Slitherine

quote:

ORIGINAL: 1275psi

1/6/42
The game was nearing its end, lateness of the hour, and the dearth of funds in the nates pilots piles foretold that.
The twins were doing well –of course –Inoue not so well.
Iwaya had come through –again- and only the remnants of a good bottle of scotch remained at the table. It had been a very good evening.

The arrival of the 4 Blenhiems was an incredibly rude ending to the night – announced with the roar of low flying engines at full throttle, and the shattering CRUMP!< CRUMP!< CRUMP!,>CRUMP! Of bombs bursting across the hard stands only some small distance from the mess.

The windows shattered, and pandemonium ensued
In seconds Inoue and Iwaya found themselves in the slit trench beside the mess, a trench showing all the signs of neglect and ill maintenance.

In disgust Inoue found himself up to his knees in water and mud
The disgust turned to rage as the realisation struck him –some one had been using the trench for other unpleasant purposes…….
Beside him Iwaya laughed “ and to think only last week I was saying this war was crap –(CRUMP!, CRUMP!) –I really didn’t know what I was talking about (crump!) but now I do!”

The first raid lasted just ten minutes – a frustrating, galling experience as the enemy bombers circled in the dark.
The Flak thrown up (once it got going) was impressive –loud, colourful –and useless.

The second raid, at 0300 –was plain annoying.
There was fair warning this time (somebody must have kicked a few listening early warning butts) –and Inoue had plenty of time to find a more suitable trench .
The bombers growled overhead seemingly forever –before dropping their bombs in a beautiful straight line down the strip – damage that would take the construction battalion at the base all of about 30 minutes to fill
The flack claimed 4 hits – but nobody believed them..


It’s a very weary Inoue and Juni b who start off this morning.
Inoue still feels as if he will never be clean again as he opens the throttle –following the last bomber into the air
“Bloody annoying British –what in the world are they doing here in china?” he thinks as he gently banks to the right, ready to take his shepherding position on the left flank of the bombers. He is busy scanning manifolds and oil temps - doing things he should not be doing now –when suddenly Juni B peels hard to port in front of him
“What the…?”
Cold shock –enemy fighters diving in at them, hard to his left!

Height is less than 2000 feet at the moment –the bombers are scatterd, still forming up –and the half the KI-27’s are still taking to the air.
The ambush is well timed indeed
Instinctively Inoue rolls into the enemy –the KI-44 does this incredibly fast –and he faces the enemy as they flash past
Juni is ahead of him –and hitting one P40 e as they cross, and both fighters turn as hard as they can to port, but 3 iron dogs have gone to port as well, and now a great circle is being flown – 2 fighters on one side, 3 on the other.

Inoue is awake now –very, very awake
The Horizon is nearly vertical –and he is looking backover his shoulder, the g forces crushing him into the seat –the stick is no longer light , but now a great tree trunk –solid , rigid –and all his strength is needed just to move it the millimetres needed.

The turn is as hard to port as he can achieve – and already his right leg is aching from the rudder imputs needed to stop the nose falling away –an invisible high wire balancing act –but one being performed with out conscious thought – all of which is concentrated on closing the circle.

The earth spins –and Inoue reduces throttle slightly –a dangerous act –and applies some of the KI-44’s flap.
The effect is immediate.
The turn tightens –and his plane immediately “solidifies” in the air –losing its sense of fine balance –of imminent stall – and the circle noticeably tightens
His mirror reflects another P40 e has cut into the dance -4 against 2 now –Inoue grimaces –to leave the circle is instant death –for everyone to remain –it also means the same for someone

The altimeter reads 1000 feet – yet another circle –God – these guys can fly ,
The sllek fighter begins to dance into his sights – its rudder now clearly making small adjustments –its pilot too concentrating on the other Tojo ahead of him.

Its been a long time, finally Inoue shoots
Misses
The crack of guns behind him –tracer flies past
The circle tightens even more –and the ground is getting closer – a small hill will soon become part of the circle
Muscles are shaking now –and breath comes in great gasps –he fires again –pieces fly from the enemy –he doggedly stays in the circle
“Crap”
Crap”
Crap”
“Stay still you @#$%!”
Fire.
Miss
Bang – the barsted behind him doesn’t
The hill now is playing a part –this lap around they have to straighten slightly to go around it.

The flight now seems eternal –he just cannot get a bead on him –he is just too good!
Nor can he shake the barsted behind him

The end came quickly –with out warning his motor quit –one moment blaring at 90%, the next stopped cold.
Shocking silence –and then the thud of shells striking him again somewhere near the tail.
He inverts, falls –the earth comes racing up –he rolls-------out, pulls up hard , speed for height –and by some miracle spies a suitable track to land on.
WO Inoue has not flown for so long to fail this test now –he gets the bird down safely.

For a few minutes he sits in the silence of the cockpit –the tick, tick of the cooling engine the only sound.
Finally he pulls the canopy back – letting in the continuing sound of the dogfight still blaring away intrude into the beautiful country quiet, his quiet

Juni vb blasts by at about 30 feet –he waves cheerily

And despite it all, Inoue wishes he was still up there with him.

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