The Rise of the Third Reich

"Severe damage to the Pennsylvania! Severe damage to the flagship of the Pacific Fleet... Photos, did you take the photos? Hurry up and generate electricity for the 'Akagi'..."

The huge explosion and the plume of smoke and fire that shot straight into the sky made Fuchida, who had just dropped the bomb, dance with excitement and almost lost control of the plane. This was Mitsuo Fuchida's first time participating in actual combat, and he actually achieved the result of blowing up a battleship. It was truly blessed by Amaterasu!

"Commander, Commander Fuchida, Commander Nakai Ryuichi of the 3rd Akagi Squadron reported that the Pennsylvania is sinking rapidly!"

Commander Yuichi Nakai, who was responsible for commanding six "Comet" dive bombers to prepare to attack after the Type 97 torpedo bombers dropped their bombs, suddenly reported even greater good news to Mizuo Fuchida via the radio - the "Pennsylvania" ( In fact, the USS Arizona is sinking!

Mitsuo Fuchida, who was circling to raise the altitude, quickly stretched his neck and looked towards the sea. He only saw that the bow of the "Arizona" had sunk into the sea, and the floating hull was also surrounded by fire and thick smoke. Obviously, this was The battleship is doomed and will sink soon, so there is no need for dive bombing.

Mitsuo Fuchida immediately ordered the cancellation of the attack missions of the two "Comet" aircraft squadrons, ordering them to hover in the air and wait until other aircraft attacking the battleship had completed their missions before going to "make up for the damage."

Just as the USS Arizona was hit and sank quickly, six other battleships anchored in Pearl Harbor also came under fierce attack.

The USS Nevada, the second battleship to be attacked by the USS Arizona, had much better luck than the USS Arizona. Only one of the 800kg armor-piercing bombs dropped by the five Type 97 torpedo bombers hit the bow of the ship. The bomb penetrated almost to the bottom of the bow before exploding, opening a large hole below the waterline of the bow and flooding in with hundreds of tons of seawater. But for a huge battleship, such damage is not fatal at all.

Subsequently, six "Comet" dive bombers taking off from the "Kaga" began to dive and drop bombs in sequence. At this time, all the anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns on the "Nevada" had been fired, and the dense rain of bullets formed a fire net in the air. The six aircraft led by Captain Yoshitaka Mikami could only dive in spite of the rain of bullets.

Captain Mikami, who was the first to charge, successfully dropped the bomb and hit the stern of the "Nevada". The 500-kilogram bomb exploded in the stern compartment of the "Nevada" and caused a fire, but it also did not Enough to cause fatal damage. The two "Comets" that subsequently dived were actually hit by shells fired by the "Nevada" one after another. One of them fell into the sea on the spot, and the other flew to the sea outside Pearl Harbor dragging black smoke, and finally died. Plunged into the sea. Then a 500-kilogram bomb dropped by another "Comet" plane penetrated the starboard deck of the "Nevada", triggering a relatively violent explosion. However, the two planes that finally dropped the bombs did not hit, and both bombs missed the target. The hull of the "Nevada" fell into the water, resulting in a near-missile, but for a battleship like the "Nevada", a near-missile was not a threat.

Almost at the same time, the "Oklahoma" with a standard displacement of 29,000 tons was also attacked. The "Oklahoma" and the "Nevada" were battleships of the same class, but they did not have the same luck.

Five of the 11 bombs dropped by 5 Type 97s and 6 "Comets" hit the target (including 1 800kg armor-piercing bomb and 4 500kg armor-piercing bombs), and 1 bomb penetrated the water from nowhere. The black powder magazine of the aircraft catapult exploded inside and started the fire. The fire quickly got out of control. In order to prevent the fire from spreading to the main gun turret ammunition depot, the captain of the Oklahoma had to order the main gun ammunition depot at the bow of the ship to be filled with water. But the fire still spread everywhere in the bow and amidships, and the entire battleship was burned into a fire ship.

Then the unlucky one was the "Maryland" parked inside the "Oklahoma". Four bombs also hit this "Colorado"-class battleship with a 16-inch main gun. One of the 800 kilogram bombs directly hit the USS Maryland. It penetrated the engine room and completely destroyed the battleship's power. This giant ship, which was one of the seven battleships in the world in the past, lost the ability to move.

The anti-aircraft firepower on the "Maryland" shot down a "Comet" dive bomber and damaged a Type 97 torpedo bomber (this aircraft did not return to the aircraft carrier later).

The "Tennessee" anchored near the "Arizona" was the luckiest battleship in this air attack. Due to the fire caused by the wreckage and fuel leakage after the explosion of the "Arizona", the "Tennessee" was surrounded by fire and smoke, which affected the sight of the Type 97 torpedo bombers that dropped bombs at high altitude. Five Type 80 bombs (800 kg bombs) All of them missed. The "Comet" aircraft that dropped bombs later missed 2 of 3, and one aircraft was shot down before it could release bombs. The two 500-kilogram bombs that hit did not cause fatal damage. However, because the entire battleship was shrouded in smoke when viewed from the air, as if it was about to be finished, Mizuo Fuchida did not order the six "Comets" commanded by Nakai Ruichi. "Go for the last hit.

The "California", which is in the same class as the "Tennessee", is not as lucky as its sister ship. Five of the bombs dropped by five Type 97s and six "Comets" hit, three of which hit the bow of the ship, almost destroying the weakly armored bow! But the disaster of the "California" was not over yet. The main engine of this battleship with a full load displacement of more than 35,000 tons was actually started at about 8:20, and thick smoke came out of the chimney. This scene was discovered by Mizuo Fuchida, who was flying a plane in the sky looking for prey, and immediately ordered six "Comet" aircraft to attack. As a result, the battleship was hit by four more 500-kilogram bombs. At 8:22, a big explosion suddenly occurred on the "California", and the ship's hull was immediately engulfed in fire. Although this battleship did not sink like the USS Arizona in the end, the damage caused by nine heavy bombs, fire, and ammunition explosions also completely lost its combat effectiveness.

The "West Virginia" docked next to Ford Island was the last to be bombed in the Battle of Pearl Harbor in this time and space. One 800-kg armor-piercing bomb and three 500-kg armor-piercing bombs directly damaged the "Colorado"-class battleship. The fire spread on the deck and the superstructure was almost completely burned.

…

The headquarters building of the Pacific Fleet is on the shore not far from the Navy Pier in Pearl Harbor. Kimmel stood at the window on the third floor of the building and watched his fleet suffer disaster.

"Sir!" Suddenly, a staff officer reported in a trembling voice, "The battleship Arizona has sunk..."

6 battleships were severely damaged and 1 battleship was sunk! Moreover, the four major airports on Oahu have all suffered devastating blows, and I am afraid that no less than 200 aircraft have been lost!

If you are not prepared for a sneak attack, it is understandable that you will suffer heavy losses. And now it is clear that the Japanese are going to attack, and the combat readiness level has been raised to the highest level, but because of a small negligence, the Japanese have been beaten up and suffered heavy losses!

Kimmel almost fainted when he thought of this, and his body swayed. The adjutant and staff officer next to him quickly supported him.

"Quickly, send power to Washington, report our losses, and request reinforcements..." Kimmel paused here, seeming to be thinking about what Oahu needs most now. At this moment, the ground beneath his feet suddenly trembled, and he fell to the ground before he could stand still.

Before I knew what was happening, a huge thunderous roar came from the window, instantly shattering all the glass windows in the Pacific Fleet Headquarters building!

Kimmel fell so hard that his eyes were filled with stars, and he was struggling to get up when someone shouted urgently in his buzzing ears: "The oil depot...it's an oil depot! An oil storage tank in Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese!" "

Oil depot! Millions of tons of fuel can be stored there, which the United States spent 10 years slowly stockpiling! Without this fuel, it would be difficult for Pearl Harbor to serve as the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet. And if all the millions of tons of fuel leaked and burned, I really don’t know if it would turn Pearl Harbor into a hell...

When Kimmel thought of this, his vision suddenly went dark and he lost consciousness.

What was just blown up was an oil storage tank storing aviation gasoline. Because marine heavy oil has a high ignition point, it is not easy to ignite. So it was basically hit by a bomb, that is, the oil tank was destroyed and heavy oil leaked. However, aviation gasoline is indeed something that can be easily ignited. A 250-kilogram armor-piercing bomb immediately lifted the entire oil tank into the sky. The burning aviation gasoline flowed everywhere, immediately turning the entire oil storage area into a sea of ​​​​fire. . Heavy fuel oil, which was not easy to ignite, now ignited a raging fire because of the combustion support of aviation gasoline. The thick black smoke column rose up to tens of thousands of meters and turned into a huge mushroom cloud at high altitude. It looked as if Pearl Harbor had been bombed by an atomic bomb.

"Inform the 'Akagi'," when Kimmel fainted, Mitsuo Fuchida was flying the plane 5,000 meters above Pearl Harbor. After seeing the huge mushroom cloud, he excitedly shouted to the radio operator and bombardier Yasuda Said, "One battleship was sunk, six battleships were damaged, and a giant oil storage tank was destroyed. Now... Pearl Harbor has been shrouded in fire and turned into a hell!"