Chapter 39 Chapter 35 I will plead guilty to the Emperor

Among these Japanese aircraft carriers, the one that the Japanese really tried their best to preserve is the Akagi, and it is also the one that made the upper leadership reflect so much.It is not an ordinary aircraft carrier, it is the flagship, the queen of aircraft carriers, and the symbol of Japanese naval aviation. Analyzing from various materials, Captain Aoki has done his best to command the Akagi under such a dangerous situation.At 11:30 on June 4, just as Nagumo resumed his command aboard the Nagara, Aoki ordered the evacuation of all airmen and wounded.Five minutes later, the torpedo and bomb bays in the hangar exploded violently, and the fire raged again.There was also a raging fire on the deck where the boat was placed.Aoki and his staff were forced out of the bridge by the fire and retreated to the front flight deck. At this time, they moved to the front windlass deck. [Note: Narratives of Japan, 21st | 22nd page. 】

Below decks, the crew fought the most heroic of fires under extremely difficult conditions.Due to the failure of the ship's generator, the interior of the ship could not be illuminated, and the pressure water pump could not be used. The firefighters could only rely on the tools at hand.Some rushed up to the deck; the water was pushed up by long hoses.But trying to extinguish this devastating fire with human tools is as useless as trying to extinguish a forest fire with a medical dropper.Chemical fire extinguishers also seemed to be taunting the heroic crew as they also failed. [Note: Narrative of Japan, page 9; "Battle of Midway", 181 | 182. 】

At 12:30, Akagi suddenly began to turn to starboard.A second lieutenant was sent to find out the reason for this strange situation, and he found that the entire chain of command in the engine room had ceased to exist. [Note: Narrative of Japan, page 23; "Amazing Victory", page 183. 】 The inexplicable circling of the Akagi undoubtedly saved Fujita's life.Floating on the water, Fujita was so bored that he read his palm to pass the time.It was a mysterious art, and he was not really good at it.He has never learned this trick, but he felt disappointed when he saw that his lifeline was too short.So he stopped fortune-telling and scanned the sea again.He saw that among the several pillars of smoke on the sea, one was bigger and closer, and he was both happy and excited.The plume of smoke quickly turned into an aircraft carrier, circling in the sea, and getting closer and closer to him.

When the burning aircraft carrier was within a nautical mile of him, Fujita recognized it as the Akagi and swam towards it and its escorting destroyers.At one point it was really dangerous, a machine gun on the wild branch was aimed at him, but he immediately gestured and said: I am the pilot of the Soryu.At this time, Fujita's two classmates of Etajima, one was Koichi Aoki, and the other was Toshiro Kanai recognized him. Fujita hurriedly put on one of Kanai's military uniforms, managed to eat something, and climbed onto the deck.He saw the Akagi burning in the distance.The people on the ship jumped into the sea from the deck, and the lifeboat of the wild branch rushed to salvage the people who fell into the water.

Fujita was too tired to analyze the situation reasonably, nor could he come up with an objective view, but in his opinion, the Japanese were clearly defeated in this battle.He vaguely heard some discussions on the bridge: the rescue work must be accelerated, and this dangerous area must be left quickly, because there may be enemy submarines operating here.Some people say that destroyers will be used to tow the Akagi back.Fujita listened and soon fell asleep. [Note: Interview with Fujita, January 4, 1965. 】 Despite these events aboard the Akagi, Captain Aoki remained optimistic.He sent a report to Nagumo at 12:30 through the wild semicolon saying: everything is safe except the flight deck.Trying to put out the fire.The first half of the report is of course far from the truth.The retreat is taking place slowly and step by step.At 13:38, the imperial statue of the emperor was transferred to the wild semicolon.At 13:45, the ship reported the situation to Yamamoto and Nagumo, and said that the fire on the Akagi was still raging.The sudden halt of the Akagi's inexplicable and frightening circle seemed to add weight to the report. [Note: Narration in Japan, pages 9 and 25. 】

About two hours later, there was an induced explosion in the hangar, blowing through the partition of the forward hangar.The fire ignited again and spread towards the front and middle decks.Aoki withdrew all the air forces within an hour, leaving only the crew of the ship on board. [Note: Ibid., page 26 | page 27. 】 Despite their heroism and skill in fighting the fire, the situation continued to deteriorate.At 9:15, all hope was dashed.The chief engineer, Lieutenant Officer Tanbo, rushed out of the engine room, braved the smoke and raging fire, rushed to several decks, and reported to Captain Aoki that there was absolutely no hope for the Akagi to sail on its own power.Aoki immediately ordered all the engine room personnel to come up, but this decision was too late.The messengers sent to convey the order never returned, and all the engineers were sealed off below. [Note: Same as above, page 34; "Battle of Midway", page 182. 】

At this time, Aoki asked Nagumo if he could evacuate, and Nagumo immediately agreed.As a result, the survivors of the Akagi began to evacuate at 20:00.The evacuation was completed two hours later.The 500 evacuated people, including Aoki, crowded into the Arashi, and the other 200 people boarded the Wild Branch. [Note: Narration of Japan, 9th, 35th | 36th page. 】 Aoki generates electricity from the destroyer and asks Nagumo for permission to sink the Akagi.Yamamoto and Ugaki on the Yamato were shocked after receiving this telegram, thinking that Aoki should not give up the rescue of the aircraft carrier so easily.The sun has set and the main force is heading east to search for the night battle, so why give up hope of saving the flagship?Yamamoto immediately ordered the mobile unit to suspend the disposal of the Akagi. [Note: Same as above, page 36; Ugaki's diary, June 8, 1942. 】After receiving the order, Aoki returned to the aircraft carrier alone, and tied himself to the anchor chain, so that he would not drift away when the aircraft carrier sank. [Note: The Battle of Tragedy; "The Battle of Midway", 182 | 183. 】This action strongly illustrates Captain Aoki's opinion on whether the Akagi can be saved at the scene of the battle.

In almost any other situation, the Combined Fleet Commander and his staff would have accepted Aoki's view that the Akagi was beyond preservation and would have acquiesced in his sinking her.After all, Aoki is an experienced captain who has made outstanding military exploits and is fully competent to command one of Japan's most valued aircraft carriers.Unless it is absolutely necessary, he will never give this painful order to sink his own aircraft carrier. Communications between Mobile Force and Combined Fleet were increasingly confused, and the language within them increasingly heated.Aoki's telegram happened to be sent to the Yamato at this time.At least after Ugaki received the telegram, he believed that Nagumo had become a coward. In fact, about half an hour after he decided to suspend the disposal of the Akagi, Yamamoto revoked the post of commander of the Nagumo Mobile Force.

The night relentlessly engulfed the Pacific Ocean.The possibility of the Japanese wanting to engage in a night battle with the U.S. special mixed fleet and successfully bombard Midway Island became more and more remote with the passage of time.At 23:30, only four hours before sunrise.Ugaki reminded the war room from the bridge's microphone that the troops participating in the night battle should not go too far to prevent us from being out of control when something happens before dawn. [Note: Japanese narrative, page 38; Ugaki's diary, June 8, 1942. 】 Watanabe put forward a new idea: let the warships of the main force sail boldly to Midway Island in broad daylight the next day, and bombard the island with powerful naval guns.Watanabe submitted the plan to Kuroshima, who immediately agreed.They were very excited to submit this plan to Yamamoto and Ugaki.Yamamoto calmly listened to Watanabe's explanation (what Watanabe later called my whimsical explanation) without saying a word.Then, he said pleasantly: You must have studied at the Naval Staff College.Throughout naval history, naval ships should not be used to attack ground forces.

Watanabe replied awkwardly: Yes, I know. Yamamoto went on to say: Your proposal violates the most basic principles of the Navy.It is too late for such a battle now.This battle is drawing to a close.When playing chess, too much fighting and confrontation will cause the whole game to be lost, and lose everything. [Note: Interview with Watanabe, November 24, 1964. 】 Ugaki was not so restrained.The staunch dogmatist lost his temper and reprimanded: You should understand how absurd it is to attack a fortress with the artillery of the fleet.At present, the enemy not only has strong carrier-based aircraft, but also has a fairly strong land-based aviation force, using the intact airfield on the island; even a powerful warship may be destroyed by the enemy's aviation and submarine forces before launching effective bombardment. defeated.If the Raiders can wait any longer, we'd better wait for the Second Air Fleet to arrive.

Then he said: Also, although we lost four aircraft carriers in this battle, we will still have eight aircraft carriers, including the ones that are about to be completed and put into use, so we still have hope in future battles.He went on to say sharply: In a game of chess, the game is already lost, and you have to fight hard again and again. Only a fool without a brain would make such a plan. [Note: Ugaki's diary, June 8, 1942. 】 Watanabe and Kuroshima were reprimanded speechless, and went back to the war room to reflect.Watanabe was always sensitive to Yamamoto's emotions.He clearly felt that Yamamoto had long considered the situation irreversible.Now there was nothing else to do but to retreat and carry out the westward flight that Watanabe said.So he carefully drafted a message calling for a break in the fighting and arranging a rendezvous point. Yamamoto was very sad and regretfully approved the telegram drafted by Watanabe. [Note: Interview with Watanabe, November 24, 1964. ] At 2:55 on June 5, Yamamoto issued the United Fleet No. 161 combat order to his troops: 1. Revocation of the battle plan for the occupation of Midway Island. 2. The main force is responsible for gathering the attacking force and mobile force (Qifeilong and its escort ships), and refueling at the position of 33 degrees north latitude and 170 degrees east longitude on the morning of June 7. 3. The security force, the Hiryu and its escort ships, and the Nisshin should also sail to the above position. 4. The landing force headed westward out of the attack range of the Midway aircraft. [Note: Narration in Japan, page 38. 】 The Japanese fighter planes that destroyed and occupied Midway Island were thus buried on the altar of dogmatism.The leaders of the Combined Fleet, who at first greatly underestimated the strength of the enemy, now greatly overestimated their own difficulties. Watanabe's cable made no mention of the Akagi.The decision to retreat naturally involved the question of what to do with the flagship.In the war room, Yamamoto convened and presided over a meeting of all staff members to study the issue carefully.Do you agree with Aoki's opinion and sink it?Or take the risk of another battle and rush into the combat sea area to drag it out?Or leave it to fate?They knew that if the Akagi were abandoned, the Americans would surely take it away, and it would become a showpiece on the Potomac. The atmosphere of the discussion was dramatic and full of emotion.Especially Kuroshima, very impulsive.He was ashamed to admit defeat, and fought to the end for the matter of the Akagi.The chief of staff was filled with grief and indignation, ashamed, disheartened, and wept bitterly.Many were also in tears.Kuroshima cried bitterly: We can't use His Majesty's own torpedoes to sink His Majesty's battleship! His words seemed to turn the room into a vacuum.Watanabe recalled: Almost all of Yamamoto's staff officers had their throats choked up, and they couldn't even breathe. He said: Yamamoto may also be crying in his heart, but there are no tears in his eyes.Maybe only he can make this decision, and the decision is too painful to make, he can't cry. He finally spoke, slowly and heavily: I was the captain of the Akagi myself.I must now order it to be sunk, with great regret.Then he said: For the sinking of the Akagi with our own torpedoes, I will apologize to His Majesty the Emperor. After he finished speaking, the meeting broke up.Watanabe saw that the situation of the battle had changed and the world had changed because of one person's decision. [Note: Interview with Watanabe, November 24, 1964; Ugaki's diary, June 8, 1942. 】 At 3:50 on June 5, Nagumo received an order from Yamamoto. [Note: Narration in Japan, page 60. 】Before dawn, the sea was foggy.The fire on the Akagi appears to have extinguished itself.The Akagi is faintly visible in the thick fog, just like a stroke in a Japanese ink painting.Several representatives went by boat to persuade Aoki not to commit suicide.Lieutenant Admiral Miura, Navigator of the Akagi, told him that the aircraft carrier would be sunk by Japanese torpedoes, not by enemy torpedoes, so its captain would not need to sink with it.Sergeant Ariga, who was higher in rank than Aoki, boarded the ship himself and ordered Aoki to leave the ship, and Aoki obeyed. [Note: The Battle of Tragedy; "The Battle of Midway", one hundred and eighty-two | one hundred and eighty-four pages. 】 At five o'clock, three destroyers surrounded and fired three torpedoes at Akagi.There was an explosion on the starboard side, and she began to sink bow-down.Everyone on the destroyer shouted Long live the Akagi!Long live!Long live!Twenty minutes later, it disappeared, and a huge foam rose from the sea. [Note: Japanese Narrative, p. 38; The Battle of Tragedy]