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IJNAF elite A6M2 Zero unit Chitose Ku S-1 or its detachments or division(s)

3 (42.9%)

a IJAAF Ki-43 unit in Indochina, to be used in China/East Indies(mostly)

1 (14.3%)

a IJAAF Ki-43 unit in Burma(at least initially)

3 (42.9%)

Total Members Voted: 7

Voting closed: May 04, 2014, 08:49:03 am

[Chosrau]

We lost a pilot without enemy contact whatsoever? What a shameful display! And even someone flying in my wing. Atleast some experience was gained from this.

[Erkki]

Hirata's last words "Smells like burning rubber, is that smoke? Oh. It's not a problem I'll just lift off and come for another pass once it's been flown away. Something's stuck- oh shiiiiiiiiii!"

He was a big one for muttering to himself while he flew.

 

Would you like to have a new one? I'll let you guys write the stories too once we start having action too.

[Mithras]

I suppose I shall continue to curse Yoshio's wing by picking PO1 Ohara. May he be luckier and have a better sense of smell.

[Erkki]

Oh hey, by the way, this is actually a modified scenario, Reluctant Admiral 6.6. Difference to stock is that IJN is better prepared for the war and especially for waging a long war, and the starting positions for some units are a bit different. Marine units are organized differently, and there is emphasis on the Zero design: they all become available much earlier and some projects that never happened in reality(such as high-altitude A6M4 and 4-cannon Zeros) are in. The carrier building program is also redone(better hardware and earlier, Shinano project scrapped) and theres 2 new heavy cruisers, 2 battlecruisers and better destroyers(more Akitzukis) being built. Also the submarines are streamlined, theres less of different types, focus being on the better ones. Lots of factories are already expanded and ready right at th beginning. Army though is the same as before, so the changes effect just about 1/3 of Japan's OOB.

The downside is that theres a lot less resources and fuel at the beginning and J2M Raiden project doesnt exist(in real life Mitsubishi divided its engineers between J2M project and developing further Zero models). The Allies also get some stop-gap measures, not much though, couple of air groups more at the beginning(but little more plane reinforcements) and a new CVL and 2 more later. Not a big deal. All things considered Japan is a bit stronger compared to the Allies than it was historically, but only at seas and in naval air.

Port Moresby had what seemed to be 2 squadrons of A-24 Banshees and a squadron of Hudson medium bombers. Most likely more tomorrow. I moved the CarDiv within their attack range in purpose to lure an attack or 2 away from the amphibious task force. I'm not worried about the Hudsons, they are very inaccurate as they have to level or glide bomb, but none of those A-24s better not get through. The range to enemy base will be 5 hex = 200 nm which is longer than the normal ranges of most Allied fighter types(except Wildcat), so enemy strikes are unlikely to be escorted. I'm counting on the Allies wanting to maximize their strike aircraft numbers at Port Moresby any way.

I suppose I shall continue to curse Yoshio's wing by picking PO1 Ohara. May he be luckier and have a better sense of smell.

Right. 

[Erkki]

January 3, 1942


It wasn't an easy task to find the carriers in complete radio silence in the darkness, hundreds of miles away from home base. Just minutes before the first patrol was already supposed to be in position the task force finally gave up its presence in the form of the pale, phosphorous bio luminance light of their wakes. The waiting had begun. Soon the weather got worse, and Chitose Kokutai's pilots got to witness carrier operations in high seas. Due to the distance to between the carriers and Rabaul, each patrol could stay over target only for 2 hours, which meant that while one patrol remained over the target, there would be one on its way home and another on its way to the target. Carriers Akagi and Kaga had prepared to launch their strike aircraft. Under strict radio silence, the strike aircraft finally took off at 1030.



But the Americans never came and all the waiting was for naught. Hours after sunset it was time for a debriefing and orders for the next day.

"The Army boys have secured the town of Buna today. The invasion task force will now head back to Truk, but they will egress a different route than they came in: first directly East, which means that they will sail just a few dozen miles from us. That will be to avoid submarines that are probably waiting to the North. We will patrol over that convoy tomorrow, but with less planes than we used today. 2 fighters over the convoy should be sufficient. Some of the Zeros are already in need of maintenance after all. The Carrier Division will be doing its own air protection tomorrow and will also be on its way to Truk. The strike you saw launch and return late in the afternoon attacked enemy merchant convoy 320 miles away in the Coral Sea. The pilots claimed 6 ships sunk with bombs."

[Erkki]

January 4, 1942

Not one Allied plane was sighted today either. The CAP duty above the egressing convoy went uneventfully.

Tomorrow will be a (relative) resting day with CAP being flown only over Rabaul, and only with a handful of planes. Everyone needs to be rested before the action starts again the day after tomorrow probably. Theres another invasion task force ingressing that will need air cover.

[Erkki]

January 5 1942

It rains all day. The rain grounds the newly arrived H8K patrol planes, but the CAP duty is still flown. Under the cover of the overcast and rain, a small 8-ship convoy bringing supplies from Truk arrives.

No sorties will be flown tomorrow, not even CAP. The Air Flotilla wants all planes fully prepared and men rested. Igarashi knew there orders for a new mission were being prepared by the Air Flotilla HQ. They would be sent ahead to him, the Kokutaicho, only a day in advance.

[Erkki]

January 6 1942


As quick as it had worsened, the weather suddenly cleared and a sunny day followed, with just the, typical for tropical areas, 2-hour afternoon rain. 2 more convoys arrived at Rabaul, these brining Navy troops: engineers, a construction company, more aviation support, large-caliber anti-aircraft guns. Bulldozers worked extended the runway around the clock. There was a huge pile of drop tanks near the end of the runway. Late in the afternoon after rain stopped the Kokutai had been summoned there by Igarashi. The map had again been opened on the ground.

"See those drop tanks? Theres over 120 of them. They are all reserved for tomorrow and the day after. Heres the thing:"



"A Marine force aboard ships is on its way to Finschafen. Original plan was to land at Lae but the Navy has seen good results from protecting invasion fleet from enemy air attacks 280 miles from a fighter base from less than a week ago, somewhere in Borneo. So, they decided to land closer to us so we can protect the task force better. The fleet is led by mine cruiser Tsugaru and it has an armed merchant with a catapult-launched search planes aboard. Today, they came under attack by American dive bombers from Port Moresby. 2 ships were hit, the other badly. It'll get dark soon so more attacks arent expected - and its a long flight after all - but tomorrow we will all fly there and protect the fleet from the enemy. Once we get there there will be an operator aboard the Tsugaru who coordinate with us with radio connection. He will hear and alert the task force if we see the enemy first, and tell us the enemy position if Tsugaru or the search floatplane does.

Remember that they're Marines and not Army troopers aboard those ships. We'll do our best and the South East Area Fleet is counting on us to make the operation a success."

[Erkki]

January 7 1942




"..........zzzzzzzzzrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr zzzrrrrr Chitosrzgh Tsugaru rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
rrrrrrrrrrr
zrrr
rrrrrrrrrrr
zzrrrrrrrrrrrrzr
zrtose rr Tsurgau zrrrr"
Shiga replied: "Chitose"
"Chitose, zr Tsugarzrrrr, theres half a dozen enemy bombers incominrrrr southzrrr at altitude 4 thousandrrrr eet"
"Tsugaru, Chitose, copy, I think I see them"
"Chitozrr zropy! Good luck, long zrrve the Emperozrr...!"


The enemy hadn't maneuvered to attack from the direction of the sun. Clearly, they did not anticipate any opposition. Shiga, leading the morning patrol, could clearly see the enemy attack aircraft gleaming in the tropical sun of the New Guinea. There were seven of them, two-engine bombers. They approached from the South over the ocean and would be over the invasion fleet in minutes. 11 A6M2's of the Chitose Kokutai had positioned themselves a couple of miles from the fleet, to intercept enemy attacks before they'd reach their target.

"Attention Chitose! Drop the tanks! Enemy to our 10 o clock low. Attack in pairs!"

The surprise was complete. Shiga, first to attack, saw his tracers sink into the leading bomber that immediately burst into flames. Pull up for a wing-over and a second attack. Hudson bombers! The enemy formation had already lost its cohesion. 4 of them were already on fire. Shiga attacked the leading bomber again and saw the cannons shells explode on the port wing and fuselage. The bomber caught fire. Thats a kill for sure! The surviving bombers dived to the deck, already hurt. More Zeros attacked the bombers and not long after 3 of them were just wrecks burning on the sea. The last one had a Zero behind it. Under fire, the bomber's gunners kept firing at the Zero. The enemy bomber didnt seem to want to go down. Was something wrong?

"Let it go! It wont make it home!"

Others disengaged and started to climb back towards Shiga, but the single Zero continued the chase. Were his cannons jammed? Didn't he hear the direct order? First ships of the fleet opened fire, and then the Zero was hit. Trailing thick smoke, the Zero finally disengaged and turned back towards Rabaul. But it would be a long way. Shiga didn't want to break the radio silence further - they'd need to be reado to intercept the next attack as soon as possible. He took a glance towards Rabaul and saw 3 planes in the distance - that must be Nakaya's wing!

"rrrrr Chitose 2, Chitose!" - that was Yamamoto
"Chitose"
My flight is out of ammo. zrrrrrre returning home. Good luckzrrr"
"zrrrrtzrrrrr Chitose Tsrzgru!!"
"Chitose!
More enemy approachinzrrr.. zrrrm sorzthrrrr!
"Chitose, copy!"

These enemy aircraft came in higher, at the patrol altitude of 10,000 ft. The Zeros had barely managed to form up on Shiga again and there would be much less time to attack these before they would already be over the fleet"

"...zrrrr right I see them, we're going in!" - that was Nakaya!
"Chitose! Engage at will!"

Nakaya's newly arrived wing was in much better position than the others, and was already diving in from the side. These were single-engine planes... Dive bombers! Must be American SBDs!

Shiga led his Zeros for a frontal attack and observed Nakaya's performance: leading the attack well ahead of his wingmen, he shot the first SBD into flames from ahead, turned for a second one that lost its wing to Nakaya's excellent marksmanship, then pulled up for an Immelman that ended just behind the last SBD that burst into flames and nosed down into an uncontrollable dive.

Shiga shot at an SBD from ahead but the cannons didnt seem to work. Damn. He pulled up to wing over like before, but there didnt seem to be any free targets. Several more SBDs were on fire already, and the last ones already turned into their attack dives.

"Chitose, disengage!"

As the 3 surviving SBDs dived to attack the ships, one of them took a hit from anti-aircraft fire, started to trail smoke and continued its dive into the ocean. The other two missed with their bombs and flew away at low altitude. Chitose Kokutai would not pursuit because there could be more attackers incoming. That was the order.

The debriefing was held after the sunset in the same hut. Each pilot's combat report was written down and archived. Cross-checking everything, including report from the invasion fleet's commander, it was determined that the Kokutai had scored 14 aerial victories and several more enemy aircraft as at least damaged. The damaged Zero that had not returned was Minami's. 3 other Zeros had taken hits and minor damage from the gunners' fire and would have to be repaired.

Chitose Kokutai's combat debut had been so good that no man was bothered by the tiredness, heat, humidity, mosquitoes or anything else Rabaul had to offer. Nakaya was celebrated as the ace of the base and everyone knew they had truly given a beating to the enemy. Not one bomb had hit the invasion fleet, and nobody cared about about the news that later in the afternoon a convoy carrying supplies to the Army troops in Buna had lost a small cargo ship to these same bombers.




CDR Igarashi: Sheb: 0
CPO Shiga: Erkki: 1 kill
CPO Nakaya: Playergamer: 3 kills
CPO Ogiya: Mephansteras: 0
CPO Yoshino: Chosrau: 0
PO1 Ohara: Mithras: 0
PO2 Nagano: Burnt Pies: 0
PO2 Atake: MonkeyHead: 0
PO2 Muranaka: Karlito: 0

I'd have provided screenshots from the combat animation itself but I sincerely thought that I can review the resolution phase... Turns out that in a PBEM, only the Allied player can. Next time around I'll be ready with a screen capture program that allows to take as many screenshots as I wish(Fraps and Evolve dont work with the WitPAE  )

[Sheb]

Maybe you could ask Iroquois for that capture then?


Anyway.


Igarashi stepped in front of his men in the debriefing hut. Despite the long flight, none of them seems tired. An epidemic of smile has struck the sweaty and dirty faces.

"Well done men. Today you made Japan and the Emperor proud. Nakaya, you got carried as an hero today, and you deserved it, but all of you earned an ace's welcome. This is why..."

*At this point, Igarashi snap his finger and two privates walk in, carrying a wooden crate*

"I arranged for the base commander to 'donate' a crate of his personal sake reserve to the squadron! Better drink before he realizes it! Cheers men!"

[Erkki]

Maybe you could ask Iroquois for that capture then?


Anyway.


Igarashi stepped in front of his men in the debriefing hut. Despite the long flight, none of them seems tired. An epidemic of smile has struck the sweaty and dirty faces.

"Well done men. Today you made Japan and the Emperor proud. Nakaya, you got carried as an hero today, and you deserved it, but all of you earned an ace's welcome. This is why..."

*At this point, Igarashi snap his finger and two privates walk in, carrying a wooden crate*

"I arranged for the base commander to 'donate' a crate of his personal sake reserve to the squadron! Better drink before he realizes it! Cheers men!"

Hahaa! 

I dont think Admiral Toda would mind. Leadership 63, Inspiration 63, so he clearly ain't one of the old-tradition "Big Guns Club".

I think I'll keep my opponent in darkness of whats happening over these boards until some time still. I dont want the Kokutai to receive any unwanted attention. 

The Marines and all of their supply has been unloaded and the invasion force is on its way back to Truk. For Chitose Kokutai, tomorrow will be a resting day.

[Erkki]

January 8 and 9 1942 pass without an incident.

On the 7th 2 more convoys arrive to Truk Rabaul, bringing more engineers and supplies. The airfield will soon be extended enough for 2 engine bombers to take off in full fuel and weapon load. Theres news of a naval action somewhere in the Solomons where Australian armed merchant cruiser raiders sunk IJN troop transports - still loaded.

On the 8th  two Army Ki-15 reconnaissance wings with 5 and 6 aircraft each arrive. Their task will be photo reconnaissance of Port Moresby and bases, islands, towns and villages still held by the Australians. There are no Army troops, not even mechanics, in Rabaul, which makes the 11 aircrew feel a bit uneasy.

Also a new Zero is flown to Rabaul to join the Kokutai by PO2 Matsubara, D. Would anyone like to claim him? His stats are average, EXP 65, Air 63(IIRC), cant recall his Def.

[Anvilfolk]

How did I miss this?!

Yamashita to moushimasu. Douzo yoroshiku!

[Erkki]

A couple of days ago I realized I had lost precious time moving. Time to stop fearing the Allies and move ahead.

I'll start with two simultaneous landings on major targets - first will be Kendari in the East Indies that'll provide us a nice airbase practically in the middle of enemy waters and the second will be Port Moresby because I happen to want it.

The enemy is building in NE Australia, New Caledonia, Phoenix Islands and Fiji. I'm usually not a big advocate of a deep trust into the South Pacific because of the super long supply lines and the massive amount of fuel such operations need(so far from refineries and shipyards too) but this time around I may try and kick the Allies away from, say, Santa Cruz Islands and Fiji.

The idea of course will be to give the enemy additional places to worry about and "easy" targets for their eventual offensives. Just for buying time while the main line of resistance behind the first layers is built up. I'm planning to build Guadalcanal, Florida Island, New Georgia and Santa Isabel into a great fortress surrounded by auxiliary bases with small garrisons, search aircraft and the occasional fighter and strike aircraft base. Up the Solomons, the next fortress complex will be built around Rabaul and Port Moresby.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Guadalcanal

[Anvilfolk]

A quick question: how do you not forget to give orders to all the things you're supposed to give orders to?

I like how you justify a big invasion with "DO WANT" It shows fighting spirit! Yamato damashii!