Chapter 29 Chapter 25 The Japanese Are Still Unstopped

Nagumo waited anxiously for the report of the American ships that had been spotted about an hour earlier.At this time, the downright annoying U.S. dive bombers just clung to Hiryu and Kaga again.Nagumo was in a bad mood.At 7:58 he received a radio report from reconnaissance plane No. 4 on the Tone: 4:55, [Note: The time the pilot reported was Tokyo time, with a twenty-one-hour time difference. 】The enemy's heading is 80 degrees, and the speed is 20 knots (4:58). [Note: Japanese narrative, page 15; "Battle of Midway", page 186. 】 From this report it can be seen that the course of the enemy fleet has undergone a significant change.This should have sounded a wake-up call to those on the bridge of the Akagi, because the US aircraft carrier was sailing against the wind, and it was almost certain that the US aircraft would take off from the ship. [Note: "Turning Point", page 86. 】Whenever the Akagi turned to take off against the wind, didn't Nagumo always take this position?

However, neither Nagumo, Kusaoka, nor Genda considered reaching the point at that time, neither from historical records nor from the recollections of survivors.At this moment, Nagumo was eager to find out the type of enemy ship cruising to the northeast of him, apparently ignoring the position and course of the enemy ship.He angrily ordered the pilot of the No. 4 reconnaissance plane: find out the type of ship (at five o'clock). [Note: Narration of Japan, page 15. 】 At this moment, Nan Yun was not only restless, but also confused.Enemy dive bombers kept whirring and circling in the sky, and more and more land-based aircraft buzzed in.The rumble of enemy plane engines, the roar of fighter jets, the explosion of bombs and the roar of anti-aircraft artillery rang together.The officers on the bridge couldn't hear what the other was saying, or even what orders were being given over the radio. [Note: "United Fleet", page 83 | 84; Caolu's statement. 】

As soon as Henderson's SBD entered the battle, Soryu reported even worse news to Nagumo: 14 enemy twin-engine aircraft were spotted at 270 degrees above me, at an altitude of 3,000 meters. [Note: Narration of Japan, page 15. 】The observation post of the Soryu obviously can't even count, because these planes are four-engine B|17s led by Sweeney. That morning, Sweeney set off with the Flying Fortress, wanting to hunt for Tanaka's troops again.Ramsey had reminded him to be ready to be ordered to change the attack target at any time to deal with the enemy aircraft carrier force that the Navy might find in the northwest direction.If these aircraft carriers have not appeared by then, he will lead the B|17 to return to Midway Island, replenish ammunition and fuel, and then take off to find the enemy. [Note: Ramsey's report. 】

As soon as Midway received the report of the sighting of an enemy aircraft carrier, it immediately notified Sweeney in plain language.At this time, Sweeney was about 200 nautical miles away from the original target.He changed course quickly and accurately, and at 07:32 he spotted the maneuver force, but the aircraft carrier had not yet been located.He dismissed the small ships and continued to search for the backbone of the fleet. [Note: Sweeney's report. ] He spent an insanely long time searching for the aircraft carrier.Before he found out about the situation, God added the eyes of the salamander and the toe of the frog to the mess that Nagumo was facing. [Translator's Note: The language comes from Shakespeare's "Macbeth".The witch said: The eyes of salamanders, the toes of frogs, the fur of bats, and the teeth of dogs, are refined into poisonous poisons to scare ghosts and gods, disturbing the peace of the world.It is used here as a metaphor for more trouble. ] At 8:06, the Chikuma reported that the enemy plane was flying towards the fleet at twenty-five degrees to port.In Nagumo's combat records, there is such a sentence (in brackets): (The carrier-based aircraft were the first batch discovered by our ship.) If Nanyun didn't feel like a blow to the head after getting this report, then he must be an imbecile or a superman.What the Chikuma discovered might be Tomonaga's first batch of return planes, or it might be the SB2U|3, which was 20 minutes away from the fleet and looked like a Japanese bomber.Now Nan Yun is most concerned about the situation of the carrier-based enemy aircraft.For a full three minutes, he fidgeted.Finally, aircraft No. 4 on the Tone reported the situation. There were five cruisers and five destroyers in the enemy fleet. [Note: Narration of Japan, page 15. 】

Finally figured it out!As I expected, there is no aircraft carrier, Ono said proudly when handing the translated message to Caolu. [Note: "The Battle of Midway Island", page 168. 】 Caolu felt a shock at the time, but his mind was still clear.He later explained: This report alone does not mean that there are no aircraft carriers in this area.Under the circumstances at that time, it is impossible for the enemy fleet operating in this sea area to have no aircraft carrier. [Note: Caolu's statement. 】 The nature and extent of the relief Nagumo and his staff felt when they received this report should not be overstated.As Genda had heard, they were only momentarily relieved.Genda himself felt neither relief nor surprise.However, he said in retrospect that everyone should have realized that this was a mistake.No one would dare to send a light fleet to this water area alone, it must be an escort fleet.Therefore, Nanyun did not let down his vigilance hastily, he did not think that the development of the matter was as he expected.He and his staff members only felt that their nervousness had eased a little, and they felt that they had a little breathing time to concentrate on how to drive back the enemy's land-based aircraft and how to bomb Midway again. [Note: Genda's statement. 】Cao Lu said: At that time, I thought that the order to attack the plane and replace it with bombs had just been issued. If it was changed immediately, it would only cause greater chaos. [Note: Caolu's statement. 】

There was another reason why Nagumo's staff did not change their tactics at the time: the war of the past six months made them ignore the U.S. naval aviation at all, and even the attack of the U.S. land-based aircraft did not change their attitude. . [Note: "The Battle of Midway Island", page 163. 】The American pilots were all brave in combat, but the hatch of the Japanese aircraft carrier was closed, and they seemed unable to strike the interior of the enemy ship.It would be foolish to send these bombers without fighter cover, and their uncoordinated attack speaks volumes for how poorly organized and accurate they were.If the Americans have aircraft carriers in this sea area, why don't they send aircraft to support these land-based aircraft in combat?

When the second batch of American bombers flew over the Japanese fleet, the Japanese generals who thought they were the masters of the sea and the sky burst into laughter.Genda checked the model identification table, and immediately found out that the person who came was B|17. [Note: Same as above, page 162. 】Sweeney's flying fortress can only increase the Japanese sense of security, because any sane pilot would not think that this four-engine bomber is a carrier-based aircraft. Sweeney's detachment had actually flown the route of the Nanyun Force, and flew a long way to the northeast. Captain Carl E. Urtel, who led the last two flying fortresses, believed that none of the first four groups had found an aircraft carrier.He tried unsuccessfully to get the attention of Sweeney or his own team commander, Lieutenant Colonel Brooke E. Allen.Later, he simply flew out of the formation and signaled to his wingmen to attack alone.The cloud conditions were ideal, and no Japanese fighters were spotted.Urtel dropped three bombs from twenty thousand feet, found no hits, turned to the rear of a nearby aircraft carrier, and dropped the remaining five bombs, flying in a straight line to the stern of the third aircraft carrier.He thought at least one hit and turned back. [Note: Captain C. E. Urtell's combat registration form against the enemy. 】

Urtell's wingman, Lieutenant H. S. Grundman, dropped bombs on the target twice and missed.Later, he shot down a Zero machine, and he got a little self-consolation. [Note: Lieutenant H.S. Grundman's Enemy Combat Registration Form. 】 Allen led his three planes to attack the aircraft carrier that looked like the Soryu. [Note: Lieutenant Colonel B.E. Allen's combat registration form against the enemy. ] However, the Canglong should not die.Not a single bomb touched it. [Note: Narration in Japan, page 53. 】 Of Sweeney's nine-bomber detachment, Faulkner led the third detachment.Like Urtel, he thought that Sweeney and the others hadn't seen the aircraft carrier, so he flew out of formation and attacked the largest of the four aircraft carriers he saw.Beneath thin cloud cover, the aircraft carrier (undoubtedly the Akagi) was plowing through the waves.Faulkner didn't have much trouble keeping track of it.He was sure that the enemy aircraft carrier hadn't spotted him because it had no attempt to evade, and he had flown over the enemy fleet for twenty minutes without being hit by flak.But then, the anti-aircraft guns opened fire, and their firepower was very accurate and denser than what he had encountered over the Tanaka fleet the day before. [Note: Faulkner's report. ] His left wingman, Steadman, took several bullets in the wing, but the damage was not serious. [Note: Steadman's report. 】

His right wingman, Robert B. Andrews, dropped four bombs and missed, so he broke away from the formation and rushed to a large aircraft carrier alone.One of the bombs landed prematurely, deflecting toward a small boat next to the aircraft carrier.In the third attack, he dropped the remaining three bombs near the aircraft carrier.He found no anti-air fire or fighter jets coming to intercept it, and it seemed that he was continually attacking perhaps another aircraft carrier entirely alone.It wasn't until he pulled up the plane and was about to return to Midway Island that two Zeros came after him.But he swooped down and slammed on the gas pedal to shake them off. [Note: Report by Andrews. 】

At the same time, Faulkner and Steadman dropped a total of eight bombs near the original target and turned to Cure Island.They believed that one bomb definitely hit the port bow, another probably hit the starboard side, and five missed.On the way back, they were pursued by three Zeros.One Zero knocked out Faulkner's No. 4 engine, and another wounded the left index finger of his tail gunner.However, these enemy planes were easily driven off by the turret guns and tail machine guns without causing serious losses, and one of them may be shot down. [Note: Faulkner's report; Andrews' report. 】

Sweeney's chosen target appears to have been the Kaga.He thought he was cross-bombing when a bomb hit the stern of the ship and smoke billowed up.According to his observation, none of the other planes in his squad got hit.None of their planes were hit during the attack. [Note: Sweeney's report; Sweeney's register of operations against the enemy; Japanese narrative, p. 16. 】 When the B|17s attacked this time, the Zeros hardly touched a hair of them. This situation is completely different from the previous attacks by land-based aircrafts.As Capt. Charles E. Gregory said, the interceptors did not seem to want to approach these B|17E variants. [Note: Capt. Charles E. Gregory's Enemy Combat Registration Form. 】Fuchita found that the fighter jets did not take off to chase the American bombers, and was quite displeased, but then he thought about it, if the Flying Fortress is really as powerful as the report said, even if the Zeros take off, it is unlikely to shoot them down. [Note: "The Battle of Midway Island", page 162. 】 Of course, Major Werner was not so merciful, but he used the example of Japanese planes not pursuing them to prove that the Japanese wanted to save their lives just like everyone else. [Note: Werner's report. 】 Nimitz attaches great importance to this experience.When he told Admiral King about fighting the Zero, he praised the outstanding role of a high-speed aircraft with strong protection like the B|17.He urged that the Navy be immediately equipped with such aircraft for reconnaissance, tracking, and bombing. [Note: Letter from the Commander-in-Chief of the US Pacific Fleet to the Commander-in-Chief dated July 25, 1942.Contents: Supplemental report on the Battle of Midway.Hereinafter referred to as the Nimitz Supplementary Report. 】 In addition to being bombed by B|17 aircraft, the mobile force faced another threat.At 07:10, the submarine HMS Nautilus spotted smoke from bombardment and anti-aircraft fire on the horizon at a bearing of 337 degrees.The captain, Lieutenant Commander William H. Brockman Jr., felt that it was necessary to find out the situation, so he sailed to the combat area.At 7:55, an enemy plane spotted it and strafed it.Five minutes later, Brockman spotted four ships sailing in formation, one of which was a battleship or a heavy cruiser.He continued to drive closer.At 08:10, eleven depth charges exploded within one thousand | three thousand yards from the Nautilus, and the submarine shook violently.Brockman changed course and carefully raised the periscope to observe.The ships of this part of the mobile force were obviously very frightened by him, because they dodged around quickly like water (worm + spring), trying to stay away from the submarine's position in circles.A volley of starboard gunfire from the battleships to port of his bow came upon him.He immediately responded with a torpedo, but was evaded by the battleship. [Note: Nautilus logbook, June 4, 1942; Patrol report from the captain of the Nautilus to the commander of the 41st Submarine Squadron, June 7, 1942 Journal of the Fourth of June.Hereinafter referred to as Nautilus Notes. 】 Generally speaking, an attack by an enemy submarine during a battle will more or less attract the attention of the fleet commander.But this time no ship reported the incident to the Akagi, which is incredible.Nagumo's detailed combat records don't even mention this.Nan Yun was so preoccupied that he didn't pay attention to the Nautilus, which is understandable. The land-based aircraft on Midway chose to attack again at this time.Benjamin W. Norris's twelve SB2U|3 Retaliators also rendezvoused at Point A shortly after Henderson's SBDs took off (which was on a ninety-degree bearing about twenty nautical miles from Midway). [Note: VMSB|241 report. ] While the planes were circling over the assembly point, Lieutenant George E. Kotlas spotted a bomber group on the left.He thought it was an SBD plane, but only after returning home did he realize that it was a Japanese bomber fleet. [Note: Conversation by Second Lieutenant George E. Kotlas of the U.S. Marine Corps Volunteer Reserve (Type III) on June 7, 1942.Hereinafter referred to as Kotlas' talk. 】 At 7:10, Kemes ordered Norris to attack the enemy aircraft carrier with a bearing of 325 degrees, a distance of 180 nautical miles, a heading of 135 degrees, and a speed of 25 knots. After the Retaliator climbed to 1,300 feet , and fly to the target.The Retaliator crew nicknamed it Vibrator, Wind Vane. [Note: "Marines in the Battle of Midway", p. 22. 】As long as you listen to these nicknames, you can imagine its performance.These stupid and slow guys only flew to the periphery of the mobile unit at 8:20. [Note: Narrative of Japan, p. 16; VMSB | 241 report. 】 At this time, Nagumo sent all the fighters into the sky, including the aircraft designated to participate in the second wave of attack. [Note: Caolu's statement. ] So, contrary to what happened to Sweeney, Norris encountered a large number of Zeros.But the Zeros' attack this time was far less impressive than their mighty skies over Midway, or the fighters Collins and Faberling had encountered over Mobile Force.The pilots of the Japanese aircraft may have been exhausted and a little nervous, so their reactions were not very accurate and quick.No wonder, since they had been struggling for four hours: circling to provide air protection, chasing down enemy planes, and taking off again and again due to false alarms. [Note: "The Battle of Midway Island", page 176. 】Sumner Wheaton, the pilot of the No. 11 plane of the second unit led by Captain Leon M. Williamson, observed that although the Zero planes were active in two planes, their coordination was poor.The machine gunners on the American planes drove them off with little effort.Two fighter jets attacked Wheaton, and one fell belly up, so Wheaton believed that the enemy plane was shot down by them. [Note: Conversation by Second Lieutenant Sumner Wheaton, U.S. Marine Corps Volunteer Reserve (Type III), June 7, 1942. 】 The two Zeros attacked Wheaton and also Ensign Daniel L. Cummings.The plane that Cummings was flying was the last in the US fleet.His machine gunner, a private, was killed by the Zero.The machine gunner had never used an aircraft machine gun, and he could not be expected to shoot effectively and accurately, let alone defend himself. [Note: Conversation by Second Lieutenant Daniel L. Cummings, U.S. Marine Corps Volunteer Reserve (Category III), June 7, 1942. 】 However, the Zero was determined to attack, and Norris had no hope for his vibrator, so he decided not to attack the aircraft carrier, but to find a nearby target.Just below him there was a beautiful battleship, which seemed like the second most desirable target. [Note: VMSB|241 report. ] Norris didn't know it was Haruna.According to earlier US battle reports, it had been sunk by Colin Kelly. [Note: Narration by Japan, page 16; "Battle of the Coral Sea, Battle of Midway, and Submarine Operations", page 111. ] But now this ship is not a ghost, but the real Haruna. Norris ordered the planes in the group to attack the target below, and then led the planes down a long distance at high speed.The retaliator planes rushed down one after another, and the anti-aircraft guns on the ship fired in unison. The firepower was extremely fierce, which was annoying, but the hit rate was extremely poor.Williamson dropped the first 500-pound bomb, and he couldn't see whether it was a hit or not. [Note: Conversation by Lieutenant Leon M.Hereinafter referred to as Williamson's talk. 】 Kotlas took the bow of the battleship as the aiming point. After dropping the bomb, he circled and saw many bombs dropped around the enemy ship. He almost hit the bow of the ship.The first half of this statement is true, but the second half is not.As he flew away, the enemy ship was turning to starboard, and smoke billowed amidships. [Note: Kotlas talks. 】 Cummings stopped taxiing and pulled the plane up without dropping the bomb, knowing that he would waste a bomb if he did not dive in place.He looked around for secondary targets.He found ten warships of various types on the horizon, and a squadron of fighter jets flew from an aircraft carrier about ten nautical miles away.He selected a destroyer and dropped his bombs on it, but did not have time to observe the impact.For the next fifteen minutes, he tried desperately to get rid of the five Zeros.He said: The first time I participated in air combat, I encountered hit-and-run and aerial dogfights.My SB2U|3 machine, which should have been eliminated long ago, was almost smashed.He finally broke free and entered the clouds.Five nautical miles from Midway, he ran out of fuel and had to ditch.In the fraction of a second he knew the gunner was dead, his badly damaged plane sank.Torpedo boat No. 20, after rescuing Murray and Schlenderling, picked him up again. [Note: Conversation by Cummings; report from the deputy squadron leader of the torpedo boat. ] Torpedo boat No. 26 rescued Lieutenant Allen H. Linbraum.He was about 1.5 nautical miles from Sand Island and ran out of fuel. [Note: Conversation by Second Lieutenant Alan H. Linblom of the U.S. Marine Corps Volunteer Reserve (Type III) on June 7, 1942.Hereinafter referred to as Linbraum's conversation; the report of the deputy squadron leader of the torpedo boat. 】 SB2U|3 machines are outdated and dilapidated.It's really good that they can perform like this in combat.Only two were shot down by the enemy, and the other two were reimbursed due to exhaustion of fuel.The surviving U.S. aircraft personnel are convinced that they saw two hits, three near misses, thick smoke billowing from the battleship, and a severe tilt of the hull. [Note: Report of VMSB|241. 】Although they said that the enemy ship must have been damaged, the Haruna was safe and sound. [Note: Narration in Japan, page 16] If the battle of Midway had ended after the dapper torpedo boats had rescued Cummings and Linbraum, the Japanese would have won a complete victory.Kemus and his staff expected the Japanese to strike again."Based on the timing of the enemy attack and the known position of the enemy aircraft carrier, we estimated that they would come again in three or four hours," Kems said.If the enemy planes came again, we had almost no fighters to deal with them, so we were worried that the Japanese would attack again. The bomber returned to the ground with difficulty, looking very embarrassed, and it seemed that they had been beaten badly.The tension on the island rose rapidly, almost to the extreme.Kemes said: Of course, we also have the anti-aircraft guns of the garrison battalion, and our own small anti-aircraft weapons.If the enemy plane does come again, we will give it the greatest possible blow.At this time, there was no contact between the island and Task Forces 16 and 17. [Note: Interview with Kems. 】No matter how heroic Kems behaved under the circumstances at that time, the island had no power to deal with the second air attack, or to deal with the bombardment of the Japanese ships, or to prevent the landing of the scale of Tanaka's troops, at most it could only interfere with it. Nimitz knows this better than anyone else.Although he believed all kinds of enemy creation reports at the time, these reports were still so optimistic that they were almost absurd after being screened by intelligence.The performance report in front of him was believed by the pilots, and he had no reason not to believe it.However, in his combat report to Admiral King, Nimitz used his own uniquely lucid language: The attack of Midway's forces was exhausted, but the Japanese remained undeterred.About ten enemy ships were damaged, and one or two transport ships or cargo ships were sunk.For a fleet of about 80 ships that is concentrated and approaching Midway Island, this little loss is really nothing to worry about.The fighters, torpedo planes, and dive bombers on Midway (the only types of aircraft that had a greater chance of hitting enemy ships) were all gone [Note: Nimitz's report. ]