Sorry guys. I got really overwhelmed with life, and while I did manage to keep the campaign going, my AARs fell off.
We're in August 1943 now, let's see if I can get things caught up...
Java Campaign
I think you can kind of see the writing on the wall for how the Java Campaign was going to turn out. I never recovered from the loss of the dive bomber hordes that flew unescorted to their deaths. The loss of them allowed reinforcements to land, and allowed their cruisers to bombard my airbases. The bombardments ensured that I wouldn't be able to replace those losses, and also caused me to lose fighters in large numbers. Those fighters were needed in part to help me land additional forces and supplies--as you could see before I dropped out for a few months, the CVEs weren't enough, they were only ever intended as a supplement.
We reached Batavia on April 5, finding it already reinforced and beyond our reach. Our land forces headed for Surabaya had to try to establish inland air bases, delaying them from reaching before even more reinforcements had landed. At that point there was truly nothing that could be done. I couldn't reinforce, resupply, or evacuate them. The good news is that I was able to at least dig in and make him suffer a lot of casualties removing my troops from Java. We frequently managed to find small units we could crush before they consolidated. But without supplies and without taking the major cities producing supply, our forces surrendered-- 29 May 1943 at Bandoeng w 16,000 POWs taken, and 12 June 1943 at Madioen with about 20,000 POWs taken.
Approximate losses:
BB Nevada
BB Revenge
CVE Chenango
CVE Sangamon
CVE Suwannee
CVE Altamaha
CVE Nassau
CA Chester
CA Astoria
CA Portland
CA Australia
CL Leander
CL Phoenix
DD Porter
DD Cummings
DD Monssen
DD Gensevoort
DD Isaac Sweers
SS KXIII
SS KXVI
SS Sturgeon
SS Pickerel
AK/AKA: 5
AMC: 2
AO: 1
AE: 1
4+ Divisions of Infantry, plus aviation support and construction crews
5 fighter squadrons, at least 3 attack squadrons, probably 2 recon/patrol squadrons.
Banda Sea Campaign
While I was losing in Java, I tried to grab as many islands in the Eastern DEI, clinging to some hope I could open an air corridor to Java to fly supplies, but also to be able to put the Celebes Sea in Airstrike range. This campaign is still ongoing.
I invaded Ambon 14 May 1943 with 3 regiments of Marines....
EDIT 11/22/22: Oh wow I can't believe I forgot this one! ON 22 May 1943, the "Marianas Detachment" of the KB appeared near Saumlaki, apparently unaware of my air strength that far south. They suffered an initial strike from Darwin of USMC Corsair-escorted B-25s, which wore down the enemy CAP. The second wave was an air strike from VF-3 (17 F4U) and 34 SBDs (probably VB-6); there were only 15 Zeroes defending the second wave. There wasn't much of an air battle, just 1 Zero and 1 F4U shot down. The SBDs hit the Kongo 3 times, the Junyo 5 times, CVL Ryuho times, and the Taiho 3 times.
Intel would later report CV Junyo and CVL Ryuho sunk. They got a strike of their own off before they were hit, taking out several of my troop-laden LSTs.
The enemy landed extraordinary number of troops in response on 23 May 1943, with the KB preventing interdiction. Troop levels increased from 20,000 to 56,000, assuring our Marines would not take the island without a similar escalation on our part. The remants of the Marianas Detachment were hit again, though, with an SBD raid scoring 3 hits on CV Taiho and causing an ammunition explosion.
By 5/25/43, the enemy was trying to evacuate troops off of Babar, and our mostly-Darwin based aircraft and submarines were having a field day picking off merchant ships. The damaged
Taiho attempted to shelter there as well, only to get
finished off by B-25s.
On 23 June, I captured Saumlaki and started building an airbase there. This would bring Ambon within range of fighters other than P-38s, such as F6F Hellcats and the P-47 Thunderbolt.
On 11 July 1943, the KB was returning to Ambon presumably to land even more troops. Again, the CAP was getting worn down by heavy bomber raids and P-38 sweeps on Ambon itself. This time, low level B-25D1s got through, scoring 4 hits on the Hiyo and another on the Zuikaku. The KB hasn't been back since.
On 19 July 1943, we recaptured Babar. Like Saumlaki, this would be another airbase targeting Ambon.
Unfortunately, these bases would not get online with enough time to evacuate Ambon. The Marines on Ambon surrendered 23 July 1943. But, as of now (10 August), those bases are online, and between them we have over 120 fighters and 72 dive bombers ready to contest any Japanese evacuation of Ambon. Plus the P-38s, B-25Gs, and Beaufighters based on Taberfane, and plus the B-24s from Darwin.
In addition to the 3 regiments on Ambon, this campaign has cost me probably over 100 dive bombers in failed attacks on the KB, including the crews, which has depleted my USN pilot reserves. I'm looking for opportunities to let USMC Air take some more missions since they have a separate pilot pool. It's also taken a severe toll on subs, as the approaches to Ambon were heavily patroled by ASW ships and aircraft.
Eternal Patrol: O23, Kingfish, O20, KXI, and Spearfish
Burma Campaign
The reinforcements for Java came from Burma and the fleets about the land in Sri Lanka, which themselves were taken from Burma. Taking advantage of that vacuum, British and Indian forces started streaming in from Lashio starting in early June, and we kept going until we were at the gates of Rangoon. Our current obstacle is that our retaken airbases in the Mandalay area are too far to reliably support fighter cover as far south as Rangoon. We had to retreat from the base that would have cut Rangoon off, Pegu, because the terrain is too open and enemy bombers were hitting our troops quite effectively. However, Vengeance dive bombers were able to get multiple hits on an enemy cruiser, and the British CVBG made an appearance, hitting a troop transport with Avengers and killing over 2,000 enemy soldiers on board.
Solomons and SouthPAC
We're retaken everything on New Britain of any significance, including Rabaul. We were even able to raid Truk with B-24s for a time until he got angry enough to move in a ton of fighters. We're bombing Guadalcanal daily. No rush to take it. I did get myself into a bit of a debacle trying to take Ponapae, an atoll near Truk. Resistance was especialy stiff due to a strong shore battery contingent. They drove away my phibs after landing, until I realized the supplies brought ashore wouldn't be sufficient to allow the Marines to overcome the defenses. So with the help of 3 fast battleships and air cover from USS Essex, the phibs went back into the maw and dropped off the supplies. It appears the enemy has reinforced a bit as well, so the outcome there is in doubt. I'm surprised the KB hasn't showed up to determine the outcome yet. Until then, B-24s from Rabaul are trying to keep the enemy too disorganized to evict me, while my guys get reorganized and ready to push.
The main value of this island is that it will allow me to get recon flights over the Marianas. Not that valuable, but I was not expecting so much resistance that the regiment I sent wouldn't be overkill.
And because I know you'll ask, my US carrier forces as this point are:
Essex
Lexington-II
Yorktown-II
Independence
Princeton
Belleau Wood
9 CVEs
