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Text Chapter 272 Battle of Leyte Gulf

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    Time has entered October 20, 1943, and the Soviet-German battlefield has been completely turned around due to the Battle of Moscow.  Under the strong counterattack of the Soviet army, the German army retreated steadily and suffered heavy losses. The German army decided to concentrate its superior forces in Minsk and launch a decisive battle with the Soviet army.  Use this to compete and determine the success or failure of subsequent battles.  ??And Germany received help from China and acquired more advanced technology.  Through his own disdainful research and development, he finally developed a new type of mass murder weapon. After the German experiment, Hitler decided to put it into this battle.  And the Soviet army also had obvious differences at this moment.  Marshal of the Soviet Army, Marshal Timoshenko, supported the army to continue to advance and drive the German troops out of Soviet territory.  After Zhukov defended Siberia, he had a small-scale battle with the Chinese People's Liberation Army and discovered how powerful the Chinese People's Liberation Army was.  They have sophisticated weapons, strong combat skills, and strong tactics. After understanding Zhukov, they inspired the opposition to continue fighting the German army.  Rather, he hoped that Stalin would listen to his advice and talk to the Germans, and put the heavy weight of the battle in the south, on the more threatening China.  As the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army Group, Shen Kun stopped attacking after the troops arrived in Siberia.  On the one hand, it is because of the weather here. Even though it has just entered October, the soldiers are already obviously uncomfortable.  On the other hand, in order to allow the soldiers to adapt to the harsh weather here, Shen Kun, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army Group, issued an order to harass the battle.  The troops, in small groups, have been constantly harassing the border between Mongolia and Soviet Russia, causing countless violent attacks.  Zhukov didn¡¯t know what to do after the fight, so he led his troops to fight.  Not knowing the details of the Chinese team, Zhukov did not dare to act rashly.  And a two-front attack would not be a good start for Soviet Russia.  "On the other side, just when the Soviet-German war was getting extremely intense, just when China was about to borrow.  In the Pacific Ocean, another battle that shocked the world began.  The Battle of Leyte Gulf broke out on October 20, 1943.  U.S. commanders: William Halsey, Thomas Kincaid Troops: 17 aircraft carriers, 18 escort aircraft carriers.  12 battleships, 24 cruisers, 141 destroyers, other ships, torpedo boats, submarines and about 1,500 aircraft Japanese commanders: Lieutenant General Kurita Keno, Lieutenant General Ozawa Jisaburo Troops: 4 aircraft carriers, 9 battleships.  19 cruisers.  34 destroyers, about 200 aircraft (and about 500 land-based aircraft stationed in the Philippines and Taiwan to provide support) Japan attempted to repel or destroy the US landing force on Leyte Island. In the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Japan was organized for the first time  Use kamikaze.  The naval battle lasted from October 20 to October 26, 1943.  Within six days, the Japanese and American troops invested more than two million tons of ships.  About 35 aircraft carriers, 21 battleships (capital ships), 170 destroyers and nearly 2,000 military aircraft participated in the battle.  Although the Japanese army is at a disadvantage, after losing battles such as Saipan and the Mariana Islands, if it loses the Philippines or Taiwan, its empire's "southern line" resource supply to the mainland will be cut off. In Southeast Asia, it will compete with China, North Korea, and the mainland.  contact will be severed.  Japan therefore decided to make a desperate move.  In an attempt to repel the US landing force on Leyte Island and defeat its maritime power.  After much consideration, the U.S. military gave up attacking Taiwan and landed in the Philippines first. They were determined to cover the landing with their superior military strength and defeat the Japanese navy that came to support them in one fell swoop.  On October 20, 1944, a U.S. amphibious force attacked Leyte Island in the central Philippine Islands. This was the beginning of the Leyte Gulf Campaign.  On the same day, a Japanese force entered the position from the southeast of Leyte Island. A submarine from the US Seventh Fleet discovered the first Japanese attack force.  Kurita¡¯s fleet entered the Sibuyan Sea northeast of Leyte Island on October 24, 1943.  During the Battle of Sibuyan Sea, he was attacked by an American aircraft carrier and the battleship Musashi was sunk.  Kurita turned around and retreated. The American pilots thought he had withdrawn from the battlefield, but at night he turned around again and entered the San Bernardino Strait and arrived at Samar Island in the early morning.  Vice Admiral Nishimura¡¯s fleet entered the Surigao Strait at three o¡¯clock in the morning on October 25, 1943, and happened to collide with the U.S. combat fleet.  In the Battle of Surigao Strait, the battleships Fuso and Yamashiro were sunk, and Nishimura was killed.  His remaining forces retreated westward.  After receiving news of the arrival of Ozawa's aircraft carrier fleet, Admiral Halsey sent his aircraft carriers to pursue them on October 25, 1943. Four Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk in the Battle of Cape Engagnon, and Ozawa's remaining forces  Flee to Japan.  Kurita¡¯s fleet arrived at Samar Island at six o¡¯clock in the morning on October 25, 1943.  At this time, Halsey was pursuing Ozawa, and there were only three formations of American escort aircraft carriers and their destroyers between Kurita's fleet and the American landing fleet.  During the Battle of Samar Island, desperate torpedo attacks by U.S. destroyers and ruthless air attacks, as well as adverse weather conditions, made Kurita think he was facing a major U.S. military challenge.?.  So he turned and retreated from the battlefield.  Kurita's most powerful "Central Fleet" in the Sibuyan Sea Battle consisted of five battleships (five battleships: Yamato, Musashi, Nagato, Kongo and Haruna), plus 10 heavy cruisers and 2 light cruisers.  cruisers and 15 destroyers.  Kurita's fleet attempted to break through the San Bernardino Strait and attack the landing fleet in Leyte Gulf.  On the night of October 23, Kurita's fleet passed through the waters of Palawan Island, and his fleet was discovered by the American submarines USS Carp and USS Minnow.  Although the telegraph operators on the Yamato spotted two submarines reporting their sighting of the fleet.  The Japanese fleet took no anti-submarine action.  At 06:43, the Sea Carp (ss-247) launched the attack first.  At a distance of 1000 meters, 6 torpedoes were fired at the heavy cruisers Atago and Takao each. Atago was hit by 4 torpedoes and sank, Takao was seriously damaged by 2 torpedoes, and at 06:56, the heavy cruiser Maya was hit by 4 torpedoes and sank by Minnow.  .  The heavy cruiser Kaohsiung was hit by a torpedo and returned to Brunei under the protection of two destroyers.  U.S. submarines followed it, but it was abandoned on October 24 when the Carp ran aground.  Kurita moved his flagship to the Yamato.  At approximately 08:00 on October 24, 1943, aircraft from the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier spotted the fleet entering the narrow Sibuyan Sea.  Halsey ordered the three aircraft carrier squadrons of the Third Fleet to be assembled to attack Kurita's fleet.  A total of 260 aircraft taking off from the aircraft carriers USS Intrepid, USS Cabot and other aircraft carriers began to continuously attack the fleet at approximately 10:27.  The eye-catching Yamato and Musashi became the main targets of the US military.  The heavy cruiser Myoko was hit first, and a mine was hit on the stern of the ship, and it returned home seriously injured.  Musashi, Yamato and Nagato were hit one after another. Musashi sank after hitting 19 torpedoes and 17 bombs (and 18 near-misses) in six waves of attacks. Yamato and Nagato were both injured and their speed dropped.  By the 24th quarter, Kongo and Haruna were slightly injured.  The light cruiser Yagi was hit, and the destroyers Hamakaze and Kiyosho were injured and returned home.  Due to the lack of air cover on our side, Kurita ordered his fleet to turn around and drive out of the attack range of the US aircraft carrier at 15:30.  He waited until 17:15, then turned back toward the San Bernardino Strait.  His fleet carried no aircraft carriers.  The Princeton was hit by an armor-piercing bomb and caught fire.  The bomb exploded at 15:30, killing 229 people on the spot.  236 people were injured.  Other nearby boats were also damaged.  The Princeton sank at 17:50.  The squadron was responsible for the northward security mission and had no time to send aircraft to search the northern waters. Ozawa's decoy fleet was discovered by US aircraft at 16:35.  Nishimura's southern fleet consists of the battleships Fuso and Yamashiro, the heavy cruiser Mogami and four destroyers.  They were attacked by an air raid on October 24, 1944, but were not injured.  Because the South Fleet and the Middle Fleet strictly observe radio silence.  Nishimura is unable to coordinate their steps with Kurita and Shima.  When he entered the Surigao Strait at 02:00, Shima was about 40 kilometers behind him, and Kurita was still in the Sibuyan Sea, still several hours away from the coast of Leyte.  They broke into the trap set for them by the U.S. Seventh Fleet as soon as they passed Panavon Island.  Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf's six battleships (from west to east, the USS Pennsylvania, the USS California, the USS Tennessee, the USS Mississippi, the USS Maryland, and the USS West Virginia) and eight cruisers (from the west to the east. They are respectively  : Shropshire, Boise, and Phoenix (the above three ships form the right-wing cruiser group, facing south); Columbia, Denver, Minneapolis, Portland, and Louisville, the above five ships form the left-wing cruiser group  ), 29 destroyers and 39 torpedo boats are ready.  Since the U.S. military lacks aircraft for night operations, it can only use torpedo boats equipped with radar to provide information. At 20:50, U.S. torpedo boats discovered the Nishimura fleet. From 22:52 to 02:13, 13 U.S. torpedo boat squadrons launched attacks on the Nishimura fleet.  The torpedo attack failed.  The US torpedo boat PT-493 ran aground and sank, but provided a large amount of intelligence to the Seventh Fleet.  At 03:00, three destroyers from the first section of the 54th US Destroyer Squadron launched a torpedo attack on the Nishimura fleet at a distance of 7,000-8,000 meters. A total of 27 torpedoes were fired, and one torpedo hit the middle of the Fuso.  The Fuso immediately fell behind, then turned to the right and retreated. After 8 minutes, the entire ship lost power.  At 03:09, the second part of the 54th Destroyer Squadron also launched a torpedo.  The leading destroyer Sangumo was hit by a mine first, and then sank in a big explosion.  Asaun was hit under the forward main gun, the bow of the ship was broken, and the speed dropped to 12 knots. The battleship Yamashiro and the destroyer Fengshio were hit by mines one after another. Yamashiro was hit by 2 torpedoes in the front and rear, and the middle and rear main guns were unable to work, but still  Keep moving forward.  At 03:45, a big explosion occurred in the middle fuel tank and ammunition compartments of No. 3 and 4 main turrets of the lagging Fuso. The hull broke. The bow part of the ship was sunk at 04:20, and the stern part also sank more than an hour later.  .  After the war, no one knew what happened on the Fuso, because no one on the ship was spared, and the number of casualties was between 1,400 and 1,600. ? 03:50, the U.S. battleship and cruiser formations used naval artillery warfare.The classic tactics were to form two T-shaped formations (battleships in the rear, distance 20,000 meters, cruisers in front, distance 14,000 meters), and use full frontal crossfire to fire a total of 245 large-caliber main gun shells under the guidance of radar.  The cruiser fired more than 4,000 shells, and the 56th Destroyer Squadron also conducted a torpedo attack on it, hitting a total of 2 torpedoes. In an instant, Yamashiro burned violently and exploded. The bridge collapsed and sank at 04:19. Lieutenant-Admiral Nishimura was eliminated.  10 people were rescued by the US military.  Others were buried with the ship (for comparison, only 26 people survived on the battleships lost by the Nishimura fleet in the entire naval battle).  The Mogami was also hit in many places, including a direct hit on the air defense command post, the captain.  Deputy Chief.  Almost all the senior officers, including the navigator, were killed, and the gunnery chief, Captain Arai, had to take command on his behalf.  The destroyer Shigure also suffered damage in five places.  04:25Shima¡¯s Nachi and Ashigara heavy cruisers and eight destroyers arrived on the battlefield.  Shima thought that the two fragments he saw were the remaining fragments of Nishimura's two battleships (actually they were two fragments of the Fuso). He realized that passing through the strait was hopeless and ordered a retreat.  In the chaos, his flagship Nachi collided with the burning Mogami. The Mogami, which lost its maneuverability and fell behind, was sunk by a plane the next day.  The Shima fleet is in the process of retreating.  Pursued by US carrier-based aircraft, the light cruiser Avukuma and the destroyer Shiranui were sunk one after another.  The Battle of Surigao was the last naval battle between battleships in human history, and it was one of the most successfully organized battles in the history of naval warfare.  At the cost of one torpedo boat, the U.S. military sank 2 battleships and 1 heavy cruiser.  The impressive record of 3 destroyers and 1 heavy cruiser and 1 destroyer was damaged (the light cruiser Avukuma and the destroyer Shiranui are not counted as battle results).  Ozawa's fleet consists of four aircraft carriers: Zuikaku, Zuiho, Chitose, and Chiyoda, two aviation battleships converted from battleships built during World War I: Ise, Hyuga, and three  Cruisers: consisting of Oyodo, Tama, Isuzu and eight destroyers.  Zuikaku was the last aircraft carrier to survive the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The rear turrets of the Hyuga and Ise were converted into hangars, runways and take-off mechanisms.  But neither ship carried a plane.  Ozawa only has 108 aircraft in total.  Ozawa¡¯s fleet was not discovered until 16:40 on October 24, 1944.  At this time, the U.S. military was dealing with Kurita's fleet and air attacks from Luzon Island.  On the evening of October 24, 1944, Ozawa obtained an American telegram saying that Kurita had retreated (this news was wrong), but at 20:00 Toyota ordered all fleets to continue the attack.  Halsey saw his opportunity to eliminate all Japanese aircraft carriers in the Pacific so that the United States could attack the Japanese homeland without worry.  Believing that Kurita had been defeated at the Battle of Sibuyan, he took all three carrier groups and Admiral Willis Lee's battleships (under Halsey's orders) to defend San Bernardino after midnight.  The 34th Task Force was temporarily formed in the Strait. The order was a premeditated plan, which later caused confusion in the pursuit of Ozawa. Although the U.S. reconnaissance plane discovered Kurita heading towards the San Bernardino Strait, Halsey believed that Kincaid's No. 1  The Seven Fleet was enough to deal with it, regardless of the fact that the American fleet was much larger than the Japanese fleet. Halsey had 9 aircraft carriers (Intrepid, Hornet, Franklin, Lexington, Bunker Hill, Wasp).  USS Hancock, USS Enterprise, USS Essex), eight light aircraft carriers (USS Independence, USS Princeton, USS Bellewood, USS Coppens, USS Monterey, USS Rangeley, USS Cabot)  , San Jacinto), six battleships (Alabama, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, South Dakota, Washington), 17 cruisers, 64 destroyers and more than 1,000 aircraft.  The landing site was given to several escort aircraft carriers and destroyers. Halsey was lured out by Ozawa's bait. On the morning of October 25, 1944, Ozawa ordered 75 aircraft to take off to attack the US military, but the aircraft did not cause any damage.  Most of the aircraft were shot down by American fighter jets, and a few flew to Luzon Island. Halsey personally led the battleships of the 34th Task Force to advance rapidly, preparing to use large-caliber naval guns to directly deal with the avant-garde battleships of the Ozawa fleet.  The Japanese ships were left behind during the carrier-based air attack. In the early morning, before the precise location of the Japanese troops was determined, the US military took off 180 aircraft. It was not until 7:10 that the reconnaissance planes found the North Route Fleet and destroyed it at 08:00.  In order to protect the fleet, 30 Japanese aircraft were carried out. They carried out a total of 857 attacks, and the aircraft carriers of the Ozawa fleet were hit one after another (the destroyers Chitose and Akizuki were sunk. The light cruisers Zuikaku, Chiyoda and Tama lost their maneuverability).  Ozawa changed his flagship to the light cruiser Oyoyo. At this time, news of the battle on Samar Island came and the situation of the US military landing force was urgent (the escort aircraft carrier of the Seventh Fleet kept sending reports due to the sudden appearance of Kurita's fleet.  Asked Halsey for help. Even Nimitz, who was at Pearl Harbor, sent Halsey a brief telegram: "The 34th."Where is the mixed fleet?", but the officer in charge of telegram encryption casually added "The whole world wants to know". Halsey's decoding officer mistakenly thought that the text was not deleted, which made Halsey  Furious). Halsey ordered south, leaving only two carrier groups and a small fleet of cruisers and destroyers to clean up Ozawa's remaining ships. After sinking several Japanese aircraft carriers, the air attack concentrated on them in the afternoon.  Two modified battleships, but their intensive anti-aircraft firepower effectively withstood the air attack until the evening. The Ozawa fleet used all the aircraft carriers (Zuikaku, Zuiho, Chitose, Chiyoda) as bait, and also included a light cruiser.  (Tama) and two destroyers (Akitsuki and Hatsuki) were sunk. The "baiting force" achieved great success. Due to poor communication, Kurita did not receive the telegram.  Kurita's fleet was once again saved from total annihilation. In the Battle of Samar Island, the Awata fleet sank two US escort aircraft carriers, three destroyers, and one frigate. The Japanese army lost three cruisers and three battleships were severely damaged.  Entering the San Bernardino Strait in the early morning of October 25, 1944, they headed south along the coast of Samar Island. At dawn, Vice Admiral Kincaid had three fleets to block it.  The fleet consists of six escort aircraft carriers and seven or eight destroyers. Each escort aircraft carrier carries about 30 aircraft, and there are more than 500 aircraft in total. The escort aircraft carriers have little chance of winning against the battleships.  It was thought that Willis Lee's battleships were still guarding the San Bernardino Strait, so there was no danger from there, but Lee was transferred by Halsey to deal with Ozawa. When the Japanese fleet appeared on Samar Island, the US military was shocked.  Halsey's fleet had been diverted away from Leyte Gulf by luring the enemy, but Kurita knew nothing about it. Kurita mistakenly regarded the Showei aircraft carrier as the U.S. aircraft carrier fleet. He also thought that the entire U.S. was third.  The fleet was in front of his 18-inch guns. The American escort aircraft carriers immediately retreated eastward, hoping that the bad weather would affect the accuracy of the Japanese guns, and at the same time, they immediately sent a request for support and even sent a clear message to try to distract the Japanese battleships.  These destroyers fired torpedoes at the Japanese ships suicidally to attract the Japanese ship's fire. In order to avoid the torpedoes, the Japanese ship had to break up its formation and was forced to turn its back by two parallel torpedoes.  Okay, unable to turn around. For fear of being hit by them, three U.S. destroyers and a frigate were sunk and the others were damaged, but they gave the aircraft carrier time to take off.  The aircraft did not have time to reload with armor-piercing bombs, so they took off with the ammunition they were carrying (sometimes even depth charges). The US aircraft carriers continued to flee south, while the battleship shells continued to explode around them.  Shen, other injuries.  Because the Kurita fleet launched an attack before completing its formation, and the attack of the US destroyer broke his formation, the various fleets were scattered on the vast sea.  He lost his tactical command of the war.  Three of his heavy cruisers were sunk by concentrated sea and air attacks.  Kurita ordered at 09:20 to turn north to reorganize the formation.  The attack on the escort aircraft carrier that escaped Kurita's fleet attack did not end. One was sunk by a "kamikaze" suicide plane.  The other two were severely damaged.  Soon Kurita¡¯s fleet changed course and headed for Leyte Gulf.  Just when Japan's plan was about to succeed, Kurita turned north again and retreated.  He felt that the U.S. support fleet was closing in on him, so he felt that the longer he was involved in the war, the higher the likelihood that he would be subject to a powerful U.S. air attack.  Under constant air attacks he headed north and then west across the San Bernardino Strait.  After sunrise on the 26th, the Third Fleet, which sailed a round trip of 300 nautical miles, sent carrier-based aircraft to attack the stragglers of the Kurita fleet.  The Kurita fleet's Nagato, Kongo and Haruna were severely damaged.  When he tried to leave with other battleships, a fleet that had been waiting for a long time suddenly sank out of the water.  "I have waited for so long. I should have known that I would not listen to the commander. How can these little devils be so incompetent?" Lu Ada complained and said to a sailor next to him: "Launch." "Yes,  Captain." With the boy's answer, the wolves at sea, which had been silent for a long time and were waiting for prey underwater, finally surfaced.  When the U-series Chinese submarines surfaced one after another, there were only a few brilliant dazzles left on the water.  And the Battle of Leyte Gulf has just begun, and the destruction of the Japanese is just the beginning.  And next, Japan's tragedy will also fall on the Americans.  Then, just when the Americans were very happy, a Chinese fleet secretly arrived from Luzon Port.Out.  The scale of this fleet was also unprecedentedly powerful, and even later historians were puzzled.  Why was China able to have a navy that took hundreds of years to build?  Because when the Chinese fleet came out, eighteen Army Spirit-class aircraft carriers, escorted by three battleships and four heavy cruisers, moved towards the US fleet.  And when the Americans discovered them and sent a signal to confirm.  The Chinese navy did not make any response. It was not until the first round of artillery fire fell on the American fleet that the Americans realized that these suddenly appeared were enemies.  And just when the U.S. fleet was trying to fight the Chinese fleet, bomber groups on eighteen aircraft carriers had already taken off, along with torpedo bombers and fighter groups.  When the U.S. fleet had not yet reacted to the first round of artillery fire, a large-scale cluster had already pounced on the U.S. fleet.  The first round of attacks sank 30 ships of the US Navy fleet, 10 of which were directly sunk, while the other ships were basically unable to be saved.  With just one thunderous attack, the Chinese navy established its advantage.  With absolute superiority, the American fleet was ultimately unable to escape their misfortune.  The entire battle lasted less than three hours from the beginning to the end.  Later, historians called it the mysterious three hours.  It was these three hours that completely changed the landscape of the Pacific Ocean.  After one of the American ships escaped, it still failed to escape its own misfortune and was eventually sunk by a Chinese submarine formation led by Lu Ada after the Japanese army was eliminated.  With the end of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the pattern in the ocean has completely changed.  The navies of the United States and Japan have suddenly set back at least twenty years.  After winning the battle, China did not stop fighting.  Their fleet began to operate unscrupulously in the Pacific and began to attack the Japanese homeland.  At the same time, a fleet of seven aircraft carriers is heading towards the United States.  (To be continued.,,,. 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