Pathos in the Pacific - Yubari`s Humiliation

[yubari]

The past 5 days have seen the Japanese achieve their major goals with only a few major losses.

DD Uranami is crippled when it hits 2 mines at Port Blair on the 6th, and is sure to sink tomorrow. AP Izumi Maru is also crippled, and is heading slowly back to Singapore. However, with 10 hexes still to go, and many Dutch and British submarines patrolling those waters, it will likely go down before then.
Port Blair capitulates on the 6th, and 12000 men surrender, bringing me about 240 points.

The KB found no allied ships in the area, and was scheduled to hit Madras. However, for some reason, it managed to move only 6 hexes, instead of the 8 plotted, and so ended up out of range of Madras. Having handed an alert, I retreated the ships after that. No point in risking a weakened KB against all Indias bombers when the only thing in the harbour appears to be a few transports.

At Cairns, I carelessly forgot to put any LRCAP on a convoy which was bringing in engineers to the Northeast Australian front. They unloaded faster than expected and left the harbour undefended. Allied bombers took off from Charters Towers in the morning and afternoon, sinking four of my valuable medium troop transports.

On the 6th, the Allies bring in Liberator IIIs for the first time. Operating from what I presume to be the size 8 airfield of Cungking, they bomb Peking, destroying 6 resources. Their appearance in China is a sure sign that I need to do more in the theatre to destroy supply. They also appear in the skies over Moulmein, bombing the airfield, but do little damage there. 3 are lost during the turn.

On to the title of this post; I noticed today that Nagumo is in charge of both the Hiryu task force heading back to Japan and the main KB task force in the Indian Ocean. Is this a new bug, or just part of the old leader bug issues? Did I do anything to cause it?

[yubari]

And here he is in the Akagi task force on the same day.

[Ron Saueracker]

Personally, if they can't make leaders work in AE they should just friggin chuck the entire thing...might as well have a game with no leaders than a game with two...Tanaka and Yamaguchi vs Halsey and Lee.[:(]

[yubari]

Morning Ron!

I dont know, I quite like the leaders and feel the game would be poorer without them. I wish that the Rear Admirals could be asigned to certain ships, and it would then take a lot of political points, and a long time (say a month) to move them. As it is, you can have Tanaka fighting a surface battle in the Solomons, and then one in Rangoon two days later, for the cost of about 10 political points. I also wish that they could be injured or killed more frequently in naval battles. What a blood thirsty man I am! Let`s hope they can fix it in the Admiral`s edition anyway.

Very little of consequence happened on the 7th July, beside some bombardment by my troops at Townsville.

On the 8th July, three ships sink overnight. DD Uranami had hit two mines while escorting transport ships to Port Blair. It sinks in the harbour there. AP Izumo Maru had hit 2 mines earlier at Port Blair and sinks while returning to Singapore. AP Tamaki Maru sinks after being heavily bombed while returning from delivering engineers at Cairns.

In other news, Japanese destroyers manage to damage the British SS Rover, but she will surely not sink after just 3 near misses. British Blenheim bombers make attacks against Moulmein airfield, and Rangoon airfield (which is still short of Base forces). 2 are lost to flak at Rangoon, and 2 to Oscars based at Moulmein. Tomorrow will probably see the 4Es attack again.

An attack at Townsville, supported by plenty of engineers cant even take the fort level down, and suffers very heavy casualties. It is the end of the Australian adventure, and also the end of the Japanese expansion phase. It is now up to the allies to take up the gauntlet.

Ground combat at Townsville
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 187780 troops, 935 guns, 237 vehicles, Assault Value = 3978
Defending force 90080 troops, 595 guns, 278 vehicles, Assault Value = 1664
Japanese max assault: 3803 - adjusted assault: 1263
Allied max defense: 1683 - adjusted defense: 3742
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 8)

Japanese ground losses:
6028 casualties reported
Guns lost 111
Vehicles lost 8

Allied ground losses:
3169 casualties reported
Guns lost 58
Vehicles lost 12

[yubari]

A fairly eventful past week. The main item of interest for me has been the KBs pursuit of a large transport group of British ships heading north from Australia to India. Unfortunately, the inclusion of a somewhat damaged CVL Ryujo with a top speed of 24 knots mean that the Japanese carriers are no cheaters, and the large APs of the British are fairly sprightly gazelles. Anyway, here are short daily reports from the last six days.

9th July
Ovenight, AK Gladys Moller hits a sub laid mine at Johnston Island, the first allied sub so to do.
At Kwajalein, SS Gudgeon lingers too long, and PC Shonon Maru#10 hits it with 2 depth charges. The ships sinks immediately!
At Diamond Harbour, I-159 puts two torpedoes into MSW Deloraine, and the ship sinks immediately. I-159 immediately retreats back to Singapore. Finally, AP Teiryu Maru sinks while returning to Port Moresby. It had been hit in the Cairns debacle about a weak earlier.

10th July.
SS I-166 sights a very large transport fleet heading northwest south of Java (3,56). The apparent destination is India. The KB is currently near Singapore, and will head into port to refuel, and then head at full speed to attack. There appear to be no US CVs in the area.
Elsewhere, allied bombers fail to attack Rangoon. 5 allied planes are lost to ops losses, indicating a large amount of action. The first Albacore Torpedo bomber is lost, maybe the British carriers are at sea.

11th July.
Paratroopers are transported into Coen. Small detachments are transported to Panggoe and Munda in the Solomon islands, to take the islands which have so far been providing spotting for the allies on convoys to Lunga. AK Norway Maru sinks at Port Moresby

12th July.
The most exciting event of the day is the spotting by a Glen sub of the convoy heading from Australia towards India. It is at hex (3,45), and hence is moving at at least 15 knots. Nagumo with the Kaga, Akagi and Ryujo and 200 planes is moving at high speed to intercept, and should hopefully be in position to attack on the 15th.
Panggoe, Munda and Coen all fall today. With the Hiyo due to be completed in 2 day time, The Shokaku and Zuikaku, plus a large number of battleships and cruisers are heading south towards Port Moresby to be in position to evacuate the troops from Cairns.

13th July.
Japanese ASW continues to score small successes. DD Nenoki hits SS Saury near Java with a direct hit and heavy damage is caused. The large British convoy is again spotted. I-11 misses with a torpedo attack against AP Empire Tamar at (4,41), and the convoy is spotted later in the day at (3,39).
We launch a fighter sweep against the Hurricanes at Mandalay. 7 Hurricanes are shot down, and 2 Zeroes are confirmed as ops losses. Only 1 of the pilots are lost however. Finally, SS KXV hits AK Keimei Maru near Singapore, causing heavy damage.

14th July. Completion of CV Hiyo. Large air battle over Cairns.
A decisive turn in the war, as for the first time, the allies launch an airfield strike which decisively closes the airfield. The campaign in Northern Australia immediately turns into one of desperate survival for the massive Japanese force between Cairns and Townsville.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 10
A6M2 Zero x 74

Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 39
Beaufort V-IX x 30
B-25C Mitchell x 16
B-26B Marauder x 63

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 25 destroyed, 24 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 2 destroyed
H6K4 Mavis: 1 destroyed
D3A2 Val: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 20 destroyed
Beaufort V-IX: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 5 damaged
B-26B Marauder: 3 destroyed, 30 damaged

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 7
A6M2 Zero x 47

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 48
B-24D Liberator x 70

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 9 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 destroyed
D3A2 Val: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 13 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 14 damaged

We lose 52 planes on the ground, 36 of them Zeroes. However, one stroke of good fortune is that very few pilots are lost. Allied losses are 20 Kittyhawks, 7 B-26s, 4 Beauforts and 1 B-17. We have to hope that the enemy doesnt prosecute the attack tomorrow, because with runway damage at 79 percent, there seems little chance that we would be able to oppose it.
Elsewhere, DD Uzuki manages to hit the already damaged SS Saury a further 4 times, however none of them are a direct hit. Still north of Bali, there are 2 ASW groups on its tail.

The large British convoy is spotted at (3,33) and is still moving north at high speed. It is appearing increasingly likely that it will escape. With that in mind, I order a somewhat risky attack against Colombo port the next day, with the Kates to go in at 16000 feet. With only 3 carriers and 200 planes, and the Soryu, Junyo group some 1000 miles behind it would be beyond risky to go beyond Sri Lanka into the Indian Ocean in hunt of this particular gazelle. Even going within 5 hexes of Colombo at this stage of the war is a considerable risk.

[yubari]

15th July.
The allies continue to pound the airfield at Cairns. Runway damage rises to 89 even with a large number of engineers at the base to repair. Noticing this amount of damage, it is clear that taking out Mandalay as an airfield is important. There are base forces incoming to Rangoon, which can be built up to a size nine airfield, so building up this base, along with Moulmein, and trying to wear down Mandalay and Akyab will become the priorities.

Day Air attack on Cairns , at 48,102

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 3
Beaufort V-IX x 18
B-25C Mitchell x 8
B-26B Marauder x 22

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 12 destroyed
A6M2-N Rufe: 4 destroyed
Ki-49 Helen: 2 destroyed
H6K4 Mavis: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort V-IX: 3 damaged
B-26B Marauder: 5 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
173 casualties reported

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 42

The KB finds itself six hexes away from Colombo and hence is unable to attack. It is the second time that this has happened to me (Madras was spared some two weeks ago), but also saved us when the US CVs failed to arrive to attack the Cooktown invasion force at the end of March. It still begs the question; what are full speed orders for if the ships dont travel at full speed. It also means that our units have failed to sink a single British ship in the entire operation, a most feeble effort.

For the future, the troops in Australia will be extricated, and a new defensive position will be set up at Coen and Portland Roads that will be within range of the allied heavy bombers but crucially are only connected by trails, and hence will be much harder for the allies to attack. The extricated units will go to form mobile reserves at Kwajalein, Rabaul and Kendari. Maybe two will be sent into China as per Okamis excellent suggestion of a few months ago, and the damaged CVs will repair in Japan.
Here are the current scores.

[yubari]

An exceedingly busy job and some problems at home have led to it being absolutely ages since an update. I will give a brief update for the last two weeks, as well as I can remember, and then try to give detailed reports.

Firstly, the KB was unable to intercept the British transports heading from Australia back towards Aden. The KB has repositioned itself in the Coral Sea in the past two weeks, and the plan is for them to hit Rockhampton, the base of the allied 4E bombers which have crippled the airbases of Cairns and Cooktown. After that, around 120 APs collected at Port Moresby will attempt to evacuate the 250000 or so Japanese troops which are stuck on the North East coast. The Japanese force so far remains explicitly undetected. However, there have been numerous sightings of elements of the fleet by submarines and by coastwatcher forces in the Solomons, so I must presume the enemy has wind of my intnetions.

Secondly, the Aleutians seems to have become the hot spot. Allied troops have been spotted landing at Adak Island in the chain. Betty bombers were rebased into the level two Amchitka Island and scores some bomb hits.

OK, here are the daily reports. More detailed reports to follow I hope.

16th July.
The KB retreats from the Indian Ocean towards Batavia for refueling and will then head towards Townsville for a raid against the port of Rockhampton. The best possible thing to happen would be for them to catch the B-17s on the ground with a Kate attack, and then for the BCs and CAs to go in and take around 100 B-17s.
Sub I-28 torpedoes AP Wakefield from the large convoy causing some damage. The ship appears to be empty.

17th July
Sub I-17 torpedoes the strangely named TK Mexicos H. Whitter at Pago Pago. The ship is set on fire. AK Yosida Maru is hit by 4 bombs, and Seito Maru and Shoto Maru hit by 1 each as they are attacked by B-26s operating from Umnak Island in the Aleutians. Yosida Maru will sink soon but the other two ships are largely undamaged.
Cairns is not attacked today, and runway damage falls by some 30 percent.

18th July. Zeroes continue to massacre Hurricanes over Mandalay. AK Yosida Maru #1 sinks.

19th July. I-28 misses AP Eastern Prince of the fast transport group. SS Swordfish torpedoes AK Noto Maru at Palembang

20th July The enemy tries to attack the port at Pescadores, which had been undefended. Two minesweepers are hit and crippled and 2 AKs are hit by one bomb each causing moderate damage.

21st July. Nothing of note happens.

22nd July SS KXII torpedoes AP Tientsin Maru as it approaches Rangoon to deliver base forces. Fanning Island is being expanded indicating that the Americans future advance will go along the Central Pacific Route. Wake Island is the expected first target.

23rd July. A major fight over Rangoon as around 80 allied heavy bombers come to attack Rangoon. About 120 fighters rise to meet them. The Japanese fighters fare very well, shooting down 13 planes and causing another four to crash when returning. Only 3 fighters are left on the ground, and minimal damage is done to the runway which can be repaired in one day by the 300 or so engineers working there. It seems that Rangoon may be able to defend itself better than Cairns had done earlier.

24th July. Nothing of any major interest.

25th July American PTs attack at Amchitka Island and torpedo an AP. Very little damage is done. 50 Japanese and 80 bombers attack the allied base at Akyab and do heavy damage. 13 Hurricanes and 8 A-24 Dauntlesses are lost at the base. 3 Helens are lost to the flak. Japanese troops begin to arrive at Ichang in preperation for a major battle. Some nice free intelligence for the allies as three large Japanese task forces pass by Samo (I think) in the Solomons at high speed. I have deliberately avoided taking all of these small islands, but on this occasion, they have provided very valuable information.

26th July AP Tientsin Maru sinks. SS KXVIII puts two torpedoes into AP Kasima Maru as it is moving to Port Blair to deliver base forces.

27th July AP Kashima Maru sinks. 30 Zeroes and 70 Nells attack Calcutta on the intelligence that a number of British ships were operating there. However, the base appears to be empty. 4 Zeroes and 9 Nells are lost, for just one Hurricane. As these were all elite pilots in the high 80s experience, this is a serious defeat.

28th July SS Trout torpedoes AK AKagu Maru at Saipan. Damage is not severe, and the ship docks at Saipan Harbour for repairs. 115 bombers attack Daly Waters in the Australian hinterlands. We have 230 engineers there who are trying to build it up into a level 3 base before we can fly in Zeroes. A Betty hits SS Pickerel near Rabaul. Damage is unknown.

29th July. Enemy transports are seen at Adak Isladn in the Aleutians. Bettys and Zeroes which had been at Sapporro are rebased into the area. There are level 2 airfields at Amchitka, so hopefully they will be able to launch bombing attacks. SS Triton fires some dud torpedeos at CA Haguro which is refuelling at Truk. This is some nice free intelligence for the enemy.

30th July. The first allied ship sunk for some weeks. Bettys on naval attack score 3 bomb hits against SC Dundas and AK Admiral Gove, 2 bomb hits against AK Admiral Chase and 1 bomb hit against AK Admiral Laws and AK Ravnaas. What is disconcerting is the lack of sightings of the enemy fleet units. I havent so much as spotted an American destroyer or greater for about the last three months.

[yubari]

A hoy hoy. Its the end of the month, so I will start with a score and industry report.

Scores.

Japanese Bases 296 (4309)
American Bases 197(3345)
Allied Aircraft destroyed 2368
Japanese aircraft destroyed 1950
Allied Army losses 8288
Japanese Army losses 431
Allied ships sunk 241 (2619)
Japanese ships sunk 75(562)

Industry. Daily (stored)
Supply 3169908
Fuel 2989211
Manpower 765(221484)
Heavy Industry 13028(214019)
Resources 16631 (1248637)
Oil 2789(3244108)

All looking OK here.

Overnight, AP President Polk hits a mine at Dutch Harbour. Quite how this information is transported to Japanese control HQ is unknown.

Allied heavy bombers operating presumably from Chingking launch a port attack against Tientsin. One of the small AKs there is moderately damaged. I am happy with this type of attack since it causes very little damage.

82 Liberators attack Cairns. Good. Hopefully they wont be on naval attack when we strike Rockhampton in a couple of day time.

The main attack in China is in Ichang. The forest hex is presumably limiting the amount of damage that the Japanese artillery is doing.
Ground combat at Ichang
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 180777 troops, 908 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 4292
Defending force 76977 troops, 307 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2178
Allied ground losses:
148 casualties reported

The KB, currently basing nearly 550 planes, and comprising every flattop in the Japanese Navy save the Hiryu and Hosho is continuing its progress towards Rockhampton. I hope to attack it in the near future, but need to wait for good weather. I think we remain undetected.

Here is the situation in the Aleutians. Allied engineers landed at Adak around three days ago, and have already built it up to a level 1 airfield. 25 fighters and 50 bombers are operating from Amchitka, and 25 bombers from Attu. Poor weather precluded any attacks today on the allied force of at least 20 transports. I wont bring any surface forces to interdict, since I am unsure of the location of the American fleet. Adittionally, I dont have any!

[yubari]

A hoy hoy.

Well, the title is just an attempt to confuse any allied intelligence gatherers out there. It probably wont work. As you can see below, the KB is now almost entirely gathered and ready to strike at Rockhampton. Barring bad weather, it should happen on the 3rd August. The Nihon Kaigun carriers can hold upwards of 600 planes, but due to house rules, I have arranged them so that no more than 500 planes will be in one hex.
You can also see the massive transport armada that is assembled north of Cairns. There should be enough capacity to lift four divisions, and four smaller units within two days.

Good news for the day;

The fleet remains undetected, and is running with no search planes operating at all. Bettys and Emilys at Port Moresby and Milne Bay should hopefully be providing sighting.

Bettys in the Aleutians continue to strike at allied shipping. The following were hit at three points in the day.

AK Admiral Laws, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Norlago, Bomb hits 3, on fire
AK Haleakala, Bomb hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
AK Malanao, Bomb hits 1
SC New Westminster, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage SUNK.
AK Admiral Williams, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Admiral Senn, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Liberators are continuing to attack the empty and abandoned airfield at Cairns. Again, hopefully they will be stood down when the carriers come into range.

Bad news for the day;

SS Grayling torpedoes ML Shirataka at Wake. She has a roughly 20 percent chance of survival. She is at 55/57/6, and Kwajalein is 12 hexes away. She would be the first minesweeper lost.

4 Zeroes are lost in operations. 3 of those landing at the level 2 airfield at Amchitka.

It`s time to trust to dumb luck.

[yubari]

The mighty carriers of the combined fleet, combined containing some 600 planes, and supported by a veritable armada of 9 battleships, including the recently-constructed Yamato, 23 heavy and light cruisers and nearly 60 destroyers, have remained undetected, dodging submarines and patrol planes operating from the coast of Australia and the French-controlled but American operated island of New Caledonia.

On the morning of the 2nd August, they are 720 miles away from their target, Rockhampton. The town has a harbour that is thought to host and service submarines. And at least three are expected to be there now, with their various tenders. While a juicy target, the main thrust to the plan is the destruction of the massed ranks of allied heavy bombers which have been operating from the base. They normally attack the airfields in the morning, so it is obvious that they will not be set to attack any approaching shipping. The only fighter defence seems to be a small number of Wirraway fighter bombers. 21 of them are observed to be their by the Jakes which left the Yamato before sunrise on the 3rd.

Nagumo has ordered all of the Kates (which number nearly 200) to attack the airbase at 16000 feet to avoid the flak at the base. 2 squadrons of Vals are to attack the submarine pens, the rest will be on naval attack to deal with the ASW ships which lurk around the harbour entrance. Over 200 Zero fighters are tasked to provide CAP over the carriers, and about 60 will escort the strike, easily sufficient to see off the obsolete Wirraways.
Although the morning is cloudy over the target, the weather is good in the afternoon, and it is at this stage that Nagumo realises that he hasnt gone far enough.

Why did this happen? All of my units have enough fuel, and were ordered to move 7 hexes at full speed. None of the ships use up any op points, but they only travel six hexes.[:@]. The slowest ship in the armada can move at 20 knots full speed.
Rockhampton sure dodged a bullet today, it seems as though there were no planes set on naval attack, and I caught Jim completely by surprise.

[yubari]

The Japanese carrier fleet retires to the north.

The allies surprise me by not withdrawing their 4E bombers from Rockhampton. During the day, massive waves of enemy bombers come in to attack the massed Combined Fleet. Extremely fortunately, none of them make attack runs against the Japanese carriers, they all go after a small fleet of four heavy cruisers and their escorts. Many of the 4Es from Rockhampton take off but fail to find their targets. The Zeroes take a heavy toll against the unescorted planes, even managing to shoot down the odd B-17 and B-24.

The only hits scored are 2 500lb bombs against the CA Suzuya and 1 500lb bomb against the CA Maya. No damage is done save some small fires. Allied losses are around 25 B-25s, 25 B-26s, and about 8 4Es. Only 1 escorting Zero is shot down by the bombers, from the Akagi flight group, but nearly 100 are damaged. The KB must retreat for a couple of days to repair the Zeroes and will then head north to escort the Cooktown invasion force. Good news is that the level 3 airbase there has been completely repaired, and so can stage a large Zero force in the coming days.

Morning attacks.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 152

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 30
B-26B Marauder x 24
B-17E Fortress x 10
B-24D Liberator x 20

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 69 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 8 destroyed, 14 damaged
B-26B Marauder: 8 destroyed, 8 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 2 destroyed, 16 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Chikuma
CA Maya
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 1
DD Harusame
CA Takao
DD Shikinami

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 152

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 9
B-26B Marauder x 29

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 25 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 6 destroyed
B-26B Marauder: 6 destroyed, 17 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Kuma
CL Naka

Afternoon attack. Note the much smaller CAP; evidently I cant risk carrier battles in future in range of allied LBA, as it heavily damages the Zero fighters.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 71

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 8
B-26B Marauder x 11
B-17E Fortress x 21
B-24D Liberator x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 18 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 7 damaged
B-26B Marauder: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 21 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 15 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Takao
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 1
DD Hatsuyuki
CA Maya, Bomb hits 1
CA Mikuma
CA Chikuma

[yubari]

A month or so of heavy drinking had left me utterly incapable of posting, but here is an update on the grand scheme of things.

NE Australia.

For about three weeks at the end of August, Japanese transports evacuated some 200000 men from the towns of Cooktown and Cairns, back to Portland Roads and Thursday Island. These troops are now heading back to Manila, Hanoi, Palau, Rabaul and Kwajalein for R and R, and to be in position for when the allied counter attacks occur. 4th Division is at Rabaul, and is prepping for Lunga. The Guards 2nd division is Kwajalein and prepping for Tarawa. These two bases seem the most exposed and likely for allied counter attack. A division is at Port Moresby, and a large brigade is at Portland Roads. Thursday Island has been left with 2 SNLF forces.
In northern Australia, almost daily raids of Hudsons from Alice Springs are flattening Tennant Creek airfield, and so Katherine is being built up instead. Fighters are coming in from China in the next few days to contest the skies with the Hudsons.

India and Burma.

The British fleet was spotted by submarines to be heading towards Columbo. Heavy recon flights seem to scare them off, as they quickly retreated from there. The purpose of this movement is unknown. In Burma, allied heavy bombers have begun to bomb Rangoon from very high altitudes. B-17s come in at 36000 feet, and B-24s at about 32000 feet. Being above the operational ceilings of most Japanese fighters, the only planes capable of intercepting the Liberators are Ki45 Nicks and Ki44 Tojos, both of which are in short supply. The B-17s are completely uninterceptable. The first fighter that will be able to do that is the Jack, arriving in March 1943. Blenheims continue bombing the smaller airfields in Burma, Meiktila and Magwe. Neither of which is being built up at the moment.

SW Pacific.

The allies have captured Efate and Luganville and have been building these up quickly. It appears that future attacks will come from this direction. A-29 Hudsons, operating from either Noumea or La Foa are bombing Lunga airfield, and destroying planes on the ground, but are also suffering heavy casualties.

Central Pacific.

Very quiet. Build up of Tarawa continues. It is close to a level 4 airfield. Occasional US sub manages to torpedoe a minelayer or transport ship in Kwajalein harbour.

North Pacific.

The Japanese are building up the area quickly, and have two size four airfields. The Allies have sent patrol boats to attempt to interdict Japanese shipping, but Vals attacking at 100 feet have managed to sink four or five of them.

China.

The Chinese came in large numbers to the urban hex of Canton, and tried a deliberate attack suffering heavy casualties. They quickly retreated. China seems to be a huge quagmire, and it seems unlikely that the frontlines will move again.

IJN carriers.

Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, Soryu, Ryujo, Shoho and Hosho are in port in Japan for repairs and AA upgrades. The ships are largely in the high teens damage wise. Shokaku, Zuikaku, Junyo, Hiyo and Zuiho are operating north of Guadalcanal and are undetected. They may attack any transports heading towards Luganville, although with the USN position undetermined, and with what is surely 5 operative carriers, this would be risky at best.

Here is a global map, with front lines drawn in.

[yubari]

The war is progressing at glacial speed. We are at the stage of the war where both sides are of relatively equal strength, and so neither is willing to make a decisive move forward. I have one last attack planned in an attempt to keep the allies off balance.

21st September.
PC Choko Maru #2 hits a mine at Kiska, but is not heavily damaged. Bettys attack Cooktown destroying 4 Airacobras on the ground. PC Takunan Maru #6 hits SS Tuna at Kwajalein.

22nd September.
Galea occupied as Japanese land at Weda. An AS is spotted at Pago Pago. Hudsons attack Tennant Creek. 72 Liberators attack Moulein resources, defended only by a squadron of Oscars. Luckily, no serious damage is done. 2 Liberators shot down. 48 Fortresses attack Rangoon at high altitude. Little damage is done.

23rd September.
An extremely quiet day. The only noteworthy action is that a large flight of Blenheims attack resources at Meiktila. We havent even tried to defend these resources. They are simply too far from the main base at Rangoon.

24th September.
SS Haddock torpedoes an AK south of Takao. She heads to Takao and should survive. Three ships, Kinugaru Maru, Kenkoku Maru and Cirebon Maru are heavily damaged by bomb attacks at Amchitka Island. They all head back to Kiska Island, out of range of the Marauders operating at Umnak. 2 Marauders are shot down in the attack. Umnak Island reaches a level 6 airfield.

25th September.
Very quiet. The only notable action is a large flight of Hudsons (over 100) and around 20 Beaufighters hitting Daly Waters.

26th September.
On the 26th, 2 Daitais of Tonys and 1 of Oscars are brought into Daly Waters. AK Kashii Maru, which had recently been delivering supplies to Amchitka island, the very front most Japanese base in the Aleutian chain hits a Mk12 mine at Kiska Island, some 60 miles further back and suffers heavy damage. She is likely to sink in the next few days. Chinese Liberators and Il-2s operating from Chungking hit resources at Hanoi, damaging 27 points. Resources are the bottleneck of the Japanese economy in CHS, so this is a major blow. A squadron of Oscars are brought into the base.

27th September.
The 27th sees the largest allied bomber attack of the war so far.

Day Air attack on Portland Roads , at 49,94
Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 6
A6M2 Zero x 58

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 44
B-24D Liberator x 118
P-38F Lightning x 71

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 22 destroyed, 15 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 7 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed, 15 damaged
P-38F Lightning: 21 destroyed, 29 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
264 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

Airbase hits 15
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 86

At the end of the day, Japanese losses are 10 Zeroes shot down, 23 destroyed on the ground. 2 Rufes are also desroyed, one in the air, one on the ground. Crucially, 9 experienced Zero pilots are killed. American losses are 29 P-38s (28 shot down, 1 op) and 2 B-24s. Surprisingly, Portland Roads, the key Japanese base in the defence of the South West Pacific isnt closed down, and so I elect to leave the Japanese fighters there. CHS 158 again shows the perhaps untoward strength of the Japanese fighters compared to Allied fighters, as the Zeroes maul the P-38s, heavens even the Rufes got a couple of kills. However, this will surely change as the experienced Zero pilots are gradually killed. 9 lost in one day is a pretty severe loss.

[yubari]

The war is beginning to get interesting again. A number of major airstrikes were launched today.

The first is a large force of Hudsons attacking against Tennant Creek, which was defended by two squadrons of Tonys. 14 Hudsons are shot down, and 6 Tonys are destroyed on the ground.

The second attack was a sweep by Tonys operating from Ichang against Chungking, which is occupied by at least part of the AVG. 6 Tonys were lost for 5 assorted allied fightes, P-66s, P-40Bs and I-16s. Luckily, poor weather prevented 80 medium bombers I had scheduled to attack from attacking. That likely wouldnt have been pretty.

The third attack was by Liberators operating from the Burma-India border (I dont know where) against the resources at Moulmein. This gave my Ki-45 Nicks their first combat opportunity, and they performed poorly, damaging only a couple of Liberators. None were shot down, but damage to resources was limited.

The fourth air attack of the day was the most costly. A-29 Hudsons operating I think from La Foa on New Caledonia attacked Lunga airfield, which has two Zero squadrons and a small Rufe group. 18 Hudsons were shot down, and 6 Zeroes and 2 Nells were destroyed on the ground. Crucially, no pilots were killed. The Rufes performed particularly well, taking 6 enemy medium bombers down. Damage to Lunga was limited, only 22 bomb hits, and should be repaired within a day or so.

There was no attack against Portland Roads, which gives a brief respite, and a chance to repair the damaged airfield. Runway damage is down to the mid 30s. Crucially, there are no forts; level 1 is still only 80 percent complete. I want to get to at least level two forts before the allies attack, as I feel that this base will be the first to be attacked. Within P-38 range from the level 7 airfield at Cairns its position is perilous to say the least.

[yubari]

The number of enemy heavy bombers appears to be growing quickly, and they are as impervious as ever to the bullets and cannon shells of the Zero fighters. The war is now becoming increasingly defensive for the Japanese, and the crucial issue seems to be keeping the forward air bases operational and full of fighters.

The 29th saw high-altitude B-17s attack Rangoon at 36000 feet. They managed to destroy a few planes on the ground, 6 or 7 Oscars Tonys and Sallys. A squadron of Sally was withdrawn from Rangoon back to Saigon. In what is presumably a training run, Airacobras attack Japanese troops at Coen, a size Zero airfield roughly halfway between Cooktown, the allied front line, and Portland Roads, the Japanese forward base in Australia.

The 30th September was a day of two major attacks. IIRC, 27 Lightnings and 44 B-17s attack Portland Roads, still damaged from the attack of the 27th September. 37 Zeroes rise to meet them. 7 Lightnings and a B-17 were lost for 2 Zeroes in air to air combat. However, a large number of Zeroes, about 18 were destroyed on the ground, and only 50 or so from the 5 squadrons there remain operational.

Portland Roads is now in a critical condition. Aditionally, around 80 unescorted Liberators hit Port Moresby, which has 2 squadrons of Zeroes. Many Liberators are damaged but none are shot down, and around 15 planes are destroyed on the ground, many of them Bettys. for this reason, a squadron of Bettys is withdrawn towards Rabaul. Elsewhere, Airacobras continue to attack Coen, and Noumea expands to a size 7 airfield.

There are no air attacks at all on the 1st October, but SS S-35 torpedoes AK Fuyukawa Maru 3 hexes west of Port Moresby. A third Zero squadron is transferred into Port Moresby, to give 68 fighters.

There are four major forward airbases that the allies are attacking, and all four of them are now operational. Lunga is fully operational, and has 2 Zero squadrons.
Port Moresby is slightly damaged at 13 airbase and 10 runway damage and has 3 Zero squadrons.
Portland Roads is at 43 airbase, and 30 runway and has 5 depleted and damaged Zero squadrons, totalling around 90 planes.
Tennant Creek has been bombed for months by Hudsons operating from Alice Springs, and is at 65 airbase, and 0 runway damage. Two damaged squadrons of Tonys with around 35 active planes are based there.

[yubari]

There is very little action for the majority of these five days.

On the 2nd and the 5th, the large Hudson bomber force at Alice Springs attack the airfield at Tennant Creek, both times doing a lot of damage, and destroying damaged Tonys on the ground. The fighters are withdrawn on the 6th back to Daly Waters. However, small remnants of the fighter groups remain. Both contain only a couple of airframes, but crucially, they both contain about 30 reasonably experienced pilots (in the mid-60s experience wise.) With there being little chance of these airframes being repaired, it seems as though these pilots may be lost for good.

On the 3rd October, a force of 5 heavy cruisers hit Cooktown doing a reasonable amount of damage to the LCUs there, but only destroying 1 Catalina on the ground. I had hoped for a large number of Airacobras, as I know that at least 100 are operating from that base. They are attacked by B-17s in the morning, and 5 bomb hits are scored against the 5 CAs; some fire damage is caused.

On the 6th October, there is just one entry in the combat report. Around 100 Airacobras from Cooktown again hit the small Japanese force at Coen. It seems that they had been withdrawn from Cooktown before the CAs bombarded it.

At the four major airfields mentioned in the last post, Lunga, Port Moresby and Portland Roads are all completely operational. Tennants Creek however is a wreck, at 82 airbase damage and 56 runway damage. As stated previously, all active fighters have been removed from there to the next base along, Daly Waters.

With it being the presumed first target of the enemy, it is imperative that Portland Roads is kept operational and undamaged to allow the building of fortifications. Currently, only level 1 fortifications have been built, and fortification level 2 is 33% completed. I want to get it to at least level 5 before the allies attack, but fear that that may be impossible. The same 5 Zero squadrons are at the base, and are gradually recovering, containing now about 105 planes. A prolonged ground campaign at a base without road or rail access, within range of Betty bases at Port Moresby and Lae would be a difficult ask for the allies.

Here are the latest scores.

[yubari]

7th October
The Americans seem to be bringing more supplies to Adak Island in the Aleutians. Vals hit and sink LCVP 205. Chinese bombers, 12 Il-2s and 24 B-24s attack the resources at Hankow. 6 resource points are damaged, and sufficient supply exists to repair them.
Airacobras hit Coen, again doing little damage, but presumably training their pilots, as is allowed in house rules. I would like to intercept them with my Zeroes based at Portland Roads, but cannot risk a major 4E strike against the crucial base. Portland Roads now is 39 percent towards level 2 forts.

8th October.
Vals flying at 100 feet hit and sink LCVP 204, 344 and 378 at Adak Island. No troops were spotted. Portland Roads goes to 46 percent of forts 2, an increase of 7 percent in one day. The Airacobars hit Coen again. The IJA pilot pool is finally emptied, as I replenish some bomber units.

9th October.
Fortresses attack Portland Roads at 36000 feet, an uninterceptable height. They destroy one Zero on the ground, and score 3 runway hits. This is fine by me. The Airacobras once again hit Coen. Mitchells also attack the 55th, and 31st Divisions at Meiktila.

In somewhat of a surprise, Japanese bombers actually take off, and hit Chinese units around the city of Nanchang. I have a plan that I hope will be able to make these units retreat, but it probably wont work.

Tennant Creek is not attacked for a third day, and is now at 74 percent airbase and 0 runway damage. It would be great if those two tiny fragments of Tonys could repair so I could get the pilots back to Daly Waters. Planes seem to have dissappeared from them; they now have just 1 and 2 airframes each, and I am sure that they used to have about 5 damaged airframes each. No ground losses have been observed in the air losses information screen.

10th October.
Great joy of joys, the Kaga finally upgrades, going up to an AA rating of 640. The joint highest in the Japanese fleet. The other CVs are still under repair, and are now at 10 (Akagi), 11 (Hiryu) and 13(Soryu). Hopefully they will all be fully repaired and upgraded by the end of November.

This is a day of air raids. Blenheims from Imphal hit the 55th and 31st Divisions at Meiktila, doing a bit of damage. The two divisions are now at 94/100, or 6 percent damaged. Maybe I will send one back to Rangoon for some R and R soon. In our upcoming great Southern Chinese offensive, 130 bombers, an assortment of Sallys, Helens and Lilys attack Pakhoi in Southern China, scoring 11 airbase hits, 6 airbase supply hits and 69 runway hits. Troops will be moving forwards from North Vietnam to attack Southern China, in an attempt to get some of the Chinese troops at Nanchang to withdraw. My bombers also hit the troops, doing small damage.

Helens also hit Akyab, but suffer under murderous flak fire, losing 5 planes and doing little damage. Under poor weather, a nice raincloud showing, only 49 Hudsons attack Tennant Creek, doing little damage. Airfield damage there is now 76, 6. Portland Roads has gone to 55 percent completed forts level 2. With no intervention, maybe it can get to level 2 by the 20th October.

Finally, at Port Moresby, I upgrade a squadron of A6M2 Zero to the A6M3a, which is considerably more durable than the A6M2, and also slightly faster. I want to gradually upgrade all of the Zeroes in the area to the A6M3a over the coming months, as I feel they will be sufering the most fighting.

In terms of production, I am starting to upgrade factories to produce the advanced Nakajima and Mitsubishi designs. As I understand, the Nakajimas start producing in December 1942, and the Mitsubishis in March 1943 in CHS. Is this correct? It looks like engine production will be the biggest problem later in the war, so I want to start sorting it out about now.

[yubari]

For many of these days, the allies have been attacking Portland Roads at very high altitude. The IJN has been at dock in the ports of Japan gradually repairing damage and receiving upgrades. Kaga upgraded a few days ago, and hopefully Akagi will today, being at sys 4. Soryu and Hiryu are now at 9 and 7 respectively. When everything is repaired, I will launch an offensive in the Aleutians, but that is about another month away.

Anyway, here are some brief summaries of the previous few days.

11th October.
Japanese bombers based at Samah begin to launch ground attacks at Pakhoi in the south of China. The aim of these attacks is to draw Chinese troops from (47,36) and Nanchang, in the hope of starting an offensive in those regions. Airacobras again hit Coen. Shortlands and Luganville, allied held, both expand their airfields. Shortlands reaches a size four, and Luganville reaches three. Japanese engineers will now move to Munda to begin construction of an airfield there, to give more support to the somewhat isolated Lunga outpost.

12th October.
Japanese troops are landing on the dot bases north of Darwin to assess the possibility of any future build up there. Tenimba and Kai Islands are both invaded today. Kai Island can hold up to a level 5 aifield, so engineers will be sent there in the next few months, as it seems that the allies will head this way on their offensive. All fighters and pilots have been removed from Tennant Creek, as the allies hit it again. The allies have the airpower to keep it closed, but only if they hit it almost continuously. I will wait for some bad weather to give it a chance to repair, and then maybe try one more time to bring in a large fighter force to keep the base open. Should it remain open, it would deny the allies of another key base in their attacks on northern Australia and Darwin in the future, should they indeed be coming this way.

4E bombers hit Portland Roads from 31000 feet, doing a medium amount of damage, and destroy a couple of planes on the ground. British medium bombers hit Meiktila in Burma. B-26 Marauders hit a pair of minesweepers who had been clearing sub laid mines in the Aleutians. Finally, AK Urashio Maru sinks at Thursday island no less then 59 days after being hit by a torpedo.

13th October.
4E bombers hit Portland Roads at high-altitude again, doing some damage, and again destroying a couple of Zero fighters on the ground.

14th October.
Airacobras attack Coen, high-alt B-17s hit Rangoon doing minimal damage. Liberators of the Chinese airforce attack ships at Haiphong in Northern Vietnam, but all miss.

15th October.
There are small landings at Kiamana and Timoeba, on the south coast of New Guinea, again searching for locations for possible airbases. DD Manazuro manages to hit SS KXIV east of Singapore with a depth charge, although no great damage appears to be done. British Blenheims again attack Meiktila.

16th October.
Tennant Creek is again bombed, and airfield damage rises to 82,54. The Japanese airforce in china begins a campaign of resource bombing. They attack Changsha today, seemingly damaging about 30 resources, a great success.

17th October.
Again, 142 4Es attack Portland Roads at great height, 31000 feet. The airfield is gradually becoming damaged. It is now at 43, 29. In an attempt to stop these attacks, a squadron of Nicks is en route. These planes, although largely incapable against fighters can at least reach 35000 feet, and so should be at least able to attack the B-17s. In the medium to long-term the only high-altitude interceptor available is the Jack, which can make 38000 feet. These start production in March 1943, but playing without PDU, the first squadron that seems able to use them will arrive much later than that. The super-high altitude B-17s are a move that I have no adequate counter against. Maybe the way to deal with this threat is to hit them on the ground, they are based at Cairns.

18th October
The IJA airforce again hits resources at Changhsa, seemingly scoring further hits. High-altitude 4Es again hit Portland Roads, destroying another 4 planes on the ground. The airfield damage rises again, its now up to 45 service damage, and 37 runway damage. A squadron of Nicks is now at Lae, and should be transferred in next turn, maybe they will have some luck in turning the bombers around. Aditionally, I have a squadron of Tojos on the way, which can make 34000 feet. They should hopefully be arriving in about 4 days time. I noticed that the P-38F and G models have a maximum altitude of 30000 feet, so it seems that they will be unable to participate in any of these high altitude battles.

We have been discussing the carrier situation recently, particularly the respawn rule. Heres what I sent with the last turn.


"Well, I hate the rule as well, makes all of the hard work in sinking cruisers and carriers seem somewhat pointless if they merely come back in better models and shinier colours.

I hardly looked at the CHS allies order of battle, but in my AI game, the allies had the Essex and Bunker Hill operating by late 1943, and had the Franklin and Intrepid by the start of 1944, plus you should have Yorktown II by then, so that should give you 9 CVs of 90 planes, plus the slightly smaller Wasp. You should have a few CVLs and CVEs by then, so that will give you a capacity of over 1100 planes. With the carrier upgrades in Jan 1944, that should give you about 50 fighters on each of the carriers, so you should have at least 600 fighters by then. I can tell you that I have done very little accelerating of my carriers, as I want to keep it a reasonably historic game, but I should be close on 1000 planes as well by then.

Will be carnage that is for sure, when the two fleets do finally meet. It could be the biggest ever WITP carrier battle, exciting!"

[yubari]

19th October.
The major event is a large force of some 130 unescorted 4E bombers attacking Portland Roads at 15000 feet. A major air battle ensues, and the veteran Zeroes stationed there fight hard, damaging over 70 enemy bombers. 20 planes are destroyed on the ground, the majority of them A6M2 Zeroes. With a pool of some 300 A6M2s, this is not so much of a problem, as the precious pilots survive. In actuality, only 3 of the enemy bombers are shot down, but hopefully this raid will have shattered their morale, and leave me a week or so to repair the damaged airfield, currently at 58, 59. I transfer the Nicks into the airfield at the end of the turn, and they should at least be able to engage the high-flying bombers.

There is little else of interest. A troop convoy arrives at Marcus island and unloads. There are now nearly 250 AV behind level 5 forts, a tough target. Sallys continue to attack the resources at Changsha, intel shows there to be only three left undamaged.

20th October.
A quiet turn. I try to launch 2 squadrons of Bettys at night against Cairns, but only six take off, and they manage to hit nothing. Given that the 4Es attack in the afternoon phase, it seems safe to assume that they are set on naval attack as a primary mission, and so sending a bombardment force to their base at Cairns would be very dangerous. I want to try to keep them attacking from as high a height as possible, and if possible steadily attrit them, and lower their morale. Portland Roads is slightly repaired, down to 58, 49.

Fortresses from India hit Rangoon at 36000 feet. They do almost no damage, and two are lost to ops, a good result I feel.

21st October.
A fairly quiet day. Hudsons attack Tennant Creek, and it is now at 93, 47 damage. The British bombers attack Meiktila, with a large fighter escort, the first time they have been seen for some months. 136 Airacobras attack Coen on their regular training run.

Japanese troops land at Biak and Manokwari on the north coast of New Guinea, again searching for suitable airbases. Finally, the Akagi upgrades, and now has an AA rating of 540.

22nd October.
A large bomber force of 140 IJA 2E bombers attacks the Pakhoi airfield. A large British attack against Meiktila meets Japanese CAP

Day Air attack on Meiktila , at 32,31

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 7
Ki-61-Ib Tony x 9

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 87
P-40E Warhawk x 68
B-25C Mitchell x 54

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 2 destroyed, 17 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 9 destroyed, 15 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 16 damaged

Overall, 11 P-40Es, 4 Blenheims and 2B-25s are shot down on the Allied side. 3 Tonys and 2 Tojos are shot down. In the future, I will try to get the Meiktila airfield operational and try and contest the skies over the airfield. When the allies do eventually advance, Meiktila will surely be the first target.

In north east Australia, there is the usual Coen training raid, but no attack against Portland Roads. It is now at 58,22 damage, and there are 80 operational fighters. Tennant Creek is also unattacked, and is at 93,32. 3 IJA squadrons will transfer into the base should it remained unattcked next turn.

[yubari]

23rd October.
A large supply convoy sets off from Rabaul to Port Moresby. Port Moresby still has around 30000 tons of supply, but with the allied airpower in the region growing quickly, supplying the base will get harder and harder as time progresses. Escorting the force are 3CAs and a host of DDs and PGs. Providing distant air support are two CVs, the Hiyo and Junyo, CVL Zuiho and CVE Unyo. They will stay around Lae, and provide LRCAP for the transports. No sense risking flimsy CVs within range of 140 heavy bombers on naval attack at Cairns.

Elsehwere, 3 squadrons of fighters, 2 Tony and 1 Tojo arrive at the heavily damaged; 93 airfield, 13 runway damage Tennant Creek airfield. Lots and lots of Hudsons are expected next turn. CV Soryu upgrades to an AA over 500, and AKs Fuyukawa Maru and Cirebon Maru both sink, after hits at Cooktown and Amchitka Island respectively.

24th October.
As expected, a massive air battle happens over Tennant Creek, and both sides suffer heavy losses. The Airfield is further damaged, and is now at 98, 55. Only around 40 undamaged fighters remain, of the 100 that started the day. Losses in this battle are 10 Hudsons, 6 Beaufighters, 11 Tonys and 10 Tojos. The Tojos were particularly dissapointing, scoring only 1 kill in the whole battle. Some of the Hudsons turned around before bombing. Hopefully a combination of heavy damage and low morale will stop any attacks for the next few days, and give the battered airfield some time to be repaired.

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 18
Ki-61-Ib Tony x 46

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter VIF x 16
Hudson I x 114
F-4 Lightning x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 6 destroyed, 6 damaged
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 6 destroyed, 22 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufighter VIF: 6 destroyed, 4 damaged
Hudson I: 10 destroyed, 62 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
98 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 56

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Hudson I bombing at 6000 feet

Portland Roads is unattacked again, and damage is steadily repairing. It is now at 50, 0 and if left unmolested, should be fully operational within 4 days. 87 undamaged fighters are at the base.

The third key air battle is at Meiktila in Burma. 343 Engineers are rapidly repairing the airfield. In 2 days, damage has decreased from 100, 61 to 64,0.I want to get the airbase to level 4, and then build fortifications to as high a level as possible before the allies start a Burma counter attack. Will the 4Es based in India allow me that chance?