Chapter 1091: No Longer Cautious

General Kurita stood on the bridge of the battleship Kongō, feeling the constant vibration of the warship beneath his feet. His flagship had just been hit by a bomb from an American plane. On the port side, at the location of an anti-aircraft gun, flames were still burning, pouring out thick smoke.

The battleship Haruna had been attacked by U.S. Navy carrier aircraft an hour ago and was heavily damaged. How heavily? Even the destroyer Shigure, which had tried to get close to rescue some of the crew, was unable to approach the behemoth due to the intense fires and explosions.

The entire hull was shrouded in thick smoke. The fire had spread from the boiler room all the way up to the funnels and the anti-aircraft guns. A massive explosion had blown the Haruna’s rear turret clean off. The once long and majestic gun barrels now dangled at a grotesque angle on the deck, as if they had lost their souls.

Those once-invincible 356mm main guns had never even had a chance to face their opponent. Their powerful shells, having no targets, could only wait in the magazine deep in the ship’s core, unable to achieve glory through devastating explosions.

The sound of explosions, coming from time to time, could be heard clearly even on the friendly warships in the distance. Although everyone was now busy dodging American planes and had no time to worry about the Haruna’s fate, Kurita, as the fleet commander, knew clearly that the battleship Haruna was, at this point, completely finished.

“The Haruna’s radio is still silent. We can’t contact Captain Tanaka.” Kurita’s adjutant walked up behind his superior, bowed deeply, and reported another piece of bad news that made Kurita’s world crumble. Tanaka was Kurita’s most trusted and beloved subordinate, and also a fervent believer in the “big ship, big gun” doctrine. For another high-ranking admiral of the Japanese Navy to go down with his ship at a time like this was undoubtedly a case of pouring salt on the wounds of the current, unfavorable war situation.

“Your Excellency, Admiral! A message from the Commander-in-Chief. He orders us to break contact to the north, rendezvous with the screening fleet on the flank, and leave the combat area,” another officer from the radio room hurried in from outside the bridge. After bowing, he respectfully handed the telegram to Kurita Takeo.

Hearing the message from Koga Mineichi, Kurita’s anger boiled over. His fleet had, under the relentless bombing of the American carrier planes, held on for a full 40 minutes, but Koga had still failed to drive off the American planes and to escort his fleet into the American fleet’s formation. And the direct consequence of the Japanese carrier fleet’s weak attack was the current, disastrous state of his battleship attack fleet.

The Japanese Navy’s ability to replace its ships was not much stronger than its naval air arm’s. And because warships were expensive, in terms of equipment replacement, it was even worse. Unlike the powerful production capacity of the United States, which could replace one warship for every one sunk, the Japanese Navy’s large warships were on a “one sunk, one gone” basis.

And to occupy a drydock to refit a warship was an even more extravagant act. They had to squeeze their remaining production capacity to the limit to barely manage it. Therefore, to refit all four Kongō-class battlecruisers at once had been a major move that had carried the hopes of countless people in the Japanese Navy.

The old battleship Yamashiro had been sunk in a muddle off the coast of Australia. The Hyūga and Ise had been lost in the Battle of the Solomon Sea. Now the newly refitted Haruna was also about to sink. The battleship advantage that the Japanese Navy had barely maintained was about to be wiped out with this Battle of the Bismarck Sea.

He looked at the Haruna on the sea not far away, which had already lost all speed and could only sit there, dead in the water, waiting to be finished. After stalling, it had been overtaken by the Hiei, which had been following the Kongō, and was now falling further and further behind the main fleet. Kurita gritted his teeth and finally gave the order to run. “Have the Kirishima turn. Forget about the cruiser Aoba. Disengage at full speed to the rendezvous point 4! Leave the combat area!”

“The American carrier planes are like ghosts, they won’t leave us alone. Whether we can get away or not depends on the carrier fleet behind us.” Kurita, after giving his combat order, stood at his command post and sighed. The force he trusted least right now was the carrier fleet behind him. From the beginning of the engagement until now, the combat results of the Japanese naval air arm had been truly unsatisfactory.

Just as Kurita was in a panic, leading his battleship fleet in a turn, Koga Mineichi and his second battleship fleet were also turning. He knew his fleet could not get close to the American carrier fleet, so he could only give up on this decisive battle plan and, while his losses were still bearable, quickly change his tactics.

Under his command was the more elite battleship Yamato, as well as the Nagato and Mutsu, which had been repaired and refitted and had returned to combat. These three battleships were originally intended to be the support force, to follow Kurita’s fleet and charge into the American carrier fleet. But now, Koga could only lead these giant warships in a hasty turn, to avoid the brunt of the U.S. naval air arm.

The only thing sustaining Koga Mineichi now was not the Japanese carriers that were still stubbornly resisting behind him, nor the heavily damaged airmen on them, but the gradually darkening sky. From the time they had engaged the American fleet at noon, until now, the five or six hours of torment had been excruciating for Koga, but night was about to fall. As long as he could hold on a little longer, he would have a long night to cover the Combined Fleet’s next move.

“Send another telegram to Kurita-kun! Tell him to rendezvous with the Fusō on the flank, and then to turn again. Use the cover of night to re-enter the battlefield from the flank! We will launch a pincer attack on the American fleet!” Thinking of this, Koga gave another combat order, and then began to anxiously wait for some good news from the air arm that would be favorable to the war situation.

The second wave of suicide planes had indeed caused a great deal of trouble for the U.S. Navy. These Japanese planes had crashed into every warship they could see, and in one go, had caused the U.S. Navy to lose a full seven warships of various types.

Halsey’s fleet had originally been ready, had formed up, and was preparing to go and engage Kurita’s assault fleet. But because of the Japanese suicide planes, they had been forced to pull back once again, to ensure the absolute safety of their carrier fleet. On the vast sea, there were Japanese planes everywhere, trailing thick smoke as they fell, and swarms of U.S. Navy pilots taking off to engage them.

“Yoshi!” Receiving Koga’s telegram, Kurita finally regained some of his confidence. He could also see that time seemed to be in the Japanese Navy’s favor. As long as they could, at the cost of some losses, drag this out until night, then any of his warships that could charge into the American fleet could inflict incalculable losses on the enemy.

At this moment, he simply forgot about the Haruna, which had already begun to sink, and forgot about the heavy cruiser Aoba, which had been turned into a sieve by the American planes not long after the battle had begun. He began to fantasize about his Kongō as a wolf among sheep, a magnificent sight. After fantasizing for a while, Kurita pulled his thoughts from the beautiful void and began to reorganize his battered fleet, to move closer to the battleship Fusō on the flank.

And at this time, Koga Mineichi, who had claimed he was going to launch a pincer attack on the American navy with Kurita’s fleet, had also begun to lead his own massive fleet and to speed in another direction, preparing to find a better attack position before dark, to annihilate the U.S. Navy in one fell swoop.

At this very moment, the Japanese fleet was like a giant, its arms outstretched, swinging two heavy punches from the left and right, preparing to beat the U.S. Navy in front of it into a pulp. But the U.S. fleet was still meeting every move with a counter-move, frantically sending out its carrier planes, hoping to sink more Japanese warships before dark, to seal its own victory.

On the bridge of the American fleet, General Spruance had just received the intelligence brought back by the reconnaissance planes from his air arm. He knew that the Japanese vanguard fleet from just now was in rout, and that the Japanese carrier fleet behind it had exposed its position.

“General! Let’s start to withdraw. We have already achieved the combat result of sinking one of the enemy’s battleships…” his staff officer, who was by his side, said, looking at the sea chart and advising his superior with some concern. “Time is very unfavorable for us. If we continue to attack recklessly, then the night will cause us to suffer even greater losses.”

Spruance looked at the Japanese naval positions that had been marked on the sea chart, and then shifted his gaze to the empty sea on the other side. He guessed that there would be another Japanese fleet there, and that that fleet was also a fatal threat. To retreat now was clearly very advantageous for the U.S. Navy, but the order he had just received made it very difficult for him to make the decision to retreat. The situation in the Atlantic theater had deteriorated, and that terrifying opponent, the German Navy, had finally caught its breath and was beginning to sortie and stir up trouble.

“Tom, I hear the carrier Essex will be launched soon?” Suddenly, Spruance asked about another topic. “And we’re building these carriers very quickly, with ten of them under construction at the same time?”

“General?” The staff officer, Tom, was taken aback by Spruance’s question, and then looked at his commander in confusion.

“What I mean is, even if we all die in battle here, in a few months, America will be able to build another huge fleet like this?” Spruance asked calmly.

“I understand, General! Continue to launch the carrier planes. Attack the Japanese carrier fleet!” The staff officer, named Tom, looked at General Spruance and suddenly smiled. “General Halsey, this time, will not be saying that you are too cautious.”

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