[Molon Labe]

After a flurry of activity in the Maldives, we've had a number of quiet turns. The KB has disappeared and that has got me backing off from Java...


11 March 1943

• 3 Helen medium bombers attacked Changsha. That normally wouldn't be significant enough to report, but the enemy hasn't done any bombing in China for months. There were 6 Vanguard fighters on patrol that failed to engage the bombers.
• A Navy Liberator raid on Keopang caused heavy damage to the airbase and destroyed a Topsy transport on the ground.
• Our retreating units in Burma suffered 1000+ casualties in an enemy armored assault

12 March 1943

• USS Haddo scored 2 detonating Mk14 hits on a cargo ship in an escorted convoy off Aogoshima, Japan, sinking it.
• The Helen bombers came back to Changha, China, but this time the Vanguards were ready; all 3 were shot down

13 March 1943

• Two enemy subs attacked Wake, laying a minefield and attacking our ships.
  • One targeted a surface action group, putting 3 torpedoes into the cruiser USS Richmond, mortally wounding it. The destroyer Alywn retaliated, pinning the sub down in shallow water and causing enough damage to force it to surface, where the cruiser Cleveland pounded it with 6" and 5" guns. The Richmond even took a few shots at it as it sank.
  • The other targeted a supply convoy, making my heart skip a beat because one convoy was delivering a new fighter squadron. But it only hit a cargo ship delivering supplies. That ship is severely damaged but will probably return to service if it doesn't burn to a crisp in port. The submarine was attacked by the convoy's minesweeper escort for moderate damage.
  • The minefield was immediately detected by the on-duty minesweeper, which cleared 9 of them. I ordered two more out of the harbor to help clear the mines.
• We lost a Wellington bomber to flak while attacking enemy ground forces near Foochow, China.
• I'd detected 40 fighter at too-small of a base in Addu, so I sent the B-24s to pound the airfield. The fighters were gone by the time they got there. The airfield took serious damage.
• There's a fairly large convoy at Guadalcanal all of a sudden. It's in range of attack aircraft from Rossel and Shortlands so I'm irritated nothing's flown already. They have no fighter protection; my B-17s are still hitting the airbase and nothing's coming up to try to stop them (except lots of heavy flak).

14 March 1943

• 24 more mines cleared at Wake
• Still no sign of the KB in the Bay of Bengal. I'm sending a sub to check out Diego Garcia. I have another near the tip of Sumatra, which was the launching point for the Rangoon op. And I have a sub near Rangoon, and a few off the western coast of Sumatra. No one is reporting any aircraft spottings so far.
  • The put a lot of troops on Male, so that's what the B-24s are going to hit. And as I promised before, if the KB leaves, the British fleet will come out and play. So Male is about to get shelled in a couple days if they don't get some serious air cover.
• The convoy is still at Guadalcanal, and our attack aircraft still aren't flying. I'm adding an attack squadron to Ndeni now that that base is coming online, so that's now 3 potential vectors of attack we have on these jerks.