Never Thought I'd Start Another One - tc464 (A) vs. Mike (J)

[sfatula]

Mike, really enjoying the AAR and genuinely missed you during your lengthy sojourn away from your last game. Thanks for the enjoyment you offer and keep it coming!

Thanks. I really appreciate that. Ted and I have gotten a renewed love for this game, and since we're both retired, the pace is much quicker. That's part of the reason I'm unable to update here more frequently. I'm a week ahead of the last posted turn. The game is quiet in many places but some interesting developments are occurring.

But we want more, and more! You have the best AAR I think of the current ones.

[RangerJoe]

Mike, really enjoying the AAR and genuinely missed you during your lengthy sojourn away from your last game. Thanks for the enjoyment you offer and keep it coming!

Thanks. I really appreciate that. Ted and I have gotten a renewed love for this game, and since we're both retired, the pace is much quicker. That's part of the reason I'm unable to update here more frequently. I'm a week ahead of the last posted turn. The game is quiet in many places but some interesting developments are occurring.

But we want more, and more! You have the best AAR I think of the current ones.

Yes!

Lowpe quit updating his AAR.

Canoerebel is not around to post pictures of trees.

Greyjoy is not around to enrich our spelling.

[sfatula]

Yes!

Lowpe quit updating his AAR.

Canoerebel is not around to post pictures of trees.

Greyjoy is not around to enrich our spelling.

I did enjoy Lowpes AARs. But you have to find the time, we are all waiting for it.

I'm retired too, will be taking up a game later this year. Since you're retired, you know you have nothing else to do except update this AAR. Everyone knows that.

You can't just tease us with interesting things are happening and then leave us hanging!

Seriously, love paxmondo comments also.

[Mike Solli]

You guys are nuts.

3 Jun 42 - Really quiet turn...

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

My 4 CAs have arrived north of Ndeni, but the enemy ships have vanished. My ships are undetected. I'll have them hang out for a while in case the enemy returns.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Chewed on the Chinese troops at Paoshan again with my tanks. They're getting weaker, but there are a lot of them, some 12k to my 4 tank regiments, an engineer battalion and an artillery regiment.

I've decided to bombard the enemy troops at Shwebo for a while. They have much more strength than I do, but my troops are much better. I have 8 artillery units there with another 8 on their way. When they all arrive, I'll be able to do serious damage to them each turn.

At the confrontation a hex east of Cox's Bazaar, I have 1350 AV to their 600 AV and have another division on its way with 440 AV. I'm letting them barrage me each day. They lose troops and I don't. Interesting... I'll attack when the division arrives.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

4 Jun 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The Allies are pushing north and east out of Pt. Moresby. That's disconcerting. Their air power is massive. Today, I counted 41x 4E and 39x 2E sorties. There are 82 fighters stationed at PM. About 20 P-39Ds strafe daily with the rest either providing escort, CAP or sweep support. My night bombing is irritating to Ted (he said so in an email) but not war winning. I did track what I destroyed last month and I destroyed 16 fighters and 6 bombers. Like I said, irritating but not war winning.

There are no enemy ships south of Tulagi, so my CA TF will hang out a little longer.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Ted has 48 2E bombers that keep hitting my troops just east of Cox's Bazaar. They aren't doing much but I can't get at them because of piles of Hurricanes that are sweeping the hex. I need to find a way to neutralize them. The fighters are stationed at Chittagong and the bombers are at Imphal. I just sent the 9 June turn to Ted. Been thinking about things to do. I'm thinking of sending 7 BBs (including Yamato) to hit Chittagong and then all the CAs I can muster in the AO (4 probably) to do bombardments of Chittagong 2 days in a row. I might put 2 of the BBs with the CAs on the second bombardment.

Chiang Mai is my main airbase in the AO and Imphal is out of range of the IJA 2E bombers. I'm thinking of moving in some Nells/Betties to hit the bombers at Imphal. On the to do list for the future.

Back to the present. I had spotted CVL Hermes tooling around a few hexes SW of Calcutta. I have no idea what she's doing there. There's a sub in the hex but no contact was made. I don't think the sub was detected. I sent part of MKB (Ryujo, Shoho and Zuiho - the fastest of the baby flattops) yesterday. They'll arrive in range in 3 days. Hopefully, Hermes is still there. (Given I know what has transpired, I should have sent the rest of MKB in a separate fleet up there as well.) I'll leave that little tidbit to keep you guessing.

China

The bombing attack on Chungking's airfield was pretty successful today. There is lasting damage on the airfield. Make those engineers there work and use up supply! They even killed a bomber on the ground and damaged 8 more. Ted has a couple dozen fighters at Kunming. Wonder why he won't move them to Chungking to counter my bombers? It might be the 24 Zeros that are escorting them.

I attacked the 21k troops isolated at Foochow (a base I control). There are 3 Chinese Corps and a Group Army there. I am going to destroy that force, just because they can move out and cause problems. I'm surprised Ted didn't attack the defending infantry regiment earlier. Maybe a lack of supply? At any rate, since the Chinese are not in the city, they don't retreat. It'll take a few turns to kill them off. Today's attack was nice. I killed 155 squads and disabled another 200.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

5 Jun 42

Sub War

The I-159 couldn't get to CVL Hermes, but launched 6(!) torpedoes at CL Caledon, but missed. *Sigh*

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

More bombing of my poor troops between Kokoda and Buna. I did put some Zeros over Milne Bay and shot down 4 enemy fighters for the loss of 2 Zeros (1 KIA). Gotta keep Ted guessing.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Another armor attack against Paoshan tomorrow.

MKB(-) is still 2 days out from the CVL Hermes TF.

China

The additional bombing of Chungking resulted in a net of 14 airfield damage along with a couple more damaged Chinese bombers. The engineers can't keep up.

The 13 Army attacked Foochow again, this time killing 268 squads and disabling another hundred. They'll attack again tomorrow.

Other Stuff

I have a serious shortage of AS. I have made a list of where I need more AS, and the list is growing much quicker than it is being filled. I decided to comb the empire to see where I can find unused AS. I found a bunch at Takao, including the 11 Air Fleet, with 36 AS and a range of 5 hexes for its torpedoes. Any thoughts on where I should put it? Rabaul comes to mind initially.

[Mike Solli]

6 Jun 42

Sub War

The I-11 heavily damaged an xAK off Karachi. Another venue for my subs. There are others too...

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

My LRCAP over Milne Bay netted 4 enemy fighters (again) vs. 2 Zeros (again) lost (1 KIA, 1 WIA).

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

I lost track of CVL Hermes. Darn! MKB(-) is a day south of its launch point of where Hermes was, and she'll still head there, just in case. CS Chitose is in the TF to provide Jake naval search out 10 hexes. Fingers crossed. The I-159 is going to scout the vicinity to try and find her.

China

Foochow was attacked again, this time killing 267 squads and a Chinese Corps. Another attack goes in tomorrow.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

7 Jun 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The night Nell bombing of Pt. Moresby cost us a Nell to flak (usually about 1 a month, which is acceptable) and killed a P-40E on the ground and damaged a few B-26s. About the norm...

There were some interesting proceedings down here today. The French DD Le Triumphant bombarded Lunga, where I have the 65 Naval Guard Unit but no forts. Its infrastructure has not been built up. Right next door at Tulagi is the 4 Independent SNLF Company, along with engineers and AS protecting a chutai of Dinah IIs on naval search and 7 Nells on naval attack orders. The base is built up to a level 1 port, level 2 airfield and 3 forts. The French did no damage, but interestingly stayed in the hex and bombarded twice. (I'll bet they have no more than a shot or two of their main gun ammunition.) I had spotted it yesterday and sent the CA TF after it. The CAs came around from the south and ended up a hex south of Lunga. I'll have them drive through Lunga tomorrow and head north a bit. the intent is to kill the French DD then move north away from the other potential threats. I really hope the CA TF catches her. Those are the type of naval combats I like to see. 4 CA, 1 CL and 4 DD vs. a single DD with little to no ammo.

There are 2 small TFs just north of Espíritu Santo and heading toward Lunga. One is allegedly composed of a BB and CL. Doubtful, but you never know. The other is supposedly composed of an AMC and DD. Interesting...

I decided to break my hard and fast rule one more time and sent part of KB south from Truk, just in case. This time I was a little smarter. I sent Hiryu, Shokaku and Zuikaku, but modified their air complements. I off loaded the Vals and Kates from Hiryu and added the fighters from Akagi and Kaga. So, this KB(-) has a total of 90 Zeros, 54 Vals and 54 Kates. They will be in launch range in and around Lunga in 2 days.

On a sad note, Kokoda was taken by the Aussies. They attacked with an Aussie Brigade, supported by 2 artillery units and a HQ vs. my single Naval Guard.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Well, MKB(-) found Hermes and her retinue. 28 Kates (mixture of bombs and torpedoes) escorted by 30 Zeros were launched. A bomb and torpedo found Hermes and a Kate was lost to flak. Not at all what I had hoped to see. Hermes wasn't even listed as damaged. In addition, CAs Cornwall and Exeter and CL Caledon were spotted. I guess it was better than clean misses.

Then, 11 Swordfish showed up at MKB and ran into a buzz saw of 48 Zeros. Result: No more Swordfish.

Later, Paoshan was attacked again by my tanks. The Chinese still held on (mainly by the sheer mass of bodies there), but lost another 39 squads to none of my tanks. They'll spend a day resting and collecting more supply for the next attack.

Some of my Paratroopers took Katha. I control all of Burma with the exception of Shwebo.

China

My bombers hit Chungking again killing a Chinese bomber and damaging a couple more and doing light damage to the airfield. Lasting damage decreased to 10, but it's still damage that couldn't be repaired.

Foochow was attacked again by 13 Army killing over 1100 squads and a Chinese Corps and Group Army. Only one Corps remains, which will be attacked tomorrow.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

8 Jun 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The CA TF caught the French DD Le Triomphant and put her down easily. Unfortunately, one of her few remaining shells caught CA Kako causing some damage: 16-6(4)-2-0. She and an escorting DD will withdraw to Truk for repairs. They are 4 hexes north of Tulagi. The AMC, PG (was DD) TF is at Ndeni. My CAs are headed down there to try and catch them.

The other TF (BB/CL) is now showing up as 9 ships(!) including 4 CLs. Those Army Naval Search pilots have no idea what ships are out there. KB(-) will be about 7 hexes north of Tulagi tomorrow. Let's see what happens!

I had set some Betties and Nells to Naval Attack at Rabaul with 20% naval search to the south. I figured they would ignore anything around PM. Nope. I forgot that they could react to any naval search, not just their own. I still had naval search around PM and they reacted to it. There were multiple attacks at Terapo, going after a TF of 2 AM and an xAKL. They sank one of each at a cost of 8 bombers. They did manage to damage an enemy fighter, a rare occurrence.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

The Hermes was once again spotted near Diamond Harbor. MKB launched 14 Kates escorted by 22 Zeros at them. A CAP of 6 Hurricanes and 2 P-40Es leaking from Chittagong tried to protect them to no avail. They were driven off at a cost of 1 Zero (KIA), but the Kates got through to put 2 torpedoes into Hermes and 2 bombs into CA Exeter, leaving both heavily damaged and Exeter burning fiercely. One Kate was lost to flak (KIA). There was no report of either ship sinking.

China

The last Chinese Corps at Foochow was destroyed today by 13 Army. This army composed of the Army HQ, 4 divisions, an IMB and a mortar battalion will now march to Kukong then rail to Liuchow. It will then march north to its next target: Tuyun.

Other Stuff

The A6M3a Zero R&D advanced to 10/42. It is expected to become operational in 7/42. This will eventually become KBs bomber escort, when the Jill comes online, probably sometime in late 42.

Reinforcement
19 Port Unit - SW Area Fleet - Headed to Toyohara.

[Mike Solli]

9 Jun 42

Sub War

The TK Kuiyo Maru (Type-1 TS - 1250 capacity, empty) was caught by a rare functional torpedo from Grampus a few hexes SW of Nagasaki. She sank later in the day. She was moving oil from Formosa (8 oil fields at Taihoku) to Nagasaki. I'll have to scrounge another TK. I have a spare 1250 capacity TK at Shikuka, but don't want to pull it out. I'll probably use one of the 17 Std-C TKs that are currently converting at Hong Kong. They have a capacity of 2850 and will be converted in 12 days. I need to up my ASW/naval search in this area. Actually, there is none at the moment. I have 5 Momi class PCs that are currently having DC racks (Type 95 Mod 2) added at Shanghai and will be done in 6 days. Guess who's going to be put on ASW duty off Nagasaki?

More good news: The I-170, off the coast of Pt. Moresby, ate a depth charge: 18-11(3)-2(2)-0. She'll survive but is headed back to Truk for repairs.

There was just a little bit of good news on the undersea front. The I-159 got the damaged CVL Hermes in her sights and launched her last 6 forward firing torpedoes at her. Four(!) of them connected and the crew had the satisfaction of hearing the first carrier of the war go down! (There were 3 fuel storage explosions! Ouch!) Banzai!!! (Actually, this may be the second. The CV Formidable was caught on 19 May by a sub torpedo south of Pt. Moresby. There was an ammo explosion and I never saw her again. I don't think she sank, but you never know!)

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Nothing to report.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Late in the day, MKB launched another attack on the damaged CA Exeter (2x 250kg bomb hits yesterday). She was slinking along the south coast of India westward. An attack of 9 Kates escorted by 15 Zeros found her. (9 more Kates got lost and returned home. ) They managed to put a torpedo into Exeter leaving her heavily damaged and burning. No report of her sinking, unfortunately.

The armor attack at Paoshan wiped out another 500 enemy troops. My tank crews will rest a bit before continuing the attack.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

I don't think I mentioned it, but I allocated a training fighter unit, the 5 Sentai stationed at Tokyo to 5 Air Division (SE Fleet AO). They currently are outfitted with Nates, and are still training, but they will soon convert to the Ki-45 KAIa Nick FB. I have a single, size 30 factory producing them and currently have 26 in the pool. I'll probably convert tomorrow and have 27 in the unit (size 30) and have them rest and begin to repair the planes. In a week, I'll fill out the last 3 + 4 reserve aircraft. Once repaired, they'll head to Gasmata to begin their work taking out enemy B-17s. This aircraft is the best early war plane that can do that. They have a 20mm Ho-3 cannon (accuracy 52) and 2x 12.7mm Ho-103 MG (accuracy 58). I had good luck with them last game and hope to repeat that performance this time around. By the way, the pilots have been training since the war started and have an average experience of 71 (70-80 skill) and average A2A of 70 (70-73).

[Mike Solli]

I'm a week behind in the AAR. Most places are pretty quiet. It seems that SE Fleet and Burma are the busiest, with occasional spats in China. There's lots of bombing in China and around the SRA (against rabble in the jungle) that I never mention unless it's something important.

10 Jun 42

Sub War

The RO-34 took out an xAKL south of Unmak. She was unescorted so my sub attacked on the surface.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The US (I think) carriers are moving south.

Carriers!.png (446.95 KiB) Viewed 174 times

My subs didn't engage, unfortunately. I suspect they will run faster than I can chase.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

My tanks killed another 48 Chinese squads and disabled 24 at Paoshan today. They still hold the city.

My bombardment at Shwebo killed 17 enemy steps. I have only 2 divisions there, which isn't enough to take the base yet. I'll keep bombarding with the 8 arty units. The other 8 arty units are still moving up.

Cox's Bazaar is an issue. I have 3 divisions plus a few other units a hex east of the base but I'm having an issue with supply. The 56 Division is moving up so the supply issue will only compound. I keep sending Ansyu PBs in Fast Transport TFs, but the supply they drop off isn't helping much.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

I heard sinking early on. No idea what it was.

[Mike Solli]

11 Jun 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The Allied carriers moved north. There were 3 subs prowling around and they all failed to even spot them.

Carriers.png (219.04 KiB) Viewed 173 times

Maybe they'll make contact tomorrow. My 3 fleet carriers are withdrawing. If all 6 were present, I'd go after them, but not with only 3.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Eleven enemy squads destroyed at Shwebo. The raw AV is 1074 Japanese to 955 Allied.

One hex east of Cox's Bazaar, the raw AV is 1269 Japanese to 542 Allied. I'm waiting for the 56 Division and supply to attack.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
53 JNAF AF Unit - Southern Army - Allocated to Burma.

[Mike Solli]

12 Jun 42

Sub War

The O24 took out a To-su PB escorting some TKs off Balikpapan. That's what they're for!

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The night Nell attack today destroyed 3 planes on the ground and damaged another 8, along with a little bit of airfield damage.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

37 more Chinese squads destroyed at Paoshan.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

The Ha-45 engine R&D advanced to 12/42 and is anticipated to become operational 8/42.

Reinforcement
146 Infantry Regiment/56 Division - This regiment was caught early in the war headed to Singkawang and sunk. It was an element of 56 Division. I later combined the remaining elements of that division into the division and began filling it out with replacements. I figured it was un-rebuildable. A few weeks ago, I happened to look at the destroyed ground units and realized it could be rebuilt. Odd. I rebuilt it and it arrived today with just a handful of steps:

146 IR.png (552.99 KiB) Viewed 165 times

If you click on "Unit organization of 56 Division" you'll see that it's part of the 56 Division, which is currently at Cox's Bazaar:

Unit Organization.png (527 KiB) Viewed 165 times

Ok, 56 Division is currently at full strength. I guessed you could add it to make it over strength. Then I noticed you could rebuild the unit. When you click that, it forms another 56 Division. Here's what it would look like at full strength after rebuilding it:

56 Division.png (540.32 KiB) Viewed 165 times

Very interesting. I still have it as a regiment, but have options.

[RangerJoe]

That could be a nice garrison unit while it trains but it was not supposed to return!

[Tanaka]

I'm a week behind in the AAR. Most places are pretty quiet. It seems that SE Fleet and Burma are the busiest, with occasional spats in China. There's lots of bombing in China and around the SRA (against rabble in the jungle) that I never mention unless it's something important.

10 Jun 42

Sub War

The RO-34 took out an xAKL south of Unmak. She was unescorted so my sub attacked on the surface.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The US (I think) carriers are moving south.

Carriers!.png

My subs didn't engage, unfortunately. I suspect they will run faster than I can chase.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

My tanks killed another 48 Chinese squads and disabled 24 at Paoshan today. They still hold the city.

My bombardment at Shwebo killed 17 enemy steps. I have only 2 divisions there, which isn't enough to take the base yet. I'll keep bombarding with the 8 arty units. The other 8 arty units are still moving up.

Cox's Bazaar is an issue. I have 3 divisions plus a few other units a hex east of the base but I'm having an issue with supply. The 56 Division is moving up so the supply issue will only compound. I keep sending Ansyu PBs in Fast Transport TFs, but the supply they drop off isn't helping much.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

I heard sinking early on. No idea what it was.

Interesting that you are micromanaging your search arcs. There has been much discussion that just leaving the whole search arc is better. I concluded the same thing with my testing...

https://forums.matrixgames.com/viewtopic.php?t=358239

[Mike Solli]

Tanaka, if you read that thread to the end, you'll see some information from Alfred that says micromanagement is better. There are definitely two schools of thought though. I'll stick with micromanagement. I did learn that it's automatically 360 within 4 hexes of the base. That's good to know.

[Mike Solli]

13 Jun 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The Allied carriers disappeared to the south near Espiritu Santo. I don't have a Glen sub close enough to keep tabs on them, unfortunately.

SRA

Bacolod was liberated with no damage to the infrastructure:

Manpower: 1(1)
Resources: 20(0)

Burma

The 33 Division was garrisoning Mandalay (next door to Shwebo) but I decided to send them into the fray. That extra infantry might be enough to take the base. Meanwhile, the 8 artillery units continue to barrage with 8 more getting close.

China

The Chungking bombing destroyed an SB-III and caused additional damage to the airfield a the cost of a Sally to flak.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

14 Jun 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Nothing to report.

SRA

A bombardment TF, the Yamato, 4 CA and 2 DD entered Darwin harbor and caught a small TF and sank an xAK and 3 xAKLs. After that, they bombarded causing a good amount of damage:

Night Naval bombardment of Darwin at 76,124 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 16 damaged
Hudson I: 1 destroyed on ground
L-18 Lodestar: 7 damaged
L-18 Lodestar: 1 destroyed on ground
Vildebeest III: 2 damaged
Vildebeest III: 1 destroyed on ground

30 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
BB Yamato, Shell hits 1
CA Ashigara
CA Chokai
CA Atago
CA Takao

Allied Ships
xAKL Kolambugan, Shell hits 1
xAKL Surigao, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Legaspi, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Isla Filipinas, Shell hits 1

Allied ground losses:
595 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 40 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled

Airbase hits 15
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 43
Port hits 3

I have another TF of 6 BB and 2 DD that is scheduled to hit Darwin tomorrow to add to the mayhem.

Burma

Killed 39 more Chinese squads at Paoshan.

More bombardment of Shwebo.

Stalemate just east of Cox's Bazaar.

China

I had a brigade meandering around in the far north of China taking the far flung bases. They arrived at Urumchi yesterday and found the base to be un-garrisoned! I set them to attack but the base flipped on its own and I took it with no damage to the infrastructure!

Manpower: 1(1)
Resources: 40(0)
Oil: 50(0)
Refinery: 20(0)
LI: 20(0)

I'm pretty sure Ted did that to damage the airfield, which was damaged at 2 services and 98 airfield. I'm sending a construction company up there to repair the damage, but it really doesn't matter. Ted still controls and will for a while. The nice thing is that it is now out of supply.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
SC Ch-31 - ASW

[Mike Solli]

15 Jun 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The night Nell bombing of Pt. Moresby damaged half a dozen planes and caused a little damage to the airfield. Ted has given up his night fighter operations. I think they never connected because he had them too high. He has over 80 fighters at PM. He can afford a squadron to night fighter duties.

SRA

So, the 6 BB TF steamed into Darwin harbor and steamed right back out again. I had them on surface orders, not bombardment.

I also forgot to take the Yamato TF off "Remain on Station" yesterday so they bombarded again. They damaged 8 planes and added to the damage to the base, then wandered off toward Soerabaja. I'm really lucky there isn't any air power there to put a torpedo or two into one of my capital ships.

Burma

No real change today. The tanks at Paoshan rested today and will attack again tomorrow.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

16 Jun 42 - Overall, pretty boring day.

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Well, the southeast portion of PNG (Lae to Milne Bay) is doomed. The 20 Division, which made it to PM but was unable to take it. They were eventually pushed out and have made their way to Buna where they are being airlifted out to Rabaul. There are NG units scattered around the bases there and they will stay and fight to the death.

SRA

That evil Ted dropped off some mines at Balikpapan. They're slowly being cleared, but I realized that I never dropped off any local minesweepers at Balikpapan, Tarakan or Miri. I rectified that today. It'll take awhile to before they get there.

Burma

81 Chinese squads destroyed at Paoshan. The Chinese still hold it, but all it's costing me is some supply. I'm taking no losses at all.

No change anywhere else.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

The Ki-44-IIb R&D advanced to 4/43 and is expected to become operational in 9/42. The Ha-34 engine pool has finally reached 500 and increases by 3 each day. I have 5 R&D Tojo factories going, so with the extra engines, the R&D advances an average of 8% per day, or 240% per month.

Reinforcement
DD Susuzuki - 3rd Akitsuki class - KB escort.

I had 2 pilots escape capture today!