Chapter 715 Coral Sea-Unforgivable Aircraft Carrier

When the news that the fleet carrying the 17th Army Headquarters, the 6th Division Headquarters and some officers and soldiers of the 6th Division were attacked by air and almost wiped out (only two special gunboats survived) reached the "Yamato Hotel" in Rabaul, Isoroku Yamamoto was hosting a banquet to entertain Lieutenant General Shigenori Kuroda, the Chief of Staff of the Southern Army, who came from Singapore.

The Southern Army is a so-called general army organization, equivalent to the German front command or the Soviet direction command, and it is very strong. It currently has 4 fronts (9 armies), 3 direct armies, and 1 air force, with a total of 38 divisions, 1 tank division, 22 independent mixed brigades, 3 flying divisions, and 1 marine mobile brigade, with about 720,000 officers and soldiers.

Now the Japanese Empire's southward campaign is under the responsibility of the Combined Fleet in terms of the navy, and the Southern Army is responsible for the army. The southward campaign to Australia is the ultimate battle of the Japanese Empire's southward campaign, and the land operations are still commanded by the Southern Army.

Kuroda Shigenori came to Rabaul from Singapore, where the Southern Army Headquarters was located, just to discuss with Yamamoto Isoroku, the commander of the Combined Fleet, about the relocation of the Southern Army Headquarters to Rabaul. The Southern Army's next operational focus was undoubtedly Australia, so the Southern Army Commander Marshal Terauchi Juichi believed that the headquarters should be moved to Rabaul, which was close to the front line and also the anchorage of the Combined Fleet. This not only made it easier to grasp the situation on the front line, but also made it easier to argue with the shameless navy.

Although there have always been relatively large contradictions between the Japanese Navy and the Army, the contradictions were not on the face, and Yamamoto Isoroku was also a relatively easy-to-get-along person. Therefore, the Army's big deer Kuroda was given a very high reception standard, and a full set of French meals were placed in the commander's office, including seafood soup, steak, lobster, foie gras, caviar, etc., and a 82-year-old Lafite (1882) was opened, which really made the rustic-looking big deer Kuroda deeply understand how the shameless navy squandered public funds.

Just when the host and the guest were toasting and drinking, a staff officer hurriedly pushed the door open, then leaned over to the ear of the fleet's chief staff officer, Kuroshima Kameto, and whispered a few words. Then Kuroshima's face suddenly changed, and his mouth opened wide, looking completely stunned.

After a long while, he heard him ask loudly: "Has this... been confirmed?"

Then the staff officer said: "It has been confirmed several times, it is absolutely true..."

Yamamoto Isoroku saw Kuroshima's loss of composure, frowned and asked: "Kuroshima-kun, what happened?"

"Commander, the ヒ21 ship transporting the 17th Army was attacked by air! Heavy losses!"

"What? Kuroshima-kun, you said... air raid?"

Yamamoto Isoroku rubbed his eyes, then stared at Kuroshima Kameto, whose face was ashen, as if he wanted to confirm whether he was drunk?

If Kuroshima reported that the Hi21 ship transporting the 17th Army was attacked by a submarine, Yamamoto Isoroku would not think that Kuroshima was drunk. But an air raid... How could this be possible? The Hi21 ship was heading south from the mainland, taking the "safe route" of the mainland-Saipan-Rabaul. How could it be attacked by air? Where did the plane come from?

"Commander, it was really an air raid!" Kuroshima Kameto said quickly and anxiously, "The Taiyo Maru and the other four 2,000-3,000-ton cargo ships were all sunk, and only two special gunboats of several hundred tons survived... Now the sea is full of officers and soldiers of the 17th Army and the 6th Division who fell into the water. There are several thousand people, and the two gunboats can't accommodate them at all!"

"What? Several thousand people from the 17th Army and the 6th Division fell into the water?" Kuroda Shigenori couldn't sit still anymore. Several thousand people fell into the water... Two gunboats couldn't accommodate them. What does this mean? Are they all going to drown? These are all soldiers of the Imperial Army! If it was the shameless navy, it would be fine, but those people were from the army, and from the 6th Division, they were the elite of the Imperial Army!

"Have you figured out what kind of plane it was? Is it a seaplane?" Yamamoto Isoroku asked hurriedly.

The reason why he asked this question was that the Japanese Navy was currently secretly promoting an "underwater aircraft carrier plan". They were preparing to build a large submarine that could carry 2-3 seaplanes to attack the Panama Canal - using seaplanes to carry bombs to bomb the canal locks, making it impossible for the US military to use the canal for several months.

Since the Japanese Navy can come up with such a brain hole, it is entirely possible that the United States, with its powerful shipbuilding industry, can also build an "underwater aircraft carrier", and it may have already built it! The one that bombed the ヒ21 shipyard was most likely a seaplane sent by an underwater aircraft carrier.

"Not seaplanes... but ordinary single-engine aircraft, 9 unknown dive bombers, 9 of which are SBD dive bombers."

"What?" Yamamoto Isoroku stood up suddenly, "Aircraft carrier!? An American aircraft carrier has arrived near Saipan? How is this possible!"

Kuroshima Kameto shook his head, also confused. The American aircraft carrier had unknowingly sneaked into the Japanese backyard in the Western Pacific to make trouble.

"Commander, if the intelligence is true, the Americans must have used aircraft carriers to break the engagement." Ugaki Matoi, the golden armored man, reacted quickly and immediately thought of aircraft carriers breaking the engagement - such things have happened before, the Germans played one in 1939, but it was not very successful.

"Damn, an American aircraft carrier has arrived in the Western Pacific!" Yamamoto Isoroku gritted his teeth and sneered, "But the navy will definitely make it go without return!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a sound of footsteps, and then another staff officer rushed in.

"Commander, the Hi-22 fleet bound for Hawaii reported that it was attacked by U.S. aircraft!"

"What!?" Yamamoto Isoroku's eyes widened. The Hi-22 fleet was a fleet that transported fuel and ammunition to Hawaii! Now, all transport fleets from Japan to overseas are called "Hi fleets". The Hi fleets that transport troops are numbered with odd numbers, and the Hi fleets that transport supplies are numbered with even numbers. The Hi-22 fleet is a fleet that transports supplies to Hawaii. One of them is the whaling mother ship No. 2 Tunan Maru with a displacement of 19,000 tons. It is the treasure of the Japanese Navy. The Japanese like to eat whale meat, so the whaling industry has always been very developed. In World War II, the largest oil tanker in Japan was this whaling mother ship, because the whaling mother ship has an oil tank for storing whale oil, and it can be a tanker with a little modification.

Because the No. 2 Tunan Maru sailed from Japan, it was full of fuel for ships and aircraft! If it was sunk by American planes, the loss would be heavy.

"How many enemy planes were there? What types?" Kuroshima Kameto asked immediately.

"12 SBD dive bombers, 12 unknown torpedo bombers, and 6 F4F escorts."

The staff officer's answer was very specific, because the destroyers of the navy of the ヒ22 shipyard had "Cat's Eye Warrior" on them, so of course they would not mistake the planes.

"2 aircraft carriers!" Yamamoto Isoroku's teeth were almost bitten off, because he knew that the second Tunan Maru would definitely not escape! If 12 dive bombers and 12 torpedo bombers did not sink a whaling ship, all American pilots could commit suicide.

"We must not let them escape!" Yamamoto roared.

"Teng teng teng..."

The hurried footsteps sounded again!

"Commander, the Izumo Coastal Defense Ship of the Yokosuka Naval Base was bombed by American carrier-based aircraft while patrolling 150 nautical miles south of the Boso Peninsula. It was hit by a torpedo and two bombs and completely lost its combat effectiveness..."

The third aircraft carrier! ?

"Baga!" Yamamoto Isoroku almost jumped up. The Americans were too bullying. You can't play like this even if you have money and steel. You threw out three aircraft carriers at once to break the ties...

"Unforgivable!" Yamamoto Isoroku roared, "We must sink them no matter what!"

Tengtengteng...

The footsteps sounded again, and now everyone looked at Yamamoto, with a hint of complaint - can't you say a few less words? You have attracted American aircraft carriers!

"Commander!" This time, the fleet's communications staff came in. He looked very happy. He saluted the frightened Commander Yamamoto first, and then said slowly: "Commander, here is the telegram from the 4th Division. Port Moresby has just been captured by our invincible Japanese Imperial Army."

The 4th Division and the 6th Division both belong to the invincible 17th Army of the Japanese Imperial Army, which is the army where Tani Hisao was the commander. Although the commander is likely to be drowning, the victory of Port Moresby still belongs to him... The history of the war in the future can probably be written like this: When the general became a god, he still commanded the invincible 4th Division to fight the enemy and captured Port Moresby.

"So fast?" Yamamoto Isoroku breathed a sigh of relief, but then he felt something was wrong. The ground attack on Port Moresby only started in the early morning yesterday. How come it was taken down at noon today?

"Well, it is indeed the invincible Imperial Army Fourth Division! Well done!" Kuroda Shigenori shouted loudly as if in protest.

Then he said to Yamamoto Isoroku: "General Yamamoto, since Port Moresby has been taken, the Australian offensive can start right away, right? It is also the Earl Marshal's intention to start the attack on Australia as soon as possible."

The Earl Marshal is Terauchi Juichi, a second-generation official, and his father is the son of Terauchi Masayoshi, the "monster prime minister" who served as prime minister (because he is ugly and is called a monster). This commander of the Southern Army is a famous general who is on par with Yamamoto Isoroku in Japan (Yamamoto is about to be promoted to general), but his credit is always a bit false - after all, the Nanyang offensive was fought on the basis of a great naval victory. So he set his sights on Australia and wanted to personally command this unprecedented victory.