So Nishamura is commanding the Northern force, and Kurita is in charge of the Southern force.
Kurita had shown not only at Leyte, but in other campaigns as well that he is very prone to retreat, and to doubt his actions. I think that Nishamuras actions show that he is going to obey any orders regardless of how scuicidal they are.
So what happens if these guys commands are switched?
The most optimistic scenario would be Nishamura does not make moronic orders for a "General Attack", and manages to sweep away the escorts, while heading to Leyte an recieving only minor damage from the unfortunately equipped planes that the americans had present.
Kurita retreats away from Surigaro straight as soon as anything bad happens
Nishamura engages the 7th fleet. This will be wierd, as the Japanese are outnumbered, but theoretically Yamato is immune to any of the older US BB's, guns, while the US BB's armour offers no protection against 18in shells. US has advantage in destroyers/PT boats here, so they might rape the IJN with torpedo attacks which cause them to break formation and become easy pickings. Same thing could happen from American aircraft.
It would get really interesting if Kurita turns back again (which he did irl after Samar) after this engagement starts, evening out the numbers.
At this point, the Japanese have to win quickly, or the northern force will be trapped by the USA;s fast battleships blocking San Benidino. If they do that they could escape through Surigaro (After bombarding the landing force), though they are probably in bad shape, and can't be repaired anytime soon, and end up having little effect on the war after this.
Worst case is somehow this prevents Americans from taking the bait, and the japanese loose almost their whole surface fleet.
What do people think? Will the commanders make these decisions? How will the monster surface battle turn out? What effect (if any) does it have on the war?