Struggle Pacific Read online

  © Max Lamirande, 2022

  Published by Max Lamirande

  © 2022 Saguenay, Quebec, Canada

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or modified in any form, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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  FOREWORD

  Dear readers,

  I welcome you back to the Pacific Alternate Series. As always, the first order of business is to thank you for reading my work. Without your support, I would only be a man with ideas and no books.

  Well, yet another book is done! The third installment of the Pacific Alternate Serie. 14th published book since May 2020. What started as a little side hobby has now become a major part of my life.

  I will now start working on Red Europa, book 11 of the Blitzkrieg Alternate Serie. I will now be publishing at a rate of 1 book per 2 months instead of one per month. I got some changes in my life (a new real day job) and so, less time for fun work. But don’t worry, I will still be publishing books!

  The third book of the series pick-up right was the last one left the story. Axis and Allies pitted against the other in New Guinea, Southern China, and Hawaii.

  Yamamoto is determined to storm through and take Port Moresby, while the Imperial Army wants a piece of the Chinese Nationalist capital, Chungking. Another big battle is brewing off the Hawaiian Islands that will again put the Combined Fleet against the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

  All of our heroes are also back, from high-flying ace Takashi Onishi to anti-hero Ishiro Tanaka, sub-skipper Jim Cloutier, destroyer captain Hara, General MacArthur, and Grand Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.

  I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did writing it.

  PROLOGUE

  The Siege of Port Moresby

  Japan double down on the attack, August 17th, 1942

  View of Port Moresby before the siege

  General Harukichi Hyakutake was looking at the ruins that used to be Port Moresby. The Imperial forces were arrayed in a semi-circle around the town. From his vantage point, a hill overlooking the New Guinean city, he could see the tracers and explosions that blossomed across the frontline. It was quite rare that one commanding officer could see his entire field of battle. Modern war was so vast that the theaters and battles often spanned kilometers. City battles were much the same, where one could only see the outlying parts of the town.

  But Port Moresby was a very small town. Its critical importance had no link to its population size. The harbor was the main Australian base for New Guinea and controlled the entire area because it had the only deepwater port in the whole region. So, all supplies came there. As a result, the town was the administrative capital of the Aussie territory.

  The battle for the city had been raging since the start of the war, with the Imperial forces trying to take it. The first attempt had been met with failure as General Hyakutake was ordered to cross the Kokoda Track through the Owen Stanley range and attack Port Moresby. The track was nothing more than a nightmarish jungle infested with diseases like malaria. It also had the worst weather of all. Everything had to be walked up the trail, soldiers, guns, supplies.

  Nonetheless, the Japanese high command had decided that this would be the way to go. The Japanese force soon encountered the Australians and Americans, who met them halfway through the mountains. Followed a grueling battle of attrition for both sides. Hyuatake believed for a time that he would die in the god-forsaken land, as the high command soon changed strategy and left his forces to their own devices.

  The Imperial Navy tried to land troops directly in the town with an important Naval operation that rounded up the tip of New Guinea and entered the Coral Sea. But it was defeated and had to turn back. Then Yamamoto ordered Admiral Inoue to land troops in Milne Bay, where it was hoped they would be able to circumvent the Owen Stanley range and take Port Moresby from the south. At the same time, Hyakutake had again pushed hard from his Kokoda positions. But that also had been met with failure on the ground, with the Allies quickly reacting and sending more troops to the area. The Japanese forces in Milne Bay were now stuck for the duration in a stalemate, with no real hope of victory and dwindling supplies.

  Hyakutake's force was very well supplied. In fact, it was almost unheard of for Army troops to have such a regular flow of supplies. The air force even came regularly to drop supplies from the air. The Japanese officer knew that while he was well furnished in food and ammo, others were withering on the vine. He knew that because high command had prioritized other operations in the area, and during that time (when his forces were in the Kokoda Trail), he’d only received a trickle of supplies.

  After seeing their inability to land troops elsewhere, the high command decided their first idea was the best one. They doubled down and reinforced Hyakutake's forces while sending a powerful naval attack on Port Moresby. The plan was simple: shatter the harbor and its defenses, disorganize the Allied troops, and cut their flow of food, ammo, and oil.

  After a shattering success in destroying the city's facilities, the Imperial Navy returned to Rabaul, but the deed was done. Hyakutake launched his offensive roughly at the same time and smashed through the defenses in the Kokoda trail.

  And here he was on that hot and humid morning of August 17th, 1942. The town he was looking at was nothing more than a trench and bunker-riddled wreck of a place. Several smoke columns rose in the air. The General could also see that the Allies were frantically trying to clear the harbor. These brave men did so under the fire of his guns, but they seemed to be making progress anyway.

  On the right, the beach (called Ela Beach by the Australians) was now half occupied by his forces. A trench that went almost to the sea ran through it, and both sides fought heavily to overpower the other. Hyakutake's problem was that he wasn't as strong as he should be and had not yet succeeded in storming the town. In an ideal world, he would need some Type 95 tanks, a lot more heavy artillery, or even another naval strike from the Imperial Navy. But so far, all his requests had been denied.

  "The hill here on the left," pointed the General to the lieutenant beside him, taking notes. "Yes, sir?" Order the 23rd Regiment to move and assault it. The Americans are building defenses there that will be hard to dislodge if we don't clear it out." "Yes, sir." Hyakutake continued in the same vein: "Get the artillery to support the attack. I want this done today before the enemy gets too strong a position there. " Of course, General," said the lieutenant.

  Battleship Kongo

  Yamamoto oversees the repairs August 21st, 1942

  Battleship Kongo operating near Hawaii, 1942

  Admiral Yamamoto had reviewed the battleship he was about to visit before coming on board. It was only normal, as the vessel's crew would expect their overall commander to know everything there was about the ship. The Grand Admiral made a point of knowing everything there needed to know about his boats. Consequently, he'd ordered one of his staff officers to bring the ship's history and specs. He knew a lot by heart, but the little details would enable him to ask relevant questions and impress the men on the ships.

  Kongo's name originated from a mountain near Nara, the old Japanese capital. The word in Japanese also meant indestructible; it was the Imperial Japanese Navy's first super-dreadnought type battlecruiser and the name-ship of her class. The class also included three more vessels built thereafter in Nipponese arsenals. She was upgraded to a battleship rating in the 1930s and served in several major naval operations up to August 1942. The powerful battlewagon was wounded from the serious damage received in the recent battle in the Pacific.

  It was laid down in 1911 in Barrow-in-Furness, Britain. At the time, Japan could already build its own battleships. Still, they wanted to study the latest British construction techniques before making sister ships to the Kongo in Japan -- the Hiei, Haruna, and Kirishima. It was commissioned in 1913. The vessel received two huge reconstructions in 1929 and 1935. These reconstructions dramatically increased hull plating, weapon firepower, and speed. Additionally, her superstructure was completely rebuilt. She was then reclassified as a fast battleship to accompany the growing carrier fleet.

  Kongo’s main battery consisted of eight 14-inch (356 mm) heavy-caliber main naval guns in four twin turrets (two forward and two aft). The U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence noted the turrets to be "similar to the British 15-inch turrets", with improvements made in flash-tightness. Each of her main guns could fire high explosive or armor-piercing shells 38,770 yards at a rate of about two shells per minute. In keeping with the Japanese doctrine of deploying more powerful vessels before their opponents, Kongo and her sister ships were the first vessels in the world equipped with 14-inch (356 mm) guns in the 1930s. The secondary battery of Kongo originally consisted of sixteen 6-inch (152 mm). Her six-inch naval guns could fire five to six rounds per minute.

  The battleship's armor was not the thickest or strongest in the world, but the takeaway was that it could sail faster and follow any operation that needed speed. It still was well protected, with a waterline belt of 279 mm (11 in), a deck of 58 mm (2.3 in), and 229mm gun (9 in)turrets.

  The battlewagon had been damaged below the waterline, forcing the Imperial Navy engineers to put it in drydocks for lengthy repairs. Luckily for Japan, two of the Pearl Harbor dry docks had been repaired (and cleared of debris) since the Island's conquest, so it was possible to use one of t
hem for Kongo. With this type of damage, the battleship had barely made it to Oahu after the naval battle, and it was out of the question to sail it out of Pearl before it could be operational again.

  As the name indicates, a dry dock is a facility devoid of water in which a naval vessel can be worked on. In practice, the dry dock is first flooded with water, allowing the ship to enter without additional equipment. Once the boat is secured in place, the dry dock is drained, and the ship rests on a structure that prevents it from tipping over or moving for the duration of its time in the dry dock.

  Typically, a ship will enter a dry dock when it needs to undergo repairs or maintenance or while the vessel is under construction. The use of dry docks dates back to medieval China, as far back as the 10th century. The first mention of them came from Shen Kuo, a scientist and statesman during the Song Dynasty, in his Dream Pool Essays.

  So Kongo was sailed into the drydock that had previously housed American battleships. The irony of that was not lost on Grand Admiral Yamamoto as his small shuttle ship approached the drydock's landing. He sailed directly from Yamato. He couldn't see anything or any work done on the great ship from where he was. It was normal since the damage was below the waterline, which meant that the workers would be busy in the drydock's structure, welding new plates to patch the ship up.

  Half an hour later, the Grand Admiral set foot on Kongo's deck, followed by a throng of officers in their best white uniforms, and watched by many of the adoring looks from the sailors busily working on the vessel. Yamamoto's inspection was about speeding up the work (he needed the battlewagon as soon as possible as the Americans were bound to come back soon to attack) as it was for a morale boost.

  The Kongo had performed well in the battle and deserved some congratulations. So the Grand Admiral employed himself to chat with the deck officers, went to the gun turret to discuss how the battle went and congratulated them on the hits they made on the opposing ships. All the sailors were delighted by their leader's candor and empathy.

  He was eventually brought below decks where the real action lay. The damaged area was but a mangled set of destroyed armor plates. The ship had been hit by a powerful American torpedo and had been lucky to survive the hit. The damage control crews had done a superb job of keeping Kongo afloat. Everywhere around, sparks flew, and welding flashes lit brightly.

  The tour ended in the captain's cabin for a meal with the ship's officers. There Yamamoto discussed the war in general and listened to the mood of the men gathered around the table. He decided that they still harbored an excellent spirit and felt confident in victory. He did not harbor the same hopes as he knew Americans would keep coming back for more until they pushed the Imperial Navy out of Hawaii, but of course, he did not mention any of it during the diner. It wasn't good to tell his men that their chances of victory remained quite slim whatever they did.

  The advance on Chungking

  18th Imperial Division after the battle of the Nu River, August 19th, 1942

  In the final days of the Battle of Pekin in 1937, the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army (Nationalists) helped to evacuate the Chiang Kai-shek government to Chungking, which was declared the provisional capital of the Republic of China. Hundreds of government offices were moved to the city from Pekin, along with the diplomatic missions of foreign countries. Tens of thousands of people came from coastal provinces, bringing with them arsenals, factories, and schools. At the time, friendly powers (Britain, USA) also rushed supplies to Chungking to bolster its war effort. Despite the Japanese bombings, the population's morale—which had grown to more than 1,000,000 from a prewar total of less than 250,000—was high. It was China's capital city for all instances and purposes and had everything that went along with it. It was critical to the Nationalists in order to continue the war's prosecution.

  Following their victory in Pekin, the Japanese continued their advance into the Chinese hinterland. The new capital was located in Southern China and had been quite safe from the Imperial Army until the war between the British and the Japanese. An army could access China through Burma. Not without great difficulty, but it was doable.

  After the Burma Road was built (the supply road that went from Rangoon to Chungking), the deed was a lot easier for the Nipponese, thanks to Allied efforts. The Japanese Army rapidly attacked the road since it was the only supply link that China had left in the war. Japan controlled every other access (all the harbors) with which the Nationalist Chinese could get weapons. The country did not really make modern war material (apart from rifles and ammo), so everything had to be imported from British and American sources.

  For Japan, storming Chungking was of the utmost importance. If it fell, all of Yunnan province would fall to its forces, and the potential victory would further degrade China's capability to wage war. It was even possible that the Nationalist Government would surrender if the city fell.

  After the victory on the Nu river, the 18th Imperial Division had been ordered to advance along with the rest of the 15th Army. Their ultimate objective was Chungking, but before that, they had to battle their way through rough terrain and take the major city of Kunming.

  The Southern Expeditionary Army Group (15th Army), commanded by Lieutenant General Shojiro Lida, was composed of the 57th, 33rd, and 71st divisions, the 18th Division, and two armored brigades (Type 94 tanks).

  In this setting, private soldier Ishiro Tanaka walked northward on a dusty god-forsaken road in the direction of Kunming. The 18th Imperial Division was the unit advancing at the front of it all.

  The imperial soldier's days were filled with dust, thirst (the supply situation continued to be terrible and worsened as they advanced deeper into China), and skirmishes with the damned Chinese forces.

  The Nationalist forces could not face the Japanese troops in battle in a general sense. Their main problem was that they had dismal training, sub-par weapons, and a perennial lack of ammunition. At least, thought Ishiro as he kicked yet another rock off the road and into the ravine (he was bored), that was something the damned Army could supply. They didn't care much about their men's comforts. Still, it did care very much about the means to kill enemies.

  But with the Burma Road, it was very difficult for the Army to bring the heavy weapons that normally won the day in any fight with the Nationalists, so the going was difficult. The Chinese took every opportunity to ambush the men of the 18th. They had to advance carefully. The air force, normally active over their heads, was also having difficulties covering the area, for their airfields were far and between. Some were being built, apparently, but the grunts like Tanaka were stuck without air support in the meantime.

  They were in some kind of mountain pass that towered on each side of the unit. Some men had been sent ahead to make sure no ambush would be set on the road itself, but the officers (and the men accordingly) were quite worried about the towering cliffs on each side.

  And as it was a perfect place for an ambush, the Chinese obliged. The firing started quite suddenly, and a man right in front of Ishiro was hit in the head, splattering him with gore and blood. He instinctively pulled his paratrooper version Arisaka rifle up to see where the shots came from. Smoke and noise filled the ambient air as the enemy fired down on the Japanese soldiers. It didn't take long for the beleaguered men of the 18th division to start shooting at everything that moved in the rocks. The whole mountain pass was engulfed in a major firefight within a few seconds.

  Ishiro, like the rest of the men in the exposed area, dove for any cover they could find. He jumped into the side ditch that he'd just kicked a few rocks in. This saved him from the Chinese bullets. Eventually, some artillery was called in. The Division didn't have a lot, but they had some painstakingly brought up the Burma Road and over the Nu River.

  The whistling sounds of falling shells were heard, and every man dove for cover, as while they were aimed at the mountains, there was no guarantee that some wouldn't fall on the road. Most of the soldiers ended up in the ditch like Tanaka.