How did the Pacific War of World War II begin? How fierce is the Pacific battlefield?

The Pacific War began with Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The whole war lasted three years and eight months, involving 37 countries with a population of over 654.38+0.5 billion. In the end, the allies defeated Japan and won. The Pacific battlefield is also quite tragic. If you have seen relevant movies, you should know that both the Axis countries and the Allies have paid a very painful price. Finally, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, forcing Japan to surrender directly. War has brought enough lessons to mankind, and no human being wants to live in war.

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

19411On the morning of February 7th, the US Secretary of the Navy published the annual report as planned. In this report, Secretary Knox announced, "I am proud to report that the American people can have full confidence in their navy." At the same time, the Japanese government is also issuing a secret order: "New _ Mountain." The real meaning behind this sentence is actually, attack now!

On February 7, 65438, from 6 am to 7 am Hawaii time, more than 300 Japanese planes took off from six aircraft carriers north of Oahu. They arrived at Pearl Harbor at 7: 55 and opened fire fiercely. In this way, the largest air raid in history began.

Since 7: 55, the American fleet, which had not received the alarm, could not organize an effective counterattack in the face of the artillery fire and plane bombing of the Japanese fleet. I saw Japanese dive bombers dive and bomb the American fleet again and again. Almost effortlessly, the Japanese army took control of the air superiority over Oahu. At that time, the American pilot who escaped the first attack rushed to the plane, hoping to resist the Japanese attack. However, Japanese torpedo bombers have roared to sea level. They accurately dropped bombs on cruisers, battleships and near-earth aircraft. American ships outside the port pier were seriously damaged.

At this time, Pearl Harbor has become a sea of fire, and the fire reflects the harbor. The crew who survived the accident tried their best to rescue the ships in the port and their comrades in the fire. At 8: 25, the Japanese army suspended its attack. The American army thought that the Japanese army had stopped the sneak attack, so it ran out of the hidden bunker and tried to rescue it. But only after 15 minutes, the second Japanese attack came again. Japanese horizontal bombers are making a comeback. At 9: 45, the battle ended, and the Japanese army blew up the whole Pearl Harbor at the cost of losing 29 planes. At this time, all Japanese planes have successfully returned to the aircraft carrier.

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

The two-hour sneak attack caused heavy losses to the US military. Three cruisers, three destroyers, eight battleships and four other warships were sunk, and another 188 aircraft was destroyed. The loss of life is even heavier. The Pearl Harbor incident killed more than 2,000 people and injured more than 700 people. However, one thing that makes Americans feel comforted is that the Japanese army did not blow up the naval repair shop and oil depot on Oahu; Moreover, the three aircraft carriers in the United States were not in Pearl Harbor because of their missions, thus avoiding greater losses. All this makes it possible for the United States to rebuild the Pacific fleet.

19411February 25th, this Christmas morning, a seaplane suddenly swooped down from the low clouds. It landed on the oily sea of Pearl Harbor, and then continued to glide for a certain distance before stopping. Just then, a whaling ship approached the plane and an authority figure came out of the plane. This is Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet. He was flushed, dressed simply and handsome. Just eight days ago, although he had read the report about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, what he saw in front of him still shocked him. Where the ship was moored, he saw that Arizona only showed its triangular mast, while Oklahoma was upside down. It can be said that swollen bodies of sailors and marines are floating everywhere. Mitzi said to himself, "Isn't this terrible? It's over. "

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

Let's go back a little. Not long ago, on February 7th, 65438, Mr. and Mrs. Nimitz were enjoying the performance of the new york Symphony Orchestra on semiconductors with a major general and the director of the Aviation Administration. Suddenly the program was interrupted, and the news of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor spread all over the world. Mitzi immediately got up and looked for the battle plan he wanted to discuss. The battle plan was locked in a safe with a time lock until Monday morning. But it doesn't matter whether you look at it or not, because most of the battleships of the US Navy sank in Pearl Harbor. There is nothing in the plan about the upcoming naval battle against Japan and dealing with any emergencies.

Japan has rapidly expanded its occupation in East Asia and the Pacific.

Like a tiger going down the mountain, Japan has expanded its occupied areas in East Asia and the Pacific so fast that even they themselves are surprised by its speed and scale. Within weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, they invaded the Philippines and then occupied Guam and wake island. Then it occupied Thailand and China, and then invaded Singapore and east indies.

In order to restore the vitality and confidence of the navy, President Roosevelt reorganized the high-level command organization: Admiral Ernest J. King, commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the newly formed American fleet, and he was appointed as the head of the naval warfare department, making him a senior leader of the navy. In fact, there are very few experienced people like General Jin. General Jin has served in leading organs, airplanes and submarines.

Mickey surpassed 28 more senior officers and was directly promoted to commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet, replacing Cmel, the husband of the commander-in-chief at that time. At this time, Mel was condemned by many parties for the Pearl Harbor incident. On the day when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, he was actually hit by a Grenade. He often says regretfully, "If only I had been killed that day."

In fact, Kim and Nimitz, two people with different personalities, have never been selected in the US Navy. Mohsen once commented, "Kim, that 63-year-old man is a guy with no sense of humor." In the navy, he was respected far more than loved. Nimitz is approachable and amiable. "It is said that there was a joke in the navy at that time: General Kim went to heaven, and soon another naval officer went. In the kingdom of heaven, St. Peter said to the naval officer, "Since the arrival of General King, the kingdom of heaven has been reorganized and has been in a state of readiness." The naval officer said, "This is not surprising, because General Kim often thinks he is an almighty God. St. Peter shook his head: "This is not the most terrible." The trouble is that Almighty God thinks he is an ordinary king. "

No matter how different the personalities of General Kim and General Nimitz are, and whether they are in Washington or Pearl Harbor, at this time, they are working together in Qi Xin to make a new battle plan in Qixin and beat the Japanese out of the water. As General Kim said in his first speech after taking office, "The road to victory is long, and Japan is also very hard. We must do our best and do our best. We must have a large number of warships and planes as soon as possible, and then we will fight back and finally win the war. "

The United States "gives priority to defense, supplemented by attack."

In this passage, "victory" is undoubtedly the most important word. The new year has begun, and it seems that it is still far away for the United States and the Pacific region to turn to counterattack. Because it takes time to repair the destroyed warships in Pearl Harbor, it takes time to build a sufficient number of warships and planes, and it takes time to recruit more officers, sailors and pilots. In other words, the United States now needs a lot of time to prepare.

What's more, after Pearl Harbor, Germany also declared war on the United States. The anti-submarine warfare in the Atlantic began. In this way, the US Navy undertook the task of fighting between the two oceans. Japan has obviously won enough time to strengthen the "* * * honor circle". It already has a supply line for material transportation, and it is fearless even if it is attacked by the United States. The allies, the United States, Britain and Canada, drew up an "ABC Plan", requiring the United States to attack Germany with all its strength before attacking Japan. From the beginning of this plan, the task of the United States has become to first ensure the smooth passage of the midway-Samoa-Fiji-Australia. In the words of General Kim, it is "defense first, attack second".

The Allies issued the Washington Declaration.

1 942 65438+1October1day, the representatives of the allied countries gathered in Washington and issued the famous Washington Declaration. Among them, the strategic objectives of the Allies were defined: First, concentrate the war forces on the Atlantic battlefield and deal with Hitler with all their strength. Then after the dust settles in Europe, we will enter the Pacific battlefield. Obviously, Germany was too powerful at that time, and it won on almost four battlefields, so breaking the threat of Germany became an urgent task for the allies? Urgent.

American troops began to fight back.

At the beginning of 1942, Nimitz ordered the aircraft carrier to attack the Japanese forward bases in Marshall Islands and gilbert islands. The aircraft carrier unit headed by William F. halsey Jr. of vice admiral, with Enterprise as the flagship, attacked the Japanese fleet in Marshall Islands and Kwajalein Island. The attack sank a Japanese transport ship, eight small boats and two other ships. Another team with Lexington as its flagship attacked the Japanese military base in rabaul, New Britain Island in the northeast of Australia. On February 1 1, Japanese planes began to fight back, but American pilot Edward shot shot down five Japanese fighter planes. This is the first counterattack by the US Navy against Japan.

On April 18, a more spectacular battle began, that is, the famous Doolittle bombed Tokyo. On that day, the 16 twin-engine B-25 bomber took off from the Hornet and flew directly to Tokyo 668 nautical miles away. The bomber used this time is an army bomber, not a naval bomber. Under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel James H. doolittle, these bombers had a short take-off training, but never landed on the aircraft carrier. Therefore, they can only fly to the China airport about 1 100 nautical mile, and land after completing the bombing mission.

Doolittle bombed Tokyo.

Although doolittle's long-range surprise attack was successful, the damage caused by this action was far less than that caused by Pearl Harbor. But in any case, the success of this attack has boosted the morale of Americans. You should know that any form of panic about the enemy can effectively improve the fighting morale of your own army. Moreover, this operation also provides a valuable experiment for the tactics of fast aircraft carriers.

194 1 year 65438+February, Japan invaded the Philippines. The United States lost its base in Southeast Asia and had to retreat south as planned to support the defense line around dutch east indies. Thus, the war in the Philippines began. The commander of the fleet is Admiral Thomas C. Hart. This man is long past retirement age, but considering his experience and ability, the navy let him stay. This fleet mainly includes American, British, Dutch and Australian warships, so it is also called "ABDA" fleet, and its bases are located in Tawiah and Solabaga. This fleet consists of nine cruisers, namely Houston, Lewis and Maberhead, as well as 26 destroyers and 39 submarines. In fact, the British battleship Prince of Wales and Counter-Terrorism Elite were supposed to be the backbone of the fleet, but they were sunk by Japanese torpedoes off the coast of Malaya at1941kloc-0/2. Another British aircraft carrier, the Unyielding, was originally a member of this fleet, but it ran aground in West India and didn't come. Moreover, this improvised fleet is not only different in language and communication, but also uneven in combat effectiveness and tactics. But time is pressing. Now we must insert east indies from the east and west. This fleet is destined to fight alone. The only problem is not sure how many enemy ships will be encountered.

Yi Song, editor-in-chief, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Press.

The first battle took place on the night of1942 65438+1October 24th. The fleet's four destroyers, Ford, Pope, Palot and paul jones, attacked a huge Japanese convoy in makassar strait. The Japanese fleet was berthing at that time. The US destroyer group immediately rushed up and rampaged at the fastest speed, firing not only guns but also torpedoes. By the time the Japanese knew it, four destroyers had escaped. It can be said that this is the first battle of an American destroyer since 1898. Although it stimulated the allied morale, it did not weaken the Japanese invasion of dutch east indies. Only a few days later, the Japanese bombers arrived at the airport in Java and blew up all the allied planes parked here. As a counterattack, the cruisers Houston, Maberhead, two Dutch cruisers and seven destroyers attacked another Japanese fleet opposite makassar strait on February 4th. At that time, the Japanese bombers bombed it indiscriminately, and the ships took a roundabout way to avoid navigation, which reduced the possibility of being bombed by Japanese bombers. At the same time, the ships also used air-to-air firepower, and the artillery fire was closely intertwined in the air. Nevertheless, "Maberhead" was blown to pieces, and it reluctantly returned to the United States for repair. Houston's 8-inch turret was overturned, causing heavy casualties.

At this time, the rest of the ABDA fleet was led by Major General Durman of the Royal Dutch Navy. After leaving the Solabaga base on February 27th, Abodah's fleet went to Java to attack another larger Japanese fleet. At that time, in addition to the flagship Duluth, Major General Dulman had four cruisers, namely Houston of the United States, Essex of Britain, Pace of Australia and Java of the Netherlands. Among them, the American "Houston" was once declared sunk, but later it survived tenaciously like a ghost. The four cruisers mentioned above and nine other destroyers sailed under the cover of night. In terms of speed, four old destroyers travel very slowly and can only try their best to keep up with nine cruisers.

Major General Durman was bent on destroying the Japanese fleet, but he could not break through the barrier of the Japanese escort fleet: two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and four destroyers. You know, the air superiority in this area is also in the hands of the Japanese. Moreover, the Japanese fleet is in good repair condition and the crew is full of energy. However, Durman's fleet needs thorough maintenance, and every crew member is exhausted and depressed. So judging from the number of warships, the strength of both sides is roughly equal. But as far as morale is concerned, this is a competitive decision.