In the distance, on the island of Kauai, there was a faint sound of artillery, and after dozens of nautical miles, it was already like a faint thunder. The www.biquge.info was a small Japanese ship shelling an American position on Kauai Island in support of the landing of the Taiwanese Mixed Brigade. A group of landing ships carrying seven or eight thousand Japanese troops had already arrived in the Pacific Ocean near Kauai Island in a murderous manner.

Farther afield, near Oahu, an even larger fleet appeared, with five formidable battleships and nine aircraft carriers as the core, as well as dozens of cruisers, destroyers, and dozens of tankers, ammunition ships, supply ships, and laying ships. Formations are laid out on the dark sea, like a floating city.

The three main forces of the Japanese Combined Fleet, the First Mobile Fleet, the First Fleet, and the Hawaiian Dispatch Fleet, finally completed their convergence on the evening of December 12, Hawaii local time. General Yamamoto Isoroku, who was in charge of the "Yamato Hotel", has now taken over the command of the Hawaiian battlefield. This also announced the official start of the second phase of the "Z Operation Plan".

Before the arrival of the battleship Yamato, which Yamamoto was riding, the four battleships commanded by Vice Admiral Takasu Shiro (Nagato, Mutsu, Hiei, and Kirishima) had already carried out the first exploratory shelling of Oahu on the night of the 11th, mainly targeting the oil depot area in Hawaii.

For safety reasons, the four battleships opened fire on the ocean more than 20 kilometers and nearly 30 kilometers away from Oahu, relying on a large seaplane "Type 2 Boat" to correct their ballistics in the air, firing a total of nearly 1,000 rounds of large-caliber artillery shells and bursting several oil tanks. The U.S. batteries on Oahu and the two stranded battleships also fired back, but not a single shell hit the target.

Tonight, Yamamoto Isoroku, who had just taken over the command, did not order another artillery bombardment, but invited both Takasu Shiro and Nagumo Tadaichi to the "Yamato Hotel" to discuss the battle situation with them in person.

"Commander, after days of bombing and air battles, the US shore-based planes on Oahu have basically lost their combat effectiveness." Tadaichi Nagumo assured Yamamoto Isoroku from the office of the commander aboard the Yamato, "In the next battle, there is no need to consider the threat of US shore-based aircraft. However, the ground anti-aircraft fire of the US forces on Oahu was relatively strong, and 6, 5, and 4 planes were shot down during the daytime air raids on the 10th, 11th, and today, respectively. ”

"There will be no more bombing of Oahu starting tomorrow," Mr. Yamamoto said, "and the strength of the carrier-based aircraft force must be maintained and preparations for a decisive battle with American aircraft carriers." ”

"Hay!" Nan Yunzhong nodded.

Yamamoto looked at Takasu Shiro and said, "The Hawaii Dispatch Fleet and the 1st Fleet were merged, and Takasu-kun was still the commander of the 1st Fleet, and the flagship was located on the Nagato. Starting tomorrow, the First Fleet will make sorties during the day and continue to bombard Oahu with great firepower! ”

"Hay!" Takasu Shiro nodded heavily.

Yamamoto's plan for a decisive battle was very simple, that is, to bombard Oahu with five battleships, and at the same time let the Taiwanese mixed brigade land on Kauai Island, while the eight aircraft carriers of the First Mobile Fleet were recuperating and waiting for the main force of the US Pacific Fleet to return for a decisive battle.

At the same time, the two divisions that were originally going to be used for the Philippine landing operation and the two divisions that were on standby boarded the transport ship and were heading for Hawaii under the escort of the Third Fleet. If the 1st Mobile Fleet can defeat the U.S. Pacific Fleet, then Oahu will be nine out of ten.

"The decisive battle is expected to take place on the 15th-18th," Yamamoto Isoroku turned his head to Nagumo Tadaichi and said, "This battle is related to the rise and fall of the Imperial Kingdom, and I hope that Nagumo-kun and the kings of the First Mobile Fleet will work hard!" ”

Since Halsey's carrier-based planes bombed Saipan, Yamamoto Isoroku could roughly guess when the decisive battle would take place based on the distance between Saipan and Oahu. If Halsey's fleet had ventured to return in a straight line, the decisive battle would have taken place on the 15th, and if Halsey's fleet had taken a Z-shaped anti-submarine route, then the decisive battle would have taken place on December 18, 1941.

……

"Damn, these Japs must be crazy!"

In the waters near Midway, on the battleship USS Pennsylvania, the flagship of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Kimmel said to Rear Admiral Fletcher, who had just taken up the post of chief of staff of the Pacific Fleet: "They must be trying to seize Hawaii, damn it...... All of us underestimated the madness of the Japs. MD, these yellow-skinned monkeys are a bunch of crazy people! ”

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was already a big surprise, and now they are intensifying their efforts to capture Oahu! Although this style of play is a bit crazy, it completely disrupts the position of the United States.

"Admiral, it is impossible for the Japanese to capture Oahu." Major General Fletcher shook his head and said, "There are many forts on Oahu, and there are about 60,000 defenders, and the weapons and ammunition are very well stocked. Moreover, 2 Colorado-class ships ran aground near Fort Williston. None of the four battleships of the Japanese last night dared to approach and only dared to fire at a distance of 16 nautical miles. ”

"Of course they can't take Oahu!" Kimmel smiled reluctantly, "There will be no problem with Oahu, the Japanese will definitely run into a bloody encounter there." ”

Rear Admiral Fletcher had already guessed Kimmel's intentions, "Admiral, are we going to use the fortress of Oahu to weaken the Japanese fleet?" ”

"Yes," Kimmel slapped his face and said, "That's it! Oahu is the strongest fortress in the world, and no one can take it down. But that alone is not enough for us to defeat the Japanese devils...... We have to find a way to get the P51s and SBDs from the mainland to Oahu. As long as the island's air force can be replenished with planes, the Japanese devils can only retreat from Hawaii. ”

After several days of air raids and attrition in air battles, the aircraft of naval aviation and army aviation on Oahu have been depleted. However, there were quite a few pilots on the island, as most of the planes were destroyed on the ground, and most of the rest were shot down in air battles over Oahu. Therefore, the consumption of pilots is not large, and if we simply compare the losses of American and Japanese pilots, then the losses of the Japanese will definitely be greater.

But without planes, there is no way to fight without pilots. Therefore, replenishing Oahu with aircraft is now the key to victory or defeat in Hawaii.

"It is impossible for a transport ship to get close to Oahu," said Rear Admiral Fletcher, "and there are four Japanese battleships near Oahu, and even with the main escort of the Pacific Fleet, it is not certain that one of the four Japanese battleships is of the Nagato-class." ”

Not counting the USS Colorado, which is still under repair on the west coast, the battleships that the Pacific Fleet can fight now are the USS Pennsylvania, the USS Tennessee, and the USS Nevada, which are not at all opponents of the two Nagato-class ships -- because the two "Nagato" ships took part in the bombardment of Oahu on the night of the 11th, the Americans have already judged that at least one "Nagato" class ship is near Oahu by the craters made by the main gun shells of the Nagato and Mutsu.

"We can get the convoy into Hilo Harbor on Hawaii Island," Kimmel said after a moment's thought, "and then let the planes take off from the airport near Hilo Harbor and fly to Oahu." ”

Hilo Harbor on the island of Hawaii is about 350 kilometers from Pearl Harbor on Oahu and is essentially on the edge of a Japanese aircraft carrier attack radius. In the past few days, Japanese planes have not bombed Hilo Harbor, but the Japanese army will certainly not ignore the existence of Hilo Harbor.

"There must be Japanese submarines or light ships patrolling near the port of Hilo, and their seaplanes must have flown farther." Rear Admiral Fletcher pondered, "Unless we can divert the Japanese carriers away from the vicinity of Oahu, the convoy will still not be able to get close to Hilo Harbor." ”

"I'm afraid it won't work with battleships." Kimmel crossed his arms and walked to the chart table, "If they wanted to blow up and sink our battleship, they would have followed." He paused and said, "Only with Halsey's aircraft carriers!" Tempt 1 lured the enemy while we circled east of Hawaii to join the convoys coming from mainland China and escort them into Hilo Harbor. ”

While Kimmel and Fletcher were discussing the military situation, the communications staff officer who was in the bridge of the "Pennsylvania" suddenly shouted: "Admiral, a telegram from the Marines on Kauai, the Japanese have landed on Kauai!" ”

……

At the same time.

Dozens of Japanese landing craft, the Type B, pierced through the fog on the sea in the early morning of 13 December and landed on a tidal flat on the east side of Kauai Island with a bang.

Before the landing craft could stop, the Japanese officers and soldiers full of Japanese officers and soldiers on it had already staggered and jumped. These people were not the officers and men of the Taiwanese mixed brigade of the Japanese Army, who were accustomed to the turbulence of the sea. They rode the 11,800-ton "Akitsu Maru" on the sea for more than ten days and almost twenty days, and they were all exhausted by seasickness, and most of them had weak legs and foot bones. Now they are all fighting for their loyalty to the emperor and going to the battlefield.

If they were to land on Oahu now, they would probably be easily wiped out by the U.S. forces entrenched on the beachhead. But on the beachhead of Kauai, unarmed American GIs were waiting for them.

Although these tired and probably sick Japanese soldiers belonged to the elite Taiwanese mixed brigade, they were all on the battlefield for the first time, and they all looked nervous, for fear that they would be killed by a child who had fought from somewhere.

Suddenly, someone shouted in Taiwanese accented Japanese: "American soil, we have stepped on it!" It's worth dying here! ”

Lieutenant Ozaki, the leader of the Japanese squadron leading the team, looked back, and it turned out to be a Taiwanese volunteer Iwasato Takenori who was shouting. Kozaki also pulled out his command knife and shouted: "Aren't the warriors of Kyushu (most of the Taiwanese brigades are Kyushu soldiers) inferior to the Taiwanese?" Give me all rush! Kill all the ghost animals in the United States! Kill to ......" (To be continued.) )