When Zhang Chi was in full swing to carry out military reform and training in the northeast, the largest naval battle in history was ...... The Battle of Leyte Gulf began. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The strategy set by Umezu Mijiro and other high-ranking Japanese military officials was obviously exaggerated...... Vice Toyoda knew that it would be impossible for this battle to achieve the strategic goal of Umezu Mijiro and others, that is, to defeat the American fleet and force them to return to the negotiating table. Not to mention that the Japanese Combined Fleet had no air supremacy at this time and could not fight the US military, even if it defeated the US forces by luck...... The great industrial capacity of the Americans will soon produce another fleet in front of the combined fleet.

But now that the battle order has been issued, Vice Takeshi Toyoda has to take it seriously, after all, this is the last bit of capital for the Japanese Combined Fleet.

Vice Takeshi Toyoda discussed with several of his admirals for a long time, and finally came up with a feasible battle plan

"Jet-1" battle plan.

The "Jie-1" battle plan was one of the few relatively successful battle plans formulated by the Japanese army...... It differs from Umezu Yoshijiro's strategic purpose in that its main purpose is not to defeat the U.S. fleet, but to inflict heavy damage on U.S. escort aircraft carriers and logistical supply fleets.

This battle plan was very simple, that is, to use Japan's aircraft carrier formation as a bait to transfer the main aircraft carrier formation of the US military out of Leyte Gulf, and then the Japanese army would use battleships and destroyers to attack the escort aircraft carrier formation and supply formation that had lost the protection of the main aircraft carrier.

This plan can be very targeted, and this bait is also attractive...... Those are five aircraft carriers, including the main aircraft carrier "Zuihe", which can be predicted to be ...... The U.S. military could not resist this temptation at all.

Indeed, Halsey took the bait without much thought and sent almost all of the main aircraft carriers to pursue the Japanese aircraft carrier formation.

Hindsey's decision was questioned by many people afterwards, and the main reason for questioning his point of view was that it was ...... The Japanese air force has been basically defeated by the US army, and even if the Japanese army has aircraft carriers, it does not need to send so many US aircraft carriers to pursue, and Halsey can completely divide the main aircraft carrier into two parts, one part is used to pursue the Japanese aircraft carrier formation, and the other part is used to protect Leyte Gulf.

But objectively speaking, this statement is more of an "afterthought...... It is true that the U.S. military defeated the Japanese air force in the Battle of the Marianas, but Japan still has industrial capacity, and before that, the Japanese mainland continued to move fighters in the direction of the Philippines, and the number of fighters increased sharply from about 100 to 300.

Who can guarantee that there will be no carrier-based aircraft among these 300 fighters?

Who is confident that half of the aircraft carrier group can defeat and then defeat the Japanese aircraft carrier group?

Halsey was somewhat eager to win, but his eagerness to win was right to a certain extent, despite the fact that he had fallen for the Japanese, and for this reason he also put the US escort aircraft carrier group and supply group in danger, and almost caused heavy losses and seriously affected the entire battle.

But here's the problem......

Once the Japanese aircraft carrier group can be completely annihilated, then Japan, an island nation, can almost sit back and wait for death, and the US military can rest assured that it will be able to blockade and attack the Japanese mainland without worrying about a sudden attack by the Japanese navy.

To put it simply, this has the meaning of "as long as the Japanese aircraft carrier formation is taken, the winner or loser is decided."

Anyone in such a situation, then, would probably make the same choice as Halsey: Promise to win!

As a result, the Japanese army's "Jie-1" battle plan was implemented very successfully.

But in the end, this "Jie-1" still failed to inflict heavy losses on the US military......

The reason for this is that Vice Admiral Keno Kurita took battleships and destroyers such as "Yamato" and "Musashi" to sneak attack the US escort aircraft carrier formation and supply formation.

Keno Kurita was a lieutenant general who had not entered the Naval War College, and he was considered an uneducated admiral by his Japanese colleagues.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf seems to confirm this claim...... Kurita Keno originally had a good opportunity: the battleships with huge cannons he led suddenly appeared in front of the US escort aircraft carrier formation and supply formation.

It is true that the US escort aircraft carrier has fighters and bombers, but it is clear that the escort aircraft carrier is more suitable for long-range operations...... Fighters have a longer range.

However, if the fighters are fighting at close range, they will not have time to take off in large numbers, and they will not be able to sink the battleships with extremely thick armor for a while, and what is even worse is that these escort aircraft carriers are all converted from merchant ships, and their anti-sinking resistance is very poor, and the battleships can make them unable to take off and land normally and even sink on the spot as long as they shoot a few shots at them.

In other words, what is in front of Kurita is a godsend...... To be exact, it was an opportunity that Jizaburo Ozawa bought at the expense of the entire Japanese aircraft carrier fleet.

But Kurita didn't take the opportunity.

The reason is ...... Kurita couldn't help but be taken aback when he saw the US escort aircraft carrier and the US fighter planes flying in the air, and the powerful combat capability of the US fighters and bombers made him mistakenly believe that what was in front of him was not the American escort aircraft carrier formation, but the main aircraft carrier formation of the US military.

This was also due to the fact that the Japanese army's communication was not good enough, and Ozawa Jizaburo successfully lured out the main aircraft carrier formation of the US army, but did not inform Kurita Keno, so Kurita Keno seriously misjudged the situation and ordered a retreat.

This made the American troops, who were originally taken aback when they saw the Japanese battleships, a little inexplicable.

As a result, the "Jie-1" battle plan, which could have been successfully implemented, ended in a crushing defeat for the Japanese army...... In this battle, the Japanese lost five aircraft carriers, including the "Zuizuru", three battleships, including the "Musashi", and a total of 26 cruisers and destroyers.

And the US army lost only 7 large and small ships.

This loss was almost insignificant for the US Navy, and the Japanese Combined Fleet ...... With the exception of a few ships that escaped, it can almost be said that the entire army was wiped out.

After the war, Ozawa Jizaburo lamented: "After this war, Japan's sea forces have become absolute auxiliary forces, and except for some special ships, they are no longer useful for sea warships." ”

Vice Takeshi Toyoda could only shake his head and sigh helplessly at this ending......

If it can successfully attack the US escort aircraft carrier group and the supply group, then the US military will soon have supply problems. This will not change anything, but it will at least buy Japan more time.

But now, instead of succeeding, the plan has put the entire combined fleet into it.

Now, what else could stop the enemy from attacking Japan?