An Alliance Shatters
2
0700 September 9th 1944.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, North Philippine Trench.
The French fleet was still heading in the general direction of the Mariana Trench as was predicted. It was currently off the coast of Davao.
Yamamoto had been unable to catch the American Submarine fleet and decided to move towards Singapore to counter the increased enemy activity in the area. He neatly laid in a course behind the French to avoid any possible conflict with the larger fleet.
Admiral Godo had arrived in the Bonin Islands to embark the marines of Mj. General Banzai. His next port of call would be Kagoshima where he would pick up the second marine division and replace it with an infantry division.
Admiral Ozawa was temporarily resting his bomber squadrons to allow them to rest and repair. He would lead the battered ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy back to Tokyo before handing the fleet over to another commander and returning to Saipan and his bombers.
Admiral Ozawa was temporarily resting his bomber squadrons to allow them to rest and repair. He would lead the battered ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy back to Tokyo before handing the fleet over to another commander and returning to Saipan and his bombers.
The French Carrier fleet arrived off Palau at 0600 hours on September 11th. Yamashita's interceptors would cause some minor damage to the enemy fleet as it turned around and headed back towards Indonesia. Both the British and French fleets seemed to have been hoping to encounter smaller Japanese fleets during their short raids into Japanese territory. Yamamoto's network of interceptors made sure that they left empty handed.
0100 September 12th 1944.
Diplomatic Offices. Tokyo, Japan.
Venezuela was proving to be a very good trading partner for Japan and another deal was brokered by Mamoru with the increasingly friendly Country.
Rare materials were to be exchanged for both oil and a small amount of energy in an ongoing trade deal.
0200 Septmeber 13th 1944.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Brunei Bay.
Interceptor squadrons on naval reconnaisance had picked up the British Battleship fleet again. This time it was to the north of the Malacca Strait. HMS Warspite was still showing signs of considerable damage, which did not seem to halt the fleets advance, as it was currently heading towards Singapore.
Yamamoto altered course to put his fleet into the friendly port of Miri in Borneo until it was safe to continue onwards to Singapore.
Godo had completed the latest leg of his transport mission and turned south towards Aparri in the Philippines. He would exchange an infantry division for the current armoured division guarding the province.
The British fleet altered course westwards at 0400 on September 14th, largely due to the ever increasing damage being inflicted to HMS Warspite. The interceptors were not ideally suited to this type of mission but they came very close to finishing off the British Battleship. It would escape for now. Yamamoto ordered his fleet towards Singapore now that the hostile fleet was moving away from the area.
0700 September 14th 1944.
North China Army Headquarters. Anshun, China.
The Imperial Japanese Airforce had done its job well in northern China which would allow a rare advance in this area.
Troops from both Mengkukuo and Japan began moving towards the empty Yuling province.
0000 September 16th 1944.
Diplomatic Offices. Tokyo, Japan.
More news from Europe had arrived on Mamuro's desk. He didn't really wish to know what was contained in the latest report but he had little choice in the matter.
It was more bad news of course. France had been liberated by the Americans. Maybe it made them feel better after having their vaunted Pacific fleet humbled by Yamamoto.
1700 September 16th 1944.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, Singapore.
Yamamoto had arrived in Singapore safely and would begin hunting small enemy fleets after a period of resupply.
Godo was moving through his list of places to visit fairly quickly and had so far managed to avoid any hostile fleets. He would now move from Aparri to Davao to exchange another infantry division for an armoured one.