Chapter 16: The Surprise Attack on Pearl Harbor (Part 1)
ument.write(
At the same time, a large fleet of 12 aircraft carriers, led by six aircraft carriers and accompanied by six other carriers, left Japan for Pearl Harbor under the command of Japanese Navy Admiral Nagumo Chūichi. The 12 aircraft carriers were: Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, Soryu, Shokaku, Zuikaku, Junyo, Hiyo, Zuiho, Ryuhō, Taiyō and Unryū. It can be said that Japan mobilized all its aircraft-carrying ships for this surprise attack, including unfinished but operational carriers. The fleet maintained complete radio silence during the voyage. In addition to the 12 aircraft carriers, the Japanese fleet also included four battleships, three cruisers, nine destroyers and three submarines. There were also 12 oil tankers and four destroyers waiting in the North Pacific.
In July 1941, the United States, Great Britain and the Netherlands imposed an embargo on Japan, prohibiting the export of strategic materials, particularly steel and oil. This move threatened both the economy and military of Japan, which was not a country with abundant oil resources like Saudi Arabia. The information brought by the time traveler mentioned the Daqing Oil Field in Northeast China, but did not provide clear details about its location. Japanese geological exploration teams spent over a month searching for a place called "Daqing" in Northeast China, and eventually drilled several deep wells to solve the water shortage problem of villagers in eight villages named "Daqing", which were also major producers of soybeans. This led to a misconception among the Japanese military that perhaps people in the future used soybeans as oil? However, after calculations, Japan sadly discovered that even if this were possible, it would be technically impossible to meet Japan's needs with bean oil, and that even if all of Northeast China were planted with soybeans, it would not be enough. At present, oil had become a bottleneck for Japan, and without it, the entire country was in a state of panic. The purpose of the US, Britain, and the Netherlands in taking this action was simple: to force Japan to restrict its activities in Southeast Asia and return to the negotiating table. Roosevelt's order to station the fleet at Pearl Harbor (which was much closer to Japan than the US West Coast and thus posed a direct threat) was also for this purpose. Roosevelt considered this decision so important that when Admiral Richardson protested it, he fired him. However, the reaction of the United States and other countries seemed only to strengthen the determination of the Japanese military - "We will not be intimidated!" The Japanese military believed that as long as they could occupy and utilize this region, their empire would be completely secure, at least in terms of resources. Originally, the Japanese military, including hardliners like Tojo Hideki, had little confidence in the possibility of war, but with the information from the time traveler - although some parts were unclear due to being stained with feces - Japan's confidence was boosted. After all, it was a rare opportunity to be able to anticipate and prepare for enemy moves. The records on the document matched perfectly with recent historical events, which made the Japanese ecstatic. With this "secret recipe", even if it was incomplete, Japan felt confident that they could anticipate and prepare for enemy moves. At this point, both the navy and army were clear about their situation: Japan's oil production was small, and its storage of refined oil was even smaller, so the embargo was a very serious problem for Japan. After all, you couldn't just let the combined fleet's warships switch to burning firewood. And as for withdrawing from China, the Japanese military seemed to have never had the habit of spitting out what they had swallowed, so the Japanese government began preparing for war with the United States, just like in real history. However, this time Japan decided to play big, occupying Asia and seizing resources in Southeast Asia, daring the US to impose an embargo on them.
The idea of attacking the naval base at Pearl Harbor was a tactical step in achieving this strategic goal. Yamamoto began considering an attack on Pearl Harbor in early 1941, and he refined his plan after gaining access to intelligence from Japanese spies. The same intelligence that led to the approval of Yamamoto's plan also eliminated the need for any prior reconnaissance by the Japanese military. Despite strong opposition within the Japanese Navy to such an action - this plan is too crazy! - Yamamoto threatened to resign if the operation was cancelled, and Nagumo Tomonaga sided with him on this matter, even saying at a private gathering of officers: "If it fails, I'll give up my life!" After all, everything in the future would be in their hands, and if they didn't do it beautifully, there would be nothing to say.
In the summer of 1941, at an Imperial Conference attended by the Emperor himself, this action was formally approved. Preparations began to count down soon after. On September 30, at another Imperial Conference attended by the Emperor, the decision to send troops to the Pacific was approved, and the moment the Emperor approved it was when Wei Yuankun and his three brothers were locked in a confinement room. The Japanese Navy set off on October 1, the day after receiving the order, eager to get started. According to the Japanese military's statement, "for Japan's self-preservation and self-defense, acting one day earlier would gain an advantage." Later history proved that they truly died early and were buried early.
In the blink of an eye, it was already October 12th, 1941, Sunday, 4 o'clock in the morning. The US Pacific Fleet's regular base, Pearl Harbor, was 250 nautical miles north, and the eastern horizon had already turned white. A quiet dawn was about to arrive. In distant China's Hebei Province, Wei Yuankun, Wang He, and Zhang Xin, who were locked up in a confinement room, were released at this moment. They still didn't know that a major historical event was about to occur ahead of schedule.
At this moment, the three of them coincidentally stretched out their waists at the same time. On the surface of the Pacific Ocean, a massive fleet broke the silence and headed south. Twelve aircraft carriers formed two columns, with four battleships and eight heavy cruisers at their corners, and nine destroyers in the outermost circle. At the forefront of this steel flower ring was a light cruiser and four submarines - this scale is nearly twice as large as the historical fleet, it can be said that the Japanese Navy has brought out all its wealth, everything with wings, even aircraft carriers that have just been launched and not yet fully equipped. As Yamamoto Isoroku said: "If we're going to gamble, let's gamble big." The entire fleet left a thick and wide white trail on the sea surface before dawn. On the flight deck of each aircraft carrier, rows of war eagles with open wings and roaring engines were lined up. Some had heavy bombs hanging from their bellies, while others had torpedoes, and the lead-gray torpedo shells glinted faintly in the cold light.
At 6 o'clock, the fleet slowed down its advance, and Akagi's bow slowly turned northward, that is, into the wind. Under Admiral Nagumo's command flag on the mainmast, a Z flag flapped in the wind. 36 years ago, Admiral Togo had flown this same flag when he annihilated the Russian Baltic Fleet at the Battle of Tsushima Strait.
The Akagi's hull shook violently, if it were peacetime all training would be cancelled. But the commander of the bombers for this air raid, Lieutenant Commander Mitsuo Fuchida knew that today as long as the deck was still above water, they had to take off. Fuchida adjusted his cap and pushed the throttle to maximum, his 97-type attack bomber took off smoothly. In the next fifteen minutes, a total of 283 aircraft including fighters, torpedo bombers and dive bombers from 12 aircraft carriers all took off. The planes quickly formed up, after circling above the fleet once they dived towards Pearl Harbor like an arrow shot from a bowstring.
To implement the attack on Pearl Harbor plan formulated by Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, Isoroku Yamamoto, various departments of the Japanese Navy showed unprecedented efficiency. They developed mini-submarines, modified shallow-water torpedoes and armor-piercing shells, precisely configured attacking aircraft formations, conducted rigorous training in Kagoshima near Pearl Harbor, took sealed secrecy measures, and chose the most concealed attack route - all these were done for the first time in history. Later, Japan also improved its pilot selection methods, and the air force and naval schools entered war mode ahead of schedule. They spent a lot of money to buy the patent rights of Sweden's Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun and Oerlikon 20mm machine gun to improve the anti-aircraft system of their warships. At the same time, they sent people to Germany to learn from the advanced experience of the "Sea Wolves". However, as in history, the Japanese still forgot why they launched this war, who their opponent was, and whether it was a diplomatic failure that led to war or vice versa. Their granite heads only knew that the bow was fully drawn, and the arrow must be shot.
The jazz music from the Tan Shan radio station came out of the phone, and at the end was the weather forecast: "Clouds 3500 feet high, visibility good, north wind 10 knots." After listening, a faint smile appeared on Yamada's face.
At 7:02, the radar at Opana Point on the northern tip of Oahu showed a large group of planes coming in from the north. Unfortunately, the operators and supervisors were busy eating breakfast, and by the time they looked at the screen again, the planes had already passed overhead.
(This passage can be said to be quite YY, everyone just watches the excitement and doesn't need to study it too much, after all, this is purely YY for the sake of later YY. Reading books, sometimes it's just for the sake of indulgence.)
