The Rise of the Third Reich

Chapter 524 Tiger! Tiger! tiger twenty-eight

White clouds are floating in the sky and blue waves are rolling on the sea.

As a tourist attraction for later generations, the beautiful sea and sky surrounding the Hawaiian Islands are really refreshing.

Suddenly, two silver-white Zero fighter jets emerged from the picturesque white clouds. The pilots in the cabin turned sideways and glanced through the glass to the sea below. What they saw instantly made their nervous scalps tingle. On the sea below the clouds, five aircraft carriers were seen in a staggered formation in double rows, with dozens of cruisers and destroyers guarding the surroundings. Thick smoke floated into the sky, dyeing a particularly dazzling black stripe.

"Captain, we have found an American aircraft carrier!" The slightly excited voice of Prince Egmund Lip-Wesenfeld came from little Hersman's earphones. It turned out that they had lost track of those American planes for a time - little Hersman did not dare to follow too closely for fear of being discovered by the Americans, but when they were almost following, they were discovered by the Americans, and 18 F4Fs were immediately sent up. Volley. Little Hersman didn't dare to fight, so he had to change the four-plane formation into two two-plane formations, and then escaped in two directions. The other three "Comet" dive bombers traveling with them also dispersed and fled.

It was difficult to get rid of the American aircraft, but the American aircraft carrier formation could not be found. As a result, little Hersman could only fly the plane with Prince Egmund Lip-Wiesenfeld to search everywhere, and now they finally found traces of several American aircraft carriers under a large cloud.

"Quick, quick, get out of here and get into the clouds!" Little Hersman didn't have time to get excited, but immediately shouted to Prince Lip Weisenfeld to fly the plane away with him. "The American aircraft carrier must have radar on it, and they must know that we are coming!"

As soon as he and Prince Egmund Lipp-Wiesenfeld flew the plane into the clouds, several F4Fs came down from high altitude and circled twice where the two Zero planes left, and then they were unwilling to do so. Heartily left.

"Lieutenant General, let the two Japs escape!"

Halsey was expressionless. After listening to the aviation staff's report, he just shook his head and said, "Just run away and let them report our position." He turned around and gave the order, "We will run too, speed 25 , heading 180.”

"Lieutenant General, do you want to send out an enemy plane?"

"No need, we don't have that time now." Halsey waved his hand and said, "Besides, Oahu and Midway will send out all flying aircraft to search for the enemy. We just need to seize the time to escape."

Although Halsey's character is a bit reckless, he still knows that the most important thing now is to lure the Japanese aircraft carrier away from Oahu. As long as the main force of the Pacific Fleet under Kimmel's command can escort the SH01 fleet into Hilo Port, the United States can win the Battle of Hawaii.

Moreover, Halsey can now guess how much Japan has invested in Hawaii. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as a desperate effort. If Japan lost the Battle of Hawaii, then Japan almost lost the entire war.

Therefore, for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, there is no need to rush for success now. It should first become invincible and then slowly fight a protracted war with the Japanese in Hawaii - the United States does not even need to sink many Japanese aircraft carriers and battleships, as long as it can If the Japanese large fleet is held here in the Hawaiian Islands for several months and the Japanese oil reserves are exhausted, the war will be won.

"Commander, a US aircraft carrier has been discovered!"

Nagumo Chuichi quickly walked to the chart table, where the staff had already marked the location where Halsey's fleet was discovered.

"There are 5 motherships in total!" Minoru Genda reported excitedly. "The most important aircraft carriers in the United States must be there!"

"What's the distance? Can an air strike be launched?" Nanyun asked.

"The distance is about 300 nautical miles, a little far." Genda Minoru replied.

300 nautical miles is almost 555 kilometers, which is theoretically possible. However, the aircraft carrier formation is not a fixed target, but a living target that moves everywhere, and usually runs very fast. If Nanyun dispatched the plane immediately, the distance would be nearly 555 kilometers. If the time for the plane to take off from the aircraft carrier and form the formation was included, it would take at least 2 hours. Halsey's fleet can run 50 nautical miles or 92.6 kilometers at a speed of 25 knots. After running so far, and now there are clouds in the sky, it is easy to lose sight of the target.

Genda Minoru made a suggestion, "Commander, it is better for the Kaga to send a 'Comet' aircraft to search, and the other five aircraft carriers will pursue it with all their strength."

Nagumo thought for a while, nodded and said: "Okay, that's it. Then tell the "Kaiser Friedrich III" the location of the US aircraft carrier and let it pursue it at full speed. Wait until the distance between the two sides is shortened to 250 kilometers before launching the V3 man Fuck the missiles! We must sink an American aircraft carrier!”

"Commander, there is a call from Commander Nagumo. The First Mobile Fleet has begun to pursue the American aircraft carrier."

In the "Yamato Hotel", after listening to Ugaki Matou's report, Yamamoto Isoroku nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "The Americans will soon find out that Nagumo has begun to pursue, and their planes on Midway Island will find out about Nagumo." , and then the American transport fleet will approach Hawaii Island."

"Commander, do you want Vice Admiral Takasu to lead the battleship formation to the vicinity of Hawaii Island now?"

Yamamoto Isoroku shook his head, "No need." He paused, and then said: "Every night these days, the four ships Nagato, Mutsu, Hiei, and Kirishima will bombard Oahu. If they attack tonight If we don’t carry out shelling, the Americans will definitely be suspicious.”

"Sir," Ugaki Matoi said, "Aren't you going to dispatch the four ships of Nagato, Mutsu, Hiei, and Kirishima?"

Yamamoto Isoroku said: "Let Kirishima attack."

"Only the Kirishima?" Ugaki shook his head. "The Americans are likely to use three battleships to cover their transport fleet. I'm afraid the Kirishima alone is no match."

Yamamoto Isoroku smiled: "How come there is only Kirishima ship? Isn't there also Yamato?"

"Let the Yamato be dispatched?" Ugaki Matou frowned, "The Yamato is the weapon in the final decisive battle..."

Yamamoto Isoroku waved his hands and said solemnly: "The first battle is the decisive battle! If we lose in Hawaii, the empire will have no future! Therefore, now is the best time to use the Yamato."

"Has it been calculated? When can V3 be launched?"

On the guided missile cruiser "Kaiser Friedrich III", the captain, Lieutenant Colonel Max Schulz, asked a question loudly.

"Sir, at least 10 hours later, and the distance of 250 kilometers is too far," Gunnery Officer Captain Helmut Noyce replied, "V3 missiles should not be used in visual range diplomatic combat, 20-30 kilometers That’s the ideal range.”

The prototype of the V3 missile is the V1 missile. According to the original design, this missile should be controlled by radio or wires to attack enemy ships within a visual distance. It is actually an anti-ship missile operated visually. According to the German Navy's assumptions, this weapon should be used at an artillery battle distance of 20-30 kilometers. During the fleet artillery battle, the V1 island bombs are launched and the missiles are remotely controlled by the operator in the bridge of the "missile cruiser" to attack the target. At first, I never thought about letting someone control it, let alone driving as far as 200-250 kilometers.

Although it is not difficult to achieve such a range in theory, there are big problems in actual operation - this V3 missile is difficult to control, and it is not easy to fly it for dozens of kilometers. If you want to fly 200-250 kilometers, let the little woman Hannah Leitch not necessarily be sure, let alone those Japanese lunatics who took the wrong medicine.

Lieutenant Colonel Max Schulz shrugged and spread his hands: "Captain, this matter is not up to us... If they want to fight, they can fight. Anyway, the dead are not Germans. Maybe one of the 10 V3 missiles can hit." What about the Japanese guy named Guan Xingnan who flies well, I think he will die more valuable."

"Okay then," Captain Helmut Noyce shook his head helplessly, "If the direction the Japanese told us is correct, we can launch from 4 to 4:30 in the afternoon. But... these V3s may be difficult to To find the US aircraft carrier, a 'Comet' aircraft is needed to pilot it."

"Lieutenant General, the radar has detected several more unidentified enemy aircraft."

At 5:20 pm on December 17, 1941, the radar officer of the USS Enterprise once again reported news of approaching enemy aircraft.

"How many are there?" Halsey asked.

"Less than 10."

"Are those fast-flying reconnaissance planes again?" Halsey asked with a frown. During the day today, the Japanese have been sending fast reconnaissance aircraft to harass Halsey's fleet. They don't send many, just a few at a time, flying around the aircraft carrier formation. What makes Halsey a little depressed is that the Japanese aircraft are so fast that even the F4F fighter jets have difficulty catching up.

"It should be." The radar officer of the Enterprise was not sure. Where could he tell what kind of aircraft it was on the radar screen?

"Have the Saratoga and Lexington eject a few F4Fs." Halsey ordered.

The Saratoga and Lexington are equipped with flywheel catapults that can eject aircraft, and can eject F4F fighter jets directly into the sky. However, this is not the main way for aircraft to take off, it is only used to deal with emergencies.

After giving the order, Lieutenant General Halsey began to look up at the sky. It was already evening, and it would be dark in a while. The SH01 fleet should arrive at Hawaii Island safely by then.

Suddenly, a staff officer shouted: "Admiral, the lookout post reported that several very strange aircraft with propellers in the back were flying towards us, and they were flying very fast!"

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