My own war game

Chapter 219: Re-awarding Military Merit
The sun had just risen, and several people gathered in front of the nautical chart in the command room of the Gufeng.

"This is Saipan, which is about 1400 nautical miles away from us. It is the fastest place we can reach right now, and it is closer than Australia." He Chi drew a circle on the nautical chart.

"We no longer have land-based bases there. There are only submarine forces roaming around. Even if we meet them, we still have to worry about them firing torpedoes at us," said Captain Dean Black, a former third mate of the Langley who is now the highest-ranking military officer among the rescued personnel, with his arms folded.

He Chi nodded in agreement, and then circled a place a little further away in another direction with a pen. "The Solomon Islands are a little further away, about 2000 nautical miles. It is currently in a state of contention, with Australia and the Japanese army each occupying half."

"Although we have a place to dock here, the surrounding areas are all occupied by the Japanese army. There are often reconnaissance planes flying over the sky. The probability of being discovered on the road will be very high. Once a battle breaks out, our understaffed ship will find it difficult to survive." This is the temporary chief engineer Felix Walker, who is now very clear about the ship's driving status.

"How about going to Australia?" someone suggested.

"We will also encounter Japanese land-based aircraft, so it's better to be closer than Solomon Island." Someone on the side denied it.

"How about going to the Indian Ocean?"

"Singapore has been occupied by Yamashita Tomoyuki. We heard this a month ago on the dock radio. We can't go through Malacca."

"Back to Hawaii base?"

"It's too far, a full 4500 nautical miles. Do we have enough supplies?"

After discussing for a long time, all the proposals were rejected. It was then that everyone realized that due to the rapid actions of the Japanese army, they did not have a relatively safe route to choose.

He Chi stood in the middle of the crowd and was not in a hurry to express his opinion. However, at this moment, he found that Iikuni Kojiro in the corner had been keeping his head down, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Xiaojiro!" He Chi shouted, and everyone else's discussion stopped.

Although strictly speaking one should obey the opinion of the person with the highest military rank in wartime, everyone naturally regarded He Chi as the commander.

"Hai! Your Excellency! Please give me your instructions." Iikuni Kojiro came over, his attitude still very respectful.

"Do you have any ideas about where to go next?" He Chi glanced at Kojiro beside him.

"Well..." Kojiro hesitated for a moment, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "I have a little immature opinion..."

"Tell me what you are saying. I'll translate it for you and everyone can listen." He Chi pulled Xiao Jiro and asked him to stand in front.

Now everyone in the room focused their attention on the private who had just surrendered.

To be honest, although Kojiro had nominally "turned against the enemy", these American soldiers did not treat him as one of their own, and there was a look of distrust in everyone's eyes.

"Everyone, please look." Kojiro swallowed his saliva, took the small wooden stick and drew a long line on the nautical chart.

"According to the enemy leader Chunshan, this ship was originally heading back to the Japanese mainland. Once we deviate from the ship's scheduled route, we will most likely be exposed if discovered by the enemy." "Do you want to take us to visit your hometown?" Captain Black had suffered a lot from the Japanese guards before, and his tone was very stiff at this time.

"Sir, that's not what I meant." Kojiro didn't seem to hear the sarcasm in the other person's words. "What I meant was that we can go north according to the original plan of this ship, and sail towards Tokyo in the first half of the journey completely according to the plan. This way we can conceal ourselves to the greatest extent and paralyze the Japanese ships we encounter."

"Then here," Kojiro pointed to a spot in the center of the ocean, "we suddenly changed our course and headed full speed toward the U.S.-occupied area. We will reach the nearest island in two days at most."

Oh~ Someone sighed behind them, and people looked at each other. Those with sailing experience nodded to each other. The plan proposed by this "cowardly" Japanese soldier was actually very feasible.

"What do you all think?" He Chi asked everyone again.

"I think it's okay. This location is 2000 nautical miles closer than the Hawaii base, and there are no Japanese land-based airports nearby. We are crossing the Pacific Ocean, and theoretically the probability of success is very high." Captain Dean Black spoke first.

"I agree, this seems to be the safest route." The chief engineer also expressed his support.

"Okay, then everyone should have the same opinion. Our chosen final destination is..." He Chi swiped his hand on the map towards Tokyo, then turned halfway and finally stopped at an almost invisible tiny name:

Midway!
-
The destroyer Tanikaze adjusted its course and headed towards the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Because of the shortage of manpower, everyone, including reporter Charles, had to participate in the operation of the ship.

Although Iikuni Kojiro proposed a perfect plan, the American soldiers still showed a certain degree of vigilance towards the surrendered Japanese. Even though the manpower was so tight, they still assigned one person to keep an eye on them every day.

However, these former low-level Japanese soldiers showed very good obedience. Knowing that the U.S. military did not trust them, they stayed on the deck together during the day, and at the same time, two people worked in a group to clean the front deck until it was shiny (the rear deck was not cleaned because they were afraid that the Americans would not see them).
They never complained and ate very little. One of them was even a former lookout named Otani Jizen, who climbed up to the watchtower to act as an observer without being ordered. He would stay there the whole day without being told to do so, and his whole body was miserable due to the sea breeze.

"Oh my God! I will probably never understand what's going on in the minds of these Japanese?" Reporter Charles sighed when he saw all this.

"What's the big deal? The Japanese are obedient because they admire the strong. As long as they can be suppressed, they will be more obedient than anyone else." He Chi explained and then changed the subject, "But if you become weak one day, they will abandon you immediately and even bite your throat off."

"Mysterious Eastern culture..." Charles shrugged.

Ding, ding, ding!!! The sound of metal being knocked quickly interrupted the conversation between the two people.

"There is an enemy! There is an enemy! It's a Japanese reconnaissance plane! Take cover, Heiyaku!" The Japanese lookout who climbed up the mast waved his hands and shouted in Japanese.

"Quick! All the Americans on the deck get into the cabin! Let those Japanese go up to the deck." He Chi commanded the American soldiers to hide, then went into the radio room and sent a message without waiting for the other party to ask.

"This is the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Tanikaze. We have completed our mission and are on our way back to the mainland."

The reconnaissance plane circled overhead, then flapped its wings and flew away, leaving only a brief communication.

"I wish you all more military honors!"

(End of this chapter)