A Rock and a Hard Place
Japanese troops of the 1st Armored Corps watch for allied troops near sunset in Sharm-el-Sheikh
On November 12th the final American troops in Babo are scattered.
Tactical bombers, operating from the newly captured air base at Abadan begin attacks against the naval bases at Basrah and Kuweit City but fail to find the British fleet that was thought to be repairing in the gulf. It’s whereabouts are unknown. Several transport ships will end up at the bottom of the harbor at Kuweit.
Yamamoto, escorting 6 transport flotillas North in the Southern Red Sea encounters a small British submarine wolfpack. He’s hopeful to sink all of the British submarines before they can pass along a contact report. Unfortunately one flotilla escapes. Yamamoto hopes that his mission can be accomplished before the British can receive word of it and react.
In the dark of night on November 13th, Japanese infantry storm ashore in Eliat. Their mission is to seize the Suez Canal and attempt to cut off any British overland supply link to Iraq.
On the 14th, advance units, moving to take the province of Basrah encounter two Allied divisions who have recently disembarked in the province. Support arrives in Abadan before the advance needs to be halted.
0900 November 15. A beachhead in Eliat is established. After a brief reorganization, Japanese troops quickly begin advances to capture their initial objectives.
Battleship Fleet 1 having completed most of it’s necessary repairs, re-bases to Singapore to meet up with its new escorts. On November 10th, Admiral Shiroishi, the current commander of BB Fleet 1, receives word that his escorts are in the area and sets sail to meet them offshore.
An outdated Japanese submarine flotilla, holding station off Biak island to prevent American troops from attempting to move across the narrow strait is attacked by South African naval bombers. The flotilla is completely destroyed. These bombers, presumably operating from Hollandia, are causing great disruption with Japanese operations in the area.
On November 21 research into more modern infantry weapons is complete and Nakajima begins research into a turbojet fighter model. One that might allow Japanese pilots to perform intercepts at much longer ranges.
On November 22 the Kiwi’s get into the act and begin bombing the battleships of BB Fleet 2, who are still escorting troop transports toward Sorong. It was thought that by taking a longer route, staying well away from the sea lanes near New Guinea, that the move could be made without the risk of Allied bombing but to no avail.
Persian and Commonwealth units are being overwhelmed and destroyed by Japanese combined arms tactics in the open deserts of the Middle East. The Allies have no defensive line and units continue to arrive haphazardly into the area and are quickly overwhelmed by Locally superior Japanese forces and bombed mercilessly during their retreat.
The Americans are employing similar failed tactics in New Guinea. Troops are arriving into the combat zone in small numbers and are unable to defend themselves from ground or air attack.
Japanese infantry take Teheran on November 23rd and immediately advance toward the province of Babol in an attempt to cut off the 12 or so Allied divisions still thought to be operating in Eastern Persia. BB Fleet 2, having sustained fresh damage during Allied bombing raids, is sent to Fukuoka to undertake escort duties and repair some of its ships. BB Fleet 1 is en route to Sorong to replace it in its escort duties around New Guinea.
The last units of the Japanese advance force from Yemen arrives in the province of Sharm-el-Sheikh.
Yamamoto’s pilots acquire more night time experience when scout planes sight a British cruiser fleet in the West Gulf of Aden. The destroyer flotilla would survive the encounter but all three cruisers are sunk by bombers from the fleet’s carriers.