Chapter 1047 Hawaii (10)

At 5 pm on October 17, the reconnaissance plane sent from Los Angeles found the leading force of Kakuta's fleet, and then found the main force of the entire fleet 5 minutes later.

"Four aircraft carriers, 980 kilometers southwest of Los Angeles and moving forward at a speed of 18 knots?" After receiving the telegram, not only Arnold, who was sitting in the command post, was very nervous, but also in Hawaii and Washington Command Headquarters.

"Not only that, our radar also found an unidentified reconnaissance plane passing over Los Angeles. When our patrol fighters rushed over, the plane had already gone far away. There could be no other than Japanese reconnaissance planes, but no telegram signals were intercepted."

Nimitz and Spruance's heads were about to explode, and MacArthur was also worried: Los Angeles is not only the largest city and port on the West Coast, but also the fleet that had just been formed and was ready to transport goods to Hawaii is also there. The two of them thought of a possibility at the same time: Will there be spies passing intelligence to Japan?

You can't blame them for having wild thoughts. There were many Japanese people in Los Angeles. Although most of the residents were isolated and put into concentration camps after the Battle of Pearl Harbor, there was no guarantee that there were no other escapees or sympathizers of Japan. Moreover, in addition to Japanese people, there are also a large number of European descendants in Los Angeles. They all look polite, law-abiding and humble Americans. Who knows what they are doing behind the scenes?

"What countermeasures does General Arnold have?"

"He has prepared some fighters..."

"He won't send bombers to bomb?" MacArthur was stunned, "1,000 kilometers is within our strike range, right?"

"Yes, but the time is wrong." Nimitz sighed, "The Japanese are very cunning. They chose this time to rush into the 1,000-kilometer air defense circle. If our army sends bombers to attack, it will be basically dark when they arrive over the Japanese fleet, and it will be difficult to find the enemy. Even if it is not dark, it will be completely dark when returning. You say, should the airport be lit or not?"

MacArthur immediately understood: If the airport is not lit, the return aircraft will probably suffer heavy losses; and if the lights are on, it is equivalent to reminding the Japanese that I am here, I am here, come and bomb me...

He was so angry that he cursed: "Then we can only wait for the enemy to knock on the door?"

"Today will be more uncomfortable. In order to prevent the enemy's night attack, Los Angeles and San Diego (only 180 kilometers away from Los Angeles) will be closed. ) are already evacuated urgently. "

"Can the enemy attack at night?"

"Yes, that's how they attacked New York." Nimitz looked at the map, "They are only 1,000 kilometers away from Los Angeles. It's 5 p.m. now. The Japanese can travel at 18 knots or even faster. There are still 9 hours until 2 a.m. tomorrow. They can continue to advance at least 350 kilometers. At that time, the distance will be only more than 600 kilometers, and then release the attack group..."

"Why can't our pilots do it?"

"There were some who could do it before."

"Before?" MacArthur has been staying in the Pacific and is not very clear about the domestic situation. He subconsciously asked, "What about now?"

Nimitz sighed and said, "Basically all of them have been lost. Now, let alone night attacks, those who can land completely with the lights on at the airport at night are considered skilled pilots."

Ingram was also anxious at Pearl Harbor: the Los Angeles fleet was basically ready, loaded with fuel and aviation accessories that Hawaii needed most. What if the Japanese bombed it? Not to mention that the Japanese fleet still has two battleships (Musashi + Kongo), any one of which is enough to sweep the west coast, but there is no use in being impatient about this matter. Now the Pacific Fleet is more than 3,000 kilometers away from the Kakuta Fleet, and it is too late even if it can fly.

Halsey comforted him: "The enemy dare not approach and use naval guns, that would be tantamount to suicide! If they really dare to approach and attack with naval guns, I will let the Army Aviation keep them even if I have to sacrifice the fleet. Now I hope that the Japanese planes are not accurate enough and don't blow up too many."

"How many days will it take for the Wasp to be repaired?"

"3 days!"

"In 3 days, you will take the main force of the fleet out to destroy this fleet. It is too disgusting to watch it wandering under our noses. The West Coast cannot always be exposed to the threat of the Japanese fleet." Ingram paused, "It's just right to pick up the transport fleet as well."

"Understood!" Halsey knew that Ingram was really angry: the Japanese fleet wandered around the West Coast for three weeks, and the great United States had no way to deal with it. Tens of millions of people were worried and frightened for three weeks, and the Navy lost face!

As time passed, the situation became more and more tense. When Los Angeles reported at 18:37 that the Japanese fleet was still advancing and a B-17 that approached for reconnaissance was shot down, the atmosphere of anxiety reached its peak. In fact, everyone knew that Japan could not cause much damage. Even if four aircraft carriers were deployed together, there would be more than 200 aircraft (in fact, there were only three, one of which was a water aircraft carrier), but the posture was really scary.

Dewey felt as if his neck was strangled and he couldn't breathe: only at this moment of being in the situation could he truly understand the true meaning of Turner's words "Our people must adapt to bombs, and the United States is fighting a world war."

"Sir, it's dark!"

Hearing the report from his subordinates, Kakuta Kakuji nodded with satisfaction and breathed a long sigh of relief. To be honest, he was actually worried about this kind of armed demonstration: the most feared thing was that the Americans would send out bombers to launch a desperate attack without any regard for the consequences. As long as the Americans were not afraid of sacrifice, any damaged warship would not be able to escape alive. Now it seems that the Americans are not so impulsive.

He didn't know that the U.S. command center had changed. Turner, who advocated replacing crews with oil tankers, had left. If Turner was still here, he would definitely send out the planes without hesitation. A loss is a loss. Does it depend on whether you have more ships or I have more pilots? It doesn't matter even if you can't find the airport when you return, as long as you are sure it's land, the crew can parachute. As for airplanes, which week doesn't Boeing build 500 of them? America lacks everything except money!

After Turner left office, Marshal Dill, the chief representative of the British Joint Chiefs of Staff (now Canada must be noted), commented without emotion to those around him: Turner was born in the wrong place, and someone like him should not be a general in the United States. Instead, he should go to the Soviet and serve as Chief of Staff to Stalin. In terms of ruthlessness, decisiveness and determination, no one else in the Joint Chiefs of Staff combined was a match, and he was a perfect match for Stalin.

Does it make sense? Of course there is. If Arnold can send 500-600 bombers today, coupled with 200 P-51s to launch a one-way death attack, 80% of the Tsunoda fleet will be wiped out on the west coast. But if the war ends like this, using Nimi In Ci's words, "Apart from victory, the United States will lose everything!"

In the end, Tsunoda won this psychological bet by luck. At around 8 o'clock, nearly 900 kilometers away from Los Angeles, he issued an order: "The fleet will turn due north, and then turn due west in three hours!"

In the early morning of the 18th, Los Angeles had a sleepless night. Arnold sat down at the headquarters in person, waiting for the radar room to report to him the news that the enemy aircraft group had been discovered. All fire brigades, ambulance teams, night fighters, and anti-aircraft guns were all ready, waiting for the Japanese aircraft group. He rushed over, but waited until the white fish belly appeared in the east, but there was no movement.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington were also on duty all night. After all, Nimitz and MacArthur were old. They stayed up until about 2 o'clock at night and went to the lounge to take a nap. They agreed to wake them up if anything happened.

As a result, when Nimitz opened his eyes, it was already dark (it gets bright earlier in Washington than in Los Angeles), but the adjutant hadn’t come to call him yet. He was very angry about this, and just when he was about to criticize a few words, the young staff officers on duty Reporting in a dumbfounded tone: "Sir, Los Angeles reports that everything is normal so far, and the Japanese have not come!"

"Not coming?" Nimitz was stunned for a moment, then immediately ordered, "Will General Arnold send a reconnaissance plane to detect where the Japanese fleet is?"

At 5:15 in the morning, the first reconnaissance plane took off, and then another reconnaissance plane took off every one minute. The pilots, holding back their anger, rushed in the predetermined direction.

At about 9 o'clock in the morning, a telegram finally came, saying that the Japanese fleet was 1,500 kilometers south-west of Los Angeles (meaning 2,800 kilometers northeast of Hawaii).

Everyone was driven crazy by this joke, but Spruance saw something unusual in it and asked doubtfully: "Why do the Japanese do this? What do they get except empty fuel consumption?" benefit?"

"Are you testing our army's defense system?"

"Let Arnold send planes to blow up, and let the other side toss around the west coast, I'm afraid morale will plummet..."

Nimitz agreed to the suggestion, and Arnold, who was so instigated, then sent more than 200 B-29s to carry out air strikes (this distance was beyond the reach of the B-25, and the B-17\24 could reach it but was too slow, so he could only use B -29), but the results of the battle poured cold water on everyone: Musashi and Kongo were each hit by a 1,000-pound bomb, which caused minimal damage; the destroyer Yudachi was hit by a 2,000-pound bomb and sank; the water machine carrier Nisshin was hit by a 1,000-pound bomb. One of each 2,000-pound bomb sank; the rest were no different.

However, only 96 of the 207 unescorted U.S. bombers successfully returned home, with a loss rate of nearly 54%. The attack was completed in one day, consuming the personnel that the Army Aviation had originally prepared for a week. Of course, Japan also lost 17 additional fighter jets, but most of the pilots were After being rescued, this exchange was not a good deal at all.

The Army Aviation reported that it had sunk an aircraft carrier of the other side. At first, everyone thought it was still of some value, but in the end, they judged that it was only an escort aircraft carrier. The joy suddenly disappeared.

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, before the depression had passed, another news came: Army aviation reconnaissance planes discovered the Japanese fleet more than 1,100 kilometers away from Panama. After judgment, it was believed to be the main Japanese fleet that disappeared after leaving Lima.

Are the Japanese coming to attack Panama?