A fleet sent to die

[1275psi]

WO gots and watambe trundle south , the little tankette rattling and banging on the track
They are not making very good time, stopping again and again for the stream of reinforcement moving North up the track

2 new divisions, rested, and actually well fed, moving up to replace 2 bruised divisions now moving south

To the North, the artillery bangs away, hitting very little.
To the south, waves of bombers place craters on craters at the airfield (long since abandoned)
Its another day in Burma
Another stalemate day

[1275psi]

KB 3 also lies at anchor at Takao
CVL Shoho trains her pilots today, they use Takao airfield, there is too little wind over her deck today, especially whilst at anchor
Asada does not fly, he rests in Shohos sickbay (if it can be called rest)
Malaria has struck him down
Apparently, being a pilot isn't a guarrantee of avoiuding the dread disease

[1275psi]

The unit remains at 47 planes strong, still way short of TOE of 72
But her pilot ranks are now filled

Training has'nt occurred today, the weather has prevented it- just a day of sheeting rain, impossible low clouds

They spenda great deal of the day listening to the radio. Its not raining to the east, and the skies over Minando are busy indeed
It is hard to get a grasp on what is really happening, but apparently bay bay, Davao, Macassar have been bombed, and swept with the dreaded T bolts.
"There is no stopping them" bitterly Shiga observes " I wouldnt be in a zero over there no matter how much you pay me"
"Nor a tony" notes Ogawa ' they don't seem to do much better"
'Its the pilots, not the planes" kanda interjects

The radio chatter continues
They don't need to say anything else
its been a long time since Japan was equal in the air

[1275psi]

I forget how to reply to a post.....

On the cancer
I had HPV + 16 - a 6cm lump in the neck, with several lymph nodes also

Sooooo.... 35 radiations under the mask, Chemo, lost all sense of taste, spent months spewing, no saliva , lost 26 Kilos,
and my hearing
But Im out the other side now

This game was a very welcome distraction, my opponent kept the faith (and patience when I was too sick to do a turn or two), something to look forward to
A lot of turns done at 3 am in the morning when sleep was impossible, or the pain a bit too much for it
Cancer has changed a lot in my life, but this game remains constant!

So how busy are the forums now adays?. Im stunned that they seem alive

[1275psi]

Ban reaches Nagasaki early in the day.
Somewhere, someone has their ducks in a row, or is it the usual Japanese efficiency in these things?
He is met by a literal team of guides, and soon finds himself on a crowded bus. Many of the faces he knows- that man over there helped him fit a fuel pump on the Kasagi, that man over there he has worked alongside with on the Unryu.
They had been good jobs, Priority builds, lacking in nothing
The accomodation is as expected, a converted warehouse near the dock, a mere 100 metres from the grey hull of the Hyuga
He finds a bunk, and a simple meal comes.
Shortly afterwards what appears to be the off coming shift wearily enters the warehouse, they silently take their meals, scatter about the building

It only takes a few questions to get the low down

Hyuga took a single PT launched torpedo some months ago, took right in the worse place possible.
Right up the arse.
Steering wrecked, two shafts wrecked, a turbine destroyed, extensive flooding. She could have done a prince of Wales, but some how has survived.
Current status- out of dock, new shafts, new steering, the turbine all but in, but the support piping still to be replaced.
Time to repair?
50 days, apparently
Ban looks about him. He is being fed. He has a bed. he's not in a bloody uniform
50 days.
Good.
No complaints from Fitter First Class Ban

[RangerJoe]

I forget how to reply to a post.....

On the cancer
I had HPV + 16 - a 6cm lump in the neck, with several lymph nodes also

Sooooo.... 35 radiations under the mask, Chemo, lost all sense of taste, spent months spewing, no saliva , lost 26 Kilos,
and my hearing
But Im out the other side now

This game was a very welcome distraction, my opponent kept the faith (and patience when I was too sick to do a turn or two), something to look forward to
A lot of turns done at 3 am in the morning when sleep was impossible, or the pain a bit too much for it
Cancer has changed a lot in my life, but this game remains constant!

So how busy are the forums now adays?. Im stunned that they seem alive

Click the " on the upper right.

[1275psi]

Akizuki meets and escorts Akagi into Takao, where the carrier joins combined fleet KB 1
The destrore anchors as well, and Minobe promptly leaves her for a conference on the Hibiki, currently the Fagship of this little flottilla
he is not alone, all over the bay the whale boats are shuffling Commanding officers to the Taiho even the lowliest sailor can see that something is in the wind.
There has to be, there is simply too many ships here for there not to be something afoot.

The conference will go all day

[1275psi]

Ashishi has a long day on the small quarter deck of Unryu
He has been selected for Gaurd duty, Unryu has been selected flagship of KB2, and all day the officers come and go up the companion way, every one to met by a rifle salute, the shriek of the pipes

Just after Lunch Nagumo himself comes aboard with his staff, looking grim and dour as ever
He will , apparently, remain aboard

[1275psi]

BB ise, with First fleet and KB3 arrive hongkong after a very fast passage North
This day is filled with refuelling, sucking the base dry.
The evening in the wardroom filled with almost savage debate

What role will ISE play- her pilots believe that CAP over the battlewagons is a waste- we can't fight from an endless circle-!, what strike aircraft we have should be fully escorted in!
Tokiwana has utter faith in his guns, and still thinks removing 4 barrells for a stupid flight deck madness, but he has heard what has happened, KB 3 has been stripped of its strike planes as much as possible, replaced by fighters
No, they will be escorted in, and Yamato and her Sister will sweep the oceans clean.
Ise, he hopes, will have the leftovers.

[1275psi]

There is not nearly as much radio traffic, or pilot chatter from Minando today
The enemy sweep heavily, but little it appears goes up to meet them

60 plus P-38's sweep Balikapapn, and the Franks fall, but take a few with them.Kanda and his friends listen grimly
to the carnage.

How long until they too, re enter the furnace

[1275psi]

Wo Goto and Watambe resst again alongside their tankette, parked besides HQ 18th division

They have been here many months now, a steady routine.
But something this day has stirred a hornets nest, couriers are streaming into the tent, and as rapidly streaming out again

Then the general bursts from the tent, all urgency and worry
"Take me to Burma Army command!"

The tankette bursts into life
generals never reveal to common ranks what is happening....never!
But maybe the stress is too much
The General barks at Goto "As fast as you can please....There's British carriers off Port blair, I think we are about to be invaded at Vic point!"

[1275psi]

Akizuki nudges alongside Takao pier
LTCMDR Kizuka is pleased with the way the engines have responded to Minobes many, many orders. He is a fighting man, is this destroyers Captain, but not such a great shiphandler
"Finish with main engines'
That pregnant pause that means so much to the stokers below
"One hours notice for sea"
damn, 1 hour means leaving the ship steaming at least one boiler, AND the turbines under reduced vacuum, turning gear engaged
"I know what you are thinking Engine" The Captain is grim 'We can't afford to get caught here by those Liberators, I don't trust the Army an inch with their claims of a combat air patrol, not a bloody inch"

It is a reasonable point
Engines will now go down below, find the Charge, and pass the "good news " to him
Other than water, they are in good shape.
No Minobe is right.
Instictively he glances at the sky, empty and blue
Bloody bombers. Bloody things

[1275psi]

204 KUS-1

Nearly a dozen new fighters (georges by the allies) arrive as replacements today
But almost importantly, so do nearly 30 transport aircraft, each one disgorging mechanics from 6th air Division
rescued from somewhere deep in the southern DEI, they will be more than welcome reinforcements for the overstretched
ground crews here

Now 55 aircraft strong, but hopefully very soon to be fully TOE, Kanda takes 6 planes aloft for training

It is simple training today, but one they have not been able to do for lack of supplies for far too long.
Drouge shooting

Kanda is a good shot, his kills attest to this, but today is difficult. The target is simply so slow...
And small.

But it is good to hear the guns, feel the shudder, ply the stick, press into the seat, roll away, engine bellowing
Its always good yes?

[1275psi]

The sickbay on Shoho stinks of humidity, sweat, and god knows what else

Asada wishes to be anywhere else but here, but he still has the shakes, the sweats, the fever
He needs to be on the flight deck above him.
Even from here he can tell things are happening

The faint "ting, ting, ting of the elevator just forward of this stink hole has been tinging for an hour now.
The sound of aero engines being started, warmed through as each plane comes on deck

And of course, the vibrations and movement of Shoho herself.
They have sailed, sailed a mere day after arriving in Hong Kong
Are they going to battle?
he hopes not, not while he is trapped down here

[1275psi]

BB Ise follows her big brothers south into the gathering dusk

She has just recovered her REX fighter CAP, and is steaming hard to regain her formation
To Tokiwana, the ship seems strangely quiet. Subdued even

He sits on the compass platform, taking in the sight, the glimmering sea, the red sun setting into it, the great shapes ahead and around Ise
He has always liked Tropical Sunsets, they are so often beautiful

He misses home.

With a sigh he begins the journey to his turret, it will be dusk action stations any moment now.

Its almost visceral
He misses home