"Commander, this is the damage report of the Yamato!"

The captain of the battleship Yamato, Takayanagi Yi Hachidasa, handed over a report to Yamamoto Isoroku with a painful face - in the artillery battle with the American battleship last night, the Yamato also suffered a lot of shells, although it did not "break the merit", but it still suffered a lot of "skin wounds". Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info What secondary guns were broken, lifeboats were broken, seaplanes were broken twice, and there were many other places that were potholed, not as beautiful as they used to be.

"Don't look at it, don't look at it," Yamamoto fifty-six smiled and waved his hand, "Takayanagi-kun, don't look reluctant." The Yamato doesn't eat with his face, and it's like talking with a little wound on his body! ”

The Yamato is now finally not a "hotel", but a real battleship! He withstood the toughest tests, and the performance made Yamamoto Isoroku very satisfied.

"What the hell is Yamato!" Yamamoto smiled and said to the Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet, Ugaki, "The American battleships are no match at all, and their 14-inch cannons can only tickle the Yamato." ”

"Of course, the Yamato is an unsinkable ship!" Ugaki replied with a smile, "The budget for ship 110 and ship 111 shouldn't be a problem now." ”

Ship No. 110 is the No. 3 ship of the Yamato-class, and No. 111 is the No. 4 ship of the Yamato-class. All three battleships were started in 1940, but now they are facing a shutdown due to financial and raw material problems. However, there was a case of the Yamato sinking 3 American battleships, and Hideki Tojo naturally did not dare to cut the budget of the 110th and 111th ships.

Yamamoto Fifty-six nodded and said, "Looking at the Yamato's performance last night, I can rest assured that it will bombard Oahu." ”

"What? Commander, are you really going to let the Yamato bombard Oahu? "When Ugaki heard Yamamoto say this, he immediately felt a little reluctant." There are 16-inch cannons on Oahu! ”

Yamamoto Fifty-six smiled and said, "But only the 460mm cannon of the Yamato can destroy the American batteries and the two Colorado-class battleships that ran aground at a distance of 2-30,000 meters." ”

According to the tests of the Japanese Navy, the Yamato 460mm main gun penetrated 566mm of vertical armor and 167mm of horizontal armor at 20,000 meters; At 30,000 meters, the penetration of vertical armor is 416mm, and the penetration of horizontal armor is 230mm. Although Yamamoto Isoroku did not know the specific defensive capabilities of the Colorado class and Williston batteries, it should be possible to destroy them with the Yamato's 460mm main gun.

"By the way, when will that guy from Imamura arrive?" Yamamoto Isoroku asked again about Lieutenant General Jun Imamura, the commander of the 16th Army sent by the "fool Moto" to command the army to attack Oahu.

Although this Imamura Jun is a lieutenant general in the army, he has a very good relationship with Yamamoto Isoroku. Both of them are good gamblers and can be regarded as gamblers. The chief of staff, "Fool Yuan", also knew that the two of them had a good relationship, so he let Imamura serve as the commander of the newly formed 16th Army and lead troops to fight Hawaii.

And this 16th Army is subordinate to 2 divisions and 1 mixed brigade. The two divisions were the 2nd Division and the 38th Division, of which the 2nd Division was one of the permanent divisions of the Japanese army before the war, and the conscription site was located in Sendai, so it was also called the Sendai Division. The 38th Division is a newly established division, with one less wing than the permanent division, only 3 (the 228th, 229th and 230th Wing), and the weapons and equipment are also poor, and the combat effectiveness is not at the same level as the 2nd Division. As for that brigade, it was naturally a Taiwanese mixed brigade that occupied Kauai Island.

It is not enough to seize Oahu with a total strength of 2 divisions and 1 mixed brigade in the early 50,000s. However, the Japanese Army can only send this number of people, not because there are no troops, but because the transportation capacity is really tight.

According to the transportation plan of the Japanese Army, a division with personnel and equipment, plus ammunition and supplies capable of fighting a battle, will need a merchant ship with a displacement of 300,000 tons to transport, and two divisions and regiments will need 600,000 tons. The Taiwanese mixed brigade, together with a few thousand Korean civilians and some construction materials and tools, used 150,000 tons of merchant ships.

That is, in the Hawaiian direction, there are as many as 750,000 tons of merchant ships in service with the army alone! If you count the cargo ships and oil tankers requisitioned by the 1st Fleet and the 1st Mobile Fleet. In the Hawaiian direction, the total tonnage of merchant ships occupied by the Japanese army and navy has already exceeded 1.1 million tons!

At this time, the total tonnage of merchant ships in Japan was only 5.9 million tons, of which the maximum number that could be requisitioned by the navy and army was only 3 million tons, otherwise Japan's domestic production would not be able to be maintained.

The 3 million-ton merchant ships were also used in many offensive operations such as the Hawaii Operation, the Philippine Operation, the Malayan Operation, the Guam Operation, and the Wake Island Operation. Therefore, it is difficult for a fool to cook without rice, and it is interesting enough to be able to squeeze out 750,000 tons of merchant ships for Hawaii.

"Commander, Commander Imamura is now on a transport ship in the North Pacific with the headquarters of the 16th Army and the 38th Division, and it will take about 3 days to reach Kauai."

Yamamoto Fifty-six crossed his arms and thought for a while, and said, "Then we will take 3 days to deal with the Williston Battery, the Hatch Battery, and 2 Colorado-class battleships." In this way, as soon as the people of Imamura arrive, they can start landing...... The battle for Hawaii should still be resolved quickly! ”

……

"Congratulations, Commander." Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Forces in Hawaii, Joseph Brown. Lawton. Colonel Collins handed over a telegram to his superior, who looked very tired and sluggish. Lieutenant General Short.

"Congratulations?" Lieutenant General Short was stunned, he really couldn't understand what good things would happen to him now.

"You've been promoted to general," said Colonel Collins. "And the president has appointed you as governor of the Hawaiian Islands."

"Admiral? Governor? Short was slightly stunned, and then smiled bitterly, this rank of general is used to comfort the deceased...... Although he is not dead now, President Roosevelt gave him the rank of general and made him governor at this time, apparently to keep him on Oahu until the last man!

Surrender will not be allowed! For one more day of Admiral Short's delay on Oahu, the United States would have one more day to strengthen the defenses of Australia and the west coast of North America.

"The army and navy have also jointly drawn up a personnel evacuation plan." Colonel Collins handed another document to Short. "There are a lot of people who need to be evacuated, including Army Aviation and Naval Aviation personnel who have lost their aircraft, personnel of Navy shipyards, Navy personnel who have lost ships, families of officers and soldiers, and white civilians on Oahu."

"How to retreat?" Admiral Short asked, "Now the ports of Pearl Harbor and Horununo are blockaded by the Japanese, and the Pacific Fleet is ...... How are those people going to get out? ”

"Priority evacuation will be carried away by B-17 and Catalina seaplanes," Colonel Collins said, "Army and Navy pilots who have lost their planes, families of senior officers, and white underage Oahu will all need to be evacuated first." And then there were the ground crews of the Air Corps, the Naval Engineers, and the white women......"

The plan for the evacuation was not gentlemanly at all, but it was absolutely correct. The first priority was to evacuate the pilots, and there were hundreds of them on Oahu, but there were no planes for them to use, so it was useless to stay on Oahu. But once they get their hands on planes somewhere else, it's a formidable force.

"What else is there to do but use the B-17 and the Catalina seaplane?" Admiral Short could imagine the B-17 and Catalina seaplanes risking a landing at night, but what else could be done?

"With light cruisers and destroyers." Colonel Collins replied.

"How to use it? How did they get through the Japanese blockade? ”

Colonel Collins shrugged, "I don't know about that...... But Admiral Nimitz will definitely find a way. ”

"Nimitz? He's ...... now"

"He is the new commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet."

While the two were talking, the phone ringing on Admiral Schott's desk suddenly came to mind. Short picked up the telephone receiver and put it to his ear, and after listening to it for a while, his already ugly face became even more ugly.

He put down the earpiece and said to Colonel Collins: "That super-battleship of the Japanese is here!" The lookout post at Diamond Hill has seen it! ”

……

"Mr. Minister, it would have been a mistake to put the fleet in Hawaii, and Admiral Richardson has repeatedly objected."

"Chester, that's what the president meant!" Admiral Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, looked at Admiral Nimitz, who had just been appointed commander of the Pacific Fleet and was preparing to board a plane to San Diego to take over. I remembered the dismissal of the former commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Richardson, by Roosevelt more than a year ago because he opposed the transfer of the Pacific Fleet's home port to Pearl Harbor, and Nimitz's refusal to take over the post of commander of the Pacific Fleet on the grounds of "lack of seniority...... If Nimitz had become the hapless commander-in-chief then, it would have been time for Kimmel to replace Nimitz.

Stark sighed, then continued, "The President now wants to hold on to Oahu as much as possible; At the same time, the evacuation of important personnel and civilians (whites) from the island; In addition, a transport of supplies and troops to Australia will be completed in the near future. I thought, you know what to do, right? ”

Nimitz smiled bitterly, "I'll try to complete these three tasks." By the way, when will those two North Carolina-class ships arrive in San Diego? I think I need them out. ”

"Two North Carolina-class?" Stark was taken aback by Nimitz's question, "Chester, you want to use these two North Carolina-class to deal with that Japanese super-battleship?" (To be continued.) )