No Way to Fight a War (Dixie vs GBL)

[Dixie]

The Rest of the War

There are a few USAAF fighter squadrons on the West Coast that are almost combat ready, so the time is right to ship them to the South Pacific. In order to shift them quickly I am thinking about sending them out on board Saratoga and Yorktown.

China still looks grim.

Bataan holds out against the odds, GBL has been bombing the garrison heavily but with little effect.

More troops are trying to sneak into Noumea, a few PBYs would probably be invaluable for this. If only I could spare some...

[Dixie]

14th Feb 1942

Sorry for the delay guys (and ladies if any are reading this...) but it's been a busy few weeks. The short version is I'm being posted to a new base and expected to be going soon. So the last few weeks has involved a lot of packing and organising only to be told we're not moving until June now....


Anyhow, back to the war:

PHILIPPINES
Although the US and Filipino forces are currently holding off the Japanese at Bataan supplies have started to dwindle to dangerously low levels. Things would no doubt be worse if it was not for the jungle canopy that has protected the troops from the worst of the Japanese aerial onslaught. 'Tis a good thing as there is nothing else I can really do to help them out much.
Today's Japanese bombardment saw 23 Allied casualties, in return the IJA forces took 270 casualties. It's a good rate of return although I can't expect it to last it is at least burning through some of GBL's troops. Plus those guys will be replaced by inexperienced recruits leaving them at the mercy of the victorious Allied counterattack. Or so the theory goes...


EAST INDIES
A temporary lull seems to have taken charge in Java. Partly this is caused by the Japanese carrier TF moving towards Singapore. On the ground it seems that GBL has possibly misjudged the amount of force needed to dislodge the Cloggies from their mountain hideout at Bandoeng. Will he attempt to bypass the base now or send in more troops? The Dutch are holding up a division worth of troops currently, so I'd expect him to send more in order to free up the division and split Java into two parts.


BURMA
The remnants of the Brit forces from Rangoon are still being pounded from the air near Bassein. They are too far from the Allied lines to send meaningful help, especially as the Japs have now reached Toungoo. US bombers attacked the IJA force at Toungoo, Japanese resistance was limited to a single Zero who's pilot managed to damage a B-17 before calling it a day. Sadly, despite their greater bombload than their Japanese counterparts, the Forts were unable to cause a significant amount of damage.


SOUTH PACIFIC
Two subs hit mines at Luganville today [:(] With a little luck Porpoise will be able to limp back to Brisbane, but for the crew of Searaven the war is well and truly over. Bugger.

There are a number of convoys heading for various locales around the SOPAC area, dodging the Jap subs around the SE coast of Oz is proving to be a major hazard. Until the RAN/USN get up to speed this could be a dangerous region for the Allied shipping. The RAAF have assigned 6 Sqn to ASW duties, with half the squadron based at Brisbane (with an avg ASW exp of above 60) hopes are high that the Air Force will help to neuter the submarine threat.


As I get back into the swing of things I'll post a better update.

[Dixie]

February 17th, 1942

CHINA


In the north, Japanese advances have almost surrounded Chenghow and Nanyang although the advancing Japs have slowed down in the last few days. As always in China, supplies are a major problem which is made worse by the terrible roads and a lack of transport aircraft to shift the stuff.

The situation is a little better in the South, but not by a great deal. Although the supply situation is not as dire there isn't a lot of spare and the Japs are generally in closer contact than up country. The greater supplies and additional engineers/base forces have allowed a defensive line of sorts although it will not stand up to a major IJA offensive.

The Chinese army is still poor. Even after three months of resting and training most of the LCUs available are far below their nominal strength with a big chunk of what they do actually have unfit for combat. A few units in the more stable bases have had reinforcements turned on, unfortunately these units are far to the rear and will only be of immediate use should the IJA blitz reach Chungking.

In the air, it's better but still a mixed bag. The AVG continue to perform minor miracles on an almost daily basis. The biggest problem with the American squadrons is finding them bases where the Chinese can provide sufficient AV support to keep them operating. In an effort to take some of the pressure from the AVG, the CAF are collecting their best pilots into a few key units. The 42nd FS is intended to be the first of these 'elite' Chinese squadrons which will be equipped with spare Hawks handed on from the AVG. So far half a dozen pilots have been gathered together and although their experience falls short of that provided by the Americans it is far in advance of the rest of the CAF. Until more pilots can be trained the most likely use of these squadrons will be for local defence of Chungking and some Northern bases. The CAF bomber force is pretty much a non-entity for the foreseeable future, no aircraft, no pilots and no replacements until 1943.


And the map...
I think it's a fair assessment to say that the majority of territory I control is because the IJA has not shown up there just yet! Wenchow and Chuhsien are unlikely to be in Chinese hands by the end of May, Kukong and Kanhsien at the other end of the pocket are in a similar situation. Losing these bases is not a major issue, they aren't particularly vital, or defensible although Wenchow does have some industry.

The white lines are the nominal extent of Chinese territory, the white circles are major Chinese air bases used by the AVG.

[Dixie]

PHILIPPINES

The US forces are still holding out at Bataan. Supplies are still present and combined with the jungle terrain and lvl 3 forts the area is proving to be more annoying to GBL than myself. Even overwhelming Japanese air power is not making much impression on the defenders, not that it has stopped GBL from launching a lot of HE on the guys. I'd much prefer him to be wasting his time on them than actually making headway in Java...

There are 40+ plus Jap units tied up in the Philippines, plus the various air units which is a substantial force that could be causing havoc elsewhere. As well as tying up the Japanese troops the Bataan position is also denying the use of Manila as a port and repair base. Which is nice.

The Japanese units at Bataan (15/02/42):
Assaulting units:
2nd Tank Regiment
3rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
21st Ind. Engineer Regiment
4th Division
16th Engineer Regiment
Kure 1st SNLF
48th Engineer Regiment
9th Infantry Regiment
Tanaka Detachment
47th Infantry Regiment
48th Recon Regiment
7th Tank Regiment
65th Brigade
1st Formosa Inf. Regiment
Kimura Det
4th Tank Regiment
20th Infantry Regiment
Yokosuka 3rd SNLF
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
40th Field AA Battalion
3rd Engineer Construction Battalion
37th Const Co
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
39th Road Const Co
30th Fld AA Gun Co
31st Fld AA Gun Co
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
48th JAAF AF Bn
38th Road Const Co
47th Field AA Battalion
45th Field AA Battalion
48th Field Artillery Regiment
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
14th JAAF AF Coy

Disregarding the Const Co.s that he's sent for some reason, there are some decent LCUs there that are wasted in the jungle [8D].

Outside Bataan there are a few units on isolated islands who are pretty much just waiting for the Japs to come and round them up. The only locations with supplies are Cebu and Zamboanga but sustained resistance is unlikely.



The Bataan defenders

[DuckofTindalos]

Dang, that's something like four division equivalents he's crammed in there. Must be crowded.

[Dixie]

EAST INDIES (by which I basically mean Java)

Interesting, in a way here. Despite having more than sufficient strength to easily roll over the remaining Allied forces on Java GBL seems to be holding back. So far Japanese forces have landed at Kalidjati in Western Java and advanced to Bandoeng where they seem to have stalled.

Japanese forces are centered around 29th Div, a unit that GBL has bought out from Manchuria. Maybe that partly explains their lackluster performance so far when compared to the other IJA forces encountered thus far? I know that one division (38th) is based in Southern Sumatra having been divided after the fall of Palembang, 5th Division is at Singapore whilst the intel on the remaining IJA formations is out of date and unreliable.

The continued resistance on Java has allowed a small force of USAAF B-17s to range across the Southern DEI, from Java they have caused some decent damge (in relation to their numbers) on the oil facilites at Balikpapen. A dozen B-17s have reduced the refinery output by 30% and crude oil output is down by 14%. The big bombers have proven to almost immune to even the feared Zero and despite being in almost constant action the two squadrons have lost a total of three aircraft so far from around 230 missions flown.

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: Terminus

Dang, that's something like four division equivalents he's crammed in there. Must be crowded.

It's a big old force, it's far better used there than actually achieving gains in India/Java/China or the Pacific [:D]

It's costing him as well, he may be pulling out some troops or rotating his units as he's not attacked for a couple of days. Counter battery fire has cost him heavily since he stopped frontal assaults and tried lobbing shells on the guys.

[Dixie]

INDIA AND BURMA

The situation in India remains the same, preparing for the worst case scenario. The first elements of the Aussie troops earmarked for the Imphal front have started to trickle in to Aden as well. Barring some sort of crisis there should be a strong force in position long before GBL can shift sufficient troops to be a problem.

I am considering shifting 99 and 100 Indian Bdes from Ceylon across to the mainland, they aren't great units but with the Royal Navy having made contingency plans there isn't a lot of point keeping them in Ceylon. If the Japs come knocking then these two Bdes won't halt them and if GBL doesn't come to play then they're wasting their time.


Meanwhile, in Burma...

The first troops have broken out of the Prome pocket! Four battered battalions have escaped to the east of the Japanese positions. From here the troops are going to bomb-burst in different directions. The strongest of these units is 9/11th Sikh which will make a break for Prome itself. Aerial recce show the town is unguarded so a quick dash may help with the breakout. The other three units are going to head towards the Thai border and then north. Although the terrain is more difficult it is hoped that the Burmese troops will be able to cut Japanese communications before linking up with the rearguard at Toungoo. There are still half a dozen mixed units in the Prome pocket, but they are each less than 5 miles away from breaking out in different directions and once that happens they will be much harder to track down and eliminate.

In order to assist their escape, long range attacks by USAAF B-17s are being carried out from the Calcutta region and recce flights are being mounted from Mandalay. Further air support is problematic as there aren't a lot a bases still in British control that are (a) close enough or (b) large enough to mount offensive ops over the Prome area. There are plans to send a squadron of Lysanders to Mandalay for a short detachments.



Indian Ocean
Good news for the Indian Ocean garrison. The US Marines 1st Raider Bn has arrived in Cape Town, from here they are heading to Diego Garcia to help hold the island and train against the Canadian Grenadiers holding the base. Long term plans include building the island into a potential forward fortress should Ceylon be captured. It is also (IMO) a far better fall back position than Addu due to the potential scope for airfield construction.

[Dixie]

18th February 1942

It's another quiet day today, with only a few isolated incidents across the map.


SOUTH PACIFIC

Not much happening here. At Noumea two convoys have successfully delivered the Australian 4th Bde and US 115th Base Force (minus their radar sets). A third convoy has arrived with the NZ 30th Bn and should have the Kiwis ashore by the close of play today. There have been several reports of Japanese aircraft above the convoys as the arrive and depart, but no sign of Japanese attacks.

With a sizeable, if inexperienced, garrison now ashore at Noumea stage two of the operation is taking off with troops boarding their ships for the Northern end of New Caledonia. Unfortunately most of the troops have been stuck on the US West Coast waiting for destroyers to escort them across the Ocean.

USS Yorktown has departed from the US in order to deliver some P-400 fighters to the South Pacific region. More USMC and USAAF fighters and the first recce kites are scheduled to follow in the next troop convoy leaving the US. A fast (17 kt) convoy is planned to depart with a mix of engineers, artillery and Marines for dispersal throughout the region.


NEW GUINEA
Slightly more exciting here, as Australian based B-17s attacked a Japanese convoy near Buna. The bombers claim to have sunk a Japanese freighter. The sighting report from the RAAF claims 10 destroyers are sitting around doing very little, not sure I believe this.


PHILIPPINES
Despite the usual Jap air armada the masses of bombs dropped on Bataan have claimed less than half a dozen engineers injured. No attacks from GBL, not even a bombardment which leads me to believe he's attempting to pull some units out of the line. I'll take the risk of having a few rounds dropped onto Tojo and see what happens.


JAVA
The Japanese continue to bombard the Dutch at Bandoeng, despite the superiority in numbers and quality GBL seems to be having issues breaking the Dutch. Perhaps a full defence of Java might have actually worked, it seems I have possibly overestimated the Japanese abilities (or GBL is still coming to terms with what the supermen can actually do). Too late to do anything major about it now though.

The Soerbaja B-17s have spent a couple of days trying to attack the airfield at Kalidjati but results have been poor, so it's back to the oil refineries on Borneo.


BURMA
The Indian troops escaped from the Prome pocket just in time, Japanese troops had arrived and launched an attack on the troops there. The Japs caused heavy casualties amongst the troops there, but as they are mostly second line troops by this point that is not a surprise.


CHINA
Quiet here as well. Japanese bombers attacked Chushein and Chinese bombers actually took off for a mission(!) against troops on the IndoChina border.

The AVG 1st Sqn has arrived in Chunking in order to swap their Tomahawks for the (slightly) more modern P-40E. That should enable another pair of Chinese squadrons to be brought up to full strength in the near future, swapping two squadrons of Chinese fighters for Tomahawks would free enough aircraft to bring a third squadron to full strength with Russian types and enable more pilots to undergo training which would help to keep the two/three experienced squadrons at a decent strength.
An attempt to re-equip part of the CNAC with DC-3s was foiled as the supply strength at Chunking has dropped below 20k (which is why the AVG are still flying Hawks atm). We can add supplies and AT assets to my list of stuff I want.


Top Gun, CAF style...

[Dixie]

I'm back. Again! [:D]

It's been a busy month in the real world, moving house and starting a new job. It's meant that I've been unable to get hold of an internet connection or find time to play games much. But now I'm settled in it's time to get back to getting kicked across the Pacific again.

[Dixie]

19th Feb 1942

East Indies

Plenty of action at sea today, sadly none of it was positive news for the Allies. AG Canopus was sunk by I-153 as she tried to make a run from Java for safer waters. This was not entirely unexpected really, I can only hope that my subs will eventually hit their stride...

The other big news was the devastation of an Allied convoy trying to flee from Southern Java. Unfortunately for me GBL had moved a bunch of Nells into Kalidjati along with an Air HQ. The end result was the sinking on several freighters.

Bandoeng still refuses to surrender to the besieging Japanese forces. There is a decent stock of supplies in the base, and GBL seems to be slow (or reluctant) to commit more troops to taking the base. Overall things still look OK in Java, mostly down to the baddies not trying very hard...


Philippines
Same as usual here, lots of aircraft dropping nasty stuff on my troops and blowing holes in the jungle instead of the GIs sat in the swamp. I can only hope the ops losses will annoy GBL and that he feels like storming the swamp with several divisions.


China
Nothing to see here, move along.



Hopefully there will be more to write soon. Although that would probably be as a result of bad news for the Allies, so an exciting AAR would probably not be the best thing for me. Meanwhile, an easy 'contest' for anyone who is actually reading this.

Name the aircraft.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Dixie

Name the aircraft.

I think "Ol' Betsy" is a nice name for an aircraft. Dignified and well-mannered.

[Dixie]

You can't call an aircraft old [:-] It's bad for her.

[Dixie]

20th Feb 1942

BURMA
The lead elements of the (former) Rangoon garrison have arrived in Prome. Troops from 9/11th Sikh Bn (13th Indian Bde) have reached the town. RAF recce has shown that no Japanese troops are present so the Indian troops will make a swift attack to take back the town. This will serve two purposes (1) it will give the rest of the Rangoon forces an escape corridor in the (highly likely) event that the Japanese manage to catch up with them and (2) it will annoy GBL seeing as he should have left some troops there to guard against this eventuality [;)]


INDIA
The USAAF have started to arrive in useful numbers now, although the quality is slightly lacking at this moment in time when compared to the RAF. The 51st PG are (almost) entirely deployed in India with just the HQ flight still to arrive. The group has two squadrons of P-40Es (16th & 26th) and 1 squadron of P-38Es (25th), unfortunately for the Americans only the 26th PS is anywhere near ready for action. As a result the 10th AF will, for the immediate future be confined to rear area defence whilst they step up their training regime.

Meanwhile, the Indian 100 Bde has been reassigned from Ceylon to the mainland. It is anticipated that the Indians will take up internal security tasking in Southern India. Also about to arrive on the mainland is the Australian 18th Bde, these chaps (along with the rest of 7th Div) will form the core of the Commonwealth defence in the Calcutta/Border area.


SOUTHERN BURMA MAP

The arrows represent the escape routes open the Commonwealth troops fleeing towards (relative) safety. The solid white lines mark the limit of (nominally) British territory.

[Dixie]

21st Feb

East Indies
Today gets off to a poor start as O-21 is attacked by Japanese warships as she tries to attack a convoy. She was forced to the surface by depth charges and finished off with gunfire. This would appear to be more reinforcements heading to Java given the large proportion of transports and amphibious warfare vessels.

To the north, Pickeral attacks a Japanese tanker near to Palembang. Sadly the attack is a failure as her torpedoes fail to detonate. Happily the US sub also escapes any damage from the escorting warships.

Bandoeng continues to stand, although the Japanese bombardments are slowly wearing down the defenders it will take several weeks for things to get dangerous at this point. A Japanese TF has been spotted well to the south of Java, having just passed north of Soemba. This is most likely an invasion force, but where could it be heading? I have a feeling that a landing on Eastern Java is imminent as the TF will loop back from the Indian Ocean to land in the area near Malang.


Burma
It looks like the Indians managed to retake Prome just in time as Japanese troops have been reported hot on the tail on the units still attempting to escape from their entrapment. As yet I am unsure what size force is chasing the plucky Allies but some recce flights will help to show whether the chaps are in serious danger right now or not.


Philippines
Stilll not much of note occuring. The usual Japanese air attacks on the American positions around Bataan which once again fail to cause much damage. With the defenders down to their last 3000 tons of supply things are likely to get desperate soon. On the plus side the aerial campaign against the Americans and Filipinos is tying up several IJ fighter units that could be elsewhere causing bother.


South Pacific
Some potentially interesting developments are taking place, USN Catalinas flying from Noumea have spotted a small Japanese carrier along with some cruisers heading towards the New Hebrides. As a result Enterprise is departing from Australia with a mixed USN/RAN escort. The plan is to send VB-6 ahead to Noumea, from there they can fly attacks against the IJN fleet if it strays too close whilst Enterprise stays safely away from danger.

The presence of the Jap carrier does however mean that a convoy bound for Fiji has been recalled. Hopefully the IJN TF will run across one of my subs in the area and take some torps, but for some reason I doubt that is likely to happen...

And finally, an IJN cruiser managed to slip past the Allied air and sub patrols and launch some explosive badness towards my e-soldiers at Port Moresby.


China
So much territory and sod all in the way of recce kites means that I have bugger all idea what is happening here.




KB Watch:
The KB is currently out of contact, but believed to be in the Singapore or South China Sea area. I suspect Singers is more likely as it would leave the carriers in position to pummel Java or strike into the Indian Ocean. Allied subs guarding the routes into the Indian Ocean have not reported contact with either IJN carriers or aircraft

[Dixie]

PRESS RELEASE--

A major Japanese air raid on the southern Chinese city of Wenchow was repulsed by the actions of volunteer American pilots flying with the Chinese air force. The battle, one of many fought by the brave airmen, was the latest in a series of brutal efforts by Imperial Japanese forces to terrorize the Chinese into surrender.
However Tojo had not reckoned the determination of the Air Volunteer Group, also known as the Flying Tigers. As an estimated 50 Japanese bombers approached Wenchow they were discovered by a small group of Flying Tigers. Despite their inferiority in numbers the Tigers sprang into action, tearing into the huge Japanese formation. In a series of dogfights the Japanese lost almost 40 aircraft whilst failing to shoot down any Allied aircraft.

This kind of combat is not unusual for the American volunteers, indeed since the start of the war three squadrons of volunteer pilots have shot down over 250 Japanese aircraft in defence of our Chinese allies who struggle so bravely against the brutal Japanese invaders.

Picture: A Japanese "Sonia" bomber, one of 40 claimed shot down by the AVG 2nd Squadron on 21st February.

[Dixie]

22nd Feb

China
It turned out to be a good day for the Allies, in the air at least. A raid on Wenchow by Sonia bombers resulted in 20 of the 28 Japanese bombers being destroyed. [8D]


Dutch East Indies
A raid by three USAAF B-17s against the oil refinery at Balikpapen continued the success for the Allies in the air. Despite doing little damage to the oil refinery the bombers managed to shoot down three Japanese fighters although one B-17 crashed on the way home.
Japanese bombers attacked the Dutch forces around Medan in Sumatra. Twenty bombers managed to cause heavy caulaties amongst the Dutch soldiers in the town.

Japanese forces have invaded Bandjermasin, an SNLF unit has landed and will more than likely be sufficient to defeat the Dutch forces holding the base.


South Pacific
Fairly quiet again. Trout launched an attack against a Japanese transport but her torps fail to detonate (again!). She has reported contact with two seperate forces, a large group of mixed transports and a smaller group of warships. Contact has been lost with the carrier force spotted yesterday.


Central Pacific
US and Canadian ships are attempting to clear out several Japanese subs from the sea around Hawaii and the US West Coast. Four subs are known to be at large although I suspect that at least a similar number are also lurking about.

[Dixie]

23rd Feb

Burma
The forced march into Prome by 9/11th Sikh has well and truly saved the skins of the remaining troops from the pocket. An attack by 17th Ind Gds Rgt resulted in the chaps abandoning their planned marches into the rear of the Japanese positions and instead flee for the (relative) safety of Prome. This will have two knock on effects; (1) it will be easier to get the units back to India as they are now (just about) in front of the Japanese advance and (2) it's going to reinforce GBL's opinion that I am some sort of strategic mastermind who knows what he's doing! Obviously only one of these is true, but it may give GBL pause for thought next time he's surrounding my troops.

Whilst it's a bonus to be able to recover those troops, it's also a slight shame as there was the possibility of them actually causing some delays in the Japanese advance. On balance I'd say I'm happier with the guys making it 'home' (except the Burmese and Brits who are just going to India).

The last of the troops from the Prome pocket, 4/8th Ghurkas, are still trapped in Japanese territory. They had made a move towards the coast in the hopes of heading along the coastal roads back to British territory, but instead they ran into the 55th Cavalry Rgt near Bassein. Although the Nepalese chaps are unlikely to make it to freedom they are doing a sterling job of holding the 55th away from their own advance. Medals all round!


India
Every day the Japs are delayed in Burma is an extra day to gather strength across the border in expectation of an invasion. I don't think GBL is likely to leave the Indian army free to charge down through Burma in 1942/43 so I am expecting a big investment in LCUs from the Japanese Army, especially as I got suckered into playing the JFB scenario!

The question is, does Japan have sufficient strength to make serious efforts in India and Australia? One or the other is pretty much a given with India looking the more likely at the current time. The biggest problems on this front are the inexperience of most LCUs and no replacements for the RAF. Until June things are not too rosy for the RAF, until then it's a case of hoarding as much strength as possible. After that things will ease a little (but not a lot) as the Hurricane IIc comes in but it's a long wait until the Spitfires turn up...




China

Following the rousing success of the AVG above Wenchow, the IJAAF tried to clobber the Americans in a night-time attack. Luckily for the Allies the attack was poor. Also the AVG have melted away to the safety of Western China. The AVG 1st Sqn has re-equipped with the P-40E, their cast-off Hawks will be used to (1) replenish the other two squadrons and (2) re-equip a second CAF squadron.

On the ground it's the usual mess for the Chinese, with the frontline only really defined by the limit of the IJA's ambition. Hopefully there will be enough time to gather a useful force at Sian and somehow fly in enough supply to hold the fort. Nanyang is almost surrounded and out of supply, so it's time to make like a tree and get out of here!



Philippines

We're still holding out at Bataan.

[Dixie]

South Pacific

Japanese ships have been spotted NE of New Caledonia, heading to the SW. Apparently it's just a single TF (of 10 DD) but I'm wondering where the carrier has got to? It doesn't look like an invasion force, at least not yet, it's more likely to be part of the carrier force spotted a few days ago. Should it turn out to be an invasion then there's a decent pool or warships available in the nearby area that could steam to the rescue.

Across to the east, the build up of the USN forward base in the Society Islands continues as the 110th USA Base Force is installed at Rangiroa. The next stage of the plan is to build Rangiroa's airfield to size three and ship in a garrison. Long term, the aim is to use the islands to anchor the US-Australia supply chain and as a possible launch point for an attack up through the Samoan and Gilbert Islands.


Australia

The question of what GBL is doing with the KB has been partly answered, as at least two carriers have been spotted of the NW coast of Oz heading towards Perth by USN Catalinas. I'm glad that I decided to base a long range patrol force in Oz now as the advanced notice should mean that the Allied ships in the harbour will have legged it to safety by the time the Japs come knocking. There isn't anything major in the area anyway, mostly small freighters and coastal minesweepers that escaped the Japanese torpedo umbrella around the DEI.

Some USAAF bombers are moving towards Perth, more in the hope of a lucky hit than in expectation of actually achieving anything...

[Dixie]

23/24 Feb

There were some interesting developments in the last few turns, more through what didn't happen rather than what did. GBL mentioned that he had possibly left some forces exposed to an Allied counter attack. He also said he's jumping at shadows, afraid that the USN/RN carriers are just over the horizon. Whether he's bluffing or he is actually worried only time will tell, but it could account for a couple of surprise moves by some naval forces...



SOUTH PACIFIC
First of all, things have changed in the South Pacific. A large Japanese force was spotted off the northern tip of New Caledonia and SIGINT confirmed that the 84th Nav Gd unit was en route to Koumac. The IJN got within 80 miles of Koumac before they turned around and headed back north. [X(] Currently the Japs are midway between New Caledonia and the Solomons, under the watchful eye of the USN patrol aircraft at Noumea. Unfortunately we've lost contact with the small carrier TF that was spotted.

This has given me a bit of breathing room to slip more Anzac troops into New Caledonia, with Noumea sufficiently defended it's a case of shifting troops into La Foa now. When the southern tip of the island is secure and the AF built up I can start leaning out towards the nearby islands just off the New Caledonia coast. There are several sites suitable for AF construction that will allow me to gradually extend the coverage of my USAAF fighters.


AUSTRALIA
Another interesting development here, the two Japanese carriers spotted steaming towards Perth have turned around and are now heading back towards Darwin/DEI. Quite why GBL has done this is another mystery, Perth is pretty much defenceless with no fighters available in the region. Perhaps he was worried about the USAAF B-17s getting a lucky hit on one of his carriers?