Devil's Army

Chapter 2039 Japanese Navy's Secret Plot to Encircle and Suppress the 1st Army Navy

However, we underestimated the fanaticism of the Japanese military and civilians.

After the Musashi Fleet returned to Yokosuka Naval Base, in order to restore the Musashi Fleet's combat capability as soon as possible, the military and civilians at Yokosuka Naval Base worked around the clock to repair the damaged warships of the Musashi Fleet.

Captain Ji felt extremely guilty about the naval battle.

Since its establishment, the First Navy had engaged in countless naval battles with the Japanese Navy. It was not uncommon for warships to be severely damaged or even lose power. However, the complete sinking of a warship was a unique occurrence in this single naval battle.

Due to the low level of China's manufacturing industry at the time, the more than 100 warships of the four fleets of the First Army (Qingdao Fleet, Dalian Fleet, Hulugang Fleet and Hainan Island Fleet) were all built by the naval officers and soldiers of the First Army who fought bloody battles and paid the price of countless lives to capture Japanese warships.

Therefore, Captain Ji sent a report to headquarters requesting disciplinary action.

Leng Feng did not punish Captain Ji, but instead comforted him:

"As the supreme commander of a fleet, one must have a spirit of sacrifice. If one warship has been sacrificed today, two more must be recaptured from the Japanese tomorrow. One should not wallow in self-blame."

These words were a wake-up call. Captain Ji immediately arranged for the repair of the damaged warship to be expedited, in preparation for seizing the Japanese warship.

Leng Feng, who is well-versed in history, knows that the Japanese battleship "Musashi," a maritime behemoth, was attacked by multiple waves of US carrier-based aircraft during the Battle of Leyte Gulf on October 24, 1944, and was hit by a total of 19 torpedoes and 17 aerial bombs (plus 18 near misses).

The battle lasted for nearly nine hours before the Japanese battleship "Musashi" sank.

The navy lacked powerful torpedoes, and relying solely on air force bombs was insufficient to sink the battleship "Musashi".

Therefore, Leng Feng turned his attention to the air-to-ground missiles and cruise missiles in the hands of their army aviation unit.

Large-caliber air-to-ground missiles and cruise missiles are also deadly weapons against warships.

He ordered the army aviation units stationed in Dalian and Lushun to transfer all their Golden Eagle 5 and No. 3 UAVs to Qingdao Port in preparation for the subsequent recapture of Shanghai.

The Dalian fleet is stationed in Qingdao port. The security of the waters off Dalian and Lushun is entrusted to the Huludao Navy and the Fengtian Air Force.

"The defeat of the battleship Musashi will greatly damage the morale of the Japanese military and civilians."

The battleships "Musashi" and "Yamato" were the spiritual anchor of the Japanese military and civilians, and were maritime behemoths that could never be defeated.

Therefore, the Japanese military authorities tried their best to cover up the news that the "Musashi" fleet had been defeated by what they called the Chinese navy in the Yellow Sea.

When Kondo Nobutake, who succeeded Yamamoto Isoroku as commander, heard this news, he was also worried that the devilish navy would attack their homeland while they were engaged in a decisive battle with the US Navy.

He decided to carry out the Navy Department's plan: first, to defeat the much weaker Devil Force Navy, and then concentrate his forces to fight a decisive battle with the U.S. Navy.

(Japanese Navy Commander Isoroku Yamamoto was shot down by a US air force squadron in April of last year while en route to Shortland Island.)

Commander-in-Chief Nobutake Kondo also recalled the Enterprise and Kaga fleets of the First Air Fleet to Japan to participate in the suppression of the Devil Force Navy.

Fortunately, the US intelligence agencies deciphered the Japanese naval operations and informed the leaders in Nanjing of this information.