Chapter 25 06. Annihilate like the wind

It is worth mentioning that the Wright Gulf naval battle was the first to start a suicide attack by Japanese aircraft. During the two-day naval battle on October 25 and 26, the Japanese army dispatched the so-called "Kamikaze Special Forces" to carry out suicide attacks on US ships.The attack was organized by Lieutenant General Onishi Takijiro, known as the founder of the "Kamikaze". On October 20, 1944, Onishi Takijiro took over the command of the First Air Squadron of the Japanese Combined Fleet stationed in Manila.This aviation team used to be an elite force with 3 aircraft carriers and nearly 1,600 fighters.However, the good times didn't last long. When Onishi took over, the entire aviation team had no aircraft carrier. Of the remaining 130 fighters, less than 40 could be dispatched. It was unfortunate for Onishi to take over such an army.What is even more unfortunate is that Onishi's opponent is General Halsey, known as "Sea Patton", who has 8 giant attack aircraft carriers, 8 light aircraft carriers and thousands of carrier-based aircraft in his hands.

On the 20th, the U.S. military launched a landing campaign against the Philippines. By October 21, the U.S. military had landed on Wright Island with minor casualties.During the whole day of fighting, only one Japanese aircraft appeared in the sky above the US military.At this time, the Japanese Combined Fleet was in pieces. The aircraft carrier fleet led by Jisaburo Ozawa was playing hide-and-seek with the US fleet in the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese army pinned all their hopes on the battleship formation commanded by Takeo Kurita, who was about to break into Wright Gulf.The task of the First Aviation Team is to provide air cover for the Kurita Fleet.

Lieutenant General Onishi is well aware of his strength and understands that this is an almost impossible task.However, Onishi came up with a trick to draw fire from the bottom of the pot-sink or severely damage the US aircraft carrier, so that the US military's air threat will naturally disappear.Onishi believes that in order to achieve this goal, the First Aviation Squadron can only adopt one method-suicide attack, in which the pilot drives a plane loaded with bombs to crash into the US aircraft carrier, so as to achieve the purpose of replacing one aircraft with one ship. The Japanese army called this operation organization "Kamikaze". "Kamikaze" is a typhoon. In 1274, there was a naval battle between the Yuan Dynasty and Japan, and the Yuan army was completely swallowed by a typhoon. The Japanese believed that the typhoon was the will of the gods, so they called it "Kamikaze".Onishi named the suicide attack of the Japanese pilots "Kamikaze" in the hope that the miracle could be reproduced and Japan's impending doom could be saved.

On the morning of October 20th, Lieutenant General Onishi summoned his pilots and said with tears in his eyes: "Warriors, the enemy is overrun and the empire is at stake. Now the fate of Japan is not determined by those civil servants with rich food and riches, nor are they boastful politicians. , but you, the pride of the empire in the air! You will surely leave your name in history! Go, warriors! One aircraft for one ship, and your fame will be passed down forever!" Daxi bluntly said, "You will never know the results of your attack... I I will come and let you know." The madness of the Japanese is astonishing. The pilots under Onishi were very enthusiastic about this suicide attack, and the formation of the "Kamikaze Special Attack Team" went very smoothly.

On the morning of October 24, Admiral Kurita, who had been battered by U.S. carrier-based aircraft at sea, repeatedly urged Onishi to provide air cover. On the 25th, Lieutenant General Onishi issued an order to the "Kamikaze Special Attack Team".Although 9 of the first 10 fighters that attacked were shot down, the last one hit the flight deck of the USS "Princeton" aircraft carrier, causing a fire that exploded into the sky. The fire detonated the ammunition depot, and the ship soon exploded and sank.The cruiser "Birmingham" that came to fight the fire was also severely damaged by the explosion.On this day, the "Kamikaze" continued to sink the USS "St. Louis" aircraft carrier and some auxiliary ships. News of the Kamikaze success spread throughout the Japanese Navy.

Since then, the Japanese army frequently organized the "Kamikaze Special Attack Team", which acted as the main force of the Japanese air force in the subsequent battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, causing huge casualties to the US military. "Kamikaze" once put the U.S. Navy in a dangerous situation, but it could not save Japan's inevitable fate.By the end of the war, a total of 5,822 Japanese soldiers had become cannon fodder for such suicide attacks, including 4,615 pilots. On August 15, 1945, Japan finally surrendered.Onishi Takijiro committed suicide by caesarean section in his personal apartment in Tokyo the next day.In order to apologize to the members of the "Kamikaze" who sacrificed in vain, Onishi did not ask for "intervention" to assist in suicide, so he died 15 hours after seppuku.