Part 253: Operational Report: 16/08/42

Ole Trusty is prowling off the coast of Malaya. She manages to find and get a solid hit on a ship she finds there.



The stubborn ship won't go down quickly enough or the Trusty's captain, so he puts three more in, as well as using his deck gun.



Yet he still doesn't report her sunk.

The British carriers once more move into range of Rabaul, and once more, the enemy send out their ageing bombers, but they have little chance of hitting our ships.



Although this doesn't stop them from trying, the second time, the Flack and planes from the Formidable takes their pound of flesh from the Japanese planes.







Once more, we see some air combat over Burma.







The Japanese carriers continue to move eastward towards the West Coast (odd when you put it like that), this time they find a troop transport, and savage it.



At least this means we haven't let them get away, although I wish our carriers had found them, not them finding our ships. So many of these convoys are running without support, as there are more of them than I have destroyers to escort them.

Then I realize which convoy this is, this is the once carrying the 41st Infantry Division, which I had just freed up.



The losses are hideous, I curse aloud. So many convoys make it to Pearl Harbour without loss, yet the Japanese manage to find this single, highly important convoy, and have sent An Entire Infantry Division to the bottom of the sea.

Gods, this is a disaster.




North of Anking we take another crack at taking out that Japanese force, with little luck.



We also strip another layer of fortifications off Hong Kong. The main assault force is coming closer, slowly.







twelve ships and four hundred points of Army loss points. Add to that the terrible newspapers that are going to be appearing tomorrow.



The only consolation is that if I had provided them with an escort, it would have been no use against the enemy carriers. Lets just hope that ours can catch up with the murderers before they make a run back to Japan. Their over a screen away at this point, so its going to be tricky. Of course, the Japanese are within a screen length of something – the West Coast!



That ship fleeing is the Edger Allan Poe, carrying the last remaining 800 men of the 41st Divison. I'm ordering them north to try and get out of range overnight, otherwise I lose the unit completely – if they make it back, then I can then at least spend a few months rebuilding them.



All across the West Coast of America, pilots are told to stop training and begin action sweeps, CAPs are set up, hundreds of pilots are drafted from their training schools and into the undermanned squadrons, soon, this feeling of panic will spread to the whole of America.

The Japanese are Coming