Nomad (J) vs ADB123 (A) - Last Stand at Balboa

[ADB123]

December 13, 1941 –

My plans didn’t work out quite as I had hoped this turn, but at least no major disasters beset me. First off, the Japanese CL/DD TF that had plagued my transport ships in the straights between Borneo and Celebes moved this turn, so Houston and friends came up empty-handed once more. That Japanese TF was much luckier as it moved eastwards to a spot just where I had my remaining Manila refugees trying to escape. Two more AKLs were caught during the night, and in the daylight an AO which had caught a sub-launched torpedo just outside of Manila on December 8 was caught by the persistent Japanese TF and sunk. In addition, the combat escort TF from the Miri invasion caught and sank one of the HK transports that was trying to escape along the north coast of Borneo.

There was one small glimmer of revenge this turn, as a US S-boat caught and hit a couple of troop-laden AKs off of Luzon, and likely sent them to the bottom. It was nice to taste success for a change.

My air plans didn’t work quite as planned, but they still weren’t bad in the end. First off, the planned British surprise in northern Malaya fizzled out as the Buffalos in Medan that were on LR CAP over Alor Star found some Nates sweeping there. The results were inconclusive, although one or two Nates may have been shot down. This removed my Buffalos from any further action. But this turned out okay in the end because the subsequent bombing runs were heavily escorted, which was a first for that region. So I’ve move the Buffalos back to Singapore to rest and contemplate their future.

There was another bit of strange luck that ended up in my favour this turn. I had set a squadron of P-40Bs in Manila to fly LRCAP over San Fernando this turn because Nomad had sent unescorted bombers against the troops there last turn. But what do I see but my P-40s jumping and shooting up an unescorted bomber strike against my troops at Tuguegarao! Eight Sallys were shot down with no losses to the US fliers. I have no idea why the P-40s ventured over there, but I’ll take the kills and run away happily.

Nomad continued with the usual heavy bombing raids against my troops in the open around coastal China, as well as the troops trapped in Hong Kong. I moved the second Chinese AVG squadron to the Front in case some of the Japanese bombers venture too far north.

One final unexpected happening occurred, and this one was the least pleasant of the day. For some reason the Dutch surface combat TF containing CL Tromp didn’t pull back from Ambon after cruising in there during the night phase, so Kates from the now nearby Japanese CVL flew in and sank the ship with two torpedoes. This time there were Zeros along on escort, so the triumvirate of Dutch Buffalos in the air couldn’t stop the attack. Oh well, I’ll just have to be more careful of all of the details in the orders that I give from now on.

There were only two land attacks this turn. The Japanese besiegers of Hong Kong staged a Deliberate attack, achieved a 1:1 result, and lowered the forts to Level 2. Manus was also captured.

In Intel news, the big news was No News – the KB finally disappeared into the Central Pacific. That makes things a little bit more difficult, but not enough to make me change my current plans. Right now I’m betting that the KB will go to Truk for refuelling and then will support operations on both ends of New Guinea.

To me, the Real News is that more and more large Japanese TFs are sailing towards the eastern DEI. I’m guessing that Nomad intends a major thrust to grab Ambon, Timor, and the other major bases in the region in order to cut Java and Sumatra off from northern Australia. And who knows, maybe he will attempt an early invasion of Darwin too. And the reality is – if he wants to do so, he will do it easily, even if he doesn’t bring the KB into play.

So I’m assuming that the entire region will be as good as lost before month’s end. Given that, I’m not keeping ships at Soerabaja any longer than it takes them to refuel and replenish. My initial escape plan from Manila actually worked quite well and I got almost all of the high value ships to Soerabaja, so I have no intention of letting them become trapped there instead.

In the meanwhile, back at Pearl Harbor the Airfields, Airfield Support and Port have all been repaired, so I now have my engineers expanding the Port to its max. I want to be able to empty out troop ships there as quickly as possible. Once the Port hits Level 8 I’ll switch everyone over to expanding the fortifications. I’m not seeing indications that Nomad will try an invasion of the Hawaiian Islands, but then I’m not seeing any signs that he won’t try either.

[topeverest]

Keep the faith...Victory Fever is far from over.

The CL loss to enemy air is a typical result in cases where you have no direct air cover. Brewsters and Buffalos wont cut it unless within a hex or so of the launching base. Also Jap subs will sink everything that floats and travels less than about 15. FYI.

[ADB123]

December 14, 1941 –

The pace picked up this turn with Japanese TFs moving all around the Philippines and DEI. Things started out as the US PT picket TF at Jolo spotted an incoming enemy TF and immediately ran away at high speed. Fortunately, the Japanese TF was heading somewhere else and the nice, big air field at Jolo remains empty for another day. However, the PT TF used up a lot of fuel and developed some wear-and-tear from fleeing the unknown so quickly, so it will have to go to Tarakan for fuel and some dock side time.

There was a landing at Jesselton which will help trap the British forces that will be besieged at Brunei. A Japanese TF also showed up at Namlea, but it is likely heading to Ambon. And the Japanese CVL TF parked itself in the Ambon hex in order to scare off any potential interference with the upcoming invasion.

Daylight brought a lot of Japanese air attacks throughout the region. Multiple small Zero sweeps flew over Clark Field and vicinity, but my P-40s were resting and repairing. The only bombing attack in Luzon was on the troops at San Fernando. There were also plenty of air attacks in northern Malaya and coastal South China. Nomad’s Chinese bombers have been avoiding the areas where the AVG squadrons wait and watch.

There was one nice, successful Allied air attack this turn. The B-17s at Cagayan hit the undefended air base at Miri hard, causing a fair amount of damage and likely damaging some of the Sallys which had been moved there. I’m resting the B-17s this turn, but this action serves notice to Nomad that he will have to consider putting CAP over his new acquisitions if he wants to avoid giving me freebies.

Speaking of freebies, bombers from the Japanese CVL at Ambon caught one of the few remaining Manila AKLs trying to sneak around and over to Soerabaja. It’s too bad that the CVL didn’t attack the second AKL in the region – that might have run it low enough on torpedoes for me to attempt a surface intercept. But then, I suspect that Nomad has loaded that TF with combat ships, so maybe it’s all for the better.

In daytime invasion action, Japanese troops finally started to land at Guam, and also started to land at Manado and Brunei. There was ground combat in China. First off the Japanese captured Hong Kong with a 3:1 attack. Now there are movement-arrows on the Japanese troops at HK, so I suspect some of those troops will be coming up to bother my retiring Chinese troops soon. And a Japanese Regiment attacked one of my better Chinese Corps that was minding its own business while moving away from the coast. The Japanese regiment was repelled with a 1:2 result and 2:1 losses.

The only other interesting action was in the South Pacific where a Japanese sub was chased by the escorts in a small surface combat TF that I sent to Suva. It’s good to know that the sub is there, and it reinforces my plan to only send escorted TFs into that region.

[ADB123]

December 15, 1941 –

Japanese troops kept on landing at Guam, Manado and Brunei during the night time. Three new landings started, at Dague and Sarmi on the north coast of New Guinea, and more importantly, at Ambon. The CD guns at Ambon earned their pay by hitting three PBs and an AKL with 150mm shells. But this won't matter much longer because Nomad has a number of big TFs at Ambon including the CVL TF, and there is nothing that I have in the neighbourhood that will break through all of that.

In other action a Japanese sub finally sank CM Prins van Oranje. After dropping its mines at Jolo earlier in the week the Prins had been hit by a torpedo from a Kate and has been limping around the northern edge of the Celebes ever since. And one of my two MLs that had finally cleaned up the sub-laid mines at Singapore hit a sub-laid mine at Palembang this turn and sank. So the remaining ML will get the job.

In air action lots of big Zero fighter sweeps clouded the skies over Manila. I have no intention of feeding my P-40s to them, so my planes were sitting out again. Then I decided that I need the P-40s and pilots more elsewhere and I couldn't see a good reason to throw them away in the hopes of achieving an ambush in the Philippines, so I withdrew them.

Elsewhere plenty of Japanese bombers flew in Malaya and China, and in fact one of the AVG squadrons did get a chance to pull off an ambush, shooting down a half dozen unescorted Idas over Liuchow and damaging more of them. I've now spread out a number of Chinese air units around the front line air bases in the hopes of hiding the actual whereabouts of the AVG squadrons. I don't want to get into Sweep-Wars at this time.

In land combat a Japanese armoured regiment attempted an attack on a Chinese Corps that I had blocking the road away from Ichang. The Chinese unit is fairly good, so the result was 1:3 and the Japanese regiment lost a number of tanks. My unit is still moving out, and since it is at 45 of 46 miles, it ought to get out of the way next turn.

Victoria Point was captured by a Japanese infantry regiment that was also accompanied by an air support unit. Nomad obviously intends to project air power over that region very early in the game, and a Japanese aircraft symbol was already in place at the base at the end of the turn.

The Japanese invasion force at Manado attempted a Shock attack this turn which failed 1:2. The Japanese received twice as many casualties. It looks as if Nomad underestimated the force required to take that base.

In contrast Brunei was captured easily and the British base forces were pushed back to Beaufort. Jesselton was also captured, so the options continue to fade for the British forces in the north-eastern corner of Borneo.

My troops at Ambon attempted a bombardment attack on the invading Japanese troops. The attack had no effect, but it did let me know what troops were ashore. I was surprised – so far only an SNLF unit, an air base force, and an air HQ have landed. Nomad obviously wants to gain air control of the region rather quickly. However, if he hasn't brought more combat troops his air support troops could find themselves bogged down for quite some time.

I then received a nasty surprise as Japanese paratroops landed on Port Blair and captured it immediately. I had forgotten about the Japanese airborne capability and I had left a British Catalina detachment at Port Blair. That air unit is now gone. Obviously I'll have to spread out more small combat units to cover my base forces.

The other capture this turn was Guam which fell to the 4th Division. Nomad didn't fool around here.

There are finally also some Japanese troops on their way towards Alor Star. I've already pulled back all of the troops that I want for the defence of Singapore, so Malay troops and Base Forces will have to attempt to delay the Japanese advance. I'm actually quite surprised at the force that I've been able to accumulate at Singapore so far. At the moment I have around 750 AV, with another 200 AV on their way, and if I get lucky yet another 50 or so AV. I am encouraged enough to start to replace the abysmally bad troop leaders with decent generals. If I can delay Nomad at Singapore for a while it will all be worth it.

Finally, it appears that a Japanese TF is heading south towards Rabaul, so time is running out on that base too. I'm pulling out all that I can – Port Moresby is looking more crowded all the time.

[topeverest]

Let me suggest you carefully examine and place your AA batteries in Malaya and Luzon specifically. It will be your primary weapon to kill enemy aircraft for several months. Take full advantage of what you can get early on.

[ADB123]

December 16, 1941 –

I've run into a very odd problem this turn in this hotel for some unknown reason – I can't upload and send the Turn via webmail back to Nomad. I can get to the Internet and my webmail, but the upload of the Turn hangs at just under the halfway point. I wonder if the hotel network is set to limit uploads to 1 Meg or so. If so, that is going to tick-off a lot of corporate Power Point users. In any event, I'll try to send out the file from my sister-in-law's place later this evening.

This turn brought more firing back and forth at Ambon. My CD guns there hit a couple more AKLs and more PBs, and a Japanese BB got into the action along with the other light ships. Landings continued at Manado, Sarmi and Dagua, and a new landing started at Ternate.

Daylight brought Japanese fighter sweeps all over the place. Fortunately, those big sweeps were located where my fighters weren't. My fighters were around in China, and the Japanese fighters there were escorting bombers, so the AVG had a good time shooting up Japanese attacks.

The Japanese advance on Luzon stopped to attack the Philippine infantry division at San Fernando. Surprisingly enough, the Philippine troops fought the Japanese to a draw with a 1:1 result, although the forts are now down to 0. And a Japanese armoured regiment easily defeated a Philippine infantry battalion at Tuguegarao and captured that base. Nomad is being fairly casual about his attacks in the Philippines, which suggests to me that he is sending some of his troops elsewhere.

Dagua and Sarmi fell against no resistance, but Ambon held out for a 1:1 attack result now that another stronger Japanese infantry unit landed. The fortifications are now down to 0, so the base ought to fall to the next assault.

Otherwise, my redistribution of forces is going as planned, and I still can't get over the continually increasing AV number in Singapore - 850 now and climbing.

[ADB123]

December 17, 1941 –

The invasion TFs continued to unload at Ambon, and the CD guns continued to fire at them, eventually hitting a couple of APDs hard. Invasions also continued at Manado and Tenate. A bit CA TF also came in to bombard Manado. New Japanese landings commenced at Manokwari, Biak and Beaufort.

Daylight brought out Japanese fighter sweeps in great numbers all over Luzon and northern Malaya. Allied fighters stayed home, played cards, and watched the Japanese Operational losses climb. The AVG was busy however, attacking large Japanese attacks over Wuchow and Chengchow. The AVG had another good day, and the numbers of Japanese planes lost in Air-to-Air continued to grow. The totals now stand at 61 Allied planes lost A-to-A versus 83 Japanese planes lost A-to-A for the War to date, and that includes December 7.

Chinese Hudsons flew against Japanese troops outside of Ichang, but the Hudsons were intercepted and disrupted by some Nates, so the bombers didn't hit their target. In the meanwhile, the Philippine B-17s didn't fly for the second day in a row. We'll try again tomorrow and see if things go better.

Japanese subs are starting to show up off of the coast of California, so my LBA on the West Coast should start getting some practice now. I don't have much shipping in the region, so it's up to the Flyboys to show what they can do.

There was a lot of ground action this turn. First off was a surprise as a lone Japanese armoured regiment crossed the river at Chengchow and promptly got spanked 1:6 when it made the obligatory Shock attack. I don't see more Japanese troops on the way, so I don't know what it is doing there by itself, but I have more big Chinese units on the way to Chengchow, so I should be able to contain any Japanese adventuring in that part of China.

The Japanese troops that had been besieging San Fernando captured it easily this turn, sending the defeated Philippine infantry unit back to Lingayen. I'll try to evacuate that defeated unit, but it will be difficult to do if Nomad sends his troops onwards directly.

My brave units at Ambon were also defeated this turn. It's always a shame to see a successful CD unit be destroyed. I sure could use more of them. Nomad already has planes at Ambon, so the Timor/Darwin region is no longer safe for my ships. I am already repositioning troops to the bases along the desert road south of Darwin in anticipation of an early Japanese invasion of north-eastern Australia.

In Malaya, the Japanese 18th Division wiped out the retreating Kota Bharu base force along the road to Temuloh. I'd like to get the Indian troops that are further along the road back to Singapore, but they are too disrupted from being bombed by Japanese planes every day, so I suspect that the 18th Division will catch them soon.

In other land action, the Japanese invaders captured Ternate, while in China a couple of Japanese units captured Kweiteh unopposed.

[ADB123]

December 18, 1941 –

The night phase saw a new Japanese landing at Kudat, and a big Japanese CD/DD TF bombarded Manado. Then a Japanese CA/DD TF attempted to hunt down the 4-ship MTB TF that I’ve had at Antimonan to protect against a Japanese invasion on the east side of Luzon. The first encounter resulted in the Japanese ships missing the MTBs with a flurry of shots while the MTBs got off a few rounds of machine gun fire in return, and then the MTBs withdrawing. Then during the day phase the Japanese TF caught up with MTBs at Polillo where the daylight allowed the Japanese to sink two of the MTBs. I am switching around the MTBs that have been waiting at Naga and waiting to see if an invasion TF does arrive soon.

The day phase brought large numbers of large Japanese fighter sweeps over Luzon. My fighter pilots continued to play cards at Cagayan. There were Japanese bomber raids over Luzon and northern Malaya, but little damage occurred. There were fewer Japanese bomber raids in China, and the raid on Chengchow once again gave the AVG to increase their Kill numbers as Nates attempted to escort the bombers.

My B-17s finally flew from Cagayan to Miri and hit the airfields, but they didn’t appear to catch any Japanese bombers on the ground, mainly due to lousy weather. I have finished changing the HQs for the B-17s so I can now move them around to cover other targets as required.

The Japanese ground effort this turn captured Manokwari and Biak against no opposition and Kudat against insignificant opposition from the British base force that was there. The British troops are now faced with a jungle trek and no supplies. Surprisingly enough, a Japanese shock attack at Beaufort failed. There didn’t seem to be any combat troops in the enemy attack. Nomad must be having troop transport issues.

In other news, Japanese TFs have left Ambon and are sailing towards Kendari, so I pulled back my air units from Kendari. I’m also attempting to air evacuate some of the Kendari troops back to Java. If Nomad continues on his rapid pace in the DEI those troops that I do pull into Java and Sumatra won’t matter, but I can always hope that they help to slow down the conquests of the two main islands.

In Malaya, a Japanese unit arrived at Alor Star. I’ve only got a base force there, so it ought to fall on the first attack. The Indian troops that escaped from Kota Bharu are still marching ever-so-slowly as they are bombed on a daily basis by Japanese planes. But I hope to slow down the 18th Division next turn by hitting it with some B-17s. BTW – even without that crippled Indian unit, Singapore now has an AV of 968. I wonder if there is any hope of getting the fortifications up to level 5 before the Japanese attack.

[ADB123]

December 19, 1941 – This was a fairly quiet turn, both at night and during the day, but there were a couple of ominous occurrences that bode ill for the near future.

The night phase was particularly quiet, with only a Japanese naval bombardment of Manado, a failed US sub attack off of China, and the default Japanese capture of a dot island off the north coast of New Guinea to liven things up.

Daylight showed the Japanese TFs one hex to the east of Kendari. I wonder if Nomad stood them off deliberately in order to try to catch some of my surface combat TFs with his naval attack aircraft.

The main action this turn, however, was in the air where Japanese fighter sweeps clouded the skies most everywhere. There were numerous sweeps over southern Luzon, which found empty skies, however several big Zero and Oscar sweeps flew over Singapore and hammered the British Buffalos. All things considered, the Buffalos didn’t do too badly and almost shot down one enemy plane for every two British planes lost, but the overall effect was bad for the morale of the pilots and I stood them all down for the next turn.

There were also Nate sweeps over China, which increased the kill numbers for the AVG but didn’t do a lot otherwise. Never-the-less, general wear-and-tear is starting to creep up on the AVG planes, particularly since they are located in bases where there isn’t any Air HQ support.

The most bothersome action of the turn was at Chengchow where a big Japanese infantry division crossed the river to join the Japanese armoured unit in a shock attack on my troops. The attack achieved a 1:1 result and the fortifications were lowered to Level 1.

I’m not happy about this result because I haven’t had the time to bring sufficient good Chinese units in to Chengchow to protect it properly. And it appears that Nomad has more Japanese troops on the march towards the base, so I will likely be faced with a full-fledged attack on a base that I wasn’t expecting to fight over so soon. If I get a day or two before the next major assault I may be able to bring in sufficient troops to hold, but it will be touch-and-go.

I am going to try to bomb the Japanese troops at Chengchow next turn, but the only air unit that can currently reach the base from Chungking is the Hudson group. So I flew in a B-17 squadron and I hope that they can join the action the following turn.

Speaking of B-17s, I set the squadron at Singapore to try to bomb the 18th Division and try to slow it down a bit. That ought to also cause Nomad to pull back a few of his fighters to provide CAP.

And in a desperation move, I ordered another B-17 squadron to attempt a night air raid against the air fields at Ambon. The odds are that this won't work, but it is worth a try.

In other land combat, Manado finally fell to a shock attack, and the defenders moved to the dot base in the next hex. And for whatever reason, another Japanese attack at Beaufort failed again. It appears that Nomad needs to replace the Japanese unit that is there.

BTW – we both patched with the beta. So far, so good.

[topeverest]

Night bombing runs never work for me unless they are in very large numbers. I'd love it if it worked for someone else.

[ADB123]

ORIGINAL: topeverest

Night bombing runs never work for me unless they are in very large numbers. I'd love it if it worked for someone else.

It doesn't really have to work (that's just a bonus if it does) - it only has to worry Nomad that it some time might work... [;)]

[ADB123]

December 20, 1941 –

The night started out with the long-awaited Japanese invasion of Wake. The Marine CD gunners performed spectacularly. They hit a CL, 2 DDs and 4 PBs during the first round. The second round brought hits on three more PBs. And the final round brought hits on three more PBs again. Ah, if I only had more units like that at my other island bases! Japanese landings also started at Kendari, but without any fire from shore the whole matter was rather anticlimactic.

Daylight brought out swarms of Japanese fighters flying sweeps over southern Luzon, Singapore, and central China. There was no Allied opposition in the Philippines or over Singapore, but the AVG did fly again, although this time with less success. Therefore, I decided to rest the AVG squadrons in China for the next turn. I was planning to top-off their aircraft, but an unfortunate side-effect of the beta patch was that the nice surplus of supplies that had been sitting in Chungking dispersed itself, leaving insufficient supplies to bring in any new H81s. Oh well.

Japanese bombers followed the Japanese fighter sweeps in most places, but the damage from those attacks was minimal. Two out of three of my planned bomber attacks flew. The Chinese Hudsons flew against the Japanese siege troops at Chengchow but didn’t hit the target. And the B-17s in Singapore flew against the 18th Division, but they didn’t hit the mark either. Never-the-less, this does let Nomad know that I can fly some offensive attacks. BTW – the night bomber attack didn’t fly, so I moved that B-17 unit to Soerabaja and set them to do a daylight attack on the invasion troops at Kendari instead. I also ordered the B-17s in Chungking to hit the Japanese troops in Chengchow this turn, while giving the Hudsons a rest.

In land combat a Japanese tank regiment easily smashed the British base force that was holding Alor Star and captured the base. Surprisingly, the base force unit retreated instead of surrendering. So that will slow down the Japanese advance along that route a little bit more. I was also surprised to see that the “movement arrow” on the 18th Division had disappeared. I wonder if Nomad is having second thoughts about that long march down the center of Malaya.

The most critical battle of the turn was at Chengchow where the Japanese 9th Tank Regiment and 35th Infantry Division attempted another Shock attack against my troops. Fortunately, Chinese reinforcements had arrived just in the nick of time, so the Japanese attack was repelled brutally. The Japanese got a 1:2 attack, the Level 1 fortifications held without dropping further, and the Japanese took 2784 casualties against 181 casualties for the Chinese. And to add to the success, the fortifications went up to Level 2 right afterwards!

Maybe now Nomad will reconsider his offensive in central China. After all, I left a handful of Chinese bases empty and his for the taking in coastal China. Nomad ought to go after those easy pickings and let the rest of China take a breather. But I am not counting on that, so I am still moving additional strong units to Chengchow, along with more engineers, in order to provide more of a hindrance to Japanese expansion in that region.

There was another base where a Japanese attack failed miserably this turn. Once again the Japanese Guard unit at Beaufort attempted a Shock attack on the two British base forces that had taken refuge there. The Japanese attack failed at 1:2 and there were four times the Japanese casualties as the British casualties.

Finally, Japanese units finished the turn by capturing Wake against a handful of CD guns and a dozen or so vehicles. All the rest of the troops were long gone and helping to build the defences of Midway.

So as I prepare for the start of the third week of the War, here is my assessment of the current situation.

- First off, at this time, the only area where I would be fairly confident that I could soundly defeat an attempted invasion would be the US West Coast. Otherwise, Nomad could likely take any other place where he could bring in 2 or more decent Divisions and the KB.

- Pearl Harbor is becoming stronger by the day. I now have 150 first line fighters there, and the pilots are being trained daily. I also have my first reinforcement TF on its way to Pearl from the West Coast. If it can get to Pearl and unload unhindered I will then have five Army regiments and one Marine regiment at the base. And I started to load up my next reinforcement TF this turn, including two more Army Regiments. Once they get to Pearl I’ll feel even better. BTW – I expect to send out another 100 first line fighters to Pearl in another reinforcement TF soon.

- Nomad has been advancing in the Philippines and Malaya with what appears to be minimal forces. Instead he appears to be committing his forces to an early capture of the Eastern DEI and maybe even Darwin and northern Australia. At this time I have no forces capable of stopping this, so I am attempting to prepare positions in Central Australia in anticipation of the loss of Darwin.

- The by-product of Nomad’s strategy is that my forces in the Philippines and Singapore are getting stronger by the day while they await belated Japanese attacks. I am moving together as many units as I can in order to make the eventual Japanese invasions more costly. For example, I am marching all of the troops in Mindanao to Cagayan. I already have 191 AV there with more on the way. If Nomad underestimates his needs he could face a tough fight there.

- Singapore is now up to an AV of 997, and none of those troops have been defeated! The fortifications continue to grow and there are lots of Supplies, so this could become very interesting.

- I recombined the Burma Division and I have it sitting in Rangoon. It’s not particularly big, nor particularly strong, but it will contest any attack, so it seems a worthwhile effort. I’ve got all of the other Burmese bases covered by lesser units, so it shouldn’t be easy for Nomad to cut off my troops with paratroop drops.

- There is still no obvious Japanese move against Rabaul and the Solomons. There has been no Japanese activity in the South Pacific either since the capture of Makin. Even Japanese submarine spottings have been sparse in the region. But then, I don’t have many TFs in that region, so maybe I’m just not seeing the subs.

- I sent to Ceylon the Indian troops which were already at sea, and the British troops at sea are heading to Colombo too. I’m sending the British reinforcements that arrive at Aden and Cape Town to India. My forces in India are very weak right now, but they will continue to grow if allowed.

- In Naval news, the Enterprise and Friends arrived at Sydney this turn for replenishment and some minor repairs. I am tempted to sail them around the south coast of Australia in the hopes of catching stray Japanese TFs in the DEI.

- And finally, I expect to send out my first TF of lightly damaged ships from Pearl to the West Coast in a few days. They will be accompanied by a large contingent of DDs that will be upgraded in January, and I want all of my ship upgrades to take place on the West Coast until Pearl Harbor is much more secure.

[ADB123]

December 21, 1941 –

This was another reasonably quiet turn. That’s both good and bad. It’s good, because it means that my re-organization and build up of my forces is continuing on undisturbed for the most part. It’s bad, because it means that Nomad’s plans for expansion are also continuing on undisturbed for the most part.

Japanese troops continued to land at Kendari, and a new Japanese invasion started at Sorong. Neither base has any CD guns so the invasions weren’t opposed in any meaningful manner, although the usual luck-of-the-game had landing craft capsizing at both sites.

Daylight brought multiple Japanese fighter sweeps over Luzon, Malaya and China. I didn’t have any planes in the air in any of those regions, so this was solely an opportunity for Japanese Operational air losses. Japanese bombers also followed on with bombing attacks on Allied troops in the field. The results continue to be tolerable, and since I can’t do anything to stop the attacks, it doesn’t matter any way. Despite the bombing my repositioning of my troops continues reasonably effectively.

One of my nuisance air attacks flew this turn – B-17s from Soerabaja flew against the Japanese invasion force at Kendari. Unexpectedly, a couple of Dutch Brewsters flew along to provide escort, but they just ended up providing target practice for Japanese CAP.

A mixed naval air CAP of Zeros, Claudes and Petes jumped and splashed the Brewsters and then buzzed around the B-17s. Planes on both sides were damaged, and the Japanese fighters eventually accomplished their mission of distracting the US bombers, so there were no hits on the troops on the ground. Interestingly enough, the attack disturbed a training mission for some of the Japanese planes.

There were no ground attacks this turn. I presume that Nomad is licking his wounds at Chengchow, and also figuring out how to get some troops to Beaufort who will actually fight.

I pulled my now-rested CV attack TF out of Sydney and sent them along their way. They will be looking to cause mischief soon enough.

And finally, I set the last B-17 squadron at Cagayan to attempt a Port attack on Babeldoab. I’m hoping to surprise Nomad and catch some ships in port. The nice thing about this attack is that it is within Normal range.

[ADB123]

December 22, 1941 -

The Japanese forces continue to advance cautiously. The invasions of Kendari and Sorong continued with troops unloading and ships firing, but with no Allied response.

And Allied response that I've been waiting for finally occurred off of Brunei as a Dutch sub put a torpedo into a big, juicy Japanese tanker. The sub escaped undetected and was able to come back later in the turn to put another torpedo into the same damaged TK. Some of my US subs also had contacts with the enemy, but without similar success. But what it means is that my subs are finally starting to hunt the enemy.

And the enemy is doing the same, as a Japanese sub sank the last AK that I attempted to sneak out through the Sumatra/Java straights. Oh well, maybe this will encourage Nomad to keep his subs around there longer, even though I don't have any more ships in the region. As long as the Japanese subs are hanging around Java they aren't bothering my TFs elsewhere.

The day phase brought lots of bad weather that interfered with the multiple Japanese air attacks that occurred over Luzon, Malaya and China. The Japanese fighter sweeps were fragmented for the most part, as were the bomber attacks. I didn't have any Allied fighters on CAP over Malaya or the Philippines, but I did have the 3rd AVG on high altitude patrol over Eastern China. The result was very nice as the H81s jumped a Daitai of Nates and shot them up badly. One of my pilots became my first Ace, achieving 5 kills in this attack and moving his total up to 6 kills. I'm resting that AVG squadron this coming turn because there are sure to be swarms of better Japanese fighters in the region next turn.

I did have a couple of offensive air missions fly this turn. First off the Chinese Hudsons and a B-17 squadron hit the Japanese armoured unit at Chengchow. Then my B-17s at Cagayan attacked the Port at Babeldaob. There were a few Claudes on CAP at Babeldaob, and a fair amount of flak, but no B-17s were damaged and the Claudes faired badly. My bombers didn't hit their target, but this ought to keep Nomad thinking a bit. I then sat out my B-17s at Cagayan in order to rest them up and to keep Nomad wondering where they will hit next. Instead I set the B-17s at Singapore to do a port attack on Saigon. That ought to rattle Nomad a bit more. Sure, these are all nuisance raids, but they aren't costing me planes, they are getting experience for my pilots, and they are keeping Nomad from being too complacent.

In the ground war a Japanese armoured unit attacked one of my Chinese infantry units out in the open near Ichang. I was moving that unit and not expecting an attack, so the Chinese took a fair number of casualties even though the attack odds were only 1:2. I've ordered the Chinese Hudsons and the Chungking B-17s to attack that Japanese armoured unit next turn so that it can't interfere so much with the my troops. I don't want to stay in that spot, I just want to move back behind the lines.

In ground attacks the Japanese captured Lingayen, Kendari and Sorong. The number of Japanese infantry at Lingayen was surprisingly small – most of the attackers were armoured units, artillery and engineers. This strengthens my suspicion that Nomad is planning to use his infantry divisions elsewhere. I am hoping to move my defeated Philippine infantry units out of the way to let them place-hold bases to the south while my better troops make a stand up north. The defeated Allied units at Kendari and Sorong retreated, but they have nowhere to go and will eventually wither away. They remnants are so small that it isn't even worth the effort to try to evacuate them via Catalina.

Japanese TFs have appeared at Kota Bharu again. I'm not sure if they are bringing more troops and supplies or taking troops away to somewhere else. However, my Intel now says that there are a few other Japanese units along with the 18th Division on the road south, so maybe Nomad is going for a ground offensive in Malaya. In any event, this is giving my troops at Singapore more time to build up the fortifications, so I don't mind.

Intel also tells me that Koepang is now a Japanese target. So that jives with my feeling that Nomad will attempt to capture and/or neutralize the Timor/Northern Australia region very quickly. I'm still pulling most everything out of that region, so I don't mind because it gives me time to reorganize my forces in the manner that I want. I'm not intending to contest a Japanese Timor/Northern Oz strategy at this time – instead I will fight further south later on if necessary on my own terms.

BTW – my third big reinforcement TF sailed off for Pearl this turn. If I get two undisturbed weeks in the Hawaiian Islands I will change the balance of power there significantly. Also, my first repair TF sailed out from Pearl towards the West Coast. I've got my ships in a heavily escorted Transport TF because I find that sailing in a Transport TF allows residual damage to be repaired, rather than to increase.

[ADB123]

December 23, 1941 -

This was a very quiet night turn – no new Japanese invasions occurred. US subs were busy, however, with the Philippine subs starting to harass Japanese shipping off of the east coast of Malaya, and better yet, some nice luck in the Pacific. Argonaut was on its way to drop off some mines at the now Japanese Wake when it happened upon a Japanese AMC and promptly put two torpedoes into the ship. Then the Argo dropped off its mines and happily started along the slow trip back to Pearl. That was definitely a nice surprise!

The only other night action was a Japanese light cruiser bombarding Beaufort, but despite that attack and a later bomber attack by a few Mabels, Beaufort was left alone, and wouldn't you know it, the pitiful little British base force units built up the Forts to Level 1. This siege is becoming rather funny in many ways, although I bet that Nomad doesn't see it like that. [;)]

Day light brought lots and lots of big fighter sweeps over Luzon, Malaya and China. This time Nomad followed up with bomber attacks, including a Sally Daitai that bombed the air fields at Singapore. A lot of the Sallys were hit by flak, so that ought to slow down the next attack, but there was no point in trying to fly the British Buffalos because they would only die like flies against the hundred+ Zeros and Oscars that Nomad swept over the base.

While Nomad is massing his fighters in the attempt to wipe out my fighters, my bombers continue to fly their missions against limited or no CAP. Chinese Hudsons and B-17s hit the Japanese troops near Ichang that have been harassing my troops on the move there, and my B-17s from Singapore hit Saigon, finding flak but no CAP. The Saigon attack didn't hit the target, but it still got a message across. The only question is – will Nomad pay any attention to such a weak message?

Three new invasions started during the daylight hours this turn: Gorotalo, Morotai and Sansapor. A Japanese infantry unit joined the armoured unit in harassing my troops outside of Ichang and got a 1:1 result. I'm sending more bombers after them next turn. And two artillery regiments along with yet another infantry division joined the other Japanese troops in the attack on Chengchow. The Shock attack resulted in a 1:2 result, with roughly equal losses, and no reduction in the fortifications. Nomad seems rather determined to take Chengchow, so I am continuing to send good units to that base.

Elsewhere in China Wenchow was taken against no opposition. And in Luzon a Japanese armoured regiment kicked the already defeated Philippine infantry division out of Bayombong and captured that dot base.

So while Nomad is happily advancing pretty much at will I am trying to find weak spots in his attacks that will allow me to do more than just send out nuisance attacks. I'm not having much luck so far – Nomad is very good at covering his advances with air, sea and land forces. So I will try more nuisance raids. For example, I've moved some of the British Buffalos into positions where they can try to ambush the daily bomber raids on the retreating Indian troops in central Malaya. I'm hoping that Nomad continues his daily sweeps of Singapore and doesn't bother to escort the bombers up north.

And I've brought both of the Chinese AVG squadrons into play over Chengchow at high altitude and on LR CAP in the hopes of shooting up the Nate-escorted bomber attacks that have been going there. These are one-shot efforts because Nomad can easily compensate for them if I try it two times in a row, but still want to try to get him irritated enough that he might make a mistake elsewhere. [&o]

[ADB123]

December 24, 1941 -

Things livened up a bit during this night phase. More Japanese troops landed at Gorontalo, an old Japanese CL bombarded Beaufort, and a Japanese CL/DD TF came in to hunt my PT boats at Tarakan. Even in the dark the Japanese ships were able to keep away from the PT boats and shoot at them at a distance. Eventually one PT boat was sunk and the other three sailed off. But since they PT boats didn't fire any of their ammo I sent them back to Tarakan for the next turn, just in case they can sneak in closer to the Japanese ships.

The other thing that happened at night was that Sturgeon snuck up on a nice fat Japanese AP off of the Vietnamese coastline and put a torpedo into it. Sturgeon got away cleanly and is now off to Singapore for fuel and ammo. There are plenty of other Allied subs in the region to keep an eye on the Japanese.

There were tons of Japanese fighter sweeps again throughout China, Malaya and Luzon. Japanese bombers also flew, but terrible weather split most of the flights and hampered the others, so the attacks did little. The bomber attack on Singapore also received a lot of flak damage. However, my planned British fighter ambush didn't get off the ground because of bad weather.

However – and this was a very nice Christmas Eve however – the two Chinese AVG squadrons did take off and fly high altitude CAP over Chengchow. And they were rewarded with a Japanese air attack consisting of 69 Nates, 15 Lilies, and 23 Anns. The H81s dove into the Nates and hammered them mercilessly. Even with all of the Nates the AVG pilots were eventually able to get to the bombers too. It was a grand slaughter and by the end of it over 30 Japanese planes were shot down while the AVG had no losses. The Air-to-Air standings in the War now stand at Allied = 88 and Japanese = 135. I sat down the AVG squadrons afterwards and sent them to Chungking for R&R. Nomad will likely now either pull back from the Chengchow air raids or send some ridiculously huge number of Zeros and Oscars, and either way I don't need to have the AVG around.

Some of my bomber attacks took off despite the weather. The Chinese Hudsons and the B-17s in Chungking flew and hit the Japanese troops besieging Chengchow. Other Chinese bombers flew and hit the Japanese troops that are attacking my Chinese ground troops outside of Ichang. And the B-17s at Soerabaja attacked Kendari again, and once again they ran into a cloud of Zeros, Nates and Petes. My Intel and Recon info says that there aren't any fighters at Kendari, so those Japanese fighters must be ship-based. My B-17s got beat up a bit and didn't hit their target, but at least I got some info concerning the current whereabouts of the Japanese CV TF in the region.

In a strange occurrence, my B-17s from Cagayan hit a Japanese artillery unit at Lingayen. What is strange about this is that those bombers were assigned a Ground Attack mission against a different base in Luzon. Oh well, the attack was successful and there was no CAP, so it turned out okay in the end.

There was more ground action this turn than usual. First off another Japanese infantry unit crossed the river and Shock attacked my unit that is south of Ichang. The combination of two Infantry units and an armoured unit caused my troops to retreat – fortunately to the north as I had wanted them to march anyway. But the Japanese armoured unit pursued my troops so the harassment will continue.

There was also a Japanese bombardment at Chengchow, but the effect was minor. No more Japanese troops showed up, and I've got more troops arriving over the next couple of days, so I should be able to maintain control of the situation for now.

For some reason Nomad sent a Japanese infantry unit to attack the dot base Tsiaotso which is northeast of Chengchow. My units have been fortifying the base and they repelled the attack with a 1:3 result and three times more Japanese casualties than Chinese casualties.

In other action, a Japanese infantry regiment along with a cavalry regiment captured an empty Tavoy. My troops are already a couple of hexes ahead to the north and on their way to Burma proper. Gorotalo and Morotai were also captured against no resistance. And Sansapor was captured, with the ever shrinking base force escaping into the jungle once more.

Finally, more and more Japanese subs are showing up around Java. That's great by me, because I don't have any more ships to pull out of Java, and Japanese subs there aren't bothering me where I do have ships.

[ADB123]

December 25, 1941 -

Nomad decided to go after Tarakan this turn, so he started out by sending his favourite CL/DD TF in to clear out the 5-ship PT squadron I've had sitting there for the past couple of game-weeks. My PT boats couldn't close in and the Japanese ships sank two of them at 11,000 yards. Later on during the day phase the remaining three PT boats tried again, and once again the Japanese ships kept the US PT boats at a distance and sank another two. Finally, during the actual invasion the last PT boat sailed in again and stirred up the invasion convoy, but the now very rattled PT boat skipper just took a look and sailed off in the opposite direction.

It turns out that the PT boat failure wasn't a big problem because the CD guns at Tarakan feasted upon the Japanese invasion TF. During the first round of attacks one AK was hit by 24 120mm and 75mm CD shells. The only Japanese ships firing back were a TB and a PB. So it turned out quite good that Nomad had his CL/DD TF on anti-ship duty rather than on bombardment duty. Later on during the daylight phases the CD guns continued to enjoy great success as they hammered a Japanese AKL and also a PB which came too close while trying to fire back.

But the real Christmas present for the Allies came as the old S-boat S-40 had a field day off of Sansapor. The sub first put a torp into an AK and then attacked a AKL, setting it on fire with five 4” shells. Later on, despite being low on ammo, S-40 attacked yet another AKL and hit it with one last shell.

Daylight brought the usual swarms of Japanese fighters flying sweeps over Manila, Singapore, and Wuchow. Bombers followed, but as usual they didn't accomplish much, and the bombers that hit Singapore ran into plenty of flak. And in the semi-never ending saga at Beaufort, more Japanese bombers hit the British base forces there. It's too bad that Nomad is invading Tarakan now or I would put some fighters in there to try a long range ambush over Beaufort.

Speaking of long range ambushes, my British fighters failed to fly again this turn, so I sat down the ones with fatigue and set up more to fly next turn. If they continue to fail to do anything I'll probably just withdraw them. I am starting to suspect that the pilots have to be well experienced like the AVG pilots in order for long range ambushes to work.

My long range bombers continued to harass the Japanese in various places. B-17s from Cagayan hit the Japanese troops at Manado, pretty much just for practice and to irritate Nomad, and the B-17s from Singapore happily hit the unprotected 18th Division in central Malaya. That's despite the now-constant Japanese air attacks on Singapore. In any event, I moved the B-17s from Singapore to Rangoon this turn and will continue the harassment in a few more turns.

BTW – there were no attempts at air attacks on Chengchow by the Japanese. I guess that Nomad is still licking his wounds. In the meanwhile the 2nd and 3rd AVG squadrons continue to rest up in Chungking. Chinese Hudsons and the Chungking B-17s hit the Japanese troops near Ichang, just to keep them honest.

In the ground war, the Japanese armoured regiment that defeated and followed my Chinese infantry unit last turn attacked and defeated the same unit this turn. This time the Japanese didn't follow. The Chinese unit is now pretty badly beaten up so I am sending it back to Chungking to join all the other very weak Chinese units that have so far littered the landscape. Essentially, any Chinese infantry unit with less than 100 AV that can't be combined with some other units is being sent for long term redevelopment at Chungking. I only want my best and strongest units at the front to face the Japanese.

The only other ground combat was at Chengchow where the Japanese units attempted an artillery attack on the entrenched Chinese units. The attack went poorly for the Japanese, resulting in four times the losses for the Japanese as for the Chinese. And I still haven't had any Chinese artillery reach Chengchow yet.

Finally, the US Army dive bombers reached Brisbane this turn. I've spread them around and set them to training. I'll use them for coastal ASW work unless Japanese forces turn up in some convenient location.

[ADB123]

December 26, 1941 -

Namlea, which is often a direct target of the AI, was occupied automatically this turn thanks to the presence of the Japanese forces on Ambon. Nomad is keeping plenty of planes at Ambon and Kendari, which means that I am keeping my ships a long ways away.

Nomad's next target, Tarakan, was the scene of more landings this turn, and more CD gun action. During the night the CD guns hit another AK and a PB with multiple shells, and then got more hits in on a troop ship during the day time. I love those CD units – I only wish that I had more that I could spread around!

Skipjack attempted to attack a TF off of Siam this turn, but the torpedoes were duds and the escorts turned the tables and damaged Skipjack instead. So Skipjack is heading to base for repairs. BTW – lots of Japanese subs showed up off of the coast of California this turn. Unluckily for them, I don't have any TFs sailing in that area, so they will have nothing to do except duck from airborne ASW, of which I have lots and lots in that area.

There were lots of Japanese fighter sweeps over Luzon and Malaya this turn. As usual, there were no Allied planes in the air for them to sweep. Instead a couple of British Buffalo squadrons jumped an unescorted Lily Daitai over central Malaya and had a real field day. At least 25 Lilies were shot down. (Nomad is getting pretty ticked off at what is happening – the Air-to-Air results now stand at Allies = 88, Japanese = 157.) [:D]

As I had figured, there were no Japanese planes over Chengchow this turn. This was fine because I am still resting the Chinese AVG squadrons. However, I've moved the British AVG squadron to Rangoon from where I am hoping that those pilots will get a chance to ambush some Japanese bombers that are harassing my troops that are retreating north from Tavoy.

There was one fresh Japanese landing this turn – at the unoccupied base Talaud-eilanden. The Japanese tank regiment on the western road of Malaya also attacked the retreating and already defeated base force that it had caught up to previously. The base force was wiped out.

Iba was captured by a Japanese tank regiment this turn, against no opposition. I pulled the troops out of there a while back to let them aid in the defense of Clark and Bataan.

The Japanese troops at Tarakan attempted an attack but only got a 1:1 result, although the forts went down to Level 0. However, this means that the Tarakan CD guns get to shoot at the invasion ships for one more day.

In China Japanese troops captured Chuhsien against no opposition. There was also a Japanese artillery bombardment at Chengchow, but it didn't do much damage. Despite the attack the Forts went up to Level 3 and another big Chinese unit will arrive next turn, with more on the way.

[ADB123]

December 27, 1941 -

Nomad has been getting quite ticked-off at the performance of his air units, so with this turn he sent a note in which he said that he had no aircraft in the air. I took that with a grain of salt, but it turns out that he wasn't kidding.

The turn started out with Lolobato getting occupied automatically by Japanese forces, followed by more troops landing at Tabaud-eilanden. A new Japanese landing started at Loewoek. And a fresh TF arrived at Beaufort and started to offload fresh troops. But, disappointingly, there was no additional landing at Tarakan and thus no additional chance for my CD unit there to shoot up Japanese transports.

My lone US PT boat went into Tarakan again, but the Japanese CL/DD TF keep it at a distance and eventually sank it with a shell at 15,000 yards. So the efforts of the PT boats were in vain, although that Japanese TF ought to need a fair amount of fresh ammo by now.

Then the daytime air phase started, and lo-and-behold, there were NO Japanese planes in the skies! Anywhere! Nomad must have had some planes either on patrol or being moved around because he ended up with three Operational losses, but the sky-darkening fighter sweeps and bomber runs were missing.

My usual short list of bombers did fly, including Chinese Hudsons and Chungking Forts against the 36th Division at Chengchow, and also the B-17s at Cagayan getting in some practice on the Japanese invasion troops at Tarakan.

This turned out quite nice because it meant that some of my ground units that have been making poor movement progress finally moved along this turn. I also got to rest all of my fighter units. Never-the-less, next turn I will still have a few bombers making runs in China.

In ground conflicts, the Japanese besiegers at Chengchow tried an artillery attack but they were the ones to suffer the casualties as my forces continue to build up at the base. A more successful Japanese attack occurred at Tarakan where the Japanese troops captured the base, coincidentally destroying my valiant CD unit. My other troops retreated to the base in the next hex.

So I have no idea how long Nomad will rest his pilots, but I have no doubt that once they are rested they will come out fighting harder than ever. Therefore, I will enjoy this respite while I have it, and continue along with my general preparations.

[ADB123]

December 28, 1941 -

When your opponent sends a turn with a note that says, “Surprise!”, you can bet that the “surprise” won't be a lot of fun for you. So I started to worry – did the KB sneak up and whack one of my reinforcement TFs, or did a massive Japanese air strike catch the AVG on the ground, or what?

The night phase started out very quietly. Too quietly. Nothing happened. That got me more worried as visions of burning and sinking transport ships loomed in my imagination. Then “it” happened. A Japanese sub caught Saratoga off of the coast of Northern California and put a torpedo into the massive CV. The CV's escorts chased the sub but didn't catch it.

I have been very fortunate when it comes to Japanese subs so far, with the exception of the sinking of unescorted transports in the DEI. My escorted TFs have avoided the subs, or else the subs have avoided the escorted TFs. I've also used many and varied Way Points for all of my important TFs.

But in the case of the Saratoga I decided to take a chance and try to simply sail by the Japanese subs that I knew were in the region. I assumed that the large number of escorts in the TF would keep the Japanese subs away. Oh well. Fortunately, when I was able to look at the Saratoga later it turned out that the damage was minimal, however the ship will require some yard time. I immediately set some Way Points (shutting the barn door after the horse ran away) and set more airborne ASW over the area.

My luck continued to run poorly after this, but fortunately in ways that weren't immediately visible to my opponent. I received a message that two of my APs had collided in a TF. Yet another “oh s#!t”moment. And when I checked it turned out to be the reinforcement TF that was furthest from Pearl Harbor. However, once again the damage wasn't great, so I'll keep an eye on the TF and hope that things don't get worse.

And then one of the Game's little irritations popped up – I got a message that a TF had changed itself to an escort TF and was headed to Colombo. Ah S#!t! It was the Repulse again. The ship had happily travelled from Batavia to Colombo in a Transport TF without problems, but now that I want it to sail to Cape Town for Yard repairs it keeps on trying to return to Colombo. Sure, I can repair it in Colombo, but it will take up most of the Yard capacity and be a sitting duck for a Japanese raid. I'm sending some new ships to join Repulse and maybe I'll find the combination that will cause it to go where I want.

The daylight hours brought the return of some of the Japanese Air Force. Japanese fighters swept Clark Field and Manila in great numbers and bombers hit Clark, causing airfield damage but taking a number of Flak losses. A number of Japanese planes swept and bombed various locations in China too. The only costly attack was at Chengchow where a massive 54 Nate LR CAP caught some Chinese light bombers trying to sneak in and hit the besieging Japanese troops. I lost 5 bombers in that ambush, which is the worst day in the air that I've had since December 7. However, my Chinese Hudsons and Chungking B-17s flew unharmed against some Japanese troops outside of Ichang. I've now sat down all of my bombers while I wait to see what Nomad is planning.

In the ground war Japanese troops were on the offensive in multiple places. Loewoek was captured against no opposition. Sidate was attacked, captured, and the Allied troops there surrendered. Talaud-eilanden was captured against no opposition. Beaufort finally fell to a fresh Guards unit, and the base forces retreated into the jungle.

Elsewhere Japanese troops were on the move but not on the attack. Japanese troops moved into position at Georgetown, and the stack of Japanese troops at Clark Field increased significantly. Sigint also informed me that a number of Japanese units are on their way to Truk, which implies that Japanese action against the South Pacific will recommence soon.