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RE: Assault on mainland Japan: Operation Longbow

 
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RE: Assault on mainland Japan: Operation Longbow - 9/17/2009 2:53:40 PM   
ny59giants


Posts: 9869
Joined: 1/10/2005
Status: offline 		The "Dice Gods" will have their voices be heard in this battle. I hope CF has made the proper sacrifices.

(in reply to paullus99)
Post #: 4891
RE: Assault on mainland Japan: Operation Longbow - 9/17/2009 3:07:43 PM   
kaleun

 

Posts: 5145
Joined: 5/29/2002
From: Colorado
Status: offline 		Benzaiten rules!

_____________________________

Appear at places to which he must hasten; move swiftly where he does not expect you.
Sun Tzu

(in reply to ny59giants)
Post #: 4892
RE: Assault on mainland Japan: Operation Longbow - 9/17/2009 4:22:28 PM   
vettim89


Posts: 3615
Joined: 7/14/2007
From: Toledo, Ohio
Status: offline 		No new posting by our author in two days. I suspect he is hard at writing and rewriting one or more pivital posts that likely will tell us how Hibiki and her crew will end the war

_____________________________

"We have met the enemy and they are ours" - Commodore O.H. Perry

(in reply to ny59giants)
Post #: 4893
RE: Assault on mainland Japan: Operation Longbow - 9/17/2009 4:50:23 PM   
mdiehl

 

Posts: 5998
Joined: 10/21/2000
Status: offline
quote:

They wouldn´t have had the bombs for that sort of thing until years later.


The US was on track to build seven bombs by November 1945, and some 20 or so by the end of the year. After that they'd have used up the ready plutonium reserve. The third deployable bomb (not counting the Alamagordo test device) was on its way to Saipan when the Japanese surrendered.



_____________________________

Show me a fellow who rejects statistical analysis a priori and I'll show you a fellow who has no knowledge of statistics.

Didn't we have this conversation already?

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 4894
RE: Assault on mainland Japan: Operation Longbow - 9/17/2009 7:51:17 PM   
SireChaos

 

Posts: 710
Joined: 8/14/2006
From: Frankfurt, Germany
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: mdiehl

quote:

They wouldn´t have had the bombs for that sort of thing until years later.


The US was on track to build seven bombs by November 1945, and some 20 or so by the end of the year. After that they'd have used up the ready plutonium reserve. The third deployable bomb (not counting the Alamagordo test device) was on its way to Saipan when the Japanese surrendered.




Still... thirty bombs or so, most likely all of them far below 100kt, wouldn´t have been enough to level Japan. With nukes that small, I guess some of the bigger cities (Tokyo, Osaka) would take more than one to destroy.

(in reply to mdiehl)
Post #: 4895
Small Ship, Big War - 9/17/2009 8:26:51 PM   
Cuttlefish

 

Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline 		June 14, 1945

Location: Wakkanai
Course: None
Attached to: TF 21
Mission: Surface combat
System Damage: 5
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475

Orders: see below

---

It is not much of a meeting room, simply the front half of a warehouse. The back is piled with crates bearing the stamp of the Imperial Japanese Navy, though a persistent smell of fish betrays the building’s original use. In front there are several rows of folding chairs. In these are seated officers from the twenty-one ships of Rear Admiral Yamamoto’s task force.

Yamamoto walks out into the space in front of them. He has no lectern or dias and no large flags or maps hang in the background.

“Remain seated, please,” says the admiral. “Let us get this over with quickly.” He rocks back and forth on his feet a couple of times and then places his hands behind his back and begins.

“Tonight we set sail for the enemy-held ports of Yamaguchi,” he says. “We will attempt to get as close as possible before being detected but being detected will not deter us from our mission. That mission is to destroy the enemy surface forces guarding the ports and, if possible, to sink or drive away as much shipping as possible.

“The latest reports,” he continues, “show many enemy ships in the area. There are at least four battleships there. We have positively identified one of them as Texas. There are many enemy carriers near the northern entrance to the Korea Strait.” The assembled officers stir, but no one speaks.

“You have all faced the Americans in battle and know what kind of firepower they have,” Yamamoto says. “You all know what their planes can do. You can figure the odds as well as I.” He looks down at the floor for a moment, then raises his head and looks at the officers again.

“I suppose I should say something noble and inspirational,” he says. “But I fear you have the wrong commander for that. I do not speak well. We have our orders and we will carry them out. That is really all there is to say. For what it is worth, the enemy forces have been battered this past week. Our aircraft have reported many sinkings. I am sure most of these are wishful thinking but there is little doubt many of their carriers, cruisers, and battleships have been forced to withdraw due to damage. Our submarines have also been busy with both torpedoes and mines.” Yamamoto takes a breath.

“We leave tonight, as I said. The enemy is on Japanese soil. There can be no thought of holding back forces for another day. This is the final test. Good luck to all of you. May we meet again at Yasukuni Shrine.”

He turns and walks away. Dust motes, disturbed by his passage, dance in the beams of sunlight slanting down from the dirty windows set high up in the walls. The officers stand and talk quietly among themselves for a while before leaving to return to their own ships. They will depart Wakkanai in a few hours and few among them believe they will ever return.





< Message edited by Cuttlefish -- 9/17/2009 8:29:44 PM >

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 4896
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/17/2009 8:41:57 PM   
veji1

 

Posts: 1019
Joined: 7/9/2005
Status: offline 		gulp...

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 4897
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/17/2009 8:45:53 PM   
paullus99


Posts: 1985
Joined: 1/23/2002
Status: offline 		30 or so twenty - thirty kiloton weapons, backed up with the largest conventional bombing campaign ever seen (firebombing everything in sight), certainly would be more than enough to finish off every single major industry, commercial, and residential area in Japan within about six months.

If we had wanted to do it, we certainly could have.

This is such a great AAR - I'm sure there will be a book after.

_____________________________

Never Underestimate the Power of a Small Tactical Nuclear Weapon...

(in reply to veji1)
Post #: 4898
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/17/2009 9:44:57 PM   
Canoerebel


Posts: 21100
Joined: 12/14/2002
From: Northwestern Georgia, USA
Status: offline 		Hibiki is a ghost ship that cannot be sunk.

P.S. Japanese industry and transportation was already a shambles. Atomic bombs weren't really necessary to that campaign. They were only needed to weaken the will of the Japanese to fight so that the Americans wouldn't have to face the one thing that strategic bombing couldn't take care of - Japanese military and civilians in every ravine, hollow, cave, ditch and cover willing to fight to the death.

(in reply to paullus99)
Post #: 4899
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/17/2009 11:31:51 PM   
SireChaos

 

Posts: 710
Joined: 8/14/2006
From: Frankfurt, Germany
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Hibiki is a ghost ship that cannot be sunk.


You just wait... during the climax of the battle, when all seems lost, Benzaiten will take her true dragon form and incinerate the entire Allied fleet.

(in reply to Canoerebel)
Post #: 4900
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/18/2009 1:43:10 AM   
Skipjack_


Posts: 208
Joined: 12/7/2008
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish

The enemy is on Japanese soil. There can be no thought of holding back forces for another day. This is the final test. Good luck to all of you. May we meet again at Yasukuni Shrine.



Well, said, for there is nothing more to say. Time to triumph or "bloom like the flowers of death". Well done, CF, this AAR is simply fantastic.

BTW, where do I download the AE "longbow" scenario?

< Message edited by Skipjack_ -- 9/18/2009 1:46:08 AM >

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 4901
RE: Assault on mainland Japan: Operation Longbow - 9/18/2009 2:12:01 AM   
jolly_pillager

 

Posts: 206
Joined: 1/15/2006
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: SireChaos


quote:

ORIGINAL: mdiehl

quote:

They wouldn´t have had the bombs for that sort of thing until years later.


The US was on track to build seven bombs by November 1945, and some 20 or so by the end of the year. After that they'd have used up the ready plutonium reserve. The third deployable bomb (not counting the Alamagordo test device) was on its way to Saipan when the Japanese surrendered.




Still... thirty bombs or so, most likely all of them far below 100kt, wouldn´t have been enough to level Japan. With nukes that small, I guess some of the bigger cities (Tokyo, Osaka) would take more than one to destroy.


Who needed nukes? Napalm was far more effective and was not exactly in short supply...

(in reply to SireChaos)
Post #: 4902
RE: Assault on mainland Japan: Operation Longbow - 9/18/2009 2:15:50 AM   
jolly_pillager

 

Posts: 206
Joined: 1/15/2006
Status: offline 		Oh...and go USS Texas....one last glorious battle for an old but pugnacious lady

(in reply to jolly_pillager)
Post #: 4903
RE: Assault on mainland Japan: Operation Longbow - 9/18/2009 3:57:23 AM   
Cribtop


Posts: 3890
Joined: 8/10/2008
From: Lone Star Nation
Status: offline 		I wish the Hibiki a glorious end.

And I second the vote for the USS Texas!


(in reply to jolly_pillager)
Post #: 4904
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/18/2009 5:20:50 AM   
ChezDaJez


Posts: 3436
Joined: 11/12/2004
From: Chehalis, WA
Status: offline
quote:

“We leave tonight, as I said. The enemy is on Japanese soil. There can be no thought of holding back forces for another day. This is the final test. Good luck to all of you. May we meet again at Yasukuni Shrine.”


Your AAR doesn't read like an AAR. It reads like a RL story with real people and real consequences. Simply an amazing piece of writing, Cuttlefish.

One question... what happens to the AAR if Hibiki is sunk?

Chez

_____________________________

Ret Navy AWCS (1972-1998)
VP-5, Jacksonville, Fl 1973-78
ASW Ops Center, Rota, Spain 1978-81
VP-40, Mt View, Ca 1981-87
Patrol Wing 10, Mt View, CA 1987-90
ASW Ops Center, Adak, Ak 1990-92
NRD Seattle 1992-96
VP-46, Whidbey Isl, Wa 1996-98

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 4905
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/18/2009 5:25:00 AM   
Xenocide

 

Posts: 163
Joined: 4/28/2007
Status: offline 		Expected Result: In a glorious battle the Japanese take out over a hundred warships, transports, and carriers in a series of surface actions. The only Japanese ship to survive is the Hibiki which sails out without a scratch with no ammo remaining.

The only allied ship to escape, the Texas, limps home with damage from several torpedo hits. Our intrepid torpedo officer has finally had the chance to hit some Battleships. This is the only survivor of what eventually comes to be known as "Benzaiten's Revenge" by the Japanese and "the Yamaguchi Fiasco" by the Americans.

I can dream......

< Message edited by Xenocide -- 9/18/2009 2:59:28 PM >

(in reply to ChezDaJez)
Post #: 4906
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/18/2009 2:52:37 PM   
a7v


Posts: 75
Joined: 3/18/2001
From: Germany
Status: offline 		Well CF,
a long journey of more than 2 1/2 years seems to come near its end.
I want to thank you for all that entertainment and the fun following this fantastic AAR. Special thanks for continuing this one and not letting us down after AE has appeared.
Of course everybody expects you to start another great AAR with AE once the Hibiki-story is done

Best wishes for you and the crew

Rainer

(in reply to Xenocide)
Post #: 4907
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/18/2009 4:38:45 PM   
Marc gto

 

Posts: 229
Joined: 9/25/2000
From: Batavia,ohio,usa
Status: offline 		I want to thank you as well c.f great read has kept me entertained for many hours..im sure my boss will apprieciate the end soon lol

(in reply to a7v)
Post #: 4908
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/18/2009 6:40:29 PM   
kaleun

 

Posts: 5145
Joined: 5/29/2002
From: Colorado
Status: offline 		WOW, WOW, WOW.
This is where you look at what remains to be read, shake your head and say: "Too short, too short."


_____________________________

Appear at places to which he must hasten; move swiftly where he does not expect you.
Sun Tzu

(in reply to Marc gto)
Post #: 4909
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/18/2009 8:18:47 PM   
Capt. Harlock


Posts: 5358
Joined: 9/15/2001
From: Los Angeles
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: SireChaos

during the climax of the battle, when all seems lost, Benzaiten will take her true dragon form and incinerate the entire Allied fleet.


Hmm . . . I don't think there's code for that in the WitP combat engine.

And what's the USS Texas doing there?? This is not the time for third-string battlewagons. Bring on Iowa and Washington!

_____________________________

Civil war? What does that mean? Is there any foreign war? Isn't every war fought between men, between brothers?

--Victor Hugo

(in reply to SireChaos)
Post #: 4910
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/18/2009 9:08:45 PM   
whippleofd

 

Posts: 617
Joined: 12/23/2005
Status: offline 		Me thinks some LL's are soon going to be, "Deep in the Heart of Texas".

As a Texan, I would be disturbed by this.

As a long time reader, what a heck of a way to go out!

Whipple

_____________________________

MMCS(SW/AW) 1981-2001
1981 RTC, SD
81-82 NPS, Orlando
82-85 NPTU, Idaho Falls
85-90 USS Truxtun (CGN-35)
90-93 USS George Washington (CVN-73)
93-96 NFAS Orlando
96-01 Navsea-08/Naval Reactors

(in reply to Capt. Harlock)
Post #: 4911
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/18/2009 9:48:40 PM   
Cuttlefish

 

Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: ChezDaJez

One question... what happens to the AAR if Hibiki is sunk?

Chez


First of all, thanks to everyone for the affectionate words about the little destroyer we have followed for so long now. To answer the question: having come so close to the end of the war (it can't be much of a surprise to anyone that this game is in its final months) we will follow what survivors there are to the end even if Hibiki is sunk.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

And what's the USS Texas doing there?? This is not the time for third-string battlewagons. Bring on Iowa and Washington!


See below! Over the last few months, from Iwo Jima to the current campaign, the Allied fast battleships have taken a real pounding. I haven't done a good job sinking them but almost all of them have been damaged seriously enough to warrant a return to Pearl or the States.



_____________________________


(in reply to ChezDaJez)
Post #: 4912
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/18/2009 9:52:59 PM   
Cuttlefish

 

Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline 		June 15, 1945

Location: 180 miles northwest of Hakodate
Course: Southwest
Attached to: TF 21
Mission: Surface combat
System Damage: 5
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 439

Orders: Attack Allied forces at Fukawa Bay

---

The Japanese ships head across the Sea of Japan to whatever fate awaits them. The Battle of Fukawa Bay is now thirty-six hours in the future. Aboard Hibiki the mood is somber and determined; few if any of the crew hold any illusions about what will happen when they meet the enemy. Though everyone is more quiet than usual the day aboard ship is much like any other; men play cards or talk in low voices, paperwork is produced and filed, machinery is tended, and the meals are prepared and eaten.

On this day, however, two events occur in Hibiki’s favor. The first is that a long convoy of Allied troop ships starts up the coast of Kyushu, heading for the Korea Strait. It is imperative to the Allied cause that these ships get through; all other considerations must be secondary. Accordingly, the fast carrier task forces are recalled to Tsushima. The escort carriers that have been providing air cover there have been seriously battered and while conditions on Tsushima Island are improving the island’s airstrip still cannot be counted on to base large numbers of fighters. This opens the door to allow Yamamoto’s ships to reach their goal.

The other event takes place not far off the coast from the American-held city of Hagi. During the night Japanese artillery shells begin to fall along the American line. The Americans respond with their own artillery and with battleships that venture along the coast to batter the Japanese troops with their big guns. These battleships are led by U.S.S. Washington. Their bombardment delivered, the battleships are returning to Fukawa Bay before dawn when they are picked up by I-28. The submarine puts three torpedoes into Washington. The battleship is saved but is forced to retire, limping, back through Tsushima Strait the next day. With it go a pair of destroyers. There are now only three U.S. battleships present.

Though the three remaining battleships are all of WW I vintage they are still formidable and in any event amount to three more battleships than the Japanese are bringing. Still, it makes the odds against the Japanese less bleak. By a little, anyway.


(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 4913
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/18/2009 11:09:20 PM   
FeurerKrieg


Posts: 3397
Joined: 6/15/2005
From: Denver, CO
Status: offline 		I sure hope I don't have to wait until Monday to read about the battle.

Great job as always, CF!

_____________________________


Upper portion used with permission of www.subart.net, copyright John Meeks

(in reply to Cuttlefish)
Post #: 4914
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/18/2009 11:16:52 PM   
Ambassador

 

Posts: 1674
Joined: 1/11/2008
From: Brussels, Belgium
Status: offline 		Expectations are high for the final battle.  Or shall it be the final battle ?  If it was possible, I'd say the quality of the writing is steadily increasing, but I know perfection was reached a long time ago (and never missed an episode).

(in reply to FeurerKrieg)
Post #: 4915
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/19/2009 2:12:51 AM   
Cribtop


Posts: 3890
Joined: 8/10/2008
From: Lone Star Nation
Status: offline 		Heaven help our little ship. Still, a fitting end to her glorious career.

Texan that I am, I'll even forgive her if she takes out the battleship named for the greatest country, err, I mean state, in the Union.

Thanks again, CF.

(in reply to Ambassador)
Post #: 4916
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/19/2009 9:16:35 AM   
GetAssista

 

Posts: 2732
Joined: 9/19/2009
Status: offline 		Just like many people before me, I've registered on this forum specifically to say thanks to Cuttlefish for this outstanding writing

Hope this AAR will make it into the book one day

(in reply to Cribtop)
Post #: 4917
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/19/2009 12:27:36 PM   
tocaff


Posts: 4781
Joined: 10/12/2006
From: USA now in Brasil
Status: offline 		Well one thing is known, that even if Hibiki sinks there will be survivors so the story will continue to the bitter end of the war.  Believe in the snake........

Better to go down fighting than be caught by air while you're dockside.

_____________________________

Todd

I never thought that doing an AAR would be so time consuming and difficult.
www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2080768

(in reply to GetAssista)
Post #: 4918
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/19/2009 6:50:13 PM   
Cribtop


Posts: 3890
Joined: 8/10/2008
From: Lone Star Nation
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: tocaff

Well one thing is known, that even if Hibiki sinks there will be survivors so the story will continue to the bitter end of the war.  Believe in the snake........

Better to go down fighting than be caught by air while you're dockside.


Exactly. A Das Boot ending, while it made for a great film, is no way for a warrior like Hibiki to go out.

(in reply to tocaff)
Post #: 4919
RE: Small Ship, Big War - 9/20/2009 1:50:35 AM   
Feinder


Posts: 6589
Joined: 9/4/2002
From: Land o' Lakes, FL
Status: offline 		(* leaves an offering rat for Benzaiten *)

-F-

_____________________________

"It is obvious that you have greatly over-estimated my regard for your opinion." - Me


(in reply to Cribtop)
Post #: 4920
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