Chapter 1064: Japan's Midway Victory?

From July 10 to July 15, 1944, a dramatic change that shocked everyone took place on the land of the Soviet Union and Russia.

The invasion of the Far East of the Soviet Union by the Empire of Japan seemed to be the starting gun for the dramatic change. The Soviet Union and the Russian Empire, the "brothers" who had just fought to the death on the battlefield, reached a complex and constructive peace agreement almost overnight - the Soviet-Russian civil war that was thought to be endless was abandoned halfway, and the Soviet and Russian sides seemed to unite to fight against Japan, the enemy of the Russian nation!

And this was not the only dramatic change. At the same time that the Soviet and Russian sides shook hands and made peace, a reform with potentially more far-reaching significance also kicked off on the land of the Soviet Union (east of the Urals).

The Bolshevik Party, which lost a war and faced another difficult war, announced an important decision of the Soviet Bolshevik Party on July 15: the Soviet Union will begin a comprehensive economic reform! The original planned economy and public ownership route will be significantly adjusted...

However, the information that the Soviet Union will carry out major reforms did not attract much attention from the world's people, because the Imperial Japanese Headquarters released a shocking victory report on July 15, Tokyo time, claiming that from July 12 to 15, the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet fought fiercely with the US-Soviet Combined Fleet in the waters near Midway Island in the central Pacific and the waters near the Aleutian Islands in the northern Pacific, and won a decisive victory!

In these two naval battles, the invincible Japanese Navy fought hard, successively sinking 22 US aircraft carriers, 1 Soviet aircraft carrier, damaging 8, and shooting down a total of more than 1,800 US and Soviet shore-based and carrier-based aircraft; sinking 8 US and Soviet battleships/battlecruisers, damaging 3; sinking 25 small and medium-sized combat ships such as cruisers and destroyers, damaging 15; sinking 26 other auxiliary ships and landing ships, damaging 18; killing countless US and Soviet naval and land forces.

The Japanese Navy suffered very little loss, with no battleships sunk; three aircraft carriers sunk and five damaged; twelve light cruisers and destroyers sunk and eight damaged; five submarines sunk; and 228 carrier-based aircraft did not return.

In short, the Japanese Navy had won a great victory in the Midway-Aleutian Islands campaign, and the US Pacific Fleet had suffered a devastating blow!

When the news reached Japan, the whole country celebrated immediately, and a grand victory parade was held on the streets of Tokyo. The whole of Japan was immersed in a frenzy, and everyone believed that the day when the Empire of Japan dominated the Pacific and the Asian continent had arrived!

…

"Is this true? Did the Japanese really win such a victory?"

On July 17, Berlin time, Imperial Marshal Hessmann asked Admiral Oscar Kumetz, the head of the German Navy Military Observation Group who had just returned from Japan, in the meeting room of the General Staff in Zossen.

22 aircraft carriers sunk, 8 battleships/battlecruisers... and 1,800 American planes shot down!

Such a record is really amazing. If it is true, then the subsequent Atlantic War will be much easier. Maybe... the Americans don't even have the determination to fight the European Combined Fleet, and they just spend money to save their lives.

"Imperial Marshal, in the Midway-Aleutian Islands Campaign, the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet was divided into two parts." Admiral Oscar Kumets replied, "In the direction of Midway, the First Mobile Fleet was composed of 15 aircraft carriers as the main force; and in the direction of the Aleutian Islands, it was the main force of the Combined Fleet, with 13 battleships and 4 large aircraft carriers. And I personally followed the Combined Fleet flagship "Yamato" and witnessed the battle in the direction of the Aleutian Islands."

"How is the situation?" Hessman asked.

"It is certain that three Gangut-class battleships and the aircraft carrier Karl Marx were sunk." Admiral Kumets said, "They were all sunk by Japanese carrier-based aircraft on the aircraft carriers."

"Excluding the two Kronstadt-class ships?"

The three Gangut-class ships and the outdated Karl Marx-class ship are not of much value, and are far from being comparable to the two Kronstadt-class battlecruisers.

"It is not certain," Admiral Kumets replied, "Although the Japanese included these two battlecruisers in the list of sinkings, they did not show photos of them being sunk."

"It doesn't matter," Hersman shook his head, "The two battlecruisers are unlikely to come to the Atlantic. It is estimated that they will just fight a battle in the Pacific Ocean, which poses no threat to us."

He paused and glanced at the several young naval aviation officers sitting next to Admiral Kumets. One of them was Hersman's eldest son, Major Rudolf von Heinsberg-Hersman.

"Tell me about the battle in the direction of Midway Island." Hessman ordered.

"Rudolf, you go first." Kumetz asked Hessman's son to report first.

"Yes, Admiral." Rudolf stood up, saluted, and then said, "Report to the Imperial Marshal, in the direction of Midway Island, the Japanese Navy has adopted a method of dispersing the deployment of aircraft carrier battle groups. 15 aircraft carriers are divided into 15 battle groups, each of which has only 1 aircraft carrier and 4-6 escort ships."

"So dispersed?" Hessman knows a little about naval warfare, "Is this to avoid attacks from American aircraft?"

"I think so." Rudolph said, "But we don't have 15 naval aviation observers to assign, so we only arranged one each on the Taiho, Akagi, Kaga, Flying Eagle, and Hayabusa. Observer and 3 assistants. What I boarded was Taiho, the flagship of the First Mobile Fleet."

The observers sent by the German Navy were officers, and the assistants were soldiers, responsible for taking photos and sending reports.

"The Big Phoenix?" Hersman asked. "Is it still there?"

"No more," Rudolf said, "It was sunk...it was sunk by torpedoes launched by American TBF torpedo bombers. A total of 4 aviation torpedoes and 1 submarine launched torpedo were hit. This aircraft carrier Although it is equipped with 10 twin 40mm anti-aircraft guns, Japan's own 25mm cannons have not been replaced by 20mm cannons, so the close-in firepower is still insufficient. Moreover, their 100mm anti-aircraft guns do not have radio proximity fuses, and their lethality is also low. Not enough. So it is very dangerous when encountering torpedoes and dive bombers at the same time.

At that time, the Taiho was attacked by more than 120 American aircraft in three waves. Five 500-pound bombs were hit on the flight deck, but there were no fatal injuries. However, the Taiho's mine resistance performance seemed to be poor. Four aviation torpedoes caused heavy damage to it, and it was ambushed by an American submarine on its way out of the battlefield.

In addition to Taiho, Akagi and Kaga were also besieged by hundreds of American aircraft, suffered heavy damage, and were abandoned on July 13 and 14. "

"Have these three aircraft carriers achieved results?" Hersman asked.

"All achieved results." Rudolph replied, "At least three large American aircraft carriers were severely damaged. The Japanese said they were sunk, but they can't tell from the photos."

"That's not bad." Hessman smiled, "Their Zero fighter planes are already a bit outdated. It must be difficult to fight an aviation battle, right?"

"In fact, the Japanese did not send Zero fighter jets to escort the attack formation." Rudolph said, "The Japanese adopted a new unescorted attack tactic in this battle, and also used the latest 'Meteor' ship-borne torpedo Bomber... This is a very good fighter. Not only is it fast and has a long range, but it can also undertake both dive bombing and torpedo attack missions. Maybe we can consider introducing this kind of aircraft from Japan.”

Hessman listened to his son's suggestion and just nodded slightly without comment. The lack of viable carrier-based dive/torpedo bombers has always been a worry for the German naval aviation. However, Hessmann still will not introduce Japanese "Meteor" for the German naval aviation, because the German naval aviation now has "missiles" available and does not need carrier-based torpedo bombers!

"Apart from one large aircraft carrier, do the Japanese have any confirmable record at Midway?" Hersman asked.

"There are still 2-3 large aircraft carriers that have been severely damaged. Because most of the large aircraft carriers in the United States are Essex class and have similar appearances, it is difficult to distinguish them from photos. It can be determined that 3-4 large aircraft carriers have been severely damaged. "Yes." Rudolph replied, "In addition, 6-8 small and medium-sized aircraft carriers were severely damaged, and 3-4 battleships were severely damaged... These are all documented by photos."

"Oh?" Hessman suddenly became interested. "You also severely damaged 3-4 battleships? That's not bad! Was it also sunk by Meteor torpedo bombers?"

"No," Kumetz said, "he was wounded by the Japanese artillery batteries on Oahu. After the Battle of Midway-Aleutian Islands, the Americans began bombarding Oahu with battleships, and seemed to be preparing for a landing battle. , as a result, they were counterattacked by the Japanese fort on Oahu, and 3-4 old battleships suffered serious damage."

"What?" Hessman was stunned. "The Americans are still attacking Oahu? Did they win in the Battle of Midway-Aleutian Islands?" He said this and shook his head again, "If they really After winning, we should return to support the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean, so why attack Oahu?”

General Kumets, who was sitting across from Hessmann's desk, smiled and said: "Maybe Roman Caesar has succeeded in the United States, and the Americans...are ready to pay, so that they don't have to fight us to the death in the Atlantic Ocean. "