Chapter 52 pass by

Initially, the Japanese base camp received false information that a large number of US transport ships were moving from south to north.Based on this information, Koga judged that the U.S. military would probably concentrate on landing at the northwest tip of New Guinea, and at that time no abnormalities were found in the Mariana area, so he decided that the coast of New Guinea would be the decisive sea area. Koga made up his mind to go to the south to take command. Before he set off, he said to his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Fukuru Shigetsu: "Let's attack together and die together!"

On March 31, 1944, Koga, Fukurushige and other staff took two seaplanes and flew to Davao in Mindanao.Halfway through the journey, a sudden storm hit Koga's plane and it disappeared mysteriously. The Japanese planes and ships stationed nearby searched with all their might, but in the end they couldn't find even a piece of the plane. Based on this, it was determined that all the people on board had died. "Sacrifice". When Koga was devastated, Shigeru Fukuru survived the catastrophe, just like Ugaki was spared when Yamamoto died.However, in less than a year, the two successive commanders of the United Fleet actually died on the way. All kinds of ominous signs made the Japanese navy, which had always believed that it was blessed by the gods, into a gloomy cloud.Some naval officers privately believed that from this moment on, the god of war had completely abandoned Japan.

The house has no owner, and the house is upside down.Under the circumstance that the news of Koga's death could not be confirmed for a while, Lieutenant General Takasu Shiro, the second commander of the United Fleet and commander of the Southwest Fleet, took over the command temporarily according to the command succession policy. Koga's position was not achieved in one day. Takasu's original command areas were mainly concentrated in Indonesia and Malaya, and his past combat activities were limited to the Indian Ocean. This made him more familiar with the Indian Ocean, but he knew little about the Pacific battlefield. Not many, but as the supreme commander, at least one must have a certain perceptual understanding of the battlefield.This sudden errand was like digging a hole in front of Gao Xu for him to jump in, making him restless.

When Koga was in power, he knew that the U.S. military had two fronts in the Pacific: one was the MacArthur Front along the northern coast of New Guinea, and the other was the Nimitz Front in the Central Pacific. The Americans themselves would not declare which one was dominant. However, judging from the increasing strength of the U.S. military, any one of them may become the main front. Koga Nanfei took the MacArthur front as the main front.Takasu's headquarters is in Surabaya, Indonesia, which is very close to New Guinea. When MacArthur's troops landed in Jayapura, Xiao Guicao also focused on the waters of New Guinea.

After Takasu worked tremblingly for a while, the base camp was finally convinced that Koga had become a ghost and would never be found again. Vice Admiral Toyoda was officially appointed as the commander of the combined fleet. Toyota was the former commander of the Yokosuka Naval Base. He was very capable, but he spoke acrimoniously—the kind that can be deeply engraved in your heart, and more than one or two subordinates could not bear it.In addition, since the beginning of the Pacific War, Toyota has been on land, has not participated in sea combat, and has little experience in naval warfare.

It is said that Yamamoto mentioned before his death that it is best not to let Toyota serve as the commander-in-chief of the combined fleet. However, the Japanese Navy has now withered its stars, and it is a last resort to use Toyota.In order to make up for Toyota's shortcomings, the base camp assigned Toyota another partner: Nagumo's former chief of staff, Kusanagi Ryunosuke.Caolu is not only good at dealing with people, but also participated in a series of naval battles from Pearl Harbor to Solomon. Nanyun was demoted, the tree fell and the monkeys scattered, and Caolu went to Rabaul to find a job under his cousin. His situation was not the same as when he was in the mobile unit.Being selected this time can be described as extremely happy, everyone is happy, and Imamura even held a farewell banquet specially for him.

In fact, Rabaul was besieged at this time, and supplies were very scarce, but Rabaul still tried its best to move all the delicious food that could be found, such as canned carp, roasted eggplant with bean paste, and kelp soup When it was on the table, Imamura himself took out six bottles of rice wine.After eating and drinking enough, the grass deer still faces a rather big problem, that is how to leave Rabaul. The sea was blocked, and the only way to leave Rabaul was by air.Because of the deaths of Yamamoto and Koga, the senior officers of the United Fleet were particularly afraid to go out by plane, especially in the Rabaul area, where American fighter jets patrolled the air almost non-stop, ready to shoot down Japanese planes they encountered at any time.

But then again, since the Battle of Midway and Guadalcanal, the situation of the Japanese has never been really better.And in the current situation, you have to go if you are afraid, and you have to go if you are not afraid. If you can't go during the day, then go at night. After dawn, Cao Lu and his party encountered a group of American fighter jets, and they passed by. The distance was so close that the American pilots could see it clearly. Cao Lu's heart suddenly rose to his throat.Fortunately, for unknown reasons, the U.S. plane did not fire at them, but chose to continue flying forward.

After arriving at the Combined Fleet Land Command on the outskirts of Tokyo, Cao Lu began to draft a battle plan for Toyota, that is, where and when the next battle should be fought.