Chapter 1092: Musashi

Halsey certainly wasn’t laughing at Spruance for being a timid mouse, or for being overly cautious. On the contrary, after receiving the telegram from Spruance, he was silent for a few seconds, and then he suddenly burst out laughing: “Hahahaha. This Spruance, I like him!”

In fact, whether Halsey liked Spruance or not was not important, because Koga Mineichi did not like this typical American soldier who, even when he smiled, his mouth was slightly turned down. And he certainly did not like the U.S. Navy’s desperate style of attacking with all their might just before sunset.

This kind of desperate fighting style had always been the glorious tradition of the Japanese Navy. Now that the U.S. Navy was suddenly so uncharacteristically insistent on a decisive battle, it had made all the Japanese commanders feel at a loss. Koga Mineichi’s idea was actually very simple: he would encircle the American fleet from three sides, and then the Americans, seeing this, would begin a full-scale retreat. After time had been dragged into the night, he would begin to desperately pursue the American fleet, sink a few warships, and then, in the latter half of the night, he would use the cover of darkness to get away. What a good process and ending.

But the Americans had suddenly begun to attack with all their might, and Koga Mineichi was suddenly at a loss. Because the Japanese Navy’s intelligence had never been very accurate, for the Americans to suddenly launch an all-out attack at a time like this, was it because they had something to rely on? He didn’t know what the U.S. military was up to, whether it was a truly desperate gamble, or a huge trap.

While he was hesitating, the U.S. Navy was not idle. They had, as much as possible, begun to launch their planes, and were flying towards the direction of the Japanese Navy’s aircraft carrier force. These planes were loaded with torpedoes and heavy bombs, with the aim of, while it was still light, as much as possible, leaving the Japanese Navy’s few remaining carriers at the bottom of this sea.

“Send a telegram to General Kurita! Have his fleet immediately begin to turn to the southeast, to rapidly close with the American fleet! Quick!” Koga Mineichi realized that if his battleship force could not cause some trouble for the U.S. Navy, then before dark, his carrier fleet, which was covering the rear, would also be completely annihilated by the U.S. Navy.

At this time, he could no longer afford to worry about whether the U.S. Navy had any tricks up its sleeve, because if he let the U.S. Navy annihilate his carrier fleet, then this battle, just like Yamamoto Isoroku, he would have already, strategically, lost the war. Just like a gambler, if his stakes were all taken by the house, the first gambler to leave the table must be the one with the fewest chips. And unfortunately, Japan was that poor wretch with the fewest chips.

“Hai!” The adjutant, who was standing on Koga Mineichi’s left, quickly turned and went to the radio room to transmit his order. He walked extremely fast, because every one of these orders was related to the future fate of the country of Japan. A strange silence fell on the bridge. Standing on the battleship Yamato, one couldn’t even feel the swaying of the waves from under one’s feet. This huge warship, with a full-load displacement of over 70,000 tons, could be said to be the largest gun-battle machine ever built by man.

This was also Koga Mineichi’s greatest reliance. He knew that as long as they could enter the Yamato’s combat range, the American warships would surely be beaten so badly they couldn’t even fight back. At that time, the Japanese Navy would chase them all the way, until the entire American fleet was routed.

“Bakayaro! What the hell is going on? We’ve only just been sailing to the northeast for a little while, and now they’re sending us another order to turn to the southeast?” Koga Mineichi’s telegram had quickly reached Kurita Takeo’s hands, but this commander of the vanguard fleet was frowning at this moment, a little in disbelief of the telegram in his hand.

His fleet was still at least a dozen or so minutes away from rendezvousing with the support fleet that was on standby to the north. At this time, for his fleet to turn at full speed again would be to once again leave the support fleet’s slow battleship Fusō behind. And his fleet had just been through an air-defense battle. The dead, wounded, and damage were still being counted. In this situation, to have his troops go back into the fight, what kind of joke was this?

What made Kurita even more unwilling to accept was that this telegram had not explained why he was to go south. It was just a very vague order. Kurita Takeo held this order and thought it over and over. His mind was filled with the idea that Koga Mineichi was using him as bait.

It was no wonder Kurita was so suspicious. Koga Mineichi had changed his operational orders several times, and before that, he had also tricked Kurita’s fleet into facing the bombing of the American carrier planes alone. In combination with these things that had already happened, even if Kurita were to be broad-minded, he still had a feeling that Koga was “selling out his teammates.”

“If Marshal Yamamoto were commanding this battle, he would not have given such a childish operational order,” Kurita Takeo said, standing at his command post. With his hands behind his back, he crumpled the telegram in his palm, which was written with Commander Koga’s order, into a wrinkled ball.

In Japan, at the Kure Naval Base, Marshal of the Navy Yamamoto Isoroku, who had been idle at home ever since he had been relieved of his post, was, along with several officials from the Imperial General Headquarters, inspecting the battleship Musashi, which was under construction in the dock. His current position was that of an officer in the Japanese Navy’s logistics department, but he had not been assigned too much specific work.

And while the Japanese Navy was, in the waters near the Bismarck Archipelago, engaged in a large-scale, life-or-death battle with its opponent, Yamamoto Isoroku, as a Marshal of the Japanese Navy, was on land, enjoying the peaceful sunshine of his homeland.

“Your Excellency, Marshal, the battleship Musashi will complete its fitting-out in three months, and the battleship Shinano will also be launched and commissioned soon after. At that time, the Great Japanese Empire will possess three of the world’s most powerful battleships, and the U.S. Navy will be no match for us,” an accompanying officer said, standing on the pier where the Musashi was docked. He pointed at the Musashi, which was in the process of having its electronic equipment and other small equipment installed, and boasted proudly to Yamamoto.

That’s if the Americans agree to it. If the Yamato is sunk by the Americans this time, where are you idiots going to find three invincible battleships to put together? And, the world’s most powerful battleship, can it really make the U.S. Navy no match for us?

Yamamoto Isoroku said nothing. He just looked at the huge battleship Musashi, his heart full of worry, as he thought about how to get Japan’s vast but weak shipbuilding industry to shift to something truly useful as soon as possible. While the United States was, in succession, starting construction on a full 10 Essex-class aircraft carriers, the Japanese Navy was still tightening its belt for two battleships. This was truly a regrettable scene.

“Your Excellency, Marshal, you seem to be so worried. Are you worried about Admiral Koga Mineichi’s fleet?” another officer asked, seeing Yamamoto’s preoccupation. “Please rest assured, His Majesty the Emperor and the goddess Amaterasu will bless the Imperial Navy, and its military fortunes will be long-lasting.”

“His Majesty the Emperor blesses everyone’s military fortunes to be long-lasting,” Yamamoto Isoroku said with some emotion. “It is just that we must all use our own lives and spirits to respond to His Majesty’s blessing and care! The Combined Fleet is at war on the sea. As an admiral of the Imperial Navy, I cannot help but be concerned.”

“Hai! Your Excellency, Marshal, you are right,” the two officers said, immediately bowing in reverence at the mention of His Majesty the Emperor. “But we have heard that Admiral Koga Mineichi’s fleet is very strong, strong enough to annihilate the U.S. Navy and to turn the tide of the Pacific war.”

Nagumo Chuichi, in my absence from the front, everything depends on you. Do not disappoint me, and do not disappoint His Majesty the Emperor. Looking at the sea in the distance, Yamamoto Isoroku lamented in his heart. He silently prayed, prayed that the Japanese Navy could get through this difficult time, and could make its own contribution to the eternal prosperity of the Empire.

A few days ago, he had visited the Japanese Navy’s primary flight training base. There, he had seen a group of children who still had a baby-faced look. They were all willing to swear to be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, to be willing to fly their planes with their not-so-skilled techniques, to crash into the American warships, to turn the current disadvantage around.

Although the high command had repeatedly publicized that this “shattering of jade” suicide attack was a heroic act that was sufficient to change the tide of the war, Yamamoto Isoroku knew that this kind of ramming could only cause trouble for the U.S. Navy. These boys, who had only trained in formation flight twice, how could they possibly break through the American carrier-based fighter screen, which even the elite Japanese pilots could not break through?

“I hope Koga-kun can, for our Empire, create the miracle that I was not able to,” Yamamoto muttered in a low voice, his brow furrowed, as he faced the sea breeze. By his side, not far away, the diligent Japanese shipbuilders were installing some parts on the deck of the battleship Musashi.

“Hmph, in fact, our Navy is already doing not bad. At least we are still on the strategic counter-offensive,” the officer behind him, who had just been boasting about the invincibility of the Musashi, said, seeing that the Marshal’s mood was a little down. He quickly tried to console him, “It’s the Army that’s a real disgrace. I hear that the westward advance strategy, which Tojo personally presided over, has been routed by the Chinese army. Let alone Wuhan, they almost lost Hukou…”

“Exactly. I hear they’re even blaming it on the Navy, saying that there weren’t enough ships to cover them along the river, and that it was our Navy that was deliberately uncooperative…” To sling mud at the Army was something that everyone in the Navy was willing to do. And so the other officer quickly added, “How can they blame us? Who doesn’t know that during the Battle of Shanghai, the Chinese army sank so many ships at the mouth of the Yangtze River that our warships couldn’t get in at all?”

“Alright. If you have time to talk about this, you’d be better off going and checking the fuel reserve situation here! Our war is still going to go on for a long time. The Navy of the Great Japanese Empire cannot lose to anyone!” Yamamoto Isoroku said, his hand on his officer’s sword. He strode away, and his subordinates, who did not dare to say another word, followed him, leaving the busy pier, leaving the battleship Musashi, which was still being fitted out.

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