Iron Cross

Regarding the specific situation of the US aircraft carrier, Cole told the top Japanese navy officials what Hoffman said: After the Battle of the East Solomons, the USS Enterprise was severely damaged and was forced to go to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for a month-long overhaul. The main force in the area became three aircraft carrier task forces with the USS Wasp, USS Saratoga and USS Hornet as the core. On August 31, the Saratoga was damaged by a torpedo launched by the Japanese submarine "I-26" and required three months of repairs. On September 14, the Hu Feng was damaged by three torpedoes launched by the Japanese submarine "I-19". Torpedoed, she was eventually abandoned and scuttled after damage control teams were unable to contain the ensuing fire. Throughout the second half of September, the U.S. Navy had only one aircraft carrier, which was called the "September Crisis"—this was the time when the U.S. aircraft carrier formation was at its weakest after Pearl Harbor. By late October, the Enterprise, which had undergone emergency repairs, returned to the South Pacific waters. Although the U.S. aircraft carrier fleet in the Pacific has recovered somewhat, the number is still only two, and only one aircraft carrier, the Hornet, is intact. At this time, Japan still had two air fleets, including the Shokaku, Zuikaku, and Zuiho ships in the 1st Air Force, and the Hayabusa and Flying Eagle in the 2nd Air Force (originally there were also Ryujo light aircraft carriers, Sunk in battle at the end of August), a total of two large and three small aircraft carriers. The comparison of the number of aircraft carriers on both sides is 2:5, and the number of carrier-based aircraft is about 169:280.

"Based on the above factors, this commander has decided to mobilize all warships near the Truk Sea area to advance to the Guadalcanal Sea area and seek a decisive battle against the US aircraft carrier formation." Horikichi glanced at everyone with bright eyes and said word by word, " This battle was personally commanded by me, and I led all warships, including the Yamato, to attack, with the Yamato as the overall flagship."

Use Yamato? Everyone was confused. This was something that had never happened since the war began. Someone immediately retorted: "But the Yamato is a symbol of the Imperial Navy and cannot be used lightly."

"Why not?" Horikichi said solemnly, "Battleships are built for fighting, not for mooring at the anchorage as a hotel. Not to mention Yamato, if the Musashi that has completed its reorganization is here now, I would not care. Use hesitantly.”

The battleship Yamato has always been called the Yamato Hotel. The Combined Fleet Command maintains a luxurious life on it, which makes the base camp, especially the army, very uncomfortable.

"But...Your Majesty...the Navy Ministry...the Military Command Department has any different opinions?"

"Since I have been appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, I have the right to mobilize all warships. Before I took office, Yamamoto Kaixiang personally told me that the Navy Ministry would never interfere with military orders, and Commander-in-Chief Fushimi Miyahiro Yaowang also advocated the deployment of warships according to operational needs. All warships - even the Yamato won't let me use them, so I might as well resign early." Yamamoto Isoroku has always been very hesitant about using battleships, especially the Yamato, Nagato, Mutsu and other warships. Horitoshichi obviously. More courageous than him.

"We are afraid that if the battleships, especially Yamato, suffer losses, it will be detrimental to the commander."

"This is not something you should consider. This is an issue that the commander of the combined fleet should consider. Or do you think you need to help the commander shoulder this responsibility?"

"Don't dare!"

"Issuing combat orders now."

"What?" Everyone was shocked. They thought they were here to discuss how to proceed with the next battle, but they didn't expect that the commander had even thought of the battle order.

"Combat orders will be read out by Chief of Staff Kusanolu, and the detailed plan will be submitted to you before departure at dawn tomorrow."

"With the 1st and 2nd Fleet as the core, an artillery fleet is formed to attack the U.S. forces on Guadalcanal; with the 3rd Fleet as the core, a mobile fleet is formed to fight against the U.S. aircraft carrier formation. The artillery fleet is personally commanded by the commander-in-chief of the combined fleet, and the mobile fleet is It is commanded by Lieutenant General Tsukahara 243. When necessary, the artillery fleet will obey the operational requirements of the mobile fleet." Kusaka ignored the whispers in the venue and said, "The specific formation of the fleet is as follows..."

Artillery fleet organization

Overall flagship: Yamato

Team 2 (Battleship): Nagato, Mutsu, Fuso, Yamashiro

Team 4 (Heavy Cruiser): Atago, Maya, Kaohsiung

Team 5 (Heavy Cruiser): Myoko, Haguro

Team 6 (Heavy Cruiser): Aoba, Kinugasa

9th Squadron (Light Cruiser): Kitakami, Oi

Mobile fleet organization

Flagship: Xianghe

1st Air Force (Aircraft Carrier): Shokaku, Zuikaku, Zuifeng

2nd Air Force (Aircraft Carrier): Falcon, Flying Eagle

Team 3 (Battle Patrol): Kongo, Haruna, Hiei, Kirishima

Team 7 (Heavy Cruiser): Kumano, Suzuya, Mogami

Team 8 (Heavy Cruiser): Tone, Chikuma

Team 10 (light cruiser): Nagara (serves as the leader of the destroyer formation)

"The main change in this reorganization is to cancel the 11th battle group (Hiei, Kirishima) and organize it into the 3rd battle group, which will consist of 4 Kongou-class battlecruisers to form a mobile fleet for rapid escort. The rest remains unchanged, including destroyers and other ships. They will all be grouped according to the original fleet organization."

Nobutake Kondo thought: The strength of the artillery formation would be greatly weakened if two Kongo-class battle cruisers were missing. However, considering that the general flagship Yamato accompanied the artillery fleet, this loss of force was enough to make up for it, so he agreed.

But the second half of Horikichi's sentence made him unable to sit still: "The key to this operation is to discover the enemy first and strike first. Therefore, we plan to use the artillery fleet as a bait to induce the enemy aircraft carrier formation to be exposed, creating a new situation for our mobile fleet." Opportunity to destroy the enemy.”

Kondo Nobutake jumped up like a cat with its tail stepped on: "Sir, battleships are the main force of the decisive battle, and they cannot be thrown away lightly."

"In my mind, this operation is a decisive battle. If we cannot destroy the enemy aircraft carrier formation, our combat mission will fail completely, let alone the implementation of the Indian Ocean strategy..." Hori Teikichi said lightly.

"But..."

"No buts, follow the order, and I will take all the responsibilities alone." Hori Teikichi said generously.

"Yes!"

"The general code name of this operation: Operation Ten-go." Hori Teikichi said, "In view of the fact that the Imperial Code has been repeatedly deciphered by Britain and the United States, the headquarters decided to introduce hundreds of the latest cipher machines from Germany. 40 of the first 50 will be transferred to the Combined Fleet for use. After the meeting, they will be distributed to each battle group together with the latest code table, and it is imperative to ensure that all warships above the heavy cruiser level have one. In addition, from 12:00 tomorrow, all new codes will be activated. Before that, we must use the old code to reveal some news to the Americans, telling them that we are about to launch a counterattack."

What? Everyone was shocked. This should be a well-kept secret. Why did the commander say he would tell the Americans?

"If we don't tell the Americans, how can they send an aircraft carrier fleet to fight?" Hori Teikichi smiled slightly and turned to Kusaka Renji and said, "Organize the ships to send telegrams with the goal of counterattacking Port Moresby in New Guinea..."

Everyone laughed.