Chapter 53 Chapter 5: Running Thousands of Miles to Raise Wuwei

Kimmel was haggard, but once he got to the podium, he still had the qualities of a general.Given that the Pacific Fleet had been dismantled, he redeployed and proceeded to establish three aircraft carrier task forces. What annoyed Yamamoto and the Japanese Navy most in the attack on Pearl Harbor was that they failed to kill even one aircraft carrier.The Pacific Fleet originally had three aircraft carriers. Before the Pearl Harbor incident, one returned to the United States for repairs, and the other two would enter the port on the weekend as usual. When this information came out, all the officers and soldiers of the Nanyun Fleet, from Yamamoto to Nagumo, stomped their feet in anger.

The three aircraft carriers became Kimmel's most powerful shield. The task force established with these three aircraft carriers as the core prevented Yamamoto from continuing to go deep into Hawaii for the time being. Hawaii is no problem, but the task force is not doing enough to rescue some other strategic islands in the South Pacific, such as Wake Island.Part of the reason is that the Third Task Force to rescue Wake Island has to wait for the "Saratoga" aircraft carrier to come from the west coast, which affects the efficiency of operations.Another part of the reason is related to the arrival of US Secretary of the Navy Knox.

Immediately after Pearl Harbor, Knox took a naval airship to Hawaii for inspection.When he arrived at Pearl Harbor, the wreckage of the "Arizona" was still smoking, and the debris of the seaplane was everywhere. Although Knox was mentally prepared, he was stunned by the scene. Knox had to explain to Roosevelt and Congress, and his first thought was naturally that everyone could pass the test.In his first investigative report to Roosevelt, he did not accuse Kimmel of negligence, but said that Kimmel had been guarding against a submarine attack, but did not expect that this time the deadly threat came from the sky, not the sea.

Knox even went as far as to explain Kimmel's inability to do anything about the attack by citing factors such as spy infiltration, the lack of fighter jets and anti-aircraft guns in the US military. After reading the report, Roosevelt frowned. You would excuse Kimmel. Kimmel is not responsible, but the government is responsible. Do you have any brains?Can you learn how to raise eyebrows? After being trained by Roosevelt, the Secretary of the Navy immediately understood.He then attended the press conference in person and told stories about how people bravely fought back after being attacked.

This is the best skill of politicians and bureaucrats, that is, to use beauty to cover up ugliness.Unknowingly, the public will have an illusion that since the living are so good, the dead can also smile. Knox, a former journalist, knew how to embellish and captivate audiences.The reporters who participated in the press conference were fascinated. Between Knox's eloquence, the audience was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop on the ground. Once the mood improves, the rest is easy to talk about.Of course, the loss cannot be completely ignored, but it has been greatly discounted by Knox.Except for the "Arizona" which cannot be ignored, the list of losses drawn up by Roosevelt himself is full of target ships and abandoned minelayers. The New York Times reported that "there was a huge sigh of relief" after the list was released.

Roosevelt and Knox could not breathe a sigh of relief.Their instinct to engage in politics made them realize that they must quickly find a scapegoat, otherwise even if the public does not stare, those tricky congressmen and political opponents will not let it go. As a result, as soon as the three aircraft carrier task forces sailed out of Pearl Harbor, Kimmel received a dismissal order, and his ominous premonition finally turned into reality. A successor is still several weeks away from the transition, during which time Kimmel will be represented by Vice Admiral Pye.Pai was bitten by a snake once, and he was afraid of well ropes for ten years. He used his troops too cautiously, always worried that his aircraft carrier would fall into the trap of the Japanese army, and the operation to rescue Wake Island was also made mistakes again and again. The swiftness of the combined Japanese fleet was in stark contrast.

If the bureaucrats were not in a hurry to shirk each other's responsibilities, and if Kimmel could still sit in the army, Wake Island would have been conditionally defended. On December 25, 1941, Kimmel's successor arrived at Pearl Harbor by seaplane. Almost all the resident generals came to greet him at the port. Kimmel and Pai stood at the forefront of the welcoming team. The new commander extended his hand to them and announced his family: "My name is Nimitz, from Texas."