Almost another month has passed, time for an update.
Burma:
- 20k tons of supplies were delivered to Rangoon, at the expense of 10 xAKs.
- The counterattack by the 25th Army is partially successful. One hex is gained, but the Allies repelled the attack in another (SE of Mulmein). 100 Franks were lost while strafing. The enemy is temporarily out of supply in this hex.
- In order to bolster the above attack, Mulmein was weakened. Michael took advantage and reduced the forts to size 2, in a series of deliberate attacks. I reinforced and stabilized the situation there.
SE Area:
- My defenses are rapidly disintegrating! After taking Umboi Island and Finschaven, the Allies landed at Hansa Bay and took it within a day. The 18th Army is trapped! I must evacuate the 75.000 troops by air. The trouble is that the 17th Army in New Britain and Manus is also essentially cut off and is just waiting for its supplies to run out. 4 DDs were lost while trying to deliver supplies to Kavieng.
- Michael could exploit this success all the way to Mindanao if he wished it. I only have small units garrisoning the northern coast of New Guinea. Hollandia is my strongest point with 200 AV. Three infantry brigades are headed to Cenderawasih Bay.
Future Plans:
Anywhere I look I see potential for disaster. A shake up of Japanese defense plans is needed urgently.
In Burma, the current lines must hold for as long as they can, because there isn't a really suitable place to defend further back. At the moment, there are 2 1/2 divs at Rangoon (28th Army), 3 divs at Mulmein (2nd Army), 5 divs from Mulmain to Rahaeng (25th Army) and 4 1/2 divs around Chiang Mai. I plan to evacuate the 28th Army from Rangoon in mid March, buy out one division from Manchuria and withdraw the 25th Army from the Area completely. This will leave the Burma Area Army with 11 1/2 divs to man the line Mulmein-Rahaeng-Indonesian border.
In the Southeast Area Fleet, the 180.000 troops of the 8th Area Army must be evacuated by air transports and destroyers running fast transport missions wherever possible. At a rate of 3000 per day, 2 months will be needed to transport all of them. Priority is given to the 18th Army at Lae-Nazdab-Saidor-Madang. All these troops are essentially irrelevant for defensive plans in the short term.
In the eastern DEI (2nd Area Army), the frontlines are manned by the 14th Army and the second line by the 19th Army. Darwin is still defended by one reinforced division, which will have to be withdrawn to Timor by the end of March at the latest.
The 21st Army will redeploy to Mindanao and Luzon.
The offensive I had planned in southeast China is canceled.
