A Grand Folly - bbbf (IJ) v mc3744 (Al)- Early 43 (Not for you Max!)

[bbbf]

After reading page after page of AAR's, I have finally decided to preserve one of my games for posterity.

This game is interesting, I have volunteered to take over another's game against mc3744, and Imperial Japan's position in January 43 is very poor. As I told mc, if I can hold on until June 44 I will feel I have done a commendable job.

I don't intend to copy great slabs of combattxt, it will be in a more narrative style (inspired by 1275psi's Ensign Hanamoto AAR).

So here begins the journal of Commander Hiro Karatsu, of IJN intelligence.

[bbbf]

And so it is that I return to Japan.

The summons came in the middle of the night, a flying boat had been arranged to transport me from Noumea to Tokyo. We were to leave at first light.

A sleepless night followed, packing and wondering what my recall meant.

The message was from Yamamoto himself.

No time for good bye, my mess mates would be wondering what had happened.

My car arrived at 0500, and I was soon delivered to my departure point. The great shape of the flying boat lay silhouetted by the rising sun. Truly a wonder of our engineer's, it dwarfed the small boats plying the harbour.

Behind it, the cruisers and destroyers were coming up to steam. Strangely, they all seemed to be making ready to leave.

Perhaps the American's carrier's were close again. I silently prayed that they were well away, as there was no fighter cover here. My plane could be ambushed easily.

I couldn't help the shudder that racked me, I knew that the sharks in nearby waters had been well fed on the flesh of men over the last few months.

[fabertong]

Godspeed and a fair wind in taking over this game.........could you post some maps so we can enjoy the true horror of your situation............and if you encounter any sharks.....a stiff punch on the end of the nose is a good defence.

[aztez]

Good luck to you! It always nice to see when someone replaces an opponent who just could not take it anymore! [:)]

[Gen.Hoepner]

Good luck and remember: MC is a tough opponent![;)]

[bbbf]

A small boat takes me to the flying monster and one of it’s crew takes my bags and helps me through the hatchway and into it’s belly.

A painful loss of dignity is averted as I slip on the wet doorway and almost fall backwards into the water!

Luckily the same crewman who took my bags catches my hand and pulls me back to safety.

He salutes me and manages not to grin at my predicament.

“Your orders, Sir.” he says as he hands me a brown envelope.

“You also have a desk set aside for you. We will depart for Truk in 30 minutes.”

He leads me to a cramped area, where a small desk unfolds from the aircraft’s fuselage. On it is a large box, sealed well and addressed to me.

“I will let you know when we are departing, Sir. I will take your bags to your locker” He turns and disappears further up into the great plane

I look around me, although the aircraft is of great size, it still feels claustrophobic inside. The wires, cables and hydraulic lines make it feel like an unsuitable place for a human to be.

Still for many hours, this will be my home.

I settle down onto the small seat that comes with the desk, and open my orders.

[bbbf]

I am to return to Tokyo and meet with Yamamoto as soon as I arrive. The box contains many files on the state of the war, and I am to have read them by that time, so as to give my assessment to the great man.

I am slightly awed and puzzled as to why I should be given this opportunity.

I open the box to find a number of files, neatly bound inside. One large map sits on the top.

I unfold the map; it is a map that stretches from Karachi in the West to the West Coast of the United States and from Siberia in the North to Tasmania in the South.

The war sits here on my desk.

[bbbf]

Sitting in Noumea, I only ever heard what was happening in the South Pacific.

As I unrolled the map, I could see the extent of our expansion.

What an empire!

I felt myself swelling with pride at our achievements.

Yet as I looked at the sheet unfurled before me, I became more and more troubled. My little part of the world appeared secure and China looked like it was ours for the taking, but as I looked towards the East Indies, Malaya and Burma, I could feel tension rising in me.

The British had regained Rangoon and were pushing towards Bangkok and the Malay Peninsula. Meanwhile, Kendari was under siege.

As an intelligence officer I felt aggrieved that I did not know how precarious our position was. One part of me felt appeased as it was obvious that we controlled our information flow well, another was appalled that so much could be lost without me knowing.

[bbbf]

At this moment, the crewman appeared as promised and advised me to prepare for take off in five minutes.

I returned the map to the box and placed it on the floor. I strapped myself in and waited for our take-off.

I had only ever flown on terrestrial aircraft, and my first ascent in a flying boat was an unforgettable experience.

The great engines coughed and spluttered into life, rising into a great roar as the plane's captain increased the throttle.

We were unhitched from our mooring, and the behemoth slowly tracked out across the smooth water towards the clear area left in the sheltered bay for the comings and goings of these giants of the air and water.

We must have arrived at our departure point, as the engines slowed to an idle. After a minute or so, they burst back into raucous life again - louder than previously.

At first, there was no sensation of movement, then slowly you could sense the plane beginnning to win the fight against the grasping water.

Although the water was calm, as our speed increased every slight ripple made the hull hum and ring as we cleaved our way between their crests. The time between each wave getting shorter and shorter as our velocity climbed.

After what seemed an eternity, the plane lurched upwards as the water lost it's grip on our progress, and we were airborne!

[bbbf]

We climbed lazily upwards and I looked through the window beside me at the slowly shrinking anchorage.

Small boats were playing like dolphins among the assembled ships, nimbly moving in and around their grey hulls.

Warships were starting to leave their sanctuary for the unknowns of unprotected waters.

Already a great convoy of ships could be seen hustling their way away from the green land mass.

I wondered where they might be heading too. So much movement and so sudden, I did not think it bode well.

Then I thought of my own situation, I would soon be back in Tokyo - away from the warm days here, and into the end of a cold winter. At least it was possible that I would still be in Japan for my favourite time of year - Spring, when life returns to the apparently lifeless.

To be honest, the constancy of the climate I was leaving behind did not rest well with my inner being, that longed for the passing of seasons.

[bbbf]

After some more gazing outside, I returned to my study.

The file on top puzzled me somewhat.

"A Survey of Current Industrial Capacity"

What would I need to know about our industry? Surely with our hard won lands there must be riches enough to keep our country producing?

My competency was in knowing how, when and where the Australians and Americans might fight, not in knowing how many tonnes of oil are needed to keep our heavy industries fired or how much copper is needed to make an artillery shell.

Still, I assumed that this file was of importance, hence it's position on top of the pile beneath.

I started to read.

Horror filled me.

Even I, unskilled in the mysteries of economics, could see that the figures contained inside were nothing short of disastrous.

A summary table told the story:

[bbbf]

Our stores of heavy industrial output were dangerously low - far too much had been used up in the production of ships and armaments.

The Navy had drawn as much out of the economy as it could take, laying down hulls to make up for heavy losses. I had not heard of such losses - the full calamitous scale of those awaited my scrutiny later.

Meanwhile, the Army had been driving the industrialist's unmercifully and had built sizeable stockpiles of guns, ammunition and fighting vehicles. Most of which lay in warehouses, unissued.

The competition had exhausted nearly all of our stockpiles of materials and had come at the cost of the new master of the battlefield - aircraft.

Our stocks of aircraft engines were pitiful, and the production of aircraft themselves could not even meet the demands of operational losses in the Home Islands, let alone the rest of the Empire. In fact, the entire mess meant that somewhere near twenty full daitai of sorely needed fighter aircraft - with trained pilots- were stuck in Japan awaiting aircraft to fly.

[bbbf]

Everywhere waste and incompetence. This is what my Brother warriors had perished for?

However, as I read further I could see that a new force had somehow found the ear of the War Ministry.

All the priorities had been reshuffled. The number one aim was to bring our economy back into balance and to get pilots in the air again.

I could imagine the shock and anger the Admirals and Generals must have felt when they were told that no longer would our precious manufacturing capacity be spent on new ships and more guns until such time as we had enough aircraft to protect them from the rampant Allied aircraft.

This had happened a few months earlier, the great ship of industry takes time to turn, but the report was confident that we had turned it around to the new heading. Planes should again be arriving to be joined with our pilots.

[AmiralLaurent]

Hey, you will have a bad time trying to save Japan in this game....

If you want my two cents, I would try to build a huge horde in Thailand to repulse the British. I think retiring from Noumea is a good idea. Just leave some ASS points in each atoll but the other bases are not worth holding them when the SRA is in such danger.

[bbbf]

editor's note:

Hi AL,

I haven't got to the section where I analyse the SRA.

Let me just say at this point, if you think the situation looks bad, wait until I get to what is left in Malaya/Thailand.

You may burst into tears - I know Karatsu-san will be.

[Arstavidios]

Hi,
I've got a game running against MC so I will be following this AAR.[:D]