previously discussed the Victoria Point invasion and complementary move from Moulmein would become my ASAP plan for SEAC forces.  Land at Victoria Point and then blitz to Bangkok gives the Allies a wonderful opportunity to bag the penguin's entire out of supply Burma forces west of Rahaeng and at Tavoy.  Couple this with Jesselton leaves a vacant/flimsy backdoor to link up with Chiang Kai-shek.  Imagine the potential of Chinese forces eventually being fully supplied via the port of Pakhoi.
 
Alfred

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi Alfred - Afraid I have no para's available in Burma to use. It's more of a roadblock that I hope will hold.

I agree though if I can keep the road blocked and land at Victoria Point (taking it) then I can bag a load of troops and the deck of cards will fall.

I can only imagine supply must be falling with his troops to the NE of Moulmein.

I've been reconing Victoria Point sand it contains 7 units, 30,000 men and 300 guns.

My India section of forces is moving past Bombay. We will gather at Rangoon before hopping down the coast.

Tavoy contains a lot more men - 120,000 men to be exact.

If I see the AV dropping in his main force NE of Moulmein then I will go for it and smash the b*stards.

---------------------------

A 2 day update since just building up for the main events in Burma, Jesselton and Iwo Jima.

The Jesselton invasion force is nearing Banjarmasin. I am also thinking of using 503rd Paras at Kuching in conunction with the invasion to add a little extra umph.

Interestingly the Japanese sent in battered elements of 81st Division towards Kuching from the western jungle. I ordered all ARM units to attack this rabble and they have been stopped cold in their advance. The infantry are staying in base to rest and recover.

My CV's are staying near Jesselton to keep the enemy away.

I will also base 144-206 x P51D at Kuching to provide CAP for the invasion of Jesselton.

Usual bombing by Rangoon/Koepang B29's against constantly moving active enemy airfields in SRA in Malaya, Sumatra, Java and Borneo.

------------------------

CV's still stationed around Iwo Jima and bombing 8th Heavy ART Bde mainly. I'm losing a few planes here every day due to heavy AA though.

Probably another 1-2 weeks before the invasion goes in.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

A fairly quiet day as my forces move nearer to destiny.

The usual bombing by me in Burma and SRA.

Interestingly Faber attacked 254th Ind. Tk Bde blocking the road at Rahaeng with 20 x Helen from Hanoi. I had 22 x spit/P47D on CAP which shot down 2 x Helen before they bombed my men.

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At Kuching over 800 enemy soldiers were captured/kill for the loss of a tank and 25 men. My men are rested and well supplied again pointless enemy probes towards Kuching with weary men. Lambs to the slaughter..........

AK Tien Lee was pounded by 6 bombs near Singkep Island by Singkawang LBA.

-----------------------

The mopping up continues in the Marshalls as un-occupied Jaluit is taken by Fiji Bde men aboard DD's.

SS Sea Owl was lightly damaged (7/0/0) by 3 x DC near miss 120 miles SE of Shanghai.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

An interesting development occured in Burma today. Enemy troop strength NE of Moulmein has dropped from 7035 to 6984. You may think so what but normally it has dropped by about 5-10 a day.

Scouts on the SW of Rahaeng have detected an enemy unit approaching the blocking positions of 254th Ind. Tk Bde, composition unknown. Enemy Sallys tried to bomb my tankers today but 6 were lost to patrolling Spits/P47Ds.

Here's the plan. We see what AV the main enemy force has tomorrow and we see what happens around Rahaeng.

It may be time to attack the main enemy force is he is out of supply.

--------------------

2 lone enemy ships were smashed today by LBA from Pontianak and Singkawang. AK Tien Lee (hit heavily yesterday) 4 bombs, near Muntok and AP Hokuriku Maru with 7 bombs east of Java.

968 more enemy men capitulated en masse at Kuching for the damage to 2 tanks and the loss of 14 men.

My CV's are retiring from Jesselton to Kuching after finding no enemy ships in the area. P51D's at Kuching will continue to fly CAP over Jesselton to prevent air reinforcement (only 2 units exists here and 9500 men).

My invasion fleets are passing Banja and were spotted by enemy recon today. To cover them 2 x P38J and 2 x P51D FG are flying CAP tomorrow.

--------------------

Iwo Jima bombed again by CV's.

[Alfred]

Speedy,
 
I assume that the purpose of attacking the "main enemy force" is to force it to surrender before your blocking force is ejected from Rahaeng. If a surrender will result from a successful attack, then the plan is good.
 
But if no surrender will automatically follow a successful attack, a possibility based on your previous attack results and scepticism that sufficient time has elapsed for the loss of supply lines to dramatically affect the penguin's combat effectiveness, then perhaps you may have to reassess whether this is the best plan.  In this case it might be better to concentrate on assisting the blocking force at Rahaeng.  Assuming that you can not reinforce Rahaeng in time, then I would shift the focus of your air ground attacks away from the "main enemy force" and instead hit the 1 unit approaching the 254th Ind. Tk Bde.  This would at least identify the unit and hopefully weaken it, thereby assisting the 254th.
 
Frankly, I am surprised that the penguin is sending only 1 unit to eject your tankers, but this would be consistent with him lacking a strategic reserve, a position I have long suspected and commented on.  Because this unit is approaching from the SW, then the penguin is probably weakening his Bangkok area defences.  If so then it is good for you to suck troops up to Rahaeng (provided you can maintain the blocking position there) to make the Victoria Point landing and subsequent blitz to Bangkok easier.  It is this latter thrust which is the real stiletto to the heart.
 
Of course if you can effect a surrender now, then go for it.
 
Alfred