Iron Cross

For the top US officials, Japan is not the most troublesome issue, and the peace talks with Germany are also not going well. The other side insists on the price: South Africa is not negotiable, all South America belongs to Germany, and Central America and the Caribbean are the interests of Europe and the United States. Sharing, Newfoundland is an inherent territory of the London authorities and other conditions. What is even more intolerable to the United States is Germany's request for the internationalization of the Panama issue, for a joint company of major powers to control the canal, and for a joint European force to be stationed. For the United States, this is almost a rope around its throat. Tight.

The ordinary American people will not care about the conditions of the Panama Canal, and they do not understand the dangers of "international" control. However, for two senior politicians, Truman and Dewey, American capital and the US Navy, this condition is very fatal - -It is almost equivalent to cutting off the two-ocean navy and the two-ocean transportation channel.

"Turner just had a few words with me. He said that if necessary, the conditions of the Panama Canal can be negotiated. After all, Nicaragua is still in our hands. We can dig it from the San Juan River through Lake Nicaragua and then to Rivas. The Nicaragua Canal on the isthmus will have better navigation conditions than the Panama Canal after its completion, but the investment is a bit larger. However, the Nicaragua Canal is too close to the Panama Canal. If European troops are stationed there, and war breaks out, I'm afraid..."

Dewey's eyes lit up: "What he means is that the Panama Canal can be internationally co-managed, but Europe cannot station troops? Then we use the Nicaragua Canal to abolish Panama's traffic capacity so that the Germans cannot collect money?"

"No... what he means is." Truman lowered his voice, "If you are determined to fight World War III, the first shot will be to hit the Panama Canal and take control of the canal! To achieve this goal, it may be necessary to use Sneak attack method."

"This..." Dewey gasped: Not only did he proactively provoke the Third World War, but he also launched a preemptive attack on Panama, which made his little heart a little bit unbearable - Turner's "silly and bold" reputation was indeed true. Well-deserved reputation!

"But this is not a problem that you and I should worry about." Truman smiled sadly, "It is enough for us to bring peace to the American people... As for the war, it will take more than ten years to wait for the younger president. Maybe he has a way? To To win the next war, the United States needs a new president, new generals, a new army, a new war concept, and especially adequate military preparations and cutting-edge equipment..."

Dewey nodded helplessly, not even thinking about voting in next week's general election - now he was the only candidate with enough weight (there were also several independent candidates who were not popular), and he knew he would win, but he didn't. There was no joy at all, but I felt like I had inherited a hot potato—the president who was likely to sign the armistice treaty!

It is said to be a truce, but in fact it is not much different from surrender.

Just when they were thinking wildly, the third wave of Japanese attacks had arrived at the scene. This time, the fifth wave of attacks was the main force. Although the level of night battles was slightly worse, there were no powerful warships at the moment. When everyone saw something moving, they pounced on it and blew it up. In one round, everyone had no intention of attacking the escort carrier, light cruiser, and the Indiana that had been submerged in the water. They only focused on finding the escort carrier, light cruiser, and destroyer that had slipped through the net.

In this round, many destroyers that rescued the officers and soldiers of other warships were in bad luck, and four of them were killed in succession. Especially after the incendiary bombs were dropped, the entire sea surface was burning, and all the warships were unable to escape.

In the third round of the Japanese attack, a total of 1 cruiser, 2 escort aircraft carriers and 7 destroyers were sunk. Incidentally, they also used incendiary bombs and machine guns to harvest many lifeboats and life rafts that had escaped on the sea. The Japanese pilots themselves found it boring and hurriedly left after a hasty inspection. There was also an injured escort aircraft carrier. Because there was really no way to escape, the captain who received the surrender telegram could only order to turn on the light switch and order the surrender. .

The Japanese military also kept its promise and will no longer attack US warships that turn on their lights and are stationary at anchor.

In view of the brilliant results of the previous three rounds, several fleet commanders agreed that the night battle was almost over. After the engineering officers and soldiers sent out by the water reconnaissance had completely controlled the Bismarck Sea, everyone felt even more relaxed. In the end, a decision was made. The two fleets slowed down their pursuit speed appropriately, and the fourth attack gun was released as late as dawn to see if there were any targets on the sea worth attacking by then.

At 9 o'clock in the morning on October 31, 1944, the main forces of the Combined Fleet, the 1st, 2nd, and 5th air fleets, converged 1,500 kilometers away from the west coast. Chiaki Matsuda excitedly reported to Horikichi: "Sir, the fourth wave has completed cleaning the battlefield. Another escort carrier and two destroyers were sunk, and the remaining US warships cannot be searched for the time being. Should we send more aircraft to attack? "

The US military has a total of 12 escort aircraft carriers. Except for one that was captured by four pilots and one that surrendered after being injured, the rest were all sunk. The two Essex-class ships had already sunk. The combined fleet now has more than 500 aircraft and more than 700 pilots, capable of turning the West Coast into chaos.

"Forget it, the U.S. military's shore-based air defense circle is as close as you can get. You have to be spared and avoid people. Send planes to patrol the sea to see if there are any surviving officers and soldiers on both sides of the sea. If there are any, rescue them together."

"What to do with these two South Dakota-class ships?" Chiaki Matsuda pointed at the two US battleships floating in the distance with the waves, "Send a ship to tow them back?"

Horikichi looked at it with a telescope: "It's so badly injured that it's of little value to tow it back. It will cost a lot of money to repair it. It's not cost-effective! But if a few injured light cruisers and destroyers can be towed, they can be towed back."

Everyone was stunned, and then they figured it out: Not to mention building new battleships, even repairing battleships is expensive and takes a long time. If you have this time and energy, it is better to build two more Axis-class aircraft carriers. Don't you see that aircraft carriers are now beating battleships? If it weren't for the escort of the air fleet, would the Yamato class dare to go wild so close to the west coast?

"Send someone to see if there are any souvenirs on the warships, collect some, and then hand them over to the battleships for disposal..." Horikichi smiled faintly, "These giant ships fought in the east and west for the hegemony of the United States. It is a pity that they will not survive. If the time comes, if the time is not right, let the Yamato class give them a ride and give them a final dignity. "

Matsuda Chiaki originally thought that Horikichi would send a destroyer to sink it with torpedoes, but when he heard that it would be handed over to the Yamato-class for target shooting, he was also surprised - the shells fired by Yamato salvos are much more expensive than torpedoes.

Horikichi seemed to see his doubts and explained: "It will be the Czech No. 3 in two days. Battleship ground bombardment reinforcements are very important. What can we do if we don't practice gunnery skills more accurately? Especially the newly commissioned Shinano is more Have to practice hard.”

At a quarter past 10 o'clock, a U.S. Army Air Forces B-29 reconnaissance plane flew over the sea. Suddenly, it spotted the entire main force of the combined fleet and a large number of anti-aircraft fighters. It was so frightened that it quickly ran away.

The telegraph operator beat a drum in his heart and trembled while sending a telegram: The entire main force of the Japanese combined fleet was found, 10 aircraft carriers, 6 battleships, and the remaining auxiliary warships covered the entire sea surface. The center was located 1,450 kilometers away from the west coast. It seemed that they were dealing with me. The remaining warships of the army...

"Sir, you said you would give us two South Dakota-class ships for target practice?" Lieutenant General Takagi Takeo, commander of the First Air Battle Artillery Group, stood up excitedly, "Okay, let Shinano practice!"

On the other side, Nishimura Shoji also shouted to his men on the Musashi: "Sir, you have not forgotten us! You must hit them accurately and try to sink the enemy ship in five rounds. Don't ruin the mood of the commander, let alone be killed." Let’s go through the first flight battle... We have to tell them that although we consume a lot of fuel, our gunnery skills are not bad!”

The staff members suppressed their laughter and conveyed the order.

"Fire!"

Violent artillery fire quickly rang out on the sea. The three super battleships Yamato, Musashi, and Shinano opened fire from 28,000 meters away. After 5-7 rounds of bombardment, they used 460mm thick pipes to sink the target ship neatly - worth nearly 100,000 yuan. 2 South Dakota class ships for $200 million.

The sinking of the defenseless South Dakota-class was not the climax of the morning. The climax was when the Bismarck Sea flying the Japanese Navy flag majestically broke into the middle of the sea. Now everyone knows that four pilots captured an aircraft carrier. Everyone was smacking their lips at it. Ryunosuke Kusaka also wanted to brag about a few meritorious officials in front of everyone. Not only did he order them to drive the warship to the center, but he also ordered Toshio Ota and Hiroyuki Nishizawa to fly the US F6F. The fighter jets, escorted by more than 30 Japanese fighter jets, passed through the Katsuragi - this was also the only fighter jet painted with the American five-star logo that could fly past Horikichi's eyes during the Central Pacific Battle.

Horikichi nodded and waved, expressing deep satisfaction with Ryunosuke Kusaka's actions - what could be more inspiring to the entire army than this kind of behavior?

"All troops return, fighter planes cover, let's go to Hawaii!"

"Sir, the army has been notified of the news and is preparing to launch Operation Czech 3 as soon as possible. All oil tankers, materials, and supplies arriving in the country will be concentrated on Midway Island."

"I plan to draw 2 more army divisions and 4 aviation divisions from China, and then hand over the F plan to the army, and the funds will be divided into 64 for land and sea." Horikichi explained, "Let Commander Yamamoto communicate as soon as possible about the Battle of Hawaii. We cannot take it lightly and must go all out.”

"This is the telegram I prepared to report my victory. Please take a look at it..."

Horikichi glanced at it a few times, then took up a pen and crossed out the words "Our army did not lose a single ship and completely annihilated the U.S. Pacific Fleet..." in Chiaki Matsuda's manuscript, and changed it to "Our army lost more than 100,000 tons of warships. Fortunately, the officers and soldiers sacrificed their lives." The whole army was brave, without losing the main force, and basically wiped out the entire enemy fleet in Hawaii. "

"Sir, what are you doing?"

“Didn’t the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Seattle, and Panama all result in the loss of warships?”

"But it has nothing to do with this battle..."

"It does matter. Without the restraints of the previous battles, such a good result would not have been possible. Besides..." Horikichi sighed, "Don't write me as wise, powerful and invincible. What if I lose the battle in the future? "

"Sir... never."

"Even if you can't, how can you write such a high-profile statement so that later people can take over the position of commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet? Don't let them be in my shadow. The latecomers should be more capable than us..." Horikichi said with emotion, "The Empire is leaving. There is still a long way to go, and there is nothing wrong with being humble.”

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