AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 12/24/41
A series of mistakes characterized this turn.
First off, I *accidentaly* invaded Jesselton. [:)] I had set Jesselton as a destination hex for 2 TFs heading from Kuching around the northern end of Borneo. I did this because I wanted to stick to shallow water since Grotius has been keeping his subs in deep water and, indeed, he has some subs sitting next to Brunei in deep water currently. So to hug the coast I found that I needed to sail into Jesselton so that the TFs would not try to avoid that allied base and end up in deep water. I set "do not unload" thinking they wouldn't unload when they got there. Wrong. Well, since I now have some troops there (took 279 casualties unloading) I am going to capture the place. [8|] Meanwhile the TF carrying the rest of the unit will sail away a few hexes and return so that I don't take anymore casualties unloading and I won't spend so much time reloading those that did land.
At Davao, I thought I had ordered a TF to set sail for Ambiona. Instead, I found it loading up supply? [&:] I had to cut out some of the supply ships and have then unload that supply back into Davao. Hopefully the TF *will* set sail this turn. [8|]
And at Truk I got all my units loaded onto ships ready to sail for Rabaul when I found that I had not set up a parallel supply TF. [8|] So this turn I set up some AKs to load supply while the troop transports idle around in the harbor wondering which idiot admiral is responsible for this SNAFU.
China
Not much really. Grotius is sending a stream of forces south from Chungking to reenforce Changsa. Some of these include those forces that were blocking the Ichang-Chungking road. I may make a thrust from Ichang with the 2 divisions there to threaten Changsa LOC with Chungking. I will wait for better recon of his blocking force before making a decision.
The AVG tried a sweep out of Chungking against Ichang today. Nobody was home, however. [;)] Of course, I had been expecting this for a while now.
Malaya
Not much today. Taiping captured. Next stop, Kuala Lumpur. I raided Johore Bharu to interfere with fort construction.
Day Air attack on Johore Bahru , at 22,50
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 19
Ki-21 Sally x 93
No Japanese losses
Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 58
Borneo
Grotius is quite serious about trying to shut down Kuching. [;)] I moved the Sallys out this turn since I won't need them anymore. They were just there to bomb Singkawang in case Grotius had any torp bombers there. Singkawang will be invaded next turn, so that threat will be gone and there won't be anything else of value that the Sallys can hit within their normal range. Grotius is scoring rather well against my planes on the ground, but he has not been able shut down the field.
Just for reference sake, my invasion TF for Singkawang consists of an 80 Assault Point SNLF and will be escorted by two surface combat TFs. (No bombardment this time. Don't figure I will need it, and if Grotius is going to try for a surface intercept, Singkawang is a very likely candidate. I want their ammo saved for a surface engagement.)
BTW, a TF of 3 tankers will arrive in Brunei tomorrow to start loading the first haul of captured oil. Somewhat of a risk I suppose, because of the possibility of an air attack, but I have a strong CAP, and Grotius seems much more interested in Kuching at the moment. The real threat is the Dutch sub sitting just outside Brunei harbor. I have an ASW TF sitting on that sub at the moment to keep it occupied.
Day Air attack on Kuching , at 27,56
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 9
Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 6
B-17C Fortress x 23
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 3 destroyed
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Brewster 339D: 4 destroyed
B-17C Fortress: 3 destroyed, 10 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
72 casualties reported
Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 10
Day Air attack on Kuching , at 27,56
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 34
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 3 destroyed
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 destroyed
G3M Nell: 1 destroyed
C5M Babs: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Martin 139: 3 destroyed, 5 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
54 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 16
The Philippines
The cleanup operatoins made some progress today. Bases/Beaches captured were:
Laoag
Cotabato
Dadjangas
Tacloban
Catanduanes
Tagbilaran
Grotius's casualty count went up significantly because of the number of troops that surrendered at Dadjangas and Laoag. I am going to use the 35th Brigade, which was used to capture Kuching and is now sailing around the northern end of Borneo (it is at Jesselton in fact [;)]) to capture Cebu.
My fort suppression strikes in Luzon did well today. Today I attacked the port at Manila. I found out there were two subs there, not just one. The S-39 sank. [&o] The S-37 I thought I had sunk earlier. Maybe I got the number confused, or maybe it was a FOW issue. But now it is sporting some additional damage as well. I hope it doesn't go anywhere, because I am going back to Manila tomorrow.

Grotius's Warhawks also continue to suffer. Some of these were shot down by the Oscars! [8D]
Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 14
Ki-21 Sally x 79
Ki-15 Babs x 5
Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 2 destroyed, 9 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 6 destroyed
Allied Ships
SS S-37, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
SS S-39, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
Allied ground losses:
365 casualties reported
Guns lost 11
Vehicles lost 2
Port hits 7
Port fuel hits 3
Port supply hits 1
The Production Front
Nothing major. I just halted production on more Mitsubishis. So far I have halted production of 350 Mitsubishi engines.
Hopefully, the mistakes of this turn will not be repeated next turn and the invasions of Ambiona, Rabaul, and Canton Is. will be well underway.