Eclipse of the Rising Sun,a 1944 Japan AAR

26th January 2005

Emperor Hirohito, filled with sorrow, slowly wrote is name on the peace treaty. Standing in the back, Grand Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto, whispered something to Chief of Staff Akiro Shima.

Yamamoto - Im divided, somehow their action was fair, yet it had nothing honorable...

Shima - I too, feel the same way...How did we come to such a thing....


The eclipse of the rising sun December&January 1944/1945

December started with the newly formed carrier fleet, with the brand new Carrier, the Shinano(lvl VI). The mighty carrier was one of the most modern Carrier Vessel in the world. Two days after its completion, the powerful ship headed towards the Phillipines to regroup with his two brothers, Carrier Katsuragi(lvl III) and Carrier Zitachi(lvl I). The 3 ships had the nearly impossible task to somehow prevent the end of the already very weak IJN.

In the middle of december, the newly formed task force fought his first battle against the french navy, who had just been transfered in the Pacific since the Kriegsmarine was only a mere shadow of what it used to be. Of course, just like all the nations that had fought the German navy and who had been transfered in the pacific after, they were not prepared at all to face a totally different navy. Carriers had absolutly nothing in common with U-boats. The french pacific navy suffered a humiliating defeat only two weeks after their arrival in the pacific area.



writers note:Irony makes it that my family name is Tourville,a CA i sunked myself,hehehe


Even tho all the IJN huge victory's had been possible because thanks to Yamamoto and his carrier fleet, the IJN also an heavy group made of many Heavy Cruiser and Battleships. They had participated in many victory's that had secured many Oil cargo's from the dutch indies. Of course, they had in no way whatsoever the capacity to deliver a punch like Aircraft Carriers could do, but they were still able to influence battles. Since the beginning of the war, they had made sure that convoys were delivered without incidents.



This fleet made secured the oil that was so needed for Aircraft Carriers.


The Americans quickly noticed that even tho the IJN had suffered extremely in the battle of the indian sea, they were still facing an incredible threat. After the french defeat and many smaller conflicts won by the IJN heavy cruisers, they quickly figured that the Japanese would not give up until every ship was at the bottom of the sea. The U.S high command, seeing the heavy losses they had suffered from both the east and the west front, decided it was time to, at least close off one the front. How, you might ask? Thousands and thousands of Allied soldier fighting the Nippon empire would be able to head home much earlier, thanks to something that would bring the world into a new era. A certain Robert Oppenheimer would lead a group of scientists that would create the most terrible weapons the humanity had ever seen. Oppenheimer, thanks to previous researchs by Albert Einstein, was able to find out that atoms could be broken with a single neutrons, wich would liberate a tremendous ammount of energy. This would lead to the Atomic Bomb.



Einstein and Oppenheimer.


On the 14th January, warning had been sent to Japan that the very populated island of Shikoku, part of the Japanese home islands, would receive a bombing that the world had never seen. Civilians should be evacuated of the city as soon as possible. The Japanese home defense command, who had high doubts of the capacity of such a powerful bombing, decided to simply reinforce its anti air defense and that all civilians should take shelter. On the 20th January 1945, b-24 liberators flew high in the sky. One of them carried the weapon that would end the war that had took so many lives.





Shikoku simply didn't exist anymore. It was just a radioactive wasteland. All the additional soldiers that had been moved in Anti air battery's had simply been turned into dust. Two days after the bomb had been dropped, the Japanese had contacted U.S,British and Australian gouvernment to talk of a peace offer. Four days after, commander of the pacific force MacArthur, watched Emperor Hirohito himself sign the paper that would save so many lives, aboard the USS Midway. Giving up all territorial gains, including Micronesia who had been after given to Japan after World war 1, the expansionnist rising sun would let place to the peaceful night.




Well fellows, unfortunitly this pretty much ends up this AAR!! 6 episodes only, i know its not a lot but i had a lot of fun. After the A-Bomb and losing so many carriers, i pretty much lost my interest in playing that game, therefor the AAR too. However, im pretty glad cause i understood really how the naval combat system works, and believe me it wasen't easy with the 4 hour minimum of naval battle patch... Anyway, i will be writing another AAR soon, hopefully i will update my new one more then once a week. OK, hope you guys enjoyed!

Well thanks everyone, it seems everyone is appreciating the heavy naval action. Well, Italy seems like a pretty good nation for naval action, i guess we got a winnAAR nation for me...