Chapter 10 Chapter 6: Chasing Two Rabbits Simultaneously

Training for the attack on Midway began long before the Battle of the Coral Sea.Now, that campaign is over, and training is still going on.Nagumo, who has been paying attention to this training, has been saddened to see that the quality of the personnel has changed.Any knowledgeable observer could see that such haphazard, sloppy maneuvers could hardly be believed to be the Naval Air Forces that had been relentlessly and rigorously trained for the attack on Pearl Harbor.In many ways, it really is not what it used to be. Of Nagumo's four aircraft carriers, only the strong old girl Kaga, which is considered lucky, is still in good condition and can be used for aircraft take-off and landing practice.The remaining three ships all need overhaul and replenishment after several months of sea activities.Therefore, as soon as the exercise in early May ended, Nagumo changed the Kaga as the flagship until the Akagi returned to the Seto Inland Sea in mid-May. [Note: See "Japanese Narration of the Battle of Midway Island" (English translation), page six.Hereinafter referred to as the Japanese narrative. 】

On the whole, those who feel primarily responsible for combat training are dissatisfied with the training program.This sentiment is not without reason.Although everyone sees the problem from their own perspective, there is a consensus that the training effect is not satisfactory. From Genda's point of view, time is too tight."We don't have enough time to train pilots," he said.As a result, training was not as adequate as it had been at Pearl Harbor.The only exception is the newly equipped Comet carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft, which are small in number but have received special training with a focus on tracking enemy aircraft carriers.He admitted that no special training measures were taken.For I am confident that the training methods and operational procedures hitherto employed will be effective at the forthcoming Battle of Midway.However, in view of the experience of the Battle of the Coral Sea, the height at which torpedo bombers dropped torpedoes was reduced to the lowest possible point. [Note: Genda's statement. 】

Hashiguchi sees a stark difference in preparations before Midway and Pearl Harbor: Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the offensive was well trained.A model of Pearl Harbor was used in the training.As a result, the pilots were very familiar with the terrain of the island, their respective attack targets, attack routes, attack methods, and so on.The training time before the Battle of Midway was very short.And it was clear that the focus was not on training, but on completing preparations and supplements. Hashiguchi also said that another reason may be that carrier-based aircraft pilots have already received good training. [Note: Hashiguchi's statement. ] Apparently, with six months of uninterrupted victories, these veteran pilots were not very serious about their pre-Midway review routine.

What worried Nan Yun was that there was too little time for preparation and too many newbies were added.For these reasons, he reported after Midway, practically no one received further training beyond basic training.To be honest, one cannot help but wonder how much of Nagumo's sad words are an accurate and honest review of the situation at the time, and how much of it is an excuse to exonerate guilt afterwards: Inexperienced pilots have just reached the level of landing on an aircraft carrier during the day and even some of the more experienced pilots are barren.There is no opportunity for joint training, so of course it is impossible for the liaison force, the lighting force, and the attacking force to cooperate with each other. Therefore, the possibility of achieving satisfactory results in the night attack is almost zero. [Note: Narrative of Japan, page 5. 】

The lead plane of the horizontal bomber conducted drills with the battleship Settsu as a target in Iwakuni, and the technical level reached a quite proficient level, but he did not have the opportunity to participate in formation bombing exercises.Since the Settsu could not drive near the base of the dive bombers, the dive bombers could only keep going back and forth between the base and the western part of the Seto Inland Sea, which wasted precious time.Also, if these personnel participated in more than one dive-bombing exercise per day, their basic training would be severely disrupted.Their air combat exercises were also in bad shape, and they only conducted single-machine air combat live ammunition shooting and basic training.Although more experienced pilots participated in formation air combat tactical exercises, they were limited to three-aircraft formation. [Note: Same as above, page 5 | page 6. 】

Torpedo bombing is Japan's forte, and it has made great achievements in Pearl Harbor.But now the situation is at its worst.A mock attack was conducted in mid-May, judged by officers of the Yokosuka Army Air Corps, and the results were not encouraging.In fact, the results of these exercises were so disappointing that some of the referees lamented that it was inconceivable that such low-level personnel could achieve brilliant results in the Battle of the Coral Sea. [Note: Same as above, page 5. 】 Apparently no one told them that these were not the pilots who participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea, nor did their surprise lead them to inquire whether the results in the Coral Sea were as glorious as advertised.From the end of the campaign until the end of May, Japan was drowning in boastfulness.

On May 13, the "Japan Times and Advertiser" really made a big fuss.An unsigned article optimistically declared that the failures of the (U.S.) navy since the start of the Greater East Asia War almost ruled out the possibility of Japan and the U.S. engaging in another naval battle in the Pacific.The main force of the U.S. Navy is lying on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.It is doubtful whether the United States will be able to send a fleet to the Pacific again. This is how the Japanese conceive of their own advantages with certainty.Advocating such an attitude is detrimental to a navy that is preparing for a major sea battle in the future.If it blows less, the Japanese may step up to repair the Xianghe and replenish the Zuihe, and they may be able to catch up with the Battle of Midway.Even if they look down on Americans' combat effectiveness and fighting will, the Japanese should also remember an old Chinese proverb: When a lion fights a rabbit, it also uses all its strength. [Note: Originally I, Fred Seto and Roger Pinu co-authored "Japanese Destroyer Captain", page 103.Hereinafter referred to as "Destroyer Captain". 】

However, what is tormenting the grass deer is a Japanese saying: one man chases two rabbits, and he can't catch one.He feared that those words would apply to the dual mission of the First Air Fleet in the coming campaign.He explained: The Combined Fleet plan gave us two objectives: first, to serve as the vanguard of the assault force with the main objective of capturing Midway, and second, to destroy the enemy task force when it came out to meet our forces.Considering the entire combat plan, the former should be the main one.And it should also take into account that the enemy may send land-based aircraft to attack me. This is what I am most worried about, because it means that the First Air Force will be chasing two rabbits at the same time. [Note: Ryunosuke Kusanagi "United Fleet", page 73 | 74.Hereinafter referred to as the "United Fleet". 】

However, in this critical period before the war, Caolu did not offer opinions and suggestions to Nagumo.He was in Tokyo to drum up top admirals to agree to give pilots killed at Pearl Harbor two extra ranks, as the Navy did with pocket submarine crews.For Genda, Fuchida, and their pilots, the question was tricky.What made them extremely disgusted was the obvious preference for those pocket submarine crews who fought bravely and sacrificed bravely, but were pitiful and did not achieve much.These sailors did serve the country and the emperor willingly, and deserve to be honored.But why not the pilots?Moreover, the pilots did not sacrifice in vain, they completed their mission.Therefore, all the officers and soldiers of the First Air Fleet unanimously demanded that their heroes be given the same treatment.However, all this is in the past.At present, Yuantian and Yuantian really hope that Caolu, a general who can calm people's hearts, will work hard for the next battle instead of fussing about the past disputes. [Note: "The Battle of Midway Island", page six | eight. 】

The problems Nagumo encountered in training continued to mount rapidly.The Kaga was busy with aircraft take-off and landing training from early morning to dusk, but even so, experienced pilots only had one chance to land at dusk.If weather conditions permit, they conduct night flight training every day, but due to maintenance guarantees and limited time, inexperienced pilots only learn the most basic techniques.In short, Nagumo cannot avoid the fact that due to the need for personnel replenishment and transfer, the combat effectiveness of each ship has been greatly reduced. [Note: Narration in Japan, p. 6. 】

Operational secrecy is not impenetrable.Cao Lu said that compared with the situation during the Pearl Harbor operation, we cannot but feel the lack of careful consideration of the secrecy of this battle plan. [Note: "United Fleet", page 75. ] Indeed, copies of the plan had already been widely distributed, even to non-combatant troops.At anchorage it seemed an open secret that the Combined Fleet was preparing for a major operation. [Note: Genda's statement. 】 At the Naval Command, the atmosphere was the same.Vice Admiral Mitsumi Shimizu, who commanded the Sixth Fleet (submarine fleet) during the Pearl Harbor operation, was wounded in the neck by shrapnel when Halsey attacked the Marshall Islands in February 1942. department.He sits in the office of his close friend, Vice Admiral Ito Seiichi, about every other day.While in Tokyo he saw preparations for the Battle of Midway.He recalled: I was a little worried before the battle of Midway, because people in the headquarters and other places talked about the battle too openly, which was so different from the situation before Pearl Harbor that it worried me. [Note: Interview with Mitsumi Shimizu, January 16, 1965. 】 The Japanese were so confident at the time, and all these considerations only mattered in hindsight.Although Genda's confidence in this battle was not as high as that of Pearl Harbor and the Indian Ocean battle, he did not foresee the imminent disaster, but only vaguely felt that he was too restrained and lacked flexibility.The freedom of movement of mobile units is limited in time.He explained that since the date of the attack on Midway was fixed, this limited the timing of the attack and the choice of location for the mobile force to attack. [Note: Genda's statement. 】 Few felt, or at least admitted to feeling, anxious before the war.Sanhe is one of them.Although he expressed no doubts about winning, he did feel that the situation was not good and was very disturbed.On May 14, the day of mourning Takahashi's death, he wrote in his diary that the U.S. Navy was reportedly changing its approach to building warships in favor of aircraft carriers.It can be said that they have finally figured it out and caught up with the situation; but if they fully transform now, they are more advanced than us.What a keen, down-to-earth view! The next day, Japanese reconnaissance planes reported that they had spotted two US aircraft carriers in the South Pacific and correctly identified them as Enterprise and Hornet.Miwa was puzzled as to what Halsey was doing there, writing: We cannot understand why this enemy fleet came there.This behavior of the enemy makes us feel that his tactics are inferior.If they concentrate an aircraft carrier force to launch a strong attack from the south at this time, they can even easily destroy our Truk base.Now that they're dispersing their aircraft carriers, they're going to be cornered. [Note: Sanhe Diary, May 15th, 1942 | 16th. 】The Americans were very lucky: the Japanese only saw the other party and did not see their own violation of the principle of concentration of forces.In fact, as we have seen, Halsey's two aircraft carriers were already on their way back to Pearl Harbor. At 17:00 on May 17, the Xianghe sailed into Wugang with difficulty.It was not as badly damaged as thought, but it appeared to take three months to repair, Sanhe wrote.It was attacked by nearly a hundred enemy aircraft.The damage suffered was only to this extent, and it must be admitted that it was lucky, or it can be said that the technology of the enemy aviation was quite poor. [Note: Same as above, May 17, 1942. 】 Sanhe was absolutely right when he said that Xianghe was lucky.The ship almost suffered a disaster the day before it entered port.The Poseidon, one of the US submarines that penetrated into Japanese territorial waters, spotted the Shokaku and its two escorting destroyers south of Shikoku, but the submarine was not as fast as them and did not catch up. [Note: "The Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway and Submarine Operations", p. 202. 】 Sanwa greatly reduced the damage to the Shokaku.According to Fuchida, the aircraft carrier was the most damaged ship in Hong Kong since the beginning of the Pacific War. [Note: "The Battle of Midway Island", page 106. 】However, judging from the situation at the time, it was reasonable for Sanhe to believe that the American shooting skills needed to be improved.However, most of the American torpedoes failed because the quality of the torpedoes was too poor, and some torpedoes even hit the target directly without exploding; some sank too much, slipped under the enemy ship, and failed to damage the enemy ship at all.In this regard, the pilot and the submarine crew were furious and cursed. [Note: "The Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway, and Submarine Operations", pp. 188 and 202. 】 However, the record of US submarines should not be too contemptuous, and the situation will soon change.On May 17, the day the Shokaku entered port, Lieutenant Commander Charles C. Kirkpatrick, the captain of the Poseidon, found some comfort in his regret at failing to catch up with the Japanese aircraft carrier.While his submarine was diving underwater off Kyushu, he spotted the Japanese submarine I｜164 driving on the surface.Carefully aiming at the painted flag on the opposing pilot's conning tower, Kirkpatrick opened fire, blowing up the unsuspecting sub with a single torpedo, blowing a chunk of its hull into the air. [Note: Same as above. 】Because Yi｜164 belonged to the Fifth Submarine Squadron. According to the Midway Battle Plan, this team was an important part of the Japanese submarine cordon. It can be considered that this battle was the first drop of blood shed in the Midway Battle. Vice Admiral Komatsu, who had replaced the wounded Shimizu as the commander of the Sixth Fleet, completed the extremely important mission assigned by Yamamoto to reconnaissance the activities of the US fleet, and needed to use all the submarines that could be mobilized.On board the old training cruiser Katori at Kwajalin Island in the Marshall Islands, he had dispatched the Yui-121, I-122, I-123 under Admiral Takeharu Miyazaki's command. Submarine Squadron 13 made up the USS and sailed quietly across the Pacific Ocean to French|Frigate Atoll, about 500 nautical miles northwest of Hawaii.We have already confessed that they will be there to stand by and refuel the two Chuanxi-2 long-range seaplanes. [Note: "The Battle of Midway Island", page 259; Analysis of the Battle of Midway Island, page 26. 】 On May 17, the attention of the Japanese was also focused on the damaged Shokaku, because Yamamoto, Ugaki and other staff officers were inspecting it.Like Sanwa, Ugaki also attributed the Shokaku's good luck in not suffering more damage.Ugaki said in his diary that he mourned nearly one hundred naval personnel killed in action, forty of whom were crew members.Visited the wounded.Condolences were expressed to those injured. [Note: Diary of Vice Admiral Yu Yuancheng, May 17, 1942.Hereinafter referred to as Ugaki Diary. 】 After Sanhe accompanied him to participate in the inspection, he wrote in his diary in concise language: This is a very good combat experience.The death of Major Takahashi and forty other personnel was a great sacrifice, but what can be comforted for them is that their sacrifice was exchanged for the brilliant victory of sinking two enemy aircraft carriers. [Note: Sanhe Diary, May 18, 1942. 】 When evaluating the end of the day's exercise, Nagumo was not so open-minded.His pilots conducted confrontation maneuvers against the Eighth Cruiser Squadron.Although the team was traveling at a very fast speed of 30 knots, in order to make it easier for the opponent to fight, they deliberately only turned a 45-degree turn. However, the pilot's performance was still very bad. Nan Yun said that the water depth was only 40｜5 Ten meters, but about a third of the torpedoes missed their targets. [Note: Narrative of Japan, page 5. 】 After inspecting the Shokaku, Ugaki discussed with Rear Admiral Nakase, Chief of the First Section (Personnel Section) of the Military Command, the thorny issue of adding two ranks to those killed in the Battle of Pearl Harbor. Whether to implement the two-tier system for all casualties, as requested by the First Air Fleet, or for no one, will have a great impact both inside and outside the Navy.We reached an agreement and decided to implement this system for a selected minority of personnel as previously stipulated. [Note: Ugaki's diary, May 17, 1942. 】 Ugaki made the above summary of today's decision.Apparently, he was worried that this set a precedent and it would be extremely difficult to deal with in the future.In a large-scale war, it is impossible to add two ranks to all the dead, otherwise the distinction of various honors will be erased.The Navy, on the other hand, has already given such rewards to pocket submariners that, if withdrawn, would outrage the entire Empire.The only way to save the Navy's face is to persuade the First Air Fleet to agree to only add two ranks to a select few. According to Ugaki, Yamamoto unofficially agreed to the decision and ordered the First Air Fleet to submit to the Ministry of the Navy a list of personnel they considered to be eligible for this addition. [Note: Ugaki's diary, May 17, 1942. 】Yamamoto and Ugaki should have known that Caolu acted impartially and would not pick and choose among the officers and soldiers who died in battle.At one o'clock in the afternoon on May 19th, when the Yamato was moored at Hashirashima, Nagumo and Kusakaka came to the ship.Kusaka discussed the issue with Yamamoto again, but the result was to stick to the established policy, Ugaki said.The problem was thus shelved. [Note: Ibid., May 19, 1942. 】 This little squabble within the Navy wouldn't be worth mentioning if it weren't for the deeply disturbing implications.The subsequent honoring of submarine crews and the relative neglect of airmen is a clear indication that the Combined Fleet still did not fully regard pilots as sea brothers. On the same day, Sanwa and Kuroshima got into an argument over the Second Battleship Squadron.Sanwa preferred to have it withdrawn from the Combined Fleet for training purposes, while Kuroshima insisted that it should participate in the Battle of Midway.Sanhe was restless, always worried that the US Pacific Fleet would exceed their expectations and not show up at all.In this case, for him, the main purpose of this large-scale surprise attack would be defeated. [Note: Sanhe Diary, May 19, 1942. 】 However, on May 20, Yamamoto issued a formal order to all combat units of the fleet: participate in the battle according to the regulations during the exercise.The order included estimates of enemy strength at Midway, Hawaii, and the Aleutians: the Aleutians were dismissed because, with the exception of Dutch Harbor, there were no significant American installations or forces there.The Japanese deduced that after the Japanese army launched an attack on Midway Island, the U.S. military might deploy the following troops around Hawaii: 2|3 aircraft carriers, 2|3 special aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, 4|5 A-type cruisers, 3|4 Type B cruisers, four light cruisers, about thirty destroyers and twenty-five submarines. [Note: Narrative of Japan, p. 2; "Battle of Midway", p. 108 | 109. 】 As of May 20, the Japanese estimates of large aircraft carriers, cruisers of all types, destroyers, and submarines were all accurate.However, the Americans had no special aircraft carriers and no warships in the Central Pacific; and when they participated in the battle, only eight cruisers and fourteen destroyers remained in the area around Midway Island, and the rest of the ships had been dispatched to the Aleutian Islands. [Note: Analysis of the Battle of Midway, page 13. 】 The Japanese estimated the U.S. aircraft carriers at two | three based on the possibility that one of the aircraft carriers reported to have sunk on the bottom of the Coral Sea may have been damaged, and the whereabouts of the Hornet remains a mystery to the Japanese perhaps right on the Pacific Ocean.This estimate also took into account the possibility of U.S. military aircraft in the vicinity of Hawaii, which could be dispatched to Midway immediately in the event of an emergency.They estimated this air force at about sixty seaplanes, one hundred bombers, and two hundred fighters.Although this estimate is not absolutely accurate, it is not far from the truth. [Note: Narrative of Japan, page 2 | page 3; Analysis of the Battle of Midway, page 13. 】 According to the best information Yamamoto had received, the Midway defenders had two squadrons of seaplanes, or twenty-four; one squadron (twelve) of Army bombers; and one squadron of fighters, or twenty.According to intelligence reports, this force can double in strength in an emergency.In addition, Midway has sent aircraft to patrol day and night within 600 nautical miles to the west, and at least three fighter jets have been patrolling over the atoll; the air patrol is also supported by surface ships and several submarines.The report also pointed out that in addition to anti-aircraft machine guns, there are also a large number of horizontal and anti-aircraft large-caliber artillery of various types on the island.Marines are already on the island.In short, the island's defenses are strong.All of this intelligence is quite accurate. [Note: Narration by Japan, page 2 | page 3, Analysis of the Battle of Midway Island, page 14. 】 These estimates further indicated that one or two large and powerful air raids would have to be carried out to destroy all of Midway's defenses before a landing force could be dispatched.In a way, Yamamoto and his troops became increasingly fascinated with the two islands as planning, training, and various preparations for the upcoming campaign unfolded.