The Rise of the Third Reich

"It's impossible for the Yamato class to go to the Atlantic Ocean!"

In the official residence of the Japanese Navy Minister, Admiral Oikawa Koshiro, the Navy Minister, shook his head vigorously and said to the visiting Yamamoto Isoroku.

"Yes, the Yamato and the Musashi are the treasures of the Imperial Japanese Navy. How could they be sent to the Atlantic Ocean? And the Pacific Ocean is the main battlefield against the US Navy! If the navy is to be used together, the Germans should send the 'Bismarck' to the Pacific Ocean.”

Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nagano Shushen also shook his head and echoed Admiral Oikawa Koshiro.

"But the Germans promised to send a fleet of four aircraft carriers converted from fast cruise ships to the Far East to support us, and...these four aircraft carriers will be equipped with 240 commonly used aircraft."

The one who was somewhat moved was the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku. In fact, he was opposed to this proposal at first - the Yamato, which has not yet been commissioned, is the new flagship of the Combined Fleet. How can it be sent to the Atlantic Ocean?

However, Combined Fleet Aviation Staff Minoru Genda strongly agrees. He is an extreme "aircraft carrier faction." He believed that Japan would definitely regret building a giant ship like the Yamato in the future. Now that he heard about Hessman's "Polar Night Battle" plan, he naturally greatly agreed with it, thinking that it could "use waste" and replace it with Four very useful German aircraft carriers and 240 "commonly used carrier-based aircraft" - this is not the concept of 240 aircraft, but includes all the crews and maintenance personnel of 240 carrier-based aircraft!

There is no shortage of aircraft for Japan, but ace pilots who can fly carrier-based aircraft are definitely not rich for Japan. After all, pilots of this level are "burned" with gasoline, and it is impossible to train them in large numbers with Japan's national strength.

Moreover, these carrier-based aircraft pilots sent by Germany are all aces who have fought in actual combat, which are even more precious compared with those Japanese aces who have basically never fought in actual combat.

Under Minoru Genda's strong encouragement, Yamamoto Isoroku was a little tempted. So at today's meeting of the three navy chiefs, Yamamoto felt that Hersman's suggestion could be considered.

"Then send at most two Nagato-class ships to the Atlantic Ocean." Admiral Oikawa Koshiro said. "Nagato and Mutsu are powerful enough to fight against any American battleship."

Yamamoto Isoroku frowned and said: "But the 'Nagato' class is very old after all, and the power of the 410mm caliber cannon cannot be compared with the 'Yamato' class 460mm caliber cannon."

If Japan is willing to send out the "Yamato" class, even just one of them can have the final say in the "Polar Night Decisive Battle". After all, the cannons there were so powerful that no British or American battleship could withstand them. Although the 410mm cannon of the "Nagato" class is also very powerful, it cannot be compared with the 460mm cannon.

"That's it!" Admiral Nagano Shushen said with a wave of his hand, "It would be good to let the 'Nagato' and the 'Mutsu' go. They can't ask for too much... After all, the aircraft carrier converted from a cruise ship cannot compete with the 'Zeppelin' class "Compared." He paused and asked, "Is it possible to occupy Hawaii?"

Ozawa Jisaburo's telegram also mentioned the proposal to "occupy Hawaii." Hersman believes that although the gap in national power between Japan and the United States is large, the strength of the combined fleet is also clearly superior. Therefore, it is completely possible to have a decisive battle that determines the outcome! Just fight in Hawaii. All the main forces of the combined fleet will go over, and then bring 3-4 divisions of landing troops. A sneak attack first. If the sneak attack fails, it will lead to a naval battle. The U.S. Pacific Fleet will definitely not be able to defeat the Japanese Combined Fleet. After the naval battle, they landed directly, even if the mountains of corpses and seas of blood filled up Hawaii.

Although the losses may be heavy with this style of play, the results will definitely be the greatest. It is very possible to destroy the Pacific Fleet and occupy the Hawaiian Islands!

"It is possible to occupy the Hawaiian Islands, and it is also possible to destroy the Pacific Fleet in one fell swoop." Yamamoto Isoroku frowned, as if thinking hard.

He said: "Marshal Hersman believes that once Japan and the United States go to war, Japan will be strongest on the day of the war, and the United States will be weakest on the day of the war. Therefore, Japan should achieve a decisive victory on the day of the war... Otherwise , as time goes by, the advantage will gradually shift to the side of the United States. I think this analysis is correct. The strategic vision of this imperial marshal is indeed extremely brilliant!"

It does not require a brilliant strategic vision to come to such a conclusion. All it takes is an understanding of the comparison of industrial strength between Japan and the United States.

If Japan’s industrial score is 1, then the United States’ industrial score is 100! And unlike Germany, Japan has no industrial countries around it that it can occupy or integrate. Japan's industrial strength has very limited room for improvement during wartime, but once U.S. industry exerts its full strength, it can generate enough military power to crush Japan.

Therefore, for Japan, the earlier the decisive battle is, the better, and for the United States, the later the decisive battle is, the better.

If there is a decisive battle between the United States and Japan on the first day, in Hersman's view, the bigger the bets placed by both sides, the more beneficial it will be to Japan.

Historically, the bet was only on the battleships of the Pacific Fleet, which was a big loss for Japan. Most of those battleships were very old. Except for the two "Colorado" class battleships with huge guns, the other battleships sunk in Pearl Harbor were of little value.

If the Hawaiian Islands themselves and the entire Pacific Fleet become bets, then Japan will be able to win the Pacific War on its own.

Because although the United States has strong industrial strength, it is still the 1940s after all, and the range of ships and aircraft is limited. Without the transit point of Hawaii, it would be difficult for the U.S. Navy to reach the Western Pacific, and the route from the United States to Australia would also lose its barrier due to the fall of the Hawaiian Islands, and could easily be cut off by the Japanese fleet based in Hawaii. . The counterattack route from the South Pacific may also be completely cut off.

Moreover, when Japan captures Hawaii, the U.S. Pacific Fleet will definitely have to fight tooth and nail. The result is very likely that the main force of the Pacific Fleet will be completely wiped out. The United States lost not only surface ships and aircraft in this battle, but also tens of thousands of experienced officers, sailors, and pilots. And these people cannot be produced quickly by the powerful industrial capabilities of the United States.

"But..." Yamamoto Isoroku shook his head again and again, "But to carry out the operation to capture Hawaii, the combined fleet must devote all its main force, and the southward operation may have to be postponed..."

To occupy Hawaii, it is impossible to rely on 6 aircraft carriers. Battleship forces and landing forces must be dispatched. Moreover, in order to ensure victory, the number of battleships dispatched must not be small, and the landing troops must be brought as much as possible.

According to estimates by the Combined Fleet, transporting a fully manned division to Hawaii would require at least 300,000 tons of merchant ships! If 4 divisions are to be dispatched, that is 1.2 million tons, and if 5 divisions are to be dispatched, that is 1.5 million tons.

However, the total tonnage of Japan's current shipping ships is only 5.9 million tons. All of these 5.9 million tons cannot be used by the military. At least half must be reserved to maintain domestic production. In other words, the maximum number of merchant ships that can be used for military purposes is 3 million tons. Now just transporting troops to Hawaii consumes 1.2 to 1.5 million tons. In addition, many oil tankers and merchant ships need to be requisitioned to provide logistical support for the main force of the joint fleet. The scale of the entire mobilization of merchant ships is likely to be as high as 1.8-2 million tons!

If we really want to go all out to attack Hawaii, then there will not be enough troops to occupy territories such as the Philippines, Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.

“The Dutch East Indies do not need to be occupied, they are just taken over,” Chief of Naval Command Nagano Osamu calculated on his fingers, “Maybe we can postpone it for a few months, as long as we can get oil from the Dutch.

In addition, the war between the Philippines and Guam can also be postponed... The Philippines has 1,000 shore-based aircraft (actually only 400), which cannot be defeated in the short term. Just let the ships sail around 500 kilometers outside the Philippines. The worst case scenario is that Taiwan will be attacked. Click the bomb. "

Koshiro Oikawa frowned deeply and said, "Then if we go south, we will conquer the Malay Peninsula and Singapore?"

Malaya and Singapore must be fought. Once they are connected, they can join forces with Germany in the Indian Ocean, and Japan can obtain aid supplies from Germany through the Indian Ocean route. As for the Dutch East Indies, Germany has promised to persuade the Netherlands to give up, on the condition that Japan helps Germany seize South Africa (South Africa compensates the Netherlands).

As for the Philippines controlled by the United States, it seems that it has a strong military force and requires a large army to occupy it. However, the area that the U.S. aircraft deployed in the Philippines can dangerously reach is not too large. In other words, the surrounding area is hundreds of kilometers away, so it doesn't seem to be a big problem if we don't fight for the time being.

"If we don't attack the Philippines or occupy the Dutch East Indies, but only attack Malaya and Singapore, the ships will be enough."

Isoroku Yamamoto's brows were still furrowed, and he said: "However, with the goal of occupying Hawaii, the Navy is gambling on the national destiny of the Japanese Empire. If we win, everything is easy to say, but if we fail to win, the country will be destroyed. …”

Oikawa Koushiro looked at Navy Commander-in-Chief Nagano Shushen, "Nagano-kun, what do you think?"

Nagano crossed his arms and thought for a while, then said: "What if there is no chance? It's just a matter of strength. The Combined Fleet is definitely stronger than the U.S. Pacific Fleet, but there is no overwhelming advantage. To ensure victory, then we need to To further enhance our strength. If the Germans are willing to provide us with truly useful assistance, then they might as well make a huge bet on their national fortunes with the Americans!”