The Rise of the Third Reich

"Your Excellency, based on the experience of naval battles in the European battlefield, the first choice target in this air attack on Pearl Harbor should be the US aircraft carrier anchored in Pearl Harbor. Considering that the armor level of the US aircraft carrier is weak, use Type 99 to throw 250 kilograms of armor-piercing bombs It can achieve the purpose of destruction, and then give a fatal blow in the form of a 'comet'!"

On the battleship "Nagato", the Japanese Combined Fleet's Sennin Staff Officer Kuroshima Kameto and the 11th Air Force Chief of Staff Osishi Takijiro were explaining the newly drawn up plan to Yamamoto Isoroku.

This battle plan to attack Pearl Harbor is definitely different from the historical version, because there have been many sea and air battles on the previous European battlefields. The vulnerability of battleships in the face of air power has been clearly revealed. Therefore, Kuroshima Kameto and Onishi Takijiro's interest in American battleships has also dropped a lot.

"The second target," said the Kuroshima Turtle Man, "should be the U.S. military airport on Oahu. Therefore, the Type 97 torpedo bombers participating in the bombing operation all carried bombs in the first wave of air strikes to destroy the U.S. military airport on Oahu. The US military airfield. The Zero fighter aircraft responsible for escort will also carry bombs to bomb the airport."

First hit the aircraft carrier, then hit the airport!

This has become a standard pattern in several European naval and air battles. As long as the opponent's air power is paralyzed, the battleships on the water are nothing but a piece of cake, and they can be blown up as much as they want.

Moreover, Yamamoto Isoroku now has the treasure of the "Comet" carrier-based dive bomber. Although there are only a few dozen equipped, they are a powerful weapon against battleships.

The Black Island Turtle said: "After destroying the US aircraft carrier and destroying the US airfield on Oahu, it will be the turn of the American battleships. Therefore, the second assault wave will mainly deal with the battleships, with the 'Comet' aircraft dropping 500 kilograms of armor-piercing bombs, and the Type 97 torpedo bombers will also carry torpedoes for combat.”

"What if the US aircraft carrier is not here?" Yamamoto Isoroku interrupted.

Onishi Takijiro replied: "In the first assault wave, Type 99 dive bombers will be used to attack the battleships, and Type 97 torpedo bombers carrying bombs will be used to destroy the airport. In the second wave of attacks, Type 97 torpedo bombers will be used to bring torpedoes to cooperate with the Comet. ' dive bombers to sink the battleships, a third wave of attacks destroyed the oil depots and bombed the airfields again, and then the aircraft carriers retreated to the sea to hide, allowing the landing fleet to attack Kauai to attract the appearance of American aircraft carriers."

Blowing up the oil depot was the experience of the Scapa Flow bombing. Because the oil depot was bombed, Scapa Flow never became an important anchorage for the home fleet after the bombing. Moreover, in subsequent Japanese-German military exchanges, the German side repeatedly mentioned the importance of destroying oil depots in destroying enemy bases. Therefore, oil depots have become as important targets as battleships.

After completing the destruction of targets on Oahu, the Japanese attack fleet will send landing troops to occupy the undefended Kauai Island. Then an airport was deployed on the island, barracks were built, and docks were expanded, giving the illusion that Kauai would be used as an advance base to attack Hawaii.

Since Hawaii is too far away from the Japanese mainland, allowing the ground troops responsible for the offensive to stay in a transport ship with poor conditions for 20-30 days will greatly weaken the physical strength of the soldiers. Therefore, there must be a foothold close to Oahu for the soldiers. Take a break.

In addition, the air support mission of the Hawaii operation can also rely entirely on carrier-based aircraft. If Kauai can be captured and the island's airfield expanded, shore-based aircraft can be deployed on Kauai.

Therefore, once the Japanese army occupied Kauai, Americans would definitely think that the Japanese were going to attack Oahu. By then, the remaining fleet in Pearl Harbor and the U.S. fleet wandering near Hawaii will definitely go into battle. This is the time for the Japanese Combined Fleet to deliver the final blow to the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Kuroshima Turtle said confidently: "This mobile fleet will have 8 aircraft carriers, 6 of which are large fleet aircraft carriers, and the number of commonly used carrier-based aircraft will exceed 500. If the remaining ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet are Attract them, and the mobile fleet will definitely be able to complete the battle!"

"As long as the U.S. Pacific Fleet is destroyed, Oahu will be easy to deal with." Onishi Takijiro turned the topic to Oahu.

Hersman had previously given Ozawa Jisaburo a lot of information about Oahu, but the things that the German intelligence agencies had discovered were of little value to the Japanese because the information they had was far more comprehensive than the Germans - Oahu The island is full of Japanese immigrants, so it is easy for Japanese spies to hide. There has long been a spy network on the island that closely monitors the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Regarding the deployment of the US military and the defense of the island, the Japanese Combined Fleet Command has no less knowledge than the White House.

“The biggest trouble on Oahu is the Williston Fort located near Pearl Harbor,” said Onishi Takijiro. “This fort has two 16-inch cannons that can fire 360 ​​degrees without blind spots, and its firepower can cover the entire Oahu. Island, the maximum range is about 40 kilometers. However, our 'Yamato' main gun has a maximum range of 42 kilometers, which is theoretically enough to destroy the Williston Fort. "

There are many forts on Oahu, but due to terrain restrictions (mainly blocked by mountains), most of the forts on the island have large shooting dead spots. Most of them can only fire southward and cannot hit the north of Oahu. . The ones that can fire 360 ​​degrees without blind spots are Fort Willis and Fort Kamehameha near Honolulu.

However, Fort Kamehameha was built earlier. It was all completed before 1920. It has 4 12-inch cannons and 8 12-inch mortars. Although it can shoot 360 degrees without blind spots, the range of the artillery is too close. Not to mention the enemy troops landing on the north side of Oahu.

Therefore, the biggest threat to the Japanese army was the two 16-inch cannons of Fort Willis. It is definitely very difficult to destroy these two 16-inch cannons by aircraft bombing. The 500 kilogram armor-piercing bombs carried by the "Comet" dive bomber may not be able to penetrate other people's armored turrets, and there are dense high altitudes around the Willis Fort. Artillery and anti-aircraft machine gun positions.

"If you want to destroy the Willis Fort, you can only use the Yamato!" Onishi Takijiro came to the same conclusion as Hersman, "But to ensure the destruction of the Willis Fort, firing from 42 kilometers away may not work. It must penetrate to a distance of about 20,000 meters. At this distance, the Yamato's main gun has high accuracy and is enough to penetrate the 566mm vertical armor plate. However, being so close to the Willis Fort will also cause the Yamato itself to exist. The possibility of being hit by a 16-inch cannon might cause the Yamato to suffer heavy damage. "

The "Yamato"'s main armor belt, main gun turret armor and command tower armor can theoretically prevent bombardment by a 16-inch cannon at a distance of 20,000 meters. But the theory is a theory, and the actual situation may not be certain. Otherwise, the British "Hood" would not have been tragically blown up.

Yamamoto Isoroku frowned, "If we can exchange the 'Yamato' for Oahu, it would be worthwhile even if the 'Yamato' sinks. However, I am afraid that if the 'Yamato' gets close, it will be difficult to destroy the Willis Fort. On the contrary, it will be Came under cross fire from the 16-inch and 14-inch guns of Hatch's Battery and Randolph's Battery."

"Then we can only destroy it with flying bombs operated by someone," Onishi Takijiro said. "A flying bomb with an 800 kilogram charge can destroy the strongest fort! In this way, you only need to sacrifice a few lives to destroy it. Willis Battery."

Yamamoto Isoroku nodded in agreement. This is a good method and saves money. However, Japan's research on man-operated flying bombs has just begun, and there are no usable live ammunition at all.

"But none of our pilots have ever flown a human-operated flying bomb." Black Island Turtle Man immediately raised an objection.

Yamamoto Isoroku thought for a moment and immediately said: "Prepare two plans at the same time. One is to use the Yamato; the other is to use human-operated flying bombs...Select volunteers to go to Germany for training, and at the same time let the Germans try to smuggle a few sets launcher and 10 man-operated flying bombs.”

"Hai."

Onishi and Kurojima quickly recorded Yamamoto's order and kicked the ball to capture Hawaii to Hersman again. Then Onishi Takijiro began to introduce the plan for the second phase of the Hawaii campaign.

"The second phase of the Hawaiian Campaign is the real landing operation. The conditions for starting it are that the main force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet is completely destroyed, the airports on Oahu are completely suppressed, Kauai is completely suppressed, the offensive operations in Malaya and Borneo go smoothly, and the airports in the Philippines are completely suppressed. Suppression. In this case, the Navy will request the transfer of troops and ships originally used for the Philippine offensive and the takeover of the Dutch East Indies, and will also transport Korean laborers, shore-based aircraft, and large quantities of supplies. Supplies were sent to Kauai in preparation for a long-term battle.

The main force of the mobile fleet will evacuate the Hawaiian waters after the first phase of the Kauai Airport expansion project is completed, return home to rest and prepare for the second Hawaiian operation. "

The plan Onishi is talking about now is to really attack the Hawaiian Islands. Considering that Oahu is as strong a fortress as Port Arthur, it is impossible to conquer Oahu without a few months and tens of thousands of casualties. And the Americans will definitely not leave it alone, because Oahu is so important.

Therefore, the Japanese Combined Fleet must prepare for the Second Battle of Hawaii - the expected situation is that the remnants of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet will merge and then launch a large-scale counterattack. Only by winning the Second Battle of Hawaii could Japan possibly seize Oahu.

Onishi Takijiro finally said: "In order to ensure victory, Germany should be required to send at least two aircraft carriers through the Indian Ocean to assist in the battle."