herbiesan vs Cantona!!!

[1275psi]

Captain Saxby reads the initial dispatches


.........."I hand the info to the command on a plate, and this is what happens?............."

[1275psi]

Dawn
17/4/44

Agarshi, Shimto snatch a quick meal, before making their way to their damage control station.
Ryujo steams hard still, alone, the great pack of cruisers that were with her during the night, can steam harder still
Captain Ujire intends to honour his promotion, and has raced his ships further south

The little carriers decks are empty, her hangers empty –and every heart is south with her pilots, who even now attack the invasion fleet.

The day brightens –smooth seas –but many scattered showers – undoubtedly the captain eyes them in case cover will be needed.

It won’t be.
The two men spend a tense, yet boring day- waiting, waiting for the inevitable enemy strikes –but other than their own CAP, the skies remain clear of planes
The strike returns –and moral soars – just 3 planes lost –and 2 small enemy carriers sunk.
The enemy invasion fleet fills the bay at Aitape –the troops pouring ashore.
Our two stokers return to below, an easier watch , speed now reduced –but no the less stressful –nobody can possibly feel comfortable below decks in a carrier in battle.

Darkness comes – and it continues. There can be no sleep , no rest. Tomorrow the battle must come.

[1275psi]

18/4/44

The allies try something different
The three liberators come across the front high, high and alone - and what elements of nakamura's CAP that can reach them turn eagerly into the attack.

The bombers turn, and flee

On the ground, Nakamura, Juni, most of the "first team" in fact, can do little but continue to eat the midday meal, and listen to the radio chatter.
Juni asks the question "Who's up?"
"Chuzaburo, Shirahama, most of the no scores"
"Its a trap"
The silence around the cooking pot agrees -its too good -its a trap
Nakamura merely stands, and walks away silently when the chatter suddenly changes from the sound of a hunt, to the cries of the hunted.

42 P-38's bounce 47th today -and 6 precious men, friends, companions -do not return
6 P-38 are killed in return , and Chuzaburo gets yet another kill -but gloom fills them this evening.

47th have been at the front for what? -ten days? -a fortnight? -an eternity?
10 men dead already
Again the machine of war is grinding our sentai up........................

[1275psi]

Japanese high command will not understand -in fact, history will struggle to understand -but dawn of the 18th sees the Aitape invasion fleet still at anchor..................


Escortless.


Mobile fleets first 3 strikes are dis organised affairs -bombers arriving with out escort, and losses mount -nearly 40 a/c will be lost today -but Biak island strikes have disorganised the CAP, scattered it - and emptied too many guns

Nearly 100 bombers arrive over thshipping spread over the 5 square miles off Aitape -anchored ships, helpless ships.
The killing begins

By the time the second, third major waves arrive - over 300 strong -the column of smoke from the burning ships can be seen at Lae - and for the japanese, the greatest hazard becomes avoiding collision in the crowded skies......

[1275psi]

Tears stream down Captain Ujire's face.

This is murder., plain and simple.

But murder he must

He has led 8 heavy cruisers, 9 destroyers to this bay of blood -guided like Moses, by a column of smoke by day, of fire by night.
He has expected to fight his way in, committed to engaging whatever stood in his way -but this -he never expected this.
Japans fliers have wrecked havoc, but targets remain, and now, methodically, the cruisers and destroyers take there targets, and relentlessly -kill.

It takes two hours, then with nothing left, he takes his ships north again.

[1275psi]

Yamamoto reads the reports
The British have their PQ18
The Americans now have theirs.............

Aitape has fallen -as expected -an easy allied land win

But it has cost the allies 3 CVE's, and Thirty - was it really thirty? - transports and cargo ships.

As Tanaka wrily observes - how many more victories like Aitape, before the allies lose the war?

[1275psi]

20/4/44

Bangkok.

Once the preferred destination for rest and relief, bangkok too is now no longer "truly safe"
Nakamura's three sentais have been pulled back, to catch breath, rebuild, restore. Pilots need replacing, and maybe the Gods still smile a little on them, they still trickle in -but at least these men are experienced, or trained.

Officially -47th is "in reserve"

the President of the United States has made a speech -addressing the losses at Aitape - the Americans too -he says - has a mobile fleet of its own -and it too , is at sea.

It is unnspoken, but everyone feels it -the next battles will show where the allied steamroller is going to go -where the war will be fought, won, or lost.
And Nobody in the 47th has any illusions -they will be there one way or another.

[1275psi]

21/4/44

Its a painful order
One no commander can give willingly
But reality has to be faced

300 plus heavies over 2 days
Truk is finished

"Pull the squadrons out -save what can be saved"

[1275psi]

22/4/44

Three times today the scramble bells ring out -three times the heart breaking, gut wrenching run, the scramble into the cockpit, the swift, half arsed start ups -all the time the adredalin pumping into the viens, the stress levels climbing.

Three times the red flares cross the bows of already taxiing fighters, fighters committing to battle -cancelling the alarm
Three times

And this is meant to be 47th's recuperation period............

[1275psi]

23/4/44

47th fly a continous LRCAP over Tavoy today -covering this base while it launches strikes against shipping of Port blair.

The navy bombers still have it -6 cargo ships struck in two days -but at a high cost .
The zekes fall now with terrible consistancy -little wonder so many refused to fight the T bolts over Port blair - and one cannot call it lack of courage.
Too many rookies fly these planes now - and too many Aces fly the enemies - High command no longer tries , it seems, to train them.
The doctrine seems simple, but is oh so brutal - pack the bomber raids with enough escorts -and they wuill get through -whether the escorts fight, or die - they still buy the same amount of time.

[1275psi]

Imperial HQ
Japan

herbiesan contemplates the vast map of the empire. Where is the allied attack going to fall?
The enemy has let slip that THE OFFENSIVE -is delayed -a fuel/logistics hiccup according to the intercepts -but it helps him not.

The Alutiens?
Possibly. But a hard place to support -and a route guarranteed to send the Empire into a frenzy. Nothing would be spared if they attack there.

Marcus?
Also very possible -could those cursed B-29's be based from there?
if so -a terrible threat too.

Malaya
Nicobar island certaintly was being pounded -would the British risk the betties there?
yes -he thinks they would -when the main blow falls elswhere. It would be what he would do.

The DEI?
Inviting. But oh so many Japanese airfields to fight back from. Some how herbiesan thinks this is less likely

The pacific route?

If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, quacks like a duck.................
Truk hammered
200-300 heavy enemy bombers in theatre
far too many SS
And those B-29's hitting everything in the area.

maybe that persistant cantona does not have to be subtle after all. Maybe the steamroller really is just going to keep coming .........


herbiesan considers Yamamoto's plan.
It has merit
It is also terribly risky
Five or 6 options to the enemy, and he with only one answer. Yamamoto only fights for the personal glory -this herbiesan now firmly feels. But if he gets this right - eternal fame.

get it wrong...................

"I will never surrender, not in a million years. Not in ten million. I will make a million American Mothers wish I had never been born first.............."

[1275psi]

24/4/44

Three sentai's operate from Bangkok.
Again, as it should be for such an important city, the field is large, well supported, protected by many guns. The ground crews are still proffessional, the supplies good.A good smattering of trucks and cars -even three mobile cranes, ease a little the intense work load.

Yet today, as Juni looks down on the field, he cannot but brood on what once was, what is, and what seems to be coming.

how many great big fields had they "defended to the death" now?
How many were in allied hands now?
And now here in Thailand -it was happening again. Rahaeng,, lauembrang, or what ever the hell they called it -tavoy, Crap, the whole damn lot of them.
First the high level raids, that wear the men and machines down, no killing, just fatigue. Then the sweeps- to take the numbers down. And finally, the bombers -and the slope slides away, first the shops, the vehciles get destroyed, the support fades -and the whole damn business of getting into the air gets harder, and harder.

And then, inevitably -the blows that close the field, turn it into another moon.

Damn them. Damn the mind behind it all.

How are they going to stop this?
Juni knows Nakamura has tried it all - what was there left to try?.

Rumours abound of sentai's turning away from the fight, of pilots "going missing" all over the front.
But not here. Juni knows this. Not the 47th. Not him
He still knows the way to stop the imperiallists.
keep killing them
keep making them bleed

Let them know -this will go on forever if need be.
he, Juni -will never stop fighting.

[1275psi]

26/4/44

They straggle in all afternoon, battered, patched, fading. These zekes have seen serious busines, the pilots, each and every one of them, darkly shadowed, strained, weary to the core. They climb out of cockpits, old, old men. It is a sight the veterans of 47th know so well, for they have been there too at times. These men have seen the elephant

The bombers have overwhelmed Rahaeng - shattering this sentai in the process.
Now they seek shelter here at bangkok -if shalter can be given

Nakamura watches them silently - and Miyazuki watches Nakamura. he watches the care, the worry, the pain on his face as each zeke wobbles down -some blood splattered. "Like a father watching his children", he thinks, and wonders that after so much -so many deaths -that he still can.

A final Zeke stutters to a halt, and a young Officer climbs out -his face wooden, and white.
nakamura marches forward, stops. And as stiff as if on the parade grounds of the palace itself - salutes, and bows.

He offers his hand.
For a moment the younger man stares at it in wonder -and Miyazuki can almost read the thoughts going through his mind -how can I be greeted, saluted, when I have been defeated?, when I still live?

And Miyazuki feels the moment, knows it so well. Knows his Japan. Heavens, before Nakamura, before the 47th -he too would have found that hand -that humanity -incomprehensible too.

The young man stares, and stares at the hand, then reluctantly shakes his head, no, and silently marches past the still nakamura, and disapears into the mess.

Miyazuki cannot stop the thought. A dead man walking.
nakamura turns, and he seems to deflate -the shoulders drop -but for a moment. The eyes -still glitter -and they catch his
"damn this to hell Miyazuki - one defeat does not make a war. Damn the orders. I'm going to do something about this"









Zeke unit morale -22!

[1275psi]

"So thats how it is?"
'Thats how it is" -the engineer grimaces

Captain Hara contemplates the new scenery, the new planes being loaded to replace those lost over Aitape.
Incredible - this mad dash -and now we wait -for the tankers, for fuel. None here.
Not a drop.
Incredible

Yamamoto is gambling much. If he gets it right - a great chance to strike a terrible blow. Guess wrong - and how many heads will herbiesan leave?

"Alright then Chief -do what repairs you can do in a day -but don't take down anything you can't put back together in a flash. I have a nasty feeling we will be back in the thick of it any day now"
The Engineer nods in agreement. It des not take many brains to gather that the war moves towards its great climax.

[1275psi]

from the beginning, it all goes wrong for Nakamura's plan today
The plan is simple -every plane in theatre will patrol above Rahaeng -and crunch the attackers.

He leads the very best of 47th into a grey sky - a sky who's horizon is only darker -and this darkness moving south.
The rain closes Moulmien - enemy bombers attack and disrupt Tavoy -and eleswhere -and so Nakamura finds "the mass CAP" already reduced.

they arrive nevertheless -and soon it becomes a race to the bottom -each lap of the circuit a little lower -the clouds a little closer -and darker.
Un tropical like -it really does begin to rain -real englishmans weather grunmbles Juni - as the rain beats on shields, beads across the screens.

Its terrible flying weather -and Nakamura has to face it -soon they are heading home again -winding and weaving between the clouds - the jungle at time terrifyingly close - was this a valley? -or the side of a hill?

In the end, it becomes a mad scramble just to get in -the field now a sea of mud and slush - and the wind blowing hard.

The wind blowing hard - just a few simple words - but as Miyazuki turns down wind every ounce of his experience and skill is being spent trying to tackle this wind -no, truk that-this gale that buffets and bounces him across the sky.

Its not the strength that he is fighting, its its direction, hard at pure right angles to the stip -and the rain is now a tropical burst -all but blinding him in a underwater cavern........

Down winf leg -flaps full -speed -Oh come on bitch! -settle -still cannot see any bloody thing -except! -oH CRUD! -a fighter cutting across his bow mere feet away - a violent manouvre -CRUD1- too close, too close -and now too low!, too low -where is strips end -????

there

I think..............

OK, stick hard over -into the breeze -ground speed bloody slow -airspeed too bloody high now - going past the end of it - and now it all happens very, very fast as he turns into the strip at 15000 feet -and the gale attempts to blow him into the jungle to his left.
Instant decision, he cannot see a thing -so - the canopy is slammed back - and a choice has to be made.

Two, well three choices if he decides to abort - choice one -point windside wing down and into the wind a little -nose hard into it -and "crab' into the strip - safer, but slower, longer -and wha t if the breeze should die suddenly -as it has before / and what of the visibility?

No -second choice -wing hard down -and nose a little up and opposite -a bit of cross stick -tricky -watch the side slip -but ayt least he can see....................

The field rushes up -throttle !! -and straighten -and down and Goddam! -so bloody wet - and she skids in the mud -a sense of rolling on roller skates -the water sheeting from the wheels ................

Done it.

Piece of cake.

As if.................


Miyazuki gets down oK - a lot don't -too many bounce -too many skid -three simply blindly run off the strip and into ditches.
No one hurt -by some miricle - but Nakamura's little trip has seen 14 planes damaged in 47th sentai alone.
Until the end - Nakamura's plan has gone wrong

Karma.

[1275psi]

The new office -KI-84

[1275psi]

operating against b-29's -but doing poorly so far!!!!!!!!!!

[1275psi]

28/4/44

Japan, 1944

"A quiet dictatorship" No obvious oppression, no brutal guards on every street corner, but a people slowly awakening to the fact that the great revolution is like fairy floss -full of promise -until the heat is applied.

Now - Japan in 44 is a people of the rumour -censorship lays its oppressive wieght on everything - but it cannot kill word by mouth.

Rumours - of people disapearing -in the night.
Rumours - of whole villages - gone. "I just cannot get in -they won't let anyone in"
Rumours - that "THE attempt' on the Emperor -was not what is reported
Rumours -that Northern japan is being bombed -denied strenously by the Ruling party ad nueseum.

But there is no hiding this today -the dictator cannot hide it.

They appear over Osaka at midday -just 5 great silver crosses.
They drop no bombs -just a rain of paper -a rain no censorship can wash away

'Surrender -Soon fire will fall from the sky on the Son of Heaven"

[1275psi]

Extract from Shattering the Sword. A cantona production


Was it a mistake? History still debates it. The shock of the B-29 over Osaka was meant to ram home the reality of the war.
But to threaten to "rain fire on the Son of Heaven" -over Osaka - the Emperors ancient home -over the spiritual heart of Japan -could only be interpreted by Japans people one way

A death threat at their God.

Those pieces of paper are harmless in themselves
How far they drove peace from Japans heart, history still argues over.
Words -the most deadly of weapons...........

[1275psi]

28/4/44

there is no glint, no glee in his eyes.
Not today
Just grimness.

And age - God, we are all getting so old, Juni thinks, so old, and gray, and worn. Nakamura gathers them, and 39 pairs of eyes give him everything.

"pack your crap. usual drill, usual crap. We are going -don't know where. Don't know why. But we are going"

And as usual for the 47th, thats how it is.
They pack their crap -no regrets, no doubts.
And follow their leader to wherever Japan needs them now........................