afterglow

Chapter 509: Stealing...the idea of ​​a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor; the US military comes to attack!
The Pacific Fleet is back?

This vital information was quickly handed into the hands of the Ming Navy generals.

It has been three days since the A-180 special agent fleet withdrew to Midway Island. Hundreds of large and small warships were anchored in the atoll.

As soon as the fleet entered the anchorage, the 37th Navy Service Detachment stationed here began to get busy. They repaired the damaged warships from morning to night, day and night. Even after dark, they set up floodlights and continued the work in shifts.

Midway Island is ultimately just an atoll, lacking complete large-scale machinery and equipment. It is sufficient to be used as an aviation base and submarine base, but it is difficult to protect various types of ships and can only provide the most basic maintenance.

Fortunately, the damage to the two Ziweiyuan-class armored aircraft carriers was not serious, otherwise they would have to return to Guam or even return to the mainland.

In order to penetrate the armored flight deck, armor-piercing aerial bombs must be used. In order to be strong enough, the armor-piercing aerial bombs have a very thick body and a low loading coefficient. Therefore, the explosive power is far inferior to ordinary high-explosive aerial bombs. Even if it penetrates , the damage caused is also smaller.

For example, the German SC series high-explosive aerial bombs are loaded with 55% explosives; the PD series armor-piercing aerial bombs are only loaded with 6% explosives.

This is equivalent to giving the enemy a debuff that reduces its lethality, and the survivability advantage of the armored aircraft carrier is reflected.

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This situation made the Pacific Fleet Command very vigilant and immediately suspended preparations for the counterattack on Kauai.

Opening up wasteland for farming is no stranger to the Ming army soldiers, who are mostly farmers. The officers and soldiers selected some places around Kasijini Mountain to plant sweet potatoes and cassava, both of which are suitable for cultivation in subtropical areas.

As for the issue of ammunition, the poor conditions of the Ming Army on Kauai do not support the manufacture of any technically difficult ammunition. Reloading bullets is possible, but Zhou thinks this is meaningless and will not consider it.

Compared with the behavior of many people who opened champagne at halftime, Chester Nimitz remained calm. He asked seaplanes and submarines to conduct continuous reconnaissance of Midway Island to grasp the movements of the Ming fleet.

It is important to exercise subjective initiative in this environment. Soldiers cannot obtain the three major needs of food, ammunition, and soldiers, but food and ammunition can be used to make fuss.

He instructed some personnel to be transferred from the armory and officer barracks of the Third Marine Brigade to set up a small workshop of more than ten people to design and manufacture simple landmines.

An AN-M57 250-pound aerial bomb can dismantle nearly a hundred kilograms of TNT explosives, enough to load dozens of landmines.

What kind of counterattack plan are you preparing for this? By then, if half of the Ming fleet comes back after the battle, the consequences will be unimaginable.

The engineers used bayonets and daggers to dig out the poured TNT bit by bit, and the large and small pieces of TNT were thrown into the small iron pot.

The Metropolitan Government issued an order to temporarily rename the first echelon of the landing force to the Hawaii Expeditionary Force. The general military department was upgraded from the first echelon headquarters in place, and the general military officer was appointed Zhou Changfeng.

On the island of Kauai, in a cave at the southern foot of Kawaikini Mountain, the Hawaiian Expeditionary Force General Office is officially open for business.

During this period, U.S. military planes visited Weiyuan Airport every day. There were inevitably dud bombs among the aerial bombs dropped. The engineers removed their fuses so that the explosives loaded inside could be used by me.

This is just like in ancient times, the Ministry of Officials issued an order saying that you should be promoted to Qiongzhou to be the magistrate.

After realizing that the Ming fleet did not seem to want to withdraw to the Mariana Islands, the celebrations of the US military on Oahu came to an abrupt end.

"... Small workshops should prepare quickly, use whatever they have on hand, and prepare for a long-term struggle."

"Yes."

I thought they would withdraw to Guam after the offensive was frustrated, but I didn't expect that they would still stop at Midway Island?

Potatoes have higher nutritional value, but because they prefer cooler temperatures, only a few sprouted potato tubers are sown in the cooler valleys.

Below the small iron pot is a larger pot of boiling water, so that the broken pieces of TNT in the small iron pot above will melt into a liquid state.

But this is nothing to be happy about. Zhou Changfeng has no emotions in his heart. The lonely army is stationed in this place thousands of miles away from the mainland and right under the eyes of the enemy. I am afraid it will be difficult for anyone else to be happy.

Zhou Changfeng once again emphasized the importance of a series of preparations at today's regular meeting.

At the same time, the small workshop used the cooling fan of the destroyed U.S. tank engine to make a simple blast furnace and a blower. It also used gasoline and charcoal as fuel "luxury" to melt the collected scrap iron into molten iron.

Then they used the sand-making process to make the mine shell mold, poured red-hot molten iron into it, and obtained each cast iron shell.

Then liquid TNT is poured in, thus becoming a simple mine that can be used as long as a fuse is placed.

Several captured M1 76.2mm anti-aircraft guns were useless to the Ming army on Kauai, so the repair shop dismantled their shells, melted the explosives and reused them, and converted the mechanical timing fuzes into simple mine fuzes.

Since last night, Zhou Changfeng has been thinking about the next battle.

The main force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet returned to Pearl Harbor, while some ships went to Kahului on Maui Island and Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii.

For some reason, he suddenly thought that since the navy said it would come back in a few days, why not try to surprise the US fleet in Hong Kong?

Listening to the radio, you can see that the United States is celebrating its success in repelling the Ming army. Maybe they can use this opportunity to pop the champagne at halftime to numb the carelessness?
Steal... no, surprise attack on Pearl Harbor!
The two countries have been at war for a long time. How can it be called a sneak attack?

This was supposed to be a serious surprise attack, like the Royal Navy's surprise attack on Taranto.

He tried hard to recall what happened to "Tiger Tiger Tiger" and then wrote down his thoughts.

This telegram was sent on June 6 and was quickly handed over to Song Zhongkai. A meeting was subsequently held at the fleet admiral's quarters on Midway Island.

"Soldiers never tire of deceit. Let's kill it with a counterattack. At the same time, we will feint with one shot and hit the vital point with another shot." He Wuxin, the captain of the Yongle, nodded thoughtfully and said: "Hmm... I think it's fun!"

"What Zhou Kexing said about attacking the fleet is a bad idea. Except for Saratoga, all the other large and small warships are worth mentioning." The captain of the Ziwei Youyuan muttered: "If you want to attack by surprise, the first priority is to destroy the enemy. Military airport.”

The generals were all very interested in this surprise attack, and it didn't take long for the discussion to turn into how to implement it.

In history, the entire plan to attack Pearl Harbor took a long time to plan, from Onishi Takijiro to Kuroshima Kameto, and it took several months.

A colonel and senior adviser pointed to the map and explained, "Most of the fleet can go straight to Hawaii, attracting attention with a swagger. At the same time, one or two aircraft carriers will go around the North Pacific, making a big circle, to the north or northeast of Oahu... …”

"Looking at it this way, if the surprise attack fleet is fast, Tianzuo and Bei Division are not qualified."

"Then only Taizuo can take on this task."

The Tianshiyuan-class aircraft carrier can only reach a maximum speed of 29 knots, while the Fomalhaut-class light aircraft carrier is slightly faster and can reach 30.2 knots.

In comparison, the Taiweiyuan class, which was converted from a battlecruiser, was much faster.

With its slender hull and powerful turbine, it can reach a top speed of 32 knots, and can even exceed 33 knots when overloaded in a short period of time. It also has a large aircraft capacity and can accommodate a total of 90 carrier-based aircraft. "However, there is still a big problem." He Wuxin suddenly asked: "How to solve the problem of refueling on the way? How many oil tankers do you plan to have?"

"There are only a few high-speed oil tankers. I'm afraid I can only get one out."

"One ship is not enough. Taizuo needs at least six or seven destroyers to accompany it."

"Well... it's not difficult to do. The low-speed oil tanker just needs to set off in advance. Then it will be refueled at the meeting point in the north. Then it will be nice to have a fast (oil tanker) follow the surprise attack fleet."

"The specific charter should be drafted as soon as possible." Song Zhongkai knocked on the wooden table and said calmly: "It's time for the fleet to set off one after another. Let's go in batches. Let's go to the southwest first and give a fake move."

"Admiral, the food and artillery shells for the second formation have not been supplied yet." A major reminded in a low voice.

"Set up your posture first. The supplies... are due before tomorrow night. If you don't finish the supplies the day after, you have to leave."

"Yes." The officers present clasped their fists and accepted the order.

The battleships Jianwu, Zhanghe, Kaihuang, Zhenguan and other battleships were very vigorous in shelling the shore and supporting the landing troops to seize Kauai Island not long ago, consuming most of their artillery shells.

Firing cannons is fun, but now replenishing cannonballs is extremely troublesome!

While the sailors were busy replenishing the warships, the staff were also working hard to draft the next action plan.

Naval operations are inherently complex, and now that the aircraft carrier era has ushered in, aviation operations must be coordinated and planned, which makes the formulation of combat plans very troublesome.

The staff had to work overtime and switch shifts to process the large amount of tedious data, and try their best to consider all kinds of problems, large and small, to formulate a thorough plan.

On June 6, Tōsakuma summarized and analyzed the telegrams intercepted by all parties in the past five days. Based on the fragmentary words that could be interpreted, they speculated that the US military was reinforcing Oahu, which may be a sign of counterattack on Kauai. .

In the early morning of June 6, the Ming Army on Kauai launched one of the few remaining seaplanes. The plane flew near Pearl Harbor at dawn and observed rows of landing craft, about thirty in total.

There are various signs that the US military may really want to counterattack Kauai.

"... It is generally expected that the enemy may deploy a mixed regiment (regiment-level combat team) or two regiments, and the units can resist for a long time for two to three months, or take risks and attack proactively, with a 50% certainty of defeating them."

Zhou Changfeng is quite confident in defending Kauai. After all, the U.S. military only has so many troops in Hawaii. Sending thousands of troops here has no chance of making progress in the short term.

Of course, if the Ming Navy fails to come to the rescue, it will be another matter.

Although Chester Nimitz ordered the suspension of landing preparations, Washington disagreed. George Marshall stated that regardless of whether a counterattack would be launched later, it was always right to make preparations first.

On June 6, the headquarters company of the 6st Airborne Regiment landed steadily on Oahu in a B-501 bomber, and follow-up troops also arrived one after another.

On that day, the PBY Catalina seaplane conducting routine reconnaissance of Midway Island sent back key information - the number of Ming fleets in the Midway Island anchorage was greatly reduced, and many warships were leaving the port.

This situation was regarded by the Americans as evidence that Akito had temporarily given up attacking Hawaii. However, out of caution, more and further reconnaissance missions were scheduled.

Time passes like this day by day, and the land on Kauai is being excavated endlessly every moment, and fortifications are rising from the ground...oh no, three feet into the ground.

By the time the U.S. fleet appeared on the sea, the first main line of defense planned by Zhou Changfeng had already penetrated the traffic trenches covered with logs. There were also dozens of bunkers made of steel plates, I-beams, and reinforced concrete. Coupled with a large number of well-dense minefields, complex barbed wire fences and horse denial.

The second line of defense is about 80% complete, and the third line of defense is about 30% complete.

The Sixth Regiment of the Third Marine Brigade defended the first line of defense, the Fifth Regiment formed the remaining defense lines and guarded the flanks, and the Seventh Regiment of the Fourth Marine Brigade served as the general reserve team and continued to build unfinished fortifications.

Compared with Zhou Changfeng, who was calm and confident about winning, Zhu Lingjing, who was far away in Yingtian Mansion in the capital, was even more anxious than him.

Zhu Lingjing asked the navy to send a submarine to pick him up, but Zhou Changfeng naturally disagreed - the counterattack enemy did not even have an advantage in strength, so there was nothing to fear.

At dawn on June 6, the fiery red sun jumped out of the place where the sky and the sea meet, and a picture of the sun rising over the water appeared in everyone's eyes.

A fleet of U.S. military aircraft taking off from various airports on Oahu flew to Kauai and carried out violent air strikes on the coastline and depth.

The strafing bombing by more than a hundred aircraft lasted for more than an hour, and the next wave often arrived just after the previous wave returned.

Next, the main force of the Pacific Fleet led by Raymond Spruance personally began to bombard the island of Kauai. Each warship carried out artillery preparations according to the pre-divided area.

The sound of cannons rumbled, and the scene when the battleship's main guns fired salvos was extremely spectacular. Cannonballs of various calibers hit the land like raindrops, raising smoke and dust that covered the sky and the sun.

The U.S. fleet's unprecedentedly violent shelling from the shore caused Kauai, which had been devastated by the Ming Dynasty fleet not long ago, to be ravaged by steel and explosives again. It looked like it had turned into an erupting volcano. The ground was shaking, and the entire island seemed to be sinking at any time. .

From morning to night, air strikes and fleet bombardments continued all day long, and most of the beachhead waterfront obstacles deployed by the Ming army were destroyed.

在这个阶段，美军一共投下航弹224吨，发射127㎜炮弹3125发、203㎜炮弹582发、406㎜炮弹103发。

The next day, at 6:11 on June 8, the counterattack on Kauai was officially launched, codenamed: Mississippi Alligator.

U.S. destroyers are anchored one after another on the sea two kilometers away from the coast. They are the first row; the second row farther away is composed of light cruisers and heavy cruisers.

The eastern beach of Kauai was divided into five areas by the US military, each area 500 yards (455 meters) wide, namely Red , Red , Blue , Blue , and Yellow .

The LCM landing craft were neatly arranged together and sailed slowly towards the coast. The tracks they left behind were like a comb.

"Report! Report from the front, the enemy landing team is a thousand meters away from the beach!"

"The enemy landing team is five hundred meters away from the beach!"

"Zhou Daizhao! Let's..." Yu Daixin, commander of the Third Marine Brigade, clenched his fists nervously.

"hold on."

"The enemy landing team is still 100 meters away from the beach!"

Zhou Changfeng, who was calm and unhurried, stood up from behind the artillery mirror and said calmly: "Fight."

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(End of this chapter)