Driftless
Donor
A terrible sacrifice from those airmen, but the disjointed attack allowed the dive bombers a fighter-free run at the Japanese carriers
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A terrible sacrifice from those airmen, but the disjointed attack allowed the dive bombers a fighter-free run at the Japanese carriers
Because the Zeros were attracted to the dive bombers like flies to bright lights.
Prior to late 1942 the Regular Army 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments were still deployable as well trained experienced units. After that they were broken up to cadre, supply , service, and engineer units in the MTO.
Ultimately the fate of Wake Island was whether the sea lanes are open for reinforcements and supplies. It remains, at least to me, an open question of what would have happened if the relief operation had not been aborted.
Story 0792
November 8, 1941 Paris, France
She walked with quiet confidence. Paris had become her home, an unexpected delight for a country girl who two years ago thought only of finishing school and milking obstinate cows. That one night with the Scottish piper changed everything in her life. She was still going to hell for that one night, but she had found meaning in her life instead of just marking time until some farmer’s son made her his wife.
Anna Marie walked through the Louvre without a care. Her lover was holding her arm and chatting about inconsequential banalities as she giggled and complimented him. He only thought of the enjoyment they shared, while she smiled at the promise of the afternoon. There was no future besides the moment. There only was information that he gave to her without realizing how valuable of a role he played for British intelligence. Other French women looked at the happy couple with scorn. They saw her being occupied on her back. If they only knew, they would be scandalized.
An hour after arriving at the museum, Anna Marie excused herself as her lover had lost himself examining early Renaissance landscape paintings. She headed to the water closet. As she went down the corridor, she walked past an older man who was trying hard to look like he was being extraordinarily casual. This was the second man who looked like that who she had seen that day. Something did not feel right even as she continued on her path to the toilet. She went in, used the facilities, and ate the note before washing her hands.
She walked back to her lover. She gave him a kiss and he was happily scandalized as his beautiful young woman marked him as hers. Three hours later, they left the museum. She noticed the surveillance team was still in place, this time the museum was being watched by a roving band, half a dozen men in their mid-30s, who were too stiff and too firm in their bearing to be casual. Her lover never noticed anything as they headed back to his apartment for an afternoon of carefree love making.
She walked with quiet confidence. Paris had become her home, an unexpected delight for a country girl who two years ago thought only of finishing school and milking obstinate cows. That one night with the Scottish piper changed everything in her life. She was still going to hell for that one night, but she had found meaning in her life instead of just marking time until some farmer’s son made her his wife.
Anna Marie walked through the Louvre without a care. Her lover was holding her arm and chatting about inconsequential banalities as she giggled and complimented him. He only thought of the enjoyment they shared, while she smiled at the promise of the afternoon. There was no future besides the moment. There only was information that he gave to her without realizing how valuable of a role he played for British intelligence. Other French women looked at the happy couple with scorn. They saw her being occupied on her back. If they only knew, they would be scandalized.
An hour after arriving at the museum, Anna Marie excused herself as her lover had lost himself examining early Renaissance landscape paintings. She headed to the water closet. As she went down the corridor, she walked past an older man who was trying hard to look like he was being extraordinarily casual. This was the second man who looked like that who she had seen that day. Something did not feel right even as she continued on her path to the toilet. She went in, used the facilities, and ate the note before washing her hands.
She walked back to her lover. She gave him a kiss and he was happily scandalized as his beautiful young woman marked him as hers. Three hours later, they left the museum. She noticed the surveillance team was still in place, this time the museum was being watched by a roving band, half a dozen men in their mid-30s, who were too stiff and too firm in their bearing to be casual. Her lover never noticed anything as they headed back to his apartment for an afternoon of carefree love making.
Story 0793
November 9, 1941 near Leningrad
No one could see her. Her hide had been built over three nights. The entire world was restricted to a viewport four inches tall and eleven inches wide. Above her was debris from a partially collapsed building. The Red Army lines were seven hundred yards behind her and the Germans were four hundred yards in front of her.
Her spotter relaxed for a moment as she finished the scan of the horizon with her scope. The Germans had learned. The dumb and aggressive Germans had been teaching demonstrations. Everyone now knew it was dangerous stupidity to expose themselves above the trench lines during any period of light. By now, every front line soldier had become moles, more at home underground than above during daylight. Tatianna was here to remind them of the danger in case any man was dumb enough to be brave.
They had already waited a day. Two good opportunities were passed on. A gnawing feeling of uncertainty and the sneaking suspicion that she was being watched had kept her from pulling the trigger. As she looked through the scope once again, she paused. Off in the distance near a tree there was a shape on the ground that was too straight and too regular to be natural. She concentrated.
Long deep breath in, and then hold the image in her mind as her eyes focused some more. She held this mantra for seventeen minutes. And then the shape moved. It was not a movement that would have been seen by anyone other than another sniper. Even then, it was a subtle movement that exposed the German to danger for only a second. He had to shift his head slightly to hold back a sneeze.
Tatianna switched positions with her spotter and the spotter guided her back into the unnaturally still and straight shape. The next four minutes were slow. The German sniper was continuing his scan of the Red Army trench lines, believing that he was the hunter instead of being hunted.
A single shot rang out.
The German sniper never realized that he was dying as the sound of the shot arrived after the bullet that went through his skull.
Tatianna and her spotter spent the next four hours crawling back to the Red Army lines. Once there, she carved a seventeenth mark into the stock of her rifle. Unless the Germans advanced in force, she would have a day to rest in the comfort of the regimental rear, five hundred yards behind the front.
No one could see her. Her hide had been built over three nights. The entire world was restricted to a viewport four inches tall and eleven inches wide. Above her was debris from a partially collapsed building. The Red Army lines were seven hundred yards behind her and the Germans were four hundred yards in front of her.
Her spotter relaxed for a moment as she finished the scan of the horizon with her scope. The Germans had learned. The dumb and aggressive Germans had been teaching demonstrations. Everyone now knew it was dangerous stupidity to expose themselves above the trench lines during any period of light. By now, every front line soldier had become moles, more at home underground than above during daylight. Tatianna was here to remind them of the danger in case any man was dumb enough to be brave.
They had already waited a day. Two good opportunities were passed on. A gnawing feeling of uncertainty and the sneaking suspicion that she was being watched had kept her from pulling the trigger. As she looked through the scope once again, she paused. Off in the distance near a tree there was a shape on the ground that was too straight and too regular to be natural. She concentrated.
Long deep breath in, and then hold the image in her mind as her eyes focused some more. She held this mantra for seventeen minutes. And then the shape moved. It was not a movement that would have been seen by anyone other than another sniper. Even then, it was a subtle movement that exposed the German to danger for only a second. He had to shift his head slightly to hold back a sneeze.
Tatianna switched positions with her spotter and the spotter guided her back into the unnaturally still and straight shape. The next four minutes were slow. The German sniper was continuing his scan of the Red Army trench lines, believing that he was the hunter instead of being hunted.
A single shot rang out.
The German sniper never realized that he was dying as the sound of the shot arrived after the bullet that went through his skull.
Tatianna and her spotter spent the next four hours crawling back to the Red Army lines. Once there, she carved a seventeenth mark into the stock of her rifle. Unless the Germans advanced in force, she would have a day to rest in the comfort of the regimental rear, five hundred yards behind the front.
Story 0794
November 10, 1941 Over Hamburg
114 bombers were in a loose, long stream. The target was the docks and shipyards of the great river port of Hamburg. As the bombers pressed in, searchlights reached for them. When one searchlight found a bomber, it starting to jink and juke. Other searchlights began to converge on the bomber. It was a race between the bomber and the alert anti-aircraft guns and night fighters. Could the bomber find a cloud before enough steel was sent skyward to bring it down.
Some bombers succeeded in finding clouds. Those survivors dropped when the bombardier thought they saw a distinctive aiming point which sometimes was a major industrial target, and sometimes it was a critical dairy target. Other bombers broke apart. The luckiest men were able to drift down on their silk parachutes to be captured by German military units. Most were not so lucky.
Two hours after the air raid sirens sounded, Bomber Command had turned for home. They would claim great destruction, but the photo-reconnaissance Spitfires would not be able to see the devastation the next day despite the cloudless skies.
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The Japanese will probably know about those turrets and send a Battleship or Light Carrier to deal with them.
Uh oh.
Don't think the Japanese would send one of the battleships to Wake, considering all of them operational would be with the Kido Butai.
South Seas Force was basically a scouting formation.
Re: Anna Marie -- German CI is not onto her. They in OTL were taking down another Allied spy ring in Paris at this time and the Louvre, among other places, was a dead drop location being used by the other ring as well. There was no knowledge of either ring by the other ring. Most of the good German CI efforts and tails were following known or suspected Allied couriers of the ring that is about to be dismantled. The D- team was at the Louvre that day. Anna Marie's spidy sense was tingling.
The other ring was the InterAllie ring (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathilde_Carr) in OTL.
As far as Japanese forces to Wake -- remember they massively over-committed forces to Guam. There are some units that are flexible in TTL for Central Pacific operations during the first week of the war. (4 Heavy cruisers were committed to invading Guam)
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Might the Japanese consider fewer Battleships with the Kido Butai? After all, if their plans work out (and of course they will, because, well, Imperial Japan,) the Kido Butai isn't actually seeing any Gunnery-Range combat? (If I've understood this correctly.)
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At Pearl, 2 only - Heii and Kirishima .. both updated WW1 BCs with the speed to match the 6 CVs.
For the Indian Ocean Raid, where RN BBs more likely, all 4 Kongos but only 5 Cvs
(At Coral Sea, only 2 CVs and a CL so no BB or BC at all)
At Midway, 4CVs and back to 2 Kongos in the KB itself, though here there were other groups with many more true BBs
While the Japanese may (or may not) be concerned about the two turrets, their problem is they can only augment Wake at the expense of something else. A ship sent to Wake can't be someplace else at the same time, and now to go elsewhere for a subsequent operation has a long slog. IMHO if the Japanese know about the turrets and have a concern, it is more likely they would try and deal with them with air (dive bomber with AP bomb). OTL the Japanese had a huge amount of luck, spreading limited assets in so many directions. Here the Japanese have no more assets, and every place that was due for assault from PH onwards is going to be a tougher nut. This could be better training, earlier use of assets (like radar in Hawaii), more forces, stronger physical defenses, or some combination of any or all of these. Best case, almost ASB scenario, for the Japanese is that they achieve most of their OTL successes. Even under best case results for Japan, the cost in sunken/damaged ships, aircraft losses, personnel losses (including valuable aircrew) is going to be substantially higher than OTL. Thus the downward spiral for the Japanese begins sooner. Of course if the gains with these higher losses are less than OTL, the spiral is tighter and faster.
Is this an OTL operation? I tried googling the name and didn't find anything useful.
Japanese Battleships do not do coastal bombardment in this period of time. They need those battleships ready for THE DECISIVE BATTLE at the drop of a hat, not haring off bombarding some distant American base. No, the Japanese will send a four unit group of heavy cruisers at the guns and probably lose at least one of them to their attrocious DC.
Even then, I would think the Japanese would send off their more older heavy cruisers to Wake if there were with the Kido Butai after SSF goes whackey.
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