September 3rd was the official start date of the Battle of Palau in later generations.
The exact location is a sea area 300 kilometers southeast of the Palau Islands. In the command room of the aircraft carrier Takeku, in front of more than a dozen Japanese naval officers, Yamaguchi was reading out the call from the headquarters he had just received, "... Sir, please, long live the Empire of Japan, long live His Majesty the Emperor." The reason why Yamaguchi convened a special meeting with such great fanfare to read out Koizumi's reply was because he had already felt a mountain of pressure in the face of the cruel reality. ,.
While he was waiting for Koizumi's call back, the search fleet he sent finally found traces of a Chinese submarine. This was actually a reconnaissance submarine used by the Chinese Pacific Fleet for fixed-point channel reconnaissance. However, because of this This is the first Chinese warship discovered by the Japanese Combined Fleet in the waters southwest of the Palau Islands in this period. Therefore, from the mountain pass to the ordinary Japanese sailors searching for the fleet, they are facing the enemy as if they have found the Chinese fleet. The main force is the same.
The answer to Koizumi's call back was actually what Yamaguchi and Ozawa expected, but they didn't expect that Koizumi would really add the so-called "I don't have much patience anymore" at the end of the telegram.
"It seems that Malan's war situation is not optimistic. Otherwise, Mr. Koizumi would definitely not be like this." After reading the telegram, Ozawa's first reaction was to quickly comfort his old partner Yamaguchi.
Yamaguchi thought reasonably: "Your Excellency Koizumi is right. I have failed to live up to his hopes. It seems that the only option is to fight to the death."
Japanese people are inherently gamblers to some extent. When Yamaguchi said, "The only option is to fight to the death," there was a clear twinkle in his eyes.
Yamaguchi expressed his determination, and of course Ozawa did not hesitate to give in. He immediately expressed his position: "Then we will fight with the Chinese people."
"Convene a meeting with generals above major general to let everyone know what Mr. Koizumi expects from us."
"Hai."
Facts have proved that Yamaguchi's move can really boost morale. After he finished reading the message and took the lead in shouting slogans, all the Japanese generals present at the meeting had their faces flushed, as if they were having a climax.
Yamaguchi looked around at everyone and was quite satisfied with their performance, and then began to give orders: "Now I order..."
One of Yamaguchi's commanding characteristics is that he is very meticulous when assigning tasks. After he read a long list of orders and asked everyone if they still didn't understand anything, a major general stood up and asked: "Sir, I don't understand. Why should we insist on semaphore communication? This will limit the operational breadth of our army."
Yamaguchi not only did not blame his subordinates for their doubts, but also felt very relieved. He glanced at everyone and said: "It seems that everyone has this doubt, so I will explain that this is to counter the electronic interference of the China fleet."
"Electronic interference." Many Japanese generals opened their eyes. It was obvious that they did not understand the meaning of this term.
"As everyone knows about the Battle of Jiwan, the reason why our army was defenseless in the Battle of Jiwan was not because of the incompetent command of Commander Aida Tolang, but because our communication system was destroyed by the China Army. Mr. Koizumi said, This is the latest combat method, electronic warfare. At that time, the China Army used electronic interference against Jiwan, which completely paralyzed our army's electronic communication system."
"That's it." "Ah, in that case, doesn't it mean that we can't communicate by radio."...
"Quiet, quiet, this is the venue." Ozawa suddenly shouted in a deep voice.
The Japanese generals immediately resumed their posture of sitting upright, but there was a hint of worry in their eyes.
Yamaguchi should have noticed the change in everyone's expressions, and said slowly: "There is nothing to worry about. Isn't it conducive to the concentration of air defense firepower in a dense formation? You know, the aviation force is always the strength of the China Army. By the way, I want to Let me tell you some good news, our Yamato Soul Special Forces will participate in this battle."
"Yamato Soul will participate in the attack on the China Fleet. Is this true?"
"It would be much easier if Yamato Soul participated."
The discussion started again. Yamaguchi and Ozawa looked at each other. The former shook his head without any trace, and the latter closed his open mouth again without saying anything more.
Yamaguchi stood up, knocked on the table hard, and shouted: "Okay, now everyone returns to their own ships, and we will set off in half an hour."
"Hai." The Japanese generals responded loudly and dispersed one after another.
A quarter of an hour later, when Yamaguchi and Ozawa came out of the command room and walked to Cambridge to inspect the preparations of the ship under their command, a communications staff officer came out and loudly reported to Yamaguchi: "Your Excellency, Commander, Major Yamaki has called, China. The submarine has discovered them and is now escaping to the southwest. Major Yamaki is asking for instructions."
"Southwest direction." Yamaguchi and Ozawa looked at each other, and then said: "Tell Yamaki to follow and pursue."
"Hai."
The communications staff officer left quickly. Yamaguchi waved away the two adjutants and asked in a low voice: "Ozawa-kun, do you think it could be a Chinese conspiracy?"
Ozawa was stunned and answered almost instinctively: "Isn't it possible? According to what Yamaki reported, the China Fleet is now very close to Papua. Aren't they afraid of being attacked by our land and aviation forces?"
"I think it's better to be careful. In this way, from now on, we will adopt a dense formation."
"In that case, the speed will be reduced a lot."
"Ozawa-kun, it seems that you haven't figured out the situation yet. Although we are taking the initiative to attack now, the real strength is the China fleet. I just hope that the pace of the Americans' attack on Guam is not too fast. In that case, We can still fool the Chinese by letting some ships fly the US flag. Once the Americans appear near Guam, our details will be completely seen by the Chinese. By then, if you are Bai Chongxi, will you still adopt conservative tactics?"
Ozawa thought for a while, lowered his head and said, "Yamaguchi-kun, I'm sorry, I was negligent."
Yamaguchi asked some of his ships and even aircraft carriers to fly the U.S. flag. This tactic was indeed clever. It was a pity, because Bai Chongxi and Chen Ce had long been well aware of the current situation of the U.S.-Japanese combined fleet. His efforts, In fact, it just makes people smile.
A fixed-point reconnaissance submarine was discovered by the Japanese army. Chen Ce and Bai Chongxi did not take it seriously at first. However, as the Japanese search fleet began to pursue the submarine, they realized that perhaps the best fighter they had hoped for had already been It's coming.
After receiving the latest information, Bai Chongxi and Chen Ce looked at each other and said: "Immediately expand the reconnaissance scope from now on. If the main force of the Japanese fleet follows behind, it can be concluded that they must think that we are near Sun Long and the others. Opportunity .”