19 April 1942

CENTPAC
I-21 torpedoed an unescorted cargo ship west of Hawaii. The hit started a fire but the ship was not severely damaged--I expect it will return to Pearl and survive.

At Christmas Island, the I-19 was spotted snooping around the harbor and was peppered with damaging near misses by the US destroyer Grayson. She's in no danger of sinking, but the damage is bad enough I'd rather have her repair than fight in a compromised state.


SOPAC
I have a few destroyers roaming around between Fiji and Noumea trying to pick off the AKLs he's using as pickets. One such picket was sunk today by the Tokitsukaze.

Another sweep of Suva flew today, this time by a different Zero squadron while the one that took a beating yesterday rests and gets replacement aircraft online. These were just at 15,000 feet and did better: two Zeroes lost, 2 P-40s and 3 P-39s downed.

The Mutsu and Yamashiro are now in ideal position and remain undetected.


Bay of Bengal/India
I tried to sweep Cochin again and it was a disaster; 7 Oscars shot down with no victories. Again, it appears that no compromises can be made with pilot training when it comes to sweeps at this point in the war. Not that these were bad pilots by a long shot, it's just that I can probably make them marginally better and I need every little bit.

The sweeps did keep the enemy's Hurricanes busy enough that when 8 Betties attacked a cargo ship on the western Indian coast, there were no fighters protecting it. We missed, and the bombers flew without the Zeroes that were assigned to them. So that could have been godawful if enemy fighters were around.

20 April 1942
Suva airbase incapacitated by naval bombardment


SOPAC
We picked off another picket AKL off western Fiji with a destroyer. By day's end, the KB had picked off two more, plus the APD Talbot (with a loss one one Val to flak).

B-17 night raids at Noumea were intercepted by Zeroes, but that only resulted in a Zero shot down. The B-17s missed the port (where I'm loading up troops).

The Mutsu and Yamashiro bombardment task force ran into the FS Le Triomphant outside Suva and the task forces engaged in a brief skirmish before the French destroyer withdrew. Neither side took serious damage, although I believe the DD's depth charge launcher was damaged, which might matter as this area is swarming with my subs. The battleships then shelled Suva, laying the airbase to absolute waste. The base itself was damaged to nearly 80%, while 6 P-39, 4 PBY, 3 B-26, 2 P-40, 1 SBD, and 1 B-17 were destroyed in the bombardment. Despite an error by me that didn't leave the ships with orders to depart immediately, the only retaliatory airstrike was a insignificant B-17 attack from Pago Pago.

This could be a major breakthrough that allows me to fully neutralize the enemy airforce here, even get my own troops in, and sink ships in harbor (which right now include a submarine).


Japan
An American sub is on patrol near Tsushima, and made a failed attack on a cargo convoy. Another was spotted off Hokkaido. So, the US deployment strategy has clearly changed to include merchant interdiction.

I've deployed a number of floatplanes and bombers that were being used for training and will now be ASW squadrons. This was always planned, it's just that the absence of US subs in the home waters allowed me to use them for training up to this point, so now I have more ASW trained pilots to put to use. As far as surface forces, though, for now I'm going to be short because I've forward-deployed most of my subchasers to secure chokepoints where subs have already been appearing.

21 April 1942

SOPAC
I let the Mutsu and Yamashiro dump their reserve ammunition into Suva before leaving, destroying another P-39 and damaging several more aircraft.

Well south of Noumea, I had detected a single bogey a few days ago and sortied the cruiser Katori down to investigate, to make sure no enemy convoys were getting past us towards Australia. As it turned out, that was the cruiser St. Louis with a destroyer in company. We traded shots and the Katori took the worst of it. Fortunately, all the hits except one were either superstructure hits or didn't get through the armor. That single exception let a little bit of water into the people tube and lightly damaged the engines. The ship broke off with significant system damage and a moderate fire, but should be able to make it back to base if it's not attacked again.

We swept Suva from the West again--despite the damage, they got 27 fighters in the air, enough that we only scored 5 enemies shot down to 6 Zeroes lost. The KB followed that up with a port strike, shooting down 4 more fighters and putting two 800kg bombs into the USS Grayback, which really should sink it a few times over. There were supposed to be Betty strikes as well, but the missions did not fly.


China
The enemy put an I-16 over Sian, which was able to shoot down a Lily and escape before Oscars could get to it.

Another enemy unit stepped onto the Sian road, right where our army already was, so we attacked and routed them for another 420 devices destroyed with just 2 of ours lost.


Ceylon
We lost a pair of Betties to AAA over Colombo.
Reinforced with the Imperial Guards Division, our main force attacked Colombo and captured it, inflicting 1948 devices destroyed while losing only 68.

22 April 1942

SOPAC/CENTPAC
Enemy minesweepers have cleared Pago Pago.

I used the KB's covering force to shell Nadi, Fiji, on the assumption that the flyable aircraft over Fiji had been rebased there from Suva. The bombardment destroyed only 1 P-40 but damaged a bunch more. So probably 1 squadron flying out of here.

Also near Pago, the I-168 spotted USS Colorado and fired 4 torpedoes at her, without success. But we've confirmed that the task force (which likely retreated from Suva) has BBs rather than CAs. I'd send the KB here right now to Kate-strike these heavies if I wasn't getting a bit thirsty. As it stands, I'm fairly sure the US CVs are in the area just out of scout range, so if I was to run low on fuel, a second battle could run me dry completely and I could lose the whole task force. So, the KB is moving off to the west to meet their tankers. If traffic persists in the area maybe I'll get another shot. But for now, the priority is going to be getting troops into Fiji, and keeping as many of their aircraft as possible disabled until we overrun them.

There were multiple enemy recon passes over Guadalcanal today. I'm not sure what to make of this, it doesn't seem feasible to raid, much less invade, right now.


West Australian Coast/Indian Ocean
I've got a bunch of subs right off Perth in feeding frenzy mode, looking for the Indomitable, but the enemy has many high-quality destroyers operating here, and we're starting to take hits, so we need to patrol further off from Perth a bit. If Indomitable went to Perth, she's already arrived by now anyway. Trying to take a peek with a scoutplane, but the only one I have here is damaged.

In spite of the ASW coverage, an enemy cargo ship tried to cross the area unescorted, and was sunk in a submerged daytime torpedo attack.

Way out to the west, I have 3 CLs also looking for Indomitable in case it went west. They spotted a minesweeper headed southeast, so maybe a possible rendezvous. I'm going to have the CLs cheat a bit in that direction, maybe the AM will lead me to the CV? We're nearly out of station time, though.


China
We downed one SB-III bomber trying to bomb troops in Kahnsien, but lost an Oscar trying to do the same at Wuchow, thanks to 2 I-16s escorting the bombers.


Reinforcements
CV Junyo has arrived. (I don't think I mentioned it, but Hiyo has been here a few days too. We're going to size up some training squadrons and then have them join the fleet).

23 April 1942
IJN Katori lost to catastrophic damage control failure

SOPAC
West of Fiji, USS Trout spotted the KB's replenishment group and made a failed attack on one of the oilers. But, he knows exactly where the KB is going to be now.

As for the Katori... I'm not sure exactly what happened. The fire did get bigger instead of smaller, but not enough to cause a lot of damage. The flooding went from barely any, to just a little, to severe and sinking in two days time. It's as if a bulkhead broke down and the crew forgot to close every watertight door in that compartment and every one after it.


China
We shot down an SB-III bomber over Kukong. I've been tempted to increase my CAP to try to really focus these guys down, but I've decided I'm fine with the status quo gradual attrition.

The enemy brought a few Buffalos in and shot down a Mary around Loyang. These strikes weren't that important, I'll just scrub them.


Reinforcements
SS I-32 arrives at Cam Ranh Bay

24 April 1942
Heavy losses to enemy CAP at Suva, and major army losses at Sian


Indian Ocean
Ise and Hyuga shelled Cochin again, this time doing very little damage. Maybe the Hurricanes left? We did sink a minesweeper that was on patrol in the harbor.


SOPAC
Thinking the enemy would struggle to put up a decent CAP after the recent devastation, I had the KB strike Suva's port to deal with continued reports of ships in harbor. And we did finish off the Grayback, which somehow wasn't reduced to matchsticks from the prior two 800kg bomb hits. But the escorting Zeroes failed to keep the CAP off the bombers on the way in. We lost 4 Zeroes and 10 Kates, while shooting down 3 P-40s and 2 P-39s. A mine tender was also damaged in the strike and will likely sink.


China
The largest CAP we've seen in China in a long time was over Sian today, 8 Buffalos and 1 I-16. They did make it to my bombers, shooting down 1 Sally. Escorting Oscars downed 2 Buffalo. We also downed an SB-III at Kukong.

I had high hopes for being able to achieve a breakthrough at Sian today, with the roadblock having been fully dealt with and our main force having returned. But the enemy has reinforced Sian significantly, enough that our attack did not go well against the enemy fortifications:


Japanese ground losses:
21802 casualties reported
Squads: 403 destroyed, 1381 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 199 disabled
Engineers: 19 destroyed, 133 disabled
Guns lost 100 (33 destroyed, 67 disabled)
Vehicles lost 156 (3 destroyed, 153 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
10984 casualties reported
Squads: 170 destroyed, 302 disabled
Non Combat: 172 destroyed, 450 disabled
Engineers: 13 destroyed, 89 disabled
Guns lost 188 (44 destroyed, 144 disabled)

I'm going to have to reduce the enemy AV substantially to turn this around. That means at a minimum giving the bombers time to wear them down, while using our artillery to contribute to that. It might also mean sending a smaller force around to cut off their main source of supplies. A frontal assault is off the table for the time being.

25 April 1942

SOPAC
I ordered an amphibious task force to depart Noumea with the 4th Infantry Division loaded, bound for Nadi, Fiji. Escorting PBs quickly spotted a US sub stalking it and drove it away before we could be engaged, but not quickly enough to prevent a contact report. He knows we're coming.

At daybreak, land-based Zeroes swept Nadi, taking out only 4 P-40s while suffering 5 losses.

ASW patrols from the KB are detecting at least 10 subs protecting the Nadi coast and surrounding area. KB's main role for the time being is going to be prosecuting those subs. Our pilots reported two hits today. Closer to Noumea, Anns reported a hit on a sub as well.


China
An enemy Buffalo was shot down by Oscars over Sian. We're still resting from the thumping we took before beginning our artillery bombardment.


Home Waters
An enemy sub that's been lurking off Tsushima was reported hit twice by Ki-32 Anns on patrol. The Anns actually reported the sub as the Gudgeon, and if they were that sure of the identity of the boat it makes me think these hits were real. Two 250kg hits at sea this far from base probably means it sinks.


Reinforcements
SC Ch 29 arrives at Kobe

26 April 1942

China
Another SB-III down, this time over Canton. He should run out soon, it was just 5 attacking today. They lost a Buffalo over Sian as well. And they'd only put up one.


SOPAC
Mutsu and Yamashiro made an attack on Suva again, but before they got in position they suffered a series of raids by SBDs, Vincents, B-17s, and Banshees. The LRCAP from my land bases never showed up, not that it would have been enough as they were too far to have enough aircraft on station to overcome the number of escorts. Battleships spit out good flak, so we shot down 3 SBDs, plus one Vincent and one Banshee. The SBDs hit the Yamashiro twice, but the armor deflected the bombs and the damage was nominal. The battleships' fire on the enemy's base was far more effective, destroying at least 2 fighters and a bomber, but probably at least damaging everything else on the ground.


The KB's Kates reported two hits on subs, but we lost one to enemy CAP fighters and two more crashed while trying to land.

27 April 1942
4th Division ashore at Nadi, Fiji; enemy takes heavy losses in attack on KB, IJN subs getting the job done


SOPAC
The 4th Division landed overnight with minimal resistance, just a failed submarine attack and a little bit of fire from enemy troops. The landing, of course, drew an airstrike with everything they had. Relying more on LRCAP from the KB instead of nearby bases, we managed to get better cover over the phibs than the prior bombardment, but it still proved inadequate. In first raid, we had 9 Zeroes against 26 fighters escorting 11 SBDs. We lost the air battle 3 to 4 with all the bombers getting through, resulting on lethal damage to an AMC with a second AMC and the cruiser Kingugasa also taking hits. A second raid of 11 Banshees walked in without resistance, dealing lethal damage to a troop transport and hitting Kinugasa again, forcing it to flood a magazine to prevent a detonation. By this time, though, my troops had already disembarked.

In the afternoon, the enemy turned their attention to the KB instead of the 'phibs, which worked to my advantage. A strike of 11 SBDs escorted by 9 fighters, and a second wave of 7 Banshees escorted by 8 P-39s, took on the CAP of 37 Zeroes. We downed 3 P-40s, 10 P-39s, 9 SBDs (1 by flak), and 7 Banshees.

A raid of B-17s still went after the 'phibs, resulting in 1 Zero downed with the enemy losing 1 P-40 and 1 P-39 that were escorting the bombers. The bombers missed their target (an APD).

Off the southeast coast of Australia, the I-18 torpedoed a PC, reducing it to matchsticks.



CENTPAC
Back at Pago Pago, the I-16 crept into the harbor and put 2 torpedoes into the battleship Colorado. She's not in danger of sinking, just some lengthy time in the yard.

Then southwest of Pearl, the I-22 torpedoed the oiler Neches, turning it into an inferno.



China
Sian is starting to smoke when bombed now. Maybe they're breaking, finally.


Burma
I've resumed bombing Rangoon--trying to prevent any further fortification building.

28 April 1942
HMS Danae sunk off Pearl Harbor

CENTPAC
I-23 engaged the British cruiser Danae off Pearl, hitting it with 3 torpedoes for a confirmed kill.

Nearby, the I-22 finished off the burning oiler Neches.


SOPAC
USS Finback attempted to attack the amphibous task force unloading at Nadi, but is was spotted an prosecuted with extreme accuracy. We connected with four depth charge patterns, plus several damaging near misses. The sub wasn't even able to try to surface, it just broke up and sank.

I've begun night raids on Nadi/Suva with Betties. Tonight's raid damaged a Catalina on the ground.

A deliberate attack at Nadi failed to dislodge the enemy defenders. It's close--bombardments by battleships could put me over the top.



China
I made a bombardment attack on Sian, but we got the worst of it. Looks like I'll need to send someone around to cut off supplies after all.

There are literally 30 corps at Sian right now. Makes me wonder how many total China has and just how undefended everything else must be.

29 April 1942
I-22 briefly fights a destroyer on the surface--and survives?


Western Indian Coast
The I-162 sank an AKL in a night surface gun/torpedo attack.


CENTPAC
Near Pearl, the destroyer Hull successfully prosecuted the I-22, scoring enough depth charge hits to force it into an emergency blow. While on the surface, the two ships traded gunfire. The Hull was hit for sure--I'm not sure if the 22 was also hit--if it was it wasn't a lot. The I-22 was able to re-submerge and make its escape. Making it the rest of the way back to base, though, that's another story. Her odds are good, but I thought the Katori was completely fine, and we know how that turned out.


SOPAC
We had a few low effort raids on the KB that needed to be turned back... 1 Banshee and 1 Vincent shot down. The KB's Kates claimed a hit on the S-46 and one other sub.

30 April 1942
Suva/Nadi still fighting back


SOPAC
Hiei and Kirishima shelled Suva overnight but did not appear to do much damage. I had some Betties do some night bombing afterwards and lost one to flak.

At the same time as the shelling, I was landing aviation support in the hopes that the base at Nadi would be mine shortly. The enemy took the opportunity to get some airstrikes in, and once again my long-range CAP wasn't really up to the task. Catalinas scored three hits on a cargo ship for a kill, and damaging a second. The sunk cargo ship took an aviation support company with it--the first complete land unit we've lost in the war. We lost 3 Zeroes trying to defend the landing while only splashing 1 P-39. Heavy bomber raids caused a few casualties on the beach as well.

An enemy minesweeper ran from my task force at Nadi, allowing the KB to pick it off with some Vals.


Sumatra
We now have full control of the island with the capture of Sabang at the northwest tip.


Malaya
The CVE Taiyo has received sufficient temporary repairs to safely move it to Japan. The CVLs Zuiho and Shoho, along with the Hiryu, have reported to Singapore for a maintenance stand-down.

1 May 1942

Indian Ocean
Aircraft have been spotting a British sub near Colombo over the last few days; I sent an ASW task force of 3 DMSs to try to sink it. Today, the sub ambushed the ASW task force and sank one of the DMSs. Ugh. The remaining ships only slightly damaged it afterwards.


CENTPAC
The I-8 hit a transport outside of Pearl with a torpedo, causing severe damage. It's close enough to Pearl to have a decent chance to survive.


SOPAC
Mutsu and Yamashiro shelled Suva. Again, not much damage, two days in a row. :06:

A deliberate attack on Nadi went nowhere. Enemy forts holding at level 3. The main defender is a New Zealand brigade. Casualties were pretty even, although we had a small number of squads destroyed while he did not.

We fared better in today's air battles against the unloading amphibious task force, downing 3 P-40s, 1 P-39, 1 SBD, 1 Banshee, and 1 Vicent--without losing any Zeroes.

The KB's Kates claimed a hit on the S-46


Western Australian Coast
I-123 took a shots at the cruisers Glasgow and Sumatra outside Geraldton (north of Perth) and missed. It's just interesting to see them here, especially after the Indomitable was spotted and hit near Perth.


China
We broke even on casualties with a bombardment attack. We've only got about a 50% force advantage now, thanks to constant enemy reinforcement. The combined aerial and artillery bombardment doesn't seem to be wearing them down that much. Although, I got the worst of it last bombardment, so maybe breaking even is actually a good sign?


Upgrades
I've fallen a little behind, with the Atago class cruisers overdue for an upgrade along with the Ashashio class destroyers. With May, the Kagero class is now due as well. The Atago class has been tied up around Ceylon while the Ashashios are mostly escorting carriers on both sides of the theatre. The Ashashio upgrade is pretty important as it increases the depth charge launcher numbers (accuracy by volume matters!) along with a significant AA upgrade. But it's going to be easier to upgrade the Kageros because they're mostly deployed as amphibious escorts, so there are lots of opportunities at base to swap ships. I think a lot of the DD upgrades will end up happening in June-July when my carriers will also be upgrading.

2 May 1942
Roll the dice enough times, and you eventually get a bad result...


Arabian Sea
The I-28 sank an enemy AKL off the coast of Mangalore, India in a night surface gun&torpedo attack.


SOPAC
The Allied submarine infestation finally got a tally, with USS Silversides putting a single torpedo into the Mutsu between Fiji and Noumea. Damage is moderate. She'll retreat to Noumea for now, but actual repairs will probably be done in Japan.

The single division landed in Nadi will not be enough to take it. I was always going to need the second division to get Suva, I just thought I'd have captured a close airbase by now... In any case, I'm pulling the KB and the battleships back for now. We'll be back after I replenish the KB's aircraft. The division may need to hold out against heavy bombers and even an armored rush for a few days.


China
Raids on Sian destroyed a Buffalo on the ground, in addition to the regular-ish base damage and casualties our daily raids are causing.

I've become discouraged at the lack of progress at Sian and to try to shake things up, I've ordered an end-around movement to cut off the road supplying Sian from the west. It's going to be a slow move though.

3 May 1942

SOPAC
Hiei and Kirishima had a successfull bombardment of Nadi, the last before we pull out. I accidentlly left them on 'remain on station' so they actually stayed there instead of making it a third of the way back to Noumea. Looks like we destroyed 5 fighters on the ground.

The enemy took advantage of my error, attacking the battleship task force with dive bombers, and the troops ashore with heavy bombers. But the KB got the job done. The enemy lost 3 P-40s, 4 P-39s, 10 SBDs, and 1 LB-30 Liberator. The bombers didn't get anything done. I got 5 new aces thanks to this little turkey shoot.

I timed a deliberate attack to coincide with this bombardment--it was good enough to reduce the forts to Level 2 but not take the base. Casualties slightly favoring us. Again, we need the other division here too.


Western Australian Coast
I-32 torpedoed and sank a tanker near Perth.


Ceylon
I've caught up with a remnant of the Colombo base force that's been working its way to Trincomalee, trying to find a weak flank. They found an overwhelming force instead. The enemy is mostly tanks, though, and our AT armament is limited. Casualties even this turn.


Burma
My invasion of Burma is about to begin. I have a 4-division main force about to rendevous with another division in Moulmein. Another 2 regiments set to capture Pegu--they departed Port Blair today. Plus about another 2 divisions or so to land at Pegu once it's taken. Overall, Rangoon should be completely overwhelmed, and quickly.

4 May 1942
Ceylon campaign ends in decisive Japanese victory


SOPAC
The enemy has started to fly some fighters at night to intercept my nightime Betty raids. This is a great result for me as it takes these fighters off the table for the main battles, any attrition to the Betties will be very low.

An LB-30/B-17 raid hit our troops, disabling a single squad. Jungle cover is nice.

Enemy units appear to be advancing fro Suva to my landing area at Nadi. The enemy also appears to have moved another 20 or so fighters into Suva. Surprising, since this looks like a battle I should be able to win.

Sound effects for a sinking sub played in the afternoon, so it looks like the KB's Kates are having some effect.


West Australian Coast
I-32 took a depth charge hit off Perth and will need to RTB for repairs.


Ceylon
The armored unit outside Trincomalee has surrendered, and we also overran the last enemy base of Koggala, forcing those troops to surrender too. That was the last of the enemy troops on Ceylon.

Very good campaign here for us. We lost a significant numbers of aircraft and good pilots with them, but the enemy suffered far more. We also took very few army losses. The only significant naval loss was the damaging of the Taiyo, and for that we got an enemy carrier and a battleship.

Enemy Losses
CV Formidable
BB Resolution
CL Enterprise
KV: 1
AS: 1
AM/AMc: 5
AK/xAK: 2
Hurricanes: 86
Martlet: 16
Torpedo bombers: 30
Hudson: 12
Blenheim: 80
Waipiti: 4
Audax: 3

Japanese Losses
CVE Taiyo damaged - will be unavailable for several months
DMS: 1
AK/xAK: 4
AP/xAP: 1
Oscar: 28
Zeroes: 20
Kates: 15
Betties: 23

5 May 1942
Burma campaign begins with invasion of Pegu

SOPAC
My Betty raids overnight on Suva did some damage, but more important is that it's tying up enemy P-39s.

My troops had no problem enduring a few raids by heavy bombers and dive bombers.

The KB has replenished all its aircraft at Noumea. I have insufficient ammunition tenders to fully replenish the carrier's aircraft ammunition stores, and the rearming of heavy cruisers and battleships is also delayed. I'm going to get the KB back out ASAP to escort another division to Nadi, I intend to have cruisers join them en route after they rearm, and have the battleships follow that ready to bombard the troops at Nadi and the airbase at Suva.


Burma
I landed 2 regiments in Pegu to begin the my invasion of Burma. These guys will hopefully clear out the resistance between here and Moulmien so that the troops in Moulmien can cross without having to shock attack over a river. Once Pegu is secure I have about 2 divisions waiting to land right behind them. But, there's a problem with that... Enemy troops in Rangoon are already reported moving to Pegu. If they arrive before I reinforce, I might be overrun, or at the least I'll be facing more resistance bringing them ashore. I'm guessing recon flights noticed I was moving more troops towards Moulmien. So, I'm altering the plan--the relatively unprepared troops offshore will land in Pegu immediately.



China
I think I've overreacted to the situation in Sian. The end-around supply cutoff is a bad move and I'm aborting it. I'm moving over bad terrain without roads, so it will take weeks. And Sian is, in fact, weakening. Today's bombardment destroyed 13 enemy squads, which is a lot for this kind of attack. I'm also going to be able to add light bombers the bombers attacking here in a few more days. They're also trying to maintain an attenuated supply line to a base with 140k troops in it that is constantly being bombed and repaired. And if nothing else, when I take Rangoon in another week or so, the Burma Road will be closed and China's supply situation will go from bad to worse.

Near Kanhsien, I got a little too aggressive and attacked what turned out to be 2 corps with just one brigade. I lost 5 squads for that, they'll be making an orderly retreat back to base.

6 May 1942
Burma: Pegu captured


West Australian Coast
I-32 incinerated a loaded tanker outside Perth in a night surface attack. It was unescorted--despite the numerous destroyers conducting ASW patrols in the area.


Fiji
Our troops ashore sustained attacks from heavy bombers and dive bombers while the KB was away resupplying, but damage was insignificant. Sweeps over Nadi eliminated 1 P-40 and 3 P-39s with no losses.


Burma
We captured Pegu with minimal resistance.





7 May 1942
Heavy enemy air losses over Fiji


SOPAC
The I-20 sustained depth charge damage in two separate attacks near Pago Pago while trying to deliver an SSX to the port. The damage is serious and she's limping back to Noumea for repairs.

At Fiji, the enemy CAP was rejuvenated, with 21 enemy fighters greeting a Zero sweep. We blasted 3 P-40s and 9 P-39s, exploiting the poor high altitude performance of these early Allied fighters with a "stratosweep" from 30k feet. We lost just 2 Zeroes. I guess I should enjoy this while it lasts.




8 May 1942
KB returns to Fiji - incoming enemy bombardment task force?

SOPAC
An enemy night raid of Port Morseby with B-17s destroyed a Zero and a Dinah on the ground. I really don't want to tie up multiple aircraft detachments here but I clearly need to have fighters in the air at night. Sigh.

On the east side of Fiji, the RO-34 engaged an AKL on the surface with gunfire, crippling the ship. This ship is out of position to be a picket--maybe a supply run?

After yesterday's severe losses, the enemy only had 3 fighters on CAP over Nadi--we shot down 1 with a Zero sweep. At this point, our amphibious task force delivering a reinforcing army division--covered by the KB--was close enough to draw an airstrike--just 3 Vincents and 3 B-17s. The Vincents were shot down by our CAP, the B-17s missed. A slightly stronger raid of 5 SBDs escorted by 6-P-40s targeted the KB, but called it a day after 3 of the P-40s were shot down.

The KB's scouts detected an enemy task force approaching from the east and sent a strike after it. With most of my Kates on ASW duty, this raid was heavily weighted with Vals--33 Zeroes, 10 Kates, 35 Vals--which worked against me as it turned out this enemy task force was the HMS Warspite with the American heavy cruisers Vincennes and Chester, with a single APD escort. The enemy had 14 fighters trying to protect this task force, but we brushed them aside rather easily, shooting down 3 P-40s with one Zero lost, and keeping them off the bombers. We hit the Warspite with 7 bombs and the Vincennes with 1, but I don't believe any of the bombs penetrated the ships' armor. System damage to the Warspite is probably pretty decent though. One Val was shot down by flak.

Having most of my Kates on ASW duty wasn't so bad---we claimed 5 hits on enemy subs today, with sound effects for a sub sinking at the end of the turn.

https://i.ibb.co/51WzBzK/1942-5-8-Fiji.png
So, this left me in a bit of a bad spot. A battleship and two heavy cruisers is tougher than the surface forces I have immediately available, and they are close enough to attack before the next KB airstrike. The phibs have just one heavy cruiser and several DDs; the KB has 4 heavy cruisers and probably like a dozen DDs. I have a battleship task force to the west but it's going to take another day to get here. With the enemy force detected, it's likely they'll pull back, but if he decides to charge at either the amphibs or the KB, our battleships would be engaging in the aftermath if at all. Detaching a strong force from the phib's or the KB would be a major gamble--they'd need a lot of DDs to protect them from all the subs in the area, which would in turn leave my original TFs vulnerable to the subs. Plus my heavy cruisers would likely take plenty of devastating hits from the Warspite while struggling to penetrate its armor. And I suspect enemy carriers are in the area looking for an opportunity to jump in--pulling the CAs out of the KB would significantly decrease my flak protecting the carriers.

I mentioned my situation in Jochen's discord server, and one very experienced member, Heclapar, noted that the enemy force would be vulnerable to attack by destroyers--they are too slow. And I'd noted that several times this campaign, my enemy had interrupted my bombardment attacks with wear surface forces that nevertheless ate up my ships' ammunition which was needed to hit targets ashore. So, the plan is this: I'm detaching 3 Fubuki-class destroyers from the KB, with the light cruiser Yubari to lead them, right into the path of the enemy task force before they reach us. The Fubukis are the only destroyers in the KB that do not have the deep-reaching depth charges, so their ASW contributions to the KB won't be missed very much. And they have plenty of torpedoes. This force, I hope, will be enough to force the enemy TFs to waste most of their main battery ammunition before they reach their objective, which is worth it even if that means sacrificing these ships--his accuracy will be MUCH better if he's shooting at unloading transports instead of small, quick destroyers. And with a little bit of luck, I might get close enough for a torpedo attack and cause significant damage. The KB will follow that up with an airstrike hopefully first thing in the morning, this time, with more Kates.

As for the transports...they've started unloading and we are taking far more intense shore battery fire this time around, with three transports and two destroyers hit so far. He's clearly moved something over from Suva, and it looks to me like he's probably landed reinforcements despite the almost constant coverage of the KB, land-based maritime air patrol, and submarine patrols. So our troops have their work cut out for them.


CENTPAC
The I-9 made two separate attacks on the AO Guadalupe at Christmas Island with 6 torpedoes each time, and missed every shot. The I-8 did better at Palmyra, hitting an escorted cargo ship with a torpedo, causing potentially lethal damage.

9 May 1942
Best Girl Fubuki trashes the Warspite surface combat task force

Fiji
Overnight our amphibious task force continued to unload while taking fire from the USMC coastal batteries. Two cargo ships succumbed to the damage by the end of the day, I scuttled a third that I considered hopeless. One more cargo ship and an LSD have damage accumulating. A Dutch sub tried to add to the carnage, but was spotted, depth charged, and driven off.

https://www.wallpaperup.com/uploads/...640cc-1000.jpg

As I had been concerned about, the HMS Warspite's group charged. Honestly, a bad move, because even if they'd been successful, the KB would have wiped them out afterwards. But, my plan worked as good as it possibly could have. The Yubari's light task force ambushed them in a night battle, firing a volley of long lances at them before they had detected us, and pressing the attack to 3,000 yards while continuing to fire torpedoes. Warspite was hit with 5 torpedoes, and Chester with 3--both ships sunk. The Vincennes and the APD Gilmer were peppered with gunfire and withdrew with blazing fires and major damage. As for my task force, all three Fubukis had taken a single hit, all from relatively low caliber guns, causing damage ranging from light to inconsequential. The withdrawing Vincennes was then set upon by the I-3, which administered a coup de grace with 2 torpedo hits. The APD was not seen in company with the Vincennes and was not spotted by the KBs patrol aircraft in the morning, so we can say with some confidence she sank shortly after disengaging.


The KB did spot the AKL that was shot up by our sub yesterday, and finished it off with a Val strike.

The enemy tried for some payback at daybreak with an air strike of 32 dive bombers escorted by 18 P-40s targeting our phibs (arriving in 4 separate waves, which decreased their effectiveness significantly). The KB contributed 11 Zeroes to defending the ships, and with the cost of just one of those Zeroes we shot down 4 P-40s and 8 SBDs. The remaining bombers missed their targets. I attribute the scattering of the enemy airstrike to the significant damage the airbase has sustained from repeated bombardments.



Arabian Sea
The I-28 took out an AKL off the Indian coast with gunfire.


Burma
My plan to move my main force towards Rangoon hit a bit of a snag--the move from Pegu to the enemy force guarding the river crossing from Moulmein was itself also a river crossing. It just didn't display on the WITP map. So I still had to cross a river and shock attack either way, so I just did so with the main force instead of the troops we landed. We easily overwhelmed the defenders--a brigade and a battalion--forcing them to surrender. We lost only 1 combat squad.

10 May 1942

Fiji
I had wanted to bombard the landing area at Nadi, but the size of yesterday's airstrike made the airfield at Suva a priority. The Yamashiro and two heavy cruisers (Mutsu is down for repairs thanks to that torpedo hit) hit them overnight, destroying 5 P-40s and 2 SBDs. We added 3 P-40s later in the day with sweeps over Nadi.



CENTPAC
The I-9 was depth charged by a corvette near Christmas Island, sustaining serious damage and forced to return home for repairs.


Near Lahaina, Hawaii, the I-4 put 2 torpedoes into the USS Mississippi, good enough to sit her out of the war for a few months.