Cuttlefish
Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007 From: Oregon, USA Status: offline
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February 23, 1945 Location: Osaka Course: None Attached to: Disbanded in port Mission: None System Damage: 0 Float Damage: 0 Fires: 0 Fuel: 475 Orders: Escort damaged ships to Maizuru --- The enemy carriers withdraw, vanishing back to the south. Late in the morning the B-29s and their escorts return, though, and once again bomb the city’s industrial areas. Lieutenant Miharu stands on the deck and watches them. He can hear the thump of explosions from inland and see smoke rising into the sky. There is still smoke rising from around the harbor, too, and the salt air is tinged with the reek of char. Not just factories are being hit out there, of course. The bombing is not precise enough for that. Lieutenant Miharu feels a sort of desperate weariness as he watches and prays that the casualties are not as heavy as it seems they must be from the sheer number of bombs being dropped. Captain Ishii clumps up the gangway and, after speaking with the officer of the deck, comes over to him. “I haven’t seen any of our fighters today,” he says. “Have you?” “No sir,” says the lieutenant. Ishii watches the bombing with him for a moment. “We are leaving,” he says finally. “Probably not tomorrow, but maybe the day after. As soon as they can get some of the water pumped out of Hiei, anyway. We’re taking Hiei and every other warship that can still float to Maizuru.” Maizuru is a large port on the Sea of Japan. It may not be exactly safe, thinks Miharu, but it’s bound to be safer than here. “What about Kirishima?” he asks. Ishii snorts. “The only thing holding up Kirishima right now is the mud at the bottom of the harbor,” he says. “She can probably be refloated but that isn’t going to happen soon.” “Very well, sir,” says the lieutenant. “I will see that we are ready to sail.” “Good,” says Ishii. He looks up at the enemy planes, unhindered except for an occasional burst of anti-aircraft fire, cruising high overhead. “I think that this is a good place to leave.”
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