Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

[apbarog]

27 Jul 43

Huge enemy TF headed to Batavia from Singapore.

Sub attack near Billiton at 52,91

Japanese Ships
AK Amagisan Maru
E Ukishima
E Kyosai
E Yaeyama
AMC Saigon Maru
AMC Bankok Maru
AMC Awata Maru
AMC Asaka Maru
AMC Kinryu Maru
AK Aratama Maru
AK Azumasan Maru
AK Ayatosan Maru
AK Sagami Maru
xAP Hoten Maru
xAP Kobe Maru
E Maeshima
E Saishu
E Takashima
E Hoko

Allied Ships
SS Grouper, hits 2

SS Grouper launches 2 torpedoes at AK Amagisan Maru

Enemy cruiser TF moved from Soerabaja to Banjoewangi, damaging sub Stingray there. It engaged DMS Perry and xAP Clan Macinness there, but the Allied ships escaped to Denpassar. Unfortunately, the enemy continued on to Denpassar, damaging Perry and sinking Clan Macinness, destroying 18 vehicles (a few engineer vehicles, mostly motor support). The enemy also engaged AM Advent, AK Autauga and xAP Stagen while they were unloading at Denpassar. All Allied ships were sunk, destroying 10 guns and 40 vehicles. The enemy then bombarded Denpassar, disabling a non-combat squad, and doing absolutely nothing else. Probably low on ammo by that point. The enemy didn't hit any of my mines at either base.

Ground combat at Loemadjang (56,106)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 4769 troops, 90 guns, 182 vehicles, Assault Value = 180

Defending force 366 troops, 0 guns, 70 vehicles, Assault Value = 29

Allied adjusted assault: 114

Japanese adjusted defense: 2

Allied assault odds: 57 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Loemadjang !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 56 (56 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Assaulting units:
762nd Tank Battalion
37th Infantry/B Division
145th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
4th Tank Regiment

With the enemy sending in reinforcements to Batavia from Singapore, it's likely that the US units won't hold Loemadjang forever. Combat reinforcements will not be coming to Java for awhile, so the original plan to flank the defenses by landing at Tjepoe is still the plan. US forces will try to hold Banjoewangi and the adjacent mountain hex.

And the Alled armada is leaving Timor to invade the Celebes.

[CaptBeefheart]

Regarding the Dewey, I usually move my ARDs in TFs of about four ships, and I haven't seen that kind of damage accrue (maybe 1 or 2 SYS or something). I wonder if TF size or composition could be a factor.

Cheers,
CB

[apbarog]

I don't know, CaptBeefheart. ARD Dewey traveled from Manila to Pearl Harbor with very little damage. It traveled with just an xAK. Now it is traveling with an xAK and a small escort ship. No difference, really. I think it was just bad die rolls.

28 Jul 43

Small enemy landings at Noemfoor and Biak, off the eastern coast of northern New Guinea. Naval bombers moved to Taberfane and Dobo to try to hit the enemy ships there.

P-38Hs swept Kendari, finding 42 Tonys and 36 A6M5 Zeros. Lots of heavy bombers followed, hitting the airfield. Total air losses were 16 A6M5 Zeros and 13 Tonys for the cost of 13 P-38Hs and 3 B-24s.

B-25s hit Makassar's airfield. No CAP. Moderate damage done to the base.

Carrier bombers went after single tiny minesweepers at Kendari and Makassar, sinking both ships with many more planes flying than needed. At least the CAP over Kendari was cleared out first.

Beaufighters from Denpassar found two E-boats looking for subs east of Soerabaja.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Pamekasan at 58,104

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 3 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 0 minutes

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter VIc x 13

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
E Kuretake, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
E Sanae, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x Beaufighter VIc bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb

At least one E-boat sank after combat, judging from audio.

The Celebes will be invaded today. The carriers from the Marshalls are passing Gove Island today. They won't get to the Celebes in time for the initial landings. I may use them to cover badly needed supply for Ambon and Namlea, and then join up with the other carriers. The carriers include Essex, Victorious, Dewey and Wasp, CVLs Princeton and Independence, and 5 CVEs.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: CaptBeefheart

Regarding the Dewey, I usually move my ARDs in TFs of about four ships, and I haven't seen that kind of damage accrue (maybe 1 or 2 SYS or something). I wonder if TF size or composition could be a factor.

Cheers,
CB

I have never noticed TF size as a contributor to damage reduction. But I have noticed that if a ship that has max speed equal to cruise speed is moved on "mission speed" orders, it will take more damage than if it is set on "cruise speed" (only) orders. I have moved both very slow ships like the ARD and faster ships like some xAPs using cruise speed orders and it seems to help. I think the movement routine could interpret the mission speed setting as max speed if max and cruise speeds are the same.

[apbarog]

29 Jul 43

Tarpon hit AG Shinshui Maru with a torpedo near Madjene. The ship just left Makassar.

Kolaka and Watampone are invaded.

Gunnel hit xAK Tone Maru with a torpedo near Singkawang.

US naval bombers had been moved to Taberfane and Dobo, after enemy tankers were spotted at Babo and ships unloaded troops in the Biak area. None of the planes at Dobo flew, but the planes at Taberfane did. They all went after the tankers. 27 SB2C-1Cs flew to Babo and found 8 Zeros on LRCAP from somewhere. 9 bombers were shot down, but tankers were hit. Most had oil loaded. The tankers were of the smaller variety.

PB Kyo Maru #12, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
TK Amatsu Maru, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
TK Yuho Maru
TK Yamazuru Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
TK Mirii Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Kaijo Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires

Then 18 Beaufighter VIc's arrived, flying at 100 feet. One Zero remained and did little. The Beaufighters are a favorite of mine. With skilled pilots, they do great at 100 feet, as long as there isn't a strong enemy CAP. Fortunately for them, the dive bombers took the sting out of the enemy fighters.

TK Tennan Maru, Shell hits 3, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Ryuei Maru
TK Nissho Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Yamazuru Maru, Shell hits 11, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Ose Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
TK Yuho Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage

Then 13 more Beaufighters attacked.

TK Yamazuru Maru, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
TK Ryuei Maru, Shell hits 6, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Fujisan Maru, Shell hits 5, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
TK Nissho Maru, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk

One last attack by Beaufighters in the afternoon.

TK Kaijo Maru, Shell hits 10, Bomb hits 14, and is sunk
PB Takunan Maru #8, Bomb hits 7, and is sunk

They are just awesome. I don't know if attacking at 100 feet is overpowered, or if it's just an effective means of attack.

15 Liberator IIs dropped mines at Soerabaja. This was the first time I tried aerial mining, in any of my games. Nor had my opponents ever done so. It was interesting. The bombers arrived during daylight. They seemed to be intercepted by 78 Oscars, but none reached the bombers. From what I had read, bombers dropping mines are never intercepted. But the enemy gets the report of mines being dropped, so there is no surprise.

Heavy bombers hit Kendari again. 7 Tonys, 2 Zeros and a Jake were destroyed on the ground.

I-39 hit xAP Loch Ranza with a torpedo near Denpassar. The ship has men loaded and may not make it the one hex to Denpassar. Denpassar is just a size 2 port, and the ship may sink even if it does get there.

[CaptBeefheart]

Early in the war, it seems like fighters and bombers set at 100 ft is the only way to hit IJ ships (what with low-skill pilots). Are you Beaufighter pilots trained in strafing?

Cheers,
CB

[apbarog]

Yes, the Beaufighter pilots are trained in strafing and low naval, both at 70+, mostly. They seem to get more bomb hits than Beaufighters used.

I do wonder if very low level bombing is too effective though. Of course, a meaningful CAP shoots down most if not all of these guys, so there is a counter to them. I don't use heavy bombers on low level naval strikes, or any naval strikes. I offered to only use my heavies at 10k and above. I wonder if heavy bombers at very low levels do great also. With so many bombs, they might.

[apbarog]

30 Jul 43

Thresher missed I-182 with 2 torpedoes near Makassar.

Troops continue to land at Kolaka and Watampone. Watampone flipped since there were no enemy defenders. Figuring that that would happen, follow-up task forces with troops not well prepped for Watampone were ordered to the base to start unloading. The infantry division there was split into thirds: one third to defend the base, one third to advance southwest to Makassar, and another third to advance to the northwest. Bases here are danger close to Balikpapan and Samarinda. The enemy oil is starting to be in real danger.

32 Tojos swept Banjoewangi. 17 Corsairs were on CAP there, and some Thunderbolts and Hellcats were on ranged CAP from adjacent Denpassar. 13 Tojos were shot down, for the cost of 4 Hellcats, 4 Corsairs and one Thunderbolt. 27 Lilys then arrived, attacking ships that were unloading at Banjoewangi. They ran into about 28 US fighters of the three types just mentioned. 20 Lilys were shot down, but about 11 did drop bombs on the shipping. 3 bombs hit AK Amador, which still has troops on it. Amador is SYS 33/FLOT 22-8/ENG 4/FIRE 2. Extra fighters are ordered to Denpassar.

US carrier aircraft go after an AG and an E-boat near Madjene. The AG had been damaged yesterday. It was hit by 2 bombs from Helldivers and sunk. Around 20 other Helldivers tried but couldn't hit E Karukaya.

Kolaka is attacked and taken easily. Troops will start advancing towards Kendari tomorrow. Fighters are moved in for protection, as the carriers are ordered to move east towards Namlea and Ambon. There's no airbase support at Kolaka, but that will be remedied today or tomorrow.

Cargo ships will unload supply at Bari, Namlea and Ambon. The carriers from the Marshalls have arrived, and will move adjacent to Namlea and next to the carriers moving east from the Celebes. All carrier fighters were set to range 2 CAP, to cover all three bases. Subs are a danger here, sitting just south of all of the bases.

[apbarog]

31 Jul 43

Seadragon fired 4 torpedoes at CM Itsukushima near Toboali. One hit. Audio says that the minelayer was sunk. RO-35 hit AVP Merel near Watampone. Merel had been at a dot base south of the Celebes, supporting Catalinas. The Cats moved to Watampone but the AVP didn't make it there. It was sunk. Considering all of the major ships, including carriers, that moved through this area today, AVP Merel was probably the least consequential ship to lose.

Seadragon then hit AK Ayatosan Maru with a dud torpedo. The AK is part of a huge task force moving from Singapore to Batavia. The sub spotted 5 AMCs, 5 AKs, 2 xAPs and 7 E-boats. Considering SigInt, the 12th Division is thought to be on these ships.

Supply ships, including AKAs, unloaded supply at Ambon, Namlea and Bari. Carriers are covering. Bettys from Sorong went after shipping at Namlea, finding 14 Hellcats on ranged CAP from the carriers. Only one Betty managed to drop a torpedo, and, surprise, it hit. xAK Time was badly damaged and will probably sink. 13 Bettys were shot down. Carriers will remain nearby for another day of unloading supply.

Manado was bombed. A few Bettys were destroyed on the ground. No CAP. Kendari was bombed. The airfield is moderately damaged. Ambon was bombed. Troops are heading from Watampone to Makassar, and from Kolaka to Kendari. Kendari has over 20,000 enemy troops, so it won't fall quickly, but 2 US divisions with support will attack there, and with daily bombing, the base will fall. The southern half of the Celebes will be under Allied control soon. The airfields can build very large, and that will help shut down Balikpapan and Samarinda to the west.

32 Oscars swept Car Nicobar, finding 32 Hurricanes. 15 Oscars were downed and 11 Hurricanes were lost.

2 P-47 squadrons had been shipped from Ceylon to Perth. They just flew to Port Hedland. They'll deploy to the front soon, maybe near Java, maybe to the Celebes.

[apbarog]

1 Aug 43

One more month of somewhat flawed torpedoes. For the enemy, it was a good day for the subs. Subs reappeared off the northeastern side of Australia. RO-68 hit huge transport xAP Empress Australia with a torpedo. The ship is carrying 1/3 of an infantry division. It is SYS 18/FLOT 30-16/ENG 31-26/FIRE 0 and will survive barring any more torpedo hits. Which nearly happened, when RO-68 attacked the ship again, but missed with 2 more torpedoes.

Near Denpassar, I-39 hit APD Brooks with a torpedo. Brooks is carrying some men while it escorts a couple of transports. Brooks is SYS 32/FLOT 43-29/ENG 21/FIRE 0.

I-28 hit AK Ascella with a torpedo south of the invasion bases on the Celebes. Ascella is SYS 30/FLOT 61-39/ENG 1/FIRE 2 and will try to get back to Timor unescorted.

21 Thunderbolts swept Soerabaja, finding 51 Oscars. 24 Oscars were shot down and 5 P-47s were lost. Another Thunderbolt squadron moved to Denpassar today. It came from Port Hedland, after arriving at Perth after a boat ride from Ceylon. Another Thunderbolt squadron moved to Koepang for reassignment soon.

US bombers hit Ambon, Kendari, Manado and Makassar.

Ships unloading supply at Bari, Namlea and Ambon are ordered south to Timor to finish unloading. Enough supply has landed for now. Carriers will retire south to Darwin, which isn't getting enemy recon any longer.

The next operation will be the landing at Tjepoe on Java. It is west of Soerabaja on the north coast. Shipping is heading to where it is needed to pick up troops. Americal will assault the beach at Tjepoe, where I doubt there will be much resistance. 3 other divisions are planned for the follow up landing. About 30 units in all will land, assuming I can scrounge up enough shipping for that. I will be using just about every APA and AKA that I have. Many came from the Marshalls, as did the carriers and most combat ships that were there. By the time this invasion occurs, in possibly 2 weeks, I expect more enemy to have arrived at Batavia and moved to the Soerabaja/Malang area. The enemy may be trying to advance on Banjoewangi by then. Landing at Tjepoe will allow a quick move south to cut the island in two, isolating all of the troops to the east. Soerabaja will then be captured. I then expect the surviving enemy to hole up in the mountains at Malang. But as the Dutch found out earlier in the war, Malang is mountainous but it is a coastal hex. Regular battleship bombardments from Soerabaja to Malang will wear down the defenders at Malang far faster than just bombing and starving them out.

[apbarog]

2 Aug 43

A couple of enemy subs were badly damaged by ship ASW near the Celebes invasion bases. Albacore sank E-boat Nasami near Tawi Tawi. West of Babeldaob, Perch hit LSD Shinshu Maru with 2 torpedoes. One was a dud. The ship is carrying men. Later in the day, Perch hit the same LSD with 2 more torpedoes, but both of them were duds.

It was noted that I had just a dozen or so Hurricanes on Car Nicobar, so about 30 Oscars swept. More Hurris lost than Oscars downed. I do have a very deep pool of Hurricanes though. It's almost worth losing a few more of them in order to kill off some enemy pilots.

P-47s swept Soerabaja again, finding about 42 Oscars. The Thunderbolts are certainly different from the Hurricanes. Many Oscars downed and just one P-47 was an ops loss. Total air losses today were 19 Oscars for 6 Hurricanes and 1 P-47.

Sallys went after industry at Kweiyang, China but missed. No CAP.

[apbarog]

3 Aug 43

Gudgeon hit I-28 with a torpedo near Makassar, sinking the sub. Perch spotted heavily damaged LSD Shinshu Maru just before it got to Babeldaob. Perch fired two torpedoes and one hit, but it was a dud. After the initial torpedo hit yesterday, that's four additional dud hits on the LSD in three separate attacks. The LSD made it to Babeldaob, and it was carry troops.

P-47s again swept Soerabaja, but found no enemy fighters. Lots of Oscars had been shot down there over the past few days, so the enemy has pulled out, for now.

Enemy bombers, with escorts, went after light industry at Lanchow, destroying a few.

Sallys and Sonias with over 40 Oscars hit Liuchow in southern China. I've had P-40Ks and Hurricane IIc's there for a few days, unspotted. It was a nice trap. 17 Sallys, 14 Oscars and 10 Sonias were shot down, for the loss of a Hurricane. Bombers did still cause 157 casualties to the troops there, in clear terrain. The Allied planes were ordered back to the capital.

All of the Allied carriers are now at Darwin and have refueled. Shipping is headed to Darwin from the Celebes invasions. Other shipping is loading troops on Timor, troops that will reload at Darwin for the invasion of Tjepoe on Java. I have lots of APAs available, probably enough to unload the three divisons slated to land at Tjepoe, but only one division is prepped for Tjepoe, and will go in the first day. The other two divisions will land after Tjepoe is captured. I'm wondering whether to load those two divisions on APAs even though they won't land until day 3 of the invasion, at the earliest, or use the APAs for support troops landing at Tjepoe on day 1. I think the right answer is a combination. I'll use the best landing ships for all of the day 1 units, and whatever is left will load as much of the divisions as possible.

It will be risky landing on the north coast of Java, west of Soerabaja. I'm doing some recon of the enemy bases on the southern coast, to show interest there when I really have none. The good news is that almost of the Allied carriers will participate, with the exceptions of a CVL nearing Townsville, CV Huey coming from Panama, and two damaged CVEs, one at Sydney and one at Pearl Harbor.

Still no sign of KB, for many weeks now. Last hint of any carriers was damaged Katsuragi making it to mainland Japan. Maybe the others went with it. Maybe they are upgrading. Maybe a lot of things. All I know is that they weren't in the area for the Java or Celebes landings. A successful landing at Tjepoe will isolate Soerabaja and the enemy troops at Malang. Capturing Soerabaja will provide a small ship repair facility, something that Darwin doesn't have. And taking eastern Java is another big step towards capturing and eliminating most of the enemy oil centers. That has been my primary strategy, and I still hope to accomplish that by the end of 1943.

When and where will the enemy intervene?

[apbarog]

4 Aug 43

S-44 hit AKE Irako with one torpedo near the southern tip of Mindanao. Irako has a bunch of E-boats escorting it. S-44 reattacked later in the day, but missed hitting one of the E-boats. In return for the aggressiveness of its captain, S-44 was hit by a depth charge and moderately damaged. It will now head to Darwin.

Albacore is patrolling east of Tarakan. It hit E-boat Natshushima with a torpedo, sinking it.

P-47s swept Soerabaja but again found no enemy CAP. B-24s hit the airfield, doing moderate damage.

OPilot surprised me today. He moved 16 Bettys and 45 Zeros to Lae. It's been quiet on New Guinea for a long time. I've had many convoys head north past Horn Island, including big ones carrying full infantry divisions. I feared the Betty threat from Lae long ago. The distance to Horn Island is short. But I concluded that OPilot feared flying into the CAP at Port Moresby and targeting a couple of tiny minesweepers. That may or may not have been correct up until today. The Bettys went after 2 xAKs that were unloading supply and fuel at Horn Island.

xAK Edmund Fanning, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Charles Crocker, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires

Both were carrying fuel, so that didn't help matters. But Charles Crocker may survive. It is SYS 15/FLOT 36-20/ENG 3-0/FIRE 23 and disbanded at Horn. I consider myself fortunate that another bigger convoy wasn't attacked. Besides troop convoys, there's a big tanker convoy headed to Darwin, and very near Horn. I will pay more attention to this area now, and will have to provide some air cover to convoys headed past Horn Island.

Ships are still returning to Darwin, mostly, after the Celebes invasions. An infantry division is unloading at Koepang. It is earmarked for Tjepoe. Another is partly unloaded at Darwin. The other part is on a damaged big xAP still two days from Darwin, having been slowed by a sub torpedo hit. In a few days, loading for Tjepoe may begin.

[apbarog]

5 Aug 43

[apbarog]

6 Aug 43

SST Yu-4 hit a mine at Namlea. Finally! A CM went along with the carriers recently when they covered a supply run to Namlea and Ambon. The CM dropped mines at Namlea, adding to the mines already there. Finally something hit one. The sub transport was reported to be sunk, or even have damage, so I wonder if it really happened.

We had a good day in the air over Chengtu, China. I've had about 24 fighters there for awhile, protecting the heavy industry that was targeted when I had no planes there. The enemy finally came back, in a big way. Unfortunately, the enemy bombers arrived before the sweepers. About 50 bombers with 30 Oscars found that the fighters at Chengtu were P-38s, which was a surprise. The P-38Hs did very well in the CAP role, downing many enemy planes. Then over 30 Oscars swept. Then another 24 or so. The total losses were 23 Oscars, 15 Sallys and 5 Helens for the cost of 3 P-38Hs.

But OPilot had a trap of his own. I'd been bombing Kendari, and it has been empty of enemy planes. I sent a bunch of B-25s in today, without sweeps or escorts. OPilot moved in 30 some Zeros, and they had a field day. 24 B-25s were shot down, with no enemy planes lost. You win some, you lose some.

The clearing of the southwestern part of the Celebes is about complete.

Ground combat at Makassar (65,106)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 4978 troops, 112 guns, 70 vehicles, Assault Value = 145

Defending force 839 troops, 4 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 11

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Allied adjusted assault: 68

Japanese adjusted defense: 5

Allied assault odds: 13 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied forces CAPTURE Makassar !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), leaders(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
94 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
3rd Marine/A Division
I Marine Amphib Corps
260th Field Artillery Battalion
131st Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
2nd Port Unit

The Marines captured the base without help. Lots of base support are now needed in this area, but it'll have to wait until after shipping for the Tjepoe invasion is assigned. A base unit is on the move from the northeast. Makassar will make a good jumping off base for a move to Borneo.

Troops are still unloading at Koepang and Darwin, so we're not ready to start loading for Tjepoe yet.

[BBfanboy]

apbarog: But OPilot had a trap of his own. I'd been bombing Kendari...

This lesson gets driven home from time to time - don't get into a routine, predictable pattern or the enemy will give you a bloody nose!
In a game so vast, it is easy to forget that!

[apbarog]

7 Aug 43

Dutch sub O19 fired two torpedoes at sub transport Yu-4 north of Namlea. The enemy sub hit a mine at Namlea yesterday. The torpedoes missed, and the enemy sub is showing heavy damage now.

Heavy and medium bombers hit Sabang for the first time. Damage was light in heavy rain. I'm showing interest here now, but no landing will come here anytime soon.

Heavy bombers hit Kendari hard, with a P-47 sweep thrown in after yesterday's ambush. No fighters there though.

Marines attack and clear the enemy out at Makassar.

Loading for Tjepoe will begin at Darwin tomorrow.

[apbarog]

I do wonder where the Japanese carriers are. What have they been doing? In refit? Poised to strike an invasion of the Mariannas or Truk, one that hasn't happened? I just don't know. There's been little interference with my landing on the eastern tip of Java, and no interference with my landing on the Celebes. Am I going to be able to land at Tjepoe just as easily? And then go to Balikpapan?

The enemy HAS to become more aggressive. It might already be too late. The Japanese have lost only one large carrier, with another being repaired now. No enemy battleships have been lost. Many Japanese cruisers, destroyers and submarines have been sunk.

The longer the enemy waits, the stronger the Allied forces become. The Allied "Death Star" is about to form for the first time, and it may be too much for the enemy to defeat. I just wonder what the enemy is up to. OPilot has definitely been attending to his rear lines. It may be that my attempts at misdirection have been more successful than I know. He's definitely reinforced the Mariannas. Saipan is now up to 35,000 men. I think that is near its stacking limit. He's defended Thailand well, reinforcing there and reconstituting his forces that were forced out of Burma. He's now reinforcing Java.

Could he be planning an aggressive move, and I just haven't seen it yet? Milne Bay is a potential target, in my opinion. I'm sending an Australian brigade from Hobart to Milne Bay soon, where it will join another Australian brigade. Could he be out trying to raid the Indian Ocean, or strike at Pearl Harbor? I just don't know. Where's Yamato and Musashi? They've been missing for many months. So many questions.

The Allied juggernaut will keep moving. Building the Makassar area threatens Borneo. A Tjepoe landing dooms the eastern part of Java for the enemy. And a landing on Sumatra, west of Palembang, may be the beginning of the end of the war. Take the oil centers, and given some number of months, and the enemy will just about run out of fuel.

[BBfanboy]

Besides upgrades of the carriers, he may be waiting for enough new aircraft to upgrade the air groups on the carriers, They need more durable aircraft to stand up to Allied fighters and AAA long enough to make an attack.

[apbarog]

8 Aug 43

Another enemy sub transport hit a mine at Namlea. SST Yu-2 is reported to be on fire with heavy damage.

Allied bombers hit Sabang again, with some Hurricanes sweeping today. No enemy CAP and moderate airfield damage.

Moderate airfield damage done by heavies at Kendari. Had a humorous miss-click, sending a squadron of P-38s to bomb troops at Kendari from 25,000 feet. For some reason, they didn't hit anything. They'll sweep tomorrow. Hopefully. They were lucky today that there were no enemy fighters at Kendari.

The invasion wave for Tjepoe is loading at Darwin. Two more divisions will start loading at Darwin tomorrow, as will another division at Koepang. So, one division with support will invade, and three more divisions with lots of support will land after the base is taken.

Had an interesting bit of SigInt today, saying that the 41st Infantry Regiment is planning an attack at Makassar. Marines just took Makassar, and this unit wasn't there. I doubt that OPilot just started prepping the regiment to try to retake the base. He'd need at least a division. It was probably prepping to be shipped in to defend, but it's too late for that now.