"It was the first time I felt as if something bad was going to happen - when suddenly there was a loud explosion in the direction of the Saratoga, and I raised my binoculars and looked at it, and saw a huge black smoke rising from the sea, which is characteristic of the explosion of a large warship, and my heart sank at once, thinking that the Saratoga had suffered a misfortune, but soon a telegram came, dispelling my fears. Then it was reported that the Saratoga had sunk another Japanese battleship! Later I learned that it was the Japanese battleship "Akagi" that was sunk by the "Saratoga". It was a large battleship with a displacement of 41,000 tons and 10 18-inch guns, which would have been our most formidable opponent, but he was easily sunk by us. ”

"The Saratoga's telegram soon confirmed our observations, and we were all basking in the joy of victory, and I was not alarmed. The sinking of this Japanese battleship should have had a huge shock to the Japanese fleet. The light ships of the Japanese began to flee, and I gave the order to continue the attack on the enemy's aircraft carriers. Ignore these light ships. ”

"In fact, the Saratoga has run headlong into one of the most perfect traps in the history of naval warfare. It's just that none of us realize that danger is approaching. The Japanese cruisers and destroyers gathered on their wings at this time and began to flank us, we did not panic, now the Japanese have not been able to organize a powerful counterattack, they have lost two battleships and three cruisers, and two destroyers, in the battle just now, we caught and hit a Japanese aircraft carrier, but our results ended here. ”

"At 12:22, our radar spotted a large group of unidentified planes approaching us from the west, but soon they disappeared from the radar screen, and I think these Japanese planes must have been preparing to board the ship to load ammunition, and when they found that their mothership had been shot and burned, they obviously had to turn around and fly to other aircraft carriers. In fact, after the air raid on Oahu, these planes came back to replenish their ammunition and prepare for the next round of aircraft, more than 70 of them, and after they took off again, the target was no longer Oahu, but us. ”

"The Japanese battleships and heavy cruisers attacked us again, and it was clear that they were buying time for the planes on the aircraft carriers to take off again, and neither I nor Raymond were aware of this at the time, and after losing the target of the large Japanese aircraft carriers, I rushed to free the 'Lexington' from the enemy's entanglement, did not decisively order them to be sunk, and as a result, made irreparable mistakes."

The Japanese then began to take off all the planes and ordered all the ships to set off smoke screens. They began to split up in formation: the heavy ships turned to starboard, the light ships to the port side, and as we approached 14,000 yards, their covering ships turned again and struck at us. They rushed to a distance of 10000 yards from us, fired half of the torpedo in a salvo, then rushed closer again and fired another half of the torpedo at a distance of 7000 yards. None of their torpedoes hit us because the smoke screen covered the battle, and when the smoke cleared, we were pleasantly surprised to find that three more Japanese destroyers had been hit by us and sunk. ”

"We continued to move forward, and lethal fire began to inflict more losses on the enemy. Almost all the ships of the Japanese were wounded, and just as our radars again spotted the enemy aircraft carriers, enemy planes appeared. ”

"I observed that there were almost a hundred planes, carrying bombs and torpedoes, swooping down on us like locusts, and by this time the battle had been going on for several hours, and my valiant soldiers were alone in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, and our reconnaissance planes were extremely brave, and they bluffed down on the Japanese planes, hoping to distract them from the Japanese planes -- the Japanese planes launched an air attack on our heroic warship." …,

"This is the first time I have seen Japanese planes fighting, their pilots are very brave, they have skilled combat skills, their aircraft performance is better than ours, they easily avoided our anti-aircraft fire, they approached us quickly, although the bad weather and heavy smoke affected their movements, they still made accurate attacks, two bombs hit the 'Lexington', there was an explosion, but they did not cause much damage, the flames rose, but they were quickly extinguished."

"I realized that the situation was not good, but I knew that now it was too late for us to retreat, we could only continue to fight, the task of destroying the enemy aircraft carrier had not yet been completed, the enemy's aircraft carrier was in the direction south of us at this time, and I intended to continue the pursuit, at this time our light cruiser 'Charleston' was hit by a torpedo and two bombs dropped by Japanese aircraft, and soon sank, and our anti-aircraft fire was torn open, and now we have no ability to fill it."

"Soon, bad luck befell us, and three 500-kilogram bombs hit the 'Lexington' in quick succession, causing a violent explosion. Two more torpedoes and three bombs hit us, and the Lexington slowed down, and although it was under terrible attack, our heroic gunners did not stop fighting, and we shot down a total of 22 enemy planes. The first wave of enemy attacks was thus repulsed by us. ”

"While we were busy repairing the damage to the 'Lexington', there was also unfortunate news from the 'Saratoga', the heroic battleship was hit by six torpedoes and was badly damaged, but they continued to fight, and a Japanese battleship tried to fire the 'Saratoga', but was repulsed. That's when I decided to go to the rescue of the Saratoga. ”

"'Lexington' was moving forward at a speed of 20 knots, and by the time we saw the 'Saratoga', the heroic battleship had already tilted, and then the second wave of attack from the Japanese planes arrived, and again we met it with all the anti-aircraft fire, and this time the Japanese planes changed their tactics and attacked us mainly with torpedoes, and despite our best efforts to evade, four torpedoes hit us, and of course, the Japanese did not let go while attacking us' Saratoga', six more torpedoes hit her, I saw her have a series of large explosions, the hull was completely shrouded in black smoke, and after a while, when the black smoke gradually cleared, I saw the "Saratoga" raised its bow high, the lower half of the hull had been submerged in the sea, the destroyer "Monterey" was rushing to the rescue, and I and the people on the bridge watched the last moment of this heroic battleship with tears in our eyes. ”

"At this moment, the figure of a Japanese battleship appeared, and I saw through the telescope that it was a large battleship with five twin turrets, it was the Amagi, and its sister ship, the Akagi, had died under the guns of the Saratoga, and it was clear that it was ready to vent its anger on us. Soon, fierce fire began, and although the 'Lexington' was badly wounded and only two main turrets were able to be used for firing, we did not give in and fought back valiantly, and the artillery battle lasted for about half an hour, until an 18-inch shell from the enemy hit the bridge......"

"When I woke up, I found myself transferred to the light cruiser 'Newark', thus ending this sea battle that went down in history. Including the USS Lexington and USS Saratoga, we had six warships sunk and four wounded. The enemy had 2 aircraft carriers and 3 battleships sunk, 9 other warships sunk and 12 wounded. In my report, I summarized the gains of this naval battle as follows: 1. The Japanese army's attempt to prevent our counterattack was completely bankrupt; 2. The Japanese fleet suffered heavy losses; Thirdly, their attempt to eliminate once and for all any threat from the sea to future combat operations is bankrupt. Initially, the Naval Operations Department did not fully believe the second and third articles in the conclusions of my report. ”…,

"On the evening of October 25, I sent a report to the Navy Headquarters that three battleships and two aircraft carriers of the Japanese Navy had been destroyed. I later heard that the Department of Naval Operations had told the Pacific Command that the reports they had received did not support my optimistic conclusions. However, on the 29th, Admiral Kim, Chief of Naval Operations, told me and Kincaid, 'The enemy's main naval forces have indeed suffered losses and will not be able to fight for some time.' All the officers and men of your fleet are loved by us most heartily. Well done. I think that's a just reward for the heroic efforts we have made. ”

"When I reported to him in Washington in January of the following year, my first words were: 'I made a mistake in that battle.'" He clasped his hands together and said, 'No need to say any more, whatever you have done, I think it is right.' But I still want to be quick: I still think that in that situation, all we could do was attack. He replied: 'Yes, that's not a mistake, that's all you could do.' ’”

"All the big guys sent us congratulatory messages. General Nimitz's congratulatory message was most moving: 'I have long expected your success. As you fought together peacefully and heroically with me, everyone here felt incomparably inspired and trusted. General Marshall called: 'Historic and glorious victory. The Army would like to express its gratitude. 'Secretary of the Navy Forrest called: 'You have achieved a great success. ”

"These praises from all these people are a pleasure to read, but if I could get back to the battlefield, I would rather not have them."

Beijing, the Supreme Command of the Chinese Federation.

"It has been confirmed that the last three capital ships of the US Pacific Fleet, the USS Lexington, the battlecruiser USS Saratoga, and the USS Yorktown, have been sunk by the Japanese." Chief of Naval Intelligence Xie Wenjun reported to Wu Peifu.

"That is, by now, the U.S. Pacific Fleet has been completely wiped out." Wu Peifu had a gloomy face and nodded.

Hearing Wu Peifu's words, the faces of many people in the room changed.

"What about the losses of the Japanese?" Yang Shuoming asked calmly.

"According to our intelligence analysis, so far, the Japanese army has lost 1 large aircraft carrier, 3 battleships, 1 light aircraft carrier, 10 ships below the cruiser level and various ships, and more than 100 aircraft." Xie Wenjun said, "Compared with the loss alone, of course, it is much lighter. ”

"Such a loss is not small for them." Yang Shuoming nodded slightly and muttered softly.

"Most of the ships lost by the Japanese were caused by surprise attacks by the American fleet, but among them, two were old battleships, and the real losses of the Japanese were two aircraft carriers and one large battleship, and these losses had a limited impact on their overall combat strength." Secretary of the Navy Tang Qianming said, "The goal of the Japanese army is to seize the Hawaiian Islands and threaten the U.S. mainland. It is estimated that this time, the Americans are afraid that it will be difficult for them to keep Pearl Harbor. ”

"The Americans have suffered too much this time." Wu Peifu said with a sigh.

"Is it true that the Japanese dared to launch a surprise attack on the United States this time in the face of the world's condemnation, just for this oil, as rumored by the outside world?" Foreign Minister Gu Weijun cast an inquiring glance at Wu Peifu, but Wu Peifu didn't seem to feel it, Gu Weijun was a little strange, and then turned his gaze to Yang Shuoming.

"Of course, it's not just for oil, but it's also one of the causes of war." Yang Shuoming replied lightly.

After learning of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, scholars in China have different opinions on the reasons for Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Many people believe that the attack on Pearl Harbor was actually an energy war, or more precisely, an extreme measure taken by Japan because of the oil embargo imposed by the United States. Because oil is an important strategic commodity, the United States hopes to contain Japan's expansion by choking the energy supply. …,

After analysis, scholars believe that Japan, as an island country, lacks resources, and although Japan took advantage of the opportunity of World War I to seize the land of Eastern Siberia, the shortage of energy is still the Achilles heel of Japan's world hegemony. At the end of the 30s of the 20th century, 70% of Japan's domestic oil demand came from imports, and 75% of it came from the United States, the main oil exporter at the time.

Japan, on the other hand, has been eyeing the Asian continent in order to plunder its natural resources.

Japan's threat to Asian countries obviously posed a threat to US interests in the Far East, but the Roosevelt administration was also torn between isolationism in the United States, which held that on the one hand it could not provide military assistance to countries in the world threatened by war, and on the other hand, it could not impose economic sanctions on aggressor countries. Moreover, under pressure from the US Congress, Roosevelt was advised not to enter into a military conflict with Japan in the Pacific.

In July 1940, the United States passed the Export Control Act, which gave Roosevelt great convenience, because once Japan launched a new war of aggression, he could use it to impose a ban on the export of scrap iron and steel to Japan, and it could also be extended to aviation fuel. After Japan signed the alliance with Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union, it aroused more and more vigilance in the United States. Roosevelt declared a state of emergency, and Washington therefore placed support for Britain in an indisputably important position. These developments ultimately led the Japanese military top brass to be convinced that they would certainly clash head-on with the United States. Since the United States began to stop exporting oil to Japan from the East Coast and a number of other ports. The Japanese government began to make secret preparations for war, and a meeting of the Japanese military leadership proposed to the Japanese emperor to continue their expansion into southern Asia, as they had no choice. The Emperor agreed, and plans for invasion of Malaysia, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, and Hong Kong began, while Japan began preparations for war with the United States, Great Britain, and the Netherlands.

The United States had been extremely wary of Japan's preparations for war, and Roosevelt subsequently ordered the freezing of all Japanese assets in the United States, while oil exports to Japan could only be done through licensing. The governments of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands immediately followed the example of the United States government. But there is no indication of the intrinsic significance of Roosevelt's decision. Roosevelt seemed to be simply trying to use the oil license trade as a diplomatic means to gain more bargaining chips. However, the freezing of Japanese assets in the United States has made it impossible for Japan to pay petrodollars as it once did. All in all, this is a victory for the hardliners of the US government, who have long believed that this is the only way to force Japan to make concessions.

Under such circumstances, Japan has no choice but to use its oil reserves. Hu Shih, a well-known Chinese scholar, said: "Japan has no way to obtain or control the supply of oil. The decline in oil reserves is prompting the Japanese government to make the final decision to go to war with the United States. ”

For the U.S. military, Roosevelt's decision at this time was undoubtedly a failure. The U.S. Navy has been emphasizing the inferiority of the U.S. military in the Pacific, and the U.S. Navy top brass has been urging the U.S. to delay the war with Japan because the air and ground forces at Philippine military bases have not yet been strengthened. U.S. Ambassador to Japan Joseph? Gru has also been warning Washington that if Japan is cornered, the Japanese will retaliate fiercely without any hint, because this is the national identity of the Japanese. Still, Roosevelt insisted that, despite some risk, there would be no serious consequences for the United States. The seeming unanimity of his aides led him to believe that war was still far away. Even if Japan attacked Malaysia and the Dutch East Indies, it would not affect the security of the United States in the slightest.

Japan was greatly alarmed by the assets freeze and oil embargo imposed by the United States on Japan. Japan can be said to be in despair. Since Japan's oil reserves can only last for two years. The United States has cut off Japan's energy supply lines, so that Japan can only jump over the wall in a desperate way.

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