A fleet sent to die

[1275psi]

Akizuki conducts gunnery drill. She cannot fire in this crowded anchorage, but her 25MM gun crews can be drilled
And drilled they are.
They glisten, stripped down, bodies gleaming under the sun, quietly cursing

Kizuka watches idly from the rear of the bridge at the drills. He knows nothing of gunnery, but believes the 25MM to be "a good gun"
The gunnery officer tells him that the 4.5's are "very good guns"
Again he would'nt know.
What he does know is how hot it is, becalmed here of Brunie. Several of his men have collapsed below today from the heat.
Kizuka smiles, he rather likes watching others struggle with the heat too

[1275psi]

(Tinian falls, but nobody will be told that)

18th Division is bombed by the liberators today.
The jungle swallows the bombs and there blasts, and the men re emerge from their holes. A handful of casualties, a gun lost.
Another day

Goto exchanges 2 dozen new groundsheets ("aquired" from HQ stores) for 2 replacement bottles of Sake
For him and Watambe, life has returned to routine
Hide from the bombs, take the General wherever......
And Aquire things