25 October 1942
Two DMSs lost at Luganville to enemy heavy surface task force
Espiritu Santo Islands
That heavy task force showed up again--I had pulled the amphibious task force out but left the DMSs behind to work on the minefield. Figured it was safe enough because my scouts didn't see any threats. Well, they were around somewhere. Our DMSs managed to run for a bit at night but they got caught in the daytime and were sunk easily.
The chase resulted in the enemy still being present near Luganville at daybreak, and that allowed for airstrikes. First was 17 USMC Helldivers from Efate. We lost 3 to flak; 16 of the bombers made their attacks, targeting the BB Kirishima, CA Suzuya, and CA Mogami, but all of them missed.
Next up were 10 A-20A1 Havocs - the combat debut of the "attack bomber" in this war. They attacked in pairs, with one strafing to suppress flak while the other attempted skip-bombing. This would probably have been devastating against a weaker task force, but these guys have a lot of flak to throw and a lot of armor to resist our guns and bombs. 2 cruisers and a destroyer got strafed a little, and we got 2 bomb hits on the Kirishima and another on the CA Furutaka. None of the damage appears serious.
Burma
4 CLs and 3 DD shelled Rangoon. We lost 2 planes on the ground and most of the rest were damaged. And we didn't get an airstrike on these guys.
Banda Sea
Zero and Oscar sweeps cleared our P-38s out of Babar. We're badly outnumbered. No shootdowns, just damaged planes on both sides.
China
It now seems that the enemy forces on both sides of our coastal line our inferior to our garrisons. I also have reinforcements inbound on both ends of the lines which are approaching from behind the enemy. I intend to encircle and eliminate both forces entirely.
In the north he's still not attacking. Numerically he's got the superior force here, and with heavier artillery, but I doubt they'd fight too well with the amount of bombing they're suffering.
I'm more or less letting the Port Arthur operation go for now. Between the weather delays, the AA threat, and the current enemy offensive I need to deal with, it just doesn't make sense right now.
Refits, Reinforcements
SS S-31 begins refit while under repair at Pearl Harbor
SS S-35 begins refit while under repair at Suva
CM Terror arrives at Balboa
VS-2D12 arrives at Eureka (2/16 floatplanes, restricted - will send to LA, fill up, and use for training)
4th PG/17th PRS arrives at Eastern USA (Recon Lightnings, unrestricted)
1st Indian Coastal Artillery Regiment arrives at Karachi (restricted)
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