For Japan, the Czech 1 operation that destroyed the Pearl Harbor fuel system has been successfully completed. Except for the slightly higher cost, the rest are within the affordable range. The next key battle is that Czech 2 encircles the main force of the US Pacific Fleet, clearing obstacles for the subsequent Czech 3 strategy to the Hawaii battle.

So far, Czech 2 has been in great difficulty, but it is completely under the control of Hori Teiki. Matsuda Chiaki and the staff members can see this clearly. On the surface, the joint fleet was divided into several fleets and overturned the rivers. At one point, there was a situation where the Second Air Force had shortage of oil and was struggling. But in fact, Matsuda Chiaki never saw the embarrassment on Hori Teiki's face. He could only be confident that even if he induces Halsey to fail to divide the troops, he did not shake his confidence. Except for the "Heavenly Punishing the National Traitor", this confidence seems to be rarely revealed in the combat field, so Matsuda Chiaki was also very enthusiastic.

To be fair, Halsey has been generally well dealt with so far, but the fatal problem of imperfect intelligence has never been avoided by his reconnaissance aircraft often failing to find the Japanese fleet, and his estimate of the strength of the Japanese army has been delayed.

The total number of all Japanese aircraft was 378 (169 Hori Teiki + 68 decoy fleet + 141 Kakuda). After deducting nearly 30 unfighted Caiyun, there were 350 actual combat aircraft. After deducting the reconnaissance aircraft, the US military could use it as a combat aircraft.

However, there are more Japanese pilots than Halsey. Kakuda still has nearly 260 pilots. Hori Teiki, who was not divided, had more than 450 pilots, with a total of more than 700 pilots, which is more than 50 more than Halsey, who has 550 aircraft and 650 pilots.

What cannot be ignored is the comparison of quality and experience. When the support fleet set off from Japan, it had more than 650 pilots, one-third were experienced backbone, and the other two-thirds were more than 400 pilots. After several consecutive rounds of battles in the second Pearl Harbor offensive campaign, all of these new pilots had practical experience. Kakuda's battle in Seattle also allowed some of the novice pilots (although not large in number) to be trained, which means that all Japanese pilots have been in actual combat at present, while the more than 650 pilots in Halsey have more than one practical experience, which is really far from each other.

The experience of sailors is also very different. More than 75% of the Japanese officers and soldiers have had more than one battle experience, while the US sailors are also mainly newcomers, with an experience rate of only 25%. In particular, among the 12 Casablanca-class escort aircraft carriers, 8 of them went from pilots to sailors, and they were novices and had never participated in any battle. Even the other 4 were only in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and they followed Nimitz from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to Pearl Harbor.

It is like this that the t50 is composed mainly of new ships and newcomers. Nimitz, who knows this state, has such a reminder. Finally, Halsey and McCain are veterans for a long time, and he and Spruins are somewhat relieved.

For Hori Teiki, these problems do not exist: he knew how many warships there are in T50; although he didn't know how many aircraft there are on the warship, he strictly inferred according to the full status of the Essex-class and Casablanca-class, which is basically consistent with the facts; he still knew how fast the T50 could run. The various doubts and difficulties faced by Halsey did not exist for him, so it seemed that Halsey had more troops, but it gave Matsuda Chiaki the feeling that the commander drove his opponent into the cage step by step.

Faced with the possibility listed by McCain, Halsey hesitated for a long time, but still couldn't sort out the clues clearly, so he had to continue asking the staff group: "If I don't divide the troops, will the Japanese organize a fast column to attack us actively this evening?"

"It's hard to say..." McCain replied after thinking for a long time, "Although it's very likely, I tend to be that the enemy won't do this. There are two reasons: First, if our army maintains its current speed and its course remains unchanged, the enemy will not have the chance to enter the 800-kilometer attack range until at least 17 o'clock. When they arrive over the fleet, it's already dark and the Japanese won't get much advantage. Second, our army currently has a complete lineup, with 550 combat aircraft, including nearly 230 fighters. The Japanese attack may have to come in multiple waves, but our army can invest all air defense fighters at one time to intercept and defend. The Japanese attacking aircraft group will definitely be bleeding when facing 230 fighters. This is also the reason why the enemy has been using various means to lure us into division. Hori Teiki saw it very clearly. As long as we move forward in groups, his fleet will not be able to chew us."

"The only concern is that these two fleets..." Halsey pointed to the decoy fleet and the Kakuda fleet with clear locations above the chart. "They will join forces tomorrow morning, which will greatly enhance the enemy's strength."

"In fact, it has not changed anything, but it has facilitated us to gather and annihilate it." McCain shrugged, "It's nothing more than Hori Teiki recombining part of his power with another fleet. It was originally a strong b weak, but now it has become a weak b strong. It's just that every time he faces us with a strong fleet, which has not made his troops more powerful, but the small troops he is hiding in the dark now need to be vigilant to prevent his opponent from slashing us suddenly."

Halsey was basically convinced. After in-depth discussions and repeated simulations and operation on the map by the staff, he finally decided to remain calm: the deduction results show that the results of attacking with a fast column in the evening will be very limited due to sightlines of 3-4 escort aircraft carriers or 1 fleet aircraft carrier. The fast column will risk losing more aircraft. Some aircraft will lose when attacking, and the other will lose when returning. This batch of BTD attack aircraft, both crew and aircraft, are very valuable to the current T50.

The conclusions drawn by the staff members were cruel: even if the Japanese army only defended and did not counterattack, due to factors such as long-distance voyage, night voyage, fighter interception, etc., the losses of our attack group would exceed 65%, which would be an unbearable price for tomorrow's war, because the Japanese army still had a fast column that did not show their faces.

In the end, Halsey decided to continue to advance the large formation. In order to prevent the Japanese army from organizing a fast column to eat him, he took the initiative to adjust the formation speed from 17 knots to 14 knots, intending to breathe a breath first and wait until the night is back to more than 16 knots.

Halsey and McCain could not just defend, so the two quickly planned an offensive plan: release the reconnaissance aircraft first at around 5 a.m. tomorrow, and release the attack aircraft group 20 minutes later, and pounce towards the theoretically possible convergence point of the Japanese army. The attack aircraft group corrected the route in the middle according to the reconnaissance aircraft's intelligence and prepared to attack.

The staff members inferred that: at around 5 o'clock tomorrow, the t50 will be around 500 kilometers away from the two Japanese fleets, and it will be possible to launch a wave of attack flow.

Faced with the overall disadvantage in the Pacific situation and the repeated advice of McCain and others, the "Bao Bull" Halsey finally did not dare to send a quick column to the bait fleet prepared by Tsubuki Tsubuki. He chose the safest way to welcome the upcoming Japanese attack with a constant attitude, and prepared to attack at dawn the next day.

To prevent misunderstandings, he asked his men to send the details to Washington, and asked Spruins to help see if there were any mistakes in it. T50 is the only mobile force on the West Coast. Any negligence may lead to devastating consequences.

Washington called back an hour later. Spruins thought that the current response was more appropriate. Not only did he think so. Nimitz and the staff of the Joint Conference agreed with the existing choice after judging the situation between the enemy and us. Ingram also sent a telegram to demand caution.

Regarding his idea of ​​launching a rapid attack in the early morning of tomorrow, Nimitz privately reminded him not to go all out! At least more than half of the planes should be left to adapt to the situation. The consequences of the airs are unimaginable. Who is sure that the two Japanese fleets must meet? What if the course changes tonight?

Halsey and McCain agree with this reminder.

At the end of Nimitz's telegram, he added a sentence: If you are sure that your opponent is Hori Teki and there is no very favorable fighter, you might as well turn around at night and give up the pursuit. Sometimes it is also a victory to effectively save yourself.

Halsey and McCain both shook their heads at the suggestion: It is impossible to turn around, which means that the Navy and the Pacific Fleet will completely lose their value, and will only huddle on the west coast as a fleet and a harassing fleet in the future. However, the telegram reminded Halsey that tomorrow's battle is not as easy as possible, and his mentality has changed unknowingly. He believes that if he cannot defeat his opponent, it is acceptable to successfully eat a small part of the enemy fleet while preserving his own strength. Accumulating small victory into big victory will not only allow the troops to be fully trained, but also an explanation for other services and Washington.

17:45, the aviation staff loudly reported to Halsey: "Four enemy reconnaissance planes were discovered!"

"Sure enough! The Japanese are waiting for us to divide the troops and send reconnaissance aircraft to check the specific status of the fleet." Halsey patted his head with glory, "Let the carrier-based aircraft knock them down as much as possible."

Generally, the Japanese army only dispatched one reconnaissance aircraft, and now four are released in one breath, obviously preparing to carry out extraordinary reconnaissance missions to immediately make Halsey and McCain associate. But the Japanese army moved faster, and once it was confirmed that the T50 fleet had not been divided, they immediately fled, and the 4u were only empty.

"Sir, the opponent turns a blind eye to our two fleets and still refuses to divide the troops." Matsuda Chiaki smiled, "I feel that the enemy is a little too cautious. If I command the command, I will definitely advance. Even if I don't take bait, I will fight Kaora's second flight battle."

"Are the two Essex-class sure to sink two Yunlong-class?"

"It depends on luck... you can kill at least one. If you sacrifice a little more, killing two is not impossible."

Hori Teiki nodded: "Just counting as two items were sunk, how many attack aircraft do you think the Americans will lose?"

"Kaorda has more than 60 fighter jets. Assuming that the US military sends 180 attack formations, according to the normal exchange ratio, the opponent will lose at least 80-90 aircraft after the air strike."

"What do you think is that you lose 80 aircraft first, and then return to the 40 aircraft?"

"To lose so much?" Matsuda Chiaki was deeply shocked.r
Chapter completed!