Nov 1, 2 1943
Diffucult to say if it was a good turn or not.
Let's begin saying weather, this time, was on Rader's side.
Despite the forecast, Thousands was covered by storms for two days...not a single phase (AM or PM) saw a piece of clear sky over the damned island.
However Rader acted as previewed. He sent a big TF of barges and 2 Fast Transport TFs, composed of CAs, DDs and APDs to save parts of Thousands garrison (the 38th and the 5th Divisions being the most important units Rader is saving).
Our PTs were out in waves, and we had a DD division and a Cruiser TF out there.
Let's try to analyze the different moments...
November 1st - Night
Our Cruisers found and sunk several barges 1 hex north of Thousands...they were all empty cause we got them during their getting near phase...
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Thousand Ships Bay at 114,136, Range 2,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
LB-144, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
LB-520, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
LB-521, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
LB-522, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
LB-523, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
LB-524, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
LB-525, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
LB-526, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
LB-528, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
LB-529, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
LB-530, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
Allied Ships
CL Leander
CL Detroit
DD Dyson
DD Eaton
DD Radford
DD Renshaw
DD Strong
DD Taylor
Then our PTs found and sunk 3 ACMs that were trying to lay mines at Russell...
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Russell Islands at 113,136, Range 2,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
ACM Kongo Maru #2
ACM Misago Maru #11, heavy fires, heavy damage
ACM Sonobe Maru, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
ACM Tamaura Maru, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
Allied Ships
PT-132
PT-357
PT-359
PT-372
PT-376
Then, while our Crusers and Destroyers moved north of Russell Island to close the circle, his CAs, moving from Rekata Bay and passing near Auki, opened their way through my PTs, sinking at least 8 of them in various encounters...but the Takao ate a torp...nothing serious but enough to stay in port for a while i guess...
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Thousand Ships Bay at 114,136, Range 4,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CA Tone
CA Takao, Torpedo hits 1
CA Chokai
CA Myoko
DD Shimakaze
DD Akizuki
DD Hayanami
DD Suzukaze
DD Arikaze
Allied Ships
PT-344, Shell hits 1
PT-365
PT-366
PT-367, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PT-378
PT-379, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-382, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-383
The night battles made Rader's cruisers spend most of their op points and when the day came they were still loading troops... (Bad weather all over btw...)
November 1st - Morning
Our DD division arrived and chased the enemy CAs while they were loading on the beaches... we fought bravely but, despite some decent hits, DD Shaw got clobbered by the heavy guns of CA Haguro...and sunk...
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Day Time Surface Combat, near Thousand Ships Bay at 114,136, Range 19,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CA Haguro, Shell hits 4
CA Ashigara, Shell hits 2, on fire
CA Mikuma, Shell hits 1
CA Furutaka, Shell hits 2
DD Kiyonami
DD Nowaki, Shell hits 1
DD Arashio, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Asagiri, Shell hits 1
DD Amagiri, Shell hits 5
APD Asagao
DD Susukaze, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Ishikaze, Shell hits 1
Allied Ships
DD Dunlap, Shell hits 2
DD Mahan
DD Conyngham, Shell hits 1
DD Shaw, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
Japanese ground losses:
259 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 15 disabled
For some reasons our Cruisers lost their route and were found in daylight one hex south of Rekata Bay...[:o]
It started a serie of air attacks....luckly i had some LRCAP over them and the Netties never found their target...
Our LRCAP performed well in this circumstance
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 112,135
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 74 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes
Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 6
N1K1-J George x 9
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk III x 2
Spitfire Vc Trop x 2
Kittyhawk IV x 2
P-40K Warhawk x 3
FM-1 Wildcat x 1
F6F-3 Hellcat x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 3 damaged
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak
N1K1-J George: 3 destroyed
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
CL Detroit
Then our 4Es from Cooktown attacked again Buna AF...the Beaufighters were on escort and not a single fighter was found... (probably because at Salamua it was stormy)
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Morning Air attack on Buna , at 99,129
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
Beaufighter Ic x 10
B-24D1 Liberator x 109
B-24J Liberator x 25
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 3 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 13
Runway hits 39
November 1st - Afternoon
Despite having nearly 200 different bombers on naval attack from Auki and Tassafaronga, the weather was so awfull that not a single a/c took off to attack his CAs at Thousands, not to sweep Russell or Thousands as i ordered...
Instead more enemy a/cs attacked my cruisers near Rekata...
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 112,135
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 24 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 15
P1Y1 Frances x 9
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk III x 6
Kittyhawk IV x 4
P-40K Warhawk x 7
P-40N5 Warhawk x 3
FM-1 Wildcat x 5
F6F-3 Hellcat x 24
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 4 destroyed
P1Y1 Frances: 7 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-40N5 Warhawk: 1 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
CL Detroit
DD Radford
...and my DDs at Russell...
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Russell Islands at 112,136
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid detected at 62 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 28
A6M3a Zero x 14
G4M1 Betty x 13
N1K1-J George x 46
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 24
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 33
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 16
Ki-84a Frank x 41
Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 6
Kittyhawk IV x 2
P-40K Warhawk x 2
P-40N5 Warhawk x 4
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 4 damaged
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vc Trop: 2 destroyed
Kittyhawk IV: 1 destroyed
P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed
P-40N5 Warhawk: 2 destroyed
Allied Ships
DD DeHaven
DD Converse
Then finally, one of the 2 CA TFs he had, the one that managed to move out of Thousands (the other one was still there), got attacked by a very limited number of bombers (1 hex north of Thousands)...results were poor
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Thousand Ships Bay at 114,136
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 71 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 15
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 10
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 12
SBD-3 Dauntless x 11
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 5 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
APD Asagao, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Myoko
CA Chokai
CA Tone
Japanese ground losses:
63 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
So the 1st November ended with very little results and with a DD sunk on my side...
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November 2nd - Night
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Our brave DDs tangled north of Thousands with enemy's E class, sinking 2 of them...
Night Time Surface Combat, near Rekata Bay at 112,135, Range 5,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
E Sanae
E Wakamiya, Shell hits 14, and is sunk
E Maeshima, Shell hits 17, and is sunk
Allied Ships
DD Converse, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD DeHaven
DD Foote
Then, when the day came, our cruisers finally arrived at Thousands and tried to interdict his CAs still loading men at Thousands...
The battle was pointless, but we surely damaged a couple of DDs...
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Day Time Surface Combat, near Rekata Bay at 113,135, Range 27,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CA Haguro
CA Ashigara
CA Mikuma, Shell hits 2
CA Furutaka, Shell hits 1
DD Kiyonami, Shell hits 1
DD Nowaki
DD Arashio, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Asagiri, Shell hits 2, on fire
Allied Ships
CL Leander, Shell hits 5, on fire
CL Detroit, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Dyson, Shell hits 1
DD Eaton
DD Radford
DD Renshaw, Shell hits 2
DD Strong
DD Taylor
Japanese ground losses:
183 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 12 destroyed, 2 disabled
Then the enemy moved 1 hex northwards...and found again the same DD TF that tangled with them yesterday...
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Day Time Surface Combat, near Rekata Bay at 112,135, Range 29,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
CA Haguro, Shell hits 1
CA Ashigara
CA Mikuma
CA Furutaka
DD Kiyonami
DD Asagiri, on fire
Allied Ships
DD Converse
DD DeHaven, Shell hits 1
DD Foote, Shell hits 1
Japanese ground losses:
60 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
The bastards managed to get away....but another CA TF is loading at Thousands...under heavy storms....
...while at Russell the sun finally came out of the clouds and our fighters took off...sweep missions...
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Morning Air attack on Russell Islands , at 113,136
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid detected at 29 NM, estimated altitude 36,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 2
N1K1-J George x 22
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 41
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 70
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 21
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 3 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 3 destroyed
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Morning Air attack on Russell Islands , at 113,136
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid detected at 45 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 1
N1K1-J George x 14
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 30
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 44
Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 24
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 1 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 7 destroyed
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 7 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair: 2 destroyed
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Morning Air attack on Russell Islands , at 113,136
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 39,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 4
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 25
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 8
Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 25
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 2 destroyed
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 16 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 4 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
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Morning Air attack on Russell Islands , at 113,136
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 37,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 1
Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 18
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed
No Allied losses
We cleared the skies over Russell....
....and when his bombers arrived to attack my DDs at Russell...they found no local CAP to count upon...
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Russell Islands at 113,136
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes
Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 6
N1K1-J George x 7
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk III x 2
Spitfire Vc Trop x 1
Kittyhawk IV x 1
P-40K Warhawk x 2
P-40N5 Warhawk x 2
FM-1 Wildcat x 1
F6F-3 Hellcat x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged
N1K1-J George: 2 destroyed
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
DD Renshaw
And then, finally, our bombers took off in decent numbers...(not nearly enough but still....)...
Not having the chance to localize his CAs under those clouds, they targeted another Fast transport TF that wasn't seen during the night phase...
Despite some heavy losses on my part, the escort was decent and the previous battles over Russell have significantly lowered his leaky CAP...
Our bombers got through and mauled the enemy DDs...
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 113,135
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 4
N1K1-J George x 11
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk III x 9
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 10
SBD-3 Dauntless x 17
SBD-5 Dauntless x 22
TBF-1 Avenger x 11
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk III: 1 destroyed
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
SBD-5 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
APD Asagao, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Arashio, on fire, heavy damage
DD Amagiri, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Susukaze
DD Nowaki, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Ishikaze
Japanese ground losses:
184 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 1 disabled
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 112,135
Weather in hex: Light rain
Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 7
N1K1-J George x 14
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 8
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 11
Allied aircraft
P-40K Warhawk x 12
P-40N5 Warhawk x 11
F6F-3 Hellcat x 3
SBD-5 Dauntless x 18
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-40N5 Warhawk: 1 destroyed
Japanese Ships
DD Asagiri, Bomb hits 6, and is sunk
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 113,135
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 3
N1K1-J George x 6
Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 13
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 4 destroyed, 4 damaged
Japanese Ships
APD Asagao, and is sunk
Japanese ground losses:
22 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 113,135
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 8 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 1
Allied aircraft
Beaufort VIII x 9
No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
DD Arashio, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
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Morning Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 113,135
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 6
FM-1 Wildcat x 3
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
DD Nowaki, Shell hits 1, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
Japanese ground losses:
54 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
November 2nd - afternoon
His bombers, in the afternoon, took off again...but the escort got slaughtered over Russell...
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Russell Islands at 113,136
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid detected at 67 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 6
P1Y1 Frances x 6
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 20
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk III x 1
Spitfire Vc Trop x 1
Kittyhawk IV x 1
P-40K Warhawk x 2
FM-1 Wildcat x 1
F6F-3 Hellcat x 7
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed
P1Y1 Frances: 5 damaged
P1Y1 Frances: 1 destroyed by flak
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
CL Leander
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Then it was time for my escort to get mauled south of Rekata Bay....
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 113,135
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 5
N1K1-J George x 37
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 15
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 17
Allied aircraft
Beaufighter Ic x 16
Kittyhawk III x 5
Spitfire Vc Trop x 5
Kittyhawk IV x 8
P-40K Warhawk x 11
P-40N5 Warhawk x 7
FM-1 Wildcat x 10
SBD-3 Dauntless x 14
SBD-5 Dauntless x 6
TBF-1 Avenger x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Beaufighter Ic: 7 destroyed
Kittyhawk III: 2 destroyed
Kittyhawk IV: 2 destroyed
FM-1 Wildcat: 2 destroyed
SBD-5 Dauntless: 1 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 1 destroyed
Japanese Ships
DD Susukaze, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Amagiri, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
DD Ishikaze, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
Japanese ground losses:
313 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 11 destroyed, 14 disabled
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 113,135
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 1
N1K1-J George x 34
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 14
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 14
Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 5
P-40K Warhawk x 11
P-40N5 Warhawk x 4
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 9
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed
P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
Japanese Ships
DD Susukaze, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
Japanese ground losses:
110 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 1 disabled
By the end of the turn we had exchanged 1 DD for 6 DD, 2 APDs, 2 "E", while in the air we obtained a decent 1-1 kill ratio....unfortunately we lost 50 pilots cause we were fighting over enemy territory...
There's still a CA TF at Thousands now...and i want to chase it down... time for the big guys to come in!
I cannot count on the air interdiction much...weather is too less predictable and our i really do not like those losses in terms of pilots lost...i think i'll use LRCAP and fast BBs tomorrow...[8D]
At PM the first convoy arrived and start unloading...no sign of any attempt of his to interdict it...
KB disappeared...
