808 Admiral's Decision: Nine depressed devils

"Your Excellency, Commander! The destroyers of the British have caught up! Please move to a safe place immediately. ”

Standing on the top deck of the "Mino Maru" luxury passenger ship, Vice Admiral Hideki Tojo, commander of the Second Army of the Japanese Army, looked fixedly at the destroyer flying the flag of the British Royal Navy not far away, and heard the heart-rending roar of Chief of Staff Yukio Kasawara, he turned around and smiled bitterly at Kasahara: "Safe place? Kasawara-kun, here...... But in the Pacific Ocean! Now, apart from the Yasukuni Shrine, where else can I go? It's just a pity that I couldn't conquer Australia for His Majesty the Emperor, so I died in vain...... It's really unwilling...... It's unwilling! ”

Looking at the pale face of his top boss, and looking at the British destroyer that was getting closer and closer, Yukio Kasahara couldn't help but want to cry. It's not because they're afraid of death, but the Japanese Army elite, who has received militaristic education since childhood, is certainly not afraid of death! But it's a shame to die like this...... His Second Army, which was part of the Southern Front, was supposed to be transported to Truk Island, and then when the Combined Fleet took Hawaii, it would transport them to fight in Papua New Guinea, and after taking Papua New Guinea, they would attack Australia. If you can fight vigorously on the battlefield of conquering Australia, even if you serve the country with your body, you will have no regrets.

But what's going on now? I didn't even touch the edge of Papua New Guinea, and in the Pacific Ocean I actually ran into the combined Anglo-American fleet led by a British battleship! The entire headquarters of the Second Army, as well as the headquarters of the Fourth Division, the division headquarters and directly subordinate teams, the Fourth Infantry Brigade and regiment, tens of thousands of elites of the Imperial Japanese Army and a large number of weapons and baggage, as well as two lieutenant generals and two major generals, a bunch of Osa Nakasa or something, just inexplicably let the family be wiped out! And those white ghosts, it is estimated that no one will die, right?

"Commander...... Your Excellency, Commander! A trembling-sounding voice rang in Tojo and Kasawara's ears.

"Eight squares! His Majesty's samurai should treat death as if they were home! Instead of being afraid, you pig! Pigs who are afraid of death! Tojo, who was in a bad mood (he would definitely not be in a good mood when he encountered this kind of thing), scolded him for scolding, and only after he finished scolding did he look back and saw a middle-aged man wearing sailor's clothes and dark skin standing behind him and Kasahara tremblingly. It turned out to be the sailors on the passenger ship "Mino".

"What's the matter? Don't be nervous, speak slowly. Kasawara took a breath, calmed down, and tried to make himself look a little "death-oriented".

The sailor bowed and said, "Oh, that's right, the destroyer of the white ghost called the flag and demanded ...... We surrender. The captain asked me to ask if I wanted to ......?"

snapped, and before the sailor's words were finished, a slap was slapped, and one was not enough, and the two were spared. It was the grumpy Tojo who beat people, and he didn't apologize after the beating, but shouted, "Hachiga! The samurai of the Great Japanese Empire will never surrender! Will never surrender! Then he ordered Kasawara to say, "Go to the wheelhouse and order the captain to turn the bow and crash into the British destroyer!" Sink it for me! ”

After saying these words, the huffing Hideki Tojo picked up his saber and walked towards his luxurious cabin without looking back. Well, according to the "History of the Great Japanese Army", Lieutenant General Hideki Tojo went to scratch the belly...... And the passenger ship "Mino Maru", which wanted to ram the British destroyer, was naturally sent into the icy deep sea of the western Pacific Ocean by two British torpedoes, and together with this Japanese passenger ship, there were two other 10,000-ton Japanese freighters. Including the commander of the Second Army, Hideki Tojo, all 10,854 people on the three steamers, except for 12 sailors, were killed.

……

Nov. 19, 12:40 p.m.

About 100 nautical miles northeast of Oahu, the Japanese aircraft carrier USS Akagi.

Liver Fu Kengoro Shaozo looked up at the dozen or so Type 96 shipboard fighters hovering in the sky, and then looked at the surrounding light cruisers and destroyers, one by one pointed at the anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns in the air, and frowned slightly. Two hours earlier, an unidentified seaplane, presumably from Pearl Harbor, had skimmed over the Akagi about 12 kilometers from the Akagi. At this time, the seaplanes sent out by the Japanese battleships and heavy cruisers did not find anything. In other words, it was the American aircraft carriers that first discovered the Japanese aircraft carriers!

A shrill siren suddenly sounded from the tweeter on the Akagi. Kengoro Liver knew that it was the sound of an air raid siren, and it seemed that the sentry plane had discovered the incoming American plane! The deck was suddenly busy, and two more Type 96s were slowly lifted onto the deck by elevators, and the air crew soldiers immediately rushed up and pushed them to the stern take-off assembly point, and two pilots with katanas also got into the narrow cockpit of Type 96 with the assistance of the air crew. With the roar of the plane's motors, the propellers spun rapidly, and the two planes quickly flew into the sky, one after the other. At this time, the black and overwhelming group of American carrier-based aircraft had already swarmed in, and the anti-aircraft guns on the Akagi and the cruisers and destroyers guarding it began to spray a rain of bullets into the air.

The airplane-to-plane dogfight also began...... Judging from the position where the liver is standing, the Americans are obviously inferior in numbers, with about 12 F4F and more than 40 SBD "Dreadnought" dive bombers, but no trace of the TBD "Devastator" torpedo bomber has been found. Liver Fu conjecture, it may be that the distance between the American aircraft carrier and the Japanese aircraft carrier is too far, and the "short-legged" TBD torpedo bomber is simply out of reach, right? If it is replaced by a Japanese Type 97 shipboard attack aircraft, there should be no problem.

"Onboard! Onboard! A cheer woke him up from his thoughts, and he looked in the direction of the finger of an air crew soldier beside him, and it turned out to be an American F4F fighter that had been shot down by the Type 96! It was spinning and falling down, presumably killed by the pilot. This is indeed a cause for cheering, as the Type 96 can actually beat the F4F, which is a generation ahead of it, well, although it is only achieved with a three-fold numerical advantage.

At this time, the air had already become a pot of porridge, only to see a large group of planes jumping up and down there, and turning a few heels from time to time. All the fighters tried desperately to go around behind the enemy fuselage and fire, but not many actually got what they wanted. Because the Japanese Type 96 is so old-fashioned, the engine is a 610 hp Nakajima Shou 41 9-cylinder air-cooled engine with a top speed of only 432 kmh, while their rival F4F has at least 1,200 hp air-cooled engine! The top speed is estimated at 500kmh, so American pilots can easily get rid of the Type 96. However, the number of F4F is too small, and the piloting skills of those American pilots are not very good, and they are obviously a little flustered, basically chased and beaten by the Type 96, but they have not shot down the second one for a long time, it seems that these American planes are still quite strong......

But those SBD "Dreadnought" dive bombers above 5,000 meters were not so lucky, because the F4F covering them was being chased by the Japanese Type 96, they immediately became the targets of the remaining 20 Type 96 slaughter! The performance of this American dive bomber is much better than that of Japan's Type 98, not only has a large range, but also has an amazing bomb load, and these more than 30 SBDs have 500 kg of bombshells hanging under their bellies, just one can make a Japanese aircraft carrier unable to eat and go around! Therefore, the Type 96 fighters covering the aircraft carrier had to cope with all their might.

These "dreadnoughts", which were the focus of Japanese fighter jets, quickly threw away the bombs hanging under the belly of the plane, and then drove at full speed to escape, and at the same time, the F4F, which had been chased by the old Type 96 for a long time, quickly pulled up and prepared to slip away.

Standing on the bridge of the battleship Nagato, which was not far from the battlefield, Yamamoto Isoroku saw the scene of the defeat of the American planes, so he sighed softly and put down the binoculars in his hand. "Haven't you found an American aircraft carrier yet?"

"I'm sorry," Ugaki shook his head, "the seaplanes of the battleship and heavy cruiser are searching, and I'm sure they'll be discovered soon." As he spoke, he looked up at the retreating American plane. Your Excellency, do you want to send a fleet of planes to track down the US plane? ”

"Okay!" Yamamoto turned his head and instructed Minoru Genda, an aviation staff officer: "Let the three motherships, the Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu, send planes to follow the American planes." ”

At this moment, the communications staff officer suddenly shouted excitedly: "Commander! The Mutsu seaplane reported the discovery of two American aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean about 220 nautical miles northeast of our fleet! ”

"What!?" Yamamoto Fifty-six snorted lightly, strode to the chart, looked at it, and said: "220 nautical miles, almost 407 kilometers, and it is about to go out of the combat radius of the Type 98 shipburst, how can it be so far?" ”

Minoru Genda walked up to Yamamoto and reminded in a whisper: "Your Excellency, the Type 98 can still barely reach the US aircraft carrier, and we can also let the fleet move at full speed in the northeast direction, at least 70 kilometers in an hour and a half, so that the time for the Type 98 to stay in the air should be enough." ”

"That's all there is to it." Yamamoto Fifty-six thought for a moment, then nodded and agreed to Genda's suggestion. On his seven motherships, there are still 192 Type 98 ships, and if they are not dispatched, then only 141 Type 97 ships can be attacked...... Without the cooperation of dive bombers, these torpedo planes could easily become targets for the US F4F.

Seeing that Yamamoto agreed to his suggestion, Genda suggested again: "It is better to let the carrier-based aircraft of the Akagi and Kaga follow the US aircraft group, and the carrier-based aircraft of the Soryu, Feilong, and Shenlong go to the sea area where the US aircraft carrier is discovered, and the carrier-based aircraft on the Zuihe and Xianghe are on standby." ”

This plan was somewhat conservative, but it was also decent, and Yamamoto 56 hesitated for a while, but still agreed to this "Genda plan" that some later historians called "ruining the Japanese Empire". Of course, this statement is really a bit grandstanding with hindsight. After all, at that time, Yamamoto Isoroku's combined fleet had already achieved a brilliant victory, and as long as the American reinforcement fleet was forced back, it would be able to ensure the capture of Oahu, and basically all the operational objectives would be achieved, and there should not be too many risks...... In addition, the most inscrutable element of luck in naval warfare seems to have gone to the side of Halsey, the "brute bull" who commanded the American reinforcement fleet.

……

"Sir! The USS Yorktown Air Group reported that they engaged carrier-based aircraft from a Japanese carrier formation about 100 nautical miles northeast of Oahu, losing 1 F4F and 12 SBDs. ”

In the command center on the second floor of the US aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, a frustrated Navy major handed a telegram he had just received to Rear Admiral Halsey, who was smoking a pipe. Halsey was the commander of the 1st Carrier Task Force of the Pacific Fleet, and his flagship was none other than the USS Saratoga, which was sunk in Pearl Harbor. However, he himself was not on the Saratoga at the time, but was sent to visit the sea trials of the USS Hornet. As a result, after the Pearl Harbor incident, he got the position of commander of the 3rd Aircraft Carrier Task Force, and immediately commanded 3 aircraft carriers to come to Hawaii to find a field!

"Let them go to Pearl Harbor as planned." Halsey shook his head and asked again, "What about the carrier-based fleet on the Raider and the Vespa?" Didn't they find the Japanese fleet? ”

"Nope." The staff officer shook his head, "The carrier-based aircraft sent by the Raider and the Vespa have begun to return home, and they can start landing around 1:50 p.m. ”

"At 1:50," Halsey paused, "where should the carrier be by then?" The staff officer beside him pointed to a certain position on the chart and said, "It's here, General, the new position has been issued to the carrier-based fleet, and they should be able to return smoothly." ”

"Alright! After the Hornet and Raider retracted their planes, the 3rd Carrier Task Force immediately retreated to the northeast, and the Japanese had already spotted us. After Halsey finished speaking, he smoked his pipe again, and his two big brass bell-like eyes looked at the flight deck below the island, where there were only six F4F fighters on standby, and in addition to the six that were hovering over the aircraft carrier, these were all the planes of the Yorktown Air Group now.

According to Nimitz's plan, some of the carrier-based aircraft on board the Yorktown would fly directly to a small airfield near Pearl Harbor that had not been damaged after completing an attack mission. There they would be responsible for providing some air cover for Pearl Harbor until Task Force 8 under the command of Rear Admiral Fletcher arrived at Pearl Harbor before evacuating together.

In addition, according to the order, after being discovered by Japanese reconnaissance planes, the 3rd Aircraft Carrier Task Force was to begin its mission of decoying the enemy. The three carriers of Task Force 3 will retreat to the northeast, luring the Japanese carriers to follow and creating an opportunity for Task Force 8 under Rear Admiral Fletcher to approach Oahu from the south. To tell the truth, Halsey was extremely dissatisfied with this battle plan, and if he followed his wishes, it would be best to have a vigorous fight with the Japanese. But dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, and orders must always be carried out.

"General, a briefing from the command of the Pacific Fleet."

About 2 hours later, the Vespa and Raider had just reclaimed their planes and the entire fleet was about to turn around and escape. The staff officer's voice rang in Halsey's ears again, but it was rare with a little joy.

"What's the matter?"

"The Anglo-American task force, consisting of the Asian Fleet and the British Z Fleet, successfully intercepted a Japanese troop convoy in the ocean east of the Philippines. Sink one light cruiser, one destroyer, three large transport ships. Speaking of this, the staff officer raised his voice with some excitement. Oh, my God! The telegram said that the Japanese who jumped into the sea to escape were spread over a large area of the sea, at least 3000 to 5000! General Phillips sent the destroyer closer and machine-gunned it, killing them for two hours, and finally summoning hundreds of sharks! ”

Hearing this, Halsey laughed and said, "Well done! Phillips is such a good British, he should kill the Japanese like this! As long as the Japanese are killed, the war will be won! ”

Suddenly, a rapid and poignant air defense siren suddenly sounded! After a while, the communications staff officer loudly reported: "Commander, the Japanese carrier-based aircraft group was discovered, there were about 36 torpedo attack aircraft, 24 Type 96 fighters!" ”

"What? How are there only 60 planes? Didn't find a dive bomber? Halsey was stunned when he heard this, and hurriedly asked.

"No, sir!"

"Hehe, then speaking of which, we are still outside the combat radius of the Japanese Type 98 bomber. Order the F4F fleet to take off immediately to intercept it, and the Japanese torpedo planes must not be allowed to get close to the aircraft carrier! ”

Halsey was right, and in fact he already knew the Type 98 data, which the British had provided to the United States after Pearl Harbor. Because of the existence of the second Anglo-Japanese alliance in this time and space, and the technical exchanges between Britain and Japan were also very active for a time, the British were very familiar with the performance of Japan's Type 98 carrier-based bombers, and now they naturally share this information with the United States. It is precisely for this reason that Halsey will control the distance between the American aircraft carrier and the Japanese aircraft carrier formation at more than 400 kilometers.

In less than 3 minutes, 18 F4F fighters that had already been ready took off, plus the 18 F4Fs that were already circling in the air, there were a total of 36 F4Fs, of which 24 roared and pounced on the 36 Type 97 ships that were descending in altitude, and another 12 entangled 24 Type 96 ships in battle, and the one-sided slaughter began again, but this time it was replaced by the Japanese......

……