IJA Secret Intelligence Team at Chofu

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hope alls well with shinpachi. can't wait to read the next article.:D
 
Sorry kaigunair for my late posting but thanks for your waiting! Here is -


Article No.93

Ambush at the Uraga Channel
==================
Author: Mr. Teruo Miyoshi


On March 17, 1945 when the farewell telegram was sent from the head of army corps, Lieutenant-general Tadamichi Kuribayashi to our general headquarters in mainland Japan, organized resistance by Ogasawara Army Corps came to the end and our Iwo-jima had been fallen.

Soon after the occupation, the U.S. military proceeded re-construction of such ex-Japanese airfields as "Motoyma" and "Kita" quickly to build up the larger 2,600 meters runways to deploy the long-ranged P-51 Mustangs along with P-38 Lightnings in early April. A large advance base for attacking the Japanese mainland was being constructed on the Iwo-jima for the large fighter group which held exceeding 100 P-51 Mustangs and P-38 Lightnings.

Fighters frequently took off the island not only to escort B-29s who carried out the indiscriminated incendiary air raids in nighttime but to carry out their own attacks onto our mainland air bases as well as reconnaissance on our military facilities in daytime.
We were busily occupied to the adequate grasp of the collection and analysis of information, the trend of the American aircrafts and reports to the headquarters days and nights.

During our patrol mission, we were basically using the code(cipher) for communication but, in case we had to report promptly or we happened to be involved in air combat, we used the high speed communication with raw text or the radio phone as we had no time for using the code.
In that case, the word and sentense should be favorable as short as possible but if it had not been a term which your partner could understand, communication could not have been established.

When we talk about the word JPEG or MPEG of the data compression method for the personal computer, it reminds us of a top IT technology but remember we have already been using the "compression of words" for hundreds of years. For example, we have "Unadon" for "Unagi-donburi(Bowl of rice topped with broiled eel)" or "Tendon" for "Tenpura-donburi(Bowl of rice topped with fried fish and vegetables)". Above all, there are many compressed words for Katakana letters like "Carnavi" for "Car-navigation", "Apli" for "Application". "Degicame" for "Degital-camera" is generalized recently.
Listening to the conversation among young people, I am often unable to understand what kind of Japanese they use.

Now -
The purpose of communication is to deliver message as briefly as possible with no errors.
I wondered if there should be any much better compressed words for emergency communication than the code. So, I proposed Chief of Communication Room and Sergeant-major(Takenaka) to study "Compression of the word" together.

We had a meeting after dinner to list up the words we daily frequently used and suggested each other the relevant compressed words but did not reach the good conclusion. We were to have a meeting, with new idea, again on the next day. As I was a proposer, thinking how about this, how about that, I couldn't fall asleep easily though we had a sortie schedule with 3 patrol planes at 0500 tomorrow morning.

In early next morning, we 3 planes took off one after another. The plane of Sergeant-major and I flew along the Izu Peninsula(*loacated nearby Mt.Fuji) to south.
"Any news, let us know immediately." I asked our base as I could not help feeling something wrong might happen on that day.

I told it to Sergeant-major. He advised -
"Yes, some times, such presentiment comes true but when you are ready enough to cope with it calmly, you don't have to worry even if any unusual thing may happen. If you can't cope with it appropriately, death will be waiting for you. Bear it in your mind well."

"3 P-51s circling above our base. They do not seem attacking us. They seem contacting with their base. Maybe telling 'No suspicious aircrafts. Only barns. Was the information correct?' We are trying to catch their radio frequency." our base advised.

To hear that, Sergeant-major requested Chief of Communication Room,
"I request you to order the base staff not to go out in the uniform and not to shoot them till they begin to shoot."
"We have been ordered by Sub-commander Yokota to shelter into the air-raid shelter in the coppice and all already completed." Chief confirmed.

I thought the circling 3 P-51s were possibly taking photos repeatedly. I did not know how they had obtained the information about our base but there could have been any anti-Japanese agent who informed it to the US side saying "There is a suspicious facility to doubt a secret aviation unit".

"They seem completed mission. We have caught their communication. Junction is offshore Tsurugizaki of Miura City, Kanagawa Prefecture. We judge it from the coordinate value the US aircrafts told." our Chief advised.

To hear that, Sergeant-major looked unusual. On radio phone, he instructed our other 2 patrol planes flown by Sergeant Goto and Sergeant Nakatani as follows -
"As you have just heard, the US aircrafts are thought taken photos of our base and its surroundings. I guess that they have already informed their base of what they observed but we can't allow them to bring back the film. We only shoot them down. Gather above Johga-shima Island at altitude 6,000 (abt. 18,000 feet). We head for their junction. Here is my advice again. The opponents are not good at the air combat of 1-vs-1 and of the low altitude. Bearing it in mind, attack them."

Image of the Miura Peninsula came up on my radar screen but no US aircraft (*The author's plane had benn renewed to the latest model of Ki-45c equipped with the radar device. This is introduced in Article No.90 which is not translated yet). I estimated that they were flying above the countryside separately to avoid attack from the ground. Altitude would not be higher than 1,000 meters (abt.3,000 feet) at highest.

According to the information from our base afterwards, they seemed came in our mainland from the cape Inubo-saki which is located at the east end of Kanto Plains and turned to west at the northern part of Tokyo to access our base. This fact indicated that our inland information were grasped in details by the US military. When they flew lower altitude, the speed looked so fast that it was harder for us on the ground to identify them whether they were friend or enemy. That was why they could invade easily.

One of them appeared on my radar screen.
It might have been overlapped with the ground image earlier.
Sergeant-major instructed both sergeants Goto and Nakatani to gather 10 km(abt.6 miles) offshore the cape Tsurugi-zaki and we 3 planes ambushed them with a certain interval each other.
I was also able to catch the rest 2 on the screen.
I was impressed with the superiority of the radar. It could catch the target even at such a long distance that targets were invisible by the human eye.

Sergeant-major sent instructions to both sergeants one after another,
"I take the first one", "Sergeant Goto, you take the second", "Sergeant Nakatani, you take the last", "They are not visible yet but fly toward the direction xx(*value), the coordinate xx" and he added his murmuring "It's impossible for me to allow them to enter our capital from the backdoor and go out from the front door with no greeting".

The first one was visible. The pilot did not seem noticed us.
He was flying to the south at altitude about 1,000 meters (3,000 feet). It would be hard for him to discover us when there was the altitude difference as many as 5,000 meters (abt.15,000 feet) and, at his low altitude, he was busy about paying his full attention to the horizontal direction and his enemy vessels on the sea.

Sergeant-major dove with the full throttle.
Speed was accelerated faster than the maximum for the level flight, exceeding 600 km(abt.330 knots)/hour.
Aiming at a little forward of the target nose, Sergeant-major sent his full volley of bullets and cannons.
It was an instant game.
The target burst into flames to disappear into the Uraga Channel.

How were Sergeants Goto and Nakatani?
They reported that the other two targets had failed to climb from their low altitude and crashed into the offshore Miura Peninsula.

Informing of the war-result to the base, I thought that our team would have to move as soon as possible, otherwise, there would be no more security that we would have no more attack.

Also, how long Japan was going to hang in....


/End of Article No.93
 

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thanks shinpachi! another wonderful article.

I wonder if someone is able to identify the US pilots in this article that were shot down. Losing 3 planes at this stage of the war would probably have been noted somewhere. Was there a date of this incident in the article?

thanks for translating these!
:BIG:
 
Thanks Wayne for reading!

I'm just rendering my trial short movie for the first time this year.
Please look forward to it too:)
 

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thanks shinpachi! another wonderful article.

I wonder if someone is able to identify the US pilots in this article that were shot down. Losing 3 planes at this stage of the war would probably have been noted somewhere. Was there a date of this incident in the article?

thanks for translating these!
:BIG:

You are welcome, kaigunair:)
I'm glad if you enjoyed my translation.

Yes, I believe the author had any clue, like the incident date and IDs, to identify his opponents.
No one courld write such a detailed story as this without memo. This incident is thought happened in April to May 1945 at least.

To research more details, I need concentration but have no time to do at the moment.
Sorry but I believe I will be sure to have an opportunity in the future.
Please enjoy my translation for the time being.

Thanks!
 
You are welcome, Aaron and vikingBerserker!
I'm so happy you enjoyed my post again.
Thanks for reading my poor translation:oops:

PS: According to his story article no.90, the small radar was an experimental one and had been proved effective in no.93.
 
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It's so kind of you vikingBerserker, Aaron and Wayne to encourage but -
Nothing is easy:(

My story will be like this -
1. B-29s take off Saipan. Target Nakajima aircraft in the west of Tokyo
2. They encounter Japanese fighters above Hamamatsu nearby Mitsubishi, Nagoya
3. A sq 22 Haley's Comet of 73rd BG gets flak hit on bomb-bay to fire
4. She abandons bombs but one bomb stays in the bay to let the doors keep open
5. Fighters judge she is damaged and begin fierce attack
6. Jack rush from her front, Tony from above, Zeke from below and Nick from the rear to ram
7. Nick crashed
8. At altitude 24,000 ft above Chiba Prefecture(east to Tokyo), crews bail out before her explosion

This is a true story happened on January 27, 1945 but story seems too long.
I have no such good skills as complete all story.....this is the problem....

I have a lot of problems but please let me try once:lol:
Thanks.
 

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Thanks Aaron. I'm beginning to enjoy making the movie.
At first, I have replaced my last GIF image with the smaller but better one with the blur effect.
Also, another small sample attached here:)
It's OK now. I will take time.
Thanks for your good advice.

HI, Wayne:)
Thanks for your so friendly encouragement, too.
You often speak some good Japanese with good timing:shock:
It's natural. You have good talent for the language too8)

Thanks guys!
 

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