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22/8/45

kagoshima

Yamato's bridge

Vadm Ukita Hidehiko clenches his fist in frustration, turns again to his Communications officer
""I do not want to hear rumours!, I want to hear facts!................What, pray tell, has happened to Tokyo? to the Emperor, is his highness safe?.......I need answers?"

"Sir , we are doing our best, the atmospherics........"
"have you sent, gods forbid, a telegram?............a man in person............we have three planes aboard.have you thought to send one to actually look?"

"...u...u...no sir........"
"THEN YOU HAVE HARDLY DONE YOUR BEST!"...............

What the hell has happened!.............gods be damned, it it means taking the Yamato to Tokyo himself, he would.........

General Sugiyama has seen the mushroom cloud, heard the great boom, felt the ground tremble beneath his feet

And instantly, HE KNOWS

The rumours of the power of the atom...........are true

That the Emperor................the emperor...............gods...............his highness............is under THAT

He wants to vomit
It takes 5 minutes to gather himself, to straighten himself, then to stride up the stairs into the Diet, for the chambers underneath

"Get me the Commander, Western army, the commander manchurio garrison, Chinese army!, get them on the phone, on the radio, I do not care how, just get them to me now!!!!"


And now it is time brothers, time to end this war, to contact our red brothers, to raise the hammer and sickle over this cursed land..................

Red Japan, Korea and China !
The United States cannot allow that, surely 😳

"333 holes my friend...........how in the hell you got her home is beyond me"
Bigglesworth stares at the wreck of the laughing Clown, lying pancaked on the chinese field.
Long pig cannot believe it himself
"I think I am a reverse ace now"
Bigglesworth grins.............but the smile vanishes
"And you don't know how the bomb went?............you did not see anything?"
"Well, it worked, I know that ..........." memories, vivid, of that great flash......."but where it exploded, god knows.........."

Bigglesworth speaks the unspoken."A right cow up then?"
"A right cow up"

The crew of the Enola Gay are saying little, have little to say. In fact, all of the Americans have little to say.......
What the two Britishers can tell is this. Tokyo remains under the rain
Recon has failed , failed totally
Tokyo rose remains on the air, and the Broadcasts say nothing...............

The results of the bombing remain totally unknown..........




(Cantona has asked .how it went. I have refused to tell him until I see recon flights over Tokyo, and so far, nil.
I wonder what he thinks???)

There are still scattered actions near Chaochow, e class battling Destroyers, the chinese attack failing, the Japanese getting extra troops ashore
A new allied plane, the bearcat appears
A very large allied fleet is gathering in Hong Kong, and endless numbers of bombers are in action against the japanese armies now besieging Pakhoi.



The action in the area bordering Takao, Hong Kong, manilla is drawing all attention now, as more and more forces are sucked into it.

And this suits Japan.
30000 tons of blockade breaking fuel, 20000 tons of oil , all from balikapapan, begins to unload in Tokyo.
As long as we can keep eyes looking north, we will keep running the blockade.

24 Aug 1945

It is the first indication that the Japanese people get, that something is seriously wrong

Just after dawn, the entire Japanese cabinet gathers on the steps of the Deit.
They face Mount Fuji, kneel...............and ritually, together, disembowl themselves...............

25th of August

many,many terrible yet great things happen this day in Tokyo.

The bomb may have missed the city itself, yet to the North literally thousands have been affected. They are pouring south now, the burnt, the blind, the seared, the numbed .
For three days the skies have been heavy with rain, today the skies clear

Unknown to most, the rain has watched much of the radiation away, brought the dust down into a very small fallout zone..
The first great tragedy unfolds. As many that flee the devastation headed south, almost as many uniforms head north into its heart, vainly, frantically seeking the Emperor.
many, far too many will soon fall mysteriously ill
A great many will die.

The emperor...............the rumours have escaped.
It spreads like wildfire through out the land...............the allies have attacked, no, deliberately TARGETTED him


At midday, radio Tokyo comes on the air.

"he is dead"

General Sugiyama moves swiftly.
At dawn he races by car to the eastern edge of the city.
Here lies 12th army
4 hours later he has the 17th, 34th , 3rd and of course general defence commands in his back pocket
The equivalent of a good 3 divisions

Three good RED divisions..............commanders long ago placed by him for this very moment........
By midday detachments are headed towards the palace

Sugiyama leads the way, his car rattling towards the palace.
Abruptly, at midday, the car halts

Startled, Sugiyama looks up
"Driver!, what is wrong?'
But the man does not answer, he is doubled over, and.........my gods, he is sobbing
Of course, he cannot have known...............patiently he has to wait as the radio continues its hysterical noise, for his driver to regain his composure
It takes a little time

'Are you ready to continue ?"
The man, a nobody, turns and stares him coldly in the eye
"I will a thousand Americans before I die"

They continue, but don't get too much further.
The streets are crawling with people, no packed with them, thousands upon thousands of them, all headed towards the palace
The general abandons his car
It takes an hour to get to the palace gates.
A seething mass of humanity, only barely kept at bay by naval troops linked arm in arm.

And there he meets him
Prince Mikasa, the emperors brother
Flanking him, the commanders of the 16th Army, 25th, 4th fleet, and damnation, southern command.
His eyes are narrow, and hard as flint
'You are too late........general.............turn your men around............
he raises his arms, and the mass of people fall silent.
Utterly silent

his voice rings clear , and more than enough can hear him
Those that don't, soon will

'The americans have shown us this, this day. They mean to kill us all, to destroy Japan, to wipe us from the face of the world. I, your Emperor, swear by my Brothers blood to never surrender, to drown them in a sea of blood. I , your emperor, swear to fight forever!"
And who, is with me!"

And there, at the gates of the palace, in Japans very heart, a million hearts sweel, a million minds meld as one

And a million voices scream

BANZAI!!!!!"

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

And there he meets him
Prince Mikasa, the emperors brother
Flanking him, the commanders of the 16th Army, 25th, 4th fleet, and damnation, southern command.
His eyes are narrow, and hard as flint
'You are too late........general.............turn your men around............
he raises his arms, and the mass of people fall silent.
Utterly silent

his voice rings clear , and more than enough can hear him
Those that don't, soon will

'The americans have shown us this, this day. They mean to kill us all, to destroy Japan, to wipe us from the face of the world. I, your Emperor, swear by my Brothers blood to never surrender, to drown them in a sea of blood. I , your emperor, swear to fight forever!"
And who, is with me!"

And there, at the gates of the palace, in Japans very heart, a million hearts sweel, a million minds meld as one

And a million voices scream

BANZAI!!!!!"

Brave words.
Forever may be a very short time (of course in the great scheme of things man is less than a grain of sand in the hour glass) for this emperor, and his population. Lets hope that is does not last until just after the very last Japanese.

26th August

Extract from shattering the sword" a cantona production

What has begun as an annoyance, a distraction, is now rapidly becoming a problem
The planned quiet gathering of forces at Hong Kong, the planned refits, maintenace , airgroup upgrades are all having to be put aside

In the far west of China, nanning remains threatened
Pakhoi is under attack, and barely hanging on. Both these battles are drawing the bulk of the allied air effort , effort planned for Takao and beyond

The japanese landings at Chaochow, despite the massive cost, threaten the town , the chinese unit defending melting away

Further along the cost, japanese landings at Amoy, pinning down reinforcements.
And at Foochow...........a multi division japanese counter attack battles for this city as well, while yet more divisions race westwards past it.
The entire chinese coast is aflame..............




Nagasaki
VADM Ukita Hidehiko is unknown by History. One of those men who is destined to rise steadily through the ranks, to be placed upon staffs, dependable, reliable, but never good enough to rise to the very top.
But here in Japan today, the top ranks are gone, decapitated, removed, killed in action.

By default more than anything else, he has assumed command of Combined fleet.
But some men rise to the occasion

CV Unryu is repaired
This Admiral will take his chance, one way or another

From Yamatos bridge, the orders flow.

Across japan, north to south, units begin to move.








(postings might be a little slow, huge things for characters in train, and I need turns to be a little ahead of AAR, so that I can describe their fates adequately. Lets just say, japan intends to throw one last offensive punch, and our airmen and stokers are part of thevery knuckle of it)

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

( ... Lets just say, japan intends to throw one last offensive punch, and our airmen and stokers are part of thevery knuckle of it)

We wouldn't have it any other way! [:D]

I would think Osaka is a better target than Tokyo? Supply is not your friend right now .. and the IJ need supply to replace
units as well as conduct offensive operations ...Osaka offers a juicy target ..wasted opportunity in my opinion

Now the IJ just have to extract a toll ...[8D]

27th August

Read the history of this war, and you will not, unless it is the most pedantic study, read of todays events

Yet EVERYTHING that follows in the week ahead actualy hangs on this event
Japan is running desperately short of shipping, so desperate that no resources, no coal , no fuel is being shipped now.
Nor are there supplies to spare, very few Japanese City commands can now report supplies as adequate.

Yet on this day, 9 large AKs, filled to the brim arrive in Takao, and begin to unload supplies:, bullets, bread, torpedoes, bombs, aviation gas.
In two days as these supplies flow across the island, the entire island transforms from a place of desperate defence, to a jumping off point for attack...........

Ogowa and Diogowa walk to the door of the vilage hut, and qietly knock

But there is no answer, the home appears to be empty. The boat is gone..........the women must be fishing.
The two men leave a small package on the doorstep, bow quietly towards the door, re mount their bikes and silently peddle away

The package contains at least 6 months worth of wages............

An hour later the skies over Hiroshima snarl again, 120 George fighters,...........headed south

Captain Watanabe watches the launcher carefully, watches for any sign of hesitation. But there is none, the great launcher swings steadily, smoothly to 90 degrees.
The fish gleam inside, waiting
The Captain gestures to the three men gathered about the operating console, the Torpedo Officer, the two stokers.
"Fixed gentlemen?"
The two stokers.ah, Okano?....and Hirate, he of the scarred red face.......grin in reply, nod .
"Like big ben himself" the Torpedo Officer replies, "give me a bearing sir, a target, and We will gut it"
"Good"

We sail tomorrow, i hear. Sail into the enemies maw. I think you will have your target Torpedo man, your target and many, many more.

"Good............I intend to give you just that"

28th August

Japanese troops land at Amoy, but nearly 4000 do not.
Their bloated and burnt bodies will wash ashore for weeks, courtesy of Allied Carrier power based at Hong kong

At soerabaya, a small armoured column emerges, and finds the allied siege a fiction, malang is retaken.
All of these actions are good mill for the propoganda machine, but ultimately can only really annoy and delay the allies.

They are but a curtain, hiding the real act awaiting in the wings..........

Okiwana

Ogowa watches them all come in.
He counts them carefully, fighter after fighter.
Only one, ultimately fails to arrive, and there is no concern with it, he has seen it pushed away dead at Hiroshima, unable to start.
5 full Sentai's

Tomorrow, Takao.
Then, await for the fleet.

And the fireworks can start

"In four!"
Hirate throws a withering look across the boiler room, the sprayer puncher is still too slow.
The boiler pulsates slightly, too much air to fuel.
BUKA!
Hands move in a blur on the blower throttles.
The telegraph rings again, slow astern.......
"In Five!!". Behind him, in the engine room he can actually picture Okano easing the astern throttle open.
The bells again, half astern, revolutions 096!
Watanabe is not truking about.............
More fuel, more air, the eyes flicking easily from smoke glass to fuel guage, to boiler pressure guage, water level.........

Hirate's mind is all but blank to anything else
Here is the world, the world he feels most comfortable in. Steam, water, flame, metal. Utterly predictable, utterly maleable to his will.

Not one filled with fears and doubts.
Susuzuki sails again, undoubtably to her greatest test ever.
It is good not to have to think about it, to immerse oneself in this safe familiar world of noise and heat and familiarity.

The bells ring again, Hirate shifts to one foot, casually rests the other on the guage board , lights a smoke, casts another glance at the helpless burnerman.

Beneath him, Susuzuki begins to shake and roll.. Japan falls away behind her.





Susuzuki escorts Unryu, tomorrow rendevous with the fleet.
There a shuffle of ships.........
Then to Takao.




The fleet:
Kaga
Zuikaku
Taiho
Unryo
Ryuho
Ibuki
Yamato
Musashi
CA takao, Nachi, Mikuma, Kumananao
CLAA nagara, natori, Abukuma,
9 DDs


Susuzukis task force, 7 DDs
And a last task force, 11 DDS


large numbers of planes are flowing south

The plan is simple
Day 1, sweep Hong kong with Ogowa's eagles
Day 2, the fleet approaches, the carriers, loaded to the hilt with fighters, take the battlewagons into strike range
Day 3, 120 betties and 160 zeros attack, and all ships go in!

Le Bump.

No page 2 purgatory allowed for this tale. [8D]

thankyou PWS
no turns and AAR is up to date on them
Catona doing a Masters paper and family stuff over easter
I have to be patient, after all, he is the real hero here continuing so far with allies in such a poor situation