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BURMA/INDIA
Everything is going my way. Tentative bombardments have revealed my superiority at both Mandalay and Kohima. Tomorrow the Brits and Chinese hope to see some more fleeing Jap backs!
Another Topsy is shot down over Kohima. My own supply situation, however, is excellent everywhere but Akyab. Which I dont care about. He appears to have very few fighter aircraft, I've not had to contest him in the air - which means my Blenheims, Fortresses, Liberators and now Wellingtons smite at will.



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Ground combat at Kohima

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 26435 troops, 218 guns, 5 vehicles

Defending force 19809 troops, 171 guns, 658 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
1366 casualties reported
Guns lost 52
Vehicles lost 4

Allied ground losses:
366 casualties reported
Guns lost 12
Vehicles lost 1


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Ground combat at Kohima

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 16189 troops, 127 guns, 504 vehicles

Defending force 24403 troops, 150 guns, 0 vehicles


Japanese ground losses:
39 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
(The Desert Rats are going to drive right over him tomorrow, yay!)
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Ground combat at Mandalay

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 8379 troops, 52 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 9927 troops, 35 guns, 183 vehicles


Japanese ground losses:
20 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

(Much closer but all these Jap units have been defeated in the field over the last week or two, so I think they are heavily disrupted, fatigued, and low on supply. Unlike my Chinese).

JAVA
Very quiet, nothing happening but recon. I didnt lose my Forts last turn, and have completed the rearrangement of Soerabaja, which now has 100 fighters, 20 fighter/bombers, 48 Fortresses, 8 Beauforts, 6 Swordfish. I'm going to start flattening oil in earnest tomorrow. Again, should have done this ages ago. [:(]

CHINA
Homans back is cleared. I'll have my troops sit on the trail and give em a few more days, play for time as it were.

SWPAC/AUS
Nothing new. He's bombing the ground units at Port Moresby, so an attack is presumably imminent.

CENTPAC/NORPAC
Another IJN submarine sunk near Pearl Harbour by a DMS/DD hunter-killer group. 36,000 fuel leaves Dutch Harbour headed for Attu Island, which is going to become a very far forward S-boat base.

Airlosses so far. Notice how quiet it is at the moment. We're in a lull phase.

BURMA/INDIA
As calculated, Kohima falls to the British counteroffensive as the Desert Rats overrun his position. 7000 supply is captured there too, or so it would appear. They will press on as far as Imphal - its 1944 come early.
Mandalay, however, has been fortified and the Chinese cannot take it. Without engineers they never will be able to take it, so they are set to defend. They will stay sieging Mandalay to help him burn up supply.

CHINA
Bombardments all around, other than that the quagmire is suitably sticky and slow going for him.

JAVA
Quiet all around. Everybody is resting.

AUS/SOPAC
Only offensive operations I can conduct here - though I dearly want to be able to do more than that - are with submarines. They arent scoring many kills yet. The Great US Navy Upgrade has made operations in the Pacific grind to a halt.

CENTPAC/NORPAC
Playing around with aircraft at Norpac. Plan is I'll have 30 Mitchells and 50 Tomahawks at Dutch Harbour fairly soon. Going to release some Canadian aircraft to deploy to Attu Island and Dutch Harbour as well in the fullness of time.
Elsewhere, stapling AA guns to warships.

BURMA/INDIA
The Imperial Guard gets enveloped by my reserves on their little supplyless hill. Going to be Napoleon time for them soon. "The Guard dies, it does not surrender!".
Other than that, fairly quiet. I got six squadrons of transport aircraft in the area now. 3 are supplying Myritkina, 2 are uncrating, 1 is supplying Yenen. A seventh Dakota squadron will be setting off from Derby for India tomorrow.

CHINA
He's engaged the base to the NW of Sian with one division. The northern front is really starting to crumble unfortunately. Homan is becoming a desperate delaying action while reinforcements come up from Chungking. The air war is quite quiet - the AVG has either been splattered or is in Java, there are only 8 AVG Tomahawks in China now - without either side deploying fighters much. The bombers are having a free ride, and unbelievably, my Chinese bombers are doing more damage than his Sallies in the bomber competition.

JAVA
Quiet. My Fortresses are finally ready. I've set them to a daylight air attack on the oil on the south coast of Borneo. Zeroes are there though, so we'll have to see if they actually fly or not.

SOPAC/AUS
Still fixin'. Betties are on ASW duty out of Rabaul now. Port Moresby is on 17 runway damage, 100 service damage. The KB is nowhere to be found. Wouldnt be surprised if they were headed for Java.

CENTPAC/NORPAC
The three US carriers at Pearl are now in a fit state to be deployed, the worst is on 5 sys damage. Not enough escorts for them though so they remain at Pearl anyway. They'll be setting out from Pearl fairly soon though, headed to SOPAC to link up with the others. I'm going to take Pearls 3 ARs with them, and move my major repair yard to Auckland I think. Also going to remove two of the three squadrons of Devastators aboard and swap them for more marine Wildcats, which are presently at Canton Island.

I'm proud of how I've got the Imperial Guard by the gonads, so have a closeup of its soon-to-be demise. [:D] (We hope)

BURMA/INDIA
The fresh 2nd UK Division moves to engage the surrounded Imperial Guard on their hill. Elsewhere the Desert Rats press on towards Imphal. I noticed that their morale is quite low, I hope they can finish the deed.
Burma is now in a state of stalemate.

CHINA
He has gone back to bombarding Homan, which is having very little effect. Kweilang or whatever its called releases another 5 rested corps for Chungking.

JAVA
Daylight raid with the Fortresses on Balikpapan scores 4 oil hits but at the cost of 2 Forts lost to CAP and flak and a whole lot damaged. They are now resting. Pondering going for the airfield first now, though I'm not sure I got the luxury of time for that.
ABDA HQ is in the process of moving to Soerabaja. Batavia has 75k supply but Soerabaja, which is keeping 200 a/c aloft, is down to 20k. I hope the presence of the HQ will suck some of Batavias supply to the south.

AUS/SOPAC
Got a pile of subs rendezvousing at Townsville. Going to try a sub transport to get out some of my units still near Rabaul, stranded in the bush. Other than that, and routine minelaying, all is quiet.

CENTPAC/NORPAC
Honolulu, Helena and two Bagley DDs, all upgraded and on 0 sys damage, leave San Francisco headed for Pearl. They are going to be part of my carrier TF escorts. A convoy at San Diego loads up with aircraft and supplies. More Dakotas for India (!), medium bombers and fighters for SOPAC. Another convoy with Wildcats crated aboard is loading up at San Francisco with Noumea as its final destination.
Going to send another battleship to NORPAC with a small escort fairly soon - estimated final fleet strength at Norpac of 2 BBs, 2 CAs, 4 DDs. They will sit at Attu Island under Tomahawk CAP when all is sorted out.

BURMA/INDIA
The 2nd UK Division engages the Imperial Guard on the hill, promptly achieves 4 to 1 odds in the first attack. Elsewhere the Desert Rats are checked just outside Imphal. Going to be a tough slug to break the Japanese army, though the Imperial Guard are surely buggered. The plus side - total air superiority around Imphal, leaving my Blenheims free to bomb as needed.
The heavies go for Taung Gyi where he has Zeroes, several heavy bombers are lost but the runway is somewhat cratered. Not brilliant. I'll have another go after some rest.
I'm going to pull back from Mandalay. No reason to fight with him at an advantage.


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Day Air attack on Taung Gyi , at 33,32

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 9
Wellington III x 9
B-17E Fortress x 55
LB-30 Liberator x 40

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 11 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
Wellington III: 2 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged
LB-30 Liberator: 2 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
14 casualties reported

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 20

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Wellington III bombing at 5000 feet
5 x Blenheim IV bombing at 5000 feet
5 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
6 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
6 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
14 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
11 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 5000 feet
9 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 5000 feet
10 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 5000 feet
3 x Blenheim IV bombing at 5000 feet
3 x Wellington III bombing at 5000 feet
5 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
7 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
5 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
2 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
3 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 5000 feet
3 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 5000 feet
3 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 5000 feet
2 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
2 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
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Ground combat at 34,24

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14900 troops, 174 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 15671 troops, 114 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 4 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
216 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

Allied ground losses:
99 casualties reported
Guns lost 4 (Thats the 2nd UK Div vs Imperial Guard)
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CHINA
Homans fortifications are down to 2, they are given the order to retreat in an orderly fashion to Sian. Chungkings reinforcement continues, a couple of spare divisions are sent from Chungking to Sian also. Really, numbers are not the problem, supply is.

JAVA
All quiet.

SOPAC/AUS
The USN is slowly waking up from two weeks of refits. Two Kiwi CLs leave Sydney headed for Cairns with a six DD escort. They are going to be on standby for fast transports to Port Moresby. 42 Fortresses are now at Cairns, in range of Gili Gili, so we can dust the airfield there at will hopefully in readiness. An AP convoy carrying a 90 av support base force and US tank group sail past Noumea, also headed for Cairns by circuitous route. Plan is I want those units at Port Moresby if at all possible.
Looks like with the DDs fixing nicely at Auckland, and if we are prepared to let Lex sail on around 10 sys damage, we might manage to deploy the target 7 CVs in the Coral Sea with upgraded escorts for May.

CENTPAC/NORPAC
No enemy action aside from subs again. Going to give the CVs at Pearl Harbour 5 more days to fix and then they are headed for SOPAC. Should be pretty much totally fixed then.

BURMA/INDIA
The British armoured drive on Imphal continues. Level bombers broke up his defences and the Desert Rats drove over them. The 2nd Div chips at the trapped Imperial Guard meanwhile, those Blenheims are going to have a go at breaking -them- up tomorrow.

JAVA
All quiet. Batavia is almost fixed. If it repairs right down to 0 damage I'm gonna move my fighter aircraft back there again. Then he'll have to smack it about all over again. *evil*
Fortress raid on Balikpapan planned for tomorrow.

CHINA
Homan is almost evacuated. 3 Divisions slower than the rest remained today, and somehow repulsed the Japs though with heavy losses. Looks like no Chinese unit will be booted out, they'll walk out.

SOPAC/AUS
Port Moresby is almost fixed, but Jap TFs are sighted near Gili Gili. Got my Australia based Fortresses set to raid Gili Gili tomorrow, lets see if we can give out some payback for Port Moresbys devastation (which seriously dented the SOPAC fighter numbers, they are still recovering...)
Noumea has too many baseforces, going to move some out, probably the Aus coast given he has Lunga so they cant go there. The concentration of engineers there has meant that its been nicely built up however.

CENTPAC/NORPAC
All quiet. Fortresses arrived at SF today, they are promptly loaded up onto waiting AKs and dispatched.

I see people are actually reading this now. is it getting more interesting with time?

BURMA/INDIA
One of the great questions of the war is answered as baby KB shows up at Rangoon and sinks a Dutch ML which was mining Akyab. The British carriers arrive in Sydney today by coincidence. [:)]. At least they arent in India where I might be tempted to foolish adventurism.
Ground units are having a rest, fatigue and disruption has been mounting. Medium bombers continue to pound the Imperial Guard meanwhile.
Might try setting the heavies to naval attack next turn if he gets adventurous. I doubt they'll fly past the Zero CAP but you never know - and Zeroes dont really hurt heavies that much.

CHINA
Homan is totally evacuated and falls. His shock attack, presumably aimed at disrupting stragglers, is too late.
The Chinese countryside all the way from Kweiyang to Sian is a mass of Chinese infantry all marching to the NE in an almost unbroken lian, via Chungking.

JAVA
Got a juicy hit on Balikpapan with my heavy bombers out of Batavia. Nice.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/16/42

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Day Air attack on Balikpapan , at 31,64

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9

Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 3
B-17E Fortress x 36

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 7 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 10 destroyed, 14 damaged
C5M Babs: 3 destroyed, 4 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 8 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
35 casualties reported

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 21

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
6 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
4 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
2 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 5000 feet
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If he is taking Java he's doing it in his own damn time. He's not flown anything but recon over the place for weeks. Those Fortresses should make him change his tune though. [:)]. I'd rather have him invading Java than somewhere juicier. Like India.

SOPAC/AUS
The KB is sighted at Gili Gili. Other TFs are present too, looks like this is the invasion! PM is devoid of aircraft and he knows it, I imagine he'll just toast the ground forces there with a massive carrier strike.
Only Allied response is - 5 S-boats which were on minelaying duty split up into 5 lone wolves, and spread out around Port Moresby. Fat chance of hitting a CV, but you never know.

CENTPAC/NORPAC
Nothing new.

BURMA/INDIA
The ground forces are taking a breather. The Imperial Guard gets bombed again by Hurricanes and Blenheims, of course. Heavies are resting. He flies a recon mission from Mandalay over Dacca. Tsk, cant allow him an airfield so close. The heavies have a job to do tomorrow.

JAVA
Batavia is on 12 service and 12 runway damage. Pondering reinforcing it again. But its down to 3000 supply. A submarine torpedoes an AK to the east of Singapore - I would hazard its an empty convoy returning home.
ABDA HQ arrives at Soerabaja and sure enough strips all the supply from Java for the airbase. Good oh. Java in total has about 100,000 supply which strikes me as low. I diverted a Karachi-Australia convoy a while back with 60k of supply on board to Java, its almost there. Have to see if the Betties are sleeping.

CHINA
Situation still developing around Sian. Ground combat, its all in slow motion. Moved the AVG, whats left of it, to Sian as well.

SOPAC/AUS
An S-boat puts a torpedo into an AP between GG and Port Moresby. His carriers, also in the area, bomb PM airfield. Looks like its invasion time.
Set the Fortresses at Cairns - 63 of em - to naval attack, hopefully they'll bomb a few more APs. The S-boats there are for harassing only, as they were on mine duty they only got one shot each.

CENTPAC/NORPAC
Very quiet. Honolulu and Helena near Pearl Harbour, soon as they get there the three CVs are headed out.

BURMA/INDIA
A construction battalion arrives at Bangalore, intent on raising its fortification level to 9.
None of my a/c fly today bar some Hurricanes bombing the Imperial Guard, so its a quite front at the moment. Armoured units have reached Imphal, they are tired but I'm gonna send em in anyway. Every bomber, medium and heavy, is tasked with ground attack duties tomorrow to assist the Desert Rats in smashing the enemy from Imphal!

The Imperial Guard on the hill is proving a tough nut to crack. Got 2 Bdes pinning it down and 1 Div actually engaging, so 3 land units pinned down - but to destroy the Imperial Guard, what a coup! I'm not letting em go now.

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Ground combat at 34,24

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14147 troops, 147 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 14873 troops, 86 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 25 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
97 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
160 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

JAVA
Quiet. Bombers dont even fly. Boo.

SOPAC/AUS
Port Moresby invasion has begun - 1 Japanese division plus some backup units have landed so far. Two battleships present in a big surface combat/bombardment TF, and the KB.
Three sub attacks on the attacking throng but no hits - two misses, and one torpedo dud on Kirishima, grr. One S-boat lightly damaged by depth charges in response. Another five submarines - fleet subs, not crappy S-boats - are sent in.
My Fortresses at Cairns dont fly, even though there is at least one transport TF without air cover, bah.

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Naval bombardment of Port Moresby, at 53,91

Japanese Ships
DD Matsukaze
DD Yuzuki
DD Uzuki
DD Oboro
DD Hibiki
DD Akatsuki
DD Arashio
DD Michishio
DD Shiranuhi
CL Kashima
CA Kako
CA Furutaka
CA Kinugasa
CA Ashigara
CA Maya
BB Kirishima
BB Haruna


Allied ground losses:
633 casualties reported
Guns lost 9
Vehicles lost 3

Runway hits 18
Port hits 11
Port fuel hits 6
Port supply hits 9

F 45 encounters mine field at Port Moresby (53,91)

TF 45 troops unloading over beach at Port Moresby, 53,91


Japanese Ships
MSW Tama Maru #2
MSW Tama Maru
MSW Noshiro Maru #2
MSW Fumi Maru #2
MSW Choun Maru #8
MSW Banshu Maru #8
PG Kyo Maru #10
PG Choan Maru #2
PG Takunan Maru #10
PG Takunan Maru #8
APD APD-36
PC Sonan Maru #6
PG Kyo Maru #8
PG Koei Maru
PG Heijo Maru
APD APD-38
APD APD-35
AK Korei Maru, Mine hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
31 casualties reported

Coastal Guns at Port Moresby, 53,91, firing at TF 45
194 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
PG Choan Maru #2
PG Takunan Maru #10
PG Myoken Maru, Shell hits 4
PC Sonan Maru #6, Shell hits 4
PG Koei Maru

Japanese ground losses:
1287 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Thats a lot of minesweepers - but they hit a mine anyway, bwahahah. Only <100 mines at PM too. Wonder if he'll ever have designs on one of my 1000 mine surprises at Palmyra or Midway. [:D]

CENTPAC/NORPAC
Quiet. Question is, can Port Moresby hold out, say, 2 weeks? Then I'll have my carriers in a position to intervene Coral Sea style, KB or no KB!

BURMA/INDIA
Imphal falls to the British armour after a particularly heavy aerial bombardment. And so it came to pass that the Japs were unceremoniously ejected from India and have to walk back to Mandalay!
Going to pull the Desert Rats and Indian Tank Bde back to the nearest malaria free base (Asansol I think it is) to recover, they've had quite a hard time.
He has left behind his paratroopers and the Imperial Guard, both trapped between British units. I'll have to set to work reducing those and putting them in the bag.

JAVA
Fortresses hit Balikpapan, results are pretty minor, though they are attritting his army Zeroes nicely. Fortresses seem to be the best anti-Zero weapon in the game at this point - and I mean air to air!
Elsewhere a Jap AK sinks in the South China sea, victim of a sub torpedo a couple of days ago. A Dutch sub torpedoes another AK east of Singapore today, the attrition slowly mounts.
Three Jap TFs sighted around Amboina, and he started heavy recon all across Timor today. I wonder where hes going next, eh? [:)]

SOPAC/AUS
Jap invasion force at Port Moresby seems to be 2 divisions and a lot of engineers. Another AK hits a mine today, and promptly sinks, despite about six minesweepers. They really do work...
Looks like it'll be a long slog, I dont think thats enough. Unfortunately for him his supply route is in range - just - of Fortresses from Cairns, and also my Townsville forward sub depot means he'll be running the sub gauntlet quite a lot. Unfortunately for me PMs supplies are being bombed away.
Looks good overall, tho. Might be able to pin him down around PM for a while, until my carriers show. Then, hopefully, we'll time things so that after his pilots are tired from bombing PM, my carriers will spring him...

CENTPAC/NORPAC
Quiet as the grave.

Not a whole lot going on now, now that Burma has quietened. He still doesnt seem to be up for making a move on Java. Judging by the recon and the TFs, maybe he's going for Timor first? I got a lot of Beauforts there, and his CVs are not near enough to help, so I figure surely thats foolish.

Only action is Port Moresby - I dont know who will win this. He is getting 2 to 1 odds but the Aussies arent pulling out, and they have 200 tanks there. I noticed in Rabaul that tanks stiffen a defence significantly, Rabaul dragged on for a long time at 2 to 1. But against 2 Jap divisions I'm pessimistic they will hold out long enough for backup to arrive.

The US CVs have left Pearl Harbour, and I will fling them into battle as soon as they arrive in theatre, but they are at least a week away.

Course, there is no guarantee, even if they do arrive, that they manage to blunt the KB. Might get wiped out. Still it should be after the Zeroes have lost all their maneuver bonus, with 7 Allied CVs concentrated in one place, and up two squadrons of Wildcats from the normal loadout. I figure I gotta hit at some point and it seems like as much is in my favour as can be.

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Ground combat at Port Moresby

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 47558 troops, 433 guns, 5 vehicles

Defending force 14906 troops, 38 guns, 201 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0


Japanese ground losses:
298 casualties reported
Guns lost 10

Allied ground losses:
1061 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
Vehicles lost 4


Doesnt look good, does it. [:(]

US CVs are passing Palmyra now. I think they'll be too late to intervene - and as my Forts at Cairns apparently refuse to fly, aside from the slow attrition of submarines that is all I have which can intervene.
That said I was admiring Cairns and Noumea, both major bases, and feel content that he is going to find advancing further south from PM very difficult indeed. I anticipate his next moves after PM - assuming it falls - will be surely Java and Timor.

My bombers at Java have now trashed half of the oil at Balikpapan, though they have suffered some attrition for it. I think this was worth it, a combined 100 oil hits now, and I'm not done yet. Palembang I'd love to bomb but its much better defended, with many Zeroes and Oscars, triple the Balikpapan garrison if recon is anything to go by.
New plan in Java anyway, Batavia is totally fixed, so I move the Warhawks and Tomahawks - about 50 fighters - back to Batavia, along with 8 Beauforts. All level bombers are set to naval attack. Lets see if we can scare up some targets in the Java Sea.

PM falls, bugger.

BURMA/INDIA
Not much going on. Scorched earth from afar, I'm gonna take down every resource centre in Burma, as it appears an early counterrattack is unlikely to be on the cards. Mandalay is getting city bombed tomorrow. Even if it is my transports should be able to handle supply better than his.

CHINA
10 Jap units are on the way to Chungking. That doesnt worry me much.
He's headed for the base NW of Sian, the one with the resources... not good.
I, meanwhile, am trying for another attack, this one towards Wuchow. Distances are shorter and supply is greater, so maybe they'll actually get there without running out of food.

JAVA
Set my Fortresses to naval attack at the sweet spot of 5000 feet, with the range tailored to avoid major Jap concentrations. Taboili or whatever its called, in the middle of the Java Sea, accordingly gets a roasting. Half a dozen APs are left on heavy damage from 500lb bombs.

SOPAC/AUS
Port Moresby falls, he deployed a third division (! I guess that came from the PI now hes reduced it !) and that wrapped the place up. Aside from Java and maybe Timor that is surely his last easy conquest in this theatre, however. Australia seems pretty solid, he'd need to land about 6-7 divisions to really cause me to fear, a bigger bridgehead than any yet attempted by Japan by considerable margin. He's need about 4-5 to take Noumea - Americal, USMC and two NZ Bdes are based there, over 200 aircraft of all types...

CENTPAC/NORPAC
Quiet - for now.

BURMA/INDIA
Another 39 resource hits on Mandalay, leaves the place with 7. I think its time to go for something else. The airfield at Taung Gyi maybe. Though it seems a few Zeroes puts bombers off, I've had bad luck with morale checks (the bomber morale is 60 ish).
So many RAF HQs I dont know what to do with them. And on the other side of the theatre, not a single US air HQ where I badly need them.

CHINA
Still developing. My units are one hex towards Wuchow, who knows if their supply will last.

JAVA
Bombers rest. No Japanese counterstrike on Batavia. All is quiet but recon.

AUS/SOPAC

All quiet.

CENTPAC
My 3 CV CVBG is halfway between Palmyra and Canton Island now on the way to SOPAC. I think... I'm going to use Auckland as a forward carrier base, concentrate all my CVs there. Just in case he makes a move on Noumea. I doubt he will... but if he does, damn, that'd be ideal for a carrier battle.

BURMA/INDIA
He's reconning Myritkina now, so I figure he has designs on the place. A less ambitious means of closing down the Burma Road. With six or so Chinese divisions and ample supply being carted over the trail from Ledo, I'm not worried too much just yet. Lots of engineers at Myritkina as well so hopefully I'll have the fort level up fairly soon.
As for the rest, pulling most of the British out of the Burma border area back to India proper for R&R. They arent heavily damaged, mostly just some light casualties, but I dont want them permanently garrisoning malarial bases if need be.

JAVA
He's attacking! Two TFs head across the Java Sea, crossing the wolfpacks (1 AK torpedoed, 1 Dutch sub eats 2 depth charges). Looks like his landing point is Batavia.
He hit Batavia airfield today but there isnt anything much there, just a handful of Warhawks. The main airforce is at Soerabaja now - unfortunately he happened to pick a day most of them are resting. Every frame is set for naval attack tomorrow, and some Swordfishes are moved to Tjilatjap as a little surprise. Tomorrow he should be looking at a 50 or so bomber raid on his ships - I'm sure he'll land enough to do the deed however, but we'll see.

CHINA
Looks like he wants the base NW of Sian before Sian itself. His attack on Chungking is getting a bit spread out, he has a long line of units on the road now. Intentionally covering his rear, or unintentional?

SOPAC/AUS
His carriers are still at Port Moresby, a nearby S-boat gets hit by Vals flying off his carriers. Not sure what his intentions are here. Most of my forces are concentrated along the Cairns-Brisbane line. North Australia is comparatively empty, but thats deliberate - I'm assuming Derby/Wyndham/Darwin/Koepang will be filled up with refugees from Java fairly soon.

CENTPAC/NORPAC
No enemy activity whatsoever. My mining efforts have been going well - got 1500 mines at Midway, Johnston and Palmyra now. Only 500 at Canton Island, so maximum effort is being spent there to get the number up to at least a thousand.
NorPac reinforcements just arrived at San Fran - an RCT and a baseforce. Going to move the RCT to Attu Island, and the baseforce to Dutch Harbour.

BURMA/INDIA
My heavies refuse to hit Taung Gyi because of the CAP over it. Bahhhh. I'm leaving them on airfield attack anyway, eventually they'll make their morale check and fly. The CAP is light, just one squadron of Zeroes I think. I want to flatten the airbase so I can then flatten the resources, and I dont want to use night bombing to do it as I want it done ASAP.

JAVA
He landed at Merak? west of Batavia. Bit of surface combat between PT boats and his forces but he brought ample DD/CL support so the PTs did nothing but die.
12 Swordfish met the attackers but missed every time. 35 level bombers from Batavia of varying types (mostly Forts) also sortied, and at 5000 feet did score many hits - unfortunately none concentrated on a particular ship, so they did light damage to a whole lot of ships and nothing more. Not good enough.
Subs didnt do anything.

SOPAC/AUS
He's sitting at Port Moresby still with the KB. I noticed my level bombers at Cairns had their range too low to sortie to the PM coast so that explains the lack of aerial intervention... gah. Fixed that.

CENTPAC/NORPAC
Quiet as the grave.

BURMA/INDIA
A British tanker got torpedoes by a submarine W of Diamond Harbour. I scuttle it in my go as it was on 95 flotation damage. I'm not eager to use DDs to escort convoys to Diamond Harbour as its in Betty range, and DDs are precious. I might use a few MSWs for the rare convoy I intend to take that way in future.
The bombers flatten Taung Gyi today, apparently because the Jap fighters there have pulled out. Thats good. I'll start work on the resources when fatigue permits.

CHINA
Not much new to add.

JAVA
He continues to land at Merak. I move one Dutch brigade out of Batavia to the SW. I'd like at least one Dutch Bde to escape the island. LBA attacks on his ships are sporadic today, not much damage done. The high point was Swordfish putting two torps into an AP.

SOPAC/AUS
My newly upranged Fortresses hit shipping at Port Moresby, the 24 Zeroes there make quite a mess out of them. A couple of Zeroes get shot down by the bombers, but the ships avoid damage aside from some 500lbers bouncing off CA decks. Not good. Won't be doing that again.

CENTPAC/NORPAC
The US carriers just passed Canton Island, and loaded up with Wildcats.
They now have 103 aircraft aboard each (Usual complement + 24 marine Wildcats). I believe the 90 capacity carriers can still carry this many and launch them. Anybody able to confirm this before I get them sunk? [;)] They are headed for Noumea now, if they cant carry that many a/c I'll leave the Devastators there.