26 May 1942
Fog of war--it's a bitch
Timor and N. Australia
One of my ASW groups found one of the subs patrolling the Darwin area, but the ship that made contact was a minesweeper that carries only enough depth charges to fire 4 patterns. It ran out of ammo without scoring a hit.
Our scouts made contact with 2 enemy task forces north of Timor, one of which was reported as 10 ships including heavy cruisers. So I was too quick to declare they'd run off last turn. If the KB is headed here, it would probably arrive around the 29th. So we're cutting it close, but I can give myself another day of playtime to maybe get these cruisers.
Thailand and Burma
An Oscar sweep over Tavoy took out one of my Hurricanes. We came in with a strike after that, but with far different results than last time--3 more Hurricanes down along with 3 bombers. No enemy kills. The enemy interceptors were Nick fighter-bombers--their combat debut--instead of Oscars.
Looks like a good move on his part. The Nick can outrun the Hurricane so that's probably why its getting to our bombers without taking losses. It's only marginally less maneuverable than the Hurricane.
His armies attacked Tavoy again and did not make progress. They were hampered by a supply shortage, one of the nice things about him conceding the road to me and going through the mountains while being bombed.
On the road to Raheng in the north, we reached the second group of blocking forces and routed them easily, casualties 1100 to 400 favoring us. The road is now clear and the airlift operation is cancelled.
I'm still not convinced I can keep what I've taken. If Tavoy falls (and it almost certainly will), once he heads north he'll be able to cut off Raheng again with his main force. If that happens, force Peter is probably surrounded and done for. I may have to abandon both bases and consolidate a defensive front. Essentially, the Burma campaign has begun. It's just beginning mostly in Thailand because that's where my invasion moved the front line to.
China
The situation is becoming rapidly more fluid. Enemy troops are leaving Sinyang headed for my base at Nanyang. It also looks like troops are leaving Kuikang. I'm reinforcing Nanyang for now and keeping my eyes open in case something opens up.
Strategic picture
His supply shortages in Oahu are surprising. Before the Naval Battle of Oahu, coastwatchers consistently reported over 100 ships in Lahaina, now they report it empty. We sank one troop convoy of maybe 10 ships; what happened to the rest and why are they not resupplying his troops? I suppose it's possible that he's either crashed his economy trying to expand his production and has no supply to send, or, his fuel shortage is becoming critical and resupplying Oahu just isn't a priority right now.
Solomon Sea
A flotilla of landing barges was reported headed southwest from Rabaul. My best guess is these guys are going to try to pick up troops stranded on Normanby Island, right next to Milne. If I can track them I'll try to hit them with bombers, with fighters also set on orders to strafe, and a few surface assets available as well. I expect they'll be covered by the Zeroes that just moved into Rabaul and that Betties may be standing by in case I send surface forces, so I'm not rushing to respond.
Reinforcements and Refits
303rd BG/BS (Comp) arrives at Mojave (more restricted B-17s for training)
86th Coast AA Regiment arrives at March Field (restricted)
71st RAAF Wing arrives at Sydney (aviation engineers--we have a surplus of aviation support in AUS right now, what we really need are more squadrons and planes to train up competent pilots)