7:35 minutes.
Mizuo Fuchida could already see the rolling Tantras Mountains in the distance. The mountains were shrouded in white mist and reflected in the azure sea, which was beautiful.
Fuchida was not in the mood to enjoy the beautiful scenery at this time. He was nervous and excited. He held the joystick tightly with one hand, held up the telescope with his left hand to look at Pearl Harbor, and asked the two crew members to be alert to the surrounding air conditions.
As we flew further, the clouds became increasingly thicker and the visibility gradually became less than ideal. It was difficult to see the sea surface with the naked eye.
I wonder what the clouds above Pearl Harbor are like at this time... The weather makes Mizuo Fuchida even more nervous. At the critical moment, the weather must not cause problems!
"No enemy situation has been detected, everything is normal, Lieutenant Colonel!"
Shouted the navigator and bombardier Mitsuo Matsudaira.
"Yo Xi!" Mizuo Fuchida was relatively satisfied. As expected, as the intelligence said, no reconnaissance planes were flying at Pearl Harbor on Sunday. Then he looked back at his fleet, which included 49 level bombers, 40 torpedo planes, 51 dive bombers and 43 The Zero fighters followed closely behind in their original formation.
A sudden sense of pride and tens of thousands of pounds of pressure surged into Fuchida's heart at the same time.
If this sneak attack is successful, he will become a hero and a celebrity forever. If there is a slight mistake, there will be only hell waiting for him.
Just when Mizuo Fuchida felt pressure and pride coexisting, the atmosphere aboard the Combined Fleet flagship [Nagato] thousands of miles away was also extremely tense.
Yamamoto Isoroku is also hovering on the edge of life and death.
Starting from zero o'clock, Yamamoto's staff were neatly dressed and filed into the large war room. Everyone had a serious expression and almost no communication.
The walls around the war room are covered with maps of the Pacific Ocean and topographic maps of Southeast Asia.
After a while, Yamamoto Isoroku walked in. He was wearing a brand-new general uniform, with medals hanging on his chest. He was not tall but strong and tall, with a solemn expression. From time to time, his palms lightly grasped the sword on his waist.
Yamamoto Isoroku was mentally prepared. If Pearl Harbor failed, he would break his belly and apologize on the battleship, taking all the blame on himself.
In this sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the combined fleet rushed thousands of miles. If something went wrong, the entire army would be in danger of being annihilated. He had no choice but to break his belly and apologize to the emperor and the people, taking the guilt of the war into hell.
Yamamoto waved his hand.
Everyone bowed and bowed before sitting down.
Yamamoto sat in front of a table with a large globe and a seascape map. He said nothing, his eyes were slightly closed, and his stern face remained calm. No one could see the pressure and tension in his heart.
His powerful aura filled the hearts of everyone, and the war room was so silent that you could hear a needle drop. The air seemed to be solidified, making it difficult to breathe.
"cough!"
A young naval officer couldn't help but cough slightly, and immediately, all eyes were focused on him.
The officer bowed his head and apologized shyly, as if he had disturbed the silent air.
In the telecommunications room opposite the war room, several staff officers were receiving radio messages.
At this moment, Chief Staff Officer Kuroshima Kameto suddenly shouted: "The time is coming!"
Immediately, everyone in the room focused their attention on the navy watch, and their faces were tense.
Only Yamamoto's face remained unchanged.
Time, 7:45.
There were still five minutes left before the allotted time for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Yamamoto, who was expressionless, reasoned in his heart that there has been no news from Chuichi Nagumo from zero o'clock to now, which shows that the task force is progressing smoothly. If his whereabouts are exposed during this period, Nagumo will call back immediately according to the prior agreement.
Therefore, when the predetermined attack time was approaching, only Yamamoto's tension in the whole room was relieved.
At this moment, the communications ensign sent a telegram.
A general took it.
In order to cover the task force that attacked Pearl Harbor, the Army deliberately launched an attack on Southeast Asia last night to divert the attention of the US military:
The army has successfully landed in Malaysia and the Philippines. The famous American general MacArthur stationed in the Philippines was caught off guard and was unable to fight back.
In fact, last night, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Kimmel, already knew that the Japanese troops had landed in Malaysia and the Philippines, and that the defense line deployed by the famous general MacArthur, who was responsible for guarding, was completely destroyed by the Japanese, so he was in the mood this morning. Go play golf, but he never dreamed that while the Japanese were attacking Southeast Asia, they would also have the strength to attack his Pearl Harbor.
After reading the telegram, the war room was filled with jubilation and everyone high-fived in celebration. Only Yamamoto's expression remained as blank as before.
For Yamamoto Isoroku, compared with the successful attack on Pearl Harbor, even if the Imperial Army landed in Malaysia and was defeated by MacArthur, it would not matter.
As long as the attack on Pearl Harbor is successful, it will prevent the U.S. Navy from entering the Pacific for at least a year. This year will be crucial to the empire.
Therefore, Malaysia's victory on the Eastern Front is negligible compared with Pearl Harbor.
Seeing that the news of victory from Malaysia and the Philippines could not change General Yamamoto's expression, the excited Japanese generals quickly became silent, and the room fell into dead silence again.
When the Americans completely missed the opportunity to change their destiny, the goddess of victory no longer protected the United States and turned directly to Japan.
At 7:20, Mizuo Fuchida had already tuned the KGMB radio station and instructed the pilot to follow this radio signal wave and accelerate towards the target.
But then, a large thick white cloud appeared in front of him and dispersed at a height of about 1,900 meters below the aircraft fleet, blocking his sight. Immediately, Fuchida, who was in a highly nervous state, felt an ominous premonition in his heart.
He was worried that because of the appearance of this white cloud, causing the fleet to fly over Pearl Harbor, the situation would become serious and uncontrollable.
Because that would not only arouse high vigilance of the US ground defense forces, but also completely disrupt the order of the combat formation due to the turning of the aircraft fleet.
Just when Mizuo Fuchida was anxious, a miracle happened. His hand accidentally touched the frequency of the radio station, and the sound of the weather forecast appeared on the radio in the background of light music played in Honolulu.
The soft voice of this female announcer is the voice of an angel to Mizuo Fuchida:
There are few clouds in the sky today, and it is cloudy on the mountain. The cloud base is 1050 meters high, and the visibility is good. The wind is from the north with a speed of 10 knots.
The female announcer broadcast two weather forecasts in a row and saved the fleet led by Mizuo Fuchida at the critical moment.
"Very good!"
Mitsuo Fuchida's confidence suddenly increased, and he laughed happily. This was such a coincidence. Even if arranged in advance, it would be difficult to obtain such crucial information at a critical moment!
Mizuo Fuchida immediately put the putt, the bomber lowered its altitude, and the fleet behind it followed closely.
The next scene made the Japanese excited.
"Report, Your Majesty Lieutenant Colonel, the coast is found ahead!"
"Report, I saw Pearl Harbor, Commander!"
Both crew members reported to Mizuo Fuchida at the same time.
Mizuki and Matsudaira, both holding high-powered telescopes, saw the beautiful Pearl Harbor almost at the same time. They saw rows of warships in the harbor, moored quietly in the bay and sleeping peacefully on the sea.
Mizuki was so excited that he stuttered: "Your Excellency... [Russian... Oklahoma], [Maryland], [Tennessee], [US Nevada]... a total of... 9... 9 battleships... "
Matsudaira was very calm: "There is not even an American plane in the sky above Pearl Harbor. The Americans have no defense at all. We can attack you with impunity!"
Mizuo Fuchida also saw Pearl Harbor as quiet as a sleeping child. He knew that Pearl Harbor was difficult to fly, so he shouted: "Get ready to attack. Mizuki, send a telegram to Commander Nagumo immediately, my fleet's sneak attack was successful!"
After saying that, Mizuo Fuchida opened the hatch and launched a sneak attack flare into the air.
Before attacking, the Japanese prepared several attack plans:
First, if discovered by the Americans, they will attack by force and launch two signal flares;
Second, if the Americans don't notice, it will be a sneak attack and a signal flare will be fired.
After Zhou Zhihan led the Flying Tigers to fly forward for 10 minutes, he made a tactical turn in a four-finger formation and prepared to conduct various formation drills 20 kilometers south of Pearl Harbor.
After the tactical turn, the Flying Tigers were about 30+ kilometers away from Pearl Harbor.
"What is that? There seems to be a large group of aircraft on the south side of the Tantras Mountains northeast of Pearl Harbor."
Suddenly, Zhou Zhihan said loudly to the team members.
The chief instructor must be training our concentration again... Hearing the surprise in Zhou Zhihan's voice, the pilots looked lazily towards the Tantras Mountains, but saw nothing.
More than 40 kilometers away, they can't see it without a telescope.
Then, Zhou Zhihan's voice was full of panic: "Damn it...it's a huge Japanese fighter-bomber group..."
Commander Zhou is really crazy. In order to exercise our attention, he actually brought out the Japanese... Several pilots began to secretly complain about Japan's large fleet... Haha... Is there a large fleet...
"This is not an exercise, a Japanese aircraft group appears ahead... Again, this is a war, this is not an exercise. Order, everyone quickly follow me back to defend Pearl Harbor!" After Zhou Zhihan finished speaking, No. 214 F4F Wildcat made a sideways movement in the air Roll, change course, and head straight for Pearl Harbor, "Everyone speed up and follow me... Damn... the Japanese have already flown over Pearl Harbor, and they are preparing to drop bombs!"
