When the news reached the "Yamato Hotel" in Rabaul that the flotilla carrying the headquarters of the 17th Army, the headquarters of the 6th Division, and part of the officers and men of the 6th Division had been attacked by air raids and that almost all of the troops had been wiped out and only two special gunboats had survived, Isoroku Yamamoto was holding a banquet to entertain Lieutenant General Shigetoku Kuroda, chief of the General Staff of the Southern Army, who had arrived from Singapore.
The Southern Army is the so-called general army establishment, which is equivalent to the German front command or the Soviet Union's direction command, and the strength is very strong, currently under the jurisdiction of 4 front armies, 9 corps, 3 directly administered armies, 1 aviation army, a total of 38 divisions, 1 tank division, 22 independent mixed brigades, 3 flying divisions, 1 maritime mobile brigade, about 720,000 officers and men.
At present, the Southern Army of the Japanese Empire is responsible for the navy, and the army is the responsibility of the Southern Army.
The southward march to Australia was the ultimate battle for the Japanese Empire's southward march, and the operations on land were still under the command of the Southern Army.
Shigetoku Kuroda came to Rabaul from Singapore, where the headquarters of the Southern Army was located, in order to discuss with the commander of the Combined Fleet, Isoroku Yamamoto, the matter of the relocation of the Southern Army Headquarters, and the next focus of the Southern Army was undoubtedly Australia, so the commander of the Southern Army, Marshal Terauchi Shouichi, believed that the headquarters should be moved to Rabaul, which was close to the front and was also the anchorage of the Combined Fleet.
This will not only make it easier to grasp the situation at the front, but also facilitate the confrontation with the shameless navy.
Although there has always been a relatively large contradiction between the Japanese Navy and the Army, the contradiction is not on the face, and Yamamoto Isoroku is also a relatively easy person to get along with.
Therefore, he still gave the army a high standard of reception, and put a full set of French meals in the commander's hall, seafood soup, steak, lobster, foie gras, caviar, etc., and Lafite, which was open for 82 years, was in 1882, which really gave Kuroda, a big red deer with a deep brain, a deep understanding of how the shameless navy squandered public funds.
Just when the guests and hosts were pushing their glasses and changing glasses, and eating and drinking were in the mood, a staff officer pushed the door in a panic, and then leaned over the ear of the chief staff officer of the fleet, Kuroshima Kameto, and muttered a few words in a low voice, and then saw that Kuroshima's face suddenly changed greatly, and he opened his mouth wide, completely stunned.
After a while, I heard him ask loudly, "Has this been confirmed?"
Then the staff officer said: "It has been confirmed several times, it is absolutely true" Yamamoto Fifty-six saw Kuroshima's gaffe, frowned and asked, "Kuroshima-kun, what's wrong?"
"Commander, the 17th ship that transported the 21st Army was hit by an air raid and suffered heavy losses" "What Kuroshima-kun, you said air raids" Yamamoto Fifty-six rubbed his eyes, and then stared at the iron-faced Kuroshima Kameto, as if to make sure that the other party was drunk If Kuroshima had reported that the 17th ship transporting the 21st Army had been attacked by a submarine, Yamamoto Isoroku would not have felt that Kuroshima was drunk.
But how could it be possible to attack the 21 ship from the mainland, taking the "safe route" of Rabaul on the mainland island of Saipan.
How could it be attacked by an air raid from where the planes came from "Commander, it's really an air raid," Kuroshima Kameto said anxiously and quickly, "The Oyomaru and four other two or three thousand ton cargo ships were all blown up and sunk, and only two special gunboats of several hundred tons survived, and now the sea is full of officers and soldiers of the 17th Army and the 6th Division that have fallen into the water, there are thousands of people, and the two gunboats can't fit it at all."
"What 17th Army and the 6th Division have thousands of people overboard" Kuroda Shigetoku couldn't sit still now, thousands of people fell into the water, and the 2 gunboats couldn't fit it, what does this mean to drown all of them, these are all soldiers of the Imperial Army, if it is a shameless navy, it would be fine, but those people are all from the army, or the 6th Division, that is the elite of the Imperial Army "Have you figured out what kind of plane it is, whether it's a seaplane or not?"
asked Yamamoto fifty-six hurriedly.
The reason why he asked this question was because the Japanese Navy was currently secretly pursuing an "underwater aircraft carrier program."
Prepare to build a large submarine capable of carrying 23 seaplanes to attack the Panama Canal and bomb the canal locks with water planes, so that the US military will not be able to use the canal for several months.
Since the Japanese Navy can open such a brainstorm, it is entirely possible for the US imperialists, who are powerful in the shipbuilding industry, to build "underwater aircraft carriers."
Perhaps most of the seaplanes that have been built to bomb the 21 ships are sent by the underwater aircraft carriers.
"It's not seaplanes, it's ordinary single-engine aircraft, 9 unknown dive bombers, 9 are SBD dive bombers."
"What" Yamamoto Fifty-six stood up suddenly, "How is it possible that the aircraft carrier American aircraft carrier has arrived near Saipan" The Black Island Turtle Man shook his head, also looking confused.
The American aircraft carriers unwittingly rushed into the backyard of the Japanese in the western Pacific to make a fuss.
"Commander, if the intelligence is true, it must be the Americans who broke the engagement with aircraft carriers."
The reaction of the golden armor face Ugaki was very fast, and he immediately thought that such a thing as an aircraft carrier breaking diplomatic relations had not happened before, and the Germans played it in 39 years, but it was not very successful.
"Damn, there's an American aircraft carrier in the Western Pacific" Yamamoto Fifty-six gritted his teeth and sneered, "But the Navy will definitely let it have no return" As soon as his words fell, there was a rush of footsteps, and then he saw another staff officer rushing in.
"Your Excellency Commander, the 22nd ship bound for Hawaii reported that it was attacked by U.S. aircraft."
"What" Yamamoto Fifty-six's eyes widened, ヒ22 ships are ships that transport fuel and ammunition to Hawaii Now the transport ships that go overseas from Japan are called "Ship Groups", of which the ships that transport troops are numbered in singular, and the ships that transport supplies are numbered in doubles.
ヒ22 is a group of ships that transport supplies to Hawaii, one of which is a whaling mother ship with a displacement of 190,000 tons, the second Tunan Maru, but the baby of the Japanese Navy, the Japanese like to eat whale meat, so the whaling industry has always been very developed, in World War II, Japan's largest oil tanker is this kind of whaling mother ship, because the whaling mother ship has a tank to store whale oil, a little modification is an oil tanker.
Because the second Tunan Maru sailed from Japan, it was full of fuel for ships and aircraft, and if it was blown up and sunk by a U.S. plane, the damage would be heavy.
"What are the models of how many enemy planes are there?"
asked the Black Island Turtle Man immediately. "12 SBD dive bombers, 12 unknown torpedo bombers, and 6 F4F escorts."
The staff officer's answer was very specific, because the destroyer of the Navy for the 22 ship had a "cat's eye warrior" on it, and of course it would not be mistaken for an aircraft.
The teeth of the "two aircraft carriers" Yamamoto Isoroku were about to be bitten off, because he knew that the second Tunan Maru would definitely not be able to escape the 12 dive bombers and 12 torpedo bombers, and if one whaling ship was not sunk, all the American pilots could commit suicide by seppuku.
"They must not be allowed to escape," Yamamoto roared.
"Teng Teng Teng" Hurried footsteps sounded again "Your Excellency Commander, the Izumo coastal defense ship of Yokosuka Castle was patrolling 150 nautical miles south of the Boso Peninsula when it was bombed by American carrier-based aircraft, and was hit by one torpedo and two bombs, completely incapacitating its combat effectiveness."
The 3rd aircraft carrier "Baga" Yamamoto fifty-six is about to jump up, and the Americans are also bullying people, you can't play like this if you have money and steel, smash out three aircraft carriers at once to break the relationship "Unforgivable" Yamamoto Isoroku roared, "sink them no matter what" Teng Teng The footsteps sounded again, and now all eyes looked at Yamamoto, and there was a vague sense of complaining, so you can't say a few words, and you have recruited the American aircraft carrier "Your Excellency Commander" This time it was the communications staff officer of the fleet who came in, and with a beaming face, he first gave a military salute to the frightened Commander Yamamoto, and then said slowly: "Your Excellency Commander, the telegram of the 4th Division, Port Moresby has just been captured by our invincible Imperial Japanese Army. ” The 4th and 6th Divisions both belonged to the invincible 17th Army of the Imperial Japanese Army, that is, the army where Tanisoo Omara was the commander.
Although the Commander was probably drowning, the victory of Port Moresby belonged to him, and the history of the war can probably be written as follows: His Excellency the Admiral, when he became a god, still commanded the invincible 4th Division in a bloody battle with the enemy and captured Port Moresby.
"So fast" Yamamoto Fifty-six breathed a sigh of relief, but then he felt that something was wrong.
The ground offensive on Port Moresby only began in the early hours of yesterday morning, and it was fought at noon today "Well, sure enough, the Fourth Division of the Invincible Imperial Army did a good job," Kuroda Shigetoku shouted loudly as if he was demonstrating.
Then he said to Yamamoto Fifty-six: "General Yamamoto, since Port Moresby has been obtained, then the Australian strategy war can start immediately, start attacking Australia as soon as possible, and this is also the meaning of the Earl Marshal." ” The earl marshal is Terauchi Shouichi, he is the second generation of officials, and his father is the "monster prime minister" who has been the prime minister.
This commander of the Southern Army is a famous general who is shoulder-to-shoulder with Yamamoto Fifty-six in Japan at the moment, and Yamamoto is about to become commander, but his credit is always a bit vain, after all, the Nanyang strategy is fought on the basis of the great victory of the navy.
So he set his sights on Australia and wanted to personally direct this unprecedented victory. t1706231537: