April 2nd - 3rd, 1942
INDIA
Looks like he has eventually gotten tired of loosing (15) planes per turn. [;)]
Recon flights spotted (190) auxiliary planes in Mandalay, plus fighters. I think he is going to strike back.
This time I’ll try to hold the ‘air’. My planes are concentrated mainly in Diamond Harbor and Chandpur. All the fighters are on CAP 90%. Altitudes between 15k and 25k. If he is coming in with the bombers he won’t be higher than 15k otherwise he gets little or no effect.
I have a reasonably good plane pool. I think it‘s time to give it a try.
PACIFIC
As I feared, despite the orders that seemed to be fine, the PBY’s didn’t pick up one single man from Pago. I’ve seen this before, I don’t know why. [&:]
His damned carriers group is still there - I couldn’t see it - and hammered the incoming AP (
see picture). [:@] Just by chance she is still floating and may even make it back to Suva.
Hence I’m only left with the subs to pick up fragments of the Americal Division.
Looking at the map, it now appears clear that if he takes Pago AND Bora Bora he closes the doors to Australia.
I have to keep Bora . So far there isn’t much I can do. In PH one CD unit is loading and will be transferred to Bora, in SF I reassigned a small ENG (30 aviation support) and it is also going for Bora. It’ll be needed for servicing Catalina’s.
The second measure is a carrier group. Yep, I know what you are thinking “he is gone crazy“.
Well my point is: (a) he has already split his KB, the group nearby Pago is not a full Death Star, (b) he may not go to Bora with the usual overwhelming assault and (a) could be a further proof of that.
Now if this is true, Bora may soon see a small-medium invasion group incoming. Possibly with no carrier escort since it’s totally out of US aircrafts range and he could be low on fuel.
Hence my evil plan[:'(]: a TF with Lexington and Saratoga will wait in Papete. They’ll stay there until Bora is safe or until something shows up. It’s going to be a while before I’ll be in Papete. But he still has to conquer Nanumea and Pago, hence I should have some time. If he never comes ... that’s even better.
In SF the 32nd US Division has arrived, I’m taking it to Palmyra. Once I get it there I’ll move one Rgt out of Palmyra and to Bora.
Overall the situation looks awful. He may succeed in taking out all my bases one after another with his behemoth invasions. My only hope lies in the length of his supply lines, to get to Bora from Japan takes quite some time and lots of fuel. Unfortunately all the bases he is now conquering were/are very well supplied with fuel and supplies (>20K for both). [:(]
The way I see it, he could conquer Western Australia, New Zealand and the full Pacific in a couple of months. Basically there is almost nothing I can do about it. If he keeps moving 100k men at a time I just don’t have the strength to hold a sufficient number of bases against such a force. And holding only a couple doesn’t help me at all.
What can I do with Luganville, but no Noumea or New Zealand? Or what is it worth Palmyra if Pago and Bora are his? I still cannot go to Australia. Or Fiji without Luganville and Noumea?
The point is: to stop his strategy I must concentrate enough strength in a single point, given the forces I now have at my disposal this leaves me with the option to concentrate in two, tops three bases. What am I going to do with 2-3 bases in the whole Pacific? Say hi to the Jap ships passing by, no more.
One answer could be: hit him in the vacated bases while he is moving to a new location. The problem with this is that he moves the INF divisions, the tanks, artillery, construction battalions, ... but he leaves behind base forces and his damned Nell’s, Betty’s and Zero‘s. At this point in the game they are just killers. Even if I knew that he only had one base force in a certain base, I still couldn't attack it, because I cannot protect the invasion force from his planes. And that even without considering the carriers. [:(] [:(]
Only India and China appear to be safe.
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