"This is the first time I feel as if something bad is going to happen. At this moment, a loud explosion suddenly sounded in the direction of the Saratoga, and I raised my binoculars to look at it, and saw a huge black smoke rising from the sea, which is the characteristic scene 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 battleship! Later I learned that it was the 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 battleship should have had a huge shock to the battleship. Saying that my light ships began to flee, I ordered 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. Our cruisers and destroyers came together at this time and began to attack us, we did not panic, and now the Japanese army has 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 one 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 military 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 battleships and heavy cruisers attacked us again, and it was clear that they were buying time for the planes on the aircraft carrier to take off again, and neither I nor Raymond were aware of this at the time, and after losing the target of the large aircraft carrier, I was anxious to free the 'Lexington' from the enemy's entanglement, and did not decisively give the order to sink them, and as a result made an irreparable mistake."

"At this time, I 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 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 of my ships were wounded, and just as our radar was again spotting the enemy's aircraft carrier, enemy planes appeared. ”

"I observed more than a hundred planes, armed with bombs and torpedoes, coming at us like locusts, and by this time the battle had been going on for several hours, and my brave men were alone in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, and our reconnaissance planes were extremely brave, and they bluffed down on the plane, hoping to distract the plane. The planes launched an air attack on our heroic warship. ”

"This is the first time I have seen this plane in action, their pilots are very brave, they have skilled combat skills, their aircraft are also 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 this 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 sad news from the Saratoga, the valiant battleship was badly damaged by six torpedoes, but they continued to fight, and one battleship tried to fire the Saratoga, but was repulsed. That's when I decided to go to the rescue of the Saratoga. ”

"The 'Lexington' was moving forward at a speed of 20 knots, and when we saw the 'Saratoga,' the heroic battleship had already tilted, and then the second wave of attack by the planes arrived, and we again met it with all the anti-aircraft fire, and this time the planes changed their tactics and attacked us mainly with torpedoes, and despite our best efforts to evade, four torpedoes hit us, and of course, I 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 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 evident 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 army's attempt to prevent our army's counterattack was completely bankrupt; 2. The 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 25 October, I sent a report to the Navy Headquarters that three battleships and two aircraft carriers of the 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 King, Chief of Naval Operations, told me and Kincaid, 'The enemy's main naval forces have indeed suffered losses and will be unable 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: 'Glorious victory of the historical surname. 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."

Yanjing, 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 Chinese military." 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 my losses?" Yang Shuoming asked calmly.

"According to our intelligence analysis, so far, the Chinese 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 military were caused by surprise attacks by the US fleet, but among them, two were old battleships, and the real losses of the army 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 Chinese army is to seize the Hawaiian Islands and threaten the US 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.

"I dare to defy the condemnation of the world this time and launch a surprise attack on the United States, is it really 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 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, scholars in China have different opinions about the reasons for the attack on Pearl Harbor. Many people believe that the occurrence of the Pearl Harbor incident was actually an energy war, or to be more precise, it was an extreme measure taken by the United States because of the oil embargo imposed on it. Because oil is an important strategic commodity, the United States hopes to curb the expansion of the capital by blocking the energy supply.

After analysis, scholars believe that as an island country, it lacks resources, and although it 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 the world. At the end of the 30s of the 20th century, 70% of the country's oil demand came from imports, and 75% of it came from the United States, the main oil exporter at that time.

Previously, Ben had been eyeing the Asian continent for the purpose of plundering natural resources.

However, the isolationists in the United States also put Roosevelt in a dilemma, believing that on the one hand, it is not possible to provide military assistance to countries in the world that are threatened by war, and on the other hand, it is not possible to impose economic sanctions on the aggressor countries. Moreover, under pressure from the U.S. Congress, Roosevelt was advised not to engage in a military conflict with him in the Pacific.

In July 1940, the United States passed the "Export Control Act", which gave Roosevelt great convenience, because once he launched a new war of aggression, he could use it to impose a ban on the export of scrap iron and steel, and it could also be extended to aviation fuel. After signing the alliance with Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union, the United States became more and more vigilant. Roosevelt declared a state of emergency, and Washington therefore placed support for Britain in an indisputably important position. These developments eventually led to the conviction of the military top brass that they would definitely have a head-on conflict with the United States. As the United States began to stop exporting oil to the city from the East Coast and some other ports. Masamachi began to make secret preparations for war, and at a meeting of the top brass of the military proposed to Emperor Morimoto to continue their expansion into southern Asia, as they had no choice. The Emperor agreed, and preparations for the invasion of Malaysia, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, and Hong Kong began, and preparations for war with the United States, Great Britain, and the Netherlands began.

The United States had been extremely wary of his preparations for war, and Roosevelt then ordered the freezing of all of his assets in the United States, and the export of oil to the country could only be done through licensing. The British and Dutch political axes immediately followed the example of the American political axes. 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 his assets in the United States has made it impossible for him to pay petrodollars as he did before. In short, this is undoubtedly a victory for the hardliners in the United States, who have always believed that this is the only way to force him to make concessions.

Under such circumstances, Ben can therefore only use its oil reserves. Hu Shih, a well-known Chinese scholar, said: "There is no way to obtain or control the supply of oil. The decline in oil reserves prompted the political axe 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 the U.S. because the air and ground forces at the Philippine military base have not been strengthened. U.S. Ambassador to the U.S. Joseph? Gru has also been warning Washington that if he is forced into a dead end, the army will retaliate violently without any hint, because this is his national surname. 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 Ben attacked Malaysia and the Dutch East Indies, it would not affect the security of the United States in the slightest.

The United States imposed an asset freeze and an oil embargo on Ben, which greatly shocked him. It can be said that he has fallen into despair. Since Ben's oil reserves can only last for two years. The United States cut off the energy supply line of the company, so that the dog could only jump over the wall and make a desperate bet.

(To be continued)