The Rise of the Third Reich

When Hirschmann's kind reminder reached Japan via radio waves, Yamamoto Isoroku and Nagano Shushen were gathered in an office of the Navy Ministry to study the "Kesselring" sent by the Japanese Navy delegation in Europe. Class aircraft carriers, "Munich" class cruisers, and 1936 D-type destroyer drawings and technical data.

Orders for these three types of cheap ships have been placed in large quantities to shipyards in European industrial countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden. It will be mass-produced in accordance with the principles of standardization, scale and modularization.

As an ally of the European Community, the Imperial Japanese Navy's delegation to Europe also received relevant drawings and information, as well as bulk purchase suggestions - because of the joining of Britain, a major shipbuilding country, the shipbuilding capabilities of the European Community and its allies and quasi-allies are now It is quite large, far exceeding the needs of the European Combined Fleet (mainly because there is no oil to operate so many ships), so most of these "cheap ships" produced can only be stored in reserve for the time being, so Japan can if they want. Transfer some at low prices.

However, Isoroku Yamamoto and Osamu Nagano really look down on these low-end bargains from the Germans. What they want is high-quality aircraft carriers such as the "Zeppelin" class and the "Taiho" class.

"It's really stupid for the Americans to build so many cheap ships now that they know they want to fight a fuel consumption war."

Nagano Shushen handed the copy of the telegram in his hand to Yamamoto Isoroku who was sitting across from him, "If the Germans really want to sell us a few aircraft carriers, I would like their Zeppelin class."

"Then put forward the purchase request!" Yamamoto Isoroku said with a smile, "If they are not willing to sell the Zeppelin class, then the three Prussian class (E aircraft carriers with a standard displacement of more than 30,000 tons) are not bad, they are not bad. It is an armored aircraft carrier inferior to the Dafeng class, and its speed is fast enough, and its anti-aircraft firepower is strong. If we have three Prussian-class aircraft carriers, we will have six unsinkable aircraft carriers... We will be sure of the decisive battle with the United States in the future!"

I don't know if it's because of the lessons learned from the sinking of the two lightly armored aircraft carriers "Canglong" and "Flying Dragon". Now the Japanese Navy is very obsessed with "unsinkable aircraft carriers". In the eyes of the Japanese Navy's top brass and talented staff, the battle between the United States and Japan in the Pacific will be a battle of quantity and quality. Japan's strength is limited and it is impossible to compete with the United States in quantity, so it must take the quality route.

Regardless of aircraft carriers or battleships, they must overwhelm the United States in terms of quality!

So they revised the original shipbuilding plan, suspended the construction plan of Yunlong-class ships No. 7-15, and started the No. 2 Gale-class ship (Dafeng modification, tentative ship name 5021) and No. 3 ship (tentative ship name 5021). The emergency construction plan (named Ship 5022) is to concentrate all efforts on completing these two Taiho-class aircraft carriers in 1945, and to complete two more "Daifeng Kai"-class aircraft carriers in 1946-1947.

As a contingency plan, the two ships "Akagi" and "Kaga" were also modified to install armored flight decks (at the expense of a decrease in speed. Among them, the Kaga, which was already slow, had a maximum speed of only 25.5 after the modification was completed. Section), turning both large aircraft carriers into so-called "unsinkable aircraft carriers."

After the modifications of the "Akagi" and "Kaga" ships are completed, the two aircraft carriers "Shokaku" and "Zuikaku" will also undergo modifications for the same purpose.

At the same time, the construction of two "Super Yamato" battleships, which have been planned for a long time, started after the launch of Shinano and Kii. The tentative ship names are No. 798 and No. 799 respectively. According to the plan, these two super battleships will be completed in 1946-1947.

By then, Japan will have 6 powerful "Yamato" class and "Super Yamato" class battleships, and 9 "unsinkable aircraft carriers" with strong armor. Although it cannot compare with the United States in terms of quantity, it has an overwhelming advantage in terms of quality.

In addition, the idea of ​​purchasing armored aircraft carriers from Germany has also been proposed, with the targets being the Zeppelin class and the Prussia class.

"Then give it a try, maybe you will really sell it." Nagano smiled and said, "The Germans now command the army and the navy (Kesselring is the head of the army aviation in the eyes of the Japanese). How can those armies understand? What’s the difference between armored aircraft carriers and ordinary aircraft carriers? They probably regard aircraft carriers as consumables like tanks and cannons.”

"Yes! You should give it a try." Yamamoto Isoroku said, "Japan cannot compare with the United States in terms of numbers, so it can only use a small number of elite aircraft carriers to fight against the enemy's huge aircraft carrier group... The unsinkable aircraft carrier is exactly what we need. arms!"

Nagano Shushen nodded and turned the topic to the current war in the Pacific.

"Yamamoto-kun, the Taiho is not yet in service, the Akagi and the Kaga are being refitted, and the combined fleet does not have an unsinkable aircraft carrier available..." Nagano said with some worry, "I really didn't expect the Americans to be so quick. Repairing the Panama Canal Locks.”

According to the original plan of the Japanese Navy, it was preparing to take advantage of the opportunity when the main force of the U.S. Navy was blocked east of the Panama Canal to strengthen the defense of the Hawaiian Islands and comprehensively upgrade and refit naval ships.

In addition to Akagi and Kaga, seven battleships including Yamato, Musashi, Nagato, Ise, Hyuga, Fuso and Yamashiro are now undergoing modifications at Kure Port for the purpose of strengthening air defense—— Although the Japanese did not accept Hessmann's armament proposal, they still imported hundreds of 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns from Germany and prepared to install them on important ships. As for the air defense of the remaining ships, they will first use Japan's self-produced 25mm machine guns and 127mm anti-aircraft guns, and wait for the successful imitation of the 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns to be replaced.

After all, it is difficult for Japan to pay for thousands of 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns when the European version of the Lend-Lease Act has not been passed (there are many reasons for its failure, not only Japan's rejection of Hessmann's armament plan). , and Japan currently wants to buy too many things from Europe, and the Bofors anti-aircraft gun does not seem to be particularly urgent...

"It doesn't matter," Yamamoto Isoroku said thoughtfully, "There are currently 4 Kongo-class and 10 aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbor, and the 4 Kongo-class and the two aircraft carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku have been equipped with 40mm high Cannon, the combat power has been greatly improved!"

At present, Pearl Harbor has become the main anchorage of the Japanese Combined Fleet. The First Mobile Fleet, commanded by Ozawa Jisaburo, is now anchored in Pearl Harbor and is on standby.

The four Kongo battleships and 10 aircraft carriers including Shokaku, Zuikaku, Shoho, Zuiho, Ryūho, Chitose, Chiyoda, Hikan, Hayabusa, and Ryujo are now among the first The mobile fleet has more than 400 commonly used aircraft carriers! It is also equipped with Japan's most advanced Zero-52A fighter, Meteor torpedo bomber (replacing the Tianshan torpedo bomber with unsatisfactory performance) and Comet dive bomber.

"And Mr. Ozawa is also an expert in the use of aircraft carriers," Yamamoto Isoroku said confidently. "Such a huge aircraft carrier force in Ozawa's hands is definitely a formidable force, no matter whether the Americans go north to attack the Aleutian Islands Or go south to attack Christmas Island, the First Mobile Fleet can handle it with ease. As for the Hawaiian Islands... they are impenetrable and are not a place that the current US Pacific Fleet can touch. "

Japan has now deployed heavy troops in the Hawaiian Islands, with more than 200,000 ground troops and more than 1,000 shore-based aircraft. It has also built a large number of coastal defense forts on Oahu. Shore defense artillery positions are also deployed on the island.

If the Americans directly attacked the Hawaiian Islands, the losses would be very heavy. Therefore, Yamamoto Isoroku and other senior officials of the Japanese Navy believe that the Americans are likely to adopt a circuitous advancement tactic and first capture Christmas Island, about 2,080 kilometers south of the Hawaiian Islands. Then use Christmas Island as a stronghold for long-range bombers, aircraft carriers and submarines - this island is more than 5,000 kilometers away from the west coast of the United States. Once occupied by the United States, it will greatly facilitate the activities of aircraft carriers and submarines!

The Aleutian Islands, 3,500 kilometers north of the Hawaiian Islands, are also the springboard for the United States to launch a roundabout attack on Japan. Although this archipelago is a bit far from Hawaii, it can protect U.S. submarines and break-up aircraft carriers in and out of the North Pacific.

By the way, now that the Americans seem to have solved the problem of poor reliability of torpedoes, the number of Japanese transport ships sunk by American submarines has greatly increased! At the same time, since the Panama Canal has resumed navigation, the United States' "dumpling aircraft carriers" will arrive in the Pacific in large numbers. These aircraft carriers can be used both in decisive battles and in breaking up engagements.

Once the Aleutian Islands are recaptured by the United States, the U.S. aircraft carriers, submarines, and submarine carriers will be able to easily enter the waters near the Japanese archipelago, and the Japanese Navy will have to invest more forces in escort transportation.

In the face of a large number of "aircraft carriers breaking diplomatic ties", Japan cannot use destroyers to resist them, and even the effect of using escort aircraft carriers is not very good. The best plan is to invest the main fleet in a battle of annihilation.

But once the main force of the combined fleet is dispatched, fuel consumption of 10,000 tons to 15,000 tons per day is necessary!

If the Americans can use a few or a dozen or... dozens of break-through aircraft carriers to keep the main force of the Japanese combined fleet floating at sea all year round, the fuel consumption problem alone will kill Japan.

Therefore, the Aleutian Islands, like the Hawaiian Islands and Christmas Island, are strongholds that the Japanese army must defend in the Pacific.

The purpose of Ozawa Jisaburo's fleet staying on Oahu is to reinforce the Aleutian Islands or Christmas Island when necessary. However, Ozawa will not attack blindly. According to the plan, he will wait until the United States' combat intentions are fully exposed before taking action, so as not to waste precious fuel reserves.