Demon Beast Forbidden Area
The Battle of Leyte Gulf (1)
In 1944, the Japanese army was losing ground on the Pacific front. The war situation was getting worse. The Japanese army adjusted their strategic deployment and formulated the Battle Plan of Jie. The Pacific region was Jie 1, Taiwan and Ryukyu were Jie 2, Japan's Honshu Islands were Jie 3, and Hokkaido and Kuril Islands were Jie 4. The entire plan was to concentrate all the available warships and aircraft and make a final effort to crush the American attack.
The forces of the Jie-1 plan consisted of three fleets. One was the first guerrilla fleet commanded by Lieutenant General Kurita, the second guerrilla fleet was stationed in Amami Island, and the third was the mobile fleet commanded by Lieutenant General Ozawa in the Seto inland sea.
The aviation force was composed of the 4th Air Force and the Navy's shore-based aviation force. The actual strength of the 4th Air Force was 545 aircraft, but only half of them could take off. There were two parts to the naval air force. The first was the First Air Force stationed in the philippines, which had about 400 aircraft, and the second was the Second Air Force stationed in Taiwan, which had about 300 aircraft.
The Japanese Army opposed the Navy putting all the remaining warships into combat. The Army was worried that if they failed, there would be no warships to defend Japan. However, the navy believed that if the philippines fell, the joint fleet would be divided between the mainland and Singapore. Even if the fleet survived, the warships on the mainland would not receive fuel supply, and the warships on Singapore would not receive ammunition supply. The existence of the fleet would become meaningless.
Therefore, the navy strongly requested for this last chance to fight to the death. The plan to break in was finally approved by the Emperor. General Toyoda, the commander of the joint fleet, considered that the excellent pilots of the Japanese army had almost been lost in the war. The combat effectiveness of the Japanese aircraft carriers was too weak. He decided to let the aircraft carriers carry out the task of luring the enemy, and let the battleships and cruisers take the main attack.
General Toyoda believed that the Japanese aircraft carriers were attractive to the US military. This would increase the chances of success for the Jie-1 plan. The entire plan was a full embodiment of the typical Bushido spirit. There was no mention of the fleet's retreat plan and route, especially the aircraft carrier fleet, which had no intention of surviving.
After the US military captured the Mariana Islands in June 1944, the commander of the Central Pacific Theater, Nimitz, advocated attacking Taiwan, while the commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater, MacArthur, insisted on attacking the philippines first. Both sides had their own opinions. In July, after listening to the views of both sides, President Rothschild expressed his support for MacArthur's proposal and formulated a plan to attack the philippines.
In September, the 38th Special Task Force of the Third Fleet carried out 2,400 heavy bombardments on the Japanese airfields on the islands of Palauo, Yap, MLL, and Luzon for six consecutive days, causing great damage to the Japanese aircraft and airfields on these islands.
The first was the Seventh Fleet of the Southwest Pacific Theater, which was mainly responsible for the anti-air and anti-submarine surveillance of the landing fleet and providing fire support for the landing fleet. The second was Halsey's Third Fleet, which was responsible for covering the entire landing force.
The two fleets had a total of 16 aircraft carriers, 18 escort carriers, 12 battleships, 11 heavy cruisers, 15 light cruisers, 144 destroyer, 25 frigates, 592 landing ships, transport ships, and logistics support ships, and nearly 2,000 aircraft.
On October 10, 1944, this unprecedented naval battle kicked off. The landing force of the US army attacking Leyte Island began to gather in New Guinean. The allied air forces took off from the airfields in New Guinean, Bitte Island, Morotai Island, and other places to attack the Japanese air bases in the south. The Third Fleet drove north to suppress the Japanese air bases in Amami Island, Japan, Japan, 1,396 fighter planes were dispatched, destroying 45 Japanese planes, sinking 22 warships and four merchant ships. The US military only lost 21 aircraft.
On October 11th, the aircraft carrier fleet attacked Luzon Island from the south and sent several cruisers to bombard Marcus Island. On the 12th, the aircraft carrier formation dispatched a total of 1,378 sorties to attack Taiwan, causing great damage to the Japanese aircraft and airport facilities. The US military lost 48 aircraft in the air strikes.
At first, the Japanese army wanted to preserve their strength, but they suffered heavy losses in the past few days. General Toyoda misjudged that the US military would launch an attack on Taiwan. General Toyoda personally went to Taiwan to command, and the fierce air battle that was known as the Taiwan Air War broke out. Most of the Japanese pilots were young students who had just graduated. The fuel supply was insufficient, and the flight training was insufficient. The performance of the aircraft was also backward. The Japanese aircraft suffered heavy losses. The commander of the Air Force lamented,"This is simply a battle of eggs hitting rocks.”
The Japanese army lied that they had sunk eleven aircraft carriers, two battleships, and one destroyer, and damaged twenty-four warships including eight aircraft carriers. The Emperor even issued a special order to reward them, but in fact, only two American cruisers were damaged, and none of the warships sank.
After nine days of continuous aerial combat, the Japanese army lost 1,093 planes, the 4th Air Force in the philippines only had 200 left, the 1st Air Force in the navy only had 35 left, and the 2nd Air Force in Taiwan still had 230 left. The Japanese army had lost their ability to counterattack in the air, while the US army lost about 100 planes.
On October 17th, the American vanguard landed at the entrance of Wright Bay. On the 18th, the US military began to launch naval and aerial attacks on Leyte Island, while the Japanese army ordered the Jie-1 operation.
In the early morning of the 23rd, two submarines discovered the Kurita fleet in the Palawan Sea. The submarine Sea Crucian rushed to the front of the Japanese fleet's route. The first ship fired six torpedoes with the bow launcher, and the second ship fired four torpedoes with the stern launcher. The first ship that was attacked was Kurita's flagship, the Atago. It was hit by four torpedoes and began to tilt. The second ship was a heavy cruiser, the Gaoxiong. It was hit by two torpedoes and was severely damaged, losing its ability to sail for a while.
The submarine Minnows approached another column and fired six torpedoes at Maya and Feather Black. Feather Black noticed the trajectory of the torpedoes and dodged them. Maya had also discovered the trajectory of the torpedoes. The captain ordered the starboard full helm to avoid them, but the chief voyager mistook it for the starboard full helm. As the ship turned around, it was hit by four torpedoes. The hull tilted rapidly for eight minutes before sinking. The Sea Crucian Fish was immediately attacked by the other Japanese ships, and the two submarines successfully escaped the attack.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。