Opportunity always comes with danger, hence the word "crisis". And as a battlefield commander, being able to spot opportunities in danger will be the biggest difference between him and ordinary commanders.

When Spruance received a telegram from Nimitz on board the USS Franklin, the first thing he saw was not danger, but opportunity.

The onslaught of the Tang Imperial Marines in the early morning of the 8th quickly tore through the American defensive line, and soon broke through the second line of defense, and by the time Nimitz sent the telegram, the offensive of the Tang Imperial Marines had reached its climax, and in a few hours in the morning, it completed the offensive task that could not be done in a single day before. The commander of Midway had already sent out an urgent request for support at noon, and at that time, the only force that could support the defenders of Midway was the Fifth Fleet under the command of Spruance.

"General, do you want to call back?"

"No, this telegram is for me and Turner." Spruance put down the message, "Let's continue with the previous plan, and leave the task of supporting the Marines to Turner." ”

Without saying anything more, the staff officer immediately returned to his post. Spruance's temper was well known to most of the staff officers in the fleet, and the commander usually spoke very little, almost only when giving orders. In addition, he did not like to be argued with or disobeyed by him.

Spruance walked out of the command quarters, and not far from the sea, the other two fleet carriers were heading in the same direction. The fleet had been sailing west for three days in a row, and the speed had remained at about 18 knots, which was the fastest cruising speed the fleet could achieve. Neighborhood. Three large cruisers were also sailing at the same speed. That's three newly built large cruisers of the "Alaska" class.

When he first saw these three large cruisers, Spruance thought they were three battleships. It is close to 250 meters long and has a full load displacement of more than 30,000 tons. 12-inch caliber ground main gun, 5-inch secondary gun. These were almost as good as some of the battleships of European countries at that time, and even surpassed the battleships built by many countries before the war.

In fact, the design basis of the "Alaska" class was not used as an air defense warship, but against the heavy cruisers of the Tang Empire, especially the cruisers of the "Trotto" class. and the "Li Jing"-class large cruisers, which had already started construction before the war, but were not completed. The other was the pocket battleships that were used against Germany. The class of warships originally adopted the design standards of heavy cruisers, which was mainly reflected in the protection capabilities, that is, only one anti-torpedo compartment, thinner main armor, high-power power system, etc. Later, however, a lot of requirements were added, such as the installation of three triple 12-inch guns, and a large number of secondary guns. All this led to a sharp increase in the displacement of cruisers of this class.

In fact, the "Alaska" class is more similar to the previous battlecruisers, only in the ship type. Armament, defensive armor, and the use of ideas are not identical. By the time the construction was approved in 23. The main task of this class of warships is no longer to deal with the enemy's heavy cruisers, but to undertake the task of fleet air defense, making up for the lack of air defense warships in the US Navy's aircraft carriers. Therefore, in the process of construction. The number of anti-aircraft guns of 40 mm and 20 mm caliber was increased by several dozen, and in addition, there was room for improvement on the battleship (mainly due to the huge displacement and wide surface), which laid the foundation for the continued increase in anti-aircraft artillery in the future.

Only three were initially approved for construction ("Alaska", "Guam", "Hawaii"), and later as the war situation worsened, and in the first few naval battles, the US fleet suffered considerable losses from aircraft carriers due to the lack of sufficient air defense warships (this phenomenon has always existed), and at that time the US Navy did not have a few fast battleships to keep up with aircraft carriers, and the displacement of heavy cruisers was too small to be converted into powerful air defense warships. As a result, the U.S. government approved the construction of a second batch of three ships ("Saipan", "Puerto Rico", "Samoa") in mid-24, and in order to enable all six warships of this class to be commissioned by mid-25, the U.S. government also made an additional appropriation to speed up the construction of the last three.

At that time, the "Alaska" class was the most powerful air defense warship in the US Navy except for the "Iowa" class battleships (after strengthening air defense), and the speed reached 33 knots, which could completely accompany the aircraft carrier fleet and be used as the main escort warship of the aircraft carrier. This is completely different from its original design purpose, which also leads to several extremely serious flaws in this class of ships.

The first is its high cost, at that time the cost of the "Alaska"-class large cruisers was twice that of the "Baltimore"-class heavy cruisers, while its air defense combat efficiency did not reach this level.

In other words, the price of building three "Alaska" can build two "Iowa", and the comprehensive combat capability of two "Iowa" must be higher than that of three "Alaska".

The reason for the high cost of construction is the huge displacement (which is a bit uneconomical as an air defense warship), as well as its high command system (originally designed as a cruiser lead ship, which requires a high command ability). As a result, the cost of warships is too high for the United States to afford. This is also the fundamental reason why only six ships were built in "Alaska".

The second is the excessively powerful main gun fire of this class of battleships. At that time, the main guns of more than 12 inches were almost exclusively found on battleships and battle cruisers, and no cruiser needed to use such a large caliber main gun, and even no cruiser would use a main gun of more than 10 inches, which was completely unnecessary (which also led to an increase in the cost of battleships). The defense of "Alaska" could not withstand even 200-mm armor-piercing shells, and the cruisers of any opponent could not withstand armor-piercing shells of more than 200 mm, while the new battleships of any country could cope with armor-piercing shells of less than 14 inches. In other words, the 12-inch caliber gun is neither up nor down, and has no value. More importantly, such a large-caliber ground gun directly led to an increase in the displacement of the whole ship, which led to an increase in costs. And in its main task, the main gun does not play any role, what is the use?

The third is its displacement. The first professional air defense battleship of the Tang Empire "Li Jing" class had a displacement of less than 20000 tons. Later, the "Rui Beast" class was 22,000 tons. Actual combat has proved that the "Li Jing" class and the "Rui Beast"

All of them are able to complete the task of air defense of the fleet very well. A displacement of about 20,000 tons is enough for a large number of anti-aircraft guns to be deployed on a battleship, and no matter how large the displacement is, it is actually of little value, because the air defense command channel on any warship is limited, so the number of anti-aircraft guns that can be commanded at the same time is also limited, and if you increase anti-aircraft guns. It is also impossible to bring out the combat effectiveness of all anti-aircraft guns, it is better to add one more air defense battleship.

In fact, this is all due to the fact that the battleship was not originally designed for air defense. These problems also exist in the "Li Jing" class, for example, the 240 mm caliber gun does not have much meaning (this is the fundamental reason why the "Rui Beast" class later canceled the installation of the 280 mm gun).

However, as one of the most powerful air defense warships of the US Navy at that time, the significance of the "Alaska" class was very huge, and its appearance made the US Navy aircraft carrier formation have a powerful air defense capability for the first time without the need for fast battleship escort.

No matter how expensive the large cruisers of the "Alaska" class are, in the eyes of the Spruance. These are the battleships he values the most. He had already suffered a lot of losses in the issue of fleet air defense, especially in several encounters with the First Task Force and the beautiful bombing of the bombers of the Tang Empire. often leaves him with no strength to resist. Now with these three air defense warships, the aircraft carriers in the fleet are much safer.

To Spruance's delight, all 127 mm (5 in) high-level guns on all warships were now equipped with VT shells. In addition, the radar on the cruiser could provide guidance for anti-aircraft guns. Give full play to the combat effectiveness of large-caliber anti-aircraft guns in long-range air defense interception.

Soon, Spruance's gaze shifted back. The fleet continued to advance, and Nimitz's telegram did not mention that Task Force 51 should immediately go to support Midway, but only asked Spruance to keep an eye on the situation on the Midway side. What Nimitz meant by this telegram, Spruance was very clear. The purpose of the Tang Imperial Marines launching a strong attack at this time is probably not just to rush to take Midway.

Ever since the Second Task Force of the Tang Empire withdrew from the Battle of Midway on the 7th Day, Spruance had anticipated that the enemy had known of his existence, so he left the battlefield at the most critical moment, leaving the Marines to continue the hard fight. If the enemy had not foreseen the danger, Task Force 2 would continue to support the Marine offensive in the waters near Midway. This used to worry Spruance, as far as he knew, Lei Shaoqing, the commander of the second task force, was a very cautious person, and his abilities were constantly improving. If Task Force 2 is determined to avoid war, then he will not have any chance of taking out the fleet with two carriers, or even reinforced by two smaller carriers.

The Tang Empire's assault on Midway gave Spruance an opportunity, and in his opinion, the purpose of this assault was to lure the American fleet out. It was clear from Nimitz's telegram that Task Force 52 would go to support the Marines on the island, and that Task Force 52 would be exposed. If Task Force 2 had been hovering near the battlefield, it would never have given up this opportunity. This was also Spruance's chance to find Task Force 2 while it was time to attack Task Force 52, and then send out all the bombers on all three fleet carriers.

This is also the reason why Spruance did not let the staff officers send telegrams at the beginning. Now the 51st Task Force must not be easily exposed, and must reach the areas of engagement covertly, and attack from unexpected directions when the enemy cannot imagine it.

Spruance stood outside the bridge for more than half an hour before returning to the command cabin. The command cabin of the "Essex" class aircraft carrier is much more spacious, and the more than 20 staff officers are busy in it without looking crowded. He was back in front of the chart. Staff officers had already marked the route map of the two task forces on the charts. Turner wouldn't have changed his route lightly if he didn't have to.

As long as the enemy's fleet can be detected first, then it can attack first, and after the purpose of the surprise attack is achieved, victory will be within reach. Spruance's arrangement was simple, Turner's Task Force 52 would act alone, and the three small aircraft carriers would be optional, and he would be happy if he could exchange three small aircraft carriers for the second task force. Of course, this is only an extreme case, and as long as possible, he absolutely wants to keep these three small aircraft carriers, so that the next round of attacks will have more advantages.

So, where is Task Force 2? What kind of tactical arrangements will Lei Shaoqing adopt? Also, Is Turner's whereabouts revealed now? Thinking of these questions, Spruance immediately became vigilant. At least, now the 51st Task Force has not been exposed, they have not encountered the reconnaissance planes of the Tang Empire, and the destroyers have not discovered the submarines of the Tang Empire, and the radio monitoring radio in the fleet has been turned on, and no unknown radio waves have been found.

But the question is, has Turner been found? If Task Force 52 had been exposed, then Task Force 2 would most likely be in ambush in front of Turner. If not, where would Task Force 2 be?

Looking at the chart and pondering for a while, Spruance knew what to expect. There are only two possible scenarios, depending on whether Task Force 52 is spotted or not. Thinking of this, Spruance called the seafaring staff over, and he adjusted the course and speed of the fleet. Subsequently, he went to the aviation operations staff officer and arranged the fleet's reconnaissance operations and combat missions in advance.

When the fleet began to turn, most of the American officers and men did not realize that battle was imminent. Spruance did not rush to give the order for combat readiness, and there were many new recruits in the fleet this time, many of whom were not familiar with naval warfare. The only thing that made Spruance fortunate was that the backbone of the fleet air force was made up of experienced pilots, and the training of new pilots was in place, which at least guaranteed the hit rate in the bombing.