Kantai Kessen sought local superiority and a fleet-destroying battle, drawing inspiration from Mahan and Tsushima. Its Russian precedent appears misleading because Rozhestvensky's fleet reached Tsushima at the end of an extraordinary, poorly supported voyage. Britain could instead sustain a fleet through Singapore while the United States had bases in the Philippines. A Japanese strategy designed to await a weakened expedition would therefore face opponents with shorter, better-supported approaches.
Chapter · 59:48-1:07:58
Kantai Kessen meets British and American bases
The decisive-battle doctrine assumed an exhausted enemy approach that Britain and the United States could avoid through forward basing.