Chapter 770 Hawaiian Islands (2)
Commander Hermann snorted disdainfully. "Hmph, these cowardly Americans have completely lost the courage to fight us now." The Imperial Atlantic Fleet annihilated the US fleet twice in succession, and even approached the US mainland to bombard Boston. As a result, these cowards fled without a fight in the Pacific? "Where was your arrogance when you used the 'East Frisian' as a target ship?!"
The "East Frisian" was a Helgoland-class battleship of the German Navy in World War I. The ship participated in the Battle of Jutland and was compensated to the United States as a trophy after World War I.
Interestingly, the ship has extraordinary significance for the development of the US Navy's aviation.
The activities of the British Navy's carrier-based aviation during World War I and the experiments on aircraft carriers aroused great interest in the US Navy. However, interest is interest. At this time, the US Navy's attitude towards aircraft carriers was still conservative, and the carrier-based aviation did not develop much.
After the war, William Billy Mitchell, a brigadier general of the Army Air Force who returned from Europe, began to promote the theory of air supremacy and advocated the establishment of a unified independent air force, thus provoking a debate about the life and death of the U.S. Navy Air Force. The focus of this debate was that Mitchell advocated that the Air Force could easily sink any battleship under wartime conditions, so the entire navy was outdated and all national defense should be handed over to a unified independent air force.
The Navy naturally could not tolerate such provocations. Finally, under the coordination of the federal government and Congress, the Navy agreed to take out the German compensation battleship "East Fresland" for bombing experiments.
On July 20, 1921, off the coast of Cape Henry, Virginia, the bombing experiment of the anchored "East Fresland" began. On that day, attack aircraft from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps used 230-pound, 550-pound and 600-pound bombs to conduct bombing experiments, but only caused a small amount of water inflow and a slight tilt of the "East Fresland".
On the morning of July 21, five bombers of the Army Air Force used 1,100-pound bombs to bomb again, three of which hit directly, but until noon, the "East Fresno" only sank slightly. After 12:18 noon, the Army Air Force bombers dropped six 2,000-pound bombs at low altitude again. This time, the bombers chose to aim at both sides of the warship and achieved four near misses. At 12:40, the "East Fresno" was declared sunk.
Mitchell widely publicized this bombing experiment as a great victory, but what he didn't expect was that the result was contrary to his wishes. This experiment not only failed to make the Navy agree to hand over the naval aviation to him, but also made the senior naval officers realize the potential of the aviation force and eliminated the resistance to the development of the naval aviation force.
The Navy's study of the wreckage of the "East Fresno" found that none of the bombs that hit directly caused fatal damage to the "East Fresno". The reason for the rapid sinking of the "East Fresno" was the huge water pressure formed by the explosion of the 2,000-pound near-miss bomb. The water inflow caused by the damage to the hull quickly filled the hull without closing the watertight doors. If the watertight doors were closed and effective damage control was carried out, such damage would not necessarily be fatal.
This experiment, which was originally intended to oppose the existence of naval aviation, provided a useful reference for the development of naval aviation. Mitchell's experiment not only failed to achieve his goal of annexing naval aviation, but also set up insurmountable obstacles for it. Just a few days later, the U.S. Naval Aviation Bureau was officially established, officially declaring that aviation became an independent agency of the U.S. Navy.
However, the Germans did not care about how the U.S. Naval Aviation developed. In their view, it was a great shame that the "East Fresno" was used as a target ship and sunk.
If their primary task this time was not to occupy the Hawaiian Islands, he would have chased them to the California Naval Base to teach these cowards a lesson.
The adjutant beside sighed. "Neither fighting nor surrendering; what do these Americans want to do? Are they still counting on some changes in the Soviet battlefield and waiting for the Soviets to counterattack?" I heard that Moscow was almost bombed to the ground, and now Stalin can only hide in the basement and tremble. It is simply wishful thinking for them to counterattack. "So the Americans have concentrated all their forces on Oahu? Commander, then how about we just occupy other islands first and trap Oahu to death?"
The Hawaiian Islands are composed of 8 main islands (4 large and 4 small in Kibo), 124 small islands, and reefs and spires surrounding the islands. The 8 main islands are Kauai, Niihau, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui, Kahoolawe, and Hawaii in order of latitude.
Once they gain a foothold on other islands and deploy radars, American warships and planes will never be able to approach the Hawaiian Islands again. They will be trapped for a year or so, and the defenders of Oahu will starve to death.
Commander Herman smiled. "This is also a solution, but we will need combat experience to land on the US mainland in the future. Although we landed in Britain, what if the Americans' combat methods and tactics are different from those of the British? Rather than being caught off guard, it is better to accumulate more experience early."
The adjutant nodded in sudden realization. "I see, Commander. Should we let the Marines prepare now?"
"No rush, let's use artillery fire to wash Oahu a few times first." Although he didn't think that the strength of four divisions could stop their landing operations on the island, he did not dare to be too careless and look down on these Americans. Because His Highness has emphasized more than once that the fighting will of American soldiers is absolutely strong, even stronger than that of the British.
Yannick, who is familiar with the history of the original time and space, certainly knows that American soldiers are not a group of playboys or rich kids who can't fight, nor are they cowards who put down their weapons and surrender at every turn; on the contrary, their fighting will is no worse than anyone else.
During the Battle of Guadalcanal, machine gunner John Basilone lost his insulated gloves and fired with a hot heavy machine gun all night, repelling the Japanese and killing thousands of enemies.
During the Battle of Midway, when a B-26 of the U.S. Army Air Forces found that it could not return, it played kamikaze on the Akagi. When Nagumo saw the B-26 a few meters above his head, it fell into the sea and discovered that the American's The determination to resist was different from what the recruitment staff had boasted about, so a tragic mistake occurred that would be regretted for eternity.
In Bastogne, the American 101st Airborne Division was surrounded by superior German forces. The German commander sent a letter persuading the Americans to surrender. The letter used a complimentary tone to persuade the Americans to surrender. As a result, the acting division commander at the time, Brigadier General McAuliffe, only responded with one Word: "Nuts!" (meaning rejection, like "fuck off" or "bah", or using various slang terms. McAuliffe uses the plural form here, which is very obvious). This incident later became a legend in the history of World War II. This message was widely circulated among the Allied forces, greatly boosting military morale, and was also recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.
There is also the 1st Marine Division. Their battle on Guadalcanal was even worse than that of the 101st Division. Bastogne had sporadic airborne and airborne supplies. The 1st Marine Division was completely cut off. The main force of the navy was severely damaged. There was no supply (living on captured rice), very little air support, and a lack of armored units. In the end, we managed to survive. The most important thing is that the Marine Corps has been picking up the Army's junk. It has not been fully equipped with Garand in 1942. The firepower of the team is not superior to the Japanese army. Moreover, Japanese soldiers have fought in Malay, Singapore, and the Philippines. , more experienced than newly recruited US troops. But even so, in the end, the First Marine Division still completed its mission outstandingly.
It can be said that the US military is not afraid of death, what they are afraid of is that the death is not worth it. If they are fighting for their country and their families, then even with their bare hands, American soldiers can tear off a piece of the enemy's flesh by rushing forward and biting them.
But if you are fighting for the Congressmen, if you don't let the artillery plow the ground 10 times, the American soldiers will never leave their bunkers, not even with the cover of weapons and tanks. Therefore, if the United States chooses the wrong war, then the war will not be worth it politically, and the US military will be afraid of death.
Although today's German-American war seems to have been started by the President of the United States on the surface, the war has also spread to the United States, and American soldiers naturally have to defend their homeland.
Therefore, Yannick also keeps in mind the teachings of the great man: strategically despise the enemy, and tactically pay attention to the enemy. He also often reminds his marshals and generals that they must not underestimate the combat effectiveness of the US military.