Chapter 55 The hard work of the old leader

Nimitz was in a hurry to urinate, so he ran into the bathroom for convenience. The train attendant locked the door without checking, and when the train left the station, the attendant forgot to open the door again. This made Nimitz very worried. He fiddled with the latch and knocked on the door again. After a quarter of an hour, he was sweating profusely and couldn't get out. After a long time, when the waiter passed the aisle, he heard a knock on the bathroom door, and then he took out the key and rescued Nimitz.Nimitz was naturally furious, but the waiter who didn't know his real identity just laughed it off and didn't mean to apologize at all. On the contrary, he blamed "Freeman" for not being smart enough, saying it was just a trick A bolt can do it, but how can a living person be trapped in it, you idiot.

When Nimitz heard it, well, I'm an idiot, so try it.Without any explanation, he took the waiter's key and pushed him into the bathroom. In the following time, Nimitz sat happily in the carriage for fifteen minutes. The waiter yelled and shouted in the bathroom, but he turned a deaf ear to it. The red waiter was let out. Nimitz didn't really want to take revenge on the waiter, he just thought it was fun. After that, he made a fool of himself and joked with the waiter as jokes into his favorite verbal jokes. The train was on the West Coast, and Nimitz was on a plane to Pearl Harbor, and as he approached the port, he couldn't stop laughing.

Although I have read the attack report repeatedly, the scene before me is still heartbreaking.The sunken "Arizona" only had three masts slanted above the sea, and the other destroyed ships were also turned upside down, like giant whales rushing to the beach to commit suicide.Around the ship, the bodies of naval sailors and marines were floating everywhere. Those bodies were swollen and looked strange, but the salvage of personnel and the repair of the hull were still in progress. Nimitz's face was serious: "It's really horrible." The people standing at the port also had serious expressions on their faces. Nimitz and Kimmel are very familiar old friends. He announced his family name and said that my name is Nimitz, a Texan.He did this just to ease the tense and oppressive atmosphere, but no one responded.

The situation is indeed too serious. In this case, let alone joking, even if you scratch people hard, everyone's voice will only be a wry smile. When Nimitz arrived at Pearl Harbor, Wake Island had not yet fallen, so his greatest concern was the safety of Wake Island.Pai, who had represented Kimmel, handed him an updated cable: "The enemy is on the island, the outcome is uncertain, and we are still holding on. Merry Christmas." In fact, Wake Island had fallen at this time, and Nimitz did not know the real news until after Christmas. Wake Island is an outpost of the U.S. military in the Central Pacific Ocean. Once Wake Island was lost, the base of Pearl Harbor felt like it was dying, and it seemed that a gust of wind could blow it away.Of the many Christmas Eves spent at Nimitz, this was one of the most ominous.

Five months later, a salvage team entered the sunk USS West Virginia.In the watertight compartment of the ship, the bodies of six sailors were found.Sixteen X's were drawn in chalk on the bulkhead, indicating that the six men languished at the bottom of the sea for 16 days before finally dying just before Christmas. No matter how optimistic and humorous people are, they will cry in pain, and Kimmel's words made Nimitz feel extremely heavy. "If only the bullet would kill me," Kimmel said. Nimitz understood that Kimmel was just bad luck. If he was in the same position at the time, he might not have done better.He shook Kimmel's hand and said emotionally, "My friend, this could happen to anyone. Stay and help me, I need you now more than ever."

Kimmel had to go back to the country for review and could not stay to help, so Nimitz retained his staff. Kimmel's staff thought that the tree fell and the hozens were scattered. After Pearl Harbor and Wake Island were hit hard, and Kimmel was removed from office for review, even if his naval career did not come to an end, he would never be able to recover. , I didn't expect that Nimitz would trust and reuse them without reservation, which made them cheer up again. Spruance's words spoke out: "It's like being in a closed room and someone suddenly opens a window and blows in a breath of fresh air."

On December 31, 1941, Nimitz officially took office as the commander-in-chief of the US Pacific Fleet. He wanted to lead everyone to "take off" and launch a counterattack against the enemy. The one who had a stronger desire to fight back was Nimitz's immediate boss, Admiral Ginger, Commander-in-Chief of the US Fleet.The image of Ginger is an ancient knight, no matter how powerful the enemy is, he can't stop the sword and halberd in his hand.King also has a story similar to that of MacArthur in the Army.It is said that after he went to heaven, a naval officer also ascended to heaven.The gatekeeper of heaven yelled at the officer: "Since your general Kim came, our kingdom of heaven has been reorganized and is always in a state of war." The naval officer replied: "I am not surprised at all, because Jin The General often thinks himself Almighty God!"

Ginger took office one day earlier than Nimitz, and as soon as he took office, he took over all the work, leaving Ginger's boss, the Chief of Naval Operations, idle. In the end, he was simply transferred by Roosevelt to become the commander-in-chief of the European Navy. Grid to the United States Fleet Commander-in-Chief of Naval Operations. "Almighty God" is even more powerful now. He is full of energy, fighting and killing all day long, trying to destroy the prestige of the Japanese, but the situation runs counter to his good wishes.