Chapter 1005 The Second Battle of Midway (5)

"Sir, the Americans surrender."

The Yamato's naval guns had just fired a few rounds when an eagle-eyed staff officer saw a white flag flying in the direction of Midway Island, and everyone immediately cheered.

"Stop the bombardment and prepare to go ashore to surrender."

"But..." the new Combined Fleet Chief of Staff Ryunosuke Kusaka shook his head, "the landing force is still more than 400 kilometers away."

In order to prevent the US coast defenses and aviation forces from attacking the landing troops, it was agreed that the artillery fleet would go first, and then the army would advance. It was planned to take it at dawn tomorrow, but now it was just after 7 o'clock, and the Americans surrendered.

"Let the army continue to attack according to the original plan, send destroyers to organize the sailors ashore, be careful of the Americans' deception, and continue to aim the naval guns."

At around 8 o'clock, four destroyers and more than 100 sailors and Major Yamada landed on Midway Island. Although there were powerful super battleships behind them, the more than 100 sailors only had rifles and machine guns, not even a tank. He also thought it was funny to accept surrender so arrogantly.

After landing on the island, Major Yamada asked in fluent English: "Do you want to surrender?"

"Yes. Are you the Japanese Army or the Japanese Navy?"

"navy!"

The person on the other side was obviously relieved: "We surrender, and I hope you will give us humanitarian treatment in accordance with the Treaty of Geneva."

Both Britain and the United States know that the reputation of the Japanese navy is much better than that of the army. They generally do not treat prisoners harshly. They will rescue British and American pilots when they see them fall into the water. They are also familiar with English and can communicate easily. All in all, surrendering to the Navy is a little less stressful.

Major Yamada was very proud, which showed that the Navy had a better reputation. Since the Americans were so forthcoming, he told the truth: "Our landing force has not come up yet, so we have to wait to formally accept the surrender. As usual, you can first ask Do I hand over your radio station, roster, and military flags? And then tell your men not to destroy any facilities, weapons, or supplies?”

"Okay, but there are some..."

Yamada took the people around and soon understood what the other party was hesitating to say: all the most important oil on the island had been put into the sea by the defenders. Except for a few oil barrels, there was nothing left. The thin layer is the masterpiece of the Americans, and the planes are basically gone.

"Sir, the Americans confessed that the instructions given to them from the rear were to destroy all the fuel, take away the plane, and then surrender honorably."

Ryunosuke Kusaka frowned and asked, "Have other facilities and equipment been damaged?"

"No, including radio stations, fresh water, food, vehicles, artillery, and tanks, all are intact except for the Type 3 bombs that were damaged just now."

Since Japan and Germany issued threats during the Battle of the Horn of Africa and the Battle of Newfoundland, the U.S. military would only be given full prisoner treatment if their armaments were intact, so the Americans retained their equipment to the greatest extent possible.

"The mobile fleet sent a battle report. The U.S. military once again attacked our transport formation, sinking one tanker and one landing ship. The light cruiser Nagara was severely damaged, and many other ships were slightly damaged. Our army shot down more than 60 enemy aircraft. We also shot down more than 60 enemy aircraft. 9 aircraft were lost, and the rest were the same.”

"Americans are very smart." Tsukahara Er43 sighed, "Oil is the lifeblood of the fleet. Without oil, no matter how powerful the warship is, it can't do anything. The Americans are desperately attacking the oil tankers, but I don't dare to use all the defense forces. Concentrate there, otherwise what if one day the opponent suddenly changes his mindset and attacks the aircraft carrier formation?”

Ryunosuke Kusaka nodded: Sir, this reminder is still necessary. If we adjust the focus of defense according to the suggestions of some staff members, there is no guarantee that something will happen to the aircraft carrier. Although fuel is precious, it cannot be compared with aircraft carriers.

Someone asked: "How many planes do they have that can be used up like this? At least our pilots can be rescued after falling into the water. The enemy is shot down and there is no way back..."

"Americans can produce 100,000 aircraft a year." Ryunosuke Kusaka frowned at this, "We will be in big trouble if we continue to consume like this."

"Forget it, if you think about it, just treat it as consumed in the battle. Wasn't it expected to last a whole day?" Tsukahara waved his hand, "Occupy Midway Island first and then consider other things. It is better to sink a tanker than to sink an aircraft carrier."

On August 24, the confused Kuribayashi Tadamichi led the 2nd Guards Division to finally land on the land of Midway Island. Looking at the American soldiers who surrendered honestly, everyone felt that it was meaningless - they had promised to fight. ? Why was it that the Yamato was finished after just a few hits?

However, since they are not fighting to the death with the Americans, neither of them can hate each other. Instead, they think that the American infantry is quite fun. It would be nice if they were all enemies like this. On the other hand, the U.S. aviation force is not good at all and has no Bushido demeanor at all. It attacks freighters, oil tankers, landing craft and other units with little combat effectiveness. The transportation force lost another oil tanker that morning - the combined fleet lost a total of 4 oil tankers, nearly 30,000 tons. The fuel was donated to the Pacific Ocean without much use. In addition, no fuel was recovered from Midway Island, and the energy problem suddenly became tense.

"Emergency replenishment will be carried out today. Each ship will fill up the fuel, and then store the fuel in a part of Midway Island - be careful of damage and storage gaps." Ryunosuke Kusaka made arrangements one by one, "The American prisoners will be sent back quickly. But we can’t send them all, and we still need to keep some hostages to resist the bombing by American planes.”

Tadamichi Kuribayashi proposed: "Midway Island is too small. 3,000 people are enough. Putting the entire Second Guards Division on it is completely cumbersome! If the enemy also uses battleship bombardment, how many people will die in one bombardment? Or we can attack Pearl Harbor. ?”

Tsukahara shook his head: "Pearl Harbor cannot be defeated, but it is not a good idea to hoard so many troops of the Second Division on Midway Island. I am going to take you to see Frigate Bird."

"Warship bird?" Tadayoshi Kuribayashi was stunned, "What is this?"

"Sir, we are going to attack Kiribati!" Ryunosuke Kusaka explained. "Although frigatebirds are distributed on many islands, Kiribati's frigatebirds are the most famous. They have a wingspan of more than 2 meters and a top speed of 400 kilometers per hour. And it uses dive bombing. When I was a lieutenant, I took a cruise to Hawaii and found that this bird flew faster than an airplane. I even doubted whether the dive bomber was inspired by it, but now it is definitely faster than that! But the plane.”

The staff immediately spread out the charts to study. The officer obviously had great intentions in attacking Kiribati. He said seeing the frigate bird was just a joke. Tadamichi Kuribayashi did not understand the geography of the Pacific, but he knew it after looking at the charts: Midway Island is located 2,400 kilometers northwest of Hawaii, and Kiribati is located more than 2,000 kilometers due south of Hawaii. The island covers an area of ​​more than 300 square kilometers, with a lagoon in the middle. At least two airports can be deployed. The terrain is more complicated than Midway Island. It is a key island that controls Hawaii.

"I plan to place the main force of the Second Guards Division in Kiribati. This has three advantages." Tsukahara listed, "First, Kiribati is the only way to transport supplies from the west coast of the United States to Australia and New Zealand. It is not easy to get stuck here. It blocks the shipping route. I don’t care if it is completely cut off, but at least the enemy has to go around a long way. Secondly, the island is located in the south of Hawaii and has a large area. It can deploy more army and aviation forces, which is a great threat to Hawaii. Third, it helps confuse the enemy into thinking that we want to surround Hawaii and eventually seize it. No matter how strong the defense force of Hawaii is, it is only an archipelago. If the Americans can attack our oil tankers, can I not attack their transport fleet?"

"How many enemies are there on the island? Will they rush out of Hawaii when we land?"

"It's better to rush out." Tsukahara smiled slightly, "We can use this opportunity to eliminate the remaining forces of the Pacific Fleet. I don't know how much strength they still have. As for the ground troops, I don't know the situation. I guess it is 10,000 at most?"

"Then please take us to see the frigatebirds."

News of the occupation of Midway Island was immediately spread to Japan. I heard that this sad island of the Navy had been occupied without any effort. All the staff at the base camp rejoiced, but Horikichi frowned. It felt like the U.S. military had sunk four oil tankers uncharacteristically. It made him very uncomfortable.

"Does Tsukahara-kun have any other telegrams?"

"Yes, the fleet is preparing to rest at Midway Island for three days and then attack Kiribati. Chief of Staff Kusaka has sent some freighters and empty tankers to carry some US military prisoners back to the country. Chief Tsukahara requested that you prepare 20 more tankers for him, with a capacity of 150,000 tons. fuel."

"Too few!" After reading the chart, Horikichi knew what was going on and waved his hand, "Prepare 40 oil tankers and 300,000 tons of fuel."

"Sir," the logistics officer in charge of dispatch said in embarrassment, "There are not so many spare oil tankers on hand right now. Even if the supplies the British give us arrive in advance, we won't be able to get so many."

"Part of the gap will be purchased from the Germans, and part will be sent up to the newly built escort aircraft carriers. We will send as many as we have!" Horikichi thought about it, "I will communicate with the Army tomorrow to see if they can provide some."

The escort aircraft carrier is a warship modified by Japan in the "Marushin Plan" based on the special TL type 10,000-ton wartime standard oil tanker. It has a maximum speed of 18.5 knots and can carry more than 8,000 tons of fuel. More importantly, it is also paved with more than 120 meters. The long aviation deck can accommodate 10 fighter jets (tethered to the deck) and 2 water reconnaissance aircraft, and is responsible for anti-submarine, expulsion, and transportation tasks. The Marushin plan stipulates that 48 ships will be completed in 3 years. By August, the first batch of 4 ships will be completed. All have been put into service, and 2 more ships are expected to be put into service in September. Horikichi plans to play all this cards!

"We must be prepared to deal with the enemy in the Pacific for a long time. The idea of ​​​​resulting in one battle is wrong." Horikichi explained to everyone, "When the German army takes over South Africa, they will immediately deliver Guinea's defense materials and troops. At that time, the Americans You know where the problem lies. Now we must go all out to meet Tsukahara-kun’s needs, and we must choose the best troops, fuel, and aircraft!”