Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

[apbarog]

7 May 42

AM Muritai went on a lone patrol SW of Christmas Island looking for subs reportedly in the area. It found one. I-5 sinks the small ship.

B-26s bomb Ichang's airfield, doing minor damage. A nuisance raid, picking a target probably not protected. Zeros are busy covering troops closing the pocket in the south near Kweilin.

Lots of enemy air at Koumac. Even more than before. I'm risking a few cargo ships coming into Noumea from the south. I'll try to LRCAP them on the way in, but with so many fighters and bombers at Koumac, it probably won't work.

See the map for possible enemy carrier movement.

[apbarog]

8 May 42

I-22 is spotted by DMS Long south of Noumea. Long is escorting a few cargo ships into Noumea. Hopefully some supply will get unloaded tonight. There are combat ships at Koumac, so it isn't a sure thing. Extra fighters are deployed to Noumea to protect the ships during the day.

S-36 fires 2 torpedoes at PB Okuyo Maru SE of Soerabaja, but misses. The sub was waiting for shipping leaving Java for the Coral Sea, and I think it found one, but no hits achieved. The sub will retire to Perth for rearming and refitting.

28 Zeros from carriers sweep Townsville, finding a similar number of P-40Es. 24 P40s are downed, for the loss of 8 Zeros. That's about a month's production of P-40Es. An example of why the Allies cannot fight an attritional air war in 1942.

KB (at least a number of carriers) raids Townsville's port.

Afternoon Air attack on Townsville , at 92,144

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 63 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 63
B5N1 Kate x 11
B5N2 Kate x 50

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
AVP Reiger, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
AG Bonwin, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
AS Janssens, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Anshun, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
25 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
16 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 12000 feet
25 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
17 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 12000 feet
11 x B5N1 Kate bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
9 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 12000 feet
13 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 12000 feet

Not a huge strike, but not a lot of targets in port. A followup stike had 11 more Kates. The intention of the enemy carriers is not known. They could be clearing the area for an invasion of NE Australia. (No other task forces spotted) They could be just doing something rather than nothing. I'm hoping that Aurorus is encouraged by this strike and moves a bit south to give Rockhampton the same treatment. I've moved 5 fighter squadrons to Rockhampton. That would be a rude surprise.

I decided not to react by forming up the Allied carriers. They will stick to my plan of reinforcing Noumea. Task forces are forming at Auckland, loading the odds and ends of the ground units recently landed at Noumea. All task forces will be small enough to dock at Noumea's size 4 port. Carriers will cover this. More supply will also be inbound. This is more important than chasing down KB, and engaging in a fight that is, in most cases, not wanted yet.

The enemy tries again at Malaybalay, finally, after being reinforced by the 65th Brigade. The brave defenders on Mindanao hold once again. This makes 4 attacks that have been defeated, with many more enemy losses than friendly. I know of another enemy infantry regiment inbound, so the defense will not last forever, but I am certainly happy with the defense here.

Ground combat at Malaybalay (80,90)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 16573 troops, 101 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 516

Defending force 6429 troops, 25 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 226

Japanese adjusted assault: 325

Allied adjusted defense: 334

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 2)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1572 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 147 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

Allied ground losses:
432 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 37 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
143rd Infantry Regiment
65th Brigade
144th Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
101st PA Infantry Division
3rd Constabulary Regiment
Agusan Constab Battalion
Mindanao Force
Del Monte AAF Base Force

[apbarog]

9 May 42

45 Zeros do the daily sweep of the last contested hex holding open the pocket in southern China. I don't bother fighting them. I don't have the numbers to make a difference. My troops are trying to leave the hex, slowly, and this will doom the 5 corps to the south in the woods. I already know they are doomed. I'm showing movement with those corp, making Aurorus wait to finish encircling where he thinks they'll end up. In reality, they'll be right where they are. It will take a bit of time to eliminate them, moving into the woods in 3 different hexes. Time is the only contribution they can now make.

KB is not spotted, but the high detection levels have moved SE toward Koumac, and further north closer to Rennell Island. 3 big cargo ships unloaded supply at Noumea today, unmolested. I'll keep unloading until they are empty or they are destroyed. I have several fighter squadrons protecting Noumea, but they are no match for over 100 Zeros at Koumac. And at least 45 Oscars at Luganville.

Task forces are loading at Auckland. The bits and pieces of the units already at Noumea are being loaded. The biggest chunk is all of the artillery, support, and vehicles for the Americal Division. The task forces are formed into groups that can dock at Noumea to unload. So unloading will be staggered. Carriers will protect. More supply will unload, last, if that is still possible. All of this assumes that the enemy will do nothing, which is most likely not going to be the case.

Will more cruisers having arrived from refit at Pearl Harbor, I have some extra for combat task forces, as well as protecting the carriers. I may engage at Koumac if the ships don't have to engage defensively at Noumea.

Where will KB be when I get there? Time will tell.

Lots of reinforcement task forces are on the move from the West Coast to the South Pacific. A new division is en route, as well as a couple of regiments. Another new division will be loading up soon. Right now, I'm thinking that the 2 divisions will go to Australia, and the regiments will go to Auckland. All of these units are completely unprepped, and since units don't prepare while embarked, they'll be assigned prep locations when they get to their destinations. Early plans are that the 2 divisions will prep for Koumac.

Important SigInt today:
Imperial Guard Division is loaded on ships headed to Rangoon. Got 2 messages on this. Definitely loaded, maybe going to Rangoon. Why Rangoon? Burma is in enemy hands. 3 infantry divisions already in Burma, not advancing to the front right now. If the Imperial Guard is really headed into the Indian Ocean, it isn't for Burma.

[apbarog]

Aurorus is running a bit late tonight, but I should get a turn later.

Here's some current reinforcement rates for planes that matter:

P40E---35
F4F-4---45
P38E---24 (started May 1942)
TBF-1---35 (started May 1942)

[apbarog]

10 May 42

Dutch sub O23 spots 2 patrol boats and a tiny yard oiler, but there is no engagement.

The daily sweeps and bombing of hexes and troops in the southern China pocket.

B-26s from Chungking hit Liuchow in SW China, hitting the airfield for moderate damage. The base was recently lost, and is a size 1 airbase with no CAP. For today. Just a nuisance bombing.

4 hexes SE of Truk, sub Tambor fires 2 torpedoes at xAK Nako Maru. A torpedo hits but it is a dud. 4 xAKs are spotted.

There's a wide range of high detection levels today, from SE of Milne Bay to S of Tulagi to W of Ndeni. There's more than one TF causing these detection levels. It would appear that enemy carriers continued E or SE from yesterday, moving away from Australia.

My 3 xAK cargo TF continues to unload, slowly, at Noumea. Supply is over 11,000 now. Many fighters provide cover but not enough to stand up to the enemy strength in the area. The armada has reformed at Auckland and is heading back to Noumea with the rest of the ground units already there, and more supply. Carriers will support, as will combat TFs. A port support unit is earmarked to go to Noumea soon. It will get to Vava'u in a few days. The unloading is just too slow at Noumea's size 4 base, having no naval support there. This is a long-term holding action, and I need to get supply in more quickly.

There's a big xAK TF at Rangoon now. Could very well be the TF in yesterday's SigInt carrying the Imperial Guard Division.

[apbarog]

11 May 42

Near the northern tip of New Zealand, DD Napier spots I-26, and hits it with several minor hits. Allied TFs did show up nearby during the night, but weren't observed during the day.

Best guess for enemy carriers for today is near Milne Bay. Lots of my subs are in bad weather, however, so the guess is based on fewer points of detection.

SigInt for today says that the 26th Field Artillery is planning for Bataan, as is the 14th Infantry Division. This is the first division mentioned planning for Luzon. There's a good chance that if Luzon is invaded, Aurorus doesn't have plans for a big Phase 3. He'd be pushing Australia or India first, I think.

I'm trying to decide whether to keep my carriers near Noumea after it is sufficiently reinforced and supplied, or think of operations elsewhere. Right now, I think New Caledonia is most important. But Aururos has drawn down troops at Noumea and La Foa, leaving enough for defense. They've gone to Koumac, and may be pulled out entirely. He may have determined that he's not taking Noumea. Not directly, anyhow. So he may be thinking elsewhere. And maybe, then, so should I.

All ground units that were to be involved in the first aborted Marshalls invasions are still at Pearl Harbor. 2 tank units have since joined in on the preparations. What's missing is the shipping, escorts, and carriers, which are now all in the South Pacific.

Aurorus will be out of town this weekend. I'll take my time with the turn then, think about some longer range plans, and do some updates region by region.

[apbarog]

12 May 42

For the first time, Japanese planes appear over western China, flying from Burma. 42 Oscars swept Paoshan, finding no CAP. They were followed by 54 Sallys with 30 Oscars. The airfield was hit, doing moderate damage, and a Lysander II recon plane was destroyed on the ground. It's possible that Aurorus could send troops into China from Burma. Maybe that's why the Imperial Guard Division is landing at Rangoon now. Too soon to say. Western China isn't strongly defended, but the mountains would help with defense.

The enemy does kick a Chinese Corps to the west into Yenan.

Ground combat at 89,37 (near Yenan)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 21158 troops, 158 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 682

Defending force 2749 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 116

Japanese adjusted assault: 503

Allied adjusted defense: 229

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
550 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 59 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1212 casualties reported
Squads: 33 destroyed, 36 disabled
Non Combat: 17 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
11th Indpt Infantry Regiment
27th Division
12th Indpt Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
23rd Chinese Corps

Aurorus is traveling this weekend, so I have all weekend to work on the turn. I'll be taking my time, doing all of the little things that don't get looked at every day. I will also post a region by region update.

[apbarog]

Region Update - Marshalls and Gilberts

Little activity here. Tarawa was lost. Increased enemy activity following the aborted Marshalls invasion.

[apbarog]

Region Update - Northern Australia

There's an increased enemy presence south of Darwin, but no indication of an overland move. Could just be defensive. NE Australia gets regular recon though. Normanton is always a possible invasion point.

[apbarog]

Region Update - New Caledonia

I want a stalemate here. We'll see if that is what is developing. KB may have left the area. Allied transports are approaching Noumea from the south, escorted by carriers and several combat task forces. Troops and supply to be unloaded.

[apbarog]

Region Update - Burma and China

In Burma, the enemy is not headed north. There are now 3 big groups in the north. The western group moved to the SE to get to its current position, and other units have joined with it there. It doesn't seem to be moving at the moment. Imperial Guard Division is believed to be unloading at Rangoon now.

In China, when Changsha was being approached by the enemy, I started a general withdrawal of all units south of Changsha, pivoting to the north, headed for the wooded terrain. Lots of enemy bombing helped me to decide to move off-road in the far south, and that was a mistake. Enemy movement on the roads was too fast for these units to get to the other side of the wooded area, and now there's a pocket of Chinese waiting to be eliminated. Aurorus had a good plan here and I didn't recognize the threat in time. I avoided getting a lot of Chinese pocketed around Changsha, but caused others to get pocketed further south.

[apbarog]

Some Planning

Here are a few notable units, either moving to the front, or about to:

40 Infantry Division - moving to SF, 47 Prep for Koumac
41 Infantry Division - at SF, needs many PP to buy out, 100 Prep for Tarawa
32 Infantry Division - in the South Pacific, moving to Sydney
5 US CB - near Christmas, moving to Auckland
2 US CB - near Christmas, moving to Auckland
148 Infantry Regiment - moving to Auckland; part of 37 Infantry Division
5 Marine Regiment - moving to Suva to join another regiment of 1 Marine Division already there
4 US CB - at SF

I'm moving division to Australia to bolster the defense there, but prepping them for other targets. Regiments are going to New Zealand, with the same logic.

[zuluhour]

surprisingly good supply for China, especially with the Ledo road closed. Ankang, Sian, supplied? NICE!

[apbarog]

I've been surprised with the supply situation in China so far also. I've been very selective in building forts and taking reinforcements. I did remove all of the Chinese air units from China as fast as I could. Some were bought out and sent to India for training. Others were disbanded. That probably helped reduce some supply drain.

I have a theory, but it's only a theory. I pulled a lot of units out of Burma into India early on. This included all of the pieces that formed a Burma division. When southern Burma was minimally manned, it didn't have a need for a lot of supply, and my theory is that some of that flowed into China. It just seemed to me that China had more supply early in the game than I remember in my last game.

Things aren't quite as rosy right now. Chungking has about 25,000 supply. There isn't a lot of extra supply any longer. Transports do fly the Hump with supply during good weather, but only 2 small squadrons so far. The first C-47s are moving to Ledo now, and the pace will increase some.

[apbarog]

13 May 42

Sallys bomb Malaybalay on Mindanao, something that hasn't happened in a long while. Most of the attackers have withdrawn, leaving just an infantry regiment. That is enough to keep the defenders from attacking. The rest of the enemy went to Cagayan. Maybe to go somewhere else.

The usual enemy bombing in China. 13 B-26s, escorted by 12 P-43s for the first time, try to bomb a unit near Kweilin, but get no hits in the woods. The P-43s have longer range than most other Allied fighters at this time.

Important action around Noumea today. An enemy TF is SW of Luganville, possibly headed to Koumac or even Noumea. The most important thing for today was that none of the Allied TFs in the armada approaching Noumea were spotted.

The plan is to have 2 task forces bombard Koumac, hopefully damaging lots of enemy fighters. Koumac is reported to have 138 fighters and 25 bombers. 2 P-39 squadrons from Noumea will sweep Koumac. A lot of P-39s will be lost. More so if the bombardments don't work. I'm sending all of my B-17s in Australia to Koumac to hit the airfield and port. Allied carriers will range CAP Noumea and Isle of Pines. I do not assign any carrier strikes to Koumac. Can't risk the planes at this time. I may do so if the bombardments do well today.

Battleship Prince of Wales will meet the carriers today, to aid in support. Remember damaged light cruisers St. Louis and Durban at Noumea? They been there, quietly and slowly repairing damage. Today they leave, and will start to head south, under cover of carrier CAP. Durban is worse off than St. Louis, but I have hopes for both of them.

The cargo TF that has been unloading at Noumea is about half unloaded. It will leave Noumea and head south, making room at the docks for incoming transports carrying men and support.

There's risk today. I'm counting on my bombardment forces moving 9 hexes to Koumac and bombarding at night, then retiring to Noumea. Their maximum movement is 9 hexes. We all know that bombardments can go wrong. They could run into enemy ships or subs on the way, slowing the ingress. Or hit mines at Koumac, which most certainly are there. The light cruisers I'm risking are New Zealand, Dutch, and British. The destroyers are all US.

[zuluhour]

watching with interest.

[apbarog]

I'm anxiously awaiting the turn. And considering sending the fleet back to Pearl and trying the ambitious Marshalls landings again. I need a good deal of time to be ready for a Koumac landing. A couple of months needed, for prep time. I'm deciding whether I think that Noumea is now safe, and weighing the odds of an enemy landing in NE Australia.

I'm still thinking that KB is headed off to another mission. Maybe the long awaited Luzon landings. Or maybe something in the Indian Ocean. Aurorus could have gone completely defensive already, but I just don't think so. Not yet.

The Marshalls is risky. Landing an infantry regiment, armor, and combat engineers on an island with a 6,000 men stacking limit is risky. If they find mainly base support, they'll take the island. But if they find an enemy regiment, with forts, the landing is in for a tough time. All of the landings would incur a shock attack due to the size of the islands.

Still thinking about this.

[ericv]

thamk you for this AAR [&o]

[apbarog]

14 May 42

One of those days with lots of action. Very little went as planned. Some good, some not good. All in all, I'm happy with the result.

Things didn't start out well.

Sub attack near Noumea at 114,161

Japanese Ships
SS RO-65, hits 1

Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 1 (SYS 7/FLOT 38-37/ENG 0/FIRE 0)
CA Chester
CA Houston
CL Phoenix
DD Tucker
DD Downes
DD Cushing

SS RO-65 launches 6 torpedoes at CV Yorktown

Then the US destroyer TF stormed into Koumac. A short engagement, with minimal damage, except for Monaghan taking a torpedo. The best part of this engagement was the enemy launching torpedoes at destroyers and (mostly) missing. This would be important for later engagements. One of the enemy destroyers was hit by a torpedo, but it was a dud.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Koumac at 113,156, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Yura
CL Abukuma
CL Kuma
DD Kamikaze
DD Asakaze, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Asanagi, Shell hits 1
DD Yunagi

Allied Ships
DD Farragut
DD Aylwin
DD Monaghan, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Dale
DD Worden
DD MacDonough, Shell hits 3 (SYS 17/FLOT 0/ENG 0/FIRE 0)
DD Dewey, Shell hits 1

Low visibility due to Rain with 0% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Rain and 0% moonlight: 2,000 yards

Still at night, the ABDA light cruiser TF engages.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Koumac at 113,156, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E7K2 Alf: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CL Yura, Shell hits 10, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
CL Abukuma
CL Kuma
DD Kamikaze, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
DD Asakaze, on fire
DD Asanagi
DD Yunagi

Allied Ships
CL Leander, Shell hits 1
CL Achilles
CL De Ruyter
CL Tromp
CL Emerald, Shell hits 6
DD Gwin
DD Grayson
DD O'Brien, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Walke
DD Benham

Reduced visibility due to Rain with 0% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Rain and 0% moonlight: 2,000 yards

CL Leander got 2 torpedo hits on CL Yura. Leander was a hero in an earlier battle in the war, getting torpedo hits on an enemy ship when other ships, including Boise and Houston, did little. Leander does it again.

The enemy TF then retreated to Belep Islands to the north, only to run into a minesweeper that was checking Belep for mines. DMS Long was hit with 3 shells, but took very little damage SYS 3/FLOT 1-0/ENG 0/FIRE 0.

The ABDA TF then ran into 6 motor torpedo boats at Koumac, engaged again at 2,000 yards, and neither side landed a single shot.

During the daylight,the enemy TF that had retreated to Belep then reappeared at Koumac to fight another round, finding that the ABDA TF was still there.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Koumac at 113,156, Range 14,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Abukuma, Shell hits 3, on fire
CL Kuma, Shell hits 24, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Kamikaze, Shell hits 4
DD Asakaze, Shell hits 14, and is sunk
DD Asanagi, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Yunagi, Shell hits 4, on fire

Allied Ships
CL Leander, Shell hits 1, on fire (SYS 17/FLOT 2/ENG 6/FIRE 0)
CL Achilles, Shell hits 1, on fire (SYS 20/FLOT 0/ENG 8-1/ FIRE 0)
CL De Ruyter, Shell hits 1 (SYS 16/FLOT 7-2/ENG 0/FIRE 0)
CL Tromp
CL Emerald, Shell hits 6 (SYS 9/FLOT 1-0/ENG 0/FIRE 0)
DD Gwin, Shell hits 1 (SYS 14/FLOT 0/ENG 3-0/FIRE 0)
DD Grayson
DD O'Brien (SYS 5/FLOT 9-4/ENG 6/FIRE 0)
DD Walke, Shell hits 3, on fire (SYS 27/FLOT 11-2/ENG 4/FIRE 0)
DD Benham

Poor visibility due to Rain
Maximum visibility in Rain: 15,000 yards

It was a very long fight, starting at 15,000 yards, moving slowly down to 6,000 yards, then up to 13,000 yards, then down to 9,000, then up to 11,000 yards, then back down to 5,000 yards, up to 6,000 yards, back down to 4,000 yards, then 11,000 and 16,000 and finally at 23,000 yards. A long and incredibly interesting fight to watch. It didn't hurt that the truly ABDA force did well. It may have paid off that I had replaced the TF leader captain with an excellent captain. I don't recall seeing such a mixed nationality force do so well for me before.

2 P-39 squadrons from Noumea swept Koumac, and it went very poorly. Both combat TFs that I sent to Koumac were engaged and neither performed the assigned bombardment mission, so the 100+ enemy fighters were all ready to go. The P-39s paid the price, losing 28 of them, for the loss of 3 Oscars and 3 Zeros. I knew that this could happen, and it was still worth it. By luck, the weather appeared to prevent an Allied carrier strike on enemy ships at Koumac and Belep. I needed those P-39 sweeps to soften up the enemy, so that I wouldn't lose as many carrier planes. I'd also assigned multiple B-17 squadrons in Australia to hit Koumac, and they didn't fly either. B-26s from Norfolk Island hit La Foa's airfield, doing minor damage in bad weather. 8 LB-30s from Australia did hit Belep's port, doing minor damage, but not hitting any ships in port.

Near Luganville, Dutch sub KXVI got a torpedo hit on xAK Sinsyu Maru, sinking her. Sub Tambor missed an xAK near Truk.

Paoshan in Western China got fighter sweeps and multiple bomber groups hitting the airfield. I moved a bunch of fighters in today.

Quite a day. A lot of fun to watch, even if it wasn't all good. The worst part of the day was Yorktown getting hit with a torpedo. This is the 2nd torpedo hit for Yorktown in the war. The first was when US carriers made their first appearance in the South Pacific, and moved east of Luganville trying to flank the enemy to the west. Yorktown is just under 20,000 tons, and can be repaired at Sydney. I flew its fighters to Noumea to help the fight there. The SBDs will be used at various land bases in the South Pacific, lighting up enemy subs on ASW duty, and maybe highlighting where my carriers are when they aren't really there.

The other development was that Tanna was invaded. Tanna is ENE of Noumea, and south of Luganville. It appears that a small unit is unloading there. Incredibly, on the same day, I started to fly in a small NZ unit from Suva. One of the small Fiji units. I am using Catalinas for this, as Tanna has no airfield. I'll use more of them today, with others bringing in supply. If I lose Tanna, I'm not too worried, because I think I can keep bombing the size 1 port to prevent the airfield from ever being built. Tanna is a good distance from Koumac and Luganville, and within B-17 range from Suva. I will also bring in supply using APDs using fast transport mode, and am preparing to bring in a raider unit the same way.

A very, very interesting turn.

[apbarog]

15 May 42

US ships bombard enemy troops at Tanna, discovering that the enemy is just an engineer company. A good bombardment, considering the size of the unit. Ships retired to Noumea and will head south today.

Night Naval bombardment of Tanna at 120,157

Allied Ships
CA Vincennes
CA Astoria
CA Louisville
DD Dunlap
DD Maury
DD McCall
DD Gridley

Japanese ground losses:
112 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled

Near Norfolk Island, I-8 fires 4 destroyers at DD Worden but misses. With the carriers flying a lot of ASW today, many subs are spotted.

The usual bombing in China in the area of the pocket. My trap at Paoshan failed. The enemy didn't appear today, but did recon Paoshan and surely spotted all of my fighters that had moved in.

16 Blens did bomb Myitkyina's airfield, doing almost no damage in the bad weather. No CAP. Just a nuisance.

B-26s from Norfolk Island bombed enemy troops at Noumea, not hitting at thing, but did identify some of the units still there: 56 Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Division, and 8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment. I think there's another unit there also.

B-17s from Suva bombed the enemy engineer company on Tanna, doing minor damage.

See the map for movements in the South Pacific today.