Toyoda’s great gamble to attack and destroy the American landing forces in Leyte Gulf involved a classic pincers maneuver. Three strike forces would sail from Japan and Brunei to penetrate the gulf from the north and south and meet on the morning of October 25, “X-day.” The most powerful force, Force A to the Japanese, and “Center Force” to the Americans (I’ll use the latter for clarity) was commanded by Adm. Kurita Takeo and consisted of five battleships including the superships Yamato and Musashi, 10 heavy and two light cruisers and 15 destroyers.
The “Southern Force”, under the command of Vice Adm. Nishimura Shoji, which the Japanese called Force C, was made up of two battleships, a heavy cruiser, and four destroyers. To beef up Southern Force’s hitting power a fleet called Second Strike Force headed by Vice Adm. Shima Kiyohide, was on the way from Japan with three cruisers and seven destroyers. The two flotillas sailing in from opposite directions would try and slip through the two straits that led to Leyte Gulf. Center Force would sail through the San Bernardino Strait north of Leyte, and Southern Force with Second Strike Force the Surigao Strait south of it.
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