[Fritz]

End of April, 1944

Central

Daily Naval and Air bombardments against Guam continue to prepare the island for the violent arrival of V Corp. As April comes to an end, the invasion force is assembling less than 400 miles east of the Island. ADM Nimitz, CINCPAC, expects for the actual invasion to commence before Sunday, May 7th.

Some planners have been critical of the number of engineer assets assigned to the Guam follow on force. Currently, no base operations team has been assigned and construction and support assets are far below what will be needed.

Central area engineering assets are running thin, with barely enough to support the numerous bases and operations. Manpower allocation specialist in Washington have noted a surplus buildup of Seabees in Anchorage and are considering the transfer of assets to more active theaters. Central is planning a force allocation review to free up some under utilized troops.

240 miles north of Guam, US Carrier aircraft have struck ships and port facilities at Pagan. Though not looked at as part of the initial Marianas campaign, opportunistic planners have tabbed the island for invasion by the floating reserve if they are available.

Tinian invasion ground forces are loading on transports from bases all over Hawaii. These forces will be offloaded at Wake island and transferred to LSTs for their final journey. Central Air Operations planners hope to have airfields on Guam operational and proving direct support. Central is appealing for a transfer of Marine Aviation assets from SOUTH.

One plan for aviation transfer has a 5 carrier Task group leaving portions of their aviation assets at Eniwetok and moving south west of Ponape. Marine squadrons would fly out to the carriers from Emirau and Green islands and be transported north. Senior Marine pilots note that they have not been trained for carrier landings and operational losses could be high. The carrier captains have joined in protest.

Current plans have the combined carrier force leaving 3 of its Torpedo Squadrons and 4 of its Bomber Squadrons to make room for the Marines.

South

Marine and Naval aviation assets have been issued a warning order for a planned move to Emirau and Green islands where they will train for simulated carrier landings.

Current plans are for 3 Fighter Bomber, 1 Fighter, 2 Dive Bomber, and 2 Torpedo Bomber squadrons to participate in the training prior to transfer to transfer northward.

Southwest

General Omar Bradley has complained that he does not have enough Naval assets to safely move forces north toward the Philippines. Washington has tentatively promised the release of two fleet carrier TFs to the SW sometime in June.

SW(NG) The 503rd PIR has again been alerted to the possibility of an airdrop, this time in support of the capture of Hollandia. The Parachutists will jump in while an RCT of the 1st Cav makes an amphibious landing.

SW(DEI) British Naval Forces on loan to SW are complaining that their ships are in bad need of repair. The "Loaner" fleet has been ordered to dock at Darwin for inspection. The ships most in need of repair will be sent back to India for yardwork.

Allied Submariners had deployed 5 submarine tenders (AS) in Darwin, hoping to shorten the travel time for the subs to get on station. However, the subs are returning beat up, and a major facilities upgrade will be needed to support fast boat repair. Allied planners have decided to recall the ships to Pearl, which will resume operations at the primary submarine base in the Pacific.

(Here is an AI issue. as soon as I put an AS in a port, all of the subs head there when they are out of fuel or torpedoes. This is fine, but most of the subs also have system damage, which requires repair. All ports can conduct some repair, and the ASs enhance that, but when you have a number of ships, the shipyards seem to spread out the workload instead of getting a few ships ready. This means that most of my subs are in port and not sinking Japanese transports. With that in mind, Pear will once again become my sub ops area until I find a suitable site in the central pacific. Guam, Tinian, and Saipan may due, once I capture them.

While I am bitching a bit...

Transports load and unload all at one time. So if I make a massive TF of 100 transports, they will all "dock" and try to unload. This means that each one will unload a little at a time. It would be more realistic to unload a few at a time, but faster for each ship.)