At dawn we slept...in the cab on the way back from Olongapo

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake
Later, I wondered if they go the other way in the Southern Hemisphere. I love science.

Do cows go "the other way"? Yes. It's been known to happen. Most species do on occasion.

[zuluhour]

I'm sure you would get a couple of pointers.

[Cap Mandrake]

..

[zuluhour]

I bet the guys in Chittagong are peeved, they'd get better support from a bike.

[Cap Mandrake]

***********HQ, 50th Tank Brigade, 45 m SE of Chittagong************

Gen Cameron: Jugdeesh, please relay this message to Major Thomas: "Advance 2nd Mahindra Tractor Bn to
Pekua and.....retard..yes that's the right word...retard the advance of Imperial Guards as long as practible".

Sgt. Chowdurry: <Hewlett Packard Tier 1 Technical Support Accent> Very good, sahib. Shall they take the new plows? The men do so love the new plows.

Gen Cameron: Plows? No, no they shan't be needing the plows.

Sgt. Chowdurry: Very good, sahib. <turns to leave>

Gen Cameron: Wait, Jugdeesh, perhaps two or three plows might be prudent in case they are needed for burial duty.

Sgt. Chowdurry: Burial detail, good golly, oh sir, that is very funny, hahahahaha, good golly I do love you sense of humor sahib. HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH...

Gen Cameron: <speaking to aide as Sgt Chowdurry moves out of earshot> Splendid batsman, Jugdeesh, but I fear he may have been dipped in the Ganges one too many times.

[desicat]

Mahindra's at the ready....



or this will stop them!

[Cap Mandrake]

**************March 13, 19429e)**************

We shoot! We don't score.

N&IC: We had to drive off the Jap BB at Koumac to get at the runway..so we send part of the Great White Fleet.
A daytime battle would favor us with the superior gunnery throw-power but we have to hit at night to get away from the carriers.

We get Rong Ranced and Somebody on Cushing left a hatch open or something,

Night Time Surface Combat, near Koumac at 113,156, Range 4,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
OS2U-3 Kingfisher: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu, Shell hits 4
CL Isuzu, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Isokaze
DD Michishio, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Hibiki
DD Shikinami

Allied Ships
BB Idaho, Shell hits 12, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
BB Mississippi, Shell hits 1
CL St. Louis, Shell hits 1
DD Anderson
DD Morris, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Ralph Talbot, Shell hits 1
DD Cushing, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

If the sun comes up and Mutsu is still sitting there I will be very disappointed. At the very least we may have used up her ammo.
We got this new fancy-shmancey radar thingy but nobody knows how to use the damn thing. Mutsu gets the drop on Idaho, which is in the van.

Reduced sighting due to 14% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 14% moonlight: 7,000 yards
Range closes to 20,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 20,000 yards
Range closes to 14,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 4,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 4,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 4,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages BB Idaho at 4,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages BB Idaho at 4,000 yards
DD Shikinami engages BB Idaho at 4,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages DD Cushing at 4,000 yards
DD Ralph Talbot engages DD Michishio at 4,000 yards
Range closes to 2,000 yards
BB Idaho engages BB Mutsu at 2,000 yards
BB Idaho sunk by BB Mutsu at 2,000 yards
CL St. Louis engages DD Isokaze at 2,000 yards
DD Cushing engages DD Michishio at 2,000 yards
DD Michishio engages DD Ralph Talbot at 2,000 yards
DD Isokaze engages DD Morris at 2,000 yards
Range increases to 3,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages DD Morris at 3,000 yards
CL Isuzu engages CL St. Louis at 3,000 yards
DD Shikinami engages DD Cushing at 3,000 yards
DD Ralph Talbot engages DD Isokaze at 3,000 yards
DD Michishio engages DD Morris at 3,000 yards
Range increases to 6,000 yards
DD Cushing sunk by BB Mutsu at 6,000 yards
CL Isuzu engages CL St. Louis at 6,000 yards
DD Hibiki engages DD Morris at 6,000 yards
DD Michishio engages DD Morris at 6,000 yards
DD Anderson engages DD Michishio at 6,000 yards
Range increases to 9,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages CL St. Louis at 9,000 yards
CL Isuzu engages CL St. Louis at 9,000 yards
DD Michishio engages DD Ralph Talbot at 9,000 yards
DD Michishio engages DD Morris at 9,000 yards
DD Michishio engages DD Ralph Talbot at 9,000 yards
Range increases to 13,000 yards
BB Mutsu engages BB Mississippi at 13,000 yards
CL St. Louis engages CL Isuzu at 13,000 yards
DD Ralph Talbot engages DD Shikinami at 13,000 yards
DD Morris engages DD Shikinami at 13,000 yards
DD Anderson engages DD Michishio at 13,000 yards
Task forces break off...

[Cap Mandrake]

We lost 2 invaluable B-17's over Koumac yesterday so we switch to night raids. It's moderately effective. We brow up a few Zeroes and dent the runway. It looks like this.
They come in in twosies and threesies at night. Even the LB-30's get some hits.


Night Air attack on Koumac , at 113,156

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed on ground

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 9000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

[Cap Mandrake]

We soften up 2nd SNLF at La Foa. The taro field is already wrecked. A regiment of Americal Div has departed Oz. We are going to land behind the LYB's at La Foa and cut off the division at Noumea.
The last bits of 164th RCT are ashore at Noumea which now has 2 USMC and 1 USA regt, 2 tank Bn and arty.


Night Naval bombardment of La Foa at 114,159

Allied Ships
CL Nashville
CL Honolulu
DD Hull
DD Phelps
DD Cassin

Japanese ground losses:
86 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 7
Port hits 9
Port supply hits 3

CL Nashville firing at La Foa
SOC-1 Seagull acting as spotter for CL Honolulu
CL Honolulu firing at Maizuru 2nd SNLF
DD Hull firing at Maizuru 2nd SNLF
DD Phelps firing at Maizuru 2nd SNLF
DD Cassin firing at La Foa

[Cap Mandrake]

Poor Steel Trader has already been hit by two torps. She was evacuating a few damaged airframes from Tanna. I'm pretty sure this is a war crime.

ubmarine attack near Suva at 131,161

Japanese Ships
SS I-21

Allied Ships
xAK Steel Trader, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

xAK Steel Trader is sighted by SS I-21
SS I-21 launches 2 torpedoes

[Cap Mandrake]

I had this dream I was lined up to ride down this waterfall and the entrance to the waterfall was a tunnel...and this attractive young Polish woman tried to cut in front of me. I told her no because it was not good for civilization but we could ride down together and she at least pretended to be impressed. And then I woke up.

See, this is where I got the notion to send the BB's up to Koumac. Perhaps I misunderstood the dream. Maybe she was a spy.

[Cap Mandrake]

Good find on Netflix. "The Detectorists"...a couple of losery guys in Essex on the quest for Saxon gold.

[Cap Mandrake]

So I need to get my great coat dry cleaned so I can wear it the 8 days a year that I might actually need it.
..so I ask SG to take it in for me but I have to go pick it up..."It's at the cleaners near Albertson's V-something".


So I pull up and the sign says "VC Cleaning" and I chuckle a little on the way in. Then I go inside and this middle aged Vietnamese woman says "Name"? Now I am smiling broadly. She thinks I'm crazy most likely.

Vietnamese woman: What so funny?

Mandrake: Oh, nothing, it's just the sign, "VC Cleaners". <laughs>

Vietnamese woman: That just name. "View Cleaners".

Mandrake: But you have a view of the parking lot. So it's "View Cleaners Cleaners"? You don't think it is slightly funny to have a dry cleaners named "VC Cleaners" run by a Vietnamese woman?

Vietnamese woman: <she has had quite enough> TWENTY...no TWENTY SIX dollah!

[witpqs]

"And you never see coat again, funny man! Ha ha ha ha."

[BBfanboy]

Cap Mandrake: ************19429e************

OMG - I slept in ... for 17414 years! .... and this game is still going on![X(]

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Cap Mandrake: ************19429e************

OMG - I slept in ... for 17414 years! .... and this game is still going on![X(]

No, it just SEEMS like 17414 years

[zuluhour]

"first you lose wah, now you lose coat!"

[Cap Mandrake]

*******************PM Curtin's Office, Canberra**************


PM, on phone, well not really "on it", he's in a chair and talking on the phone:...Sweetheart, I don't think this is a good weekend to take the kids to the shore........No, nothing in particular. It's the weather, yes, that's it.

[Cap Mandrake]

**************Norfolk Island Bn HQ, Kingston*************

Lt. Col Fraser, on phone, well, erm, you know the drill Look, I know the men have been looking
forward to it but I'm afraid we will have to cancel the Fall harvest Festival.........

......Right, you are just going to have to trust me on this......Tell them there was a Salmonella scare and
we have to throw out the fowl.........Yes, and double the lookouts too.

[Cap Mandrake]

****************Office of PM Fraser, Auckland*****************


Mr. Fraser: Yes, the rental units in Waipapakauri, I want them sold..fast..........Hold on <reaches over to map and seems to measuring off distances on the map> Ummmm..I's say Thursday at the latest....