Chapter 1001 The Second Battle of Midway (1)

Whether it is the Cairo Declaration, the Axis Global Operations Headquarters, or the slogans of the three countries shouting "war to the end", they are actually all released to intimidate the United States to surrender and cease the war as soon as possible.

The reason is simple. In this era where there are no satellites and extremely low communication means, it is simply impossible to rely on a headquarters located in the rear, thousands of kilometers away from the front line, to command the front line. Even Germany's major battles on the Eastern Front were not planned by the High Command in Berlin. As for Hitler, who liked to interfere with frontline group armies or even corps-level commanders, Hoffman never did. He even spent very little time on the Eastern Front after becoming Army Commander-in-Chief.

The only exception is probably the Battle of Kungunnier. That time Hoffman moved forward to the front line, because the success or failure of the battle was very critical. If he lost, not only the Kungunnier Group Army would be completely destroyed, but also Gu, who retreated to lure Montgomery to the bait. Derian's troops were inevitably severely damaged. Therefore, he believed that this was a critical turning battle, but even so, he did not interfere with Rommel's command. He only stepped forward to boost morale and waited quietly in the headquarters to listen to telegrams.

Not to mention that Berlin couldn't control the front line, even Manstein couldn't control the millions of troops on the Eastern Front. Most of the time, operations relied on Germany's unique target management system for coordination, relying on the experience, skills, and wisdom of front-line commanders. and courage to advance, this is also the last era for generals to shine. When high technology takes over the sky, and combatants can hide in safe bunkers and rely on various satellites, sensors, and telemetry methods to sense opponent information, control combat units, and even realize automatic operations, war has lost its original charm and gradually turned into a An eSports game - it is technology rather than tactics and command that determines the success or failure of a battle.

Therefore, the name of the North Africa General Headquarters is just a hang-up. At most, it only carries out some exchanges and communication of materials, equipment, and intelligence. It is impossible to assume the heavy responsibility of command, and it is impossible to truly command all the axis forces-the Japanese Army and Navy themselves. If we can't all have unified command, how can we still talk about being under German command?

As for "war to the end", it is also a smokescreen released after the three countries formed a tacit political understanding. The three main axis countries have reached an understanding: allowing Germany, Italy or Japan to achieve a separate peace with the United States without harming the interests of other allies and without abandoning the axis camp.

The bottom line of Germany's peace negotiation is that all of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and most of South America are controlled by the Axis forces, and the Caribbean and Central America are controlled half by Germany and the United States (Germany conducts it through the United Kingdom, because there are many British colonies here);

Japan's original bottom line for peace talks was that the United States would recognize Japan's current occupied territories, Japan would return the Philippines and some Pacific islands, and the two countries would jointly govern the Pacific. However, after the United States flatly rejected this, the angry base camp decided to fight to the end: introduce German power into the Pacific and The United States resisted and not only refused to return the Philippines, but also demanded that Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and the Aleutian Islands be neutralized and demilitarized. If Germany planned to eat Australia and New Zealand (including Fiji, etc.), Japan would demand half of it.

However, the United States obviously does not know the essence of such false threats, and only regards this meeting as the axis to sound the charge for a general attack on the United States, especially judging from the battlefield situation.

On August 19, the day before the Cairo Declaration, the U.S. Army Aviation in Recife observed that the huge German main fleet was on the coast of West Africa. Although the 2,100-kilometer range was within the attack range of the B-29, there was no fighter escort for the B-29. 29 was obviously unable to defeat the German fleet escorted by high-performance fighter jets. In the end, only a few U.S. submarines launched an attack and sank 3 freighters. However, all four brave U.S. submarines were also sunk.

On August 20, August 21, Pacific time, one hour before the "Cairo Declaration" was issued, the Combined Fleet launched an attack on Midway Island. Of course, it was impossible for such a large offensive echelon to hide from the United States. When the main force of the fleet was still more than 1,200 kilometers away from Midway Island, the U.S. military discovered the menacing Japanese fleet.

But so what if it is discovered? There are only more than 100 aircraft and nearly 5,000 ground troops on Midway Island. The entire island is small and flat, and there is basically no danger to defend. The only way out is to rely on the support of the naval fleet. In the first Battle of Midway, Nimitz took advantage of the opportunity when Japanese carrier-based pilots discovered the U.S. fleet during an air attack on Midway and temporarily had better ammunition to eliminate the main Japanese fleet. But this time the situation was completely different.

During the first Battle of Midway, the Japanese army only dispatched a mobile fleet, and the larger battleship force was watching the show from behind. This time, Tsukahara 243 took three Yamato and Nagato to charge in person, and was covered by carrier-based aircraft. Coming straight towards Midway Island, a mobile fleet composed of 6 fleet aircraft carriers followed suit, and further away, a transport and landing force composed of 8 escort aircraft carriers filed forward.

The combined fleet did not hide its intentions at all. Not only did it not make a bunch of dazzling little moves like the last battle, it even generously let the US reconnaissance planes watch it before launching the offensive campaign, and only after confirming that the opponent had sent a telegram Shiden Kai swarmed up and shot him down.

This is of course a display of confidence and domineering. After two years of accumulation, the combined fleet has become stronger again. Not only has it gathered more troops and warships than during the first Battle of Midway, but it also has more advanced aircraft and weapons. It is better and more powerful. Experienced pilots, the commander personally led the attack, instead of Yamamoto Isoroku sitting on the Yamato and watching the show from a distance. This was very inspiring for the Japanese army, which has always paid attention to the tradition of superiority and inferiority. Behavior.

The morale of the combined fleet has been rising since it left port. By the time Tsukahara 243 raised his command flag and issued the combat order, the fleet's morale had already experienced triple bonuses and reached its peak.

The first level of bonus - the balance of forces is completely favorable: the combined fleet has 6 regular aircraft carriers and 3 super battleships. All carrier-based aircraft have been replaced with new ones. The pilots have also rested and trained hard for a long time. Not only have they made up for the previous shortcomings, The newly added warships have also been filled with carrier-based aircraft pilots; the US Pacific Fleet only has 2 battleships, no regular aircraft carriers, and does not even dare to leave port to fight, completely overwhelming its opponents in terms of momentum;

The second bonus - the axis is unstoppable: the three-nation axis has won consecutively. Germany went south to Britain and the Soviet Union, successfully ending the European War. Japan finally captured India and can fully respond to the Pacific direction. On the other hand, the US military not only lost its European garrison, but also lost its entire European war. The South American traditional market was also infiltrated by Germany. After hearing that Ozawa led the German main fleet to attack, all officers and soldiers understood that this time it was a pincer attack on the US military from east to west;

The third bonus - maximizing the incentive system: Supreme Commander Tsukahara took the Yamato forward to prepare for the bombardment of Midway Island. Before departure, each carrier-based aircraft pilot was awarded the rank of officer or reserve officer based on previous combat achievements and seniority. More Importantly, Japan followed Germany's example in using oil funds to introduce military merit awards, stipulating that those who received certain levels of medals would be allocated varying amounts of Indian land in the future. Those with high levels could even be allocated Indian servants by the government.

Many of the officers and soldiers who work thousands of miles away are just for money. Many of the officers and soldiers who work hard with their heads in their waistbands come from miserable backgrounds. In the past, the Japanese government, which was miserable in the past, called for general titles such as "loyalty to the emperor" and "death to death to become a god". Now it has finally been issued. Bounties are coming, and it’s the land that farmers value most.

This strategy was proposed by Horikichi after the failure of the peace negotiation with the United States. Because it was so important, cabinet meetings, meetings of the five prime ministers, meetings of the imperial court, meetings of ministers, etc. were held one after another. Many ministers with a conservative attitude did not agree. Many ministers with a conservative attitude did not agree. Couldn't pass the discussion. Because they had already reserved this land for the major chaebols to solve the national debt problem. If they distributed it to the officers and soldiers, they would not be able to receive compensation by then, and the government would inevitably be in debt in the future.

At the last meeting of important ministers, Horikichi, who had been patiently persuading these red deer, finally couldn't bear it anymore and slammed the table during the meeting. The sound was so loud and powerful that the people on the throne who had been silent and watching the show with cold eyes were shocked. Hirohito was trembling with fear.

He angrily said: "At this time when Japan and the United States are fighting to the death and we are invincible, we need to boost morale and the three armed forces to sacrifice their lives. You are unwilling to do this and you are not willing to do that. You will not say yes until the Americans put the knife to their necks." "?"

Ishihara Wanji also came out to echo, and he was filled with murderous intent as soon as he opened his mouth: "My millions of imperial soldiers lay on the ice and tasted the snow, fought in the flames of war, and suffered heavy casualties. Their skeletons are scattered all over East Asia and the Pacific. They opened up endless frontiers for the empire and suddenly became an empire. How can the world's largest empire have no place to live after the war? If the country is so stingy, I dare not hear about the consequences!"

The Army and Navy have common interests in rewarding meritorious soldiers with land, so as soon as Horikichi proposed it, the base camp immediately reached an agreement. It was just that the Army was standing on a hill, and the Ishihara faction did not dare to take the lead, so they encouraged Horichiyoshi to call "Navy" Charge first, and the army will follow." Horikichi didn't want to do anything too radical. Under the persuasion of King Higashikuru Miyazaki, he was planning to discuss and pass it in a meeting. Who knew that the fleet was about to set off, and these red deer were still unwilling to give a He immediately became anxious when he said it happily.

Originally, Ishihara Kanji's attitude was relatively mild, but when Horikichi became angry, he knew that the time was ripe. If he continued not to cooperate, the Navy would carry out the second "Tenchu ​​****" tomorrow. Last time, we worked hard to mobilize the Marine Corps from Mage Island. This time it was better. All the main forces of the Navy were assembled. The Yamato was simply in Tokyo Bay, and the whole city could be wiped out in less than an hour.

Japan now has a system in which the army and navy can get things done as a united force. Seeing the army and navy threatening force, the ministers who bullied others and feared force immediately retreated: Ishihara Wanji still has someone who can control it, and Horikichi no one can control it now. It's getting urgent. You can do such a thing as changing the emperor.

Three days before departure, Hirohito announced the edict to reward military merit with land in the form of a Tamone broadcast. But who among the army's mid-level officers and above and all members of the navy didn't know that Privy Hori slapped the table on it?

In any case, what Horikichi planned so hard was finally accomplished...

ps: I just returned to Hangzhou from Foshan in the evening. There is another update today, which will be a little later. Sorry, during the double period, please don’t hold on to your monthly tickets...