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January 2nd - January 3rd 1942

Another quiet few turns, so not much to say. I can't imagine that I've slowed him down that much, so maybe he's preparing for something big.

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Phillipines

The morning sky's clouds were broken by 60+ Japanese planes attacking the port at Manila. They did some bad damage to the warships stationed there. Due to this attack I'll probably rebase what warships are left and send submarines to resupply at Java from now on.

Morning Air attack on Manila , at 79,77

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 36
G4M1 Betty x 30



No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
DD John D. Ford, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
SS Stingray, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
AS Otus, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Peary, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
SS Pike, Bomb hits 1
DD Scout, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk



Port hits 7
Port fuel hits 3

SS Pike was also sunk in a subsequent attack. These are the only two subs I've lost in the war so far.

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Here's a list of my aces, since i haven't shown it yet:



My pilots have been performing well but still no 5 kill aces. It seems all the kills have been spread out pretty well, with the majority of my best front line pilots being in the AVG.

Otherwise not much else is notable. Lots of units still shuffling around and my units in China are resting before continuing the attack. This continuing quiet period is a little bit worrying for me so I'm stepping up naval patrols in all sectors of the Pacific.

January 4th 1942

Still mostly the calm before whatever storm that may be coming. I haven't seen the KB since several days after the Pearl Harbor attack, so I'm on the alert everywhere... even the west coast. I've also been scanning the intelligence reports religiously for clues.

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Under the waves

SS Dragon puts 29 3" shells into a Japanese AKL and causes heavy fires. Look at her go!



Southwest of Hawaii one of my big AKs gets a fish in her, she might be able to make it back to PH though.

..Oh, never mind. She just took 2 more torpedoes, so AK Michael Goulandris has gone under.

DEI/Malaya

Tone does a sweep with 30 Oscars over Singapore. I've weakened the CAP here to prevent losses to night raids so I only got 15 planes in the air and lost two buffaloes and 1 P-40.

I've picked up a lot of heavy radio traffic from Babeldaob, the island about 1,000 miles east of Manado. Sure enough my naval patrols have spotted several task forces around the island and nearly 50 ships in the port of Babeldaob. This is likely a buildup for invading Ambon, Kendari, etc. My patrols also spotted one CV in the port of Babeldaob, but no idea how accurate the report is. I'm going to do a proper recon of Babeldaob this turn to see what they can find.

The 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, another veteran of the war in North Africa, leaves Aden today and makes it's way to Java.

China

While making my local offensives on other fronts in China, I ran into larger resistance than expected when crossing the river west of Taiyuan.

Ground combat at 90,40

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 38850 troops, 229 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1413

Defending force 63025 troops, 544 guns, 347 vehicles, Assault Value = 2206

Allied adjusted assault: 82

Japanese adjusted defense: 7072

Allied assault odds: 1 to 86

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-), supply(-)

Japanese ground losses:
859 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 36 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 61 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Vehicles lost 4 (0 destroyed, 4 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
17782 casualties reported
Squads: 449 destroyed, 296 disabled
Non Combat: 413 destroyed, 188 disabled
Engineers: 12 destroyed, 17 disabled

My troops have been knocked down to 800 AV. I'm surprised at the build up he has here, he may have been planning to start an offensive onto Sian. However I have 2,500 more AV marching down the road from the west which will arrive in a few days. Once they arrive I should be able to pin his troops in this mountain hex.

Meanwhile slightly further south I have crossed the river at Chenchow unmolested and have besieged Kaifeng, Anyang, and Kaoping. Anyang should fall tomorrow. My objective is to take these three towns/cities and then push southeast to Suchow to threaten his north-south railroad between North China and Central China. The main idea is to attract as many of his troops as possible away from the surrounded Japanese in Central China.

In Central China the troops at Sinyang are moving out. Units are being sent to reinforce my encirclement troops while 2750 AV moves to reinforce the siege at Hankow. I have another 2,500 AV coming from Changsa that will also reinforce the siege at Wuchow. If I wait a few weeks for his supplies to dwindle these two cities should eventually fall if he doesn't send a substantial relief army-- which will be hard for him due to my other offensives stretching him out.

January 5th to January 7thth 1942

The last few days, and indeed the last few weeks, have seen only a few skirmishes across the Pacific and most of the action has been in China. I think that's about to change though...

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KB making a move



A few days ago I picked up heavy radio traffic and ship concentration at Babeldaob. Further investigation from my patrol planes spotted three CVs in port. I was suspicious it was only the mini-kb, but I've now spotted two major task forces heading to the Makassar Strait. It definitely looks like all 6 major flattops of the KB escorted by a powerful SAG are heading my way.

I'm not sure what his objective will consist of so far. I haven't spotted any invasion forces behind the KB so my prediction is this will be an all out raid into the depth of the DEI with the intent of striking a coup de grâce against the ABDA fleet and whatever shipping that is in the area.

I have a day or two to organize my defense. Every convoy, merchant and auxiliary ship based in or heading to Java will flee westward until it is safe to return. I have about 20 submarines around the area that will converge onto the KB to try and score some hits. The ABDA surface fleet will retreat west of Java as well and await opportunities for the time being since it would be futile to try and stand up to the KB and the potential surface escorts it will have.

The USN Carrier Fleet is moving out from Sydney towards Darwin and will lurk in the nearby shadows. I don't want to be aggressive with my carriers since facing the KB head on could end up in disaster, even with the LBA in Java. However, if that battle lasts long enough, they will be nearby to exploit any opportunities that arise

The brunt of my defense will fall on my aircraft stationed in Java. For the most part he has better planes and pilots but I should be able to knock out a lot of his aircraft and potentially land some hits on his juicy flattops if he isn't careful. I have over 400 aircraft of different types based in Java. My best air units and pilots will be the 50 P-40s of the AVG, 25 P-40s of the Pacific Fleet, 16 Hurricanes that just arrived, and 50 British torpedo bombers. My best bet would be to combine these units for a powerful strike package.

Hurrah for the upcoming battle, my pilots better count their blessings!

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Phillipines

Good news in the Phillipines. My supply convoy made it to Manila safely and they're now unloading their 20,000 tons of supplies to the hungry defenders of Clark Field. This will be extremely useful for the Philippines and should prolong their resistance for a good amount of time.

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China

In China my tactics seem to be working in North China. I'm attracting a lot of his units to the area, and actually making some headway at the same time. Kaoping and Anyang have fallen to my forces and Kaifeng should also become mine once I march in some more reinforcements.

January 8th 1942

By the way Tone has started his own AAR in case anyone is interested in seeing the other perspective. Obviously I won't be reading it until after the war is over.

Meanwhile the KB is right at my doorstep.. it's going to get hot in the next few days.

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Under the waves

There has been little action from submarines on both sides recently. My luck has been especially bad and probably 75% of my hits have been duds.

Today, while most merchants were retreating from Java, the SS I-55 sank two out of four of my APs that were bringing the 85th British AT Regiment to Batavia. I lost a large percentage of the regiment, but they should be able to rebuild.

I currently have 6 dutch submarines that are moving to interdict the KB. 8 more submarines are coming from positions around NW Borneo which will bring a total of 14 submarines chasing the KB, hopefully I'll get off some lucky shots. I have 5 USN submarines in transit from Pearl Harbor that are a few days from the Makassar Strait-- I'll use them to lurk around the KBs retreat routes.

Incoming KB Raid

Here they come, in full force.



As you can see my submarines are moving into position. The weather has been very bad the last two days with storms and rain across the DEI but my air force has stopped it's training and is now waiting for the KB to get close.

Most of my naval forces in the East Indies area, over 100 ships, have left the area temporarily. The only ships that will be left behind will be coastal ships which have terrible endurance and the CA Cornwall and CL Dragon in Batavia since it has been taking some time to get them off pier side repairs.

My biggest concern is a convoy that was in the process of ferrying 9,000 troops from Singapore to Batavia. They're now somewhat trapped between the Bettys in the north and the KB in the south. They're going to try and make a dash through the Java-Sumatra strait but it looks like it'll be a close one.

Mini-KB Spotted

In conjunction with the incoming KB raid I've spotted the Mini-KB at Sorong.



If the Mini-KB stays in the area this would be the perfect opportunity to use my USN Carriers. My carriers are 4-5 days away from being in range of Sorong.. so fingers crossed.

China

The war continues to go encouragingly well in China. I've pinned down more troops in North China and reinforcements are pouring into Hankow and Wuchow.

Lack of supply exclamation marks are popping up all across China. My offensives are definitely taking their toll on the overall state of the Chinese army. I'm directing what little supplies I have towards my forward bases to keep up the pressure.

January 9th, 1942

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Under the Waves

Japan's SS I-155 hits a mine at Kalidjati and will probably sink.

SS Dolphin is the first to make contact with the incoming KB. They fail to find the big ships, but at least they've made their presence known.

ASW attack near Madjene at 63,102

Japanese Ships
CL Noshiro
DD Yugumo
DD Arashio
DD Michishio
DD Oshio

Allied Ships
SS Dolphin

My subs missed the KB this turn, but now I have swarms of submarines converging on him from both the north and the south.

SS KXVII has spotted several AKs coming from Saigon. I'm suspicious Tone might be doing a joint strike and an invasion force is heading to NW Borneo.

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So it begins

The KB begins it's strike against Java. My 2nd rate planes and pilots are being used for the first line to wear down his planes and pilots.



Doesn't turn out too snazzy. I lose 12 planes and he lost 2.

He follows up with an attack on the port and sinks an AS and heavily damages two AKs that were in port. My fighter CAP was already worn out and I lost another fighter to none of his.

At the end of the day I lost 6 more fighters to ops, but so did my opponent! Not sure if the FOW is fooling with my head, but the KB lost 6 Zeroes to ops. That's 8 Japanese fighters lost to 20 of mine. Not a great ratio but I can't expect much better with the superiority of the Zero and his KB pilots-- I'll take it, as long as his elite pilots are going down with his planes.

Air losses of the day:



I'm going to keep using my 2nd rate fighters to wear him down until he gets closer to Batavia, that's where I have all my aviation support, bombers, and 1st rate fighters.

Fortunately it looks like the 9,000 troop convoy from Singapore are going to make good with their escape, all the KB is going to be up against are my angry hive of planes.

January 10th 1942

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Under the waves

One of my TKs leaving Pearl Harbor takes a torpedo and will spend some time in the repair yard.

I hit and sunk a patrol boat off of Saigon. It was part of a AK taskforce that seem to be heading south.

Unfortunately the KB bypassed my submarine net once again.

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Battle of Java Sea

The air battle around Java gets hot as the KB moves northward towards Batavia. The weather is absolutely terrible and there is chaos on both sides.



The first encounter ends with 6 of my fighters downed to 2 of his.

A second Zero sweep over Batavia ends with 2 of my fighters downed to 1 of his.

A torpedo strike against the KB is organized, and we meet a competent CAP of zeroes.



They actually broke through the CAP, but failed to deliver the blow! I lost 19 planes to none of his, but torpedo bombers coming so close should scare him.

Then the big raid comes.. my air headquarters really got their act together today.



All of my bombers made it through the CAP but if you can believe it NONE of my planes managed to accomplish a hit. Arg!

Several smaller raids go against the KB and take heavy losses, but fail to hit the KB's ships.

Another Zero sweep over Batavia knocks out more of my fighters, and that concludes the second day for the battle of Java Sea.

Very exciting but also very frustrating when you see torpedoes and bombs missing all 6 of his carriers.

My air losses were horrendous and his were acceptable. I was expecting to be able to attrition his airforce more, but not at this rate.



His counterattack will almost definitely come tomorrow. What's left of my bomber force is shattered and it would be foolish to try another attack. I'm pulling out my bombers to safe locations while I leave all my fighters to put up a strong CAP and shoot down as much as they can.