Iron Cross

"Salute!"

Several captured American pilots who fell into the water raised their hands reluctantly, but many refused to do so.

"Asshole, did you hear that? Salute me!" The Japanese naval police escorting them were very angry.

"Forget it, forget it, no need to force it, everyone, please sit down." Tsukahara smiled, "Give each of them a cup of coffee."

"Let me introduce myself. I am Tsukahara Jishizo, Admiral of the Navy, Acting Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet in this operation; the person on my left is Kusaka Ryunosuke, Vice Admiral of the Navy, Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet; the person on the right is Genda Minoru, Colonel of the Navy, Chief of Aviation Staff of the Combined Fleet and Chief of Staff of the First Air War. The others are all staff officers of the headquarters, so I won't introduce them one by one... I guess many of you have heard of our names, but don't know us." Tsukahara said in fluent English, "How about it, can you introduce yourselves?"

"Robert, Lieutenant of the Navy, from Massachusetts."

"Joey, Sergeant of the Army, from Wisconsin."

...

More than a dozen American pilots who were brought up introduced themselves. They were very cautious and alert. They only reported their names and ranks, and even hesitated to say the unit numbers they belonged to.

However, Tsukahara and others were not concerned about these. They did want to extract intelligence from the American population, but they were not interested in "secrets" such as numbers and quantities. What they wanted to know was the semi-public strategic intelligence of the training system and process of the US Army and Navy, and at the same time, they wanted to compare it with the previous situation, find out the differences and provide guidance for the next step of operations.

"I admire you very much for daring to fly more than 2,000 kilometers without fighter escort to carry out offensive missions, but to be honest, this mission is no different from sending yourself to die. Your superiors are very cold-blooded and cruel... You are still lucky to be picked up by us and put into the prisoner-of-war camp."

A few people subconsciously refuted, and many people bowed their heads and said nothing. Whether it is cold-blooded or cruel, you don't know before takeoff. Being beaten down, soaked in sea water, struggling with all your strength, and then being rescued is a great shock to them-I will never forget it in my life!

"I know what your superiors are thinking. The United States has many planes and pilots. They think that as long as they attack our oil tankers, they can force us to withdraw. After all, oil tankers are not built as fast as planes. Japan is small and weak, and it can't compete with the United States in a war of attrition, right? But the only thing these politicians didn't think of is people. The Japanese, like Americans, have to be born and live to the age of 18 before they can join the army. Pilots have to undergo long-term training. They are not industrial products that can be produced continuously once they are on the assembly line..." Kusaka Ryunosuke smiled, "You also visited the Yamato just now. Were you impressed? You still don't have such a majestic super battleship. The US authorities, who claim to attach the most importance to human values ​​and protect the people the most, are now instigating young people to launch suicide attacks to fight the enemy's steel. It's really sad and lamentable..."

"Don't be nervous, everyone. The commander plans to talk to you about daily life. After asking questions, he will let you and a group of wounded prisoners return to Hawaii, so you are the luckiest ones." Genda explained, "There is no conspiracy to let you go back. The main reason is that we were sunk by several cargo ships. There is a shortage of medicines and other supplies, and we can't provide you with adequate medical and living conditions. For humanitarian reasons, a group of wounded prisoners are released. If you are afraid of retaliation, you can continue to stay as a prisoner and we will transfer you back to your country."

At this point, smart people have understood: as long as you provide something that the Japanese are interested in, you will have a chance to return to Hawaii... Although the Japanese Navy is still civilized, if there is a choice, the devil is willing to stay as a prisoner.

The interrogation lasted for more than 2 hours. Tsukahara and others were very satisfied and finally said: "Today, we will send a telegram to the Pearl Harbor garrison to ask them to send a medical ship to pick you up. I hope you will not come to perform such a mission of suicide next time. You may not be so lucky if you are shot down again."

"Yes! Thank you, officers."

The prisoners who were very resistant just now finally saluted and said goodbye. My goodness, generals, lieutenant generals... When have I ever talked to generals? On the contrary, I met a Japanese general as a prisoner. It seems that his posture is not as terrible as the officers described.

"Do you really want to release these dozen uninjured pilots?"

"Of course, I can't go back on my word after I promised them." Tsukahara asked Genda Minoru, "Do you think they still have the confidence and fighting spirit to perform this kind of mission again?"

"I understand your idea, but I'm worried that the Americans won't let this message spread. They will lock up these people who are released in the hospital."

Tsukahara shook his head: "The United States is not Japan. The same measures can be blocked and kept secret in Japan, but not necessarily in the United States; and don't you think that our soldiers did not have many complaints about the Navy after being isolated and released from Midway Island, and the Americans dared to do this... hehe..."

Genda Minoru thought so too. Fushimi Hiroyoshi, Shimada Shigetaro and Nagumo Chuichi were all blamed for Japan. Where can the United States find so many responsible people?

"Today's situation is very important. Please sort it out carefully and send it back to the country. Please let the superior decide."

Just as Hoffman and Keitel were discussing the direction of the South American war, Hori Teikichi also convened the next stage of the Japanese Navy's operations meeting at the Tokyo Military General Staff.

"The Combined Fleet and the Second Guards Division have successfully occupied Christmas Island and related affiliated islands such as Washington Island, Na Pali, etc. After a short rest, Admiral Tsukahara ordered the Combined Fleet to divide into two groups, with the Second Air Battle as the basis. The main force will go to the east of Hawaii to conduct breaking operations, including the main force of the fleet, and go to the southeast to sweep the former French Polynesian Islands."

Washington Island is Terraina Island. It is important to have a freshwater lake on the island. Na Pali is the atoll closest to Christmas Island. The US military did not deploy ground troops and occupied it easily. Tsukahara left dozens of people behind. and some water scouts performing surveillance duties.

The French Polynesian Islands are currently the territory of "Free France" and are very weak. Except for some old auxiliary warships and cargo ships, there are very few ground troops and aviation forces, so it is not too difficult to capture them. For the combined fleet, after deploying the main force of the Guards Division, the huge transport fleet can return, which relatively reduces the burden.

Matsuda Chiaki continued: "According to the fleet's request and commander's deployment, the Navy Ministry has mobilized the 40 oil tankers needed for the next stage through various efforts, and they are currently concentrating on the Japanese mainland. Among them, 4 of the Nanjing Regime are distributed in Qingdao, Qingdao, Shanghai and Guangzhou have taken the lead in setting off and arriving; the Chongqing regime's three tankers, which have been hiding in Macau and disguised as third-country oil tankers, have officially set off; the Stalin regime has promised to trade eight tankers, and the first batch of three has set off from Vladivostok ; The Army delivered 12 ships; the Navy deployed 18 ships (including 6 escort aircraft carriers)... a total of 40 ships, with a total load capacity of about 285,000 tons.

In view of the possible further increase in consumption caused by the prolongation and complexity of the war, sir, we have reached a package agreement with various European countries. Currently, we have Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Romania, Turkey, and Sweden. Seventeen countries, including China and Finland, have agreed to provide oil tankers, ranging from one to as many as 17 (the United Kingdom). The total number should be around 100, with an estimated transportation capacity of 700,000 tons. "

Many people are surprised. Horikichi originally only said the consumption number of 40 ships/300,000 tons, but now he suddenly added an additional 100 ships/700,000 tons. Is it very meaningful?

"At first, I was worried that 40 ships/300,000 tons would not be enough, and I wanted to prepare more, but Tsukahara's long telegram from the front line reminded me, and I added an additional 100 ships/700,000 tons." Horikichi stood up and slowly He said, "Please Matsuda-kun please provide the long telegram sent by the United Fleet for everyone to read..."

"...Public information shows that in 1935, the U.S. Navy introduced the Naval Aviation Cadet System, which selects and trains pilots among college students aged 18-28 for a period of one year. After graduation, pilots will retire with the rank of second lieutenant or lieutenant. Those trained by this program within 5 years The total number of naval reserve pilots reached 1,500; from the outbreak of the European War in 1939 to the Pearl Harbor incident, the U.S. military officially expanded its military force, with 11 air stations recruiting new students, and aviation establishments were widely established in colleges and universities (universities, junior colleges, and community colleges). There are more than 700 schools in total. All college students who are willing to learn to fly can sign up, and those who want to take part in some short-term courses can also sign up. The entire program is collectively called a CPT course, including 72 hours of ground learning and 35-40 hours of primary trainer aircraft learning. Afterwards, they will undergo 50-60 hours of advanced training aircraft training, and finally be awarded a pilot diploma. Nearly 5,000 pilots obtained the certificate before the Pearl Harbor incident..."

Everyone nodded. Japanese naval pilots had two completely different training paths: they were carefully selected from middle school students and began training at the age of 14. After strict selection, the selected ones first received 8 months of extensive training before flying. About 100 hours; officer candidate training is more rigorous, with a training period of 10 months and 150-175 flying hours during the training period. Then they are encouraged to apply for the Naval War School and strive to become officers. In this way, only about 100 pilots can be trained every year, and the most is only about 250 pilots a year.

From the beginning of training to serving on an aircraft carrier, each pilot trains for as long as five years. Senior naval aviation officers like Mizuo Fuchida are still performing flying tasks on the front line at the age of 42. Counting from the age of 15, they have already flown At least 25 years!

"After the Pearl Harbor incident, the U.S. military further simplified the aviation recruitment system, no longer emphasizing higher diplomas, and high school graduates can sign up, because they also faced a shortage of pilots... According to prisoner accounts and statistics, reserve officers who participated in CTP training before the Pearl Harbor incident If we are still fighting on the front line, the attrition rate has exceeded 85%. The loss rate of the US military's front-line aviation before the war exceeded 90%. However, the survival rate of our army's front-line pilots before the war was at least 60%. Even the carrier-based aircraft pilots had the highest loss rate. To measure, there is still more than 45%!”