Chapter 3 the plan is risky

Hai Xiang Ji Chuan's attitude, just like his personality, has always been ambiguous, which is understandable.Worst of all, even within the United Fleet, few people agreed with the "Z" plan. There is a reason to disagree.Since May 1941, most of the warships of the US Pacific Fleet have been moored at Pearl Harbor, and the number of surface ships alone has soared to more than 100. They'll all be hot and bubbly. Of course, Yamamoto will not ignore these, but he either does not wear red dancing shoes, and once he wears them, he must dance non-stop. In June 1941, Yamamoto presided over a map exercise for the war against the United States.As with previous exercises, the attack on the Philippines was always a tried and tested dessert.However, some people still found that there was no large ship carrier in the combat plan.

After asking, I found out that Yamamoto used all the large ships in Pearl Harbor, so the person who asked exclaimed: "This is a risk, what a gambler!" Most of the senior generals of the United Fleet felt unreliable, so that even the specific author of the "Z" plan was shaken later. When facing Yamamoto, he said: "It is okay for Japan to attack the Philippines or other places, but it cannot go to Japan." Attack on Pearl Harbor." While everyone was discussing and unable to agree on what to do, the conflict between Japan and the United States continued to deteriorate. On June 5, 1941, the Konoe Cabinet formally made a decision at the imperial meeting to go to war against the United States.But before that, negotiations with the United States will still be held.

Emperor Hirohito was very angry about this, thinking that the success or failure of the negotiation is still unknown, how could he decide to go to war with the United States based on this?He summoned the chief of staff of the army and the chief of the naval command to the imperial palace, one of them fell apart, and he recited two lines of poems written by his grandfather, Emperor Meiji in a shrill voice: "We are all brothers in the world, why does the wind and rain disturb the world?" The two ministers retreated without a word, but in the end they did not take any measures.In fact, the matter is obvious. Although it is said that there will be negotiations, the ministers all know that such negotiations are difficult to achieve any practical results, because the two parties lack common interests, and it is inevitable to tear their faces and fight in the end. The emperor really thinks too much about the future. up.

In July 1941, Japan made a large-scale "south advance" and sent troops to occupy southern Indochina. This move was like holding the throat of Britain and the United States with the tip of a knife.The United States immediately reacted strongly, first freezing all Japanese assets in the United States, and then announcing a ban on oil exports to Japan. Japan's oil mainly relies on imports, and "going south" is simply to find oil.Unexpectedly, before Nanyang Petroleum saw its shadow, the United States acted preemptively and cut off the oil umbilical cord in advance. This move by the United States is like inserting another Swiss Army knife into Japan's wounded heart.After the oil embargo was implemented, the oil reserves of the Japanese Navy could only last for one year, and the high-speed fleet was about to stop.After the end of World War II, Japanese historians beat their chests green with regret every time they talked about these idle stories.

When the matter got to this point, there must be an explanation as to whether the bucket fell into the well or the well fell into the bucket, otherwise it would be a torture for everyone. On September 6, 1941, the Konoe cabinet held another imperial meeting, proposing that by early October, if Japan and the United States could not reach an agreement in the negotiations, Japan would go to war against the United States. After the meeting, the Japanese navy and army began to step up their preparations, and discussions on combat plans gradually entered a critical period. On October 3, 1941, two senior generals of the United Fleet made a special trip to meet Yamamoto.The two are not conservative in their tactical thinking, and belong to the innovative school like Yamamoto, but they both believe that the upcoming war against the United States is related to Japan’s national destiny. Treat it like a gamble".

After listening to the statement, Yamamoto made a hypothesis: "We are going to fight the Philippines. What should we do if the Pacific Fleet attacks the Japanese mainland from the east? Do you want Tokyo and Osaka to become scorched earth?" Yamamoto said that as long as he was the commander of the United Fleet for one day, he would never give up the plan to attack Pearl Harbor.He also responded to the outside world's "gambling theory" in a relaxed tone: "Don't just say that because I like playing bridge and poker, it's just a fluke mentality and speculative gambling."

The width of the house is not as bright as the heart.Yamamoto's eloquence is outstanding, his language is contagious, and he himself has a strong appeal in the United Fleet, so in the Battle of Pearl Harbor, the United Fleet quickly reached an agreement. Compared with subordinates, it is obviously much more difficult to convince superiors and colleagues.The Japanese Navy is a three-in-one structure consisting of three parts: the Ministry of the Navy, the Military Command, and the Joint Fleet. The responsibilities are roughly divided into internal affairs management, planning, and operations.

The attitude of the Ministry of the Navy where Oikawa is located is not the most important thing for the "Z" plan. The most important thing is that the military command responsible for the plan can pass it. Yamamoto had already delivered the "Z" plan to the military command, but Tomioka Jotoshi, the head of operations at the military command, refused to sign the plan. Tomioka asked Yamamoto two questions. The first question was: "A huge sneak attack fleet has to cross half of the Pacific Ocean. It is difficult to guarantee that it will not be discovered by the US military. Once discovered, this fleet may become the opponent's mouth. What should we do then?” The second question: “How do you know that the main force of the Pacific Fleet was anchored in Pearl Harbor when the attack happened, what if it wasn’t there?”

Yamamoto did not answer these two questions directly. He only insisted on one: "Fighting against the United States has no hope of winning. If you know this and insist on fighting hard, you must preemptively destroy the opponent's main force at the beginning of the war." , so that it cannot be put into combat in the Western Pacific within half a year. Otherwise, this war cannot be carried out." After a lot of rhetoric, Tomioka agreed to hold the Naval University's routine map assignments in advance in order to deduce the "Z" plan. Since Yamamoto described his plan so miraculously, everyone wanted to see if this egg really had such weight.