Reckless Bravery - Alikchi vs Cruft II (CHS)

[Alikchi2]

That's true Hoepner. I have nothing there that can stand against him. Maybe it's a code and "CA CA" means "Kido Butai, invasion convoy, replenishment TF, 30,000 screaming berserker paratroopers, supporting elements". ;p

I wish I could choose to "let" him take Canton, but at this point my only option is flee! In two days, the 2nd Marine Defense Battalion would have been established there. In a week, we would have had the entire 2nd Marine Div.. ah well!

In fact, today I had to pull out all my aircraft. Invasion is confirmed.

1/2/41

India/Burma: No action.

China: Recon reports about 60,000 troops northeast of Changsha and several hundred AFVs.. five units total. Eek. Don't know if I can do anything here without leaving other bases vulnerable.

I also noticed another attacking group in the north.. this worries me because I have a lot of bases to cover and my forces are spread pretty thin. Especially around Yenen/Sian.

Malaya: My Buffalo LRCAP was rained out, so no action here.

The Philippines: Bombardments at Clark and Naga now. The units at Naga have lost a lot of their strength to his bombardments - he kills at least 150 a day, while my bombardments have ceased to be effective.

At Clark, we still have basically equal numbers, but his airfield attacks have kept the forts down.

Oh, my aircraft on Naval Attack launched this turn and scored no hits - it has become really hard to find naval units with no CAP. Sneaky Cruft is keeping things well under control.

DEI: The shipping I have in Palembang is making a run for Tjilitjap. I'm afraid this will attack the attention of his Nells/Betties at Kuching, but none of the ships there are particularly valuable, so I should be okay. Speaking of Palembang, I moved out some Martins and replaced them with 12 Bostons there today.. another nasty surprise to go with the 1300 mines, 5 fort levels, ANZACs and Marines.

He is so going to hate me. Also!

Menado fell today, no surprise there. Well, one surprising thing was that the units there (garrison unit, base force) did not surrender - they retreated a hex to the east. I'm going to leave them there.. if Cruft doesn't leave a combat unit (however small) to garrison Menado I can march back in.

Question that I should know the answer to: Does repairing ships in harbor take away engineers from building up airfield/port/forts?

SWPAC: A-24s still on the way, and B-17s arrived in Brisbane. The EAB I have slated for PM just made it to Panama and is beginning the second leg of its journey now.

SOPAC: Ack.

I was right about Canton Island. The contact was the Kido Butai (in what appears to be two TFs), a replenishment group (TK TK), and i think two invasion convoys. The exact composition doesn't matter - the KB is nearby which means I flee.

Today they reached a point three hexes directly west of Canton and sunk the AK Mexican (which had managed to unload its cargo of Lightnings before running south a few hexes to die). Landings will probably begin tomorrow.

I've flown off the aircraft from Canton - Lightnings and two wings of PBYs - and it looks like the units I have slated for Canton will need to move farther south. Probably they will split between Pago Pago and Papaete.

Papaete, by the way, looks like it could be developed into an excellent base through which to route my convoys.. a very long trip from his bases in the Marshalls (and soon Canton, I guess). I'll enclose a screenshot here.

CENTPAC: No action - sent some aircraft south towards Palmyra and Christmas Island in a panicy reaction to the KB showing up. I have the bases covered with PBYs but no fighters yet.. VMF-221 is on its way south.

NORTHPAC: No action.

West Coast: An I-boat sinks AK City of Flint, carrying 16 Marauders, and evades the 2 destroyers on escort. Phooey.

Every bomber on the west coast is now on ASW duty. Go get 'em, boys...

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Screenshots!

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Canton situation.

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Papaete, future home of lots of Marines and new to CHS. I like it!

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Well, this is interesting. Looks like Cruft is making a grab for the US-Australia line. Operation Neck Tie!

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Edit: I should stop writing AARs at three in the morning. Whoops!

[Rob Brennan UK]

Love the AAR and yes please as many screenies as you can , I'm very intrigued with the CHS mod , looks very very good.

Thumbs up to all who contributed , and a big thanks to Alikchi for posting the AAR ..

All the new places and planes and ships. Wow.[:)]

[Alikchi2]

Thanks Rob! [:)] I definitely agree with you. The new map, the new ships, aircraft, everything.. it feels like a whole new game!

Cruft's been having trouble loading the combat replay, but he informs me that he's gotten it to work - it just takes five minutes to load the "DIVDE CRIPPLED TFS" bit. Hmm..

He's working on his orders right now. [8D]

[Alikchi2]

Not a great day for the Allies.

1/3/42

India/Burma: No action.. I have a slew of air units (mostly Hurricane IIs) arriving at Middle East in 9 days. Sent some AKs over there to be ready to transport them to India (see house rules).

China: His units continue to cluster around Changsha, while I bomb and hit nothing. Near Ichang, several Chinese corps begin to inch towards Hangkow. Maybe I can draw forces away from Changsha..

Malaya: My Buffaloes on LRCAP over Kuantan do not do well. In fact, the Oscars on escort rip into them and knock down 14 of them. Only one Oscar is destroyed. I won't be trying that again anytime soon.. my appreciation of the Buffalo has hit a new low.

On the ground no action, but Dorniers from Bankha confirmed that 5th Division IJA is advancing towards my forces at Kuala Lumpur. Interesting..

The Philippines: A few more P-40s and P-35s are shot down over Clark - he's still bombing the base hard. I can't get the forts to go up with his constant attacking so I've pulled out most of the engineers to help at Manila, which is relatively undamaged. Bombardments continue at Naga and Clark.

DEI: The convoy making the run from Palembang does attract the attention of his Nells, as expected. Several torpedoes are delivered.. I've split up the convoy into 3 TFs based on speed and all are headed for Palembang. I also sent the last naval unit in Palembang - DD Pope - on a full speed run for Soerabaja under LRCAP.

Farther south, in Soerabaja, I've loaded the Dutch transport aircraft (two groups) into AKs and pointed them towards India. I really need to get those Chinese units into the theatre, and I really am not using them in the DEI, to be honest.

Also in Soerabaja, the remnants of the Asiatic Fleet (minus Boise, Marblehead, and a few DDs) raise anchor and head for Sydney. They've all been damaged to a fair degree - screenshot at the end of the post - and there's not much else they can do here. The USN is pulling out.

I also pulled out De Ruyter, Sumatra, and Van Nes, all equally damaged. They're heading for Columbo. This creates a problem. The USN supplied most of the DD resources in the theatre (granted, they were crappy DDs, but they were still DDs). I now have about as many CAs and CLs as I do DDs. I'll just have to make do with the assets I have available. An update on what I do have in the DEI is coming soon..

Hopefully, this will speed up Soerabaja's growth to size 9 port. We hit 30% today.

SOPAC: Canton Island fell to the Sasebo 7th SNLF today.. the base force surrendered immediately. Damaged aircraft on Canton fell into Japanese hands, including six Lightnings.

This has big ramifications - Canton really juts into my convoy routes. For now, I'm just going to have to swing around it. The Kido Butai is currently stationary two hexes southwest of Canton.

CENTPAC: Another AK torpedoed.. his I-boats are doing really well, I have to say.

West Coast: 9 days until a huge pile of AKs, APs and TKs arrives at San Fran. It'll be nice.

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Screenshots!

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The Asiatic fleet has halted the flooding on most of its ships and now begins to limp out of the theatre to Australia.

[Tom Hunter]

After seeing results like this several times in our 3x3 game:

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 35
Blenheim I x 6
Hudson I x 6


Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim I: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Buenos Aires Maru
AP Nissen Maru #3
AP Tsuruga Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Tacoma Maru, Bomb hits 1
AP Kanayamasan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Akikaze
AP Takunan Maru, Bomb hits 1
AP Shinyo Maru, Bomb hits 1
MSW Takashima Maru
AP Tatuho Maru
AP Takuei Maru

I have decided that the Buffalo is actually a dive bomber. I very seldom fly it as CAP or escorts now. Same for the other early war Allied fighters. They never stopped the Japanese air attacks anyway, but now they slow down the enemy naval moves.

[Alikchi2]

That's an excellent idea Tom - I had been doing the same with the P-40s in the Philippines. Better they at least put a few bombs into AKs and APs than get shot down. I'll give it a shot with the Buffalo!

1/4/42

India/Burma: No action.

China: He's night-bombing Changsha regularly now with Anns, Marys and Nates. Very little damage is being done and forts are still going up (350+ engineers). Recon now reports 100,000 troops closing in.. eek. I'm not retreating! Changsha is too important.. I've aimed spoiling attacks at both flanks. Doubt it'll work but if I can even distract him a little that's a gain for me.

Malaya: Enemy units arrive at Kuala Lumpur, no attacks yet. He's still bombing KL regularly but after yesterday's fiasco I'm not going to attempt to interfere anymore.

I sent the last units in Singapore harbor (3x LVCPs, 5x AKs) north towards Columbo. Nobody else is getting out..

The Philippines: Bombardments at Clark Field and Naga - he's brought in an extra division at Naga + possibly more troops? Anyways, it looks like he gained about 10,000 fresh men. Maybe I will have to retreat soon..?

DEI: I screwed up and forgot to route my ships (the two convoys carrying Dutch Lodestars, the damaged Dutch cruisers, et al) around the Nells. Instead they sailed straight up into the Java Sea and got torpedoed. Only one AK has been lost, but several others are looking a bit shaky and I don't think CL Sumatra will make it to Soerabaja.. we'll see. Argh.

Other Theatres: No action, other than the Kido Butai and its replenishment group inching southwest from Canton.

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This has been a bad few days for me.. hopefully tomorrow will be better.

[Alikchi2]

Nope, not any better. [:D] C'est la vie, eh?

1/5/42

India/Burma: More Blenheims ship out from Middle East, this time to Madras. With the coast covered and the central reserve of 18th UK Div + tanks at Hyderabad, I'm starting to feel more secure in India.

Still nothing in Burma. The base force retreating to Rangoon actually moved!! [X(]

China: I expect him to move into Changsha soon. Night bombing continues by obsolete IJA aircraft..

Malaya: An IJA unit has arrived in the hex north of Johore Bahru - he has severed my positions at Kuala Lumpur and Kuantan from the south. I'm really not good at defending Malaya - the railroad makes it difficult.

He began bombardments at Kuala Lumpur - 33,000 of his troops to 15,000 of mine. Forts are okay, so maybe they'll last a while..

My Australian reserve brigade is moving north from Singapore. Maybe I can hold open an escape route from Kuala Lumpur.

The Philippines: He deliberate attacks at Naga! The forts immediately go down to 1. I'm retreating to Manila as quickly as I can. I'll send reinforcements there from Clark to support the troops already in place.

My air units are basically out, except for a few P-40s and B-17s at Clark, and B-25s at Cagayan.

DEI: Some action here this turn!

I had lost track of Ryujo and friends in the last few days, but they showed their faces off Tarakan today. I had a group of AKs and AVD Sirius heading south to Australia, the last few ships in Tarakan - he put two torpedos into Sirius, which sank immediately, and forced me to scuttle another AK.

In the south, my damaged ships escape further Nell attack - the Lodestars and Lockheeds are safe and Sumatra should make it to Soerabaja - but Soerabaja itself comes under attack when a returning ASW group draws Cruft's attention. SC OJR-4 is sunk by Nells, but many Nells are damaged and I bet morale took a hit, with only one torpedo hit out of 23 launched.

SOPAC: Kido Butai, tankers, the invasion convoy and other troops have headed straight south and are near Pago Pago now. The minesweeper nearby (was out looking for subs) flees towards Samoa. I don't know what he's doing here..

CENTPAC: He torpedoes another AK off the west coast and sinks 14 Airacobras with it! Gah! His I-boats are doing extremely well. And I need more ASW escorts. I'm going to wait another week or so before I send out anymore convoys, which will give me time to bring down ASW escorts from Canada.. yes, it's that bad. I'm going to have to strip Pacific Fleet of frontline destroyers to use as ASW escorts. It has to be done.

Other Theatres: No action.

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Cruft is going to be away from home until Sunday so no turns until then. In the meantime I will plan the destruction of all Nells and Betties. *cackles maniacally*

[Ron Saueracker]

CENTPAC: He torpedoes another AK off the west coast and sinks 14 Airacobras with it! Gah! His I-boats are doing extremely well. And I need more ASW escorts. I'm going to wait another week or so before I send out anymore convoys, which will give me time to bring down ASW escorts from Canada.. yes, it's that bad. I'm going to have to strip Pacific Fleet of frontline destroyers to use as ASW escorts. It has to be done.

The Canadian ASW forces are ideal for runs to Aleutians, Hawaii, and along the West Coast. Keep all your fleet DDs for really long range runs.

[Ron Saueracker]

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

CENTPAC: He torpedoes another AK off the west coast and sinks 14 Airacobras with it! Gah! His I-boats are doing extremely well. And I need more ASW escorts. I'm going to wait another week or so before I send out anymore convoys, which will give me time to bring down ASW escorts from Canada.. yes, it's that bad. I'm going to have to strip Pacific Fleet of frontline destroyers to use as ASW escorts. It has to be done.

The Canadian ASW forces are ideal for runs to Aleutians, Hawaii, and along the West Coast. Keep all your fleet DDs for really long range runs.

And that way the RCN can kick the crap out of IJN as well.[:D]

[Alikchi2]

Thanks Ron! I'm sure the RCN will be getting its fair share [:D]

First task for them will be escorting a large convoy to Hawaii carrying B-26s bound for Australia, then returning to the West Coast to cover convoys to Attu Island.

1/6/42

India/Burma: Still bombing the 55th Division at Tavoy, but no new action.

China: It looks like something else is up here, besides the Changsha situation. 12,000 Japanese troops arrived in Nanning today and bombarded my 44,000 defenders. I'm moving in more troops to help defend - it looks like he has more units coming from the south.

My little spoiling attacks are getting into position, too. More on those as they develop.

Malaya: Not a good day in Malaya. His airstrikes have demoralized the units at Kuala Lumpur significantly - 5th Division IJA supported by tanks and artillery deliberate attacked and knocked the forts down to 3. Not good.

This is especially bad because I cannot reinforce them or pull them out. 18th Div IJA rode the railway all the way down to the hex north of Johore Bahru and kicked out the RAF HQ and beat-up Indian Brigade I had transitting through there. I have no unit or combination of units available anywhere in Malaya to push back an IJA div, so my defense has been cut into 3 parts.

My options here are minimal, there's no more room to retreat. The units at Kuantan, Kuala Lumpur and Johore Bahru will stand and fight.

The Philippines: The air war has basically died out. On Luzon I have a total of 7 P-40Es (2 damaged) and 9 (damaged) B-17s. Both units have very low morale, which is understandable - Cruft has established strong Zero CAP here and not many of them return from their missions anymore.

In Mindanao, I have about half a dozen operational B-25s who have a little higher morale but don't like to launch very much. I just pulled the last P-40Es in the south down to Samarinda near Balikpapan, so fighter cover is nonexistent. (Although one of those P-40Es managed to slip past Zero escort and shoot down 3 Betties today, that sort of thing doesn't last very long.)

The ground war is heating up, however. About half of my units have already escaped from Naga, while the others have only 15 miles left before they've made it out of the hex. The "others" - a Scouts Cavalry regiment, a National Guard tank batallion, and a few other small units - 9,314 troops total, plus tanks and motorized artillery - held off 55,000 Japanese troops and 150 vehicles, including two IJA divisions. They'll have retreated to Manila by tomorrow, but that's an amazing combat result for January 42.

Up at Clark, he attempts another deliberate attack and like in the south achieves 0-1 odds. My losses are heavy but his are heavier. I only wish the forts were higher.. ah well.

DEI: Ryujo and Friends moved further south today, nearing Balikpapan, and caught two AKs escorted by an Australian MSW heading to Java. All three were sunk. An attempt was made on TK Gertrude Kellog at Tarakan (loading oil to keep away from the Japs), but all torpedoes missed and lots of flak hit the Kates.

Oh yes - Sumatra didn't make it to Soerabaja in time and sunk in the night phase even as it arrived in the hex. Ah well.

SWPAC: No action here. In fact, the only thing that changed is that I set the Lightnings at Rabaul to recon Truk next turn.

SOPAC: Kido Butai, along with the tankers, bombardment group, transports and candlestick makers, arrived at Pago Pago and sent her Kates out to shoot the place up a bit. There are no ships here, so I can only assume that he's going to take the base.

I have the default units there - a base force, the 7th Marine Defence Batallion, and the Samoan Marine Battalion. I doubt they'll last very long. I did manage to pull out all my PBYs and B-17s to Suva, though.

I can only wonder how many bases he's going to take. He's already extended Japanese control uncomfortably close to Hawaii and Palmyra..

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SIGINT reported "8th Mongolian Cavalry Division is located at 59,26" twice today. I guess it must be extra super double important or something.

[Alikchi2]

Burma. January.

[Alikchi2]

Double report because I need sleep, dammit! [>:]

1/7/42-1/8/42

India/Burma: Eagely awaiting the big reinforcement wave coming within the week. Other than that, no action.

China: His night bombing has increased - 40+ Anns hit Changsha on the night of the 8th - but again, he score more hits. Still, it's free experience for his pilots. I want to do something about it..

My bombers are raiding his troops in the vicinity of Nanning as well. I even have some I-153s strafing.

Malaya: The troops at Kuala Lumpur recover their strength after the initial drop in fort level and stop two Japanese deliberate attacks in succession at 0-1 odds. Yay!

I've assembled a pretty strong force at Johore Bahru - 250 assault points. The threat of a super quick attack on Singapore has been diminished, thankfully.

In the air he still retains total supremacy. My Hudsons occasionally venture out and try to hit Japanese transports with bombs (no luck yet). I have everything but the Hudsons set to attack ground troops next turn, because hey, gotta do something, right?

The Philippines: All my troops from Naga made it to Manila with very little disruption and are now helping build fortifications there furiously.

At Clark, bombardments continue but no real progress made on either side.

I'm going to pull out the last few airgroups soon.. they've ceased to accomplish anything and could really, really use a break and some replacements.

DEI: He has landed troops at Singkep Island, a level 1 airbase a few hexes south of Singapore. I'm vaguely annoyed at my PBYs and Dorniers for not even spotting one ship of the invasion TF.

Other than that, no real action in this theatre. Ryujo withdrew.

SWPAC: No action.

SOPAC: On the 7th, SNLF troops began landing at Pago Pago. CD guns got some good hits, and the initial shock attack failed. He pulled the troops back to the transports and landed them on Upolu (another base one hex to the west) on the 8th. He also split off Kirishima and Hiei to bombard Pago Pago, which, when combined with a particularly nasty attack by the KB, destroyed several coastal guns and brought 7th Marine Defense Battalion's disruption up to 84 (!).

I assume he'll have another go at Pago Pago in the coming days..

Other Theatres: No significant action.

[Alikchi2]

Cruft is definitely winning the comment war, too... [:D] Damn sneaky Japs get all the breaks!

[CapAndGown]

Have a comment, on the house. [:'(]

[Alikchi2]

Keep fighting the good fight, cap. [8D]

.. I'll post an image in a little bit so I can justify this.

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IJN "Zero" fighters and "Kate" bombers from Akagi prepare to work over Pago Pago on January 7, the first day of the Pago Pago operation.

[marovici]

Well I have been trying to play chs H2H after hearing about it from your and CKs AARs so full speed ahead. Can not wait to finally see allies kicking some serius mayhem soon!!! Although setting up first moves has been a lot harder than I thought (not done yet)

[Lemurs!]

Bad things are going to happen to Manila soon. That is all i will say!

Mike

[Alikchi2]

Well I have been trying to play chs H2H after hearing about it from your and CKs AARs so full speed ahead. Can not wait to finally see allies kicking some serius mayhem soon!!! Although setting up first moves has been a lot harder than I thought (not done yet)

I can't wait either marovici! [:D] Hopefully that'll be sometime soon (I have managed to sink a couple of cruisers, thinks can't be all bad).

CHS really is truly excellent, although the first turn is slightly more complicated because so much detail has been added on December 7th! Take the extra shipping at Hong Kong for example. Once you break through the first turn barrier, though, it's relatively smooth sailing from there. Personally, I waited until December 9th before I made any moved in Burma or China, because I was just tired after doing everything else.

Bad things are going to happen to Manila soon. That is all i will say!

Mike

That sounds ominous...[X(] Well, the turn is in my inbox. Let's see how bad things can get!

[Alikchi2]

Nothing happens in Manila yet other than my forts going up rapidly (96% to level 2) - other stuff of significance is going on, though!

1/9/42

India/Burma: Yep, in three days I get multiple Hurricane units, CV Formidable, BB Royal sovereign, a slew of other ships and RAF HQs and aviation units. Excellent.

A couple Hurricane squadrons will be sent to Java (as happened IRL) and the rest will boost up my fighter defence in Madras, Ceylon, and northern Burma.

I also get another useless unit of Lysanders.. both groups will be upgrading to Hurricane IIs ASAP. [:'(]

China: Night bombing of Changsha continues to be totally ineffective. One "corps" is about 30 miles away from reinforcing Nanning..

I really wish I had more aviation support here.

Malaya: He reverts to bombardments at Kuala Lumpur - yay, more time bought by yours truly.

Buffalos and Vildebeests out of Singapore mount a devastating attack on 18th Division, killing or wounding upwards of 7 enemy farm animals and severely damaging a sand castle known to have been constructed in the vicinity. VCs all around! [:D]

The Philippines: As I said earlier, Manila continues to improve as a defensive position - we'll hit level 2 forts tomorrow and about 600 assault points have been assembled. Bombardments continue at Clark, as always.

The last few airgroups in the PI began to pull out today. B-25s from Cagayan flew to Bali, where they'll spend some time relaxing with the lovely Indonesian ladies on the beach to get their morale up and replacements in. 7 P-40Es from Clark escaped to Tarakan today - next stop is Soerabaja, where again they'll get some much needed rest, at least for while. And B-17s have begun landing at Bandoeng airfield in Java. Only damaged aircraft remain stuck in the PI.

Also, I've been saving up P-39s so I can upgrade the Filipino P-26 unit - I have 18 and get about two per day. The P-26s are sitting in Soerabaja right now..

Finally, I've been staging my PT boats out of Butuan and caught a transport in Davao today - I put 5 shells and a torpedo into her, so maybe she'll sink, maybe not. Davao still hasn't improved as a port yet - remember, he lost 2 cruisers there because of that..

DEI: A bombardment force sails into Singkawang harbor and does a fair amount of damage - this is usually a precursor to invasion so I've moved all the aircraft to safer airfields. I only have a base force there..

DD Nowaki hits a mine off Singkawang during the bombardment, though, so not everything was bad. I've diverted O19 and O20 from their minelaying mission at Kuching to start laying fields off Singkawang instead.

Some further decisions - after reading up on the Java campaign a little I noticed that the Americans and British tried to reinforce with ground troops as well as airgroups - a small number of British tanks and some American artillery for example. I'm bringing in 3 US artillery units from Townsville (the ones on the convoy near Canton Island on the 7th). The two smaller ones will go to Amboina, and the other will go to mainland Java.

I'm also bringing in about 30 Valentine tanks from India. Why am I basically throwing units into the bag? The Allies did it historically, and because frankly the DEI needs anything it can get to slow down the Japanese.

Oh, and Soerabaja port has reached 46% to level 9, yay!

SOPAC: No real action - KB still hovering off Pago Pago, Upolu still uncaptured. I guess that SNLF was pretty beat up..

Oh, I get 14th NZ Brigade (South Pacific command) in 3 days. I'll be sending it to Noumea, which has nothing right now.

West Coast: I'm pleased at how quickly the Pearl Harbor BBs are repairing. Oklahoma is down to 39 SYS from 42 a few days ago and the other ships are moving at about the same speed.

Again, in 3 days I get a massive wave of reinforcements - AKs, APs, and oodles of tankers. I have lots of DDs, PGs, PCs and MSWs ready for escort and this time I don't plan on skimping.

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Map time!

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1. India is weak but the defenses continue to grow, and will be even stronger when significant reinforcements arrive on January 12th.

2. No advance yet in southern Burma - 55th Division IJA remains encamped in Tavoy.

3. At Nanning a numerically inferior Japanese force has pinned down the defending Chinese. The Chinese Air Force is mounting significant bombing raids in an attempt to disrupt the Japanese, who have not yet made any deliberate attacks on the city or the troops defending it.

4. A large Japanese army looms outside of Changsha, but an equally large Chinese army stands ready to fight for it under the air protection of 3rd Squadron AVG. Japanese dive-bombers have resorted to attacking at night with very little success.

5. In Malaya, Japan has split the Allied force into 3 large groups - one at Kuala Lumpur, one at Kuantan and the other at Johore Bahru and Singapore. Kuala Lumpur is being reduced by 5th Division IJA while Kuantan and Johore Bahru wait for their turn.

6. Kuching has become the primary airfield and staging point for Japanese forces in the Borneo area. Today several Japanese cruisers bombarded Singkawang on the western coast in a possible preparation for invasion.

7. Air units in the Philippines have wilted away and retreated, but resistance on the ground still continues.

8. Oops.

9. Allied troops are only a day away from landing on Attu Island, which they intend to build up into a significant airbase close to Northern Japan.

10. Submarines staging primarily from Pearl Harbor have been instrumental in spotting Japanese movements in the area. However, there have been few successful attacks.

11. Japanese held Canton Island is far too close to the Allied convoy routes.

12. Pago Pago - the first Japanese landing attempt was turned back by Marine 155mm guns. Kido Butai loiters offshore.

13. The Allied convoy route in the Central Pacific, under threat from I-boats, the Kido Butai and possibly LBA staged from Canton Island in the future.

14. Pacific Fleet - including all Pearl Harbor Battleships except for Pennsylvania, Lexington, Saratoga, and Enterprise - is based at San Francisco for the time being.

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That's enough for one day. Heesh.

[CapAndGown]

Nice map. I think I shall do the same at some point.