Update : January 25th, 1942.
With the end of the early Winter storms, Bomber Command has resumed the Strategic Campaign against the Ruhr Valley industries. As before, the plan is to first "pound out" a safe corridor through the occupied Netherlands, then leave minimal Forces to keep that area suppressed while moving on to a full-scale campaign against the Ruhr. Logistical Strikes, Installation Strikes and Strategic Bombing will all be used... with most of the early emphasis on Installation Strikes to minimize losses to the increasingly dangerous German Flak.
German total ICs are at 359 at the beginning of the 1942 campaign, and the German combat Air strength (not counting Air Transports) stands at:
Fighters : 5
Interceptors : 9
CAS : 1
TAC : 10
NAV : 7
The RAF totals:
Fighters : 18
Interceptors : 20
CAS : 12
STRAT : 27
TAC : 8
... but several groups (of CAS, TAC and INT) are operating in the Far East against Japanese and Siamese forces. No further sign has been seen of the Japanese CV Task Force that raided Rangoon... although all of the British CVs and most of the BBs and CAs have been deployed to Indochinese waters in hopes of catching intruding Japanese Task Forces.
Overland attacks by British Army forces operating from Burma and the Singapore area are advancing on Bangkok to split Siam in two, and much of the Siamese Army has been destroyed by Ground Attack from RAF forces.
Update : February 25th, 1942.
One month after the resumption of the Air offensive over Europe, the initial goals have been successfully achieved. The Netherlands is once again a logistical wasteland, with AA-defenses and Factories crushed by bombing. The Ruhr area (Westfalen) is in the same sorry state, with all the Factories destroyed and AA-defenses completely suppressed. Infrastructure averages around 10%. The campaign is now being expanded into the Hannover region... where some of the toughest German Flak defenses have been built up (eg: 10-AA in Hannover itself).
Despite the increasingly heavy Flak defenses, losses continue to run at an acceptable level... about 16 ICs-per-day. The German Luftwaffe is slowly losing ground, their total strength (initial forces + builds - losses) dropping by five Squadrons in the past month, with two more Axis Minor Squadrons lost as well.
German ICs now stand at 286... a -20% reduction after one month of bombing.
In the Far East, the overland attacks by British forces from Burma and Singapore have linked up at Bangkok, cutting Siam in two. They are now being reorganized to push North-Eastward into the mountainous interior, to capture the last centers of resistance (VPs). The Siamese Army has almost ceased to exist.
There has still been no further contact with the IJN, although the British CV Task Force has expanded its patrols past Singapore in an effort to lure the Japanese into battle. The USA has taken over the defense of Hong Kong, despite British advice to simply abandon the area. The US now has 11 CVs available for battle... together with the 7 British CVs (with 4 more under construction), this should greatly outnumber the Japanese CV inventory.
