JANUARY 2nd, 1942
SOUTH PACIFIC:
Bombur's air forces on Rabaul hit the IJN invasion fleet as they close in:
Day Air attack on TF, near Emirau Island at 61,86
Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 2
Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Kinugasa
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Wirraway bombing at 2000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF, near Emirau Island at 61,86
Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 10
Hudson I x 3
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
AP Daihachikyo Maru
AP Koshu Maru #2
CL Kashima
PG Heijo Maru
Day Air attack on TF, near Emirau Island at 61,86
Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 2
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
PG Hirotama Maru
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Hudson I bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF, near Emirau Island at 61,86
Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 9
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
AP Yoshino Maru
AP Awata Maru
KB will catch up with the transports tomorrow and the troops should go ashore at Rabaul in 2 days.
PI:
IJA troops invest Manila today, blocking any possible retreat here by the Allied troops at Clark. An all-out shock attack will be ordered tomorrow at Clark.
CHINA:
After repeated heavy aerial bombardments, an assault is lauched on the final ChiCom pocket north and east of the Yellow River:
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Ground combat at 53,33
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 9438 troops, 22 guns, 79 vehicles, Assault Value = 242
Defending force 1189 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 49
Japanese max assault: 486 - adjusted assault: 298
Allied max defense: 29 - adjusted defense: 1
Japanese assault odds: 298 to 1
Japanese ground losses:
123 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Allied ground losses:
1309 casualties reported
Guns lost 7
Curiously, only one of the 2 ChiCom guerilla Corps surrendered. Another attack against the remaining corps is ordered for tomorrow.
DEI:
Bandjermaisin in captured today and recon, patrol and tactical bombers are immediately staged in.
An all out shock attack will be ordered tomorrow at Manado.
Mini KB, a surface TF and multiple amphibious TFs make their way to assembly points at Makassar and Kendari for the invasions of Timor and Bali.
With most of Bombur's Asiatic fleet immobilized in port at Soerabaja with heavy damage accumulated from a few days ago, the weather finally clears a bit and another massive Betty/Nell strike is launched:
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Day Air attack on Soerabaja , at 23,66
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
G3M Nell x 94
G4M1 Betty x 26
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 destroyed, 18 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 3 damaged
Allied Ships
CL Sumatra, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Whipple, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL De Ruyter, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Tasman, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Tromp, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
CL Marblehead, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Boise, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Tjisaroea, Bomb hits 1, on fire
TK Marpessa, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD Witte de With, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Evertsen, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
TK Anastasia, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
Allied ground losses:
351 casualties reported
Guns lost 6
Port hits 5
Port supply hits 1
Day Air attack on Soerabaja , at 23,66
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 23
G3M Nell x 96
G4M1 Betty x 70
H6K4 Mavis x 2
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed, 24 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 9 damaged
H6K4 Mavis: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
CL Marblehead, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CL Sumatra, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Boise, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL De Ruyter, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Op Ten Noort, Torpedo hits 1
DD Whipple, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Stewart, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Kortenaer, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL Tromp, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
SS KVII, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PT TM-12, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AVD Mercel, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Tasman, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Tjisaroea, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Parrott, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Van der Bosch, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PT TM-4, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Maetsuycker, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Kanimbla, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AK Van Heutsz, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Evertsen, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Alden, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
Allied ground losses:
141 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
Port hits 5
Port fuel hits 2
The Dutch and the USN Asiatic fleets are now pretty much neutralized as CL Sumatra, CL DeRuyter, CL Tromp, and CL Marblehead are sunk. Only CL Boise remains as a floating hulk.
BB PoW and BC Repulse had escaped to the north up the Malacca Strait on Dec. 8th...these 2 capital ships plus a handfull of RN CLs and DDs are the only remaining Allied naval assets to oppose the IJN in the Far East at the moment.
30 Japanese AC are lost today vs 10 Allied. 13 Nells/Bettys are lost over Soerabaja and another 40-50 were damaged. Either I got some bad AA die rolls or Bombur has moved some flak into Soerabaja. If I find that Bombur has reinforced the DEI or Malaya with forces from India it will probably tip my hand towards attacking India vs Australia.
