True to history the appropriately named Operation Stalemate (invasion of the Palau Islands) causes heavy loss which arguably could have been avoided. Moral on the Homefront drops as word of the loss of the CV Enterprise and BB Missouri has the general population showing signs of war weariness. President Roosevelt is conspicuously absent from the media and rumors are running wild. Perhaps a peace agreement is in the making. The loss of a carrier is bad, but the loss of the “Mighty Mo” hurts even more. With the sinking of this symbol of “Victory in the Pacific” I continue to regret not researching Large Warships and wonder what the heck I am doing in this area.
Task Force 58 containing the fast attack US carriers steams to Rabaul for repairs effectiveness recovery. They may be in port for a couple of turns. Task Force 57 containing British carriers arrive from Formosa to protect the islands from enemy carrier attack. Despite naval losses the Marines continue to do the job. The 5th Division lands on Peleliu meeting token resistance. The unsupplied Japanese 17th Division cannot stand up to the heavy naval and air bombardment and soon surrenders, losing 8 strength points. The Australian 11th Division lands to clean up around the port facilities. Airfields are repaired and should be able to receive planes in a couple of weeks.
Seriously, I'm surprised that Japan is able to move anything at all! I don't know if this would make a difference but I've seen on other threads that you want to keep your carriers in raider mode all of the time to avoid ambushes.
