Chapter 16, The Story of Three Principals "You and I are like cherry blossoms blooming at the same time in the courtyard of the same military academy.
I have long had the awareness to give up immediately, and for the sake of the motherland, let’s disperse calmly.”
At the Etajima Naval Academy in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, normal classes have been completely suspended these days.
School students of all grades, senior graduates who have fled from various places on ships, as well as some professors and ordinary sailors, gather on the playground all day long, giving various speeches and debates, or just sitting around Drinking soju, while singing "Sakura of the same period", the song is miserable and weak, which makes people frown.
After some people were drunk, they even hugged a tree with both hands and banged their heads against the tree trunk crazily.
Or they stared blankly at the sky covered with rain clouds and beat the moss on the concrete floor with their fists in grief and indignation.
Listening to the cherry blossom songs that sounded from time to time on the playground outside the window, as well as all kinds of drunken scoldings and roars, Admiral Takeo Kurita, the principal of the Etajima Naval War School, sitting behind his desk, was wearing reading glasses and holding a cup of cold water.
After drinking the strong tea, I only felt a slight pain in my brain.
What can I do?
Everything is over.
The war is hopeless.
The pathetic navy, the pathetic empire, and the pathetic achievements of more than 70 years since the Meiji Restoration of Japan may all be in vain.
The Japanese archipelago will also linger under the enslavement of the US military and will never recover.
Oh, forget it, it’s always a good thing to have the energy to sing.
At least it’s slightly better than committing seppuku or living like a walking zombie.
As a senior bureaucrat, General Takeo Kurita has never been a very courageous guy.
He is similar to Chuichi Nagumo, the commander of the Wugang garrison not far away.
He is an old man in officialdom whose edges have been smoothed by time.
Because their combat skills were mediocre and they had performed poorly in a series of previous naval battles, and even shrunk their hands and missed the opportunity to fight, these two old men were kicked out of the front line and sent to the rear to take up relatively quiet idle positions.
To be honest, they are tired of the long and cruel war, and they are eager to withdraw from this turbulent era.
After learning that Tokyo and the entire central government had been razed to the ground by the atomic bomb, and that there was no one above their heads to give them orders, Kurita Takeo and Nagumo Chuichi's reactions were that they were completely confused and had no idea what to do.
I just listen to the radio every day to get news.
A few days later, I heard that a Japanese provisional government had emerged in Kyoto.
It was led by former Prime Minister Konoe Fumima.
General Nagumo Chudai, the commander of the Wugang garrison, didn't think much about it and subconsciously obeyed.
The order instructs the naval fleet to cease resistance, seal up ships and weapons, and prepare to surrender to the US military.
As for the principal of the Etajima Naval War School, Takeo Kurita, at that time, he actually had no intention of jumping up and crusade against the "pseudo government" in Kyoto.
He just felt that his current identity was an educator and he did not have any military power, so as long as he kept silent That's fine, no need to talk too much.
Unexpectedly, although the two old men thought it was okay to say goodbye to the war, the young people below had completely different ideas.
The order to surrender the US military immediately triggered a riot at the Etajima Naval Academy, and then a mutiny broke out in the army near Wu Port.
After some chaos, Nagumo Chuichi saw that the situation was out of control, and immediately jumped out without responsibility.
I ran away and now I don’t know where I went.
Some of the ships in Wu Port immediately weighed anchor and went to sea, preparing to defect to the main force of the combined fleet in Nanyang.
The remaining people subconsciously gathered at their alma mater, wanting to discuss a countermeasure with their teachers and classmates.
As a result, as the principal of the Etajima Naval War School, Admiral Kurita Takeo was involuntarily elected as the temporary leader of the Japanese naval force in the Hiroshima area before he could figure out what was going on.
A few days later, more and more ships fled to Etajima from various places, and the Etajima Naval War School was soon packed to the brim.
Just arranging food, accommodation and medical treatment for so many people made Kurita Takeo very busy.
Next, Ozawa Jisaburo, the president of Tokyo Naval University, also came to Etajima with his students who survived the nuclear explosion and the entire Yokosuka garrison fleet.
After being given a slap in the face by Ozawa Jisaburo, Kurita Keno finally understood what role he was currently playing: roughly equivalent to Enomoto who took the shogunate fleet and the Shinsengumi north to Ezo when the Tokugawa shogunate fell.
Admiral Wu Yang, although he has never actually moved away.
However, in the face of this historical mission that came from heaven, instead of getting excited, Takeo Kurita only felt infinite fear.
"Kurita-kun, the situation is obvious now.
The whole of Japan is looking at Etajima and us, men from the sea country."
Principal Ozawa Jisaburo clenched his fists and banged on the map of Japan nailed to the wall, with a look of hatred on his face, "I went to Hiroshima yesterday to meet with the Army people, Umezu Meijiro and Okamura Neji.
We are preparing to re-establish a wartime base camp in Hiroshima and lead the empire's war against the United States.
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It is necessary for our navy to join in as soon as possible.
We must make our voices heard in the new base camp and not let the army monopolize power."
"Umezu Yoshijiro has withdrawn the Kwantung Army to the mainland," Kurita Takeo hesitated and asked in a low voice.
"Yes, the Kwantung Army, the North China Front Army, the Korean Army, and the Home Army in the western region are all gathering towards Hiroshima."
"So what about Manchukuo and Okamura's North China Defense Zone?"
Kurita Takeo asked again.
"Japan is about to be lost.
How can we care about Manchuria?"
Ozawa Jisaburo sighed.
"The Army reached a secret agreement with the Soviet Union, that is, they unconditionally gave up all occupied areas north of the Yalu River, including Port Arthur and Dalian, and must not evacuate before evacuating Destroy any infrastructure.
The Soviet Union will try to work through the Chinese Red Army to ensure that the retreat of the Kwantung Army and the North China Front Army will not be hindered.
Then, the immigrants from the Manchuria Development Corps will also gradually move into North Korea to fight against China. , had to give it all up.”
"It is true that we have no choice but to give up, and we have no choice but to give up: the Taiwan Army and the Fourth Division in Shanghai have both surrendered directly to the enemy."
Kurita Takeo nodded, "Well, in this case, Umezu Yoshijiro can probably gather 200,000 to 300,000 troops in Hiroshima."
"In fact, the Kwantung Army alone is enough to wipe out the domestic rebels, but if we want to fight against Halsey's U.S.
Pacific Fleet, we must still rely on our navy, Kurita-kun.
In order to save the motherland, let's do it together."
Ozawa Jizaburo shouted, waving his fist.
However, Admiral Takeo Kurita, who was nicknamed "Escape Kurita" in Japanese naval circles and was once famous for driving a battleship and being chased by torpedo boats all over the world, obviously did not have such ambitions.
His first reaction was Shivering, "But, can we fight?"
"We have to fight no matter what.
No matter what, we are far from being at the end of our rope."
Ozawa Jisaburo raised his voice an octave again, "Kurita-kun, even if we don't count Maizuru Fort in the Sea of Japan and Sasebo Fort in Kyushu Island, we still have more than 500,000 tons in Wu Port and Etajima Island alone. combat ships and at least 10,000 naval aircraft from Shikoku The huge sealed naval ammunition depots in the Shimayama area store 160,000 tons of cannonballs and explosives.
In the more than 40 giant oil storage tanks on the shores of Tokuyama Bay in the Seto Inland Sea, there are at least Six hundred thousand tons of various types of fuel are enough for us to fight for at least half a year."
Although Principal Ozawa Jisaburo kept encouraging him, Principal Kurita Keno still felt a little lack of confidence: On paper, the current Etajima Naval Academy, or the Wugang garrison can be basically regarded as the same place from the map.
It is indeed very powerful.
It not only has a complete shipyard and maintenance workshop, but also has a huge stockpile of Ammunition and fuel, sufficient naval personnel who have not graduated, and a quite powerful fleet and thousands of aircraft have been assembled in these days.
It seems that relying on the geographical advantages of local operations and the coastal defense fortresses built over many years, it should be able to follow Halsey's fleet competed.
But take a closer look and see what kind of ships are moored at Etajima right now.
First, there are the four battleships Haruna, Kongo, Ise, and Hinata, the four aircraft carriers Amagi, Katsuragi, Hosho, and Ryuho, and a modified aircraft carrier Condor in Sasebo, which should be able to be mobilized during the war.
But they are basically old ships that have lagged behind for a long time, and their combat effectiveness is really unflattering.
Then came the cruisers Iwate, Izumo, Aoba, Tone, Yakumo, Kashima, Kitakami and Oyodo, followed by sixty-six large and small destroyers, but half of them were old destroyers that needed major modifications before they could be used. , which are thirty or forty years old, and even have legacies from the Russo-Japanese War.
Next, there are 60 equally outdated coastal defense ships, 17 submarines of various kinds, more than 150 torpedo boats, and more than 100 gunboats that can only be used as maritime police.
Due to the collapse of the command system, Many ships have spontaneously parked in the shadows under the rocks on the seashore to avoid bombing by American aircraft: some old ships do not even have an anti-aircraft gun, not to mention an anti-aircraft machine gun.
How can they conduct air defense operations?
There is no way, the elite main force of the Japanese navy is now in Truk in Southeast Asia, and there is only a pile of messy junk here on the mainland.
What's even worse is that the command system of the Japanese Navy has already been bombarded by atomic bombs.
Just relying on two unjust principals, Kurita Takeo and Ozawa Jisaburo, can really destroy all the strategic materials hoarded by the Imperial Navy.
I have them all in my hands and can command them Not to mention the crowds of people who came from all over the world, just because they wanted to get fuel from the military supply department in Tokuyama Bay and fill the tanks of the ships gathered in Wu Port waters, Admiral Takeo Kurita asked The skin of the mouth is worn out and the strength of the old nose is wasted.
As for the artillery shells, bullets and firearms in the naval ammunition depot on Shikoku Island, as well as the canned food and rice in the food depot, Kurita Takeo really doubted whether he had to fight with the person in charge of the warehouse before he could get them.
Nowadays, there are many greedy people, especially those in charge of warehouses, who only think about how to embezzle public property.
"Ozawa-kun, you are too optimistic.
The ancient Greek philosopher said that a group of mobs is not equal to an army, just as a pile of building materials is not equal to a house.
In the same way, a group of warships alone is not equal to a fleet with combat effectiveness.
Without the authority of the headquarters, the Navy Ministry and the Military Command, there is no We have a complete staff team to direct our fleet operations.
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Without the local government to provide us with supplies and early warning, it is impossible to act decently with just these aircraft and warships in Etajima, as well as these ungraduated students in the school.
I’ll fight on the ground,” Takeo Kurita said with a wry smile.
"It's been so many days, Kurita-kun.
Haven't you even set up a temporary headquarters and staff organization?
There is no shortage of professionals here in Etajima."
This time it was Ozawa Jisaburo's turn to be surprised, "What on earth are you doing these days?"
What happened?”
"Provide food and accommodation for those who are escaping one after another, fill up their ships with fuel and supplies, provide treatment for the wounded and sick, and divide and arrange berths for the ships.
Fortunately, ammunition does not need to be replenished for the time being.
Basically, no ship is sailing.
After a few shots," Kurita Takeo replied.
"Are you treating them as earthquake victims?"
Ozawa Jisaburo suddenly choked and almost couldn't breathe.
"Kurita-kun, do you realize that we are at war now?"
"I know, so I sent students to take over the early warning radar, pulled up torpedo protection nets at the port, and deployed anti-aircraft guns."
General Takeo Kurita spread his hands, "But so far, American planes have not visited this place once.
It is because the observation post's eyesight in the air is not good enough, and it has almost brought down our own planes several times."
"In other words, there is no fleet headquarters on Etajima now, only an air defense headquarters."
Ozawa Jisaburo couldn't help rolling his eyes, "Well, we still have a little time, we should have time to rebuild the fleet's command system."
"Well, it seems that it is indeed necessary to control the fleet.
It cannot always be such a mess.
However, we really must continue to fight.
The navy used to fight to be loyal to the emperor, but now why is it going to death?"
Principal Takeo Kurita His attitude was still very hesitant.
"If the U.S. military is still overseas, of course I am willing to solve the problem through peace talks.
But now that the U.S. military has landed on the mainland of the archipelago, it is obvious that it wants to kill us all.
There is no way we can stop fighting unless we immediately attack Shen Battleship, take off this military uniform."
Ozawa Jisaburo's expression was also extremely complicated, "Otherwise we should fight for this country.
Even if we attack from across the ocean, it is impossible to defend the enemy from outside the country.
But to defend the Seto Inland Sea, at least don't let the U.S.
Navy land.
The team's boots stepped on Etajima, this is always It should be possible, right?
The land under our feet is not some deserted island in the South Seas whose name we can't even pronounce, but the sacred homeland of the Japanese nation for generations.
Has the Imperial Navy degenerated to the embarrassment of the shogunate era?
Can Western warships be allowed to come and go freely in the Seto Inland Sea?
There is a poem by Du Fu in the Tang Dynasty of China: The country has been destroyed by mountains and rivers, but we can never destroy the country.
With the weakness of the Qing Dynasty and the mediocrity of the Manchu court, the Beiyang Navy still had the courage to fight with our fleet until the last moment.
If after the combined fleet failed in the war, most of the warships and the naval ports were handed over to the enemy intact, even as if they were new, without firing a single shot, it would be the greatest shame for Japanese men."
Even though Ozawa Jisaburo spoke so impassioned and righteous, he looked as if he was about to sacrifice his life for justice.
But Kurita Takeo was still full of war-weariness and didn't want to die at all.
Not only did he not want to die, he also didn't want his subordinates and students to die.
From the beginning, he just wanted to protect this school and let as many subordinates and students as possible survive in this war that was coming to an end.
Seemingly unable to convince Kurita Takeo for the moment, Ozawa Jisaburo could only shrug his shoulders and turned to ask about the situation of the main force of the combined fleet in Truk Atoll.
"After Truk confirmed the death of Marshal Yamamoto Isoroku, some communications came in intermittently, but there was not much valuable information.
I only know that they are assembling the main fleet to Truk and electing a marshal.
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The next person in charge after death"
At this moment, the phone on Principal Kurita Takeo's desk suddenly rang, interrupting him.
So, Kurita Keno made an apology gesture to Ozawa Jisaburo, and then answered the phone.
Then Kurita Keno's expression became more and more weird.
Finally, he put down the phone and said to Ozawa Jisaburo in a subtle tone, "United Fleet The new acting commander-in-chief has been elected.”
"Who is Kondo Nobutake, Toyota's deputy Koga Hoiichi, or Horikichi who presides over Nanyang Heavy Industries?"
Ozawa Jisaburo asked.
"I guessed it all wrong.
It's Admiral Narumi Inoue, the principal of the newly established Nanyang Truk branch of the Imperial Naval War School.
Alas, the entire Imperial Navy has millions of tons of ships and more than 300,000 troops.
Now it's actually the three of us.
The principal is giving instructions.
Is this a joke?"
And Ozawa Jisaburo's reaction was obviously even more intense, "Inoue Narumi, why the hell is this Zhao Kuo of the Japanese Navy?
How could the Combined Fleet Command of Truk, a frequently defeated scholar who only knows how to talk on paper, elect such a new commander?"
"Well, I can't pretend that I didn't hear this, you two."
Before Ozawa Jisaburo finished speaking, he was stunned to see General Narumi Inoue, wearing a white military uniform, pushing open the door and walking in.
Kurita Takeo: "" Ozawa Jisaburo: "" Facing Inoue Narumi who suddenly appeared, the two principals first blinked in disbelief, then looked at each other, and finally turned their heads together and asked the third principal who had just entered in unison: "Inoue-kun, you How did you come from Truk?"
Inoue Narumi blinked her eyes and was about to say something to the two principals when she suddenly heard a low sound of an engine coming from far above her head, and a sharp air raid siren also sounded immediately.
Her expression changed involuntarily.
"We don't have time to talk about this, it's air raids and run away."
The next moment, a bright and huge fireball and a deafening explosion engulfed the campus of Etajima Naval War School almost instantly oshow7: