herbiesan vs Cantona!!!

[1275psi]

18/5/44

many things happen around our shrinking empire today

Another attempt on The Dictators life
B-29's over Osaka -that sink several minor vessels in the Port -a major blow -the fleets places for rest and refit have suddenly dried up.

Setsuko confronts her"shelterer" -and demands to be allowed to leave. (we can skip the details -it fails -and she will be sporting a terrible black eye for many weeks)
Old Mr Yashimoto is a very nasty piece of work
The damage inflicted to Hakodate yesterday is already put to rights.

And the massive invasion fleet (it is now positevely identified as massive) changes to Nort west course - and it must be Siapan the target.

As this, the first of what will be 'the final battles", begins - our Characters are scattered all over the Empire

47th sentai remains in northern japan
Setsuko remains in Tokyo
Yamamoto is at sea - the Yamato plowing to her new destination
Miyazuki, younger -on watch above him

The two Stokers - Agarshi, Shimto, too at sea -preparing to fuel the little Ryujo again
Captain Hara paces the decks on Akagi -and frets over the growing system damage his tired ship is gathering.
Tanaka too is at sea.


The Army is ready
the airforce thanks cantona for the great pre warning it has gotten

The Navy -the navy is hopelessly out of position...................

[1275psi]

19/5/44

In a way, this is the hardest duty of all.
Day after day, 47th go up -seeking to stop the enemy, day after day -they have returned empty handed.

Then, the long , long nights.
There can be no leave, no passes, no leaving the base -duty calls.

And now, to a man, each night, thoughts must, do turn to home.
For almost the entire war, home has been impossible. Now, now it is possible -close, yet totally un attainable.
Because of duty.

The bombers are coming over -bombing their homes -their children, their wives and lovers.
AND THEY CAN ONLY WONDER..............

It is the hardest duty of all.

[1275psi]

20/5/44

47th have missed the bombers again

Juni can sum it up


F@#k


What more needs to be said?

[1275psi]

Captain Umeya faces another dawn.
The bridge creaks, groans, as the little carrier struggles through the swells.
She is barely making headway, saving fuel. To her port flank, two fat tankers - full.
Meaning their interminable stay in this piece of ocean will continue for some time yet.................

The bridge is quiet -the men in such a routine, all actions nearly automatic.
Some things are changing though - currently the evaporators are almost all down -the boilers take all the water currently made.
So, they all stink.
And many beards are beginning to appear.
very non japanese.
Very uncomfortable.

But they will stay here for longer yet -until the enemy make up their damn minds

For days now -large numbers of ships-tracking all over the ocean south of marcus, east of Marcus, west of the cursed place.
A few light carriers. Even a few CVE's spotted, and some LST's
NO Fleet carriers.
decoy?
The real thing?

The ball is firmly in the American court. What ever the hell that means.
So, until they make up their minds, his little task force marks time -and continues to stink.

[1275psi]

22/5/44

Extract from "shattering the Sword" A cantona production

The first shells landing upon Marcus did more than begin hostilities.
They initiated a crises in the Japanese Goverment, its people, its military.

Japan, mid 44, is a curious mix.
The news that the allies intended to remove the Emperor, that they intended to accept nothing but total unconditional surrender -and that revenge would be given for all in the military -for Majuro -fills the population with fear -and a detirmination to fight to the end.

Yet, despite the still comfortable living standards in Japan, the ceasless streams of victories, hatred for the Goverment grows . The goon squads, the secret police, the spies, and the now not so secret slaughters -filled many with revulsion.
Only fear now keeps herbiesan in power..........

Ironically - its the very victories that undermine him the greatest -after so many -how can the war be continuing?
Why does it continue -why no negotiated peace?
Yamamoto is God like. his power, his prestige complete. The navy -the navy is now Japan

And now, with B-29's flying over the home land - invasion fleets in the pacific - two mighty battleships approach Tokyo Bay
Yamamoto, Tanaka, are coming.
It is time"to have it out"

[1275psi]

Almost silently, the great battlewagons slide into Tokyo bay.
It is no simple task to manoeuvre the great ships in the tight environs – and the process of coming to anchor takes over 3 hours.

Once again the harbour is filled with the great steel castles.
Nearest to the shore – Yamato, and her Sister.
Behind, the still imposing bulks of three of the elderly battle cruisers.
And again, behind them, 3 more battlewagons.

The escorting ships too anchor, cruisers, destroyers.
Overhead, elements of the fleet air arm growl on Patrol. It is unknown if the B-29’s can reach here –but nobody wishes to take a chance.

Allied intelligence knows they are here – to herbiesan and his cabinet, their arrival comes as a great shock –until now they believed they were with Mobile fleet –returning still from Crimson sky.
In fact –Allied intelligence has a greater clue of what is going on than herbiesan can even suspect –there will be no B-29’s here this week –nothing to interrupt what might be happening

Immediately the great ships are secured, the decks empty – not a sailor to be seen. No boats, no flashing lamps, no fuel barges.
They sit, all afternoon, as the crowds gather on the shore, floating monoliths.
Floating, full of menace.

Nobody in the crowds knows what is going on, add speculation , rumours speed through the city.
How do rumours work?
How do people hear these things?
Even in this, an age before the mobile, the twitter, the net – the word suddenly wildfires through the streets –and the crowds swell to enormous size
“ Herbiesan has demanded Yamamoto’s resignation. He wants his head”

4pm precisely.
In perfect synchrony, the great rifles on each battleship swing ponderously to Port –and aim straight at the Diet –at the parliament

Still silent. Now very full of menace indeed.

“Yamamoto has refused –he is demanding the cabinet dissolved!”
And now the streets are full……………..

5pm
A small boat moves towards Yamato, and the “ Dictator is onboard”

5:10 PM
The emperors personl guard, and elements of the Third Guard division –deploy around the Diet

5;15 PM
Th3e small boat arrives along side Yamato –and somebody must have powerful glasses ashore
“They are meeting”…………………….


Inside the great director, Smn Miyazuki sits at his post.
Nobody speaks –nobody dares to speak, discipline this last week has been terrifying, brutal, brutal even to Japanese standards.

The fans hum, the hydraulics whine. They sweat. Tokyo is so close, close enough to pick out individuals in the great crowd…..
When the order comes –‘Action Port, main batteries, target, the parliament!” gasps, and glances pass between everyone –but all leap to work –each singing their part in the Choir of destruction.

For Miyazuki –from here –in these fantastic sights –the Parliament building is so close, he can see the individual panes of glass, even – he suspects –the faces peering back at them.

‘Load., Load, load!’

What in the hell is happening!?
Can the rumours be true?
Is Yamamoto truly going to launch Civil war?

Again Miyazuki looks around the tense space – and the petty Officer catches his eye.
But instead of the rebuke –a wink.
Ok, if there is to be a war –then so be it. He would follow Yamamoto to hell over the Dictator…………
As he suspects everyone here would.

‘boat approaching”
“Standby to receive, port side, piping party to the gangway, OOD , to the gangway”

Small, small figures below.
The great ship sits.
Silent
And thousands of men, wait, in silence, to see what happens next.



Yamamoto, Tanaka, Nagumo await the dictator in the wardroom.
The silence is impressive.
Tanaka cannot help have his eyes dragged to the emperors portrait at the head of the compartment.
The great table is clear, polished mahogany gleaming.
How many coups, great moments of History, he wonders, have been decided around tables such as this.
What events must they have witnessed?

Herbiesan enters the compartment, Flanked by two generals, and several others –Secret police Chief, the new Industry Minister, and Tojo –that scheming barsted.

The Dictator does not hesitate, he launches his attack immediately
“I was told, you were defending Siapan –what in the Hell are you doing here!. This is treason!.
The Admirals remain silent.
Outside, a gull screams faintly, and halyards clang briefly in a breeze
The Dictator makes his decision.
‘If you think the Navy can defy me, defy me and the Army –then you are very much mistaken Yamamoto. I will have your resignation today –your seppuka by tonight”

Yamamoto stands.
He remains an impressive man.
‘You, and who’s Army? There are less than two thousand troops in Tokyo today. I have 5000 marines here now”

He can barely contain his rage, this dictator – ‘So be it then. Demolish Tokyo. Do you think the population will support one who shells them –shells them with the very symbol of Japan?
I dare you, you little man, I dare you to act”

Tanaka stands, takes his place behind Yamamoto.
A life time to this…………….. ‘Give it over herbiesan. You no longer have anyones support. The war is lost. We must seek peace…………..”

The pipe is loud, urgent –and totally unexpected. “ Captain to the Quarterdeck!, Captain to the Quarterdeck!. Emperors flag approaching!!!!!!!!!”



He is a little man, the emperor –but few measure that. He is, after all –to many of them –a god.

He does not seem phased at all by the sheer size of his ship – a simple request –“take me to Yamamoto”
The captain leads the way, the passageways empty, the stair ways clear – no easy task to arrange on a ship with 3000 aboard………………


He enters the wardroom, alone.

To his left, Herbiesan, his cliché, ahead, the Admirals.

He speaks softly –yet the anger is there.
“To turn guns on Tokyo –almost unforgivable Yamamoto.”
The Admiral blanches, frozen by this shocking event
The Emperor turns to the dictator.
‘To hold the emperor virtual prisoner, to lie to him, to hide the true war state from him –is also unforgiveable”

The dictator to, blanches – how, it is written all over his face –did the emperor get here –how did he escape?
“I dissolve the Parliament. Nagumo –you shall form a new bi partisan government. You shall seek peace.
Herbiesan – I banish you. You have now retired –on health grounds
Yamamoto – you shall redeem yourself with death in battle – or total victory –nothing more, nothing less.
I have spoken. I have commanded. This conversation shall never leave this room.
The enemy threaten directly the son of heaven –and you use me like a pawn. Intolerable.
You fight each other, and the enemy bomb us!
Enough.
I have spoken.

A new government Nagumo………….”



It is dawn
Yamato sails again – and Miyazuki, along with everyone else, wonders at the morning news.
A new Government
A peace offering - ‘let us draw a line where we stand –and stop the bloodshed
We ask for a negotiated peace”
A new hope.

But in the meantime, the great ship , propelled almost by the rumours that fly about her, steams hard.

A war is still being fought.
For better, for worse. The Emperor himself, Japan, embodied in his ancestral line –is directly threatened.
Many would no longer fight for Herbiesan.
For the emperor -death itself is a small price to pay indeed….





Extract from Shattering the Sword , a cantona production

…………………many, of course, are NOT, going to accept the displacement of herbiesan just like that. But for the moment, they must.
Perhaps of all of them, the Admirals do best. Yamamoto gains the order he secretly has always aspired to – death in glorious battle.
He gets rid of Nagumo –who now must find a war cabinet –try to end the war –one way or another.
The people, of course, get nothing. A dictator gone. Replaced by a room of military men.
A war that continues.
And an enemy that gathers ever darker on the horizon.

[1275psi]

47th stand down for today.
it is a strange day for them

Shortly before 9 am, 'all pilots report to the main hall'
There Nakamura meets them, he appears as tense as any have ever seen them.
'remain indoors. Do nothing, say nothing'
Then he leaves, and a long boring day follows.
Some note extra activity amongst the army guards, and the sentries double.
Then , at dusk.
news.

Nagumo is the in charge of the new Goverment
The dictator has fallen ill, and been replaced.

Nakamura returns, from wherevere he has been, smiling.
"Crises over men -back to the war'

[1275psi]

25/5/44

A very, very bad day for the 47th.

They wait -on the tarmacs, waiting, waiting for the word.
They sit in the warming sun, under wings, in whatever shade they can find.

They watch the glittering B-29's pass to the North of them, and gnash teeth as they wait for the word to scramble.
They see the columns of smoke from Ominato harbour rise -and still they wait "in reserve"

And they still wait, until dusk.

Nobody will ever know why the call never came.
But it remains a black day.

[1275psi]

69/5/44

'TruK'!!!!!!! -these trukers are truking fast!"
Juni swears again, hauling his fighter into a hard right bank, grunting at the effort.
30 plus B-29's stream past him, and he is pushing the fighter hard to keep up, to keep abreat of them, eying them from 500 metres.
Juni cannot help it -how un nerving to see unmanned turrets turn and point at you.
Ominato is looming up frightengly fasy below them, at 15000 feet -the harbour shimies and shines -the great oil slicks from the crippled Aps and escorts spread all over the harbour.

The big beasts are opening doors..damn, no time to get ahead.
he flipd over hard -trying for a side on attack -hoping the targets big wing will obscure her gunner some what.......
intercept ! -fast!, fast!, guns crash - miss!, Miss!, hit!, and BBBAAANGG! -something hits him from behind his head in return.
Flip over, invert, diving down, down, recover -and the engine coughs, coughs , and quits.

Roll over -sluggish, sh#t, too sluggish -canopy back, great rush of air, strpas -bang, undone, and SHOVE -he is out -out, falling free, and the hand automatically reaches, chute opens -crack! -and there is his bird - and he watches cooly , as the port wing detaches too -a good decision -she did not feel right after all...........


Nakamura's men down two today -47th none however.
Juni lands OK
Ominato is crumped hard.

Nagumo has offered peace.
It appears the allies are not too interested..................

[cantona2]

The repsonse to the Japanese feelers was quick and unfaltering. Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin, the presence of this last one made the Japanese wonder, were all present in the reaffirmation of unconditional surrender of ALL the Axis powers. They were the aggrerssors, they would be ground into the dust from the land, sea and air. For every carrier they sunk 3 would replace them, for every transport they sunk 20 would come in their place, for every plane shot down, 100 would fly in its stead! What was obvious in this delivery was the Roosevelt talked, not Churchill, the baton had been well and truly passed over. The US was now the worlds super power with the Soviet Union emerging from the shadows. The Empire of Great Britain was dying its long slow death, the Japanese operations off Colombo only hastened this death. The B-29s would continue to rain death on Japan just as in England troops were moving to their jump off positions for Overlord. In the Pacific Ocean.........

[1275psi]

27/5/44

"so they rejected the peace?' Hara asks, wondering at the radio -at the horrible speech just concluded on the BBC.
Ujurie nods, 'It appears the war continues my dear fellow,' he sips his drink" to the bitter end"
Hara feels a wieght in his stomach . 'yes" he grimly agrees "to the bitter end"


"Why did Stalin call on us as well?" Ujuire wonders.
Hara snorts " Akagi was there when we invaded manchurio, they have long memories do the bears. Long and bitter ones. Plus, I fear -the age old dream -a pacific port"
Ujuire laughs -but there is no humor in it "so another war to fight -as if we don't have enough problems"
They move together to the wardroom table - the evening meal is about to be served, and Ozawa has decided that he will gather all the Mobile fleet captains together.
The Compartment will soon be crowded, and not a single man there does not share the same question in his mind.

Just what next?

Hara expresses this 'What do you think the Allies are doing?'
Ujuire scratches an ear. "I don't know. So many ships of Marcus -the bombardment -and then, nothing. Awful lot of ships for a decoy"
Hara cannot but agree. "But in the meantime, we wear ourselves out chasing shadows halfway around the world"
'tell me about it -Im deliberately trying to avoid my Engineers now -they just make me feel guilty"

[1275psi]

With Herbiesan gone..............
The Iwaya 'incident'is gone...........
Which means the goon problem for Setsuko, is gone.............

And so, this morning, Yashimoto wakes to find Setsuko - gone............

" My husband,

With sorriful heart, I apologise for not writing for so long. I have had, difficulties.
They are solved now, so please, do not worry.
I am home again, and the sun is shining, may it never set on our love.
I pray to see you soon.
Setsuko

[1275psi]

Now i really am in the you know what
Pressed send on mail last night for latest turn, went to bed.
mail went spastic, and sent the turn again, and again and again.....................

About 3 am time here i see cantona sends a plantifif..............please stop!
and at 5.
..................

oooooooooooooooooooops
sorry mate , problem squashed.
bloody explorer!

[1275psi]

from, Fighting the Tide, by Nakamura, a Amazon publication


Ultimately, in mid 44, it was the B-29 that made all the difference.

Where 3 months ago, japans premier fighter units flew in patrol over the front lines, protecting shipping, the army, the ports, now, increasingly we flew patrols over japan herself -some times for days on end with out sighting them -only to then be brushed aside like gnats........

May 44, and the damage to Japan remained light -but strategically, everything had changed.
Principally, the Navy had nowhere to hide, to rest, to refit.
We could not guarrantee its safety -anywhere.
Ships desperately tired, remained that way.

Our convoys, now stripped of cover, began to be struck
Supply dumps -once protected by us - are struck by the mediums, the liberators.
Nothing seemed to stop the great beasts. We damaged dozens, and dozens more -but , even unescorted - we could not stop them.
The second half of 44 I could see, would be all about one thing. preventing the Allies gaining a base where they could have fighter escort -if that happened -we would be in mortal peril.

Despite that, this menace, moral remained good. The hated dictator was gone (a great personal relief to me of course), and many felt Nagumo, with Yamamoto, could yet gain a miricle

Summer of 44
A year I would never forget. A blur of flying, flying, flying.
dream days
deadly days
magnificent days
days the likes of we will never see again

[1275psi]

47th and friends in action
(yes, a unit of Nicks is at Ominoto too!)

[1275psi]

Cantona mate

I think I might have wrecked your mail.

can you send me a mail when you are back online -I keep getting error messages now.

[cantona2]

i think you have been branded a spammer by my ISP [:D]
ive pmed you my alternative gmail addy

[1275psi]

29/5/44

47th have no action today.

All air units not on full alert, are brought to instant readiness
Enemy carrier aircraft sighted by a fleeing convoy - 500 miles due east of Iwo Jima!

[1275psi]

Captain Umeya picks disconcently at his meal.
So many days at sea now, so few replenishments -oh, plenty of fuel -but you cannot eat it can you?
lack of water. lack of fresh vegetable.
lack of a lot of things............

A polite nod at his cabin door. The signals officer.

'Enemy carrier aircraft, AKs, tankers, Aps,, spotted 450 miles due east of Iwo island.
Proceed to position@#$%$#@. Await atack orders'

Umeya smiles to himself. 'Well Signals -this at least will solve the supply problems ney?"
His officer gets the joke 'yes, Junyo verses the entire Allied Navy. I reckon we can handle that"
Umeya pushes the dish aside. His appetite really is gone now.
"Signal Mizuho -max naval search pattern , direction @@@@@@ - "
"Oh, signals - see if we can find another jolly roger -if we are going to be a joke -lets show the world we have a sense of humour"

[1275psi]

1/6/44

Its a day of suicidal courage.
A day many, a great many know they must soon follow if Japan is to prevail.

240 miles due east of Iwo Jima, a great fleet is steadily , inexorably crawling west -straight at the heart of the empire.
Yamamoto must gain some sort of picture of what the fleet faces...............

They head due east, these brave men -on a clear radio frequency -talking, talking all the way -until inevitably the voices are cut forever.
From Iwo jima, ichi Chima -the daves, the petes, attack

60 hellcats on Cap. 30 Wildcats
No ships are sighted -a single plaintiff -"I am attacking a lone AK"
But Yamamoto can consider now what is coming.................