Chapter 949 Who Is Wrong?

Of course Midway Island is important, but it is difficult to defend Midway Island. It is definitely impossible to defend it with the limited defenders on the island and dozens of aircraft (mainly a land attack that can be used for long-range reconnaissance and attack) of.

Ryunosuke Kusaka, who served as chief of staff of the Central Pacific Fleet during the Battle of Christmas Island, told Nagumo Chuichi with certainty: "The US fleet near Midway Island should be the main force of the Pacific Fleet dispatched from San Diego, and the number of aircraft carriers is estimated to be more than 50. Most of the carrier-based aircraft are equipped with all-fighter aircraft, and may have more than 1,500 F4Us and F6Fs, and there will also be about 10 battleships/battlecruisers responsible for bombardment. In addition, the anti-aircraft firepower of the US fleet must be very powerful... "

"Kusuka-kun, I understand the situation of the Christmas Island battle." Tadashi Nagumo interrupted Kusuka Ryunosuke with a wave of his hand, "What you mean by this is that you do not approve of using the combined fleet to fight the US fleet at Midway Island. ,Yeah?"

"Hai." Ryunosuke Kusaka nodded heavily, "From the analysis of the situation of the Christmas Island War, unless a special attack operation is carried out immediately, ordinary aviation operations alone cannot defeat the U.S. fleet, but the number of Sakura missiles is very limited. "

The Sakura Hida mentioned by Kusaka refers to the "Silver Reaper", which is the name changed by Japan to the "Silver Reaper" missile, and they are also planning to develop a simplified version of the "Sakura" based on the Sakura Hida (Silver Reaper).

However, Colonel Minoru Genda, commander of the 343rd Navy Air Force, who was responsible for commanding half of the "Sakura Attack" (the other half was commanded by Yoshitoshi Tokugawa who survived the disaster), believed that developing a simplified version of Sakura was of little significance because of the Sakura missiles. Too difficult to drive and not powerful enough for non-elites.

Therefore, Sakura Special Attack is a one-shot deal. It must be invested at the most critical moment to play a decisive role.

The most critical moment, according to the provisions of the "Operation Jet-1" plan, is definitely not now, but after a large number of U.S. troops land on the Hawaiian Islands.

As for the kamikaze attack launched using Zero and Falcon aircraft, it is currently positioned as a supplement to the Sakura attack. Whether to launch it will be decided after the Sakura attack is over depending on the situation. This is because the kamikaze members all fly from the army and navy. If a rookie recruited from the school encounters F6F and F4U flown by experienced American fighter pilots during an assault, they will definitely die in vain.

Therefore, it is time to consider dispatching the kamikaze team after the Sakura Commandos have destroyed or severely damaged most of the US aircraft carriers.

As for the precious main force of the United Fleet, they also have to wait until the Sakura Special Attack is effective before taking the field to fight the final battle. Use the powerful battleship force to crush the U.S. capital ship force that has lost the protection of the aircraft carrier, and then use the air fleet to pursue the remnants of the U.S. fleet retreating from the Hawaiian Islands. Only in this way can it be possible to fight a beautiful battle of annihilation in the Second Battle of the Hawaiian Islands - Although the army's big red deer are very doubtful about the navy's capabilities, the top brass of the Japanese Navy have not given up their plan to annihilate the main force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and Their intentions were also reflected in the "Operation Czech-1" plan.

Therefore, "Sakura" cannot be invested now. Even if "Kamikaze" is invested, there will be no results, and the main force of the combined fleet cannot be dispatched hastily. As for the use of shore-based aviation in the Hawaiian Islands... firstly, the distance is too far; secondly, the lessons learned from Christmas Island are there. Therefore it is not feasible.

"It's better to give up." Kusaka said. "Placing troops on Midway Island is going to die in vain. It's better to let the Americans go to the island earlier... This way, the fateful Second Battle of the Hawaiian Islands can start earlier! As for the most Dozens of P51s are nothing to be afraid of, because the Army has already deployed three types of "Feiyan" II fighter jets on Oahu, and they are enough to fight against P51s!"

Kusaka's opinion is not unreasonable, because during this period, the activities of U.S. submarines in the South China Sea and the Western Pacific were extremely rampant (this was related to Japan's deployment of troops to prepare for the decisive battle in Hawaii, and also the stimulation of Japan's germ warfare). Only in January 1944 In March, Japan lost 320,000 tons of various ships, setting a record high. The oil imported into Japan has also dropped to less than 300,000 tons!

Therefore, delaying the "final decisive battle" will not do Japan any good.

"That's right." Tadashi Nagumo thought for a while, "If the US military really encounters a hard battle at Midway, it is very likely that it will give up attacking the Hawaiian Islands, and our hard work will be in vain."

…

"Mr. President, we have recovered Midway."

Roosevelt received the good news that Midway had been recaptured on the evening of February 6, Eastern Time.

"What? So fast?" Roosevelt, who was wearing pajamas, looked very surprised when he looked at William Leahy who came excitedly. "Didn't it say that the landing operation will not start until February 10th at the earliest?"

"There was no landing operation," William Leahy said. "The Japanese troops evacuated Midway Island last night Hawaii time. At that time, several of our submarines were floating near Midway Island and found that Japanese aircraft took off to evacuate overnight. Later, they We found ships leaving and saw the flames of the bombed facility, so it was determined that the Japanese had abandoned Midway Island.”

Midway Island is probably really a blessed place for the United States of America. There were actually several American submarines watching when the Japanese retreated. In fact, they were not passing by. They were there to use radio signals to guide American aircraft to attack Midway Island at night. Who knew that they happened to see the Japanese retreating. So he immediately notified Spruance on the "Essex" by telegram, and Spruance, who had always been timid, turned out to be extremely decisive this time and sent a destroyer squadron to attack Midway overnight. The armed sailors on the destroyer occupied the islands abandoned by the Japanese.

"How is the airport on the island?" Roosevelt immediately asked the most critical question.

"The Japanese have carried out damage, but it is not complete (it seems to the Japanese it is already very complete). We can repair it quickly. Now the high-speed attack transport ship loaded with engineers and engineering machinery is rushing to Midway Island at full speed."

The airport on Midway Island was built by the Americans before the outbreak of the Pacific War. It is a large airport that can take off and land B-17s and B-24s... With some modifications, it can take off and land B-29s (Midway Island Airport Later, it was a backup airport for the Pacific Civil Aviation Air Line, and even later jet airliners could take off and land, not to mention the B-29)!

Therefore, in the US military's plan, Midway Island, like Christmas Island, is a transit point for B-29s from the mainland to Australia.

However, Midway Island is too small and too close to the Hawaiian Islands and the Japanese mainland, making it easy to capture and difficult to defend. The airport on the island can easily be destroyed by the Japanese fleet or bomber group. Therefore, it is not the first choice for B-29 transit airport.

However, Spruance, who accidentally captured Midway Island, was still willing to give it a try, so he immediately mobilized a high-speed attack transport ship loaded with engineers and mechanical equipment from the 51st Task Force.

The so-called high-speed attack transport ship, codenamed APD, was modified from old destroyers from World War I (the United States had 273 destroyers at the end of World War I, most of which were preserved until World War II). It is very fast, but has a large carrying capacity. limited.

This kind of ship is not suitable for transporting large troops, but the current target of Task Force 51 is only the small Midway Island and does not need to carry large troops, so it uses dozens of small and fast APD troop transport equipment.

"The repair and expansion project of Midway Airport must be completed as soon as possible!" Roosevelt immediately gave instructions, "General, how many B-29s can be put into combat now?"

"There are 187 of them, but most of them are used as reconnaissance aircraft for high-sea patrol missions."

"Transfer them all to Australia!" Roosevelt ordered. "As soon as the airport at Midway Island is ready, transfer it immediately... You must hurry up, because no one knows when the airport at Midway Island will be destroyed by the Japanese!" He paused After a pause, he emphasized his tone again, "The Japanese do not realize what a fatal mistake they have made now. Once they think of it, they will completely destroy the Midway Airport at all costs, so our time is limited."

…

"Your Excellency, Commander, the U.S. Navy has just made a fatal mistake!"

The person who discovered that the U.S. Navy had made a mistake was Colonel Kamishigetoku, the chief of staff of Japan's 8th Fleet. He made this opinion to Commander Junichi Mikawa on the heavy cruiser Chokai, the flagship of the 8th Fleet.

"Oh." Mikawa Jun nodded noncommittally - he didn't see where the U.S. Navy went wrong at all?

"It was a big mistake for the U.S. Navy to rush to occupy Midway Island!" Kamizhongtoku looked extremely excited, because he had just stared at the chart for a full hour and finally found an opportunity for the 8th Fleet to show off its skills.

Was occupying Midway a big mistake? Mikawa Junichi became more and more confused as he listened, but he still looked like an old god.

"Although Midway is far away from the Hawaiian Islands and is not the best place for the Hawaiian Islands' shore-based aircraft to exert its power, it is enough for our 8th Fleet."

Kamizhongoku said with excitement: "Our 8th Fleet can use cruisers and destroyers to conduct high-speed attacks, be covered by fighter planes taking off from the Hawaiian Islands during the day, use the night to rush to Midway Island for sneak attacks, and adopt a one-hit tactics. The method is to follow the principle of not stopping at all during the entire round trip and combat journey.

And such attacks can be carried out repeatedly... because the Midway Island in the hands of the Americans is a noose around the neck of the Pacific Fleet. As long as they are unwilling to give up, we can attack repeatedly and use night mine warfare to severely hit the United States. Pacific Fleet!

Therefore, occupying Midway Island was a fatal mistake for the United States! "