Chapter 74 rogue drill

Yamamoto and his staff seemed to feel that it was indeed too late, and it was not a day late, but at least half a month late! Because of such a sloppy mentality, compared to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the pre-war preparations for Midway Island seemed extremely hectic and rough. Zhong was thrown out of the sky. Secrecy is the top priority before the start of a major battle. For example, the secrecy measures during the attack on Pearl Harbor were extremely strict. Yamamoto even changed the entire radio code of the United Fleet. Before the Battle of Midway Island, Yamamoto was worried about the password, because from May 1st, the top Japanese navy officials changed the password book and decided to use a new password.However, how to use the new password and distribute the changed password book, these tasks have to be done by someone. At this time, all the people in the United Fleet Command, big and small, old and young, are very busy, and no one can care about the password. As a result, the use date of the new codebook was delayed again and again, from May 1st to June 1st.

In this short period of one month, 90% of the important coded telegrams of the Japanese Navy were deciphered.Although the "Magic Team" had already obtained the golden key to decipher the Japanese army's code, if they changed the code in time, it would not be so easy to decipher - the new code was not deciphered by the "Magic Team" until a few weeks after it was activated. Alas, the intelligence experts of the Japanese Navy were kept in the dark, while enjoying themselves, thinking that their codes were still in a state of absolute security. The plan to attack Midway may have been found in the secret message, but the intention of the United Fleet to go to sea to fight is almost no secret at all.The Japanese warships at the naval base came in and out, like going to a market, and the ships transporting war preparations for the aircraft carrier frequently traveled between the fleet and the port every day. At a glance, the ships were all equipped with winter clothing and cold-resistant equipment.

Now that summer has not yet arrived, any fool knows where they are going.A naval officer went to the barber shop to shave, and the barber asked him, "This time you are going out to fight a big battle, aren't you?" Compared with the cautiousness and camouflage during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Fuchida was very confused: the gossip came faster than the official letter, which is too outrageous. By mid-May, the gossip had spread like wildfire. Even on the streets of Honolulu, Hawaii, news began to circulate that Japan was going to attack Midway Island, and this had nothing to do with code breaking, it was completely The result of word of mouth.

When the United Fleet attacked Pearl Harbor, relying on the insider information of spies such as Takeo Yoshikawa, almost every step of the arrangement was based on conclusive first-hand information, but they were blind when they came to Midway Island. After the Pearl Harbor incident, the U.S. government took strict internal clean-up measures. Not only did people like Yoshikawa have nowhere to hide, but even ordinary Japanese overseas Chinese were sent to the "military zone" by the furious Americans. Get up, not to mention inquiring about intelligence, personal freedom is restricted.

American newspapers in Hawaii followed suit and stopped publishing news of the comings and goings of the Pacific Fleet.The Japanese intelligence agencies could not obtain any valuable information, and they had never been able to decipher the code used by the highest level of the US Navy. Of course, it was even more impossible to tell the United Fleet where the enemy warships would appear and how many there were. In addition to having no intelligence as a basis, the Midway operation plan itself is also full of the style of doing what you want to do.The transportation and supplies for the Battle of Midway Island were planned to be carried out by the Fourth Fleet. The United Fleet sent military supplies to contact Fleet Commander Narumi Inoue. Inoue still had concerns about the transportation capacity of the Fourth Fleet.Originally, the two sides could have a good talk, but the quartermaster staff had no patience at all, and left angrily immediately, before leaving, he threw down a hard sentence: "Since we can't rely on the Fourth Fleet, we have to hand over this task to the land-based air force to complete. .”

Cows do not drink water and press their heads forcibly, and the United Fleet looks like it is buying and selling by force. It is the same for people to deliver supplies, and it is the same for mobilizing troops.Nagumo's mobile troops had been fighting in the Indian Ocean for three months, and they had just returned to Japan not long ago. They were exhausted and should have rested for a while, but Yamamoto couldn't help but push them into the "Eastern Advance" chariot. The mobile unit left the rake and had to get the broom again, exhausted.But for this point, Nagumo didn't have much complaints.Since the destruction of the British Far East Fleet, there has been no opponent in the Indian Ocean that can compete with the Japanese mobile force. Nagumo is like smashing eggs with a big mallet, which undoubtedly fueled his madness So much so that when you go out and enter the door, you feel like you have been filled with yellow soup. You don't know how high the sky is and how thick the ground is.

Whether the soldiers are tired, whether the plan is comprehensive, whether the battle will fail or not, all these are left behind by Nagumo, and the only thing he can think of is to smash the Pacific Fleet to pieces just like the attack on Pearl Harbor . As usual, exercises on the map are held before the battle, which is an extremely important part of the campaign organization.Most of the senior generals who participated in the exercise were as strong as bulls, especially the officers of the mobile unit, who all regarded themselves as a model of high quality.Nagumo's chief of staff, Kusanagi Ryunosuke, even threatened: "As long as there are mobile troops in the vanguard, no enemy will be a problem."

When the chief referee of the exercise Ugaki asked how to protect the aircraft carrier group after all the aircraft on the aircraft carrier of the maneuver force went out for air strikes, Minoru Genda, Nanyun's chief aide, blurted out: "Touch the sleeves!" This is a Japanese saying, which means that everything is invincible, don't be afraid of us being beaten, it will only be us beating others. Genda is not only known as the smart star of the Mobile Force and even the Combined Fleet, he is also one of the drafters of the plan to attack Pearl Harbor (that is, the "Z" plan), and is regarded by many people as the hope of the Japanese Navy. Yude Ugaki isn't excited?

Ugaki's official position is the Chief of Staff of the United Fleet. He has a good mind and eloquence, and is also known as the authority of the Japanese Navy in terms of strategy.This is actually a smart guy who is very similar to Genda, but from Yamamoto and Nagumo, to Ugaki and Genda, it seems that they have changed from smart people to reckless men at this time. As the chief referee of the exercise, as long as the "Japanese army" encounters a little difficulty during the exercise, Ugaki will use his power without hesitation to let the "Japanese army" pass the test easily.

Even so, the scene that worried Ugaki still appeared during the exercise, and it became a hurdle that the "Japanese army" couldn't bypass-the mobile force attacked Midway Island, and it was impossible for the land-based bombers on the island not to bomb the aircraft carrier group in turn. How to determine the degree of damage to the fleet needs to be judged according to the actual situation on the battlefield and the comparison of firepower between the two sides. However, the rules Ugaki made for this are very nonsensical: roll the dice! Just throw it, the result of the referee's throw is: the Japanese aircraft carrier was shot nine times, and two aircraft carriers were sunk.

When the dice were thrown unsatisfactorily, Ugaki was upset, and he immediately declared the verdict invalid, saying how could it be possible to be shot nine times, it doesn’t count!According to what I said, the two aircraft carriers were sunk and injured three times. In the second stage of the exercise on the map, everyone was surprised to find that the aircraft carrier that Ugaki had judged to be sunk had quietly revived from the bottom of the sea and participated in a new battle. If you are so rambunctious, who can beat you?So the "U.S. Army" quickly became overwhelmed, and the "Japanese Army" won all the way without even encountering a small setback. Although the exercise is fake, it is a simulation of the real situation in the future. In the end, it looks like a ghost is not a ghost, and a thief is not a thief. It is just deceiving oneself and others. Fuchita commented on this absurd exercise that almost made him laugh out loud: "I'm really shameless, even the thickest-skinned pilots will be stunned when they see it." Many military officers who participated in the exercise were not blind to the problem, but no one dared to raise it publicly at the meeting, for fear of being said to be timid and timid. Someone cautiously suggested some changes to the plan, and hoped to postpone the battle so that there would be more time for preparations. Ugaki always replied: "It can't be done!" Ugaki was really anxious not to tell lies to the real person, and wished he could follow Yamamoto to Midway Island the next day.He wrote in his diary: "If you delay for one day now, you will regret it for a hundred days in the future." Amidst the loud slogans, the four-day Tushang exercise ended hastily.Only after the meeting did a group of people yell, and the ones who yelled the loudest were the mobile units that slapped their chests the loudest at the meeting.