"The main Japanese fleet appeared in Lima?"

On the evening of October 13, the day after Horikichi set off with a large support fleet, a powerful news reached Washington, D.C., leaving everyone stunned. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

"Didn't you say that Panama has often had planes to reconnoiter and spy in the past two days?"

"Fooled, it's just a land-based reconnaissance plane deployed by the Japanese army on Galapagos Island."

Nimitz frowned and asked, "Where are the main forces of the Combined Fleet?" Including the broken fleet that disappeared two days ago? ”

"This, our military attache said that he saw 2 huge super battleships, as well as the Nagato and several aircraft carriers, but because it was getting late, it was impossible to tell the difference in detail......

"The Japanese can make our diplomats look at their warships?" Dewey was surprised, "It's not right." ”

Truth be told, even Secretary Hull, who came to give the briefing, felt that there were many suspicions here. According to the ambassador and military attaché, they received the news of the arrival of the Japanese fleet half a day in advance, and the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told them not to worry, Japan would not do anything with them, and their safety was guaranteed. As for Peru, it was a neutral country, and it was only to replenish some supplies for Japan, which did not represent a change in Peru's attitude towards the war.

In fact, everyone knows that Peru's attitude has changed, not only has the military clique succeeded in a coup d'état, but it has also joined the La Plata bloc, and is now a quasi-ally of the Axis, which is nothing more than afraid of what the United States will do with the Americans.

American diplomats had been accustomed to pretensions in Peru, and the self-conscious ambassador Collins and military attache, Major Walker, knew that such a thing could not be condemned, and the protest was also in vain, and their eyes rolled and their heads were hot, and they made a request to welcome the crowd to watch. The Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs agreed after being embarrassed for a while, on the condition that they must attend with a positive image, and do not make small gestures, and if the Japanese are not welcome, they must return to the embassy immediately, and the two naturally agreed.

Unexpectedly, the two saw Tsukahara himself at the pier, and then the Japanese ambassador immediately ran over nervously, whispered his ear and told the American ambassador and military attache in Tsukahara's welcome team that they were also there, and asked the fleet if they wanted to drive them away. Tsukahara smiled a little strangely, and instead of ordering people to be driven away, he said to the ambassador: "The Combined Fleet is now a guest in Peru, how can it speak ill of other guests of Peru?" This is not in line with the principle of treating each other with courtesy, so let's take me to see it. ”

The Japanese ambassador, whose face was full of consternation, brought Tsukahara, Kusaka, and others to the US ambassador, and the two sides politely shook hands and exchanged a few pleasantries.

Ambassador Collins immediately protested, arguing that the Combined Fleet should not attack non-military targets on the West Coast.

Tsukahara smiled: "Mr. Ambassador, what you said is very right, I am also hesitating about this matter, but what should your country have counted when you bombed Tokyo in the first place?" ”

"Your country attacked Pearl Harbor."

"Pearl Harbor is a military target!"

The audacious military attache, Major Walker, stood up and played a round and flattered Tsukahara a few words, meaning that the battleships of the Yamato-class were too "shocking" and I really wanted to see them.

Tsukahara laughed: "It's not impossible for you to want to see, I'll let someone accompany you to visit later." ”

The ambassador also came to his senses at this time and made a request to meet with his own prisoners of war.

"Prisoners of war...... Some of them were repatriated, while the rest were housed on the Galapagos island, where they were guarded by special personnel and, if your country wished to visit, could be sent to Ecuadorian diplomats. ”

So in the end, the ambassador and the military attache were accompanied by a special person to visit the Yamato, in addition to not being able to take pictures, they should not see everything that should not be seen, and even the full ammunition depot was let Walker see it, and finally the two of them enjoyed an English afternoon tea inside, and took a group photo with a group of officers.

"Tsukahara is a bit interesting, and he's very good at attacking the heart." Nimitz suddenly remembered the news that Halsey had told him that Japan had released a group of wounded and a few uninjured crew members back, and he had given back a batch of medicines.

"What happened?"

"What else? Not ideal, of course! Nimitz sighed, "The Japanese strategy partially worked, hearing that the wounded were put back, a bunch of crew members and officers went to visit and inquire about the operation, and then a few good pilots also exaggerated the horror of the Japanese super battleship, saying that the reality they saw with their own eyes was nothing more than how thick the muzzle of the gun was, how thick the armor was, and they also knew that this giant ship was called the Yamato, which was the general flagship of the Combined Fleet...... By the way, there is also a gluttonous ghost who is most impressed by Yamato's food is very good, and there is even ice cream! The Japanese used to call this giant ship the Yamato Hotel. ”

Due to the fact that the Yamato has been in battle many times, the United States has a basic understanding of its appearance characteristics and general data, and the estimated data are relatively accurate, which is nothing more than an 18-inch cannon, a displacement of 70,000 tons, and a maximum speed of 27-28 knots.

Dewey frowned dissatisfiedly: "This kind of disturbing the morale of the military should not flow out." ”

"It can't be. The Japanese put people back with great fanfare, and asked us to send a hospital ship to pick them up, if they were isolated or even forbidden to come into contact, I was afraid that there would be more gossip, and the super battleship was like that, it was nothing more than bigger, heavier, thicker muzzle, thicker armor, and it was not an invulnerable monster......" Nimitz complained, "The casualties of the army aviation are very high, it is almost to the point of nine deaths, General Arnold focuses on pacification and patriotic education to his subordinates, everyone grits their teeth and stubbornly resists, and cannot be too demanding of ordinary soldiers." ”

"Okay, okay, let's put this topic aside for a moment, what do you mean by the Japanese fleet in Lima?" Truman was a little impatient, "The Japanese could not have let our diplomats visit the warships for no reason, there must have been a conspiracy." ”

"There are two situations that are clear, first, it is indeed Tsukahara himself who came, he has an arm injury and one arm missing, and others can't pretend to be; Second, the Combined Fleet was replenished with fuel and supplies, and then it was going on the offensive. There are two suspicions, first, the package that came this time does not include the fleet that broke diplomatic relations outside Pearl Harbor? Second, where will the fleet move next? ”

Recently, the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have been distraught by the dazzling actions of the Japanese army, saying that they would attack the west coast, but they have not come for a long time, and they have run to Lima without paying attention, which is really disgusting.

"In fact, it is still beneficial for us for the Japanese army to go to Lima, whether it is to go to the entire fleet or not, at least it shows that the main force of the Japanese army is not between Pearl Harbor and the west coast, which creates a favorable opportunity for the next transportation." Nimitz mused, "The supply fleet is being prepared near California, and the Wasp will be repaired and put into service in another 10 days, and the Japanese army will not be able to return to the west coast from Lima in 10 days, so at least our supply tactics can be successful, which will lay a good foundation for holding Hawaii for a long time." ”

Spruance agreed with Nimitz, but he considered it a little more: "According to our intelligence, the Japanese fleet had two strategies: first, to cooperate with the German fleet to attack our forces in Recife; Second, the Panama Canal line will be jointly attacked from the Atlantic and Pacific directions. ”

"Is there any evidence?"

"Yes! The German flotilla in the Mediterranean was regrouped, and we estimated that reinforcements would soon depart. ”

MacArthur asked Mitchell, "What about the Atlantic Fleet?" ”

The latter said: "It can barely fight a battle, but our army is far inferior to the opponent in terms of fleet size and personnel quality, and the overall defense is more than enough and the progress is insufficient." ”

Seeing Dewey's unhappy face, Nimitz sighed, and didn't want to argue about anything: Mitchell was telling the truth, the Atlantic Fleet had only 2 aircraft carriers, but the Germans had at least 4, and 2 of them were very valuable armored aircraft carriers, and in terms of pilot quality, it was even worse.

Spruance's view is more positive: "By the end of October, our army will have three Essex-class ships ready for service, and it is expected that by Christmas Eve it will be ready to fight, and by then the Atlantic Fleet will have five aircraft carriers and three other capital ships (USS New Jersey + two Alaska-class), which can be worthy of a battle with the Germans." ”

Mitchell was about to say something, but Nimitz gave him a look and he immediately shut up.

What Mitchell wants to say Nimitz is very clear: it's nothing more than that there are too few skilled pilots, these 3 Essex-class are about to be delivered, and more than half of the pilots have not yet landed, but this can only be overcome by himself, so don't poke it out on an occasion like today.

Clark, who had not spoken, interjected and asked Spruance, "So what do you think is the most of the two possibilities?" ”

"I think it's more likely to attack Panama!" Spruance did not hesitate to judge, "The attack on Recife would not only allow the Japanese army to circumvent the whole of South America, but also not fundamentally change its strategic situation, so it would be a completely worthless action for Japan." But attacking Panama was different, and I'm now worried about the German surprise attack and landing in Panama! ”

"Is this possible?" Truman asked nervously

"I think there is!" MacArthur looked at the map, frowned, and thought about it, "Panama currently has more than 1,000 aircraft, about 30,000 ground troops, and several bases around us to support 600-800 aircraft; If the main Japanese and German fleets make a joint sortie, the total number of aircraft they can get is ......"

"You count 500 in Japan and 700 in Germany."

"That's 1,200 planes, considering that the quality of Japanese and German pilots is stronger, so they can really gather 1,200 planes, which is an advantage for our aviation power, especially Panama, which is not a big place, in case Germany comes first with a wave of rockets, it will be more troublesome, and there is no way to hide; And then there were naval guns, and they had a total of battleships......"

Spruance added: "You count it as 4 ships for Japan, and 8 ships for Germany. ”

"The enemy has 12 battleships alone, all of them are thick pipes of more than 15 inches, and any one of them can withstand 10 army howitzers...... MacArthur smiled bitterly, "Another 1,200 aircraft, and indestructible rockets, and 12 large-caliber naval guns of battleships, not to mention 30,000 army, 130,000 can't hold it!" ”

There was a deathly silence at the meeting......