Chapter 79 everyone wants to be a hero

This is not something wrong with the Hawaiian intelligence station, but that the combined fleet has finally changed the wartime code, and it will take several weeks for the crackers to decipher the new code. I don't know exactly, what Rocheford has is only an approximate date.He estimated that the Combined Fleet would attack Midway in early June. So Nimitz summoned Layton again and asked him to provide the answer. Layton, like Rocheford, had so much information in his stomach that it was almost bulging, but Rocheford was only in charge of deciphering, and Layton was also in charge of analysis, from the perspective of Yamamoto and the United Fleet.

At the beginning, Layton also seemed a little embarrassed: "It's hard for me to talk about specifics now." "I want you to talk about it in detail." Nimitz's tone was unquestionable. At this moment, he completely regarded the other party as the incarnation of Yamamoto, and he needed to learn crucial information from "Yamamoto". Layton mustered up his courage and began to talk.This time it was Nimitz's turn to be surprised. Layton not only told the date when the Japanese mobile force attacked Midway Island, but also the exact time and location. Layton didn't just talk about it. He has been checking various intelligence materials all night for three consecutive months, and has carefully studied the recent wind direction, weather and ocean currents in the Pacific Ocean.

Nimitz was surprised, but he had no doubts about the use of people, and he fully accepted Layton's point of view, and based on this, he outlined the battle plan for Midway Island. When Nimitz dispatched troops based on intelligence, Yamamoto knew nothing about it, and the combined fleet was heading for Midway under his command. This was the largest expedition in the history of the Japanese Navy. Seeing the mighty momentum of riding the wind and waves, Yamamoto showed his dominance again: Who can stop me with such a huge fleet? At first, it seemed to be true. Even the sea seemed to hold its breath, and the Pacific Ocean was just like its name, showing a deathly silence. Some Japanese commanders were even afraid that the soldiers' reactions would become dull because the environment was too comfortable. For this reason, they came up with such methods as singing together and doing freehand exercises.

But on the second day of going to sea, things were a little bit wrong.The weather suddenly turned bad, the sea was rough, and the Pacific Ocean finally showed its true colors. Nagumo's "Akagi" was in chaos.Fuchida suddenly had acute appendicitis and had to undergo an operation on the ship. Naturally, he could no longer serve as the flight captain after the operation.Fuchita was the commander of the air raid on Pearl Harbor, which is equivalent to a symbol for the United Fleet, and everyone on the ship became gloomy and unhappy because of this. Murata said annoyedly: "Fuchita Nakazuo can't participate in the battle, which may cause serious problems." Affects the morale of the pilots."

Misfortunes never come singly. Within a few days, Nagumo’s staff member Genda contracted pneumonia again. He had a high fever and had to stay in bed. On May 30, 1942, the weather turned worse as the Combined Fleet passed through the central Pacific.The wind with a speed of 18 meters per second rolled up huge waves, making it extremely difficult for the ship to sail. What disturbed Yamamoto even more than the turbulent waves was that he did not know the location of the Pacific Fleet, and his purpose of launching the Battle of Midway was not only to expand the defense circle, but more importantly, to lure and annihilate the Pacific Fleet.

During the day, the radio soldiers of the "Yamato" intercepted an urgent secret message sent by a US submarine to Midway Island. The content was very long.Because the password cannot be cracked, I don't know what it is talking about, but judging from the length and the level of urgency, it should be reporting the situation of the Japanese army's large-scale attack. Yamamoto's aides were not surprised by this, but didn't we just want to lure the Pacific Fleet out, and we were afraid they would find out? These boys took the Battle of Midway like a hunting trip, thinking that the more American birds flew from cover, the more game they were about to get.But Yamamoto still wants to know the movements of the Pacific Fleet more, so that it will be easier for him to target when he aims.

Yamamoto designed a reconnaissance plan for this purpose, code-named "Operation K", that is, to send two seaplanes to conduct reconnaissance over Hawaii in order to find out how many troops are still in Pearl Harbor.To fly directly to Hawaii, the plane does not have so much fuel, and the plane must be refueled by a refueling submarine midway.But when the submarine sailed to the predetermined location, it found that there were already two US ships parked there. They eagerly hoped that the U.S. warship would leave after a short walk, but never thought that the U.S. warship would not leave at all, and then two U.S. seaplanes flew over—it turned out that they had taken the predetermined location of the Japanese army as their water base.

"Operation K" was ruined.Unable to figure out the reality of Pearl Harbor, Yamamoto has no way of knowing whether the Pacific Fleet was lured out, so his heart has never been settled. Yamamoto made another move and decided to set up three submarine cordons between Hawaii and Midway before June 2, 1942, to monitor the movements of the Pacific Fleet. But he was still one step too late. The two task forces departing from Pearl Harbor had already passed this cordon and headed for Midway without anyone noticing it. The pilot of the US "Enterprise" wrote in his log: "Reconnaissance by aircraft and submarines shows that the Japanese are approaching as planned. Hope to actually meet them and fight a good fight. Everyone is eager to be a hero. I think there will be this. Chance."

At this time, the defenders of Midway Island are also waiting for the opportunity to be a hero.