A fleet sent to die

[1275psi]

BB Ise sits easily down in the southern part of manilla bay.
About her combined fleet also rests, with not a few of the ships nestled hard against the AKE's and AGs that 6th fleet have provided.
Its about 0700, the day is going to be another beautiful one, too hot and humid of course, but another fine one nevertheless Lt Tokiwana and his turret crew are gathering on ISe's flight deck, Calisthentics before work, scheduled for just about any day.
The flight deck is clear, as Ise's 22 Rex float planes are either moored in a neat line alongside the battlewagon, or growling
in formation overhead, circling the fleet at 1000 feet, a constant look out for any Submarines foolish enough to try to penetrate the bay
Lt Tokiwana hates Calisthentics, he's getting too old for this shit, but discipline is discipline, he will dutifully lead the men as always.
" Line up please, we have much to do"
There will be no exercises done today
2 things happen almost simultanously'
The gentle drone of the Rex fighters abruptly changes to a full throttle roar, and they come sweeping past, heading east, climbing hard, stringing out into a ragged line.
Ise's alarms ring.
"Action stations, action stations, prepare for anti air action!"
Here?, anti air here?, now!
Momentarily he freezes, then adredaline dumping, action.
They run forward, port side, down the ladder past the catapult, past D turret, a pause to wait his turn, up the next ladder, other crew jostling, making for the AA guns, mayhem, into the superstructure, keep left!, keep left!, more doorways, out onto the foredeck, a glance to the right- a horozon filled with Flak, and ...bombers!, 4 engined bombers!, the ladder leading up into the turret, up it, up it!, gasping, gasping, sweating, his men
swarming to their positions.
'report!, report!
"hoist ready!"
layer ready!
magazine manned!
The men have been quick
"Gunnery control! Turret B ready for action!"
"very good, wait!"
Lt Tokiwana has one priveledge over his men. he can actually try to se what is happening
His periscope has limited traverse, but it is enough

Over Manilla proper, 10 miles away a dozen liberators are sweeping in.

They (for once) are not having it easily.
The rex float planes have crack pilots, over Ambon, over Dilli, they have shown this , and now here, they show it again
Grimly Tokiwana counts the bombers fall, 1,2,....3, and a fourth!

Dust rises where the bombs fall- the port, not the fleet so vulnerable here at anchor
But the message is clear
Manilla is not safe
At this rate, will any place be?

[1275psi]

18th Division is commanded by MGEN Takumi, a man respected by his men. He climbs easily onto Goto's little tankette,
its a very familiar sight here at the front
Today he is joined by General Kimura, Commander Burma army
'When you are ready Warrant officer"
Watambe kicks the little vehcile into gear, and with alurch and plume of diesel smoke, proceeds up the muddy track leading towards the Moulmien front

Gen Kimura commands no less than 13 divisions, 6 at Moulmien, 3 to its east several in reserve, the rest scattered between Chiang Mai and the east. A good number of brigades fill the gaps.
They are entrenched well in these jungles, and only lack of supply impedes him

Today, an inspection, 2 divisions to be rotated. But which ones?

About 30 minutes into the trip, the enemy artillery begins. It is the daily bombardment. As usual it will do little harm
Goto will travel some 30 KMs today, the generals missing nothing
Tonight 2 lucky divisions will begin moving south
Goto will not recieve a breakfast though

[1275psi]

Akizuki

"Captain?"
Minobe looks up from his desk
Y
"yes engines?"
"anyword?, it would be good opportunity this to at least get one boiler clean in"
Minobe grimaces.
"probably not, but I will let you know"
Kizuka turns to leave
"Engines, let the men rest, I fear we may need every ounce of ourselves soon"

[PaxMondo]

Oh Ko!! Mid-44 and the USN has suffered virtually no losses?! What scen are you playing?

[1275psi]

Scene 1
I actually have not even sighted a single american CV/cvl all game
Sank several British ones at darwin-caught in port

My opponent is the most cautious player EVA, he relies on PT boats, small craft, and liberator bombers mainly
This is reason for AAR, we are committed to a home island invasion game, and its going to be armaggedon when he finally commits

[1275psi]

20th July 1944
The mess deck on Unryu is full this midday meal, and Ashishi struggles to find a space, the benches crowded with two watches of men.
Its the same meal again, rice, some bits of seafood, seaweed, soy sauce, standard fare.
Ashishi doesnt mind- 6 months ago in japan rice was becoming somewhat hard to get, a real driving force for his volunteering. he has, like so many before him lied about his age to join. He barely shaves yet.

The conversation is loud, and somewhat upbeat about him. Unryu lies an anchor, along with apparently half the fleet, and strangley today, no drills, no exercises, just quiet, cleaning, and he supposes, mainteance. The hanger deck was certaintly busy enough
"What do you think is brewing Ashishi?, you surely must hear something standing so close to the bridge everyday"
Ashishi contemplates the question. Yes, he supposes, he probably does hear more than most
"Something big" he leans forward conspiritorically " Captain Sagaki and the air commander had quite a row last night, they were actually almost shouting at each other"
'What about?"
Suddenly quite a few faces are turned towards him
"I have no idea, but I did hear the words decisive battle a few times"
the faces turn away, and there is even some laughter

Decisive battle?, how many times had they heard that?

[1275psi]

It was busy enough on Kaga though

"The word had come down last night- maximum availability, as soon as it can be done"
They have worked for the last 16 hours, clearing the 200, 500 hourlies, patching and repairing those long delayed repairs.

And as for the stores

Kaga is finally at a decent port, and the spares are rolling in,.
They need to cataloged, classified, assigned stowages.
And the hanger itself- it desperately needs a good huk out, too many items to his eyes lying about that just damn well needed to be put away....
A seaman approaches him
"Taiho enquires if we have a spare canopy for an AM5?"
WO Eto looks at the seaman as if he was some sort strange alien
"request form?"
"No, just a signal, no form"
"Not without a bloody form"

[1275psi]

Lt Tokiwa momentarily takes in the view
Manilla bay fades into the distance, dreams of a shore run with it

Nothing for it, yes?
The view however, is, as always, special
Yamato, Mushai , Mutsu, themselves, Fuso, yamashiro, line ahead, the cruisers and destroyers shking themselves into the usual circular formation.
The air is clear, and even from here he can see other men on the battlewagons.

Did they think like him?
Wonder what is coming next?

As long as its not yet another airfield bombardment, next time, next time, give him a real target!

[1275psi]

They are the old hands of 204 KU
Shiga, the "skinny one" with 5 kills
Ogawa "the fat one" with just 2
Kanda, "The tall one" with his 6
Akashiba "the short one" with his 4

and Taniguchi, the slow one, slow off speach, of decision.
Except in a cockpit. he has 6 kills as well

Original members from the groups forming. Other come, and go (or die ), but we remain Kanda thinks
They are gathered , these 5, around Cmdr Nozawa.

They would follow this man to hell, and back. he has led them there several times already

The briefing is simple, short
:we are rebuilding, pilots still coming, planes still coming. Identify today who your 10 weakest are, and tomorrow, get them into the air, do the bast that you can with them. I don't think we have much time"

[1275psi]

Asada circles the fleet as it exits Manilla bay
yesterday had been beyond a shock

Could the allies really reach this far?

He is tired, and this CAP is not going to help that at all
In fact, he feels damn sick to be honest.....
he shrugs, tries to stir himself
4 hours to go, goddam cap

[1275psi]

The purpose of thei AAR is to tell the story from the common soldier/sailor/airman view

They very rarely know whats going on

So just once, here is the situation
The allied armies are stalled at Moulmien.
After a long hard slog, with not a few set backs, they have taken Siapan, are battling for Tinian and Guam, and Palua has fallen
They have advanced up the north coast of PNG, arnd now have taken Sorong, and taluid ?, that islkand south of Davao
Ambon is a siege
Timor is his, but I kicked him out of the flores islands

he daily bombs Moulmien, and is trying to suppress the phillipines

This game is unique to me, as I have lost just 5 CA, CVL Zuiho (that hurt)
He's lost buggar all, I hit a lot of ships in Darwin, but the Brits are recovering
His game has been, run away big time, and then creep forward, with a few bloody noses, but he is on track.
Both sides totally committed to a home invasion battle eventually

My oil is shot, my fuel is getting low, supply is empty.
I have won the ss war, he gave up attacking AKs 6 months ago, his SS seem to mainly just support each operation,
have lost just 1 tanker to ss all game I think

I am operating 3 KB
KB1, KB2 are in taiwan, along with the fast BBs and a lot of DDs
KB3, the cvls and CVEs plus Hiyo and Junyo are with the main BBs, currently leaving Manilla, headed North.

japanes plan, to basically recreate battle of Leyte gulf, but with one difference, my CVs are fully manned with still original crack pilots. can they clear the way for the BBs?
Thats the plan anyway
But the common sailor has not a clue, they just serve

[PaxMondo]

Scene 1
I actually have not even sighted a single american CV/cvl all game
Sank several British ones at darwin-caught in port

My opponent is the most cautious player EVA, he relies on PT boats, small craft, and liberator bombers mainly
This is reason for AAR, we are committed to a home island invasion game, and its going to be armaggedon when he finally commits

Yes it will ... We get to see how Herb counters the DeathStar ... I am SO watching for this ....

[PaxMondo]

The purpose of thei AAR is to tell the story from the common soldier/sailor/airman view

They very rarely know whats going on

So just once, here is the situation ...

japanes plan, to basically recreate battle of Leyte gulf, but with one difference, my CVs are fully manned with still original crack pilots. can they clear the way for the BBs?
Thats the plan anyway

And hope that the allies didn't bring all of their BB's with them .... this is going to so GOOD!!!

[RangerJoe]

Congratulations on taking care of that cancer. It has been over 16 years since my surgery to remove my melanoma, along with two toes, the metatarsal heads (balls) of the feet, along with part of my foot.

I can think of worse places to get melanoma!

[RangerJoe]

A double post so I switched to this!

FB_IMG_1790606460610.jpg (155.49 KiB) Viewed 118 times

Of course it is a sleepover, you sleep in the field!

[1275psi]

Cv Unryu , part of KB2, which basicaly is all the Unryu class, lies at anchor at Takao
Smn Ashishi day is a busy one
Up at dawn, calisthetics on the flight deck, a hurried breakfast.
Scrub the mess, then for 2 hours, Anti air drills.
These are good today, hectic, but good
Takao is home for several naval squadrons, and today they sweep in making mock torpedo attacks

Being at anchor takes some value out of the day, yet the reporting chain from the lookouts, to the directors, to the guns works smoothly, as far as they can tell.
Unryu has not seen an enemy aircraft since commissioning, nor fired an AA gun in anger.
It never occurs for Ashishi to question what standard "good" is being judged against. Nor for most of his fellow crew mates

[1275psi]

Kaga, part of KB1- shok, zuik, taiho, Soryu, Hiryu (Akagi coming it is hoped) also rests at anchor at Takao.
WO Eto also has a busy day. Kaga doesnt drill today, her captain doesn't need the distraction. An air man through and through he knows everything depends on his airgroups.
They must be fully available.
The last three months have been hard on the bombers, endless ASW patrols , endless.
They have definately contributed to the charmed life the CVs have lived these last months, the SS have been kept clear, some even killed.
But now the bill is due.
Engine hours have accumulated, air frame hours too.
So WO Eto and his gang remove engines, and manhandle new or rebuilt ones into place. Inspection hatches are open, and a million things are being checked

Its nearly 100 degrees in the hanger, and they work stripped to the waist, hundreds of brown bodies working as hard as any man works
There is no word on how long they have.
But this is war, and in war, there never is enough time

[1275psi]

Akizuki is at sea, still, patrolling south of Takao
5 other DDs are with her, and they sweep north in a long line abreast, riding easily across the smooth seas, sonars pinging

But there will be no contacts today.

Minobe and Kizuma have an easy relationship. Minobe lets Kizuma get his work done, akizuma keeps Minobe in the dark about whats going on downstairs as best he can
But at the moment the destroyer is in good shape, almost defect free.
They occupy the stbd bridge wing at the moment
"New orders Engines"
Kizuma arches his eyebrows.. "death and glory I assume?"
Minobe chuckles
'hardly, well not yet I think. Takao, stay in same formation. Advance Guard for Tanaka's fast battle wagons"

Kizuma contemplates this news
Tanaka- hard charging Tanaka.
Its a good thing they are in good shape, he's going to need every knot they can wring from Akizuki

[1275psi]

Hiroshima

First class fitter Ban sits at the railway station, waiting forr the (as always ) late train that will take him
to his next job, repairs to BB Hyuga currently at Nagasaki

He does not know where he will be billetted at Nagasaki, where he will work, how long he will be there.
Yesterday he watched Akagi sail, a bitter feeling that, for he knows she is not fully healed, and no tradesman likes to leave anything half finished.
But for now...the train?

4 trains have passed through in the last hour, headed west
Troop trains all of them, and packed to the gills with young, so young men.
Ban will wait
far preferrable to be a essential worker than one of those poor souls

[1275psi]

BB Ise also exercises against aircraft

her own though today
At decent intervals six Rexes stream past at 2000 yards, the target ribbons trailing merrily a thousand yards behind them
Its Ise's turn to shoot
With a crackling roar the 25mm, enthusiastically burst into life, briefly of course- it is not a gun known for sustained fire, no matter how hard the crews work to replace the magazines- and then back to life again

The sky fills with black puffs, and some even seem to hit the target.
Lt Tokiwana, sitting cross legged on the top of his great turret, cannot help notice though just how many dont