Overnight, the entire Third Fleet, which was fighting with the Army's 9th Division in Shanghai, was completely wiped out. The moment after receiving the report, Mitsumasa Yoneuchi's heart skipped a beat. He thought it was the British Royal Army.
The navy is coming. Looking at the whole world, I am afraid that only the British Royal Navy has this strength!
This is really not Mitsumasa Yonai's arrogance, because among the three major naval powers in the world today, although the United States has a total naval tonnage as large as the United Kingdom and is in the first echelon in the world, Japan's total naval tonnage is slightly inferior to that of the United States and the United Kingdom, but if we say
In terms of overall strength, the Japanese Navy can lag behind the U.S. Navy by a few steps!
To put it bluntly, the Japanese Navy grew up little by little in blood and fire. The Battle of Tsushima was the baptism of blood and fire for the Japanese Navy. The U.S. Navy has hardly fought a war since the day it was formed. For the navy,
, it is totally different whether you have experienced actual combat or not.
It takes one year for the army, ten years for the air force, and a hundred years to build a navy. This is not something we say casually.
Therefore, looking at the world today, only the British Royal Navy has the ability to annihilate the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet stationed in Shanghai overnight.
Therefore, Mitsumasa Yonai immediately suspected the British Navy.
However, the next moment, Mitsumasa Yoneuchi immediately overturned this speculation.
The reason is very simple, because the intelligence agency of the Japanese Navy is not a vegetarian. Not only did they send spies to Hong Kong and Singapore, they even have Japanese Navy spies in the UK. I dare not say that every move of the British Royal Navy is under the control of the Japanese Navy.
Under the surveillance of the Japanese Admiralty, but if the British government wanted to send a large-scale ocean-going fleet to Shanghai for an expedition, it could not hide it from the intelligence personnel of the Japanese Admiralty.
However, intelligence officers had no information about the Royal Navy expedition.
Therefore, the suspicion of the British Royal Navy can be ruled out. This was definitely not done by the British!
So, this matter is very strange. Who exactly attacked the Third Fleet?
Then, a more detailed report was sent to the Navy Ministry. This report was sent by the commander of the Kaga aircraft carrier, Fujimori Seiichiro, before the Kaga sank. Fujimori Seiichiro told everything he knew about the situation in the telegram.
Including first receiving distress signals from several warships including the Xizhao.
Several warships, including the Sunset, sent distress signals after being attacked by the Broadway Building.
Then, just as they were preparing to dispatch the aviation force to the Huangpu River for rescue, they received an order from the commander of the Third Fleet, Kiyoshi Hasegawa, who ordered the Kaga to stay off the coast of Wusong on standby. Kiyoshi Hasegawa, the commander of the Third Fleet,
Who dares not to obey the order? Therefore, the Kaga aircraft carrier did not send carrier aviation to support.
Then the cruiser Izumo, Kuma, and light cruiser Tenryu suddenly appeared near the aircraft carrier Kaga and launched a surprise attack on the Kaga.
The Kaga aircraft carrier failed to react in time and was hit by a torpedo. Its hull broke and sank.
Of the sixty aircraft parked on the deck, except for one reconnaissance aircraft on duty that took off in time and escaped, the remaining fifty-nine fighters, bombers or combat reconnaissance aircraft all followed the Kaga aircraft carrier and sank into the sea off Wusong.
However, Seiichiro Fujimori raised his suspicions to the Navy Department in a telegram. He believed that the ships of the Third Fleet anchored on the Huangpu River were probably hijacked by the remnants of the Broadway Building! Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain what happened last night
Everything can only be explained if the battleship is hijacked!
After receiving the telegram from Seiichiro Fujimori, Mitsumasa Yoneuchi went crazy.
Although the Third Fleet is not the main force of the navy, it is still a fleet after all!
Although the Izumo cruiser is old, the Kaga is the navy's main aircraft carrier!
If there is a war with the British Royal Navy's Far East Fleet or the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet in the future, ten aircraft carriers, including the Kaga aircraft carrier, will become the backbone of the navy!
But now, the Kaga sank off the coast of Wusong!
Overnight, the Japanese Navy lost one-tenth of its aircraft carriers!
What the hell is this? The Navy's Third Fleet was not sunk in a naval battle, but it fell into the hands of a group of traitors in the Broadway Building? What made Minaiguang go crazy with his political anger was that this group of remnants of the Broadway Building were in
The Army only accepted the ship after repeated requests. Who swore that there would be no problem with the Broadway Building in the first place?
Although this is just speculation by Seiichiro Fujimori, Mitsumasa Yoneuchi believes it, and he thinks it is a fact!
Therefore, Mitsumasa Yoneuchi urgently ordered the Fourth Fleet to rush to Shanghai from Taiwan and drove straight to the Imperial Palace. He wanted to complain to Hirohito before the people from the Army Ministry. Otherwise, he would have to let the people from the Army Ministry first.
When he got in front of Hirohito, he might even hit him with a rake and pour dirty water on the navy's head.
In any case, the annihilation of the entire Third Fleet is no small matter!
Such a big thing happened and so many warships were lost, especially a precious aircraft carrier. This is an unbearable loss for the Japanese Navy and even Japan as a whole! For such a major loss, senior officials must stand up.
The person responsible for this, Mitsumasa Yoneuchi, doesn't want the blame to fall on him.
After all, the root cause of this matter still lies with the Army.
Therefore, Mitsumasa Yoneuchi drove to the Imperial Palace as soon as possible.
Mitsumasa Yoneuchi was afraid that people from the War Ministry would sue them for the Navy's instigation.
Juichi Terauchi and Hideki Tojo were also afraid that the navy would sue them for being cunning.
As a result, three people bumped into each other at the gate of the Imperial Palace.
The discord between the Japanese Navy and the Army is an open secret in the entire Japanese military community. But in normal times, as colleagues, they would say hello to each other after meeting. But this time, both Juichi Terauchi and Azuma
Hideki Jojo and Mitsumasa Yoneuchi were too lazy to make superficial remarks. They glared at each other and rushed into the Imperial Palace.
(Dividing line)
When Mitsumasa Yoneuchi and the three others arrived, Hirohito had just woken up.
Yesterday, Hirohito suddenly fainted. Fortunately, the imperial doctor arrived in time and rescued him. He was not seriously injured in the end. After nearly 20 hours of drowsiness, his energy recovered a lot. After waking up at around six o'clock this morning,
Hirohito no longer felt sleepy at all, so he simply got up.
After receiving a report from the bodyguard that Navy Minister Yoneuchi Mitsumasa, War Minister Juichi Terauchi and Army Deputy Minister Hideki Tojo requested to see each other at the same time, Hirohito was a little confused. He didn't order an imperial meeting today. Why did the Navy Minister meet with the Army Minister and the Army Deputy Minister?
Chang Yi came to the imperial palace? Did something happen again?
