0400 May 14th 1946.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, In Transit.
Ozawa was concentrating on the objectives of Operation Mystery when he received a report of an enemy landing in the Solomon Islands.
The Canadian fleet that had escaped CA Division 3 had indeed decided to make a nuisance of itself and had dropped its cargo off on Kolombangara Island. Two Dive bomber wings left their base on Kwajalein and headed for Bougainville to deal with the intruders while CA Division 3 headed north to try and sink the Canadian Transport fleet.
The Transport fleet did not get far and this time CA Division 3 did manage to sink it. No ship would be able to claim firing the shot that sank the enemy fleet.
1500 May 14th 1946.
Kwantung Army Headquarters. Harbin, Manchukuo.
The advance into the Soviet Union to the north east of Mongolia had caused a seemingly large delay for the Soviets who were still trying to recover their position. Terauchi had no wish to push forwards and was content to just hamper any build up along this part of the border.
Six divisions, including some armour, had arrived in Chita. General Koiso saw to it that the Red Army troops received new orders that involved a retreat.
0400 May 15th 1946.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.
Soviet troops were appearing almost continuously in Altay province giving the bombers no time to destroy one force before another appeared. So far the concentrations had only been small and easily forced away.
Yamada would attack again and three Soviet divisions would retreat after the fourth disintegrated to the Dive bombers overhead. There was a sizable force of enemy troops moving back into the Soviet Union from Altay.
Lt. General Hirota managed to advance into and capture Khobdo province in Mongolia. A large Soviet army invited him to leave which he promptly did and headed south towards Qumul.
At midnight on May 16th a much larger force arrived in Altay. This time Higashikuni would have no choice but to wait before ordering a counter attack. His troops would probably win with air support but could suffer far too many casualties in doing so. He would wait until the bombers had some time to reduce the enemy numbers. Hopefully no more would arrive in the mean time.
While the troops were waiting in Urumqi they attacked the armoured division that had retaken Khobdo. The battle did not last long and two divisions from Yusun Bulag would try and capture Khobdo again.
2200 May 17th 1946.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, In Transit.
The enemy incursion into the Solomon Islands had not lasted very long. The two Dive bomber wings headed back to Kwajalein after destroying the invading division on Kolombangara island.
An American Transport fleet had been spotted heading north and not towards this island. It would only be a matter of time before the enemy fleet encountered a Japanese fleet as it was heading into patrolled waters.
The Soviet Submarine fleet had decided to leave the safety of Vladivostok. Admiral Triye's field of expertise was as a Submarine Captain so he had little trouble intercepting the enemy fleet with his Destroyers. 24 Kuchikukantai accounted for the single Soviet Flotilla sunk. Triye would pursue the fleeing enemy fleet north.
The American Transport fleet that had been spotted heading north ran into CA Division 2 in the Magellan Rise to the south east of the Marshall Islands. The Heavy Cruiser IJN Ashigara would sink the Dolly Madison Flotilla. The sealanes to the south of the Marshalls were slowly being cleared of all enemy shipping and the south and central Pacific were much safer as a result. The Cruiser fleets were no match for any serious enemy fleet containing Carriers but Ozawa hoped that no such fleet would enter this particular area.
