War in the Pacific AAR Thread - ML vs JFranzen

[Molon Labe]

20 January 1944

Philippines and surrounding seas
USS Swordfish is a sniper. After going 2 for 2 yesterday on a cargo ship, she fired another 2 Mk14s at a tanker and got 2 hits. It was just a little one though, 2100 tons.

Air raids:
Ilolio (airbase): 4 hits, 7 casualties


China
Air raids:
Hangkow (ground forces): 32 casualties


Burma and Thailand
Air raids:
Road to Bangkok (ground forces): 80 casualties
Bangkok (airbase): 35 hits, 5 casualties. That no aircraft are being destroyed more or less confirms he's abandoned Bangkok as an airbase.


DEI
Air raids:
Koepang (ground forces): 18 casualties
Kendari (ground forces): 0 casualties


Reinforcements
CV Illustrious arrives at Aden
--It's going to take awhile to get her into action. She's long overdue for a refit and will need to report to Columbo to get the work done.
DD Hall arrives at Eastern USA
DD David Taylor arrives at Eastern USA
SS Pintado arrives at Balboa
AO Saugatuck arrives at Eastern USA
5201st Eng Con Bde arrives at San Francisco
233rd USN Base Force arrives at San Francisco

[Molon Labe]

21 January 1944
Enemy carriers spotted in Java Sea as air campaign against Luzon begins


China
-Another Helen night raid on Amoy, this time they actually hit the runway once. Nothing we can't repair by morning. 8 Sallies attacked Hong Kong's airbase as well but didn't hit anything.

Other raids:
Hankow (ground forces): 45 casualties


Papua New Guinea
We're landing troops to take Manokwari, on the west side, northern coast. No resistance is expected.


South China Sea
HMS Truculent was depth charged while vacating the Singapore area. Light damage.


Philippines
Trying to wear down Manila a bit so I can eventually bomb it with B-24s. 40 P-38s swept and were opposed by 12 Nicks, 8 Irvings, and 5 Georges. I expected more, they have over 100 fighters based here--must all be on reserve to use as bomber escorts. We ended up getting 6 Nicks, 3 Georges, and 1 Irving while losing 2 P-38s. Not too bad.


Burma and Thailand
Air raids:
Road to Bangkokk (ground forces): 45 casualties
Bangkok (airbase): 1 B-24 shot down by flak, 41 base hits, 17 casualties. One Tony managed to get airborne and shot down 2 B-24s in a formation of 25! Nice flying, I hope we kill that pilot soon!
Pisanuloke (ground forces): 25 casualties


DEI
Scoutplanes reported enemy carriers near Surabaya, 2 of them.

Air raids:
Koepang (ground forces): 26 casualties



Reinforcements
DMS Forrest arrives at Eastern USA
AO Winooski arrives at Balboa
VB-117 arrives at San Diego
No.356 Sqn RAF arrives at Howrah

[Molon Labe]

22 January 1944
Pisanuloke captured

South China Sea
USS Jack torpedoed and sank a 215-ton PB just north of Miri.


China
Enemy night raids:
Wenchow (airbase): 2 hits
Hong Kong (airbase): 0 hits
Of course they skipped Amoy now that we have night fighters there.

Allied daylight raids:
near Hankow (ground forces): 33 casualties
--these troops are moving in the open from Hankow to Sinyang, I'm interdicting them so they're beat up when they arrive at the front.


Philippines
I ordered another sweep of Manila. 32 P-38s vs 5 Zeroes, 10 Irvings, 7 Georges, and 8 Franks. We lost 4 planes but got 3 Franks, 6 Irvings, and 2 Georges. Will need to rest these P-38s for repairs now.

Other raids:
Ilolio (airbase): 13 hits, 5 casualties. Doesn't look like there are any aircraft left here to kill.


Burma and Thailand...and Sumatra
I rebased some B-24s at the recently captured Port Blair and used them to attack Sabang, the base at the tip of Sumatra that was the launching point for their Burma operation awhile ago. Recon reported a cruiser and tanker in port and lots of bombers in the airbase. Lackluster results; with 25 B-24s we only got 8 airbase hits and 1 port hit, with 1 Sally destroyed on the ground.

Other raids:
Road to Bangkok (ground forces): 62 casualties
Pisanuloke (ground forces) 30 casualties

Ground combat:
Our army group finally made it to Pisanuloke, where it took an enemy bombardment. We took 13 casualties there but counterbattery fire caused 647 enemy casualties (we outnumber them 51k to 18k and they've been getting bombed for awhile). We then hit them with a shock attack, capturing the base while causing 6604 casualties while taking just 440. Bangkok's next!


DEI
Trying to catch the carriers maybe docking at Surabaya, I hit it with 24 B-24s. We didn't get the carriers but the results weren't bad. 1 Helen destroyed on the ground, a submarine hit in port, 35 airbase hits, 3 port hits, 9 casualties.

Scoutplanes ended up reporting the carriers moved off a bit to the west. Not sure what they're doing there, but they look like nice targets. I have 2 fleet carriers offline for upgrades in Darwin right now, but that still leaves me 2 fleet carriers and 6 CVLs. I've organized them into two CVBGs and I'm sending them south of Java for the time being.

other raids:
Kendari (ground forces): 19 casualties

ground combat: We've captured Pare Pare in Celebes. 103 enemy casualties, 0 Allied.


Reinforcements
DD Porterfield arrives at Los Angeles
VP-19 arrives at Alameda
9th TCS arrives at Eastern USA
767th Tank Battalion arrives at San Francisco
207th Coast AA Regiment arrives at San Francisco
103rd RN Base Force arrives at Aden

[Molon Labe]

23 January 1944

China

Enemy night raids:
Wenchow (airbase): no damage

Allied raids:
near Hankow (ground forces): 36 casualties


DEI
Air raids:
Surabaya (airbase and port): 1 Helen destroyed on the ground; we hit the submarine a second time, probably fatally this time as there was a large secondary explosion. 4 casualties, 24 airbase hits, 3 port hits.
Koepang (ground forces): 7 casualties


Burma and Thailand
Well there are two "roads to Bangkok" now, one east and one west. On the east road, I'm bombing retreating enemy units to slow them down so our ground forces can tear them up. In the west, there is a blocking force that I'm wearing down before our troops arrive.

Eastern road (ground forces): 124 casualties

Reinforcements
VP-19 arrives at San Francisco

[Molon Labe]

24 January 1944
Makassar shelled overnight--airbase in ruins; Kido Butai transiting Makassar Strait?

DEI
An enemy heavy task force centered around the battleships Kongo and Haruna (2 BB, 1 CA, 4 CL, 8 DD) laid waste to the airbase at Makassar. We tried to fight back with PT boats but just ended up with 2 sunk and no hits on the enemy. 33 aircraft were destroyed on the ground, most of the rest are disabled, and the base itself is at nearly 100% damage.

We did some shelling of our own; Arizona and New Mexico are back at it in Kendari, causing 100 casualties.

Aircraft from Salajar got airborne to try to strike the enemy ships, and did locate an enemy task force in the Makassar Strait... which was probably the KB. There were 134 Zeroes on CAP along 47 Georges (maybe from Balikpapan?), against just one USMC squadron of Corsairs and SBDs. We were lucky to get by with just one Corsair shot down along with one Zero, but the SBDs (18 of them) were wiped out.


So... this looks like the bombardment group kicked the door open and the KB walked through. We have hundreds of aircraft based around the Celebes Sea, though, and he's not going to be able to shell them all. I don't see the point of sending carriers right up with middle like this...


Other raids:
Surabaya (airbase and port): 1 B-24 shot down by flak, 8 airbase hits
Kendari (ground forces): 4 casualties


China
Enemy night raids:
Wenchow: 1 airbase hit
Hong Kong: 1 Sally shot down by defending Beaufighters (night fighter variants). No damage.

Allied raids:
near Hankow (ground forces): 84 casualties


Philippines
9 Beaufighters from Amoy tried to attack an ASW group in the Luzon Strait. They were intercepted by 3 Zeroes, but the Zeroes got the worst of it with one shot down and the rest routed. However, the Beaufighters failed to score any hits; their accuracy apparently compromised by thunderstorms.

other Air raids
Iloilo (airbase): 1 B-24 shot down by flak; 5 airbase hits


Burma and Thailand
Air raids:
"eastern road" (ground forces): 77 casualties


Reinforcements
AO Broomdale arrives at Aden
2nd USMC Amphb Tank Battalion arrives at San Diego
853rd Engineer Aviation Battalion arrives at Calcutta

[Molon Labe]

25 January 1944
Kido Butai vanishes yet again, at least 2 more enemy battleships operating in eastern Java Sea


Philippines
We have an amphibious landing underway at Cebu (central Philippines).


DEI
Another enemy surface task force (Ise, Haruna, 2CA, 2CL, 5DD) approached Makassar and encountered PT boats. We got within 2000 yards but weren't able to hit anything. We lost 5 PT boats. The subsequent shelling of the airbase destroyed at least 10 more aircraft. The base is already incapacitated and will stay that way for several days.

Three enemy destroyers returned to Makassar and sank 3 more PT boats.

Other raids:
Surabaya (airbase and port): 17 airbase hits, 1 port hit, 1 Sally destroyed on the ground
Koepang (ground forces): 0 casualties
Kendari (ground forces): 31 casualties

We've captured Madjene, Celebes.

Our CVBGs should be in position to strike any enemy naval forces remaining in the eastern Java Sea tomorrow. We'll have extra support from at least 2 land bases.

The KB, meanwhile, has disappeared. Which almost certainly means she did a 180 and did not transit up the Makassar Strait. So probably in the Java Sea somewhere.


China
Enemy night raid at Wenchow, no damage.


Burma and Thailand
Raids:
near Pisanuloke (retreating ground forces): 120 casualties


Reinforcements
DD Owen arrives at San Francisco
AKA Algol arrives at Portland
6th PG/20th CMS arrives at Eastern USA
124th RAF Base Force arrives at Aden

[Molon Labe]

26 January 1944
The Naval Battle of Salajar

Well, it's been a slow several weeks. And they say war is weeks on end of boredom interrupted by moments of absolute terror...


Philippines
USS Pargo torpedoed and cripped a 4875-ton troop-carrying cargo ship in a convoy off the Luzon Strait. The kaibokan escorting the convoy retaliated and hit Pargo badly enough to cause major flooding and a fire. Pargo is limping back to base, crippled.

At about the same time, another convoy reached a freshly-laid minefield at Aparri. A troop-carrying cargo ship in that convoy hit one of the mines, and it too is likely to sink.

USS Guardfish then attacked the same convoy hit by Pargo, putting 2 torpedoes into a 3675-ton troop-carrying cargo ship; almost certainly a kill. The kaibokan escort failed to find Guardfish after the attack. But, Guardfish attempted another attack later in the day, this time getting spotted and ending up with light damage. Not finished, late in the afternoon, Guardfish found the cargo ship that Pargo crippled and finished her off with a torpedo hit.

Our troops attacked the enemy base at Cebu, eliminating all fortifications. Casualties were 133 to 15 favoring us. Clearly, we'll get this quickly.


South China Sea
USS Puffer got in on the Silent Service's slaughter today, sinking a PB (830 tons) off Miri, Borneo.


Japanese Home Waters
You guessed it... another sub action... USS Corvina with a kill on a PB off Iwo Jima.


DEI: The Naval Battle of Salajar


As big a splash as the US sub fleet made today, it was far outshadowed by the carrier v carrier action in the east Java Sea.


Before sunrise, just off Salajar island, one of the two enemy heavy surface groups was blundered into by one of our AGPs and a destroyer headed to Makassar to replenish the surviving PT boats. Both task forces declined to engage, but I did confirm this group's composition: CS Chiyoda, BB Ise, BB Hyuga, 2 CA, 4 CL, and 6 DD. The dis-engagement may have cost this task force the chance to bombard Salajar before sunrise.

This task force would then be the target of the first of many air raids today. The airbase at Salajar launched a (very disorganized) strike: 13 Beauforts, 65 SBDs, and 18 Avengers escorted by only 16 P-47s and 7 Corsairs. We didn't know it yet, but the KB was with this task force, and gave it a CAP of 132 Zeroes (it appears that no enemy fighters were held in reserve for bomber escort duty, the KB was in a purely defensive role today, as it's been in the past when operating near my airbases). As you might imagine, this became a bit of a slaughter; we lost 1 Corsair, 1 P-47, 30 SBDs, 3 Beauforts, and 14 Avengers. In exchange we got 6 Zeroes. But, 19 of the SBDs, 6 Avengers, and 8 Beauforts managed to make it to the targets, and the Hyuga and Ise each took a torpedo hit from the Beauforts, and an SBD hit Ise with a bomb. Akagi, Shokaku, and Zuikaku, Unryu, and Kongo were also attacked.

The Yankee Butai was up next, having transited into the east Java sea from the south near Bima. This strike was 108 Hellcats escorting 27 SB2Cs, 27 SBDs, and 62 TBFs; plus 6 P-47s that jumped in from Salajar. The enemy CAP was down to 68 Zeroes. This should have been a slaughter, but as things seem to go, we weren't able to keep them off our bombers, despite the massive number of Hellcats. Only 5 Zeroes went down in the air battle, while on our side 1 Hellcat, 4 SBDs, 5 SB2Cs, and 7 Avengers bought it. And our accuracy was horrible. Ise was hit by one torpedo, while Hyuga ate 2 and was severely damaged. Unryu was hit by a single bomb, while Akagi was hit by two bombs, one of which caused a secondary fuel explosion. A destroyer was also hit by a bomb and engulfed in flames.

Salajar launched another attack in the afternoon, this time with just 8 SBDs and 3 Beauforts, a mere 2 P-47s escorting. We lost 7 of the SBDs and 2 Beauforts while shooting down 1 Zero. The SBDs actually all made it to the ships, attacking Zuikaku and Musashi, but they all missed.

The Yankee Butai's strike was next; 104 Hellcats with 18 SB2Cs, 20 SBDs, and 42 Avengers (and another 4 P-47s from Salajar to help out). The enemy CAP was now down to 66 Zeroes. And the enemy reached the bombers once again, shooting down 7 SBDs, 6 SB2Cs, 11 TBFs, and 6 Hellcats. We got 10 Zeroes. And once again, despite how many planes got through to attack, we only managed two hits; one on Akagi and one on Shokaku.

6 Beauforts with 8 P-47s came in next, we got one Zero but lost all 6 Beauforts. 1 torpedo was fired at Kongo--a miss.

In an action the enemy probably wishes would have come sooner, 2 CA and 2 CLs shelled Salajar airbase, damaging most of its remaining aircraft.


So, at the end of the day, it appears that we've knocked out the Akagi--hopefully for good this time--and damaged a pair of battleships pretty significantly, at a huge cost of aircraft and pilots. We had a slight desynch, so my observed air losses cited above won't match the official totals... but officially overall air losses today were 131 to 34 favoring Japan (and 49 pilots wounded, 47 killed). I won't bother trying to chase them to re-engage as it would be fairly easy for them to get fighter cover from Surabaya or elsewhere in Java if they retreat.


Other raids:
Koepang (ground forces) 12 casualties
Kendari (ground forces) 37 casualties



Burma and Thailand
Air strikes:
eastern road (ground forces): 48 casualties
western road (ground forces: 6 casualties




China
Air raids:
Hankow (ground forces) 17 casualties
near Chengchow (ground forces) 40 casualties

Land combat:
The Japanese made another ill-advised attack on Sinyang, despite having just 43k troops to my 75k, while dealing with level 3 forts and a defensive terrain bonus. They managed to knock the forts down to Level 2, but casualties were 8303 to 947 favoring me. I'll be counterattacking tomorrow.


Reinforcements
CM Ariadne arrives at Balboa

[Molon Labe]

27 January 1944
Coup de grace administered to Akagi and Hyuga as Japanese fleet retreats from Salajar; Cebu and Hankow captured by Allied forces


DEI
Our PT tender once again ran into the enemy near Salajar, this time the KB itself. Again, no engagement, just a composition report: Shokaku, Zuikaku, Hiyo, Unryu, Chiyoda, Kongo, Haruna, Mushashi, 2 CA, 3 CL, 19 DD. 2 PTs tried to take a shot at them near Makassar, too, but they were screened off by the destroyers.

3 PV-1N Ventura night fighters attempted an attack on the crippled Hyuga near Salajar but missed. The KVIII then approached it, hitting it with 3 torpedoes to finish her off.

4 Jills--not sure where they flew from, then attempted a kamizake attack on a pair of destroyers escorting troop transports to Bima. There were Hellcats in the area but none of them made it in time. Fortunately, between flak and manuevering, the kamikazes were not able to impact the destroyers.

The same destroyers were attacked again, this time by 5 Frances bombers escorted by 26 Georges. This time they were close enough to Bima to get air cover; 5 P-40s and 5 P-47s. We shot down 2 Georges, lost 2 P-40s and 1 P-47, and the bombers missed.

Well north of the major battle area, the enemy attacked Manado, first with a sweep of 19 Georges, then a naval strike of 6 Betties with 13 George escorts. The base/ships were defended by 12 Spitfires, 7 P-40s, and 6 Hellcats, enough to take down 16 Georges and 5 of the Betties. We lost only 1 P-40. The surviving Betty fired a torpedo at a cargo ship and missed.

Halfway back to Surabaya, the Ise was spotted and engaged by 12 SBDs from Salajar. Ise was hit twice--the damage does not appear to be lethal. Nearby, the Akagi was also found and attacked by 3 Beauforts. 2 of them hit Akagi with torpedoes, which immediately rolled over and went down. It's good to know she's gone for sure this time.

Other raids:
Koepang (ground forces): 13 casualties
Kendari (airbase): 4 base hits, 1 Jake destroyed on the ground

Ground combat:
1st Naval Construction Battalion and 41st JAAF AF Bn have been eliminated in Celebes.


China
Air raids:
Hankow (ground forces): 12 casualties

Land combat:
Sinyang: Allied deliberate attack, 1919 (J) to 1445 (A) casualties, and once again there were far more destroyed vs disabled units on the enemy's side.
Hankow: Allied shock attack, base captured, casualties 1006 (J) to 370 (A). This was effectively ceded the same way Wenchow was. I think this was a serious mistake as these bases should have forced me to take disproportionate casualties to capture (and my attempt to encircle them with a river crossing a few weeks ago failed).

It appears he is now withdrawing from Sinyang... that's a good move, it's just been a meat grinder for his troops.



Burma, Thailand, and northwestern Sumatra
Air raids:
Sabang (airbase and port): Mine tender bombed and severely damaged, 42 airbase hits, 2 port hits


Philippines
9 Judies attempted an attack on PT boats on the northwestern coast of Mindanao and missed. A single Hellcat intervened and managed to shoot down 4 of them.

Over the Luzon Strait, a flight of 7 Beaufiighters was jumped by 17 Nicks and 5 Franks--5 of the Beaufighters were shot down. With this amount of fighter presence over the Strait, it's time to admit the party is over for the Beaufighters. I'm pulling what's left of the squadron back to receive a transition to Spitfires, and the Hudsons acting as their spotters will be upgraded to Venturas. Neither have the Beaufighter's range, but the Spitfire can maneuver with Japanese fighters down low, so they can either fulfill the fighter-bomber role down low or be escorts for the Venturas.

Cebu has been captured. 272 enemy casualties to our 26.

[Molon Labe]

28 January 1944

Philippines and surrounding seas
USS Bashaw took some depth charge hits off the west coast of Luzon from a kaibokan.


An attack on enemy troops on Cebu caused 211 (J) to 6 (A) casualties.



South China Sea
USS Cisco destroyed an enemy subchaser on patrol near Miri, Borneo. It took some damage from its sister ship before escaping.



China
Night-fighter Beaufighers shot down 2 Sally bombers over Hong Kong. The enemy attacks caused no damage.


Air raids:
Sinyang (ground forces): 0 casualties
near Chengchow (ground forces) 16 casualties



DEI
At Makassar, 8 Jill torpedo bombers escorted by a pair of Zeroes attacked the AGP that had kept running into the enemy fleets over the last few days and sank it with a pair of torpedo hits. 11 P-47s tried to defend it but only managed to shoot down 1 Zero.


Later, 9 Georges swept the base; 11 P-47s again defended. 7 Georges were shot down with no Allied losses.



other raids:
Keopang (ground forces) 5 casualties



Burma, Thailand, and western Sumatra

Raids:
east road (ground forces): 41 casualties
west road (ground forces): 8 casualties
Sabang (port and airbase): 34 B-24s opposed by 7 Irvings. No air-to-air losses. 15 airbase hits, 7 port hits, 4 ACMs bombed in port (3 confirmed sunk, the fourth probably didn't survive either)


Reinforcements
DD Haraden arrives at Eastern USA
No.15 Sqn RAAF arrives at Sydney
23rd FG/76th FS arrives at San Francisco

[Molon Labe]

29 January 1944
Enemy fighter presence over Strait of Luzon here to stay, for now


South China Sea
USS Puffer was detected and depth charged by an ASW group near Miri, Borneo and severely damaged. She's limping back to base for repairs. USS Salmon was also in this area and torpedoed a PB (2780 tons). A SC accompanying the PB found the Salmon and depth charged it causing minor damage.


DEI
New Mexico and Arizona bombarded Koepang, causing 45 casualties.

4 B-25D1 Mitchells attacked a cargo ship convoy near Surabaya from low altitude:

xAK Syunko Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Ryuzin Maru, Shell hits 10, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
93 troop casualties were reported.

other Air raids:
Koepang (ground forces) 4 casualties
Kendari (ground forces: 12 casualties


Philippines and surrounding seas
USS Tambor was spotted by an ASW group in the Strait of Luzon and depth charged for moderate damage.

Our ground forces attacked the remaining enemy troops at Cebu, inflicting 121 casualties while taking 7. This eliminates the last enemy troops at Cebu.


Japanese Home Waters
USS Bang torpedoed a PB (2780 tons) near Naha.


China
I attempted a sweep of Takao, Taiwain to try to deal with the enemy fighter presence that's interfering with my ASUW interdictions. 12 Chinese P-40Es faced off against 12 Nicks and 6 Franks... We lost 7 of the P-40s while killing just 1 Nick.

Other raids:
Sinyang (ground forces): 25 casualties
near Hankow (ground forces): 17 casualties
near Chengchow (ground forces) 17 casualties



Burma, Thailand, and northwestern Sumatra
Air raids:
Ayuthia (ground forces) 14 casualties
Sabang (airbase and port: Opposed by 2 Irvings; no air-to-air losses, 7 casualties, 14 airbase hits, 6 port hits
West road (ground forces): 11 casualties
East road (ground forces): 17 casualties

Ground combat:
Allied shock attack on enemy troops on eastern road, 47k vs 6.7k. Casualties 7887 (J) to 110 (A).


Reinforcements
CVE Tulagi arrives at Portland
CVE Ranee arrives at San Francisco
PF Corpus Christi arrives at Mare Island
CA Canberra II arrives at San Francisco
VMF(CVS)-123 arrives at Mojave
VMJ-953 arrives at San Diego
23rd FG/76th FS arrives at Los Angeles
93rd Infantry Division arrives at San Francisco

[Molon Labe]

30 January 1944

Thailand and Burma

Air raids:
Ayuthia (ground forces): 83 casualties
western road (ground forces): 94 casualties


DEI
Air raids:
Koepang (ground forces) 0 casualties
Kendari (ground forces): 4 casualties


China
Land combat:
Allied deliberate attack at Sinyang: 71k vs 2055 troops, casualties 1028 (J) to 27 (A). This was supposed to be an organized retreat but we managed to attack the tip of the daschund's tail and turn that much into a rout.


Reinforcements
CVL Unicorn arrives at Aden
Z' Force arrives at Kunming
858th Engineer Aviation Battalion arrives at Madras

[Molon Labe]

31 January 1944

Philippines and surrounding seas
USS Golet torpedoed and cripped a 4875-ton cargo ship off the western coast of Luzon. USS Sargo torpedoed and likely sank another 4875-ton (Aden class) cargo ship in the Luzon Strait. Late in the day, USS Permit found the ship damaged by Golet and finished it off with 2 more torpedoes.


East China Sea
USS Sunfish was spotted by a kaibokan in the straits between Okinawa and Japan and depth charged for light damage.


South China Sea
USS Sawfish scored a torpedo hit on a 9975-ton tanker near Singapore, causing severe damage and heavy fires. Very likely a kill due to the fire.


Japanese Home Waters
USS Bluefish torpedoed and sank a 215-ton PB near Torishima.


Burma and Thailand
Air raids:
Ayuthia (ground forces): 87 casualties
eastern road (ground forces): 93 casualties


DEI
In the Java Sea near Semarang, Java, 10 B-25D1s attacked a support convoy including a seaplane tender and an ammunition ship:
AKE Hikosan Maru, Shell hits 16, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
SC Ch 5, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
SC Ch 1
AV Sanuki Maru, Shell hits 3, Bomb hits 1, on fire
SC Ch 12, Bomb hits 1, on fire
SC Ch 21, Shell hits 1
One of the B-25s was shot down by flak.

Air raids:
Koepang (ground forces): 5 casualties
Kendari (ground forces): 0 casualties


Reinforcements
Port Blair RN Det arrives at Aden

[Molon Labe]

1 February 1944

Mariannas
USS Billfish torpedoed and sank a light cargo ship (1650 tons) north of the Mariannas chain. Dutch sub KIX surfaced to engage another one but was driven off by gunfire. USS Raton then showed the KIX how it's done, raking the escaping AKL (1650 tons) with gunfire and finally putting it down with a torpedo.


China
Kanshien airbase was raided at night by 5 Sallies and 12 Helens, scoring 3 hits. I don't consider this airbase important enough to assign night fighters to counter this.

7 Tojos swept Amoy, which is an important base, but due to my recent fighter losses I had no CAP in place to play with them.

other allied air raids:
near Chengchow (ground forces) 42 casualties
near Hankow (ground forces) 126 casualties


Burma and Thailand
east road (ground forces): 134 casualties
west road (ground forces) 11 casualties


DEI
Air raids:
Koepang (ground forces): 0 casualties


Reinforcements
CVE Nehenta Bay arrives at Portland
23rd FG/118th TRS arrives at Aden
81st FG/91st FS arrives at Aden
2nd New Chinese Corps arrives at Hami

[Molon Labe]

2 February 1944
Heavy bomber raid on Manila's port

DEI
New Mexico and Arizona bombarded Koepang, 59 casualties.

Troops are landing on Sorong, Papua-New Guinea.
Other land combat:
Palopo, Celebes: Allied shock attack, 3253 vs 485 troops, enemy lost 15 vehicles.

Air raids:
Koepang (airbase and ground forces): 2 hits, 17 casualties
Kendari (ground attack): 6 casualties


China
Air raids:
near Sinyang (ground forces): 0 casualties
near Chengchow (ground forces) 30 casualties
near Hankow (ground forces): 79 casualties


Burma and Thailand
Air raids:
east road (ground forces) 192 casualties
west road (ground forces): 67 casualties


Philippines
We raided Manila with 57 B-24J Liberators based in Cagayan, escorted by 21 Corsairs and 16 P-38s. The raid was opposed by only 8 Zeroes and 5 Nicks--shockingly low after the base was defended by 100+ fighters about a week ago. 1 Zero and 1 Nick were shot down. Damage at the base was significant:
AO Kyokuto Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Yura, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
TK Kanseishi Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Kyuei Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAKL Suez Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAKL Gyokurei Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
TK Bushu Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAKL Ronsan Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
TK Kinrei Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
TK Kinmo Maru, Bomb hits 1 (2nd wave: TK Kinmo Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage)
TK Batopaha Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
SS I-29, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage


All said and done that's probably 2 tankers sunk, and maybe the Yura and the submarine too.



Reinforcements
APA Cavalier arrives at Alameda
VB-135 arrives at Oak Harbor
11th PAVO Regiment arrives at Madras

[Molon Labe]

3 February 1944

China
-Enemy night raid on Kanhsien again; 9 Sallies and 6 Helens, no damage
-Enemy sweep of Amoy with 7 Tojos: Our CAP was 5 P-40s, 1 Tojo shot down.

Allied raids:
near Hwainan (ground forces): 40 casualties
near Chengchow (ground forces): 6 casualties
near Hankow (ground forces): 68 casualties


Philippines
-Enemy night raid on Cagayan by 3 Frances bombers; 2 shot down by flak, no damage.

USS Golet torpedoed a PB (2780 tons) in the Strait of Luzon. We're not sure whether this ship made it.

We attacked Manila again, 20 Corsairs and 15 P-38s escorting 48 B-24s; enemy CAP this time was 42 Georges, 13 Franks, 3 Zeroes and a Nick. Despite being outnumbered fighter-wise the losses were pretty even, 4 Corsairs lost (well... plus 3 more that crashed on the way back to base, and another scrapped after it landed) while 3 Georges, 1 Frank and 1 Zero went down. Looks like the port was mostly evacuated this time:
CL Yura, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
SS I-29, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
AO Kyokuto Maru, Bomb hits 1

The Yura and I-29 were "heavy damage"'d last time so getting hit again probably means they're done.


Burma and Thailand
Air raids:
east road (ground forces): 209 casualties
west road (ground forces): 32 casualties

Ground combat:
west road; Allied Deliberate attack, 18k troops vs 3.2k troops, 1647(J) to 90(A) casualties, enemy units retreating.


DEI
Air raids:
Koepang (ground forces): 0 casualties
Kendari (ground forces): 18 casualties

Ground combat:
22nd Australian Brigade has eliminated remaining enemy units in Palopo, Celebes.


Reinforcements
DE Donaldson arrives at Seattle
APA James O'Hara arrives at Balboa
AP Gen. H.W.Butner arrives at Eastern USA