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Ian R -> RE: Non historic turn 1. What would YOU do? (9/7/2019 4:34:39 AM)
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Your opponent will, eventually, take the PI/Malaya-Singapore/the NEI and Burma so the following is directed to preserving long term assets and starting to position throwaway assets to cause the IJ delay and attrition.
Completely clear out Pearl Harbor and send everything south of Hilo in small TFs and tell them to stay there. Put all the fighters on 100% CAP and the bombers on 100% naval search, with the Cats flying at night carrying torpedos. You never know, they might hit something.
Completely clear out Manila/PI and send all the cargo carriers and auxiliaries in single ship TFs to multiple places southwards, and, eventually, Perth. Combat ships go to Balikpapan because you might get to shoot up an IJ invasion fleet at Tarakan in a couple of days. Start moving all your ground units AFAP to the Manilla/Clark/Bataan triangle.. Set the the HQ to march to Bataan and hit up the supply draw there and stockpile. Buy the B17s out of PI to Java and set them to train, because you are going to bomb the oil wells* as soon as the Japanese take them. Put all the fighters on CAP 100% for day 1.
* Edit - from 8,000 ft.
Send some PBYs that can reach Rabaul to Townsville or somewhere and start lifting the Bird force home from there. The heavy weapons are unimportant in the long run, but the squads will turn into AIF 44, AIF44 engineers and Bren/Piats one day, and you need them to rebuild the 8th division in Darwin - I advocate forting up the two brigades in Malaya in Singapore, or possibly Palembang where they are in the right place to slow down the the IJA. In fact, the only PPs I suggest you spend now is on the B17s in the PI, so they don't get destroyed on the ground on day 1.
In Malaya, start pulling back ground forces and concentrate your divisions in the south, and fort up Mersing/Johore baru and Singers; set everything to train for Singapore. Send Force Z to Mersing under LR cap in case your opponent has a crack at it. Day two, send it to Colombo for safe keeping (or maybe Capetown).
Set as many engineers as you can to move to Palembang. Send the UK 18th division convoys to Palembang via Oosthaven. Re-route the Indian brigade convoys headed for Rangoon to Palembang. Build forts there, obviously, and stockpile supply.
Concentrate the NEI bombers in Batavia and Sorebaya and put them on intensive naval attack training. Fighters 100% escort training.
In Java, assume the IJ can land pretty much whenever and wherever they want outside the three main bases and march straight over the top of whatever is there. So right away get everything moving AFAP to Sorebaya, Batavia, and third priority Tlitijap. You can pick up most of the Barisan Regt by air from Pamekasan later, so set its objective to Sorebaya now.
In Burma on turn 1 I would set all the bits of the Burma division to rail or road move to Prome so you can assemble it and dig in. AVG to Rangoon, with its ground element.
Last thing is to get a Chinese Corps marching overland to Lashio straight away, and another one to Myitkna; also issue movement orders in China to concentrate ground forces at the 6 usual places, and set their objectives accordingly** and fly the Chinese airforce as far towards India and out of harm's way as possible. The sooner you get say a half dozen Chinese Corps to Diampur, the sooner you will have an American trained, American fed and American led (sort of) Chinese Army with about 4500AV, trained to high experience in combat in Burma. So send them marching now, particularly the corps that is broken up into divisions.
(**And if global replacements is not set to off, turn off all Chinese replacements except for the units already at the choke/stop points or marching to Burma, turn off all upgrades, and divide the replacements-on corps the IJA won't get to for a while.)
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