The Rise of the Third Reich

The news that the main force of the Pacific Fleet was dispatched again had reached the huge Skerfield Barracks on Oahu earlier. General Short did not keep the secret from his subordinates, but told all the officers and soldiers in the Skerfield Barracks the good news through the radio, which greatly boosted the somewhat depressed morale.

At the same time, the fierce battle at the northern foot of Waianae Ridge attracted the attention of everyone in the US military headquarters in Hawaii. Although in Short's plan, Waianae Ridge was not the decisive battlefield that determined the life and death of the U.S. military on Oahu. But the battle at Waianae Ridge was, after all, the first confrontation between the U.S. Army and the Japanese Army.

This is the first battle! If the first battle is confusing, the subsequent decisive battle on the plains of Oahu will not be easy.

However, judging from the confrontation on the first day, these Japanese devils were far less terrifying than the Germans. Because their fighting style is completely World War-style, it is just artillery and infantry coordination, and there is very little air-ground coordination. They clearly had overwhelming air superiority, but they did not drop many bombs on the head of the 5th Infantry Regiment holding Waianae Ridge (the Japanese naval aviation was recuperating, and only more than 20 Army Type 1 aircraft came from Kauai flew in for support). Due to the lack of sufficient air support, and the Japanese Navy's naval guns, the threat to the US military relying on mountains for defense was limited. Therefore, in the first day of land battle, the Japanese army did not achieve any major breakthrough. The officers and soldiers of the 5th Regiment of the US 25th Division were able to withstand it.

Although Admiral Short's face was exhausted, he stood there with excitement and said to his chief of staff, Colonel Collins: "Admiral Nimitz left San Diego yesterday. If he leaves at a speed of 15 knots, he will leave again." On the Z-shaped route, we can reach Oahu in up to 200 hours... We will definitely be able to hold on until then. Once the navy has lured away the Japanese aircraft carriers and battleships, it will be time for our armored forces to fight back against these Japanese. The devil will definitely not be able to withstand it!”

"Yes! They definitely can't withstand it!" Colonel Collins said in agreement, "There is no infantry in the world that can stop the armored forces... let alone the Japanese, even if the Germans come, they can't stop them."

In the world war of more than two years, the German armored forces left a profound impression on the world. In the face of the German steel monster, the most powerful army in the world was defeated in a few days, without even the slightest resistance. There is indeed no infantry that can stop the German armored forces. So now that the American armored forces are used to crush the Japanese infantry, the effect should not be bad, right?

According to reports from the front line, the Japanese troops who landed on Oahu were very poorly equipped. There were no tanks, no assault guns, no self-propelled artillery, and it seemed they didn't even have cars. How could such a poor infantry block 152 (excluding reserves) American tanks on Oahu?

When he thought of the scene of tanks crushing Japanese infantry, the sadness on General Short's face was wiped away. But at this moment, Colonel Collins received a somewhat disappointing telegram from his staff, which was sent by Admiral Nimitz.

"Admiral Nimitz said that his fleet will approach Oahu between January 1 and 3, 1942. He hopes to gather the personnel preparing to retreat to Kaneohe Bay in advance...by then There will be light cruisers and destroyers coming to pick people up."

Kaneohe Bay is located in the southeastern part of Oahu, facing the ocean and backed by the Koolau Mountains. Because of the "natural barrier" of the Koolau Mountains, Kaneohe Bay has no value for landing. Therefore, the Japanese army has not shelled there until now.

In fact, it was not Yamamoto Isoroku's negligence, but the Japanese Navy wanted to keep Kaneohe Bay for the Japanese fleet to use. Although the water depth and terrain there are not as good as Pearl Harbor, it is still an easily defendable bay and has some port facilities. Once Pearl Harbor was blocked by the Americans with sunken ships, it could be used as an anchorage for the Combined Fleet in Hawaii.

Colonel Collins paused and then said: "Commander-in-Chief Nimitz also hopes that we can be prepared to retreat to the Kurau Mountains for a long time..."

The Koolau Mountains are the largest mountain range on Oahu. One mountain occupies half of Oahu. The terrain is difficult and easy to defend but difficult to attack. And the mountain range stretches along the east and north shores of Oahu. In many places, the foot of the mountain is the coast. If the US military falls in the plains of Oahu, it will withdraw to the Kulau Mountains to defend it. Then the Pacific Fleet could supply them with submarines. Therefore, as soon as Nimitz took office, he asked the Army on Oahu to be prepared to drill into the ravine.

"Should we retreat to the Kurao Mountains and hold on for a long time?" Admiral Short's expression, which had just become better, became solemn again. He knew that Nimitz said this because he had no confidence in the decisive battle at sea a few days later... Maybe Nimitz did not want to fight a decisive battle at all.

If sea control is firmly grasped by the Japanese, even victory in the Battle of Oahu Plains will only be temporary. In the end, the Battle of Oahu will inevitably fail, and the dangerous Koolau Mountains will become a refuge for the surviving American troops on Oahu...

Admiral Short nodded and said to Collins: "I understand, send power to Admiral Nimitz, and we will seek a decisive battle with the Japanese landing force after his fleet arrives. If the decisive battle cannot be won, I will lead my troops Withdraw to the Kurau Mountains."

…

"2,000 nautical miles, 10 knots, even if we don't take the anti-submarine route, it will take 200 hours... The U.S. Pacific Fleet will arrive on January 3rd or 4th at the earliest. If they want to sail in a zigzag pattern, they may arrive on the 7th or 8th. So the rest of the 1st Mobile Fleet will end on January 2nd, and arrive at the designated sea area for ambush on the 3rd."

On the battleship "Yamato", Isoroku Yamamoto was presiding over a joint military meeting between the Army and the Navy. Chuichi Nagumo of the Mobile Fleet, Hitoshi Imamura of the 16th Army of the Army, and Paulus, a German military adviser, were all invited to the commander's office and sat around a topographic map of the Hawaiian Islands and its surrounding waters (Yamamoto did not use a nautical chart, but deliberately used a topographic map that the Army could understand).

Because Yamamoto and the others who attended the meeting did not expect that the main force of the Pacific Fleet and the SS01 fleet would act separately. Therefore, they all miscalculated the time of the decisive battle-because the fleet's speed would drop to about 10 knots when traveling with the SS01 fleet. If there was no SS01 fleet, the speed could be maintained at around 15 knots.

Combined Fleet Chief of Staff Ugaki Matome continued, "It is expected that the US Pacific Fleet will still use a part of its force to lure the main force of our fleet away from the vicinity of Oahu, and then use the main force of the fleet to attack Oahu. The Combined Fleet Command has decided to take advantage of the enemy's tactics and ambush the 1st Mobile Fleet in the waters south of Hawaii in order to annihilate the US fleet that is responsible for luring the enemy, and then support the 1st Fleet in combat. At the same time, the 1st Fleet will engage in a decisive battle with the enemy's fleet that is attacking Oahu..." "Chief of Staff Ugaki!" The 16th Army Commander Imamura Hitoshi suddenly interrupted Ugaki Matome and said, "I don't care how the decisive battle at sea will be fought, I just want to know when the navy can launch a sneak attack on the Honolulu beach? The battle on Oahu is very fierce now. The US resistance is fierce and the firepower is also very strong, and the Imperial Army does not have enough air support. Now every step forward is a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood!" When Imamura Hitoshi said this, he looked at his good friend Yamamoto with some resentment. The navy is so shameless! There were so many bombers, but they refused to send them to support the 2nd Division. They also said some nonsense like "the pilots are too tired and need to conserve their energy" (this was said by Chuichi Nagumo, who was famous for his love for pilots). How dare such an army call itself the Imperial Japanese Army when they are afraid of hardship and fatigue in a war?

Yamamoto Isoroku knew that the army was making difficult progress on Oahu, and he smiled apologetically: "The surprise attack on Waikiki Beach will be carried out at the same time as the decisive battle at sea. Because once the US ground forces on Oahu are completely wiped out, the US Pacific Fleet may cancel the reinforcement plan. In this way, our navy will lose an opportunity to destroy the main force of the US Pacific Fleet! Imamura-kun, there are not many such opportunities!"

…

"Sir, Admiral Short has decided to fight a decisive battle with the landing Japanese army in the early morning of January 3."

On the battleship "North Carolina", Rear Admiral Frederick, Chief of Staff of the Pacific Fleet, was reporting the plan of the Hawaiian Army to Nimitz.

"The Army will lure the enemy deep into the outskirts of Schofield Barracks, use the strong fortifications there for defense, and then launch 150 M3 tanks to counterattack after fully killing the Japanese ground forces."

"Does the Japanese Army that landed on Oahu have no tanks and anti-tank weapons?" Nimitz asked.

"The Japanese Army attacking Oahu definitely has no tanks (but the Japanese Navy does), and may have some 37mm anti-tank guns. However, the number will not be too large to deal with 150 M3s. So Admiral Short guaranteed that the counterattack starting in the early morning of January 3 will definitely win. However, in order to make the counterattack the most successful, he hopes to get strong air and sea support." Nimitz thought for a while and said, "Tell Admiral Short that SBD and F4F will fly to Oahu on January 2 to bomb the beach where the Japanese landed. In the early morning of January 3, the heavy cruiser New Orleans and the light cruiser Brooklyn will break into the vicinity of Oahu, and they will be responsible for shelling the Japanese positions." Then he paused again and added, "However, the air support on January 2 and the shelling in the early morning of January 3 are likely to be the most powerful support in the future for quite a long time... The Hawaiian defenders are likely to face a long and difficult period."