1941, December 6, 7:10 in the morning, Pearl Harbor.
Zhou Zhihan, piloting the No. 214 F4F Wildcat, led the Wildcat fighter squadron and the Tomahawk squadron to take off on time. Three minutes later, all the fighters assembled in the air, and then flew around Pearl Harbor twice like every morning.
Today is Friday. Most of the warships in the harbor have not returned from the sea. Only Admiral Kimmel's flagship [Pennsylvania] is still parked in the harbor.
Not far away, there was a reconnaissance plane flying slowly into the distance, several destroyers were cruising in the deep sea, and the chimney of a military transport ship was emitting black smoke, which could be seen more than ten kilometers away.
The entire Pearl Island is still full of vitality. On both sides of the highway on the island, there are many palm trees, villas, bars, restaurants, and cafes with people coming and going. The blue sky and white clouds in the distance, the red lights and the feasting nearby. , making this island deep in Hawaii particularly charming.
Viewed from the air, the aircraft carriers Enterprise, Lexington, Hornet, and Yorktown are not in the harbor.
In the past few days, Zhou Zhihan has been paying attention to the movements of these aircraft carriers. If any aircraft carrier enters the harbor, it means that the trajectory of history is slightly off.
Of course, after the end of World War II, people have been talking about the Pearl Harbor incident. Many great men and military strategists have also commented on the Pearl Harbor incident. They unanimously affirmed that even if the Japanese severely damaged four US aircraft carriers that day, they still could not Escape the fate of defeat in the war, because from the day they attacked Pearl Harbor, they completely angered a giant, and once this giant's war machine is turned on, it will be unstoppable.
Throughout World War II, the Americans built more than 100 aircraft carriers. Their manufacturing capabilities were terrifying and unmatched by Japan, a small country.
The Japanese seriously underestimated the Americans. If they had known that the American war machine would produce such terrifying power after being turned on, Yamamoto Isoroku might never have thought of destroying Pearl Harbor.
In fact, although the balance of the goddess of luck has been tilted towards Japan, she has not completely given up on the Americans. Even so far, she still saves the US military from time to time.
Before the Japanese attack, their primary target was the four aircraft carriers in Pearl Harbor, followed by those battleships.
At 7:30 a.m. on December 5, Zhou Zhihan witnessed the USS Lexington aircraft carrier in the air, led by Rear Admiral John Newton, as the flagship of the 12th Task Force, heading to Midway Island in the west. There are also 3 heavy cruisers and 5 destroyers. Their return date is not yet known.
Prior to this, the Eighth Task Force, led by Lieutenant General Halsey, nicknamed Bull, including the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier station, was currently returning after completing the mission of transporting naval fighter jets to Wake Island in the west of Hawaii. On the way, it is expected to return to Pearl Harbor at 7:30 on the morning of the 7th.
The aircraft carrier [USS Saratoga] returned to the west coast of the United States many days ago, so the aircraft carriers of the Pacific Fleet are not in Pearl Harbor for the time being.
In addition to the USS Saratoga heading to the West Coast, three of the other four aircraft carriers are expected to return to Pearl Harbor on Saturday, December 7.
During this period, the American heavy cruisers [Indianapolis] and [Arminipolis] left the port and went to sea to perform missions.
…
Shortly after Nagumo Chuichi ordered all fleets to hoist the "Z" flag and move forward at high speed, another crisis that could send the Japanese fleet to hell was quietly coming.
Before setting off, Yamamoto Isoroku was very worried about encountering ships from other countries along the way, which would make the fleet's operation fall short.
For this reason, before the fleet set off, Yamamoto issued a fatal order: once the mobile fleet is discovered by other ships, it is not allowed to take the initiative to attack the opponent.
3:20pm.
A merchant ship suddenly appeared in front of Nagumo Chuichi's fleet.
This merchant ship was full of people, and they looked at this huge fleet curiously.
The nervous nerves of the Japanese were fully aroused. The artillerymen quickly ran to the fort and aimed their sights at the merchant ship. The pilots on the deck also jumped into the open cabin and started the engine to take off at any time to sink the merchant ship. The cruiser's gun muzzle He also aimed at the merchant ship and waited for Nan Yunzhong's order to completely destroy the merchant ship and silence the deep sea.
Lieutenant Colonel Goro on the combat staff board ran all the way to the command room, quickly reported the situation to Chuichi Nagumo, and said anxiously: "Your Excellency, we may have been exposed, please order the fire to sink it."
Nanyun Zhongyi stood in the command room like a sculpture, looking at the merchant ships approaching from far away. His eyes were firm: "No. Anyone who opens fire without my order will be subject to military law."
Lieutenant Colonel Itagoro ordered the messengers to convey Nagumo Chuichi's orders to each ship.
The merchant ship was getting closer and closer, not far from the fleet.
The atmosphere in the command room of the aircraft carrier [Akagi] became even more tense. The gunners looked at the merchant ships close at hand, holding their breath and anxiously waiting for Nagumo to give the order to fire.
Lieutenant Colonel Itagoro finally couldn't bear it anymore and stepped forward and said: "Your Excellency, give the order quickly, it will be too late if it is later."
The expression on Na Yun's face was still stern, his eyes were sharp and calm: "No, wait a minute." After five seconds of silence, Nan Yun asked the radio staff officer, "Has it sent any radio reports?"
Radio Staff Officer: "No sir!"
Nan Yunzhong nodded: "Very good, continue to monitor their radios, and order a torpedo plane to be ready to take off at any time. If they find that they turn on the radio, they will be sunk immediately."
"Hai!"
Immediately, there was an order from the combat staff, and a torpedo plane on the aircraft carrier [Kaga] entered the take-off position.
However, the goddess of luck once again visited the Japanese.
The oncoming merchant ship did not take any action or even give way. Perhaps in order to get a clearer view of this mighty fleet, the merchant ship actually passed by the Nagumo fleet. Many people were still standing on the side of the ship. They waved to the Japanese fleet with an excited expression. They had never seen such a large fleet going out for exercises. Then, the merchant ship quickly disappeared from the sight of the Japanese fleet.
Lieutenant Colonel Itagoro was completely conquered by Lieutenant General Nagumo's calmness, but he did not know that Nagumo's back was actually wet with cold sweat.
That is to say, today, a series of doubts that the Japanese are about to launch a war have been detected by the US intelligence agency. However, due to the procrastination within the US military, a lot of intelligence that can pinpoint the traces of the Japanese has been repeatedly revealed. However, San's delay was not until a few hours after the start of the war that it was delivered to the officer on duty.
For example, the U.S. delegation, knowing that the negotiations were in deadlock, still sat patiently in the conference room and was led by the Japanese like fools. In fact, they had already noticed the Japanese's wolfish ambitions, but they had absolutely no hope of doing so. I never thought that the Japanese would extend their claws to Pearl Harbor.
