Great time travel

Chapter 83, Summer in the Equatorial Ocean

Before World War II, the United States had two major island bases in the Pacific Ocean, the North and the South, which served as the advance base for the United States to advance into the ocean.Among them, the Hawaiian Islands in the North Pacific Ocean have been world-famous since a long time ago.As for the Samoa Islands in the South Pacific, the world knows little about them.

But in fact, in terms of controlling the strategic position of the Pacific Ocean, the importance of Hawaii and Samoa can actually be compared.The former is the home port of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and the core of controlling the North Pacific, while the latter is a wedge for the United States of America to enter the South Pacific and deter New Zealand and Australia. The Samoa Islands are located in the middle of the Polynesian Islands in the South Pacific. "heart" reputation.There are 12 large and small islands with a total area of ​​3144 square kilometers. Its strategic position in the South Pacific is comparable to Sicily in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea.

Among the secondary archipelagos under the Polynesian archipelago, the Samoa archipelago is the second largest island group after the Hawaiian archipelago.Like Hawaii, the Samoa Islands are also volcanic islands. The islands are all undulating mountains. The highest peak is on Savai'i Island, with an altitude of 1858 meters. Therefore, there are many natural harbors. The coastal areas are narrow and fertile plains. The area and property are enough to support the survival of tens of thousands of people, and it can ensure that the fleet of the island port can obtain sufficient food and fresh water supply.In the late nineteenth century, Germany, Britain, and the United States once fought fiercely for the Samoa Islands.However, with their strong strength and the geographical advantage of being close to the water, the Americans finally had the last laugh in this battle.

The reason why the Hawaiian Islands will become famous and well-known in the world in the future, while the Samoa Islands are not well-known and unknown, and their popularity is not even as good as Guam and Saipan. First of all, it is because the South Pacific is not as important as the North Pacific. Samoa The scenery in Hawaii is not as good as that of Hawaii. Secondly, the United States "peacefully took over" the British forces in Oceania after the war. Without fierce military conflicts, it naturally failed to attract the attention of the world.In the end, in "the world over there", the Japanese army's South Pacific strategy was not strong enough, and it was pushed as far as Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands, and it could no longer be pushed.Fiji, Samoa, and the Cook Islands farther back were spared the ravages of war, but they also lost their chance to be famous in history.

However, in this time and space when the Japanese army was killed by Goldfinger, the Samoa Islands finally became the frontier of the battle between the US and Japan.All kinds of naval battles, air battles, sabotage battles and landing battles frequently broke out countless times in the vast sea area from Samoa to Fiji.Both sides tried their best and bet all their capital... In the end, as the U.S. navy and army forces were deeply trapped in the Japanese archipelago, and the Halsey fleet was destroyed in the typhoon, this decision in the South Pacific was decided. The decisive battle between fate and future has finally come to the time to decide the outcome...

In fact, the Americans have essentially given up on Samoa, but this does not prevent them from leaving a group of dead ghosts to top the tank when they retreat.

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South Pacific, Samoa, Savai'i

Although the hands of the alarm clock have just slipped to the afternoon, the sky has already darkened heavily, because many dark clouds gradually drifted from the horizon at some point, and tiny shining silver arcs leap and jump in the clouds in the distance, piercing the gloom from time to time The sky, unleashing their long-simmering violent power.

Boom! ! !
Accompanied by a series of deafening thunderclaps, dense light gray and purple gray clouds quickly gathered over the Samoa Islands and tumbling violently. , Seeing a downpour is about to fall quietly again.

However, even the lightning and thunder on the eve of the rainstorm could not cover up the rumbling guns from the sea: Under the overwhelming Japanese land, sea and air offensive, the South Pacific territory of the United States of America was already in jeopardy—right in Japan At the same time when the Army launched the Battle of Melbourne, the Japanese Navy, which returned to Southeast Asia, also made a large-scale eastward expedition, and the troops headed straight for Samoa, the headquarters of the US Navy in the South Pacific!

Admiral Halsey and the main force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet under his command unfortunately suffered devastating damage in a typhoon and sank 180 million tons of ships in one breath. At present, all remaining U.S. Navy capital ships are forced to retreat to Hawaii. Samoa had to sing an empty city plan, only a small number of destroyers, light cruisers and escort aircraft carriers converted from freighters were left symbolically... Therefore, the combined Japanese navy fleet with all the troops easily smashed this The weak resistance of the weak fleet immediately rushed into the vast sea from the Cook Islands to the Samoa Islands.

Next, the two largest main islands of the Samoa Islands-Sawaii Island and Ubulu Island, became the inevitable prey of the Japanese Navy.

First of all, the Japanese naval aviation, which covered the sky and the sun, dispatched tens of thousands of planes before and after, blowing up several major oil depots, airports, docks, docks, and radar stations in the Samoa Islands. .After several days of repeated bombing, there was not even a single usable runway left for the Allied forces on the entire Samoa Islands, and even several high-grade roads were bombed with potholes—in order to ensure that they could be paralyzed. The Allied air power in Samoa made it impossible for Allied engineers to take advantage of the gap between air strikes to rush to repair the runway. Japanese Navy aircraft even dropped a large number of "butterfly bombs" developed by Nazi Germany on various airports on the Samoan Islands. Fuzed cluster bombs, each aerial bomb thrown down, can spread countless small time bombs like spraying pesticides, or air-dropped small mines, turning the Allied airport into a huge minefield, making engineers It is impossible to repair the runway until the demining is completed, and the fighter planes hidden in the air defense bunkers are naturally unable to take off.

After the land-based aviation in the Samoa Islands was completely suppressed and the air supremacy on the battlefield was completely controlled by the Japanese army, a huge strike fleet including four Yamato-class battleships, eight heavy cruisers and more than 30 other ships would also come. It approached Savai'i Island and Ubulu Island aggressively, and as a prelude to the landing of ground troops, it unscrupulously poured steel and gunpowder into these two twin islands that were almost stuck together.

However, what surprised the Japanese navy was that although according to the assessment of the staff officers, even if the US Pacific Fleet had already retreated to Hawaii, even if the Japanese bombers repeatedly carried out carpet air strikes on the Samoa Islands on an astonishing scale, as the US Navy was in the South Pacific. The most important relay supply station and fleet advance base, on the already fully fortified Samoa Islands, there should also be a considerable part of the fortress built in the mountainside. How much damage has been encountered in it-those open-air and semi-open-air coastal artillery are as fragile as eggs in the repeated bombing of aircraft, but the problem is that according to the intelligence reported by spies, there are also some coastal artillery on the islands of Samoa. It was built with solid reinforced concrete fortifications, even buried in tunnels 30 meters below the rocky ground, and fired from the cliffs near the sea. With the aviation technology of this era, no bomber can destroy this kind of bomber. Tough targets like moles and turtles.Therefore, when the Japanese naval bombardment fleet gradually approached Savai'i Island and Ubulu Island, they were really ready to fight a head-to-head artillery battle.

However, what makes people feel very strange is that in actual combat, the counterattack firepower of the coastal defense displayed by the Allied forces stationed in Samoa is surprisingly weak-to be exact, Savai'i Island and Ublu The shore artillery on the island has not even fired a single shot from the beginning to the end!
On the entire Samoa battlefield, Japanese warships were basically pouring bullets on one side, while the Allied forces on the shore kept silent.

This strange silence made the United Fleet Command very confused. Some arrogant staff officers declared that the ghosts and beasts of the United States and Britain must have been frightened long ago, and they did not even have the courage to fire a cannon to defend against the enemy.But more people firmly believe that this should be some kind of conspiracy by the Allied Forces defending the island. Not much anymore.

The Japanese army knew very well that their opponents were not only as brave as tigers and wolves, but also as cunning as foxes.

Therefore, after some discussions, just in case, the suspicious commander of the United Fleet, Narumi Inoue, decided to postpone the date of landing on Savai'i Island and Ubulu Island, extend the shelling time on the opposite shore, and at the same time send a small reconnaissance force Land on other surrounding islands to test the reaction of the Samoan Allied Forces.However, the final result is even more confusing-except for the two main islands of Savai Island and Ubulu Island, the Japanese army did not find defenders on any of the other islands, but they can be seen everywhere on the islands. Fortifications... What on earth is the Yankee trying to do?So much manpower and material resources have been spent, and so many fortifications and tunnels have been built, but when it is time to fight, do you want to throw them all away?

In this regard, Admiral Narumi Inoue felt more and more confused, completely unable to understand what the enemy was trying to do... In fact, if Narumi Inoue could know who the troops stationed in Samoa are now , then he probably wouldn't be so confused.

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"...Oh my God! This is the battleship of those little oriental dwarfs! Where did these stupid yellow people steal the technology?"

On the north shore of Savai'i Island, on a high mountain facing the vast sea, under the torrential rain of lightning and thunder, Second Lieutenant Isaac curled up in a well-disguised lookout post, whispering softly, While using high-powered binoculars to scout the latest movements of the Japanese fleet.

Although due to the continuous rain, the sea is surrounded by mist all day long, and the visibility is very poor.However, because the Japanese naval artillery fleet was already very close, and relying on a favorable observation position, Second Lieutenant Isaac was still able to clearly identify the hazy figure of the enemy through the high-power telescope in his hand-in the vast rain, only Seeing countless steel behemoths in the shadows, pouring fire and steel towards the island: the leader is a row of four mighty and domineering giant battleships, with golden chrysanthemum-patterned bows on the front and rising sun flags waving at the stern.The low and thick triple-mounted giant turret, as well as the ten-story-high superstructure with secondary guns on both sides and a front that looks full of momentum, are so shocking to the eye.

And behind these sea overlords, there are more smaller ships cruising around Savai'i Island and Ubulu Island.

Suddenly, the four Yamato-class battleships shook slightly, the three turrets fired alternately, the [-]-inch cannon roared, and sprayed orange-red flames towards the island, and the rumble of the guns rumbled on the sea.Next, after the artillery correction machine gave the correct correction value, the cannons of the rest of the ships also joined in this devastating chorus one after another, spitting out rows of huge fireballs, which rumbled like an express train, piercing the dark clouds Cloudy yellow sky.Countless steel projectiles streaked across the sea and landed on the volcanic island with dense vegetation and lush greenery, emitting scarlet flames and puffs of smoke.

In order to distinguish their own impact points, each ship used colorful tracer bombs, intertwined with chaotic colored lines, one end was connected to the fleet at sea, and the other end was connected to Savai'i Island, like countless cars with colored lights, running wildly on a night road. On the highway, the sights are spectacular.

Although due to the limitation of the elevation angle of the muzzle, no matter how fiercely these Japanese warships fought, they could not bombard Second Lieutenant Isaac squatting on the high mountain.However, listening to the loud rumbling sound from the sea and feeling the slight vibration from his feet, as an Argentine soldier who has not seen war for about 70 years, Second Lieutenant Isaac, who belongs to the Allied South American Legion, still vaguely I felt a wave of fear and hesitation from the bottom of my heart...

wait, what what?South American Legion? !Argentine soldiers? ! !

That's right, Second Lieutenant Isaac was an Argentine military officer who had just graduated from the academy, and it had been less than three months since he was transferred to the Pacific battlefield.

——In general, the attitudes of South American countries towards the Second World War are probably similar to the attitudes of the Chinese towards the First World War.After the Pearl Harbor incident, the speech of the leader of the Uruguayan National Party at that time is said to be the most representative of the aspirations of the South American people at that time-he said: "This war should be settled by the blond and yellow people themselves. Anyway, this is the lion. The struggle with lions for prey."

In other words, since South American countries can't become lions anyway, and it's good not to be eaten as steaks, why bother to meddle in their own business?
Therefore, almost all South American people have such an attitude that they have nothing to do with themselves, and they look at this "other people's war" that has swept almost all other continents indifferently, and South America in World War II seems to have become A piece of paradise without gunpowder smoke.

However, in the first half of the twentieth century, the earth had long been closely connected by ships, railways and radios. Even South America could not really watch the fire from the other side, and was also involved in the whirlpool of World War II to a certain extent—first , South American countries at that time were all export-oriented economies (in fact, it was still the case until the 21st century), European and North American consumers were their parents, and they had to consider their relationship with each other; secondly, most of the American countries at that time were under military dictatorship Under the control of the government, they have a good impression of Nazi-fascist ideology. Before the war, they generally had a close relationship with Nazi Germany. If they are based on their own heart, they are probably more willing to join the Axis camp. of.

But the problem is that even on the eve of World War II, the United States’ control over South America is far from comparable to that in the [-]th century. At least it has basically achieved the level that people will listen to what it says, and it can easily overthrow a country’s regime with a little effort. .In this situation where life and death are controlled by the US imperialists, it is too risky for South American countries to join the Axis powers. In desperation, they can only learn from General Franco of Spain and play neutral straddling the fence.

After France fell and the German army entered Paris, the American ruling class finally realized the seriousness of the problem and found that the US and British camps were really likely to lose the war, so they hurriedly used the golden bullet tactic and threw a large amount of dollars to South America in exchange for their war against the Allies. support.There is obviously no suspense about who has more money, Roosevelt or Hitler, and even if Germany intends to arm South America, its national strength and geographical conditions will not allow it.

Therefore, under the purchase of US dollar bills, Brazil, the largest country in South America with a population of 500 million, completely fell to the United States. It not only mobilized the whole country of Brazil to actively participate in the Second World War, but even sent volunteers to participate in the Italian war. Landing battle.The Brazilian Navy has also contributed a lot to the Atlantic escort.Countries such as Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela, and Chile are basically fools on the wall. They verbally support some of the Nazis' remarks, and many times they are just a means to defraud (extort) US aid, and they cannot be taken too seriously. .

In short, among the South American countries during World War II, Brazil was the most loyal henchman of the United States. As for other South American countries, they vacillated repeatedly between the Axis and Allied camps, to be precise, between Germany and the United States. It was not until the end that war was symbolically declared against the Axis powers.

Among them, Argentina is the most pro-Nazi country in South America. After the Pearl Harbor incident, it even refused to break off diplomatic relations with the Axis powers.In fact, it was precisely because the Brazilians fell to the United States that it aggravated Argentina's hostility to the Allies. At that time, in order to compete for hegemony in South America, the bad relationship between Brazil and Argentina was probably as different as that of Saudi Arabia and Iran in later generations. It’s almost developed to the point where the Brazilians eat, and the Argentines must eat ♂ shit... Of course, no matter how arrogant the Argentines are, they will never be able to twist their arms and thighs in this world. In the month when Nazi Germany fell, Argentina I still declared war on the Axis powers, so at least I got on the last train of the victorious powers.

However, this does not affect the post-war Argentine Republic, which has become the most ideal first choice for the remnants of the Nazis in Germany...

In another time and space, by the time Argentina symbolically declared war on the Axis powers, World War II was basically over.Italian fascists have gone to heaven, Nazi Germany is already lying in the grave waiting to be filled, and Japan has only half life left, so there is no need for South American countries to do anything else.But in this time and space, although the German Nazis and Italian Fascists have been wiped out, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom are still fighting in Europe.And after the Japanese were hit by two atomic bombs, they jumped up and down even more vigorously, biting the Yankee who was excitedly going to pick the fruits of victory into the meat grinder with a "click".In less than a year, more than 300 million Allied troops died on the battlefield——As a result, the South American countries that originally planned to take the last train to declare war on the Axis powers suddenly sat on the wax, and then even under the persecution of the United States, their hearts were broken. Reluctantly, he jumped into the fire pit of war.

——After countless devastating defeats, the dawn of victory has not yet appeared, but the human resources of the United States have been used to the verge of overdrawing. The Pentagon forced the Brazilian government to conscript 300 million soldiers to serve as cannon fodder to join the war, and other Spanish-speaking South American countries could not escape the fate of being pulled...