Survive as a World War II Soldier - Chapter 123



Only Noblemtl

#123

The Port Moresby campaign was actually a more powerful reflection of the Army’s arguments than the Navy’s.

“We must take Port Moresby and advance to Australia.”

“Yes, if we get Australia, we will have the entire South Pacific in our hands.”

“Isn’t Australia the perfect place for the Southern Operation?”

To Yamamoto, those land dogs seemed crazy.

Australia is struggling because they haven’t even been able to properly capture Luzon?

“That’s nonsense.”

“But if you look at the Army’s achievements so far, isn’t it not all nonsense?”

“No. How long do you think it will take? Take a good look at the lands the Army claims to have taken.”

The only places that could be properly called Japanese territory were Korea and Manchuria.

No, Joseon is also in an uproar right now.

There was no one who did not know that the Provisional Government of Korea was behind those protesting in Luzon and the guerrillas appearing in various places in the occupied islands, such as Mindanao.

therefore,

“If you look at it that way, what I’m saying is that none of the lands that the Army says they occupied were properly part of the Empire of Japan.”

Right now, Britain, France, and the Netherlands are in turmoil on their home turf, so they can’t pay attention to faraway Southeast Asia. But if they return, how long will they be able to last?

“Now is the time to come up with an exit strategy.”

“but···.”

“Yeah. Even the army guys wouldn’t listen to your story that you find so shaky.”

Even within the Navy, there were many authors who unconditionally supported Australia along with the Army.

If it’s just shouting Australia, it’s better.

“Pearl Harbor, now that you mention it.”

If they were planning to target Pearl Harbor, they should have made a surprise attack before the Southern Operations began.

If that had been the case, it might have been possible to truly destroy the US Pacific Fleet and prevent it from ever coming near the Pacific.

For that reason, Yamamoto needed to specialize in the Coral Sea this time.

To silence the opposition within the Navy, to meet His Majesty the Emperor, to defeat the damn Army, and to open the negotiating table with the United States, you need to have some brilliant achievements.

##

The first to arrive at the Coral Sea were the Japanese military.

The assault force led by Major General Sima successfully captures the virtually defenseless Tulagi.

“How about we use this as a base for the seaplanes and build an airport at Lunga Point on the other side?”

“Not bad.”

“If you use Sabo Island over there, it’ll be enough for defense.”

Although Commander Shima pointed to the map and listed future plans, Admiral Yamamoto’s interests were elsewhere.

“If we capture the Pacific Fleet anyway and the Coral Sea falls into our hands, isn’t it something we can do at any time?”

“you’re right.”

Everyone on the bridge nodded to Yamamoto’s words that whether it was building an airport on Guadalcanal or attacking Port Moresby, they could do it at any time if the Coral Sea was in their hands, so the task they should focus on now was to find and destroy the American fleet.

“And isn’t this fight very advantageous to us?”

“you’re right.”

In a fleet-to-ship battle, it was important whose gun was bigger.

why?

If you could hit your opponent from a distance where they wouldn’t be hit by your cannons, you could win.

However, no matter how big the cannons became, there was a limit. Therefore, in fleet-to-ship battles, most ships had no choice but to confirm each other’s presence and engage in a gun battle.

So the important thing was whose ship was stronger. If it could survive being hit several times and not sink, it would win.

But with the advent of aircraft carriers, this traditional engagement doctrine became outdated.

It became possible to detect the enemy first by aircraft and launch an attack.

Reconnaissance and attack using aircraft carrier-based aircraft have become important.

“Unlike our Zero fighters, their carrier-based aircraft have a very short operational range, right?”

“Yes. They say they haven’t developed a new carrier-based aircraft yet.”

The US Navy’s Wildcats and Dauntlesses were sturdy but heavy, so their operational range was short. The pilots’ skills were also poor, unlike the Army’s.

That’s why Yamamoto had no doubt that they were superior in terms of service rights.

And there was someone who nodded enthusiastically to Admiral Yamamoto’s words, and that was Air Fleet Commander Nagumo.

Admiral Nagumo, who was almost forced to step down after being held responsible for losing the first battle in the Battle of Guam, barely managed to keep his post, and was more thirsty for accomplishments than anyone else in the Combined Fleet.

“Please allow our air fleet to enter the Coral Sea first.”

“The air fleet will stand in front?”

“Yes. If we move together with the battleship, we won’t be able to utilize the speed of the aircraft carrier.”

Thus, the air fleet of the combined fleet entered the Coral Sea at the forefront.

##

“Did you get an answer from the 6th Air Force Base?”

“Yes. They said they would operate the B-17 squadron as reconnaissance aircraft.”

“Okay. Then if we launch Catalina, there will be almost no empty space.”

“yes.”

Admiral Fletcher, who led the US task force to the Coral Sea, was also well aware of the weakness of the Dauntless and Wildcat ships that had poor cruising ranges.

But he had two ways to solve this.

The first was a collaboration with the Army Air Corps stationed in Port Moresby, and the second was a seaplane, the PBY Catalina.

Although often ridiculed as being slow and ugly, the sturdy and reliable seaplane Catalina was small, easy to control, easy to land and take off, and had a considerable range.

With the cooperation of the Army’s B-17s and Catalinas, the US Navy was able to reconnoiter the entire Coral Sea area like a spider’s web, contrary to the Japanese military’s expectations.

“B-17s have landed. They say they have discovered enemy ships.”

On the radio of an Army patrol plane taking off from Port Moresby, Admiral Fletcher asked his adjutant:

“Who is currently in an operational position?”

“It is possible if Yorktown operates at full speed for about an hour.”

“Okay, move and tell them to launch the fighters.”

At around the same time, Admiral Nagumo also receives a similar report.

“Reconnaissance aircraft received a report. An American fleet consisting of one aircraft carrier, one cruiser, and three destroyers was discovered.”

“Contact the second battle and have them deploy an attack force.”

##

Two hours later.

The carrier-based aircraft that took off from Hiryu and Soryu arrived at the point reported by the reconnaissance aircraft.

-Where the hell is the aircraft carrier?

-I don’t know either.

No matter how much I looked, there was no ship that looked like an aircraft carrier.

All that is visible is one ship that appears to be a refueling vessel and one destroyer.

We made a large reconnaissance flight around the area, but still could not find the aircraft carrier.

at last,

-Now that we’ve come this far, we can’t just leave.

-All right.

Since it was clear that the ships we saw were Yankees, we decided to attack them and then turn back.

An hour later,

A formation of bombers taking off from Yorktown.

-Enemy fleet detected.

-Scratch the flat top!

-Old story.

Those who discovered the Japanese fleet began to attack excitedly.

That was understandable, as the number of aircraft taking off from Japanese aircraft carriers was ridiculously small.

-Wow, if I knew I could push numbers like this, I wouldn’t have had to learn that Mitchell Wivengin thing.

-That’s right.

-By the way, where did all their aircraft go?

-I know.

-if···

-No. There hasn’t been any contact from our carrier.

While the escort planes fought a fierce battle with the few enemy aircraft, the bombers attacked without rest.

-Blow up the enemy carrier! This is Dixon, blow up the enemy carrier.

-wow!

A radio full of excitement, and then bang.

-The torpedo we threw also hit.

On the way back, the radio was noisy.

The fighters were busy discussing who was the ace, and the bombers were busy deciding which of the torpedoes and bombs really finished off Hiryu.

Unlike the friendly atmosphere of the American soldiers, the atmosphere of the Japanese soldiers was extremely gloomy.

“What? What we found was not an aircraft carrier, but a tanker?”

“···”

“Are you saying that you sent all your fighters just to capture a tanker?”

Since the Soryu and Hiryu were in a location that US carrier-based aircraft could not reach, they sent as many attack aircraft as possible without thinking about defense.

The problem was that there was no enemy aircraft carrier where they flew, and Hiryu was hit by American soldiers who had come to raid empty houses, and Soryu had its deck blown away.

A more serious problem is,

“We are guiding the aircraft that took off from Hiryu and Soryu to Shokaku and Zuikagu, but…”

There was word that there were squadrons whose radios were not working properly.

“Why isn’t the radio working?”

“That, that···.”

Nagumo felt the back of his neck stiffen when he heard that there were Zero fighters that did not even have radios installed in order to reduce weight.

The Japanese Navy was furious at having to watch so many perfectly good aircraft crash due to lack of fuel.

That afternoon.

The American and Japanese forces continued to conduct reconnaissance activities to find the other side’s location. The reconnaissance of the Japanese army, which had suffered heavy losses, was especially desperate.

“Shōkaku has arrived. They say they have discovered an enemy fleet.”

“Launch bombers and torpedo bombers immediately.”

But this time too, they failed to achieve any real results, as they were caught on Yorktown’s radar while moving.

Because of this, they were unable to reach the operational location and were forced to engage in a tense aerial battle with the Yorktown Air Force before barely escaping.

Even on the way back,

“Where did you almost land?”

“That, that···.”

Nagumo was speechless at the report that he had attempted to land on an enemy aircraft carrier without even recognizing his own home and was almost annihilated.

The next day.

Nagumo, who had poured a large number of Zuikaku’s aircraft into reconnaissance instead of the unbelievable Shokaku, finally discovered the American aircraft carrier.

“We must attack immediately.”

The aircraft carriers discovered by Japan were Lexington and Yorktown.

At about the same time, Yorktown also discovered the Japanese fleet and launched an attack force.

A situation where each side discovered the other and launched aircraft to attack. The United States was the first to detect the other side’s attack.

-Entered Lexington. Enemy formation confirmed to the northwest.

“What about our radar?

“Oh, we are checking now too.”

“Launch all remaining aircraft.”

Both Lexington and Yorktown launched all of their remaining aircraft to defend themselves, but they were too weak to stop the Japanese.

“As expected, being a wildcat isn’t enough.”

“That’s right. If the numbers were similar, then maybe it would be different, but right now, there’s no way.”

The air force fought hard, deploying maneuvers learned from Mitchell, but there were too many enemy aircraft.

“They are dropping torpedoes.”

As a result of evasive maneuvers to avoid the torpedoes, Yorktown was unscathed, but Lexington was hit twice.

A series of steep barrages followed.

The anti-aircraft guns fought hard, but they couldn’t stop everything. In the end,

“The deck was destroyed.”

The situation was better in Yorktown.

Lexington was completely destroyed when the bomb exploded.

“Lexington, I guess···.”

Fortunately, Japan was not the only country that succeeded in its attack.

While Yorktown and Lexington were being hit, their carrier-based aircraft pounded Zuikaku and Shokaku.

Unlike Zuikaku, who hid under the clouds and avoided the attack, Shokaku was defeated.

Meanwhile, Hornet and Enterprise were not idle either. The aircraft carriers launched from the two carriers and pounded the Japanese fleet headquarters that was passing through the Solomon Sea and entering the Coral Sea. As a result, they achieved the result of capturing many battleships, including the battleship Yamato, which Yamamoto was using as his flagship.

Afterwards, Hornet and Enterprise return, recovering the aircraft from Yorktown and Lexington that had lost their homes.

##

“Yamato will probably be out at sea for at least a few months. The other smaller battleships aren’t that important, are they?”

“yes.”

“Yeah. It’s a shame we lost the Lexington, but if we had captured the Yamato with two aircraft carriers, it would have been a great victory. Thanks to that, the recovery of Wake Island would probably be easy…”

That was when.

A little lady who came running interrupted our conversation.

“Uncle, is that true?”

“what?”

“I heard that the sailors were sharing ice cream while the ship Lexington was sinking?”

“Hoo. Where did our lady hear that story?”

“It’s Uncle King.”

Contrary to his appearance, King was surprisingly good at taking care of children.

There was a reason Mary was running around the White House hallways like this. Anna had been acting as hostess for quite some time now, due to her mother-in-law Eleanor’s poor health.

Especially right after I left for Europe, I came to the White House with my children and lived there.

Thanks to that, Mary and the children were able to walk the hallways of the White House and become quite friendly with King and other dignitaries.

After sending Mary back,

“Aren’t the kids being spoiled?”

Arthur responded to my question with a smirk.

“All kids are like that. But there are many times when I’m glad they’re here.”

“okay?”

“Yeah. We have serious conversations, but sometimes we have things to laugh about, and we also get a chance to take a break every now and then.”

“Well, that’s good. What about that ice cream story?”

“Oh, my kids go crazy for ice cream!”

I’ve heard about seals’ love of ice cream.

They even flew fighter planes to make ice cream.

“When the Lexington sank, I was waiting for the order to abandon ship and I thought of ice cream.”

“no way?”

“Yeah. He said he went inside the ship and managed to get some ice cream and eat it.”

I sighed at the sight of Arthur III snickering, thinking that even he himself found it a bit absurd.

“Why are you telling that only to Mary?”

“huh?”

Oh man. They’re just like those dull seals.

“If there is such a good story, it should be spread widely.”

“This, this?”

“Oh. What better story could there be to explain how much we have to spare?”

“Oh, so we’re planning on operating an ice cream transport ship. What about this?”

“That’s the same.”

During World War I, the most effective propaganda was the trench interior made of supply cans.

We could immediately explain to the Germans who were eating turnips with turnips that we had so much to eat and so much in abundance.

Isn’t it likely that Japan will soon be in a similar situation to Germany?

You guys fight while starving? We even eat ice cream for dessert.

“Isn’t this the perfect time to give those Japs a try?”

“That’s true.”

With that last bit of good news from the Pacific, I headed back to Europe.

On the way to Casablanca