Chapter 769: A Shred of Dignity

“Crash!” In the temporary command post of the Japanese Navy Marshal on the Marshall Islands, Yamamoto Isoroku smashed the wine glass in his hand onto the floor. His anger had now swelled to an unparalleled degree. If it weren’t for the presence of his many subordinates, he probably would have started cursing on the spot.

After waiting bitterly for the American Navy’s counter-attack at Midway, the U.S. Navy had in the end played the turtle. The anticipated hot-headed assault on Midway by the U.S. Navy had not materialized. Yamamoto had also realized that the U.S. Navy was likely to adopt the most correct tactic to wear down Japan.

And so, he had to make the greatest effort before defeat to seize more fighting capital for Japan. As long as they could create a stalemate on the battlefield, the arduous war would also make the Americans choose a temporary peace. Yamamoto believed that the Americans would eventually compromise, but Japan could not now fantasize about winning the war without paying any price. The best outcome for Japan now was to use a brutal battlefield to exhaust America’s will to fight.

After much thought, Yamamoto had decided to use the same naval guerrilla warfare that the Americans had used to buy time, to train his own replacement personnel while at the same time wearing down the effective strength of the U.S. Navy. Therefore, Yamamoto Isoroku had made a bold decision: to abandon Midway and head south, to first help the Japanese army in the south achieve a decisive victory in Australia, and then to head north to find trouble with the U.S. Navy.

But who could have imagined that in Yamamoto’s mind, the U.S. Navy, which was already cunning to the extreme, and the U.S. naval commander Nimitz, who had been playing the turtle for almost a month, would, on the 9th day after the Combined Fleet had headed south and just arrived at the Marshall Islands, resolutely launch the second Battle of Midway.

“Bakayaro! The Japanese Navy has just headed south and has only been in the Marshall Islands for a few days? The Americans already know the specific location of our main force! The U.S. Navy fleet, which previously didn’t even dare to go to Midway, has just appeared in the waters near Midway! What are you people in intelligence work eating for a living?” The first to be reprimanded was the department responsible for intelligence security. For the U.S. Navy to launch an attack so decisively, it must have had sufficient intelligence support. If the Americans had obtained the intelligence they wanted, then it proved that Japan’s own intelligence work was not very good.

“Hai!” Several of the Japanese naval generals in charge of the intelligence war in the South Seas all stood up and bowed their heads at attention before Yamamoto Isoroku. After all, the failure of the intelligence department was already an established fact. To argue now would be of no use and would only give Yamamoto a bad impression.

Apart from the intelligence department, what made Yamamoto even more furious was that before the battle for Kauai, Spruance had headed south to the Marshall Islands and had caused considerable trouble for the Japanese Navy, forcing Yamamoto’s Combined Fleet to head south to drive off this American task force, thereby missing the best opportunity for the decisive battle at Kauai.

Now, when the Japanese Navy was using this trick in reverse, it had completely failed to pin down the U.S. Navy. Instead, it had wasted time and depleted its forces, and the entire fleet had not had time to rest and refit. The same tactic, used by different people, had had completely different effects.

In fact, this was also very easy to explain. First, because the U.S. Navy at the time was mainly engaged in commerce raiding and surprise attacks, its main purpose was to disrupt Japan’s maritime transport lines. To put it bluntly, it was to cause trouble everywhere, so its movements were naturally erratic, flexible, and not easy to intercept. Second, because the U.S. Navy was equipped with a more advanced radar system, which was sufficient to allow the American fleet to avoid the Japanese fleet and achieve the goal of running away in advance.

The strategic objective of the Japanese Navy, however, was not destruction and raiding, but permanent occupation. So its shipping routes were relatively fixed, and the location of its main force was also easier to determine than when the U.S. Navy had headed south.

Putting these aside, there were now two choices before Yamamoto Isoroku. One was to head north to seek a strategic showdown, to fight a battle of destiny with the U.S. Navy in the waters of Midway. The other was to continue to play the turtle in the South Seas and watch as the U.S. Navy took Midway.

The entire Combined Fleet had rushed south to the Marshalls, and then had immediately detached a battleship squadron and a carrier squadron to provide support for the Japanese army operating in northern Australia. They had had no rest for several days. To rashly head north at this time to fight a decisive battle with the U.S. Navy was not a good idea.

At the same time, Yamamoto Isoroku was also unwilling to give up Midway. After all, its location was too important. As an important island base in the central Pacific, it could be said to be an important bridgehead for containing the American offensive and expanding the maritime operational range of the Combined Fleet. If it were to be given to the U.S. Navy, the operational space of the Combined Fleet would be reduced by half, which was something the Japanese naval high command was unwilling to see.

One should not underestimate this inconspicuous little island. At the very least, with this island in its hands, the Japanese Navy could better protect its northern defense line. This way, the Japanese army could deploy troops to Australia more safely and efficiently. And Japan’s future, only on the basis of completely integrating China, Australia, and the entire Southeast Asia, would it have a chance to even barely compete with the United States.

Unlike America’s formidable resources, Japan had no territory it could afford to lose. Australia was its strategic buffer zone, and the South Sea islands and Southeast Asia behind it were Japan’s raw material bases. In addition, China had been tying down more than half of the Japanese army. At a glance, the so-called Japanese occupied territories were like a house full of holes, with fatal flaws everywhere.

If Midway were lost, and the Japanese Navy’s Combined Fleet were forced to contract backwards, then the Marshall Islands and Wake Island, having lost control of the sea, would have to face the harassment of the U.S. Navy directly, and the situation for the army protruding into Australia would be even worse. Once Australia was lost, Japan would not be far from defeat.

“Assemble the fleet in two days. Use the first option of the original withdrawal plan to rendezvous in the waters near Wake Island,” Yamamoto finally chose the lesser of two evils. Gritting his teeth, he ordered the Combined Fleet to assemble in the waters near Wake Island and head north for a decisive battle with the U.S. Navy fleet. “Midway must not be given up under any circumstances. I have a premonition that the Battle of Midway will become the most important battle in the Pacific theater!”

It seemed that fate was at play. The Japanese naval forces, which had escaped the disastrous defeat of the first Battle of Midway, now had to go back to this somewhat inauspicious place for Japan. They were more tired than when they had first arrived there, and the advantage of their weapons was also weaker.

Yamamoto Isoroku instinctively sensed the danger, but he still had to go and fight a proper battle with the U.S. Navy. After all, the teacher of the Japanese Navy, the British Navy, advocated the idea of engaging the enemy on sight. The Japanese Navy had relied on this idea to win all its previous wars. This time, there was no reason to change their thinking. As long as they defeated the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet in front of them, everything would go back to how it was a few months ago, and the thousand-year reign of the Great Japanese Empire would not be a dream.

“Gentlemen, pray. Pray that His Majesty the Emperor can bless us, that the military fortunes of the Great Japanese Empire will be long-lasting!” Yamamoto stood up, looked at all the Japanese generals and officers present, and said slowly, “This war is a decisive battle that concerns our future. I hope you can forget all the unpleasantness, cooperate sincerely, and fight for the most glorious victory for our nation!”

“Hai!” On both sides of the conference table, all the generals and officers stood up, bowed their heads at attention, and answered Yamamoto Isoroku’s expectations.

And while Yamamoto Isoroku was preparing to send his troops to Midway, the positions on the island were already being pounded by the heavy guns of the U.S. Navy. Ando’s troops had never fought under such harsh coastal defense conditions. For a moment, the morale of the army even showed signs of instability.

“Baka! Why are these American bastards only shelling and not attacking? What are they trying to do?” a Japanese sergeant major cursed, his face a mask of misery in the trench. Beside him, next to a broken Type 92 heavy machine gun, the bodies of two Japanese soldiers, their faces covered in blood, were still steaming. A shell had just hit this machine gun position, taking the lives of five Japanese soldiers.

“Sergeant Major… I can already feel His Majesty the Emperor’s summons. I’m not going to make it. I’m about to die. Don’t waste any more medicine to save me. Please give me a warrior’s dignity,” a first-class private lying in the trench wailed. His leg was gone, and the blood had stained his khaki uniform red. The wounds on his body made him look extremely wretched, but his words were still firm.

The sergeant major put down the binoculars hanging on his chest and turned his head to look at his comrade. This soldier was a veteran of many battles who had killed more than 10 Chinese soldiers on the Chinese front. Unfortunately, he could now only lie there, without even the strength to commit suicide.

“Asami-kun… your family…” The sergeant major was clearly reluctant. Their wars had always gone smoothly, and they had rarely suffered such heavy casualties. Therefore, that kind of large-scale “glorious self-sacrifice” had not yet appeared, and the atmosphere on the battlefield was still relatively normal.

The only truly disastrous defeat for Japan had been the Battle of Kauai. And because no survivors from that battle had returned to friendly forces, it had not caused much of a stir. The myth of the Great Japanese Empire’s invincibility was still alive, and the matter of bloodshed and sacrifice, after all, one only knew its tragedy and horror after experiencing it firsthand.

“Sergeant Major… give me a shred of dignity…” The soldier closed his eyes, but from the expression on his face, one could still feel the excruciating pain he was experiencing.

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