In the history of Pacific War in World War II, the most inescapable person is the navy general of the old Japanese Empire, the planner of the " Pearl Harbor incident", and the initiator of Midway Naval Battle - Iroku Yamamoto.
Yujiro Yamamoto (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
Yujiro Yamamoto (1884-1943), a myth and soul-summoning man of Japanese militarism, known as the "Pacific Vulture". Yamamoto Izuru was originally named Takano Izuru, the sixth son of the samurai Satoyoshi Takano. When he was born, Takano Satoyoshi was already 56 years old, so he named his son Izuru. In 1915, because Yamamoto's family had no male members, he adopted Yamamoto Ikuoka, who had just graduated from military academy, and Yamamoto, who had passed away as his old family Nagaoka, was adopted by Yamamoto Ikuoka. Takano Ikuoka was officially renamed Yamamoto Ikuoka.
Yujiro Yamamoto (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
Yujiro Yamamoto wore a pair of white gloves anywhere to cover up his index finger and middle finger of his left hand were blown away during the Japanese-Russian Navy Naval War, leaving his lifelong disability. Yamamoto, who had only eight fingers left, was extremely lustful and often lingered in the fireworks. At that time, Japanese geisha trimmed fingernails for customers. One nail costs one cent, and normal people cost one yuan. Yamamoto, who had only eight fingers left, was nicknamed "80 cents" by the Japanese. For a time, his nickname was attracted as a joke.
In April 1919, Yamamoto Iroku was ordered to go to Harvard University in the United States to study and study the national conditions of the United States at that time. In addition to leisure, Yamamoto would also go deep into the lives of Americans and chat with all kinds of people in society. In this way, Yamamoto traveled all over the American cities and turned himself into the "American Pass". After Yamamoto graduated, he worked as an officer at the Japanese Embassy in the United States for three years. It can be said that Yamamoto is very familiar with American society and people.
Yujiro Yamamoto (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
Yamamoto is not only lustful, but also extremely addicted to gambling. The surprise attack of the "Pearl Harbor Incident" was the bet he placed in the Pacific War, and he also won the bet. Yamamoto Izuru was the earliest creator of the Japanese aviation force and the first to put the Japanese aircraft carrier joint formation into actual combat. The Japanese naval formation commanded by Yamamoto Izuru rarely encountered an enemy in the Western Pacific and showed a sweep.
On December 17, 1941, U.S. Navigation Administrator Chester Nimitz was promoted to Admiral and, in accordance with the instructions of U.S. President Roosevelt, rushed to Pearl Harbor to replace the former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet , and became the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Nimitz (Picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
During the Pacific War, Nimitz and Yamamoto Iroku each led their respective fleets, almost conquering most of the Pacific region, fighting in the dark and killing indistinguishable.
After the "Pearl Harbor Incident", the US Navy's Pacific Fleet was caused by the Japanese to suffer heavy losses. Compared with the overall strength of Japan's joint fleet, the US Navy is already at a disadvantage. But soon after the US Navy made internal adjustments and supported by strong national strength, a large number of ships were produced a few months later, not only making up for the losses in the "Pearl Harbor Incident", but also the strength was stronger than before.
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In June 1942, under the command of Nimitz, the US Pacific Fleet and the Japanese Combined Fleet sank four Japanese aircraft carriers and one cruiser in one fell swoop in the fierce battle between Midway , almost destroying half of the Japanese Combined Fleet's maritime combat force.
The strong resilience and combat power of the US military made Yamamoto Izuru realize a huge sense of crisis. In order to prevent the US military from retaliating against him, he must be more careful. His whereabouts are even more mysterious, making Nimitz, who was desperate to kill Yamamoto Izuru, feel unable to start.
Midway Naval Battle (Picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
On April 14, 1943, Nimitz reviewed documents in his office as usual, and a telegram caught his attention.This is a telegram intercepted by the US military on a Japanese radio station. The content of the telegram is Yamamoto's itinerary for traveling to inspect the Japanese naval base, but Nimitz was quickly fell into deep thought. It was against common sense that the Japanese actually sent the itinerary of the highest commander of the fleet in the form of a telegram. The Japanese would not be so careless about such an important thing! Is this a conspiracy by the Japanese or a smoke bomb released?
Doesn’t the Japanese understand the seriousness of the matter? If this telegram is intercepted by the US military, then Yamamoto's itinerary this time will also mean the arrival of a catastrophe. At the same time, Yamamoto's inspection itinerary itself has great problems. If this route is followed, it is very close to the island controlled by the US military, and the danger of Yamamoto's personal safety is also increasing. Will the Japanese military really let their supreme commander take risks?
Midway Naval Battle (Picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
Nimitz initially doubted the credibility of this telegram, but after careful consideration, Nimitz finally determined that this was very likely to be Yamamoto's itinerary.
The Japanese Pacific Combined Fleet was hit hard after being hit hard after passing through Midway Island, Guadalam and other wars. Yamamoto racked his brains to launch a counterattack against the US military and fight for the trapped beasts, so the famous "Iran Operation" plan was released.
Japan dispatched nearly 70 carrier-based bombers from the Labaor Naval Base and 160 "Zero" fighter to attack the Allied ships in Guado and Tulaji Port from the east route; when the Japanese attack aircraft group approached the target, the US fighter jets stationed in Henderson Port of Guado Island took off urgently to meet the enemy. Although the Japanese bombers broke through the tight air defense line of the United States under the cover of "Zero" fighter jets, they only caused a small loss to the Allied fleet in the port. Yamamoto Iroru's "Ira" plan was unfavorable and did not cause the expected damage.
Yamamoto Izuru's last photo (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
Complete the mission and returned to the fighter plane of Labaoer Naval Base in Japan. In order not to disappoint Yamamoto, the team leader actually made a false report to Yamamoto without any worries. The US military only sent 10 fighter planes to intercept. They successfully bombed 26 Allied ships anchored in the port of Tulaji, and most of the ships were sunk. Yamamoto Iroku believed this report easily and believed that the "Iran Battle" won a great victory.
Yujiro Yamamoto didn't know that he had been fooled by his own people. According to the so-called "glorious results" reported, Yamamoto believed that the "Iran Battle" had achieved the expected results. The US military on Guadalo must be in a hurry to clean up the mess. He decided to spend a day to inspect the Japanese base on Schotland Island, which was the front line of the Pacific War. Yamamoto went to boost the morale of the soldiers and sent the telegram intercepted by the US military to the base, air force and garrison to inspect the base, air force, and garrison. But how did the US military intercept and decipher such an important telegram?
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It turned out that when Yamamoto was drafting the itinerary, Yamamoto Iroku's adjutant originally planned to hand it over to the commander of the three bases, but the officer in charge of the communication suggested sending it in the form of a telegram. Because the code of this telegram was a five-digit code that the Japanese army had just activated and was extremely difficult to decipher. The Japanese army believed that the Americans could not decipher at all. It was precisely because of their arrogance that they had to pay a heavy price for it.
A few hours later, the deciphered telegram was placed on the desktop of Nimitz's office. The telegram was deciphered by the New Zealand Navy's "Kewe" light cruiser.
On January 29, 1943, the "Kiwei" sank a Japanese submarine in the waters of Guadalam. At that time, they found the latest Japanese codebook on the submarine, and the Japanese Navy still knew nothing about it. It was precisely because of this code-breaking book that Nimitz felt that the credibility of this telegram had greatly increased.
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Yamamoto's travel route this time was exactly within the effective attack radius of the US fighter jets docked at Henderson Airport in Guado. Yamamoto is a rigorous and punctual person, and the possibility of his arrival on time is very high, so a plan to snipe Yamamoto Izuru was formed in Nimitz's mind.
Nimitz immediately drafted a report and telegraphed Washington to explain his plan to Roosevelt. When Nimitz's report was delivered to Roosevelt, he was having lunch. Those who accompanied Roosevelt to dinner were U.S. Secretary of the Navy Frank . Knox, and U.S. Secretary of Navy Operations Admiral Ernest King.
P—38 fighter (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
Roosevelt did not make any statement after reading the content of the report, because there was an unwritten rule in the history of Western wars, that is, both sides are not allowed to send people to assassinate the other commander. Ernest King emphasized that Yamamoto sneak attacks Pearl Harbor , and Japan declared a war to the United States, which has seriously violated the International Law, and Yamamoto is also not protected by the International Law.
Frank Knox also persuaded Roosevelt that there was no moral problem on the battlefield and that everyone was the target of attack. In the end, Roosevelt agreed.
After the president's permission, Nimitz immediately began to implement the arrangement of the combat plan and named it the "Revenge Plan". At the same time, Nimitz also discovered that escorting Yamamoto were 6 "Zero" fighters.
Japanese "Zero" fighter (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
"Zero" fighter is the most classic model of the Japanese Navy's aviation during World War II. It was the main fighter in the Pacific War, causing endless damage and nightmare to the Allies. In the early days of the Pacific War, 250 Japanese "Zero" fighters, with a total of 300 "Zero" aircraft were deployed in the Pacific War Zone. These 250 "Zero" almost wiped out two-thirds of the Allied fighter troops in the Pacific War Zone. Allied aircraft basically went to and did not return when facing the "Zero" and faced with the "Zero" was tantamount to commit suicide.
The main fighter that sneaked into Pearl Harbor at that time was also the "Zero" and Nimitz also knew its strength; if he wanted to successfully solve Irosaki Yamamoto, these six "Zero" fighters must be solved first, but if the US military wants to fight against Japan's "Zero" fighters, it must come up with more advanced fighters than the "Zero". After internal discussions and expert opinions, Nimitz finally determined the P-38 fighter jet that sniped Yamamoto Isori Fleet.
P-38 fighter (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
P-38 fighter is the first twin-engine fighter equipped by the US military, with a range of 3,600 kilometers, a speed of 723 kilometers per hour, an airborne 20mm aerial cannon, 120 rounds of shells, 4 12.7mm machine guns, and 2,000 rounds of bullets. Not only does it have strong firepower, but all combat parameters are stronger than the "Zero" fighter, and it is called the "two-engine demon" by the Japanese.
At that time, the US 339 fleet stationed in Guadalone was equipped with this kind of fighter jet. The 339 fleet is under the command of William. Halsey, the commander of the US Navy's Pacific aircraft carrier fleet. Nimitz issued a secret combat order to William Halsey. William Halsey also informed Major General Mark Mitchell, the commander of the US Navy's Pacific aircraft carrier fleet, asking him to dispatch P-38 lightning fighter jets and snipe Yamamoto Irosoft no matter what.
Shot down Yamamoto's plane (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
Major General Mark Mitchell served as the captain of the "Hornet" aircraft carrier and also transported Doolittle's bomber formation to raid Tokyo, and was one of the outstanding generals in the Midway Naval Battle. Mark Mitchell quickly summoned Major John Michel, the squadron leader of the 339 Fighter Squadron, and Lieutenant Thomas Lanfire, to discuss and study the combat plan in a group.But they believe that it is risky to intercept the landline formation of Yamamoto Izuru, because the P-38 fighter has limited flight time. If Yamamoto travels in advance or delays, the entire combat plan will be miscarried. If the plan fails and is exposed, Yamamoto's personality will definitely launch crazy revenge, so the sniper operation can only be successful and not failed, but how can it be sure to be foolproof? Yamamoto's fleet will pass through the Solomon Islands in the Pacific at 7:35, and the US military believes that this is the best opportunity to conduct snipers.
Yujiro Yamamoto's travel plan also caused a huge response in the Japanese army. The first thing that stood up to oppose was Shisaburo Ozawa, the commander of the Third Fleet of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet. He believed that it was far from enough for Yamamoto's plane to have only six "zero" escorts, and more fighter jets should be sent to escort. The commander of the Eighth Front of the Japanese Army, Imamura Tsubasaburo, also believed that Yamamoto did not have to take risks. Yamamoto stubbornly implemented the travel plan. His reason was that after the "Iran Operation" plan, there would be no large-scale fighter fleets in the US military.
Yamamoto landline wreckage (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
April 17, 1943, midnight. When Yamamoto was confirmed to travel, Major Michel carefully selected pilots at Henderson Airport. Even if he had to take on sniper missions, the number of aircraft should not be too large, otherwise it would be discovered by the Japanese army. In the end, Michel selected 18 pilots to participate in the operation. After confidential oath, 18 pilots listened to the combat plan. The attack team consisted of squad leader Lieutenant Lanfire, six people, who were responsible for shooting down Yamamoto's planes from low altitude at all costs. Major Michelle 12 people restrained Yamamoto's escort "Zero" fighter jets from high altitudes, and the cover attack team sniped Yamamoto Izuru. All 18 P-38 fighters were equipped with large-capacity belly fuel tanks, and the radio was turned off along the way. Major General Mitchell also came to see the heroes off and repeatedly reiterated that no matter what the price was paid, he had to snipe Izuru.
At the early morning of April 18, at 5:10 am, 18 P-38 fighter jets took off. At 5:35, the sniper flight formation was reorganized in the air. The two aircraft failed to take off due to mechanical failures, and the sniper plan was implemented as usual.
The wreckage of Yamamoto's plane (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
At this time, on the runway of the East Airport of the Japanese Labaoer Naval Base, two Japanese Navy "Iraq twin-engine roadbed" bombers took off on time at 6 o'clock, and flew to the southeast under the escort of 6 "Zero" fighters.
50 kilometers north of Casilli Bay, 16 P-38 fighter jets were all turned off, and they flew rapidly only by relying on the navigation of the compass. During this period, two more planes fell behind. Two hours later, 14 P-38 fighter jets crossed the coastline of Bougainville Island and flew low altitude on the forest sea. The sniper aircraft group took a long detour. Although each aircraft was equipped with a secondary fuel tank, it could only hover for up to 10 minutes at the sniper site. After 10 minutes, even if they were not discovered by the Japanese radar, they would crash due to the exhaustion of aviation fuel.
When everyone was worried, a pilot suddenly warned: An enemy plane was found in front of the left! There were a total of 8 Japanese enemy aircraft, and two other flight formations of bombers appeared in the field of vision of US fighter jets. Yamamoto Iroku was indeed very punctual, only one minute away from the scheduled time; Michel's cover aircraft group immediately climbed to a height of 6,000 meters, running side by side with Yamamoto's aircraft group, trying to drive away the "Zero" fighter jet. The "Zero" fighter was indeed deceived and left the flight formation and rushed towards Michelle's fighter.
Japanese army searched the location of Yamamoto's crash (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
Lenin Ranfire's sniper team pulled up from a low altitude. When the two bombers entered the attack range of the sniper team, the sniper team pressed the motive cannon button together. The roar of the machine cannon was full of flames. The right engine of Yamamoto's plane was hit and caught fire. Three minutes later, the Yamamoto plane wrapped in flames fell into the dense forest below with a roar. A burst of smoke and explosions and flames were intertwined.
At that time, the local natives thought it was a big bird falling next to the tribe. One of the natives ran to report to the Japanese army stationed in the local area. On the way, he met the Japanese Army second lieutenant Hamasa Yingyingrong, who was supervising the natives to build roads. He happened to see the scene just now, but he didn't know who was sitting on the plane, so he stopped building the roads and led the natives into the primeval forest, and found the place where the plane crashed.
P—38 fighter (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
On a large piece of forest clearing ground burned by the fire, there were wreckage of an aircraft with a broken shell in the ashes, eleven corpses fell from east to west, and the broken body of Yamamoto Izuru was found about 10 meters in the head of the aircraft.
10 minutes later, the eager Lieutenant Ranfire reported to the base that the sniping Yamamoto's landline was successful. The base immediately reported the information to Nimitz. Nimitz congratulated the success of the operation. Lanfir was promoted to captain early and received the highest honor of Congress. At the same time, in order not to reveal the five-digit code that had been deciphered by the Japanese army, Lanfir was immediately sent back to the United States.
After the end of World War II, the US government disclosed Lanfier's record. The US military has always believed that Lanfier shot down Yamamoto Iroku's landline, based on the report written by Lanfier after the battle, but for the sake of confidentiality, the report has not been made public.
It was not until 1960 that the report was allowed to be decrypted. However, after the report was made public, it caused controversy among Lanfir's comrades. It turned out that Lanfir's comrades believed that he was not the real hero who killed Yamamoto Iroku, because Lanfir's report did not match the facts. They agreed that the one who actually shot down Yamamoto Iroku's comrades was US pilot Rex Barbour.
Bab (Picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
Babb is Lanfier's wingman. When Lanfier was attacked by the "Zero" fighter, he could only turn around to fight. At this time, Barbb did not follow Lanfier, but stared at the Japanese bomber. He opened fire on the bomber repeatedly as soon as he turned around. The bomber was riddled with holes. When Pabb's fighter was about to hit the bomber, he pulled the nose, and the bomber fell head-on into the dense forest below. At that time, Barbour didn't know that this was Yamamoto Izuru's landline. As the controversy became increasingly important, the US military could only divide the credit for shooting down Iroku Yamamoto in two, giving Lanfir and Pabo respectively, and determined that they both shot down Iroku Yamamoto's landline together.
Yasuka Yamamoto's death was strictly kept confidential by the Japanese military at that time. The Japanese Navy Ministry believes that Yamamoto has successfully attacked Pearl Harbor, it is a symbol of the Imperial Navy and an idol of the Japanese nationals. If the cause of Yamamoto's death is announced, both domestic and military will lose confidence in the victory of the Pacific War. In order to reduce the impact of Yamamoto's death on the empire, the Navy Ministry can only temporarily conceal the news that Yamamoto is dead.
Yamamoto's funeral (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
On April 21, 1943, Yamamoto's body was cremated at the Japanese Naval Base in Labour; on April 23, Yamamoto's ashes were transported from Labour to the flagship "Musashi" battleship of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet; on May 21, the "Musashi" battleship arrived in Tokyo Bay, and at the same time, the Japanese government announced the death of Yamamoto's Ikuro.
On June 5, 1943, the Japanese government held a state funeral for Yamamoto Izuru Park in Tokyo, and was posthumously awarded the title of Naval Marshal. After the funeral, Yamamoto Izuru's ashes were divided into two, part of them was buried in the Tama Mausoleum in Tokyo, and the other part was sent back to Yamamoto's old family Nagaoka and buried in a temple called Changxing Temple.
Flagship Musashi (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
Less than a month after Yamamoto's death, on May 12, 1943, Nimitz sent the 51st mobile unit of the US military. Under the cover of naval guns, 11,000 US soldiers landed on Atu Island in Atu Island . On May 29, all 2,638 Japanese troops guarding the island were annihilated, none of them survived, and the Japanese army's jade fragments arrived early.
In June 1944, Yamamoto's flagship "Mushashi" battleship was sunk by the US military.In the same year, Nimitz was promoted to the five-star general of the U.S. Navy for his good command, outstanding performance and outstanding contributions in the Pacific War.
Although Iroku Yamamoto was a general of Japanese imperialism, he was also an outstanding general. I won't comment on the death and damage he caused in the war. As the poisonous thought of Japanese militarism and the successor of the "Bushido" spirit, he also hopes to die on the battlefield as a soldier.
The sunken Musashi (picture reference, infringement can be deleted)
Yamamoto Irojiro's death accelerated the progress of the Pacific War. If he escaped from this sniper attack against him, the US military would have to bear his revenge, and the result date of the Pacific War will be postponed indefinitely. Fortunately, the US military's interception was successful. Finally, in the present of world peace, we must also be wary of the revival of Japanese militarism.
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