The fierce battle in the Coral Sea was almost a point for both sides to compare the lower limit with each other, which was an eye-opener for the commanders of the Royal Chinese Air Force, who used the "Sky Eye" satellite reconnaissance system and the large early warning aircraft that took off from the Tanimbal Islands to monitor the battle situation. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

At this time, Fletcher's main force of the American aircraft carrier was heading west after breaking up with the tanker in the hope of intercepting the Japanese landing fleet, but the American fleet also made the same mistake: no fleet troops were found. Two hours after dawn, a patrol aircraft aboard the Enterprise sent back a report that "two aircraft carriers and four heavy cruisers have been spotted." Fletcher thought it was the Japanese aircraft carrier force, and decided to attack with all his might. The USS Enterprise dispatched 28 dive bombers, 12 torpedo planes, and 10 fighter planes, and the USS Yorktown dispatched 25 dive bombers, 10 torpedo planes, and 8 fighters, a total of 93 carrier-based planes flew to the target. After flying to the target, it turned out to be two light cruisers and two gunboats, which were the covering force for the Japanese landing, which was exaggerated into an assault force due to a miscode. But the U.S. military finally discovered a worthy target in the exaggerated fleet: the aircraft carrier Xiangfeng. After half an hour of repeated attacks by 93 US fighters and bombers, the Xiangfeng had already hit 13 bombs and 7 torpedoes. Izawa ordered the ship to be abandoned. A few minutes later, the Shoho sank, leaving only a cloud of black smoke and oil spreading across the Coral Sea, marking the loss of the Imperial Japanese Navy's first large ship since the start of the Pacific War.

On the morning of 7 May, the US and Japanese attack fleets were on the verge of attacking each other, but the two sides did not detect each other for technical reasons, and each side missed the opportunity to strike first. The mistake made by the US military was even more dangerous, because its sortie of carrier-based aircraft deviated from its main threat by more than 90 degrees, but the US military also achieved greater results - knocking out an aircraft carrier; The mistake made by the combined fleet is a pity, because they at least know the approximate location of their main targets. When the Fifth Air Force wanted to correct its mistakes, it was faced with a time problem: it would take off at 14 o'clock in the afternoon and return at 6 p.m. (two hours after sunset), which was not an easy decision to make in 1942, but Vice Admiral Tadaichi Hara of the Fifth Air Force still sent 12 bombers and 15 torpedo planes to separate the ship at 14:15 and fly towards the expected target, but the fighters had dropped their bombs and were intercepted by American Wildcat fighters. In the twilight, several disoriented Japanese pilots mistakenly tried to land on the Yorktown. But due to the wrong identification signal, it was discovered by anti-aircraft gunners and shot one of them into the sea, and several others fled into the night in a hurry. This made Fletcher realize that the Japanese naval aircraft carriers were nearby, and the duel between the aircraft carriers, which would determine the outcome of the naval battle, would definitely take place the next day.

In the last hour before sunrise on May 8, the same preparations were being made on four aircraft carriers within 200 nautical miles of the Coral Sea, with the only difference perhaps being that chocolates were given to American pilots and rice cakes to Japanese pilots. The reconnaissance planes all set off before sunrise. Fate destined the search planes will discover each other's targets almost simultaneously. At 8:15 p.m., the northernmost reconnaissance plane of the US military sent back a report: The enemy's aircraft carrier task force was heading south at a speed of 25 knots per hour about 175 miles northeast of the Enterprise. Just a few minutes later, the radio station of the American aircraft carrier received a cheerful report from the Japanese, apparently indicating that they themselves had also been discovered. A total of 15 fighters, 46 bombers, and 21 torpedo planes, totaling 82 aircraft, took off from Yorktown and Enterprise, and pounced on the Japanese fleet. An hour and three quarters of an hour later, the US assault fleet found that the Shohe and Zuihe were heading southeast, eight miles apart from each of the two aircraft carriers, each escorted by two heavy cruisers and destroyers.

While the Americans were taking advantage of the precious few minutes to organize an attack under the cover of cumulonimbus clouds, the Shozuru took the opportunity to dispatch more fighters, and the Zuihe took refuge in the nearby sea where it was raining rain. The American pilots, who launched the first attack on the aircraft carriers of the heavily defended enemy fleet, were still in disarray when faced with a truly strong enemy. Torpedo planes and dive bombers were scattered by the Zero fighters and lacked coordination, the torpedoes were fired into the sea, far from the target, and the bombing was blind. Only two bombs hit the Shozuru, and the Shozuru caught fire on the flight deck due to an oil leak. More than ten minutes later, the planes on board the Enterprise arrived, but it was difficult to spot the enemy ship under the thick clouds. Inflicting further setbacks on the offensive. Only fifteen bombers managed to find a target, but they were protected by only six Wildcat fighters, and they were easily scattered by the Zeros, and the torpedo attack failed again, and the bombers dropped only one bomb. However, this is not the case with the reports of American pilots. Captain Taylor was optimistic after the first attack, saying, "About fifty to a hundred feet from the port side to the end, from the waterline to the flight deck, it was a sea of fire...... About fifteen minutes after the attack, when the aircraft carrier was last seen, the fire burned fiercely. It is believed to have been very badly damaged and finally sank. ”

The remaining 43 U.S. planes returned home only to find that their Japanese adversaries were able to launch more effective attacks. Thanks to the radar, the Enterprise's fighter commander was able to know the arrival of enemy aircraft while they were still more than seventy miles northeast and took off to intercept them. However, the 69 carrier-based aircraft of the 5th Air Force had been divided into three strike groups before they were intercepted. The Japanese torodo fleet first flew to the USS Yorktown, a U.S. ship. Due to the ship's flexible evasion, the Japanese plane's attack was ineffective. However, as a result of the fact that the two aircraft carriers in the ring alert sequence were evading on their own, the distance between the two ships was rapidly widened, and the alert ships were also split into two, thus weakening the air defense and giving the Japanese planes a gap to take advantage of. The Japanese planes fired 8 torpedoes on the port side of the Yorktown, all of which were avoided by the ship. The bombers then began to dive and drop bombs on the Yorktown. An 800-pound bomb hit the flight deck near the ship's bridge, but was able to continue the fight. When attacking the Enterprise, the Japanese torpedo fleet successfully used the tactic of flanking the ship, projecting torpedoes from the sides of the ship's bow, at an altitude of 15-70 meters, and at a distance of 1,000-1,500 meters. Due to the large tonnage and large circle radius of the Enterprise, the turning was inflexible, and two of the 13 torpedoes fired by the Japanese aircraft hit the port side of the ship, causing water to enter the boiler room in three places.

While the Enterprise was desperately trying to avoid the torpedo, the Japanese bomber fleet began to attack it again, and 2 more bombs hit the target. The encounter lasted only thirteen minutes, and as the Japanese flew away, they happily reported that they had avenged the defeat of the Shoho the day before, unequivocally sinking a "large aircraft carrier" and a "medium aircraft carrier".

In fact, although the Enterprise was hit by torpedoes and bombs, which caused a 7-degree roll, the ship regained its balance after adjusting its fuel and continued to accept the returning aircraft to land. At the same time, refueling fighters strengthens air supremacy. However, due to a fuel leak, a sudden explosion occurred inside the Enterprise, causing a fire that spread so quickly that it became uncontrollable. At around 15 o'clock in the afternoon, the captain ordered all the crew to leave the ship. At about 17 o'clock, the destroyer Phelps was ordered to fire five torpedoes* at it, and the Enterprise sank at 17:56. The 36 planes that had already landed on the ship also sank into the sea. Although there were still 27 bombers, torpedo planes, and 12 fighters on board the USS Yorktown of the 17th Task Force, it was already night, and Fletcher had no intention of fighting again, so he led his team to withdraw from the battlefield. The next day, when the pilots of the Zuihe conducted another reconnaissance patrol in pursuit of the American ship, there was only the wreckage of the Enterprise at sea. Japan and the United States, which seemed to have suffered losses on each other, were tied, but Japan had to stop the Aleutian Islands' attack on Alaska's main fleet, because the Southern Fleet was no longer able to resist the next attack of the American Pacific Fleet, and God knows how long Japan's defense circle would hold out if the Americans were allowed to occupy Truk.

Although the war situation has reached a stalemate for the time being, and the Japanese and American navies, each with one point, are planning their next course of action, it is still a trivial matter to be able to hold Japan back from the northern strategy and protect the security of the 49th state of the United States, and what is more precious is to win the time to rebuild the Pacific Fleet. Therefore, after this seemingly evenly divided Battle of the Coral Sea, Japan has lost the opportunity to gain control of the Pacific Ocean, and all that remains is for the Americans to make a decision for the Japanese government and military department at what cost, of course, this is all under the premise that China is dragged by Red Russia in Western Siberia.

From the beginning of the war to the end of two years later, the Japanese navy produced a total of 7 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, 9 cruisers, 33 destroyers, and 87 submarines. During the same period, the United States produced 76 aircraft carriers (including escort carriers), 6 battleships, 23 cruisers, 135 destroyers, 266 frigates, and 163 submarines. The gap between Japan and the United States in terms of production capacity can be clearly seen from the quantity alone, Japan only built 33 destroyers during the entire World War II, while the United States had more than 400 anti-submarine ships built and launched during the same period!

Comparison of the annual production of combat aircraft between Japan and the United States: The allies not only had the upper hand in the number of aircraft, but also continued to introduce new types of aircraft during the war, and by the end of the war, the performance of the American military aircraft was far superior to that of the Wehrmacht. Japan, on the other hand, basically used the 'zero' type or its modifications throughout World War II. The 'Zero' is indeed a very good fighter in many respects, but by the first 22 years, its performance has obviously lagged behind the new American model (because the Japanese army despised the protection of pilots, only paid attention to the performance of the aircraft, and used excessive flammable aluminum materials and skins and lacked armor, resulting in the 'Zero' and other front-line combat aircraft were easy to catch fire and burn after being hit, resulting in the destruction of the aircraft and the death of people). About 47,810 of the aircraft produced in the United States were multi-engine bombers (twin or quadruple), while Japan produced only 15,117 (essentially twin-engine). Therefore, the difference between the two countries is very obvious, both in terms of the number of aircraft produced and in terms of the total load of aircraft. When decline is inevitable, where will Japan go from here? Perhaps from this moment on, Japan's fate is already sealed, it's just that they can choose whose spoils they will be.