"Onboard!" "Onboard!" ”

On the morning of 29 September, deafening cheers rang out in the streets of Tokyo, and the atmosphere was so warm and loud that it far overshadowed the sound of warships landing and convoys marching. The main force of the combined fleet of the Pen, Fun, and Pavilion www.biquge.info sailed into Tokyo Bay late on the night of the 28th, and it was not until early in the morning that all the capital ships and some large-tonnage merchant ships were docked, and the warships that could not dock could only stay on the sea and wait for their entry. In order to meet the large contingent of the Combined Fleet, the Gulf of Tonkin had been emptied ahead of schedule, and all the steamers had to make way for the fleet, and when they lined up to leave the port, they all sounded their whistles respectfully and saluted.

Vice Admiral Keno Kurita estimated that the scale of Tokyo's welcoming ceremony was still too low, and after learning of the victorious return of the Combined Fleet, the whole city was completely thrown into a carnival, and the citizens were all mobilized to sweep the neighborhoods and roads, erect flags, banners, and slogans everywhere, set up triumphal arches and display lights, and almost did not lay out the red carpet. ”。

At 7 o'clock in the morning, the organized crowd was already standing respectfully in the streets, all holding the national flag or the small flag of the victory, and the tame characteristics of the Japanese people were all revealed.

At eight o'clock sharp, accompanied by the majestic and majestic "March of the Warships", the loudspeakers began to broadcast the "Report on the Victorious Return of the Combined Fleet Expedition to Europe and the United States" that had only been drafted in the past few days, and the male and female announcers read it out in an excited tone.

“…… In this expedition, the Combined Fleet covered five continents, shocked seven oceans, fought 100,000 miles in front and back, sank millions of enemy ships, and lost negligible losses to less than one in ten...... Open up thousands of miles of waves, and spread the power of the country in all directions! ”

Although Japan's rhetorical techniques have always been astonishing, the figures used this time are quite sincere, and they are not exaggerated at all, even if they are worth the word million -- the tonnage of warships and ships sunk by the combined fleet has already exceeded one million tons, but the only way to describe it is that its own losses have shrunk slightly, not less than one, but nearly 15 percent, almost less than seven than one, because the capital ships alone have lost a large number of warships, including Mutsu, Hiei, Haruna, Flying Eagle, Hayabusa, etc., plus the losses of cruisers, destroyers, transport ships, merchant ships, and so on. The combined tonnage loss is by no means small for Japan's size.

However, these losses were selectively ignored because they were insignificant compared to the results of the battle, and even the battle losses announced in the results were greater than the actual battle losses -- in order to make up for the lies and flaws in the previous Midway "great victory," the Military Command Department arranged for the aircraft carriers that had been sunk long ago for this expeditionary campaign. Fushimi Miyahiro Gong played a good abacus, although the person who lied about the military situation was Shimada, but it was Yamamoto Isoroku who lost the battle and actually lost the warship, and he was so good that he and Horikichi wore a pair of pants, and it was not a big deal to let the latter "share" some losses, and he could also explain to the people.

Of course, this hand is shady enough - even if Horikichi has the intention to protest, it will damage the relationship between the United Fleet and the Navy Ministry headed by Yamamoto Isoroku in the future, and the Military Command Department will not have any risk. But he never expected that Horikishi's great exploits were so amazing that if he didn't add the losses at Midway, it didn't seem very "credible". The loss of the other three ships was "planted" on him (only one of the four aircraft carriers lost in the Battle of Midway was originally announced), which made the results of the expedition to Europe and the United States look more convincing.

Now in the minds of the Japanese people, Horiyoshi has successfully surpassed Yamamoto 56 to become the leading general, and even the name of Heihachiro Togo has been overshadowed. Marshal Togo only defeated the Russian Navy, although the Russian Navy was a little stronger than the Japanese Navy, but it was not the top in the world, and the British and American navies that Horikichi dealt with were among the best in the world in terms of size and strength, not to mention that the combined fleet also had the feat of destroying the Panama Canal, attacking New York, harassing Australia and New Zealand, and conquering Ceylon, far exceeding the value of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

Horiyoshi's popularity within the navy is even higher, although Yamamoto has won the Battle of Pearl Harbor and the South Seas, but Midway Island is a fiasco, Horiyoshi has gone through dozens of battles since the South Pacific Campaign, almost never tasted defeat, and even the losses are not too big, and the losses in the Battle of Tarawa are relatively high. What is more important is that after continuous operations, the Combined Fleet has earned Japan a lot of tickets and endless face, and Germany alone has promised to support more than nine Yamato, and the war trophies captured in the course of the war and the materials obtained by taking advantage of the German credit policy are even fuller, enriching the already empty treasury and naval military expenses.

Anyone with a formal military education can see that Japan's strategic posture has improved dramatically, and the overall spillover effects have continued: after the occupation of southern India, trade between Japan and Germany has become closer, and Southeast Asian agricultural products, rubber, and mineral resources have been continuously imported into Europe by sea, and European industrial products, weapons and equipment, and Middle Eastern crude oil have also begun to enter India. Although Germany's own fuel supply is still relatively tight, it is much better than a year ago, Hoffmann readily promised to provide enough fuel in the direction of India, Yamashita Fengfumi was stained with the light of four German Marine Brigades, and there was no need to worry about fuel at all, and all Borneo crude oil was shipped back to Japan for use.

At nine-point o'clock, Hirohito, surrounded by the retinue of the brigade, appeared on the street in neat military uniforms and on a white horse, causing bursts of cheers from the people, followed by a large number of military and political dignitaries, and all the cabinet members below Prime Minister Ugaki Issei attended, stopping at the triumphal arch erected at the entrance of Hibiya Park to the south of the Imperial Palace.

"It's coming! Here it comes! I don't know who shouted first, and then everyone around shouted, and everyone craned their necks to probe their heads to watch, only to hear a rumbling sound coming from a distance.

Everyone was talking and laughing, but Fushimi Miyahiro Gong's face was not very good-looking, on the one hand, his purpose of "planting" Hori Yiji was not achieved, and the latter not only happily took all the losses that did not belong to him, but even took the responsibility for the loss of some islands in the South Seas on himself; On the other hand, the two sides had already exchanged hands on the arrangements for the welcoming ceremony last night -- Horiyoshi insisted that it was not the top of the fleet that was at the forefront of the procession today, but the tablets and spirit flags of the dead, which looked snow-white from a distance.

And Horiyoshi also deliberately distinguished the levels of the battle, the first layer is the dead in the South Pacific Campaign, the back is the Indian Ocean Campaign, the Atlantic Battle dead, etc., especially important figures are also specially indicated by the erected spirit flag, among which is the name of the Navy Osashi Ishii Keiyuki (Captain Haruna), as for the last Marine Corps in the Battle of Tarawa, the scene is almost a row, piece by piece, it looks really shocking.

The appearance of this scene on Triumph Day is really disappointing, but under the principle of "political correctness", no one dares to say anything. All the soldiers and civilians, including Hirohito, King Fushimi Miyahiro and others, bowed to the spiritual throne.

It was only after this group that it was the turn of Horikiyoshi to lead the officers of the fleet to appear.

Japan is a country with independent command, the commander of the combined fleet is theoretically not under the jurisdiction of the government, he is appointed by the emperor and commands the fleets, and the chief of the military command department only acts as the commander-in-chief, and Hirohito himself must report directly to him when he is present: "The minister Hori Tsukiyoshi received the military order, led the fleet to the expedition, and fought with the enemy dozens of times before and after, fortunately he did not disgrace his life, and now he led the army to return victorious, and he has come to meet and return the triumphant song, long live Your Majesty!" ”

"Zhongqing has returned triumphantly, and he has worked hard! Admiral Horikichi is the first achievement, and I am very relieved......"

The Minister of the Interior, Koichi Kido, who was next to him, added: "The commander of the Combined Fleet has made outstanding achievements, and his majesty has an order: Admiral of the Special Marshal and the Admiral, he will be awarded the rank of Great Merit, the first rank of merit, and the third rank of merit." ”

"The ministers are sincere and afraid, this victory, I trust His Majesty Hongfu, and I look down on the bravery of officers and soldiers at all levels, and I have a little personal merit, how can I worry about it......"

This is a routine modesty, Horiyoshi's merits are really significant, even if Fushimi Palace is reluctant, these commendations are indispensable when discussing merits, but what makes everyone feel particularly strange is the team that accompanied Horiyoshi to the audience: according to the past practice, the captain of the fleet should bring all the senior officers with him when he was interviewed, and if it was to enter the palace to thank him, generally speaking, it would be enough to reach the rank of lieutenant general, and the ceremony would be the turn of the rear admiral on a particularly grand scale, but this time Horiyoshi chose to accompany the people It was very interesting, the lieutenant general brought all of them, and the rear admiral only brought Tsunoda, Shibasaki and a few others, but the other officers brought several.

Among the people who accompanied the audience, Lieutenant General Hirohito Kondo, Nobutake Kondo, Shiro Takasu, and Tsukahara 243 still had more or less impressions, and he didn't know much about the others.

"Rong Chen introduced to His Majesty, Rear Admiral Shibasaki Keiji, led 5,000 lone troops to hold Tarawa, and stubbornly held out for 58 days under the pressure of the enemy's army and heavy siege, destroying an enemy battleship, destroying nearly 10,000 enemy troops, and finally only 22 people survived......"

"What a hero!"

"Rear Admiral Kakuharu Tsunoda, brave and unstoppable, led his troops to sink nearly 20 enemy capital ships......"

"Mitsuo Osabuchida, the chief flight captain of our carrier-based aircraft aviation team, has been fighting on the front line since the Battle of Pearl Harbor, commanding all carrier-based aircraft, and has made many meritorious achievements with the country."

Fuchida was received by Hirohito once, so he still had an impression and nodded at him deliberately.

"Navy Nakasa Murata Shigeji, commander of the torpedo attack aircraft group of our carrier-based aircraft formation, has made outstanding achievements, and the destruction of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York is his masterpiece."

"The commander of the ship-explosive attack aircraft group of our carrier-based aircraft formation, who dropped 16 bombs in the first Indian Ocean campaign and led his troops to sink more than 400,000 tons of enemy ships."

"Navy Commander Cao Chimatsu Zhenming, an outstanding commander of the fighter group of our carrier-based aircraft formation, has 64 personal achievements, has taken off 5 times in one day, shot down 9 enemy planes, and is the Navy's No. 1 ace pilot ......" (to be continued. )