Speedy vs Fabertong - time to smack back the Penguin

[Speedysteve]

Cool. Has much happened since our departure?

[BrucePowers]

Bob has been blowing my resource centers in China back into the ice age with B-17s[:D]

He tried to nail some shipping in Hong Kong with B-17s but my fighters damaged about half the attacking force. I think he will start serious offensive ops here shortly.

He brought more LCUs to Noumea. He thought it would be enough but it wasn't[:D]

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: BrucePowers

Bob has been blowing my resource centers in China back into the ice age with B-17s[:D]

He tried to nail some shipping in Hong Kong with B-17s but my fighters damaged about half the attacking force. I think he will start serious offensive ops here shortly.

He brought more LCUs to Noumea. He thought it would be enough but it wasn't[:D]

Bah! i could do it with what i had, but why make it painful and long when i can make it short and painless (for my guys)... for your guys, the pain should be intense... it probably won't last long, though... [:'(] [;)]

[crsutton]

Your sitmap in Oz looks similar to mine. He invaded OZ in early May, captured the whole north coast and commited a large force about six divisions or more plus support to OZ. Tennant creek is a natural place to hold because of the dirt road supply line he will have and it is out of normal tojo range (a big factor if he builds lots of them). You will need lots of AA units as Japan can hold air superiorty in any theater through much of 1942. As for Normanton, I advise that you do not build it up but send all the support and engineers that you can to Conclurry instead. Normanton is a juicy target for a flanking operation and if he comes in and takes it and you kindly provide him with a built up air base then you will have a problem. Build up Concurry and you will hold local air superiority over Normanton if he comes ashore there. This is a big asset.
 
And, I think I said this before but move all mobile tank and motorized units that you can spare to OZ. I sent everything I could lay my hands on and it was a big factor in halting a move into the interior of OZ. You can bring units from India, US tank units and marine units as well. It gives you an incredible mobile striking force that can run around any Japanese units that moves off of the rail line or major roads.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

Bah! i could do it with what i had, but why make it painful and long when i can make it short and painless (for my guys)... for your guys, the pain should be intense... it probably won't last long, though... [:'(] [;)]

Provided you have enough advantage so that squads destroyed are rare, making it take longer gives your guys more experience... [;)]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi crsutton - interesting. Thanks for your views. Food for thought. Thing i'm not sure on is how much force Faber has brough to Australia. SigInt has tracked a lot of stuff going to Dili. I've naturally assumed this was heading to Aus but then I thought why on earth would they go to Dili when they could go directly to Darwin to unload?!?

ARM - aye. You mentioned this before and I agree. It's a great country to use Armour. I'm more than happy that Faber has invaded Australia since all those nice restircted Divisions and Armour Rgt's can be put to use [:)]

All of the forces I detailed on the above map are almost in place now. Tenant is just about to be threatened by the Japanese. I'm evac'ing the base force there. Unfortunately my forces for the region are just reaching Alice Springs. I will soon start to advance back up northern Aus if Faber doesn't start to move further south. Just waiting for 1 more USA Division to arrive - it's about 10 days out.

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

CBI -

Been fairly quiet in China the past few days as our forces maneuvre before the next round. Faber's 'stack' near Nanchang has now moved NE inbetween Loyang and Chengchow. Keeping an eye on this.

A raid on Katha on 20th was very successful. The escorting Hurrricanes performed well and shot down a reported 9 x Oscar and a Zero for the loss of 1 x friendly.

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

Submarine warfare -

Tougher times in SRA as the loss of Medan also meant the loss of my final fuel depot for subs. They now have to transit to Columbo. As such there's a glut of subs in SRA at the mo as the short-legged one's are having to leabve the SRA for good until a nearer base can be established.

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

Other stuff -

The Aleutians are about to be reinforced strongly and Attu built up into a Fortress and forward sub base (moved from Dutch Harbour).

Also, with Aus (appearing) secure and So Pac strongly defended it's time to start creating an offensive force in CentPac for the future....of course...

[BrucePowers]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

ORIGINAL: BrucePowers

Bob has been blowing my resource centers in China back into the ice age with B-17s[:D]

He tried to nail some shipping in Hong Kong with B-17s but my fighters damaged about half the attacking force. I think he will start serious offensive ops here shortly.

He brought more LCUs to Noumea. He thought it would be enough but it wasn't[:D]

Bah! i could do it with what i had, but why make it painful and long when i can make it short and painless (for my guys)... for your guys, the pain should be intense... it probably won't last long, though... [:'(] [;)]

Yeah Sure. By the way were those things you shot off from BB's last turn shells or noise makers[:D]

[BrucePowers]

Sorry to interrupt Speedy.[:)]

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: BrucePowers

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

ORIGINAL: BrucePowers

Bob has been blowing my resource centers in China back into the ice age with B-17s[:D]

He tried to nail some shipping in Hong Kong with B-17s but my fighters damaged about half the attacking force. I think he will start serious offensive ops here shortly.

He brought more LCUs to Noumea. He thought it would be enough but it wasn't[:D]

Bah! i could do it with what i had, but why make it painful and long when i can make it short and painless (for my guys)... for your guys, the pain should be intense... it probably won't last long, though... [:'(] [;)]

Yeah Sure. By the way were those things you shot off from BB's last turn shells or noise makers[:D]

Why don't you ask the 300 or so guys that had close encounters with them... oh, wait, you can't. [:'(]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

CBI -

A sweep over Myitkyina on 22nd produced a furball of battles resulting in fairly even losses - 17 Allied vs 19 Japanese (Oscar/Zero). More than happy to trade even at the moment......

Out of the blue on the 24th a Japanese CV force appeared west of Columbo! The morning sun brought with it a raid of 18 x Zero escorting 25 x Val and 25 x Kate. 16 x Hurricane were on CAP and performed well - 1 x Zero, 2 x Kate and 3 x Val downed for the loss of 6 x Hurri. The enemy screamed for the port and the industrial areas. AA was heavy and intense - 4 x AA Rgt's in place - shooting down 14 of the attackers! Largely due to that damage to industry was nil and the attack on the port focussed on the repairing CV Indomitable which took 4 bomb hits - none of which penetrating.

During the PM an ASW TF returning to Columbo was spotted and obliterated - DD Tjerk Hiddes, DE Sutlej, KV Hollhock and KV Aster. RIP.

If the Japs stay around tomorrow they'll find a range of Mediums, Beauforts and Hurri's on station......

In China......The Japanese 'stack' has reached the outskirts of Loyang. - I have 1500AV there and the Japanese have about 2300ish. We'll see. I have a follow up force on their arse 5 days out - 1100AV.

Further south I probed Nanchang but will move away from there I think:

Ground combat at Nanchang (85,54)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 55743 troops, 445 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1940

Defending force 44161 troops, 381 guns, 338 vehicles, Assault Value = 1347

Japanese ground losses:
44 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
223 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (0 destroyed, 4 disabled)

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

Other areas -

Cebu fell to IJA 65th Bde - 3200 more prisoners.

The IJA 5th Division has been spotted at Tennant Creek (Which will fall tomorrow).

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

Submarine Warfare -

3 x Dud/missed attacks....

Only successful attack reported by SS KXIV, south of Saigon, sinking the 5935 Tonne Kyushu class freighter Arizona Maru with 3 torpedoes.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

CBI -

For some strange reason the Japanese CV stayed in position west of Ceylon on 25th. A small attack came into Columbo but the Hurri's on CAP perforemd well in shooting down 4 x Zero, 6 x Val for the loss of 6 x Hurri. No bombers attacked Columbo. Frustratingly, in return, none of my Bombers at Columbo attacked the Japanese TF. She's now sailed off somewhere...probably to the SE and home.

China -

Firstly, Paoshan, west China. The Japanese ARM Rgt's have sat in situ since crossing the river. They're clearly waiting for reinforcements in the form of ART and a further Bde marching from Lashio. I also have reinforcements marching to Paoshan but already have over 500 AV there.

Surprisingly, on the 25th, A Para unit occupied the empty base of Chihkiang, central China. Not sure the point of doing this really. It doesn't cut supply and I have several Divisions and Corps over all of China. Unless Faber can fly in a division's worth in a week they won't be able to hold it.

The other big event was at Loyang. The Japanese 'stack' had been preparing for an attack for 2 days and on the 27th launched an attack in the face of heavy fire. The engineers managed to reduce some fortifications but made no real headway. Well done men:

Ground combat at Loyang (87,43)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 70395 troops, 719 guns, 302 vehicles, Assault Value = 2402

Defending force 109026 troops, 684 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2942

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 4

Japanese adjusted assault: 1385

Allied adjusted defense: 2982

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 4)

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
10144 casualties reported
Squads: 70 destroyed, 516 disabled
Non Combat: 58 destroyed, 341 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 64 disabled
Vehicles lost 57 (6 destroyed, 51 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1831 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 238 disabled
Non Combat: 22 destroyed, 248 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 20 disabled

To compound this failure the door has been shut behind the Japanese and all hexside are now 'green' - i..e. no supplies are getting through to the Japanese.

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

Submarine warfare -

The only successful attack was by SS Shark in damaging AK Tosei Maru with a torpedo SE of Toyohara.

[ckammp]

re: Chihkiang
 
On the face of it, it does seem a rather curious move by your opponent. As you noted, any units at that base not only don't cut you supply routes, but are themselves cut off, save by air supply. Furthermore, he must know that you can bring enough forces in to quickly eliminate his forces. This, I think, is his goal- to get you to commit forces to Chihkiang, while his main attack is directed at Paoshan.
In this situation, i would recommend using air power to neutralize/eliminate the force at Chihkiang, while sending LCU reinforcement to Paoshan. I know the overall supply situation in China precludes most prolonged use of Chinese air power, but I think that this should be an exception (if your supply situation does make it possible). 
If you decide to use a/c, and if you haven't already done so, I would recommend upgrading as many Chinese fighter squads as possible to H81-A3. You have 18 of these planes in the pool at-start, and if you upgrade your AVG squadrons to P-40E, you could gain another (at most) 79 planes. Not only are the H81-A3s better fighters than the I-15/I-16, but they have enough range to be able to reach Chihkiang from Chungking. A tactic I have found effective is to select 1 Chinese fighter squadron, then 'cherry-pick' the remaining squadrons for the best pilots. Equip this squadron with H81-A3s, and use it to counter any Japanese attacks. Keep the remaining squadrons training in I-15s/I-16s, rotating the best pilots to your main fighter squadron. 
At any rate, the use of a/c will give Fabertong something else to think about. 

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi ckammp - makes sense what you say. The thing is it doesn't divert forces that are at the front merely some of the forces that are in the interior on Guard duty anyway. Makes no difference if 2 or 3 Rgt's of a Corps is at Chungking for example[&:] Either way i'm a little baffled as to what Faber thinks he will achieve by it.

Afraid the airforce option is a no go. The AVG has been used exclusively in Burma and my units only have 13 x H81's between them left with no replacements left. At present I have the whole of the Chinese airforce in rear areas training with the FG's slowly upgrading to P43A's[8|]

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

CBI -

Very little action overall except the Japanese attempted to reinforce their position at Loyang, northern China presumably from the NE. Got a strange combat message though....never seen this before:

Ground combat at Loyang (87,43)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1614 troops, 71 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 2046

Defending force 91073 troops, 567 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2356

Assault collapses, survivors seek cover

Japanese ground losses:
1368 casualties reported
Squads: 75 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 57 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 28 (5 destroyed, 23 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
42 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

On the 31st, with the arrival of 148th Infantry Rgt the Japanese tried at Paoshan again:

Ground combat at Paoshan (65,45)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8211 troops, 24 guns, 616 vehicles, Assault Value = 489

Defending force 12617 troops, 98 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 520

Japanese adjusted assault: 309

Allied adjusted defense: 1063

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 3 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
795 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 58 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 87 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 69 (0 destroyed, 69 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1263 casualties reported
Squads: 33 destroyed, 102 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 59 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled


Assaulting units:
5th Tank Regiment
148th Infantry Regiment
56th Recon Regiment
14th Tank Regiment
10th Tank Regiment
1st Tank Regiment
11th Tank Regiment

Defending units:
96th Chinese Division
56th Chinese Corps
36th Chinese Division
200th Chinese Division
88th Chinese Division

Annoying that I took heavier casualties. Would presume this is due to the high amount of Japanese armour and my lack of defences against it? Anyhow I have the 2 x AT Rgt's in China trundling their way westwards over roads.

Other than that southern China is, on hold, until the LCU glitch sorts itself out [:@]

Little happening in Burma.

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

Other stuff -

Lots of nice toys and reinforcements starting to arrive now.

1st USMC Division is heading to Pearl to prepare for operations in the Pacific.

There's so frequently convoys heading to and from Aus/USA/Cape Town/Aden/India etc that I don't list them unless something major is on board or happens. 32nd USA Division just arrived at Sydney along with several BF's, ART BN's etc.

First B17 raid of the war in Australia occured on the 31st against Japanese held Tennant Creek - 14 x B17's. More to come.

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

Submarine warfare -

Quiet times continue with 3 missed/dud attacks. The only successful one was by SS KXVI against AK Kiyo Maru, heavily damaging her, outside of Rangoon - 3 subs had been tracking this convoy (38th IJA Division heading to Rangoon) but only 1 attacked[:-]

On the flip side the Japanese had a rare success SW of Dutch Harbour. The plucky Row Boat 34 had the audacity to attack twice and sink AK Cold Brook who was carrying elements of 30th Cst AA Rgt.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

A strange month overall. Most of the focus and action has been in China with a few bases (Cebu/Medan) being mopped up by the Japanese in the SRA. Other than that it's been a month of moving quite a few new assets (mainly planes and LCU's) to Australia and India. Also a noticeable decrease in Sub attacks this months due to the April RADAR upgrades meaning fewer subs were on patrol and the longer distances needed to travel to the battle area also limit time on patrol.

June will see the arrival of CV Wasp and BB North Carolina, a few DB and FS's and a couple of Marine Rgt's on the land front. In th air Hurri IIc's and XIIb's come into production.

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

Points:

Allies: +429
Japanese: +1202


Bases:

Allies: -26 (- 10 points)
Japanese: +28 (+330 points)


Planes:

Allies: +210 Japanese shot down
Japanese: +164 Allies shot down


Troops:

Allies: +153 Japanese lost
Japanese: +680 Allies lost


Ships:

Allies: +6 ships (28 points)
Japanese: +9 ships (97 points)

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

Sub Kills:

Dutch Boats:

AK - 17 (+1)
CM - 2
PB - 2 (+1)
DMS - 3
TB - 1
APD - 1
DD - 2
TK - 1

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

British Boats:

DD - 1 (mine)
SC - 1

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

Fleet Boats:

AP - 1
AK - 25 (+1)
CM - 1
DD - 2
E - 1
PB - 2 (+2)

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

S-Boats:

AK - 6 (+2)
DMS - 1 (+1)
CM - 1
PB - 1

Total = 72 ships = 45.57% of reported sunk ships total.

[Walloc]

ORIGINAL: Speedy


Very little action overall except the Japanese attempted to reinforce their position at Loyang, northern China presumably from the NE. Got a strange combat message though....never seen this before:

Ground combat at Loyang (87,43)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1614 troops, 71 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 2046

Defending force 91073 troops, 567 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2356

Assault collapses, survivors seek cover

Japanese ground losses:
1368 casualties reported
Squads: 75 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 57 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 28 (5 destroyed, 23 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
42 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Its a shock attacked forced by moving over a river. They are deadly and since only 1 of the units making the move makes the assult and takes all of the casulties. Pretty sure thats what happend. As only 1 of the units crossing makes the attack the odds are really bad, but i've seen that the combined AV like in above is listed. While the "actual" attack is at very low odds.

Hope it helps,

Rasmus

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi Rasmus - ah that makes sense. Great that the Japanese unit got smashed to bits. Frustrating though since I think a supply bridge has now been formed through the NE hex of Loyang.

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

CBI -

The last few days have seen little combat. The Japanese have resorted to the odd innefectual bombardment at Loyang. A sense of stalemate and rest has swept over China whilst we take on reinforcements before the next bout! On the 4th I smacked about 58th Infantry Rgt NW of Sinyang causing 2000 casualties vs 200 friendlies. I'll check out Sinyang again to see how many troops it has (I have 1600AV in my stack).

I re-took an empty Chihkiang....odd move by Faber.

In Burma all is quiet except the occassional Blenheim raid on Katha. It seems as though Faber is building up Myitkyina with a reported 60 fighters there. I'll soon deal with them when a P40E FG arrives within 14 days.

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

Australia -

More and more of my forces move into place at Alice Springs, Cloncurry and Normanton. Forces on the forntline are about 600AV per base at the mo.. I obviously have the rest of the Australian Divisions in reserve resting and training.

I've been mulling over the Japanese buildup at Dili (Timor) and I can't think of any reason why they'd be building up there rather than sending direct to north Aus? the conclusions I came to was that they're either going to fortify Timor like a Mother ****** or they're staging there for an attackl on either western Aus (Perth) or eastern Aus (Normanton/Cooktown)

Or maybe I'm reading too much into this and they're just heading to north Aus[;)]

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

Other stuff -

Attu is being built up and now has an Inf Rgt, Artillery, AA and a full BF to run the show.

Oodles of stuff being shipped out of Aden and Cape Town for Aus and India.

Forgot to mention that June 1942 brings a host of AA/Radar Upgrades for several AP/AK/TK/DD/BB/CV (Lexington) classes. More AA the merrier!

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

Submarine warfare -

It's been a good start in June!

On the 2nd June SS KIX located a large convoy heading to Bangkok, near Phuket. She decide to send AK Hakkaisan Maru a present leaving the troop laden freighter heavily damaged.

I sent another sub in the area to track the same convoy and SS Seawolf found them, near Tavoy, on the 4th and heavily damaged another troop laden freighter - AK Alaska Maru with a torpedo.

SS Searaven damaged AK Fukoku Maru with a torpedo near Hakodate, Hokkaido.

Patrolling in the same area was SS Shark who blew up the tiny SC CHa-31 with a torpedo.

SS Grunion reportedly sank the Momi class APD Hagi with a torpedo off Balikpapan.

On the same day (4th June) SS KXVII left DD Arashio heavily listing after a torpedo hit east of Soerabaya.

[BrucePowers]

The way supply can get to Darwin in this game the IJ player has to invade north Australia just to protect the DEI.

[Speedysteve]

Hi Bruce,
 
Totally. I'm just trying to understand where the MASS of troops headed to Dili are going. He already owns northern Aus so why not just ferry them to Dwarwin directly?
 
Hence, why i'm thinking they're either for Defence purposes on Timor or for an invasion of Western/Eastern Aus.
 
Or as I say could be thinking too much on it[;)]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

CBI -

As usual most of the action has been around China.....

The Japanese heavily reinforced their positions outside of Loyang on the 5th and launched a determined attack to take the City from the Chinese. It appears that 3 additional, experienced and fully equipped Japanese divisions entered the fray...the pressure is on....can I hold? I hope so otherwise I'm screwed in China:

Ground combat at Loyang (87,43)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 89905 troops, 930 guns, 387 vehicles, Assault Value = 3033

Defending force 92028 troops, 567 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2429

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 3

Japanese adjusted assault: 1708

Allied adjusted defense: 2341

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
9842 casualties reported
Squads: 126 destroyed, 437 disabled
Non Combat: 67 destroyed, 599 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 78 disabled
Vehicles lost 91 (13 destroyed, 78 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
5660 casualties reported
Squads: 23 destroyed, 328 disabled
Non Combat: 39 destroyed, 352 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 30 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Since then another 400AV Chinese Corps has reinforced Loyang and the Chungking ART Bn's are on their way.........

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

Other areas -

In Australia B17's from Alice Springs are spreading daily love on IJA 5th Divisions positions (100-200 casualties per day) at Tennant Creek.

Interestingly SigInt detected 14th IJA Army is preparing to attack Sydney....may be misinformation or could be real. Either way I'd be happy for a bigger IJA commitment in Aus. With the forces I have there now I feel confident of holding it and it would suck up more IJA away from other defensive areas. Each day that goes by my fores become stronger....for example 3rd Australian Division has just re-equipped with Aus Inf 1942 squads......

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

Submarine warfare -

A mixed few days.....

4 missed/dud attacks (incl. 1 against TK Okigawa Maru near Balikpapan[:@]) but SigInt has determind that the Tonan Whaler class TK Kyokuyo Maru was sunk by a Dutch sub near Groot Natoena in early April 1942.....happy with that....15,000 fewer tonnes of oil that can be moved around.

SS KX has scored the only success over these 3 days against AK Gosei Maru outside of Rangoon Harbour....3 torpedoes saw this 3,500 tonne freighter sink.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

CBI -

Well well well.....complacency got the better of me. On the 9th June a Japanese CV force appeared in the Indian Ocean east of Ceylon....they were clearly vectored there after a few Japanese sub reports reached HQ of Allied convoys heading to and from Calcutta. Boy did they hit jackpot.....AKV Engadine was just returning to Aden blub blub...even worse though was the sinking of 2 x DD and 4 x AK ferying 23rd FG P40E's to Calcutta. These guys were vital to securing air superiority over northern Burma. Not now as 62 of them are at the bottom of the ocean. Curse my complacency......[:@]

Usual shenanigans in China. Faber smashed a Chinese blocking force across the river west of Nanchang causing 5441 Casualties! Looks as though a further Japanese unit has reached Loyang. I expect a further attack here soon. I HOPE I can hold on. If not i'm screwed all the way back to Sian.

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

Submarine warfare -

The only 'good' news for the Allies in the past few days has been from under the sea.

SS KXIV reportedly sank the 1900 freighter Eiwa Maru on the surfaceat night approaching Singapore Harbour (brave bugger!)

SS Gar blew up the 99 tonne SC CHa-5 off Wakkanai.

SS Seawolf reportedly sank AK Junpo Maru approaching Rangoon.

On the 'other side' Japanese subs have spotted a convoy of mine at Attu (reinforcements to make it a fortress) and one trying to sneak a BF onto Baker Island. Baker TF is running away since it's too exposed. Hoep my Attu one can unload quickly and skidaddle.....

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

The only other good news is that CV Wasp and BB North Carolina have reached the Panama Canal en route to the WC.