Chapter 1054 Only by Protecting the Ship Can We Defeat the Enemy

The so-called nine-stage interception was the Japanese Navy's fantasy of a decisive battle against the United States before the Pacific War. Specifically, it was to arrange submarines, aircraft carriers, cruisers and destroyers in layers, and confront the US fleet one by one to weaken the opponent's strength. The battleships were placed at the end, and the Yamato-class cannons were used to make the final decision - this was the idea when Japan designed and built the Yamato, which was used to fight the nine-stage decisive battle.

However, when the Pacific War started, except for the battleship decisive battle at the beginning when fighting the Hawaiian Islands, Japan's battleships seemed to have become soy sauce, and air warfare became the main means of engagement.

However, starting with the Battle of Christmas Island in September 1943, Japan began to suffer setbacks in a series of air battles. The generation of elites who joined the naval aviation before the outbreak of the war was lost. By the time of the second Hawaiian Islands Battle, even the elites of the Army Aviation Corps were used up.

Although with the advantage of shore-based advantages, more than 4,000 US fighters were consumed, and many elite American carrier-based aircraft pilots were killed. But starting in June, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse again.

It turned out that the U.S. military repaired and expanded the airport on Niihau Island, and then transferred the P51B/C and P47D of the Army Air Force. Now the battle over the Hawaiian Islands became a shore-to-shore battle. Japan's Hayate and Shiden Kai were no match for the P51B/C and P47D. As for the three medium-heavy bombers that Japan was proud of, "Galaxy", "Tunlong" and "Hiryu", they were beaten to a pulp when they encountered the P47D "interceptor". The combination of 8 12.7mm Browning aircraft machine guns and aviation rockets can completely shoot down the sturdy Japanese bombers in one attack!

What's worse is that because the Japanese aircraft on the Hawaiian Islands have been exhausted, the Japanese Navy and Army have to adopt the tactics of long-distance transfer and aircraft carrier relay to replenish the fighters on the battlefield in the Hawaiian Islands. The former is used to supplement the "Galaxy" medium bomber with a super long range, and the latter is to launch the "Hayaten Kai" and "Shiden Kai" into deep space from an aircraft carrier equipped with a flywheel catapult (imported from Germany), and then fly to the Hawaiian Islands at night.

However, these two ways of replenishment are extremely consuming, and the number of replenishments is insufficient. In particular, the US military also deployed P61 night fighters on Niihau Island. As a result, Japanese planes flying to the Hawaiian Islands at night were often intercepted by P61! Those Japanese rookie pilots who were exhausted after long night flights often did not even see the Hawaiian Islands, and were confusedly shot down by the US P61.

Therefore, in the past June, Japan lost more than 1,100 aircraft in the Hawaiian Islands, while the number of US aircraft shot down by them was much less than this number.

Now the air battle exchange ratio in the Battle of the Hawaiian Islands is already greatly unfavorable to Japan! It is tantamount to a foolish dream to want to rely on air warfare to win.

But the fleet decisive battle... that is to fight with the old capital of the Japanese Navy!

Is it really worthwhile to do this?

"Ito-kun," Yamamoto Isoroku said leisurely, "Do you think that the Combined Fleet will be able to win the fleet battle?"

"This..." Ito thought for a while and nodded, "The Combined Fleet has 4 Yamato-class battleships, and the United States has at most 4 Iowa-class battleships on the battlefield in the Hawaiian Islands. They are no match for us at all."

"What about American planes?" Yamamoto asked, "Ito-kun, don't you think that American planes will stand idly by and watch their battleships and our battleships fight to the death?"

"This is naturally impossible," Ito shook his head and said, "But Commander Nanyun and Commander Ozawa will use aircraft carriers to cover the battleship forces."

Yamamoto Isoroku also shook his head and said, "No, no, this is a reckless act without any confidence!"

Yamamoto was right. Japan can now put together less than 20 aircraft carriers at most, while the United States has at least 50-60 aircraft carriers near the Hawaiian Islands. In terms of commonly used carrier-based aircraft, Japan can take out at most 800.

Even if the United States does not consider escort aircraft carriers, it can at least take out 25 large and light fleet aircraft carriers. Even if the number of regular carrier-based aircraft on them is insufficient, 1,200-1,300 aircraft can still be gathered.

Although the US carrier-based aircraft pilots suffered heavy losses in previous operations, most of the pilots who now fly the 1,300 carrier-based aircraft are "rookies" who have switched from the Army Air Force (the rest are of course carrier-based aircraft elites), but they are still better than Japanese carrier-based aircraft pilots - they are not good at taking off and landing on aircraft carriers and flying at sea, but their skills in air combat and bombing are not bad at all!

The best pilots of the Japanese Navy have long been exhausted, but the Japanese Navy cannot get experienced pilots from the Army like the US Navy...

In addition, the carrier-based aircraft on Japanese aircraft carriers are also at a great disadvantage when facing American carrier-based aircraft. In order to make up for this weakness, the Japanese Navy recently introduced a batch of Fw-190Ts from Germany for trial. But the result was not satisfactory, because the Fw-190T was improved from a shore-based aircraft, and its take-off and landing performance was not very ideal. When taking off from an aircraft carrier, it had to rely on a high-power hydraulic catapult to fully fuel and fully ammunition. The high landing speed was even more of a headache, and it was impossible for an experienced pilot to land the Fw-190T.

Therefore, the Japanese Navy's carrier-based fighters still use the Zero, but they have introduced the Zero 62/63 based on the Fokker Zero D and transformed it into a fighter-bomber. However, the performance of the Zero Type 62/63 is still not as good as the American F4U and F6F.

"But..." Ito Zhengyi looked very embarrassed, "Your Majesty Marshal, the situation of the combined fleet is like this. If we don't fight a fleet battle and there is no certainty in the aviation battle, how can we fight a decisive battle?"

"How to have a decisive battle?" Yamamoto Isoroku glared at Ito Zhengichi, "Why a decisive battle?"

"..."

"Didn't the Empire win? Didn't the United States sue for peace? Isn't the Army also planning to end operations in the Pacific and instead use troops on the Asian continent? Why is the Navy still fighting a meaningless decisive battle?"

Yamamoto's series of questions surprised Ito Zhengyi.

Isoroku Yamamoto doesn’t want to fight... Oh, in fact, most of the people in Japan who have the final say don’t want to fight the Pacific War with the United States anymore.

Didn't even the head of the Army Red Deer say: The United States is "Gold", Japan is "Song", and Germany is "Great Mongolia"?

Who in Japan doesn’t know what happened to the Song Dynasty when they joined forces with Mongolia to destroy the Jin Dynasty? But can Japan not fight now?

"But Germany has acquiesced to the expansion of the empire in the Far East, and has also provided a set of equipment for the production of nuclear fission bombs. Moreover, allowing the United States to occupy the Hawaiian Islands is detrimental to the long-term development of the empire..."

When Ito said this, his brows were already knitted together.

Japan is now reaping the benefits of Germany. If it doesn't solve the problem, can the Germans spare Japan? Germany now has atomic bombs!

As for the United States occupying the Hawaiian Islands, the Japanese are not really worried because they believe that a unified United States of Europe is the main enemy of the United States of America...

There is actually no inextricable hatred between Japan and the United States.

"What are you afraid of? The big money in the United States is not finished yet," Yamamoto Isoroku waved his hand, "And it's not that we will not fulfill our commitments... but we must fulfill our commitments on the premise of maintaining the fleet."

"Keep the fleet?"

Yamamoto Isoroku nodded and said: "Only by protecting the ship can we defeat the enemy!"

"Protect the ship and defeat the enemy? Is there a fleet?"

"Yes!" Yamamoto Isoroku nodded heavily, "The combined fleet must exist! Only when the fleet exists can the navy defeat the enemy! Not only external enemies, but also internal enemies!"

This enemy... is not just the United States and the Soviet Union, but also includes the Japanese Army Red Deer!

The Combined Fleet is the capital of the Japanese Navy. If it goes away, the Army will have the final say in Japan's major policies in the future.

The navy has made such great achievements but ended up with nothing. How could Yamamoto Isoroku and Nagano Shushen be willing to do so?

Regardless of the fact that the Pacific War is about to end and Japan is about to fight a land war, Yamamoto and Nagano are still preparing for a grand new shipbuilding plan!

Not only are they preparing to start building Yamato-class follow-up ships, but they are also building more Taiho-class aircraft carriers - this may seem absurd to the United States and Germany, but for the Japanese Navy, it is the reward they deserve!

No matter how clear-headed Isoroku Yamamoto is, he is still a member of the Japanese Navy and must consider the interests of the navy.

"The Battle of the Hawaiian Islands will definitely be fought," Yamamoto Isoroku said, "but it must be made clear that this is not a battle of empires, but a battle to deal with Germany. So most of the capital ships must be saved... Do you understand? "

Yamamoto said half of what he said, and the other half was that it didn't matter if we lost the battle, and it didn't matter if the Hawaiian Islands were lost, as long as the fleet was not lost.

"I understand..." Ito stood up immediately, picked up the text of "Jie No. 2 Operation Plan" in front of Yamamoto and was about to leave.

"Ito-kun, why did you take the plan away?" Yamamoto Isoroku stopped Ito, "I haven't read it yet?"

"Marshal, what do you mean..."

Yamamoto Isoroku smiled and said: "There is no need to change the plan... If the Germans want to see it, they will send personnel to accompany the fleet to observe. But plans can never keep up with changes, right?"

Ito finally understood, and bowed to Yamamoto with admiration, "I will go to the Yamato immediately and convey your intention to Commander Nagumo and Commander Ozawa."