afterglow

Chapter 617 Chapter Peak Showdown! Hawaiian Corps
According to the Grand Governor's Office, the landing operation on Maui should be launched in early April.

It is extremely difficult to capture a large, heavily defended island when one's own side does not have any advantageous conditions. Such a heavy responsibility undoubtedly falls on Zhou Changfeng's shoulders.

"Whether it's objective or subjective, I'm not optimistic about quickly taking over the entire island. Your Majesty, Your Excellency, be prepared for a tug of war for a month or two... or even longer."

He said this to the emperor and the prime minister at a small meeting before departure.

"Kexing, the domestic affairs are relatively stable, you just need to focus on the battle." Liao Zihe's tone was very kind.

"Although that fleet intercepted and killed a part of the troops, the remaining 70% was still transported to Sydney. The Australian Corps will most likely have to withstand a large-scale attack from the enemy next." Zhou Changfeng expressed his concern about the Australian battlefield.

"Can the two newly formed divisions be sent to reinforce the Australian Corps?" Liao Zihe asked.

"Yes, we can rely on them to strengthen our forces, and the strategic reserve cannot be moved."

Zhu Lingjing didn't say much. At the end, she just said lightly: "Anyway, you don't have to worry about anything. I want good news."

"..." Zhou Changfeng was silent for two seconds before answering: "I will try my best."

The mission this time is more difficult than in the past and the burden on our shoulders is heavy.

After returning to the Grand Marshal's Office, he continued to sort out the remaining military affairs and made preparations to hand over the post of Assistant Director of the General Staff.

Among a pile of files, he saw a memorandum from the Ordnance Bureau regarding a "heavy self-propelled coastal defense gun." The report stated that the research and development work was going relatively smoothly, and the key problem that needed to be solved was poor heat dissipation. Now that the project funds have run out, it is planned to allocate another sum of funds to deploy it to Oahu in the future for anti-landing operations.

Zhou Changfeng, who was worried and busy with trivial matters, had no time to pay attention to the memorandum. He quickly glanced through it and signed and stamped it hastily.

By the time he finished his work, it had already gotten dark outside the window.

The car drove out of the Grand Marshal's Office. The short eight-minute journey passed in a flash and soon stopped at the doorstep.

The dinner was very uncomfortable. The couple sat in silence, and a strange atmosphere filled the dining room in the east wing, as if the wind was whistling.

Xia Xiaoshi thought that she could calmly deal with Zhou's going out to fight, but when it really came to this point, the reluctance and sorrow still filled her heart like a tangled ball of wool.

But she didn't want to show it and tried hard to hide such emotions, so she behaved quite abnormally.

The carefree ones were naturally the children - Jian Jian was sitting on her own high-legged chair, concentrating on eating with a spoon.

It was late at night, and after putting their children to sleep, Zhou Changfeng and Xia Xiaoshi went back to their room to study.

In fact, neither of them was in a very good mood, and this time they just seemed to be doing it for the sake of doing it.

"I don't think I'm a qualified general's wife." Xia Xiaoshi sighed with sadness between her brows, "It's been four years, but I'm still not used to it."

"Just because you're born suitable for a position doesn't mean you can actually hold that position, right? You've done a good job, so don't underestimate yourself."

"really?"

"Do you think I'd lie?" Zhou Changfeng approached her and said with a smile.

Xia Xiaoshi murmured "hmm" softly, nodded and said, "This time I went to Qixia Temple to ask for a fortune stick, you take it with you, and I wish you safety."

"Okay, okay, but I'm tough, so I won't die that easily."

"Humph, don't say such unlucky words."

That night, Zhou Changfeng, who had been tired all day, slept soundly, but Xia Xiaoshi beside him tossed and turned until she fell into a drowsy sleep when the curtains were slightly brighter.

After feeling a slight disturbance, she opened her eyes suddenly, and saw Zhou Changfeng beside the bed, already dressed. He pulled out the high-end custom-made sword of King Fuchai of Wu, looked at it for a few seconds, and then sheathed the sword.

She subconsciously tried to get up, but was gently pushed back.

"Didn't you sleep well last night? Then don't get up and go back to sleep." He smiled and pinched his wife's face, then stretched out his hand to tickle the soles of her feet, "It's time, I'm leaving."

"Take care, sir. We'll wait for you to come back." Xia Xiaoshi looked up at him.

"Don't worry." Zhou Changfeng nodded, turned and walked out.

Based on the interrogation of prisoners, aerial reconnaissance, and telecommunications interception and decryption over the past few months, and in accordance with the principle of giving the enemy a lenient assessment, the Grand Marshal's Office determined that the total number of U.S. troops on Maui was 40,000 to 50,000.

They are well-armed, have sufficient ammunition, have strong fortifications, and can rely on favorable terrain for defense. They should not be underestimated.

This shows that the military command's estimate was 90% accurate, and the actual size of the US military on Maui was similar to the estimated number.

Its number is the 14th Army, and its commander is Lieutenant General Simon Buckner, who was killed in the bombardment on Okinawa Island in the original plane. He was the highest-ranking general lost by the US military during the war. The current 14th Army is composed of:
27th "New York" Infantry Division, 33rd "Golden Cross" Infantry Division;

433rd and 517th Independent Heavy Cannon Battalions (155mm cannon);
426th Independent Armored Artillery Battalion (M7 Priest);
第711、第737、第738独立坦克营（M3斯图亚特和M4谢尔曼）；

640th Tank Destroyer Battalion (M10 Wolverine);
555th and 560th Independent Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalions (40mm anti-aircraft guns)

Excluding other logistical support units, the 14th Army's combat sequence has 4.3 people, with a large number of armored vehicles and artillery.

There is no doubt that this will be the most powerful heavy military group the Ming army has to face since the outbreak of the war.

Admittedly, tens of thousands of people and hundreds of armored vehicles are nothing to be proud of in the Eurasian continent.

But this is on an island in Hawaii, the heart of the Pacific Ocean surrounded by the vast ocean, 8,000 kilometers west of the Eurasian continent and 4,000 kilometers east of the American continent!
In order to capture Maui, the Grand Admiralty spared no expense in mobilizing troops and assembled the most elite amphibious invasion force to date on Oahu.

The Hawaiian Expeditionary Force was renamed the Hawaiian Corps, and Zhou was appointed as the commander-in-chief. His full title was "General Manager/Hawaii Military Affairs/Right Governor-General, and concurrently Director of Civil Affairs."

The title of Right Governor of the Grand Governor's Office was a temporary one, which had no practical significance except for improving one's status. The addition of "concurrently in charge of civil affairs" was mainly due to the consideration that someone was needed to have the final say on Honolulu's civil affairs.

The Hawaiian Corps' planned order of engagement is as follows:
1st Landing Army, 38th Prospective Division, 31st Light Infantry Division.

The 103rd Independent Tank Battalion - Type 40 medium tanks; the 217th Independent Afloat Tank Battalion - Type Yuan amphibious tanks; the 603rd Independent Assault Tank Team - Type 2 heavy tanks.

The 61st Special Service Battalion of the Navy, the 223rd Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion of the Air Force, and the 234th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion of the Air Force.

Such a large-scale assembly of personnel, equipment, and ships was too conspicuous, and the suddenness of the offensive was doomed to be impossible to guarantee, so the Ming army simply did not cover it up and only did basic concealment work.

"If we do this, the fleet will be under direct threat from enemy shore-based aircraft, which is quite dangerous. We may lose two or even more aircraft carriers." Operations Staff Officer Barnett, who has now been promoted to colonel, warned at the headquarters on the Big Island of Hawaii.

"If the loss of two or three aircraft carriers can ensure the repulse of the enemy, I will do so immediately without hesitation," replied Chester Nimitz, staring at the map.

"clear."

The current situation is that the Ming and American militaries are wary of each other. Everyone knows the importance of air superiority and goes to great lengths to ensure it.

The US military's concern is that the number of airports is limited. There is currently one airport on Molokai, two airports and a small alternate airport on Maui, and three airports and two small alternate airports on the Big Island.

However, starting a week ago, the Ming army completed the deployment of long-range artillery transported to Lanai Island and began to carry out continuous shelling of Molokai Island across more than 20 kilometers of ocean, rendering the airport unusable.

There are five long-range artillery pieces in total, four of which are Ming-style Type 144 1mm cannons, and one is a captured American-made M155 mm cannon.

The situation suddenly became serious.

Next, if the Ming army landed on Maui, even if it had not yet captured it, the airports on the island would be unusable or become chaotic and inefficient.

This means that the US military can only rely on the three airports on the big island to fight against the ten airports of the Ming army, which is simply impossible. Even if the US military has faster dispatch efficiency, it cannot meet the take-off and landing needs.

It is definitely not enough to have a quality advantage alone. No matter how powerful the Broncos and the Buccaneers are, they cannot defeat three opponents at once.

To this end, Chester Nimitz resolutely decided to send some aircraft carriers to participate in the war, using sea instead of land. He would rather lose two, three, or four aircraft carriers than let the Ming army seize air supremacy.

The TF-60.1 task force has three escort aircraft carriers under its command: the USS Borg, the USS Cole, and the USS Nassau.

The TF-60.2 task force has two fleet carriers under its command, the Hornet and the Bunker Hill.

In addition to this preparation, the U.S. military has learned from past experiences and lessons and developed a series of more scientific and effective harassment and counterattack plans.

Conventional harassment plans were mainly carried out by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd torpedo boat squadrons, which used small forces to defeat large enemies; special harassment plans were composed of temporarily organized destroyers, cruisers and battleships, which carried out swift night attacks at night.

The counterattack plan was actually a reverse landing operation. The 2nd Marine Division was ready on the Big Island, ready to reinforce Maui at any time and cooperate with the 14th Army on the island to launch a counterattack and annihilate the landing Ming army.

To be fair, the technical and tactical level of amphibious confrontations during this world war was at least two levels higher than that of the original plane - the Ming army was already exploring the vertical deployment of amphibious assault ships, and the US military was forced to practice tactics such as reverse landing operations.

Peak showdown!

On March 3, Zhou Changfeng arrived at Oahu.

The flag of the Hawaiian Expeditionary Force was removed and put into safekeeping, and replaced with a new flag of the Hawaiian Regiment.

A dozen staff officers and civilian personnel from the local area arrived later than Zhou Changfeng and joined the headquarters.

"Congratulations, General Zhou, on your promotion. Once this war is over, you will definitely be promoted to lieutenant general." Honolulu Governor Yang Hua bowed and saluted.

In fact, Zhou Changfeng wanted to say, "We don't fight for promotion," but he changed his words when the words came to his lips and said, "Then I'll borrow the governor's good words."

"In accordance with the court's instructions, I will fully cooperate with the troops. Although there have been constant air raids over the past year, the disruption to the city has not been significant, and the city's construction is in good shape."

Yang Hua first expressed his willingness to obey the military commander's arrangements, and then introduced the situation in Honolulu.

In January of the first year of Zhichang, the Ming and American sides signed a wartime agreement on the evacuation of civilians from Honolulu. After that, the United States sent ships every month to pick up local citizens.

In order not to delay transportation capacity, US military transport ships usually unload supplies on the Big Island and then paint themselves pure white, then go to Oahu to load civilians and return to the mainland.

Today, only one in ten Americans remain in Honolulu, and the rest are mostly expatriates from Korea, Japan, the Netherlands, and Ryukyu.

The Ming Dynasty court also required that civilians be relocated to Honolulu to replenish the population when there was excess transportation capacity. More than 50,000 people were relocated within a year, and nearly a thousand others came on their own initiative to start small businesses.

Leaving the peaceful and tranquil homeland to go to the front line where fierce fighting is raging? This is not something most people are willing to accept.

The imperial court actually didn't care too much about it and simply promised a very generous reward - the Ming Dynasty's terrifying population meant that even if only a very small proportion of people were interested, the final total would be very considerable.

Honolulu's agriculture and light industry were able to continue operating. The soft drink factory, cannery, paper mill, textile mill, and cement plant all produced continuously. Although the output was small, it was equivalent to saving several times the value.

After listening to Yang Hua's story, Zhou Changfeng asked the others, "By the way, have the duds dropped by the US military been properly handled?"

"Reporting to the commander, we have recovered them all." A civilian major wearing round glasses reported happily, "More than 3,000 duds are quite a lot, a total of more than 140 tons of explosives."

"Not bad." Zhou Changfeng nodded with satisfaction. "This place is isolated overseas, and most of the supplies have to be shipped from the mainland. It's a good idea to stockpile as much as possible, just in case of emergency."

The officers present echoed this.

Then, the group went to the headquarters to hold a meeting to discuss...

3月29日，攻势布雷第四天。明军损失轰炸机29架、战斗机25架，美军损失战斗机28架、水上飞机1架、鱼雷艇1艘。

3月30日，攻势布雷第五天。明军损失轰炸机34架、战斗机29架，美军损失战斗机29架、轰炸机2架。

At this point, the offensive mine-laying operation planned by the Ming Air Force was completed, at a cost slightly higher than expected.

One thousand of the five thousand aerial mines were laid off the coast of Hilo Harbor, two thousand were laid in the waters east of the Big Island, and two thousand were laid in the channel between the Big Island and Maui.

After finding out the Ming army's intentions, the U.S. military responded immediately, vigorously clearing mines while retaliating by dropping mines from the air on Oahu, Kauai, and Lanai.

However, compared with the Ming army's early preparations, the U.S. military's mine-laying operation was too hasty, and the number of aerial mines in reserve on the front line was too small. The U.S. military used up only a few hundred of them.

In the afternoon of March 3th, the sky was cloudless and blue. It had not been so clear for a long time.

Zhou Changfeng took a magnifying glass and carefully looked at a dozen aerial photos that had just been developed, then raised his hand to look at his watch.

"It looks like there won't be any major changes. It's better to act sooner rather than later." He glanced at the generals standing in front of him, put down the magnifying glass, and nodded, "Telegraph the governor's office and start the operation as planned."

【Picture】

(End of this chapter)