"Ōyodo" rejoined the Main Body of the 1st Mobile Fleet, commanded by Ozawa, on 5 October and departed Yokosuka on 11 October. En route, she was attacked by the submarine which fired six torpedoes, all of which missed. The ship departed Yashima anchorage on 20 October 1944 towards the Philippines as part of Operation "Sho-Ichi-Go"— which was intended to defeat the American invasion of the Philippines. "Ōyodo" was part of Ozawa's Northern Mobile ("Decoy") Force, which was to bait the American aircraft carrier strike force away from the main Japanese strike force by exposing the surviving Japanese carriers. "Ōyodo" was the only warship in Ozawa's force that had reconnaissance floatplanes, and both E13A1's performed reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrols over the fleet. On the morning of 24 October, the bulk of the few aircraft aboard the carriers were launched to attack the American carriers as a distraction. They inflicted no damage and caused the Americans to search in the direction from which they had attacked. The Americans finally spotted Ozawa's ships at 16:40, some east of Cape Engaño, the northeastern tip of Luzon. The American carriers were spread out and it was very late in the day to launch an airstrike, so Admiral William Halsey, commander of the Third Fleet decided to mass his carriers in a position to attack the following morning. Ozawa reversed course during the night, correctly believing that the Americans would follow him north.