The death of Isoroku Yamamoto was an extremely heavy blow to the Japanese Navy. The Japanese army not only lost a general with great command genius, but also directly led to Japan's defeat in the subsequent Pacific War, and the morale of the Japanese people and army was hit hard, indicating the established defeat of Japan's war of aggression and accelerating Japan's rout in the late stage of World War II.
(Isoroku Yamamoto)
Why?
Because Yamamoto Fifty-Six had an irreplaceable position in Japan at that time.
1. Yamamoto Isoroku is one of the few sober-minded people in Japan's fanatical militarism.
In 1940, Japan invaded the Soviet Union and launched a "northward" battle plan intended to plunder war resources. However, after being beaten by the powerful Soviet army and being drunk with a slap in the face, he helplessly adjusted his strategic deployment and turned to the implementation of the "southward" plan. Such a correction makes it inevitable that Japan will have a head-on confrontation with another superpower, the United States.
Yamamoto stayed in the United States in his early years, served as a military attaché at the Japanese Embassy in the United States, visited Detroit, an industrial powerhouse in the United States, and had a clear understanding of the strong strength of the United States.
Therefore, Yamamoto believed that with the comprehensive strength of Japan at that time, the stubborn resistance of the Chinese people was already stretched. If at this time we rush to provoke a war with the United States and launch a Pacific war, there is absolutely no possibility that little Japan will win.
But the Japanese government's militants and militaristic ideology have an absolute advantage. At a royal council in 1941, the Emperor of Japan personally approved a plan to sneak attack Pearl Harbor in the United States.
(Attack on Pearl Harbor)
Isoroku Yamamoto was a gambler and adventurer who successfully directed the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was widely regarded as a typical act of death, and in the historical context of the time, its chances of success were very small. However, since the Japanese Emperor wanted to do it, Yamamoto Fifty-Six resolutely implemented it.
Isoroku Yamamoto was born a gambler and adventurer. In his life, Yamamoto Wasoroku was a gambler, often gambling with his subordinates, and his gambling skills were superb, and it is said that several well-known casinos refused him to enter. He has also promised that if given a year, he could help Japan win back an aircraft carrier.
It was on the basis of this gambler's mentality that Yamamoto launched a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, causing heavy losses to the U.S. Pacific Fleet, killing thousands of officers and men, sinking or wounding nearly 10 battleships, and destroying more than 200 aircraft. President Roosevelt even designated the day as "National Shame Day."
(Japanese Air Force in World War II)
Isoroku Yamamoto is also a staunch supporter of "air force-basedism" and "aviation."
In 1924, when Yamamoto was the vice captain of the Kasumigaura Air Force, he vigorously reorganized the training of the aviation unit and sent a large number of excellent pilots to the Japanese Air Force and Navy.
In 1928, Isoroku Yamamoto briefly served as captain of battleships, and in 1934 he was promoted to lieutenant general and minister of the Ministry of Aviation.
These experiences inspired Yamamoto's idea of building Japan into an aviation power, and he vigorously advocated the importance of aviation and made great contributions to the development of the Japanese Air Force.
4. Yamamoto was the vanguard of the war of aggression against China.
In the Battle of Songhu in 1937, Yamamoto ordered the dispatch of two aircraft carriers to bomb Shanghai indiscriminately, inflicting heavy casualties on Chinese soldiers and civilians and acting as accomplices of the Japanese aggressors.
It was because of Yamamoto's sober mind and surprising strategy that he became famous in Japan and became a well-known figure for women and children.
Although Yamamoto Isoroku was famous in Japan, he was always an aggressor and could not escape the fate of doom.
(Old nimitz photo)
As the U.S. army deciphered the Japanese code, the Japanese suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Midway. In order to boost the morale of the Japanese army, Yamamoto insisted on flying to the front line of The Buin and The Shortland Islands to inspect the front line despite the advice of his subordinates.
Yamamoto's telegram from this inspection operation was also intercepted by the US military. The US military has a clear understanding of his take-off time, location, route, escort aircraft, and other situations. In front of the American troops, Yamamoto Fifty-Six was like being stripped naked, and there was no privacy to speak of.
At this time, Yamamoto Wasoroku still had not learned the lesson of the defeat at the Battle of Midway, thinking that the news of the inspection was unconscious and that the plan was seamless, and he even called the officers of the Shortland Islands to have dinner together in the evening.
The U.S. military issued an order to the aviation unit stationed on Guadalcanal to intercept and kill Yamamoto Isoroku, and immediately 12 P-38 fighters roared and stabbed into the sky, flying toward the only path that Yamamoto Fifty-Six had to pass.
Isoroku Yamamoto was a very punctual man who appeared on time over the jungles of Bougainville Island at a time node carefully calculated by the Americans. The U.S. military divided the aircraft on the mission into two groups, and three of them played the role of "Ming xiu boardwalk", successfully luring all 6 escort aircraft of Yamamoto Fifty-Six. The other five planes were "dark and dark", firing heavily at Yamamoto's No. 1 aircraft.
Plane No. 1 dragged thick smoke into the rainforest of Bougainville Island. Two days later, the Japanese finally found the body of Isoroku Yamamoto in the rainforest, and before he died, he sat in a posture with his back against a tree, his head drooping, his hands with a saber, and he seemed to be meditating on something.
In fact, the U.S. military hesitated before giving the order to kill Yamamoto Fifty-Six, and Admiral Nimitz believed that if Yamamoto Fifty-Six was killed, there would definitely be another, more powerful person to succeed him. But one officer reassured Nimitz by saying, "Yamamoto is as important to the Japanese Navy as you are to the U.S. Navy!" ”
Indeed, as the American officer had said, after Yamamoto's death, the Japanese Navy never found a figure like Yamamoto again. They had few victories in the later Pacific Theater and had to surrender unconditionally, ending their criminal acts of aggression.
(Reference: The Fifty-Six Complete Biography of Yamamoto)