Chapter 2 Chapter 1 Dad went to see the weasel

On the evening of April 13, Yamamoto sent a telegram to Shortland and other front-line bases, and he would visit each base in person to further boost the morale of the army. Major General Kojima Jojima who was stationed on Shortland Island was shocked when he received the telegram.At this time, the Japanese army had already lost its air supremacy on the front line. Just two months ago, Imamura of the Army did the same. Meet by chance. Fortunately, the pilot of Imamura's plane at that time had a few tricks, and immediately drove the plane into the clouds, narrowly avoiding the attack. There are already precedents there, but he insisted on hitting the gun, Cheng Dao really didn't understand what the big head was thinking.The so-called heart will not die until the Yellow River, do you have to turn your head back to really learn to behave?

Jojima said to his subordinates: "For this telegram, you can only refer to it. You don't need to believe it. It's too stupid." On the day before Yamamoto's departure, seeing that things still hadn't changed, he rushed to Rabaul again, and met him face-to-face. Dissuade: "Sir, this trip is too dangerous. Please don't go. The flight should be cancelled." Yamamoto replied: "No, the bases have been notified, everyone is ready and waiting for me, I still have to go." Jojima was not the only one who discouraged Yamamoto from traveling.After Nagumo resigned, Lieutenant General Ozawa Jisaburo became the commander of the Third Fleet. He first stood up to express his opposition. Most of the generals also believed that this move was very dangerous and should postpone the departure, but in the end they were all beaten back by Yamamoto.

In addition to being surprised by Yamamoto's risky visit to the front line, the generals were also surprised by the telegram he sent.Jojima said: "The commander-in-chief has gone crazy. This is not a telegram, it is clearly an invitation sent to the enemy." The content of that telegram was indeed too detailed. It was basically a schedule for the inspection, when to leave, what time to arrive at which base, all on it. At that time, Jojima wanted to beat up the drafter: "In such an ever-changing front line, how could the chief's action plan be sent out in such a lengthy and detailed telegram? Only a fool would do that!"

It was his adjutant, Lieutenant Sergeant Watanabe, who drafted the telegram for Yamamoto.This incident actually wronged Watanabe a bit. At the beginning, Watanabe asked the army to send someone to deliver it, but the communications officer said it was unnecessary, just send it out, it was absolutely safe. In fact, it is not unreasonable for the communication officer to pat his chest.Because the new password was just launched on April 1, it took less than two weeks, and this password is a five-digit password that is extremely difficult to decipher, even if it is intercepted by the Americans, the other party has nothing to do.

So the telegram was sent, but as soon as it was sent, it was intercepted by the Pacific Fleet's radio intelligence unit. The predecessor of the radio intelligence unit was the Hawaii intelligence station, which not only inherited the organization of the intelligence station, but also inherited the luck of the intelligence station. In January 1943, a New Zealand cruiser sank a Japanese submarine in the waters near Guadalcanal, and obtained the latest version of the Japanese Navy's code book from the submarine. This is called the magpie flying to the prosperous place. When you are very popular, the lottery will come rushing to you.The radio intelligence detachment now has more than 1,000 people. Based on the seized code books, the greatly strengthened expert group quickly figured out the law of the Japanese army's code changes.

The communications officer of the United Fleet firmly believed that the Americans could do nothing about the secret message. The fact is that after the intelligence unit received the "death invitation", it only took a few hours to completely decipher it. In the early morning of April 14, intelligence staff officer Layton took the deciphered code and hurried to find Nimitz, the commander of the Pacific Fleet. As soon as they met, he shouted excitedly: "Our old friend Yamamoto has news!" Nimitz had been busy all night, and he was lying crookedly on the chair, looking listless, but after glancing at the telegram, he immediately sat up straight.

Yamamoto's itinerary is so detailed, my God!After reading the telegram, Nimitz turned to look at the map and tracked Yamamoto's itinerary.Afterwards, he confirmed that the first stop of Yamamoto's trip would be within 300 miles of Henderson Airport, just within range of the U.S. fighter jets taking off from Guadalcanal. Having dealt with Yamamoto for so long, Nimitz already knew the disposition and habits of the combined fleet commander like the back of his hand.Yamamoto is a very punctual person. You can rest assured of his schedule. Nimitz put the telegram on the table, looked at Layton and asked loudly: "What do you think? Should we try to kill him?"