- Location
- United States of America
Plus with the breakage of the Japanese codes if they gather a big enough force to smash the defenses of wake the Thompson can try and pull a midway on them.
Changing Destiny (Kancolle)
- Thread starter Skywalker_T-65
- Start date
PAGDTenno
Verified Warmind. Probably on fire.
- Location
- South Carolina
That's unlikely. We don't have JN-25 cracked yet, so SIGINT isn't going to pull any of the stuff they did later in the war.
- Location
- United States of America
Ok, I confused the Purple Code for JN-35, but I still think there are the ingredients for a decisive battle centered around wake instead of midway.
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CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
There are not. Besides the deficiencies on the American side (four carriers to six, all unused to working together; may still have some Brewster Buffaloes flying; no broken codes), the Japanese are highly unlikely to even oblige the Americans. What with their air groups so badly chewed up and G3Ms available.
- Location
- In the depts of despair.
Having a small victory directly after Pearl where the Navy smash a small destroyer and cruiser force is still better than losing the Wake Marine Force and the island.
That said, I do wonder how good would be for the long term an strategic loss against the defending forces of the smaller islands of the Pacific. Put the japanese in a losing position too early and they will probably stop manning every little piece of ground and instead consolidate a much smaller defensive line instead of the scattered defenses that were too far to receive adecuate support and supplies.
Guadalcanal was a bitter fight despite being so far from the air bases at Rabaul and so close to the teeth of the US Navy, a fight closer to Rabaul or Truk would have been a lot bloodier, and god knows what would have happened if the IJN had the strenght to perform a counterattack similar to Savo Island the during the first night of the Tawara landings.
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Long-term, they're likely to lose Wake anyway, but I agree that smashing up the ships in the area and evaccing the Marines is not a bad idea, and it's a lot more likely than trying to pull a Midway on them. Still, it all depends on getting there before the island falls; the original schedule was to get there by December 24, which was... the day after the garrison surrendered.
Still, butterflies mean this is at least somewhat plausible.
Spectre
eternal servant to the Fire/EMS gods
- Location
- NY
Actually holding wake makes the South Pacific easier since Japan needed it as an observation post against an American attack on the home island. Without Wake the Combined fleet has to sit at home just in case we steam though the hole Wake pokes in their defensive line.
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In regard to the use of shipgirls in combat. What are people's views on the best way to deploy shipgirls with conventional forces? I would imagine that shipgirls would be very useful in amphibious landings such as D-Day and Peleliu. As shipgirls, especially the destroyer shipgirls, can be deployed alongside the landing troops and provide close covering fire with naval guns against large fortifications. Not to mention that a shipgirl is likely the only way you can counter another shipgirl.
Sandy River DL
(Verified Destroyer Leader)
- Location
- Lake Michigan
- Pronouns
- Her/She
The Navy is likely going to leery of deploying destroyergirls outside their hulls, if at all. After all, they are little girls. Hell, in my Burning Tides (in sig), destroyers flat out get pulled out of combat roles and reassigned to the Coast Guard.
- Location
- United States of America
If you think about it, a shipgirl is essentially an invincible ground unit. Utah with just her 5 inch AA guns could swat aside entire armored divisions. On land a shipgirl is a juggernaut of death of death. Machine gun bullets and even artillery rounds would impact harmlessly. They would be the ultimate breakthrough unit that could smash even the most fortified position. If anyone but the allies were to get a shipgirl it would make the war last much longer. If the say the Germans got a shipgirl and deployed her to the eastern front....well one could only imagine how things would go from there.
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PyrrhicSteel
Look natural.
- Location
- Idaho
I used to think that, but there are two main obstacles:
- Ground pressure. You have a lot of force getting channeled into two small points, and no buoyancy to counter it. Firing your guns could be the same as submerging your feet in concrete. Of course, this isn't a problem if you let MSSB wave it away.
- Fire. Without saltwater pumps to fight deck fires, ship-girls have very few ways of putting themselves out. There's a finite supply of CO2, sure, but they have enough air inside of them that "stop, drop, and roll" probably won't cut it. Not an issue if a river is nearby, but it is a limitation if one is careless.
- Location
- United States of America
1. This is a good point, but without knowing exactly how a shipgirls miniature guns work we can't tell if they produce the same amount of force as a full sized version would. What we can tell from when Utah was filling the sky with flak is that her shells at least seemed to have a normal effect on the explody end but again I can only guess what sort of magic happens for all this to not make the universe implode.
2. This assumes that a shipgirl would actually burn like a ship that has been hit. If they are leaning more towards the human end of the spectrum you may be looking for an ambulance instead of a fire truck for an injured shipgirl.
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- Location
- Mountains of Appalachia
Well, since the Combined Fleet can read a map just as well as Nimitz, that means that they will do their best to take Wake or at least neutralize it as a weakness. The Combined fleet needs strategic freedom of movement to be able to neutralize ABDACOM, take Singapore, and secure Japan's southwestern drive, which is the whole point of the war after all. Without oil from the DEI, and Malayan tin and rubber, Japan is likely to grind to a halt sooner rather than later.
Which, in turn, means that if their first attack fails as in IOTL, and Wake is reinforced/relieved by Thompson or Halsey leading a task force, it is not impossible that the first carrier vs carrier battle will happen over it as opposed to Coral Sea.
Spectre
eternal servant to the Fire/EMS gods
- Location
- NY
I just realized something. Wake might be going even worse for the IJN right now. The only reason the Nells weren't slaughtered along with the destroyers was because of some convenient cloud cover allowed the islands CAP to miss them. Now we might be looking at a good example of what happens to unescorted bombers throwing themselves against a defended target (along with even worse loses for the IJN when the full force of Wakes airpower hits them.)
- Location
- United States of America
VMF-211 could slaughter the Nells on a clear day.
Chapter 45
Skywalker_T-65
Writer with too many ideas.
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- Plural/They/He/Her
Chapter 45
This looks like a good spot...just need to move a few things first.
Frieda Hacke would be the first, the very first, to admit that her experience in combat like this was lacking. The rifle in her hands felt heavy in a way that few other things did. Rough wood ground against her palms, with each and every movement. Part of her was convinced she'd accidentally shoot someone. Part of her worried that she couldn't shoot at all. If she were being entirely honest...that was the larger part.
Bravado.
It had all been bravado when she said this was okay. Fighting like this was nothing like what she had done before. It hadn't been a lie, not really, that she went through worse. But now she was in control and it was only her fighting. It wasn't the same. How could it be? There was a world of difference between fighting alone and fighting together.
"Calm yourself, Frieda. Calm..." Sucking in a deep breath, the blonde woman gently set her borrowed Mauser down. The rifle loomed large in her vision, even leaning against a wall. But her hands didn't shake, as she tied her hair back more tightly into a ponytail. "Right. Hans said that the garrison would probably be patrolling through here."
Green eyes snapped towards a broken window, scanning for any sign of men in Feldgrau marching past. This was the route the refugees had taken, and Frieda had no intention of letting them be caught. She just had to...fight.
No problem. Not at all.
Idle hands moved pieces of furniture around, setting up a barricade around the window. Fighting cover and a firing position, that the Mauser was soon set upon. Pieces of fabric were wrapped around the barrel, further camouflaging it from sight. If anyone looked at the house, they'd see a Jewish home that had long since been looted and left abandoned. Or so Frieda hoped, as she settled in to wait for any sign of...anyone.
Waiting. Ha. She was someone who charged at her problems. Not someone who just waited.
"You would be so bored, wouldn't you, Franz...?"
No words answered her. And yet, Frieda wore an ever so slight smile. Just a twitch of her lips, as warmth spread through her body. No. She didn't hear anything, but as she settled down for the long wait, she could feel a hand on her shoulder. Gently supportive, just like she always remembered...
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Those Juden must have come through here. Keep looking!"
Frieda's head snapped up, blinking away drowsiness. Thin rays of sunlight shone through her window. The sign of a setting sun, and the sign of approaching darkness. If these men had taken any longer she may not have had to fight at all. Wouldn't that have been grand?
Well. Nothing for it.
Creeping silently to the window, Frieda's hands gently gripped her rough rifle as her green eyes scanned the field below her. It didn't take long for her sharp gaze to land on men marching in loose formation. A Gestapo man at the front, waving forward distinctly uninterested Heer occupation troops. Despite herself, that brought a smile to her face.
He probably dragged them out of cushy beds---or cushier Dutchwomen. Snorting softly, Frieda shook her head. These men weren't sailors...but they probably still acted like men. I doubt any of them are interested in hunting down runaway Jews. But that Gestapo man...
"Move it! If those runaways escape, you all will answer directly to Herr Seyss-Inquart!" The man in question seemed far more invested in his work, to put it mildly. Any amusement Frieda felt faded away, when that man glanced in her direction.
He didn't see her.
Yet the deadness in his eyes shook her to the core. There was no spark...nothing at all. Nothing but a fanaticism that transcended borders and drove men to hunt their fellows for no reason but being different.
"Franz...are these the men who succeeded us? Is this what we fought for?" Frieda whispered, her grip on the rifle tightening to the point wood creaked ominously in her hands. She couldn't believe it.
"And if I ever find out which one of you let those Juden free, you will wish you had died in battle for our Reich! And I will make you watch as those runaways are puni..."
Crack
Frieda hadn't even realized she had fired, until the Gestapo man spun to the ground. His dead eyes vanishing in a spray of pink mist, cut off mid-sentence. Chaos reigned among the Heer soldiers, men screaming and barking out orders. Some of the troops dropped to the ground, others to their knees. To a man, however, they scanned for where the shooter had fired from.
And with shaking hands, Frieda pulled the bolt back on her Mauser.
I...I didn't even realize I shot. When did I...
"Watch the house!" A substantially more alert Lieutenant barked, waving forward a pair of rifleman. "Joachim, Friedrich! I want you two at the front...break down the door if you have to."
"Jawohl!"
Forcing her hands to steady, the blonde German aimed her rifle at one of those two men. Her eyes looked down a suddenly tight sight, zeroing in on a man younger than many she had known in the past. Too young. She could see determination in his handsome features, as he ran forward. Directly at her...
Once more, the rifle bucked against her shoulder.
"Joachim!" An anguished voice cried out, as Frieda ducked behind her barricade. Her Mauser fell in her lap, the barrel smoking while a fusillade of rifle fire began to batter against her window.
Whoever said it sounded like the patter of hail was lying. She could hear the cracks and rattles of bullets battering through wood. That cover wouldn't last long. And as a bullet blew right past her ear, Frieda realized that very well.
Have to move. Have to move.
Rising on unsteady legs, Frieda threw herself out of the room's doorway. Her body crashed against a railing, the Mauser tangled in her dress. She barely even noticed. Scrambling for safety, her steps were frantic and chaotic in their every movement--breaths came in short gasps that belied real fear. Frieda Hacke was afraid and didn't even deny it.
The image of that young soldier falling in shock refused to leave her. Battle was supposed to be at long distance...she wasn't supposed to see someone die like that!
"We won't let that bastard get away!" Angry voices echoed up from the first floor. When had they gotten there?
"Window is covered, sir!"
"Good. Frederich, you know what to do!"
With a mounting sense of dread, Frieda clutched her rifle tight to her chest and looked for some way out of the building. She couldn't go out the front. She couldn't go out the window. Where...
'If you don't have a way out, make a way out.'
Those words weren't her own. Yet, it brought a thin smile to her scarred face. Make her own way out...right! Despite the fear still raging in her mind, Frieda turned away from the sound of men battering their way against a door, and turned to the wall opposite her. To anyone else, it was just a wall. To her, it was a way out.
With her Mauser safely secured, Frieda sucked in a deep breath...and ran.
"What in the wo---"
A soldier attempting to flank the building only managed to get a few words out, before he was crushed underneath a woman jumping from it. Frieda winced at the impact, but quickly got to her feet. The man beneath her was in no shape to call for help, and the others didn't seem to realize she had escaped.
I can't fight them anymore. This should keep them occupied, at least. Louis, I hope you are ready to hide everyone.
Frieda Hacke couldn't bring herself to fight so soon. With a hand gripping her pipe tightly, the blonde woman looked up at the hole she had made in the wall...before she took off running. There was a river in the distance she could use to hide, and so long as the Heer troops were too busy looking for her, they wouldn't be looking for the escapees.
That was her hope, at least. If this worked then maybe, just maybe, they could do it again. And maybe then they could see a Germany that Franz and the others she fought with would be proud of.
"Admiral, I hope you know what you're doing here. I really do."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Far away from any combat, and safe in their anonymity, the Jewish escapees marched through a light forest. The Dutch Resistance men that were guarding them knew the lay of the land, to say the least. Despite the lack of real trails, the road was hardly uncomfortable or remotely dangerous. That didn't make the path any easier though.
"Mama...I'm tired." Little Lisa clutched her Mama's hand tightly, as she stumbled a little on a root.
"I know baby," Sophie soothed her daughter, her own face streaked by tears. "I need you to be strong, okay?"
"Mmm."
Smiling at her daughter, Sophie turned her eyes on the dark-haired man by her side. The evident leader of the Dutchmen, he hadn't given his name or even really spoken much. He was more of a mystery than Frieda Hacke had been, and that was saying something considering Germans had done nothing but make life hard for the Jews in Amsterdam. This man...he clearly was dedicated to helping them, but not one step more.
As if he realized she was staring, the Dutchman turned his head. Dark eyes stared at Sophie, as an eyebrow raised up in a silent question. Despite a blush crossing her face, Sophie stared right back.
"Where are we going?" Her voice was short, shorter than she may have intended.
With how long they had been trudging through this forest, one could hardly blame her.
"Somewhere safe," the dark-haired man was annoyingly vague, however. Perhaps understanding that, a thin scowl crossed his face. "Some German nobleman is taking you all in." As he finished speaking, the man snorted at the very idea.
Sophie couldn't believe what he said, "A--noble? Why is there a German noble here?"
"Good question."
Without another word, the Resistance soldier turned back to following the path. Leaving a confused Sophie to follow along, with her husband placing a hand on her shoulder. His handsome face was filled with concern, when she turned to look at him. Concern for her and for their family, walking into the unknown on the word of a German woman.
It wasn't hard to see he was uncomfortable with the idea, "Sophie...we need to be careful here. I don't trust them. Do you?"
Biting her lip, Sophie sighed. "I don't know." Despite her worry, she smiled at her husband and squeezed her daughter's hand. "We weren't exactly in a good place anyway, were we?"
"Hard to deny that point." Her husband laughed softly. A laugh tinged with sadness that both husband and wife felt. They had never told their daughter, but her friend was never coming back.
It was an unspoken secret among the Jews in Amsterdam. They knew that when someone vanished, they weren't coming back. Either shipped to a labor camp or killed. It was only decades, if not centuries, of learning to live under questionable conditions that kept the Jewish population from fighting back. That, and the Council told them that non-resistance was the only option. It was a polite fiction when everything they knew was taken from them.
Leaving like they had was the only chance there was to escape. Assuming, of course, that they weren't being lead to the Gestapo anyway. It was a risk they had to take. Stay and know they could die at any second, or trust that they may stand a chance of surviving if they left. Not much of a choice in the end, was it?
It never was a choice at all.
Sighing softly, Sophie leaned down and gently picked her daughter up. She didn't know what Hacke had been, to so easily carry the girl. But...
"Mama?" Lisa stared curiously at her mother, clutching her little doll tightly.
Sophie just smiled, "You can rest like this, dear. Let Mama carry you for a bit, alright?"
Her daughter smiled back, letting her head come to rest on Sophie's bosom. The Jewish woman gently hummed an old lullaby, swaying her hips to match the tone. Her husband's hand on her shoulder soothed her as she soothed her daughter. And the rest of the little group of families? Much the same scene played out among all of them, as they walked towards a clearing in the distance.
A clearing where a man and woman stood, with two German soldiers on either side of them. The Resistance men tensed slightly, though the Jews hid whatever they were feeling.
"Is that Louis?" Sophie wondered aloud, sending a furtive glance at her husband. He sent a short shrug back.
The man in the lead, tall and dark-haired, stepped forward. He certainly carried himself as a nobleman. His back was ramrod straight and his posture unforgiving. This was a man who was used to formalities and at home in performing them. Despite the fact he was young. He couldn't be older than his mid-thirties. And yet...
"Hello, everyone. Would I be correct in assuming that Frau Hacke sent you?"
...his voice, thick German accent or not, was kind. A smile was on his face, and it even reached his eyes. Despite the soldiers at his side being much more serious, this was a man who was doing is best to be welcoming. It was a nice change from the Resistance men and the German soldiers in Amsterdam. It didn't put Sophie entirely at ease...but then, few things would.
At least this man seemed kind.
"Yes, they are." The short Dutchman answered for everyone, staring distastefully at 'Louis'. No love lost there. "Hacke sends her regards. She stayed behind to delay the pursuit."
Louis' smile faded slightly. "I see," he raised a hand to his face, rubbing at his brow. A deep sigh escaped him. "She's just like father told me her commander was. Well, I'm sure she'll be alright."
Forcing his smile back, the nobleman looked past the Dutchman and towards the Jewish escapees. His eyes lingered on little Lisa, who was staring at him with undisguised curiosity. They soon moved on, however, though his smile seemed a little stronger.
"In any case, welcome to you all. I have set aside some housing for you all, though I do request you stay inside for now. My family has some clout with the Nazi officials, but I would rather not test them if I can avoid it." Here, his voice lost any levity it may have had. Louis was deadly serious. "I promise you that, so long as we are careful, they will never find you. This entire area is off any maps and completely secure, if we are careful."
There were murmurs of assent from the tired Jews, many of them just wanting to set their belongings down and rest. Sophie wasn't immune to that herself.
"Good. My wife, Kira, will show you around." At that, Louis turned and smiled at the woman by his side. She smiled back, smoothing down her dress.
"Come along now, if you please." Her accent was even thicker than Louis, with a tone to it that Sophie didn't recognize. Her dark hair bounced in ringlets down her back, as the pretty woman waved the tired refugees forward.
Moving with the rest of the group, Sophie couldn't hide her relief at being safe. A hint of worry for Hacke was there, if only for her daughter's sake. But most of her was just happy to be out of the ghetto and somewhere where she may finally relax. Louis seemed nice and trustworthy...and frankly, she had no choice but to trust him.
And as Kira lead her to a little shack, she could only hope that this was the right choice.
Frau Hacke...you had better come back. I have to talk to you about all of this.
It has been entirely too long since I wrote ground combat. Regardless, here we go. More hints on Frieda and Louis, and we move the plot forward. Next chapter will either round out Germany or move back to the Pacific. We'll see which direction the muse pushes me, TBH.
Also, Holding the Line updated too.
- Location
- Nashville
And probably not in a friendly way. Well, we now know ship girls can dish out punishment on land. All that's left is to ask if they are glass cannons or supersoldiers...
Both good and bad. Good in that he needed to be silenced one way or another, bad in that she gave away her position perhaps too soon. One can easily see she's unused to battle like this.
On another note, it is good to read that the refugees have seemingly found a bit of safety, fleeting though it may be.
Well, considering that Hacke, who is likely a shipgirl, was able to smash through a wall by running at it. Shipgirls are likely to be very tough.
- Location
- Canada
I feel vaguely bad for whichever Wehrmacht grunt ended up being rammed by the fuel tanks or stern of a Hochseeflotte member. Many thousands of tons of steel moving if only at a running speed is still very unhealthy to be run over by.
Then I remember that they are tools of the Nazis, invaders where they are right now, and the feeling goes away.
EDIT: "Never before has the bosom of a comely lass been so painful." -Unnamed Heer soldier on this date-
Then I remember that they are tools of the Nazis, invaders where they are right now, and the feeling goes away.
EDIT: "Never before has the bosom of a comely lass been so painful." -Unnamed Heer soldier on this date-
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- Location
- Nashville
Heer Trooper: At least I'm not on the Eastern front...
Spectre
eternal servant to the Fire/EMS gods
- Location
- NY
well considering she literally ran a guy over, as well as Utah lifting several ton chuncks of steel and ignoring heat and flames that should have melted the flesh off her hands... I'm leaning towards the later.
also
Heer Soldier: "When they said 'go to Holland. the women there will be throwing themselves at you' this isn't what I had in mind."
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