Chapter 14 Chapter 10: The Moment of Completion

The Nagumo troops set off from the sun-dappled Seto Inland Sea in a column at a speed of 16 knots, and the fleet presented a festive scene.The light cruiser Nagara led the way, followed by the eleven beautiful ships of the Tenth Destroyer Squadron, followed by the heavy cruisers Tone and Chikuma, which formed the Eighth Cruiser Squadron.As if to cause a dramatic climax, the battleships Haruna and Kirishima sailed past one after another, stirring up waves, and finally reached a climax. There are several fishing boats on the starboard side of the fleet, and the people on board are waving and cheering to the fleet. [Note: "The Battle of Midway Island", page 4. ] When the mobile troops sailed past some small islands, some children on the shore waved the sun flag.Today is May 27th, the 37th anniversary of General Togo Heihachiro's victory over the Russians in the Tsushima Strait.At about nine o'clock, all the crew members of the Akagi lined up on the rear deck and held a short ceremony to commemorate the Navy Day.First, the officers and soldiers bowed deeply in the direction of the palace.Then, Captain Taijiro Aoki read Togo's farewell speech, which mentioned that after victory, the helmet belt should be tightened. [Note: The Battle of Tragedy. 】

That's a good warning.What a contrast between the festive atmosphere of the expedition and the strict secrecy that preceded the attack on Pearl Harbor!If you add a military band and a group of reporters, the Nagumo Army is a complete picture of festival celebrations. In Tokyo, both deficiencies can be easily remedied.At 9:30, a landing team of the United Fleet followed the flag guards and lined up through downtown Tokyo amidst the military music of the Navy military band.They represent the entire active duty Navy.The team first marched to the square in front of the palace to pay homage to the palace, and then went to the Yasukuni Shrine to pay homage to the glorious spirits of fallen soldiers.The sailors stood at attention under the command of salute, paying respect to the heroes of the past and colleagues who died in battle. [Note: "Japan Times and Advertiser", May 27 | 28, 1942. 】

The morning editions of Japanese newspapers make the citizens who are dressed in costumes and take to the streets to celebrate with small sun flags feel very happy before they go out.The Japanese press has never been shy about singing national carols.This morning it blew all its horns.People who want to brush up on their English while learning about the government's attitude can read the English-language newspaper The Japan Times and Advertiser.The newspaper praised: This year's Navy Day is not just a day of remembrance, a day of reminiscence, but also a day of accomplishment.The Japanese Navy not only achieved great results seventeen years ago, but also made incredible and greater military achievements again and again since then.

Due to the activities of German and Italian submarines, and even more due to the efforts of the Japanese Navy, Britain's command of the sea has been lost today.The United States, an accomplice of the British, had its navy almost destroyed by the Japanese navy.Therefore, today Japan has ranked first in the world's naval powers.This fully foreshadows that Japan will rise in the history of the future world and occupy the same position as Britain in the past. [Note: Same as above, May 27, 1942. 】 The morning publications of various newspapers took this opportunity to review the Japanese navy's record in this war since the attack on Pearl Harbor, especially emphasizing the fighting spirit of the nine military gods who died in pocket submarines.Retired Vice Admiral Sato Ichiro compared the situation of the Japanese and American armies and said: American soldiers have no morale at all.If the United States launches an attack, it is only for the sake of its own people. [Note: "Nippon Times and Advertiser", May 27, 1942, quoted from "Tokyo Daily News". 】

In order that interested readers would not forget how great the Japanese navy was, every newspaper re-reported the losses of enemy ships since the war began, some of which were true and some false.They say that all of Japan's 100 million citizens can rejoice at the feats of the superman of the navy!The Axis allies also came to add to the fun, wishing Japan all the best.The German émigrés in Tokyo and Yokohama took out quarter-page advertisements in the Japan Times and Advertisers congratulating the Japanese army and citizens on their major victories on the various battlefields.The Italian diaspora, which was less numerous, also ran newspaper advertisements expressing the same sentiments, but in half the space, which inadvertently came close to showing that Mussolini was only a mere lynchman on the Axis kite. Just the tail. [Note: Same as above. 】

On this auspicious day, Yamamoto did not speak publicly.He prefers to let the United Fleet speak for itself with its record.However, The Japan Times and Advertiser carried his picture on the front page, and he was eulogized in the introduction to the Battle of Tsushima on the third page: It was during this historic battle that Navy cadet Yamamoto lost two fingers.If he lost three fingers, he couldn't stay in the Navy under the rules.It can be said that the difference of one finger enabled the cadet to assume the same duties as the late Admiral Togo thirty-seven years later.Therefore, one can say that this is the grace bestowed by heaven to promote the cause of the country of Japan

Admiral Hideo Heideo, head of the news section of the Navy Base Camp, praised the virtues of Japanese soldiers, making readers feel that the soldiers of the Imperial Army and Navy were brave in combat, loyal and filial, heroic and righteous, and gave preferential treatment to prisoners, which is unparalleled in the world.Heide said with satisfaction: I think only the Japanese people will treat the enemy with such kindness. However, the most meaningful parts of his highly fictionalized account of the Battle of the Coral Sea are barely noticed.After claiming to have sunk two US warships, he emphasized that what I want to tell you here is that warships are of incomparable importance to cruisers and destroyers.Battleships are at the heart of naval power. [Note: "Japan Times and Advertiser", May 27, 1942. 】The official mouthpiece of the Naval Command made these remarks on the eve of the Battle of Midway, which is undoubtedly tantamount to taking out the submarine valves of all the ships of the Japanese Navy.However, not a single warship expressed anger at this.

At 10:40, the main gate of the Imperial Palace opened wide, and a large black Rolls-Royce limousine slowly got out and drove onto the street.Flags were unfurled on the street and crowds were bustling.Seeing the tall and slender figure sitting in the back row of the car, all men, women and children bowed deeply and looked at him respectfully.Because this is their emperor, the proud son of heaven!To celebrate Navy Day, His Majesty wore the dress of an Admiral in the Navy.This situation is rare.In this country where the army dominates everything, His Majesty mostly wears the uniform of the commander-in-chief of the army in public.

The emperor's limousine was followed by a convoy of members of the imperial family, whose specifications were slightly inferior to the former.The entire convoy drove solemnly to the Capitol not far away.His Majesty hereby declares open the Eightieth Special Session of the Diet of Japan.His speech was concise and gentle, and his words were not too flowery.After the usual flattering formal reply, His Majesty got up and left the building, thus avoiding the torture of listening to a long speech. [Note: "Japan Times and Advertiser", May 27 and 28, 1942. 】 The main topic of the two-day convention, according to news reports, was to consider the government's proposal to create a standard merchant fleet, but readers speculated that the real purpose of calling the politicians was to attract an audience.In fact, the Japan Times and Advertiser frankly admitted as much after the convention.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the speech began.Prime Minister Tojo took the podium.Among the world leaders at the time, Tojo was the least gifted and capable.He was nowhere near the stately majesty of Churchill or the diabolical genius of Hitler; neither the political agility of Roosevelt nor the eloquence of Mussolini in demagoguery.Indeed, Tojo has always pretended to do what must be done out of good intentions, and he has been doing nothing in his career all his life.The Japanese Army did not encourage ingenuity and creativity among its generals.As long as they strictly follow orders, they can be promoted and awarded.This system is completely suitable for Tojo, and Tojo is also suitable for this system. The two complement each other and live in symbiosis, so that at this time, Tojo has not only become the Prime Minister of Japan, but also a four-star general in active service. With this necessary military rank, he In order to legally become Lu Xiang. [Note: For details, see the book "Tojo and the Coming of War" by Robert J. C. Bartle. 】

Wary eyes behind Tojo's horn-rimmed glasses, ears pressed close to his skull like a raging cat, surprisingly thin lips and a large beard.His speech was long and exaggerated.This style often became the butt of jokes among Yamamoto's officers.Tojo said: The current favorable situation at home and abroad is only the prelude to the final victory of this war. The unshakable determination of our entire nation has been, is, and will naturally be: the influence of the British and American powers is not completely eradicated, and their dream of world domination is not completely shattered. shattered, our sword of justice never sheathed. Therefore, the fundamental principles guiding the course of this war will be: on the one hand, to further demonstrate the sincere cooperation between our army and navy, which the whole world is amazed by, to find out the enemy's traces and destroy them accurately. After shedding a few crocodile tears at Australia and China, Tojo spoke of the main enemy: the United States, which has failed time and time again, but keeps the truth of these deadly setbacks from the public, is desperately promoting false propaganda in an attempt to Moderate domestic criticism and prevent neutral countries from alienating it.Here, I cannot help but express my sympathy for the people of the United States and the United Kingdom.He then attacked General Douglas MacArthur with vicious language: "The man who leads the battle either entrusts an important post to a commander who leaves his helpless officers and men to flee alone, or entrusts it to the yelling , Those who try to cover up their failure by exaggerating the effectiveness of guerrilla warfare in the sea, which is both futile and pointless. After Prime Minister Tojo rambled about it, it finally came to an end.But if MPs thought his speech would stop there, they were wrong.He changed his name and delivered the same lengthy speech as Prime Minister Lu.He didn't say anything new, but gave a detailed account of the Japanese military operations since the last meeting of the Diet in March, which could have been said on other occasions.But Tojo didn't care whether it was Navy Day or not, as long as he had the opportunity to brag for the army, he would not let it go. [Note: "Japan Times and Advertiser", May 28, 1942. 】 Later in the afternoon, it was the turn of Foreign Minister Dongxiang to give a speech.He fondly paints a rosy picture of Japan's rapprochement with Germany and Italy.He also added a few subtle words to the Soviet Union in passing, implying that as long as the Russians did not interfere and abided by the Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact concluded last year, they had nothing to worry about.Then he did a real laugh at the Englishman.He predicted the imminent demise of England.He then concentrated on insulting Americans: The U.S. Army and Navy suffered successive disastrous defeats, but the U.S. government blocked the news from the public, and at the same time spread false news in an attempt to maintain the confidence of the American people. This war with unknown purpose and absolutely hopeless victory.In this way, it is very natural that the various intelligentsia in the United States will definitely voice their dissatisfaction with the government. Obviously, Dongxiang learned some local idioms during his tenure as ambassador to Moscow.He hypocritically claimed that the United States and the United Kingdom have committed crimes against God by pursuing their traditional policy of sacrificing small and weak countries and spreading the flames of war to every corner of the world.However, it is all too clear that they will end up sadly in the end with such brutality. Strangely enough, Dongxiang just said that these two enemies are in danger and are on the verge of collapse, but he warned everyone: It is not difficult to imagine that the United States and Britain will fight back desperately to save the defeat.But he hastened to add: "However, I firmly believe that there is no doubt that our people will unite and work hard, and no matter how long the war will last, we will surely win this great war. world. [Note: "Japan Times and Advertiser", May 28, 1942. 】 Admiral Shigetaro Shimada, Minister of the Sea, stepped onto the podium with a satisfied look on Yuanyuan's face.He is not only a classmate of Yamamoto Military Academy, but also a close friend of Yamamoto.When he gave a speech that afternoon, he knew in his heart that the Japanese naval forces had already dispatched and were about to launch a large-scale attack on the enemy forces at Midway Island.With his mind full of the illustrious achievements of Japan, he declared proudly: The naval battle continued until mid-March, and almost all of the enemy's strategic locations in the Southwest Pacific fell into the hands of Japan With this most favorable situation, since then, our Imperial Japanese Navy has launched and is launching active and large-scale campaigns with a strong determination to destroy the enemy Then, he described in detail the Pacific War and the Indian Ocean battle, including of course the Coral Sea Battle.He listed all the achievements one by one, making the speech reach a climax.According to his amazing description, the Japanese army has sunk eight enemy battleships, six aircraft carriers, fifteen cruisers, twenty-four destroyers, fifty submarines, forty-seven auxiliary ships, and severely damaged five enemy battleships and ten cruisers. Two ships, eleven destroyers, twenty-nine submarines, and forty auxiliary ships.The price Japan paid for this was only; a small aircraft carrier, a seaplane carrier, a minelayer, six destroyers, six submarines, 14 small auxiliary ships, 17 transport ships and 200 Forty-eight aircraft. [Note: "Japan Times and Advertiser", May 28, 1942. 】 In this way, Shimada officially reported the incorrect results to Congress.He didn't have to lie at all.At that time, the Japanese Navy's record was indeed extraordinary, and there was no need to use false reports to inflate the figures. The real figures were enough for a generation of naval officers and soldiers to be honored.Perhaps Shimada had thought of this somewhat, as he sounded the warning in diplomatic language: Forced to suffer a series of ignominious defeats, the enemy is now concentrating on turning the tide of battle and strengthening its forces.It goes without saying that the enemy will use all means to launch a counterattack against us.Therefore, we should not lose our guard, not even for a moment. But, like previous speakers, Shimada ended on an upbeat note.He said: Allow me to assure you that the officers and men of the Imperial Navy will be high-spirited and full of confidence in victory.They will, as always, not be afraid of any difficulties and obstacles, conquer the enemy in order to win the final victory of the war, and will never give up until they achieve their goals [Note: "Japan Times and Advertisement", May 28, 1942. 】 How much ordinary Japanese people really believe in this spout of beautiful rhetoric is not known.No objective, let alone anti-government, newspaper, magazine, book, or reviewer points the reader to the other side of the issue, or questions the statements of those in power.The careful reader will not fail to notice, however, that despite all the protracted prose of each speaker, they all mentioned that the war was still going on for a long time.Yet there was no indication that ordinary Japanese were not proud of the military, nor had they had reason to doubt the accuracy of official enemy loss figures or official promises of eventual victory. One can only understand the battle of Midway if one understands the atmosphere of fanatical conquest, pride and self-importance in Japan at that time. How could such a style of careful planning, strict training, and absolute secrecy be lost in less than six months. The flurry of flowers in the press completely concealed the worrying fact that Nagumo's mobile unit was undertrained and the enemy's situation was unknown [Note: Japanese Narrative, p. 】Go to sea to fight.Every step of the arrangement during the air attack on Pearl Harbor was based on first-hand and convincing intelligence.The Japanese obviously did not have such intelligence guarantees when planning the Battle of Midway. Indeed, as soon as the war started, Japan's espionage channels on Oahu were suddenly cut off.Before the war, the Japanese Naval Intelligence Department estimated that Japanese nationals might be rounded up, and had planted a German in Honolulu as a timed (delayed) bomb, intending to let it explode during the war and play a role.However, Otto Quen did not become the core of the local wartime espionage organization at all, but was thrown into a local prison by the Honolulu branch of the FBI.There, he made a confession with all his heart and soul. [Note: "Dawn, We Are Still Sleeping Soundly", page 310. 】 In addition, the Hawaiian newspapers no longer carry the daily news about the comings and goings of units of the US Pacific Fleet that spies have always loved to read, and the Japanese have not yet broken the code used by the highest levels of the US Navy.As a result, Yamamoto and his staff had no way of knowing what Nimitz and his planners were thinking.This is a negative factor that Nagumo emphasized.He said: We can hardly get any intelligence from the enemy side.We still don't know where the enemy aircraft carriers are and how many there are until the end. [Note: Narration in Japan, p. 6. 】However, even if Nagumo doesn't know what the US Pacific Fleet is going to do, what does it matter?According to the government and official newspapers, the Pacific Fleet is practically doomed! Looking at the vast areas that the enemy must protect, and looking at the Pacific Ocean, we can rest assured that the enemy will not send many troops to the Pacific Ocean.We believe that the enemy's remnants in the Pacific are only a few warships with the aircraft carrier Hornet and Enterprise as the core How this last carrier force will act certainly deserves our closest attention at the present time.However, its strength is too weak, and it is no match for my invincible navy. After the turning point of the Battle of the Coral Sea, it can be said that the entire Pacific Ocean has fallen into the hands of the Japanese [Note: "Japan Times and Advertisement", May 27, 1942. 】 In Japan's long history, there is no naval unit that has given more glory to the flag of the sun than the First Air Fleet.In less than six months, they fought from Pearl Harbor to the Indian Ocean, and Nagumo's name has been engraved on the hearts of the British and Americans.Since the outbreak of the Pacific War, his fleet has sunk five enemy battleships, one aircraft carrier, two cruisers, and seven destroyers, severely damaged many enemy ships, and buried many small-tonnage ships on the bottom of the sea, but he himself did not lose a single ship. .No wonder Cao Lu said that when we left the Bungo Suido on May 27, everyone was overconfident, thinking that as long as there were mobile troops in the vanguard, no enemy would be a problem. [Note: "United Fleet", page 78. 】 At noon, the attack fleet had left the Bungo Suidou.By night, when the cool salty wind blew, the fleet sailed out to sea.After a busy day, Fuchita climbed into the bunk early.He was hospitalized in an army hospital for observation a few days ago, but now he still feels pain.Doctors at the hospital diagnosed him with excessive drinking and ordered him to abstain from alcohol.At first, Dr. Yujing, the surgeon of the Akagi, looked at it and thought it was not a big problem, and joked that it was probably caused by too much drinking.This sounds gratifying, because Yujing is a famous surgeon, and the crew joked together that he always wanted to disembowel patients. [Note: Interview with Fuchida, February 14, 1964; Battle of Tragedy. 】 But that night, Yuantian curled up clutching his stomach in pain as soon as he fell asleep.Fuchida's orderly hurriedly invited Yujing.The doctor told the sweaty pilot that it was acute appendicitis and I had to operate on you immediately.Yuantian asked him to deal with it temporarily so that he could persist for a week to ten days, but the doctor refused and insisted on performing an operation immediately.When Nanyun, Caolu, and Yuantian heard the news that Yuantian was suffering from acute appendicitis, they all rushed to Yuantian's shop.They all support the doctor's opinion.But they were all unhappy, for Fuchita was an inspirational commander whom his men trusted so much that they expected him to lead the Japanese sea eagles into the planned battles.But they reassured Fuchida that they could do without him, and that no matter what the circumstances, he could give his opinions and suggestions at any time. [Note: Interview with Fuchida, February 14, 1964. 】 The disturbing news of Fuchita's absence as flight captain spread throughout the ship, and even Murata became gloomy.He said troubledly: Fuchita Zhongzuo's failure to participate in the battle may greatly affect the morale of the pilots. We needn't worry so much, the vice-captain interjected, because the heroic Bodhisattva Lord will succeed him.In this regard, Murata, who enjoys the reputation of Bodhisattva because of his good temper, smiled, then opened his mouth wide and said one word: No! [Note: The Battle of Tragedy. 】 Misfortunes never come singly. A few days after Fuchida had his appendix removed, Yuanda contracted pneumonia again and had a fever, so he had to stay in bed. [Note: Genda's statement. 】These two misfortunes would have upset Nagumo if they had happened on the way to attack Pearl Harbor, but at this moment he seemed to feel that they had no influence on the battle command.As for Caolu, a level-headed Zen Buddhist, nothing disturbs him. Many Japanese are sensitive to omens, and sailors have a tradition of superstition.But neither Nagumo nor Kuolu saw the sudden absence of these two crucial young men as a harbinger of bad luck.Of course they had no idea that Nimitz was preparing a warm welcome for them on and around Midway. It would be more believable if the two generals at war were as nervous as the upper echelons of the War Department.Marshall just returned from California.Anticipating a Doolittle-like attack by the Japanese on that area, he went there to straighten out the defenses.Stimson wrote in his diary: This afternoon we received intelligence that the Japanese fleet had imposed a blackout and had begun operations.It's time.The next thing I need to know is where they will attack me. [Note: Stimson's diary, May 27, 1942. ]