Iron Cross

At 7:58, Halsey received information that the two Japanese fleets (Kakuda Fleet and Yano Fleet) had completely converged and were about 960 kilometers away from the main fleet. Due to the range and the interception by Japanese fighter jets, they did not find the farther Five Air Battle. .

This was what he and McCain expected. Just as the two were discussing how to shorten the attack distance, at 8:27, shocking news came:

At dawn, a submarine reported that the Japanese fleet was passing by. The specific model was unclear. Under its guidance, Ingram and Doolittle dispatched four reconnaissance aircraft in a targeted manner, and finally achieved something - on Hawaii Island. The Japanese fleet was discovered about 1,800 kilometers east-northeast, followed by a large group of battleship formations about 80 kilometers away, heading north, including two majestic super battleships.

Converted to the position of Halsey's fleet, that is, there is a Japanese fleet 880 kilometers south-southeast, heading due north, with a speed of up to 30 knots, and three fleet aircraft carriers.

"This is the enemy's main fleet!" McCain exclaimed.

Halsey was anxious. This information immediately put the TF50 fleet into a dilemma where the Japanese army was attacking from two sides - the Horikichi and Tsunoda fleets in the west-north, and the Tsukahara fleet in the south-southeast. Each fleet was not weak.

broken!

The battle situation suddenly turned very ugly, and everyone was dumbfounded: If we want to deal with the strengthened Japanese army on the western front, we must draw out most of our strength to fight. However, in this way, the enemy forces on the southern front will not wait for the attack group to come back. Just call and vice versa.

And it is not advisable to divide the troops. Splitting the troops to attack on two sides means that neither side can win and will only die in vain. Although the reconnaissance plane did not report in detail the type of fleet aircraft carrier owned by Tsukahara, based on the data obtained in the early stage, it is easy to know that the opponent has two Shokaku-class aircraft carriers and a newly built fleet aircraft carrier that seems to be larger. It is said that Or an armored aircraft carrier.

The staff immediately believed that the fleet consisted of 240-250 aircraft.

"William, facing the flanking attack of superior enemy forces, we can only retreat."

"Retreat? Where to retreat?"

"Retreat to the east...retreat to the west coast and rely on land-based protection."

"No, I can't retreat. The fleet will turn around to the southeast and move forward at full speed!"

McCain said anxiously: "William, now is not the time to be impulsive. You need to calm down."

"I'm very calm." Halsey's face was very calm. "We have no chance to retreat to the west coast. The escort aircraft carrier cannot run fast and will be overtaken soon! Can I leave them and run back alone?"

McCain was speechless. Not only Halsey couldn't do such a thing, but he couldn't do it, abandoning 12 escort aircraft carriers to run away. He would be reviled for the rest of his damn life! How will I meet people when I go out in the future?

"The brave will win when we meet on a narrow road. We must rush over first, quickly shorten the distance with the Japanese main fleet, then release the attack group to defeat the fleet to the south, and then turn to defend the fleet to the northwest. They are still a little far away, so There is a way to survive!" Halsey quickly issued an order, "You must immediately find a route that can quickly shorten the distance to the enemy in the south without quickly shortening the distance to the enemy on the other side; send a telegram to Ingram. General and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I hope they will coordinate with the Army Aviation to help us attack this fleet, and at least tell us the enemy's dynamics; 2 Essex-class ships and 2 South Dakota-class ships will form a fast column, with a moderate advance of 30- 40 kilometers!”

"Sir, the latest information... the enemy fleet suddenly turned around and rushed toward the 160-degree course."

Horikichi looked at the chart and nodded slightly: "The reaction was relatively timely, but his speed caused him embarrassment. He has lost the opportunity to eat Tsukahara first and then us."

"My order!" Horikichi paused and said without hesitation, "Raise the Z-flag! Annihilate the U.S. Pacific Fleet today! All officers and men of the army, march forward indomitably and fight the enemy bravely!"

With a "wow" sound, everyone stood up straight.

"All the warships that can keep up in the second and fifth aviation battles form an assault column and rush forward with my commander, achieving a speed of 29 knots - the whole army charges!"

"Onboard!"

"Sir, the Z-flag has been raised on the Katsuragi!" Ryunosuke Kusaka told Tsukahara, "Let's prepare for a decisive battle."

Tsukahara nodded and asked again: "Is the enemy's route heading towards us now?"

"Yes, sir, let's press on with the whole army, right?" the staff officers said eagerly.

"No! Change the course to 80 degrees, slow down the speed to 18 knots, and wait for the battleship formation to come up!"

"Sir!" Everyone thought they heard wrongly and screamed.

"Follow the order and the commander will understand!"

Upon hearing the news that Halsey was being flanked by two enemy forces, the Joint Chiefs of Staff were in a state of panic and everything was in chaos. After hearing that Halsey rushed south, the headquarters became even more chaotic.

Spruance was anxious: "I suggest retreating first and then looking at the situation. Even if William can severely damage the enemy fleet in the south, the situation is not optimistic..."

Nimitz waved his hand and said in a hoarse voice: "Please ask General Ingram and General Doolittle to coordinate the army aviation attack."

"Pearl Harbor stated that only 87 aircraft can carry out the mission, and the enemy fleet is 1,800 kilometers away, and it will be impossible to catch up after flying for 5 hours!" The bad news came within 5 minutes, and Nimitz slammed the table, but there was nothing The solution is that in the past two days, only transport aircraft have been used to transport some fuel and fighter jets, and not many heavy bombers have been transported at all - lack of fuel, lack of crews, Pearl Harbor is now short of everything.

"How is the situation now?" Truman walked in with a livid face. It was obvious that he had received extremely unfavorable news - the general election was next week, and he did not want another big news to break before the vote.

"Now that all the Japanese forces have appeared, they have completely overwhelmed the TF50 fleet." Under Spruance's explanation, Truman almost fainted with anxiety - now it is the entire Combined Fleet vs. the Pacific Fleet, or to put it simply, It's Japan vs Halsey.

Combat aircraft: estimated 630vs550 (actual 607:550)

Fleet aircraft carrier: 8vs2, Japan leads by a large margin;

Other aircraft carriers: 7vs12, the US military has a certain advantage (actually calculated in terms of combat effectiveness, the comparison between Japan and the US is nearly 3:12)

Battleship: 6vs2, the Japanese army has three Yamato-class super battleships, and the South Dakota class owned by Halsey cannot compete with the Yamato. Even if it is a 1vs1 duel with Nagato, it is not guaranteed to win;

Heavy cruiser: 9vs0, the Japanese army has an absolute advantage;

Light cruiser: 17vs8;

Destroyer: 61vs32

"Except for the escort aircraft carrier, which our military still has some advantages over, the others are completely at a disadvantage. Considering the difference in pilot combat effectiveness, it is even more difficult to compete."

Everyone's face turned pale. Even Army generals such as MacArthur and Clark knew that the situation was serious. Japan now had an overwhelming advantage. What was even more troublesome was that the positions of the enemy and ourselves were still very transparent. There was still a full day before dark. Besides, judging from Spruance's tone just now, it's not safe even if it's dark.

"What should we do?" Truman glanced at everyone and said to several naval admirals, "You must find a way to save this fleet. Even if you cannot save all of it, at least keep the backbone of it - the United States cannot lose the Pacific Fleet, let alone the Pacific Fleet. Can’t lose the Pacific!”

At 9:39, the reconnaissance plane sent by Halsey swept across the sea and was surprised to find that the Tsukahara fleet's aircraft carrier group had changed its direction to the east, and the distance from the battleship fleet behind it had shrunk a lot.

"Asshole! Asshole! This old turtle! Old turtle!" After reading the telegram sent by the reconnaissance plane, Halsey was so angry that he tore it into pieces and cursed.

Of course he had reason to be angry: just now the distance between Tsukahara and himself was 880 kilometers, and after the two sides drove in opposite directions, they could merge into a high speed of 48 knots, which meant that the gap could be reduced by nearly 90 kilometers per hour. In three hours, he would be able to The Tsukahara fleet fell into a 600-kilometer strike circle and killed them in a wave. But now that Tsukahara is facing this way, the distance per hour has shortened to only about 25 kilometers. It will take 10 hours to launch an attack on Tsukahara's fleet, and it will be dark long ago.

Of course Horikichi applauded Tsukahara's change of formation. In fact, although the two fleets formed a pincer attack, they did not form a joint force. There was a time lag in between. Tsukahara's course adjustment immediately closed this time window. Moreover, another benefit of traveling eastward is to increase the distance from Hawaii Island. Even if the US Army Air Forces wants to carry out a desperate assault, it will greatly increase the difficulty.

"Good! Well done!" Horikichi praised Tsukahara sincerely. Now the distance between Horikichi's fast column and Halsey is shortening by 25 kilometers per hour, and it is expected to launch an attack in the evening.

Horikichi does not think that the situation is as optimistic as Chiaki Matsuda and others see it. He believes that the situation is still developing dynamically, and the overall absolute advantage does not represent the actual victory. In fact, if Halsey really exerts his full strength, It would be safe to give it a try and fight Tsukahara to the point of losing both sides... He didn't want to see the scene where Halsey jumped over the wall in a hurry, it would be too hurtful.

At 10:04, Halsey's fleet adjusted its course to 130 degrees. He asked his staff somewhat dejectedly: "Now when we return to the west coast, how long will it take to enter the 600-kilometer air defense circle?"

"There are still 1,832 kilometers, about...about...37 hours left."

McCain lost hope as soon as he heard this: Both enemy fleets could reach a maximum speed of 30 knots, and the speed difference was 11 knots. Even if he tried to escape with all his strength, they could shorten the speed by 20 kilometers per hour, and they would be confident enough in 10-15 hours. We are sure to shorten the distance to less than 600 kilometers.

Halsey's mood also hit rock bottom, but he managed to hold on and not let himself collapse, "Keep the course and speed unchanged, and see if the situation changes for the better first, and then you can think about a better way to retreat."

While he was thinking about how to withdraw, Spruance had people invite Turner to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and gave Turner the title of "Deputy Director of the Office of the Adviser to the Retired General on Naval Affairs" in the name of President Truman ( The chief director was left to General Kim), and then Turner, who had retired just a few days ago, returned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff sand table...

ps: I went out with my family in the evening, so I'm a little late. Sorry, please ask for a monthly ticket... I promise to start playing tomorrow!