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建议 How Japs Fight - TIME
A Japanese named Nagano had an American named Knox feeling jittery last week. Osami Nagano is Chief of Japan's Naval Staff, and last week his Navy was up to no good in the South Pacific. U.S. Navy Secretary Frank Knox, just back from the South Pacific with his cheeks full of optimism, grew a little jumpy in a press conference when reporters began asking what Nagano's ships were doing.
Was a great big fight going on?
No, said the Secretary.
But the Japanese had announced sinking two battleships in an air-sea clash off Rennell Island (TIME, Feb. 8). That certainly sounded like a big battle.
Said the Secretary, sharply: "A lot of preliminary dispositions are going on—but no pitched battles of any kind as yet. Any assumption that last night's communique indicated a tremendous battle in progress is an incorrect assumption."
But, said a reporter, the communique specifically suggested just that.
"Let me see the communique," said the Secretary. "I don't think it did."
Mr. Knox then read a passage from the communique: "The increased activity on the part of the Japanese indicates a major effort to regain control of the entire Solomons area. . . ." He then commented: ". . . 'indicates a major effort to regain control.' Well, that may be so. But it would appear to be only an indication, only a speculative proposition. We don't know exactly what they are planning."
Knox's Point. The difficulty of knowing what Admiral Osami Nagano has planned is far more than the usual difficulty of guessing an enemy's moves. That is partly because Nagano, in a race of inscrutable men, is notoriously tight of tongue, partly because the Japanese have a mania for secrecy. It is perhaps mostly because probabilities about the Japanese in war cannot be based on the ordinary human standards. Japs fight differently.
But even taking these difficulties into consideration, even without the special information available to Mr. Knox, it was easy last week to see that something big was brewing.
> A U.S. convoy of transports, apparently going to Guadalcanal and covered by a naval task force, had been attacked twice. The first attack was 60 miles due south of Guadalcanal, off Rennell Island. The Japs claimed two battleships, three cruisers.
> According to Tokyo, a scouting task force of U.S. cruisers and destroyers was attacked by the Japs south of Santa Isabel Island—up the slot from Guadalcanal. The Japs claimed a cruiser and a destroyer.
> A.P.'s Bill Hippie reported from Guadalcanal: "Aerial observers reported tonight that a large force of Japanese warships was headed for Guadalcanal." Nothing more was announced about this contact.
> At least one Japanese carrier task force was apparently in the area. Unusually strong resistance was met by Fortresses raiding Japanese vessels in the Buin area up the slot (20 Zeros shot down three Fortresses and damaged one badly). This was interpreted in Washington as meaning that a carrier was nearby.
《时代》1943年最佳封面---日本人如何打仗，之一
上周，一个叫永野的日本人让一个叫诺克斯的美国人感到神经紧张。永野修身是日本海军司令部总长，上周他的部队在南太平洋战场跃跃欲试、图谋不轨。
在一个记者招待会上，美国海军部长弗兰克.诺克斯刚刚一脸乐观地从南太平洋战场回来，当记者们问到永野的舰队在干什么的时候，他开始变得有些神经兮兮。
正在进行一场大战吗？
不，部长说。
可是日本人声称在伦内尔岛上空的一场空海战役中，击沉了两艘战舰(时代杂志，2月8号)。这听起来的确是场大的战役。
部长敏锐地说：「很多预备部署正在进行中，不过到目前为止并没有所谓的大战。任何认为昨晚的公报表明了一场大战的假设都是错误的。」
一个记者说：「可是公报说的很明确，就是那样。」
「让我看看那个公报」，部长说，「我想它并没那么说。」
于是诺克斯先生念了一段公告中的话：「日方活动日益增多，表明日方要重新夺回对所罗门群岛的控制的重大决心......」。他接着解释道：「表明日方要重新夺回控制的重大决心，也许是吧。不过这只是一种迹象，一种推断。我们并不真的很清楚他们在计划什么。」
诺克斯的观点。搞清楚海军元帅永野修身在计划什么远比通常意义上的猜测一个敌人的动向要难。一部分原因是，永野来自一个居心叵测的种族，他是出了名的嘴巴紧；另外一部分原因是日本人对于兵者诡道的狂热。这也许很大程度上是因为，不能用人类的标准来衡量战争中的日本人的行径。日本人打仗的方法很诡异。
不过即使把这些困难都考虑进去，即使诺克斯先生没有特别的情报来源，也能很容易知道上周有些大事正在酝酿之中。
> 一个由海军特遣队保护的去往瓜达康纳尔岛的美国运输护卫队遭到了两次袭击。第一次袭击的位置距伦内尔岛60英里，在瓜达康纳尔岛正南方。日军声称击沉了2艘战舰，3艘巡洋舰。
> 根据东京的报道，一个由巡洋舰和驱逐舰组成的美军侦查特遣舰队遭到日军袭击，圣伊萨贝尔岛南方，靠近瓜达康纳尔岛的狭长海峡。日军声称击沉了1艘巡洋舰和1艘驱逐舰。
>美联社记者比尔.席皮来自瓜达康纳尔岛的报道：「今夜空中观察员报告，一大队日军战舰正朝瓜达康纳尔岛进发」。对于双方此次接触没有更多说明。
> 至少一个日军航母特遣队在此区域出现。在布因地区，美军的空中堡垒在袭击日本船只的时候，遭到了不同寻常的抵抗。（20架零式战斗机击落了3架空中堡垒，还有1架空中堡垒严重受损）。华盛顿由此认为附近有航母。
