Chapter 6 The chaser becomes the hunted

The one who succeeded Yamamoto was another friend of his, Admiral Koga Mineichi.Koga was Yamamoto's handpicked successor, but he clearly lacked the strategic genius and clout of his predecessor.Koga himself knew this very well. He once said: "There is only one Yamamoto, and no one can replace him." On April 21, Koga officially took office and hoisted the general flag on the battleship "Musashi", the flagship of the combined fleet.The aircraft carrier "Hayato" is not far from the "Musashi". Standing on the aircraft carrier, the staff officer Masatake Okumiya looked at the brand-new general flag silently. He didn't feel any excitement. What he felt was nervousness that he couldn't explain clearly. , and the confusion when the war is in a dilemma.

An urgent telegram from the telegraph sender interrupted Okumiya's contemplation.That was the battle report sent by the Aleutian Islands Naval Radio Station: "Since this morning, our department has been bombarded by enemy cruisers and destroyers one after another..." The Aleutian Islands consist of a chain of islands, with Attu Island and Kiska Island at the western end captured by Yamamoto during the Battle of Midway.These two islands are located in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. They belong to undeveloped and wild lands, and their strategic position is not significant. Yamamoto launched an attack on them mainly to disperse the US military forces to cover up his attempt to land on Midway Island.

It's a pity that Nimitz didn't fall for the trick. Yamamoto's cleverness was misunderstood by his cleverness, and his forces were dispersed.Misplaced seedlings do not produce good crops. Historians believe that if Yamamoto could have used the two aircraft carriers sent to the Aleutian side in the Central Pacific at that time, it would have been enough to form a decisive factor in the Battle of Midway. Finally, with Midway If the battle fails, the Aleutian battle will be meaningless. The most striking thing about the Japanese occupation of the Aleutians is that it is the territory of the United States.Even if there is no one inhabited there, no one can be seen for hundreds of miles, but the Japanese government can still boast that they have planted the sun flag in the continental United States.For the American public, it is also quite insecure to be stared at by a group of Japanese troops occupying its island all day long.

Replanting the Stars and Stripes on Attu Island and Kiska Island became the primary task of the Pacific Fleet in 1943. The task was carried out by Rear Admiral Kincaid, commander of the North Pacific Fleet and transferred from the South Pacific Theater. When Kincaid took office, the troops in the North Pacific were not yet ready, so he built airports on two small islands in the southeast of Kiska Island. The sea line of communication between Scar Island and Japan was cut off. Attu Island is located in the westernmost part of the Aleutian Islands. Rear Admiral McMorris was ordered to lead a cruiser and destroyer formation to set off to patrol the southwest waters of Attu Island and to attack the transport ships of the Japanese army heading for Attu Island. The team intercepted, during which they sank a transport ship loaded with ammunition.

Attu Island and Kiska Island are just two deserted islands shrouded in mist. It is not easy to find them all at once in the Pacific Ocean if they are unintentional.The Japanese don’t know what it can be used for if they occupy it. It’s just a waste of money, but they feel that they have to occupy it. Great victory, how can you just give up? In order to restore the supply of Attu Island, Vice Admiral Hoshida Morikoro, the commander of the Japanese Northern Forces, personally took his own fleet to escort the transport fleet.The first time it was safe, but the second time it ran into the patrolling US fleet in the waters south of the Komandore Islands, and the Battle of the Komandore Islands broke out.

The US ship was the first to spot the opponent. McMorris saw the Japanese escort fleet on the radar screen, and immediately ordered the pursuit.It was still dark at that time, and I didn't know the strength of the Japanese ship. I thought I caught a few fish, so I was so happy! When the east turned white, McMorris was dumbfounded when he saw it.Xixuan's fleet has four cruisers and four destroyers, and she has only two cruisers and four destroyers.With the same warships, the Japanese army has advantages in speed and attack power, not to mention that they have more numbers than him. At this time, Xixuan also recognized the US fleet. He ordered the cargo ship to retreat to the northwest, then adjusted the formation, and led the fleet to kill it.The US ship hurriedly ran away, and the chaser became the chased.

The Japanese ship originally ran faster than the American ship, but in order to exert the firepower of the rear main gun, it had to drop its buttocks. In this way, the straight line motion became a curved motion, and the speed slowed down.During the years of naval battles, the US ships have also mastered a set of running skills. While casting smoke screens, they performed special evasions.This evasion technique is called anti-gun fire zigzag movement, which is a bit like the action of an army veteran dodging a gun: When the enemy ship corrects the impact point and prepares for the next shot, the ship will quickly turn the rudder to the direction of the water column aroused by the previous impact point sports.

Despite such deft hiding, the heavy cruiser "Salt Lake City" was hit by a shell, flooded an engine room, and the hull tilted to one side.In order to correct the hull, the mechanic made a mistake in his busy schedule and accidentally poured seawater into the oil pipe, causing the boiler to stall.For a while, the "Salt Lake City", which had lost its maneuverability, could not move, and became the easiest living target to be hit. In the case of wanting to run with two feet more, McMorris was so anxious that he was sweating.Since he couldn't run away, he didn't run away. He sent a destroyer to cast a smoke screen around the flame-out "Salt Lake City", and ordered the rest of the destroyers to launch torpedoes to prevent the Japanese ship from attacking.

The three destroyers immediately turned around after receiving the order, and they shot the torpedoes in unison, forcing the Japanese army to temporarily stop their pursuit. Under the cover of the smoke screen, Xixuan couldn't figure out the situation of the "Salt Lake City". Could it be that the US plane reinforcements on the southeast island of Kiska Island have come?I don't have an aircraft carrier, so if I want to launch an air strike, there is nothing I can do.Ask again, the fleet's fuel is running low, Xixuan came and he thought it was a deal, and led the troops back to the Paramush Island base.

The Japanese navy authorities were very dissatisfied with the fact that they had an advantage, but they ended up retreating early, and immediately dismissed Xixuan from her post.Since then, Attu Island and Kiska Island can only rely on submarines to wait for opportunities to deliver supplies, and the Japanese army on the island has been completely isolated.