Iron Cross

Before dawn the next day, Tsukahara sent all the reconnaissance forces at hand to detect the USS Essex, but he failed to find the severely damaged enemy ship until noon. In the end, he had to withdraw his troops and reunite with the bombardment fleet and the guerrilla fleet, preparing to bypass the Marshall Islands to replenish Truk and then return to the mainland.

The USS Essex was destined to be lost. Yesterday evening, Nimitz, who had repeatedly requested to keep the ship, changed his mind because the ship was too slow and the navigation conditions were dangerous, which slowed down the overall retreat of the fleet. He rejected the pleas of others and reluctantly issued an order: all personnel evacuated, and the destroyers released torpedoes to sink it actively.

As the sun set, the destroyers Emmons and Grayson jointly released torpedoes, and a total of 4 torpedoes hit the USS Essex almost at the same time. This time it was finally unstoppable. This strong new aircraft carrier made a special contribution-relying on its tenacious floating ability, 70% of the officers and soldiers on board and the entire Pacific Fleet Command were finally preserved.

Watching it slowly sinking on the sea, everyone had tears in their eyes. Many young sailors who were only in their early 19s couldn't help crying. In this battle, they not only suffered a setback, but also lost many of their companions.

"We lost all the aircraft carriers. How should we report to the country?" Halsey was frowning and in pain. "Admiral King repeatedly hinted that we should be cautious. As a result, the battle turned out like this. If he stood in front of me now, he would probably kill me..."

"This is not a problem you should consider. Our war with the Japanese devils will last for a long time. Don't be too concerned about it. Besides, the fleet is not without gain." Nimitz explained, "We severely damaged the Shokaku, the Zuikaku, sank two enemy light aircraft carriers, and severely damaged an unknown medium-sized aircraft carrier - it may be the French Béarn. The enemy's manpower was It was a great blow..."

"It is obvious that we lost more, and we also lost an additional New Mexico."

As they were talking, Giffen came in hurriedly: "The submarine force reported good news. They sank a damaged Kongo-class battleship this morning."

"Really?" Halsey was happy, "It must be the Kongo-class that was damaged by us."

"You see, the loss of the New Mexico is even." Nimitz analyzed the situation calmly: "Japan's shipbuilding capacity is very problematic, and ours is much better. 3 for 2 or even 4 for 2 is acceptable. The other day, the USS Intrepid (Essex-class) ) has completed sea trials and entered service; between October and November, Wasp, Hornet, and Franklin (all Essex-class) will be completed and put into service one after another, and two Independence-class light aircraft carriers will also join the fleet. Before Christmas, the Atlantic Fleet will have 4 fleet aircraft carriers and 3 light aircraft carriers available. We should have hope of getting support from another 2 fleet aircraft carriers and 2 light aircraft carriers - all good ships like the Essex. The Japanese can only use 2 fleet aircraft carriers and 2 light aircraft carriers at most. As time goes by, our new aircraft carriers will be put into service more and more quickly! Sooner or later, the Japanese devils will be overwhelmed by the Essex-class ocean uranium. Swallowed. ”

Halsey smiled bitterly: "Don't force yourself to comfort me, I see you are in pain too."

"I am not worried about warships. In terms of production, America is unmatched. What worries me is the lack of skilled pilots." Nimitz looked at the problem very targetedly, "Don't you think our pilots are not good enough? In this attack, apart from Fleet A, we actually have the upper hand. If the 180 aircraft deployed by Fleet B can have the attack efficiency of the Japanese, Tsukahara 243's mobile fleet would have been defeated by us long ago, and he would not have had a chance to launch the second and third waves of attack?"

Halsey nodded in agreement. Nimitz had no need to shirk responsibility, but he hit the nail on the head - Fleet A used its own sacrifice to create a big and good gap for Fleet B, but the air strikes of two attack waves and 180 aircraft were not very effective: Shokaku was not sunk, Zuikaku was not damaged, only Bolzano was sunk, and even Ryuho was not killed. If Ryuho or Zuikaku was destroyed in the first wave, the situation would not be so ugly. Perhaps it was Hori Teikichi who had to consider retreating now.

Assuming that the positions of both sides were exchanged, these 180 aircraft were put into the attack by the Japanese army. Not to mention the Shokaku, I am afraid that several other light aircraft carriers and auxiliary aircraft carriers would have been killed.

"After returning to Pearl Harbor, we must increase the intensity of pilot training. At least I still have two escort aircraft carriers in my hands, and we must make full use of them."

"Sir, the battle report is written, please review it." Giffen handed the long telegram reporting to the country to Nimitz, who read it carefully for a long time, crossed out the last part of the defense of the battle decision, and wrote down his analysis with Halsey just now.

"Tell the country that we do not regret our decision. If it happens again, I will still choose to fight the Japanese. Although we failed tactically, we did not fail strategically. We successfully consumed the Japanese army's strength - at least in the short term, the Combined Fleet will no longer interfere with the situation in Europe, let alone affect the Battle of the Azores." Nimitz thought for a while, and finally picked up the pen to add a few words.

Halsey came over to take a look and found that what he wrote was: "I am willing to continue to lead the fleet to fight the Japanese army to the end, but if the responsibility needs to be investigated, I am willing to take full responsibility and go to a military court. Halsey, Giffen and others are Working under my specific command, they completed various tasks conscientiously and revised and improved operational decisions many times during the command without any mistakes. They are rare and outstanding command talents, and it is recommended to retain them..."

"Sir!" Halsey and Giffen's eyes were red.

Nimitz patted the two of them on the shoulders: "It's okay. Let's fight again. As long as we continue to consume Horikichi's hard-earned strength, the final victory will definitely belong to us!"

It was already late at night when the news came back to Washington. The officer on duty at the Joint Chiefs of Staff did not dare to neglect and hurriedly handed the message to General Kim. The latter hurriedly read the telegram, was shocked and angry, and shouted that Nimitz was "ignorant" - it was at the critical moment of the Azores battle, and the Pacific Fleet was a force he hoped to retain as much as possible. I didn't expect this to happen, it was just...

"I want to see the president!" He didn't waste any words, and he didn't intend to let the news stay overnight.

When he saw Roosevelt, his mood calmed down a little, and he began to seriously think about what Nimitz said in the telegram. After calming down and thinking, he had to admit that it was currently using a lose-lose approach to advance the campaign and hold back the Japanese. The only feasible strategy—until the quality of the military is fundamentally reversed, this is almost the best way for the U.S. military.

Roosevelt was equally shocked after seeing this, but he was obviously more calm - the wheelchair also restricted him from "rising up". He asked in a slightly excited voice: "What do you think of this battle?"

"Well... I think the overall result and the process should be looked at in two parts." Although Admiral Kim scolded Nimitz and Halsey in his office, he tried his best to defend them in front of Roosevelt. man, to safeguard the honor of the Navy.

"I won't elaborate on the negative side, but you can see it anyway - the Pacific Fleet has lost all its aircraft carriers and can only defend Hawaii for the time being. The situation in Australia and New Zealand will not be too good, and the relevant transportation and supply lines will also face difficulties; But I think there are more positive aspects: First of all, this is barely a high exchange ratio tactic, much better than the results of the battles in the Indian Ocean, North Atlantic and Caribbean battles. We killed or severely damaged 4 enemy aircraft carriers and 2 battleships. , the results have surpassed the results of previous battles; secondly, this tragic battle curbed the combined fleet's ability to attack wildly. The Japanese army's arrogance reached its peak when they harassed Australia and New Zealand. Now we have fought back fiercely, and we can fight against the allies. An honorable explanation; last but not least, we can eliminate the impact of the combined fleet on European wars in the future. The Battle of Azores is our fight against the German and Italian navies, which is undoubtedly beneficial. "

Roosevelt nodded, considered to be convinced. Of course, he would not take whatever Admiral Kim said as his own, but he could not disclose another defeat to the country, especially the Battle of Tarawa, which had just been commended with great fanfare, and was immediately slapped in the face. , this face is too painful - it is not in line with the principles of political correctness at all.

He asked in a deep voice: "What should we do next?"

"The Battle of the Azores will be launched at the end of next month. I suggest that the warships that will be commissioned in October be transferred to the Pacific Fleet. First, two Essex-class ships and one Independence-class ship will be given, plus the two ships currently in Brazil. The battleships will immediately return to the configuration of three aircraft carriers and four battleships, and the strength will not decrease but will increase. We will increase the number of troops early next year depending on the situation, and strive to give Nimitz a force advantage. "Admiral Jin is still relatively confident. Enough, "After we capture the Azores and regain the upper hand in the Atlantic, we can shift our focus to the Pacific. By then the Japanese will not be able to take advantage of them."

Although this idea deviated from Roosevelt's consistent idea of ​​"Europe first, Asia first", he did not directly deny it in the middle. Instead, he felt that this consideration was correct, because the current Far East battlefield involves India and Australia and New Zealand-the latter has a strong influence on the United States. Global strategy is very important.

After thinking for a long time, he said slowly: "We can plan like this first. When Operation Overlord is over, we will discuss the overall strategy."

Hearing the president's relaxed tone, Admiral Jin was secretly relieved.

Early the next morning, because he and Roosevelt had discussed it very late yesterday and slept relatively late, General Kim was still resting. Unexpectedly, the adjutant called and said in a hurried tone: "Sir, there is an unexpected military situation. Chief of Staff Marshall. It is proposed to convene an emergency meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”