tocaff
Posts: 4781
Joined: 10/12/2006 From: USA now in Brasil Status: offline
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February 22, 1942 East of Wake Island Orders are given, klaxons sound, men scramble to their battle stations, and they wait. The wait is a short one and the warships that were sneaking up on Wake Island, formerly the hunters, are now the hunted. Zeros escorting Nells and Bettys have little to do other than watch for a Cap that doesn't exist. The sky seems to be filled with planes looking up from the decks of the ships and they're dropping in altitude as they approach. Torpedo bombers, almost everyone shudders at the same time with the same thought. From the sky the ocean seems to be filled with ships and the aircrews are delighted to have clear approaches to drop their torpedoes. The flak is not very accurate but 1 plane bursts into flames and another 8 are damaged. The torpedoes are released and the Japanese head back to base unable to claim a single hit. The USN, though unlucky that the sub yesterday must've reported sighting them, is extremely lucky to escape this air attack unharmed. The order is given to make full speed (21 knots) and retire to Pearl Harbor. The mission has been wisely scrubbed. The Dutch sub KXVII hits the IJN DD Asakaze with a fish near Banjarmasin. The DD is on fire and heavily damaged, but the sub wisely slips away before the rest of the TF can attack her. In the Pentagon Ed and Bill are chatting as there have been no reports crossing their desks today worth mentioning. Of course there have been the usual air and artillery bombardments, but no new landings or assaults have been reported today. Ed says, "A lazy Sunday is exactly what we needed my boy. That map of yours has to many pins stuck in places that should never have been heard of by the public." The phone rings, Ed answers and nods his head, grunts and finally says, "OK, I'll meet you then, 3PM, Union Station, Tuesday." He turns to Bill as he hangs up the phone and says, "Well we've got dates on Tuesday so prepare yourself as my wife isn't the person that you'd expect to marry a military man, especially Navy and Elizabeth will have you under heavy scrutiny."
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