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3rd April 1942.........

Another day of massive air action over Port Morseby........
At least 50 allied aircraft destroyed including 20+ F4Fs......
We lost about 10 aircraft.........
An allied AK was badly damaged............

4th April 1942.....

Large allied air attack 75+bombers hit Amboina.....
PM continues to be bombed by we Japanese.....
Akyab large air combat both sides losing many aircraft....Tom shading it as my Oscars bear the brunt of A2A combat(surely they should do better against Hurra's).....
Tomini has fallen.........

7th April 1942.......

Big action in China as Tom vacates Hangchow to concentrate over 50 units at Changsa...
The upshot is I've taken Hangchow and thrown back his shock attack cosing him 20,000 casualties.......
I'm still concerned about Changsa as I am Outnumbered by at least 3-1......
In 7 days I'll get four more Divs. but I'll use these to free up units for other theatres.....so I won't be going on the offensive....

8th April 1942

How long will I hold Hangchow.....maybe not long.....after his failed assualt on Changsa...Tom has pulled 30 units out and back to Hangchow where I have only 10 units of about 1200 assualt points...I've decided to stay put and fight it out, as I think Tom's supply situation can't be good...and his units more than a little disrupted.......fingers crossed...watch this space...

Elsewhere the war drags on with all Japanese advances bogged down.......and we lost another four or so transports....I have to ask myself will we run out before the end of the war.

The CS Chitose, or was it Chiyoda was badly damaged by the ever increasing Allied airpower....

I suspect the Allied command are planning early counter attacks...in Burma....maybe even Malaya.......

9th April 1942

Tom has abandoned Changsha.....I feel a bit like General Maclellen when he took Yorktown....I didn't take the town, it was handed to me.....Tom's supply situation must have been worse than I thought.....now where will his 50+ chinese units go, they seem to be moving inland....well with reinforcements on the way and the railine now cleared, I'm going over to the defensive (except Yenen) and will strip forces for other theatres .....Lew will get a Div. + a large mixed brigade....I owe Scott 2 Divs (which are fighting a holding action in Burma).....so I'll have to see what I can spare...

3 of our carriers caught some allied tankers off the coast of Oz near Townsville...and sank at least four of them....sadly we also lost at least 6 transports off Borneo......

Lew has began Preping a new major Op. in the South Pac. maybe he'll post here later with an OOB and a map to show you the plan.

11th April 1942.....

Todays highlight is a bombardment TF paying a visit to Luganville.......we lost a destoyer to the coastal guns...but hit them pretty hard........
The TF also smashed up some nearby PT boats on the way home....three reported sunk......
KB was also in the area sinking a Transport...there are more targets nearby so the next turn or two could be interesting......
My guess is the allies may now know where our next big op is going to be.....Lew is going for either Nomea or Luganville....maybe both.
PM was heavily bombed today......Lew has achieved air supremacy for the time being......so the allies will struggle to supply it.......
We lost more transports at Singapore today.......the plan is that when we get reinforcements 3 Zero sqdrn in 3 days....we'll fly in a "big wing" to kill some allied aircraft......

My headaches in Burma continue.....I'll post more on that and a map later........

This is the Burma headache.

I'm considering withdrawing from Myitk..... Tom is gathering troops and starting to control surrounding hexes.....while it will take him a fair few weeks to assualt me out of Myit......I think it might be time to retreat to Mandalay. I have no hope of reinforcement.

Akyab is building up and I expect Tom to venture forth from there in about three months....heading for Pagan.....this will force me to retire from Mandalay. Tom has lots and lots of Hurra's at Akyab and we have a shortage of both Zeros and trained pilots.....so my airgroups at rangoon are 50exp pilots in oscars so any raid on shipping there is a bit of a bloodbath...

The obvious course of action would be to invade India....which Tom must have stripped of most of It's combat units.....but we are overstretched just about evrywhere....and it will be 6 months before I would expect to get access to the kind of fleet units I would need to undertake this action.....and by then.....it would be a very risky enterprise.

What to do?

13th April 1942

Today's highlight Lew's carriers caught an allied TF off Luganville...the net result was CL Concord and three destoyers all heavily damaged.....
Another huge Allied air attack on Balikpapan....110 Fortesses + 30+liberators....
While we are still hitting PM very hard......
In China, I've decided to go for Ichang next.......oh, and btw I lost almost 8,000 men at Yenen again today....I need to assemble and Air Army to pound the place for a few weeks before sending in the troops again........I do wonder where Tom's 40+ combat units that he has marched in to the interior will emerge........ 2 days until I get four new Divs in China......

17th April 1942.....

Another quiet couple of days at the front.......but behind the scenes much is going on.

Lew is planning his South Pac offensive...
Scott is prepping his move on Palambang....
I've succesfully withdrawn from Mytk.....but am nervous about holding the Mandalay line, as it is easily flanked.....
I'm still prepping an assault on Ichang.......while Tom, I think is looking to take Wuchow......all SAA Inf. units are on their way to Manila...this will end the siege there....

There is no doubt that the Allies have had the best of the first five months.....we are behind schedule/bogged down/and thwarted....in turn everywhere but the South Pac......
I expect more trouble in Burma/Malaya as the Allies will look to exploit our failure to take our objectives....
but I'm hopefull for the South Pac Ops. and once Manila falls Lew can support Scott to take the rest of the DEI.

Send more troops.

Genrl. commanding Burma/China

Our aircraft losses over the past few months are now starting to bite........and today was no exception.......we lost many aircraft over Palambang as our bombers flew in unescorted to find p-40s and Hurras in numbers waiting for them.....The upshot of the scores below is that our Zero reinforcements.....are being put in Claudes....and the Sally sqdrns have no aircraft at all.........

17th April 1942.....

Another quiet couple of days at the front.......but behind the scenes much is going on.

Lew is planning his South Pac offensive...

David has keep up with most of what has been going on. I have been prepping for a new Operation I have called " Flea Flicker" ( the football coach in me). The target is Luganville. The plan is for the bulk of the South Seas Fleet ground units (appox 400APs) ---to land at Luganville with the exception of the SSD and 1st mixed brigade out of Tokyo- these are follow up if need be , Iw ould rather they are the lead units to assault Port Morebsy after Operation " Flea Flicker" is done. Embarking in Tokyo right now is the entire 4th fleet ground troops and they are headed to Luganville to be a moblie reserve. Maps will show the forces assembled for the Operation. I don't know where the American carriers are but believe they are still in the Java area or Indian Ocean-- A lot of the bombers for the Allies are still in the Java area.

Transports

more transports

Allied forces at Luganville

PM area-- last turn B-17s out of OZ hit Lea and did 5 points of airfield damage-- 23 B-17s were engaed by 15 Zeros 3 were shot down and 20 damaged- When the Heavy AA arrives from Ambonia it should give a bigger nose bleed

21st April 1942

Ichang has fallen.......

Here is a map of the China situation.......
My plan in brief is to Flank Sian and Homan by moving an Army Group to central China......(through Ichang)
Prep an Attack on Wuchow........
Hold at the crossroads west of Changsha.....
Continue to grind down Yenen.......
and try to assemble a bits and pieces Army Group to protect the railine in the south........

Taking Ichang looks like a very good move, it puts both Chunking and Sian in jeopardy. Very nice!

[:)]

Gary

AdmNelson,

Just a quick thought. Do you think you have enough air cover to invade Luganville? You only have 72 aircraft in total on your CV's. If he has a lot of LBA and his CV's around........

Steven

Speedy, I made the same reflexion as yours, and then saw the last TF of the list. 4 CV, 264 AC... should be enough.

On the other hand, I think that the ground troops will not be sufficient. IJNAF troops have no combat engineer and no big gun and at an equal assault point value are far less efficient for invading bases.

Speedy, I made the same reflexion as yours, and then saw the last TF of the list. 4 CV, 264 AC... should be enough.

On the other hand, I think that the ground troops will not be sufficient. IJNAF troops have no combat engineer and no big gun and at an equal assault point value are far less efficient for invading bases.

My concern is also the ground more than the air. At Lunga I have another 60 zeros. PLus 80 betties/nells. I will probably have to use SED and the 1st mixed brigade to support the other units. With as many aircraft that has been at Luganville I don't know how of the of those are ground combat units and not support units. I also have the the 4 small carriers at Lunga that can carrier another 100 or so planes if necesarry. My plan is draw out the American fleet. That will be A case of how important They feel about the area. From Luganville at L4 betties could hit a lot transports from Suva to Noumea. What has left Tokyo is another 400 APs of ground units --- what has really hurt is not being able to use ground units out the Philippines.

This battle should be interesting-- any I can do pull presure off the Java front will help