RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (Full Version)

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kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/4/2014 5:11:31 PM)

昭和 17 1月五日
Day 5

フィリピン諸島

Chujo Homma Masaharu considered the city of Manila to the southeast. In the distance, the sun shone on Manila bay and he could see the island fortress of Corregidor with its powerful guns closing the entrance to the harbor.
In front of him, sitting around a field desk, sat his aide de camp, waiting for his orders.

Preliminary reports indicate the presence of 9 enemy units in the Bataan peninsula versus 28 in Manila. A small force still occupies Subic Bay.

“Our intelligence seems to have been mistaken,” Homma mutters, “It seems they are not following that orenji war plan of theirs.”

“We shall take Bataan first, eliminate those forces, and then take Manila.”

“Hai!”

“Begin bombing Bataan and Manila, we need to keep them from working on their defenses.”

The assistant began to draft the necessary orders.

Elsewhere, Ocean Island with its phosphate deposits and Batangas are captured.

広島

“Ito-san, It seems we have some extra capacity in our naval shipyards.”

“Hai, some ships have left the yards and are finishing fitting out for sea.”

Yamashita pores over the shipyard build schedule.

“Let’s accelerate Junyo and Hiyo then and restart those two subchasers, 25 and 27. I feel it in my guts that we are going to need many of those subhunters, before this war is over.”




kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/4/2014 7:10:13 PM)

昭和 17 1月七日
Day 7

Nauru and Victoria Point captured.

昭和 17 1月九日
Day 9

Central Pacific.

The sun rises 300 nautical miles southeast of Hilo. On the bridge of IJN’s submarine I-3 commander H. Muranaka takes a last look around the horizon with his binoculars. Nothing is there to see, except the eternal waves. The air, too is clear of enemy aircraft. His stomach growls. It’s time for breakfast.

“Take her down,” he says into the voicepipe.

As he slides down the ladder, pulling the hatch cover behind him he can feel the submarine tilt bow down.

“Take her down to 30 meters,” he orders, “then let’s have breakfast.”

The boat settles on her daylight routine, moving slowly, coming up to periscope depth, scrutinizing the horizon, then diving deeper, to avoid being seen by an enemy patrol aircraft, coming back up, looking, listening, and once more diving deeper.

“Captain to the bridge!”

The officer of the watch hands over the periscope to his captain.

“Up periscope.”

There she is; a spot in the horizon to the north east.

“Down periscope, course 045, two thirds.”

A few minutes pass. A new observation, bearing, angle on the bow, an estimate of the target’s speed.
The enemy ship steams on, unconcerned. The submarine maneuvers to place herself in a favorable position.

“Converted Merchant,” Muranaka announces, “down periscope.”

His first officers opens the ship identification book. Together they alternate looking at the target, then at the book.

“xAK Steel Ranger, I think, or one of her sisters.”

“Hasha suru ichi!”

“Hasha suru ni!”

Two explosions. Both torpedoes score. The ship goes down.

“Yatta!”



kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/5/2014 8:34:49 PM)

昭和 17 1月十日
Day 10

Cruisers Mogami, Mikuma, Suzuya, Kumano and 4 destroyers intercept an enemy task force. Small ships, Motor launches, patrol gunboats, and such, sent to harass amphibs landing at Mersing. The small ships suffer under the big guns but are too maneuverable to hit.

At Wake, enemy carriers raid the island. KB at Truk is too far to intervene.

Near Hilo, Muranala on I-3 fires two torpedoes at DD Dale and misses. Dale and Monaghan, her consort, search for the submarine in vain.

A Vildebeest scores a torpedo hit on BB Kongo near Mersing.

Near Victoria, off Canada, a patrol craft locates SS I-2 and forces the sub deep.

Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur come under attack while Yokosuka 4th SNLF captures Kudat and forces the 108th RN Base force to retreat.


[image]local://upfiles/6626/2555742FFEE748518E35E708234C801E.jpg[/image]



kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/8/2014 3:38:59 AM)

昭和 17 1月十一日
Day 11

フィリピン諸島

A new player enters the stage over the skies of Manila. 8 A5M4 and 18 A6M2 escort a flight of 30 B5N1 level bombers over the harbor. A single P40E rises to fight but achieves absolutely nothing.

A bunch of small merchants, a yard oiler and a floating dock are hit. Also hit were the repair shipyards and fuel depots.

Kuantan taken.

昭和 17 1月十二日
Day 12

The Bataan forces begin bombarding the Bataan defenders.

昭和 17 1月十五日
Day 15.

Attacks probe the Bataan defenses and reduce the fortifications, as they do in Hong Kong.

All over the empire, shipyards small and large engage in converting small xAKLs to patrol boats. The repair shipyards have been, until now inactive, waiting for damaged ships to arrive. Meanwhile, they convert small merchants into patrol boats, to counter the growing enemy submarine threat.

昭和 17 1月十六日
Day 16.

SS I-165 hits AG Wildebrod Snellis near Oosthaven with two torpedoes.

昭和 17 1月十七日
Day 17

広島

Hiroshima, and all the empire joins in celebrating the fall of Hong Kong. Kuala Lumpur was also freed of European colonialists but this is not considered as important by the government in Tokyo.

An attack on Bataan achieves odds of 1:1The enemy defenders attempt a desperate all out counter-attack that is repelled with great losses on their side.




kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/8/2014 8:28:57 PM)

昭和 17 1月十八日
Day 18.

SS I-1 misses DD King off San Francisco. Takes a DC hit.

A shock attack captures Bataan. The defenders surrender. Troops ordered to Clark for a few days of rest, replacement and supply.

昭和 17 1月十九日
Day 19.

Cl Natori and 8 destroyers intercept enemy shipping fleeing from Hong Kong: xAKL Chengtu, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, sunk. xAKFatshan. TH 1 sunk, xAK Hanyang SH2 TH2 sunk, xAKL Kanchow, SH 21 sunk,xAK Ming Sang, TH5 sunk, xAK Nanning SH12 TH3 sunk, xAKL Yat SHing SH 6, TH 1 sunk, xAK Hai Lee, TH 2, sunk.

昭和 17 1月十十日
Day 20

SS I-1 fires two torpedoes at DD Ward near San Francisco. One of the fish scores and the destroyer, on fire, creeps away. She might make it back as San Francisco is near.

昭和 17 1月十十一日
Day 21.

Near Eureka, SS I-1 finds TK Halo. Commander H Kanzaki fires 4 torpedoes but all of them miss. Undeterred, SS I-1 surfaces and finds a different tanker nearby. TK Sunadmiral takes 6 shell hits and 3 torpedo hits. Hanzaki then chases after Halo and, finding her, launches a spread of four fish scoring one hit that sets the tanker on fire.

Near Billiton, Comander Ikeda O, and SS -162, on the surface, score two torpedo hits on TK Havfru. The tanker, burning is left behind by the submarine, concerned for nearby aircraft.

Jolo invaded.

SS Seawolf scores on xAKL Malacca Maru near Yokohama.




kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/10/2014 8:53:25 PM)

昭和 17 1月二十六日
Day 26

Landing at Tarakan.

Off San Diego, SS I-5 finds xAK Waipo and puts a torpedo into her.

Subic Bay fortress surrenders.

昭和 17 1月二十九日
Day 29.

Malacca captured on day 28, Tarakan on the 29. Bombardment attack on Manila.

昭和 17 1月三十一日
Day 31

The 6th and 35th infantry divisions arrived at Changsha and took up positions to begin their assault on the city. They await the arrival of artillery and support from Wuchang.


[image]local://upfiles/6626/C221FEEABD694932A239019F88B89A94.jpg[/image]



kaleun -> フィリピン諸島 (4/10/2014 8:56:53 PM)

フィリピン諸島

[image]local://upfiles/6626/139AE97FAB7E433FB72B7A79367204EF.jpg[/image]



kaleun -> RE:SWPAC (4/10/2014 8:58:27 PM)

SWPAC

[image]local://upfiles/6626/0774ABDB3D45462CA33BBF57EE5F65DE.jpg[/image]



kaleun -> RE: RE:SWPAC (4/11/2014 9:37:52 PM)

昭和 17 2月一日
Day 1

East Pacific Ocean.

A periscope breaks the ocean’s surface. A ship, traveling alone, trusting the air umbrella that should protect her, steams along. Two torpedoes streak along, two explosions. xAK Waimea will not make port. Behind the periscope, the skipper announces to the crew:

“San fune nagashi.”

Her third ship this patrol. As the submarine sails away from the attack position, three cheers reverberate inside the hull:

“ばんざい！ばんざい！ばんざい！”
Enemy submarines score too, at Ocean Island, and are scored upon, SS KXIII 5 depth charge hits, near Mersing.

フィリピン諸島

At Manila, the allies attempt to displace the Japanese Army besieging the city. The shock attack musters 37 thousand troops, 433 artillery and 82 vehicles against Japan’s 63700 troops, 672 guns and 437 vehicles.
The results are predictable.

広島

Ito Kobayashi bows before his master and hands him the economic reports. They are not bad, he thinks.
5,253,177 tons of supplies, 5,720,336 of fuel, 8,964,126 of assorted resources. The heavy industries have accumulated 204,754 tons of steel and other strategic metals. Naval and merchant shipyards working at capacity. Strategic oil reserve stands at 4,389,800 tonnes.

96 Zerosen, 55 Hayebusa b and c series in storage. Adequate stores of engines except the Mitsubishi Ha 32 model. Only 9 of those readily available.

Yamashita looks over the numbers again and ponders.




kaleun -> RE: RE:SWPAC (4/11/2014 10:44:50 PM)

昭和 17 2月二日
Day 2.

Near Bandjermasan Cdr Aihara spots an enemy submarine charging her batteries on the surface. In the dark night, he keeps I-124s speed to a minimum, barely steerage way to minimize the luminescent wake. He tracks the enemy and fires two torpedoes. They miss. The startled enemy crash dives and so does I-124.



昭和 17 2月三日
Day 3

I-10, Cmdr Fujimatsu O. cruising near Kabara, East of Suva, spots a carrier, or what she takes to be a carrier. Her position is favorable and the submarine steers to close the target. But something’s wrong. Her speed is too slow to be a carrier. And she is unescorted.

He fires four torpedoes at her while he ponders her unusual silhouette.

America’s first carrier, now only a humble seaplane tender, USS AV Langley goes down after two torpedo hits.
Japanese deliberate attack at Manila is countered by an allied counterattack that fails to achieve anything.
Talaud-eilanden captured by the 41st Guard battalion.


[image]local://upfiles/6626/30AEE209A4954596B294A73153BE1A7C.jpg[/image]



1275psi -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/12/2014 8:19:40 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: kaleun

昭和 17 1月五日
Day 5

フィリピン諸島

Chujo Homma Masaharu considered the city of Manila to the southeast. In the distance, the sun shone on Manila bay and he could see the island fortress of Corregidor with its powerful guns closing the entrance to the harbor.
In front of him, sitting around a field desk, sat his aide de camp, waiting for his orders.

Preliminary reports indicate the presence of 9 enemy units in the Bataan peninsula versus 28 in Manila. A small force still occupies Subic Bay.

“Our intelligence seems to have been mistaken,” Homma mutters, “It seems they are not following that orenji war plan of theirs.”

“We shall take Bataan first, eliminate those forces, and then take Manila.”

“Hai!”

“Begin bombing Bataan and Manila, we need to keep them from working on their defenses.”

The assistant began to draft the necessary orders.

Elsewhere, Ocean Island with its phosphate deposits and Batangas are captured.

広島

“Ito-san, It seems we have some extra capacity in our naval shipyards.”

“Hai, some ships have left the yards and are finishing fitting out for sea.”

Yamashita pores over the shipyard build schedule.

“Let’s accelerate Junyo and Hiyo then and restart those two subchasers, 25 and 27. I feel it in my guts that we are going to need many of those subhunters, before this war is over.”





E class my friend...........the E class.........you can beat the SS menace if you
a/ all tankers into mega convoys, with a CVE escort and no less than 8 other escorts....
b accelerate the E clas
c/ did I mention, build as many E class as you can[:)]



PaxMondo -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/12/2014 12:58:43 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

a/ all tankers into mega convoys, with a CVE escort and no less than 8 other escorts....
b accelerate the E clas
c/ did I mention, build as many E class as you can[:)]

+1

many of the IJ SC's are slower than the USN SS ... you need the E's. They are cheap to accelerate ... boost them all as soon as you can. You can use those couple of slow CS's for escort as well. With Jake's on board and good pilots, I find them better than the CVE's for convoy ASW duty.



kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/12/2014 1:34:17 PM)

All E class that can be accelerated at this time have been. I also plan to convert anything that can be converted to E class.
Thanks for the tip on the CS.



PaxMondo -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/12/2014 2:54:48 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: kaleun

All E class that can be accelerated at this time have been. I also plan to convert anything that can be converted to E class.
Thanks for the tip on the CS.

The CS is always a tough decision for me, and I suspect all IJ players. They can convert to CVL's ... not good ones, but they can. For me, the CS with Jakes, and then Norms, are really good NavSearch platforms that I then don't have to 'waste' TB on. OTOH, if I convert, I get more TB's.

Generally i do not convert the slower CS's and keep them for ASW/NavSearch. The faster Chitose class? It depends ... every game its different for me.

Good Luck!



kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/14/2014 5:27:31 PM)

昭和 17 2月四日

Day 4

Battle of Gili Gili part I

Rabaul

An enemy task force had been reported approaching and in the vicinity of Milne Bay. Kido Butai ordered to steam at full speed from Truk to intercept. Expected to arrive on station by the afternoon.

The battle begins, as aeronaval battles often do by a single radio report. A succession of dots and dashes. A Mavis flying boat reports 3 enemy ships near GiliGili, class unknown.

That is enough for the air commander at Rabaul. 14 G4M1 Hamaki, escorted by 20 A6M2 Reisen fighters launch. They launch their torpedoes at two enemy ships that are now clearly identified: The heavy cruiser Australia and her escort, the destroyer Voyager.

A new raid launches in the afternoon. 16 Hamaki and 20 fighters. Once again, the attack fails miserably but one more ship is spotted, xAP Sarpedonia.

But in the afternoon, another player is in range. VAdm Nagumo Chuichi orders Kido Butai to launch. The results are definite, disastrous for the enemy.
55 Reisen fighters escort 109 B5N2 level bombers and 101 D3A1 dive bombers. With the enemy position well determined by the cigars, the enemy is smoked.


CL Adelaide, Bomb hits 1
CM Bungaree, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
CA Australia, Bomb hits 6, on fire
DD Vampire
DD Voyager
xAP Rangitata, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Maori, Bomb hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Rangitiki, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
CL Hobart, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CA Canberra, Bomb hits 1
xAP Sarpedonia
xAK Cycle, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires

Only one dive bomber was destroyed by the enemy AA fire and 13 damaged.

Back in Rabaul and on the carriers, pilots rest and mechanics work throughout the night.



kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/14/2014 10:43:52 PM)

昭和 17 2月五日

Day 5

The Rabaul based Hamaki miss xAP Sarpedonia again today. Both the morning and afternoon raids fail to score a single hit despite the absence of enemy fighters and the ineffective AA fire. Their shame is abated only by the absence of the KB planes that, inexplicably, failed to attack.

広島
FROM: Ministry of Armaments and Production
TO: Maebashi Nakajima engine plant
CC: Prime minister Tojo.

Effective immediately double capacity and production of Nakajima Ha 34 engine. 1000 tonnes of supplies, and the appropriate amount of metals and manpower have been assigned to this project.

Signed:

Yamashita.


昭和 17 2月六日

Day 6

Milne Bay

The task force steamed into the bay at night, they did not attempt to hide their presence; radio silence their only attempt at stealth.

There was no honor in this battle, not for the kaigun. The Royal Navy found glory.

BB Hiei, Kirishima, CA Tone, Aoba and Kinugasa, and DD Kasumi entered the bay opening fire at 9000 yards. The enemy destroyer, Voyager tried to screen the transport as best she could, but a rapid barrage scored 16 hits and the brave little ship foundered leaving xAP Sarpedonia unprotected. The transport sunk after 21 direct hits.
Voyager did score twice on Kirishima, once on Kinugasa and once on Kasumi.

Port Sweetenham in Malaya and Puerto Princesa in the Philippines were captured today.


[image]local://upfiles/6626/FAA0AAFAF3D84B939CE7225463DB82C9.jpg[/image]



Lowpe -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/14/2014 11:00:11 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: kaleun


An enemy task force had been reported approaching and in the vicinity of Milne Bay. Kido Butai ordered to steam at full speed from Truk to intercept. Expected to arrive on station by the afternoon.


Be careful with the full speed runs with the KB, really with any IJN forces. It uses up so much fuel...you can do it, just be stingy.

Good going so far. Good luck.




kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/15/2014 2:30:47 PM)

Thanks Lowpe.
More than the fuel it's the wear and tear. Japanese ships wear and tear at an amazing rate just at mission speed. At full speed they self destruct faster than by encountering the enemy[X(]



kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/15/2014 4:34:55 PM)

昭和 17 2月十日
Day 10

At Johore Bahru, the 18th Infantry Division is reconstituted.

At Truk, KB assesses damage. While the ships themselves suffered from no enemy action, the sprint down to Gili caused maintenance issues that cannot be solved at Truk. Reluctantly, Nagumo orders KB back to Japan.

Hiryu, 7systems 3 engine damage, Soryu 5 and 3, Shokaku 1 and 1, Akagi 3 and 1, Hiei 8 and 1 and BB Kirishima 5 and 3.

Nagumo is tempted to leave Shokaku and Kaga behind but caution is the better part of valor. Left behind these two carriers would be tempted to engage the enemy and could easily fall into a trap. No, far better to have KB return to the home islands, repair as needed and come back to Truk intact.

Kaga, on the other hand is really too slow to steam with KB. She is detached and sent to Babeldoab to join up with Shoho and reinforce Ni Kido Butai.

フィリピン諸島

Homma observes the big ships enter Manila Bay unhindered. It was a great move to take Bataan and the batteries at Corregidor before attempting Manila. Hyuga, Ise, Fuso and Nagato bombard the city. Shipping in port is savaged but, what’s more important, the defenders are suppressed, disorganized, demoralized, by the huge naval artillery barrage.

In the morning, Homma orders a deliberate attack on the enemy positions. The city falls. In the harbor an estimated six thousand tons of fuel and four thousand of supplies are captured.

All the engineers on the islands are ordered to move to Manila to repair the shipyard, port and airfield and everything else.

The soldiers are ordered to rest, except for a special naval landing force dispatched to deal with a single, lone AA unit that withdrew east.



[image]local://upfiles/6626/70E621B46F2544F5B4DA67F5BCDCD063.jpg[/image]



kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/15/2014 9:28:53 PM)

昭和 17 2月十三日
Day 13

Enemy carrier aircraft raid Ocean and Nauru Islands. KB, en route to the Home Islands is too far away to react.

Successful SS I-1 commander Kanzaki H ordered to return to Tokyo to resupply repair and refit. His patrol resulted in an enemy destroyer Ward sunk, and two TK, Sunadmiral and Halo sunk off the enemy West Coast.

SS I-28 under LCDR Kudo Sunshaku has been ordered to move off Santa Catalina and SS I-5 ordered to move further west after coming under ASW attack earlier today.

昭和 17 2月十四日
Day 14

40 miles to the East of Oosthaven SS I-162 under the command of Cdr Ikeda, O, attacks TK Basilea. Ikeda fires four torpedoes and scores with one of them. Later in the day, I-162 receives her recall signal ordering her to Manila for repairs. System damage 10, flotation damage 6 and engine 4.



Lowpe -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/15/2014 9:52:50 PM)

Americans being aggressive with the CVs early...an opportunity for you somewhere.

Good work in Manila...he newer should have attacked you there. What in the world was he thinking?



kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/15/2014 11:06:30 PM)

The smart move is to sit out the early war and wait but we both agreed to play more historically. The US public would not have accepted such a defensive stance with their carriers.
Indeed, the raid he carried out earlier against Wake was quite similar to one that the US Navy did and that the Japanese unfortunately thought would herald a landing on the lightly held island. As a result they executed the Marine POWs they had taken.
A tragic unintended consequence.



kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/16/2014 3:04:53 PM)

昭和 17 2月十五日
Day 15

広島

People congregate to see the mighty fleet enter the harbor at Hiroshima. Though unannounced, news travel fast and a huge crowd line the approaches to the harbor waving little paper flags and cheering.

The old man in charge of the repair shipyard assigns ships to their berths. He does not need to be told what the priorities are. The aircraft carriers come first, everything else, second.

Kongo will remain at pierside, with her own men, and whatever assistance the harbor can provide, working on her systems damage. Her 8 points of flotation damage will wait until the carriers are finished with the shipyard.

Akagi will also repair tied up to the dock. Her damage can be repaired in 8 days. Hiryu will remain at readiness, her 7 points of system and 2 of engine damage will take 7 days to repair. Soryu’s 5, Shokaku 3 and Zuikaku one.

CA Furutaka, with DD Hamakaze, Tamikaze and Arare will proceed to Kobe and repair there.

Meanwhile, orders are given to step up research of the Kawasaki Ha-60 engine.



kaleun -> RE: —@ ÜžÂ䤹¤ë. Falling Cherry Blossoms. No CrackSabbath (4/16/2014 5:15:04 PM)

昭和 17 2月十七日
Day 17

広島

“Ahem.”

Ito Kobayashi clears his throat to call the attention of his superior, minister Yamashita Carl.

“Kobayashi-san, nani desu ka?”

Kobayashi is reluctant to voice his message and finally, simply hands over a simple sheet of paper with the aircraft and engine production and stock figures. On the arid grid of models and numbers a line is circled with red pencil.

Mitsubishi Ha32 Pool 7, Used 302, Produced yesterday 4, Month to date 86, Rate 144 x(2)

“Sumimasen.” He says.

Yamashita glances at the figures, he shows no surprise. Indeed he has been watching the stock of this vital engine drop, for a month.

“Stop production of Ki-21-IIa bombers until stocks accumulate,” he orders.

“What will general Tojo say?” Kobayashi asks.

“I will handle him, when he calls.”

“Yamashita-san, when Tojo’s aide calls, what shall I say?”

“Tell him that there are 67 Ki 21-IIa and 45 Ic in the pools, and the army hasn’t been using them that much. Production will restart if those numbers drop. Also tell him that we’ve increased the research on the Kawasaki Ha-60, he’ll like that, and increased production of the Nakajima Ha-34. That will placate them.”


Off San Francisco, an anti submarine task force led by DMS Lamberton locates SS I-20 and forces her deep.

The submarine evades her pursuers and returns to periscope depth only to find an American destroyer, DD King, dead ahead, steaming oblivious to the submarine lurking nearby. SS I-20 fires 2 torpedoes. One hits home. I-20 leaves the scene, undetected.

North of Pearl Harbor, CM Oglala meets her date with destiny, or, more accurately, with SS I-23 who hits the minelayer with two torpedoes.

On day 18 SS I-21 will find xAK Cagou, unescorted, off San Luis Obispo. On the surface, the submarine attacks, scoring one hit with a torpedo and one with her deck cannon.




kaleun -> Battle of Gili Gili part 2 (4/16/2014 11:28:35 PM)

昭和 17 2月二十日
Day 20


広島
“Yamashita-san,” Kobayashi seems happy today, “Manila harbor has been repaired entirely, the shipyard is functioning again. Also, Tarakan reports oilfield and refinery completely repaired.”

“Domo, Kobayashi-san, good news indeed.”



ラバウル

The ensign enters the IJN commanding officer Rabaul, stands at attention and gives a crisp salute, or at least a salute as crisp as can be given in the tropical heat and 100% humidity of the base.

“Sir, two enemy task forces spotted near Milne Bay,” he hands the flimsy to his commander.

“So desu-ka?”

“Hai. Sir, two carriers have been reported.”

The Japanese admiral smiles.




kaleun -> RE: Battle of Gili Gili part 2 (4/17/2014 5:19:49 PM)

昭和 17 2月二十一日
Day 21

Battle of Gili Gili, part 2

ラバウル

“Sir, SS I-8 reports firing 6 torpedoes at enemy carrier, Enterprise, sir, south of Milne Bay. all missed.”

“Launch the bombers.”

The G3M2 twin engine bomber is the older of the two land based bombers that the Kaigun uses. It is easily distinguished from the newer Hamaki, by its narrower fuselage and its twin tails. It is already obsolete but, like her newer sister, it is a deadly ship killer.

3G3M2 and 15 A6M2 fighters fly at 11 thousand feet searching for the enemy fleet. They meet instead 40 F4F fighters. In the resulting melee, 2 Zero-sen and 2 G3M2 bombers are destroyed and one F4F-3A tumbles in flames from the sky.

The G4M1 bomber is the newer model, intended to replace the G3M2 bomber as the IJN’s main land based bomber. It can carry a torpedo for a prodigious distance. The crews call her Hamaki, cigar, due to the shape of its fuselage. Americans call her Betty, due to the prominent bulges on her sides that reminded a young American intelligence officer of the rotund curves of a certain homonymous nurse. She also, is a deadly ship killer, despite a tendency to catch fire when fired upon.

5 cigars show up, escorted by 10 zero-sen. 11 F4F come up to intercept and destroy 2 bombers. BB Warspite gets a third with her AA. The raid leaves, unable to get close enough to attack.

But the day is not over.

In the early afternoon, 10 G3M2 and 15 A6M2 find the task force and barrel in. The bombers drop from 16 thousand feet to skim the waves at 200. The 19 F4F fighters on CAP are caught out of position but manage to destroy 3 fighters and damage 5 bombers. Nevertheless, all the bombers attack. BB Warspite destroys one of them with her AA but the rest release their fish. Warspite evades all the torpedoes, but one.

Now 13 unescorted Hamaki appear at 13 thousand feet. 8 F4F rush to intercept, destroy 2 cigars and damage 4. One more falls to Warspite flak, but one torpedo scores on the battleship. The surviving aircraft return to Rabaul leaving her on fire.



Lowpe -> RE: Battle of Gili Gili part 2 (4/17/2014 6:16:50 PM)

Good flying...light losses considering the CAP -- early war pilots aren't as deadly yet.




kaleun -> RE: Battle of Gili Gili part 2 (4/17/2014 7:25:08 PM)

昭和 17 2月二十二日

Day 22

SS I-8
The massive enemy ship steams, blacked out, through the night, a dark shape, visible only where she obscures the stars on the horizon and, at her bow, where the faint phosphorescence of the tropical seas provides a splash of green, iridescent light. Commander Fukada remains on the bridge, on the surface as he cons his ship, almost invisible. He will not make the same mistake today. He will not suffer the shame of reporting yet another failure. He will get close, close, closer.

“Fire one, two, continue firing by stopwatch!”

“Hai.”

Even before the last torpedo leaves its tube, Fukada has dropped into the bowels of the A1 class submarine and ordered her to crash dive. One unmistakable torpedo explosion rattles the sub’s hull.

No, he will not report a failure today.

Overhead, on the surface, two angry destroyers attempt to find the enemy sub. Attempt and fail.

ラバウ

“Sir, I-8 reports torpedo hit on Yorktown,” the ensign beams as if he had commanded the successful submarine himself.

“Launch the bombers.”

9 G3M2 and 9 G4M1 with an escort of 35 A6M2 Zero-sen find Warspite near Milne Bay. 6 F4F succumb to the Japanese fighters succeeding only in damaging 5 G3M2 and 6 cigars, at a cost of 2 allied fighters splashed. The bombers rush at Warspite and score 4 torpedo hits. The old battleship is doomed.

6 Hamaki with 8 Zero-sen come in later in the morning. They encounter 10 enemy fighters and lose only one Zero. The bombers line up to attack the battleship and CL Ceres standing by, but in a ball of fire and smoke, the battleship rolls over and sinks in front of their cheering eyes.

One more raid, 40 Zero, 11 cigars and 2 G3M2 approach CV Enterprise in the early afternoon. They meet 21 fighters, lose one Zero and suffer 2 G4M1 damaged, destroy 2 enemy fighters but, exhausted, the bombers miss the carrier.


[image]local://upfiles/6626/4837112BD9564FF38BDE2B9AFCE7A0AD.jpg[/image]



kaleun -> RE: Battle of Gili Gili part 2 (4/17/2014 10:03:22 PM)

昭和 17 2月二十四日
Day 24

広島

“Kobayashi-san, send this message out to general Tojo, Admiral Yamamoto and all the other referenced parties, kudasai.”

Kobayashi picks up the message and takes it to the signals section for processing.

FROM: Minister of Munitions and Supply.
RE: Aircraft production and research

Current stocks of Zero-sen fighters and B5N2 level bombers stand at 111 and 106 respectively. This far exceeds current needs thus will temporarily suspend production of both types so as to increase stocks of Nakajima-Ha35 engines.

Harbin aircraft factory will be expanded and will convert to produce Ki 44 II Shoki as soon as the new type is ready for production in June. Until then will continue to produce Ki 27b to use existing stocks of Nakajima Kotobuki engines. The Ki 27b type is a very adequate training aircraft and also functions well in the combat role over China.



Lowpe -> RE: Battle of Gili Gili part 2 (4/17/2014 10:09:02 PM)

Banzai!



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