The Rise of the Third Reich

Americans can easily guess the situation of Japan's tight defense in the Hawaiian Islands - the Hawaiian Islands are Japan's gateway to the Pacific. Once lost, Japan will find it difficult to threaten the mainland of the United States, and will also fall into the dilemma of being passively attacked.

Therefore, Japan will definitely do its best to defend the Hawaiian Islands!

The battle to seize the island has always been a huge headache for the attacking side. In particular, the Hawaiian Islands are still outside the effective combat radius of the US shore-based aviation, which means that the attack on the Hawaiian Islands can only rely on carrier-based aircraft to provide air support. Even if Christmas Island is captured first, only a few long-range bombers will be able to reach the Hawaiian Islands. And this is not very helpful in the battle to seize the island.

Therefore, the operation to capture the Hawaiian Islands was not originally part of the US military's 1944 plan.

The original plan of the US military was to take Christmas Island first, and then use Christmas Island as a transit point to transfer B-29 long-range bombers to Australia. Then based in northwest Australia, they launched bombings on Japanese oil fields in Southeast Asia, and used B-29 reconnaissance types to cooperate with submarines to break diplomatic relations. Strive to reduce Japan's acquisition of oil and various resources from Southeast Asia by more than 80% within 1944.

At the same time, the U.S. Navy's engagement-breaking formations will frequently dispatch, not only attacking Japanese transport formations in the Western Pacific, but also actively attacking Japanese islands that are not heavily defended, continuing to consume Japan's aviation power and fuel.

After 1945, Japan's navy and aviation must have lost most of their combat capabilities due to constant consumption and extremely tight fuel supplies. This is the time for American soldiers to take action to defeat the Japanese devils...

But although this plan is brilliant, it changes faster!

Due to the threat of bacterial weapons, it was impossible not to fight the Hawaiian Islands - if the Japanese had just dropped bombs or incendiary bombs on the west coast of the United States, Roosevelt would have been able to withstand the pressure.

But bacteria, especially the Black Death, are so terrible. If bomb balloons flying everywhere spread to New York and Chicago, the blow would be too great. Nowadays, thousands of people die from the Black Death, which is still a disaster that the United States can tolerate. If the number of infected patients reaches tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, it is hard to say whether the spirit of the American people will collapse...

So Roosevelt and his generals had no choice but to bite the bullet and attack the Hawaiian Islands!

"Mr. President, Admiral Halsey has now led the main force of the 3rd Fleet through the Panama Canal and entered the Pacific Ocean."

Chief of Naval Operations Ernest King first reported the fleet movement to Roosevelt.

The 3rd Fleet is the main force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Its flagship is the "Baltimore"-class heavy cruiser "Pittsburgh". The fleet's ships include two "leased" battleships "Warrior" and "Malay" from the United Kingdom (Canada). Asia", two Soviet battlecruisers "Kronshtadt" and "Sevastopol", Independence-class aircraft carriers "Langley", "San Juan", "Guantanamo" The USS Panama Canal and the USS Oahu. There are also 8 heavy cruisers, 17 light cruisers, 15 escort carriers and 65 destroyers/escort destroyers, as well as a large number of auxiliary ships.

According to the original plan, the 3rd Fleet should stay in the Atlantic Ocean and continue to deal with the European Combined Fleet. However, after Japanese bacterial weapons attacked the United States, the U.S. 3rd Fleet will join the Pacific Fleet and participate in the upcoming Second Battle of the Hawaiian Islands.

At the same time, the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, which lost the 3rd Fleet, also lost the capital to deal with the European Combined Fleet in the Atlantic, and could only give up control of the Atlantic again.

“According to the plan submitted by the Pacific Fleet,” Ernest King continued, “the offensive force will be divided into two parts. One part is the landing fleet with the 3rd Fleet and the landing army and marine forces as the main force. The Central Pacific Command is in charge. The commander of the Central Pacific Command is Admiral Halsey. The headquarters is temporarily located at sea. The mission of the landing fleet is to first occupy Christmas Island and Palmyra Atoll, and then attack the Hawaiian Islands!

The other part is the decisive battle fleet with the 5th Fleet, 7th Fleet and 9th Fleet as the main force. These three fleets will be directly commanded by the Pacific Fleet Command and are responsible for consumption when the landing fleet attacks Christmas Island and Palmyra Atoll. The strength of the Japanese army in the Hawaiian Islands, while seeking a decisive battle with the main force of the Japanese combined fleet. After the decisive battle is won, the 5th, 7th and 9th Fleets will jointly participate in the offensive operations on the Hawaiian Islands.

According to estimates from the Pacific Fleet Command, if all goes well, the operation to regain the Hawaiian Islands will last three months. "

"Three months?" President Roosevelt looked at Army Chief of Staff Marshall, "Does the Army agree with this estimate?"

It is impossible to fight a naval decisive battle for three months. If the Japanese combined fleet really accepts the challenge, the winner can be decided in a few days at most.

The most ideal scenario is of course a replica of the Battle of Christmas Island, with the United States sinking dozens of ships and Japan throwing away 1,000 aircraft. Then there are about 1,000 ships on the American side, but there are not many veteran pilots on the Japanese side who can fight.

However, the Japanese army in the Hawaiian Islands and Christmas Island should not be so easy to deal with... Since the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese army has maintained a record of undefeated victories. Even Russia and Germany, which have always been dominated by their armies, have been The Japanese Army was defeated!

The U.S. Army's performance in the Battle of England was poor, and President Roosevelt really did not dare to hold out much hope.

"Mr. President, the U.S. Army has conducted the most rigorous training in the past year," Army Chief of Staff Marshall fully understood Roosevelt's concerns. He assured the president, "Some instructors from the Soviet Red Army have provided us with a lot of help. The M4 tanks have also been comprehensively upgraded. The tanks that will be used to regain the Hawaiian Islands are all the most advanced M4A3 series. Their armor and firepower have been significantly improved compared to the early M4A1 series, which is enough to fight against the Japanese armored forces supported by Germany. "

The fact that Germany provided Japan with a large number of captured Soviet-made tanks could not be hidden from the Soviet intelligence agencies, and the United States also learned about this situation. Moreover, the U.S. Army, which became timid after the Battle of England, was also worried that Japan might have obtained a powerful Tiger tank!

So throughout 1943, they were trying to improve the anti-armor capabilities of their troops. Not only did they comprehensively upgrade their M4 tanks and anti-tank guns, but they also equipped infantry units with a large number of rocket launchers and recoilless rifles.

"In addition," Marshall added, "the Army Air Force is also equipped with a large number of A-36 attack aircraft and B-25G attack aircraft. The former is a ground attack aircraft developed based on the P-51 and has very good performance. It can be compared with the German Ju87 Stuka. Moreover, the A-36 has very low requirements for airports and can easily find a foothold in the Hawaiian Islands. The latter uses a 75mm M3 cannon (the main gun of the early M4 tank). Equipped with B-25 bombers. As long as these two aircraft arrive in Hawaii, I believe the Japanese armored forces will be destroyed quickly."

"Is that all?" Roosevelt seemed a little disappointed. The M4A3, A-36 and B-25G were very powerful, but they seemed not enough to deal with hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers armed to the teeth.

"Mr. President, we still have... we still have mustard gas!" William Leahy reminded at this time, "We have tens of thousands of tons of mustard gas, of which 10,000 tons can be put into use immediately, and 3 million have been filled. Within shells and bombs.”

"This is really good news!" Roosevelt finally showed a smile. "Now that the Japanese have made a start, what else can we be polite about? I have approved the use of mustard gas... Whether it is Japanese soldiers or civilians, they are all biological and chemical Legal target of weapons!"

"President," General Marshall added, seeing that Roosevelt had no objection to the use of biological and chemical weapons, "we also have a very powerful incendiary bomb called coagulation, which was invented by experts from Harvard University. This bomb explodes It can produce high-temperature flames when it is filled with gelatin made of gasoline and other chemicals. When it explodes, it sputters around, emitting a high temperature of about one thousand degrees Celsius, and can stick to other objects and burn for a long time. In addition, it solidifies. It will rapidly consume oxygen in the nearby air and produce a large amount of carbon monoxide, causing enemy personnel to suffocate."

The military code name for the solidified bomb is the M69 bomb, which was developed in 1942. It was originally intended to be used to burn Germany, but the British mainland collapsed in early 1943, and the United States had no air base available for strategic bombing of Germany. And the Germans are likely to have more terrifying nuclear fission bombs, so there is a large backlog of M69 bombs.

Now it’s just the time to burn the Japanese!

"Great, great!" Roosevelt nodded vigorously, "This kind of incendiary bomb should be put into combat as soon as possible. It can be used against any target, both military targets and civilian targets... Oh, it is not against any target, but It can be used against any Japanese target. The same goes for mustard gas, which can only be used against Japanese targets and cannot be used against Europeans. Our war with Europeans is still a knight's war. This is a very important principle!

"Understood, we understand."

Several American generals nodded in response. Even if Roosevelt didn't mention this, everyone knew that the Germans couldn't be offended now...

"Very good." Roosevelt breathed out, "Now that we have enough certainty of success, I would like to wish the American soldiers good luck!"