Tsushima supplies the image for the crushing defeat Japan might suffer against the combined fleet. The Imperial Japanese Navy may still feel unable to withdraw without battle despite recognising the coalition's superior numbers. Its institutional claim is that technical quality and fighting spirit can overcome numerical inferiority, while interservice rivalry makes an open refusal to fight especially damaging. That pressure could compel the navy to risk the very disaster it is least equipped to avoid.
Notable Point · 28:07-30:17
Why Japan might still accept a disastrous battle
Even with a Tsushima-scale defeat looming, Japanese naval doctrine, institutional rivalry, and the need to preserve face could push the fleet into a decisive action.