Iron Cross

"Report, it is discovered that the main force of the enemy fleet is currently attacking Tuvalu. Our airport has been destroyed and most of the aircraft have been destroyed..."

In the early morning of August 31, a message broke the silence on the Essex aircraft carrier.

"When did it happen? Weren't you on any alert?" Halsey was very angry, "I have repeatedly reminded them to be alert..."

But soon it was no longer possible to continue. The telegram showed that the Japanese army launched an attack at dawn. The defenders had no time to react and were directly hit by bombs and artillery shells. The entire attack routine was exactly the same as the Japanese attack in Panama.

"Let me take a look. The enemy fleet is spread out around the island. It has 5 battleships, 8-9 suspected heavy cruisers, 2 regular aircraft carriers, 3-4 light aircraft carriers, and more than 200 other ships in the distance. The enemy The ship seems to be trying to land."

Halsey gasped: "It's Horikichi's main force! He wants to fight Tuvalu!"

Nimitz frowned tightly: "How much defensive strength do we have up there?"

"There is about one battalion in the Army. Originally there were more than 100 aircraft, but now..." Halsey was quite worried.

"Be prepared to fall..." Nimitz showed a helpless look, "The gap between the enemy's and ours' strength is too big, and now that there is no air power, it is estimated that we will fall quickly. However, judging from the situation where the enemy is so carelessly exposed, Horikichi doesn’t seem to know we exist.”

"This is a good opportunity, but it's still a little far away. I'm afraid the Army won't be able to defend it for long." Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffin, chief of staff of the fleet, looked at the chart. The center of the main force of the Pacific Fleet is roughly 1,000 nautical miles south of Midway. , the straight-line distance from the Japanese army is still about 2,500 kilometers.

"Go and intercept him?"

Nimitz said nothing and only asked: "How many days do you think the army can hold on? Can it be as tough as the Japanese army in Tarawa?"

Halsey was immediately speechless.

Giffen said incredulously: "Can we hold on for at least one day? The Japanese army has one day to prepare, one day to seize the island, and one day to retreat. If we seize the time and advance quickly, there will be enough time for carrier-based aircraft to fly to the attack range in 3-4 days..."

Nimitz shook his head: "Although the enemy fleet is huge, it is difficult to catch them. I want to relocate the escort aircraft carrier group to Tarawa. The main force of the fleet will maneuver in the waters between Tarawa and Tuvalu. Capture the fighter planes and lure the enemy formations to Tarawa if possible."

"You insist that the enemy will go to Tarawa?" Major General Giffin was a little unbelievable. "And even in Tarawa, the defense system has not been established yet and there is no way to resist the Japanese attack."

"I have no evidence, but I have an intuition that Horikichi will definitely go to Tarawa." Nimitz showed an imperceptible smile, "If he didn't go, he wouldn't have to go to Tuvalu - he was in To clear the way for the attack on Tarawa, as for counter-landing..."

Halsey sighed and continued: "Once the enemy troops start landing, we have actually lost..."

Major General Giffen is a smart man, otherwise he would not be the chief of staff. After a little digging, he understood: Admiral Nimitz meant to use Tarawa to lure the Japanese to attack, and then arrange escort carrier formations in the surrounding waters in advance. He can take the opportunity to launch an attack on the enemy aircraft carrier formation. This attack will most likely fail, but this is not a real killing move. His fatal blow is to ambush and swim around to attack the fleet aircraft carrier formation.

In Nimitz's tactical arrangement, Tarawa was the bait on the surface, and the escort carrier formation was the bait secretly. Once the Japanese army swallowed it, the third wave of hidden kills would be dispatched.

Although Halsey was the fleet commander, he respected Nimitz's opinion very much. After thinking about it for a long time, he decided that this tactic was safer. His only doubt was: "What if the Japanese army takes the bait and does not attack Tarawa?"

"Then there is nothing we can do. Most of these escort carriers will have to die in vain..." Nimitz's voice became deeper. "Nothing is guaranteed in a war, otherwise the enemy will not fight us."

Not only did Major General Giffen have this question, Genda Minoru on the Shokaku was also puzzled. He asked Chief of Staff Kusaka Ryunosuke: "Sir, since you are ready to attack Tarawa, why do you want to attack Tuva?" Lu, take action? Even if there is an airfield above, it will not pose much threat to our attack. If we really want to destroy it, we can just attack it with an airplane. Why waste time? Doesn't this remind the US military that we are here? Greatly increases our chances of exposure!”

"Don't you understand?"

Minoru Genda admitted honestly: "I originally thought the commander would land in New Zealand to fight, but instead of landing in New Zealand, he landed in Tuvalu. It's really..."

Kusaka Ryuunosuke smiled: "Don't say you didn't understand it. I don't understand it very well either. Let's listen to what the commander has to say."

Tsukahara 243 shook his head: "I don't think so. First of all, you have seen the overview of Tuvalu Airport. It is not a small airport as we imagined. It is actually an airport between Australia, New Zealand and the Central Pacific for the US military. The aviation base, both in terms of scale and aircraft, has exceeded expectations. I originally thought there was no need to go to war, but after seeing it, I deeply admire the commander’s decision. If we should fight, we should definitely land. Secondly, there is one distinctive feature that I don’t know you have. I have not found that judging from the experience of the Panama Campaign, the US heavy bombers can be effectively changed into long-range reconnaissance aircraft, and the enemy's engineering repair power and speed are really amazing. If we just 'attack' Tuvalu lightly, the US military will use If it can be completely repaired in less than 3 days, what will happen?”

The two people on the opposite side nodded repeatedly: If we don't attack Tawala, it doesn't matter whether the Tuvalu Airport is repaired or not. But if the fleet wants to land in Tawala, the Tuvalu Airport is the sharp knife on the back of the combined fleet - —Whether it’s attacking or conducting reconnaissance, the combined fleet has trouble sleeping and eating.

"Last and most important, sir, I hope to lure the enemy out to fight. If we don't pick an obvious target to attack, how can we let the enemy know that we are coming?"

"What?" Genda Minoru's eyes widened, and he suddenly figured out something, and exclaimed: "The combined fleet headquarters is just a bait for the commander to be exposed to the public and attract the enemy's attention. The guerrilla fleet is the main force?"

Tsukahara smiled and nodded: "The way to use troops is to be informal and mix reality with reality. Who stipulated that the guerrilla fleet must act as bait? The main force cannot be used as bait? You have all seen the tactic of using the Yamato as a bait! It's nothing more than the above The first time was the commander himself, but this time it’s my turn.”

These words made Ryunosuke Kusaka and Minoru Genda feel proud.

The guerrilla fleet mentioned by Genda Minoru is composed of Mikawa's Eighth Fleet and Tsunoda's Third Air Force. It is very weak. The core force only has 4 heavy cruisers and 2 light aircraft carriers, plus a bunch of destroyers. After covering India, After the dispatched troops landed, they caught up with the slow Kurita fleet and escorted them all the way before separating from the transport fleet. Then he implemented Horikichi's combat orders and selectively ignored the orders of the military headquarters on the grounds of radio silence.

The guerrilla fleet is not strong, but the land force is not weak. In addition to a group of marines that have been accompanying them in the war, they also went to Rabaul to replenish the force of a marine wing. They also found a way to transfer a group of pilots from Ugaki Matoi. ——This is also the key reason why Horikichi is too lazy to negotiate with the Military Command. Whether it is mobilizing land combat forces from Rabaul or mobilizing land-based aviation forces from Ugaki Matoi, it is actually not the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet who can make decisions. According to the RB system It must be reported to the military command department and coordinated by the commander-in-chief.

But this involved communication between the garrison, the Marine Corps, the Naval Air Force, the Combined Fleet, and Tokyo. A telegram alone would kill people. The greatly increased communication would increase the chance of exposure, so Horikichi simply went over the top to negotiate.

Strangely enough, both the Rabaul garrison commander and Ugaki Matoi were respectful to Horikichi's orders and obeyed them all. Especially Ugaki Matoi's cooperation made Kusuka Renichi very strange, because the other party was originally high-minded. The arrogant Golden Mask was driven out of the position of Chief of Staff of the United Fleet and changed positions with himself because of Horikichi. He planned to use his original influence in the aviation team to push forward after Ugaki Matoi refused, but he failed. Things went more smoothly than he thought.

"Sir, the guerrilla fleet still has three days to reach the designated location." Caolu Renyihui reported, "Everything goes well on the way."

Horikichi smiled: "Okay! Land in Tuvalu and avenge the soldiers of Tavala! I will go to the island to patrol before the sun goes down!"

The Marine commander next to him, Colonel Tanaka Yoshihiro, laughed: "Sir, it doesn't have to be dark. You can go to the island after lunch."

Horikichi shook his head: "Don't underestimate the enemy. The US military will only underestimate the enemy. Otherwise, so many people would die on Tarawa? Don't let Tuvalu become our Tarawa. The US military has tens of thousands of troops to squander." , I only have one multi-team with you!”

"Been taught a lesson!"

But Horikichi still has a high opinion of Tuvalu's defense capabilities. Frankly speaking, the island's defense level cannot even reach Tarawa's two CDs, and the US Army does not seem to be very good at fighting without aircraft and artillery.

The landing began at 9:20, because the battleship had to save ammunition, and considering that the airport and defense facilities were still useful, the attack could not be too bad, because the combined fleet used light cruisers and destroyers to approach and fire, and nearly a hundred light warships opened fire. The spectacular sight makes one’s scalp numb. The Japanese light warships have always been known for their firepower and the guns opened fire violently, allowing the US military on the island to enjoy a metal storm - completely different from the heavy bombardment of Guadalcanal, this time the style was suffocating.

30 minutes later, the Japanese landing craft was dispatched and the No. 4 amphibious tank began to launch.

Not long after, there were cheers from the front, and the US military waved a white flag and surrendered. Caolu Renyi turned around and looked at the time—it was still 5 minutes short of 11 o'clock.

He smiled and asked Horikichi: "Sir, would you like to eat first or go to the island first?"

"So fast?" Horikichi also laughed, "Just follow Tanaka-kun's suggestion and land on the island after lunch."