Part 58: Operational Report: 02/02/42

As expected, the two torpedo boats and the mine layer that were supporting the invasion of Balikpapan are no match for the pride of the British and Dutch Navies.



Later in the day, the task force hunts down and sink the transport Shanghi Maru, neither of her escorts are to be seen,and later on the torpedo boat Kari is found alone and also sunk.

The defenders of Sabang get their first raid today, as the enemy expand their targets in Sumatra.



They also hit Medan, this leads me to believe that a strike across the Strait of Malacca is likely at any time.



Having bypasses Mersing on their way down, the Japanese have invaded the city from the sea, bringing more troops onto an already overpopulated stretch of land.



The name of the troop carrier is a little insulting as well.



Today's attack on Singapore brings equal casualties, but uses up more precious supplies.





The invasion of the central Philippine islands begin today as the enemy has cleared up all our defenders in the southern islands.



Using a cruiser there is overkill in my opinion, but at least its not threatening any of our ships there.

After their change of scenery yesterday, the enemy are back to pounding Bataan into the ground.







Near Canton, the enemy finally attack some of our forces that they have been bombarding near daily since the start of the war.



Its not a large attack, but I feel that I should mention it, as these guys have been under attack for over a month now.





Our shock attack on Luganville has less than stellar results, and I think we need more troops to finish the job.



If only they hadn't all been lost yesterday.







Another holding day, with our surface ships making themselves useful in disrupting the enemies attacks.







The Invasion of the Marshall Islands will be going ahead soon – I hope within two weeks. Loading of the troops will begin in four days. Why four days you ask?



Almost our entire fleet of destroyers are currently undergoing upgrades at Pearl, they should be done within the week. We should also have the carriers back and refuelled by that point, so the attack will be going ahead then. We also complete repairs on the cruiser San Francisco in eight days, so this ship should be able to join the attack.

As someone asked for something with arrows on it, here is the basic plan.



The carriers will take up position in striking range of all of the islands, while troops are landed on the key ones at once – hopefully we will be able to take them all easily, but if not then a second wave will be sent in to the hot spots.

The actual value of these islands is small, but they make a key stepping stone towards Japan or the Dutch east Indies.



This is a major offensive, so lets hope it plays out well.