5 May 1942
Burma campaign begins with invasion of Pegu
SOPAC
My Betty raids overnight on Suva did some damage, but more important is that it's tying up enemy P-39s.
My troops had no problem enduring a few raids by heavy bombers and dive bombers.
The KB has replenished all its aircraft at Noumea. I have insufficient ammunition tenders to fully replenish the carrier's aircraft ammunition stores, and the rearming of heavy cruisers and battleships is also delayed. I'm going to get the KB back out ASAP to escort another division to Nadi, I intend to have cruisers join them en route after they rearm, and have the battleships follow that ready to bombard the troops at Nadi and the airbase at Suva.
Burma
I landed 2 regiments in Pegu to begin the my invasion of Burma. These guys will hopefully clear out the resistance between here and Moulmien so that the troops in Moulmien can cross without having to shock attack over a river. Once Pegu is secure I have about 2 divisions waiting to land right behind them. But, there's a problem with that... Enemy troops in Rangoon are already reported moving to Pegu. If they arrive before I reinforce, I might be overrun, or at the least I'll be facing more resistance bringing them ashore. I'm guessing recon flights noticed I was moving more troops towards Moulmien. So, I'm altering the plan--the relatively unprepared troops offshore will land in Pegu immediately.
China
I think I've overreacted to the situation in Sian. The end-around supply cutoff is a bad move and I'm aborting it. I'm moving over bad terrain without roads, so it will take weeks. And Sian is, in fact, weakening. Today's bombardment destroyed 13 enemy squads, which is a lot for this kind of attack. I'm also going to be able to add light bombers the bombers attacking here in a few more days. They're also trying to maintain an attenuated supply line to a base with 140k troops in it that is constantly being bombed and repaired. And if nothing else, when I take Rangoon in another week or so, the Burma Road will be closed and China's supply situation will go from bad to worse.
Near Kanhsien, I got a little too aggressive and attacked what turned out to be 2 corps with just one brigade. I lost 5 squads for that, they'll be making an orderly retreat back to base.
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