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Molon Labe · 10-03-21, 10:34 PM

14 May 1942
A target of opportunity in this Pago mess

Timor and N. Australia
Enemy landings continued and our PTs harrassed them again and disrupted them. They're going to run out of fuel soon, but at least we're getting our money's worth before then.

We managed to bypass the enemy fighters escorting their airstrikes and shot down 3 Lillies. In our own strikes, we lost a P-40, 2 Hudsons, and a B-17.

South of Timor, near Darwin, two torpedo boats are getting disturbingly close to my ASW patrols. Patrol aircraft reported hitting both with bombs, but airstrikes from medium bombers didn't see any visible damages on the ships. Of course the medium bombers missed, and every bomber that went after them was a bomber not attacking the forces landing in Koepang. Tomorrow it'll be light bombers at low altitude, and possibly a surface combat task force if they really want to hunt our ASW ships.

CentPAC
There is a buildup of enemy fighters on Palmyra. Looks like he's expecting me to build up my airbase and hit him with level bombers. He's right.

SouthPAC
The battleships Kongo and Kirishima bombarded Pago Pago, nearly knocking out the airbase for the turn.

Airstrikes on Pago came in two waves, first a sweep and then a proper strike. The sweep mostly took care of what little resistance our wrecked airbase could send out. We took out 2 Zeroes but lost 5 fighters. For the strike, we got two more Zeroes but otherwise let about 200 bombers by:

AKE City of Elwood, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Anna Odland, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Admiral Day, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
AP President Polk, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK San Simeon, Bomb hits 1
AP President Hayes, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
--
xAK Minnesotan sinks in port
xAK Tambua sinks in port
PC Taney sinks in port
xAK Challenger sinks in port
AP President Monroe sinks in port

The KB is now off to the southeast of Pago and may be chasing a 12-knot maximum tanker group. A task force I suspect to be the battleships was spotted north of Fiji on a northwestern course, which I would read as headed for Truk.

Enterprise and Hornet are near the Coral Sea right now. I could send them to intervene in Timor or have them take a run at that suspected battleship group. But Timor's probably about 6 days--it might be over by then. Those battleships I might be able to intercept in 2 if I'm willing to sprint for a day and incur extra maintenance. A nice benefit of the 2nd option is that as far as I know, the airbases at Guadalcanal and Rabaul have been emptied. Although, I haven't been to Guad recently, my Liberators are down for maintenance. Still, I think I'll be able to position myself in a position that's relatively low-risk and that offers me a shot at an intercept. And it's also going to be easier to retreat and disappear from there than it would from Timor.

China
He's sending mass reinforcements to Kaifeng, including from neighboring bases on the front line. I'll be looking for another weak point to open up, meanwhile I'm matching his reinforcements. Our airstrikes are still getting through and they look like they're hurting him.

Thailand
His southern army is still headed to Tavoy. No sub attacks on the incoming convoy yet. The US fighter squadron is half-moved to Rangoon while the other fighters are being assembled.

Reinforcements
AK Electra arrives at Cristobal
TK Saidja arrives at Abadan
No.607 Sqn RAF arrives at Aden (2/16 Hurricanes--useless--I transitioned them to 3 Buffalos to free up the Hurricanes to be used as replacements for the frontlines)
38th BG/69th BS arrives at Eastern USA (B-26s, I think it was 5/13, unrestricted. They're on their way to a west coast port)

10-03-21, 10:34 PM	#233
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	14 May 1942 A target of opportunity in this Pago mess Timor and N. Australia Enemy landings continued and our PTs harrassed them again and disrupted them. They're going to run out of fuel soon, but at least we're getting our money's worth before then. We managed to bypass the enemy fighters escorting their airstrikes and shot down 3 Lillies. In our own strikes, we lost a P-40, 2 Hudsons, and a B-17. South of Timor, near Darwin, two torpedo boats are getting disturbingly close to my ASW patrols. Patrol aircraft reported hitting both with bombs, but airstrikes from medium bombers didn't see any visible damages on the ships. Of course the medium bombers missed, and every bomber that went after them was a bomber not attacking the forces landing in Koepang. Tomorrow it'll be light bombers at low altitude, and possibly a surface combat task force if they really want to hunt our ASW ships. CentPAC There is a buildup of enemy fighters on Palmyra. Looks like he's expecting me to build up my airbase and hit him with level bombers. He's right. SouthPAC The battleships Kongo and Kirishima bombarded Pago Pago, nearly knocking out the airbase for the turn. Airstrikes on Pago came in two waves, first a sweep and then a proper strike. The sweep mostly took care of what little resistance our wrecked airbase could send out. We took out 2 Zeroes but lost 5 fighters. For the strike, we got two more Zeroes but otherwise let about 200 bombers by: AKE City of Elwood, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage xAK Anna Odland, Bomb hits 1, on fire xAK Admiral Day, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage AP President Polk, Bomb hits 1, on fire xAK San Simeon, Bomb hits 1 AP President Hayes, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage -- xAK Minnesotan sinks in port xAK Tambua sinks in port PC Taney sinks in port xAK Challenger sinks in port AP President Monroe sinks in port The KB is now off to the southeast of Pago and may be chasing a 12-knot maximum tanker group. A task force I suspect to be the battleships was spotted north of Fiji on a northwestern course, which I would read as headed for Truk. Enterprise and Hornet are near the Coral Sea right now. I could send them to intervene in Timor or have them take a run at that suspected battleship group. But Timor's probably about 6 days--it might be over by then. Those battleships I might be able to intercept in 2 if I'm willing to sprint for a day and incur extra maintenance. A nice benefit of the 2nd option is that as far as I know, the airbases at Guadalcanal and Rabaul have been emptied. Although, I haven't been to Guad recently, my Liberators are down for maintenance. Still, I think I'll be able to position myself in a position that's relatively low-risk and that offers me a shot at an intercept. And it's also going to be easier to retreat and disappear from there than it would from Timor. China He's sending mass reinforcements to Kaifeng, including from neighboring bases on the front line. I'll be looking for another weak point to open up, meanwhile I'm matching his reinforcements. Our airstrikes are still getting through and they look like they're hurting him. Thailand His southern army is still headed to Tavoy. No sub attacks on the incoming convoy yet. The US fighter squadron is half-moved to Rangoon while the other fighters are being assembled. Reinforcements AK Electra arrives at Cristobal TK Saidja arrives at Abadan No.607 Sqn RAF arrives at Aden (2/16 Hurricanes--useless--I transitioned them to 3 Buffalos to free up the Hurricanes to be used as replacements for the frontlines) 38th BG/69th BS arrives at Eastern USA (B-26s, I think it was 5/13, unrestricted. They're on their way to a west coast port) __________________ Last edited by Molon Labe; 10-04-21 at 12:50 AM.