Chapter 506 Tiger! Tiger! Tiger 10
"What? Unidentified aircraft were found 50 kilometers north of the island?"
Kimmel was stunned for a moment, and he immediately thought that there seemed to be more than a dozen B-17 bombers of the Army Air Force flying from the mainland of the United States to Oahu today.
"Could it be B-17 flying from the mainland?" Kimmel thought for a while and asked again, "When were these planes discovered?"
"15 minutes ago." The staff officer replied, "It is not clear whether it is B-17..."
"What? 15 minutes ago... Why report it now?" Admiral Kimmel roared. Although he did not believe that the Japanese really dared to send an aircraft carrier to attack Pearl Harbor, the Air Defense Command was too irresponsible. Such an important discovery was delayed by 15 minutes!
Now it is a state of war! How can you neglect your duties like this?
15 minutes is enough for the plane to fly 70 or 80 kilometers, which means that these unidentified planes are likely to be close to the sky above Pearl Harbor now!
"Sound the air defense alarm!" Admiral Kimmel roared, "Order the fighters to take off, immediately!" He then added, "Tell everyone that Pearl Harbor is already at war, this is not an exercise... This is not an exercise!"
Kimmel's anger was justified. The US Air Defense Command on Oahu did delay things a bit. They did not call the Pacific Fleet Command immediately after the radar station reported. But the Air Defense Command did not violate the regulations, because the quality of radars in this era was very poor, and there were often various failures, and false alarms occurred every now and then. Therefore, according to the regulations of the US radar force, it must be verified before it can be reported, so it was delayed for some time.
And the short 15 minutes did not seem to be a bad thing in the eyes of the US Army Air Force and the Navy Air Force. Because the radar they now have can see 240 kilometers away, if the distance from the north shore of Oahu to Pearl Harbor is counted, it is almost 280 kilometers, and the enemy aircraft will arrive at the fastest in 30 minutes. Therefore, the problem of delaying the notification by 15 minutes is not big, it is enough for the anti-aircraft artillery positions and the aircraft on the airport to respond.
However, Americans living in a peaceful environment were still a step behind in responding to the various new technologies and tactics in the European war. The American soldiers in Hawaii did not know that aircraft could avoid radar detection by flying at ultra-low altitudes, which greatly shortened the distance at which radar could detect enemy aircraft.
However, the carrier-based aircraft units of the Japanese Combined Fleet knew the trick of avoiding radar detection at low altitudes because of the participation of 80 German foreign aids. Therefore, in the plan formulated by Genda Minoru, the aircraft of the first attack wave must take ultra-low altitude penetration to increase the suddenness of the attack. Therefore, the American radar on the north shore of Oahu did not respond until the first wave of Japanese attack flew 50 kilometers away.
However, the American radar soldiers responsible for operating these radars did not report immediately because they found that the distance of the unidentified aircraft was quite close, but verified and checked according to regulations, and then reported to the air defense command.
After receiving the report, the air defense command did not immediately issue a combat order, but called through the radio - this was also in accordance with regulations. After all, the current US military is an army that has lived in a peaceful environment for a long time. It is not a few simple orders that can make them immediately enter the role and become a highly vigilant wartime army.
After the radio call failed, the Air Defense Command realized that something was wrong and hurriedly called Lieutenant General Short, the commander of the Hawaiian Army, and the Pacific Fleet Command to report.
At this time, 208 Japanese planes led by Lieutenant Colonel Mitsuo Fuchida, the commander of the first attack wave, had already flown over Oahu Island and could see Pearl Harbor visually.
"No enemy planes were found!" The radio operator and bombardier sitting behind Mitsuo Fuchida shouted, "Lieutenant Colonel, the raid was successful, Pearl Harbor is defenseless!"
Mitsuo Fuchida also found that there was no American plane over Pearl Harbor (there would be one soon), which probably meant that the sneak attack was successful.
He shouted excitedly: "Send a telegram to the Akagi: Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!"
The code word "Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!" means that the sneak attack was successful.
"Onboard! Onboard!"
All the people in the bridge of the "Akagi" cheered, and the depressed mood of these days was finally swept away with the signal of the successful sneak attack.
Although the five American aircraft carriers were still missing and the British and American troops in the Philippines and Malaya were already on the highest alert, the success of the attack on Pearl Harbor put the Japanese Empire in an absolutely advantageous position after the war.
"Break the radio silence and send a telegram to the Yamato immediately to report the success of the attack!" Nagumo Chuichi had not slept for several days, and his voice was hoarse, but he could not hide his excitement.
"Hai!" A staff officer next to him responded with the same excitement.
The radio wave passed through the sea and sky, and reached the battleship "Yamato" sailing eastward in an instant. "Yamato" was launched on December 3, the day after Yamamoto Isoroku issued the order to "climb new peak 1208". The 11th aircraft carrier of the fleet, because it was commissioned ahead of schedule, there are shipyard engineers and workers on the aircraft carrier, and the number of carrier-based aircraft is only 16, all of which are Zero fighters) as well as another light cruiser and 5 destroyers. Under the escort, it left the Single Crown Bay anchorage and headed towards Hawaii.
According to Yamamoto's vision, if the First Mobile Fleet can successfully destroy the U.S. military airport and oil depot on Oahu, and severely damage the main force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, including aircraft carriers. Then Japan has a chance to capture Oahu! And if we want to capture Oahu, we must invite the great god "Yamato".
The captain of the Yamato, Captain Takayanagi Yoshiba, has been formulating a plan to bombard the Williston Fort (which has two 16-inch cannons and is the key to the U.S. military's defense of Oahu) based on the intelligence at hand these days. Of course, there is more than one bombardment plan, but the most ideal one is to use the super long range of the "Yamato" main gun to bombard the Williston Fort from a visual distance - although the two guns on the Williston Fort The 16-inch cannon can fire at targets up to 40 kilometers away. But it is difficult to shoot by sight at such a long distance. Although it can be seen in theory, visibility issues must be considered in actual combat. If the weather is bad, the sky is too dark, or someone releases smoke, etc., the visual distance will be greatly shortened. At this time, it is very necessary to use aircraft or observation posts to correct the impact point of artillery shells. If you want to use an aircraft for correction, you must have air control.
In other words, as long as air superiority is obtained, the "Yamato" can shoot at the limit of the visual distance of the Williston Fort without risk, relying on aircraft correction, and at the same time, it can also use the weather or the smoke released by the destroyer to conceal itself. There is almost no risk!
Therefore, after carefully studying the plan formulated by Takayanagi Gihachi, Yamamoto Isoroku decided that the "Yamato" would set off early to go to the Hawaiian Islands. As long as the First Mobile Fleet can destroy the airport on Oahu and severely damage the US aircraft carrier force, then the "Yamato" should take action.
"Yamato" not only had to bombard Williston Fort, but also led four battleships including "Nagato", "Mutsu", "Hiei" and "Kirishima" to attack targets on Oahu. Devastating bombardment!
Yamamoto Isoroku has now made up his mind that even if he cannot capture Oahu this time, he must use battleships and aircraft to completely destroy it so that Oahu cannot become the home port of the Pacific Fleet in the next few years.
"Have you found a US aircraft carrier?" Although he learned that the sneak attack was successful, Yamamoto Isoroku still frowned. Because the five American aircraft carriers are still missing.
"Commander, no U.S. aircraft carrier has been found yet," Chief of Staff Matoi Ugaki replied, "However, the U.S. aircraft carrier is probably not near Oahu, because our submarines ambushing in the southwest waters south of Oahu have not found any."
Yamamoto Isoroku nodded and said expressionlessly: "They will always appear. As long as Nagumo Chuichi can win at Pearl Harbor, American aircraft carriers will definitely appear. They are not Nagumo's opponents. As long as they appear, we will A great victory can be achieved.”
…
"Lieutenant General, Japanese planes are attacking Pearl Harbor!"
On the bridge of the USS Enterprise, Vice Admiral Halsey finally knew where the Japanese aircraft carrier was, but he was not worried about the safety of Oahu at all.
"Damn it!" Lieutenant General Halsey slammed his fist on the railing beside him, "They are near Oahu! These despicable and shameless Japanese devils actually want to attack Pearl Harbor, but that's okay, they will soon The brothers at Pearl Harbor were all beaten to death. These Japanese bastards were not only shameless but also stupid. They dared to attack Pearl Harbor!”
He took a breath, and then ordered with a loud voice: "Guys, take action immediately, carrier-based aircraft will attack, target Saipan!"
"Lieutenant General, how many planes should we send to bomb Saipan?" a staff officer immediately asked.
"The more, the better!" Halsey said, "Send as many as possible to blow up the Japanese airports and ships on Saipan. After blowing up Saipan, we immediately sailed north to block the Japanese. The devil’s escape route!”
Halsey is optimistic by nature and never thought that Pearl Harbor would be bombed into ruins, so he is now planning to bomb Saipan first, and then go north to intercept the Japanese fleet that retreated from Pearl Harbor...