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1275psi -> RE: The little ship that could. (8/20/2014 6:54:03 AM)
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21st of April, 1945
Leyete Gulf
20000 feet
Where the air is thin, and death swift, and often, too often, terrible
Ogowa strains his eyes, seeking, seeking the bombers that MUST, MUST be ahead
He is climbing still, climbing hard, straining his fighter, straining his formation, beginning to straggle behind, as they climb, and climb, the earth falling away, further, further below, the horizon stretching ever further every moment, hazy, indistinct now.
Diogowa is on his right shoulder, as always. Ogowa barely has to fling a look, Diogowa is there at his wing, has been forever, will always be there, forever...........he see them.........
Only a dozen..........B-29's, 5 miles away, 6000, 7000 feet higher yet, steadily carving the sky northwards, vapour trails inter,ittent now, the beasts are climbing still........
And above them
The sharks...........20 twin tailed devils at least
Barsteds
Almost automatically he does his checks, trim, oxygen, safties off.........
Adjusts his mask, and coldly plans murder at 22000 feet.
Ogowas eagles are 68 strong
The bombers slide past, under his left wing now, imperious beast, beasts though that must be filled with nervous men
The eagles turn, and follow 2000 yards astern, gathering, one eye on the bombers, one on the fighters twitchy above them.
Ogowa grins. He just has to be patient
His stragglers are gathering with him, one wing now breaking to the left flank, the other hunting right
The 38's cannot wait, the odds are growing too quickly.
They peel up,, twist down, dive at them
The dance begins again
A 38 is coming down at his right shoulder, turning in at him, ogowa banks towards him, ruder, stick, throttle, mind, machine as one, the 38 slides aft and below, the tracer harmless..............Ogowas bank continues into a roll, the thirty eight "above him" imprinted on the world, now curving into view, left to right, the buka terribly aware of his danger, banking hard, , breaking away
Ogowa does not fire, the Buka is negated , is he not?
Left stick, left rudder, s bending into the tail end charlie bomber, throttle full boost, the world roaring, vibrating, the gleaming giant growing, growing.
Guns crash, the tracers reach.........an engine blooms into fire, pale faces flashing past, tracer chasing, the george rolling, twisting, Ogowas head twisting as well, seeking the next...........
The bombers stream on..........it will take more than one strike to bring these barsteds down
Diogowa is with him still, they turn together, turn, and turn, and the 38 is there swinging with them, 300 yards ahead.
On the very edge of falling out of the sky, the three fighters turn, wings almost vertical, top rudder, top rudder, a touch of flap, a touch of flap, aaaaahhh............we gain, we gain.........we aim, aim for the very heart od the barsted..........
And he explodes as some other george cuts into the circle, and steals the kill.......................
TRUK!
Ogowas eagles land at Naga, picking a path through the still smoking string of craters stitched across the field.
They have lost 2 planes, but no pilots
8 B-29's have been killed, 10 of the twin tail devils will never fly again.
Naga remains open
The CAP over the convoys piercing Leyte gulf remains in place.
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