Bismarck

Chapter 602: Enterprise and Saratoga

Headquarters, United States Pacific Fleet, Oahu, Hawaii, February 1942, 2

"Everyone, this Wake Island Campaign has two goals. In addition to reclaiming Wake Island, which was illegally occupied by these barbaric yellow monkeys, the most important goal is to destroy their aircraft carriers!"

Admiral Husband Edward "Kimmel," the stern but hot-tempered commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, was in the headquarters' conference room, issuing combat orders to his generals who were gathered around a chart table.

While explaining the campaign objectives and tactical essentials, Kimmel looked at his subordinates in the conference room with a slightly complacent look - the Pacific Fleet's conference room was full of talents! And many of them were promoted by his men: Vice Admiral Pye, deputy commander of the fleet, Vice Admiral Halsey, commander of the Pacific Fleet's aircraft carrier force, Vice Admiral Fletcher, who had just been transferred from the position of commander of the Pacific Fleet's cruiser fleet to commander of the task force, Rear Admiral Wilson Brown, a calm and senior military officer, Rear Admiral Aubrey Fitch, commander of the Lexington aircraft carrier squadron who was an administrative officer... and so on!

Although these people have different backgrounds, status, temperaments, and personalities, and their attitudes towards people are also very different, but overall, the team atmosphere of the Pacific Fleet is still united! And this team and this atmosphere were created by himself! In Kimmel's heart, he has always been proud of his subordinates and his fleet.

However, the Japanese were obviously not pushovers, and what needed to be explained clearly had to be explained clearly! Kimmel knew very well that his immediate superior in the Navy, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Navy Fleet, Ernest King, had now squeezed out the Chief of Naval Operations and monopolized the two major powers of the Navy's command, and was wantonly excluding dissidents in the military - needless to say, this was what President Roosevelt had instructed him to do!

Roosevelt had always wanted to expand his power, and although Kimmel's ability was recognized by the world, his political arrogance and ability to pick on others for no reason were even more notorious. Kimmel, who knew that although he had been Roosevelt's aide in his early years, he was not in the same political faction as the White House, could not help but feel a headache.

To be honest, although Kimmel himself wanted to take some military action against the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet, his idea was only a certain range of attack operations, while Washington was urging him to start a decisive battle-level military operation! For example, defeating the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet in one battle, and the reason was very "sufficient" - the main force of Japanese aircraft carriers is now scattered in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, and their forces in the Pacific Ocean are about the same as yours, so you are fully qualified to fight them!

A big hat immediately suppressed Kimmel who wanted to defend himself!

Kimmel knew very well that this was because Britain was in trouble in the Indian Ocean! However, such military operations carried out for political purposes are often restricted by political factors. In nine out of ten cases, there will be no good results, and they may even become scapegoats.

But… orders are orders, no matter how unreliable the order is, soldiers must obey it - well, in Kimmel's opinion, this is probably another big hat to be put down...

In order to avoid being dealt with by certain politicians in uniform, Kimmel put a lot of thought into this battle plan, trying his best to avoid any loopholes - in short, he must not let those people in Washington get an excuse to deal with him for no apparent reason!

There was always a voice in Kimmel's heart telling him not to be the scapegoat "again" - although the more confusing feeling was: What the hell is a scapegoat? !

However, at least the meaning of this voice is correct, otherwise I would not have put so much thought into formulating this battle plan, right?

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As his mind turned to thoughts, he continued to explain the combat mission: "...Wake Island has been occupied by them for four months, so it is conceivable that the situation on the island has been strengthened to a certain extent! At the same time, considering that the Japanese have the Kawanishi H8K 'Emily' seaplane reconnaissance aircraft with a very long range, we must be wary of the possibility of being discovered by them in advance - although as far as we know, the number of such abnormalities with a range of up to 4500 miles is not large, but in addition, they also have some Mitsubishi G2800M 'Betty' twin-engine bombers with a range of about 4 nautical miles, which can also be used for reconnaissance! In the Marshall Islands to their south, the nearest Rongelap Atoll to Wake Island is only 475 nautical miles away. As early as when Wake Island fell, they were able to dispatch more than aircraft at a time to bomb here! So we must also be wary..."

"According to the information we have learned from many sources, although the six aircraft carriers of Chuichi Nagumo's fleet, Kaga, Akagi, Zuikaku, Shokaku, Shoho, and Zuiho, are still in the Indian Ocean, the Imperial Japanese Navy still has a powerful aircraft carrier mobile force in the Pacific! According to the intercepted Japanese radio calls, this force may include Ryujo, Hiyo, Hayateka, Soryu, Hiryu, and the possible third Shokaku-class aircraft carrier: Ryukaku! In other words, the strength of the Japanese Navy in the Pacific Fleet is almost the same as ours! Everyone must pay attention to this!"

Hearing that the strength of the Japanese navy was almost the same as theirs, the American generals below looked at each other in bewilderment. The more senior Brown simply asked: "Commander, if the enemy's strength is really that strong, even if we take the relatively safest Northwest Route, I'm afraid we will face attacks from several enemy air bases and six aircraft carriers at the same time. Moreover, Wake Island is more than 2000 kilometers away from Midway Island. Our reconnaissance aircraft are not enough to search for the enemy at such a long distance, so the chances of winning are really not high..."

I know it's not high! But my superiors want me to turn the raid into a decisive battle. Can I do it?

Kimmel was a little depressed, but he still had to explain:

"I know, so this mission is divided into two parts. The first part is our aircraft carriers. Six aircraft carriers form two task forces, led by Halsey and Fletcher respectively, and they are heading towards Wake Island with mutual cover. The key point of the aircraft carrier task force is: after luring out the Japanese aircraft carriers through feint attacks, we will focus on attacking the Japanese aircraft carriers! The first task is to destroy the Japanese aircraft carriers!"

"The second part is our landing fleet. The transport ships and supply ships will follow the battleship South Dakota and tow behind the aircraft carrier formation for about 1300 miles ( kilometers). We will land after we gain control of the sea. This distance is within the search radius of the shore-based reconnaissance aircraft of Midway Island, and we can get cover from the enemy. Moreover, if the situation of the naval battle changes, the distance of miles is enough to withdraw to Midway Island before being caught up by the Japanese fleet!..."

"...Finally, let me say it again. In addition to destroying the enemy aircraft carrier, this mission is to ensure our own safety - the strategy for Wake Island is only secondary! I hope that even in the worst case scenario, our aircraft carrier and everyone present here will be able to return safely!"

Kimmel ended his speech with a wave of his hand.

At dawn, at the naval port of Oahu, Hawaii, a huge fleet is preparing to set sail.

At the dock of the aircraft carrier bridge, groups of soldiers were making the final preparations before the expedition. Gathering, lining up, boarding, carrying supplies, transferring supplies onto the ship... everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.

In a corner of the dock, two girls dressed as female soldiers were also saying goodbye...

"Sarah, this time we really have to confront the Japanese head-on. They are always feeling nervous. What should we do...>﹏

A blonde girl who looks like a cute girl in a belly-baring sailor suit and a short skirt, with a blue five-pointed star on the tip of her braid, is pulling the arm of another slim girl who is wearing a white navy dress that shows off her perfect curves and a blue butterfly hairpin on her blonde hair, acting like a spoiled child.

Even though the person being pulled had no expression on his face, he couldn't help but roll his eyes in the face of this situation: "Come on, do you think I don't know you? You are just a battle maniac, okay! (← ← )"

"Hey!! Jia Jia, why are you like this? You said you wouldn't spoil things. Our friendship is over!! (╯｀皿′)╯⌒┻━┻"

The energetic blonde girl clenched her fists in anger, bared her teeth and claws, and pounced on them fiercely. Then there was a "splash" sound, and someone who was passing by and saw the two blonde girls fighting and playing, stepped on the air and fell into the sea.

Since ancient times, beautiful women have always caused accidents, especially in dangerous places like docks. Now, someone has fallen into one.

The girl in white with a butterfly hairpin on her head who saw this scene quickly pushed away the fierce cute creature next to her:

"Oh come on, Intel Price, someone fell into the sea!"

Before he finished speaking, he grabbed a lifebuoy hanging on a pile by the dock and threw it towards the man in the water - very accurately, it landed directly on the head of the man who was struggling in the water!

After all, he was a sailor. Although he was a little panicked after falling into the water, he quickly calmed down after grabbing the lifebuoy. After doggy paddling twice, he climbed up the ladder by the dock and was pulled up by two beauties.

It's just a little embarrassing.

"Hey, thank you, both beauties." The man who was pulled up had just swallowed a few mouthfuls of seawater, but now he had recovered. As soon as he regained consciousness, he shamelessly introduced himself: "My name is Richard Best, the dive bomber squadron leader of the CV-6 Enterprise aircraft carrier. Can I meet you two?"

As expected, he was a young man with excessive hormone secretion. The first thing he did when he got ashore was to ask the girl's name. People around him burst into laughter.

After hearing this, the beautiful lady in the dress with the blue butterfly hairpin who had lost the lifebuoy suddenly broke her long-standing expression of "nothingness" and glanced at the other person with a slightly teasing look. The meaning of her eyes was very obvious:

"Intel Price, this is your fault~"

screw you!

The blonde beauty known as Intel Price rolled her eyes at him in displeasure, but immediately changed the subject: "Oh, don't thank me, thank her, it was she who threw you the life buoy. Slim Sara, the nurse aboard the USS Saratoga, is the best girl to meet if you want to meet a beautiful woman. She's very gentle and innocent~"

"Hey! People on your ship, why are you dragging me down with you?" Sarah was obviously unhappy, but she had a lot of plans. She grabbed Price's hand and pulled him in front of Best: "Don't look at me, look at her! The singer of the military band who just joined the army is on the same aircraft carrier as you. Is it fate?"

"Uh... yes, it's fate..."

Seeing the two beauties introducing each other to him, Best, who knew that this was a disguised rejection of the relationship, suddenly felt pale - is my charm so bad?

It received a huge critical hit of 10,000 points.

But at this moment, a shout from the other side rescued Best:

"Bester, gather! Come here quickly!"

"Ah...Captain McClusky!" The captain called out, and Best had to say goodbye to the two beauties in a hurry. But fortunately, it seems that one of them is the singer of the military band on his ship...? It seems that there is still a chance.

As he watched Best running away, Price pouted and glared at Sarah:

"It's all your fault! If I get harassed by him, I'll find you!"

"Hehe, then you have to wait until this naval battle is over~"

Sarah, who was originally indifferent, now smiled mischievously: "I won't talk to you anymore. I have to leave with my sister and Wasp. So...bye~"

She turned around like a butterfly, humming an unknown song and ran away. Price was left standing alone at the dock, gritting his teeth as he looked at the direction where Sarah ran away...

"Wait till you come back, and I'll punish you!"

(PS: The so-called Ryuhe aircraft carrier was a mistake made by the US intelligence department in history. According to Fletcher's war records, the US intelligence department, which was still in a mess at the time, misspelled the pronunciation of Xiangfeng in a certain report. Historically, it was not until the end of the Battle of Midway that the Americans really figured out the true size of the Japanese aircraft carrier formation and the names of the warships through interrogating the Japanese pilots who fell into the water. Source: "Aircraft Carrier Fleet Commander-Frank Jack Fletcher in the Coral Sea, Midway and Guadalcanal")

Chapter 603: Battlefield Fog

Under the urging of Washington politicians, Kimmel painstakingly planned an operational plan. The six aircraft carriers of the Pacific Fleet formed two task forces, made a circle and headed towards Midway Island.

In this battle plan, the vanguard was Vice Admiral Fletcher's 17th Task Force, which consisted of three aircraft carriers with a total of aircraft: Lexington, Saratoga and Wasp. The mission of these three aircraft carriers was to feint an attack on Wake Island while withstanding the "gradual decline" of Japanese bombers, mine warfare teams and submarines, and persist until the Japanese aircraft carriers were lured out!

The feint attack on Wake Island was carried out by the Lexington and Saratoga, which were good at full-deck attack mode and had very strong attack power, but only had two small elevators, resulting in low deck operation efficiency. The Wasp, which had a smaller displacement and weaker combat power but had a certain deck operation efficiency, was mainly responsible for air defense tasks and guarding against Japanese aircraft carriers that might appear at any time.

The other three aircraft carriers, the Yorktown-class sisters of the 16th Task Force, will follow not far behind Fletcher's fleet under the leadership of Vice Admiral Halsey. The three newly designed Yorktown-class sisters also carry more than aircraft. They have only one mission - as long as the Japanese aircraft carrier appears, they will launch a full-deck attack - no need to worry about whether is equal to , just give the Japanese devils a lot of color and flowers first!

However, as early as the ninth "Fleet Problem" exercise in 1930, the two aviation tactical pioneers had confirmed that "the way to maximize the combat effectiveness of an aircraft carrier is high maneuverability", so the accompanying ships of the aircraft carrier this time are mainly heavy cruisers and destroyers - the Fourth Cruiser Division commanded by Fletcher himself, the Fifth Cruiser Division of Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance, and the Sixth Cruiser Division of Rear Admiral Thomas Kinkaid, will provide cover for Fletcher and Halsey respectively.

The battleship South Dakota, which had just been commissioned and had excellent performance on paper, except for its slow speed, followed the transport fleet and slowly followed behind, so as to avoid failing to land and becoming a living target for the Japanese air force and submarines to gain medals.

---March 1942, 3----------

It was a pretty good day.

The fleet maintained a speed of twenty knots, sailing on the sunny Pacific Ocean.

The North Pacific Ocean in early March is still cold, just at the tail end of the lowest ocean temperature in February. The Siberian High that dominates the Eurasian continent in winter has weakened, but the Hawaiian High that blows across the entire North Pacific Ocean in summer is now nowhere to be seen. However, because of this, there are no strong winds and rough waves in the sea area now, only the North Pacific Ocean Current that never stops all year round, and the light southwest wind blowing quietly in front of us.

However, such weather is also conducive to the search of long-range reconnaissance aircraft. Due to the active performance of the German War Navy's Lütjens Fleet, the Japanese Navy, whether it is the battle fleet or the aviation force, has been equipped with some radars! Especially those long-range reconnaissance aircraft that bear early warning, and the long-range twin-engine bomber units that play an important role in early air strikes in the scheduled reduction operations, are the units that are given priority to be equipped with airborne radars!

The U.S. fleet was spotted by a long-range reconnaissance plane of the Japanese Navy when it was 720 nautical miles northeast of Wake Island. Although the Kawanishi Type 17 (heavy seaplane) was quickly shot down by three Zero fighters, the radio room of the flagship of the th Task Force, the Lexington, reported a piece of news that made Fletcher wonder whether he should be happy or sad: the Japanese reconnaissance plane had sent a telegram before it was shot down!

Three o'clock in the afternoon on March 1942, 3! The 3th Task Force's position was lit up!

A bright little light bulb appeared above everyone's head.

But... this was an expected result.

"Forget it, if we're discovered, then we're discovered. We just need to lure them out."

Thinking about one of his missions, which was to lure out the Japanese aircraft carriers for annihilation, Fletcher, who was easy-going by nature, rubbed his nose and let the matter go:

In addition to the "small" accident of being discovered, as the commander of the task force, Fletcher still had a lot of headaches in front of him:

According to the Navy's previous judgment of Japan, the Japanese Navy has long had a strategic idea of ​​defensive counterattack, and often uses a routine nicknamed "Nine-stage Gradual Decrease" or "Nine-stage Sakamaki" in strict patrols. A very important part of this routine is that before the main fleet decisive battle, there will be multiple outpost battles to weaken the strength of the US military. The most critical of these is the night raid of the Japanese mine fleet!

Fletcher, who was originally a cruiser fleet commander, saw in various intelligence and internal references that the descriptions of the Japanese Navy's cruiser fleet and destroyer fleet were all about the long-term brutal training of the Japanese Navy's mine warfare team for more than ten years. Both the naval and intelligence communities almost universally believed that the Imperial Japanese Navy's mine warfare team possessed world-class tactics and was a powerful opponent of the US Navy's cruisers and destroyers!

Not to mention, according to confirmed intelligence, these barbarians, who originally relied on cod liver oil and searchlights to fight night battles, have now installed radars after flirting with the Germans for a while!

The level of the US Navy...

Fletcher couldn't help but have the urge to cover his face with his hands, ashamed to face others...

Just half a year ago, in the Battle of the Faroe Islands, the cruiser Prince Eugen, known as the "Black Storm" and said to be controlled by evil spirits, single-handedly defeated an entire American fleet!

Although half a year had passed, the Navy's top brass had been trying to find a solution, and even invited a British naval gunnery expert with rich "experience in fighting evil spirits" to provide training, but because the U.S. fleet's gunnery was out of concept from the beginning, even with the intensive training, the results were not ideal! After several months of tossing and turning, it was discovered that all the fire control directors of U.S. cruisers and battleships were designed and produced according to the old concept - all of these things had to be replaced!

But... until now, the design of the new fire control system has not yet come out!

Although the British provided their equipment drawings and operating specifications, British fire control and American gunnery are not very compatible, so the improvement of American warships' gunnery has been very limited so far!

Moreover, this is not the end! It has been half a year since the United States announced its participation in the war, but during this half year, the problems exposed by the US military are not ordinary - almost a series of various problems!

Including the fact that the training and assessment of each ship in peacetime is largely a formality and does not meet the needs of actual combat, the cruiser fleet lacks very high frequency short-distance tactical communication radios, lacks a unified intelligence department, and each intelligence decoding team is independent and even infighting, the fire control radar cannot directly command the correction of night combat shooting, and the actual endurance of destroyers, cruisers and even battleships is far lower than the theoretical endurance claimed by the shipyard... etc. - Although some of these problems, such as the problem of tactical communication radios, are relatively easy to solve, of course, this sentence can be understood in reverse, that is, other problems are very troublesome to solve. For example, compared with the Japanese mine fleet, whose training intensity is so cruel that it is outrageous, the night combat training intensity of American light surface ships is only a five-point...

If it was just that, it would be fine. Even if the Japanese fleet was strong, Fletcher brought two heavy cruiser squadrons and two destroyer squadrons, a total of eight heavy cruisers and twelve destroyers. Even if the quality was not as good as others, at least they still had the strength to fight.

But in addition to this, even if we don't count the aircraft carriers that may appear at any time, Japan still has a submarine squadron in the Marshall Islands, as well as at least one long-range aviation squadron! And if those submarines that can only lurk at fixed points are only a small probability event for the threat to the high-speed main fleet, then the long-range aviation of Wake Island and the Marshall Islands is not easy to say! More importantly, there are Japanese aircraft carriers-now the US fleet is advancing against the wind, which means that if it wants to retreat, it will turn to sail with the wind. But... when sailing with the wind, the aircraft carrier has no way to take off and land the plane!

What's the difference between an aircraft carrier that can't take off or land planes and a standing target?!

But Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Fletcher and Captain of the Lexington, Rear Admiral Fitch, one was a cruiser officer and the other was a bureaucrat! These two generals didn't know anything about aviation!

"It looks like we may have to follow the orders of the carrier-based aircraft unit."

After looking at each other, the two could only smile bitterly and joke with each other.

Fortunately, this place is far from Kwajalein Atoll, Japan's core base in the Marshall Islands, and even farther from Truk! In addition to the Type 1 land attack "Betty" that will definitely come to visit, at least before dark the next day, there is no need to worry about encountering the most threatening enemy aircraft carrier fleet and the mine warfare team that is extremely good at night attack artillery and torpedo warfare.

Although, what he had to worry about now was still the destroyers under his command. Although they had refueled in Midway Island before joining the main fleet, no one could guarantee whether these destroyers, whose theoretical endurance could "fully meet the needs of fleet activities", would have enough fuel in actual combat conditions...

After all, these elementary school students’ stomachs are not big and can’t hold much fuel, so their endurance is very worrying.

Although he knew that Halsey was not far behind him, which was his greatest guarantee, he had to persevere until the Japanese carrier fleet was lured out. Being a bait was really dangerous. You didn't know that you were a bait, but you were really a piece of fat meat. If you were not careful, the entire fleet might be severely damaged. Fletcher was so worried that he almost stared at the night after being harassed by Japanese bombers. Then he welcomed the more unpredictable dawn of March 4th...

The tired sailors welcomed the dawn, feeling relieved but also nervous. The good news was that they had spent another night safely, but the bad news was that they still had daytime to go through, and it was also very dangerous.

Be it Fletcher, or Halsey who followed behind him, or even Kimmel who was in charge of the Pacific Fleet Headquarters in Hawaii, or even the three-no female nurse Tall Gaga and the somewhat excited singer Price... no one knew what kind of turn of fate would take place next.

Although, in the Japanese Truk Garrison opposite them, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, and Vice Admiral Shigemi Inoue, commander of the Japanese Fourth Fleet who directly faced the Hawaiian Islands and guarded the Mid-Atlantic theater, were not necessarily sure about the situation!

The fog of battle that enveloped the commanders of both armies was very fair...

ps: I recommend a book "Look! I found a lone nine-tailed fox", the male protagonist is an onmyoji, and the female protagonist is a nine-tailed fox demon

Chapter 604: Eight-Fingered Gambler

The enemy situation report at 3 pm on March 3 was received not only by Wake Island, but also by the Fourth Fleet in the Marshall Islands and Yamamoto on the battleship Yamato, the flagship of the Combined Fleet in Truk. The troops at Truk Base and Kwajalein Atoll were dispatched right from the start.

At the Truk base, the fleet was led by Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi, a favorite student of Isoroku Yamamoto. The main battleships included the two aircraft carriers Soryu and Hiryu of the 24nd Air Fleet, and the two battlecruisers Hiei and Kirishima of the th Fleet. In the Marshall Islands, although Inoue Shigemi's th Fleet was mainly composed of light warships, it also had three light aircraft carriers, Hiyo, Hayabusa, and Ryujo of the th Air Fleet. The submarine force of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the th Fleet, also set up its headquarters in the Marshall Islands. Although the submarines of the Japanese Navy had a maximum speed record of only knots due to the inexplicable "Bushido spirit" and the deep-rooted "fleet decisive battle" thinking, they were used as fleet decisive battle weapons, and they were never allowed to attack merchant ships!

To be honest, it was a waste of the 20 years of time after World War I to hire famous German engineers to design and build a batch of large submarines weighing 3,000 tons! If Dönitz saw it, he would really feel painful. He was still unable to get enough submarines because the main force of the navy was still surface warships.

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特鲁克到威克岛的距离是1320海里出头如果山口保持30节全速赶路的话，最快只要44个小时——也就是3月5日中午11点左右——就能抵达战场，并且还可以趁着大中午的有利时机直接发动一波攻击！

On the other hand, the Fourth Fleet, led by Vice Admiral Inoue Shigemi, dispatched a mine warfare squadron consisting of three light carriers, three light cruisers and eight destroyers led by Rear Admiral Kakuji Kakuta, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands almost immediately after receiving the enemy situation report. And since the distance from Kwajalein to Wake Island is only 620 nautical miles, even the slower Flying Eagle and Falcon Eagle, as long as they maintain a speed of 3 knots, will arrive at Wake Island in about 4 hours, that is, around pm on March .

but……

Sitting in the command post of the Yamato, Isoroku Yamamoto, who was in charge of the overall situation, couldn't help but frown as he looked at the large nautical chart and the continuous enemy situation reports in his hands.

Although life in the hotel is wonderful, it can't resist the sadness in my heart.

"From 3pm on the 3rd to 4am on the 6th, a total of 15 hours, the three American aircraft carriers have been heading towards a sea area north of Wake Island. It is expected that Wake Island will be included in the combat radius of the bombers at 4pm on the 15th. But... they have been sailing in a straight line all the way... It seems that even if their position is exposed, they don't care... There is a problem!"

Yamamoto, who was frowning, was also a smart man. He easily thought of a possibility: behind this American fleet, there was most likely another American fleet!

Moreover... the reconnaissance plane that I sent out for additional reconnaissance has not received any response yet...