Chapter 529: The First Battle of Hawaii 2

"Commander, this is the damage report of Yamato!"

Captain of the battleship Yamato, Colonel Takayanagi, handed a report to Isoroku Yamamoto with a painful look on his face. In the artillery battle with the American battleship last night, Yamato was also hit by many shells. Although it was not "broken", it still suffered a lot of "skin injuries". The secondary guns were damaged, the lifeboats were smashed, and two seaplanes were broken. In addition, many places were hit and pitted, not as beautiful as before.

"Don't look at it," Yamamoto Isoroku smiled and waved his hand, "Takayanagi, don't look reluctant. Yamato doesn't rely on her face to make a living. It's more appropriate to have some injuries on her body!"

The Yamato is finally not a "restaurant" now, but a real battleship! It has withstood the most severe test, and the performance makes Yamamoto Isoroku very satisfied.

"It's the Yamato after all!" Yamamoto said to Ugaki Matome, the chief of staff of the Combined Fleet, with a smile, "The American battleships are no match at all. Their 14-inch guns can only tickle the Yamato."

"Of course, the Yamato was originally an unsinkable ship!" Ugaki Matome also replied with a smile, "The budget for ships 110 and 111 should not be a problem now."

Ship 110 is the third ship of the Yamato class, and ship 111 is the fourth ship of the Yamato class. These three battleships were all started in 1940, but now they are facing suspension due to funding and raw material issues. However, with the example of the Yamato sinking three American battleships, Tojo Hideki naturally did not dare to cut the budget for ships 110 and 111.

Yamamoto Isoroku nodded and said, "Looking at the performance of the Yamato last night, I feel relieved to let it bombard Oahu."

"What? Commander, are you really going to let the Yamato bombard Oahu?" Ugaki Chan was a little reluctant to hear what Yamamoto said. "There are 16-inch cannons on Oahu!"

Yamamoto Isoroku smiled and said, "But only the Yamato's 460mm cannon can destroy the American artillery and the two stranded Colorado-class battleships at a distance of 20,000-30,000 meters."

According to the test of the Japanese Navy, the Yamato's 460mm main gun has a vertical armor penetration of 566mm and a horizontal armor penetration of 167mm at 20,000 meters; at 30,000 meters, the vertical armor penetration is 416mm and the horizontal armor penetration is 230mm. Although Yamamoto Isoroku does not know the specific defense capabilities of the Colorado-class and Williston artillery, the Yamato's 460mm main gun should be able to destroy them.

"By the way, when will that guy Imamura Hitoshi arrive?" Yamamoto Isoroku asked again about Lieutenant General Imamura Hitoshi, the commander of the 16th Army, who was sent by "Fool Gen" to command the army to attack Oahu.

Although this Imamura Hitoshi was a lieutenant general in the army, he had a very good relationship with Yamamoto Isoroku. Both of them liked to gamble, so they were considered gambling friends. The Chief of Staff "Fool Gen" also knew that they had a good relationship, so he let Imamura Hitoshi serve as the commander of the newly formed 16th Army and lead the troops to attack Hawaii.

The 16th Army is composed of 2 divisions and 1 mixed brigade. The 2 divisions are the 2nd Division and the 38th Division. The 2nd Division is one of the permanent divisions of the Japanese Army before the war. The conscription place is located in Sendai, so it is also called the Sendai Division. The 38th Division is a newly established division. It has one less regiment than the permanent division, only 3 (the 228th, 229th and 230th regiments), and its weapons and equipment are also worse. The combat effectiveness is not at the same level as the 2nd Division. As for that brigade, it is naturally the Taiwan Mixed Brigade that occupied Kauai.

It is not enough to capture Oahu with 2 divisions and 1 mixed brigade with a total of 50,000 troops. However, the Japanese Army can only send this number of people. It is not that there are no troops, but the transportation capacity is really tight.

According to the transportation plan of the Japanese Army, a division with personnel, equipment, ammunition and supplies for a battle will require a merchant ship with a displacement of about 300,000 tons, and 2 divisions will be 600,000 tons. The Taiwan Mixed Brigade plus several thousand Korean civilians and some construction materials and tools will use 150,000 tons of merchant ships.

In other words, in the direction of Hawaii, the merchant ships serving the army alone are as high as 750,000 tons! If the cargo ships and oil tankers requisitioned by the 1st Fleet and the 1st Mobile Fleet are counted. In the direction of Hawaii, the total tonnage of merchant ships occupied by the Japanese Army and Navy has exceeded 1.1 million tons!

At this time, the total tonnage of merchant ships in Japan was only 5.9 million tons, of which only 3 million tons could be requisitioned by the navy and the army, otherwise Japan's domestic production would not be able to be maintained.

And these 3 million tons of merchant ships had to be used in multiple offensive operations such as Hawaii, the Philippines, Malaya, Guam, and Wake Island. So the "idiot yuan" was also a fool's errand without rice. It was already very generous to squeeze out 750,000 tons of merchant ships for Hawaii.

"Commander, Commander Imamura is now on a transport ship in the North Pacific with the 16th Army Command and the 38th Division. It will take about 3 days to reach Kauai."

Yamamoto Isoroku crossed his arms and thought for a while, and said: "Then we will use 3 days to get rid of Williston Battery, Hatch Battery and 2 Colorado-class battleships. In this way, once Imamura's troops arrive, they can start landing... The Battle of Hawaii should still strive for a quick decision!"

...

"Commander, congratulations." Colonel Joseph Lawton Collins, chief of staff of the U.S. Army in Hawaii, handed a telegram he had just received to his boss, Lieutenant General Walter Short, who looked very tired and a little sluggish. .

"Congratulations?" Lieutenant General Short was stunned. He really couldn't understand what good things would happen to him now.

"You have been promoted to general," Colonel Collins said. "And the president appointed you to also serve as governor of the Hawaiian Islands."

"General? Governor?" Short was stunned for a moment, and then smiled bitterly. This general rank is used to comfort the deceased... Although he is not dead yet, President Roosevelt awarded him the general rank at this time. Letting him be the governor obviously means letting him stay on Oahu until the last person!

Surrender will not be allowed! Because Admiral Short delayed on Oahu for one more day, the United States had one more day to strengthen the defenses of Australia and the west coast of North America.

"The Army and Navy also jointly formulated a personnel evacuation plan." Colonel Collins handed another document to Short. "There are many people who need to evacuate, including Army Aviation and Naval Aviation personnel who lost their aircraft, Navy shipyard personnel, Navy personnel who lost their ships, family members of officers and soldiers, and white civilians on Oahu."

"How to retreat?" Admiral Short asked, "Now that the ports of Pearl Harbor and Honolulu are blocked by the Japanese, and the Pacific Fleet...how can those people withdraw?"

"Priority personnel will be evacuated using B-17s and Catalina seaplanes," Colonel Collins said. "Army and Navy pilots who lost their aircraft, families of senior military officers and minor white people on Oahu all need to be evacuated first." Out. Then came the aviation ground crew, naval engineers and white women..."

This plan to evacuate people was not at all gentlemanly, but it was absolutely correct. The top priority for evacuation is pilots. There are hundreds of such pilots on Oahu, but there are no aircraft for them to use, so there is no use staying on Oahu. But once they get the plane somewhere else, it's a formidable force.

"Is there any other way besides using B-17s and Catalina seaplanes?" Admiral Short could imagine B-17s and Catalina seaplanes making risky landings at night, but what else is there?

"With light cruisers and destroyers," Captain Collins replied.

"How to use them? How do they pass through the Japanese blockade?"

Colonel Collins shrugged, "I don't know about that... but Admiral Nimitz will definitely think of a way."

"Nimitz? He is now..."

"He is the new commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet."

While the two were talking, the phone on Admiral Short's desk rang and he suddenly remembered. Short picked up the phone receiver and put it to his ear. After listening for a while, his already ugly face became even more ugly.

He put down the receiver and said to Colonel Collins: "The Japanese super battleship is here! The lookout post on Diamond Head has seen it!"

…

"Mr. Secretary, it was a mistake to put the fleet in Hawaii. Admiral Richardson has repeatedly opposed it."

"Chester, that's what the president means!" U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Stark looked at Admiral Nimitz, who had just been appointed commander of the Pacific Fleet and was about to get on the plane to San Diego to take over. I remembered that the original Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Richardson, was fired by Roosevelt more than a year ago because he opposed moving the Pacific Fleet's home port to Pearl Harbor, and that Nimitz refused to take over as Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet due to "insufficient qualifications." These two things... If Nimitz had become the unlucky commander-in-chief at that time, then it would be Kimmel's turn to replace Nimitz now.

Stark sighed and continued: "The president now hopes to hold on to Oahu as much as possible; at the same time, important personnel and civilians (white people) on the island will be evacuated; in addition, a material and military transport to Australia will be completed in the near future. I think you know what to do?"

Nimitz smiled bitterly: "I will try my best to complete these three tasks. By the way, when will the two North Carolina-class ships arrive in San Diego? I think I need them to take action."

"Two North Carolina-class ships?" Stark was startled by Nimitz's question, "Chester, do you want to use these two North Carolina-class ships to deal with the Japanese super battleship? "