Chapter 535: The First Battle of Hawaii 8

January 2, 1942, 3 a.m.

In the hangar of the USS Lexington, several aircrew soldiers slowly pushed a F4F "Wildcat" carrier-based fighter with folded wings onto the elevator, and with the help of the hydraulic oil pump, slowly lifted the fighter onto the flight deck. The cool sea breeze hit people in the face, which immediately refreshed people.

After hiding for many days, it was finally over. Vice Admiral Halsey had just issued an order that today would be a good day to kill Japanese!

"Edward, how is the light? Can it fly?"

Captain Edward O'Hair, the squadron leader of the carrier-based fighter squadron on the Lexington, sat in the cockpit of his F4F and went up to the deck together. At this time, the voice of flight control officer Major Richard Gore came from the radio on the plane.

It is now 3 a.m. In the waters near the equator, the sky at 3 a.m. is still dark. And there is no moon or stars in the sky, which is obviously covered with thick clouds-this is very beneficial to the US 1st Task Force. After dispatching the carrier-based aircraft, the fleet can sail southeast under the cover of clouds to avoid the pursuit of Japanese aircraft carriers and those terrible suicide planes.

"It's okay, we can see the people and things on the runway clearly." Captain O'Hair replied.

Because there may be Japanese submarines nearby, the searchlight on Lexington cannot be turned on too brightly to avoid exposing the target.

However, although the slightly dim light does not affect takeoff, the planes flying in the sky cannot form a team. They can only circle the aircraft carrier a few times from a distance, wait until all the dispatched aircraft take off, and then fly north, and then form a team after dawn.

"Okay," Major Gore ordered again, "Edward, you must remember to lower the altitude and fly over the sea when you enter 300 kilometers around Oahu."

Lowering the altitude and flying over the sea is to avoid radar-now the pilots on the US aircraft carrier finally know this trick. However, taking off at night and flying over the sea are both difficult tasks, and not every pilot can play it. Therefore, Halsey had to concentrate the more skilled pilots on the five aircraft carriers (although the Hornet sank in the battle, the pilots on it are still alive) on the Lexington and Saratoga, and also gathered 72 F4F fighters and 74 SBD dive bombers, a total of 146 aircraft.

However, these 146 aircraft were not going to bomb the Japanese fleet, because the Americans now only knew that the Japanese fleet was in the waters near Oahu and Kauai, but they could not determine their specific location. Moreover, Halsey's aircraft carriers are now 1,000 kilometers away from Oahu, and it is impossible to send aircraft for reconnaissance. Therefore, the 146 aircraft that attacked today were all equipped with high-explosive bombs (SBDs were equipped with 1 500-pound bomb and 2 100-pound bombs, and F4Fs were equipped with 2 100-pound bombs) to bomb the Japanese ground forces on Oahu.

After the bombing, these SBDs and F4Fs could not return, but would land at the temporary military airport in Schofield Barracks on Oahu. Admiral Short had already had a lot of ammunition, spare parts and aviation fuel salvaged from several major airports and oil depots on Oahu, enough for these planes to fight on Oahu for 4-5 days. After that, all the planes would be blown up, and the pilots and ground crew would retreat by submarine from the northeast coast of the Kulau Mountains.

Planes were lifted onto the deck one after another and lined up neatly behind the takeoff line. At the same time, the Lexington and Saratoga aircraft carriers began to sail at full speed against the wind, and the huge deck wind almost blew the people standing on the deck down. At this time, the flight indicator lights suddenly lit up, and two F4F fighters suddenly started, ran wildly along the flight deck, and then rose into the dark sky.

…

On the plains of Oahu, the battle between the US and Japanese armies was going on fiercely. For several days, troops from the 2nd and 38th Divisions of the Japanese Army had been landing on Haleiwa Beach and then were put into offensive operations. The heavy weapons of the Japanese Army were gradually transported to Oahu. Although the Navy still refused to send their "exhausted" carrier-based aircraft to assist in the battle, the support of the naval guns was still quite powerful.

With the support of powerful firepower, the Japanese Army's attacks became more and more fierce, and the Americans began to be a little overwhelmed. The commander of the Japanese 16th Army, Hitoshi Imamura, also landed on December 28 and personally sat in the town of Haleiwa to supervise the desperate attacks of various troops.

The fierce battle at the northern foot of the Waianae Mountains also decided the outcome on the last day of 1941. After paying the price of nearly 1,000 deaths, more than 800 serious injuries, and the 4th Sendai Regiment was almost crippled, the sun flag was finally planted on the top of the mountain at the northern foot of the Waianae Mountains.

After capturing the northern foot of the Waianae Mountains, the Japanese army's progress accelerated suddenly. In just two days, it advanced nearly 10 kilometers and reached the town of Wahiawa and the north of Schofield Barracks. This is a 10-kilometer-wide "plain", and 15 kilometers south of it is Pearl Harbor.

In addition, Wahiawa and Schofield Barracks are almost in the center of Oahu, and the nearest coastline is 15 kilometers northwest (Haleaiwa Beach). Considering that battleships cannot dock close to the beach, the main guns of the battleships are more than 20 kilometers away from the U.S. positions in Wahiawa and Schofield Barracks. Although this distance is within the effective range of the battleship's firepower, the accuracy of the artillery fire has decreased.

Moreover, when the US military's Skerfield Barracks was selected and built, the possibility of being shot by naval guns was considered, so a valley in the middle of the Waianae Ridge was chosen as part of the camp. As long as the troops are placed in this valley, the Japanese warships' guns will be unable to fire.

Therefore, following the northern foot of Waianae Ridge, Skerfield Barracks and the nearby town of Wahiawa became the battlefields for bloody battles between the two sides.

The U.S. military also adopted a fight-to-die posture on the front lines of Wahiawa Town and Skerfield Barracks. The main forces of the Army's 24th Infantry Division and 25th Infantry Division moved up, relying on a river north of the town of Wahiawa and Skerfield Barracks to resist tenaciously.

In order to urge the various regiments to attack, the division commander of the Japanese Army's 2nd Division, Masao Maruyama, has been locating his headquarters very close to the front line in the past few days. Regardless of the danger, he frequently went to the front line and squatted in the muddy trench to observe the US military positions with his own eyes. At this time, German military adviser Paulus always followed Maruyama's front line with his adjutant and "cameraman" Rudolf Ribbentrop.

He needed to see firsthand how the U.S. Army fought. Although relations between the United States and Germany seemed to be improving, Rudolf Hess had been a guest of the White House since mid-December 1941 and studied the Roosevelt family tree with President Roosevelt. In the end, Roosevelt and Hess also came to the conclusion that the ancestor of the Roosevelt family, Claes Martenzen von Luzewirt, must be a German, and he was probably a German aristocrat! So Roosevelt believed that his full name should be Franklin Delano von Luzewirt...

However, Paulus did not know now that President Roosevelt might become the head of state of the United States, Luzewiert. The telegram sent to him by the German General Staff did not contain any content about virtue and goodwill. So Paulus still regarded the Americans as Germany's enemies. At 6 o'clock in the morning on January 2, he and the very shabby and miserable commander of the Japanese 2nd Division Masao Maruyama walked to the front line on foot, leaning on wooden sticks and walking on the muddy road - because they wanted to save money. Space transports troops, weapons and supplies, so the dignified division commander doesn't even have to ride a horse, let alone a car, and can only walk to the front line to inspect.

Of course, the 2nd Division and the 38th Division also upgraded from the mechanization of burning horse dung to the mechanization of relying on two human legs. Ammunition supplies were all transported to the front line by manpower. This battle was really difficult. Moreover, the casualties of the troops were not small. On the way forward, Paulus kept seeing the bloody and seriously injured people being carried down on stretchers. This reminded him of the trench warfare in World War I, where wounded men were carried off the battlefield and then died or were permanently disabled.

Maruyama Masao was in a very high mood and did not care at all about the heavy casualties suffered by his men. He discussed the battle situation with Paulus in English along the way (Maruyama was a British expert in the Japanese army).

"The Americans are now making their final struggle, but it's useless. They can't withstand the attacks of the 2nd Division and the 38th Division. In three days at most, we will be able to break through their defenses and seize Vashi. After Ava Town and Skerfield Barracks, the next targets are Pearl Harbor and Honolulu. In a week at most, Oahu will belong to the Empire of Japan..."

While they were boasting about Haikou, a group of Japanese soldiers walking in front of Maruyama and others suddenly became confused and dispersed to both sides of the road. Some people shouted loudly.

"Air strike! Air strike! Enemy plane! Enemy plane..."

Air raid? Enemy plane? How can this be? Maruyama Masao was startled for a moment, and when he was thinking that someone must have made a mistake, the explosion sounded from the front, and then he was dragged into the woods by the roadside by an unknown person.

When he arrived in the woods, he discovered that the person dragging him was the German military adviser Paulus. Paulus raised his hand and pointed to the sky outside the woods. Masao Maruyama looked in the direction of his finger and saw that the sky was densely packed with planes painted blue! I don’t know how many there were, and they all rushed in the direction of Haleiwa. Occasionally, a few planes would drop bombs, blowing up the Japanese soldiers on the road below and causing great chaos...