Part 341: Operational Report: 12/11/42

We have a golden chance to rid ourselves of a Japanese submarine, let down by our confounded torpedoes!



The Shad also has no luck with our most defective of ordnance.



We only find a few of the Japanese hiding on Rossel Island today.



But we do surround the remaining soldiers, the last stages of resistance are coming to an end.





In what seems to be our day for hitting ships with dud torpedoes, yet another valuable tanker escapes our grasp.







Moving the fighters forwards allows some of our bombers to strike the Japanese at Akyab, although no damage is reported.







The Japanese send a good number of Zero's to Darwin today, and a fierce air battle begins. We come out on top again, but lose two planes.







The Snapper becomes the fourth sub today to hit its target with dud torpedoes, but it also gets eyes on reports of a large Japanese fleet operating off Eniwetock. If this is seen further east, then we know to send everything we have after it.







The Japanese continue to throw the lives of their troops away at Kiangtu, attacking our force that is four times the size of theirs.



Fully twelve percent of their men fail to return today.



They also take heavy losses near Chuhsien, while we don't even have a man wounded.
We then attack a group of Japanese soldiers to the south of Hangchow, and kill a good number of them.







Somehow, the soldiers at Dutch Harbor continue to hold out, maybe we took the Japanese fleet out before they could unload enough supplies, maybe the terrain is in our favour, whatever the situation, we may be able to hold until the relief troops arrive.









A good day in China, with a good number of Japanese soldiers killed. Although we do get some bad news from intelligence.
Looking at Rossel Island, I see that the Japanese have surrendered there, so I start those troops planning to land on Gasmata, part of New Britain and on the same land mass of Rabaul.



That's another carrier back on the lists, at least we can assume she is in drydock for a time.
Our own carriers are back in Sydney, and have drained the city of fuel, they have also begun to replenish their planes. The Yorktown will be fully repaired in ten days, and as this will give plenty of time for the replacement of planes, I will wait for the repairs to be done.
The plan is to then hit Rabaul before returning the carriers to Pearl Harbor and then ready for the invasion of the Marshall Islands.



Attacks on Hong Kong are still planned, but my men are building fortifications as fast as they can.