In a conference room of the Ministry of the Navy in Tokyo, Japan, an atmosphere of anxiety and anxiety was enveloping everyone, and everyone sat down and waited eagerly for the report of the battle losses of the 1st Mobile Fleet and the 10th Front Fleet -- the 1st Mobile Fleet and the 10th Front Fleet dispatched a total of five attack waves today, and a total of more than 1,000 planes were dispatched. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Sinking one American battleship, one heavy aircraft carrier (not yet sunk), eight light aircraft carriers (in fact, there were only 6, and the loss of personnel on board was not much), two cruisers (in fact, 2 small breaks), six destroyers (in fact, 2 sank and 4 damaged), 35 tankers, transport ships, and landing ships (18 actually damaged and 13 sunk), a total of 52 ships sunk. At least 20 other ships were damaged to varying degrees, with fire and smoke rising from the sea.

Even if there is some moisture in the results reported now, there is no doubt about an unprecedented victory! It stands to reason that these Japanese naval leaders should not be so anxious and frightened, but they have discovered an expected, but unacceptable, reality - the American ships are likely to be more than the elite Japanese pilots!

There are 400-500 American ships sent to attack Christmas Island alone! The total number of commonly used aircraft of the Japanese 1st Mobile Fleet and the 10th Front Fleet is 14,500 aircraft.

In other words, if the Americans exchanged one ship for the lives of three Japanese elite pilots, they would be able to redeem the elite pilots of the 1st Mobile Fleet and the 10th Fleet.

Moreover, according to the preliminary battle loss statistics reported earlier, the ship-aircraft exchange ratio on the Christmas Island front line simply does not reach the level of 3 planes for 1 ship......

"Report!" A staff officer from the Navy Ministry hurriedly ran in, with a frightened expression on his face, bowed to Yamamoto Isoroku and Nagano Shusei, and presented a copy of the telegram with both hands. Ito Junichi, the vice minister of the Military Command Department, took the copy of the telegram and looked at it, and his already dark face suddenly became a little darker.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief...... Ito's voice trembled a little as soon as he spoke, "10th Fleet Report: As of 8 p.m. Hawaii time, there are still 360 planes that have not returned!" First Mobile Fleet Report: As of 8 p.m. Hawaii time, 173 aircraft have not returned. ”

533 planes!!

Yamamoto Fifty-six and Nagano Shu's hearts are pumped at the same time. Because the place of engagement was over the American fleet, the loss of aircraft was equivalent to the loss of pilots. The absence of 533 aircraft is equivalent to the absence of 533 captains...... And all of them are elite captains!

"Besides......" Ito's words were not finished, "the 10th Fleet reports that the American fleet will divide its forces before 8 o'clock tonight, and the main force will move south, and at the same time divide a fast formation to pounce on Christmas Island. ”

Yamamoto and Nagano glanced at each other, and both noticed that each other's brows were tightly furrowed.

The Americans are clearly going to fight! Taking into account the factor of "false positives" of the results, their losses during the day today should be in the range of 30-40 ships, including 7-8 aircraft carriers, 1 battleship, and at most about 200 pilots, and the loss of aircraft is definitely more than 300...... Exchanging such losses for 533 Japanese aircraft would certainly be a loss.

But the Americans just can't afford it!

And looking at this posture, I plan to continue to lose.

"More than 500 planes for forty ......or fifty ships," Yamamoto Fifty-six shook his head, "The performance of the 1st Mobile Fleet and the 10th Fleet is still very good. Considering the anti-aircraft firepower of U.S. ships and the performance of cutting-edge U.S. fighters, it is difficult for us to achieve a more favorable exchange ratio. ”

As soon as Yamamoto's words came out, the atmosphere in the conference room became even more gloomy. Those sitting here today are the elite of the Navy, not the Army Boss...... Japan's naval elite are all intellectuals and have a deep understanding of the industrial power and resources of the United States.

"Yamamoto-kun, we still have a Yamato-class!" Nagano said to Yamamoto, "As long as 'Yamato,' Musashi,' and 'Shinano' arrive at the battlefield of Christmas Island, they will be able to destroy the American fleet." ”

"In addition to the Yamato-class, we also have submarines!" Ito Junichi also came up with a countermeasure, "There are currently 52 submarines in Pearl Harbor and the waters near the Hawaiian Islands, and it is completely possible to launch a submarine attack!" ”

Today's Japanese Navy, as in history, has used "submarines" as underwater assassins to attack enemy fleets, so it has built many large ocean-going submarines.

The Hawaiian Islands are also a key area for the deployment of Japanese submarines, and dozens of large submarines are stationed all year round, ready to attack the invading US fleet at any time.

"But the Hawaiian Islands are more than 1,000 nautical miles away from Christmas Island, and it would be nice to be able to cover them in 60 hours at the speed of a submarine." Someone immediately objected, "As for the main force of the Combined Fleet (3 Yamato-class), there are still more than 2,500 nautical miles away from Christmas Island, and it won't be there in 100 hours." ”

"But the 100 hours of the Battle of Christmas Island won't be over!" Ito said, "There are still tens of thousands of naval and army officers on Christmas Island, and there is a powerful First Mobile Fleet near Christmas Island!" ”

"But now there are only more than 250 captains left in the First Mobile Fleet, how can we continue to fight?"

At present, the three aircraft carriers "Kaga", "Akagi", and "Taiho" have not joined the First Mobile Fleet, and several other aircraft carriers are acting as escort carriers. Therefore, the First Mobile Fleet has only 10 aircraft carriers and only more than 400 standing aircraft. Now after the loss of 173 aircraft, only more than 230 standing aircraft remain.

"You can take it from Hawaii!" "The plane on Christmas Island will be diverted to Pearl Harbor this evening," Ito said. Many of them were allowed to fly on the ship, and Pearl Harbor also had a reserve carrier-based aircraft, so they could completely fly the planes on board. In addition...... the "Kaga" and "Akagi" flying teams are currently resting and can be urgently recruited, and then transported to Pearl Harbor by transport planes, and then piloted the planes stored at Pearl Harbor to participate in the war. ”

"Do you want to take it all?" Yamamoto Fifty-six listened to Ito's words and asked with a frown.

Ito thought for a moment, then nodded seriously: "Yes! Your Excellency Marshal, now that we meet on a narrow road, we must not show weakness, if we can't teach the American ghost animal a hard lesson on Christmas Island, then there will definitely be another consumption! ”

"Next consumption?" Yamamoto asked, "Ito-kun, what do you mean...... Christmas Island Isn't the Real Goal of the United States? ”

Ito thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "I can't say that, the Americans on Christmas Island must want to fight down." But the depletion of our strength should also be the main goal of the Americans. ”

Yamamoto nodded, acknowledging Ito's analysis. Ito went on to say: "Therefore, we should go all out to meet the attack, and we must let the American ghost animals know that if they want to fight with our Japanese Empire, they will suffer unbearable losses!" ”

"I see," Yamamoto asked after a pause, "we can't show our cowardice now, or the war of attrition will be endless." ”

At present, Japan is not afraid of a vigorous decisive battle with the United States, but is afraid of a war of attrition that the Americans will use to hurt people.

"Hay!" "Once the Americans decided that a war of attrition with warships for planes could defeat us," Ito said...... Then, even if our side launches a special attack on the west coast of the United States, the United States will not change its strategy of attrition, which is bound to win. ”

Yamamoto Fifty-six nodded, and what Ito said was exactly what he was most worried about. If the Americans insist on fighting attrition, or the battle of Christmas Island will be fought several times, or after occupying Christmas Island, they will use the island as a base to send a large carrier formation to continuously attack the western Pacific. Then in less than 2 years, Japan will be consumed to the point that there will be no scum left!

"Not bad!" Yamamoto Fifty-six and Nagano Shusei exchanged glances, and then nodded heavily, "American ghost animals must be taught a hard lesson!" The battle ...... Be sure to sink all of America's large aircraft carriers, at all costs! ”

Yamamoto's target was carefully chosen, and he now knew that it was impossible to completely destroy this American fleet. Then it is necessary to carry out a key strike, and the light aircraft carrier and the escort aircraft carrier are made by the Americans like dumplings, and Roosevelt will not feel distressed how much he sinks. The pace of construction of battleships is very slow, but if too many American battleships are sunk, the United States will have no way to counterattack the Hawaiian Islands, and can only fight an endless war of attrition, so Japan can not stand it.

So a large aircraft carrier is the only suitable object for annihilation!

……

"Commander, the fire on the Franklin has been extinguished."

When Yamamoto made up his mind to destroy the large American aircraft carrier, his enemy Spruance had just received good news. The USS Franklin, which had suffered 3 bombs and 2 torpedoes, did not sink, and the damage management personnel and volunteers who remained on the aircraft carrier were able to extinguish the fire under the command of the captain.

The reason for this situation, in addition to the good fortune of the Franklin, is also because the Americans attach importance to the damage management of the ship, and there are no bombs or torpedoes on the Franklin. In particular, the latter reason was decisive for the survival of the Franklin -- because such large aircraft carriers of more than 30,000 tons were very strong and had good sinking resistance, and could not be sunk by three bombs and two aviation torpedoes. Generally speaking, a large aircraft carrier or battleship is sunk, either by detonating ammunition or fuel (aviation gasoline), or by torpedoes that have made too many holes in the waterline.

The Franklin, on the other hand, did not carry a torpedo and only carried a small amount of bombs and anti-aircraft ammunition, so the possibility of fire and explosive ammunition was greatly reduced. Moreover, the ship's damage management style is also "tyrant", and immediately poured all the aviation gasoline on the ship into the sea after the hangar caught fire (there were several spare planes in the hangar that were refueled, so the fire started......