0800 January 12th 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Gulf of Martpan.
The latest spotting report from aircraft in the Mariana trench was not good news. The fleet that had been detected could easily support an invasion and protect the Transport ships if they arrived.
Suekuni's Submarine fleet prudently headed directly for the safety of Saipan as the message was passed to all ships an aircraft in the area of the new enemy fleets arrival.
Mj. General Genda was already in the area with his Naval bomber wing and it did not take long for Ozawa and four interceptor squadrons to arrive to assist. Admiral Spruance had brought the damaged Carrier, USS Bon Homme Richard, and his six remaining Battleships into hostile waters. There were no Transport fleets sighted so far but Spruance was showing no inclination to leave the North Mariana Trench so far.
BB Division 2 had found the fleeing American Transport fleet in the West Java Trench. His gun ships had a better time of sinking these ships than the Carriers as two were sunk by the Heavy Cruiser IJN Suzuya and the Battleship IJN Nagato. The third would escape for the time being.
By 0100 hours on January 13th the most modern known American Carrier had sunk. The bombers had deliberately targetted the USS Bon Homme Richard and now switched their attention to the rest of Spruance's fleet.
2200 January 12th 1945.
North China Army Headquarters. Jinghong, China.
Another British attack had started in India. They seemed to be determined to try and force Japanese troops out of Ranchi.
This time Nishihara would ask for assistance as the three enemy divisions were in slightly better condition and did pose slightly more of a threat. Higashikuni's response to the Allied aggression arrived within two hours.
Attacks were launched against both enemy forces advancing towards Ranchi with three Japanese divisions, led by General Kawabe, attacking Jabalpur with support from the Tactical bomber wings.
General Ueda himself led the other attack towards Lucknow in the north. All of the attacks ended within two hours with Ranchi holding in place. Kawabe called off his attack as soon as the British halted theirs and Ueda forced the enemy troops out of Lucknow but did not follow.
The various Headquarters and Flagships were receiving large amounts of combat reports all over the Pacific as well as in Asia. The reports were mostly standard with bombing reports and enemy fleet sightings most prevalent.
Air General Kondo had managed to convince Ichimaru that it was his turn to lead the bombers in India today.
He was targetting the British militia division in Jabalpur for the time being. Targets were becoming slightly less common in Burma and the Tactical bombers would spend a few days thinning out the British forces in India to prevent further attacks in the region.
0700 January 13th 1945.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Gulf of Martapan.
The additional aircraft that Yamamoto had requested to bolster the defences on the Marianas had arrived almost immediately. The extra defensive ground forces took longer to arrive.
Admiral Mikawa had been given the task of delivering three infantry divisions to the islands and he had arrived at his first port of call. Palau saw its defences increase by 33% with Mikawa still needing to reach both Guam and Saipan to complete his current mission. There was the small matter of a large American fleet parked in the North Mariana Trench that could stop his progress.
The Naval bombers and interceptors had returned to try and sink more of Spruance's fleet with the USS Indiana now his flagship. He still showed no sign of wishing to vacate the area and the Japanese aircraft were tiring, making it more dificult to inflict large amounts of damage to the enemy Battleships.
Carrier Group C had encountered a British Submarine Flotilla in the Nine Degree Channel which was promptly sunk by aircraft from IJN Zuikaku. The Submarines had escaped an earlier encounter with Nagano and his Carriers. There was no sign of the Transport fleet that Carrier Group C was hunting for the moment.
