Chapter 62:
Chapter 62
“The fate of the empire depends on how much every citizen is devoted to their duty!”
The commander-in-chief’s speech echoed throughout the fleet.
All the officers and soldiers listened attentively to Admiral Yamamoto’s words with solemn expressions.
The commander-in-chief’s voice was fervent, as if he was spitting blood.
The war had not even started yet, but it seemed like the final battle was approaching.
And his voice was filled with a grim determination, like a samurai preparing for that battle.
In front of that determination, everyone began to steel themselves, as if they were infected.
“Now is the time to punish those barbaric Anglo-Americans who have oppressed and obstructed our sacred war! With one decisive battle, we will sink their entire fleet to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and seize the glory of East Asia, repaying His Majesty’s grace with our blood!”
“Wowowowowow!!!”
Repay with our blood! Tenno Heika Banzai!!!
The passionate soldiers on each ship’s deck cheered.
Even the submarines that were being towed by the ships with their upper structures exposed above the water had some soldiers who leaned out and listened to the commander-in-chief’s speech.
“We have the best battleships in the world! We have the most elite soldiers than anyone else! The weapons bestowed by His Majesty are filled with grace and our citizens’ blood and sweat! There is no defeat for us, so soldiers! Do not spare your lives!”
The soldiers who had not learned much were not able to understand all of the commander-in-chief’s speech, which was written in archaic characters. But they could easily understand that they had the best battleships in the world.
The flagship of the commander-in-chief who led the fleet was not Nagato, which was originally the flagship of the Combined Fleet.
They did not even know about the huge ship that stood at the front, waving the flag of command that symbolized the flagship.
Three flags fluttered in the wind from the mast of the giant ship: Hinomaru, Rising Sun Flag, and Flag of Command.
The sailors were amazed. What kind of ship was that?
“In the Combined Fleet, from Admiral Togo Heihachiro onwards, it is a beautiful tradition that the flagship of the commander-in-chief is at the front! The Yamato, which I boarded, will take the lead. All soldiers, do your best in your assigned duties and win with one heart and loyalty. Do you understand?”
“Long live! Long live! Long live!”
A huge roar shook the fleet. All the soldiers had been actively indoctrinated with ideologies such as Japan’s Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and Five Races Under One Union for several years.
Advancing into China was to enlighten the uncivilized Chinese with the light of East Asia and cooperate to defend against the invasion of white powers.
Advancing southward was to liberate Asia from white colonialists!
Of course, the intentions of the upper echelons were far from these beautiful propaganda, but these people who had no chance to fight against Japan believed in this propaganda.
Even Japan itself.
Now a great battle against their biggest enemy, America, awaited them.
If they lived, they would be heroes of the empire.
If they died, they would be spirits of patriotism!
The morale of the soldiers seemed to pierce and overturn the sky.
But Yamamoto Isoroku himself, who had stimulated his soldiers with his speech, was most depressed.
“Sigh… To this extent… Can we win?”
The staffs of the Combined Fleet Headquarters could not understand his concern at all.
As he said himself, if they killed more Americans with their strong spirit and willpower and survived, how could Japan’s Combined Fleet not be able to deal with a single American fleet that had lost three battleships and its power was shattered?
Japan had prepared a secret weapon for victory in addition to its surprise tactics.
A secret weapon that could blow up any American ship in one shot.
But the commander-in-chief was serious, and none of his staffs were so insensitive as to openly say their thoughts and annoy him.
“Even if we sink their fleet, can we create an army out of thin air and occupy Hawaii? Or can we blow up the island altogether? Even if Hawaii falls, there is still America far away on the other side. Eventually…”
“Your Excellency! If we defeat their fleet with a surprise attack and advance southward to get oil, wouldn’t we be able to compete with them?”
Yamamoto looked closely at the officer who made that remark.
He must have been a senior staff from a war college.
His face was pale from not being exposed to sunlight, and he wore his navy uniform neatly.
He did not look very old, but he already had a colonel rank badge on him, which showed that he had risen fast.
He might be smart. But… his vision was narrow.
“Advancing southward and getting oil would only make us equal to one of the many weapons that America has. The situation in the Atlantic is not so easy that the British can run around in the East, so the south will not be easy to get or keep. But even if we sink their fleet, we can’t do anything about the shipyards that produce them, can we?”
The staffs gasped.
They did not know the immense power of America yet.
He had seen the huge industrial complexes in Chicago and Detroit and their production during his study in America, and he felt sorry for their narrow vision.
Not only them, but also the military leaders and cabinet members.
They had witnessed with their own eyes how Japan had developed astonishingly, how it had achieved rapid growth in its history.
That’s why they had confidence.
Japan had won the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War.
Despite its meager military power, Japan had risen from the humiliation of being forced to open its ports by the black ships, and now it had secured its place among the proud powers.
Britain and America, who had humiliated Japan, were stunned and dizzy by the unexpected blow.
Now, the last thing to do was to prove its status as a power and avenge the historical disgrace by crushing America.
The high command had assessed that it was possible, if America lost all its fleet power and came to the negotiating table, acknowledging Japan’s punishment and its dominance over the south.
But he could hardly be optimistic about that.
The war was decided, and what followed was the duty of a soldier.
Dying on the battlefield was no different from the way of a warrior, so he was not afraid of death. But what he feared was… defeat.
‘If we lose, can Japan preserve its nation and people?’
The high command expected that America would come to negotiate if it lost all its fleet power.
But Yamamoto did not think so.
No matter how much they ranted about being weaklings, weak in spirit and body, Britain was still resisting to the end, even though its homeland was trampled on.
Even when the conqueror of Africa, General Rommel, invaded with 200,000 troops, they did not surrender and fought to the end.
If the British were like that, would America, a greater nation, simply give up? Or would it rage and attack until it sank all of Japan’s combined fleet in the Pacific?
‘Or maybe they would burn down Japan itself.’
While Japan struggled with financial difficulties and built a few Yamato-class battleships, America could produce many more powerful warships, even if not as big.
To catch a battleship, you had to bring another battleship and engage in a gunfight, but… as an advocate of air supremacy, Yamamoto knew well. It didn’t have to be a battleship.
A plane would do.
There were torpedoes too.
The Japanese Empire could not recover its power in a short time if it lost Yamato and Musashi.
But what about America? How long would it take to recover if it lost all its battleships and aircraft carriers in the Pacific Fleet?
He could not guess at all. Attrition warfare, that attrition warfare could be used by America against Japan even after Japan’s victory. If that happened… if America did not give up until the end, could we win?
What the ‘invincible imperial army’ had now was only a stratagem.
It was not a means to decisively reverse the superiority of power. In the long run, it could even be a poison.
What on earth were they thinking, allowing this?
Gunter Prinz, a young officer who came as an attaché of the allied German Empire and advised on Japan’s naval strategy, was astonished by Japan’s plan.
He looked at them incredulously, as if it was absurd.
“Prepare for battle! Worrying about the grand plan is the role of the commander and the minister! You just have to do your best to prepare for the imminent battle.”
“Yes! Commander-in-chief!”
Pearl Harbor was… eight hours away. By the time they arrived, it would be dawn.
Japan’s fate depended on that moment.
“Victory or defeat?”
****
At the Japanese Embassy in America, they had to desperately dissuade Secretary of State Hull, who was raging and cursing at them.
You cowardly Japs! How can you flip your words like that? We’ll drown you all in the sea!
His rhetoric was not diplomatic at all. But he had a reason to be so.
After being surprised by Germany’s declaration of war, America became obsessed with whether Japan, a fellow Axis member, would declare war on them.
Every time, Japan deceived America by pretending to have no intention of war. And now they sent a surprise declaration of war to the State Department.
The secretary of state, who was sound asleep at dawn, had to rush out after receiving an urgent call at home and come to meet the ambassador at the embassy surrounded by armed police and soldiers.
“I have nothing more to say, Mr. Secretary. Our government…”
“Damn it, make excuses if you want. America won’t back down!”
“Yes. We are aware of that.”
Kichisaburo coldly stared at Hull’s burning eyes. Of course Hull was not intimidated by his gesture. He only shouted and raged more.
‘You rude big-nosed bastards…’
Kichisaburo cursed inwardly.
The Japanese Embassy was besieged by heavily armed police and soldiers, and probably all embassy staff would be expelled. But all that was nothing compared to what the soldiers who went to the battlefield had to endure.
It was also small compared to what the allied German Empire had done. Kichisaburo was personally impressed by Germany’s achievements.
They had finally brought down Britain, who had ruled the seas of the world!
The German army was still struggling on the British Isles, but the ambassador judged that as an indomitable spirit.
Despite being defeated and treated harshly in the last war, they sharpened and polished their swords and cut the enemy’s throat, wasn’t that like the samurai spirit?
No matter how strong the enemy was, a warrior would not bow. He would only die like a dog!
“Pack your bags! When we come back, it will be as victors!”
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