Chapter 240

< World War II - The Spring of War (2) >

March 2, 1942

Off the coast of Madras, Eastern India

In the early dawn of a Sunday, which had now become something of a tradition, the Imperial Japanese Navy's Southern Fleet arrived in the waters east of Madras Port.

The fleet was comprised of the aircraft carriers Ryujo, Hosho, Shoho, and Junyo, escorted by the heavy cruisers Atago and Takao, and the battlecruiser Haruna.

Admiral Nagumo Chuichi had brought out what was effectively the largest mobile fleet the Southern Fleet could muster.

The Imperial General Headquarters, which had been blaming Nagumo for being caught defenseless by the German air raid on the Southern Fleet, quieted down for the time being when he insisted on mobilizing the full might of the Southern Fleet for a surprise attack on Madras Port to sink the Graf Zeppelin.

The Imperial Japanese Navy, which had dealt a fatal blow to the world's strongest Royal Navy and the US Pacific Fleet, considered the greatest threat, had already lost face multiple times to the German Navy, a weak force that couldn't even compare to the other two.

The annihilation of the Hiei and the Special Naval Landing Forces, the severe blow to the Philippine landing force, the ongoing commerce raiding operations, and on top of it all, the surprise attack that sank the Zuiho.

To the Japanese Navy, whose noses were high in the air after a series of victories against the West's greatest navies, the German Navy was truly nothing but a thorn in their side.

Nagumo, who had been bested by the Germans twice, shouted in a voice filled with fury from his flagship, the battlecruiser Haruna.

“The time has come for revenge against those despicable German bastards!”

The bastards who had tarnished his victory and now, finally, made him worry about keeping his position.

Nagumo’s rage was endless toward the men who had supposedly taunted him over the radio in Japanese.

“But Admiral, will this be alright? The total number of carrier-based aircraft mobilized for this airstrike is only 141.”

Nagumo had pushed for it so eagerly that they had sortied, but the new fleet carriers, capable of holding over fifty planes each, had all just returned to the Japanese mainland after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Although the high command’s recognized training instructor, Iwamoto Tetsuzo, had survived, the vast majority of the other pilots had been sacrificed, and it would take time to bring the force back to full strength.

Thus, his subordinates couldn't hide their anxiety.

A mere 141 planes? Even if they were all launched at once, it wouldn't even match a single one of the three airstrikes on Pearl Harbor.

“Their RAF is concentrated in the direction of Ceylon Island, and they have no aircraft carriers.

If things go south, we can just retreat.”

Of course, Nagumo had his reasons to be confident.

Germany had only a single aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin.

The Royal Navy carriers that had participated in the previous Battle of Ceylon had suffered heavy aircraft losses and all sustained damage, with the HMS Illustrious being hit particularly hard.

He expected that India wouldn't have the facilities to conduct such extensive repairs quickly, and the battleships had also taken heavy damage, so there were either no available carriers stationed in India, or at most one.

Nagumo was a man who, if nothing else, had some expertise in ship handling.

The high command knew this, so they approved the operation, believing that if the airstrike succeeded it would be a jackpot, and even if it failed, he would at least manage to bring the ships—if not the second-rate air group—back safely.

“This is a surprise attack while they're still drunk on their victory.

If we can just take out the Graf Zeppelin here, we won't have to worry about their provocations for a while!”

“Yes, sir…”

The staff officers looked somewhat uneasy. With the precedent of the attack on Pearl Harbor already set, would the enemy really be caught off guard, drunk on victory?

But since it was the Empire of Japan that had been drunk on victory and caught off guard after setting that very precedent, no one could voice such a thought publicly.

“All aircraft, launch! You must sink the Graf Zeppelin!”

As the darkness slowly faded and the sky began to brighten dimly, the Imperial Japanese air fleet began its flight westward.

---

At a time when spring was approaching and everyone in Germany, even Minister of Defense Dietrich Schacht, was focused on the Rasputitsa that would arrive with the spring on the Eastern Front.

Nevertheless, the Madras naval port was already prepared, having received a report of the Japanese Navy’s sortie.

The territories the Japanese Southern Fleet used as bases were all former colonies of Britain and the Netherlands.

At first, they had welcomed the Empire of Japan, which raised the banner of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

But it didn't take long for the locals to realize the reality that the Empire of Japan was even more vicious than the British or the Dutch.

The British Empire, having lost face to the Empire of Japan, had been putting all of MI6's efforts into tracking Japan’s movements and had learned of this surprise attack in advance through the locals who felt betrayed by the Japanese Empire.

“Report from the patrol aircraft! Enemy aircraft approaching from the east!”

“Ah, they’re finally here.

Time to see if this damn emergency standby was worth it.”

Thanks to the emergency standby that had been in effect since the previous day, when the Japanese fleet was expected to arrive, Admiral Wilhelm Marschall let out a long yawn in the early morning and put on his admiral’s cap, having had minimal time to sleep out.

“To think they'd actually sortie just to 'get us back,' like some petulant child.”

If it weren't for the intel Britain had provided in advance, they might have been caught.

As soon as Marschall entered the bridge of his flagship, the Bismarck, he gave the order.

“All ships, sortie! In a circular formation! Concentrate on protecting the Graf Zeppelin!”

“Yes, sir!”

With the Graf Zeppelin at the center, the heavily armed anti-aircraft platforms of the Bismarck and the Scharnhorst flanked it, while light cruisers and destroyers formed a circular screen.

More than half of the destroyers and light cruisers forming that circle were once French Navy vessels, which gave Admiral Marschall a strange feeling.

And watching the Royal Navy escort fleet, centered on the light cruiser HMS Belfast, which had sortied from Madras Port alongside them and was now encircling the Graf Zeppelin and the German Navy to protect them…

“You really do see all sorts of things if you live long enough.”

Admiral Marschall smirked.

“Alright then, let’s send out our problem children!”

---

Nagumo and his staff officers waited with anxious faces on the bridge of the flagship Haruna.

As they waited for the triumphant code and taunt, “Los, Los, Los!”, to come crackling over the radio at any moment, the characteristic static of the radio filled the air.

-This is Hinata, squadron leader of the Ryujo fighter group.

We have an unusual situation.

Nagumo shot up from his seat.

“This is the Haruna. Report.”

-The surprise attack has failed. The German Navy has already deployed in the waters off Madras and is forming a circular formation.

British Navy auxiliary ships are also protecting them. Requesting orders.

Over.

“Wh-what did you say?”

Their masterstroke of a surprise attack had failed!

It was the same old trick, a third helping after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the German Navy's own air raid, but it was the attack Nagumo had pushed for, insisting to the Imperial General Headquarters that it was a decisive surprise.

“Wh-what do we do, Admiral?”

“So it was too obvious an operation after all!”

While everyone panicked, Nagumo gave a grim instruction.

“Confirm the enemy fleet's carriers.”

When the report came back that the only enemy aircraft carrier was the Graf Zeppelin, Nagumo was lost in thought.

The carrier-based aircraft equipped with American-made radios, bought before the embargo, were almost all gone.

At this point, the air groups had to be commanded with signal flares. There was no way to make delicate changes to the operational plan.

“The operation is a failure, we must turn back!”

“To come all this way and retreat without even fighting is…”

“Admiral, we don't know what the enemy will do while you hesitate. You must make a decision!”

As the bridge descended into chaos, the ever-indecisive Nagumo was plunged into deep agony.

“Should we retreat…?”

But he had sortied with the confident claim that he would sink the Graf Zeppelin and return. What if he just went back now?

Would he be able to keep his position?

But if he fought here and lost even one carrier, it would truly be the end.

What should he—

But there was no need for Nagumo to make a decision.

-Th-This is Hinata! We are engaged!

“Wh-What is happening! Hinata! Explain!”

-Th-The enemy fleet and their aircraft are charging!

“What!”

---

The Japanese forces, who relied on American imports for their radios, had almost no aircraft left that could communicate freely by radio.

Thus, the Japanese air group that had sortied this time naturally had no radios. When they found the enemy fleet fully prepared, contrary to their expectations, they were unable to hide their bewilderment.

An aircraft is a machine that cannot simply hover in mid-air.

While the squadron leader's plane communicated with the main fleet, the rest of the carrier aircraft circled in the air, unable to advance or retreat, and their formations naturally fell into disarray.

And for the feisty German Naval Air Service, which had already launched from the Graf Zeppelin and was flying to provide cover, their disgraceful conduct was a temptation too strong to resist.

“Los, Los, Los!”

Instead of the halting, accented “Charge, Charge, Charge!” that Nagumo had been expecting, a fluent, native-tongued transmission erupted.

“Th-that crazy bastard!”

It started with the utterly reckless Hans-Joachim Marseille, but soon the other fighters, led by Erich Hartmann and Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt, followed.

The Japanese pilots, who had been hesitating in confusion, instantly saw red and began to engage after their comrades were shot down by the German Air Force.

It all happened in an instant.

Once the engagement began, the Japanese dive bombers and torpedo bombers, which had been circling awkwardly in the air, also began to charge toward the enemy fleet.

The squadron leaders of the Japanese Naval Air Service fired signal flares to try and regain control, but the multiple flares going off at once only added to the confusion.

Admiral Marschall, watching the scene through his binoculars, said just one thing.

“What a mess.”

---

“Hinata, respond! Hinata! What in the world is going on!”

-It-it’s a free-for-all! The operation is in shambles! Ah, aah! The attack group is being annihilated! The enemy is in a perfect circular anti-aircraft battle formation centered on their carrier—Ugh, our planes are—

“What are you saying! Report properly!”

-A m-monster, it’s a monster!

“You bastard, you'll commit seppuku when you get back! Get a grip and report so I can understand!”

-This is Hyuga! The-the enemy fighter, just a single one, is rampaging through our center! We can’t stop it!

“What are you talking about, damn it!”

-Failure, it’s a failure! The operation is a complete failure!

The common sense was that the powerful, turn-fighting Zerosen was strong in an in-fighting.

That common sense was being shattered to pieces as Marseille's Bf109T pushed its airframe to the limit, repeatedly diving, climbing, and turning in a violent display of maneuverability that completely overwhelmed the Japanese fighters.

While Marseille drew the attention of all the Japanese fighters, the other German fighters used Boom and Zoom tactics, diving to pick off the Japanese fighters one by one.

The clueless carrier bombers and torpedo bombers, whose formations had become a mess while turning when the battle began, ended up being committed piecemeal. They charged headlong toward their target, the Graf Zeppelin, only to be incinerated by the anti-aircraft fire pouring from the Bismarck and Scharnhorst before they could even get close.

To the bridge of the Haruna, unable to see the screams and chaos of the scene with their own eyes, the reports from the squadron leaders were nothing more than disorderly pandemonium.

Nagumo listened with a grim face and then gave an order.

“Have them retreat.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Perhaps if he had made a swift decision as soon as he spotted the enemy fleet and attacked in proper formation as planned, they might have achieved something with their numerical superiority.

But while Nagumo dithered indecisively, the Japanese Naval Air Service's operation, caught off-balance and attacked first with their formation broken, ended in complete failure.

However, he realized too late that even this was not the worst of it.

“P-Port lookout reporting! Multiple aircraft approaching!”

“What?”

---

The Imperial Japanese Navy, which had been gritting its teeth and waiting for a chance for revenge on the German Navy, had overlooked one fact. They had certainly defeated the Royal Navy.

But the Royal Navy was the very pride of the British Empire, and it was not an entity that would simply curl up in defeat.

The Royal Navy had been sharpening its sword, waiting only for an opportunity for revenge against the Empire of Japan.

A fleet composed entirely of high-speed ships: the battleship HMS Duke of York, the battlecruiser HMS Renown, and the aircraft carriers HMS Victorious, HMS Ark Royal, and HMS Furious.

This fleet, which Winston Churchill had scraped together from the homeland while crying for revenge against the Empire of Japan, had been waiting in the western Indian port of Bombay, its existence concealed.

And the moment they received word from MI6 of the Japanese Southern Fleet's sortie, they set out. After several days of sailing, they rounded Ceylon Island and circled around to Nagumo's rear.

“Well done sailing all the way from Bombay, gentlemen! This is the opportunity we've all been waiting for!”

Their admiral, Andrew Cunningham, was in the middle of rallying his men over the radio.

“The pride of the Royal Navy is one with the centuries-long history of the British Empire! Remember that its weight rests on your shoulders, gentlemen!”

The fleet, its engines overloaded to the point of bursting, raced furiously across the sea.

“The Spanish Armada, Napoleon’s great fleet, and the Kaiser’s navy all fell before us!”

The Union Jack flapped ceaselessly, battered by the fierce sea wind.

“The Tennō’s navy shall be next!”

Having launched all its carrier aircraft, the Royal Navy charged ferociously toward Nagumo's fleet.

“The British Empire expects that every man will do his duty!”

The words Admiral Nelson had issued by signal flag against Napoleon, the words roared by the Channel Fleet as it charged to defend the homeland against a French surprise attack.

In time with the Royal Navy’s symbolic declaration, the heavy guns of the Duke of York and the Renown turned toward Nagumo's fleet, which was being relentlessly attacked by the British carrier aircraft.

-Aye, Aye, Sir