Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 973 Burn it, Pearl Harbor (1)
13:00 ET, Washington, U.S. Department of State.

Secretary of State Dean Rusk took the document from Cai Gongshi suspiciously. One minute later, this important official who is usually known for his calmness and stability raised his head in surprise: "Cai, are you going to go to war with the United States?"

Cai Gongshi did not dare to meet his old friend's eyes: "Unfortunately, I can only obey the orders of the empire."

Rusk's face was livid, he turned around angrily, strode towards the office, and grabbed the phone: "Pick up the White House, I want to talk to the president!"

At Pearl Harbor, which is [-] kilometers away, the sky has just brightened, and the harbor is filled with a happy atmosphere after Christmas Eve.Over the vast harbor, the sky is high and the clouds are light. There is no plane, only groups of seagulls are circling aimlessly.

The huge fleet moored quietly around Ford Island.Roughly at the main berth on the east side of Ford Island, from northeast to southwest, there are six pairs of dreadnought warships moored in sequence: "Pennsylvania" and "Arizona", "Nevada" and "Oklahoma" , "New York" and "Texas", "Wyoming" and "Arkansas", "Florida" and "Utah", "Delaware" and "North Dakota".

To the east of the main berth, near the first pier and the unfinished first and second docks and the second pier, there are four armored cruisers moored close to the shore: "San Diego", "Huron" and "Memphis" and the Sitry, several colliers, oil tankers and repair ships, and some flat-bottomed barges.

On the north side of Ford Island are the seaplane carrier "Jupiter", several light cruisers, some colliers, oil tankers and repair ships, as well as two destroyer carriers and 16 destroyers. There are 8 destroyers attached.

On the northwest side of Ford Island, similar to the main berth, five pairs of smaller warships are moored from northeast to southwest: "South Carolina" and "Michigan", "Connecticut" and "Louisiana" Kansas and Minnesota, Virginia and New Jersey, and Nebraska and Georgia.

Southwest of Ford Island, near the entrance of the harbor, are moored the armored cruisers "Frederick" and "Huntington", and the large protected cruisers "St. Louis", "Milwaukee", and "Charleston".

The Short seaplane from Ford Island and the Wright from Hickam Field were neatly parked in the marquee.

12月25日当天，整个瓦胡岛总共部署有18架水上飞机、26架陆基飞机和1艘飞艇，其中只有不到半数飞机配备有机枪和挂弹架。珍珠港海军基地没有部署任何口径大于7点62毫米的高射武器，22挺安装在高脚架上的马克沁机枪就是基地本身的全部防空火力。

The latest dreadnought battleships "Pennsylvania", "Arizona", "Nevada" and "Oklahoma" are each equipped with two trial-produced three-inch anti-aircraft guns, which are the only eight anti-aircraft guns in the fleet. The ship's anti-aircraft fire was limited to a few Maxim machine guns mounted around the superstructure.

At this time, the officers and soldiers of each ship were getting out of the cabin in twos and threes, and assembled towards the bow of the ship, preparing for the flag-raising ceremony.No one noticed that a small cluster of black spots faintly jumped out of the gaps in the clouds in the north.

At 7:50, Gao Zhihang's fighter plane was the first to arrive over Pearl Harbor.In the harbor, the Americans are still immersed in the joy of the festival, and they are defenseless against the sudden attack of the enemy!
Gao Zhihang immediately gave an order to the telegraph operator behind him: "Send the message! Goshawk spread its wings!" This is the code word for the Navy's information transmission.

At the same time as sending the report, Gao Zhihang took out his flare gun and fired two flares into the air, and gave the order of "attack immediately" to the 130 fighters behind him. Ten minutes later, the communications staff officer on the Pacific Fleet flagship "Taishan" rushed into the commander's office excitedly and reported: "A telegram has been received, and the goshawk spreads its wings!"

Ye Zugui nodded. The battle has not yet started, so he can only wait and see.

8:10, Pearl Harbor Base.Through the large glass windows of the dining room, Admiral William Halsey, the commander of the U.S. Navy Fleet, stared blankly at the fleet of aircraft coming all over the sky, the knife and fork in his hand trembling slightly. "Commander, Washington has called. China has declared war on our country an hour ago and ordered the fleet to enter combat immediately."

"1 hour ago?" Halsey's mouth twisted slightly.

"Yes, an hour ago."

The next moment, Halsey threw the dining table aside, served innocent ham, toast and fried eggs, flipped and fell to the floor, followed by the sound of plates and bowls breaking.

At 8:15, the 36 warships of the first attack wave rushed to Ford Island and Hickam Naval Air Station, strafed the rows of clean cyan tents, and dropped bombs at the same time, and suddenly a puff of black smoke scrambled to the sky. And rise. Two minutes later, 2 Swordfish torpedo planes from 6 squadrons entered from the east of Ford Island and projected torpedoes to the six huge dreadnought battleships located outside the main berth. After the lead plane entered and dropped mines one after another, that is to say, it was planned to shoot 48 torpedoes on each battleship.

The torpedo plane showing off the blue, red and gold rings under its wings was not in the mood to say hello to the Yankee who was stunned, and dropped a torpedo directly at the battleship, then suddenly turned its nose to the north, and retreated from the battle carelessly.

At the same time as the shrill alarm sounded from the shore, a high water column suddenly rose from the port side of the "Arizona", and the dull and heart-piercing explosion shook the entire harbor!Then came the USS Oklahoma, USS Texas, USS Arkansas, USS Utah, USS North Dakota, and the well-trained Swordfish torpedo pilots flew unhindered at a distance of 500 yards. Throwing mines easily, the hit rate is so high that even they themselves feel a little uncomfortable.

In an instant, after dozens of tall and frightening water jets rose one after another and sprinkled down one after another, six warships tilted one after another. Among them, the port side of the "Arizona" was hit by seven torpedoes, and it not only quickly tilted to 40 degrees, The fire that ignited inside was still rushing out from the open hatch, and the flames and smoke shot straight into the sky!

In the few minutes after the attack on the warships at the main berth, 5 Swordfish from 40 squadrons entered from the west of Ford Island, and attacked the "Michigan", "Louisiana" and "Minnesota" that were also parked outside the formation. , "New Jersey" and "Georgia" attacked, and it was also a squadron against a warship.At the same time, a guerrilla squadron with only 6 torpedo planes was divided into three groups and attacked several armored cruisers and large protected cruisers at the entrance of the harbor.

In just half an hour, the main force of the U.S. Navy suffered terrible losses.The largest and newest USS "Arizona" in the fleet ate seven torpedoes, and within a few minutes, it tilted severely, and the bottom of the ship was exposed to the sea. Although the captain ordered an emergency flooding of water to the starboard side, it was already powerless. The battleship sank rapidly, and the hull of more than 3 tons finally plunged obliquely into the seabed at a depth of 30 meters at a posture of 120 degrees to the left.

The "Oklahoma" and the "Texas" each took six torpedoes, and because the watertight doors were closed in time and water was injected to the starboard side, and the side was close to the "Nevada", they were able to slowly sink vertically; Before any remedial measures could be taken, it tilted and sank to the bottom of the sea.

The "Arkansas" was hit by five torpedoes. Due to the effective damage control measures, the hull was controlled when it tilted at 5 degrees, but it lost power due to water entering the boiler room.Screened by four armored cruisers docked at the pier on the east coast, the "Utah" only took three torpedoes, and the "North Dakota" took four, with the front power intact. Under the command of Lieutenant General Emley, the tense fire and anchor operations began; although the tilt was controlled, the steering gear and propeller were damaged and could not be started.The five warships outside the west berth sank quickly without exception!

As the first-class dreadnought warship in the United States, the 16000-ton "Michigan" did not have much improvement in underwater defense compared with the previous old-style warships. Buckle into the sea.Not to mention the fate of the other four old-style battleships: After the "Louisiana" ate the fifth torpedo, a big explosion suddenly occurred in the front part. The battleship in the air, which had soared several hundred meters, broke in half and sank to the bottom of the sea. The explosion of fragments also swept the entire starboard side of the "Connecticut" moored inside it beyond recognition.

The "Minnesota" was hit by as many as seven torpedoes in a row, and the entire starboard side fell apart completely, almost falling horizontally into the seabed at a standard 90-degree angle.

Protected by the nearby cruisers, the "New Jersey" only suffered four torpedoes, but for an old warship with extremely weak underwater protection, such a blow was still too much, and it tilted to the right in just a few minutes. inserted into the sea. The "Georgia" was hit by three torpedoes. Although water injection measures were taken in time, the sinking was inevitable, and the front deck of the battleship quickly sank into the water.

The cruisers near Pearl Point were also attacked. The [-]-ton armored cruisers "Frederick" and "Huntington" each hit a torpedo. Although they tilted for a while, they did not cause too serious damage.

The Ford Island Seaplane Base and Hickam Airfield were repeatedly raided by Dragon Army fighter jets with machine guns and bombs. Tents used as temporary hangars were set on fire. Although some people bravely pushed a few planes out of the tents, none of them took off successfully. , either the pilot was hit or the plane was set on fire.

As the torpedoed attack planes flew to the sea northwest of Pearl Harbor one after another, in order to return as a whole group, there was a brief silence in the harbor, only a few fighter jets were still persistently and repeatedly strafing the Hickam Airport south of the harbor.

(End of this chapter)