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Rabaul and Soerbaja still have heavy CAP. Soerbaja slightly less than before. Balikpapan now has a heavy CAP that it didn't have before. Ternate has some CAP, Manado somewhat heavy CAP.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are some fighters on Mindanao now that weren't there before.

Overall aircraft losses for the war are light. I'll post a summary soon.

Air losses for the war

ORIGINAL: apbarog

Air losses for the war

Looks like he has been relying on the A6M2 a bit too much. Losses look to me about average for this stage of the game. Good to see you are dong better than Japan.

Just a reminder that this is a PDU off game.

14 Aug 43

Lots of action.

First, sub Searaven spots 2 destroyers looking for subs near Bataan. 4 torpedoes are fired at DD Yugumo. One hits. The destroyer is possibly sunk.

In the middle of the South China Sea, sub Sculpin spots a tanker convoy. 2 torpedoes are fired at large tanker TK San Clemente Maru. One hits, and it's a dud.

The 37th Infantry Division is delivered in one day to Boela. It is half disrupted, but it should be enough to start reducing the defenders.

Ternate is swept by P-47s from Namlea. 22 Thunderbolts find 15 A6M3a Zeros and 41 Tojos.

The action near Babeldaop begins.

The enemy strikes first. 24 Judys are escorted by 20 or so Zeros and 10 or so Oscars. Allied carrier CAP is 113 Hellcats. Most enemy planes are destroyed, with a few running for home. No bombs are dropped.

The Allied response is huge.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Babeldaob at 90,97

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
A6M5 Zero x 13
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 4

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 36
SBD-3 Dauntless x 72
SBD-5 Dauntless x 72
TBF-1 Avenger x 35

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak
SBD-5 Dauntless: 3 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Junyo, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB Nagato, Bomb hits 3, on fire
CL Isuzu, Bomb hits 1
CA Tone, Bomb hits 2
CA Mogami, Bomb hits 3
DD Kisaragi, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
CL Abukuma
DD Makinami
CL Agano
DD Hatsukaze
DD Makigumo
DD Niizuki
Fuel storage explosion on CV Junyo
Fuel storage explosion on CV Junyo

A second morning strike:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Babeldaob at 90,97

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 35 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4
A6M5 Zero x 6
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 3

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 18
SBD-3 Dauntless x 18
TBF-1 Avenger x 49

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
CL Isuzu
CA Mogami, Bomb hits 4, on fire
DD Kazegumo
CL Agano
CL Abukuma, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Suzunami
DD Shimakaze
CL Yura

A third strike of 18 TBFs hits nothing.

And in the afternoon, the only Allied carrier strike was 33 SBDs escorted by 65 Hellcats, attacking a tiny enemy minesweeper that had the bad luck to be one hex east of the Allied carriers. The minesweeper was sunk, but such a waste of bombs.

I am happy with the results, but the perfectionist in me notes that the bombing was generally atrocious. The bad weather was probably to blame. But 2 major ships are sunk or out of action for a long time: Junyo and Nagato.

Tanker San Clemente Maru, which survived a dud torpedo earlier in the day, is hit with a working torpedo from sub Seal later in the day. The tanker was not loaded and is not burning.

In thinking about the next day, I was really tempted to run a big cruiser task force straight into Babeldaop and see if it could engage anything, or at least bombard the port with damaged ships in it. I decided it wasn't worth the risk. Mines could be a problem, and I wasn't going to keep the carriers in the area either way. All ships start to head back to Darwin. After replenishment, the Ternate and Manado invasions start.

Total air losses for today, at Babeldaop and Ternate, were:
24 Judys
21 Zeros
10 Tojos
3 Oscars

8 TBFs
7 SBDs
5 P-47s
4 B-17s
3 F6Fs

A good day. Scratch another flattop. Probably.

Yeah, I would be happy with that result too! Hiyo and Junyo are pretty fragile so the bombs plus two FSEs almost certainly did Junyo in. And I have never seen Nagato or Mutsu survive more than two torpedoes (in one attack).

15 Aug 43

Supply continues to unload at Boela. One of my divisions does an artillery attack, sometimes boosting its experience level, while the other recovers from its landing. Attacks start tomorrow, probably.

4 Allied cruisers bombard Ternate, damaging some planes and causing some damage. Cruiser Dorsetshire is torpedoed once by I-33 as the task force headed south. Damage is 28 SYS, 38/34 FLOT, 5-0 ENG. It should be fine but require some extensive repair work.

Sorong is also bombarded by 2 light cruisers. Damage is light.

Walker ups his game in China, now sweeping with Zeros to clean out the Chinese fighter groups. 25 Zeros sweep Liuchow finding 10 Chinese P-43s. Almost every P-43 is shot down. The bombing offensive moved back to Kukong, but bombers missed the strategic targets. A Sonia raid hit the airfield at Kukong, doing major damage. I will move a Brit P-40K squadron to China. It stages to Ledo today.

Heavy bombers hit Akyab's airfield and port again.

The last enemy unit on Timor moved to Koepang today, and was instantly eliminated by attrition.

Allied carriers and escorts retire south towards Darwin. Babeldaop's recon showed no task forces today, so Walker probably ran away with everything that he could. I made the right choice not to raid with cruisers or stick around with the carriers.

Recon of northern Mindanao shows lots of activity. Leyte also shows activity. Walker is preparing the Philippines.

Very nice work at Babeldaob. I would guess that will discourage Walker from using that base as heavily as he has to this point.

ORIGINAL: apbarog

Walker ups his game in China, now sweeping with Zeros to clean out the Chinese fighter groups. 25 Zeros sweep Liuchow finding 10 Chinese P-43s. Almost every P-43 is shot down. The bombing offensive moved back to Kukong, but bombers missed the strategic targets. A Sonia raid hit the airfield at Kukong, doing major damage. I will move a Brit P-40K squadron to China. It stages to Ledo today.

....Walker is preparing the Philippines.

Curious this.. and further you still see no evidence of Army troop movement in China ? (as per last post and screen shot up some 6 threads)

--

One therefore is related to the other ?

I will opine:

With 110 plus bombers and dozens of Zekes sweeping China's air force out of the sky - your opponent is using China as the great experience building exercise playground.

Those Zekes and perhaps even the inferior air frames (Helens) are probably going to face you in the Philippines when you arrive on the doorstep. Further they will all have 70 + experience pilots in Ground Attack / Sweep / etc. Even if he doesn't transfer the air frames directly - he can swap out the experience pilots in China and fill his pools of plane in PI.

This is PDU off so actually I assume he may very well be tempted to use the air frame and pilots both in the PI.

At least that is what I would do if I were your opponent. Build up AF experience so you face a massive attrition obstacle in the near future.

I would place all my:

- A6M2 and Helens front line in the PI to attack ground troops/ Naval assets/ landings
- A6M5's and Betties back line at Clark Field for example to come in once your CAP is depleted.

Perhaps you should transfer more than one of those multiple British Squadrons into China Theater ? [:)]

Usually there are lots of Tropical Hawker Hurrie IIc types around. Some restricted to India Burma but not too expensive to buy out. Plus with your pressure on Akylab - there should be no pressure to have air CAP backwards from Calcutta / Ledo so to speak.

Those Hurries are strong enough to compete with the Zeke A6M2's generally.. at least the IIc's are as their optimal band is up to Alt = 20K. They wont outright win the battle but they will hold their own and could give you a 2 : 1 ratio in attrition.

Every Zeke shot down in China will probably save you a lot of aggravation and resources against the PI I think.

16 Aug 43

Boela is bombarded. The 5 cruisers that were escorting the carriers do a good job on the enemy troops.

Sub Skate spots a tanker convoy on the usual Borneo to Manila route, but misses destroyer Yukaze with 2 torpedoes. I spot 3 tankers, 5 destroyers, and a subchaser. No lack of escorts here. The noose has tightened somewhat, with more subs deployed in the South China Sea, based out of Waingapoe. The noose is going to get tighter when Balikpapan is taken, which should be in about 3 or 4 weeks. Ternate and Manado first.

Allied carriers continue to retire toward Darwin. They are not spotted today.

No air activity in China today. Macclan5, you have good points about China. I do have concerns that supply is going to become more of a problem. I've managed to keep around 15,000 supply in Chungking, with only a few bases in the red. It helped to have all of my Chinese air units in India. With a few squadrons in China now, and with the strategic bombing hitting some industry, supply could dwindle soon. I know that I'm moving one Chinese squadron back to India. The one that lost all but one plane the other day, and there aren't enough replacements. I will consider moving some small Brit units in. They are excellent at point defense, which is what I need in China. And will perform much better than the Chinese. I wanted to give the Chinese a shot at defending their own country, and will probably keep the other squadrons there. Until they are destroyed. The pilots are very good, but the planes are not.

Loading for Manado and Ternate begins today. Ships go to Waingapoe to get the 2nd Marine Division, which will invade Ternate. Carriers will refuel and rearm at Darwin in a day or two.

APAs will be used mostly at Manado, which I consider a more dangerous landing. It is much more heavily defended than Ternate, and has a heavy CAP at the moment.

Walker has said that he has a busy week ahead, and that his next turn may not come until Saturday. I will spend a couple of days on this turn and take my time. I'll redo my occasional detailed look around the map, noting available ground units and planning the move after the move after the move.

I think that Mindanao is going to be heavily defended by the time I get there. My contingency plan is a stronger move to Jolo and the east coast of Borneo, and up to the northeastern tip of Borneo. Opening the gate to the South China Sea is practically game over. Well, an exaggeration, but those tanker convoys have nowhere to hide when the Allied navy can get into the South China Sea. I am sure that they will then hug the Vietnam coast, but my subs will be waiting for that.

Fun times for the Allied player, not so much for the Japanese one. I cannot become complacent, though. Walker has lost some carriers, but still has most of them. He hasn't lost more than one battleship, and the one questionable one is still questionable. Plenty of striking force remains, not to mention the air power. And I have to come to him.

Thanks for the response note [:)]

While I opined on the Empire side - I neglected to consider you side.

In August 43 you are flying the hump no doubt but the planes only get so much supply in.

Perhaps you can divide the TROP Hurri IIc squadrons into fragments - move them in for 1 week or so - have them fly random LRCAP missions from odd locations to where you think he is attempting to hit you - then cycle back to Ledo....


A dozen less Zekes in China is a dozen less Zekes you will likely end up facing in PI or Minado etc....Even 1:1 is a fair trade off in 1943 for Hurri's because the Spits don't really show up in significant numbers for another 6 months PDU off...

Let Ki-Shek's fly boys cool their heels flying CAP over Imphal... while the all the Thomas, Richard and Harold Brit boys runs LR CAP out of Kunming or Liachow..[8D]

17 Aug 43

AKAs finish unloading supply for the troops at Boela. The 2 divisions there have 4 times the needed supply on them now.

West of Babeldaob, sub Pompano finds tiny xAKL P-6 without escort. Pompano attacks with guns and almost certainly sinks the small ship. Pompano did waste a torpedo or two during the gun attack.

Allied light cruisers bombard Ambon and do moderate damage.

P-38s sweep Manado, finding Zeros and Oscars. It was a bad day for the Japanese.

Medium bombers hit enemy troops at Boela. Light rain reduced effectiveness.

Heavy bombers hit Ternate.

Wanting to move more supply into Denpassar and Mataram, a cargo task force arrived at Denpassar over the night. Nells sortied from Soerbaja, escorted by 17 A6M5 Zeros and 21 Oscars. 21 F6Fs and 10 Kittyhawks flew protection. Allied fighters did very well, but couldn't touch the bombers before they dropped torpedoes. Just one torpedo hit xAK Lancaster. The ship sank later in the day. Another raid, with 16 Bettys escorted by 9 A6M3a Zeros arrived. 5 Bettys dropped torpedoes but all misses. Many enemy planes were downed.

Total air losses for the day, including the Ternate sweeps and the attacks at Denpassar, were:

20 Zeros
13 Bettys
9 Oscars
9 Nells
2 Tojos

4 P-38s
1 F6F
1 Kittyhawk

US cruisers bombarded Boela with good effect. US troops attacked for the first time, and it didn't go particularly well.

Ground combat at Boela (80,110)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 21748 troops, 407 guns, 252 vehicles, Assault Value = 551

Defending force 8684 troops, 62 guns, 65 vehicles, Assault Value = 188

Allied adjusted assault: 174

Japanese adjusted defense: 315

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker: fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
416 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
597 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 80 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 14 (2 destroyed, 12 disabled)

Assaulting units:
Americal Infantry Division
37th Infantry Division
2/593rd Boat&Shore Engineer Battalion

Defending units:
30th Ind Engineer Regiment
8th/B Division
8th/C Division
210th Ship Eng Coy
4th Engineer Co
16th Army /2
8th JAAF AF Coy
55th JAAF AF Bn
4th Air Div /1

The 37th Division was half disrupted upon invasion, but I needed to get reinforcements in quickly. We'll win this battle, but it will take awhile. I did miscalculate with the followup forces, loading them on APAs, hoping to unload them quickly. Since it will be awhile until the base is taken, I'm diverting the APAs to Namlea. It will now be built up bigger and more quickly, and have plenty of air support units. I need the APAs for upcoming events.

I will rest the Boela troops, and continue to bombard with ships. I'll bomb with B-25s when the weather permits. We'll just have to wear them down. Combat engineers would be helpful, but all are committed elsewhere.

Ships leave Darwin for the Ternate and Manado invasions. Allied carriers arrive at Darwin today, and will support the invasions after refueling and rearming. 2 new carriers and a CVL are waiting at Darwin, and will join the 6 Allied carriers when they arrive.

P-38s will sweep Balikpapan today.

Heavy bombers will hit Manado.

Cargo ships will try to unload at Denpassar again today. The same fighters will CAP, but will be augmented with fighters on LRCAP from Mataram. Walker could send his battleships from Soerbaja, if he decides to risk the mines that he knows are at Denpassar. He's lost a few destroyers there already due to mines, and may be gunshy.

18 Aug 43

In the South China Sea, sub Sculpin sights a tanker convoy but doesn't get a shot. Walker is still sending big tanker convoys from Singapore to Japan through the middle of the South China Sea.

Near Butuan, on Mindanao, sub Saury spots an ACM escorted by a patrol boat. One torpedo hits PB Chohakusan Maru, but it is a dud. Recon of Mindanao shows that it is very active, with lots of fighters and ships in the area. I suspect there are more and more ground units arriving.

P-38s sweep Balikpapan, finding Tonys and Oscars. The first squadron sweep fights a fairly even battle. The second does much better. The Oscar pilots appeared to be elite. The Tony pilots did not. Then P-47s swept, and did very well, against the limited CAP that remained.

In China, Sonias were escorted by Zeros and Nates to Kukong. The airfield is hit. There is no CAP here. There is no Chinese supply here either.

The other big strategic target for Walker was Changteh, 2 hexes northwest of Changsha. I have Chinese P-43s and P-66s at Changsha, along with British P-40Es. I have them on ranged CAP, with a range of 2, to cover the cities near Changsha. Only Changsha has air support units. Walker sent lots of escorts, but I finally had a good day in China.

Morning Air attack on Changteh , at 81,50

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 6
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 28
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 9
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 14
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 21

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 7
P-43A-1 Lancer x 7
P-66 Vanguard x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 destroyed
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged

No Allied losses

Light Industry hits 4

***************
Morning Air attack on Changteh , at 81,50

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 15

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 5
P-43A-1 Lancer x 3
P-66 Vanguard x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 5 destroyed

No Allied losses

B-24s bombed Buin in the Solomons. No CAP. Walker has moved his planes back to Rabaul, and, I think, many of the ground units.

B-24s hit Manado. I'd swept yesterday, but not today. Liberator losses were heavy, but so were enemy losses, mostly on the ground. Too expensive for my liking though.

Total air losses, including the Balikpapan sweeps, the Manado bombing, and the enemy's Chinese bombing, are:

13 Sallys
12 Oscars
10 Topsys(on the ground)
10 Tojos
10 Zeros
7 Tonys
5 Helens

15 B-24s
10 P-38s

Looking at China, I'm starting to consider options for returning the big Chinese corp to the mainland. The corp is tasked for the upcoming Java invasion, but after that, I 'm thinking about sending them back to China. I'm looking at Hong Kong. It doesn't have a garrison requirement, and, in my experience, isn't usually heavily defended. After all, what could threaten it? A combined landing at Kwangchoan and push to the north could clear a path to the coast for the Chinese. Landing a bunch of supply here would instantly reinvigorate the Chinese. There's a lot of potential with the Chinese army, if it has a lot of supply, and if the Japanese don't commit more to China than currently.

None of this can occur soon. It could happen after a pathway to the South China Sea is opened. Taking Jolo, Puerto Princess and the northeastern tip of Borneo could do this.

Not a war-winning operation, but it would be unexpected, and allow the Chinese to become an offensive force. Taking Hong Kong would be just to hold it, not to advance from it. Canton is just to the north, and has a large garrison requirement. Better to just hold the huge base and let it be a focal point for Walker. With that huge corp, and supply, it won't be retaken.

In my own mind, I justified my use of the Chinese corp outside of the Chinese theater by saying that I'd promised Chiang Kai-shek that they will return to their homeland, and will do so by amphibious invasion. What could be more satisfying for the Chinese than a Chinese landing at Hong Kong?

19 Aug 43

Sub Gar spots a big task force near Davao. 4 torpedoes are fired at AD Tone Maru, but all miss. There's an AG and several cargo ships here too. Probably setting up Davao as a support base.

2 B-24 squadrons from Milne Bay bomb the airfield at Buin again. No CAP. Bombers hit Ambon's airfield also.

No enemy attacks in China.

The Allies conduct a probing artillery attack south of Cox's Bazar. The enemy tank division is here, after all. The 14th Infantry Division also. Could be tough to break through, but we shall try.

Ground combat at 55,44 (near Akyab)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 9473 troops, 179 guns, 161 vehicles, Assault Value = 698

Defending force 25700 troops, 355 guns, 559 vehicles, Assault Value = 757

Japanese ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Assaulting units:
3rd USMC Tank Battalion
268th Motorised Brigade
641st Towed Tank Destroyer Battalion
255th Armoured Brigade
11th Indian Division
XXXIII Indian Corps
2/9th Fld RAA Regiment

Defending units:
9th Tank Regiment
1st Tank Division (weakened from prior attack)
14th Division (full strength)
29th Ind Engineer Regiment
Imperial Guards/A Division (weakened from prior attack)
5th Field Construction Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
8th RF Gun Battalion
16th AA Regiment
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
5th Mortar Battalion
15th Army /2

Invasion shipping for Ternate and Manado head toward Lautem. Marines at Waingapoe start to load. Carriers move toward Lautem also. Followup troops start to load at Darwin, and assault troops for Balikpapan start to move to Darwin.

20 Aug 43

Near Davao, sub Gar spots a couple of patrol boats, and gets a torpedo hit on PB America Maru. Probably sunk.

Boela is bombarded by 2 light cruisers and 6 destroyers in preparation for another attack. Results are mediocre. Noncombat squads destroyed and disabled. B-25s then bomb the troops.

18 Tojos sweep the skies over Changsha. It was obvious that this is where the Chinese fighters were based, covering the surrounding bases. The Tojos get the best of the fight, against 6 Chinese P-66s, 9 Chinese P-43s, and 6 Brit P-40Es. 10 Oscars then sweep, and the CAP does better here.

South of Mindanao, sub Sturgeon finds an xAK with an AMc and a PB. It gets 2 torpedo hits on xAK Nissen Maru #3, but one is a dud. No fires or damage reported. But then Sturgeon follows up with another attack, getting another torpedo hit. The cargo ship is probably sunk.

The ground attack at Boela goes poorly. 1 to 2 odds, not touching the level 3 forts. 468 Japanese casualties and 939 US losses. This is going to be a stalemate until reinforcements can arrive, and none are prepped at the moment. Other targets are a higher priority, so I will accept a stalemate for awhile. The Americal Division and the 37th Infantry Division are both about half disrupted now, and will require rest and recuperation in Darwin after this operation. But they are going to be stuck at Boela for awhile.

Invasion shipping for Manado and Ternate will rendezvous north of Timor. It will be 3 or 4 days until the invasions occur.

I have a risky operation underway. APDs have a commando unit loaded, and are leaving Makassar headed to the base on Borneo to the northwest of Bandjermasin. I'm hoping that the base is empty, and I'm hoping that the ships are not spotted next turn. I'd like to steal the base on the cheap. That would definitely get Walker's attention, and he'll focus there. In the meantime, the Balikpapan and Samarinda invasions are due to take place immediately after the upcoming landings at Manado and Ternate.

If the APDs are spotted today, I will probably call this operation off.

The battleship group that had been at Soerbaja for weeks left a few days ago.

Allied transports on the west coast of Australia were spotted today. I'm hoping that it's just a Glen sub. I'm still moving troops for the Java invasion from Perth to Port Hedland.

21 Aug 43

Sub Grayback misses a tiny minesweeper near Davao.

Sub Kingfish spots a small task force, misses a patrol boat with 2 torpedoes, and is hit once with a depth charge. Kingfish has moderate damage, and will return to base. This engagement occurred northeast of Mindanao, near the exit if you wanted to go to the north coast. A dot base near there, on this route, will be mined today.

24 B-24s hit Buin, further damaging the airfield. They'll switch to Torokina today.

Small strikes on Boela's airfield and troops.

Many ships will come together east of Kendari. They will then be 2 days away from landing at Ternate and Manado. All of the Allied big carriers are there, along with a couple of CVLs. Minesweepers, subchasers, bombardments task forces, and escorts are there.

I've scraped together some support units for Gorontalo, which is west of Manado. I took the base awhile ago with a small infantry unit, but haven't tried to get support there. This base will augment Manado and the adjacent dot base. Will be within heavy bomber range of bases on Mindanao.

That's a clever way to (possibly) shield your APD from naval attacks. But did he spot your APD force, and if so, can't he send a surface force after it?

He could send a surface force. I'm guessing that he would think they are headed to Bandjermasin, though, which is a closer target. As for air, it's a big risk. He could just as easy have other bombers on Borneo that could hit them. I'm willing to take some losses if I can take an unoccupied base. Which may or may not be the case.

22 Aug 43

Sub Halibut spots a tanker convoy in the middle of the South China Sea. 2 torpedoes are fired at TK Okigawa Maru. One hits, but it's a dud. 10 days until better torps!

Sub Spearfish spots an unescorted xAKL east of Manado. It starts a gunfight with the cargo ship, with Spearfish firing just one shell at it, and then the sub captain decides that he is too damaged to continue. The cargo ship didn't fire a shot, but the sub captain must have decided that the already existing damage was too great. Interestingly, Spearfish immediately reattacked in a separate attack, firing 2 torpedoes, but both misses.

Sampit is invaded. It's the first invasion on Borneo, and I guarantee that it wasn't the first one that Walker expected. A commando unit lands on the unoccupied base. Sampit is on the west coast of Borneo. The base should automatically convert to Allied, denying the enemy the details of what unit landed, and in what strength. Unless Walker airlifts troops in immediately. I have another commando unit on Celebes ready to be airlifted into Sampit once the base is taken.

The activity in China today was at Sian. Sian has oil, and Walker was going to come here eventually. He's had recon here for a long time. 2 Zero groups swept the base, finding some Chinese P-43s and P-40s. The first fight was fairly even. The second fight favored the Zeros. Total air losses were 14 Zeros, 6 P-40Es, and 5 P-43s. The Chinese pools are always very low, so most of the Chinese units are headed back to Ledo. Brit units and one US unit are replacing them.

At Sampit, lots of APDs and one LSI(M) have completely unloaded the commando unit and supply. During the day, 18 Bettys from the direction of Palembang attacked. A couple were downed by flak, with 5-10 more damaged. 3 torpedoes hit APD Brooks, sinking the ship. All ships will head for Makassar at full speed, and should get there by the end of the day. The base should fall, and be a thorn in the enemy's side, and it will get Walker's attention. If he ignores it, I'll fly in air support and protect the base somewhat. But the real show is elsewhere. Losing one APD is acceptable.

The landing at Ternate will begin, to some degree. I like to have my invasion ships arrive during the night, to allow as much unloading as possible, and maybe be able to leave the next day. My shipping will just barely get to Ternate by the end of the day. Carriers will sit one hex to the west and protect. Cruisers and destroyers go to Ternate also, ready to bombard tomorrow. I chose this approach this time as it makes it perfectly clear that I'm landing at Ternate, and this may be enough for Walker to think that I'm not coming to Manado also. But I am. Tomorrow.

23 Aug 43 - South China Sea

I've made a sizable commitment to hunting tankers in the South China Sea. The subs are based at Waingapoe currently. A few are starting to base at Kendari, but this isn't significantly closer to the South China Sea.