The Rise of the Third Reich

In Tokyo, Japan, there was an atmosphere of anxiety in a conference room of the Navy Ministry. Everyone was sitting up and preparing, eagerly waiting for the battle damage reports of the 1st Mobile Fleet and the 10th Front Fleet - the 1st Mobile Fleet and the 10th Front Fleet. The 10th Fleet dispatched a total of 5 attack waves today, with a total of thousands of aircraft dispatched. It can be said that they went all out to attack, and the reported results were really good.

Sunk one American battleship, one heavy aircraft carrier (not yet sunk), eight light aircraft carriers (actually only 6, and the loss of personnel on board was not much), two cruisers (actually 2 small destroyers), and destroyers Six ships (actually 2 were sunk and 4 were damaged), and thirty-five tankers, transport ships, and landing ships (actually 18 were damaged and 13 were sunk), totaling 52 ships sunk. In addition, at least 20 ships were damaged to varying degrees, with fire and thick smoke rising on the sea.

Even if the results reported now are somewhat watery, there is no doubt that it will be an unprecedented victory! Logically speaking, these leaders of the Japanese Navy should not be so anxious and panicked, but they discovered an expected but unacceptable reality - there are probably more American ships than Japanese elite pilots!

There were 400-500 American ships sent to attack Christmas Island this time alone! The total number of commonly used aircraft in Japan's First Mobile Fleet and Tenth Front Fleet is only 1,400 to 500 aircraft.

In other words, if the Americans exchanged one ship for the lives of three elite Japanese pilots, they could also exchange all the elite pilots of the First Mobile Fleet and the 10th Front Fleet.

Moreover, according to the preliminary battle damage statistics previously reported, the ship-aircraft exchange ratio on the Christmas Island front line simply cannot reach the level of 3 machines for 1 ship...

"Report!" A staff officer from the Navy Ministry hurried in, with an expression of panic on his face. He bowed to Yamamoto Isoroku and Nagano Shushen, and presented a copy of the telegram with both hands. Deputy General of the Military Command Ito took a look at the telegram copy, and his already dark face suddenly turned a little darker.

"Your Excellency, Minister, Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief..." Ito's voice trembled a little when he spoke, "Report from the 10th Fleet: As of 8 pm Hawaii time, there are still 360 aircraft that have not returned! Report of the First Mobile Fleet: As of Hawaii At 8pm, there were still 173 planes that had not returned.”

533 aircraft! !

The hearts of Yamamoto Isoroku and Nagano Shushen twitched at the same time. Because the battle took place over the U.S. fleet, the loss of the aircraft was equivalent to the loss of the pilot. The absence of 533 aircraft means the absence of 533 captains...and they are all elite captains!

"In addition..." Ito Zhengyi hadn't finished what he said, "The 10th fleet reported that the US fleet will divide its forces before 8 o'clock tonight, the main force will move south, and at the same time separate a fast formation to pounce on Christmas Island."

Yamamoto and Nagano glanced at each other, and both noticed that the other's brows were furrowed.

The Americans obviously want to keep fighting! Considering the "false alarm" results, their losses during the day today should be 30-40 ships, including 7-8 aircraft carriers, 1 battleship, and at most about 200 pilots. The loss of aircraft must be more than 300. ...Exchanging such losses for 533 Japanese aircraft is definitely a loss.

But Americans can afford to lose!

And looking at this situation, he plans to continue losing money.

"More than 500 aircraft were exchanged for forty or fifty ships..." Yamamoto Isoroku shook his head, "The performance of the 1st Mobile Fleet and the 10th Fleet is still very good. Considering the anti-aircraft firepower of American ships and the cutting-edge American fighters performance, we would be hard-pressed to achieve a more favorable exchange ratio.”

As soon as Yamamoto's words came out, the atmosphere in the conference room became even more gloomy. The people sitting here today are all naval elites, not the army... Japan's naval elites are all knowledgeable about the United States and have a very deep understanding of the industrial strength and resources of the United States.

"Yamamoto-kun, we still have the Yamato class!" Nagano Shushen said to Yamamoto, "As long as the 'Yamato', 'Musashi' and 'Shinano' arrive at the Christmas Island battlefield, they will be able to defeat the American fleet."

"In addition to the Yamato class, we also have submarines!" Ito Seiichi also came up with a countermeasure. "There are currently 52 submarines in Pearl Harbor and the waters near the Hawaiian Islands. We can launch a submarine special attack!"

The current Japanese Navy also regards "submarines" as underwater assassins to attack enemy fleets, as it did in history, so it has built many large ocean-going submarines.

The Hawaiian Islands are also a key area for Japanese submarine deployment. Dozens of large submarines are stationed all year round, ready to sneak attack the invading U.S. fleet at any time.

"But the Hawaiian Islands are more than 1,000 nautical miles away from Christmas Island. It's good to be able to complete the journey in 60 hours at the speed of a submarine." Someone immediately raised an objection, "As for the main force of the combined fleet (three Yamato-class ships), it is now far away Christmas Island is still more than 2,500 nautical miles away, and we can’t reach it even in 100 hours.”

"But the Battle of Christmas Island will not end even after 100 hours!" Ito said. "There are tens of thousands of navy and army soldiers on Christmas Island, and there is also a powerful First Mobile Fleet near Christmas Island!"

"But there are only more than 250 captains left in the First Mobile Fleet. How can we continue to fight?"

Currently, the three aircraft carriers "Kaga", "Akagi" and "Taifeng" have not joined the First Mobile Fleet, and there are several other aircraft carriers serving as escort aircraft carriers. Therefore, the First Mobile Fleet only has 10 aircraft carriers and only more than 400 standing aircraft. Now after losing 173 aircraft, there are only more than 230 standing aircraft left.

"It can be transferred from Hawaii!" Ito Zhengyi said, "The plane from Christmas Island will transfer to Pearl Harbor tonight. Many of the pilots can board the ship, and there are also backup carrier-based aircraft at Pearl Harbor, which can be used They flew the aircraft onto the ship. In addition... the "Kaga" and "Akagi" flying teams are currently resting and can be urgently recruited, and then transported to Pearl Harbor by transport aircraft, and then fly the aircraft stored in Pearl Harbor to participate in the war. "

"Do you want to go all-in?" Yamamoto Isoroku frowned and asked after listening to Ito's words.

Ito thought for a while, then nodded seriously: "Yes! Your Excellency, Marshal, we are meeting on a narrow road now, and we must not show weakness. If we cannot teach the American devil a lesson on Christmas Island, there will definitely be another consumption!"

"Next consumption?" Yamamoto asked, "Ito-kun, you mean...Christmas Island is not the real target of the United States?"

Ito thought for a while, shook his head and said, "You can't say that. The Americans on Christmas Island definitely want to defeat it. But consuming our strength should also be the main goal of the Americans."

Yamamoto nodded, agreeing with Ito's analysis. Ito Zhengichi continued: "Therefore, we should attack with all our strength. We must let the American devils know that if they want to compete with the Japanese Empire, they will suffer unbearable losses!"

"I understand," Yamamoto Isoroku was silent for a moment and then asked, "We cannot show our cowardice now, otherwise the war of attrition will be endless."

Now Japan is not afraid of a vigorous decisive battle with the United States, but it is afraid that the Americans will use it to engage in a war of attrition that will hurt people.

"Hai!" Ito said, "Once the Americans decide that they can defeat us by exchanging warships for aircraft in a war of attrition... then even if we launch a special attack on the west coast of the United States, the United States will not change its attrition strategy that is bound to win. "

Yamamoto Isoroku nodded, and what Ito said was exactly what he was most worried about. If the Americans insist on fighting for attrition, they may repeat the same tactics in the Battle of Christmas Island several times, or they may seize Christmas Island and use it as a base to send large-scale diplomatic-breaking aircraft carrier formations to continuously attack the Western Pacific. Then within 2 years, Japan will be so consumed that not even a scrap will be left!

"Not bad!" Yamamoto Isoroku and Nagano Shushen exchanged glances, and then nodded heavily, "We must teach the American devil a lesson! In this battle... we must sink all large American aircraft carriers at all costs!"

Yamamoto's target was carefully chosen. He now knew that it was impossible to completely destroy this American fleet. Then it is necessary to carry out focused strikes, and the Americans make dumplings like light aircraft carriers and escort aircraft carriers. Roosevelt will not feel bad if they sink no matter how much they sink. The construction speed of battleships is very slow, but if too many American battleships are sunk, the United States will have no way to counterattack the Hawaiian Islands and will have to fight an endless war of attrition, which Japan cannot bear.

Therefore, large aircraft carriers are the only suitable targets for annihilation!

…

"Commander, the fire on the Franklin is extinguished."

When Yamamoto made up his mind to destroy the large American aircraft carriers, his enemy Spruance had just received good news. The USS Franklin aircraft carrier, which was hit by 3 bombs and 2 torpedoes, did not sink. Moreover, the damage control personnel and volunteers who stayed on the aircraft carrier put out the fire under the command of the captain.

The reason for this situation, in addition to the good luck of the Franklin, is also because the Americans attach great importance to ship damage control. There are no bombs or torpedoes on the Franklin. In particular, the latter reason was decisive for the survival of the Franklin - because this large aircraft carrier of more than 30,000 tons is very strong and has good anti-sinking properties, and it is impossible for it to be destroyed by three bombs and two aircraft carriers. The torpedo exploded and sank. Generally speaking, when a large aircraft carrier or battleship sinks, it either suffers from the explosion of ammunition or fuel (aviation gasoline), or it is caused by torpedoes that make too many holes under the waterline.

The Franklin did not carry torpedoes and only carried a small amount of bombs and anti-aircraft artillery ammunition, so the possibility of fire and explosion of ammunition was greatly reduced. Moreover, the ship's damage control style was also "rich". After a fire broke out in the hangar (several spare aircraft in the hangar were filled with fuel, which caused the fire), all the aviation gasoline on the ship was immediately poured into the sea...