Canoerebel
Posts: 21100
Joined: 12/14/2002 From: Northwestern Georgia, USA Status: offline
|
12/13/41 The world is flames! Let slip the dogs of war! The fox is in the henhouse! Panzerjaager Hortlund is on a first name basis with a close friend of Roger Clemens who is fond of hyponemic durdles! And the hyperbole is outa control! ...[and now back to our regularly scheduled AAR]: NoPac: The rampaging IJN TF turns out to be DD Sazanami and DD Ushio which promptly dispatche TK Hadnot and PC Crawford in the Gulf of Alaska. Two subs then blockade the mouth of Puget Sound, sink two xAKL, and then hit mines (along with two SSX that do the same). I'm guessing that I-16 and I-18 won't make it back home. Meanwhile, the Japanese are landing at Attu Island. My DD TF was just one day out, but we'll see if it can do any damage tomorrow. What really concerns me is the possibility that Steve could've caught a whiff of Saratoga and could then try to chase her down. CenPac: The main KB division remains posted north of French Frigate Shoals. The other element long since disappeared (last seen near Johnston Island) and could be looking for Sara or even acting as the hammer to drive Sara into the anvil somewhere up north. Over at Wake, Japan's invasion fell on hard times, but Steve is reinforcing. But the Marine F3Fs, assisted by PBY patrol planes, have been tearing up the light transports, using a mix of bombs and shells to do the damage. This is a new kind of weapon for me. SWPac: Oops, CA Canberra somehow left Milne and steamed for Sydney rather than Rabaul. She'll turn around tonight. Ent and Lex are not too far away. The plan is to send one or both through the Torres Straights, though I'm wondering if Steve isn't waiting for just such a move. I do have a small Aussie ASW TF set to check out the narrows near Horn Island. Eastern DEI: Japan didn't penetrate any further, so no action today. Patrols report the main Mini KB, last seen in the Philippine Sea tearing up fleeing merchants, moving south and set to arrive near Morotai in a day or two. We've just begun a little work on Fortress Koepang. I'm also going to give some careful thought to Historiker's suggestion about Cocos Island. Western DEI: Japanese attack at Mersing fails but will succeed next time. The Japanese are also landing at Singkawang. B-17Ds out of Batavia hit the un-CAPed port at Kuching, putting two 500 pounders into badly damaged CA Kumano and another into an AV. :) That's one of my few good licks of the early war. Allied aircraft B-17D Fortress x 9 No Allied losses Japanese Ships CA Kumano, Bomb hits 2, heavy damage AV Sagara Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire Bay of Bengal: Another IJN DD TF (two ships) tears into some Allied transports and tankers fleeing into the Great Nicobars region, sinking several. I didn't see where these bad boys came from, but I hope they transited the Sunda Strait rather than the Malacca Straits. Surely PH wouldn't do something like that? Meanwhile, vulernable transports will have to temporarily move away from Port Blair lest they get hit. That's bad, becuase they didn't unload. Meanwhile, Japan took Victoria Point, so Steve has a level four airfield and I know he's considering an air drop on Port Blair. Two RN CLs are on the way to Port Blair from Colombo, but I feel like this is a slow developing bad dream. Philippines: Steve tries a para-assault of Bataan. I have no idea what he's thinking. Perhaps he thought I'd move all those troops forward, but I hadn't, so the IJ 'chutists are no more. The Acolyte: Steve seems to be an accolyte of the "shock and awe" variety of warfare. I'm duly aware of the gravity of the situation, but it's also just a wee bit humorous to see all these things going on here there and everywhere.
< Message edited by Canoerebel -- 4/18/2012 5:10:28 AM >
|