If you take the Anadyr Bay at the northern end of the Bering Sea as the central point, and then take the distance from this center point to the Aleutian Islands as the radius, and draw a circle with a compass, you can see that the east-to-west extension of the Aleutian Islands is almost identical to the trajectory of the circle. If the Bering Sea is compared to a river, then the Aleutian Islands are like a long series of 'stepping stones' that bend in the water, and from the Alaska Peninsula, you can 'walk' to Kamchatka on the other side of the 'river'.

The most important feature of the Aleutian Islands is that they are not far from each other, and few of the adjacent islands are more than 700 kilometers apart. Most of the sea area is within the combat radius of land-based fighters.

In view of the characteristics of this area, the United States first expanded its military base on Umnak Island, which it controlled, and then launched a campaign to recover the nearby Andreyanov Islands in January 1944 under the cover of a land-based airfield.

This battle was not a very sudden action.

Before the war, the Americans continued to increase their troops on the US-controlled islands around the Alaska Peninsula and built large-scale land-based airfields. As early as four months ago, relevant information continued to flow into the hands of Japan. Besides, in the Pacific Ocean now, if the Americans want to take the initiative, apart from targeting Hawaii, the only place that can hit Japan is the Aleutian Islands, and it is not difficult to guess the strategic intentions of the Americans.

As early as October 1943, before Li Huamei was preparing to go to Germany to "make a movie," the Japanese had a premonition that the Americans would launch an offensive in the Aleutian Islands. There was a fierce debate at the top of the military department.

The Navy's view is to retreat and abandon some of the islands that are too close to Alaska and fully shrink to the west coast of the North Pacific. The advantages of this are, first, to shorten the battle line, and second, to lengthen the supply lines of the US military. Third, here in the western Pacific, some islands that can be used as fulcrums, and the adjacent islands are far away, and it is relatively difficult for US land-based planes to support them here.

As for the army, with the exception of Ishihara, he still maintained his former temperament of being able to eat and not vomit.

Ishihara fully supports the Navy's opinion. Its view is even more radical, believing that it is better to completely abandon the Aleutian Islands and return to the Kuril Islands as a decisive point.

Ishihara's reason was simple: he took a ruler and measured it on a map of the Pacific Ocean and wrote down the data. The data is the distance between the islands.

Then, at the military department meeting, the military officers on the scene were asked how many planes the US Army and Navy Airlines had and how many pilots could be trained in a year.

Historically, the Japanese military headquarters has always been strange and rampant, and the enemy side can be said to be speechless to the extreme: The enemy's combat strength has always been estimated by minimization. Your own combat power is estimated according to the most strengthened.

This plane is slightly better, but only slightly better.

But there are also a few sober people, Ishihara Wanji is one, Inoue Narumi is one, and Yamamoto Isoroku is also one. The most important thing is that Li Huamei's current identity, the god of Japan, has a final effect.

"Reserve pilot training capabilities in the United States. Ten times more than Japan, aircraft production capacity. It is also the same as in Japan. ”

"During the Philippine Campaign and the Hawaiian Campaign, our side and the U.S. Army's B17 fought many times, and you must be impressed by how difficult this aircraft is. The tactics of the Americans in Alaska, most likely, are based on land-based airfields there. A large number of B17s were dispatched to carry out cross-sea air raid operations under the cover of new fighters. ”

"We, the Great Japanese Empire, are struggling to train 2,000 aviation pilots a year, and the United States is in the case of general mobilization. A minimum of 30,000 pilots can be trained. The gap in the number of pilots trained is doomed to this air battle, which we will still lose in the end if we play a ten-to-one exchange ratio every time. ”

Li Huamei said that the United States can train 30,000 pilots every year, but she deliberately said less. In fact, the training system of American pilots during World War II was able to withstand the permanent loss of 70,000 to 80,000 pilots a year. She didn't report this number because she was afraid that all the people in the military headquarters at the scene would be frightened.

"The ship, the boat is the key."

At that time, Li Huamei tapped on the map, drew a line on it with a pen, and made a conclusion.

"We need space in exchange for space. Give up all the places east of here. In addition, ask for help from the Germans and Chinese. ”

On 20 January 1944, when the United States launched an air raid on the neighboring Andrenov Islands from Umnak Island, it flew more than 1,000 sorties of B17 bombers and other fighters in one day.

At that time, the Japanese deployed only a small number of surveillance troops and a large number of camouflaged flight units on these islands. On that day, the Japanese defenders on Andrenov-kun Island saw for the first time the horror of the world's first industrial power when it went all out to "storm the plane".

"Airplanes, airplanes, countless planes, a large area of black pressure, like locusts covering the sky."

After the war, the island was evacuated and reported back to his superiors.

In addition to land-based aircraft, the Americans were even more defeated, dispatching a full 40 escort aircraft carriers to participate in the operation to cover the island.

On this day, the Japanese had only less than 500 garrisons on the islands that were attacked on the front line, a small number of battlefield liaison planes, and several submarines that were ready to evacuate with the people.

In just one day, the U.S. military regained several islands near Alaska, and the loss of personnel was not caused by the Japanese army, but by their own planes by mistake.

In the following month and a half, the U.S. Navy was overwhelmed in the North Pacific, constantly regaining lost ground, and the Japanese army was almost immediately defeated, or even retreated before it was touched.

By April, the U.S. Navy had completely recovered the Aleutian Islands, and even the Americans themselves could not believe it.

The progress of the US military in the North Pacific far exceeded official expectations, and at one point the personnel of the Naval Operations Department mistakenly believed that the Japanese army had set a trap at the front, so much so that they ordered the navy on the front line to suspend the pace of the attack and do a good job in the construction of airfields in the island chain, resulting in a delay in the offensive cycle for a month. Otherwise, the Aleutian Islands will be liberated by the U.S. military in March.

When the last lost ground of the U.S. Navy in the North Pacific Ocean, Artuk Island, was easily recovered, the Americans realized at this time that the Japanese had really completely abandoned the Aleutian Islands.

Before the war, the U.S. Navy and Army had carefully formulated a strict battle plan to prepare for the Japanese to fight for planes here. The military was even psychologically prepared for the worst of losing 10,000 aircraft and 30,000 pilots (including air crew).

Then the military deliberately planned a half-year battle plan, burned countless dollars to transform Alaska into a forward base, and when it punched with all its might, the opponent refused to respond and gave up on his own initiative.

In the Alaska campaign, which lasted for nearly three months, the US military only killed more than 200 people (more than 150 of whom were killed by the accidental bombing of their own planes) and lost more than 20 planes (all of which were flight accidents).

The result was the recovery of all the Aleutian islands, the shooting down of five planes, and the annihilation of more than 300 Japanese troops. After the war, inspecting the islands, the US military found a large number of camouflaged positions and fake aircraft models on the islands.

After the war, Nimitz reported to the president:

"From the very beginning, the Japanese saw through our strategic intentions."

At this time, he did not have the joy of recovering the lost ground at all, but felt a huge pressure. Although Nimitz shouted that he would send the Japanese evil god to God, he was the enemy of the "god", and in addition to his excitement, the mental pressure was also very great.

In this battle, the Japanese took the initiative to avoid the war, so that he psychologically dealt with the downside, and instinctively produced a sense of loss that his hole cards were seen through by the other party.

But President Dewey did not think so, and he comforted him: "At least we have proved to the whole of America and the whole world that evil gods can be repelled or even defeated." ”

It has been a year since Dewey became president, and the US military under his leadership also suffered a great defeat in this year. It has been nearly two years since the war was fought, and what the people have heard is nothing but defeat or defeat. The people's tolerance for successive defeats was limited, and this definitely did not bode well for Dewey, who was bent on fighting the war to the end.

Dewey, the president, was picked up, and he felt good when he sat on it, and he wanted to sit down again. 1944 was another election year. Truman, the Democratic candidate, put a lot of pressure on Dewey, and he needed a big victory for the sake of popular votes.

Nimitz's success in recovering the Aleutian Islands undoubtedly helped President Dewey relieve tremendous pressure politically.

"Dear General Nimitz, you don't have to worry about anything, the war machine of the United States of America is already running at full speed. No matter how powerful that Japanese god is, she can't conjure up more warships. ”

"What the Japanese want to do is nothing more than to exchange space for more space to move, so that they can take the opportunity to attack our logistical supply lines."

"First of all, I have good news for you, the two Essex-class aircraft carriers and the last South Dakota-class battleship that were sunk at Old Mountain Golden Harbor last year are now fully repaired and ready to join your Pacific Fleet at any time."

"Not only that, but so far"

Dewey smiled and pulled out a list and placed it in front of Nimitz.

The list is the list of escort aircraft carriers that have just been built this month, and the number of escort aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean has reached an astonishing 90 so far.

That's a scary number.

Even if it is an escort aircraft carrier with poor performance, it is still an aircraft carrier in the end. When the quantity reaches a certain level, there will be a qualitative change. And the huge industrial power of the United States gives them the potential for this qualitative change. (To be continued......)

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