At two p.m. on December 20, in the office of U.S. Secretary of State Hull at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C.

Although the naval and army forces on the Japanese mainland, starting with Hirohito and below, had decided to go to war with the United States, and the naval mobile unit led by Nagumo Tadaichi was rushing towards Pearl Harbor, the Japanese ambassador to the United States, Kichizaburo Nomura, knew nothing about this and still conscientiously and actively campaigned for the Japanese-US peace talks.

On Christmas Eve, Nomura walks into Hull's office in the fiery festive spirit of the year.

Hull warmly invited the stocky Nomura to sit in the chair across from his desk.

"Mr. Ambassador, are you here to bring me the good news that I have been waiting for?"

In the face of Hull's straightforward inquiry, Nomura's chubby face showed an embarrassed smile.

"Mr. Hull, the note you sent on the 26th of last month was discussed very fiercely among the ministers of various provinces of our government, and it is not yet possible to reach a consensus, especially your request for a complete withdrawal of troops from China within five years, which has caused a shock in our world. I have come to visit you today for two things, the first of which is to inform you that my government is not in a position to reply to you before the New Year. ”

On 26 November, Hull submitted a memorandum to Japan, the most important of which contained four articles.

1. Japan must withdraw all its army, navy, air force, and police forces from China within five years.

2. Withdraw from the Treaty of Germany, Italy, Japan, and the Soviet Union and withdraw from the Axis bloc.

3. Denying all other Chinese regimes except the Chongqing government.

4. Waiver of extraterritoriality in China. This includes the renunciation of various rights and interests in the concessions and leases in China, as well as the rights acquired under the Treaty of Xincho.

Hull was well aware that Japan would never agree to the conditions he proposed. I don't have any hope for peace in Japan.

As early as late November, Hull pointed out in his talks with the army and navy authorities that "now that the Japan-US talks are coming to an end, the diplomatic authorities have nothing to do, and the future work will be handed over to the military."

On November 26, the day Hull submitted his diplomatic note, Hull personally believed that the Japan-US negotiations had effectively come to an end. The military department was informed of the incident.

The military department immediately issued a warning to the Hawaiian military authorities.

However, the continental United States ordered in a warning: "The United States does not act first. Let's do it first! ”

Thinking of all the preparations in the past, Hull was very unimpressed by Nomura's reply to what he said about the New Year.

He said with a stylized smile: "Since this is the case, I expect to receive the answer that our two countries have in common hope in the new year." ”

Nomura bowed his head deeply, "I also expect the response from our country to our common expectations." ”

"What is the second thing that Mr. Ambassador wants to say?" Hull asked.

The smile on Nomura's face grew more amiable.

"The second thing is a blessing from me personally. Christmas is coming, and I represent the Government of Japan. On my own behalf, I wish Mr. Secretary a happy holiday and ask Mr. Secretary to convey my holiday wishes to President Roosevelt. ”

Hull laughed dumbly.

"Thank you, Mr. Ambassador, for your blessings, and I will certainly convey your blessings to Mr. President. I also wish Mr. Ambassador a Christmas, oh sorry, I almost forgot that your country is nothing but Christmas, and I wish you a happy new year. ”

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Nomura chatted with Hull for a few more polite words and got up to take his leave.

Three days after Nomura's meeting with Hull. In the vast North Pacific, the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet is located northwest of Pearl Harbor, about 400 nautical miles in the sky. An airplane with a monoplane and twin engines soars freely in the sky.

The aircraft was a PBY Catarina-type seaplane belonging to the Pacific Fleet.

It flew very low, at an altitude of only two or three hundred meters above the surface of the sea.

In the cockpit, the driver is Ebernard. Captain Bach twisted the sound knob on the radio station to let the upbeat Christmas song "Jingle Bells" from Honolulu radio station resound through the cabin.

Co-pilot Jack. Lieutenant Dawson wore his sailing hat crookedly, shaking his head. His body was shaking to the music, and he looked like an epileptic person who was having a seizure.

Cheerful music couldn't stop EBNER's yawn.

Stretched. Abner looked at his watch, and it was already 3:40 p.m.

"In another twenty minutes, we can go back and enjoy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, without having to do boring patrols here."

"It won't take twenty minutes, we can get back now." Jack shook his head.

"No, today is our last patrol in 1941, and we must stick to our posts and not leave early." Abner said.

"It's not that I want to leave early, it's Santa Claus who gave us a beautiful Christmas present, you look ahead, try to look as far away as possible." Jack reached out and bounced on the glass in front of the cockpit.

Alberner squinted his eyes into the distance, then picked up the telescope on his chest and clearly saw the dark clouds in the distance.

"Oh shit, we've got to turn around right now." Ebner immediately skillfully maneuvered the plane to make a left turn, turned his back to the oncoming storm, and flew in the direction of the east base.

"I don't know how you passed the eyesight test before joining the army, but you didn't even notice such a big rain cloud." Jack said.

"My eyesight is very good. I only focused on scouting the sea, forgetting to observe the sky. And that damn music, distracting me. Abner said.

"Since you're only concerned with scouting the sea, what do you see?" Jack asked.

"There was no discovery, neither merchant ships nor warships, only the sea." Abner shook his head.

"You said you didn't find any targets, what are those two big guys on our bottom right? Blue whale? Great white sharks? I highly recommend you to see an ophthalmologist. Jack said.

Alberner looked down to the right, but was blocked by the nose of the plane, so he had to make a U-turn to the right.

Albert soon saw two warships, one large and one small, sailing side by side on the sea. The massive hull dragged two long white trails on the azure waters.

"It's a Japanese warship, we must report to the base immediately, quickly."

Ebner shouted and casually switched the frequency. Changed to a communication channel.

Without the help of "Jingle Bells", Jack's "epilepsy" stopped, and he took out a military ship identification manual and shouted to Abner: "Fly closer, let's get to know these two big guys, and see who they are?" ”

Two minutes later, Jack frowned. Quickly flipped through the manual in his hand, and muttered to himself as he turned it over his mouth: "Strange." That big guy must be a battleship, why can't I find its name and picture in the ship identification manual, is it a new battleship of the Japanese? ”

A low laugh rang out in Jack's ear, and he looked up to see Ebner's shoulders twitching with laughter.

"You should go with me to the ophthalmologist. I flew so low, didn't you see that these two battleships were flying German flags? You are looking for the warships of the Germans in the ships of the Japanese Navy, how is it possible to find the answer? ”

Jack casually threw away the identification manual that only recorded the information of the Japanese Navy ships, stretched out his head and looked out to sea, and sure enough, he saw a fiery red swastika.

"Although these two warships do not belong to the Japanese Navy, I have decided to report to the base." Jack said.

Ebner piloted the plane around the two battleships on the surface of the sea, and Jack radioed their findings to the Pacific Fleet's information center.

Five or six minutes later, Jack said to Abner: "They are the battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen of the German Navy, and they have just finished visiting Tokyo. Now I'm going to Los Angeles. They were coming from the direction of Midway, and the information center had their records. Headquarters asked us to continue to monitor them and confirm that they were really ships of the Germans. ”

"How do you know that? The rain clouds behind are about to catch up with us. Abner said angrily.

Jack glanced at the dark clouds that were speeding eastward. There was also an electric light that flashed in the dark clouds from time to time, scratching his head and saying, "Let the other brothers worry about it, let's go back for Christmas." ”

Seven or eight minutes later, when dark clouds, lightning, and torrential rain covered the two warships on the sea, the planes piloted by Abner and Jack were long gone, leaving only the two warships ravaged by the storm.

The report by Abner and Jack caused alarm inside Pearl Harbor. Admiral Kimmel, commander of the Pacific Fleet, immediately ordered four submarines and six warships to be urgently dispatched out of the port. Investigate the location reported to the two men.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and Pearl Harbor is filled with festive spirits.

The officers and sailors were preparing for the festival with great joy, when suddenly the order to sail was received, and the sailors and officers of the ships, who had not been fortunate enough to be named by Kimmer, returned to their respective warships with sad faces amid the gloating voices of their colleagues.

It was clear that this voyage meant that their Christmas holiday was in vain.

While the U.S. Pacific Fleet kept a close eye on the two German warships in the northwest, a huge fleet of thirty-one warships and oil tankers was speeding toward Hawaii just north of Pearl Harbor.

Six aircraft carriers were in the center, lined up in two columns.

On the outer four corners of the aircraft carrier there were two battleships and two cruisers, and behind the aircraft carrier were eight oil tankers.

Around these ships, nine destroyers were on guard.

The light cruiser "Abukuma", the flagship of the alert force, is directly in front of this circular formation.

About 200 nautical miles in front of the circular formation, there were three submarines, which were tasked with patrolling the route.

Above the heads of these battleships flying the plaster flag, there were also clouds, lightning and thunder, and the sea was full of fierce winds and rough waves.

On the aircraft carrier Akagi, the flagship of the mobile force, Nagumo Tadaichi stood in front of the bridge window, looking at the dark night of the sea and sky, and a rare smile appeared on his face full of meat.

"Amaterasu bless us and give us this rare good weather."

Intelligence staff officer Ono Shaosa hurriedly walked up to Nagumo's side and excitedly handed him a stack of telegrams: "Emperor bless, General, this is the latest information of the Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor. ”

Nagumo flipped through the information and named the capital ships of the Pacific Fleet one by one.

"The USS Saratoga, the USS Lexington, and the USS Enterprise, there are actually three aircraft carriers in the harbor. USS Nevada, USS Arizona, USS Tennessee, USS West Virginia...... Eight battleships are also in port, tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and the day after tomorrow is Christmas. The Americans at Pearl Harbor were busy with the holidays, and these battleships would certainly not go far, at most to patrol the coastal waters.

The plan has been more than half successful, and all we have to do now is not be discovered by the Americans. The destroyer formation was ordered to withstand fatigue and devote all its energy and physical strength to search for the movements of American submarines and not to expose our tracks. ”

On the evening of 24 December, as the wind and waves at sea gradually subsided, the supply ships of the Nagumo Mobile Unit refueled the battleship for the last time, and then turned their bows and left.

Nagumo looked at the undulating deck of the Akagi and asked worriedly, "The wind and waves are still too strong, and the horizontal swing of the hull is more than ten degrees. If it is still this kind of weather tomorrow morning, will the fighter plane be able to take off normally? ”

Staff Officer Genda said: "I asked the commander-in-chief of the attack, Fuchida Nakasa, and he said that he could take off. ”

"Let the chefs bring out their best skills and prepare the most sumptuous dinner for the lads."

The cabin of the Akagi was brightly lit, and the ground crew worked overtime to do the final maintenance of the aircraft.

The pilots were not idle, some were cooperating with the maintenance personnel to maintain the aircraft, and some were doing gymnastics on the side of the plane to relieve the tension in their hearts.

More pilots gathered in groups for final pre-war training.

The commander-in-chief of the attack, Fuchida Nakasa, casually held up a wooden board with a white background, on which a black silhouette of a battleship was drawn.

"It's the USS Arizona." Seven or eight pilots shouted one after another.

Fuchida smiled and nodded, then took out another plank and shook it at the pilots.

"Nevada, it's Nevada." Another shout rang out.

Fuchida replaced it with a wooden board with a silhouette of an aircraft carrier.

"It's the Lexington." Nobita was the first to shout.

"Nobi-kun, are you sure it's the Lexington?" Fuchida asked as he squinted his left eye, stared at his right, and stared at Nobita strangely.

Nobita glanced at the plank again, hesitated and said, "It's the Lexington." ”

Fuchida said with a smile: "Okay, under the guidance of you, the observer, our Izuki Shikun fires a torpedo at our flagship, the Akagi, and bang." ”

Fuchida clenched his right hand into a fist, his five fingers suddenly opened, and he made an explosive movement, and a burst of laughter suddenly sounded around him, and Nobita lowered his head with a red face.

Izuki hooked Nobita's neck and said, "It's okay to admit your mistakes today, as long as you don't make mistakes tomorrow, there's no problem." ”

On December 25, 1941, at 4 a.m. on Christmas Day, after a long journey of more than 6,600 kilometers, the Nagumo Mobile Fleet successfully reached the sea area about 400 kilometers north of Pearl Harbor.

The sky was still dark, and the cabin of the Akagi was already noisy.

Dressed in thick combat uniforms and leaving suicide notes wrapped in their hair or nails, the pilots walked to the shrine in the cabin, took off their military caps and bowed, and then rushed out of the cabin and ran to the deck, where the trio of wooden shirts were also mixed in.

The wind and waves on the sea were still very strong, and the aircraft carrier, which was headwinding at high speed, swayed violently from side to side.

In the dark sea, a long, white, gradually unfolding trail was drawn behind the stern of the ship.

From time to time, waves hit the flight deck, and the ground crews responsible for fixing the planes tried their best to keep the planes from the rocking of the warships and immobilized.

The three of them stepped on the wings and got into the cockpit, and the plane's engine started quickly and rumbled.

The blue signal lights indicating take-off are constantly drawn in circles.

The ground crew on deck waved military caps and white turbans and let out an earth-shattering shout.

Amid a stormy shout, the first Zero fighter burst out of the violently shaking deck.

Fifteen minutes later, a huge fleet of planes, including 40 Type 97 torpedo planes, 51 Type 99 dive bombers, 49 Type 97 horizontal bombers, and 43 Zero fighters, assembled over the fleet and swooped down on Pearl Harbor. (To be continued)