Reliance On Kamikazes
So, exactly how did the military leadership hope to achieve final victory with such ill-equipped, undermanned divisions and ragtag local militia?
Well, they did have one card in their deck – the intense use of kamikazes.
Kamikaze attacks had already proven quite effective in the Philippines and Okinawa, not in sinking large warships, but delivering considerable damage and wearing them out psychologically.
As a sad statistic reality, kamikazes had much higher hit rates compared to conventional tactics, and was the only method at this point which the Japanese could inflict more casualties in exchange for their own.
Consequently, every thinkable method of kamikazes were to be employed in the final defense, ranging from human rockets to even divers with explosive spears.
Over 10,000 planes, 3,800 small boats, and 800 mini submarines were to be unleashed against the allied fleet, as well as any remaining warship of the once mighty Imperial Navy.
While aircraft carriers remained as prime targets, the main objective was to destroy the more vulnerable transport ships.
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