"What? What the? Near...... Hawaiian Islands? ”

Vice Admiral Jizaburo Ozawa, commander of the 1st Mobile Fleet aboard the aircraft carrier Shozuru, was also woken up from his sleep in the early hours of the morning. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

"Yes, the U.S. fleet is indeed approaching the Hawaiian Islands," reported to him the chief staff officer of the First Mobile Fleet, Yuosa Naito, "and according to the latest reports from reconnaissance aircraft, they are already less than 900 nautical miles from the island of Hawaii." ”

"It's 900 nautical miles from the big island of Hawaii......," Jizaburo Ozawa thought for a moment, "it's about 1,100 nautical miles from Pearl Harbor, and if there's going to be an air raid, it's going to have to be tomorrow morning at the earliest, right?" ”

1100 nautical miles is equal to about 2035 kilometers, which is too far for carrier-based aircraft to launch an air strike. Ozawa estimated that the U.S. fleet would only be able to launch an air attack within 1,000 kilometers of Pearl Harbor, and it would take 21 hours to launch an air attack according to the high speed of 25 knots, but it was a big night after 21 hours, and it was unlikely to attack (but Japan still deployed dozens of moonlight night fighters that had just left the factory at Pearl Harbor to prepare for a possible night attack), so Ozawa estimated that the Americans would launch an air attack as early as the early morning of the 24th.

"Maybe it takes off in the middle of the night and arrives in the early morning." At this time, the chief of staff of the 1st Mobile Fleet, Furumura Keizo, also walked into Ozawa's official cabin, he frowned and thought and said, "Americans are very familiar with the area around the Hawaiian Islands, even if it is a night flight, they should find the right direction, right?" ”

"It's a possibility," Jizaburo Ozawa pondered for a moment, "but it's more likely to be a feint." Americans want us to focus on the Hawaiian Islands and ignore Christmas Island. In this way, they will be able to destroy the Christmas Island airfield relatively easily, and once the Christmas Island airfield is destroyed, we will have to rely on the carrier-based aircraft of the mobile fleet to engage the Americans. ”

Keizo Furumura and Naito nodded at the same time, and what Ozawa proposed was indeed the most probable. "If that's the case, the U.S. fleet could quickly advance into the waters between Christmas Island and the Big Island of Hawaii, which is about 500 to 600 nautical miles away," Furumura said. In this way, it will be difficult for us to judge the direction of the attack of the Americans, and the distance from which we want to launch an attack will be too far to give full play to the great might of shore-based aviation. Only the engine to move the fleet to expel ......"

"That's stupid!" Jizaburo Ozawa interrupted Furumura, who was analyzing, "Our advantage is shore-based aviation!" There are currently more than 1,000 high-performance fighters on Christmas Island, which is the biggest trump card. ”

"But we can't be sure of the enemy's target."

"Just take a gamble, I'm still betting on Christmas Island!" Ozawa had already put on his military uniform by this time, and an orderly opened the hatch for him, and he strode out, followed by Furumura and Naito, and the three of them walked together towards the bridge of the Shozuru.

……

"Your Excellency, Commander Ozawa believes that the Americans' goal is Christmas Island, and therefore proposes to deploy the mobile fleet near Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef."

Thousands of kilometers away, the commander of the Combined Fleet, Mine Koga, also received a report that the U.S. fleet was approaching Hawaii at this time, along with a report from Jizaburo Ozawa.

Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef, about 700 kilometers northeast of Christmas Island, are 11.9 square kilometers of atolls where the Japanese have small airfields and small Marines deployed. Kingman Reef, on the other hand, is only 1 square kilometre in size and has no value in deploying troops.

The deployment of the mobile fleet at Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef is part of the established plan. Ozawa's fleet should leave Pearl Harbor as soon as it discovers that the U.S. Grand Fleet is approaching, go to Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef, which are more than 1,700 kilometers away from Pearl Harbor, and wait for the shore-based air forces in Hawaii or Christmas Island to weaken the U.S. fleet to a certain extent, and then move the fleet to deal a fatal blow to the aircraft carriers in the U.S. fleet!

"Very well," Koga nodded, "I trust Ozawa-kun's judgment. ”

He turned his head to Vice Admiral Ugaki, chief of staff of the Combined Fleet, who was reading a report on the refit of the "Akagi" and "Kaga," and said, "Ugaki-kun, if it's really too late, I won't bring 'Akagi' and 'Kaga' first." ”

According to the plan, the refit of the two aircraft carriers, the "Akagi" and the "Kaga," will not be completed until the end of October, and Yamamoto Isoroku has ordered the factory to rush to work and must be completed by October 15, but it is only 24 September, and the two aircraft carriers are still in the factory in Kure Gungang and cannot be dispatched.

However, the "Dafeng" aircraft carrier was built ahead of schedule, but it has not yet completed sea trials, so it can only barely set sail. The "Yamato" and "Musashi", which had previously been refitted for air defense, had already completed all the works, and each battleship was equipped with 32 (16 twin Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns, and the anti-aircraft firepower was greatly enhanced.

The battleship "Shinano", which had just been completed, was outfitted according to the standard of "air defense strengthening" from the beginning, and also had 32 Bofors anti-aircraft guns with powerful firepower.

In addition, the three battleships, "Yamato," "Musashi," and "Shinano," also carried another secret anti-aircraft weapon, the Type 3 anti-aircraft firebomb, which was said to be very powerful when it could be used to bombard large groups of aircraft.

It was precisely because the "Yamato", "Musashi", and "Shinano" possessed strong air defense capabilities that Koga Mineichi decided not to wait for the completion of "Akagi" and "Kaga" to lead the main forces of the combined fleet remaining in the Japanese mainland to attack.

As for the few old battleships left in Japan, the refit project has not yet officially started, so they can be dispatched at any time.

According to Koga's plan, the main force of the combined fleet to attack included all the battleships and heavy cruisers that could be dispatched, as well as a large number of light cruisers and destroyers to serve as escorts, and the aircraft carrier would carry only one "Taiho".

"Commander, if there is only one Dafeng, is there something insufficient in air defense?" Chief of Staff Ugaki entangled It seems that the air defense of the fleet is still a little uneasy.

After all, this time 9 valuable battleships will be dispatched, and 3 of them are Yamato-class!

"It's necessary to take some risks." Koga Mine said in a low voice, "Although the plan for the 'Jet-1 Operation' for the decisive battle against the Hawaiian Islands has been drawn up, we should not let go of the plan in front of us...... If the main force of the Pacific Fleet can be annihilated on Christmas Island, there may be no need to carry out the 'Jet-1 operation'.

So the battleships and heavy cruisers of the Combined Fleet had to be dispatched, and after the annihilation of the aircraft carriers of the American fleet by carrier-based aircraft and shore-based aircraft, it was time for the battleships and heavy cruisers to strike! This time, most of the US ships must not be allowed to escape unharmed. ”

Although Koga himself was involved in the development of the "Jet-1 Operation" plan, he did not approve of some of the extreme tactics in it...... I think that would be a great risk to the Japanese Empire!

So, as soon as Koga learned that the U.S. Pacific Fleet had come out, he planned to fight a war of annihilation near Christmas Island!

Not only to completely annihilate the aircraft carriers of the US Pacific Fleet, but also to sink most of the battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and auxiliary ships...... At this time, he did not know that the Americans had dispatched more than 400 surface ships.

……

"Sir, the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet in Pearl Harbor has been dispatched!"

When Koga decided to lead the main force of the Combined Fleet to attack, Spruance, thousands of kilometers away, learned that the Japanese First Mobile Fleet had left Pearl Harbor.

At the same time that the Japanese sent seaplanes to reconnoiter the U.S. fleet, the U.S. Task Force 58 also sent PBY Catalina seaplanes (Task Force 58 had seaplane carriers under its jurisdiction) to search the waters near Pearl Harbor.

At the same time, about 100 U.S. submarines are scattered in the waters near the Hawaiian Islands and the Lane Islands, which are responsible for minelaying and reconnaissance.

"Do you know how many aircraft carriers there are?" Spruance asked.

"I don't know," replied the chief of staff, Major General Browning, "that the seaplanes did not dare to get too close, and could only detect them by radar from a distance." ”

It was already early morning on September 24, Hawaii time (late at night on the 24th in Tokyo time), and the sky was overcast and bright, and Japanese daytime fighters could take off, so seaplanes did not dare to get too close to Pearl Harbor.

"Where's the quantity?"

"More than 80," said Rear Admiral Browning, "estimates 15-20 aircraft carriers." ”

The United States in this time and space has the full assistance of the Soviet Union, and has a slight understanding of the construction of Japanese aircraft carriers. But it was this slight one or two that made the Americans overestimate Japan's strength.

Because the Americans know that Japan is building a large-scale "Yunlong" class aircraft carrier, and the "urgent" plan for 41 years is ready to build a large number of aircraft carriers, and at the beginning of 42 years it is planned to build 15 ships! It's September '43 now, so it's time to build a few ships, right?

At the same time, the Americans also know that the Japanese began construction of the very technologically advanced aircraft carrier "Taiho" in the summer of 1941, and it is estimated that it has now been completed.

In addition, the Americans did not know that the ships "Kaga" and "Akagi" were being refitted for air defense reinforcement at Kurejun Port (Soviet intelligence officers were not omnipotent).

Therefore, US naval intelligence estimates that there are at least "Akagi", "Kaga", "Shozuru", "Zuizuru", "Taiho", 3-5 "Yunryu" class ships, and several aircraft carriers converted from cruise ships or seaplane carriers in Pearl Harbor. The total number is 15-20 ships, and the number of carrier-based aircraft is about 1000 units!

"They're coming at us!" Spruance quickly made a misjudgment.

"Sir," Rear Admiral Browning agreed with Spruance's judgment, "we cannot continue any further near the Hawaiian Islands, and we should avoid shore-based aircraft in the Hawaiian Islands as much as possible." ”

"Do you want to be close to Christmas Island?" Browning asked.

"Come closer! Avoid Hawaii and head straight to Christmas Island! Spruance gritted his teeth, "Aren't we here for this?" 1,000 planes, 2,000 planes, let them come at us! ”