Last Flight of the Buffaloes - a World War II Story on the Fall of Java

Chapter 4 - Blackforce

The Japanese repeated the same attacks for the next several days, yet curiously smaller in scale. Major developments on the left flank had forced Brigadier Blackburn to divert his Australians to assist the Dutch in countering a Japanese pincer maneuver, way beyond the range of the Texan artillery. That was a lot of ground to cover for the 3,000-strong Blackforce, and the Japanese not only had an advantage in manpower and materiel, they also had the advantage of a burning morale, that of conquerors. Nothing was stopping them.

During the days, the observation post coordinated air support as Buffaloes flown in from Bandoeng, now the most populous airbase with the capital Batavia having been lost several days prior. Calling in airstrikes, Dutch Buffaloes and British Hurricanes flew in with strafing and bombing courses, obliterating distant Japanese armored cars and tanks that were being formed to finally break through the Dutch-Australian lines.

At some point, the men of the O.P. had to go down to get some more supplies, seeing that a Japanese infiltration would be likely, and they'd be holed up while trying to call in artillery. So Jack took Mike and brought one jeep. They realized that they barely needed a map, and just follow the source of the artillery fire. Going by a dirt road surrounded by ancient trees, they reached the Texan camp in about 30 minutes.

The artillerymen had all gone to action: men had discarded their khakis due to the heat and elected to be topless while loading, unloading, and firing guns. Jack Desouza, previously of an infantry unit, was well-used to small arms fire popping his eardrums, but howitzers were another thing. Going in half-deaf into the Quartermaster's tent, he picked up supplies for seven days, and also acquired a water-cooled .30 caliber Browning machinegun that Mike was a big fan of, along with several ammunition cans. Jack Desouza, slinging his Springfield '03 service rifle, helped him bring the ammunition, and loaded it onto the jeep.

As they took the supplies and munitions, they heard a low humming noise from afar. Jack and Mike raised their heads, and saw nothing, but another man seemed to have seen it, a naked artilleryman in unbloused khakis. He shouted: "Japs! Japs! Get the hell down!"

As the sounds got louder, Jack saw two Japanese attacker planes coming in close. Not moments later, they opened up. Everyone was running around for cover, save for the air defense artillerymen, who quickly headed over to their truck-drawn four .50caliber anti-aircraft purposed machine guns, and opened fire. But even they were too late. The Japanese planes went over their positions and opened fire on a long strafe. A soldier carrying ammunition boxes was strafed in his run and fell to the muddy ground below. A fuel truck was hit and the ignition of incendiary rounds caused a massive explosion that blew everyone nearby to the ground.

The Japanese planes passed.

"They're going in for another one!" Yelled a man.

Mike, who was completely pissed, took up the .30 caliber Browning, loaded it up, and propped it on the jeep's hood. With the Japanese planes coming in, he opened fire in disciplined short bursts against the attackers, but they were too fast to hit. They passed for another strafing round, then, taking one howitzer out along with some of its crew as well as an anti-aircraft truck, leaving a trail of smoke and fire. They zoomed out once more, and flew into the distance.

Just before they were out of eyesight, however, a familiar sound came from behind them, and then a pair of barrel-like planes passed by, decorated with Dutch markings. They chased after the two Japanese intruders, zooming past the ground troops below. The Texans below all yelled in encouragement, cheering the Buffaloes on.

"Go get 'em! Go get 'em!" yelled Mike on.

As the flyers dueled, Jack saw that bodies were being dragged around, and medics—some Australian, some Dutch, some even volunteer local nurses—desperately ran about to treat the wounded and attempted to save those whose wounds were beyond. Dirtied and angry, Jack went back on the jeep with Mike. As he was about to drive up the hill, he realized that was the first time someone tried to fucking shoot him. He felt weird about it, and came in even more anger, because, unlike Mike, he did not shoot back. He froze.

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