Facts have proved that Chen Ce's guess was correct. After the Battle of Jiwan, the U.S. and Japanese forces strengthened the defense of various naval bases and supply bases, but their combined fleet did not retreat because of this, but instead accelerated their pursuit. speed.
At this point, Chen Ce and Bai Chongxi began to grasp the rhythm of the battle little by little.
Jiwan was attacked. For the US-Japanese combined fleet, the loss of a large number of medium-sized and small ships was certainly distressing, but it was still within the acceptance range of Yamaguchi and Jin. What they could not accept was the large amount of supplies hoarded in Jiwan. The supplies and oil were burned to the ground. These supplies and oil were prepared by the US-Japanese joint fleet to attack Taiwan and even Ryukyu. Because the quantity was so huge, it would not be possible to prepare them all again in the short term. Therefore, there is reason to believe that even if the joint fleet The fleet can win the battle of Palau and Guam, successfully defeat the Chinese Pacific Fleet and seize Palau and Guam. Next, the combined fleet will definitely be unable to immediately launch an offensive against Taiwan and Ryukyu due to insufficient supplies and fuel.
The United States and Japan formed a joint fleet to deploy troops in the Pacific. The world only saw the illusory strength of the United States and Japan. Little did they know that although these two countries still maintained large armies, in fact they were full of difficulties and contradictions, which was not what they seemed on the surface. It looks so bright.
Not to mention Japan, although the Japanese army in Southeast Asia under the command of Koizumi Minichiro performed very well during this period, deploying troops in the Pacific and launching the Malan Campaign with all its forces, the mere fact that its homeland security cannot be guaranteed is enough to It has knocked down the ranks of first-class military powers.
In comparison, the situation in the United States seems to be much better than that of Japan, but it only seems to be the case. It is not what it used to be. In that time and space, the United States almost monopolized the military and civilian markets of major allied countries and neutral countries. Therefore, although it is responsible for providing military assistance to major allied countries, and taking action simultaneously in the two major battlefields of Europe and Asia, in fact, the Americans are playing the trick of taking things out of their left pockets and into their right pockets. Not only does it not damage national strength, but it also improves their national strength. The unlimited demand of the market allows it to continuously update equipment products, taking this opportunity to gradually widen the technological gap with other countries. In this time and space, of course, the United States still played the role of exporting military assistance to major allied countries, but because The sudden rise of Xuebingjun's military and civilian industries has made most of the military and civilian products in the United States weaker than those "made in China". As a result, the American market has not only failed to expand, but has also shrunk. Although the supply of U.S. military and civilian products is still in short supply due to the needs of the United States, after losing the market in other countries, the U.S. industrial and commercial form is like water without roots, flowing slower and slower, and becoming smaller and smaller. In fact, it is already transitioning to a "stagnant water".
King was unable to understand the deterioration of the domestic economic situation in the United States, and he did not have this insight. However, since Truman began calling him again and again asking him to "wait and wait," he knew , in the short term, he can no longer expect the country to replenish the supplies and fuel lost by Jiwan.
The U.S.-Japanese combined fleet accelerated the pace of pursuit. Chen Ce and Bai Chongxi were happy to see the results. The two led the main force of the Chinese Pacific Fleet to first rush towards Micronesia, and then suddenly killed one when the U.S.-Japanese combined fleet was about to catch up. They turned back and waited for the U.S.-Japanese combined fleet to adjust their formations and prepare for a big battle, then they moved towards the Bismarck Sea.
The Chinese feinted and chose to escape again, which made both Yamaguchi and Jin very angry. After calming down, the two people invariably showed "joy" during the phone conversation.
Both New Guinea and Indonesia are under the complete control of the US and Japanese forces. The Chinese Pacific Fleet sails to the Bismarck Sea, which is equivalent to the inland sea of New Guinea. In the eyes of Yamaguchi and Jin, this is simply asking for trouble, out of caution , Yamaguchi was still worried that "this is Bai Chongxi's new strategy." However, after obtaining detailed information about China's Pacific Fleet, he recognized Jin's view that "in the face of absolute strength, all conspiracies and tricks cannot change the outcome." , believes that even if Bai Chongxi really has a plan, it is still an opportunity for the United Fleet, "Our number of warships and fighter planes is more than twice that of the China Fleet. It is a reciprocal exchange, and we will win in the end, but we will Do you allow this to happen? Absolutely. You must know that the closer we are to New Guinea and Indonesia, the more our Army Aviation Forces can be our support. The Chinese people are definitely dead this time."
It is absolutely a huge irony for Yamaguchi, and can even be understood as a big-headed person. The day after he made the above statement, a brigade of China's HNA bombers, escorted by a squadron of HNA fighters, sneaked into the US military facility. In a material storage warehouse in Jayapura, all thirty-five oil tanks there were turned into torches.
This was not over yet. Just when Jin was furious about the attack on the Jayapura supply base and asked the combined fleet to speed up the pursuit in order to intercept the Chinese fleet in the Pacific waters of the Bismarck Sea, China's naval forces adopted night attack tactics. Under Yamaguchi and Kim's eyes, he severely damaged a forward destroyer fleet under the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Jin put this destroyer fleet in a forward position to defend China's submarine force, but it turned out to be a snack for the Chinese navy force. It can be imagined that Jin's reaction was so angry that he did not even think about it. He said such idiotic words: despicable and shameless, wouldn’t the Chinese dare to have an open and just decisive battle with us?
Such words reached Yamaguchi's ears. Yamaguchi was stunned at first, then shook his head repeatedly, and said to Ozawa Jisaburo: "The situation is not good. Commander Jin said such words, which shows that he has been stimulated by the Chinese and lost his mind. This won't work. If we can't act in a unified manner, our military advantage will disappear." After thinking about it again and again, it was mainly because for the first time he began to worry that the attack might fail. That night, Yamaguchi called Koizumi Toshiichiro and asked Koizumi to request the United States. Higher command authority: "...Commander Jin's mood is obviously not suitable for him to continue to serve as the supreme commander of the US fleet. What I am most worried about is that this is due to Bai Chongxi's calculation. If this is the case, Your Excellency, please forgive me, we may encounter failure... The only way to avoid failure is to strengthen the command authority of the joint command, that is, to allow me to directly command the US fleet. Only in this way can the combined fleet's military superiority be achieved. be fully reflected..."