Chapter 582: Nimitz

The war was raging in the Pacific, while North Africa had suddenly turned peaceful. Patton’s forces had halted in their tracks, seemingly unconcerned with the raging fires of Tobruk. He waited there for a full day before slowly advancing again, but it was no longer a forced march, but a normal pace of advance.

At his current speed, it was uncertain if he could even reach the war zone in 20 days. Montgomery also seemed to have forgotten about this force and was not urging Patton forward at all. In fact, Montgomery had already decided to abandon Tobruk, because he really had no authority to interfere with the operations of the American volunteer army in North Africa.

Abandoning an allied force, or rather, sending an allied force to its death—this kind of thing is very easy to implement when both sides are willing and have a tacit understanding. But if one side is unwilling to go and die, then bringing it out into the open will make everyone embarrassed, and they will choose to forget this unpleasant experience and continue their cooperation later.

To be honest, Montgomery’s command level was indeed not as good as Patton’s. The difference between the two was in character and talent, something that could not be made up for by later learning and experience. Montgomery was mature and steady, and was more liked by the politicians. This general put the British Royal Family at ease because he never made risky choices.

Patton was the exact opposite. This American general was brave and fierce his whole life, even reckless with his words. He was impulsive and irascible, but he was familiar with the mode of armored warfare and was a not-so-honest general. He often caused all sorts of trouble for his superiors but was also able to save the day and win the war at critical moments.

For the grassroots soldiers, to have a commander like Patton was a blessing, because under such a general, they would survive the brutal war and could even become the mainline, elite, and ace forces admired by later generations. They would achieve glorious military achievements under the leadership of such a commander, and even their pensions would be a bit more than their peers.

But for the high-level decision-makers, they preferred commanders like Montgomery and Bradley. These types of commanders were cautious and rarely made mistakes. Their clumsy command meant that they would never have a beautiful, classic battle in their entire lives. What they often liked to do most was to gather 200,000 men to attack an enemy high ground of 3,000 men. But unfortunately, for the rulers and decision-makers, they would rather have a sparrow in their hand than an eagle soaring in the sky.

And so, in another timeline, the mediocre Montgomery became the god of war admired by the British, while the cigar-chomping Patton, who had led the American army to victory after victory, died in a car accident. Who knows if, after his death, Patton met Yue Fei, and if the two of them would have had a drink together and lamented that the rulers of all times and all countries are all the same.

Patton’s halting of his advance had eventually reached the office of President Roosevelt in the United States. The British diplomatic representative strongly demanded that Patton be punished, that he be held responsible for the loss of Tobruk and the deterioration of the entire North African situation.

Roosevelt was, of course, no fool. He just smiled and then ignored the loquacious British envoy. The atmosphere became even more awkward, and the matter of punishing Patton had to be dropped as a matter of course. It was a very simple matter: Britain was living on a shoestring with American aid. Now the Americans were the boss, and it was not the British’s place to be bossy and make irresponsible remarks.

In the end, Roosevelt said lightly, “Mr. Envoy, General Patton is responsible for tens of thousands of American soldiers in North Africa. I do not feel there is anything improper about his decision. I will consider increasing a portion of the supplies in next month’s aid plan. The bottom line for the US military in North Africa is Cairo, not Tobruk.”

This one sentence contained many meanings: First, General Patton’s decision was not wrong. Second, I support his decision. Third, you British still have to rely on our supplies. Fourth, defending Egypt is the important thing. If Tobruk is lost, then it’s lost.

The British envoy had been rebuffed in Roosevelt’s office and had no choice but to return to Canada with this result. The matter was really just dropped like that in the end. The King of Britain decided to choose to let the sensible Montgomery shut up and forget these unpleasantries. And it was clear that Montgomery had indeed forgotten about Tobruk as ordered.

This decision was so wise, because it was far easier to make Montgomery shut up than to make Patton shut up. This is also why Montgomery ended up a Field Marshal, while Patton was only a four-star general until his death. The facts have proven that sometimes, a sharp tongue, a bad temper, and a stubborn personality can affect one’s income, position, and even one’s life. If you don’t believe it, just refer to Yue Fei and Patton.

However, the facts have proven that it was not just Akado who had the magnanimity to tolerate others, to give Rommel trust and room to maneuver. Roosevelt was also supporting Patton, supporting his generals to fight for America’s victory.

Another piece of not-so-good news for Japan appeared at the end of June 1938, and the cause of this bad news was actually a piece of great news. Of course, at this time, the whole of Japan was celebrating, and only Akado, who had received the intelligence, almost spat a mouthful of water on Anna’s face.

The intelligence showed that Japan had finally taken a different step. The Japanese Combined Fleet had appeared at Wake Island and had engaged the remaining main force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in the Battle of Wake Island. Both sides had launched their carrier-based aircraft to attack the other’s fleet from a super-long distance. The result of this massive naval battle was a great victory for the Japanese Navy.

This naval battle of unprecedented scale had cost the United States three newly repaired battleships and its only aircraft carrier in one go. The entire U.S. Pacific Fleet was almost truly wiped out. The Japanese soldiers had successfully landed on Wake Island, and the American garrison had surrendered, with over 1,700 captured.

Such an unprecedented great victory was something that not even Japan’s Yamamoto Isoroku had expected. He had originally thought that the U.S. Navy would retreat to Midway or Hawaii, but he had never expected that they would lose the entire remaining force of the Pacific Fleet at the small Wake Island. Now, the U.S. military had nothing left to stop the Japanese offensive. With the existence of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Hawaii and Australia were already in the bag for the Japanese army.

So, in the content of this great piece of good news, where did the bad news come from? Akado, holding this document, knew that the good days of the Japanese Navy were almost over. The reason was none other than the fact that the U.S. Navy had lost too much this time.

In this one battle, several of the high-ranking generals of the U.S. Navy were either dead or wounded. The remaining few had to be used as scapegoats. As a result, in the entire massive U.S. Navy, they could not find a single decent commander to command the greatly weakened Pacific Fleet. After counting and recounting, the Americans had chosen a not-so-famous young general, the only 51-year-old naval commander, Nimitz.

It had to be known that the age of 50 was not considered young in the command echelon of the German army. After all, Führer Akado himself had once become a high-ranking general of the Wehrmacht at the record age of 26. His famous generals, Guderian, Rommel, and Manstein, were all around 50. The German commanders had also become the youngest and most dynamic team of generals in the world.

And the U.S. Navy had originally been based on seniority. By seniority, it would never have been the turn of the still-very-young Nimitz, whose rank was not high. But the Battle of Wake Island had wiped out almost all of the older generation of American naval generals, which had created a very perfect opportunity for the young Nimitz.

Akado knew that Nimitz was the overall commander of the U.S. Navy who had won the Battle of Midway, and also the main naval commander in the later Battle of Leyte Gulf and the counter-attack on Japan. But if you wanted to know the true terror of this Nimitz, a glance at his resume would make it clear.

After graduating from the naval academy, Nimitz had served as the captain of a gunboat, was then promoted to a destroyer commander, and later went to Germany to study engineering. He then served as the chief engineer of an oiler, followed by a post in the submarine force, and then went back to being a destroyer commander from scratch. After the end of World War I, he was ordered to participate in the construction of the Pearl Harbor naval base, then went to graduate school, served as a naval instructor, and then successively served as a submarine fleet commander, a destroyer captain, a heavy cruiser captain, and then went back to a civilian post as the assistant to the head of the Bureau of Navigation. Later, because of the Pearl Harbor incident, he was promoted to a squadron commander, commanding battleships.

Looking at it this way, everyone should understand why he could become a famous general of the U.S. Navy. This fellow had personally done everything from gunboats to battleships, from engineering to logistics. He had been an instructor and an assistant, so he could properly handle interpersonal relationships. He had been a commander and had also been in charge of technology, so he could naturally understand all the links of a fleet. Do you still remember that Akado had once deliberately had Guderian squat in the logistics department for a few years? If you compare the status of the all-proficient Guderian in the panzer forces, you can guess Nimitz’s understanding of the U.S. Navy.

So when the news that this Nimitz was to command the U.S. Pacific Fleet arrived, Akado, of course, knew that bad news had come for Japan. But at the moment, the Japanese Navy, and even the Imperial General Headquarters, had no such awareness. They were celebrating their glorious military achievement of having annihilated the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

In the various shrines, monks carried banners and chanted the heroic deeds of the frontline soldiers and officers. The Emperor of Japan even attended a celebration ceremony in the Imperial Palace. The commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Yamamoto Isoroku, had not even returned to the mainland when he received a congratulatory telegram on his promotion. He had become another Field Marshal of the Japanese Navy, after Togo Heihachiro.

The Japanese Navy had won a great victory in the waters near Wake Island, and the Army had also successively captured several islands in the Philippines and Malaysia, getting closer and closer to Australia. For the Japanese Army, whether they could surpass the Navy in terms of prestige depended on this battle for Australia. To prepare for this battle, Japan had expanded its army by 500,000 men. The Army Ministry had ordered: “All males over the age of 18 and under the age of 40 must fight for the country, without delay.”

Published: 2025-09-08T03:28:57.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-01-07T18:19:20.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c582-nimitz-138390741

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