"It will take at least seven to eight days to get to Wake Island, which is as soon as December 24, to reach the nearby waters. And on this day, there should have been results, and if they didn't fight, Wake Island should have fallen. ”

Cheng Dayang roughly calculated the days. "Also, during this time, those guys may return to the Kasuga Maru vicinity at any time to salvage. Maybe we'll have a chance to wipe out the traversers. ”

"The lesser of two evils, let's go to Wake Island first."

"Even if we get there in time, what good will it do? Have you ever thought about it? The commissar said,

"At least it is possible to forge communications and scare the American fleet away. In the long run, the interference of Japanese time-travelers in historical events will gradually decrease with the expansion of changes in the state of affairs. But now this start is still more critical. They cannot be allowed to succeed. Lin Xiuxuan immediately had an answer, obviously squatting in a mental hospital recently, he had planned a lot of things.

"Shrink as the situation expands? What does this say? ”

"You think that the U.S. military's hasty rescue of Wake Island is still an old historical thing, an overreaction after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, and the best advice that those who think they are smart can give to Yamamoto."

"Well, that seems right."

"As long as it is marked, history will change from here, and the events that follow, whether it is them or us, cannot be predicted simply by historical records."

"That's right, in fact, the ripples of historical disturbances do gradually amplify, such as the fact that there is still no declaration of war between Germany and the United States." The commissar nodded.

"In that case, why should we get involved, the loss of one or two aircraft carriers by the Americans will not affect the big history," Cheng Dayang still disagreed, "After 1942, their warships will appear like dumplings, and with or without the Coral Sea or Midway, Japan is still bound to lose." I am not against the destruction of the enemy's fleet, but we are really limited in weapons. ”

"Having said that, but with the addition of the Makino trio variable, I think the Japanese still have a chance. All we know is that the balance of power between the United States and Japan came at the point of Japanese expansion, and the Japanese failed to occupy New Guinea and Midway completely. ”

"Yes, before the battle of Midway and Kuah, it was basically like this, and then the Japanese Empire would begin to shrink until it collapsed."

"But the traversers also know this, will they sit idly by?" Lin saw that Cheng Dayang was silent, and he was ready to lose weight, "If the U.S. Navy losses come too early and too big, will there be an unpredictable reversal?" Maybe Makino thinks so. ”

"I still think you're overestimating the energy of those guys." Cheng Dayang said.

"But don't forget Lao Cheng, and the shipwreck." The political commissar said, his position drifting as if he was on Lin's side again.

"It's a big deal, find a way to destroy that ship." The captain rejected.

"I'm fine, if everyone isn't ready to go back." Lin said.

"Yes, the way back is still in that wrecked ship, besides, it is not easy to completely destroy a sunken ship, and we lack the means."

There was a long silence in the room. Cheng Dayang suddenly mentioned the destruction of Kasugamaru, which is indeed a bit taboo. Everyone should have thought about it, but it has never been discussed. Of course, the political commissar is good at making mud, and mentioning that there is no means to destroy it, it can be regarded as finding a step for him; If there is a vote among the more than 200 people in 419, Cheng Dayang's plan will be difficult to pass.

"So, I think, what Lin said is right. The battle is going on, and we have to get on our horses and give them a ride. If the U.S. Navy really lands, then for the entire 42 years, it will be powerless in the Pacific. The Japanese are likely to reach as far as Australia or even Hawaii. ”

"That's right, letting Yamamoto suffer a little setback can also indirectly hit the credibility of the predictions of these guys in Makino. Once they are fully trusted, it will not be difficult to salvage Kasugamaru. ”

"Okay, okay, let's go over and have a look, and I hope the Americans won't be too impulsive and lose their capital."

419 leaves Tokyo Bay and heads towards Wake Island.

At the same time, the Japanese Navy and Army were launching a fierce offensive throughout Southeast Asia. The Z Fleet was completely annihilated, Hong Kong was close to falling, the Filipino defenders were retreating towards Manila, Yamashita Fengwen's 25th Army landed in Malaya and marched with great triumph, and the entire Allied army was completely crushed at the touch of a button, with the occasional successful counterattack or two, which was immediately annihilated.

While General Kimmel was waiting for good news from Wake Island, he waited for a dismissal order that the president needed a symbol of unyielding defiance, and he chose MacArthur. Before the arrival of the new fleet commander, Vice Admiral William Pei temporarily took over the command of the Pacific Fleet, but the fleet, which had the desire for revenge on Admiral Kimmel, was still desperately heading for its destination.

As the admiral expressed at the operational meeting, the fleet is likely to capture the first favorable fighter in this chaotic situation. Wake Island is isolated in the Pacific Ocean, almost as far away from Hawaii as it is from mainland Japan.

Although the location of the main Japanese fleet is unknown, it seems that there is little chance of running into an enemy in such a vast area of engagement. What's more, Lexington will launch a feint attack in the Marshalls, which will definitely disturb the judgment of the enemy.

The core of Fletcher's 17th Task Force was the USS Saratoga, consisting of four cruisers and five destroyers. Liverey's 8th Task Force, with the Enterprise as the core and the subsidiary fleet as the same as the Task Force, was less or less battleship-like.

Although the fleet is united, there is also a bit of apprehension; As for the use of carrier-based aviation, the US military still has only theory and lacks practice. The Japanese devils taught them a hard lesson, the ruins of Pearl Harbor gave the navy the first glimpse of the power of aviation. But how do you use that power?

To a certain extent, the choice to counterattack on Wake Island also carried the purpose of the admiral's training, and he really urgently needed a slightly weaker Japanese detachment without air cover to train his hands.

On the morning of December 20, the fleet received a telegram from the submarine USS Guyu, which had just arrived near Wake Island, back to the command.

The telegram mentioned that south of Wake Island, it was discovered that the Japanese fleet in the vicinity was carrying out a fire attack, but most of the shore artillery fire remained, and the enemy could not do anything. It was also discovered that two Japanese troop carriers were anchored 20 nautical miles away from the island, and they might launch a landing battle before they could clear the cannon fodder. In the afternoon, of course, the submarine again reported that to the west of the enemy's old main attack fleet, a heavy cruiser was found cruising alone, and it was not found that it was using heavy artillery, participating in the strike on the positions of 127-mm shore defense guns on the island, and seemed to be on a reconnaissance mission. Judging by the silhouette, it is most likely an Aoba or Furutaka-class heavy cruiser with a commodore flag, and perhaps another flagship nearby. The presence of aircraft carriers in the vicinity was not found.

Before the war, too many P-class and S-class submarines were sent to the Philippines, which left Kimmel with few reconnaissance forces that could be mobilized immediately; However, the admiral, who was regarded as a scapegoat and withdrew from the stage prematurely, still had an excellent ability to predict, and on December 9 and 11, he successively dispatched all the seven submarines in his hands to the Marshall Islands, Wake Island, Samoa, and Midway Island as necessary reconnaissance before the next round of attack and defense, so that the task force that was able to assemble and set off on the night of the 16th had some tangible intelligence sources (Wake Island's aerial reconnaissance capability was gradually suppressed).

Why did a lone heavy patrol appear where it didn't go into battle? Why did the Japanese slow down the pace of their offensive and what were they waiting for?

Fletcher and Halsey received the telegram at the same time, but they came to different conclusions. Halsey, who was on cover duty, was inclined to see this as an added bonus, as he had little interest in sinking a couple of old Draco-class cruisers, and if he could sink a heavy cruiser, it would be of some value to boost the morale of the people.

Rear Admiral Fletcher sniffed out a hint of ominousness, and after Pearl Harbor, he had been reflecting on the question of why the entire fleet had not noticed the movements of the Japanese, and it was obvious that the real answer was to underestimate the enemy. He vowed not to do it a second time.

Fletcher now had to be a little more attentive to all the appearances of the Japanese, who had always been successful in their deception before the attack. However, at present, the advance or retreat of the entire fleet is still in the hands of Vice Admiral William Pei, who is sitting in Pearl Harbor, and Vice Admiral is a conservative man, and he does not want to make any mistakes during his acting duties, but the current political climate does not allow him to retreat too much. He ordered the fleet to approach using a complex route, which objectively slowed down the fleet, and now the fleet was still 2 days away from Wake Island. Lieutenant General Pei still did not send an order to stop the operation, perhaps he thought that if Wake Island was captured in due course, the withdrawal of troops would be logical, but the Japanese were not very cooperative, and they did not seem to be in a hurry to attack again.

The SS-188 continued to reconnoiter near Wake Island and waited for an opportunity to attack.

Soon a second heavy cruiser appeared in the field of view of Commander Tyris-Jacob, who hid about 8 nautical miles away to observe and send a report to the rear before diving, a rather dangerous distance where the enemy might spot nearby periscopes or radio activity. However, for submarines, warplanes appear at dangerous distances.

When the Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, Captain Jacob was standing on the canvas and directing the skimming, which was originally planned to go to the Philippines. A Zero fighter flew towards him and began strafing, killing two crew members on the spot, including the boat's cook. Due to the need for repairs to the sail cover, the submarine was dragged until December 10 before leaving port with another boat of the same class, the Needlefish, but the destination had changed to the Philippines.

It was raining as he left Oahu, and he told the brethren lining up on the foredeck that the Drumfish would be the first force to fight back, and he disapproved of the crew intercepting and beating Japanese women on shore the day before, and he vowed to avenge the cook by destroying a large ship.

When the destroyer Tempest was sunk by fire from the island, the captain was conducting a deep reconnaissance through the periscope, and he realized that the Japanese were not so three-headed and six-armed. He was determined to launch an attack before the arrival of the main fleet, so as to delay the landing of the Japanese. So he ordered the rudder to turn and break away from the Japanese fleet, and before sunset he had to retreat far enough to recharge, and then come back secretly after nightfall, because the Japanese would not run away for the time being.