The shattering of the Japans fantasy of some sort of victory, some sort of honourable peace, of some sort of escape from the encroaching horror , is utterly swept aside, crushed, pulverised with the setting of the sun over Dadjangas.
The allies have managed to get ashore no less than 14 Artillery battalions.
At dusk, with a mighty roar, they fire.
77th brigade, dug in along the face of a ridge called small mans spur.
They are dug in, they are well supplied.
In under an hour, the entire brigade ceases to exist................
The allied tanks roll, and find a few, a very few dazed survivors to dispatch.
The ridge falls. Tomorrow, the guns will turn onto 78th brigade.
This is no attack.
This is extermination.
The little ship that could.
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
RE: The little ship that could.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
28/2/45
From
38th Army, Davao
to
Southern Command, Manilla
Dajangas has, apparently fallen.
All communications with front line units lost.
Will attempt to establish new line south West of davao.
What, pray, is state of promised reinforcements?
From
Southern Command
to
38th Army
Loss of beach defences viewed with shame.
55th division unloaded, marching from Cagayan
128th enroute.
3 others at sea, or enroute.
Please, fight harder.
On the ridges about dajangas, in shattered bunkers, filled in trenches, collapsed caves, in droves filling the ditches and roads, 38th Armies men lie.
They feel no shame at this defeat.
The dead feel nothing.
From
38th Army, Davao
to
Southern Command, Manilla
Dajangas has, apparently fallen.
All communications with front line units lost.
Will attempt to establish new line south West of davao.
What, pray, is state of promised reinforcements?
From
Southern Command
to
38th Army
Loss of beach defences viewed with shame.
55th division unloaded, marching from Cagayan
128th enroute.
3 others at sea, or enroute.
Please, fight harder.
On the ridges about dajangas, in shattered bunkers, filled in trenches, collapsed caves, in droves filling the ditches and roads, 38th Armies men lie.
They feel no shame at this defeat.
The dead feel nothing.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
Hi greyjoy
Ogowa has 771 missions, 5 kills, fatigue for today.....44
Diogowa has 658 missions, 7 kills, fatigue, 46
The eagles must rest for today.
From here on, they must sweep dadjangas, sweep, and sweep, until they destroy, or are utterly destroyed.............
Ogowa has 771 missions, 5 kills, fatigue for today.....44
Diogowa has 658 missions, 7 kills, fatigue, 46
The eagles must rest for today.
From here on, they must sweep dadjangas, sweep, and sweep, until they destroy, or are utterly destroyed.............
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
Hello Long pig!
You flew, but nobody intercepted the milk run the liberators had today.........
You flew, but nobody intercepted the milk run the liberators had today.........
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
"The dead feel nothing."
I just stared that the line for a good 30 seconds. That was awesome... I need a cigarette
I just stared that the line for a good 30 seconds. That was awesome... I need a cigarette
RE: The little ship that could.
Extract from Shattering the sword, a cantona production
By japanese reckoning, the tally of losses inflicted upon the allies looked impressive.
1 fleet CV sunk, a further 6 damaged
3 CVL damaged
No less than a dozen CVEs sunk
3 battleships sunk, a further 6 damaged
2 Cruisers sunk, 3 damaged
A dozen destroyers sunk, 20 transports of various make sunk
10 to 15000 men drowned.
All, however, bought at terrible cost.
Three battle ships sunk, 3 battle cruisers , 6 Cruisers, 2 carriers, 2 CVL as well.
Innumerable destroyers
There is a hidden thought now , in the mind of every man who wears the Japanese uniform. There is little chance now, of getting through this war with out joining all those before them who now rest at peace beneath the waves.
There is no Navy left, just a shadow of what once was.
A dream of ages past.
The fleet, almost fuel less, will rest at Hiroshima bay, the carriers due to arrive tomorrow.
The ships there, the men in them, have but one choice left.
When to sail, when to fight, when to join the rest of the fleet, at the shrines of the gods.
By japanese reckoning, the tally of losses inflicted upon the allies looked impressive.
1 fleet CV sunk, a further 6 damaged
3 CVL damaged
No less than a dozen CVEs sunk
3 battleships sunk, a further 6 damaged
2 Cruisers sunk, 3 damaged
A dozen destroyers sunk, 20 transports of various make sunk
10 to 15000 men drowned.
All, however, bought at terrible cost.
Three battle ships sunk, 3 battle cruisers , 6 Cruisers, 2 carriers, 2 CVL as well.
Innumerable destroyers
There is a hidden thought now , in the mind of every man who wears the Japanese uniform. There is little chance now, of getting through this war with out joining all those before them who now rest at peace beneath the waves.
There is no Navy left, just a shadow of what once was.
A dream of ages past.
The fleet, almost fuel less, will rest at Hiroshima bay, the carriers due to arrive tomorrow.
The ships there, the men in them, have but one choice left.
When to sail, when to fight, when to join the rest of the fleet, at the shrines of the gods.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
1/3/45
"Bombs gone"
the B29 lurches upwards, relieved of her belly load of death.
many, many thousands of feet below, the expanding clouds of dust, the flowering shock waves.
Tacolaban, being pounded.
Long Pig grins. Right on the button. Bigglesworth merely scowls, something he does a lot now a days.
The big bomber peels away, 4 companions following.
No CAP.
Good
The little yellow monkeys must be feeling the strain at last.
"Bombs gone"
the B29 lurches upwards, relieved of her belly load of death.
many, many thousands of feet below, the expanding clouds of dust, the flowering shock waves.
Tacolaban, being pounded.
Long Pig grins. Right on the button. Bigglesworth merely scowls, something he does a lot now a days.
The big bomber peels away, 4 companions following.
No CAP.
Good
The little yellow monkeys must be feeling the strain at last.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
To the east of tacloban, the stream of bombs fall, plowing paddy fields, roads, villages, and beaches.
Ogowa feels the thumps through his feet, but barely pauses in his work.
There should be CAP, there is no CAP.
Fubar...........he is too busy to wonder at what has gone wrong.what can he do about it anyway?
truk all.
The big bombers have missed, and that is good enough.
Again he examines the reports...........dadjangas still not operational (give the barsteds time, that will not be long delayed.......if someone had once told him that the bulldozer would be the war winning weapon, he would have laughed. But not now...........)
60 plus fighters over it today.
HQ, the myriads of HQ's, have gone and done exactly what they always do, Ogowa notes...........re organised.
The flood of redeployment orders must have kept a staff of hundreds busy all night..........
But how many of these squadron x, y and Z will deploy to................actually really mreans you three stragglers will fly to here, you remaining 6 to here, you 4 will disband and be absorbed into unit z here?
Too many, undoubtably.
When you have no answers to the other mans hand, you shuffle your own cards............
And what?
In a day, two, three at the most, Dadjangas will be secure, the flood of troops will begin un impeded.
he sighs.
My task, he thinks, is easy, at least.
Tomorrow, he will lead every plane they have south, and fight.
Ogowa feels the thumps through his feet, but barely pauses in his work.
There should be CAP, there is no CAP.
Fubar...........he is too busy to wonder at what has gone wrong.what can he do about it anyway?
truk all.
The big bombers have missed, and that is good enough.
Again he examines the reports...........dadjangas still not operational (give the barsteds time, that will not be long delayed.......if someone had once told him that the bulldozer would be the war winning weapon, he would have laughed. But not now...........)
60 plus fighters over it today.
HQ, the myriads of HQ's, have gone and done exactly what they always do, Ogowa notes...........re organised.
The flood of redeployment orders must have kept a staff of hundreds busy all night..........
But how many of these squadron x, y and Z will deploy to................actually really mreans you three stragglers will fly to here, you remaining 6 to here, you 4 will disband and be absorbed into unit z here?
Too many, undoubtably.
When you have no answers to the other mans hand, you shuffle your own cards............
And what?
In a day, two, three at the most, Dadjangas will be secure, the flood of troops will begin un impeded.
he sighs.
My task, he thinks, is easy, at least.
Tomorrow, he will lead every plane they have south, and fight.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
The Emperor looks askase.
"You surely do not mean this?"
"many have already done this, many more will do this"
"But they have done this volunteeringly...............nobody has forced them to"
"No..but all know that it is our duty to die for you"
The Emperor cannot reply
"We have many , a great many units that will simply die uselessly if ordered to fly, planes to elderly, pilots too young..this way, this way we can ..............."
'Sell yourselves dearly?"
"Hiei......it is the only way we have left"
A long silence fills the palace room
Finally the emperor speaks.
"No, you will not order any man to become Kamikaze...........you may ask, you cannot order"
This very night, High Commands HQ changes the status of no less then 200 planes from training, to 'special attack"
They will not be the last.
Nor, will any man be asked.
"You surely do not mean this?"
"many have already done this, many more will do this"
"But they have done this volunteeringly...............nobody has forced them to"
"No..but all know that it is our duty to die for you"
The Emperor cannot reply
"We have many , a great many units that will simply die uselessly if ordered to fly, planes to elderly, pilots too young..this way, this way we can ..............."
'Sell yourselves dearly?"
"Hiei......it is the only way we have left"
A long silence fills the palace room
Finally the emperor speaks.
"No, you will not order any man to become Kamikaze...........you may ask, you cannot order"
This very night, High Commands HQ changes the status of no less then 200 planes from training, to 'special attack"
They will not be the last.
Nor, will any man be asked.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
2/3/45
Ogowas eagles line the edges of tacolaban field, great blades spinning
They await the word to go.
It does not come.
You cannot keep engines such as these at idle for too long, they cook. It takes but 10 minutes for Ogowa to wave for a shut down, to stalk to the command hut.
"'There is a delay with the bombers"
Later, the green light....which even as they taxi, turns to red.
"We have lost touch with the other strikes............."
Then, it rains, a heavy, heavy brief shower, and more delays ensue.
The B-29's abort the next attempt to go..................
Ogowas eagles do not fly today
Its been one long FUBAR
Ogowas eagles line the edges of tacolaban field, great blades spinning
They await the word to go.
It does not come.
You cannot keep engines such as these at idle for too long, they cook. It takes but 10 minutes for Ogowa to wave for a shut down, to stalk to the command hut.
"'There is a delay with the bombers"
Later, the green light....which even as they taxi, turns to red.
"We have lost touch with the other strikes............."
Then, it rains, a heavy, heavy brief shower, and more delays ensue.
The B-29's abort the next attempt to go..................
Ogowas eagles do not fly today
Its been one long FUBAR
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
3/3/45
dawn breaks wet and Humid over 55th division, now on the outskirts of Cototabo.
Private Kishi passes Hosho his small bowl of breakfast, "Another Hot one today?
Hosho takes the proffered bowl..........."Yes, but not the sort of Hot you are missing in Kyoto eh?"
Kishi grins. "Nor the wet"
Hosho sniffs his breakfast. So far, so good. No air attacks upon them, yet. Supplies still plentiful. The march, long, hard, hot yes...but at least on good hard roads.
A range of hills lie to the south, still purple and dark in the morning light....somewhere there, we will meet the enemy again. What a lonely, useless place to die.
But not today yes?. No, today, a full belly, an easy road. It may even stop raining.
Death , not scheduled for today then...........
Orders are being passed up and down the road, "Prepare to move out!, fires out!, combat formation march!, and keep your eyes peeled for the Buka's!"
I have my rifle. I have my men. Good boots, a full haversack. My thousand stitch belt.
I need nothing else then.
Let us march on, yes?
dawn breaks wet and Humid over 55th division, now on the outskirts of Cototabo.
Private Kishi passes Hosho his small bowl of breakfast, "Another Hot one today?
Hosho takes the proffered bowl..........."Yes, but not the sort of Hot you are missing in Kyoto eh?"
Kishi grins. "Nor the wet"
Hosho sniffs his breakfast. So far, so good. No air attacks upon them, yet. Supplies still plentiful. The march, long, hard, hot yes...but at least on good hard roads.
A range of hills lie to the south, still purple and dark in the morning light....somewhere there, we will meet the enemy again. What a lonely, useless place to die.
But not today yes?. No, today, a full belly, an easy road. It may even stop raining.
Death , not scheduled for today then...........
Orders are being passed up and down the road, "Prepare to move out!, fires out!, combat formation march!, and keep your eyes peeled for the Buka's!"
I have my rifle. I have my men. Good boots, a full haversack. My thousand stitch belt.
I need nothing else then.
Let us march on, yes?
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
There is no leave in Hiroshima
Destroyer Susuzuki refuels, and with seven other destroyers sails again.
"This is the Captain..........we are to escort carrier Unryu into port, Tokyo in all probability. All hands are to observe all Submarine precautions. That is all"
Hirate and Okano are again sharing watches. Hirate in the fwd boiler room, Okano in the aft engine room. Already, both men feel at home, a vast amount of the machinery down here is exactly the same as Zuiho's , laid out a lot differently, for sure, but the boilers are the same, the pumps are the same, the turbines the same.
But she does not go like Zuiho.
In this , she is not the same
Not at all.
She goes fast.
Special sea duty men have barely secured, Japan still close behind, and her Captain "would like to stretch her legs" , for a little while if you please.
''revolutions 320 "
Hirate grins
This could be interesting, could be fun.............
Okano licks his lips............clenches, unclenches his fists, ."On the circ pump!, close main engine drains, on second air ejector!"
And steadily, steadily he winds the throttle open..........
Hirate twists his throttle, turns, spins the valves to the second fuel pump, "In 4!, in 5!, grabs the blower throttle, twists it to full.
The blowers scream, the furnace roars, a baneful glow fills the boiler room, hells gate is all but open.
Susuzuki buries her arse, the rooster tail builds.
She goes fast.
Oh yes.
This is what destroyers do, can do. Across the pacific swells she slices, wind in her hair, wild.
The captain tests her helm, hard to port, to starboard, vibrating, rattling, she slams her flanks into the piling up sea.........
Men will curse, men will hang on
But most will smile.......you cannot be a destroyer man in a moment like this, and not.
The captain, satisfied "that all is good, yes?" will slow her down, and rejoin the formation.
back to business
back to the war
Fun over, for now.
Destroyer Susuzuki refuels, and with seven other destroyers sails again.
"This is the Captain..........we are to escort carrier Unryu into port, Tokyo in all probability. All hands are to observe all Submarine precautions. That is all"
Hirate and Okano are again sharing watches. Hirate in the fwd boiler room, Okano in the aft engine room. Already, both men feel at home, a vast amount of the machinery down here is exactly the same as Zuiho's , laid out a lot differently, for sure, but the boilers are the same, the pumps are the same, the turbines the same.
But she does not go like Zuiho.
In this , she is not the same
Not at all.
She goes fast.
Special sea duty men have barely secured, Japan still close behind, and her Captain "would like to stretch her legs" , for a little while if you please.
''revolutions 320 "
Hirate grins
This could be interesting, could be fun.............
Okano licks his lips............clenches, unclenches his fists, ."On the circ pump!, close main engine drains, on second air ejector!"
And steadily, steadily he winds the throttle open..........
Hirate twists his throttle, turns, spins the valves to the second fuel pump, "In 4!, in 5!, grabs the blower throttle, twists it to full.
The blowers scream, the furnace roars, a baneful glow fills the boiler room, hells gate is all but open.
Susuzuki buries her arse, the rooster tail builds.
She goes fast.
Oh yes.
This is what destroyers do, can do. Across the pacific swells she slices, wind in her hair, wild.
The captain tests her helm, hard to port, to starboard, vibrating, rattling, she slams her flanks into the piling up sea.........
Men will curse, men will hang on
But most will smile.......you cannot be a destroyer man in a moment like this, and not.
The captain, satisfied "that all is good, yes?" will slow her down, and rejoin the formation.
back to business
back to the war
Fun over, for now.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
Ogowas eagles do fly this time
27 strong, Ogowa leading, they sweep towards Dadjangas
The fly high
they fly fast
They weave between great floating mountains in the sky.
They arrive, undetected, with the hieght, with numbers
Ogowa observes the enemy fighters climbing up towards them, straggling across the sky
I have everything.................
One click of the mike.........."Attack!"
The negative Gee as the dive commences, the roar rising, the throttle full, the vibrations of this mad, mad journey begin to increase
Streaming down, fighters ahead, fighters behind, the hellcats?, yes, helllcats, wildcats, rising towards them, our pass going through them.........
hellcats falling
Turn, turn you barsted, , gods, fighters wheeling everywhere.......Diogowa, yes, still with me, still sticking like glue...
Yes, yes My friend, I see them, corsairs, coming down.........
hard up, at them!
Firing, tarcer, flashing fighter passing, a picture..mickey mouse!, they are such a beautiful blue...........
Breathing, breathing, sucking them in, head swivelling, swivelling, the earth rising, falling, a target, chase, bank, twist, bukA!!!!, he gets away
Rolling, climbing, a chance, stick hard over, into the belly, delicate touch, a little flap ney?.........the hell cat twists, turns, too slow my friend, too slow
The thumb presses, the tracer streaks, a flare, the hellcat burns, falls, a kill.............no time to exhualt, swivel the head, look, hunt, seek, fight, live, try to kill............
Ogowas eagles sweep.
They have the hieght, the bounce, the numbers
6 George are lost
34 hellcats, wildcats and corsairs are claimed.
Ogowa sits in his mess (the tent, that masquerades as the mess) and quietly listens to the excited chatter of his men.
A thousand combats are being re fought, a hundred kills reclaimed.
His men are happy
Morale, there will never be moral like this again...........
Finally, finally, we have are S@#t together............
27 strong, Ogowa leading, they sweep towards Dadjangas
The fly high
they fly fast
They weave between great floating mountains in the sky.
They arrive, undetected, with the hieght, with numbers
Ogowa observes the enemy fighters climbing up towards them, straggling across the sky
I have everything.................
One click of the mike.........."Attack!"
The negative Gee as the dive commences, the roar rising, the throttle full, the vibrations of this mad, mad journey begin to increase
Streaming down, fighters ahead, fighters behind, the hellcats?, yes, helllcats, wildcats, rising towards them, our pass going through them.........
hellcats falling
Turn, turn you barsted, , gods, fighters wheeling everywhere.......Diogowa, yes, still with me, still sticking like glue...
Yes, yes My friend, I see them, corsairs, coming down.........
hard up, at them!
Firing, tarcer, flashing fighter passing, a picture..mickey mouse!, they are such a beautiful blue...........
Breathing, breathing, sucking them in, head swivelling, swivelling, the earth rising, falling, a target, chase, bank, twist, bukA!!!!, he gets away
Rolling, climbing, a chance, stick hard over, into the belly, delicate touch, a little flap ney?.........the hell cat twists, turns, too slow my friend, too slow
The thumb presses, the tracer streaks, a flare, the hellcat burns, falls, a kill.............no time to exhualt, swivel the head, look, hunt, seek, fight, live, try to kill............
Ogowas eagles sweep.
They have the hieght, the bounce, the numbers
6 George are lost
34 hellcats, wildcats and corsairs are claimed.
Ogowa sits in his mess (the tent, that masquerades as the mess) and quietly listens to the excited chatter of his men.
A thousand combats are being re fought, a hundred kills reclaimed.
His men are happy
Morale, there will never be moral like this again...........
Finally, finally, we have are S@#t together............
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
4/3/45
In the dawns early light, Susuzuki and her sisters find Unryu, still gamely striking north for Japan.
No signals are passed, the ships sliding almost reverently into formation around the battered hulk.
Hirate and Okano join many of their new ship mates along the guardrails, staring at the burnt and blackened hull, the seared , bent superstructure.
Unryu has passed through the fires of helll, and somehow, somehow, survived.
Beside Hirate, one of their fellow stokers whistles....."Look at the paint peeled along her sides.......the fires, if you ask me, you have to be mad to serve on a carrier, floating bomb that they are................."
the two stokers do not answer.
When no one is looking, Hirate will wipe some moisture from his eye................its the wind, you know, the wind..............
In the dawns early light, Susuzuki and her sisters find Unryu, still gamely striking north for Japan.
No signals are passed, the ships sliding almost reverently into formation around the battered hulk.
Hirate and Okano join many of their new ship mates along the guardrails, staring at the burnt and blackened hull, the seared , bent superstructure.
Unryu has passed through the fires of helll, and somehow, somehow, survived.
Beside Hirate, one of their fellow stokers whistles....."Look at the paint peeled along her sides.......the fires, if you ask me, you have to be mad to serve on a carrier, floating bomb that they are................."
the two stokers do not answer.
When no one is looking, Hirate will wipe some moisture from his eye................its the wind, you know, the wind..............
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
The enemy are marching south near georgetown, daily now, recons are seen over palembang.
Dadjangas is operational............
High command orders every tanker (and of these there are still surprisingly a great many), to make empty, or full, or even half full, for Takao. 3 CVE remain. Maybe a CVL can be made available. 2 CA rest, although bent, at Batavia.
All these ships will unload at Takao, and together, make what will in all likely hood be the last great fuel run.
It will have to be fought through, of this, one can almost be almost certain.
It will need destroyers, this last convoy.
There will be 8 spare ones in Tokyo bay tomorrow.
They will do.
Issue the orders.
Dadjangas is operational............
High command orders every tanker (and of these there are still surprisingly a great many), to make empty, or full, or even half full, for Takao. 3 CVE remain. Maybe a CVL can be made available. 2 CA rest, although bent, at Batavia.
All these ships will unload at Takao, and together, make what will in all likely hood be the last great fuel run.
It will have to be fought through, of this, one can almost be almost certain.
It will need destroyers, this last convoy.
There will be 8 spare ones in Tokyo bay tomorrow.
They will do.
Issue the orders.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
Franks sweep over dadjangas, meet a wall of fighters nearly 100 strong.
Messy.
Every man in the DEI, in the Celebes, is told to prepare to evacuate. When Singapore falls, as it must soon, they will be lost.
better to die in its rubble, than by starvation.
Starvation is for civilians, the useless mouths of the empire.
Messy.
Every man in the DEI, in the Celebes, is told to prepare to evacuate. When Singapore falls, as it must soon, they will be lost.
better to die in its rubble, than by starvation.
Starvation is for civilians, the useless mouths of the empire.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
Extract from "Falling Cherry Blossoms" a Japanese fighter pilots war
Another day, another sweep.
.
I lead them, 107 strong to Dadjangas, that black hole of death, sucking men and machines into its insatiable maw.
We clear the skies, a snarling circus.
We kill 30 enemy
We bomb Dadjangas, closing it.
Our follow on forces sink ships, a great many ships.
But it means nothing.
I lose 6 men. Crack veterans. Irreplaceable men.
Friends.
Another day, another sweep.
.
I lead them, 107 strong to Dadjangas, that black hole of death, sucking men and machines into its insatiable maw.
We clear the skies, a snarling circus.
We kill 30 enemy
We bomb Dadjangas, closing it.
Our follow on forces sink ships, a great many ships.
But it means nothing.
I lose 6 men. Crack veterans. Irreplaceable men.
Friends.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
The first bombers strike 55th division, strike at Hosho and his men.
After watching the fighters, the bombers stream south overhead, all day, a frustrating experience.
There is little harm done, and later, a great moment, Mitchel bombers coming over the hills, low and fast, and killed, to the last, by KI 44's .
The prince trots past, on yet another new white horse (where in the hell does he get them?)
He see's Hosho, gestures to the smoke rising ahead. "Dadjangas has fallen , but this is not over yet, is it!"
Overhead, the snarl of Japanese aero engines again fills the air.
No, I must agree, thinks Hosho. This is not over yet.
After watching the fighters, the bombers stream south overhead, all day, a frustrating experience.
There is little harm done, and later, a great moment, Mitchel bombers coming over the hills, low and fast, and killed, to the last, by KI 44's .
The prince trots past, on yet another new white horse (where in the hell does he get them?)
He see's Hosho, gestures to the smoke rising ahead. "Dadjangas has fallen , but this is not over yet, is it!"
Overhead, the snarl of Japanese aero engines again fills the air.
No, I must agree, thinks Hosho. This is not over yet.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
6/3/45
Long pigs B-29 takes a new target today, droning over minanado at 30000 feet, the bombs vanishing down upon Cebu miles below.
Little opposition rises to meet them, a handful of the stubby jacks, a few elderly Tojo's.
Long Pig finds it somewhat boring.
Bigglesworth finds it a relief, as much as he likes the man, he still is a Jonah........
Japans air force is elsewhere, circling or sweeping Dadjangas
They are winning
Ogowas eagles 110 strong today, meet no opposition
The airfield is pounded, pounded hard. But for those damn bulldozers, one could call it closed...........
Enemy troops, however, are now pushing northwards, brushing up against new Japanese regiments 50 miles to the airfields North
They probe.
2 to 1 odds, it seems.
Japan prays they will not attack. Reinforcements, good reinforcements, are almost there.
Long pigs B-29 takes a new target today, droning over minanado at 30000 feet, the bombs vanishing down upon Cebu miles below.
Little opposition rises to meet them, a handful of the stubby jacks, a few elderly Tojo's.
Long Pig finds it somewhat boring.
Bigglesworth finds it a relief, as much as he likes the man, he still is a Jonah........
Japans air force is elsewhere, circling or sweeping Dadjangas
They are winning
Ogowas eagles 110 strong today, meet no opposition
The airfield is pounded, pounded hard. But for those damn bulldozers, one could call it closed...........
Enemy troops, however, are now pushing northwards, brushing up against new Japanese regiments 50 miles to the airfields North
They probe.
2 to 1 odds, it seems.
Japan prays they will not attack. Reinforcements, good reinforcements, are almost there.
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt
RE: The little ship that could.
55th Division Marches.
marches hard.
There will be no stopping tonight, no rest for any one until the front is reached.
The hills are growing ever larger ahead.
And now, for the first time, in the evening, the faint rumble of the guns.
Hosho see's what many do not. They are currently upon a plain, if the front fails now, it will be the enemy defending the hills looking down on them, and not the other way around.
"Come on you barsteds", he growls, again and again. If his men think this is tough ,one cannot imagine what pain would ensue if that happened............
marches hard.
There will be no stopping tonight, no rest for any one until the front is reached.
The hills are growing ever larger ahead.
And now, for the first time, in the evening, the faint rumble of the guns.
Hosho see's what many do not. They are currently upon a plain, if the front fails now, it will be the enemy defending the hills looking down on them, and not the other way around.
"Come on you barsteds", he growls, again and again. If his men think this is tough ,one cannot imagine what pain would ensue if that happened............
big seas, fast ships, life tastes better with salt