I've never played the Japanese, and when I do fight the Japanese I like to keep my fleets well away from Japanese bases during fleet precisely because I know surprise attack exists, so I wouldn't know.

I think you can go under the OB tab on the left side and select the invasion transport force and order it to disengage.

My problem is not that they sail blindly into danger but that they run away for no good reason.


Interesting, I've never tried it like that. I assumed you couldn't access ...

As it is, the transport fleet is under AI control. I'm fine with that. In fact, I think it's a good design decision. However, the one issue is that, if the battle goes poorly and you're unable to gain control of the sea, you can't cancel the invasion. There should be a big, red button you can press ...