Inoguchi Toshihei obtained the information from Umezu Yoshijiro.
In terms of intelligence, it is obvious that Umezu Yoshijiro has much more knowledge than Inoguchi Minpei. After all, Inoguchi Minpei and other navies have no intelligence network at all on the Chinese mainland.
For a time, Umezu Yoshijiro did not want to provide intelligence to the Navy because Inoguchi Toshipei did not report to him every battle he fought. For example, a previous naval battle between the Eighth Route Army and Inoguchi Toshipei resulted in the "Musashi" being injured, and Umezu Yoshijiro knew nothing about this matter.
Know.
Later, Umezu Yoshijiro found out about this from the Eighth Route Army: The Eighth Route Army celebrated because they won the battle, and intelligence personnel passed the news to Umezu Yoshijiro, and then Umezu Yoshijiro learned that Inoguchi Minpei had lost the battle.
At first, Umezu Yoshijiro thought this was the Eighth Route Army lying or falsely claiming military exploits. He said disdainfully: "Is the Eighth Route Army doing the same thing? Injuring the Musashi? Just them? I'm afraid they don't know what happened to the battleship.
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It wasn't until Inoguchi Toshipei asked him for fighter cooperation that Umezu Yoshijiro realized that something was wrong: Inoguchi Toshipei wouldn't make a request to the Army unless it was absolutely necessary!
So Umezu Yoshijiro asked casually: "I heard that the Musashi was damaged by the Eighth Route Army fleet. Is it true?"
Toshihei Inoguchi did not deny it, but he also did not admit it. He just replied: "The Eighth Route Army moved anti-ship missiles and anti-aircraft missiles to warships. We must be careful to guard against them!"
But this is equivalent to admitting it.
Anti-ship missiles and anti-aircraft missiles were moved to warships?
Does that mean that the unprepared Imperial fleet has already suffered a loss?
At this moment, Umezu Yoshijiro was furious. This was not because the "Musashi" was injured and the Imperial fleet was defeated when facing the much weaker Eighth Route Army fleet.
In a way, Umezu Yoshijiro was happy to see the defeat of the Imperial Fleet, because it taught the arrogant guys like the Navy a lesson.
Umezu Meijiro was only angry because Inoguchi Toshihei didn't report such a big thing to him. He still needed to get information from the enemy!
Therefore, Umezu Yoshijiro once did not want to cooperate with Inoguchi Minpei, let alone share intelligence with Inoguchi Minpei.
However, after careful consideration, Umezu Yoshijiro still felt that the overall situation should be the most important thing.
After all, the Kwantung Army has a keen eye on whether it can defeat the Eighth Route Army. If the Navy is defeated again or suffers heavy losses due to unclear intelligence, the Kwantung Army itself will suffer.
Therefore, Umezu Yoshijiro reluctantly sent information about the Eighth Route Army's large-scale transportation at the port and Dalian Bay to Toshihei Inoguchi.
At that time, Inoguchi Toshihei's fleet was already on the route to Dalian Bay. When he received the information, Inoguchi Toshihei smiled without surprise. While drinking the coffee in his hand, he sighed: "This is my opponent.
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The staff officer asked strangely: "Your Majesty, Major General, have you expected that the Eighth Route Army will transport missiles to Dalian Bay?"
"No!" Toshihei Inoguchi replied: "I don't need to guess, this is a multiple-choice question! Either they will transport the missile to Dalian Bay, or they will not be lucky! If they are lucky, it only means that the opponent is smarter than I thought. We
All we have to wait for is information, don’t you think?”
The staff suddenly realized: intelligence determines everything, and where the fleet attacks depends on the Eighth Route Army's approach.
"Actually!" Toshihei Inoguchi said: "I don't want to attack Dalian Bay either!"
As he spoke, Toshihei Inoguchi tapped his finger on Dalian Bay on the route map and said: "Although Dalian Bay can attack the Eighth Route Army's Jinzhou defense line and shipyard at the same time, it is also surrounded by Eighth Route Army missiles. Once the fleet
Once you enter there, you will be attacked by missiles from all directions, which will be another risk to our army!"
The staff officer understood: "Now, our target is the port again, right?"
"Of course!" Inoguchi Minhei said: "The best thing is that the Eighth Route Army fleet also rushes back to Dalian Bay overnight, so that we can bomb the port with confidence!"
With that said, Toshihei Inoguchi gave the order to return, and the return route took a big detour.
The reason why we had to make a big detour was because Toshihei Inoguchi judged that if the Eighth Route Army anti-ship missiles were transported to Dalian Bay on a large scale, then its fleet would rush to Dalian Bay as quickly as possible for reinforcements.
If the Imperial fleet returns on its original route, it may collide head-on with the Eighth Route Army fleet. At that time, the Eighth Route Army will discover their position and adjust their missile deployment again.
In order to make it more dramatic, Inoguchi Toshihei also sent two destroyers to separate from the main fleet and sail to Dalian Bay with lights on.
In this way, the Eighth Route Army fleet will follow the lights all the way to Dalian Bay without any suspicion.
On the other hand, Inoguchi Toshihei sent a telegram to Umezu Yoshijiro, asking him to direct the aviation force to gather with the fleet at the port on time in the early morning and cooperate with the fleet in operations.
Early the next morning, as soon as it got dark, Inoguchi Minhei's fleet appeared twenty nautical miles away from the port.
The distance of twenty nautical miles was carefully calculated by Toshihei Inoguchi: This distance is almost the farthest range of the "Musashi", and it is also the limit of the visual distance of the Eighth Route Army at the opponent's port.
As a result, the imperial fleet was able to bomb the port in the most unexpected way... By the time the Eighth Route Army was bombed, they still didn't know where the shells came from!
However, Inoguchi Toshihei was not careless. He first flew two water reconnaissance aircraft to provide reconnaissance for the fleet and prepare for gunfire. Then he looked at the watch and waited for the arrival of the air force.
The reason why we had to wait for the air force was because Toshihei Inoguchi believed that the Eighth Route Army still had some anti-ship missiles at the port.
Inoguchi Toshihei, who had suffered losses from anti-ship missiles, had already put away his contempt. At this time, he had seriously considered the plan designed by Naosaburo Okabe to intercept the missiles: use fighter planes to intercept the outermost layer, then use destroyers, and finally
It's the battleship's own anti-aircraft firepower.
In this way, even if the Eighth Route Army had missiles, they would have to break through the three-layer air defense network before they could hit the battleship.
Inoguchi Toshihei believed that this battle must be foolproof.
Soon, the Imperial Air Force arrived as scheduled, and sixty "Zero Fighters" flew densely over the fleet before flying towards the port... Their main task was to ensure the safety of the fleet and shoot down all missiles directed at the fleet. If
If you have spare power, assist the fleet in bombarding the port.
Inoguchi Toshihei nodded with satisfaction. The air force arrived on time. It was time to give the enemy a fatal blow!
Inoguchi Toshipei did not hesitate and ordered: "Everyone is here, move forward! Free fire!"
The reason why he ordered the fleet to advance was because Toshihei Inoguchi was not satisfied with the bombardment of the port by battleships. He wanted the fleet to advance to the range of the destroyer's guns, which was about ten nautical miles away from the target.