Be willing to lose units! And commit to it.
If you build up and build up and let Japan preserve their forces, it’ll be a long time before you can really do anything. Just landing their existing planes on newly built carriers lets them keep pace with US builds for some time. Move up to Carolines as soon as you can, possibly with the West Coast fleet. As long as you have a strong enough counter in Haw Sz + air, one of two things will happen.
- Japan will attack your fleet with overwhelming force but will lose units in the process and also pull it’s air out of position to threaten India/China.
- Japan will leave that fleet alone and now you’re in a position that threatens a lot of Japanese terr.
You do need to ensure that Japan won’t clear your fleet with too much leftover that it precludes a counter on the US turn. So you might not always be able to take Carolines on US2 (assuming JDOW). But once you do move in and Japan hits you, hit them back. Build a mixture of subs, ac, ftr, and bombers with an odd DD as needed and hammer anything Japan leaves in that sea zone. After a round or two of sinking each other’s fleets, Japan will be hard pressed to keep replacing lost ships/air and still maintain offenses against the money islands, India, and China. US can afford to lose stuff much more than Japan can.
Freed from heavy Japanese threat, India can get a little more aggressive with their builds and moves. London supporting India with air, mech/arm, trns via a middle east mIC will go a long way towards pushing Japan back, especially if US is holding a lot of Jap attention out near the Carolines. India can then step out of it’s capital and start pushing back.
Meanwhile, China just needs to focus on keeping a decent stack and retaking the road ASAP in conjunction with Indian help. Then just march towards the coast as you can.
And if you’re going for a KJF, keep at least 12 of the SFE russians back to threaten Korea/Manchuria while Japan’s dealing with the road, US presence in the Carolines, and Australian/Indian landings in the DEI. Hell, if you’re really committed to a KJF, stack the Russians in Amur on R1 or R2 and dare Japan to hit you. Yeah, you lose 18inf + aa. But you’re forcing Japan’s forces north and away from India and the money islands. Plus you should attrite some of that Japanese air.
The Australians should mainly focus on retaking/holding the money islands while assisting the US as they can with blockers or scramblers for the Carolines.
Japan’s power will be broken once their vaunted air/navy is but a shadow of its former glory. So don’t be afraid to lose ships/air as long as you’re taking stuff with you. You don’t even need to trade even with Japan. US trading fleet/air at a 1-2 or 2-3 ratio can and does work as long as India/Australia are firing on all cylinders, China’s holding the road or at least trading the road, and UK is supporting India with a ME factory. Obviously you’re better off seeking at least 1-1 trades. But Japan only has so much cash to deal with 5 different enemies, something will give.