afterglow

Chapter 625: Smart Argument on Capitol Hill - Big Win; Those Who Are Not Wanted Are Given to the Marines

Although the Ming army did not know which aircraft carrier these carrier-based aircraft came from, one thing was certain, that is, at least one US aircraft carrier tracked them.

It is not advisable to stay here for a long time. The US shore-based aviation force on the Big Island of Hawaii can also send aircraft to hunt down and kill, and nearby US submarines may also be on the way.

Ouyang Zhanghua decisively decided to quit while he was ahead. The bait fleet, main force fleet and support fleet all turned to the northwest one after another, hoping to get as far away from here as possible under the cover of night.

George Muller also chose to return. No matter how bold he was, he did not dare to continue the pursuit. The only ship that could keep up with the Enterprise was the light cruiser USS Springfield. They couldn't just keep chasing after the Enterprise with an aircraft carrier and a light cruiser.

That day and night, the frustrated US military even carried out night searches and air strikes.

PBY Catalinas equipped with ASV-2 airborne radars searched all night long, and a large number of B-25 Mitchell bombers were ready to go on the airport runway.

In the second half of the night, the US military found one of the Ming army fleets - a decoy fleet including the Ziwei Zuoyuan and Beiluo Shimen.

However, the window period was too short, and the fast-sailing Ming army fleet had already approached the combat range limit of medium bombers, so the US military quickly began to prepare heavy bombers.

At dawn, a dozen B-24s roared into the sky from the Hilo Army Airfield and flew north. More than three hours later, they found the Bingzi 500th Air Raid Fleet and dropped nearly a hundred -pound bombs on the Ziwei Zuoyuan and Beifoshimen.

However, such an air raid was more like venting anger and had little practical significance. Only two Ming destroyers were slightly damaged due to near misses; the Ziwei Zuoyuan was hit by one missile but its defense was not breached.

On the same day, the Dingzi 105th Air Raid Fleet was also attacked by torpedoes of unknown origin, which must have been launched by a US submarine lurking in the dark. Fortunately, it was discovered in time and no warships were hit by the torpedoes.

In short, despite the dangers and murderous intentions along the way, the three fleets finally escaped from danger safely.

On April 4, the fleet returned to the anchorage west of Kauai Island.

"Great! Those guys in the navy won a great victory!"

"This strategy of luring the enemy is flawless."

"It is said that the Essex was built only half a year ago, and it was sunk while still so new."

Inside the command cabin of the Fa Zheng, the officers were discussing the matter with great interest, and one even composed a poem on the spot.

Seeing that Zhou Changfeng didn't react much, Yao Liangchuan asked with a smile: "Our commander doesn't look very happy."

Zhou Changfeng ate a bowl of cold noodles by himself, and said without raising his head: "Don't be too happy too soon. Next we have to see whether we can turn the victory in the naval battle into an advantage in capturing the island."

As he spoke, he pointed downward with his chopsticks and said casually, "Give the navy a few compliments and urge them to find a way to cut off the connection between Maui and the Big Island."

"That's right. In the end, it has little to do with us." Xie Wancheng put his hands on his hips and looked at the sand table and said, "Why don't we take action in advance? No matter what, we should fight first. Anyway, we have to deal with the Second Marine Division sooner or later, so we might as well deal with them all at once."

"Not earlier, but the day after tomorrow. Let's inform the navy first, and then wait for the supplies to be delivered." Zhou Changfeng replied.

The day before yesterday, Zhou Changfeng was really worried about the Ming Navy when he learned that the final counterattack of the US aircraft carrier hit three of its own aircraft carriers at once.

We have to admit that the U.S. military's counterattack was really sharp. Fortunately, the backbone of the Ming army was armored aircraft carriers. If it were replaced by a series of wooden deck fleet aircraft carriers of the Japanese army in history, I am afraid that they would not only fail to gain something but also lose everything.

On the same day, the Ming Dynasty's official news agency had already written a press release based on the battle reports and instructions provided by the Ministry of War.

Subsequently, this good news was advertised worldwide.

The Ministry of War called it the Battle of Northeast Hawaii. The victory report said that with the brave and fearless fighting of many naval soldiers, two large enemy aircraft carriers were sunk, three enemy destroyers were damaged, and three of their own aircraft carriers were slightly damaged, which was another major victory since the war began.

On the other side of the ocean, the U.S. Navy, on the premise that the story was basically true, did its best to use the art of language to embellish this careless failure.

Secretary of the Navy Frank Norfolk stated during a press conference on the Battle of the Sea:
"The enemy tried to use the aircraft carrier fleet to attack and cut off the route from the west coast to Hawaii. We successfully repelled them. Three of the enemy's heavy aircraft carriers were seriously damaged, and they awkwardly stopped the operation to destroy the transportation line."

"Unfortunately, in this battle we lost the Essex, which had been attacked by 100 enemy aircraft. The Hornet, which had been badly damaged in its attempt to protect her, was also badly damaged. The brave sailors who fought the fire were ultimately unsuccessful."

Although the art of language is applied, this kind of rhetoric may fool the honest people, but it cannot fool the cunning politicians.

For a time, there was an uproar on Capitol Hill, and many congressmen jointly demanded that the Navy give an explanation and proposed to hold a hearing.

Faced with aggressive accountability, the resourceful Frank Norfolk found a clever argument.

If we count the losses more specifically, we will find that the Ming army lost a lot of carrier-based aircraft pilots, but our side did not.

Because of this, we are successful in at least this aspect, and not just a small win, but a big win!

"From a tactical point of view, we may have suffered heavy losses, but gentlemen, the enemy lost about 45 aircraft, 2/3 of which were bombers, and they lost 80 well-trained crew members. The loss of the Hornet and the Essex will not weaken the navy. We still have 4 Essex-class and 5 Independence-class ships available for commissioning this year..."

Frank Norfolk's argument was so logical that no one could refute it for a while.

"Mr. Secretary, don't explain, this is simply a farce." A Pennsylvania congressman shouted: "This wrong war should have been stopped when we lost the Philippines!"

Then, another senator spoke calmly: "Considering the current situation, I even think we can give up all demands except Hawaii."

Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, Frank Norfolk hurriedly explained: "Gentlemen, please don't be so pessimistic. The United States is still in a strategic advantage. We have hope of defeating China."

"Really? Haha." A congressman from New York State sneered, shrugged, spread his hands, and said sarcastically: "The Navy has confidence, but does the Army have confidence? The Army always complains about insufficient manpower. How many more 'millions' will it need to add next?"

"It's a meaningless price that shouldn't be paid even for one dollar." The senator said calmly, "We paid the price of thousands of lives to fight Tarawa, so what about the other islands? Even if the enemy fleet sank to the bottom of the sea today, Mr. Secretary, how many Purple Hearts and death notices do you think we need to prepare?"

Frank Norfolk was unable to answer this series of questions. He was extremely embarrassed and could only say awkwardly: "Mexico and Brazil have sent a large number of volunteers. They will fight alongside us..." This sharply contradictory hearing ended unpleasantly.

Although it appeared nonchalant to the public, the U.S. Navy also conducted its own inspection.

As the commander, Chester Nimitz actually has to bear the main responsibility - the disastrous defeat was doomed from the moment the fleet set out, which was the consequence of a hasty attack without obtaining accurate intelligence.

However, he is a favorite of the president and has great prestige among naval officers and soldiers. Strict punishment would have too many adverse effects.

As a result, Rear Admiral Thomas Kinkaid, who led the TF-49 task force to its demise, took the blame. He was removed from his position as fleet commander and transferred to the Seattle Naval Base.

President Franklin, who was in the White House, realized that the current public opinion was still deteriorating. In order to rally people's hearts, he revised his speech and held the 23rd fireside chat a week in advance.

"…The war has put our industry and economy to the test. So far, I think we have withstood the test. We are producing much more steel, oil, cars, and airplanes than before the war. Every day, large quantities of weapons are sent to the front to fight the enemy."

"…Some people are tired of making sacrifices—they can no longer buy all kinds of toys and luxury goods like they did before the war. I don't think this can be called a sacrifice, but enduring frugality is difficult for people who are used to squandering. But this price is not unbearable."

"…More and more people are asking, why are we fighting, and what does the United States want to achieve in this war? My answer is the same as it was three years ago - the United States needs to ensure sufficient market size and space to curb the spread of Germany in Europe."

“… The rewards of so much sacrifice may not be immediately apparent, but my fellow Americans, I promise you that in the years ahead, the rewards of our struggles now will be great — in fact, in a very simple way, in the future of your paychecks and the lives of your children.”

"...The benefits to the United States as a whole are just as great. There is no hope for us to be trapped alone in America. We should expand outward and prove that the United States is not only a home for brave adventurers, but also the best country in the world - with the right to enjoy all the freedoms of life, it is naturally a beacon of civilization."

"…We are not fighting alone. President Cardenas of Mexico and President Vargas of Brazil have assured me that we will fight together to create prosperity in the Americas. Starting next month, volunteers from Mexico and Brazil will join the U.S. military in the fight."

"…As we do our duty, let us not be bored with the dull life, but think of the soldiers who are fighting on the Pacific islands, in the Russian wilderness, in the Spanish hills, in the Italian mountains. For them, for ourselves, and for victory, we must work hard and sweat."

As a loyal listener in a foreign country, Zhu Lingjing also listened to the fireside chat.

She yawned and said disdainfully, "They don't have the courage to continue the fight. Public opinion doesn't support it."

"After all, it's a businessman's mindset. A war with little profit is a losing business. The focus should be on Europe." Fang Shujun thought for a moment and then said, "However, we should be wary of the vassal armies of Mexico and Brazil."

Luo Fu beside him continued, "Mexico has a population of 20 million, and Brazil has a population of 42 million. It is impossible for the two countries to go to war with each other."

"It's only tens of millions at most, nothing to worry about." Zhu Lingjing said nonchalantly: "It's just to exchange for (US) economic assistance, why would the whole country sincerely fight? At most, we can simply mobilize one or two people."

Fang Shujun nodded and said, "Your Majesty is right. They are just cannon fodder."

Some American leaders do consider using the manpower of other American countries to form an army to engage in a brutal war of attrition, thereby reducing their own casualties.

What’s interesting is that the US military is quite arrogant, believing that other American countries except Canada are very backward, with low population quality, and are not capable of meeting the needs of modern warfare, which may cause serious consequences.

You have cannon fodder to share the casualties with you, but you still find fault with them?

Although the US military generals were reluctant, they had no choice but to compromise because of the demands of Capitol Hill.

In Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico, and in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, some U.S. military service units have moved in and opened recruitment offices.

A large number of young and middle-aged people were attracted by the high salaries. They were first screened by their own country's military administrative departments to eliminate the unqualified ones, and the rest were then carefully selected by the US military recruitment office.

You should know that the monthly salary of a private in the US Army is as much as 50 US dollars, which is really generous. These days, a hamburger and hot dog meal in a restaurant in New York only costs 60 cents (0.6 US dollars), and a cheap car is only a few hundred dollars.

For economically underdeveloped Mexico and Brazil, such high salaries are even more tempting.

Earlier this month, the recruitment offices in both countries reported that the first round of enlistments exceeded expectations and the situation was quite optimistic.

The U.S. Navy refused to retain foreigners, so the 30,000 Mexicans and 60,000 Brazilians were basically taken over by the Army.

陆军迅速组建了六个步兵师——第151、第152两个师由墨西哥人组成；第153、第154、第155、第156四个师由巴西人组成。

Most of the officers are Americans, and the overall model is similar to the US military's previous Philippine Infantry Division.

After forming six divisions, there were still more than 2,000 "non-best service personnel" left, so the Army "gave" these people to the Marine Corps, which formed an independent Marine Corps.

While the United States was busy organizing and training its vassal army, the war in the Hawaiian Islands also saw new developments.

On April 4, the 12th Regimental Combat Team of the U.S. Army stationed on Kahoolawe Island almost collapsed, and organized resistance no longer existed.

23rd Infantry Division and Nagoya Gijo Regiment

After more than ten days of fierce fighting, the US troops guarding the island were basically defeated, and they surrendered the next day.

In short, the 405th Regimental Combat Team and two heavy field artillery battalions (155mm cannon) were completely wiped out, and only a few people managed to escape successfully in small boats at night.

The 23rd Division roughly estimated that it had killed more than 500 enemies, wounded or captured more than 5,000 enemies in total; its own casualties were about 1,800, and the Japanese puppet troops also suffered hundreds of casualties.

This victory was not unexpected. Zhou Changfeng just repeatedly urged the navy to make preparations. He even took a seaplane back to Pearl Harbor.

"First of all, we are still short of 4,000 tons of ammunition and 600 tons of gasoline. We need to replenish these. Then the navy must at least intercept the enemy's reinforcements. It would be even better if we could send large ships to bombard the docks and assembly areas."

Song Zhongkai, who was reading a book, nodded and reminded, "Of course, it's OK. The Longshuo and Yongle are ready. However, there are still some mines in the middle and south of the strait that have not been cleared. This is a big problem."

(End of this chapter)