In Onishi Takijiro's view, if these elites can be mobilized to participate in the war, he will be more confident in the final plan for the next step. Although he also knows that those people will be the main force of the navy to fight against the Philippines and the entire Southeast Asia in the future.
There are not many possibilities of transferring him.
But in his opinion, if he didn't reach out at this time, he always felt a little sorry for himself. For Onishi Takijiro, he wouldn't mind being a lion by himself. Since the Navy has pushed himself into this hot potato position, come again
He made a move to draw away the bridge halfway and diverted half of the troops promised to him, so he should give himself some compensation. He didn't expect carrier-based fighter jets, but he should give some to those ace pilots.
This time, he was transferred from the position of chief of staff of the Navy's 11th Air Fleet, which had been designated to fight southward, to the temporary organization of the Fifth Flying Group, which was formed by the navy to cooperate with the Kwantung Army's operations, as the commander.
This was something that Onishi Takijiro was unwilling to do.
If this battle is fought well, it will certainly add some honor to oneself. If the battle is not fought well, one's position as chief of staff of the air fleet will definitely be lost. Although he is only chief of staff, not a military officer. But going south to fight against
The war between the United States and Britain is undoubtedly more important in Onishi Takijiro's heart.
The reason why it is more important to him is that the United States and Britain, with their huge strength, are the real opponents in Onishi Takijiro's heart. At the same time, going south to fight is also a rare opportunity for him personally. But if because of this replacement
The Army failed in its soy sauce campaign, and losing this position was really hard for him to accept.
It's just that cooperating with the Kwantung Army in this battle is not a happy choice for the commanders of the various aviation groups of the Japanese Navy. The previous heavy losses of the Kwantung Army's aviation group have shown that their opponent is a hard nut to crack.
.And when the Navy simultaneously mobilized troops to join the war, this task was already considered a hot potato, and no one was willing to take it.
Those who are willing to come are either not qualified enough or lack actual command experience in similar-scale operations. And those who have this experience and are qualified are not willing to come. At the same time, with the Navy's elites being exhausted this time, the Navy does not dare to follow suit.
I just casually handed over the foundation of the Naval Air Force to one person.
You must know that these are the navy's capital to fight the US and British aviation forces in Southeast Asia in the near future. If the defeat is too miserable, it will be difficult for the navy to explain. This mobilization of carrier aviation to participate in the war has caused considerable dissatisfaction among the combined fleet. If
The loss is too great, and the United Fleet will not do anything.
It is for these reasons that the choice of this commander once gave the navy's top brass a headache. In the view of the navy's top brass, this candidate must be able to win in a showdown with a powerful enemy and win glory for the navy in front of the army.
Let the old haters in the Army see what a real aviation team is. At the same time, they must pay attention to preserving their strength and not ruining the Navy's only few hundred new fighter planes. The Navy has worked hard for this candidate.
Although they have always looked down on the Army Air Force, the huge losses suffered by the Army Air Force made every naval officer a little uneasy. In their view, no matter how incompetent the Army Air Force was, the good guys were far better than the inferior Chinese. But they were still beaten.
With such a bear color, the opponent must have a hard nut to crack.
At this time, the commanders of the non-aircraft carrier carrier-based aircraft groups who are most suitable to be commanders are unwilling to bite this hard bone that has broken the Army's teeth. The southward combat training is currently in its infancy, and is assigned to aircraft carriers.
The various aviation team commanders must not be transferred at this time. In this way, the selection of this candidate will be even more difficult.
The Operations Department of the Navy Command Department pulled people here and there, and finally selected the commander who had just returned from the battlefield in China. He had rich experience in joint operations with the army, and was also the first commander to command the Zero fighter combat. It can be said that he was an actual combat commander.
The experienced Major General Onishi Takijiro.
Moreover, this guy is considered very resourceful by many senior naval officials, especially the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, who has always admired him. He is also the commander who suffered the least losses to combat aircraft among all the commanders of the Naval Air Force on the Chinese battlefield.
of one.
The most important thing is that this guy is one of the first naval commanders to command the Zero in actual combat. He has rich command experience. Moreover, he has been working with the army on the Chinese battlefield for a long time, especially in air raids on rear areas such as Chongqing.
In combat, he is the person in the navy who has collaborated with the army aviation for the longest time. If he is allowed to go, the navy will not suffer too much loss based on his personality, at least he will not be a scapegoat for the army.
He will not act impulsively and cause irreparable losses to the Navy. Because this guy, even the Navy's own people, are the targets of his calculations when needed, not to mention those bumpkins in the Army? This guy has always been the only one who plots against others.
, no one can plot against him.
But regarding the Navy's decision, although he has always considered himself a regular soldier, Major General Onishi Takijiro, who was the first to propose indiscriminate bombing of China's major cities and whose hands were stained with Chinese blood, was not willing to do it.
It was not that he was afraid of fighting against the Anti-Allied Air Force, but because he was more interested in the position of Chief of Staff of the 11th Air Fleet.
Faced with this obviously unwilling guy, in order to appease his emotions, Rear Admiral Shigeru Fukudome, Chief of Operations of the Naval Command Department, and Rear Admiral Matoi Ugaki, Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet who did not want to redeploy his subordinates at this time, were unhappy to have such a scapegoat.
A classmate of his in the 40th class of the Naval War School promised him that as long as he could ensure that the battle damage rate was within an acceptable range, the Military Command and the Combined Fleet would do their best to meet his needs.
At the same time, Rear Admiral Shigeru Fukudome also personally promised that the position of Chief of Staff of the Eleventh Air Fleet would be reserved for him. Rear Admiral Matoi Ugaki also agreed that as long as he remained as Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet, he would be the Chief of Staff of the Eleventh Air Fleet.
position, there will never be any substitutions.
In fact, the answer given by the two people was a cunning trick. They were just trying to trick their old classmate into taking office as soon as possible. The promises made by the two people were worthless. Because they were planned to be incorporated into the eleventh aircraft used by the shore-based aviation force going south.
The aviation fleet and various aviation groups, except for the Tainan Air Force that is being formed, have all been transferred to North Korea and placed under his command.
Even if he were replaced by someone else, he would be nothing more than a short-term chief of staff. Instead of doing this, it is better to give away a favor and appease this unruly guy. By the way, smooth out the command relationship in advance, become familiar with the command method, and evaluate this ten
There are still deficiencies in the formation of an aviation fleet that need to be adjusted and supplemented.
As well as accelerating the running-in of the various aviation groups organized into the Eleventh Air Fleet, prompting the entire air fleet to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible. Anyway, that is what the chief of staff of the air fleet does. This time he was transferred to Manchuria to fight, as He, the chief of staff of the 11th Air Fleet, took office ahead of schedule.
But what is the acceptable range of battle damage? The two high-ranking rear admirals did not say, and Onishi Takijiro would not take the initiative to ask. Because he knew that the acceptable range can be changed. This is very important for For him, a commander who is always known for not sparing no expense, this is directly related to whether he can let go.
Although the two old classmates gave him certain promises, allowing him to implement his plan calmly, he has not forgotten what the two old classmates promised. According to Onishi Takijiro's behavior when he was fighting, This is Han Xing's approach of having more troops, the better.
Since I have been asked to take over this hot potato, I feel sorry for myself if I don't try my best to fight for it. Even if I can't win more zero battles, even if I fight for some experienced old pilots, it is still quite good. Especially with Pyongyang The auxiliary fuel tanks and 20mm cannon ammunition are urgently needed for the take-off base, but are currently in short supply.
Because for Onishi Takijiro, although he has prepared to mobilize some combat aircraft to Xinjing Airport, he has not thought about it at all, nor has he considered moving any zero-fighting aircraft to the Anti-Japanese Alliance at any time. The ground troops' artillery shells went to Beijing.
He believed that for zero combat with a very long range, taking off from Pyongyang and Wonsan would have sufficient combat radius and airborne time, and no forward movement was needed. What he called transfers were prepared for the short-legged fighter jets of the Army. His navy does not need to make any deployments near Xinjing, which has become a battlefield.
Onishi Takijiro is making close calculations, assessing what kind of impact the three days of continuous rain will have on him, what else needs to be added to the next all-out attack plan, and what else can be obtained from the navy. Good thing. Over there, Yang Zhen, who had just returned to Harbin, was also talking to the Anti-Alliance Air Force Commander and Political Commissar about today's battle.
As soon as he got off the plane, he didn't even return to the headquarters. He didn't know that there would be three days of continuous rain, which had postponed the Japanese plan. Yang Zhen was met at the Harbin airport on the spot and commanded the entire Songhua River Basin. The aviation commander Fang Ziyi and the political commissar Yuan Bin were involved in the first air defense operation.
Looking at the two top military and political officers of the aviation force who were proud of today's glorious victory, Yang Zhen shook his head slightly. Knowing that the two of them had not yet figured out the true purpose and intention of the Japanese army's move today, they were still thinking Today's battle was a clean victory.
Indeed, in the eyes of many people, although this battle itself had certain losses, judging from the number of enemy aircraft shot down, it was undoubtedly a definite victory. And it was not just them, I am afraid that every one of their aviation forces All pilots think so.
After all, this is not the last year's anti-alliance battle, which had a numerical advantage, but also a performance advantage, and it also achieved a perfect battle and sudden battle. As for the see-saw battle for air supremacy during the spring, in Many people's eyesight can only be regarded as small.
Compared with the previous air battles, this air battle not only had a large number of enemy aircraft, but also a large number of new fighter jets participated in the battle. In such an air battle, it is indeed a big victory to achieve such a battle loss ratio. These many people
In his eyes, today's air battle is a real battle.
Perhaps this is the difference in vision caused by the different positions. The difference in vision is the difference in looking at the same thing. The two military and political officers of the aviation force only saw the tactical victory, but not the strategic victory.
The failure, let alone the impact today's losses will have on the headquarters' overall combat plan.
These two subordinates of my own have indeed outstanding talents, but they are too young. There is still a certain lack of command experience in the air combat of a large corps like today. If they were more calm and experienced, the actual situation of the Japanese army would be
They couldn't help but notice the poor tactics. However, their lack of experience in large-scale combat prevented them from discovering the loopholes in their adjustments in time. Instead, the Japanese army seized the opportunity.