RE: Dec. 8th 1941

RE: Dec. 8th 1941 (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> After Action Reports

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kaleun -> RE: Dec. 8th 1941 (4/23/2007 10:39:55 PM)
As to question one: Early in the war, Japanese command would not credit kills to a pilot unless there were corroborating witnesses, per S. Sakai. As to question two: Do not change a thing. This is great reading!

princep01 -> RE: Dec. 8th 1941 (4/23/2007 11:27:13 PM)
Vetamur, the style of the AAR is great. Most enjoyable. The game results are rather secondary to me, especially if this is a game played against the AI. I'm guessing the opponent is AI, as few human commanders would challenge the KB with one CV. Even Wild Bill Halsley might have paused to second guess that "strategy". What a sure fired way to commit suicide. Inserting the illustrations is a real plus and your choice of the illustrations is nothing short of insired. A real mood setting effect. Quite a nice and nuianced AAR.

j campbell -> sinking enterprise (4/24/2007 2:27:44 AM)
1) i was of the opinion that this AAR was against an opponent-makes the cv sinking all the more better. 2) great read-don't change anything. the other AAR's with the CR are nice for detail but boring to read. Keep up the good work. john

Japanese_Spirit -> RE: sinking enterprise (4/24/2007 4:07:46 AM)
Vetamur, just like Cuttlefish's "Hibiki", this is also an enjoyable AAR. And the extra details you are adding in are all the more enjoyable to read. Please keep it up, I, along with everyone else, are really enjoying it!

Vetamur -> RE: sinking enterprise (4/24/2007 5:58:48 AM)
(sidenote: this is a PBEM. my first real deep one and my opponents first. he is the guy who indirectly introduced me to the game. From his vague email today Im guessing he thought I would stay on port attack, with just a bit of naval attack..which I think he thought would be deluded.. he has put a mass exodous from PH in effect..there are little TFS heading east, southeast and northeast all over the place. Thanks for the positive comments. The pictures take quite a bit of time actually but I think add to the mood considerably. Thanks again.)

Vetamur -> RE: sinking enterprise (4/25/2007 9:26:07 PM)
Dec. 10th Luzon Island, Philippines, 38 miles Northwest of Clark Field (USAAF BASE) [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/trees.jpg[/image] “Move FORWARD!” shouted Corporal Hideo. For the third time in just 6 minutes he wished his Type 95 tank had a fourth crew member. He was trying to train the main gun while also manning the 7.7mm machine gun while still commanding the tank as whole. Every time he stopped to do one thing, he found he needed to be doing something else. Not an enviable position, but he was sure of one thing. He needed to keep moving. “Iida! Keep us going forward! It’s just a patrol, I’m sure of it! Keep moving up the road!” He decided to dare another look out the hatch. Opened it. Hesitated a moment. Then poked his head out. He heard two reports ahead and saw some tell-tale smoke rising from behind a clump of trees. The commander of the tank behind him must have already seen the shot as it was now turning off the toad to flank it. Hideo thought it a wasted effort. There had been no real resistance up to this point and he doubted whoever was shooting at them was going to put up a real fight. He moved back into the turret, decided against using the 37mm cannon, trained the 7.7mm machine gun and let lose. 4th REGIMENT, 1st COMPANY, 2nd PLATOON, Lead Tanks [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/leadtanks.jpg[/image] Dirt and dust kicked up around the trees. Iida stopped the tank. “Why are you stopping? Roll OVER the trees!” screamed Hideo. For good measure he let lose another two short bursts. Despite his command Iida moved forward just a few dozen yards then stopped the tank just short of the clump of trees. Hideo climbed back up out of the hatch and could see why. In the trees lay three men. Two impressively tall..Americans? And one other man of roughly Hideo’s build. All were dead, Hideo’s bursts had been effective. Blood pooled around the bodies and the sight transfixed the tank commander until Iida snapped him back to the present. “What about those?” Iida asked. “Huh?” “Those.” Iida said emphatically, nodding to a spot past the dead Allied scouts. Looking over Hideo saw three horses. Horses! It was as he had tried telling his brothers and father. America was ill equipped to resist the Imperial Army of Japan. He was driving his tank through their prized Pacific possession and the Americans were resisting with cowboys! “I don’t really know what we should do with them. We can’t bring them.” Hideo thought for a moment. For the first time Nakata the reloader spoke up. “In Hachinohe they always eat raw horse.” “You IDIOT. Those horses are bred to be eaten. These are cowboy horses” Iida retorted. “You’re an idiot TOO, Iida. These aren’t cowboy horses. They are cavalry horses." He didn’t mention he himself had just been thinking in terms of cowboys. “Well, just leave them here. Maybe someone in the rear will no what to do.” They reloaded the machine gun, checked everything was in working order and headed off. Two miles later Hideo called for a halt outside an abandoned village. The fact it was abandoned saddened him, and his mind turned to yesterday’s events. Were they already being seen as conquerors, not liberators? It was an ill omen, but one he didn’t have time to dwell on. He had just received move on Clark Field itself the next day. The orders surprised him. They were nearly a week ahead of schedule. On the fourth day of the war. ABANDONED PHILIPPINE VILLAGE [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/luzhut1.jpg[/image] -------------------------- The annoying ring woke Hiroyuki at 4am. The ringing in his head was far worse. He needed more women and less alcohol. The thought brought a smirk to his face until he noticed something unusual out of the corner of his eye. There was a lady. On his chair. In his room. “How drunk was I?” he murmured aloud to himself. The lady stirred, looked him in the eye and said simply: “Very.” It was Lin. Ling? The waitress. In his room! She read his excitement and confusion. “I brought you home. You, well, I.. made arrangements with Mama Chien. I helped you. Do you always wake this early? The sun isn’t up!” “Uhm. Yeah.. You can’t really be here. I have duty today.” “You said you leave today. I knew it was a lie. Then I wait.” She folded her arms. Petty Officer Hiroyuki Matsuyama was in no mood to argue. He got dressed, took one final look at Lin. Thought to ask if anything “had happened”, thought better of it and made his way to the flight line where he wanted to check his plane, then planned on heading to the ready room. His hung-over grimace changed to a frown as he neared his aircraft. Yamada’s crew were still working on it. Apparently the damage had been worse than he thought. Yamada was already making his way over. “Sorry. You’re not flying today. There is a hydraulic fluid leak, but we can’t find it. You’re grounded today. But from the looks of it, you need the rest.” “It’s the first week of the war! I can’t be grounded!” “Well..you are. You and your crew are welcome to help with repairs later if you want.” It sounded less like an invitation and more like a semi-order. Hiroyuki skulked off to the briefing room where he listened to how the rest of his group would continue suppressing Clark, while the rest of the Takao air corps would fly their first anti-shipping missions of the war, going after the many Allied ships fleeing Manila Harbor. After a day of unexpectedly tough flak, damage to his aircraft, and now today being grounded, Hiroyuki worried about the morale of his crew. He had to find some way for them to contribute today. After a few minutes thought he walked off in search of chalk. Once he had that, he would gather his crew and head to the flightline. HIROYUKI'S CREW PREPARES A MESSAGE FOR THE AMERICANS [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/bombmessage.jpg[/image] Forty-five minutes later his crew was chalk-in-hand, consulting with each other and the crew of Kobayashi’s bomber on appropriate “thoughts” to pass on to the Americans. No one had anything overly original to write, but they had some fun scribbling messages on the bombs. Out of nowhere Morita, the 20mm gunner, found some white paint. The chalked on messages, mostly about quitting Asia, mixed with disparaging comments about Mickey Mouse, Roosevelt, and blond hair, were re-done in ink. While not much, the crew of Hiroyuki’s bombers felt at least they had done something worthwhile, then made their way off to help with repairs. Hiroyuki moved off to the radio room, awaiting word on what their painted bombs would accomplish. By noon he was well satisfied. Clark Field only had one old fighter defending it, which was dispatched easily and most of G2 Takao bomber group loads landed on target, destroying supply sheds, cratering the runway, and hitting flak positions. Meanwhile G1 group had scored Takao’s first torpedo hits of the day, damaging a transport. It was a start. Notably, the Type 1 bomber had flown over 420 miles to hit that target. As far as Hiroyuki could recall, that was a new record for naval attacks. G2 TAKAO's BETTYS MAKE NAVAL HISTORY WITH A 420 MILE STRIKE [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/g4m1_41_pre.jpg[/image] Convinced most of the days notable events were over, Hiroyuki turned back to matters at hand. What to do about Ling. --------------------------------------- 150 Miles northwest of Pearl Harbor. Junichiro’s time on Adm. Yamamoto’s staff gave him status beyond his rank, but he was pushing it now. He was in a discussion with Hiryu’s captain, Cpt. Kaku and the three aircraft Daitai commanders. “You need to push Nagumo, to push Yamamoto to invade. Now.” Captain Kaku was incredulous. “We cant invade Pearl Harbor! This is a STRIKE force.” “We don’t need to invade Pearl Harbor. Just threaten it. Invade anywhere. What was the leper colony? Molokai? Wherever. We need to threaten it in a way they can’t ignore. If we do that, they commit their aircraft carriers now. If we sink those, then we sink those damaged battleships. That is ALL of their fleet.” Lt. Mori interjected. “That’s a nice idea..but we are a striking force. We don’t have staying power.” Junichiro would not be dissuaded. “Today we ended up sending 60 aircraft against a couple of minesweepers! Stop the meaningless strikes. Wait til we pull the carriers in. If we get in a long war with America, we lose. We dominate the Hawaiian skies and waters NOW. This is our chance. Let high council know the situation. We can end the war, for all intents and purposes, now. In their waters. Even if we don’t, we force the war to revolve around Hawaii. Adm. Yamamoto thinks we can only stay ahead in the war for 6 months. If we press this advantage we might have a chance he hadn’t foreseen. If we don’t, then in 2 years, maybe 3 this fleet will be at the bottom of the ocean. You all know this. Prime Minister Yokai and the rest were right.” A MAJOR RAID FOR A MINOR TARGET [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/jp6.jpg[/image] Silence filled the room. It was true, to an extent. They were parked a fourth day off the Hawaiian coast and America seemed helpless to do anything about it. In Pearl Harbor itself fires continued to burn on at least 4 battleships. Recon flights showed that 2 were attempting to make a run for it. They would be sunk tomorrow. But an invasion? Even as a feint.. it was unthinkable. Wasn’t it? Captain Kaku rose. “We thank you for your thoughts on this matter CPO Matsuyama. As always we are honored to have your insight to consider. Please exuse us now to consider matters.” Junichiro instantly translated the polite phrasing: “Leave us alone so we can ignore your advice.” He had expected it. He gave a sharp salute and left. The day had gone well. He expected most days for the next few months to go well. It was what happened after THAT that he dreaded. He made his way to the hangar, searching out PO2 Fujiwara. Fujiwara had claimed his second kill of war today, on a head-to-head pass against a US Navy F4F. Junichiro wanted to hear about it. Not for the thrill, but to see if there were any lessons in the victory. Things were coming too easy. PO2 FUJIWARA'S SECOND VICTIM, MOMENTS BEFORE EXPLODING [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/FF.jpg[/image]

princep01 -> RE: sinking enterprise (4/25/2007 10:16:56 PM)
Great pics and story telling, Vetamur. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

kaleun -> RE: sinking enterprise (4/25/2007 10:23:27 PM)
Ditto

Vetamur -> RE: sinking enterprise (4/27/2007 4:57:07 PM)
Dec. 11th, 1941. Tainan Base, Taiwan. NCO BARRACKS, TAINAN [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/tainanbarracks.jpg[/image] “Matsuyama! Matsuyama!”. Captain Moritama, commanding officer of G2 Takao, Hiroyuki’s unit, was looking for Hiroyuki awfully early. His eyes sought out the clock and focused on the dials in the pre-dawn dark. It read 4am. A soft groan to his left brought him to his senses. He looked at Ling still asleep on “her” half of his already narrow bed. He hadn’t been able to get her to leave last night and when that had become obvious, he made the best of a bad situation. But with Moritama coming down the hallway, this was no good. He got to the door just as the captain did. “Ah. Matsuyama. May I have a word, maybe in your room? Some of the pilots are still sleeping and will need the rest.” “Uhm..err..well..”. No excuse came to mind and the captain was already stepping into the room. For a moment he didn’t seem to notice the lithe, long haired figure on the bed, and Hiroyuki almost relaxed. Then the captain did a double take, pushed up his glasses and gave a decided frown. “I can explain. You see…” “Save it Matsuyama.” The captain looked down at a clipboard he was carrying. He looked again at Ling’s sleeping form. He seemed to draw a couple lines. “I am just here to tell you that you won’t be flying today either.” “Yamada still hasn’t gotten my plane fixed? I will have to have a talk with him…” Hiroyuki began. “Oh no.. your plane is fine. Kobayashi will be flying it today. We have 36 crews ready, but still just 27 planes. You can report to Yamada today. He will have something for you to do.” Hiroyuki considered a protest. Ling stretched. He reconsidered. “Yes, sir.” Before leaving Moritama indicated Ling. “If you want to fly again before we sweep the Americans from the Pacific you might consider…cleaning your room.” Hiroyuki let Ling sleep a bit longer but when it was clear the noise in the hallway wouldn’t wake her and neither would the sunlight now streaming through the uncurtained window he lost patience. “Hey! Ling! Wake up! You have to go!” He was trying to use his “stern” voice, but new he was failing. “I can’t go. I’m staying with you. I told you. Its arranged.” “Ling, Im married.” He looked through his footlocker and emerged with a picture of Haru. HIROYUKI'S WIFE, HARU [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/haru.jpg[/image] “I know. You are married in Japan. This is Taiwan.” “Taiwan IS Japan silly girl.” “Maybe yesterday and tomorrow. But in its heart, Taiwan is Chinese. Im Chinese. And I can take care of you here.” “Look.. they won’t let me FLY again til you are gone. So do me a favor and leave. When I get back this evening you better be gone.” He grabbed his wallet and put a few notes on the desk. “Please. I’m sorry..but..please.” He turned, left, and finally exhaled. Well, that was solved. He went off to breakfast and to see what Yamada had planned for him… Left alone and now awake, Ling thought on her own course of action. If things continued like this she would truly be forced out. She needed a change of luck. She eyed the money on the desk. That would make a fine donation she thought, already thinking of how to get to her favorite temple. Joss sticks, a proper offering. Then things would go her way. LING TRIES TO CHANGE HER LUCK [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/ling.jpg[/image] In the evening Hiroyuki watched all the planes come in until Kobayashi in HIS plane came in. At least the plane looked alright. With Ling gone maybe he could get back in the war. There was no more resistance in the skies over the Philippines, Hong Kong had fallen today, and the fleeing American fleet was seemingly being hunted down by destroyer groups, G1 Takao’s bombers, and the Junyo. If he didn’t get back in the war soon, this would be over. How wrong his father had been. -------------------------------------------- Southern Luzon, Philippines. 4th Armored Regt. HQ, 15 miles northwest of Clarkfield. “What did you think of the new commander?” asked Lt. Nomiya as he and Hideo walked back to Hideo’s tank, waiting to take them back to the “front”, such as it was. “Lt. Col. Kitayama? I’ve read a few articles by him on the use of light tanks. He seems intelligent, a real professional. He has done real well in China, too.” “Yeah, I suppose. But I heard he choked at Nomonha. That’s why the 7th Armored took the beating it did.” Was this a trap to get him to malign his commanding officer? No matter. It was a lie. “Where did you hear that?” “One of the other officers. Served with him in Manchukuo.” “Well, they must have a faulty memory. The 7th Armored wasn’t even AT Nomonha, and neither was Lt. Col. Kitayama, if I recall correctly.” “You sound like a fan. What, is he a friend of your father’s?” Hideo knew there was real danger here. In the first few days of the war, people were being replaced left and right and if Lt. Nomiya tried to get rid of him, for whatever reason, no one was going to give it too much thought. He softened his voice. A notch. “No, I just liked his articles. Who knows. Everyone at his rank forgets what its like for us anyway. Lets get back.” Back at “the front”, in fact just the limit to how far they were “allowed” to go that day Hideo pulled his crew together and the three shared their onigiri and some chocolate they had found in the last village school they had passed. That one abandoned as well. 4th ARMORED REGIMENT at rest [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/type95tanks.jpg[/image] Their unit was ordered to take Clark Field tomorrow. Recon said it was held only by support staff, and would probably be abandoned in the night, there being no more aircraft left to use the field. Hideo didn’t quite buy it. Even if the Americans couldn’t use the field anymore, would they really give up the airfield for Japanese aircraft to use when the American army was still in full retreat? Two years previously Hideo had watched film of German aircraft massacring fleeing Polish armies. Would his chance at glory be stolen by the flyboys? He would know tomorrow. “I know they said tomorrow would be just as easy, guys. Nonetheless, get a good nights sleep. Recon has been wrong before.” ---------------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere over the center of Boreo, Southeast Pacific. For the first time in months Osamu was flying a mission completely over land. Visible landmarks made it such easy going compared to the fly just two nights ago where F2 Tainan had lost 3 of its pilots just in the process of transferring. Just 100 miles now from Tarakan. This would be the first fighter sweep over the base in the war so there should be a target rich environment. Just yesterday recon flights had confirmed that the Allies had moved aircraft there, maybe to support their ships fleeing the Philippines. At 20 miles out he spotted the base and oilfields. He intently studied the skies above the base but found nothing remotely hostile. His flight of 24 fighters broke into groups of three, circled the airfield and port, and did anything they could think of to challenge the Americans? Dutch? WHOEVER was down there to come out and play. To no avail. Disgusted at another actionless flight, Osamu turned for home with the rest of his unit. He took a moment to check out the oilfields. They seemed intact, for the time being. TARAKAN OILFIELDS [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/tarakanoilfield.jpg[/image] Back at base, he was met by two faces in the barracks. One was not really “new”, it was Araki from flight school! Araki had graduated from Meiji university and so was a Lt. JG, despite having no more experience than Osamu. Unlike other university graduates though, Araki didn’t put on airs and seemed more comfortable mixing with the NCOs. LT j.g. ARAKI, IJNAF [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/araki.jpg[/image] He recognized Osamu immediately. “Hey! They still letting you fly?? I thought you were the ‘tyre pressure engineer” now!” “No, sir. I’ve faked my way all the way to the best unit in the Navy!” Osamu offered. “Yeah, well, they wanted me to look after you so as of now Im joining you guys”. He motioned to the other new guy in the room. “And this is Oda, Warrant officer Oda. Oda, that is PO1 Matsuyama If you need any money, ask him. His dad is loaded.” Osamu looked over Oda. He looked about 12 years old, and kept his eyes down cast. His pilots scarf dangled from his hand loosely and he shifted his weight continuously from left to right and back again. “Good to meet you, Oda”. Osamu affected his best “congenial” voice. Oda raised his eyes and worked hard at trying to look anything but the nervous wreck he was. “Thank you. Nice to meet you. I feel honored to be assigned to F2 Tainan. Really honored.” It was clear that even that short bit had been rehersed in his head. Catching the awkward silence Araki picked up the conversation. “Oda is part of the first class trained in the Navy’s new pilot program.” Osamu’s head snapped back in Araki’s direction. The NEW program? “You mean the one started in June?” he gave, unable to hide the alarm in his voice. Araki gave a forced grin, begging with his eyes for Osamu to not say anything more to hurt Oda’s confidence. “That’s right. The new methods and training help us produce our pilots in just six months. Oda was in the top third of his group!” Oda broke in, unable to take what wasn’t being said anymore. “Matsuyama, I know I am not quite where you and the rest of your squadron are, but I will do my utmost, and welcome any advice and help you can give me.” Osamu let it go. That night he re-read an old letter his brother Junichiro had sent him. It detailed what he thought about a long term war with America, how it wasn’t just a matter of resources, but sustained levels of trained personnel that seemed to be the biggest problem. Junichiro and another officer had recommended to a senior officer that a program for training 15,000 pilots be put in place in 1939. It had been laughed off, but something similar had been started just this August. Osamu fell asleep, letter in hand, falling airplanes running through his head. ------------------------------------------------------ 340 miles north of Oahu, Hawaii. THE USS OKLAHOMA, 1940 [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/oklahoma.jpg[/image] Another bomb landed on the Oklahoma. From Junichiro’s view it seemed to blow apart a 5in. AA gun. “Good. One less thing to worry about”, he thought. Moments later a torpedo, by Junichiro’s count the 4th of the last ten minutes exploded near the Oklahoma’s bow. The attack had been yet another “easy” one and it made him nervous. The seemingly least damaged American battleship had sallied forth with considerable escort. To what end? Nothing to be done about it now. He turned his Zero for home, escorting back the Aichi dive bombers and Nakajima attack bombers. He came up short again on the Aichis. Hiryu’s dive bombing squadron had taken serious casualties in the short war, although not for nothing. Still, losing 7 out of 21 aircraft in just 4 days was unacceptable. Hopefully Adm. Nagumo would be satisfied with what had been achieved now and they could retire to safer waters and plan their next move. It was enough to have damaged or sunk 8 battleships and probably have sunk the Enterprise. No one could confirm it had gone down, but no scout plane had found it since. VAL FROM HIRYU [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/val.jpg[/image] Back on Hiryu, Junichiro sought out Lt. Kobayashi, commander of Hiryu’s dive bombers. “Congratulations sir, your bombers hit 6 out of 12 times!” “Thank you..CPO…sorry, Ive forgotten your name..” ”Matsuyama, sir. We met last year in Tokyo.” “Oh, yes. Matsuyama. Of the Osaka Matsuyamas, right? Anyway, yes, we did quite well today. Easier than hitting the Settsu.” The Settsu was Japan’s target battleship, where torpedo and dive bombers practiced their trade against a 18 kt. Moving target. “Unfortunately, the Oklahoma shoots back.” “Yes, sir. And I wanted to talk to you about that. Your group is taking a lot of casualties. When still in Tokyo we had discussed a new technique…”. Kobayashi cut him off. “CPO Matsuyama, you fighter boys always think you know what’s best for any one else in the sky. You worry about shooting down those sitting duck Grummans. Let us worry about sinking the American fleet and getting home.” Obviously the discussion was at an end. Obstinance clearly wasn’t limited to just the army. Well, he had tried. PAINTING COMMEMORATING KOMACHI'S FEAT [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/zeroart.jpg[/image] That night in mess hall he heard about PO1 Komachi on the Shokaku. He had flown his first mission of the war yesterday and had shot down four fighters! The Shokaku had 3 pilots with 4 kills already. PO2 Fujiwara still paced Hiryu’s fliers with 2. “Well,” thought Junichiro, “I’m not getting any myself, but at least Im not flying a dive bomber.”

Vetamur -> RE: sinking enterprise (5/5/2007 11:02:36 AM)
Feb. 12th, 1941 Mid Pacifc, 500 miles north of Hawaii, Sunset. Pacific Sunset [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/sunset.jpg[/image] CPO Junichiro Matsuyama thumbs through his journal, stopping here and there to read a passage or two, unconsciously grinning or shaking his head in turn. Usually not one to stall, today’s entry would be more difficult and he found himself adjusting things on his small desk, refilling his engraved pen (a graduation gift from his father), and adjusting his chair before finally turning to a blank page and beginning. PO1 MAEDA [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/maeda.jpg[/image] Today was a successful failure. The aircrews today again proved they have unequalled accuracy even against smaller, moving targets. Dawn scouts reported a convoy of destroyers and promptly the Hiryu’s, Soryu’s and Akagi’s bombers and attack bombers went out to meet them. I flew escort, though it was not needed. The Americans seemingly have no fighters left in this side of the Pacific. Within 45 minutes our bombs and torpedoes had sunk all but one of the destroyers, 8 in all. One managed to escape into a late arriving fog bank but CPO Yamaguchi claims his torpedo hit it, so even that destroyers escape may be short lived. During the attack, PO1 Maeda flew his Zero-sen over the deck of one destroyer, maybe trying to strafe an anti-aircraft gun to cover the attack bombers approach. Whatever the reason, it cost him. He took hits in his wing. His plane didn’t disintegrate but while on approach back at the Hiryu his wing simply fell off and he crashed into the sea. The nearest destroyer picked up his body, but his neck was broken in the fall. They buried him at sea. IJN Burial at Sea [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/burialatsea.jpg[/image] We sank 8 destroyers for the loss of just 2 aircraft today (one of Soryu’s didn’t make it back, the loss rate of the bombers is appalling). This is a good trade, but not good enough. If we lose pilots, even one or two a day, on such minor actions we will run far short. Our Navy pilot program won’t keep up. The Naval staff knew pre-war we would need a decisive, quick victory but now everyone seems so content with victories such as today. I’ve pressed my opinion as far as I might and now I can just do my duty. Tomorrow the task force will leave Hawaiian waters to support actions elsewhere. -------------------------------------------- Near Clark Field, Philippines. [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/g4m-3.jpg[/image] The day was shaping up to be more like the first day of the war, thought Hiryuki, behind the controls of his Mitsubishi bomber once again. All was right with the world. Ling had seemingly disappeared, Lt. Moritama was satisfied, and here he was flying combat missions over the Philippines. Today’s target was once again Clark Field, but he had heard it might be the last over Clark. The Army was moving on it today and the pilots had been warned to be careful what they bomb, as IJA tanks should be advancing on the American base just as they hit it. A few minutes after his last course correction Hiryuki lowered his altitude. Indeed, he could see see some Army tanks, unmistakably Japanese, approaching the field. Two American aircraft were taxing on the far end. The looked like the older Navy fighter, that made them P-26s. They wouldn’t make it. A second flight of bombers cratered the runway just in front of the small US fighters which erupted into small explosions as shrapnel pierced their fuel tanks. Hiroyuki banked his plane looking for a worthwhile target for his bombs, then spotted what looked to be a rag tag convoy of retreating US army units. His copilot Ueda spotted them simultaneously and called back to the navigator/bomber, “Takahashi! Get ready! Trucks and cars on the road!”. Moments later the twin engine bomber leapt upon the release of its bombs. With no real resistance Hiroyuki decided he could make another pass to do his own bomb damage assessment and to get a better idea on who was retreating and with what. If he had a radio that could reach those army tanks he could tell them to give chase and rout the Americans, but he was Navy, and his radio wasn’t compatible. Not for the first time Hiroyuki shook his head. Son of a wealthy business man, not brought up in the inter-service rivalries, Hiroyuki found the Army-Navy rivalry extremely wasteful. If his father ran his business in the same way, well, Hiroyuki wouldn’t have been afforded the education and opportunities he had. Nevertheless, his day’s work over, Hiroyuki turned for home, confident his bombs had knocked a towed gun of some sort from what looked to be mostly support troops fleeing Clark Field. Back at the barracks a pleasant smell wafted down the hallway. Perfume. Probably French, thought Hiroyuki. Although not very “manly”, knowing the ins and outs of perfumes and such helped with ladies thought Hiroyuki, showing a slight smile. The smile disappeared when he realized the smell was coming from his room. Opening the door, a smiling Ling greeted him from his bed. “Welcome back!” --------------------------------------------------- Clark Field, Philippines. “Machine gun nest! Two o’clock!” called out Iida, Hideo’s over eager tank driver. “That’s just a pile of sand bags!” growled back Hideo, rotating the turret just in case. His platoon was in the lead and was nearly at the edge of the runway. He was aware of a drone growing louder and looked over the ridge of the nearby hills to see about 70 twin engine bombers heading for the airfield. Through his binoculars he recognized them as Type 1 navy bombers. Overkill, he thought to himself. Resistance all morning had been scant or none at all. “Iida! Drive us to the far end of the runway! I see a few planes left down there! But keep us OFF the runway, got it?” ”Yes, sir!” came the answer and off lurched Hideo’s tank doing its best at a meager 25 mph. Two US Army airplanes rolled out of a hangar but before even getting onto the runway proper they were dispatched under Navy bombs. By the time Hideo’s platoon reached the end of the runway there was little to do but shoot up the burnt out carcass of a B-17 that looked like it had been hit the first day of the war. CLARK FIELD WRECKAGE [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/clarkfield.jpg[/image] Hideo called in to his platoon leader, Lt. Nomiya. In his nasal voice, made worse by effects of the radio, Lt. Nomiya gave a droning order: “Search the buildings, bring any Americans captured to me, dispose of any natives who were aiding the Americans. I will call in our success now.” “Should we wait for infantry support to round up prisoners, sir?” “There is no infantry support. Only the 4th Tank Regiment was assigned this important task of securing the airfield. Now, secure it!” From behind him, Nakata, the reloader said dryly “You first, Corporal. I will just sit in the tank and..keep it running. You guys go look around.” “Well,” thought Hideo, “We will drive around first. Take a good look.” No one relished being the first sniper casualty incurred by the 4th Tank Regiment.

ny59giants -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/5/2007 7:42:56 PM)
Where are you getting all your pictures from?? It would seem that part alone would take up more time that the story.

Vetamur -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/6/2007 5:45:01 AM)
Most of the pics are from the internet.. Im lucky in that since I speak and write Japanese I can use that to search as well and get some somewhat rare pictures. As far as I know, the photo of the burial at sea is one of only about 10 extant pictures of that. Some of the pictures are from books I own and are scanned in. Depends on the day, the post or the pictures take more time..but a lot of the pictures are already on my hard drive and just have to be selected. Its only when the unexpected happens that I spend a long time looking for acceptable pictures that Im happy with (for example the Enterprise under attack pics..)

Vetamur -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/7/2007 5:06:40 PM)
Dec. 13th, 1941 Clark Field, the Philippines. [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/anothervillage.jpg[/image] Corporal Hideo Matsuyama’s tank was already running when he arrived at it, fresh from the mornings meeting with Lt. Nomiya, the platoon commander. “You’re wasting gas, Iida.” he said, little real reproach in his voice. “Well sir, with all we captured here I didn’t think it was something we needed to worry over” replied Iida. “True enough, I suppose. Well, we are lead tank again today. We head out this way..” he said spreading the map before his driver. Nakata, his reloader, looked over things, just in case. “Not towards Manila?” asked Iida. “Nope. Apparently 16th division will take it themselves. We are just supposed to head towards Bataan. Seems the Americans are gathering themselves there for a final stand. We will be passing some villages along the way, I want us to be on our best behavior, we will probably be the first Japanese they see.” Nakata interjected, “But Lt. Nomiya said we should—“ Hideo cut him off. “I don’t care. We are lead tank. As usual, I expect Lt. Nomiya to be in the rear of the platoon. We will treat all civilians with respect, and they in turn will give us respect. We will need to work with them.” Nakata looked at him skeptically. Undeterred, Hideo continued, “Look, they can’t help it if they were occupied by the Americans. But under our guidance, with their resources, they really could become strong allies of ours.” Iida was about to chime in when an explosion cut him off. The three ducked into their tank and a voice was already crackling over the radio. “West side! Infantry units! Maybe company strength!” Hideo got his tank into the action, rotating the main gun while giving Iida instructions. Lt. Nomiya was the next voice on the radio giving directions to the other 3 tanks in the platoon. With another three platoons, Hideo’s platoon performed a slow but steady flanking maneuver on the surprise attackers while the regiments medium tanks engaged them straight on. Though the regiment only had nine of the new Type 1 medium tanks, the attackers lacked heavy weapons and were unable to press forward the attack. Once the light tanks had them flanked, the attackers broke and ran. Fearing a diversion, Lt. Col. Kitayama forbade pursuit, content in having broken up the poorly executed attack. Thirty minutes later bodies were being counted and damaged assessed. The attackers had come from two different Philippine divisions and Hideo felt a bit sad seeing the vaguely similar faces of the dead soldiers looking up at him in their death stare. What possessed them to enroll in an American puppet army anyway? He was suddenly angry at them, the dead soldiers. In a foul mood he ordered his tank to move out. “We have a lot of ground to cover today and tomorrow. Let’s go.” Dec. 14th [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/civilians.jpg[/image] Early the next afternoon they overtook their first group of civilian refugees. Upon seeing their column, two of the men in the column approached, one with his hands raised, the other with some piece of paper in his hand. Hideo ordered a stop, drew his pistol (you never knew) and approached the refugee spokesmen. They handed a card that had been airdropped over their village that morning, instructing them to surrender. It was directed to soldiers, not civilians. Still lacking clear directions on what to do with refugees, Hideo pondered the situation for a moment. REFUGEES [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/surrendercard.jpg[/image] “Well, they aren’t getting in the way. That’s clear.”, offered Iida. “Yeah. We will just leave them be.” He looked at the surrender card. Not sure what to do with it either, he found a pen, signed it with his full name and rank, and with that continued on. He was supposed to be lead tank, which meant being in the lead by at least 80 meters. Five minutes later, from well behind he heard a single shot. “Do you think…?” asked Iida, unwilling to finish the question. Hideo’s face turned red. Lt. Nomiya. Bastard. Hideo looked back but the refugee group was too far back, out of view. The incident played through his mind the rest of the day, until just after they had stopped their march towards Bataan. Hideo was sitting, going over his options when Lt. Nomiya approached. Hideo snapped to his feet, gave a perfunctory salute. About to start verbally laying into Nomiya he was stopped cold by Nomiya’s smile. Lt. Nomiya never smiled. And he had liquor. He gave the officer a quizzical look. TOASTING MANILA'S FALL [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/manilafalls.jpg[/image] “Manila fell! This evening! Except for Bataan, we own Luzon!” The news rocked Hideo. He knew the 16th division felt they could take it alone, but he had expected it to take days, maybe a week or two. But already? Was it going to be this easy? The refugee incident drifted from Hideo’s mind and he accepted a drink. Looking around, everyone else was doing the same. --------------------------------------------------------------- Dec. 14th., early morning, 100 miles south of Borneo.. [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/zerokuchingfield.jpg[/image] After take off from Kuching's by-comparison primitive airfield, PO2 Osamu Matsuyama spent most of the morning doing lazy circle 8s over an army convoy destined for southern Borneo. Yesterday had been uneventful, strafing empty airfields across the island from his Kuching base. Today he had hope for real action. He followed Lts. jg Araki and Maki into another turn. Maki was a replacement. That was three now. But Maki seemed to know what he was doing, just needed some combat time. Just then the call came in, Osamu recognized PO2 Shiga’s voice “Inbound fighters and bombers, 9 o’clock low!” Instantly picking up the Dutch attack, Lt. jg Araki turned his fighter to make a head on attack. Maki kept formation. Osamu was briefly tempted to break off and seek his own prey but stayed in formation. In total 15 Zeros were on CAP over the convoy and the Dutch pilots had to either be foolhardy or extremely brave to press their attack. While Osamu’s group bore head on into one flight, Shiga’s flight of two aircraft were already moving into firing position on some obsolete Martin bombers. Osamu saw Maki’s hand go up as they flew past the ungainly American fighters and snap a close up. The 4 Dutch fighters broke into pairs and Araki and Maki split, forcing Osamu into a decision. Maki would probably need more help he decided and stayed behind Maki in support. The lead Dutch pilot just 400 yards in front of Maki made the same mistake that was being made all over the Pacific and tried to get himself into shooting position by getting into a turning match with the Zeros, while his wingman risked being called a coward and simply dove away. Maki stayed with the lead and 30 seconds later the distinctive “boom” of his cannon shattered the canopy of the Brewster fighter and shredded its left wing. In entered a death spin. Osamu let out a shout. It wasn’t his kill but it was the closest he had been yet! Heading back to the convoy Osamu looked for more targets but found nothing. He sought out Araki and rejoined him in formation. Hours later, just before turning back Shiga again called out targets. He must have amazing eyesight, thought Osamu. This time Osamu’s group didn’t even break their orbit. It was just 4 antique torpedo bombers and Shiga and Nagaishi were half-way there already. Later he learned PO2 Shiga shot down 3 Dutch aircraft that day, Nagaishi getting 2 more. PO2 Shiga [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/po2shiga.jpg[/image] Back at base Osamu and Araki hounded Maki to get his film developed. “Do you think you got him on film?” “Pretty sure I timed it right. Glad I bought this camera! Lets go check” [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/buf_brew2.jpg[/image] An hour later they had a picture of Lt.jg Maki’s first kill. They admired the picture as they walked back towards their barracks. “Well, once we get proper tea houses built around here I will buy you a drink! Quite a feat, Maki. Get transferred here yesterday, first kill today! You’re lucky I let you take it. Next one’s mine” A buzz caught Osamu’s ear. He searched the sky for a familiar, but different aircraft. Sure enough a large group of Type 1 bombers were lining up landing. “Bombers? Already? Wonder where from.” -------------------------------------------------------- 2000 ft. above Kuching Airbase, Borneo. [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/bettyinflightcolor.jpg[/image] PO1 Hiroyuki’s G4M1 entered the landing pattern. Kuching Airbase was smaller than Takao, but he was glad to be here. There was certain to be more action, and the transfer had removed him from a difficult situation with Ling. He was off all women other than Haru he had sworn to his copilot Ueda all the long flight down. He touched down on the single runway and followed the ground crews instruction, taxing to the westernmost edge of the run where workers, apparently IJA, were filling sandbags to make aircraft shelters for. He had hoped for more for his precious Mitsubishi. Upon exiting the aircraft he was met by a familiar, smiling face. For once it was a nice surprise: “Hey big brother!” came the shout from Osamu, “Glad you make it to where the action is!” “Hey little brother! Yeah, I heard the action was down hear and you might need some protection!” Osamu introduced his flight-mates, Araki (who vaguely remember Hiroyuki) and Maki and requainted himself with Hiroyuki’s crew. “Maki got his first kill today. A Dutch Brewster. We shot down more than 10 of their fighters and bombers today. I guess they did get lucky attacking the Nagato though, it took a torpedo from one of those antique floatplanes the Dutch are using. Revenge comes tomorrow!” “Well, that’s why I chose to release the torpedo, not be a torpedo target. Naval Air Corps all the way. Do we still have time? Lets go into town, see Kuching”, he winked at Ueda, “Can’t wait to see what kind of women Kuching has!” Ueda rolled his eyes, but knew a night, or at least an evening on the town was inevitable. "Come on Matsuyama," he said to Osamu, "You can tell me all about Maki's kill and I will tell you all about the your brothers solmen vows of chastity made all the way down here." The small group of naval avaiators and crew made their way out for their first foray into Kuching. ------------------------------------------- Dec. 14th 430 miles northwest of Oahu, Hawaii, aboard CV Hiryu. [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/hiryu-1.jpg[/image] Smoke hung over the briefing room and the pilots, commanders of the squadrons above Hiryu and their select CPOs, variously scribbled on their pads, sipped down think Navy coffee or studied Captain Kaku. Finally CPO Junichiro Matsuyama spoke up. “How bad is it, sir?” The captain cleared his throat. “So far, not bad at all. The Americans interrupted the our landings at New Ireland, and have sunk a destroyer and transport and heavily damaged some other ships. Its not what they have done so far that warrants concern. It’s the situation. At least two American carriers are around Rabaul. We assumed that after the loss of their battleships and the other carrier they would mostly withdraw and regroup. We have invasions going on all over the area, from west New Guinea all the way down to some forgotten island named “Espiritu something-or-other”. They are mostly without aircover.” Lt. Mori, commander of Junichiro’s Zero-sen squadron looked up from his pad. “Where is the Ryujo? Or the Junyo?” The captain pointed to the wall map of the Pacific. “They are engaged in chasing down the fleets escaping the Philippines. And even if they were closer they wouldn’t help that much. They are too small. The American’s can’t truly go on the offensive, but they could sink a lot of ships. We need to get there in a hurry, and hopefully without being noticed. Only the cruiser and battleship scout planes will go up and we will make our best speed for the Coral Sea.” He stopped, looked at Junichiro. “If we get their fast enough, we may get the victory you think we need. If we can sink those two carriers, the American’s will be truly impotent. They would have to sue for peace. At least that’s what the admirals think.” Junichiro weighed the thought in his mind. Just two days before in his journal he had written about the need to use the combined fleet in decisive action. Now, seemingly the opportunity presented himself. Would the Americans sue for peace if deprived of these two carriers? It was, he was sure, Japan’s only chance at victory. Yet, somewhere inside he doubted that American would give up that soon. He remembered driving across America’s seemingly endless highways years before with his family… He pushed the defeatist thoughts from his mind. He could only do his best. He scanned the room looking at the others and with a smile he didn’t feel proclaimed, “Sir, in the Coral Sea we will end this war. Tell the Army to take their time with Singapore, America will soon be out of the war.”

princep01 -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/8/2007 2:16:50 AM)
One week into the war and the Japanese are invading Espiritu Santo. My, my, these guys are sure enough aggressive.

Vetamur -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/9/2007 3:45:03 PM)
Dec. 15th, 1941. Tokyo, Japan. The Matsuyama Home, Aoyama Tokyo [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/matsuyamahometokyo.jpg[/image] The General’s car made its way through the narrow streets of Aoyama, one of Tokyo’s wealthier districts. Few people were on the bare cherry tree lined streets and almost no cars competed for space. Most people had given up their private vehicles the previous year, though not all and as his car pulled into its destination the General noted that the Matsuyama family was one family that still retained their motor car, it being parked outside. Exiting the car the General paused for a moment to examine the Matsuyama’s car. On the back it had the tell-tale smoky box of a coal conversion: the Matsuyama car burned coal, not gasoline which since the previous year was no longer distributed to the public at large. It must be hard on the engine, the General mused before turning to enter the enormous, especially for Tokyo, house. A servant met him at the door and showed him and his aide into a Japanese style room. They were served tea and told to wait just, that the eldest Matsuyama would be with them shortly. Normally the General would have been annoyed, if not angered, but the tea was high quality and the smells wafting in from the kitchen showed that rationing wasn’t hitting the Matsuyama family to the extent it was others. Presently Michihiro Matsuyama showed himself into the room, a glass of amber colored liquid in hand. He looked at the General’s drink. “Is tea fine? Or would you and your man prefer a whiskey? Not to worry, it’s the proper stuff, not the watered down stuff being offered now in the shops. Private stock.” “You are very generous, but I really shouldn’t,” replied the General. Private stock? It was vaguely distasteful to the General that a mere merchant was enjoying such luxuries, but he allowed that the empire did rely on such men and it was natural that they enjoy the benefits. There usefulness was evidenced by the reason he was here today. After small talk, mostly on the success of the war effort the military careers of Michihiro’s four sons the General came around to the point. “The Empire, the Army, and the government have a request for you. Based on the early lessons of this war, some adjustments are being made to war production.” Warily, his company produced no armaments, Michihiro asked simply, “Yes? Of course, I am always willing to serve the Empire.” Reaching into his attaché case, the General removed some paper. “What I’m about to show you of course is classified, but we are assured you are cleared despite your civilian status. This is the Army’s new plane.” The General unrolled a sheet and laid it on the table, revealing a plan form view of a single seat fighter. [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/ki44planview.jpg[/image] Still unclear and growing uneasy the older man slowly picked up the plan. “Yes, I see. Quite nice, but I don’t see what…” The General headed off the question. “Nakajima makes it. At first the army aviators didn’t want it. But so far in this war we have had just one set back for which we haven’t had an answer. The American 4 engine bombers. But this fighter is our reply. The test group, there are 9, have had some success, our only success as of yet, against those bombers. Nakajima has been told to accelerate its development. Hopefully by summer we will have it in full use. You have two bicycle plants in Gunma, do you not?” Oh. It was clear now. “Uhm. Yes, older bicycle plants. Built in the 20’s. Very small.” “Yes. Well, people have enough bicycles, now, don’t they? What the Empire needs from you now is the cannon for this aircraft. We would like you to consider converting your bicycle factories to make 20mm cannon for aircraft.” Despite the wording, it wasn’t a request. He had just been ordered. “Sure. Of course. If you can set up meetings with Nakajima and the cannon designer, we will start immediately on the conversion.” And with that the Matsuyama clan became for the first time an arms manufacturer. “My aide will set things up. The government appreciates your help.” Things wrapped up and Michihiro set about making plans. How were cannon made? --------------------------------------------------------- Mid Pacific Ocean, aboard CV Hiryua With flights suspended to help the fleet remain unspotted as it raced to New Ireland, there were few pressing matters for Junichiro to attend to. The air to air victory stories had been told and retold, his personal Zero-sen had been checked and rechecked, and he had reached an uneasy truce with his wingman Minobe. Therefore Junichiro was spending as much time in the radio room and on combat center as he would get away with. Presently the executive officer and he were exchanging whatever news tidbits they had heard. A small man with a prematurely gray beard, Lt. Commander Arai was a rarity: he had come up through the ranks in submarines, had applied very late for flight training, had it approved and now served on an aircraft carrier, where most other senior officers had only surface ship experience. This background in subs explained the unmistakable affection in his voice as he related: “Yep, the I-166 has sunk three ships already and damaged another. She’s heading into port, already out of torpedoes. The subs are doing well, but I would bet the captain of the I-5 is going to be replaced…seems he put two fish in a minesweeper. Someone behind a desk in Tokyo isn’t going to be pleased.” I-166 (formerly I-66) [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/I166kd5.jpg[/image] Junichiro nodded. He didn’t know much about submarine warfare. His limited experience had been listening to the debate in the months before the war over the role subs should play. Eventually the doctrine about using them against warships had been reversed in the two weeks before the war and from what he was hearing, it was paying off. ---------------------------------------------------- 20 miles south of Clark Field, Philippines. Corporal Hideo looked up at the sky at the navy bombers flying overhead. Two large formations of twin engine bombers, with some escorts, heading for Bataan. He didn’t really recognize the escorts, he never paid that much attention to navy planes except what his brothers flew. The bombers were Type 1s, the type his brother flew. For all he knew was brother was in one of those right now. He decided to count them, losing count around 60. Shortly afterwords some smaller army bombers and attack aircraft flew over, heading in the same direction. They weren’t flying from Clark and for a moment Hideo wondered where they were flying in from and why Clark wasn’t being used, before getting back to the business at hand. Rather than heading for Bataan as soon as possible the 4th Armored Regiment was linking up with the 16th Division (recent conquerors of Manila) and other army units. Apparently the Americans and Philippinos had retreated the bulk of their forces to Bataan, which was why the going had been so easy so far. Once linked up with other units, the 4th regiment would lead the way to the final defeat of the Americans on Luzon. An hour later Hideo’s eyes again went skyward as the returning bombers again flew over his position. Without counting he knew immediately there were fewer of them, and several were unmistakably trailing smoke. There nice, neat formations going in were scattered over the sky, at different altitudes and sub-formations had gaps in them. The Americans weren’t giving up yet. ------------------------------------------------ The fatigue of 8 hours in the sky left Hiroyuki immediately upon sighting their targets. His hands grew sweaty and his stomach knotted up. It reminded him of how he used to feel before a big track meet. The three flights of three Type 1 Mitsubishi attack bombers from G2 Takao had caught their prey: below a single destroyer was escorting a large transport aircraft away from Singapore. As per their discussion, the first two flights lined up for torpedo runs on the tanker, three on each side to decrease its chance of escape. As the destroyer tried to position itself to put up some anti aircraft interference, Hiroyuku’s group made their run on it. Hiroyuki’s aircraft flew second in the group, now a couple of hundred yards behind the lead and purposely letting the lead aircraft increase the spacing. Descending down to 200 feet, Hiroyuki advanced the throttle and shouted out updates to his aircrew. His right hand moved to the torpedo release. Ahead, PO2 Harada released his torpedo, not trying necessarily for the hit, but forcing the destroyer into a turn that made Hiroyuki’s shot much easier. The destroyer captain noticed the threat belatedly and retrained his crews anti-aircraft guns on the more immediate threat. Black clouds erupted around the aircraft but Hiroyuki lost no concentration, and his aircraft leapt upon the torpedo release, free of the extra weight. Up to that moment, Hiroyuki had been focused purely on his run, but now that the torpedo was released his thoughts turned to one thing: survival. Black mini-clouds continued to fill the air and twice were close enough to set his waist gunner Ishii cursing as metal fragments punctured the aircraft near his position. As Hiroyuki gained altitude he heard his tail gunner let out a howl “Hit! We hit it!”. The flak suddenly was far off target. Hiroyuki banked the aircraft to get a better view. It was a slight risk, but with just a damaged destroyer as a threat he felt it was justified to get some good damage evaluation. As he made his turn he could see the destroyer in serious trouble. [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/sunkbritdestroyer.jpg[/image] His torpedo had blown a 30 foot whole amidships just below the waterline. Its list was already severe and it would capsize any moment. The destroyer’s charge, a large tanker was also breaking up. [image]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f318/vetamur/sunktransport.gif[/image] Ueda intruded into his thoughts, but with good news: “That’s two enemy ships for no losses. I count 9 of us still up here.” “Alright, let’s head for home.” Back at base, Hiroyuki celebrated his first kill of the war with sake for all his crew. “Ueda! Paint us an English destroyer on the noise of our plane! I’m going to go find my brother!” “But I don’t know how to paint!” Ueda objected.

Vetamur -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/17/2007 4:07:28 PM)
Just a quick note for anyone who might have wondered. I have discontinued the AAR for the time being. Given the time it was taken vs. how few people I had managed to interset, it was difficult to justify continuing. Also, I hadnt thought through a few things and was a bit unhappy with the constraints the medium put on the writing. Originally I had planned on writing an AAR that was more than an AAR, but rather a genuine look into Japanese common thought on the war, among the minority educated, liberal types, in addition to normal day to day life during the war for IJ forces. The game is still going on, I am still keeping track of the 4 brothers units.. I may restart it again at some point, after reconsidering format. Sorry to my handful of readers!

rtrapasso -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/17/2007 4:36:20 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Vetamur Just a quick note for anyone who might have wondered. I have discontinued the AAR for the time being. Given the time it was taken vs. how few people I had managed to interset, it was difficult to justify continuing. Also, I hadnt thought through a few things and was a bit unhappy with the constraints the medium put on the writing. Originally I had planned on writing an AAR that was more than an AAR, but rather a genuine look into Japanese common thought on the war, among the minority educated, liberal types, in addition to normal day to day life during the war for IJ forces. The game is still going on, I am still keeping track of the 4 brothers units.. I may restart it again at some point, after reconsidering format. Sorry to my handful of readers! Well, rats!! Truly sorry to see you discontinue this...

Andy_MKST -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/17/2007 4:40:00 PM)
Sorry to hear that Veta, I was rearly enjoying this... Hopefully the boys will be back soon!

String -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/17/2007 6:07:23 PM)
Nooooo...

princep01 -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/17/2007 6:33:09 PM)
What was presented to us was truly inspired, Vetamur. I look forward to the continuation, should you decide to invest the considerable time and effort. Nice style. Loved the pics..

Cuttlefish -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/17/2007 6:36:37 PM)
I encourage you to pick this up again at some point, Vetamur. Don't be discouraged by what seems like a low number of hits. The Hibiki AAR started out slow, too. And at any rate, it's the sort of thing you write because you want to - if anyone reads it, that's just a bonus. And it really is good stuff. Being unable to use the format to do quite what you want is another matter, and I've got no advice for you there. I hope you find a way to write something that does what you want and still lets you keep up with the game, etc.

ny59giants -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/17/2007 6:58:46 PM)
My interset in an AAR are rated as follows: 1) Those that have a high rate of maps to follow the progress of the war. [sm=happy0005.gif] 2) Your's and Cuttlefish's stories of a particular ship or family.[sm=character0267.gif] 3) Those with just combat reports....boring! [sm=Christo_pull_hair.gif]

kaleun -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/17/2007 7:48:21 PM)
Sumimasen. I am really sorry to see this end. I hope you restart it. This was one of the best AARs IMHO

pauk -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/17/2007 9:45:29 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: kaleun Sumimasen. This was one of the best AARs IMHO disagree here. this is a best AAR! Vetamur, i hope that you will be back - i'm sure that many peoples read this, most excellent, stuff but they dont want to post there just because they think that, if they wrote anything here, would look a like SPAM (well that is feeling i have) [&o] besides that, you already have 17.5 hits per post....i recall that when i started AAR against Mac i had 15 hits a looong time...until the world recognised my genious (sp?)[;)][8\|]

Helpless -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/17/2007 10:17:45 PM)
not that I want to worsen a hit per post, but just to express a support to something much more interesting than just combat reports. keep it going, please [sm=innocent0001.gif]

cantona -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/17/2007 11:27:40 PM)
Veta Its a shame that this has been stopped. IMO it beats all the CR AARs by a mile. This one and the Hibiki are my favourites because they tell a stroy. I have some AARS in the TOAWIII forum and they are all in this style. A story being told from within the perspective of the game. Ive only discovered this today, got all excited about it and gutted its over all in about an hour. Keep the writing going as im sure there are manu LUKERAARS that read this thread. OT if you like these type of AAR's Veta try the Paradox Forums, full of these Cantona, hoping for a continuaion of this masterful AAR [&o]

kaleun -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/19/2007 2:57:03 AM)
quote: disagree here. this is a best AAR! Vetamur, i hope that you will be back - i'm sure that many peoples read this, most excellent, stuff but they dont want to post there just because they think that, if they wrote anything here, would look a like SPAM (well that is feeling i have) besides that, you already have 17.5 hits per post....i recall that when i started AAR against Mac i had 15 hits a looong time...until the world recognised my genious (sp?) Concur. I am only suscribed to this one, Hibiki and the end of the world as we know it. BTW, after reading those three I am ashamed to continue my "Halsey Defects' AAR, and I have not reported on my new game with warspite. You three guys raised the standards!

jwilkerson -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/19/2007 6:25:07 AM)
Vetamur, Any AAR with a hit rate more than 10 to 1 to posts I consider to be a clear success - and you have exceeded that with only 50+ posts ... and this is your first major thread ... so very unusual ... at least around here. Perhaps many readers (like myself) didn't want to post particularly because we didn't want to disturb the "mood" of your AAR ... after all we would be "interlopers" in the story!!! I think your topic and theme are important and I strongly encourage you to continue!! [&o]

Vetamur -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/19/2007 6:30:28 PM)
Hi. Me again. Ok.. a couple things..I think I wasnt quite clear in that post. I didnt mean that there werent enough readers in a sort of "post ratio" kind of thing.. I meant, writing here is for at most an audience of a couple dozen. I dont mind a horrible ratio. Its just a time vs. audience thing. I didnt realize the positive feelings some people had so I will continue this by Monday (my time.. Sunday for most of you). I may make a few changes here and there..like I said, Im feeling somewhat constrained by the medium but really, it is on me to find a way. Thank you for the kind words. My next post will be back in action.

cantona -> RE: The Matsuyama brothers vs. the Allies. A Family Chronicle (5/19/2007 8:00:04 PM)
Let me be the first to say wahey :) many thanks Veta made the hurt of the FA Cup Final loss lessen somewhat

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