My Head of the Huaxia Expeditionary Force

In addition to combat ships, the Yamato fleet also has five or six supply ships transporting supplies. The purpose is to provide supplies to the Japanese troops fighting in the Philippines.

After days of fierce fighting, the situation of the troops trapped in the Philippines was almost the same as that of the Japanese troops in the Irrawaddy Delta. They had long been cut off from supplies, and many troops were so hungry that they were about to eat people.

In fact, in the final analysis, sending the Yamato fleet to the Philippines is also betting on luck, betting that the US fleet will not react so quickly, and betting that the Philippine troops can grit their teeth and persist in fighting.

Send the Yamato fleet to the Philippines to weaken the combat power of the US military. As long as the decline can be curbed, it is best to open the sea supply route, so that the Japanese army in the Philippines can continue to hold on for a few months. As for what will happen next, it is not possible at the moment. Well said.

Fleet Commander Ito Seiichi was very aware of the risks and costs of going, but at this time there was no choice. The only remaining strength of the navy was this super battleship.

As the fleet commander, even though he knew it was a pit of fire, he had no choice but to lead his troops to jump into it.

Once successful, the Yamato's powerful firepower and overwhelming force are enough to temporarily change the regional battle situation, and the fire blockade of the coastline will cause huge losses to the Marine Corps.

Afterwards, the crew of the Yamato landed, delivered supplies to the island, and formed a final line of defense with ground troops to continue to fight against the surge in US military strength.

This is indeed a bold plan, but the only problem is that they must reach the Philippine coastline quickly and safely.

However, Ito was not stupid. He asked the Malaysian region to concentrate all available air forces to be ready to escort the fleet at any time. If necessary, they could also imitate the kamikaze agents. In short, they must ensure the safety of the fleet to avoid enemy attacks.

But the Japanese did not expect that their intelligence network had long been blinded. The radio codes that they were proud of at the beginning were eaten by the US military like a naked prostitute, without any secrets. It can be said.

The U.S. military intelligence department has deciphered the codes of the Japanese naval fleet a long time ago, intercepted a large amount of Japanese communications, and monitored their actions by decoding radio signals.

Intelligence is an opportunity. Almost the day before the fleet was preparing to leave port, the United States received information that the Yamato was about to leave port for operations, and its target was most likely the Visayas Islands in the Philippines.

Immediately, the US military responded immediately, and the entire Fifth Fleet entered combat mode and began to move closer to Malaysia. It also sent a large number of reconnaissance aircraft and submarines to patrol several important waterways, preparing to find the exact location of the Yamato fleet.

One of the characteristics of Japan when it comes to war is that it loves to gamble. To sum up the Japanese mentality, it has a ruthlessness of success or failure. This bad habit has not been changed for hundreds of years.

In fact, this problem is also easy to understand. As Japan is an island country with limited resources and narrow-minded people, there is a cruel force of despair and all-or-nothing in thinking and dealing with many things.

For a goal that seems very unlikely to outsiders, they can bet everything and go all out to bet on the fate of the country.

The Japanese's love of gambling is something that is inherited from the earliest Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War... until the attack on Pearl Harbor and the outbreak of the Pacific War. They have done this all the time.

But what happened unexpectedly was that it unexpectedly won. It had a winning streak with different opponents in different early gambling games. Japan also started from gambling and became a world power by winning wars, which made their self-confidence unprecedentedly high. .

But the closer war is to modern times, the more elements are added to it. He can influence the direction of the war with a lot of things like intelligence, economy, diplomacy, resources, etc. It is no longer like in the cold weapon era that you can defeat the enemy by throwing your arms and working hard.

When we meet on a narrow road, the brave wins. This sentence can be applied to some battles or small battles. Once it escalates to a strategic layout, a comprehensive war between countries, and systems between systems, it cannot be won by unilateral bravery alone.

Just like Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, this is still a huge gamble on the fate of the country. If it succeeds, the whole country will rejoice, but if it fails, there will be no chance of recovery.

The reality is indeed the case. Although Japan achieved some early victories, it fell into an endless war quagmire and the overall situation went downhill.

How can modern warfare be fought like this? Although Japan's navy and air force were world-class in World War II, their thinking still stayed before World War I.

Especially after the successful attack on Pearl Harbor and the victory in the Battle of Coral Sea, the Japanese tasted the sweetness and became extremely confident. The Navy believed that it would be able to eat up the entire U.S. Pacific Fleet.

But they never thought about what they would do if they failed? Even if the US military is temporarily defeated, its warships and aircraft can still be built exponentially. The industrial capacity of the United States is N times that of Japan.

At that time, the national income of the United States was seven times that of Japan, its steel production was five times that of Japan, its coal production was seven times that of Japan, and the gap between the production of automobiles and aircraft was even more than ten times that of Japan.

One aircraft carrier was sunk, and three will be built next month. However, the Japanese fleet only has so little possessions, and any loss is unacceptable. If things go on like this, it would be weird if they were not pressed to the ground and rubbed against each other. .

You said that just because of this industrial gap, if you go all-in with others, isn't it because your head is squeezed by the door?

Therefore, the ideas of the entire Japanese top management at that time were too naive. Except for a few sober people such as Yamamoto 56 who were more sensible, everyone else was a bit unrealistic.

They felt that in the early days of the war, the U.S. Pacific Fleet had all sailed to the North Atlantic, and it would be impossible to counterattack the Japanese army in the short term.

That's why the Japanese army wants to get rid of the Americans in the Pacific as soon as possible, and then force the Americans to the negotiating table to quickly end the war with the United States and obtain the desired benefits.

Because they can no longer afford to consume, this war can no longer be fought. Several years of fierce fighting have made the country and the people unable to afford this massive consumption. And it was also because of this mentality that they continued to take desperate risks, which ultimately paved the way for their own failure.

It's a pity that the United States is not China, which has been weak for a long time and has not yet been unified, nor is it Soviet Russia, which has insufficient troops in Siberia. It is a war machine that has made several war fortunes and has extremely terrifying industrial strength.

As expected, the result was a slap in the face. Especially after several decisive battles such as the Battle of Midway and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Japanese navy suffered an almost devastating blow. The army stationed on various important islands also suffered heavy casualties, and the overall situation fell into chaos. A situation of being passively beaten.

But this time, the Japanese once again chose to make a desperate move. The Yamato fleet did not consider the retreat at all, and even the reconnaissance operations that should have been carried out were just hasty.

However, their opponents had the upper hand and actively completed the pre-war work. A fierce naval battle... was about to begin... (End of Chapter)