Shadow Spy

Chapter 371 Waiting for the attack to happen
On the evening of December 12, Roosevelt once again convened a meeting with his key aides at the White House in order to make a correct judgment on the imminent attack by the Japanese fleet.

Participants included National Security Advisor Ayers, Military Advisor General Leahy, Secretary of State Hull, Legal Counsel Pena, Secretary of the Army Stimson, Secretary of the Navy Knox, and Army Chief of Staff General Marshall.

Among them, General Marshall has just returned from an inspection trip to China, and he also brought back a deciphered message given to him by the Chinese government - Japan sent it to its ambassador to the United States and asked him to submit it before 12:7 on December 13, Washington time. The letter of credence is actually a formal declaration of war.

Various signs and intelligence compiled by all parties have confirmed that a fleet of the Japanese Navy is sailing to the Hawaiian Islands with the purpose of raiding Pearl Harbor, the base of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet. Even the time has been basically determined. At this time, the situation is Roosevelt and his aides had three options before them:

First, they could announce to the world that the Japanese fleet was approaching and war was imminent.This "disclosure" would most likely have prevented the outbreak of this war;
Second, when the Japanese fleet continues to advance towards the target, they can notify the Pearl Harbor base and fleet commander Admiral Kimmel to issue an alert to the troops, evacuate the warships to the open sea, or pre-emptively defeat the Japanese navy's surprise attack;

The third option is what Roosevelt himself said privately to British Prime Minister Churchill earlier this year: The United States would have reason to enter the war only if one of the Berlin-Tokyo Axis powers suddenly invaded American territory, such as Hawaii.

In front of everyone present, in addition to various intelligence summaries about the incoming Japanese fleet, there was also an analysis report written by Commodore Panson a month ago, in which he had accurately predicted the crisis. Now it seems that the situation is The match is so amazing that one can't help but suspect that there are insiders planted among the top brass of the Japanese army base camp or military headquarters. Otherwise, it would be hard to believe that they would have obtained such accurate information.This made everyone in the meeting amazed!

After being surprised, Roosevelt showed the courage of the president and said: Although the risks are huge, the United States will only have the opportunity to participate in the war if it is invaded. Only in this way can it avoid causing political and moral divisions at home and gain the support of the people. Widely supported.

Everyone in the meeting was silent when they heard this. They knew this was a fact, but if they just sat back and watched Pearl Harbor being attacked despite knowing the risks, no one knew how many officers, soldiers and ships would be attacked and killed. None of them could say no. Say something in agreement!

In this way, there was still no consensus at the meeting that night! ——
The next day, Ayers informed Li Junhao of Baltimore about the meeting last night and asked for his opinion.

Li Junhao could only tell him: In any case, this decision is difficult to make, and besides President Roosevelt himself, no one else can make the decision for him. This matter must be left to the president himself.

Ayers was speechless and could only hang up the phone silently.Of course he understands the truth, but it’s hard to say it directly!
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On the evening of December 12, the White House meeting was held again. Before the meeting, because of Roosevelt's proactive inquiry, Ayers conveyed Li Junhao's words to him. So shortly after the meeting started, seeing that no one had any new suggestions, Roosevelt made a direct decision. Decision: Not to notify the defenders of Pearl Harbor and allow Pearl Harbor to be attacked by the Japanese!

That night, Roosevelt and all the participants stayed up all night. No one left, and they were waiting in the presidential living room of the White House, hoping to learn the information about Hawaii as soon as possible.This night, Li Junhao in Baltimore was also a little nervous, but he went to bed early with Xiaoyu's comfort, and did not stay up late like Mr. President and others...
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Because of the time difference (Washington is 5 hours ahead of Hawaii), the first emergency telegram received by the White House from Hawaii was at 12:7 noon on December 13 - a logistics officer from the Pacific Fleet sent it to the Navy The ministry’s cable claimed: An hour ago, at 45:7 a.m. Hawaii time, Pearl Harbor was attacked by a large number of Japanese aircraft, causing heavy losses!

Subsequently, various alarms and telegrams began to arrive one after another...

Although he was not in Washington, Li Junhao still knew this immediately, but at this time he could only shake his head and sigh, unable to change anything at all!Finally, feeling a little tormented in his heart, he could only give the order: Receive the telegram first. There is no need to report it to yourself right away. Let’s go together in the evening!As for the phone calls, I won’t answer them today!
During this period, Ayers called. After hearing what Xiaoyu conveyed, he sighed softly and hung up without saying anything. The same was true for others such as Admiral Leahy, Secretary of the Navy Knox, and several CIA officials. The senior management had already received the notice and did not disturb him with these matters.
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This time the "Pearl Harbor Incident" was the same as in Li Junhao's previous life. The Japanese Embassy in the United States made another mistake. According to the plan, the Japanese Ambassador should have sent the declaration of war to the United States at 13:14 before the attack. The State Council, however, did not deliver the credentials until after [-]:[-] pm due to decoding and printing problems!

The result is that Japan actually launched a sneak attack on the United States and became an undeclared war!This unforeseen blunder increased American outrage over the attack and was the main reason why President Roosevelt called it "a shameless day."

In fact, when reviewing the entire attack process afterwards, people discovered that at 7:40 a.m. Hawaii time, the first wave of Japanese planes had already landed on Oahu, Hawaii—that is to say, even the Japanese ambassador The declaration of war was submitted at 13:[-] pm Washington time, and the Pearl Harbor attack had actually happened!

In this regard, the Japanese Navy is very consistent with the tradition of their military - creating own incidents is their strength!
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At 13:30 pm Hawaii time, the last wave of Japanese planes left, and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was finally over!

While various departments in the United States were rushing to determine the damage situation with Hawaii and the Pacific Fleet, Japan couldn't wait to declare war on the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, and South Africa.

Afterwards, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, which reacted fastest, declared war on Finland, Hungary, and Romania:
Canada declares war on Finland, Hungary, Japan and Romania:

Panama and Yugoslavia declared war on Japan.

In this regard, Li Junhao feels that the political system of the United States is indeed somewhat rigid, and its response speed to its own attacks is not as fast as that of its allies!

(End of this chapter)