"Commander, 36 B-17s, 36 B-25s, and 16 P51s are ready to take off at any time to bomb Kaohsiung. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ”

Inside the headquarters building of the US Far East Army in Manila, Lieutenant General MacArthur was smoking a corncob pipe while listening to a staff officer's report on preparations for the bombing of Kaohsiung.

Because the approximate time of the Japanese war had long been known, and the Japanese army was expected to attack the Philippines first, MacArthur had quite enough troops on December 8, 1941. In terms of commonly used aircraft alone, Army Airlines and Shanghai Airlines, there are a total of 313 aircraft, including 36 B-17s, 36 B-25s, 64 P51s, 64 P40s, 32 F4Fs, 27 SBDs, 27 TBDs, and 27 PBY-5A Katarina seaplanes. So MacArthur had the power to fight back in his hands!

Because of the time difference, the Philippines was still 2 o'clock in the morning when Pearl Harbor was bombed, and it was difficult for Japanese planes to bomb Clark Airport and Krabi Military Port at the same time. So until more than 7 o'clock in the morning on December 8, Philippine time, the Japanese bombers did not come. Therefore, MacArthur definitely struck first, sending B-17s and B-25s from Clark Base to bomb Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

"Alright then," MacArthur waved his hand, "go out now, bomb the Japanese airfield in Kaohsiung, and tell the brethren of the air force to teach me a hard lesson to the Japanese devils in Taiwan!" ”

MacArthur's order soon reached Clark Airfield, and the B-17, B-25, and P51 planes, which had already completed preparations for takeoff, immediately rushed into the blue sky one after another, formed a bombing formation in the air, and then roared toward Taiwan.

At the same time, 220 nautical miles north of Oahu, eight aircraft carriers of Japan's 1st Mobile Fleet also began sailing against the wind at full speed, releasing 183 carrier-based aircraft that made up the third attack wave with the help of strong deck winds - the third and fourth attack waves were reduced in size due to the loss of 49 aircraft in the first and second attack waves.

"Major General, Pearl Harbor has been hit by a third wave of air raids!"

Task Force 2's flagship aircraft carrier, USS Assault, Frank Brown. At 12:35 p.m. local time in Hawaii, Rear Admiral Fletcher received the news of the third air raid on Pearl Harbor by Japanese carrier-based aircraft.

"The plane of the Japanese devils has already arrived at Pearl Harbor?" Frank. Rear Admiral Fletcher wanted to confirm the exact location of the Japanese aircraft. Because there is an anti-aircraft search radar on Oahu, it is possible to detect incoming enemy aircraft 30-45 minutes in advance.

"Yes, it's already at Pearl Harbor." Lieutenant Commander Henry, captain of the USS Raider, replied.

Rear Admiral Fletcher glanced outside the bridge, where the narrow flight deck was filled with planes ready to take off. "Raider" is a small-tonnage aircraft carrier with a standard displacement somewhat smaller than the German "Seydlitz" class. But this aircraft carrier, like other American aircraft carriers, adopted the extravagant deck tethering method of loading aircraft, and the folding wings of American aircraft are relatively good, so the "Raider" can carry 72 common aircraft plus 9 spare aircraft.

At present, there are a total of 64 common aircraft and 8 spare aircraft on this aircraft carrier, of which 20 SBDs, 18 TBDs and 12 F4F have been arranged on the flight deck - this is a common "all-deck assault" tactic used by American and Japanese aircraft carriers, and all the planes that go out to fight are arranged on the deck in advance, so that the carrier-based aircraft can be released in the shortest possible time.

Now, with a single order from Fletcher, all 50 planes can take off in 10 minutes at most.

"Right now, send out the first attack wave!" Frank. Rear Admiral Fletcher suddenly gave the order for carrier-based aircraft to attack.

"Rear Admiral," Lieutenant Commander Henry, the captain of the Raider, was stunned when he heard this, and hurriedly reminded, "We haven't discovered the location of the Japanese aircraft carrier yet." ”

"No, we don't need to know the location of the Japanese aircraft carrier now, we just need to let the carrier-based aircraft follow the Japanese carrier-based aircraft back." Frank. "The Germans used this tactic in the Battle of the Eastern Mediterranean," Fletcher said, "and as a result the British lost many good carrier-based pilots, and now we have to do the same with the Japanese." ”

He thought for a moment and then said: "After the carrier-based aircraft are released, we will immediately move south away from the battlefield. ”

"Far from the battlefield?"

"Yes," Frank. Fletcher nodded and said, "The Japanese have at least 6 aircraft carriers, and we only have 1...... So you can't confront it head-on. ”

"So how do the carrier-based aircraft return?"

"Let them go to Pearl Harbor after bombing the Japanese," Frank . "We'll take off from Pearl Harbor tomorrow morning and return to the carrier, so we can continue to deal with the Japanese tomorrow," Fletcher pondered. ”

"Tomorrow? Won't these Japanese leave tomorrow? ”

Frank. Fletcher shook his head, "That's hard to say! Maybe the Japanese want to occupy Hawaii! ”

"Occupy Hawaii!?" Lieutenant Colonel Henry was taken aback, "Will they drag a transport line of more than 3,200 nautical miles to occupy the Hawaiian Islands?" What's the point? ”

Frank. Fletcher frowned, "It's going to make us very uncomfortable, very, very uncomfortable...... That's why it's enough! ”

……

"Enemy planes! Enemy aircraft were spotted, in the direction of 11 o'clock, 500 meters above! ”

Mitsuo Fuchida heard Yasuda, the bombardier/operator sitting behind him, shouting. He hurriedly looked in the direction Yasuda pointed out, and saw forty or fifty small black dots approaching his side at a very fast speed!

"Akagi, Kaga, and Zuizuru fighter squadrons, face enemy aircraft!" Mitsuo Fuchida immediately divided into 3 fighter squadrons (not fully manned, 3 squadrons had only 40 Zeros) to fight against the oncoming enemy aircraft. Then he ordered: "All squadrons of dive bombers and torpedo bombers, immediately advance to the designated target, and wish the military luck a long time!" ”

According to Minoru Genda's arrangement, the Type 97 torpedo bombers, 99 dive bombers, and "Comet" dive bombers participating in the third attack wave all carried high-explosive bombs used to destroy the airfield runway and 250-kilogram armor-piercing shells used to attack oil tanks. Torpedoes against battleships and armor-piercing bombs of 500 kg and 800 kg were not carried. Therefore, the targets of the third wave of bombing were the oil depots and airfields at Pearl Harbor.

The area of the oil depot that was first bombed, and when the Japanese planes arrived, the fire was still raging there.

Although the Pacific Fleet Command and the Hawaii Army Command had done their best to mobilize the fire brigade, there were so many fuel tanks that were ignited that the central control pumps at the Pearl Harbor oil depot had no time to pump fuel out of the blown up tanks, and the leaking fuel burned around the tanks.

All firefighters can do now is spray water to cool down the tanks that haven't been blown up, and they can reinforce the mound to prevent the burning oil from leaking out and spreading to other tanks. At this time, two divisions of the Hawaiian Army also sent engineers with mechanized engineering equipment to help pile up the earth, but the fire was temporarily controlled.

But at this time, the damned Japanese bombs fell again, blew up seven or eight intact oil tanks, and killed many firefighters and sappers who were fighting the fire.

The airport at Pearl Harbor was then devastated, although smoke from the fire at the oil depot obscured the airport to some extent. But the Japanese pilots risked lowering their flight altitude and risking being shot down by heavy ground fire, finding three of the four main airfields, and then dropping more than a hundred bombs, destroying some hangars and blowing parts of the runway into potholes.

The bombing of the runway is not difficult for the Americans, and the Pearl Harbor base has been under construction for the past few decades, so there are quite a few engineering teams on Oahu, as well as many construction machinery, and the construction force is sufficient, and it only takes one night to repair the craters blown up by the Japanese.

But there are quite a few damaged, but there are still planes that can be repaired in the bombed hangar! And now there is a shortage of pilots in Pearl Harbor, because many pilots' planes were blown up in the first and second waves of Japanese air raids. The continental United States is more than 3,000 kilometers away from Oahu, and except for long-range bombers such as B-17 and B-24, the vast majority of American aircraft, especially fighters, do not have such a large range, and it is impossible for them to fly to Oahu by themselves, and even the range of the C-47 military transport aircraft of the United States is not enough.

So how to replenish the aircraft to Oahu became a key factor in the Hawaiian operation. As soon as Admiral Kimmel saw the report of the damage caused by the third and fourth waves of Japanese air raids, he immediately submitted a request to the Admiralty for additional aircraft -- the number of fighters on Oahu was now less than 30, and even if you count the fighters that could be repaired, there were less than 40 fighters, and if the Japanese launched several more waves, there would be no fighters available on Oahu.

And Nagumo Zhongyi, who had just taken a nap, had just woken up and also heard a piece of news that made him nervous.

"What!? Dozens of American planes followed behind the returning 4th Strike Wave fighters? Nagumo Tadashi immediately became nervous, "Baga, the Americans are so cunning that they actually want to find our location by tailgating. ”

"Commander," Minoru Genda, the aviation staff officer of the 1st Mobile Fleet, thought that Nagumo Tadaichi wanted to learn from the British in the naval battle in the Eastern Mediterranean, and gave up the fourth assault wave that was returning home, and hurriedly reported: "All the direct cover planes are ready for battle, and there is no problem with air defense...... Moreover, in the four waves of assaults, our side has lost at least 69 aircraft, and more than 100 Imperial pilots have already spilled blood! (To be continued.) )