Chapter 37 A skinny camel is bigger than a horse

What worries Imamura is that there is no one to escort him. There are 56 troop carriers, but the escort fleet has only 1 light cruiser and 9 destroyers, which is far inferior to the Allied forces.The commander of the escort fleet told the truth that without doubling the number of ships and troops, he would not be able to complete this escort mission at all. Imamura saw that it was true, how thick the bricks are, and how thin the tiles are, there are a dozen big men in the family, and you only have one bodyguard.He immediately begged the temple to negotiate with the commander of the United Fleet, Yamamoto, and try to send more warships over.

To say that Imamura is more disciplined than Yamashita, and he has negotiated with his superiors in cooperation with the navy, so there is no suspicion of "too close to the navy", but the problem is that his superiors are perverted.The Southern Army was indifferent to the difficulties faced by Imamura. The chief of staff, Tsukada Tsukasa, even came forward to reprimand Imamura, saying that the guarding method of the landing force had been agreed upon by Terauchi and Yamamoto long ago and could not be changed. What are timid negotiations like?" If you have courage, mountains of swords and seas of fire cannot stop you; if you have no courage, even sitting in the pile of gold and silver will be in vain.Imamura couldn't accept the bastard logic of Terauchi and Tsukada Gong.Imamura believes that his request has nothing to do with cowardice or bravery. The commander of the escort fleet is always an expert, and the expert thinks it is unreasonable. I am not being hypocritical.

Seeing that his boss's IQ was directly lower than sea level, and his ignorance reached an unbearable level, Imamura was also angry, and he decided to go to the temple himself to seek justice. Before departure, Imamura suddenly remembered that the commander of the Southern Expedition Fleet, Ozawa Jisaburo, lived nearby. Escorting the landing in Malaysia at the foot of the mountain is the Southern Fleet.At the beginning, even Yamamoto was very hesitant to escort Yamashita, because the air-to-air combat capability of the Southern Fleet was very weak, ship-to-ship, let alone the opponent of the "Z" Fleet, which has the strongest British warships such as the "Prince of Wales". , I am afraid that within one round, he will fall off the saddle.

Yamamoto's warning to the Southern Army was to carry out the aviation annihilation battle first, and then proceed to the landing.This is what he meant when he expressed his apology to Yamashita at the "Gathering of Two Mountains" and said that "the strength of the navy to assist the landing is indeed insufficient". If it was bombed by plane, there would be no time to wait, and it would be difficult to achieve a surprise attack effect, so both Terauchi and Yamashita had their brains scratched, and they did not know how to persuade Yamamoto.At the critical moment, it was this Ozawa who stood up and said with great righteousness: "Even if the entire Southern Fleet is wiped out, I would dare to bet with Commander Yamamoto. Don't worry, I will take care of this matter. Responsible for convincing."

Ozawa went to talk about it, and it turned out to be a bright future, and Yamamoto agreed to allow the Southern Fleet to take the risk of escorting the landing troops going south. If there is no Ozawa, the Malaysia and Singapore campaigns cannot be done so fast and so beautifully. After the battle, everyone said that Ozawa is great.Ozawa was also quite modest, and said with a smile: "War is not something that can be explained clearly. If you don't fight and see, who will know the outcome? In this battle, I have the heart of death, and I am also prepared to die. It’s hard to talk about being great or not.”

The relationship between the Japanese navy and the army has always been very tense. Normally, you squeeze against me, or I squeeze against you. But when all the army officers who participated in the southern operations mentioned Ozawa, they all held out their thumbs. They thought the navy was the most amazing No, it's not Yamamoto, let alone Nagumo, but Ozawa, and some people even respect Ozawa as "Daimyojin" (a god that is said to have created Japan). It's better to hit the golden bell once than to break the three thousand drums.Imamura also wanted to burn incense at the "Da Mingjin" and try his luck.After meeting and chatting, Ozawa immediately expressed sympathy and understanding: "There are only 9 destroyers escorting, so how can it be enough? You have 56 troop carriers."

Imamura said that the troops would leave the day after tomorrow, and Ozawa smacked his lips: "Speaking of which, even if the temple agreed to negotiate with Yamamoto, it is not an easy matter, and there is no time." Ozawa was so anxious that he directly drew 4 heavy cruisers and 9 destroyers from his Southern Fleet: "How can we not let you land in Java safely?" After only 15 minutes of talking, the problem was solved. It is really better to be famous than to meet, and to meet is worse than to be famous.Imamura was overwhelmed with gratitude. In his eyes, Ozawa was just like a Bodhisattva.

On February 18, 1942, a large convoy of 56 troop carriers left Cam Ranh Bay and headed south, and under the cover of the escort fleet, it sailed towards Java. At this time, the Allied Forces Command of the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Australia had been disbanded, and the allies re-established the Joint Command of the Three Services in Bandung.Unlike the original Dutch who only squeezed into one place, this time the commanders of the sea, land and air forces are all served by Dutch generals.Of course, the formation of troops is still a joint approach. The main force of the navy is the Allied Joint Assault Formation, which is composed of the US Asian Fleet and some ships from Britain, the Netherlands, and Australia. The commander is Rear Admiral Durman of the Netherlands.

By the eve of World War II, few people took the Dutch Navy seriously.When it comes to the navy, everyone thinks that Britain is the best, but in fact, before the British navy became a giant, the ocean was really dominated by the "sea coachman" Netherlands.Therefore, a lean camel is bigger than a horse, and the overall level and quality of the Dutch navy are not bad. Assault formation commander Durman is such an outstanding admiral.When he was young, he had experience as a pilot and had a deep relationship with naval aviation. Therefore, like Yamamoto, he was doing naval work while also possessing an "aviation mind". Air combat at sea is his specialty.

Duerman has a distinctive personality, which is prominently reflected in the word "seriousness". He is serious about others and himself.He suffers from a tropical disease, and the sultry climate in East India sometimes makes him feel very uncomfortable, but with tenacity and perseverance, he integrated a mixed fleet like the assault formation into an elite division . The destruction of the "Z" fleet has completely changed the balance of the maritime battlefield. Whether Java can hold it depends mostly on the assault formation.For several consecutive nights, Durman worked tirelessly, leading his ships to cruise near Java to prevent the Japanese army from landing suddenly.But Durman and the assault formation also have hidden worries, and this hidden worry is still fatal.