On the way back, Spruance had trouble not only trying to avoid the danger ahead, but also trying to convince his two partners. Perhaps, the latter was more important, especially since Mitchell insisted on contacting Pearl Harbor and insisting on getting direct orders from Nimitz. Spruance must hold Mitchell steady and never let the fleet be exposed. As for what Nimitz would order, Spruance didn't care.

According to the command doctrine of the U.S. military, Mitchell served as the commander of the task force, and his direct report was the commander of the fleet, Spruance. Under normal circumstances, Mitchell only needs to be responsible to Spruance, and cannot report to the next level, that is, he cannot bypass Spruance to report directly to Nimitz, give opinions, etc. However, in special cases, such as when Spruance loses command ability, Mill will be directly responsible to his higher superior, that is, Nimitz, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, and Mitchell will be able to contact Nimitz directly. At this point, Mitchell insisted on getting direct orders from Nimitz, which put him on the opposite side of Spruance. If Nimitz agrees with Spruance's approach, then Mitchell will have to leave the fleet, and conversely, if Nimitz supports Mitchell's opinion, then Spruance will have to leave.

It's a delicate relationship, and both Mitchell and Spruance know how powerful it is. The fundamental reason why Mitchell had to skip the level of reporting was that Spruance passively avoided the battle, and did not take the initiative to actively look for the enemy to fight a decisive battle. It can be said that Mitchell has endured for a long time, from the departure of the Fifth Fleet from Pearl Harbor, to the bombing of Nihua Island, Wake Island, to the return to Hawaii Island, and the sneak attack on Midway. During this period, the Fifth Fleet missed many opportunities to engage its opponents in decisive battles. Mitchell himself was a staunch advocate of a decisive battle with his opponent and turned the tide of battle by seizing opportunities on the battlefield, but Spruance took the opposite approach. He will never fight his opponent until he has a chance. Now that the main fleet of the Tang Empire has attacked Pearl Harbor and bombed the lair of the Fifth Fleet, even Turner, who had been passive before, has changed his attitude, and any decisive battle with the enemy should be held, but Spruance is still passively avoiding the battle, and even changed the course of the fleet several times, avoiding the sea where the enemy is most likely to exist. Mitchell couldn't hold back any longer. He felt that he had to do something, that he had to change the situation and that he couldn't miss the opportunity again. Mitchell even began to wonder if Spruance was still capable of continuing to command the fleet in battle, and if so, then why did Spruance make so many "mistakes"?

Spruance also knew what Mitchell was thinking, and from the beginning, Spruance was forced to recruit Mitchell into the Fifth Fleet. Unlike Turner, Turner was fundamentally promoted by Spruance, so Turner would not easily oppose Spruance's decision. At most, to give an opinion. Then he acted on Spruance's orders. On the contrary, Mitchell came out of the Third Fleet, and his predecessor was Halsey. Subsequently, he became chief of staff of the theater of operations and did not have much contact with Spruance. If there had been another more suitable candidate for task force commander at the time, Spruance would never have considered Mitchell. To put it simply, Mitchell was in the position of commander of the 53rd Task Force, and he was supposed to be responsible to Spruance, but in fact, Mitchell was not thinking about the problem from the perspective of a task force commander, but from the perspective of the commander of the Fifth Fleet, and was thinking about replacing Spruance from the beginning to the end.

This kind of open and covert struggle within the armed forces exists in every country, and the US military is no exception. In line with the principle of thinking about the big picture. Spruance did not intensify the conflict between him and Mitchell, but calmed things down, gave way to Mitchell everywhere, and paid special attention to Mitchell's attitude, but this did not mean that he would easily make major concessions, especially on the issue of the survival of the fleet, Spruance was quite strong. This is also a characteristic of Spruance, who in most cases trusts his own subjective judgment. And not someone else's opinion.

By the evening of the 19th, Spruance and Mitchell had to have a showdown.

"General, I feel that now I have an obligation and responsibility to contact the commander-in-chief!" Mitchell's words were very direct and extraordinarily tough.

"Well, tell me, what are you going to say to Admiral Nimitz?" Spruance is still tepid. "At least, I think I have a right to know about these things, right?"

Mitchell hesitated, he didn't want to tell Spruance, but he also knew that Spruance, as the commander of the Fifth Fleet, had the right to know what was going on inside the Fifth Fleet, and until now, he was still Spruance's subordinate. "General, I feel that now the actions of the fleet have deviated from our fundamental purpose, and, I suspect ......"

"Suspect what?" Spruance has been holding back the anger in his heart, the pressure exerted by the enemy is already strong enough, and now Mitchell is still jumping out to cause trouble, which is really troublesome inside and outside.

"I doubt you'll still be able to continue commanding the fleet." Mitchell said it out loud, not looking Spruance in the eye.

The muscles in Spruance's face twitched twice. He had expected Mitchell to say such a thing, but when he heard it, he still couldn't believe it.

"According to Catch-21, in this case, I can contact the commander-in-chief directly, I have such a right!"

"Yes, you have that right, but do you know what the consequences will be?" Spruance sighed secretly, as a soldier, he had to obey military regulations, but in the current situation, they could not contact the headquarters.

Mitchell's lips twitched twice, but he didn't speak.

"Sit down, sit down and talk, at least we're not your mortal enemies." Spruance let out a sigh and waited for Mitchell to sit down before he said, "We all know very well that the enemy has set a trap and is waiting for us to fall into it. If the fleet wants to get out safely, it must remain as hidden as possible and stay away from danger as much as possible. If we take the initiative to contact the rear at this time, then the approximate location of the fleet will be exposed, and the result can be imagined. ”

"I don't think so." Mitchell still held his chest out, as if he wasn't afraid of the suave boss sitting across from him. "This is also an opportunity for us, and we are far from the dangerous seas, and if the enemy takes the initiative to fight us, it will be a trap for us......"

Spruance smiled wryly. Mitchell also stopped.

"Is it that simple?"

Mitchell nodded firmly. "It's not a question of whether it's simple or not, it's a question of how we do it."

"Yes, what do we do is a real question!" Spruance was also a little uncontrollable, "So do you think that even if we can annihilate the enemy's main fleet, how much will it cost us, and what is the point?" Having lost the Fifth Fleet, we will have nothing. What's in it for us? ”

"I don't know, but I know that now we have to do something instead of blindly staying away from danger and avoiding the pursuit of the enemy!"

"You ......," Spruance almost cried, he felt that Mitchell was more stubborn than himself. Well, are you sure you have to get in touch with Admiral Nimitz? ”

"Yes, I'm sure, and it's my right and duty."

"Duty ......," Spruance shook his head. Mitchell has already had a showdown with him. And he had to make a choice. Either Mitchell's proposal could be vetoed outright, and the only way would be to temporarily remove Mitchell from his post and detain Mitchell. Either you have to accept Mitchell's offer. Let him go and contact Nimitz.

"General, if you don't have an opinion, then I'm leaving." Mitchell also knew these two possibilities, and as he spoke, he stood up, "I will get in touch with the commander-in-chief as soon as possible, and inform you of all the contacts, and I hope you will also be ready to receive the telegram." ”

Spruance nodded, he didn't get up to see Mitchell away. After saluting Spruance, Mitchell turned and walked out of the conference room.

"General. Are we going to keep him? The chief of staff of Task Force 51, who had been standing behind Spruance, spoke at this time.

"No......" Spruance hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, "No, no, we don't have that right, and it's contrary to our duty." ”

"But ......"

"Raise the fleet's alerts, and ......," Spruance stood up, "and get in touch with Admiral Turner as soon as possible, I have something to discuss with him." ”

The situation has reached a point where it is out of control. Why Spruance didn't stop Mitchell at that time has become a mystery. According to Spruance's previous style, if Mitchell's actions endangered the safety of the Fifth Fleet, he would definitely take extreme measures to control the situation, but this time, Spruance did not do this, but let Mitchell do whatever he wanted, which obviously did not match his style, as for why Spruance reacted very differently, I am afraid no one can explain clearly.

Judging from the situation at the time, Spruance must have wanted to drive Mitchell out of the Fifth Fleet and reassign a new task force commander. However, according to the regulations of the US military, only Nimitz could appoint the commander of the task force, so Spruance could not directly remove Mitchell from his duties. Mitchell had been under Nimitz for a long time and had gained Nimitz's trust and support, so if Spruance wanted to dismiss Mitchell, there had to be a valid reason, a reason that could convince Nimitz. Perhaps, Spruance thought that Mitchell's initiative to skip the line was a good reason, and he believed that Nimitz would support him, and the end result of the struggle was that Mitchell left in disgrace and he himself continued to control the power of the Fifth Fleet. That is, Spruance believes that Nimitz trusts him more than Mitchell. It is precisely because of this that Spruance allowed Mitchell to take the initiative to provoke this struggle, instead of taking strong measures to control Mitchell first.

In his memoirs written in his later years, Spruance also mentioned this issue, and although he did not directly name his struggle with Mitchell, he showed his respect for Nimitz and the trust that Nimitz had in him. Judging from the fact that Nimitz let Spruance command the fleet many times before, Nimitz really trusted Spruance very much. But nothing is certain, and Nimitz's trust is not the final deciding factor. In the same way, Spruance was not the kind of person who was blindly optimistic, he knew very well what might happen after Mitchell's telegram, and he was prepared for all kinds of eventualities, so that the Fifth Fleet, or at least part of it, could return to the homeland, to the safety of the rear, which was Spruance's ultimate goal. That's why Spruance sent someone to call Turner.

"Why don't you stop Mitchell?" Turner was also a little angry, and although he disagreed with Spruance on many occasions, he would never disobey Spruance's orders.

"I don't have the authority to do that." Spruance sighed, "Maybe Mitchell has sent a telegram now, and I'm asking you to come over because I have something very important to tell you." ”

Turner nodded, then took out his cigarette and hit it several times without lighting it.

"I'm confident that Nimitz will make the right decision, but none of us can predict what will happen in a few hours. Therefore, I want you to remember that if the fleet is ambushed and in danger, you have to make the right decisions. "Spruance didn't speak quickly, and every word was clear." The first priority is to preserve the fleet, we can't afford to lose another fleet, you have to at least do your best to keep Task Force 52 safe, that's a top priority, understand? ”

"General, I think Admiral Nimitz ...... him"

"Don't set your hopes too high, the disappointment will be even greater." Spruance shook his head, "Okay, we just need to know these words, you can return as soon as possible." ”

"Do you want to ...... or not"

Spruance knew what Turner was going to say, he shook his head and sent Turner out. Even if Turner went to Nimitz to intercede, the impact would be very small, and Spruance didn't want Turner to be involved in the matter.

As Spruance himself told in his memoirs, he could anticipate the enemy's actions on the battlefield, but he could not anticipate the decisions of those at the top in the rear, and in many cases, he was just a soldier!