The Rise of the Third Reich

"Commander, the Marine Corps has rushed to Waikiki Beach, destroyed four US artillery positions at the southern foot of the Koolau Mountains, and is currently besieging Diamond Head."

On the battleship Yamato, Yamamoto Isoroku was also listening to the battle report from Oahu. When he heard that the Marines were "besieging Diamond Head," he frowned.

Yamamoto Isoroku muttered in a low voice: "It is under siege, which means it has not been captured yet. It seems that the Marine Corps is not fighting well..."

"Commander, the Marine Corps used more than a thousand brave men to surprise the enemy fortress. Being able to destroy several key enemy artillery positions is already a great victory. Even if Diamond Mountain cannot be captured, it is only 10-12 305mm mortars. ”

Ugaki Matoi was quite satisfied with the performance of the naval armored units that attacked from submarines. The Navy's armored force is just messing around. Even the Army has not developed a good armored force. What else can the Navy do? It's already good to be able to go to the beach in Honolulu and knock out a few artillery positions. Although there are still some 305mm and 203mm mortars in the Diamond Mountain crater, they are all pre-World War I mortars. Not only do they have poor accuracy, but their rate of fire is also slow. They can only deal with fixed targets and threaten moving targets. Very small.

Yamamoto Isoroku was noncommittal and did not discuss the land war on Oahu with Ugaki Matoi. That is a headache for Imamura Jun. Isoroku Yamamoto is the commander of the Combined Fleet. What he has to worry about is how to fight the naval battle in Hawaii!

Just 2 hours ago, the "Kaiser Friedrich III" was sent by Yamamoto Isoroku to reconnoiter the American fleet (Spruance Fleet) consisting of three heavy cruisers as the core (because there were 3 heavy cruisers on the ship. It has a very good radar and runs very fast, so it was used by Yamamoto as a reconnaissance ship) sent a telegram and discovered a huge unknown fleet 25 nautical miles east of the American heavy cruiser fleet. This fleet was at least composed of Composed of more than 20 ships.

Yamamoto Isoroku quickly concluded that this fleet must be the main fleet of the U.S. Navy, and it is likely to have three very powerful battleships! So on the one hand, he ordered the "Emperor Friedrich III" to continue surveillance, and on the other hand, he personally led the main force of the 1st Fleet (including Yamato, Nagato, and Mutsu) to go south from the standby sea area to seek a decisive battle.

"The key to the Battle of Hawaii is ultimately at sea!" Isoroku Yamamoto squinted his eyes and said to himself, "As long as the U.S. Pacific Fleet can be severely damaged again, Japan will be able to dominate the Pacific Ocean within at least 12 months. It’s rampant.”

…

"Commander, should we send two heavy cruisers to drive away that damn Japanese ship?" Frederick, the chief of staff of the Pacific Fleet, once again made suggestions to Nimitz.

An unidentified ship has been hovering around the 7th Task Force, the main force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, since dark, and has not come close. It has always maintained a distance of 25 nautical miles from the 7th Task Force.

Obviously, this ship must be a Japanese cruiser or heavy cruiser, and it is also equipped with a radar with quite good performance. If the two cutting-edge battleships, the North Carolina and the Washington, had not installed the British 279 radar in preparation for the German fleet to circle the Arctic Circle during the polar night, the 7th Task Force might not have been able to detect this ghost. Japanese ships.

"No need." Nimitz frowned and said, "We don't have 279 radars on our heavy cruisers. It's night again... the Japanese are very good at fighting at night!"

The American heavy cruiser, which is not good at night fighting and has no radar, goes to fight the Japanese heavy cruiser, which has radar and is good at night fighting. No matter how you look at it, it is looking for death. So Nimitz wisely rejected Frederick's suggestion, but he would never have thought that what was monitoring his 7th Task Force was a German "missile cruiser", although the ship was mounted The Japanese flag has also been replaced with Japanese livery. But it still will not engage in face-to-face firefights with American ships. Even if an American destroyer approaches, the "Emperor Friedrich III" will run away at full power. In this way, Yamamoto Isoroku would not be able to grasp the specific location of the Nimitz fleet.

"Admiral, if this ship is not driven away, the Japanese super battleship may arrive soon." Frederick said very worriedly.

Nimitz smiled and said: "I'm afraid there will be more than one super battleship, and there will be two Nagato-class battleships. The battleships that bombarded the Oahu plain tonight used 14-inch (356mm) main guns. They should be two Kongo-class ships. ”

"Then how are we going to deal with one super battleship and two Nagato-class ships? We can't deal with these three Japanese battleships. They are much stronger than us!"

Nimitz shook his head and said: "No, we just can't deal with the Japanese battleship with a 460mm caliber cannon and a displacement of 80,000 tons. The two Nagatos were produced more than 20 years ago and are no match for us."

"Then what are we going to do?" Frederick had no idea what Nimitz was talking about. He also knew that the North Carolina class and the Colorado class were not afraid of the Nagato class, but the two Nagatos plus the 80,000-ton giant ship would not have any difficulty in defeating the US 7th Task Force.

"When the time comes, we will escape," Nimitz said. "We will split up and escape! The fleet will split into three and flee at full speed in three directions."

"This..." Frederick understood somewhat, "Do you think the Japanese fleet will split up and pursue it?"

If the Americans split up and flee, the Japanese may split up and chase them. Then the ship being chased by the Yamato will not necessarily be unlucky, because if the Yamato chases one of the two North Carolina-class ships, then the North Carolina-class's speed of 28 knots is a guarantee of escape. The Colorado and another North Carolina class can use their 16-inch main guns to fight the Nagato class, so that both sides will lose.

Even if the Nagato class was severely damaged and the American battleship was sunk, Nimitz thought it was a good deal. Because the United States' shipbuilding capability is more than 10 times greater than Japan's!

In a word, US imperialism is full of money, steel, oil and shipyards! Even hurting someone with your own merits can make little Japan pay for it!

"Then what if the Japanese don't disperse their formation and concentrate on chasing one of our battleships?"

Nimitz smiled and said, "Don't worry about that. If there are still two battleships, go around Oahu. Maybe you will encounter those two King Kong-class ships. Even if you can't catch the King Kong-class ships, you can sink dozens of them." The Japanese transport ship anchored near Kauai is enough.”

While the two people were talking, the 279 radar on the North Carolina had already made a discovery.

"Sir, a group of unidentified ships has been spotted heading northwest at 329 degrees, with more than 20 ships in number!"

The Japanese fleet is coming!

Nimitz glanced at Frederick and said with a smile: "We are divided into three battle groups. The two North Carolina-class ships were organized into the first battle group and turned to the 50-degree direction (northeast direction); the Colorado was organized into The second battle group, retreat to the 100-degree direction (southeast direction); the third battle group, formed with the USS Minneapolis and Philadelphia as the core, retreats to the 200-degree direction (southwest direction)..."

"Admiral, the Minneapolis is a heavy cruiser and the Philadelphia is a light cruiser."

Nimitz glanced at his somewhat slow-minded chief of staff and smiled slightly: "I know, but the Japanese don't know. They have no way to distinguish battleships and cruisers from radar."

…

"Commander, the Kaiser Friedrich III reported that the American fleet split into three and fled in directions of 50 degrees, 100 degrees and 200 degrees."

In the Yamato bridge, Yamamoto Isoroku heard the report of the communications staff, and Ugaki Matoi glanced at each other.

"It's interesting," Yamamoto Isoroku smiled, "It seems that the Americans have changed to a powerful commander."

"Commander, the Americans want us to disperse in pursuit." Matoi Ugaki reminded Yamamoto. "There is only one Yamato!"

"Aren't there still Nagato and Mutsu?" Yamamoto Isoroku smiled coldly, "Before the Yamato was put into service, Nagato and Mutsu were the most powerful battleships in the world. Are we still worried that they can't defeat the United States? A human battleship?”

On paper, the two battleships Nagato and Mutsu are indeed the first of the seven battleships in the Navy's holiday era. They have the largest tonnage and fastest speed, and are equipped with the largest main gun caliber, reaching 410mm!

Yamamoto Isoroku sneered and ordered: "Now disperse the fleet and form three teams to pursue it. The Yamato team is going to chase the American fleet in the 50-degree direction; the Nagato and Mutsu team are going to chase the 100 The American fleet in the 200-degree direction is composed of light cruisers and destroyers, pretending to pursue the enemy in the 200-degree direction. "

…

"Commander, the Japanese were fooled and they divided their forces!"

The radar on Kaiser Friedrich III could not distinguish between a battleship and a cruiser. The 279 radar on the North Carolina also did not have such high performance, and it could not distinguish between battleships and cruisers!

So at this time, Nimitz didn't know that Japan's 80,000-ton giant ship was chasing him, nor did he know that the unlucky Colorado would soon be severely beaten by two Nagato-class ships.

"Okay," Nimitz nodded proudly, "increase the speed to 26 knots. Let's see how fast the Japanese battleship can run."

By testing the opponent's speed, Nimitz thought he could roughly guess who was chasing him? Because the Nagato class is an old ship with more than 20 years of age after all, it cannot be very fast. According to the data disclosed by the Japanese themselves, it is only 23 knots. If the Japanese battleship formation could keep up with him, Nimitz was basically certain that it was the 80,000-ton giant ship...