The Rice Bowl: The Breakfast of the Samurai

[scott64]

December 22nd 1941 Action

Ground Combat
Temuloh falls in Malaysia to the 21st, 55th, and 114th Infantry Regiments (no casualties)
Kendari falls to the 113th and 148th Infantry Regiments (97 casualties)
Loewoek falls to the 146th Infantry Regiment (no casualties)
Manado falls to the 24th Infantry Regiment (123 casualties)

Naval Combat
A few sub attacks near Cam Ranh Bay where subs KXVIII and KXVII were engaged
Sub attack near Wake sub Thresher is engaged.
Sub I-25 is spotted near Pearl.

Air Combat
Three attacks on Clark Field by 33 G3M2 Nell, 25 G4M1 Betty, 14 Ki-21-IIa Sally, 40 Ki-48-Ib Lily, and 12 Ki-51 Sonia

[scott64]

December 23rd and 24th Action. [X(]

Ground Combat
December 23rd
Sorong captured. Allied unit retreating towards Sansapor.
Lae captured with no resistance.

December 24th
Guam is captured with 52 casualties. Guam USN Base Force surrenders.
Lolobato captured with No casualties
San Jose captured with 21 casualties.
Allies suffer 2127 casualties. 61st PA Infantry Division and 3rd PI Base Force surrenders.

Air Combat
December 23rd
Nothing of importance

December 24th
PB Tatsumiya Maru is torpedoed twice by Dutch sub O-19 off the coast of Soc Trang. She will sink.
Our sub I-15 attacks xAKL Manini on the surface by Midway. Confirmed sunk.
Kaga and company are in the DEI vicinity. Banjoewangi to be exact. [:-]. 9 ships confirmed sunk. [:'(]
5 AMc, 2 AVP, and a AG are on their way to Davey Jones Locker.
Dutch Air Force manages to put a bomb in BB Nagato near Kangean. [X(]

Surface Combat
December 23rd
Nothing to report

December 24th
CA Kako collides with CA Aoba [X(]

Misc
Light Cruiser Boise is confirmed been sunk near Soerabaja on Dec 16.
DD Edsall confirmed sunk near Balikpapan on Dec 16.

[Chickenboy]

Has Hong Kong not fallen yet?  (looks at watch).  Ummm....guys?  The schedule?  [:@]  [;)]

[John 3rd]

Schedule? Where we're going---we don't need schedules...

On my side of the Empire, I grabbed Wake about the 15th and am currently concentrating forces at Wake to grab Midway. Have four full strength SNLF (175 Assault) sitting there and will begin loading in two days. The Invasion Force will be directly covered by 3 CL and 8 DD. CARDIV2 will provide air support with the remains of the LB somewhere nearby.

CARDIV5 and Akagi moved south for 3 days after the convoy ambush, rested their pilots, and are now back in the shipping lane. Intend to leave the CVs there for 2 more days and then move towards Midway.

Rabaul and Lae are mine. Have all the AKs/APs heading back to Truk to load remaining units to be brought down. Reinforcements will land at Lae in a few days to begin serious base construction. I have 9 Zero and 36 Betty/Nell at Rabaul presently.

When everyone is ready we'll move directly on PM and grab that.

Up north, the Adak Invasion Force is halfway between Paramushiro Jima and Attu. They are being protected by a BB, several CLs, and about 10 DD. Don't plan any other landings in the Aleutians until the spring, however, I wanted Adak now so base work could begin.

[scott64]

Christmas 1941 Action

Namatanai is occupied

Ground Combat.
Tavoy by the 1st Raiding Rgt.


Naval Combat:
Night Time Surface Combat near Taytay and sunk 2 MTBs

Air Combat:
Clark Field: 24 G3M2 Nell and 24 Ki-48-Ib Lily for 16 hits.
Near Sepandjang: Allied threw the kitchen sink at us. [:-] Result was CVE Taiyo 1 bomb hit [X(][:-] lost 1 A5M4 shot down, we shot down 1 B-339D that was confirmed. The second wave was more in our favor we shot down a pair of 139WH-3.
Near Kangean: 1 139WH-3, 1 B-339D, 75A-7 Hawk were confirmed to be shot down to no losses.

[scott64]

Back to the action

Dec 26th to Jan 2nd 1942 Action
Bases Captured
Makassar, Georgetown, Banjoewangi(33rd Division), Mergui, Taiping, Semarang(4th Division),Tandjoengselor, Lingayen, Gorontalo, Cotabato, Iba ,Manila, Djokjakarta, Cabanatuan, Kuala Lumpur, and Boela.

Task Forces
TF 111 rescuing 479 men from 33rd Division near Banjoewangi
TF 190 rescuing 57 men from III/66th Naval Guard Unit

Lost Ships
xAK Kasagi Maru
xAK Kyusyu Maru
xAK Tatumiya Maru

Naval Action
Bombardment of Port Moresby
294 Allied casualties reported

Night Time Surface Combat near Pamekasan
Japanese Ships
CVL Zuiho and CVE Hosho with 5 DD escorts come up against 6 Pt boats.
CVE Hosho gets 1 shell hit and 2 torpedo hits. She will limp to Makassar with heavy damage.

Bases
San Fernando expands airfield to size 5
Kuantan expands airfield to size 6
Rabaul expands airfield to size 4

Air combat
Near Kangean
4 A5M4 Claude and 17 A6M2 Zero against 17 139WH-3, 10 B-339D, 3 CW-21B Demon , 8 CW-22 Falcon, 3 75A-7 Hawk , and 4 L-212. We shoot down 2 139WH-3 4 B-339D 2 CW-21B Demon 1 CW-22 Falcon, 1 75A-7 Hawk, and 1 L-212

Near Mataram
4 B5N1 Kate sink 5 Amc

Makassar (1st Attack)
5 A5M4 Claude against 24 139WH-3. Allies puts a bomb in CVE Hosho

Makassar (2nd Attack)
6 A5M4 Claude and 5 A6M2 Zero (5) against 19 139WH-3. We shoot down 4 139WH-3 but they still land another bomb on CVE

Near Banjoewangi
5 A5M4 Claude against 16 139WH-3, 5 B-339D, 7 CW-22 Falcon, 2 75A-7 Hawk , and 3 L-212. We shoot down 1 75A-7 Hawk and 1 L-212. A lone ship is hit with one bomb. The xAK Tokai Maru is hit for 99 casualties.

Sub attacks
Near California
SS I-9 puts 2 torpedo hits into AKE Exmoor
SS I-26 puts 2 torpedo hits into AVD Williamson

[scott64]

More action

Pilot notes
CPO Kusumoto I. of Kaga-1 attains ace status and gets his 6th kill on Jan 2nd 1942 [&o]

Ships confirmed sunk Allies
DD Paul Jones is reported to have been sunk near Donggala on Dec 16, 1941
xAK Steel Navigator is reported to have been sunk near San Francisco on Dec 18, 1941
xAKL Halldor is reported to have been sunk near Hong Kong on Dec 22, 1941
AKE Exmoor is reported to have been sunk near Los Angeles on Dec 27, 1941
AVD Williamson is reported to have been sunk near San Francisco on Dec 28, 1941
PT TM-11 is reported to have been sunk near Banjoewangi on Dec 28, 1941
PT TM-14 is reported to have been sunk near Banjoewangi on Dec 28, 1941
AMc Merbabo is reported to have been sunk near Mataram on Dec 30, 1941
AMc Rindjani is reported to have been sunk near Mataram on Dec 30, 1941
AMc Merapi is reported to have been sunk near Mataram on Dec 30, 1941
AMc Kawi is reported to have been sunk near Mataram on Dec 30, 1941
AMc Ardjoeno is reported to have been sunk near Mataram on Dec 30, 1941
MTB 10 is reported to have been sunk near Jolo on Dec 31, 1941
MTB 11 is reported to have been sunk near Jolo on Dec 31, 1941
MTB 12 is reported to have been sunk near Jolo on Dec 31, 1941
xAK Sagadahoc is reported to have been sunk near Waipapakauri on Dec 31, 1941
TK Gulfdawn is reported to have been sunk near Niuatoputapu on Jan 01, 1942

Confirmed sunk ships Japanese
Loss of AMC Aikoku Maru on Dec 28, 1941 is admitted
Loss of AMC Hokoku Maru on Dec 28, 1941 is admitted
Loss of xAK Tatutaki Maru on Dec 30, 1941 is admitted
Loss of xAK Tatutaki Maru on Dec 30, 1941 is admitted
Loss of xAK Tatumiya Maru on Jan 01, 1942 is admitted