British Admiralty withdraws assets from Far East. Jap bombers arrive to a rude welcome over Bataan!

ACTION SUMMARY: It is now January 1, 1942. Only three weeks have transpired since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The principle Allied concentrations in the Western Pacific are all in danger of being overrun. The Japanese have landed in force in both the Phillipines and in Malaya, threatening both Manila and Singapore with almost 100,000 men against each stronghold where scant Allied resistance is arrayed against an unstoppable Japanese war machine.

In the Phillipines, all U.S. force in Luzon have withdrawn to the Bataan redoubt where 16,000 infantry and 50,000 second-line troops and other assorted personnel are digging in for inevitable siege. Japanese forces continue to creep southwards down Luzon island to seal the fate of my forces there.

In Malaya, the Japanese are advancing slowly, mopping British forces as they move towards Jahore and "impregnable" Singapore. Beyond the British colonial citadel lies the riches of the Dutch East Indies, rich in those resources needed to fuel Japanese imperial ambitions. There, only a scratch force of light cruisers and destroyers gathered from four seperate nations (the ADBA command) stand watch with little of hope of reinforcements.

In Burma, British forces have withdrawn to a defensive line guarding both the approaches to India (crown jewel of the British Empire) and the lifeline to China. But uncertainty in the European theatre, and vacillation on behalf of the British Imperial General Staff prevents mass reinforcements from being sent to the aide of Singapore, much less Burma.

In China, the Nationalist Chinese Army of Chiang Kai-Shek face an uncertain future in the face of a massive Japanese offensive spanning over a 1000 miles from Yenen to Wuchow. Though outnumbering the Japanese invaders, the Chinese army is impaired by a corrupt command structure, outdated Soviet equipment, and an almost complete lack of armor and recon.

The South Pacific is thankfully quiet. Few forces stand guard over New Guinea and the South Pacific Islands, mandates of the Australian and New Zealand governments. Slowly the Australians are mobilizing with an intent to dig into the islands that shield the continent to the northeast.

In the Central Pacific, the United States Navy has lost eight battleships, the fists of the fleet. With only three fleet carriers against six Japanese flattops, the U.S. Navy is in no condition to bring the enemy to decisive battle. Instead, three operations are in motion to bring a parity of force to the imbalance of power in the Pacific. Operation Bolo is in the process of reinforcing Wake and Midway Islands. Operation Ivy, the only truly offensive operation currently underway by the Navy, is deploying subs to the Japanese Home Islands, and Operation Congo is reinforcing the curtain of defenses guarding the precious convoy routes to Australia.

That's the situation as of January 1, 1942.

As for action today, my B-17's from Mindanao made their first strategic bombing strike against the raw material installations at San Marcelano in Luzon, so recently abandoned by Allied forces in Operation Redoubt. By doing so, I had to lift the daily strikes against Jolo Airfield. To my dismay, Jolo airfield is not neutralized. Instead, three Kate torpedo bombers sortied from the island to strike an ASW patrol from the ADBA command I had dispatched north of Celebes. A British destroyer was torpedoed. She is limping back to Balikpapan.

Ground fighting opened again at Alor Star, just thirty miles from Georgetown. The 6th and 15th Indian Brigades came under air attack at Betty bombers carpet bombed the jungles prepatory to the renewed Japanese advance. The line continues to hold.

Elsewhere, the British Imperial General Staff saw it fit to withdraw one light cruiser and two destroyers based at Ceylon to the European Theatre. The condition of the British war effort in the Far East dictates the necessity of keeping forces there, and so it is that an operational order from the Admiralty can eliminate a three warships from my roster just as well as a flight of Betty torpedo bombers.

No other significant activity today. The Japanese launched their first major air raid against Bataan itself with an intent to carpet bomb my nearly 70,000 troops dug into the jungle slopes. With three AA batallions concentrated throughout the fortress, the Japanese took a severe blow. Thirty Betty bombers were damaged, which means they are out of action for at least a week. And who says flak batteries are ineffectual?



No warroom today.