The Rise of the Third Reich

Chapter 529 The First Battle of Hawaii 2

"Commander, this is the damage report of the Yamato!"

Yamato battleship Captain Takayanagi Yoshihachi handed a report to Yamamoto Isoroku with a heartbroken look - in the artillery battle with the American battleship last night, the Yamato also suffered a lot of shells, although it was not "broken" "Gong", but I still suffered a lot of "skin injuries". The secondary guns were damaged, the lifeboats were smashed, and two seaplanes were damaged. In addition, there were many places that were damaged and were not as beautiful as before.

"Don't look at it or not," Yamamoto Isoroku smiled and waved his hand, "Takayanagi-kun, don't look like you can't bear to leave. The Yamato doesn't rely on its reputation to make a living, so it's only fair to have some injuries on your body!"

The Yamato is finally no longer a "hotel", but a real battleship! It withstood the most severe test, and its performance made Yamamoto Isoroku very satisfied.

"It's the Yamato after all!" Yamamoto said with a smile to the Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet Matoi Ugaki, "The American battleships are no match at all. Their 14-inch cannons can only scratch the itch of the Yamato."

"Of course, the Yamato is an unsinkable ship!" Matoi Ugaki replied with a smile, "Now the budget for ships 110 and 111 should not be a problem."

Ship No. 110 is the No. 3 ship of the Yamato class, and Ship No. 111 is the No. 4 ship of the Yamato class. Construction of these three battleships all started in 1940, but now they are facing suspension due to funding and raw material problems. However, with the Yamato sinking three American battleships, Tojo naturally did not dare to cut the budget for the No. 110 and No. 111 ships.

Yamamoto Isoroku nodded and said: "Looking at the Yamato's performance last night, I can safely let it bomb Oahu."

"What? Commander, do you really want the Yamato to bombard Oahu?" Ugaki Matoi heard what Yamamoto said and immediately felt a little reluctant. "There are 16-inch cannons on Oahu!"

Yamamoto Isoroku smiled and said: "But only the Yamato's 460mm cannon can destroy the American fort and the two stranded Colorado-class battleships at a distance of 20,000 to 30,000 meters."

According to the Japanese Navy's tests, the Yamato's 460mm main gun penetrated 566mm of vertical armor and 167mm of horizontal armor at 20,000 meters; it penetrated 416mm of vertical armor and 230mm of horizontal armor at 30,000 meters. . Although Yamamoto Isoroku does not know the specific defensive capabilities of the Colorado-class and Williston forts, they should be able to destroy them with the Yamato's 460mm main gun.

"By the way, when will Imamura Jun arrive?" Yamamoto Isoroku asked again about Lieutenant General Imamura Jun, the commander of the 16th Army who was sent by "Fool Gen" to command the army to attack Oahu.

Although Imamura Jun is an army lieutenant general, he has a very good relationship with Yamamoto Isoroku. Both of them like to gamble, so they are considered gambling friends. Chief of Staff "Fool Yuan" also knew that the two of them had a good relationship, so he let Imamura serve as the commander of the newly formed 16th Army and lead the troops to fight in Hawaii.

The subordinates of this 16th Army are 2 divisions and 1 mixed brigade. The two divisions are the 2nd Division and the 38th Division respectively. The 2nd Division was one of the standing divisions of the Japanese army before the war. The recruitment site was located in Sendai, so it was also called the Sendai Division. The 38th Division is a newly established division. It has one less wing than the permanent division, only three (228th, 229th and 230th Wings). Its weapons and equipment are also inferior, and its combat effectiveness is completely different from that of the 2nd Division. grade. As for that brigade, it was naturally the Taiwanese mixed brigade that occupied Kauai.

It is a bit insufficient to seize Oahu with 2 divisions and 1 mixed brigade with a total of just over 50,000 troops. However, the Japanese Army can only send this few people. It is not that there are no troops, but that the transportation capacity is really tight.

According to the Japanese Army's transportation plan, one division, including its personnel and equipment, plus ammunition and supplies that can fight a battle, would require a merchant ship with a displacement of approximately 300,000 tons. Two divisions would be 600,000 tons. Taiwan's mixed brigade plus several thousand North Korean civilians and some construction materials and tools used 150,000 tons of merchant ships.

In other words, there are as many as 750,000 tons of merchant ships serving the army in the direction of Hawaii! If we also count the cargo ships and oil tankers requisitioned by the 1st Fleet and 1st Mobile Fleet. In the direction of Hawaii, the total tonnage of merchant ships occupied by the Japanese army and navy has exceeded 1.1 million tons!

At this time, the total tonnage of merchant ships in Japan was only 5.9 million tons, of which only 3 million tons could be requisitioned by the navy and army at most, otherwise Japan's domestic production would not be maintained.

And this mere 3 million tons of merchant ships will be used in many offensive operations such as Hawaii Operations, Philippines Operations, Malaya Operations, Guam Operations, and Wake Island Operations. Therefore, the "fool's dollar" is also a fool's money. It is very interesting to squeeze out 750,000 tons of merchant ships for Hawaii.

"Commander, Commander Imamura is currently on a transport ship in the North Pacific with the 16th Army Headquarters and the 38th Division. It will take about three days to reach Kauai."

Yamamoto Isoroku crossed his arms and thought for a moment, then said: "Then we will take three days to deal with the Williston Fort, the Hatch Fort and the two Colorado-class battleships. In this way, as soon as Imamura's men arrive, we can start landing Well…the battle in Hawaii should be resolved quickly!”

"Commander, congratulations." Colonel Joseph Lawton Collins, chief of staff of the U.S. Army in Hawaii, handed a telegram he had just received to his boss, Lieutenant General Walter Short, who looked very tired and a little sluggish. .

"Congratulations?" Lieutenant General Short was stunned. He really couldn't figure out what good things would happen to him now.

"You have been promoted to general," Colonel Collins said. "And the president appointed you to also serve as governor of the Hawaiian Islands."

"General? Governor?" Short was stunned for a moment, and then smiled bitterly. This general rank is used to comfort the deceased... Although he is not dead yet, President Roosevelt awarded him the general rank at this time. Letting him be the governor obviously means letting him stay on Oahu until the last person!

Surrender will not be allowed! Because Admiral Short delayed on Oahu for one more day, the United States had one more day to strengthen the defenses of Australia and the west coast of North America.

"The Army and Navy also jointly developed a personnel evacuation plan." Colonel Collins handed another document to Short. "There are many people who need to evacuate, including Army Aviation and Naval Aviation personnel who lost their aircraft, Navy shipyard personnel, Navy personnel who lost their ships, family members of officers and soldiers, and white civilians on Oahu."

"How to retreat?" Admiral Short asked, "Now that the ports of Pearl Harbor and Honolulu are blocked by the Japanese, and the Pacific Fleet...how can those people withdraw?"

"Priority personnel will be evacuated using B-17s and Catalina seaplanes," Colonel Collins said. "Army and Navy pilots who lost their aircraft, families of senior military officers and minor white people on Oahu all need to be evacuated first." Out. Then came the aviation ground crew, naval engineers and white women..."

This plan to evacuate people was not at all gentlemanly, but it was absolutely correct. The top priority for evacuation is pilots. There are hundreds of such pilots on Oahu, but there are no aircraft for them to use, so there is no use staying on Oahu. But once they get the plane somewhere else, it's a formidable force.

"Is there any other way besides using B-17s and Catalina seaplanes?" Admiral Short could imagine B-17s and Catalina seaplanes making risky landings at night, but what else is there?

"With light cruisers and destroyers," Captain Collins replied.

"How to use them? How do they pass through the Japanese blockade?"

Colonel Collins shrugged, "I don't know about that... but Admiral Nimitz will definitely think of a way."

"Nimitz? He is now..."

"He is the new commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet."

While the two were talking, the phone on Admiral Short's desk rang and he suddenly remembered. Short picked up the phone receiver and put it to his ear. After listening for a while, his already ugly face became even more ugly.

He put down the receiver and said to Colonel Collins: "The Japanese super battleship is here! The lookout post on Diamond Head has seen it!"

"Mr. Secretary, it was a mistake to put the fleet in Hawaii. Admiral Richardson has repeatedly opposed it."

"Chester, that's what the president means!" U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Stark looked at Admiral Nimitz, who had just been appointed commander of the Pacific Fleet and was about to get on the plane to San Diego to take over. I remembered that the original Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Richardson, was dismissed by Roosevelt more than a year ago because he opposed moving the Pacific Fleet's home port to Pearl Harbor, and that Nimitz refused to take over as Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet due to "insufficient qualifications." These two things...if Nimitz had become the unlucky commander-in-chief at that time, then it would be Kimmel's turn to replace Nimitz now.

Stark sighed and continued: "The president now hopes to hold on to Oahu as much as possible; at the same time, important personnel and civilians (white people) on the island will be evacuated; in addition, a material and military transport to Australia will be completed in the near future. I think you know what to do?"

Nimitz smiled bitterly: "I will try my best to complete these three tasks. By the way, when will the two North Carolina-class ships arrive in San Diego? I think I need them to take action."

"Two North Carolina-class ships?" Stark was startled by Nimitz's question, "Chester, do you want to use these two North Carolina-class ships to deal with the Japanese super battleship? "

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