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December 8th, 1941

Flagship Akagi, 80 miles northwest of Oahu



“Sir, there was no sign of any American Carriers in the port. I redirected the bombers to target the transports that were there, as well as the fuel storage and shipyard repair facilities. I also gave the directive for the second wave to target Schofield Barracks and the surrounding airfields scattered on the island even though what planes they had were most likely destroyed in the air by my fighters.” Commander Fuchida gave the report as he walked into the bridge of the ship, directing his report to Yamamoto.

For a long second Yamamoto was silent. Then he spoke, measuring his words very carefully.

“Get that submarine on the radio. Yes, break radio silence. I want to know where those carriers are.” Yamamoto then picked up his cup of tea and quietly took a sip. Just then, a second man walked into the room, fresh in the gear of a pilot just like Fuchida.

“Sir, Lieutenant Saburo Shindo here to report the news of Nagano’s raid on the easternmost island. What has come in so far is that the airfield has been completely destroyed at this point, and their planes are currently assisting the landing on the southern shores of the island of Hawaii proper. No ships have been spotted apart from fishing sampans. Resistance has been non existent and not a single plane was lost.”

“What about the shelling of Midway by the Yamato and Musashi?” Asked Fuchida, glad that even if the carriers weren’t where they were supposed to be, no traps seemed to be in place either.

“The airbase and barracks have seemingly been leveled although the spotters have been downed so we cant be sure until a fresh pair are in the air over the island with an escort which may take some time.” Shindo replied.

“Sir the submarine is reporting a position some 75 miles northeast of Oahu. The USS Saratoga seems to have a malfunctioning engine, and they are slowly making their way to port at Pearl, or at least that is what their course suggests. No air patrols have taken off from her as of yet.”

“So. They don’t know yet. Fuchida, redirect the third wave of aircraft from all 4 of our carriers to the last known position of those carriers, fully loaded with torpedoes. Shindo, contact Nagano’s force and have them send their third wave to the same point.”

“Yes sir!” They chanted simultaneously.
 
December 8th, 1941

Wake Island Military Compound



The air raid sirens had been going off for a full 10 seconds before a single sound or movement was made by any inhabitant of the island. But after those precious seconds of warning and shock had passed, and bulky shapes loomed on the horizon, chaos ensued. Families ran to nearby air raid trenches, officers shouted out commands, AA batteries were manned, and what few combat capable planes were stationed at the recon centered air base were being prepped to enter the sky. 16 wildcats were stationed here, supported by a system of 12 nests of AA and a radar guidance program via radio for the pilots in the air.

The area that was considered General Marshal’s command post on the island was even more frantic. They were lucky they got such a warning of an air raid, although the recon plane that had delivered the warning was shot down only seconds after.

“Last call for essential documents to the safe!” Yelled the MP in charge of the security.

“Sir, no response from either Pearl Harbor or Midway!” Shouted the radioman at the general. He took this with a frown, and his immediate reaction was to handle his pistol in its holster.

“Alright, everybody to the bunker! ETA is less than a minute, MOVE!” The MP yelled again. Soon it was a stampede downstairs, to the hardened bunker made to such a standard to survive a direct hit from a 9-inch naval gun.

The bunker was barely sealed before you could hear the AA guns virtually right above it start going off. The engines in the sky could be heard clearly, although there were too many to distinguish any numbers from underground.

General George Marshal himself moved across the bunker to a sealed off room that was his office in such a scenario. Completely fitted out with a radio, a telephone, and copies of all essential documents, he was still able to command the defenses of the island from here.

“Commands one through five, report?” He asked through the radio.

“This is command Two sir. Commands one and three as you know are closest to the port, and have received the brunt of the bombing. From what we can tell from visuals, the port was their main target and suffered extensively. Wildcats belonging to our command have been thoroughly beaten by about the same number of zeroes. We have nothing left in the air, and our AA positions are constantly being strafed.”

“This is command Four sir. The airfield itself and the barracks next to it have been left untouched so far aide from a stray bomb that landed astray of the barracks.”

“This is command Five sir. Radar has picked up no identified Japanese naval vessels, military nor transport. We have deduced that these aircraft are also too large to take off from a carrier. Our guess is that they took off from Marcus Island, leaving their carriers able to strike elsewhere.”

Marshal left the radio alone after that, content to sit at his desk and massage his temples while listening to the whistling of bombs.

“Dear God. What the hell is going on at Pearl and Midway? Where the hell are their carriers?”
 
December 8th, 1941

Midway Island



Another explosion rocked the interior of Midway Island, striking the airbase, the barracks, and the few remaining radar outposts left on the island, even though the two formers were almost entirely leveled and useless already.

“Sir, we believe we have pinpointed the source of this shelling. Radar has detected a total of five battleships more or less 20 miles off our east coast, hidden by fog that begins around 10 miles off. We suspect that these battleships include the ships Yamato and Musashi, explaining the severity of the naval bombardment here.” He paused as another round of shells struck not too far away, causing the ground to shake far too much for comfort.

“Get on the radio with Pearl and request air support from their air fields. We need to take out those battleships while we can. This cant mean anything other than war with Japan.” Lieutenant General Chamberlain said.

“Sir, we cant reach Pearl by Radio. We haven’t been able to reach them for hours, and our ability to contact off this island via radio was cut just under an hour ago.”

Lieutenant General Chamberlain paused at that, and appeared to take a deep breath.

“This is a day that will live in infamy. All we can do now is pray for those who have inevitably lost their lives today. Pray for the opportunity to avenge them.”
 
December 9th, 1941

Blood Side Radio: War News



War is fought across the globe right now, but there is no better example, nor one so close to the heart of the American people, as to the one America itself is currently enduring. The Japanese have struck our nation, and fighting wages even now in Hawaii. But for that, I will hand it over to your host, Michael Taraent.

This is a sad day for America. The Japanese have led a vicious strike across the Pacific, assaulting American targets alongside British and Dutch holdings. Hong Kong is becoming a crater due to the intense fighting there. The Japanese advance unopposed in Burma and Malaya with few British forces there ready to oppose them. The Philippines have been invaded via Appari, and the several hundred aging bombers at Clark Field were annihilated by a surprise strike by Japanese bombers. Guam was invaded and quickly overcome, although the latest report an hour ago reported that pockets of resistance still held out in the port and in the Governor’s Administration Building nearby the port.

The true tragedies however, come at Wake, at Midway, at Hawaii, and especially at Pearl Harbor. Wake Island was visited by hundreds of G4Ms, which in case you don’t know are a form of Heavy Naval bombing aircraft used by the Japanese. This attack was chronologically last, and despite the enormous damage it did to the port, making it incapable of hosting ships at the moment, it was the least damaging attack of the four. Midway Island was also hit hard, this time around noon, by a severe shelling by Japanese battleships. Nearly everything of military worth was leveled, and civilian casualties are in the thousands, a very significant portion of the population there. The Island of Hawaii, easternmost in the Hawaiian chain, was visited by bombers early in the morning simultaneously with Pearl Harbor. This attack was unique in that it was followed up by an invasion by the Japanese Army, quickly occupying the island and facing only token resistance because they outnumbered the American defenders 13 to 1.

Pearl Harbor was luckily nearly empty. The only ships destroyed were transports and a handful of destroyers. However, the port was made worse that Wake Island’s was, and the airfield, barracks, and several prominent towns were all destroyed completely. Repair facilities and fuel storage tanks are also gone, and waves of aircraft still assault Oahu, the island Pearl Harbor is located on, every hour to this moment.

There have also been rumors among our military correspondents of a Naval battle involving carriers to the North of Oahu, however no details may yet be reported.
 
December 9th, 1941

Bridge of the USS Ranger


“Sir, reporting for duty.” Commander Arthur L. Bristol said, facing Admiral Kimmel’s back as the admiral assessed the damage to the pair of carriers from the vantage point. He appeared to wipe a tear from his eye before turning around to face the Commander.

“Commander are you the senior officer now in charge of this fleet?” Kimmel asked the man who was most likely in his late forties. Arthur L. Bristol had light brown eyes but his head was balding so he always wore his naval cap whenever he could, like right now.

“With the critical injury of Grand Admiral Barbey in the recent battle, I am indeed.” He answered solemnly.

“He was my friend, you know. He was like an older brother to me earlier in my career.” Admiral Kimmel then looked Bristol in the eye.

“Do take care of his fleet for him. And make sure these carriers are repaired and camouflaged.”

“Yes sir.” And with that Admiral Kimmel left, and Bristol set about organizing the crew. It would be nightfall soon, and they would need to get to camouflaging these carriers under the cover of darkness.
 
Oh dear...
 
Oh dear...

Ah yes, you have barely seen the beginning.

---




December 12th, 1941

Blood Side Radio: War News



Tonight, we have grave news regarding the recent Carrier battle North of Oahu, and regarding the Japanese advances in Guam and Hawaii. Your host Michael Taraent is currently busy, so I will be giving you the news tonight.

Our navy has suffered a defeat at the hands of the Japanese navy. Most of the battle was fought at great distances, 40-90 miles away from each fleet, due to the extensive use of aircraft. This is in fact the first time this has ever happened. It appears from what limited reports we have acquired since communications have gone back up, that our aircraft were outnumbered 650 to 180 in this battle. There have been no confirmed kills made by our pilots, however we lost several destroyers and a pair of light cruisers from the heavy aerial assault our sailors faced. The Ranger took a hit to its flight deck and was unable to land planes returning from their missions, redirecting what was left of them to the airfields on Oahu. The Saratoga however faced far more severe losses, as they entered the battle with an engine malfunction. She took a pair of torpedoes to her stern and began to list heavily to starboard, and only through the bravery of the fire control crews was she able to continue to float.

It seems that they made it into Pearl Harbor sometime after dusk on the 9th, after being attacked the previous evening. No follow up attacks have been made, but there is a reason for that we will get to in a minute.

Guam has been entirely secured by the enemy, and we no longer have any way of confirming the status of the island. However, an American sub in the area did manage to torpedo a supply ship en route to supply the occupying forces of Guam.

Back to Hawaii. The vicious assaults that followed the landings on Hawaii have managed to secure the airfields there, as well as all major strategic points of interest on the island. Their advance was halted however when they attempted to cross over to the island of Maui. Given time to prepare and some moderate air cover from the planes left from the carriers that rebased to Oahu airfields, soldiers based there were able to repulse the initial probing landings of Japanese troops, lending hope to the rest of the islands. It seems as if these landings are the only thing that are keeping Japanese aircraft busy enough to ignore the carriers in the Harbor. This has given the defenders time to transfer extensive AA defenses to the area surround ding the harbor to defend the valuable carriers.

In conclusion, FDR formally asked congress to declare war on Japan yesterday, and this was met with a formal declaration of war from congress at noon exactly earlier today. Ladies and Gentlemen, the United States of America has formally joined the allies, and by extension, this Second World War.
 
Did Japan declare war?

They did.


-----




December 15th, 1941

Northeastern shore of Maui, near Wailua



“Second wave incoming!” Came the shout from the observation post.

“Second wave incoming!” Was shouted again and again as it was passed down the line of trenches and defenses that lined the beaches of Maui. Only two weeks ago, tourists lined these shores. Battlements had taken their place now, a fact delivered with punctuality through a shell landing not 200 yards away from where Sargent First-Class Omar Bowen was huddling in his trench, cradling his M1 rifle. His platoon of nine men, what was left after the first wave, were within ten yards either way of him. They were defending a section of the trench that intersected with a supply trench leading up from the second line of trenches made for a counterattack. Classic Great War style.

“Landed! Up and fire!” Shouted a man from the observation post again, although you could barely hear him over the sounds of carnage now. Omar shot up and fired his M1 at a Jap he saw crawling out of a boat then dropped back down. Soon, the rest of his platoon followed his example.

A small object flew into the trench.

“Grenade!” Omar lunged for it, grabbed it with the tips of his fingers, and lobbed it back the way it came. Multiple screams answered, satisfying the Sargent. Looking to his right, a machine gunner was taken out by a bullet from the beach, and the wave of Asians moved forward. Omar rushed over to the gun and started firing.

“David! Get over here and help me!” He shouted in a hoarse voice. Sand was being picked up from the beach and thrown into the air by all the shells fired by artillery and naval ships. The wind was also extreme on this part of the beach, causing a quasi sandstorm to begin to pick up. Soon they couldn’t see any farther than the edge of the beach, around 300 yards away, and barely that far.

David rushed over bent over to avoid the constant bullets flying over the trench. Soon the MG was spitting out lead again, and the Japs advance was stalled in the middle of the beach with little cover.

“Artillery strike! Down!” Shouted a radioman a little ways down the trench. Everybody flattened out anyway once the whistling became pronounced. The ground shook, and several stray shells took out hundreds of American soldiers as well.

After what must have been a solid five minutes, the barrage stopped, although by then Omar was deaf in both ears and could only tell once the ground seemed to stop vibrating so much. Then the air started to vibrate around him and he looked up to see a dozen or so large bombers, presumably American since they pass over their position from the west, fly out over the sea.

“Maybe they are going after the ships that were firing on us.” He would have said more but then realized he couldn’t hear himself and that meant nobody else would be able to either. Then his eyes grazed the beach, and what he saw was no beach.

It was simply a huge crater, stretching as far as they eye could see on either direction. At some points in the trench line the cratering had extended into the first trench and the area behind it, and water was quickly rushing in to fill up at the bottom of this crater.

His first thought was simply ‘Damn’.

His second was ‘We have some damned accurate artillerymen’.
 
Alright my apologies to any of you who lurk in the shadows reading what I have done here! I had a bit of a bush time for the past week or so, but I'm back. Spending some time filling in some holes in the buffer, will likely have an update out tonight.
 
Eagerly awaiting your new update. Show those Japanese who's boss!