In 1942, Saipan, east of Guam, was one of Japan's most important naval bases in the central Pacific Ocean.

Originally, the Japanese Navy stationed a detachment here to form a strategic confrontation with the US Navy detachment in Guam.

However, on 10 June, when it was learned that the US Pacific Fleet would pass through Saipan, the Fleet stationed on the island received an order from Tokyo to return to Tokyo for "repairs."

In the Japanese military telegram deciphered by the US military, on 12 June, Tokyo also sent a plane carrying a special envoy to land on the island, and it was learned from the telegram that his mission was to "clean up" the Japanese troops stationed on the island. In addition, the Japanese side also sent several merchant ships carrying a large amount of supplies to unload cargo on Saipan Island in order to facilitate the "reception" of the upcoming US Pacific Fleet.

When they arrived on Saipan on the evening of the 18th, they were greeted by flowers, wine, barbecue, and a warm Japanese woman. As for the Japanese warships stationed on the island, the Americans saw only a few old offshore patrol boats here. In order to prevent misunderstandings, the Japanese planes stationed on the island even received orders from Tokyo during the U.S. fleet's berthing period, and all planes were locked in hangars and forbidden to fly to prevent "misunderstandings" between the two sides.

In contrast to the hard-mouthed Japanese ambassador to the United States, the Japanese military is as ugly as a lamb trembling in front of the navy of the mighty United States of America.

After deciphering the Japanese army's communication code and seeing the ugly state of the Japanese who were "strong from the outside and capable from the middle," Admiral Kimelli, commander of the "Second White Fleet," couldn't help but spit out to his chief of staff after the fleet pulled anchor and left Saipan: "The toughness of the Japanese is probably concentrated on Takeda's mouth now." (Takeda refers to the press spokesman of the Japanese ambassador to the United States)

According to U.S. Navy regulations, crew members are allowed to drink alcohol only after they are out of the shore. During the rest period on Saipan, the sailors of the Pacific Fleet took advantage of the large number of Japanese who went to the island to have fun, and they had already prepared for the Japanese. He also brought out a large amount of fine wine for him to drink. So much so that when the fleet left Saipan on the 20th, many of the crew members secretly returned to the warship with the wine they bought on the island in their arms when they returned to the ship.

Guam, an important U.S. base in the Central Pacific. It is only 90 nautical miles away from Saipan. When the Pacific Fleet "visited Wèn" on Saipan, in fact, only some ships came to "visit Wèn", and most of the capital ships were still anchored in the port of Guam and the nearby ocean.

When he left Guam and Sai, he had just left the US Pacific Fleet with a faint vigilance. It was feared that the Japanese navy might launch a surprise attack in this area, but after a day and a half of walking, the whole fleet was relaxed.

The Pacific ships, which are in a state of night marching, march at sea in three columns, with the battleships on both sides of the wings and the aircraft carriers. Affected by the old ships of the treaty era in the fleet, although the maximum speed of the aircraft carrier and several cutting-edge battleships reached or approached 30 knots, the fleet still followed the old treaty ships of about 22 knots. Dragged down by this, the entire fleet could only sail at sea at an economic speed of sixteen knots. It's not fast.

This huge fleet, which was traveling at a speed of sixteen knots, included eight cruisers and twenty-four destroyers, in addition to fourteen capital battleships and four aircraft carriers.

At 3 o'clock in the morning of 22 July, the battleship Yamato, the flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet, had quietly appeared about 50 nautical miles northwest of the US Pacific Fleet.

Taking into account the factors of the large size of the Yamato-class battleships, in 1942 radar technology. Fifty nautical miles is the limit distance at night close to the American fleet that will not be detected by radar in advance.

Behind the battleship Yamato were its sister ships. The Shinano ship, which has just been launched for less than a month.

Affected by the Shane-class battleships, the command center of the battleship Yamato was also located in the chart room, and even the layout in the chart room was very close to that of the Scharnhorst.

On one of the steel walls, which are used as a naval battle shape, there are now models of movable steel warships, and the model representing the Pacific Fleet is painted blue. The model representing the Japanese Combined Fleet was painted red. The position of the model on the wall is constantly being corrected as the ships on both sides move.

In the chart room, the lights were bright, and the Supreme Commander of the Combined Fleet, Isoroku Yamamoto, was also in the chart room. More than 100 combat staff officers are coordinating the actions of the Japanese ships on the battlefield according to the positions of the two ships on the battlefield map, and then notify the other ships to make adjustments through light communications.

Li Huamei is now on the Yamato, but her sister Katyusha has been separated from her at this time, and the spirit is on her body, the Shinano.

The erosion of the newly built battleships of the Japanese Combined Fleet was carried out by Li Huamei and Katyusha every time, so the two of them could send their spirits to those eroded battleships at will, and would not be rejected by the battleships. After Li Huamei and Katyusha separated, the abilities of the two immediately shrank greatly, and they were only about thirty percent of what they were in together.

The reason why the two are now fighting separately is to give better play to the combat power of the battleship Shinano. As for the problem of the decline in ability after the separation of the two, it is not a problem, because Lin Han, the "father" of the two daughters, also quietly passed through the "Yamato Nadeshiko" and entered the Yamato in a combined way long before the combined fleet left Japan. Now he is in the state of "helping him" with Li Huamei, commanding this naval battle.

Due to Lin Han's help, although Li Huamei lost Katyusha, her ability did not decrease but increased, with the battleship Yamato as the center, and the every move of the battleship on the battlefield with a radius of more than 200 kilometers was under her control.

Due to the combination with Lin Han, Li Huamei's appearance at this time has completely changed, and of course she can't openly appear in front of the Japanese again. However, this question did not arouse the suspicion of the Japanese, because Li Huamei explained to Yamamoto Isoroku that because she had projected a doppelganger onto the battleship "Shinano", she could not appear as her real person now.

As early as an hour and a half an hour ago, the eight main warships of the Combined Fleet, with the Yamato-class battleships as the main force, the Yamato, Shinano, Mutsu, and Nagato, four battleships, and the four battleships of Kongo, Haruna, Kirishima, and Hiei, had entered the predetermined battlefield in advance, waiting for the Pacific Fleet to fall into the trap step by step.

On the battlefield map on the steel wall, the model of the Taiping Fleet is constantly moving westward, and there are eight submarines painted red, which are just blocking the route of this group of moving model queues. (To be continued......)

PS: I'm writing the back, and tomorrow you can see the climactic plot of the naval battle.