The little ship that could.

[CV Zuikaku]

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

short note
No point in thinking about super zeros and the like...............no research done in this game (I did not know how to do it.........LOL)

But You get them anyway in August or September. Research can only make them available earlier [;)]

[1275psi]

13 febuary 1945

Chaos riegns at Naga
2 nd airfleet, 61st air flottilla , and all of Ogowas eagles have abruptly, been ordered to redeploy.
'Tacobalan", growls Ogowa, to his pilots gathered about him, "I sincerely hope you can find it"
The men laugh, tacobalan is less than an hour away, a spit for men such as these
"However, until 2nd air fleet get their &*^% into a sock, there is very little in the way of support there, a good big field, not much else"
The men hardly react.
Why should they?. Support for them throughout this war has always been a joke. Sleeping under a wing, refuelling, rearming your self..........been there done that"
'Fast transports are conducting the load as we speak..gather as much, whatever you can cram aboard......we move in an hour"

Tacobalan
In the heart of the Phillipines
As long as Ogowa and his eagles keep it beating, the phillipines can fight.

[1275psi]

turns are slow-he is with his beta lover again................

Tacolaban is as Ogowa fears
A great flat scar hacked out of the jungle, and little else

There are no hard stands, few drains, no revrents at all. A single glance tells a story..........if it rains, as it must, the field will become a swamp. The knee high grass does not hide the softness of the ground at all underfoot..............

There are no permanent buildings. What tents there are, rot

Diogowa joins him beside the gentle clinking of the cooling fighter. "A long way from Zuiho's happy home ney?"
Ogowa bends down, picks at the tough grass.
"Tell the men that the tents are NOT for us, we will have to wait for the transports................" he examines the grass again. "We need some bloody goats, I think"

[1275psi]

Chitose suffers a torpedo.......................that fails to explode

The enemy SS is sunk, fighting to the last on the surface


Abe watches the battle grimly through his glasses..........he does not need to be told that besides the gunners dying at their posts, the wireless operator too, would sell his life telling the world just where his fleet was.............

Damnation...............

he turns to his staff, unwilling to watch brave men die.
"The enemy fleet?" he asks

"They are reported moving sir........"
"Where"........it is impossible to hide the sharpness in his voice
There is an unpleasant pause
"We do not know........"

[John 3rd]

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

Extract from shattering the sword..........a cantona production
...........and again, the japanese fleet sails.
The allies, fully aware of the coming clash, believe that what carriers they will encounter, can only be a decoy.
They are partially right

japanes forces are, again, scattered.
CA Chokia leads 9 DDs towards Jolo island
Approaching manilla, Tanaka takes the three battlecruisers, 5 cruisers, 9 destroyers towards manilla
Behind, Nagato leads a handfull of DDs towards manilla as well

The carriers, Shokaku, zuikaku, kaga, Unryu, wait for Yamato and Musashi south of Hiroshima.

There are two AO groups, some 10 tankers in all. They hold the last of the fleets fuel, enough for a one way trip to minando.
There seems to be little point, now , in preserving a fleet.



Victory , or death.

It is a testament to your Skills that you have this much of the Fleet left at this point in time. Is it possible to cover what the enemy losses have been in the war? How many CVs, CVLs, CVEs, etc...have you sunk?

BANZAI on this wild ride!

[1275psi]

Hi John
Allied losses :
7 CV
3 CVL
23 CVE
10 BB
40 cruisers
97 DDs

I've seen allied players suffer a lot worse, and just keep coming.
Cantona's tactics baffle me at the moment. I have no troops in the DEI, you could capture medan, palembang with a man and his dog, malaya is empty except at the front, literally every where screams (to me) amphib landing opportunities.......
Today, he just bombed, and bombed, and swept and swept dajangas........and the franks met him, in numbers
I lost 11, he lost 13

And still, his fleet just hovers...........

[1275psi]

15/2/45

can you fish?
Do you fish?

Dangle a line, unwind, go home happy even if you never got a nibble?

Its different, if failing to catch means you starve.

The boat goes out every day, in all weathers
Uzawa and Miori, or Uzuwa and Mioko. They have no nets, just lines, skill, and luck.
The boat, usually, feeds them.

On other days, when they can, it feeds others in the village. Like water falling onto the desert, food in Japan has simply dried up..
So they fish. Fish in the rain, winds numb from the cold. They fish in the sun, in the wind.
And pray that their luck will hold

[1275psi]

Hosho leads his men aboard the transport.
His mind is numb, un able to believe that they are sending them from japan again, to fight again

They

Who the hell, is they?

he has bled for japan
Fought, marched, watched friends die.
For japan
As the gangway bounces beneath his feet, he grits his teeth in anger
Against them.

55th division loads again.
Amongst the men, a hidden current

Hosho's anger is not alone....................

[1275psi]

Hirate pulls the dipstick from the port main.
Fishes the inevitable rag from his back pocket, and pauses.

"that can't be right" he mutters

The dipstick slides back into the sump, he counts to one, pulls it out again.
The level is wrong. Horribly wrong, nearly to the top of the slim strip of metal.
'Oh crap"...........he replaces the dipstick, moves swiftly towards the front of the space, climbs the ladder leading up to the coolant header tank
It is empty.

A cold shiver rushes through him.

[1275psi]

16/2/45

Hirate, the charge, Ugaki are gathered around the small half rotten structure that excuses itself as the wardroom mess table.
The ship is almost silent, only the almost gentle rumble of the auxiliary generator penetrates to here.
It is almost midnight.
A moth beats itself upon the single light in the compartment, casting shadows across the walls.

Sweat runs from everyone.
'How long chief?"

how many times do captains ask this?. How long chief?
How long a piece of string?
Somewhere in the guts of the port diesel, there is a water leak. probably a pinhole leak in a cylinder liner.

Normally, normally (but nothing is normal in war, is it?) this requires removing heads, pulling the liner, inserting a new one.
No small task.

A week, normally.

Ugaki stares hard at his Charge."the enemy are coming chief"
Hirate stares hard at the fool he works for.
Choose wisely friend..for gods sake choose carefully.

And then, rising suddenly outside, a new noise.
Sirens

Amd the low rumble of engines

Air raid

[1275psi]

0130 hours

Phillipine sea

"sir..........sorry to disturb sir"
Abe awakens

"yes, what is it?"

"message from Yamato sir..............."
Abe props himself in his bunk, feels the gentle movement beneath him.
'Read it"

'Radio intercepts..........Morotai.......they are coming"

They are coming

At last

They are coming.

[1275psi]

Dawn
Chiburi sails
The convoy sails,clearing Cagayan, holds still half full

Overnight, the airfield has been bombed, and now, overhead, the contrails swirling crazily across the sky, the crumps of the bombs behind them, the towers of smoke

The B-29s are bombing

Hirate has lead the repairs. Well, not so much the repairs, the patch job.
Drain the sump
refill it.
Start the engine
refill the header tank

And now, keep refilling it, keep draining /refilling the sump

And keep fingers crossed
Cylinder A3 is down in temp...........thats the barsted then.
But just how much damage are they doing to bearings?, to its guts.

Not as much as a bomb, that is for sure.

they are coming.

time to get away.

[1275psi]

Extract from "falling cherry bottoms", a japanese navy fighter pilots war

And so we spent this first day, huddled about the radio, listening , trying to interpret what was happening.
A convoy being killed south of Davao
Franks in viscous combat with P51's
Bombers over seemingly everywhere in minando.......

I ordered the men to rest.
But how can you rest?

We were the best. I knew it. My men thought it.
But even then, doubt chewed at my mind.
Just how good did you havr to be, when you are a midget fighting a hundred giants.

[kaleun]

when you are a midget fighting a hundred giants.

You, my friend, are, at heart a poet.

[Lecivius]

ORIGINAL: kaleun

when you are a midget fighting a hundred giants.

You, my friend, are, at heart a poet.

Agreed

[1275psi]

17/2/45
Iloilo, central phillipines

Chiburi's port main engine dies.
It does it stubbornly, angrily, shaking, vibrating, banging.
A violent protest, and then silence

"Truck"
Okano stares at the ruined beast, the steam rising from it.
'Truck"
Not even Hirate can fix this steaming pile of crap.............



Chiburi is dispatched towards manilla, alone, at cruise speed.
Chances of repair there...........

Well, she has to get there first, then we will consider that.

[1275psi]

Allied radio interceps............"this is it"

48 liberators strike Jolo, Franks kill 4 of them, the base is shattered.
But nothing else happens.

In malaya, 8 divisions attack ...........japan holds.


Nobody in Japan (if they look into their hearts deep enough) believes the war is winnable.

In Washington, a million people march, calling for an end to the war, now that Hitler is done

Not winnable, no.....but , if we can just hang on a little longer............

[1275psi]

Ogowa's eagles, in the calm, before the storm

210 KU: 36 ready
S-401 33 ready (Ogowa'and Diogowa's unit)
S-402 36 ready
S-407 36 ready
s-701 34 ready

All units well over 80 experience.
Well supplied, well supported now.

Ready to fight

[1275psi]

ORIGINAL: kaleun

when you are a midget fighting a hundred giants.

You, my friend, are, at heart a poet.

thats an appreciated comment...........AAR is a real struggle lately with everything, keeps me going!

[british exil]

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

Allied radio interceps............"this is it"

48 liberators strike Jolo, Franks kill 4 of them, the base is shattered.
But nothing else happens.

In malaya, 8 divisions attack ...........japan holds.


Nobody in Japan (if they look into their hearts deep enough) believes the war is winnable.

In Washington, a million people march, calling for an end to the war, now that Hitler is done

Not winnable, no.....but , if we can just hang on a little longer............

Just hang in there mate.

You are doing a grand job with your AAR!

I'm sure many of us think the same as I do.

Mat