Chapter 621: Choice (8)

"The Japanese firepower is very fierce, hundreds of warships fired at us..."

The confidential staff read the telegram expressionlessly, and the bridge of the Essex was silent. Everyone didn't know how to evaluate it: the US military had spent a lot of effort to attack Tarawa. Even if there were not hundreds of warships, there were dozens of warships firing, and the Japanese army was able to hold out for so many days; on the contrary, now it is the turn of the Japanese army to attack Tuvalu. Even if there are more firing warships and the defenders are weaker, they will not surrender in the morning - many people think that they can at least hold out for a day.

Nimitz sighed: "It's up to us now."

Giffen was a little nervous: "If we keep going at this speed, I'm afraid Tarawa won't last that long. We are just a Marine Corps deployed there, and the battle has just ended there. At most, the airport has been repaired, and all the fortifications used by the Japanese army have to be renovated again - no one would have thought that the Japanese army would counterattack so quickly!"

Halsey hurriedly said: "Send a telegram to them immediately to repair the fortifications. No matter what, we must hold on for more than 3 days!"

In the afternoon, Hori Teikichi, Tsukahara and other senior officers boarded Tuvalu and saw the bumpy US military airport and the dozen B-17\B-24 heavy bombers left on the scene - they could not take off because the runway was destroyed, and then they avoided the shells under the careful protection of the airport officers and soldiers.

Hori Teikichi suddenly burst into laughter: "Tsukahara-kun, I have thought of a way to attack Tarawa."

Tsukahara Jisi San smiled slightly: "The commander's laughter inspired me, and I just thought of it."

"Why don't we write it down and guess it together?"

A bunch of staff officers watched the two commanders playing charades with great interest. After a while, the two of them each showed their written notes. Hori Teikichi wrote "turn the enemy into our own", and Tsukahara Jisi San wrote "pretend to bomb."

"It seems that you and I agree, is it feasible?"

"No, commander, you have taken the lead, and the artistic conception is higher. Your subordinates admire you."

Everyone laughed, only the captured American officers and soldiers were puzzled and a little scared - they knew that the Japanese army did not treat prisoners very well. If it were not for the enemy's naval gun firepower that was so fierce that it almost made people collapse, they would not want to surrender.

"Take the prisoners away, let the military doctors take a good look at the injured ones..." Hori Teikichi was in a good mood and asked the leading major in English, "What's your name?"

"Mike Grandy."

"There are also a group of pilots from Australia, New Zealand and your country's Army Aviation on our warship. They were all shot down and rescued during the Australia-New Zealand Campaign. You are responsible for counting their names and positions. Send a telegram to your highest commander tomorrow and tell him that these people are still alive and tell their families not to worry... You can return to your country after the war, and we will treat you in accordance with the Geneva Convention."

"Is this...really? Do you have any say?"

"Asshole! This is Admiral Hori Teikichi, the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet. His words are as good as gold."

"Yes, yes, thank you very much! Thank you very much!"

"Is your superior General Nimitz?"

"He is the highest commander of the Navy. We are the Army. The highest commander in the Pacific is Admiral Douglas MacArthur."

Kondo Nobutake suddenly interrupted: "Is he the one who escaped from the Philippines by speedboat?"

Everyone laughed, and Major Mike's face turned red to the root of his neck, but he did not dare to argue - after all, this was the fact.

"Go down. As long as you cooperate, our army will treat you with courtesy."

After the American soldiers were taken away, Kusaka Renji immediately asked: "Commander, we have the planes, but where are the pilots? There are not enough carrier-based pilots, and we don't know how to fly American planes..."

"Didn't the guerrilla fleet bring a group of land-based pilots? Let them come here immediately by seaplane... As for the planes." Hori Teikichi turned his head and said to Tsukahara, "Let Murata Shigeharu and Egusa Takashige be responsible for emergency training, and they will be dispatched the day after tomorrow."

Kusaka Ryunosuke suddenly recalled: When they were in India, Murata Shigeharu and Egusa Takashige, who were bored, took people to "play" with the captured American heavy bombers and transport planes, and almost caused their own air defense fighters to open fire because the identification marks were not properly changed. At that time, he couldn't help but scold the two, but Hori Teikichi and Tsukahara just laughed and passed it after knowing it. Could it be that the two commanders had planned to use this trick today at that time? This is too terrible - are they still human?

When he threw this question to Tsukahara Jishizo, the latter laughed: "How can you say that so powerfully? The commander originally only wanted to use the airport in Tuvalu to expand his strength. He did not expect that there would be American aircraft left. After all, there were not enough pilots for carrier-based aircraft. It would be more convenient to have American aircraft."

That afternoon, the Japanese engineers used American mechanical equipment and repair equipment to start the rapid repair process of the airport. The middle and low-level officers and soldiers below were very happy to do it - not only saving effort but also fast. It was the first time they knew that the airport could be repaired in this way. It was the first time they understood why Americans always repaired airports so quickly. If they also had these equipment, they would be faster than Americans.

But the generals who were paying attention to the progress of the repair had solemn faces: the faster the repair, the stronger the engineering capabilities of the US military. When they thought about constantly competing with such a terrible opponent, everyone felt sad.

On the afternoon of September 2, on the Essex aircraft carrier, which was advancing according to the route, the telecommunications officer handed Nimitz a telegram. The latter was discussing tactical plans with Halsey and others, and said without raising his head: "Read it..."

"Sir, this is a clear telegram. The content is not very good. You should read it yourself." The communications staff officer was embarrassed and forced the telegram to Nimitz.

"Clear code telegram? The content is not very good?" Nimitz was confused and had to free his hands to read:

"Dear Admiral Nimitz:

I am Major Mike Grandi, the supreme commander of the Tuvalu garrison. I am sending you a telegram from the battleship Musashi, the flagship of the Japanese combined fleet. Our army surrendered two days ago due to being outnumbered and defeated. There are still survivors. 274 people (the list is attached). In addition, when the combined fleet attacked Australia and New Zealand, many of our (including Australia and New Zealand) pilots were rescued from the water. There are 179 survivors (the list is attached). Please forward it to the rear to comfort relatives. The top commander of the Japanese army, General Horikichi, said that prisoners will be treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention. At present, we have been treated decently...

Admiral Horikishitoshi admires you very much and sincerely invites you to lead a fleet to Tuvalu for a visit, tea and Taoism. He will entertain you warmly! "

"Confused! How could there be such a confused Army officer!" Nimitz was so angry that he threw the telegram on the table.

Halsey and Giffen looked at each other, wondering why Nimitz was so angry. Although they both knew that "hospitality" was definitely not a good word, after all, the tone of the telegram was quite polite, and it also mentioned the Japanese army. The prisoners were treated decently and the personnel status was reported, which is commendable for the US military who cares about the lives of its officers and soldiers.

Nimitz pointed out Horikichi's intention sharply: "He is trying to shake our military morale. The Japanese army is about to attack Tarawa. Now they have sent a telegram from the surrendered battalion commander, and also invented a coded telegram to inform them of the list of survivors and their What do other people think when they see the prisoner policy? Isn’t this just a trap for the enemy’s propaganda campaign?

"Also, he 'invited' me to go to Tuvalu..." Nimitz emphasized the word "invitation" and said, "If we go there foolishly, we will run into the enemy there. If we don't If we dare to go, we will be laughed at by the enemy as cowardly. Because we did not go to rescue Australia and New Zealand, the morale of the military has been a little unstable. We don’t even care about Tuvalu. What will the defenders on other islands think? Will they think that they have been abandoned by the navy? ?”

"The Japanese are so insidious!"

"Then how can you retaliate?"

"If you retaliate, you will fall behind...just pretend to ignore it!"

Nimitz never expected that just when he was suspicious of the Japanese telegram, Tarawa was experiencing an atypical bombing.

16 B-17\B-24 bombers flew towards Tarawa in a neat formation, because all the aircraft seen were the iconic 4-engine heavy bombers of the US military, whether they were radar stations, towers, or patrol aircraft. It didn't pay enough attention, thinking it was our own aircraft flying over for support.

Only when they lowered their altitude and tried to land did they attract the attention of the control tower, because the English tone on the intercom sounded strange, which made people suspicious; in addition, although Tarawa's runway is very long, it can accommodate B-24s. , but when the formation came down, it was not a straight column, but a completely dense formation; more importantly, the commander was suddenly shocked to find that he had not received a telegram that an aircraft was coming to support.

"No, this is an enemy plane...fire quickly." The commander shouted at the top of his lungs.

But it was too late. The low-flying heavy bombers poured out their bombs at an altitude of 1,500 meters. The airport, runway, hangar, and other US military aircraft were all enveloped in the deafening bombing sound. After the US military captured Tarawa All the airport facilities that were finally built were destroyed again. This time it was even worse, and more than half of the planes were lost.

The fighter jets on duty in the air knew that the situation was not good, and rushed down to intercept and kill them regardless of their own safety. Instead, they were killed by the intensive self-defense firepower of the fleet. In the end, only one Japanese fake plane was shot down, and the rest of the planes flew away. .

When the news reached the fleet, Halsey was furious—this was the second time the Army had screwed the fleet!

The US Army Air Force officers and soldiers who were bombed were also aggrieved: You have repeatedly reminded us that the Japanese army might come for a sneak attack in the early morning or dawn. Our alert force was the strongest at that time. Who knew that the enemy would suddenly change his style and come during the day? Did it explode? Not only do we have daylight, but we also have to use our 4-engine heavy bombers. This is really full of grievances and nowhere to complain!

Nimitz squeezed out a sentence through his teeth: "Tarawa Airport must be repaired as soon as possible, the decoy fleet should speed up, and be prepared to assume the air defense mission..."