The Rise of the Third Reich

When the morning of December 17, 1941 arrived, the sun flag was already flying over Lihue, the capital of Kauai. The Japanese Army's Taiwan Mixed Brigade, supported by two Army aircraft carriers, occupied this place on the afternoon of the 16th.

Lieutenant General Paulus, the head of the German military advisory group, who had been drifting at sea for more than 20 days, finally stood on solid and stable ground. At 10 a.m. on the 17th, I was taking my "royal photographer" Lieutenant Rudolf von Ribbentrop to visit several Japanese naval tanks parked on the dock.

Are there "ships" of tanks? Of course there are. The Japanese Navy stipulates that their tanks are "one" or "two", not one or two. By the way, the tanks of the Japanese Navy are not called "chariots", but "internal fire boats".

After seeing the Army aircraft carrier, Paulus and Ribbentrop now had their eyes opened again. But what opened their eyes was not the navy tanks - the Germans had never heard of the army having aircraft carriers, but it was very common for the navy to have tanks. The current German Marine Corps is also equipped with many No. 3 tanks that have been eliminated by the army, and the General Administration of Armament has also issued instructions to develop amphibious tanks.

But the idea of ​​using submarines to transport tanks for sneak attacks still made Lieutenant General Paulus and Second Lieutenant Ribbentrop shine.

The German Navy has many submarines, including 400 large and small submarines! If they could be used to transport tanks to sneak attacks on the British mainland, wouldn't it be possible to send an armored division to the British mainland overnight?

However, the Japanese Navy does not have that many submarines, nor that many tanks. There are currently only 30 "fireboats" transported to Kauai, and they will each take 15 submarines to attack Kamehameha Fort and Randolph Fort on Oahu.

According to investigations by Japanese intelligence agencies, the frontal defenses of Kamehameha Fort and Randolph Fort located on the coast of Honolulu were relatively "lax". No anti-tank trenches were dug and no anti-tank weapons were deployed.

Who would have thought of digging anti-tank trenches on the beach in front of a battery with 14-inch and 8-inch guns? As long as those cannons are not destroyed, it is impossible for enemy landing ships, landing craft, etc. to get close. If even the armored forts were destroyed, then the enemy must have many powerful battleships. What role could anti-tank trenches and anti-tank guns play?

Therefore, using submarines to transport tanks to land directly at Kamehameha Fort and Randolph Fort was definitely a revolutionary and genius idea.

And the special second-type internal fire boat used by the Japanese to realize this genius idea also looks quite good. The hull and turret are welded with steel plates. The front and back steel plates of the boat are placed at an angle to increase the bulletproof effect. The firepower of the Special II internal fireboat is not weak, with a 37mm tank gun and two 7.7mm machine guns. Compared with a light tank with a total combat weight of only 9.15 tons (land) and 12.5 tons (water, with pontoon), this firepower is definitely not weak.

In addition, the pontoon of the special second-type internal fire boat is also carefully designed. It can be disassembled and after installing the buoyancy tank, the Special Type 2 will become a small boat with crawler tracks and road wheels. It can sail at a speed of 9.5 kilometers per hour and can drive up to 140 kilometers. If on the shore, the maximum speed of the special type 2 internal fire boat is 37 kilometers per hour, and the maximum range is 320 kilometers.

And just as Paulus and Ribbentrop were observing a Japanese navy tank carefully, someone suddenly shouted: "Air attack! Air attack! Hurry and take cover..."

Paulus and Ribbentrop didn't understand Japanese, but when they saw the Korean coolies unloading the goods from two Japanese freighters and the Japanese soldiers guarding them all running towards the air-raid trenches, they knew what was going on. It's happened.

However, the two German military advisers did not go to drill the hole. Instead, they ran into a coconut grove not too far from the bay at the risk of being bombed. They raised their binoculars and began to watch the bombing.

The number of incoming American planes was large, enough to reach 140 or 50. They came in groups and gave people the feeling of blocking out the sky and the sun. However, there were not many Japanese aircraft in the air to intercept invading enemy aircraft. There were only 10 Japanese Army Type 1 fighters. These one-type fighter jets have been specially modified and can take off and land on Army aircraft carriers. They are actually a type of Army carrier-based fighter jets. Except for its performance, which is not as good as the Navy's Zero aircraft in terms of range, it is almost the same in other aspects. Even its appearance looks relatively similar, so that it is often confused by their enemies.

"10 Zeros, Major McBeal, leave them to you!" Lieutenant Colonel Ault, who commanded the incoming U.S. fighter planes, also mistook the Japanese Type 1 fighter in the sky for the Zero. He reported to the fighter through the airborne radio Major Mike Bell, the commander-in-chief of the formation, issued the order and then began to observe the situation on the sea.

"Two aircraft carriers!" He immediately spotted two Japanese Army aircraft carriers on the sea. "They are two light aircraft carriers. The dive bombers will come first, and then the torpedo bombers! Let's sink them!"

Lieutenant Colonel Ault himself was the pilot of the SBD Dauntless dive bomber. He assigned tasks to several squadrons of dive bombers and torpedo attack aircraft under his command, and then took the lead, leading a squadron of SBDs towards the Japanese Army. The aircraft carrier "Akitsu Maru" pounced. In just 3 minutes, 18 SBDs completed bombing, dropping three 1,000-pound armor-piercing bombs on this poor Army aircraft carrier. All three bombs penetrated the wooden flight deck, and one exploded in the empty hangar (the Type 1 fighters on the aircraft carrier had been transferred to Lihue Airport). Another one got into the engine room and blew the ship's diesel engine to pieces. The last one fell to the bottom of the bow of the ship, resulting in a large hole in the bottom of the bow of the "Akitsu Maru". The seawater surged in uncontrollably, and the 11,800-ton aircraft carrier quickly sank into the sea at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Three minutes later, bad luck befell the "Shenshu Maru". This 8,000-ton Army aircraft carrier was hit by two 1,000-pound bombs and two torpedoes. The hull broke into two pieces and sank into the Pacific Ocean.

After the American aircraft cleanly killed two army aircraft carriers, dozens of black dots appeared in the northeastern sky. These should be carrier-based aircraft sent by the Japanese aircraft carriers. Lieutenant Colonel Ault, who had just made a great contribution, believed that the credit for sinking two aircraft carriers was enough, and there was no need to take risks for transport ships and oil tankers on the sea, so he issued an order to retreat. All American planes in the sky that had not yet dropped bombs dropped their bombs and torpedoes and fled before the Japanese Zero planes arrived.

The air raid ended in less than 10 minutes, and the Imperial Japanese Army's aircraft carrier dream was completely shattered.

…

"Baga! Two aircraft carriers, Army Red Deer, were destroyed in 10 minutes!"

In the "Yamato Hotel", General Yamamoto Isoroku immediately began to curse when he heard that two army aircraft carriers had been sunk by the Americans.

This army aircraft carrier is also an aircraft carrier! Although the carrier-based aircraft is a bit sparse, it can still be used as an escort aircraft carrier as long as it is modified. Now it is so easily bombed and sunk by the Americans. It is really unforgivable!

The Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet, Matoi Ugaki, also said with some annoyance: "Good Army, what kind of aircraft carriers are we building? Isn't this nonsense? If the Army is willing to hand over these two aircraft carriers to our Navy, we will not end up like this. ”

Yamamoto nodded in agreement. The Army is just a bunch of fools who only know how to mess around. We really have to rely on the Navy for things like war!

"Where is the First Mobile Fleet?" Yamamoto Isoroku asked again at this time, "Can we get an American aircraft carrier?"

Now the First Mobile Fleet and Yamamoto's main force have separated. Nagumo left two light aircraft carriers and incorporated them into Yamamoto's First Fleet. Together with the original light aircraft carrier of the First Fleet, there were three light aircraft carriers under the First Fleet. The First Mobile Fleet only has 6 large fleet aircraft carriers left.

"Commander, the First Mobile Fleet is northwest of Kauai, about 80 nautical miles away from Kauai."

"Then let Nagumo pursue the U.S. fleet as soon as he discovers it!" Yamamoto Isoroku paused and then said, "Order the First Submarine Force, the Second Submarine Force, and the Third Submarine Force to immediately go to the east of Hawaii Island to launch, If you spot an American convoy, report it immediately!”

"Hai!"

…

"What? Two aircraft carriers of the Army were sunk?" Nagumo Chuichi was also surprised when he heard the news. "Aren't there 24 One-Type aircraft on Kauai? Why are they still fighting like this?"

"Commander, how can the army aviation compare with our naval aviation?" Genda explained at the side, "They have no awareness of covering the aircraft carrier."

"That's right!" Nagumo Chuichi gritted his teeth, "What kind of aircraft carrier are these idiots in the Army doing? They are so stupid..." He looked back at Genda, "We must avenge the Army's aircraft carrier now! Send out all the 'Comets', We must find the American aircraft carrier.”

Minoru Genda immediately said: "Commander, four Zero fighter jets have been sent to follow the American fleet. They should be able to find the location of the American aircraft carrier soon."

The four Zeros dispatched by Genda were a 4-plane formation led by Hersman Jr. As soon as they took to the skies to serve as direct cover, Genda sent them to Kauai. Instead of letting them engage in air combat with American aircraft, they were allowed to follow them quietly. Looking for American aircraft carriers.

"Okay, great." Tadashi Nagumo thought for a moment and then added, "But the radios on those Zero planes are not very useful, so I will send three more 'Comets' to follow them."