ps: Yesterday's attack wave was written a bit messy, and it has been readjusted and modified, interested readers can take a look, and it will not affect the result if you don't read it. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Before dawn the next day, Tsukahara sent all his reconnaissance forces to probe the aircraft carrier Essex, but he searched until noon and failed to find the seriously damaged enemy ship.

The Essex was destined not to be found, because in the evening of yesterday, Nimitz, who had repeatedly asked to keep the ship, was slowing down the overall retreat of the fleet because the ship was too slow and the navigation situation was dangerous.

As the sun set, the destroyers USS Emmons and USS Grayson teamed up to release torpedoes, and a total of 4 torpedoes hit the USS Essex almost simultaneously, and this time it was finally unstoppable. This strong new aircraft carrier made a special contribution - thanks to its tenacious floating ability, 70 percent of the ship's officers and men and the entire Pacific Fleet command were eventually retained.

Watching it slowly sink on the surface of the sea, everyone had tears in their eyes, and many young sailors, who were only in their early 19s, could not help but weep bitterly - in this battle, they were not only defeated, but also lost many of their companions who had been with each other day and night.

"I lost all the aircraft carriers, how should I report to the country?" Halsey frowned and suffered, "Admiral Kim has repeatedly hinted that we should be cautious, and as a result, if he stands in front of him now, he will probably kill my ......"

"This is not something you should think about, our war with the Japanese devils will last for a long time, don't be too concerned about it for a while, not to mention that the fleet is not without gain." Nimitz explained, "We hit the Shozuru and the Zuihe in the middle, sank 2 enemy light carriers, oh, and an unknown medium aircraft carrier, probably the French Béarn, and the enemy's vital forces were dealt a great blow......"

"Obviously, we lost more, and we lost an additional New Mexico."

While he was talking, Giffen hurried in: "The submarine force has reported good news, they sank a wounded Kongo-class battleship early this morning. ”

"Really?" Halsey rejoiced, "It must be the Kong-class that we damaged. ”

"You see, the loss of the New Mexico is also evened out." Nimitz lightly analyzed the situation: "Japan's shipbuilding capacity is very problematic, and we are much better. Something like this, 3 for 2 or even 4 for 2 is acceptable. Two days ago, the aircraft carrier USS Valiant (Essex-class) completed sea trials and commissioning; Between October and November, the USS Wasp, HMS Hornet, and USS Franklin (all Essex-class) will be commissioned and two Independence-class light carriers will join the fleet. By Christmas, the Atlantic Fleet will have 4 fleet carriers and 3 light carriers available, and we will hopefully be supported by another 2 fleet carriers and 2 light carriers - both good ships like the Essex, and the Japanese will only have a maximum of 2 fleet carriers and 2 light carriers. With the passage of time, more and more new aircraft carriers of our army have been put into service, faster and faster! Sooner or later, the Japanese devils will be swallowed up by the Essex-class sea. ”

Halsey smiled bitterly: "Don't force yourself to comfort me, I see that you are also in pain." ”

"I don't bother with warships, and when it comes to production, the United States is unmatched, but I don't worry about the lack of skilled pilots." Nimitz's question was very pertinent, "Don't you think that the quality of our pilots is not good?" If the 180 planes that Fleet B put into attack could have the efficiency of the Japanese, Tsukahara 243's mobile fleet would have been crushed by us long ago, so how could it be his turn to release the second and third attack waves? ”

Halsey nodded in agreement. There was no need for Nimitz to shirk responsibility, but the problem hit the nail on the head - Fleet A had opened up a large and good gap for Fleet B with its own sacrifices, but the results of the air strikes by two attack waves and 180 planes were very bad: Shozuru did not sink, Zuihe was not injured, only the Bolzano was sunk, and not even the Ryuho was killed, and if the first wave had abolished Ryuho or Zuizuru, the situation would not have been so ugly, and perhaps it would be Horikichi who had to consider retreating now.

If the positions of the two sides are exchanged, these 180 planes are attacked by the Japanese army, not to mention Shuanghe, I am afraid that several other light air carriers and auxiliary air carriers will also be killed.

"After returning to Pearl Harbor, we must intensify pilot training, and at least I have two escort aircraft carriers in my hands, and we must make full use of them."

"Sir, the battle report has been written, please take a look." Giffen handed Nimitz the long telegram to be reported to the country, who read it carefully for a long time, crossed out the part that finally justified the fleet's decision, and wrote down the analysis he had just made with Halsey.

"Tell the country that we don't regret our decision, and if I do it again, I will still fight the Japanese. Tactically we failed, but not strategically, and we succeeded in depleting the Japanese forces - at least in the short term, the Combined Fleet would no longer interfere with the situation in Europe and would not affect the Battle of the Azores. Nimitz thought for a moment, and finally picked up a few more sentences.

Halsey leaned over and saw what he had written: "I am willing to continue to lead the fleet to fight the Japanese to the end, but if I need to be held accountable, I am willing to take full responsibility and go to court-martial." Halsey, Giffin, and others worked under my specific command, and they conscientiously fulfilled all their own tasks, and on many occasions put forward revised and improved operational decisions in the course of command, without any fault, and were rare and outstanding command talents, and it is recommended that they be retained ......."

"Sir!" Both Halsey and Giffen's eyes were red.

Nimitz patted the two of them on the shoulder: "It's nothing, let's fight again, as long as we continue to consume Horiyoshi's hard-won strength, the final victory will definitely belong to us!" ”

It was late at night when the news was transmitted back to Washington, and the officer on duty at the Joint Chiefs of Staff did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly handed the telegram to Admiral King. Admiral Kim hurriedly read the telegram, was shocked and angry, and scolded Nimitz for being "ignorant" -- at the critical moment of the Azores campaign, the Pacific Fleet was the force he hoped to preserve as much as possible, but he did not expect this to happen, it was simply ......

"I want to see the president!" He didn't talk the slightest nonsense, and he didn't plan to let the news stay overnight.

When he met Roosevelt, Admiral King calmed down a little, began to think seriously about what Nimitz had said in the telegram, and when he calmed down, he had to admit that at present the only preferable strategy to advance the campaign with a lose-lose approach was the only preferable strategy -- which was almost the best portrayal of the American army until the quality of the army was reversed.

Roosevelt was equally shocked when he saw this, but he was obviously more composed—of course, his wheelchair also limited him to "shoot the case," and he asked in a slightly excited voice: "What do you think of this battle?" ”

"This ...... In my opinion, the overall result and process should be viewed in two ways. Although Admiral King scolded Nimitz and Halsey in his office, he tried his best to defend them and the honor of the Navy in front of Roosevelt.

"I won't repeat the negative side, anyway, you can see it - at present, the Pacific Fleet has lost all its aircraft carriers, and can only defend Hawaii for the time being, the situation in Australia and New Zealand will not be too good, and the relevant transportation lines and supply lines will also face problems; But on the positive side, I think there are more: first, this is barely a high-exchange ratio tactic, at least much better than the results of the Indian Ocean, North Atlantic, and Caribbean campaigns, and we have at least killed or severely damaged 4 enemy aircraft carriers and 2 battleships, which has exceeded the results of previous operations; Secondly, this tragic battle curbed the ability of the Combined Fleet to attack frantically, and the arrogance of the Japanese army reached its peak when it attacked Australia and New Zealand, and now we have fought back fiercely, and we can give an account to the allies with dignity; Last but not least, we can rule out the influence of the Combined Fleet on the war in Europe for some time to come, and the Battle of the Azores is undoubtedly advantageous for us to deal with the German and Italian navies. ”

Roosevelt nodded, he was convinced, of course, he would not be completely because of what Admiral King said, but that he could not disclose another defeat to the country, especially since the Battle of Tarawa had just been praised with great fanfare, and he was immediately slapped in the face, which was too painful - not at all in line with the principle of political correctness.

He asked in a deep voice, "What are you going to do next?" ”

"The Azores campaign will be launched at the end of next month, and I propose to transfer the warships commissioned in October to the Pacific Fleet, first to 2 Essex-class and 1 Independence-class, plus the 2 battleships currently in Brazil, and soon return to the configuration of 3 aircraft carriers + 4 battleships, and the strength will not decline but increase. At the beginning of next year, according to the situation, we will increase the number of troops in an effort to give Nimitz a superiority in troops. Admiral Kim is still quite confident, "When we take the Azores and regain the upper hand in the Atlantic, we can put the center of gravity on the Pacific Ocean, and then the Japanese devils will definitely not be able to eat and walk around." ”

Although this line of thinking deviated from Roosevelt's consistent line of thinking of "Europe before Asia," Roosevelt did not directly deny it, but felt that this consideration was correct, because the current Far East battlefield involves India and Australia and New Zealand, the latter of which are very important to the global strategy of the United States.

After thinking about it for a long time, he said slowly: "You can think about it first, and when the overlord operation is over, we will discuss the overall strategy." ”

Hearing the president's loose tone, Admiral Kim secretly relieved his heart.

Early the next morning, because he had discussed with Roosevelt late yesterday and slept late, Admiral King was still resting, and the adjutant called coldly: "I said in a hurried tone, sir, there is an emergency military situation, and Chief of Staff Marshall proposes to convene an emergency meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff." (To be continued.) )