Chapter 8 The Pacific Fleet was flattened

Yamamoto has stipulated two attack sequences in advance. The first is a surprise attack, with the torpedo planes in front and the bombers behind; the second is a storm attack, with the bombers in front and the torpedo planes behind. Block torpedo attacks. If it is not discovered by the US military, of course it is best to use a surprise attack.However, since orders could not be issued by radio, Fuchida could only use signal flares to notify. As a result, the bomber formation misunderstood, and first carried out a dive bombing of Pearl Harbor Airport. In just a few minutes, the US military aircraft on the airport were blown to pieces and their air defense capabilities were completely destroyed.Several planes took off successfully by luck, and were soon shot down by Japanese "Zero" fighter jets that had been prepared for a long time.

However, with such an impulsive bomber, the original plan was disrupted.In order not to obscure the target by the smoke, the formation of torpedo planes temporarily took a shortcut and launched an attack.Like the airport, thick smoke rose from the sea immediately. Up until this point, most Americans hadn't figured out what was going on.Some who came to their senses earlier pointed to the Sun Flag symbol under the wing of the plane and shouted desperately: "It's a Japanese plane!" The people around turned a deaf ear and thought it was just an exercise organized by Kimmel. At 8 o'clock in the morning, the U.S. military came back to its senses, and the control tower sounded the air raid siren.But it was too late, and the Japanese torpedo planes dropped torpedoes at an ultra-low altitude of 15 to 30 meters.These torpedoes have been specially modified to no more than 12 meters after entering the water, and can cause fatal damage to ships.

Although the U.S. military launched sporadic counterattacks, due to insufficient preparation, most of the antiaircraft artillery shells were still in the ammunition depots, and it was too late to go into combat, nor could they carry out organized resistance. Hearing the sound of explosions in the distance, Kimmel rushed out of the house. He saw the Japanese planes swooping down on the ships in Pearl Harbor.The neighbor next door also ran out and exclaimed: "Look, the 'Arizona' has been hit!" In the Pacific Fleet, the "Arizona" is a large battleship of the same tonnage and class as the flagship.Seeing this scene, Kimmel was dumbfounded and turned pale.

Kimmel hurried into the car and rushed to the temporary coastal command.After walking into the headquarters, he stood by the window to observe the Japanese plane's attack.At this time, a bullet suddenly hit his left chest.Had the glasses case on his chest not blocked it, Kimmel would have been thrown to the ground. The glasses case fell to the ground with a clatter. Kimmel leaned over to pick it up, put it back into his pocket, and muttered, "If only I could be killed." The greatest tragedy in the world is not the death of the body, but the fact that people are still alive after their hopes and careers are completely shattered.Kimmel was so desperate that he wanted to poke his eyes blind, he walked into the inner room with a blank face, and when he came out a few minutes later, he had already changed the four-star epaulets to two-star epaulettes, and was demoted from general to major general.

The adjutant hurriedly dissuaded: "Oh, general, you can't do this!" Kimmel looked bitter: "My friend, I did nothing wrong." Outside the window, the heart-wrenching scene finally came to an end.In the first wave of air strikes launched by Fuchida, many battleships including the "Arizona" were either sunk or severely damaged.Only the flagship "Pennsylvania" was lucky to escape the disaster because it was undergoing overhaul in the dock, but it was also hit by several bombs. The US military's doom did not end there.At 8:55 in the morning, the second wave of attacks began. This wave was too much to go around. After basically clearing the warships moored in the anchorage, they focused on the dock.

The "Pennsylvania", still in shock, could not hide its head and tail. After being hit by a bomb, the deck of the small boat was destroyed, and many other ships were also sunk and injured. Fortunately, the U.S. military was ready at this time, and the anti-aircraft artillery fire gradually became more violent.In the first wave of attacks, only 9 Japanese aircraft were lost, and 20 were shot down in this wave.Before the war, the Japanese pilots were all determined to die. None of them carried a parachute, so all the people on board were killed. At 1 p.m., the Japanese planes participating in the second wave of attacks returned to the aircraft carrier one after another.Fuchita suggested to Nanyun to organize a third wave of attacks.He said: "Although the enemy ship has been bombed and sunk, it can still be salvaged for repair and refurbishment. The military factories, repair facilities and heavy oil tanks in Pearl Harbor should be targeted and destroyed."

In the two waves of attacks, the Japanese planes did not bomb the heavy oil tanks. That is because according to the information provided by Yoshikawa, the gasoline of the US military is stored underground and the oil tanks are empty.But even so, just destroying all the facilities in Pearl Harbor is enough for the US military. At the critical moment, Nanyun became afraid.