Chapter 54 Amazing new leader

Nimitz had previously served as the director of navigation, and this director had amazing foresight. In a private conversation among family members in the mid-1930s, he said he was convinced that the United States would fight Japan and Germany in a major war, a war that would start with brutal surprise attacks, and that the U.S. military would lose first. Nimitz even predicted the fate of Kimmel and others in advance: "Washington will feel disgusted with the naval commanders. Although it is not the commanders' fault, they will be dismissed." Nimitz does not know how to predict the future, and his original position was not directly related to diplomacy or combat. It is even more impossible for him to master "magic" intelligence like Roosevelt and Marshall. Because of his extraordinary ability to analyze and speculate.

By reading books and magazines, Nimitz can almost grasp the changes in the international political situation, especially the trends of Japan, like the top military and political leaders of the country. However, the "God Man" Nimitz was not immune to the mistakes made by the supreme leaders.He thought that the target of the Japanese navy's attack was Singapore, but never thought of Pearl Harbor.For this reason, he also picked up a pen, drew an arrow pointing south on the map, and circled a red circle on the name "Singapore". Nimitz predicted that Singapore would be attacked and lost. When he heard the emergency announcement of Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor on the radio, he felt like a thunderbolt sounded in the clear sky.

The relationship between Nimitz and Pearl Harbor is extraordinary. It can also be said that the Pearl Harbor Naval Base was born from him. Twenty years ago, Nimitz was sent by the Department of the Navy to Pearl Harbor to prepare for the construction of a submarine base.At that time, there was nothing in Pearl Harbor. At the age of 35, Nimitz could only rely on a map of Pearl Harbor and the right to allocate materials from his superiors. The so-called materials are all remnants of World War I.But it was not easy to recruit them. Nimitz’s position at the time was only lieutenant commander, a small officer with sesame seeds and mung beans, and no one took it seriously—you said that the superior ordered the allocation of supplies, then you asked the superior to get it by himself Well!

Nimitz is not discouraged. His method is to keep doing ideological work, like a Tang monk, and babble until you compromise.If this still doesn’t work, then we should act first and sneak away with a truck at night. When the owner finds out and investigates angrily, the uncooked rice has already been cooked, and a lot of these materials have already been used in Pearl Harbor. . Nimitz joked that he built the submarine base out of stolen supplies. For some time thereafter, Nimitz also served as the base commander in Hawaii.Even before Kimmel became the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Roosevelt's preferred candidate was actually Nimitz, but Nimitz was humble and voluntarily withdrew from the competition, giving up the position to his old friend Kimmel.

The internal loss report of the Navy will not be falsified like the government. Looking at the horrific data, Nimitz is heartbroken. These are all built by him like building blocks, and they are all destroyed in a blink of an eye. What made Nimitz feel the most uncomfortable was the "Arizona", because just three years ago, when Nimitz was the commander of the first division of the battleship, the "Arizona" was still his flagship. Bad luck, turned into a pile of scrap steel. "We've failed so badly that we don't know if we can recover," Nimitz told a Navigator colleague.

Nimitz had sensed the call ahead, but was taken aback when he was promoted to four-star admiral, succeeding Kimmel in the Pacific Fleet. Nimitz, like Kimmel, had mediocre qualifications in the U.S. Navy. Before Nimitz, there were at least 28 experienced senior generals available for selection.At this critical moment, Roosevelt was able to surpass 28 generals and give Nimitz an exceptional promotion, which shows his trust and reliance on him. Roosevelt also asked someone to bring a message: "Tell Nimitz to go to Pearl Harbor to clean up the mess, and then stay there until the war is won."

Nimitz and MacArthur have very different personalities. He never liked to show his face, and he didn't even like to fight, but in him, he never lacked the courage to accept challenges. He always remembered the words his stepfather said to him: "Take the flag Insert it to the highest point!" And at this moment, when the country needs him to stand up, he is absolutely unwilling to stand by. After returning home, Nimitz couldn't restrain his excitement and told his family the news.The wife immediately expressed her congratulations: "This is what you have dreamed of. You can finally command the Pacific Fleet."

The higher the position, the greater the responsibility.Nimitz was very aware of the situation of the Pacific Fleet at this time, and he replied: "Honey, I can't let other people here know, but I have to tell you that the fleet has sunk to the bottom of the sea, and all the ships are lying on the bottom of the sea!" Nimitz first had to take the train to the West Coast, and to avoid attracting attention, he gave himself an alias: "Mr. Freeman." As soon as he got on the train, Nimitz immediately revealed another side of his personality. He transformed into a laughing old urchin, and then a very funny thing happened.