The Rise of the Third Reich

"Ugaki-kun, the German's 'Kaiser Friedrich III' has a radar installed on it, right?"

Nagumo Chuichi turned his head and looked at the armored ship which was huge but had weak firepower and asked Ugaki Matoi.

Matoi Ugaki replied: "Yes, now Germany's large surface ships are equipped with radars. The 'Emperor Friedrich III' is equipped with a FuMo23-B radar, with a sea detection range of 40 kilometers and an air detection range. It’s 200 kilometers.”

"Great!" Nagumo Chuichi laughed, "Now I know how to use this island bomb cruiser."

"Oh? How are Nanyun-kun going to use it?"

Nagumo Chuichi said with a smile: "Of course it's just to try your luck."

"Try your luck?"

"Yes, it's just a matter of luck... You can have two destroyers protect it and go 80 nautical miles south of the First Mobile Fleet, sailing parallel and in the same direction as the First Mobile Fleet. In this way, it can not only serve as an air defense guard, but also wait for opportunities to attack the US aircraft carrier Conduct a special missile attack when approaching my first mobile fleet."

"So, what if a US carrier-based aircraft launches an attack on the 'Kaiser Friedrich III'?"

"It's okay. The radar on the Emperor Friedrich III should be able to detect them, so the aircraft carrier can immediately send aircraft to protect it."

"But... it still doesn't sound very safe. The 'Emperor Friedrich III' weighs more than 20,000 tons and looks like a battleship. If the Americans send too many planes, they will still sink it. "

Nagumo Chuichi shrugged and said with a smile: "No problem... The Americans will give priority to attacking the aircraft carrier of the First Mobile Fleet and will not embarrass a battleship with more than 20,000 tons." He paused and added , "Probably not. As long as your luck is not too bad, you'll be fine."

Nagumo's method turned out to be to place the "Emperor Friedrich III" in the direction where the US aircraft carrier was most likely to appear, 80 nautical miles away from the First Mobile Fleet, which is almost 150 kilometers. If U.S. aircraft carriers discover the First Mobile Fleet and want to launch an attack, they must get closer to a distance of 300-400 kilometers from the First Mobile Fleet.

300-400 kilometers minus 150 kilometers is 150-250 kilometers. In this way, the "Emperor Friedrich III" will have the opportunity to launch a "missile attack." It can take advantage of the US aircraft carrier's "ignorance" of battleships (when an aircraft carrier and a battleship are discovered at the same time, carrier-based aircraft will definitely give priority to attacking the aircraft carrier), sprint at full speed for dozens of nautical miles and then launch all 10 V3 man-operated missiles.

"All 10 V3 missiles are fired at once, and all of them are aimed at an aircraft carrier. We must sink it!" Chuichi Nagumo said, "Even if 10 of the best pilots are exchanged for an American aircraft carrier, it is still worthwhile."

The weight of a V3 man-operated missile is about 2.5 tons, and the warhead includes an armor-piercing warhead and 800 kilograms of explosives. 10 missiles are 8 tons of explosives. No matter how strong the aircraft carrier is, it cannot withstand the damage of 8 tons of explosives. Even if only 2-3 hits in the end, Nagumo believes that it is enough to sink an American aircraft carrier or completely lose its combat effectiveness.

…

"Lieutenant Admiral, telegram from the Pennsylvania, two Japanese aircraft carriers were discovered, bombarding Kauai..."

"What? Aircraft carriers bombarding Kauai?"

On the "Enterprise" aircraft carrier, Vice Admiral Halsey suspected that he heard wrongly. How could an aircraft carrier possibly be used to bombard an island?

"Yes, two Japanese aircraft carriers are shelling Kauai!" the staff officer replied very definitely. "The Marine Corps stationed on Kauai reported this, and the seaplanes taking off from Pearl Harbor later also discovered that there were two Japanese aircraft carriers. "Light aircraft carrier bombards the town of Lihuai off the east coast of Kauai."

The town of Lihuai is the capital of Kauai and has a nearby civilian airport and a small port. It was a very important place for the Japanese troops attacking Hawaii. Therefore, the Taiwanese mixed brigade that landed on Kauai is now attacking Lihuai Town, and the two aircraft carriers that are bombarding Lihuai Town are of course the Japanese Army aircraft carriers "Shenshu Maru" and "Akitsu Maru" .

Although these two aircraft carriers are only about 10,000 tons, they are small and well-equipped. They have everything an aircraft carrier should have, including flight decks and the ability to take off and land aircraft. So the reports from U.S. Marines and seaplanes were not wrong either.

"The aircraft carrier that bombarded the town of Lihuai...well, the aircraft carrier also has naval guns, which can indeed be used for bombardment." Halsey frowned and said, "How far are we from Kauai? When can we launch it? Air raid?"

"800 nautical miles," the navigation staff immediately replied, "with a speed of 18 knots, we can enter the air attack position after 50 hours."

"50 hours is too long!" Halsey waved his hand, "Don't take a zigzag route, take a straight line. More than 30 hours will be enough... We should be able to launch an air strike on the 17th."

"Lieutenant General, this is most likely a trap." A staff officer immediately reminded, "The Japanese may have 8 aircraft carriers (actually 11) in the waters near the Hawaiian Islands. Apart from these 2, there are at least 6 more."

"Of course I know!" Halsey smiled nonchalantly, "The Japanese have so many battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, and they actually used two aircraft carriers to bombard the coast. This is obviously a trap, just to lure us to sacrifice. But no No matter what, we still have to sink their aircraft carrier! Then leave immediately and let the remaining 6 Japanese aircraft carriers pursue. This will give Admiral Kimmel a chance to escort the transport fleet into Hilo Port."

…

"Yamato Hotel", the commander-in-chief's office.

General Yamamoto Fifty-Six was studying the latest news with his staff at this time. The news is not very good. Japan's intelligence network on the west coast of the United States has collected news that the United States is transporting aircraft and reinforcements to Hawaii!

In addition, Japan also received a report from Germany about the transfer of the main force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet to the Pacific! A powerful fleet, including the aircraft carrier "Wasp", the battleship USS North Carolina, and the battleship USS Washington, has set off from New York Harbor and headed for the Panama Canal. It is expected to arrive in the Hawaiian Islands in 20-25 days.

"The U.S. transport fleet and battleships cannot approach Oahu!" said Combined Fleet Chief of Staff Matoi Ugaki, "The First Mobile Fleet and the First Fleet will definitely destroy them."

"Of course they won't get close to Oahu," Yamamoto Isoroku said calmly, "but there is not only one Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands... The target of this American transport fleet should be Hawaiian Island. Hawaiian Island is among the Hawaiian Islands. The largest island has an area of ​​more than 10,000 square kilometers. Although it does not have a good port, there are still several small and medium-sized ports, and there are several airports on the island that can be used. If the Americans deploy a large number of aircraft on Hawaii Island, then we will. Will suffer failure!”

"Commander, do you want the mobile fleet to block this American transport fleet?"

Yamamoto Isoroku shook his head, "Do you know where they are?"

Ugaki Matoi was stunned and shook his head. Yamamoto continued: "If I were the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, I would try to divert the mobile fleet away, and then use the main force to escort the transport fleet into the port of Hawaii Island. As long as they enter the port and use their best If the P51 fighter jets are unloaded from the ship, then we will lose, because the battle in Hawaii will become a protracted war!”

"Commander, then we..."

Yamamoto Isoroku said, "We must destroy this transport fleet, and by the way, destroy the battleships of the Pacific Fleet leaving Pearl Harbor... These battleships are always a threat to our landing on Oahu."

"Commander, what are we going to do?"

Yamamoto Isoroku smiled and said: "We have to use our tactics and let them appear on their own!"

…

"Admiral, the SH01 fleet is still 100 nautical miles away from us."

"The reconnaissance plane didn't find anything, right?"

"No, everything is fine."

"Great, let's get them closer to us."

Admiral Kimmel exhaled softly. He has now led the fleet around the Oahu-Kauai waters and arrived on the Pacific Ocean east of Hawaii Island. The purpose of the main force of the Pacific Fleet coming here is to join the SH01 fleet coming from San Diego. The SH01 fleet is composed of 60 transport ships and tankers and 10 destroyers. In addition to fuel, ammunition, various supplies and nearly 5,000 Marines, the ship was loaded with 300 P51 fighter jets and a corresponding number of pilots and ground crew.

Such a huge fleet is only escorted by a mere 10 destroyers and does not have any air cover. It is conceivable how dangerous it is along the way. And in order to rush for time, this fleet did not take a Z-shaped anti-submarine voyage, but went straight to Hawaii Island after leaving the port.

If there were a group of Japanese submarines guarding the road, wouldn't it be easy to sink twenty or thirty submarines?

Fortunately, the fleet was safe along the way and did not encounter any Japanese submarines.

"Call Halsey and tell him we have rendezvoused with SH01." Kimmel wiped the sweat from his forehead and felt a little better. "Send a telegram to Washington as well and tell the Navy Department the good news."

"Yes, Admiral."

As soon as the fleet's communications staff turned around and left, Chief of Staff Fletcher immediately came up to him, also holding a telegram in his hand.

"Admiral, Vice Admiral Halsey's telegram, weather permitting, his fleet will launch an air attack on the morning of the 17th, targeting Japanese ships near Kauai."

Admiral Halsey nodded, "Okay, then we will escort the fleet into Hilo Port on the evening of the 17th."