Admiral Somerville spilled his coffee on his uniform as two fighters suddenly
flew over the brigde of CA Canberra, near the coast of New Britain. "What
the hell... why are they back already?!" he yelled at his adjutant. "They're
supposed to bombard Rabaul until their fuel runs out!"
The adjuntant skimmed over a report he had just been handed: "We're
receiving their reports, Sir... It seems that the Japanese airbases are empty,
so they attacked and destroyed the barracks instead and are now already
returning to Port Moresby".
Admiral Somerville was amazed: "No air assets on New Britain? What about
the Torpedo Bomber squadrons, have they found any ships in port?"
"No Sir, the port was empty. Not a single ship. They, too, are already
returning home. They observed the effect of our bombardment: it seems that
our cannons haven't done any damage to the port facilities."
Admiral Somerville gazed out of the window and watched the transports
unload their cargo. Could it really be true? No Japanese forces at all guarding
this excellent harbor? Only two Marine brigades?? They would be
overwhelmingly outmanned against General MacArthur's army, which was
even now in the process of disembarking from the Anzac transports. 5
infantry divisions, 2 artillery brigades and some MGBs would be at his
disposal in a couple of days. The troops landing on Bougainville faced no
resistance, either. But where was that Japanese battleship, and what about
the rumors of a Japanese carrier force to the north? The transports were only
weakly defended by his flagship and a small destroyer flotilla, a Japanese air
raid now could wreak havoc among the unloading ships. Did the American
carrier group to the east really preoccupy all enemy forces in the vicinity?
"Sir, a report from one of our submarine captains! He found the CV Ryujo!!"
yelled a young lieutenant as he ran onto the brigde. Admiral Somerville
paled. "Where is that carrier! Within strinking range?!" he breathed. The
thought of a full strike against his unloading convoy, with virtually no AA
defense and the fighters gone, made him shudder. He had complained in
Brisbane about the lack of any kind of AA on his ships, but the Allied
command had decided that the convoy should nevertheless assemble in the
Coral Sea without waiting for an American fleet. Now he would have to pay
for their hasty decision!
"No Sir," the lieutenant replied, "she was sunk by three torpedoes!"
When Admiral Somerville fell into his chair, the coffee cup fell off the
console, but he didn't care...
-----
In other news, I lost a fighter near Kuala Lumpur, but a bomber destroyed
the roads west of the city. A Guerilla destroyed a Japanese Artillery.
