【Yamamoto Isoroku's Gamble】

In the spring and summer of 1940, Hitler swept through Western Europe with a "blitzkrieg", and the British army retreated to the British Isles, and the Japanese militarists believed that this was a great opportunity to advance southward, seize the colonies of Britain, France, and the Netherlands in Southeast Asia, and seize strategic resources. On September 27, 1940, Japan signed the Triple Alliance Treaty with Germany and Italy, and the spearhead was directly aimed at the United States and Britain.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, believes that the greatest threat to Japan's occupation of Southeast Asia is the United States. Once Japan and the United States go to war, the main force of the US Pacific Fleet will inevitably attack from Pearl Harbor and contain the Japanese attack in Southeast Asia from the flank. First of all, it is necessary to get rid of worries, first destroy the main force of the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, and force the United States to conclude an alliance under the city.

In February 1941, Yamamoto formulated the "Z Operation Plan", the success of which was entirely based on two unreliable assumptions: first, at the time of the attack, the U.S. Pacific Fleet was anchored in Pearl Harbor; The second is that a large aircraft carrier fleet can cross half of the Pacific Ocean without being detected. Only gamblers take this risk, and Yamamoto is a master gambler, and his advisers often say that the gambler's mind often works when he thinks about problems: half by calculation, half by luck. He was determined to take a big gamble: "Win big or lose it all." If our attack on Pearl Harbor had failed, the battle would have been aborted. ”

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, smoke billowed from the harbor.

Because the "Z Operation Plan" was too risky, not only did the Navy Command Department strongly oppose it, but even Vice Admiral Nagumo Tadaichi, commander of the 1st Aircraft Carrier Task Force, which carried out the surprise attack mission, was skeptical at first. However, Yamamoto insisted that there was no hope of victory in a war with the United States, and that if he still wanted to fight hard, he would do his best to preemptively strike a very good blow to the enemy from the beginning, causing difficulties and obstacles for the enemy. There is no other way. The Japanese Navy Command Department hesitated, and Yamamoto finally proposed that if the Navy Command Department did not agree to the "Z Operation Plan," he would not hesitate to resign from the post of commander of the Combined Fleet, and at the same time said that if Vice Admiral Nagumo did not fully agree, then he would personally lead the aircraft carrier fleet on the expedition. In the face of Yamamoto's final threat, the Japanese Navy Command Department had to approve the "Z Operation Plan".

Japan immediately plunged into intense preparations. Pilots of Japanese torpedo bombers simulated the terrain of Pearl Harbor over the bay of Kagoshima in the south, and conducted stunt-like attack drills. At the same time, naval intelligence sent spies to Hawaii to spy on the U.S. Pacific Fleet's entry and exit from Pearl Harbor; In order to ensure the success of the attack and prevent the leakage of secrets, except for the personnel involved in the planning, no one, including the captain of the aircraft carrier, knew what the combat mission was, and a strict letter inspection system was implemented; Allowing students of the Naval Non-commissioned Officers School to wear official military uniforms to visit Tokyo created the false impression that the Japanese Navy did not have any preparations for war, so as to deceive foreign attention; In order to further confuse the United States, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent former Ambassador to Germany Saburo Raisi to the United States as a "special envoy for peace" to assist Ambassador Saburo Nomura in holding peace talks with the United States.

After many preparations were basically in place, on November 5, Yamamoto issued the "Combined Fleet Top Secret Operation Order No. 1" according to the instructions of the Military Command Department. Outlines the Navy's strategy for the first phase of the operation, including not only the attack on Pearl Harbor, but also simultaneous attacks on Malaya, the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, Hong Kong, and the South Seas. Yamamoto also concentrated all the captains and flight captains on his flagship, the Nagato, and informed them of the plan to attack Pearl Harbor. Within 24 hours, Yamamoto issued Order No. 2, preliminarily setting the time of the attack at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 8 (Sunday, December 7, at 8 a.m. Hawaii time). Japan entered a state of imminent war.

[Dawn is quiet]

On 16 November, a task force codenamed "Mobile Force" gathered at Neihaikou. It was a large fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Tadaichi Nagumo, and it consisted of 6 aircraft carriers, 2 fast battleships equipped with 14-inch cannons, 2 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser, 9 destroyers, 3 oil tankers, and 1 supply ship.

In accordance with Yamamoto's order, in order to conceal the operational intentions, the Nagumo Mobile Force deliberately staggered the departure dates of the various ship formations, and on the 17th, they began to march one after another towards the single crown bay of Zeti Island (now part of Russia) at the southern tip of the Kuril Islands, the fleet assembly site.

On November 24, 1941, according to Yamamoto's instructions, the ships participating in the battle were assembled and made final preparations for the voyage. On November 25, Yamamoto issued a top-secret operational order to Nagumo: "The mobile unit will set out on November 26 and try to maintain concealment in its operations, and on the evening of December 3, it will enter the standby sea and complete its refueling." ”

At 6 a.m. on 26 November, the Nagumo Mobile Force lifted anchor and left the harbor, led by three submarines, quietly sailing over the rough North Pacific Ocean, and extremely secretly sailed to the standby sea area at 42 degrees north latitude and 170 degrees west longitude, where they would wait for the final order - to attack.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, smoke billowed from the harbor.

But the Japan-US negotiations in Washington are still going on in disguise. The Japanese military also sent a large number of warships and planes to operate on the Japanese mainland, simulated aircraft carrier formations, and frequently conducted radio contacts in order to give the United States the illusion that "its main fleet is still operating on the mainland." The U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor, on the other hand, neglected to take precautions and had a holiday as usual on weekends, and there was a peaceful scene in the harbor (some historians have recently believed that the highest authorities in the United States had learned of the dispatch of the Japanese fleet, but President Roosevelt and Chief of the General Staff Marshall decided not to inform the defenders of Pearl Harbor, so that Pearl Harbor would be attacked by the Japanese army, and find an excuse for the United States to enter the war).

The Nagumo Mobile Force maintained radio silence and made a circuitous eastward detour along the predetermined northern route to avoid American patrol planes and merchant ships. The voyage went unexpectedly smoothly, and for several days thick clouds covered the movements of the huge fleet like a natural curtain. The sea also did not experience the high waves that often occur in winter.

On December 2, just as Nagumo's mobile force had just crossed the East-West Longitude Date Line and entered the West-Longitude Sea north of Midway, Yamamoto sent a secret order to Nagumo with a new code: "Climb the New Peak 1208", which meant to launch an attack on December 8 (December 7, Hawaii time) as originally planned. Nagumo immediately ordered the captains of the ships to turn off their lights and drive away, and conveyed the "Z Operation" operation to all officers and men. Be ready for battle at all times.

File photo after the bombing of the U.S. ship on December 7, 1941.

At 6 o'clock in the morning of 7 December, the Nagumo mobile unit received an order to attack, the green lights on the flight decks of the aircraft carriers turned on, and the planes flew away from the aircraft carriers one after another, and in less than 15 minutes, all the 183 planes that were responsible for the first wave of attack missions flew off the deck, including 43 fighters, 49 horizontal bombers, 40 torpedo planes, and 51 dive bombers.

At this time, the U.S. Pacific Fleet had 8 battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 6 light cruisers, 29 destroyers, 5 submarines, and 30 auxiliary ships moored in Pearl Harbor. There were 262 aircraft parked at the shore airfield, and the remaining two aircraft carriers, eight heavy cruisers and 14 destroyers were transporting aircraft at Wake Island and Midway, as well as exercising on Johnston Island. Since it was Sunday, most of the officers and men left their combat posts, and the whole of Pearl Harbor presented a holiday scene without a little guard.

At 7:49, the Japanese army issued an assault signal, and the flying commandos immediately launched an attack formation, and the dive bomber team took the lead in entering the valley. At 7:55 a.m., a torrential rain of bombs rained down on the Hickem airfield, Wheelier airfield, and Ford Island airfield around the US Pacific Fleet base, blowing up hundreds of US planes lined up in wings on the airfield into piles of scrap metal and destroying the hangars. In just a few minutes, the Japanese completely knocked out the air defense facilities at Pearl Harbor and sent a signal to Nagumo on the aircraft carrier "Akagi" that the attack was successful: "Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! ”。

At 7:57, Japanese torpedo planes burst in from several directions and fired torpedoes at US warships on the east and west sides of Ford Island at a height of only 12 meters above the water. At 8:05, Japanese horizontal bombers entered due west and again bombed the battleships anchored on the east side of Ford Island, and at the same time bombed the Iva airfield, where anti-aircraft artillery fire was concentrated. The smoke caused by the fire and explosion immediately obscured the entire Pearl Harbor, and many US warships sank to the bottom of the sea before they could prepare for battle. At 8:40 a.m., the first attack wave ended, and the Japanese planes successfully completed their first air raid mission and returned safely.

On December 7, 2004, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, United States, several seafarers salute a warship passing by the "Arizona" memorial.

At the beginning of the sudden attack of the first wave of Japanese aircraft, the US troops were in confusion, panicked, and powerless. The anti-aircraft guns on the island did not fire sporadically until six minutes later, and only four of the 33 anti-aircraft batteries opened fire, but very few Japanese planes were shot down. For the first few minutes of the warships in the harbor, almost no one could realize what was happening. As soon as the battleship "Nevada," which was at the end of the row, raised its flagship, it was torn to pieces by the machine guns of the Japanese planes in an instant, and the frightened flag-raisers immediately raised several Star-Spangled flags, all of which were destroyed. When the first torpedo hit the battleship "Arizona", the Americans still had an expression of disbelief. The battleship "Maryland" was raising the flag, and a sailor casually glanced at a group of planes rushing to a nearby airfield, thinking it was his own plane, and before he could come to his senses, the bomb had fallen on his head. It was not until 8 o'clock that the US Pacific Fleet Command sent a 100,000-strong telegram to the Admiralty: "Pearl Harbor was attacked by air, this is not an exercise. By this time, the USS Oklahoma and the USS West Virginia had been blown apart, and the USS Arizona and 1,000 sailors were also drowned in a series of devastating explosions triggered by the ammunition depot. By this time, the frightened anti-aircraft gunners on the American ships went into battle, but with little success. At 8:15 a.m., four fighter planes took off from the Harowa airfield, where the US troops had not been bombed by Japanese planes, and 25 planes took off one after another to engage in an air battle with Japanese planes, but because they were outnumbered, rushed to the battle, and poorly coordinated, they were either shot down by Japanese fighters or destroyed by US antiaircraft guns. The 18 dive bombers on the US aircraft carrier "Enterprise" and the 12 "Flying Fortress" planes flying from the US mainland were attacked by Japanese "Zero" fighters as soon as they flew over Pearl Harbor. An American pilot shouted, "Don't fire!" Don't fire! This is an American plane! As soon as he finished speaking, his radio waves disappeared. For nearly two hours, the Japanese controlled the sea and air over Pearl Harbor, bombing and strafing as they pleased.

At 8:50 a.m., just as Japan's second attack wave plane was flying over Oahu, US Secretary of State Hull received an ultimatum from Ambassador Nomura and Special Envoy Isu, and the Japanese Foreign Ministry stipulated that the time for handing over the traffic was 1 p.m. Washington time, and that the delay was 50 minutes, in order to keep the attack time until half an hour before the start of the war and to avoid the notorious "sneak attack" and "undeclared war." Helton was stunned and said angrily: "In my 50 years of public life, Never before has I seen such a document full of vile lies and distortions. The Japanese were speechless, and exited the door in embarrassment, the door was closed, and then Hull shouted: "Damn it, scoundrel!" ”

On December 7, 2004, in Washington, D.C., some passers-by braved the rain to join several veterans to attend a ceremony held by the United States Navy to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the "Pearl Harbor" attack.

At 10 o'clock, all Japanese planes withdrew from Pearl Harbor and returned to the mothership. Fuchida, who was triumphant, asked Nagumo to launch another attack to destroy the ship repair yard and oil depot at Pearl Harbor, and suggested sending search planes to search for American aircraft carriers. Nagumo did not agree, believing that in this battle, the ship's fuel was almost exhausted, and if it was delayed here, the ship would not be able to drive back. So he ordered a retreat north. As when it came, the Japanese fleet slipped away quickly and quietly. And this is the Americans who are almost still dumbfounded.

In just over one hour, the Japanese dropped 40 torpedoes and 556 bombs of various types, totaling 144 tons. More than 40 US ships of various types were sunk or damaged, including 4 battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 2 destroyers, and 1 oil tanker. 3 battleships, 2 cruisers and 2 destroyers were heavily damaged; 1 heavy cruiser, 4 light cruisers, 1 destroyer and 5 auxiliary ships were damaged. 265 aircraft were destroyed. The U.S. military suffered heavy casualties, totaling 2,403 killed and 1,778 wounded. Only 29 Japanese aircraft were destroyed, 70 were damaged, 55 pilots were killed, 5 pocket submarines were destroyed, and 1 pocket submarine was captured. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of Japan's Combined Fleet, won the gamble, which was his most risky and lucrative gamble, and it made him famous in the history of naval warfare.

[America's "National Shame Day"]

The billowing smoke over Pearl Harbor and the blood of American soldiers wiped out isolationism in the United States overnight. At noon on 8 December, President Roosevelt, who had always lived in seclusion due to his mobility difficulties, made an unusual move and went to the US Congress in person, and instead of being in a wheelchair, his eldest son helped him into the hall and delivered a six-minute speech to the US Senate and House of Representatives. Roosevelt got straight to the point: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941, the United States was deliberately violently attacked, and this day will forever be our day of national shame!" -- The United States of America has been deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan......" and finally he said: "I ask Congress to declare that a state of war has existed between the United States and the Empire of Japan since the unprovoked and cowardly attack of Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941." Within an hour, the Senate and House of Representatives passed Roosevelt's request for a declaration of war. In the afternoon of the same day, the U.S. government declared war on Japan.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill burst into tears of joy when he heard the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and his first words were "All right!" We finally won. It was completely unexpected, and he didn't expect the Japanese to help him a lot. Once upon a time, in order to drag the United States into the war, he made great efforts to obtain only one "Lend-Lease Act", but the actions of the Japanese forced the Americans to make a painful determination to enter a global war. On the same day, Britain declared a state of war with Japan.

Hitler, however, was furious by this, and according to Hitler's staff, when he heard the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he was furious, and those present were stunned. Hitler never forgot the decisive role that American intervention played in the outcome of World War I. He believed that Germany's goal of conquering Europe, destroying the Soviet Union, and finally subduing Britain was achievable, but there had to be one condition: the United States would not intervene. Therefore, he tried not to give the United States an excuse to enter the war. In September 1939, he issued a strict order to the German admirals: "No German submarine is allowed to attack the American fleet in the Atlantic." But Pearl Harbor finally gave the Americans an excuse to enter the war, and Hitler's world strategy may have fallen short.

On December 9, 1941, China officially declared war on Japan, and on the 10th, it declared war on Germany and Italy. Then nearly 20 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, also declared war on Japan. On the 11th, Germany and Italy reacted by declaring war on the United States. The United States also declared war on Germany and Italy. At this point, the war was literally a world war. On the first night of that global war, Winston. Churchill slept contentedly. Shire. De Gaulle told Colonel Passy that henceforth "preparations should be made for the liberation of France......