The Rise of the Third Reich

"Great, let the Franklin return immediately and send four more destroyers to escort it. No matter what, we must let it reach the Panama Canal safely."

"Panama? Why don't you go back to San Diego first?" Major General Browning asked his cautious commander Spruance.

"Don't go back to San Diego," Spruance said. "On the way back to San Diego, we are likely to be ambushed by Japanese submarines and fleets. We can't take such risks. It's safer to go to Panama... Not only is the Franklin going to Panama, but The main force of Task Force 58 should also return to Panama.”

"Understood, sir." Rear Admiral Browning asked again, "Approximately when can the main force of the fleet return?"

"The night after tomorrow...the night of the 29th at the latest!" Spruance crossed his arms and paced in the bridge of the Essex, "Tomorrow morning the airport on Christmas Island will definitely be bombarded to look like the surface of the moon. , so the Japanese can only use aircraft carriers to fight us... I estimate that there will be another battle during the day on the 27th, 28th or 29th, and then there will not be many aircraft on the Japanese aircraft carriers to consume. 'The first phase of the battle is completed, and the second phase can begin."

There is a second stage! Japan is really in big trouble this time.

It turns out that the operation of the 58th U.S. Task Force was divided into two phases. The first phase was a feint attack on Christmas Island. On the one hand, the "warships for aircraft" tactic consumed Japanese aircraft and pilots, and on the other hand, it attracted the main force of the Japanese combined fleet. Arriving around Christmas Island.

The second phase of the operation was a "large formation breaking off diplomatic relations" with the purpose of consuming the combined fleet's fuel - breaking diplomatic relations was just a show, and leading the main force of the Japanese combined fleet in circles on the sea was the main purpose.

Therefore, after the objectives of the first phase of the operation are successfully achieved, the 58th Task Force will be divided into two. The slow-speed landing ships and transport ships will return, and most of the combat ships will also return.

There are 2 Iowa-class battleships, 1 South Dakota-class battleship, and 2 Essex-class aircraft carriers, plus some ships with larger ranges, such as Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, Cleveland-class light cruisers, Oakland-class light cruisers, etc. Form a 58th break-up fleet, and after completing a replenishment, break into the Western Pacific to the west!

The deterrent power of such a break-up fleet cannot be compared to the combination of an Independence-class aircraft carrier and a Cleveland-class light cruiser.

Therefore, the Japanese cannot turn a blind eye and will definitely pursue and intercept them - and they cannot intercept them casually, they must go all out.

Because the combat effectiveness of the two Iowa-class battleships, one South Dakota-class battleship, and two Essex-class aircraft carriers is very impressive, they can't help but fight if the Japanese ships come less. As long as the 58th Task Force can circle around for a month, the Japanese Combined Fleet will have to burn at least 450,000-500,000 tons of heavy oil. At the same time, Japan's transportation lines in the Western Pacific will also be greatly affected.

And one month later, another large-scale break-up fleet will be dispatched to take over the work of the 58th break-up fleet. After that, there is the Second Battle of Christmas Island...

In short, U.S. imperialism will not allow the Japanese militaristic fleet time to rest. From now on, it will be a non-stop war of attrition!

Constantly consuming Japan's oil and the lives of elite pilots!

"No! I don't agree!" At midnight, Commander Ozawa Jisaburo of the Japanese First Mobile Fleet on the Shokaku aircraft carrier was arguing with the rear through radio waves.

"What needs to be considered now is not strategic issues, but operational and tactical issues." Ozawa dictated the telegram. "Currently, the First Mobile Fleet only has 10 motherships, which can only accommodate more than 400 standing carrier-based aircraft at most, and there are only The Type Zero has no blast and cannot defeat the F4U and F6F, which have an overwhelming numerical advantage.

Therefore, tomorrow's attack is simply an irresponsible death. I cannot agree with such a reckless action. Moreover... today's battle has shown that the current strength of naval aviation alone is simply incapable of annihilating the invading U.S. fleet! Attacking will only destroy the essence of naval aviation! "

Spruance and Nimitz are brilliant, and Ozawa Jisaburo is not stupid either - he is different from Yamamoto, Nagano and Ito in the rear. He is a front-line commander, so he knows very well that the Japanese naval aviation has no war. Initial sharpness.

Before the war started today, he also placed hope on the Japanese Army's "Pacific Decisive Aircraft" Hayate fighter, believing that the Hayate and Zero's combination of high and low altitudes could restrain the American F4U and F6F. However, the results of today's air battle showed that the Hayate fighter was exaggerated. Its performance in airspace above 6,000 meters is not as good as the American F4U, and its performance below 6,000 meters is not as good as the F6F.

Moreover, this somewhat useless Hayate fighter cannot board an aircraft carrier. Since the Christmas Island Airport will be destroyed by US naval guns, starting from tomorrow, the Japanese army can only rely on the aircraft carrier of the First Mobile Fleet for operations. At that time, the Type 052 will have to be a hard-supported single tree.

"Ozawa-kun makes sense!" Yamamoto Isoroku read Ozawa Jizaburo's reply and nodded after considering it.

The battle during the day on the 26th, Hawaii time, involved shore-based and ship-based operations taking turns, but the result was heavy losses! If we only have ship-based operations and no shore bases, we will probably not be able to achieve the exchange ratio during the day on the 26th. This is just sacrificing the lives of elite pilots in vain.

"We can conduct a full-team assault!" Ito suggested. "It is impossible to abandon Christmas Island. There is an army division on the island! And once Christmas Island is lost, the U.S. military's breakup fleet and submarines will Be more active!”

"A whole-team assault?" Yamamoto Isoroku asked, "What kind of assault method?"

Ito said: "All carrier-based aircraft can be dispatched at one time... so there are about more than 400 aircraft. And there is no need to mount torpedoes. All 'Meteor' torpedo attack aircraft can be mounted with bombs. Because I have seen the specific damage report , found that the loss of the torpedo aircraft force was astonishing, reaching almost 80%, and the results were not obvious. It seems that it makes sense for the Germans not to deploy torpedo bombers on the aircraft carrier."

"But it is impossible to sink all the large American aircraft carriers with less than 300 dive bombers."

Questions immediately came up. Now everyone knows that the US emperor is no longer a paper tiger. 300 dive aircraft will never be able to deal with their 80 aircraft carriers (the Japanese overestimated the number of US aircraft carriers). This battle still cannot be fought.

"There are also battleships and submarines!" Ito said. "The whole team's attack is not only the carrier-based aircraft on the aircraft carrier, but also the three super battleships including Yamato, Musashi, and Shinano that arrived in the waters of Christmas Island, and the four King Kong ships. -class fast battleships, as well as all submarines... The attack by carrier-based aircraft is only to damage some large American aircraft carriers, causing them to slow down or lose some of their combat capabilities, thereby creating favorable conditions for the battleships and submarines to attack!”

"Do you want to fight hard?" Yamamoto Isoroku nodded, then looked at Ito Zhengichi, "What if I lose?"

"Kill yourself if you lose!" Ito replied.

"Ah?" Nagano Shushen was stunned and looked at Ito Zhengichi in surprise, "Ito-kun, do you want to commit seppuku?"

"Of course not!" Ito shook his head, "It's just a battle. Even if it loses, the empire still has a chance."

"Then suicide is..." Nagano Shushen was a little confused.

Yamamoto Isoroku took the question and said calmly: "Nagano-kun, the suicide Ito-kun mentioned should refer to the suicide missile... which is the method of the Marshal of the German Empire. If the navy loses the battle on Christmas Island this time , then the only way to fight the Hawaiian Islands in the future is this way.”

After all, "kamikaze tactics" are a bit like jumping over the wall in a hurry, and Japanese militarism is reluctant to adopt them until they are at the end of the road. However, people like Yamamoto and Ito have not forgotten that this happened.

…

"Saved the Franklin? That's great."

At this time, US President Roosevelt was relieved that the USS Franklin aircraft carrier had been saved. He smiled and said to General Leahy, the Chief of Staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Army and Navy (a very awkward title, equivalent to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) who came to report to him: "We are fighting a great battle. Yeah?"

"Yes, it's great," Admiral Leahy said. "Exchanging ships for planes... is unthinkable."

"We are rich people!" The President of the United States shrugged, "Rich people have their own way of fighting wars." Roosevelt looked at William Leahy, "If a problem can be solved with money and equipment, don't use human lives to solve it... This is Our principles, I hope that we can also follow these principles during the landing in the Hawaiian Islands.”

"I understand, Mr. President." William Leahy smiled, "In fact, we have been preparing for a long time. Several light ships dedicated to near-shore fire support have now completed development and are preparing for mass production. Wait until When we counterattack the Hawaiian Islands next year, there will be hundreds of these inshore fire support ships to bombard the Japanese. "

"But the Japanese also built many forts on the Hawaiian Islands," Roosevelt asked. "Is there anything we can do?"

"There are some ideas now," William Leahy said. "One is to use a remotely controlled B-17 or B-24 loaded with explosives to hit it; another method is to use a dive bomber to drop a 1,000-pound armor-piercing bomb."

Because it picked up Germany's remote-controlled gliding bombs very early, the United States' research in this area is now better than in history. The BQ-7 remote-controlled suicide aircraft and the B-24 remote-controlled suicide model have now been successfully developed. Of course, these two weapons are prepared for the battle to regain the Hawaiian Islands. Once Christmas Island falls into the hands of the United States, it will become the place where BQ-7 and B-24 remote-controlled suicide aircraft attack!