The Rise of the Third Reich

The beach line stretching for more than ten kilometers on the east coast of Niihau Island has become a huge military gathering place and a storage yard for supplies. The extremely powerful material power of the United States has once again demonstrated its power. An artificial port code-named "Mulberry" has begun to take shape more than two months after American soldiers landed on Niihau Island. This artificial harbor attached to the beach of Niihau Island is composed of 66 61-meter-long hollow concrete caissons, 13 straight piers, 32 sunken ships and countless cross-shaped steel components.

The hollow concrete caissons were all built in shipyards on the West Coast of the United States. A total of 87 were built, with displacements ranging from 1,800 tons to 6,000 tons. Each caisson was actually an unpowered concrete ship that was towed by tugboats from the West Coast of the United States to the Hawaiian Islands. 21 of them sank on the way due to wind, waves or Japanese air raids. However, the remaining 66 caissons still form a 4026-meter-long breakwater.

The 13 straight docks are all special ships with a displacement of 5,500 tons, 61 meters long, 17 meters wide, and 20 meters high. They are driven by diesel engines and sail directly from the West Coast of the United States. These straight piers are now fixed on piles driven into the seabed and can rise and fall with the waves. Through them, tanks and vehicles from the landing ship can be driven directly onto the beach.

Considering that the sea area where Niihau Island is located sometimes has relatively large winds and waves, the U.S. Naval Engineering Bureau, which was responsible for building this artificial port, spared no expense in sinking 32 old merchant ships with an unloaded displacement of more than 300,000 tons outside the breakwater. A breakwater about 5,000 meters long was built.

After all these astonishing construction projects were completed, the Americans forcibly created a wave-proof water area of ​​about 3 square kilometers on the beach on the west coast of Niihau Island, which can berth four ships at the same time with a draft of 10 meters. Large ships, 20 landing ships of several thousand tons, and a large number of other tugboats and small boats. It can handle up to 6,000 tons of cargo every day.

It is precisely because of this miraculous artificial port that Niihau Island became the U.S. base camp in the Hawaiian Islands. Every day, thousands of tons of supplies, weapons, ammunition, construction materials, fuel, machinery and equipment, various parts and components, tents, and other miscellaneous materials are unloaded from cargo ships of all sizes. Stacked in makeshift warehouses on and near Niihau Island beach.

There are also many 47, P51, P61, B-17, B-24 and B-25 series aircraft, which were either unloaded from the ship or simply flown directly from the United States. It was assigned to the repaired or newly built airport on the island.

M4 series tanks, M10 series tank destroyers, M7 self-propelled artillery, 105mm and 155mm cannons, as well as the US Army's heavy-duty ground troops operating these weapons also came ashore in large numbers through these docks. Under the command of General Patton, these American troops took over the battlefield from the Marines who landed first and launched a fierce attack on the Japanese troops still defending the island.

When the fierce battle between the two sides continued in late June 1944, the organized resistance of the Japanese army on Nihau Island basically ceased to exist, and the entire island was completely in the hands of the Americans.

Then on June 30, Admiral Halsey moved his Central Pacific Command to Niihau Island, only 225 kilometers away from Pearl Harbor.

His headquarters is located in a small valley running east-west on the east side of the island. Although it is not a dangerous place, due to the cover of two small ridges, it is extremely difficult for naval guns on the sea to cover it. It is the safest place on Niihau Island. It is also one of the most difficult areas to capture.

In order to occupy this place, the Americans fought a series of bloody battles with the Japanese army for 18 days and paid a heavy price of thousands of casualties before they captured it.

In addition, after capturing this place, the US military also discovered mass graves containing the bones of American civilians in the valley! So it now has a new name: the Valley of Blood and Tears.

"Admiral, the Japanese on Nihau Island caused us heavy losses..."

In a command post assembled from wood and steel plates, covered with camouflage netting, and an underground bomb shelter was built nearby. Halsey's subordinate, Lieutenant General Patton, commander-in-chief of the Army of the Hawaiian Islands, introduced the bloody battle on Niihau Island with a tired face.

This US military general who was supposed to be high-spirited now looks very gloomy, thin, tanned, and a little unshaven. One look and you knew you had just fought an exhausting battle.

"George, I know our boys fought hard," Halsey held his pipe in his mouth and frowned tightly, "but now the United States needs them to continue killing the Japanese, and kill them hard!"

"We're going to land on Oahu soon?" George Patton immediately understood what Halsey meant.

"Yes." Halsey exhaled a puff of white smoke. "The situation is very critical now... We must knock Japan out first, and then concentrate on dealing with Europe."

"Damn it!" General Patton cursed, "Are we going to let the Japanese go like this? They have killed many of us!"

Halsey glanced at the angry Barton, gritted his teeth and said, "This is a secret... You can't let the people below know, otherwise it will affect morale."

Now the U.S. military on the front lines of the Hawaiian Islands has become angry. Most of the officers and soldiers were angered by the mass graves discovered on Niihau Island. Therefore, in the process of occupying Niihau Island, all the Japanese on the island, whether they were soldiers or civilians, were all "broken into pieces". There were even many incidents of killing Japanese prisoners (all captured after being seriously injured and comatose). .

All these crimes were ignored by Lieutenant General Patton, who commanded the Battle of Niihau Island.

Lieutenant General Patton nodded silently. Halsey went on to say: "According to reliable intelligence, the Japanese are as anxious as we are now... because they must attack the Soviet Far East before the winter of 1944, otherwise it may fall into the hands of the Germans. And to attack the Soviet Union In the Far East, we must be driven back from the Hawaiian Islands first.”

Patton didn't quite understand the logic in Halsey's words - was there an inevitable connection between attacking the Soviet Far East and the decisive battle in the Hawaiian Islands?

Halsey glanced at him and said: "The Soviet Union is our ally, and it also has a Pacific Fleet with a large number of submarines and two battlecruisers with good performance.

In addition, they also control some ports very close to Japan. Once they fight side by side with us, we can further increase our power to break up the war. We even had the opportunity to use the Soviet airport in Vladivostok to conduct air strikes on the Japanese mainland!

Therefore, Japan must destroy the Soviet Pacific Fleet in the early stages of the war against the Soviet Union, and seize or destroy the ports and Vladivostok Fortress that can be used as submarine bases. To achieve these goals, Japan must concentrate on using their fleet. "

"I understand," Lieutenant General Patton said thoughtfully, "Now we and the Japanese both want to defeat each other immediately, so we must land on Oahu as soon as possible. And the Japanese... will definitely be dispatched when the bloody battle on Oahu begins. The main force of the fleet counterattacked."

"Yes!" Halsey said, "That's it! If we can win, then we can use the main force of the Pacific Fleet to deal with the Germans."

"When will we start landing on Oahu?" Barton thought for a while and asked.

"Mid-July," Halsey gave an approximate time. "The specific time depends on the preparedness of the Marine Corps and the Army."

"It will definitely be ready on July 15th!" Barton thought for a while and then gave the specific date. "The resting army on Nihau Island will be able to go to the battlefield to kill the Japanese after July 15th!"

Halsey nodded hard, his already fierce eyes filled with murderous intent. "Okay! It seems that July is the time for us to have a decisive battle with the Japanese Navy!"

…

"Your Excellency, Marshal, this is the 'Operation Jet 2' plan jointly formulated by Commander Nagumo, Chief of Staff Kusuka, and Commander Ozawa of the 1st Mobile Fleet."

On June 31, Ito Seiichi finally returned to Tokyo with a copy of the combat plan discussed with Nagumo, Kusuka and other senior leaders of the combined fleet.

There were two copies brought back by him, one of which was left in the military headquarters, and the other was sent to Yamamoto Isoroku's desk by Ito himself.

"Commander Nagumo, Chief of Staff Kusaka, and Commander Ozawa believe," Ito Seiichi said to Yamamoto while handing a copy of the combat plan to Yamamoto with both hands, "the biggest difficulty in the Jet-2 operation is to determine the U.S. Pacific Ocean The location of the main force of the fleet. Therefore, Commander Nagumo and Chief of Staff Kusuka decided to dispatch the main force of the combined fleet to fight to the death with the US military! "

"Oh." Yamamoto Isoroku nodded. "Is Nagumo preparing to dispatch the main force of the fleet to attack Oahu?"

"Yes!" Ito Zhengichi nodded heavily, "Commander Nagumo believes that if we want to relieve the siege of Hawaii, we must first capture Midway Island. Once Midway Island is recaptured by us, not only will the US military lose a stronghold to explore the waters west of the Hawaiian Islands , it will be much more convenient for us to replenish fighter planes to the Hawaiian Islands. Therefore, Midway Island is a must for our army and a must for the US military. However, Midway Island is a small island, and the number of troops and fighters it can accommodate is extremely limited, so it is impossible to rely on it. Its own defense is strong, so the main force of the U.S. fleet will inevitably rescue Midway Island. At that time, the combined fleet can use nine stages of attack tactics to attack the enemy, and finally the battleship force with the core of 4 Yamato-class battleships will fight the enemy decisively! , we will definitely win in one battle!”