Isoroku Yamamoto is a tragic figure. His life was a battle in which he ran out of good luck, and then became a continuous tragedy.
Contrary to what many people boasted in later generations, Yamamoto Isoroku's halo is an extremely embarrassing shadow. In fact, in the original history, Yamamoto Isoroku was a naval battle in the Pacific War. Except for Pearl Harbor, as long as there was him
There is no way to win a battle that follows blending in person.
Yes, we won once at Pearl Harbor and then lost all the way.
In the original history, Yamamoto Isoroku was a typical person who was harmed by gambling thinking. In the beginning, in order to attract him, God first allowed Yamamoto to win a small game at Pearl Harbor. Then, he lost all his life until he was defeated by the US military.
Hunt.
Of course, compared to Marshal Balbo of Italy, Yamamoto Isoroku's luck was pretty good, at least he was not beaten to death by his own people.
The Japanese have a strong gambling habit. During the Russo-Japanese War, they won against Tsarist Russia once by betting on national fortunes. During the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese defeated the Qing Dynasty through betting. As a result, they became more and more fond of this kind of small gambling with huge profits.
**.
Isoroku Yamamoto is a representative figure in the Japanese military gambling industry.
Whether playing bridge, Go, or betting, Yamamoto Isoroku can be regarded as an expert. He bets with his colleagues, subordinates, and often with geishas. He also bets very seriously and is a reputable gambler.
only.
In 1910, Yamamoto bet 3,000 yuan with a friend named Horikichi for a small matter. This amount of money was considered a huge amount of money in that era and could buy a good house.
As a result, Yamamoto rarely lost that time. Although Horikichi laughed it off at the time and did not take it seriously, Yamamoto insisted on repaying the debt and deducted it from his salary every month until the beginning of this year before it was fully repaid.
As for Horikichi, he can be regarded as a legendary fierce man. He was in the 32nd class of the Naval Academy and was a classmate of Yamamoto Isoroku at the same time.
Because Yamamoto Isoroku often recommended him, some people may think that he is very awesome. But in terms of results alone, he was just a mediocre person who stayed behind and played no important role in the course of the war.
However, although he played a small role in the war, he was often called by Yamamoto to chat and talk, and he was regarded as Yamamoto's closest friend.
"Yamamoto-kun!" Horikichi, wearing a Japanese navy uniform, knelt down in a room decorated with tatami mats, bent down to greet Yamamoto Isoroku: "I still think that at this time, we should not take too many risks. If possible,
We can start to learn the German aircraft carrier technology, and then use it to deal with the U.S. Navy after we fully master it."
For the Japanese, it is not a shame to learn from the strong. When China was strong in ancient times, they paid tribute and obeyed China, learning China's advanced technology and even culture. After the rise of Europe in modern times, the Japanese "left the East and entered the West"
”, a Western country that claims to be geographically located in the East.
This time, when I saw Germany's newly developed navy overtaking in a corner, it actually defeated the British Navy, which is internationally recognized as the world's number one navy!
One can imagine how huge the Japanese naval position is.
As a result, many people, including Horikichi, are willing to learn new tactics. After all, many of their old tactics are similar to those used by the British Navy's cannons and giant ships. The unexpected rise of aircraft carriers has caused many Japanese navies to study it repeatedly.
The tactics have undergone fundamental changes.
It's a pity that with the opportunity right in front of him, Yamamoto couldn't listen to Horikichi's advice: "No, the Americans don't have much time left for us! The domestic oil reserves can last for one year at most. After one year, we will
You won’t even have the capital to sit at the gambling table!”
"Taking advantage of the fact that the U.S. military's combat readiness at Pearl Harbor was obviously lax and weak, we took a gamble after all. But if the Americans reacted, strengthened their combat readiness, and expanded their army, even if we fully learned the German aircraft carrier tactics, we would not have the chance to be like them.
They took full advantage of it."
After all, Yamamoto is not a gambler who relies solely on luck. His gambling is often based on a large number of scientific calculations.
After receiving information that the U.S. military's combat readiness at Pearl Harbor was lax, Yamamoto Isoroku immediately wrote to Japanese Navy Minister Oikawa Koshiro, formally proposing the idea of a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
He proposed in the letter: "The first strategy our army should adopt in the Japan-US war should be to attack and destroy the enemy's main fleet as soon as the war begins, putting the US Navy and the American people in a hopeless position and demoralizing them. Only then can we
Occupy the key barriers in East Asia and ensure an invincible position to build the East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere."
It can be seen from this that what Yamamoto Isoroku pursues is not to destroy the American emperor in one fell swoop and eliminate future troubles once and for all, but to first beat the American emperor and use this opportunity to build his own Pacific barrier to confront the United States.
.
This is similar to the German strategy of taking Britain and building an Atlantic barrier.
But the difference is that if the German army wants to realize its strategic goal of the Atlantic Wall, it only needs to defeat the British army, which has lost its main navy and army in the North Sea and Dunkirk, and then use the Atlantic Ocean to face the American empire across the sea.
And if the Japanese army wants to achieve their strategic goal of the Pacific Barrier... they need to beat the American emperor directly, and beat the American emperor painfully at once, and then they have to take the second step to occupy Southeast Asia.
Completed the entire strategy.
Through a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, which was lax in its war preparations, it killed the main U.S. fleet, and then quickly moved south to seize the origin of raw materials from the British who had been beaten by the Germans and had no fighting spirit. Finally, they used these seized resources to attack the combined fleet in the Pacific.
Implementing mobile defense to hold back the United States, forcing the United States to recognize the established fact of the formation of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere—this is the complete strategic system that Yamamoto Isoroku had in mind.
In Yamamoto's view, the Japanese navy can form a short-term advantage after eating up the main fleet of the United States, and then use this advantage to widely deploy long-range and lightweight Zero fighters among the islands in the Pacific. In subsequent naval battles
Provide timely and rapid support to maintain local advantages.
Once such a deployment is formed, if the US military wants to attack, it will be attacked by Japanese fighter jets and fleets in the island chain set up by the Japanese army, and will be attacked from both sides.
Regarding the worries of his old friend Horikichi, Yamamoto Isoroku gave a very "Yamamoto Isoroku characteristic" answer: "If Japan has God's blessing, our operation at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii will definitely succeed. If it fails midway, that is,
If there is no such thing as God's blessing, then we can just give up the entire war and bow to the United States."
