Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 (The Pacific War Trilogy Book 3)

by Ian W. Toll

Finally, at 7:15 p.m., Kurita heard from Admiral Toyoda. It was a peremptory order, with quasi-religious overtones: “With confidence in divine guidance, all forces resume the attack.” The original Japanese wording of this message, Operations Order No. 372, was: “Tenyu wo kakushin shi zengun totsegeki seyo.” A literal translation was: “Trusting in heaven’s assistance, all forces charge!”53 But it had a between-the-lines meaning that does not translate readily into English. Its author was Toshitane Takata, the Combined Fleet chief of staff, who drafted it for Admiral Toyoda’s signature. Takata later told American interrogators that the order carried a connotation understood by every Japanese officer, to mean that “damage could not be limited or reduced by turning back, so advance even though the fleet should be completely lost. That was my feeling when sending that order; consequently I am safe in saying that the Second Fleet was not restricted in any way as to the damage it might suffer.”