I'm glad this all seems plausable, I'm not really an expert on naval design, so I have no idea if the damage I described is accurate.
Getting Ahead of Ourselves: A B-29 TL
- Thread starter Parmenion
- Start date
Outside of breaking my heart due to the sinking of CV-6
Will the US Lend-Lease the B-29 during this war? With more more, I could see also RAF F-13 in Europe and possibly one squadron of the Tiger Force
Will the US Lend-Lease the B-29 during this war? With more more, I could see also RAF F-13 in Europe and possibly one squadron of the Tiger Force
I doubt it, The B-29 is some prime aircraft, and RAF already has the Lancaster so there aren't too desperate for it. If I keep it up long enough you may see some postwar export though.
The Marianas Campaign: Phase Three
The sinking of Enterprise did little to sap the bloodlust of the marines, they were eager for revenge. October 5th was the only day of the battle where not even a single prisoner was taken by the Americans. The advance up Isa Drive cost the marines 8 bloody days. On several occasions, The marines would come under fire from artillery they had cleared days ago, which had been re-manned via the numerous underground tunnels the ran through the hillside. Saito's force led the Americans through central Saipan, his forces retreating whenever possible instead of dying where they stood.
By the start of November Saito had rallied the remainder of his force on the Northernmost part of the island, centered around Marpi Point. Many of the Japanese civillians were herded into this area, the lucky ones being given bayonets without rifles, or rifles without ammo. Saito managed to check the Americans on this last defensive line for nearly two weeks. By the 15th of November with his men nearly out of food and ammo, and with nowhere left to retreat to, Saito requested and recieved permission for a banzai charge. The artillery crews fired off the last of their rounds before charging in barehanded, and nearly 15,000 men sprinted at the American lines. The Charge reached and briefly broke through the marines positions, the fighting was hand to hand for several hours. General Smith even shot several Japanese soldiers who managed to nearly reach his forward command post. After two more days of mopping up, Saipan was declared secure, save about a thousand men in the hills that still needed to be dealt with.
Almost the entire civillian population of Saipan was dead, many forced to commit suicide rather then fall under enemy occupation. The Marines had suffered more than 50% casualties. The 2nd marine divison had to be brought home to be properly reformed, Two regiments each had less than a hundred men in fighting shape. The American public was appalled at the losses, many called for somebody to be held accountable, General Buckner ending up as the scapegoat, never again holding command. General Eichelberger would replace him in overall command of the Marianas campaign. Losses were so high that the landings on Tinian which were poised for just three days after Saipan was secure, didn't go ahead until December 2nd. Kuribayashi and Saito had achieved what was thought to now be impossible, they had staggered The Marine Corps.
By the start of November Saito had rallied the remainder of his force on the Northernmost part of the island, centered around Marpi Point. Many of the Japanese civillians were herded into this area, the lucky ones being given bayonets without rifles, or rifles without ammo. Saito managed to check the Americans on this last defensive line for nearly two weeks. By the 15th of November with his men nearly out of food and ammo, and with nowhere left to retreat to, Saito requested and recieved permission for a banzai charge. The artillery crews fired off the last of their rounds before charging in barehanded, and nearly 15,000 men sprinted at the American lines. The Charge reached and briefly broke through the marines positions, the fighting was hand to hand for several hours. General Smith even shot several Japanese soldiers who managed to nearly reach his forward command post. After two more days of mopping up, Saipan was declared secure, save about a thousand men in the hills that still needed to be dealt with.
Almost the entire civillian population of Saipan was dead, many forced to commit suicide rather then fall under enemy occupation. The Marines had suffered more than 50% casualties. The 2nd marine divison had to be brought home to be properly reformed, Two regiments each had less than a hundred men in fighting shape. The American public was appalled at the losses, many called for somebody to be held accountable, General Buckner ending up as the scapegoat, never again holding command. General Eichelberger would replace him in overall command of the Marianas campaign. Losses were so high that the landings on Tinian which were poised for just three days after Saipan was secure, didn't go ahead until December 2nd. Kuribayashi and Saito had achieved what was thought to now be impossible, they had staggered The Marine Corps.
Part 7-The Homefront
General Spaatz sighed as he listened to the crackly voice of General Marshall on the far side of the Atlantic "Sir, you are aware that the superfortress is being used for absolutely nothing right now.". "I am" Marshall replied "Aside from training that is, I'm afraid we simply can't send much for a myriad of reasons, at least until nine months from today.", Spaatz retorted "Well sir, all due respect to the stress I'm sure you're under, but I think my airmen, and the people of occupied europe are owed an explanation.".
"Fair enough Carl, mostly it's just goddamn logistics. We're already sending B-17's, liberators, havocs and lord knows what else. Our friends have the lancaster and mosquito, facilities for a new heavy bomber are just going to be too much of a pain in the ass for now. Not to mention the risk of enemy capture, I've already read your reports about hijacked bombers shooting up your formations. Lord knows what Goering would do if he got his hands on a few of these while he was sober." Both men gave that a tired chuckle, Marshall continued "There is some good news though, the RAF has been hounding us for more anti-submarine aircraft. Some of the Boeing fellas are curious to see how it works in that role anyway, so we're going send about 60 for that purpose, under the condition that they don't fly over enemy territory. They'll be under the RAF command structure, but they're still our crews. If they perform well, I'll see about speeding up delivery of the recon varient for you.". "Aright, thank you George, best of luck", "And to you Carl". Both men hung up, their thoughts quickly returning to their respective posts.
"Fair enough Carl, mostly it's just goddamn logistics. We're already sending B-17's, liberators, havocs and lord knows what else. Our friends have the lancaster and mosquito, facilities for a new heavy bomber are just going to be too much of a pain in the ass for now. Not to mention the risk of enemy capture, I've already read your reports about hijacked bombers shooting up your formations. Lord knows what Goering would do if he got his hands on a few of these while he was sober." Both men gave that a tired chuckle, Marshall continued "There is some good news though, the RAF has been hounding us for more anti-submarine aircraft. Some of the Boeing fellas are curious to see how it works in that role anyway, so we're going send about 60 for that purpose, under the condition that they don't fly over enemy territory. They'll be under the RAF command structure, but they're still our crews. If they perform well, I'll see about speeding up delivery of the recon varient for you.". "Aright, thank you George, best of luck", "And to you Carl". Both men hung up, their thoughts quickly returning to their respective posts.
True, but not even Hitler or Stalin used chemical weapons in the field so I doubt they'll make the decision lightly.
If ordeals as terrible as Peleliu and Iwo did not make them roll that particular set of dice, nothing ever would.
Part 8-Preparing for the Worst
Kure Naval Arsenal, November 20th 1943
Vice-Admiral Kurita had been summoned to a meeting with Minister of the Navy Admiral Shimada. As he waited for the minister to arrive, he pondered the reason for his being here. He doubted they had taken this long to fire him for anything he had done, so it was probably a new assignment of some kind. He had heard whispers of using the remaining capital ships in a sort of "naval banzai" to try and take the American fleet with them, he hoped his legacy wouldn't be such a foolish operation.
Finally the Admiral entered, and after pleasantries were exchanged, he got to business. "As I'm sure you already know, oil tanker losses the the South China Sea are continuing to climb." Kurita nodded "We've been sending out as many of the new destroyers as we can, but these American submarines are like ghosts. If this keeps up, what fuel the army leaves us may not be sufficient for us by six months from now. So here's what I'm thinking, I want you to take command of the Kongo and Haruna, as well as a few light cruisers and destroyers. This force is going to escort a fleet of about two dozen oilers and other cargo vessels to Borneo and back home. Many of these ships are too slow or undefended to make the trip alone, and without a serious escort the convoy will just get eviscerated by the American submarines. The fleet you're getting will hopefully be deterrent enough for them, and barring that they may soak up torpedo's that the supply ships can't.".
Kurita asked "Do we even have the storage capacity for that much crude oil in such a short amount of time?" "We should manage to find it, and baring that we can always just store it in the ships themselves until space opens up. and if nothing else, it gets the men some seagoing experience, it's not like the Americans are going to charge Formosa at a time like this. What's more, we need to seem useful while the army is getting all the glory down in the Marianas, Nagumo didn't help the navy's reputation.". Kurita thought on that. The situation in the navy had improved little over the last few months. He decided to change the subject, "How is the shiden production turning out" "Not terribly" Shimada replied "we're already prepared to equip the first kokutai with the planes, The plan is to fit them out from Manilla. It's a good place for them to get experience flying them in combat. And the newer models are going to be ready sooner than expected, they should enter service by June."
Kurita left to place his flag aboard Kongo, his worries were still on the honor of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the same as most of his peers.
Even at this stage of the war with heavy escort? I admit to not onowing much about the pacific sub operations but were they really able to operate in the south china sea at like that at a time like this?
With impunity, more or less.
Japanese convoy escorts were frequently of poor quality and virtually powerless to stop them.
The Marianas Campaign: Phase Four
General Kuribayashi hadn't put as much thought into the defense of Tinian as he had Saipan and Guam. The island was largely flat and forested, making static defenses difficult to build, and chokepoints few and far between. Nonetheless, the flatness of the island also made it an ideal location for constructing large runways for the B-29. The horrific losses of Saipan nearly caused General Eichelberger to bypass the island all together, but concerns about artillery firing on Saipan from Tinian led him to reconsider. Admiral Oldendorf would use Tinian as a testing ground for his improved shore bombardment tactics, such as the "reverse creeping barrage" designed to prevent Japanese reinforcements from reaching the beaches during the landings.
The three day air and naval bombardment was significantly more effective, in large part due to improved coordination with navy spotting aircraft. The battleships South Dakota and Washington, the only new battleships present, were able to destroy several shallow underground positions with sustained armor piercing shells. In spite of this, Colonal Ogata followed Kuribayashi's doctrine, and was able to conduct a fighting retreat across the island. Snipers and booby traps, easy to set up in the jungle, haunted the marines for the entirety of the battle. On December 24th Ogata receieved permission for one final banzai charge from his headquarters on the south of the island. In what went down in marine legends as the "Christmas Eve Massacre" the remaining defenders silently charged the marine positions, many sleeping soldiers were bayoneted where they lie. After two more days the island was declared secure, but nearly 2,000 holdouts remained hidden, specifically to impede the construction and operation of the airfields. With the threat of Guam still remiaining, and the risk of aircraft ferried there via the phillipines attacking Saipan and Tinian, Generals Eichelberger and MacArthur reluctantly submitted a request for the use of chemical weapons to weed out the Japanese on Guam.
Part 9-Political Considerations
Pearl Harbor, January 3rd, 1944
"Absolutely not!" President Roosevelt all but screamed into the phone, "I will never even consider the use of chemical weapons on American soil! And it is American soil, I would hope you at least realize that!". "I do sir" General MacArthur sheepishly replied "But considering the casualty reports you read I thought you-" Roosevelt cut him off, now outright screaming "One more word, I swear to the lord, one more word out of your goddamn mouth and the only thing you'll be in command of is a janitors closet in the pentagon! Are you really that desperate for your precious 'liberation of the Phillipines' that you're willing to gas American citizens? For christs sake, you were on the western front, saw what that stuff can do. You pompous fool. Nimitz are you still there? "Yes sir" The admiral replied " Very good, let me be very frank for a moment. If that fool, or any other officer even hints at suggesting the use of chemical weapons on American soil again you call me. I'll have him scrubbing toilets at West Point by week's end so help m-" Nimitz and MacArthur both heard the president stammer, then let out something between a moan and a gurgle, followed by a thud. An aide could be heard shouting "Call a doctor, and the Vice-President, an-" then the line went dead.
Nimitz and MacArthur stared wide eyed at eachother for a moment, their staff officers doing much the same. "Jesus Christ" Nimitz said, for once the two men were in complete agreement.
I wonder if the U. S. knows about Unit 731? And if they do, do you think they would still use chemical agents?