The Mighty Rising Sun

[ShadowBlade]

First of all, I'd like to thank Paddy the Scot and Dialectic2003 and their story Dispatches from the Pacific that served as an inspiration for the following series of dispatches.

These series of dispatches are based of the Civilization 3: Conquests scenario, WWII in the Pacific, only that I'm playing as the Japanese. They are all played by me because I'm playing the scenario alone. Anyway, the messages and reports are between different commanders and the Imperial Navy Headquarters back in Tokio from December 1941 to the end of the war.

Enjoy!

NOTE: This war and its dispatches are completely non-historical.

[ShadowBlade]

Chapter I - The Day of Infamy

DECEMBER, 1941 ----- [CLASSIFIED]

FROM: Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, 1st Task Force, NE of Honolulu
TO: Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Imperial Navy Headquarters, Tokyo

Admiral, I regret to say that, though successful, our attack on the American base of Pearl Harbor did not cause the expected damage, though formidable. We noticed upon arrival that the aircraft carriers had already departed the harbor, probably a few days earlier. However, the expected amount of battleships were still docked and the airfields were full. The Zero's engines began roaring around 0600 hours and off they went, nearly twelve flight groups of fighter planes and bombers. The frigate captain Mitsuo Fuchida told me how vulnerable the base actually was: the docked warships were aligned in rows, and so were the airplanes, as if waiting to be destroyed. He issued the attack order in no time. "Tora, tora, tora!" was heard inside every plane by 0800 hours, and the bombs started falling on the unsuspecting battleships and airfields. The only battleship we left at the bottom of the harbor still remains unknown, information is due to arrive soon. The rest of the battleships suffered very serious damage, but the biggest damage was sustained by the airbases: none of the airplanes stationed there remained intact, two entire flight groups were decimated during the length of the attack. On this stage of the operation, we suffered minimal losses. However, Admiral, I carelessly ordered the task force to remain in the proximity of Pearl Harbor, ( approximately 250 miles north-east of Honolulu) and for that I beg you to forgive me. I underestimated the Americans, and in a matter of five days, two battleships intercepted us from the south-west, presumably the BB Tennessee and the BB Pennsylvania, but my sources are not 100% accurate.

The American warships opened fire at the ships located in the southern part of the task force, concentrating their volleys at the CV Shokaku, but two of our destroyers, the DD Kusumi and the DD Shiranuhi were the quickest to defend the aircraft carrier. Both of their captains masterfully manuevered and fired at the American aggressors, successfully diverting their fire from the Shokaku to them. The Shiranuhi, though she fought gloriously, greatly damaging the Tennessee was the first to go down: the Pennsylvania and the Tennessee opened fire at her simultaneously, hitting her multiple times on the starboard and sinking it in a matter of minutes. On the mean time, the Kusumi managed to damage one of the frontal guns of the Pennsylvania, reducing her firepower. Nevertheless, the mentioned American battleship fired her aft cannons at her. Two of the armor-piercing (AP) rounds pierced the Kusumi's hull and ignited the ammunition storage, detonating the entire center of the ship and sending it to the bottom. By this time, the two heroic destroyers had given the Shokaku and Zuikaku enough time to retreat, and the other escorts to arrive to the battle. The Shokaku had taked advantage of the extra time not only to gain distance from the enemy warships, but to ready her airplanes. Along with the Zuikaku's bombers, she sent fighters to escort and aid the other carrier's aircraft, focusing on the lightly damaged BB Pennsylvania. The Zero's fire tore apart the bridge's glasses and eliminated the senior officers, causing great shock among the rest of the crew. Meanwhile, the Zuikaku's bombers released their heavy AP bombs and hit numerous critical spots, like the aft guns and the radar tower. Finally, one devastating bomb pierced the fuel tanks from above, igniting the gasoline and causing the massive explosion that ultimately doomed the warship. By that time, I noticed the heavily damaged Tennessee was trying to escape the battle upon realizing the fate of the Pennsylvania. She did not have much time since the BB Kirishima had arrived to the scene just a few minutes earlier, and was already firing at the escaping vessel. I did not take much time until a fatal shell landed on the stern of the Tennessee, delivering the final blow.

I have received disturbing news from our radar stations in the vecinity of Singapore. They claimed they have lost contact with the invasion force escorted by the DD Hayashio, due to arrive at Sibu by next month. They also reported lack of response from the I-32, one of our submarines on patrol duty east of Singapore. Last minute reports indicate of the presence of two Commonwealth BBs in the mentioned area, the Prince of Wales and the Repulse, which may be the cause of the loss of our naval forces there. The nearby bases have sent rescue teams in an attempt to find any survivors from the SNLF marines and the 13th Infantry Regt. that belonged to the invasion force, but there has been nothing but discouraging reports from the teams so far. I have sent a message to the Headquarters in Saigon recommending the forming of a task force to seek and destroy the battleships mentioned earlier. I am afraid to say that our losses of transport groups do not end here. The captain in charge of the invasion of Davao ordered the transports, for unknown reasons or mere incompetence, to advance the remaining 60 miles to the coast. This underestimation of the American naval units in the area led to the sinking of the entire transport group, which consisted of exceptional marines and infantrymen, by an American submarine, which was lurking in the proximity of Davao and managed to avoid detection until it was too late. Though this was a considerable setback to the occupation of Davao, we can rest assured since two paratrooper battalions have landed last week on the hills nearby. There have been reports of bombardment by the American artillery in Davao, but the battalions have managed to suffer minimal casualties.

Our third invasion force formed by infantrymen and a light tank battalion landed south of Aparri last night and is preparing to advance towards the city. Victory seems assured since the town's defenses have been considerably reduced by naval bombardment from the DD Fubuki, the CA Kuma and the bombers from the Formosa airfields. It should not be difficult to take Aparri and we can expect it to be under Japanese control by the end of January. The commanding officer of the invasion force already behind the enemy lines has expressed his confidence regarding the assault: "The Americans have garrisoned the city with merely one infantry division, the Filipino 51st, if I'm not mistaken. If we continue harrassing their defenses by bombarding them from the coast, it won't be long until the city falls."

Picture: The Attack on Pearl Harbor

[Paddy]

Good show ol' chap, jolly good show and all that.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Good job Shadowblade Keep the goods coming

[Kaos XIII]

-ing

[ShadowBlade]

Chapter II - Death in the Night

JANUARY, 1942 ----- [CLASSIFIED]

FROM: Rear-Admiral Kosaku Mitsukashi, 3rd Task Force, S of Saigon
TO: Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Imperial Navy Headquarters, Tokyo

Admiral Yamamoto, I am commanding a task force to hunt down the Commonwealth battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse as Vice-Admiral Nagumo requested. We first encountered the first all alone, three days ago and it was not long until we engaged in battle. The engagement was very even and we managed to defeat the enemy, but at a great cost, unfortunately. By concentrating our bombardments at the British ship, we breached the hull after several volleys, leaving her ready to receive the final blow by the BB Kongo, which fired her frontal guns, critically hitting her target and sending it to the bottom of the sea. However, the Kongo had to leave the force’s formation to chase the Prince of Wales, and when we were preparing to return to Saigon, we sighted the other Commonwealth battleship, the Repulse. The enemy quickly opened fire from a distance, hitting the Kongo’s stern and severely damaging her engines. She returned fire, and so did the rest of our task force, but failed to hit the BB Repulse, which was now leaving the battle at flank speed, firing inaccurate volleys at the damaged Kongo. We could not chase the enemy battleship since we were already in enemy territory, proceeding further would have doomed the entire task force. The Commonwealth attack had nearly disabled the BB Kongo, but her maximum speed at that time was barely 2 knots. Black smoke was rising from the opening in her stern, it would have gave away our position if there were sunlight but, luckily for us, it was a very dark night. The other ships in the task force began sending engineers to aid the repairs aboard the warship. Nevertheless, the fire was spreading too quickly and, around 2330 hours, the captain gave the order to abandon the ship upon realizing the ammunition storage for the aft guns was too close to the fire. It was not long after the evacuation started when we heard a deafening explosion, which separated the Kongo’s stern from the rest of the ship, killing around a quarter of her crew. The mighty vessel disappeared beneath the waves shortly after that.

The invasion of Aparri has been successful, though we lost the 4th Tank Regiment in the engagement since the Americans had reinforced the city with a more experienced GI battalion, between our bombardments from the coast. The veteran 4th managed to eliminate this reinforcements, but was considerably damaged and destroyed by the Filipino 51st, the rest of Aparri’s garrison. Nevertheless, they were no match for our well-trained infantry division, which charged down the hills and decimated the defenders. Another of our invasion forces has recently disembarked near Tarawa and has peacefully taken the town since the Americans did not have military presence of any kind there. On the mean time, the 2nd Engineer Division and the 4th Army took the Commonwealth-controlled city of Bukhet, located west of Saigon and I’m glad to say that our forces there have suffered only minor casualties. Regarding Davao, I presume we have overestimated our paratrooper battalions stationed there. One of them was decimated by the defense two days ago when it tried to advance into the town. I have ordered the other one to remain fortified on the hills. If this operation continues unsuccessfully, I will be forced to evacuate the troops fighting there somehow.

I have received news that indicate the Dutch have made their appearance. Their destroyer Van Ghent was detected off the coast of Palau. Our garrison there bombarded with artillery and sunk the invading warship with the fighters and bombers stationed in the airbase of the island, though one squadron was lost to the Dutch AA fire. Another Dutch vessel was sighted west of Saigon, the CA Java. Our Command Centre in the city hastily scrambled flight groups and successfully eliminated the ship, which was threatening the newly taken city of Bukhet, 175 miles north of her position. Another naval combat took place off the coast of Aparri, a few days after the town was taken. The American cruiser Houston employed hit and run tactics to quickly attack and sink the CA Mikuma, though she was lightly damaged by the rest of the squadron in her attempt, though they failed to destroy the vessel. I am afraid that we have suffered a minor defeat east of Kwajalein. Two of our destroyers were sent on anti-sub patrol a couple of weeks ago. One of them, the DD Sazananmi, sighted an American submarine approximately 80 miles east of Wake Island identified as the SS Trout. The said destroyer sunk the sub after a quick succession of depth charge drops, but was heavily damaged by a torpedo the American vessel managed to launch before she received the fatal charge. After this event, the DD Ushio and the DD Sazananmi set course to Kwajalein for repairs, but were intercepted by another enemy sub, which still remains unidentified, and several flight groups from Wake Island. The last message from the ships: “This is Commander Nagata from the Sazananmi, we have received further damage from the bomber attacks! Our AA gunners have managed to down an entire bomber wing, but they just keep coming! The Ushio has been destroyed by an American submarine that came out of nowhere! There isn’t much t--“. The message came to an abrupt end, and we must consider those two ships lost. I have ordered the I-16 to search for survivors and to hunt the enemy submarine. I will keep you informed in the next weeks.

Picture: The Sinking of the Prince of Wales

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Good stuff and very interesting to read at the same time as Paddy and dialectic's story.

Another perspective so to speak.

Please do keep up the good work

Will we see any executions of incompetent Admirals and the like ?

[ShadowBlade]

Will we see any executions of incompetent Admirals and the like ?

LOL! Well, Chris, this is NOT the Galactic Empire. However, I may write about an admiral that commits seppuku (ritual suicide to preserve honor) after being defeated.

[steamthunk]

Nice change of pace to read a naval battle story. Not enough of them if you ask me.

[ShadowBlade]

By the way, if you can't see the pics let me know, OK? Freewebs kinda sucks.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Im not seeing them here, but it may be poly is busy.

[ShadowBlade]

Chapter III - Blood in the Horizon

FEBRUARY, 1942 ----- [CLASSIFIED]

FROM: Rear-Admiral Hayato Inoguchi, Command Center, Kwajalein
TO: Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Imperial Navy Headquarters, Tokyo

Admiral, I will begin this dispatch with a matter of great importance. Early in the morning, yesterday, our radar stations here in Kwajalein detected a medium-sized task force about 170 miles north of the city. Further investigation by air reconnaissance revealed the ships in the American task force’s formation. Two destroyers, one of them confirmed as the DD Dewey act as the outer escort. It was too risky to order the recon planes to get closer to the convoy without being spotted so they vaguely sighted one or two heavy cruisers forming the inner escort and, unmistakeably recognized from the distance, in the core of the task force, the CV Enterprise. I strongly advise to group our naval units in the sector, intercept this American convoy and sink it as soon as possible. We have submarines in the area, such as the I-16, so we could attempt to sink only the Enterprise if Headquarters does not want to engage in a full-scale battle. However, it may prove difficult for the subs to get close enough without being detected by the destroyers’ sonar. If they are, in fact, spotted by the DDs, their mission and their crewmen’s lives will surely be doomed and our chance to engage them with a great advantage will be lost.

I have received debriefings of successful battles against our enemies. The captain of the battleship Haruna has reported the sinking of the CA Houston, the cruiser that destroyed the CA Mikuma last month. He also notified me the lack of American activity in Manila. Apparently, our enemy has not tried to retake Aparri from our hands. Further to the west, the Command in Saigon has reported that the 3rd Task Force, aided by the cities air groups, has sent two enemy submarines to rest on the seabed off the coast of Sibu, under Commonwealth control. The first sub, the Dutch K-XV was hit multiple times and eliminated by the DD Ayanami’s depth charges. The second one, the British SS Storm was caught surfaced by the CA Kumano, which quickly sank her with nearly all her crew with the cruiser’s frontal cannons. Even more submarines were sunk in the last few weeks, but on the other side of the Pacific. The 1st Task Force sighted two American subs around 600 miles east of Wake Island. The SS Pompano and SS Gudgeon were sent to the bottom by the fighter planes of the carriers and the help of the CA Chikuma.

Regarding continental matters, our officials at Peking have reported a considerable amount of Chinese infantry regiments positioned on the hills located north-west of the city. Our garrison is unlikely to defeat such strike force if not reinforced by some kind of airlift or additional divisions from the neighbouring cities. As for our invasion in Singapore, the 5th Engineer Regiment engaged the Commonwealth 1st Malaya Infantry Brigade and emerged victorious after a wearing battle. The enemy troops were entrenched in some hills north of the city of Singapore, but were considerably fatigued because of our bombing runs from the airfields near Saigon. The British sent the DD Encounter to the area, possibly to evacuate the exhausted brigade, but was forced to return to port by our continuous bombardment, also from the Saigon airbases. The road to Singapore is now clear, but we can expect heavy resistance and perhaps naval bombardment from the still unharmed BB Repulse, probably still patrolling the waters not far from there.

Though we have sunk many warships this month, our forces were indeed battered by enemy fire too, though fortunately, in a much smaller proportion. I consider appropriate to mention that the extensive information we received about the American task force north of Kwajalein could not have been obtained if it were not for the sacrifice of the CA Kumano (East Pacific) and the DD Hiyodori, which were spotted by the mentioned enemy convoy and sank by the CV Enterprise’s and Wake Island’s fighter and bomber planes. We also lost contact with the I-12, our submarine sent to gather intelligence data from the Commonwealth port of Rabaul. On the whole, as I said before, I strongly recommend the grouping of our naval forces near Kwajalein and Saipan to engage the Enterprise’s task force.

Picture: Recon photograph taken from the CV Enterprise

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Good update Shadowblade, is the Admiral sharpening his sword? you gotta have some beheadings at least

BTW still cant see the pics here, and some screenies would be nice

[SKILORD]

I like this.

Really, this is great.

[Paddy]

I do agee, good show ol' chap...

You are providing me with some good thoughts. It is like reading a captured journal and breifing papers...

I can not see the pics either.