Iron Cross

In the early morning of December 16, 1942, the main force of the huge Japanese Navy Combined Fleet bypassed the British Indian Ocean Territory - Chagos Archipelago, passed through the waters between the archipelago and the Seychelles, and slowly sailed northwest at an economic speed of 14 knots.

"Where are we now?" asked Admiral Hori Teikichi, commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, in the command tower of the Musashi.

"The center of the fleet is currently located at 62 degrees 60 minutes east longitude and 0 degrees 60 minutes south latitude... The map location is approximately 1,000 nautical miles east and south of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia."

"We are about to cross the equator!" Hori Teikichi nodded with satisfaction, stood up from his position and ordered, "Cancel the radio silence, and inform the German side of the news according to the original plan and designated code - they are probably waiting anxiously."

According to the planned plan of the joint operation between Japan and Germany, the main force of the Combined Fleet will break into the main war zone no later than December 15. In order to maintain maximum confidentiality, the fleet radio silence was maintained until the last moment. Along the way, they only received telegrams from various parties, and deliberately avoided the merchant shipping routes. The existence of the fleet was transparent to all parties - no one knew where the combined fleet was now, whether it was Japan or Germany. As the main force of the fleet advanced from the southern Indian Ocean to the central and northern Indian Ocean, the route cut off all traditional routes and entered the densely populated area of ​​merchant ships. It was possible to pass by other ships at any time and be exposed, but since it had arrived at the designated location, Hori Teikichi was not afraid of this.

The situation in the Southeast Asian theater continued to deteriorate. While Munda Island was lost and Bougainville Island was attacked by the US military, the US-Australia coalition dispatched more than 70,000 ground troops from Port Moresby to launch a fierce attack on the Japanese troops on the front line of Lae. The battle was very fierce. Although the Japanese army had already shrunk its troops and strengthened its fortifications, Japan was at a clear disadvantage in terms of air force and tanks. By the afternoon of the 15th, except for some outer defense lines with strong fortifications, the rest of the areas were lost. However, the Iron Fist No. 1 and No. 2 that Japan obtained from Germany played a huge role in the anti-armor war. In the fearless human-bomb attack of Japanese soldiers, the US and Australian coalition forces destroyed more than 90 armored vehicles and tanks under the Iron Fist in 5 days.

On the 15th, the defense of Bougainville Island entered an emergency state again. After the first use of the Sakura missile, Halsey commanded the British and American joint fleet to launch a second attack. This time they learned the lessons of the first attack. Not only did they spread out the formation of the bombardment fleet, but they also deployed a large number of fighters in the air to keep an eye on Japan's secret weapons. The sailors on the warships also picked up 20mm machine guns and stared at these terrifying killers coming from the sea.

After the first successful use, the Bougainville defenders were deeply encouraged and immediately reported the news to Onishi Takijiro, who was in charge of the special attack force training, hoping to get more support. At this time, there were a total of 37 Sakura missiles deployed on Bougainville Island, which accounted for more than one-third of the special attack forces trained by Onishi in the early stage. In addition to the 20 missiles launched in the first round, there were still 17 missiles left. Therefore, the defenders were very careful in the second attack. They no longer invested all at once like the first time, but gave full play to the stingy nature of the Japanese and fought in the form of 3-4 assaults.

Facts have proved that the effect of attacking in small batches is very poor under the premise of the US military's vigilance and deployment of high-density defensive firepower - it is equivalent to actively reducing the density of saturation firepower strikes. After the defenders released 17 Sakura missiles in 5 batches, some of them were shot down by fierce secondary guns and machine guns. At the same time, there were planes that dived and shot and even collided without hesitation. The Americans used all means to control the losses of the second attack to a minimum. Except for a destroyer (to cover the battleship North Carolina) and a transport ship that were sunk, there were almost no losses. After releasing all the Sakura missiles in Bougainville, the Americans were finally able to get rid of their fear and attack with all their strength.

The top leaders of the Combined Fleet received war reports from the front every day, and they were all worried. Except for the 24 Sakura missiles in Rabaul, there was not a single one in the direction of Bougainville and Lae. Mikawa Gunichi's remaining fleet did not dare to show its head in the face of such a huge US fleet, and could only shrink in Rabaul as a fleet. Judging from the strength of the US counterattack, it seemed that the fall of the two places was only a matter of time.

"Sir, the German liaison submarine sent us another telegram to inform us of the latest center position of the British and American fleets-they just slowly crawled across the Mozambique Channel..." In order to grasp the progress of the British and American Torch Plan execution fleet in a timely manner, Dönitz arranged two submarines to closely follow the entire British and American fleet. Their mission was only to accompany the advance and report intelligence, and it was strictly forbidden to attack. Generally, submarines would surface at night to charge and send telegrams, and then quietly lurk underwater after dawn to follow the progress-the underwater speed was just right to keep up with the slow transport fleet.

Hori Teiji smiled and nodded: "What about the other fleet?"

"The other fleet suddenly accelerated and headed north, and then lost intelligence tracking. At present, we only know that the overall speed was as high as 19-20 knots when it lost its whereabouts, and the submarines were far behind. Considering the critical situation in Egypt, they believe that these guys are heading directly to Egypt - I roughly estimated that the enemy's fast fleet should be along the coast of Somalia. The specific location is unknown. I estimate that the distance is at least 800-900 nautical miles away."

"When can we enter the fleet reconnaissance circle?"

"According to the current relative speed and course, it may take 3-4 days... around the 20th."

Horikichi nodded to show that he understood, and then began to rest in his position with his eyes closed.

Although it was rude to disturb the commander when he was resting, Kuolu Renyi still mustered up the courage to speak - this problem had been bothering him for several days.

"Sir, you don't seem to be worried about the war situation in the Solomon Sea at all?"

"Worry...why should I worry?" Horikichi opened his eyes and asked, "Isn't the situation of the war already doomed? After the constant resistance, the troops moved to Rabaul, trading space for time, gradually consuming the American's energy. ”

"But?"

"If they can resist the main force of the U.S. fleet and defend so many islands, why should the combined fleet do it? What's more, even the British have invested a lot of capital ships this time, which shows the great determination of the British and American offensive - and in turn, the Indian Ocean Wouldn’t strategy be more advantageous?”

"But if we continue to allow Britain and the United States to advance like this, I'm afraid Truk will be the next target." Kusaka Renyi said worriedly.

"Your understanding of strategy is still very inadequate." Horikichi sighed and mentioned the chief of staff, "Let me ask you, the Military Command has been preparing for more than ten years. What is the essence of the consistent war against the United States?"

"What is it?" Cao Luren was stunned for a moment, and then responded reflexively, "It's a nine-stage battle, a gradually reducing attack strategy..."

Horikichi nodded: "At least you haven't forgotten this."

"But... what does this have to do with the current war situation?" Kusaka Renichi asked strangely, "I have never seen the formal case of the nine-stage operation, but I know the general idea... The main force of the nine-stage operation is the fleets of the combined fleet. In the battle against the U.S. fleet, now that the main force of the combined fleet is gone, Mikawa Junichi's fleet is hiding in Rabaul and trembling. How can it bear the dwindling responsibility? Moreover, after the Battle of Pearl Harbor, wasn't the nine-stage operation abandoned? "

"So..." Horikichi shook his head helplessly and let out a long sigh, "You should have some ideas of your own. Don't just follow the wind and rain. Don't follow others' opinions. Whatever others say is what they say. Give up when others say. Just give up, what’s the value of a chief of staff?”

"Please give me some advice, sir!" Caolu Renyi took a step forward and asked for advice sincerely, without any discomfort at being criticized.

"Please give me some advice, sir!" A bunch of staff officers on duty who were listening with their ears pricked up stood up straight and cast their pious gazes on the commander - Horikichi led the fleet to win the Battle of the South Solomons and save the Battle of Midway Island. After the failure, his morale hit the bottom, his prestige rose rapidly, and he began to replace Yamamoto Isoroku as the idol of his subordinates.

"Look." Horikichi strode to the map, "The British and American combined fleets are now fighting on the front lines of Munda, Bougainville and Lae. This is the first section of the taper - we have sunk two of their battleships, 1 heavy cruiser, several landing ships or other auxiliary ships; the second stage is Rabaul, we can use aviation power and Sakura missiles to continue to weaken the enemy's combat strength and advantages, and restrain their vigor; as for the third stage …”

Kusaka Renyi thought he would tell the direction of Truk, but the commander suddenly turned around and gave himself a dumbfounded answer - he first patted the logo representing the combined fleet on the combat chart, and then used both hands to roughly He surrounded the sea area from the north of Mozambique to the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula and said: "This is the third section! We are trying to eat a few more aircraft carriers and a few battleships of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and then if we have the remaining strength, we can also pull out Drop nails around the Indian Ocean such as Madagascar, South Africa, and Ceylon.”

Then he let go of his hand and returned to the map. With a slightly regretful tone, he waved the pointer and pointed at the Atlantic area and said: "If the fleet had not been poorly supplied and could not bear the heavy responsibility of the voyage, I would have even wanted to take the fleet around the Cape of Good Hope. Go and sweep the east coast of the United States - now the main force of the enemy's Pacific Fleet is in East Asia, and its Atlantic Fleet is not strong, and the main force has been wiped out in the third stage. The main force of the British fleet cannot move lightly against the German and Italian navies. How much more can they spare? How many places can we attack on the east coast of the United States? Just attacking the merchant fleet can hurt them!"

"I understand..." Kuolu Renyi took a breath and said with sudden realization, "Sir, the global ocean is the battlefield for attack!"