The little ship that could.

[1275psi]

Oct 23rd

Diogawa loves flying
Lives for it.

But this is getting beyond a joke.

Combat air patrols ..........again.
he feels every muscle now in his aching back, the grit behind the eyes.

he shares the same dark rings under the eyes, the same stubble as his fellow pilots.

70% CAP.
So easy to order.

So hard to maintain...........

[1275psi]

"Namatanai has fallen?"

'regretfully, yes sir. Rabual is in severe danger"

"The enemy?"

"The 3rd and 4th marine divisions. As far as we can tell.There were no survivors"

I see. Damnation. A real problem. That is 4 marine divisions identified in the SW pacific now.......

"Where is Yamaguchi?"

"Still chasing shadows in the central pacific sir"

Chasing shadows.............an apt term. For those who think my empires sun is setting...........
"Give him 2 more days. it may be a decoy. If nothing happens in two days, bring him home. We cannot feed him any more fuel..........

[kaleun]

Fuel, that is the limiting factor, for both sides.

[1275psi]

25/ oct 43

Deep probes , surface and sub surface in the alutiens.

Nothing sighted.

Deep probes all the way out to wake.

Nothing sighted.

Perth reconned. Heavily.

Nothing stirring


No carriers other than a single CVE supporting the namanatai invasion........


Doubt, decision, double decisions, recinded decisions.

The fleet is ordered to Ominato.
Now to Guam
Now to be split ............no, regathered at Ulithi.

In the end, re gather again at Guam.

This is the awful situation facing japan now.

They have but one shield.
But will it be where the blow falls?

[british exil]

What is the Jap intel on the Allied carriers?

Somebody must have seen something, I know the Pacific is large but a complete Navy can't be hidden or can it?
The allies must be licking wounds or out hunting.

The suspense is sometimes just too much to bear.


Mat

[BBfanboy]

It seems the only area not covered well is the area between Pago-Pago and New Zealand/Australia. If there was a huge fleet at PH a short time ago and then it went silent, I would suspect a move up either coast of Oz, coming for the DEI. Look out Timor!

[kaleun]

The suspense is sometimes just too much to bear.

It's all in the storytelling.
Or perhaps, James Bond was right and it's all in the wrist.

[Gridley380]

Wow - 70% CAP? I start seeing increased Ops losses after just a few days of 50% CAP!

[PaxMondo]

Really depends upon the action ... 70% CAP, only 1/3 of the planes are in the air unless an attack is being met....

[1275psi]

Takeji stands silent on his bridge wing, contemplating the oceans about him, as he has done for so many years now.
he, he thinks, probably cuts the classic picture of the Captain in charge, battling the mental problems of command.

In reality, he is hiding.
Hiding from the eyes of his navigator, his bridge crew.
The disapointment on the bridge is platable.
Every man here knows he has no control on where the fleet is headed, that they sail where the Admirals deem them to sail.
But they will still, irrationally, (and know that it is irrational to) blame him nevertheless.

One day from Japan.
From home

And turned around south.

Again.

Now he Navigates Zuiho south, trailing on the edge of the fleet, wondering how to maintain moral, how to keep fighting spirits high.
Again, they have pissed about, all over the ocean..............for nothing
Again.

Overhead, the rumble of wheels, the roar of an engine, the shadow climbing away.
Another pilot continuing the endless laps.
They at least, are setting an example.
4, 5 days to Guam. Then what?

Takeji sighs deeply.
Gods, he is sick of waiting.

I want to fight!

[1275psi]

Fuchida continues his decent, seeking well known landmarks, seeking the field.
Even now, in the setting sun, they are not too hard to find

His back aches, his bum is numb, and his arms feel not the best too.
A long flight.
But fortunately one with out incident.

Truk lagoon lies peacefull beneath 47th as the fighters begin to break up formation, commence circuits to land
Of the carrier raids there appears to be liitle sign, the fields are in good repair, the out buildings all seem whole.
Of the three ss wrecks, nothing indicates their graves.

But Fuchida does note several things.............the complete abscence of shipping for one.
And, as he turns into final, the mountains of gear piled near the wharves.
So they guessed right.
47th is going to Truk to cover an evacuation of somebody.



He lands easily despite the cross wind, crabbing in, touching the rudder just at the right moment, rolling to an easy stop.

Ground crew swarm about, and little flags wave him quickly of the strip, down a rutted track, through palm trees, and then hard right into a cleverly camoflaged revrent.
His engine wheezes to its stop.

Straps off, canopy hard back, switches off, yes.
Log book...........tattered old thing.
A quick entry.
Reach for the canopy, pull, leg over.
Grab your gear, the sword. Bend, open the little hatch, pull out the small bag containing your entire worldy possessions, secure the hatch, and finally, clanking and clattering, the ground at last.

A sergeant salutes, crew chief............yes, there is fuel and spares to go here. The left manifold pressure? yes, he will look at it immediately.

Duties done..................now, lunch?




The mess is a large building. Almost palacial. Shining wooden floors, a long mahogony bar, shutters, palm frond blinds, high ceilings, and fans..........
A good place to call home.


Wo Nakamura is holding court.
About him, men are listening.
Not becuase Nakamura is an ace, nearly every pilot in 47th is that...........but because of what Nakamura has killed to become an ace.
Bombers.
Specifically, heavy bombers.

Fuchida joins the others, drink in hand.
Night has fallen, and a mess, long too quiet echoes to conversation again.


"The trick is simple, my friends." Nakamura uses two small model planes on sticks to demonstrate " climb 2 or 3 thousand above and ahead of the big barsteds.
Fly right above them, same heading.
Get a bit, say 500 feet ahead, invert, and dive, dive inverted. You can watch the target easy enough, no bloody great nose to get in the way............
let your self drift down to about 1000 feet, then, if you have it right, go vertical............and start shooting. The buka should drift straight through the stream.
You get about 3 seconds burst, you dive straight down and past..............."

"and this works?"
Fuchida smiles "Only if you are good enough my friend"

Fighting words indeed in a crowd like this

Nakamura places the models down "I call it the Nakamura knife............."


Fuchida knows instinctively.he can do this. This might work. What gunner can fire vertically at you?
Especially into the sun?
47th prescence must have been noticed, or would soon be,
The ships they must guard would be attacked...almost for certain.
By heavies.
The bukas.

Well, let's see how they would go with this so called knife

[1275psi]

And now for bad news

cantona is tramping about the Normandy battlefields for 12 days, pretending i think, that he is a Tiger commander.
Note.
tramping

No computer


I am going to die of with drawal symptoms[:(][:(][:(][:(][:(][:(][:(]

[kaleun]

So are we my friend.
OT. German howitzer at Meissy battery, near cantona.

[kaleun]

That image came out way too big, I'm afraid.

[british exil]

Well it is a big gun.

Mat


p.s sorry couldn't resist.[:D]

[british exil]

http://www.maisybattery.com/Home.html

To spend some of the time waiting for the allies to make their next move.

Is there anything similar from the pacific side?

Mat

[1275psi]

wow, nice sight

Phillipines doing nice job at bataan, worth a visit!

counting down the days......................[8|]

[1275psi]

27/10/43

Decisions.

Some you can spend days on, chewing them over, worrying at their edges, tearing at the taste of consequences, consequences that may, or may not occur.
Others you must make immediately, decisions forced upon you by actions of the enemy.

Yamaguchi must make his now.

The fleet sails slowly south , 160 miles due east of Siapan.
Its tanks are full, but the supporting tankers are empty............

CV Katsaguri, 3cvl and two battle wagons are at guam.
As are ten tankers, trying to unload at that piss poor excuse of a port.
A port surrounded by enemy ss...nearly a dozen sighted so far, ominous in itself.

The next fuel readily available....manilla, where the AO task force loads.

Or...........truk.

But truk is in heavy bomber range......

And finally...........those 270 enemy ships.............12 days since they have sailed.............somewhere.

Once again Yamaguchi curses his intelligence services.

He must make a decision.
Very well. He will

I will try to force a fight. I must.

The orders go out. The tankers will cease unloading, will move to Truk
Katsuguri, the BBs, will join him.
They, they will go to............Truk
The Army will send more fighters to Truk

And the Army will send troops to kavieng, and here we will fight.
He will refuel, and strike that growing cancer to the south. He, Yamaguchi, will no longer wait for the enemy. Darwin failed to sniff him out, lets try somewhere else then.

[1275psi]

Lt Fuchida side slips onto the strip, neatly touching down, dirt bellowing up from behind him.
Quickly, the route now known, his fighter is ushered into the palm groves, the waiting ground crews swarming about him.
Silence, the tinking of the motor cooling as he reves his sweat soaked helmut.

For a moment he saviours the silence, the stillness.
But not for too long. A bath awaits.
A bath!
Truk has much appeal yes?
No bombers today, a day of circling an empty lagoon.

Well not that empty. The support boats have been very busy tending the mooring bouys today..

The thought , of course, cannot be stopped.
How one could wish to see Zuiho, and father, at one of those bouys.

[1275psi]

Hoshos company marches 6 more miles today.

Another day of dust, of sore feet.
But no air attacks. Japanese fighters have been overhead again, gods know where from though.
20 miles to Shwebo, and then, after that, the river.

The enemy is following, hard. All day the artillery has rumbled behind them, and rumours flow thick and fast

Ten divisions are chasing them..........no, its fifteen.
No, we are luring 3 , the aussies, into a trap.............

Does it matter?
Burma Army is marching south. And to Hosho, this smells like retreat. Stinks of it.
The question is, how far are they going to go?

Someone is spreading the rumour, moulmien.

Gods, surely not. they can't do it. haven't they marched far enough now?