LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 15: 15. Pearl Harbour
December 7th, 1941.
7:00 AM, 55 minutes before Attack.
Hector arrived at Pearl Harbour. It was a beautiful place, with the ships docked around, there was a sense of strength here. Sadly, it was soon to be challenged.
The Secretary of Defence was with him as they went to check various ships and the airfield. What was the point of him being there?
Well, there were two things, one, due to him coming here, all officers and soldiers would be on alert and attention. They'd be ready to move at any time. Second, he was baiting.
As soon as the base started the "mock" battle exercise, there was a high chance that the Japanese would abort the attack. However, with him here, they would go on, as killing the US President was worth more than losing a few pilots and aircraft.
Hector remembered the major damages that were inflicted on the Pacific Fleet due to this attack. In total, about 2403 people died in this attack. And sadly, 1,177 men were from a single ship, USS Arizona and 429 died in USS Oklahoma. These large battleships were the main targets of the Japanese, so it was also his main point of focus.
...
7:30, just 5 minutes before the start of the mock drill and 25 minutes before the attack.
Hector boarded the USS Arizona to start an inspection and be with the Commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Kimmel, as it will be the centre for commanding the entire battle exercise.
"Everything is ready, sir." Admiral Kimmel saluted him and informed him. Just this morning, all the officers above the rank of Lt Colonel were informed about the exercise. Due to this, all personnel were kept closeby, the medics were also on standby. Entire Island had prepared for this.
...
7:34 AM
"Start it according to the plan." Hector nodded.
Admiral Kimmel held the already connected telephone and waited for the clock to move for a minute.
*TICK* 7:35 AM.
"Pass the Order," Admiral Kimmel ordered.
In an instant, the entire Pearl Harbour and its nearby military facilities started blasting sirens. Each and every ship in the harbour started loud alarms as well, calling all men to their battle stations immediately.
The airfields saw quick activity and all fighters started taking off, thanks to their Director knowing about the drill.
...
Hector stood on the deck of the USS Arizona, looking around the entire harbour. All ships, big or small, had started moving out of the harbour and towards the open seas.
He was delighted to see that they were quick and swift in doing this. But then he started to focus on the skies. The Japanese fighters, aka Zeroes, had photos of the major battleships. So no matter what, they will still target USS Arizona and Oklahoma.
~It's about time the world sees the most awesome president to ever exist in history.~ He silently put his hat on the side and tightened the waist strap of his long coat, preparing for the action.
...
30 Minutes Ago,
300 miles off the coast of Hawaii. The huge fleet of the Japanese Navy was heading straight towards Hawaii, they had 6 aircraft carriers, 3 submarines and more than 300 aircraft, high altitude bombers and dive bombers.
Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, an experienced, cautious officer was the one in command of this operation, initially named Operation Hawaii but then changed to Operation Z.
As they arrived close to Hawaii, he received very conflicting news. That the U.S. President was at the base. But this made his resolve stronger to attack.
But a few minutes later, he got the news that the base had a lot of activities, but he was informed that it was a mock drill to show to the President who was on the USS Arizona.
Now, he had the choice to either go with the plan or turn around. There was no way of quickly talking to the leadership back at home. His orders were simple, to only turn around if somehow they were found out or if some diplomatic miracle occurred and America agreed to take back the blockade of Japan's supply routes.
Until now, none of these two had occurred. And the mock drill he guessed was going to be small, as it was just for the show to the President. So, in the end, he decided to go on with the plan.
...
Hawaii Underground SSR Buncker,
"Good job, lieutenant. Now we just wait." Brigadier General Phillips praised the young codebreaker.
"But sir, why are we giving away President's location? Isn't this putting his life in danger?" the lieutenant asked.
Phillips sighed, "We will get the answers soon, son. This was a direct order from the Commander in Chief."
His work done, Phillips headed out to see what was going to happen. But he remained under the shelter of the bunker.
...
Masashi Kishimoto was an ordinary pilot of a zero fighter. He was too low in the rank for his life to matter to the higher up. Did he believe in the war, in the fight and in the emperor?
Yup, he did. Just like all other youths. This was the rise of Japan and nobody could stop them, not even the United States, the bully from the west. He was in the leading squadron, heading straight towards the naval base. Their new goal? To kill the president. All of them were going to drop bombs on USS Arizona.
Soon, he could see the last mountain, beyond which was the base. Slowly, his plane moved forward. He hoped to see the unprepared Americans.
*WOOSH*
*BANG* *BAM* *BOOM*
Opposite to what he guessed, the moment his squadron crossed over the horizon, they were bombarded by anti-aircraft guns, and there were dozens of American fighters in the air as well.
Not only that, making him vomit blood was the fact that now no ships were closely docked, all of them had spread out and been on the move. They were headed out of the harbour.
*BOOM* He heard a loud explosion at his side, immediately realising that the ships were well prepared.
One after another, he saw all his partners, friends and colleagues die, facing the first bluntness of the American response. But he was able to manoeuvre his fighter, which was faster than the outdated American ones. [A/N: the US was in the middle of commissioning new planes at this point.]
His eyes bloodied and enraged, he was no fool to realise, that their plan was doomed from the start, they were lured here by the Americans, they already knew about this. Every single thing he saw in front of him signalled that.
"LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR! LONG LIVE THE JAPANESE EMPIRE!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs and dived straight towards USS Arizona. He was no Kamikaze pilot, in fact, there were no such pilots at the moment. He just wanted to drop his bomb on the ship.
After a few nerve-wracking seconds, he finally found himself in position, the perfect place to drop the bomb, so that the explosion reaches the armoury of the ship.
"SHINEEEE...!" He pressed the release button and pulled the stick up, to focus on the enemy fighters now.
*BOOOOOM*
However, he immediately felt a warm light engulfing his surroundings, then the explosive noise came. He looked down, his eyes immediately widened in shock, "NANIII?!"
...
USS Arizona,
Hector silently stood on the deck of the ship. Around him were a few officers, including the Admiral. In his mind, he was nervous, if Japan didn't attack, he would face problems, as this military exercise was truly very costly.
*Zzzzz...*
"ADMIRAL! Unknown aircrafts spotted on the east." A sailor shouted.
"Bring the binoculars here, boy," Hector ordered him quickly, even snatching the thing.
He looked towards the mountain top. Immediately, he felt as if his soul smiled. ~Hah, they took the bait.~
He put it down and shouted with an authoritative manly voice, "WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! JAPANESE ZEROES! ALERT EVERYONE! BRING THEM DOWN!"
A frenzy took over the entire ship, the commanders quickly ran to their stations, the men responsible for guns started shooting towards the planes. Soon the words were passed to the entire base and immediately the mock drill turned into a real battle.
"Mr President, please... let's get you to safety. The ship is not safe anymore. They will target us." The Secretary of Defence, Admiral Kimmel and his Secret Service Security chief pleaded with him.
But he didn't budge. They didn't dare force him either, as they didn't want to face his punch. Instead, their jaws fell when Hector requested something, "Bring me your automatic rifle. QUICK!"
For a second they just looked at each other in panic. "NOW!" When Hector raised his voice, they jolted up, waking from their mental slumber. Admiral Kimmel ran into the ship and brought a gun. It was an M3 submachine gun.
"Will this do, sir? What are you planning, sir?" He inquired.
Hector, instead of answering, issued orders, "Alert all fighters, take to the air and expect something big. If the Japs have dared to come here, they must be planning something big. Admiral, issue the orders to keep an eye underwater as well, there could also be submarines. GO!" [A/N: Japs was an abbreviation of the word "Japanese" in that era. Today, it is generally regarded as an ethnic slur.]
The men hurriedly left, now only the Secretary of Defence and his Secret Service head stood behind him, gritting their teeth in nervousness. They wanted to run away, but if they did, and the president lives to see the day, then... they didn't want to imagine.
*Woooooooo...*
Just after a few minutes, Hector saw one single Zero fighter, that survived the defences, diving towards his ship. He aimed his gun towards the oncoming Zero and tracked the motion.
After waiting a few seconds, the penetrating bomb was finally launched, aimed directly at Hector's position on the deck. It was meant to plunge into the ship and explode inside it.
*BAM! BAM! BAM!...*
Hector sprayed the entire magazine precisely at the falling bomb. The whole time, he looked calm, but others were nearly craping their pants. The Secretary of Defence was a civilian, so he was the most affected, already falling on the deck.
The sailors who were running around also stopped, the bomb signalled their doom after all, and if it didn't stop then they were as good as dead. But, the most unexpected thing happened.
*BOOOM*
As if another sun appeared in the sky, the bomb exploded into a magnificent cloud of smoke and fire, spreading the light far and wide. Many felt this was their death, staring at them. However, as it appeared, it vanished, bringing a short moment of utter silence, even the violent sea felt calm as a statue.
Their gaze fell on Hector, who was bringing his gun down and adjusting the collar of the suit. That image would never leave their minds now, not in this life, for this was no man in front of them, he was a godsend, to bring their enemies to an end.
Hector smiled and turned around, noticing the eyes of the hundreds of men, he couldn't help but whisper in inside, ~AND TODAY... A LEGEND IS... BORN!~
However, this was just the start of the day.