Chapter 611: Imminent
A military staff officer walked briskly down a corridor in the White House in the American capital, Washington. He arrived at the door of the president’s office and knocked. After receiving permission, he pushed the door open, entered the Oval Office, and stood before the Resolute Desk.
“Mr. President, the German army has carried out an airborne operation on the island of Crete. This information has been confirmed, with a force of over 4,000 men,” the staff officer said, handing a report to Roosevelt and briefly summarizing the situation. “The Greek defenders are counter-attacking. We can only await the final result.”
“How is the training and preparation of our own paratroopers coming along?” Roosevelt asked. His voice was a little hoarse, as the recent fighting in the Pacific had not been going well for the United States. The battle for Oahu had reached a fever pitch; the Japanese army had already established a complete beachhead, and large numbers of Japanese infantry were advancing on the naval port on Oahu, intending to seize it and gain the strategic initiative.
However, even without the uniquely strategic vision of President Roosevelt, many discerning individuals in America could see the signs of an overextended and exhausted Japanese army in their stalled offensive. They supported continuing the war against Japan and ending the Pacific War with a victory.
Using the time bought by the battle for Oahu, Nimitz finally welcomed the arrival of his third aircraft carrier, the USS Hornet. This brought the number of fleet carriers under his command to three, restoring the U.S. Navy’s courage for another decisive battle. Nimitz decided to commit his entire force to fight one more showdown with the Japanese fleet.
“Mr. President, we are currently forming two paratrooper units simultaneously, the 82nd Airborne Division and the 101st Airborne Division. The training for both divisions is going very well, and new types of transport aircraft are also under development,” the staff officer replied, evidently quite knowledgeable about the development of American airborne forces. He answered the president’s question fluently.
Roosevelt thought for a moment before asking the question that concerned him most: “Isn’t executing Nimitz’s counter-attack plan right now a bit hasty?” He had not been in favor of this operation, codenamed “Sailboat,” but Nimitz, after carefully analyzing the Japanese Navy’s operational patterns, insisted on fighting an all-out naval battle in the waters near Oahu.
And so, the U.S. Navy set out in full force. With the newly completed and commissioned aircraft carrier USS Hornet, along with the Ranger and the Yorktown, they formed a carrier fleet similar to the German Navy’s. This fleet had no powerful, heavily armored battleships, only cruisers and destroyers of a younger age for escort. However, its mobility was terrifying; the entire fleet could rush to the battlefield at a speed of over 23 knots.
The staff officer thought for a moment and decided not to take the blame for Nimitz’s decision. “Mr. President, the view of the naval staff is consistent with yours, as you know. However, Admiral Nimitz knows his fleet best, so his decision cannot be said to have no chance of success.”
Chance of success. This was a fatal issue. Roosevelt was worried that if Nimitz’s counter-attack failed, the American fleet would be completely destroyed, losing its ability to fight Japan. This, in turn, would cause America to lose its competitive edge against Germany, leaving it with no hope of influencing the outcome of the European theater.
But it was clear that America was not fully prepared to counter-attack the Japanese fleet in the Pacific. The ideal time for a fully prepared counter-attack was three months later. By then, most of the Independence-class carriers America was building for Britain would be commissioned, freeing up the dock space needed for America’s own follow-on carriers. Carriers built using new production processes would then be launched one after another, as fast as dropping dumplings into a pot.
But America did not have three months to wait. If they waited for Japan to take Oahu before counter-attacking, America would lose the time to intervene in Germany’s expansion in the Middle East and the Atlantic. Germany would smoothly take Egypt, control the Suez Canal, and meddle in the Middle East. At that point, America would experience a new financial crisis, the Jews would side completely with the Germans, and America would be reduced to a pitiful second-rate nation.
Therefore, after Nimitz proposed his plan to seize the moment and counter-attack, many high-level American officials supported him. Even Roosevelt did not insist on opposing it. After some thought, he decided to let Nimitz take the gamble for a brighter American future. He authorized Nimitz to use almost every warship America could muster and sail to the battlefield for a fight to the death with the Japanese Combined Fleet.
While Roosevelt worried whether the American fleet could win the war, the U.S. Navy was cleaving through the waves of the Eastern Pacific, advancing rapidly. Standing on the bridge of the newest warship, the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, Nimitz stood expressionlessly before the glass windows, staring silently at the calm sea.
No one knew how heavy the immense burden on his shoulders was at this moment, nor did they know what this young and adventurous fleet commander was thinking. He had single-handedly pushed for this decisive battle, arriving late with his fleet on the waters east of Pearl Harbor.
“Admiral, Admiral Spruance is signaling by flag. The entire fleet has reached the designated position and is moving into its counter-attack formation according to the plan,” a staff officer reported, approaching Nimitz from behind with the latest update on the fleet’s movements.
Nimitz turned his head, nodded, and then smiled. “Believe me, the Japanese fleet will be defeated by us this time. I did not rush here to die; I am genuinely confident that we can win this war.”
The staff officer was taken aback. He hadn’t expected the admiral to offer him such an explanation and could only say with some trepidation, “Admiral, the Japanese have several times our number of carriers and battleships. There’s no way we can win a war like this…”
Nimitz pointed to a stack of documents on the map table and said with a smile, speaking as if he were convincing all the officers and sailors on the bridge, and as if he were convincing himself to make such a high-stakes gamble, “The Japanese Navy has been operating in the waters near Oahu for a long time. They are running low on both fuel and food. We left them no supplies on Kauai or Oahu, so as long as we counter-attack, they will almost certainly retreat.”
There was some intelligence he didn’t mention, information that had reached the United States through special channels. It was said that a German officer in Argentina had handed a file to an American businessman, receiving a fee of two million dollars for his trouble. The file was an evaluation report from a German technical department, which contained a detailed performance data envelope for the Japanese Zero fighter.
This intelligence could be said to have been handed over by the German government to the American government, with the aim of helping America stabilize its Pacific front. However, the authenticity of this intelligence could not be confirmed, and the data within was only very basic test data, not the real specifications of the Zero fighter.
But after an evaluation of this data, the U.S. Naval Air Corps felt that with their newest P-40 fighters, upgraded with Rolls-Royce engines, they could take on the Japanese air force. This was one of the important reasons why Nimitz decided to launch the counter-offensive ahead of schedule.
“Then… Admiral,” the staff officer said, apparently convinced by his commander, his expression relaxing slightly. “Does that mean we can go home alive?”
“Of course!” Nimitz smiled, nodded, and patted the young officer’s shoulder. “I brought you all out here, so naturally, it is my responsibility to bring you all back.”
After speaking, he issued his next orders: “Tell Admiral Spruance the fleet is to maintain its current heading. Launch reconnaissance aircraft to confirm the security of the surrounding waters! Signal the 1st Destroyer Squadron to detach from the fleet. Two hours from now, they are to send a radio message ordering aircraft from the military airfields on Hawaii to take off, find the main body of the Japanese fleet, and transmit its position back to us.”
The advantage of Nimitz’s fleet was that Yamamoto Isoroku had no idea of its sudden appearance. After so many days of island fighting, the Japanese must have thought the U.S. Navy would not show up here. Moreover, this American fleet was different from the original one; they had the support of land-based aircraft and the new, improved P-40 fighters with new engines.
And although the American fleet had traveled a long distance, compared to the Japanese fleet which had been continuously engaged in combat, they were a rested force fighting a weary one. They carried over 400 fighter planes, some of which would not return to the carriers after takeoff but would fly on to Pearl Harbor as reinforcements. So, in terms of aircraft numbers, the Americans had far more planes than the Japanese estimated.
Of course, the Japanese Navy held an absolute numerical advantage, with eight battleships and four fleet aircraft carriers. Moreover, the Japanese naval aviators were very experienced, almost all of them skilled veterans. Thus, they were confident and felt that the American fleet would absolutely not dare to appear near Pearl Harbor.
Tragically for them, Japan’s 2nd Carrier Division had left the waters near Oahu a day earlier to support the attack on Darwin. Therefore, the Japanese Navy’s absolute carrier advantage no longer existed. The two sides were actually quite close in terms of the number of carrier-based aircraft, a fact that had Yamamoto Isoroku deeply worried.
Right now, neither fleet had found its opponent. Spruance did not know the exact location of the Japanese carrier fleet led by Admiral Nagumo Chuichi; he only knew that the Japanese 1st Battleship Division was shelling Oahu. Nagumo, for his part, did not know the American fleet had arrived and was still preparing to launch a strike to bomb the American military facilities on Oahu.
The sun rose bit by bit. It was a rare, beautiful day.
Published: 2025-09-11T01:44:07.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-01-22T13:21:03.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c611-138629188
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