Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

[apbarog]

Results of battle:

Koumac raiding force:

CA Australia (sunk)
CA Canberra (gravely damaged, limping to Noumea)
CL Perth
DD Stuart (sunk)
DD Electra (escorting Canberra)
DD Express

Ndeni area raiding force:

CA Louisville
CA Pensacola (sunk)
CA New Orleans (sunk)
CA Minneapolis (sunk)
CA San Francisco (sunk)
CL St. Louis
CL Helena
DD Reid (sunk)
DD Cassin (sunk)
DD Shaw (sunk)
DD Conyngham (sunk)
DD Flusser (sunk)
DD Downes

Enemy losses:
CL Kiso
DD Suzukaze
DD Samidare
DD Shigure
DD Shiratsuyu

[apbarog]

10 Feb 42

Some of the usual bombing in China. Nothing within range of a surprise CAP. Blens do bomb enemy troops near Chuhsien, where the hex is contested and an attack may happen soon. I brought in Blens to deal with anything in the desert in the far north, and to be a nuisance elsewhere. Maybe force some extra enemy fighter commitment.

Lots of dots bases in the Santa Cruz Islands targeted by Kates, looking for seaplane support ships or disbanded damaged ships. Nothing found as there is nothing there.

Many enemy bombardment attacks in far northern China. I've done a decent job, so far, with matching up needed defenses with attackers. There's no immediate threat of a breakthrough there until the enemy commits more.

2 US damaged heavy cruisers and a destroyer are spotted south of the Marshalls by Kates. There's an enemy task force 9 hexes to the west, not showing carriers. KB, at least 2 divisions of it, are well to the south. The US force has made its full speed run, and now needs fuel. It will move 6 hexes ESE to rendezvous with a replenishment TF.

[apbarog]

11 Feb 42

I-22 finishes off heavy cruiser Canberra near La Foa. Canberra was moving just 1 hex a day, and had been spotted every day since the 2nd Battle of Koumac. Aurorus didn't send KB or surface ships after it. He didn't have to. 4 torpedoes send it to the bottom. Escorting Electra is targeted by the same sub afterwards, but 4 torpedoes miss.

Sub Permit spots a DMS and 2 xAPs near Morotai, near the north part of the Celebes. Transports probably moving from west to east, to Truk or Rabaul most likely. Everything I'm seeing shows more and more interest in the South Pacific. But there's a lot I'm not seeing. Like where the 4 divisions at Singapore are going. (some could be on this task force)

Usual bombing in China and Kuantan on Malaysia. All of the same artillery attacks in China.

Blens bomb the 19th Ind Mixed Brigade at Kanhsien in China. Nuisance raid.

SigInt notes that DD Yuguri was identified by call sign at 129 136. This is 8 or 9 hexes west of my 2 heavy cruisers and 1 destroyer fleeing to the east. My task force refueled from 2 AOs, and can now use full speed to safety. The AOs will also move full speed, but just 4 hexes today. Some danger to them from the unknown to the west. Yuguri was not in the task force engaged by my cruisers. Could be carriers with it.

Battleship Prince of Wales arrives at Pearl Harbor. It will need between a month and 2 months of repairs. The small cruiser force that engaged in the Marshalls also arrived and go into repairs. Yorktown is being worked on here too.

My divebombers at Noumea didn't fly. I pull them out and the fighers also. Fighters only will return tomorrow, when the first of the xAKL supply task forces approach.

Light cruiser Helena was the only ship that fled west from the recent battles. It was moderately damaged, and had split off by itself and started to move to Cairns. I ran it full speed to safety. It looked like it was going to be ok, moving at normal speed, so I set it to go to Rockhampton. 2 days out from the base, fire started to get out of control. The ship is on the edge of disaster, just one hex from Rockhampton. SYS 69/FLOT 25-9/ENG 41-2/FIRE 41. I think it will make it, but my luck has been poor lately. Let's save one!

[apbarog]

12 Feb 42

I-2 is spotted by a US xAK task force southwest of San Luis Obispo, well out of air coverage range. AM Rail fails to find the sub. Then the sub fires 2 torpedoes at xAK Alabaman. A torpedo hits, nearly sinking the ship but not quite. But with FLOT of 90 and moderate fires, the captain decides to scuttle the ship. Alabaman was empty and returning to the West Coast.

Enemy bombing at Chuhsien, Kuantan, Utan Melintang, Tsiaotso, and Temuloh. Bettys bomb the port at Rennell Island. I have Cats at Milne Bay, and they are seeing everything from near Horn Island to Rabaul.

The Chinese are attacked at Chuhsien. With the fall of Wenchow, nearby Chuhsien is the last of the bases held behind the lines. 2 to 1 attack, forts down to 2, and 10 times the casualties for the Chinese. It will fall quickly. Tanks are key to getting a big advantage on the Chinese.

Near Temuloh on Malaysia, the enemy 41st Infantry Regiment attacks a weakened 8th Indian Brigade. Another cleanup attack. The Allies are holding in the jungle, and on a rail line, as long as possible.

Part of KB is spotted SE of Ocean Island. My fleeing surface group and rescuing replenishment group and headed east and appear to be out of danger. They weren't spotted today.

What is KB's mission? They left Koumac, which is a bit surprising. Maybe some carriers are still near Koumac, but I'm not seeing them. Koumac is a size 1 airfield. Maybe Aurorus thinks that is sufficient for protecting the base, and the battleship force that is still there.

Today, a couple of xAKL task forces will move into Noumea and try to unload supply. 2 fighter units move in also from Brisbane. They will fly CAP. Noumea has been holding steady with just under 4000 supply, which isn't enough for a defense. SigInt had said that armor was on the way to Koumac. It may be there already. Just a matter of time till they push to Noumea. Cats and C-47s continue to fly in supply also, and a number of subs have been running supply in. I resume building the airfield there. It is size 2.

Remember the xAKL that was the last ship to leave the Philippines? It made it to Wake Island, where an xAK had been unloading supply, slowly, for a week. They've joined up and are heading to safety at Pearl Harbor. Hurrah! Doesn't this make up for the naval disaster last week? Maybe not quite...

CL Helena did make it into Rockhampton and disbanded into port. Fires went down from in the 40's to in the 20's, so I think it will survive. Rockhampton is only a size 3 port currently. I would have gone to Townsville had I known that the fires were going to explode after several days of heading toward the coast.

Some small notes on arrival times of some ships:
Hornet - 11 days
Wasp - 7 Jun 42
Illustrious - 58 days
Formidable - 27 days
North Carolina - 18 Jun 42
the first US CLAA - 84 days

[Lovejoy]

Any thoughts on what to do with the British Carriers?

[Bo Rearguard]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

Part of KB is spotted SE of Ocean Island. My fleeing surface group and rescuing replenishment group and headed east and appear to be out of danger. They weren't spotted today.

What is KB's mission? They left Koumac, which is a bit surprising. Maybe some carriers are still near Koumac, but I'm not seeing them. Koumac is a size 1 airfield. Maybe Aurorus thinks that is sufficient for protecting the base, and the battleship force that is still there.

All I can figure is that he might be trying to track what is left of your cruiser force in the direction of Pearl Harbor. In which case your course change to the east may have thrown him off the scent.

Yeah, five heavy cruisers and a few assorted DDs lost. That's painful, but given the mastodonic US reinforcement schedule, not unrecoverable.

[apbarog]

I'm sending Brit carriers to the South Pacific, to augment the US carriers, as long as each carrier's withdrawal date is far enough in the future to be able to make use of them. We are playing reinforcements +/- 60 days, so the time of availability for each could be longer or shorter than historical.

The armored decks really can help, bouncing some bombs that penetrate the US decks.

[Bif1961]

You can withdraw vessels from Sydney so you don't have to send them back to Capetown.

[apbarog]

That is a good point Bif1961. I was thinking more about the amount of time of usefullness for the Brit carriers. No point in risking an Indian Ocean transit for a short time in the South Pacific. Plus, the US carriers are at Pearl Harbor now.

[apbarog]

13 Feb 42

Tsiaotso, China is swept by some Oscars and bombed. Deliberate attack results in about equal casualties. The base will fall, just not immediately. AVG is moved nearby and will try to LRCAP the base at range 5.

Bettys bomb Rennell Island's port again, and there's still no Catalina support there.

Deliberate enemy attack at Chuhsien, China goes at 3 to 1 and forts go down to 1. It will fall tomorrow.

KB has rejoined near Tarawa. It now looks like one division sprinted to the NE the other day, guessing where my surface group went, but missed. I'm still suspicious that there's invasions about to start in this area. They just follow KB this early in the war.

As anyone who has read my previous AAR, I love the game-within-the-game of saving damaged ships, and repairing them. I take this very seriously, and remember forever the ships barely saved or barely lost (BB Idaho from the last AAR).

Light cruiser Helena made it to Rockhampton, and the fires went down the next turn, and I thought it was saved. Now it looks like the combined damage has tipped the scales towards sinking. Rockhampton is a size 3 port, 88% of the way to size 4. I know that firefighting effectiveness in port is directly affected by the size of the port. I don't think anything else affects it. Some say that naval support does. I can't say if this is true or not, but I haven't seen it in my games.

I'm flying in a unit that has some naval support, but not alot, and no guarantee that this part of the unit will be the one that flies. I'm moving in more engineers, but that will take several days. I don't think Helena has more than a day left. We'll see. Maybe there's a good die roll that's possible, but I think that the combined damage has pushed it over the edge of possible repair. Unless port size changes.

Here's the day by day damage for Helena, since the day it was damaged. It did move at full speed for 1 or 2 days to get out of range of KB, and that didn't help things.

SYS/FLOT/ENG/FIRE
47/21/29/12
50/21/30/9 (moving full speed and barely more damage)
54/22/33/18 (may have been full speed, don't remember)
69/25/41/41 (gets to port with this damage)
74/25/43/21 (I was encouraged with the drop in fire, but I fear that the SYS damage put it over the edge)
82/25/51/30 current status

Doesn't look good. I just love the detail of worrying about things like this. The consolation prize for the day is that brave Dutch ship Tenedos, the lone ship that stormed into Koumac, engaged a KB carrier with torpedoes, then went up against a battleship force, all alone, and survived, is now fully repaired at Brisbane.

[apbarog]

14 Feb 42

Usual bombings. 10 Oscars sweep Tsiatotso. This time 7 H81s are on LRCAP. One of the AVG is shot down. Then 13 Lilys and 13 Sonias show up. Just a few H81s are patrolling. 3 Sonias are downed. LRCAP is not very effective at range 5.

Bettys bomb Rennell Island's port, again.

Tarawa is invaded by the 61 Naval Guard and the 24th JNAF AF Unit. The island is not defended. Part of KB stands adjacent to the island. I suspect that the other part has moved a bit NE, judging by sub detection levels. The island falls.

Chusien, China is attacked again. 2 to 1 odds with forts reduced to 0. With even more enemy troops arriving from Wenchow to the south, the end will be tomorrow.

In Burma, Prome and Pegu get enemy recon for the first time. This is consistent with the SigInt showing paras prepping for Prome. I just moved a unit to Prome to defend it.


At Noumea, small Allied cargo ships unload supply, sending the totals there from about 3,600 to 5300. More to unload. The ships are not spotted. I know that an enemy regiment conquered Koumac, and that an armor unit was on SigInt heading to Koumac, and I've seen transport forces there. Is there more there? Could there be nothing there now? The airfield just recently went to size 1. I doubt that the enemy just picked up and left. I have no good recon in the area that can reach Koumac. I set some Cats at Norfolk Island to try to recon Koumac with poor pilots.

And finally, the sage of CL Helena has ended. While in Rockhampton's port, damaged went up to SYS 95/FLOT 25/ENG 61/FIRE 52. No hope for it. It was scuttled.

[apbarog]

15 Feb 42

Chuhsien in China is bombed and deliberately attacked, and falls. With this town and Wenchow captured, Aurorus has his mobile attacking force freed up. Now to see where they are going next.

Tsiaotso in China gets the same treatment, and is likewise lost to the enemy. The Chinese retreat to the north and will help to hold the line already formed there.

Kuantan in Malaysia is bombed heavily. As is some troops just to the west. They are being eliminated. Kuantan is the last base standing in Malaysia for the Allies. It has lots of supply, as I pulled it out of Singapore before it fell. Kuantan won't fall until more enemy are committed, and that means walking on the trail to get there. Delay and defend, that is the motto.

Bengkalis troops are bombed. The base was unoccupied, and autoflipped to the Japanese when the nearby Malaysian coast was captured. I walked some Dutch troops to it and recaptured it. It is an oil producer, but no oil wells are being damaged with the change of control. So it's really of no consequence that is Dutch again.

KB is still near Tarawa. Part is spotted there today adjacent to the base.

Supply is still unloading at Noumea. Level went from 5291 to 6894. Koumac went to a size 2 airfield. I need to suppress the base. But Noumea is just a 2 also. I'm doing recon of Koumac. I did it with untrained Cats but the recon was poor. Moved a 3 B-17 group to Australia, with pilots trained in recon, to take a better look. SigInt says the 56th Field Artillery is there. Already know a regiment took the base. And armor was on the way. Must be engineers too.

8 B-17s from Brisbane will fly at extended range to bomb Koumac's airfield today. Fighters at Noumea stay there to provide CAP for ships unloading. The armor that I'm bringing in arrives today.

Surface group of some kind at Port Moresby, and another SE of Rabaul.

A small interesting note: Pappy Boyington, squadron commander of AVG 1st Squadron, has flown 156 missions, like most of his unit, but has no kills. He is the most experienced and skilled in air-to-air in his unit. The next 18 pilots in experience all have at least one kill.

[apbarog]

16 Feb 42

Oscars sweep Batavia. No CAP. Batavia troops are bombed. Enemy troops SE of Batavia may be bypassing Bandoeng and going for Batavia. Batavia defenses are very weak. Port is bombed. Last of the tiny stranded HDMLs are sunk.

An odd air attack in Luzon. Sallys bomb Philippine troops in the interior north. Must have spotted my interior defense there and wants to see what is there. Bataan, Clark, and Manila get occasional recon, but this is a first for a non-base hex.

Usual bombing at Kuantan in Malaysia.

7 B-17Ds from Brisbane bomb Koumac's airfield. 18 Zeros intercept. 3 bombers are lost and there are no bomb hits.

All of the usual artillery attacks.

The Koumac bombing was a bombing failure but a recon success. I want to sweep and bomb Koumac, but defending unloading ships at Noumea takes priority. 3 fighters squadrons are there now on duty. 2 have poor pilots. 1 has mediocre ones. All are P40Es. Most ships are xAKLs and unloading supply. The US armor unit arrived and has started to unload. That TF is able to dock, but unloading is still slow. Subs are being phased out of delivery supply as they return to base. C47s at Norfolk Island are bringing in supply when the weather is good.

The bad news is that some of my shipping was spotted at Noumea today. This may bring bombers to Koumac. Noumea is protected as best I can with CAP, but another task force with the support for the Marine regiments will approach Noumea from the south, and is vulnerable. A small US cruiser force will move to cover this task force on the way in. It is vulnerable out here for a day also.

KB could be on the way back south from Tarawa. Or it could be at Kwajalein. Or it split and is doing both. Don't know. I have a few days of relative safety at Noumea. Nearest possible KB division (best guess) is near Ocean Island now.

Significant shipping passed Horn Island and is now passing Milne Bay. I have Catalinas watching. I'm seeing combat ships, including a battleship, but we all know how good the mouseover IDs can be. I got SigInt that an engineering regiment is loaded on an xAP and is headed to Rabaul. These ships could contain that unit.

Burma is getting significant recon now from Aurorus. Looked at Akyab and Magwe today. Akyab is empty. I could see a drop happening there as part of a bigger move into Burma. Size 3 airfield and no enemy. I'd like to remedy that situation. Aurorus just looked at Prome yesterday and found a unit. I'm railing that unit to Magwe now, and will fly it to Akyab in a few days. Burma is a shell game. A rather hollow one at that.

I also got SigInt that the 4 Ship Eng Rgt is on an AMC headed to Koumac. It's either lots of smoke and mirrors or an even bigger commitment is on the way. New Caledonia could be our Solomons.

[apbarog]

17 Feb 42

Big transport force near Milne Bay. Came past Horn Island and looks to be headed to Rabaul:

ASW attack near Milne Bay at 101,134

Japanese Ships
DD Yamakaze
AMC Awata Maru
AV Sanyo Maru
xAP Palau Maru
xAP Kokuryu Maru
xAP Takatiho Maru
xAP Hakone Maru
DD Umikaze

Allied Ships
SS KIX

Also a combat TF standing guard just outside of Port Moresby. Has been there a few days, at least. Transports at Port Moresby. Don't know if loading or unloading.

ASW attack near Port Moresby at 97,131

Japanese Ships
CA Kako
CA Aoba
DD Asashio
DD Arare
DD Yamagumo

Allied Ships
SS Pickerel

Same old bombings and artillery attacks. Airbase support unit pushed east on the north coast of Borneo, into Jesselton. Enemy will chase down, but it takes time.

US tank unit almost completely unloaded at Noumea. Supply up to 9318. Some ships spotted but no enemy action. Marine regiment artillery and support arrives today. Small cruiser TF to patrol Noumea with a hex reaction range. Enemy transports seen at Luganville. No sign of KB. Enemy builds at Koumac. Allies build at Noumea.

In Burma, the enemy 5th Division was spotted at Chiang Mai. This coincided with a jump in troops there, now over 39,000 men, 450 guns, and 150 vehicles. The push for Burma is coming. The question is whether it will be all overland or not.

With Akyab getting recon, and no defenders there, I start to fly a small unit from Rangoon to Akyab. Too important to lose quickly to paras.

[apbarog]

18 Feb 42

Sub Triton intercepts a big transport TF near Choiseul Bay, just north of the Solomons. Torpedoes miss DD Yamakaze. During the day, Triton attacks again, and fires 4 torpedoes at CS Chiyoda. At least 2 torpedoes hit, but are all duds. The replay message that a torpedo did not explode stayed on the screen longer than usual, meaning that it was redisplayed, so I couldn't tell how many duds there were, just that there were at least 2. See the map for the importance of this spotting.

Bettys from Rabaul bomb Milne Bay's port. The AVP was spotted there yesterday, and since it is out of fuel, it stayed. The Catalinas it supported left. The ship was hit a couple of times with small bombs, and gravely damaged. It was scuttled.

Troops at Kuantan were bombed, as usual. The enemy deliberately attacks at 3 to 1 odds, lowering the forts to 1. 652 Allied casualties to 97 for the enemy. The base will fall tomorrow. Added armor made the difference here.

On Mindanao at Malaybalay, the enemy tries to reduce the holdouts in the mountain base. It doesn't go well for the Japanese. The defenders have supply and spent some time resting. Nice to see a ground fight go well for the good guys once in awhile.

Ground combat at Malaybalay (80,90)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8515 troops, 68 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 262

Defending force 6055 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 189

Japanese adjusted assault: 88

Allied adjusted defense: 442

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 5 (fort level 2)

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

Japanese ground losses:
996 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 78 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled

Allied ground losses:
130 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Assaulting units:
143rd Infantry Regiment
144th Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
3rd Constabulary Regiment
101st PA Infantry Division
Agusan Constab Battalion
Mindanao Force
Del Monte AAF Base Force

[apbarog]

19 Feb 42

5 TBs are spotted patrolling off the Indian Ocean coast of Java. Not sure what they are looking for.

Sub Sturgeon fires 2 torpedoes at a patrol boat near Sabang. The PBs are leading another big task force. Torpedoes miss. Then the next task force runs over Sturgeon. The sub spots CVE Hosho, CS Mizuho, and 4 destroyers. 4 torpedoes are fired at Hosho. One hits, but...wait for it...it's a dud.

Kuantan is bombed heavily, as usual, but today the deliberate attack takes the base. Kuantan was the last Allied base on Malaysia. There's still one small unit in the jungle, and that will be hunted down soon.

Medan is bombed. If only the enemy would send some ships to Medan. I snuck in a very fast minelaying ship a few days ago, and laid a bunch of mines. Maybe Hosho will pass through here back on the way south.

Troops at Sabang are bombed. Almost all of the troops are disrupted. Hosho may be escorting invasion troops for here. I do have several subs in the area. Maybe I'll get another shot.

Bettys bomb Milne Bay's port again. The AVP was scuttled yesterday.

Padang on Sumatra is lost.

Almost all of the support for the Marine regiments on Noumea are unloaded. Just a handful of motorized devices left. Supply is unloaded also.

A DMS will make a full speed run into Koumac from the west today. I haven't seen ships there in awhile, and hope not to find any tonight. I want to know if there are mines there before sending Argonaut in, or maybe a surface group when the enemy armada shows up.

About 10 bombers from Brisbane will bomb Koumac's airfield today. 2 fighter squadrons with mediocre pilots will sweep, hopefully first. The other fighter squadron flys CAP at Noumea.

Yorktown will be completely repaired tomorrow at Pearl Harbor, giving the US 4 carriers available. Prince of Wales is repairing SYS damage there. I may send the battleship to the West Coast for the FLOT damage, or I may keep it at Pearl. To be determined. If I sortie the carriers, and decide on a Marshall's invasion sooner rather than later, I'll want Pearl's repair yard freed up. We'll see.

Aurorus is now actively doing recon in China near Sian and north. It's always a tempting strategy to try and cut China in two and separate the oil production from the rest of the country. My defenses around Sian are probably the most prepared of any part of China. Defense in depth, in the woods, and units resting. I actually hope he commits to a direct approach to Sian. I think I can stop that, with the current enemy forces in China.

[apbarog]

20 Feb 42

Sub Tautog fires 2 torpedoes at xAK Kurogane Maru, spotted with a patrol boat. Both torps miss. This was just north of Luganville.

Sabang is invaded. This is what Hosho was doing nearby. 112th Infantry Regiment is unloaded, and that's more than is needed. Every single defending squad has already been disrupted by air attack.

Near Tulagi, in a shallow hex, Dutch sub O21 spots an AO and a SC. The subchaser gets minor hits on the sub, which will retire to Townsville.

Near Soerabaja, Dutch sub O16 fires 2 torpedoes at DD Tachikaze, which is with a patrol boat, maybe on ASW duty. Both torps miss.

A squadron of P-40Es from Noumea sweep Koumac, finding 45 Zeros on CAP. The Allies take heavier losses. Then another squadron sweeps, and the enemy takes heavier losses. Finally, 6 LB-30s from Brisbane arrive to bomb, but find a still strong CAP of 25 Zeros. 3 Liberators are lost, and no bombs hit.

Total air losses for the day are 22 P40Es and 3 LB30s and 14 Zeros. My pool is limited but his pilots are better. Maybe we got some of them.

Bettys bomb Milne Bay's port again.

KB is still not seen. Detection levels are up around Tulagi, but that is inconclusive. That big convoy that was seen north of the Solomons should be approaching Luganville on the way to Koumac soon. Maybe that was what Tautog fired on.

All ships will leave Noumea today. Supply is up to 13,298, much better than the 3,000 that was there before pushing the xAKLs in. 2 Marine Regiments are fully there now, as is an armor unit. SigInt says that 56 Recon is planning an attack on Noumea.

Burma/Thailand is interesting. The enemy 5th Division moved one hex south of Chiang Mai, on the rail line/road but away from Burma. However, there's a road from there to the northeast, which is a backdoor into Burma, and could possible be used as an indirect route to cutting off China. B-17s bombed this division, confirming its identity. It's been there a couple of days, so it wasn't moving out by rail.

Possibly related, the big Southern Army HQ was at Singapore. It's now on the rail in Malaysia moving north, toward Bangkok. Moving north to support a move to Burma.

All of this enemy activity at the forward Thailand bases could be a big ruse, but I doubt it. Regardless, it isn't making any difference to what I've been doing in Burma, except for shuttling around some units to cover possible para targets.

A fresh P-39 units was moved to Noumea and will sweep Koumac. I will keep swapping units in and out to wear down those Zeros, and hopefully get a chance to start using some bombers from Noumea, once Noumea gets a bigger airbase.

Yorktown is repaired. Hornet arrives in 3 days.

[edit: Forgot to mention that a DMS ran into Koumac last night, and didn't find opposition or mines. A small CA task force will move from Noumea to Koumac to bombard, and hopefully degrade the airfield and those Zeros. Argonaut will drop mines tomorrow.]

[apbarog]

21 Feb 42

Enemy continues to unload at Sabang, and then the base is captured easily.

US cruisers bombard Koumac, and get decent results. A bunch of non-combat losses.

Night Naval bombardment of Koumac at 113,156

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 4 damaged
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed on ground
C5M2 Babs: 1 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 4 damaged

Allied Ships
CA Indianapolis
CL Boise
CL Marblehead
DD Ellet
DD Benham

Japanese ground losses:
508 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 15 disabled

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 12
Port hits 7
Port supply hits 1

Sian China is bombed for the first time, by unescorted Lilys. Allied fighters just left China for some training in India.

3 B-17s bomb Koumac's airfield, finding no CAP, but get no hits. Recon is still poor here. Flying B-17s out of size 1 Norfolk Island isn't working for recon. P-39s and P40s then swept Koumac, again finding no CAP.

Enemy forces reached Batavia and did a probing artillery attack. They found a weak defense and will certainly take the base tomorrow. I have SigInt of an artillery unit loaded on an xAK and headed to Batavia. Must be to help against the mountain holdout inland.

US cruisers Louisville (barely damaged) and St. Louis (moderate SYS damage but little else), along with destroyer Downes (moderate damage) reach Pearl Harbor. This is all of my big cruiser TF that got bushwacked near Ndeni.

No sign of KB or the transport TF supposedly going to Koumac. Only notable detection levels are near Rabaul now.

Burma is heating up. CVEs and combat ships hugging the coast headed north. Enemy infantry division taking the inland road to the north.

[apbarog]

22 Feb 42

AM Breeze spots I-175 SE of Suva, but can't engage. Another sub around Suva.

North of Timor, Dutch sub O16 gets 2 torpedo hits on AO Iro, which is loaded with fuel, burning, and certainly sunk. Audio heard. The task force was eastbound. The sub was also, as it had left its patrol around Soerabaja and was transiting to Townsville. A lucky encounter. Always good to get an AO or TK.

I-23, east of Suva, torpedoes ACM YP-251, sinking her. It was on the way to Suva with another ACM destined for Noumea.

Manila is swept by 41 Oscars. This hasn't happened in awhile. Aurorus saw movement days ago out of Bataan. I moved an engineer unit to Clark to repair airfield damage. This was spotted. I don't have any immediate plans of rebasing aircraft here, but I wanted the possibility if an eventual invasion comes and it isn't strongly supported. Supply is still good but always decreasing. I stopped building forts at Bataan to conserve supply. Bataan is almost maxxed out with men and a couple of fort levels, and about 25,000 supply.

Allied dot base ports in the Andamans were attacked today, by CVE aircraft and Sallys. My frequent use of AVPs in ports supporting search planes has not gone unnoticed and has Aurorus' attention. Chasing ghosts in most places.

The Chinese mountain holdout behind the lines, in far northern China, has finally fallen. Out of supply for a long time, they were worn down. This frees up a couple of enemy units. Lots of enemy recon going on in China. Aurorus is looking for where the next opportunity is. He's checked heavily near Sian, and is now looking southwest of Changsha. Sian's defense is supported by the terrain. Not so much southwest of Changsha.

No sign of KB for quite awhile now. And that big transport task force that I had spotted many times, and had SigInt that it was going to Koumac, obviously was not. At least not immediately. Could have been a big ruse. Doesn't matter really, as I don't have excess that could have been committed to Noumea. I've done what I was going to do regardless. The enemy could have settled for reinforcing Tulagi/Lunga, or Ndeni, or Luganville. Koumac is a bit distant from support until these bases are built up.

[apbarog]

23 Feb 42

The missing big transport task force has reappeared, just north of Woodlark Island. This is curious. It was tracked eastbound past Horn Island, then northeast past Milne Bay, then it was north of the Solomons, heading southeast. I had SigInt for a unit that was loaded on it that it was headed for Koumac. It didn't go to Koumac. It disappeared for awhile, now it's back west near Woodlark. It may have unloaded in the Tulagi/Guadalcanal area. Hard to say. Anyhow, Dutch sub KX spotted it and fired 2 torpedoes at DD Umikaze and missed. Still an AMC, AV, and 3 xAPs spotted in the force.

Very interesting spot by Sculpin near Phuket. Fired 2 torpedoes at a patrol boat escorting 2 AKE to the north. The CVEs are guarding Victoria Point, a size 4 airfield. My guess is that the AKEs will go there. If Rangoon is still a safe airfield in a couple of days, I'll move some bombers in and hit Victoria Point.

Swordfish misses DD Michishio just outside of Port Moresby. There's been a surface group guarding there for about a week.

Stingray misses a patrol boat near Cam Ranh Bay.

Buna is invaded by the enemy 84th Nav Gd. The base is empty.

I got SigInt that the Tone Heavy Gun unit is bound for Batavia. It has been at Port Arthur, and is a very nice big gun unit. It must be planned to help reduce my mountain fortress. Aurorus really likes to use artillery bombardments. More than I do. He will delay deliberate attacks for extended use of artillery. I know that he likes to limit his casualties, especially in the early war for the Japanese, as recovering from casualties delays the advance. He may be smarter about this than I am. I will tend to go for the method that conquers the base when I think it is possible to take it.

SigInt says that the enemy 23rd Army HQ is planning an attack at Wuchow. Wuchow is just north of Canton and is vulnerable. Clear terrain. I have a base unit there and no combat unit, so he can take it at his leisure. I will defend in better terrain to the north.

Hornet has arrived in Panama.