Battle of Leyte Gulf (XV)

The "Hell Divers" from high altitude had just flown away, and the low-altitude sea-skimming attacks of the 6 "Avengers" followed. Although Musashi swung from side to side, trying to avoid it, allowing 1 and 2 torpedoes to pass through the bow and aft, respectively, the remaining three torpedoes accurately hit the ribs of the giant ship's starboard 80th, 110th, and 145th. After three consecutive earth-shattering loud noises, the once-indispensable Musashi tilted 5 degrees to the left, and the bow sank more than 2 meters. Seeing that the battleship was crumbling under the repeated attacks of the American army, the gun commander Cross-country Nakasa once again asked the captain for permission to attack the enemy aircraft with a three-type shell, and his opinion was supported by the deputy captain Kenji Daisa, and the frustrated Inoguchi had to agree. This decision was decided significantly late, and Musashi fired only 9 Type III shells in the current round of air raids. The loss of some power combined with the sinking of the bow led to a great increase in resistance, and the Musashi gradually reduced its speed to 22 knots, leaving it behind by a large and fast-moving force. After the damage management personnel struggled to rescue, the hull tilt was gradually corrected to about 1 degree.

The second wave of U.S. attacks lasted only eight minutes, and they also paid a price to aggravate Musashi's injuries. Three dive bombers were shot down by Japanese anti-aircraft fire, and captain Wilson McNair and Second Lieutenant John Boyle were killed. Captain George Reilly's torpedo plane landed at sea due to his injuries and the crew members disappeared. Off-road Nakazo claimed to have shot down 7 US aircraft in air defense warfare, which obviously contained an exaggerated component.

At exactly 13:00, the Yamato received a report from Inoguchi: "The maximum speed of our ship can only be maintained by 22 knots. Watching the unrecognizable Musashi limp at the end of the line, Kurita's heart was like a knife. He began to think bitterly about whether to let the badly injured giant ship continue to move forward with the team. If Musashi had continued to follow the main team, the unsinkable battleship would have been sunk by enemy aircraft in more than one round of air raids that were coming. If it were to return now, it would greatly weaken the fleet's ability to participate in the ensuing artillery battle. After pondering for a moment, Kurita resolutely ordered the fleet to slow down to 22 knots and wait for the Musashi to advance together. Although reducing the speed would make the fleet more vulnerable to enemy aircraft, Kurita was reluctant to leave the Musashi alone out of a sense of responsibility.

At the same time as making the above helpless arrangement, Kurita felt a pang of anger in his heart: "Where did the land-based fighters who were ordered to provide air cover for the fleet die, allowing Lao Tzu to be bombed here?" "Since entering the Sibuyan Sea, Kurita has been looking forward to the stars and the moon, and even the hair of the escort plane has not looked forward to a single one. After the war, Moriyoshi Yamaguchi, commander of the Japanese Second Air Force, admitted during interrogation that 10 fighters had been sent to escort the Kurita fleet, but Kurita recalled not seeing even one friendly aircraft. They were probably shot down on the way.

Without air protection, Kurida didn't know how long his fleet would be able to withstand the barrage of air raids. At 13:15, an enraged man sent a telegram requesting air support. In addition to Sending Messages to Tokyo and Manila, the Telegram was sent to his old boss, Ozawa. The telegram reads as follows: "Our fleet is under repeated attack by enemy carrier-based aircraft, and I ask you to make immediate contact with and attack the enemy. In fact, long before Kurita sent the telegram, the base aviation unit and the mobile unit had already taken corresponding actions.

The base aviation unit also has its own grievances. Prior to this, Vice Admiral Furushige, who had traveled to Manila, had received orders from Tokyo to launch a general aviation attack on 24 October, destroying the enemy carrier fleet and providing escort for the surface fleet to rush into Leyte Gulf. Fukuro, who had just commanded Taiwan's naval and air battles on the spot, knew that with those "rookies" under his command, he was simply unable to confront the elite ship-based aviation of the US military, and Ohnishi agreed with this. Instead of futilely going to escort, it is better to directly attack the US aircraft carrier, which is the strategy of "encircling Wei and saving Zhao"!

The conventional aviation attack proposed by Fukuyu was also disputed by the recently appointed Chief of Staff, Onnishi. Onishi pointed out that in the face of the overwhelming superiority of the US military in both quantity and quality, with the technical level of the existing fighters and pilots of the Japanese army, it can only be effective if it implements a "special attack." The two argued for half a night, and Ōnishi finally made concessions, and all the Japanese aircraft that entered the attack on the 24th still used the conventional bomb-throwing and mine-throwing methods in the past.

According to the operational order issued by Furu at 1:37 on the 24th, the major airfields of the Japanese army in the Philippines were in a busy state. At 6:35 a.m., 26 Zero fighters led by MinorU Kobayashi took off. At exactly 7 o'clock, six "comets" led by Lieutenant Ōbuchi took off from Mabalacat Airport. At the same time, 38 Type 99 dive bombers led by Tsumaho Navy Shōsa also took off. Ten minutes later, 16 Zero Fighters led by Lieutenant Takashi Took off from Anghles Airfield. The Japanese attacked on the third group of Major General Sherman, who had been positioned by seaplanes earlier.

Fuliu was not alone in battle. In the early morning of the 24th, Ozawa's mobile unit headed in a 220-degree course to the sea east of Cape Engano, 19 degrees 10 minutes north latitude and 126 degrees 40 minutes east longitude. In Spanish, "Engano" originally means "seduction, deception", which coincides with the mission of Ozawa's fleet and is also considered a providence in the underworld. At exactly 1 o'clock, the light cruiser Tama detected the noise of the suspected submarine engine in a 280-degree position. The destroyer Hatsuzuki immediately pounced on it and dropped several rounds of depth charges, the results of which were unknown. The U.S. military has no record of submarines being shipwrecked in the waters.

At 5:45 a.m., Ozawa ordered the "Ruihe" and "Ruifeng" to release 7 "Tianshan" and 3 "Comets" in turn, and carried out a 565-685 km search for an area of 185 degrees and 105-227 degrees. At exactly 6 o'clock, the "Odo" catapulted a seaplane, and the enemy line was 105 degrees.

None of the seven "Tianshan" planes that conducted the search found the U.S. fleet. Four of them returned to the Tsuru by 12.30 p.m. Second Lieutenant Tamiya's plane was shot down by Lieutenant Charles Phillips, the pilot of the USS Lexington. After the return of the two Tianshan of the Ruifeng, the mothership could not be found, and Kenji Kariya, who was in charge of Line 10, had to fly to the manila overland airport, where he was forced to land on Arabat Island due to bad weather on the way. Shigetaro Miso's superior flying plane landed at Apali Airport at 11:45 a.m. In addition, the seaplane of the Odo was also found to nothing, and was eventually recovered by the cruiser at 12 o'clock.

At 10:48 a.m., Ozawa received a telegram from the overland airport on Mactan Island, where Magellan died, saying, "Enemy mobile forces, including at least two aircraft carriers, were found 330 kilometers in Manila. Although all the information sent by the search aircraft had not yet been fully recovered, Ozawa issued an attack order at 11:14 a.m., based on the location provided by the land base: "All carrier-based aircraft of the Third Air Force attacked the enemy at 11:45 a.m., with an attack direction of 215 degrees and an attack distance of 440 kilometers. ”

Only 1 minute after the order was issued, Captain Naotada Ito, the pilot of the "Comet" in charge of the Line 9 search, sent back a report to the enemy: "Enemy troops have been found, the aircraft carrier is unknown, latitude 15 degrees 35 minutes north, longitude 124 degrees 10 minutes east, Manila 70 degrees direction, 350 kilometers." The enemy fleet sailed due north, with visibility of 36 km in the nearby sea and a cloud height of 3,000 m. ”

The land base and the enemy sent back by Ito basically coincided - the same orientation, only 20 kilometers apart. Ozawa saw on the chart that the distance between the mobile forces and the enemy fleet was currently 330 kilometers, and it was in an excellent attack position. At 11:38, Ozawa telegraphed Commander Toyoda: "Our mobile unit will arrive at 97 degrees and 350 kilometers at Angle Ngano at 11:45 a.m., and will dispatch 40 zero-war, 28 bombers, 2 reconnaissance planes, and 6 torpedo planes to attack the enemy mobile forces located at 70 degrees in Manila." Our unit headed westerly and reached a speed of 20 knots. ”

To boost morale, at 11:45 a.m., Ozawa raised the "Z" battle flag symbolizing the final showdown on the mast of the flagship Mizuzuru. Since the Battle of Mariana, the flag has ceased to be a symbol of victory, but has become a lifeline for the pilots involved in the battle. Without exception, the armored aircraft carriers Dafeng and Ruihe, which raised their flags in two naval battles, were buried at the bottom of the sea.

All four carriers of the mobile unit turned against the wind and released attack fleets one after another. Starting at 11:45, 20 Zero, 9 fighter-bombers and 4 Tianshan were first taken off from 3 light carriers. At 12:05, 10 Zero, 11 fighter-bombers, 6 Tianshan and 2 Comets also took off from the Ruihe. The not-so-large group of Japanese aircraft rumbled toward the waters where the U.S. fleet was located. The 62 aircraft sent out were almost all of Ozawa's possessions, leaving only 20 zeros to escort as many as 4 carriers. It can be said that after releasing the attack aircraft group, Ozawa's mobile units lost the ability to attack and defend at the same time.

The pilots of the attack were instructed not to return to the mothership after completing the attack and fly directly to the nearest land airfield on Luzon to land. Ozawa's move was not to carry out the so-called "shuttle bombing" as it had been during the Battle of the Marianas, but because he believed that most pilots would not survive the battle. Even if a few were able to return, their technology would not be sufficient to land safely on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Instead of this, it is better to let them join the base aviation force, and they are not bothered!

Ozawa was anxious to release the attack aircraft fleet, and there was a crying and laughing bitterness. Prior to this, he had repeatedly broken the radio silence and frequently sent frequent reports, hoping to attract the attention of the Americans, to no avail. He hoped that the attacking carrier aircraft would be discovered by the U.S. military as soon as possible, so that Halsey would know that "I am here, waiting for you in the north." For Ozawa, this was undoubtedly a painful decision. However, the earlier the task of enticing the enemy was realized, the pressure on the Kurita fleet could be relieved as soon as possible. Ozawa knew that Kurita's fleet was being ruthlessly attacked by U.S. carrier-based aircraft in the Sibuyan Sea. Ozawa was a dutiful admiral who understood the importance of his mission, which he could accept even if the whole army was destroyed, and this was the price that must be paid for the ultimate victory.

Although not negotiable, Ozawa and Fukuro chose the same target, Major General Sherman's Third Brigade on the northernmost side.