The Rise of the Third Reich

On December 6, 1941, two days before the air attack on Pearl Harbor, bad news reached the official residence of Japanese Prime Minister General Hideki Tojo one after another.

There may be the possibility of exercises for the five aircraft carriers and five heavy cruisers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet leaving Pearl Harbor. However, the British emergency retreat from Hong Kong, the United States evacuating expatriates and military family members from the Philippines, and the departure of all ships of the U.S. Asia Fleet from Cavite, etc., all clearly indicate the fact that the United States and Britain must have learned that Japan will launch a campaign in early December. war.

A sneak attack or something like that is no longer possible!

The only way left now is to attack hard. It depends on whether the U.S. Pacific Fleet is more powerful or the Japanese Combined Fleet can fight?

"Baga!" Hideki Tojo couldn't help but cursed at the cabinet meeting on December 6, "The First Mobile Fleet has indeed been discovered by the Americans! I knew Yamamoto's Operation Z plan would not work. , Yamamoto is a big idiot!”

The Navy Minister Shitaro Shimada, who had just taken office, turned pale when he heard Tojo's words. This idiot Hideki Tojo wants to put the responsibility for the defeat on the navy, but this is not okay!

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, there is currently no evidence that the First Mobile Fleet has been discovered by the Americans. Moreover, although the US military at Pearl Harbor has increased its combat readiness level, it has not entered a war-ready state. On the contrary, the British and American troops in the Philippines and Malaya are facing a formidable enemy." Shitaro Shimada quickly spoke and pushed the responsibility away. "This shows that the First Mobile Fleet has not been discovered... The war preparations of the Americans and British are very likely because someone leaked the news of the war."

Leak the news? Tojo glanced at Shimada and thought that the person who leaked the news must not be the Army. The Army is all loyal and patriotic people. The traitors are either the Navy or the "Anglo-American" diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs!

"Shimada-kun, there may be a leak now!" Tojo Hideki said, "Then we should find out where the problem occurred, otherwise there will be another leak... If this continues, the empire will lose the initiative in the war. of!"

"Prime Minister, is it possible that the Americans have deciphered our telegram code?" Shitaro Shimada raised a possibility at this time. In fact, the Japanese Navy Command has also been looking for reasons internally in the past two days, and checked the backgrounds of all personnel who may have come into contact with "Operation Z Plan". However, everyone looked like a loyal minister of His Majesty the Emperor, and there was no way they could be from the United States. spy.

Therefore, the Naval Command finally proposed the "only possibility" and the telegram was deciphered.

"Then change the codes as soon as possible," Tojo Hideki immediately decided. "The codes of the Navy, Army and Ministry of Foreign Affairs must be completely changed."

Tojo Hideki also felt that it was possible that the telegram had been deciphered. If the First Mobile Fleet had not been discovered, then the telegram must have been deciphered - in fact, the United States and the Soviet Union had been trying to decipher Japan's codes, and both Both have achieved considerable results. Now the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs sends a secret message to the embassy in the United States, and the Americans can quickly decipher it.

At this time, Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo did not expect that the secret message he sent to Ambassador Nomura Koshisaburo to the United States would probably be read by Colonel Donovan first. Dongxiang, who had served as ambassador to the Soviet Union for a long time, still thought of internationalist fighters at this time.

"Prime Minister, the Soviet Union and the United States are very close now and are almost about to form an alliance." Dongxiang frowned, looking like a disaster was imminent. "The Third International controlled by the Soviet Union has been infiltrating our empire for a long time. This leak is likely to be the result of cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union..."

U.S.-Soviet cooperation!

It sounds very scary, but things like this do happen. During this period, the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union was really good. The Soviet Union even approved the unprecedented approval of American companies to invest in the Second Baku Oil Field and sell cars in its territory.

This kind of thing was not allowed during the New Economic Policy period, but it happened now. This shows that the current cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union is quite close, and it is only a matter of time before an alliance is formed.

The alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union was almost a disaster for Japan. After all, the Soviet Union and Germany have not started fighting yet. And if the Soviet Union and the United States beat Japan together, Hitler and Hersmann would probably be relieved - now they don't have to worry about the Soviet Union stabbing them in the back, and they can finally beat up the British happily!

"Our empire and the Soviet Union have signed a non-aggression treaty. The Soviet Union will not betray its promise, right?" Tojo Hideki looked at Togo Shigenori and asked.

Togo Shigetori shook his head and said: "The Soviet Union is very untrustworthy. It is possible to betray Japan if it is profitable."

Hideki Tojo snorted coldly and said, "If that's the case, the Imperial Army will definitely give the Soviet army a head-on blow. Maybe the problems in the North and China can be solved once and for all."

The United States still wants to challenge the Soviet Union! Hideki Tojo has almost boasted to the sky, but after boasting, he still has to solve practical problems.

The actual problems are two. One is to strengthen anti-G espionage and the Third International spies must be strictly investigated; the other is how to proceed with the war against the United States - although the war has not yet started, there are already signs of a bad start.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Navy is fully confident that it can win in Hawaii!" Navy Minister Shitaro Shimada stated through gritted teeth.

The First Mobile Fleet is currently refueling for the last time before launching a surprise attack. After the fuel is filled, the fleet will move towards the offensive position north of Oahu at a high speed of 24 knots. An air strike will be launched in the early morning of December 8th!

It can be said that the arrow is already ready. If it is not launched, the Japanese Empire will be completely overwhelmed by the United States and the Soviet Union in terms of momentum. Moreover, in order to carry out this attack, the Combined Fleet has consumed a large amount of fuel reserves. If it gives up now, it is hard to say whether the Combined Fleet will have enough fuel to launch another all-out attack.

Moreover, Japan's retreat does not mean that the United States will not create any excuses to join the Soviet Union in attacking Japan's lost dog.

Tojo Hideki has figured out the stakes in the blink of an eye. Japan must now bite the bullet and rush forward to carve out a bloody path!

"Okay!" Tojo touched his bald head, "Then I will be waiting for Commander Nagumo's success report in Tokyo!"

…

"Found a plane! Direction 8 o'clock, very fast. Prince, come with me to have a look."

At this time, little Hersman was leading a four-finger formation hovering over Japan's First Mobile Fleet. He suddenly discovered a small single-engine aircraft emerging from the clouds. He guessed that a Comet dive bomber on a search mission had returned. However, he was too far away to see clearly, so he asked Prince Lip Weisenfeld to come closer and have a look.

The two Zeros flew for a while, and little Hersman finally saw clearly that it was indeed a "comet." Then he told Prince Lipp Weisenfeld through the radio: "It's a 'comet'. We are returning now and continue to be vigilant."

Then little Hersman turned around and flew back. After flying for a while, he didn't hear the prince's answer. He knew something was wrong, so he quickly looked both ways, only to find that the prince's plane was not following.

"Damn radio!" Little Hersman muttered, knowing that something was wrong with the airborne radio again.

Although the Japanese carefully built dozens of Japanese version of the Fokker Zero according to German drawings (the Japanese number is Zero 024), these aircraft still have various problems, and the most common problem is the Toshiba Electrically produced radios break down all the time. No wonder those Japanese pilots like to dismantle the radio on the Zero aircraft. It is better to use this radio than to make gestures to save worry. However, fighter pilots can use sign language, and pilots flying Comet dive bombers for reconnaissance can also use sign language to report news to the rear? If we really get into trouble with the US aircraft carrier, this kind of broken radio will delay the big thing.

When little Hersman was worried about the Japanese Japs, the Zero 024 aircraft flown by Prince Lip Weisenfeld had already escorted a "Comet" dive bomber over. It turned out that it was little Hersman's radio that was broken. Little Hersman and Prince Lipp Weisenfeld had a conversation in sign language and handed over the command of the 4-machine unit to the prince.

On the bridge of the "Akagi" aircraft carrier, Nagumo Chuichi, who had red eyes and had not slept for several days and nights, saw a "Comet" aircraft parked steadily on the flight deck, then turned around and asked the staff officer behind him: " Still nothing found?"

"Nothing has been discovered," aviation staff officer Minoru Genda replied. "The plane has already approached 500 kilometers north of Oahu. If we go south, we will easily encounter American reconnaissance planes. It seems that we have not been discovered by the Americans. "

Nagumo Chuichi frowned and whispered: "The fleet is now more than 600 nautical miles away from Oahu. Except for long-range bombers like the B-17, the combat radius of most American aircraft cannot reach the Japanese fleet. Therefore, even if the Americans have discovered the First Mobile Fleet, they will pretend to know nothing. They will ambush five aircraft carriers in the waters south of Hawaii and first use shore-based aircraft on Oahu to fight us... According to Intelligence, there are hundreds of combat aircraft on Oahu!”

"Commander," Minoru Genda looked at Chuichi Nagumo, commander of the First Mobile Fleet, who looked melancholy, as if he was suffering from depression, and whispered suggestions. "Or cancel the third assault wave, concentrate on the first and second assault waves, and especially strengthen the first assault wave. You can integrate all the 'Comet' aircraft into the first assault wave, and send aircraft out Destroy the oil depot at Pearl Harbor. In this way, even if the Americans set a trap at Pearl Harbor, as long as we destroy the millions of tons of heavy oil stored in Pearl Harbor, we can greatly restrict the combat operations of the US Pacific Fleet. "