Iron Cross
Chapter 1074 1944: Speed and Lightning (24)
After Germany discovered the phenomenon of nuclear fission in 1938, Japanese academic circles also noticed this epoch-making information. In 1939, the famous physicist Yoshio Nishina proposed the possibility of military applications of the new discovery. The following year, the Japanese Army concluded that it was feasible to manufacture an atomic bomb. In May 1941, Hideki Tojo approved the "Report on Making Uranium Bombs" submitted by Army Aviation and assigned Yoshio Nishina to lead more than 100 scholars to conduct research. The plan was named Yoshio Nishina. The first character of the name is named "Ren Plan".
Not to be outdone, the Japanese Navy also implemented a nuclear development project in 1942. It was named after the first letter of the English word "fission" for "atomic fission" and was called "Plan F". It was supported by Kyoto Imperial University and the person in charge was physicist Bunsaku Arakatsu. .
In 1943, Yoshio Nishina completed theoretical research on the atomic bomb. However, Japan lacked the uranium raw materials needed for the experiment, so it searched for uranium deposits in the mainland, North Korea, and Manchuria, and sought help from Germany. Germany could not clearly refuse this, otherwise it would tell Japan that it was developing an atomic bomb and oppose Japan's development - this would affect Japan-Germany cooperation. However, Hoffman did not want to speed up Japan's research and development progress, so he adopted a compromise approach and told Japan There are not many uranium ores in Europe, and Germany has used them for its own research. Currently, there is uranium ore in the Belgian Congo, and Germany strictly limits its export to other countries. Japan, as an ally, is not included in this list, but there is no spot stock. It will take several months to provide it to Japan. But the price is not expensive.
Japan chose to wait, and finally successfully obtained several hundred tons of uranium ore in October. This made the Japanese very satisfied, and they quickly shipped it back to China for research. After conquering India this year, uranium ore was discovered there, and they were overjoyed to mine it. Uranium ore can be purchased on the black market in Shanghai.
The Shanghai black market was well-known at this time. As long as you could get hard currency, you could get all kinds of things as long as they were not too outrageous. The authorities in Chongqing, Yan'an, and Nanjing often purchased urgently needed medicines and small batches of arms supplies in Shanghai, and even You can buy aircraft engines, anti-tank guns and other things that China cannot produce at all. As for seamless steel pipes and the like, they are just trivial. Japan turns a blind eye to this - many of them are actually released by Japan itself to withdraw funds.
In addition to physical goods, the most famous black market in Shanghai is intelligence trading. All kinds of people participate in the intelligence trading in Shanghai. The three factions of China, the United States, the Soviet Union, and Japan are all involved in it, which has turned the world upside down. Germany and Italy have also stationed considerable forces in Shanghai. People often die inexplicably on the streets of Shanghai. Most of these are intelligence agents and informants. The thrilling espionage war is unparalleled in the world.
The current problem that restricts Japan is not ore but technology, equipment and resources. By December 1943, Japan also purchased heavy water and two sets of uranium enrichment separation devices from Germany. Nishina Yoshio calculated that manufacturing an atomic bomb would cost Japan ten One-half of electricity and one-half of copper (he underestimated the demand for electricity but overestimated the demand for copper), and speculated that Germany, the United States and even the Soviet Union must have started the development of atomic bombs and the progress was faster than Japan, and they were interested in starting to enrich uranium And the trial production of atomic bomb project is eager to try.
Of course, there is an inherent institutional problem that cannot be circumvented: the army and navy nuclear programs are still operating separately at this time, with no coordination, let alone merger. This matter cannot be settled without the leaders of the base camp such as Ishihara Kanji and Horikichi sitting down to discuss it. .
Ishihara Kanji was extremely enthusiastic about the development of nuclear weapons. He had long imagined that a "weird light" weapon would suddenly appear to change or even end the war. In addition, the "Jin Plan" was ahead of the "F Plan", so he proposed that the Army lead, The base camp was the co-ordinator, and Horikichi agreed to this. However, the Army later pointed out that there was insufficient funds and hoped that the Navy would bear more than 80% of the costs and ensure the introduction of other technologies and equipment from Germany. This request was unacceptable to the Navy, even if Horikichi agreed. Others in the navy, including Yamamoto, also have ideas, and the matter has been stuck here. Chiaki Matsuda, as a confidant of Horitoshi, is very clear about the whole matter - no more than 10 people in the navy know about it.
However, in his opinion, this matter may not be without a turn. The next Hawaii strategy will involve a lot of army forces. It might as well be used as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the army, so he proposed two plans.
Hearing this, Horikichi, who had always been confident, fell into rare silence. After a long time, he smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Fission weapons are beyond my understanding. It is still hard for me to believe that there is such a powerful weapon. To say the least, even if This kind of weapon is really effective, but it is not something Japan can afford at the moment.”
"I'm not so pessimistic. If the two plans are merged as soon as possible, centralized research and development, ensuring the supply of materials and energy, and obtaining some equipment and technology from Germany, I think the speed will be greatly accelerated, maybe..."
"But after all, this is a weapon that is highly rich in technology, capital and resources. Only a strong country can succeed. Japan has no advantage in any aspect and is far behind the United States. If Japan can develop it, there is no reason why the United States cannot develop it. Come out. Maybe we can produce one, and the Americans can produce 5 or 6. How can we fight this?" Horikichi sighed deeply, "If we can really win Hawaii, the national defense situation will be greatly improved. Maybe there will be more. We must devote our energy and financial resources to the development of fission bombs. After all, this is a resource- and money-consuming weapon.”
"How much does it cost?"
"I don't know the specific price. I heard it won't be less than the price of 10 Yamatos. The key is not to know whether this bomb has a final effect. If the effect is not good after spending money, this matter will be embarrassing. In peacetime It doesn’t matter, taking a detour will only make the whole country suffer a little longer. If we take a detour during the war, the consequences will be disastrous." Horikichi sighed, "If we had not built Yamato and Musashi, we could have at least 6 more Shokakus, so that we can continue. We won’t lose even at Midway Island! Besides, it’s useless to fight Yamato and Musashi at Midway Island…”
Matsuda Chiaki and the staff all nodded subconsciously. Yamato should start using it as a commander, so it would be better to just use it as a hotel at the dock.
"I don't know what the progress of Germany's development of this fission weapon is. Will it be used in this Madagascar military exercise?"
Matsuda Chiaki shook his head: "Ito-kun sent a telegram today, saying that the German army showed many new weapons during the exercise, but it did not mention fission weapons. Instead, it said that the Germans carried out vehicle-mounted rocket launches and also showed new jets. and vertical take-off and landing aircraft…”
"Vertical take-off and landing?" Horikichi was stunned. "It's interesting. Doesn't this mean that any ship can be used as an aircraft carrier in the future?"
"However, he commented that this kind of vertical take-off and landing aircraft is currently slow and has poor anti-strike capabilities. It is like an extra-large bamboo dragonfly. Maritime operations are at most anti-submarine. There is a lot to hope for in combat, but it may be of great help to the army. . In addition, he highlighted the role of the V4 rocket, believing that it is a faster and unmanned Sakura bomb. Under the saturation attack of multiple rockets, ordinary warships cannot withstand it, and since Germany can develop a vehicle-mounted version, it must also Can be ship-borne, we must pay special attention to the US military developing such weapons to deal with our battleships. In the future, such weapons will be more terrifying than shore-based Sakura bombs..."
Speaking of this, Matsuda Chiaki showed an expression of admiration: "His conclusion is the same as yours. In a few years, giant ship cannons will completely withdraw from the stage of history, and there will be a new naval battle model."
"That's why I couldn't wait for an armistice. I didn't even hesitate to give the Americans a decent step, just to kneel down. I just hoped to win a chance for the empire to recuperate... It's a pity that the Americans ignored us and forced us to I'm here to fight the battle in Hawaii - you know, in my heart, I don't want to fight in Hawaii at all!"
Chiaki Matsuda waved his fist: "They will regret it!"
The two of them didn't know that the American actually regretted it now, but he still kept it in his heart and didn't want to let it go.
"Sir, changed the meeting place?" In the bridge of the Unryu, Kakuharu Tsunoda, Masafumi Arima and others were discussing the next move.
"Yes, the new rendezvous point is tentatively determined to be 2,500 kilometers north and east of Hawaii, approximately 43 degrees north latitude, 2,300 kilometers from the west coast."
Tsunoda was stunned and immediately looked at the chart: "Does that mean we have to go north?"
Horikichi's original strategy was very clear: the Tsukahara fleet would go north to cut off the connection between the east coast and Pearl Harbor, and contain Halsey's fleet, and then Horikichi's fleet would go north to meet the second naval battle and go south to rendezvous, but now because of Halsey's fleet Going north, coupled with the lack of oil in Tsunoda, the whole arrangement was ruined, but this was a helpless move, and the telegram explained it clearly.
"I will carry out the commander's request first." Tsunoda sighed, "It was me who caused the commander's trouble this time. I will go to the commander to apologize later."
Late at night, the three fleets continued to move forward. Halsey's fleet maintained a course of 295 degrees, Horikichi's fleet changed its course to 10 degrees, and Tsunoda's fleet made major adjustments to its course - from 220 degrees to 285 degrees, slowly heading towards the designated target. go.
After the adjustment, the angle between the Tsunoda fleet and the Halsey fleet has been greatly reduced, and they are almost parallel. Even taking into account the speed difference, the distance between the two sides can be shortened by less than 10 kilometers per hour.
Early in the morning on October 27, all parties released their reconnaissance aircraft. Relying on Saiun Kai's ability, Tsunoda found the Halsey fleet at 10 o'clock and confirmed that the gap between the two sides had narrowed to 1,050 kilometers. Still satisfied that Horikichi "can see" "Can't hit" request, Halsey failed to find Tsunoda because the search distance of the reconnaissance plane he sent was only about 800 kilometers. However, the B-29 dispatched from Pearl Harbor later informed him of the location of Horikichi's fleet - 1,400 kilometers northeast of Hawaii Island.
Due to the loss of many warships, Horikichi adjusted the composition of the fleet from a three-tier echelon structure to a two-tier one, making the formation more compact and maintaining an overall speed of 15 knots. After studying the photos, Ingram was convinced that the Japanese army's strength was smaller than what was reported to Halsey yesterday, and he finally felt relieved.
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