"Commander, Commander Yamamoto orders: the second phase of the Z battle plan is exactly the beginning!"

Nagumo Tadaichi received the latest order from Yamamoto Isoroku at almost 12 noon on December 9, Hawaii time--the previous emergency meeting of the Japanese headquarters adopted Yamamoto Isoroku's proposal and agreed to carry out the second phase of the Z operation plan, that is, the operation to seize Oahu!

"Oh?" Nagumo Tadaichi was anxiously waiting for the first wave of attack launched this morning to return. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

His 1st Mobile Fleet had been wandering the waters 200 nautical miles north of Oahu for 2 and a half days. On December 7th, there were 4 waves of attacks, on December 8th there were 5 waves, and today, December 9th, because of a heavy rain in the morning, the first wave was not sent out until around 9 o'clock, and the second wave was sent out at about 10 o'clock. So around 12 o'clock is when the first attack wave returns.

Oahu's resistance had weakened markedly by December 8. The number of fighters dispatched to intercept the Japanese attack wave was significantly reduced, and only a dozen could barely take off at a time. There were no further attacks on the 1st Mobile Fleet, although on the morning of 8 and early 9 December, American PBY Catalina seaplanes approached the Japanese fleet. It is clear that the Americans knew the approximate location of the Japanese aircraft carriers, but they were no longer able to attack.

At the same time as the American resistance on Oahu weakened, the losses of Japanese aircraft decreased. The five attack waves on 8 December lost only 37 aircraft, most of which were shot down by U.S. ground artillery fire and anti-aircraft artillery from surface ships.

But there was bad news, according to the reports of pilots who participated in the air raids, on the beach near Williston Battery at the exit from Pearl Harbor, there were 2 stranded Colorado-class battleships. And the anti-aircraft guns on these two battleships are still firing!

It is clear that the Americans used the grounding of the two damaged Colorado-class battleships as a battery battery.

That's a battery with 16 16-inch cannons! Although the Colorado-class 16-inch cannon was not as powerful as the Nagato-class 410mm main gun, and the grounded battleship was a dead target that could not move. But no one would be willing to use 2 Nagato-class ships to fight against 2 stranded Colorado-class guns, not to mention that the Americans also have 4 16-British cannons from Williston and Hatch Batteries to help in the battle.

Therefore, Nagumo Tadaichi sent a lot of "Comet" dive bombers and Type 97 torpedo bombers to bombard these two battleships with heavy bombs. However, the bombardment on 8 December did not achieve much of the desired effect, destroying only one of the turrets of one of the battleships. The reason for this was that the Americans placed a lot of anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns near the two stranded battleships, and the Japanese planes fired desperately as soon as they got close, making it very difficult to drop bombs.

Nagumo Tadaichi was about to discuss the attack on Oahu with his staff officers when he heard Minoru Genda shouting loudly: "Commander, look, the plane of the first attack wave is back!" ”

Nanyun hurriedly raised his binoculars and looked into the sky, only to see a group of planes flying in formation, at least one hundred and fifty or sixty. It seems that today's first wave of attacks went quite smoothly and did not suffer much damage.

"Genda," Nagumo Tadaichi put down his binoculars and looked back at Minoru Genda, "What do you think of the Hawaiian Raiders?" ”

Although Minoru Genda is not very old, he is the core staff officer of the First Mobile Fleet. The plan for each wave of air raids that began on December 7 was drawn up by him and two other young ministers.

"Commander," Minoru Genda was also counting the planes in the sky just now, he counted more carefully than Nagumo, and wanted to count a specific number, but was interrupted by Nagumo Zhongyi just halfway through. "You're asking about the second phase of the Capture of Oahu?"

Nan Yunzhong nodded, "Are you sure?" ”

Minoru Genda pondered in silence for a moment before nodding heavily and saying, "Commander, since Commander Yamamoto has made up his mind, he must be sure. At present, Oahu has been bombed by more than 1,000 sorties of our planes, and the airfield and oil depot have suffered heavy losses, and the defense capability has been greatly reduced. As long as our side dispatches five battleships, 'Yamato', 'Nagato', 'Mutsu', 'Hiei', and 'Kirishima', to bombard them repeatedly, we will be able to completely destroy the will of the US forces on the island to resist! And the main task of my 1st Mobile Fleet should be a decisive battle with the reinforcement of American aircraft carriers! ”

Nagumo Zhong nodded and said to himself: "American aircraft carriers...... Don't know where they're now? ”

……

"Lieutenant General, telegram from Wake Island, the Japanese planes bombed there again, and twin-engine medium bombers were dispatched, a total of 27 units. It should have taken off from Kwajalein Atoll Airport, more than 1,100 kilometers from Wake Island. ”

Aboard the USS Enterprise, Vice Admiral Halsey had just received a telegram from Wake Island.

His current mission is to rescue Wake Island, where the Japanese bombed Wake Island on December 8 with 36 Type 96 and Type 1 Land Attacks, destroying eight Marine F4F Wildcat fighters and destroying grain warehouses and some dormitory barracks on Wake Island.

"How far are we from Kwajalein Atoll?" Halsey asked immediately.

"About 1,000 nautical miles, at the current rate, air strikes can be launched on the 12th."

Halsey's fleet is now moving at 18 knots and can launch an air strike when the fleet is about 200 nautical miles from the Japanese-controlled Kwajalein Atoll. That is, the fleet still has about 800 nautical miles, that is, 44 hours. But that's a straight line, and now that the Pacific Ocean has become a battlefield, who knows if it will meet Japanese submarines? So Halsey's fleet took a Z-shaped anti-submarine route on its way eastward from the vicinity of Saipan. So it takes more than 60 hours to sail to a position where you can attack.

"What about Oahu?" Halsey frowned and asked, "Still being bombed?" ”

"Yes." The staff officer replied, "The Japanese have just launched another wave of bombing. ”

"Hell!" Halsey took a breath, "What are these goddamn Japs trying to do?" Do you want to capture Oahu? ”

"Take Oahu? Not really, right? ”

Halsey shook his head and said, "Send a telegram to Commander Kimmel and ask me my questions." I suspect that the Japanese are going to occupy Oahu...... It's a fortress you can't lose! ”

When Kimmel received the telegram from Halsey, he was sailing the main force of the Pacific Fleet in the direction of Wake Island. According to his plan, Halsey's fleet, after bombing the Japanese airfield in Kwajalein Atoll, would continue eastward and join the main Pacific Fleet two or three hundred nautical miles east of Wake Island.

After the division, the fleet would return to the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands, and if the Japanese fleet had not left, the Pacific Fleet would seek a decisive battle.

"Sir, the Japanese have just bombed Oahu again, and one of the West Virginia's main gun turrets has been blown up."

"Not gone yet...... "Kimmel furrowed his brow. Are these Japanese crazy? Do they really want to occupy Hawaii? ”

As soon as his words fell, another staff officer reported in a loud voice: "Admiral, a Catalina seaplane taking off from Midway has spotted a Japanese fleet, about 220 nautical miles northwest of Oahu, with 4 battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, more than 15 light cruisers and destroyers, and more than 20 transports, this fleet is heading south, and the direction seems to be the ...... of Kauai."

"More than 20 transport ships...... Going to Kauai? Kimmel's eyes bulged out. God, the Japanese are going to take Kauai! They...... Their goal must be to capture Hawaii! ”

……

"Take Hawaii!? That's not true, is it? ”

When US President Franklin D. Roosevelt learned the news, he was almost shocked by the cigarette smoke in his mouth.

"Mr. President, a Japanese convoy is heading for Kauai with 10,000 heavily armed Japanese soldiers on board!"

Admiral Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, almost burst into tears when he said this, there are not many defenders on Kauai at all, and it will definitely be occupied! Once the Japanese occupied Kauai, they had a springboard to land on Oahu.

And once Oahu is lost, the U.S. Pacific Fleet will be ...... He didn't dare to think about it anymore, but looked at President Roosevelt helplessly, and said in an inaudible voice: "President, we should concentrate our efforts on defeating these damned Japanese, they are the greatest enemy of the United States!" ”

"What did you say?" Roosevelt's expression quickly changed from surprise to coldness, and he just looked at Stark coldly, "Admiral, do your job!" We can't afford to lose Hawaii, and you, as Chief of Naval Operations, should now come up with a plan to defend Hawaii instead of questioning the president's policies! ”

Concentrating on defeating Japan naturally meant that we could no longer go to trouble Germany. The United States had to betray two of its friends, Britain and the Soviet Union, and let the Germans defeat them and become the hegemon of the Old Continent.

In the aftermath of the "Pearl Harbor incident," there were many people in the United States who held this view.

Many people believe that the United States only needs to defeat Japan and dominate the Pacific Ocean, and it will be enough to compete with Germany, which dominates Europe and Africa and dominates the Atlantic. And a war on two fronts, with Germany and Japan at the same time, seems to be a very unwise means. In case of defeat, the United States will not even be able to maintain its current status as the big brother of the Americas!

Moreover, Germany has not declared war on the United States until now, and it seems that the United States and Germany can coexist with each other...... (To be continued.) )