1942

-At the begining of 42, the Japaneses have 2 goals: 1- isolate Australia, since they don't have enough soldiers to conquier it, they will isolate it by taking control of Port Moresby and the Solomon and Fidji islands; 2- finish off the Americans by attacking Midway. Dizzy with its unbelievable streak of victories, Japan will try to achieve the two goals at the same time.

-On the other side of the Pacific, the Americans decode the japanese transmissions and so, for the rest of the war since the Japaneses doesn't take care to change their codes, they will have a big advantage.

-The 15^th army of Shojiro Ida coming from occupied Indochina passes through Thailand and attack the south border of Birmania. They take over Moulmein and oblige general Alexander (britannic) to retreat out of Rangoon by March 7^th. April 10^th: Alexander with the help of two chinese armies establishes a front line on the line Prome-Toungoo. The 29^th, japanese reenforcements join the 15^th army and so the front line is pushed back and the Britishs have to retreat once again. 30 000 Britishs die against only 7000 Japaneses.

-In January, Japaneses push forward in their advance South and so conquier Rabaul, an strategically important port situated in New-Britain.

-During the month of February the Americans send two Task Forces (a group of fighting ships), centered around one carrier each, to make raids against the japanese bases on the Gilbert (Fletcher command the Task Force) and Marshall (Halsey command that second Task Force which include the carrier Enterprise) islands. Then Halsey is to go against Marcus and Wake islands

-General Yamashita "the Rommel of the Jungle", progress rapidly in Malaysia toward Singapore and is always pushing back the Britishs without giving them time to fortify their position by infiltrating their line or outflanking them. Thus general Percival is forced to retreat in the city of Singapore which is from now then bombed from the near newly captured airbases. From 1^st to 7^th of February, the Japaneses bomb intensively Singapore. On the 7^th they close on the city and by the 14^th the siege is started. One million refugees are then trapped inside the city: a 31 km² area. At the end of the day, the distribution of water is cut and at dawn of February 15^th general Arthur F. Percival is obliged to surrender with is 130 000 soldiers to 50 000 japanese soldiers.

-During the month of February, the Japaneses conquer the refineries and airports of the Sumatra Island. They also attack Timor and Bali islands. By these strategic advances the Japaneses can bomb the australian harbors, especially on the 20^th when a fleet of japanese carriers attack the Darwin harbor.

-At the end of February, japanese troops from Sumatra and Celebes are transported to Java. One of the two groups encounters an allied patrol and fights it off during the Java Sea Battle. Then they are able to unload their troops at Kragan. The other group after sinking two allied cruisers takes Batavia and Bandung (March 9^th)

-March 25^th, admiral Nagumo commands a fleet of 5 carriers and 4 battleships in the Indian Sea. His goal is to attack the British bases at Ceylon to reduce the English power. The british admiral Somerville with its 3 carriers, 5 battleships, 8 cruisers and 5 destroyers prefers to retreat towards Africa rather than confronting the unknown japanese fleet.

-In April another american Task Force is built to intercept the three japanese groups of ships sent South to attack Port Moresby. The two american carriers Yorktown and Lexington meet the japanese carriers Shoho, Shokaku and Zuikaku in the Coral Sea, giving rise to the first naval battle where the ships will never fire at their enemy: The Coral Sea Battle. May 7^th, the american planes attack and sink the Shoho. The next morning while the japanese airplanes sink the Lexington and damage the Yorktown, the american's ones disable the Shokaku and oblige the Japaneses to retreat.

-April 18^th, the carrier Hornet closes to 1300km on the Japan's coast and send a group of B-25 bomber to makes a raid of intimidation on Tokyo: it's Operation Doolittle.

-The Japaneses think that the attack of Operation Doolittle comes from Midway and so they strike back. The Americans, alerted since they have cracked the japanese code, bring the Yorktown to Midway while reparing it in less than 48h rather than the supposed 3 months in dry dock. The Yorktown thus join the Hornet and the Enterprise to form a fleet under the orders of Spruance. In all 50 ships are around Midway with 250 airplanes aboard and another 109 fighters on the island. On the other side, the Japaneses can count on 165 ships of which 4 are carriers.

The 4^th of June, the Japanese with the idea of catching off-guard the Americans at Midway send their airplanes to attack the island and then those return to fill up their gas tank after some easy, since overnumbered, fights with the fighters of Midway. This is the moment chosen by the american diving bombers to attack the carriers with their bridges full of gas and ammunitions. In 1h30, 3 of the 4 japanese carriers are sunk. The Hiryu, only surviver carrier, counter-attack and damage the Yorktown but this gives enough time for the Enterprise to send is planes and they sink the Hiryu with its airplanes. A few hours later, the Yorktown is torpedoed by the japanese submarine I-168.

-At the beginning of June, the Japaneses move towards Alaska: 4 battleships, 7 cruisers, 24 destroyers and 2 carriers with 82 planes conquer Kiska the 6^th of June and Attu the 7^th , thus taking position in the Aleutian islands. The defense was thin: 5 cruisers and 12 destroyers ordered by counter-admiral R. A. Theobald.

-From March to July the Japaneses advance in the south islands and take over Guadalcanal (South-East of Solomon Islands). In June they build an airport at Guadalcanal and July 21 they send troops to Buna on the North coast of New Guinea. Those troops then progress through the forest to attain Port Moresby from North. But MacArthur has already fortified Port Moresby and so the Japaneses fail. On the other side, the Americans learn of the new airport at Guadalcanal and so, August 7^th, they send the first Marine division which enters the jungle and finds the Japaneses off-guard. Thus they are able to take over the airport and rename it Henderson; the name of a Midway's hero. The Japaneses strike back but the Marines resist, especially during the Bloody Ridge Battle where the Americans kill 600 enemies. At the same time, the Japaneses troops going towards Port Moresby are obliged to retreat in the mountains, at 50km of their goal and by January 1943 they will all be neutralized. The Japaneses also try to land near the city but their troops are held off by the australian troops stationed there.

-During the nights of October 14^th and 15^th two japanese battleships: Kongo and Haruna, cruise near Guadalcanal 's coast and they bomb the airport, disabling it.

-To bomb again Henderson airport of Guadalcanal , the Japaneses form a bigger group of ships but the Americans send an interception party. The carriers all launch their planes at the same time and so while the japanese airplanes are sinking the Hornet and damaging the Enterprise, the american airplanes disable the Zuiho and the Shokaku, leading the Japanese to retreat.

-In a second try to bomb again Guadalcanal , November 12^th, 18 japanese ships of which the biggest are the battleships Hiei and Kirishima, go to the North of the island and encounter 5 american cruisers and 8 destroyers. In the night the two groups fire at one another at point blank and aftermath 2 japanese cruisers and the Hiei have sunk. This is the first part of the Guadalcanal Battle.

-At the third try, November 14^th, the last japanese battleship in the region: Kirishima with 4 cruisers and 9 destroyers is once again intercepted, this time by the american fleet with the battleships Washington and South Dakota. While the japanese ships are firing at the South Dakota and the american destroyers, the Washington closes unnoticed to 6.5km near the Kirishima and fire one salvo that sink the battleship. This is the second part of the Guadalcanal Battle.

-After its naval defeat, Japan is defeated on land when its troops at Guadalcanal are pushed back by american reenforcement.

-The fight for Guadalcanal costed 25 000 soldiers to Japan against only 3000 soldiers to USA. Even if both side have suffered about the same losses of 600 airplanes and 24 warships, the Japaneses can't build new ones.

-December 14^th Buna falls back into allied control after a combined attack by paratroopers and soldiers from Port Moresby.

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