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April 16-21, 1942

India

The constant air battles over Ceylon have exhausted my fighters. The bomber force is growing, and two new squadrons of Beauforts are particularly welcome, but my exhaustion and bad weather have forced a slowdown of ops here for a few days.

I continue shuffling around the Indian army, hoping to pin him in on the beaches wherever he lands. If he lands? I guess I don’t know he’ll actually invade the mainland - SIGINT disinformation is a classic tactic, after all. He’d be crazy not to, and I’d be crazy to assume he isn’t coming.

In any case, the intel has been coming in. On March 8th, I got a report of an enemy mountain gun regiment planning for Chittagong, in the Bangladesh-Burma corner. At the end of March, SIGINT reported an IJA infantry regiment planning for Vizagapatnam, far to the west. Most concerning of all, we got two hits on units planning for Diamond Harbour, right next to Calcutta, on April 3rd and 11th. His hypothetical invasion seems aimed at eastern India generally. Of course, this is probably disinformation to trick me into defending the wrong side of India or something. Right?

I don’t know. That’s too many valuable units to waste trying to convince me a phoney invasion is happening. I have to take it seriously, and I distribute my units accordingly, with some shifting as more intel comes in and I perceive Diamond Harbour as more threatened (and more crucial) than Vizagapatnam.

A full 604 AV ,including 18,000 troops and 90 Stuart tanks, is concentrated at Vizagapatnam. 420 AV (approximately 16,000 infantry) is settling in at Diamond Harbour, with another 247 AV at Calcutta. Chittagong, 178 AV. Here, have a map. This is my coastal defence deployment:



I’m still concerned by how quickly he could mount an invasion from Ceylon. As such, the southern tip of India remains heavily garrisoned. My anxiety increases on the 21st, when Japanese battleships bombard Cochin. A landing on the west side of India would be a catastrophe for me in my current deployment, and he’s got me worrying about it again. Ceylon opens up all kinds of doors for him, logistically speaking. It’s terrifying.

I’ve gotta keep all my bases covered from potential paradrops, too, so every little unit I can scrounge up from the Indian interior has been brought to bear. One consequence of this is that interior is badly under-garrisoned. My line here is long and brittle, but if I can keep him springing an amphibious blitzkrieg on me I’ll be able to use India’s railroads to concentrate against a hypothetical landing force. I think.

I just have to hope the SIGINT guys are right.



Also, I’m trying to sneak another wave of transports out of the Bay of Bengal. They’re probably doomed, but I can at least force him to expend fuel chasing them down, rather than feed the Betty nest at Trincomalee. Some of them might even survive!

Burma



India under threat of invasion means temporarily suspending any thoughts of aggression in the Burma/Thailand theatre. The whole place is looking more and more exposed - a landing could very quickly cut Burma off, if I’m not prepared. The troops would eventually run out of supplies and could be mopped up at Pharnakes’ leisure.

So: it’s time to consider blowing this joint. We could leave a decent garrison. Stay-behind units, enough to ward off paratroopers and force Pharnakes to slog overland and take the damned place. I decide to at least start marching the highest-quality units north, for airlift to Calcutta or overland march to Imphal.

I know what you’re thinking: “This amounts to a timetable for withdrawal that will only serve to embolden our enemies in the struggle for freedom.” You are right, and I am sorry.

Sumatra




Poor souls. British and Dutch colonial troops wander the jungles of Sumatra, with all the major cities and ports in Japanese hands. Except for the big one: Palembang. The siege continues - I have 20,000 supplies there, it could go on for a while, theoretically. But with only 235 AV of defenders against his 782 AV attacking force, I don’t expect it to hold Palembang much longer.

In the skies over Palembang, top American ace 2nd LT Irvin got three more Ann kills, then returned to base at Djambi only to find Japanese troops confiscating his plane and then his person. RIP, 19-kill Warhawk pilot. CW-22 Falcons (actually a significant portion of the ML-KNIL now) and 5 Warhawks (including Lieutenant Irwin’s) are captured, as well.

A few days later, Benkoelen falls to Japanese paratroopers, which are extremely active all over the Pacific lately. (I gave the IJN some special “Assault SNLF” paratroop units in the mod and it’s kind of biting me in the ass here.) More Dutch aircraft were hiding here and fall prey to the paratroopers - recon biplanes, the dregs of a broken air force.

Java



The siege of Bandoeng goes on and on. The Dutch managed to uncrate a few DB-7s and B-25s they’d obtained from the Americans before the Japanese invasion landed, so they’ve been flying futile missions and feeding the gaping Zero/Oscar maw. It’s just aerial death rattle.

Northern Australia



I’ve been describing this theatre pretty thoroughly on Twitter, but for the record, he’s harrying and chasing me south from Darwin at a brisk clip. Thank God he doesn’t seem to have tanks, but the paratroops are bad enough.

American armored units currently at Hawaii begin planning for a war of maneuver in the Australian desert. Mornington Island (in the Gulf of Carpentaria) is being rapidly built into an airfield, to provide cover for a potential advance along the northern road.

SOPAC/SWPAC


Red boxes mark bases claimed by Japanese paratroops in recent days. He’s cleaning up the map.

At Port Moresby, supply issues are being solved. A huge, escorted convoy loaded with 29,000 supplies is unloading now. PM only had 7,000 supply on 4/20, which is far too low.

Ndeni is also building up quickly. I have some SBDs there, too, along with a significant number of fighters - feeling more and more secure. I just wish I had the range and troops to fully secure Rennell.

This is another theatre I’ve been talking about on twitter, with occasional successes to report.

CENTPAC

See this tweet. All quiet here, which works for me - the Pearl shipyards are busy repairing and upgrading the cream of the USN.



I have a horde of submarines patrolling the Marshalls, to very little effect. The USN sub fleet just doesn’t have many targets, what with seemingly the entire IJN hanging around in the Indian Ocean & South China Sea.

North Pacific



No news. Nary a peep. Adak Island is building up rapidly, level 4 port and airfield. A battalion of combat engineers are on their way to Amchitka to begin work on that base.

I’m really surprised he hasn’t made a move at all in the north, but it works for me.

Miscellaneous



HMS Warspite, HMCS Canada, french cruiser, Algerie, the Dutch cruiser Gelderland, and a bunch of Canadian destroyers head west from Perth for Cape Town, then Bombay. I desperately need more striking power in the Indian Ocean. This has been a journey of many, many weeks for them - Warspite and Canada began the war on the American west coast and spent the first couple of months in the far north.




Other ships of note: HMS Hermes is 52 days from being fully repaired at Brisbane. HMNZS New Zealand is still repairing damage at Noumea. HMS Prince of Wales is only a week or two from being fully repaired, and Repulse is on her way to the UK for her own long stay in the dockyards. Royal Sovereign is at Bombay, fixing up systems damage before travelling to Cape Town for major work. HMS Ark Royal is still at Cape Town - only 17 days left until she’s fully repaired. I’ll be able to get up to some serious shenanigans in the Indian Ocean soon..