Chapter 892 Accident (21)

"Emergency report, a suspected US aircraft carrier fleet was found, including 1 regular aircraft carrier, 4 light aircraft carriers, 1 battleship, 4 cruisers, and several destroyers and cargo ships... about 300 kilometers away from the Indian Islands, heading due north, and a speed of 21 knots."

"What? The US aircraft carrier fleet is less than 300 kilometers away from the main island? Report immediately! Request tactical guidance!"

In the early morning of May 1, an Atlantic Condor under the jurisdiction of the British Indian Ocean Territory discovered the high-speed advance of the Spruance fleet, but it was too late to respond. The TF44 fleet advanced overnight and sent a huge attack group before dawn to deal with the Japanese troops in the former British Indian Ocean Territory and the Maldives. In another hour, tons of bombs will fall on the Japanese.

The Indian Ocean Theater was the last theater established by the Japanese Navy. Admiral Kusaka Rento served as the commander, stationed in Ceylon, and the main jurisdiction was the Indian Ocean islands and mainland ports. According to the agreement reached by the army and navy, Ceylon Island is completely controlled by the navy, and the ports in India and Myanmar are also naval bases. The entire theater of operations is connected to the Arabian Sea in the west and the Strait of Malacca in the east. It is the largest in the naval theaters. In addition to Ceylon, it also includes the Andaman Island, the Indian Archipelago (including the Maldives), etc.

Hori Teikichi had the idea of ​​promoting Kusaka Rento to the position of admiral and put it on the list, but it was not approved in the end without any suspense. In addition to the obstruction of Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi, it was also closely related to insufficient qualifications - even if Kusaka Rento ranked high in the 37th term, according to the situation at the time, it seemed too much to promote the 37th term to the admiral.

But after the personnel refresh of the navy, especially after Hori Teikichi's one-handed control, a large number of diehards were swept out, not to mention the admiral, even the vice admiral position was vacant, and there was no resistance to promotion. Hori Teikichi promoted three admirals in succession in late February. The 37th batch of Kusaka Rento, Inoue Shigemi and Ozawa Jisaburo became admirals at the same time.

Kusaka Rento's appointment was undisputed, and Inoue Shigemi was easy to understand - Hori Teikichi needed the cooperation of the Navy Ministry to implement reforms, and he always regarded Inoue Shigemi as his own. His fighting skills were a bit poor, but his mind was still very clear, to some extent clearer than Yamamoto Isoroku. As for Ozawa, although his rank was lower, he was a general in Germany. It would be unreasonable if he was not given a general in China. Can he really be forced to stay in Germany for the rest of his life?

After learning that Inoue Shigemi became an admiral, Yamamoto Isoroku sighed: "It's good to follow Hori Teikichi, the admirals are all here for you."

Inoue Shigemi smiled slightly: "Your admiral is also a gift from Hori Teikichi?"

"Yes, yes." Yamamoto Isoroku sighed, "If he is pushed to the limit, he will even change the emperor. What's the big deal about getting a few admirals?"

Then other personnel arrangements were made naturally: Vice Admiral Onishi Takijiro, who took the lead in responding and helping to stabilize the Navy Ministry on the day of the rebellion, was promoted to Vice Chief of the Naval General Staff; Vice Admiral Hasegawa Kiichi, who had served as the captain of 4 different aircraft carriers, became the new Chief of the Air Force Headquarters; Kusaka Ryunosuke was promoted to Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet; Genda Minoru was promoted to Colonel and officially became the Chief of Staff of the First Air Fleet; Shibasaki Keiji, who made great contributions, became the Commander of the Marine Corps (and the Commander of the 1st Brigade). Hori Teikichi organized two more Marine brigades. The 2nd Marine Brigade, led by Rear Admiral Ota Minoru, arrived in the Indian Ocean theater at the same time as the Army, and the 3rd Brigade stayed in the country to continue training.

The Japanese Marine Brigade imitated the German Marine Brigade, with slightly stronger troops and firepower. The German Marine Brigade had only over 6,000 people, while the Japanese army had nearly 7,000 people. At the same time, it had distinct characteristics in terms of weapons and equipment - a full set of non-national weapons, and various weapons took the best of both the United States and Germany: there were both 12.7mm Browning, a family heirloom of the American empire, and MG42; there were both Panzerfausts and the US military's recoilless guns; there were both Type 4 tanks and 12 Tiger tanks; there were both barrel cars and jeeps. Except for soft equipment such as bedding, flags, and clothes and hats, Japan's domestic equipment had almost no other light and heavy weapons, and even radios and walkie-talkies were American products. Fortunately, Japan captured a lot of weapons and ammunition from the Germans, so there was no problem in supplying these brigades.

Many people thought that such a Marine Brigade would have no problem dealing with a US infantry division, and Hori Teikichi planned to build six such Marine Brigade-after the Musashi was broken, the framework of the 4th, 5th, and 6th Brigades also began to be built. The most elite is recognized to be the 1st Brigade. However, the 1st Brigade also has the heaviest task. Together with the 3rd Brigade, they will be responsible for landing on Midway Island and killing the US defenders.

At 6 pm Tokyo time, the news that the Indian Islands fell into the hands of the US military and the US aircraft carrier fleet broke into the Indian Ocean reached Tokyo. Hori Teikichi was furious and deeply worried. He was originally studying the various decisions of the Midway Battle with the military headquarters and the staff. After the news was verified by the Indian Ocean Theater and Kusaka Renji sent a telegram for assistance, he stopped all deductions and devoted himself to the study of the Indian Ocean war. .

In preparation for the Midway operation, the main forces of the Combined Fleet are currently gathering in the mainland for final preparations. In the Indian Ocean, there are almost no powerful forces except for the escort formation commanded by Takeo Kurita and the Eighth Fleet on alert in the direction of Malacca. After the Indian Ocean Islands are captured, it means that the Maldives, which is more than 800 kilometers away, will soon be lost in 2-3 days, and Ceylon is only more than 1,000 kilometers away from the Maldives. If Ceylon is captured, it will be earth-shaking and the entire national strategy will be destroyed - although the Indian Army is small, it has no navy and can only be bullied by its opponents.

After thinking for a while, Hori Teikichi issued an order to hold an emergency combat meeting. Since he is now both the Chief of the Naval General Staff and the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, the meeting is unique. Not only the Naval General Staff System but also the Fleet Staff System participates.

Kusaka Ryunosuke introduced the frontline situation, and then said: "Gentlemen, this is the situation. The commander called you to discuss the enemy's intention? Breaking the diplomatic relations? Counterattack? Landing?"

Everyone fell into deep thought. Everyone knows that the Indian Ocean Navy is weak. At the beginning, it focused on strengthening its aviation power by relying on several islands, but now the strengthening has not been completed, and the US military has already attacked, which is quite unprepared.

"First, we can rule out the possibility of disrupting commerce. The more capable the commerce disruption fleet is, the better. I have never heard of a commerce disruption fleet carrying a large number of ships. Secondly, it is not easy for the US military to counterattack. One fleet aircraft carrier and four light aircraft carriers can only carry more than 200 aircraft at most. Our army has more than 300 aircraft on Ceylon, and its strength is not weak. The enemy needs to cover the battle and land, and this amount of troops is not enough. If we want to counterattack, our army has a Marine Brigade on Ceylon, and the German army has a Marine Brigade. Their firepower and combat power are extremely strong. Unless the enemy deploys more than 100,000 troops, I think Ceylon is unlikely to fall." Chiaki Matsuda, the former chief of staff of the Combined Fleet, was the first to express his opinion.

This idea was unanimously recognized by everyone. After discussing it over and over again, it was believed that there were two possibilities: the first was to provide support for the remaining British troops in India; the second was to contain the offensive of our side, harass and destroy the weak defense lines, and the reason was similar to the original Australia-New Zealand harassment war.

"Tsukahara-kun, Kakuda-kun, Nishimura-kun, Shima-kun!" Hori Teikichi called out the names of four people.

Tsukahara Jishisan and others immediately stood up and prepared to accept the task.

"Since the U.S. military is so rampant, we must first destroy it and postpone the Battle of Midway." Hori Teikichi said in an unquestionable tone, "At present, the two light aircraft carriers Chitose and Chiyoda have been transformed and incorporated into the Indian Dispatched Fleet. Tsukahara is responsible for the overall command. The First Carrier and the Second Carrier will attack separately and must destroy the enemy."

According to the dispatch, the best of the Indian Dispatched Fleet are deployed, and the battle sequence is as follows:

Tsukahara is also the commander of the First Carrier, with the three aircraft carriers Shokaku, Taiho, and Chitose as the main force, and Shima Kiyohide leads the two battleships Yamato and Kirishima and a heavy cruiser formation to cooperate;

The Second Carrier is commanded by Kakuta, with the three aircraft carriers Zuikaku, Zuiho, and Chiyoda as the main force, and Nishimura Shoji leads the two battleships Musashi and Kongo and a heavy cruiser formation to cooperate.

"After the Indian Ocean encirclement campaign is completed, Chitose, Chiyoda and some cruisers will be left to form the 10th Fleet, which will be under the command of the Indian Ocean Theater, and the commander of the training aviation fleet, Kinpei Teraoka, will serve as the admiral to maintain the security of the Indian Ocean."

Tsukahara reminded: "This may cause insufficient warships for the second Midway Battle."

Hori Teikichi nodded and said: "That's true, but the Navy Headquarters has reported to me that in late June, the battleship Shinano, the aircraft carrier Unryu, and the aircraft carrier Bearn (renovated in Japan) can all be put into service. I intend to wait for these three warships to be put into service and launch the Midway Battle in early August."

"Should we wait until Amagi and Katsuragi are put into service before we put them into combat?" The two ships mentioned by Vice Admiral Takijiro Onishi, the Deputy Commander of the Military General Staff, are both Unryu-class aircraft carriers, which will be delivered in August and September respectively. For the sake of strength control, he thinks they can be delayed a little longer.

Hori Teikichi shook his head: "News came from Europe that the Royal Navy was completely destroyed and the German army was about to land in England. The US military currently has only 1-2 regular aircraft carriers and cannot be restored in the short term. We must seize the favorable opportunity to deter the US and force the US to negotiate peace as soon as possible. Otherwise, once Britain surrenders, the possibility of peace between Germany and the US will be greatly increased. The Army has also held an emergency meeting these two days to urge Yamashita Tomoyuki to speed up and quickly take over the entire territory of India."

Everyone was shocked. Once the European war was over, it would be a bit difficult for Japan, a small body, to take on the United States alone.

"It's not that Japan and the United States cannot make peace, but we must let the United States see our determination and strength to have better conditions. I predict that the gap between the strength of the Japanese and American navies will be the largest between August and September this year. The joint fleet must seize the opportunity to establish a victory, and the beginning of the victory lies in the first elimination of the enemy's Indian fleet."

"I will obey the orders of the superior!"

ps: I am also a part-time worker. It's just that the employees in the same department have resigned. As a state-owned enterprise, there is always a little humanistic care...