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My question is what if Halsey, at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, didn’t fall for the Japanese’s northern ruse.

“If too cautious employment of the battleships at the Philippine Sea had allowed the bulk of the Japanese Surface Fleet to escape, their too impetuous handling by Admiral William “Bull” Halsey cheated them of their best chance for a gunnery duel at Leyte Gulf. Briefly, the Japanese hoped to lure Halsey away by using their carriers-essentially impotent because of losses in June- as bait. If Halsey would charge the red flag, Japanese surface units, headed by the Yamato and Musashi, would pass through San Bernardino Strait and attack cargo and transport ships. Halsey fell for the ruse. Flying his flag in the New Jersey, he uncovered the strait by taking all of his ships toward the carrier decoy force at high speed. Officers on the Iowa were unanimous in believing Halsey was making a major mistake. Early in the morning on 25 October, the fast battleships had less than one hour to steam before opening fire on the helpless carrier force. However, for hours Halsey had been hearing calls for help from American vessels suffering under the Yamato’s 18.1-inch shellfire. The great Japanese battleship had slipped through the unguarded strait. Halsey doubled back. With 300 miles to go, he was forced to slow fuel destroyers and finally detached the Iowa and New Jersey with three light cruisers and eight destroyers to hurry ahead at 18 knots. The task group reached the strait three hours too late. Only the crippled Nowaki fell victim to the cruiser screen.” Source (The Iowa Class Battleships by Malcolm Muir)

What if Task Force 38 stayed put or got back in time to engage the Japanese Center Force? Would the American victory at Leyte Gulf have been more decisive? Would the Japanese finally have gotten the battleship showdown they had been looking for the entire war? Could we have seen an ultimate battle of Yamato VS Iowa and New Jersey?
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