On a quiet morning on December 7, 1941, the blue waters of Pearl Harbor suddenly heard the rapid roar of warplanes and the continuous explosions. The sparkling waters of the Pacific Ocean are covered in fire and smoke, and at this moment, the fate of the world is reshuffled. In Washington, London, Chongqing, Moscow and Berlin, the world's strategic centers became nervous and excited in the aftermath of the event.
The leaders of each country are closely watching the development of this event, each plotting how to use the sudden attack to advance their own strategic goals.
Background: A Japanese plot to sneak attack
On November 26, 1941, in the early morning of dawn, six aircraft carrier groups of the Imperial Japanese Navy slowly sailed out of Single-Crown Bay in the cold winds of the North Pacific Ocean and began their secret but adventurous expedition. The six aircraft carriers are Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shozuru and Zuizuru. Carrying a carefully selected fleet of carrier-based aircraft and hundreds of pilots and crews, they headed southeast for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The voyage of the fleet was carried out in strict radio silence to avoid detection by the American forces or any of the allies. The operation of the Japanese aircraft carrier group was carefully planned by Combined Fleet Commander Isoroku Yamamoto, who was convinced that the operation, if successful, would effectively destroy the American naval forces in the Pacific and gain valuable time and strategic advantage for Imperial Japan's military operations in Asia.
The aircraft carriers in the formation sail under strict secrecy and security measures. On board the aircraft carrier, the pilots and crew carried out the final checks and preparations of the aircraft. On the deck of the aircraft carrier, the Zero fighter, the Type 97 naval attack, and the Type 99 ship explosion were placed in the take-off position, ready to go. Ammunition and fuel are strictly managed in the hangar to ensure that loading can be completed quickly once the take-off order is received.
After several days of intense and silent sailing, by the early morning of 7 December, the fleet was approaching the waters near Pearl Harbor. About 200 nautical miles from Pearl Harbor, the Japanese fleet slowed down and began final combat preparations. At the beginning of the dawn in the sky, the first carrier-based aircraft began to take off from the flight decks of the Akagi and Kaga. Subsequently, Canglong, Feilong, Xianghe and Ruihe also sent their planes one after another.
On the aircraft carrier, the tension gradually reached its peak with the take-off of each aircraft. Ground staff on the flight deck are busy guiding the aircraft, ensuring that each one takes off safely and quickly. As the planes took off one after another, there was a brief moment of silence on the deck of the aircraft carrier.
At 7:55 a.m. local time, the first wave of Japanese carrier-based aircraft arrived over Pearl Harbor. At this moment, the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor was still in the tranquility of the weekend, and many of the officers and men on the ships were not yet fully in combat form. The Japanese aircraft group quickly descended to the attack altitude and began to attack the battleships, cruisers, and auxiliary ships anchored in the harbor. Bombs and torpedoes were dropped one after another, and the explosions on the sea and on the docks were deafening, and the attack on Pearl Harbor broke out.
United States: Roosevelt's response
The news of the attack on Pearl Harbor shocked the entire United States like lightning and thunder, and at the same time quickly spread to Washington, D.C., shattering the calm of December 7. On the day of the incident, U.S. President Franklin J. D. Roosevelt received an urgent telegram from the Pacific reporting a sudden massive air attack on Pearl Harbor.
Upon learning of this, the White House acted quickly. President Roosevelt immediately summoned his wartime cabinet and military advisers for a series of emergency meetings. At the meeting, Roosevelt discussed countermeasures with senior military officials such as Chief of Naval Operations Harold Stark and Secretary of War Henry Stimson.
The attack provided Roosevelt with the necessary basis for political and military action. In the early days of the war, Roosevelt faced strong isolationist sentiment at home, and many American citizens and politicians opposed involvement in the war in Europe. However, the attack on Pearl Harbor changed all that, and it cleared the political barriers for Roosevelt to further intervene in the global conflict, so Roosevelt was a little happy when he heard that Japan had taken the initiative to sneak attack.
Roosevelt decided to strike back quickly, instructing Secretary Stark to immediately activate War Plan 46. This plan was a wartime contingency plan that the U.S. Navy had long prepared, including an all-out counterattack against Japan's naval forces in the Far East. On Roosevelt's orders, the U.S. submarine force began unrestricted submarine warfare in the waters around Japan, a tactic intended to weaken Japan's maritime supply lines and strike at its naval power.
As U.S. submarine and naval fleets began operations in the waters of the Pacific and Far East, U.S. military bases were put on increased alert and various combat readiness activities accelerated. U.S. naval aviation was also mobilized to prepare for the interception of possible Japanese naval operations.
At the same time, Roosevelt was preparing to give a speech to Congress and the American people to make clear the seriousness of the attack and its impact on the United States. The draft of his speech referred to "a day of infamy," a phrase that would later become a classic phrase for describing Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt's goal was to rally domestic and international support and mobilize the United States to go all out into World War II.
Britain: Churchill's "Happy"
For British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the attack on Pearl Harbor was almost a door-to-door gift. Churchill felt "great joy" at the news of the attack on the United States, because it meant that the United States would inevitably join the war against the Axis powers, and Britain would no longer be alone.
Churchill quickly convened an urgent wartime cabinet meeting. The meeting was attended by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of State for Defence and other key government officials. At the meeting, they discussed in detail the possible impact of Pearl Harbor on the global war situation, especially the deepening of the military and political alliance between Britain and the United States.
At this meeting, Churchill instructed the British ambassador to the United States to contact the US government as soon as possible to express the support and sympathy of the British government. At the same time, he ordered the British Foreign Office to communicate with other allies to assess their reaction to the incident and possible policy adjustments.
Subsequently, Churchill also had a telephone conversation with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The two leaders discussed the military and political consequences of Pearl Harbor and discussed specific measures to strengthen Anglo-American military cooperation. Churchill stressed the importance of transatlantic cooperation to ensure that Britain and the United States could work more closely together in the war against the Axis powers.
In addition, Churchill instructed the British War Cabinet to begin working on detailed plans for the rapid use of the upcoming US military support. This includes joint action plans on the North African and European theaters, as well as enhanced maritime escort missions to protect the transatlantic supply lines vital to the UK.
In the days that followed, Churchill repeatedly referred to Pearl Harbor in public and in private meetings, calling on the British people and the Commonwealth nations to unite and prepare for the strategic advantage that American entry would give to the Allies. He has continued to strengthen the morale of the British people in a variety of ways, ensuring that they remain confident in the challenges that lie ahead.
China: Chiang Kai-shek's reaction
In the early hours of December 8, 1941, Chiang Kai-shek, chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Government, showed great excitement when he learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Because it is directly related to the strategic pattern of the Sino-Japanese war and the prospects for military cooperation between China and the United States. Upon learning of this important event, Chiang Kai-shek did not hesitate and immediately hurried back to the city from his official residence in Huangshan, located on the outskirts of Chongqing, to prepare for this new international situation.
Immediately after Chiang Kai-shek arrived in the city, he summoned senior officials and military advisers of the Nationalist Government, including key members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Military Council, to conduct an emergency meeting to comprehensively assess the possible impact of the Pearl Harbor attack on China's War of Resistance Against Japan. The venue of the meeting was chosen at the Provisional Administrative Center of the National Government, and the meeting room was solemnly furnished and looked particularly solemn.
At the meeting, Chiang Kai-shek first asked the head of the intelligence department to report in detail on the details of the attack on Pearl Harbor, including the losses of the American army and the preliminary estimate of the consequences. Subsequently, the Foreign Minister reported on the currently known international reaction, in particular, the position of the United States and its allies. Chiang Kai-shek listened carefully to the reports from all sides and instructed the military department to assess the direct military assistance that the United States might bring to China by joining the war.
The discussion turned to the strategic level, and Chiang Kai-shek pointed out that this event could lead to the full involvement of the United States in the Pacific War, which would be a great benefit to China's War of Resistance against Japan. He stressed the need for the Nationalist government to quickly adjust its diplomatic and military strategy and strengthen cooperation with the United States and other allies, especially in military aid and material support.
Subsequently, Chiang Kai-shek instructed the Foreign Ministry to quickly engage with the United States and other allies to strengthen bilateral relations and secure additional military and economic support. At the same time, he asked the military council to develop a concrete plan on how to use the upcoming increase in foreign aid to more effectively carry out strategic deployment and counteroffensive planning.
In particular, the meeting discussed the intensification of the propaganda war against Japan. Chiang Kai-shek believed that the attack on Pearl Harbor provided an opportunity for China to use propaganda to arouse enthusiasm and support for the war against Japan at home and abroad. He instructed the propaganda department to take advantage of the incident to launch a broader propaganda campaign, emphasizing that China and the United States are both members of the anti-fascist front and jointly facing the Japanese threat.
The Soviet Union and Germany: Different Worries and Joys
On December 7, 1941, when news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor spread around the world, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin urgently summoned his top military and political advisers in the Kremlin. The air in the conference room was solemn, and the tense atmosphere had clearly affected everyone present. At the meeting, Stalin listened to a preliminary report of the intelligence services on the attack, which detailed the scale of the Japanese attack on the US Pacific Fleet and its potential strategic implications.
During the discussion, Stalin and his advisers analyzed the possible consequences of Japan's choice to launch a military strike against the United States rather than to invade the Soviet Union north. This decision undoubtedly allowed the Soviet Union to avoid a direct military threat from Japan in the short term, especially in the eastern border areas of the Soviet Union. However, Stalin also knew that such a Japanese action could cause a major shift in the global tide of the war, especially as the involvement of the United States would reshape the balance of power between the Allies.
At this time, in Germany, the leader Adolf Hitler reacted very differently to the same news. Hitler was greatly satisfied when he received the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor at his headquarters. In his opinion, the entry of the United States into the war would force it to shift its main military resources and attention to the Pacific theater, thereby relatively reducing the military pressure on Germany in the European theater. Hitler immediately summoned his senior generals to discuss the concrete implications of this new situation for German strategy.
At the conference, Hitler instructed his top generals to reassess current military deployments and plans on the Eastern and Western Fronts, considering how to use possible U.S. strategic distractions to strengthen German battlefield superiority in the Soviet Union and North Africa. In addition, he ordered the propaganda department to strengthen information control and propaganda among the German population to ensure that the population believed that Germany would be able to benefit from this new international situation.
At the same time, Stalin also had an in-depth discussion at another strategic meeting in the Kremlin about how to use the American counterattack against Japan to strengthen the international position and security of the Soviet Union. Stalin ordered the Soviet Foreign Ministry to actively communicate with the United States and other allies, seeking cooperation in strategic material support and military intelligence sharing.
"Hitler's American Gamble" "Chiang Kai-shek's Diary Revealed"