local time at Pearl Harbor.
Just after 10 o'clock, Nagumo Chuichi, his chief of staff Ryunosuke Kusaka and others stood on the bridge of the aircraft carrier [Akagi], staring at the southern sky.
According to the plan, the first wave of aircraft attacking Pearl Harbor should have returned by this time.
In order not to expose the movements of the second wave of attack aircraft and to prevent the Americans from knowing the location of the task force, the task force, which had reached the designated sea area and was only 160 nautical miles away from Pearl Harbor, still maintained radio silence.
Nagumo Chuichi, who is cautious by nature, has always been worried that the traces of the fleet will be captured by the four U.S. aircraft carriers that are not anchored in Pearl Harbor. After research, it was decided that only after the first wave of attack aircraft groups safely returned to the aircraft carrier, the second wave of attacks would be launched. Wave attack fleet communications.
"Here we come, the fleet is back."
The soldier with the empty telescope shouted loudly.
About 10 minutes later, small black dots appeared in the southern sky.
Seeing that the fleet was still densely packed, Nagumo Chuichi and Kusaka Ryuunosuke looked happy. The planes in the first round of attack missions finally returned.
Relevant personnel on the ship have been waiting for a long time, preparing to direct the fighter planes to land in an orderly manner.
Some of the returning fighters flew in formation, while others flew completely alone. All Zero fighters flew at the end to cover the injured bombers.
Regardless of which method they used, these planes quickly landed on the six aircraft carriers one after another. After each fighter plane landed, they were greeted with warm applause. All Japanese troops lined up on both sides of the battleship to celebrate the triumphant heroes. Sending you the highest respect.
According to the previous agreement, when all the first wave of fighters land on the ship, the task force will open communications to let the second wave of attack aircraft know that the first wave of attack groups has returned and landed safely.
All the officers of the first wave of attack aircraft groups landed on the aircraft carrier [Akagi]. They all went to the statistics room as soon as they landed, reported to Lieutenant Colonel Harada Minoru, who was in charge of general aviation affairs, and reported on the achievements of their squadrons. The results of the battle and the loss of fighter aircraft.
Lieutenant Colonel Minoru Harada collected and verified all the information one by one. He wanted to compile a precise report and give it to Chuichi Nagumo, who was eagerly waiting for the final statistical results.
There were 184 aircraft on the voyage, except for one that crashed into the sea during takeoff. A total of 183 fighter planes participated in the first wave of attacks on Pearl Harbor. Of the 142 aircraft that returned, 41 were lost, of which 8 were killed by Americans in air raids. He was injured while fighting back and fell into the sea on the way back.
Lieutenant Colonel Harada Minoru nodded with satisfaction. This loss rate was completely beyond his expectation.
Nagumo Chuichi and Harada Minoru estimated before the war that the loss rate of the first wave of attack aircraft would be within one-third, which was completely normal, and a loss of two-fifths would be acceptable.
"Why don't you see Tetsuzo Iwamoto and Hiroshi Nishizawa?" Harada Minoru asked the commanders who were sitting in the statistical room drinking tea, smoking and resting.
Major Murata, captain of the torpedo plane group, said: "We encountered a fleet of aircraft led by the Chinese Zhou Zhihan over Pearl Harbor. Nishizawa Hiroyuki and Iwamoto Tetsuzo were shot down by Zhou Zhihan and died for their country!"
"Why is it this person again?"
Lieutenant Colonel Minoru Harada frowned, "This person lingers like a ghost and should have been eliminated long ago."
"Hai!"
Major Murata continued, "In this surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, if this Chinese hadn't blocked it, we would have lost at least half of our fighter planes. I estimate that at least 20 Imperial fighter planes would have been shot down by this man."
"idiot!"
Harada Minoru punched the table hard, causing the lid of the teacup to rattle. He was usually taciturn and could hold his breath very well, "We must find a way to kill him... Baga... He shot down at least 20 fighter planes alone. He is Devil..."
At 9:40, Mitsuo Fuchida's communicator, which was hovering far away from Pearl Harbor, suddenly sounded. According to the previous agreement, he knew that the first wave of fighters had returned successfully and landed on the ship, so he ordered all pilots over Pearl Harbor to prepare to retreat. .
This wave of air strikes lasted for more than an hour, and it was time to retreat. But to Fuchida's regret, the US military's oil depots and submarines were never hit.
But it doesn't matter. Fuchida thought to himself that more than 80% of the US military's fighter planes and warships at Pearl Harbor were severely damaged. The US military was no longer able to organize an effective counterattack. If the Imperial Air Force launched another wave of attacks and blew up the oil depots and submarine bases, it would be perfect. official.
After Mizuo Fuchida gave the order, when all the pilots began to assemble, the task force shut down communications to prevent being detected by the American aircraft carrier.
In the past few minutes, Mizuo Fuchida has never seen Wild Cat No. 214. He secretly wondered whether Wild Cat No. 214 was injured and might have flown to land elsewhere.
In fact, as the Japanese aircraft fleet dropped bombs with less and less force, Zhou Zhihan also disappeared into the thick smoke and hovered in the sky.
He thought that today's harvest was almost the same. About 40 Japanese aircraft were shot down and damaged one after another. It would be a bit outrageous to continue the fight.
Last night, Wildcat No. 214's 6 machine guns were fully loaded. Each machine gun had a total of 600 rounds of ammunition. 3,600 rounds of ammunition shot down 40 fighter planes. This is unique in the history of war. Although he used 2 of the machine guns every time he shot, Each burst of fire from the fighter jets was about 40 rounds, and 3,600 rounds of bullets were used to shoot down 40 aircraft, which was enough to reach the sky.
Just accept it when you see it!
Second Lieutenant Kenneth Taylor and his 11 fighter planes also suffered heavy losses in this wave of defensive battles. Six of them were shot down and two were injured and retired from the battlefield. Fortunately, the pilots were rescued safely.
After receiving the return notice from Lieutenant Colonel Mitsuo Fuchida, all Japanese fighter planes gathered over Cape Kaena on the west side of Oahu. This is the gathering place for Pearl Harbor residents. There are no American anti-aircraft guns, so it is the most ideal gathering place.
During the bomber assembly, the Zero fighters always maintained suppression of ground artillery fire. Since the No. 214 Wildcat no longer appeared, the pressure on the Zero dropped sharply.
After all the Japanese aircraft were assembled, under the leadership of Shige and Major Shimazaki, they flew 70 kilometers southeast, and then flew north in a large circle. Going north and south was to attack the east and west, in order not to expose the position and direction of the task force. Location.
Some damaged aircraft were on their way back, which was equivalent to a long journey, which made the pilots very tired. Coupled with the tense nerves, some improper landing accidents occurred during landing, resulting in aircraft crashes and fatalities.
Those fighter planes that barely landed and were too damaged were pushed into the sea by the staff on the deck. During the war, all personnel had too much workload and no time to repair the seriously damaged fighter planes.
On the deck of the aircraft carrier, those who did not have tasks rushed over to help the pilots get out of the cabin with difficulty. After the long-distance attack, the pilots were extremely tired. Most of their fatigue came from tension and anxiety.
Soon, the second batch of attack aircraft returned and landed. Half an hour later, the last aircraft, the command aircraft of Lieutenant Colonel Mizuo Fuchida, finally landed safely on the deck of the Akagi.
All the Japanese soldiers raised their arms and shouted "Long live", including Nagumo Chuichi.
As soon as Fuchida climbed out of the heavily damaged fighter plane, a messenger came over to convey Chuichi Nagumo's order, asking him to go to the conference room immediately.
But Fuchida did not immediately go to Nagumo Chuichi's command room. Instead, he hurried to the statistics room of his old classmate, Lieutenant Colonel Harada Minoru, and took the Pearl Harbor battle report he had received and the battle reports Harada received from the squadron commanders. , summarized and checked one by one, and found that the results were almost the same, so the two happily patted each other on the shoulders, picked up the summary report, and went to Nagumo Chuichi's command room together.
